Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bez manhandles a battered copper kettle over to the table by wrapping his hands in a dish towel and pour three cups of a rather strong but sweet smelling tea. He plops down on a stool next to Kerobian with a grin. "I used to hate you so much. Don't even know why."

Tam chuckles. "At first I almost did too, but I guess because Ma used to make me watch over ye so much I started looking beneath that gruff exterior of yers to find the cub beneath. Yer a whole lot nicer to be around these days. Now that yer not trying to show off so much. The all powerful almighty void mage hasn't shown his face for some time. But I don't think that is why Bez disliked ye so much."

"True..." says Tam with a frown, "but it also tend to alienate ye from everyone else as well. It's a fine road ye walk... halfway between stardom and oblivion. Ye either wind up outshining everyone and driving them away or ye blind people to yer faults and win them over. It's yer life though, so I won't tell ye how to live it, but I'm glad to have known ye, whatever path ye take. Yer not half the monster ye try to make yerself out to be, ye know... not by far... more like a stuffed kitty cat, iffin ye ask me."

"I've seen it..." says Tam softly. "And I know what ye are. I also know ye don't go there unless forced. There are monsters and then there are 'monsters', Kero... it all depends on yer definition. I tend to overlook the exterior and dig down deep to see the real person behind the actions... not many do, I'm afraid."

Bez gives a sour chuckle and nods. "He is also blind to some serious faults, I've learned. I know I've got more than a few, but he never brings them up either."

Bez laughs merrily while Tam just sits there and glares at him. "Hmph... " he growls testily. "Darn... it will last that long.. won't it. I mean I know it's going to take a while... and that things are going to get rather weird... for me anyway... heck, I'm not a blithering idiot... but this is all so much like a dream, I keep waiting to wake up."

Tam sticks out his tongue, but pockets the book in his skirt anyway to read later on. "I've helped deliver babies... just never grew one of me own... and there are some physiology issues here that may cause trouble. Bez has done nothing but point them out to me one after another, he's been a rather grim doomsayer, I'm afraid."

"I don't want to lose ye again, Tam... Not now that I've finally gotten ye back..." says Bez softly staring down at his hands.

Tam smiles at Bez and reaching over across the table he covers his hands with his own. "We'll be fine... you'll see. I can't seen the future but this all feels good. Truly it does."

He finds the young kitsune in the practice yard sinking arrow after arrow into a target at the far end. He is still angry. His face looks like a thunder cloud. And when he sees Kerobian, he gives him an earful. "Where have ye been. Ye disappeared on me... one minute ye were behind me the next yer gone. I went back to the preserve but the shield wouldn't let me back in. I think it's sulking. So I did a bit of scrying and found out ye weren't anywhere near here. Didn't think someone might be worried or something? Themn I found out from CHamphy ye'd been and were gone already..."