Visiting the cousins

[Darastrix]

Zira hugs Acqua back gently with his wings, since he has Autumn in his arms. "Isn't she?" He looks at Zack and smiles. "And quite obviously her father's daughter. Now, who is this?" he asks, lightly stroking Letha's cheek with his fingertips.


Dream doesn't seem to mind, purring happily at being fussed over by her mother.

~She's so weird,~ Erebus says to his siblings.

[Northen Light36]

"This is Letha," Acqua replies, giving her youngest child an adoring look. "My baby girl."

"She's my sister!" Bas pipes up, bouncing on the sofa.

"Robin's my bother!" Pas adds, form his place on the floor, carefully holding his sleeping brother in his lap. "But all he do is sleep and make mess." Acqua smiles at her oldest son.

"He'll play with you when he's bigger," she promised. "Be careful, Pas. Stop bouncing, Bas."

[Darastrix]

"They're lovely children, Acqua," Zira replies as Zack moves to take Autumn into his own arms.

"Hey there, pretty girl," Zack coos softly to his daughter.

Zira smiles and kneels down on the floor to pet Faith and the small herd of cats. "It's nice to see you all, too."

~I know a secret!~ Erebus tells Acqua in a self-important voice.

[Northen Light36]

"Oh really, Erebus?" Acqua says, kneeling to pet the kitten. "And what secret is that? Have you been stealing from the kitchens here?" She grins and tickles him under the chin.

[Darastrix]

~Shh! Don't you know what a secret is?~ Forces, humans. ~And Zack does that for me,~ he tells her, tilting his little chin up.

Zack just looks at Acqua and Erebus, chuckling softly. He's got no idea what Erebus is saying, but he's not really concerned.

Erebus purrs softly and continues in a 'whisper.' ~He wants to ask Dream's person to be, um....~ What's the human word? ~his lifemate,~ he finishes, deciding it was close enough.

[Northen Light36]

Acqua chuckles softly at Erebus' first comment, then smiles boardly at the announcement of Zack's plans. 'That's wonderful,' she thinks back at the kitten. 'Do you know when Zack's going to ask?'

[Darastrix]

~Nope,~ Erebus replies, licking one paw. ~Something something about the dove having a lot of standing among other humans and HE isn't sure what will happen if they do become lifemates. He's being silly.~ But then, Zack often was.

[Northen Light36]

'We humans can be silly like that,' Acqua thinks back, thinking of her ten year wait on Mat with a rueful smile. 'That's why Etaf blessed us with you and your family, isn't it?'

~Erebus, Kitten, I didn't raise you to be so rude as to leave people out of your conversations,~ Faith scolds.

"Sorry Faith," Acqua replies. "How's life been for you and Zack, Zira?" She can't resist giving Zack a bit of a knowing grin.

[Darastrix]

"Busy, but good," Zira answers, scratching Faith gently between the ears. "Despite the annoyance of having to deal with certain people at times, I really do enjoy it here. I wish it hadn't taken so long to find where 'home' for me was, but I'm glad I finally did."

Zack tilts his head at Acqua, wondering what the look was for, then turned his head to look at Zira, smiling at his words. "I think I can make my home just about anywhere, so long as the pair of us can be together. So, in short, things really couldn't be better." Well, almost, anyway.

[Northen Light36]

"I don't know how you stand it," Acqua murmurs, giving Zira a midly admiring look. "I know Amaro, vortai and I are technically nobles, but I couldn't stand spending any time around the sort of people you see at the palace in Talen'sul."

[Darastrix]

"There are people in a few of the noble houses here that I'm rather fond of," Zira says with a smile. "That and the fact that some of them like to talk about how ridiculous some of the others and the courtiers are goes a long way to making things bearable."

"And Az' doesn't attend court regularly," Zack adds. "Partly because I can fill him in on stuff since I live here and play in court. And he's friends with Dusk and Sunray, too, so he can talk to them directly if he needs to."

"And my province is a fair distance from the capitol, so I have that as an excuse as well, even though my sign makes it easy to go back and forth as needed."

[Northen Light36]

"Lucky you," Acqua remarks. "Of course, Amaro's attuitude is famous enough that no one even considers asking him to do anything noblish."

"What's an pro- prov-ance?" Bas asks curiously, holding her arms up to Zira. "Up please."

[Darastrix]

"Anarlina's lands are divided into provinces," Zira tells her, pulling the cat-Beast into his arms. "And each province is run by a noble. The kingdom is...it's kind of like a really big guild," he says, thinking that she might understand this better since she does know Cass. "The guild leader can't take care of everything by himself, so he divides the work among other members."

[Northen Light36]

Bas thinks about that then says, "Daddy, Aunt Cass and Uncle Amaro run their guilds on their own," she protests.

Acqua winces as Bas mentions 'Daddy's guild'.

[Darastrix]

"Cass doesn't," Zack interjects. He doesn't know how Amaro's guild is set up, but he knows the bards. And he'd just met Mat, so he just files that information away for later, provided Bas is right about it. Kids that age, you never know. "She's the Maestra, but she doesn't do everything on her own. That's what the guild council is for. If the bard guild was a kingdom, Cass would be the queen, and the council would be the nobles."