Dragoncrest Cliffs He's a little wiser, a little older

Etienne had slept fitfully at first, but a few nights into his return. He had slept soundly, but had been plagued with horrifying and heart breaking dreams. And he saw the betrayal that would surely show up on Anselm's face over and over again. For he knew the dearest face to him, well. And his heart broke anew each morning as he woke up and realized he was a horrible wolf. He had done the one thing he had promised not to do. More broken promises by Etienne Dahomey-Rivaini.

Etienne traveled the length of the beach. He pulled the seaweed from the driftwood and piled it nearby. He'd sort it.

He took moments to simply breathe and exist. Was he happy? No. But for the moment he was sad, but content in his working paws.

the number one thing that will put a smile upon a sad face? your annoying baby cousin. obviously.
jadou had grown rather fond of taking walks by himself, now that he had some semblance of agency. it wasn't so much that he sought independence and rather that he sought quiet places to think.
and, as was his birthright, he took a shining to the beach.
sapphique's coastline was rather gravelly and harsh-looking, especially with the rather intimidating cliffs serving as the backdrop on one side and the frighteningly endless sea on the other. to him, however, it was paradise. he plods a ways away from the shore, choosing to climb over the salt-rotten logs and snuffle at the little crabs that crawled across the glinting sand.
it was a nice place to be. no one else seemed to be here, except — the weird guy maman had dragged in. hesitant at first, the boy slowly slinks over to him, kicking up clouds of sand rather obnoxiously.
what you be doin'? he asks, circling 'round so he could get in eti's face and stare at him with big, curious eyes. you look sad.

Etienne had grown fond of the beach as a child. And he still found solace in it now. He was surprised from his sorting by a youngling. This one he didn't think was one of his manman's but he hadn't spent much time with her yet. Ashamed maybe? Or too sad? He didn't know.


Etienne shifted. I be sortin' de seaweed for 'ealing.

Etienne smiled softly. I spose you can say I am. But dat is not'ing for you to be worryin' 'bout. Wut you doin? Explorin?

fah healing? the boy exclaims, settling into a sit and staring down at the piles of kelp. the lightbulb goes off above his head. oh, yeah! maman told me dat de seewee colors mean t'ings. but i t'ink dey be good wigs.
he slowly slinks down into a lay, resting his head upon his forepaws as he watches etienne work. he is frustrated by the response. why couldn't he worry about it? he couldn't just pretend the man didn't look like someone kicked a puppy in front of him!
non, why you be sad? he retorts, flipping the subject back onto him with big, pleading eyes. you can talk to me. i can keep see-crets. i be good at dat.

A soft nod. Yes for 'ealin'. Dey do mean different tings. You 'ave to be careful wit' dem. Some are stronger dan otters.

Etienne chuckled, thinking fondly then of Suzu who would have warn one as a wig. Possibly even Theo. Dey do make good wigs, and good monsters to scare your siblin's wit' in de dark.

Etienne looked over the youth. I 'ave no doubt you can. our 'ole family is good at keepin' secrets, but dis is someting. mmm.

My 'eart 'urts. It is all i know 'ow to describe. I came 'ome to 'elp it 'eal.

wigs make me look pretty, jadou nods, idly dragging a paw through the sand. i like to look pretty. i t'ink maybe you try it. it makes you 'appy.
he reaches forward to grab a strip of the damp kelp, a beautiful obsidian shaded one, and proceeds to try and place it atop etienne's head. but, seeing as how he is still much too short to do so, he settles for dropping it on his shoulder. dere! now you be pretty.
oooh, did a girl make you sad? he clicks his tongue and shakes his head as if he were a hairstylist and etienne was the client in his chair, sharing his woes. aye-aye-aye.

Etienne smiled at the way Jadou spoke. He was much like Etienne and some of the other members. It was no doubt he was family. And that he felt himself pretty truly talked to the testament of how they were all raised.

Etienne shrugged the Kelp up higher, and used a paw to push it up and around his neck and he struck a pose.

"ow pretty, super pretty? I like to be pretty.

Etienne smiled sadly. No not a girl. Dis wolf likes men. IT was a man dat made me sad.

veree pretty! i be trè bèl. the little red tail thumps in the sand with contentment, beady baby blues widening; somewhere inside of him, he felt an unspoken understanding that reached out for etienne.
it is only confirmed by his next statement, which jadou pauses momentarily to think about. why dun he jus say sorree? dat sound like he not veree kind.
the intricacies of such a predicament are wholly lost on him, but now his brain circles back around to the earlier comment about how etienne liked men — did that mean he was like his grandmothers? did you marry 'im? like me granmè?

Etienne chuckled. Very. A small little smile to share with his cousin. He tilted an ear downward. This one was like him he would wager.

'e can be not nice. I tink it was 'e was raised different dan you and me. Dat one ting you be findin' out dere. People be different. Raised different. Act different and it's not always good ting.

Etienne shook his head. No. I don't tink 'e be knowin' i like 'im. "e likes girls. We just be friends.

people outside of sapphique? this was something jadou had never truly thought about before. his entire world was the seacliffs, his family — why would anyone want to leave in the first place? and what were they like out there, if they were so different?
maman says dat men ousside be mean, the boy's chin stiffens in thought. how 'bout you marry someone here? like val? or me? or me brudda? we don' be mean. because, of course, that was a feasible option — marriage just means you love somebody, right?
flopping down on his side in order to roll around in the sand, jadou poses yet another question to his ever-patient cousin. d'you be a boy or a girl?

Etienne shook his head. A small smile on his face. I Love my auntie, but 'er be wrong. O' dere be some dat not be so nice, but I 'ave met more nice ones than mean ones in my travels. An' even Anselm be nice in 'is own way. 'e just different dan you and me.

Etienne gave a soft delighted laugh. I would love to cept, we be related and dat not be very good ting. Bad ting's 'appen you marry dose dat 'ave same blood as you. But sometimes I would tink it would be a better option.

Etienne gave a soft hmm sound. I be a boy, but I like many tings dat otters would consider girl tings and noting wrong wit dat. And one time w'en i was very young. I met a wolf 'er was a girl on de outside, but a boy on de inside.

etienne was smiling! jadou took this as a queue to carry on with his incessant bugging, little red tail creating a fanning divot in the sand beneath him as it wagged. why it be bad, dough? why? i'd marry you. 'cause i love you.
ah, children and their untainted view of the world.
but then, as his cousin continues, he says something that piques the little boy's interest in a way that made his stomach flip — a boy who was a girl, a girl who was a boy. his eyes may as well have popped right out of his head with what could only be described as absolute awe.
it was as if a lightbulb had gone off above his head.
you can do dat? he asks with a gasp, voice suddenly hushed. how? how? how? does dat mean i can be a girl someday? because, in his eyes, girls were simply better, and everyone should want to be one.
which, of course, was a perfectly normal thought to have. everyone thought that!
right?

Etienne was unsure how to answer this question, but as luck would have it. Jadou focused on something else that Etienn had offering without meaning too. And he breathed a small sigh of relief. Quiet. He supposed he could have tried.

Etienne nodded his head. YOu can be wutever you want to be. You 'owever can't make your body different, but dere is no reason you cannot be a girl in every otter aspect. For instance, some maybe saying I be like a girl, because I be likin de boys. And dat be okay.

Etienne shifted. You just act like one, talk like one, be like one. IF dat is wut you be wantin'

since eti's goin on npc i'll wrap this one here <3 tysm for the thread!! i hope they can thread again soon ;-;

act like one, talk like one, be like one.
it sounded so easy, except for the fact that jadou did not know how to do any of those things, really. but he thought about it for a good long while, the silence stretching further and further and further before he finally says; i t'ink i gots it.
with that, he rises to his feet, turning back towards the tunnel as if he had a job to do. he toddles through the sand as fast as his little feet can carry him, eager to go to the sanctity of the female-heavy den; he was going to have to start studying his maman and sisters. t'ank ya, cousin eti! 'ave fun wid'ya kelp!