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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 21:36:23 GMT -6
Natural's Sunspot x BLK's Ice Cream Sandwich Breeding 3/4 for Patronne Breeding 2/3 for Matronne Posts: 20/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 21:43:02 GMT -6
At what point had this turned beyond a business arrangement?
Sevyrn couldn't quite figure out at which point she had stopped seeing working with Jack as a job to be done and when she had started to see it as another opportunity to spend time with a buddy. It just so happened that they had one thing that they both really adored, and it was a great way to hang out with someone.
The first time that Sevyrn had laid eyes on Jack's celestial Light, she had fallen in love - part of her had considered waiting until Jupiter was grown to ask about maybe pairing him with one of her girls, but... well, Sweetie made some damn cute pups.
So arrangements had been made, they would meet up later on. Sevyrn leaned against a fence post as she watched her first grown houlou sniff about excitedly. She had been here before! She had a baby at home thanks to her last trip. Would she be having another litter?
Hopefully her buddy would be along soon. Until then Sevyrn stood there, one hand holding on to the fence and the other grasping the node in her pocket tightly, protectively. She may not have used the thing yet, but she sure as fuck never let it out of her sight.
1
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 21:59:39 GMT -6
Things were progressing nicely, she figured as the large Houluh stumbled beside her. She was happy to see her new friend again, and she wasn't sure what to think of things sometimes though. At least they were friends, and Sevyrn seemed to be opening up a little more at this point. Jack grinned a little and pushed her hair back as she walked toward the Breeding Center, Light in tow. He was happy to be coming again, would they be seeing the other woman again? The one with the nice Matronnes?
This was different though, he thought when he saw her leaning against the fence, this was alright though, if Jack was taking him there, it would be alright. Still, he stumbled a little when they reached the woman and her pretty Matronne, and he hid his eyes a little, afraid she would make fun of him. The woman patted him on the head though, to try and calm him down, "Hey Sevyrn, how are you doing?"
2/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 22:07:23 GMT -6
Sweetie knew that face! She barked towards Jack before the woman even had a chance to speak, noticing the patronne nearby and instead choosing to first greet the familiar face. She had been around for her first litter! The matronne tried to lick at Jack's hands and arms until Sevyrn shooed her off, at which point the haooy go lucky lady bounded over to meet the newcomer. She hadn't seen him before and he seemed shy, but that was okay. She could be friendly enough for the both of them.
"Hey!" Sevyrn greeted in return as she let go of the fence and wandered towards her buddy. "I'm pretty alright, arm's healing up pretty nicely, and this one is doing pretty decent too..." She eyed Sweetie, who had ducked her head low to be equal to Light's. "I think she knows this place already. How about you? How have you been?"
3
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 22:24:27 GMT -6
Jack chuckled and reached out to ruffle the Matronne's ears a little before she had bounded off to look at Light. Her poor Patronne didn't know what to do with anything at the moment, and the hyper Matronne was a little out of his league. He hunkered down a bit and gave a deep woof after a moment or two, trying to peer at her between his paws. "I'm alright! Glad to hear you're healing up and all that, it's good to see you again," she said happily to the barrage of questions. Jack didn't mind though! She was happy to have enthusiastic friends. She felt... something though, was it her nodes thrumming more?
Poor Light just didn't know what to do about things, but he finally stood himself up a little, though he stumbled a bit doing it, and then sniffed at the Matronne carefully. Jack smiled at him and rubbed his ears a little, "He's very careful, I'm sorry, he just has bad coordination, but he's the sweetest Patronne I think I have."
4/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 22:45:42 GMT -6
The patronne's deep woof had Sweetie jumping back a step, seeing it as a sign that he qas uncomfortable. She let out a higher bark in return, hoping that he would see that she just wanted to be friends. It was funny, though- she'd never seen a grown houlou trip over their own paws like that. The pups back home did, her own was in that awkward stage of just learning how to use his feet, but a grown houlou? She found it to be rather curious, though she was not put off by it. As he sniffed her out she did the same, and then took a quick step forward to be able to check him out a bit more.
"He's adorable. I love him," Sevyrn said with a grin, loving how clumsy the big guy seemed to be - he was already quite the character. Maybe he would make some big goofy puppies that tripped over their own paws too...
Jack wasn't the only one who felt... off, though. There had always been something off about Jack, this odd pull that Sevyrn had not quite understood. Now, with Jack so close, she swore that she could feel vibrations from her node against the new scar across her palm.
She'd never made the connection before now - never saw the strange feeling from before as anything more than anxiety. But this would be the first time that anyone was near her after she had returned from the temple.
Sevyrn didn't know how to breach that topic, though. For all she knew that sudden click in her brain was very, very wrong.
5
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 22:51:16 GMT -6
Jack laughed, "I'm glad. He's really a sweetheart, he just takes a little while to warm up. He's afraid he'll hurt someone if he isn't careful." Poor guy, but he seemed to be a little happier now, and he wagged his tail a bit as he stayed still, letting her sniff at him a little without moving so he wouldn't bother her too much. When she didn't seem to back away, he tilted his head, one ear flopping over the other, and he woofed again, a questioning sound, as though wondering if she was afraid of him at all. Some were, when they saw his size, but others laughed when they saw his clumsiness.
The woman rubbed a repeating scar down her arm and shook her head as she felt it. There was something there, but she didn't want to be rude and bring it up. Gently touching her node pouch to make sure they were still there, she motioned toward the Breeding Center, "Should we go in?"
6/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 23:04:36 GMT -6
There was nothing to be scared of! Sure he was a little bigger, and a little funny, but Sweetie didn't get the feeling that he had a mean bone in his whole body. She mommed for over a litters worth of pups even though only one was hers, those four could do more damage to her than a clumsy oaf could. How many times today alone had she been stepped on? Had a pup that wasn't even her own try to feed off of her despite the fact that she had dried up already and the pups were all weaned on to solid food? (For what it was worth, she did enjoy the life of being a mother.)
Sevyrn had to pull her her dominant hand out of her pocket to reach for the door, ever careful to keep her palm tucked inwards. No one knew - not yet. She didn't even have a clue what she was doing yet. She could tell that Jack seemed to feeling the same oddness, though. At some point of of them was going to have to say something, but Sev couldn't exactly open a conversarion with 'you're making me feel funny' and that was probably about as eloquent as she would be able to get.
"I like the sound of that. You first," Sevyrn said as she held the door open, calling for Sweetie to come in. The matronne urged Light to come as well, seemingly unaware of how awkward he seemed to be feeling. To her she was just another houlou, and she liked him. Sev wouldn't do her wrong, and she knew what this place was for.
7
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 23:17:12 GMT -6
Nodding, Jack followed and popped through the door, calling Light behind her. The big Patronne lumbered over to her as carefully as he could, trying not to nudge the Matronne out of the way at the moment. He was trying, he always tried, and that was as much as he could do at the moment, but Jack looked at him fondly as he went toward her, and she knew he was trying his best. He knew that she loved him, and he licked her hand when he reached her.
"So... anything... new lately?" Jack finally asked, shoving her hands into her pockets as she went over to the counter. She pulled one of her hands out and started to fill out the paperwork. Well, she knew what she was asking, she hoped that would open up the idea of magic. Raising an eyebrow, she gave her friend a sideways glance for a moment and then wondered what she was going to do at the moment. Pushing her hand through her hair, she moved the papers over to Sevyrn so she could finish the rest.
8/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 23:30:51 GMT -6
It was an innocent enough question, but Sevyrn heard the inflection in it - like Jack was subtly prodding for a certain answer. Any other day and there would have been no hesitation, easy conversation... It seemed that both of them knew what was going on here, though. She hesitated to respond, taking the papers and pen as she mulled over how she wanted to answer.
"Yeah." One word, then silence. Sev couldn't even look towards Jack right then, instead eyeballing the door to the breeding rooms like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"I, uh, I did a thing." Well... there was no point in hiding it. Not here, though - not in public eye. There was no point in pretending any more, and when she dropped the pen down she didn't go out of her way to show off the new mark that marred her flesh but she also didn't hide it like she had before. "I can show you once we get in the room."
Did she want to? Not particularly... but they were on the same page here even if they weren't saying it. Wouldn't it be smart to talk to someone who knew more than her?
Sweetie showed an interest in the doors to the back rooms, though hers was more excited compared to Sev's aversion. Did Light know why they were here? He was going to have to come to like her.... His nervousness around her was starting to make her think that he didn't like her.
9
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 23:37:55 GMT -6
He was simply nervous about hurting her, he didn't want to do that at all. Sniffing at her a little, he stepped on one of his ears when he leaned down and yelped before looking at her apologetically. That was his own fault, he just hoped she didn't want his larger size to pass on to pups, and he licked at her cheek a little, if only to reassure himself at this point.
Jack raised her hands up a little, "Not if you don't want to, if I'm prying let me know." She figured that was about as much of a confirmation she needed, and if Sevyrn didn't want to talk about it at all, that was perfectly fine! Making sure the papers were over to the attendant, she gestured toward the hallway, "After you?" To be honest, she hated feeling like she was prying, and she chewed her lip a little, "I didn't mean to be rude if I came off that way."
10/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 17, 2020 23:53:36 GMT -6
"No, it's just..." Sevyrn cut herself off, good timing given that there was already a room waiting. At least to anyone around they might just be having a really wierd conversation with no obvious topic. "You're not rude, it's just... new."
Sevyrn stopped at the door to the room and held it open for everyone like Jack had just done for her. Despite the patronne's actions Sweetie had stuck close to him - as close as she could given thst he seemed to want to give her space. After stepping on his own ear, she was starting to really understand why. He would probably make for a good cuddle buddy at least? Play seemed out of the picture.
"You know it's new, though, don't you? Cause I... I've felt it off of you before, not like this but... gentler. I didn't know what it was until this thing started freaking out about you, though." She sat down on the couch and let the houlou run about, reaching in to her pocket to pull out the strange grey sphere that she carried with her. She didn't look towards Jack, simply at the node.
She didn't even know how to use it yet.
11
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Post by Jack on Oct 17, 2020 23:58:43 GMT -6
Light woofed apologetically, he knew that other Houluh liked to play, but he was just too big to really feel comfortable, even though he wanted to. Tilting his head a little as he plopped down into the middle of the floor and barked a little low, though a little playful as he wagged his tail, he wondered what she would want to do now. He knew what this place was, but that didn't mean anything right now, they were still getting to know each other a little.
She settled down next to her friend and looked at the grey node in her hand with a delighted look on her face. Jack then pulled her pouch from her belt and opened it up, showing her own nodes to Sevyrn. "I'm excited for you, making a node is no small feat!" the woman said softly, reaching out to touch the other woman on the shoulder, "I have several, but you learn to tune your own out after awhile. Do you need any help? You just seem... lost..." She frowned, wishing there was something she could do.
12/20
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Post by Sevyrn on Oct 18, 2020 0:16:37 GMT -6
"Lost is one word for it," Sevyrn quipped back, letting out a nervous laugh, twirling the strange object around in her hand. Jack's little collection there made her lone node seem a little inadequate. "Just... still trying to figure it out. I don't think it really likes me yet." Was it wierd to talk about the node like it was a sentient creature, one that she was not yet in tune with? It was sentient in a way, had chosen her - accepted her. Now it was her turn to to accept the node, it seemed.
"It's strange... I got this far and now I don't know what to do." It wasn't for a lack of trying - she'd spent most of the last three days trying to work with it to no avail.
Light laid down in the middle of the room so Sweetie laid down in front of him, about a foot left between their faces. She barked back with a wagging tail, and then shimmied herself a little bit closer. Would this be okay? The silly boy wouldn't hurt himself like this.
13
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Post by Jack on Oct 18, 2020 0:20:01 GMT -6
Listening to her talk, Jack wondered if there really was anything she could do for her friend. There were books and tomes back at her job that might do the trick, but having someone teach you was something completely different. Jack chewed the inside of her cheek for a brief moment before smiling at Sevyrn, "Well, I work as the Archmage's Understudy. I'm sure we can find something that'll help you at the tower if you'd like? I can look or you're more than welcome to come along, but if you just need time, then I completely understand. The first one is the hardest, believe me." The advice came from the heart, she really wanted to help but knew sometimes a person needed to do it on their own.
The Patronne's tail wagged a little more and he licked at the air in front of Sweetie. This was fine, he liked being calm and cuddling, he was told he was the best pillow at the Kennel! The pups sure used him as one a lot, after all.
14/20
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