#AWNJOGHNAJOGDH i'm WEEPING OVER THIS WINNIE GFNHDJGA

[greedbent]

NATURE'S LITTLE SOUL WAS VOID OF IMPERTINENCE, for the child had been well - conditioned by the strictness of the matron, and obedience was almost innate; Kaz would never have to worry about any challenging of his authority or testing of firm limits. 

Oh, but there was something she felt just now … something truly overwhelming … a certain Something too much for a sensitive heart to bear, and it was stimulated by the sight of Kaz attempting to leave for the night to ( once again) deal with his many Important Adult Things—nothing out of the ordinary. 

And yet those little feet quickly pattered across those rickety, creaking floorboards, the child tripping nearly the whole way. Once Ari had finally reached the man wrapped in all shadows and gloom, her tiny hands gripped his sleeve and gave it a desperate, reminding pull — a gesture that screamed: I'm here! Don't forget me! 

She can expect to see him again sometime in the morning. Ari would not be alone, Kaz had made sure; his subordinates would diligently watch over nature's little soul in his absence, but tonight that fact was no comfort. Ari could not bear the separation—the painful distance between now and then. Her heart had control of her, not her mind, for the child had no fear of the consequences of her actions just now. 

Ari wanted Kaz. 

" p - peas … " Ari whispered in a shaky voice. Pleading—her eyes were pleading as she gave his sleeve one more tug. " I wa … wa … I … " 

Oh, how to say it? How to say it! How could she convince a man so stubborn—so seemingly unfeeling—to consider the terrible ache in her heart! Would he? Won't he? 

" I www … I want mr. Kassie to stuh … to stay … " 

@earthssprout || did we ask for a fresh serving of feels ?? 👏 yes we did!

Kaz was sure she had become used to this.

Like any common child watching their father walk out the door on the bright cusp of dawn, any child waking up to his absence when he'd left before the sun had even broken the horizon, any child knowing it would be supper that brought him back (if, indeed, it brought him back at all)— They had established a routine. Little Ariana knew this, was trained to expect it as much as she was trained to accept it.

She didn't give him trouble. No doubt due in equal parts to her steadfast obedience and the proper trepidation toward consequences from a man who would not permit any leniency. She was a good girl. And even in the face of that twinge of heartache she wore on her sleeve, Kaz was never swayed.

But what a strong word, “never.” He'd learn—one day—never to use it lightly.

For it was on this particular evening that the well-mannered little girl found a way to put her foot down. He was forced—another strong word; it wasn't like Kaz couldn't have kept walking—to stop when a pair of hands snagged him by the sleeve. Deep down, he knew if it had been anyone else, he would've cuffed them. He knew an unwanted touch, no matter where, was to be reprimanded, discouraged from ever happening again. Here, however, Kaz didn't even flinch.

He simply stopped. Turned. Looked down at her with sheer indifference. And yet listened as she begged.

A cry for him to stay. She wanted him to stay. She wanted him—

Was it trifling? Was it silly? Foolish? Oh, most certainly. The mind and heart of a child always were. Just like him. Just like that little boy toddling carelessly, thoughtlessly, happily at his older brother's side, clinging to his sleeve—yet to understand what true misfortune was, how it would eventually take him.

Did you ever even consider what you were doing, Jordie? To me.

Kaz studied her for a while. He tasted something bitter in the back of his throat, cleared it, peered up at the open door and the threshold he crossed most every night. He was resolved, but resolved to do something shocking to even himself.

“Rotty,” Kaz called out at the same time as he pivoted, tugged free from Ari's pleading grip, and stalked over to his desk again. He removed his hat and set it down alongside the pen he grabbed to begin scrawling a note. Only upon hearing approaching footsteps—recognizing them as the man summoned—did he say more: “I need you to deliver a message to the Van Eck estate.”

All too quickly, he finished his writing with a flourish and folded the paper between two gloved fingers. Kaz moved back across the room to present it to the waiting Rotty. “And if Wylan and Jesper have any complaints about the hour, tell them they're lucky”—his attention trickled down to little Ari standing there pitifully at his side—“that I'm not the one delivering it tonight.”