[FIC] CoM: Peace and Quiet
Jun. 8th, 2005 12:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mdseiranTitle: Peace and Quiet
CoM AU. Set some time in the future.
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It was one of those normal days. The sun shone brightly but it wasn't too hot. The neighbourhood was quiet and peaceful, the only thing disturbing the silence the chirping of birds and miaowing of cats-
A loud wail echoed through the house suddenly, the sound easily spreading to the backyard.
-the only thing disturbing the silence being the birds, the cats, and the occasional dog, and maybe a passerby every onc-
The wailing steadily increased in pitch and volume, almost drowning out the soft, soothing voice of a woman.
-every once in a while, and some of them would pause with whatever they were doing to say hello, and maybe-
"DADDYYYYYYY!"
-and maybe it wasn't one of those days after all, but he could pretend couldn't he? His right ear flicked briefly in the direction of the house as he sighed, swinging his long limbs over the edge of the hammock in one motion, not stopping but immediately getting to his feet and setting off towards the source of the commotion. He sighed mentally and wished for his old height back so he could stride faster. But then, it had been a more than even trade.
Stepping stealthily through the door and quietly shutting it behind him, he quickly detected what the problem was. In the middle of his living room - gods, but it still felt weird having one of his own - sat the wailing figure of a small siriyu boy, barely three years of age. His short, chubby legs were stretched out widely before him on the floor, tiny fists rubbing at teary red-rimmed eyes, clear green ones, almost covered by long, black bangs - he really needed to cut them someday soon, they must be obscuring his sight by now. Besides him, crouched on the floor, was a beautiful siriyu woman with long, flowing hair weaved from shimmering gold. One hand was softly patting his head, the other making an attempt to wipe away the tears, even as her voice seemed to weave a spell that radiated peace. He felt serene when he watched her like this, but the pouting boy would have nothing of it, completely resisting her numerous attempts. He saw her sigh, almost unnoticed, before she redoubled her efforts at calming him down.
His eyes strayed further, landing on the couch facing him at the other end of the room. Curled up on it was what, at first glance, would seem like a pile of cloth and nothing more. If one were to peel away the layers though, their eyes would land on the same golden locks, adorning the head of a sleeping girl. She appeared to be the same age as the boy, even though the resemblance was somewhat vague. But then she took after her uncle more.
Somehow knowing the problem had something to do with her, he walked slowly towards her, the woman lifting her head slightly as he slipped by her. Her ears had been tuned to his comings and goings for years now, and it was hard to be sneaky anymore. Or maybe he was just getting out of shape...
His thoughts were cut short as he reached the couch, and as he peered down at the child the pieces finally clicked into place. Held in one of her small arms was a red squirrelskin doll: one that was most definitely /not/ hers. The little tyke, he should've never taught her that move this early...she was quite clearly abusing it.
Well, kicking himself mentally wouldn't do any good at this point, and he was sure he would get the full layer later from the woman who was now peering intently at him. He almost winced at the thought. He would do well to distract her with something else then...
His hands slipped in between the blankets, hovering close to the arm holding the toy, firmly and tightly kept in place by her little mouth, that was sucking at the thumb attached to that arm. He stayed very quiet, deft fingers managing to land on the doll and hold its head. First stage done. And now...
Sleepy, golden eyes slid open slowly, staring straight at him. She said nothing, and neither did he, although he did notice the now more firm sucking of aforementioned thumb and the tightening of her grip around the doll. He could still attempt to pull it away from her, but she had a surprisingly strong grip and the doll would most likely tear...which would earn him new wails and a worse scolding later. He sighed and, conceding defeat, let go of the doll. Golden eyes kept staring at him for a few, brief moments, as if she was telling him, "I won", before sliding shut again, the little wench almost immediately drifting back to sleep. The crying, which had stopped as he had been about to rescue the doll, started up again, even louder now, and he did wince then, resisting the urge to cover his ears. It was going to be a /long/ day...
Squaring his shoulders, he tugged on the blanket, and got, predictably, no response. Growing more determined by the minute, he pried the blanket away from the girl, staring down at her with a frown she seemed not to notice, but probably was. "So, what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Silence. His hands reached for the doll again; he would wake her up if he had to tea- ah, there she was. "Astri, stay awake now. Why did you take your brother's doll?"
Her lips parted the slightest bit - finally, a response! - to release a small yawn before clamping back down on the thumb, looking back at him with that same bored expression her uncle always wears. Breiden must've been teaching her that...he'd have to kick him the next time he saw him.
"Astrianne Thayne-X'tilantzel, if you don't answer me now I will make sure no one teaches you anything ever again." He could almost see the thought running through her head, so he followed it up with, "not even your uncle Brei." which finally, /finally/ got a different reaction. Thank the gods, there was progress at last.
"S'mine. I's sleepy so I's take it." The logic of a child, and woe to anyone who tried to find fault with it. Kethis sighed again - he seemed to be doing that a lot today - and sat himself next to her on the couch, tugging lightly on a lock of her hair. "Astri, you don't like dolls, remember? Besides, we gave Kev the doll because Uncle Brei gave you his dagger, right?" He pretended not to notice the glare he got from Emerylle at that; she never did approve of that gift. But it was a moot point, because Breiden was his usual, uncaring self, and Astri had clung to the onyx dagger, not seeming daunted at all by the shadow dripping from its hilt, and refused to let go. And truth be told, she was careful enough with it, even for a three year old. Pressing on, he continued, "You wouldn't like it if I took your dagger, now would you?" She actually thought about it for several minutes, her eyes weighing, before giving a small shake of her head. He smiled at her, reaching over to lift her up and settle her on his lap, and she willingly abandoned the couch for one of her regular pillows. When he held out a hand for the doll she abandoned it with surprising ease before snuggling closer to his warmth and falling asleep again. He cradled her sleeping form against his left shoulder and stood up, dropping the doll into his wife's hands with a wide grin.
Moving more carefully now so as to not wake the "pillower", he managed to seat himself beside Kevenar, reaching out to ruffle his hair playfully. "You know, if your Uncle Brei and Uncle Ty saw you like this they'd be ashamed to be seen with you on the street, and would never take you out for anything nice again. Which means none of that candy that you like so much, and that's making you so chubby for your age." He tapped the boy's nose with one finger, smiling tenderly at him. There was a small, indignant noise from behind him and he turned slightly with a broad grin, one that turned into a laugh at her muttered, "I wasn't chubby". He watched her hand the family heirloom carefully back to Kev, who immediately hugged it to his chest with a bright smile, one dimple showing in his right cheek, making him look more like Kieran than anyone else. As his mother settled down on the floor, he immediately crawled until he was sitting next to her, peering up at her with wide, imploring eyes. With a soft laugh she picked him up, and settled him on one knee, fingers deftly moving to tickle him. He squirmed away from her touch, giggling wildly, only to shift closer to the fingers with a gleam in his eyes, waiting for them to strike again. Astri moved closer to Kethis in faint objection to the loud giggling but didn't wake up fully, and for a while, he just sat there and observed the other two. Maybe it would be a peaceful day after all...
CoM AU. Set some time in the future.
----------
It was one of those normal days. The sun shone brightly but it wasn't too hot. The neighbourhood was quiet and peaceful, the only thing disturbing the silence the chirping of birds and miaowing of cats-
A loud wail echoed through the house suddenly, the sound easily spreading to the backyard.
-the only thing disturbing the silence being the birds, the cats, and the occasional dog, and maybe a passerby every onc-
The wailing steadily increased in pitch and volume, almost drowning out the soft, soothing voice of a woman.
-every once in a while, and some of them would pause with whatever they were doing to say hello, and maybe-
"DADDYYYYYYY!"
-and maybe it wasn't one of those days after all, but he could pretend couldn't he? His right ear flicked briefly in the direction of the house as he sighed, swinging his long limbs over the edge of the hammock in one motion, not stopping but immediately getting to his feet and setting off towards the source of the commotion. He sighed mentally and wished for his old height back so he could stride faster. But then, it had been a more than even trade.
Stepping stealthily through the door and quietly shutting it behind him, he quickly detected what the problem was. In the middle of his living room - gods, but it still felt weird having one of his own - sat the wailing figure of a small siriyu boy, barely three years of age. His short, chubby legs were stretched out widely before him on the floor, tiny fists rubbing at teary red-rimmed eyes, clear green ones, almost covered by long, black bangs - he really needed to cut them someday soon, they must be obscuring his sight by now. Besides him, crouched on the floor, was a beautiful siriyu woman with long, flowing hair weaved from shimmering gold. One hand was softly patting his head, the other making an attempt to wipe away the tears, even as her voice seemed to weave a spell that radiated peace. He felt serene when he watched her like this, but the pouting boy would have nothing of it, completely resisting her numerous attempts. He saw her sigh, almost unnoticed, before she redoubled her efforts at calming him down.
His eyes strayed further, landing on the couch facing him at the other end of the room. Curled up on it was what, at first glance, would seem like a pile of cloth and nothing more. If one were to peel away the layers though, their eyes would land on the same golden locks, adorning the head of a sleeping girl. She appeared to be the same age as the boy, even though the resemblance was somewhat vague. But then she took after her uncle more.
Somehow knowing the problem had something to do with her, he walked slowly towards her, the woman lifting her head slightly as he slipped by her. Her ears had been tuned to his comings and goings for years now, and it was hard to be sneaky anymore. Or maybe he was just getting out of shape...
His thoughts were cut short as he reached the couch, and as he peered down at the child the pieces finally clicked into place. Held in one of her small arms was a red squirrelskin doll: one that was most definitely /not/ hers. The little tyke, he should've never taught her that move this early...she was quite clearly abusing it.
Well, kicking himself mentally wouldn't do any good at this point, and he was sure he would get the full layer later from the woman who was now peering intently at him. He almost winced at the thought. He would do well to distract her with something else then...
His hands slipped in between the blankets, hovering close to the arm holding the toy, firmly and tightly kept in place by her little mouth, that was sucking at the thumb attached to that arm. He stayed very quiet, deft fingers managing to land on the doll and hold its head. First stage done. And now...
Sleepy, golden eyes slid open slowly, staring straight at him. She said nothing, and neither did he, although he did notice the now more firm sucking of aforementioned thumb and the tightening of her grip around the doll. He could still attempt to pull it away from her, but she had a surprisingly strong grip and the doll would most likely tear...which would earn him new wails and a worse scolding later. He sighed and, conceding defeat, let go of the doll. Golden eyes kept staring at him for a few, brief moments, as if she was telling him, "I won", before sliding shut again, the little wench almost immediately drifting back to sleep. The crying, which had stopped as he had been about to rescue the doll, started up again, even louder now, and he did wince then, resisting the urge to cover his ears. It was going to be a /long/ day...
Squaring his shoulders, he tugged on the blanket, and got, predictably, no response. Growing more determined by the minute, he pried the blanket away from the girl, staring down at her with a frown she seemed not to notice, but probably was. "So, what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Silence. His hands reached for the doll again; he would wake her up if he had to tea- ah, there she was. "Astri, stay awake now. Why did you take your brother's doll?"
Her lips parted the slightest bit - finally, a response! - to release a small yawn before clamping back down on the thumb, looking back at him with that same bored expression her uncle always wears. Breiden must've been teaching her that...he'd have to kick him the next time he saw him.
"Astrianne Thayne-X'tilantzel, if you don't answer me now I will make sure no one teaches you anything ever again." He could almost see the thought running through her head, so he followed it up with, "not even your uncle Brei." which finally, /finally/ got a different reaction. Thank the gods, there was progress at last.
"S'mine. I's sleepy so I's take it." The logic of a child, and woe to anyone who tried to find fault with it. Kethis sighed again - he seemed to be doing that a lot today - and sat himself next to her on the couch, tugging lightly on a lock of her hair. "Astri, you don't like dolls, remember? Besides, we gave Kev the doll because Uncle Brei gave you his dagger, right?" He pretended not to notice the glare he got from Emerylle at that; she never did approve of that gift. But it was a moot point, because Breiden was his usual, uncaring self, and Astri had clung to the onyx dagger, not seeming daunted at all by the shadow dripping from its hilt, and refused to let go. And truth be told, she was careful enough with it, even for a three year old. Pressing on, he continued, "You wouldn't like it if I took your dagger, now would you?" She actually thought about it for several minutes, her eyes weighing, before giving a small shake of her head. He smiled at her, reaching over to lift her up and settle her on his lap, and she willingly abandoned the couch for one of her regular pillows. When he held out a hand for the doll she abandoned it with surprising ease before snuggling closer to his warmth and falling asleep again. He cradled her sleeping form against his left shoulder and stood up, dropping the doll into his wife's hands with a wide grin.
Moving more carefully now so as to not wake the "pillower", he managed to seat himself beside Kevenar, reaching out to ruffle his hair playfully. "You know, if your Uncle Brei and Uncle Ty saw you like this they'd be ashamed to be seen with you on the street, and would never take you out for anything nice again. Which means none of that candy that you like so much, and that's making you so chubby for your age." He tapped the boy's nose with one finger, smiling tenderly at him. There was a small, indignant noise from behind him and he turned slightly with a broad grin, one that turned into a laugh at her muttered, "I wasn't chubby". He watched her hand the family heirloom carefully back to Kev, who immediately hugged it to his chest with a bright smile, one dimple showing in his right cheek, making him look more like Kieran than anyone else. As his mother settled down on the floor, he immediately crawled until he was sitting next to her, peering up at her with wide, imploring eyes. With a soft laugh she picked him up, and settled him on one knee, fingers deftly moving to tickle him. He squirmed away from her touch, giggling wildly, only to shift closer to the fingers with a gleam in his eyes, waiting for them to strike again. Astri moved closer to Kethis in faint objection to the loud giggling but didn't wake up fully, and for a while, he just sat there and observed the other two. Maybe it would be a peaceful day after all...
