[PRP] A Time for Family [Westward Bound/Shameless]

[thyPOPE]

You know, it was funny. It was his mother's intervention, really, that had lead him to meet Oathkeeper in the first place. And that had encouraged him to engaged in, ah, relations with her. He hadn't expected to find her so captivating, so clever (the way she put words together: he could listen for years and not be bored.), and so hurt. He hadn't expected to love That First Doe.

And he hadn't expected Longclaw, either. Actually, it was a little funny - two of the most important kimeti in his life now were white and orange like the sun. But now he was glad for Westfen and he was glad for Oathkeeper, too, and he was very glad for the children who still stayed near.

And he had fairly exciting news, at that. He didn't know why he was approaching his children separately about this matter - well, he'd let it slip to sweet Beck, if only because she was always there to listen. And Shameless was just, well, easier to track down. Flame of the West could be so dedicated. As it was he lurked just near the place Shameless generally called shelter at the end of each day, and held a pretty turtleshell in his mouth. What? Couldn't he bring his daughter a gift?

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

And y'know, what was even funnier was the circumstances that had plagued Shameless as well.

Divine intervention or not, but there had been many forces leading to many a flings in the doe's life, and while none of them usually ended with repercussions... well, that didn't mean it couldn't happen. It was a perplexing experience for her—someone so agile and keen a hunter—being dragged down by... well... expected progeny. Suffice to say her clan duties had gotten a little more wearisome to keep up with, though no one had really taken any notice. Or maybe they had. It didn't matter really.

It had been a miserable experience, but at least that part had been over and done with and recovery was near the tail end of it's swing. At least her children (or at least the two she saw occasionally sticking around) had grown up looking nice (and given their father well wow no real regrets there). That was about all she could ask for in the end. Though she had left them to basically fend for themselves, she wondered if any would seek futures within Westfen.

Ah, but there was a time and a place to think about that later. Her keen hearing picked up his hoofsteps far before he made it to where she was resting, but it wasn't until he neared her that Shameless really gave him any attention.

"Father," her voice was soft, a smile playing at her lips. It wasn't every day that she saw him, and even rarer was the bearing of a gift. Oh yes, her eyes were definitely locked on that shell there. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

thyPOPE

 

[thyPOPE]

"I missed you," said Westward Bound, after settling the shell on a log. It was definitely intact, sans actual turtle, and he'd sealed one end so that it'd be functional (although it was perhaps uglier than a turtleshell on its own would have been): it'd hold a good store of food, or pelt, or whatever she wanted to keep within it. Not firewater, he hoped, or at least not all the time.

He was actually more unaware than not of what his daughter got up to with various bucks: say what you would about his skill as a builder (he was Westfen's head) but Westward Bound was far from socially adroit. He spent a lot of socialization time with his head stuck in a hole or something. Probably daydreaming about his lady, which most of Westfen had heard at least a bit about.

"And Oathkeeper's pregnant," he added, tilting his head. There were a few seconds before he clarified. "Your mother." He didn't talk of her by name a lot: he kept that, at least, to himself.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

Missed her. Ah yes. Duly noted. Shameless couldn't say she missed very many individuals—nothing outside of that romantic, long gone but not forgotten grandeur of some kin—but she did, to an extent, have to admit that she appreciated her familial ties. While she wasn't necessarily close with he siblings, her father at least made effort, and she was more than proud being his daughter.

Her mother, however, was a topic spoken a little less about— or at least in situations like... this. Ah. Somewhere along the line she had wandered over, nosing over the shell with a peculiar intent, before lifting her head to look her father in the eyes. She had never really considered the prospect to be honest; more siblings? But then again, she hadn't considered the prospect of bearing children either.

"My mother." she repeated, voice monotone as she parsed through it in her mind. "That means..."

She already knew what that meant of course, but her words were for once slower to come out than her thoughts. At that, she stifled a chuckle— a quiet little noise that rose to a laugh towards the end. The serendipity of it all was astounding.

"Well isn't that just something?" she rolled the shell over with her hoof, holding onto her own secret for a little while longer, though she was obviously amused by the grin that danced on her face.

thyPOPE

 

[thyPOPE]

It was a little frightening to hear that tone in his daughter. He didn't speak to Shameless at length often - mostly a case of their duties generally running parallel to each other (she had her hunts and her nighttime dalliances, and he had a lot of building and strange projects). But he wasn't sure what the monotony meant. "We're probably - ah, taking the sacs in, at Westfen," he said, not unkindly. Again.

Oathkeeper was fairly traditionalist, as far as kimeti went. She hadn't had too much of a hand in raising their first clutch, and Westward Bound had kept them in the clan mostly out of sentimentality, and because - because it was nice, to have young members running about and learning their ways. Getting to know his children had been enlightening. It'd be nice for everyone to have - a similar chance, perhaps? Children raised in the clan tended to be loyal.

"But - but it is certainly something," Westward Bound agreed. This time it was impossible not to hear the smile in his voice. "Thinking of those sacs to come makes me remember anticipating, well, you." Not her, necessarily, but...the idea of her. What he'd thought those first sacs had represented. He remembered seeking out that foreboding black and white legendary who sank into the shadows; he remembered watching the children anxiously. Would they grow strong?

"That's for you," he confided with a nod toward the turtle shell, although it was fairly obvious.

melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

She was nodding along with his words, toeing at the shell still. Hearing his words made her think— obviously she had inherited that traditionalism from her mother, but it made her wonder too if she should have taken her own offspring to be raised within the clan. It was obviously too late now for regrets, but if she did tell her father... would he want to meet them? Hell, Shameless herself didn't really know much about them.

Her gaze fell to the shell again, restless hoof finally done playing with the object when she realized it was in fact a gift as she had assumed. That... that was nice, actually. Even Shameless could feel touched and sentimental at times. His words and regard of her felt no different.

"I... Thank you." she was looking at him once more, perhaps a little more serious than usual. It was a rare sight to be sure, but any prior indications of teasing had since melted away. Perhaps this was a thing meant being upfront about.

"I wonder how that feels..." she remarked calmly, now turning her eyes to the sky. Pregnancy was honestly an experience she couldn't wait to be over and done with. There had been no joy, no overwhelming excitement— not towards the sacs, anyway. "You know, father, our little family is perhaps even bigger than I've led on."

thyPOPE

and no one is surprised rly