Blood from Stone [AU]

[GamesMaster]

Seeing her lip bite, he takes a step toward her, lifting a paw. He pauses, however, lowering his gaze. "I... Were I human, this would be a proposal," he says, softly. "I do want to be with you. I want to be involved in the kits' lives. I want to be a good father. But I can't do that, and you know the reasons why. If that... if that's important to you, now that you're faced with the reality of the situation, I understand."

[Bethany]

"No!" Bethany swallows, eyes flying open. "I don't need rings or papers. If you- if you promise me, to- to stay. To love me, I..." She swallows again. "As long as you love me and stay with me... I will be content." I don't want to marry. I know it's... strange, given Malcolm but... I'd rather risk a Malcolm leaving me without recourse than finding myself bound to a Leandra.

[GamesMaster]

"I do love you, Beth," he whispers. "I could never give you up, not just to appease my Tribe. You're the best thing in my life."

He takes a breath, closing his eyes a moment as he composes himself. "It has been pointed out to me that it is likely we will have twins. I am a twin, and you are a twin, and most in my family have been twins."

[Bethany]

"...Leandrea is a twin too," Bethany admits. "We- reliable spells won't be able to tell for another two months. Well. Two months assuming they're not elf or merikos elf."

[GamesMaster]

"....elf," he says flatly.

[Bethany]

Bethany blinks. "My- Malcolm is a pureblood elf so... it's unlikely but possible," she reminds him.

[GamesMaster]

He take a deep breath, lets it out slowly. "That. Changes things," he admits. "I had quite forgotten. Ah." 

He flicks his tail again. "I was going to suggest, ah, when we discover the race... if the kits are human, I would request that you claim them. Let me extend this now to elven kits as well. I cannot, I do not feel comfortable trying to impart a racial identity into children that I do not hold and have never been even adjacent to."

[Bethany]

Bethany licks her lips, her expression going conflicted and tense. "I... I actually... wanted to talk about that," she says carefully. "I... I can't..." She takes a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. "That's where I can't bend. I'm sorry that I have to... do this while I'm already... carrying your children. But I can't do that. They're our children, Don. Both of ours."

[GamesMaster]

He swallows. "I... Beth," he sighs, rubbing at his ear. As she starts to reply, he holds up a paw, asking for a moment to collect his thoughts. 

"Mriy was around for my entire childhood," he suggests, softly. "She babysat for Ari and I, taught us to fight and to read. We all understood that Miki was hers, and we were our father's, but it didn't surprise me at all when Father admitted that we came from her body. She was something like a parent to me, and I would model that for our children. But I cannot... I cannot reject the ways of my people entirely. I'm sorry, I just can't."

[Bethany]

"But it's not entirely!" Beth protests. "You're not marrying. You give nearly everything you make or earn to the Tribe. You follow Bharnarol. You still live in Cattown. You sire kits with others. Why can't you... why can't we have this?"

[GamesMaster]

"I ask myself that frequently," he mutters, his tail lashing once more. "There is also the matter of where you will live, where our kits will live. There is the matter of their religion, what they will be taught."

[Bethany]

"Cattown, with us in Cattown, that's their choice but I would support them following Bharnarol and would also honor Him in our house, along with them and you, and as much as I possibly can," Bethany says instantly. She's picked up more than a little of the ideals, if not the faith, of her adopted parents after all.

[GamesMaster]

"You... want to move to Cattown?" he asks, blinking. 

[Bethany]

Bethany gives him an amused look. "Don, I work there four days out of the week, I visit nearly everyday and I sleep there at least twice a week as well. I like Cattown. It... could use some loving care, but it's..." She shrugs a little. "I like living in Nyra but a part of me misses living in a small village. Cattown is like having both."

[GamesMaster]

"You don't spend the night," he points out. "I only sleep there half my nights. Cattown is loud, it stinks, and it's unsafe, doubly so for skins. The guard treat with us the worst of everywhere, even other parts of Coalside. If you moved into my flat, you'd be sharing with Ari, Miki, and Niki and her main squeeze Chell. Not that I couldn't afford better, but it would displace at least four others if I bought a place to myself."