War Technicalities [UNDER REVISION]

Contradicting Personalities

[Unrevised. 4 Years Old. Prepare for inconsistencies with previous chapters.]

"Apes need to show strength."

Koba's words hang heavy in Caesar's chest – though he knew that they were true, he also knew, at his core, that violence would destroy his family. So, as he gazed down at his sleeping wife, his baby carefully laid on her chest and slowly oscillating in odd angles with her steady breaths, the king of apes wondered if he will ever be able to watch them so closely again – just basking in the peace of their rest while he sat, alert, with a need to protect them ailing his own slumber, something he never minded. Only the sudden rustling and an unape-like knock at the frame of his doorway was enough to break the silence, the sound unique enough that he knew exactly who it was and quickly motioned for Haley to be quiet, startling her to a stop, her shoulders not even moving to breathe, less that makes too much sound.

The moment the young woman heard the ape shush her when she entered his home, the sight of him crouched by his sleeping wife boring into her unsuspecting eyes, Haley's words went lost to her, only a warmth rushing through her body, forcing her to smile, and a twinge of concern for his wife nagging at her conscience. Since Haley became closer to the queen of apes, seeing her old friend with her in adoring moments like those made her heart swell, so she was more than happy to eat her words before she sat down a few feet away from the nest, where Caesar has so kindly sat down next to her.

"How is she feeling?" Haley signed to preserve the silence, her eyes openly stuck on the ball of fluff on the female's chest while she painfully resisted reaching over and cuddling it. Her hands signed sloppily, given how rarely she spoke the ape's tongue (metaphorically, of course), but still she knew she was saying each word correctly, just like Caesar's adoptive father once taught her.

"Tired," He signed, but the uncertainty in his movements and the worried frown that knitted his brows together told Haley another story, "she just needs rest."

"I see," She hummed under her breath, but seemed even more unsure than Caesar, himself. But of course, the reason for her visit quickly came back to her attention and drew the matter to a close – though she cared about Cornelia, she could only hope she'd be alright and that her midwives were taking care of her, because there were other pressing matters. "You're not actually considering going to war, are you?" Haley signed finally, but unlike what she expected, her words granted her an odd look from him; she couldn't see the wander that hit Caesar, a wander about how a wife and husband could both advise him, but each with such a contradicting opinion.

"I have to consider all the advice I get from the council." He pointed out almost routinely while he still stared at her in surprise, something entirely different on his mind.

"And I'm not on the council – I get that." She huffed quietly and broke her eyes away from his to watch the others in the room again, as if hoping he wouldn't be able to see the brief dissatisfaction in her large brown orbs, even if she knew it was clear in her tone already, "But as your friend, please, I beg you to consider my advice as well; I know you have to listen to the council, but I know you wouldn't allow a war to happen, having learned more from humans than any other ape here, so, when you eventually make a decision, take most of your counseling from your own heart – I know that is where you'll discover what is best." No surprise, a pleasant silence broke over the room as Caesar mulled over her words, only eventually broken by a tiny, squeaking yawn, a sound that sliced through the tension with such ease that it almost startled Haley before she watched two small and bright green eyes pull open in front of her.

"Could I?" Haley asked Caesar almost instinctively and gave no explanation to what she was referring to, already knowing he knew exactly what she was referring to, and when he motioned for her to go ahead, she knew she was right. Carefully, she crawled over to the sleeping apes and reached for the tiny ball of fluff she had studied so fondly before, smiling at the sight of him reaching for her hands before she stole him from Cornelia's chest with great caution, not wanting to wake and alarm her. And so, coddling the baby ape close to her leather-clad chest, Haley maneuvered herself back to Caesar's side, sending him a grateful smile before she happily rocked his baby back and forth in her arms, only praying she did it right as she watched him aimlessly and curiously reaching for her strange-colored face, seeing a human for the very first time in his life – Haley couldn't believe it was her first time seeing Caesar's new son. Unlike her, however, her careful behavior prickled an entirely different thought with Caesar, and along with the shock he felt from the contradiction her advice held to Koba's, he finally chose to voice- or rather, sign his confusion and concern, "Why with Koba?"

"Hm?" Haley merely hummed, remaining oblivious to the unpredictability of his question and the alarm it should've caused in her while she made odd faces down at the baby in her arms, "What do you mean?"

"When Haley announced of her binding with Koba two years ago, directly after trying to attack him, I chose not to say anything, but it was against my instincts," He signed, the same unease he felt back then bubbling back up his throat, "I worry, Haley." Back then, when Koba and Haley came out to explain why she smelled like him, announcing that she was his mate, Caesar also felt the horror and sudden blow of the announcement, but when he saw the outrage building in the apes around him, he chose to silence himself, even if only for Haley's sake. Nevertheless, an uncertain restlessness grew in him with each passing month, small things about the two of them nagging at him in every wrong way – the disagreements they have over things that are the basic building-blocks to their personalities being the most prone moments to stab at him.

"So you were surprised." Haley sighed, slouching back against the wall behind her before sending Caesar a conflicted look – at that moment, she unintentionally recalled that pain his accepting behavior caused inside of her so long ago, but for some reason it was hard to recall her reasons, "but you don't need to worry – everything fine. If you worry because I'm a human, don't, because he also pays attention to his difference in strength around me."

"I didn't say it wasn't fine," He specified, his frown only growing, "why were you attacking him?"

Haley paused, shifting her eyes away from her friend and to the roof above her as she tried to select her words expertly, but it didn't last long – her thoughts were halted by her own decision to tell the truth... kind of. "We became mates because he lied to me; he told me you hated me and wanted me to leave," She told him honestly, setting her gaze back on the innocent form in her arms, her half-truth feeling oddly liberating, "you have to remember, you're the only family I have left, and you wanting me to leave disorientated me immediately. Maybe it was my way of trying to get a reason that I'll have to stay here, but one thing led to another and Koba and I mated," she explained carefully, careful not to mention how Koba took advantage of her in her moment of disorientation. "He lied because I was provoking him on purpose, mind you." She interrupted swiftly, somehow sensing the flicker of anger in the ape next to her, "And after I got my frustration out by attacking him and after he apologized and we spoke, we decided to be together. I know it might not seem like it all the time and I know our reasons may be unconventional, but I do care about Koba, Caesar," She added, sending Caesar a wary glance, relieved to see, not a look of anger or disgust, but a look of unwilling understanding being sent her way, "He will never lie to me again – that I know – and I will never lie to him either." Neither of them seemed to notice the aftereffects of their conversation when it came to her two years of conviction on her feelings.

Waving goodnight from the foot of the tree, Haley watched Caesar slip back into his home with his son, Cornelius, in his arms, content with everything he learned about her and Koba's relationship. Just before she left, she realized she didn't even know the name of his second son, so she thankfully remembered to ask. Sighing, an unknown and heavy weight lifted from her chest after their conversation, Haley shuffled back to her and Koba's hut with exhausted steps, smiling at the sight of him already splayed out in their nest. Without a sound, she laid down beside him, pausing for a moment when he stirred in his sleep, and rests her head in its usual spot on his scarred chest, angled perfectly for her to gaze through the gap in their 'door' and into the starred heavens while she tried to fall asleep. It's been twenty months since they began to share a hut, and with every passing month that he didn't touch her, she grew more and more comfortable and content as she curled up against him. Maybe that was why his scent never faded from her, even though they haven't done more that lay together in nearly two years.