Survival - 1x1 RP

[analyrically_entangled]

Landon, who looked like he was about to cry when Laina was holding him so roughly, smiling as soon as he was kissed, and looked to Shae afterwards. He really did appreciate the girl and always tried to get close to her. His fat little fingers were always trying to grab at her and hug her. He's even used her before to try and stand up. It was still hard for him, as he was pretty chubby, but he was getting around just fine. He made a lot of noise when he walked, and even more when he fell.

The baby giggled to Shae, reaching out for her, as if wanting to be picked up by her.

[Catramblish]

Shae smiled and, when the brush left her hair, reached forward to grab Landon, putting him in her lap. "You're so clingy," she said with a smile to the chubby two year old and ran her hand through his curls. It always felt really nice to do that.
Before the brush came back, Shae felt a pulling at her side and looked down to see Laina pouting jealously at her. Whether she was jealous of Landon for stealing Shae or Shae for stealing Landon wasn't clear. She bullied her brother a bit, but she was also very clingy to him. She was how she was out of love.
"I only have one lap," Shae said, and Laina's pout increased in intensity. She laid down on her back and put her head in Shae's lap, right next to Landon, her pout turning into a smile.

Tania didn't have the heart to brush Shae's hair in that moment. She looked at her husband, tears in her eyes as she smiled at him.

[analyrically_entangled]

Landon clung to Shae and stroked a bit of Laina's unruly hair. He loved both sisters very much, especially Laina, but only because they were twins and had a special connection because of that. Still, that didn't mean he loved Shae less. He started giggling too, loving being around his siblings and cuddling Shae. She was the best cuddler, but he would never admit wthis to Laina.

Robert walked over to Tania and held her, looking on with a certain fondness. He kissed the side of Tania's head, letting his hands rest on her waist. He was so proud of his children and he knew his eyes were tearing up as well. He loved his family so much, whether they had changed a bit or not.

[Catramblish]

Kyva bounded up the stairs of the inn, taking two steps at a time out of sheer youthful enthusiasm than actual hurry. She had a letter in one hand and a plate of specially made breakfast in her other. Thick, crispy slices of bacon, a fried egg, a slice of bread with butter and cheese on it, some diced potatoes, and two sausages. It was a lot, but it wasn't like Kyva was going to be the one to eat it. It was all for Seth.
Two years had passed since the horrible night when Eris had left. Kyva had been heartbroken to hear that she'd vanished in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye, but she hadn't taken it nearly as badly as Seth had. He'd been completely crushed.
Kyva had done her best over the last two years to take care of him where he needed it. At the Adventurer's Guild they called her 'the little maid'. Kyva didn't mind the nickname or the implications, she just wanted to help Seth. Even if he didn't feel that way, they were family to her. She wouldn't leave him like Eris had.
Kyva carefully opened the door to Seth's room and peeked inside. He'd come back from an actual dragon hunt just a week ago, and hadn't gone out for any adventuring since then. Kyva hadn't heard any stories of how it had gone from Seth himself, but the other adventurers with him had spent days drinking and regaling the tales. Kyva had sat with them politely, talked where she needed to, and otherwise listened. She and Seth had spent long enough in the city for Kyva to become the unofficial mascot of the Adventurers there. How long was it now... seven months?
After hearing that Seth was still asleep, Kyva tip-toed into his room, doing her best to not look over at the bed, but her curiosity got the better of her. She looked away with a blushing face. As often was the case, there was a naked girl in Seth's bed. She wasn't really covered by the blanket... and neither was he. It was an awkward situation.
Kyva went up to the bed as quietly as she could, placing the letter and breakfast on it. Seth could eat when he woke up, and same went for opening the letter. She wasn't going to wake him up, she was afraid he wouldn't take that well.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth stirred soon after Kyva left, not even bothering to cover himself up to show modesty. In the end, he knew Kyva came every morning to give him breakfast, but he didn't care enough to cover himself. That's just how he was now. He just... didn't care anymore.

Since the night Eris left, Seth had locked up his true emotions. He was sick of getting hurt, sick of those he cared about and loved just up and leaving on him. He didn't even understand what kind of journey Eris was going on, but he didn't care. She left him. She left him after the best night he ever had, and he shared a big part of him with her. He was so crushed, there weren't words for it. He didn't talk, he barely slept and ate, and it wasn't months until he was "normal" again. Normal for him being a huge jerk to everyone, including and especially to Kyva, and finding girls around his age to sleep with. The last good feeling he ever had was the climax he felt with Eris, and it was the only thing he could latch onto. Almost every night it was another girl, or perhaps it was the same girl for a few weeks. It didn't matter to him. As long as he got the high he wanted, he was fine.

On the outside, he was okay with using girls for sex and pleasure, but it tore him up inside for doing so. He knew he would never be able to face Eris again due to his behavior. What would she think of her ex-boyfriend whoring and even drinking? He was disgusted with himself, but he didn't know how else to cope. Besides that and focusing on being an excellent adventurer, which was was all the time due to his great focus, he was coping. He had never healed though, or at least never allowed himself to. His chest was still wide open, just a makeshift patch over the wound.

As for Kyva... He barely acknowledged her anymore. He never talked, never wanted to, snapped at her more often than not, and was downright moody around her. He couldn't remember the last time he treated her well. Even remembering any time that they had fun together was painful enough. He hated himself on the inside for being a let down to Kyva. She was the only person he had left, right? So why was he treating her like dirt? Was it because she reminded him too much of Eris? It was possible, but he never thought about it too much due to the pain.

So now, instead of the fun-lowing boy who was friendly to everyone, he was a jerk who talked gruffly to people and bragged about his adventuring, while also being a mad flirt towards women so he'd get to sleep with them.

Now though, the girl he was with who was still asleep, was one of the waitresses at the inn. An orphan girl, she was taken in by the innkeeper and has worked since before Seth got there. She was the girl he'd go to often, especially if there wasn't anyone new to sleep with. This wasn't their first time either, as they had many, many times before, and he knew it wasn't going to be the last. Part of him felt he would have feelings for her if it wasn't for Eris, and the girl understood that, so she never pressed a relationship. It was an unspoken rule between them that they were purely there for each other for sex.

Seth got up, yawning and stretching, while also putting on trousers, boots, and a tunic. He ate his food hurriedly, hungrily, not even bothering to keep up with his table manners. He didn't care about them, as other things. He did see the note Kyva left and rolled his eyes, snatching it and cramming it into one of his pockets, planning on throwing out whatever was inside. He didn't want to know what was inside, too afraid that it was from Eris. He wasn't ready to face her yet, if ever.

The boy walked outside, his bow in hand and his quiver, getting ready for practicing today. He was just stretching now, thinking about what the next quest he'd like to take up would be.

[Catramblish]

The inn Kyva and Seth were staying at was directly connected to the Adventurer's Guild, which was how they'd gotten the two rooms in the first place. As long as Seth still performed jobs for the guild, they could stay at the inn virtually free. It was a great relief, especially since the inn had a courtyard where the residents could freely go to practice. It had targets for archery and for melee practice.
Kyva, however, didn't need a target or dummy for her practice. In the end, it wasn't magic that had a target. She'd found the spell completely by accident in the big book Seth had gotten from Shaina. Kyva had just been flipping through it one night when she saw a page in her native tongue, the Heaven God language. It described a spell that, much like the magic disruption spell Orsted had used on Seth two years earlier, had no rank or element. It was a melding of all four elements and summoning magic, to put it simply. It was in reality more complicated than that. Kyva had been fascinated by the spell as soon as she read it. It was at an incredibly high level, but she felt, somehow, that this was a spell meant for her.
The spell had no chant. The caster had to themselves make the chant. It was a spell that would change depending on the caster, as each person had to use it differently. Kyva was still working on her own chant and components for the spell, despite having found it half a year earlier.
"Collect the components," Kyva mumbled, raising her hand in front of her. "Iron, coal, heat them up." Kyva's raised hand began to glow like fire. A strong one, like in a forge. "Meld the metal and coal once it reaches the correct degree. Smelt it. Smelt it. Hammer it." Kyva's hand started giving off sparks that floated to the ground and burned through the shortly cut grass. The sweat started running down her forehead already, but Kyva continued.
"Hammer it. Hammer it. Heat it up. Hammer. Smelt. Fold. Fold. Fol-" Kyva let off a cry and yanked her hand back, the air letting off a small bang as the immense heat Kyva had gathered disappeared. Kyva grabbed her wrist and looked at her hand, her eyes tearing. It had a bad burn between her thumb and index finger. It was really, really bad. She'd screwed up.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth had been watching Kyva out of the corner of his eye, as he always did whenever she worked. It was out of habit, whether he wanted to or not. Part of him just wanted her safe. However, today, he saw her do something different. She was concentrating so much, and chanting words he didn't know could even be a chant. He was about to go over to her, inquire about this nonsense she was chanting, when he saw what happened to her hand. His face was in shock and he quickly slung his bow across his body, running over to her. "Kyva!" he exclaimed, taking her hand in his and examining the damage. He was concerned about her, as he could see the damage was real, but then his concern turned to anger. "What the ******** ere you doing, Kyva?" he roared, taking her wrist tightly in his hand. He pulled her into the inn, almost dragging her into his room, where the waitress was now gone and probably working. He had salve and was rummaging in his pack for it, letting go of the girl's wrist. "How could you be so careless and stupid, Kyva..." He shook his head, sighing in complete disappointment.

[Catramblish]

Kyva winced at the pain when Seth let go. Her hand was already blistering. "I'm sorry..." Kyva said. "It- it was just a new spell. It wasn't supposed to do that." Kyva knew that her excuse was terrible, and she felt genuinely guilty for scaring and worrying Seth. At the same time, she felt happy that he actually cared. It was a small triumph.
"I'm really sorry, Seth. I won't do it again," she said, trying to placate him. Even if it was from caring, she didn't want him angry at her.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth sighed, tossing the container full of burn salve on the bed. Considering he had just started to work with dragons in his adventuring group, which was an astounding feat for him to be part of due to his age, he had invested in such a salve. It was useful, especially since dragons were notorious for breathing fire. "Be careful," he muttered under his breath, looking to Kyva. For a second, his eyes flashed with sympathy for the girl, but he quickly shook his head and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. But before doing so, he said, "Don't practice magic you can't handle, I'm not going to fix you every time you hurt yourself." Angrily, he walked to the courtyard once more to practice, trying to get his frustration out.

[Catramblish]

Kyva smiled to herself as she picked up the salve and began to apply it. Sometimes she felt like Seth didn't care anymore, but then things like this happened. She knew he cared through these moments, he was just in too much pain to let himself get close to anyone again. Kyva had hoped that Seth could heal one day, and she wouldn't leave him until he had. Whether he'd admit it or not, he needed her. And... she needed him.

==================================

Later that evening when Kyva brought Seth his dinner, she'd helped make it as thanks for that morning, she remembered the letter he'd gotten. "Seth, did you read the letter you got? It looked important," she said, placing the plate of food at the room's desk.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth took the bread from his place and took a huge bite out of it, swallowing it with a swig of ale that was on the small table in his room. He didn't say anything at first, seemingly ignoring Kyva, when he finally sighed. He put his food down and rummaged through his pockets until he found the wrinkled envelope Kyva had given him earlier. "I don't want it," he said gruffly, continuing eating while staring at his place, not bothering to look at Kyva or the letter.

[Catramblish]

Kyva frowned at Seth's disregard of the letter. "Seth, we haven't been here for that long, but the letter was send to you, we don't get them often," she said, walking up to the table and straightening out the crumpled letter. "It's probably important. If you're not gonna open it, can I?" Kyva looked at Seth carefully, not wanting to upset him, but also not wanting him to not care about something possibly important.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth didn't say anything for a time before, finally, he sighed, as if he was being truly bothered, and snatched the letter from Kyva's hands. He didn't care if it was rude, he just wanted to end this once and for all so he wouldn't have to listen to Kyva whine about a goddamn letter!

He opened it none too gently and read the contents inside. The letter was on nice paper, in perfect writing, and was very easy to read. The only problem was the wrinkles, which Seth caused himself. However, as soon as he saw what was inside, he became angry and moody, his face twisting with pain and rage. He threw the letter on the table, nearly hitting Kyva, and went back to eating, moodier than before. He didn't want to think about it, he couldn't. It was too much.

[Catramblish]

Kyva winced back, fear evident on her face. For a second she wondered if the letter was from Eris, but then realized that Seth's reaction would've been even more violent if it was. Kyva felt her own anger spike for a second when she thought of Eris, but quickly shook it off. She hesitantly took the letter from the table and started reading it herself, mumbling aloud as she read. Her eyes widened as she did.
"S-Seth!" she cried. "Th-this is an invitation to Sharia's magic university! As a special student! You'd be exempt from tuition and everything!" Kyva looked at Seth with big eyes, wanting to hug him, but not daring to.

[analyrically_entangled]

Seth kept eating and retorted, "That's enough, Kyva, I'm not going. We're fine where we are. That's that." He kept thinking about it though. In truth, part of him did want to go, but all it could remind him of was the promise he made to Shaina. That was shot to hell, and considering he couldn't face her, that made his feelings all the more worse.