Edan was not the most social individual. He didn’t make friends easily nor did he try. What free time he had, he would spend helping Reema out around the workshop or running errands for Harvey, training, and cultivating.
He liked it that way.
So it was fair to say his parents were caught off guard when he brought someone home to meet them. Doubly so when it was a woman. Triply so when you took into account who she actually was. A Titan.
Reema was still closing up when Edan and Tali entered the backyard through the side gate, catching Sanik by surprise.
Running through his sword forms in a never-ending journey to understand his skills better, Sanik didn’t stop when he heard the gate open. He had already activated [Cumulitive Defence], a defense skill that turned each stab of his blade into a point of light that hovered in the air before him. The point of light acted as an obstruction, able to block a single attack. Sanik was currently trying to push the skill to the stage where so many points of light remained that a wall was created.
Edan and Tali paused to watch.
Tali's eyes stared intently at Sanik as he moved before she bent low so she could whisper in Edan's ear.
"This is your father?"
Edan looked at the tall blonde-haired man and then down at himself. Scrawny and black-haired. He didn't begrudge her doubt.
"Yup."
Tali let out a low hum of acknowledgment. Edan thought he saw confusion cross her features but it was gone so quick he doubted it.
It was the hum that alerted Sanik to the presence of a third person and he froze. He looked towards the gate. Edan wanted to laugh as he saw his father's eyes go wide.
To prevent any confusion he quickly stepped forward.
“Hey Dad, this is Tali, she works at the Academy. I met her while I was running an errand for Harvey and…she wanted to meet you for some reason.”
Sanik looked at his son intently, his eyes questioning.
Edan mouther back I don't know. And gave a tiny shrug.
The sword vanished from Sanik's hand and he stepped forward, a smile on his face.
“Hi, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the sweat. If I had known Edan was bringing someone for dinner I would have made myself presentable.” Sanik gestured to the sheen of sweat still on his skin while throwing Edan the evil eye.
“Dinner?” Tali asked before nodding. “Yes, that sounds very good.”
Edan stuck his tongue out at his father. He would be sure to tell Reema how he only brought the woman to the house, it was Sanik who invited her for dinner.
“Do not force strength in the skill,” Tali continued. “Each point does not need to be strong. The strength to defend comes when the points are together.”
Edan was pleased that even Sanik had to look up to meet the Titan's eyes. His own neck had grown sore from trying to watch her face as they spoke during the walk.
Sanik paused to digest the words before he smiled and nodded his head in thanks.
“I’ve been trying to increase the grade of that skill for ages. I'll try focusing on what you said, thank you.” He sighed. “Though I suppose this means it's going to be useless for defense until I can increase the number of points I leave behind.”
“I have a similar skill,” Tali said, waving away his gratitude. “And had much the same problem.”
Sanik acknowledged her advice and together the three moved towards the house. Edan wondered if he should head in first to warn Reema, but the cheeky smile on Sanik’s face made him think it would spoil his father's fun.
If Sanik had been expected shock he was disappointed. Reema had been trying to clean the workshop when they marched in. Tali took up so much space she needed to duck under the door frame and once inside step to the side as she blocked off the light from outside.
Reema had taken in the trio with a look. Her brown eyes turned cautious as she looked at the stranger. Her gaze had flickered across Edan’s body, making sure he was ok, and then it caught the smile Sanik failed to suppress. That, more than anything put her at ease.
“I’ll need your help making dinner, honey,” Reema said sweetly to Sanik, her voice devoid of shock and surprisingly calm. “I assume you will be eating with us, miss?”
Edan watched the by-play and shook his head. He didn’t know why Sanik kept trying to mess with Reema, she always came out on top.
“You may call me Tali. You’re husband offered,” Tali replied. Her amber eyes met the warm brown of Reema’s and held it for a moment. Something unsaid passed between the two, and then Tali dipped her head in acknowledgment. “I would like to discuss your son's future and a meal would be greatly appreciated.”
Reema gave the woman one more level look. She had a skill that allowed her to sense danger. It was invaluable when out on a job and had saved her and Sanik more than once over the years. It was a simple danger-sense skill that alerted her to things around her that could potentially harm her. Over time, constant use, and inspiration, Reema had advanced the skill until it not only warned her of danger but also gave her a sense of how dangerous something or someone was.
Tali was an ocean. Massive, mysterious, beautiful, and calm, but should the ocean turn rough it would crash endlessly against the shore and drag you screaming to the dark depths and crush you.
Reema could respect that.
The stair’s creak turned to a low groan as Tali made her way upstairs. Edan noticed how much effort the Titan put into not hitting the walls and hunching over so she didn’t loom over the family as badly.
Edan was suddenly very happy he had cleaned the living room as Tali looked around in interest.
“Washroom is through there,” Sanik pointed to the door. “That’s Edan’s room, and that one over there is ours. The kitchen is through there. It’s not much, but it's home. Get comfortable, kick your feet up. Want a snack?”
“No snacks!” Reema snapped.
“Sorry, we’re all out of snacks.” Sanik continued without missing a beat.
“And go shower.” Reema continued.
“I’m going to shower,” Sanik added to his sentence, a teasing glint in his eye as he winked at Tali.
The Titan laughed and even Reema shook her head at Sanik's antics. Reema gave him a kiss on the cheek in passing, taking the sting out of her words from earlier, before heading into the kitchen.
“Sorry about them,” Edan mumbled to Tali.
“They are in love. My parents act much as they do, though my father is the more serious of the two. My mother said when she made him smile, she knew he loved her too.”
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Edan had heard stories about the Titans. In all of them, they were depicted as fearsome warriors. They ate metal and spat arrows. They followed Paths paved with blood and bone and drank the tears of their fallen foes.
Edan was starting to realize he was very wrong about a lot of things.
“No snacks before dinner, but I can offer you a drink. Tali, would you like some wine? I think Sanik has some mead from distilled Vitalis honey hidden around here somewhere.” Reema said, her head popping out of the kitchen.
Tali shook her head, her ponytail bouncing.
“The Va are only permitted alcohol before we burn our blood.”
Edan took note of her sentence. It was the second time she had mentioned burning blood and he wondered at the term.
“Va is a warrior?” He asked, remembering her description of Bwaka and wondering if Va was the final product.
Tali looked frustrated as she shook her head.
“Warrior is a weak word. Va is…Va!” She tapped her chest, right over her heart. “It is who you are, here. Who you become when you take the ink and burn your blood.”
“Like your Path?” Edan guessed.
Again Tali looked frustrated and shook her head.
“The Va may walk the Path they wish, but you walk it as you. As Va!”
Reema had been sorting through ingredients for dinner and keeping half an ear on the conversation. She was mostly interested in how the woman interacted with Edan. The frustration in the Titan’s voice was enough to get Reema to poke her head out of the Kitchen.
“I’d guess it’s a role that centers a lot on how to act and behave?” Reema guessed looking inquisitive at Tali. “Kind of like a priest. A priest needs to act like a priest. He can do what he likes within those bounds, but he must always remember he’s a priest.”
Edan scrunched up his brow. “So it’s holy?”
“Not holy, but honorable,” Tali added, nodding her thanks to Reema who disappeared back into the kitchen.
“So no alcohol. You want milk? I’m going to have milk.”
After getting back a positive nod Edan went to the kitchen to grab their drinks. Reema quickly pulled him aside.
“What’s going on?” she hissed quietly.
Edan gave her a look.
“What do you mean? Surely you know. I mean you weren’t surprised when you saw her so I fig-”
“Edan!”
Edan laughed.
“Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. I can see why Dad does it so often. As for Tali, I dunno. She was there the day before yesterday, during the ranking class.”
Edan poured the milk slowly, quickly catching Reema up on all his interactions with Tali over the last couple of days and how she had walked him home before proclaiming she needed to meet his family.
Reema nodded along, chopping vegetables as she listened. When Edan was done explaining she began preparing the meat, her hands working on autopilot as she thought.
“What do you make of her?” she asked her son.
Edan took a second to actually think about the Titan. “Honestly?” he said at last. “I kind of like her. She’s been nothing but friendly to me and even encouraged me during the ranking day. It’s obvious she’s important…and powerful…but she’s never treated me as less than.”
He took a sip of his milk and licked the mustache off when Reema pointed to it.
“I don’t know what she wants with me, but I don’t think she’s a danger to us.”
Reema looked at her son fondly. He was going to be eighteen soon. She still remembered him at eight. She couldn’t believe how fast time flew by.
“I was listening in on your conversation earlier. You're usual smart mouth and familiarity don't seem to bother her. Though I worry one day it'll get you in trouble. But,” She said, patting his cheek.“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders so I’ll trust you.”
Edan laughed. “Of course I do, it's full of your teachings.”
It was Reema’s turn to laugh as she shooed him out of the kitchen.
With a glass in each hand, Edan returned to the living room to find Sanik and Tali facing off across from each other. They were both lying on the floor on their stomachs, their right hands clasped together. Sanik grunted with effort as he tried to push the Titan’s hand down. Tali noticed Edan’s entrance and smiled at him, motioning for the glass of milk.
She took it in her left hand and took a sip, sighing her appreciation.
“Dad, why are you trying to arm wrestle her?” Edan asked exasperated.
“It’s a respect thing. You’ll understand when you’re older.”
“You aren’t even a strength build! Your class relies on dexterity!”
“Oh yeah!” Sanik said as if he had just remembered. He let go of Tali’s hand and hopped to his feet. “That’s why I couldn’t win!”
“You mean that's why you lost.” Edan corrected him as Tali sat up, the glass of milk already half finished.
“I didn’t lose. I just didn’t win. What's that!” Sanik looked towards the kitchen. “My beautiful wife just called? I better go!”
Tali laughed as he left. Edan opened his mouth to apologize but she held up a hand to stop him.
“He knew you were having a discussion with your mother and wished to keep me distracted. He also watched how I adjusted my weight when I lay on the ground and tested my control over my strength.” She added the last part with approval. “Your parents are not simple tailors.”
“Never said they were. Also, you have a milk mustache.” Edan pointed.
Tali whipped it away with the back of her hand.
“Truth. Also, you have a milk mustache.”
It was Edan’s turn to use the back of his hand, though he was grinning as he did it.
“If you are interested, Emge, I would listen to your breakdown of the ranking matches while your parents prepare our meal.”
It felt wrong sitting on the couch while Tali remained seated on the floor, so Edan found a comfortable spot and leaned back against the couch, using it as a brace. The Titan waited patiently.
Edan wondered where to start. It wasn’t lost on him that this was a great opportunity. Tali was likely very skilled and any advice she gave would be incredibly beneficial.
Tali allowed him to collect his thoughts. She spent the time looking around the room, taking note of the books and their titles.
“I need to focus on strength,” Edan said at last.
“Why strength?”
“At the moment our stats should all be roughly the same. Sure, a few have capped a stat or two while others haven’t, but a difference of five or six points isn’t too bad. Or at least it shouldn't be, but I felt it during the difference in the matches. The difference in stats is only going to grow once we birth our systems and our modifiers change.” Edan rubbed a hand against his chin. “At that stage, I’d be hard-pressed to handle an up-close fight.”
The Titan regarded him silently and when it was obvious he had stopped speaking asked. “Why do you think strength would help, or why must you fight close?”
“When I tried to tackle Kaneel I barely moved him. I didn't like that...and I suck at a distance?”
“I cannot judge for I too suck at a distance.” The Titan smiled before clapping her hands together. “So fights must be handled up close and personal. This is good.”
Edan bobbed his head in agreement.
“If you increase your strength, do you stop focusing on speed?” Tali continued.
“Probably not. They say the System is influenced by what we do up until we birth it, right? So mine would likely provide classes that lean more toward dexterity over strength. I could focus on strength at the moment, but there’s only so much training I can do. I mean, I wouldn’t focus entirely on strength, but it would become one of my main stats.”
Tali sighed and leaned back, using her hands to brace herself. Edan pretended not to notice how the muscles along her forearms bunched and her veins popped.
“What of your weapon?” she asked.
“I love my punch daggers! They feel natural and trust me, you do not want to see me with a sword. I’ll swing once and somehow stab three people, all of whom are allies.” Edan shuddered. “As bad as I am with a bow, I’m a hundred times worse with a sword.”
“Distance can defeat strength buta blow that misses by a hair still misses.” Tali pointed out.
“So be too fast to touch? Yeah, sounds good, but daggers mean I have to get up close and personal...maybe if I use something like a polearm?”
Edan imagined waving around a Naginata and winced. If he was bad with a normal sword, the thought of one on the end of a staff was just terrifying.
“Not all enemies can be cut.” The Titan pointed out.
Edan frowned. He understood why Tali was only asking questions and making vague points. The path to the peak of cultivation was one you had to walk your own way and Edan suspected the Titan didn't want to influence him too much. Edan enjoyed the way her questions made him think.
“So a club?” Edan finally asked after giving it some thought.
The Titan didn’t offer a suggestion, instead, she looked up at the ceiling.
“Defence?” She asked.
Edan scratched the back of his head, remembering how he had wanted a shield when facing Therry.
“So I need a new weapon, different stats, a shield, a club, a stick, talent with a bow, and the sword. Anything else?” Edan asked in exasperation.
The Titan laughed. It wasn’t the loud bark from the classroom but a warmer sound. It rumbled through her large frame and Edan felt it in his bones.
“You, Emge, have yet to take the first step of cultivation. Don't plan your end when you have yet to begin. Your path will grow as you do and the man who reaches the end will not be the man who began. All I would suggest is finding guidance.” Tali flashed him a smile, her eyes triumphant. “Take me as your Te'Roro Bwaka and I will show you.” She paused as she tried to find the translation. “Let me make you Va of my people!”