Ymiden 16 719
Nothing. Patrick sat at the desk in his office area and tapped a couple fingers impatiently, the majority of his day already passed as the sun lazily fell just above the horizon. Now as the intense orange rays illuminated the parts of his abode through windows, he couldn't help but shift from his current position into a more comfortable lean. The Rharnian practically sank back into the wooden chair, his eyes steadily looking at the few notes he had compiled. He had in mind what to say except it never hurt to put the thought to paper, especially since it looked as though the person he waited on didn't look to arrive. Where was she? Already a little more than irate with the situation, Patrick decided he was no longer comfortable with sitting at his desk.
He couldn't expect to count on Faith to show, and chances are she was too busy or away to send word. He hated this suddenly, as Patrick felt more in the dark than before. There was no way of knowing if his letter really did reach her, or if she even considered it since he'd walked out during their last meeting. So... what was he to do? He had a few things... a couple trinkets he could probably had over to the Shadow Quarter, though he doubted he could feign the ruse much longer after that. This was turning quite into a predicament for him now, suddenly it looked as though he'd dug himself a hole; one too deep for him to climb out of.
"Dom, for the first time in a while... I think I'm in trouble again." He muttered as he walked towards the window, his reflection showing tension in his eyes and the corners of his mouth. He truly felt a sense of vulnerability in the most uncomfortable of ways, knowing that his intentions were what brought him to this point. Was he truly in the wrong though? How can one just sit by and let his friends go to such lengths to win some god forsaken war? No. Everything he did was justifiable within his own reason, and ultimately it was to try and beat Ellasin first; to keep the others as safe as possible. If he could then maybe... it'd definitely kill him in the end, but he'd go to whatever extent needed to see it through.
The squint in his eyes lessened as he turned from the brightness, a thought turned to the fact his brother somehow felt absent. In fact it did seem like the room was emptier, even after Patrick had uttered his name wearily in his statement earlier. Where was he then? There were times where he would appear in front of Patrick, and then times where he wasn't necessarily around for whatever reason either. This likely was one of those latter times, and since he usually came back shortly afterwards; the younger brother didn't go too long with worrying about it as he left the room. Curious as to what the others were up to, in passing he checked his room and found it empty; which was odd since Ri'ku was usually loafing around in there. So when a stride down the hall took place and he made a step towards the front door, he opened to check outside and see if she and Lush were both outside.
Sure enough the big lion was out in the yard but not alone, as he pranced about with Pat's own boy on his back. Was the lion and the boy laughing together? Ri'ku fluttered around the two eagerly as she seemed to be in on the playing, leaving the Rharnian to fold his arms as he leaned into the frame of his doorway. First it was Lexi trying to bug him the other night and now their kid's riding on the back of his lion! While he felt a bit uneasy about the situation he couldn't help watch the trio, as they were all having fun in such a carefree sort of manner he rather appreciated. Maybe it was just the fact he needed a distraction from his problems, granted they were still a pressing matter he needed to focus on. Yet seeing the boy happy somehow made him smile just a little, and once they all noticed him at the door he quickly straightened out. The first to meet with him was Ri as she wasted no time to fly over, eager words shared with just him alone as Lush slowly approached the front porch.
"He came for you, so don't be rude now!"
"Alright mother." He remarked lowly under his breath still with a faint smile at the boy. Once Lush stopped at the steps the kid scooted to slide off his side, with an attempt of a wry smile spared to his alleged father as he approached. Patrick could see it in his eyes but then he probably shared the same trait, for they both looked to one another with uncertainty as the boy finally reached him.
"Uh, hi. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to, but your fairy friend said I could ride your pet lion."
"In fact I wanted him to, but the only way to communicate with him was through her."
"He seemed to enjoy it as much as you did." Wait that sounded much better in his head...
"I did yeah." A nervous grin briefly appeared as he looked up to Patrick. "I'm... Dax, mum calls me Daxter though. Even says my full name when I'm in trouble." He offered a hand out to Patrick as if though to formalize the meeting, since they didn't get the chance to do so the first time they saw one another.
"And how often is that?" The Rharnian checked as he reached out to shake the hand, briefly, before retracting it back to fold within his arms.
"A bit honestly." Daxter admitted shamelessly as he hid his hands behind his back. Patrick raised an eyebrow at that statement, since 'a bit' was easily the first thing he'd say.
"You should probably listen to her more, your mother knows best after all." He couldn't help but remark as he tried, and failed, to grin just a little at the boy. Daxter looked to him with uncertainty after that, unsure of what else to say as the two just watched one another. This created a silence between which felt immeasurably long, that is until Daxter decided to say something once again.
"She seems worried about you, which is different from when she talked about you before."
"She talked about me?"
Daxer only gave a shrug before his response. "She'd sometimes say I'm just like you, but not a lot beyond that." Patrick looked to the boy speculatively and then out to the fields next to the lake, more so to get a grasp at how much daylight was left to spend.
"She know you're here?" His inquiry only warranted a slow shake of the head, as Daxter seemed to adopt that like of guilt on his face. "She even know you're out?"
"Sort of." This kid... Patrick could see how much the boy was like him already. The Rharnian sighed as he looked past his shoulder inside, unsure as to whether or not he should invite boy inside or... sending him off wasn't going to be the best of ideas. Then again it was probably better than the alternative, since he'd likely draw unwanted attention to himself after recent developments. Except now...
Now he wanted to know more, now he wanted to understand this boy better; even after it'd been twelve or fourteen Arcs too late. Clearly Daxter wanted to know things too, otherwise he wouldn't have came all this way. "It's getting late, we should probably get you back before she worries."
"You mean panics?"
"That too." He remarked with a brief chuckle as he moved to step inside once more, Daxter and Ri followed him inside as he bent down to grab his boots. With a couple moments spent slipping them on Patrick made sure to check everything, leaving the place in the state he recognized it in before leaving with Daxter beside him. He even made sure to spare a expectant glance to Ri and Lush as they left, knowing that they would look after the place in his absence. Together Patrick and Daxter returned into the city limits of Rharne, where he brought the kid back to the Harpy's Inn just shortly after the sun's light finally diminished.
Regrettably Patrick didn't have much less look for the chance to see Lexi again, nevertheless the cold absence within him somehow stirred when he left. He almost wanted to smile, as in just that short time he spent with the kid they both learned a bit about one another.
"Patrick", "Follower", "Ri", "Lush", "NPC"
