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 Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:39 am
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Pearl nodded again with a smile. "Yeah, okay. Let's go now." She arose from her seat and moved toward the door.
Kelebek seemed to forget these days, as she visited Hjortur more and more often, how nervous being in the palace made her. Her mind was usually...somewhat preoccupied as she traveled. Today, however, she couldn't shake the anxious feeling. What if Hjortur wasn't pleased? (But how could he not be pleased?) What would they do? Thoughts swirled in her mind like her hair around her form. Of course, she couldn't let Pearl and Autumn see her unsettled. She was there to be strong for them...and maybe also to put Hjortur in a good mood. (He'd be in a good mood to see her, right?)
Pearl noticed Mama beginning to go a little transparent at the edges, and couldn't help but smile. The palace made her all nervy. Pearl didn't understand why, exactly; the palace was so beautiful, and there was always so much to see and do here! Tons of interesting Naiad to talk to! And besides, Autumn lived here. How bad could it be? But she didn't mention it to Mama, and didn't think too harshly of her. Everyone was afraid of something.
When they reached Autumn's door, she went to knock, but then hesitated. Should she knock? Autumn lived here, after all, he could just walk in. She glanced toward him and gave a little shrug before opening the door, but nodded for him to go first.
Kelebek followed the two into Hjortur's home. She could hear him speaking with someone else, but not a voice she recognized immediately. "Hjortur?" she called as they moved toward the main space, "Are you busy?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2017 12:16 pm
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Hjortur visibly flinched - Pippin would have felt it from his hand on her shoulder - as she reiterated, his hand softly releasing as he backed of a bit. "...Really, really?" He hesitated, looking between her stomach and her, now confident, face. Surely his own must have looked silly in comparison, but what could they have expected? He'd never actually dealt with even a psuedo-pregnancy before, and especially not one involving his precious eldest daughter!
He hesitated for another moment before, looking away, he placed his hand on her stomach.
It felt warm.
Autumn had exchanged numerous silent glances with Pearl as they swam to his home, both filled with nervousness and excitedness. And anticipation. They'd worried over nothing with her mom, so certainly his dad would be just as happy, right?
Oh ocean currents did he hope so.
When they arrived, he hardly had the time to offer her a look before she opened the door. Nodding and offering a thumbs up and taking her hand, he swam in, yelling "DAAAAAAAAD"
The 'dad' in question looked over towards the house after recognizing the sound of Autumn's voice, his hand still on his daughter's stomach. "What? I'm the the other rooo-AAAAIIIIHHH" he'd started to call back when he felt a kick and his voice turned to a shrill shriek of surprise.
Was in the name of all that is holy was that?
Was that actually?!
Autumn did not even flinch as he barged in, pulling Pearl behind him.
"DAD I'M PREGNANT."
...
"ACTUALLY PEARL IS PREGNANT. I JUST HELPED.."
He pulled her next to him and held a serious face as he finally began to register the scene before him. What was his dad doing with his older sister?!
...What?!
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Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:30 pm
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Pippin nervously waited for the kick that would show her dad that she was, in fact, pregnant. She was certain that Hjortur hadn't signed up for this when he had rescued her from the 'wilds' of the lake.
Soon, Pippin heard voices and her head shot up. Oh, she supposed the whole family was going to find out now. As scary as the idea of her whole family knowing she was having babies was, perhaps the others being here would take some of the heat off of her.
She blinked in shock as Autumn made his way into the room, pulling Pearl behind him who looked... about as pregnant as Pippin was. She noticed that before the words that her brother had spoke registered with her mind.
Oh... that would definitely take some of the head off her. Dad would be much more mad at Autumn for getting a girl pregnant then he would be at his precious first child for getting pregnant, right. "Nice going, Autumn!" Pippin said with a smile before sheepishly looking down, waiting for the mouthful she was certain she was about to hear.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:50 am
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Oh dear. Ohhhhh dear. That hadn't been the way she'd forseen this happening at all. And there was also Pippin, looking the same sort of round that Pearl did, and looking like she'd also just broken some news to Hjortur.
And suddenly everything was too loud, there were too many people, and the space was too small. What had been Kelebek going a little fuzzy around the edges turned into full-blown transparency as she moved to a corner of the room and turned the same color as the water. Which is to say, practically invisible unless you looked really hard at her.
She wanted to be more help than this, but her head was swimming.
"Woah!" exclaimed Pearl as Autumn dragged her behind him, shouting at Hjortur. That was...one way to do it, she supposed. But way to break it to him gently! This was sure to provoke a reaction, so Pearl dug in her fins and stood as straight as she could.
Off to the side, she gave a little wave to Pippin. She didn't know her all that well, but now that they were practically family...
Pearl was much too absorbed in her own situation to notice Pippin's obvious pregnancy--for all she knew, Pippin usually looked like this.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:29 am
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Breaking a smile at Pippin, he gave her a proud thumbs up. He was being complimented, right? Cool! "THANKS!" It was a short quip, but energetic and somewhat out of place given the new atmosphere of chaos. Blinking, he paused to take in the situation a bit more before opening his mouth to once more verbalize something quite obvious.
"HEY PIPPIN! ARE YOU...!?"
His voice caught as he caught sight of his father's s uncharacteristically serious demeanor. Was it serious? Perhaps upset? Overwhelmed? Regardless, his eyes had a certain edge to them that Autumn only saw when he'd done something particularly troublesome, so he shut himself up then and there and readied himself. He did casually glance over at Pearl a couple of times for her reaction.
". . ."
It would have been an understatement to describe Hjortur, in this very moment, as confused. Everything was happening all at once and he didn't have time to process it properly, not to mention it just kept escalating!
What a headache...
He placed his hands to massage his temple as he swam a few paces away from the madness. Closing his eyes, he breathed in slowly, then out, to calm his senses. It would only end up more chaotic if he didn't somehow force out some order here. It was times like this, times that called for a little forced order and discipline, he was (a little) thankful to have done that guard training in his youth. Not that he'd ever express gratitude to his father for that one.
Now calmed, he turned around and looked over at Autumn and Pearl, an almost cold smile on his face. "Autumn. Pearl." he raised a hand to point at the pair as he addressed them, then directed it next to Pippin. "Sit."
Oh no... He was right. That was the 'Autumn is in big trouble' smile. And tone. Smile fading, the sprite meekly nodded and did as he was told, hand still in Pearl's.
Once the pair was sitting, Hjortur swam over to the door that'd been left over and quietly closed it. Thankfully, it didn't appear any of the other residents had noticed the commotion, or at least were caught up in their curiosities to make it obvious. That was at least one problem avoided for now.
Swimming back, he glanced around the room. His expression had nearly returned back to its usual state, if tinted with exhaustion. What an afternoon this was turning out to be; this wasn't what he'd signed up for when he'd found these tadpoles! Must have been in the fine print.
Still, he was fairly certain he'd heard Kel before that boy of his charged right in; where in the sea could she be? Sighing, he openly shrugged and gave a small smile as he admitted defeat. He wasn't going to be able to find her like this no matter how he tried. "Kel, if you are in here, could you come lend me a hand?" He didn't speak particularly loudly, but it should have been enough for anyone in the present room to hear.
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Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 1:50 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 11:35 am
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Pearl had never known any parenting except for Portia's distant vagueness and Mama's warmth and comfort. This coldness from Hjortur? Pearl wasn't a fan. She sat next to Autumn, but crossed her arms over her chest. What was he going to do? Send her to time-out? They're all adults, here.
Gods and little fishes he remembered I'm here.
"Um, I'm here," came a soft voice from the corner. The unfortunate bit about her power was that it triggered in an instant, but took time to fade. Kelebek came over to Hjortur and softly touched his arm. She hoped to be a calming presence, even though she was pretty much invisible at the moment. She'd start reappearing soon, though, now that the chaos had died down.
However, the calm seemed like it was...misleading. Hjortur was unlike she'd ever seen him. Where was her laughing, singing fish?
"They are happy and excited to share this news with you," she offered. At least, they had been.
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Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:19 pm
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Hjortur jumped a bit as he heard Kel's voice, his head turning in the direction he assumed it to be coming from. Relief seemed to visibly wash over him as he exhaled. "Oh sweet fishes you were here; thank goodness! I was just grasping at a kelp leaf. How great it is to see you again." He kept his voice low and laughed lightly, his mouth cocking up as he looked around. "Not that I can... you know... actually see you..." When he felt her hand on his arm, he offered her an awkward smile and laugh.
". . ."
He clapped his hands together, bringing them in front of his face.
"Sorry! I know. I blanked and this was the first thing I could think of to calm everyfish down before it escalated out of control."
Bringing them down, he offered another awkward, but sincere smile.
". . ."
Which changed into one with a mischievous glint.
"Would you like to help me lighten everything back up? I have an idea... We shall make a joke out of this all."
With his dad in the other room, Autumn was quick to relax and look to either side of him. This was just how these things went, and it's not like it ever got past this; at least he had company this time.
Huh, Pippin was as plump as Pearl. Which obviously meant...
"Hey, Pippin..." he asked, voice soft, but still distinctly above a whisper. "...Are you pregnant too?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:21 am
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"I'll be back in view in a moment," mumbled Kelebek, following him into the other room. This wasn't her favorite part of her power--fading back into view slowly, awkwardly.
But at least Hjortur seemed to have calmed down. But she didn't like that mischief in his smile, and frankly she was tired of all of this nonsense. This was supposed to be a happy occasion! There would be not just one set of grandtadpoles, but two! They should all be celebrating some impending new arrivals to the family!
"Or," she suggested, words leaping from her mouth before she could stop them, "You could act like a grown Naiad, congratulate your children, and be excited for babies because we all know you love babies Hjortur you have even more children than I do." The last part she said in one breath, folding her arms across her chest and fixing him with a look. She'd be visible by now, if still a bit unsettlingly transparent.
Pearl couldn't help but snort as snippets of their conversation floated in from the other room. Mama didn't get this way very often; usually she had a slink-off-under-something kind of response to conflict or anything awkward. And usually when she did get like this it was toward her, or maybe Toli or Zo-Zo.
Hortur was in trouuuuuble!
With a smile, she turned to Pippin. "Congratulations!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Won't it be fun for them to grow up together, little cousins?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:22 pm
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That smile of his quickly faded away as he saw Kel's look, one that made clear she had no intention of partaking in any silliness. Frankly, neither did he, but it had been the first idea he'd come up with. Oh Tariel everything was so awkward and wrong and he didn't know what to do to fix it and Kel wasn't helping either!
"But...!"
His words cut off as she stared at him, and he could practically feel himself shrinking under her look. Maintaining eye contact was impossible, so he looked to her, then away, then to her, then away.
"But..." his voice had lowered in tone and he paused to lean back and sneak a glance at the kids. Adults. Parents. Behind him in the other room. At least they seemed to be having a perfectly splendid time; it wasn't as if he'd meant to put them in time-out or anything, just needed them to calm down a bit. It had worked well enough.
He brought his hand to his mouth and continued whispering, "Just give me a moment..." he'd a mind to swim off, but he could feel her glare beating into him, as if she knew that's what he was thinking. "...Calm down, I had no intention of leaving." Lie. "What am I supposed to do?" He took a deep breath through the nose before mumbling in a soft, almost incoherent, manner as he fumbled with his fingers. "I found all of them or really they all found me and I do not know what to do and what does a pregnancy even mean I have never handled a pregnancy before is it not kind of gross and I do not know what to do it is not as though I were even a decent father figure in any case I simply continued as I always had so I am not sure why they would want to tell me or what that even entails like what is a grandfather anyways and what is one supposed to do for their kid are they not adults now it is not as though they need my permission to have a child they could not stop it now even if I asked... at this point his mumbling became altogether jumbled and incoherent. It was as if he were a child fessing up to having lied about not doing something wrong.
By now, Autumn was completely ignoring the pair in the other room. There were too many interesting and exciting things happening right now beside him! He looked at Pearl with a big grin, "That sounds like a great idea!" before looking back at Pippin. "Hey, hey! You should live near us so they can all be best friends." A pause. "Actually, don't we both live here...?"
He paused, contemplating, before glancing at Pearl.
"Wanna move in here?"
It only made sense, after all. That way they could take care of the tadpoles together and all the kids could be friends! He seemed quite proud of the idea actually, given the way he confidently grinned at the suggestion.
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Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:53 am
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Kelebek couldn't help but smile at his sudden vulnerability. "Come now, calm down and don't worry about all those details. The Water wouldn't have given them into our care if she didn't think we could handle all the challenges of parenting. Including when our babies have babies!" She ruffled his hair with her hand, which finally had all the color back in it.
"Autumn and Pearl are excited. Be excited that they're excited!" After a pause, she added, "I don't know how your Pippin feels about having a baby, or whether she has someone else to support her, but surely she came to you because she trusts you to help her through this. Pregnancy is both happy and difficult, and has a lot of emotions. If Pippin doesn't have anyone, she's going to need you to be strong for her." She offered an encouraging smile. "And I'll be here too." She wouldn't say it out loud yet, but Kelebek considered Hjortur's children as practically her own. Since Pippin was a gift from the Water, she'd need that maternal support too. And now she and Pearl could support one another, together.
This was working out much better than it could have.
All of them, living together? Pearl felt dizzy, though that might have just been the pregnancy. On the one fin, she'd always dreamed of having a huge family, and the prospect of joining Autumn's in such a tangible way filled her with glee. On the other hand, Pearl wanted to build their own little family, with her and Autumn and their babies.
"Um," she began with a hesitant smile. "Let's wait to make decisions until the babies get here. Yeah?" She liked Pippin so far, but wanted to get to know her a little better before deciding to move in.
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Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2019 10:19 am
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Hjortur sighed and looked up at Kel as she comforted him like a child - fitting for how he was behaving right now. What else was this than a temper tantrum? Autumn and Pearl... Well... That was one thing. It was unexpected, sure, but they'd been paired off for quite a while and could handle it. What was really getting to him was Pippin. It wasn't anything she did, but the thought of some boy he didn't know getting her pregnant and disappearing... It pissed him off.
And it reminded him of himself; that's how it'd been with Calliope and Daedalus.
And that pissed him off more. It may have been the tautog calling the bullfish black, but he didn't want his precious daughter messed around with the same way he messed around with women. Well, had messed around with them. It had been some time since he'd done so recently.
As the sound of cheerful talking from the other room made its way over, he couldn't stop from glancing over and awkwardly smiling. Guess a facade of false bravado wasn't going to work this time. "I really messed things up this time, huh?"
"Okay~!" Autumn returned her own smile with a bright one of his own, completely oblivious to the reasons she wasn't outright saying yes. It wasn't like they needed to figure out everything right now anyways.
With that issue resolved, his attention quickly jumped to the next most-interesting thing in the room.
"So, do you know who the dad it? Is he a naiad? Can we meet him? Does he know?"
This 'time out" had quickly dissolved into a gossip corner; Autumn might not have been Vera's grandson by blood, but that didn't mean he couldn't pick up a bad habit or two from her.
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