[private] wolves in our own skin; clark - Printable Version +- Beqanna (https://beqanna.com/forum) +-- Forum: Explore (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=1) +--- Forum: The Common Lands (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=72) +---- Forum: Forest (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=73) +---- Thread: [private] wolves in our own skin; clark (/showthread.php?tid=9865) |
wolves in our own skin; clark - Dara - 07-26-2016 Something has been going on at home, something secret and quiet that no one will tell me about. It's nothing, love, but I see the concern in my fathers' faces. Everything's fine, sweetheart. But I would have to be blind to miss the restless patrolling night after night, Grandma and Uncle Pazuzu doing their utmost to ward our home against whatever might be coming. They still see me as a child, for all that I'm five now. And why shouldn't they? I've done nothing since we got here but wander, meet a few people, and play with my baby sisters and my cousin. All of whom are growing up so fast, too. Everything moves so fast here, and it's hard for us to keep up. Of course they still see me as a child. It wasn't that long ago I was still a gangly, leggy adolescent with nothing to trouble me and just as little trouble to get into. And I've still done nothing to prove differently, not even...not even leaving the comfort of my family's home to try and make some kind of life for myself. Maybe it's time I changed that. I love them. All of them, so very much. But it's hard to be anything but my daddies' little girl living with them every day. Letting them protect me and take care of me. I'd miss them all terribly, but I don't have to leave, really. I could...maybe I could join the Dale. It's near home, near enough that Luna has already snuck off to go exploring there, and I could live part time in both places. I'd still be around for my sisters and Tycho, and my new baby cousin Aunt Ryss is carrying. I'd still be close enough that my family wouldn't have to fret too much...but I would be venturing out on my own. Oh, I like that. I think I'll talk to my dads when I get home. Wandering has always made it easier for me to think things through, which is how I find myself so far from home when I've finally sorted out the problem that has been bothering me for months, more and more as each one passed. My feet at least traced relatively familiar pathways, because when I pause to take stock, I realize I'm in the Forest. A place which is, as it happens, a great spot for meeting new people. So I might as well see who's around before I make my way home, huh? With a friendly smile on my face, I amble through the snow-strewn forest, pausing to scratch against a tree with especially rough bark, to get at a hard to reach itch on my side. I'll stumble across someone new and exciting sooner or later, might as well enjoy myself and this lovely winter day in the meantime. RE: wolves in our own skin; clark - Clark - 07-27-2016 RE: wolves in our own skin; clark - Dara - 07-28-2016 Oh! When I said I would stumble into someone, I didn’t mean quite so literally! Someone bumps into me from behind, and a jolt of adrenaline rushes through me as I whirl around to face the stranger. He seems just as startled though, darting sideways and looking absolutely terrified. That terror quickly fades into shy blushing and staring, and the shock that widened my eyes and dilated my pupils and set me on edge fades just as quickly into a shy smile of my own. It’s hard to meet his gaze, somehow, and there’s a fluttering in my belly when I manage it, “It’s okay,” I murmur, and my voice is uncharacteristically soft as I steal glances at him through my thick white lashes. He’s cute, all awkward uncertainty and endearing embarrassment. He’s a rich, lovely bay and white, but where his hair would be black it’s silvered out some, kind of like mine. And there’s a quiet, rugged elegance to his build, not the broad, towering mass of my dad...something closer to the sleek lines of my papa, though still unlike. New, and isn’t new always just a little bit intriguing? I meet his hesitant gaze with shy little glances, an equally uncertain smile on my lips to match the one on his. “No harm done, really. You startled me, that’s all. Got my heart racing a little. But it feels kind of nice, so I don’t mind.” My heart’s still beating a little faster than usual, come to think of it, and there’s a nervous excited glow deep down in my chest. “I’m Dara. I live in Echo Trails with my dads, and my sisters, and--well, and my family,” I say, grinning at myself and cutting off the list before it runs on for another three ands or so. The amusement chases away a little of my lingering shyness and I meet his gaze a little more solidly instead of those shy little glances. “What about you?” RE: wolves in our own skin; clark - Clark - 08-03-2016 RE: wolves in our own skin; clark - Dara - 08-05-2016 When he says my name, I can feel my face flush with warmth, and a tiny smile playing at the corner of my lips. My head ducks a little all on its own, and when I glance over at him that little smile grows bigger. I like the way he says it, like it’s something lovely and special and novel. “It’s nice to meet you, Clark,” I reply, trying out his name like he tried mine. Oh, his is cute, too, and I like the sound of it hanging in the air. Clark. “Oh, that sounds lonely, not having anywhere to call home!” I step closer, so used to cuddling when someone’s maybe feeling sad that it takes a step or two before I catch myself and remember that he’s a stranger and might not actually appreciate being comforted like that just yet. That perhaps it would be more awkward and uncomfortable than reassuring. But he looks so sad. So I gently nudge his shoulder and give him an encouraging smile, even if I’d rather wrap him up in a hug. Oh, and then he’s asking about my dads, and I could talk about my family forever! My eyes light up with enthusiasm, and I can’t even pretend to help the huge grin on my face. “Yeah, I have two! My Grandmas helped make me from both of them, just like Grams and my uncle Pazuzu helped make my three little sisters from both of them. It’s kind of funny, I’ve got two dads and no mom, and Dad has two moms and no dad, on account of his moms are both shapeshifters. Well, had. One of them died a long time ago now, but anyhow they were both shifters. Not me though, I’m pretty normal, just your basic average girl.” Or, at least I’m just your basic average girl here. I’m fine with being nothing particularly special here, just a girl with a darker version of my late grandmother’s coloring and her golden eyes. No fancy abilities, no rainbow colors, just a girl, with a huge family watching out for her, and a whole lot of curiosity about the land of her ancestors. There’s nothing self-deprecating in the comment, or in the smile that accompanies it, just uncomplicated honesty. “What about you? I know you said you don’t have a home, but do you have family? People who love you and have your back?” God, I’d be so lonely without my dads, my grandma, my sisters, my aunt and uncle, my cousin. Without being surrounded by people I love, always having someone to talk to or spend time with. The idea of being all alone, with no one to love and no place to call home…? Oh, I’d be a wreck. But I’ve been lucky my whole life, never without at least a couple of people to cuddle up with and tell all about my day, or to hold me close and comfort me when I’m feeling sad. I’ve never known anything else. Maybe being without it isn’t as lonely as it sounds? |