Hazel was dead sure there had been another snake in the Ascendants at some point — she just couldn’t remember their name. Wren had a snake as a companion, but aside from that, these two were just as much of a surprise as any other strange creature that had showed up on their borders. The cocoa feline, though still a little muddled, smiled at the two, having heard their voices. In fact, the pitch of their voices was the only reason Hazel wasn’t more wary of them.

”Welcome to the Ascendants, you two.” The girl greeted. “I’m Hazel. Might we get your names as well?”

★ — hazel — "speech" — eight months — the ascendants — tags — ★

Hazel gaze had flickered to Suite when the ivory feline entered the scene, heart sinking into her paws. Her chest grew heavy, despair taking root at the awful memory of racing Death, at finding the feline cold and lifeless on the floor with her four children squirming against her belly. Hazel’s breath quietly caught in her throat, eyes glassy as she stared at a point past the two children. Deus, how she missed Margaery...

She flinched, eyes flying wide open as Suite gently pressed against her, probably seeking comfort and a grounding. Hazel was torn: she wasn’t ready to feel that blistering, suffocating heat pressed all along her side - wasn’t used to the pressure and static crackling between them; but she didn’t want to just leave Suite. Hazel was unable to read Margy’s letter, but had been trying to look after Suite nonetheless. Every waking - and non-waking - moment that Cooper wasn’t with her, Hazel was. Humming softly or talking gentle words, helping with the babies and doing as much as she could manage.

For now, Hazel needed to stop the trembling in her legs before the two snakes took notice. She leaned away from Suite, ever so slightly, just so there was a millimeter of space between them. But she took her tail and intertwined it with Suite’s: a mode of comfort she had often seen Margy use. The girl cast a small smile at Suite, thinking baby steps. Baby steps.

Then she turned her focus back on the two children, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Hi Iva; hi Eve,” She purred. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Are you looking for a place to stay, or are you just passing through?”

★ — hazel — "speech" — eight months — the ascendants — tags — ★

It was hard to mourn when he couldn’t feel anything, and somehow, it was as if he was cheating Margaery by not being completely and utterly devastated by her death. There’d been... something. A vaguely uncomfortable feeling, the shift of something amiss, the relative acknowledgement that he didn’t want to lose and that they’d been getting better. He’d intended to apologize to her that night for a reason, even if he could only tangently feel that reasoning when it was late at night and he was buzzed. Everything was just slightly wrong and he felt detached from it all, several degrees separated from the fallout.

Nevertheless, shit went on. As he arrived at the border, he wasn’t surprised to see that the small crowd had greeted newcomers. His ice blue stare fixed on the points of contact between Hazel and Suiteheart, the way that the younger girl didn’t seem horrified by the simple touch when it was someone other than him, and again— the faintest traces of something. A small lurch in his gut, the shifting of his souls, and then nothing once more as he tore his attention was from them and resolutely studied the strangers.

”Uh, yeah, welcome and shit, if you’re staying. ‘M Bast,” he said, tone boarding on bored in its apathy.