Sun Mote Copse Rosie the Roomba

Even if nothing was to come of Phox and Niamh, he knew that he did not want to be single forever. He yearned for companionship with somebody new, someday. It wasn't an intense longing, but it was there, nagging at the back of his mind. Now that he'd spoken about it aloud, it felt a bit louder than it had before. But before he acted on any of it, even potentially with Niamh, he wanted to introduce his two most important people to the idea of it without making it about anybody. An abstract notion so they couldn't have anybody to lash out at (except maybe him).

That was why, on this overcast afternoon, he approached @Figment and @Fennec near the rendezvous site. Hey, kiddos. You got a minute to chat? Since he and Figment had been back, things felt like they were more or less back to normal. One big, happy family. He didn't want this to interfere with any of that, but it was important, and his tone reflected as much.

Fig had been busily cutting his teeth on a broken antler he'd dug up from an abandoned cache near the borders when Phox approached. It didn't smell as though anyone had touched it in months, so he figured it was up for grabs enough that no one would mind he borrowing it for a bit. The season had made him feel restless and he found gnawing on things to be a relief for the tension and anxiety. One day, when he was older, it probably wouldn't be enough. This would be a great time to make a joke about bones and how gnawing on one wouldn't compare to do something with the other, but I dunno, I'm not really awake yet.

He paused to peer at Phox when he approached, noting there was something not quite right in his countenance. His ears straightened and he frowned, seeing past the casual cheeriness and knowing without really knowing that this wouldn't be a typical conversation. He didn't speak, but simply let his bright green eyes rest on his father's face as a sign that he was indeed available to chat.

your tags didn't work but i stalk u so here i am :D

Fennec was napping a short distance off when Phox came.  His voice woke her up and she stood up with a stretch and a yawn.

Yeah, she said, then waited for either Fig to confirm or him to start.  The second would have her assume her brother was paying attention.  She sat down just a short distance away, but her ears at full mast showed she was not distracted quite yet.

Y'all are the best! The drafts hate me. :sob:

Phox had been formulating this conversation for quite some time, so hopefully it would go over well. He had also spent some time and broached the topic with Sequoia while at the Frosthawks (seriously, what a good plot device) so he felt relatively prepared to bring it up. That didn't make him any less nervous about telling them, but he wanted to get out ahead of anything that might happen. Better to let them know now instead of hopping home one day with a "say hi to your new mom!"

The Redhawk took a deep breath trying to center himself. Do either of you remember your birth mother, Camilla? he asked. They had been so young when she had died, and Towhee had swept in as a replacement. He couldn't remember broaching the subject of Camilla often (ever?), so it seemed like the best place to start. He could always veer the conversation in another direction if he needed. Introducing them to this concept of "Dad's special friend" needed somewhere to come from.

Fig's eyes trailed over to Fenn as she sat down nearby. He wished she would've sat next to him, for some reason. Phox hadn't said a word yet and he still inexplicably felt like he needed back up. He huffed gently to release his anxiety and looked back at their father.

His brows knit into a frown at the question posed. Did he remember Camilla? Fig knew, of course, that Towhee wasn't actually his mother. He'd been so young when they'd lost their birth mother, though, and he'd never really felt her absence at all thanks to his aunt. Man, it's weird calling her his aunt. Maybe that was telling enough in itelf how he felt about his familial circumstances.

But that wasn't quite the question, was it? "Not really," he said after a moment of thought. There was something vague there. Not really a memory, but more of a feeling that he couldn't really describe, so he didn't try.

Phox spoke and Fennec's ears twitched as Fig answered, confirming that he was indeed here.  She shifted a little uncomfortably at the random question.

No.  We were what, a day old when she died? she answered casually and maybe a little insensitively.  What's going on?

Oh, well. At least they probably wouldn't feel like their birth mother was being replaced. They might feel like Towhee was being replaced, but like he'd told her after Camilla had died, she would always have a place in his life. If whoever he was interested in decided Towhee shouldn't be part of their life, he would drop them real fast. Somehow he couldn't imagine Niamh being anything but happy to have Towhee so close, and that was likely part of his attraction to her. He already had approval on both sides.

Right, right, he mumbled under his breath. Of course they'd been too young to remember. His voice turned more fatherly as he continued. But you know Elwood and Finley, right Fennec? And Figment, you know Rannoch and Liffey, not to mention Quixote and Raven. Those are all couples, and that's what Camilla was with me. Sometime in the future, I'll want to start courting somebody new. She won't be replacing Towhee as your mom or anything like that, but she will end up being a part of my life. He stopped there, giving them time to react or ask questions or throw a tantrum. Hopefully not the latter, but Phox braced himself for the worst.

Fig couldn’t help the frown that deepened across his face as Phox went on to explain what couples were. He wasn’t angry or offended by it, but he did have to wonder why on earth his father thought he didn’t understand what a mated pair was. He may not fully comprehend the whole mating part yet, but it appeared clear to him that for every Rannoch, there was a Liffey and for every Quixote, there was a Raven. Just like for every Phox, there was a Towhee. Only, there was a difference there, which he understood perfectly well because he had a Fennec.

He glanced at her, wondering what she thought of this odd little speech. For his own part, he simply didn’t get it. ”Okay...” he said slowly as he tried to lighten his expression to let Phox know he wasn’t unhappy. If his dad wanted to go find a Liffey, then why was that a big deal? Liffey was super nice.

She was having a hard time following.  Of course she knew Elwood and Finley.  Oh god, was this the talk?  She hadn't even wanted to have it with Sugar in the end, and the thought of discussing things like the season and kids with her brother and dad (oh god) made her want to bail.

He went on to explain what a couple was and Fennec did get a little frustrated.  Figment had a patience she lacked.  We know what couples are.  Why would we care if you found someone, it isn't like Towhee would leave right?  She cut to about the only negative in the situation she could find. As long as he and she stuck around, adding another person didn't matter.  If she liked them, great! If she didn't, she'd ignore them like she did anyone else she didn't like.  As long as dad was happy, she was cool with it, and she was a little confused why he was making such a big deal about it.

Sometimes he forgot that they were practically adults now. Of course they knew this stuff. He felt a bit silly laying it all out there, especially based on their reaction, but Phox was still glad he was being up front about everything before it became any sort of reality. Of course you know, he said, laughing at himself in the process. I just didn't want to spring the idea on you, that's all. Towhee's still your mom. She always will be. Phox relaxed a little, trying to shed the anxiety he'd been feeling up to this point.

One day, if I find the right someone, you might even get some little brothers and sisters. He considered asking them if they were alright with that, but he felt that was going too far. Phox knew that he wanted more children, and he knew he wouldn't stop himself just because one of his existing kids. He did wonder if they might feel replaced when that day came, but he'd just have to make an extra effort to spend time with them.

Fenn was kind enough to elaborate on the feelings Fig had kept to himself, and she brought up a point that he hadn't really considered. He looked sharply at Phox, but didn't really find his answer to her question to be all that surprising. As long as Phox finding himself a couple didn't alter his or Towhee's presence in their lives, then it was all good in Fig's estimation.

Not even the idea of brothers and sisters was all that bothersome to the almost-yearling. He had never considered what it would be like to have a sister other than Fenn, but when it was presented to him, he was more intrigued than anything else. And, after a moment's thought, he was a bit excited. Fig had been born to take care of others, but for so long, he'd been too small, too young, to really do so. He was older now, though he still often felt like he wasn't old enough. The idea of baby siblings made him feel like he was old enough, so he smiled.

"Really?" he asked, his tail wagging a little, "That'd be cool. Could we teach them stuff?" He thought of how Rannoch had been a mentor to him and decided in that moment, he wanted to be one too. His smile widened and he looked at Fenn to see how she felt about this.

As long as Towhee and all of them were staying, Fennec didn't really care what happened next.  New siblings sounded cool, but who knew when that would happen? Dad hadn't even found another mom yet, and she knew enough to know Towhee couldn't provide that for him.  Gross, not going to follow that line.

Yeah, cool. she agreed, sounding a bit less enthusiastic than Fig but not in a bad way.  More in a Fennec way.  She had a question she wanted to ask, and she almost did, but instead she bit her lip for a second.  No, he could answer Fig.

Figment seemed enthused by the idea, and Phox grinned at him. Having a younger set of siblings would be good for both of them, he thought. Fig was a natural guardian to Fennec, and he could only imagine that he would be the same to his younger siblings. As for Fennec, she might get a chance to teach them a thing or two. That would boost her confidence in herself, which was always, always a good thing.

I'd expect nothing less, he said, from both of you.

Fenton looked like she had a question on the tip of her (bitten) tongue, and Phox let the silence sink in so she could ask it, should she still want to. As a father, he'd always felt he'd done a pretty good job of things most of the time. This felt like one of those times. He was just really, really happy. I'm not sentimental, you're sentimental!

Fenn seemed to be alright with the possibility of siblings as well, though Fig noted she wasn't as excited as he was about it. At least, not outwardly. In another life, he would've asked her to spill once they were alone together. But being alone together was not a thing they really did anymore. If it did happen, they didn't really talk. Not like they used to, anyway.

They'd have to fix that sometime, Fig thought as his father said something. He looked back at Phox, seeing expectation on his face as he looked at Fenn. Fig too fell silent to allow her to speak, though truthfully, he felt a bit uncomfortable now that his damaged relationship with Fenn had returned to the forefront of his mind, so he wasn't inclined to speak further anyway.

Phox's answer to Fig didn't take nearly long enough by her estimation.  She dithered a little, but Fennec wasn't going to let the fact that a question was kind of awkward stop her from asking it if she wanted an answer.  

Was mom like me?  She didn't remember her mother at all, and the question might have seemed random. It had been on her mind lately, though, with kid talk and all.  If he had more kids, would they end up like her? If she had kids, ever, would they?  She didn't know how this worked, or what made her different from everyone else, but she'd been curious a while and it had finally (kind of) come up.

Fennec asked her question, and it took a moment for Phox to realize what she was really asking. Blind? No. She was... uh, I think she had some bad stuff happen to her before we met, but she could see just fine.. And after, he thought, feeling the sting of the scar on the side of his face. The relationship had been odd. Very odd. Phox wanted to do things right this time around. Or at least a little bit more right.

He wished now that he had some sort of explanation for why Fennec had lost her sight. It was all too easy to think that he might produce another child with the same fate, but would that be so bad? At least then they'd have somebody to look up to (PUN INTENDED). Fennec had to figure most of this stuff out on her own.

Neither of my parents were deaf or blind, either. Unless Elwood, Finley, and Raven have been lying to me all these years. The corners of Phox's lips turned up at that jest. He didn't actually think they were capable of keeping up such a farce for so long. That reminded him that he did want to track them down at some point and just catch up with them. It had been far too long since he'd done that.

The question Fenn asked was not what Fig expected, nor was the answer Phox gave. He'd thought his sister meant her personality. That was what Fig would've wondered, but he supposed it made sense that that was where his mind had gone. He didn't have any physical limitations. The only thing he had to contend with were the flaws he saw in his character, which were many in his humble, teenage opinion.

He said nothing, having nothing to add. He just listened.

Oh.  So she was still in the dark (in every sense of the word) when it came to that.  A part of her was disappointed, but a part of her was relieved.  She didn't need any reason to regret missing out on someone she had never met, someone who meant nothing to her now.

Okay.  That was about it on her end.  She waited, though, expectantly.  Was there anything else dad wanted to talk about, or was that it?

With Fennec's question answered and no followup from either of his children, Phox stepped forward to wrap them both in a big, wolfy dad hug. Too bad if they didn't like it; they were getting one! He was so happy to have two perfect, beautiful children. Anybody who said otherwise could go straight to heck! Phox felt like his chest might burst open right then, wrapping himself around his two (not so) little munchkins.

Fenn seemed appeased with what she'd been told, though Fig suspected she was less satisfied than she appeared. He searched his mind for something to add, but found nothing. He knew very little about their relatives as far as physical ailments went. Actually, as far as anything went. Just the general stuff was as much as he could recall, and he'd never really been curious to know more. He pondered that now, but the curiosity was gone just as soon as he felt himself scooped into his father's embrace. He was too old for things like cuddles from his parents, of course. But still, he was still, and even smiled a little as he nosed at Phox's fur, tail wagging gently in spite of himself.

Fennec had gotten used to these hugs, but she still tended to jump every time.  She let herself be pulled in and nestled close.  Dad was one of her favorite wolves, and any hug from him was one she was going to enjoy.

She wasn't entirely satisfied; Fig wasn't wrong.  But her questions would have to wait for someone else to answer them.  Maybe she'd never get one.