/last!/

Kiss of Life

[5] They

They weren't affectionate to each other—both didn't believe in displays of affection. When company other than him was present, they would refrain from touching each other, even go as far as refusing to acknowledge the other even if they were together. The distance between them remained as close as close could be, though, just without touching.

He never saw them kiss or hold hands, or even whisper fond words to each other. No. His parents were cold to each other. As they were cold to him.

In public.

Inside the papered walls of the mansion in the mountains, however (for his mother had long resigned herself to a future without a European house), they were family. Though in his presence they still refused to hold hands, there was the warmth and sincerity of a home and a loving family. The three of them would never admit it (for they were in nature cold and quiet, and he wondered, how could we survive as we have in silence and whispers and training?), but they reveled in the company of each other, and they wouldn't have it any other way. The mansion was so quiet a pin could be heard dropping (well, really, that was an exaggeration), but warmth pervaded the air whenever they were together, and he knew he and his mother felt secure whenever father was around, and there was a quiet and subtle pride in father whenever he chanced to glance upon his wife and son.

And inside their room, Men could hear snatches of whispered affection from his father, his mother's teasing questions, and the lighthearted banter. (And there was also the fact that his mother was pregnant with his little sister, so there had to be something going on behind their door.) And he could distinctly remember, when he was still small enough to be tucked into bed, the careful kiss his mother bestowed upon his forehead, and the callous thumb his father had used to smooth his furrowed brows.

He'll be a good shaman someday.

That he will.

Other people might think that they weren't married, what with the way they treated each other in public, but in their undisturbed home they were the best parents ever.

/aww the cheese. and corn. I CANNOT HELP MYSELF. i am too corny for words./