Ankyra Sound imma toss my hat in, floss when the track spin

he got the sense svalinn had momentarily drifted away. where did you go?

phaska and stelmaria. val thought these much nobler names than his own. he tried to smile reassuringly, though like svalinn there was a distance to the gesture he could not hide. both characteristics svalinn shared of his daughters made val think of what he'd known of svalinn's sister. perhaps family traits ran deeper than he knew.

val started as the conversation turned back to him. he'd been much more comfortable navigating the topic away from himself, towards svalinn and his children. no mate, no children. val said ruefully, rounding his shoulders with a shrug. i have a lot of siblings, if you count erzulie and rosalyn's children as my siblings. i was raised by them. he realized there was so much svalinn didn't know, but he was so tired and it felt like any time he thought of this topic it was as if he was peeling back layers of his own protective shell. it hurt.

i didn't know she was my mother until after she was dead. i guess she was ashamed, and too young to care for two children. val's expression wrenched into something dark. i have one true sibling, but the sea claimed her years ago. i don't know who my father is, or if he is alive. but sapphique has always been a home to me, and rosalyn and erzulie have always been my mothers.

he trailed off, eyes downcast. you know, they used to tell me night time stories about a witch that haunted the sound that would gobble up any bad or misbehaving children. the grin returned, if lightly. is it true..? was your mother like that? his eyes set upon svalinn with the unspoken: was my grandmother like that?