Wishing to be Big
For Jude and Frey
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
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#1
Phoebe

The Deepfrost chill permeated the Greatwood, but that did not stop Phoebe from taking her son to the shrine. The Crimson Cataract was beautiful no matter what time of year, and after all, he needed to learn. Learn how to pray, learn how to behave around the gods, learn how to worship Frey. For now she would focus on the diety's nature half, knowing one so young would not interest the other half at all. Nor would Harper be pleased with her if she did - and she didn't want to risk her ex trying to take her son from her.

They would arrive at the shrine around noon, each with a basket of peaches in their hands. "Now set it on the shrine like this." she said, placing her basket on the alter, and stepping aside so Jude could do the same. "Now we either give our thanks to Frey for all they do for us, or we ask them to visit us. Like this..."

Phoebe clasped her hands in front of her and concentrated. "Frey, I hope you can take some time to see me, so I can teach my son how best to worship you." she said.
she sprouted love like flowers
grew a garden in her mind
Jude Quinn
Singer

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#2
Jude
It would be hard to find a young child as pious as Jude. Between Maeve and Harper’s closeness with Safrin and his mother being Frey’s demigod, he has been firmly rooted in loyalty to the Old Gods from birth. He still has not met one - at least not at an age he could remember, though his mother told him of how Frey had cooed and cradled him once upon a time. Today, perhaps that can change.

Following his mother’s instructions to the letter, Jude tries to still his eagerly fluttering hands. He has so many questions, like how she came to find out Frey preferred peaches, and if the herald had any other fruit preferences. Did each variant of Frey have different food preferences? Was it offensive to give a god of the earth fruit in general, like how some of the Fae sneered at cut flowers for being seen as doomed to die prematurely?

Clasping his hands moments after Phoebe, Jude bows his head - eyes shut so tight they wrinkle at the corners - and tries to find similarly eloquent words. “Hi Frey, if you’re not busy I would really like to meet you now I’m a little older.” Okay, not the best, but it’s painfully sincere.


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#3
Frey
Peaches at Deepfrost? Well, one ought to expect such a thing from a demigod of Frey, and the herald is appreciative of the ingenuity. Indeed, whilst the snow doesn't thaw at their arrival, sprigs of holly and mistletoe, hawthorn and snowdrops do spring to life around them, bringing splashes of colour to the somewhat bleak season.

"How thoughtful, peach," they croon (and yes, they know what they just did there), clad in fur that, on closer inspection, appears to be an assembly of living arctic foxes, happy to curl and nap around Frey's form as they go about their business.

Running careful golden fingers over the peaches, they raise their eyes to Phoebe and Jude both. "And what a fine young man you are becoming," they inform the boy. "Nature is serving you well, it seems."
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#4
Phoebe

Phoebe smiled warmly as one aspect of her god appeared before them. Instinctively a hand moved to rest on Jude's shoulder, her thumb running over it in a soothing motion. She knew all too well how overwhelming seeing a god for the first time could be.

Her eyes drifted to the arctic foxes that made up Frey's coat, and she reached out to scritch the head of one of them. They were so cute! How could she not?

"Jude, this is one aspect of Frey. Say hello." she said warmly, looking at her boy with loving eyes. "We seek out the gods when we need guidance or help. Today you're seeking out Frey to learn how you can best serve them. So go ahead and ask." She wasn't going to do the work for him. He needed to be bold and confident in the face of Frey after all - directness was always the best policy with them.
she sprouted love like flowers
grew a garden in her mind
Jude Quinn
Singer

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#5
Jude
The sudden blooming all around them is what he notices first, and an excited little gasp gets stuck halfway up his throat, remembering belatedly that he needs to be proper. His mother had told him that while the odds were good, sometimes little symbols would appear instead of the herald, letting you know you were heard even if they couldn't entertain you. Luckily it seems that is not the case today, and Jude can't help but stare in unblinking awe at Frey as they appear, clad in living foxes and with a compliment for him. His lungs feel a little weak, like he's been running in circles for an hour.

His mother's words echo somewhere in his empty head, but honestly Jude barely hears them, so bewitched is he. "I always wondered what you looked like, but I couldn't remember if I saw you at the shrine," he blurts out first, gracelessly. Flushing, he tries to hurry on past it to save a little face. "Um, I mean, thank you!" Jude so badly wants to pet one of the foxes, but his mother already is, and she had instructed him to...to...oh, right! "What can I do to help you? Or, to help the Greatwood? I'm not very old yet but I want to help. I know the war messed up a lot of your stuff." He'd emerged from the refuge and seen firsthand how both of his homes had changed, and sometimes he wonders - fears - if it was for the worst.


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#6
Frey
The fox chitters and leans into Phoebe's touch, while Frey meanwhile offers little more than an enigmatic sort of smile to Jude, selecting one of the peaches and settling on the snow as if it were a fine, down blanket.

"Nature will recover. It always does," they tell the boy with a gentle roll of their wrist. "Nothing is meant to remain the same forever, buttercup. Just remember to respect that which you find, and it will likely show you the same courtesy."

Likely. But that isn't a guarantee, of course.
Jude Quinn
Singer

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#7
Jude
Jude listens intently, eyes riveted to Frey as opposed to his mother as the herald speaks to him - the rest of the world falling away now. "Then...are you the strongest? Do you not need our help?" It is slightly hushed as he says it, because his maman and papa are Safrin's people through and through, so it feels heretical to even whisper it. "Mom says we can ask for guidance and help, but what do we do for you? Uh, except being nice to nature."

And, eyes unable to stop flickering back to the foxes, Jude smiles sheepishly. "Can I pet one too? Lots of my family have companions, but I don't yet." And the foxes look so much softer than the two dragons he's used to accompanying him. Maybe Branbast is comparable, but he'll only know if he tries.

- - -

Skipping Phoebe with Grant's permission!


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#8
Frey
"Some would say so," Frey says with a curl of their lips. "But those who are truly strong do not need to say it. You do not see the oak tree bragging to the willow, do you?" Raising their eyebrows, they sink their teeth into the peach and lift their free arm so that one of the foxes can clamber along their wrist to sniff at Jude.

"Consent is important. It does not matter which aspect of us you follow, that will always remain the case." All of that is to say that yes, the boy can pet the fox, and they have earned points for asking. As for what they can do for Frey?

"Being nice to nature can be a full time job," they point out. "As for you, though, you can concentrate on growing and thriving. That is all I require of you for the time being."
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
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#9
Phoebe

Phoebe smiled warmly as her son engaged with Frey. Pride filled her chest as she watched. He was doing so well. His natural inquisitiveness would teach him more about the god than she could ever properly explain. Frey was complicated yet straightforward, and now Jude was seeing it for himself.

"It seems even I have things to learn from you, Jude." she said when Frey praised him for asking consent to touch the foxes, which she had not done. So she scratched behind the fox's ear once more, then removed her hand.

She crouched down a bit to be more at Jude's eyelevel, ruffling his hair with a loving touch and smile. "So all you need to do is grow up big and strong like your father. And you're well on your way there." she said, kissing his brow.
she sprouted love like flowers
grew a garden in her mind
Jude Quinn
Singer

Age: 19 | Height: 5’10 | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Torchline
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#10
Jude
Jude giggles a little to himself. "Maybe they're doing it in private, though." Normally he would never be so familiar with anyone, much less a herald, but Frey has a very calm and wise aura about them that makes him feel at ease. Enough to reach forward - pink cheeked with pride - to gently caress the fox that lays upon their bare shoulder. It is as soft as he'd expected, and though he keeps his touch light just in case, he also threads his fingers through the layers of fur to feel it slide against his knuckles.

But they've both mentioned being big and strong now, and Jude remembers vaguely the day he'd first aged up at Frey's shrine. "How old do I have to be to Attune? Or to ask for quests?" He doesn't dare look back at his mother, scarcely blinking as he looks into Frey's eyes. They're a color he can't describe, an amalgamation of hues he isn't sure exist in nature. He doesn't think he's brave enough to ask to be older in the presence of his mother, but if he knows what age to ask for later...


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#11
Frey
"Perhaps so," Frey agrees with the boy, the amusement on their face as much for Jude's humour and curiosity as for the knowledge that he is absolutely correct. The fox happily accepts the fuss from little hands before curling back up and around the herald's shoulders, and it is already busy snoozing again when Jude airs his question.

"Older than you are now, for quests," Frey replies, an enigmatic slant to their smile now. "But you may Attune whenever you like, sweetpea. To become so close to nature... that does not come with stipulations."
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#12
Phoebe

Phoebe could not have been more proud of her clever little boy. She could tell Frey was pleased with him too, which made her all the prouder. That she had created someone her cherished god approved of meant the world to her.

But Jude's line of questioning became more...serious. What age to get quests? The attuning she didn't mind so much, his father was Attuned so of course he would be naturally curious about that, and she had her own shift as well. But quests? Her mind worried over it, wondering if he was thinking of growing up big and strong too soon. That he wasn't looking over at her at all and staring at Frey so intently only intensified her worries. "You'll get there in time. Quests from the gods are very important, so now is the time to learn all you can to be ready for them." she said, trying to subtley enforce that his time as a child was important to his success as an adult.
she sprouted love like flowers
grew a garden in her mind


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