Cornelia
It was evening, after the colony's usual final meal of the day, and Cornelia was sitting with her husband in their hut, high up in the main tree of the village. Blue Eyes was somewhere outside, playing with Ash, Orion, Lake and the other children, and everyone was going about their own business before it was time to get ready for the night.
All was well.
Or so it seemed.
Cornelia had noticed her husband acting strangely for the last two weeks around Lydia. Or rather, he almost wasn't around her at all, which was highly unusual. Normally, the two could talk for hours on end and Cornelia always listened intently to Caesar's recounts of their conversations. That had all started at some point within the first six months of the strange family's arrival in the Ape Village. For as long as Cornelia could remember, Caesar would, from time to time, have trouble sleeping, worrying about current problems the colony was facing or simply thinking about the past. On those nights he'd get out of the nest and take walks around the village, often ending up sitting by the Law-Stone and looking at the stars in thought until he'd be too exhausted to keep his eyes open.
Cornelia left her husband alone on such occasions, staying with their son in the nest to make sure at least one member of their family had a good night's sleep. Caesar didn't seem to mind this arrangement.
It had all started when the Ape King had, to his surprise, found Lydia sitting on the walkway in front of her, at the time, newly-built hut, looking thoughtfully out into the dark night herself. After a few nights of this happening, over the span of a couple of months, Caesar had decided to sit down with Lydia and strike up conversation in sign with her.
And this was, Caesar had later explained to his wife, how he had found out that the human woman was a well-versed conversationalist.
The Ape Queen was glad for the development. Her husband always seemed more balanced and calm afterwards as a result, and since she herself had already started to grow rather fond of Lydia at the time, she was only happy that her partner had begun to strike up a friendship with her as well.
So, what was the deal with this sudden avoidance? Cornelia hadn't wanted to pry, which is why she didn't ask Lydia, who seemed to be rather put-out by the odd behaviour Caesar was displaying. Tinker had been more direct, however, and asked while the three had been sitting together, Lydia working on one of her sewing projects while the two ape women had sorted the day's foraging harvest.
Lydia had been quite dismissive about it, only shrugging and replying that he must be too busy to bother recently.
That had struck a chord in Cornelia. No matter how busy, Caesar always, always made time for those around him he considered important, and the Ape Queen had the impression that his talks with Lydia was something her husband enjoyed.
Besides, he still took his time to converse with Maurice almost every day.
All this had led Cornelia to practically cornering her husband inside their own hut after the last meal of the day, looking at him with concerned eyes.
"What is going on with Lydia and you?" She prompted. His direct approach to such matters had rubbed off on her, it would seem.
He lifted his head from the spear he was currently sharpening, and looked at her with startled, green eyes.
"Did she say anything to you?" He signed. Aha, so there was something he wasn't telling her.
"No. She has said nothing. That is why I ask you." She paused as he put the spear away to focus his attention fully on her, continuing only when his verdant stare was once again focused on her. "You do not talk with her like you used to. For weeks you have avoided her whenever you can. When Tinker asked her, she said you must be busy."
She fixed him with a searching look.
"But you are not busy. No more than usual. You make time for Maurice. For Rocket and Koba. Even Roy."
Cornelia couldn't discern the look in her husband's eyes. He seemed… ashamed?
"What are you not saying?" Cornelia finished softly, her hands moving fluidly.
Caesar sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping.
"It was something stupid that happened weeks ago. Did not want to upset you. Did not want to embarrass her either."
Now, Cornelia was intrigued. What could possibly have happened that prompted her husband to act like this?
"Promise not to be upset." She said encouragingly. "I am your wife. You can tell me anything."
At those words, his eyes warmed and he briefly reached over to stroke her cheek with his rough fingers.
Then he pulled his hand away, took a deep breath, as if to steel himself for a gruelling task and reached up to sign.
His answer took Cornelia by surprise.
"I saw her naked." He explained simply. His movements were jerky, so different from how he'd usually do his signing, which told Cornelia he was very uncomfortable telling her this.
She felt her brow knit together in confusion, but before she could ask any of the many questions shooting through her mind, like how it had happened, where and why, he seemed to decide that he needed to elaborate before she got the wrong idea.
"It was an accident. I was looking for her to plan hunting for the next day. When I found her, she was bathing in the waterhole on the hill. Standing naked in the water." He paused briefly to scratch his birthmark in thought, as he often did. "I startled her and she got embarrassed. Dove into the water to hide herself. We planned the hunt and I left. As fast as I could."
His signing was turning more and more frantic by the second, and if it wasn't because she was so used to signing by now, Cornelia was sure she'd have a hard time keeping up.
She got it all, though. And couldn't keep an amused smile from forming on her lips.
The way Caesar acted, the way he sat there, looking all guilty and uncomfortable, reminded her of when she'd first seen him in the primate shelter all those years ago, wearing his red shirt and looking for all the world like an out-of-place adolescent.
Which he had been, back then.
His guilty expression soon turned into confusion when she just smiled at him.
Really, her husband could be so silly, sometimes.
"What is so funny?" he asked.
"You are overreacting." Cornelia explained simply. "It was accident, and Lydia is probably embarrassed about it too. Not talking will not change it, Caesar." Really, she felt like she was lecturing their son on how to play nice with his peers.
He really was a victim of his own emotions at times, Cornelia mused sympathetically.
"Besides, Lydia seems sad that you do not speak with her. I think she misses talking to you. You have stopped going out on bad nights as well. Is that because of accident too?"
He nodded solemnly, guilt flashing across his features once again. More than once, Cornelia had been woken up by him either tossing and turning, sharpening his spear or something else that would disturb not only Cornelia's sleep, but Blue Eyes' too.
"You should find her tomorrow. Sit down and talk through this." She said resolutely. "Silence will not make things right."
He looked at her with uncertainty, his lips set in a thin line.
"You are right. I will. But…" He hesitated and Cornelia waited patiently for him to finish. She had a good idea of what he wanted to say, however.
"You are not upset?"
Her smile widened and she shook her head at him.
"I am not upset. Accidents happen. Nobody's fault." A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes, then.
"Cannot sulk always. Sometimes, must laugh too, when such things happen."
He smiled at her finally, leaned over and pressed his forehead against hers.
And all was well.
Caesar
The next day proved to be a long one for the Ape King.
He hadn't had the chance to speak with Lydia at all in the morning, since she was already out hunting, for once with Roy in tow, as no hunting parties had been arranged to go out that morning.
So, he was left to roam around the village and do what he usually did on such days. He helped with preparing some skins, enjoying light banter with some of the hunters. Then he'd gone to the garden they had established with Lydia's help, briefly inspecting the various plants.
Next, he went to the stables, seeing to his pitch-black Frisian horse and giving it some treats from the garden. Finally, he went to the Law-Stone to meet up with Maurice, who had finished teaching the young for the day.
He sat there, discussing the children's learning with Maurice (Blue Eyes' in particular), when Lydia came back with Roy, each carrying a doe while the dogs trudged along behind them, noses in the air and tails wagging.
Caesar nodded in their direction as they entered the village, Lydia looking mildly surprised when his eyes caught hers.
He must really have been distant, if even that surprised her.
He had to make this right.
Before the meal that afternoon, he decided to follow her as she made her way up to the waterhole. At first, he was hesitant to go after her, but since she didn't seem to be bringing clean clothes or anything to wash herself with, he deduced that she was not going to take a dip on this particular visit.
Still, he made sure to make a lot of sound as he approached, just in case.
He found her sitting on the half-submerged log, like he had so many times before, her feet in the water and a thoughtful look on her face as she basked in the sunlight of early summer, which was filtering through the treetops. It made her look almost ethereal.
Her head turned towards him as he reached the log, Caesar feeling hesitant to get any nearer just yet.
While he had told Cornelia what had happened, he had not gone into details at all. He hadn't told her how he had ogled at the woman for far longer than what anyone would consider decent. He had also neglected to mention how he had been mesmerized by the sight of her naked body. And how he had regretted not having been able to see more.
Cornelia was the love of his life, of that Caesar was certain. She was his anchor when he feared he'd go adrift. A voice of reason when the world seemed to make no sense.
This… attraction… infatuation… whatever it was he felt that day at the waterhole, had to be put aside. For the sake of his own sanity, if nothing else.
But he wouldn't scorn Lydia's presence either. She was a good friend, an excellent hunter and a valued member of the colony. She didn't deserve this silence.
"May I… Sit. With you?" He rasped out in his gravelly voice.
She smiled slightly at him, patting the spot beside her.
"Of course."
He jumped up on the mossy log and sat a respectable distance from her, his hands folded in his lap as he looked out across the tranquil waterhole. Caesar could feel her eyes on him, no doubt curious as to why he was suddenly seeking her out after weeks of silence.
A pang of guilt shot through his chest again.
"I wanted. To... Apologize." He said. Spoken words were still hard to produce for him, but he felt that this situation called for him making an effort.
"Again?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and a crooked smile gracing her features.
"Not. For that… Although…" He paused. Should he apologize for that too? Again?
"It's alright, Caesar. I understand." She said as she averted her gaze down to her feet, calmly swinging them through cool the water. The sunlight filtering through the trees made the surface glitter as she moved her feet through the cool liquid and cast flittering light across both of their faces.
"I have. Not handled this. Well." He spoke quietly. "I have not. Been fair… To you. In this… I avoided. The problem… Thought it would. Go away."
He turned to look at her and found her staring at him with a sympathetic look in her blue orbs. Her dark hair was taken out of its usual braid and now hung around her shoulders and down her back. It was rare to see her with her hair down.
She always said it was more practical to have it in a braid.
"It's not like I've been any better myself, Caesar. I could have said something. If not to you, then to Cornelia and Tinker when they asked about what was going on."
"But I am. The leader. Of the colony… Should. Be able. To handle problems. Like this. Without acting like…" He paused at that. What he was about to say didn't sit well with him and was hard to admit, even to himself.
But it had to be said.
"Without acting. Like a child." There. He had said it.
And yet she only shrugged at that.
"It happens to all of us. Even adults." Then, she smiled mischievously and reached over to nudge his bicep with her elbow. "Did Cornelia put you up to this, by any chance?"
He remembered Cornelia's words and waved Lydia off as he signed with a huff-like laugh. "Sometimes. A man needs. To hear sense. From his wife."
She laughed out loud at that and he instantly felt better about the whole incident. Cornelia was right. He had overreacted.
And despite not being entirely truthful about what had gone through his mind at the time, he was glad he told Cornelia.
A thought then popped into his mind and he fixed Lydia with a questioning stare.
"Did you tell. Roy. About it?" He hoped he was able to keep his uncertainty out of his voice.
She nodded and shuffled her feet in the water while she picked at the mossy log they were sitting on with one of her fingernails.
"Yes, I did."
Oh, Caesar thought. He wasn't really surprised that she had told him. She often said that the two had shared everything with each other ever since their journey began. He should have figured that it would extent to this little mishap too.
"And how. Did he. Take it?" Caesar asked while giving her a sideways glance. Roy hadn't said anything to him about it. Hadn't even looked at him differently since it happened, which Caesar had honestly expected him to. Perhaps that was why Caesar thought she hadn't told Roy anything.
There had been nothing to indicate otherwise.
"Oh, he didn't take it all that well. Naturally." She then looked to him with worry flashing across her features. "He hasn't done or said anything out of turn, has he?"
"No." Caesar answered, "Acts. As he always. Does."
She nodded once at that. "Good."
They were quiet for a while, each enjoying the sounds of the wilderness around them, before another question came to Caesar's mind.
"If he was. Angry. Why. Has he not. Confronted me?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, his lips in a thin line as he thought. "I would. Have… Had it. Been. Me." He finished.
Now, there was an image. Him being with Lydia and another male having his eyes roving over her like he'd done. He quickly shoved the thought out of his mind.
"He knows it was an accident on your part. He's not unreasonable. Besides, he respects you very much. He knows you wouldn't do something like that on purpose, Caesar." She smiled good-naturedly at him at that.
Does he also know that I could not tear my eyes away? That I looked for far longer than I should? That I wanted to see more still? Caesar's thoughts raced through his mind.
Of course, Roy wouldn't know this. Lydia had no possible way of knowing that herself.
But Caesar knew, and it tore at him.
"Still, he was grouchy about it for quite some time after I told him." She sighed as she pushed some of the green moss she'd picked off the log into the water, where it floated away lazily. "But I think I made him see reason after a while. Good to know it worked well enough for him not to confront you about it. You have enough on your plate as it is." She said as she leaned back, bracing her hands on the log to support her weight.
"How. Did you. Do that? Make him. See. Reason?" Caesar asked. He knew she had a way with words and he had, after all, followed her example when discussing the mountain lion-incident with Blue Eyes, which had worked wonders.
"Uhm…" She blushed.
Her lack of response would have been puzzling to Caesar, had it not been for her body language doing most of the talking.
Her whole posture stiffened slightly and she pushed her thighs together while biting her lip.
And she avoided looking at him completely, staring pointedly ahead at nothing in particular.
"Oh…" He replied dumbfoundedly. It was not often that the Ape King was rendered speechless.
However, he was done not talking. That was what he came here for in the first place. So, rather than enter into an awkward silence once again, he decided to take his wife's advice and laugh it off instead.
Now, many had the impression that the Ape King didn't have a sense of humour, what with him always being serious and stern-looking. In truth, this demeanour was only due to his many responsibilities to the colony. He was their leader, after all.
One-on-one, however, Caesar could display a great sense of humour, when he deemed it appropriate.
Which he did now.
"Hmmm…" He hummed, scratching his chin in mock-thoughtfulness, making Lydia turn to him, still slightly red across her cheeks and with a raised eyebrow. "I. Do not. Think. That would. Have worked. On my wife…"
He turned to look at her as innocently as he could manage, finding her with her mouth agape and a look of shock across her face. He then smirked mischievously at her.
And they laughed heartily.
"No, probably not." Lydia replied once her laughter has subsided.
Soon, silence fell over them again, though this time, it was a comfortable silence that both felt at ease with. There was no tension anymore. Nothing to apologize for or feel sorry about.
There was only peace.
"I'm glad we talked." Lydia said with a tranquil smile on her face. "I missed this."
"Me too." He said in his gravelly voice, laying a reassuring hand briefly on her shoulder.
He ignored the small bolt of electricity that went through him with the action.
