RP:It's Been Awhile
Summary: It's been awhile since Lionel's reacquired MIA status was put into effect and subsequently, Vylyra has been a "guest" on the Tranquility for much longer than Khitti can bear. KhittiBrand also finally speak about their child's predecessor and the other half of Brand's formerly schismed mind, Dominic version 1.0. As they do with many things, they make a decision to punch stuff because they might as well.
The Tranquility, Cenril Wharf
Khitti || “He’s not coming back and we need to deal with Vylyra soon,” Khitti said as she furiously beat a bunch of eggs in a bowl. “You remember how tired Onyx got after they dealt with Amarrah’s heart and tried protecting the ship from all the hell Facilier unleashed.” Never mind the fact that this was an entirely different Onyx who very well could have stronger magic than the other did. Khitti didn’t care about that though. “Who knows how long this Onyx will last. And you didn’t see the look on Lionel’s face when he found out that prisoner was Briar. That whole thing is about as bad as me running into Amarrah again.” Butter was popping away in the cast iron skillet and the eggs were finally thrown into the pan before Khitti shifted her attention to the bacon that begged to be flipped.
Brand slurped an ice cube out of his orange juice and monched it into pieces. “That doesn’t make any gorram sense, though. Briar. The armada. Kahran’s achin’ willy for this place. And it’s all connected to Lionel one way or another. He can’t just -leave-. Besides, we’re ‘family’.” Brand raised up his hands in a pair of air quotes, simultaneously using one to block a stuffed chicken projectile. Dominic, strapped in a nearby high chair, worked himself up towards a shrieking cry until Brand placed the chicken back within the toddler’s grasp. Cue chicken projectile. Repeat. Brand, at this point, could continue the cycle without even looking Dominic’s way.
Khitti || “Well, at this point, it looks like we’re one less family member… -again-,” Khitti said, shrugging as she plated the food for all three of them and set it on the table. “Frakking fine by me. I’ve got an entire continent to worry about now too beyond just you two and Meri and Fleur..” She angrily muttered to herself about the plague, the blockade in Venturil, and various other things she had to deal with as she sat down in her chair; her right eye might’ve even been twitching too. “Dominic. Stop hitting your dad and eat your eggs,” Khitti said, attempting to hide the first smirk she’d had all morning. “You’re gonna regret doing that, once you get older, kid.” Dominic just blinked up at her cutely before tearing into his eggs like a caveman--if it hadn’t been clear before that he was their son, it definitely was now, especially with the way he was eating. “I’m sure Kahran will frak off elsewhere too now. Gotta go where Lionel does, you know. If it wasn’t for the fact that we’ve seen them both multiple times in the same place, I’d almost entertain the thought of whether or not Lionel was just nuts and was dressing up as Kahran or something.”
Brand || “Eh, no, he’s not the type. Plenty of folks here already who’ll antagonize the populace. Don’t think they need any help there.” Brand spoke through a mouthful of bacon. Delicious, juicy bacon. Mmm. He was so enraptured by it that he missed when Dominic lobbed a bit of scrambled egg toward his face. It clung onto his beard like a man to a liferaft. Only… much fuzzier.
Khitti caught the sight of flying egg out of the corner of her eye and watched as Brand just continued on auto-pilot and slammed that bacon down his throat like it was a shot of whiskey. “You know… if I knew you grew eggs on your face, I would’ve been able to do a lot less cooking these past few years.” She devoured her own food in time, mulling over things, occasionally casting a glance towards the kid. “Can we just… find a magical way to poof him a few years older? I think I’d probably feel better about this whole Vylyra thing then. You’d be able to teach him how to use his magic and he’d be able to take care of himself if something happened. Bashing people with chickens isn’t exactly useful.” She sighed and eventually got around to drinking her own juice.
Brand took a moment to catch on, but once he did he’d rubbed the egg off his face in a jiffy. He couldn’t even muster any real admonishment toward Dominic, just a sigh and a mild eyeroll. “I dunno. That sounds like a good way to get someone real frakked in the head.” Insinuating the kid wasn’t already. Or wasn’t going to be. Brand knew what Dominic looked like in their weird, semi-prophetic dreams. And it certainly wasn’t Brand’s idea of a normal child -- but then, what would someone like him know about ‘normal’? “Besides, you never know. If he gets those illusionist powers like his namesake, he could sure spook the hell out of people with some phantom chickens.” He glugged down a few bites of egg, pondering the thought. “No, would have to call him a ‘poultrygeist.’ ”
Khitti || “Don’t jinx it. This family’s had enough curses to deal with for the next millennia; we don’t need to add another to it. It’s bad enough he got your magic well before his first birthday. His predecessor would be rolling in his grave if he had one, if he knew he had not only elemental magic but illusions too. And we still don’t even frakking know if that dark magic gem contraption Facilier had shot at me did anything to him. Just because Lennier hasn’t found anything doesn’t mean a damn thing,” Khitti said, pushing her plate away. “That bitch down in your cargo hold isn’t making me feel any less anxious about anything dark magic-related either and I’m tired of having to worry about things. She reeks of all the things Kahran’s given to his other generals. The anti-magic shield. The ability to walk away from a goddamned fireball to the face, even after that shield is gone, and not get a scratch on her. Who knows what the frak else, what with her being able to overpower my holy magic.”
Brand || “The power to calculate my business taxes, hopefully? If so, I’ll have her as part of my crew within the week.” Brand smirked, but it soon gave way to something more serious. “The kid would have a heart attack if he could see his doppleganger now. It’s something I’ve been thinkin’ about a lot since he damn near burned our house down. Wonder what he’d make of it all… though, probably, he’d just be glad he doesn’t have to deal with any of this nonsense.”
Khitti || Time for the disapproving mom-face, Brand. You brought this on yourself. He’s lucky though because Khitti eventually let the barest hint of a smirk emerge as he went on about Dominic 1.0. “I don’t want to have to think about dealing with both of them at the same time. I think, at that point, I’d give you the ring back, tell you to marry your ship, and go live in a cave somewhere.” The redhead dwelled on it for a few moments, a frown eventually making itself known, “Am I a bad person for being okay with him being gone now…?” It’d been something she’d occasionally think about, but never actually voiced it beyond their talk in Vailkrin way back when. But that probably didn’t even count; Brand had been tripping on spider venom at the time, after all.
Brand || “Not unless we’re both bad people -- which is entirely possible.” A fleeting smirk, again. “I dunno. The whole thing was so weird, even for the kind of lives we lead. It seems more like a dream now, and definitely not something I could explain to someone who wasn’t there for it.” Brand took a sip of juice, contemplating further. “As far as I can tell, it was his decision to leave and there’s no reason to feel bad for something we had no control over. Who knows if we’ll ever figure out the reality of it, but it seems to me that he frakked off because he wasn’t happy with the way things were going, the kind of life he was gonna have to live if he wanted to continue being involved with either one of us. To whatever degree he was his own separate entity, that was his choice to make. And he’d already put up with me for frak knows how long.” Another pause. “Ha. Listen to me. I’ve been reading too many of Lennier’s philosophy books.”
Khitti set both elbows on the table, using her hands to prop up her head as she eyed the wall across from her, “The idea of sitting around in a nice house drinking tea and reading books all day, in the beginning, seemed like a good one--especially after literally not having a home in over a decade. But… Look at how I got in that damn dragon cave. And being confined to the room in Frostmaw. Or even just those last few weeks of the pregnancy. He would’ve gotten sick of me and left anyway regardless of whether or not you were here.” She moved one arm from its spot to reach over and push playfully at his shoulder. “S’pose you were right all along and that whole thing was doomed from the beginning anyway.”
Brand || “Of course,” said Brand, smugly. “I’m always right.” He finished his plate with one last bite, and almost immediately began clearing the table. “Time to deal with Vylyra, then? I’ll have Dozla watch Dominic again. And give her our will just in case Kahran’s bitch successfully murders us all this time.”
Khitti smirked at Brand, “I already regret saying that.” He wasn’t right -all- the time, but it was certainly more times than Khitti liked to admit. As he dealt with the dishes, Khitti scooped Dominic up out of his highchair and brushed away any stray egg to be swept up later, “Come on, kid. You don’t get to be the only one that’s going to be bashing away at people with blunt objects today.”