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 Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:45 pm
"Rock a bye baby, in the treetops..." Singing the lullaby with an enthusiasm far exceeding standard volumes, Safi was anything but stealthy as he trotted through the woods. Then again, he didn't harbor any delusions that he WAS stealthy, and if he was noticed today, that'd be so much the better. After all, Kohana could be rather hard to track down, hermit or not. Besides, Safi liked to let Kohana know he was coming, not just sneak up on him.
"When the wind blows, the basket will rock..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:48 pm
"You know that's terrible, right?" Kohana said, appearing out of the underbrush at his brother's side. "Absolutely... terrible." Every time he had seen Safi during the last year that he could recall (and there were a rather limited number of those), the daffy wind had either been singing or humming some ridiculous song. But he wanted to see him, despite that. There was news to be had, and he silently, quietly ached for news of his children. He loved them from afar, finding it difficult to spend any great length of time around them. He had not anticipated that when he had first discovered that he was to be a father. He had thought he'd be stronger, that he would be able to put aside his own feelings so that he could raise his children with their mother. In the end, he had done what he could, and when he could not he relied upon Safi.
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:59 pm
Turning his head, Safi greeted Kohana's arrival with a wide grin. He'd cheerfully admit that Kohana had snuck up on him; he had no sense of perception, he really didn't. But who cared?
"Geez, Kohana, you are always so negative? Can't a stallion even sing without getting snarked at about it? Pft, you are such a crab sometimes."
However, he was already moving to glomp Kohana in a big hug before he'd even finished speaking. "Hey, big brother, how's it going?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:11 pm
"I apologize if you find my nature to be offensive, little brother," Kohana said rather snarkily. Nevertheless, he submitted to the hug with only a little bit of awkwardness. A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he answered Safi's question. "It's going alright. The same as always, it seems. There's not much change to my life here, you know. And how are things going for you?" No doubt he had much more to tell. He actually did want to hear about things. "And... my children? How are they?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:24 pm
"There you go, putting words in my mouth. Did I say you're offense? No, I only said that you're negative, WHICH you are, by the way." Grinning from ear to ear, Safi stepped back at the conclusion of the hug, the expression on his face still one of utter silliness. After all this time, he had yet to grow out of the habit of grinning like an idiot when meeting up with his brother. Luckily, Kohana seemed to be used to it by now.
And he couldn't change even if he wanted to, WHICH he didn't. "And you know what I have to say on the subject of your dull life, Kohana. You could change that by, I don't know...moving around a bit?" An old arguement, and one Safi knew would always end the same way. But at least he had something to distract him from it...
Shrugging his shoulders, Safi gave Kohana what was supposed to be a careless shrug, but ended up looking like a boyish grin. "Oh, not too much going on with me; I met someone, but that's not really interesting. What IS interesting, though, is-"
Pausing, Safi looked over at Kohana, then around the area like he was suspecting someone else to appear. "Have you by any chance heard from Kwahu lately?"
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:45 pm
"... No, I haven't heard from Kwahu recently. Is he alright?" Suddenly, Kohana was worried about his son. Had he gotten hurt? Did he need his father? Tensing, the stallion shook out his long mane. "Ha. You know, I think my life would be dull even if I lived around others, and moved about." Chances were that his life would never be as exciting as some others, and certainly not as much as Safi's. "You met someone, hmm? What sort of someone might that be?" Despite his worry, he couldn't keep the curiosity out of his tone. Whatever their problems, Safi meant a lot to him. He didn't often express that, but he did.
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Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:55 pm
In a way, it was both funny and sad that Kohana's first reaction to the query about Kwahu was worry. Couldn't Kwahu just want to say hi? Then again, if you lead up to things in a dramatic fashion Safi could suppose that you might get a dramatic response; consequently, he didn't tease Kohona QUITE as much as he could. "Well, considering the circumstances, I'd say he's more than fine, Kohana. Or perhaps it'd be more accurate if I said 'Grandpa Kohana'."
Grinning, Safi looked at Kohana, their eyes meeting so that Kohana would know that for once Safi was totally serious. This was something significant, after all, and presentation was crucial. His own news, such as it was, could wait; he'd gotten to be mysterious, and that was all he wanted. This was Kohana's moment.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:11 pm
"I... ... What?" Kohana blinked, did a double take, and repeated himself. "I... what? I'm a what?" He was, or would be a grandfather? He hadn't known that Kwahu had found someone. Or was it a situation much like his own had been? "Wait. Wait. ... Are you serious? You're not joking?" He didn't know how to respond. On the one hand, he was overjoyed at the possibility of having little grandchildren to spoil, and the idea that his son had found himself a sweetheart. On the other, he was instantly concerned that his son had found himself into an unfortunate situation himself. He wasn't sure that Kwahu could take the sort of rejection that he had experienced in his younger days. "... I think I'm getting too old for surprises," he said wearily, unsure of whether he ought to be thrilled or seeking out the mare in question to give her a stern talking to.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:19 pm
While he wasn't shocked at Kohana's reaction, Safi had to admit it was a loss less enthusiastic than he would have liked. This was happy and wonderful news, after all, and it should have greeted with comments of 'how wonderful' and 'I can't believe it!" and 'I can't wait to see my grandkids!', not 'I'm too old for surprises.'
So he shook his head, tsking, at his brother. "Geez, Kohana, you ought to know me well enough by now to know that this isn't something I'd tease you about; Kwahu is actually, honestly going to be a father. From what he told me they aren't 'officially together' or anything at the moment, but you know how hormones can be." At that Safi gave Kohana a conspiratorial wink just to lighten the mood, though he thought he might have a hunch why Kohana was feeling so...blah? "But Kwahu DOES seem to like her a lot, and from the sound of it she likes him, they're both happy about the kids, and...well, that's about as much as I know, really."
Finishing on that note, Safi scuttled up to drape a wing over Kohana and leaned his head against his brother's shoulder in a dreamy fashion. "Just think, Ko; our little Kwahu is about to become a dad, and it seems so recently that he was struggling to learn how to land...actually, it was yesterday, but I digress. Isn't this GREAT?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:35 pm
For an instant, Kohana looked incredibly vulnerable, as though his calm would crack with a moment's notice. And then he shrugged his shoulders, seeming to absorb the damage that had been there for a second. "She wasn't... drunk, was she? She didn't have any firewater? It's a real like?" It was good to know that Kwahu liked the girl, but that really had no bearing on anything, did it, if she didn't like him. But his brother was saying that the mare did seem to like his son. Silently, he prayed that his little colt wasn't going to fall into the same trap as him. "It's not just a one time thing?" He tried so hard to be excited for his son, to be happy for him, yet his worry shone through. "I am excited about the kids, Safi." He was. It was just that his son, his daughter were the first things he thought of. "Yes, it's great." If only he could truly believe without seeing it in action that the mare felt the way his brother said she did. Still... the prospect of little foals running around was a heartening one.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:41 pm
Ah, so there was a method to Kohana's madness, just as Safi had supposed. As a rule Safi avoided the subject of Kohana's...involvement with Luna, but considering the circumstances, he could hardly blame Kohana for his paranoia. And rather than put his foot in his mouth, Safi simply gave Kohana a nuzzle before pulling away a bit, putting his eings up behind his head as he always did.
"As I heard from Kwahu, the two of them are interested, they are just playing it slow. Or they were, one brief slip-up aside. If she only likes him because she's drunk, then she's been drunk for a while which, while a possibility, is unlikely."
Pivoting on a hoof, Safi gave Kohana a truly serious look, one of the rare ones that occassionly crossed his otherwise grinning face, leaning in to give Kohana a pat on the cheek. "It's going to work out, Kohana; these kids might not have been planned, but they ARE wanted by both of them, with each other. You can actually sit back and enjoy being a grandpa, crazy as that must sound to you. I wish MY kids would make me a grandfather at some point..but then, you had kids first, it's only fair you have grandkids first. Though I won't promise not to steal them from time to time." And now the grin was back, JUST as it belonged.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:48 pm
Kohana let out the breath he'd been holding in a sound that resembled that of a wounded animal, and clamped down tight on his emotions. "Then... if they are happy, and seem to want this... I am happy for them." By the great spirit, he was glad, so glad to hear that the mistake that Kwahu had made would not be biting him back. "Where is he, Saf?" It was a nickname that he only called his brother at the most intense of moments. It implied a loss of control on his part, one that he very rarely exhibited. He tried to work his lips into a smile, and then found himself grinning despite himself. "I wonder if he'll have a little girl and boy like I did. That would be something." It would be nice to do just as his brother suggested, and truly be a grandparent. Maybe becoming involved in those little lives would bring him some peace.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:55 pm
As Kohana spoke, Safi was looking very intently at his brother's face, knowing from the disjointed order of the words that Kohana was having difficulties saying them, or at least saying them and meaning them. That fact might even have worried Safi, were it not for the slip-up of control on Kohana's part that followed.
They were so alike, he and Kohana, though on his own he might not realize it. But for a third party to look at the two stallions side by side, their was no doubting that they were brothers in seeing the matching grins. In Kohana's case though, Safi would be the first to say that it brought a whole new light to his person, and THAT was how he liked to see Kohana.
"You know, you really need to smile more, Ko; it makes you look less like the dragon you are, or at least the dragon you seem to THINK you are. And I'd be happy to point you in the right direction; he and Azulia will undoubtably be thrilled to see you. And who knows, maybe by the time you get there you'll be able to see for yourself just what sort of children he has..."
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; and somehow, Safi felt as though a step had been made. Perhaps it was the start of something bigger, something beutiful...but at least it was a step.
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