Destiny laughed at that. "That's so cool! You should make more names like that 'cause they sound so good!" the platypus encouraged. She didn't know where those names would actually end up, but... well, it was something. And Destiny genuinely liked the name Emendri, even if it was hard for her to pronounce. She was sure she'd get used to it, anyway. Destiny thought she was getting better at not stuttering, too! She gave a little chuckle. "I know, I know! I can swear too. It just feels... well, funny. It doesn't sit well on my tongue." She gave a little shrug. "...a-and 'sides, I dunno if it'd sit well with others. They're just words, really. Funny, rude words but... words all the same." she laughed.

"I think you're right. About n-not... sugarcoating anything. I mean... I'd know, right?" She lowered her voice as though in secrecy. "I... I want them to be prepared."

Destiny had to think on the idea of a curfew. That was a new one! she'd never had a curfew, but then again, she'd found her home in the riverbanks. She'd had no moms or dads or... anything of the sort. Likewise, she'd been largely oblivious to the passing of time for most of her life. Even though the lights dimmed and pulsed, oftentimes they were too high to reach. "Rules... uh... be nice. Yeah. If you get hurt, come home to your mommas. Uh... Don't eat anything that talks... or just don't eat anything unless we say it's okay for a while. 'Cause some things could be poisonous to the little'ns." Destiny seemed on a roll.

But she still didn't know about a curfew. When Destiny had first emerged, she waddled about like the caves were her oyster, at least until she found a home in Polaris. She didn't wanna feel like she was taking away that chance from them... But what if they went away and never came back? she wanted to be there as they grew. She wanted to be a part of their life. She wanted to spend with them every day she had left.

"Perhaps... maybe... uh..."

At a loss for words, Destiny was silent.

@Fira

Fira listened and nodded along with Destiny’s words, adding in Mm-hmm’s every now and then because she kept remembering that the platypus couldn’t see her nodding anymore. “Yeah, not eating talking Gembounds is an important one,” she agreed, wondering not for the first time exactly what her children would eat. She had the sudden image of a platypus with teeth and vigorously shook her head to make the creepy thought go away, hoping beyond hope that that wouldn’t happen to either child.

At Destiny’s stuttering silence, Fira nudged her friend. “It’s alright, Destiny,” she said. “I think that’s good enough for now. We have time to think about this still.” With a contented sigh, she looked out across the river, feeling a bit better about everything.

Words: 127 @Destiny

Destiny dipped her bill in a nod. That certainly wouldn't be very nice... A shudder ran down her spine, and she couldn't help it leaking into her stance. she shifted her paws, before settling down and allowing herself to lay, limbs splayed out in all directions. "...Most important I'd say. That'd be... horrible..." She couldn't help but fall silent, chills riding up and down her spine at the thought. With a small twitch of her bill, she tried to shake it away.

Slowly, she drew her bill back into a smile. "Well, we gotta talk about it sometime," she replied, pulling herself back together. This was family they were talking about. Family! something she'd been thinking about forever. She wanted to be the best momma she could be, and she wanted to do it right. Maybe she'd come with them a few times, then there'd be a curfew, and then they'd be allowed to wander all on their own. Well, they'd still need to come back and visit of course. A little shard of worry lingered. What if they never came back?

"Do you think I'll make a good Momma?" she asked Fira. "Even though I'm blind and... maybe I don't know enough about this?"

@Fira

Fira laughed at Destiny’s question, picking up that concerned tone she often held in her voice when talking about herself. “Man, Destiny, you gotta start believing in yourself, remember? If anyone would be good at motherhood it’s you. You’ve got more maternal instinct than anyone else I know. Not that I know many Gembounds, but that’s not the point.” She paused, nosing her friend’s cheek in a friendly gesture. “Being a good mom isn’t about whether you can see, or even how much you know about motherhood. Being a good mom is about having a good heart. About being kind and loving and gentle. And you’ve got tons of that stuff — a lot more than me.”

She laid her head on her paws, gazing out across the water. “You’ll do fine. I promise. And we’ll have each other, so it won’t be too bad. One more rule, though. We are to never ever hurt our kids. I don’t care if they’ve been bad or not. If anyone ever so much as glares at our kids I’m gonna tear ‘em down. Maybe that’s too much, but that’s just me. I’m a big leopard with claws and fangs. I’m a hunter. Protection means violence if it comes to that… Although… I’d much rather not have to get physical.”

Words: 216 @Destiny

Destiny listened, and couldn't help but feel embarrassment bubbling in her chest as Fira complimented her, again and again. She let out a little giggle, before covering her bill with a webbed paw. "Aw, that's sweet..." she chuckled eventually. "I... I s'pose that's right. Ya could know everything about being a mom but then you could be real mean..." she understood now. A little flower of hope blossomed in her chest and she thought about the future. Destiny would be a good mom if it killed her!

...Well...

Slowly becoming aware of Fira again from moments of being lost in thought, she slowly nodded so as not to make herself dizzy. "And if anyone else hurts them I'll... I'll..." Destiny's voice rose abruptly, but then she just as quickly fell silent. She didn't know what she'd do. She didn't... want to hurt anyone. But if anyone hurt them, she wouldn't be happy. "...I'll tell you..." meekly she finished, nodding, although now frustration had begun to tug at her heartstrings. Grrr! I wanna... I wanna do something... more...

@Fira

Fira noted the tonal change in Destiny’s words. She couldn’t tell what emotion the platypus was feeling exactly, but she could tell it was something worse than before. “You don’t have to beat Gembounds up to be a good mom, Destiny,” she assured her. “Let me be the tough mom. You can be the sweet one. Our kids are gonna need balance, after all, right? What if they just had me? They’d never learn to be gentle. That’s something I have a hard time with. I don’t know how to turn off my ‘tough girl’ attitude sometimes.” She sighed. “Sorry about that, by the way. I’m sorry I can’t be… you know… all loving and… whatever. It’s just not me.”

Words: 120 @Destiny -- sorry it's late and short. I had a busy last few days! <3

Destiny listened for a while, but was unsure whether to nod, or shake or... well, do anything, really. "But what if you're not around one time? I wanna be able to do what you can do, when you can't," Destiny murmured, thoughtfully- if a little sadly. Though, she tried to hide it as best she could. She dipped her head to think about it more however, and couldn't resist a little grin sneaking into her bill- one that she couldn't hide.

"Maybe we can teach each other?" she asked hopefully. "You can teach me how to protect them, and then I can teach you how to teach them how to be sweet." the hope on her face was almost heartbreaking; it was as though the world was really that simple. In response to her sudden apology, Destiny giggled.

"Are you kidding? I love that." she assured. "Wouldn't be you if you were all smoochy and... and all that jazz..."

@Fira

Fira was trying to be rational about all of this, but it was hard. On one hand, Destiny had a point. What if Fira wasn’t around one time and the babies needed protection? Destiny needed to know how to protect them. But… who was gonna teach her how to fight? Fira? No way. The leopard was so much bigger than her, she might seriously hurt her if she tried. Besides, Destiny was a platypus — and blind — and often had debilitating headaches. And she was slow and waddling and… Fira couldn’t even imagine Destiny in a fight against anyone. She’d get her ass handed to her, if not outright killed.

“Umm…” she began, trying to think of the best way to tell her friend that fighting wasn’t really… gonna be easy or good for her. “I mean… maybe I can teach you some stuff. Like… evasion tactics or something. We’ll… we’ll see.” Fira was relieved when Destiny steered the conversation elsewhere, telling her that she loved her tough side. The leopard chuckled. “Heh. Yeah, well, I’m glad you like me as I am cos… I don’t know if I can change much…” She nudged Destiny playfully. “And don’t you go changing either. I like you just the way you are.”

Words: 209 @Destiny

Silence for a few moments greeted her, and Destiny twiddled with the earth beneath her paws as she waited. Nothing... the platypus' hopeful little face fell slightly, though her smile remained. Though there was a little detail which, as of yet, remained unknown even to her. On the backs of her ankles, the little platypus possessed venomous spurs, tiny spikes that had never been used or even noticed before. In some ways, this could be seen as unusual, especially for her. But she'd never known or seen herself any different. She was the way she wanted to be, and not even a rudimentary knowledge of her own kind would convince her otherwise.

As mentioned before though, the little lady had no idea.

"Oh, I'd love that! Maybe we can work our way up to bigger things. Couple of go's a day maybe. And then I'll get better, bit by little bit." Ever-hopeful, Destiny was excited to get started and seemed as though it would be tough to convince her otherwise. She giggled. "Well, I do! So, that's that." she gave an affirmative nod, only to find herself dizzy and having to re-steady herself. "...Well, I won't, either! Only if you need me to. Or the b-babies do. B-but, I'm still gonna be me, and there's not much you can do to change that!"

@Fira

Destiny sure was a feisty one when she wanted to be, and Fira couldn’t help but grin at her. Sometimes the platypus seemed so down on herself, yet other times she was so full of hope for the future. Fira didn’t know what to think of these ups and downs. Perhaps Destiny would be different if she had no knowledge of her death, but there was no point in imagining such a thing. The truth was, Destiny did know she was going to die, and Fira was sure it had affected her deeply. And, unfortunately, there wasn’t much either of them could do about that.

“Don’t change, Destiny,” she said quietly, laying her head on her paws. “You don’t need to. Just… just be happy, okay? We’re gonna have kids, remember? When you get sad, just think about your kids.” That was the best Fira could do. She wasn’t much for mushy emotional crap. She hoped that would be enough to see her friend through to the end. Whenever that happened…

[Exit Fira]

Words: 171 @Destiny