VICTIM OF LOVE ;; alcides kin

^{☆☆☆ he didn't ask for this. he didn't at all want this. what marigold really wanted was some peace and quiet, and not having his entire family all show up at the kingdom's doorstep. and it wasn't even all at once, which was frankly quite worrying; what were wally and peony doing, being such young children, not travelling with clove and hibi? it wasn't at all a good sign, though he couldn't think of what was worse: whether they'd gotten separated, or whether some of them left home before others. oh, this was all his fault, wasn't it? coping out, running from his responsibilities, pretending as if nothing was wrong and then disappearing under the guise that it was something noble to do.}

^{☆☆☆ except now, he was responsible enough. he was effectively the fourth most important person (behind claes, meenah, and amatus, of course) in a kingdom that, while not yet thriving again, was certainly out of a slump. his worriedness, though not at all cured, had so much more reason to be present than before. not to mention, he was able to combat it to some extent; he'd fought when the exiles raided them for herbs, and he wasn't entirely pathetic when captured by the hellraisers.}

^{☆☆☆ that is what brought him just outside of the expanse, where he'd told them all to come to. he needed to get things off his chest, and he presumed they did, too. certainly, at least clove and hibi would be mad at him, for his awful display of cowardice. marigold had changed, though, and they needed to know that, just as he needed to know exactly what made them all run after him. "alright, let's get this over with," he murmured as he waited for them each to arrive.}

^{// walnutseed   CLOVE ;   Pollux & Castor K.S.   Firedawn~}

^{this takes place after they've all joined sk, and assume that mari told them all to meet him here for a family meeting!!}

^{☆☆☆ two of the four had arrived, which was good. better than none, and he supposed peony and clove would arrive in due time. brings back memories, hibiscus said to him with a curt flick of her tail. "certainly does, yeah." not good ones, though. it was hard to think about, frankly. his whole youth had been tainted by that awful sense of cowardice, unable to support their parents and unable to care for his siblings. he could see the deserved anger in his sister's eyes, and yet his mind couldn't formulate the proper apology for her. he was still that stupid tabby he was before, always one to run rather than to confront his issues.}

^{☆☆☆ then, wally strutted over, in all his carelessness. carefree, perhaps, rather than careless, but the idea remained. what else remained was the fact that the kitten had shown up in solaris alone. he steeled himself and looked to hibi after giving the boy the slightest, most polite of smiles. "i believe our first order of business ought to be that he showed up in solaris before you, or before anybody else, frankly!" he said, flicking his tail towards walnutkit in emphasis. an anger filled him this time, one that fueled him and felt so much more recent, more deserved than that of his past. "rag on me however you want, i know you want to, but why wasn't there supervision in place? he's a child, for helios' sake, he's not old enough to be out in the wild on his own."}

^{☆☆☆ things had changed a lot, hadn't they? the other alcides children had more than likely never even heard of helios, seeing how solaris-centric the patron seemed to be. and to be instilling a sense of responsibility upon the others, alongside of himself. the circumstances were nearly absurd, but... he rather liked the feeling of growth, even if he wasn't exactly the happiest at that moment.}