01-13-2020, 09:42 PM
A myriad of things distracted Akran in the days following his meeting with Irrin. Penelope was found to be expecting. His wife was overjoyed at the prospect, but Akran couldn’t help but wonder if the child was his. He and Penelope sparsely spent time together in that way, and the timing of it just didn’t seem to make sense to him. It really wouldn’t surprise him if her duties had lead her to another man’s bedchambers…Either way, he did his best to share in his wife’s joy. He had no place to judge her if she too had an affair, not with his own track record.
So nearly a year was spent in preparation and arrival of the newborn child. A son at that, and one precious and sweet to interact with. Despite any suspicions or discontent Akran experienced before the arrival, once his son did come, he too was able to share in Penelope’s joys. The child was innocent of any wrong, at least that was the man’s opinion when he would rest with him in his arms in his study.
He and Penelope had invested in an addition to their home, which turned his study into something more like a solarium. The sunlight would greet him and his family as they would lounge there, all preforming their various personal activities. It was far better for the man’s health than his former home he found in the basement, where his experiments would create various smells and odors, and his papers were often found soggy and damp the next day due to lingering moisture.
But these sunny days were numbered, to the misfortune of the Moore family.
Akran’s despair of the unknown would grip him in the evening, and the wondering thoughts about the girl with the green eyes would grow in strength as time went on. Akran's own son was the unintended trigger for this. He was named Timir and by now he was five. The boy was now learning how to read and write with a prowess that would convince Penelope that he would become the prodigy her husband never managed to be. As Timir grew, Akran to start to bow back to his ways prior, sulking in his study at the future shadow he would rest behind once his son became older, and far wiser than he was ever able to be.
Was everyone around him destined to be greater, more important? Even his son?
Akran knew his resentment was poorly placed, but it would exist regardless no matter how much he struggled to smother it. He did this for Timir’s sake, for the sake of his love for his son. At least, that was the thought behind it. The creeping fear that he once had before the boy was born returned as he aged, and while his son certainly bore the image of Penelope in the shade of his hair, and the pointedness of his nose, Akran was hard-pressed to find anything of himself in his visage. It would weaken Akran’s resolve, bringing him brittle close to showing his true feelings to his family.
But Akran knew he couldn’t say anything on this. Even if he felt the way he did, even if he didn’t care if it hurt Penelope, and maybe not even Timir-he knew he couldn’t destroy his family. It was the only thing he had, as flimsy and hollow as it was.
So Akran put his efforts into distancing himself from his family through the hire of a housekeeper. A sweet girl, who if Akran had been the man he once was, may have brought gifts for and would take out in the evenings to revel. But the man didn’t have it in him anymore, and certainly couldn’t afford it when he already was scraping the bottom of his personal funds to keep her around as his buffer. She would not only keep the house, but whenever Penelope was away, she would care for Timir like an older sister. Akran sometimes wondered if his family cared about his absence, because in the few times he would watch his family interact with the girl, he wondered if he was even missed. He couldn’t think on it long, though. His sanity was already a fragile thing.
Now he had his excuse and means to do what he had intended on all along. Akran figured, even if he could not be the man he wished he was, at least he could do himself the service of knowing. Knowing what had happened to Temerity, the one person in his life that him feel like the man he wanted to be. Now the quiet hunt for Irrin Greengrass was began anew.
And it wouldn’t be long before he’d see her again.
So nearly a year was spent in preparation and arrival of the newborn child. A son at that, and one precious and sweet to interact with. Despite any suspicions or discontent Akran experienced before the arrival, once his son did come, he too was able to share in Penelope’s joys. The child was innocent of any wrong, at least that was the man’s opinion when he would rest with him in his arms in his study.
He and Penelope had invested in an addition to their home, which turned his study into something more like a solarium. The sunlight would greet him and his family as they would lounge there, all preforming their various personal activities. It was far better for the man’s health than his former home he found in the basement, where his experiments would create various smells and odors, and his papers were often found soggy and damp the next day due to lingering moisture.
But these sunny days were numbered, to the misfortune of the Moore family.
Akran’s despair of the unknown would grip him in the evening, and the wondering thoughts about the girl with the green eyes would grow in strength as time went on. Akran's own son was the unintended trigger for this. He was named Timir and by now he was five. The boy was now learning how to read and write with a prowess that would convince Penelope that he would become the prodigy her husband never managed to be. As Timir grew, Akran to start to bow back to his ways prior, sulking in his study at the future shadow he would rest behind once his son became older, and far wiser than he was ever able to be.
Was everyone around him destined to be greater, more important? Even his son?
Akran knew his resentment was poorly placed, but it would exist regardless no matter how much he struggled to smother it. He did this for Timir’s sake, for the sake of his love for his son. At least, that was the thought behind it. The creeping fear that he once had before the boy was born returned as he aged, and while his son certainly bore the image of Penelope in the shade of his hair, and the pointedness of his nose, Akran was hard-pressed to find anything of himself in his visage. It would weaken Akran’s resolve, bringing him brittle close to showing his true feelings to his family.
But Akran knew he couldn’t say anything on this. Even if he felt the way he did, even if he didn’t care if it hurt Penelope, and maybe not even Timir-he knew he couldn’t destroy his family. It was the only thing he had, as flimsy and hollow as it was.
So Akran put his efforts into distancing himself from his family through the hire of a housekeeper. A sweet girl, who if Akran had been the man he once was, may have brought gifts for and would take out in the evenings to revel. But the man didn’t have it in him anymore, and certainly couldn’t afford it when he already was scraping the bottom of his personal funds to keep her around as his buffer. She would not only keep the house, but whenever Penelope was away, she would care for Timir like an older sister. Akran sometimes wondered if his family cared about his absence, because in the few times he would watch his family interact with the girl, he wondered if he was even missed. He couldn’t think on it long, though. His sanity was already a fragile thing.
Now he had his excuse and means to do what he had intended on all along. Akran figured, even if he could not be the man he wished he was, at least he could do himself the service of knowing. Knowing what had happened to Temerity, the one person in his life that him feel like the man he wanted to be. Now the quiet hunt for Irrin Greengrass was began anew.
And it wouldn’t be long before he’d see her again.