[B] Too Young [Ominous & Roses in Bloom]

[Araucana]

Ominous was a young buck, still a bit gangly and growing into his full stature. He had, plainly as his name put it, an ominous feel to him, dark and foreboding. He was also naturally quiet and stoned faced, so it’d be easy to miss the panic and frantic angst simmering below the surface.

He was too young, way too young to be faced with fatherhood. Pernicious Heart and him had just been messing around, surely… surely she couldn’t really… he couldn’t really… how could he? He didn’t know how to be a father, scarcely even knew what one looked like. He’d met his own father maybe once or twice in his entire life.

Motherfather, how did it come to this?

Moonstone Dazzle

Thank you darling! <3

 

[So Long Gay Bowser]

"You seem stressed, little one. What troubles you?" As she was needed, Roses in Bloom appeared, smiling at the kio. Another young parent to be, it would seem, and the MotherFather had brought her here in his time of need. She laid down across from the buck, and gestured with a nod to the ground next to her for him to come and rest beside her.

"Please, what's on your mind? I'm here for you."

Araucana

 

[Araucana]

Ominous felt sure his natural response to the sudden appearance and subsequent invitation from the kind but unknown doe before him should have startled him. And yet... He soon found himself laying beside her and gathering his thoughts as if to confide in a close friend. Curious but- he'd ponder on that later, he scarcely had a spare thought for more than, gulp, children.

"I'm going to be a father." He started, brow furrowed. "But... I'm not sure I really want to be. I didn't plan for this and I'm certainly not prepared. I'd never leave Heart to fair on her own but we're not even really lovers, it was just some harmless fun. Or at least..." He heaved a sigh. "It was supposed to be."

Moonstone Dazzle

 

[So Long Gay Bowser]

"There are different ways to be a father, you know. You aren't obligated to be in the children's lives- the swamp will raise them as her own, whether you're in their lives or not. Life finds a way," she soothed, offering a feather light nuzzle to the buck.

"So long as you don't actively harm the young, I don't think there's any wrong way to be a father. My first clutch I doted and fawned over, and I don't know that it's the right way. The second, I let the swamp tend to them as she would, coming and going into their lives. Which one is right? I don't know. But they all turned out to be wonderful children."

She smiled, turning gently to look at the young buck.

"What is it with them you so fear?"

Araucana

 

[Araucana]

At the question Ominous startled a slight. What did he fear? It wasn't so much that he worried about being a "bad" father, his was barely present and Ominous hadn't felt terribly disadvantaged by it. Pausing to think on it further, a flash of a perished foal appeared before his eyes, striking an echo of deep seeded sorrow and regret within him.

"I suppose..." He began. "I don't want to be attached to a small, defenceless kin that I can't help but feel responsible for. That I can't help but be attached to. I wasn't ready to have bonds like that but now they're inviable."

Ominous looked away from the doe, feeling ashamed.

"I don't know how I'd go on if I couldn't provide for them, protect them... I'll never be carefree again. I'll always worry. I already feel it's weight."

Moonstone Dazzle

 

[So Long Gay Bowser]

"Attachments are funny, aren't they? We find ourselves drawn to our young, even if the MotherFather tends them. But you are not life debted to them- they are from you, but they are not
you. Do you understand?" Her question was not judgmental, but kind. Making sure the buck did not delve too deeply into his own mind, away from where words and comfort could reach him.

"Do not tie their destinies so closely to your own. I've found, in my own time, that the more expectations you put upon your children, the less you're ready for what they become. And if you want to be carefree, be carefree!" There was a twinkle of mirth in her eyes, and Roses in Bloom leaned in,
as though they were conspirators sharing a great secret.

"You know, I have eight children. And I still find myself with freedom and joy."

Araucana

 

[Araucana]

Ominous listens intently, he understands but is not entirely convinced, she makes it sound so simple... surely it can not be. Still, he considers, I may be too much in my own head. Nodding, he replies to the wise doe.

"You are likely right." He agrees. "Thank you for your words of advice. I'm not usually one to share personal concerns with strangers but I feel strangely at ease with you."

Ominous looked over the doe intently, as if the reason would reveal it's self is her stared long enough. She was certainly beautiful, but it wasn't romantic attraction that had brushed his defences away. She was motherly but Ominous scarcely confided even in his family.

"Pardon me, but I've just realised we never introduced ourselves. I am Ominous, though, perhaps that was obvious." It was the first joke he'd cracked since he'd heard the news and the first easy smile as well.

Moonstone Dazzle

 

[So Long Gay Bowser]

She laughed earnestly at the tender joke of his name, finding herself charmed by the buck.
Though it wasn't hard to charm her, anymore- traveling the swamp as she did anymore, she found joy in most of the MotherFather's kin. Each of them had new stories and new experiences to share, and she wondered about them all.

"I am Roses in Bloom. You may simply call me Rose, if it suits you. And I hope for your children, as well as yourself, peace and happiness. But more than that, may they know freedom and joy in all that they do." She offered him a gentle nuzzle and smiled.

"That is my blessing to you, Ominous."

Araucana