[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Something bothering you, son?" came his father's gentle voice, breaking into Corthrim's gloomy thoughts. He shook his head and smiled a soft smile in response. "Just thinking about your grand opening" he joked, hoping that he looked suitably happy.

Ren nodded his head in agreement, though he kept his eyes on Corthrim. He knew there was something that the boy was not telling him, and he hoped it wasn't bad news.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Corthrim sighed in relief as his father went to break up the triplet's squabble, which was now getting out of hand. Sometimes, his father was far too intuitive, and he knew he would need to speak to him soon.

He smiled again to himself, picturing the finished shop once all of the stock had arrived. The greenhouse was already set up, and they would need to do a lot of planting in the coming days. His family would love it; they all had a talent for gardening (which he assumed was inherited from Ren) - a talent he, as the half-brother adopted by Ren when their other father left, did not possess.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

He sighed again, and wandered over to the store window to look outside. It was a cold, gloomy day out, and the patter of raindrops was soothing to his troubled mind.

In the solitude, he allowed himself to acknowledge thoughts he kept buried, that he hadn't allowed himself to think about before.

He simply didn't enjoy gardening like the rest of them. Granted, he could keep a cactus alive and nothing had ever died immediately when he touched it, but it was hardly the same.

---

R15 V9 Ca6 Y5 Co10

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

His brothers could grow beautiful flowers from seeds deemed dead or too old by their vendors, but nobody could quite match Ren's green thumbs. His father was adept at growing the biggest, most colourful, and healthiest plants of all types that anyone had ever seen in their village. He was somehow even able to coax plants from other climes to grow in their mild shop - and somehow, anything he grew was incredibly hardy, able to survive out in the elements once it was taken home and planted in someone's garden. They certainly had never had any complaints; even his cut flowers for bouquets survived three weeks longer than any competitors'.

Corthrim scowled; he didn't even have his father's deft hands, and his wrapped bouquets always turned out slightly lumpy, though Ren swore he merely needed practice.

---

R15 V9 Ca6 Y5 Co11

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As they ate dinner that night, Ren studied his eldest son closely. Usually, Corthrim ate steadily, paying attention to the other goings-on at the table (so as not to be covered in the inevitable mess the triplets made). Tonight however, Corthrim merely sat there, pushing his food around his plate and scarcely taking a bite.

"Son?" he prompted, causing all four of them to stop what they were doing and look up at him. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to call their attention individually, he mused, as the triplets resumed their chatter.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

That evening, Ren climbed the stairs to the rooftop terrace in search of his eldest. He found him looking out over the rooftops, sitting next to the pile of materials that would be turned into the rooftop greenhouse.

"Why the long face?" he asked, sitting down beside his eldest to watch the colours of the sunset fade to night.

Corthrim sighed; he knew his father would come looking for him after that attempts at dinner. However, he had hoped he would have more time to get his thoughts in order.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Hello father" he greeted, his voice sounding tired even to himself. He frowned, as he searched for a way to begin to explain how he was feeling.

"I've been thinking" he began at last, a crease appearing on his brow. He paused, to gather the words he needed.

"A dangerous pass-time" quipped Ren before he could help himself; luckily, the answering snort from Corthrim assured him that it was appreciated.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"I've been thinking about this - all of this - since we moved" he said at last, deliberately not meeting his father's eye. Ren, for his part, gazed serenely out at the rooftops, giving his son space to continue speaking.

"I just- I'm not like the rest of you; I'm not good with plants, or flower displays, or even customers the same way you are." He paused his speech for a moment to gauge his father's reaction, before finally continuing.

"I just don't think that being a florist is the life for me" he said at last, wincing at his father's sudden intake of breath.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Then... if not a florist, what did you have in mind?" Ren said, as calmly as he could. He could not help but be slightly disappointed - not in Corthrim, but merely that he had let his son worry about this for his own selfish hope. He had known for some time that his eldest did not have the gift the rest of them possessed, and had assumed that this conversation would happen at some point, though he had not envisioned it happening for some years. The boy had only just come of age, after all, and though he had been helping his father - along with his brothers - for years, he had no experience with any other type of employment.

He desperately hoped his worst fears would not be confirmed, though he dreaded his son's next words.

---

R19 V10 Ca7 Y6 Co14

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Corthrim swallowed anxiously; he knew his father would be disappointed in him when he said his next words, but he couldn't help the way he felt.

"I was thinking - I know you don't really approve of it, but Uncle Roger was telling me about the army before-before the last big one. He let me practice with his bow collection, and I'm a pretty good shot. I was thinking about joining up with the army, becoming a proper soldier."

Ren closed his eyes in sudden pain at the thought of his brother, and shuddered at the thought of losing his son the same way.

---

R20 V10 Ca7 Y6 Co15

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Isn't there anything else out there that you could do?" Ren blurted out passionately. "We could get you a position with the local grocers - or what about an apprenticeship!" he continued, desperate to convince his son. "You're good with your hands; you'd make a fine blacksmith or farrier. There's even the local tailor's if you're interested, just - anything, anything but the army" he begged.

Corthrim shut his eyes and hung his head; it hurt to know his father was against it, but it hurt more to hear him begging so raggedly.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Father, please-" he began, not knowing how he was going to go about convincing his father to accept his decision.

"You've already made your mind up, haven't you?" Ren interrupted, looking furious. In reality, he was just heartbroken; he knew Corthrim would want to leave the family business, but he had never imagined it would be the army that drew him away. Especially after going through the pain of losing Roger in the last war.

Corthrim hesitated, but whispered a quiet "yes, I have" into the space between them anyway.

---

R22 V10 Ca7 Y6 Co17

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Ren choked back tears at his son's quiet admission, both proud of his decisiveness and ambition, and heartbroken at the prospect of losing him.

"I will not help you - but I will not stop you" he said at last, looking away from Corthrim. "If you want to get into the army, you will have to go about it by yourself. You will always, always, have a home and a job here if you want it - you are my son, and you always will be" he said fiercely, trying to pour every ounce of his love into stressing those two words.

Corthrim choked back tears, but nodded, relieved that he would not be kicked out - which was something he had feared, having nothing but his family to fall back on.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Ren stood, and made his way to the stairs leading back into the house. He stopped at the doorway, and turned to face Corthrim with a miserable expression on his face.

"One more thing; don't tell your brothers until the day you leave. I don't want them getting ideas. You might have what it takes to be a soldier, but they are better suited to this life."

He turned and walked down the stairs, missing the look of pain that crossed Corthrim's face as he accidentally highlighted just how different he was from the rest of them.

---

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[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Corthrim sighed and turned away from his father's retreating back. He knew his father would be upset, but he didn't think he would have been so upset as to make such a distinction between him and his brothers.

He stayed on the rooftop until the sun went down, and at last he went down the stairs to bed.

Ren had stopped at the bottom of the stairs; he knew he had hurt the boy, but didn't know how to make it right. He sighed and continued forward - hopefully he would get a chance to talk to Corthrim the next day.

---

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