bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

Unfortunately, ignoring Richard hadn't helped like he thought or had hoped for, so now the thing that he had to resort to was, well, giving it up and just sticking with his initial plan, which, by all means, wasn't even exactly usable. Sure, he came up with things for himself and he could just think about it once he was out of Richards field of vision, out of sight, but after that, what even was there, if not painstaking work and the affirmation that nothing sat well with the things that he could actually muster to figure out? Was he supposed to be this pathetic, displaying all of it in front of someone that had seen way worse? Whatever it may be, Yujin wasn't keen on finding out and instead, he listened to what the blonde had to say, word for word. "But you aren't there", he suddenly exclaimed, as if Richards presence was required to keep him calm and reassured of everything, as if that was all he ever cared about and as if, by some divine understanding, there was no need for anything else to transpire. "Who the fuck needs a girlfriend anyway", he suddenly exclaimed, as if that had been the peak of his understanding, as if there was no need to actually care for the person he - supposedly - loved, but there had to be, right? He had to like her, no? Why would he date her if he didn't?

"Mh, if that makes you happy", Yujin grumbled into Richards face. If it did, why should he refuse and if it didn't, why shouldn't he at least give a try for his own sake? Thinking about it made him feel a bit odd, especially now that all of that seemed to culminate in him understanding less and less about the current situation, but ... that didn't matter, did it now? What actually mattered was, that he - of all people - got to do what he liked to and that, in his opinion, was annoying the everloving fuck out of Richard. "But I should, so please stay here and make it more fun for me", he begged, shooting the blonde a glance - why even? What was the purpose of this? Whatever it may be, he figured, it all was enough to make both of them feel like something, especially now that they lay there, together without much of a care in the world. Richard got up, forced him into the blanket and all that Yujin did was listen and then grab Richards hands, as if that was going to help him one way or the other. "I am comfortable, but won't you stay with me? Pretty please?", he said, now that he cupped the blondes hands and held them close. Then, he - yet again - smiled at him. "I'll give you a kiss as a reward." What the fuck did he even say? Wasn't he supposed to talk about his nightmare?

Yujin should at least know that he himself was no little kid that needed constant supervision and Richard wasn't some sort of adult that only existed for his own stupid ideas, to entertain those, in fact, the other wolf was even younger than him and he was supposed to somehow act as some sort of mentor figure to him, though, right now, he made nothing more than a fool out of himself, didn't he? This was going all sorts of great. "Sure, whatever you say", he answered, knowing fully well that he was the one that saw beyond that, that somehow understood that none of that actually was related to Richards sickness and he thought that he understood that, well, Richard, of all people, was the one that was just trying to hard to come off as a though guy, when in reality, he wasn't much more than some teen that yet had to understand that not everything in this bleak and shitty place was as stupid as it seemed to be - Yujin didn't want to bring that up, though. "Never said I would, it's just funnier to spend time with friends than with someone you know already", the wolf grumbled, now hiding behind the blanket that had been forced onto him and that he was pulling up, all the way to his nose, to hide his shiteating grin.

"But maybe I would like some before I sleep", Yujin answered, already willing to puff his cheeks and actually admit to being nothing more than the buffoon that he was and that he hated being alone, especially in a place that he barely knew or understood to begin with. So, what he was left with was, well, the option to cling to Richard, who probably should dry off himself and get the choice of some free time, but alas, he wasn't willing to give him that. "I can help you with that!", he beamed, sitting up himself and suddenly feeling all dizzy because, once more, he wasn't taking the time that his own body needed into account and he, quite frankly, also wasn't thinking too much about it when it came time to actually think about things. Yujin probably looked like a ghost, one that was about to keel over, at least for a second, before he shot Richard a toothy grin that soon turned into disappointment when Richards hands were janked from him. "I just wanted to be nice", he grumbled, once more upset like a toddler that had been denied sweets and averting his gaze. Was he actually pouting right now? Probably. "I don't have much else to give you and you're being nice, so I just thought you might want something in return", Yujin explained, as he put his hands onto his own lap and sad there, looking somewhat distraught.

Was this something he was supposed to chuckle about or was crying and thrashing around a more suitable solution to his own dilemma? Whatever it may be, Yujin wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to act like some sort of little spoiled kid more than he already had - not now, when he sat up and not now, when he thought he'd figured it all out. Sure, some of these things were purely hypothetical and sure, he was just trying to make things make sense at his own pace, but, in the end, the truth was that he barely knew much about any of Richards inner workings and right now, he probably was getting a tad bit too close and too personal. "I mean, not necessarily, but I like being around you, so I thought that maybe uh, that would be a suitable offer?" Besides, who wouldn't want to kiss someone like him? Well, Richard, because he gave no damn about who he met or how he theoretically should treat them, simply because he had eclipsed all of them anyway and the truth was, that eventually, he'd probably want to get back on that stolen throne of his, just to make sure that the world was working in the order it should and there was no weird guy that he didn't even knew on the throne that he, seemingly, desperately sought after.

"It's reaaaal easy. You just tell me something and eventually, I'll just fall asleep?" Was that even a good explanation for anything? Richard had been the one that had wanted him to go on and on about things, then went to sleep and Yujin didn't do anything else but enjoy the fact that the scowly, unruly wolf-sheep-thing in his arms had, at last, reached slumberland. Right about now, however, said person was pressing him back against the mattress and Yujin found it increasingly hard to keep focused, to keep his eyes peeled and not keel over. In fact, this was just what Richard wanted, no? Him, sleeping soundly, so that he could do something else - maybe he could fool him? Who knew, who cared, all of his motivations made no damn sense anyway. "You just want me to shut up and sleep? Nothing else?" Wasn't he supposed to at least pay the blonde beauty a hefty amount of something? Fuck, shit, why was he calling Richard that, even though it was only in his head? Yujin did have a girlfriend, one that he actually loved and the last time he thought about it, he found men handsome and not beautiful, but none of them were handsome enough to mess with his head like that. "Uh, just lay down here?", he said, patting the bed next to him. "And tell me something? Anything, I'll listen. I'm not a duckling, I should add - since when is that a suitable description for a wolf anyway?"

Yujin found himself fast asleep and all of what Richard had to say sounded like it was drowned out by the oceans waves, which, despite being close by, weren't doing him much of a service. He hadn't heard them in a while, they hadn't crept up on him like in his castle, they weren't omnipresent out here, in a hut made out of wood and for that, the wolf was somewhat thankful. Sure, the bed eventually shifted and he found himself and his arms hugging empty air, holding onto a different blanket - something that wasn't Richard and that never would be, but like this, it was fine - and the nagging feeling of hunger, of emptiness, of the want and need for something, well, it dissipated in his sleep, as if something swallowed it up, from deep down below. All the noise that surrounded him seemed superficial, like it was passing by, not staying in place like it should be and as if all that he had accounted for was slowly fading in ... well, where exactly? Yujin had no idea, but even moreso, he didn't care, even when he found himself in a half-awake state at some point, creeped out by the fact that something was coming for him, that his nightmares wouldn't stop just because and therefore, he was stuck with them until hell froze over - until Silesse became one with it. That was all there was to it, that was it, that would always be it.

And while some wolf was taking away Richards bed, another seemingly found his way home after not being there for a significant amount of time - at least the rattling at the door seemed to signify as much. Surely, Nayantai could have come home earlier, didn't have to leave, but right about now was a good time to drag himself back home from the hunt and he had, whyever, brought a bunch of stuff with him - at least, well, eating duck was better than actually having to sustain themselves on bear meat, now that he had traded and sold most of it anyway, wasn't it? Albeit his best efforts, he probably still looked like he'd just fought an uphill battle - even Nayantai was out of shape, to some degree at least and he was, quite frankly, letting his age get to him as well. However, now that he saw Richard stand there, in the kitchen, he shook his head. "Good morning, how are you feeling?", he asked as he closed the door behind him, soon setting the two linen bundles that he'd brought aside on their table. They'd eventually soak up the remaining blood from the meat in there, so he'd better get to working with it, but ... that had time, didn't it? "Why are you even out here?", Nayantai asked, as he started taking off his jacket, hanging it by the door. "Let me guess, he's still asleep?" Had he been this complicated too, back then, when he was teen? Actually, he understood Richard to some degree and yet, it felt as if they were miles apart.

Nayantai now stood there and he wished that he didn't - he wished for a lot of things, none of which ever happened and while he knew that Rain wouldn't want him to be nothing but bones below the earths surface, he sometimes wished that fate had done whatever it had deemed necessary all those years back. Surely, one wouldn't give up his family or his faith in anyone just because of a few mishaps, but if anything, the wolf found it hard to stay who he was, hard to pretend that everything was fine and that nothing could shake his core, because all in all, he was worn out and tired of death following his every step. "That's good to hear, you don't look ghastly pale anymore", he responded as he shot his son a glance, on of few, one that didn't even do anything for him, as he wanted nothing more than some sort of reassurance he normally wouldn't be able to get like this. However, whatever came next was something that he didn't expect, but it had to come from someone at some point anyway, didn't it? Nayantai scratched the back of his head and then, as he sighed, realized that Richard didn't need to know. "Who are you? Rikiya?", he blurted out, of course jokingly, before shaking his head. "I did some trading, that's why I brought poultry and we're rid of the bear meat. That was pretty much it, but it took a while because trading for anything in Silesse is a pain", he explained.

Not that he'd gone far, but it was quite the distance and he'd went beyond Silesse, to the small place that Muhan was originally from - or what remained of that anyway. Things in Thria changed, for better or worse and Nayantai who was, quite frankly, used to what Adrestia had to offer just wondered about too many things at once, especially when he found himself enthralled by all the wrong stuff. "He has a name, you know? Weren't you the one that insisted on that the last time?" Was he really chastising his own son about something this stupid right about now? Sure he was, not only because he could but also because that was, by far, one of the only logical retaliations he could make, especially when Richard tried to make him follow suit - he was a kid, nothing more. "I'll look at him when he decides to get back up. If it's bad, I'll bring him home and let his parents handle it, if not, I guess I can cook up a remedy or two." What couldn't he do by now? He'd lived long enough to see it all and long enough to force himself to learn a plethora of things, all of which culminated in him not understanding that he, theoretically, should slow down and that his body was getting old, while his intoxicated mind seemingly stayed young. What his son was saying, however, confused him and as he looked up, right into his eyes, he found that actually, he was being serious and not making some sort of misplaced joke. "Money? Thria doesn't have money, at least not theoretically. If I view it from an adrestian standpoint, we are well off with what we have. And no, money isn't how all of this works - you trade goods for goods, as simple as that. Do you want a more in-depth explanation?" If not, he really could use the time to fix himself a bath.

"You got me there", he almost begrudgingly admitted. Richard was tired, they both were, but of completely different things. Back then, no matter how long he found himself standing on both of his legs, he had never even thought about sitting down, about having to clean up or about the fact that bringing home one thing entailed doing ten other things - he had never really needed to, despite always claiming that he had been mature for his age, he definitely wasn't. If he thought about it, he had found his father yelling at him more often than not and whenever he didn't want to do something, he'd hide in the most ridiculous places without a plan, or spend his day in some forlorn fields, watching the grass grow and the seagulls cry up ahead. "Trust me, he'd ask me that every time I came home, no matter how long I was gone or how shitty I looked when I did, but you don't need to - I'm coming back home, whatever you want me to or not." That was all there was to it, wasn't it? Now that Richard actually talked about it, there was one odd instance that he was never quite able to get out of his head. How'd go? He had been gone for days, passed out during a battle when he got struck down and once he forced his own mangled, but still living, not-quite corpse home, the first thing he'd been asked was 'where were you?', nothing more. "Silessians trade for adrestian goods, mostly. I had to go a bit further."

Beyond the icy walls of that castle, until it was only a glint on the horizon and he himself wondered if he was ever supposed to see a monument like that, glitter in all those various ways. The way it stood there seemed almost alien, but then it reminded Nayantai of the fact that once upon a time, not everything in Silesse had been made out of wood or stone and ... back then, he'd been a kid, now he was old and that meant that time would go on, with or without him. "That's Muhans and Shurens son, alright", he replied with a short sigh, before he kept his gaze fixated on his own - there was no way out of this, now that they'd locked eyes and if Richard wanted to look away, he'd be allowed to, simply because Nayantai was tired of running away and pretending. "If I'm not home, I don't mind - just put everything back where you found it if he or you do go in there. Anything else doesn't matter." A fleeting chapter in his life and yet, now that he stood there and accepted the warmth that the crackling fire was willing to offer him, he felt stupid for even considering that right about now, he was the one that found himself back in his home, beyond the borders fo Adrestia. "Well off, fine, whatever - as long as we have something to trade for, it doesn't matter. And you aren't wrong about that, but the thing is, what's it going to get you if you have a bunch of people that can hunt but not find a single prey? All your skills suddenly become useless", the old wolf elaborated, then listened on - people traded things for things, that's how he knew it anyway. "Depends. They either find themselves someone on the Stenz side that is insane enough to trade goods of questionable quality for goods or they just hire one of their own that left years ago. I should add that neither me or you will probably have direct contact with anyone on the other side of the sea. As for the castle? Muhan? His hand in marriage. Shuren? His human decency and some lives. Any more questions?"

Richard did, in fact, an excellent job at making his own father feel like their roles were switched - and all Nayantai could do was furrow his brows and look at him, wondering what had gotten into him, even though the answer was something painfully clear, something neither of them would admit to. "I've tried that one too many times in my youth, trust me, I'm not dying", he cursed under his breath. Up until now, no matter how tired or shitty he'd felt, no matter how horrible his body had looked, he'd always dragged this mangled piece of shit somewhere and then regretted not actually giving up or just seeing eye to eye with the fact that he, of all people, had no longer any guarantee to be alive from here on out. "I went out while you two were asleep and I always came back so far", Nayantai grumbled, not willing to hear any of this discussion. Sure, Richard was right to some degree, but the worst they had to do so far was get up and waddle to the pot to get something to eat - a menial task, that somehow worked without him around, didn't it? "I'm not taking you anywhere when you're sick and that'd defy even more logic. If he's gone and you're well, I will drag you along, but there's no need to actually force yourself to do that right about now." Fucking hell, did he sound like that when he'd been Richards age too? Probably.

"I never said I'm going anywhere - that's just hypothetical." Why was this even a discussion they were having? What the fuck was this even? Nayantai was the one that felt like he was played like some sort of fiddle, as if Richard was just allowing himself to joke around like that, but something told him that it wasn't exactly that. "I'll take a look at him when he gets up - if he's fit enough to be lunged around, I'll get rid of him if that's what you want." Bringing Yujin home or at least getting someone to pick him up couldn't exactly be a hard task, but who knew? Nayantai himself knew that he was pretty exhausted and that the world out there, the one he didn't even need to be part of to not understand it. "First, you should at least have confidence in some of your abilities. Secondly, I grew up around here and thirdly, there's always other ways to find your way around here. I wouldn't say we're fucked because you can't find an animal once." Silesse was cold and empty, that much was clear, but whatever found its way here wasn't going to come back out alive, so that meant, for the lack of a better reason, whatever got in here would be bound to play with what had been in here before, wasn't it like that? "Ask a merchant or someone with elaborate ties to trade you something for adrestian things. And don't sweat it, you'll kick my ass eventually." However, would that mean he got old or that Richard got stronger? Whatever it'd be, Nayantai just sighed for a second, then glanced at his son - what did he even want to do? Get his revenge? What else? "I don't know and I don't want to ask. Thria runs on a different vein than Adrestia, if someone needs something, you usually help, no questions asked - and everyone pulls on the same string to get things done, but at this point, I'd rather not ask, but keep in mind that nothing in life is for free." Shuren wasn't killing people for a castle made of ice, right?

"I wasn't good at doing anything when I was your age anyway. I was a fucking brat", Nayantai spoke through gritted teeth, looking at Richard with, well, the only eye he had and judging by the expression he was making, not only was he disappointed, but Richard wasn't wrong either way. However, that didn't mean that he'd just be out here, on his own, left to starve to death without his father. Some things could never be changed, they wouldn't ever change and Nayantai knew that, knew as much and he was almost certain that his son would, at some point, realize that too, even if most of the things that he experiences right about now weren't a good foundation for that. Trauma never was. "And he'd get sick himself because he'd never let me do it - he was stubborn and no wasn't something he'd want to hear, not even from me, which is why I just never said no", the old wolf grumbled. Rain was a sore topic, for both of them, but he was dead now and any attempt at blaming someone for getting him sick one last time wouldn't lead them anywhere, Instead, Nayantai just stood there, crossing his arms in front of his chest and casting his gaze to the side. "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere." Simple questions didn't need long and elaborate answers and as much as he felt like he'd been hit by a whiplash, there had been worse - way worse.

"Oh is he?", he suddenly asked, looking at Richard inspecting the things he'd brought. What was he going to do with slices of poultry? Who knew, but he bundled them up right after. "Look, I don't have anything against doing you a favor, but if you want him gone, kick him out yourself." As simple as that - Richard was acting like he owned the house and the right to speak like he was his father, so he should at least behave accordingly, no? In the end, all of this could calm down, culminate in nothing more than it had been before and there was no explosive powder keg anywhere, not this time. "Correct. And that means you'll have to figure out where to hunt for what and when to expect it." Those were the basics of hunting, at least some of them and Nayantai wouldn't be unwilling to at least share some of his knowledge with the only kin he had left, at least on this side of the family - he still had Khojin, but he hadn't seen his sister in ages, either. "Not mine, find your own friends. Anyone can get you anything if you're nice enough." Silesse wasn't the only place in Thria that ran like that and while Shuren was the one that had extended his hands toward him and Richard, had offered more than anyone else was willing to give, Nayantai hadn't taken all of it, didn't want to seem greedy and he definitely didn't want to live in that damn palace that seemed more of a nuisance than actually useful. "You said it yourself though, I am old, I can't always stick up for you", he sighed and finally found his own boiling blood to be calming down. "If you really don't want friends, trust your old man - just play pretend."

"If you think so", the older wolf replied. Nayantai had no interest in making this about himself or even giving Richard what he wanted - all that he was aiming for was pissing his own father off and then what? Probably get punched, then blame him some more, but Nayantai wouldn't raise his hand against his own son and he wouldn't let himself be angered by something that was as stupid as this. What was Richard even standing to gain from that? "If I wouldn't care you wouldn't be where you are", he spoke. That, to some degree, was true - because if Nayantai didn't care, Richard would be rotting beneath the earth right now. Was he like this all the time, too? If he thought a bit too hard about it, his son hadn't been like this, but the question 'why' he became who he was had an easy answer. Trauma, that was all - it fucked all of them over eventually, not just him, his own son too and there were plenty of people that had to suffer the same fate. Bullshit, wasn't it? "Look, think of me what you will, it doesn't matter - but don't expect to gain anything from hatred specifically. It only festers, nothing more." Caelan had taught him that, but at first, he didn't want to listen anyway, just because he had been entitled and thought he knew what was right, but he always thought that, didn't he?

"I said kick out, not walk him home. This isn't Adrestia", Nayantai elaborated. Every man for himself and yet, they couldn't do anything without one another, wasn't it that? That also meant that they had nothing more than themselves and then again, literally anyone was going to extend their hand towards them and then, all of them would pull them away. "That's what you think right now." Being an asshole never got anyone far, it had - thankfully - not gotten him killed, but it had gotten him whipped, had gotten his hand ruined and being overly confident and, at the same time, only concerned about one thing had robbed him of his eye. This was going to amount to nothing, there wasn't even going to be something worthwhile to gain from this, but right about now, he wasn't going to leave - not like that. "Fine, then no problem with solve itself, because that's not how that works. I won't be around forever to give you a hand or do you a favor." The war hadn't ended because the wolves ignored it and he hadn't gotten all the way back to Silesse, just because he'd ignored what had happened that night. Nayantai felt exhausted from this alone - and he wanted nothing more than to bash his own head in. Parenting had not been his thing, at least not like that and Dayan hadn't been much different Richard, at least if he wanted something, but he still was more aloof. "Do you want him gone right now?", Nayantai suddenly asked. "I'll bring him home if that gets you to stop looking like you're going to pluck my head from my shoulders if I say one more thing."