[color=808080] [center][h1][color=aa336a]🅔🅡🅖🅔🅝 [/color][/h1] [h3]&[/h3] [h2][color=33aa73]🅚🅞🅒🅐[/color][/h2][/center] [right] [i]Pre-start RP Collab Koca & Ergen Current Koca A memory of past Koca and Ergen Koca's perspective [/i][/right] [center][h2][color=aa336a]۞[/color][/h2][color=33aa73]۞[/color][/center] [indent] Green eyes peered back at him and he reached out, tips of his fingers disturbing the image, and ripples ruined the face that was in his vision. The face of his brother turned to his face. Those eyes. The eyes they share. A gentle placement of his hand onto his cheek as the reflection matched the actions. “[color=33aa73][i]Why do I have to have your eyes?[/i][/color]” Sometimes it felt like he could talk to him but he knew it was just a reflection. Deep down he felt like Ergen could hear him. His meek voice began to cloud with sniffling. It has been roughly six years since his brother was stamped a traitor and forever exiled, the Regia Guard wanted to hold the eldest child of the Ilkin family for his betrayal and force him into the Trials. Ever since that day, many words have crossed the Ilkin family's path. Many words. Comments from his own family pierce the young boy's heart. Heavily. He never understood how to take any of them. Anything that had to do with his older brother was a distant memory but it felt so close and dear. Truly the boy cherished the fading memories that he had of his eldest brother. [b]Traitors![/b] [i]Are your other sons going to be failures?[/i] [i]He looks a lot like him.[/i] [i]You have your brother’s eyes, Koca.[/i] [i]You have his face.[/i] Koca’s expression faltered at the fountain and salty liquid began to stain his cheeks. [color=33aa73]I hate that I miss you so much, [/color]” It wasn’t fair! None of this was fair. Why did he do that to himself? Why did he do that to us? Why did he do that to me? Smearing the clear liquid upon his cheeks, reddening them, and dampening his sleeves. It was upsetting. Every time he looked at his reflection, he was reminded of Ergen. Every time he did something… someone had to comment on how much he was like his older brother. How much he was like him. It was weird to have such a connection with a total stranger. It was a strange feeling of euphoria and pure sorrow on the last memory he had of Ergen… A smaller child looked up at his brother with wide green doe eyes and an expression that showed how enthusiastic he was. Ergen was home. “[color=33aa73]Up! Up! Please up![/color]” Koca was bouncing at the door before it was even opened, and he could remember the light laugh that left his older brother’s lips. The smile crept around the door as it allowed light into the home. Pure bliss. “[color=AA336A]You do have to let me into the home if you want that,[/color]” Ergen nudged the door a little to show that he couldn’t fit through the opening without causing Koca to get pushed over. The small child hopped over to another tile of the front entrance and the door opened wide. Within seconds, his feet left the ground, and he was swooped up with a padded — [b]thump![/b] —- to follow the action of his brother, who dropped his Academy bag by the entrance. Being held in the arms of someone so strong, Koca wrapped his arms around his brother as best he could. His little hands gripped at the shoulders of that white Wardana shirt. A groan could be heard when Koca put more pressure on his brother’s left shoulder, without missing a beat, “[color=33aa73]Are you hurt?[/color]” “[color=aa336a]Were you waiting here all day for me?[/color]” Both of them began to chuckle with very similar smiles. “[color=aa336a]Don’t mind me. It’s nothing.[/color]” Ergen reassured his little brother with a warm smile and caring eyes. Koca responded by nodding his head — letting his brother go about his secretiveness and confirming that he has been waiting by the door all day. “[color=aa336a]Is that a yes to waiting?[/color]” Ergen raised a single brow with a playfulness that crossed his smile and eyes. Such an expressive man. It was hard for him to hide his emotions with such control over his facial expressions yet there was always a blank mystery to the rest of his face. Koca shifted in his brother's arms as he walked into the other part of the house, “[color=33aa73]Are you going to teach me another one? An [i]i-i-k-kon[/i].[/color]” They were plopped on the couch, and Koca found himself lying in his brother's arms with a yelp of fear but the quick realization that he was perfectly safe and fine. No harm. Ergen stretched out onto the couch while kicking his boots off. “[color=aa336a]I’m exhausted right now. Can I later?[/color]” Ergen whined while letting his head flop to the right side onto a throw pillow off the couch. Shooting up and sitting on his brother's lower chest and upper stomach, Koca’s brows furrowed, “[color=33aa73]You promised![/color]” The little one protested with such a defeated tone. He promised. He would when he got home. Ergen sighed with the realization that his brother caught him on his words, “[color=aa336a]Go get my bag,[/color]” Gesturing to what he left by the door and before he even finished his words, weightless, Koca was halfway to the canvas bag by the front door. “[color=ffffff]Ergen, when did you get home?[/color]” A beautiful woman with amber eyes entered the room. She was middle-aged and had smile-enforced wrinkles. Showing a life of happiness while she crossed her arms, her shoulders accompanied by a salmon pink shawl, and Ergen sat up on the couch. “[color=aa336a] Just a minute ago or two…[/color]” Groaning from the aches of his body. He trained a lot today. Trained a lot of people too. It took a toll on anyone, even the best, even him. “[color=ffffff]You better not be teaching Koca anything new. He got in trouble last week because of you —[/color]” A sigh was let out with a long blink of her eyes, “[color=ffffff]— I’ll make you some tea. It should help.[/color]” Glancing over her shoulder, a mother always knows. She knew what they were up to. Koca was halfway into his brother's bag, digging for all the things he needed to learn something new. A mischievous grin appeared on Ergen’s face, “[color=aa336a]I promise, I won’t mother,[/color]” That was an instant lie and they both knew it as he forced his weight onto the back of the couch and allowed his one arm to hang limply while watching the older woman disappear around the corner and hearing from down the hall. “[color=ffffff]Keep your promises, Erie. He’s already in your bag,[/color]” Her voice was stern but full of love and understanding. A chuckle could be heard from her eldest son. Waving his hand from Koca to come to him, “[color=aa336a] Come before she changes her mind,[/color]” A loud whisper could be heard only between them as Koca pulled the items out of the bag. This caused a few items to fall out and some papers to lightly scatter in the air on the tile floor before finding temporary destinations. Koca ran up to the back of the couch, and Ergen hoisted him up. Getting them into a position where he scooted up to the arm of the couch and found himself in that v-crook between the arm and the back. Koca was on his lap already opening the book with the many ikons his brother had created. On the very first page, only this could be read. єгﻮєภ'ร ן๏ยгภคɭ ๏Ŧ เк๏ภร. “[color=aa336a]You cannot open that unless you tell me what that says. Do you remember?[/color]” Ergen’s chin rested on his little brother’s head as they both looked into the leather-bound journal. Koca’s brows furrowed in thought. He knew it was his brother’s language to protect the ikons from others. Only Ergen truly knew what was in the journal and he somewhat knew the code that his brother created. “[color=33aa73]It’s… Your journal. Ergen’s Journal.[/color]” Koca seemed conflicted with saying these words and looked up to his brother who was smiling down at him. [i]Ergen's Journal of Ikons.[/i] “[color=aa336a]Close enough. Open it up to a page you want to learn about,[/color]” Gesturing to the book as Koca begins to flip through the book of secrets and ikons and his brother's mind. Then he found a page. A page he wanted to learn from and pointed at it. That was when the magic began to happen. His eldest brother began to teach him the code of his journal and what the ikon(s) on that page did. Bringing over paper and ikonomancer’s chalk for him to practice and try to properly perform the ikons. Then an explosion happened. Something went wrong. The whole room was covered in sludge. They were covered in brown to black sludge. It was as cold as mud and as gross a feeling as snot running down your face. It was everywhere. Ergen began to laugh loudly, and his laugh always carried. At first, Koca wanted to cry, but his brother let himself slip into a fit of contagious laughter that he followed. The young boy’s laughs were nervous giggles at first, but they turned into a similar laugh to the one he was hearing. A shout from the other room could be heard from their mother, “[color=ffffff][b]What did you [i]two[/i] just do!?[/b][/color]” She was far from happy in her tone, but the boys couldn’t stop their laughter as she came into the living room to see it was all covered in an icky, slippery, sludgy material. “[color=ffffff]You better clean this up,[/color]” Her furious tone was directed only at her eldest son, who was covered in the substance. She set down the tea on a side table before shaking her head and walking away. “[color=aa336a]I will be, mother! I promise![/color]” Ergen called to the woman hoping she could hear him. “[color=ffffff]You better![/color]” Was the last thing the two boys heard before they began cleaning whatever substance was created on everything. [/indent] [center][color=33aa73]۞[/color][h2][color=aa336a]۞[/color][/h2][/center] [/color]