Synchronicity

In wolf form, Akaelin was acting as playmate to Mshai. He laid in the middle of the living room while the demigod crawled on top of him, pretending his father was some dastardly opponent that needed to be dealt with and wrestled to the ground at all costs. Akaelin was rather unresponsive, only maybe whining when the demigod pulled on one of his ears too hard or stepped on his tail. As always, he was thinking, constantly thinking, usually angsty thoughts. Mshai sat down in front of the wolf, and it took him a few seconds and blinkblinks for the elder to notice. He lifted a paw and set it on top of the demigods head. "You sleepy Daddy?" the boy asked, looking up at his father through thick white fur. 'A little,' Akaelin replied. He honestly wasn't, but he had to give some excuse as to why he was being so unresponsive.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yoko set Selma inside of her little makeshift crib next to her brother, trying to be careful not to wake the other twin. The fox stepped back and rubbed at his eyes, slowly sliding out of the room so as not to wake the chilluns. They had been awake most of the night and well into the afternoon, and Yoko was running on about four hours of sleep at the moment. He wandered around the house, hoping to find some kind of food. There was a little basket of apples sitting in the middle of the table downstairs and he grabbed one. It was better than nothing. He was about to bite into it when there was a sudden crash, a sound of shattering glass. "Mother f-," he cut himself off, going into the next room where someone had once again thrown a rock through his window. Upstairs, someone started to cry.

((le short. :U))

Nathifa paced the floor of the lower level of their house for another time. Though they had ended the war, at what cost had it been? Maybe more of the world had been saved than it would have if the Triumverate had won, but much of it had still been decimated. Now the once members of the Rebellion, once loved by common people for standing up to the evils that stalked their world, was looked on by some with contempt. Like they could have saved the world, she thought bitterly. For another thing, Akaelin didn't seem to have gotten any better with the whole angst thing. She just wished that she knew some way to cheer him up.

---------------------------------------------

Kitai was returning home from shopping and foraging. She was glad that her and Yoko had two happy, healthy children, but was worried for their safety. No one took kindly to Yoko after the end of the war since he had been one of the horsemen, albeit unwillingly, that had the goal of bringing about the destruction of the world with the Norse gods they served. She was worried that someone may try to harm the children to get back at him. They had Arakil around now to help with looking after the children, but it didn't keep her from worrying. At least her brother was still human. Humans' dislike for weres seemed to have risen after the war. As Kitai drew close to the house, she was nearly knocked over by an indistinguishable figure running away. She looked up to see that a window was smashed. Again. If Quill had still been alive she would no doubt have chased down the perpetrator and made him beg her for his life, but she wasn't like her sister. Where Quill had been rash and sometimes even cruel, Kitai constantly fought with self doubt.
"Is everyone all right, Yoko?" she asked as she walked in. The werewolf was afraid that one of these days a rock would hurt Yoko, Selma, or Colton.

Mshai climbed on top of the wolfs back as Akaelin stood, wrapping his arms around his neck. He padded slowly around the house so the kid wouldn't fall off his back. Mshai was just a little too big to be riding the wolf, not to mention a little too heavy. He found Nathifa pacing and the demigod hopped off his back, scrambling over to his mother for her to pick him up.

((I got distracted by Vocaloid. :I))

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Everyone's fine," Yoko replied, smiling weakly over at Kitai as she walked through the door. He picked up the rock and tossed it out the window then knelt down and started picking up broken pieces of glass with his hands. One baby crying quickly became two babies crying and Yoko tried to hurry to get upstairs without cutting himself with glass at the same time. "I'll get a blanket or something to cover it up until we get a new window," he sighed, referring to the gaping hole in their house.

((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bFSRvUcj8w&feature=related

That killed my muse. :Y ))

((lol RIP muse. So much driving and getting up early today tired me out...I'm going to make this post then go to bed))

Nathifa picked Mshai up, ignoring the pain caused by him pulling one of the braids that she wore in her hair. She walked over to Akaelin and look down at him. One would think that after spending so much time with him that she would figure out some of how that mind worked, but many times she still remained clueless.

"Is something on your mind?" she asked.

--------------------------------------------------------

Kitai nodded. "I'll get Arakil to try to pick some grass up the next time he goes into a bigger settlement," she said. Currently her brother was out hunting. He had been a lot more at peace since Quill's passing and tried his hardest to devote himself to his remaining sister, her beloved, and her children. She followed Yoko up the stairs and to the children, picking Selma up in her arms to comfort her. "Ssssshh, it's going to be all right," she cooed. "There's nothing to be afraid of; just go to sleep"

Nathifa probably should've known by now that something was always on his mind. But Akaelin didn't talk much so he couldn't blame the goddess for not knowing. 'No, everything's fine.'

-------------------------------------------------

"Yeah," Yoko muttered, picking up Colton and taking him into the next room where it was somewhat quieter. He tried not to venture out of the house too much, which forced Arakil to do a lot of the providing. At first he had tried to go about his normal routine and that hadn't quite gone over well. No not at all. So he stayed hidden in his house most of the time. If he was out of sight, people left him alone more than if he was out and about. He spent a lot of his days taking care of dem chilluns while Kitai was forging and Arakil was. . out doing whatever. It was a major blow to what little manhood he had.

Nathifa gave Akaelin a look, but sighed and decided not to pursue the matter further. She wondered when they might be as they were before the triumverate had attacked and the war had begun. She thought that Set's death might have put her mate's mind a bit more at ease, but that didn't seem to be the case. Even as it was, Runi tended to avoid spending too much time around the village. He was usually learning more about his powers and responsibilities as a god from the others or roaming around with Sykino's nomadic pack.

"Hey....you home?" a weak voice asked from the door. From the sound it seemed that Birch was dropping Aodan off for a playdate with Mshai. The little kid had been too young to understand exactly what death was when Quill died (for the second, no, third time) but Birch had been hit hard by it. On more than one occasion he had gotten into a serious fight with Arakil to due his brother-in-law's differing opinion of his mate.

"Yes, we're over here," Nathifa responded, and he entered. Aodan immediately ran over to Mshai to play with the demigod, but Birch shuffled in as he now normally did. He had lost quite a bit of weight since the end of the war, looking like a skeleton of his former self.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kitai followed Yoko with Selma in her arms. All she wanted was for them to be happy, but it seemed a sad impossibility after all that happened. More than once she had considered the idea of moving to Salinas - to her home town. They might be treated with a little more kindness there, but there was still danger in the trek there. People weren't exactly friendly to former members of the Rebellion anymore, and even less so to those that had fought against them. Perhaps they could find Sykino's pack or Jetta and Siiva as escorts to protect them and the children.

Akaelin rolled his eyes as the weretiger walked in. God damn, what the fuck was up with people and going to shit when people died? My god take some fucking care of yourself and stop being a pain in the ass. No one gives a fuck if you're going to shuffle around like a jackass because you're all depressed and shit. Get the mother of fuck over it and get the hell out of the house and take your spawn with you. He padded out of the room and shifted, having no interest in Birch or Aodan.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colton had his head on Yokos shoulder as he finally started to fall back asleep while the fox swayed back and forth slowly. Like Kitai, he knew that they would be pretty much screwed no matter where they went. It seemed like there weren't a lot of places that the triumvirate hadn't touched. It didn't really seem fair to Kitai or the kids that they had to live like this. People throwing rocks through their windows, insults, death threats, maybe an attempted murder whenever he stepped out of the house to let poor Haldis out of her stall in the tiny one stall barn like structure at the back of the house.

I'm gonna go to bed now. I have to get up at 6am tomorrow. =A= ))

((okiday ovob))

Birch winced at the cold shoulder that Akaelin gave him, though he hadn't any reason to expect more, and turned back towards the door. Once outside he shifted form and ran into the forest, presumably to go hunting. Aodan and Mshai tumbled happily around the room, narrowly avoiding the leg of a table in their playfighting. Nathifa followed Akaelin and left the two children to their own devices. After all, there was nothing they could break that she couldn't fix.

"Is there anything that you want to talk about?" she asked him as she joined him in the next room. Hey, it was worth a shot.

----------------------------------------------------

"Hey, it's going to be all right," Kitai said, leaning over to Yoko and resting her head on his shoulder. "Most of us are still alive, the world still exists, and we have two beautiful children." She smiled and brushed a stray strand of hair out of Selma's face. "What more could we ask for?"

------------------------------------------------------

"Hey you! Yeah, you with the face!"

A blonde-haired girl that looked little more than 17 stood her ground against a group of werelizards that she had just provoked. Since the destruction of the war, more and more people were forming groups and ambushing travelers and caravans. This was one such group of people. In times long past, the Society would have noted them down as a danger to humans and sent an order to her to take them out. Now it was up to the former warriors of the Society to choose their own targets based on the priciples that they had been instilled with. Siva rested the tip of her heavy two-handed sword against the ground and waited for the lizardmen to make the first move. She glanced back at her companions with a cocky smile and sliced into the first were that reached her.

"Of course not," Akaelin replied stiffly, shifting forms. He hated being followed. Though he hated a lot of things. He hoarded so much hatred in fact that it was a wonder why he didn't simply explode from it. Metaphorically or literally, though probably the former. He had a nice long list of things that he hated, and that list was growing continuously. Even things he previously enjoyed (what little there was) was making its way onto his hate list. But he had been this way for the past three years and three months. Surely Nathifa would have simply come to expect it by now.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Maybe to be able to leave the house every now and then?" he laughed quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping children. The fact that he couldn't do anything to contribute other than staying home with the kids all day was a serious blow to his manhood. Yes, even Yoko had a little bit of manpride in him, however miniscule it was. "Really, I'm happy," he added, smiling down at the werewolf. He did have two kids - although he probably should never have reproduced. Last thing he wanted to do was pass on his poor genetics. He couldn't bear the thought of Selma or Colton having the same hallucinations that he did. They weren't nearly as. . bad now. But every now and then the walls would move, or Selma would open her mouth and start speaking in tongues. Like she was doing now. He knew to ignore it though. The girl couldn't even say Mama or Dada yet - you know those generic baby words - let alone speaking some foreign demonic language.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Uhh, derp did you want me to throw someone at Siva or are you just derping? .u.]]

((dunno if Kieran's still with Jetta/Siiva/the warriors?))

Nathifa sighed and shook her head. "Yes, of course not," she said. Why should she expect anything different? She wished that there was something that she could to to help her mate; something to maybe make him smile again after seeing him either frowning or blank-faced for so long. But even the sight of their child happy, healthy, and growing up well wasn't enough to bring any sort of joy to him. Nothing stopped the growth of his hate, and at this point she wasn't really believing that anything could. All she could hope for was that it wouldn't spread to infect Mshai.
-------------------------------------------------

"Well that would be nice," Kitai agreed. "But who wants to get sunburned anyway? That's just troublesome and painful." She hoped that trying to make a little humor in the situation might be a better way to try to lighten Yoko's mood, if only fractionally. She stroked Selma's hair gently as the small child began to fall asleep in her arms, tired out after a long day of running about and playing. "But look on the bright side - I got news that Siiva was planning to visit us again soon, maybe even with some of Sykino's pack. We haven't seen them for at least a year."

((Kieran. . . would go wherever he was told to go. 8I ))

"So what's that supposed to mean?" he commented, arching a brow as he folded his arms across his chest. And no, a child growing up did not make him happy. Children were born, they were supposed to grow up assuming they lived that long. It was simply life, and last time he checked he wasn't exactly fond of life. And life wasn't very fond of him either.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yoko rolled his eyes playfully and stuck out his tongue for a quick second. "Would you still love me even if I looked like a lobster?" he teased, shifting Colton in his arms as the kid tucked his face towards his chest. "Siiva?" he commented, forgetting who that was for a few seconds. When familiarity came back to mind he blinked a few times, mouth forming a small o. "Ohhh, I remember who you're talking about. Nice girl. What's she doing down here?"

((short poooosts))

((ffffffff my muse is totally dead, but here we go anyways :U))

"It means nothing," Nathifa huffed in frustration. She rubbed her temples and leaned back against the wall with her head downturned. "I just need some air for a while." The goddess picked her way through the tumbling, playing kids in the next room over and strode out the door, taking a few moments to pause and take in a few lungfuls of the crisp, cool air before starting towards the trees at a brisk walk. She picked up speed as she entered the trees and shifted into her hyena form to just run some of her frustration off. She would come back later when she felt more secure that she wouldn't start fighting with her mate over something trivial.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Of course I would!" Kitai said in response to the lobster comment. "You would be the most adorable lobster that ever lived." She made a fake lobster claw with her free hand and pretended to clack it. Selma let out a little giggle at this silliness. "And I don't really know what Siiva's doing coming down here. I guess her and a group of ex-Society warriors are just traveling around now, looking to help wherever they can. They don't really know any other life. Is Kieran still with them, do you know?

[[ it's cool broski. 8u;; ]]

. . . She needed air? She needed air? Oh fuck you too Eliza. Fuck. You. Too. He barged his way through to the living room because I declare there is a living room and plopped down on the upholstery. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and covering his face with his hands. Fuck he hated his life. He hated hating his life.

----------------------------------------------------

Yoko shook his head. "Don't know," he replied simply. "I never really talked to him much. . Or. . well he didn't talk much I guess. ." Kind of a bit of both. During the few times that he had attempted to make conversation the tiger had been rather quiet and shy. For awhile he had thought that he scared the guy, but then he started noticing that he was that way with everyone.

[[ short man ]]

((aedslxkgae sorry this is going to be really short. My muse is still screaming in agony as I try to squeeze some juice out of it))

Nathifa tried to stop thinking like a person as she let her paws carry her on a mindless run through the woods, and to try to think as just an animal instead. To leave behind her duties as a goddess and the fighting with her mate. To leave behind thoughts of hostile humans who weren't happy about the collateral damage that resulted from the rebellion's efforts to save the world from the triumverate. After all, Katagaria were essentially just animals who could take human form, and perhaps she was thinking about this argument from the wrong perspective to confront Akaelin. Even when she had just been a were in the service of the Society she had been prone to over thinking things so much that she would hesitate in a crucial moment.

----------------------------

"I wonder if he's changed any?" Kitai asked curiously, thinking about Kieran. "I mean there's always a possibility, but the Society people never seemed like too much of a talkative bunch themselves. Aside from Siiva they all seem pretty stoic and serious. But regardless, it would always be nice to see some friendly faces around here with all of the unfriendly ones." Selma squirmed a bit in her arms, so she walked over to her bed to gently set the young girl down.

Kae wanted to get out of the house. Preferably he wanted to get out of the house to go and slaughter something. A person would have been nice but noooo, that was generally frowned upon here apparently. Regardless he didn't trust the two kids in the house by themselves. Doubtlessly he would come back and something would be destroyed. Or someone would be hurt, and then he'd never hear the end of it. He rolled off the couch and stood up, running a hand through his hair to comb it out of his face. He and Eliza needed to talk. And very soon. Although he wasn't sure where 'talking' would actually get them - if it would make things better or worse. Things definitely wouldn't get better if they kept silent, of that he was certain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm not sure," the fox replied honestly. It was hard to adapt to a new way of life after living quite the opposite for so long. "But," he shrugged. "People can change if they really want to." He stopped and blinked a couple times, mouth twisting into a frown for a brief moment. "Most people at least." He could think of a few that couldn't, or maybe rather wouldn't. "Yeah, it would be nice for someone to come knock on our door to actually say hello for once." And not whip out a knife and start stabbing.

[[psh, no shorter than mine. :U but somethin's better than nothiiinn' <3]]