Bene venisti (for smartass_captain )

[conjuredskies]

The last time Jim came to Bruma was upon the tail-end of a waking nightmare. The last time he walked the streets was just before he descended into a crypt to rescue Felix from himself. Hardly the circumstances to let him appreciate the snowbound town perched high in the Jerrall Mountains above Cyrodiil.

How much has changed, though. It’s afternoon in Bruma, and Felix is leading them out of the alleys behind the house, the pair of them bundled up against the cold. The snow has been swept to one side of the streets, and the town’s citizens are going about their day, from rugged fur-wrapped hunters to young women in bright cloaks heading for the chapel. The smell of smoke is on the wind as Felix takes his fiance’s hand and leads them up to the old familiar door under carved low-slung eaves. The front window shutters are open, and he’s sure they’ll have been spotted already. He lowers his hood and shares a look with Jim, a small smile before he knocks on the varnished wood.

Terentius doesn’t move too fast these days, and he’s half-consciously expecting a couple of minutes’ reprieve while they wait. Instead the door opens within seconds. He finds himself looking – up – at- gods, he does look so much like Stratos, doesn’t he? His complexion’s lighter and his face is lined; perhaps this man is a little heavier built than Stratos… and he’s smiling. Widely, genuinely, stepping back to gesture them both in. He’s clearly had time to change, whatever clothes he traveled in exchanged for a set of dark blue and gold robes.

“Come, come, it’s too cold to stand in the street.” Time in foreign parts has diminished his Brumese accent, but it’s still stronger than Felix’s: the vowels more drawn out, the hard consonants softer. “And here you are at last. Felix-” and now he’s pulling his slightly dazed son into an embrace as fierce as it is brief, before standing back to look at him, “I’m glad to see you. And to congratulate you!” He turns to look at Jim properly, eyes bright with interest. “This must be-?”

“Captain James Tiberius Kirk,” Felix says with quiet pride. “My betrothed, father. Jim, may I introduce my father, Legate Nereus Caelus of the Seventh Legion.”

Comments

[smartass_captain]

Truthfully, the only other time Jim's been to Bruma there was no time to stop and appreciate the sights. For a quiet mountain town the streets of Bruma are narrow and packed densely especially on the smaller residential roads. Each lowslung house looks as sturdy and cozy as the last but Jim remembers when they round a bend which door to head to.

Impossible to miss really, with Felix holding his hand as though they're sneaking off somewhere. He can't help but to smile back though his heart leaps into his throat with the door answers so swiftly. Rather than affable Terentius who has Felix's easy grin he's staring at a man Jim's never seen before even if the bone structure and shoulders scream Stratos at him at top volume.

Jim's hyper aware of every breath he makes, every shift in his posture as he's all but herded into the entryway watching Felix nearly lifted from the ground by the intensity of his father's earnest hug.

"L-legate Caelus. It's an honor to meet you." He remembers all of Felix's lessons in manners and is quick to bow the way he's always seen it done.

[conjuredskies]

Nereus bows gravely in return, more at ease with the gesture than Jim is. There is a reserve to his posture nonetheless, something thoughtful as he studies the young man before him, weighing Jim's well-dressed appearance, his handsome features and earnest courtesy against his strange accent and the sheer dearth of information he's been given.

Whatever his private thoughts, he seems to snap out of them quickly, and he gives Jim a kind smile. "The honor is mine, captain. I must confess I've spent the past six weeks wondering just who my son has pledged himself to. It's a relief to finally see you in person." A moment's pause, looking between the two of them. "But come, take off your cloaks and join us by the fire."

He steps back, gesturing at one of the other doorways... in which Terentius is already leaning with a smile, careful not to interrupt until now.

"Welcome home to you both," he says, while Felix is taking both their cloaks and hanging them by the door. I'm glad you made it in one piece."

[smartass_captain]

It's Felix, if anyone, who will notice the strange magic first. Clinging about Jim's neck where his cloak is fastened sits an ornate wooden brooch in the shape of the Imperial emblem, it's angular dragon design embedded in a lighter wood with silver rays and detailing against the darker back. But the flavor of magic hovering around it is Asgardian seidr rather than Nirnish magicka. BY all accounts it looks like something that belongs of this word but looks can be quite deceiving.

There may be a trace of the Breton knights' accents in Jim's own as they were his most boisterous study partners whenever he wasn't talking with Stratos or Felix but the quick way he speaks is all thanks to Jim's own upbringing. And funnily enough, neither of them look or smell like they've spent a day travelling hard.

Though some of Jim's nerves ease visibly when he spies a familiar face in Felix's Uncle. His smile is easier and a bit less formal though he won't notice it in himself.

"I appreciate the hospitality. As pretty as the weather outside looks, I'm glad for a warm fire and friends to spend the afternoon with." He lets Felix help him with his cloak and waits for him before following Father Caelus and Felix's Uncle further inside. He's seen these carefully carved doorways before. The rugs and knick-knacks settled on every shelf. It feels tidier in here now than when he was last here, but then, this time Terentius had time to plan for his guests' arrivals.

"I'd wager Felix is happy to be home after all our time stomping about the forests around Solitude, for certain."

[conjuredskies]

It's a small thing, a subtle kind of magic. But Felix is sensitive to foreign magic more than anything. The moment his fingers brush the edges of the brooch he notices. His own cloak is slung over his arm while he pauses to examine it. That's new, and he didn't give it to Jim. Perhaps Stratos? It's beautifully crafted, and it looks Nirnish... but the feel of it (though elusive) is not.

But his name is spoken, and the conjurer looks up in a hurry to find his father giving him another smile.

"Yes, indeed. Are you coming, Felix?"

"Of course." He flashes a smile back and hangs up the cloaks. No doubt his father will just think he's nervous. No doubt. It's so easy to forget the kind of work Nereus does.

"Have you been on the road all day?" he asks as they settle down. Terentius has his preferred seat near the fire, next to a heavy jug which he uses to dispense drinks to the new arrivals. They're warm, and turn out to contain a kind of mulled cider. Someone took notes on Jim's preferences back in Cyrodiil. "I was starting to fear none of us would arrive before the snows."

"Fortunately no, we stayed overnight at an inn. The climb up to Bruma takes long enough with a hot meal and a night's rest behind you."

"True." But his father's curious attention is turning back to Jim. "How did you find it, captain? I take it you're a landsman yourself, so perhaps Skyrim has prepared you well for our mountains."

[smartass_captain]

The only way Jim can detect magic of any kind is either by feeling its effects firsthand or smelling the hints of it in the air during a particularly taxing spell that leaves excess mana lingering about. He is completely oblivious to what he's brought into the Caelus house, only thinking about it insofar as that Loki's loaned brooch is a good accessory to his outfit and a finely crafted detail to sell the fact that he's from this world by looks alone. So far as he's concerned it's the perfect addition to his disguise.

Jim lingers in the doorway for Felix to choose them a place to sit before he settles in next to the conjurer and passes him one of the cups Terentius is pouring out for each of them. He gives a startled hum of pleasure at the cider once he's sniffed it, blue eyes bright. He can definitely have this without difficulty. His murmured thanks is quiet so as not to talk over Nereus or Felix.

"We were lucky the border is so quiet, these days, or there mightn't have been a place to stay at the inn with how idyllic the scenery has been." Jim's only traveled North to Bruma before but he imagines the road from Skyrim south must be equally as lovely so far as the sights are concerned. "Even the constant hiking won't stop my legs from hating me come morning but they'll forgive me this, I'm sure. When Felix said I hadn't seen anything yet at my complaints of some of the steep roads near Solitude he wasn't jesting."

What starts as a curious sip of the cider becomes an eager drink. It's so good! Mm.

"Ah, but how did your own travels fare? I had been lead to believe your trip might have been enough to make ours seem like a...like alight jaunt by comparison." He has to lick at his lip a moment to find the words he wants but so far Jim's keeping up easily in conversation.

[conjuredskies]

Why would Jim have strange magic with him? What purpose does it serve, left on his cloak? Did the Durants give it to him, or- no. No, that's not Harrowheart's magic. That much he knows.

He's almost too preoccupied to take in Jim's conversation, or the way his father chuckles at the invented description of their uphill trek.

"Longer, certainly, though I did have the advantage of traveling by ship. The road from Anvil isn't entirely comfortable, but I gather it's a good sight safer than crossing Skyrim these days. Ah- tell me, is it really true there are dragons up there?" The elder Caelus leans forward a little, his intense curiosity about the man sitting beside his son momentarily sidetracked by this equally urgent question.

At that, Felix actually laughs, seeming to forget his nerves. "Yes, actually. They're terrifying beasts, but you ought to see them, father - from a long distance."

"I did tell you, Nereus," Terentius chides as he refills his cup.

[smartass_captain]

"It's been quite a while since I was last at sea. I hope the weather was fair for your journey."

Felix's crafted background for Jim hangs at the forefront of Jim's mind. He would have had to take a boat to get from whatever small isle he was supposed to come from. Maybe a trade boat to the mainland? From there, he supposes it would all have been on foot or by cart. The maps Stratos keeps in his tent have all been studied carefully, even if Jim doesn't know many of the places mentioned on them by anything other than name.

He's so busy trying to get his geography straight that he nearly misses Nereus' question entirely. Jim chuckles and nods along to support Felix's claims.

"I didn't believe it at first, either. Solitude has been blessed so far though. Nothing so dangerous has come near."

[conjuredskies]

"I may have to make a detour north before I return to duty," Nereus muses, something familiar in his smile. "But I should really solve the mystery in front of me before I go looking for more, shouldn't I? Captain, I believe my sons have been trying to keep me in suspense. Between the pair of them I have yet been told almost nothing about you. Tell me, where do you hail from? And how did you come to meet Felix?"

The latter is subjected to a fond paternal look; he hopes his smile in answer will cover the way his heart is hammering. Jim's got this one. And Felix is ready to jump in and help him with the second part at least.

[smartass_captain]

Jim feels his pulse double at the attention being shifted toward himself. His own smile hasn't lost it's friendly charm despite this. He's used to working under pressure and smothering his nerves. At the very least, not letting them surface. Show no weakness, Captain.

"I hardly qualify as a mystery, sir. There's not much to tell, I'm afraid. Wasn't much on the isle I called home save for fishing to turn into a trade, but I'm not the kind of man who can stay still for that long. Worked until I had enough saved and bought passage on a merchant's runner to the mainland."

He gives a self conscious chuckle then before sipping at his cider and not letting himself look toward Terentius while he talks. Felix's uncle knows that none of this is true, he must have put it together by now. He's seen Jim in his own world's cloth.

"If I'd have known now how different the world would be from home, I think I'd have left even sooner. There's so much to see out here. Even more to do and explore. A fellow could spend many a year and not document even a fraction of it all."

[conjuredskies]

"I'm just glad you left," Felix says, flashing a smirk at Jim. "I don't care how nice your island was, you were wasted there. Jim has a true talent for research and observation, if not so much in the realm of spellcraft. That's how we met, as a matter of fact - he was asking around for someone to teach him alchemy and a mutual acquaintance introduced me." He coughs. "Although alchemy ended up being one of the lesser things we discussed..."

Terentius gives a snort that might solely be amusement at his nephew's expense. The old soldier is stoking the fire, mild expression giving nothing away. Nereus stifles a chuckle.

"No doubt you'll understand then when I say that you've given me the excuse to escape a very long winter sheltering on one island or other," he says to Jim. "The open sea is no place for any ship at this time of year. Long though the journey was, I can't pretend to be sorry that I'll spend this New Year by my own hearth - and with my own family. That is a tremendously rare pleasure for me."

[smartass_captain]

A small noise of regretful agreement escapes Jim at the mention of his inability to use magic. From what he's heard about Bretons that's kind of out of character for his supposed folk but it's not as though he can fake being a mage to a family of battle mages. It would be folly to even attempt a lie on that scale.

"Aside from my barely passable skill with a bow, I needed some way to earn a living." He's quick to agree but there's a nuance to Felix's euphemism that passes right over Jim's head until Terentius snorts and Jim doubletakes with a look of mild disbelief. Felix don't talk about bedroom affairs in front of your father. That Dunmeri swear he just muttered is definitely not anyone's imagination.

Thankfully Nereus isn't touching that remark. Jim isn't sure he could keep a straight face if he had to talk about that part of his getting to know Felix in any real detail with the man's father. Not that he's ashamed of any of it just, that seems really awkward.

"I'm somewhat in between tasks myself at the moment and the wait has been positively killing me. I want to be out there doing things and making discoveries, not lounging about an outpost's commons waiting for a pass to clear."

[conjuredskies]

Judging by the way Felix's cheeks flush, he didn't really intend his remark to be taken that way. Thanks, Uncle, way to prove you're his mother's brother. Nereus is tactful enough to let it slide with barely a quirk of his mouth, but then maybe he's still surprised at Jim's lack of magic. Still, no trait applies to a group perfectly. And it's easy to see how Felix would take to a man with such a hunger to explore the world around him.

"That sounds rather familiar. It doesn't seem so long ago that I was hearing about a certain son of mine sneaking off to forbidden ruins and dragging his elder brother after him." He's not talking about Rielle. He can't be. Not when he's smiling that way- though it takes Felix a split second of panic to remember that.

"I was ten," he tells Jim. "And I simply wanted to see what the fuss was about." Relaxing, he adds, "Speaking of Stratos, we traveled down with him. He had some letters to attend to, but he should be along soon." He's glad he said that, seeing how his father's eyes light up a little more.

"Excellent. We'll have to leave enough cider for him, then." Not that Nereus is doing all that much drinking, if one pays attention. "You and he must be very well-acquainted by this stage, Captain- where does the title stem from, if I might ask?"

"Oh, he's in charge of a small company of adventurers," Felix pipes up - out of sheer pride, of course.

[smartass_captain]

Jim's drinking rather more than he should be but then having the cup to his mouth is the only passable excuse he has to not speaking up and buying himself time to parse what's being said and what he should say next. It's not too difficult to keep up but Nereus's accent is different enough that it makes Jim have to pause to make sure he's heard everything right. He doesn't think it's overly obvious but then again he's sweating with nerves no matter how charming a smile he wears outwardly.

Is this going well? He thinks this might be going well. Terentius is here at the least and doesn't seem to be worried at all so they're probably doing this right?

"I think he was glad to be rid of us for a few hours, personally. Can't say I'd know why..." Felix, try to tease and mess with his brother? Say it isn't so. And his panic at having to make up a faction isn't even allowed to fully manifest because Felix has him covered once again. Jim tries to look knowledgeable when he nods. Confident.

That's exactly what he was going to say, yep.

"All of whom are very grateful for this turn of events I'm sure. Gives them a chance to have a holiday for the New Year celebrations."

[auspex_caelo]

The matter of the foreign magic Jim carried with him is one that nags at Stratos’s thoughts all through supper. He daren’t say anything while they’re gathered round the table, of course; anyway, his focus has to remain on encouraging Jim and his father to get to know each another – the acceptable sides, at least. Sharing stories of their time in Skyrim – especially those involving Jim, so it doesn’t feel like they’re avoiding anything. Helping Jim cover for any gaps in his knowledge, although really he’s gotten enough of a taste of life further north to sound like he’s lived there. He has, in his spare time.

It’s only after the meal is done that he risks making a move. While Terentius starts clearing things away, while Jim is volunteering to help and his father is looking contentedly sleepy, he rises and turns to his brother. “Felix, come lend me a hand putting our things in the right rooms.”

His eye contact is pointed enough that he’s sure his brother gets the message, so Stratos isn’t worried about that as he heads back out into the hallway. He isn’t there when Terentius calls Felix aside to stop his betrothed doing all the work (you’re still a guest, Jim) and the three of them are distracted fending off one another’s protests.

He’s holding Jim’s cloak in the shadowed hall, all his senses turned to that strange whisper of magic, when a voice speaks from beside him, calm but very inquisitive.

“What have you found?”

Stratos doesn’t startle easily. He only jumps a little when he finds his father there, eyebrows lifted at him. “Ah! Sorry, father, my thoughts were somewhere else for a moment, I-“

Nereus is already taking the cloak from him, studying the brooch with a frown, a light brush of his fingers. “This is an illusion enchantment, isn’t it? Albeit a strange one… is that all it is?” He looks up, and the gaze that meets his son’s is hard, level. “It’s clearly not one of yours. What does it mean, Stratos?”

“Nothing, I’m sure. Jim’s picked up many unusual trinkets on his travels. I simply haven’t seen that one before. It caught my eye.”

“Stratos.” His father sighs. “It’s the nature of mages to keep secrets. Especially from each other. Especially us. I know this. Just as I’ve come to accept that I am always… at a distance to your lives. I know there must always be more afoot than I’m told. By now I understand… I expect that one of my sons will lie to me. And it is not you.”

He leans closer in the shadows, voice stern and demanding. ”Who is he really, Stratos?”

[smartass_captain]

Who is he, really?

Jim's the man who left Stratos notes so that Felix's absences in the Nexus at his post wouldn't be seen as shirking his duties. He's the man who showed up drenched whispering conspiratorially with Felix but risking his own reputation to defend Stratos' little brother the day they first met. He's a man from another world with a complicated past and abandonment issues that mirror Felix's own.

His tiny hand holding Stratos' in the dark of the Tribune's tent. His feminine one keeping Stratos upright aboard Jim's ship both times they were cursed.

Taking up a bow and swearing to their cousin Marcella and Terentius with steel in his gaze that he would bring Felix home when he was lost to the Runeblades. Jim's a man without a drop of magic in him from a foreign world without the warm guidance of the Gods he's grown up in the presence of. A man who trudged through rot, through icy waters, through grotesque shambling horrors of Felix's own creation despite lacking any kind of powers to protect himself.

He's the man who nearly froze to death holding Felix in the chamber they fought those cursed blades. Who's alien clothing sat in a heap along with Felix and Stratos' armors next to the fire they were all drinking in front of only hours before. Who didn't turn away from their family even after everything he was forced to endure.

Who invited Stratos to his farm house to see a night sky that would make the Tribune but a child again in wondering awe of a cosmos unlike his own. Who's made a rightful place for Felix in his own world. Has done everything he could to count Felix's family as if it were his own.

Who indeed is the man sputtering while he tries to remember Nirnish insults now that Terentius and Felix are trying to urge him to take a seat. The only callouses on his hands are fresh yet and small from practicing his archery. Hands that settle on his hips when he leans forward and mutters something quietly to the pair of them. Terentius knows something of what Jim is, if only to know what he is not.

There is no man in this plane like Jim Kirk. There can't be because he doesn't belong here.

[auspex_caelo]

There’s a moment where he struggles to find words that encompass it all. To find anything to say to his father’s piercing stare in the gloom of that hall.

“A man I trust absolutely,” he finds himself saying, his voice sure and steady. Few are the people that Stratos Caelus trusts the way he does Jim Kirk, a man not of his blood nor his homeland nor even his world. The very thought would have shocked him, a few years ago. Yet here they are. And here he is, advocating for the man to his own father.

“Are you certain of that?” Nereus presses. His gaze is searching. “You know as well as I do the risks we face. You know better the kind of company Felix has sought out in the past. The man claims to have no family, his home is conveniently obscure, everything he says about himself is measured out as carefully as glow dust. I fear there are secrets being kept here.”

“You’d be right about that, Father.” Felix’s voice comes from behind him. The younger of the brothers swallows as they turn to him, but he lifts his chin and tries to stand straighter as he looks Nereus in the eye. “But not from us. I know exactly who he is and where he comes from, and I swear to you that Jim would never do anything to bring this family harm. I know my… taste in company doesn’t always inspire your confidence. But he is no spy and he’s very definitely no cultist. I promise, father.”

Amid the clunk of dishes from the other end of the hall, Felix watches the lamplight play over his father’s face. He reads the expression there, startled and compassionate and not truly convinced, and something in him panics. Spurs him to throw out, headlong: “He saved my soul. And nearly lost his own to do it.”

[smartass_captain]

"I'd like to show you sometime, if I could. I daresay it's about the only way you'd believe me about some of the depictions of where I work." Even with Nereus and Stratos gone from the room Jim's careful to keep his voice down as he talks to Uncle Terentius, aware even with the haze of drink that he's got a part to play here and he'd best stick to it. "Felix can tell you I--Felix?"

Jim looks up from his seat and cranes his neck but the conjurer has disappeared from the kitchen. Figures he'd insist Jim not help and then disappear himself so that he didn't have to do any chores. Jim 'tsk's before heaving himself back out of his seat to try and give their uncle a hand but he's a difficult man to dissuade once he's made up his mind.

It ends in Jim holding up both hands in a show of surrender, shirt slightly wetter for the splash of water that was thrown his way. He ducks back from another warning shot and backs into the hallway with a laugh in his throat that dies the second he turns and spies the somber faces on all three of the Caelus men. Adrenaline spikes through him but Jim keeps his expression carefully friendly.

"Here everyone is." He wants to ask what he missed, but a chill passes through him the moment Stratos meets his gaze. The expression on the man's carefully guarded face tight in a way Jim hasn't seen since Rielle.

"Oh shit." It's quiet, his slip back into Federation Standard, unintentional but there all the same.

[conjuredskies]

He can see Nereus look his way sharply at the foreign words, but the man’s attention is drawn swiftly back to the look on his younger son’s face. Felix is turned away from Jim, and yet- something in his face, the stark pallor he’s taken on, clearly tell Nereus this is more than merely a story. Paternal concern takes over, and he reaches up to clasp his son’s shoulders, expression creased with gut-wrenching worry, Jim’s cloak still in one hand.

“By the gods, Felix, what-“

“I can’t- I can’t speak of it, Father.” That’s no lie, even. Felix breathes deep, makes himself meet his parent’s eyes. “But it’s all right. I’m- it’s over. What matters is that Jim saved me. He and Stratos. I can’t tell you how much he- how he’s earned our trust. And my love. There’s no-one else I’d have by my side like him.”

Nereus nods slowly, and his voice is tight with emotion. “I understand, my son.”

And then he pulls Felix into a tight embrace, one the conjurer returns after a startled moment. When they pull back again, Felix reaches a hand back to Jim, glancing over his shoulder with wide eyes.

[smartass_captain]

Jim doesn't back up at the sudden turn, though his gaze does track to his cloak Nereus is clutching with confusion evident in his gaze. It's brief--the weight of whatever is going unsaid in the room is engulfing. Suffocating. Taking all of Jim's attention as it must be Stratos and Felix both as well.

He wants to point out they had a fair bit of help, he and Stratos. But he can't speak to the close friends who aided them any more than he can his own world and if Jim mentioned Marcella or Terentius it would implicate them in keeping secrets from the Caelus Patriarch as well. Jim sits on his words and watches with a chest pulled uncomfortably tight for the emotions churning inside of him.

Yet he doesn't hesitate for even a second to reach out and take Felix's hand in his when the conjurer seeks it.

When the tension has eased a little Jim clears his throat.

"I would ask you let me speak of it, if anyone. Do not make Stratos or Felix relive it. It won't hurt me quite as bad to talk as it will them. What I remember of it, at least."

[conjuredskies]

Felix steps back as his hand curls tight around Jim’s, seeking to lean into his warm presence. But he shakes his head at Jim’s honest offer, pulling him all the closer. “You went through as much as we did. I couldn’t let you do that for us.”

It’s hard to fathom the depth of feeling in Nereus’s gaze when he turns it to Jim. There’s worry there, and love, and a new gratitude for this strange young man… and a touch of contrition. Quietly he hangs the cloak back up before he speaks.

“I’m afraid I must apologize to you, Jim. I came… terribly close to making a grave misjudgement of you. I’m glad my fears were misplaced, and I hope you understand my reasons for being concerned about any new addition to our family, but…” he looks back at Felix, and his voice softens, “Clearly I owe you a better welcome than that, to make an understatement."

[smartass_captain]

"We all knew this was a risk. No one likes being lied to."

Jim knows he's veering off script here but he shoots anyone who looks at him askance a glance that Felix of all people knows. Nereus has figured out enough of the truth already, insisting on the lie wouldn't really do anyone any favors here and the man is their family. Marcella knows. Ushug knows. Terentius knows.

"I wasn't raised the way you were, Felix. The things that trouble me aren't the ones that bother you, I expect. All the Cyrodiil dialect I know your sons have taught me so I apologize if I sound more like they than myself. I'll leave it to Stratos to determine how much I should tell. But I can't stand here and pretend to be something I'm not. I won't insult us both pretending to think you'd believe it."

Nor should he.

"Just let me tell him, Felix. Whatever Stratos thinks he should know, I'm gonna do it." His murmur to his betrothed is quiet but Jim doesn't hide it's strangeness either.

"I'm sorry. I've been practicing for months for this. I had rather hoped I'd be better at fitting in here than I seem to be." Jim's stomach churns for the idea that he's screwed this all up somehow. But he has, and he'll own it now that things are a mess. It's practically his specialty.

[conjuredskies]

"I... appreciate that." Nereus's eyebrows are rising slowly, however. He's getting the sudden and distinct impression that this goes beyond Jim's background being other than advertised, and he's wary of what else they could possibly have to reveal.

"No." Felix is shaking his head. "You can't, Jim. We prepared for this."

It's left to Stratos to make the call, and he might well look askance at Jim. His father is turning to look at him, too, and his eyes flit between all of them.

Father doesn't need to know about the blades," he says finally, looking apologetic at his father's consternation as Nereus realizes that both his sons apparently speak this completely alien tongue.

[smartass_captain]

Right, okay then. They're going to keep that skeleton well and locked up in the closet. Fair enough. Felix looks as pale as a ghost already. Jim gestures back toward the dining area, tugging Felix along by the hand so he can get his betrothed seated and a warm drink in his hands to sip at.

"While I am fully human I'm not from Nirn. The planet, er." Jim licks at his lip and frowns intensely in concentration before he remembers Felix's preferred terminology for this. "Sorry. The plane I'm from is very different to this one. Due to extenuating circumstances and a very odd coincidence I had the chance to meet Felix. We couldn't ever quite seem to stop running into each other. Getting to know Stratos was really just a matter of time."

Jim doesn't outright explain that Nereus is the only one unaware of this much but well. Given that he's comfortable talking about it in front of Terentius it implies as much.

[auspex_caelo]

Terentius sneaks them all a concerned look when they come back in together, all silent and somber. One glance at Felix and his fears are confirmed. The old soldier plunks down the cup of canis tea he's just poured in front of his younger nephew, and busies himself with getting some for everyone else as Jim goes on to spell out the situation.

Whatever half-formed inferences Nereus has been putting together, it's obvious Jim's actual confession blows them out of the water. He turned a stunned look to each of the younger men. Stratos nods in silent corroboration.

"You're from another plane?" He frowns. "There are other planes where humans dwell?"

"It's not a daedric realm," Stratos assures him.

"But then-" he gives Jim a hard look, "you're a plane-walker as well? A conjurer? I thought you had no magical ability." He turns his attention to Terentius setting their cups on the table. "And you knew?"

"Eventually. But Jim's not much to worry about. It's obvious he's not a real daedra; he's as human as they come."

[smartass_captain]

"I'm a...wh-- no. No, I'm not a conjurer." Nereus and his thicker accent and now rapid speech take Jim a moment to keep up with. He's shaking his head quickly.

"There's." Fuck, this is hard. Jim doesn't have the words for what he wants to say. He licks at his bottom lip and squints down at the table before raising his head again. "There's no one who is mage in my plane." That's close, right?

"I used to think it was impossible to...t-to cast there. But I've seen it done now. It's just harder." Repeated exposure to the climate seems to show that mages can acclimate to the area quite successfully given Felix's familiarity with his spells in Jim's world as the years have gone by but the captain doesn't even know where to begin if he wants to explain it.

"I'm not a mage. And I'm certainly no daedra. I just. It's my job to study things people haven't seen before. I ended up wandering into a place that let me meet your son." A beat. "Sons."