fennick;

[Fennick]

Fennick had long since outgrown enduring embarrassment. He had spent so long in mortification that something had snapped inside of him, and now the feeling held very little sway. Sheepishness, however, was another story. It was his near constant companion. The big stallion coughed once to clear his throat and grinned at her. His now flightless, but otherwise functional wings readjusted on his back.

“I would be a truly alarming chipmunk. Far to big to fit into a burrow.” Yes indeed, Fennick had enough things to worry about without trying to shove himself into a hole. The idea, however, caused his lips to twitch and finally he gave way to a grin.

The wide and goofy expression softened into something more pensive as she considered his question. Fennick considered it with her, wondering about the long and twisting path that brought them both here. He had been thinking about that a lot as of late. While he had very little doubt that Shiya’s story was more convoluted and strange than his own, Fennick did find his own position rather surreal. Fatherhood, kingship, he had never imagined either would be in the cards for him. She asked if he wanted her honest answer, and he merely nodded, unable to hide his curiosity and hoping it did not seem nosy. Her answer was simple, but at  the same time, spoke volumes. Yes, he could see how someone would be confused in her position. He smiled a little and answered her question.

“I do, though they are uneventful. I have a lot of half siblings, so there was always someone to play with. There are ups and downs to being a middle child with many siblings.” Fennick shrugged. Rea had been a good mother, but she had many other children, several of whom were significantly more remarkable than Fennick. He’d grown up in comfortable anonymity. After a moment he continued.

“I haven’t met my father. Apparently, he was a whale? I don’t really know what that means.” Fennick had heard that a lot. Both, that his father’s name was Whale and that the man was somehow a whale. This didn’t make a lot of sense to Fennick. He’d long ago let it go. If Fennick, himself, hadn’t turned out so strange he might have thought everyone was simply playing an elaborate joke on him. The big stallion shrugged it off. A little hesitantly, as he didn’t want to pry and couldn’t exactly be sure what was appropriate in his situation, Fennick asked.

“I can’t pretend to be the barer of sage wisdom, but I do make a pretty decent sounding board.” He paused, realizing that his offer of help, or at least of a sympathetic ear, sounded less than appealing. It was something he needed to work on. The valley king shrugged again.

“You know, if you want to talk about what’s confusing you.” There. Mission accomplished. He would almost certainly be of no help, but he had offered what little he could.