Dead Empress Backwater I got lost in the thoughts that I had

For @Clover Khalon has been showing signs of pneumonia since June 23rd
Noon, Broken clouds, 73F/23C

from charming to alarming in seconds

He was miserable. Even on a day like today where the heat wasn’t beating them down into submission and he should be happy. He felt like shit. He had felt like this for a long time and frankly he was sick of it. It seemed he was only getting worse and not better, no matter how much his mom fussed over him. At first he had enjoyed the extra attention, the way that she catered to him, brought him food and herbs and made him feel like an only child. Eventually though, even that didn’t feel like it was worth how awful he felt.

Plus, all this extra time holed up in the medicinal den gave him a lot of time to brood. And brood he did. Brooded until a single thought seemed to be the only thing he could think - and nothing else mattered. Maybe it was the fever that came and went, or maybe it was teenage angst, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Waking up from a fitful sleep to see his mother’s form in the clearing near where he lay, he sat up rigid. Without any previous introduction he declared, ”Either she goes, or I go. I can’t stay here with her any longer.” That probably didn’t make a lot of sense, but gold eyes bored into his mom intensely, surely she would know.

(This post was last modified: Nov 14, 2024, 08:47 PM by Viorel.)

She had been sorting through her medicinal supplies while Khalon dozed, throwing out any old or withering herbs as needed to avoid contamination and a build-up of unnecessary items. There was only so much room inside the infirmary after all.

Khalon’s statement had Clover pausing, ears flicking back towards him, though her face did not yet turn to look at him. Her brows furrowed in confusion. His words were ambiguous, and she wasn’t quite sure who he was referring to. Perhaps the fever was causing some mental confusion.

Clover finally turned to look at her son, eyes locking with his strangely intense gaze. “What has she done to make you feel that way?” She said softly, meeting his gaze with practiced calmness, hoping to get a little more information out of him first.

from charming to alarming in seconds

Her words were bordering offensive to the Valle yearling, did she think he was dumb? Or maybe she was the idiot if she had to ask what it was that his sister had done to make him feel like this. Brows furrowed over intense stare and his ears flicked backwards in annoyance, ”You haven’t even noticed?” Of course not, none of the adults ever seemed to do anything about her behaviour but maybe they didn’t even see it.

He could feel the anger building within him, hotter than even the fever, boiling his blood and making him see red. His breaths came in furious pants before the rant began, ”It’s everything that she does. It’s a constant onslaught of biting, stealing, verbal abuse, harassment, lying. Never once has she ever been bearable to be around, let alone pleasant.” Did she see now? Surely now she must know? Was she going to be a mother and step in and make the pack better by taking care of the problem that her daughter had become? Or would she continue to ignore it and pretend that wasn’t happening?

Gold eyes were wild at this point, waiting for some kind of answer from her. Demand clear in his stature as she stared her down, tail siff behind him and hackles only seconds away from raising.

Clover stayed silent throughout his verbal onslaught, giving him the opportunity to get out what he wanted to say. It was clear that this was something he had been holding in for a while, and she felt guilty that he hadn't felt like he was able to bring it up with her sooner before it became such an issue. And it was also clear that he was talking about Tori

"I'm sorry for her behaviour," she said softly. It was her fault Tori was going unchecked. Vayko's abrupt departure had broken something inside Clover, and in trying to piece it back together everything else had begun to fall apart. She was afraid to be too harsh on Tori, knowing that part of her recent anger was because Vayko left, and not wanting to alienate her remaining daughter. But perhaps doing that was pushing away her sons.

She didn't know what the right thing to do was anymore.

"I'll make an effort to talk to her about it." Clover was not about to make any promises she was not sure she could keep. Tori had a fire to her that reminded her of Vayko, but she would step up and do what a parent should.