Raif - Yami

_{Strong Bond}



He looked kind of silly with dozens of rolled up parchments tucked under his arm. Though this was not an uncommon sight—Yami Starboon was often bringing calculations, documents and other things to his elder brother—King Ankei.

Yami adjusted the parchments under his arm, and as he did, his eye caught a man lying in the long fading green grass. His crimson eyes narrowed and a small smirk began to play at the corner of his lips. He knew that man…

“Well, well, look at you.” Yami said, the tisk-tisk practically audible in the way he spoke, “skipping meetings again with the Council?”

Raif opened one piercing blue eye, squinting against the sun as he gazed up at his father. The crown prince said nothing, but instead closed his eye and worked his interlaced fingers under his head more comfortably. He yawned loudly—deliberately.

Yami snorted down at the young elf, though Raif had the right idea. Yami himself was actually headed towards the Council to show them the research he had gathered. However, before even getting there Yami was sure that the meeting was going to be ‘postponed’ or cancelled. Yami rarely received attention from the Council these days.

The crimson-eyed man dropped the scrolls he was carrying onto the grass before plopping down onto his back in front of the other so that their heads met in the middle. Yami inhaled deeply through his nose, enjoying the smells of nature. Nothing beat the smells in Kaelin’s garden, but this was a different sort of smell.… It made him feel rather adventurous and young again… like the old days. The prince folded his hands over his stomach, closing his eyes against the blaringly bright sun above.

After a moment Raif tilted his head back, barely able to make out the black shock of hair that was so similar to his own, “Now who’s shirking their duties?”

Yami grinned, though kept his eyes closed, “Are you belittling me, Raif? I think I’m allowed to have a little peace here and there. Goddesses’ know that the Council could care less if I dropped off the face of the planet. I doubt they’ll care if I’m ten minutes early or fifteen minutes late. It will be the same result either way—complete and utter failure to meet.”

Raif shook his head, pulling one hand out from under his head and raising his palm towards the blue sky to block out the sun, “Don’t say things like that, Father. The Council may be full of hypocrites and ignorant snots, but they do listen to you… secretly. Besides, what would us kids do without you?”

Yami shrugged absently, feeling the tickle of grass on his neck so he shifted away from it. “Raif?”

“Hm?”

“Why is it you refer to me as only ‘father’?” It didn’t bother him all that much, but Yami suddenly had the urge to know. Raif had never addressed him as anything less formal than that.

Raif frowned, “Well… I didn’t have a normal pair of parents. I have three fathers. I guess you all just adopted a title. It’s easier for me that way.”

Yami nodded slightly, accepting this, but for some reason there was a gnawing of worry in the back of his mind so he continued despite his better judgment, “Why did I get ‘Father’? Was I the un-cool one?”

Raif snorted, “You were definitely the most strict.” Yami frowned at this, but unable to see Raif continued, “Dad was always the fun one. He was the one that would take me out fishing on rainy days or teach me how to ride a horse. Papa was always the one that kissed my scrapes and bruises better when I fell… and you… You were the one that handed me books and told me to stay on top of my lessons….”

There was a gentle silence until Yami finally worked up the courage to talk. First, however he rolled onto his side so he could see his eldest son, “Was I good father to you?” he nearly whispered it, and he half-hoped Raif hadn’t heard him—he was afraid of the answer.

Raif’s black hair, the same color that he had inherited from Yami, tickled the front of his face and his eyes twitched from under the closed eye-lids. He reached up to brush the hair away and tilted his head back to stare at his father again, who he noticed, looked suddenly very worried.

“A good father? Of course. Don’t be stupid. Without you I probably wouldn’t even know how to read yet. Dad’s great and all but he’s not exactly into literature… and Kaelin…” he laughed, shaking his head, “I love Kaelin too, but I can’t imagine what sort of kids Ankei and Kaelin would have raised.”

Yami made a face. Kaelin and Ankei? That would be ironic—a former and current lover together. It was a rather nauseating thought thinking of Kaelin with anyone else—especially Yami’s very own brother. “I don’t think that’s very funny…” Yami finally said, trying to rid the disgust from his face. The prince sighed softly, letting his fingers play with the long strands of grass, “So… you don’t feel neglected or anything of that sort? I know having such a large family on both sides is difficult…”

“Please, father, don’t do this.” Raif sat up and the wind caught his long black hair, jerking it about to his left. Bits of grass stuck to his back and Yami had to resist the urge to brush his son clean. “You’re a good father, so stop worrying about it. You taught me how to channel my chi, made me study and taught me how to be self-sufficient.” He looked over his shoulder, and stared at his father who, he couldn’t help but notice, looked very much like a girl as he lay there in the grass. The gentle curves of his waist more pronounced from his relaxed position and his long black hair kept catching on his moist lips, which he kept brushing away with tender feminine hands. Maybe ‘mom’ would have been more appropriate way to address him…

Raif snickered and turned away, hiding his laughter behind his hand.

“What?” Yami questioned, narrowing his eyes. “What’s so funny?”

“You, Father… You. You’re such a funny guy.” The crown prince stood suddenly, brushing the back of his pants of anything that tried to hitch a ride. Yami stood as well, and unable to contain himself any longer, began to brush the grass from Raif’s back, frowning fiercely at it.

Raif tried hard not to laugh—sometimes Yami really was more motherly than Raif initially gave credit.

It was kind of nice.

[Ramirez]

<sub>A/N:Story bond 6/81 of the project I'm working on.

I really had no idea what to write for these two... but they have such a strange relationship--they're close but they don't spend a whole lot of time together. Whenever they are it usually has to do with academics, council meetings or just a teacher-student relationship all around. It's rare that they have moments outside of that relationship, so I thought I'd take a stab at it.

Writing Raif as an adult is still strange for me. o_O</sub>



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