Twinflame: K'luha was not a light person, and she was mostly dense, but K'ile wasn't having any luck with keeping her restricted to bed. He wansn't about to let up on his insistence that she take care of her hip, either, so what was he to do? Apparently he was to carry her through Gridania.
It was a doable task. He had carried heavier things farther. In order to move her without hurting her hip, he had sher slung across his back with her arms over his shoulders, and he was leaning forward so most of her weight was on his back. What weight he did have to support with his arms, he did by holding her... Well, not her legs. Occasionally the base of her tail brushed his knuckles.
Essentailly he was holding her by her ass, but as long as she didn't say anything to make it awkward, it would be fine. If it was anyone except Luha, it wouldn't have been a thing. But he still thought she was trying to seduce him, so he had been trying to be careful.
He took her to the orphanage to collected K'tahjha. The matron gave him a strange look when he kicked the door open, and he likely was an odd sight with a full-grown woman on his back.
Embracing the oddness of the situation, K'ile gave the matron a smile and said, "Where's Tahj? Tell her mom and dad are here!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha felt a little odd being carried around by K'ile. She wasn't so hurt she couldn't walk. Really. This was silly. But he was insistent and when that stubborn cat decided he was going to have his way she simply couldn't argue with them sometimes. So she was being carried. But maybe it wasn't all bad. It was kind of amusing. Mostly because she could tell he felt awkward with his hands placed where they were and K'luha was enjoying the fact that he was aware of it, and aware that it would become awkward if K'luha spoke up about it. Alas, she said nothing about the matter. She chose instead to revel in the awkward tension it gave K'ile that she didn't bring it up... yet.Â
"K'ile, don't kick open the door. That's rude." K'luha scolded, reaching a hand up to tug on his ear. The elderly Matron of the orphanage whom they had arranged things with the other day looked at them a bit concerned before coughing.Â
"Y-yes. Miss Tahj went to her archery lesson. She'll be back soon or you can find her over at the archer's guild. It's not far from here. Just down the road and make a left up the hill." The woman gave a kindly smile and K'luha looked down at K'ile.Â
"You wanna just let me walk then? Or are you going to carry me over there too?" she hummed, continuing to tug on his ear passively.
*
Twinflame: Letting his head tilt to one side as K'luha pulls on his head, K'ile turned round to walk out of the orphanage. "I'm carrying you. And stop pulling on my ear! And we should've unenrolled K'tahjha from the Archer's Guild yesterday! She won't be able to take lessons from them starting around tomorrow anyway."
He trudged away from the orphanage, carting K'luha the whole way. The uphill walk wasn't significantly more difficult, and didn't take overly long. They were soon at the Archer's guild and K'ile was repeating his entry, minus kicking the door but only because the door was already open.
Looking at the lady behind the desk, K'ile said, "Where are the archery lessons? Thaj's dad is here to get her!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smirked a bit and only moved her other than to tug on his second ear. If she had to be carried around, she was going to have some fun with it at least! As she was carted around to the Archer's guild she hummed the same song she had sung in the desert during their trip to the Amaljaa's encampment.Â
Luckily everything was fairly close together in Gridania and they were there in no time. K'luha finally released his ears and peered at the woman at the desk, who was somewhat startled to say the least at their appearance.Â
"We're looking for our daughter K'tahjha." K'luha smiled politely, tapping K'ile's shoulder as a signal she wanted down. She didn't always have to be on his back. She could lean on him too. "She's taking lessons now?"
*
Twinflame: "No walking around," K'ile muttered to Luha, letting her slide off her bck but still keeping a supporting hand around her waist.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: The woman behind the desk directed them into the archery room; a long room with targets set up on the far end.
K'tahjha Yohko: The instructor was giving directions to Tahj,"I want you to shoot four arrows quickly, don't stop to refocus." Â Nodding TahjPulls back on the longbow taking careful aim at the targets at the far end of the room. Letting the arrows fly one after another with her instructor complaining loudly that she was taking too much time. Â Â Â
The first arrow hit dead center of the target, the second just outside with the last two being very wide. "You lost docus after the first two arrows, and you let your right elbow drop too much. You need much more practise!"
Tahj nods her ears drooping and goes to put her things away.
*
Twinflame: K'ile points at a bench nd looks at K'luha, "Chill. I'll go get her."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile. Really? Chill? On a bench? She opened her mouth to protest but shut it again. Better to sit on a bench then be dropped on the floor. Which she was pretty sure K'ile would do. With a grumble she limped over to the bench and sat down, eyes darting around while she waited. Another Miq'ote sitting nearby seemed to be chewing something? Smelled.. minty...
*
Twinflame: Freed of K'luha's weight, K'ile trotted over to the room where the training took place. He noticed K'tahjha almost immediately, the girls very blond hair standing out to him, and waved at her to get her attention. "Hey, Tahj! Dad's here!'
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj's ears twitch towards K'ile and she wanders over to him, ears and tail drooping,obviously unhappy.
*
Twinflame: Watching Tahj's down-turned body-language, K'ile's tail swished one way and then other, and he made sure to continue smiling at her. "Hey, kid. They got you shooting flies at fifty yalms in here?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj sighs,"I'm not fast enough and my form is lousy. I'll never shoot like mama did."
*
Twinflame: "So you can actually get an arrow out of that thing? I can barely get one out of my quiver. But I still managed to kill a sand worm with a bunch of arrows the other day!" He didn't really know what to do with upset women. Kids depressed about their skills usually got over it. Maybe she just needed some food or something.
He gestured over his shoulder, "Come on. K'luha's waiting for us. We'll do some shopping and get htings set up to take you home."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj forces a smile and falls into step with K'ile,"are we going to leave soon?"
*
Twinflame: K'ile leads K'tahjha back towards where he left K'luha, answering, "Sort of! I want to try and find a way to get some food shipped back to the tribe. As long as K'luha has enough gil for it."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj thinks a second,"We should get antelope and I like Faerie apples. Do they have them in the desert?"
*
Twinflame: "No. The fruit you get in the desert is nothing like the fruit you get here. Hey, Luha!" K'ile greeted the woman he'd left behind, "Tahj says we shoudl get antelope and faerie apples. How do we get that back to the desert?"
*
K'luha Haaz: Luha was sitting on a different bench than she had been left at. Previously there had been a girl sitting there as well, but now she was also gone. K'ile's very sensitive nose would probably notice Luha smelled, or rather her breath did, minty fresh. Not quite like normal mint though. The scent had a small tingly feeling that went with it somehow.Â
K'luha waved to the two lightly before standing easily. She was chewing on something as well. "Teleport it and hire a carrier to move it to the tribe for us. Or just hunt a lot of antelope and trade pelts for apples. Or we can gather them from around here." she replied, casually walking to meet the duo.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: K'tahjha perks up and smiles at K'luha,"Hello!"and quickly approaches to hug her aunt.
*
Twinflame: Intercepting K'luha's walk with crossed arms and a frown, K'ile said, "No walking."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha huffed a bit at K'ile and reached forward to flick his chest. "The girl that was here gave me a few mint leaves. She told me it helped with the chronic pain she had in her arms so that she could still use a bow. I can't even feel the pain in my hip. I'm fine to walk, ok?" Luha grinned a bit like she had found a loophole and turned to Tahj instead to hug her.
"Hey Tahj. Ready to come home with us?" Luha asked excitedly.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj frowns,"Pain? Why shouldn't you walk? Is everything ok?"
*
Twinflame: "Her hip is broken and Luha is too stubborn to take care of it," K'ile said. "Apparently it's been broken for awhile andgetting worse every day. So now she doesn't get to walk. So now I've got to carry her everywhere.There's a lesson in that."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha huffed a bit at K'ile so quickly spilling it all out. She lightly elbowed him, as he shouldn't be making Tahj worried about her and should have instead thought about easing the girl into their lifestyle.Â
"It's not... broken... maybe. It's fine. Really. It'll heal on its own and now that I have some painkillers I can function while it heals. And he doesn't need to carry me. He's being stubborn." she tried to explain to Tahj, hoping the girl would listen to her first.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj peers anxiously from one adult to the other,"If it's broken you should have it healed before we travel. A lot of healers here."
*
Twinflame: "She doesn't like magic," K'lie said. He took K'luha by one arm, turned his back to her, and pulled her against him as he ducked forward. More or less just throwing her over his back while trying not to hurt her hip. "We have ways of healing her in the tribe. Let's go shopping!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned. She... really? It would be easier but she- "Ack!" Luha yelped as she was tossed over K'ile's back to go 'shopping'. She huffed a little, but settled herself down by tugging at K'ile's ears again. "Oh, alright. Let's go then."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj flinches then frowns at the cry of pain,"But you said we were far from the desert, and carriage rides are bumpy. I don't want you to be in pain all that time."
*
Twinflame: Grabbing K'luha's ass, he pulled her up onto his shoulders. "We don't have time to hunt, so hopefully this counts as me 'providing a feast for the tribe' just like I'm supposed to. Do you have enough gil for it, Luha?" He looked over to Tahj and said, "If you can talk her into getting healed before we leave, be my guest, but she has good reason and it's up to her. Pain isn't the end of the world."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked kindly to Tahj before making a small squeak at the less than subtle and less then gentle grab. She prompltly used her tail to smack K'ile's side before shifting a bit to get comfortable.Â
"I won't be in pain. These mint leaves work a little like numbing agents. Makes my hip more tingly than painful. So we'll be able to make it back and let it start healing on its own." K'luha smiled, shifting her hands from tugging K'ile's ears to instead lightly pet the soft back side of the fur. "So shopping then, eh? I'm sure we can get some things that ought to be preserved enough. I should have enough gil, and if not we're going hunting to sell some pelts and meat."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj nods and suddenly giggles,"You look silly up there. Can he really carry you that far?"
*
Twinflame: "I'm not going to carry her all the way to the desert," K'ile said. "Just to the market so we can buy our food and get it sent. But we all agree to say this counts as K'ile aquiring a feast for the tribe, right? You two are just helping because you believe in me!"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Hey, I'm paying. Don't I get credit for this too K'ile?" Luha huffed down at him, resting her chin on the top of his head now. "Well, whatever. Let's go find the stuff first, okay?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "The butcher should seel fresh meat, bit not sure how expensive it is." Tahj thinks a minute then grins,"Apples grow in the south shroud,if we pick them ourselves it will save money."
*
Twinflame: Moving his head as though to look at K'luha -- really just straining against her chin -- K'ile said, "If you take too much of a credit the elders will say I didn't have enough of a hand in it." And then, to Tahj, "Wouldn't it also take time to go there and get them, and then bring them back? I'm not against working for this, but we were expected back at the tribe days ago."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned and reached forward to pull on K'ile's cheeks lightly. "That's... erk, true. They probably think we died or something." She sighed heavily and pinched K'ile's cheeks again. "So let's just buy it all from the market and have them send it to the U tribe's Aetheryte. We can pick it up there and make it back in a day and a half or so if you're not too slow. Maybe even only a day by carriage ride. Or... that migth be a bit optomistic of a timeline."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj takes the lead seemingly eager to get moving,"It's not going to get bought standing here. The faster we get home, the faster Aunt K'luha can get healed."she calls over her shoulder.
*
Twinflame: "Ugh. Hey, I can only move so fast with Luha pulling on my damn cheeks!" K'ile pursued the girl.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled and relinquished his cheeks, moving her hands back to rest around his neck. "Alright, I'm stopping."
*
Twinflame: "I like optimistic timelines," K'ile said. "Getting back to the tribe sooner means we can get everything set and moving sooner. And eat this feast we're providing."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj sets a fairly brisk pace through the twists and turns of Gridania, finally stopping in front of the butcher, "I think you can get bunches of meat here."
*
Twinflame: K'ile carts K'luha right up to the meat stand and proclaims, "The person on my back will do the talking because where I come from there is no gil."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed faintly and hit K'ile's shoulder so he would let her down at least while she picked out meat. "A-ahem. Yes. We're looking for a few pounds of meat, mostly Antelope that can be transported fresh and remain fresh for several days...." K'luha proceeded to haggle with the butcher for about thirty minutes, at one point the two were screaming at one another but by the time K'luha signeled she was done they were both rather happy with their deal.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj, having watched her mother haggle with people many times watches quietly and grins smugly after the deal was struck,"Good job."
*
Twinflame: K'ile had wandered off and found a stick, which was now on fire and spinning idly in one hand. "Good to go?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded to both of them and crossed her arms beneath her chest. "Yeah. I got him to put a special aether enhanced packing around it that will keep the meat fresh for a week. Best part is the package is reuseable. And he'll shipping it off the the U tribe where it'll be held for us for another week or two. All that's left is to pick up the apples from another vendor."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj spots K'ile approaching with the burning stick and freezes, eyes widening in fear.
*
Twinflame: K'ile fails to note Tahj's reaction, his attention completely on K'luha. To him, the flaming stick is the most casual thin in the world, as long as the fire stays away from his hands, which it does as long as he continues to turn it. "We aren't going to need weeks, just a few days. Hopefully. Are you going to have to cuss out the apple guy, too?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well of course, but..." K'luha paused, her motherly instincts kicking in hard when she saw Tahj's face. "K'ile put the fire out. Now." She barked sharply, disreguarding her supposed ban on walking and walking over to take Tahj's hand. "Tahj? Are you okay? Are you afraid of fire?" she cooed softly.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj's wide eyes reflect the fire's light, not noticing K'luha at all and upon feelingthe grip on her hand instinct kicks in and she bagan to fight to get free whispering under her breath,"fire, everything's on fire... mama run!"
*
Twinflame: K'ile flicked the stick and it went out in a fast moment, the heat of it blowing away quickly in the Gridania breeze. For good measure, he also threw the stick off to one side, before moving over to Tahj as well. The girl was old enough that she could easily hurt K'luha's hops by struggling like that, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He put firm hands on both of the girl's shulders to hold her in place.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha grunted a bit as Tahj fought against her, but she squeezed the girl's hands tighter and refused to let go. "Tahj, tahj, it's okay!" she called reassuringly. "It's not gonna, nothing's on fire anymore. It's gone!" K'luha shifted her hands to grasp Tahj's face and forced the girl to look at her directly. "Tahj, it's me! K'luha! Nothing's on fire. You're okay."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: The wild look slowly left Tahj's eyes and they begin to focus on the present she mumbles,"I'm sorry aunt K'luha.' and collapses in her aunt's arms weeping brokenly.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked worriedly to Tahj and hugged her close as the young miq'ote broke down into limb broken tears. "Tahj..." she whispered softly before looking to K'ile with concern. But she let Tahj cry and pet her hand soothingly.
*
Twinflame: His hands still on Tahj's shoulder, K'ile couldn't really connect with the strength of the emotion pouring out of the girl, so he was thankful she was pouring it onto K'luha. The two could connect in that, though he did worry that their sadness would mingle and magnify and they'd just end up making eachother feel worse.
The best he could do for now was to pat Tahj's shoulders and say, "There's nothing to be sorry for. We can take a break. It's alright."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Eventually the sobs racking the young miqo'te's body begin to taper off and she releases her grip on K'luha looking up at her aunt through red, swollen eyes,"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha continued to stroke the back of Tahj's head while she cried. This kind of break down... she still missed her mother so much didn't she? K'luha could only try her best to make up for what she had deprived Tahj of.Â
When Tahj finally calmed down Luha shook her head no and smiled warmly. "No. I'm fine. Are you feeling better Tahj?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj Nods and swipes at her eyes, drawing a deep shuddering breath,"I am sorry." she says again.
*
K'luha Haaz: "It's okay... it's fine. Are you afraid of fire? Does that always happen when you see fire?" K'luha cooed softly, petting her still for comfort.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj pins her ears to her head,"The woods were on fire... I- I still have nightmares."
*
K'luha Haaz: "It's alright Tahj... We're gonna be here for you, okay? Me and K'ile and your family. You don't have to be scared by yourself." K'luha smiled warmly and hugged Tahj again. "You can always come to me when you have bad dreams or when you're scared."
*
Twinflame: Squeezing Tahj firmly to remind her of his presence. Even if he didn't know what to do with her emotions, K'ile was a bit hurt by Tahj's inexplicably singular focus on K'luha. As if he wasn't present. "And I can..." he thought. "I can teach you how to control the fire and make something beautiful out of it. So it doesn't have to scare you anymore."
*
[12/4/2013 9:48:52 PM] K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj smiled shakily at K'ile and shook her head,"I don't want fire lessons. But we should find those apples." Shaking her head to clear it tahj rediorects her focus to the task at hand.
*
[12/4/2013 9:53:16 PM] K'luha Haaz: "Tahj..." K'luha frowned quietly and looked to K'ile. He was offering something of himself. She didn't like to see him get rejected but... the girl was still terrified. She had seen a far worse Calamity then the desert had. All of these tress on fire? It would have been an inferno of death. No doubt Maka had... burned to death in it.Â
Still, K'luha continued to pet Tahj's head. "Tahj you can't be afraid of the fire forever. I think you should take K'ile's offer. But not yet. Maybe when you've settled in with us and are feeling better, okay? If you're afraid of the fire forever Tahj... you won't be able to survive in the Sagoli." she warned softly. This brought her great concern for Tahj's wellfare in the Sagoli. If Tahj could not look at the fire or use it, how would she learn to cook? How would she stay warm during the freezing nights? How could she see at night when she was skinning? So many uses the fire had, and yet K'luha still understood her fear. If worse came to worse... she would have to entrust Tahj to K'ailia and Ventus in Ul'dah. She did not want that, but she couldn't let Tahj starve or freeze to death in the Sagoli either.Â
With another sight she patted Tahj's back. "Here, come on. We can get the apples and talk about this later. Okay?"
*
Twinflame: Silenced and sombered, K'ile once again grabbed K'luha and put her on his back. The action was smoother and less sudden this time, but still forceful.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Emotionally drained from her outburst, Tahj nodded quietly and fell in step behind the adults.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blinked as she was hoisted up again. The group suddenly had a very... downcast heaviness to it. Really... She let her hand quietly rub the back of K'ile's neck to comfort him as they walked. There was nothing she could say to make this better. Nothing she could think of at least, so she let them walk in silence for now.
*
Twinflame: He appreciated K'luha's touch, even if it was odd. He couldn't exactly hug her while he was walking around with his hands on her ass. Well, he could, but it would send the wrong image. The fire-dancing was more than just something that was his. It was something that belonged to the tribe. It represented the consistent presence of Azeyma, her warmth and light. It was the Warden, a representation of protection. It wasn't supposed to evoke fear.
And K'ile wasn't meant to be the only person in the tribe that could dance with it, but somehow, he was. He couldn't remember ever having offered to teach anyone before. He also couldn't remember ever pretending to be someone's father before.
His breath felt heavy and difficult to manage, and K'luha felt a bit heavier too. The silence didn't sit well with him, and he wanted to break it, but he couldn't find any words in himself that seemed appropriate.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj trails behind the adults all the way to the fruit stall, very aware of the silence and she assumes it is her fault. Ears and tail low she keeps silent.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha knew how much the fire dancing meant to K'ile. And she also knew he had never offered to teach someone before. There was no way Tahj could know how it hurt to be rejected for such a special offer. There was no way she could know what it meant to be offered such a thing either.Â
The air between the them as they walked to the fruit stall was... ugh. K'luha couldn't stand it. As they finally made it there K'luha tapped K'ile so she could be put down and waited for herself to be put down before she decided. With a quickly she leaned over and kissed K'ile's cheek before leaning over to Tahj and kissing the young girl's cheek as well.Â
"Alright you two stop acting like we all died. You want to mourn? Mourn my broken hip. You two cheer up already!" K'luha huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Or I'll make you play tag me with."
*
Twinflame: K'ile was still trying to come up with some way to clear the air when he put K'luha down, taking advantage of the whole ass-grabbing pose to give her tail a squeeze as he did so. He didn't expect the kiss on the cheek, but in retrospect he was sure he shouldn't be too surprised.
Of course he was surprised anyway. He recoiled away from it violently and stumbled a bit, his first instinct being the she was coming at him fora bit more than a peck. She moved on to Tahj quickly enough that he realized he'd misjudged the situation, and ended up wiping at his cheek with a frown.
"I'm not mourning. And you said your hip wasn't broken! And if you try running off I'm breaking your legs and dragging you to the conjurers!"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj grinned at K'luha's taunt,"The matron that  runs the orphanage runs faster than you right now!
*
K'luha Haaz: "Pft! With those moping faces, I bet even with both my legs broke I would run faster." She grinned back at both of them, taking a step backwards. K'ile might actually get mad at her for this, but it was indeed a good way to clear the air.Â
"So what do you say? Happy faces or am I running for it?" K'luha taunted, her grin turning devious as she looked them both over.
*
Twinflame: K'ile crossed his arms and walked back over to K'luha. He frowned at her for a moment, and then looked down at K'tahjha, "Hey, did you learn anything from watching K'luha bartar?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj appeared to give the question serious thought then grinned,"Aye, I learned I don't want aunt K'luha mad at me. "
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled and stood up straight, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "Good, you learn quick. But what's that about K'ile? Going to leave me here in Gridania and take Tahj back alone?"
*
Twinflame: "Nah." K'ile waved that off, "I don't want to have to raise the kid. I just want to play with her and teach her fun stuff." Rather without warning, K'ile tossed his arms over K'luha's shoulders and pulled hr over to him. "I was just wondering if she was paying attention. I've got a theory that the kid's smart."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj raised an eyebrow at K'ile with a grin,"I know all my letters and I write really well. But not sure how smart I am."she shrugged.
*
K'luha Haaz: Luha squeaked as she was suddenly pulled to K'ile. What was that now? She blushed a bit and cleared her throat to glance back at Tahj for a moment. "Well, she's already smarter than me. It took forever for me to figure out how to read letters and such."
*
Twinflame: "Letters? I can read letters. Five of them." K'ile said with a chuckle, and nudged K'luha's head with his forehead. "But can she haggle?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj shrugged,"Not yet, because I can't say some of the words Aunt K'luha used."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed again and not because of K'ile weird affection. She wasn't sure if it was affection. Maybe just him being weird. Also because she was pretty sure Tahj didn't know all the cuss words she used.
"Ahem. Well. We shouldn't teach you everything all at once now."
*
Twinflame: K'ile finally smiled, Tahj's cuteness drawing it out of him. "Right," he said, releasing K'luha. He felt like he'd pulled warmth out of her body to suppliment his own, but he really wasn't sure why he'd done that. He did feel a bit less down, though, now that he had. "Anyway, let's get those apples ordered so we can all head home together!"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj perked up and a smile lit her face at the mention of apples,"They're really good this time of year, still kind of tart. Besides we should get this done so Aunt K'luha can sit and rest."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha took a deep breath as K'ile finally released her. Well then. That was... she didn't have a distinct word or emotion for it so she simply let it go. "Right then. So, let me go barter." she smiled at them before limping over to the stall and starting the relatively long process of bartering for a lot of freaking apples.
*
Twinflame: "Yeah, alright, we'll just be over here. Hey, Tahj." K'ile took a few quick steps to one side and picked up a stick, which were in plentiful supply around these streets. Holding it one hand, he began to spin it quickly between his fingers. "Bet nobody ever taught you to do this."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Flinching back suddenly at the sight of the twirling stick, Tahj began to relax as it didn't light.Watching intently she shook her head,"I'm not sure I can."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha proceeded to continue arguing with the stall vendor.
*
Twinflame: "The movements aren't that different than grabbing arrows from a quiver, actually. At least, finger-wise," he said, and raised his hand to eye-level as he continued to spin it, working his digits forward and back as the stick moved. "I mean, it takes practice. But I can do this and I can not nock an arrow, so it'd prolly come easy to you."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj frowned in concentration studying K'ile's fingers before reaching out,"Can I try?"
*
Twinflame: The stick stopped suddenly, falling into a natural and light grip in his hand. He extended it to Tahj, "Sure! There's no wrong way to do it. Your fingers will figure it out if you give it time."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: She simply held the stick lightly for a second trying to feel the weight and balance of it, then moved it out to her fingers to attempt K'ile's maneuver. Concentrating heavily she managed to get the stick almost all the way around once before her fingers got tangled and she dropped it with a frown.
*
K'luha Haaz: It was about this point K'luha screamed something at the stall vendor very loudly and the man gruffly slamned his hand on the table. Â There was dead silence before he gave in and began writing up the order slip.
*
Twinflame: K'ile tossed a smile over in K'luha's direction. If he was surprised, it was only that she let the man live. When he looked back at Tahj, he saw the stick on the ground and said, "So you moved it, right? It takes a lot of dropping to sticks to get one to work with you."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj stared in K'luha's direction for a second with a grin before leaning down to pick up the stick and try again.
*
Twinflame: Retrieving another stick, K'ile held it in front of him and just turned it very slowly, smoothly, without saying anything. He was half-watching K'luha's ears while she yelled at the vendor.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha argued another few minutes with the vendor over the wording of the contract before the man simply gave into every demand she had. If only to get her away from him at this point.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: After picking the stick back up several times Tahj finally got the stick to spin in her fingers, albeit painfully slowly, but moving.
*
Twinflame: "There you go!" K'ile said when he noticed, pausing the spinning of his own stick and giving Tahj a couple of quick claps. "And that's honestly most of what goes into it. No bad or good form or losing or keeping concentration. Just get better at spinning the stick however it works for you. Then just start moving around while you do it and it'll look awesome."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha finally seemed mostly settled with her buisness and with a small basket of apples she limped back to K'ile and offered him an apple from the basket. "What are you teaching her?" Luha questioned, having been too busy arguging to pay much attention.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Keeping one eye on her stick, Tahj reaches slowly and carefully for the bascket to retrieve an apple, looking quite pleased with herself.
*
Twinflame: "Uhm," K'ile said, not really sure what to call this most simple of technique's. He didn't want to say that it was fire-dancing, because he didn't want Tahj to think about the stick being on fire or really anything being on fire and definitely not everything being on fire. So he just pointed and said, "Oh, that. You know!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile. "That, huh?" But she quickly relent and chuckled, pulling an apple from the basket to push at K'ile's mouth. "Well everything will be in the Forgotten Springs by the time we get there and it will last for about another week fresh after that."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj stopped her stick, taking a large bite of her apple, eyes half closing, savoring the flavor,"Is it time to leave?"
*
Twinflame: K'ile bit into the apple K'luha had thrust at him, tossing his stick over his shoulder and speaking around the fruit, "Hiy himahi eh eou ih ie a ahiaeah?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked to K'ile and reached over to flick his head. "Don't speak with your mouth full. It's rude."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Staring in puzzlement Tahj frowns,"What did you say?"
*
Twinflame: Cracking off a loud bite, he repeated, "Right. Don't we have to find and pay for a carriage, too? Or can Tahj use Aetherytes?
*
K'luha Haaz: "We'll get a carriage." K'luha answered quickly. "But I know where to get one. The only real quest is, do we leave now? Or later?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "You can rest in the carriage, if we give you a bench to yourself, you can even lie down!" Tahj pleads, seemingly eager to get moving.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oooh, someone's ready to go. Then are you ready K'ile? Or do we have something else you want to get?"
*
Twinflame: "That was it," K'ile said. "Just needed the feast as soon as possible. I don't really like this forest that much anyway. Smells weird."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well, then, let's go. I have enough mint leaves for the ride home." K'luha nodded finally and started forward. "Follow me~"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "Oh, I need to get my bag, it's all packed. Meet you at the gate!"she called over her shoulder as she raced off through the city.
*
Twinflame: K'ile waved to Tahj, "Okay, we'll see you there!" And then ran over and put a hand on K'luha's shoulder. "Hey."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Hey yourself." K'luha retorted, looking back at K'ile while Tahj ran off. "She's certainly energetic. I think she'll come around quickly."
*
Twinflame: "Mm hm." K'ile said, only half hearing K'luha as he turned her around, grabbed her face with one hand and her waist with the other, and pulled her into a sudden but firm kiss that completely claimed both of her lips.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Don't you think-" K'luha was about to continue before K'ile suddenly grabbed her. And she would have asked what that was all about before he... Wat? That was about all K'luha's break could think of.
*
Twinflame: Holding the kiss for almost two seconds, K'ile broke, spun, and smoothly pulled K'luha onto his back. "No walking allowed, remember!" He gave her very little waring before grabbing her ass to lift her and begin to trot off through town.
*
K'luha Haaz: Somehow K'luha had completely lost the strength to fight him at all and simply allowed herself to be carted around. That was... really? Did that seriously happen? She was still in shock from the abrupt action. Somehow she never thought K'ile could do that. Like seriously. What? When did he decide he was going to do that? Did that mean he was going to be the nunh? Or where they just going to break the rules? Both prospects were  kind of exciting however.Â
Still, K'luha was red-faced for awhile and she remained quiet as K'ile carted her over to the gates.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Meanwhile Tahj had retrieved her bag from her bunk and raced to the gates at full speed, arriving slightly out of breath.
*
Twinflame: Showing up a bit after Thaj (because let's face it, the kiss didn't take more than two seconds no matter how you slice it), K'ile greeted Tahj energetically with a, "Hey Tahj!" as soon as he caught sight of her. He was moving it a quick jog, even with K'luha's weight on him, desperate to get to the gate and be around people again before K'luha got it in her head to ask abut what he'd just done.
*
K'luha Haaz: Luckily for K'ile, K'luha wasn't going to ask. She was still processing the whole event and hoping she wasn't just delusional and had imagined it or something. Not to mention she had to pull herself together for Tahj. She quickly cleared her throat and gave a small wave to Tahj as well, forcing the blush on her face to dissappate.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj grinned and waved at the pair as they approached, but suddenly her eyes widened,"OH no! I forgot  Rhiki! Can he come? I can't leave without him." she pleaded.
*
Twinflame: "Uh..." K'ile slowed down as he approached K'tahjha, looking like a startled animal. His mind emptied of thoughts of kisses and asses and began to wonder who this Rhiki person was. Some adopted brother? An orphan minion? If Rhiki was her boyfriend K'ile was going to kick his ass! "What?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Who is... Rhiki?" K'luha blurted out, a bit confused. "Is he... your chocobo perhaps?" Somehow the name just struck her as the name of a pet of somesort. Did she even have a chocobo?
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj nods and puts her fingers to her lips blowing a piercing whistle; shortly amid the loud rustling of brush a large chocobo approached from the stables. The large bird stopped in front of Tahj and lowered his beak to tap on the top of her head gently.
She grinned and reached up to caress the bird,"How are you old man?" Then turning to the adults she pleaded,"He was mama's and I did odd jobs to feed him. I can't leave him."
*
Twinflame: "Oh!" Yeah, that was far better than some non-Miqo'te man touching his new daughter. "That's fine. We actually have chocobos back in the tribe, so he'll have family, too.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled. She knew it. Somehow the name Rhiki sounded familar. And it sounded like a chocobo's name. She chuckled light and put her head on top of K'ile's again. "Of course. He can walk alongside the carriage and when he gets tired we can see if we can't put him inside it."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: With a smile that lit up her face, Tahj threw her arms around the bird's neck then turning around and hugging both K'ile and K'luha in quick succession. "Thank you! He won't be any trouble, you'll see. Except.." she winced,"I don't have a rope for him."
*
Twinflame: "He comes when he's called, right? Does he really need a rope?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "I'm sure the carriage will have rope on it or we can buy some before we go either way."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: At the mention of the carriage Tahj peered down the road,"Is it coming soon?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "We still have to order one, but there's usually a lot of them at the gate ready for order you know." K'luha smiled, tapping's K'ile's shoulder again. "Down. Come on. I want to limp to the gate myself."
*
Twinflame: "Fine, fine," K'ile said, once again grabbing her tail when he let her down. Little things like that seemed to be coming easier. "But Tahj has to help you limp around so you don't put weight on your hip." Which he knew completely invalidated her request, but whatever.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha glanced back at the touch to her tail, but limped over to Tahj anyway. "Oh fine. You know I can walk around myself but if you'll be quiet about it I'll lean on Tahj."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj smiles at her aunt and slips an arm around the woman's waist to help steady her. Glancing back she clucked her tongue for Rhiki just as he helped himself to an apple from the basket. "Hey!" she fussed, then sighed,"Sorry, he likes apples."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled at the Chocobo's antics and gave a little shrug. "No worries. The apples were for everyone and we have more coming to the Forgotten Springs."
*
Twinflame: Not having anything better to do, K'ile followed along, having nothing to say at the moment. He actually, on a whim, did a little K'yohko impersonation and tried to look as distant and uncaring as possible for a few seconds, but he couldn't hold it. Unlike K'yohko, he actually had thoughts and feelings, so he ended up smriking and chuckling at himself.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Continuing to walk slowly out the gates, Tahj carefully tried to match her speed with K'luha's although she had her suspicions that her aunt wasn't leaning on her very heavily. But said nothing.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha was hardly leaning at all and mostly lead Tahj over to the stables where several cart drivers were hanging around. She picked out what seemed the most normal and of a decent size before going to once again barter with the Elezen.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj pulled an arrow out of her quiver and practiced twirling it while watching the negotiations carefully.
*
Twinflame: "Never thought of practicing with arrows," K'ile observed, "THat's smart. They're pretty balanced and smooth, right?" He was sort of just hanging out off to one side and letting K'luha worry about the money. There was no money in the tribe, and gil had no use to him. He had no concept of its scarcity, but he did understand its importance. All he really knew was that it was needed, that K'luha possessed it, and that he did not.
*
K'luha Haaz: After a few minutes of arguging, much less angry arguging for some reason, K'luha handed over a good portion of her gil and motioned for the rest to get into the carriage.Â
"We've got our ride. It'll take about four days according to the carriage driver, but he'll get us to the Forgotten Springs and then we walk. Or rather, we use our chocobos and K'ile will have to hang on to me for dear life or run to keep up with them." Luha smirked, hopping in the carriage herself and taking a seat.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj giggles at the thought of K'ile running through the desert chasing the large bird and vaults easily into the back of the carriage. She wsistles to Rhiki so that he knew he was to follow her.
*
Twinflame: K'ile climbed into the carriage in a quick, subdued motion, already easing into a relaxed frame of mind for the liesurely ride. Or he's just tired from carrying K'luha around all morning. "I could just let you guys go ahead once we get to Forgotten Springs. Or I could catch a ride with the food. That's probabyl more what I'll do. Ride it back into the tribe heroically. K'ile the feast-bringer!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha snorted at the idea of K'ile the feast-bringer. "Bringing feasts that I bargained and paid for are we?" she sighed and gave up on the idea of convincing him otherwise. He never got much glory. Sure, he could have it this time around. "I'll probably have to collect K'ailia's things soon after I get home and return them to her." she sighed a bit solemnly. "She'll want them as soon as possible..."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Glancing sharply at her aunt's change of tone, Tahj sat down and carefully pulled her into a hug. Snuggling her head into K'luha's shoulder she smiled gently.
*
Twinflame: Smirking at Tahj's display of affection, K'ile reclined and put his hands behind his head, "Just make sure you don't miss the feast. You'd hate yourself if you did."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I'll do my best." K'luha shot back with a small smile, petting Tahj's head at her display of affection. "But for now, I think I'll sleep. Do you want the bench to yourself Tahj or are you gonna sit with K'ile?" Luha asked kindly. She didn't mind cramping K'ile's personal space if Tahj wanted to sit by herself.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Grinning Tahj slipped off the bench, "You can take the bench I'm not sleepy yet." sitting carefully on the back of the carriage with her legs dangling, she talked cheerfully to the trailing bird.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Alright then." K'luha smiled and scooted herself up on the bech so she could lay down comfortable. Or at least as comfortably as one could on an uncomfortable bench. Once she was comfortable she glanced over at K'ile, wondering faintly about that kiss.
*
Twinflame: Reclining and looking rather content, K'ile crossed his legs in front of him. He caught K'luha's gaze and held it, but didn't say anything to her. Did she have something to say to him or what?
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Not paying any attention to the adults behind her, Tahj was biting off bits of apple and holding them out to Rhiki, giggling as he put on bursts of speed to snatch them from her fingers.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha didn't say anything either, though the look on her face was clear she wanted to say or do something. But instead she simply closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable again.
*
Twinflame: Well, okay, guess she didn't want to say anything anyway. K'ile shrugged and closed his eyes too, feeling safe and relaxed and finally on his way home.
It was a doable task. He had carried heavier things farther. In order to move her without hurting her hip, he had sher slung across his back with her arms over his shoulders, and he was leaning forward so most of her weight was on his back. What weight he did have to support with his arms, he did by holding her... Well, not her legs. Occasionally the base of her tail brushed his knuckles.
Essentailly he was holding her by her ass, but as long as she didn't say anything to make it awkward, it would be fine. If it was anyone except Luha, it wouldn't have been a thing. But he still thought she was trying to seduce him, so he had been trying to be careful.
He took her to the orphanage to collected K'tahjha. The matron gave him a strange look when he kicked the door open, and he likely was an odd sight with a full-grown woman on his back.
Embracing the oddness of the situation, K'ile gave the matron a smile and said, "Where's Tahj? Tell her mom and dad are here!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha felt a little odd being carried around by K'ile. She wasn't so hurt she couldn't walk. Really. This was silly. But he was insistent and when that stubborn cat decided he was going to have his way she simply couldn't argue with them sometimes. So she was being carried. But maybe it wasn't all bad. It was kind of amusing. Mostly because she could tell he felt awkward with his hands placed where they were and K'luha was enjoying the fact that he was aware of it, and aware that it would become awkward if K'luha spoke up about it. Alas, she said nothing about the matter. She chose instead to revel in the awkward tension it gave K'ile that she didn't bring it up... yet.Â
"K'ile, don't kick open the door. That's rude." K'luha scolded, reaching a hand up to tug on his ear. The elderly Matron of the orphanage whom they had arranged things with the other day looked at them a bit concerned before coughing.Â
"Y-yes. Miss Tahj went to her archery lesson. She'll be back soon or you can find her over at the archer's guild. It's not far from here. Just down the road and make a left up the hill." The woman gave a kindly smile and K'luha looked down at K'ile.Â
"You wanna just let me walk then? Or are you going to carry me over there too?" she hummed, continuing to tug on his ear passively.
*
Twinflame: Letting his head tilt to one side as K'luha pulls on his head, K'ile turned round to walk out of the orphanage. "I'm carrying you. And stop pulling on my ear! And we should've unenrolled K'tahjha from the Archer's Guild yesterday! She won't be able to take lessons from them starting around tomorrow anyway."
He trudged away from the orphanage, carting K'luha the whole way. The uphill walk wasn't significantly more difficult, and didn't take overly long. They were soon at the Archer's guild and K'ile was repeating his entry, minus kicking the door but only because the door was already open.
Looking at the lady behind the desk, K'ile said, "Where are the archery lessons? Thaj's dad is here to get her!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smirked a bit and only moved her other than to tug on his second ear. If she had to be carried around, she was going to have some fun with it at least! As she was carted around to the Archer's guild she hummed the same song she had sung in the desert during their trip to the Amaljaa's encampment.Â
Luckily everything was fairly close together in Gridania and they were there in no time. K'luha finally released his ears and peered at the woman at the desk, who was somewhat startled to say the least at their appearance.Â
"We're looking for our daughter K'tahjha." K'luha smiled politely, tapping K'ile's shoulder as a signal she wanted down. She didn't always have to be on his back. She could lean on him too. "She's taking lessons now?"
*
Twinflame: "No walking around," K'ile muttered to Luha, letting her slide off her bck but still keeping a supporting hand around her waist.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: The woman behind the desk directed them into the archery room; a long room with targets set up on the far end.
K'tahjha Yohko: The instructor was giving directions to Tahj,"I want you to shoot four arrows quickly, don't stop to refocus." Â Nodding TahjPulls back on the longbow taking careful aim at the targets at the far end of the room. Letting the arrows fly one after another with her instructor complaining loudly that she was taking too much time. Â Â Â
The first arrow hit dead center of the target, the second just outside with the last two being very wide. "You lost docus after the first two arrows, and you let your right elbow drop too much. You need much more practise!"
Tahj nods her ears drooping and goes to put her things away.
*
Twinflame: K'ile points at a bench nd looks at K'luha, "Chill. I'll go get her."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile. Really? Chill? On a bench? She opened her mouth to protest but shut it again. Better to sit on a bench then be dropped on the floor. Which she was pretty sure K'ile would do. With a grumble she limped over to the bench and sat down, eyes darting around while she waited. Another Miq'ote sitting nearby seemed to be chewing something? Smelled.. minty...
*
Twinflame: Freed of K'luha's weight, K'ile trotted over to the room where the training took place. He noticed K'tahjha almost immediately, the girls very blond hair standing out to him, and waved at her to get her attention. "Hey, Tahj! Dad's here!'
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj's ears twitch towards K'ile and she wanders over to him, ears and tail drooping,obviously unhappy.
*
Twinflame: Watching Tahj's down-turned body-language, K'ile's tail swished one way and then other, and he made sure to continue smiling at her. "Hey, kid. They got you shooting flies at fifty yalms in here?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj sighs,"I'm not fast enough and my form is lousy. I'll never shoot like mama did."
*
Twinflame: "So you can actually get an arrow out of that thing? I can barely get one out of my quiver. But I still managed to kill a sand worm with a bunch of arrows the other day!" He didn't really know what to do with upset women. Kids depressed about their skills usually got over it. Maybe she just needed some food or something.
He gestured over his shoulder, "Come on. K'luha's waiting for us. We'll do some shopping and get htings set up to take you home."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj forces a smile and falls into step with K'ile,"are we going to leave soon?"
*
Twinflame: K'ile leads K'tahjha back towards where he left K'luha, answering, "Sort of! I want to try and find a way to get some food shipped back to the tribe. As long as K'luha has enough gil for it."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj thinks a second,"We should get antelope and I like Faerie apples. Do they have them in the desert?"
*
Twinflame: "No. The fruit you get in the desert is nothing like the fruit you get here. Hey, Luha!" K'ile greeted the woman he'd left behind, "Tahj says we shoudl get antelope and faerie apples. How do we get that back to the desert?"
*
K'luha Haaz: Luha was sitting on a different bench than she had been left at. Previously there had been a girl sitting there as well, but now she was also gone. K'ile's very sensitive nose would probably notice Luha smelled, or rather her breath did, minty fresh. Not quite like normal mint though. The scent had a small tingly feeling that went with it somehow.Â
K'luha waved to the two lightly before standing easily. She was chewing on something as well. "Teleport it and hire a carrier to move it to the tribe for us. Or just hunt a lot of antelope and trade pelts for apples. Or we can gather them from around here." she replied, casually walking to meet the duo.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: K'tahjha perks up and smiles at K'luha,"Hello!"and quickly approaches to hug her aunt.
*
Twinflame: Intercepting K'luha's walk with crossed arms and a frown, K'ile said, "No walking."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha huffed a bit at K'ile and reached forward to flick his chest. "The girl that was here gave me a few mint leaves. She told me it helped with the chronic pain she had in her arms so that she could still use a bow. I can't even feel the pain in my hip. I'm fine to walk, ok?" Luha grinned a bit like she had found a loophole and turned to Tahj instead to hug her.
"Hey Tahj. Ready to come home with us?" Luha asked excitedly.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj frowns,"Pain? Why shouldn't you walk? Is everything ok?"
*
Twinflame: "Her hip is broken and Luha is too stubborn to take care of it," K'ile said. "Apparently it's been broken for awhile andgetting worse every day. So now she doesn't get to walk. So now I've got to carry her everywhere.There's a lesson in that."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha huffed a bit at K'ile so quickly spilling it all out. She lightly elbowed him, as he shouldn't be making Tahj worried about her and should have instead thought about easing the girl into their lifestyle.Â
"It's not... broken... maybe. It's fine. Really. It'll heal on its own and now that I have some painkillers I can function while it heals. And he doesn't need to carry me. He's being stubborn." she tried to explain to Tahj, hoping the girl would listen to her first.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj peers anxiously from one adult to the other,"If it's broken you should have it healed before we travel. A lot of healers here."
*
Twinflame: "She doesn't like magic," K'lie said. He took K'luha by one arm, turned his back to her, and pulled her against him as he ducked forward. More or less just throwing her over his back while trying not to hurt her hip. "We have ways of healing her in the tribe. Let's go shopping!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned. She... really? It would be easier but she- "Ack!" Luha yelped as she was tossed over K'ile's back to go 'shopping'. She huffed a little, but settled herself down by tugging at K'ile's ears again. "Oh, alright. Let's go then."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj flinches then frowns at the cry of pain,"But you said we were far from the desert, and carriage rides are bumpy. I don't want you to be in pain all that time."
*
Twinflame: Grabbing K'luha's ass, he pulled her up onto his shoulders. "We don't have time to hunt, so hopefully this counts as me 'providing a feast for the tribe' just like I'm supposed to. Do you have enough gil for it, Luha?" He looked over to Tahj and said, "If you can talk her into getting healed before we leave, be my guest, but she has good reason and it's up to her. Pain isn't the end of the world."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked kindly to Tahj before making a small squeak at the less than subtle and less then gentle grab. She prompltly used her tail to smack K'ile's side before shifting a bit to get comfortable.Â
"I won't be in pain. These mint leaves work a little like numbing agents. Makes my hip more tingly than painful. So we'll be able to make it back and let it start healing on its own." K'luha smiled, shifting her hands from tugging K'ile's ears to instead lightly pet the soft back side of the fur. "So shopping then, eh? I'm sure we can get some things that ought to be preserved enough. I should have enough gil, and if not we're going hunting to sell some pelts and meat."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj nods and suddenly giggles,"You look silly up there. Can he really carry you that far?"
*
Twinflame: "I'm not going to carry her all the way to the desert," K'ile said. "Just to the market so we can buy our food and get it sent. But we all agree to say this counts as K'ile aquiring a feast for the tribe, right? You two are just helping because you believe in me!"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Hey, I'm paying. Don't I get credit for this too K'ile?" Luha huffed down at him, resting her chin on the top of his head now. "Well, whatever. Let's go find the stuff first, okay?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "The butcher should seel fresh meat, bit not sure how expensive it is." Tahj thinks a minute then grins,"Apples grow in the south shroud,if we pick them ourselves it will save money."
*
Twinflame: Moving his head as though to look at K'luha -- really just straining against her chin -- K'ile said, "If you take too much of a credit the elders will say I didn't have enough of a hand in it." And then, to Tahj, "Wouldn't it also take time to go there and get them, and then bring them back? I'm not against working for this, but we were expected back at the tribe days ago."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha frowned and reached forward to pull on K'ile's cheeks lightly. "That's... erk, true. They probably think we died or something." She sighed heavily and pinched K'ile's cheeks again. "So let's just buy it all from the market and have them send it to the U tribe's Aetheryte. We can pick it up there and make it back in a day and a half or so if you're not too slow. Maybe even only a day by carriage ride. Or... that migth be a bit optomistic of a timeline."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj takes the lead seemingly eager to get moving,"It's not going to get bought standing here. The faster we get home, the faster Aunt K'luha can get healed."she calls over her shoulder.
*
Twinflame: "Ugh. Hey, I can only move so fast with Luha pulling on my damn cheeks!" K'ile pursued the girl.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled and relinquished his cheeks, moving her hands back to rest around his neck. "Alright, I'm stopping."
*
Twinflame: "I like optimistic timelines," K'ile said. "Getting back to the tribe sooner means we can get everything set and moving sooner. And eat this feast we're providing."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj sets a fairly brisk pace through the twists and turns of Gridania, finally stopping in front of the butcher, "I think you can get bunches of meat here."
*
Twinflame: K'ile carts K'luha right up to the meat stand and proclaims, "The person on my back will do the talking because where I come from there is no gil."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed faintly and hit K'ile's shoulder so he would let her down at least while she picked out meat. "A-ahem. Yes. We're looking for a few pounds of meat, mostly Antelope that can be transported fresh and remain fresh for several days...." K'luha proceeded to haggle with the butcher for about thirty minutes, at one point the two were screaming at one another but by the time K'luha signeled she was done they were both rather happy with their deal.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj, having watched her mother haggle with people many times watches quietly and grins smugly after the deal was struck,"Good job."
*
Twinflame: K'ile had wandered off and found a stick, which was now on fire and spinning idly in one hand. "Good to go?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha nodded to both of them and crossed her arms beneath her chest. "Yeah. I got him to put a special aether enhanced packing around it that will keep the meat fresh for a week. Best part is the package is reuseable. And he'll shipping it off the the U tribe where it'll be held for us for another week or two. All that's left is to pick up the apples from another vendor."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj spots K'ile approaching with the burning stick and freezes, eyes widening in fear.
*
Twinflame: K'ile fails to note Tahj's reaction, his attention completely on K'luha. To him, the flaming stick is the most casual thin in the world, as long as the fire stays away from his hands, which it does as long as he continues to turn it. "We aren't going to need weeks, just a few days. Hopefully. Are you going to have to cuss out the apple guy, too?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well of course, but..." K'luha paused, her motherly instincts kicking in hard when she saw Tahj's face. "K'ile put the fire out. Now." She barked sharply, disreguarding her supposed ban on walking and walking over to take Tahj's hand. "Tahj? Are you okay? Are you afraid of fire?" she cooed softly.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj's wide eyes reflect the fire's light, not noticing K'luha at all and upon feelingthe grip on her hand instinct kicks in and she bagan to fight to get free whispering under her breath,"fire, everything's on fire... mama run!"
*
Twinflame: K'ile flicked the stick and it went out in a fast moment, the heat of it blowing away quickly in the Gridania breeze. For good measure, he also threw the stick off to one side, before moving over to Tahj as well. The girl was old enough that she could easily hurt K'luha's hops by struggling like that, and he wasn't going to let that happen. He put firm hands on both of the girl's shulders to hold her in place.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha grunted a bit as Tahj fought against her, but she squeezed the girl's hands tighter and refused to let go. "Tahj, tahj, it's okay!" she called reassuringly. "It's not gonna, nothing's on fire anymore. It's gone!" K'luha shifted her hands to grasp Tahj's face and forced the girl to look at her directly. "Tahj, it's me! K'luha! Nothing's on fire. You're okay."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: The wild look slowly left Tahj's eyes and they begin to focus on the present she mumbles,"I'm sorry aunt K'luha.' and collapses in her aunt's arms weeping brokenly.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked worriedly to Tahj and hugged her close as the young miq'ote broke down into limb broken tears. "Tahj..." she whispered softly before looking to K'ile with concern. But she let Tahj cry and pet her hand soothingly.
*
Twinflame: His hands still on Tahj's shoulder, K'ile couldn't really connect with the strength of the emotion pouring out of the girl, so he was thankful she was pouring it onto K'luha. The two could connect in that, though he did worry that their sadness would mingle and magnify and they'd just end up making eachother feel worse.
The best he could do for now was to pat Tahj's shoulders and say, "There's nothing to be sorry for. We can take a break. It's alright."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Eventually the sobs racking the young miqo'te's body begin to taper off and she releases her grip on K'luha looking up at her aunt through red, swollen eyes,"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha continued to stroke the back of Tahj's head while she cried. This kind of break down... she still missed her mother so much didn't she? K'luha could only try her best to make up for what she had deprived Tahj of.Â
When Tahj finally calmed down Luha shook her head no and smiled warmly. "No. I'm fine. Are you feeling better Tahj?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj Nods and swipes at her eyes, drawing a deep shuddering breath,"I am sorry." she says again.
*
K'luha Haaz: "It's okay... it's fine. Are you afraid of fire? Does that always happen when you see fire?" K'luha cooed softly, petting her still for comfort.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj pins her ears to her head,"The woods were on fire... I- I still have nightmares."
*
K'luha Haaz: "It's alright Tahj... We're gonna be here for you, okay? Me and K'ile and your family. You don't have to be scared by yourself." K'luha smiled warmly and hugged Tahj again. "You can always come to me when you have bad dreams or when you're scared."
*
Twinflame: Squeezing Tahj firmly to remind her of his presence. Even if he didn't know what to do with her emotions, K'ile was a bit hurt by Tahj's inexplicably singular focus on K'luha. As if he wasn't present. "And I can..." he thought. "I can teach you how to control the fire and make something beautiful out of it. So it doesn't have to scare you anymore."
*
[12/4/2013 9:48:52 PM] K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj smiled shakily at K'ile and shook her head,"I don't want fire lessons. But we should find those apples." Shaking her head to clear it tahj rediorects her focus to the task at hand.
*
[12/4/2013 9:53:16 PM] K'luha Haaz: "Tahj..." K'luha frowned quietly and looked to K'ile. He was offering something of himself. She didn't like to see him get rejected but... the girl was still terrified. She had seen a far worse Calamity then the desert had. All of these tress on fire? It would have been an inferno of death. No doubt Maka had... burned to death in it.Â
Still, K'luha continued to pet Tahj's head. "Tahj you can't be afraid of the fire forever. I think you should take K'ile's offer. But not yet. Maybe when you've settled in with us and are feeling better, okay? If you're afraid of the fire forever Tahj... you won't be able to survive in the Sagoli." she warned softly. This brought her great concern for Tahj's wellfare in the Sagoli. If Tahj could not look at the fire or use it, how would she learn to cook? How would she stay warm during the freezing nights? How could she see at night when she was skinning? So many uses the fire had, and yet K'luha still understood her fear. If worse came to worse... she would have to entrust Tahj to K'ailia and Ventus in Ul'dah. She did not want that, but she couldn't let Tahj starve or freeze to death in the Sagoli either.Â
With another sight she patted Tahj's back. "Here, come on. We can get the apples and talk about this later. Okay?"
*
Twinflame: Silenced and sombered, K'ile once again grabbed K'luha and put her on his back. The action was smoother and less sudden this time, but still forceful.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Emotionally drained from her outburst, Tahj nodded quietly and fell in step behind the adults.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blinked as she was hoisted up again. The group suddenly had a very... downcast heaviness to it. Really... She let her hand quietly rub the back of K'ile's neck to comfort him as they walked. There was nothing she could say to make this better. Nothing she could think of at least, so she let them walk in silence for now.
*
Twinflame: He appreciated K'luha's touch, even if it was odd. He couldn't exactly hug her while he was walking around with his hands on her ass. Well, he could, but it would send the wrong image. The fire-dancing was more than just something that was his. It was something that belonged to the tribe. It represented the consistent presence of Azeyma, her warmth and light. It was the Warden, a representation of protection. It wasn't supposed to evoke fear.
And K'ile wasn't meant to be the only person in the tribe that could dance with it, but somehow, he was. He couldn't remember ever having offered to teach anyone before. He also couldn't remember ever pretending to be someone's father before.
His breath felt heavy and difficult to manage, and K'luha felt a bit heavier too. The silence didn't sit well with him, and he wanted to break it, but he couldn't find any words in himself that seemed appropriate.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj trails behind the adults all the way to the fruit stall, very aware of the silence and she assumes it is her fault. Ears and tail low she keeps silent.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha knew how much the fire dancing meant to K'ile. And she also knew he had never offered to teach someone before. There was no way Tahj could know how it hurt to be rejected for such a special offer. There was no way she could know what it meant to be offered such a thing either.Â
The air between the them as they walked to the fruit stall was... ugh. K'luha couldn't stand it. As they finally made it there K'luha tapped K'ile so she could be put down and waited for herself to be put down before she decided. With a quickly she leaned over and kissed K'ile's cheek before leaning over to Tahj and kissing the young girl's cheek as well.Â
"Alright you two stop acting like we all died. You want to mourn? Mourn my broken hip. You two cheer up already!" K'luha huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Or I'll make you play tag me with."
*
Twinflame: K'ile was still trying to come up with some way to clear the air when he put K'luha down, taking advantage of the whole ass-grabbing pose to give her tail a squeeze as he did so. He didn't expect the kiss on the cheek, but in retrospect he was sure he shouldn't be too surprised.
Of course he was surprised anyway. He recoiled away from it violently and stumbled a bit, his first instinct being the she was coming at him fora bit more than a peck. She moved on to Tahj quickly enough that he realized he'd misjudged the situation, and ended up wiping at his cheek with a frown.
"I'm not mourning. And you said your hip wasn't broken! And if you try running off I'm breaking your legs and dragging you to the conjurers!"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj grinned at K'luha's taunt,"The matron that  runs the orphanage runs faster than you right now!
*
K'luha Haaz: "Pft! With those moping faces, I bet even with both my legs broke I would run faster." She grinned back at both of them, taking a step backwards. K'ile might actually get mad at her for this, but it was indeed a good way to clear the air.Â
"So what do you say? Happy faces or am I running for it?" K'luha taunted, her grin turning devious as she looked them both over.
*
Twinflame: K'ile crossed his arms and walked back over to K'luha. He frowned at her for a moment, and then looked down at K'tahjha, "Hey, did you learn anything from watching K'luha bartar?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj appeared to give the question serious thought then grinned,"Aye, I learned I don't want aunt K'luha mad at me. "
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled and stood up straight, crossing her arms beneath her chest. "Good, you learn quick. But what's that about K'ile? Going to leave me here in Gridania and take Tahj back alone?"
*
Twinflame: "Nah." K'ile waved that off, "I don't want to have to raise the kid. I just want to play with her and teach her fun stuff." Rather without warning, K'ile tossed his arms over K'luha's shoulders and pulled hr over to him. "I was just wondering if she was paying attention. I've got a theory that the kid's smart."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj raised an eyebrow at K'ile with a grin,"I know all my letters and I write really well. But not sure how smart I am."she shrugged.
*
K'luha Haaz: Luha squeaked as she was suddenly pulled to K'ile. What was that now? She blushed a bit and cleared her throat to glance back at Tahj for a moment. "Well, she's already smarter than me. It took forever for me to figure out how to read letters and such."
*
Twinflame: "Letters? I can read letters. Five of them." K'ile said with a chuckle, and nudged K'luha's head with his forehead. "But can she haggle?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj shrugged,"Not yet, because I can't say some of the words Aunt K'luha used."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha blushed again and not because of K'ile weird affection. She wasn't sure if it was affection. Maybe just him being weird. Also because she was pretty sure Tahj didn't know all the cuss words she used.
"Ahem. Well. We shouldn't teach you everything all at once now."
*
Twinflame: K'ile finally smiled, Tahj's cuteness drawing it out of him. "Right," he said, releasing K'luha. He felt like he'd pulled warmth out of her body to suppliment his own, but he really wasn't sure why he'd done that. He did feel a bit less down, though, now that he had. "Anyway, let's get those apples ordered so we can all head home together!"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj perked up and a smile lit her face at the mention of apples,"They're really good this time of year, still kind of tart. Besides we should get this done so Aunt K'luha can sit and rest."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha took a deep breath as K'ile finally released her. Well then. That was... she didn't have a distinct word or emotion for it so she simply let it go. "Right then. So, let me go barter." she smiled at them before limping over to the stall and starting the relatively long process of bartering for a lot of freaking apples.
*
Twinflame: "Yeah, alright, we'll just be over here. Hey, Tahj." K'ile took a few quick steps to one side and picked up a stick, which were in plentiful supply around these streets. Holding it one hand, he began to spin it quickly between his fingers. "Bet nobody ever taught you to do this."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Flinching back suddenly at the sight of the twirling stick, Tahj began to relax as it didn't light.Watching intently she shook her head,"I'm not sure I can."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha proceeded to continue arguing with the stall vendor.
*
Twinflame: "The movements aren't that different than grabbing arrows from a quiver, actually. At least, finger-wise," he said, and raised his hand to eye-level as he continued to spin it, working his digits forward and back as the stick moved. "I mean, it takes practice. But I can do this and I can not nock an arrow, so it'd prolly come easy to you."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj frowned in concentration studying K'ile's fingers before reaching out,"Can I try?"
*
Twinflame: The stick stopped suddenly, falling into a natural and light grip in his hand. He extended it to Tahj, "Sure! There's no wrong way to do it. Your fingers will figure it out if you give it time."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: She simply held the stick lightly for a second trying to feel the weight and balance of it, then moved it out to her fingers to attempt K'ile's maneuver. Concentrating heavily she managed to get the stick almost all the way around once before her fingers got tangled and she dropped it with a frown.
*
K'luha Haaz: It was about this point K'luha screamed something at the stall vendor very loudly and the man gruffly slamned his hand on the table. Â There was dead silence before he gave in and began writing up the order slip.
*
Twinflame: K'ile tossed a smile over in K'luha's direction. If he was surprised, it was only that she let the man live. When he looked back at Tahj, he saw the stick on the ground and said, "So you moved it, right? It takes a lot of dropping to sticks to get one to work with you."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj stared in K'luha's direction for a second with a grin before leaning down to pick up the stick and try again.
*
Twinflame: Retrieving another stick, K'ile held it in front of him and just turned it very slowly, smoothly, without saying anything. He was half-watching K'luha's ears while she yelled at the vendor.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha argued another few minutes with the vendor over the wording of the contract before the man simply gave into every demand she had. If only to get her away from him at this point.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: After picking the stick back up several times Tahj finally got the stick to spin in her fingers, albeit painfully slowly, but moving.
*
Twinflame: "There you go!" K'ile said when he noticed, pausing the spinning of his own stick and giving Tahj a couple of quick claps. "And that's honestly most of what goes into it. No bad or good form or losing or keeping concentration. Just get better at spinning the stick however it works for you. Then just start moving around while you do it and it'll look awesome."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha finally seemed mostly settled with her buisness and with a small basket of apples she limped back to K'ile and offered him an apple from the basket. "What are you teaching her?" Luha questioned, having been too busy arguging to pay much attention.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Keeping one eye on her stick, Tahj reaches slowly and carefully for the bascket to retrieve an apple, looking quite pleased with herself.
*
Twinflame: "Uhm," K'ile said, not really sure what to call this most simple of technique's. He didn't want to say that it was fire-dancing, because he didn't want Tahj to think about the stick being on fire or really anything being on fire and definitely not everything being on fire. So he just pointed and said, "Oh, that. You know!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha raised a brow at K'ile. "That, huh?" But she quickly relent and chuckled, pulling an apple from the basket to push at K'ile's mouth. "Well everything will be in the Forgotten Springs by the time we get there and it will last for about another week fresh after that."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj stopped her stick, taking a large bite of her apple, eyes half closing, savoring the flavor,"Is it time to leave?"
*
Twinflame: K'ile bit into the apple K'luha had thrust at him, tossing his stick over his shoulder and speaking around the fruit, "Hiy himahi eh eou ih ie a ahiaeah?"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha looked to K'ile and reached over to flick his head. "Don't speak with your mouth full. It's rude."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Staring in puzzlement Tahj frowns,"What did you say?"
*
Twinflame: Cracking off a loud bite, he repeated, "Right. Don't we have to find and pay for a carriage, too? Or can Tahj use Aetherytes?
*
K'luha Haaz: "We'll get a carriage." K'luha answered quickly. "But I know where to get one. The only real quest is, do we leave now? Or later?"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "You can rest in the carriage, if we give you a bench to yourself, you can even lie down!" Tahj pleads, seemingly eager to get moving.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Oooh, someone's ready to go. Then are you ready K'ile? Or do we have something else you want to get?"
*
Twinflame: "That was it," K'ile said. "Just needed the feast as soon as possible. I don't really like this forest that much anyway. Smells weird."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Well, then, let's go. I have enough mint leaves for the ride home." K'luha nodded finally and started forward. "Follow me~"
*
K'tahjha Yohko: "Oh, I need to get my bag, it's all packed. Meet you at the gate!"she called over her shoulder as she raced off through the city.
*
Twinflame: K'ile waved to Tahj, "Okay, we'll see you there!" And then ran over and put a hand on K'luha's shoulder. "Hey."
*
K'luha Haaz: "Hey yourself." K'luha retorted, looking back at K'ile while Tahj ran off. "She's certainly energetic. I think she'll come around quickly."
*
Twinflame: "Mm hm." K'ile said, only half hearing K'luha as he turned her around, grabbed her face with one hand and her waist with the other, and pulled her into a sudden but firm kiss that completely claimed both of her lips.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Don't you think-" K'luha was about to continue before K'ile suddenly grabbed her. And she would have asked what that was all about before he... Wat? That was about all K'luha's break could think of.
*
Twinflame: Holding the kiss for almost two seconds, K'ile broke, spun, and smoothly pulled K'luha onto his back. "No walking allowed, remember!" He gave her very little waring before grabbing her ass to lift her and begin to trot off through town.
*
K'luha Haaz: Somehow K'luha had completely lost the strength to fight him at all and simply allowed herself to be carted around. That was... really? Did that seriously happen? She was still in shock from the abrupt action. Somehow she never thought K'ile could do that. Like seriously. What? When did he decide he was going to do that? Did that mean he was going to be the nunh? Or where they just going to break the rules? Both prospects were  kind of exciting however.Â
Still, K'luha was red-faced for awhile and she remained quiet as K'ile carted her over to the gates.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Meanwhile Tahj had retrieved her bag from her bunk and raced to the gates at full speed, arriving slightly out of breath.
*
Twinflame: Showing up a bit after Thaj (because let's face it, the kiss didn't take more than two seconds no matter how you slice it), K'ile greeted Tahj energetically with a, "Hey Tahj!" as soon as he caught sight of her. He was moving it a quick jog, even with K'luha's weight on him, desperate to get to the gate and be around people again before K'luha got it in her head to ask abut what he'd just done.
*
K'luha Haaz: Luckily for K'ile, K'luha wasn't going to ask. She was still processing the whole event and hoping she wasn't just delusional and had imagined it or something. Not to mention she had to pull herself together for Tahj. She quickly cleared her throat and gave a small wave to Tahj as well, forcing the blush on her face to dissappate.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj grinned and waved at the pair as they approached, but suddenly her eyes widened,"OH no! I forgot  Rhiki! Can he come? I can't leave without him." she pleaded.
*
Twinflame: "Uh..." K'ile slowed down as he approached K'tahjha, looking like a startled animal. His mind emptied of thoughts of kisses and asses and began to wonder who this Rhiki person was. Some adopted brother? An orphan minion? If Rhiki was her boyfriend K'ile was going to kick his ass! "What?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "Who is... Rhiki?" K'luha blurted out, a bit confused. "Is he... your chocobo perhaps?" Somehow the name just struck her as the name of a pet of somesort. Did she even have a chocobo?
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj nods and puts her fingers to her lips blowing a piercing whistle; shortly amid the loud rustling of brush a large chocobo approached from the stables. The large bird stopped in front of Tahj and lowered his beak to tap on the top of her head gently.
She grinned and reached up to caress the bird,"How are you old man?" Then turning to the adults she pleaded,"He was mama's and I did odd jobs to feed him. I can't leave him."
*
Twinflame: "Oh!" Yeah, that was far better than some non-Miqo'te man touching his new daughter. "That's fine. We actually have chocobos back in the tribe, so he'll have family, too.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha smiled. She knew it. Somehow the name Rhiki sounded familar. And it sounded like a chocobo's name. She chuckled light and put her head on top of K'ile's again. "Of course. He can walk alongside the carriage and when he gets tired we can see if we can't put him inside it."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: With a smile that lit up her face, Tahj threw her arms around the bird's neck then turning around and hugging both K'ile and K'luha in quick succession. "Thank you! He won't be any trouble, you'll see. Except.." she winced,"I don't have a rope for him."
*
Twinflame: "He comes when he's called, right? Does he really need a rope?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "I'm sure the carriage will have rope on it or we can buy some before we go either way."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: At the mention of the carriage Tahj peered down the road,"Is it coming soon?"
*
K'luha Haaz: "We still have to order one, but there's usually a lot of them at the gate ready for order you know." K'luha smiled, tapping's K'ile's shoulder again. "Down. Come on. I want to limp to the gate myself."
*
Twinflame: "Fine, fine," K'ile said, once again grabbing her tail when he let her down. Little things like that seemed to be coming easier. "But Tahj has to help you limp around so you don't put weight on your hip." Which he knew completely invalidated her request, but whatever.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha glanced back at the touch to her tail, but limped over to Tahj anyway. "Oh fine. You know I can walk around myself but if you'll be quiet about it I'll lean on Tahj."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj smiles at her aunt and slips an arm around the woman's waist to help steady her. Glancing back she clucked her tongue for Rhiki just as he helped himself to an apple from the basket. "Hey!" she fussed, then sighed,"Sorry, he likes apples."
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha chuckled at the Chocobo's antics and gave a little shrug. "No worries. The apples were for everyone and we have more coming to the Forgotten Springs."
*
Twinflame: Not having anything better to do, K'ile followed along, having nothing to say at the moment. He actually, on a whim, did a little K'yohko impersonation and tried to look as distant and uncaring as possible for a few seconds, but he couldn't hold it. Unlike K'yohko, he actually had thoughts and feelings, so he ended up smriking and chuckling at himself.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Continuing to walk slowly out the gates, Tahj carefully tried to match her speed with K'luha's although she had her suspicions that her aunt wasn't leaning on her very heavily. But said nothing.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha was hardly leaning at all and mostly lead Tahj over to the stables where several cart drivers were hanging around. She picked out what seemed the most normal and of a decent size before going to once again barter with the Elezen.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj pulled an arrow out of her quiver and practiced twirling it while watching the negotiations carefully.
*
Twinflame: "Never thought of practicing with arrows," K'ile observed, "THat's smart. They're pretty balanced and smooth, right?" He was sort of just hanging out off to one side and letting K'luha worry about the money. There was no money in the tribe, and gil had no use to him. He had no concept of its scarcity, but he did understand its importance. All he really knew was that it was needed, that K'luha possessed it, and that he did not.
*
K'luha Haaz: After a few minutes of arguging, much less angry arguging for some reason, K'luha handed over a good portion of her gil and motioned for the rest to get into the carriage.Â
"We've got our ride. It'll take about four days according to the carriage driver, but he'll get us to the Forgotten Springs and then we walk. Or rather, we use our chocobos and K'ile will have to hang on to me for dear life or run to keep up with them." Luha smirked, hopping in the carriage herself and taking a seat.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Tahj giggles at the thought of K'ile running through the desert chasing the large bird and vaults easily into the back of the carriage. She wsistles to Rhiki so that he knew he was to follow her.
*
Twinflame: K'ile climbed into the carriage in a quick, subdued motion, already easing into a relaxed frame of mind for the liesurely ride. Or he's just tired from carrying K'luha around all morning. "I could just let you guys go ahead once we get to Forgotten Springs. Or I could catch a ride with the food. That's probabyl more what I'll do. Ride it back into the tribe heroically. K'ile the feast-bringer!"
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha snorted at the idea of K'ile the feast-bringer. "Bringing feasts that I bargained and paid for are we?" she sighed and gave up on the idea of convincing him otherwise. He never got much glory. Sure, he could have it this time around. "I'll probably have to collect K'ailia's things soon after I get home and return them to her." she sighed a bit solemnly. "She'll want them as soon as possible..."
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Glancing sharply at her aunt's change of tone, Tahj sat down and carefully pulled her into a hug. Snuggling her head into K'luha's shoulder she smiled gently.
*
Twinflame: Smirking at Tahj's display of affection, K'ile reclined and put his hands behind his head, "Just make sure you don't miss the feast. You'd hate yourself if you did."
*
K'luha Haaz: "I'll do my best." K'luha shot back with a small smile, petting Tahj's head at her display of affection. "But for now, I think I'll sleep. Do you want the bench to yourself Tahj or are you gonna sit with K'ile?" Luha asked kindly. She didn't mind cramping K'ile's personal space if Tahj wanted to sit by herself.
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Grinning Tahj slipped off the bench, "You can take the bench I'm not sleepy yet." sitting carefully on the back of the carriage with her legs dangling, she talked cheerfully to the trailing bird.
*
K'luha Haaz: "Alright then." K'luha smiled and scooted herself up on the bech so she could lay down comfortable. Or at least as comfortably as one could on an uncomfortable bench. Once she was comfortable she glanced over at K'ile, wondering faintly about that kiss.
*
Twinflame: Reclining and looking rather content, K'ile crossed his legs in front of him. He caught K'luha's gaze and held it, but didn't say anything to her. Did she have something to say to him or what?
*
K'tahjha Yohko: Not paying any attention to the adults behind her, Tahj was biting off bits of apple and holding them out to Rhiki, giggling as he put on bursts of speed to snatch them from her fingers.
*
K'luha Haaz: K'luha didn't say anything either, though the look on her face was clear she wanted to say or do something. But instead she simply closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable again.
*
Twinflame: Well, okay, guess she didn't want to say anything anyway. K'ile shrugged and closed his eyes too, feeling safe and relaxed and finally on his way home.
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