Duskfire Glacier Ommatik

There was something rather exciting tucked in there with all the heaviness, though Meerkat could barely begin to process what Issorartuyok was saying to her. Who was the "moon woman," again? Whoever she was, Meerkat wasn't so sure about that advice. It kind of went against everything she stood for as a coach and therapist, as a matter of fact.

She didn't realize how much tension had gathered inside her until he went on to say, "I do not know that I could do such a thing." She felt a little shivery with relief. It was not a viable solution in her mind, though would she have had the gumption to stand against him if he hadn't shared her stance?

It didn't bear thinking about and, anyway, the next words out of his mouth wiped her brain blank. He talked of leaving, which made her stomach sink horribly. Meerkat made a strangled noise in her throat, a sort of unwitting protest. Then he said something that struck her absolutely dumb.

Her eyes began to water as the weight of everything settled on her pale shoulders. Her breath felt harsh and Meerkat found she needed to take a seat before her trembling legs went out. Her mind scrambled to make sense of it as she felt a bit like Issorartuyok was upending the life she'd so carefully built here.

"That was not lighter," she huffed with an edge of hysterical laughter in her voice. But Meerkat took some breaths, trying to ground herself, as her gaze captured his. "I'm not going to give you an answer without really giving this some thought. That would be disingenuous to us both."

She tried to focus on the good news amidst the upheaval: he was talking about having children with her! Only the more she thought about it, the less it actually felt good. She felt like they were skipping a pretty important step here, several of them. What about courting? And becoming mates? Meerkat wanted a bit of romance and a lot of commitment if they were really going to talk about her carrying his children... and abandoning her responsibilities to her charges here.

Despite what she'd just declared, she found herself saying, "There is another question I would need you to ask before I could give you an answer." Even as the words slipped free, Meerkat wasn't sure they were the right ones to say. Was she even expressing herself correctly? Did Issorartuyok understand what she was trying to say? Did she know what the hell she even meant by that?