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Dorm Log The Sequel To End All Sequels

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"I can't say much on the parental front. I don't remember mine too well. There's not much in my childhood I really remember at all. More or less the idea that I didn't have one. But that's Gerudo tradition. Childhood is the equivalent of weapons training."

She shook her head, "So this boy, who said he's never had a mother, I don't want to raise him the way I was. So I have to find this medium. I can't be as hard on him as my superiors were to me. Pit isn't a Gerudo. I can teach him discipline, but the way he is - immature and amusing - that's the way I like him. I don't want to stifle him too much, but I think the balance won't be easy to get."

Scratching at the back of her head, Nabooru gave a sheepish smile, "You're right, though. I bet parents are always like that. You'll help me keep an eye on him, eh? I mean, when it comes to bruises and all of that. I can't be with him always."

In response, he chuckled lightly and added, "Now that's something I can definitely do. Even when you can't be there, you have plenty of other people who will be. He seems to make friends easily, so I'm sure he will be just fine. Especially when you're the one giving him an extra push!"

"I think he'll be just fine, too," Nabooru agreed with a thoughtful smile. "Pit's smart. Cute, too. He might not necessarily need me, but I can give him a taste of something he's never had before. And he can do the same for me. I think that's what I need."

I hope it's what he needs.

"Every little bit helps, too. Not sure if you remember your parents at all, but if you ever think I'm not being a proper image of a parent, you should let me know."

"Oh, don't you worry! I have plenty of experience with the best parents I could have asked for. Surely they taught me a thing or two about good parenting. I'm onto you!" he joked.

"But in all honestly, I doubt I'll have to step in much. Nonetheless, I'll do my best."

She blinked when she heard him. Really? It was hard not to try imagining what his parents must have been like. Judging on his own behaviour, she was going to assume they were polite and probably akin to well-to-do. Or something like it. Rhys hardly seemed the sort to really be on her 'primitive' level.

"No, I don't think you will either. I'm pretty sure I'll have things under control." Then she furrowed her eyebrows with thought, "Mind telling me a bit about your family?"

"I'd love to!" he said with such a shining face. "Oooh, where should I begin? My parents are a good start, considering I didn't have brothers or sisters. They're the sweetest, kindest people you could meet. They were patient with me all my life, even when I demanded so much care and attention from them due to my frail condition." His smile waned, but never left. "But, they're so old... Nowadays, they look more like grandparents. Then again, they had always been in their later years, even when I was a child."

Right. Because Rhys was a human. Or so Nabooru had thought. Was it a particular tradition to have children later in life? She had no real way of knowing and felt it wasn't particularly important enough for her to dive into.

"Would you say you're a lot like them? You call them sweet, kind, and patient. I'd say you're much the same way. It sounds like you inherited quite a few good traits from them." Although she was a little surprised to hear him call himself 'frail.' She knew it wasn't meant to be self-deprecating, but it was still difficult for her to hear without wanting to protest.

Rhys laughed a little at being compared to his parents. He thought it amusing. "You know something? I think you're very observant. When I take a look at it more closely, we do share a lot of similarities. They are the ones who raised me, after all."

Tapping into memories of his parents was uplifting, and he could recall their smiling faces clear as day. He often wrote to them, sent them money, and wondered how they were faring in their tidy, modest-sized cottage back in his home village.

"Ahh, but how I miss them. It's been a while since I've visited. But it's been even longer since I saw my dear uncle."

She wasn't about to argue the compliment. Nabooru knew she was observant. Gerudo training, naturally. She listened and watched a lot more than most people gave her credit for and any stupid acting on her part was purely a charade. It was safer to keep a low profile than it was to expose so much of her wit. After all, if someone decided she was someone to be reckoned with...

Well. She really liked her peace and quiet.

"This uncle of yours sounds important. Did he have a big impact on your life?"

"Oh, he had a ginormous impact!" spouted Rhys in all his rising ebullience. He could probably be spouting complete garble just then and yet his zeal would give away the affirmation of his response. "He was my role model! Since I couldn't go outside and do much, he would sometimes sit down with me and fill my ears with marvelous stories inspired by his life as a mercenary. I was always eager to listen. The way he spoke sucked me in and made me feel like I could come along for the action, even though all I really amounted to was an audience." The longer he described his past, the more even his enthusiasm became. "He was an amazing man. You see, I... always longed for adventure, when I was young. Stories were all I had."

'Ginormous.' It was a cute word to hear him use. But there was something equally cute about seeing Rhys act akin to a younger child. She'd always been of the belief that he was a bit of an older man. Obviously not as old as she was, but older than many of the other people in the academy. Except when he started to act endearing. Because then he just seemed like another of her excitable students.

And that wasn't a bad thing.

"What would you call this then?" She asked as she gestured around with her right hand. "This academy is as much an adventure as the desert sands where I come from. I think you've been on an adventure already and maybe just haven't realised it yet." But she understood what he was getting at. He had been too fragile to live the life of a mercenary and if something had happened to him, she wouldn't have gotten to meet him.

"So as long as we're both here, let's try to level out our peaceful times and the adventures we have, too."

"That was an insightful thing to say," awed Rhys without dropping his kindled verve in the slightest since he started talking about his family. "You're absolutely right, though. This academy has allowed me many adventures, even if they were, at times, unpleasant. Like being forced behind the wheel of a car and made to drive at maddening speeds..." Oh, uh. He sort of paled at that memory. But he shook it off quickly just to keep at what he was saying. "Just like the journeys I've been on with the Greil Mercenaries. My life isn't a dull one at all. And that... makes me happy to think about."

A car. She'd never driven one. Raiden had taken his when they visited the desert. It was as close as she got to one where buses weren't concerned. But she was still old-fashioned to the point where she preferred her feet taking her places. She had a hard time envisioning Rhys in a car, wind blowing through his radiant hair.

He probably hadn't been in a car like that.

"Your life is far from dull. Things here are a little more calm. Sometimes. And I guess you and I can use that calm sometimes. Better to take those moments of peace before you lose them."

He had definitely not been quite so cool like that. More like the opposite end of the spectrum; it had been a full-blown panic attack. Needless to say, Rhys avoided vehicular transportation whenever he possibly could.

"Peace is nice," agreed Rhys. "We really should thank our stars whenever we have little turbulence in our lives. It's something we take for granted until it's gone."

"Normally I'd agree with that," Nabooru began with a thoughtful look. She moved, so she might be able to tap her chin with some consideration. "I see less turbulence in my life, honestly. In fact, things are so relaxed for me that I'm beginning to wonder what to do with myself. But it won't always be that way and I'm sure when things pick up again, I'll want to resume this life of lazing about and luxury."

Then she motioned over to him, "But you've always struck me as the sort of guy who likes his peace and quiet. Probably not much for parties. Probably prefer smaller gatherings. I haven't quite figured out how you and my king managed to hit it off so well."

"He..." Rhys had an urge to negate her assumption. He really did. But instead, he chose to just go along with it. On the subject of vehicular transportation, Ganondorf was, after all, partially responsible for the trauma. "Well, you could say it was hard to avoid. He's a very... persistent man. But it's an accurate assessment on your part that I do appreciate peace and quiet. Parties are nice, but I'm not one to join the hectic side of them. I'm afraid I'm just a bit too laid-back to be a wild party animal!"

"Persistent." That was a good point. Ganondorf was nothing short of persistent.

Nabooru relaxed a bit as she listened to him with a small smile. "Once upon a time I was all about the parties. I'm thinking your good traits have been rubbing off onto me, Rhys. I'm becoming a good person. Or something like that." And whatever smile she'd had was too quick to turn into a smirk.

So she must have been kidding about some part of it.

"Nonsense to the idea that you can't be a party animal AND a good person!" laughed Rhys, raising his hands to meet together. "So nowadays, I bet you could shine on as the life of the next party and still be as good a person as ever!"

"The difference is," she began with a pointed look, "that I'm not sure I want to be the life of the party anymore."

And she thought it didn't sound like her when she admitted to it. "I mean. Maybe I'm getting older or something. It just doesn't have the same appeal to me that it had four years ago. I'm not that interested in causing trouble and nowadays if I say I'm going to, I'm blowing smoke."

Shaking her head, Nabooru smiled, "You think you've changed a lot since you've been here?"

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Dorm Log The Sequel To End All Sequels

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