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 Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:34 pm
"It is a very romantic idea, though," Rika murmured as the conversation about Selene and Mazin came to a close. She was not unfamiliar with such stories of course, but having it going on around her made it more real. Even with her grandparents as evidence, it was more real hearing about and watching it now.
"W-what? Me?"
She was genuinely surprised when the topic turned back around on her and she shuffled her feet nervously again.
"No, not really," she said.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:43 pm
It was a romantic idea, though Charon couldn't help but feel it had been marred by the possible ambitiousness of one of the new couple. He didn't like to be a pessimist but it was hard to think otherwise when...when it looked more and more likely that this was the case. If he had been born to high class parents and become a slave, would he have felt differently?
Perhaps.
He blinked, casting her another look as she shuffled uncomfortably. "Oh." Well...now what, exactly? He gave a sharp breath. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, me either." Was he sad about that? Maybe a little. But what would his mother do if he ended up with a girl. She'd be abandoned and angry and upset. He was the only one of her children to stick by her side...to turn from her now would be...it would be more than cruel. "I guess it's sort of an impossibility for me at the moment, what with Mother and all." He lifted his head, trying to look more positive. "But don't worry, Rika. You'll find someone - or he'll find you." She was, after all, exceptionally friendly and kind and her markings were very pretty, too.
He blinked, strangely surprised, almost as if seeing her properly for the first time.
Wow...time really did fly by. It only seemed like yesterday when they had met for the first time as youngsters; shy and awkward. Now look at them. Both fully grown but...both the same as they had been - or Charon was, at least. "I think somewhere out there, there's got to be a good match for everyone. It's just a matter of finding it, right?"
Though looking for 'the one' could often mean finding the wrong ones first. It was a scary thought, in fact.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:56 pm
Of all the encouraging things Charon said, it was the one pessimistic remark that stood out most to her. It was very sad to think of love as a so-called impossibility for Charon, she didn't like hearing him think like that at all.. and she suspected- or rather hoped- his mother would feel the same.
"Do you think your mother would like you thinking like that? That you can't have love because she needs you?"
Her tone was more sad than accusing.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:08 pm
He didn't want to speak ill of his mother. He adored her, after all. She and this pride were all he had ever known and loved and to even think of abandoning her to go with his father was...well, impossible. He was certain that she, too, loved him - in her odd, distant sort of way.
However, it was a sad truth that Ivie'lingwa was...selfish. She didn't mean to be and she wasn't setting out to be like that. But her dependency meant that she probably hadn't even imagined that Charon might want to find his own life. It was partially his own fault, for never trying to break that habit and allow her to get used to spending time without him there. But he was her carer and if he was not there to help her, who would be? She wouldn't fall in love again and, like him, she did not have many friends who she could depend upon if she ever got into trouble with her visions.
It made him miserable, in a way, to be the one she depended on. She wasn't a true mother in all sense of the word.
"I think..." He imagined his mother's horrified face, her wide eyes then narrowing into accusation and betrayal. Yes, betrayal. As if he was turning his back on her and leaving her to deal with her 'curse' all alone. "If I'm not there she has no one to protect her from the visions she has, or bring her food or guard the den." Guarding the den, not against lions, but against the phantom's in his mother's imagination. "She would be lost without me and...I think she would be angry and...upset. All of her other children abandoned her. She will think it much the same thing, even if I am still in the pride and close by."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:15 pm
Rika knew plenty about Charon's situation because of her grandfather and her friendship with Charon.. but she did not truly understand it. She could not imagine a mother feeling betrayed when their child found love and started to live their own life in some way, even though she was sure Charon would never completely abandon his mother if that happened.. but then, she was familiar with the idea of limitation in life, of not having complete control or freedom over yourself. While there were examples to the contrary, it rarely seemed the slaves, especially females, found love.. and there was the fact that she could never leave or do as she pleased..
But for your mother to be the cause of that.. she couldn't imagine.
"I'm sorry."
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:21 pm
"It's okay. It's not your fault. Not anyone's fault, really."
He felt his mood sobering and he didn't like it. He didn't like moping around and he'd taken the smile off of Rika's face too, which was never any good! Determined to at least get things in a better mood, he leapt suddenly to his feet and turned his head towards her.
"It won't do us any good moping about things we can't control, will it?" He said with a smile. "What do you say to heading into the lands to see if there's some new tale being weaved? I should say that I don't normally listen to gossip - or haven't before today anyway - but I'm thinking maybe I should start to from now on. Other people seem to lead such interesting lives!" He gave a short laugh, his tail swinging behind him.
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Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:30 pm
Despite the startling attempt to brighten the mood back up and the forced smile Charon got out of her, Rika's mood was dampened and she wasn't sure she would cheer up very quickly now.. but he did have a point about the lives others lead and how interesting they seemed to be.
"OK," she said, pushing herself up to her feet and managing a slightly more genuine smile, "Maybe we'll find someone interesting to watch."
Rika did enjoy people-watching.
Fin!
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