[PRP] A Moment, Please? (Mariasha x Corsant)

[Epine de Rose]

Just as quickly as they had appeared, they had also disappeared. Mariasha hadn't been privvy to the details, and based on her weak stomach she had elected not to ask. For sanity's sake she had merely accepted that the Kalona threat had been all but neutralised due to the efforts of the lowlanders, and from what she had briefly heard, something to do with some threats from within the herd itself. Whatever the case may be, the immediate danger was over and normality had mostly returned... at least to her home.

That sense of urgency that used to be rather dominant had dissipated, leaving the expected mundane and otherwise expected way of life. Gossip was the norm again, idle trips back and forth to different regions were common. Relationships grew, some...shattered (or so she was anticipating shortly), and life went on as it should have done from the beginning. In her eyes the Kalona threat had been quite the event and one she cared to forget...permanently.

Had she been hurt by it? No.

Had she lost any family to it? Fortunately, no.

...But she had lost her best friend to it, whoever or whatever he'd become, he wasn't her friend any more. For all intents and purposes he had been what she had been warned about and that had hurt. Alas, she had passed beyond the point of mourning at least and had accepted her lot on that particular score, but the reminder every now and then did bring a sour note. Fate could be a cruel mistress, and a very loving one at other times, or at least that's what her grandmother said.

Nevertheless, this did not stop her from sounding completely exasperated at her aunt who seemed to be the living and breathing embodiment of a train wreck!

"Lily I really don't think this is going work out," she murmured in pained tones as both mares made there way down the beaten track towards the lowlands. "Most soquili don't respond well to weird strangers staring at them and following them around everywhere, I'm pretty sure he'll tell you to go away eventually."

"He hasn't yet," Lily replied in her usual wistful manner, a winning smile on her lips. "He even noticed me the other day, looked right at me!"

"I'm not entirely sure that should be considered a compliment..." Mariasha remarked with a sigh.

Cajmera

 

[Cajmera]

Sometimes, Corsant would sit back and try to figure out 'how long it had been.' How much time had passed since his hair had grown back...how much time since the nasty slashes and cuts had healed over into the scars that laced his face, chest, neck, and sides...how much time since his side had stopped pulled when he moved, since the taste of blood left his mouth. How long it had been since that day...and the day before that...

Sometimes, it was easier to stop counting. Counting only reminded him how far he'd fallen, how far he'd sunken into a mire of his own making. If he didn't look backwards, then he could hope things would get better; hope that one day, the nightmares would stop, the depression would lift, and he could go back to the life he used to love.

Except there really was no going back at this point, was there?

Corsant had relived those terrible, life-changing events over and over again, haunted by them in both his waking and sleeping hours. Saw the fangs of the Kalona, dripping with blood; saw the ducked heads with the sharp horns, coming in at his chest. He tasted the sharpness of their blood, felt their bones crack beneath his hooves. He felt the pain as they kicked, ripped, and clawed at him. Saw his father fall, a torrent of blood at his neck...

And those were the comparatively good memories. On truly terrible days, he would see her, backing away from him with fear and shock in her eyes. See her turning and running away, away from him and out of his life forever...

Shaking his head violently, Corsant rose and strode away from the riverbank. Since helping his parents back to their cave after the battle, he hadn't once left this area; he knew it was probably a hopeless gesture, but he had always met Mari here. They had played here as foals, debated at youths, generally goofed around as adults...when he'd realized that he had no idea where to start looking for Mari, he'd decided to wait where she might find him.

His brother had hinted he might be prolonging his pain by not moving on. His father had hinted a change of scenery might do him good. His mother had suggested that he come back home for a stretch until he felt ready to lift his head again. He's listened, and rejected them all. Even if they were right, he wasn't going to give up. He couldn't give up...

Though he had to concede that his family might have a point. He often saw her, and each vision was a new knife twist. He didn't even have to be thinking of her to see her, just like now! Corsant had taken short jog towards the path, planning to pass over to the other side to do a bit of foraging, and damned if he didn't see another vision of Mariasha, smiling in conversation.

Wait...

Hope had lain dormant for far too long in Corsant's heart, but it had never died. It was hope that had kept him going, even through his darkest hours, and it was that small flicker of hope that flared into full-blown amazement now. This Mariasha was not the fearful image of his past, this Mariasha was the living, breathing reality.

She was back. She was BACK!

Corsant was stunned. He was stoked. He was excited and afraid and more different emotions than he'd felt in months. He wanted to hug her, to grovel before her, to kiss her, to fall on the ground before her in abject misery and self-loathing, begging for forgiveness. But he couldn't do all of that at once.

Keeping his distance so as not to spook her , in a soft, someone hesitant voice, he said simply, "Mari?"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

"You're my niece!" Lily declared with a hint of exasperation. "You're not supposed to be giving me life - ohhhhh," she paused mid sentence as the stallion interrupted her. She wasn't even mad, she'd been about to give a long spiel to Mariasha and just like that, she had been placated. After all, she had never seen any male approach her niece (which was a touch frustrating) and this one was quite the looker.

He even knew her!

"Well aren't you a stunner," she declared with a bright smile, immediately perking up. She turned her gaze to Mariasha and feigned hurt, "How could you hold out on me like that, I had no idea you knew such -" and then she lapsed in to silence, noting that Mariasha had a look that seemed to indicate that Lilly should probably going and get help.

Uh oh, was he one of those Kalona..?

"Hello, Corsant..." Mariasha replied at last, eventually recovering from her momentary uncertainty. He looked like he'd be hit by a series of stampedes, though the scars may have faded over the last months, they were still glaring. It would take many years before those things settled and became dull and muted. Still, she was acutely aware of who he had been the last time they met and she wasn't confident that she wanted to see him again... Especially not in the company of the least battle-ready mare in existence.

She sent a mental apology to her aunt, but in all honesty, Lily couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag.

"Fancy meeting you here," she said, tone strained as she attempted to gauge whether or not they did need help. Lily could at least fly, there was always that advantage.

"Ahhhhh..." Lily murmured as she glanced between the pair and puckered her lips. "Well this is just...fabulously...awkward."  

[Cajmera]

There was no intended insult, but the bald facts of the matter were that Corsant didn't care who the other mare was. She had come along with Mari, which must mean she wasn't a bad mare, but she was a complication. What he really wanted was to hash things out with Mari, and having a third Soquili around would not make that easier. Still, he was a stallion on a mission; if he had to have this conversation in front of a FLOCK of Soquili, he would!

So he simply bobbed his head at Lily, enough good manners left in him to remember that a compliment deserved some sort of acknowledgement. But his eyes never left Mari, and they were trying to ferret every possible meaning out of every twitch of her muscles. She didn't look happy to see him...but she wasn't running, either. He would gladly work with that; at least it meant she could be willing to listen!

It seemed like an eternity before Mari responded, but when she did, even tensely, it was like a weight had lifted from Corsant's chest. He smiled, albeit hesitantly, and nodded at Mari as well. "It's been a long time since you've been this way, Mari...but I'm glad you're here." He started to take a step towards her, then froze, wondering if that might be too much too soon. With careful focus, he returned the leading hoof back to where it had been, keeping a respectful distance between himself and the mares. One thing at a time!

He could have done without the other mare's commentary, but there was no denying her words were true; this WAS awkward, decidedly awkward! But he would power through it, he WOULD. Deciding not to worry about the other mare, he took a breath and decided he might as well just jump in.

"Mari, I'm so, so, so sorry about what happened. I know it might seem like a cop-out to say that, but I really am. Terribly sorry, truly sorry." As if to underscore his sincerity, Corsant had started to shake, a side effect of the effort it was taking not to break into his usual active frenzy of pacing and flailing. He didn't want to make them nervous, but he HAD to get this off his chest! "You know I'd never hurt you, Mari, I'd never hurt you or your friends or your family or my family or ANYONE who didn't start something." A dark flash in his eyes accompanied that last thought, but then it was gone again, squelched out by Corsant's determination to do this right.

"I just...I just needed to tell you, Mari. I've missed you so much, and it's all my fault. My own, stupid, unthinking fault."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

Tranquility's eyes lit up as the stallion spoke, giving off his spiel in front of the pair of them. If anything, the more he spoke, the more giddy she became. Forget Mariasha's blatant discomfort, this was utterly fantastic and now the younger mare was beginning to connect all those pretty little dots. Corsant wasn't one of those bad stallions, he was something else, something special that her darling niece had never cared to divulge.

Well, how very rude of her... Or such was Lily's opinion as she cast her gaze back and force, watching both for telltale signs of body language. However, when he had finished she sprung forward and bridged the gap herself. With a merry prance she came to a halt beside him, glanced this way and that as if inspected him and then narrowed her eyes.

By the sounds of things, this giant specimen had hurt her niece and that just wouldn't do.

"You cheated on her?" she demanded and fluffed out her wings, lifting one slightly to poke at his chest. "How rude, how could you, she's stunning!"

Unfortunately for Corsant, Mariasha was still trying to process his words as Tranquility took advantage of the situation. Each words happened to bite in to her just a little too close for comfort and based on everything she had seen (albeit briefly) she wasn't entirely sure she believed him. Whether Corsant really wished to admit it or not, that temper had been there, no, it was there and she'd seen that flash in his eyes.

"C-cheated?" Mariasha woke up, noting that the mare was absent from her side and looked towards her aunt in alarm as the young mare stared 'down' the kalona. "What, no?" she croaked and shook her head, a from forming on her features. She made no attempt to bridge the distance between herself and Corsant, but she at least had the decency to try and save him from her aunt's antics... Dangerous though he might be.

"Noooo?" Lily turned her attention to Mari and then dropped to her knees, managing to crawl towards her in a bizarre grovelling. "Then why does he sound like he wants to do this?" she demanded dramatically and flopped on to her side, placing a wing to her forehead. "Why is he so-so-so-so-sooooooo sorry?" she continued.

"Don't lie Mari I know he's been a hound dog," she added and then glared at Corsant. "And frankly, because of that you don't deserve her!" she declared, Mariasha's jaw dropping in the process. Well, no one could ever deny that Lilly was a certain matriarch's daughter.

"He... " Mariasha paused as if struggling to find words that Lily couldn't twist. "He's a kalona," she said finally. "A dangerous one at that."

"Dangerous as in 'I will eat your face dangerous' or dangerous as in 'I'm Azumoth and I have a tummy ache' dangerous?" Lily always liked to have clarity on these things.

Mariasha's expression seemed to indicate she was at a loss.

"Dangerous is a poor euphemism for cheating on someone," Lilly said at last.

"He didn't cheat on me!" Mariasha howled with what would have been a rather familiar tone to the stallion, full of exasperation.

"But he is dangerous..." Lilly stated, her expression comical as she remained on the ground.  

[Cajmera]

Corsant had been hoping for a reaction to his speech, but he'd really wanted that reaction to be from Mari, not her companion. Then again, given the response the other mare actually gave, perhaps it was best it wasn't Mari who was reacting! He could tune out the other mare if he needed to; there was no way he could tune out Mari.

That said, Mari's companion might be a tiny bit hard to ignore. One moment, she was standing there, listening to his speech, the next she was...well, he didn't really know what to call what she was doing. Hysterics? Histrionics? Whatever it was, it was very dramatic, and very confusing! He hadn't expected this, but if he had to deal with this mare before he could make things right with Mari, then fine. He deserved some sort of penance...

Though he had to admit, hearing Mari refer to him as 'dangerous' hurt. A lot. It was a good thing Mari and her companion were having their little back and forth, because he needed that chance to figure out what he was going to say. Because if he was going to be honest...

With Herculean strength, he remained standing as he was, resisting the urge to step away from the writhing companion or towards Mari. With even greater strength, he kept his tone level...ish...as he finally spoke. "I don't know what an Azumoth with a tummy ache is like, but I AM a parti-Kalona. I'll always be a parti-Kalona, and I'll always be proud of my parents and who they are. But Mari, I'm begging you to believe me when I say I am NOT dangerous to you, or anyone either of us cares about. I know what I did." He took a deep breath, the vision of Mari's fear once more flashing before his eyes, but then he continued. "I know I scared you. Believe me, I haven't been able to forget your fear. I wish I could go back and do it differently, I really do. I know that doesn't change anything, but that's what it is."

Standing still was proving too much, but he wasn't going to compromise anything by making a premature move. Instead, he ripped himself away from Lilly and Mari, taking a few strides back and then spreading his wings wide. "Mari...look at me. Hell, Friend Mare, you can look at me too, I really don't care. Do you see these scars? And these? And these?" Control over his voice was going now too, as his speech became faster and his voice more ragged. "Do you remember any of them?" One wing came to trace the longest scar, which wrapped from his chest more than a foot up and around his shoulder and back. "You don't because I got them the day after we last saw each other."

Another deep breath, and he steeled himself for saying the next hardest part. Because he wasn't going to lie; he COULD be dangerous. "I got these scars in a battle with the Kalona, Mari. Me, and dozens of other Soquili as well. Soquili who fought back the Kalona, who were scarred and torn and even killed to protect what we loved. I fought them, Mari, and I killed some." There were tears in his eyes now, but he wasn't about to stop, not when the words threatening to strangle him if he slowed.

"I don't deny I can't be dangerous. I will never be able to forget that I have blood, Kalona blood, on my hooves. But I will always, ALWAYS fight to defend. I will never fight to attack. And I would NEVER hurt you, never. Not with my hooves, not with my voice, not with my intent. I could never hurt you, Mari, and I'd kill anyone who'd ever consider trying." The coldness was back in his eye for a brief moment, but then it was gone, as was the anger. He didn't care if he looked a madman right now, or if Friend Mare found him a loon. The only important thing was that Mari heard him out...

And his voice kept coming down as he finished. "You're the last person I'd ever want to hurt, Mari. I didn't realize how badly I'd screwed up until you were gone, because I didn't really...realize...how much I love you."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

'Friend mare', she quite liked that term. She was mulling over this for the initial part of his next spiel and it was only when his voice cracked that she looked up again with renewed interest. Each word that came out of his mouth, each sentence, all caused her to look towards Mariasha for some semblance of a reaction. There was no way she couldn't react to this, absolutely no way, nuh uh. If she didn't react then Lily was going to have to take her to see a doctor because this was just...

Well, it was all very dramatic.

However, when he finally finished his speech with a phrase she wasn't entirely confident that her niece would hear her mouth gaped and she stared at him in complete astonishment. Well if her niece had heard it then there was no way she could ignore that, and eeeeee it was all so wonderful!

"I don't think he cheated on you, Mariasha," she confirmed, pulling herself up and dusting herself off as she regarded his scars.

"Yes, that's what I said," Mariasha responded, mostly on auto pilot as she stared at her friend. It was a lot of information to process, some of it repetitive, but all of it mostly pointing out that what he had done, he had done to protect everyone. Technically speaking even her family had gone to 'war', some of them had gone down to fight and had come up rather worse for wear themselves... the only difference was the healers had been powerful and well versed enough to remove most of the scarring.

"If you weren't capable of hurting me you wouldn't have acted the way you did that day," she said finally, her tone measured. "It's all great to look at things in hindsight but you still act that way," she pointed out. "How do you know your temper won't get the better of you?" she continued and pursed her lips.

Unfortunately for Corsant she hadn't heard the last bit.

Fortunately for him, Lilly had.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat your last sentence," Lily chimed in and waved her wing delicately. "I'm not entirely sure she heard you that time, it needs a little more gusto," she paused, albeit briefly. "A bit more 'oomph'...as it were."  

[Cajmera]

It was getting increasingly hard to ignore Friend Mare, and Corsant was starting to feel this penance was getting trickier to navigate. He's been watching Mari the whole time, but it was hard to pick up on every nuance when Friend Mare was bouncing about and offering a color commentary on everything he was saying. Surely she ought to be able to appreciate this was hard enough for him to do with just Mari to worry about, why did she have to be all...complicating?

Deep breaths, Corsant, you are NOT going to get yourself distracted. You can get through this. Somehow.

Mari was level; very level in her response. He didn't know what he'd hoped for, but it was definitely something a little less...defensive. The fact she had a point was completely irrelevant, at least where his nerves were concerned! "I know I was very intense in my reaction, but Mari, but you'd just told me my baby sister was off to the middle of that hellhole, by herself. I know it wasn't fair for you to have to see that reaction, but how was I supposed to react?" Wiping back his mane with one wing, he sighed and shook his head. "Believe me, I wish I could take it back. But I've had a LOT of time to think about it, to think about me, to think about...everything. I can't promise I won't get worked up about things. I can't promise I won't yell, ever. Because I will. I know myself too well to say I'll be "Mister Chill." But I'll never yell at you. Or at anyone that matters. If I need to let off steam, I'll go...I don't know, uproot a tree or something. My sister swears by that method."

He was stalling know, afraid to hear that 'that wasn't good enough.' But what else could he do, if not tell the truth? "I might lose my temper, but I will never lose control of my body. I've trained my entire life, I've been through hell and back with those Kalona, and I can swear to you I will not lost control." Once again, the intensity was back; no one who heard him would be able to doubt he felt deeply about what he was saying.

Still, he could have done without Friend Mare and her prompting at this point, and he shot her a very pointed Look. Part of him wanted to tell her to get lost, but that didn't seem a good way to prove any of his points. Instead, he simply took another deep breath and repeated in a louder-than-before voice, "I said, I didn't realize how badly I messed up until you were gone. I didn't realize how important you were, how big a part of my life you were. You were my best friend, Mari, but you're a lot more than that. You...I.." Another sideways look at Friend Mare, who was STILL there, did nothing, but he really couldn't afford to stop now. "Mari, I love you. I know I'm a temperamental idiot, and it takes me a long time to figure things out. But once I know them, I know them."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

"Thank you," Lily declared triumphantly, savouring the moment of shock on her niece's face. This was what she knew was needed, the declaration that would change it all. Lily was her mother's daughter after all and she knew what was needed to make the stubborn re-evaluate their opinion. Mariasha was simply too logical to let her heart do the talking, on this occasion, it needed a leg up to assist it. What better way to achieve that goal that through a very dramatic, but nonetheless beautiful, declaration of love?

Honestly, she was really very proud of herself and now she was satisfied she could make a quick exit to pursue her own interests. After all, she knew that he was now not a risk where she would need to get help and he had finally said what he needed to. There was no way that Mariasha was going to respond properly with her there... at least she had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn't.

"And now that we're passed the 'I am so sorry I cheated on you phase', I'll be leaving," she declared and gave her wing a little wave. "I'm all ready late, if I don't get a move on I'll miss him!" she announced and promptly trotted towards the next tree line.

Mariasha failed to process anything that her aunt had said.

At all.

"I um..." she cleared her throat and frowned. How was she supposed to react to this, exactly? It wasn't something she had ever personally anticipated even when they had been friends. After all, Lily had said it herself, he wasn't half bad to look at so he could have his pick. Frankly, even now it made absolutely no sense to her...

"I'm sorry, what...?" she hazarded at last and shook her head. He meant it as a friend right, the other way made no sense to her... he didn't want to lose their friendship, based on everything he had said, that assumption made far more sense.  

[Cajmera]

It was a sign of Corsant's good breeding that he's didn't yell something like 'good riddance!' after Friend Mare as she trotted off...or rather, a sign of his still=desperate need to make a good impression and sort things out with Mariasha once and for all. Still, he could be grateful that Friend Mare was finally giving them some privacy; as a penance went, it could have been a lot worse. A LOT worse. Hopefully,

Crud, maybe he ought to call Friend Mare back? For all he knew, the only thing that had been keeping Mari here all this time was the presence of a witness. If he were to botch things up now, how was he supposed to live with himself?

Think positive, Corsant. You haven't ruined things yet, you can do this. Stay focused. Think positive...

That said, it was a LOT easier to say things once. Especially when equipped with emotion to buoy him along, the words were easy and, comparatively, eloquent. But words had never been the easiest for him, and each repetition lost a little bit more polish. Hopefully the sentiment was enough?

Without so much as a backwards glance after Friend Mare, he repeated, "I love you, Mari. You're my best friend, but you're also just...well, the best. You're pretty, you're smart, you helped me see things the right way, you helped me be...more rounded, I guess? I'd be a smelly musclehead if it wasn't for you, I'm pretty sure," Corsant said with the barest ghost of his old grin. "You just...balance me out, you know? It almost killed me when I thought I lost you. I just wish I'd figured it out sooner, but I did, and I just...want you to know."

Not very elegant any more, but still loaded with sentiment!

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

So she was right, he loved her like a friend. That made sense to her, even if it did give her a little twinge, but even when they had been in each other's company before she'd always known that. Sure he could be complimentary but he'd always done that, it was just his thing. It was easy to reassure someone after all, and those were the type of things that most wanted to hear. Well, at the very least it brought her some comfort to know that their friendship was held in such high esteem... More so that it mattered that he had lost it.

"You're still a muscle head," she pointed out, albeit quietly and gave him a cautious glance. She still wasn't sure, he had scared her quite a bit that day and even though there were some temperamental stallions at home she had never seen them act up like that. Perhaps they did in their own territories, but as she had never seen it, she had always assumed they were in much greater control of their tempers.

"And I always knew you were kalona, I just didn't..." she chewed on her lower lip and shook her head. "I was just really stupid to assume you wouldn't be like the others," she said finally and looked away. "I'd been told that you were all the same and for the longest time I argued against it but... Yeah, I was wrong," she murmured and wrinkled her nose.

"And I'm...I'm really not sure I want to be around that ever again, not when you need someone to take your wrath because something hasn't gone your way. It's not as if a tree is always available and I can't say I've ever been the sort to agree that friends should be emotional punching bags either," she murmured uncomfortably.  

[Cajmera]

Corsant had been wrong; Friend Mare wasn't his penance. She had just been a distraction, a little test to see how much he could stand up to the Real Deal, when he would truly have to face his fears. How could he have been so cocky, to think it would be this easy? To pour his heart out, say he was sorry, and have Mari forgive him just like that? If it had been that easy, she never would have waited this long to come back.

Those were thoughts for a rational mind, though, and at the moment he was hardly feeling rational. He had been so hopeful, so optimistic, but this...he didn't know how much of this he could take. He'd meant every word he'd just said about Mari, about her good qualities, about how they worked well together. She had listened...and then flatly crushed hum. The fact she had some good points on her side meant nothing, nothing at all.

He was torn. A part of him wanted to just wail in frustration. How could she think he was like "those" Kalona, when he'd be scarred BY THEM until his dying day? How could she accuse him if being like those mindless monsters? He wanted to argue, to plead, to rage, to beg.

But none of that would help his case. Another deep breath....in through the nose, out through the mouth...

"Mari, we'd been friends for years.We'd spent tons of time together, and you never saw me like that before, ever. I know you have some crazy-strong anti-Kalona sentiments in your family, but we're not all like that. I will never be one of those Kalona. My family will never be like that." He paused, casting about for something to say, to convince her of his sincerity. "My Dad almost died in that fight, Mari. I was there, I saw it, and I thought he HAD died. But he didn't. He didn't, because an alicorn healer took a chance on me, on him. That alicorn saved his life, and we'll always be grateful to him. Dad will never look the same, but he's alive. He made it through the hell he always dreaded for himself, and for us, because someone believed in our family. Even covered in blood."

Corsant shuddered, taking a few steps away from Mari as he remembered that day...the blood...the carnage. Loveless, desperately trying to keep pressure on Tony's gaping wound as Tony got weaker and weaker...that alicorn stallion...Wyeth...appearing like an angel of mercy and saving Tony's life. Tony would always have that massive, ugly scar to show for it, but he was alive.

Taking another deep breath, he turned back around to face Mari. "I know I scared you. I don't deny I've had some temper issues. But I will NEVER agree that we are like those Kalona, never."

He hadn't meant to sound hostile, but there were some things he would never compromise on, ever. He would far rather know he'd lost her because of himself than imagine such aspersions cast on his family!

"I was not raised to be violent to anyone, and things have gone against me in the past. I can understand you're scared, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove to you that that moment was a once-in a lifetime thing. I might have a temper, but it would never be directed at you. Not you, not our children, not ANYONE who wasn't a nasty...thing."

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

She was listening now; her aunt could no longer provide a much needed distraction and there were a few things that she objected to. For a start, none of her family were anti-kalona, it was their neighbours who held some very definite opinions on the subject. Secondly, she hadn't seen him that way until he had lost his temper and frightened the living spirit right out of her! She afforded him a somewhat disbelieving look as he made such statements and opened her mouth the protest... As she hadn't quite formulated her argument yet, she shut it again and frowned.

"First, my family don't have kalona resentment, we never have," she said stiffly. He might be offended that she had said he was fitting the bill as one of those kalona, but she could be equally affronted that her own family was being cast in a poor light. "Second, I never had a reason to lump you in with those Kalona until you showed you were like one," she pointed out, her tone still cold.

"Why would I judge you as one immediately, I had no reason to? I changed my opinion when you showed me what you were," she snapped.

Then, there was a pause.

A long one at that.

"And 'our children'? We don't even have any children!" she stated and furrowed her brow. "That statement doesn't even make any sense."  

[Cajmera]

"Fine, not your family, your...whoever it was you were talking about that warned you about Kalona-bloods all being the same. Sorry, you said you were warned about 'us', and I tend to go to family. So that's my bad. But no, I NEVER showed you I'm like those Kalona, Mari. I showed you I can be a scary idiot, but if I was like those Kalona, you'd be dead. You'd be dead, your friend would be dead, MY family would be dead because we're 'b*****d half-breeds'..." Corsant was getting worked up again, though he was doing his darnedest to keep his voice level and to keep his distance. He would show her how he could be a civilized angry person, just like anyone! "I got mad. I yelled. I raged. But that's ALL. How is me losing my temper at all like being a murderous villain? Don't unicorns and Winds and Flutters lose their tempers some times, too? Or are they allowed to get mad with impunity because they AREN'T 'tainted?'"

This conversation was not going quite the way he'd wanted, but that was the way things went sometimes. He'd forgotten how stubborn Mari could be...well, she wasn't the only one.

Barely pausing for breath, he latched onto the last thing she said with the same controlled anger that had fueled his whole speech. "Of course we don't have children, yet. But you said you were worried about me hurting you, using you as a punching bag, etc. I just wanted to be fully clear I wouldn't do that to you, and I wouldn't do that to our children, when we had them, either. That's not how this family would work. Damnit, I'm not abusive!"

Epine de Rose

 

[Epine de Rose]

Cajmera

It seemed as if the pair were running along to entirely different, but parallel conversations. Mariasha couldn't fathom why children were a topic, and he clearly could. To her, the entire issue centralised around the fact that whether or not he liked it, his temper was a risk and she couldn't be faulted for judging him. He had effectively shot the messenger, he had forgotten his side, and whether he wanted to admit it or not...

"They do but they can't spin round and kill me with a single bite!" she yelled at last, taking in a deep breath as she attempted to gather her train of thought. "You can, Corsant. It could take one bad day, one little slip and it would be over for me... and contrary to popular belief I actually quite like living, things don't always go my way, but I do like it," she murmured. "And whether your like it or not, the prospect that you can simply spin round and end it actually scares me, a lot."

"I appreciate that so many of my family try to give people the benefit of the doubt but... They're idealists," she tapered off and sighed. "I'm a realist and I want to stay alive."

She paused and furrowed her brow.

"I'm sorry, 'our' family...?"