EQ \\ Erik & ‘Kota
Lessons in emotional intelligence continued from here with @mperik
//
A quiet few seconds pass between what little he did share and what his customer- Erik- replies with. It would be an awkward few seconds if the other had chosen to pass some judgment on him for his past but he doesn’t. Dakota is grateful for the discretion from him. They know each other a little and in truth it’s mostly through the retelling of Kihara in Dakota’s case and the now semi-frequent visits to Honeypot that Erik had taken up. He likes him coming around and didn’t mind it when the demigod had become curious enough to ask him things now and then.
He almost welcomed it actually.
Today, he had asked how Dakota had come to own the business they stand in. There was a brief but present pain on his face as he recounted his younger days on the island when he had worked under the original owner; his elation at being hired, the troubles he got himself in but his boss always excused and taught him through, the nearness of their bond. He had found in his prior boss a friend, a teacher and a confidant who had pushed him to pursue any and everything that had made him smile.
And then the harrowing day when that friend and teacher was no longer there. No calls, no explanations, just a change of ownership passed down to Dakota. His teacher had left behind a sea of questions unanswered by him and only a lesson that Dakota had already been learning:
That no matter how tightly you love someone and respect them, they can one day disappear.
He hadn’t been ready to take over the business. He hadn’t been ready for another loss in his life at the time. He just…. Wasn’t ready. But he had to be, because that was all he could do. Hurt, heal, move on.
To collect the money needed to keep the business afloat during that first few months he had borrowed from some and the difference he had made up in little packets of white powders sold in the realm beyond the bridge. And when it was all enough to keep going, he said goodbye to the remaining family he had in that world and disappeared himself into this one. Only one other time did he venture back out again and it was to put to the earth the last of his purely human family.
There was a great ocean of hurts that Dakota carried inside himself but all he says after the gentle kindness of the other’s safety is, “Coming right up.”
All he’s ever really learned is that others leave. But because he’ll remain always, Dakota takes the empty mug and refills it and grabs a basket of fresh made tortilla chips and a small bowl of salsa and another of guacamole to pair with it. Food was a language of love too and it’s what he has left to give back out to others. He comes back after a moment and sets it all down on the table before he looks to Erik again. Those eyes like golden honey have something in them but it’s welcoming.
“Domestic or imported for takeaway? Or the honey ale we make ourselves?”