Redsand Canyon where habits have teeth and the words carry knives

No, Towhee replied, there was nothing. Even when I went into labor, I didn’t realize it. I thought it was just gas. When she came out of me, I truly thought I’d shat out my insides. It was… pretty fuckin’ wild. And to think, Meerkat would hopefully get to experience her very own first pregnancy sometime soon.

Aquene pondered aloud the reasons why Towhee’s partners had never asked her about her bonus bits. It still didn’t make much sense to her, though she didn’t particularly care. She did wonder what she’d do if a future lover pointed it out. Would she ever even take one?

The healer thanked her for the information and Towhee managed a small smile. Then her expression abruptly changed and each eye blinked slowly, individually, as she only just now realized, Wait, is that why you went down so easily at the end? My balls? In your face…?

Translation available as hovertext

Even now, she was a walking medical mystery and Aquene was ecstatic to have her around. “That is pretty fuckin’ wild. Это так интересно... и слегка тревожно.” The Russian slipped from her tongue at the very end, the strange language having been long since repressed from her vocabulary, but slipping out in moments like these when she was full of awe and wonder. For a moment, a pang of guilt and sadness touched her heart knowing how much her mother would enjoy these answers.
 
Still, she was snapped from her own thoughts when the woman asked about the end of their spar, a sheepish and shy grin on her features. “Yeah… I was just, pretty taken aback by it.” She admitted finally after a few seconds pause to let her embarrassment die down. “I’m very new to fighting… I haven’t quite mastered the whole ‘blocking strange things out of my head during a fight’ aspect yet…”

Her lips twitched when Aquene echoed her words back to her, appreciative of someone who knew the value of some well-placed swearing. But then her brows drew together when something utterly foreign fell from her lips. Towhee was too perplexed to even ask.

In any case, she was right about her unexpected anatomy giving her the upper hand in the spar by way of distraction. Huh, well, I can’t wait to try out that trick on Arsenio, Kallik and the rest of the gang. Waving my lady nuts in their faces, I mean. I think this has been a very educational lesson for both of us, Aquene…

Aquene hadn’t noticed the slip in her language, only that her brows drew together and Aquene’s head drifted to the side once more before she found herself distracted again. “I’m certain they’ll be just as shocked, though I imagine it’s a trick that will only work once… once one of them knows, perhaps news will spread and all will know.” She could just imagine the soldiers gossiping in the barracks about Towhee’s ‘lady nuts’ as she called them.
 
“Oh! That reminds me. I forgot to tell you about Arsenio. He’s a sweet man, very kind and more relaxed than the rest of them when he’s out on business, at least around me. He is also the only married soldier here… his wife is Tamar. She’s sweet, they both are, and they’re both adorable when they talk about each other. You can tell they really love each other.” She offered with a soft smile and a dip of her head. “It has been though… educational… thank you so much for the spar, I’ve learned a lot.”

She didn’t really intend to use this tactic, though Aquene’s astute observation made her lick her lips, ruminating. Did she care if the others found out? Would it bother her if they gossiped? It wasn’t like Towhee would actually hear anyone talking behind her back, though that was beside the point. What would she do if anyone gave her a hard time about it? For that matter, what would happen when they all discovered the difference she couldn’t really hide: her deafness?

The Redhawk didn’t realize she’d zoned out and missed what her pack mate was saying. When she tuned in again, Aquene was talking about two people really loving each other. She wondered if she was talking about Germanicus and Rue, though something about that didn’t quite fit…

Towhee shrugged it off rather than admit she’d missed half of what Aquene had said. Anytime. I’m here to teach, she replied to the other woman’s gratitude, then announced, I ought to do a patrol. You’re welcome to join me, otherwise I’ll catch you later.

Thanks for a fantastic thread! :D

Thank you too!

Towhee did not seem to be the type bothered by idle gossip, so Aquene had not given a second thought to her own words. She offered another smile and a dip of her head before turning in the other direction, making her own way to her own duties with a light bark before she departed, eager to both rest and find some light scrub pine. It had proven invaluable after sparring sessions as her body adjusted to such a physical regimen. She was fortunate that pines were one of the trees that didn’t lose all of their value in the winter.