Holy crap Razekiel just became cute.

All distaste he'd harbored was immediately released at that sudden touch, sudden swing of embrace she'd gifted him with. Dodging his hands offering what she'd requested, Kaena wrapped her arms around his thin, lanky body and held on tight. He wondered if the bumps he felt were ruffles in her clothing or hidden scars that lay beneath, and how many of them were there? The coyote had said he knew the things she'd done, but he was aware he probably had barely any knowledge at all. She was getting old, the oldest thing he knew to still be alive, other than the wind and the trees and the ground and the sea, and of course Mother Earth herself, but age didn't falter his mother's beauty in the least. As she drew close he picked up her smell over his own, breaking through the reek of drugs and the clouds in his mind alike.

She whispered sweet things, and when she finally broke away she wore the most humble and humililated of faces he'd seen her muster. He himself gazed back at her with big eyes and a regretful frown that might have resembled his worst puppy face of his childhood; Razekiel reached and scratched at his ear, darted his eyes elsewhere, and sagged his shoulders. He had been gone a long time -- and although he'd felt the call to return home all along, he had never realized that someone might have been missing him the whole time. He did not answer immediately, ears flipping back at her cough as she exhaled the caustic smoke, and for the first time he regretted having shared it with her. He was not sure why, but for some reason, all of a sudden Razekiel didn't want to know his mother was creeping herself closer to an end after he'd missed her for so long.

"It was a long time," he confirmed sheepishly, regretfully. The prince's straw eyes peered darkly at the ground, a single finger pushing idly at the dirt. After some time, he raised his eyes to her once more, and although no smile reached his face, his eyes were earnest. "You have been beautiful all along, mother mine. Perhaps I should never have gone." He swallowed a lump. "I would not be so different now, don't you think? I am not a Lykoi anymore."

She was right. Razekiel knew the rumors that these lands brought back faces of the past almost as quickly as they disappeared, and he himself was proof of such a thing. Ahemait was long gone, having left even before he years ago, and still the black-furred coyote had reappeared before she. From his understanding, Samael had become known for dipping in and out as he pleased, always welcomed back with open arms. Natural, of course, for he was the prime example for all the Lykoi, and just briefly Razekiel felt envy brush past. He wanted to be seen so blessedly in his mother's eyes, but never for the same reasons as Samael.

Rikka, Corona. Razekiel had not seen either of them save a few glances at the clan's gatherings, but to his knowledge they were both home at the time. Of course, the hippie had never really gotten to know them, and so they both were little more to him than names. She touched at his face and all was forgotten, the boy breaking into a sweet smile and his tail raising and wagging. A question nagged at the back of his mind, however, and finally he brought forth courage to bring it up. "Where did you go, sunshine?"

Nope, you were right. I don't mind short posts!

Razekiel vaguely recognized the names she mentioned, their sounds familiar only because they had been spoken of not long ago in past conversations with the Lykoi matriarch. Astaroth--yes, that was his father, but the name was faceless, as the two had never met. For reasons unknown he had been absent for Razekiel and his siblings' childhoods, and although Kaena had taken the time to explain why, the coyote realized he'd never truly listened. Perhaps he'd just never been interested, or perhaps he just didn't want to know.

Poking a finger in his ear to lazily reach an itch within, the coyote smiled up at his mother and shrugged. "I came back here pretty quickly after my old dive, man. Didn't know what to expect... worst part was finding home burnt to cinders, man." He shuddered--he wouldn't forget the experience, realizing that his family, his friends, his home may have been lost forever. Razekiel was fortunate that it didn't end up being the case. His curiosity was struck, however, and after peering at the ear wax at the end of his finger, his straw eyes returned to her. "Who is Eris, sunshine?

random long post is long O_O

He was surprised to know Kaena had not been present for whatever monstrosity had burnt and destroyed the life and beauty of Mother Earth there. At just the thought, a cold chill slid down his spine and he made an unexplained face; had it been an accident? It had to be--what creature would want to destroy so much innocent beauty? What creature would be so heartless to endanger, let alone kill, so many innocent lives and ruin so many homes? Why would they want to ruin the history of those lands, now existing now only through blurred memories in his head?

Razekiel sighed, turning shallow straw eyes up at his mother. "Inferni is unstoppable, man, but do you know what demon did that?" The thought of that ravaged, lost land rang in his mind and tore at his heart. His stomach hurt suddenly and he pulled the joint out of his mouth, choosing instead to grip it in his fingers. "How many wars have we waged? How many lives have we taken?" His smile faded quickly, and his eyes stared off into nowhere. "We line our borders with skulls, man. One of those I took myself. I hoped nobody would notice, man." He shuddered at the thought. Why did he feel so guilty about taking that wolf's life? He had been so confident then, and that creature's bones had made wonderful weapons once he'd chiseled at them. Wasn't the Great Mother proud of him?--and if so, why did it feel like Kaena would not? "It turns out I am a Lykoi after all, sunshine," and there was a cracked, tragic smile on his face.

He listened to her story, though his mind wandered at times. It seemed the smoke's poison and trance was beginning to lift, and the coyote had not so much as glanced at the joint between his fingers for quite some time. He had a half-sister? This was news to he, but the lack of change on his face expressed a very mild, if at all, surprise. Razekiel's eyes glanced at his mother here and there, but wandered back into the distance in between. His ear twitched when she mentioned she had been left for dead, and while Razekiel immediately decided he did not care for this "Eris" sister she spoke of, he still made no mention of it. She did speak of a Vieira, however, and he vaguely recalled hearing the faceless name thrown about in recent times.

"Two half-sisters I didn't know about," he shrugged, surprisingly emotionless on the occasion. He paused, then scratched suddenly at his ear, snapping back to normal in an instant: Razekiel leaned back and grinned his greatest smile at his mother. "Sunshine, you look so beautiful today! The light of your eye is so brilliant, it could be the noontime sun itself!"

Hum, want to pull to a close? We could fade out.

Perhaps he had been wrong all along. Razekiel had always seen the rumors and reputation Inferni had as being its own fault, its punishment for the countless crimes its members had committed. He was well aware that Mother Earth was displeased with them and that she had never truly smiled on the fact that he had chosen to live with them again, and though it was not a striking rebellious side shining true, Razekiel knew where his priorities lie. They provided him with a safe place to sleep and the freedom to behave in the way he wished, however differing it was from the rest of the clan. They were not embarrassed by him; he was not told to hide away in shame for the sake of keeping the clan's reputation strong. On top of it all, Razekiel knew that--even with his peace-loving demeanor--his family would not stand to see him hurt regardless of it all, and knew there would be several to fight for his sake if the need ever arose. Inferni was a place of torrential war and violence, but it was his home. He had reasons to be there, and no desire not to be.

The coyote was mildly relieved to know the reasons for the fire's start was unknown. He breathed out a long sigh, surrendering to a calmed smile at its end. He didn't want his mother to have been involved, nor Inferni, nor his relatives. He didn't want to know that someone he might have known and loved caused so much destruction on purpose--ruined so much innocent nature and beauty for sheer hell of it--and he wasn't sure how he would react if he ever learned. "I'm glad, sunshine," he breathed, finally breathing from the joint. "I think maybe I could kill again if it was a someone and not a something, man. Burning down so much of the Great Mother's blessing--that's just not cool, man." He shook his head, and though he chuckled and smiled into that joint, his stomach twisted. Perhaps he had not been wholly kidding after all.

She hugged at his arm as she continued; he smiled sweetly, tail wagging like a child's without the slightest notice. "I'm just livin' life, man, just goin' with the flow," he grinned, rocking back and forth. "You don't need me to be beautiful, sunshine. You glow greater than the heavens with that smile, man." That said, Razekiel puffed from his joint once more and then pushed himself to his feet, taking the time to roll and stretch his shoulders. It was about time he returned home, wasn't it? It would grow cold soon with the fall of night, and the earth-lover would much enjoy the glow of his friendly, makeshift fireplace outside his tent. "What do you say to a pow-wow back at my camp, sunshine? You and me and the fire on our faces and all the smoke in the world, man. What do you say?"