NEVEN

Well, sleeping is out of the question.

Thankful for Kemal's habit of sleeping through several explosions, Neven shut his eyes and hoped for the same sort of luck his Oathbound had. One flurry with no worries, and Father's pun made him smile everytime when he spoke it out during a wave of the blizzard's might crashing against the cradle of Irimount. Dawn inched its way across the starry heavens; a heart-pounding experience in his thunderous chest at the wondrous sight — turned arrhythmic with concern at Yuven's late-night, fear-driven mischief. He set his crescent blade and weapon rack somewhere tucked to prevent any further mishaps when it came to children.

Yuven has enough problems as it is. Both children needed sleep, and when Neven went to check on Fenrer, the little Hanekan hadn't been sleeping either after the wake-up call. Fenrer pressed his pillow over his head with a quiet whimper, muttering in Hanekan with words Neven failed to grasp.

Fiery hues shed its flares across the expanse, and Neven took his opportunity to peek into Yuven's room. Magelights floated in the dark, webbed corners, and he drew them away for the sun to have its time. Deeper still, he wandered into the room to sit on the edge of Yuven's bed, where the young Avaerilian remained in the comforting embrace of sleep. His magick... I need to understand it. How he can bend reality so. He pinched his chin then left Yuven to his rest, departing from the shadows and nearest the stairs for yet another check-in of Fenrer. He sat in front of the statuette of Ojain, on his knees as he stared blankly up into its empty expression.

"Fenrer." Neven tapped on the frame of the door to make his presence known, not that Fenrer needed it. "You should go back to sleep."

"Is Yuven sleeping?"

"He is." Neven headed to his side to take a seat beside him. "You should be, too."

Fenrer lowered his head to stare at his own lap, then mumbled, "His colours spread far. He's scared... I can help." Neven frowned when his small hand wrapped around his arm. "Let me help, I want to help. I can make him feel better."

"You need to focus on yourself. I can handle Yuven, isn't that what you wanted? Isn't that what you asked of me?" Neven raised his hand, then placed it on top of Fenrer's head. Uncertainty struck his heart when Fenrer tensed up with a lip quiver. "You wanted me to help him like I helped you." He ruffled his hair as Kemal had done with his own family so long ago, in the harbor when he flew across the mountain range and saw the sun for the first time. Trees. Thick bark. Expansive canopies. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything." Onto his feet, he stopped when Fenrer followed him.

"Don't you need sleep?" Fenrer gave him an owlish blink. "Your colors are strained too."

"I'm awake... and dawn is on the horizon."

Fenrer sank deeper into his shoulders. "The dawn must always come."

"Yes, and I must be there to welcome it." Neven tasted the edge of defeat when a couple of tears rolled down Fenrer's face past the expression of cold stone not meant for a child's face. "I'll... make breakfast soon."

There's no abyss dark enough that I will not dive into to... make you two happy again, so you can have that shred of innocence back... even if I must bleed. Neven unfurled his fist when he reached the main landing and sent his magick into the fireplace to bring it to a low bristle of embers. The runes responded with a white flutter of winter, and last night's charcoal burst to life once more. Warmth spread through the house, and it threatened to lull him back into an unnecessary slumber. I need to get a better handle on myself. Fenrer doesn't need to be worrying about me. Neven headed to the cabinets to take out the pots and latched them into the stove. He prepared Yuven's medication, the exact dose Yuo listed in the notebook. His reaction to dinner was... ambivalent at worst. I'm not a cook... Yusari's laughter when he burnt jerky over a campfire sent the wave of longing through his heart instead, but he tasted poundcakes and the chill of Irimount. I will send another letter to Mother... see what she thinks. He squeezed a cerulean droplet within and stirred while the water simmered. I just need to get through this first week without any hiccups... can't be that hard.

A chill swept down his spine from a creak in the stairway, but when he turned, there was no one in sight. Neven drew back to the second boiler when it hissed and he stooped the leaves for a little longer, crushing the mixture out before pouring it into a free cup to down it and start his day with a bit of pep. We have to believe that in small ways, days will become better. Neven flopped onto the couch to stare into the flames. Bright with newfound hope and energy.

Heavy footfalls alerted him to Kemal's arrival. "You're up surprisingly early."

"So are you," Neven said as he took a sip of his drink and Kemal headed into the kitchen to pour himself a cup.

"I'm going to take Fenrer to his Auric lessons, do you need anything while I'm up there?"

"Can you put your crescent blade up where those two can't reach it?"

Kemal the Questioner, didn't question it. "I can do that. Anything else?"

"We're set for the week on supplies."

Both Yuven and Fenrer joined them downstairs, waddling with weariness and closed off yawns. A better day, Neven repeated the mantra when Yuven gave him an expression of harsh, unforgiving distrust when the two sat at the table for breakfast. Neven handed him a phial, glittering with the night sky. "Take this first before you eat." I must be patient.

"What is it?" Yuven demanded.

Absolutely patient. Neven took in a breath and pushed a smile on his face. "It's medication that will help you." He readied his own plate after setting up Yuven's, who glared at Fenrer when he chose his own helpings before eyeing the phial to uncork it. He sniffed at the edge, then squinted underneath it before turning his glare to him.

"How will this help me?"

"It will... I'm not exactly sure," Neven admitted. "You can ask Yuo next time he comes to check on you."

Yuven brought the phial up to his lips with a scowl. He held it there for a while, but drew back when Neven tried to tap the end to encourage him to take it. Eyes squeezed shut, he took a small sip. Neven tapped the bottom again. "You need to drink all of it."

Yuven stuck out his tongue and held the barely touched medication out to him. "It tastes like compost. I don't want it."

Patience is key. "Well, medicine isn't supposed to taste good, that's not what it's there for," Neven explained, and Yuven bared his fangs. "It'll help though, I promise. Try not to think about it."

"It tastes like compost." Yuven tried to push the cold phial back into his hands.

"I am aware, but it will help."

"Compost won't help me. I am not a plant!" Yuven huffed.

"I never said you were a plant, and taste has nothing to do with it." Neven kept the smile up on his face though frustration dug its fangs into the back of his throat. Better days. "You have to take it before breakfast and dinner."

"My meals already taste bad." Yuven bounced in his chair with a pout. "Now it's going to taste like stale compost."

"Yuo assured me it would not do that. He said it would smother the rust in the back of your throat so you can taste things."

"I'm the one eating it! I know what I'm tasting!" Neven flinched when Yuven pushed the phial into his cheek. "You drink it instead!"

"I can't. It's not for me, it has a specified dose catered to you."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to drink compost either!"

Kemal cleared his throat, and Neven eyed his Oathbound while he ate a piece of jerky. Neven scowled at the empty expression, then turned to Yuven and clasped his hands together. "How about if you drink all of it, I will have Kemal bring down a high-shelf book for you to study?" Compromises unending, and he shifted on his feet when Yuven narrowed his eyes, before dousing it without another word and tossing the phial onto the table. Neven lunged forward to grab it before it clattered onto Fenrer's plate, who slowly ate in confusion.

Yuven ate breakfast without further complaints. Frustration ebbed down his throat until it disappeared completely.

"Come on, Fenrer," Kemal said with another knowing cough after he finished his breakfast. "We both need to get cleaned up before I take you to your Auric lessons."

"Okay!"

Stupefied at Kemal's continuous ease with children, Neven faced Yuven to take the plunge with more certainty with Yuven staring at him with intensity, food abandoned while his down fluffed out at his movement and he found his words when the two departed. "You should finish your breakfast as well."

"Do I have to?"

"It's part of Yuo's diet plan."

Yuven's fangs slipped past his lips and he pointed at Fenrer's empty plate. "I want what he had."

"I know you do." Neven rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's just not an easy task to prepare that type of meal with you in mind."

"It's because of the monster inside me, isn't it?" Yuven demanded and slapped the table with his hand. "You're my enemy! I don't have to eat what you give me! You didn't want to do this!" He shoved his plate away and stood on his chair to face him head-on with a sense of power. A large shadow for one so small. "I'm not hungry anymore and neither are the shadows." He released an irritated squeak, and Neven stifled the frustrated hiss growing past his vocal chords when Yuven stomped his foot.

"You have to try and finish it," Neven pleaded against the deep-seated growl of his ancestors. "You have to get all of it into you for nutrition."

Yuven glared at him, then sat back down to finish it. As Neven piled on the plates to put them in the sink, he grabbed Yuven before he could jump off the chair and flee into the walls, nothing more than a ghost. "We're still going on that walk." He turned to the door, heading for it to get them both out of the house, though suspicion cracked his ribs when Yuven followed him without complaint once more — it deepened when Yuven grabbed onto his forearm. What is he planning?

Neven edged for the door, but sudden weight countered his attempt. Yuven had grabbed his forearm with both hands and dug his heels into the floor when he sat down. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to go on a walk." Yuven slumped and added more counteracting weight. Neven fought to reach freedom, holding up Yuven to prevent him from smacking into the floorboards.

You will bleed for your efforts, Neven Lotayrin, Commander Faehariel's warning rang out in his mind when Yuven pouted and fought with continuous endurance. You will be all that stands between them and the crimson abyss. He drove his fangs into his lips and turned to Yuven for another endless compromise and what her warning meant. "This will be good for you."

"No," Yuven drawled.

"I'm not going to go somewhere like the park or harbor." Yuven turned his head away, and Neven took his chance to straighten himself out. "I'm taking you to the beachfront."

His head perked up with his gray down in an instant. "Water?" He let go of his forearm, and Neven stumbled from his held momentum. He crawled off the floor and came closer to him. "Are you going to teach me magick and glyphs?"

"No? We're just going for a walk."

Yuven flopped onto the floor with an exasperated huff. "It's pointless. It's a waste of time. I don't want to go. I'm not a time-waster like you are."

Neven readied for another wave of frustration, but he considered Yuven's words and rubbed his own cheek to process the newfound information. "What you're saying is you'll go if I teach you magick? Because... I suppose I can if you are willing to listen to me."

Yuven rolled over with a grimace. "I'm tired." Neven gasped when Yuven leaped into his spatial distortion to latch onto his back. He fought to balance himself while the young Avaerilian used him as nothing more than a mule. "Teach me magick and this won't be a waste of time for either of us."

"You're a little too smart for your own good, Yuven." Neven adjusted his grip on the child to prevent him from falling.

"Are you going to get me high-shelf books?"

Neven left the house with his fought victory and headed for the path which led to the beachfront close to the house. "I did, but what would you have of me? What can I teach you?"

"What can you do?"

"What do you mean?"

Yuven pointed at the water they followed along. "You can do magick and glyphs, can't you?" Judgement swept through the soft violets. "Teach me."

Neven held out his hand when the waves came into view. Glyphs spread from his palm and lit up the flow unseen. Yuven reached forward with his own hand to investigate. Waves bubbled against the sand and the force of power dug deeper into his palm. "I was told you have trouble controlling your magick."

Yuven retracted his hand. "It hurts when I try too hard."

"Well... that's your problem then. Shall I show you something?"

Yuven slid off his back, and Neven headed onto the sandbar. Onto the waves, he breathed deep of the pulsating world. Ice lined his boots without disruption of the balance. With minimal ice, he twisted on his heel to move with the waves, and kept an eye on Yuven, who studied his feet.

"How did you do that?" Yuven demanded.

Neven skated to Yuven with another wave. "Let's finish this walk, and I'll reveal the secret."

"There's water here." Yuven pointed. "You can show me right now."

"I know, but the ocean is a bit too much of a foundation," Neven said with a smile. "We'll use the creek for a start."

Yuven pouted, though said nothing in lieu of complaints while Neven kept them on the trail. Underneath the shadows of the alabaster citadel, he enjoyed the peace and quiet where no crowds bustled about. Only the hum of the ocean filled the air. "What do you like to read?" Neven broke the silence. "It'd help if I knew the specifics of what you're looking to study."

"Advanced Glyphic Theory. Magick Branches and their applications," Yuven said without the demands of a child. "I want to know how it all works."

"Okay."

"And don't get me storybooks." Yuven huffed. "Those are lies and pointless to read."

I guess he doesn't understand the point of storybooks. "Alright."

"I want tomes from the highest shelves, the ones on the lower stacks are too easy." Yuven leaned forward. "Can you read high-shelf books?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can you read them, I mean what I mean."

"I can."

"I can read the Common ones."

Neven raised a hand to stop Yuven from going ahead of him. "Yet you can't speak Common well, yes?"

Yuven tilted his head with a confused sound. "Why would I need to do that except talk to Wolf Boy?"

"It'd be easier for you two to communicate if you found a common language," he said with a grin at his own pun. "Besides, Yuven, not everyone can sing the song of Navei."

"You can." Yuven nodded as if that settled the debate. "You can translate for me."

"But—"

"Common is too hard and I have better things to learn," Yuven interrupted. "It doesn't add up right when I try to word things. I want to learn magick, not Common. Just teach Fenrer Navei. Problem solved."

"I am doing as such but it would still be helpful for you to learn Common."

"Fenrer understands me fine without having to speak Common," Yuven pointed out with another small stomp. "Don't underestimate Wolf Boy."

"I'm not." Neven raised his other hand. "I won't fight with you, though. I'll teach you some magick." And Common, but it seems I won't be able to do that until you fully trust me, which you don't. I can see it in your eyes. You still think of me as the enemy. His words appeared to satisfy the young Avaerilian from the way Yuven held his silence for the walk. Though Yuven slid across damp puddles with ice flashing across his path. On their return to the house, Yuven shimmered into his spatial distortion and flashed out of existence.

Neven shut the front door with a sigh. "So much for talking..." He slumped into the couch. Twitches of exhaustion dug deep underneath his skin. Just small things, leading to better days...