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wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
The walk up to the house felt as though it took forever. The world was all the darker without the stars, and Vai had to navigate by the light of the torch she held and the fireflies that flickered over the long grasses. Remi was gone, disappeared to the Hollowed Grounds as far as she knew, and that left... well, it left everything. So Vai went to their temporary home, and for the first time since coming to Torchline she felt homesick for the Greatwood, for the canopy of trees, for the smell of the earth.
But she couldn’t have that just now, so she went for the next best thing. The better thing, in reality. Slipping inside the house, she tiptoed up to Felix’s room, moving to flump on the ground next to where he was sleeping. Arms folded over the side of the bed, chin resting upon them, she soaked in the peace and calm of the moment, watching the steady rise and fall of his breathing. [say]”Don’t you grow up any faster, hear me?”[/say] she murmured, voice not much more than a whisper.
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-28-2020
He is still unused to the sounds of the house, the sounds of Torchline. It makes him a relatively light sleeper when back in the Greatwood he might sleep the world away. Here? While he’d missed anything previously, it does start to wake him up as soon as there’s that slight sound of someone sitting on the floor beside his bed. It’s not enough to wake him fully, but impact a featherlight dream he clings to, rolling over in his sleep with his face at peace despite what’s happened while he was out and unaware.
A deep inhale and an exhale is really all that’s noted until she speaks, and he shifts a bit in the bed — a toe wiggle beneath a light blanket, a nestling of his head into the pillow as he draws the blanket a bit closer to himself. But none of what she says registers, not as he realizes there’s a shadow there in the dark despite the candle in the corner that penetrates any of the LongNight darkness, and one blue eye pops open, eyes bleary and his attention fuzzy, before he opens his hazel one too.”[say]Mom?[/say]” He asks half asleep, relaxing the hold on the blankets as he realizes who’s crept into his temporary room.
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
It was easy, almost, to imagine that this was a few seasons back and Felix was still her baby in earnest; she would watch him napping, and regularly fall asleep herself at times too. This was one of those occasions, and by the time he shifted in bed and spoke Vai’s head had already lolled upon her arms, eyes fluttering shut. They opened again, of course, at the sound of his voice, and a faint smile curled at the corners of her lips.
[say]”Sorry,”[/say] she murmured, reaching up to push her hair back from her face. [say]”I didn’t mean to wake you. The house just felt too quiet, that’s all.”[/say] It was an invitation for him to go back to sleep, since she hadn’t intended to do much more than sneak in and pretend they were somewhere else.
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-28-2020
He focuses a bit more, the haze of sleep clearing in his eyes as he peers at his mother through a dull flicker of firelight. Her apology confuses him, but he doesn’t comment on it — not as she continues to speak and mention that the house felt too quiet. And he agrees, it’s different to hear the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach outside versus hearing the usual nighttime birds and crickets that typically serenaded and lulled him to sleep.
“[say]Yeah.[/say]” He says quietly, a yawn spreading across his face before he nestles in again. But he considers her again, on the floor, and he’s still young and very much a mommas boy that he scoots back a bit in the cool sheets and puffs up the pillow a bit. “[say]Do you wanna lay down too?[/say]” He asks through a sleepy, groggy voice, lifting the blanket a bit to make room for his mother should she not want to lay on the floor.
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
He shifted about in the bed and offered to make room for her and her smile grew sweeter, Vai nodding a little. [say]”That sounds nice. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”[/say] Chuckling, she moved to take off her shoes, slipping under the blankets and settling on her back to stare up at the ceiling, reaching out an arm for Felix. [say]”I wouldn’t want to ruin your reputation as Torchline’s new rebel.”[/say]
With a sigh, she forced herself to relax, frowning up into the dark. [say]”Remi has gone away,”[/say] she told him gently. [say]”He’s headed to the Hollowed Grounds, to be with Ronin. So you and I need to keep an eye on Seren until he gets back, okay?”[/say] And after that? Well, that depended entirely on Felix, honestly. She knew it was better to be around people, but at the same time, the Greatwood was all he really knew.
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-28-2020
Vai smiles at him and he feels the itch of one grow on his face despite the sleepiness that lingers like sand in his face. “[say]Thanks.[/say]” A soft boyish laugh leaves him, at least until she mentions he has a reputation to uphold and he buries half his face into the pillow as if he’s pouting a bit. “[say]Hasn’t been too successful.[/say]” He mumbles into the pillow. Not too rebellious, just… he doesn’t know a lot of what goes on, it’s evident in the way people speak to him. But he supposes he should get used to it.
He keeps his face halfway in the pillow until she’s settled and he nestles in close to his mother, head resting on the crook of her shoulder until she speaks again and surprise cascades over his face, shooting up to look at Vai with concern lacing his brows. “[say]Why would he do that? Didn’t… Didn’t you say that Ronin wanted him to stay?[/say]” He asks, lips forming a frown but a nod of understanding when it comes to watching over the star child.
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
Her arm curled around him as he nestled closer, and she pressed a kiss to his hair to hide the smile spreading across her face. [say]”It’s only been a few days,”[/say] she said in his defence. [say]”And Torchline is much different to the Greatwood. There’s a lot that even I forgot goes on. Maybe when the sun comes up we’ll take a proper walk around, you can learn a little more about the place.”[/say] Because she would at least answer any of his questions honestly and patiently, without worrying about... well, her finding out.
Glancing down to him, Vai’s smile became sad and she nodded gently. [say]”He’s just really worried,”[/say] she explained. [say]”And he misses him a lot. Sometimes that means you do what feels right in your heart, rather than what makes sense in your head. You know?”[/say]
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-28-2020
Her quiet promise of walking the streets and learning more does help his wounded pride a bit, even as he swallows down any comments of brothels and things of that nature. “[say]I want that.[/say]” He says quietly with a smile, nestled in close to his mother as he thinks of all the ways he can try and learn and absorb as much information as possible before it’s too overwhelming. He’d be able to take his time with it at least.
But then she’s talking of Remi and his recent departure, and his concern only grows a fair deal more, bi toned eyes remaining on his mother’s face while she explains. “[say]No… Not yet.[/say]” He says quietly, burying his face back into the crook of her arm. Because Felix at this point ran entirely off of what his heart wanted, where it took him. Logic was few and far between in the grand scheme. “[say]Is he gonna be okay?[/say]” He asks instead, worried for the one person he’d heard about since he was born. And if he made mistakes like this, didn’t come back at all possibly even, what then? What did it say for the type of man Felix wanted to become?
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
[say]”Then that’s what we’ll do. And another day I’ll take you into the trees beyond the shore. We’ll do some hunting - maybe you can even shift.”[/say] She smiled to him, fingers absently smoothing out his sleep tousled hair, not that it would change much in their current position. Humming her agreement as he confessed that no, of course he didn’t really know what she meant - how would he? - Vai closed her eyes to hide her worried frown.
Because she wouldn’t lie to her son; that was not her style. [say]”I don’t know. I hope so,”[/say] she said softly. [say]”He’s strong, and determined. It would take a lot to stop him.”[/say] More than Vai, that was for sure. [say]”LongNight is only a few more days, and then both of them should be back.”[/say]
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-28-2020
She explains a small makeshift roster of what they’ll do, her hand smoothing over dark hair, and he sighs content it into the touch. “[say]I want to try fried fish.[/say]” He rumbles quietly, recalling seeing a few people on the beach selling them but having nothing to barter for it at the time. But then the subject of the woods and hunting has his eyes opening again, a wider crookedly boyish smile spreading along his face. “[say]I wanna do that too![/say]” He chimes with all the excitement for when the sun rises again.
But the subject of Remi and Ronin extinguishes it as he focuses on what would happen. And while he didn’t know what it was like to live in the Grounds for LongNight, Vai had fully equipped him to understand what it was like. But it still doesn’t stop the sinking feeling in his gut, the uncertainty, the frown splitting his face as he ducks his head again. “[say]What if they don’t come back?[/say]” He asks quietly, uncertainly. “[say]Or what if they do and they come back wrong?[/say]”
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-28-2020
[say]”Fried fish?”[/say] she echoed, opening an eye to smirk down at him. [say]”I’m sure we can arrange that, should be easy enough.”[/say] And the hunting, Vai laughing quietly and half regretting bringing it up, only because it seemed to be making him more awake than anything else. And with the evening she’d had, fuck if sleep didn’t sound like a good idea, if only for the illusion of a bit of peace.
His questions were only natural, but it didn’t make them any less difficult to answer. [say]”Then you and me will deal with it,”[/say] she said quietly, confidently. [say]”If they don’t come back, we will go and find them. And if they come back wrong, we’ll help to fix it however we can, until they feel better. It’s what I’d do for you.”[/say]
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-29-2020
“[say]People say it’s good, and I bet it’s not like the fish back home.[/say]” He replies easily, a grin spanning across his face with content. But for all the ideas and prospects of venturing out in Torchline to try all the strange things it has, there’s a part of him that’s also grown homesick – homesick of the woods where he can roam as a bear and return home, helping Vai clean the meal before sitting down to eat it after they’d prepared it together. It wasn’t the same here, with strange faces and sand in replacement of dirt and mud and all the greenery.
It only dampers the feeling a bit more at the idea that they’d have to deal with Remi and Ronin coming back wrong, and he chews on the inside of his cheek briefly as he considers it, nuzzling his head into the crook of her shoulder again. “[say]What if they come back and are wrong like… Dad?[/say]” It’s a quietly uttered whisper, the fact he hadn’t seen Devrum enough to even have a memory of him. What would happen if Remi and Ronin came back and Felix never quite got the chance to get to know them like he wished to?
Would he have to find someone else to imagine as the hero in the stories Vai told?
RE: wild ones - Vervain - 06-29-2020
Vai could only agree - it probably wasn’t anything like the fish they had at home, and as he nestled closer into her shoulder she let her arm move around him again, letting out a long sigh. It was a mess, really; Remi leaving, Ronin in the Grounds, and the Greatwood feeling so far away. Both of them felt adrift, it seemed, though as Felix spoke about his father she couldn’t help but frown sadly, her free hand coming up to pull the blankets around them a little more.
[say]”Your father didn’t come back wrong,”[/say] she told him gently. [say]”He was always wild, just like you.”[/say] The smile was audible in her voice. [say]”But that didn’t mean he loved you any less. Remi and Ronin will make it back, you wait and see. They’ve bounced back from worse than a night like this one.”[/say]
RE: wild ones - Felix - 06-29-2020
She pulls the blankets up tighter and Felix curls his hands and arms into himself at her side, pressing up against her as he might as a toddler sharing a bed with his mother, nestled in as his question is aired, the worry evident in the tones of his voice. She tells him that Devrum was always wild, much like Felix, but the boy can’t imagine disappearing from his mother, from his loved ones. And he hunkers down a bit more with that realization.
“[say]I hope so.[/say]” He says quietly, accepting what she says about the men so far in his life for what it was. A consolation as well as a hope. But then there’s suddenly a moment of worry in the young man’s heart, a yearning that has his arm coming around Vai’s middle and keeping her close to listen to the heartbeat he’s heard his entire life. “[say]You’re okay, right?[/say]” He almost whispers the question, knowing how much Remi meant to her too.