The Beach, Thursday Afternoon

[glacial_queen]

After a stop at the Perk for a coffee while she sent out a quick Guess who's visiting! text to folks she thought might be around or have time to visit, Karla made her way to the beach for a bit. It was winter back home, almost Winsol in fact, so visiting here in the beginning of summer was a lovely change. She vanished her jacket and shirt, kicked off her shoes, and rolled her pants up to her knees. Just a Queen, wading by the shoreline in her bra and a pair of Court trousers, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin and giving no fucks about what anybody had to say about it.

You know, until Draca sent for her, this really was the best way to pass the time.

[Open! If you think you got a text, you did. If you didn't get a text, it's still open!]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Jack had texted back that he was coming, but he hesitated on his way to the ocean when he spotted Karla. Or, more accurately, what Karla wasn't wearing. Not that he had any particular objection to a bra and trousers, it just ... wasn't what he expected.

He cleared his throat. Loudly. "Did you still want to see people, or is this a private moment?"

[glacial_queen]

"Darling, if I had any shame before I became a mother, it has long since shriveled and died," Karla called back, waving at him. "It's Decemberish in Glacia right now. If I'd kept on the clothing I was wearing, I'd've keeled over from heat stroke."

[bitten_notshy]

"And modesty would be a bad reason to leave Kayla motherless," Jack nodded. "All right, if you don't mind neither do I. Might even join you."

He shrugged off his shirt. Sun on the skin felt nice to a werewolf, too.

[glacial_queen]

Karla waggled her eyebrows at him. "Oh Jack, darling, how long have I been waiting for you to say such things to me," she declared dramatically. "How've you been? I've missed you."

Stupid politics. Stupid politics forever.

[bitten_notshy]

"I know you've been lying awake next to your ridiculously handsome fiance with wings, pondering how to draw me into your embrace," Jack said, equally dramatically. "I missed you too. Law school and work aren't leaving me much time to be social lately."

[OOC: Sorry, crashed HARD last night.]

[glacial_queen]

Their relationship had a firm grounding in flirtation and ridiculousness, as all the best relationships did.

"Sometimes I weep all over the broad expanse of Warren's chest, I long for you so." She slid her arm through his and dimpled at him. "You should come visit. Aren't your classes over for the semester? Come to Sidra, confuse the Hell out of the kindred wolves, dote on my ridiculously adorable daughter...you know, all the fun stuff. You need more fun. All work and no play makes Jack--well, you could never be dull, but probably at least a little grumpy."

[YOU LEFT ME AND I WEPT!]

[bitten_notshy]

"Lord, that sounds delightful," Jack said, plopping down to sit on the sand. "I'd love to do that some weekend. How is the beautiful and spirited Lady Kayla, anyhow?"

[glacial_queen]

So much for Queenly dignity, because Karla was plopping down next to him, burying her toes in the sand. "Fussy," Karla admitted. "Hard to say for sure, but I think her bones are shifting and her wings forming. It's like full-body teething and she's miserable."

Which, okay, might not be the best incentive for visiting. But still--better than law school?

[bitten_notshy]

"... maybe I should wait until she's past that stage," Jack decided. "I hear it's mostly over by the time they're 18."

He was helping!

[glacial_queen]

"Wisdom teeth," Karla reminded. "Better wait until she's twenty-one, just to be safe."

[bitten_notshy]

"And at the rate time passes for you, that's, what, a week from Thursday?" Jack suggested. "I think I can wait that long."

[glacial_queen]

"It'll also be our golden wedding anniversary," Karla said, chuckling. "I expect presents to celebrate such a momentous occasion."

[bitten_notshy]

"What do you give a queen and her consort on their golden wedding anniversary?" Jack wondered. "It sounds like a slaughter-the-fattened-calf occasion if there ever was one."

[glacial_queen]

"Mmmm, steak," Karla said immediately, because even now, she had a one-track mind that was still often pointed at food. "Hmm. By then, though, I'm hard-pressed to think of what we wouldn't already have."

She thought about it for another few moments before declaring. "Strippers. Classy ones, of course, since this is an important occasion. But definitely strippers."

[bitten_notshy]

"Strippers," Jack repeated, mouth twitching in a smile. "I'm sure you;ll have plenty of well-trained burlesque dancers in Glacia by then,but of course locals wouldn't do for such an illustrious occasion."

[glacial_queen]

"Strippers," Karla confirmed, her own grin broad. "Think of all the occupations Kaeleer doesn't have: police officers, ER doctors, cowboys, fire fighters... No, we need strippers in order to help celebrate Earth culture. And stuff."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack snorted. "I'm sure Warren will appreciate the respect for his heritage," he said. "How's Kaeleer, anyhow? Anyone trying to kill anyone in particular these days?

He asked lightly, but it was a sincere question.

[glacial_queen]

"Not overtly!" Karla said brightly. "It's a lovely change. Jaenelle's off in Terreille, looking into something, but I don't know what. She sent me a note and a summons, but no explanations forthcoming. I expect I'll find out more when I head back."

[bitten_notshy]

"Mysterious of her," Jack observed. "Can't be anything too dire, though,or you wouldn't be here to enjoy the sunshine in your underthings."

[glacial_queen]

"Very cute underthings," Karlas corrected, before answering him honestly. "It's a Black Widow thing, that's all I know," she said, turning her face up to the sun for a moment. Sometimes it was hard to remember the sun existed in the middle of Glacian winters. "And Draca sent me here. I arrived about a half day too early and sending me to Fandom beat having me pester her for answers she doesn't have."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal gave Karla a bit of time to herself before he showed up; after all, chocolates didn't make themselves. He eyed Karla's state of undress with amusement and left his own light jacket carefully folded with his shoes at the edge of the sand.

"Karla," he greeted her with a smile. "It's been far too long. How are you?"

[glacial_queen]

"Politics are ridiculous and exhausting," Karla said with a sigh, leaning in to brush a kiss over his cheek. "Much less lethal, though, so that's a plus. But if I have to listen to one more whiny aristo about why they should be excused from the ban on Arcerian furs, I'm going to bring a pack to Sidra proper and let them loose."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Give me time to get a camera and a portal," Hannibal answered, returning the kiss. "Or perhaps they would be interested in other skins." Did Karla have anybody else she'd like done away with?

"But I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about politics. For you." He handed her the neatly-wrapped box of truffles he'd made.

[glacial_queen]

Surprisingly enough, she didn't! Everyone was still tiptoeing around her after the last wave of artistic murders.

"Jaenelle did that," she said quietly. "She wove a tangled web and left it in the woods where people were trapping kindred wolves. It held them until there was only one trapper left and then lifted to show him exactly the skins he'd been taking."

Her grin was small and malicious, but grew wider and more genuine as she took the box from him. "Oooh! They're still warm! Darling, you spoil me!"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Well done," he opined on Jaenelle's work. "And effective, I should hope."

He chuckled at her reaction to the chocolates. "My pleasure, as always. They probably ought to be cooler, but you'll have to do the honors if you prefer them that way. Should I start keeping some stock on at all times?"

[glacial_queen]

"It's chocolate. There's no way that I don't like it, so long as I get to eat it," Karla said, beaming. "Though I suppose warm and still gooey is kind of a favorite, yes. If for no other reason than it's messier."

She took on, smiling at the way her fingers sank into it, and popped it into her mouth.

"Mmmm," she said, giving herself up to the flavor for a moment. "You should keep them on hand. Not even for me. Just because a little bit of heaven on earth is not something to be lightly discarded, Mother Night."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal smiled at her appreciation. "And now you know why I never mind spoiling you. And speaking of spoiling, how is Kayla?"


[Bedtime for me! SP?]

[glacial_queen]

"Fussier than usual lately," Karla said, grimacing. "She's nearly a year, the Healers think it might be a growth spurt making her tired? But I think there's something more going on."

And was finding it really irritating to be have that dismissed because she was Kayla's mother, considering that she was a Healer who outranked them all.

"But we'll see. If she doesn't stop fussing by her birthday, I'll bring her here and see what technology can tell me that Craft cannot."

[Of course!]

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal wouldn't dismiss her feelings; she was probably closest to what was going on. One year, but teething she would have figured out before now. "You think her wings are coming in."

[glacial_queen]

"That's my best guess," Karla admitted. "I can't feel anything when I touch her back, but before Warren's came in, his bones shifted and hollowed and it hurt. I don't know whether to be glad that it might be happening now, when she won't remember it, or wish it waited until she was older so we could at least explain what's happening. Right now, she just know she hurts and that no one can fix it."

Poor baby.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Has her weight changed less than you would expect, but her development remained steady?" Hannibal asked. "That could be an indicator, if her bones are hollowing."

[glacial_queen]

Karla nodded. "She's lighter than she should be. But she's not losing weight, exactly. More like she's still growing longer, but staying the same weight she was. It's subtle."

[sharp_as_knives]

"I think you have your answer, then. Or at least a very good hypothesis." Hannibal smiled. "How much of the pain can you relieve with Craft without it causing other problems?"

[glacial_queen]

"Not enough," Karla grumbled. She really didn't like her daughter being in pain. "There's nothing wrong with her, is the problem. There's nothing Craft recognizes as being bad or sick or broken. There's nothing I can rub or soothe or treat topically. If I want the pain to stop, I have to either anesthetize her or work against what her bones are doing."

Neither was a good option.

"So it's mostly the Craft equivalent of baby aspirin."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Baby aspirin and patience." Hannibal offered. "Difficult when you aren't used to being ineffective."

[glacial_queen]

"I've never been much good at patience," she said, surprising Hannibal not at all. "It's even worse now. This is my baby girl. I'd leave whole cities in burning wreckage if that's what it took to make her feel better." Karla sighed. "Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be working. That's fine, Kayla, darling. Don't play to Mummy's strengths."

[sharp_as_knives]

Well, Hannibal hadn't wanted to be the one to say it. "Perhaps a vacation?" he suggested. "Or even a few days to visit other places in Glacia, leaving Kayla at the estate." Julian and Morton could worry about her.

[glacial_queen]

"I wouldn't be able to enjoy it," Karla admitted. "Leaving my baby home without us, knowing she's in pain?" She should her head. "Can't do it. I feel guilty for being here without her for a few hours and I'm only here because Draca made me."

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal frowned. "Why would Draca make you come here?"

[glacial_queen]

"Because I'm impatient," Karla admitted. "Jaenelle summoned me to the Keep for dawn. It's...not quite dawn yet. Or won't be, for quite awhile. Rather than have me underfoot, bugging her, and trying to find out what the fresh Hell Jaenelle is up to, she sent me here to be bothersome and underfoot."

[sharp_as_knives]

"And so far you've managed neither," Hannibal said, smiling.

[glacial_queen]

"I could try harder?" Karla offered. "I'm quite good at both. Ask Jono!"

[sharp_as_knives]

"I have every confidence in your abilities," Hannibal said gravely, bowing. "How much longer will you be here? I could cook for you. Is Jaenelle's cook equal to Ermengarde?"

[glacial_queen]

"Well, I'm not going to say no to your cooking," Karla said, with a bright laugh. Because she was many things, but stupid was rarely one. "Mrs. Beale at the Hall is Ermengarde's equal, but the Keep's cook is...less than stellar. Mostly because Draca and Geoffrey are Guardians, so they barely eat, so the cook is used to just cooking for the rotating handful of scholars who are staying for access to the Keep's library. At least, unless the Court is in residence, in which case we just bring Mrs. Beale along."

[sharp_as_knives]

"In that case," Hannibal offered her his elbow, "would you do me the honor of letting me cook for you?"