Aftermath [Finished]

[Vyn]

Mephit was glad to hear Pale backing her up. She could use that... hell, she could use a really really long nap after which she woke up to find she wasn't missing an integral part of her being. She highly doubted that would happen.

And then the tears stopped and Xiven really looked at her.

The doe cringed at the comment and she looked away, gritting her teeth for a second. "My secret is gone. I blacked out and now it's gone. That's all." That's all, yeah right. She shook heavily for a second and then shoved it down, it felt the most natural to tuck those emotions away... to pretend she didn't have them. Paranoia, fear... she was used to them but they all seemed so much stronger now. She felt so vulnerable, disconnected, confused.

It was so hard to ignore that missing half, but she would just have to make due for now.


Pale's attention was working wonders. The kitten had fallen into complete content and was purring away in an almost drowsy manner. Terribly easy to please, this one.

[carcinoGeneticist]

The conversation had shifted away from anything Apocalypse needed to give any input to, and he stepped aside, eyes flicking from one dark-colored woman to the other. Absently, he continued to play with the child, until a slow, genuine smile crept across his face.

Hah, if he really wanted to play the part of asshole, he could teach this little boy to follow in his half-uncle's footsteps. He knew from Rhiannon's memories that Raj had been quite the playboy, even sneaking the coyote-bat herself into a dark little corner and teaching her a thing or two. That thought turned his smile into a smirk, and he chuckled. "No, we won't teach you to be like that, will we?" he said thoughtfully, lifting the boy high into the air before placing him gently back into his bassinet, beside his sibling.

Who was, Apocalypse now noticed, quite the strange thing herself. So quiet. He reached out to the girl, lightly brushing his fingers across her chest, eyebrows furrowing. She seemed healthy enough, she just... wasn't indulging in any of the usual behaviors the man associated with children. He paused, glancing back at Xiven and Mephit, chewing his lower lip.

Both women looked... well. Neither looked good, and it made him tense slightly, keeping one ear on the conversation in case he was needed.

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven was more a than a little shocked at the woman's statement. Was that... possible? Well it clearly was but she had never heard of anything like that happening. How could an Avington forget their secret?

"I.... I'm so sorry Mephit," was all she could manage to say. Today just wasn't a good day. Maybe she should change the subject? Maybe they should just focus on something else? Or... should Mephit see one of the doctors?

The deer cat shifted at the touch of the man. A small growl bubbled up, and she quite suddenly snapped at the man's hand. Bad. She didn't want to be touched. That was probably why the nurse had picked up the other child first. This one had a rather nasty temper for a newborn. A hiss escaped the child as it proceeded to try and kick, which... was a rather lame attempt and looked more like a flail.

Xiven's ears perked at the sound.

[Vyn]

Mephit shook her head, rubbing her hands together. She couldn't stop that constant press of anxiety and it was making her sicker than she wanted to admit. Still, she'd like to see the children before she went back to her quarters.

"Don't be, this is supposed to be a happy occasion." Or was it? Xiven was terribly upset about the little mixed kitten but what of the other? She tilted her head, turning to watch the pale man setting the child into the cradle. The hissing that followed was cause for hesitance, however, and she tilted her head. Had the child gained some of her serpent or was she all cat? Whichever it was, the child sounded unhappy. "Apocalypse? Why don't you bring over the other one?" Should they name them? Did Xiven have ideas? How odd that Mephit hadn't even thought of it before, maybe she'd been too busy with her experiments? That seemed right, even though she couldn't figure out what she'd been working on.

She couldn't figure out a lot of things.

She kept talking to avoid the anxiety tearing at her thoughts. "Have you thought of any names? Did you see the little boy was a King?"


Caith giggled and mewed as he was hoisted into the air, and he pawed playfully at the pale man's blond hair as he was hoisted past it and then returned immediately to purring once he was snuggled up again. Purr, purr, purr, and his paws were rhythmically kneading at the man's bare chest once more.

And then he was back in the bassinet with his sister, and he rolled over to peer at her through big blue eyes as she kicked and hissed in anger.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Well, that wasn't at all what he'd expected. The man snapped his hand back, blinking with surprise at the bassinet, one eyebrow quirking as he stared at the girl.

For the first time, he actually looked at her, and his body went perfectly still. The eyes. Perhaps it was a strange coincidence - it must have been, in fact, because there was no way it could be anything else. But with Mephit's eyes staring out at him from a face that was not Mephit's, and Mephit herself watching him through eyes that were not her own, he couldn't help but cringe. "What the fuck.." he whispered, more to himself than anyone else, and leaned in to pick up the thrashing ball of green fur.

It was hard to hold such a wiggly, angry child, but he managed. It was a nice thing that she only had baby limbs and baby hooves, or else this whole process would have been astoundingly uncomfortable. He went to stand beside his Queen, trying to finangle the girl into a more comfortable position. His eyes flicked up and he stared at Mephit.

"She has your eyes, Mephit," he said softly, a stunned note in his voice.

[Kari Muffin]

Xiven gave Mephit a confused look. When had Mephit been interested in babies? She shifted in her bed and watched her silently for a few moments.

The baby hissed more as the man picked her up. Argh no! Down! She wanted down! People shouldn't touch her! Rawr! Of course all her protested ended up in failure, and she ultimately ended up flopping in the man's arm, twitching in protest as she was held.

"I... I haven't thought of names," Xiven said quietly as she glanced awkwardly at the protesting child. "And yes, I saw he was a King, that was part of why I was so upset I suppose."

And then she saw the other girl, her brightly colored eyes that clearly didn't match her region. What Pale had said took a minute or two to process as she remained silent, looking the child up and down. "Oh my..." was all she could do as she reached out to lightly pat the girl.

The baby snapped at the woman, who only barely pulled her hand away in time.

[Vyn]

Mephit's body jerked with a sort of horrified surprise at Pale's comment. He sounded so stunned and slowly she trailed her hand up to rest against her eyes. The whole thing made her sick to her stomach but she couldn't imagine why. Of course a child should have her eyes, right? And her fangs, for that matter... It was her child.

But then why were her eyes different now?

The doe tensed up and then looked away, as her thoughts overwhelmed her again. Slowly she closed her eyes and withdrew from the child slightly. Why did she have her eyes? When she opened her eyes again she was staring hard at the child, at the blue tree that covered her back, and hated her for a long minute.

"So she does." Was all she managed to hiss out, grimacing.


The blue-eyed King mewled miserably when his sister was taken out of the crib and floundered about until he could once again see everyone. He didn't like being alone, it was cold. The feline mix sniffled and mewed lowly. Why didn't anyone come get him?

[carcinoGeneticist]

The feeling in the room was smothering, and Apocalypse wasn't sure who he should look at, Xiven or Mephit. He wasn't exactly having an easy time holding the squirming child, especially not when she seemed so bloody determined to inflict bodily harm on whoever was closest to her. Finally, he gave up on stopping it from happening, and thrust a finger in her face. The fangs looked sharp as hell, but he'd hope her jaw strength was lacking or that she'd settle for simply sucking on his hand.

Mephit didn't seem to be holding up too well, and the man took a subconscious step back, putting a little extra space between woman and child. "Mephit," he said in a soft tone, hoping to snap her out of whatever strange thoughts she was having. He could only guess what was going through her mind, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Whatever had happened to the King, it wasn't the baby's fault. It couldn't be. She was a baby.

The mewl coming from the other child grabbed his attention, and he abruptly glanced over there. Damnit all, his attention was being wrenched in too many directions at once, and he almost growled with frustration. Slowly, he moved back to Xiven's side, extending one cat-deer so he could pick up the other.

[Kari Muffin]

Things weren't going well. Xiven's ears pressed against her skull as she watched Mephit. Guh, words. Why were they so hard to find at a time like this? Maybe it was because she was still drained... or maybe it was something else entirely.

The child ended up snapping down on the man's hand, her little fangs stung but nothing more. And ultimately she gave up trying to latch onto him when he "accepted defeat." The baby made a strangled sound when it found itself being passed off to the cat woman.

Xiven took the little girl, who flailed a bit more and snapped at the woman in vain. What had produced such an angry child. She made a annoyed sound as the child tried to gnaw on her hand. This one was getting a bottle, that was for sure.

They needed a change of something in the room. Names. Names would work. "How about Nerissa for the little girl?"

[Vyn]

Pale's soft tone struck Mephit and slowly she forced herself to loosen the knots in her muscles even if her mind kept raging. Her brilliant blue eyes opened again but they avoided the baby as much as possible.

She shouldn't be acting like this, she shouldn't... What was wrong with her? What was wrong with the child? No, nothing... It was a child, newly born, it hadn't done anything. She was just being paranoid. More likely she was being crazy, but she tried not to think of that.

Xiven's train of thought was better, it was distracting. "Nerissa... I like it." She searched her mind, looking for things that she could recall clearly through the haze of her thoughts. A little King from a story finally came to mind. "Caith? For the boy?" Better, better... Distracting herself helped, she didn't have to obsess over herself.


In the pen the King was still crying, mewling, and generally trying to get attention. It wasn't fair that he was alone, it wasn't!