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The God appreciated that they could move away from the subject, not liking to dwell on it any more than he needed to now that it was over. Revisiting the most painful moment of his life was not high on his to-do list for the evening.

Sitting silently in his thoughts was a habit Grendel had been unable to break. For several long moments, he did that while taking sips of his wine, staring off at nothing, missing whole chunks of conversation until a sound from outside pulled him back. He blinked red eyes and glanced over towards Ravnos, a question not spoken out loud in his eyes as he wondered what was going on before his attention shifted to Lillian.

"A Patshiv?" He asked, ears listening to the drums that had joined in with the sound of the violin, and he looked back to Ravnos once more.

"I am sure I will be okay here with the children if you would like to go." It seemed more like his type of thing, anyways, and he was sure the Disciple had been missing being around his people and their customs while remaining in the temple.

“A Patshiv is, in essence, a clan meeting. A feast and celebration when two Kumpania come together. That explains why there are so many here.” The Disciile explained to the God, catching the questioning look, so that he could have a basic understanding.

It was tradition, after all, for everyone in the camp to participate. Everyone would be there. And he wanted to be there too.

He frowned lightly at Grendel’s offer to stay here and watch the children. “You should come with me.” Ravnos offered him a reassuring smile. Lillian was right they could make do. Outside of the temple Ravnos believed that a Kumpania was the most safest place for them. No one would bother them here and none would dare harm the children.

Standing he lifted the pack up, holding it carefully as to not jostle the little ones while taking Grendel’s free hand with his own and tugging him to his feet towards the door. “Let’s have some fun tonight. Vadoma and Keiran will be looked after. I trust them to not come to harm.” Ravnos began to make his way out the door with the God in tow. Giving him nose chance to protest.

Lillian waited for the two males, her expression one of endless patience and warmth. Living forever meant you either continued the mortal fight against it or yielded and savored it. Immortality afforded the luxury of savoring, perhaps that was why she was so good with the young in general. She recognized their hurry but wasn't phased by it. Now she was waiting for these two to hurry up and get outside. The night was young and this Kumpania was an energetic, but positive, mix of Ravnos from all over the countryside. The Baro and the God had certainly come on a perfect night. Music began to fill the air, coherently and not in bits meant for tuning. Lively and rhythmic. The drums resonated into the night, as if summoning some ancient energy to join them, the cry of the violin now joined by a Nai and a Cobza as the strings of an old guitar melted vigorously into the harmony. "Let's go boys, bring those babies, it's time."

The bonfire raged wild and hot in the middle of the circled vardo. There had to be at least twenty, possibly even thirty or more counting the ones parked behind those circling the bonfire. Lillian balanced the bottles, her bells jingling as she began to sway and headed for the fire. They'd catch up. The dancer in her would never die and the music was a siren song. A voice called out from somewhere near the band. "Lillian! Dansezi în seara asta?" She smiled, her eyes sparkling a bit and her tone mirthful. "Lasă-mă să primesc mai întâi puțină căldură în burtă." Laughter erupted from the group and the male nodded, holding up his drink before taking a swig, his attention set back to fixing the string on a second guitar. It had been so long since they'd had a Patshiv. Now with the Baro here, and his family, it would be a night to remember.

The God only chuckled in response. Ravnos had understood him all too well. He gave the Disciple's hand a light squeeze before he was pulled along again, this time allowing himself to bed led out into the cool night air, where he could better hear the sounds and see for himself all who had gathered. Still holding his goblet of wine, he took a long drink from it as he was led along, red eyes glowing softly, burning as though in response to the flames reflected in them. Other than that, however, he appeared quite normal and had no intention of outting himself as a God amongst so many.

As they approached Lilian and Ravnos let go of his hand, he stood there for a moment, watching the exchange between them. He still wasn't sure he liked the idea of handing off their children to somebody he had only just met, but Ravnos seemed to trust her and insisted the babies would be safe. Still, he shot her a look of his own, catching her eye while taking another long sip of his drink.

For us His voice slid through her mind, emphasizing that those babies were not just children of Ravnos but of Grendel as well. He nodded at her, satisfied that he had gotten his point across, as Ravnos returned to him.

He laced his fingers through the Disciple's, once again allowing himself to be pulled along and led to wherever they were going. He finished off his drink along the way and wanted to set it down but did not know where, so he poofed it, momentarily, out of existence.

He could always summon it back to return to Lilian later.

"What are we doing?" He asked the Disciple, leaning toward him so that he could be heard over all other sounds.

Since the babies were, in his mind, secure with Lillian. Ravnos felt he could just relax and enjoy the evening. It had been a minute since they had done anything that didn’t involve them, so it just being them in that moment was nice. He loved his children no doubt. But he also loved Grendel too and any small moment he could catch to be alone with him he would take. Barely catching Lillian’s words, he had planned to.

Leaning in himself so that the God could hear him now that they were closer to the band and they had begun playing music it was only slightly hard to hear over them and the commotion of voices around them.

“Dancing of course.” The thing about the Kumpania was that music was at its core. Song, dance, instruments these were all things members knew weither they were mortal or not. The immortal ones never seemed to stray far from that concept. Taking Grendel’s hands he smiled and pressed his body close to his. “You don’t have to keep up and you don’t need to know the steps. You just need to have a good time. That’s all.” It was true. No one would care if Grendel didn’t know or didn’t feel he could keep up with how fast paced the dancing could get. So he tried to reassure him just in case.

Vadoma had noticed the change around her. The warmth of the fire, the smells, the voices around her. It was all strange and foreign to the tiny baby who’s eyes slid open just a bit to peer at the world around her as Lillian’s song came to an end. Tiny ears perked as she listened to the words she didn’t quite understand yet.

A small hand grasping at the blanket that was wrapped around her brother as she shifted to snuggle closer to him. Keeping a curious eye on the female that now held them. Her hair was so red and so long Vadoma had to resist the urge to reach out and tug on it even though she really really wanted to.

Lillian chuckled softly as Vadoma gazed up at her, watching her settle in close to her brother. When Kieran stirred, giving his big yawn and shooting her the broodiest expression the female couldn't help but laugh a little more boisterously. "Ah, look at you. Ready to topple empires with that look, eh? One day you just might. On the other hand.." Her gaze shifted to Vadoma and she smirked. "I think everyone will need to keep an equally close eye on you tigress." She tilted her head slightly, her gold ornamentations glinting beautifully in the soft light of the fire. She kept to the less crowded areas so the males could find them if they needed.

Lillian resettled the babies, taking the edges of their blankets and wrapping them one around the other so they could feel close. She pulled down the edges a bit so they could see everything but still feel safely enclosed. "Now, let's take a walk and see what we can see, hmm? Ah, look. This is the Kumpania. The families. Your families. And that is a foc." She said, pointing to the bonfire. It didn't matter if they could understand her or not. She treated babies as she did young adults in the sense that no matter your age you were always learning. The young more ravenously so. "Ah! And that.." Antonio waved from a stump, pointing happily at a young, beautiful Ravnos. Lillian shook her head and turned on her heel. "That is a purebred prost. Don't be a prost, darlings." The music was picking up pace and the melody was fierce and vibrant. "Now lets see what the fortune teller is doing.."

For Ravnos, Grendel was willing to do just about anything. Their entire relationship felt like it was always about compromise, finding ways to meet in the middle to ensure that this relationship could work and they would both be happy. It had been difficult at first for the God to do, but he was getting better. Every day, he learned more and more about the simple joys of mortal life, all because of his Dracian.

And so, he agreed to dance because when had the Disciple steered him wrong? And already, he was being rewarded with a kiss that ignited a passion inside of him. What was meant to be something brief turned into just a little more, and the God was not about to complain. For that moment, they were the only two there, and Grendel gave him that soft smile that was just for him and that look in his eyes infused with the love he felt.

"You can thank me more later." His deep voice rumbled, his thumb running against the Disciples knuckles, and he lifted his hand to kiss the back of it with a smirk.

And then he got pulled into the dance. It was awkward, at first. Of course, it would be. He had no idea what he was doing. But as time went on, he got the hang of it, learning how to move with the rhythm of the music, when to stop, when to call, and when to clap. He found, after a time, that he was even beginning to enjoy himself, forgetting about whatever troubles weighed heavily on his mind, forgetting to worry about the children, just focusing on that moment.

And then Ravnos was just...gone. Grendel stopped, frowning with puzzlement, turning as he looked around. Where had his mischievous Disciple wandered off to? He barely even had time to worry when he felt a familiar presence approaching him from behind and hands slip over his eyes. He couldn't help but grin and, spinning around, wrapped his arms around the Disciple and yanked him close.

"Hello, you." He rumbled and then dipped his head to kiss him again, though much more thoroughly than the time before.

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The look on Kieran's face lasted a very long time before he finally, slowly, and with what appeared to be a significant amount of suspicion, turned his gaze away and towards the flickering bonfire. He tolerated the rearrangement of his blankets without a fuss, eyes reflecting the glow as he stared at it for a long time, listening to the sound of the voice from above. While he may not have understood the words, he did have feelings to correspond with the inflection behind them as they moved about, the rhythmic sway of each step soothing enough that the frown, eventually, smoothed away from his features.

At some point, his attention turned towards his sister, and when she smiled, a small smile of his own appeared. He watched her swipe at an earring, which drew his gaze upward at the stranger once more.

Maybe she did not seem so bad after all.