Shady

“No doubt,” Aashi agreed with a nod. “… I think I’m a little afraid of how to help Tasia understand the birth, and why I’m not going to be able ...

Aashi silently took a deep breath and dipped her head. She didn’t like that. Didn’t like being told not to interfere. It wasn’t anything like who she was as a ...

Aashi looked at her helplessly, glancing back at Ky briefly. Should they… say something? Do something? She’d never watched a grown adult refuse to eat before; it seemed wildly offensive ...

Ky sat staring at her plate for many long, long moments, feeling progressively weaker and shakier. There was no chance she was finishing this. No. Chance. So instead she did ...

Ky forced herself to take a deep breath, then test the potato like she’d theorized, cutting a large chunk and swallowing it still mostly whole. She drank a bit of ...

Ky wanted to leave. She mucked around until she hurt her own feelings; why had she thought it was a good idea to bring up Mama? It never was. Never. ...

“…oh.” She glanced at him, then back at her plate. “…thanks.” She wasn’t sure what to do with that, though. She couldn’t very well swallow an entire potato like a ...

Ky smiled at that, but then sobered quickly, absolutely horrified by the implications. Of course she’d grown up to be a disappointment. And it very much mattered. Gods. She sipped ...

“My papa was soft on me.” Ky shrugged. “He’d have never told me if I was disappointing her, even if I was. He only ever brought her up to compare ...

Weird. Ky quietly looked back at her own plate, feeling helpless now that she realized how full it still was. She’d thought she was making such good progress on it. ...

(Gaius: Ky what happened? Ky: Tomhas said we’re not telling you. …shit) Ky looked at him a moment longer then looked at Tomhas, trying to figure out what his game ...

“…true,” Ky agreed hesitantly. “But… I don’t know. I still feel the weight of her expectations — trying to live up to the Kylia she wanted.”

Ky glanced around the table, then dipped her head. “Okay.” It was still odd to her how freely these were being talked about. But. Well. Probably best to put a ...

Ky blushed a deep shade of crimson at the compliment, but smiled shyly. “That’s very kind of you to say… my p-father said that my mother always wanted a daughter ...

“Interesting.” She glanced back at Tomhas and then at Gaius again. “Where is it?”