by LSG_Amarra Wed Aug 03, 2016 3:51 pm
The muffled cries of the infant jerked Toma awake from a deep sleep. "You’ve got to be kidding me!!" She grumbled into her pillow. "Is this going to be a thing?!" She shoved herself upwards and leapt towards the door, fueled by annoyance and the very beginnings of insomnia. It had been a week since Amarra had the baby, but at least she had been at Loanne's house - far away from it. This was the first night she had been home and she already didn't like the lack of sleep.
She cringed at another shriek as she yanked it open. She had been cute - cuter if they started calling her something instead of 'she' or 'the baby' - But now it was waking her up in the night, and ruining her rather nice dream; She had finally been accepted into the Estëmen Military and had even given her a medal for bravery! She puffed up her chest as she rushed over to her sister's door, only to hesitate when she heard the soft hiccups that accompanied the child's wails. Was she... crying? She looked down and gripped the door handle, turning it ever so slowly that the door barely clicked as she pushed it open and peeked in.
Amarra’s back was turned to her, kneeled on the floor with the infant in her arms sobbing along with the child. The room was shrouded in darkness save for the soft moonlight that filtered in through the sheer drapes, illuminating the blood red of her sister's hair. Toma could barely hear broken pleas for her to stop crying behind the mess of tears and a wall of tangled curls.
"Marri...?" She breathed the name but anything else she could say died with the breath. What would she say? What could she say? She took a few cautious steps forward and sat down next to her older sister.
"Toma," In a single hushed word, she could hear her sister's misery and disparity. "Make it stop,” Her words barely broke over a whisper, “Please! What am I supposed to do...?" Another wail from the child sent a new wave of tears trailing down an expression that twisted into anguish.
Toma swallowed thickly, "I don't know, Nesa... I'm sorry." Quick heavy footsteps tromped down the hall and halted behind them. She turned to look up at her brother’s panicked look. "Ja-"
Jak's hissing words cut her off, "Toma, take the baby downstairs, now." His expression was strange, locked on her sister. It bothered her how quickly he spoke, and how his posture reminded her of when he was on patrol. She frowned at the way his jaw set, only for it to deepen when he stepped over and gently pulled the infant out of Amarra's hands and placed it into hers. She felt.... squishier than she had imagined, like a tiny, warm pillow. "Are you deaf?! Go downstairs and try to get her to go back to sleep." She barely saw the motion of her sister burying her head in her hands before she was pulled up and pushed out the door.
"Jak, I don't get it, what's wrong?" She yelped when she got hit in the lip by a tiny, very irate fist.
He didn't even finish his sentence before the door was closed. "Just get her out of here."
She stared at the door for a moment, the wiggling, squealing infant continuing to protest in her arms. He so didn’t just do that. Finally, she huffed and turned away, spitting a curse behind her. She shifted the already upset child, trying to jostle her as little as possible as she sped down the steps. If he thinks he can just boss me around, well, He's got another thing coming. He was the oldest, but he wasn't as smart as he thought he was. He still had to have papa and Giana cook, he wasn’t that bright.
When she reached the bottom of the steps, she looked down at the whining baby and made a face. Now what...? "Just you and me, Kiddo." She mumbled half-heartedly. It wasn't like anyone else was going to pay any attention to either of them. Toma liked being left alone, it meant less stupidity she had to deal with. She adjusted the blanket that was wrapped around the infant, "I mean we're both up now, might as well get to know each other, huh?" She adjusted her path to head towards the couch, running a hand through her short locks as she walked.
Why was Marri so upset anyway? The attack was months ago, and it's not like the kid would never stop crying; now it was only hiccups and sniffles as Toma sat with her. The infant rubbed her face with tiny fists and grunted. Her hair was a darker red than her or her sister's, but Giana said it might lighten as she got older. "You're so pretty. Jak always used to tease me and say I was never pretty, just because I liked my hair short." Her brother's joking got ruthless at times, almost unbearable. He picked the worst topics to poke at, and then wouldn't know when to quit. And he wonders why I’m so violent. "Then once I hung all his clothes around Estëmen. He didn't say anything about it ever again."
She grinned, the child shoving her fingers in her mouth and grunting as she looked up at her aunt. “I don't expect you to laugh or anything, but it’s nice to talk even if you didn't understand. Not like anyone bothers to listen to me anyway right?” Her eyes were such a muddy color, though… Her... “You know, one of these days we've gotta name you. I'm not calling you 'the baby' for the rest of your life." She chuckled. "That'd be embarrassing once you got older, wouldn't it?"
She sat back, "Don't worry, I'll call you something... I won't be like them, they're horrible sometimes." She thought for a while, thinking of names she knew, chucking the boring or overused ones. "I'd say Vána, but I've met like... three of them, and their all boring." Something no one does... Something original, yet won't take seventy years to pronounce. Alassë? Nah... too “Elfy”. Indilwen... No, too... Bleh. She sighed and looked back down. "Got any ideas?" It blinked up at her and cooed softly. "No, you don't even know what I'm saying." She smiled and raised her tone as she spoke again, "You just hear a happy voice and think I'm happy." She gurgled and made a face, not... not exactly a smile, but it was more than the blank expression she had been wearing.
"Something pretty, something you'll be proud of... Something lyri-" She paused at the thought. "Lyrical..." It made so much sense; who didn't love something musical? She grinned down at the child. "Liniel! Do you like that?" The child yawned and whined, nearly asleep already.She sighed and took a moment to look closer at the child's features before shifting. "Well, I'm calling you that regardless." She lowered her volume and stood slowly. She liked the name, and at the very least she actually thought of something. If her sister thought of something better, then who cared, but now the girl had an identity.
Liniel Zailin.
