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Malikai Dorran had never been an especially lucky man. He was born at the crust of the poverty line and never climbed much above that, though by his mid-thirties he might fairly solidly be considered ‘low middle class.’ After an ill-advised near-elope with a young woman well out of his social bracket in his youth (at approximately sixteen years old), however, and the calamity in its aftermath, he grew with the plague of having persons in power (read: the father and family of his would-have-been lady love) holding lasting grudges and (if subtly) seeing to it that he never made it anywhere of note in the world. In part due to this and in efforts to minimize the effect of the mishap, Malikai was arranged to marry shortly after the failed elope to a more suitable bride—though one far less eager to take the title.

Vanariah and Malikai had a union fraught with difficulty from the beginning, but one that managed to span nearly twenty years just the same. While together, there were brief periods of happiness as they attempted to make the situation work, but Malikai’s frequent absence for work purposes, the complications and difficulties imposed on him by those with unsavory motives, and Vanariah’s loss of their first child due to miscarriage while he was away, did not contribute to stability between them. By Malikai’s late twenties and into his thirties, his relationship with his wife had deteriorated to something he avoided thinking about on principle, and absences from ‘home’ became more welcome than not. A youthful drinking problem had progressed into fully-fledged alcoholism and depression, and he took to paying for the company of prostitutes when he could afford it during the course of his extended work leaves, wherever he happened to be.

Naarhiji was a surprise.

Before Naarhiji, Malikai had never stopped to consider bedding a man—of any stripe. He did and had always taken to women, and the boy was far too young for his profession of choice (in Malik’s opinion) regardless. But, there he was just the same, a nineteen-year-old Geian boy who ‘worked’ in the brothel Malik frequented while on an especially long stay in Talrise. They came to know each other through encounters of proximity first, not intimately, but in conversation between other business when Malikai came waiting for what he usually did. Then, in the aftermath of one particularly liquor-dense evening, things apparently changed.

In retrospect, Malikai would have difficulty explaining how things came about as they did, because he still has no memory of the first night, and even after it, the shift was not immediate. He couldn’t, at the time, realistically expect or even let himself want more from the obscure combination of odd-friendship and paid-for intimacy that he developed with Naar. The boy was young. He was married. He wouldn’t be in Talrise indefinitely, and he had no business allowing it to be or become anything more than it started as. But develop it did, until it became obvious (and objectionable) to virtually everyone involved in both or either of their lives.

Just as the line of vaguary between a business relationship and a romance (which had admittedly been a poorly constructed distinction from the beginning) fell apart entirely and Naarhiji’s only remaining family (his uncle and owner of the brothel) took to seriously attempting to remove Malik from his nephew’s life entirely, Malikai’s marriage also took a spiraling plummet in functionality.

Erasmus and Percivle Vivere were conceived, as if in a last fateful spit, in the midst of Vanariah and Malikai’s final marital ‘disagreement.’ The encounter was nothing pleasant, involving, among other things: vocal screaming, shattered objects, heavy intoxication upon both of their parts by the end of it, and once again apparently sexual relations, though Malikai was by then muggy on the details. It resulted, though, in more than Malikai ever thought to ask for.

By the time Vanariah contacted him to inform him of the result of their encounter post-split, Malikai had left Talrise with Naarhiji for the peace and seclusion of Zenner’s mountains. There, they hoped to escape the mass of complication and distaste left in the wake of their relations, and start ‘fresh.’ Vanariah chose then to reveal that she also had lover—and wanted nothing to do with explaining to said lover why, at the last possible instant, he might have to deal with raising the infants of her ex-husband for the next two decades. Malikai returned to Naarhiji in Zenner with twin boys.

Erasmus has since grown from infancy under the watchful eye of his father and ‘mother’ (as, in accordance with Naarhiji’s wishes, that is the term they were raised with for him), side by side always with his brother, Percivle. Their birth mother, Vanariah, maintains contact with Malikai on only the most minimal level to facilitate communication with her sons. While, in her new relationship, she did not feel well-positioned to take on the task of raising them, she is consistent (and persistent) in being sure that that connection remains intact. If the fact that she can afford to send nicer, prettier gifts to the children than Malikai or Naarhiji could afford from her home in the capitol and if that encourages them to come visit her, and if that only makes her ex-husband and his ex-whore unhappy or uncomfortable, well—those are just added perks.

Additional Notes: Malikai initially worked for the Sector of Safety, an odd sector for lightning workers, but that was his lot and something done by his brother, father, and grandparents before him. He typically did grittier work than might be expected of his race due to both his social class and history, and the people he worked for found ways to make that as much true as possible. When he left Talrise with Naarhiji, he left the Sector of Safety after his many years of service, and eventually took up railwork with the Sector of Transportation in Zenner, and does that currently. Though it is rare to switch, Malikai very much felt in need of a fresh start, and to break away from those he'd been working under previously.

◆ Trouble In Slumberland [ ✔ ] WC: -

Y O U N G L I N G x → x P R E N T I C E
☑ || 1 Set-up Journal
☑ || Two Weeks’ Time
☐ || 15 RP Points
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