Closed Hope, in Six-Armed Form (Sayana)

[Aren]

Aren had wandered off into the land of pleasant dreams, where glassbeaks were the size of dogs and the drink never ran out; he had lingered there for quite a while, but now it was about time to leave. As the Akalak's eyes slowly inched open, his mind automatically tried to gather its bearings, not quite sure where he was or how he'd gotten there, for a second. After a moment, however, it all started to come back to him. The encounter with a pack of ravenous wolves, the journey back to Syliras, the unfortunate circumstances which had all led to him having to seek out help for injuries sustained during that first event. "How do you manage it?" He groaned, softly, his golden gaze falling on Sayana's seated frame. "To bend the light so that you look always look beautiful." That's where he was now, the Akalak realized. He was at the Eypharian's place, where Seros had suggested they go, in their moment of need. She had cared for an injured blue fool that had shown up at her door absent warning or explanation, but more than that she had saved both their lives, of that there could be no doubt. Aren shuddered to think of what might have become of him if he hadn't met Sayana, but he had, and there was no point in dwelling in unfortunate outcomes that never came to pass. The groggy warrior instinctively sought to test his body's ability to move, but he soon realized that had been a succinctly bad idea. While clenched teeth ameliorated the grunt of intense pain the action provoked, Aren knew the effort was a lost cause; it seemed he wasn't going anywhere right now. Realizing that he'd probably have to convalesce at Sayana's place, at least for a little while, the Akalak didn't know if he trusted himself around her. Even now, with his body practically paralyzed, he wished that Wysar himself would appear before him to give him the strength to rise from this damn couch and kiss her. If he felt like that now, how would he feel after he was a little better? There were certainly less pleasant ways to die, to be sure, but it was exactly that kind of thinking, on his part, that worried him. "You saved us, my spidery lady." The Akalak joked, in reference to the very first night they had met, his mind changing the pronoun he used subconsciously. It was alright though, because if she asked him about it, he'd answer. Aren owed Sayana that much, at least, and more besides. Not only did she have a right to know what she was getting into when it came to a relationship with an Akalak, but beyond that, he wanted to tell her. He wanted her to see who he truly was; she deserved to, and so did Seros. The fact was that, if she didn't ask, he was determined to bring the topic up himself, at some point. "Are you sure?" The darker Other questioned, but he could feel his brother's resolute certainty in pursuing this course of action. There was no going back now, and while neither of them were sure if they were ready for the ramifications of a decision like this, both were eager to lift the hundred year old burden that had plagued them for far too long. "So, how long was I out for?" The Akalak questioned, realizing that Sayana's vigil over him could have been quite a long one, and that she might very well be exhausted. Should that prove to be the case, he'd have to insist that she rest, because it wouldn't do for her to get sick, or worse, on account of one brainless mercenary who really should have cauterized his own wound the moment he had a chance.

[Sayana]

He looked so peaceful lying there. His large muscular form curled up on the couch with his torso only covered by the white bandages. Sayana wondered how he had managed to get such wounds in the first place. When he had arrived everything was just a panicked blur about trying to get him fixed up and better, that she never actually asked what had happened. They hadn’t looked like the clean cuts of a blade. Monsters, wild animals, zith…? She frowned at the thought. She wasn’t sure what to think of zith now. The one she had come across only ten days ago had been unlike anything she had expected. But it wasn’t going to do any good to dwell upon that and she wouldn’t know the cause of his injuries till he woke up. It was getting close to dinner time and the Eypharian found herself growing restless. Who knew how long he’d be asleep for and it wouldn’t do her any good to starve herself. She got up from the chair and rummaged around for a bite to eat. She found a couple of pieces of bread which she nibbled on, but they were dried out and not the most filling. Tentatively she started to look through her stores of dry food. Some bean-like things, oats, onions, raisins, even a few little candies… She vaguely recalled Remi saying something about oatmeal being easy to make. Just water and oats boiled up. That’s why she had gotten it in the first place. Sayana pursed her lips as she hesitantly considered the idea. With another glance at Aren’s sleeping form she decided to give it a shot. Maybe it would be something they could both eat. She added another log to the fire and filled one of her small pots with the water from her washbasin. Then she used a cup to measure an approximate amount of oatmeal into the pot and then hung it on the hearth. At first it seemed to be doing fine but when she tried to stir it with a spoon it was stuck to the bottom. Muttering dark words she managed to scrape it off. As it cooked she managed to keep it from sticking but after a while it seemed like she had put too much of the oats in and not enough water. It was thick but tasted hard and chewy. She had to add water several times to try to give it a good consistency. At one point she was rather concerned with how much it rose within the pot but she was glad it was a pretty big pot to begin with. Finally it tasted… reasonable, at least in terms of the texture. Sayana removed the pot from the hearth and looked around for some flavor, anything. It was terribly bland. She eyed her spices longingly but with a glance back to the Akalak she decided not to forcibly subject him to the fiery heat. What else… She looked at the raisins and popped one in her mouth. Now that might give it a nice sweet flavor. While the oatmeal was still warm she mixed in a bunch of the raisins and then served it into two bowls almost overflowing. She brought them both to the table by the couch, along with two spoons, and quietly watched the Akalak as she ate. Her thoughts drifted to her stomach. Along with food going in, there was a baby growing in there. It was still young. It hadn’t been long since… Sayana couldn’t help but smile upon the thought despite the trouble it now caused for her mind. But she couldn’t keep it… She wasn’t ready and more importantly she might not survive it. Was that greedy of her? And yet, Aren wasn’t just some guy… or was he? He had gone to her for help but was that because he cared about her and trusted her or was he just taking advantage of her willingness to help? The oatmeal tasted alright. Parts were a bit burnt but the raisins helped mask the flavor. She let out a soft sigh. What would it be like living with this Akalak? What if he didn’t like her flirtatious and impulsive behaviour? She pushed her empty bowl aside and found herself lost in thought with regards to pregnancy, settling down, and what Aren truly meant to her. As one bell turned into the next, the bowl of oatmeal became slightly dried out around its edges. The Eypharian’s eyes drooped a little but her gaze didn’t leave her lover. However, when he started to stir, she wasn’t quite alert enough to notice until he spoke. “How do you manage it? To bend the light so that you look always look beautiful.” “Because Syna smiles upon me, how else?” Sayana replied as a bright smile of her own shone upon her face. With a giddy laugh she darted over to give him an awkward and light hug as she tried to avoid his wounds. “You’re back and sounding like yourself too,” she said as she straightened up. There were a few times during his excruciating pain that he sounded off, crazy even, but his light teasing was certainly a good sign. But when the Akalak tried to move as if to get up, it was clear that he wasn’t all better, not by the slightest. “You stay there,” she spoke softly and automatically reached out a couple of hands as if to hold him in place. There was an intense look of longing on his face and his head was lifted as if ready-- Sayana took a wild guess and bent down to give him a tender kiss. "You saved us, my spidery lady." “I saved you,” Sayana corrected as she pointed at the Akalak. “Which in turn saved us,” she continued with a circular gesture that included both of them. “It would have been a rather one-sided relationship if you hadn’t pulled through.” She was so glad he had. She couldn’t even fathom what would have happened if he hadn’t. "So, how long was I out for?" “Maybe uh…. five or six bells? It’s late. Are you hungry? I also have some herbs to give you.” The Eypharian answered and she gave a quick glance at the somewhat old bowl of porridge. She hesitated for a moment as if she was about to say something. During those five or six bells she had carefully worded her question so it would appear innocent and not suggestive to anything. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… how come you don’t look at all like your mother?” OOCCan't wait to hear from Seros

[Aren]

"I don’t think I have much choice," Aren replied, in reference to Sayana's rather unnecessary protest to his attempt at moving something other than his mouth. Even this soon found itself occupied by the Eypharian's lips as she detected his inclination, or simply acted on her own. He moaned softly with the pain the very kiss he had wanted provoked, but he considered the consequences completely worth it. "About, that..." The Akalak began, about to correct Sayana's correction of what she seemed to believe was his verbal slip. It had been a slip, certainly, but not in the way she appeared to think. Before he could really get into it, however, he noticed she seemed to have something on her mind. The six-armed dancer was generally not one for equivocation, and so it surprised him to see her hesitate so. Soon enough, though, she spoke what was on her mind, and while Aren wasn't expecting the question, it didn't exactly take him by surprise. “Who says I don’t? Everyone always told me I had her nose.” The azure giant teased, but he understood the nature of the query: where were his Eypharian features, if that’s what his mother had been? The answer was both simple, yet complicated enough that Aren himself couldn't give an in-depth explanation. “There are no female Akalak. Our mothers are always of another race, and if she is an Eypharian, for example, her children with one of our kind will never look like her.” He offered, stirring up some old memories that he hadn't thought about for decades. Aren couldn't believe he still remembered what she looked like when she was angry, although perhaps the reason was because she so often was. He could recall the faces on some of the mothers of his friends when they looked at their children, sometimes. They were faces of regret, of sadness, sometimes even outright resentment; children are meant to look like their parents for a reason, after all. He never saw that on her face though, and in fact often noticed her features contort in rage when she saw what those women who called themselves mothers felt when they looked at their own children. So what if he was blue, she’d tell him. So what if he only had two arms. She’d cut the face off the man or woman who dared to tell her Aren wasn’t her perfect little boy. He could still hear the sound of his own giggling as a child when she confessed this dislike for the pitiable fools who had forgotten that their children's appearance didn't matter in the slightest. “You came out of me, Aren. You are a part of me. I didn't even realize it until it happened, but the day you were born was truly the first day of my life.” She had told him once, and the Akalak felt those words in his very bones to this day. That’s what love was, he remembered thinking, years later. “But listen, there’s something I want to tell you… something I NEED to tell you. It's about my brother,” He said, shaking off the memories that threatened to drown his heart in sadness, "He is- I mean, he's- Shit." Again he felt that choking uncertainty that had once gripped him when Aren had attempted this before. This time, however, he was determined to see it through, "He's not just in Syliras, but rather-" He just didn't know what words to use, though, or how to frame them. She was just going to think he was crazy, the Akalak feared, and this fear was paralyzing him in the same way that the fear of being believed once might have. "Let me try. I spent a hundred years imagining this moment, without ever thinking it would actually come. It was all I thought about, on some days. I can do it, trust me," Seros offered, and the Akalak's face soon visibly altered as the soft, gentle gaze which fell on Sayana suddenly shifted into a much more stern, hardened expression. OOCWill give the actual spiel in the next post.

[Sayana]

Sayana hardly noticed his first attempt to correct her as she was too busy trying to phrase her question. In answer, Aren teased her with the suggestion that he had his mother’s nose but then more fully explained himself. “There are no female Akalak. Our mothers are always of another race, and if she is an Eypharian, for example, her children with one of our kind will never look like her.” Sayana gave his explanation some thought and for a moment there was a pained expression on her face. Yet she swiftly removed it with a smile and gave him a soft kiss. Her children will never look like her. And if all Akalak were male… Sayana had suspected something to begin with but as she pieced together the different facts she understood the conclusion. Akalaks only produced other Akalaks and since they were all male, they only produced sons. And it didn’t matter what race the mother was. To imagine that race mattered so little, especially when it came to something as fundamental as reproduction. She could almost imagine the distinct distaste that that an Eypharian would have at that thought back home. For several moments the two of them were lost in thought. Sayana thinking about how this knowledge affected her and the baby inside her, and Aren thinking about… who knows what, but maybe of his family. After a chime or two, he did reveal that he had been thinking about his family. “But listen, there’s something I want to tell you… something I NEED to tell you. It's about my brother.” There was an urgency in his voice. It was as though he had bottled up this information for too long and now needed to tell someone. And it was important. Sayana guessed at this due to his initial introduction in which his brother was ‘a secret he had never told anyone’, but she still couldn’t guess as to why he had never spoken of his brother. "He is- I mean, he's- Shit." “He’s Akalak too, right?” Sayana asked tenderly. Even though she intended to help settle his nerves, her question was mostly to clarify her own understanding of his race. Any sibling he had would be of his race, even if the sibling had a different mother. And any sibling would be a brother. She settled herself more comfortably on her knees beside the couch. "He's not just in Syliras, but rather-" The Eypharian put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Whatever it was, it was clearly difficult for him. She saw anxiety and fear in his face. It almost seemed odd how he had survived horrendous wounds and yet seemed so afraid to reveal whatever information he withheld. Even as she thought that, his face turned into a mask, a shield that hid his emotions. Sayana moved a high hand to gently caress his cheek. She was tempted to give him another comforting kiss too in attempt to open him up and his feelings, but instead chose to use words of comfort. “Whatever it is, it’s okay. I love you.” Had she just…? Yes she had, and it was true. Even with the shaky start she did feel that she loved him. Her rational mind tried to argue that she could love multiple people: as friends, family and lovers. And yet it was still very true that she loved him.

[Aren]

"Ak- Seros began, but Sayana's sudden revelation froze his throat in its tracks. Love. That was a strong word to throw around, and he suspected that now his brother might want to say something before they made a revelation of their own; unlikely as it was, this might be his last chance. One could never be certain of how people would react to the knowledge they were about to impart on the Eypharian, after all. Aren move managed to move the opposite hand from his wounded side up to meet Sayana's own on his cheek. It was not a task without effort, but he simply couldn't help himself. "I want you to know that no matter what you hear in the next few chimes, no matter what I say or how I say it, I'm still me. I'm the same man you love," The Akalak smiled, his face briefly nuzzling against the softness of her hand, "And the same man who fell in love with you the very first morning you woke up next to him." He hadn't actually acknowledged what he felt until just this instant, yet he remembered the feeling from the morning in question. It was that desire of wanting time to stop, of hoping the moment would never end, not because of where he was, but who he was with. It was a feeling he felt every time he looked at her, a sensation that made him both weaker and stronger all at the same time. "Do it, before the thought of losing her to this makes me rethink it." Aren informed his brother, whom keenly sensed his brother's trepidation. "Akalaks, Sayana, are not at all like most of the people you see walking by you on the street," Seros began again, preempting his statement with a small cough, as his surfacing became apparent by the distinction between his voice and his brother's. "We live a divided existence, our minds splintered in two by the birth of a second soul within a single body. After a certain age, it awakens, this "Other", and no longer can any of us truly be alone again. This intruder is not a twin of the first, but rather an opposite. One is dour, where the other is cheerful; one reckless, the other cautious. One is in dominant control of the body... the other merely a passenger, most of the time," He paused for a moment, thinking about his next words carefully. "I am that Other. I am the raging storm where he is the tranquil sea. I am the darkness, and he the light. I am Seros, Sayana, and I am the brother Aren speaks of, the other inextricable side of the man you have just declared your love for." It was not an easy thing to hear, they both knew, and they were prepared to let the Eypharian go if she simply couldn't live with the truth of what he was. There were probably not many who could, they realized, even amongst those who loved each other. Aren could hardly stand to think about the possibility that he had just lost her, but he also knew there was no future for them if she didn't know about, and could accept, his dual nature. It would might hurt for a century or two, but what choice did he have? Everything was laid out on the table now, so to speak, and the only thing the Akalak could was wait and hope. Every second that passed felt like an eternity, but his heart told him to have faith, for what was love, if not that.

[Sayana]

Sayana watched as Aren’s features softened again, mask gone, and his hand reached up to tenderly cup her cheek. She smiled as he spoke of love yet he felt it very important that she didn’t change her thoughts of him, that he was still the same man. Even as she stared into his bright yellow eyes, there was a hint of puzzlement on her face. What could he have done that he’d be so afraid she might change her opinion of him? And then she saw his expression harden and grow more serious just like before. She was almost about to protest and say it was all going to be alright, but then the Akalak spoke. Even though she had heard Seros’s voice once before, it had been isolated and in such a chaotic setting that she hadn’t been able to identify it as strange or different. However now, the change in tone and even timber was evident when it was heard less than a chime after Aren’s lighter and higher tone. Confusion pervaded her face for a few moments but as Seros continued to explain, certain things began to click in her brain. Aren’s brother, a secret… If Seros was truly his opposite then there would be many things Aren would feel guilty of or ashamed of with respect to his brother. And Aren explaining that his brother was in Syliras, yet something more… Seros had certainly been in Syliras and had in fact been inside the Akalak the whole time. “So when I kiss you, am I kissing both of you?” Sayana asked as she caressed his cheek with her thumb. With a hand on the back of his head she leaned in to press her lips firmly to his. His face at the time had been the serious one of Seros, and yet she wanted to know him, taste him but wondered if the brothers would blend or switch at such a gesture. As she melted into the kiss a troubling thought came to her mind. What if Seros didn’t like her, or not in that way, and was only there because he had to? She broke away quickly. “Does… does Seros like me? You said, I mean he said that you were opposites…” She stopped a moment as she tried to make sense of the pronouns and finally went with, “Seros, do you like me? Did you like… our sex?” Her stomach tightened a little at the thought of dragging someone unwillingly through the act of sex especially if they were forced to be a bystander when they didn’t want to. “Were you… Are you always there?” For a moment she scrutinized over the Akalak’s face as if trying to see into his very souls to separate them. But then her face relaxed once more and continued her stream of questions. “You have different voices. How do you know when to switch? Can you both feel everything? Can you both move any body part you want? What if one of you wanted to go one way and the other wanted to go another way?” Her questions seemed to spill out without much thought as she struggled to grasp the logistical nature of the phenomenon. However, after a couple moments her brain slowed down long enough to listen to some of his answers and her thoughts settled upon a new query. She had gotten to know Aren quite well over their visits yet she knew nothing about Seros. And even then it was hard to know where to begin. “Seros,” she said as she looked for that stern and masked expression on the Akalak’s face. “You said you are his darker half? Why darker? Why not different, or opposite? Is a raging storm any less beautiful than a tranquil sea? Or do you enjoy seeing someone suffer. Watching them struggle within your grasp, knowing that they are under your control?” It had been Seros who had introduced himself and Sayana found it odd that he had put himself in such a negative light. Did he have no pride, or did he really believe himself as something evil to be shoved aside? “And Seros, why don’t you show yourself more often?” OOCAll the nitty-gritty questions. And probably a pile more to come. Sayana is intensely curious.

[Aren]

The Akalak breathed a sigh of relief when Sayana began her seemingly endless cascade of questions. She hadn't recoiled in fear or doubt, nor were her queries indicative of someone who believed he might be a few arrows short of a full quiver. Everything she asked was a perfectly legitimate response to the revelation that the person she was involved in an intimate relationship with was actually two persons, rolled into one. They had just dived into a realm that Aren had never really discussed with too many people, but he would try his best. Most thoughts he had on it stemmed from his own personal experiences and whatever philosophical ruminations those had led to, yet he could not admit to being devoid of at least some answers to Sayana's questions. He knew, however, that a few might not make sense to her, a few she might not like, and a few would be so vague as to deny any satisfaction in the answering. That was just the way it was, though, for he could not claim absolute mastery of his own nature any more than he could claim it of the world around him. "You-" Seros began, his words promptly interrupted by Sayana's lips on his. This was the first time he had actually felt her kiss, instead of simply having experienced it through his brother. The sensation was the same, the taste of her the same, yet it was not absent difference. There was... something about it he couldn't quite describe. Maybe it was just an illusion created by the knowledge that she was purposely kissing him, but he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it. This was also the first time Aren was on the other side of the equation, and he could feel a strange perception of detachment from what Seros was experiencing. It was an odd sensation, like seeing your reflection in a mirror moving by itself, which he imagined took some getting used to. "You are, although apparently its not quite the same when I'm actually in control. Go figure," Seros stated, as the Eypharian pulled back, a somewhat amused expression at this unexpected discovery on his face. "Well, now that I know it's di-" When Sayana's questioning veered towards an even more sensitive topic, however, Aren decided it was time to intervene, "Yes! Yup. He's fine with it. He totally has no opinions on it, though." He stumbled out, eager to move the conversation along to a less complicated issue. It might have seemed strange for someone to be worried about what they themselves might do, but he wasn't yet ready to think of Seros and himself as one entity; the Akalak had spent too many years reinforcing that divide between one side and the other to simply abandon it all of a sudden. And now, having experienced what the dormant side felt during intimate moments, he quickly came to grips with the fact that he had absolutely no desire to share Sayana like that. Seros, for his part, showed an uncharacteristic level of understanding for the notion, "It's not the same, is it? When she's with you, out there?" The more they thought about it, the more jarring the thought became. One experienced everything the other did, but for one it was like always seeing the entire world through tinted glass. How would you ever know what color anything really was? A hundred years of that, they both knew, would alter a person's perceptions to the core. It was probably the reason one side of an Akalak could be so different from the other, once you got past the philosophical nonsense of light and dark. His mind promptly returned to Sayana's questions, however, as she fired off another one. "He is. Although it has recently come to our attention that being here is not the same exact thing as actually being here." Aren tried to explain, although he wasn't entirely certain if he was doing an adequate job of it. Her subsequent barrage of questions made him chortle for a pained moment, but the brothers smiled, answering her with an auditory and visual aid, "It's really quite simple. We take turns." The Akalak's voice quickly altered itself, and his face rapidly shifted expressions in what might have been confused for either a display of insanity, or a ridiculous facial twitch, under different circumstances. There was one question he didn't answer, but that was because it was more complicated than it sounded. At the mention of his name, the blue giant's features settled into Seros' steely facade, "It's mostly a term of convenience to refer to the dominant and dormant sides, but the truth is that sometimes... it's not entirely without relevant merit." It wasn't his intention to make his brother feel guilty, for once, but the darker Other knew that this particular discussion would likely make that unavoidable. "It's my fault," Aren spoke up without hesitation, simply unable to shy away from the culpability he felt at being the one responsible for casting his brother into the shadows, and thus giving life to the reality of a designation that should have been purely academic. "I was afraid of him, when he awoke. The "light" side almost always controls the body unless he willfully gives up that control, and the idea of him running around with my hands at his disposal terrified me for a long time. Almost a hundred years, I spent, keeping him in chains." Pride did not follow Aren's statement, at it might once have, only regret. Guilt had replaced what once had been a firm conviction that what he was doing was absolutely necessary for the safety of those around him. "I denied him the world all of his life out of nothing but childish fear he never deserved. Is it any wonder that he hates me?" Aren stated, his voice starting to break under the burden of voicing the greatest mistake of his life, and his heart starting to ache under the burden of carrying it. "I..." Seros wanted to deny his brother's words, but his hatred had been cultivated for so long that its roots were a part of his very foundation. Things were different now, but it would take a long time for that pillar to erode away; perhaps longer than an Akalak could live, they both feared. "I am the reason he doesn't show himself. I am the monster that made him who he is." Aren could hardly stand the despair he felt at this moment, clutching his chest absent notice for the pain the movement caused. "I am... I-" Suddenly feeling like he was unable breathe, the Akalak started heaving in large gasps, and it looked as if he was about to fall off the coach and collapse on Sayana's floor.

[Sayana]

When Sayana had kissed him there had been a subtle difference. His lips were perhaps a little stiffer and he didn’t seem to lean in as naturally as usual. Almost unpracticed. When she quickly pulled away, Seros confirmed that the difference had been that Seros, not Aren had been in control. She smiled curiously at the concept. But as Seros attempted to explain further Aren quickly put an end to the topic. Sayana didn’t attempt to press further but it was clear that such was going to be a sensitive topic, and one that she was going to be quite personally involved in. Even though she didn’t get a specific answer as to whether Seros liked her, at least it was clear that he didn’t dislike her, and that’s all she needed for the time being. Yes, at some point they would have to discuss jealousy and perhaps even timesharing. She wasn’t a stranger to topics like jealousy since she had come across it in her line of work, particularly back in Ahnatep. However, her relationship with Aren just got quite a bit more complex. The Eypharian couldn’t help but chuckle as the two brothers demonstrated their duality by flipping back and forth mid-sentence. Despite their differences, there was still some harmony between the two. The exercise also helped solidify Sayana’s ability to recognize one brother versus the other, in both face and tone. Sero’s use of the words dominant and dormant seemed to make more sense to her but he hinted that usually there was something more to the dormant side. And that’s when Aren couldn’t hold it in any longer and spilled out his deepest regrets about his dual nature. Sayana was at first a little surprised by his outburst. She hadn’t expected him to lay so much blame upon himself. And yet, it sounded like it was driven by fear, or lack of understanding. Was it Seros he feared, or was it the fear of giving up control over one’s body? As Aren’s chest heaved with his last few words, Sayana attempted to comfort him and bring him back to reality. “Aren, it’s okay, it’s okay. Pull yourself together.” He was breaking under his own guilt and Sayana placed a few hands upon him to keep him from floundering off the couch. “You did it out of fear of losing your own freedom. You are not a monster. You were just faced with the hardest question: to enslave or be enslaved.” She would have done the same. No questions asked. “But now you have a third option. To make peace with your captor and your slave. Seros, please tell him what you’ve thought of about today. Genuinely.” She suspected that today had not just been any day for the pair. If Aren had wanted to he could have continued to keep Seros a secret, but he had not. He could have continued to keep his brother in chains and not given a single chance to speak. As the outsider she could only do so much. There had been, what was it, a hundred years of conflict between the two? That wasn’t going to change overnight. But perhaps a step in the right direction could be made. “Aren… just please don’t hide,” Sayana spoke softly. She had suddenly become very aware of the possibility that Aren might simply hide himself deeply within the Akalak out of shame and guilt. “Stay with me Aren, be strong. And let me give you each a kiss.” Perhaps she put too much importance on physical contact and intimacy and maybe there were times when it might make things worse, yet she wanted each of the brothers to know that they were loved in their own right and to feel whatever that control was in the moment. She leaned in a studied his face for a moment before giving two deep kisses hoping that they would be shared.

[Aren]

The Akalak's trembling frame soon stabilized, but the rapid change in his expression made it obvious that this was likely only an illusion created by Seros now being in charge. The fact that his brother could assume control unbidden indicated just what kind of state Aren's mind was in, and this had prompted the darker Other to come to the surface before their injured body ended up getting more hurt than it already was. "It was never himself he was worried about," Seros offered, almost as if apologizing for his brother. "At the same time I was born... one of my kind had also awakened within one of his friends," The Other stated, his eyes clearly reaching back a century, to the day of his birth. "He tried to kill us." It was kind of Sayana to be so understanding, to try and mend the divide that had built up in them for so long, and this had prompted Aren to open up. Now, that same compassion was prompting a sort of cathartic outlet for his brother as well. "Neri... it wasn't his fault. Akalak boys are expected to hunt glassbeaks as a rite of passage, and on that day a group of us were out there doing just that. The wind turned suddenly, and the hunters became the prey in the blink of an eye. Seeing their friends cut down by those abominations, was it any wonder that it was at that point that their minds prompted the birth of their Others?" Seros recalled the moment so vividly, despite the fact that there were a thousand much more recent events he could scarcely remember. "How long do Eypharian's live? Seventy? Eighty years? Can you imagine your whole life defined by one moment?" The Akalak said, knowing perfectly well that she might just able to. "Don't let it," He suggested, almost pleadingly. At this point, Seros could sense that Aren had calmed himself down to some degree, which was fortunate, because he wouldn't have wanted to be left out of Sayana's affectionate kiss. When the girl came in a second time, however, the darker Other turned his head and her lips met his cheek, instead. It just didn't feel right, to share her. Him and his brother were not the same person, however much their condition might lead someone to believe they were. That might be true for others of his kind, but there existed a very real rift between them that included a separate sense of identity. Perhaps that was the reason one did not feel a kiss the other was receiving in the same way, and perhaps this was atypical of Akalaks, but that's just the way it was. "We may be two edges of the same blade... but we are two." Seros clarified, although he secretly hoped that Sayana would continue to look at them as one, if for no other reason than someone should. Maybe if she believed the lie enough, if she refused to treat them as separate, one day they'd start to believe it too. One day.

[Sayana]

As Seros explained what had happened those many years ago, Sayana began to understand it better. It hadn’t just been wanting to have control of your own body, it was keeping something locked up that had the potential to kill. Her eyes wandered over Seros. His body was so much like Aren’s yet here and there were subtle differences. Most obvious was his face but even how he held himself, the pacing of his words, the look in his eyes. Had his whole life truly been defined by one moment? It was a rather depressing thought. Maybe things ran much deeper between the brothers and she was foolish to try to mend things. But could Seros still have some dark instinct to kill? It was hard to believe based on the way he spoke of the incident, and how he spoke in general. Yes he was stern, serious, and maybe even cold but murderous? Regardless, she wanted to spread her love to both of them. Aren received it warmly but Seros’s response to the kiss was small yet purposeful. Sayana found herself giving him a soft kiss to his cheek instead. He seemed to ‘tolerate’ it, which contrasted from his earlier excitement and interest in the first one. Had she done something wrong, or had he merely changed his opinion on it? Her expression was slightly hurt as she pulled away but she decided not to pry into it, nor force any other affections on him. The Eypharian gave a brief nod to Seros’s last statement and then got to her feet. She gave a grimace as she realized that one of her legs had fallen asleep and hobbled awkwardly towards the kitchen area. “I should boil up some tea for you. It’ll help you heal faster.” She said in explanation for her departure. She hung a partially filled kettle in the hearth and added another log to the fire. It was a lot to take in. Initially she had seen Seros as just another facet of Aren to love and care for, but he was different. She had wanted to simply treat them the same, but they weren’t the same. They both deserved respect but perhaps they did not both desire her love. She took a moment to break up one of the dried leaves of Vyfox and put it into one of her cups. The Eypharian let out a long slow breath and then made her way back to the chair in front of the couch. The water still had to boil and there was no point watching it. “Are you back, Aren?” She asked tentatively. It had been a while since she had heard his softer and lighter toned voice, and she hoped he wasn’t so paralyzed by the guilt he felt. Her posture and expression were more subdued than before. It was as though she only now understood how little she knew about the pair and yet she had no questions to ask either. Two of her elbows were on the table as she propped up her chin in the corresponding hands. For a moment she was simply still as she gazed at the Akalak and looked for those features that tended to shift with one brother versus the other.