#irathar

They haven’t even been here for a full year yet, and Nenae’s work is getting them transferred again. Always to a new base, never at the same spot for more than a year at most. This is the fourth home they’ve lived in they can remember, and they’re pretty sure there are more because there are pictures of places they don’t recognize – but they’re all there, Nenae and Papae and Babae.

They sniffle and fall asleep, settling uneasily into a dark and drifting dream. The next day is normal. Nenae kisses them when Lasvala first wakes, telling them to have a good day before leaving for their work at the base. Babae helps Lasvala get ready for school and then walks them out to the bus stop.

School is normal, even if they feel sad that they’re going to have to leave again. They were just getting used to this school too.

When they get home, it begins. Papae starts showing them pictures of the city they’re going to move to, saying all the fun things the city has. Lasvala knows the drill by now. When Nenae gets home, they’re supposed to be happy and excited about the city they’re being sent to, but right now it’s just hard.

I don’t want to move, they sign at dinner. All three of them frown at Lasvala at once, hands rising to sign back.

I’m tired of moving, all we do is move, they continue, then retreating to push their green beans around their plate. Babae’s hands move to catch their attention and they look up automatically as he signs, brows knit together in concern and understanding.

I understand, da’len.

Don’t encourage them, Nenae scolds Babae. He gets his sassy look and sips at the wine he poured earlier.

I am simply saying that I understand their reluctance to move, Babae replies.

They start arguing about it again and they sigh. Papae moves his hand in front of Lasvala’s face, then drags his hand back to in front of his body.

Babae and I told Nenae no more after this, this is the last one. We know this isn’t good, and we are sorry for putting you through it. He signs, reaching for Lasvala at the end.

Thank you. They pick their fork back up and nibble on their potatoes. Nenae and Babae start actually talking after a while, making Papae frustrated enough that he takes Lasvala away to go into the office.

This is how it has been with the last two moves. Babae hates it, he keeps saying that he wants to put down roots, which Nenae doesn’t understand. They ask but aren’t you Dalish? It’s the same fight, but at least it’s the only fight they have. Lasvala hears from other kids that their parents fight about everything, and some are even divorced. But Nenae and Babae love each other, Lasvala knows that, even if they argue.

The move doesn’t happen right away. Nenae goes ahead and transfers to the new city ahead of the rest of them so Lasvala can finish the semester in their current school. They do take a long weekend to go house hunting though. Babae pushes for a place with land because he wants his chicken coup at long last. Papae doesn’t mind so much as long as he has a good internet connection so he can work from home.

Lasvala doesn’t particularly care as long as they have a bedroom with carpet. Luckily for them, they end up getting their wish – plus their own bathroom! Babae seems very excited about that since this is their “forever home” and it will be good for when they’re a teenager.

Babae gets what he wants too – four whole acres that makes him very happy. Nenae seems most pleased with the school district, citing its care for both academics and mage friendliness. That’s important too, Lasvala thinks, they would not like to be somewhere that doesn’t like them or Papae or Babae.

They return home, or…what is now temporary and the wait begins. Every weekend, they pack and sort through the things that they don’t need. It hasn’t been so long since they’ve moved, so there isn’t much stuff they don’t need. Luckily they have a lot of the boxes they used last time.

Their class holds a little going away party at the end of the semester for them. Mrs. Uenfel even bakes some cookies for them! Their friends say goodbye and hug them a long time, sniffling and crying about never seeing each other again. They’re probably right, Lasvala hasn’t seen any of their friends from previous moves.

The ground is covered in snow when they begin the move. The truck’s loaded up and on the move, and they’re on their way to the airport. It’s not a particularly good day for them. Their skin itches and crawls like it does when they want to shift, and since they can only manage full body shifts into a caracal right now, they can’t really do anything about it. Their shirt feels heavy and wrong, their pants are constricting and they want to wriggle and whine.

It’s only a five-hour flight of them trying to get comfortable and not freaking other people out. Their magic wells in them, pressing at the edges of their mind, and things start happening. There’s no way to say it’s because of their magic, but they feel their magic leaking out in a way that makes them think it is their magic. The overhead containers for the luggage pop open several times on the flight, a drink across the aisle spills, a tray refuses to come down, and one of the movie screens goes on the fritz. They try to keep their magic in, but their body is small and not feeling right.

They are grateful when the plane lands and they can begin the process of getting home. Nenae picks them up in their large SUV and Lasvala wastes no time in letting their body expand the way it wants to. The relief! Oh the sweet relief. Their body expands then contracts with their magic, finding a calm in their caracal shape.

Lasvala curls up in Papae’s lap for the ride, letting him hold them close as Nenae drives carefully to their new home.

“You really needed to shift, huh?” Babae asks, reaching over and scratching their ears. They nod, suddenly feeling very tired. Nenae turns on some music and their ears tune into the hum of the engine, the rolling of the wheels and it lulls them into an easy sleep.

….

“Lasvala, da’len, time to wake up. We’re home,” Babae’s voice is nice as he slowly wakes them up. They’re still in their caracal form, their magic clinging to it as it tries to find some way to settle more happily with their elven form.

Lasvala’s claws flex from their paws as Papae carries them out of the car then lets them down into the grass. It is cold out, even with the thick coat of fur on their body, so they bound up quickly towards the house. Nenae lets them in and they run in only to sliiiiiide across the slick wooden floors. Their claws don’t manage to find purchase and they keep going until their body hits up against a wall.

“Lasvala!” Nenae shouts, chasing after them. They’re up in their Nenae’s arms before they know it.

“Are you okay?” They ask and Lasvala wriggles around in response.

“Yes! I’m fine!”

“Can you shift back and help us unload? You can bring your stuff up to your room.”

“They may not be able to,” Babae says, lugging in a large suitcase, “Mystery said that their magic may be working in a way that it needs them to be shifted right now. It’s okay, baby, we can take care of it.” He takes Lasvala from their Nenae’s arms, holding them close and rubbing at their left ear.

A purr escapes them before he sets them down and returns to helping Papae unload the car. They spend the rest of the evening running around the house, room to room, learning the floorplan and the best route to just run.

Moving in is always chaotic, but fun in a way. Their parents are always exhausted by the end and they end up ordering pizza. Since the furniture has yet to arrive, they dine over a particularly large cardboard box that had held many of their books.

The rest of winter break is spent getting everything unpacked and set up. The furniture arrives two days after they arrive, so the sleeping arrangements are…weird. Nenae’s been sleeping in a guest room since all three of Lasvala’s parents tend to share a gigantic custom-built bed. Papae and Lasvala end up sleeping on the guest-room bed while Nenae and Babae sleep on large inflatable mattresses from a nearby super-store.

When the furniture does arrive, the day is spent cracking open old manuals and their parents trying to convince them that no, they do not swear. Papae swears he doesn’t cuss, but Lasvala knows those signs, and they are bad.

Still, by the end of winter break, the house is nearly set up. The house is a lot bigger than their previous apartment, a five-bedroom instead of a three-bedroom, so there are more places to furnish. Babae is thrilled at the extra space, he talks about how small his aravel had been growing up and now he has all this space.

With the end of winter break comes a new stress for Lasvala, though. A new school, and once again they have to introduce themselves and go through that whole mess.

The school is nice, it sits in a more suburban area than the little piece of country their parents managed to find. Nenae mentions something about weird but fortunate districting that they don’t quite understand.

It’s a sprawling one-story brick building. Large trees frame the driveway up to the main entrance and the road that leads around back to parking. There is the normal school traffic of buses and other cars full of families dropping their kids off for the day. Despite having done this many times before, it’s always nerve wracking for Lasvala to be new. And it’s a mixed bag when it comes to reactions from the kids. Sometimes it’s fine, the other kids just roll with it, sometimes they get bullied. It…is uncertain and they do not care for that at all. Babae drives around back to park, then walks Lasvala up to the front office.

“This is Lasvala Vallavhen-Somer, I’m their Babae, Irathar Nelaniel.” The human woman behind the desk blinks for a moment before handing Babae a notepad and pen.

“Could you write all of that down, please? I just want to make sure I put in the correct letters,” she says. She sounds nice enough and Babae continues to smile as he writes down Lasvala’s and his names.

The lady then types it all in and smiles.

“Alright! Lasvala, yes, you’re new. Welcome to Brent Bridge Elementary, we are happy to have you! I hope you come to love being a Brent Bridge Beaver as much as we love having you here. I’m Cindy Rosner, and you are heading to…Mrs. Aedel’s class. Oh she is the best, you’re going to love her. Hetti, watch the desk while I take our new student to their class?” She steps out from behind the desk while a dwarven lady sits down where she was.

Babae bends down to Lasvala’s height, smiling and unnecessarily adjusting the strap on their backpack.

“Okay, da’len, have a great day. I know it’s hard, but…it’s the last time. You are going to do great, I just know it.” He kisses their forehead before Miss Cindy takes their hand begins to lead them down a bright hall.

The tiles are alternating blue, green, and beige, and there is lots of Beaver paraphernalia on the walls. They like that it’s brighter than their last school, at least. They pass by the library and computer lab before turning down a hall that has more class specific art covering the walls.

Miss Cindy guides them to a room with a small elven woman sitting inside.

“Mrs. Aedel?” Miss Cindy calls and the woman’s head pops up from whatever she’s reading. She’s short, like a lot of elves, but not like Papae or Nenae who are very tall. Her brown curly hair bounces as she makes her way over.

“Hi Miss Cindy! And who is this?” She asks in that teacher voice, her face crinkling up into a big smile. Lasvala blushes and shifts from foot to foot, suddenly feeling very shy.

“This is Lasvala, they’re your new student.”

“Oh! Wow that is so exciting. Hi Lasvala, my name is Mrs. Aedel, and I am so excited to have you in my class.”

They blink at her, and try to remember how to do this, “Hi.” They manage.

Mrs. Aedel holds out her hand and Lasvala cautiously takes it, letting her guide them into her room. Her room is bright and cheery, but so were the last two classrooms they’ve been in, and at this point, they all sorta look the same. The alphabet poster is a little different, green polka dots on some of the letters instead of pink stripes, and the names on the assignments on the Wall of Outstanding Work are different, but it’s largely the same.

Mrs. Aedel shows them around the room, where to hang up their bag and talks idly about when snack and lunch are. Recess is after lunch, then it’s art class.

A bell rings and Mrs. Aedel tells them that means that the students gathered in the cafeteria and gym are to be taken to their classrooms by the hall leaders. And soon enough, the class begins to fill and all the kids look at Lasvala with strange, curious eyes.

“Alright class, settle down, we have some exciting news!” Mrs. Aedel begins, ushering all of the students to their desks. She then gestures for Lasvala to stand up and go to the front of the room.

“We have a new student! This is Lasvala, they’re from Cumberland! So why don’t we all work to be friends with Lasvala, they’re very nice. Why don’t you tell us about yourself, Lasvala?”

Mrs. Aedel and the class blink at them and their skin itches. It’s normal to want to shift and run, they tell themselves, they read about it in a book once.

“I…can turn into a caracal. A caracal is a type of cat, it lives in the desert,” they say. A girl at the front of the class perks up and she smiles before shooting her hand up in the air.

“That’s really fun, Lasvala! Yes, Mealla, is there something you’d like to say?”

“I can shift too! I can turn into a fennec fox, and a kestrel, and one time I got sharp teeth like my Nanae –

“I have a Nenae too,” Lasvala says, perking up. They haven’t met another kid shifter yet! The doctors and specialists all said that it was rare that they could shift so young, so they never thought they would meet someone like them. It’s…new and different.

“It sounds like you have a lot in common! You have a lot to talk about during lunch and recess. Go sit down, Lasvala, we have so much fun planned for today!” Mrs. Aedel instructs, and Lasvala reluctantly returns to their seat.

It’s way too long to lunch, but when it does come, they’re full of energy – hungry energy, but energy still. But when it comes to actually sit next to Mealla, they’re unsure. That is until a hand suddenly takes their elbow and starts directing them to the end of the table. They look down to see Mealla, much smaller than they initially thought.

“You’re sitting with us,” she declares and they move along with her. This is…unexpected, but they’re not opposed. They stop at the end of the table and Mealla points to a boy who is carefully removing his sandwich from his lunch box.

“That’s Fenasal, he’s cool too. He’s in Mr. Tanir’s class. Fenasal, this is Lasvala, they’re new.” Mealla sits down with her lunchbox and pulls out her lunch.

“Hi,” Lasvala says, smiling at Fenasal. He wiggles in his seat before returning Lasvala’s greeting.

“Hi.”

Lasvala sits down tentatively and opens their box – it’s the standard fare Babae makes. He did cut their peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a heart and each of their parents wrote a little note, like they always do on the first day.

Babae snuck in their favorite jello too – blue! He also put in carrots and granola bar for snack, but they think it’s okay to start with the jello today.

“So, what’s a caracal look like?” Mealla asks, taking out a thermos full of spaghetti-o’s. Lasvala would normally just show her and shift but school is one of the places that is not good for shifting.

“Bigger than a house cat, maybe like a medium sized dog?”

“A cat as big as a dog?” Fenasal asks.

“Yeah, with really tall back legs. They’re reddish brown and have really tall ears so they can hear prey in the grass,” Lasvala says.

“Mealla has big ears when she turns into a fox,” Fenasal says and Mealla narrows her eyes at him.

“Yeah, and they help me hear too.”

“My Nenae says they’re like…satellites?” Lasvala says, finishing their jello and starting in on the PB&J. Fenasal sucks on his juice pouch, brows all wrinkly.

“What’s that mean.”

“I dunno, but they said it was something good.”

“My nanae says that it captures sound because they’re so big…but they also hear better when they’re a hawk…and those have small ears.” Mealla’s face scrunches up in confusion and Lasvala understands. They don’t understand much about birds, the lack of big ears seems…weird.

“Maybe it’s magic?” Fenasal suggests.

“Yeah, magic, that makes sense,” Lasvala says. They eat for a little longer, getting through half of their sandwich before Mealla turns to them, nibbling on an apple slice.

“Does you Nenae shift too?”

Lasvala shakes their head, “No. They’re not a mage, but my Papae does. He turns into a bush baby sometimes, but not a lot. Babae’s a mage, but he doesn’t shift, he just uses his magic to make plants grow.” They devour the rest of their sandwich. Babae made it with strawberry jelly today which makes it even better. Grape is fine, but strawberry is the better jelly – no matter what Papae says.

“You have three parents?” Mealla asks.

They pause. Sometimes people don’t get having three parents, which doesn’t make much sense to Lasvala – they don’t think it’s that different from having two. And someone almost always asks whose they’re real parents, as if one of them can’t possibly be their actual parent. Normally it’s the humans or dwarves who don’t quite get it, elves and qunari understand a little more. But they’ve learned to be cautious all the same.

“…Yeah. I have a Nenae, a Papae, and a Babae…” they say carefully.

“Oh, okay.” She shrugs and…that’s the end of it. Lasvala perks up and takes out their juice box.

“Why did you move?” Fenasal asks.

“My Nenae works in the military and gets transferred a lot. We move a lot,” they say.

“That doesn’t sound like fun,” Fenasal says and Lasvala nods.

“Yeah. But Babae said that we’re not moving again, so that’s good.”

“Good! Because I don’t know any other shifter in this school, you need to stay here,” Mealla declares, pointing her finger down at the table. Something feels nice and warm in their chest, like it’s settling. Their skin doesn’t itch or feel like moving into a different form. Their ears twitch and they stop themselves from giggling.

Before, they just didn’t want to leave again, but now…they want to stay here. Mealla is nice and so is Fenasal, and they like the little differences in Mrs. Aedel’s room. And they like their new house, with all of its rooms and soft carpet and gigantic yard.

When Babae picks them up at the end of the day, they hold onto him for a long while, both happy and worried.

“Tell Nenae we can’t move again. I like it too much here,” they say.

On the fourth day of the visit, Babae and Auntie Veneth decide they want to go to this special park. There are big fountains that go whoosh which sounds very exciting. Nenae lets them ride on their back all the way there. They love riding on Nenae’s back, they’re so tall so Lasvala can see everything. They have to be careful to not pull on Nenae’s hair, so Lasvala pushes it over their shoulder so they can lean up to look at the surrounding area.

It’s different from Mythal’s area, that’s for sure. It’s less fancy but lots weirder. Not a bad weird, but it reminds them of when Nenae surprises them coming home and jumps out from around a corner.

They make it to the park and Aunti Veneth sets out a blanket while Babae works on taking out all their lunch food.

“’M hungry,” they say and Babae nods.

“Yes, baby, I know. Here, I brought you grapes,” he says and hands them a small box of grapes. They’re Lasvala’s favorite! The light green kind that are nice and sweet. They try to fit as many as they can into their mouth and squish’em all at once.

“Lasvala, you are making a big mess,” Babae clucks but it makes Nenae laugh. They reach in and grab an orange wedge and hold it in their mouth to make an orange mouth!

“Hahaha!” They laugh. Their nenae is so silly!

Auntie Veneth sighs but Babae chuckles as he hands them their sandwich. Peanut butter and banana! Their favorite!

After they eat and rest a bit because Babae says that’s important for die-ge-shun. Auntie Veneth plays her little harp for a bit and it’s very pretty. Lasvala reaches over to see how she’s doing it but she pulls it out of their reach.

“Veneth, let them look, they won’t hurt it, right Lasvala?” Babae says and Lasvala nods.

“I can be gentle! Like with Papae’s turtles,” they say. Aunti Veneth slowly lowers the harp to show them how she plucks at the strings to make music. They are very careful touching it. Like a big turtle.

It’s really neat, they think. The wood is smooth and the strings make really pretty noises, but it’s also a little boring after a moment. Nenae knows, because they always know, and directs them over to the grass.

“Irathar, my heart, come play with us,” Nenae says and Babae stands up, turning all pink.

“Very well. What would you like to play, little one?”

They giggle and run up to him, pressing their hand to his knee.

“TAG!” They scream before turning and running.

“Oh you got me!” Babae says.

“BABAE’S IT!” They shout, continuing to run as fast they can towards a small copse of trees.

“Eee!” Nenae shouts making Lasvala laugh and stumble into the trees. They quickly pick themselves up and continue to run through the bushes until they come to the other side.

They’re breathing heavily and very excited but when they turn around they don’t see Babae or Nenae. They blink and walk back into the trees, trying to remember where they were running so they can retrace their steps. Papae says that retracing steps is very important, they should know how to do it. But they were running super fast like Nenae taught them.

“Where’d you go, baby?” They hear. It doesn’t sound like their Babae, but it also does. They walk towards the voice, stepping over leaves and larger sticks.

“Nenae!” They shout, climbing over a log.

“Babae!”

“Who you shouting for?” Another voice says – and it’s coming from the log they’re on!

“Who’s that?!” They ask, shimmying up to edge of the log. They peer over the edge to see…someone like them, but also not like them.

“I’m Mealla,” she says, emerging from the log, “wa’s your name?”

“Lasvala. Are you a forest person?” They ask. They’ve never met a forest person before, but Mealla laughs and shakes her head.

“No! I’m a girl, you’re silly.”

“You’re in a log!” They say, to assure her that she too is silly.

“And you’re on top of one!” She says back. It’s a good reply.

“Okay, we’re both silly.”

“There you are, Mealla. Who’s this?” A grownup appears out from behind a tree and Mealla wiggles out of the log to run up to them.

“Tha’s Lasvala. They’re silly.”

“I’m sure they are. Lasvala, where are your parents?” They ask and Lasvala shrugs.

“I don’t know. I was running and then I stopped and then I didn’t hear them anymore.”

The grownup inhales and holds out their hand.

“I’ll help you find them. Can you point to where you last saw them?”

They scramble off the log and take the grownup’s hand then point to where they came from.

“Over there.”

“Alright, let’s go over there and look for them. What are your parent’s names?” The grownup asks as they begin to walk towards where Lasvala pointed. Mealla holds onto their other hand.

“My Nenae’s name is Courage ‘cuz they’re a fierce warrior for Lady Mythal. And Babae’s name is Irathar. Papae’s name is Mystery ‘cuz he works for Lord Dir…Dirf…D-ir-fa-men.” They say. Their ears twitch and their bracelet starts to make a very loud noise. They yell and shake their hand. Nenae always said that if they got lost the bracelet would make noise, but it’s so loud!

“LASVALA!” They hear and it sounds like their Babae.

Soon enough Nenae emerges looking very upset. They run over to Lasvala who lets go of the other grownup just in time for Nenae to pick them up.

“I’m here, little one, I’m here.”

“’M okay, Nenae.” They pat Nenae’s shoulder and soon Babae shows up. They wave at him and he places a hand on his chest before rushing up to them, touching their cheeks.

“Oh thank goodness you’re safe,” he says, running his hands through their hair.

“I’m okay!” They say again but Nenane doesn’t let go.

“I know, baby, you’re so brave. But you give us such frights when you do this,” Babae says softly. They begin to squirm to look back around at the other grownup and Mealla.

“They helped me! And that’s Mealla! She’s a log person,” they announce.

“Am not! A frog jumped in there, I went after it!” Mealla protests. Nenae keeps Lasvala close, their strong arms securing them to their chest.

“Thank you for assistance,” Nenae says and the other grownup nods.

“Of course, children should not be lost.”

And then another grownup shows up! She stumbles in through the brush, small like the other grownup and looks like Mealla.

“There you two are, I was getting nervous – oh, hello.”

“That’s Lasvala, and their parents!” Mealla says, being helpful. Lasvala waves and she waves back.

“How exciting!”

Nenae shifts their hold on Lasvala to shake the new grownup’s hand, “Courage, I take it you are Mealla’s mother?”

“Er, yes, what exactly happened?”

“I ran too fast and got lost,” Lasvala says, then points to the other grownup, “they found me.”

The new grownup smiles, “I’m glad everything turned out well. I am Aili and this is Uthvir, you already know Mealla.”

Babae steps forward and smiles a little weird, “I am Irathar, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Lasvala begins to wiggle again but Nenae holds them fast. They flop against their parent’s shoulder and huff.

“Nanae, can I play with Lasvala?” Mealla asks softly.

“I don’t know, it sounds like they gave their parents a scare –

“I wanna play too!” Lasvala says.

Nenae sighs but doesn’t let them go, “We have a little picnic set up, if you would like to join us?”

There is a pause and Lasvala wriggles around to look back at Mealla and her parents.

“That could be nice, we can gather our things and have a little impromptu playdate,” Aili says and Mealla raises her arms.

“Yay!”

Nenae and Babae lead Mealla and her parents out of the trees and to the field. Nenae still doesn’t put them down though, but at least they get to feel all tall and stuff.

“We’re up there, by the fountain,” Babae points.

“I’ll go get our things,” Mealla’s Nanae says and walks back towards the trees.

“Nenaaaae,” Lasvala whines, but they don’t put them down until they get back to the blanket. Auntie Veneth runs over from her spot by the fountain and cups Lasvala’s face.

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright,” she says and they push her hands away to stand up and walk over to Mealla.

“Babae says it’s polite to give food, are you hungry?” They ask and she shakes her head.

“No thank you. There’s a bunch of cool bugs over there,” she says, pointing towards a lone tree.

“Can we go?” Lasvala turns to Nenae and they smile.

“I will go with you.”

Babae and Mealla’s Mamae also come with them, walking very closely to them.

“I’m seven,” Lasvala says. They think Mealla must be really young because she’s so little but she perks up.

“I’m six!”

“But you’re small!”

“So? You’re big and not a hundred,” she says and that’s true. They are big. But not as big as Nenae. But Nenae is huge.

They make it to the tree and Mealla goes to her knees, “Look!” She lifts a large piece of bark to reveal lots of shiny green bugs crawling around in the muck.

“COOOOOL!” Lasvala shouts, crouching down next to her. They reach out and gently touch a particularly large beetle. The shell is smooth but there are little grooves in it that catch the light and turn a different color. It kinda looks pink?

Mealla pokes at a longer bug with a bunch of legs and the entire thing lights up as it skitters away. Mealla giggles with delight and both of them follow it through the dirt and around a large protruding root. A dragon fly with glittering wings takes flight off the root.

Mealla watches the dragonfly while Lasvala gets distracted by a chipmunk dashing out from under the root. They don’t think, they just jump, their body vibrating with magic. When they land it’s on four paws instead of two feet and they chase after the chipmunk.

“Hey!” They hear Mealla shout, and their Nenae shouts and so does Mealla’s Mamae. They chase after the chipmunk and the air vibrates again. They turn around to see a fox with the biggest ears they’ve ever seen! They know the chipmunk got away but a fox is much more fun.

They jump back and the fox forward. They laugh and run around and the fox follows. They’re bigger and they manage to jump to the fox’s side and they pat at it.

“Hey!” That’s Mealla’s voice! Oh!

“You’re fox!”

“You’re a…kitty!” Mealla says and then their nenae walks over to them. They look so much bigger from down here.

“A caracal, the most amazing little caracal I have ever seen,” they coo and lean down, gathering Lasvala in their arms. Their giant hand comes down over Lasvala’s had and apparently very tall tufted ears.

They look up at their nenae who looks like they’re about to cry but they’re smiling so big, the kind of smile when Lasvala had finished their first book by themselves.

“Let’s go show Babae!” Nenae declares and promptly heads over to the blanket.

No! They want to play with Mealla!

“Nenae!”

“You can still play but let’s show Babae first,” they amend. When they squirm and manage to look behind them, Mealla’s Mamae has her in a similar hold.

“What in the world – Courage, what are you holding?” Babae asks, rushing over to Nenae.

“Babae, it’s me!”

His eyes bug out and Lasvala laughs because he always looks funny like that. He reaches out and touches their fur and his face goes soft.

“Oh look at you, baby!” He coos and takes them from Nenae’s arms. They let him hug them for a moment before they squirm.

“I wanna plaaaay!” They cry and he sighs but he puts them down.

“Fine, but be careful!” He warns just as Mealla pounces and wrestles them to the ground.

For the next hour of play, Lasvala thinks that Babae almost faints like five times. By the end, Lasvala can’t help but shift back into their original form. They are so tired and they promptly flop into their Nenae’s lap. They look over to see Mealla do the same with their nanae.

The grownups talk a bit, all boring stuff that they’re too tired to listen to. They feel Nenae pick them up and they turn to wave at Mealla.

“Bye-bye,” they say on a yawn.

“Bye-bye,” she replies, sounding already half asleep.

It’s’ gotten worse as they’ve gotten older, which is not what should be happening. They have no issue with napping during the day, even at seven, but when it comes to sleeping at night, it’s a disaster. It’s not even that they fight sleeping, they’re just not tired.

Irathar is constantly tired, he has no idea where this energy is coming from. Is it the moon? Is his child lunar powered? Mystery assures him that there is no such thing as a lunar powered child but Irathar is certain there is a first for everything. And besides, Lasvala is special. They have already proven themselves to be exceptional at shifting, even at such a young age, they excel with almost all magic for their age, and they were walking and talking earlier than normal. They are exceptional.

And perhaps it is because of the moon. They were born under a full moon after all.

Or maybe Irathar is looking for sense in a senseless situation.

“Sleep is good, baby, you get to be in the Dreaming!” He coos. The rambunctious child pokes their head out from under the couch and shrugs their currently feline shoulders.

“I’m not tired.”

How are they not tired? They were at the pools all day. Wait.

“Did your Nenae let you nap at the pool?”

“Yeah, because I was so tired and the sun was so hot.” They complain then quickly disappear back under the couch. He thought he talked about this with Courage. They need to establish a more normal sleeping pattern, one that is going to allow them all to parent. Mystery is the only one who seems remotely able to able to adapt to Lasvala’s desire to stay up all night, and sleep most of the day.

Irathar likes the day, and he is a firm believer that night time is for sleeping.

Lasvala darts out from under the couch and leaps up onto the console table in the hallway. Right, sleep time.

Courage is sleeping at the barracks tonight, trying to re-bond with their soldiers and showing that they’re still tough even after having a baby, which makes little sense to him. Irathar saw the birth and honestly how anyone can believe that you are softened by that ordeal, he has no idea. He fainted.

More than once. And he wasn’t even the one pushing a baby out!

And Mystery is busy on shoring up a new pathway for the Eluvians, so he’s not home either. It’s just Irathar and Lasvala.

Their child jumps off the table and heads for the office-turned-playroom. Irathar follows them to find them playing with a large ball. They chase after it, laughing and mewling in equal measure.

“Play with me, Babae?”

It’s past midnight. But whenever they ask like that, who is he to refuse? He may be tired, but it’s the name of the game. Irathar takes a deep breath and takes after Lasvala. He tosses small toys to them and runs around, trying to pick them up as they run and exhaust themselves.

Please exhaust before I have to stop, he hopes.

A fruitless hope.

Lasvala has boundless energy, jumping around, chasing things. Even in their shifted form, their energy seems endless. But then a beautiful thing happens.

Irathar collapses on his back on the plush rug, his eyes threating to close against his will. He fears that he will pass out and his child will be left unattended, running wild through the house, somehow discovering any sharp objects that have been hidden away. But then Lasvala crawls over, now once more just an elven child and looks down at him quizzically.

“Hello, baby,” he says on a yawn. They then too yawn and hope returns. Sleep, please sleep. They shift down so they rest their head on his chest, snuggled up to him.

“I’m tired now,” they say and he lets out a long breath.

“Me too, baby, me too.” His eyes flutter closed and his breathing deepens. Yes, sleep here is good. He curls an arm around his child, securing them to him, in one last effort to keep them close before losing the battle to remain conscious.

….

Through the hazy fog of rest, Irathar hears footsteps in the hall. He almost rouses himself when he recognizes Mystery’s cloaked form in the door frame.

‘This is not either of your rooms,’ he signs.

Irathar grunts and shifts on the carpet. It’s still comfortable and he is not going to move, not while there is a successfully sleeping Lasvala on him. But Mystery simply nods and removes his mask, gloves, and outer cloak before crawling down next to Irathar. He drapes his cloak over Lasvala and Irathar before snuggling in himself.

This is…unexpected. But good. Yes, he likes this. Soon Mystery’s breathing evens into soft snores that lull Irathar back into a deep sleep.

….

Irathar cannot feel his arm. That is the first sensation that makes its way to his brain in a proper register. His arm is numb, there are weights on his chest, but other than that, he is warm and comfortable. But he has to pee. Unfortunate.

He carefully stretches his back from his position and slowly cracks his eyes open to take in his surroundings. Light is streaming in from the window, illuminating the two sleeping figures on him. His lover and his child, both curled up against him, using him as a pillow. It is a little ironic considering Mystery is the taller of the men. Lasvala is sound asleep, so asleep in fact that they don’t even stir when Irathar slowly extracts himself from the pile and puts Lasvala on Mystery.

Irathar quickly makes his way to the facilities, relieves himself, throws on a fresh robe and heads to the kitchen to prepare a modest breakfast of eggs and fruit. He also fries up some bacon for Lasvala who seems to insist on eating meat at every meal, just like their Nenae.

In the end, Lasvala is the first to wake and sleepily shuffles into kitchen.

“’M hungry, Babae,” they say, rubbing at their eyes.

“I know, baby, your food’s almost ready.” In a moment, he plates their food and gets them settled at the little breakfast nook. Maybe he should make them some toast, he recently read that children should eat more bread to get big and strong. Lasvala is already ahead of the growth curve though, does that mean they don’t need the bread?

“Would you like some toast?” Irathar offers. Lasvala shakes their head, gnawing instead on the thick cut bacon. They go for the eggs next, then the fruit.

They almost fall asleep halfway through their meal but Irathar is determined to get them on a regular sleeping schedule and he’s starting today. He can’t keep pulling nights like last, and he can’t be the only one to want this either.

But maybe he’s fighting biology. Mystery is a notorious night person, staying up all night only to sleep the day away. Courage is just averse to sleep in general, they seem to get all their energy from food and the people around them. In this household, Irathar’s normality is strange and maladaptive. The rest of the empire operates on regular sleeping schedules, however, so it really is best if Lasvala learns.

“You need to stay awake, baby,” he gently admonishes. They sniffle and lift their head up.

“I’m sleepy, Babae,” they groan. They lift their arms up and make grabby hands at him, like they were still a literal baby.

“Cuddle?” They ask and no. No, no, no, no.

That is unfair. That is…no.

They yawn and little canines stick out from their mouth. It could be possible that they are one of those people who is so comfortable in their animal forms that they toe the line between being an elf and an animal. If they’re that tired, they shouldn’t be able to just shift their teeth…unless it feels more natural to them than not having those teeth.

They really may be more cat-like than he had initially given them credit for. And if that is the case…then this sleeping schedule he is trying to force them into is a bad idea.

He has research to do. But in the meantime, he supposes he can give in for now and cuddle them while they sleep the day away.

He’ll adapt…or he’ll demand Mystery stays home this time. Yes, that sounds good.