#SOS -- End of winter and start of Spring

Xenia rolls over to pat her hand over the bed, feeling for something or rather someone there. It’s empty. She sighs, rolling to her back to stare up at the ceiling. “Where did you two go?” she wonders, speaking aloud in the empty room.

Xenia thinks: I get so worked up. What good does it do lashing out as I have, complaining about the city and the in-fighting. Taking it out on my wife. Who does that? She hears it from all angles, last person she should hear it from is me. Temperance. That’s what I need.

The redhead sits up, studying the twist of sheets as she pulls an arm across her chest in a stretch. Left followed by right, Xenia pivots her body to one side and then the other, head rolling and leaning to each side with a series of cracks.

Xenia thinks: It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen her and when last I did... I should talk to Lenina, she always helps me get my head right.

(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I haven't seen Kelli and I kind of snapped at her the last time we spoke."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "Hmm why did you snap at her?"
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I was irritated and being a brat."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "She wanted a decent kiss and I said I wasn't in the mood for affection
and was trying to rest. She huffily took the baby and said then they would let me rest and not
disturb me further."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I don’t think she’s been home. I wonder where she been sleeping."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "Probably one of her offices."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "Yipes."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "She'll come round, she always does."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "Aye, but I'm going to write her a letter."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "Put some wife food in that
Letter."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I think the best wife food right now are honest and loving words. An apology too."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "We have very different wives
Haha."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "We do."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "I feel like I did a lot this
week. I'm fading and need to rest soon. The curse of not being able to stand in one spot without
garnering a crowd rang true again."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I understand. I've not been handling the pressure well."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "I had to sleep it off, recharge.....apparently in an empty bed that I
Made."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "But my head's back, the anger and frustration gone, I can see the big
Picture."
(Tells): Her voice sharp-edged and frosty, Lenina whispers to you, "We might consider making campsoon. To make decisions and outline what exactly needs to be done with this world thats been placed in our hands."
(Tells): You tell Lenina, "You still need to vote on ministers. If I can influence your vote in any
way, I urge you to do whatever is necessary to see seats filled quickest."

***Sleep***

Abruptly Xenia sits up, her eyes set in a squint as she paws once about the bed, her search coming up empty. Red hair spills behind as she tilts her head back, sensing the air, its presences and the world at large. With widened green eyes her head snaps forward.

Kelliara- A small den


(Tells): You tell Kelliara, "Why have you not returned?"

You say, "Voltda."
You quickly utter the phrase and see a sulfurous hole open in the ground before you. Without
hesitation, you jump in.

-travel-

A small den.
This is a small earthen hollow with a low ceiling. A massive pile of corpses has been built in a
corner of the den. Some irid moss gives off dim light. A bloodroot plant is growing here. A handful of anise seeds have been dropped here. Kelliara is here. She wields a throwing axe in her left hand and a throwing axe in her right.

She is an athletic Idreth of Human heritage. Standing at roughly the average height of a human, she has pale skin marred with healing cuts and bruises. A tangled mess of wintery-coloured hair falls about her face untidily, reaching to a little further than chin-length, and left entirely free and
unrestrained to simply do as it pleases. Her face and neck are marked with a number of scars of
varying sizes, some beginning to fade with age, while others, a long slash across the bridge of her nose and a burn on the back of her neck, appear to be more recent. Honey coloured eyes peer out at the world almost sleepily from above a button nose and a pair of full pink lips. She possesses an athletic frame, with lean muscle and slender well-toned limbs. Shadows drape her with the boon of Severn, the Manipulator.

(dangling around her neck) : a torc of wolf teeth
(hanging from around her neck) : a darkly flaming heart necklace
(laced comfortable) : snow wight boots
(burned into her right wrist) : a glowing brand
(keeping her legs warm) : tight steel pants
(keeping a baby safely secured to her) : a soft, gray woolen blanket

Kelliara bends down, easily breaking off part of the rib of some unfortunate creature that has long been resting amongst the bones here. "This is a rib," she murmurs, bouncing the child playfully with one arm, and dangling the bone over the babe, who's tiny hands reach out graspingly. "It comes from the chest. The ribs protect some of the most vital organs we have. Like the lungs."

"And what do the lungs do?" Kelliara asks in a cooing voice. "Do they let us breathe? Yes they do! That's why when you damage them, your prey has a much harder time escaping and fighting back!"

(Tells): Kelliara tells you, "I have. I am simply stretching my legs. And showing our daughter my
den."

Your pose is now set as:
Xenia is here, standing at the mouth of the den, smiling.
(Tells): You tell Kelliara, "As I can see. I am enjoying it."

Finally, Kelliara lets the tiny hands pull the piece of bone closer, though her fingers remain
locked about it.

Kelliara blinks.

Kelliara says to you, "Oh. You...are standing right here."

You have emoted: Xenia nods briefly, "Yes, well arrived a short while ago," she explains. "I got sad when I thought maybe you didn't return."

With a sniff, Kelliara says, "You owe me a kiss, just so you know. Perhaps several, by now. Taking into account interest and the like."

You have emoted: Xenia steps further in, bones crunching beneath her feet as she nears. An arm stretching around Kelliara, delivering a kiss first to her and next to the head of the babe. "I
think I owe you several," she agrees, "but I do not wish to disturb the lesson."


Kelliara offers you a skeptical look, one which suggests she'd intended for at least the first
payment immediately-- Additionally, she pays seemingly no mind as the end of the bone not gripped between her fingers ends up predictably being sucked and gummed upon. "Well, I shall simply add this to the debt," she decides eventually, flashing you a sunny, pleased look.

You have emoted: Xenia glances briefly away, her own amusement evident as she leans in, delivering a second, more intimate kiss. "I'm sorry," she murmurs in a low voice, "I should have kissed you when you asked for it and not let annoyances interfere."

"Because I am benevolent," Kelliara decides magnanimously, clearly pleased with the offered kiss from you if her beaming smile is any indication, "I shall accept your apology." She glances down to the baby, gently separating the bone the mouth and tiny fingers clutched to it, and as she does so, tiny fingers reach up as though to pull the thing back down. Her smile shifts to a more gentle one as she relents, letting the bone be pulled back down to be sucked on again, and seemingly looking quite pleased at the efforts put forth by the child.

You have emoted: Xenia's hand settles at the small of Kelliara's back, the other rested atop the
child's ruddy crown. "She's growing fast," the redhead notes, "and you're starting her early. She's destined for hunting." The redhead smiles at this, clearly proud at the thought, "What all have you two been doing other than learning anatomy?"

Glancing upwards, Kelliara says, "Oh, we have been working on things for the Archivium. Wandering about the city. Some shopping."

You have emoted: The baby squirms, no longer content with the presence of Xenia's hand as the bone slips from her hands, the start of a struggle to reclaim the chew-toy. "Yeah? I have....mostly been resting. You know how I get worked up and then need to remember how to relax." By instinct the redhead reaches down, plucking up the bone before returning it to the child to once more mouth and chew.

Smiling faintly, Kelliara says to you, "Yes, I know how you can be, wife."

You have emoted: Without quite meeting Kelliara's eyes, Xenia glances towards her face, a sheepish affection in her features. "I do need to return to my rest, but know this, I love you," her eyes settle on the baby in her wife's arms, "both of you."

Carefully, Kelliara unwraps the blanket from about herself, and passes it, and the baby to you.
"Here," she says, smiling gently down at the child still mouthing on the end of the bone, "Take her with you. She is fed, so all should be well."

Kelliara smiles and says to you, "I think she needs some time with you, and you, her."

Kelliara kisses you passionately.

You have emoted: Xenia balances the baby in one arm, the other taking hold of the blanket, "I think you're right," she comments, "plus I missed seeing her when I woke up." She leans in, lips pressing briefly to Kelliara's, "You have a good evening, maybe have a much deserved drink while the baby's with me."

Kelliara wryly says to you, "I cannot. I am still feeding her, remember?"

Kelliara smiles impishly and says, "Still no smoking or drinking."

You say, "Surely you can if you don't have to feed her so soon?"

Grinning ferociously, Kelliara says to you, "Perhaps. But I will not risk it. I shall simply get
myself pleasantly bloody, instead."

Teasingly, you say to Kelliara, "She's spirean, going to have to start some time."

Kelliara says, "Not for some years, at least."

You have emoted: With those words, Xenia sets about, securing her daughter in the folds of a scarred Xorani hide that is secured about her shoulders. "Kill something grand," she calls, stepping to the door.

(Tells): Kelliara tells you, "Rest well, wife. I love you."