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 Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:55 pm
Doesina 1 The crackle of the fire was loud in the quiet of the night, the flickering flame casting a dancing light across the two women sitting across from each other, one on either side. The paleness of Heike's skin made her easy to pick out in the darkness, her expression blank as it so often was. Not that she minded it all that much. Heike had always been quiet. A bit distant. As if she didn't know how to react to social situations. Since she'd returned from her visit to the Alkidike, Doesina had noticed a change in her. In small ways, like how she'd sometimes intiate the conversation on her own. Where as before she never would have. It had always made Doesina feel as if her cousin had never wanted her around. Maybe she had been wrong all along. Maybe her cousin did enjoy her company, even if in a small way. Heike clearly enjoyed her time alone way more than she did having others around her and Doesina was happy enough to comply with that, staying quiet herself most of the time. If she needed a little bit more noise and fun in her life, she knew where to go for that.
The pair had just finished a small meal, the last of the day before they would go to their separate spots to sleep. There was still a little bit left in the pot of the stew they had made from a bit of foraging and hunting earlier in the day. She eyed it for a bit, before looking up at the Elidae, who seemed to be looking more off into space than at the left over food.
"Did you want the rest of that?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:19 pm
Heike 1 Heike was indeed off in a world of her own, her mind wandering between her experience in the town of Emeka and what her experience with her real family might be. Would the Elaria be any different? She couldn't imagine why they would be. Elzira was the tree her own tree's seed had come from, voluntarily. Perhaps they would all welcome her in like a long lost member of the family. A direct link of what they were trying to accomplish down in Kiros with a new tribe of Sisters. Only she wasn't like that new tribe of Sisters. She was more like what they were trying to fix by helping cultivate the Elidae. Sometimes she couldn't decide if going to Yael was a good idea or not.
The quiet was broken by Doesina speaking, asking a question. Heike looked up at her, reminded by the fading light and the mostly hidden features of her darker skin that blended in perfectly with the night, that Doesina was herself an Elaria and was always more than happy to talk to her. Spend time with her. Wasn't that proof enough that at least some, especially her own family members who had sent someone out after her once they learned of her existence, would be glad to see her?
What was the question?
"Sorry....What was that?"
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 4:25 pm
Doesina 2 A last helping was all but forgotten as Doesina stumbled her way back down to a sitting position, afraid she might faint dead away in shock of what she just heard. Did....Did her cousin just apologize for something? And over something so small as not hearing what she'd said? Had her time with the Alkidike had this much of an effect on her? Surely not. It had seemed to have made her a bit better at communicating with others, but Heike was still the same quiet, rather grumpy individual. She must be seriously distracted with whatever was on her mind.
"I asked if you wanted the last bit of stew," the Elaria repeated, debating if she should ask if something was wrong. Similar attempts at checking up on the Elidae had resulted in Heike feeling like she was prying, which was far from the truth. Doesina wasn't that much of a nosy gossip. She was just concerned. Traumatic experiences took a long time to get over and Heike was clearly still suffering from hers over the sudden death of her mother by the hands of Earthlings. She couldn't begin to fathom how deep it went. But she could imagine what it would be like if she'd lost her own mother so violently. And so she tried her best to be patient and understanding. it was her duty to watch over her cousun and deliver her safely back to her own family.
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 7:14 pm
Heike 2 Oh. That was it? Heike's eyes lost the glazed over look in them as she watched Doesina nearly fall back over to sit back down. She raised one eyebrow, but otherwise kept her quiet. The light from the fire reflected well off her paler skin, showing her expression well. Had she been glaring and that was what had caused the Elaria to nearly trip over her own feet suddenly?
"No. I'm good."
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 7:24 pm
Doesina 3 "Okay."
Picking up her bowl from where it sat on the ground beside her, Doesina once more stood up to reach over and scoop out the rest of the meal before sitting back down. Once more, Heike seemed to go deep into her own thoughts. Something that wasn't an uncommon thing to see, as the Elidae was often quiet and brooding on whatever thoughts were in her head. Part of the trauma response, Doesina always assumed. The range of different emotions that needed sorting in her brain must be quite the task.
Picking up her spoon, the Elaria settled in to quietly finish the stew, trying to keep her spoon from clinking too loudly on the edge of her bowl. Just to give Heike as much quiet as she seemed to currently need.
Or so it seemed.
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Posted: Mon Jun 26, 2023 7:33 pm
Heike 3 A log snapped in the flames as Doesina returned to her seat, bowl and spoon in hand. Without realizing she had been moving, Heike had picked up a small branch from a pile beside the fire and tossed it in, watching as the sparks flew off a charred log. Picking up another stick, a little thicker around this time, she prodded the log, sending up more tiny lights into the dark air above it.
"What, uh...." she started, than stopped. It was a question that had been burning her brain for a while, now. But, being the awkward person she was, even with her energetic and extroverted cousin, it wasn't an easy question for her to form with real words. "What's your....Uh....Our family like?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 8:58 am
Doesina 4 The spoon stopped halfway to Doesina's mouth at the question. She was surprised. She hadn't thought Heike had even been paying that much attention to the talks about their family. Didn't think she really cared about even going to Yael and was only doing it because where else was she to go or do when home probably held so many painful memories for her.
The Elaria lowered the spoon back into the bowl and held the bowl on her lap, feeling the heat of it warming her thighs. Hot food on a chilly night, whether in your body or against it, was always such a pleasant feeling.
"Well, there's only two of them, my mother and grandmother," she began, stirring the contents in her bowl as she thought of the proper things to say. What did Heike want to know exactly? "Grandma always says how much of a clone to my mother I am, in looks and behavior. I know she'd be very glad to see you are alright." "After what happened" was what she almost added, but had stopped herself quick enough that it hadn't been obvious where her thoughts had been. "Grandma can be a bit, um....Intense at times? No, maybe that's not the right word. She was the daughter of an exiled Alkidike, so her views are sometimes a bit....Different." More like how Heike thought. They should get along the most out of the two.
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 10:39 am
Heike 4 Different. For Doesina to say that, different meant not thinking like she did. Which meant closer to how she herself thought. It explained so much about how her own mother had behaved. Had their grandmother changed her tune over the years since having children or did she still have those radical thoguhts that early Elaria did? Would it be rude of her to ask? Did she really care at this point?
"So she...Has the beliefs of an extremist?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 1:20 pm
Doesina 5 "Mm. Not exactly?" Stalling for time, Doesina scooped up a bit of stew and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly. She wasn't bothered by the question. Not by a long shot. Had it been someone else asking the question, maybe she would have. People liked to judge based off which Tree you came from and those who didn't even come from a tree could be worse in their assumptions. She didn't like anyone misjudging her family without even meeting them first. Heike, however, would meet them and was just trying to gauge how that meeting might go. At least that was what Doesina was herselg gauging from this conversation.
Once the spoonful was swallowed, the woman lowered the spoon back in the bowl, stirring around the contents once more.
"Mother says she was a lot worse when she was growing up. The grandma I know is more strict and protective than anything else. She's learned how to tolerate the Yaeli who live close by and has even done some trades with them. Though I doubt she'll ever like them herself."
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Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2023 1:49 pm
Heike 5 Mm. Interesting. Heike had honestly thought the whole family would have been like Doesina, considering how she'd turned out. There didn't seem to be a single bitter or hateful bone in the Elaria's body. Somehow she managed to always smile and find something good about every situation. Something that the Elidae constantly struggled with. Sometimes she envied Doesina's easiness with others, be they Aishan or Earthling. She never seemed to have a single problem communicating or understanding others. Even when they threw rotten fruit at her because of the Tree she had been born from.
Heike sat on the information for a while, as the clinking of the other woman's spoon on her bowl began. When it had stopped and the bowl was returned to the ground, only than did Heike once more open her mouth, initiating the conversation herself for once.
"That's a big step. Putting aside one's prejudice like that." Could she do that? Did she need to do that? Her goal was to return back home to Kiros, where the more common of the species' to meet were either more Elidae and Kahi. She didn't think she minded the Kahi too much. Not that she'd had a lot of interaction with them.
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 1:41 pm
Doesina 6 The silence returned and Doesina happily ducked away into her stew, focused more on devouring it until she was nice and full than she was in keeping conversation going with her cousin. Heike enjoyed the quiet much more than she herself did, anyway.
Until she spoke once more, causing both of the Elaria's eyebrows to shoot up her forehead. The fact Heike was initiating things on her own was strange enough. But the things she was saying were even weirder coming from her mouth. Was this....Growth? Dare she hope her cousin was coming around to her way of thinking and was prepared to try like their grandmother had? It was hard to keep the smile off her face as she placed the bowl on the ground, her belly finally feeling nice and full.
"Yes. I can imagine so." She wanted to say more, to really confirm whether or not what she thought might be happening was actually happening. But Doesina also didn't want to scare Heike off from the subject. Maybe she'd keep the conversation going on her own and answer the question herself.
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:25 pm
Heike 6 The silence once more stretched on between them, both women staring into the fire in their own thoughts. The careful way Doesina was handling the sudden interest she was showing in their family was going unnoticed by the Elidae, too preoccupied with her own thoughts was she that she didn't notice how uncharacteristically strange it was for Doesina to not completely open up on a subject and ask her own prying questions.
Why was she suddenly so interested in asking her own? Normally Heike didn't really care. She went along with the direction life pushed her towards and that was it. But now she felt...Nervous. Worried, even, about seeing these family members she had never even knew existed before. Suddenly it was important she not make a fool of herself in front of them.
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:47 pm
Doesina 7 The questions had left Doesina feeling a bit rattled. Not out of any uncomfortableness over them. Heike was family and it was important for her to know as much about her family as she wanted. It was the fact she had been asking in the first place that had the Elaria distracted. Was there any deeper meaning behind it? Why the sudden interest? She couldn't understand it and she was afraid to ask about it, in case it stopped the questions altogether, made Heike aware of what she had been saying.
But sitting and waiting was driving her crazy. Grabbing her bowl from the ground, she rose from her seat and walked over to a nearby stream to wash it out, pulling a rag out of a nearby pack. Waiting to see if Heike would say or ask anything else. Hoping that she would.
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:52 pm
Heike 7 Heike barely acknowledged that Doesina had risen and left for the stream, the clinking of her spoon against the side of the bowl loud in the silence. After a little while of listening to the splash of the cloth in the water, Heike leaned back in her seat, looking up at the darkness of the closed canopy above them. Back on Kiros, she could at least see the stars. It had been so long since she'd seen the stars. Yael would allow her that once more.
"Are we just about ready to leave Jauhar?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2023 3:58 pm
Doesina 8 Doesina quickly became lost in the work of cleaning the bowl, dipping the cloth in the cold water to rinse it out. She soon began to hum softly, an old song her grandmother had sang for her when she was younger. Right before she went to sleep at night. It excited her that she would soon be seeing her family, again. It had been years since she had left. She'd sent letters back to them from time to time, but had of course not received any in return. They had no address of which to send to. She hoped everything was alright. A lot could happen in a few years.
Once more, Heike spoke up and Doesina's singing stopped abruptly. She half turned her head, her fingers enjoying the coolness of the water and answered, "I think so. I've got the tickets in my bag. Shouldn't be much more preparations needed." They were essentially always packed and ready to go. Even now, when they had nowhere to travel to and tended to stay in the forest around Neued, the duo never stayed in one spot for too long.
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