Passing in the Night (Shol and Lexical) PRP

[divena]

RP between Shol (Divena and Divenasmom) and Lexical (Bardess Ookami)

Shol sighed heavily as he made his way through the dusk. The sun was just beginning to set, and it really was a very beautiful sunset. But all he could think about was his poor father, doubtlessly trying to track down a wayward mate. or maybe not. Some days, Shol's father was smart enough to NOT go looking for his mother. After all, Blossom always found her way back to Imoo, whether or not her mate wanted her to. When he was a child, Shol thought that his father's twitching was a game. Now he wondered if his father put up with his mother out of love... or habit... or if Imoo had simply given up the will to live and just went along with Blossom's enthusiasm. And here was Shol, contemplating looking for his brother who, unfortunately for Imoo and Shol, took after their mother.  

[Bardess Ookami]

The foal set down her book and sighed softly, saddened. The light was waning and it was becoming more and more difficult to read. She had wandered away from her parents, and she knew that it was a terribly naughty thing to do, but her father was so overly verbose that she simply could not focus on the words written across the page of the tome. She did not know if this had originally been a human artifact, or if there were others like her, Soquili, who could actually craft such amazing things. She rather hoped to learn that this was the case. She hoped one day to write words into pages for others to read and enjoy. But finally she sighed and gave up the attempt. She blinked as she realized that the noise she heard was not the turning of pages, but the approach of another. She felt sheepish, but stood and settled her book onto her back, walking carefully so as to not drop it. "Sorry poppa," she said, mistakenly presuming what she heard was the tred of her parents.  

[divena]

The sound of the young voice caused Shol to pause. A moment later, the words sank in and he felt panic sink with it. Poppa? Who poppa? What poppa? Him? Oh dear gods, he hoped not! He quickly scanned his memory for anything that could cause someone to want to call him poppa... nope, nothing on his part. Another moment passed as he scanned his memory for any unexplainable blanks. He knew very well that was how he and his brother had come into being. His father still wasn't sure how it happened, but Blossom had cheerfully told her boys that daddy had gotten a bit tipsy one day, and so had she, and the next thing they knew they were blessed with two little boys.

Of course, Blossom was known to make up extravagant stories with the belief that no one was foolish enough to actually BELIEVE them. She didn't realize just how convincing she could be sometimes. But right now, he wasn't missing any time.

"Um... I don't think I'm your poppa," he said. He certainly hoped he wasn't, at least.  

[Bardess Ookami]

Lexical blinked when she saw Shol and stumbled back a step, her book tumbling off of her, hitting the dirt, unnoticed. Her lower lip trembled. She swallowed hard, trying not to cry. "You're not my poppa," she whispered softly, afraid. Poppa said strangers could often be friends waiting to be made, but that one had to be careful. But in the stories, more often strangers were dangerous. She didn't know yet how to tell if this would be a god stranger or a bad stranger.  

[divena]

Shol blinked at the small, odd creature. The small, odd creature that seemed dangerously like she was about to start crying. He swallowed down another spike of panic. He couldn't handle tears, from children or females, and this little child was both. It was a triple attack. Tears, girls, and children.

"No, I'm not," he assured her, both relieved and worried. "Do you know where your poppa is? He's nearby, right?"  

[Bardess Ookami]

She swallowed a bit, lip still trembling. He was going to be a nice stranger? She rather hoped so. She would be terrible afraid should he turn out to be some sort of monster. He didn't look like a monster, well, except for the hole in his chest. Was that a hole? Well, it was rather disconcerting. She swallowed again. "I... I think so," she whispered softly.  

[divena]

"Oh, good," Shol breathed softly. "You shouldn't wander far away from your ma or pa, you know."  

[Bardess Ookami]

She gave a small nod, swallowing. "I know," she said softly. Maybe he was a good sort after all. She felt brave enough to back up and pick up her book, carefully sweeping grass and leaves from it's pages. She turned her head and set it upon her back once more, before looking up to him. "I wanted to read, is all," she said softly. "And poppa speaks such a terrible lot. He's... fas...fas...fa...fascinating," she said, struggling to say a word she knew far better on the page. "How...ever," she said, still stumbling some over her vocabulary, "he makes it diffi...deff, diff.... hard to focus." The words were all so easy in her head and on the page. But they felt bulky and obstinate in her mouth.  

[divena]

"Difficult?" Shol guessed. She seemed like a rather clever child, but maybe a bit too trusting.  

[Bardess Ookami]

She nodded eagerly. "Difficult," she repeated, fascinated by the way the word sounded in her mouth. such a pretty word for such a complex and wondrous concept.  

[divena]

"Well... I'm impressed," Shol sighed, resigned. "You've got a wonderful vocabulary, and I've never met a young one as fond as reading as you seem to be. But you really shouldn't wonder too far from home."  

[Bardess Ookami]

She beamed a bit when he said that he was impressed. Could she really impress adults? That was absolutely epic. Fantastic. However, then the entirety of his statement caught up to her. She gave a small nod of agreement. "Yes, sir," she said softly. She knew that she had done wrong in sneaking about as she had. But she really had just wanted to read, was wishing for some quiet so she could peruse a fascinating tome really such a bad thing?  

[divena]

"Not that I was much better as a youth," he muttered, his need to be honest getting the better of him. "I used to wander all over the place... it's amazing I managed to become an adult...." Wait... why was he telling her that?"  

[Bardess Ookami]

She watched him with wide-eyed awe and amazement as he spoke. He sounded fascinating, like he had maybe lived one of her wonderful adventure books. She leaned forward in all eagerness to try and encourage him to continue with his tale. Could a spoken tale actually be as engaging as one that was observed from off of a page? His seemed to have potential, could real life truly be even half as vibrant as fiction? Or perhaps was he leading her into a fantasy, to tell her a tale. That was possible, she had read of story tellers who could spin a spoken yarn so well that the listener felt as though they were falling into the narrative. Could he be so skilled, could she have happened upon such phenomenal luck? Would he continue if she looked so eager?  

[divena]

"Ah..." Shol blinked, startled at how eager she looked. He glanced around, trying to find what had caught her attention.