strangetrip | [OTA] such a nice way to start people

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[OTA] such a nice way to start people

The past few days had been at least a year's worth of emotions and exhaustion, and Vex... and Vex didn't even know how to finish that thought. What she did know was the suite was starting to feel way too small and constricting, and if she didn't get out of their rooms for a little while, she was going to go batty.

She'd finished feeding Elaina and changed her diaper – thank Pelor they no longer looked like something a black pudding left behind – and by the time the baby was dressed in the light layers all the books insisted were the only way to go, she was sound asleep again. And even more miraculously, the rain that had been falling all day decided to take a break. Vex grabbed one of the ever-present towels she was using as a baby blanket and draped it over Elaina where she slept tucked against Vex's chest. If she needed anything that wasn't already in her bag, she could always call Percy or Vax over the earrings to bring it.

Vex took a deep breath of rain-fresh air when she stepped out of the suite, and then paused, waiting and hoping she hadn't disturbed the baby's sleep. Elaina nestled closer, but didn't seem to wake, and Vex started a slow stroll, falling into an almost instinctive movement that lightly rocked the sleeping baby. She tipped her head up toward the sky, smiling at the sun peeking out from behind grey clouds. It felt so good just to be out and moving around, but it wasn't long before her attention turned once again to the bundle she carried and how her heart filled with warmth and love.

Who cared if there were dark circles under her eyes? If there was still a carefulness to how she walked that hinted at some hidden discomfort? There was an easy smile in the curve of her mouth that didn't fade, but got brighter and wider whenever she got to introduce someone to the youngest de Rolo.

Eventually she headed to the cafe. Maybe she could find out what those bug-things were the chef was cooking today.

[ooc: Meet Vex and baby Elaina either walking outside or in the cafe.]

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"Some people have been fucking it up for thousands of years." Not that Vex thought she and Percy were in that group. Not really. She wasn't going to be like her father or anything.

"Don't mind me, darling. I just pushed a tiny person out of my body a few days ago – as you know, since you were there – and and discovering sleep and things like coherent thought are luxuries of the past. On the other hand," her gaze shifted again to Elaina, hand smoothing over her tiny head before taking off the equally tiny hat when she felt the slightest bit warm, and revealing the delicate points of her ears.

"No, no, your sleep-deprived self ain't wrong," Jackson assured her. "But I'm sure you'll do just fine."

She had good people around her, and she was a good woman, herself. That counted for a lot, even if their circumstances were less than ideal. Most circumstances were.

Vex hoped he was right. Still, she couldn't help but feel completely unprepared for any of this.

"She's just a baby. It can't be as bad as fighting dragons. Right?"

"Well, I've never fought dragons," Jackson replied, but his tone let that he thought the baby might be worse.

"I'm something of an expert." Vex had made a study of dragons, a way to focus her hate and grief, after they learned it was a dragon who had killed their mother. "And I don't recommend you try."

On the other hand, battles lasted only moments. Even when preparing for battles they had known were coming had only taken weeks. Being a parent, that was for life. That might have had something to do with Jackson's unconvinced tone.

"No intention of tryin'," Jackson assured her. "Then again, I never intended to fight off the undead either." Or to get hanged by extraterrestrials. And look what the Inn had brought them.

"Another thing best avoided unless you've some clerics around." Except Vex was a cleric now, wasn't she? "Powerful clerics, I mean."

Pike and Kash had both been here when the undead army had attacked the inn. Now they were both gone.

"But you come from one of those worlds that doesn't have things like dragons and undead and quarter-elves, don't you?"

"We got plenty'a stories about them," Jackson told her, and his gaze dropped to the infant, his lips twitching up. "Well, maybe not about quarter-elves. But the rest, yeah. Dragons, vampires, ghouls and assorted monsters. Not a one in the flesh, though, not that I know of."

"Maybe not about quarter-elves, but some stories of elves. Just none, I assume, where they showed the likely outcome of elves and humans existing together."

Vex frowned, a mask over the mask that hid the too real hurt she kept buried. "Real elves like to do the same thing. Ignore that any of us pesky half-breeds exist. But how anyone could say no to these perfect, tiny little ears, I do not understand." She traced a finger along the curve of Elaina's ear to the delicate point at the tip, utterly smitten with her little girl.

"Gotta agree with you there," Jackson stated quietly, watching the both of them with a smile. He shook himself out of it, looking back up into Vex's face. "I'mma go order some food. Want me to order you something?"

Edited 2019-03-23 22:45 (UTC)

"Have you found out what those bug things Emma is making are? I assume they aren't actually bugs – that doesn't sound like the kind of thing she would make or that others would be excited about. Maybe that... those? I don't know if you're supposed to eat them singly or not. If it looks like something delicious." Vex's head tipped down over Elaina's. "And if it's something that can be eaten one handed."

There were some places Jackson had heard about where bugs were delicacies, but he still thought Vex had the right of it. Wasn't like sweet little Emma to be cooking them, and most people wouldn't be getting excited. "Bugnes," he told her, mangling the pronunciation the usual American way, as he pushed up to his feet. "You're in for a treat, darlin'."

Huh. It didn't sound like 'bug' at all. There wasn't even a g-sound anywhere. More importantly, it sounded like Jackson knew what they were, and that they were good.

"I want to ask if they'd be good with coffee, but this little one's going to want to eat again soon, so I probably shouldn't."

"You can have a sip off mine, if you'd like," Jackson offered. That much couldn't hurt, could it? "Be right back, darlin'."

Vex had been right about Elaina, who started to wake up, fussy, just after Jackson went to get food. Vex, who'd never had much shame when it came to flashing her tits, certainly didn't think twice about baring them now for what they were made for, feeding her baby. She tugged the hem of her shirt up, and with a little nudging guidance, got Elaina to start nursing before she really started to cry.

Mother and child having a moment, focused solely on each other when Jackson returned not long after.

Jackson was a great lover of breasts, in general. But he was also a doctor, and he tried not to be an idiot, for all that he regularly failed. Still, it did not occur to him to have any kind of reaction to the bared breast, when it came to breastfeeding. It was what it was, and that was that.

He set down a fruit juice for Vex and a coffee for himself. "The bugnes will be right over."

It hadn't taken Vex long to realize she was going to have to get used to doing a lot of things one-handed, if she wanted to for example, eat.

Luckily the bugnes Emma brought out herself – obviously she would want a glimpse of Elaina, Vex decided – not long after Jackson came back were pillowy knots of fried dough and meant to be finger food.

"So what have you been up to lately, other than welcoming new life into the world?" Vex asked as she tapped a bugne against the plate to knock off some of the excess powdered sugar.

"Treatin' the odd cold, mostly - and readin' up on 21st century children's health," Jackson replied with a one shouldered shrug, after swallowing a bite of his sandwich. Had to be ready, in case the little one developed one condition or another. It was all about humans, but delivering a quarter-Elf hadn't been any different from delivering your usual babe, and it wasn't as if any of his books mentioned other species. "On top of my regular schedule of bein' bored to death in the clinic, drinkin' more than I should, and doin' a lotta fornication, 'course."

Vex nodded, and took a sip of juice.

"Eventually I'll have to get back to being bored to death in the clinic too. Although that will be easier once Percy and I can ever get a full night's sleep again." Not to mention, she wasn't ready yet, and it wasn't like they really needed a cleric most days. Not that she was much of a cleric to begin with.

"Take your time, darlin'," Jackson told her with a smirk. "You're better company than Butters, but we ain't exactly overworked. Boredom will be right here when you're ready to get back to it." If she ever was. Jackson wouldn't blame for preferring other pursuits.

Vex laughed, but softly, not wanting to startle Elaina. Some things new parents learned quickly, apparently.

"As probably one of the few people here who doesn't have time to get bored right now, I will do my best to make the most of it."

"You do that, darlin'," Jackson echoed softly, his eyes warm as he watched the both of them. So maybe he wasn't talking about exactly the same thing anymore. "You make the most of it."

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[OTA] such a nice way to start people

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