kugawing’s pile of art realm

[fulzanin]

Continuity with shading practice. The legacy pen is..hard for me to use, which is why I need so much practice. Since apparently shading w/ blur tool is..not good.

Her routine had been cemented in her mind for the longest time. Wake up, roll off of her pillow, snag her tablet from the stand next to their bed, and start figuring out what she was going to be doing up until she was about to pass out from exhaustion and head back to bed. It had been her routine ever since they had arrived at this facility, the one she had poured years upon years of her life into fixing. It was exhausting work, but she knew it would pay off one day. One day she would reap the rewards of her daily labor.

The Nitisian yawned and sat upright, swinging her legs off the bed. A paw reached up to wipe the drool from her maw, then shaking the limb rapidly to get rid of the clear and sticky fluid. Subconscious, another part of the routine. She reached and grabbed her tablet, claws clicking against it’s metal casing. The other paw rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up a little bit more. She always had problems reading in the morning, her eyes were still fuzzy and her brain wasn’t quite awake.

Absently Kaniktu scrolled on down through the list. There was the daily list of feeding all the creatures, alternating what was on charge, eating and drinking and self care all wrapped into one. Her claws gently tapped the screen as she kept on scrolling down, looking for the items that hadn’t been checked off. The Nitisian’s claws tightened a little, and she felt herself sharply grow more awake.

The list was done.

The Nitisian could only stare at the screen, her teeth clicking together a few times. It was...it was done? Every single last thing was done? After checking it over 12 times she slowly set such down in her lap. “Kistor,” Kaniktu said, her nudging her king with one of her webbed wings. “Kistor, wake up and look at this,” she added. The tablet was picked up again, and the queen of Nitisia promptly thrusted such into her dozing beloved’s face. It wasn’t bright, there wasn’t really light coming from the screen, so it wasn't a painful bright light. Kaniktu kept rapidly nudging, her pupils as thin as a sheet of paper.

Alkistor’s pale silver and yellow eyes fluttered open, and with a yawn the navy nitisian slowly sat up and wiped away the practical layer of drool that always gathered on his visor every night. “Mmm..? W.. what is it Kani..?” He asked, words slurred with sleep. Morning was always the hardest part of the day for him, waking up meant breathing harder and using energy, though his heath had drastically improved mornings were still his enemy. “I’m awake I’m awake,” he opened and closed his eyes a few times, and peered at the screen and read over it a few times, before laughing softly. “Wow this.. this is a crazy dream, no way everything could be done, haha… ha… … ugh…” he looked again, gave himself a small pinch and snorted at the pain. “Nope I’m awake, awake and… no we really can’t be done with everything,” he glanced around, their room was an actual room, so different from the makeshift beds that they had started with. Everything was so different compared to the start, though it had been … a really long time now since they had first arrived. “We really finished everything?” Alkistor asked in disbelief, the sleep leaving his voice and being replaced by bewilderment.

Kaniktu’s tail had begun sharply twitching behind her as she watched the other Nitisian’s response to the list’s completion. Everything was done, even the projects that had been tagged to be redone from the start. Every single thing on the list spare the daily activities were done and checked off. “We finished everything,” Kaniktu quietly said, twisting the tablet around as she again went and began scanning the list. It felt impossible. That list had been growing continuously since day one. How was it done?! “We’re done,” the Queen of Nitisia mumbled in addition. Rapid tapping suggested she was again going through the other tabs, rapidly searching and being absolutely befuddled by the lack of tasks that needed completion. “Everything’s done. I...I can’t believe it. It’s all done.” She was shocked and dazed, slowly setting the tablet down. Astonished as well, her eyes wide behind her tinted visor. How was this possible?! She wanted to pinch herself, but had decided against it near immediately. Pain was not her friend, and she already was having a hard time coming to terms with the fully completed and checked off list. “Kistor, I, we’re, we’re done,” she echoed, claws aimlessly tapping at the screen of the tablet. 

“.... so.. we can get up, and take our time getting ready, and then we can make ourselves a nice breakfast.. and enjoy ourselves.” Alkistor said slowly, eyes blinking rapidly as he fully sat up, the shreds of his wings sticking up as they always did when something surprised him. That.. sounded too good to be true, where was the chores? The tasks of moving boxes that needed to be moved, fixing vents that had to be repaired, squeaky doors that needed oil?! “And.. then we can proceed to do whatever we want, whatever we please?” The more he spoke the more giddy he got, and soon he was smiling softly. “We… we finished everything, we did it, this place is our vision of perfect,” he breathed in wonder, the nitisian looking over at his queen with an enlightened expression as he gently gripped her paws in his, wanting her to hold them instead of the tablet. “Is.. isn’t it amazing? All our hard work, all our labour! It’s finally all paid off!”

Kaniktu’s tail continued rapidly twitching behind her, a physical example of how she was trying to wrap her head around the foreign concept of ‘free time’. Her entire life had gone without it, and now, now it was finally paying off. Her paws slowly grabbed onto Alkistor’s the tablet resting face down. “We can do whatever we want,” the Nitisian echoed. She, too, was beginning to grow giddy after a brief lapse of fright, of getting her hopes up only to realize there would be another list somewhere hidden away in the tablet. There wasn’t any. There was no more list spare the daily chores, which truly weren’t even chores. Kaniktu could not stop the toothy grin from spreading swiftly across her face, bouncing a little from where she was sitting and holding Alkistor’s paws with her own. “We can take our time eating and we can walk around and we can do whatever we want and, and, and it’s all paid off and we’re done.” That word was a marvel to her, the Nitisian’s red eyes wide with delight. Her wings were happily quivering and the twitching of her tail ceased. “It is amazing, it’s, it’s yes, amazing,” Kaniktu agreed. At a loss for words, again glancing down at the tablet. No take had miraculously appeared last minute. Everything was done. The Nitisian scooted closer to her King, trying to wrap one of her webbed wings around her favorite assistant. Giddy and light was her tone- rising up to that ever rare ‘stress free’ tone that she had hardly ever been able to use for the entirety of her life. “What do we do first? There’s so much we could do now! Anything! We can do anything we want!”

“Food,” was the first word that came from his mouth, as he happily accepted the embrace of her wings. Alkistor liked eating, he liked food, and with this new found time he could start working on making different kinds of food, different tastes, different meals, new things! While the meat fruit were tasty and Alkistor knew better than to complain about having an abundance of edibles, he was a bit bored with their taste and could only image what other things he could do with them besides just mash them up in a can and eat them. Maybe he could make a whole new meat plant! “Let’s get ready, and let’s make something nice for us to eat to celebrate,” he gently gave her a nuzzle, before pulling away and getting himself out of bed to change out of the loose thin clothing he always wore to bed and into his more kingly wear. Sure, while nobody actually really came and he was pretty sure the only ones that knew he was a king was Marboa, Sirrico and Quezon, he still liked to dress to match his title. Plus his shirt was so comfortable, he absolutely loved it, and his cape always made a good emergency blanket. As he had suggested he lazily took his time and enjoyed every second of not having to hustle to start the tasks of repair and whatnot, Alkistor took his time fixing his hair in the mirror, tail tapping against the floor in a series of soft ticks and tacks.

Kaniktu had nodded her head in agreement to the comment of food. Something nice to eat to celebrate. She hadn’t changed her diet up much from when the meat plants had come into existence. Every single day it had been canned Xiogipa flesh. She gulped it down and immediately got up and went to work. She wasn’t even sure what else they had stored up, but she knew that it was a large variety. Lots of Sutarian creatures, as there wasn’t exactly a big variety on Nitisia to choose from. The Nitisian wasn’t sure how to handle being able to walk slowly and take her time getting ready. Kaniktu messes with her fluff and took the time to file her horns, the horns that she had not filed down in quite some time. They had been getting quite heavy, but now they felt a lot better. Kaniktu sweeper up the dust and excess before getting changed herself. The Nitisian didn’t exactly have a lot of separate clothes- just a few, with most being for work. There were a few outfits that one of the Queen’s siblings had made for her, and she decided Now was good a time as any to wear that comfy article of clothing. It felt so strange to not be hustling from the room, and to be able to just stand and rest against the doorway. “This is going to take so much getting used to,” Kaniktu mumbled, her tail giving a sharp flick behind her. The door was open, it opened without a single creaking noise. The dull red lights of the hallway all worked, and the lock on their door did as well. Everything worked, everything was done, and the Nitisian Queen felt incredibly prideful of how well everything had finally turned out.

“Oh I’m already used to this, and if it ever changes it will be too soon,” Alkistor pushed the last strands of his navy hair back, adjusting his visor to be perfectly straight. For a few moments he just looked at himself, taking in his scars and his skin, and finally he followed after her. The smoothly opening door was pleasant, the lights never flickered anymore and it felt like the home they deserved. “We did this, we worked hard and have been rewarded for it, it just proves that getting your claws dirty is worth it.” They had gone through a lot to get here, his injuries, their lifestyle before leaving, the journey here and her wounds, as hard as they had been though they had endured it all. It had been over six years since they had first arrived, he was almost nineteen now, and finally they could just relax. When they got to the kitchen he made them something actually tasty and delightful to eat, and for once they could actually enjoy their meal. Didn’t mean his table manners were any better though, and like always when it was time to chow down, the food was practically inhaled as if it was the last meal that they’d ever get.

“It’s the first day where we’re not rushing about. I’m going to take time to get used to this. Not everyone can change in the blink of an eye, Kistor. Stop showing off, that’s an order,” Kaniktu said, her tail giving a small swish behind her. The Nitisian lightly giggled, her holding a paw in front of her face. What..what was that noise? How strange it was. She wouldn’t be letting that happen again, no, no giggling! Yet..she didn’t have a reason for why. It took time to change, it was going to take a lot of getting used to. The Nitisian’s tail had begun to wag in delight when the food was more than just cans of old Xiogipa flesh. It was tasty, it felt so much more filling, and Kaniktu practically inhaled such as always. There was always the slightest fear since childhood: if it wasn’t eaten fast enough, it would be taken from her. Therefore it had to be shoveled down as fast as physically possible. “When did you have time to learn how to do this?” Kaniktu asked once she finished, pointing with a claw to the cleaned plate. Her eyes narrowed playfully, and her arms crossed. “Seems like someone was abusing their break time, huh?”

“Mm, maybe, but I assure you it’s for a good cause. It.. was also my hobby, back before I first met you, it was how I kept my adopted dad from beating me up, make him good food and he was slightly less of an asshole.” Alkistor had long since forgotten the dull red puff that had once been his only parental figure after Marboa had sold him to ‘keep him safe’ as she later explained. “The past doesn’t matter though, now I can cook for you instead which for the record is much more enjoyable. Besides it’s a delightful task,” the Nitisian dumped the rest of the meat into his mouth, licking his lips. “Unless you don’t like my cooking I could always stop and we could eat shitty xiogipa in a can.” Alkistor offered, although he was obviously not serious. He hated the taste of xiogipa more than anything, and by no means was he going to ever eat that again.

Kaniktu gave a small grumble, her picking up the clean plate to lick what little that remained off of such. “The only one that’s allowed to do that now is your ever benevolent queen.” Kaniktu insisted with a sharp twitch of her wings. Rudeness to her beloved after all the troubles and trials he had gone through? No. Not happening. She would not let such a thing happen when their work had only just now ended, and freedom was within reach. The Nitisian sputtered, and her horned head jerked back. “Now, I didn’t say I didn’t like it, I just said you have to stop showing off about your adaptability. What if you make the water dragons jealous?” She cooed, then rapidly snickering as she leaned back against the chair. Able to sit and rest after eating, it was foreign and already felt so nice. Kaniktu lifted up her visor a little, raising her head after. “Alright, food first, what now? Do you want to go and swim for the day or did you have other plans? I don’t have any. I need to make some. Maybe I should make a garden. A hobby garden.” Kaniktu swiftly corrected, a nod of her head following.

The nitisian snorted. “What will they do to me make me all slimy? I endure the horrors of your drool every night I think I’ll survive them,” he gave a hearty laugh, giving her a nudge that assured her he was joking. Alkistor had long since gotten used to drool and snoring, to the point that if it wasn’t present his sleep was poor or nonexistent. So what if she did? They all had their flaws, like he did with his need to rest occasionally. He had been getting a lot better with his chest problems, proudly he was at the point where he only had to rest once or twice a day between activities, yet again with the steady decline in tasks he wasn’t sure if that was because of such or actual improvement. Either way, he wasn’t complaining, he felt great! “I.. am not sure, a hobby garden sounds delightful, maybe we can make different flavours of meat fruit, a hobby that would benefit us both and give the creations something to enjoy now and than as treats or whatever.” Of course he was also going to consider Kaniktu’s life work, her core and soul and the wonders the filled the halls with Lasinka squawks, chair demon creaks and CVWD gooping noises. The silence was boring and made him slowly go crazy, as he was so used to it.

Kaniktu gave a sharp short, and her red eyes rolled. “My drool is not that bad, it’s almost nonexistent. But if you want to hang out with them then I’m sure they will have ever the pleasant activities for you to share with them.” The water dragons truly didn’t do much. They ate, they slept, they gurgled, they splashed, they puddled, and cuddled. Their activity list was short and sweet, and they kept the generator from overheating. Keeping them around was certainly a win. “Maybe I could get the baby rock demons on it. Give them something to do, a responsible thing. I’ll have to make sure the fertilizer is edible though,” the Nitisian ended in a grumble. One baby rock demon, just one of them had to have a problem with eating everything in sight. Now the whole group had problems with it, and it annoyed Kaniktu to no end when she would be searching for a tool only to find it slobber covered and able to be stuck to a wall layer. Her face scrunched up, and shrugged. “If there’s a lazy chair demon they likely could carry the pots around. Mobile food units. I like the sound of that,” Kaniktu mused. She leaned back in her seat, letting her wings hang from her sides. Thoughtfully she tapped her claws against her visor. Doing work that was wanted rather than needed was such an odd and foreign concept, and already she liked it.

Alkistor looked over at her when she tapped her claws against her visor, he hastily recognized that little habit of hers instantly, and he always found it charming. Really he found everything about her charming, her fierce and keen eyes, her inspiring confidence, how if she needed something she put her paws together and she got it working one way or another. “On…” he started, the nitisian quickly wracking his core to find the right words for the question. “The topic of wants over needs, I uh, was wondering if I could bring up a topic that I brought up a couple of years before. You denied it before and I respect your opinion, but you also mentioned that if there was ever a day where we were stable and had no more needs to fulfil you’d be willing to bring it up again.” Alkistor usually never sounded so awkward, the cocky bastard had no doubts besides one thing, and that was going against Kaniktu’s word. “I think you know what I’m talking about,” he sounded hopeful, but ready to change the subject if it wasn’t something she was interested in, and she could be assured that he was the kind to not argue for a second and respect her choices, he was a good king that way.

Kaniktu fell quiet, and tapping against the side of her visor ceased. She sat a little more upright, her squinting behind her visor. It took a moment for the explanation to sink in, and for her to remember what topic was at hand. Kids, or just a kid. Long ago she had absolutely despised the idea of it. They had the demons already, there was work to be done, and trying to raise a kid in the mess hadn’t sounded like a good plan at all. Yet she had left the possibility open for a time such as the present, where the chaos was gone and all was well and everyone finally could be happy. The Nitisian was quiet, her teeth clicking together. Was now a good time, so soon? What if something did come up? What if the machines came back? If she couldn’t protect herself, how could she protect a kid? Where would they even put it? A twitch rippled through her webbed wings. “I’ll think about it,” she said quietly, resting her head against the table, face scrunched up in ever the thoughtful demeanor.

“Thanks,” he offered her a soft smile. “Take your time with it okay? No sense doing anything if we aren’t both ready to handle it.” Considerate, he gave her that trait, the trait that he had always wanted but could never get. Alkistor would say that the best way to love someone was to give them everything that you always wanted but could never have. He had always wanted someone to consider his wants and needs, to take what he said with two cents and actually think about his feelings, and for the longest of time he hadn’t gotten that. So he did that all for Kaniktu. And so he let her think about it, however long that took he was prepared to wait. If that was a month or even a year down the road, so be it, in the meantime he aimed to enjoy the lack of hard labour with Kaniktu to its fullest.

Kaniktu usually did not take long in order to come to decisions. At most she usually took a few hours to make up her mind about a topic, and usually once that was in place there was absolutely no way that it would be changing. She did not contradict herself, she did not go back on her word. She had said she would consider it later, and now later was present. Kaniktu wound up spending the better half of the ‘day’ just thinking and speculating about it, spending it making the pots that she would be putting on the chair demons. Quiet, thinking and considering as she had said that she would. They were nice, sturdy pots so they wouldn’t just break and fall apart if the chair demon somehow dropped it. The work was not as swift as she could physically manage, and the Nitisian was happy that she had the time on paw to experiment and mess around with the design of the pots. The whole day she was mostly quiet, thinking over the question, the incredibly life changing one it was. It had been when it was almost around time to go back to bed that she finally did figure out her answer. “Okay.” Kaniktu mumbled quietly from where she was putting one of the pots away to cool down. “We can….we can try to have one. Just one. Only one.” The Nitisian answered, her wings folding close to her sides.

Alkistor hadn’t been expecting an answer so soon, and stood up way too quickly upon hearing her answer, uttering a cuss when he hit his head on the shelf above him. Though he didn’t even stop to acknowledge his pain and hastily glanced over with wide excited eyes. “Really? T-that’s great!” He couldn’t keep the giddiness down, it sprung up and he just… was so excited, he could be a dad, a dad way better than Zealeq, way better than his Lighsni father. He had wanted to be a father forever really, especially after they had Sirrico over so often before he had moved on with his own life and his mate. Something about having a younger Nitisian under his wing to teach all the skills he knew felt amazing, and to have a mini him and Kaniktu to raise and teach was another thing that always made him feel livid with excitement whenever he stopped to daydream about it. One was all he wanted himself, one would be absolutely perfect. Quickly he tried to compose himself, calming down and instead showing his glee in the form of a small smile as he gently took her paws. “This is the one time I’m going to question you, are you sure? I just want to be positive that this will make you happy too.”

Kaniktu gave a small grumble at the sight of Alkistor’s delighted expression. Her tail gently swished behind her. She already had what made her happy. Her work was done, and she had Alkistor. She wasn’t sure what else she could even ask for in order to be happy. If it was going to make Alkistor happy, sure, why not have a kid? She needed an heir anyways. She assumed that it would be like when Sirethea had her kids: before not really wanting them and after being filled with delight and a protective feeling. She hoped it would feel the same. Kaniktu’s teeth gritted together a little. “Don’t make me second guess myself about this,” the Nitisian said quietly. Her claws curled around Alkistor’s tightly, her head then turning a little to the side. “I’ll do it for you. Because I love you and want you happy, and this is what you’ve wanted for a long time. You’ve waited and you’ve wanted, so I might as well want it too. Today, just the rest of today, I want with only you? Okay? Before there’s a hatchling around.”

“Of course, let's do that,” Alkistor nodded, though he knew they’d get more alone time even after the egg arrived, he was no expert but he knew Nitisian eggs took a little while to hatch. Marboa would tell him, once he was certain that it was alright to tell his mother the news that she would be getting that grandchild she wanted, though Lesnak had already provided not just one, but three. He had met her three children a good three or four times, unfortunately living on a different planet made it hard to visit regularly. One last big smile, he gave her a soft nuzzle. “And I love you too.”
The rest of the day was spent with her, full of his typical cocky remarks and his playful bantering, more good food and even some time swimming. And when the day was over he knew that they’d need to make an area to properly raise an egg, and oddly enough he found all the knowledge to do such just came naturally, an inner instinct told him how. It was strange how that worked. He made that space in their room, like any good parent he wanted to be close to the baby to assure it was safe and healthy at every given moment.

Kaniktu never did fancy swimming. She wasn’t that good at it, and she usually stayed in the shallow end while Alkistor exercises. Her webbed wings did splash water towards him on occasion, although kept her gaze away as if to feign her innocence. The Nitisian seemed less brooding now that the decision had been made, and with activities done, she most certainly more happy. When it came to arranging where the egg would be kept, the Nitisian was disgruntled by how in stark contrast the instinct did not swiftly come to her. Annoying, but she could do without instinct. She went to go and get one of the lights for the other garden that she had, the one for internal sustainability within the facility. Just so if she had to get up the egg would still be warm. Her knowledge about eggs was next to none, other than they needed to be warm. Lighsni preferred to be all touchy with their eggs, which Kaniktu couldn’t understand. She didn’t want to risk shaking it when it was bestowed to her. Set it down and keep it warm, that was all that had to be done initially, right? The Nitisian grumbled quietly after plugging and turning the lamp on, checking and making sure it works. “Should we get another room ready for when the egg hatches?” Kaniktu asked after a hesitant moment, claws hovering away from the lamp she had fetched.

Alkistor’s eyes squinted slightly, his mind shuffling between the nearby rooms that could be turned into a nursery, finally he gave his tail a flick. “I think that old storage room would be ideal,” it used to be a storage room, than he had moved all the contents down to the much more organized and efficient storage room downstairs. “What do you think?” He peeked out of the room, two doors down and on the other side of the hall, currently the only occupants were a few small dust clumps and maybe a Lasinka feather that had gathered behind the boxes. “I could haul some stuff from downstairs and put some shelves in there, a bed, a desk and all that stuff.”

“It’s close and has electricity still wired in,” Kaniktu mused with a small flick of her tail. Her horned head slowly nodded. Yes, the old storage room worked. She would have to clean it first though. She was not putting a baby in a dusty room. “I don’t think we have any children’s toys, we may have to..ergh, go and get some from the featherbrains. Or make some. Making them sounds safer and less flashy and noisy.”
She could only imagine trying to peacefully sleep and then be awoken by the crying of a hatchling from a noisy, flashy toy going off. “One of the smaller desks, maybe we can make a smaller stool. Papers for doodling on, which will be hard to find. Likely. We probably have some,” Kaniktu mused, her tail continuing to flick rapidly behind her. “And some blankets. Get some blankets too.” Kaniktu said, then twisting to go and get the dust-cleansing tool that she had previously had out to clean one of the other rooms.

Alkistor went and opened it up, giving it a quick check up. It wasn’t horrifically dusty, but a wipe down was still absolutely necessary. Kaniktu had the dusting and cleaning down, while she did that he went and fetched the things to furnish the room. Took three trips to get everything, and before long he was hammering things together and smoothing things out. A small hatchling sized desk and some small chairs, a shelf for them to put all their books and items on, and some other things that were necessary.
“You know I could probably ask my mother if she has any toys, she has plenty from when Sirrico was a hatchling,” he offered, glancing over from where he installed the last part of the frame for a small bed so if the child got tired while playing they could take a nap. “She’d have other supplies besides toys that she’d let us have.”

Kaniktu gave a small grumble as she stood upright with the dusting tool grasped in her hands. Even now she felt distrustful in the slightest sense of Alkistor’s mother. Who sold their kid? Who dared to reject the compassion of her beloved? It made her blood boil and her teeth grit together for a moment. “Sure.” The Nitisian said after her pause, her tongue then swiping across her teeth. “It would be better than having to make them all from scratch,” She then tightly added with a small twitch of her wings. Kaniktu remembered the anger that had swelled up when she had been asked by the other female Nitisian about her plans to have children. How much restraint she had held to keep her claws by her sides and to not lash out. She was doing this for Alkistor. Her Kistor. Not for his mother, not for his brother, just Alkistor. “What sort of supplies,” Kaniktu then asked, turning her head over to look over after a moment more.

It had taken a lot of time for Alkistor and Marboa to seal up the rift between them, though she had explained to him that she had feared she wouldn’t return from the encounter with Silap and thus gave him to someone else, he still had a bitter feeling whenever he was reminded that she had put a price on him. She had given him to someone who had ended up abusing him, hagsmire Zealeq had tried to murder him! Though in the end he knew she was sorry, she had made a mistake and she had acknowledged such. It was a bad on her part and she had spent the past three years trying to make it up to him, and she had changed from that cold assassin to a strong and thoughtful leader. She finally looked at him and showed him that she loved him, finally after all his waiting, and he had eventually forgiven her and accepted her back into his life. “Some things for hybrid sickness that she used for Sirrico, I am unsure if our hatchling will ever have to deal with that but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Some things for eating like a highchair, a little wash tub, things like that.” Alkistor explained as he checked the quality of his work, shaking things to make sure they would be sturdy enough to survive the wrath of a baby, though as always his craftsmanship was flawless, seeing as he put a lot of effort into such.

Kaniktu’s tail gave a sharp twitch behind her. She could make something if their child happened to have hybrid sickness. Although she truly didn’t want to dedicate the time to make something if she could suck up her pride and ask for it elsewhere. She could make all those things, she didn’t need help with taking care of her soon to exist child. “Clothes. We’ll need to get clothes as well.” She then muttered, a claw tapping against her glass visor. Didn’t one of the old heirs to the Lighsni throne have a thing for making clothes. The thought of having to ask for all those things made her irritated, and her teeth bared a little. She could make all those things if she wanted to dedicate the time to them. “And a way to mush up the food. Maybe I should have one of the lasinka come and be outside the door to make sure they don’t up and wander out, cause I’m not locking them into the room,” the small Nitisian hissed. No, there was no locking up, not a claw would land on her soon to be child. She was a possessive Nitisian, and what she deemed here she would not let anyone else remotely get close to. “What else is there, what else is there, I feel like I’m missing something. This is why I need lists,” Kaniktu grumbled under her breath, one of her feet rapidly tapping against the ground in thought.

“Already making one,” Alkistor was also a list person, the mind was not to be trusted with such importance, it had to be written down to assure there was no forgetting or failure. He was more point form compared to Kaniktu with her genius but humongous paragraphs, but a list person all the same. “So we need a hatchling monitor as well, I don’t fancy having to chase anything down after that time I had to herd the lasinka,” Alkistor snorted, the idea of the hatchling walking made him again get giddy, they didn’t even exist yet and he already loved them with all his core. The list thankfully didn’t get too long, in a way it made him happy that they wouldn’t have to try to find things to do with their new found free time. “Guess too soon has arrived because we have things to do again,” he laughed a bit, though he supposed he was asking for such with this. “I wonder what they’ll be like, what do you think we’ll get? A boy or a girl?” He personally didn’t care what hatched from that egg, they would be his child and he would love them to no end.

Kaniktu grumbled for a moment, her foot continuing to tap rapidly against the floor. “I can probably make that. They won’t be walking for a while but I’d like to know where they are. Have a lasinka follow them around. Maybe Omega too. Just in case.” The Nitisian mused, a paw raising to mess with her fluff. Yes, not much would be able to harm her child if there was an invincible water dragon around. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to convince the kid that she would not be spying on them because of such. “It technically can’t be ‘too soon’ if this is involved in the prominent task, as they’re both the same task,” Kaniktu then said, her rolling her red eyes. Yes, fancy speech, the Nitisian loved to say complex sentences and prove that she was an eloquent speaker, one that demanded to be heard and obeyed. “Don’t know. I don’t think I’ll prefer either. Maybe a girl so you can’t rub your stupid sarcasm off on them.” Kaniktu then cheekily said, one of her wings flicking away from her sides. “That’s clearly a thing with males, which is such a shame. Tsk.” The Nitisian quietly giggled, her clamping her mouth shut after. No, no laughter, this was serious stuff that did not need her being distracted. She huffed, crossing her arms a little tighter. “Maybe vitamins. Just to ensure the best health possible, to keep away the stupid shitty hybrid disease,” Kaniktu then offered after her pause, lowering her paw from her fluff after.

“That is a good idea, it will get them used to the creatures quickly and early on,” most parents wouldn’t trust any large creature near their baby, alas Nitisians were a bit different, especially these two who let a motherly Hosajisk raise the baby rock demons. The animals were better parents than most though, honest truth. At the mention of his sarcasm he gave a mocking hurt look and gently put his paw to his chest as if genuinely shook. “Ouch, i’m wounded, when have I ever been sarcastic?” He couldn’t make the grin go away, tiny snorts and snickers escaping through his teeth. “Yes those too, I think that’s everything?” He showed her the list so it could get her approval.

“Not to mention I’m fairly certain Omega will want to see the baby. We need names,” Kaniktu mused. She grumbled at the other’s mock look of hurt. She would complain, yes, but the Nitisian would not have her Kistor any other way. “You’re being sarcastic right now! My, you dare to lie to your queen?! I’ll have to do something about that,” the Nitisian Queen slyly replied, her wings spreading from her sides in a somewhat mock threatening position. Never did she truly behave threatening towards her king- at least, not in a substantial amount of time. She took the list and looked it over. “I can’t think of anything else. Oh. We do need the baby. It would be bad to do all this and then forget to actually get that,” Kaniktu snorted, a soft hum following her words.

Alkistor pretended to cower, but he was clearly just trying to hide his laughter and was far from scared. He glanced over when she mentioned that a baby was pretty necessary. “Yes I suppose that would be something useful to get, the egg.” He really thought it was unusual that their reproductive method was screaming at the sky, though on that topic he definitely preferred that over the other way, which was absolutely nasty. So… did they just go outside and do that? And the egg would fall from the sky? That seemed like an awfully long way to fall. He had thought about it before and was thinking about it again, his Nitisian brain tried to put science to it but there was really nothing scientific about it. “Names… hm, I know my mother had waited until me and my siblings and hatched before she thought of names for us, I think she said she had wanted to get to know us before she named us.”

Kaniktu seemed satisfied by the other’s ‘cowarding’, a grin lighting up on her face. Her foot again tapped against the ground a few times, nodding in agreement. “The one damn thing she did right,” the Nitisian softly hissed, mostly to herself. She liked Alkistor’s name, it was a pleasant one. She probably wouldn’t be able to stand him if it was something different. “Alright, I guess waiting to name them works.” Kaniktu agreed, her wings giving a small twitch behind her. The concept of screaming at the sky had always been foreign. What happened if they didn’t catch it? How fast would it fall? How far away? Right on top of them? Kaniktu’s teeth clicked together in thought. “Maybe I should get some of the water dragons, just so..it can’t splat on the ground,” the Nitisian Queen mused, her red eyes squinting behind her visor. But wouldn’t the tension of water break the egg as well? A soft hiss sounded, her tail smacking against the ground. The Nitisian herself would not complain about the reproductive methods of the Lighsni and Nitisians. Humans were nasty, and she would prefer to spend time together cuddling instead of trying to bite someone’s face off. Nasty. She wouldn’t be caught doing that- resting and rubbing her face against Alkistor’s was better than that in a million and seventy eight different reasons. “I wonder if there’s a certain shout that has to be done or not? Is it just mindless screaming? I’ve never put thought into that before,” Kaniktu rumbled.

“I… really don’t know. I guess will just have to try. At least nobody is out here to see us, and if there is our next free time activity can be torturing someone,” he offered with a small assuring nudge of his arm. No wing nudges, his wings were far too short for that unfortunately. “We can only try and do the best we can do.” Alkistor glanced up, even though there was a roof, and listened. At least it wasn’t raining? It could be raining, now that would be a fun way to emerge into the world, not! He refused to seem nervous, even though his mind also buzzed with questions about how the egg would emerge. Outside it was a tad chilly he found, or maybe that was just him, and he looked up.
“....we are going to be the best parents, you and I, and our child will be the best child.” He started softly, before snickering. “Nitis I sound so mushy right now, I think my cousin has been rubbing off on me.”

“I do like the sound of that,” Kaniktu mused, her eyes shifting to where she was nudged. The motion was returned after a moment, her grin returning. She was not about to be made fun of for trying to have a child with the only Nitisian that she fully cared for and considered her equal. One of her wings did spread, but pulled back after a couple seconds. She didn’t want to seem too touchy, not even after all this time. “Which cousin? You have five or so.” Kaniktu grumbled with a small snort following her words. “Our child better be the best child. I personally don’t see how come it wouldn't be. Unless it’s that damn sarcasm. That may disqualify them from being the best child.” Kaniktu verbally jabbed, leaning forward on her toes. The ground wasn’t wet, so it hadn’t rained in a while. That likely meant there was going to be rain later. It technically was sleeping hours, but the excitement of having a child had pushed the drowsiness away. “Get the egg and we keep it warm and then it hatches and then all the good things happen. That’s a good plan. It sounds simple enough.”

A few times before he had come outside and just screamed as loudly as he could, he did that whenever his chest hurt so badly he wanted to claw it open, and only that had seemed to be able to relieve the pressure. He didn’t have to do that anymore for that reason, but now and then he did anyways, just screamed and felt the tension from whatever melt away. So it wasn’t as hard to muster up the air to scream, the entire time his mind on one thing. He just wanted a single child, a single egg, a healthy baby preferably, and he would love them with every inch of his being. He had his eyes shut but after a moment he looked up and frantically searched the sky, had it worked? Was there that egg he wanted and had wanted for so long?

Kaniktu hadn’t had to scream often before. Often it was from pain. Like the one time that she had been bound underground by a human and her mind was forcefully picked through. She had screamed then. When the giant metal beast had attacked and caved the ceiling on her, she had screamed. Usually it was by pain that the small Nitisian wound up screaming. Still, it was loud, and a scream was a scream nonetheless. Thankfully there didn’t have to be long winded times of screaming. There was maybe a minute or so until there was a ‘pop’, and there was an egg. Not too high up either, maybe a couple yards above Kaniktu’s head. The Nitisian rapidly flapped her wings and launched up to snag the precious egg before it could begin falling too far, landing heavily on her feet again with a thud. Nitisian eggs were usually dull in color, whereas Lighsni’s tended to be glowing and vibrant just like the piyans that came from them. “I forgot how hard taking off from a standstill could be,” Kaniktu grumbled, her arms curled protectively around the egg that she had went and caught. She hadn’t stretched the limbs or anything, so of course they hurt when she suddenly began using them. Kaniktu gently tapped the egg with one of her claws, a soft hum sounding as she did so.

Alkistor’s eyes kept shifting between the egg and the nitisian who had caught it. “It’s… so small,” he commented, “it was a perfect catch though, good job.” After all those years of wanting and wishing and hoping, there was finally an egg that had his hatchling in it. Though he quickly reminded himself that he’d have to wait for a little while longer, the baby would have to grow and then hatch first. He wondered what they’d look like, he wondered and wondered, stayed up late after the egg had been put under the lamp and they had gone to bed. Alkistor wondered all the next day as they began to fully prepare for the hatchling, checking things off the baby list. At least while the pair waited for the egg to hatch, they had plenty of free time to spend together. After all, it didn’t take four months to fully baby proof the facility and get everything that was needed.
“Kani, Kani come quick the egg!” Alkistor had been watching it intently when it finally began to start cracking and hatching open, he sprang up and began to loudly call in anticipation and excitement.

The most that Kanktu had figured that would need to be done to babyproof the facility was to simply lock doors. It wasn’t as if she had sharp things laying around in the hallway, or that there were dangerous items just out for grabs. The Lasinka were just animals, and they could be little troublemakers if they really tried to be. It hadn’t taken too long for everything to be nice and ready and awaiting for the hatchling.
Where had Kaniktu been at the time of the egg hatching? Not far, laying in their bed while tinkering with the tools she used to create her blender. She was still working on it after all these long years. It was a never ending project, and one that Kaniktu was happy for. “It is?” She sounded surprised, sliding off the bed and then came over. She crouched down, her tail slowly flicking behind her. Her red eyes took note of the fractures, and her teeth lightly clenched together. Their child was about to exist, someone that she would have to devote time and effort to that wasn’t her beloved Kistor. And in that moment, Kaniktu felt a surge of fear. What if she didn’t love the little hatchling that came from the egg? What if she didn’t feel those motherly senses come over her? What if she was an awful parent? What would she do? What if she felt no connection at all? Kaniktu’s teeth chattered together, watching the egg crack open bit by bit, her red eyes wide as she observed.

Alkistor like the rest of his nitisian sided family shared the common looks of a Nitisian, his only difference was the element he had. Sirrico was next in the line of looking like a hybrid, having a line of feathers down his back and a bit of a squawk to his voice when he was upset or thinking hard. Than there was Lesnak, who was the most obvious out of the three with her feathers on her wings and tail and her frightening height. But even than her Nitisian side was far more obvious. What came out of the egg was seemingly all the Lighsni traits that had skipped the three siblings mashed into one being, and what broke free of the egg seemed to be a living ball of purple feathers of all shades. There was so much fluff on the small wings and the back of the baby that their body was almost completely hidden. Alkistor just looked absolutely dumbfounded. “... did… did our egg just… hatch a ball of feathers?”

Kaniktu stared at the ball of feathers that tumbled forth from the egg when it was split open. Her teeth clicked together rapidly, and her claws twitched. “What the fuck.” She softly hissed. “What the flying fuck is that?! HOW THE FUCK DID WE HAVE AN AFFAIR WITH A FUCKING LIGHSNI?!” She screeched, her taking a small step away from the egg. Her expectation had been that their child would almost be a full blooded Nitisian. Alkistor looked like a Nitisian, and essentially was one spare his electricity. Kaniktu was pure blooded Nitisian. She was befuddled by the sight of all the feathers. The only clue that she had to Nitisian blood was the dark coloration- but even then Kaniktu figured that was from the eternal darkness of the planet. “No. No. No no no this is not ours how the fuck did this happen?! This isn’t ours, I’m not raising someone else’s kid! No! This is a mistake, this can’t be our kid! One of the Lighsni must have swapped it, the cheeky assholes!” She screeched, twitching furiously.

Alkistor was merely blinking in the ‘excuse me what the hagsmire’ sort of way, before his eyes completely softened when the baby began to let out cries as any baby did when something scared them. Kaniktu’s yells did just that, and hastily he reached forwards and carefully picked up the small wailing ball of feathers and fluff. “Shhh shhh shh little screaming fluff face, it’s okay it’s okay,” he hushed quietly, baby screaming wasn’t very pleasant to listen too, thankfully after a couple of moments of rocking and soothing he managed to get the purple hatchling to settle down. “I’m just as fucked over as you are but I don’t think an affair is possible, maybe… a Lighsni used a spell that switched the eggs, they are clueless assholes and of course they wouldn’t think it through.” He was gently pushing back fluff from the baby’s face, trying to see what was there. No markings, and somewhere in that mess of hair he found tiny itty bitty horn stumps. Definitely a hybrid.

Kaniktu’s teeth bared when Alkistor picked up the hatchling. It wasn’t theirs, why was he caring for it nonetheless. The Nitisian was still hissing loudly, her teeth clicking rapidly together. “I don’t want to raise a kid that isn’t ours,” the Nitisian Queen spat, her red eyes narrowing. The possibility of a swap was valid, she wouldn’t put it past featherbrained Lighsni to do such a tiny. Her expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “That sounds like the sort of Xiogipa-shit they’d pull. It’s not our child. Can’t be. How the fuck did we have an affair.” She snarled as she leaned back on her feet. Appalled, and furious. “Maybe we should take it to your fucking mother. So we can find the actual parents.” She snapped, pointing with a claw towards the doorway of the room.

“Good idea, and we can get our hatchling back. We didn’t wait four months for this,” he looked at the baby in his arms, eyes narrowing with frustration when it curled up against him, seeking body warmth and comfort. “It’s a she, I think,” she was still wet from the fluids in the egg, and as they made way to the Nitisian village she only dried off and got fluffier. Thankfully the hatchling slept the entire time, exhausted from the effort it took to hatch.
“Whichever Nitisian who’s with this Lighsni outta be fucking pissed,” Alkistor spotted the large walls that made up the perimeter of the village, high and covered in spikes to keep the wildlife out, a few towers here and there to keep watch. At the base of the wall was Hosajisk feeding troughs, the idea of such being that the Hosajisk wouldn’t try to jump the wall looking for food when there was already food. Leftover meat fruit and kills, no food being wasted. Even so, there was a large metal net like dome over the entire thing with holes large enough to let a flying nitisian through, it seemed to also have a few lightning rods to capture power and keep the strikes from causing damage.

A few of Marboa’s guards saw them from the perchs, and upon them recognizing the two the gate to let people through was opened. Marboa was, while a person with questionable morals, a talented and intelligent leader who knew how to run things. Her village was very organized and very efficient, and there were many other nitisians here. Nobody looked like what the breed of dark dwelling piyans had once looked like. Everyone was well fed and healthy looking, Marboa made sure everyone had food and good clothes and rested when they were tired. Nobody was horrifically angry either, but even than they knew who their queen was and didn’t dare it around Kaniktu. Between the residential areas and buildings were tall patches of red grass that kids played around in, games that taught all the basic skills needed for survival. Tag, it taught them how to run away from danger and how to chase something down, hide and seek how to find and how to hide, etc. Here and there were wooden structures for them to climb on and sharpen their claws and horns, and finally an area where they could build forts out of scrap supplies that encouraged them to learn how to build.
Marboa’s house wasn’t very different from the others, she wasn’t an egotistical leader and definitely didn’t need a flashy castle, but her place did have a large deck all the way around it that lead up onto the wall and to the watchtowers. Along the inside of the wall it was lined with large gears and cogs that rotated machines that pumped water to the homes and fountains and heat to a nursery looking building. Walkways were here and there, buildings were built hanging from the support beams, storage perhaps?
The maroon and orange coloured nitisian was sitting on a chair munching on a leg of something, scrolling through a list with a causal and content expression.
“Mother,” Alkistor called, and the nitisian hastily perked up, and hastily the she-piyan glided down from the deck to greet them.
“Why hello you two, is this the hatchling? Oh, she's beautiful!” Marboa gently reached a claw towards the hatchling, who was beginning to wake up with all the commotion, uttering a few baby sounds of confusion. Such a reaction caused Marboa to smile softly, the adult pulling away, right she had no right to touch, and it confused her as to why they were here. “Is something the matter?”

“It is a hatchling. Not the hatchling,” Kaniktu hissed. Her voice was ever the hostile- perhaps even more so in this situation. Angry that her child had been taken, that she had been robbed of getting to see her actual hatchling come into the world. She hadn’t waited four months for this. She hadn’t thrown her time away for this. She bared her teeth a little, her tail sharply swishing behind her. “Not mine, not Kistor’s. A Lighsni took it. I don’t think I see a Nitisian attribute on her, do you? This is a fucking Lighsni.” Kaniktu’s teeth clicked together, her pupils narrowing. She was seething in anger, her webbed wings unfurling from her sides. What an idiot the Nitisian before her had to be, to not realize at first glance that this was not their child. There was too much fluff, and Kaniktu refrained from even touching the young piyan. “We’re pretty sure one of the damn featherbrains switched the eggs. Kistor thought that one up. I don’t think you could really price that kind of intelligence.” Of course she made jabs about the concept of putting a price on Alkistor. She always did, she always made it a point to show in the presence of others as to how Kaniktu thought of her king as equal, of how highly she thought of him.

“Oh no, this little one has to be yours, I can see your father in her Alkistor, he was just as fluffy, and definitely where Alkistor got his intelligence from.” Marboa never seemed too crushed by Kaniktu’s harsh words, if anything she accepted them as the bitter truth and as acceptable for how crappy of a mother she had been. Ashamed was she, but she had wanted to keep her last child alive when Sirrico had been murdered and Lesnak had gone to work at Niso. “Here I have a photo of him I’ll go get it,” the maroon piyan turned tail, the large metal claw on it gently shifting across the wooden pathways that connected everything. A few minutes later she returned and held out a framed photo, and indeed the resemblance was rather uncanny, the hatchling was even almost the same colour as Silap. Alkistor had only seen the photo once, the photo of the mysterious and oddly charming Lighsni, who had book and pencil in paw and a small smile to the one who had been taking his photo, likely Marboa herself. His long tail was very plush, and in the photo his wings out, displaying his strong looking pink and yellow glowing wings. Over all he was very fluffy, though being full grown he fitted in his fluff, whereas the hatchling was quite tiny and thus overwhelmed by it. “I wonder if she will have magic like him, he was quite brilliant Alkistor, easily the smartest Lighsni I’ve ever met.” She smiled sadly, and in the end she had to kill him or standby as he destroyed everything in his way. How things would have been if he had lived, if she could have reached him in his darkest hour her and Silap could of instead run off together and raised their children in peace, she knew wishing did nothing though.

Kaniktu’s hardened red gaze did soften a little at the sight of the picture. Her gaze glanced back to the small hatchling, and her wings dropped a little. So this wasn’t a mistake. It actually was their child. Feathers and coloration in all. Her teeth again clicked together. The concept of their child having magic sounded ridiculous yet intriguing all together. She wouldn’t be able to teach their child how to use magic, and neither would Alkistor. She still couldn’t grasp how the hatchling could look so fluffy when neither parent did. Her wings folded a little closer to her sides. “Shame I don’t get to wring a Lighsni’s neck for swapping children,” Kaniktu grumbled, her turning her gaze away from the hatchling. She had been yelling when it had come into the world. She. The Nitisian had a hard time attaching the idea that the bundle of feathers that Alkistor held was her child. Their child. Not an it. It was a hard concept for her to grasp. Kaniktu felt a worm of guilt for her shouting at the egg, her sharp words and angered and enraged expression. A small hatchling didn’t deserve that. She’d made it - her - cry as well. Her expression fell a little, a paw absently reaching over to touch the small hybrid’s extreme fluff.

“I hope not, I’m not equipped with the knowledge to deal with that,” Alkistor didn’t trust magic all that much, just the staff and even than it was iffy and he only used it for important things, the last resort to all of his problems. The small hybrid gave a mumble when she was touched, with her weak arms she tried to lift herself to see what was touching her, she felt extremely soft. Still he supposed if the hatchling ended up having magic he would just have to deal with it, it would never be her fault, just like it wasn’t her fault that she was fluffy.
“Shame indeed, have you named her yet?” Marboa doubted it, by the looks of it they came straight here the moment the little thing had hatched, a big journey for someone so young, even if they weren’t walking. “You can stay here for a bit if you wish, it’s a big and dangerous journey for someone who just hatched.” The maroon coloured piyan pointed out, red gaze glancing at the hatchling, “and she must be absolutely starving.”

“I’m sure if for whatever absurd reason we can’t teach her how to use her magic, I’m sure there’ll be a competent enough Lighsni that I’ll almost be willing to let help. Not really. Damn featherbrains,” she hissed under her breath, tail sharply flicking behind her. The Nitisian’s gaze turned over when the comment of staying for a while was made. Her teeth chattered, then looking back at the small piyan. “No, we don’t have a name yet. I’m sure Kistor and I will have one when we go back home.” Kaniktu hadn’t even thought about the possibility of the hatchling being hungry. There wasn’t any surge of motherly instinct on hand, which made her irritation fester. “I think staying so she can eat would be a good idea,” the dull blue Nitisian rumbled, her leaning back on her feet a little. Kaniktu felt frustrated, why hadn’t she thought about feeding the hatchling, or bathing it, before she came over here. She! Not it! Dammit! The Nitisian wanted to slam her claws into her face in some effort to vent out the frustration. “She’s tough and can handle such a trip, it- she already has,” Kaniktu swiftly snapped.

“Kani, deep breath,” Alkistor gently uttered, leaning close so she could hear his whisper. “We’ve had a stressful and shitty day and reasonably so, don’t beat yourself up over it.” He couldn’t pull her away for the privacy she liked, so he resorted to just speaking very quietly. He himself was still struggling to accept that this wasn’t all just a big mixup, but he was happy that those parental instincts he had felt when she first hatched had been correct. “Let’s have something to eat and then go home,” he gently brushed his tail against her, offering him a hopeful smile. Marboa said nothing more, rather the nitisian went into her home and began to get food ready for her two guests and the purple hatchling, who had proceeded to begin quietly babbling, testing out her vocal cords and quiet voice.

Kaniktu did as she was instructed , taking a deep breath in order to settle her ever irritable nerves. Her arms crossed, her gaze again turning to look at the small hatchling. A nod was given in agreement to the comment of eating and then going home. Home was nice, home was where everything had been set up and prepared over the span of four months for this small hatchling. She watched the small piyan babble and blather, her wings then dropping a little. “It’s- she is very fluffy, at least we won’t have to worry about blanket issues. Maybe one of those humans manifesting in our home,” the Nitisian attempted to joke, her again reaching out with a claw, gently prodding at one of the small piyan’s hands. So tiny, so precious. She felt protective, yes, but Kaniktu could not find the difference between wanting to protect because this was hers, or if it was out of love. Afraid that she would not love this small piyan, it was a fear that had sprung to life the moment that she had realized that it had not been a switch up, that this was their daughter. “Because of all the feathers and..you know what I mean,” Kaniktu ended in a mumble, a webbed wing reaching out to return the gentle nudge.

Alkistor gave an amused snort, right those humans they acted very strange when they were exposed to the dust feathers gave off. It seemed to make them very happy, almost like a drug but not quite. Indeed their daughter could probably topple the entire population by just crawling down a street.
“I know,” he assured, looking down at the hatchling, than back at Kaniktu. His fear was more so that he would pay too much attention to either one and the other would feel neglected. He just had to make sure to carefully divide his attention and love between them so both got the perfect amount. Perfect, a hard thing to find with the term being so vast and flexible, this was going to be like trying to hold water in his paws… or pick up an entire CVWD. The hatchling seemed to be an attentive little thing, because the moment she noticed Kaniktu touching her tiny paw she tried to grab onto one of Kaniktu’s fingers, though she was clearly still figuring out how her paws worked because it didn’t go all that well. Still it was the effort that counted. Upon smelling the food that came from Marboa’s kitchen, instinct kicked in for the baby and she began to mewl a bit louder to announce she was hungry.

Kaniktu gave a small hum when her finger was grabbed. She gently moved her paw around, finding the sight of such a small piyan trying to hold onto her claws to be endearing. She had her claws curled away just in case, being as carefully as she possibly could manage. Kaniktu didn’t want to somehow hurt the hatchling, especially not with such only being alive for not even an hour. “She’s inquisitive,” the Nitisian softly noted, her tail rapidly twitching behind her. She desperately hoped that she would be bestowed motherly instinct soon, as she felt like an un-oiled cart being pushed up a hill. Not working, frustrated, and probably more words that Kaniktu didn’t want to spend the time thinking of. “And noisy,” she added in when the small hatchling began to raise her tone. “Is someone hungry?” The Nitisian tried to mimic the ‘baby talk’ tone that she had often seen Sirethea using. Kaniktu sputtered, then sticking her tongue out. “Okay, no, fuck that. Not doing that again.” The short Nitisian gave a small sniff, turning her gaze away. She could smell the scent of food as well, and could admit to being hungry after such a long walk. “I can hold her, if you want to rest your arms a little,” Kaniktu then offered. She hadn’t even touched the hatchling until just a few minutes ago. Hadn’t even held her yet, hadn’t really touched the egg since she had caught it. Her wings twitched behind her, pulling her finger away from the supremely fluffy hatchling.

Both Marboa and Alkistor were trying not to snicker at the dull blue she-piyan’s attempt at the baby voice, Alkistor entered up letting a few chuckles loose, and gently passed over the baby. “She doesn’t weigh anything, I think there’s a lot of air trapped in there.” Regardless babies didn’t tend to weigh a lot, especially newborns. He wasn’t tired but he figured it would do Kaniktu some good to be able to hold and bond with their daughter a little bit, and he glanced over when Marboa came over and pushed over Kaniktu a few meat fruits and a bowl and masher like tool, she figured the queen would not appreciate her mashing it for her, and that Kaniktu would want to do it herself. There was also a plate with some meat strips on it and a few handfuls of other meaty things. A carnivore diet meant just meat, but there was lots of different parts that definitely tasted different.

“Maybe she’ll be an air elemental. It would fit with all this fluff, probably,” Kaniktu mused, having been somewhat glaring at Alkistor upon hearing him chuckle. “Oh, so you’re laughing at me now? Do you want to sleep with Omega tonight? You two haven’t had a slumber party in such a long time. He might be thinking you don't want to be friends anymore.” She feigned a voice of concern, softly