[1718] – Y07.218 – The Lightness In Their Hearts III
As she made to speak, it was the fool who spoke first.
“If you bully me today, I will not explore the festival with you,” Adam warned, causing his daughter to gasp, and she stumbled aside towards her mother, grabbing the woman’s sleeve, eyes wide, brows raised, mouth agape.
“How daddy can say this?” Jirot whispered, as though Adam had committed a grave crime.
“I warned you already, and if you listened to me, you could bully today, when it would be most fun.”
“If it isn’t the consequences of my own actions,” Jirot whispered, hiding her face behind her hand, and as she cursed her foolishness, she peeked between her fingers, and seeing the way her father pouted, she let out a long sigh. “That is it! I shall spoil my daddy today!”
Adam smiled.
“I will also bully daddy a little bit, just a little bit, okay?”
Adam pouted.
“No, daddy, not a lot, only a little bit, okay?”
“I will see.”
“Daddy…” Jirot sniffled. As she held his gaze, the girl turned her head to the side. ‘To think he would not give me even a single step.’
“My baby boy, Jarot, my sweet boy, Jarot, my darling boy, Jarot, are you excited to explore the festival with this father of yours, who will carry you within his strong arms, and spoil you all day long, and assuredly, no one will ruin this day for you, will they?” Adam mused, as little Jarot flushed.
“Yes, daddy…”
“Mummy!” Jirot gasped.
“What is it?”
“Daddy ulted! He cannot ult! It is too early in the festival to ult! Daddy needs to charge it first, and then he can ult, otherwise it is unfair!”
“Your daddy can alt because he has been charging it all year long because you have bullied him so much.”
“Mummy it is not alt, it is ult. Alt is, um, like, um…” Jirot turned to her father.
“Sort of like goth, but not.”
“Yeah, like goth, but not,” Jirot said.
“What is goth?” Vonda asked.
“Daddy, what is goth?”
“It’s like people who wear pale make up, dark clothing, sadness, and various arts, so it’s very popular with teenagers, for obvious reasons, but also…” Adam turned towards Vonda. “Sometimes mummy is kinda goth, and isn’t she so pretty when she is, like always, like always, so don’t try it!”
“Daddy is so difficult to deal with today…” Jirot whispered.
“You must both hug and kiss, because if daddy is this wise, then you have bullied him too much.”
“There is no such thing as bullying daddy too much,” Jirot said, and yet her arms were wrapped around her father’s neck by the end of her words, and the two were exchanging kisses on their cheeks.
The children were adorned in their festival clothes, this time a dark blue, their collars white, with their family’s symbols on their collars, and some light paint upon their foreheads. The twins wore the same clothing, of the same size, though Jarot’s was slightly looser, while the triplets wore clothing that had been lightly modified for their tails.
As they explored the festival, the children found their arms in the middle of mincing all manner of meat and vegetables together, and as they poured the minced meat into a bowl for the children, they also cut the flatbreads into quarters for the children, who sat nearby to eat and speak.
“Ahm Korin, if you continue cooking this well, who knows, maybe my favourite ahm will change?” Jirot said, scooping the minced meat with the flatbread into her mouth to stop herself from being convicted of her words.
“Did you hear that?” Korin said, grinning wide.
“No matter how well you cook, it will not take away the fact the children like to play with me most.”
“I suppose they’ll adore me because of Sara?”
“They shall adore me because of Amira.”
“It seems this battle shall rage quite hard,” Korin joked.
As the children thanked their ahms, they accompanied their father once more, exploring the food of the Iyr, as the various families cooked their recipes, all for the people, and as the afternoon came, the triplets snoozed in the corner, their tails swaying.
Adam continued to feed Jirot from his fingers, the girl holding his sleeve near his elbow, as if keeping the half elf pinned to her. She would not allow him to escape. Adam also offered his son a tiny morsel, and the boy accepted, like a young man who was within the desert, and yet would only accept a single drop of rain.
“Kamrot!” called the voice of an Iyrman, and she waved her hand. “You must pick up the ships.”
“I shall call for cousin,” Kamrot called, and with that, he called for Jurot, Nirot, and Jarot, and Adam stood, willing to assist, and the children, including the triplets, began to follow their elders out, towards the river, in which several longships sat, attached with ropes, which were thick, but soft.
“I’ll help too,” Adam said, flexing his muscles.
“It is fine,” Kamrot said, wrapped a rope around his arm and as he turned towards the children, including the sleepy triplets, he flushed hot red. It was then they saw it. The old Iyrman pulled the ship, which jostled lightly within the river, and though it threatened to follow the river, Kamrot pulled it onto land seemingly with ease.
Adam’s mouth fell agape. ‘What?’
Jurot, too, pulled a ship onto land, and with a little more effort, so did Nirot, while the old Jarot approached the ship, and pulled it instead by the hook near the bottom of the front of the ship, and, after a moment, lifted the giant thing onto his shoulder.
“You will damage it if you pick it up like that,” Mulrot said.
Old Jarot placed it down, and pulled it by its rope, though slowly he side eyed the children, who were clapping excitedly.
Adam blinked.
He approached a ship, and as Jurot made to pull it, he did instead.
Athletics Check (Strength)
D20 + 9 = 20 (11)
Though, as he pulled it, it didn’t budge. Jurot, still within his Rage, pulled it with ease, without even working up a sweat, though perhaps his body was burning.
“How are you doing that?” Adam asked, his mouth still agape.
Jurot glanced aside, with a peculiarly confused look. “We are Rot.”
“What…”
“Daddy, you are tricking us!” Jirot accused.
“No, no, how are they doing this?”
Jirot turned, looking to her greatfather, who had, accidentally, managed to hold the ship sideways over his shoulders. It was a typical ship, a karve or so. “Daddy, we are Rot.”
“…” Adam blinked.
Jurot, tried to pull it up, though found his grandmother staring at him, but considering Pam was standing beside her, she let him lift it up onto his shoulders, allowing her to see his straining muscles.
Vonda eyed up the ships, and then assisted Adam, and the two struggled to lift it, and though Adam thought about carrying it on his shoulders, he could already feel his back cry out.
‘I should have carried Amalrot more often,’ Adam thought, dropping the ship, feeling his arms burning, and yet Jurot was carrying the ship all the way through the Iyr.
“Oooh, the Rot are carrying the ships,” called a random Iyrman, as though it were a delight to see, but not a shock.
Adam then recalled how easily his grandfather had lifted him up in his full plate, as though he were a child. ‘Grandfather is so strong…’
PATREON FOR 30+ CHAPTERS!
I'm a little worried if I make Jirot such an amazing character, I will be unable to top her.