It's a Wonderful Life (Baldev and Jaslyn)

[`Swirly]

(Private Self-Rp for Swirly)

The silvereyed stallion stood in the doorway of his teepee. His mate, Jaslyn, could be seen swaying across the field. It looked like she was just dancing about int he snow having a good time and he figured that was exactly what she was doing. The corners of his lips twitched upwards as he watched her dance around. God how he loved her, she was the fuel in his life. It seemed strange now how much time had passed. Originally he had come to these lands to bother his hermit-like brother, Harij, now he stayed because being without Jaslyn and the girls would be too horrible to imagine. She was lifeblood, their children, gems.  

[`Swirly]

Head tipped back to the heavens, the brightly colored mare with raven black hair danced. She was thanking the gods for the life she had been giving, for the beautiful children she had and the loving mate. Their two-legger cared for them when they were home, and their travels had always been safe and happy. What more could a mare ask for in life? Baldev had come into her life so many years ago now, as a cocky ill-bred pain in her a**. He had been overly vain, utterly arrogant, and oddly endearing. Giving into his advances and seducing him herself had been fun, pure fire and sparks. Now what they had was a slow even burn. It was hotter than the sparks and more comfortable and fulfilling. She slowed her movements and lowered her head, turning to see him watching from the teepee entrance, "Why don't you come out here?" calling to him loudly with her husky exotic voice.  

[`Swirly]

Go out there? How utterly ridiculous. He had done many things for his Jaslyn over the years, even endured the pain of not having sons.. but lord.. He was not, under any circumstances going to go out into that nasty slushy mess. The two-legger did a fair enough job working out any tangles that came into his silky mane and tail, but that took eons of standing and being primped. Not that he particularly minded, but whenever Jaslyn got him all messy and stuff, Aely would whine about it and sometimes tugged far too hard on his hair. Good lord, he still had nightmares about her accidentally walking him through a field laden with burrs. Snapping to attention from his daydreaming, he called back, "No way, baby-cakes. Why don't you just come in out of the cold and I'll warm you up, Hmmmm?"  

[`Swirly]

Jaslyn couldn’t help but sigh at her mate. He was…. Stubborn. He had always been stubborn. Their children had grown and left and been gone for so long now. Where were her babies? Why weren’t they home ever? She occasionally went on adventures to satisfy the gypsy blood pulsing through her veins and she had a feeling that pretty soon she was going to have to go again soon. Baldev had started to make noise about wanting more babies for their own, perhaps to even have heirs. Perhaps it was age that made her worry, or the lack of her daughters, but Jaslyn was having serious worries about his unicorn-driven mind. He was her better half and she couldn’t imagine living without him for much longer than an adventure… but what was she going to do if he got worse? He had even made a few comments about them moving further into isolation because of Lovey and her family being so close and the rest of the herd dropping in from time to time. Sighing softly Jas made her way inside.  

[`Swirly]

Baldev may have been stubborn, but he wasn’t stupid. He saw his mate’s sigh and the pause before coming in to see him. Before he would address that he needed to make sure that she wasn’t hurt or feeling ill.

While he would never wish that upon his mate, that idea was sometimes easier to swallow than the idea that she might be unhappy with him. She was his lifeblood after all so it was his duty to make sure that she was kept happy, always.

Tucking her close to his side, Baldev ran his lips lazily up and down her neck, making silly noises and just attempting to gauge Jaslyn’s mood.

“Beautiful flower, you seem sad. Do you really feel that strongly about going back outside?”  

[`Swirly]

Feminine giggles started with the lipping at her neck and Jaslyn alternated between leaning into her mate and trying to get away from him. She really needed to work on being more strict with him…. Perhaps that’s why he was a naughty child some days. Hmm..

Once he stopped and then spoke again, Jaslyn raised chestnut eyes to his and stared deeply for a long moment, “Not sad, no… just… a bit unsettled.” She didn’t really know how to describe what she was feeling but the gypsy’s blood that ran through her veins could feel something coming. Something that was going to be unpleasant for the whole family and end up leaving her with the desire to run far far away was coming.

That was her usual response to things that were unhappy or undesirable. Running.
 

[`Swirly]

Baldev sobered and listened carefully, every few months it seemed Jaslyn would go off on a mini adventure. She would find soquili to talk to and probably did something dangerous. The second part of the drove him crazy, but the first didn’t make him even bat an eyelash. She was social. It was her nature.

Unfortunately, it was also her nature do wild things as often as possible.

He, on the other hand, would be perfectly content to put Jassy up on a pedestal and keep her carefully away from danger.

Unfortunately, she would melt away into a shell of her former self if he even attempted to do that. …. Not that he really thought she would listen to him if he tried.

“Restless? You just came home to me from one of your adventures. It is not like you to be ready to leave home again so soon.” It made his heart hurt just a little bit to think that she needed to get away from him already, but if that was what she needed….  

[`Swirly]

Jaslyn felt a sigh building up from within her. She loved Baldev so much, perhaps it was time to explain. Either that or she was going to have to go on her “adventures” more frequently. Nope, she wasn’t going to do that either, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. “One of my adventures? What –exactly- do you mean by that?”

They were one of the things that helped the dessert flower mare keep her sanity. They were part of her she was. If her block-headed mate belittled them into something as insignificant as the word /adventure/ she was going to knock him six ways to Sunday. “I am not restless. Restless would mean that I usually stay in the same place and this is something new to me.”

She nipped his neck and decided whether or not she was just spoiling for a fight or if there was something actually wrong. “I can’t exactly describe it Baldev, but I’m not happy. My babies haven’t been home in so long. I need my babies. Where are my babies? What won’t they come home? It’s something either you or I have done. Even Ru has left us alone. I can’t take not seeing my babies!” That last came out desperately and her warm brown eyes teared up, finding the source of her problem in an explosion of temper and sadness.  

[`Swirly]

Baldev really didn’t have a clue about what to say to his mate. She was everything to him and for the longest time he had been able to bury the same feeling she was having. Their Rupali had stuck close to home for the longest time but where were their other babies for the longest stretch of time? Rupali was away for a bit too…

The tears that he was filling her eyes felt like knives… incredibly sharp and terrible knives. What exactly was he going to do to get her to feel better? Pretty words were never going to be a replacement to the sound of children. Moving swiftly the stallion wedged his larger body against her petite frame and began to nuzzle and lip at her neck. “Dearest heart… what would I have to do to make you feel better? We can go together.. right now… this very moment to go find our children or if you don’t want to travel I can look into having messengers sent out to find them.”

He continued to nuzzle and cuddle her close. “Dear heart… you know that I would do whatever is within my power to make you happy. All you have to do is point me in the right direction.” A bit of fear was building up within him and he internalized the phobic flare of panic that perhaps the girls had stayed away because they were going about with those that were beneath their blood. What if they had mated and mixed their own blood with that of those with wings.

The idea made him feel a bit sick to his stomach and the twisting and turning warred with his desire to make his mate happy at any cost. Jaslyn wanted their babies and their babies had been away for a long time. What was he going to do if his fears had come to pass?
 

[`Swirly]

Jaslyn appreciated the feeling of her mate moving in closer and cuddling closer. She really did love him and there wasn’t anything that he would do to make her love him any less except for that bloody supreme streak that she had been ignoring for the longest time. If that had anything to do with why the kids were gone… A mother never wanted to be in a position where she chooses between her lover and her kids but a mother’s love was the most pure thing she had ever felt. It felt good to have him cuddled close and even better to have him actually volunteer to go with her somewhere. In the past she had always felt completely at ease with his staying home and relaxing while she went and travelled far and wide. The lands were too fascinating to just stay home.

“I just… Baldev… what if something bad has happened to them and we’ve not even been looking for them? What sort of parents would we be? The worst. The absolute worst.” She had raised talented, beautiful, and sweet natured girls… Trusting and friendly and open… “What if Baldev? What if?” Her own fear was getting a bit out of hand and she nuzzled closer trying to quell the trills of panic. “Please I just want to go right now. I want to go and find them and hold them close to me and never let them go. Don’t you worry and wonder? I can’t hold that worry and wonder back anymore. I need to see them for myself.”

Messengers? Fat chance. She tossed her heavy black mane back and started forward at a quick clip. It was now or never and now had definitely been decided. It was time to go and find their babies. Right flipping now.  

[`Swirly]

Oh? They were going were they? Right now? Baldev tossed his heavy silver mane and picked up his hooves high to keep going. It was something of interest to him that all it had taken was mentioning going after the girls and she was on her way. How long had his mate been hiding these feelings from him? Is that where she had gone on her last jaunt out into the real world? Not that they didn’t live in the real world, it’s just it had always felt like a rose tinted world full of nothing but the love that they had built between the two of them. His breath puffed out in a quick puff and her groaned inwardly. He really had not done too much in the way of long distance travelling in a long time… She also had not given him any time to figure out what to do for hair care.

His mane was going to become an unholy nightmare by the time they returned home. “Jassy honey… Before you get the worst ideas in your mind you have to know that you are the most wonderful mother that is imaginable..> If anything else and if I’m telling the truth… I am the one that may have caused our babies to not come home.” He didn’t like the feeling it gave him to have to admit that but he wasn’t nearly as young as he used to be. Not that he was old it’s just that… in his youth he really had been cockier than imaginable. “You are the most wonderful mare in all of these lands.”
 

[`Swirly]

Jaslyn took a deep, cleansing breath and really felt better than she had in a long time. She was on her way to find her babies. Her mate was actually at her side. She had never been on an adventure with him before. Over the years she had gone many, many places and he had always been at home waiting for her. If he had tried to capture her or make it so that she had to stay home? They would never have been mated for life. Now? She didn’t think that any other stallion would ever have a place in her heart. He was the other half to her soul, with the exception that her children had to come first. “Oh my love… It does my heart good to hear you say that, but the voices that I want to hear say the same thing are probably a very long way from home. A long way.”

Bright amber eyes looked sideways into glowing silver eyes and she sighed softly and wound her tail around his. “I don’t know where we should start first… I’m heading the opposite direction of where I went last time since I did not see our girls when I went that way.” It had been way too long… She felt old and scared and like a bad mamma. Really, it didn’t matter that he was telling her otherwise… It was kind of her own fault for not having gone out of her way to make them come home on a regular basis… Even though her babies had long since become adults. “I am glad you are at my side... I would not want to journey like this alone… Who knows how long we’ll be gone?”