Dragoncrest Cliffs i sense a need in her grammar

today val brought @Roux, @Jadou, and cheri down to glintwater for some fishing lessons. it would be a grander adventure to trawl the tidepools, but val knew his limits and refused to touch the sea.

@Astera gave each of them a head start before falling back to walk alongside val. for a time he laughed and marveled at how sapphique’s next generation grew - each new batch stronger and in his estimation, far happier than the last.

they had come such a long way since rusalka. he set each kid to the task of standing still at the banks, or luring the fish close with a grub as @Pepper had shown him. as expected, children made for terrible fishers. but they were laughing, and safe as they splashed one another and crowed over who saw the biggest fish.

a strange wave of sadness took over val as he stepped back and watched the group, feeling strangely removed as if he were standing on the outside peering in.

the sound of splashing and laughter drew him, naturally, to glintwater, where val stood observing a group of youngsters doing their best at fishing. trying not to roll his eyes—he would have caught something already, surely!—he instead settled himself by the dark man's side.

the two of them were nearly the same size at this point, and it was only a short distance his eyes needed to travel upward to meet val's. and when they did so, they found. . .something troubling in those green depths. something distant.

papa val, lafayette asked, cocking his head, what's wrong?

the aventurine was usually in good spirits, light-hearted, but this day was different.

his sweet, intuitive lafayette. val reached out to brush at the velvet fur behind his son’s ears, a smile fading from his dark face.

nothing is wrong, lafayette. val encouraged, ignoring the stab of guilt to be dishonest. i was just revisiting a memory and thinking how much has changed. how many faces have changed. was it wrong to be nostalgic to a child? what measure of depth would they have when their perception of time was as thin as a shell’s edge?

a flutter of laughter rose from the banks. cheri and astera lead a marauding charge of splashes against their siblings. your grandmaman liked this spot. val turned to look at the coruscating lake, where small ripples made their play in the shadows. i think she would have liked you and lucette very much.

things had changed. faces had changed. lafayette stared at val, understanding the concept—but unable to grasp the reality of it. he was too young for that.

you t'ink? he asked, grinning. from all he had known of his grandmother, he tried to picture her upon this lakeshore. what was she like, papa val?

lafayette sat down upon his haunches and set his head against val's shoulder with a soft thunk, a gentle smile lingering upon his muzzle.