The platypus was happily lazing in the water by their den. She was floating, twitching her flippers to stay still against the softly tugging current, and occasionally popping her bill above the surface to take a breath. The cold waters did wonders for the aggravation her gem caused, both on her skin and with the headaches, and some days she even found it hard to leave.

She knew where their den was and all, but... it was so nice to take all that weight away. It was just sad she couldn't sleep here.

Still, the little souls residing in those vibrant chrysali needed her, and in many cases she pulled herself out and wandered back up to the den just to check on them. She'd nose around and maybe talk to the unresponsive rocks for a while and make sure she didn't think they were hurting or broken, or worse... like any worried mother should.

That as well, Destiny kept on trying to hone her senses, to hear those little heartbeats that maybe she'd be able to hear one day. Or maybe she'd listen out for those passing by, to make sure they were safe. Or she'd sniff the air, or... well, she couldn't see, there was that. But there had to be another way, surely. Destiny was determined that there was another way!

She considered it as she rested in those cool waters. That was the best place she had to her thoughts...

@Fira

Fira had been trying to give Destiny some space for a while, since she knew the poor platypus was constantly in pain. That’s why she went out hunting so much, why she spent so much time downriver from the den. And… to be honest, she was feeling rather out of touch with her best friend. She wasn’t gonna lie to herself. This… children thing… that she’d done with Destiny… It all felt rather forced. Too much too soon. But she was never going to tell Destiny that. It would crush her little soul, and Destiny needed as much happiness in her life as possible right now.

It was just… Well, Fira didn’t think she was putting her life ‘on hold’ or anything. Because, really, what would she have been doing right now had she not been with Destiny? Roaming aimlessly around the Caves without a purpose? Most likely. It was just… Fira was very much… un-domestic. You could say she “wore the pants in the family.” She wouldn’t go so far as to say that she should have been born a male. She liked her physical sex and her gender just fine. It was just that she wasn’t cut out for this… motherhood.

All these thoughts collided through her head as she made her way towards Destiny, making sure to make lots of noise so that the platypus could hear her. When she reached her, she stood on the bank with her front paws in the water. “Can I talk to you, Destiny?” she asked, feeling a squirming in the pit of her stomach that told her she was nervous.

Words: 271 @Destiny

Destiny's trancelike state was broken as she heard a distant voice, but far from being annoyed at being disturbed, the voice made happiness send a thrill through her chest. She popped her bill above the water as she swam towards the shore and came to a halt when she could feel the sediment beneath her paws. She knew that Fira was nearby, and she held her breath and focused her senses as she tried to figure out exactly where.

Within moments, she felt the telltale surge of energy tingling through her gem, and felt Fira's heartbeat softly thrumming through her. She grinned, and waddled over to where she could feel it coming from. "F-Fira!" she called excitedly. "I've been waiting for you! she chattered, coming to a halt in the shallows.

"Wh-whattaya need?"

She seemed pleased with herself, especially for seeking out Fira all by herself. Although the platypus was too embarrassed to seek out the leopard herself and liked it when she went off and made her own way, she felt like she wanted to spend more time together. Not that she'd say so of course. She was too polite...

@Fira

At Destiny’s obvious excitement, all of the thoughts in Fira’s head came to a screeching and final halt. She sighed softly, realizing that talking about any of this with her friend would only cause her pain. Except now she was stuck. She’d asked to talk with the platypus, so now she would be expected to say something. “Um…” she began awkwardly. “What do you wanna name our kids?” The words came out without thought, and she was surprised at first, but then she realized that they were gonna need to have this conversation anyways. She made her way over to her best friend and lay down in front of her so that they were on the same level. Not that such an action really mattered anymore since Destiny was blind, but… she knew Destiny enjoyed physical contact, and that would be easier if she was lying down. The leopard reached out and gave the platypus a nudge so that she’d know exactly where she was.

Words: 165 @Destiny

Destiny waited expectantly for the words to come, and when they did so they were met without a trace of disappointment or suspect. The platypus grinned, opening her bill wide, her empty eyes shining with happiness. "O-oh, I've been thinking about this! I t-totally forgot! I've been thinkin' and thinkin aaaand... Well, ah-ha, can't think of much." She giggled. "Do you have any ideas too? I can only think of boring manes like spotty or fuzzy." The platypus rambled a little, eagerly throwing herself at the topic but at the same time, very unsure. "Maybe um, ah... F-Frisky? Tango? Lucky?"

Destiny thought hard, and quickly decided that Lucky was a terrible idea. Feeling Fira's nudge, she felt pleased that she'd found her friend's location and swung her head around, reaching out to bump back. "On second thought, not lucky..."

@Fira

Fira blinked at all of Destiny’s names. She tried to stop herself from bursting out laughing, but she just had to get it out. She guffawed loudly before finally pulling herself together. “Destiny,” she began, trying to catch her breath. “Those are like… pet names. We’re not naming Lesser Gembounds. We’re naming our children. We gotta thinking about what those names are gonna sound like when they’re older.” She thought for a few moments, trying to think of names she would give her children so that they wouldn’t hate her when they were older. “Well… we’re gonna have two kids. And we don’t know what gender they are. So. We gotta come up with two girl names and two boy names.”

Fira wasn’t very good at giving names, either. She’d just been born knowing her name. “I was thinking maybe… one girl name could be Faith or Hope or something. Something reminiscent of your name. Destiny. It sounds so awe-inspiring. So if you put ‘em together, there’d be… Faith and Destiny, or Hope and Destiny. Which one sounds better?”

Words: 180

Destiny heard Fira laugh, and felt bashful, embarrassment making her skin prickle. "O-oh, that's okay," she said, forcing out a chittering laugh herself. "I dunno. Pet names aren't bad though, are they?" Destiny asked worriedly. She didn't want their little ones to be teased, and Destiny felt like her names would be a little silly. Listening to Fira though brought a new sense of happiness to her chest. Faith and Hope... Those were nice ideas. Destiny thought about it some more, using Fira's ideas as a basis. "I... I d-don't care if they're a boy or a girl. they can h-have any name they like," she replied honestly, sweet innocence on her face. "I... I like Joy. A-and, I thought of another one. Miracle. They'll be our little Miracle."

Destiny's stance seemed to shift to one of pride. Joy, or Miracle. She liked those, but maybe she'd even think of better ones! Destiny trembled slightly, dropping her head to think even deeper, before seeking out Fira with her beak. "Wh-what do you think?"

@Fira

Fira listened to Destiny’s new suggestions, and smiled. This platypus… she was far too pure for this world. And soon she wouldn’t even be here — The leopard shook her head, forcing herself out of such morbid thoughts. She needed to stay in the moment. Destiny wasn’t dead yet, and until that happened, Fira needed to be… strong. She needed to distract her friend from her fate. “I like Joy,” she said, with a sad smile now. She was sort of glad the platypus couldn’t see her face right now. It would have crushed her to know what Fira was thinking…

“Also, I was sort of thinking of names that sound like mine… Or is that too self-centered…? Maybe one child could be named after you, and one after me. Like, one could be named Joy, and one could be named something more… whatever my name sounds like… What do you think of the name Emendri? I know it sounds a little different, but it has… sort of a nice ring to it. I guess. I don’t know how names work.” She laughed, waiting for Destiny’s response.


Words: 187 @Destiny

Seemingly oblivious to the inner turmoil of her closest friend, Destiny purred quietly to herself and smiled. "Th-then I want one to be called Joy...!" she told Fira excitedly. Joy was nice. It was full of hope and... happiness, of course. It felt right, and she decided to voice this to Fira. "It sounds right. I want them to be happy when they come. And that means Joy is perfect."

Flawless logic.

Patiently, she listened to Fira speaking, shaking her head in response to the question. "N-no, because your name is real pretty!" Destiny answered honestly, puffing out her chest with pride. "E-Emend-dri?" Destiny tested the name on her tongue, not least to make sure she had it right. "Emendri... I like it! It's so... so..." She struggled for the words for a few moments. "...It sounds mysterious, and strong."

She gave a little laugh herself.

@Fira

Fira laughed when Destiny said that ‘Emendri’ sounded mysterious and strong. “I literally just made it up off the top of my head,” she admitted. “Apparently I’m good at bullshitting names.” She flinched. “Sorry I curse all the time. It’s sort of just… how I am. I’ll need to cut down, I guess, for the kids. But… I don’t wanna sugarcoat the world for them, you know. I want them to know that sometimes life sucks, but that they can be strong anyways.” She sighed, realizing that parenting was going to be a much bigger job than she had originally thought.

“Maybe we should talk about parenting now. Like… what rules are we gonna lay down, if any? What morals are we gonna teach ‘em? I mean, besides like… ‘Be nice to others.’ Cos that one’s pretty obvious.” She paused, looking around Polaris in thought. “Should we have a curfew or something? Maybe they have to be back to the den before the lights dim for Sleep Time? I know you can’t… you can’t see that anymore, but I can.” Saying that hurt like a bitch, but she needed to get over this crazy amount of sensitivity around Destiny’s condition. The platypus was blind and she was going to die, and they needed to be able to talk about that.

“I don’t know,” she said. “What kind of rules do you want?”

Words: 232 @Destiny