Sea Lion Shores don't ask me why

she launches into the details after a moment; of studious silence on his head and the unacknowledged awkward silence on her end. she informs him that it is led by her and her sister, ying; and that it's based on the culture of their birthplace. the whole aspect of culture is new to atausiq who hasn't been raised to conform to any certain 'culture' ...at least as far as he knows. atausiq is contemplative as she speaks of respect, of the elder and the experienced, and then of balance. he takes in her words with a soft hum of contemplation, allowing his imperial jade gaze to stray to the ever-moving waves, face against the seabreeze as he listens, raptly.

in truth, there are enough similarities that it won't be quite so alien to him, nor he to it. the most alien thing to him is going to be learning how to be a husband, what she expects of him as such —

those thoughts are interrupted by her next words, proving his suspicions correct. she's pregnant. the mechanics of all that are largely unknown to atausiq but he gets a general idea by the way his body reacted to clover's heat. a few weeks. the fact that she was asking his opinion was partially amusing, if only because atausiq knows there is only one answer and it is the right answer. there is no real choice here.

okay. atausiq rasps, salmon pink tongue drawing across his jowls, tasting the tang of seasalt. a father. a father when he was to be just fresh into his yearhood himself. what do you expect from me, as your husband? he inquires, knowing that he has more questions than could be had in one conversation. still, atausiq tries to focus on the things he finds the most pressing.