Is This a Dream? [Xenon]

[Vyn]

For all that most of the city was a towering expanse of concrete and crowds, there was still beauty to be found. Particularly in the little park that she had managed to find while walking with Eddy one afternoon. It was a tiny little thing, rather out of the way from the main City Park, and it suited her wonderfully. Peace and Quiet and room for Eddy to play without being teased.

It was hard when he looked so very much like the late Queen and couldn't escape attention while walking with his Butterfly mum.

Today, however, was different. There was no one around and they felt like they had the park all to themselves. Vana could lay in the shade and braid flowers and Eddy could run -- or attempt to run -- to his heart's content. Attempting, that is, not so much of the succeeding. His binding made it hard, but he was a stubborn little boy and he really did have to learn to escape those dreaded little Yarrow Girls that went to his day care... They kept trying to braid his hair or... urgk, put him in dresses! So he had to get better at running, even with the cobblestone attached to his hind leg!

Very focused at his task, Eddy failed to notice the human woman that had managed to intercept his path. The impact knocked him back onto his tail and he yipped briefly, recoiled, staring up at the woman with big eyes. Uh-oh. "Uh- uh... S-sorry!"

Vana looked up a moment too late, and was horrified by what she saw. Her little boy had collided with a woman who was very much a Yarrow and, if Vana saw the brilliant red mark correctly, also a Queen of some red Suit. Not good, not good. The butterfly was instantly on her feet, hurrying toward the scene and hoping to all things good in her life that nothing would befall her little boy because of his carelessness. "Eddy!"

[carcinoGeneticist]

Sadie had only been in the Capital for a few days, and already she could feel herself growing exhausted with it. It seemed that no matter what form she wore, she was always the subject of someone's attention - humans weren't exactly common, but she was terrified of what would happen should she assume any other form. That many people all crowded around her... It would be like living a nightmare.

So she'd made her way through the city until she'd found a quiet little corner, away from the noise and activity of the main block. The park was quite beautiful, in fact, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she walked through the field, enjoying the feeling of grass on her bare feet especially after all of the concrete. For a moment, she entertained the idea of reverting to animal form in this quiet little sanctuary, but... There were too many people around.

As she stood there, simply contemplating her surroundings, she was startled to find something - someone, in fact - running directly into her leg. She let out a quiet cry, then looked down at the child, her eyebrows quirked with surprise.

And then, those pink eyes went wide with something that ran far deeper than simple surprise. The boy was a canine, to be certain... but his paws were, to Sadie, something else, something much more interesting and shocking. She was trying to think of something to say, something to hold onto the glimmer of hope that she saw upon looking at the boy's chitin-covered toes, when the approach of another figure made her heard nearly stop. Beneath the clothing and the strange mutations... Nothing could hide what the other woman was.

She looked up at the butterfly, her mouth hanging open with shock. Every clever thing she'd ever dreamed of saying, should this event occur, left her in a moment. "It's - It's quite alright, really,[/b]" she felt herself saying, some part of her addressing the concerns of what she could only assume to be the parent of the boy who'd crashed into her. The words sounded stupid and empty, but they were all she could think to say. "You're a... a butterfly,[/b]"

Finally, Sadie understood how the other people around her felt.

[Vyn]

Thoughtlessly Vana dipped to scoop her little boy into her arms, hugging him close in a manner that couldn't help but betray her desperate fears of loss. To loose Eddy... She swallowed and leaned her head against his mane as his one good tail wagged and his lame tail followed it by default.

After taking a second to calm her beating heart, Vana became aware of the lovely woman speaking. Vana was used to the expression of shock and the statement that followed after was just as common, so the butterfly merely offered her a wry smile and nodded a little. "Yes, ma'am, I am..." Even as she spoke, Vana was studying the other woman with a growing hint of uncertainty.

The awe was familiar and yet... not. It wasn't the usual sort of gawking, at very least.

Eddy squirmed in his mother's arms, peeking over at the other woman again. She didn't seem too bad, even though she was doing the open-mouthed thing that people usually did when Mama was around. "I'm Eddy!" He announced, because it was the only thing he could think to say and because Mommy and the New Lady both seemed confused and surprised and saying something seemed like it might help.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Watching the movements of the other woman struck a key in Sadie, something familiar but foreign all the same. She knew that it was the same, in some ways, as her own movements, the sliding of the strange armor of the insect's exoskeleton, but seeing it in a form that was different from her own made her heart flutter strangely. She wanted to reach out and touch the other woman, whisper that she understood, but she couldn't, and she simply offered her a small smile once the butterfly had gathered up her child.

"Suits, what's come over me. I'm sure you've heard that more times today than you'd like to hear it in a lifetime,[/b]" the woman said, laughing wryly and looking down at the ground. She couldn't keep her gaze away for long, however, and so she returned her gaze to the woman. "You'd think I'd be more sensitive of such things, considering I've heard it a time or two myself.[/b]" She bowed her head slightly, and then assumed her bipedal form. It was only polite, after all.

She smiled at the boy, ignoring his maleness in favor of the fact that he carried some of his mother's wonderful genes. That was something that could make up for almost anything... "Eddy, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Sadie. I... apologize for my amazement, but I'd begun to think the only time I'd ever see another insect would be in my mirror in the mornings.[/b]" The words came tumbling out in a rush, the shock of the entire situation completely overwhelming her.

[Vyn]

Vana couldn't help but stare. The way she spoke it was almost as if she understood... as if... and then the butterfly's dropped open in a gaping display of shock.

Oh suits, oh sweet and unmerciful suits... She was a fellow insect. A beautiful, Yarrow insect... Mantis, if Vana could tell... and o! it was a wonderful and terrifying and bluntly awe-inspiring sight to behold. Like a dream come true, and Vana had no clue how to respond. And this wonderful woman was apologizing for being insensitive but Vana couldn't even find words to keep herself from just staring like some sort of numb-brained codfish.

It took Eddy exclaiming in excitement to rouse her from her wonderful stupor. "O!" He cried, delighted by the transformation. "You're like Mama!!!" He leaned forward, wiggling his chitinous paws at Sadie to express how like his Mama he was as well. "We've all got the same toes!" It was a simple, innocent statement, but they almost brought tears to Vana's eyes.

The butterfly laughed, the sound light and beautiful and tearfully happy. "You're right, darling, we do..." Slowly she smiled and finally she found her words as she met eyes with the mantis once more. This was possibly one of the happiest moments of her life, aside from the time she had spent with her beloved Lysaras. "Oh Sadie, it is a pleasure to meet you... I'm sure you understand, which is an even greater joy..." The butterfly could barely think to find the words she needed. "I never thought in a million years I'd ever encounter another insect. Again, it's such a pleasure. I'm Parvana -- Or Vana, whichever you'd like."

[carcinoGeneticist]

For the longest time, the mantis couldn't speak.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever worn a form other than her human form in a public place, preferring the frequent deferment to the near-constant stares and questions. But as refreshing as it felt to have what was in most cases somewhat of a secret, it was nothing compared to how good she felt to be standing in front of another insect, something she never though she would ever be able to experience. As they looked each other over in appreciative silence, she almost felt the stinging of tears in her eyes.

Then Eddy spoke, rousing her to herself once more, and her vivid eyes blinked several times to clear the emotion from them. The corners of her beak twitched as she turned her attention back to the canine, extending one armored hand and comparing the purple limb to her own, lightly tracing his hard plates with her fingertips. Such a subtle trait to mark something so powerful as his very breed... But it would likely be convenient for the boy, as soon as he was of age to walk free from his mother's side. Without the butterfly there, it seemed unlikely that any would suspect his paws as being anything but a strange mutation.

Keeping her hand near Eddy's, she returned her attention to Parvana and a moment later, found her own voice. "I'd begun to think I'd never meet someone.. someone like me. I spent so much of my life looking... It seems strange that I meet you now that I'd largely given up on ever finding someone else. Meeting you is... a lifetime wish. I do hope you understand,[/b]" Then, with a laugh, she looked back at the puppy in Parvana's arms. He seemed like such a sweet creature. She hoped he could continue to grow in that manner. "That goes for you as well, Eddy.[/b]"

Then, her antennae curving suddenly with interest, she smiled. "...I must insist that the pair of you have dinner with me. After all, it's only right after I so suddenly intruded into your day.[/b]"

[Vyn]

Vana really couldn't believe what she was seeing. A real and true Mantis... another insect just like her... and she was so sweet to Eddy that Vana couldn't help but like her immediately. The butterfly continued to hug her son with one set of arms while the second set was left to fidget.

Watching Sadie stroke the boy's chitinous paws with such reverence, as aware as she was that it was such a wonderfully and subtle thing, just like the 'decorative' wings her father had sported. It was the secretive potential for another insect and proof that there had been more before her...

"Oh I do... I really do..." The butterfly breathed a soft sigh of wonderment, still star struck by the elegant and exotic woman before her. To think, she'd always been fond of the way those from the Yarrow looked... It was as if she'd simply been waiting all her life to meet this one wonderful woman. "I never thought... My parents always told me I was the only one, I... I never expected to meet another." She could have hugged the woman just for being real if it didn't seem like suck an awkward social misstep.

"I would be hard pressed to call this an intrusion, really, but it was a wonderful one regardless." Parvana glanced down at Eddy. "Would you like that?"


Eddy wasn't entirely sure why Mama and the new Lady were so excited but they were both just staring and googling. He wasn't really used to not being the center of attention in his Mama's world and he tried hard to think of things to say in order to fix that dilemma for a good many minutes (and throughout their conversation) until dinner was mentioned and the canine child instantly perked.

"Yay dinner!" It was a good enough answer for Vana.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Now that the wonder had passed, Sadie was able to look Parvana over in a more broad light, no longer simply as the wonder that was "another insect". Now she saw all the features that made her a butterfly rather than a mantis, along with some additions that were lovely in their own right. The feathery and wing-like appendages that served as the woman's ears, for example, and the silvery snowflake crown that rose directly behind them. That was, of course, to say nothing of the woman's markings. The striking and vivid colors of Corvistowne always looked lovely to Sadie's eyes, but Parvana's beautiful blue was even moreso.

"Mine always said the same... They were so unprepared for me, really, but then it does often manifest in subtle ways.[/b]" with that, she aimed another smile at Eddy. Her smiles were hard to read in biped and animal form with her beak mutation, but her expressive antennae certainly helped matters out, like particularly flexible and energetic ears.

At the boy's cheerful reply to the affirmative, Sadie laughed cheerfully, putting her hands on her hips. The dangerous second claws remained folded close to her body, hardly moving at all when the rest of the mantis did. They were indended purely as weapons, and she had no desire to intimidate her long-wished for companion. "Then that settles it. I'm staying at a lovely hotel not far from here. The food there is delightful, and best yet, they can do room service so we can eat without worrying about being stared at.[/b]" The woman was honestly rather looking forward to the opportunity to eat in this form. It felt like an age since she had last been so... comfortable.

[Vyn]

Oh it was so nice that someone else understood. Parvana simply couldn't get over it. Every little thing that Sadie said seemed to be like a secret encryption full of little secrets that Vana had known but been unable to truly share with anyone. The butterfly couldn't have begun to describe the joy she felt.

As Sadie moved, her expressions both subtle and clear thanks to her beak mutation and antennae, Vana found herself staring ever so slightly. She moved so differently but so similarly... Different proportions and minor details, just like any variance within a species, but they were all so very significant. It was those folded second claws that really kept tugging Vana's gaze in... So regal and yet Vana knew what a Mantis's claws could do...

"A private dinner sounds lovely." Vana didn't even think for a second that she was wandering off into an isolated place with a woman she'd just met. It was hard to think about anything except for the fact that said near-stranger was also an insect... Just like her but so very different.


Eddy's twin tails wagged happily as he thought of food, the lame tail being dragged alone with the good one as the pup squirmed with interest.

(Tired Vyn is Tired, sorry if this post is fail O_o;)

[carcinoGeneticist]

As she watched mother and child, something soft went through her expression. For a moment, she imagined what her life could have been, had her relationship with Donnie not fallen through so spectacularly. She imagined having a fluffy bundle of her own to deal with, and the image tore at her heart. She knew why she hadn't been successful in pregnancy, and seeing Parvana with her child made her heart soar because where the mantis had failed, the butterfly had seemingly succeeded. It was a bittersweet thought.

When the woman responded positively, Sadie's expression only brightened more, and she reached out a tenative hand to touch Parvana's arm. "I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear you say that.[/b]" She looked up, glancing in the direction of the hotel. "It's about a five minute walk from here, shall we head over now?[/b]"

She smiled, the crinkling at the corners of her beak subtle. If she weren't so totally overjoyed by the situation, it would be barely perceptible, but as it was her joy shone through in every aspect of her expression and posture. Part of her still couldn't believe this was happening, but she would know if it was a magical trick. She spoke idly to the woman and child as they walked, simply enjoying their company, and when they reached her suite she opened the door for them with a wide smile, bowing slightly in an invitation to enter.

The room was grand, befitting of both a Yarrow Diplomat and a Queen of Diamonds. It was rather expensive, to be certain, but Sadie wasn't planning on being here long, so she saw it as almost a vacation. She could afford to treat herself a little for now. She'd worked hard to get to this point, after all. "Please, make yourselves at home. There's wine and tea readily avaliable if either are to your tastes, and I can order up something for Eddy.[/b]" with that, she aimed a smile at the boy. "What would you like to drink? I'm sure they've got any juice you could think of.[/b]"

Her mind was abuzz with questions. One of the ones forefront in her mind would have to wait, however, until the boy was asleep or otherwise occupied. In her excitement over meeting Parvana, it had slipped her attentions at first... But he was the mirror image of the late Spade Queen, the one Donnie had seen fit to kill in her rise to power.