In the time of chimpanzees...

sesca asked:

Do you have a story about the specific time Yen made Amad smile & laugh again? Or did it happen gradually?

It did happen gradually, but it all starts with one event, right? Yen, being that annoying, curious little kid she was could not bear to leave Amad alone whe he was adopted by her family. She just couldn’t do it. There was no way a mysterious sad little boy could be in their household without her getting to find stuff out about him. That was just sooo unfair. And unbearable!
So Yenaquai pestered him anyway. Despite her parents telling her to leave him be and let him settle in. But you know, kids find their way if they want to.
And it didn’t really bother her that he was mostly apathetic and didn’t participate in their conversations. And because he didn’t bite her or shouted at her or anything she figured he was okay with her presence too.
One day her father brought some books home from a nearby town so Yen could improve her readingskills. And one morning she wanted to read to Amad, show him how well she can do it already. Which she couldn’t. She was terrible at reading.
So she was clumsily tripping and stumbling over the words, and Amad began to chuckle now and then. Seeing that this was the VERY first reaction her adoptive brother showed her, she seized the moment and began reading it wrong on purpose, or making up the words as she went on, or just trying to eat the book or anything to make him react!
And Amad laughed for the first time after his parents died. Which wasn’t a magical cure to his grieving and trauma, but it was a step forward to healing.

And that’s the story behind that. :)