Dragoncrest Cliffs Fire in your new shoes

This time last year, Antler, Artaax, @Blixen, Phoenix and Robin had been growing within her womb. Wildfire liked to think their younger brothers and sisters were following in their footsteps even now, though it was still too early to tell. That didn't stop the Feisripa from humming under her breath as she plodded along the beach, mulling over names. She found herself really liking the idea of incorporating the bird theme more this year, though she would have to see what the commander thought, of course. Maybe they could even ask their grown kids what they thought; she liked that idea.

She stopped and turned to face the breaking surf, tipping her face into the salty breeze. It was rather cold today, with little white flurries drifting through the air every so often. When she exhaled, Wildfire could just barely see her breath, like a wisp of silver smoke. She felt a chill trying to creep through her and decided to ward it off by breaking into a sudden run along the cold sands.

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 heard a voice in the wind and turned, paws digging into the sand to grind her to a halt. Wildfire grinned and replied, "Hei, Blix!" She motioned for her daughter to come closer, though she spun and began trotting toward her so they could meet in the middle. "What're you up to?" she wondered a little breathlessly when they reached one another, her nose instinctively going for the root of the girl's ear in a motherly nuzzle.

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.

Her chestnut eyes closed as she breathed in Blixen's scent. She was so grateful that all three of her children had welcomed her back with open arms—after risking their lives to bring her home. She felt tears pricking behind her closed lids and idly wondered if that was a normal reaction or if it was just her hormones running high due to early pregnancy...

She drew back and listened as Blixen detailed her day. "Tell me about your training," the mother requested. "I'm not up to much of anything, other than musing about names," she added with a twinkle in her eye.

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!!!

Rather than oblige her mother's request, Blixen demanded to know what Wildfire meant. A smile crept across her face even as she caught herself admiring her daughter's prettiness as she cocked her head. She reminded Wildfire of her own mother, Blixen's grandmother, Fox. But those eyes peering at her so curiously were directly inherited from the Feisripa herself.

"For your younger brother and sisters, who'll be here in..." Her tongue pressed to the inside of her cheek as she tried to do some quick mental math. "Six weeks or so? If everything took," she added quickly, grinning a little foolishly as she broke the news to Blixen. What did she think of becoming an older sister?

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.

Blixen's blunt question surprised a barking laugh from Wildfire. Still chuckling, she studied the yearling's face and shook her head. "No, we chose another donor this year. Do you know Étoille?" She paused to let her daughter answer, then said, "I suppose you know how it all works by now." She hadn't given her children the talk, though surely their nomi had covered it during her long absence. "But if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Just as long as you promise to help me come up with some good names."

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.

For how few words that left Blixen's mouth, there was a lot of (somewhat contradicting) information thrown in Wildfire's direction in a matter of seconds. Her daughter knew about the mechanics of conception because she had a girlfriend, which made Wildfire wonder if she truly understood, especially since she didn't seem to know what her mother meant by "donor." But, much more importantly, Blixen had a girlfriend?

"Oh," popped out of her mouth, unbidden. "I didn't know that!" She blinked loudly, then beamed. "Do you really, Blix? Who is it?" She prodded affectionately at her lookalike's shoulder. "Tell me all about her! Please?" she had the mind to tack on. Forgotten momentarily were the details of how two women managed to grow a family; they could cover that after they went over every last detail of Blixen's relationship, hopefully.

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.

She felt such a strange mixture of emotions when Blixen revealed her lover's identity, a few of which took her by surprise. There was joy, of course, for her daughter's first romance. But there was also a feeling Wildfire could only call disappointment. Furi? She wasn't good enough for the commander's daughter, an ugly and unfair thought that mixed with a sudden urge to threaten the awkward girl about hurting Wildfire's sweet lookalike.

Catching herself in this quagmire of thoughts, the Feisripa blinked back to a focus and managed a genuine smile. "I have met Furi," she said. "So? Tell me all about it," the mother repeated, chestnut eyes affectionate as she regarded her bashful progeny. "How'd you two become an item?"

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 spoke of a side of Furi Wildfire had never seen, though to be fair, she hardly knew the girl. Despite her misgivings, she found herself smiling at her daughter's enthusiasm. Whatever the Feisripa thought of Blixen's choice of lover, she was genuinely happy for her. This was her first love.

She tensed at the mention of an altercation. She couldn't have guessed whether this confrontation had happened prior to her return or sometime after it. Wildfire hadn't been in the thick of things much since rejoining Drageda, especially since the rendezvous site was off limits to her. Her lips pursed, though she reminded herself that Blixen was a capable Gona.

"Go on," the Feisripa invited simply, still reveling in Blixen's enthusiasm.

oblivious to her mother's discontent (and for the better -- she gets defensive), blix tries to decide what else to say. it's hard to put into thought, let alone word. furi and her are not a seamless couple -- they're often at odds, honestly -- but she likes that too, because having something to fight for gives her purpose.

"she's a little hard to read," the redhead admits, following her own line of thought, "i'm not good at feelings... nomi says she isn't either, though." here she gives her mom a curious look, wanting to know if nomi was being kind or if mother can confirm their shared.. lack of insight into the art of emotional intimacy.

Wildfire could agree with that, though she kept that thought to herself. Blixen confessed that she didn't do well with feelings, making her like her nomi. The Feisripa found herself smiling softly at this.

"Feelings are hard. Some of us have too many of them," she said sagely. "But if you and Furi are anything like your nomi and me, you'll find a way to work it out. Relationships take work, as I'm sure you're aware." She wouldn't know from experience just yet, though surely she could look to her mothers and see that, plain as day.

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).

Blixen didn't seem to have much more to say on the subject of Furi. Although Wildfire was infinitely curious (and nosy), she went along with it happily enough when her grown daughter brought up donors again. She clicked her tongue and peered speculatively into the yearling's face.

"Since your nomi and I can't procreate, we require a male donor in order to conceive. Ette and I mated in order to become pregnant," Wildfire said, assuming Blixen knew how it worked but braced for more questions in case there were gaps in the girl's knowledge.

"Just remember," she added with a playful glimmer in her chestnut eyes, "that in exchange for this information, you need to give me a couple of good name ideas."

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

Her brow raised at the question tossed in right before the world's funniest name suggestion. Blixen had said she knew about the mechanics. Guess not, Wildfire mused, giving her daughter an amused look in response to both comments.

"Fyuncha? Really?" she teased with a laugh. "As for how fyunchas are made..." She took a breath, then proceeded to explain, in clinical detail, how a male and female wolf procreated. She then lapsed into silence, expecting further questions.

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?

"Sha," Wildfire confirmed with a nod, pausing and fighting an urge to smile as she added, "it requires a woodle and a voodlestrathen." She hoped the ridiculous terms would entertain Blixen, especially after such a dry, clinical rundown of the subject matter. "And that's," she concluded on a slightly more serious note, "why your nomi and I required the services of Dio and Ette."

Anticipating more questions there, Wildfire explained, "Sex, love and mate-ship are not all mutually exclusive." Had she used that phrasing correctly? Anyway... "You can have sex without love, love without sex, mate-ship without love or sex, et cetera. I know that's confusing. But what I want you to understand about our situation specifically is that I love your nomi. We are mates. And although I physically mated with Dio and Ette, there was no emotional attachment involved there, beyond friendship and respect. And the children that resulted from it belong to nomi and me, not them. Does that make sense...?"

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.

She saw the question coming about two seconds before the words left Blixen's mouth. Wildfire braced for it. It felt much more personal and intimate than her daughter's others inquiries, because it was. She wasn't sure exactly how to answer her. The Feisripa wanted to tell her the truth, however, some things were between the two of them and no one else, not even their offspring.

"We make love on occasion," she said, "although we're both pretty private about it." She hoped that Blixen wouldn't press for further details there. Wildfire wasn't ashamed of her sexuality, however, she didn't necessarily want to discuss the gory details with her child.