Heart within the beast

[Ricia]

"Mm yeah... a pediatrician. It is a child doctor if you don't know... He liked children... He liked to help people. He had his own practice, but when he... died... it was taken until I am old enough to own a business... Then... even after that I need to graduate College to even take over as a doctor from there.." Rhea said, though she sounded more sad then anything else. She remained on the couch, and she remained looking down at the cushions.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan stopped as she answered. He could feel the sorrow in her voice, and something that had been nagging at him finally refused to be ignored. He turned back around and headed towards the couch, sitting down right next to her.


"Rhea, I may be overstepping boundaries here, but I need to at least ask. How did your brother die?"

 

[Ricia]

"He..." Rhea's voice cracked, she took a deep breath, "He was shot..." She started to cry again, but this time is was a lot harder, the sorrow coming from deep inside her. She has been trying so hard not to cry... just to keep going on with life like normal, "He was robed... and shot..."

 

[Ixidor92]

He had pulled her to him before thinking about it. He could not leave her to cry alone.


"Don't hold it in . . . it doesn't help . . . believe me."


He closed his eyes as several images flashed in front of him.

 

[Ricia]

"I don't... want... to..." She said, though she cried even harder and she felt herself grab his shirt. "I... Didn't want him... to leave me..."

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan was silent for a minute, her sobs the only thing breaking the silence in the room. He finally opened his mouth after what had seemed like hours to him


"Nobody wants their family to leave them . . . and no good person wants to leave their family . . ."


He put one massive hand on the back of Rhea's head


"But it happens. Some cruel and selfish people exist in this world, who don't think about what their actions will do to other's lives."


A single tear ran out of his eye as he spoke

 

[Ricia]

Rhea suddenly warped her arms around Kuragon and held on to him as if it where for dear life. She hugged him tightly not sure what else to say her do besides cry... But the presence of Kuragon was strong and made her feel like she was not going to fall into pieces like the day when Roen died.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan was somewhat surprised by her sudden grip but did not stop her. He remained silent for a little longer before finally deciding sharing a piece of himself wouldn't be so bad for her.


"Rhea. Just before my 13th spring, my mother died. No . . . she was killed."


He grit his teeth slightly at the memory, though he made a conscious effort for the grip of his hands and arms to remain the same.


"She found an injured human child in the forest, and tended to his wounds. Against the words of the tribe, she left with the child to find his family. She did . . . but was shot and killed as soon as they saw her."


He was crying now as well, though it didn't show so much in his voice.


"They took away her body for their own purposes . . . We weren't even able to return her to mother Gaia after her death . . ."

 

[Ricia]

Rhea was a bit shocked at Kuragon sharing that... she did not think he was ever going to share anything about himself. She pushed away from him for a moment to look at him, her own tear face matched him. She was not sure what to say or tell him, but she did reached out for him and gently wiped his cheeks with the palm of her hands gently. She was not sure she could understand what it was like not to have a proper burial... or to not even find the body... but she could understand his loss.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan reached out with one hand and put it against her cheek, wiping away her tears on one side with his thumb.


"When someone that close to you is suddenly gone . . . it feels like a part of you has been taken away. A void that can never be filled. Even after 7 full cycles, I haven't been able to fill that void left behind. It's not wrong to miss them . . . all you can do is what you think they'd want you to."

 

[Ricia]

Rhea nodded at Kurogan, "That's all I've been trying to do myself these past few months... Roen died... then Sage moved away and I felt so alone... But I kept going through the motions and trying to do what Roen would tell me I should do..." She said quietly, though she was hiccuping from crying so hard, tears still leaving her eyes.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan wiped away her tears slowly, his eyes locking with hers like they had so many times when he had been "Hikaru".


"I never knew your brother, so I'm not going to pretend that I know what he would say. But I at least would like to think he would be proud of you right now. I told you once already, I won't leave you alone."


He offered a smile at the girl in his arms right now, so small compared to himself

 

[Ricia]

"What do you think your mother would say?" Rhea asked quietly, closing her eyes when ever he brushed a tear away. For once she did not look away when ever he meet her eyes in his human form. There was not reason behind Rhea's question... just something that came to her mind at the immediat moment.

 

[Ixidor92]

"I . . . would like to think she's smiling from where she is now."


His eyes left hers as he spoke, moving up to the ceiling, or rather to the sky beyond. His hand worked its way from her cheek to the top of her head, resting there.


"So . . . about that meal . . ."

 

[Ricia]

"Meal?" She had completely forgotten about the food Kurogan had promised after they came home from shopping he would make food. It was well past breakfast and late into the afternoon. But after all that crying and a bit of drama... she was not sure how hungry she really was at the moment. "Oh yeah.... You can eat if you want... I am not too hungry right now. Maybe later." She told him, though she leaned foreword and bit to rest her head on his shoulder. She just felt tired at this point, and her chest hurt she missed her brother... but she guessed Kurogan was in more pain from that fight he was in earlier. "You shouldn't strain yourself to much either." She told him quietly. She sat up suddenly, "Oh.. maybe I can try and make you something... since your hurt." She told him.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan looked down at her as she leaned against him. He really wasn't hurting that much . . . though her concern was very nice. It had been a long time since someone was worried for his health. As she sat up, he let his arms fall away.


"Are you certain? I've never seen you cook before . . ."


He remembered her comment about how the people in her life said she might burn down the house. Come to think of it Sage had mentioned something along those lines when she visited . . .

 

[Ricia]

"I can try. I am not very good at it and I don't really like trying either.... but your hurt. I don't really cook at all much. I want to help though..." She told him, she got out off the couch and then walked to the kitchen to pull a cook book out of the cabinet. She'll try extra hard not to do anything bad this time around.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan got up and walked to the entrance of the kitchen, leaning against the wall.


"I'm not really hurt that badly . . . but just be careful okay?"


If she wanted to help, he wasn't going to say she couldn't. After all, if someone wanted to get technical, then he was a guest in the house.

 

[Ricia]

Rhea seem to start out well enough, stopping to read the book every now on again. It was when things seem to be relatively done that it started to go down hill. The food start to burn at some point and Rhea struggled to do something about it, though she was not sure what to do.... after that for some strange and miraculous reason the pan she was using actually lit on fire.

 

[Ixidor92]

Kurogan watched quietly for a few minutes, it was the first time he'd seen her concentrate so hard on something besides school work. He took a step forward when the smell of burning food hit his nose, only a second before the pan lit on fire. How--how the heck did that even happen?!


He didn't have time to ask questions, only get the thing out. He grabbed another, larger pan from the side and stuck it upside-down on top of the burning one. He pulled Rhea back slightly, it would be hot even if the fire was smothered.

 

[Ricia]

"Woops...." Rhea said quietly under her breath. She had a feeling that was going to happen.. "Sorry... I thought I was doing rather well that time... " She mumbled some more, though she reached to turn the heat off.

 

[Ixidor92]

"That was . . . certainly an experience."


Kurogan's nose wrinkled slightly at the smell that was emanating from the pan. His hands were on both of her shoulders


"It's all right . . . everyone has things they aren't good at. More importantly you're not hurt are you?"

 

[Ricia]

"Uh... yeah I am ok... I never get hurt when this happens." She told him, though she timidly lifted the pan off the other, black smoke came from the inside and an ugly stench did as well, "Sage always makes it look easy..."

 

[Ixidor92]

"Well . . . it's isn't that easy. Though I must confess I've never seen a meal spontaneously combust before."


He wrinkled his nose a little more as the pan lifted up, and pulled one of his hands off.

 

[Ricia]

"I lit a kettle on fire once..." She admitted, admiring the black meal with him now. For some reason... this kind of lightened up her mood. Nothing like showing new people how bad your cooking skills are. Sage was going to yell at her too.