[PRP] Family Snark (Alouette and Allarian)

[Cajmera]

 

[Cajmera]

Alouette (Louie)
~~~

It was pre-dawn, and the forest was just starting to wake up for the day. The droning, buzzing, calling, and other sounds of the night had tapered off, and the first chipper bird calls had started, their high-pitched tone carrying through the trees as though the very songs had wings. It was still dark, but somewhere off on the horizon, the first faint rays of light were straining their way through the trees, a reminder that whatever had happened that night, a new day was about to begin.

Louie yawned and stretched out his wings, feeling the familiar pull as dormant muscle woke up. The wing stretch was followed by a head shake, and then with fluid grace he rose up from his curled sleeping position into a full body stretch. All of this, without making a sound or disturbing so much as a hair on his lifemate's neck.

Finishing his stretch, Louie paused, as he often did, to admire his mate. Damara was a basic grey, with accents of black and various other shades of grey. She was not what most Soquili would consider traditionally beautiful, as her coat tended to make her blend into the shadows or the background with almost careless ease. But Louie found her lovely, the mare of his dreams even after several years together and three children. At this hour, he would allow himself to wax romantic, even sentimental.

But as quickly as it came, the gentle, fond expression on his face was replaced by a sly, teasing smile. He and Damara had hated each other their first encounter, and it had taken a long time for them to realize their mutual attraction. But then, theirs had hardly been a typical romance, because they were hardly typical Soquili. Damara liked to tease, and she had a wit sharper than a diamond blade. For his own part, Louie had always been contrary and provoking, loving nothing more than setting other Soquili's teeth on edge. His mother had told him this was his way of rebelling against his father, a natural born charmer if there ever was one, but as far as Louie was concerned, he did it because it was fun.

And even now, now that he was a grown, lifemated stallion old enough to be a grandfather, it was still fun. He and Damara bantered with each other on an almost daily basis, and challenged each other to seek out new Soquili to engage in verbal gymnastics. They hadn't made many friends, for obvious reasons, but they were content with their lot. They had each other, they had their sons, and they even had their families, from time to time.

This morning, Louie was feeling a bit family oriented. He had always been a much earlier riser than his mate, and he enjoyed the peace of the day at this hour, when the bustle of night had ceased and the bustle of day not yet begun. And he knew at least one of his sons shared that sentiment, although for very different reasons. Louie enjoyed a chance to gather his thoughts and his wits; for his son Allarian, the morning held completely different charms.

Time to see what Larry was up to.  

[Cajmera]

Allarian (Ally)
~~~

It was only just dawn, but Allarian had already been awake for hours. He'd stumbled across this beehive days ago, but things had kept coming up that prevented him from giving it a proper study. Yesterday, though, he had made up his mind that today was the day; he was not going to let anything distract him from the hive, no matter how fascinating or interesting. To that end, he'd gotten up hours before dawn, trekking down to the hive when he knew it would be silent and inactive. It was a bit chilly, but not unpleasant, and though he'd originally decided to come out early to avoid distraction, he was now grateful that he'd had such forethought.

It was never comfortable to try and settle down for observation amidst a swarm of angry anythings, and by coming out so early, he could get much closer than if he'd come after the sun came up and the bees were awake. If only he could give himself credit for that thought....

Either way, he'd settled himself down comfortably in the grass a mere stone's throw away from the hive, and shifted into Observation Mode. This meant his head was down, his body was down, and he was completely immobile; for all intents and purposes, he was a boulder. Just an uninteresting, motionless boulder...

"Ally!"

The call was loud, direct, and broke the stillness of the forest with the force of a shot. The bees, which had just started to drone with a light buzz of activity, flared up into a whirling, angry drone, and Allarian found himself tempted, not for the first time, to swear.

He didn't, because that would attract the bees to his position, but his pale eyes had rolled somewhat murderously in the direction of the call. But he still rose to his feet with stealthy, smooth, attention-minimizing movements and practically slithered away from the hive, in the direction of the call.

After all, he had to be respectful to his father...  

[Cajmera]

Louie
~~~

The smirk on Louie's face as he watched his son was more than slight. It had been easier than he expected to find his son; then again, where Ally was concerned, Louie and Damara had only needed to look as far as the nearest anthill. Louie had never been able to make out this strange fascination of his son's; insects were things you stepped on, swatted, or ignored, depending on the species. When Ally was a colt, Louie had figured it was just a phase; yet here it was years later, Allarian more than old enough to be a father himself, and he was still lying around watching bugs.

It was so easy to bait him, you'd think it would stop being fun. But perhaps that easiness was was what kept things so rewarding.

He had been lucky to stumble across the beehive so early, and he had easily recognized his son. Perhaps that 'boulder' thing fooled bugs, but Louie was far too familiar with his family's particular shades of grey to be taken in. He had debated a stealthier, quieter approach, but then he saw the bees. Whatever Ally was thinking, there was no way Louie was going to get so close to a swarm of bees.

He wasn't surprised at the anger in Allarian's eyes, but he wasn't put off, either. Instead, he beamed brightly at his son as he drawled, "Good morning to you too, Ally. Your mother and I are doing well, thanks for asking. And how are you doing?" His grey eyes danced; he knew darn well how Ally was doing at this moment, but man was it fun to ask!  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

Honestly, if they didn't look so much alike, Allarian would never be able to accept the fact he and his father were related. While it was true that Allarian himself was deficient in the social graces that made inter-Soquili relations so easy for most, his awkwardness was, for lack of a better word, accidental. He had never made an effort to learn how to interact with Soquili because Soquili had never interested him in the way that bugs and creepy-crawlies did. If he found himself in a situation where socialization was required, he did his best to follow their lead and go through the accepted forms: hello, nice to meet you, my name is, how about this weather! He might not be good at it, but at least he tried.

Not so his father, who had always gloried in his ability to annoy. You'd think after all these years, Allarian would have developed a thicker skin where Louie was concerned; however, every encounter was as grating now as they'd ever been when Allarian had been a foal. And it was impossible for Louie to miss that fact, not when Allarian's eyes were practically shooting fire.

If Allarian were more like his brothers, this baiting might have ended years ago. After all, it was a well-known fact in the family that Louie did what he did for entertainment; if he no longer got a reaction, he would no longer be...well, Louie. But Allarian could no more temper his response to Louie's provocation than he could stop breathing, even knowing that restraint could be his way out.

He was in fine form right now, his gaze narrowed, his teeth gritted, and his gait stiff as he all but stalked up to his father, wanting nothing more than to smack the smirk off his father's face. "I was doing quite well, Papa, and I would be doing a lot better if you hadn't just nearly brought down a whole beehive on my head. Couldn't you see I was watching something?"  

[Cajmera]

Louie
~~~

"Well, Ally, that entirely depends on what you would define 'doing something' as. I saw you lying like a lump, if that's what you mean, but I'd hardly allow that to be doing anything," Louie said with a twinkle in his eyes. It had been no more than a whim for him to seek out Allarian, but obviously that whim was going to be richly rewarded. Allarian must have had a grand plan worked out for...whatever it was he was going to be doing; he wouldn't be this upset if Louie had just come across him unawares.

Louie was not the least bit contrite, though; as far as he himself could tell, all that Ally had been doing was lying around in the vicinity of a beehive. He was probably planning one of his oh-so-exciting days of observation; if that was the case, then Louie felt no qualms at all about interrupting. It wasn't like the bees were going anywhere, more's the pity, and his son needed to spend more time with Soquili any way. It was important to be able to carry on a proper conversation. Or even an improper one, as the case might be.

"But why don't you humor your old dad, and tell me just what it is you thought you were doing."  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

If possible, Allarian bristled even further. He was well aware that the rest of the family found his interests peculiar; heck, it wasn't even just the family who found him strange! But whatever their thoughts on his hobbies, he was entitled to enjoy them all the same; didn't he allow them the freedom to pursue their own interests without criticism? He didn't even weigh in on his father's annoying hobby of being provoking, much as he would like to! So why wasn't he accorded the same courtesy?

It wasn't just that Louie was being provoking in this case, however; this was an actual, honest to goodness raw subject between them. It had originally started out as a fast way to get Allarian's goat, but as Ally had aged without losing interest in his beloeved creepy crawlies, his father had become more and more skeptical about that interest. Louie's own pastimes might be annoying, but at least they brought him into the realm of Soquili conversation. Allarian could cheerfully spend weeks on his own, without feeling any sense of isolation. Indeed, he welcomed it!

And he failed to see what business it was of anyone else's that he liked it that way. Bees were just as suitable of companions in their own way as a Soquili with whom he had nothing in common.

Still, he attempted to calm his ruffled nerves as best he could before answering; there was no point in giving Louie any more fuel for his attack than necessary. "I was preparing to spend a day observing that beehive, a probably guessed, Dad. Bees are mostly dormant at night, so I had come early before the dawn expressly to get situated before they woke up. Now that it's daylight, there's no way I'll be able to get so close again without multiple stings." He tried to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but that experiment failed miserably. A whole day, wasted!  

[Cajmera]

Louie
~~~

Just as he'd guessed, he'd interrupted nothing of importance; indeed, as far as Louie as concerned he'd done Ally a favor, getting him away before the bees were active. It was all well and good to talk about lying still and observing, but did Ally really think he was able to lie immobile for an entire day, sun up to sundown? What if he needed to get a drink, or have a bite? Or even to relieve himself? Did he really expect that once he was that close to the hive the bees would be ok with him standing up and moving around? Louie didn't know much about bees, but even assuming Ally WAS successful in fooling them while lying still, it was simply unbelievable he'd hold still that long.

For his own part, Louie would rather cut off his own legs.

"So, you were planning to spend the day lying around, hoping not to get stung. Yes, I can see why you would much prefer that to talking with your father, or why you'd prefer that to talking with any other Soquili. Really, Ally, it baffles me that you can even consider such an activity, let alone be upset it was interrupted. It seems to me I'm doing you a favor."  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

So much condescension, so little time, though Allarian grimly. Of course his father was going to belittle his plan, why would this day be any different? It was almost baffling that he still let that mockery get to him, considering he'd been dealing with Louie's attitude since childhood. Perhaps if Allarian were a more 'normal' Soquili he'd be able to take it in better grace; as things stood, though, there was nothing more guaranteed to raise his hackles than a conversation with his father.

"And some might argue that trapping you in a cave would be doing you a favor, Dad, considering that every time you go around other Soquili you get yourself into trouble. How many fights have you been in over the years at this point? I'd think you would consider something as minor as a bee sting to be beneath your notice, even if I'm the one being stung." Allarian's tone was challenging, but smooth; it was a known fact that Louie had been in multiple physical confrontations over the years. Louie accepted this as a natural side effect of being provoking, but it made Allarian cringe.  

[Cajmera]

Allouette
~~~

If Allarian thought Louie would be offended by his words, or back down from the discussion because of a few bald statements, he had another thing coming. Of course there were many Soquili who would cherish the thought of locking Louie in a cave! Heck, sometimes Louie was positive that his own lifemate Damara would enjoy the solitude, at least until things started to get boring. And Louie harbored no delusions about his fights; it was only natural, being a Soquili like him, to once in a while provoke physical violence. Not everyone in the world was as capable of sticking to words as Louie himself!

But what a nice place the world would be if more people spent time studying verbal sparring! Sometimes things got downright boring, all because other Soquili had no idea how to have a good argument. It could be enough to drive a Soquili to distraction!

For his part, Louie tended to class his sons in the 'unable to have a good argument' category, especially Allarian. Too easy to rile, too dependent on the obvious responses; there was no challenge in deflecting his barbs, mostly because there was no point in even trying to deflect them. Louie had incredibly thick skin; it would take a lot more than stating the obvious to get HIS goat!

So he sighed, giving voice to the displeasure he felt at Allarian taking such an unadventurous conversation track. "Oh come on, Larry, we both know you're capable of more than that. Can't we at least try treading on some less worn ground? Besides, we're not talking about my ability to withstand being knocked about; we're talking about you getting stung by yet another insect. Surely that's gotten dull by this point in your life."  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

If Allarian were to step back and apply his analytical and observational powers to his family dynamic, specifically his relationship with his father, he might get a bit more out of their exchanges. After all, for a Soquili who lived for making sense of the bizarre, their family had some ripe pickings! Allarian might be grey like his father and have wings like his father, but as far as behaviors went the two were practically different species. Who knew how long a Soquili naturalist would be able to spend happily observing their exchanges?

Unfortunately, Allarian was not, and never had been, a Soquili naturalist. The closest he'd ever come to having actual interest in Soquili was when he'd learned of the existence of flutters; even that research was 'on hold' in the absence of a wider sample pool of flutters to examine and chat with. Soquili just simply did not interest him; they were too obvious, too easy at the end of the day. Though a part of Allarian understood that all Soquili were different and that you couldn't just walk up to someone and ask them to explain the reasons they behaved the way they did, the fact that you COULD ask and they COULD technically answer just made it all seem too...easy.

Not so with bugs. There, there was mystery and the unknown. They couldn't understand him if he WERE to directly ask them about themselves, or answer in a way he could understand if they did. He had to rely on his own observations, knowledge, and analytical skill to make sense of any of it, and he liked it that way.

Even if it meant an occasional bee sting. "Look, Dad, I'm really trying to get something done here. Do we have to have this conversation again right now?"  

[Cajmera]

Allouette
~~~

Boring, boring, boring Redirection never worked with Louie; perhaps it was a naturally selfish trait...no, scratch that. It WAS a naturally selfish trait, pure and simple. Rescheduling an encounter went against the grain in every way possible; Louie did what he did when it was convenient for him, period. The fact he was inconveniencing someone else had never mattered; indeed, the more awkward his timing was, the better the encounter tended to be from a frustrating point. Perhaps he would leave someone alone if there was an actual emergency underway, something like a Kalona attack or childbirth; but beyond that?

"Now, why would we want to do this another time when we're doing so well right now, Larry? I'd think you'd jump at the chance to spend time with your father, especially since you're not doing anything of importance anyway. Because I have to tell you, speaking for both your mother and myself, we sometimes find it discouraging that you'd rather lie out in the woods covered with ants than come by and see us." All this, said with the most sad of expressions. Except that sadness didn't QUITE make its way all the way up into Louie's eyes, which were still sparkling with mischief. This particular ploy was an oldie-but-a-goodie; it had long since ceased to work from a guilt standpoint, but it was great from an explosive standpoint!  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

Five...four...three...two...one...

"Don't you even try to go there, Dad! You know I always make a point of coming home whenever I'm the area, and even when I'm not in the area. I'm probably closer to home than either of the others, though I honestly can't imagine why when it makes it so easy for you to harass me! I'm an adult, Dad; that means I can live where I want, as I want, with you having no right to judge or interfere. And right now, I'm feeling very interfered with!"

Those who knew Allarian as a calm, mild-mannered insect naturalist would perhaps be shocked to see him now; body tense, eyes blazing, lips curled into a snarl. But everyone has their weak point, their point of no return. In spite of all Allarian's best efforts, he had simply never been able to overcome his youthful reactions where his father was concerned. And in the meantime, the bees droned on in the background, apparently unfazed by the little father-son interaction happening mere meters from their hive. Though Allarian had, for the moment, completely forgotten about the bees...  

[Cajmera]

Alouette
~~~

Oh, this was too perfect. Louie couldn't help it anymore; at the sight of Allarian, hackles raised, eyes blazing with righteous indignation, he let loose with a body shaking bout of laughter. "Oh, Larry; Larry, Larry, Larry. I can always count on you to lift my spirits; it's almost ridiculous how easy it is to provoke you! I wish your brothers could be half as entertaining as you; they can be depressingly stodgy." Chuckling, he dabbed at his eyes with the tip of one wing, then reached out to gently touch Allarian's shoulder. "Now, why don't you calm yourself down, and we can go for a nice walk and talk. I promise, I will be on my best non-provoking behavior."

He paused, then allowed his muzzle to curve upwards into a slightly evil grin. "Well, I will be on my best non-provoking behavior for a time. That's the best I can do, take it or leave it."  

[Cajmera]

Allarian
~~~

It took every ounce of willpower in Allarian's body to keep from hollering 'LEAVE IT' in response to Louie's offer. After all, Louie had ruined a perfectly good day of bee watching, wound Allarian up into a frenzy, and was, as usual, completely unashamed about it! It was frustrating behavior at best, rage inducing behavior at worst, and he didn't know why he continued to put up with it. However, after a long, slow deep breath and huff of annoyance, Allarian was able to calm himself down and allow reasonable thought to take over. This was the way his father was, and the way he'd always been. What choice did he have other than putting up with it, if he wanted to maintain a relationship with his father?

Still, it was darned tempting sometimes to give Louie a good kick.

He allowed himself to savour that thought for a long moment before finally nodding at his father. "Sure, we can go for a walk." The bees were a lost cause, anyway.