[Open] Then may he play his harp in peace...

[seasideminstrel]

The last couple of days have not been good, euphemistically said. Maglor has stalked the grounds like a captive thing, with his sword and flute at his side, sometimes mustering enough patience to blot down this or that imperfect composition, if his mind allowed him enough calm. His behaviour, perhaps, has much of his father's restlessness, but it

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[misborncat]

Asato is very fond of music. Very fond. So when he hears what sounds like strings being played, of course he has to come and investigate.

He sees the man for one of the people with almost-proper ears and hangs back a bit, wanting to be polite and wanting to listen a bit more.

[seasideminstrel]

Maglor plays on a little longer, head tilted in concentration and eyes half-closed, but in the end he will find some little thing, a peg to tighten here and there, another thrum, a satisfied nod.

Then he looks up and glances around, and nods in greeting, even if the young man with cat-ears and tail makes him wonder what kind of being he is, or how he came to look this way.

[misborncat]

He wonders the same thing about everyone here, so Asato understands. He smiles a bit and nods back.

"You're very good."

[seasideminstrel]

"It is in my name, and has been my profession for a long time," he says quietly, albeit not without surprise at the praise.

[misborncat]

"Your name?" He tilts his head and adges a bit closer now that he's not being scolded.

[seasideminstrel]

"Makalaure. It means 'Gold-Cleaver' in your tongue, and was given to me to refer to my skill with the harp."

Maglor certainly seems relaxed enough, even if the distance remains. "Tell me yours?"

[misborncat]

The nicer and more relaxed Maglor is, the closer Asato will get, stopping only when the harp-player lets him know (or until he's right next to him. Which ever comes first).

"I'm Asato. I don't think my name means anything though..."

[seasideminstrel]

He does not truly mind the company. It distracts him, and even better, he must not fear these people can somehow be drawn into closer contact than is well, and aside from some residual tension in his shoulders, Maglor will let Asato approach.

"Asato, then, without a meaning to his name. It is a pleasant-sounding name, at least."

[misborncat]

As with most people here, Asato automatically crouches down beside him, taking the lower, and by extension, the submissive position.

"Really? I've never thought of that before." He looks at the harp curiously.

"Are you a Sanga?" There's really no traslation for the word, though the Mansion might translate it as 'warrior/fighting bard'. Or it might not translate at all.

[seasideminstrel]

Assuming the Mansion is kind and does translate it, Maglor will nod, slightly.

"Yes. I was once, at any rate, until -- fate befell, and I became a wandering minstrel instead. I much preferred that." Quietly, the latter part. Not that he was in any mind to have a preference then, after Maitimo's death, but it was a relief to find the killings at least were over.

[misborncat]

Asato looks saddened by this. "Did you lose your Touga?" Again, one of those words that don't exactly translate, though the magic of the Mansion may offer up 'mate/sword brother or shieldmate'.

[seasideminstrel]

Hannonya, onóronya, otornonya... Maglor nods shortly, and something closes up within him, his response sparse.

"Yes. They were my brothers by blood as well."

[misborncat]

Asato's ears fold down a bit and he shrinks back. Normally, if one cat were upset like this, another would comfort with touch, but Asato's more used to others striking at him and is only sort of aware of that behavior so he doesn't get closer at all.

Probably for the best.

"I'm sorry." And there's a note to his voice that says he truly is and he might even understand a bit.

[seasideminstrel]

"Yes, so am I." He looks up in renewed surprise. "You speak as though your fate was similar."

[misborncat]

"I don't know exactly what you've gone through," he says. "But ... my family is all gone, and I am now a Touga without a Sanga. I know of one, but he is not here and he is bonded to another."

But, as long as Konoe is happy, then Asato is happy as well. "My family was killed by the village I grew up in, and though I was very young, there's still grief and pain there."

[seasideminstrel]

"These - Touga and Sanga - go together in your culture?" Forcing himself to relax, not tense, when he hears of yet more killings, is not easy, especially not when Maglor is painfully aware of his own family's history and wonders if he will ever be able to leave the past behind himself. Not likely so, he thinks.

"My sympathies for your family, as well. Mine was exiled, and in the course of said exile were slain."