[PRP] Two's Company (Pearl x Uncertain)

[Anhelisk]

Ever since she'd first seen her... had first heard her speak, Pearl had been absolutely smitten by Uncertain. Surely the graceful, willowy kimeti was a beautiful doe, as pale as silk and standing as tall as any doe ever did... but her gentle way of speaking and acting had soothed something in Pearl, something that she hadn't known was aching. It had been a torrid affair since then, of trying to find things to please and delight her new companion, of stumbling over unpracticed words of affection, of apologies smoothed over with kindness and laughter springing up in stuttering unison. It had been so, so joyous, and she didn't regret a moment of it. Even if they had, somehow, managed to clutch together. Even if they had both managed to carry.

That was a special blessing, was it not? One clutch was a blessing in itself, so the fact that they'd somehow managed to both do so, with the help of those delicate flowers... it had to be doubly-so. It was just difficult to feel that way when she didn't have the energy to pamper and spoil her new lover the way that Pearl had grown up seeing-- the way Pearl felt Uncertain deserved to be spoiled-- not when she needed the rest and the food and the kindness as much as any other clutching doe.

So here she was, rooting around at the edge of the clearing they'd set up to sleep in, trying not to make too much noise as she poked around for fat, tender roots, and contemplated whether she'd manage to get the crop to the water and back without the other doe's help.

[Mima]

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright]Uncertain had been with foal before. So this was not a new feeling for her. But she was still, as expected, nervous about it all. Would she be able to care for two clutches at once? Oh, she'd had enough trouble with one the first time, especially being so blind. And all her children, they had found themselves so plagued with near nightmares for naming dreams. Of course she hadn't been the one to choose those names, but she feared that perhaps her own inexperience and nerves had broken through to them in some way through the process. She'd known of some families to pass down common themes in their dreams, after all... For some maybe that was a cute little family tradition, but for her it just made her feel anxious.

...It hadn't stopped her from getting herself in this predicament, though.

She found it difficult to sleep now, and not just because she felt uncomfortable with the additional weight. It felt like her poor little mind would pop right out of her head if she kept packing more and more worries in it. Pearl had been so kind to her, even with her own pregnancy to contend to, trying to assuage those worries. But they felt never-ending. If she could only peek into the future, at least to finally feel sure of something!

Ears swiveling upwards to pick up on the shuffling of her fellow doe in the mud, she tentatively stood up. As much as her skinny little legs and joints felt like they might snap under her fat little belly, she still felt bad hearing the acha go at the chores alone. Not to mention, she wasn't asleep anyway, and the darkness of the night made little difference to an eyeless kin like her. It was really only fair.

"I can, um... help?" Her voice was tentative and soft, as if she wasn't quite sure if helping was the correct word for what she could offer here. "Or, maybe... if Birch gets back from hunting quickly, he could um... help dig? Dogs... dig, right?" Uncertain seemed quite unclear about the habits of Eaglehounds, for someone who was debatably the master of one.

[Anhelisk]

The gentle, querulous voice of Pearl's mate signalled one thing: she was too late to manage this surprise. "Oh! You're up! Good morning, Darling!" Time to pivot, then.

Pearl smiled as she turned around, moving with deliberate steadiness to approach Uncertain. She paused a breath away, letting her partner get a sense of where she was and complete the motion of a nuzzle before she let herself lean in for a firmer cuddle. (It was, after all, not much fun to butt heads in the more literal sense.)

"I was just digging for cattail roots--" she explained to her mate, "So if you'd like to, you could maybe dig with me? Or if you could use that place we dredged out with the stones at the edge of the stream, you could wash them when I pull them up? Or, even-- well, I was really just trying to spend time until you woke up, so we could just relax, maybe go for a walk or something... maybe see if those berries are ripe enough to bring branches back here for later...? Whatever you want to do, just say the word, and we'll do it!"

[Mima]

With a nod, Uncertain nudged Pearl right on back before dipping down to her knees. "Maybe digging would be best, if it needs to be done... It's easier for me to feel when they're dislodged than when they're, um... perfectly clean." Oftentimes she wouldn't quite know that until she bit into one, with roots. It was either scrub until she couldn't possibly stand it, or get used to the taste of dirt.

Digging was definitely messy, though, and was quite apparent on her pure white coat. Even moments of the activity got her quite thoroughly stained. It looked like the doe had suddenly sprouted fashionable brown boots... well, brown boots and fringe on her tail. Not that this was unusual, in the swamp.

There was a part of her that said she'd better get this done before they got a chance to relax, because what if, say, some wild boars got into the roots while they were gone? Or a flood washed through? Or-

"But, um, after we're done..." Her voice was still a bit unsure, but just a little hopeful, "maybe we can go over to the stream together and wash ourselves off a bit, too. And relax. But also so we don't, y'know... Track mud around too much." Everywhere was kinda mud in the swamp, but this little patch of land was less muddy, and she had just a sliver of hope that they could keep it that way. Just for now.

[Anhelisk]

Pearl smiled gently. "Of course," she said, with a curt nod that she knew wouldn't translate, but felt good to give anyways. She'd found a lot of her usual gestures were difficult for Uncertain to parse, at least without an added verbal component. "That will be lovely."

She helped orient Uncertain to another side of the patch she was working on, then watched for a moment as the doe got to work. Despite her lack of sight, the increasingly-muddy doe beside her was remarkably efficient, and after a little, Pearl realized that her hovering was unnecessary-- Uncertain was better at this than she was. Instead of continuing to dig herself, she opted to help dislodge, trim, and move the roots that Uncertain pulled up, so that she could help facilitate Uncertain's efforts to best effect.

"You're very good at this,", she complimented at one point, grimacing as a little mud found its way past a lip. Oh, well-- a little mud in the swamp would hardly kill her-- and it was worth it to be able to eat their fills later.

[Mima]

"Th... Thank you," Uncertain mumbled in hesitant response to the compliment. Pearl had paid her many in the time the two were together, but she was slow to come around to accepting flattery. Not quite sure if she was meant to accept such things or play them off. Regardless, if her zikwa ancestry had given her anything, it was a remarkable ability to get around with senses other than sight. ...And digging.

Lifting out one last starchy root, she pawed a bit more at the now loose puddle of mud in front of them with a hoof before tilting her head. "I think... that might be the last of them." There was a possibility there were more roots further out in the water, like lotus roots, but that would require wading out a bit further than she was comfortable.

[Anhelisk]

Pearl beamed. "Yes, it looks like we've cleared out this stand," she supplied helpfully. "Which is good, the river seems to be drying out around here and I don't really anticipate we'll get a large swell until we get a good amount of snowmelt... So... not for a few moon cycles, at least." She looked at the pile of plants and huffed a satisfied sigh, thinking of the taste of them once they finally rinsed all the mud off. Maybe, if Uncertain decided that she was up for the final trip to her family's territory, they could see about roasting them... but even if not, she knew they'd be delicious anyways.

After a moment, she spoke up again."Shall we be off to the water, then? You can enjoy the cool for a bit, and I'll get these in to soak off the worst of the mud, and then I can join you."

[Mima]

"I'd like that, I think." Though the hottest of the summer heat had begun to fade by now, it was still rather sweltering after hard work. A bath would be... nice. And of course, she'd be uh, cleaner....?

In her mind she made things like resting in the water and washing herself off as purposeful as possible only to feel as though she wasn't just... relaxing. Because she was always worried that time spent on that could be time better spent on something else, and she didn't want to start worrying about that lest she start worrying about her time in general and thinking of a hundred other worries. It was like tumbling down a mountain and picking up speed as you went, with worrying. At least for her.

(Of course Pearl had been trying to ease her mind this whole time, which she appreciated. The doe was doing her best to chase down that avalanche before it started.)

Still, as the Kimeti sunk neck-deep in water with a little sigh, she began to think... maybe relaxing wasn't all that bad, if she had someone to relax with. "Um, and, let me know if I'm... too deep. I can move in a bit." She was ah, a bit taller. Than her mate here.

[Anhelisk]

Pearl, by now, had seen over a dozen different sorts of anxiety, from the worming, burrowing kind that surfaced only occasionally to the sort that never stopped dogging a kin. Uncertain's was more like the latter, and her family had done a great deal to help their family members with

This sort of worry was often best assuaged with a little bit of kind laughter. She chuckled a bit to herself as she hauled the last cluster of roots into their circulating bath, before turning to regard her slender mate, up to her neck in cool, flowing water. "Too deep? Why would you be too deep?" she asked, then paused. "If you want to be that deep,  I could lean on you a little, or I could stay a little further away where it's shallow."

She strode forward delicately, keeping an eye on the currents as she gently felt along the bottom of the slow-flowing river, until she was practically butting heads with Uncertain. "I'm always happy to wait for you," she asserted gently, quietly. "I'm happiest when you're happy."

[Mima]

Uncertain nodded slowly and gently, thinking over Pearl's words. It was all very... selfless of her. "I... Well, I'm the same," she confessed, dipping her face into the water momentarily to hide her embarrassment at saying such sappy things. Though as she lifted it back out, she shook her head vigorously, and only half to get all the river water off. "I guess maybe I'm... just more scared of doing the wrong thing than happy about doing the right one."

She wasn't sure if that was something that could ever be fixed.

[Anhelisk]

Pearl's first response was underwhelming. "Oh," she managed thoughtfully, then carefully worked forward, until their flanks were touching. "Some of my family have feelings like that. It can be hard."

She felt like an idiot, saying it like that. "But... if you try to do well by yourself, and by others around you, I find that the slip-ups that happen are more than forgiveable."

She paused another moment. "And... I don't mean to stress you by bringing it up again, but I do think they'd love to meet you. And they'd be happy to help keep the foals safe, and- ...I'm sorry. I'm doing it again."