Flint Madden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flint_garou) wrote2012-07-09 10:40 pm
flint_garou) wrote2012-07-09 10:40 pm
Family.
Here, now. Now is all we have.
9 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (60% full).
The late hour finds lights still on in the breakroom, the small light in the kitchen and one of the lamps near the couch, and Flint's not-quite fallen asleep on the couch. Sketchbook and a novel both are slightly askew in his lap, a plate from whatever he'd had for dinner still on the coffee table next to him.
Rina comes in alone, her helmet hanging from one hand. And, for once, she walks straight to the wall. That wall.
Flint stirs ever so slightly, but not enough for the teen to open his eyes. Just enough for him to pull his sweatshirt a little more and settle into the couch.
Rina drops to her knees, the helmet set on the floor beside her.
Flint wakes with a soft rustle of the books from his lap, and another very quiet sound noting Rina's presence, but the cliath doesn't interrupt. Flint sets the sketchbook and novel onto the coffee table, swings his legs over the side of the couch and does his absolute best to entirely stifle a yawn into the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
Far enough behind her that Rina couldn't have heard him on the stairs, Kavi emerges from the stairwell. He pauses, though his original intent seems to be to head down the long hall, but he turns to the breakroom, instead. His brow furrows as he steps beyond the threshold and he moves directly to Rina, and drops down beside her.
The woman's shoulders shake once, hard, before Kavi enters. She's still, after that, shaking a little, both hands fisted in her lap.
Flint glances as Kavi enters, and the younger galliard moves to his feet, plate carried to the kitchen in such silence as he can manage, and then attention turns back to Rina. "Rina?" The question is very quiet, and then quieter yet, Flint adds, "Mom?"
Kavi doesn't reach out to touch, at first, just watches, but the more he sees, the more his breathing changes, each breath shallow and tight. His hand leaves his own side, reaching for her far shoulder just as Flint speaks, and he freezes at the sound.
A choked, terrible sound comes from Rina's throat, and she curls further into herself, shoulders hunching.
Flint winces, doesn't move towards Kavi and Rina, and leans back against the counter. Concern furrows the teen's brow.
"Shhh," Kavi whispers and completes the gesture. He turns a little toward Rina, and his arm wraps around her to pull her against him. "I'm here."
"I can't," Rina whispers. "I can't—"
Flint pulls his arms around himself and walks, quietly, over to the side a few feet off from Kavi and Rina, space given but concern still furrowing the teen's brow and keeping him in the room.
Kavi shakes his head softly and shifts down off of his knees for the greater stability and openness of a seated position. He brings his other arm up to pull her into his embrace. "I'm here," he whispers again. "I'm still here."
The woman's shoulders heave with voiceless sobs, only the noise of her breath making any sound.
Flint sinks to sit, leaning against an open section of wall, the base of a building at the very edge of the mural.
Kavi's gaze ticks up toward Flint and he swallows, bowing his head again over Rina's. His arms wrap all the tighter. "We're here," he breathes, a soft sound, barely heard. "Tell me? Tell us what… what happened?"
Rina gives a small shake of her head, rocking slowly in Kavi's arms.
Flint pulls his knees to his chest and leans against the wall. "We. We're here," the teen affirms quietly, not much above audible.
Kavi moves with her, even as his arms hold tight. "It's okay," he whispers, bowing his head close to hers. "It will be okay." He swallows again and falls silent for a while, just holding tight.
Rina seems to cry herself out in Kavi's arms, voiceless sobs that shake her shoulders. There are probably guns and bits of circuit board poking at him.
Flint is quiet, head tilting upwards to look at the wall, occasionally looking back down at Kavi, and at Rina.
He's done this before, that much is clear, and the arms and armor she wears don't seem to disturb him. The strength in his injured arm may be somewhat diminished, but even so, he doesn't seem inclined to let go. "Shhhh," he whispers again as she quiets. "Tea?" he asks, still mostly a whisper. "Or home?"
Rina gives a tiny nod. "Tea makes everything better," she says, a hoarse dullness in her voice.
Flint pushes to his feet. "I'll start tea, Kavi-rhya," the cliath offers, moving to the kitchen to put up the kettle without waiting for a response.
Kavi looks up without lifting his head, the tiny nod of acceptance only barely visible. "I love you," he whispers as the cliath steps away, though there's no release in his embrace.
Rina whispers something, as she huddles in Kavi's arms.
Flint goes about setting the kettle and taking down three cups in near-silence. The humming is very quiet, unobtrusive.
Kavi's breath shudders and his arms pull all the tighter, unmindful of the sharp angles that drive into his skin. "I'm sorry," he answers, a whisper that still carries across the room. "I'm sorry."
"I— could never give him—" Rina's voice is hoarse, a ghost.
Flint doesn't turn back, unobtrusive except for the strains of the humming, and even those are barely voiced. The cabinet opens, and the cliath gets down the tea.
"I'm sorry," Kavi whispers again and then shakes his head. "It's not—" He swallows and looks back across toward the kitchen. Catching his lip between his teeth, he returns to Rina. "I'm sorry."
"I failed them," Rina whispers. "Cat and Devon and Flint, I failed them—"
Flint sets the cups down again from something, and moves over, sitting down across from Kavi and Rina. The cliath looks to her for a moment, and then looks down at the floor. "Mom," he repeats, ever so quietly. There's a certainty in Flint's tone that's never there when he just addresses Rina by name. "'s… 's gonna. Be. Okay."
"Never," Kavi whispers before Flint arrives. "You never did." He looks up as Flint arrives, and when the boy speaks, he tightens his embrace again.
Rina lifts her head to look at Flint, her face ravaged by tears. "I wasn't there," she says, choked and hoarse. "I don't deserve it when I wasn't there f'you. When you needed me."
Flint glances from Rina, to Kavi, and back to Rina again, then takes a deep breath. "You do," Flint insists, very quietly. "You. You're… still. All the family," and he looks at the elder galliard, including him in the statement, "I have." The teen catches his lips in his teeth. "And still, more than. You deserve it, a. Helluva, lot. More. Than, than—" Flint's breath catches, and he silences, knees pulling up to his chest.
Kavi stays silent, now, letting the younger galliard answer. He nods, once, as Flint speaks, but otherwise remains still except to maintain his embrace.
Rina shakes her head swiftly, lowering her gaze. "I don't deserve anything," she says roughly. "I wasn't here when you needed me the most."
Flint pulls in a breath, steadying himself. "Here— here now," Flint says, in response. "What matters is, right now, and. And knowing," the cliath continues, "that, now." There's another, much longer pause. "And, what. I… can't, if, you really. But what I need—" the words from the teen choke, "now, is that you're my mom. Because. Because as much as I understand, the word, you. You are. More'n I ever had reason to, to use the word, ever, before. And, that. That won't change."
Somewhere in the middle of this speech—because, for Flint, it really is a speech—the kin lifts her head. Shimmering dark eyes focus on him, and she's completely silent. One hand comes up, the heel of it pressed against her mouth for the space of a breath, another.
Flint pulls his knees more tightly to his chest when he's done speaking, and looks at Rina, blinking back emotion until he can speak again. "A-and," Flint adds, pausing for breath, "it. All the understanding I have, of the word, and. It. It's… because, of you." And then Flint's gaze goes past Rina and to Kavi, and the cliath unlocks his hands from around his knees, re-intertwines them once more.
There's nothing the older galliard can add to that, and he doesn't try. Still holding Rina close, he looks up to Flint and offers an appreciative, if fleeting, smile.
Rina lets out a gasping breath, and pulls in another. The tears well up again, and spill without a sound; she doesn't look away from the boy's face.
Gaze is returned, though Flint's blinking back tears as if it does any good, keeping tight hold on his own emotions as needed. "'sokay, mom," he says, at the quietest above a whisper. "'sokay."
Kavi's hold slowly releases, and he touches a kiss to Rina's cheek. "Go," he breathes. "Go to him."
It doesn't require much; rocking forward and shifting one knee, really, brings Rina close enough to Flint's side, where she kneels next to him and wraps both arms around the boy, head bowing over his own. Some stupid piece of circuit-board pokes him in the arm.
Whatever had been holding back the teen's own tears on the subject stops, and ever so slightly, Flint leans back into the hug, hands unclenching from around his knees to wrap up and over hers. And he's getting tears on her shirt and shoulder, though they're happy tears as much as can be told.
Kavi watches for just a moment, and another swallow takes his breath. His eyes close and he rises before they open again, moving to the kitchen to pour the water for the tea.
"Thank you," Rina whispers, holding the teenager quietly. She touches a chaste kiss to the top of his head. "Thank you."
Flint squeezes Rina's arm that he's hugging, and nods. It takes a long minute for the tears to end and the grip to loosen. "Mmhm," is the acknowledgement that he manages, with another nod.
Three mugs in hand, Kavi passes the table and moves all the way to the floor before the memorial. He drops down, slowly, to sit cross-legged before the others, and carefully sets each of the mugs at his side.
Rina draws away only slowly, settling back onto her heels and drying her tears with a swift gesture. "You can call me that anytime," she says hoarsely. "I promise I won't always cry, even."
Flint catches the drawstring of his hoodie in his mouth a moment as he uses the hood to wipe his eyes, and there's a glimmer of a true smile on the boy's face, and he shifts to sit crosslegged rather than drawn into the smallest ball he can make himself into. He starts to say something, pauses, and takes a deep breath, and the second try actually gives voice to words. "Thanks," he murmurs.
Kavi looks down, away, a wave of tension passing over him. He doesn't speak, but after a moment he lifts a mug and holds it out to Rina, gesturing to another for Flint with a nod of his head.
Rina takes up a position between the two of them, sitting cross-legged and taking her drink from Kavi, cradling it in both hands. She's silent for a while.
Flint leans over, and it takes a moment for Flint's hands to steady enough to wrap around the cup of tea, and straighten again. There's just a nod, before he picks the mug up to take small sips from it, no words perhaps left for the evening, since once he opens his mouth to speak and then just shakes his head, quickly.
Kavi watches Rina, worry still etched in his features. He reaches out, a gentle touch to her hand, and then retrieves his own mug and his attention turns more inward.
"Here I always figured it was you guys that were related," Rina murmurs, and takes a sip of her tea.
Flint catches his lower lip in his teeth, and then catches the drawstring from the hood of his sweatshirt again, hands wrapping around the cup of tea.
Kavi sips from his mug, lifting his gaze only after to look to Rina, and from Rina to Flint. He offers a smile, more tentative, that lasts only until his gaze returns to his tea.
"Flint?" Rina asks, quietly. She drinks, watching him.
Flint toys with the string to the hood of his sweatshirt a moment longer, then lets it go, and glances from his tea, to Rina. "I… y-yeah?" There's a smile, though, as Flint takes a long sip of the tea now that it's cooled such to do so. Another pause, and the younger galliard nods once. "Yeah." Same word, entirely different meaning, affirmative and positive this time, even though there's no increase in volume.
Kavi simply watches, his gaze traveling back and forth between the others over the rim of his mug. He sips slowly, and some of the tension in him begins to ease.
Rina smiles a little in answer. "Anytime," she says simply. An entire conversation in those few scant words… but she seems content with it, relaxing a little as she glances down again.
Flint nods again, and glances to Kavi, briefly, and then turns his cup about in his hands before sipping his tea again.
9 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (60% full).
The late hour finds lights still on in the breakroom, the small light in the kitchen and one of the lamps near the couch, and Flint's not-quite fallen asleep on the couch. Sketchbook and a novel both are slightly askew in his lap, a plate from whatever he'd had for dinner still on the coffee table next to him.
Rina comes in alone, her helmet hanging from one hand. And, for once, she walks straight to the wall. That wall.
Flint stirs ever so slightly, but not enough for the teen to open his eyes. Just enough for him to pull his sweatshirt a little more and settle into the couch.
Rina drops to her knees, the helmet set on the floor beside her.
Flint wakes with a soft rustle of the books from his lap, and another very quiet sound noting Rina's presence, but the cliath doesn't interrupt. Flint sets the sketchbook and novel onto the coffee table, swings his legs over the side of the couch and does his absolute best to entirely stifle a yawn into the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
Far enough behind her that Rina couldn't have heard him on the stairs, Kavi emerges from the stairwell. He pauses, though his original intent seems to be to head down the long hall, but he turns to the breakroom, instead. His brow furrows as he steps beyond the threshold and he moves directly to Rina, and drops down beside her.
The woman's shoulders shake once, hard, before Kavi enters. She's still, after that, shaking a little, both hands fisted in her lap.
Flint glances as Kavi enters, and the younger galliard moves to his feet, plate carried to the kitchen in such silence as he can manage, and then attention turns back to Rina. "Rina?" The question is very quiet, and then quieter yet, Flint adds, "Mom?"
Kavi doesn't reach out to touch, at first, just watches, but the more he sees, the more his breathing changes, each breath shallow and tight. His hand leaves his own side, reaching for her far shoulder just as Flint speaks, and he freezes at the sound.
A choked, terrible sound comes from Rina's throat, and she curls further into herself, shoulders hunching.
Flint winces, doesn't move towards Kavi and Rina, and leans back against the counter. Concern furrows the teen's brow.
"Shhh," Kavi whispers and completes the gesture. He turns a little toward Rina, and his arm wraps around her to pull her against him. "I'm here."
"I can't," Rina whispers. "I can't—"
Flint pulls his arms around himself and walks, quietly, over to the side a few feet off from Kavi and Rina, space given but concern still furrowing the teen's brow and keeping him in the room.
Kavi shakes his head softly and shifts down off of his knees for the greater stability and openness of a seated position. He brings his other arm up to pull her into his embrace. "I'm here," he whispers again. "I'm still here."
The woman's shoulders heave with voiceless sobs, only the noise of her breath making any sound.
Flint sinks to sit, leaning against an open section of wall, the base of a building at the very edge of the mural.
Kavi's gaze ticks up toward Flint and he swallows, bowing his head again over Rina's. His arms wrap all the tighter. "We're here," he breathes, a soft sound, barely heard. "Tell me? Tell us what… what happened?"
Rina gives a small shake of her head, rocking slowly in Kavi's arms.
Flint pulls his knees to his chest and leans against the wall. "We. We're here," the teen affirms quietly, not much above audible.
Kavi moves with her, even as his arms hold tight. "It's okay," he whispers, bowing his head close to hers. "It will be okay." He swallows again and falls silent for a while, just holding tight.
Rina seems to cry herself out in Kavi's arms, voiceless sobs that shake her shoulders. There are probably guns and bits of circuit board poking at him.
Flint is quiet, head tilting upwards to look at the wall, occasionally looking back down at Kavi, and at Rina.
He's done this before, that much is clear, and the arms and armor she wears don't seem to disturb him. The strength in his injured arm may be somewhat diminished, but even so, he doesn't seem inclined to let go. "Shhhh," he whispers again as she quiets. "Tea?" he asks, still mostly a whisper. "Or home?"
Rina gives a tiny nod. "Tea makes everything better," she says, a hoarse dullness in her voice.
Flint pushes to his feet. "I'll start tea, Kavi-rhya," the cliath offers, moving to the kitchen to put up the kettle without waiting for a response.
Kavi looks up without lifting his head, the tiny nod of acceptance only barely visible. "I love you," he whispers as the cliath steps away, though there's no release in his embrace.
Rina whispers something, as she huddles in Kavi's arms.
Flint goes about setting the kettle and taking down three cups in near-silence. The humming is very quiet, unobtrusive.
Kavi's breath shudders and his arms pull all the tighter, unmindful of the sharp angles that drive into his skin. "I'm sorry," he answers, a whisper that still carries across the room. "I'm sorry."
"I— could never give him—" Rina's voice is hoarse, a ghost.
Flint doesn't turn back, unobtrusive except for the strains of the humming, and even those are barely voiced. The cabinet opens, and the cliath gets down the tea.
"I'm sorry," Kavi whispers again and then shakes his head. "It's not—" He swallows and looks back across toward the kitchen. Catching his lip between his teeth, he returns to Rina. "I'm sorry."
"I failed them," Rina whispers. "Cat and Devon and Flint, I failed them—"
Flint sets the cups down again from something, and moves over, sitting down across from Kavi and Rina. The cliath looks to her for a moment, and then looks down at the floor. "Mom," he repeats, ever so quietly. There's a certainty in Flint's tone that's never there when he just addresses Rina by name. "'s… 's gonna. Be. Okay."
"Never," Kavi whispers before Flint arrives. "You never did." He looks up as Flint arrives, and when the boy speaks, he tightens his embrace again.
Rina lifts her head to look at Flint, her face ravaged by tears. "I wasn't there," she says, choked and hoarse. "I don't deserve it when I wasn't there f'you. When you needed me."
Flint glances from Rina, to Kavi, and back to Rina again, then takes a deep breath. "You do," Flint insists, very quietly. "You. You're… still. All the family," and he looks at the elder galliard, including him in the statement, "I have." The teen catches his lips in his teeth. "And still, more than. You deserve it, a. Helluva, lot. More. Than, than—" Flint's breath catches, and he silences, knees pulling up to his chest.
Kavi stays silent, now, letting the younger galliard answer. He nods, once, as Flint speaks, but otherwise remains still except to maintain his embrace.
Rina shakes her head swiftly, lowering her gaze. "I don't deserve anything," she says roughly. "I wasn't here when you needed me the most."
Flint pulls in a breath, steadying himself. "Here— here now," Flint says, in response. "What matters is, right now, and. And knowing," the cliath continues, "that, now." There's another, much longer pause. "And, what. I… can't, if, you really. But what I need—" the words from the teen choke, "now, is that you're my mom. Because. Because as much as I understand, the word, you. You are. More'n I ever had reason to, to use the word, ever, before. And, that. That won't change."
Somewhere in the middle of this speech—because, for Flint, it really is a speech—the kin lifts her head. Shimmering dark eyes focus on him, and she's completely silent. One hand comes up, the heel of it pressed against her mouth for the space of a breath, another.
Flint pulls his knees more tightly to his chest when he's done speaking, and looks at Rina, blinking back emotion until he can speak again. "A-and," Flint adds, pausing for breath, "it. All the understanding I have, of the word, and. It. It's… because, of you." And then Flint's gaze goes past Rina and to Kavi, and the cliath unlocks his hands from around his knees, re-intertwines them once more.
There's nothing the older galliard can add to that, and he doesn't try. Still holding Rina close, he looks up to Flint and offers an appreciative, if fleeting, smile.
Rina lets out a gasping breath, and pulls in another. The tears well up again, and spill without a sound; she doesn't look away from the boy's face.
Gaze is returned, though Flint's blinking back tears as if it does any good, keeping tight hold on his own emotions as needed. "'sokay, mom," he says, at the quietest above a whisper. "'sokay."
Kavi's hold slowly releases, and he touches a kiss to Rina's cheek. "Go," he breathes. "Go to him."
It doesn't require much; rocking forward and shifting one knee, really, brings Rina close enough to Flint's side, where she kneels next to him and wraps both arms around the boy, head bowing over his own. Some stupid piece of circuit-board pokes him in the arm.
Whatever had been holding back the teen's own tears on the subject stops, and ever so slightly, Flint leans back into the hug, hands unclenching from around his knees to wrap up and over hers. And he's getting tears on her shirt and shoulder, though they're happy tears as much as can be told.
Kavi watches for just a moment, and another swallow takes his breath. His eyes close and he rises before they open again, moving to the kitchen to pour the water for the tea.
"Thank you," Rina whispers, holding the teenager quietly. She touches a chaste kiss to the top of his head. "Thank you."
Flint squeezes Rina's arm that he's hugging, and nods. It takes a long minute for the tears to end and the grip to loosen. "Mmhm," is the acknowledgement that he manages, with another nod.
Three mugs in hand, Kavi passes the table and moves all the way to the floor before the memorial. He drops down, slowly, to sit cross-legged before the others, and carefully sets each of the mugs at his side.
Rina draws away only slowly, settling back onto her heels and drying her tears with a swift gesture. "You can call me that anytime," she says hoarsely. "I promise I won't always cry, even."
Flint catches the drawstring of his hoodie in his mouth a moment as he uses the hood to wipe his eyes, and there's a glimmer of a true smile on the boy's face, and he shifts to sit crosslegged rather than drawn into the smallest ball he can make himself into. He starts to say something, pauses, and takes a deep breath, and the second try actually gives voice to words. "Thanks," he murmurs.
Kavi looks down, away, a wave of tension passing over him. He doesn't speak, but after a moment he lifts a mug and holds it out to Rina, gesturing to another for Flint with a nod of his head.
Rina takes up a position between the two of them, sitting cross-legged and taking her drink from Kavi, cradling it in both hands. She's silent for a while.
Flint leans over, and it takes a moment for Flint's hands to steady enough to wrap around the cup of tea, and straighten again. There's just a nod, before he picks the mug up to take small sips from it, no words perhaps left for the evening, since once he opens his mouth to speak and then just shakes his head, quickly.
Kavi watches Rina, worry still etched in his features. He reaches out, a gentle touch to her hand, and then retrieves his own mug and his attention turns more inward.
"Here I always figured it was you guys that were related," Rina murmurs, and takes a sip of her tea.
Flint catches his lower lip in his teeth, and then catches the drawstring from the hood of his sweatshirt again, hands wrapping around the cup of tea.
Kavi sips from his mug, lifting his gaze only after to look to Rina, and from Rina to Flint. He offers a smile, more tentative, that lasts only until his gaze returns to his tea.
"Flint?" Rina asks, quietly. She drinks, watching him.
Flint toys with the string to the hood of his sweatshirt a moment longer, then lets it go, and glances from his tea, to Rina. "I… y-yeah?" There's a smile, though, as Flint takes a long sip of the tea now that it's cooled such to do so. Another pause, and the younger galliard nods once. "Yeah." Same word, entirely different meaning, affirmative and positive this time, even though there's no increase in volume.
Kavi simply watches, his gaze traveling back and forth between the others over the rim of his mug. He sips slowly, and some of the tension in him begins to ease.
Rina smiles a little in answer. "Anytime," she says simply. An entire conversation in those few scant words… but she seems content with it, relaxing a little as she glances down again.
Flint nods again, and glances to Kavi, briefly, and then turns his cup about in his hands before sipping his tea again.