bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

"I know you can wipe the floor with me, but I still don't have proof if your dad is really as strong as you always claim! I'd like to see that, then! ... Just not on myself, I think it would take exactly one hit and I'd be done for." Nayantai could kill him, fold him into two parts and he couldn't even do anything against it, but Yujin still took it lightly - he didn't need to make an enemy of somebody like Nayantai and he very much buried his thoughts in his cup that he drank from - he wanted to think about all of this for a second, even when he already knew he was not useful for the blonde in any way. Maybe he should train, just for a while, to get a feeling for what he needed to know. It wouldn't hurt, either, and it would keep him occupied, especially on those days that he couldn't spend with Richard and he didn't want to get rid of the last smidge of brain that he had by visiting the den. It was almost kind of like him, dooming himself, every single time he decided to sit in there and just waste away. "I know, but ... it's still kind of empty, right? And you never want anything or want to do anything unless I force you to, so take a blanket, will you now!" Yujin wanted Richard to stay warm and he wanted both him and his father to keep getting along, even when he wasn't physically present - that wasn't too much to ask for, was it? After all, he only wanted the best for anyone around him, he always did. "And yet they keep you warm. I doubt you are too cold in your regular clothes, but you should wear something that's appropriate for the season, especially since it's relatively warm compared to winter." That it was, and if nobody took care of themselves, they very much would and could freeze to death overnight - that wasn't anything to be mighty proud of, so Nayantai would much rather have it that his son wore something that could keep him warm. And he could still take off some layers if there were too many, but alas, now he was the one drinking his cup in one go, again. Why waste his time anyway? The gesture was still nice. "It's quite hot if you're not used to the temperatures, but Dayan really tended to overreact. A lot. He did like attention, though, he both know that." And he liked getting out of things he seriously didn't want to do, which were few and far between - and he often times was the one, that just crashlanded himself in a bunch of waves and enjoyed the summer sun, all the while his old man was very much conjuring the next heatstroke.

"That's fine, you were really small after all. He just looked so surprised, and well, the pond wasn't even that big, I'm pretty sure my hair reached from one end to the other. Rain sometimes said I looked like a sea monster, but you two weren't really afraid of that either." That they weren't, but he still knew other ways to just scare them unintentionally - especially when they were trying something stupid, but they still learned from hurting themselves, so there weren't many ways to actually screw up, either. "Why?", Yujin asked, but he already seemed at a loss. "I can't ... remember? I'm sure I already told father I don't want to, but it's something about politics and keeping me safe, and every single time he seems to be sure I can't remember, he just sweeps it under the rug.", Yujin scoffed, he was sure he had told his father often enough that he didn't care for Yin, or any of the girls he had picked ... before. Were there girls before that? "And I don't know, I was obligated to do it, but I wasn't exactly content with the choice either way. It was either just a ploy to bring our tribes back together or to keep me out of killing myself in the war. Either way, it wasn't my proudest moment." Was he secretly relieved that Tei had died? He doubted it, but there were many things - like Yujin not being sure about his own decisions - that seemed to interest the old wolf way more than his own, age old telltale signs of having hated fate. "I doubt there's anyone that's stupid enough to say no to him.", Yujin scuffed and maybe he was even right - there were barely any people that knew of the existence of the word no when it came to Shuren, and Shuren himself didn't like to be defied, declared an idiot, or literally anything that wasn't quite to his liking. What a bothersome man he was.

"No, but my brothers died. One because I was a lenient idiot, and the other because he rode right into his own doom. The last thing he did was declare, that he's going to beat me in a fight when he comes back home, and then I never saw him again. In hindsight, your late uncle was much like your brother." They shared a name, even, and Nayantai was sure ofthe many similarities he saw, and of the fact that his name had fit his son quite well - but the dead weren't coming back, not in a million years and he had to cope with that as well. "It's just between the three of us, and if you say Yujin will forget anyway, I don't think anyone will mind. And if you already told him, there's no harm done." "They did sound pretty much smitten with each other, from what Richard told me!" But Yujin didn't know their whole story, he didn't want to prod on that topic either, though, in fear of hitting another sore topic and ruining the mood in the hut, which meant that he had to come up with something else entirely. "Probably did. Not everyone was happy that I was with Rain either, trust me, but ... Adrestians partially have a more civilized way of punishing someone, and not beating the everloving hell out of them. Then again, Caelan could have defended himself - Khojin could have taken that - but he didn't. It's not like I don't feel guilty for doing what I did, either, but a lot of time the consesus is just, that we were trying to defend ourselves from wrong accusations, and while that isn't entirely wrong, you aren't wrong either. No one was a saint in that war." And no one would declare themselves as such, that made no sense and even if the former king - the one that reigned before Rain - saw himself within his right to figure all of this out for himself, to declare Thria his and the wolves alongside them, nobody else was as fucked up as he was. The thought alone was enough to almost make Nayantai gag, but this wasn't the time for that and definitely not for any stories like that. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask me, before I derail the conversation even further?" "Uuuh, maybe? I don't know?", Yujin mused and soon started thinking about it. Was there anything else, though?

The two of them were getting worked up over the silliest of things, that was for sure, but he wondered about who Richard was before he came here and what kind of toll all of this took on him. Yujin often enough wasn't sure how far was too far, why they were even prancing around the obvious things so much and why he was so skittish around the blonde and his father, yet, he couldn't find a suitable answer, not for either of them - it peeved him, sort of, and he was fairly aware that none of the things he did and none of the very valid questions he had would be of any use. "I mean, yes, but that's hardly the same as a blanket.", he commented and he wasn't even sure if any of them truly wanted a blanket. Given, maybe he was the one that blew all of this way out of proportion, but what was he supposed to do when it was two against one? He was under attack, damnit, and he'd at least defend himself! "This is normal silessian weather, it doesn't get warmer than that and I can assure you that Yujin would probably feel uncomfortable during winter in Myriad.", Nayantai explained. Myriad had somewhat neutral climate, it was definitely better than Lavern and Olette, but worse than Fhaergus or even Alster. Still, that were not his concerns anymore, not at all. "Not that I did mind, you grow up and become your own person eventually." Dayan would not, not anymore, but that was nothing he had to mention right now. "Yujin is scared of me? I can't blame him. And I mean, I don't exactly have the kindest face, neither me or Rain knew how you were going to react, but you grew up around both of us, we were scared for nothing." That, and he was a gentle soul at heart, even if years of war and pain had chipped away at him and he was just as rough-looking as he could be - all of his scars told that story, as well as the stoic scowl he usually wore on his face. "I'm not scared of him! ... Okay, I was, but you seem nicer than you look!" "Thank you." And the old man meant it, he didn't fish for compliments, that wasn't who he was, but on the rare occasion that he did receive some, he was not one to make them go unnoticed.

"I know, but he just somehow wants the best for me." He wasn't so sure of that, and the more he talked with both Richard and Nayantai, he wondered why that was and why on earth he was permitting himself to suffer under his fathers thumb. Did he have much of a choice, though? He doubted it, but there still was no way of figuring out. "Hm, hard to say. I think she wouldn't have minded, but we were friends, not lovers, if anything." People often enough took that out of context when he delibaretly told his stories, thought they were terribly in love, but what he actually grieved was the loss of a friend, nothing else - something that hurt just as much, though. "Please don't, he'll just get mad at you.", Yujin implored Richard instead, but that was all he could do. "Hm, I wouldn't say that. My brothers were a bit younger than I was, so naturally, it was supposed to be my position. I was a stuck-up, snobby and entitled prince before Khasar died and I probably was a teensy bit jealous of Dayan for getting the crown. However, I wasn't jealous when I came back to Thria - I didn't want to be a prince or a king any longer, nothing of those things." Yujin listened, yet, couldn't help himself and stare at Nayantai, then at Richard, and coin a connection - Richard could act like a prick, but his father didn't seem like that, not at all. He seemed humble, if anything. "Still sounds like they were terribly in love ... and like the former king was quite the possessive person, huh?" "Anyone would be, if you haven't seen the love of your life for at least twenty-five years.", Nayantai explained furthermore and then got up to check on the food that Richard had asked about. It was, in fact, ready, which was why he got three bowls for them. "Oh, so you want to do it? I won't spoil the mood if you don't want to know, I can tell you afterward. Hm, but you do need clothes for that, and your birthday is soon." The old man came back to the table once to bring both Richard and Yujin their bowls and some spoons - it wasn't anything exciting anyway and nothing they'd need chopsticks for - before he brought his own and settled back at the table. "Thank you for the food!", Yujin was quick to exclaim, to which Nayantai only shook his head. "No need to be, you're a guest after all ... wait, you already had your coming of age ritual, actually?" "A fox!" That was news, huh? "Quite unlike your parents, huh?" "What do you mean?", Yujin asked, kind of curious. "I can tell you after Richards coming of age ritual, unless you're fine with me blurting out what others did hunt."

"A blanket looks nicer!" That it did, but a lot of silessians prefered fur over blankets, Richard was right in that regard and Yujin couldn't even deny that. After all, who wouldn't want something that actually kept them warm, instead of something that looked somewhat pleasing to the eyes? It was all about how one did what, and it also mattered what it was. In the end, maybe the two wolves were happy with the fur they had, so Yujin just accepted his defeat and started eating - the food was hot, yes, but not spicy at all. "I'm not saying it's too warm, I'm saying it would be too warm for someone who's only used to extreme cold, like your friend.", Nayantai commented, and actually ate what he'd conjured for them as well. Yujin was surprised that the food wasn't completely bland, he was - after all - fairly aware that Richards old man had lost sense of taste and feeling in his mouth, at least apparently, and so he couldn't quite blame him, especially when Richard was the one that died every single time he actually tasted thrian food. "No, no. Just that you'd be scared of me, maybe, but you were to young to even figure out what scary was. It was just a general feeling of distaste that one might have had ... and I know, but it's still somewhat the truth, isn't it?" And there was no Rain here to scold him, not anymore, which was sad on its own. "Can I ask something, then? What's under your eyepatch?", Yujin suddenly threw into the ring and the old man didn't even look up from his food, which probably meant that he either would ignore him or just give up on all that it was worth. Well, whatever, right? Yujin did shoot his shot and if nobody would bite, he'd have done his earnest at least. "I think that can wait until after we're done, if you're still curious. I'm not sure it's all that appetizing.", Nayantai warned and left it at that.

At least he could close his eye, there theoretically was no need for an eyepatch, but he kept it on anyway, if only because it was Rain that had given it to him - he wouldn't have gotten one any other way anyway, closing his eyelid sufficed. "War is cruel, but I never did. I hoped they'd come out unscathed, but fate had entirely different plans, unfortunately. ", he murmured, but that was it, he just went back to his food afterwards and seemingly listened to what his own son had to say about the family, after all, he didn't want to intrude on the conversations his son had had in the first place, but whenever he was asked something, he wasn't one to deny someone an answer. "Sounds like he was quite a clingy handful ... but you at least had fun, right?", Yujin asked, chuckling over it. Could he do something like that? An actual trip with Richard sounded nice, something without much aim, something that they wouldn't have to cut short because their fathers appeared out of thin air. "It would, and I think it might be your thing as well. Just don't try to go overboard and take care, alright? And you do need clothes, trust me. You don't want to mess up your perfectly fine ones." Who even wanted to drench themselves and their newly-acquired white clothing in animal blood? Certainly nobody, but given that it was part of the ceremony, it was better to just get something made, especially since Richard had no thrian clothes that actually were a snug fit for him. "That's fine then. Muhan brought back a yak after, I think, three days? And Shuren brought back a goddamn swan after a few hours.", Nayantai sighed, but he could hardly remember the look on both of their faces. The only thing he actually recalled was Shurens sour expression after being doused in blood. "A swan? Where on earth do you find swans out here?", Yujin exclaimed. "There used to be a lake west from here, but they are pretty much gone now, alongside the lake, as it froze over." "Well, a swan at least does sound like Shuren ..." "Sure does."

"No, I'm fine, why? I'm only wearing two layers, though.", Nayantai commented and Yujin wasn't sure what to say. He could hardly tell Richard he came here in what was pretty much two layers as well, which made all of the warmth more bearable, but being outside and slightly cold had also helped his case in some way. "Uh, I'm fine, but I'm not wearing as much as I usually do.", he commented, but he'd probably die if he'd have to crawl into that fur pile while wearing all of his clothing - he'd rather take it off before he wound up cuddling with Richard for another night. That would be nice, and he wouldn't want to go home anyway - it hardly mattered when he went home, he'd already broken a plethora of rules and whenever he'd get back home, he was sure to earn another punishment for disobeying the first. Sadly, that meant he probably wouldn't see Richard for quite a long time, if at all, should he decide to leave during his so-called inprisonment. "You mean because of his scar or the fact that he always looked like he'd bite your head of and he theoretically could have, because of his teeth? Hm, I wouldn't call him scary, he was actually just kind of hard to handle at times. But other than that, he was a lot more joyful than I am." But just as idiotic and easily swayed by love, what a shame. Whenever he thought about Rikiya, however, he just felt kind of ... sad, didn't he? He had died some years ago, but he still missed his old man. "Yes, and that's because Rain was the only person that wasn't afraid of me at first either. Despite me hissing at him and cursing him. I mean, you do know the story." It was way less romantic than everyone alway made it out to be, though. "It's still kind of disgusting." "Disgusting? I'd like to see it, still!" Nayantai was surprised, but if anything, Yujin kind of reminded him of Dayan, in some odd way - and he seemed to be great friends with Richard already, even a bit more than that, which only furthered his resolve that maybe, someone like Shurens kid actually wasn't so bad for someone like his own son, who'd do good to actually not seek out revenge anytime soon. "No, not for now. If there was anything like that happening, you'd kind of ... notice it.

There's no telltale signs for now, which is good, and while I'm ... no, let's just leave that be. If anything, your father had plenty of allies who were interested in the same thing." Aramis of Olette, however, could die in a fire, however and Nayantai hoped he'd soon see to it, or else he'd actually crawl all the way up there and do it with his bare hands, just because there was no Rain holding him back this time and Olettians were, if anything, scum. "So you kind of deceived your grandpa? Here I wish I had someone like that, but Shuren is always busy experimenting around in his medicine chamber and Muhan is hardly not by his side. It's so boring, you can't even imagine it.", the wolf admitted, defeated and kind of like he was craving some adventures in the first place. There had been no one to drag along, though, not even Xu would indulge him all the time! "Uhm, Richard, you do know that you are supposed to like, douse the animal blood all over yourself, right?", Yujin asked before Nayantai said another word, but obviously he'd never mentioned that, he'd just forgot it himself and therefore, the blonde was none the wiser. "A ferret? That's not elegant enough for my father, I presume." "Forever obsessed with beauty, huh?", Nayantai sighed, before he sat aside his by-now empty bowl, Yujin seemed to be about done, too, and that Richard was done before both of them was probably no wonder, either. Instead, he finally fiddled with his eyepatch and took it off, putting it on the table and moving his hair out of the way, so Yujin could see it. It used to be a pretty even scar, but it looked kind of crooked now and while the area had generally been infected, the only additional wound came from when the eye actually got ripped out. "Do you still have your e-", the younger wolf wanted to ask, but as the old one actually opened the eyelid, he saw that, no dice, there definitely was an eye missing. "This looks disgusting and kind of terrific at the same time ..." "Well, I have more where that came from, but I doubt you both would like a five hour explanation of any and all scars. Just be mindful of who you fight and how you fight them. If you want to keep both of your eyes."

"Five? Is everything alright?", Yujin asked. He hardly wore five layers, he had worn them for their last trip, but he usually wore four and maybe a coat if he felt kind of under the weather, that had been it, though. Given, Richard was not the same as him and from the stories he knew, the former king was also easily cold, in direct contrast to his only surviving son, who sat across of him - silessian people weren't monsters, Yujin knew that, they proved to be oddities however and he liked to believe what Nayantai said about him and warmer climate. Often enough, Yujin felt like he was getting a fever from too much warmth, even if he wasn't and even more frequently, he just felt like avoiding anything warm altogether and ridding himself of any kind of warmth, just to sleep in that block of ice that he called his room. "Did you ever touch them? I never asked that, but he did bite my finger once because I got terribly curious when I was little and stuck it in there. It's safe to say they can draw blood." Caelan probably knew that better, especially Nayantai was sure of that, but he didn't want to mention something as delicate and private as that, especially since it was embarrassing enough to take into account. "I just loved your dad and I promised to never leave him alone, so of course I wanted to be by his side as much as I wanted. Besides, you and Dayan had a habit of breaking into our bedroom every single night and demand we cuddle with you!" That had been fun, and he didn't mind, he often hardly slept anyway, and while that took a toll on him, it was better than constant nightmares and waking up Rain, who profited from the extra warmth. "And your grandfathers loved each other two, but they hadn't seen each other in so long, I don't exactly blame Rikiya for hogging Caelan. But I do get why it can be annoying." Caelan sometimes seemed to have the same tendencies, but they seemed far less frequent and far less possessive in the first place - nobody did mind, all was well and fine, though. "Well, Richard tends to be clingy too! Only sometimes, but ... oh, I shouldn't have said that.", Yujin realized soon after and his face grew red. Nayantai couldn't help but chuckle, though - which was rare, even for him, but he didn't mind, he just didn't want to know every single detail and he most certainly wouldn't ask for it.

"You can't get enough of it, huh? I mean, you always liked listening to stories, but ... do you really want me to explain it again?" The old wolf seemed to be in a good mood, maybe even happy that he could share and Yujin only nodded his head - he wanted to know that as well, and maybe Richard wasn't idolizing his fathers relationship at all - they seemed to be in love, so much and so sweetily that it seemed almost sickening, given, he didn't mind that. "So you kept his pride intact, huh? That's nice of you ... and your dad just sounds like he knows and notices more than he lets on." "When you lose an eye, you have to focus on what you can hear and even two sneaky little kids aren't exactly silent.", the old man explained, and maybe he wasn't wrong about that - Muhan always knew what to do when he or Ruoxe had stupid ideas and he was sure to catch them in the act, before they could ambush him. "After. You have as long as you need, theoretically, but since you won't exactly be provided anything to build a shelter for the night, most people try to be quick about it. Come back with your pray, show it to the elders, cut it open and douse yourself in it's blood. And if you're that far, you could already take a dip in the sea to wash it off, but that's not required, that's just for show-offs.", Nayantai elaborated - that was at least how he had learned it, but he'd also done it for his sixteenth birthday, not his eighteenth, which proved to be a pain in the ass regardless. Still, Yujin seemed to agree, even though he probably couldn't quite recall it, at least judging by his puzzled facial expression. "Oh, you mean the scar we talked about earlier?", Nayantai elaborated and took off his glove, adding it to the eyepatch he'd laid down on the table just earlier. There it was, a large scar at the back of his hand, and now that he turned it around, it was on the inside as well. "I was around fourteen and Rikiya gave it to me, because I decided to be a little shit. I injured one of the elders, I'm not sure anymore if he lost his hand or just injured it - it's been too long - and he demanded from the king that he punished me for it. So, he complied - which, in hindsight, he regretted immensely - and nailed my hand to a table with a dagger, all the way through, before he actually twisted it. That was ... pretty much one of the very few occasions I cried because of pain. But I think it hurt him more than it hurt me." As Nayantai looked up, Yujin just sat there, his mouth wide open - and the wolf couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. "Did I say too much?" "Oh, no no! But ... just imagining that, ouch."

"That wasn't a challenge! I didn't mean to insult you, five is perfectly fine!", Yujin commented as soon as Richard tried to get out of at least one layer, but it was way too late for that - well, fuck, why did that have to happen to him? Why was he even challenging the poor blonde to all of this so often? His father didn't seem to mind, but Richard was the guy that got it all in the wrong throat most of the time and Yujin just felt bad, he didn't want to let him on or just make him believe that something was wrong with that, of course he'd be cold, he wasn't a full wolf, damnit! "Oh god, now I know what he was complaining about. I know he rarely got mad at you two, but he walked up to me at some point and told me to keep you out of the kitchen and away from the cookies, or the cookies you touched away from him. I didn't know why, he never told me, but it makes much more sense now.", Nayantai admitted, and he didn't sound or look disappointed, just as if he finally got rid of something that had been obscuring something that, very obviously, had laid in his path. What in the fuck? "Why did you even do that? I mean, I offered him a rock once to see if he could bite through it, and he just bit it a few times and it eventually broke. I don't want to know what kind of teeth those are, but we all know, probably." Cannibal teeth, but they never were used for anything of that sort ... unless Rikiya did fight and if he did, it got pretty bloody pretty quickly. "I didn't assume anything else! And yes, you are clingy, just like me! We both are!", Yujin fuzzed, but it wasn't anything worth fighting too much over. "I don't mind, after all, I'm old and I'm still in love. If I'm considered cheesy, so be it." "I like romantic things, I don't mind.", the younger wolf reassured and put his elbows on the table, to support his head with his arms again - much like he'd done earlier, to get a better front row seat at the old wolves story, that Richard had apparently heard plenty of times. "Yes, you caught me by surprise, but it was funny regardless.

Especially when you thought that clinging to my legs was going to stop me from going somewhere." It never did, Nayantai had just walked straight ahead and ignored the extra weight on his legs as good as he could, but the older it got, the more difficult it had gotten - though, they eventually had stopped, thankfully. "You can do it in front of them or right outside their tent, doesn't matter much, whatever you prefer. You better get yourself a nice and warm bath after either the blood bath or your sea bath. Trust me, anyone would be freezing, even a silessian wolf.", Yujin was the one that told Richard this time - not much had changed, seemingly, as Nayantai was the one that reassuringly nodded at him this time, instead of the other way around. "You can bring the entire carcass, if you'd like, actually. It would go to waste otherwise." And it wasn't like anyone would eat someone elses prey. If it was anything good, or large, they probably could craft a nice mantle or cape out of it as well, but they had to see to it first and it still did depend on what Richard hunted. "He had to, but yes he did. That's very much the last order he took from anyone, however. After that, he decided he was done with adhering to anyone else and that ... was a very good decision, or else I'd not be alive and Rain would have died way, way earlier, too." It was almost painful to think about, but Yujin wasn't going to let that ruin the mood. "When I got them? Uh, I don't exactly know anymore, it's all just a blurry, painful mess, but I do take medication made by my father, if I don't do that for a few days, they start to hurt like hell and I can't walk because of the pain ...", he admitted, which also meant he'd have to ask his father for some of it the next time he went out. Nayantai raised an eyebrow as Shurens name was mentioned, but he didn't exactly say anything about that. "Whatever happened to you?" "I got mauled by something or someone, which was also why we were, where we were. I was trying to figure out what happened. No dice, however, just weird ... things that I saw, but I couldn't figure it out." The old wolf looked worried for a moment, before he - however - actually started talking about how he met Rain, and that didn't sound so romantic at first, but it got kind of cute soon afterward ...

The story was nice, Yujin hadn't expected it to be that heroic and cheesy, but for all the good parts, there were a bunch of bad ones as well - something he took note of eventually, if even a bit begrudgingly, but in the end, it all fell into place and Yujin almost wanted to hear it again, but he didn't quite want to bother Nayantai with that, especially since he just heard the story for the first time and he was sure that, if he let it sit for a few weeks, he'd just forget and come back to hear it one more time, and then one more time, and then again. What an absolute pain in the ass he was, wasn't he? But soon thereafter, he was the one that was pulled out of his daydreaming. "About the medication, though - I didn't want to interrupt earlier - I take it every day after dinner, but skipping a day or two isn't so bad. It always gets bad after the third day, though, and the longer I don't take it, the worse it kind of gets. I can't remember much about what happens, but two days is the maximum, kind of." He had taken it yesterday, so if he went to bed early today, and his father just slid him the packet under the door or decided that it was fine or him to not take it, it was alright and nobody would catch a whiff of it. As long as he took it tomorrow, everything would just go normally - and Nayantai still looked at him, kind of confused, but soon enough shook his head and collected their bowls as well as their cups to put them on the counter, he'd still wash those before bed, seemingly.

"And as for the thing you asked earlier about Rikiya, no he wasn't king. My mother was still very much alive, Dayan was still very much a brat and I had just been the worlds worst fourteen year old. I think mother was supposed to be the one to stab me, but she said that, whatever she had to do, she would, but if she ever had to harm her own children, she'd much rather harm everyone else." His mother had been much like him, in many regards, and if Richard knew her, he probably would have figured out that bloodlust sometimes ran in the family, more prominently than other things. Would she even have accepted him as her own, though? Nayantai couldn't tell, not anymore, but she loathed sheep, much more than he ever did - it seemed impossible to think she would have approved of his marriage to Rain, either. Yujin, on the other hand, seemingly very clearly heard Richards words and the moment he knew what they meant, he kind of started starring at the empty table in front of him. Oh no, Nayantai knew exactly where this was going and judging by the tone of voice, Yujin would probably cry - Shuren just sounded as mangled whenever he wanted something he couldn't get. "I mean ... I ... uh. Do we have to?", he wanted to know immediately. If anything, this was Shurens oblivious son, they just sounded exactly the same - with the difference that Yujin wasn't obviously a massively manipulative asshole at times, but genuinely easy to bring to tears, as it seemed. "They probably won't but ... can I stay here? Please? Just tonight?"

"Hm, you're right about that.", Yujin mumbled, not that he could remember much, or anything at all, but it couldn't be that everything just started to hurt because he didn't take his godforsaken medication, right? His old man was blowing things out of proportion - he wouldn't die if he didn't take them and he was very sure that a bit of pain was bearable either way. Richard wasn't wrong, though, Yujin believed he almost never was, and that all of this was just another ... thing of something. "It's not lifelong and I'm not even sure if it's just for the scars. I just know that they start to hurt and ... you can't exactly get rid of something like chronic pain without trial and error. I don't mind if that's the solution I have to settle for now." Maybe he was pea-brained enough to believe that his father actually only wanted good things for him, but Yujin sometimes even begged to differ. Whatever the case, there was nothing weird about all of that, though, and if he thought too much about it - just from a theoretical standpoint, he didn't know who was more in the right. It didn't seem like either had bad intentions, much like Yujin was fairly convinced that, whatever he tried would fail, he also wasn't sure who to trust in that regard. In reality, he didn't want to disappoint either, but the truth still was, that there was nothing he could do if he wound up doing it.

"It was more of a, if she doesn't do it, he'll do it, and if he won't do it, Khojin will do it. And given the fact that my sister was sixteen, maybe seventeen, I don't think that would have been something she wanted to be haunted by. I don't know if mother beat him up afterwards, but I doubt it." In the end, anyone that had to do it was a victim in their own regard and Nayantai was sure that even his father harbored no ill intent towards him, in some kind of way, shape or form. "I'll be grounded until the end of my days regardless. No idea when he'll let me out again, he just said he will when he feels like it.", he admitted almost begrudgingly. What a pain in the ass that was! But not only that, his goddamn dad was also no use in getting him out of his prison, what was he even good for if he only kept complaining that Shuren was the one that pretty much tied his hands and forced him to just sit idly by? He still could make decisions for all of his other children, why not him, the kind of fucked up one? "I ... I mean, I guess? Or someone will notice the bedsheet rope. Maybe you're right, I should go home and break back in.", the wolf admitted and got up to gather his belongings. Maybe he had just misunderstood something, too, and Richard had just broken him out to feel good about himself and not to actually offer him someplace to be - in the end, he still didn't want any feelings attached to all of this and yet, the longer Yujin knew him, the worse it got. Well, fuck. Why on earth had it been so painfully complicated to just exist?

Did Richard say something? Yujin couldn't quite tell or hear, but he most definitely was trying his best to not ask again. Was it something about the medication he took? Who even knew, the wolf didn't and he wouldn't pry - if Richard had anything he wanted to say, he could do so, loud and clear, and therefore Yujin left him be and he was sure to not even mention any of it to begin with. They were going to go home, drag him back to bed and pretend he'd never been out and about in the first place, just like how he wasn't supposed to be. What would he tell his parents if they caught wind of it, though? That he had a visitor over instead of breaking out? That still sounded much more likely anyway - he'd never disobeyed them before, why would he disobey them now? It seemed very silly, at best, and he wasn't going to question any of that any further. Instead, he'd just cling onto that smale glimpse of hope that, maybe, Richard was going to stay with him tonight, despite admitting to hating the castle and if even that failed, Yujin would just make do somehow, right? He'd figure something out, whatever it was that he came up with and even if his own existence proved to be somewhat loathsome right now, he'd just figure things out as he went along with them. Something would ... work out for him, right? There had to be something, anything he could grasp at.

"Not that I care, they are probably going to be mad either way.", he admitted, and he knew, because even if Muhan was the last to figure it out, Shuren was usually the first that took note of it all and for a moment, he just wished his parents were anything like Nayantai, maybe aside the scary part. It was painful, and admitting that none of this worked for him anyway was annoying as well. Why was he even trying in the first place? Nothing was going his way, maybe he'd be better off with just marrying Yin and shutting his trap - but the old wolf and Richard were right, that couldn't be much of a fun life either. "A ladder? There should be one outside, somewhere around your window. Want me to grab it for you, or are you going to get it on your way out?", Nayantai asked, but Yujin - who was already dressing up all the way again, ready to brave the moonless night of Silesse - just shook his head instead. "No, we'll just grab it when we're on our way. And thank you for the food ... and the stories." "You're welcome.", the old man declared, as he eventually did start with cleaning up and since him and Richard were halfway out of the house anyway, they wouldn't take forever, either. "Come on, you have to return your stolen goods.", he chuckled, even though he didn't find it funny at all, yet, a frown on his face wouldn't suit him and a bunch of fake tears were definitely not as good as real ones - he'd not complain this time, it was fine.

But they'd figure it out and even when Shuren promised to not be mad at him, he usually wound up being just that - Yujin knew that, but somehow he'd just pretended he didn't, acted like he'd forgotten and therefore, many of the things that he kind of wound up forgetting for real became muddled with the things he acted like he'd forgotten, even if they were few and far between. What a pain in the ass that was, though, he couldn't do much else about it - he was stuck doing what he did best, and that was just being some maniacs son. Instead, however, he found himself enarmored with a guy that knew so much and so little about the world they both lived in at the same time, he found himself wondering if he even knew anything that was worth showing Richard, something that the blonde didn't know yet and even when he figured he might as well do something, there was barely anything he could, really, show to him. How long was the blonde even supposed to be here? It felt like he'd been here for what seemed to be half of an eternity, yet, Yujin was sure it was so much less and it was so much worse to have him eventually leave, it wound up being everything that occupied his thoughts for now. Was it irrational fear? Was he really forcing himself to live through all of this because he couldn't be assed to love the person that was chosen for him instead?

"Huh? You mean, when you come back from the hunt?" They barely had said anything on their walk back to the castle, mostly because Yujin was probably brooding over something and Richard enjoyed the silence they had found in the dead of the night, but this wasn't so bad, either. "I mean, I'd love to be there, but who knows if I can be in the first place.", he sighed. Would he just have to keep pestering somebody until he was let out of his confinement? Yujin loathed the mere thought of not being able to go where he wanted, of not being able to be who he wanted to be and Richard made all of that a whole lot harder on him, especially since he wasn't as free as a bird either, but the wolf found him admirable in one way or another. "Boring? Oh, please, it was quite fun actually. And it was nice seeing you in a good mood. Your dads stories were also kind of sweet, at least most of them.", he answered, before he leaned against the ladder instead. It wasn't too cold out here and the abscence of any light within the castle made him think that, whoever had to be up, it could only be a bunch of guards that didn't even care for some ruckus at the back - at least until Shuren ordered for them to be punished, but that was none of Yujin business. Still, this should be goodbye, at least for now, and all the wolf could do was sigh. "Do you want to, uh, maybe come upstairs since you're already here? They said I couldn't go out, but they never said nobody could come in, so ... I mean, I know you told me you didn't like the castle all that much but I wouldn't mind your company, just for a little while longer, or tonight, if I'm greedy enough. Unless ... you have other plans or really don't want to. It's fine."