Ephemeral Affairs [MXM]

A Duo Arises

Ennelis whispers to his older brother's ear, "I feel like those three miss their moms."

The older brother quickly observes and answers, "Of course. Won't you miss mom if she's gone? You should go play with them."

"But I'm shy," Ennelis clings onto his brother's clothes. "And very nervous."

"That is such a lie. Go on and play with them. Here, I'll go with you," Eli moves toward the three children with Ennelis hiding closely behind him.

"Hi. Is it okay if my brother, Ennelis, plays with you guys?" Eli pushes his little brother toward them.

The three child exchanges look while looking very addled. Niowei answers, "But we're not playing."

Jaufasi snuggles with his fish while hiding behind Niowei, and Arabret follows his example.

"Okay. Then what's the new kid's name?" Eli places his hands on his hips.

Niowei glances at Arabret and shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. I woke up this morning and he was sleeping beside me. I asked my daddy and uncle Artemis, but they only told me to be nice to him."

"Hey," Eli bends down and smiles at the little boy with olive skin. "I'm Eli and you are?"

"I'm..." Arabret looks around and answers quietly, "My name is Arabret, son of—"

Yasana carries Nisara in her arms with an annoyed expression, "Are you two bullying them? You know it's not nice and you shouldn't be doing it."

"Do I look like I don't have common sense?" Eli rolls his eyes at his cousin. "We're introducing ourselves to the new kid. Anyway, why are you always hogging Nisara? I want to carry him too."

It is at this time that Yennenga walks toward their childish argument.

He coughs for their attention and says, "What's with all the bickering? You should behave like the children of your parents ought to. Now, what is going on?"

"Nothing." Yasana answers bleakly.

"It didn't sound like nothing. We should resolve this before it gets out of hand," Yennenga crosses his arms until he notices the new boy among the group of children.

"We want to carry Nisara too," Ennelis pouts while still hiding behind his brother. "Yasana is hogging him all to herself. It's not fair."

"Alright, but you need to get permission from uncle Maeve," Yasana rolls her eyes.

Yennenga laughs, takes the child from Yasana, and gives him Ennelis, "How's that? Isn't he adorable?"

Ennelis nods and gurgles along with Nisara.

Then Arabret whispers to Jaufasi, "He looks like Asahi."

"His name was Asahi, but Maeve changed his name to Nisara because of his grandma," Niowei turns around to give out the minor details.

"But why? Asahi is a good name."

"My name is Niowei. My grandma's name is Nanya. My daddy's name is Niltiocles. My uncle's name is Nir. My brother's name is Nillin. My cousin's name is Nien. Of course, his name have to be Nisara. There's just no other way."

"Oh." Arabret sounds meekly before hiding behind Jaufasi.

Yennenga, Yasana, and Eli each hides their laughter.

"It's okay. Do you want to play over here?" Jaufasi smiles and takes Arabret's hand. "What do you want to play?"

"Um, I like fish."