Freefalling.[break][break]

It was a pastime long overdue, even if few save for himself even knew he had an old tendency to partake in it. Oddly enough, there was something oddly pleasant and calming about falling down through the air from higher altitudes. Some people did it for the adrenaline, and others would never dream of doing such a thing if it was in their control.[break][break]

He simply let the winds rush by him during his descent from the clouds, however.[break][break]

Falling faster, and faster, and faster— up until he opened his eyes once more and shifted within the air enough to face down towards the waters he neared. His eyes shifted towards the edge of his vision upon noting a figure blur by him some distance further below, arcing violently before flapping its wings up towards him to send a Tailwind against his fall.[break][break]

He smiled in idle appreciation and amusement as a second figure darted by to further slow his descent with a Tailwind of his own, and soon after, the Stone shifted within his descent a second time in order to face his back towards the seas beneath him once more, holding an arm out towards the side as the remaining reached up with an opened palm.[break][break]

Within moments, a claw grasped him with both carefulness and firmness, alike—a familiar sensation forged from prior occurrences—as he wrapped his own hand around the leg of which it belonged to. With a broadening smile, he glanced up towards the Staraptor above him as he so loyally held onto him, and once the man noted a particular Noivern soaring just beneath him, he tapped against the bird above him as a signal to be dropped upon the back of the newcomer.[break][break]

”...That’s the quickest and smoothest catch yet, Aquila~,” he mused, laughing as a cry of what he only assumed to be pride and approval met his ears. He glanced down towards the creature ferrying him, and then around him as a couple of other creatures began to flank them. ”And look at you bad boys, too~.”[break][break]

He reached out to give both the drake and the recently arrived Unfezant a soft pat as they soared along.[break][break]

”Those back to back Tailwinds— if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been practicing your coordination~.”

@tag[break]
notes

☉

…When was the last time she’d done as she did?[break][break]

She spoke of counseling, and it was true— and yet, regardless of the roles of siblings (he always thought that the idea that an elder was supposed to console the younger and not the other way around was a bit ridiculous), and regardless of the words he uttered with intentions upheld, he found himself briefly stopped as she pressed her fingers against his head.[break][break]

…Another thing to have nostalgia over.[break][break]

He eyed her for a while longer. He smiled. With a soft sigh, he merely nodded and rose a hand of his own to softly pat her arm, nodding and beginning to stand back up. ”Age shouldn’t determine who deserves and doesn’t deserve to be listened to, Sister,” he hummed, glancing through the kitchen before starting his way towards the rear counter spaces once more.[break][break]

Taking a napkin from a nearby display, he simply nodded towards it and held it towards her once walking back to her.[break][break]

”That aside, though, how about we move past the seriousness, mmn~?” the younger Stone mused on, pacing back just enough to take his own seat again. ”There’s still much to talk about and catch up on, so…”[break][break]

He rose a brow, tilting his head whilst leaning upon his hand in a leisurely manner.[break][break]

”Ask what your baby brother’s been up to in his absence. Go on~.”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

Oddly enough, everything before him had been nothing short of a welcomed sight.[break]
It helped him to have even a glimpse into the struggles that had undoubtedly been kept from view for so long[break][break]

Regardless of what people may have thought of him—him and his seemingly blind faith, and perseverance, and willingness to maintain an outstretched hand—he knew very well of the fact that his own ideals often held the better part of him. A heart forged within the flames of hardships had emerged a craft of gold throughout his years of presence and absence, alike; an idea that he, himself, had always striven to exhibit and maintain no matter the cost, no matter the situation, and no matter the person.[break][break]

Strangers, friends, family.[break]
…Especially family.[break][break]

So, as his own kin sat there before her with tears gradually trickling down her face, he simply eyed her in silence for some while— though not without that same, albeit more softened, smile of his. Raising both chest and shoulders with a gentle, inaudible breath, he merely allowed the sight to sink in for longer before pushing himself back, lifting himself up, and taking just a couple of paces towards her side.[break][break]

As she pressed her own hands against her eyes, he knelt by her, tilting his head up to eye her all the while.[break][break]

”...If you’re gonna apologize for that, I’ll just shoot it right back by apologizing for prioritizing my work, too~.” Hazel hues lingered upon her in idle thought before he lifted his arms, resting them upon the table’s edge before cradling the side of his head within them. ”We all have regrets, Sister, but you just need to know and remember that it’s impossible to move past them and better yourself if you don’t forgive yourself.”[break][break]

He hummed, reaching over to nudge one of her arms down in attempt to catch her gaze.[break][break]

”If we can salvage the pieces, then you can, too,” he murmured, his lips pulling faintly more upwards. ”Even if you can’t convince yourself of that right now, I’ll be there to remind you of that— just as I’m sure Ana would, and Mother would, and anyone else would.”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

To say that he knew precisely what her state of mind had been, and to say that he knew precisely of the things she could’ve possibly seen, would have been claims that would have simply been false, had he claimed them to begin with. There were many things that his own absence from the region deprived him of, after all.[break][break]

Time. Memories.[break]
Knowledge.[break][break]

Knowledge in accordance to the happenings of the family, for even as they spoke, there were bits and pieces of information that he still lacked, altogether; information that, truthfully enough, likely would have crushed him despite its insight, should he have been brought to light of it. Through word of indirect mouth had been the manner through which he’d found out about the falling outs of inheritances; the very crumbling of will and hierarchy that had ultimately led to their sister inheriting the company that she—as he recalled swiftly within those moments—simply hadn’t intended, nor wanted, to take up for herself. As he reaffirmed during their own visit, it had been understandable, as it was never her birthright; nor had it been that of the sibling before her, nor had it been his own. To some degree, he always believed that it hadn’t even been Alex’s, despite the responsibilities of being the firstborn.[break][break]

He had simply always had the leisure and luck of being of youth, and thus further along the line for inheritance.[break][break]

…And even then, pursuing his own path had been his own means of further ensuring that it hopefully would never happen, be it for the sake of his own freedom or otherwise, and regardless of whether or not he ever uttered a word of it to anyone. He ran from responsibility— or rather, what responsibility could have possibly been. He pursued his own matters. He took time for himself, and as calamity befell the family, he simply chose to stay distant for a while more for the sake of processing. It was a necessary thing to do; that much he was certain of.[break][break]

It had been due to that fact that the mirror he gazed upon reflected a thought unspoken, yet a thought relatable, all the same.[break][break]

”...Be that as it may, I still stand by my thoughts.” Hues of a strengthened amber—a smoldering, softening ember within the midst of its former ignition—lingered upon her for a while longer prior to idling towards her hands in movement. ”I don’t…know what, specifically, you saw. Obviously, I wasn’t here,” he went on, ”but to some degree, I understand because you were. …You were here during everything that happened. You witnessed it all, firsthand, as a person directly affected by it all.”[break][break]

Though he hadn’t quite known the weight of the statement, he still sought to reach over, softly tapping his fingers against her wrist with a continued smile.[break][break]

”Regardless, though, I say this as someone that knows his fair share of shirking responsibility, and…running away from the aftermath,” had been his next choice of words, all while he narrowed his eyes slightly. ”By no means was my experience the same as yours—I’d rather not assume that to be the case, after all—but my confidence comes from my relation.”[break][break]

He eyed her for a bit more before leaning back into his seat.[break][break]

”...If I were to go with my hunch, I’d say that what I see here is…someone that’s guilty for something that genuinely could not be helped, no matter how many, ‘What if?’ situations are mulled over. You’ve always been a bit more reserved, so it’s a bit harder to be sure of, but…in light of that, I just don’t want you to be too hard on yourself. I doubt any of us would.”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: slumber party

☉

”And I’ll tell you with my heart, soul, and all the confidence in me that you’re wrong, Sister.”[break][break]

As if a scorching knife stricken through butter, his words cut swiftly within the presence of her own mere moments after they had properly processed themselves within his mind. Though his initial intent had been to simply continue on with the welcomed feast before them, he found himself smiling more broadly—instinctively—without so much as realizing the rise of his lips within the midst of his own retort. Yet, even then, the prominence of the rise of his cheeks hadn’t been due to anything of the wry variety within those particular moments; rather, the expression he’d driven himself to don had been one of genuine nature.[break][break]

Confidence.[break]
…As confident as the type he claimed.[break][break]

He took a moment to properly take into account just how instantaneous and almost threatening the force his words exuded, and whether it had been from a vague touch of embarrassment, realization, or amusement with himself (if not all three at once), he the younger Stone merely leaned back in his seat. With shoulders and chest gradually rising and falling with breath in and out, he hummed softly whilst shutting his eyes for but a few moments for the simple sake of collecting his thoughts.[break][break]

”...If there’s anything I know, Sister, it’s that we’re strong,” he mused in beginnings once more, turning his head to face a woman who seemed to do anything but the same towards him at first. ”We’re strong. We’re strong. Our name, our family, and everything we’ve done both together and apart is nothing more than a testament to that strength— and you are no exception to that. I hope you know that.”[break][break]

Hazel hues lingered upon her for several moments more prior to a soft, ’clink,’ sounding between them; a natural reaction to the motion of metal against ceramics as the man set the utensil between his fingers down, once more. Pulling it and its opposing arm towards his form once more, he folded both within a loose embrace upon his chest, all while his legs crossed and locked upon one another beneath the table.[break][break]

”Things…may not have worked the way we thought; may not have worked the way we wanted to. If we were in charge of the cards dealt to us, though, then…nothing that happened ever would’ve happened.” Though drowned beneath a sudden onslaught of pensiveness, and seriousness, and a sudden, burning determination for his own thoughts, a softened touch took upon his lips after a brief reprise as his brows rose. ”Yet it did. Everything happened the way they did— and yet despite that, we’ve still found reprise. We’ve still found success, and motivations, and happiness.”[break][break]

He gazed at her in further thought.[break]
He gazed through her in some form of resonance and recognition.[break][break]

Unbeknownst to her or not, a mirror dwelled within her, and so he gazed upon it before shrugging with the same, leisurely smile in foil of her own, forced one.[break][break]

”...So why stress yourself with the weight of the world when you’ve done all that’s possible for you to do?” he hummed, softer, after some time. ”You’ve found happiness in the turmoil, and that—... That would absolutely be something he’d be proud about for all of us.”

DAPHNE STONE [break]
mission: slumber party

☉