(Untitled)

[reallyaduck]

Duck's been snoring slightly on a table in the middle of the room, head pillowed on a piece of paper, when -

do you have the resolve, little duck?- she wakes up with a start, shaking her head to get the last wisps of weird half-memory out of her head

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[gorgonfondness]

This isn't the nursery.

But that's okay. This still has everything Mia needs right now.

"I'll make a deal with you," she whispers to the bundle sleeping on her shoulder. "I won't tell Papa if you won't."

She happens to see Duck and decides to see what's going on, approaching softly and quietly.

"Everything all right, Duck?" Mia quietly asks.

[reallyaduck]

"Mi-"

"THAT'S A BABY!" hisses a frozen Duck, round-eyed with shock.

[gorgonfondness]

Mia puts a finger to her lips, but she's smiling.

"Yes, that's a baby," she says, still quiet. "More specifically, he's my baby."

Said baby makes a fussy gurgly noise, indicating that he's now awake.

[reallyaduck]

"He's REALLY SMALL!"

Almost as small as Duck is when she's a duck! Although not really. But it's still weird to think that human-shaped people come that small!

She leans over, tentatively, to look over at the small person. "Uh . . . . hi," she says to the baby, a smile spreading slowly over her face.

[gorgonfondness]

"He is, isn't he?"

The baby wriggles in Mia's arms, not bothered enough to give them a full-lung wail but still making a bit of a fuss. She carefully rubs his back and sits down so Duck can get a better look.

"His name is Cepheus. He was born early yesterday morning."

[reallyaduck]

Someone else might ask if Mia's supposed to be walking around right after she just had a baby . . .

But then again, Duck is a duck; female ducks don't tend to need a long time to rest up after their eggs are laid. For all she knows, this is how it's supposed to go.

"He must be really glad to be able to see everything after being in the dark for so long . . ."

[gorgonfondness]

Mia's from a world where you have to be tough and survive. This is pretty much how it's supposed to go for her, too.

"Actually, he's still getting used to bright light. Kind of like how it takes a bit to get used to morning when you first wake up."

Now imagine being in that sort of darkness for nine months and then being thrust into a world of light.

Still, he obligingly blinks open his sleepy grey eyes for Duck.

[reallyaduck]

"I fall out of bed a lot when I wake up . . ."

Duck focuses down on the baby. "It's okay," she says to him. "You're gonna like it here. It may seem scary sometimes, but - there's lots of nice people, and really pretty things, and - it's definitely way better than not getting to see anything!"

[gorgonfondness]

Either Duck's words or Mia's attention has lulled Cepheus into calming down. He reaches out an arm and grasps at Mia's robe with his tiny hand.

"Duck's right, darling," Mia says. "The world is full of kind people and beautiful things. And now you'll get to see them."

She glances over at Duck's paper.

"And likely a lot of essays in your future, I'm afraid. It kind of comes with the family trade, my dear."

[reallyaduck]

Duck laughs, with a lopsided grin.

"Well . . . that part's kind of less fun."

[gorgonfondness]

"I'm inclined to agree sometimes, especially when I have to grade them. What are you writing about?"

[reallyaduck]

"I'm supposed to write about Swan Lake . . ."

Duck shoots her mostly-empty page a guilty look, and then turns hastily back to Mia.

"Uh but that's really not important right now! I mean the baby's way more important than essays and stuff, right?"

[gorgonfondness]

"I'm glad you think my baby and I are important, but you're important to me and I don't want your schooling to suffer on my account."

With a silent magic gesture, she brings over her pram and places the baby inside, close enough for both to watch.

"Why don't you tell me what Swan Lake is about? It might give you some ideas."

[reallyaduck]

"Um, well okay . . ."

Duck shoots a glance at the baby. "It's kind of a sad story though . . ."

It's also one that Duck doesn't know as well as she should to be writing an essay about it. She takes a breath. "So, um, there's this prince, right? And his mom really wants him to get married but he doesn't want to, but then he goes into the woods and there's this swan . . . but the swan turns into a person, I think? Uh, I'm not too sure about that part."

[gorgonfondness]

"It's all right. Sometimes we need the sad stories to see just how happy the happy ones are."

Not as many sad stories as Drosslmeyer weaves, of course, but contrast is necessary.

"If you're not too sure, you should check again. But I'm starting to get an idea."

In Mia's mind, the prince has met a witch who is an animagus.

[reallyaduck]

"Well - anyway, then they fall in love, I know that! Because there's a pas de deux," Duck says, brightening.

"And he says he's gonna marry her and it should be okay, and there's a party and everything, but then instead of the good swan the bad guy shows up with his daughter, but the daughter is pretending to be the princess, and that's when there's the thirty-two fouettes. And she's a really really really good dancer so the prince says he's going to marry her instead of the swan . . . which is bad, because he promised, though - I guess you can't really blame him for wanting to marry a good dancer instead of a bird . . ."