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 Posted: Sat Nov 09, 2024 4:53 pm
Well, this was embarrassing.
After the whole big long talk with his father, the one he'd been so so nervous about, after it was all settled and they were all sure they still loved each other and that nobody was mad at anybody else, they went to split up.
...Only to discover they were both going the same way.
After they'd already said tearful goodbyes.
Awkward.
Matthius was letting his father walk a ways ahead of him, because walking next to him was too awkward, their silence neither comfortable nor heated with words unsaid; it was just...silent and weird and Matthius wanted no part of it. But also, he didn't have anywhere else to go, so until further notice... here he was.
It was nice to know that, at least, whenever he did discover where to go and what he wanted to do by himself, he could do it. He really did feel better, having just gotten everything off his chest. He could go, and leave his father, and it wouldn't be the end of the world, for either of them.
Maybe most importantly, when he'd done whatever it was he wanted to do and found whatever it was he needed to find, he felt like he could come back home. To wherever Hathi landed, he could come back and join him and it would be fine. That was comforting - that was, he was fairly sure, how kids were supposed to feel about their parents before they left home, not the resentful, angry knot he'd had in his chest for... for far too long.
However, that freeing thought was cut short by a startled yelp and a sudden thunk from somewhere in front of him as his father - was suddenly on the ground.
"Dad? Dad!"
Hathi was completely in his own head, trying to carry the seriousness that had followed him since his Big Conversation with Matthius, even though everything in him shied away from sobriety in favor of joviality. But he was trying, for his son, because his son had asked him to, and there was nothing he wouldn't do for Matthius. At the end of the day, he was what mattered, and Hathi needed to start acting like--
Hathi let out an undignified yelp as he went tumbling down, chest first, leg and chin second. He made a confused noise as he shook his head, the world vibrating momentarily as he tried to figure out what had happened.
And why his ankle hurt. Bad.
"I'm okay," Hathi said, mostly to just make Matthius stop yelling, and stop looking at him with big, concerned eyes. Oh no, what if Matthius thought he'd done this on purpose to trap him here with him? Oh no no no no. "I'm okay!" Hathi said again, forcing a smile to his face that he only hoped did not look as much like a grimace as it felt like.
"I just tripped. I'm f-iiiieeeee," Hathi said, the word mutating in his mouth as he tried to stand - tried to put weight on his front left hoof and sent shooting pain up his leg. He lifted it gingerly off the ground, hovering it a few inches above. It still hurt, at the angle he was carrying it, but at least it wasn't shooting pain now. "No blood, no bone. I'm fine! I'm great!"
((WC:
Matthius: 295
Hathi: 263))
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 2:14 pm
Aleda wasn’t alone anymore. She was still adjusting to the sudden (but welcomed) change, accomdating for the tiny, spikey cat who had followed her every step since their meeting on that cold mountain. Primrose was a blessing, adding a richness to Aleda’s life that she had chased after feverently for years prior. A friend— a friend who wanted to travel at her side! It was all Aleda had ever asked for, but it was still a change, forcing the two into a new routine if they wanted to seamlessly integrate into one another’s lives. Aleda liked to think it had been going smoothly, perhaps it was, but today was hard. It didn’t help that Primrose refuse to speak to her in their shared tongue, either. She assumed Primrose could speak— Aleda swore she had heard the cactus cat sputter something their second night together, when her hoof almost caught her new friend’s tail, but Primrose hadn’t uttered a word since. Had she been hearing things, back then?
“Ohhhh, Prim, sweetie. I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong,” she sighed beside her tiny companion. Usually, Primrose had taken to resting neatly on Aleda’s back during travel, carefully positioning herself to not jab or prod the small soquilli. Not lately— no, she preferred trotting at Aleda’s feet these days, skittering further ahead if her teal partner dipped her head low, or tried to offer her a ride. Aleda tried not to take it personally; their connection was still new, after all, there was no telling what Primrose felt, or was going through in her own day-to-day. Aleda was just a new inclusion— a new face trying to fit into the kitten’s average days. She’d just need to accomdate.
Primrose glanced briefly up at her with a flick of her eyes before picking up speed. Her trot turned into a sprint, and then into a gallop, leaving a surprised Aleda behind. ”Hey-, Prim- wait!”
The cat would not wait! She bounded ahead, leaping over bramble and roots in her pursuit for whatever else had caught her attention. Aleda shifted her weight between restless hooves. ”Ohhhh….” Should she chase? Was that smothering? Did Primrose want her to follow? The small speck of green had vanished behind the foliage, leaving behind the confused, worried flutter. ”Ugh— Prim!”
She couldn’t just leave her very best friend alone, in a possible moment of need!
So off she ran, chasing after the faint blur bouncing above small plants that swallowed it’s frame. She wasn’t paying attention to the distant (and now growing closer) noises, not until Primrose skidded to a stop clumsily before a large, fallen blob. Aleda dug her hooves into the ground and managed to stop herself before she went crashing into either Prim, or the two blurry objects before her. It took a few blinks for the world to come back into a sharp, clear focus, and then her cheeks flushed at the realization. Oh.
“Hello! I’m so sorr- oh no, are you okay?” Her attention had snapped to the fallen soquilli, who looked very much like he didn’t belong on the floor. Not by the expression of the other one, or how the dirt indented around the male on the ground. Primrose curiously sniffed at the fallen soq’s leg, her ears folding as a paw raised to lightly, gently touch his hoof, a directed glance shot Aleda’s way.
WC: 565
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