#loyiso

Nadine who keeps telling Chloe she’s impressed or “Good job, Frazer” wishes that her father told her the same

Chloe who keeps joking or making playful remarks wishes her father spent less time studying and more time playing with her

or maybe it’s more nuanced because when Loyiso wasn’t the tough dad/general and commended Nadine for her studies, for a soccer goal, for being brave when she saved Lesedi, Nadine realized how good recognizing someone’s efforts felt, and made that part of the way she shows love without even thinking about it

and maybe on the days Mahit was not obsessing over the Hoysala empire he would play hide-and-seek with his little girl, or tell her funny stories, ones that made both her and her mother laugh. Maybe he would say “Beg your pardon” when he was passing by a statue and Chloe laughed. How he would sarcastically comment if she broke a dish and it somehow still made her laugh. Maybe Chloe remembers how he could always create joy from nothing, and maybe she took his sense of humor with her and it kept her head up during a dangerous and difficult life

Despite everything that had happened, Nadine turned out great, so would keletso ever forgive him for pushing her down that path?

Nadine DID turn out great!!!!!11!1

Ok seriously though this must be the same anon asking all these awesome questions because I refuse to believe this many people got through the 15k sex-free words of Surprise!

Nadine's parents probably talk on the phone every so often. In one of my earliest fics Loyiso had a new family, but from the characterization I've given him since? He probably still loves Keletso with all his heavy heart and misses her dearly.

Does Keletso love him right back, through her anger, as she plays with her former soldier of a daughter's curls? Nadine's head on her lap, a Nigerian soap opera on the muted TV? Does she see Loyiso in Nadine, like Loyiso sees Keletso in her?

Does Chloe ask about it, halfway through dominoes, because Nadine is asleep (probably dreaming about trebuchets and gray langurs) and can't shoot her a warning look?

"Nadine really cares about what he...thinks of her," she might say, glancing at her before looking back up, guiltily, at Keletso. "I mean. She wants to make him proud and--worries about it. Giving up Shoreline was--"

"Don't," Keletso will snap. "say that word."

"You mean Shor--oh."

Chloe will make a forced, uncomfortable smile, gulping with awkwardness.

Keletso will laugh softly. "He was stupid for giving her his stupid company in the first place."

"Oh, she did mention you don't--that you--that you prefer it out here, away from--"

"He used to say 'some girls' fathers work in the mines'. He was proud of that. Loyiso was proud. No, he would not be the one choking or being crushed in the darkness beneath the earth to earn these bastards their weight in our diamonds and gold."

"Well," Chloe will mumble. "I--I should think mining was the opposite of safe, back then, what? At least Nadine still--still has him. I mean. I guess I wish she'd not worry about it so much."

"Still has him," Keletso will scoff. "Once he pulls his head out of his ass and stops talking like it's an honest job--sorry," she sighs. "I did not mean to get into it. My daughter is like a cat. I cannot get up at all now."

Chloe nearly jumps to her feet. "Oh, did you need more tea, love? Let me get that for you--"

Without waiting for a response, she high-tails it to the kitchen, where she exhales a long breath. She may have said too much. And also why was she defending Loyiso to Nadine's mother?

I'm sorry it took so long to respond to this. I really love this question. Keletso is mentioned by her daughter in Chapter 6 of Surprise and some of my rambles about Second Legacy (the game that doesn't exist).

But to summarize:

Keletso loves Nadine very much, but in a very different way from Loyiso. She lives in Botswana and loves to help/save injured birds. She and Loyiso met and fell in love during the fight of their lives: their very different approaches to resisting apartheid and stabbing baasskap in the throat.

Keletso was an organizer for defiance campaigns, trying to bring people together to fight for a fair South Africa. She may not remember how many times the government arrested her. Maybe she's where Nadine gets her tenacity and bravery, and Loyiso is where she gets her kindness, because Keletso. Does not. Take any shit. And when she was mad at him for taking the most important thing in the world to her and making Nadine another of his soldiers, she up and left.

"How dare you," she may have said to him. "Look what a wonderful girl, a precious student, you are training to be another killer."

Loyiso was coming to speak to his daughter, Jordan was just there (the event is actually taking place at Jordan's house, so you may be right). Loyiso is jealous that Keletso calls Jordan more than she calls him; he might also have caught on to the fact Nadine admired her uncle growing up more than she admired her father, even if she's so hung up on impressing her father. Jordan was at home protecting her family/helping with housework when her father was away fighting.

Loyiso probably walked into the braai looking for some sort of fight, tbh. He hosts them at his upscale rooftop deck and is proud of his prowess as the grillmaster like most dads. Jordan, however, has a special spice rub and marinade he has only taught Nadine how to make, and this is what people always rave about when she brings dishes to Loyiso's braai. Nadine avoids telling him it's his brother's recipe. The entire extended family shows up and many of Loyiso's military and ex-military contacts, so the attitude is a bit more formal yet wholesome.

When Jordan throws a braai even at his small balcony, his bartender friends show up, there's really cutting-edge music, cocktails, it's technically a pool party even though the pool is small, Chloe may have thrown an inflatable flamingo in there for people to take selfies with, the gay thirtysomethings of Johannesburg have to all show up dressed to the nines with their partners and even the sleeping infant is well dressed. Manny and Nadine may be the only former soldiers there.

She enlisted in her father's mercenary company, not the official military, but since she talks about how rough her training was it's probably along the lines of the toughest training regimens in regular armies. Her father is probably the type to treat her harsher than other recruits because he expects more of her and doesn't want anyone to think she had anything handed to her by virtue of being his daughter. Especially since he was always thinking he would leave it in her power when he retired.

Nadine was already an adolescent and probably in America studying life sciences when Keletso and Loyiso had their big spat about Nadine's future and career. They did not have their fight in front of her and raised her together in Johannesburg when she was a child.

Keletso just went back to Gaborone to live with her sister and they eventually had a home built for her next door. Nadine visited often even while enlisted and is very close to her mom, aunt, and little cousin Boitumelo and he used to ask her to play dolls with him.

Gay marriage is legal in South Africa and Nadine's family is progressive in my headcanons. Loyiso thinks highly of Chloe, Onkemetse (obviously) doesn't trust her yet (she's very protective of Nadine okay), and Keletso probably hears a lot about Chloe from Onkemetse but has a more optimistic view since Nadine has called and told her about their adventures before. When Nadine and Chloe finally make it to Gaborone to visit, Keletso can make her own judgements about Chloe.

But she probably finds something about Chloe to love. Keletso isn't swayed by gifts or grand gestures, so Chloe isn't going to get on her good side with those. But she will love the Chloe who decided to sacrifice herself for the greater good at the end of the Lost Legacy. Maybe they have a long talk while Keletso is styling her daughter's hair? Maybe less 'where do you see yourself in 5 years' job interview grilling and more 'show me you can look after the most important thing in the world to me'.

He doesn't. Jordan just avoids Loyiso. The whole family sort of half-fears the former head of Shoreline, even if Jordan has gay bravery superpowers (he does) he wouldn't go out of his way to start shit with his brother.