Ah, so the mood had improved a little. Mercurius spared a laugh, looking away to hide his shameless snickering. Of course, the situation became at least a hundred times better as the diamond cracked open and gave the world a child, which now preened for attention. The fawn-cub rose unsteadily, pushing himself from his cradle on shaking limbs. Mercurius's grooming stopped for a moment, leaning backward so that he could dive to support the child if need be. Arsu stepped closer, mewl-bleating and seeking warmth that the pale lion was happy to provide.

The pale beast was, least to say, immediately smitten.

A few moments passed, tender and gentle, before he began to worry. His gaze followed Pride's toward the moonstone, still unmarred despite its thinness. The babe that grew within had yet to make a motion, a sound, past the scraping. Even then, the scraping had fallen silent. "... is it alright?" The question slipped out of Mercy's mouth before he could stifle it, and worry rose like bile in his throat. No... the child must be. Magicka slipped toward his stone, hoping to create some sort of 'firefly' to at least see if the child, the other half, was still alive.

It drifted carefully toward the chrysalis, bobbing and dancing in the air as Mercurius's gaze did. It spun about the chrysalis once or twice before vanishing from sight. All the while, the gardener watched carefully for any sign of movement, any sign of life.

There was an odd sound next to him; Azizos, as he had come to think of himself in these past few seconds, blinked. He was still, however, content with his posture and his predicament. Light swelled into view, and he relished in it. It was warm like his home, his cradle. Another light, brighter still, danced about and he was forced to turn his head to watch it much like a cub would a laser pointer. Somewhat like how his closest kin had emerged, the babe accidentally through his chrysalis with a gentle crack! and wound up with his neck --- ruffed in just the beginnings of a mane --- and head free; and, as it turned out, upside down.

Feeling a cool rush of air invading his shell, Azizos shivered. Ears much too large for his head flickered back, and he bleated softly. The Morning Star's eyes, silvery and pale like his life-giver, sought out the 'firefly,' though, and he twisted in his cradle to see better, finding a different sight altogether. One that felt like warmth and home and as if he had always known them. May as well introduced himself. "Azizos." With a turn of his head, the little one found another that looked just like him, and he bleated eagerly and began to struggle to his feet. "Brother!"

@Pride

Pride was just about to step forward, in sharp concern, when the stone cracked. Of course, he then stepped forward, in sharp concern, anyway. The thing within broke through, half-upside-down, and he was delighted, and a little surprised, to see how similar they were.

Both beautiful. Both perfect, he thought, with relief. Then again, he'd not seen this one's legs, yet--or much of its body. Perhaps it held paws, or a twisted limb-... Is it stuck?

Quickly he reached down, gently mouthing shards of gemstone away to free Azizos up, and to ensure he did not cut himself.

"Azizos," he agreed quietly, in between pieces.

There was another stone, he realized, as the light--which he watched with fascination--flitted over to it. He took two staggering steps to follow this light, curious. And then the gemstone cracked. He took two swift steps back, startled, but Pride was moving forward, and the head that came out of it did not at all look alarming.

At its cry of "brother," Arsu felt joy in his heart. He wasn't quite sure what a brother was, not until that moment--now he knew he felt it!--and he had no idea what he looked like; but--"Brother!" he agreed. He took two unsteady bounds toward Azizos, and leaned down for a gentle headbutt. "Azizos! Arsu!" he told him, happily. Then he looked up to Mercurius.

The lion had spoken, but he'd not been able to make heads or tails of what his words had meant. Happy, wanting to include everyone in this little get-together, he just bleated wordlessly--the mewl-baaa again, delivered with bright-eyed joy.

@Mercurius

Mercurius, quite honestly, had not expected such a swift and curious response from the gemstone. As soon as his light flitted away, a head emerged from the shimmering, milky-blue chrysalis --- be it upside down. The child was quick to correct himself, though, introducing himself as Azizos and bleating for his brother already. Slick and new, the babe attempted to rise up and approach Arsu. The pale lion hung back, slightly, allowing the first fawn-cub to rush forward and make for a playful headbutt and for Pride to dote on this one.

It was interesting to note that the children both looked damn near identical save for the slight difference in their eyes and their stones: both had blunt twists of moonstone and diamond, but Azizos's was a slight bit longer, thinner; Arsu's eyes reminded Mercurius of his own, moonlit and shimmering different colors in every light --- Azizos's were a silvery pale hue like his life-giver's. Regardless, they were wonderful and beautiful.

Mercurius set to work, mustering up a refreshing flush of magic for the children. Not that either seemed anything less than exuberant and healthy.

A large white thing stepped over to him, and then a scuffle of little hooves followed. The Morning Star twisted again, shifting and shivering as gemstone was peeled away from him. Grateful for the breathing room, Azizos managed to fully turn himself onto his stomach, so that he could begin to tuck his gangly limbs beneath himself. Bearings achieved and brother leaning in close, the fawn-cub bleated excitedly.

Silvery hooves clattered against the innards of his cradle, managing to gain some ground and pushing himself up. His head spun --- how was that possible? --- as he did so, unused to the sensation. He quivered unsteadily, but threw his head upwards, regardless. Azizos was going to headbutt his brother no matter what. If anyone looked at his tail, they'd spot it twitching and flopping about with unbridled joy. Little grunts escaped him as he continued to rub up on Arsu, playfully nipping and headbutting away already.

@Pride

Neither Mercurius nor the children spoke, bar the one calling itself Arsu (was that its name, or was it trying, and failing, to say something else..?) happily repeating the words that it heard. Pride blinked, jolted into remembering his responsibilities as a father--he had to help them to learn to speak!

He did his best to connect to them, for a moment--to open his mind to each of theirs in brief turn, or even both at once, and gently, flutingly even in thought, speak. At the very same time, he spoke aloud, with careful, kind words.

In this way he intended to impart--with his mind--the meaning behind the words that he said. To teach them each a little bit, and jump-start them on their journey of learning.

"Hello. I am speaking to you now--saying words. It is how we communicate. This is Mercurius, and I am Pride; or you can call each of us Father, if you wish?" He glanced at Mercurius, to be sure, then continued. "We will protect you, but you mustn't stray far from us. If you have any wishes, or questions, please, ask. We both love you very much."

He looked to Mercy, and realized how insane he must seem--speaking to the children in full, complete sentences-... He smiled bashfully and--softly--explained. "I'm giving the meaning, to my words, by mind. It's a jump-start to learning language, one given to me at my own hatching."

No need to mention that the one present at his hatching had hardly been a benefactor. One plucked the wheat from the chaff, and while the rest of Reseda was most certainly chaff, that lesson, at least, had been golden wheat.

Arsu squealed with joy as his brother butted back, and immediately began to bounce unsteadily in all directions--bashing into Pride, jostling Mercurius, staggering down to his knees before picking himself up. He was flinging his legs out, tossing his head--just a happy, healthy little baby.

When Pride's words started, he stumbled to a halt, tail flicking as he turned to listen. When the words touched his mind too, he froze, tensing in surprise, listening--rapt with fascination. The stag would undoubtedly feel his deep curiosity, his surprise, and his lingering joy.

At length, when Pride at last fell silent--or, at least, was murmuring to Mercurius--he tried out some words, himself.

"Woooords," he attempted, and took a few teetering steps toward the stag and the lion. He then turned, looking back to Azizos, as if for confirmation. "Wooords. Love!" He'd felt the meaning behind that one--the adoration, the warmth, the devotion. And he loved the word "love" as much as the concept of being loved, itself. He began to bounce again, this time toward his parents, offering cheerful tumbles against their hides--and then bounced over to offer the same to Azizos. The whole time, he was happily babbling.

"Love love love love love love love--!"

@Mercurius

By the Caves, these children were bouncy and adorable. One had barely touched the other and sent him into a bout of excitement equivalent to a kid on a trampoline. Arsu, at one point, collided with the pale lion's side, startling him and making him stumble slightly. So, apparently, the twins were already much heavier than he had anticipated or prepared for. And, judging from the gentle nipping Azizos inflicted upon Arsu, at least one of them had a predatory instinct. Uh oh.

Mercurius would try to curb it, at least a little, when the time came. For now, it was harmless play. Plus, the children were newborns barely grasping the concept of words. As Pride began to speak to them, though, he suspected there was magic in the works. Both seemed to light up and be enraptured by the words, capturing their meaning in a way that couldn't be achieved without magic's aid. At the offer of being called Father, the pale lion seemed taken aback. A beat. He nodded wordlessly, gazing at the bouncy twins.

His confusion and thoughts were sated and confirmed by Pride, a quick explanation diffusing any questions he had. "Ah, I wish I could do that," he rumbled, "you may have to teach me how to touch the minds of others, someday." It seemed like a good field of study to pursue, at least. Already, Mercy could see into the past, albeit barely. His moonlit gaze flickered from twin to twin, a purr rolling from his throat, "yes, love. It seems you love your brother dearly, already." A smile turned his lips up, and he gazed warmly toward his companion.

"I believe, wholeheartedly, that everything is going to be just fine."

Azizos hurtled into his side, startling him again.

Azizos stopped in his game of chase-nip-bounce-headbutt-rinse-and-repeat in order to whirl about in place. He stumbled and twisted over his own limbs at the first concept of 'hello' manifesting in his mind, completely unbidden. The Morning Star was quick to figure out, though, that these thoughts were somehow coming from the big white creature with the many spikes on its head. From Pride, it seemed. The name didn't fit quite right on his tongue, though, as he tested it out. Provided an alternative, the fawn-cub eagerly took it, peering over to his --- "father?" Nodding to himself, he wavered toward said life-giver, repeating with confidence, "father!" Then, with a tilt of his head, he looked back toward Mercurius, bleating "father" again.

Growing more steady on his limbs and hearing his twin speak, Azizos hurtled toward him, parroting loudly, "love!" Bashing sideways into Mercy, he continued to approach his brother at full-speed; or, rather, close to it, given his relative newness to the world. About a foot away, the bouncy little fawn-cub slipped and tumbled head-over-heels. Nobody could ever say that the little one could be kept down, though; he immediately scrambled to his feet and eagerly bounced into Arsu with enough force to knock himself down. With a shrill laugh, the child twisted onto his stomach, giggling, "love you!"

The twins may as well have had some goat in them, given their kiddish behavior.

@Pride