The Great Cascade (CasualVelociraptor x DigitalSiren)

[Bunny]

Things slowly began to crumble. Vanya and Rathum had announced their intent to wed as well as the joyous news of her pregnancy. Moved into the castle she was allowed to do the upkeep she could when the staff was fired, the life inside her quickening. Her own news was shared by Avonlea who also found herself to be pregnant. It was a cause of joy in their small family. Though she was slowly becoming heavy with child she and Rathum indulged in one another, chasing away their frustrations and fears. Though this small sort of bubble of happiness wasn't to last as things took a turn for the worst.

Rathum moved from her bedroom and she rarely saw him, though her concern from him only grew. She tried her best to find a way in, to help her dearest friend. All doors shut and with Avonlea and Bymed so busy, Vanya withdrew. Day by day the beautiful fairy's glow vanished and depression slinked in its place. Rather than try and bother anyone with her problems she held them to herself. Heavy with her child, Vanya began to have trouble eating, keeping food down and sleeping. Because of the busy nature of Avonlea and Bymed, Rath's own withdrawal, she was left on her own.

In contrast to her best friend Avonlea's life was still filled with love and activity even as she grew heavy with her and Bymed's baby. Their love life didn't falter and when he came to work with her to fill the demand of orders, she saw him all day. Much like Vanya she slowly grew, her stomach rounding. It made her move a little slower and she took frequent breaks. In the rush of everything Vanya fell to the wayside, though it had never been her intention. It was part of why she had agreed to the silence that Rathum had demanded of her and Bymed.

Placing a hand on her stomach, Lea's eyes drifted to the knock. A smile played on her lips. "Beemie, let him go," her voice amused as they ushered their guests inside. Avonlea embraced Daniel as well before turning to Alice. "I am glad you both made it safely." Her smile was shyer, sweeter as she took Alice in.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

Bymed had only been dating Avonlea for a month, but because of their deep and abiding friendship, the heavy events swirling around them in their city and the world, and her pregnancy that was coming along great (as he made sure that Lea and the baby or babies had enough to eat before he did), it felt like he'd known her this intimately for a year. And once the baby arrived in March 1894, it almost would be! That was exciting and fucking scary at the same time.

In any event, he knew how to roll with Lea's wisecracks by now, since he'd learned that joking at his expense in such a playful manner was just her little Avonlea way of saying, "I love you."

So, Beemie joked back, "And here I was, thinking I could get a piggyback ride from Danny boy." Daniel, much to his credit, laughed along and gently slapped the dragonling's back.

This did, however, mean that neither boy was watching Alice. The powerful soldier placed her right hand on her strong hip, looked down, nodded, and then looked back up, making direct eye contact with the water nymph and giving a small and thin but long smile as she said, "I'm glad I made it here as well. This shop is quite lovely."

Alice couldn't really know for sure if Avonlea had any interest in other women, but her bashful, flustered vibe was giving the seasoned detective a feeling. Since she'd reached an agreement beforehand with her husband that she could fool around with women (besides his ex, Octavia) with his prior approval, she had been his sure companion by his bedside, and they hadn’t had sex for a month since his kidnapping and now his convalescence, perhaps he would be inclined to grant her leave here.

But first things first. Whether she sought his blessing to pursue Avonlea in the first place would depend on if: a.) these next few moves engendered the desired responses and b.) she could find out later (upon returning to the city in the planned August timeframe, hopefully in a more peaceful capacity) whether Bymed was also open to the idea. After all, from what Daniel had told her, Bymed cared about her deeply, and Alice didn't want to tread on anything.

Still, there was no harm in flirting...

"And now that we're here, Bymed, I need you to let Rathum know we've arrived in the manner we've agreed upon so that his guards will stand down," Alice continued.

"Of course. And you should come with me, Daniel. Vanya's with him," Bymed explained as he went into the office to open a window and gather his fire together for a white glowing codesmoke message that could be seen for nearly a mile, even in the pitch black. The younger dragonling didn't quite have the heart to tell him exactly in what capacity Rathum and Vanya were with each other, but he figured that Vanya could sort that out with Daniel later, when she finally saw him.

"What?! That's amazing!" Daniel exclaimed and followed him. "Can you get a message to her?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Tell me what you want to say and I'll see what I can do," Bymed said before closing the door behind them both.

"I see you have a lot of fine works of art here, Avonlea," Alice beamed at the automatons, striding across the room to inspect a few more closely, with authority and yet grace and intentionality in every step. "I fancy myself a bit of a tinkerer as well"- with that, she approached the table that held the register, laid her sinewy left arm on it and showed off her gauntlet as it folded itself into existence across her delicate fingers- "but I appreciate the high level of technical skill and delicate craftsmanship that you must've put into these creatures, especially while in the state we currently share," she added, pulling back her cloak and beginning to rub her own slowly expanding belly.

It had only been a little over a month for her as well, as by sheer coincidence Alice, Avonlea and Vanya had all gotten pregnant at around the same time (which, unbeknownst to anyone yet, was part of a trend later called the "June Jump" or the "93 Wave"). However, because of the faster gestation of merfolk, it already looked and felt like three inside of her.

"I didn't think I'd buy anything while here, but I confess, I desperately want two of these adorable kitties- one for each of my girls to play with when they're born in December- and this ravishing Queen for my husband's birthday on October 8th." She'd emphasized “desperately” on purpose, just like the "lovely" before, and purred a little upon delicately stroking the porcelain of the tiny humanoid automaton. However, her charms turned to bemused chuckles when one of the palm-sized cats nuzzled her hand like the real animal would, which led her to sheepishly rub the back of her head and ask, "I apologize, but I didn't bring any Confederate scrip to pay you with. If you told me the prices of all three items, would their equivalent in Imperial notes be acceptable?"

 

[Bunny]

"You could, but I think Vanya might be a bit put out if you broke him before she could see him." As the boys joked, Alice turned to Avonlea and her remark made her cheeks burned. Lea had never been partial to just on sex, finding both men and women equally as attractive. Lashes lowered and she gave a shy giggle.

As the men went to send the message, it left Avonlea and Alice alone once more. Her blue eyes focused on the kittens of which Alice spoke, a smile touching her lips. Lea had started making them for children, something to brighten their lives, even with everything going on. Shaking her head, Avonlea smiled, though still shy. "Please, no payment is needed." Her eyes moved towards the room where Bymed and Daniel had vanished. "He will bring someone dear to me back to life and it is the only payment needed."

Avonlea had been worried about Vanya for some time, for both she and Rathum to be honest. Vanya had once embraced her pregnancy, thinking she was carrying Daniel's baby, even knowing there was a chance it was Rathum's she had hoped... but as things had spiraled for the dragonling, Vanya had been unable to help him and as Rathum had distanced himself, Vanya had faltered in a way she'd never seen before.

"My best friend," Avonlea started and then stopped with a sigh, shaking her lovely blue head. "Things have not been good for her really since the start... and even when it looked like she could find something, someone to help fill that hole..." It was clear that whatever she'd found had not worked how she'd hoped.

Avonlea had never thought her Vanya, bright, rambunctious, loving... would ever become a shell of herself. In the past few weeks, she'd refused offers to visit and she had heard from a few soldiers that she wasn't gaining weight like she should, but losing it. She wasn't eating.. putting herself and her baby at risk.

Shaking herself physically and mentally, Avonlea smiled at Alice. "You can have these, or I can make some special for your girls and your husband." Her shy smile was back, and her cheeks burned softly.

 

[CasualVelociraptor]

"I won't be in this city for long, unfortunately. Just enough to meet with Rathum and work out how best I can help this city," Alice said. "So I think I'll just take these. And thank you again for your generosity. I won't soon forget this." With that, she put the trinkets in her knapsack for the return journey.

"Help" wasn't an out and out lie, but at the same time, some of the facts surrounding her purpose here had to be omitted for now. Until they would be revealed in the proper context, she rationalized. After all, what was she supposed to say? I'm here to try to negotiate the capitulation of the entire city, and if Rathum refuses I'll march in and smash the place up? So let's maybe meet cute? She didn't want to do that, and hoped that the result of their meeting was only positive; but if she reported a less than pleasant result, she had her orders from the Emperor himself to occupy Wilfarne one way or another by August 5th, in order to complete the campaign on time. The angered artillery rumbling behind them as it rained down on the Confederate Army only a few dozen miles away made the urgency of their clandestine rendezvous apparent.

"I can't have Daniel linger here past tonight either, as he's one of my best pilots. But he won't be absent for such a long time again, I promise," Alice said. "My husband, Jareth, has been sick for weeks now since I freed him from the Sunless Trench in Halanunja, and I haven't had much time with him either as a result. So whether Vanya’s baby is Daniel's or not- he told me he’s strongly confident as such, but that's beside the point- then I know precisely how she's feeling. When he and I both come back, let's you and I have lunch somewhere, and I'll make sure that you and Vanya are doing okay and see what more I can do to help. Is that alright with you?"

As soon as she said that, Alice gently rested her right hand on top of the nymph's much smaller, more delicate one and brushed a thumb over her index knuckle. The detective hoped that gesture wouldn't be seen as too forward, and was prepared to apologize if it was taken the wrong way. But offense did not appear forthcoming from the nymph's delicate lips.

Then she withdrew the proferred appendage with a start as soon as two City Police officers knocked on the door. "Detective Alice Guthrie-Williams, Supreme Commander of Imperial Armed Forces and honored guest of Rathum, Protector of the Forest and Lord Governor of Wilfarne Province and may the gods protect him," one of them said. "Welcome to Wilfarne."

Ugh. There goes any semblance of subtlety, Alice thought bitterly once he concluded his long-winded introduction, honorifics and all.

The other then announced brusquely as Bymed and Daniel returned to the room, "You are to be escorted by us, Commander Guthrie. Do not deviate unless in event of emergency until you arrive at the Governor's Mansion. Everyone else, follow." Soon, they all did.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Rathum took a deep breath, weakly raised his curled fist from his sides and was slow about it too, as if he was lifting a sack of potatoes, and then knocked heavily on Vanya's bedroom door. Once did his hand go thud, in no way quiet; then came a pause. A second dull knock, pause. And then a third time, with the longest, most contemplative pause of all.

"It's...me," Rathum said. "Look, I know I've been kind of"- not kind of, DEFINITELY, he now berated himself in his head- "wrapped up in my own shit lately, and have broken my promise to keep you safe while you've wasted away in there. But Daniel's visiting for tonight, and I thought you might like to see him and catch up."

Even if you never want to see me again, which I completely get, Rathum also thought, the self-doubt gnawing away at his constitution as he prepared to stab his boyfriend in the back, and do so from a position of weakness in the imminent diplomatic parlance with the Empire's fiercest warrior.