"Hm," the youth muttered before shrugging, "Perhaps a touch of destiny to it. Perhaps I just belong here." He certainly hoped it was the case. "Even if I am frequently mistaken for a halfbreed prostitute." He smirked a bit there and sighed a bit. "And the barkeep likely thinks it's two over-the-hill working boys taking a few moments off. So why not, hm?"

He had another drink from his glass before shrugging a little, "Then again, the Erins are... these are lands that welcome those who wish to be welcome. Perhaps you wish to have some ill befall you so you annoy things likely to do you ill."

"That's probably the smartest someone has said to me in quite a while" Jochy mused. "That certainly used to be the case. Wasn't exactly the happiest man in the world, tried to off myself once before yer and Nialla found me and saved me. "And yeah, the blond hair is fun like that. I tended to be mistaken for one all the time, but on the other hand it does make a lot of people ignore you, which can be handy."

His lips twisted in a little cynical grin. "You said you talked to Nialla. Did he tell you what have happened in Cnoch na Niall after yer left? To Mabhe?"

There was a 'slam' as all four legs of the chair hit the floor. Seth was leaning over the table, eyes suddenly intense on Jochy's and his whole body tensed. "'Happened'?" he repeated, hands flat on the table and his body tensed. "What 'happened'?"

"It's been four hundred years, Seth. She ain't alive anymore. But she had a son, and he had a daughter, so the line is alive and well. Well, yer met Nialla. But..." Jochy was serious here, but he'd rather he take this than Nialla. She didn't deserve more problems. "There was an attack. On Cnoch na Niall. centuries ago. Neely, that's Mabhe's son, escaped. But everybody else was killed. They didn't even see it coming, the Queen at that time, Titania, had grown paranoid. So she was killing off anybody with a claim to the throne. Nobody saw it coming since it was the Queen's troops. That's why... that's why we're here now in a way. Titania... started to come after Nialla too, finally. Killed her fiance. We've been fighting a rebellion here, which ended just a month or so ago. There's a new queen on the throne now, everybody that was involved in that is dead. Even the king. Finally." Jochy ran a hand through his hair, looking steadily at Seth.

"I'm telling yer this so Nialla won't have to. Mabhe haunts some parts of Cnoch na Niall, I've seen her ghost. It's better yer know about this here and now than when yer there."

Seth's scarred hands slowly curled into fists over the course of the description of events.

He had a brother--of a sort--somewhere out there. But they'd been killed. He wasn't expecting them to be alive now but... killed?

And when he heard that the king and queen were dead, all he could say was, "Good."

And to the last, he pushed back on his chair again, his voice a small thing, "What... what kind of ghost, Jochy? A mad thing? A talkative spirit?"

"Think she still defends the place. She wasn't too bad to me, sure, scared the hell out of me, but I used to have a talent for talking to ghosts. And I like the place. She's... dead shades are usually reliving the last moments, and she wanted to defend it... so that's what she's doing. I'd hate to be an enemy trying to sneak in." Jochy was suppressing the urge to just reach out and squeeze the other man's hand, they weren't together anymore, hell, this Seth had never been.

"It's been a long, sad chapter. But it's over now. Nialla is going back, there is no more civil war... perhaps finally Mabhe can rest now. Maybe." He spoke surprisingly gently, because this couldn't be easy for seth.

Seth looked at Jochy for a long moment before forcing himself to unclench, letting out a long, slow breath.

"Thank you," he said. "For telling me. I. I do not think I would wish for Niabheara to have had to tell me any of that, either." He took hold of his drink and took a long swig, wiping some of the froth off on his sleeve. "I will hope she can."

And if not, maybe he could see her again and tell her how sorry he was.

"Nialla has had a tough life... and she ain't exactly someone that opens up easily. She's a Niall." He chuckled a bit at that. "We've been friends on and off since she was little. I knew her father, so I took an interest in her too." He realized he might have to explain "The place we stayed at the time Ravens Dale, it was a construct realm. Made and kept going by magi. Time there tended to be wonky and pass different than here, so when she moved back to the Erins she had aged quicker than we had." He suddenly gave Seth a worried little look "Don't believe half the things she might tell you about me."

"Whatever made it, Jochy, it sounds like tallfolk lands. Tallfolk lands tend to flow different." He smiled a bit at the man and shrugged. "And... I understand what you mean. If she takes after Mabhe in mind as well as face..." he smiled fondly and tilted his head to the side then, shrugging.

"And what do you think she is likely to tell me about you, then?" the young man smiled, raising an eyebrow. "For all the things I had heard already, I was beginning to wonder if it was safe to be seen in public with you."

"I'm reformed" Jochy grinned, with a straight face. "I'm not nearly half as bad as I used to be. Honest. Just hopes she doesn't threaten me with death again if I come visiting..." He grimaced a little, suddenly going serious. "One thing you should know, is that when Nialla feels bad, she pushes people away. And she does that to protect them too. So listen to your own instincts there and not hers. But... she always liked you so..." And she would love him now.

hell, Jochy himself kinda did already, it was so very disconcerting to have this Seth here now. So very, very... odd.