De’Tearion chirped again when Jackie moved her hand away. His claw tapped the floor twice, then his leg moved again. A rumbling chirp came from his throat as his body slowly settled down again.
A few minutes later, De’Tearion’s thumb tenderly rubbed her knee, just before a hum started in his throat. It kept a steady rhythm for a while, then the rhythm changed into a sort of tune or song.
Jackie's face flushes, and her heart jumps.
What the fuck? she scolds herself.
But she freezes when she hears him humming, the melody similar to one she'd heard when she was much younger.
She's thrown back into her memories: a larger man, clearly her father, carving wood in a small cabin while a woman, her mother cooked and a smaller boy watches Jackie. Her mother and father were humming the tune in harmony.
Just as a ferocious SLAM echoes through the memory she's flung out of her memories and back into the real world.
The tune was a Forestfolk nature song De’Tearion had been taught as a child. It had no lyrics, but it praised many aspects of nature. He was singing it in his sleep, but the hum slowly woke him with memories of his mother. She had died while he was still young, but she had been one of the few Forestfolk in his life that treated him like a pure blood, instead of an outcast. He missed her dearly.
As he finished the tune, De’Tearion simply stared ahead. Afterward, his ears focused on Jackie once again and he sensed something was off. He hesitated to move, as he was quite content, but he eventually sat up, looking around cautiously to be sure that everything was well.
Jackie looks down as De'Tearion moves, furiously wiping at her face as she realizes she was crying.
"Hey, you're awake." she says softly.
When no dangers presented themselves, De’Tearion turned back to Jackie. His eyes lit with concern when he saw her wiping her face. He could smell the tears and hear the distress in her heartbeat. It bothered him, though he wasn’t sure why.
“Was my singing the cause of your tears?”he asked softly. He reached a hand toward her, offering comfort if she wanted it.
Jackie looks unsurprised and just sighs.
"It was a similar tune to one my parents used to sing when I was much younger." she replies just as softly.
She eyes the hand for a moment before leaning forward, proffering the top of her head for scritches. It was a thing that comforted her.
De’Tearion froze. How could there be a similar tune? Few of his kin were ever civil around other folk, and their nature songs were rarely shared even with other Forestfolk. Or… was it simply coincidence? He didn’t know enough yet to have a sure answer. But, that wasn’t necessarily what stunned him.
“My mother taught me that song when I was a youth. ‘Tis one of many tunes meant to praise nature. My kin revere nature, among other things,”he explained.
De’Tearion stared at Jackie’s head in confusion, not sure what she was wanting. Without knowing what else to do, he brushed his hand along her head, gently stroking her hair.
Jackie nods thoughtfully.
"I thought as much. . . your clothing reflects as much." she murmurs. "But as for the tune, it seems they can sound similar but mean different things. Catfolk are a warrior race. . . I am actually a runt. I am fast, but not strong. Most of us stand higher than you do. The song is a fragment of a victory hymn that my family came up with long ago."
She closes her eyes slightly and purrs, leaning up into the strokes.
(Fuck, I’m an idiot! I didn’t even think that Jackie was a Catfolk. That explains a lot, lmao!)
(Though… is she like a DnD Catfolk, or more of a humanoid with cat-like features? My brain’s confused now, lol)
De’Tearion tilted his head, a dark gleam abruptly appearing in his eyes. He quickly took a deep breath to compose himself.
“My kin are warriors as well. The entire society be militant. They are the warmongering assassins of my homeland, and be one of many reasons why I will never return to the forests of home,”De’Tearion mentioned quietly, his voice shaking slightly.
He chuckled,”My preferred height, or my full height?”
De’Tearion smiled breifly, continuing his caresses of Jackie’s head. The temptation to wrap her in a hug was difficult to resist, particularly with her purring, but he somehow managed it.
(Lol, I thought I made that obvious)
(Not really. Think of the catfolk as khajiit, except more humanoid [shorter fur, faces and heads more human-like, blahblahblah all the tiny details I'm too tired to put in here] and without the habit of reffering to theirself in the third person lol)
Jackie pauses for a moment, then nods her understanding.
"I understand that much. With my parents generation, things started getting violent. My parents tried to be different than their parents, but the catfolk were in a state of civil war and political unrest. My family was the first of many to be tried and executed on counts of treason." she says, her voice almost flat.
"I think somewhere in the middle. We catfolk are, as I said, usually quite tall." she laughs.
Her purring increases in volume and intensity as her eyes close fully, letting herself enjoy the scritches.
(I hadn’t made the connection. I’m so used to making custom races that I apparently forgot a few existing races, lmao!)
(Ah, I see. Thumbs-up)
De’Tearion chirped.
“I was…”
He froze, realizing that he had been about to reveal his own past. But, the moment he realized it, the moment he couldn’t bare to think of speaking about it.
“‘Tis a tale for another time,”he breathed shakily.
He composed himself, then smiled a bit.
“I see now.”
He continued to stroke her head, letting Jackie decide when to stop. It was quite soothing, such a simple action, and her purr was so wonderful to hear.
(Lol, same honestly)
(But the thing is, I've obviously made them a lot different in magical abilities lol)
Jackie nods. "I understand."
She smiles back. "Really."
Eventually, Jackie calms down enough to pull away from the stroking, though she was of half a mind to just let De'Tearion pet her until she fell asleep.
She utters two words she never thought she'd say to this man: "Thank you."
(I noticed that, lol)
Her understanding made it much easier for De’Tearion to calm down. He was glad she wasn’t pushing him, very glad.
“Aye.”
De’Tearion retracted his hand when Jackie pulled away. He watched her, wanting to be sure she was alright. She then spoke, and he realized truly how long it had been since someone had said ‘thank you’ to him. It was shocking how rare that phrase actually was in his presence.
“‘Tis an honor,”he replied softly.
(Lol)
(These poor, poor damn people- they literally are meant for each other lol)
Jackie takes De'Tearion's hands and holds them in a way that suggests she was thinking of someone else. Probably one of her lost family members.
"If you ever need to talk or fight, I can do either." she says, trying to lighten the mood a little.
She laughs, suddenly a lot brighter. "Good lord, that's formal. It's rare for a lady catfolk to let a man pet her, but it's not that rare! If anything, it's an honor that you even decided to do that."
(Yeah, pretty much. Lol)
De’Tearion tensed when Jackie grabbed his hands. He slowly calmed when she just held him.
“I will keep that in mind,”he said quietly, an appreciative gaze in his eyes.
Her words surprised him a bit. He had been petting her? Truly? Was his caresses what was considered ‘petting’? He would have to research that later.
“I am always formal. ‘Tis the ways of my brethren, and furthermore, of my rank. And, I am always glad to offer comfort to those that need it,”he replied.
Jackie smiles.
"Good," she says softly.
She waves a hand.
"What rank? What brethren? You're not going back home, your own kind, from what I've gathered by your tone when speaking of them, hate you. Why take pride in an empty title?" she asks, genuinely curious.
De’Tearion sighed, a sorrowful look entering his eyes. He looked down at their entwined hands, needing something else to focus on so he wouldn’t burst into tears.
“My ‘Brethren’ be one of the Forestfolk species, what I am. ‘Tis a common reference, because the entire species be a single army. ‘Tis a militant society. And, my rank…”he trailed off with a bitter chuckle.
“I was a noble. Truthfully, I… was the equivalent of royalty. My bloodline has led the species almost from the beginning of our time. Trust me when I say that the hatred be mutual. I would rather burn all the forests of the world, then to return to those hypocritical bastards. And, there be no pride in existing as a ridiculed leader, even after I earned my place as a worthy member of the Forest Council. What pride exists when the only thing you are acknowledged for be the blood on your hands? When one must destroy all that one be, to survive in a society that cares for you not, and especially for your kin not?”De’Tearion said, his shaking hands steadily tightening around Jackie’s as he spoke.
Tears welled in his eyes, and he shut them in desperation, but it didn’t help.
Jackie's eyes widen slightly as De'Tearion explains.
"Well. . . that certainly explains a lot. I assume that at roughly the time you were banished, you lost someone close to you. . ." she murmurs, squeezing De'Tearion's hands back.
Slowly, she shifts and pries her hands free of the bigger man's, wrapping him in a gentle hug.
“I was banished not. I am an exile. I left of my own choice. And… aye. My… my sister. She… she… died in my arms. And… those bastards… those damned, cruel bastards never acknowledged her. I abdicated the night after,”he breathed, his entire body shaking now. Black tears poured down his face.
When she started to remove her hands, he resisted, desperate for contact. But, the moment her hands came loose, she wrapped him in a hug. Without hesitation, his arms wrapped around her tightly, and he hid his face in her shoulder, crying as the nightmarish memories of Agatha’s death haunted him.
“I failed her. I failed my dearest Agatha,”he whimpered.
Jackie sighs softly.
"It is okay, my friend. . . if you would like, I can contact Oni and have him contact some of his more powerful friends. . .?" she says, the words trailing off into a question.
De’Tearion snorted, shaking his head.
“What good… would that be? Agatha… be already nearly thirty human years dead. And, my… homeland be isolated from the mainland almost completely. If this Ōni individual… knows of it, he be extremely fortunate,”he said through his tears.
"I could ask him to destroy the place?" Jackie asks reasonably.
De’Tearion shook his head again.
“No. There would be no point, and there are too many innocents there that have no knowledge of my existence or misery. Leave it. I will never return,”he breathed.
Hiding his face in her shoulder again, he quietly cried. He didn’t want to talk anymore. He just wanted to be held.
(Little friend noise)
(friend noise in return)
Jackie sighs gently, holding the shaking man as tightly as she could.
It helped her, at least, when someone held her tightly; she hoped it would do the same for De'Tearion.