Kits and Space Stations: Chiya and Ketvia's Story

"So what do you think?"

Aedelian didn't even pause to consider-- but then, he had probably been picking through her brain during the whole conversation and had made his decision ages ago. He just blinked at her and said, "I don't think it's a bad idea."

Lack of obvious forethought, maybe, but it wasn't an unequivocal, either. "But do you think it's a good idea?"

"That depends on you and Chiya," the Air dragon shrugged. "It could be a wonderful idea, and help you both, but if you keep worrying about it and thinking too hard about it, it won't be."

"Thinking too hard? Since when have I ever been accused of thinking too hard?"

"Well, I admit, I don't know if there's a precedent," Aedelian said with a sly smirk.

Ketvia gave him a swat, which he ducked, laughing, then she left him to his children and went off to think. Some more. Too hard?

Well, maybe....

She and Chiya had come to Star City again, and again they were staying with the Landwerlens-- the original family, that is, given that some of Aedelian's offspring were already getting a move on giving him more descendants. Dyva and Audaxo, being on the slower end of the batch's growth scale, were just entering adolescence now, the former taking it to all the dramatic extremes while the latter simply grew yet more introspective. Vyly was extremely frustrated with them both, which made sense given she was really an adolescent at heart, herself. And Aedelian... well, he hadn't really changed a bit.

They hadn't signed up for the clutch at the Abstract Destiny, though they had visited the docked ship to investigate. Callidei was actually in charge of one of the crossbreed batches, and had been happy to show them around the bay-- the one opposite the one they'd spent so much time in-- though Claw didn't seem nearly as happy. Ah well, Ketvia was used to it; she didn't like him much, either, after all. Chiya accused her of carrying a grudge, but since Ketvia knew full well that Claw was doing the same thing and wasn't about to stop, she made no effort to change it when it would do no good to try. They stayed civil for Callidei's sake, but not much more.

They hadn't decided yet whether they were actually going to go through with it-- and they still had plenty of time to decide. So far, they'd been at Star City two days, and the decision was no closer to being made. That was, in fact, what Ketvia had been asking Aedelian about. His answer made sense, but wasn't at all comforting. If the wisdom in the choice to adopt depended on her and Chiya's attitude towards it, they'd have to bolster their confidence in the matter if they wanted things to work out.

Or, more appropriately, Ketvia would have to bolster her confidence. Which was, she'd decided, a remarkably unusual and uncomfortable position to be in. It was much easier to soothe Chiya's nerves than her own.

That evening over dinner, which Ketvia took Chiya out for so they could have a little privacy from the entire, nosy Landwerlen family, she relayed his words. Chiya chewed thoughtfully on her dinner for a long moment before answering.

"I doubt I'll have any problem with worrying too much about it," she said at last, sounding oddly tentative. "Or over-thinking and turning a good thing into a chore."

"And you think I will?" Ketvia grumbled; she hadn't missed that slight emphasis.

"It's possible," Chiya shrugged. "You do think awfully hard when it comes to children. You never used to...."

"Maybe being a parent made me more responsible," Ketvia smirked without any real humor. "More worried about scarring little kids for life."

Chiya wisely didn't say what she was probably thinking. She didn't need reminding.

"We did fine by Trip, Vir, and Regius," she said instead, picking at her salad with her fork.

"Aside from when I got grumpy," Ketvia pointed out.

"Everyone gets grumpy," Chiya countered. "You loved them."

"Still do."

"Well, yes." Chiya leaned over the table to give one tangled tuft of fur a tug. "Ketvia, you love children as much as I do-- I've seen you play with them, years before we had our own. You're not going to hurt any we adopt."

In the silence that followed, Ketvia refrained from saying what she was thinking, that she'd had to have done something to Callidei to drive her away from her parents, because she knew it wasn't true. Well, her head knew it. She was just still working on convincing the rest of her to know it, too-- though she seemed to be making a little more headway, these days. After all, Calli seemed awfully happy, doing what she was doing. Maybe having some new voices in the house, ones who wouldn't even remind her of her wayward daughter, would help.

And, well, Chiya seemed like she was all ready for this, and what was Ketvia going to do but whatever it took to keep the Light dragon happy? She was tired of both of them being sad, grumpy, or both.

"You really wanna do this, huh?" she finally said, peering at her friend and partner.

"So do you," Chiya replied, wrinkling her muzzle at her.

"Well...." At Chiya's knowing look, Ketvia couldn't help but grin, forcibly putting her worries behind her. "Yeah. I'm not ready for an empty house, either, and damn you for knowing it."

She smiled, back, ignoring the curse as she obviously meant it in affection rather than real annoyance. "So should we go sign up, then? Tomorrow, maybe?"

"Let's do it the new-fangled way," Ketvia suggested with a wolfish grin.

"The-- what?"

Ketvia fluffed herself up importantly. "Let's send an email."

Chiya didn't reply; she was too busy laughing. So Ketvia took that as a "yes" and cheerfully went back to her dinner.