"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
A smile curls my lip as his teeth smash together near my face. He was displeased. Poor fellow. And then he is thinking over my terms, his head tilted. My ears flicker one tilting forwards, the other falling back to listen to the sounds that Ryss might be making, but she is silent. Either sleeping or merely watching our exchange. Her heart is still beating normally, so she is safe and that's all I need to know right now.
Tycho outlines his terms and my eyes narrow as I study the rather large circle that he sets up. Was it unreasonable? No, not really, he was young and needed the space to move and such. Obviously the previous one hadn't been big enough. I had also thought he might sleep longer or maybe we had just been in there longer than I thought. I look up to the sky, see the sun beginning to fall. Oh. Much longer than I thought.
It wasn't unusual for time to slip past me but this much time...of course I had been a little distracted. He completes the circle and looks to me. I study it a few more times and then my hooves are moving and I am going to study it more intently. I was impressed, he had picked a decent circle and with the exception of one area I didn't like, dangers wise, I thought the rest of it was rather laid out. So I snort, back step a few steps and then change it. I move away from the spot where the rather giant log was leaning haphazardly against another. Anything could make that log fall and I wasn't too thrilled on finding my son beneath it.
I return to him, tilt my head back in that direction. "Adults supervision needed until you're bigger. The rest is acceptable. Agreed?" And I shrink myself down until I am his side and rip my own shoulder open so we might be able to seal this more easily. I had a feeling that blood was going to be a think with this boy and had no problem understanding how he wanted to seal this deal. I wait for him to agree and come press his shoulder against my own when he is ready.
pazuzu
**Disclaimer, posting to Pazuzu can result in maiming, torturing, and all kinds of nasty things possibly happening to your pony. If you do not agree, do not post to him or if you do not want your pony horribly maimed, please say so. Most of the time he will just leave some nice new scars, either mental or physical.
Father inspects the circle I have traced out, giving careful consideration to the terms we are negotiating. Thorough attention to detail. I approve. He makes one adjustment to account for an area I included that looks like an interesting spot to explore, but contains a fairly significant potential hazard. One that ignites a spark of curiosity about my body's proficiency for climbing, so I suppose his concern is a legitimate one. Adult supervision needed. That seems fair. With a snort and a not, I agree to his terms.
I tilt my head and watch as his body reduces in size until it is comparable to mine. Fascinating. I wonder if his mass is the same and he is therefore more dense at this size. If not, where does the surplus go? Momentarily distracted, I circle around him, noting the way he has retained his original proportions in miniature. He did not turn himself into a foal, did not regress in age, merely reduced his body's size. Fascinating.
When I come back around him and see the blood trickling down his shoulder to match mine, I am recalled to my task. I give the agreed upon area a final once-over, then press my bleeding shoulder into his. We have a deal. After a few seconds I pull away and lick our mingled blood off his shoulder, cleaning the wound. Something shifts in my chest, the release of tension I did not know I still held. Mine. It is good.
I meet his eyes, one corner of my mouth curving upward. Adult supervision required? It would seem I have exactly that. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to explore that area he excluded from the circle. I touch my nose to his neck, breathing in his and Mother's newly mingled scent, then turn to go take advantage of the required supervision to nose around in the are beneath the overhanging log, and then try climbing it. It's at an angle that makes me think it might be possible when I have better mastery over my limbs. I do not expect to succeed this time, but I will learn far more from failure than I will from success.
Just stay away from the white light. I'd say your worst side's your best side.
I could just melt into this moment and stay here forever. Pazuzu wrapped around me, holding onto me, the smell of violets and the feel of his skin on mine. Far too soon he stirs, amusement in his voice as he goes to set our demon free. Not a fan of cages, huh? I hear you, tiny beast. I stay put, breathing out a content little sigh even as Tycho makes his irritation perfectly clear without a single word, and they negotiate an agreement for future such incidents that both of them find acceptable.
God, they're adorable. I could sit and watch them all day. Our son is clever and unafraid to make demands and voice his displeasure. Well. Express it, at any rate. He has an eager mind, and damn if it isn't fun to watch him take on a new skill. Even if that skill involves making blood pacts before he's seen his first sunset. I can't say I'm surprised, though. Not after his solemn attention to our wounds.
Immediately after they reach their agreement, Tycho turns back to the place his father marked off as requiring adult supervision. Of course he did. Because it's off-limits if he's alone, so better take advantage of the fact that he's not, right? Why do I get the feeling this kid is going to find a way to turn my hair grey, genetics be damned?
He heads straight for the area beneath the log, too, right where it would crush him if it fell, and starts digging around. I get to my feet and walk over, unhurried because his father's watchful eyes are already on him and frankly there's more Pazuzu could do to intervene than I could. Still. “Hey, kid, that's dangerous.” Tycho raises his nose from the dirt and turns that intense stare of his on me, his head tilting in a way I'm beginning to find extremely endearing. I nod up at the log. “It's balanced rather precariously, don't you think? That's why adult supervision is required, because it could fall.”
He steps out from under the log to get a better look, studying the point of contact with the ground and where it's propped up haphazardly overhead. With a look of deep concentration on his face, he presses his shoulder to the log and applies a little pressure. The log wobbles, and I freeze, hardly daring to breathe for fear that it might knock the damn log over. “Come on out from under there, son. We'll find something else to investigate.” I think I would be having a heart attack if I were on my own. I can't even blink until he nods once and walks out from under the wooden death trap.
Oh hello, air. So this is what breathing feels like. Letting out a sigh of relief, I make my way toward the menacing tree corpse with one eye on Tycho and the other on the lookout for something safer to use as a distraction. Ah, but the relief is short-lived. Before I can find something to redirect his attention, he immediately walks around to the base and starts climbing on the end.
At least this way he isn't going to get crushed if the damn log falls. I make my way to his side, catching him with my nose as he starts to lose his balance. “If you're going to insist on climbing, make sure you have a spotter. Someone to help you balance, and catch you if you start to fall. Hooves and heights are not the best combination, little demon. And not out of reach, understand?” With a grin over his shoulder and a quick nod, he is back to scrambling for purchase on the bark.
Just when you think that you're alright, I'm crawling out from the inside.
The deal was sealed in blood and his tiny little nose almost tickles as he laps up the blood. I reach over to clean his wound, growing back to my normal size. A quick glance back to Rys before our little demon is wandering towards the place I told him was off limits unless we were around. Well...why wouldn't he? A half smile curls the one side of my face as I follow him. He heads straight towards the area underneath the log and I'm grinding my teeth down to nubs as I watch him. My eyes calculate the risks, and then the little demon brat is pushing his shoulder against it. My eyes narrow even as Ryss is talking him out and only when he steps out from underneath it do I feel my heart start thumping in my chest again.
And I release a breath I hadn't known I had been holding.
There he goes again. Damn that inquisitive mind right now. Ryss follows him to the end, tells him some more rules and I can only watch them for a moment. Her eyes are following him as he climbs the log. Her nose is stretching up until she can hardly reach him again. Little demon.
"Hey little demon." I say, catching his attention even as my body shifts and melts into a rather large chimpanzee. Instead of the normal body color, my whole body is black and I'm climbing up a neighboring tree to get in front of him. "If you let me help you down, I will show you something a whole lot cooler than learning to climb." My extra weight makes the tree wobble some and I still, holding my breath again once it is still. I could easily keep us all safe should the tree fall, but I would much rather do it where I am more in control. Right now, this little spawn of mine is and it is time to redirect his attention.
He considers it. "I promise it will be extremely more exciting and fascinating." He considers it a few more minutes before nodding and I can only smile, twisting my chimp features into a wide grin before I wrap my long arms around him. And we poof. Back on the ground we are. We are a little bit farther away than we had been, clear of the tree falling but not back as far as we all had been at the beginning of this adventure. "Will you come here Ryss? It will be easier to protect you when I blow this damn log up." I turn to look at him, my horse body already back as my eyes land on our son. "Do you want to see the big log go boom?" My own smile curls my lips as I wait for his response.
pazuzu
**Disclaimer, posting to Pazuzu can result in maiming, torturing, and all kinds of nasty things possibly happening to your pony. If you do not agree, do not post to him or if you do not want your pony horribly maimed, please say so. Most of the time he will just leave some nice new scars, either mental or physical.
Mother is correct. Climbing proves rather difficult, and my hooves struggle to hold onto the rough bark. There is enough traction that I can climb just to the edge of the boundaries she drew, though my motion causes the log to shift slightly and my heart to race in a most intriguing manner as I struggle to maintain my balance. Mother's nose touches lightly against me to steady me even as Father calls out to me. I raise my gaze to look at him, adjusting my body to keep the motion from setting the log to shifting again.
Oh, fascinating. His body transforms into a most curious creature, and I wonder briefly how questionable a decision it would be to leap to the ground to get a better look at him. I do not know how much force that would put my limbs under, however, nor do I yet trust my coordination enough to land such a move. It might be worth trying, however perhaps it would be wise to start with smaller jumps to see how my body responds to such activities.
The point quickly becomes moot anyhow, as Father climbs to meet me. Mother's stabilizing touch helps me maintain my stance as he limbs onto the log to join me. He offers me a new lesson if I allow him to assist me in descending the fallen tree, and I pause, tilting my head to study him and consider my options. Leaping seems unwise. I do not actually know how reverse works yet, though I suspect the footing would be more precarious and I would need to rely heavily on Mother's aid and luck to make it back to the ground. Or I could allow Father to help me, which would provide me with ample opportunity to investigate his new shape, and would also earn me an exciting and fascinating lesson.
I nod, of course. There are far more reasons to agree to this option, and the independence of attempting to make my own way down, while appealing, seems unlikely to work out in my favor. Father's strange face twists into a grin and he wraps strange appendages around me. Before I even adjust to the feel of the foreign grip, we are on the ground, having vanished from the surface of the tree and appeared just out of range should it fall.
Is this the lesson? It seems an extremely convenient skill to develop, if so. I do not, however, know how he accomplished it. I turn my head to catch his eye, then look around at our new surroundings, then back at him with my head tilted in query. I would very much like to learn how to perform such a feat, yes. I would also like to get a better look at the strange ape form he wears. I walk around him, examining the differences in the way he is now put together compared to our earlier anatomy lesson. As he invites Mother to join us, however, his body reverts to its original state.
I am about to blow out a rough breath of air, protesting the abrupt transition that cut short my investigation of ape anatomy, when his words sink in. Blow up the log? Oh. Oh, well then. That does sound significantly preferable to climbing it. Mother walks over to join us, pressing her lips to Father's shoulder. “Happily,” she murmurs against his skin, brushing her body against his as she turns to touch her nose to the spot just behind my withers. I bump my own against her shoulder, then skirt around her to stare eagerly up at Father.
His turn of phrase has my eyes narrowing in exasperation. What kind of simpleton does he take me for? Go boom indeed. Still, I am in fact quite eager to see such an explosion. So with an annoyed little snort at the infantile speech, I nod once and turn to watch, attention locked on the log I was so recently perched upon. “I think that's a yes,” Mother chimes in with a chuckle as she drapes her neck over Father's back and beckons me closer to his side.
I would much rather stand in front of him to get the best possible view, but I am already coming to recognize when the lines they draw are firm ones and when they are negotiable. The look in her eyes suggests this is not the time to insist, so I sidle up next to Father, creeping as far forward as they will allow and leaning against the solid pillar of his leg. Indulging an impulsive urge to express affection, I brush my nose against his shoulder before blowing out an impatient breath. Let the games begin.
Just stay away from the white light. I'd say your worst side's your best side.
Thank the gods for Pazuzu. I have no idea how I'm going to get that little monkey child down from the wobbly-ass tree. I immediately regret not redirecting him to something else. Anything else. Hey, kid, want to go dig in a badger hole? Probably safer than this goddamn tree, but noooo. I had to play it cool, and now here we are, tiny beast technically in reach but not exactly in a position where I can grab on and catch him if he starts to fall. Fuck, like that! I stretch out as far as I can, touching my nose to his flank to give him a little support, and he steadies.
Breathe, Ryss. Breathe. Heart attacks can wait until he's safe.
And hell if the little demon isn't eying the ground like he's thinking about trying a jump just to see what will happen. I'm about to suggest he try backing down toward me instead, hoping against all reason that he'll listen instead of launching himself at the ground, when Pazuzu steps in to save the day. As a great big ape, no less, something with lovely hands to climb trees and pick up wayward wannabe monkeys and magic them safely to the ground. God, I could kiss him for that.
Can, even, and the perfect opportunity presents itself. He invites me over to join the two of them on a new and exciting lesson, one where he blows this godforsaken log to smithereens before our little monster can clamber up it again and get himself hurt. At his request, I saunter over to the two of them, angling between to trail my lips along Pazuzu's shoulder, rubbing up against him as I touch the soft of my nose to our little demon's back.
A quick little bump of his nose to my shoulder and he's off, eager for more of Pazuzu's extremely effective brand of instruction. However. Explosions are dangerous, and Pazuzu already said it'd be easier to protect us if we're close by. So I give the kid a look, telling myself it's not one I picked up from my mother, and he falls in next to his dad. Atta boy, kid. I was really not expecting that to work. But he seems content, giving Pazuzu's shoulder a little cuddle even. I hear that, beastie. I'm all for cuddling him too, wrapped around him and tracing aimless patterns on his skin. Not at all distracting. Sorry, teacher, explode away.
Just when you think that you're alright, I'm crawling out from the inside.
