Family Diplomacy

From FiranMUX

Family is Sometimes the Hardest to Handle. -- Karana gets Karish and Alora to agree to meet on neutral terms.

Karish makes his way into the Temple of Firanos, cane in one hand, long sword up and about in the other. He has no problem hefting the longsword with one sinewy arm, and he only leans on the cane a tad, as much as he needs to give his still-broken ankle a bit of relief. When he's finally in the Temple and sees no lions, he slides the sword into his belt. "You need fear no longer! I have arrived." *Firan*

Alora looks up at that particularly familiar voice and grimaces stonily, her posture shifting into a slight lean towards her aunt where she sits on the bench. "/Attempt/," she emphasizes with a slightly sour expression.

Karana reaches over to squeeze Alora's hand, nodding a little bit. She glances at Ladonna, raising an eyebrow a bit. "Ladonna, are you all right?" But her beloved son grabs her attention quite easily and she chuckles lightly, shaking her head. "After having me worried sick about you, you MIGHT have assuaged my fears somewhat earlier, dear." She motions for him to join her and Alora at the bench. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Karish makes his way forward a few steps. He nods to Ladonna with an easy smile, "Mes Harror." He then looks towards his mother and stops dead in his steps. He casts his eyes over Alora as his expression fades. While it isn't quite icy, his deep set eyes are cast in stark relief to his usually expressive face. The complete blankness only lasts a few moments, and then his easy grin returns, and he looks towards his mother. "Oh, don't you worry, mother. I'm just fine, only a little while til my ankle's all better." His composure regained, he seems to be pretending Alora isn't even here. There is a noticeable tension in the way his hand is now gripping the cane he holds.

Alora glares at Karish without saying anything at all, her hands curling into fists and pressing against the strips of leather military skirt that shield her thighs. She flinches a little from her own touch when the press comes too close to the healing injury, and the breath she sucks in past her teeth bears some relation to a snarl.

Karana nods a little to Karish, smiling her easy smile, but it's definitely covering a great deal, that much is clear in her eyes. "Karish, darling, I was just speaking with Alora about how I'd like her to come visit when the house is finished. I'm aware there's more than likely a bit of tension... but, it is my deep hope that, perhaps even if just for my sake, you would both actively attempt to keep the peace, hm?" There's just a hint of motherly steel in her voice and she gives Karish a meaningful look. She turns her look on Alora as well, fighting off a very, very weary look.

Karish raises a brow. "Tension, you say? I have no idea what you're talking about, I've never fought with... With Her. Perhaps the tension is in her mind. A manifestation of her own tension with herself, hmm? Her shame." His expression has faded again. He is not aggressive, but he is not pleased. In short, he is nothing like Alora has ever seen him, since she hasn't seen him in a long while. "Besides, who knows where I'll be living, hmm?" *Firan*

Alora narrows her eyes and lifts a finger to point squarely at Karish's head, as though this will lend weight to her words. Framed with stark dislike, the words growl past the curl of her soft lips. "I ain't ashamed of a fecking thing." Her gaze glitters amber-sharp as she perches on the bench with her spine very stiff and her jaw set like stubborn stone. She eyes Karish like she's never seen him before at all. "You don't know what you're talking about like /that's/ new!" (Where'd that peaceability go?)

Karana shakes her head. "Karish. I love you dearly, and you know this. But I know you better than anyone. I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped acting like I was some young mes you could fool, instead of your mother. And, I'm simply not strong enough right now to think of our new house without you there. I know you wouldn't do that to me." She then looks to Alora. "Alora, please. The rivalries of youth are not something that should be held on to. Not right now." She looks between the two. "I am going to speak very plainly. To both of you. I love you both, very much. And right now, I am just a bit overwhelmed with some of the things I am dealing with. I am quite desperate at this point to see our family start to heal." She takes a slow breath. "I very much doubt either of you will ever agree or support the other's chosen paths. I am fine with this. What I am not fine is you both not treating the other life family. Family is all we have right now." Her voice grows very tense, her resolve clearly being tested to the breaking point at the moment.

Karish's face is fully blank now. He does not bother to look at Alora, and his eyes grow distant. There is, momentarily, a hint of sadness in his harshly shadowed face. "I have not treated Alora as less than family. See her now, mother, see her shameless language. As if she were born in a barn, and not a good young Mes as she was. See her be selfish, and pursue her own path to dishonor our already sullied name. I have only ever her wished her the best, and received only this. Don't ask me to treat her like family, when she treats me and our family like a convenient coat to discard when she wishes. I do love you, mother, more than I love myself, and I will do anything you ask, but Please... Consider what she's done..." His voice grows soft, and he shakes his head.

Alora sits bristling beside Karana in perfect silence, her gaze dark and bladed and focused entirely on her cousin. Her breath shakes with inexpressed fury and her nails bite into the palms of her fisted hands, knuckles showing white on either side of her.

Karana looks at Karish, evenly. "Darling. This time has been difficult for all of us. Every one of us. We have all made mistakes. But, should we dwell on them, and not offer acceptance and forgiveness, for the sake of seeing our family healed?" She reaches out to put her hand on Karish's, her other on Alora's. "I am not going to place blame. I am not going to judge any one of us. None of us have been perfect to the family. Not me, not any of us." She shakes her head. "But every one of us must take that first step to try and heal... to try and bring the peace back." She shakes her head again. "Please, my dears..." Her eyes start to well up and she quickly shakes her head. "Please, for me, try and put these differences aside. At least try. Allow me to mediate a real discussion between you two, so we may seek resolution." She shakes her head a little. "We can meet somewhere, where we may all speak freely... where we may yell, cry, whisper... whatever we need to do to deal with this." She motions around the temple, growing more crowded. "Please, let's set up a time for this. I'm begging you both."

Karish remains silent and impassive as Karana touches his hand. He says nothing at all, but does not pull his hand away.

The tremor that runs down Alora's spine as she wrenches her gaze from Karish and turns it unseeingly outward is one of rage and frustration. Her throat works a moment as she fights against herself and forces words out in a breathy rasp. "You just heard him go on and on about how I'm selfish and dishonoring us and how he doesn't want to treat me like family so I don't know what on Aerval I could possibly have to say to him. Since he's /Karish/ and he knows /everything/--" She cuts herself off before the stream becomes a torrent and glares really hard at the far wall.

Karish gestures a hand at her. "See this? More invective. She's been looking at me as if she hated me since the moment I entered, and all without any provocation. Should I overlook such blatant disrespect? I am offended, and I ask that you allow me to go, mother. I have no interest in this... This girl who comes solely to offend."

Karana looks between her son and her niece, unable to hide the pain. She grips both of their hands a bit harder, her voice quieting. "Please... it doesn't need to be resolved now. But please... be willing to meet with me, so this doesn't go on..." The rest of the temple is utterly ignored, her entire focus on her family right now. "At least give me that much. I'm not asking you to agree to wholly forgive each other, not now. All I'm asking is for the willingness to let me try and heal this rift, to begin the process."

"Do you hear?" Alora quivers, her grip tightening reflexively upon her aunt's hand. "Do you /hear/ what he's saying? That's not a man who'll listen to a word, and I don't think it ever has been!"

Karish waves his free hand at Alora. "And do you hear this? The woman who was eying me hatefully the moment I walked in here is talking to you about listening. I have been listening, and where have her words been? What has she had to say?" *Firan*

Karana shakes her head, her jaw setting a little. "This will take you both to be willing to try. For yourselves. Do not base your willingness on the willingness of the other." She looks between them, having only one more chance in her. "Please?" *Firan*

Alora quivers in her seat, her teeth clamped together in a hard press that can't be good for them, and inhales deeply past them, forcing down the explosion that seemed inevitable when Karish spoke. She lifts her head up like a flag of pride and says in a thin, tight voice, "I won't be the one who makes it impossible, Aunt." Boldly, she bulls on, "I am a Karanik, whatever else I am." *Firan*

Karish smiles faintly. "And I am your son, mother. When have I denied you anything?" *Firan*

Karana lets out a slow breath, her shoulders slumping, suddenly very weak from having to maintain that resolve. "Thank you... both of you." She shakes her head. "It will be slow, and it will be difficult. But... thank you. My darlings, thank you." She lifts a hand to hastily wipe at her eyes. "I love you both so much." *Firan*

"I don't know that it will work, you know," Alora says dourly, barely more than a mutter as her eyes flick back up to Karish.

Karish shrugs absently. "I'd say it all depends on her. After all, I've only ever tried to help her and protect this family. Ask her when the last time she said a civil word to me was, and I'm sure that will prove persuasive on the issue." *Firan*

Karana shakes her head. "You don't need to know it. You merely need to be open to starting the process." She sighs softly, not getting upset at their continued jabs. "I do not doubt there will be many harsh words, many frustrations. Many heated arguments. But... it is all part of the healing process. All I ask is you not close your minds completely to the possibility of reconciliation." *Firan*

Alora rises from the bench, squeezing the older woman's hand once before she slips away entirely. "If he weren't such a self-important pig he can't even address me directly, maybe there'd be a snowball's chance in high summer," she says crisply. "Thank you for the tea and the healing. You know where to find me." After a moment's quivering hesitation wherein she meets no one's eye, she appends, "I love you, too, Aunt Karana." *Firan*

Karish clenches his free fist, now. "And now, see her bait me. As if she deserved to be addressed directly, like a real woman. Like an honorable person. You should have put her out of the family, that's what." *Firan*

Karana shakes her head slightly. "As I have said. This is not going to be resolved tonight. At all. I understand you are both very upset. But, I thank you both for putting it aside at least long enough to agree to let me mediate." She nods to Alora. "We will be in touch soon dear. Be careful, especially with the lions." She looks to Karish, squeezing his hand again, before letting it fold with the other in her lap. She murmurs to Karish. "You know how I feel about that." *Firan*

Alora shoots Karish one final glare formed of fresh fury, and turns away to stalk out of the temple. Instead -- she more hobbles, her gait forcibly uneven on account of her injuries. But by force of intention only, she makes it a stalk.

Alora enters the Malachite Path. Alora has left