Good tidings

He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about flying by airship yet, but it seemed like something he would need to get used to now, at least until he could master the changes in his teleportation magic. Certainly the slowness of it made him appreciate the aquaportation that he had come to rely on in recent years all the more. Still, once he was within Halo's borders he was able to move swiftly beneath the moonlight under his own magic, making his way to the Sea of Glass and the icy waters whose chill could not touch his Academy-protected skin as he slid into it and shifted into his manta ray form once more.

It was still the most natural and comforting to swim in the form that he had known all his life, moving gracefully beneath the ice. He came upon the shrine at the shore shortly after dawn and shifted back to his merform to bow his head before it in silent prayer to the old gods, and to Safrin and Vi in particular. There were respects to be paid and thanks to be given for the gifts he had been given, and he was punctilious about honoring his patrons. He took his offerings from the net bag that he had carried with him, hooked over a cephalic fin for the water portion of his journey and laid them as close to the altar as he could reach: a bracelet of stars carved from pale blue and clear seaglass, and a pendant of amber polished to a high shine and holding an intact seed within its heart.

And then he settled in to wait for Evie's arrival with calm but eager anticipation.

She's the light in a dark room
She smiles with her eyes and it'll hold you

Deimos drops Evie off this time. No talk of another Shield to accompany her like with her visit with Maea. Evie does not argue it for long; she can tell birth is close at hand, and though she'd been adamant that she not tip off Hadama and ask him to come to the Citadel shrine - still uncertain about the moon phases and whether it would even be doable - she knows as well as he does that she can't be doing anything too strenuous right now.

She still asks him to occupy himself within eyesight but out of earshot, if only for the illusion of privacy.

Clad in thick furs as she is - unnecessary given her Academy blessing, but perfect for concealing her own surprising news - Evie is a bit slower in her pace as she approaches the shrine and Hadama within the icy water beside it. Hood drawn up against the cold wind, her cheeks are flushed so pink her freckles disappear, but they swell with the force of her smile all the same. "Not too cold for you yet even as a student?" It's a titter of a joke as she stands by the shrine. Normally she would sit to accompany him, but it would give up the game too soon.

She's a bullet that's about to fire
And she's the steady that will keep you sane

Evie

If he was surprised to see the Resurrected Sword accompanying his friend he did not reveal it, only giving Deimos a nod of greeting as the other man stopped a ways back to let Evie go the rest of the distance alone.

"Indeed. Though it is a bit cool," he agreed, enough warmth sparkling in his eyes to offset any ice in the water around him. Their shared protection from the temperature was no reason to ask Evie to sit in the snow, however, and he reached for his magic to draw the water up beneath him--

It was like the itch of a phantom limb. He stretched, but nothing answered, and the mermanta felt an unexpected pang at the loss. He had been given other gifts in compensation, however, and the pang faded as quickly as it had come as he pulled himself out of the water with brute strength alone. His long, dark tail trailed into the equally dark waters as he settled onto the shore and looked up into Evie's flushed face. "My friend," he murmured, feeling himself renewed at the signs of health and joy that he found there as her smile lit his own into slowly blossoming life. "Marriage suits you. You have never looked happier."

She's the light in a dark room
She smiles with her eyes and it'll hold you

Evie's laughter at his dry humor coalesces as a cloud around her face that is quickly whisked away by the chilled wind. At least until he pauses and his brow twitches as if wanting to draw together, and Evie pauses in turn, wishing she could ascertain his feelings through the Attuned bond as others could. Before she could ask, however, he pulls himself out of the water in a way she isn't accustomed to seeing him do, and she leans in to wrap an arm around his outer side to give him a brief hug. The water that sinks into her parka is easily whisked away off the animal furs and skins, even without much magic to aid.

"I have never been happier," she sighs, practically euphoric. Though she bites her lip, and her smile turns slightly mischievous as her hands go for the opening of her parka. Though she'd hoped to wait a little longer, have him share his news first, she can't resist. "Though only part of it is marriage." Opening the last clasp, she pulls her parka to each side, revealing her obviously pregnant belly showing through the thinner thermal underlayer. "Surprise! I'm pregnant," she laughs, clasping her parka to the side with her elbows so she can shake her hands in a playful little motion of cheesiness.

She's a bullet that's about to fire
And she's the steady that will keep you sane

Evie

There is laughter and there is light in Halo's eternal winter, and in spite of what he had given up, Evie's friendship and genuine gladness at seeing him was a welcome reminder of all that he still had. They had known each other for nearly as long as he had possessed water manipulation, and between the two he would far rather have her in his life than any mere magic.

The hug was returned with a long arm around her shoulders and an affectionate squeeze that might surprise those who did not know him as well as she did. "I am glad," he rumbled as she pulled away, and his emerald eyes were clear and bright at her assurance.

There was mischief in her smile, however, and the Tidebreaker waited, relaxed and content, patient as the sea for her news that was surely something good with how she barely held in her excitement. "Oh?" He started, head only beginning to tilt in curiosity before she opened the protective parka and revealed a belly round as the full moon. His eyes widened in surprise and he did not try to stop them; not with Evie, who he had long since ceased guarding himself around. "Indeed!" The exclamation was short and shocked, but after a moment he shook his head as a broad smile slowly spread from cheek to cheek, the news sinking in and becoming real. "Evie... congratulations! This is wonderful!"

He had spent hours considering the words with which to reveal his own state to her. Days aboard the airship, imagining how it would play out. Now, however, he cast all his plans away. There was a time for teasing and a time for games, but this was now a day of celebration and sincerity. The mermanta's tail split as he gathered it out of the water and pulled it beneath him, dark scales shifting to dark leather that sparkled with hand-stitched stars as he rose on bare feet so that he could wrap his arms - gently, so very gently - around his friend and her precious cargo. "Congratulations," he said again, the whisper filled with deep affection and joy in equal measure.

She's the light in a dark room
She smiles with her eyes and it'll hold you

Evie has few friends to count on her own fingers, and as he squeezes her affectionately she feels blessed to have this one in particular, and to know him so well. Their crowns have never mattered, and it never ceases feeling good, meaningful, to have made a friend in adulthood all on her own merit. She had met him on the eve of a dawning change to her entire life, at her darkest but most desperately hopeful, and to shine before him now is a privilege yes but also a product of hard work and change. She hopes he is as proud of her as she is of herself. She hopes he feels all of this and more whenever they are like this, just two friends and the world behind them.

It makes her emotional - or perhaps that's simply the pregnancy - enough to make her eyes glassy and over-full, to make her ensuing laugh at his abject shock come out wet and thick. She is in the midst of trying to find her tongue again to respond when he suddenly walks out of the water. Now it is her turn for her eyes to go rounder than the full moon, which tonight certainly isn't. And Evie has never been a very tall woman, but she feels dwarfed - safely so - in his hug as he emerges at full height to pull her into his arms.

"Dama! You - oh my gosh!" She had admittedly suspected, after Deimos had told her what he and the Tidebreaker had discussed, but demigod gifts were so varied that she couldn't have truly known. Hugging him tightly in return, pregnant belly protected within a pair of loving arms, Evie lets her happy tears skim down over her cheeks. "Now you have no excuse not to visit when I have the baby," she scolds through hiccups, overcome with joy for the both of them. Withdrawing only one arm so she might rub her tears away and look up at him without pulling the other away from his waist, she beams. "So does this mean Safrin gave you this? I don't want to be preemptive in my own congratulations."

She's a bullet that's about to fire
And she's the steady that will keep you sane

Evie

Of course he was proud of her. She had come far, done much, grown stronger, yes, but she had also kept the brave heart and kindness that had drawn him to her those years ago. She had changed since they had first met, it was true, but only for the better in his calmly biased opinion. Their crowns too often weighed them down with responsibilities that made it difficult to see each other as often as they would like, but twists of metal and gems did not define them.

There was laughter and there were tears, but they were tears of joy shared and doubled and doubled again, and Hadama was disinclined to step back from their embrace before Evie was ready to do so. For a man who did not often invite physical displays of affection he took great comfort in those that were offered to him by his dearest friend.

"I will visit more often now," he promised, his voice turned to warm thunder with his laughter shining bright within its depths. "How soon until they hatch?" Although he had learned a great deal about human biology since gaining the occasional pair of legs, certain aspects remained a mystery to the man who had been Mer until very recently.

He pulled back just far enough that they could see each other as they spoke, keeping one arm as a companionable support around her waist as well as he smiled down at her flushed and freckled face. And if his own eyes were misty, he made no attempt to wipe them clear. "Indeed," he confirmed, and there was as much contentment in his voice as there was reverence in the bow of his head. "Have you met her?" As Deimos's wife it seemed likely, but neither was Hadama concerned if Evie prayed to another god. All were necessary for the balance on Caido, even if Safrin was the only goddess for him.

She's the light in a dark room
She smiles with her eyes and it'll hold you

Though she knows Deimos would never judge her for her readily apparent emotions, she is grateful anew for the moment of privacy if only because she feels a bit like a blubbering mess. As the birth nears her emotions have become more and more difficult to parse and control the magnitude of. She is quite looking forward to not getting weepy over every little thing, but this - all of it - feels fitting for once.

"They don't hatch," she laughs wetly, charmed by their continuous shared efforts to understand one another often falling short. "I'll push them out through a series of cramp-like contractions in a live birth. And it's very soon - early Deepfrost, I think." In her medical opinion of course, backed by her doctor, but she can also feel it in her heart. Another winter-born child like herself and Deimos.

Her wet eyes soften at the edges as she lifts one hand from his waist to briefly cup his cheek in a maternal or perhaps sisterly gesture, pinching lightly at the crest of his cheek. "Indeed, he says. As if he has not become part god." Even her feigned exasperation is fond, joyous on his behalf. "I have been in her presence twice, but never on my own. I hope to try and meet her personally before the baby comes, but..." she shrugs, her smile bittersweet. She has become accustomed to the silence of shrines when not praying on Halo's behalf. If her luck runs dry once more she won't let it hurt her. "She's...magnetic. But given Deimos' allegiance to her I might be a bit biased." Evie knows how easily and often that magnetism becomes a dark downward slide, but she keeps it to herself amidst the other murmured gossip and negativity she has heard about the heralds over the years. "Are you happy?" In her eyes that's all that matters.

She's a bullet that's about to fire
And she's the steady that will keep you sane

Evie

There was no shame in damp eyes and bubbling tears. Not here, with Evie, and over such a joyous occasion. Nor was he used to needing to wipe away tears; in the ocean they blended into the water, invisible without other cues. Still, he was equally grateful for Deimos's tact as he and Evie leaned together and let themselves feel the emotions in their hearts.

"Ah. I see." The mermanta blinked as his understanding of humans took another important leap forward, though some of his joy faded to the concern of a bachelor male, showing a bewilderment he did not normally reveal to others. It did not sound comfortable, certainly. His own mother had reminded him of the discomfort of his own egg whenever he had misbehaved as a child, but even that had been far easier than the birthing of whale and dolphin calves that he had witnessed. But Evie was a powerful Healer in her own right, and as Warden would have access to the best that Halo could offer, so Hadama simply squeezed her waist gently and put his trust in his friend and the many generations of humans who had sorted such things out before her.

Besides, his cheek was being pinched in a way that was indeed reminiscent of his sister - though from his friend he was far more wiling to accept it as his smile only widened at her teasing. "Mmh. I am still becoming accustomed to it," he admitted. The change had been recent indeed, and he had only told his co-ruler before this. "But there is nothing wrong with bias. She is Beautiful. Powerful. And she protects her own, fiercely." Emerald eyes twinkled down into blue as he added: "In these, you share much in common. I hope she will speak with you soon." Though as she was still recovering from her ordeal beyond Caido there was more than the usual reason for her to decline to answer a prayer in person these days.

"I am," he replied simply to her most important question, and the contentment and pride in his gaze was unwavering.

She's the light in a dark room
She smiles with her eyes and it'll hold you

Ah, so it must be a recent change. Evie is not entirely surprised by that given Deimos had shared Hadama's search for knowledge to arm himself with prior to his decision. "It changes your nature entirely, I think you're allowed multiple years to adjust," she assures, cheeky grin softening into something befitting the comfort she extends.

It's a great compliment to be compared to their starry herald, and Evie's cheeks go slightly pink because of it. "I hope she'll think the same." She knows she is lucky that Frey is the least judgmental against Abandoned, because it's hard to make her better traits shine past the tar-painted exterior of the race she'd been born. Today isn't for regrets and ruminations though, and his answer warms her greater than any fur or magic, melting her expression as she gently squeezes his bare shoulder. "Good. That's all that matters. I'm so happy for you, Dama."

She's a bullet that's about to fire
And she's the steady that will keep you sane

Evie