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    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    I am a mermaid that you dreamt // Aodhán
    #1
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    She slipped her eyes over the still surface of her nursery pool. Eyes that focused on the leathery sack submerged within just as much as they focused inward. Her little minnow, kicking and twisting in his growing sleep, getting bigger with every day that passed. 

    The sea mare kept close to him with growing anxiety, waiting and watching and not knowing how she would handle a new babe. Not when she felt such failure hanging onto her. She loved this child already. How could she not? Each of her children proved wonderful in their own ways, clever and strong and unique. This one would be no less dear. No less loved. 

    Not for all that her partner in its making seemed interested only in the making. 

    A snort burst from her, her eyes rolling skyward. Perhaps that wasn't entirely fair. Pteron seemed interested enough in his children. Involved to a point. Deep down perhaps, it was she that wished he'd be less involved. It would be easier to hate him if he were. 

    If he was less interested in Halcyon's endeavors. If he didn't ask after Cormorant, didn't invite Marianas to play with his own children. She might not have given in that evening. She might not stand vigil over this lonely shell. She might not feel the outsider in her own family, when all was said and done. 

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -

    @[Aodhan]
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    #2
    Aodhán

    Of all of his... escapades, this one has to be the most unique. Of all his adventures, this one was the most fruitful, in a way. Of all his jests, well... he supposes he had it coming. Not that he had minded, but he had some trouble wrapping his head around the why of this...

    Egg.

    He’d laid a golden, scaled egg, marked all over with some sort of pattern that closely resembled the night sky. That same night sky that had seemingly come down to him, then somewhat taken shape, of a horse. Well, Aodhan had been intrigued to say the least, so one thing led to another. Of course, the shapeshifter had desired to also (though not exclusively) try a female shape and maybe the magician had made use of that. Or maybe this was accidental for he both of them.

    Regardless, he could not take care of an egg alone - he could not keep it warm day and night. This was why he had found his way to Aquaria, and requested a warm place to rest his egg. She happened to have such a place, and now, the solid egg rested in the same pool as the see-through one. Hers showed development. His... he couldn’t be certain yet. But he had hope - hope for something wonderful.

    Today as he made his way over to the pool (always a bit shy, knowing he was intruding on the birth-pool of her children, knowing Ivar had once taken her children from here), he walks slowly, anticipating her mood perhaps. It’s not hard to see she’s very protective over her latest egg. ”Morning, Aquaria.” he greets her way ahead, the spotted male meandering towards the water to check on the eggs. Still whole, at least. That was something.

    How long would it take, he wonders?

    from the ashes a fire shall be woken


    @[Aquaria] Have a... bunch of words
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    #3
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -

    She lifted her head, bemused smile on her face. The spotted stallion who neared was a welcome sight, far removed from the turbulence of her own feelings. He had his own mischief to sort out. 

    The evidence of which lay nestled in the sand of her pool, shining where the dappled sunlight fell on it's curved surface. "Hello, Aodhán," she returned the greeting, smiling vaguely before returning her attention to the pool. The surface rippled faintly as the embryo of her foal danced in it's casing, dreaming of life, she liked to think. Good dreams, she hoped. 

    It was harder to tell what the more traditional egg her friend had produced one afternoon was doing. There was no translucency to guess at, no swelling as the days went on. Nothing to reassure it's parent that all was well within. It seemed nerve wracking to the seamare, who realized she'd become spoiled by her own reproductive habits. 

    With a tight-muscled groan, she rose to her feet. Much as she wished she could, she couldn't spend the live long day watching still waters. And if Aodhán would be here a while, well. She could go on with her day, and worry just a bit less. 

    "It's a beautiful thing you've made," she commented, eyes kind. This stallion was one she'd never been able to predict. In all ways, he was changeable. Maybe that was why she couldn't find surprise when he'd approached her about sheltering an egg. His egg. It was hardly the strangest idea he'd ever had. 

    "Do you know what you'll call it, yet?" She asked. It was a question she herself had been pondering about her own little minnow, what to call the child once it emerged into the air. Whatever she settled on, she was sure her child would grow into the name, just as its siblings had.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -

    @[Aodhan]
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    #4
    Aodhán

    He’s fortunate, he muses, to have chosen such a large shape when he felt the need to lay the egg. Large enough to contain a small foal, or perhaps something else. Something smaller? Something different. Honestly, with his own ever-changing nature, the white and spotted stallion cannot be sure about what his child - a child of his own, because Carnage really isn’t going to be involved - will turn out to be. The ones with Eva had always been aquatic in nature, and perhaps this one is as well; or it could be something else completely.

    Aquaria seems okay with their weird sense of co-parenting, and his arrival for the day’s watch indicates that she may have time for herself - either she makes her rounds, or perhaps she can catch up with some sleep. She comments about the egg in the hot sand, and he smiles warmly, like mothers might when their child is complemented - and androgynous fathers too. ”The gold’s all mine, but the rest remains a surprise,” he answers, his eyes shining in the morning light as he transfers his gaze to the creature-to-be. ”What about yours? Any guesses about what they’ll look like?” he queries, curious as ever to know the answer.

    A name, though. He muses a little. ”Pending their gender, I guess. Something of nature, something wild and beautiful.” he thinks. Carnage had been just that, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a rose with thorns, a lure with a sharper edge. Aodhán couldn’t possible mind any if that, but chances are the child would be just the same, and the name should fit that.

    He looks to the nereid with a curious glance to his eyes. ”Have you?”

    from the ashes a fire shall be woken


    @[Aquaria]
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    #5
    aquaria
    - THE TIDE IS HIGH, IT'S SINK OR SWIM -


    Her smile was small, but warm. Aodhán had never been an especially close friend, not a confident in the way Lilli sometimes was. This strange flavor of nest sharing was closer than they'd ever been, despite years of living in the same isles. 

    With a switch of her translucent tail, Aquaria nodded her acceptance of his answer. She hadn't pried when he'd brought her the brilliant egg. Hadn't asked who the other parent was, or the circumstances that surrounded it's creation. That was Aodhán's business, and no one else's. Still. She was a curious creature. In her own time, while watching the pair of eggs in their watery nursery, she did wonder what kind of horse would lend such mesmerizing patterns to their offspring. 

    She shrugged at his question, a wry twist replacing her smile. "Only so many options." She admitted without much inflection. "Feathers or scales or both. I hope not both." A dark chuckle followed the statement. Poor little fish, if they had to keep their wings dry. Kaimana had had the worst time with that... A soft moan of grief escaped her. Her only daughter, lost to the sea, or a worse fate. Lost, all the same. And here she was, doing it again. Opening herself up to the pain again, when the first wounds were only just beginning to scab over. Repeating history, as if that had every brought anyone happiness. 

    "I'll have to meet them first, I suppose." She answered, subdued. "That's how it's gone with the others." Her eyes shut a moment, the weight in her chest tucked away again. Pushing it to the side was the only way things got done around here. Goodness knew there was always something to do.

    - MY ONLY RIVAL IS WITHIN -


    @[Aodhan]
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    #6
    Aodhán

    There is little they have shared over the past years - perhaps due to his own seclusive-ness, he thinks - his close relation with the former Dame had also meant, in some way or another, that he felt like an outsider when it came to Eva's relationship with Aquaria, and vice versa was perhaps also the case. But with time passing, Aeolus grew and so did Eva's other children - he feels like he missed an opportunity getting to know Aquaria sometimes.

    Nevertheless, he understands the silent strange-but-okay-ness between them now, and won't think any lesser of her for it. Her rueful smile makes him wonder about the father of her egg - of her other children too, perhaps - but he doesn't want to pry either. "Both could be... troublesome for them." Or, at least... - he tilts his head, thinking. "Or perhaps not as bad as we imagine. There's weird twists in magic in this world, for sure."

    Aquaria seems lost for a while, and the spotted stallion leaves the pale nereid be. On the topic of names he nods, waiting for her to recompose herself a moment longer than she needs. Looking out over the eggs, he then gives her a small smile. "I shouldn't keep you from your rounds - and your rest, I presume?" he asks - knowing she sleeps too little, or at least in his own opinion. But then, he only has one small island to keep an eye on, and not all of Ischia.

    from the ashes a fire shall be woken


    @[Aquaria] some late sort of ending thing I guess
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