Stuff that happened.
Friday, 27 January 2012 19:00![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flint_garouYou need to be able to explain it.
27 January, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (28% full).
Flint's been in the breakroom much of the afternoon, and well into the evening, the cub's now curled on the couch with a book, iPod and headphones. However, he's far from as lost in thought as he was earlier, situated so that he can see the entrance to the breakroom over the edge of the volume that has most of his attention right now.
Kavi steps through the stairwell door and into the hall. He pauses, glancing down the length toward the fire escape at the far end, but then turns toward the breakroom, instead. Spotting Flint, he lifts a hand in greeting. "Hey," he says, and then stops, the corner of his lower lip pulled between his teeth.
Book is set aside as Flint glances up, a faint smile offered to Kavi as he pulls off headphones. The iPod and headphones form a small pile with the book, next to him, though Flint doesn't get up yet. "Hey Kavi-rhya," the boy calls out, quietly but enough for the words to carry across the room.
Kavi nods at something, the corner of his lip still captured. It scrapes free as the galliard moves the rest of the way into the room, and he draws in a breath. "I talked to Javid," he says as he settles on the edge of the chair across from Flint.
Flint nods, looking up and across to Kavi. "Yeah?" It's half a question, half an acknowledgement, as the boy purses his lips for a moment, which turns into a longer pause of silence, followed by a very, very quiet addition to what the cub had already said. "Thanks."
Kavi shakes his head, gaze dipping downward and then rising, again. "He tried to make excuses. He didn't understand. I told him — He's not allowed to talk to you, to go near any Glass Walker cubs, until he performs the Rite of Contrition to you."
Flint tilts his head to the side, watching Kavi again. The cub shifts in his seat and fidgets, though, obviously not fully comprehending.
"It's a ritual," Kavi says softly. "Like the one I showed you for cleaning my gun. Like the one that Mouse did for Devon, when he was ready to become Cliath. It's a ritual for… For admitting you were wrong, for apologizing. What he did— How he treated you? That was wrong, and it's against our laws. And he should apologize. Formally. Through that rite."
Flint nods again, this time with understanding more evident. "Right," the boy says, lips pursing briefly once more, as Flint busies himself for a moment moving the book and iPod more fully to the side and out of the way. "Thanks, Kavi-rhya." The second thanks is again, very quiet tones from the cub.
Kavi nods, and after a moment's hesitation, he rises, and moves into the kitchen.
There is a moment of waiting, before Flint pushes himself up off of the couch and follows, moving over to lean against the table. "I think I've got mostly the hang of the database and the computer stuff, now," Flint says, thumbs hooking into his pockets. "I worked on it some more, earlier this afternoon."
Kavi pulls two glasses from the cupboard and starts pouring water. He glances up as Flint speaks, and a small smile forms. "Good," he says. "That's good."
"And I read through everything that's in the database so far to familiarise myself with it," the boy adds, manner brightening a little bit more. "Then spent a bit of time playing with the typing site thing, too."
Kavi nods, and picks up the glasses and hands one across to Flint as he returns. "What did you think?"
The cup is taken in both hands, and Flint tilts his head to the side a moment. "I kept feeling like there was a pattern just out of my reach," he says, before taking a sip of water. "I flagged a few of the points of major events and change, though, could be worth looking again there, see if those form a pattern or at least are helpful."
Kavi nods and sinks into the chair. "Skokiaan— The Sphinx totem for Fidelity? She helps us to see patterns and things like that. Maybe… You could show me, later."
Flint nods, stretching slightly before sitting down once more. "Of course," Flint responds. "And they're flagged with notes as to reasons, because I wasn't sure I could remember why I flagged them otherwise. A shrug follows, and the boy turns the glass around in his hands a few times. "And I was distracted a little, trying to figure out the half a tune that's been going through my head." At that, the boy grins a bit more, relaxing somewhat.
Kavi sips from his glass and looks over the rim at the boy. "Did you figure it out?" he asks after a beat.
"Kinda," Flint says, head tilting to the side again, before he grins. "I dunno, I'm still missing a piece of the tune in the middle, I think, and it's not like I've got a reason to it other than that the tune is well and stuck in my head."
Kavi nods slowly, and his brow pulls downward, thoughtful. "Is it… Is it a modern tune? One you heard, maybe on the radio?"
Flint shakes his head almost immediately in answer to the question. "No," he says. "Don't think so, at least, just…" the words trail off, replaced by wordless singing, in a clear, soft soprano voice, turns and a faintly lilting melody for several bars, until it stops, and Flint shrugs, looking over at Kavi when he's quiet.
Kavi listens, and his head tips just a fraction to the side. When the song stops, his lips purse, just briefly, and there's a slight furrow to his brow. "Sing that again."
The cub nods, pausing and taking another sip from his cup of water. Then, Flint starts again, with a little more confidence and volume to the singing. The same few bars are repeated, a bit of a pause, and he then continues for another few bars, longer than the first section, though the missing section of melody in the middle is evident.
Kavi picks up before the boy comes to the end, this time, but he continues on even after. At first, he sings as Flint did, wordlessly, but after a moment the Glass Walker rolls back around to the beginning of the phrase, and he starts the song from the beginning, lyrics telling of Back to the Wall, a galliard of their tribe, and his heroic defense of a city based caern, over a hundred years ago.
Flint blinks a few times as the older Galliard picks up the melody, settling in to watch Kavi and listen to the song, and then quietly humming along as Kavi sings.
Kavi continues on, through the chorus, and the verses, his own clear tenor blending well with the cub's brighter pitch. Eventually, the song comes to a conclusion, and Kavi falls silent, studying Flint closely.
The cub falls silent, before humming all the way through the whole melody as if to not forget the middle part of it. And then Flint falls silent again, lips pursing. "It's been stuck in my head for almost a week," he offers, quiet again.
"I. I don't think I sang that one, for you," Kavi says, the furrow in his brow deepening further.
Flint tilts his head to the side, and then shakes his head after a long pause. "I think you're right," the cub says, though there's no further explanation.
The older galliard takes a sip from his glass, and then another before looking down at the contents. "Where did— Did someone else sing it?"
Another headshake, and Flint glances up at Kavi after. "No." The boy pauses, gaze moving to the ceiling, then back down to his lap. "No, definitely not." Then Flint shrugs. "Like I said, it's been stuck in my head?"
Kavi watches Flint closely for a long while as he sips from his glass. "Do you… Do you remember other things? Things that haven't happened. To you?"
"Bits and pieces, sometimes," Flint says, head tilted to the side for a moment, watching Kavi in return. The boy turns the now half-full glass of water in his hand a few times.
Kavi nods. He looks again into his glass and then sets it aside. "Tell me about it? About… About some of the things you remember?"
Flint nods, taking another sip of water first. "It's all bits and pieces, really," the cub says. "Scraps of melodies, while I'm not doing anything else, or, day to day things. I … When you taught me the litany, the first time, it was like I'd heard it before. Even though I hadn't, and all." Flint's gaze drifts back to Kavi again, from where it had rested in his lap while he spoke.
Kavi lets his teeth scrape across his lower lip as he listens, and he nods again when the cub is done. "Do you ever… Are there people? In your memories? Names, or faces?"
Flint considers this question for a good while, turning the cup in his hand by the edge. "People, sometimes," Flint eventually comes up with, a rather quiet answer. "Faces, sometimes, but no names. Most of the memories, aren't even a whole memory by itself." He pauses, and shrugs. "Like how, part of the melody, but none of the words."
Kavi nods, and after a moment he smiles softly. "We should go over the creeds, again," he says, changing the subject rather dramatically. "Do you remember what it means to have glory?"
Flint sets the cup of water aside entirely now, onto the table and out of the way. A nod from the cub follows, head tilted half to look at his lap, half to watch Kavi. "Yes, Kavi-rhya," he says, a pause, before the creed is murmured in a halting undertone unbidden. "I shall be valorous. I shall be dependable. I shall be generous. I shall protect the weak. I shall slay the Wyrm."
Kavi listens, but when Flint is done, he says, "Again. You had… It was right, but. Say it again, until it's like a song and all the lyrics are smooth."
Flint nods, sitting up straight and all the way. There's a pause, exhale, inhale, before the cub starts again. The words are still quiet, but this time has none of the halting pauses of the first time, and his gaze rests somewhere in Kavi's direction, though he's not looking directly at the older galliard. "I shall be valorous. I shall be dependable. I shall be generous. I shall protect the weak. I shall slay the Wyrm."
Kavi smiles at that, and nods once at the end. "What… When you say generous? What do you think that means?"
The cub pauses, giving thought to his answer, and glances directly to Kavi for a moment. "It means, doing things — for others, giving — behaving in whatever manner, without expecting something in return for it?" At the end of the answer, Flint glances up at Kavi again.
"Doing things, giving," Kavi repeats, and offers a nod of approval. "Thinking of others. Understanding that… That we aren't alone, and that we aren't meant to be alone. That we need to take care of the pack."
Flint nods, attentive as the older galliard speaks. There's a brief twinge in the boy's expression, but it's not negative, merely understanding hitting something and giving the cub a long moment of pause. "Right," he says, eventually, a tentative half-smile following the words.
"What about Honor?" Kavi asks, and he reaches for his glass again.
There's no fidgeting left anymore, as it's been replaced by concentration and thought, and Flint looks up from his lap. "I shall be respectful. I shall be loyal. I shall be just. I shall live by my word. I shall accept fair challenges." The words flow smoothly this time, with the barest hint of emphasis placed on each quality.
Kavi sits across from the cub, a glass half-full with water in his hands. He smiles at the boy's recitation, and then asks, "What does it mean to be respectful?"
Rina comes in quietly, dressed in loose knits as if she's been working out. There's a dampness down her back. She smiles faintly, as she heads for the fridge.
Flint chews on his lip a moment, a glance and a nod given to Rina when she enters, though his attention is almost entirely on the lesson at hand. "Being respectful, it's…" a very brief pause, and the boy continues, words chosen carefully in his answer, though there's also a hint of distance to his expression. "Behaving right towards, not just those of higher station, but everyone. But also, respectful with regard to rank." Lips purse, as though Flint's not done with what he wants to say, but simply lacks the appropriate wording to define the concept as he's come to understand it, and he falls silent.
Kavi listens closely, though Rina's entry steals a measure of his attention. His gaze follows the kin toward the kitchen, returning only as the boy pauses. He nods once, but doesn't give any verbal feedback.
Rina fetches a glass of water, and glances briefly over her shoulder.
The cub's silence continues for a moment, which stretches into a long moment. "I…" and then Flint shakes his head, just once, gaze settling in his lap as he speaks again. "I understand it, and I have been starting to understand it more, beyond the thinking understanding," he says, " and into doing understanding, but I don't have the right words for what it means, besides what I already said." Lips purse briefly, and the cub watches the older galliard, albeit without fully looking up.
Kavi accepts the boy's answer with a nod, but he leans forward a little in his seat. "I want— You should think about it, more. Think… Think about the actions, and what they mean. Think about… about what Javid did, and why that wasn't respectful. You're a galliard, and. You need to be able to explain it. If you can't explain it with words? Then… Then use a story. Or a song."
Rina comes to them, moving to sit close to Kavi. Rina's silent for a moment, and then she leans forward a bit. "You can't always feel respect for your elders. What happens when one of them acts in a way that's contrary to what you believe is right? Someone above you. What's your course of action?"
Flint nods, looking up at the ceiling and then back down at his lap, though it's not quite fidgeting. Head tilts to the side when Rina speaks, and the cub glances to her. "There's still a right way to act," Flint says, answering Rina's question, words quiet but less halting now. "And a way to be respectful in the disagreement, or putting it aside entirely until there is an appro- appropriate time or… avenue to bring it up." Brow furrows a moment, and Flint looks up from his lap again.
Kavi reaches out to Rina's hand as she speaks, and he looks to her as the cub responds. The smile he turns to Flint is small, but it shows genuine approval for his answer. "Do you think— When you were with Javid, did you do that?"
Rina listens, sitting back a little and watching them as she drinks.
"Not as … well as I could have," Flint says, reaching for his glass of water and then taking a few small sips from it before he continues speaking. "I didn't bring up to him the disagreement directly, even after he was rude, and I … was respectful, in my actions towards him and my behaviour." Head bows and gaze falls to his lap and the glass of water.
Kavi drinks down the last of his water and sets the glass aside. He looks to Rina, watching her for a moment before he turns back to the cub. "Would you change what you did? If… If it happened again?"
Flint purses his lips, head tilting to the side in thought, though his gaze remains lowered. "I'm not sure," he admits, after the long pause of thought. "I know I could have done it better, even… even still not doing what Javid… what he demanded. I mean, Rori was in the kitchen, right there."
Rina's brow furrows as she listens—she clearly doesn't have the story.
Kavi just watches as the cub thinks, listens to his answer, and after a while, offers a single nod. "Okay. It's… That's enough. For now." Picking up his empty glass, he rises and holds out a hand toward Rina's. "Do you want more?"
Flint nods slowly, and the boy watches Kavi get up, slumping back in his seat a very little bit. "'kay," the acknowledgement comes, quiet but still easily audible. He still has his fingers interlocked around his own cup of water, and another small sip is taken.
Startled, Rina shakes her head. "I'm good," she answers. "What happened?"
Kavi makes the same offer to Flint, holding out a hand for his glass. "You could tell her," he says. "Maybe. Maybe explain it, through the creeds."
Flint pauses a moment, before the glass is held up and offered to Kavi, with a slow nod of thanks. "I was at Edgewood, on… Wednesday," the boy says, turning to Rina. "Javid was there, and Rori, and Rori had been in the kitchen …"
27 January, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (28% full).
Flint's been in the breakroom much of the afternoon, and well into the evening, the cub's now curled on the couch with a book, iPod and headphones. However, he's far from as lost in thought as he was earlier, situated so that he can see the entrance to the breakroom over the edge of the volume that has most of his attention right now.
Kavi steps through the stairwell door and into the hall. He pauses, glancing down the length toward the fire escape at the far end, but then turns toward the breakroom, instead. Spotting Flint, he lifts a hand in greeting. "Hey," he says, and then stops, the corner of his lower lip pulled between his teeth.
Book is set aside as Flint glances up, a faint smile offered to Kavi as he pulls off headphones. The iPod and headphones form a small pile with the book, next to him, though Flint doesn't get up yet. "Hey Kavi-rhya," the boy calls out, quietly but enough for the words to carry across the room.
Kavi nods at something, the corner of his lip still captured. It scrapes free as the galliard moves the rest of the way into the room, and he draws in a breath. "I talked to Javid," he says as he settles on the edge of the chair across from Flint.
Flint nods, looking up and across to Kavi. "Yeah?" It's half a question, half an acknowledgement, as the boy purses his lips for a moment, which turns into a longer pause of silence, followed by a very, very quiet addition to what the cub had already said. "Thanks."
Kavi shakes his head, gaze dipping downward and then rising, again. "He tried to make excuses. He didn't understand. I told him — He's not allowed to talk to you, to go near any Glass Walker cubs, until he performs the Rite of Contrition to you."
Flint tilts his head to the side, watching Kavi again. The cub shifts in his seat and fidgets, though, obviously not fully comprehending.
"It's a ritual," Kavi says softly. "Like the one I showed you for cleaning my gun. Like the one that Mouse did for Devon, when he was ready to become Cliath. It's a ritual for… For admitting you were wrong, for apologizing. What he did— How he treated you? That was wrong, and it's against our laws. And he should apologize. Formally. Through that rite."
Flint nods again, this time with understanding more evident. "Right," the boy says, lips pursing briefly once more, as Flint busies himself for a moment moving the book and iPod more fully to the side and out of the way. "Thanks, Kavi-rhya." The second thanks is again, very quiet tones from the cub.
Kavi nods, and after a moment's hesitation, he rises, and moves into the kitchen.
There is a moment of waiting, before Flint pushes himself up off of the couch and follows, moving over to lean against the table. "I think I've got mostly the hang of the database and the computer stuff, now," Flint says, thumbs hooking into his pockets. "I worked on it some more, earlier this afternoon."
Kavi pulls two glasses from the cupboard and starts pouring water. He glances up as Flint speaks, and a small smile forms. "Good," he says. "That's good."
"And I read through everything that's in the database so far to familiarise myself with it," the boy adds, manner brightening a little bit more. "Then spent a bit of time playing with the typing site thing, too."
Kavi nods, and picks up the glasses and hands one across to Flint as he returns. "What did you think?"
The cup is taken in both hands, and Flint tilts his head to the side a moment. "I kept feeling like there was a pattern just out of my reach," he says, before taking a sip of water. "I flagged a few of the points of major events and change, though, could be worth looking again there, see if those form a pattern or at least are helpful."
Kavi nods and sinks into the chair. "Skokiaan— The Sphinx totem for Fidelity? She helps us to see patterns and things like that. Maybe… You could show me, later."
Flint nods, stretching slightly before sitting down once more. "Of course," Flint responds. "And they're flagged with notes as to reasons, because I wasn't sure I could remember why I flagged them otherwise. A shrug follows, and the boy turns the glass around in his hands a few times. "And I was distracted a little, trying to figure out the half a tune that's been going through my head." At that, the boy grins a bit more, relaxing somewhat.
Kavi sips from his glass and looks over the rim at the boy. "Did you figure it out?" he asks after a beat.
"Kinda," Flint says, head tilting to the side again, before he grins. "I dunno, I'm still missing a piece of the tune in the middle, I think, and it's not like I've got a reason to it other than that the tune is well and stuck in my head."
Kavi nods slowly, and his brow pulls downward, thoughtful. "Is it… Is it a modern tune? One you heard, maybe on the radio?"
Flint shakes his head almost immediately in answer to the question. "No," he says. "Don't think so, at least, just…" the words trail off, replaced by wordless singing, in a clear, soft soprano voice, turns and a faintly lilting melody for several bars, until it stops, and Flint shrugs, looking over at Kavi when he's quiet.
Kavi listens, and his head tips just a fraction to the side. When the song stops, his lips purse, just briefly, and there's a slight furrow to his brow. "Sing that again."
The cub nods, pausing and taking another sip from his cup of water. Then, Flint starts again, with a little more confidence and volume to the singing. The same few bars are repeated, a bit of a pause, and he then continues for another few bars, longer than the first section, though the missing section of melody in the middle is evident.
Kavi picks up before the boy comes to the end, this time, but he continues on even after. At first, he sings as Flint did, wordlessly, but after a moment the Glass Walker rolls back around to the beginning of the phrase, and he starts the song from the beginning, lyrics telling of Back to the Wall, a galliard of their tribe, and his heroic defense of a city based caern, over a hundred years ago.
Flint blinks a few times as the older Galliard picks up the melody, settling in to watch Kavi and listen to the song, and then quietly humming along as Kavi sings.
Kavi continues on, through the chorus, and the verses, his own clear tenor blending well with the cub's brighter pitch. Eventually, the song comes to a conclusion, and Kavi falls silent, studying Flint closely.
The cub falls silent, before humming all the way through the whole melody as if to not forget the middle part of it. And then Flint falls silent again, lips pursing. "It's been stuck in my head for almost a week," he offers, quiet again.
"I. I don't think I sang that one, for you," Kavi says, the furrow in his brow deepening further.
Flint tilts his head to the side, and then shakes his head after a long pause. "I think you're right," the cub says, though there's no further explanation.
The older galliard takes a sip from his glass, and then another before looking down at the contents. "Where did— Did someone else sing it?"
Another headshake, and Flint glances up at Kavi after. "No." The boy pauses, gaze moving to the ceiling, then back down to his lap. "No, definitely not." Then Flint shrugs. "Like I said, it's been stuck in my head?"
Kavi watches Flint closely for a long while as he sips from his glass. "Do you… Do you remember other things? Things that haven't happened. To you?"
"Bits and pieces, sometimes," Flint says, head tilted to the side for a moment, watching Kavi in return. The boy turns the now half-full glass of water in his hand a few times.
Kavi nods. He looks again into his glass and then sets it aside. "Tell me about it? About… About some of the things you remember?"
Flint nods, taking another sip of water first. "It's all bits and pieces, really," the cub says. "Scraps of melodies, while I'm not doing anything else, or, day to day things. I … When you taught me the litany, the first time, it was like I'd heard it before. Even though I hadn't, and all." Flint's gaze drifts back to Kavi again, from where it had rested in his lap while he spoke.
Kavi lets his teeth scrape across his lower lip as he listens, and he nods again when the cub is done. "Do you ever… Are there people? In your memories? Names, or faces?"
Flint considers this question for a good while, turning the cup in his hand by the edge. "People, sometimes," Flint eventually comes up with, a rather quiet answer. "Faces, sometimes, but no names. Most of the memories, aren't even a whole memory by itself." He pauses, and shrugs. "Like how, part of the melody, but none of the words."
Kavi nods, and after a moment he smiles softly. "We should go over the creeds, again," he says, changing the subject rather dramatically. "Do you remember what it means to have glory?"
Flint sets the cup of water aside entirely now, onto the table and out of the way. A nod from the cub follows, head tilted half to look at his lap, half to watch Kavi. "Yes, Kavi-rhya," he says, a pause, before the creed is murmured in a halting undertone unbidden. "I shall be valorous. I shall be dependable. I shall be generous. I shall protect the weak. I shall slay the Wyrm."
Kavi listens, but when Flint is done, he says, "Again. You had… It was right, but. Say it again, until it's like a song and all the lyrics are smooth."
Flint nods, sitting up straight and all the way. There's a pause, exhale, inhale, before the cub starts again. The words are still quiet, but this time has none of the halting pauses of the first time, and his gaze rests somewhere in Kavi's direction, though he's not looking directly at the older galliard. "I shall be valorous. I shall be dependable. I shall be generous. I shall protect the weak. I shall slay the Wyrm."
Kavi smiles at that, and nods once at the end. "What… When you say generous? What do you think that means?"
The cub pauses, giving thought to his answer, and glances directly to Kavi for a moment. "It means, doing things — for others, giving — behaving in whatever manner, without expecting something in return for it?" At the end of the answer, Flint glances up at Kavi again.
"Doing things, giving," Kavi repeats, and offers a nod of approval. "Thinking of others. Understanding that… That we aren't alone, and that we aren't meant to be alone. That we need to take care of the pack."
Flint nods, attentive as the older galliard speaks. There's a brief twinge in the boy's expression, but it's not negative, merely understanding hitting something and giving the cub a long moment of pause. "Right," he says, eventually, a tentative half-smile following the words.
"What about Honor?" Kavi asks, and he reaches for his glass again.
There's no fidgeting left anymore, as it's been replaced by concentration and thought, and Flint looks up from his lap. "I shall be respectful. I shall be loyal. I shall be just. I shall live by my word. I shall accept fair challenges." The words flow smoothly this time, with the barest hint of emphasis placed on each quality.
Kavi sits across from the cub, a glass half-full with water in his hands. He smiles at the boy's recitation, and then asks, "What does it mean to be respectful?"
Rina comes in quietly, dressed in loose knits as if she's been working out. There's a dampness down her back. She smiles faintly, as she heads for the fridge.
Flint chews on his lip a moment, a glance and a nod given to Rina when she enters, though his attention is almost entirely on the lesson at hand. "Being respectful, it's…" a very brief pause, and the boy continues, words chosen carefully in his answer, though there's also a hint of distance to his expression. "Behaving right towards, not just those of higher station, but everyone. But also, respectful with regard to rank." Lips purse, as though Flint's not done with what he wants to say, but simply lacks the appropriate wording to define the concept as he's come to understand it, and he falls silent.
Kavi listens closely, though Rina's entry steals a measure of his attention. His gaze follows the kin toward the kitchen, returning only as the boy pauses. He nods once, but doesn't give any verbal feedback.
Rina fetches a glass of water, and glances briefly over her shoulder.
The cub's silence continues for a moment, which stretches into a long moment. "I…" and then Flint shakes his head, just once, gaze settling in his lap as he speaks again. "I understand it, and I have been starting to understand it more, beyond the thinking understanding," he says, " and into doing understanding, but I don't have the right words for what it means, besides what I already said." Lips purse briefly, and the cub watches the older galliard, albeit without fully looking up.
Kavi accepts the boy's answer with a nod, but he leans forward a little in his seat. "I want— You should think about it, more. Think… Think about the actions, and what they mean. Think about… about what Javid did, and why that wasn't respectful. You're a galliard, and. You need to be able to explain it. If you can't explain it with words? Then… Then use a story. Or a song."
Rina comes to them, moving to sit close to Kavi. Rina's silent for a moment, and then she leans forward a bit. "You can't always feel respect for your elders. What happens when one of them acts in a way that's contrary to what you believe is right? Someone above you. What's your course of action?"
Flint nods, looking up at the ceiling and then back down at his lap, though it's not quite fidgeting. Head tilts to the side when Rina speaks, and the cub glances to her. "There's still a right way to act," Flint says, answering Rina's question, words quiet but less halting now. "And a way to be respectful in the disagreement, or putting it aside entirely until there is an appro- appropriate time or… avenue to bring it up." Brow furrows a moment, and Flint looks up from his lap again.
Kavi reaches out to Rina's hand as she speaks, and he looks to her as the cub responds. The smile he turns to Flint is small, but it shows genuine approval for his answer. "Do you think— When you were with Javid, did you do that?"
Rina listens, sitting back a little and watching them as she drinks.
"Not as … well as I could have," Flint says, reaching for his glass of water and then taking a few small sips from it before he continues speaking. "I didn't bring up to him the disagreement directly, even after he was rude, and I … was respectful, in my actions towards him and my behaviour." Head bows and gaze falls to his lap and the glass of water.
Kavi drinks down the last of his water and sets the glass aside. He looks to Rina, watching her for a moment before he turns back to the cub. "Would you change what you did? If… If it happened again?"
Flint purses his lips, head tilting to the side in thought, though his gaze remains lowered. "I'm not sure," he admits, after the long pause of thought. "I know I could have done it better, even… even still not doing what Javid… what he demanded. I mean, Rori was in the kitchen, right there."
Rina's brow furrows as she listens—she clearly doesn't have the story.
Kavi just watches as the cub thinks, listens to his answer, and after a while, offers a single nod. "Okay. It's… That's enough. For now." Picking up his empty glass, he rises and holds out a hand toward Rina's. "Do you want more?"
Flint nods slowly, and the boy watches Kavi get up, slumping back in his seat a very little bit. "'kay," the acknowledgement comes, quiet but still easily audible. He still has his fingers interlocked around his own cup of water, and another small sip is taken.
Startled, Rina shakes her head. "I'm good," she answers. "What happened?"
Kavi makes the same offer to Flint, holding out a hand for his glass. "You could tell her," he says. "Maybe. Maybe explain it, through the creeds."
Flint pauses a moment, before the glass is held up and offered to Kavi, with a slow nod of thanks. "I was at Edgewood, on… Wednesday," the boy says, turning to Rina. "Javid was there, and Rori, and Rori had been in the kitchen …"