"Flowers can be dangerous too, you know. Roses have thorns which are slightly toxic, and there are SO many flowers that are as poisonous as they are beautiful," Drae pointed out. "There is nothing wrong with being dangerous and beautiful at the same time," he said with a grin. 

"I haven't been to Koschei in a while… not since I went with Sabishii to bring his wife back out of the void," he answered Iva honestly. "Would it make you feel better if I dropped in to check on her?" he asked. "I think we need to trust Aaryona's strength. Your mother would not have made the deal if she did not believe your sister was capable of being able to handle it," he said honestly. 

"I didn't say that, Imp. I said I don't know," he chuckled. "He must have made quite the impression on you. I just hope the kid learned something from his stint down under," he said as he straightened the plate of biscuits. "I was wondering where he'd gotten off to. Hadn't seen him around Iria for a while…"

Iva nodded at him and smiled. “It would make me feel better if you did… But don't tell her that I want you to… She might think that I think she’s weak and I don’t. She is really strong but he is just scary from what I hear. I just want to make sure she is okay even though she can handle it because that’s what family does.”

There was a blush on her face as she began to draw circles on Winston’s belly. “Well… he took a big smell of my hair when we first met… I think he thought I smelled good.” She was red now. “I punched him hard but he is really cute…” She looked up at him innocently.

“You know him? What’s he like? Where’s he from? What does he like? Do you think he likes red hair?” She thought for a few moments. “Does he have a girlfriend? TELL ME!” She about choked down the biscuit that she had been trying to eat.

"I'll go touch base with her then, for you, Imp. But I won't let on," Drae promised her, crossing his heart. "She won't know that I am there because you asked," he said as he patted her head. 

Drae took note of Iva's blush and he narrowed his eyes as she explained what the first meeting between him and the wolf-boy had been like. "Good girl," he smiled at how she had punched out the boy who had tried to overstep his boundaries. 

Her over exuberance to find out more about this boy and it made Drae laugh. "Slow down, Imp, slow down," he said as he pat her head again. "De'Zhelis? He's a street urchin. Met him in Iria before I met your mother. Good kid, good informant," he told her. "As far as a girlfriend? Don't know so much. IF he did, he never introduced us," he said. "Red hair? Whose to say? We never talked about such things," he laughed.  

Iva tilted her head at Drae and chuckled a bit at him. “So he worked for you, Daddy?” She leaned towards her father as she took another biscuit and chewed on it. “I mean you were a street urchin weren’t you before Mom got with you? You peddled all sorts of bad things to and from the ports without people knowing. Got people things that otherwise they wouldn’t be able to get.”

The little red head looked up at him. “That’s actually how you and Mom met right? You were on your way to a job and she was in town delivering things to the college.” She grinned up at him.

“I mean I remember when you showed up to the Gardens and you hid under Ma’s bed because you couldn’t handle the happenings of the temple.” She giggled softly and looked out the window. “But now you take care of all of us like its nothing. You’ve grown Dad.”

"In my defense, Imp, I was hiding from the clergy," Drae said flatly to his daughter. "Gods know what they would have done to me if they had found me. I was after all one of the unwashed masses from Parvpora," he laughed. "I guess the kid did kinda work for me. He was more freelance though. Worked for whoever would pay him enough to survive. And as a kid, a few measly coins are good enough," he replied. "I wasn't a street urchin, love. Not me. Ever since I left Sidhiel, I've been a merchant and more or less a con artist, depending on the situation. Never a gutter snipe. But yes, I did and still do work in black market trade, but just because it is black market, it doesn't mean the things I peddle are all BAD. They are just hard to come by," Drae pointed out. 

"Yeah, that's how I met your mother," he said, recalling the day fondly. "I was on my way to my 'office' on the Irian docks, and she was facing off with some idiot who claimed the Gods were false and dead. She didn't need my help or anything, but I think my outspoken nature was what made me catch her eye in the end."

"Oh, it's not nothing, Imp. It took a while for me to realize how important you all were to me, and then for a while it looked like I wouldn't ever get to be with you again," he said rubbing his scarred leg ruefully. "It's funny how you don't realize how important some things are until you risk losing them."

Iva chuckled a bit at her adopted father and snuggled up to him now that she wasn’t too terribly mad. “I understand that much now I think… I remember some of my sisters talking about getting stuff from a market that had rare things.” She knitted her eyebrows together as she thought about it all. “If it’s not all bad then why does it have to be hidden?” She more or less was asking herself the question as she turned the topic back to Drae meeting Ang.

“Well, it’s a good thing you caught her eye… We wouldn’t have Ro or the twins if you hadn’t. I’ve never seen Mama as happy as she is now.” She mused a bit more before smiling at the thought.

“But it is something Daddy… I mean… Not everyone grows as a person like you did. Some people just run away but we’re all glad to have you here with us!” She bit into her biscuit and drank some more hot cocoa to wash it down. “Can I be ungrounded now please?”

Drae sensed a presence in the back of his mind and smiled. 

"You are not UN-grounded. However, as long as you have supervision, your mother has just consented," he tapped the side of his head indicating he had heard her mentally, "to allow you back into the market. Your new guardian will be tasked with keeping you out of harms way and make sure you don't get into any trouble," he announced. He snapped his fingers and the bedroom door opened. 

Standing in the doorway was a rather impeccably groomed young man. Snow white hair was brushed back and away from his face, but still had a slightly untamed look to it. Slightly pointed ears twitched with heightened capabilities, and his wolfish smile gleamed beneath a pair of luminescent green eyes. His black tunic was sleeveless, a practical piece of clothing for Sularian climate, but were still embroidered with the mark of Lady Dalanesca. Dark light weight pants and black boots completed the ensemble and he stood rather at attention. As his gaze fell on Iva, his smile became a bit of a smirk. 

"Hi there, Red."