07-08-2016, 02:21 PM
I cannot help but smile at Yael's generous invitation. She has always been such an excellent hostess, doing everything she can to make her guests feel at home. I love that about her. I have always been far more casual in my efforts to welcome people into my home, be it kingdom or herdland or hut at the edge of a village. My approach has tended toward make yourself at home instead, but her? Just a few words, a quick gesture, and I feel utterly welcome, as ever.
“Thank you, my friend,” I reply, stepping into her home. “I can't stay long, as lovely as that sounds. My Drow has three newborn daughters, and I'm helping with their care. Less uncomfortable for him and his man if those of us with the appropriate body parts do the nursing.” My grin widens at the memory of the frantic look in his eyes got when the girls said they were hungry. So cute, so panicked, and over something as natural and necessary as breathing. I'd already planned ahead for it while Pazuzu and I were discussing the logistics of creating a trio of daughters for my son and his mate, and was ready to feed the girls by the time they were steady on their feet and noticing their empty bellies.
God, I love those girls.
Yael fills me in on her life, and my cheeks are going to hurt from all this grinning before we're through, I think. “Yeah, dragons will do that.” She sobers a bit, and I understand her words far too well. “I do know how it goes, yes. Sometimes leaving is the right choice. I couldn't...I couldn't breathe here anymore, couldn't bear another moment surrounded by all our memories, all our might have beens. I did the best I could, for as long as I could stand it. Probably would have kept right on, I've always been so damn stubborn. My Drow yelled some sense into me though, and...well.”
I flew as far and as fast as I could, spent a couple of years working out my pain on the scum of the earth, taking out the trash wherever I found it. Lost count of how many lives I'd taken, how many innocents I'd saved or avenged, how very much blood I'd shed. Until one night I felt the gentle tug of a spirit seeking my attention. Just a gentle tug at first, at least. It became more and more persistent, until I finally took flight on dragon wings that ached from disuse, flew halfway across the world, and found myself in yet another jungle.
I've been back once or twice, to help welcome grandchildren into the world and to check on my kids and help them any way I could. And once, to bring my Drow back to the jungle with me, and his firstborn daughter Dara. To help him heal, as he'd helped me. To give her a life instead of leaving her in limbo between worlds. “I am well. Perhaps not happy, exactly, but much better than I have been. I have a couple of my children and their families, and the herd land they call home, and I'm helping raise those three little loves I mentioned. Saying goodbye to the past, and finding ways to move on. And now that I can manage it, reuniting with dear old friends I've missed so much.”
“Thank you, my friend,” I reply, stepping into her home. “I can't stay long, as lovely as that sounds. My Drow has three newborn daughters, and I'm helping with their care. Less uncomfortable for him and his man if those of us with the appropriate body parts do the nursing.” My grin widens at the memory of the frantic look in his eyes got when the girls said they were hungry. So cute, so panicked, and over something as natural and necessary as breathing. I'd already planned ahead for it while Pazuzu and I were discussing the logistics of creating a trio of daughters for my son and his mate, and was ready to feed the girls by the time they were steady on their feet and noticing their empty bellies.
God, I love those girls.
Yael fills me in on her life, and my cheeks are going to hurt from all this grinning before we're through, I think. “Yeah, dragons will do that.” She sobers a bit, and I understand her words far too well. “I do know how it goes, yes. Sometimes leaving is the right choice. I couldn't...I couldn't breathe here anymore, couldn't bear another moment surrounded by all our memories, all our might have beens. I did the best I could, for as long as I could stand it. Probably would have kept right on, I've always been so damn stubborn. My Drow yelled some sense into me though, and...well.”
I flew as far and as fast as I could, spent a couple of years working out my pain on the scum of the earth, taking out the trash wherever I found it. Lost count of how many lives I'd taken, how many innocents I'd saved or avenged, how very much blood I'd shed. Until one night I felt the gentle tug of a spirit seeking my attention. Just a gentle tug at first, at least. It became more and more persistent, until I finally took flight on dragon wings that ached from disuse, flew halfway across the world, and found myself in yet another jungle.
I've been back once or twice, to help welcome grandchildren into the world and to check on my kids and help them any way I could. And once, to bring my Drow back to the jungle with me, and his firstborn daughter Dara. To help him heal, as he'd helped me. To give her a life instead of leaving her in limbo between worlds. “I am well. Perhaps not happy, exactly, but much better than I have been. I have a couple of my children and their families, and the herd land they call home, and I'm helping raise those three little loves I mentioned. Saying goodbye to the past, and finding ways to move on. And now that I can manage it, reuniting with dear old friends I've missed so much.”