001. out there in the sun | beneath the sky // open post

[clayce]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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[clayce]

Am I?

[He is used to hearing that. Everyone loves dragons, it seems, especially the small children of the many Hunters on the Estate.]

One would think that more children would find me frightening. [A beat, then:] Alistair too.

[Alistair especially. His standoffish demeanor was usually enough to scare away pretty much everybody, and keep them from seeing what he could really be like.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She lets her hand drop, folds her arms across her chest as if to keep warm from a cold that is not really there. The expression on her face is thoughtful, musing, and she smiles up at Aidan, recalling the way she'd narrated their first meeting. ]

I think Renae is partial to the fact that the big, scary dragon has an even bigger heart. [ She takes a breath, her gaze sliding over to where the children are at play. ] I told him how his mother was scared shitless at the sight of a long and curved tail, because she didn't know better and it's kind of hard not to be afraid of something that huge when you're as big as a gym bag when in animal form. [ Her voice softens when she adds: ] I think he also liked how the dragon was someone everyone called "Father". People who get called that usually are because they're admired and respected.

[ To anyone watching, the smile that she throws Aidan is remiscent of the smile she used to wear in the earlier years of her career in Netsach: the hint of mischief in the curve of her lips, the slight glint of cheekiness in her eyes. ]

And Alistair... well. [ She'd only started telling the stories she remembered after they'd settled in China, when the need to bring the twins a sense of normalcy had overridden her desire to keep on running. Maggie had been having night terrors then, though she would claim not to remember much upon waking, so when Cisco had noted the way her daughter perked up at the mention of the tracker who would never grow old, who had asked to stay frozen in order to keep an eye on a charge she hadn't had the heart to name, she'd started including more of what she could remember from her own experiences; slid in the stories that Wolf's Choice and Cen had recounted to her of Mapayapa and the missions that had come and gone before she'd fallen among their number. ]

Hard not to latch onto the grumpy and grizzled anti-hero. Though I don't imagine Alistair would appreciate being compared to the likes of Han Solo.

[clayce]

[He listens intently, of course. Hearing from his own is one of the main things that keep him grounded, keep him sane and focused. It's always the little things that remind one why they keep on going.

At that last part, though, he chuckles, deep and amused.]

I highly doubt that, yes. [And now a part of him simply can't unsee it.] I've always seen him more as an anti-hero straight out of a gangster movie, though. Call it, ah, firsthand experience of that possibility, I suppose.

[Yeah, that one? Quite a story for the kids.]

[kinesthesia]

[ She's giving him a look at that, a cross between amused and wanting to press him more for details and the incredulous expression that says simply: Please, tell me you're joking.

Cisco shakes her head a moment after, and then settles down quietly on the grass beside him. ]

[clayce]

[Is this big-ass dragon grinning?

Yes. Just a little bit.]

Welcome home, by the way.

[kinesthesia]

[ Her shoulders curl in a little, her head ducking before as she looks up at Aidan again. ]

It's good to be home.

[clayce]

Do come around the Great Hall more often, if you can. For at least one meal a day.

[kinesthesia]

[ She nods, her voice soft when she replies: ] I will.

[ She picks at a nail, looks up to where her children are, and laughs. ]

I'm so sick of Thai food.

[clayce]

[Heh.]

Then it's a good that the kitchen staff here makes it a point to provide a variety of things for everyone, mm?

[kinesthesia]

That's very true.

[ She sets her cheek against her palm and lets out a soft, contented sigh. ]

[clayce]

[Cracking an eye open to watch her, and also because it really is nice to have her close by again.]

Maybe you could bring your children around too. Make it a habit.

HAD TO BE DONE OKOK and finally i get an excuse to use this icon

[kinesthesia]

[ She looks to Aidan at that, cheek still resting in her hand. ]

I don't think convincing them will be much of a problem, truth be told.

[ And because she knows that they will have to go again -- not right away, of course -- but soon enough, she presses her hands to the ground, the motion akin to one of the yoga stances, and lifts herself enough to scoot closer to the familiar warmth of the dragon; smiles, and leans sideways, the entire line of her left side from head to ear to shoulder comfy against Aidan's cheek.

She takes a breath. ]

It really is good to be back.

uguuuuu

[clayce]

[Affection is such a great thing. Part of him now realizes how he was such a fucking idiot for pushing everyone away for so long.]

And you're not going to leave again anytime soon. Are you?

[It had to be said.]

[kinesthesia]

[ And this is the distinct sound of a sigh escaping her. ]

Not as far as I went the last time. [ She won't go into it. Not her brothers. Not just yet. ]

I'm taking the kids to Quezon City for the night. [ And then, quieter: ] I'll figure everything else out tomorrow.

[clayce]

Sounds like a plan.

[Settling down all the more, now that he's been assured of her presence, or - barring that - her proximity.

He's attached to people, okay.]