Like Father, Like Son

Palis and Kilapu Ainu have, uh, dinner.

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A large forest in Central Anaxas, the once-thriving mostly human town of Dorhaven is recovering from a bombing in 2719 at its edge.

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Palis Ainu
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:48 am
Topics: 10
Race: Galdor
Occupation: Young politician. Temporarily out of service.
Location: Vienda
Character Sheet: Character Sheet
Plot Notes: Plot Notes
Post Templates: Post Templates
Contact:

Fri Aug 03, 2018 2:26 pm

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Roalis 29, 2718....
The Ainu home loomed over the Vienda suburbs, casting a cooling shade onto the sun-heated street. It was a two-story house with an attic. A wood door paired with a short porch and a small awning stood at the central front of the house. To the left was a gable, the levels split by a decorative trim and each housing a tall window; to the right was a turret jutting out of the main rectangle of the house's face and covered in windows all around its rounded surface. The house had a simple plethora of arches and windows on its blue-grey profile, and it was nearly identical to the whole line of houses lining each side of the street. Palis, however, knew the house and the small yard well, and he could pick out the ivy covered porch railings and the slightly miscolored paint spot on the turret as well as a professional could.

This was Palis' childhood home, a house he hadn't called up in ten years. He visited, of course, but only enough to say that he had visited, had kept up appearances. The only residents now were his father and two servants- Zephyr, the mute human gardener, and Edwin, the passive butler. Zephyr was one of the few humans Palis had come to enjoy, perhaps by his simple mind and nonverbal communication. Palis had fond memories of playing in the garden and picking flowers with Zephyr in his childhood. Edwin was a quiet shadow, a man nearly the same age as his father. Palis' respect for passives had grown in part because of this man. Palis would never verbalize it, but he sometimes found himself in the belief that he liked these two men- one of them human- more than his own father.

Palis rapped on the door. Behind it, he could hear the movement of feet, and, in a moment, the door was open. Edwin, not a day aged since the last Roalis when Palis had visited, stood with his hand still upon the doorknob.

"Edwin!" Palis greeted, clasping the slightly taller old man in a friendly hug. Edwin returned it with a few swift pats on the back before Palis released him.

"Welcome home, Master Ainu," Edwin responded, closing the door after Palis had stepped into the hallway enclosed by the stairs on the left and the wall of paintings and maps on the right. The windows on either side of the door brightly illuminated the brightly carpeted floor.

"Your father is in his study. Shall I fetch him?"

"Ah, no, I believe I'm capable of that, Edwin. I'll keep him occupied; you take a break," Palis joked with a wink to Edwin, readying himself to walk up the stairs.

"A much-appreciated offer I'm afraid I cannot take," Edwin answered seriously. "Ring the bell when you're ready for your afternoon tea." Palis nodded as Edwin busied himself with whatever list of tasks occupied his mind as he disappeared through the large, open double doors into the parlor on the left of the stairway. Palis began to ascend the stairs, his hand running up the familiar smoothness of the wooden handrail. The landing was empty save for a large grandfather clock, and the stairs turned sharply to the right until they reached the second floor. In front of him was the door to his father's study, a brightly illuminated room in the turret. To his left, however, was his own bedroom, still open as if he had just left. Edwin had taken care to keep it up for 10 years in case the boy would come back. As serious as the butler was, he had always hoped that Palis, as much of a son as he would ever have, would come back.

"Palis? Quit lurking around out there," a stern voice emanated from behind the door to the study, thwarting Palis' episode of nostalgia. Palis rolled his eyes to himself before walking to the study door. He pushed it open.

Palis had always wanted one of the round rooms of the turret to be his bedroom. The room had shiny wooden floors and pale yellow walls. Every part of the wall not attached to the house was covered with a tall, curtainless window. The windowless parts of the wall held tall bookshelves with each book neatly placed and organized by subject. A desk sat in the middle of the room with a comfortable chair behind it and a large lamp beside it. A single rickety chair was before the desk, a chair Palis had had to sit in and endure lectures many times.

"In or out, Palis. No need to linger in the doorway like some illiterate and indecisive beast," snapped the man at the desk. He was an older man who stood, when he wasn't sitting at his desk, to be 5'6". He had a skinny nose on which a pair of rectangular spectacles perched above and a neat and well-trimmed red mustache perched beneath. His blue eyes were dulled by age, and his strawberry-blonde hair was threaded with grey. His cheeks were in a constant flush of pink.

He was, quite simply, a well-aged Palis.

Yet, looks were perhaps one of few things that Kilapu Ainu and his son shared. Kilapu was a cynic, a hermit, and a cantankerous asshole in his old age; Palis was a fool, a social butterfly, and a naive optimist in his youth. They disapproved of each other strongly, but, as with many families, they found themselves stuck with each other no matter how hard they tried.

Kilapu pointed to the chair for Palis to sit, and he did. The elder man pulled his glasses from his face and rubbed at his eyes before replacing the glasses.

"Now, what do you want?" Kilapu asked boredly through a sigh.
tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2699

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User avatar
Palis Ainu
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:48 am
Topics: 10
Race: Galdor
Occupation: Young politician. Temporarily out of service.
Location: Vienda
Character Sheet: Character Sheet
Plot Notes: Plot Notes
Post Templates: Post Templates
Contact:

Fri Aug 17, 2018 2:38 am

Image
Roalis 29, 2718....
Palis rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh before sitting in the chair. It was a stiff, uncomfortable thing whose feel he remembered unfortunately well. He folded his arms across his frail chest, leaned against the hard back of the chair, and glared at Kilapu. Kilapu had not even taken a moment to look up at his son, to check if he was alive and uninjured.

Not that he'd care, Palis thought. He was tempted to walk back out of the house already. "Can I not return out of love for old friends and family?" he asked, a certain coldness frosting his soft voice. To anyone who knew Palis outside of family, this coldness would seem uncharacteristic and uncanny, but Kilapu was familiar with it. The elder man gave it right back, after all. Kilapu finally sat down the newspaper he had been reading, folding it carefully and looking Palis over as he gazed down his own long nose. One of his rubicund eyebrows rose above his eyebrow.

"I wouldn't believe it," he remarked with a frown. He looked Palis over as the boy glared at him, his bony hand rising to his greying, ginger stubble. His dull eyes scrutinized Palis.

"Have you met any one important?" he asked after a moment.

"No, Father, I-"

"Of course you haven't. Our whole family is going to die with you at this rate."

Palis huffed. His father had been insistent on Palis' heterosexual for years, for the sake of genetics. Palis, however, was unwilling to bend his sexuality for his father, especially seeing the acceptance in society. "No, Father, if you'd let me finish- I have met someone. A man, Aurelien Leclair. I'll be seeing him again, soon, too." The faintest of smiles glided across his face. He was proud of his catch.

"Leclair," Kilapu thought, weighing the name on his tongue. "His old man's a decent lawyer. The woman makes that fashion line you like, doesn't she? Such terrible tastes. I doubt that boy sees anything more in you than an easy night."

"Father!" Palis' raised his voice, offense on his face as he straightened in his chair. How dare that man! Aurelien liked him, didn't he? He- well, Palis hoped he had liked him, at least. Did Aurelien only see him as an easy night? Is that why he had invited him back?

"And your occupation? Has anything changed?" Kilapu continued, unaffected by Palis' reaction.

"I'm still interning with Incumbent Siordanti, Father," he admitted, knowing that his currently stationary career would provoke something condescending from his father.

"Are you ever going to be any more than an incompetent case of pity?"

"I'm working on it," Palis grumbled through his teeth.

"You've been working on it for far too long," Kilapu answered.

"I don't see why it matters so much to you. You've been doing the same damn thing for 15 years," Palis prodded caustically.

"I've been doing something I'm successful in and can support myself and my worthless son in. It matters to me because I want my son to succeed."

"You want me to succeed for your image. You don't give a damn about how I feel, you don't give a damn about what success is to me, you don't give a damn about what I think matters, who I think matters! If only you cared about your success as a father as much as you cared about how my success makes you look!" Palis stood, the chair tipping behind him. "I'm sorry I came back because I care about you."

He shook his head, picking up the chair and setting it back up forcefully.

"I wish I didn't," he whispered, purposefully vague at what he wished. Did he wish he hadn't come back, or that he didn't care? Kilapu was left wondering, but the thought left him quickly.

"Palis-!"

"Leave it. I'm going to go fetch Edwin for tea. I'll see you at dinner," Palis cut him off. He stormed out of the room before Kilapu could continue to fire.
tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2699
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