Ashes and Fire - Cain "Matches" Bradshaw - 02-10-24

The nights are getting colder. The wind bites a little at Cain’s skin as he carefully navigates his way back to the Éirigh house, only stumbling every third or fourth step. The cobbles seem to have grown treacherous, somehow, just in time for him to be absolutely, 100%, blindingly pissed-out-of-his-mind drunk. A conspiracy surely. As he deftly circumvents a puddle, a small shadow tumbles out of the mess of protective vegetation that’s sprung up from the Druid Grove around the house. Perhaps a small assassin of some sort. It bites his ankle. But in a friendly sort of way.

Cain looks at this tiny thing, and with his new gauntlets still attached, having not taken them off the whole evening, he aims them at the miniature assassin on instinct. He tilts his head and concentrates really hard before realising this is not an enemy, and lowering his hands.

“My bad.. Little lady.”

Gigi looks at him reproachfully, and bites his ankle again in a slightly less friendly way. Then she turns around and - with a look over her opossum shoulder clearly indicating that he should follow - leads him around the back of the Éirigh house. Laying like a starfish on his back on the damp, cold grass, in the middle of the verdant courtyard is Florian. He’s blinking slowly at the night sky.

“Florian! I got your note- Are you.. Are you with us?” He stumbles over to the grass with his hands in his pockets and leans over Florian’s little frame, looking for life in those eyes. The eyes lock on Cain’s, jade flames flickering in the darkness. A soft grin spreads slowly across Florian’s face.

“Bro. Bro, I am… always with you. In like, a spiritual sense, ya know? But I am… also here. Right now.” He blinks slowly. “And I will be honest, I forgot which teapot I put the shrooms in this morning, so I am.. A little blasted right now. But it’s all good. It’s all good. Come lie down, the stars are dope tonight.”

“Right on bruv, let me just.. Heeeere we go.” He squats down and slowly shifts his body weight backwards to the grass until he eventually tips and falls on his back. He keeps his gauntlets up in the air and wiggles them in Florian’s direction. “Took my vows, got some sick gauntlets.”

Florian takes a moment to focus his eyes on something slightly closer than outer space, flailing his own hands a little in the muddled depth perception before carefully touching the glowing obsidian.

“Woah. Bro, those are so fucking cool. Insane.” Now that his eyes are focused closer to the ground, he manages to run them all over Cain. His grin widens. “Dude, horns! And the tan! We match!”

He punches Cain in the shoulder a little, but strength was never Florian’s strong suit, and he’s severely under the influence. It becomes more of a pat.

“You look great, bro. How do you feel? Was it cool? I bet it was cool as fuck.”

“Cheers bruva. I feel... brilliant. Honestly. Vulcanax and I really connected. We teamed up to destroy a fuckin’ island. But it wasn’t just destruction for the sake of it. I understand... my purpose, you know?”

The gauntlets hiss as they eject steam and the glowing runes fade out until they are pure dark obsidian. He then lays his arms upwards and allows them to fall off his hands. Florian nods at him, pleased.

“Fuck yeah. You love to hear it. I was hoping it would be something like that. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, ‘cause I think there’s like a whole connection between us.” He flaps his hands in a vague gesture above their faces. “I mean, obviously we’re all connected, the whole family. But there’s an extra close one between you and me.”

There’s a cross between a hiss and a squeak in the darkness and Florian fishes Gigi out of the shadows, holding her to his chest with one arm. She settles in for a nap.

“Did I ever tell you the name of my old circle? My family’s circle. The one I was part of before I founded the Circle of Jade.”

Cain roots around in his pockets and fishes out one last cigar, clicking his fingers to like it and taking a long drag before blowing a few circles up into the starry sky. He then offers it over to Florian.

“No mate, I don’t think you did.”

Florian takes a deep drag of the cigar and his eyes flare green for a moment. The tip glows bright in the darkness, sparks leaping from it to whirl around them, chasing each other like fireflies. Florian blows an impressive smoke ring and grins at Cain.

“I was born to the Circle of Embers. Shit, this is a quality cigar. Pops give you this? Anyway. The first magic I ever learned was fire magic.”

He passes the cigar back, eyes flickering with flame. His voice is a little distant, a little bittersweet.

“I know what it’s like,” he continues. “How it feels when you pull fire from your veins and throw it at the world. How most people only see the destruction, instead of what it actually is. Where I come from, forest fires are basically holy.”

Cain takes the cigar back and returns the grin. “Hey, I was smoking quality shit long before I met the old geezer.. Though he does have pretty good taste, I’ll give him that.” He takes another drag and this time blows a ring, and then a straight arrow that flies through the centre of the ring.

“I thought that too, to be fair. About destruction. It’s part of why I chose Matches. That’s how I saw myself after Honey… was killed.” He swallows deeply. “And I got my magic. Just... fire. Like the ones that got her. That’s all I could see it as. But Vulcanax and the rest of you helped me see it differently. It’s renewal. A fair, clean slate. And it gives room for the rest of you to make something new...” He goes quiet for a moment before realisation dawns on his face.

“Mate! How could I forget, your Abuela was there! She fucking-” Cain makes an upwards gesture with both hands. “Grew a whole new forest from what Pops and I torched! Little help from Eroshira too.. It was mental.”

Florian pumps a fist in the air a couple of times.

“Fuck yes, Abuela. I’m glad she was there. Nothing better to demonstrate the circle of life and strife than Ol’ Jade and Fire Pops, eh?” His eyes go a little unfocused again, following the serpentine trail of smoke back up to the stars. “That circle is everywhere. In all kinds of sizes. Forests live for ages and then have to burn to become new forests. Mortal lives pass through fire and either become stronger or make way for a different kind of life.” One of his hands takes hold of one of Cain’s. His eyes are far away and his voice is casual and calm enough that Cain can change the subject if he wishes. It’s an invitation, not an interrogation.

“But you passed through fire and became it. Who was Honey?”

Florian feels the warmth deep in the scaled hand of Cain as he wraps his thumb around to return a soft squeeze. Cain similarly looks far away as he replies.

“My partner. Her name was Tanith Honeymead, I called her Honey. Sweetest person I knew. We met in Waterdeep a few years ago now, before I was here. She changed everything. I was never the same after I met her. And I was never the same when she died. She was... the funniest person I ever knew, and the strongest. She was my best friend, and we loved each other. And I lost her to the Githyanki attacks. Dragon fire.”

There’s a soft squeak and a clumsily sort of lumbering as Gigi climbs from Florian’s chest over to Cain and tucks herself up under his chin. Florian’s hand in Cain’s is calloused and warm and steady.

“I’m sorry. There isn’t any kind of words that would soothe something like that. That hurt won’t ever go away but your life will, in time, grow around it. Like a tree getting new rings. But I’m still sorry.”

The silence around them is a blanket, shielding and comforting. Far away, the sounds of Daring Heights at two in the morning carries on as normal. Above them is nothing but stars.

“And then, you became Matches.” It isn’t a question, just another gentle prompt.

“Like I said, everything changed. I didn’t think I could be who I was with her again. And I had this magic now, I could live a new life as an adventurer. I was really just a civilian before. Never trained with weapons, didn’t know any magic. Everything about how I saw myself changed after the fires. So why not? I had nothing to lose at that point. Why not reinvent myself? So, I became Matches. And I don’t regret a second of it.”

Florian shakes his head. Then he stops because it’s making the stars spin in a bad way.

“I don’t think you should. If someone’s trying to make you feel like you should regret Matches, just let me know and I’ll eat them.” He opens his mouth and, with teeth usually found in something large and canine, bites at the air a couple of times. “No ketchup needed, down the hatch, man.”

Gigi hisses in agreement. Florian lets his teeth shrink back to normal. Cain flashes a grin towards his brother before laying back and casting his gaze upwards again.

“But really,” Florian continues, “that’s all part of the Circle, if you ask me. Fire changes things. The heart of you stayed the same, I think. Your love for her, kept safe in there.” He pokes Cain in the general vicinity of his sternum. “ The core of someone can only be known, truly, by themself. Only they can know what their name is. Even if it changes or stays the same. You knew you were nothing but Matches for a while there, and that’s fine. And now you’re ready to be... both Matches and Cain?”

This time it’s a proper question.

“I think so… Cain still feels a bit personal. Cain came back in a moment I wasn’t ready for. I don’t know if you heard it from Orianna. But the day we were reclaiming Pops’ Piece of the Nine, Honey was brought back. But... not right.”

Florian sucks in a harsh breath between his teeth. An emphatic “Fuck.” is all he can manage.

“I don’t know how they managed it, but Phystal brought her back under his control.” Cain’s breathing grows unsteady for a moment, and his voice shaky, but he takes a moment and brings himself back. “By the time we were able to get her back to herself, she only had a few moments before she turned to ash in my arms. And she used those moments to call my name. And it was the first time I heard that name in years. All at once, it was back. And I didn’t know what to do with myself for the better part of a month.”

He takes another long drag of his cigar, blowing out smoke with no flair or style. Florian can tell that, although there is pain in Cain’s voice as he recalls what happened, it is pain he has worked through. This isn’t the first time he has recounted this day, and the wounds are not as raw as they initially were. Florian doesn’t say anything for another long moment, doesn’t rush through the silence and the calm between them. He just nods and squeezes Cain’s hand.

Then, finally, “I get what you mean about personal.”

He holds a dirtied and tattooed hand up to look at it in the darkness, eyes searching for tattoos that are no longer there.

“Florian isn’t the first name I’ve had. It’s the third actually. But telling people about your real name is… It’s like you said. It’s personal. Private. You tell people you trust.”

His eyes go unfocused against the night sky again.

“First I was Catalina. My moms gave me that name. Then I was Luz for a little bit. Before I was ready to tell people that I was Florian. Luz wasn’t who I really was, but it was someone I needed to be at that time. Until… I didn’t. Anymore.”

He shrugs with one shoulder, wriggling a little in the grass. Then his eyes turn back to Cain, burning jade.

“What I’m trying to say is, I’m really happy I’m one of the people you feel like you can be Cain around.”

Cain’s burning gold eyes lock with Florian’s, and he smiles softly.

“I’m really happy you can trust me with the time you were Catalina. I won’t forget that trust.” He holds up his scaled hand balled into a fist for a bump. Florian lifts a fist of his own, wrapped in quickly growing vines. When the two hit, there’s a small shower of sparks and flower petals.

“You clear the way, Cain. Burn out the rot. And I’ll come after and heal it. Make it grow again. Together, we’ll complete the Circle. Hell of a team.”

“Sounds right on to me, Brother. I’m with you all the way.” Cain uses his other hand to take another drag, this time blowing smoke that forms into the shape of a small dragon, flying up to the stars.

Florian smiles broadly, satisfied, sleepy, and a little stoned. Then he began the long, arduous task of standing up.

“Alright. You’re clearly in as great a shape as I had hoped. Tan and scaly and full of the good stuff - fire and ale both. Imma head home.” Once on his feet, he cranes his neck until it cracks loudly. “Toothy doesn’t really sleep well unless he can use me as a sort of weighted blanket.” (He looks disgustingly happy about that fact.)

Cain uses his gauntlets that he left on the grass to push himself up, also incredibly slowly. Gigi rolls off his chest and trots over to Florian. “I still need to meet this soon-to-be Mr Abeia, bring him to family dinner soon, yeah?”

There’s a small explosion somewhere behind Florian’s eyes as he considers - probably for the first time - that there might be an exchange of surnames after the eventual wedding. He blinks a couple of times and bravely sets it aside to handle later. Much later.

“Tell Orianna’s dad’s to cook double and I’ll bring him by. He’s a big boy. Peace out, brother.”

He winks at Cain, and then there’s a crack of bones and shifting of skin into feathers. A massive owl with green-tinged feathers takes to the sky.

“A big boy? Oof..” Cain shakes his head and slaps his cheeks with his hands. “No. Bad. Go home, Cain.” he mutters to himself as he drags himself back to the front of Orianna’s house.