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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:16 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:17 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:19 pm
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Word count: 163
Kol gave Gari a little smile that was a mixture of grateful graciousness, flustered shyness, and melancholy. It was nice to get a compliment, of course, but it brought up the shadow of not-so-pleasant memories. Despite Gari’s testament that he was having troubles finding love himself, it sounded like it was merely a confidence issue and not a case of attempts that started out promising and ended up failing. Kol sincerely hoped he never had to deal with any of those; tiny wounds they might be, but even the tiniest wound could be painful and would burn when salt was rubbed into it.
Not that he thought Gari was trying to do that, not at all!
Geez, there was a limit on how depressed one could get before it became pathetic, and Kol was reaching that limit.
“So-,” he asked, trying to change the subject for both of them, “-what brings you around to these parts. Do you live here, or just traveling?”
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:20 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:20 pm
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Word count: 270
Kol shook his head, cutting off Gari’s worry with assurance before the worry could escalate. “I’m wandering to nowhere in particular myself,” he said, casting a glance over and beyond the slopping hills. “I’ve always been something of a wanderer. My parents live with a tribe bordered by a forest, some mountains, and coastline, which is where I was born, but wandering seems to be more common among my family than settling.”
Indeed, a good portion of his siblings, nephews, and nieces were wanders. Those that weren’t lived together in the tribe. Kol hadn’t been back to visit them in so long that he had no notion if the tribe still existed any more, or if it did whether or not his family were still a part of it.
Part of him, that melancholy part that just wouldn’t shut up, often inserted could-have, might-have, what-if scenarios into his head. If he’d stayed with his family and his tribe, what would have become of him? Maybe he’d have a deeper relationship with his family. Maybe he’d even have found someone to love and could have happily settled down. Deities knew there were more than enough couples in that tribe that love was a common refrain.
It would have been the ultimate irony, had that been the case, because it had been all the paired up, older couples that had sent Kol out looking for new faces and adventure in the first place. There was no way of knowing if his life truly would have been better if he’d have stayed, but vague worries needed no proof in order to plague him.
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:22 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:23 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:24 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:25 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:26 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:28 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:29 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:30 pm
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Word count: 293
"Oh." That was about the most intelligent thing he could manage for the moment as he sat there, slightly taken aback. Not that Gari was bi, or even gay, as the case might be. Even if he was traditionally straight it wasn't like he was prejudiced against who loved differently. No, his surprise was more from the sudden insight into Gari's situation and going back over their conversation to realize it put a lot more context and questions in Kol's head.
For instance, were Gari's blushes because he was shy at receiving compliments, or because Kol was the one giving them to him? Or both? Had some of his words been unwittingly leading the male on? He didn't think so, but it sounded like Gari's pain was a lot more similar to what Kol was going through than he'd previously imagined, and he didn't want to add himself to the list of things going wrong in someone else's life.
"I see." Kol coughed, blushing a little in embarrassment and self-awareness, and tried to get his brain going again. "Well I can empathize with the feeling of being left behind by those you had an interest in. Nonetheless, my words still stand. Unless you were completely incompatible with your...er, boyfriends, it was their loss to leave behind a nice and caring person." Already flushing from his slight fumble, Kol realized some of his sentence could be taken as a double-meaning. "Personality-wise, I meant," he hastened to add. "Incompatible personality-wise. Though I suppose physically that would also-," he clamped his mouth shut and tried to halt his tirade of babbling while he was still ahead. Already he felt like his fur was more red than purple; any more blushing and he might spontaneously combust!
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:31 pm
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Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:32 pm
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Word count: 277
Apparently the Deities weren't kind enough to just let Kol spontaneously combust. Maybe they were afraid Gari was too close and would get injured if Kol went up in a gout of flames, which was a valid enough point. It was still little comfort for the embarrassed part of his brain, which was still valiantly trying to suicide itself by cooking itself with the power of blushing.
It was laughably ironic; a year ago, it would have been him making pervy or flirtatious remarks. He supposed he really did set himself up for that one, though.
And, unfortunately, his mouth wasn't finished babbling.
"Oh, no! No no no no! That's not what I meant!" Kol fidgeted, a step away from actually getting up and pacing to shed some of his nervous energy. His social skills really needed more work. "I've got nothing against same-sex relationships," he finally managed to clarify, "There was a male couple in my tribe. I mean I never talked to them cause I was little and doing kit stuff, and it was a long time ago, but it's not...it doesn't..."
Kol flashed Gari a look that was a combination of pitiful and 'I'm smart, really!'.
"You just caught me by surprise, that's all. And then I started to worry if maybe I was unintentionally doing something that might have been considered flirting or..." Kol hung his head and pawed at it in frustration. Gah! Could he sound any more self-centered?! If the Deities cared about him at all, please send down self-combustion! He already had enough heat from the force of his blush that he should probably be smoking a little already!
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