ghostcommunitytheater | SEASON OF PLUNDER

Wanda's well aware what a sign of trust it is that she's permitted to babysit hatchlings. No doubt it helps that she'd assisted in the defense of the Eliksni Quarter during the Vex attack and from the start had been one of the Guardians who was willing to give the House of Light a chance. Mithrax does not dock his people, but the caretaker she's helping is still healing from wounds inflicted by another Kell and could really use a break.

She has four strapped to her in the traditional way: three across her chest and one on her back shoulder, her hair hastily braided out of the way. She breaks off from the song she's singing them as she catches sight of Mithrax and waves. "You're back early. Is everything all right?"

It is still something of a surprise to see Guardians tending to the hatchlings and that so many trusted them to do so. He bows slightly to the Warlock in greeting. "Things are... as settled as they can be."

There are things he must do to truly make things right and the danger has not gone. If anything, it has increased. He came to see the hatchlings to remember why he has changed and what the future of the Eliksni looks like. Perhaps it is fate that the Guardian is here with them.

"Have they been good for you?" he asks as he crouches down close to the Guardian.

Ironic, that these four hatchlings are probably the safest babies in the entire City right now when a few short years ago no Eliksni would ever dream of handing them off to a Guardian. Wanda's shifted from her usual Void attunement to Solar just to provide a little extra warmth for them, and she can't resist the urge to gently hold the three strapped to her chest. They're just so cute! And while the Eliskni will always see her as a Guardian first no matter what she wears to visit them, it's nice to not feel like a walking weapon for a change.

"They've been very good." The hatchlings coo and chitter, reaching up for him. Wanda laughs softly, her gaze warm and affectionate. "We've reached an agreement about my hair." Most Guardians keep theirs short or tend to keep it up even off-duty, but Wanda's is long and loose when she's not working. Unfortunately, it's as much a source of fascination for hatchlings who have never seen hair as it is for babies, but at least they're old enough to understand that it hurts her if they pull it. She'll let them play with it when they're older, but for now, the braid mostly removes temptation. She doesn't really mind if they bat at it.

Mithrax makes a soothing sound for the hatchlings as he reaches out and removes the little one from the Guardian's back. He tucks it into the crook of a secondary arm while holding it close to his chest. He grabs at some parts of his armor but there's nothing the hatchling can grab that will hurt it.

"They find it easy for their claws to grip," he explains. "They will do the same to any fur or fabric."

Already, the hatchlings are stronger than any human child of the same age. With a mostly steady supply of ether they will grow stronger quickly and Mithrax hopes safely.

"We can find another caretaker if you are ready to return to the Vanguard."

Wanda stands very still while Mithrax retrieves the hatchling on her shoulder. She's always felt bad that one's left out while the others get all the cuddling and warmth they could want. But perhaps the Eliksni don't see it that way; this seems to be the traditional arrangement for carrying hatchlings.

She'll miss moments like this with these four when they're older, but perhaps they'll make new memories. She wants to see them grow up big and strong someday, though having cared for them herself, it's far more personal than the general good wishes she feels towards all the children of the City.

"You know that I like doing this, yes? It's nice to solve problems with a hug or a song instead of the Void for a change." Would she shirk her duties? Never. But while some Guardians generally have no idea what to do with themselves beyond combat, Wanda craves a softness that she knows she shouldn't want. But here there's a need for softer hearts. It's a strange symbiosis.

"If I am needed I will go but this is important to me too."

"I merely make the offer," he explains as he inclines his head towards her. "You have important work to do for the Great Machine. I would not keep you from it because there are hatchlings to tend to."

There are always hatchlings to tend to and in Eliksni society many to take care of them. Parenting was shared, though there were few Guardians who took to the task. Saint was surprisingly good at it given his horrific reputation. And Wanda was as well.

"But if you wish to stay longer you are welcome." The Guardians of the Last City wander freely through the Eliksni Quarter. "Do you need anything? You have been kept rather busy with this group, I imagine."

The hatchlings are important too, but Wanda knows that's not what Mithrax meant. Anyone with a kind heart and some common sense can care for them. But Wanda is considered particularly powerful even among Warlocks, and there are some battles only someone like her can fight.

But somehow she doesn't feel guilty for being here instead. Her heart needs moments like these to heal from the horrors she has to face on a daily basis. The Witness and the Hive feel so far away when she's cuddling hatchlings...

But beyond the comfort she gets from this, does she need anything? She's good at taking care of others, but not the best at attending to her own needs. "I could probably use some water. I'm...not sure when the last time I had some was."

Water is easy enough to come by. The City has freely shared that from the beginning. It is ether that is always the worry in Mithrax's mind.

He rises without a word, hatchling still tucked in the crook of his secondary arm. There is a tea set the caretaker kept in this room. Mithrax takes one of the cups and fills it with water. He lets it run a moment until it is refreshingly cold.

"Here." He offers her the cup after filling it. "Have you not eaten?"

There were some human foods in the Eliksni quarter. More than before because Guardians came with more frequency now. Saint, when not tending to Osiris, was a regular sight. As was Lord Shaxx and Ikorakel.

There is half a second of visible processing what to do with her arms before she takes the cup from him. She has to - horror of horrors! - only cuddle the hatchlings with one arm instead of both. Clearly she is an irredeemable monster, only slightly better than people who move cats off their laps to stand up.

Still, she can feel her Ghost's silent judgment when it turns out that she's thirstier than she realized. It's not that Wanda consciously chose to neglect her own needs. She knows better than that. She just got distracted by her task.

"I don't want to take your food," she says softly. She knows that supplies are still precious here, too precious to waste on a Guardian who can easily buy a meal anywhere in the City or cook something for herself. "I can get something later. Shaxx has been telling me about a new food cart."

"We share what we can with those who share with us," Mithrax says, his tone gentle but firm. The Guardians who helped the Eliksni never accepted any payment and while the charity was appreciated he felt the debt he owed them growing and growing, never to be repaid.

He rose again to fill the teapot with cold water and bring it back to Wanda so that she could refill her cup.

"I can make you something simple." He couldn't make anything very complicated as they didn't have much but even in this little home of a hatchling caretaker there was enough to share with one Guardian. And he could do so while holding a hatchling. Mithrax has a lot of practice.

She lets out a long exhale that's just shy of being called a sigh. Wanda doesn't want to put the Eliksni out but she also can't say that she doesn't understand the sentiment. Still...she'd feel differently, perhaps, had they been put up in a better place in the City. Or if they hadn't been attacked by anti-Eliksni groups or the Vex portal that Lakshmi-2 had opened. Things are better now, but it still feels like a failing of sorts that it ever got to that point.

Although there's one last objection - "Is it time for them to eat too?" It's one thing to drink water in front of hatchlings. It's another thing entirely for her to eat without anything to share with them.

"If they become hungry, they will let us know. A steady supply of ether is more important at this of their growth." Mithrax rises and offers Wanda a hand. "Come. We will go to the kitchens."

The homes here are strange to Eliksni. They are separate, small, and divided. Many of the changes they have made have been to tear down walls and connect the buildings to make larger, more communal spaces. There is a communal kitchen where they can cook with the hatchlings though they may be taken by other Eliksni. Everyone raises the hatchlings.

"If you were making a burden for us, we would tell you Guardian." Mithrax waits for Wanda to join him before heading towards the kitchens.

SEASON OF PLUNDER

for houseoflight

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject