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“One, two, and up-”
Wham was good at standing up by now. Everything after that, however, gave the toddler trouble. As long as Esidisi held onto his hands, he would remain upright, stamping his little feet on the carpet.
“Good, now, take a step-”
One, two. Wham’s progress forward was abruptly ended with Esidisi drew his hands back. He took another single, wobbly step before falling back with a gentle thump. The wide blue eyes watered, but he did not cry out.
“Ah, it’s alright, Wham. We’ll try again.”
The child babbled in response. Chubby arms lifted up, waved insistently.
“Ehehe. Very well.” Esidisi let Wham grip his fingers before tugging him back onto his feet.
“Is so much chatter necessary?”
Esidisi grinned at his leader. “Don’t you know? Talking to them will help them pick up language sooner.”
Kars did know, of course. And Esidisi knew the question was a jab at him. The other pillarman did not speak to the children the way he did, or as often. Though Esidisi vehemently disagreed that he sounded like a simpering midwife. He merely used a tone that would not strike fear into the babes.
Wham fell again, this time with an unhappy-sounding gurgle. It distracted Kars from his task of unwrapping his long violet hair. Crimson eyes narrowed. Of all the sounds infant lungs could produce, the discordant wailing bothered him the most. Esidisi grasped the babe’s hands before it could escalate.
“Shh, shh. Nothing to worry about. Try again, Wham.”
He found distracting the child worked the best. Once Wham had something to focus on, any frustrations were forgotten as he placed one foot in front of the other. Kars watched him take a step before turning his attention back to grooming. Though his hair was kept bound tight during waking hours, there were a number of gold ornaments and pins to remove every morning before bed. Esidisi regarded Kars as a practical man in most aspects, but found his leader’s pride in his appearance amusing.
He’d never mention that out loud, though. Esidisi might challenge him from time to time, but he did value his life.
“Shouldn’t they be walking by now?” He gestured lazily at Santana, curled up asleep in a basket at the end of the bed.
“They’re making good progress. Especially Wham here. Though I wouldn’t try handing him a weapon anytime soon,” he retorted. He didn’t get a response out of Kars with that either. “Expecting warriors right out of the womb is a bit unreasonable, don’t you think?”
“They are older than that,” was all Kars said before picking up an ivory comb and running it through wild curls.
“Ah, true. But we can’t all be prodigies.”
Once again, Esidisi retracted his hands. Wham took one, two, three steps this time, before flopping to the ground.
“Ah!! Aaada!” Excitable babytalk filled the room. He thrust his hands at the older pillarman. Again, again. With a smile, Esidisi complied.
“Did you see? He’s almost walking on his own.”
Kars did not see. He had other things to worry about, certainly more important than whether the child had mastered the art of crossing a room. Esidisi rolled his eyes. Quietly, he shifted so that he could turn his charge around. Wham toddled in front of him, eyes fixed to the floor. Slowly, Esidisi withdrew his hands and sat back on his knees.
One, two, three, four...his steps were awkward and jittery, but he he didn’t fall. It took three more steps for him to reach Kars in his chair. Wham grabbed onto their leader’s knee and looked up at him. Kars glanced down, expression impassive as ever.
“...ama?”
Esidisi couldn’t help but laugh, even as Kars glared at him in annoyance. He set aside the comb to lean down and pick up Wham. He fixed the child with a stern gaze.
“You’ll call me Lord Kars.”
“Ama,” Wham said decisively.
Esidisi was sure he would have to pay for this later. Kars set Wham down on the floor, nudging him to make the walk back.
“Ahh, Wham, you almost made it back! Tomorrow night, maybe.” He scooped him up and laid him in his own basket next to Santana’s. Wham fidgeted, clearly wanting to stay up and play the walking game, but once Esidisi tucked a quilt over him he quieted down. He rocked the basket until the child yawned and shut his eyes. Once Wham was asleep, Esidisi sprawled on the bed and sighed. “They’re so small, but such a handful.”
“Mm.”
“I think Wham will be easy to train. Even now, he’s eager to please.”
“Hm.”
“Fascinating. I do so enjoy our conversations.”
Kars’ eyes flashed up at Esidisi for a moment. He set the comb down and shook his hair back over his shoulders. “How long did it take you to teach him to call me that?”
“Oh, three days at most. LIke I said, Wham’s easy to teach.”
Kars knew Esidisi was grinning again. He didn’t have to look, he could feel the damn smirk behind his back. He heaved a long suffering sigh as he finished putting his jewelry away. If the children (or Wham, at least) were ready to walk soon, he’d have to start hiding his things out of reach.
“Good. Then he can learn our proper names.”
Esidisi moved over to make room for Kars. Deep purple coils spilled over the white sheets and he reached out to run his fingers over them. A bold move, but this time Kars didn’t bother to bat his hand away.
“Yes, Lord Kars.”
He shot a glance over his shoulder. “I should have you address me that way as well. It would set a good example for the children.”
Esidisi smiled. “Of course, Lord Kars.”