"My father's name is Simeon," She tells Erevain again, taking him to the stairway. "He only speaks Orcish. He understands Common, he just doesn't speak it. Uncle and I aren't sure if it's from his injuries or if it's a form of protest or mourning." She grips the handrail and looks back at Erevain. "His mental state... varies. He's still himself, but sometimes it's hard for him to stay focused on what's happening around him or follow a conversation. Don't feel bad if this meeting doesn't go the way we expect."
Alalla climbs the stairs with Erevain at her back, her anxiety rising as she does. She breathes it away. Their meeting with her uncle well, just as she knew it would. So will this. Her father and Erevain will get along. They must.
They reach the top of the stairs and enter the living quarters of the house. Al leads the way to the door of the main room.
"Stay here for a moment," she says. She kisses Erevain and squeezes his hand, then opens the door quietly.
The main living room contains a large table, some counters built into one wall, and a fireplace of brick built into another, meant to provide warmth and a place to cook. Some cushions and chairs near the table and fireplace provide places to sit.
In front of the fireplace in a cushioned rocking chair, his back to Alalla and Erevain standing at the room's entrance, sits Simeon, Alalla's father. The soft scrapings of whittling can be heard, and occasionally his dark hands reach for a different tool or knife from the small table beside him.
Al gives Erevain's hand one last squeeze, then leaves him in the doorway. She goes around the chair to kneel in front of her father.
"Papa, I'm home," Al says with a smile, placing her hands on his knees.