[Bless] Motherly Love [System Shock/Cue]

[Ruriska]

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft] It had been suggested by various family members that System Shock had been hit on the head too many times as a foal. He was not, and to be fair had never been, the brightest firefly in the night. But he sure did love a good fight! And thanks to a mother and two violence-inclined uncles, he was pretty good at it.
So every few days, System Shock went out and challenged someone to battle.

It didn’t matter who, as long as they were ready and willing to throw down, and then he would stumble home, covered in cuts and bruises, very pleased with himself as his father fussed about and tended to his battle wounds.

Today was such a day, except when he arrived he realized Once Forgotten wasn’t home. So he limped around the banked fire, discontent and sore, kicking idly at random things and wincing from pain every time.

@Jun

[Jun]

[imgright]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... ry_jun.png[/imgright]Cue Queue had gotten complacent.

That was the sort of word she used in her head to avoid the word lazy.

When she was young, she'd done all sorts of things. She'd run all sorts of places, stalked all sorts of prey. And then she'd ascended, and then she'd gotten lifemated. And then she'd had children. One of those had gotten her laz - complacent. Probably the one that meant she came back to a hot dinner each day.

Except there weren't any hot dinners to look forward to after a long day of work (...hunting a little...blessing a little...snacking at Rise & Shine a lot...) right now. Her doting lifemate had gone off on an adventure of his own. It was only fair. He'd made a lot of hot dinners. But who knew when he'd return?

Things were changing.

She wasn't sure she liked that.

That was how she knew she had gotten...complacent.

"Your father will be home...some time," she told System Shock, because she had an uncomfortable Legendary suspicion that some things that were changing were harder to process than others.

"Some day...and stop kicking at things if it hurts, for Swamp."

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

“But he was gone last time as well,” System Shock whined loudly and then eyed his mother up and down, calculating his chances of receiving some sort of motherly tenderness in Once Forgotten’s place. He ranked it at zero and was so annoyed with his predicament he kicked another rock.

“Ow,” he said.

Some day...

The realization that his father, a constant throughout his life, had lately been missing more often than not and that 'some day' might not be the next time System Shock wanted him to be there, slowly sunk into his pea-sized brain.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“What did you do?” He demanded accusingly.

[Jun]

Cue sighed.

"Nothing," she said, "your father has a life of his own, you know. Places to go, and people to see. He even has...friends."

She didn't know how he managed, really. Making friends was so annoying (hers were colleagues).

"You didn't think he'd be sitting in front of the fire with a hot dinner waiting all your life, did you?"

Cue was a giant, massive hypocrite. She was fine with that.

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

“He doesn’t have friends,” System Shock retorted instantly, confused by the very notion. Who even had friends? As far as he was concerned, you could only have allies or enemies. Or family, which was different.

The buck didn’t answer but judging by the way he pouted, brow furrowing and shoulders hunched, he had very much expected his father to be sitting in front of the fire with a hot dinner all his life. And the realisation that he wasn’t was extremely unpleasant.

“Maybe he’s lost?” He suggested. He much preferred that idea. It meant they could go and find him and bring him back, to make more hot dinners and kiss more boo boo’s.

@Jun

[Jun]

She did not reply to his retort, because that would mean having to admit she had no idea who these friends were either. Maybe he'd dreamt them up. She probably hadn't been listening as closely as she should have been.

Anyway.

"If he's lost, he's lost on purpose," she said, "he'll be home when he decides to be."

And then, even though she desperately didn't want to have to deal with other changes, she asked:

"What have you been doing lately?"

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

“Lost on purpose? That’s ridiculous! It should be your job to go find him!”

More sullen than angry, he finally decided to stop irritating his various wounds and sat heavily on his haunches. From there, System Shock stared sulkily at his mother and answered, “I dunno. Fighting and stuff.”

@Jun

[Jun]

"My job is to hunt down tasty little animals," she dryly replied, "snap their necks, and drag their plump carcasses to Rise and Shine, which I’m not going to do to your father."

And then, before she could lose her n- she never lost her nerve - opportunity, she continued:

"My job is also to bless sometimes, which leads me to ask: has any of your fighting lately been...ah...end to end?"

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

End to end?

“What?” System Shock stared at her in complete confusion, brows arched high as if she’d lost her mind.

Oh wait - “Oh yeah, I had a kicking contest the other day.” He snorted proudly. “I won.”

@Jun

[Jun]

"Yes, yes," she said, "very proud."

Sometimes she wondered where they went wrong, but not really.

"Have you been especially vigorously fighting," she said, "any does?"

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

"Does can't fight," he scoffed. Not because he believed it (he knew plenty of does that could kick his ass) but because he wanted to annoy her.

@Jun

[Jun]

She didn't so much dignify him with a response as give him a look, because she trusted that even her idiot son must know she could gut him right now before he could blink, if that didn't mean she would have a lot to explain to Once when he actually came back.

And also because she loved him or whatever.

"Well," she snapped (her tail lashing rather irritably despite herself), "since it looks like neither of your little heads are working, I guess we don't have to worry about accidental babies."

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

He caught the look and glanced away because he knew but it was worth it just to be annoying.

Seeing he had succeeded, System Shock looked smug for all of ten seconds, until some of her words sorted themselves in his brain and he went, “huh?? What babies?”

He frowned, his thoughts taking place on his face in real time and with great effort. 

“Wait,” he spoke slowly, focusing entirely on the concept of babies and nothing else, “are you pregnant? I’m gonna be a big bro?" He was frowning. "Does dad know?”

@Jun (i'm sorry her son is so stupid)

[Jun]

Cue could only take so much (she never was a very patient mother).

"I'm talking about you, you -" she paused, trying not to call her son a bad word because she knew it was technically their own faults, "you've knocked up some poor doe, Swamp knows how you did it - and Swamp be willing may they be less thickheaded than you!"

@Ruriska

[Ruriska]

System Shock stood still for a very long time, his brain slowly ticking through this new revelation and also very slowly discarding the idea of being an older brother (which would have been kinda cool).

There had been a doe, he couldn’t deny that.

“Yeah,” he said after a while and then shrugged, a big heave of his massive shoulders, and said, “no thanks.” Being a dad seemed really boring. Sitting around a fire all day making food, tending to wounds, making beds out of leaves.

“I’m gonna go take a nap.”

And with that he limped off to find a nice spot to sleep.


@Jun  the end!