When she turns to the two small forms behind her, Cassian readily accepts her implied permission, stepping forward to greet the pair. There is a foolish grin on his lips, matching the soft gleam in his dark eyes. The filly is still eyeing her brother moodily, but she would not be left behind in greeting him. Cassian cannot seem to find words through the thickness in his throat, but he brushes his mouth along the tufts of their dark manes and presses kisses to the curve of their foreheads.
He had never really considered what being a father meant before. It had been hard to, with no father figure of his own to look up to. But he had always found children delightfully amusing. Now though, this is different. Very different than he would ever have imagined. And infinitely more wonderful.
When Beryl settles her chin across his spine, Cassian lifts his head, twisting his neck so he can peer at her. From this angle he cannot see much above her neck, but he grins at her regardless. When her words whisper across his skin however, he is a bit taken aback.
For a moment, he simply stares, an unconscious frown beginning to replace the grin. Then, shivering the skin along his back by way of warning, he shifts, pivoting his haunches around until he is standing beside the twin rather than facing them. The better to stare at her. The pair beside him, so unconsciously mirroring one another, glance between them. Had she been able to see it, it would have been striking just how much they in turn mirrored their father in their matching shades of black.
“I want to,” he replies firmly then, perfectly serious for what may be the first time in his entire life. After having met them, he couldn’t imagine not being there for them. Couldn’t imagine not watching them grow, watching them play and frolic. Watching them become adults in their own right one day.
And then it occurs to him that perhaps this isn’t about what he wants. He tilts his head, suddenly uncertain. “Unless… you don’t… want…” He can’t quite seem to finish the sentence, but it’s meaning is undeniably clear.
@[Beryl]