Northstar Vale i haven't smiled since yesterday

Backdated to March 22nd-ish. Open to anyone who is allowed to visit!

Afternoon was creeping toward evening when Sylianos woke from yet another nap, but this time was different. With a sensation not unlike half-dried glue being stretched between the fingers, the boy's eyelids pulled apart and revealed a pair of deep blue eyes.

From his point of view, this wasn't very exciting. His vision was still muddled and blurry, so even the introduction of light and shadow hardly registered as more than a blip on his existence. Whether he noticed was irrelevant, though, for Sylianos was already exploring his new sense, bobbling his head around and turning it unconsciously toward the sunlight filtering into the den.

tamar watched him.

her children coming first to sight was an experience she loved in all its forms. her muzzle was tucked warmly over her forepaws, her eyes bright upon sylianos.

eventually she crooned toward him, wondering if his head would waver toward her next.

Light and shadow were about the only things the boy could make out, but even those were cast in vague shapes that drew his interest. The halo of sunshine at the entrance of the den was mostly hazy at the edges, but just there, a little to his right, the difference between light and dark was sudden.

This was where Tamar's silhouette interrupted the rays from outside.

Sylianos could not make the details out, but from Tamar's perspective, his little denim blue eyes, squinted over a scrunched nose, had risen to meet the soft brown ones that would one day be his as well.

a horrid thought came to her.

which one of you will leave me next?

and she shoved it aside, harshly, but its reverberations remained with her. she stared down at sylianos, and found her smile as they fixed to one another.

"hello, my sweet."

Tamar's thoughts were crueler still than she realized, for if their bond remained so strong into adolescence and adulthood, then where one twin went, the other would was sure to follow. Even now with Tamar peering down at him and Sylianos engaging his newfound sense, he reached out a paw without realizing until it rested on his brother's flank.

Where he had achieved sight, he had yet to achieve much more than the muffled cotton swab rumble of sounds at the edge of his hearing. It was just noticeable enough that he blinked once in Tamar's direction before cracking a wide yawn, but not enough to coax a cognizant response from the boy. That would come soon enough.

just a lil' one-post cameo because i'm trying to crash all of silly's threads.

Saleem, asleep, roused briefly when the connection between himself and his brother was broken. Placated once the connection was reestablished, the boy grunted and went back to a dream.

she watched them.

her eyes saw how sylianos reached for saleem.

the latter slept. the former showed a movement of his eyes to his mother.

she smiled. perhaps soon he would see it.

tamar crooned to them both.

The tail end of Sylianos' yawn exploded into a double sneeze. His eyelids fluttered as the sensation of the sneeze became a prickling in his eyes, making Sylianos abruptly aware of the difference in light level between open eyes and closed eyes. Unable to unlearn this knowledge, the boy squinted and blinked rapidly, squeezing his eyelids so tight with each one that his entire face screwed up with the effort.

her face was radiant.

she encircled him to blot out the brightness of the day.

the sun. the sneeze. it reminded her greatly of the first time, her twins and antigone gathered close.

tamar sighed against his nape.

Shadow fell over Sylianos, taking the discomfort of the bright light with it. The boy yawned once more, without sneezing this time, and stretched all his tiny limbs until they popped satisfyingly, and with that he was out, utterly pooped after this newest experience.