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 Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 8:01 pm
Just a week ago, Nimueh had been in Andile while his mother hunted, playing in the lush grasses and trees with his aunts. In a whirlwind of activity, a quick, tight hug and a sweet kiss on his forehead from Mama, and he'd been sent off with his Daddy (Samoset) to travel east from Jauhar, and towards Tale where they'd meet up with Grandpa Yaho. With all the craziness going on, you couldn't really blame a kid for running at the first opporunity - that opportunity being Samoset leaving Nimueh standing next to a trading cart to pet the Quhar while he renewed some supplies for the trip east.
Right? But for once Nimueh DIDN'T want to cling to his parent - for once, the shy, reclusive thing pattered away, his yellow eyes narrowed in the distressed, angry expression only a child could pull off so petulantly. He'd tucked himself away close enough to the Shifter town that he would be able to run back for Daddy if he was scared - but far enough that he could also get some space, and think.
It was hard to reconcile his old life with this sudden trip. He'd lived at home, with his mommy, aunts, and grandmother's - usually following his mother around unless she was hunting, at which point he'd shadow his grandma (Mami) until she grew frustrated. Samoset was called papa, and yet they'd never lived together before - so suddenly being on his own with the other hybrid man was more than the boy could bare. He missed mom - and he couldn't get over the feeling of complete and utter betrayal. He just didn't understand! So, forcing back big sniffles, he forced his mouth into a massive frown, face screwed up from the effort, tearing fist fulls of crystal grass from the base of the swollen, knotted tree he sat underneath.
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:08 pm
It was becoming fairly common place for Callum to travel from his Gran's to Andile and back. At this point in his time on Jauhar the youth didn't even need a map for the trek, though he kept one on his person for emergency situations. He hadn't been in the area long enough to be truly comfortable with it, let alone to wander freely in the humid forest. In truth, he hadn't been back long when he was already planning a return trip. So far no Alkidike had tried to stop him from hanging on the fringes to talk with Ming'we, though Callum suspected that at some point they would.
After all, the more he traveled the less he had to deal with the fact that he wasn't really blending in. Assimilation was hard when you just didn't get it. Why live in a tree when the ground was just as nice? And what was going on with the moon?
Callum flexed his toes in the dirt while he walked. He held his arms out for balance and swayed from side to side, giving him a brief respect from the weight of his warm, sweaty hair. From the backside of a gnarled tree, Callum spun around a root that otherwise would have tripped him and swung around, dancing around the base until coming to a standstill.
An Alkidike? No, it was a little boy and an upset one at that. Scrunching his brows up, Callum lowered himself to be eye level with the child. Having no concept of personal space, the youth was probably much closer than most strangers should be. "Hey there, are you lost?" Surely that's why he was upset, right? Callum could sympathize. Jauhar was a big place!
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 3:42 pm
One moment he was on his own, having a little temper tantrum and gratified that he was hidden away and his Papa wouldn't find him - the next, a strange man was in his space. Shrieking, the little Alkidike shot to stand up - only for the dizzy feeling his head always had to make him sway and thump back to sit with a sick grunt. While from the outside he was blue-skinned with the hair of an ice earthling, when his eyes opened, glowering up at the stranger, it was clear that he was Alkidike - or, at least, partways. The man before him, if it meant anything, was just as strange - pale but not like Shifters were. Not that the little Nimueh had seen many shifters before now, when he was suddenly surrounded by them.
"No!" The boy shot back, his word drawn out as if to emphasize how serious he was. It had the opposite effect of sounding incredibly guilty - the tone of a child when they knew they were someplace they shouldn't be.
Looking over the mixed man with both annoyance and some curiosity, Nimueh coiled his arms around his knees and pouted. Normally he would scramble aside at meeting a new person, run screaming for his parents - but this time he was mad at Papa, so he ignored the gut feeling. Instead, he resolutely sat still - telling himself grumpily that it was HIS spot. "What are you?" He asked, instead. An insulting question at the best of times, but it had been a question that many alkidike hybrids were asked. When he saw other little ones with their strange colors, or even older adults that didn't look right, he'd ask - just as they would him. Never 'oh, I'm an Alkidike-' but always 'Ice - or Wind - Leaf. Alkidike was the common denominator for the hybrids he'd met before. Shifters he rarely saw, just because he was told Shifters were awful and a hybrid Shifter was usually kept away from the homeland. His papa had never seemed to care, being a Leaf Alkidike himself. But Mama, sometimes, let it slip that she didn't like them, but his grandmommies definitely didn't like them.
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Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:37 pm
Callum couldn't help it.
When the little blue boy shrieked, so did he.
As Nimueh stood up, Callum fell back onto his rump. His thin frame hit hard enough to jar his bones. He hissed and rubbed at his left elbow, which had the unfortunate luck of banging against an exposed root. That's going to bruise. Maybe his Gran wouldn't notice? He could only hope.
Callum turned back to the boy and found himself practically taken in by those eyes. How...how lovely! Such a glorious shade and it seemed to consume the whole eye. So much about the little screamer reminded him of Ming'we that it brought about a fond smile before Callum realized that the boy had begun to pout. Truly, children had no right to be that cute.
Callum swung his legs around in an effort to tuck them under his body. "I'm sorry, I really am - I shouldn't have scared you like that." It had been rude, but Callum couldn't just leave him there. They were so far away from Andile, or any settlement, really, that would accept a hybrid like him.
"What am I? Well, I'm not much different than you, really. I'm a boy and I'm sitting next to a tree." Callum was used to the questions, jeers, and inevitable insults. Hybrids tended to be a little kinder to him, though they could often be as hurtful in their assumptions of his character based on his parents. His voice was softer now without the enthusiasm he had exhibited earlier. The scaring around his neck, so prominent now that he was sitting without flops of hair obscuring it, made the perfect image of the rope that had once resided there.
"What are you?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 2:04 pm
It turned into a match of shrieks for a moment - with Nimueh flopping back onto his rump, as the older man stumbled and fell onto his, banging his elbow on the way down. Then, there was a moment of quiet recovery as they looked at eachother, suspicious and curious. Nimueh squinted at the man as that pained look turned into a doting smile, but soon enough the man was readjusting himself, and speaking to him.
The boy nodded at the apologies, but kept his eyes on the man, as if dragging them away would make the strange person shift into something dangerous - or something like that. The logic of a child was always a bit strange. Once the other was speaking, though, Nimueh's mouth fell open, and he looked annoyed, but also confused. 'A boy sitting next to a tree.' There was no way that the other wasn't curious - many made it a point to know what they were dealing with before talking to him. So having someone, especially another halfling, dismiss the question... it was different. And it made the petulance on his features drop into more of a wondrous expression, giving the man another cursory once over.
So once the question was shot back at Nimueh, he felt that 'I'm Ice -- and a Sister!' would make him fail some sort of test. Instead he opened his mouth, then dropped his gaze, shifting uncomfortably under those eyes. "I'm Nimueh - and I'm hiding out." He said, instead, whispering loudly in a conspiring tone. As if him hiding was something the other man should be impressed by.
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:18 pm
The unerring gaze of this boy's golden eyes put Callum on the spot. It made him uneasy contemplating how he might have truly wronged the boy when all he had wanted to do was assist him. Surely if his actions hadn't clinched it then his words had done the trick. Callum furrowed his brows with a self-deprecating sigh. He was fumbling all over the place today, and couldn't seem to stop!
His soft eyes perked with curiosity the longer the boy stared at him. What was he seeing, Callum wondered? A pathetic excuse for a man, a mere boy too tall to be coddled, with such limp coloring. Envy came to him in the desire to be more decorative like the Alkidikes, more enchanting like a Shifter, and brighter like the Wind tribesmen. Perhaps that's why this child was giving him such a stern look. There was nothing so solid as to identify him with anyone, and to Callum it made him undesirable.
The response he reserved was surprising, and not at all expected. Callum had been braced for a biting remark, and instead, the child was being amicable. "Nimueh," Callum pondered on the word with a quirked smile. "I like it. Much better ring to it than Callum." Of course, picking up on the attempt at whispering, Callum barely raised his voice at all. If anything he hunched his lanky frame in an attempt to become small. "What are you hiding from?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:52 am
Someone paying more attention may have caught the change in Callum, the moment of self-directed criticism. But this floated over Nimueh's head, the boy ignorant of any shift in the man's mood. He moved from his sitting position to instead shift to his knees, hands resting somewhat primly against his legs. "Callum." He repeated, voice slow as he tasted the word. It was more harsh than some names he was used to - Ashani, Anya, Elsheba - his family mostly had flowing names that felt curved to him, round in his mouth. Even names like Samoset and Lumikani, while more crisp on his tongue, felt lilting and soft. This name felt like a mountain to say it out loud - a lift and sudden drop, a point. It gave the name of feeling of exotic otherness that made the child once again intrigued - it was strange that so simple a thing as a name could catch a child's attention so well.
"Don't want Pop to find me.' Nimueh said dismissively, unaware of how ambiguous and alarming such a statement could be to a stranger. Instead, he reached out and touched the stranger's shoulder, where a speckle of blue crystals were. His Papa had crystals too, but they were round, smooth and had been dismissed in Nimueh's mind, since they seemed more like the beaded jewelry adults sometimes wore. As such, crystals were still intriguing to Nimueh - who had rarely seen them on anyone except himself. "Shifters are dark right now - why aren't you??" He asked petulantly, drawing his hand back and peeking back up at the 'adult'. Being daytime, the shifters he saw were, as he said, in their dark phase - but Callum's skin was pale, fleshy. Closer to normal Alkidike tone, though still very pale, than Shifter coloring.
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2015 12:19 pm
Scarlett Arbuckle The detail to which you spoke of Callum's name and the phonemes involved makes me so happy.
"I'm not entirely a Shifter so my skin doesn't change." Callum rotated his wrist and looked passively upon the pale skin. It was light, lighter than his mother's had been, but it wasn't the right kind of pale. "You have a good eye to notice that. My mother is one of the Wind tribe, so only my eyes change." Turning his eyes back to the child, Callum let his hand fall softly upon his knee. "Have you been hiding from your Pop for long?"
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Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 8:51 pm
Painted Moose God why does it take me so long to tag ;-;
"Can you see in the dark when your eyes change? Does it hurt?" Nim asked, boldly, at the same time that Callum asked about his papa. Clearly the question wasn't the right way to go - he grunted and dropped his hand to tug at the grass once more, shrugging carelessly. "We're going to grandpa's - I'm just gone for a little while." He said simply, his tone suggesting that he didn't want to carry on with that topic. Instead, the boy shifted so he wasn't sitting down, but was now settled on his knees, leaning forward and staring into the older hybrid's eyes. He had... never really seen anyone with EYES like these, not up close!! Squinting, the boy puzzled over the white parts of the man's eyes, what that circle was for - it was disconcerting, seeing it shifting around in his skull. It almost grossed him out, but it was so cool to look at too!!
"Your eyes are weird!" He exclaimed, instead, grinning in achievement. It wasn't meant to be insulting - and had nothing to do with Callum's hybrid nature, as much as simply being an earthling!
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 9:02 am
Scarlett Arbuckle xD You're late? It took me until Aug to tag lol. I love Nimueh, btw. This kid is precious.
Oops, wrong way to go. Crossing his legs, Callum sat down fully this time and leaned forward with his arms across his knees. "You're lucky you know, to have family you can go to. I'm actually kind of jealous; I've always wanted a Grandfather." His tone was sadder than earlier, despite his encompassing smile. Family meant everything to Callum, but he could count his on one hand. With fingers to spare!
Whatever charm there was in the boy being this close before was starting to shift into an awkward creepy. Callum didn't mind the attention, but the staring made him feel like an oddity. A freak. Unconsciously he gave the boy quite the show just by averting his eyes, thus rolling his pupils around in their little home. "They are, aren't they? They're so dull. I wish they were as bright as yours; maybe then I wouldn't look so plain."
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Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:34 pm
Painted Moose Ahh I hope they can be friends when he gets older too XD I love Callum ;3;
Nimueh continued to gaze at Callum though, taken in by his unusual eyes; that is, until Callum averted them. The boy made a small sound of intrigue, a delighted grin rising on his lips, but some small amount of sense finally lodged in his brain and he turned his gaze away, back down down to the grass that he had been picking at before the man came along. The shift of attention was clear not from his eyes, which betrayed little as to where he was looking, but in the tilt of his head, no longer craning to gaze upwards.
While Nimueh had been pleased to marvel at Callum's oddities, having his own coloration pointed out made his smile shatter like glass, falling instead into a despondent frown. Grumpy at the topic, as if he felt Callum had changed it just to make fun of him, Nimueh tugged at the grass and tossed the crystalline strands away forcefully. Despite this change of tone, he didn't comment on his own eyes- and instead looked once more up at Callum, squinting his eyes as if trying to study him again. "What's 'dull' mean? Is that what those things in your eyes are? How do you see if they keep moving around?" This time, as he shot out his questions, Nim's voice was no longer obnoxious and snobby, but more of a mutinous grumble of words. Then, with a long suffering sigh that sounded ridiculous coming from a small child, Nimueh shrugged his shoulders. "I should have BLACK eyes. Like mama -- papa too. But I don't."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:32 am
Scarlett Arbuckle Awww. ;o; Oh man, me too! I'm down for any sort of plotting once Nimueh gets older.
Nimueh was an oddly charming boy. Callum couldn't help smiling around him, despite his grumpy persona. He seemed to try so hard at hiding the fact that he was still a kid. Callum didn't understand why he did it. If pointing out of all of his strange traits helped the boy to stay a boy and not grumpy old man, then what harm was there in it?
Though, apparently Callum sucked at giving compliments. It made him uncomfortable speaking about himself so much, but if he couldn't talk about Nimueh at all without making the boy shut down, then what could he do? "Dull?" Callum blinked his own eyes as he came back to reality. "When something is 'dull' it lacks brightness, interest, vividness...It's not as pretty to look at as other things." Like your eyes. It bothered him that the boy couldn't be more confident in himself. He wanted so badly to be understanding and quiet about it all. He would have been hard pressed not to bring it up to Nimueh's parents, if he ever saw them, which he very likely would not.
Surprised, he laughed. "No, dull just describes the color. The white part is...well, I don't actually know, but it's part of my eye." He couldn't stand it any longer. Callum reached out and placed his hand on Nimueh's shoulder, then tilted his head to look into the boy's eyes. "That's because you're 'you' and not 'them'. There is nothing wrong with being 'you'; You're the person your mama and papa love. Different isn't bad, Nimueh. Nothing is bad or good until you decide it is. If you think your eyes are bad then they are bad, but if you were to start thinking they were good then they will be. My skin doesn't shift." Callum held up his arm, twisting the lanky appendage in the filtered light. "To me it's good because shifting skin is still weird to me, but to my grandmother it's bad. Without shifting skin I stand out and that worries her."
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Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 5:16 pm
Oh? Him too? Nimueh closed his mouth, really looking at the man, for the first time really. Before, he had been looking at his skin, or his eyes - but now? Now, he seemed to have renewed interest in Callum - from his words more than his strange appearance. With infinite patience, it seemed, Callum explained about his eyes (and his birth family - Nimueh had wondered about his own so much, that it surprised him to think that he may not WANT to meet them, or that they weren't as infinitely perfect as he may have imagined in his mind!), and Nimueh nodded, still partly distracted by his own self pity - until the man reached out and set a hand on his shoulder, the gesture so supportive and caring that Nimueh was blown away. For a child who was different, having someone else say these things and really talk to you, not like a child but like a person...
He may be young, but Nimueh was still blown away by how huge and groundbreaking the moment felt. Not realizing he'd been gaping until now, Nimueh snapped his mouth closed and he instead flushed a tinge of purple, ducking his head to watch his hands, where they had clasped together in his lap. "Your eyes aren't 'dull' - they're pretty." Nimueh finally said, his voice very quiet. He may not be commenting the concepts Callum had just laid before him so neatly, but the way he almost shyly peeked back up made it clear that he was, at least, considering them. His eyebrows had pinched in a thoughtful, if somewhat strained look. "...I'm sorry I said they were weird. I don't think they're 'bad', I promise. ... Can... can weird be good too?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 8:11 pm
Callum rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, lightly running his nails over the scar that encircled his throat. When he allowed his arm to fall onto his knee, his hair seemed to follow suit. The mass of thick waves took the shift in balance as a sign to swamp his lowered shoulder, exposing the crystals on his upper back.
Did I say something bad again? What if he hates me now? Maybe Callum shouldn't have opened his mouth. Insecurity turned his steady gaze to the ground and brought both hands to rest on his crouched knees. Nimueh's statement jarred him. The young hybrid turned his gaze to the child as his jaw went slack. "You...you think they're pretty?" His voice was small, meek and emaciated. If Nimueh's compliment was a true, then it was a rare treat.
"Weird is the best kind of good." There was a point at which he was trying really hard not to hug Nimueh just so his father wouldn't show up, and call Callum out for being creepy. That moment had past. He reached over to wrap the little blue hybrid in his lanky arms.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:48 pm
The moment Callum's hand dropped from his shoulder, Nimueh felt a sense of loss. But that support hadn't disappeared - Callum was still here, so Nimueh told himself to be a big boy and not agonize over it. Instead, he seemed to overcome his unease as soon as Callum responded, his voice so quiet and surprised that Nimueh brightened, shooting a bright, toothy smile up at the older hybrid in relief. He had been so sure he had insulted the other, before, and if his apology had made up for it then he was glad !
For a brief pause, as Callum stared at him, it seemed like the emotional moment had passed from the boy- Nimueh, with the true herculean nature of a child, had moved on from his moments of doubt gracefully (he'd never had someone to gently scold him out of his inevitable descent into self pity, and that bit of support had done wonders in only a few moments). But then, the blonde reached out and Nimueh was hugged. It took him by surprise, but the little boy hugged the other back shamelessly, his cheek pressing briefly against the blonde's shoulder as he gave a hard squeeze - as tight as a little child could give, even if he was part Alkidike - and, as such, was bigger than most earthling children his age.
Patting Callum on the shoulder, Nimueh squeezed his eyes shut and released a soft sigh. "Am I gonna make you cry?" Nimueh suddenly teased, even though his voice was very quiet. Because, honestly, the moment seemed to make the little boy feel emotional too.
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