Blood from Stone [AU]

[Varric]

"That's good. Or, if you want, you can just say you're... having Dau thoughts and just want to sit here with me for a spell. That'll be fine too," Varric offers.

[Carver Amell]

He swallows, nodding. "Or something."

[Varric]

"Or something," he agrees with a wan smile. "Go get showered, you have a long day ahead of you." He pauses, then adds, "day off, come to think of it. Well timed. You should show Jassinth Blossom Park, so he knows how to get there in case he needs nature around him when you're at work or the like."

[Carver Amell]

"Oh, good idea. He'd like that, I bet." Carver's smile is no more genuine than Varric's, but he tries. "Thanks, Dad."

[GamesMaster]

Across down, a very different son and his very different dad relax on the upper-floor terrace of a very different home. One of the best features about the Goldclaw Estate, as it's now called, is the fourth-floor entertaining space; most homes put bedrooms at the top, and perhaps an attic storage space, but the Estate had a basement for storage, so the attic had been turned into a lounge for the men to retire to smoke cigars, play cards, and so on during a formal dinner party. Don had furnished it very differently, of course; there were books up here, comfortable furnishings, an area to be social or an area to study. And the terrace, where the cigar smoke could have drifted away freely, instead held a pair of reclining benches positioned to allow one to take in the stars while having perhaps a drink.

As Don and Cadmus were doing now, in fact. 

"Father," says Don, abruptly, looking up at the stars. They are, of course, speaking catfolk, and so the construction of his next sentence is a little awkward: "Would the humans call Mriy my mother?" 

[NPCs]

Cadmus pauses mid sip, slowly glancing over with just his eyes. "By outsider standards, I suppose she would be," he allows. It saddens me that you must struggle with these thoughts my son. I am proud of you that you are willing to do so however. And relieved that, if one of your generation must, it is you. Of all of you, I trust that you will best understand outsider ways without straying from our traditions.

[GamesMaster]

"Did you ever argue about what to do with a kit?" Don asks, still looking up at the stars. "You kept twins -- did you consider splitting us up? How did you make these decisions?" How do I make these decisions?

[NPCs]

"Oh yes," Cadmus says with a chuckle. "Mriy did have some interest in claiming Ari. It was her being a twin that changed her mind. She was never all that impressed with the... prestige of my title after all. But I needed an heir and splitting up twins is... rarely a wise choice." He shrugs a little. "I had some unrelated apprentices, of course." And still does, thankfully, given both of his children are... unlikely to take his position, to put it lightly. "But there is much to be said for having the care of raising someone from a kitten."

[GamesMaster]

"After Miki, neither of you wanted more? Was one for each always the plan? Did you decide in advance to have me, or did it just sort of happen on accident?"

[NPCs]

That gets a real laugh from Cadmus. "You were planned and plotted, yes, though I was unaware of it!" he chortles. "I had thought Mriy rather... dismissive of my suitability at the time- not yet Keeper and just having started making a name for myself really. I was... rather surprised when she oh so sweetly informed me we would be sharing heats. Certainly pleased, I could not imagine a finer mate to breed kittens with." 

He pauses then, frowning slightly. "What brings theses questions to you son?"

[GamesMaster]

"Beth's pregnant," he says quietly. "It's... different, than the others. I don't know how to broach the topic of whose kit it will be. I didn't know she was-- she says she made a mistake and I accept that," he corrects, changing course. 'I accept that' is a handy phrase, one Cadmus has passed on to his son; it's not the same as 'I believe her', but it's close enough kin not to be able to take offense.

"With the others it was clear it would be their kit, not mine. This is... different."

[NPCs]

"Ah," Cadmus says, the word filled with meaning. "Yes. It is. What will you do?" It's not quite the Keeper asking that, but it's not his father either. His teacher, his mentor, perhaps.

[GamesMaster]

"I have told her I need space," he says, his tone still soft. "I was.. hurt, that she did not discuss this with me. I knew that was not a fair position to bargain from. Now... Now, I do not know. I cannot play human with her; she accepts this. I had thought to speak to her before a kit was made, but... Perhaps we will alternate, as you and Mriy did. Twins run in both our families; perhaps it will be twins. I had thought that perhaps, were it twins, I would claim one but we would raise them together, so that they are not split up. But that... is a fantasy, isn't it? If Mriy had claimed Ari, even more would have come between us than it has."

[NPCs]

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I... She has been very accepting," Cadmus admits, a touch begrudgingly, a touch respectfully. Were she a catfolk, she would be nearly perfect, a wonderful helpmate to stand behind him. But she is not. I sometimes- often- wish she were not so willing to accept and adapt to our ways, so you would have to choose. Then I feel shame, for I am your father, not just your Keeper. 

"It is possible she might accept such. And we are prone to multiple births, especially my line. Miki is one of only four single births in ten generations after all." He sips his drink. "But you need to start thinking what you will do if she is not willing to bend any further."

[GamesMaster]

"If she cannot bend, I walk away," he says quietly. "The Tethras family is honorable. Carver would never let harm come to his sister's kits. They would be raised well, but they would be raised to be human."

He sighs, swirling his drink. "If they come out pure catfolk, I should claim them."