Glad To Be Home (Tag: Anyone)

Although Jasmine wasn't about to admit it, she was glad to be home. Traveling around so much, as the Dothraki were bound to do sometimes, could be exhausting. She liked being at home, where she had bountiful supplies of herbs and plants she could use to make medicine. Sometimes, they could be hard to come by when they were on the road. She had just started arranging a set of red pots in a box when she heard someone enter her room. She looked up to see who it was.

It was Kale walking in clumsily into the dwelling. He was more uncoordinated than usual, but he just kept knocking down things, catching them, and putting them back where they belong. Finally he just sat down in the middle of the room looking around innocently. Kale was always unsure about visiting and talking to his Aunt. Just being in her prescience always made him uneasy, but somehow safe. Kale looked at Jasmine taking a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down.

Jasmine had to hide a giggle as Kale awkwardly made his way in. "Hello Kale," she said, giving him a sweet smile. Despite being almost the same age as her nieces and nephews, she liked to think there was still a good relationship between them. "Glad to be back? I know I am. I need to organize this stuff." She shelved a few more pots, making sure they were in the right order.

"Heylo, Aunt Jasmine?" Kale was always unsure about calling Jasmine there aunt. I mean, she was nearly their age. It seemed kind of weird to him occasionally. "I guess, I am not really sure . . . . ." he hesitantly spoke in Dothraki, as he scratched the back of his neck, looking around distractedly. Kale was clearly worried about something. "Have you seen Mom and Dad?" He was really worried about what was happening between him and his parents so he instinctively ran to Jasmine. Tzipporah could not help him this time. Jasmine was the only soft Dothraki he knew of.

"No, I haven't seen them since we got back," Jasmine replied. She looked at Kale again. He seemed awfully...anxious about something, which seemed really out of character for him. "Is everything alright?" she asked. "You don't look well."

He looked around the place and poked his head out of the door before crawling back to Jasmine and whispering. "Well, I did not sleep well, and I don't think that I'm fully accepted . . . . " Kale rubbed his bald head. He was started taking big, deep breathes. It seemed like it he would always be worried about accepted into the tribe. "It's just that I'm undefeated, but I have no hair. . . . I don't know . . . ." Kale lowered his head in shame unsure of how to feel about this. Kale was quite the gentle giant of all of the tribe and most everyone knew that until he was angered or confronted by his Father. He constantly felt like he was disappointing the Family Bloodline.

Oh. So that was what Kale was worried about. "Oh come on Kale, it can't be that bad," Jasmine said, trying to reassure him. "Even if you don't have the hair to prove it, everyone's seen your skills on the battlefield. Our tribe knows how strong you are. And if anyone ever doubts you, well, you can just challenge them to a fight and show off your skills. Then they'll be the ones walking around without a braid." She gave a grin.

"But I do not want to have to take someone's brain out to prove my skills. Have I not it enough for it to not be necessary?" Kale did not like hurting or killing people unless the situation called for it. He was getting really tired of the whole thing pretty fast. "I do not like having to fight to continuously prove myself." He hesitated and looked around for a minute taking out his daggers. "Do not tell Dad or Sister I said that." Kale felt like a big disappointment as he started to sharpen his daggers with a rock. "It is bad enough that I am . . . . heart soft?" Even his way of speaking was wrong. Kale wiped a hand across his face and bald head.

Jasmine gave a little laugh. Kale had always been a gentle sort of warrior, which was almost an oxymoron among the Dothraki. But, he had won against every person he came across, so people didn't mind it a whole lot. "I think every Dothraki has a chance to be kind. You just show your kindness a little more than others." She ran a hand through her hair. "Khal Drogo could be kind, in his own way. He was never defeated in battle, yet he loved Khaleesi Daenerys with all his heart. 'Moon of my life' he called her." She gave a little smile. "I think if Drogo could get away with being affectionate with his wife, you can afford showing your kindness. You may not be a Khal, but you're still a skilled warrior."

Kale hung his head in shame as he heard Jasmine laugh a little bit, but he continued to listen her. Kale knew that just because she laughed a little bit did not mean he was not going to learn. Just like his life taught him that despite not having hair, he could still be unbeatable, but wishing he had some to prevent the need for him to have to fight most of the time. "While this is true Aunt, Khal Drogo was only able to get away with it with his wife. I am soft to everyone and the bald Son of the Khal at that. They do not even think I am Pure-blood Dothraki." Kale threw his arms up in the air and laid down on his back in exasperation. Kale was not happy about his prospects. Kale was getting pretty tired of being picked on by some of the more prominent and experienced members of the the clan. Then he sat up realized something. "I'm going have to get married! Then I will be a terrible Khal with a soft clan. oh gods. . . . ." Kale buried his face in his hands. Kale was beginning to feel pressure.

"People are always going to gossip Kale, no matter what you do," Jasmine said, trying to reassure him.  "Even if you had a braid that touched your ankles and you slew every man you came across, there would still be talk.  It's just what people do."  Kale seemed as dismal about marriage as he did about his bald head.  "I wouldn't worry about marriage just yet.  People have been expecting me to get married ever since I came of age, and look at me now.  I'm still unbound to any man, and I intend on staying that way until I find a man that's as great as my brother."

"I do not like it Auntie. People talking and gossiping while they eat and talk . . . .It makes me uneasy and skeptical. . . ." Kale looked around room carefully then stuck his head outside to make sure nobody was listening before stumbling back in and sitting again. The subject of marriage was always an uneasy subject for him. "Mom was not Dothraki though, Auntie Jasmine. I am also a really big guy. I have no shirt!" Kale was concerned about women, and his muscular body. Kale always found it odd that his Dad had shirt and he did not. He could feel people's eyes, especially women, looking him over. "Also, Why do you want a man like Dad? Isn't that . . . . going to be awkward? Can we just stop talking about marriage? Just leave me out if it . . . . please. . .." Kale started blushing as the subject went to marriage and he found a blanket to put over his head in embarrassment.

"Just pay them no mind.  It's probably something you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life," Jasmine said.  "If people stick out in any way, they'll be talked about for the rest of their lives.  Might as well get started on ignoring it."  She gave a little laugh when Kale wanted to change the subject from marriage to something else.  The very word seemed to make him uneasy.  "Don't worry, Kale.  Marriage isn't some monster that's going to eat you in the middle of the night," she teased.

"Easy for you to say. You are not expected to be like Dad." Kale whined, in vain as he laid down on the floor. Kale really wished he had a shirt right now. Kale was not having it. No way, no how. At least for the time being. "How do I pay no mind to what I will have to deal my entire life?! Ignoring what people say is hard . . . ." Kale put the cover his chest and sighed. It was tough trying to be a oxymoron. Kale figured he must a terrible train wreck of an example of his father. He was starting to feel like an even bigger disappointment. "You never know Auntie Jasmine. Marriage could be a monster. It could be anywhere." Kale sighed from the floor covering his face with his hands.

"True," Jasmine admitted.  "But people have expectations of me, just like they have expectations of you.  And frankly, some of their expectations don't appeal to me."  Marriage, for example, was something everyone expected her to do.  But she wasn't about to do that anytime soon.  The idea of being bound to a man for the rest of her life sounded dull.  Maybe that would change if she ever fell in love, but for now, she wanted to be single.  "I know," she said.  "But if you worry for the rest of your life what people think of you, then you're probably going to die early from anxiety or something.  Just do what you think is right and things will fall into place.  I mean, Draeko has made decisions in the past that didn't please everybody.  But he's always done what he thought was right, and if you abide by that, then you'll be just fine."  She gave a little laugh at Kale's dramatics.  "Don't tell me I have to kill the marriage monster for you," she joked.  "Nobody in the khalassar likes being saved by a girl."

"Yes, but you are a woman, whom sister and me, occasionally have to and will defend, regardless of what they say, do or want." Fortunately, Tzipporah, Jasmine, and the rest of his family could always count on his anger and violence to defend his family members. Even anyone apprenticed to them. Kale's emotions were always did get the better of him when it came to his sister acting spoiled or defending the family from a threat. Even the smallest comment of expectations on his family members set him off. For instance Tzipporah or Jasmine getting married against her will. Though he was not really necessary for them to defend themselves, throwing his muscle behind them did not hurt. "I am not worried, I am concerned, annoyed, and frustrated with it.I cannot even deal with it. I cannot cope. I hate decisions." Kale threw the cover over his head trying not think about it or care, but failing at it. "And I do not care who saves me. I have enough muscle to throw around to be occasionally saved byt a girl. I knock down trees if people have not noticed by now."

"Decisions are a part of life, Kale.  If you don't get used to them now, your life is going to be a very miserable one," Jasmine said, giving him a look.  "Everyone has to make decisions, whether they're a woman or a man, a khal or a slave."  She ran a hand through her hair.  "Well, if nobody else ends up fearing you, at least the trees will," she joked.

"Decisions are stupid. Besides, I'm going to be miserable anyway because people are going to talk about the decisions I make." Kale stared back at Jasmine. Her looks never really effected him much. Kale was just slightly made more annoyed when she did that. Kale turned away when she ran her fingers through her hair. "And why do people need to fear me? I do not want anybody to fear me." Kale sulked as she joked at him. At least he was making Jasmine happy. Kale was still feeling uneasy about everything as it stood. He rubbed his head in his hands. Kale was sure he was not going to be a good Khal after this.

"Yes, but worrying about them isn't going to make people talk any less," Jasmine said.  "What I'm trying to say is that worrying isn't going to do you any good, so you might as well not do it."  Sure, it was a bit more complicated than that, but Jasmine felt like that was pretty much the best solution for this problem.  There was no sense in worrying about things you couldn't change.  "I think it's too late for that," she said.  "People here have seen your fighting skills.  Even if they don't fear you as much as Draeko, there's still some in them.  They know what your strength is capable of."

"But I cannot help, but worry." Kale took some deep breaths to calm down. Kale was not trying to worry on purpose. It was just that being the Son to Khalasar was a very unnerving feeling to him. "Dad just seems angry at his choices most of time and I don't want to wind up stressed all the time." Kale scratched his back. "I don't want to rule with fear. I just want to be me without being looked down on and . . . . ." Kale sighed looking down at the floor.

"Stress is also a part of life, Kale.  If you don't come to terms with these things soon, you're going to be one very unhappy person," Jasmine said.  "And most people don't enjoy a lot of negativity.  Try to look on the positive side of things.  I still care about you, and so does Tzipporah.  And Draeko does too, in his own way."