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 Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:13 pm
Draven smiled softly, watching Tae and her children talk. He'd no intention of interrupting, and found himself watching them with a smile, finally blinking into reality as she mentioned the strawberry sauce. "I'm afraid I've never tried it.." He said, pouting as he added to the boys, "Is it any good?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:22 pm
Kallos threw away the junk he clutched to his chest, eyes still riveted on Draven. They only shifted when he felt Tael pull him close. He curled up somewhat as she jumped onto the stool, before sitting elegantly.
He shook his head, clearing it from the distraction of the - uber delicious - strawberry sauce lure. He flinched slightly at the poke his mother gave him, but snuggled back against her, eyes warily watching Draven.
Very slowly, his lips twitched into a smirk quick quickly disappeared, before he tilted his chin up to look up at Taelence, taking a deep breath before beginning to speak. "You're right. If Momma Teles was here, this wouldn't be happening. You wouldn't have been alone in the kitchen with him, 'cause you wouldn't wanna hurt her. ...and chances of him managing to be alone with you would be slim, 'cause chances are she wouldn't be too happy with him, either."
If Kallos lived in a lesser household...chances are he would be reeling on the floor, face already swelling from the smack he could have received. But, this was not such a household, but still...he was worried he might have made his mother really, really upset with him.
As if to make ammends, he grumbled softly in response to Draven's question: "It's the best thing in the world."
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:31 pm
Taelence stilled, as she heard Kallos's words. She turned her head away and got a grip on herself. It was bad to be reminded that she and Teles had something between them, even if it couldn't be acted upon. It was worse to have that fact shoved in your face by your own son.
"Kallos, not only was that beyond rude, it's also not your place to say what Teles would or wouldn't do with Draven in the house. I was talking about the fact that you and your brother have been up to more mischief. The feathers? The toilet paper? Honestly!"
Chryses was shocked by his brother's words, but he had to admit that they were true. If Teles had been in the house, Taelence would have been as far from Draven as physically possible. But he spoke up when she mentioned the feathers.
"We didn't rip the pillows to shreds. That was Cat. One might have accidentally been thrown in her direction while she was napping. She caught hold of it and just went to town on it. And then she grabbed all of the pillows she could find and went to town on them," Chryses watched Draven for a reaction to Kallos's words. "The way Mum Tael makes it is really good. Thank you for bringing some home."
Chryses was most definitely the more laid back son. He might be unhappy but he wasn't going to show it. Not yet anyways.
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:40 pm
Draven opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, feeling that anything that involved Tae and Teles was their business until they decided otherwise. He shook his head slightly and added, "I'm sorry, if I'm intruding. I don't mean to be a burden on you, I was merely trying to help get enough berries so you two could snack on a few and there would be enough to make the sauce..." He remembered the blueberries he'd found and untied the little bag from his collar, holding it out and adding, "I have some blueberries too, if you'd like some." He was obviously trying to avoid conflict, even though it seemed more like he was trying to bribe the two youngsters to like him. Ignoring the thought, he clapped and said quickly, "So.. what do we need to get started?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 11:48 pm
Kallos winced at his mother's response, and whimpered softly. It was most likely that he would be correct on how his other mother would react to Draven, but he didn't try and press his point. He was already ashamed he'd hurt his mother...so he let Chryses explain what happened. Kallos turned and pressed his face against Tael's chest, thoroughly humiliated by what he'd said, but still knowing that if he said nothing...well, he wouldn't be able to get passed it.
Did he want to get past his instantaneous dislike and distrust towards Draven? Maybe...he didn't really know the answer to that.
Slowly, his ears twitching as he listened to Draven, Kallos turned his head, peering at the older male with his eerie silver-toned eyes. If a little grudgingly, he spoke up. "...thank you, I think, for going to pick strawberries with Momma Tael... We do tend to gobble them up..."
As much as he may not have liked the new fox, he disliked hurting and embarrassing his mother more. So, for the moment, he tried to at least be civil. "And no thanks. We've got some blueberry bushes back at home...so I get lots of 'em there..."
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:09 am
Taelence felt Kallos press into her in apology and kissed his forehead. Sometimes he could be so like Teles that it was almost scary. And Teles would not have hesitated to say worse, regardless of the company around her.
She waved away Draven's attempt at a peace offering. It was sweet of him to offer but at the moment what the boys needed was discipline, not treats.
"What needs to be done is Chryses and Kallos need to go out and finish cleaning up the living room," she listened to their groans and held up her paws. "No, you two may not have made the mess but you did start it. And Chryses you are not off the hook for the toilet paper trap. We'll talk about that later."
She kissed Kallos on the head again and lifted him down onto the floor. Then she picked up Chryses, kissed him on the cheek, and set him beside his brother. She pulled a large trash bag from under the sink and gave it to Chyrses.
Their complaints fell on deaf ears as Taelence ushered them from the room. She sighed and walked back to the counter.
"Did I mention I was sorry?" she asked Draven as she pulled the strawberry basket to her and turned to the sink. "Contrary to their behavior, they really are sweet boys. But you come into the house, they see a sort of....I don't know....chemistry and they get defensive."
She turned on the water and opened the basket, pulling a strawberry out and washing it before placing it in a glass bowl that stood by the sink.
"I haven't made their lives easy. I had a mate once, Chocolate. Handsome male. Everything was good and happy for a little while...and then things just began to fade. I broke things off..." she sighed. "I suppose you could say that I'd been cheating on him, if he'd actually been around to cheat on. Teles was my best friend, still is, and I found a lot of comfort in being with her. Fondness turned to like, like turned to love. And I couldn't be with her because I'd promised myself to Cho,"
"It took me a week, after I'd left Cho, to completely break down. I got as much alcohol as I could carry and headed down to the hot springs to drink my troubles away," she snorted to herself and washed another strawberry. "The hot springs are a notorious love-making spot around here. I wanted to hurt myself as much as possible, so I chose a spot where love and passion wouldn't, couldn't happen for me. Teles showed up, got drunk with me, and Chyrses and Kallos are the result."
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 12:26 am
"It's fine. And expected reaction, actually..." He held slight relief of their defensive behavior. Had they acted casually, he'd have thought something wrong.
He perked up as she told her past, Draven's expression remaining calm as she explained it. He approached the sink and helped her to wash strawberries before she'd gotten halfway through, although he listened wholeheartedly.
No sooner had she finished, Draven shook his head with a weary sigh, "Had I known all of this was going on, I might've made it here sooner... But you have Chryses and Kallos as a result, and you can look forward to watching the two of them grow up under your care..." He paused, wondering to himself if he really should invade on their lives when Tae's been through a bit of bad luck.
Shrugging off the feeling, he continued to wash strawberries, being as thorough as possible in making sure they were properly clean.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:26 pm
Taelence shrugged, and washed another strawberry.
"What would you have done about it? I made stupid mistakes, stuff that was my fault. Not Chryses and Kallos, I mean Chocolate. I should have known that things wouldn't work out, should have and didn't," she finished the last of the strawberries and picked up the bowl, bringing it to the counter top.
She pulled out two knives, handed one to Draven, and began to slice the tops of the strawberries off and then slice them in half.
"We all make mistakes in our life," she said, still slicing. "I doubt there would have been anything you could have done regardless."
Chryses peeked his head into the kitchen.
"Mum, Cat's having hysterics again,"
Taelence looked up.
"What about?"
Chryses smirked.
"Rose threw the glass of water I had on her,"
Taelence rolled her eyes. There was more shouting coming from the other room and she quickly put the knife down.
"Be right back," she said to Draven as she rushed out of the room.
Chryses moved out of the way as his mother ran past him and walked into the kitchen.
He jumped gracefully on to the counter and sat in front of Draven as he sliced.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 8:40 pm
Draven shrugged, "I would've tried anything to keep you away from the pain of a broken heart.. Heck, I probably would've kept the guy for myself to prevent anything between the two of you..." He smiled, hoping she'd caught on he was joking.
As she rushed to the other room, he shook his head softly and asked Chryses, "Does that happen often? I mean, Cat and Rose fighting..." He'd only just caught wind of their names; had he met either one of them, he'd be confused as to whom it was.
Draven kept cutting the strawberries until he came across one that was heart-shaped, staring at it for the longest time before murmuring, "It's too cute to cut... Here, you probably shouldn't have this but..." He pulled off the leaves of it before handing it to Chryses, making sure everything he was handing the youngster was perfectly edible.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:15 pm
Chryses reached out and took the strawberry from Draven.
"Thank you," he said quietly as he bit into it. His mother and this male had done good. The strawberries were very juicy and delicious. "Well, considering that no one in the house likes Cat, yeah pretty much. Auntie Rose is...difficult on her best days, a total witch on her worst. Cat irritates her, she does it on purpose and Rose knows it. So she irritates Cat right back, regardless of the consequences. Rose isn't scared of anything."
Which wasn't the truth, but it was close enough. Chryses studied Draven as he worked, slicing the strawberries from the bowl. The kit was not a fool, and noticed more than he let on.
"Mind if I ask you something?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:23 pm
Draven stopped slicing and looked at Chryses with a smile, "Sure. What's on your mind?" He awaited the response, but didn't want to lag on his cutting duties, and was quickly cutting up the strawberries again. He'd no idea what he was going to ask, but it didn't seem to bother him the slightest. Heck, he awaited the question with curiousity, nearly pausing in his cutting from thinking about it.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:28 pm
Chryses paused, knowing what he wanted to ask, working out the phrasing right.
"What do you want with my mum?" he asked, slowly, frankly. "No lies, no bullocks, the straight up truth. She deserves to be treated with the up most care. I don't know what you think about her, what you're really doing. That makes me question you and your intentions, whatever they are. I think I kinda deserve to know the truth."
Chryses really didn't beat around the bush. But this was his mother they were talking about, and when it came to her, or to Mum Teles for that matter, he didn't screw around.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:55 pm
Draven expected the question, and gave a weak smile, "I want to protect her... At first, I wanted to know her. I won't lie; I just wanted to learn as much about her as possible because I found her cute... but.... now that I know about her, I don't want anything bad ever to happen to her. You, being her son... surely, you know what it's like? Wanting to never let anything bad happen to the person you care about most?" He paused, shaking his head as he smiled, "What am I saying... I've always cared about everyone around me... it's just a normal thing for me to do..." He quickly silenced himself, going back to cutting the strawberries. That is, until he realized he'd nearly cut them all, trying to keep himself occupied.
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:06 pm
Kallos grumbled as his mother shoo'd him from the room, but sighed and left with Chryses to finish cleaning up the shredded pillows. He grumbled softly all the while, ears straining to catch any sound coming from the kitchen. When they were finished and the bag was full of trash, a shriek came from nearby. Kallos jumped and spun, his fur sticking on end as he spied Cat - who was dripping wet - and Rose, a satisfied smirk on her face.
Soon, there was the hisses and threats that could only come between fighting female foxes.
Chryses scampered off, and Kallos groaned and flopped to the floor, watching the two females until his mother eventually came in to quell the two fighting vixens. Standing, he paced over to sit near where she was playing referee, waiting until she was finished.
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:30 pm
Chryses pondered Draven's words.
"Of course I know what that's like. I'd do anything for either of my mothers," he paused. "But wanting to take care of her because you think she's special and wanted to take care of her because that's what you do, take care of people, are two very different things. So you see my hesitation to trust your intentions. My brother and I could very well ruin any chance you have with our mother. If it comes to it, Mum Tael will choose us over you."
Chryses wasn't really making a threat, more like stating a fact. A parent will always choose a child over a potential spouse or lover. And if they don't, then they're not a real parent.
"Cat out," Taelence commanded, her voice full of irritation. "Honestly, if Crimson didn't say you could be here, I'd kick you out myself."
She turned back to see a smirking Rose. She narrowed her eyes and waved a paw at Rose.
"You too. I've had enough," she held up that paw to stop Rose's tirade. "I know, and I don't care. Go to the garden, I'm sure Warren's there waiting for you."
She watched as the foxes of her household left for other places and sat down wearily beside her son. She sighed and placed a paw on his head.
"Kallos, what am I going to do with them all?" it was rhetorical question, more of a complaint than anything.
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