the arrival of breeding season and its consequences have largely flown by the redhead. though she'd managed to solve the riddle of who their genetic donor was (mostly because of how closely artaax resembles dio -- otherwise she'd be as oblivious as her dear brother) the finer points of reproduction remain a mystery to the nearly-yearling. 

but she's not stupid: something's up. mother was sequestered off from the boys and there's funny smells in the air, and she's curious, so of course when she spots mother near the tide she picks up her pace, tail wagging behind her. "hei!" blixen calls as she breaks into a run to catch up to her maternal look-alike, grinning.

she catches up to mother and leans in a little to the affectionate gesture, already smiling. it's still so... nice to have her back home again. there'd been moments where blixen had worried that she'd carry a resentment with her (and she had been angry, for a little while), but every day affirms the fact that she's just grateful to have her mother back. it'd all worked out as far as she's concerned.

blix returns the gesture, briefly tucking her nose under mother's chin as if she's still a tiny child and not basically the same size as her now. "i've been training, mostly," the gona says, "but i wanted to see what you were up to." she pulls back a little, her intrigue writ plain across her features.

of course blix wants to tell mother all about her training, but how is she supposed to focus on that when she's being all mysterious and intriguing? the gona huffs slightly. "names?" she asks, cocking her head slightly as she puts the full weight of her voice into the word. though she has a ... vague understanding of pregnancy, conceptually, she hasn't encountered it yet for herself nor has she clued in to the exact cause of her mother's condition. she wants answers!!!

blixen squints. then her expression opens, surprised and joyful. "oh!" she barks, realising what mother means. babies! that's a thing that happens! she thinks of her baby cousins at redhawk, the little redhawks, who were, okay, too big to be really cute but they were pretty alright. she darts forward, pausing to glance at her mother -- is it okay? -- before moving to tentative brush her nose against her soon-to-be swollen side.

"wait wait," the gona says, stepping back as the second half of her realisation hits. she knows nomi isn't their... biological whatever, however you call it. "are they gonna look like dio too?" she asks -- well, demands, though it's without malice. even though only artaax looks like dio, it's the only definitive proof she has about her theories on their lineage, so maybe this is a chance to find out the truth.

by the time mother's sentence concludes blixen's eyes are round as dinner plates. she does know étoille -- only vaguely, but furi likes him. more importantly: "what does donor mean?" the question pops out of her mouth, instantly making her feel childish -- she has an idea but if asked she couldn't articulate it, exactly. "of course i know," blix tacks on a second later, then qualifies, "about dating and stuff, i have a girlfriend." oh, that's something she hasn't told her family yet (though she's talked to nomi about her feelings before at the least) -- blixen blushes and looks at her feet, peering cautiously up to see how the news is received.

immediately she is seized by regret and embarrassment. not because she doesn't want to talk about furi but because, jeez, mom!!! pressure much!!! the gona shuffles her paws and looks away, nearly pouting, before she finally takes a deep breath and admits, "it's furi." once she's said it, a weight lifts off her shoulders, and though some natural embarrassment at the thought of discussing dating with her mother lingers she finds she's able to relax a little again.

"have you met furi yet?" blixen asks, realising that she isn't sure. with the timing of everything it's entirely possible they haven't, which is kind of weird. "she's the one eske and étoille found while they were looking for you," she clarifies, "we're gona together. she's, she's really cool." the last bit is added with a fair helping of bashfulness, feeling shy as she is about the whole thing. if only furi were here and not..off with rose or whatever, then mother could see for herself.

if she'd known her mother's opinion, she probably would have agreed with her -- furi is awkward and quiet and fumbling most of the time, but blixen finds it utterly endearing. she's a little surprised to hear that the two have met already but quickly disregards it, happy to give more details now that she's past the initial embarrassment of the revelation. "the first time we met i was sorta awful," blix confides, remembering with a slight amount of regret the tempetuous emotional rollercoaster she'd been (as if that's changed much, dear). "'cause i was very, you know, i was going through a lot. but we started to do patrols together -- and she's very, like, patient, and she's kind, even if it gets her into trouble sometimes, but that's why i'm around to keep her sensible." god help the next arrille-type who tries to take advantage of her good will.

although... "but mother, you shoulda seen her when we were squaring off against those dumb boys from grimnismal -- it was like," here blixen pauses, giving a low whistle instead of a phrase, "she was so cool, fighting on behalf of drageda like that." (nevermind it was hardly on 'behalf of drageda' -- blixen doesn't think of it like that, and so...)

blixen's face scrunches, but she thinks she gets what mother means. having too many feelings -- that's like furi. blix on the other hand has about four identifiable emotions (angry, guilty, love, and gona), and frequently they get the best of her.

"sha," she mumbles anyway, pressing close to her mother's side. "oh, hey, wait, you didn't tell me what donor means," the redhead adds a beat later, suddenly remembering (and ready to be done sharing).

mother's explanation only raises more questions, as blixen studies her face doubtfully. she'd kind of guessed at the male-involved part, at the least, but what mating actually is... eludes her. her mother's joke is met with a very serious nod of the head, accepting the terms of their arrangement. names, right, she can think of those probably.

"how do you -- what is mating? i mean, like how do you.." blix trails off, moderately embarrassed to not already know. and to keep her end of the bargain, she says, "what about.." what do you name children? she hasn't the faintest idea, "uh.. fyuncha.*

* baby. name the baby, baby

in her defense thinking of things on the spot is not her strong suit. and she'd thought she'd known the gist of it, but apparently not: mother's explanation is met with a series of comically shocked expression as she processes this, er, new information. if she didn't already pretty much know she was gay, this would cinch it. 

though, oh. "so only men and women can do that?" she asks, tilting her head. non-heterosexual pairings seem fairly par the course for blix, and she'd sort of guessed they needed.. assistance in making actual babies, but there still seems to be stuff she's missing. who better to answer than her not-straight mom?

ah. makes sense (even if mother's ridiculous words earn a teenaged wrinkling of the nose). she does have more questions, though mother seems to intuit them, launching into a slightly broader explanation before she has a chance to follow up. 

blix had never really thought the donors posed a threat to mother and nomi's relationship, so although it's nice to hear that confirmed anyway, it isn't what she really wants to know. she nods, takes a breath, and says, "do you and nomi have sex?"

y'know, the really hard hitting stuff.