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 Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 6:21 pm
"A.... Janarim, like from my books? And bird...? I would be delighted to see them! Surely the bird's name is as beautiful as you make it sound. His hand picked up a new dish, a small bowl of his ever favorite soft crush fruit. Among many of the items he had to eat, something so simple proved to be his favorite. "I have met many beasts in my lifetime, but rarely something genuinely fierce. It would be a sight to see!"
Surprisingly, even to himself, his attention shifted away from the thoughts of animals to the thoughts of the people. People who's names danced in his head as he tried to imagine how they looked. Were they as pale as Zekiel was, or perhaps dark and brooding like Myuto? Perhaps they were taller and brightly peppy like Zekiel was. Regardless, he wished to see them. Not enough to want to see them right this moment, as Zekiel had all of his attention and company, but enough that it was an appealing idea.
"I would like to meet your friends... Malta, and this jungle man... And I would like to see Tacrith... I want to be able to make my own friends..." The bowl in his hands was gently prodded at with his fingers as his expression fell just a little bit. Self consciousness and self doubt tried sink it's claws into him for just a moment. "I do not wish to be seen as something to fear, but... I am not sure if that will change."
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:33 pm
“Mm.” Zekiel nodded. “As in the books. And it was a sight. Great, strong and dark with teeth so long as half my arm below the elbow. But it did as the man bid without causing a bit of trouble, though the gate guards were concerned I think, to see something so strange.”
Zekiel quieted briefly, watching Ottolo’s face as his attention wandered, and then listening with intent as the other boy spoke up again. At length, his smile warmed and he nodded again.
“You will make friends, of mine and of your own. That is…” Zekiel hesitated only a moment, but long enough to consider for the first time the full weight of the fact that Ottolo, being a foreigner, might not intend to stay at all long after he healed. Zekiel’s gaze flit down, and then up to meet Ottolo’s with a more modest smile. “If you remain in Yael after healing, you will make friends here, I know it. Our gods took you in here, and if you stayed long enough to come to know their children, you would find spaces which welcomed you. There are wondrous people in these streets, just as there are people who hold much fear in their hearts…but…I think that is true of all places? Or certainly all those I know…we can only try to be as unafraid ourselves as we may and pray the gods give others the courage also to be not afraid, and greet strange things with warmth.”
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 4:08 pm
"There is no home for me back on the mainland... If I am allowed, then I would wish to stay. I could earn my keep and find a way to stay near you and repay your kindness tenfold." With Zekiel's smile on him, he could not help but return it. If someone as kind as this Acolyte could find it in his heart to be patient and caring with him, he could do the same. Or atleast try to.
"Knowing you and having you by my side has been far more comfort and happiness than I've ever felt in my lifetime. I will learn the patience you have so that this land becomes my home too." Certainly there would be roadblocks and pain the whole way there but who was to say he couldn't be happy living here?
"Though, I do think I wish to find my mother one day. After I've recovered, after I find myself stronger and confidence, I wish to meet her again as a Man, not as a child clinging to her skirts. Then I can ask her why...?" His voice trailed off as he thought about her for the first time in a few weeks. His days and nights had been filled with joy and sorrows that he had not experienced before, so the thought of her and her cruelties had been all but pushed away from his mind. But now that he stopped to think of her again, the weight of her signs began to prey on his mind and fill him with worry.
"Zekiel, will you sit beside me for a few moments while you read your work before you leave? Perhaps read aloud so that I may hear them? Your readings from your gods' texts always seem to bring peace to the storms that rage within me and cloud the sky of my mind from seeing all that I am blessed with."
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 4:48 pm
Zekiel opened his mouth to say that there was nothing the other boy had to repay—his actions, kind or otherwise, had been freely given with no expectation or need of reward to balance it. But, the words left his tongue before finding voice. They would fall on deaf ears regardless, and if it comforted Ottolo to think of ‘repaying’ him, then Zekiel could be grateful for that.
“One day you will find that strength,” Zekiel said instead, smiling and reaching to set aside and tidy up his food plate. “I know it is the gods’ will.”
At Ottolo’s request then, his expression only brightened further and he nodded, taking up his books in the stead of his food and settling atop the bed beside his friend. “Another day,” he said, “when your body has healed more and if you wish it, I may take you to the halls of our gods, the church where the people of this city come to pray together. Then you may hear their words as we speak them to all those of Yael, which you ought witness at least once if this will be your home as well as mine.” For that moment, though, he opened his own text, written for learning, and moved to the section he was to be at for his classes. And he read aloud.
It was no simple feat for Zekiel, who had struggled extensively over the years to tame the letters on any given page into remaining still and clear enough and his mind attentive enough to follow their patterns. But to show and say them to Ottolo and hear them re-enforced on his own tongue when he gave them volume, seemed in its own way to help. After initial uncertainty, it became a smoother and more intriguing process than he thought it might.
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:21 am
"I am certain as well... Your gods have been kind to me. I would not imagine they would let all their kindness be for naught." With his belly contently full, his own plates and cup were set off to the side, then room was made to give a proper space for Zekiel to sit.
As the words of his gods filled the room, peace and contentment finally filled his mind. His eyes wandered about the light of the room, to the door that was left open, to the window where he could see trees swaying and birds that rested in their branches, and finally to Zekiel's hand that held his books in place. A finger twitched, and before he could stop himself, he found his hand wandering over to touch the soft skin on Zekiel's.
It felt as if he was wrong for doing so, but from that single touch, a spark went off in his heart, that felt like his world lit up even more than the sun had when he saw it for the first time. His hand only remained a moment before retreating to simply hold onto the fabric of his Acolyte's sleeve, enjoying every words, every breath that he gave. Such sweet sounds easily caused his mind to become muddled, to the point where he found himself happily slipping to a comfortable sleep, far more relaxing and gentle than anything he had felt since before. And he was content.
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