[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

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A village cut off from the rest of Mizahar by the Valterrian, slowly reestablishing contact with the outside world.

[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Tabarnac on June 11th, 2011, 5:51 am

1st Summer, 511 A.V.

"SEO!"

His uncle's shout woke him from his sleep into darkness and disorientation. They woke before Syna rose in the east to nourish their crops, but this was too early, his body not finding its natural rhythm because his body told him he should be asleep. But his uncle never shouted, never raised his voice without good reason, and there was alarm in it.

There came an audible twang of his bowstring and an inhuman shriek of pain, but before Seodai could get his trousers on, the front door banged open and heavy steps strode in.

Image"Seo!" he called. "Seo! Get a lantern, bring your bow. Zith!" And then he burst into Seodai's room half-dressed himself. Something must have alerted him to the danger to their crops and livestock, though Theo himself did most of the care and feeding of livestock since Seodai was so focused on the plant life.

Then the light of a lit lantern shone through the cracks around the doorway until the door opened, temporarily blinding him. Theo loved his nephew, but he could see why his father had wanted more military discipline out of him.

"Well, come on."
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Seodai on June 13th, 2011, 3:09 am

Seo had been having that dream again. The dream that somehow, by the gods, was always interrupted before he could see the face that belonged to the warm thighs wrapped about him. It was all the warmth of smooth skin, the salt of a kiss, the taste of affection about him. The rough "SEO!" that suddenly infused with his dream certainly did not come from his lovers lips, and he groaned in complaint as the world of his dream slipped away all too quickly.

Seodai loved sleep. He was hardly slothful, rising before Syna to begin a day filled with hard work and exhausting focus. But, when it was time to rest, he embraced it with the zeal of a lover. His pillow, in fact, was one of his very best friends. Jostled from his sleep but not fully awake yet, Seodai yawned dramatically, dropped one arm over his eyes, and attempted to roll over. To find his dream lover again, and his sleep.

It was the twang of the bowstring that really stirred him, and he was already up to his elbows by the time a shrill cry followed. Well, that couldn't be good. He was struggling into the clothing he'd neglected beside of the bed on the last eve when the door banged open. With him Theo brought an ungodly amount of light, half blinding Theo as he squinted towards his uncle. Lantern, yes. Bow, alright. Zith.

Seo shuddered and made a face, at least in his pants by the time he darted off after his uncle. Hardly graceful at such an early hour, he managed to earn at least two bruises in his attempt to do just that - to gather a lantern, his weapon, and to follow. It didn't take much, and his excessively pale frame was usually littered with the little purplish marks, but he cursed nonetheless. About as opposite from nocturnal as possible, Seo cursed the Zith for being creatures of the night, for finding their farm and, most importantly, for ruining his good dream.

"Coming!" he groused, when Theo called for him again, at last bursting from the door and into the cool night to join in the melee.
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Tabarnac on June 13th, 2011, 6:30 am

By the time Seodai emerged, his uncle was crouched upon the steep roof of the barn, somehow managing, like some sort of a spider-man, to stay up there without his hands. Those were occupied with his bow and a nocked arrow, sighting shadows, real and imaginary, within the night. The barn doors were hanging open, and the bleats and moans of frightened animals came from within the dark. The coppery tang of freshly spilled blood was on the air, and the Denvali abhorred the unnecessary spilling of blood. They were militaristic, to be sure, but war was of a purpose and this... Well, food was necessary for Zith too, but stolen livestock meant Denvali citizens would go hungry, and that was abhorrent.

Theo was careful not to look into the light and lose what night vision he had slowly accumulated.

"Set it down, come out carefully. If you're quiet, you can hear their wings before they..." He cursed and loosed an arrow into the dark. There was a squeak and a large bat fell dead at Seo's feet.

"I'll cover you," he said wryly. "They might be gone, but still, come out carefully."
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Seodai on July 8th, 2011, 12:53 am

If the Denvali abhorred the unnecessary spilling of blood, then Seodai did all the more so. Blood had an especially personal connotation for the young man who, with just the wrong bump, could suffer miserably because of a fault in his own. The scent of it in the cool night caused his lip to curl, even as a shaft of the light he had brought skipped across the place where his uncle was perched.

With a murmur, more to himself (and a habit he'd had since childhood), Seodai obeyed. He had no reason to question his uncle on principle, his partner in most things, his mentor in the rest. Theo was very much the antisocial young man's best friend, and their relationship was such that the tensions that often plagued many youth his age could not touch the simplicity of it. Theo had never steered him wrong, or asked more of him than he had ever been willing to give for that matter. And so in this, as in all other things, he did as he had been instructed. He carefully lowered the light, and eased out, trying to find the softening place where it's reach became shadow. He hadn't made it far before the familar whirr of the arrow served as prelude to the creature that fell at his feet.

"Ick," he said, gingerly extracting his foot from beneath the bleeding thing as he edged away from it, gaze lifting again towards his uncle.
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Tabarnac on July 10th, 2011, 6:56 pm

"Sorry," he muttered, still watching the night and listening to its song. Seo's apprenticeship had been a long balancing act, his uncle attempting to teach him to do for himself rather than doing for him, but always mindful that simple injuries were never simple for the hemophiliac.

An annoyed squawk came from the barn and a sleepy gull waddled out, making upset noises at them. Theo didn't even look, too intent on guarding his nephew and their home from the hidden dangers of the dark.

"Jolan, take cover," he ordered with typical Denvali discipline, but the young Kelvic was a renegade both to his Denvali and Inarta heritage. With a flash of light, the gull was replaced by a tousle-headed ginger tripping close to the line of adolescence.

"Jolan?" he asked, his vocal tick pronounced due to his sleepiness and the lateness of the hour.

"Zith, Jolan," warned the long-suffering farmer, who didn't really mind if the little vagabond roosted in his barn so long as he did what he was told when there was a crisis (and didn't shit on him from the sky when playing a game of target practice).

"Oh, shit," the kid muttered and scurried toward Denval proper.

"Yes," Theo called after him. "Report the raid. Please."

But it seemed that the wings of the barbarians had flung them out of the farm's orbit, so Theo relaxed the tension in his bowstring, and in his body, and walked over toward his nephew, slack arrow pointed toward the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked unnecessarily. Seo had no cause to bleed for being roused from bed, after all.
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Seodai on July 17th, 2011, 3:48 am

"Yeah," Seo demurred, glancing in the direction of the apparent retreat, if the diminishing noise were any indication. He felt a bit sheepish that he wasn't often of more use in these scenarios. Hardly useless, Seodai certainly had his moments, and sometimes made a big impact in keeping the farm safe. Usually, though, he was more awkward than fluent, more sleepy than skilled. He lifted a hand to rub across the temple he had managed to bash into his own headboard, already an unhappy purple.

"Yeah, fine," he said, "Nothin' to wake old Jarret for."

Jarret was almost like family, so often had he patched up Seo's wounds, so often had he saved his life.

"I'll go see what was lost."

That was, at least, something he could do. Seo set off in bare feet, with his light, to do just that. He was gone longer than necessary, mostly because he paused to comfort a few of his favorite animals. The smell of blood in the air was as unsettling to the beasts as it was to him, and Seodai empathized. He cleaned the mess left behind and then lingered a while. Animals made more sense to him than people, though far less than living things of the earthy, soil based variety. Eventually, though, sleepiness drove him back out of the barn and towards the home his uncle had given him. It was his refuge, his safe place, his home in ways his parents could never compete with. Even when he felt insignificant.

"Could have been worse," he reported, washing his hands off in a basin of cool water. "Do you sleep with one eye open?"
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Tabarnac on July 19th, 2011, 12:29 am

While Seo ran to the barn, Theo saw to things outside, his ears pricked for the sound of danger, his weapon kept close at hand. These ones seemed more interested in livestock than crops, which was all to the good. There was little damage and it could wait until they rose again at dawn to attend to it. He was just about to rustle Seo out of the barn and away from his cosetted animals so his nephew could get his sleep when he came out himself, and the two of them went back inside.

"Couldn't sleep," he admitted. He pulled a shirt on that he hadn't bothered with in his hurry to protect the farm, sitting down at the rough-cut kitchen table with the drink he had abandoned. "But you should get back to bed. No sense both of us being zombies in the morning, and there will be extra work to do now thanks to those thrice damned Zith."

He shot the last of his degtine and reached for the mason jar to pour himself another. It was rare anymore that he drank himself stupid, so embarrassed was he by a few months previous when Seo had found him passed out on the kitchen floor only to wake still crying over his dead wife and daughter. Seo was the only person he really let in after that tragedy, the only friend or family member who really knew him anymore. He needed the boy's respect or he would have none for himself.

Thus he did not drink straight from the mason jar.
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Seodai on July 22nd, 2011, 5:19 am

Seo nodded, as if he fully intended to obey his uncle, to accept his advice and totter off to his bed. It might even still be warm with the impression of his body, ready to welcome him back into the world of dreams. Instead of doing just that, though, he poured himself a glass of fresh milk and sat opposite his relative.

"Uncle Theo," Seo began, more out of affection than respect, though he thought more of no one in the world than the tired man across from him. If respect was earned, then Theo lived that life every single day. Seo hoped to be half the man he thought his uncle to be.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

Receiving the affirmation he knew would come, Seo hedged for a moment, toying with his milk.

"It's really, really stupid," he said, his discomfort and awkwardness apparent. He even blushed a little.

"So, you know I don't like crowds. Or groups of people. Or... people in general," he said with a half smile at his Uncle's snort. "But, there's this girl. And I just..."

Seo scratched his neck, shifted positions, took a drink, and then managed to come back to the very same position he had started in.

"I'm not good at the people ... thing. But if I ever... care about someone... I want what you had. With Aunt Blaesa. Not what my parents have. So I just wondered... did you always know she was special?"

Seodai wiped a hand across his face and took a drink of his milk, then fixed his uncle with an expectant look. Much like he had for his whole life, when he asked a question that he just knew his uncle could resolve.
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Tabarnac on July 22nd, 2011, 6:04 am

Seodai was a man by all accounts. Sure, he wasn't as used to the rhythm of the farm as Theo, didn't rise at the rooster's inhale, but waited to groan over the crowing of the morn. But these things would come when the time came for Theo himself to dance a round with Dira, if not before. They were content together, and it was good. But all the same, change would come. A farmer knew that better than most, watching the seasons change, and each returning season different from its last from the previous turning of the year. Seo would find a girl, maybe more, have babies, and life would progress. Only Theo was the museum piece, keeping mostly to himself.

All the same, when Seo looked up from his pronouncement, there was a creaky smile on Theo's face, an upward curve of lips that was fragile as a glass bird despite the strength that Seo had depended upon all these years. There was a flicker of melancholy, but it quickly guttered out like a candle in hurried breath.

Seo knew he could always talk about anything with his uncle, from childhood terrors to such as this. There were no taboos.

"When I met Blaesa, my nuncle was still running things here. She was kept indoors quite a bit at the loom. Her family still has a little textile interest going on in the living room. Her sister's gone into dying and teaching that to her son. Anyway... it was a lucky, chance meeting. I mean, we're a small community, but I spent most of my time here, outside Denval proper, and she was so busy she hardly got out of the house. But we met at the fountain. I was dirty and she had a stutter... It embarrassed the hells out of her and the way she acted, most people thought she was stuck up. But it wasn't that. Just embarrassment and she was isolated.

"She had pretty eyes. Her father was from Avanthal. Vantha, you know. That was good to know," he added, referring to the non-Denvali blood that would mean their children would rely less on Viratas' grace than a pureblooded Denvali to have healthy blood. Seo knew this all too well. "I introduced myself and we ended up just sitting there in each other's company... 'Til her mother came looking for her, yelling... Well, she always was a yeller.

"Anyway, Seo. I knew with Blaesa, and I still make an offering to Nikali on the anniversary of that day to thank Her for letting me know what Blaesa needed just based on intuition. If I hadn't had that little nudge, I think we might've botched it. This girl... She isn't Blaesa and you aren't me, but that's the way it should be. You might be sure and she might not, or the other way around. You may be one of those forever couples, or you might just have fun. And a baby or three. More help on the farm, eh?" He chuckled. "But one thing I hope you'll remember: don't go looking for your memory of my relationship with Blaesa, because you won't find it; don't look at all, but be open to the possibilities."

He scratched at the faded Cheva mark behind his ear, the mark from the goddess that proved his devotion to dead Blaesa, who had born an identical one, the divine seal of union.

"Possibilities, Seo. Life is full of them. You should be open to all of them, even if it means leaving the farm, leaving Denval. Life is huge, but it's a gift you should enjoy. Follow your heart," he said, reaching out to put his callused hand over his nephew's. "You have a kind and generous one, and people will be glad to know you. And I'll be here to talk to about life, women, and everything."
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[Theo's Farm] Trouble Comes Calling [Seodai]

Postby Seodai on July 23rd, 2011, 4:04 am

Seodai loved hearing these stories more than anything, even if his own awkward admissions had prompted them. He nodded somberly at the sage advice he was given, though inwardly he was quite split on how to assimilate the advice. He trusted his uncle implicitly, but the suggest that he even consider leaving the farm was enough to create a cold ball of fear in his gut. The farm was life for Seo. Not only because it was comfortable and familiar, but because he wouldn't know what to do with himself if he had not the ability to express his energies and efforts into something so productive, so earthbound.

"So," he said, drawing his own conclusions from the words he had been given to mull over. "I shouldn't have had to ask, really. If she were truly special enough, special like aunt Blaesa, I'd have known. I'd have been willing to defend that to you, instead of seeking affirmation for my doubts."

Whether that was exactly what Theo had intended for him to take away, Seo mused aloud thusly. He finished his milk in contemplative silence. As much as he expected the idea of "having fun" with a pretty girl and making a baby or three should appeal to him, it just didn't. Perhaps Theo had spoiled him, then, in ways that were more unintentional than otherwise. Seo had a lofty notion of companionship, of partnership, of happiness. As awkward as he was with the world at large, as uncertain about himself as he continued to be, a budding social life just "for fun" was certainly not in the cards for the younger farmer. And so he decided, a bit opposed to the wisdom of his uncle, to hold out for what he had witnessed with his own young eyes. He coveted that stability more than any temporary physical release.

"My heart is fixed here, at the farm," he said, adding a small caveat if only to appease his uncle. "At least for now. And it is leading me towards my bed," he concluded, with a sleepy grin. "Thanks, Uncle Theo."
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