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Arlen Kallem has recently come into possession of a boat. Well, actually he's recently come into possession of a few things, given his mother just died. But most relevantly, he has a boat. And a friend, with whom he can boat. These facts are relevant.
Harin has no objections to boating; he's still in shock, as far as Arlen can tell, which is pretty unreasonable, considering it's been like a week since his dad died, and the guy was a complete asshole. But it does make him conveniently portable and boat-able. Arlen is the skipper and Harin is the something. They are the perfect team.
Even the most perfect team can make dumb mistakes, though. Like drifting farther out to sea than intended. Or not noticing a hurricane brewing. Or being swept across the ocean until they smash onto the far shore. That sort of thing.
Ari, sprawled on the beach, has a pillow; the pillow is a large chunk of rock protruding from the sand. It's such a lovely pillow. Very comfortable. He's going to sleep now. Harin has similar opinions on the subject.
He skips off, not showing any particular sign of having just been crying. A very resilient child, is Arlen.
"In the first place, you still have all the teeth you started with. In the second, you weren't actually saying anything against Abelind, he just thought you were for a bit. In the third, he seems to have come right back up again, so no harm, no foul."
"I'm not used to being the one who upsets people by accident. That's supposed to be Nior's job."
"Your brother's less likely to upset him than I am, Mir. I mean, mostly because Ar's planning to marry him when they grow up, but still."
"But if the only person you're upsetting is Arlen, you're in pretty good shape. He doesn't hold grudges, he's a very safe person to offend."
"Anyway, we should be packing for this adventure. Does your mom know?"
Carielle hugs Miraen, and kisses his forehead, and then gets up and hugs Harin too.
After a bit, shakily, he sees about hugging back. And not crying.
Hug. And when the hug has been thoroughly hugged, she lets go.
Arlen has finally found Nior. That boy is a damn ghost.
"Nior! Hi! I came to bother you because I made your brother uncomfortable and I wanted to give him and Harin bonding time! What are you doing?"
