Giggle paused, turning, peering at her son as he... sank down. She hadn't expected that; she'd expected anger, most likely. She was surprised--not disappointed, exactly (being soft was not a weakness, in her eyes).
"I figured you'd be more angry," she noted aloud, surprised.
"You--are allowed to be, and all that; you're the King and I did it without your permission." Almost puzzled. She feared, too often, that he'd be afraid or reluctant to speak out against her, given her spot as her son; she wasn't ever afraid to point that out to him. But then again, would even Aza'zel have been angry-?
No, she thought;
he'd have been afraid.
"Sometimes you're more like your father than I realize," the hyena said abruptly, gently--warmly, even. She shook her head, as if to dismiss the entire thing, and kept on toward the bone pit.
"You're both gentle souls. I'm sorry--I think it bothered you more than I realized. The fungus, I mean."
Half of her mind, though, was rebelling against the idea of destroying it. It could be useful. It was a part of the enemy, supposedly; it was harmless, as it was. And in secret, briefly, she resolved (without conscious thought so much as a decision already debated) to ask the bones about it, later.
"I don't know if I can find the... wild fungus, but I can try. Maybe we should both search it out," she added, thoughtful;
"maybe the Bonebound in general should hunt it, work toward it. One of us can hang back, cleanse the other one just in case, once we're done. I had to search out Lessers near Cetus. Find one that had some fungus on it, lure it in with a banana, pull it off it, carry it back on a stick. It wasn't a nest on its own, or I'd have destroyed it," she explained.
"I think Astraea was right when he said it'll just be lurking around, in places."
Ahh... the bone pit. She paced to its edge, looking it over with a little sigh.
"Back to Damask," she said, aloud. How to bring this-
There is still nothing, Omen cut in, breaking her thoughts. It wasn't in words, but it was a tentative, shy report, almost as though the bird just wanted attention.
Thank you, sister-daughter, Giggle thought back, warmly, a mental caress against the bird's mind. Acknowledgment--gratitude; Omen seemed lonely. She'd have to spend time with her later, then. For a moment, Giggle cast out her own mind, half-reminded by the Hallowed Caller. She checked that they were still well and truly alone before continuing, her senses creeping out through the fungus and finding nothing, no one, nearby.
The hyena turned her attention back to the bones, plucking out a small, robust one, a long--rib, or something like?--thick for its size, but still relatively tiny.
Shrinking away, but tough, she said to herself, and carried it to the ledge above the pit.
There she turned, lobbing it in, and watched.
Her mind, as always, picked pattern from seeming chaos, and she began to speak thoughtfully.
"As for how to bring things up with Damask; the bones speak of... life. Of things coming together. Maybe... a sibling? I don't see how that helps us talk to her, but they might be suggesting she gets someone younger to teach, in turn. Maybe that would help her confidence," Giggle said, contemplating half-doubtfully.
"Or it might mean finding someone her age to train with. Do we have anyone-?" And here she glanced to Aure, brows drawn down in thought. She didn't
think so, but...
"This bone splits off from the others, and leaves the other ones in chaos. Hrmph. I don't think it matters how we address it to her, then. I think it means she'll put a barrier between herself and us, and there'll be chaos for awhile. Maybe not permanent--the bones didn't mention that before. But for awhile, at least. She'll get upset, and maybe leave--she'd need to be alone, I think. I'm not sure why everything would get so... disjointed; maybe something else will happen, too. But I think this is two suggestions--to get her someone else, a friend, a sibling, someone; and just to talk to her however, since the end result, I think, will be the same."
Giggle paused, then glanced to Aure.
"-That, or they think she's going to have a kid of her own. She's too young for that--too immature. As her father, I hope you've told her how all that works, and warned her against it until she's ready. If you haven't... you might want to," Giggle added, in quiet warning. She couldn't imagine Damask trying to raise kids, not yet; maybe it'd mature her some, or maybe it would just drive her into hiding with a child, her own fears making everything a thousandfold worse. It wasn't worth the risk, in the hyena's mind. Damask just wasn't
healthy enough yet to be responsible for someone else's well-being, too.
rain stock: D Sharon Pruitt wiki commons; hyena Benjamin Hollis on flickr