In the Lights You Make

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

"I had big dogs too, kind of like Haai." Nate continues, glad to have found a subject he can talk about for a little bit. "They were different colours than her though. And not as nice." He chuckled softly, watching Haai flop to the side to allow better access to her belly, her wings akimbo.

A brow lifts at the question about doctors and healers, then immediately drops again when Loren's name comes up. "No, they're not the same. I don't have magic like Loren does. I had to learn how to help people with just normal things, no magic." He smiles, tries to not let his opinion bleed into his words too much. "If your knee was bleeding I could put a bandage on it, and make it feel better, but it would heal slowly still."

Really, he can't argue with her assertion about heroes, and it shows in the little shrug of defeat Nate offers her. "Everyone should try to help people whenever they can." He said instead, returning the bright smile and shifting, leaning back on his heels. "I'm not a pirate." A laugh accompanied the words, Nate's head tilting to the side. "Isn't there anything between pirate and hero?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

The child was intrigued. "What is their names?" she asked, while obediently scritching at the exposed belly. She never had to be asked twice to do belly rubs.

She considered the distinction he made, and accepted it easily enough. It didn't really matter whether the fixing was quick or not, it seemed equally good in her eyes. "Can I learn that too?" she asked, rather eagerly. "I want to help people, and I do not have healing like Loren." This felt like an excellent opportunity to do what Mother wanted her to do. Who better to understand mortals than someone who fixed them?

"Uhm..." The question made her frown slightly, trying to figure out what he meant with 'between.' As they were both good things, to her. "Mermaids..?" Though really, they were just another good, so it didn't really seem right.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

"I had three." Nate holds up three fingers, pulling each one down as he describes the dogs. "The oldest one was Blue. She was big, and black and brown. Then there was Kemo, who was grey and white. And the youngest was Bart, and he was just white." The smile on his face twists into something nostalgic, a little bit sad, before he's shaking his head. "I haven't seen them in a while now."

Thankfully, she seemed to accept the difference he'd laid out. Though, it was clear the immediate request to learn caught Nate off guard a little bit. "I... if you want to, and it's okay with your dad, I can teach you some of what I know. You have to start small though." Basic first aid, how to stop swelling, bleeding, how to make bruises and bumps ease, the kind of stuff he'd been uncomfortably familiar with at her age. Easy enough to teach, under the right circumstances. Better than his.

The fact that her scale went from Pirate to Hero, and had mermaids in the middle made Nate laugh, the sound a little unexpected. "Well. I guess you got me. I have to be a hero then, right?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

Sympathy welled up within the child as Nate hung his head. Seren understood that feeling, and just like he didn't want her to be sad, so did she want to spare him from the same. Very gently a little hand reached up to stroke his head. "There there," she said, as soothing as she could be, which was quite a lot. "You have friends here too, so it will be okay." She said it with surpreme confidence. Hadn't they just confirmed being friends, after all? And she was right here.

When her request to learn was actually accepted, the girl's eyes widened in astonishment. Usually, all she got was 'later', but not here. Not now. And the smile she offered him was bright as a rising sun. "Thank you! I will ask daddy," she replied with a glowing enthusiasm. The gratitude was genuine and heartfelt, quite surprising in its intensity. Finally someone who didn't turn her down.

Laughing, she nodded. "All are good but you are my only hero friend now," she told him, looking rather pleased.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

The little hand that came down onto his head brought a smile back to Nate's lips, his eyes preceding his face as he looked back up at Seren. "I do have friends here, don't I? And I just got a new one, so I can't be too upset." He laughed, reaching out to tap her nose, then stood up properly again, stretching as he went. "You want to come sit with me?" He offered, gesturing towards the bench he'd been on before she crept up on him. If she agreed he'd be happy to help her up.

Nate is not used to such eagerness in the face of what he does, more used to having to convince people of the usefulness of what he does, especially in a world like Caido, so he's not quite sure how to respond to Seren for a moment, other than matching her bright smile, as best as he can, showing off his fangs properly for the first time. "You let me know what he says, and we can get started as soon as you want, okay?"

"Your only hero friend, huh?" Nate smirked, still smug despite the fact that he was talking to a child, that he still didn't really consider himself a hero. He liked being impressive. "So you have pirate friends and mermaid friends then?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

Laughing, she scrunched up her nose as it was tapped. Seren nodded that she very much did want to sit with him, and clambered up onto the bench beside him, needing only the briefest steadying hand to help. Very content with this turn of events, she kicked her legs that dangled a good distance off the ground, savoring the new perspectives. The purple flowers that grew all over the porch filled the air with a sweet fragrance, and mingled with the salty breeze sweeping in from the ocean.

Nate grinned at her answer and looked very happy indeed. But at the sight of his fangs, the girl's breath hitched a little and she stared, her unabashed confidence fading much like the setting sun. Something very painful started up inside, when she connected his sharp teeth with ones she had seen before. Letha had smiled too, and then... then Seren had made it go away, when she started.

"Yes..." she replied, but without the same enthusiasm. "Uncle Saiden is a pirate, and Sunjata is a mermaid pirate." Normally it would have made her boast to no end, but Seren was terribly distracted. Caught in a conundrum... because she had already promised to be friends with Nate, and yet she was not supposed to be. Was she?

"Nate... What makes a bad person bad?" It was skirting the real question the wanted to ask, but somehow she was afraid to. Wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate isn't sure what exactly spurs the change, but he can see the excitement drain out of Seren suddenly, a look on her face that seems terribly familiar, for a reason he can't quite put his finger on. He knows he doesn't want to be whatevers causing it though, so his grin drops, his brow coming together in worry. He isn't sure if just coming out and asking her what's wrong is the correct choice though, so he bides his time, letting her talk while he tries to figure it out.

"Uncle Saiden, huh? I think I've met him too." His voice is still light, still kind and interested, though the grin hasn't returned quite yet. Partially because he's trying to figure out that particular relationship, not to mention trying to decode what exactly is meant by Sunjata being a pirate mermaid. Something to do with his whale shift, maybe?

The question that comes next though, makes Nate freeze, in that absolute way only an ascended can. He is not the person to answer this particular moral question for anyone, let alone a child. There's a moment of his stillness, a low, discordant hum coming from him, just to make it seem like he's thinking about it. "I... I think a bad person is... someone who tries to hurt other people and be bad, even when they can do other things. But... that's not an easy question. Why do you ask?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

There was a slight smile at his knowing her 'uncle', but not as bright as it ought to be. Seren listened more to the answer to her question, and it made her nibble the lip even more, wriggling uncomfortably as she searched for a way to explain that wouldn't make this person sad. But she had never learned subterfuge, or to be anything but plain honest, so what spilled out in the end was just plain truth.

"Mama says The Voice is bad, and I met Letha and I like her but she said she is Ascended and that is why her teeth are pointy. And your teeth are the same, but we are friends now so, so... Mama... will she be angry? And Daddy... I do not want to be bad and make them sad."

She looked every bit as confused as she felt inside. If her parents said something, she wanted to obey it. Yet somehow it didn't feel wrong, when both Letha and Nate were nice...

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

All of Nate's concern only grew as the young girls face continued to fall, cloudy eyes and a childish pout forming. As she explained though, it started to make sense. And it was a dilemma. It was not, in any way, Nate's place to be giving moral lessons to anyone, especially not a child only tenuously connected to him. He made a face, sucking his teeth as he thought, then finally sighed and tried to muddle something out.

"It's... easy to say that a group of people is bad. But its very hard to say just one person is bad. And... I am ascended, and the ascended can be bad." It sort of feels like he's rambling, heading in wide circles. "I'm not... bad, though." A sigh, and then he's waving his hand, clearly struggling a little bit. "You should talk to your mom and dad though. When they say something... it's to protect you, because you're little."

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

It was complicated, and it seemed no one could really help her with this dilemma except her parents. Seren was sad to see Nate's smile disappear, it made her stomach feel heavy and tight, and it was not how she wanted it to be.

"Okay, I will ask," she sighed, in acquiesence to his suggestion. There was a lot of things to talk to her parents about now. Dragon companions, visiting Halo, learning to be a doctor and whether she could be friends with Nate and Letha... Better pick a good time, when Father had time to answer it all properly.

"I still want to be friends and learn to doctor," she told him, perhaps a bit stubbornly, as she looked back up. In the fading light, her eyes were still vibrantly blue, and there was no fear whatsoever as she looked at him. "Because you are nice."

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate nodded in response to the sigh, forcing a smile back to his face, though it was more awkward for the struggle. At the end of the day though, pointing Seren back to her parents seemed like the msot responsible thing to do. The thing that covered his own ass the most. He wasn't willing to deal with angry demi-god, or goddess who already had reason to dislike him.

The smile grew a little more genuine at the hint of a fight in her voice, a snort of amusement leaving Nate. It was the rebellion of youth that made him laugh, the lack of fear in her eyes. "I'll still be your friend. And I'll still teach you." He says, not quite a promise, but something close to it.

"I think for now though, before you talk to someone, it's okay if we just sit, right?" There was a part of him that felt guilty for not being able to offer some kind of better explanation, that wanted to offer a consolation, of sorts. Because really, the most responsible thing to do would be to send her back home, keep them both from trouble.

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

It wasn't the same smile as before, and it was perhaps not as interesting as learning the things right away, but Seren could wait. Patience was one of the first things she ever had to learn, while waiting to meet her father for the first time, and she put it to good use here.

"Yeah, sitting is okay," she agreed, content with the half promise and quite relieved to have addressed the issues at hand. Nate didn't seem very sad or angry either, so that was good. All was well.

For a while, the girl was quiet. Just kicked her feet and watched the shadows grow longer. It was a bit chilly, and goosebumps flared over her arms when the wind swept in from the ocean, but she didn't mind.

"Do you like living here?" she asked eventually, turning back to look at Nate, curiosity overcoming the idea of 'just sitting.'

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam

- NATE -

We'll get married or buried
We'll have a baby or kill someone

Nate was glad that his suggestion of just sitting was accepted. It felt safer, without disappointing the girl too much. They had struck a careful balance, which was... probably not something he should be showing a child, but some things couldn't be avoided. As the sun dripped lower, he leaned back, lifting his feet to once again rest on the porch railing.

The question, when it came, made him turn. Technically it infringed on just sitting, but it was a more innocent direction to go in, one that felt safer. "I do like living here. Torchline is really nice. When I was little, I used to dream about places like this." He laughed softly, then turned to her. "Do you like living here?"

Well, I can't decide what to try
Commitment or a gun

Seren

I am magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment
Destined to seek, destined to know

Sitting was nice, but talking really was better. Seren didn't know that this was considered skirting the rules, tiptoeing the line of breaking it, so to speak... but if she had known, hey, she wanted to be a pirate! Lawlessness was in the job description.

Torn from a jealous comparison of her short legs with Nate's immensely long ones, she smiled at him, happy that he liked her home. "Yeah, I like it too. Daddy is here, and Remi, and Sunjata. The sea is pretty and I like my room. Sometimes I miss being with Mama in the stars, but this is nice too."

It was mostly difficult when she was just about to sleep. Once, it had been a mere act of closing the eyes, and her dreams would fill with the image of stars, moons, galaxies slowly spinning into existence and dying off again. But here, there was a darkness behind her eyelids that was not so comfortable. Where her thoughts ran wild and dreams were not always sweet.

"Where were you before you lived here?" One question always led to another. At least Seren had the good sense to stick to one at a time.

I am a princess on the way to my throne
Destined to reign, destined to roam