The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[Coquette Blacquin]

Cindy snorts. "He's not. Cedric is... solid. Earnest, but he hides it behind a mask of coolness. Nothing like my Zev."

[Zevran]

"Oh my yes, he is very earnest," Zevran agrees, brightening at the pet name. "Reminds me of Claudia in that way."

"W-What?" 

"Oh yes," Estelle agrees, patting the flustered woman's cheek. "Earnest and sweet."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I wish you could meet him. Well, I have every reason to believe he'll be back in a couple years, when the babe is born."

[Estelle Emerison]

Claudia babbles excitedly about the baby for a minute or so as Estelle worries at her lip. Finally, she breaks into the conversation to ask, "is there... I'm sorry, I have to ask, to be sure; will this affect the babies? Is there anything special you need to be healthy?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

"No, I don't -- I don't think so. It's not a magical thing or a, a bloodline thing. It's just me." She gives a self-deprecatory laugh. "Apparently I've undergone some trauma."

[Zevran]

"The three leading theories on 'why' are early childhood trauma inflicting so much soul damage that the young soul splinters and Ciren reinforces it so it's not... lost, that the soul was originally a composite soul made from damaged souls that Astea was attempting to fully heal through mortal living or that it's actually an injury to the mind, not the soul," Zevran explains in a gentle, brisk voice. "What kind of injury varies, but the more plausible ones are essentially the same as the first soul theory, just mental, or that all mortals have alters but, with a healthy childhood-- or at least close to healthy-- they merge into one personality or one is simply dominant so the others fade away."

At the looks from the others, he shrugs a little. "I made time to pick up some reading material and speak to a few healers and scholars will I was--" his expression twists as the Secrecy Curse shifts inside him warningly, "--running errands."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"I don't....  feel as if my soul was damaged. Wouldn't you know?

[Estelle Emerison]

"Yes, but... also no," Estelle answers after a moment of silence. "If your soul-- or any of our souls for that matter-- were damaged even a third as much as implied, we would absolutely notice it happening unless ten times as much effort was spent to occlude the pain and.. wrongness. But souls can heal, and more, they can adapt. If it happened long enough ago, it would simply be how things are now. And at that age, your mind would very likely reject the memory of the breaking, burying it as deep as possible."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Cheery," she notes. "When I was young my parents had a vested interest in keeping me functional. It was only later that it was clear I was... not what they wanted."

[Claudia Emerison]

"Well, fuck them with a broken beaker!" Claudia shakes one tiny fist in the air, a deep scowl on her face. "We want you, just as you are now."

[Coquette Blacquin]

For a moment Coquette seems younger than Claudia. "You... you do?" she asks, in a small, uncertain voice.

[Estelle Emerison]

"We do," Estelle insists gently. "I... I don't know you as well as I wish I did. I can be... prideful. And cautious. Reserved. It is..." She licks her lips, for once not seductively. "Difficult, for me to reach out to people. But want to-- no, I will get closer to you. If you want, I mean!"

[Coquette Blacquin]

Her smile turns a little colder, a little less shy. "Yes," she purrs. "We would love to get to know you both better."

[Estelle Emerison]

Estelle tilts her head to the side, the open, vulnerable expression on her face fading to show a more playful one. "Do you now?" Estelle murmurs, gaze intent. "Well, if you--" Her caressing words break off abruptly and her gaze turns contemplative and perhaps a little perplexed. "Multiples... hmm. I believe I have Noire's interest and consent for intimate exploration, but do have that of the others?"

[Coquette Blacquin]

Noire looks startled. "Why would that matter? If they do not wish to see, they may simply turn away."