The longer he stared at the sylvari, the more he could see it: his twin brother, vividly snoring on the couch at Trip’s home by the bay. He’d always been such a mess, that brother, leaving his clothes everywhere and forgetting to do his share of the chores. They’d fight and fight and Trip would push him to find a job already.
Then one day they fought so bad, he just up and left. Trip hadn’t heard from him since. He missed him though, terribly.
…Did sylvari have brothers?
Trip reached down to gently shake the plant boy awake, but before he could even touch him, the boy had scrambled up with a start. He was brandishing a knife that he must have had hidden. Well that part’s not really like my brother… but he saw the fear in the boy’s wild eyes, and the way his hand with the knife shook.
“Good evening. My name is Trip Leonardis.” Trip gave him his best gentle smile, though he wasn’t sure how well that worked with his armour on. “And you are?”
“T-Tora Zollun.” The kid stammered seemingly without thinking. His eyes widened with regret the moment he said it. “I-I mean—!”
“Tell me Mr. Zollun, do you have a place to stay right now?”
Mr. Zollun only looked at him, confused. He looked just like a lost puppy, scared and desperate. Just a child really. Trip gently took the knife from the boy’s shaking hand and placed it aside.
“Would you like to stay with me?”
*
He wasn’t sure why he’d offered really—loneliness? Because he reminded him of his brother? A spur of the moment thing? It was hard to say, but he’d offered all the same, and the young Mr. Zollun took it. He’d followed Trip cautiously back home, jumping at every small sound: a rat, a cart moving nearby, the creak in the wooden bridge they crossed… It seemed fairly obvious that he’d been through a lot, but Trip didn’t bother asking.
When they reached the threshold of his humble little abode, a tiny wooden structure crammed beside several others against a cliffside near the bay, the
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