Living with Talise, the days were peaceful and quiet. Each day was busy with its own tasks as they worked to make Talise's house a home. The seeds they had reclaimed from Aysut sprung to life beautifully thanks to Talise's magic and a few secrets wrested from their neighbors, growing into strong healthy vines which would likely bear fruit next Ignius. The garden was nearly done, and the seasonal foliage was coming into its next phase. Being woken up every morning by a pack of happy barks and wet noses wasn't the best way to start a day, but in the end the jackals were easily forgiven. Gerard found that he could put their restless energy to use by directing them to dig holes for planting, saving him some time. Unfortunately that time saved went to cleaning them so they didn't track mud through the house. They were given a separate kennel so he and Talise could get some privacy. He swore that Bertrand was probably the one who opened the doors to let the dogs in every time. That bird was no ordinary raven, and was far too self-aware to be ordinary.

Due to their splendid isolation, they rarely ever received letters or any mail for that matter. So when he found a strange invitation in the cross bird's beak, he was naturally suspicious. Bertrand shoved the envelope in his face until he took it from him, and left after fulfilling his obligations. Reading the message, he was hesitant. "Talise? Bertrand found something . It's…well it's somewhat urgent." When he found her, he showed her the invitation letter. "Your mother's going to be there, but I'm not too keen on being around a crowd. If this managed to be sent to us here, then I wager many others have received this as well." He grimaced, thinking about the noise and other unpleasantness that came with large social gatherings. Especially ones composed of mostly strangers. This would be even worse if there was wine and strong drink, and every large gathering of festivity known to mankind had strong drink involved one way or another.

There were many, many times that Talise reminded Gerard that it was their home and not just hers. She was still getting used to the idea of sharing everything with another person but at least she was getting better at it and slowly with time Gerard was as well. They had brought home a litter of jackals which quite honestly fit in with their odd little home. There was a large number of them certainly at least ten.

Talise was working on something in the kitchen. She had flour on her face and there was a pie that was halfway latticed in front of her. It was cherries from one of the bushes she had managed to grow fully. “Hopefully nothing bad…” He was hesitant as he spoke to her. She tilted her head as she got off of the stool she was standing on to reach the counter.

It was an unpleasant thought as she looked over the invitation. “We could just pop in for a few. If we’re lucky we might get ideas for Glaciem plants… Zets’Ki Cradle is so high up in the mountains there’s snow almost all year round… We don’t have to stay long and if we’re lucky she will be too busy with everyone else to bother us.” Talise gave him a smile and looked back over at her pie.

“Let me finish this and put it up… Then we can talk strategy for not going insane while there.” Her engagement ring glittered as sunlight hit it. It had some fruit juice on it like the rest of her hands did but she didn’t mind as she set to finishing the lattice and popping it into the oven with ease. “Besides if we got it that means my other siblings got it and they are by far way more interesting than we are.” She winked at him. “Anddd it will narrow down places we want to have the wedding at.” They were hard at work planning the perfect evening for that as well.

She began to wash her hands with crisp water as she looked up towards their room. “I bet I have an outfit to wear if you do.”

He had been so preoccupied with running into the Mother that he nearly forgot the new plant specimens they could find there. Zets'ki wasn't the first place to visit when he thought of it, with the cold and all–but snowbelles were indeed rare and he wanted to bring some snowberries too. Talise's reassurance helped ease his reluctance. "I suppose you're right…we'll both stay only as long as we like." He cracked a smile as he helped clean up the kitchen counter. "And if things turn disagreeable, we can give ourselves a quick exit." He nodded to her as she finished up the cherry pie she had been working on and put it into the oven to bake.

Gerard had only briefly met a small handful of Talise's siblings, but he was in full agreement with her statement. With several hundred children, it would be easy to miss a few. "That's perfect for us; fewer prying eyes and nosy future in-laws poking about." He had been thinking about where they should get married for a while now. The entire continent of Canelux was clearly out of the question; it was too easy for the goddess to arrive before they were ready. Abed was too loud and bothersome, Jasumin ran the risk of him meeting a certain someone–whom he'd rather not think about, and the other places were generally unsuitable one way or another. Zets'ki sounded peaceful enough, aside from the biting cold and there was Sihajja which he had yet to visit. 

When Talise asked him if he had an outfit ready, he folded the cloth he had been wiping things down with and hung it on a rack. "I'm sure I have something less somber in my wardrobe somewhere. I never thought I'd see the day where coming in all-black wouldn't suffice." As he went through his drawers, he found a few embroidered coats that seemed fitting. Eventually he narrowed down his options to a black coat with silver-silk lapels and lining, and a midnight blue coat with pale golden embroidered edges. Examining them in the mirror he still was partial to the black one, but he chose to change out his royal blue waistcoat for a wine-red one with a white silk shirt. As it would be chilly, he briefly considered a hat but remembered he didn't like wearing them. Ultimately he determined having his hair slightly disturbed by a hat would be far better than having the mountain winds whip it about and took a pristine black top hat adorned with glossy black feathers from its hatbox. 

After fussing with his clothes, he went downstairs to see what she thought. After they both were ready and the kennel was properly locked, the nokken and the half-fairy left for Zets'ki Cradle. Right away he was thankful for having changed his mind about the hat, as a gust of icy air slapped him in the face. The ends of his mouth were already turning into a frown as the chilly sensation was seeping into everything. He had swam in cold waters in his time before meeting his soon-to-be wife, but at least the water wouldn't drop below a certain temperature threshold before freezing into ice. Pulling at his coat he grumbled, "Bloody frost–let's get inside before we become ice sculptures."