"If some tells you they never worry about a thing, they're either lying, or got nothing in their heads to begin with. Everybody worries." - Old folk saying.

A Private Cabin on the Veros Family Ship

Southern Ocean

Open Seas to the South of Ur-Teros

5th day, 4th week, 12th month, year 119 VA.

"You're brooding again," observed Artair, as his eyebrows scrunched together with some concern. He was laying down on the large bed in their private cabin at the moment, his head resting atop Aideen's lap, as she sat on the bed behind him. "Still worried about the same thing?"

"I can't help it, I guess," she replied with some melancholy in her voice. Her hands combed the thick hair of Artair's mane with a fine brush, and she looked closely at the gray hair that visibly streaked through the once jet black mane. "Your father's passing… was an unpleasant reminder."

"It's just how we view life differently, I think," he replied from her lap as he looked up towards her. His body was still large, and powerful, but she noticed that his skin had started to slack, and that some of his muscles had softened with age. "For us, we are all too aware of our short lives. There were quite a few longer-lived tribes in the isles, supposedly, and they really put a contrast between our kind and theirs. Your worries reminded me of stories my old teacher told me he experienced when he was your age."

Aideen nodded, the teacher Artair had mentioned in passing was an old friend of the family from many, many generations back, from when their ancestors still lived in the western isles. Illyvich had requested a favor from him when it was clear that Artair was of a more scholarly bent.

His old teacher was a therian that resembled a tortoise in appearance, and if the stories were to be believed, was over a thousand year old by then. His breed of therian supposedly really did live that long, with some even reaching two thousand or more years of age.

"My people, we believe that what we achieved during our lifetimes were what mattered. Those who lived full lives, had lived good lives," added Artair as he glanced at her eyes lovingly. "We still have two, maybe three decades together ahead of us, with luck. Let's just make the best out of it, rather than worry about a future that none can go against anyway."

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"I know you have a point," replied Aideen with a sad smile as she looked at him. Her hands absentmindedly coursed through the smooth, well-cared hair of his mane, just savoring the feeling as they glided between her fingers. "Though I can't help but think about it even so. I have already lost my parents, and my siblings. My nieces are all that's left now…"

"The pain of losing your loved ones never really diminished, even with repetition," she muttered with a sigh, before she bent down and kissed his forehead, and teased one of his thick whiskers, which made him giggle as it was ticklish to him. "I guess you're right… we should savor the time we still have rather than worry about the inevitable."

"It is a better way to spend time than to brood," he replied with a teeth-baring grin on his face. One of his large, paw-like hands went up and caressed her hair in turn, the soft pads of the paw feeling smooth as they rested against her cheek. "And I happen to have some ideas on how to spend that time~"

"Oh, you…" replied Aideen with a giggle. She did not resist when he gently pulled her tunic off, though.

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Port Erbe

Southwestern Ptolodecca

Lichdom of Ptolodecca

7th day, 4th week, 12th month, year 119 VA.

Two days later, just a day before the winter solstice, the ship reached and docked at Port Erbe, where Aideen and Artair departed after they thanked the crew. His family had insisted they take the ship back rather than the longer land route, and they had relented in the end.

Their coming and going were quite common by now, and the city by the fort at Port Erbe had more than doubled in size over the past decades, as the increased trade with the Empire brought prosperity to the port town.

Quite naturally, there were quite a few immigrants from the empire who had made their fortune there as well, as they moved early and made good use of the advantage of being one of the first to stake their claim on a portion of the ongoing trade.

The therian population of the city had increased tenfold, and even the nearby merfolk had traded and visited more actively these days. Aifeen even saw a couple of merfolk in their dresses made out of some sort of seaweed fibers haggling with a therian merchant who wore an imperial-style outfit.

"There's nothing that needs you urgently in the research department, no?" Aideen asked as she turned towards Artair with a smile. They walked together hand in hand, and this time drew few looks, as mixed-race couples - of every sort - had become more common in the city, which used to be mostly human before.

"I don't think so, no," replied Artair after he thought about her question for a while. The research department he was part of still studied the Unliving mainly, and the Mortality affinity as a secondary subject, and these days they mostly pondered theories and possibilities since many of the practical discoveries had long been found. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just thinking… maybe we ought to take another trip around the country, just to enjoy life, for a few months or so," said Aideen with a beatific smile as she looked him in the eyes. "What say you, my dear little kitty, hmm?"

"That definitely sounds like a plan I could get behind," he replied with an equally genuine smile on his face.