Private Roots + Refuge

[Makai Dashiell]

Already numb from earlier, Makai barely registered the note his father had left. Oh, he understood the contents,understood he would be taking up the Salacia mantle as well as guiding Persephone through life for now. Yet did he feel any emotion behind the words, any reaction? None at all. At this point he wasn't even surprised by his father leaving without a word to the household at large.

There was quite a bit to do ; send various inquiries on to what was going, various messages indicating all decisions and issues should go through him, getting a handle of what work was actually going on. Makai was familiar with the mining side of the business, but salvage and energy operations he was in the dark on. So, so many of the messages and concerns came straight to his father. The half-Galan was trying to figure out why. There was no reason he had to sift through so much, only the directors and various managers should be bothering the owner about such concerns.

Brows furrowed at a message about salvaging in the Tingel Arm and labor concerns, if the project could be taken on. Why don't they just loop him in once Zej has made a decision? This is too much to go through...

"Hey. What time is it?" Makai turned his wrist toward him, looking at his chronometer as she spoke.He had been in here for hours without emerging. "Oh....joining me on this side tonight?"

It was typically the time he turned in, either kissing Ellie goodnight or moving between respective rooms to spend a bit of time with one another. Not an ideal situation, but it worked for now. He stood up and stretched, back stiff from being hunched over his desk since his father had left. He slowly made his way over to her, placing a brief kiss on her cheek before starting to uncork the wine for her.

"How was your day? You spent it with Persie right? Or some of it."

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

His mind seemed distant, preoccupied with thoughts that lingered beyond the present moment, yet Makai made an effort to shift his focus onto Myra.

"Bed time -- but you look like you need a nightcap first." Concern etched into her gaze, shading her eyes a dusky grey, she gently guided him towards relaxation with the offer of a nightcap.

Observing him as he uncorked the wine bottle, Myra noticed the weight of weariness evident in his demeanor. With a tender touch, she brushed aside his dark forelocks, her warm hand coming down to slide along his jawline, cupping his face and coaxing him to meet her gaze.

Lifting his head, Makai's tired eyes, reminiscent of ice-blue topaz, conveyed a weariness that transcended mere physical exhaustion.

"Makai...what's wrong?" Myra's voice, soft and filled with concern, carried a gentle plea, inviting him to unburden himself of any troubles he carried.

Something had occurred, something between Makai and Judah, for his pa, wouldn't have departed as he did without bidding farewell to her, Persie, Rue, or her mama. It was a departure from his usual manner, leaving Myra to wonder about the events that transpired.

"What happened?" she inquired, brow knitting in concern, her voice a quiet plea that asked him to let her help him carry any burdens he might be feeling.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"It's just been one thing after another today. Dad and I... We just are not seeing eye to eye."

Wine uncorked, the half-Galan poured them both a glass. One was passed over to Ellie, concern written over every feature. There was no avoiding the subject, not that he would purposely keep anything from his fiancée. He just didn't want her to worry about something they didn't have much control over.

"Which I suppose I don't have to worry about since he's gone. He didn't leave a timeframe on a return date or anything of the sort but I don't think it will be anytime soon."

Glass in hand, Makai went back to the desk, picking up the simple note. There were only a few brief instructions for regarding Salacia and a mention of Makai being in charge 'of it all' for the time being.

Note was handed to Ellie, allowing her to read what was left behind.

"I can't say I'm sad to see him go, I'm tired of getting yelled at. Of getting my choices picked apart. It's probably for the best."

Years of a therapy had done him well in being able to handle these high pressure situations, with raised voices and terse words. Yet it still took a toll, leaving him exhausted between the fence building and the lack of support from his father.

"I'm going to be busy until I get this sorted out, I'm sorry. It will only be for a few days, going to have to make some changes..Trust me, it's not how I planned things would go."

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

Myra sat quietly, her brow furrowed in confusion as she held the glass of wine and the note, trying to piece together the puzzle that was unfolding before her. It was as if she was trying to decrypt an encrypted message, each word and action from Makai adding another layer of complexity to the situation.

She settled onto the plush couch, drawing her legs up beneath her in an attempt to find comfort amidst the storm of emotions brewing within her. This conversation was shaping up to require time, patience, and understanding.

"This doesn't make any sense," She remarked, dropping the note to her lap and fixating her attention back on Makai, who had taken to pacing for a moment before his hands once again, pulling at the mop of curls as if needing to flex out his exhausted frustration.

"What could have possibly caused him to react like this?" Myra wondered aloud, her gaze fixed on Makai as she searched for answers in the depths of his troubled eyes. "

"And he yelled at you? About what? Choices? Regarding the mining arm or Aina Holdings?" she ventured, grasping at straws in an attempt to make sense of the situation. After all, Judah had only just months ago attempted to convince Myra his best to reach out to Makai and try to mend things again before regret and a bitter, lonely life took hold of her. The thought that Judah may be upset at how fast they were moving things was the furthest from her mind.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

This is what he was dreading ; riding a fine line between being truthful with his fiancée and not being so truthful that she felt that the entire situation was her fault. It wasn't her fault yet Ellie had a way of twisting the situation and not looking logically. She would feel their engagement was the cause, when in all reality it was something far beyond the both of them.

"He thinks we are moving too quickly and perhaps this was done on a whim,the engagement. I explained our situation but we don't see eye to eye on the direction forward. My direction is getting married, his is to wait."

Makai stopped pacing and moved to grab his wine glass once again, coming to sit next to her. Reassuring smile was tossed in her direction as he leaned his back into the plush furniture.

"Just some disagreement on timelines is all. I remain confident in our decision. As I told him, I've been thinking about this for months. I don't think it's anything we have to worry about, probably just shocked him."

A small shake of his head. A deep breath before taking a sip of wine, determined to not let his father put a damper on his excitement. Judah leaving tossed a wrench in his plans but he was confident he would figure something out.

"I found out my parents had a shotgun wedding though. As in, little unborn baby Tadpole Makai was there...so, that was a revelation. Explains a lot now really."

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

The shock and bewilderment that shone in Myra's face was almost comical. She even gave a slight double take, her head giving a slight shake as if saying, wait, what? Did I hear that correctly?

"He thinks we are moving too fast?" Myra repeated, her fingers tightening around the stem of her wine glass as her fingers needed something to do. Thankfully, Makai sat next to her, and she could reach out with her free hand to enclasp it with his, needing that tactile connection. Perplexion colored her stormy grey eyes.

"But... he was the one who was telling me to try and reach out to you again before it is too late and I regret it. He knew that I love you and even said he'd try his best to set it up for us to meet if I wanted to try."

It was clear Myra wasn't upset about Judah's opinion to wait, just confused.

"Why did he think it was prudent for us to wait? And how long? " Then Makai leveled her with the news regarding the truth of his parent's wedding.

"Wait... so your ma was already pregnant with you when they were married?" Thinking of the type of honorable man Judah was, for certain he would have married the mother of his child. She didn't have to say aloud what thoughts came with that -- did Judah marry Thessa then because he wanted to or because of his sense of responsibility? But then again, mama said that Judah deeply loved Makai's mother and had been a wreck when she left.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

A hum of agreement was confirmation that his father thought they were moving too quickly. Her hand took his and he squeezed gently, listening as she worked through many of the thoughts he had over the past several hours regarding their reunion and timeline of their relationship.

“I think it's more than that, Ellie. There's a lot of factors at play and truthfully his reaction may have just been collateral damage.”

Thumb rubbed along her hand now, thinking how he's to explain this. Ellie had an excellent relationship with Judah, their own conversations and time spent together. In many ways, the heiress knew more than he ever would.

“I think there's an element of shock. Remind me not to be shocked if one of our kids does something like this young, don't want to be a hypocrite in twenty-five odd years.”

He laughed a little before continuing, finishing the answer to her question.

“He wanted us to wait a few years until we were completely sure of one another. Now, while that is not horrible advice, the context was, the entire way he voiced his concerns.”

A sigh, this was exhausting. He had expected pushback but the intensity had caught him off guard.

“I don't think he understands we've thought through the potential pitfalls. A failed marriage for us has a lot of consequences; business and personal. It's never an undertaking to be done without thought in even the simplest of circumstances…. I feel he's just projecting a lot of fears and concerns that just don't exist because he's fearful himself.”

Shoulders shrugged, as if to say it was just his opinion.

“Yes, she was pregnant with me. Dad didn't appreciate pointing out he seemed to know her pretty well in one way at least before saying "I do.”

Another squeeze of her hand. He was still being careful of his words but much of this subject they had touched on before, it was just added insights since of the negative reaction of their engagement.

“I'm sure it's just hard to see us grow up and make our own decisions and start our own family. I think he just carries a lot from what happened with him and Mom."

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

Myra bit her lower lip, nibbling on it a second later as concern flooded her grey eyes even further in worry over the elder Dashiell. By all accounts, the heiress had a special place in her heart for Judah, and hearing that he might disapprove of their wedding plans not only bewildered, but also made her worry about him.

She had thought there had been something going on with the old salvager ever since she started to feel the tension grow between Makai and him well before Life Day.

Even their brunches had seemed to be a little off, but Judah had done his best to have small talk and ask more about how Myra was doing and her work than revealing anything about himself. She hadn’t pushed it because she had thought that he was doing his best trying to work things out with Azula and finally have the Outworlder romance he wanted. He certainly deserved it.

Now in hearing Makai point out and connect the nav points for her, it seemed Judah might be struggling with something more.

“So you think it is because of your ma?” While their tipsy wine night had them musing theories, Myra seems to go back to what Judah told her. That he just couldn’t let go of Makai’s ma back then.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

“Just based on his reaction… at least part of it I feel has to do with his own past. First I got the she better not be pregnant speech then the getting to know one another speech, so it was a bit all over the place. The context seemed like he’s worried about me repeating his missteps.”

Makai wouldn’t have minded the push back so much if it had been addressed differently. Danger had her own concerns and came at him in a thoughtful, constructive manner. He appreciated the insights and questions she had when he asked for her blessing and told her the news. Not immediately shutting down and just berating his choices had gone far in the dialogue.

He had hoped the same would have happened with his own father. No such luck.

“Maybe something just snapped inside him at the news. Or he had some type of flashback. I wish I could ask Mom but she barely remembers me, let alone anything of her being married. We will probably never know.”

“Whatever happened, he’s gone now and I don’t have any idea when he will be back. Maybe your Ma will know. They seem to talk, or at least they used to.”

A shake of his head, unable to believe it. He would circle back around to Danger tomorrow to see if she knew something, she was headed off to an Expo and he would catch her before then. That would leave him in charge of Persephone and he wondered how the pre-teen would feel about being shuffled off to him and to a lesser extent, Ellie.

“Regardless, I’m not letting it ruin my excitement. I hope you’re not going to let it squash yours either.”

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

Myra took several sips of wine as she listened to Makai talk and explain his theories. They made sense. In thinking back to the conversation she had with Judah, she recalled how he said he was a hopeless romantic and how he made decisions that he regretted.

There was just so much to consider, Myra didn’t know where to start. What she did know, is that she did want to marry Makai as soon as they were able to.

Myra shin her head, saying,” No I want to become your wife as soon as we can. I don’t see any reason why we have to wait.”

“Do you think I should talk to him?” She asked, scooting closer so that she could lean against him, cradling her wine glass between her hands.

“Maybe if he read your journal he can see that what we feel for each other isn’t something that we are doing on a whim?”

 

[Makai Dashiell]

"I don't see any reason not to either."

Arm moved to rest around her shoulders as she scooted closer. Fingertips gently tapped against her collarbone as he thought, regarding her words. He couldn't stop Ellie from speaking to his father, but there was a mild concern that Judah may turn his line of questioning towards the heiress. Of course she could handle herself, but the half-Galan would be more than a little upset if his father questioned her in the same manner.

"Its up to you. Don't expect much."

As for his journal, he gave a pause. It was hers now, free to do as she wished. Makai was unsure of how much it would help, if this was a deeper problem seeing him wax poetic about his love life may not help. Or perhaps it would. His fingertips stopped moving on her collarbone, hand going still as he regarded the question.

"That is...entirely your decision. If you want him to get a better idea, that is fine by me. I know he was a little shocked to hear I've known I wanted you to be my wife since Palahni, but I didn't give any details. Maybe it could help ease some of his concerns. Maybe it won't. At one point in my life I could have gave a definite answer but now, its like I don't even know who he is."

 

[Myra Elspeth Arceneau]

Her head came to rest against Makai's chin, and he pressed his cheek against the top of her head, warm breath fanning the stray dark mahogany hais as they quietly held each other. They needed this recharging period, more so Makai than Myra, but it was nice just the same.

After a moment, Myra looked up, tilting her head back to study Makai's weary face. After taking her free hand from her wine glass, she smiled at him and brought it up to cup his face. She lovingly caressed it, her thumb brushing against his cheek, eyes surveying his beloved face and the scattering of beauty marks.

"I think I'll do it. I'd rather try it than regret not attempting it." Once again, her thumb grazed his cheek, and then she tipped her face up to kiss his lips softly.

"I love you, Makai Dashiell." Myra's smile softened.

"Never forget that."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

Weariness was sinking into his bones as they sat together, quietly enjoying the company of one another. A long day, it was one Makai was ready to put past him. There was a lot to figure out and have to deal with now that his father had decided to hand the reigns over to him. Whether that was a temporary situation or long-term one remained to be seen.

Touch on his face brought him back to reality, smiling back at Ellie.He had been so lost in thought his wine had barely been drank, thoughts light years away from the present. Forcing himself to drag away from the thoughts swirling away in the back of his mind, the half-Galan kissed her back, arm around her shoulders giving a little squeeze.

"As if I could ever forget.I love you too Ellie Arceneau."