bloodbound. (earinor & akira)

"They used to do some decision making for the king, but Rikiya shut that down and they haven't really meddled with any of it since then." Not that anyone dared, but it seemed apparent that, even now when Rikiya was gone, there were some things that had just happened out of literal spite, things he maybe didn't even want to be permanent, yet, they somehow wound up being. It was odd in some ways, but everyone left their marks on history somewhere - even if they only proved to be a subpar king. "No, not really. Marrying an adrestian noble would have proven difficult since he tried to make everyone aware that he wasn't going to let anything like the war ever happen again. And as for a thrian noble, by thrian standing, he's married to me, so there was no way for that either." Rain probably didn't even fancy the thought, even if it were to be considered something that had to be done, yet, Nayantai would have probably not even liked that, and it posed another problem, too. "Also, if he had married a noble and had had a child with her, the public would have most likely demanded them to be king. And I wouldn't have been able to cuddle my husband." The old wolf had been here first and he wasn't keen on sharing anything with anyone, he'd already beaten the hell out of Muhan when he tried something once, that had been embarrassing, too! "Not that, white is just associated with death, whereas in adrestia, it's black." That was a somewhat direct contrast. "You can have some more cake, open up!"

Nayantai hoped he'd never been that rash, not that it mattered much, it was funny to watch the two of them just prance around and be silly about it, even when Richard wanted to argue his way out of it, Nayantai was sure he didn't quite mean it. Why didn't they stay here? That was a good question, yet, the old man knew better than anyone that he still had someone to pluck apart as well and now that there was no lamb to keep him from ripping someone to shreds, the old wolf knew that he might as well do whatever it was that he wanted. "Just slightly, not entirely. I had my fair share of stupid ideas, but they weren't too outrageous. As for your grandfathers, I'll spare you the mental image." And that was something he'd thankfully take to the grave with him as well, even if Rain might have had other plans for all of them, things eventually just happaned, as sad as they were. "A surprise, not a present, and ... you're welcome.", he answered, eventually grabbing the knife as he was handed it and putting it back in his sheeth to set it aside at the edge of the table, next to his son - he wouldn't need it, but some things were better kept close-by than too far away from one, even if Yujin posed the least of all threats on this table. "I'll have it cleaned with your clothes and bring them over, stop worrying, will you!", Yujin laughed - what was Richard so afraid of, or rather, what bothered him this much? It seemed almost uncanny that he was worried about every little thing that came to mind and didn't think of anything else to begin with. Even his own eyes lit up when Richard opened his present and seemed overjoyed, though, his mouth said something else. "That would've ruined the surprise, silly!", he chastised him, before grabbing one of the light blue ones, that at least fit with Richards clothing - he'd taken it off plenty of times, so he might as well know how he'd put it on, wouldn't he! "So I'm good enough to put this on but not good enough to carry you? Pah, I'll remember that!", he joked, before he actually managed to put it into place, obscuring the scar that Richard wasn't all that proud of. "It's not too tight, is it?"

"Good question. Mine was just officiated by Rikiya, so I have no idea if I'm terribly honest." He never married Tei and his old man had just accepted the honor - or the burden - of marrying the two of them. Was that bad? Probably not, but in the end, that begged more questions than it gave answers and Richard had every right to be exceptionally curious about it all, even if his old man didn't know what it was that he was supposed to tell him. Did it matter much? In the end, neither of them would stay here for forever. "People can be uptight, but look. Rikiya was only half a wolf as well and I'm not an entire wolf, either. My experiences aren't exactly comparable with yours, or that of Rikiya, and yet, none of that is as bad as everyone makes it out to be." And it never would be, either, but that wasn't much to concern either of them with - if the people of Adrestia hated him, Nayantai was fine with it, he wasn't used to anything else, but Richard was a whole different story. "Hm, I wouldn't say that. I wasn't allowed to kill Aramis of Olette on the spot, and I also wasn't exactly allowed to always have cookies for breakfast. Those are two vastly different things that hardly matter, but it's ... a thing that happens." An odd comparison nonetheless, but maybe Richard would have been sitting on the throne in Adrestia and would have at least had siblings if Nayantai had been allowed to Aramis as well, what a shame. "Love. The darker the red, the deeper the love or something like that."

Yujin knew plenty of traditions, some as old as time, some just incredibly outdated as of fifteen years ago, but one stayed the same across all of Thria - the stupid engagement necklace and the follow-up for it, that most people just ignored in the favor of not having to carve another one. Was there even anything comparable in terms of tradition? Not that he knew of, after all, nothing was that outrageous. "I only know stories, but judging by what Rikiya told me, Caelan would have probably just done that if asked. If there's anyone that actually couldn't say no to somebody, it was Caelan, not me or Rain." There had been times were no was no, but for some reason, even if Rikiya only opened his mouth for as much as a split second and uttered the weirdest of things, Caelan wouldn't deny him - there only seemed to be one sore topic, and Nayantai didn't want to talk about death even more than he had. "That's why I'm bringing it back, don't worry - I never forgot to return anything to you, right?" Yujin forgot a lot of things for sure, yet, he'd never even once forgotten to return things he'd borrowed, even if Richard was more of an offender in that case. The wolf would gladly give him all the wanted, maybe even more, it didn't matter much - whatever it was that he wanted, he'd get. "But it wouldn't be as exciting, still, keep good care of those, I picked the softest fabric I could find!" He had put thought into this, wanted Richard to feel nice even when nobody could see and he was convinced that, even when he didn't need them anymore at some point, maybe the fallen prince could use it for something, anything else. "What's that supposed to mean! Eugh, fine, but you'd make the better housewife anyway." Not that that was true, though, Yujin would just set their hut on fire when trying to cook, probably, and who liked a burnt down home? Nobody, not even the one that set it on fire in the first place. "I'm glad.", he reassured, before the old man came to word. "So, about Caelan and Rikiya ...", he mused, before he started to talk and talk and talk - this was bound to be another long one.

"No, nobody really thinks of marrying someone they truly care about during a war, why would they?" That was true and while there were plenty of people that got married regardless, the people Nayantai knew weren't part of those and even then, he couldn't quite envision having a stranger officiate a ceremony like that, it felt deeply personal and kind of wrong, didn't it? "My parents have been married for god knows how long, I have no clue about that if I'm terribly honest." Yujin seemingly barely knew anything, but that was besides the point, especially when Nayantai was the one that went on and on about so many things, about a story that spanned so many years, Yujin could only follow partially - but it was a sweet one, one that only stopped when there was some significant weight on his shoulder and he, for one, wondered what was happening, though, there probably was an explanation for that, even when he didn't want to hear it. For how long would this go on? He had no idea, only when he cast his gaze upon Richard, though, he became fairly aware that the blonde had drifted off to the sweet lands of sleep and Yujin was sure that he more than deserved that. Still, it posed at least a singular problem: How would he get to bed? Carrying Richard sounded easy enough, but what if he got to his injured arm? Did he worry too much?

Waking Richard up was also not what he wanted - he looked peaceful like this and for a moment he considered slumping against the wall himself and doing off, not waking until the sun was already shining in their faces, but he thought of that as fairly uncomfortable its own way. A helping hand, however, came in the form of Nayantai, who - without much of a word - wanted to pick Richard up and carry him back to his room, though, Yujin felt like he himself was responsible for that and eventually found the courage to do so, even when that meant that he had to be really, really careful to not run into anything. The blonde had been right, he was kind of heavy for someone that neglected any and all training he could ever have done for years on end, but eventually, even that wasn't so important anymore, especially when he tiptoed back to the door to close it and eventually come back to the heap of fur. Yujin took off one of the layers he was wearing and it ... wasn't it kind of odd to sleep with Richard in a bed, fully dressed no less? Whatever. The wolf draped some fur over both of them, before cuddling up to the blonde and closing his own eyes - it was nice to just be at peace for a bit, wasn't it? It felt like nothing could happen from here on out, even if he knew that that wasn't entirely the truth.

Did something in this bed just twist and turn? Yujin didn't quite know, but he soon felt as if all of his clothing had been glued to his body and as if it was unbearably hot in here to begin with - it didn't help that he hadn't taken off his clothing earlier, or that he couldn't exactly find Richard in his sleep, but the wolf prince found himself awoken soon thereafter and wondered for a little bit more than a second as to why. The answer to that was, once he cast the fur he had draped over himself aside, that he was warm and sweating and uncomfortable in his own skin for a moment - and he groaned as he wrestled himself out of one layer, then the other, and wound up wearing nothing but the last layers he had left. Sure, he could have turned over and just fallen asleep again - he was in the mood for that to be frank - but he also found that, somebody else apparently was awake ... what? Almost worried, the wolf looked at the blonde, turned over to face him and then, as drowsy as he felt, smiled as he pulled the fur over himself again - this was a nice dream, though, it felt so real and when he reaced out for Richard, he wasn't so sure if those hair strands were part of a dream as well.

"Are you awake?", he whispered, not knowing if he was talking to the real deal or just a figment of his own imagination - something that wouldn't exactly surprise him, not only given the circumstances but also the fact that he ran low on sleep himself and couldn't quite believe it that he was spending a night outside of this stupid ice castle again. It had been a while, hadn't it? "Who am I kidding, you are.", he softly chuckled, trying to collect his thoughts as he stroked over Richards hair for a while, trying to keep in touch with reality. Was this where all of it would be going? He didn't know, but he wouldn't mind spending the rest of the night like this, even when he found that Richard himself had assumed a different position altogether. Was he supposed to come closer? The wolf didn't know and stayed where he was, frozen in place and unaware of all that was going on. What would happen if he didn't? "Are you okay?" What kind of question was that? Richards arm really wasn't okay, not when it needed to be sewn together, but worse than that, Yujin didn't know what to think of it all in the first place, either. Was he in pain? His facial expression said nothing like that, but who knew? Yujin didn't, but he was determined to figure it out.

Did this have to happen? Yujin always felt like he grew weak around Richard, or rather that he had a softspot for him since he'd first met him - he didn't mind, it was fine, but some part of him kept constantly worrying and looking out for the blonde, almost as if fixing other people was all he'd ever known and now that Richard seemingly needed less and less fixing, he clung to him, more and more, searching for a silver of truth, for something, anything that would tell him that Richard was still and always would rely of him. Wasn't it weird? Why would he want that. "I figured ... but ... did you have nice dreams?", the wolf asked, not knowing if it was an approriate time to question any of it. Would he even get a good response? If he didn't, maybe it was all in vain, maybe it was his own fault and he was bound to regret it, yet, this was the only shot he had if he, eventually, had to comfort Richard. Either way, the silence was louder than a thousand words could ever be, at least for now, when he tried to force himself back onto his feet, or rather, back into a waking state. "I am. I thought you'd sleep through the night, but ... I was wrong.", he admitted, wistfully and kind of pained, almost as if it were his fault. "Mh, I thought as much."

Injuries were no fun and whenever Yujin tried remembering his own, he came to the conclusion that it had hurt like hell, that he was probably whining and moaning about it for weeks on end and not at all as enduring as Richard seemed to be. It had hurt, burnt like fire, the whole nine yards - he didn't even know why or how, he couldn't figure it out and if he were terribly honest, maybe that was just what all these things entailed. In the end, he had come out alive. "Sure ... it's in the kitchen cabinet, right?", he yawned, holding Richards hand in his own and running his thumb over it for a while, assuring him he'd be there, even if he'd leave for a second and only return after that. That wouldn't and couldn't be all that much work. "I enjoy being here ... it's fun ... and calming." The atmosphere at home was a mess, usually, and all of it persisted eventually as well, knowingly, even when it hurt like hell to admit that sometimes, he wished for his life to be more like this, not like all the others. "That's pretty daring of you ... I don't mind if it's boring, I just need you anyway.", he admitted with the most silent of chuckles he could muster. The gears in his head eventually turned, Yujin felt like he was usually trying to hard, even this time around and as much as he loathed it, there weren't many things he recalled. "Sick ...?", he uttered, kind of confused, before his eyes widened. "You absolutely loathed me, but cuddling you was nice." That it had been, though, right now neither of them had a fever - maybe Richard, but probably nothing too dangerous. "I wouldn't mind, but let me get the painkillers for you first."

"It's fine, you could have woken me up.", he reassured the blonde and frankly, Yujin wouldn't have minded. He'd rather talk with him for hours on end than find himself entrapped in the same cycle of weird dreams, over and over again, running after things he didn't recognize, yet, couldn't quite forget and every piece that had been ripped out of context made less and less sense the more and more time went on. Was this his own punishment? He didn't know, couldn't figure it out, but given the circumstances, maybe they were just right were they belonged - he was just missing what seemed to be a plethora of puzzle pieces and once he'd get his hands on them, it was over for each an every single one of them anyway. "We'll see, no need to stress yourself." There never was, they were stuck out here in the dead of the night, in a lone hut, somewhere in Silesse, and there was nobody that would come for them, lest his father would throw a tantrum and order some guards to come all the way here and look for their once more missing prince. "I don't know myself ... I feel kind of responsible, though.", he admitted. "I gave you the idea in the first place, so I feel bad about you injuring yourself and you were gone for so long, I was worried something happened to you."

Yujin could forgive himself for his own mistakes and for making someone like Quan trip over his feet, but whatever or not someone died because of him wasn't up to debate - he couldn't know and wasn't allowed to know. His life moved on slowly, much like the sands of time, and nothing was ever going to accelerate that flow, even when Richard made his heart skip a beat on multiple occasions for multiple reasons. "I'll keep that in mind.", he answered, shaking his head - why would he need to do that anyway? He'd rather bask in the blondes presence for as long as he could, even when there was nothing much to do. But this time around, they weren't sick, which probably meant they could go out together and do something, rather than being stuck inside all day long. "I beg to differ, I had plenty of fun with you, especially on our little trip. And yes, not all of it, sadly, but some of it - that's a start, right?", the wolf voiced, almost excited but still silent, letting go of Richards hand and finally getting back up on his feet. The wood felt weird, at least for now - he wasn't used to it, and frankly, it felt much nicer than some cold, frigid pieces of ice, too. Staying here didn't sound too bad. "I'm fine like this, at least for now. Maybe I'll change my mind tomorrow.", he answered, sticking his tongue out at Richard, only to creep towards the kitchen and get the box of medicine they'd talked about, as well as fetching a glass and some water in it, before retreating back inside his room. Nayantai was nowhere to be seen, he probably had fallen asleep already. "Alright, sit up or you'll spill it."

"Am I not cute enough already?", the prince compromised. Maybe he was, Yujin didn't know and couldn't tell himself - this was, probably, a flaw that he'd have to elaborate on further anyway, something he'd not get away from, but it hardly mattered. The truth was that he tried his best regardless and while some of his plans bore fruition, others just didn't and he most likely would have to live with that either way. "Guess we'll have to create our own fun then, how's that sound?", Yujin suggested, but he didn't know what it was that they actually should be doing. Was there even a way to create some game, just for the two of them, that got them out of any slump they might find themselves in? Frankly, the wolf had no idea and there was nothing interesting about the hut in particular, which only meant that no matter what, they'd be stuck doing whatever, one way or the other. Was that bad? Most likely not, they both knew each other way better by now and there was no holdup either - it didn't matter much, they had one another and that might as well be enough for a while, though, they couldn't just spend all their time with senseless banter either. "I just feel bad ... I'm sorry. And ... that doesn't quite make it better, I'm so sorry, Richard."

Anything could have happened out there, but what did the blonde even mean? Yujin seemed confused for a second, like he was missing context and it didn't dawn upon him what it actually was that had happened. What heart? Richards heart? That sounded incredibly odd, almost like he wasn't fine and Yujin felt bad again, even worse than before, upon hearing that. Fuck. "Sadly not, but it was fun regardless. We can come up with something, right?" Yujin wasn't sure if they could, if there earnestly was a way, but he hoped there was and even if there wasn't, maybe he'd just have to try hard enough and then all of this would be over in no time. Given, the things he knew, the things he assumed and did, all of that was nothing more than a gigantic slap in the face either way, wasn't it? "No need to, and ... sure. Should I help you get out of them as well?", he asked, before he waddled over to the closet and picked some things out for Richard. Yujin brought them back to the bed, not waiting for an answer, but he figured that Richard would do best by removing the sling on his own, actually. "Do you want another ice pack? I'm guessing your last one was more water than snow or anything else." While he was up, he could at least try and make Richard comfortable for now, which very much meant that as far as things went, trying was one of the things he could and would do either way.

"That's not a very telling answer!", Yujin grumbled, but he didn't quite mean it in a bad way, especially not when he was pointing his tongue at Richard anyway. Was that even appropriate anymore? Sometimes he felt like a little kid around the blonde, someone that had lost all sense of reason and some more and it didn't matter much what he actually did to defend himself from those allegations - he didn't even want to do it. "Not any that I can think of right now, I mean, there's some, but you'd require toys for that and even then, the least we'd need are some specific cards. It's kind of stupid if you only have games you need some prerequisits for if you think about it." Was there even anything they could do in that regard? Sure, Yujin could go home and take apart a toybox if he was honest, but nothing else compared to that and to be fair, he liked nothing more than going out of his way to ignore each and every person he could, which factually meant he'd very much rather not get his hands into hot fire and sink them deep, deep down a can of worms that he'd pried open by running into his father. "I know, it's just ... maybe I'm overthinking a bit.", he reminded both Richard and himself, and Yujin was normal for doing that - someone that couldn't remember wasn't automatically and irreversibly broken, they just tried to overcompensate in every way possible.

"I actually don't ... I'm so sorry.", he uttered and it felt like there was just a blank space in his head, ready to be filled with something he couldn't and wouldn't be able to figure out, no matter what. Was there even anything he could do? It was something Yujin couldn't know, not now, not anyway and he hoped that, as far as things went, he'd figure something out for the two of them, somehow. "That just sounds awful, I'm sorry, I should have known better ... and I'm very glad you didn't get eaten." The wolf prince felt the urge to comfort him, yet, he didn't even know how - was it going to be inapproriate if he tried to hug him, probably hurting his arm in the process? No, definitely not and Yujin felt like crying as well, though, maybe that was a bit far, even for him. Though, he somehow couldn't even help him, kind of wasn't allowed to and therefore, he just let him do whatever he needed to do - there was no way of figuring all of this out together anyway, not without reaching a disagreement or bumping into something. He watched, only to be shut down once more and this time around, Yujin didn't even mind. "It's fine, I just thought you might like some, to help with the swelling at least. And sure, I can.", he tacked onto the sentence, before he helped Richard get into those traiterous, tight looking adrestian pants, even when he knew that it wasn't his place to judge either way. After they were done with that, he collected the bundle of thrian clothing and put them all aside in a bundle. "Do you need anything else? Or can I come back to bed?"

Was he even supposed to beat himself up about this? Yujin felt bad for even considering it, for even thinking that Richard would seriously be mad at him for something like this, yet, frankly, he didn't know any better and there was no substantial evidence to prove him wrong either. Sometimes, things happened and Yujin knew that, even when he disliked the sole thought of it, and even when he didn't know something, he most likely had to accept it, whatever he wanted to or not, it wasn't exactly his choice. "Are you still afraid they'll lock me right up if I so much as take one step out of the hut and run into my father?", he questioned, but Richard most likely had a point. Not only was Shuren quick to accuse others of fathomless crimes and plenty of things his own son would be unable to think of, he also was fairly convinced that, the moment one of the castle doors closed behind him, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to open it back up again and slip right out. What if Muhan eventually sided with Shuren anyway? He didn't even dare think about it, which was why he kept his mouth shut further. "I ... fine, I'll stop apologizing, sorry.", he sighed. Wow, this had been quite the pain, hadn't it? Yujin felt almost sorry again, another need to apologize for being annoying, but he couldn't muster the strength to do so either way.

"Isn't that annoying?" It had to be, but there was no way of preventing that. Yujin could keep forgetting, he'd not remember much, not even the slightest tidbit, and nothing of it mattered in the end, especially when Richard would - eventually - evaporate into thin air and leave him behind with nothing to grasp at. Not only was it a pain, it also was the realization that, no matter what it was that would happen to him, he'd figure out that none of the things he found out, he'd eventually forget, until the cycle kept repeating itself. Wasn't going to be annoying? "I'm just glad you're alright and in one piece, okay? I would've felt horrible if something had happened, but ... I'm sorry, I'll stop apologizing and try to remember things from now on. It's just hard. Whatever I do, it just eventually disappears." A pain was, what it was, but the trip he had with Richard kind of started to clear his head up, even if for a while, though, now it only got worse and all those puzzle pieces he thought he was holding onto were lost - they were falling through ridges and edges and he couldn't get them back. Yujin felt bad, he never would not, and he decided that, for now, he shouldn't worry too much about it and rather keep his promise. "The right one? Are you sure?", he asked, but did as he was told anyway. Then, he grabbed some fur again to put over them both, before cuddling up to Richard and holding onto his hand - the one that probably didn't hurt like hell. "Sorry, am I too close?"

"You're right, lets not overdo it.", he simply agreed. Yujin didn't want to go back to his frigid prison, much like Richard didn't want him to be there in the first place. It was almost as if he'd get swallowed up by darkness, never to be seen again, if he stepped one foot into his own home and for very apparent reasons, Yujin wanted none of that - he never asked for it, and he'd never ask for it again. Going home felt like the most dreadful thing to do right about now, even if he'd never thought about it that way. How stupid was this? "Didn't you say just tomorrow? You're reaching! But sure, I don't mind staying here with you, you know?" That was fine with him - he wasn't going anywhere illegal, yet, it meant he'd eventually have to return home to just nab Richards present and give it to him, even when he'd already told the blonde he wasn't going to be allowed to open it until he passed a certain threshold on his journey. Was that odd? Most likely, but he'd like to keep the suspense intact, even if that meant he'd have to cheat quite a bit to actually get the message across. "I'm not going anywhere, because, as you might have noticed, I like being here.", he chuckled instead. Stop worrying was something he might have to work on, but it was nothing that he'd be completely unable to do either. Some things took practice and Yujin didn't quite mind that.

"Are you s- no, wait. I'm supposed to stop worrying. Just, thank you.", he mumbled, actually a bit embarrassed. Not having inherently good memory wasn't anything bad, but in Yujins case, all of that went from one extreme to the other and there was hardly any way of telling what was truly his own fault and what just wound up being compromised by chance. There was nothing he could do, given the opportunistic value of his memories, but he could try at least. "I'd still like to remember ...", he whispered, more to himself than to Richard, even when he knew that nothing was going to change that all that much. Maybe he was just doomed to live like this and if that was the case, if there was no workaround for his own doom, he'd have to live with it. "I guess so. It makes us somewhat special in our own, kind of crude way." In a way that nobody wanted to be special in fact, but Yujin just buried his face in the fabric of Richards clothing - it smelled fresh, a lot like the blonde as well and he liked being close to him - not just because Richard smelled nice, but because this felt a bit more secure than any night spent alone in the castle. Would you've prefered it if it was the same side for both, then? I'm sure there's some way to work this out, I can let go a bit and try to keep my distance, just so I won't hurt you on accident, if you'd feel safer like that." Richard was catching up to him, though, wasn't he? It was almost odd, especially considering that Yujin barely did anything, ever. Was there even something that they could do, something that was about as outrageous as giving one another scars in a petty fight? "You are, but if you're lucky, maybe they'll fade ... who knows. We won't see until they are healed, though."