Finding What Matters (Finished)

[carcinoGeneticist]

Children were an absolute delight, and that fact was one that Ceren had never even wanted to consider in her childhood, surrounded by siblings of all shapes and sizes. She had, in fact, thought that her mother must have been absolutely insane to have such a large brood, but now, relaxing as she was with her beautiful daughter, she finally understood. Kaiesha chirped and wriggled in her father's grasp, purring delightedly when Ceren tickled her neck, then rolled away.

"Papaaaaa~" the hybrid cried, dropping low to pounce on the biped sparrow, her eyes shining brightly. "Papa, I wanna go on a trip. There are dancers coming to the capital, I read about it. I want to go see them!"

Ceren leaned back and smiled slightly, considering the idea. It had been a long time since she'd visited the Capital herself, and it would provide a welcome chance to visit her family and friends. "Dancers, hmm?[/b]" she grinned as the child leapt mightily into her lap, grabbing a strand of the older woman's hair in her beak and worrying it playfully. "I'll need to talk to your mother about that... Why don't you go bother the kitchen-lady and see if she'll make you a snack, and I'll go present the idea?[/b]"

The kitten bounded off without another word, delighted chirps sounding all down the hallway as she went, and Ceren chuckled. She brushed her hair back into position and rose after a moment. She would, in fact, be talking to her Queen about two things today, one of which something that she felt had been put off for far, far too long.

The sparrow knocked lightly on Iria's door and stepped back to wait.

[Shinigami]

Iria set the pen down and looked over the letter shi'd drafted on hir desk; there were piles of official Court documentation waiting to the side for hir to look over, and others that shi just needed to make a final approval on, and still more that would require hours of tedious work and attention before shi could make a final decision, but here and now, this letter held sway.

A letter to Aliyah, out in the Yarrow Gardens with hir mother. Hir heart ached for hir little girl, and shi wished shi could have brought her up properly here in the Court, but with that rank...no. Aliyah wouldn't be happy here until she bore a far more respectable rank, one that could truly show off her nobility and family pride.

This was only a first draft, of course. Shi'd wait and talk to Ceren to get her input, and then make sure that Kaeisha could add in a few words of her own to her sister. That way the kitten could get a nice long letter, full of greetings and love from her dear family. Iria brushed her fingers gently over the letter, and wished again that she could tell her daughter these words in person.

The knock at her door caught her attention, and she set the draft aside, so that her desk was clean and clear.

"Come in."[/color]

[ooc: Sorry for the delay! ;-; ]

[carcinoGeneticist]

((no worries at all <333))

At the sound of Iria's voice, Ceren could feel her heart give a little jump and a warmth spread slowly through her body. It was accompanied by a small and amused smile. Maybe it was pathetic, but she loved the Queen more than she'd ever thought would be possible - she'd been with the woman for years now, but the fact that simply hearing her lover say two short words could still effect her so strongly... It was an amazingly good feeling.

Ceren opened the door slowly, blue eyes focusing on the golden Queen. She was still smiling, but the smile was laced through with the slightest hint of shyness and anxiety. It was a strange look for the normally-confident sparrow to wear, but she couldn't help herself - this was a big step for her, one that she felt she had been preparing for all her life. In an attempt to comfort herself, she ran her fingers over the silver band on her finger. It was proof that Iria did want the sparrow as hir King. "Hello, love,[/b]" she greeted softly, then glanced over the papers on the desk. Once this was all finished, she would do what she could to help the Queen get them all sent out. "I trust the day is treating you well?[/b]"

But she couldn't wait long. She slid one hand across the desk, very gently taking the slender woman's hand into her own talon, looking at it thoughtfully. "I have two ideas that I need to present to you. The first,[/b]" she said with a small chuckle, "Is a plea from our daugher. She would like to take a trip to the capital to see a dance troupe that is supposedly passing through. I think our little girl has ambitions for what she'd like to be when she grows up...[/b]" Her expression turned serious again, and she lifted Iria's hand to her beak, giving it the best kiss she could manage.

"And I'm ready to become your King, if you'll have me.[/b]"

[Shinigami]

The moment shi saw the familiar blue-and-white feathers through the opening door, hir heart leaped in hir chest. Oh, this was far better than any random courtier coming to bother hir, or servant bringing news, anything! Hir beloved had come to visit hir, a gift that shi would never turn down in favor of anything else in the world.

"Far better now that you are here with me, my heart,"[/color] Iria replied softly as shi stood to greet Ceren, blushing happily at the warm grip upon hir hand. Then the first idea was presented to hir, and shi lit up. "Oh, that would be splendid! I've seen their troupe perform before, and they truly are skilled. And if it is what dear Kaeisha truly aspires to...well then, we'll have to make sure she gets the chance at proper dance lessons, don't you think?"[/color] Hir daughters could do as they pleased, whatever it was that made them truly happy. Shi would, of course, be thrilled if they joined hir in the Court, but if they found their calling outside of it, then so be it.

And then hir heart proceeded to nearly explode with joy at hir beloved's next words, all thoughts previous to the current moment forgotten.

"Oh!"[/color] Tears of joy filled hir eyes, and shi took momentary advantage of the Diamond flight ability to lift hirself up and over hir desk, in order to take Ceren's face in hir hands and smile radiently upward at her. "My dear one, my Ceren...nothing could please me more. You have always and ever will be the King of my heart." There was supposed to be a test of some sort (no matter how easy or hard it was), shi knew, but right now shi couldn't care less, filled with purest delight at the request.

[ooc: Ow, ow, ow, teeth...]

[carcinoGeneticist]

((seriously XDXD these two are too much.))

Seeing Iria's joy at the sight of the sparrow was enough to ease a large amount of the woman's nerves. She wasn't exactly sure what it was that made her nervous to begin with - she wasn't a stranger to the Queen, travelling to the court to try and make her presence known. She was the Queen's lover, the father of hir children, and she loved the Yarrow woman... She really had no reason to feel so nervous, but she did all the same. "She would be a beautiful dancer, I have no doubt,[/b]" Ceren murmured, imagining her daugher dressed all in the ribbons of a dancer, twirling elegantly.

At Iria's next actions, Ceren nearly jumped - the woman had leapt so quickly over the desk that the sparrow wondered for the briefest of moments whether she'd done something wrong, but when she looked down into her love's smiling face she knew that she had done something right.

The sparrow nuzzled into Iria's hands, blue eyes closing as a wide smile crossed her beak. She moved down so that she was on level with the cheetah, wraping feathery arms tightly around hir and nuzzling hir cheek. "My only regret is that it's taken me so long to reach this point,[/b]" she said softly, pulling back and resting her forehead against Iria's, thumb lightly stroking hir cheek. "What tast would you ask of my to prove my loyalty to you, my love, my Queen? Nothing is too much to ask.[/b]"

Ceren wouldn't take "nothing" for an answer. She had done her Queen a disservice by waiting so long to make this move, and she felt the need to prove herself in Iria's eyes once more.

[Shinigami]

"Both of our daughters, so graceful and beautiful. Our warrior and our dancer, so wonderful!"[/color] Letters from hir mother had indicated that Aliyah, at least, was taking to the physical training like a fish to water, though it wasn't as if the Yarrow woman would ever actually admit that to the girl's face. Not when she'd been charged to bring her so far up in rank as quickly as possible. It would just make seeing the girl when she was grown so much the sweeter.

"No regrets; never regret that. I would wait for you forever to be at my side,"[/color] Iria said, hir voice equally soft as shi leaned into the touches to hir cheek, wrapped protectively in that warm embrace like nothing else. Then shi leaned back to look into those lovely blue eyes, searching them. "A test? I couldn't possibly ask-"[/color] Iria stopped, and then nodded once. "Very well, then, my own. Speak to me. Write me a poem, beloved. Tell me of what deeds you will do as my King"

[carcinoGeneticist]

Ceren listened carefully to her instructions, gently rubbing the smooth side of her beak against the human's soft face, working hard to keep herself from becoming too distracted. The task was certainly not what she had expected, but the woman was unstoppable at this point in her life. "As you wish, my love.[/b]" she replied, voice soft. "It will be yours in three day's time.[/b]"

The arts had never been strong in Ceren, who had often found herself staring at the delicate worksmanship of her ambidexterous Queen and wishing she had some small fraction of the sheer talent that Iria possessed. The first day of work was largely spent staring at a blank scrap of parchement, occasionally scribbling some note down in the corners or doodling a stick-representation of Iria, usually surrounded by a few hearts.

These early attempts were usually crumpled up and hidden, Ceren doing her best to hide her embarrased blush.

She wasn't sure what happened on the second day, but it was as if she had caught fire with inspiration. Words flowed out from her pen and onto the paper, and though she often scratched something out to make corrections, she never once had the expression of frustration that had so often made its way onto her beak on the first. Near the end of the day she began to transfer the words over, using her neatest penmanship as she did so. She went to bed with a smile that night, saying nothing in regards to her work.

On the third day, she left for the capital, and it wasn't until much later that evening that she returned, looking exhausted but happy.

It was on that night that she knocked once more on Iria's door, feeling the familiar butterflies but also a burst of confidence from a job well done.

[Shinigami]

[ooc: Holy shit I'm so sorry this took me so long to get back to you on please don't kill me. o___o]

Shi had barely been able to sit still these past three days, and hir secretary had despaired of ever getting any completed paperwork out of hir. But how could shi not be excited? How could shi simply sit still and work as if there was nothing at all exciting, as if hir beloved were not to return to hir and finally, finally become hir King? And now it was the last day, and all of the nervous energy had come rushing out, and hir secretary had threatened to lock the door and refuse to let anyone inside hir office if shi didn't finish at least one pile of paperwork, appointment with hir King (King-to-be) be damned.

Therefor shi was taking advantage of hir particular skills, and had two smaller piles of paperwork that shi was going through at a fast clip, two at a time. There was a particular trick to reading and writing two different things at roughly the same time, but shi had quite a bit of incentive right now, enough that shi'd gotten into a bit of a rhythm. It was also enough that shi'd gotten through the first major pile of paperwork and onto the second, which made hir secretary feel a little better about the complete lack of work the previous two days.

At the knock on hir door, however, shi gathered everything and set it aside, and wished that shi could get the ink-stains off of hir fingers.

"Come in!" Shi could do nothing to disguise the excitement in his voice, and didn't even try to do so.

[carcinoGeneticist]

((my turn to be stupidly slow. ; ; Sorry sorry!))

Ceren pushed open the door slightly, peering inside and smiling warmly at the Yarrow Queen where shi sat. The woman was as beautiful, ink-stained fingers and all, and Ceren chirped a quiet greeting. It made her feel somewhat more at ease about what she was about to do, and she entered the room fully. Her hands were kept behind her back, however, and there was a small smile on her beak.

She had the poem held there, of course, but she was also holding something else. It was small and cubic, and the sparrow would do her best to keep it out of the cheetah's line of sight. That would ruin the surprise.

"My Queen,[/b]" the sparrow said formally, bowing low to the woman who sat before her. Her feathers fluffed slightly, and she raised glittering blue eyes to look at Iria directly. She'd waited so long for this moment, and now it was almost unreal, truth be told. "I have finished the task you set to me. Would you like me to recite it to you, or would you like to read it yourself? Whatever my Queen wishes, I would be happy to make it so.[/b]"

[Shinigami]

Hir heart leapt at the first sign of blue coming through the doorway, an infatuated smile quite obvious on hir own face as hir beloved entered. And just what was it that she was holding behind her back? Shi craned hir head around a little bit, but then stopped, because whatever it was that Ceren had, she doubtless had a reason and a purpose for it. Shi would be just fine waiting, even if shi simply wanted to jump up, declare Ceren hir King right there and then, and then take the both of them off to their rooms for some quality time while Kaeisha was away.

Ceren's own attitude brought hir back and grounded hir, though. Right, hir King wanted this to be something of a more formal situation. Shir settled hirself at hir desk again from where shi'd partially risen.

"These are your words, and your sentiments, dear one. Let me hear them in your own voice, so I may cherish them forever in my heart."[/color]