Warming Sunset

It had been working out to be a very normal day so far. Everything started in the morning, as all days tend to. Start cooking food for later in the day until William wakes up. After that the cooking stops in favor of washing up and helping his son wash. One day the child will reach an age where they wont want help, so moments like these where he accepts it now are very precious. After that he dries them both off than gets dressed. William doesn't accept help getting dressed anymore, which is fine. He already that the child was more likely to mentally mature faster. Children tended to want to do things for themselves as soon as they are able. This is their attempt to prove that they're just as capable as adults. If only they would accept adolescence more, than they would be able to relish in it more. Then again if children knew to enjoy the youth while it was there, there might not be innocence left to protect. He supposed then that it was good that William didn't know just how precious these early years would really become? It meant that hadn't had their innocence torn away from them in some form or another by life yet. As a parent he would try to keep it that way. Cook breakfast before eating with and talking with son. Pack food and cook more before sitter arrives. Leave for his shift at the hospital. Take a break to eat after the shift is over then move on to working on and creating goods. Pack goods before getting help moving goods to the proper merchants.

Talking business with multiple business owners, merchants, and manufacturers. Pick up William at some point during this madness. Make son some dinner, hand him some books so he will peacefully eat. These events is what lead to his current position. The clam demon was napping in Harakas lap with a book clutched in their hands. Haraka was busy handling paper work, something he didn't really mind doing. The office desk was mostly tidy, the majority of paper work already completed and organized. There were books and notes next to his work but getting him to fully escape the want to read would be like trying to get the doctor to eat less. For better or worse, his stomach was still a hard void to fill. Why was this? The elder Omaras wasn't really sure at this point. This wasn't something that bothered the individual though. Life was wonderful, it was busy enough to ignore the sinking negative feelings and confusion that still rested in their own heart. It was easy to pretend like he had everything figured out, as long as the right questions weren't asked. When all the paperwork was done for the day the sky had already turned a warm set of colors. The sun was threatening to sleep soon, but he wanted to let a certain small child rest longer. For that reason he poked at one of the books on his work desk, opening it to where he had last left off.

Words: 523

If there was one thing Haraka had, it was a large number of strings attached. The most obvious ones were clear in sight, being a parent pared with his position. There was a lot of work involved in both things and neither could be taken lightly. The title of vice president wasn't something he took lightly. Honestly anything that held an amount of responsibility larger than the every day person had to handle made the doctor nervous. He couldn't help but to remember a certain building in a certain country hidden away under the ocean. They were blood family, no matter how much it was hated. Even after their species had changed, the mark had never gone away. That meant they were still family, it was still an irremovable part of their identity. It was one of the reasons the death fae used to try to rip their wings off for so long. It was good they had learned how to deal with those feelings and stop being so self having and self destructive. That didn't remove the scars on their back, nor the fears more deeply engraved than the carving within the skin. That little mess had two less obvious strings tangled and attached. The elder Omaras had a history of self harming and royal lineage. At least one of those was mostly buried with time, the other being something barely anyone knew ever even existed in the first place. A bookmarker was placed before the thick tomb before it was placed down at the sound of a certain voice behind the door. It wasn't just another worker, not like he ever considered someone as lowly as 'just another'. What he meant was this was someone he was a bit closer to. "Please come in Perry."

His voice was soft and quiet as it typically was, but he soon realized a problem. The doctor could typically speak loud enough to be sure someone could hear him, but he likely wasn't doing this right now. Furthermore, raising their voice any more would wake up the child in their lap. Then again didn't he normally get up to answer the door anyway? Not like it would be so easy to at this second. Then again this friend has elf ears now, right? They should work good enough to pick up even this mans quiet and soft voice. Maybe this shouldn't be left up to chance. With the book placed down, he started gathering the child carefully out of his lap and into one of his arms. Once that was achieved the man got out of the desks chair before then creating a few thick blankets. The blankets were of course made of layers of woven plant fibers, soft and perfect for wrapping a child in. The tiny clam child was carefully placed within the blanket pile on his chair. That was better, now he could move towards the door without worrying that any one motion could wake the tiny redhead up. There had been a bit of stirring through the entire time, but not enough to suggest the one year old had fully woken up. It was a bit of a relief, enough to allow the man to start walking from the chair. Should he grab some food from their bag under the desk? Well, not yet. He had no idea why his friend was coming, so snacks might be a little much. Then again, might as well ask? "Would you like some tea, or something to eat?"

Being closer to the door now, at least the quiet voice would have been easier to hear, if the other hadn't already come in. There was one thing the doctor couldn't do that made the man vastly different than others Perry had been with in the past. As a single parent, there was no way he could have flings. As a virgin who had been holding onto that for thousands of years, they couldn't just toss it to a random stranger for fun either. There were many reasons that made him a complicated person to be with, but each one also made him all that less likely to be the type to want something temporary. Nothing was simple about the death fae, not even the gentle grin that their full lips tended to make so often towards so many people.

Words: 727
Harakas Total: 1,250
Group Total: 1,933

Perry took a bit longer to come in than expected. The elf seemed strangely quiet and alone. Was this for a private conversation? Well thankfully at least he had a tea set in the room for just in case. There were other ways the man could make tea, but it looked better for business if one could greet guests with a tea set that wasn't pulled out of a bag. Walking to a little table behind his desk, the man turned on a heater before placing a stoneware teapot on top. The item itself seemed to have a painted on graze with flowers that were currently in season. It was nice to at least have enough remnants of the old magic to be able to fill the teapot with water, even if cooking was just about all he could use it for anymore at this point. Reaching to one of the draws of the small table, he pulled open a drawer. Inside had a few wooden boxes and some tins. "It's alright, you didn't know my son was asleep. What brings you here?" He decided to close the drawer, opting instead to open his jacket to grab a small bag that had been hidden in one of the pockets on the underside. The tiny bag was partially emptied into the metal filter inside the teapot before it was closed back up. There was a shirt on under the jacket, its pattern being mostly white. It had some mint patterning on the fabric, but that was about it. The item was then stashed back into the pocket before the coat was closed back up. With that done anything under the jacket was hidden once again. With that done the teapots lid was placed back on. There was no rushing tea, so there was nothing more he could do with that until it was finished.

Haraka grabbed two chairs meant for business guests before picking them up. The death fae then quietly carried the items to near the front of the desk before quietly placing both down next to each other. His face flushed briefly. Was being so close a good idea so soon after the confession? So that's how they were moved slightly further apart before gesturing for his friend to sit. "My work is already finished for the day so there's no interruption." That's right, he just needed to hand the papers over to the right people and it was finished. Why was the heart making it so hard to think straight? The young looking man hadn't thought confessing their feelings would change everything. Nothing had technically changed though? But somehow it did, how he felt had changed by confessing. It was harder to pull themselves together, but at least he wasn't walking into anything right now? Maybe this torrent of fluttering feelings would calm down. "Is there anything on your mind?" That's right. This time he would control himself better. This time he willingly pulled their natural voice out. It was a first time for such a thing, but they didn't need to know that. Before that time all the other times he had let his natural voice leak out had been accidental. Though spoken in a quiet tone, it was still their deep and silky voice.

Words: 548
Harakas total: 1,798
Group Total: 2,883

What Haraka didn't expect was an issue that he could relate to. This was a feeling he had been forced to face directly by Ruvel. The heater under the teapot, quiet small breathes from a resting child, and Perry were the only sources of sound in the room. It wasn't quiet, but it was certainly calmer than it had been earlier in the day. The flushed color faded from his face, their heart slowing to a steady and smooth beat. That's right, the elf was more than just a crush. The pretty blond was also a dear friend, so right now he had to try to be the type of person they could turn to. It wasn't too long he had even told this person they could depend on the doctor, right? It felt a bit like this was serious, because emotions are just that. Also, he knew exactly how it felt to keep trying to tell yourself its okay when things are crumbling inside. This was exactly why he reached out towards one of Perrys shoulders, gently touching it with his fingers. An attempt to try to comfort someone that looked and sounded to be holding a lot back. "I think the first step to feeling better is to stop trying to convince yourself that everything's alright. It's okay to not feel alright with everything..." He didn't like to make assumptions. If you respond with stiffness and firm standing, it's harder to be more fluid later on. But wind isn't good at grounding things, nor is the fluidity of water. Hard things were better at being the firm and calming source of comfort. This was something they wanted to try to become. Besides, he wanted to be what this person needed.

Being this way for strangers had been pretty common as a bartender. This of course was nowhere near the same. He wasn't serving the fellow west fiore trading company member any drinks, nor mixing them. The fae could touch the elf to try to help in comforting and desperately wanted to. It was important to Haraka that this was something they could do for someone they cared for. They could be close to someone and fill those needed roles, for his own sake just as much as for the blond. Up until this point nobody had relied on him in an intimate way outside of William. It made the brown man feel a bit like he was still a loose rooted creature that could walk out the door and never return, that he would only need to remember to take his son with him. It was a devastatingly lonely sensation to feel that way, especially when struggling so hard to feel like they were part of current events. It was a struggle to not feel like a relic, though at least it wasn't a struggle anymore to feel like a real person. This was also why he was still trying to stick to using their real voice. The deep one they had intentionally tried to not use for so long. It would feel a bit like betraying his friend if the vice president expected them to open up all the while using a face voice. That wouldn't be fair in the slightest, right? He was hoping that being as honest and true as possible now would help the one who needed to burst open to do just that. "How do you feel Perry?"

Words: 575
Haraka's Total: 2,373
Group Total: 3,861

The elder Omaras kept their hand on the other, giving a slight rub. This was an attempt to help comfort, to be a friend that could soothe and listen. The last time someone had opened this deep to him, the fae had been a bartender serving a sobbing fool a drink. Victoria had opened a bit here and there, about her step father and past. That was different though, things spoken more than likely to help Haraka through a terrible situation. It meant a lot and was very touching that it was shared, but it wasn't her cracking open under the pressure of emotions. Then again he would have been screwed if one of them weren't able to keep a stable heart and mind at that time last year. That gave him a slight idea, maybe he should try that technique on the certain someone close by. They needed a rock, and it can make things easier if someone shares something that tells you they can relate and understand. Was it weird to use a different friends technique? Well, not if it worked well at the time it was used. Now the young looking old man had to hope he could get it to work as well. "Life makes you pay for the running it cornered you into, but it's not your fault. It's okay to feel all those things, your heart isn't black and white. It's alright to share anything you're comfortable with and feel anything that you do. Nobody can rule over a heart, not even their own." It felt like it was the best he could do. It was more intimate than bartender mode, but it felt sub par compared to Victoria. Then again she was trying top distract the doctor enough so his emotions wouldn't destroy him as the two chased down grave robbers in a very sensitive location.

He wanted the elf to be able to let everything go. Why? Because it was something he wished he could fully do himself. Even with people he trusted, there was no complete release. There was more sharing than he should have, but the closest he got to letting everything out was when he had been trying to hold it all in. Life certainly had a cruel sense of humor, but that was one of the reasons why doing this was so important. Holding those feelings in was like holding in poison, one of the reasons there were so many scars riddled on his own back. Just thinking about running away from everything again just felt so... draining. Maybe that was something he could share to help. "I had to stop running away from everything because... stopping may be harder, but I was too emotionally exhausted to keep going." He wasn't a therapist, nor someone blowing air out of his ass. He was a friend with experience in something similar. There was no pretending that any of what Perry was going through was easy, not in the slightest. Haraka knew that sometimes life just didn't play fair. You may want things to make it easier for you when its going rough, but it wont all the time. Some are cornered into running by life itself. Telling yourself everything was okay was typically more for yourself than any strangers that might have asked. They typically never notice the difference between a good fake smile and an authentic one, not if its a grin made to even fool your own eyes. Though even when you realize whats going on, the smile still isn't typically seen through.

Words: 596
Harakas Total: 2,969
Group Total: 4,890

This was it, the starting point. Trying to force the other to say more than what they were currently willing to share could push the elf away. This was still a lot, even if it wasn't put in a lot of words. Emotions and experiences didn't always come long and messy. A lot of the time things sounded deceptively simple due to a lack of understanding all the implications that came with every detail. It was important to listen, so the dragonfly was sure to not miss even a beat of breath between words. One step at a time, no matter how tempting it is to try to skip over one. Well, to skip over a few really. Even if he was no longer a draconian, the mans love for knowledge hadn't faded. Besides that, knowing the full picture could make it easier to help the other. Then again if the blond had that, would it be a good or a bad thing? No, it was more accurate to wonder if the scars would burn like a salted open wound. No matter what was knowing the full story came to be, there was a certain amount of hurt or loss. He had a feeling the other knew about how the wealthy tended to hire people to care for their child because they cared. At the same time? The elder Omaras had a slight bias against nobility. There were a number of practices they did 'out of love' that pushed children from affection as well as from direct interaction with the world outside of the wealth bubble. Those same youths tended to not understand emotions as deeply as they should, nor the world as a whole as a result of their parents actions. It would be a lie if Haraka ever tried to say that his own blood family had gifted him any positive emotions.

What to say now was hard to comprehend for the death fae. That didn't mean he planned to stay silent, but it did mean there wasn't an immediate jump to respond outside of the comfort attempts with the one hand and arm that had already been in action. For some reason the man was reminded of his great aunt and the rare instances he saw her. It was a suffocating sort of loneliness and fear that caused him to experience a level desperation that they didn't know how to comprehend. Children aren't made to handle that sort of isolation. Did it matter how the parents felt? Not right now when they were hearing how they hurt their son. It didn't matter if it was or wasn't an accident, only that it happened. There was no good reason to harm your children, even if you don't realize the actions were painful. "Intentional or not, your parents clearly hurt you. I'm sorry about how you were treated." Remain calm, stay the course. Try to think of the best way to respond, not how he wanted to. It was just hard to remain calm. These strong emotions were one of the reasons the doctor adopted William, the very child who was resting in the chair. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to let his feelings out a small bit. "Jewels and sitters are never a stand in for a parent. How did you cope?"

Words: 555
Harakas Total: 3,529
Group Total: 6,064