[FIN] Bless Yer Aunt [Fade/Cue]

[Maxx D]

How convenient that Cue had decided to come back at this period of time all scratched up and legendaried. How convenient that it was just after the time where Dark brought a handsome, strong, broody and mature Totoma (oooh how novel) back to the shop, and they had a very intimate encounter - she could now feel odd things happening in her biology (more pickled salamanders were devoured than usual). Fade was feeling rather sage about this stunning coincidence, and after popping a left-over tail into her mouth, wandered over to her not-so-little (and actually rather developed) niece.

"Cuuuueeeee," Auntie Fade said, clearly wanting something as she plopped down on the ground beside her.  

[Jun D]

It did not, Cue thought grimly, take a Legendary to tell what had happened to Fade, who certainly made no secret of how handsome the Totoma visitor she had apparently just missed was, how mature. And the rate at which she went through pickled salamanders was honestly alarming - and, more importantly, kept all of them busy with the shop hunting (oh, the ignominy) more of the little beasts to supplement the quickly emptied traps that usually sufficed. She would probably have left by now, or at least roamed further, if it weren't for the boss' frantic pleas. And it definitely did not, she thought even more grimly, take a Legendary to know what a gossipy, inquisitive, loud-mouthed nosy pregnant doe wanted from one. But she would not take the bait.

"Yes?" she said.  

[Maxx D]

Thankfully, Fade wasn't the type to beat around the bush, especially when she was lumbering around in this shape. (She'd really thought Cue was just being cute with her 'yes'.) However, she was in no hurry - Cue could not, unfortunately for her, really run from her dear godaunt. A slow stretch of her limbs, a yawn, then she said simply: "I'm preggers, you're a Legendary. Go on and bless yer aunt."  

[Jun D]

Blast.

Cue would never - ever - admit it (especially not to Death), but...she had actually spent a lot of time thinking about how her first blessing should go. N-not that she cared about appearances or anything, but everybody knew that you went to find a Legendary if you wanted your clutch to be safe, or grow strong, or any sort of wish a parent could have for their child, and Kin had children all the time, and thus went to look for Legendaries all the time, and over time, news spread. About who they were. How you could find them. What sort of blessings they favoured. ...How cool they were when they blessed you. Cue didn't care about being cool. She just thought...well... It was an important occasion for parent and child. It should be something accomplished with purpose. And, if their request found wanting, it should be something earned. There needs be a balance after all. That was the way of the cycle.

Nothing to do with being cool at all.

So she had thought about it, long and hard, what she might say, what she might do. A million scenarios had run through her mind on the journey home.

None of them had involved someone like Fade.

But when you had readied the script for so long, it was hard to let go.

"Why?" she said, simply, the deliberate tone of her voice, weighted with authority...sadly rather lacking its intended effect in front of a Kin who had known her since she was small and squishy and stumbling blindly about just out of her sac. Nevertheless.  

[Maxx D]

"Well," Fade said, having noticed nothing out of the ordinary (she'd really thought that Cue was still being cute with her 'why'), "'cause you're a Legendary now, that's what they do. And I'm yer aunt."  

[Jun D]

"My dear Aunt," she began, trying to sound nonchalant and important at the same time, a difficult mix, "a Legendary is not a blessing machine. The power of the Motherfather is not something that should be used willy-nilly, least of all by I. There must always be a reason for it. You are strong. Your handsome Totoma is strong. Your children will likely be strong. You live at a food store. They will want for nothing. Wherefore need you a blessing? What is the reason I must accept?"  

[Maxx D]

"The reason is," she kicked her hooves in the mud chipperly. "I'm yer aunt."  

[Jun D]

Arrrrgh.

If this was how it was always going to go, she'd have to drop the 'why's. It would be a pity. She'd quite liked the thought. It had gravitas. It made them think. It saved precious time, if reason was good enough. It was...totally wasted on Fade. Maybe it would work better with other, reasonable, normal Kin.

For Fade, she'd just have to proceed on to Part 2: what to do when 'why' is found wanting.

"That is not a good reason. I can see you haven't got one. That is fine. Not many do. But there must be an eye for an eye -"  

[Maxx D]

"I ain't asking for an eye," she cut in, though her tone was infuriatingly relaxed.  

[Jun D]

"- a fair trade, a balance. In the least, proof that you have earned your right to the Swampmother's favour upon your young. So I shall set you this task, and if you fulfil it, you shall have your blessing." The involuntary growl in her voice made the statement rather less dramatic than it had sounded in her head. "And this be your trial: be silent, for the rest of the -" she was rather tempted to fill in 'week', but a vision of her mother dolefully shaking her head at her having inadvertantly killed her aunt by dealing an impossible mission made her finish simply with, "- day." That would be hard enough as it was, and with any luck, her Fade-induced headache would have eased by then.  

[Maxx D]

Fade tilted her head thoughtfully, contemplated, shrugged and nodded in a 'why not' manner. Sure she could do thaaat. Cue's aunt got back on her feet and into the shop.

*******

For the rest of the day she had grown, strangely, even more incorrigible. Every time she started open her well-practised maw, she actually managed to remember the task and shut it - and worse, trotted over to Cue and shoulder-scaled her rather hard in her Legendary ribs. There were times she remembered not to even start, which netted her niece even more enthusiastic hoofing and nudging, accompanied with a grotesquely self-satisfied grin. Seeing as it was a good day in the shop, and Fade was Fade, these moments were extremely frequent.  

[Jun D]

Unsuprisingly, not only had her Fade-induced headache not eased, it had spread down her body into her ribs - to be precise, her ribs where her aunt persisted in nudging (more like shoulder-slamming, she thought darkly, Auntie Fade could've been a dab hoof in the Arena, who'd have known) her sharply whenever she claimed a small victory over speech. She'd never, in a million years, imagined that her aunt could be even more infuriating SILENT than speaking. She would have been disappointed if she hadn't been so busy being annoyed.  

[Maxx D]

Fade was getting very used to this now, taking a vow of silence to new heights (or depths). Yet another rough shoulder barged into Cue's ribs before she trotted over to a customer, and horrifyingly began to mime FISH and BIRD and SALTED and DELICIOUS in a bizarre frenzy of hoof-motions and interpretive dance, her wide-eyed gaze fixed upon Cue with a LOOKIT ME psychic message. This too, continued for a good while.  

[Maxx D]

Rise watched as the beseiged customer carefully slunk off during an attempt to mime PRESERVED, shaking his head helplessly. Following Fade's line of sight, he trotted to Cue and said:

"Cue dear, your aunt is scaring away the customers."  

[Jun D]

She could see his point, but it would look very bad form if her first act as a blessing Legendary was to revoke her command.

"She needs to learn her lesson," she said, without much conviction, carefully avoiding his patient gaze.