💬 Content Warning: Family Humor, Innuendo
Nyota
"She doesn't remember me but she remembers you and Davi. How is that fair? How am I supposed to rebuild a lifetime of connection now when she is a grown woman?" I held it together when we picked her up and on the way here but now I'm letting myself fall apart in front of the only man I trust to not judge me for doing so. I had expectations that things would be similar for me as it was for them but I'm a complete unknown to her outside of the conversations we have had over the past two weeks.
My two queens went next door to pick out Nyx's new essence crest and arcene earrings. Her last set no longer fits her current essence signature. Not only because her death and resurrection changed her soul to the point the personalized enclave identifiers won't register to her but more importantly I don't think Nyx is the person that set was intended for. Since we are in a private room, I let my head thunk down on the table. I will have to talk with at least Cornelius and Aspen about my suspicions.
I might even discuss the matter with Lux, if the other two think he can add perspective to this little conundrum. We believe we got our youngest back from death's hands but how exactly did she do that? The boy, Wraith, did save her in time for the body to be resuscitated but I taste that the soul inhabiting it is not quite the same. While I stewed in my thoughts, my claws pricked Malcolm's leg beneath my hand. How his leg got there—and how my wonderful Kaelin mate always knows when I need something to occupy my hands—is a question I stopped asking years ago.
Our youngest was right, Davi did an amazing job picking us. Pushing that distracting rabbit hole of thoughts from the forefront of my mind, I returned to my previous stew of thoughts. In fact, the strangest thing is that I feel an even deeper bond to my little queen now than before. If I thought I would kill or die for her before that was nothing compared to the all consuming protectiveness I feel now. Very curious.
Turning my head, but not moving it off the table I look at Malcolm with questioning eyes. He looks back with a raised eyebrow. His eyes on me didn't stop him from molding the metal in his hands into various shapes. "Do you feel a deeper bond to Nyxara than you did before? Like as if something has just clicked between you that wasn't clicking before?"
I lick his blood off my claws then retract them. My hand settles back on his leg like a magnet. The warmth of his soul soothes me and my chaotic essence like a tranquilizer. " I love you, Mal." I give him a loopy smile getting a little high off of the taste of his essence.
"I love you too, Ya. Don't make any big holes in these pants, I want to make it home looking whole not hole-y."
"You are very holy to me. I'm sure you are a whole lot of man to our mate as well." To that he flicked me on the forehead. "Stop being distracting or I'll have to discipline you later." I tried not to roll my eyes at his promise unsure if I want that kind of attention tonight or not. If I rolled my eyes, I would be. "Now to address what you have said. You will rebuild with her just like the rest of us. She knows who we are on a basic level but everything else… is gone so you aren't so disadvantaged as you think." The shifting metal settles into a ball then he puts into his pocket. Mal picks up the water glass, takes a drink, then turns his contemplative attention back to me.
"Yes, Davi and I both realized the same thing the moment our eyes first connected to hers. She feels the same—and more. As if death changed her in ways no scan could capture. The impressions I'm getting from you tell me that is most likely the case but you aren't ready to share yet." Those deep, silver-moon eyes look at me as if he can see through my thoughts—thankfully, that's not part of his skill set. His perceptive nature will make you think otherwise though.
"Not sure I will ever share, but what I can say is Nyx is Nyx. Everything else is just flavor coding. I will let you know if there is anything worth the personal attention of my Patriarch." I wink at him playfully before turning my face into the table once more. As I sank into a meditative state, I felt him take my hair down then comb through it with his fingers, sending me deeper into the void.
Sooner or later, I'm honestly not sure which; my queens returned. The wait staff must have been waiting for their return since the moment Nyx and Davi were seated; our meals were brought out.
"It feels like it's been forever since I've had a waffle breakfast, with bacon, eggs and toast. The clinic food was good but there is just something about food outside that is just soul-filling."Nyx commented as she cut up her waffle.
"I couldn't agree more, little queen. For your next round you should switch out the bacon for chicken. Highly recommended. I have fond memories of that chicken. Fond memories indeed." I cut a piece of steak then stab some eggs to join the steak as the first victims to go into my mouth.
"Do I want to know why you have fond memories of chicken, Azrail?" she asked with the right amount of strange curiosity. "You don't, Emberling. Azrail is trying to bait you into asking so he can tell you about our first triad date. Things got heated fast and I really don't want to share that with my child. Your Azrail's boundary filter is broken. Your Nimra tells me it has always been broken so this isn't a feature of his that is ever going to change."
Malcolm ignores my death glare as he warns our child. Like I don't choose to not filter with our circle. I have absolutely no problem with controlling myself with people outside our enclave.
"You are going to make her think, I have mental issues. I don't have mental issues. I just like to be transparent with our enclave." I protest shoving food into my mouth. Nyx looks at me with amused wonder while sipping her juice. "What?" My mouth is filled with steak and eggs. I should get pancakes and sausage next round.
"Just enjoying seeing the mortal side of you. I was worried about if we would be able to be close but you have blown that concern away. How could I not get along with someone who can look like a god but eats like a hungry mortal?" She and my two mates laughed but it was this moment that blew away my doubts too. She is still Nyx. No matter how she has changed, Nyx is Nyx.
She is more herself than she has ever been. After all, how can I not love my daughter when she sees me just as I am and doesn't judge me. "You are still the best part of us." I murmur to myself watching my loved ones and feel a sense of completion I thought we would never achieve.