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.

from charming to alarming in seconds

The tawny teen was not appeased by what his mother had to say, nor did he feel bad for making her look so sad. Or, he didn’t feel that bad, at least in the moment. He would feel bad about it in a few days when he was feeling better and had time to reflect on what it was that he had said. But, in this moment her morose expression only seemed to annoy him. She had let it go on this long and had only that sad little apology for him?

Tail stiffened and he groaned, ”You’ll talk to her?! She’s a monster, what do you think a talk is going to do? She will probably maul you before you finish the first sentence.” That wasn’t fair, Tori likely wouldn’t attack one of the adults, but if it was Khalon she would definitely try to put him in his place. Heart beat was increasing and his blood pressure was skyrocketing as this interaction went on, ”I told you, it’s me or it’s her. You have to choose.” He meant it, but even he knew in the back of his fevered brain that he wasn’t going to go anywhere even if she picked his sister. Not until he was better at the very least and likely beyond that.

She did not understand why Khalon was so angry about the situation. Yes, Torianna could overstep boundaries by a wide margin, but surely she wasn't as bad as he was making her out to be. Her ears laid flat back on her skull at Khalon's response, taking in a deep breath to steel herself. This had to just be the fever making him delirious. He couldn't possibly believe what he was saying was true. Her daughter had some rough edges, but she was no brute.

"A mother can never choose between her children," she said firmly, though there was a shake to her voice. "And you don't mean that about your sister." Families may not always get along at every moment, but they were still flesh and blood, and that meant something. Or at least it did to Clover.

Her bottom lip began to quiver slightly. "You're both my children and I love you dearly, but this squabbling has to stop." It was one thing dealing with Vayko's disappearance, but with one child missing and two of the remaining three always up in arms with each other had her feeling like a frayed piece of rope that was about to tear into two.

She turned away from him to look outside the infirmary, hiding her face so Khalon wouldn't be able to see the tears begin to well up in her eyes. He didn't need to see her cry over something which was barely an argument.