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 Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:34 pm
She sighed as she waited for him to take the gift. "I'm not angry, just hurt." Kalliope shrugged her shoulders. When Istanell didn't take the necklace fast enough she drew closer so that she could slip it, wrapping and all, into a pocket of his. "Inca picked it out first. So I guess you can think of it as a gift from him if it'll make it easier for you. I get it now. You and Azure don't like people like me. Its just because I'm little that you're nice." With that the little red head moved away from the shifter, her tears coming back. She didn't head for the door to her house but instead started to walk back toward the market. After all she had left her brother there. "Bye Istanell."
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:08 am
Istanell felt even worse, though he didn't stop her from putting the gift in his pocket. He tried to back track through their conversation, to see where he'd let on that he really didn't like her people. He'd been trying to avoid letting her in on that little fact... ah. The mention of servants... even though from what he could see many, many Oban had servants. They're nothing like slaves! He could hear that excuse perfectly, though he'd never actually heard an Oban utter it.
He scowled and moved after her, easily overtaking her because his legs were so much longer. He swung around so he could be in front of her and crouched down. "Woah, that isn't fair. Let me explain my side." His words were gentle and strong at the same time. He really did think it was important that both sides were told... though for a youngling that might have been hard. "It's not just because you're little that I am nice to you.. Kalli, I'm nice to you because you're nice." He didn't really want to go into the dislike of the Oban race in general, didn't think it was something a little girl had to hear.
"I'm sorry I was distracted and jumping to conclusions. Incanthis is my little brother and I haven't seen him in a very long time. Wouldn't you be worried if you hadn't seen someone in your family for a very long time?" He wasn't sure even why he was fixing this problem, he could have easily said goodbye and been on his way. He had news for Illian now, after all.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:17 am
She had to stop walking when Istanell got in front of her. Kalli still didn't want to look at him. Her tears were already starting to fall to her cheeks so she turned her head so he couldn't see. "Okay." She muttered. With him telling her why he had been so pushy she sighed. "My moma and papa go on trips all the time." To her that was a long time to be away from them. "But I don't have servants. I have my brothers and sisters to take care of me. We don't need any." She sniffed once again and brought her eyes to meet his finally. "And I would never make a friend be a servant. Inca was really nice to me. He even said he would come with me when I wanted to give you the gifts." Well maybe he hadn't said that exactly, but in Kalli's mind he had.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:40 am
Istanell frowned a little, sad to hear that her parents went away so often. It was a bizarre concept to him, who had grown up so close to his family. Family was the most important thing you had in this life... even if his father had been cruel a lot of the time sometimes Istanell caught himself siding with the departed man. At least he had been there, at least he had pushed Istanell to become something great... though he couldn't honestly say he was great any longer.
She still wasn't looking at him though, and he could remember this sort of behavior from his little brothers. "Come closer Kalli, let's wipe those tears away." He couldn't force her, of course. "I jumped to a conclusion because of what I see around me... but I haven't been in Oba long. I made a mistake and thought of you and your family in a bad way, which wasn't nice of me. I'm sorry." Istanell couldn't help but feel he'd spent half his life saying sorry, though somehow this time it was more gratifying and pleasant than in the past. Saying sorry to his father constantly had brought about shame and guilt, saying sorry to Kalli felt good because he wanted to fix his mistake and bring her back to her usual self.
Istanell's mind blanked again... it was hard to think of anything else but his brother. "You told Inca about me? My name?" What if she'd told Inca about him and Inca had travelled to Matori? No but... he said he would come with Kalli? "You could bring him to me? And my... my other brother is here with me too." Illian needed to hear about this! Istanell needed to figure out where to meet and... "Are your feelings still hurt, Kalli?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:48 am
She didn't get any closer to him. Though what he said had her scrunching up her face in thought. What he saw around him? "There is just buildings and Obans around you." Though right now there were more buildings than obans since they weren't quite back to the market. What he said made little sense to her. A heavy sigh escaped her as she shook her head. "I don't know where he lives.. I told you that." Kalli paused for a sec before she continued. "He said he would stop by and take me shopping again." Not that she knew when Incanthis would need to go to the market. "That's all I know."
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:12 am
He took a look around and sighed slightly... he guessed that Kalli and he would always see her homelands very different. But while he was taking a closer look he did realize that maybe he didn't see so many servants as he'd imagined there being.
"I know you don't know where he lives... I meant when he comes to see you next, you could bring him to us?" He couldn't tell if she was still upset with him or not, but he'd figure it out eventually. And what to do about it. "Or Illian and I could come to you each day until Inca shows up, if you want?" He would leave it up to Kalli.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:25 am
That would be difficult to do. Kalli didn't control where Inca went. During their shopping she'd followed him. Just how she'd followed Istanell when they picked out Azure's necklace. Just how she'd followed Azure when he was hoping to find a way back for her. Te little girl lifted her shoulders slightly. "Why don't you just stay with us and wait til he shows up?" It was an innocent question but she shook her head before Istanell could answer. "No, don't do that. Hestia has to do enough chores." Her sister was in charge of everything when her parents were out so she didn't want to add to the work load. "You could try and find where he lives. He mentioned a friend named Mistress Lamya but I don't know who that is." Kalli had no idea that Inca was a servant. Nor did she understand that mentioning someone called Mistress could imply other things.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:47 am
Istanell worked extra hard to keep the initial shocked horror from springing onto his face at the mention of staying in an Oban residence. He cleared his throat to politely decline, more than happy to use Illian as an excuse... but before he could Kalli had already changed her mind and secretly he was very glad. Though maybe a tiny bit offended at the implication of someone's chore load growing that much larger if he were to stay! As though he couldn't clean up after himself or cook or... He glanced down to himself and realized he probably looked in a sorry state. He would need to do something about that.
His eyes widened at her next words. Mistress Lamya? Some different ideas of the word mistress leapt into Istanell's head... none of them good or innocent since he was constantly worried about his brothers. From what he could tell though, Inca had to be doing okay. "Well... it will be a lot of work but that is a good lead." He still felt awkward, still felt like he hadn't wholly made things right with Kalli. She wasn't really answering his questions that weren't about his brother, and that didn't sit well with him.
He finally moved to slip the gift out of his pocket, looking it over. "I haven't been given a gift in a long time, Kalli. This is... how did you end up being so kind?" He smiled gently at her, running a hand through his hair and sighing. "Don't ever stop being kind, okay? Even when people are mean to you, people like me... people meaner than me. Bad people... when good people act badly." Kindness was important, but Istanell sometimes feared he was only able to show it to his brothers. He hadn't let strangers interact with him this much in five years... maybe even while his family had been whole and together.
He carefully unwrapped the gift and held up the necklace, still surprised even though the Oban youth had accidentally told him what it was. With his other hand he ran it down the length of cord, the leather was soft and wouldn't rub uncomfortably against his scars. His hand came to the stones, letting the piece rest in his palm. His thumb ran over each stone in turn. "It's beautiful Kalli... the stones match your eyes." He then moved to put the necklace on over his head, pulling his braid out of the way. It hung low and was oddly comfortable.
He found himself standing again and untying his green sash, it wasn't like he could offer much but he didn't need the sash to keep his pants up or anything like that. It reminded him of his brothers and was a popular style in his village, but nothing more. It wasn't as important as the feathers hanging from his ear cuff, like all of his brothers had. "I want you to have this, Kalli. As long as we are still friends, because I like being your friend." Maybe in the future he would feel differently about all Obans... because he did like Kalli, he liked her kindness and her open way with her emotions. It was good... perhaps he just hadn't given other Oban the chance that they needed. "I know you picked yellow for your hair and it goes well, so maybe you don't like green? But I think it makes your hair and eyes stand out... draws attention to them." He held it out for her.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:09 am
At least she was able to give him a lead as to where to look for his brother. Kalli wasn't even sure if or when Inca would come around to go shopping again. He hadn't said. Nor did she know him well enough to guess. The youngling didn't comment on it further. That truly was the last bit she could give Istanell about his brother. Once again her shoulders would come up in answer to one of his questions. "I have four siblings.. I have to be nice to somebody." And since she usually teased or played minor pranks on her siblings she was nice to strangers. Or at least the strangers that looked nice. "Yea, sorry about that. There wasn't really too many other colors to pick from, but the dark stone reminded me of you." Again the little girl shrugged her shoulders. Her mood was still fouled. Kalliope wouldn't have minded answering questions about her friend if only Istanell had gone about it in a different manner. "I thought green would make my hair look funny." She stared at the sash before she reached out for it. Honestly she didn't know where to put it or how to wear it. Though she did suppose she could put it around her waist. "He asked about you, you know." Kalli mumbled as she continued to look at the green material. "I thought he was just being friendly but I guess I was just a way for him to learn about you. And you to learn about him." She'd seen other kids get things for information they shared about people. Was that what the sash was for? The Oban child sighed. "You can stop pretending. I don't know anything else." She wondered then if Azure would do the same thing. Who did he want information on? A hiccup came from her as the tears started up again and this time she didn't hold them back. "I need to get back to my brother. I wandered off to hug you and he doesn't know."
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 7:43 am
Istanell smiled slightly at her comment, but the smile was awkward and diminished by the slightly upset air about them. So she was from a big family as well... and he'd never bothered asking. Though he couldn't recall talking about his family when they'd first met...
He was growing frustrated though because whatever he said and whatever he didn't wasn't seeming to help. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about, the red is very nice." And a whole lot for him to be nice about, apparently. "You don't have to keep it in your hair, if you don't want. Some greens would look funny but I think this green looks nice." He was just beginning to think he'd fixed things when she said her next words and Istanell felt himself putting his head into his hands. s**t, now he'd made it worse somehow!
He ran his hands down his face as he stared at Kalli. "No, no... that's not..." Well that sort of was what he was doing, but it wasn't like he'd meant to do it. How could he not find out about his brother after not seeing him for five years? He found himself covering his mouth, still squatting with his elbow resting on his knee and his body hunched over a little. He didn't want to keep talking, fearing he'd just say something stupid next. He didn't get it, he used to give things to his younger brothers all the time to stop them from feeling bad. Was that wrong? He didn't think so, it wasn't like he didn't want to give stuff away.. because then he wouldn't have.
He obviously had poor timing though, because now Kalli thought he'd given her the scarf in return of the information. Anger suddenly twisted through the guilt and other bad feelings in his stomach. "I'm not pretending." He said immediately and in a more angered tone than was common for him to use. Even for a child to say that to him, it felt bad... but maybe Kalli was feeling bad because he'd just used all this time to talk about his brother.
He rubbed at his temples again because he didn't know how she'd react to the angry tone and she wanted to leave and he definitely hadn't fixed things. "Well let me walk with you, at least?" He was trying to come up with something to draw her attention away from his brother and his family and what an a** he must have been being... but seriously what else was one supposed to speak about?
Maybe how hungry he was cause he definitely didn't get that food she'd mentioned, and for good reason too. "And you can point out some good Oban food for us to eat?" His tone was pleading, so were his eyes. It was weird, he shouldn't have cared so much that this small Oban child was angry with him. "What is your favorite food?"
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:13 am
She stared at the green sash. Kalli wouldn't put it in her hair. For one it was too big for her and would likely cover her whole head and for two she liked the idea of a sash. Though she was sure it would be something of a skirt for her at the moment. Which didn't seem like a bad idea. When he snapped at her she stared at him, salty tears still spilling over since she thought that now even Azure only wanted to get information from her. She inhaled several times as hiccups interrupted her and she trembled. Istanell was being a whole different person now that he'd learned what he wanted. Smack. Kalli had brought her little hand up and slapped the shifter on the cheek. It wouldn't hurt too much but it would get the point across. "Don't snap at me." She cried. Her red hair was sent flying as she shook her head in answer to his question about walking her. She didn't want him to. Nor did she want him to meet her brother. Since she was crying her brother would think Istanell had done something wrong to her. The mention of food had her dark red eyes narrowing before she reached out to slap him again. "Am I your servant now? You accuse me of having Inca as a servant and then you treat me like one? Go away Istanell." She dug into her pocket and took out the bit of food she seemed to always have on her. This time it was a small bundle of sugar cookies. Kalliope shoved it at him. "There." Now she was angry with him. Hurt was written all over her face but in her eyes there was anger. He was being so different than from before and it confused her. Moving past him she started toward the market again, this time at a run since she didn't want him to stop her again and she was too busy crying. She did however, have the green sash in her hand as she took off.
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Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:02 pm
Istanell stumbled back but managed to keep his balance while he was in the awkward squatting position. His eyes went wide almost immediately and a hand flew up to his face reflexively though Kalli's slap had neither hurt or would do much damage to him. He could no longer bring himself to feel bad that she was crying again, his thoughts oddly quiet as though the slap, harmless as it was, had shocked him. In fact, the first thing he was able to think of was days spent with his father when he'd get something wrong one too many times or would repeatedly give answers his father didn't like. In other words? He'd done something to deserve the slap, but he couldn't put his finger on what. Surely she'd been snapped at worse than that... it may not have been okay for him to do but he would never say that someone yelling justified violence.
Maybe it was simply in an Oban's nature to resort to violence, kind personalities or not. He found his eyebrows drawing down, an angered pout on his face as he tried to get his thoughts in order. He couldn't. He just kept thinking you did something wrong, you deserved that over and over, like some sort of weird mantra. His eyes flickered to her tiny little hand and when she moved to slap him again he found himself backing up and standing to his full height in one fluid motion, not willing to get hit a second time for any reason.
His head shook and his lips pulled down into a disgruntled frown, trying and failing to figure out what the hell was going on. He hadn't been treating her like a servant? If he were to treat her like one he would have demanded she go back inside and fetch him some food, rather than invite her along to eat... sharing food was a good way to relieve tension, to show forgiveness. Wasn't it? Before he could figure out just what to say to her to point out her atrocious behavior in the face of his unknowingly atrocious behavior she was shoving something into his hands and running off.
He did not follow after her, and didn't want to follow after her. He felt a sudden urge to throw the wrapped item onto the round and snatch off the necklace to do the same... he wasn't a child though and he could restrain from childish impulses. He turned and immediately began stalking away, eventually he'd be able to get back to his and Istanell's decided 'camp' for the evening. As he passed a vagrant that looked even worse off than himself he leaned down, placing the unknown item next to him without a second thought. Then he really did snatch off the necklace, but he didn't give it to any stranger. He slipped it into his pocket. Right now he didn't want a reminder of the disastrous meeting that had just gone down each time the stones smacked against his chest.
He found himself repeating the meeting over and over in his head, not really sure why nothing he'd done had worked but also not really seeing why anything he'd tried had been so wrong. He certainly hadn't deserved to be hit! He was fuming by the time he got back to his and Illian's area, hoping and praying to Serin that he would not run into Kalli any time soon because then he really would yell at her! You don't go around hitting people!
He found himself pacing back and forth for a good while, evening his breathing and focusing on the real important matter at hand. Incanthis was close!
Soon they could put this wretched place behind them, for good!
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