Snacks! A better thing to focus on than his aunt kissing someone and definitely a better thing to focus on than the fact that he's kissed in front of her before and the context of that fact. Anyway. He takes some food and passes the tray around.

Starwind and Moondance are still giving each other weird looks. Finally, Moondance speaks. "There is something we wish to say to you, Abras." 

Well that's not super mega ominous at all. "Yes?" He asks as casually as he can manage. (Which is to say, not very.)

"First: it has been good to have you here," Moondance says. "Your training is far from complete, and I hope that you will stay for us a good while longer. Nonetheless, you have been of great help to our scouts already. I would like to offer you this; you will be called our Wingbrother, as your aunt is our Wingsister, and you will always be welcome here." He looks over at Savil. "I know you will not be able to visit often..." 

Okay that's not at all what he expected; he had been going through all his recent memories trying to figure out where he had screwed up. "Thank you. I'm honored." Possibly that title cones with responsibilities but if Starwind and Moondance and Savil all think he can handle it then it's probably fine.

Moondance ducks his head, smiling. "You are welcome. There is...is a second thing, though I am not sure how to ask. Starwind, ashke?" 

Starwind...is blushing. This is not something Abras has ever seen before. 

“We have a favour to ask," he says, looking deliberately out at a light strung on a tree-branch. "Moondance and I would like to have a child. There are traditions for this, here. We have spoken to Snowlight and she has agreed to bear twins, one of whom will be ours."

He turns and looks helplessly back and Moondance. 

Moondance sighs. "Neither of us can do what is required with a woman. There is - another tradition - where one may ask a close and dear friend…” And now he's blushing too. “Abras, you are a close and dear friend to us. We think it good to bring outside blood to the Vale, also. We would not ask, but…”

Abras is very curious about how one can choose to have twins on purpose but then the question takes a very weird turn and he thinks he's lost the plot. "I'm sorry, I think I missed something. Unless you're asking me to, um," he needs to actually speak plainly if the confusion is going to get resolved, "be the father of your child? Physically speaking?" Okay that only counts as "speaking plainly" if you're being very generous with definitions but hopefully they know what he meant.

Moondance is turning bright red now. "Yes. That is what we are asking." 

He's not the only one changing colors! "Um. I. Did you already ask Snowlight if she's okay with . . . this? Me, I mean." He can conceive of a woman wanting to sleep with him, because it's happened, but only in the context of his being the heir to a Holding or her getting paid.

"We did, yes." Moondance hesitates. "Are you...open to this, then...?" He looks so hopeful, he's practically holding his breath waiting for Abras to answer. 

He thinks about it. He's always wanted kids, and even if he won't be able to see them much he'll at least get to see them occasionally, and as a shay'achern Herald he's not likely to get a better opportunity. And he can, in fact, "do what is required". And Moondance for some bizzare reason looks like he would be really happy about it, and ultimately that's the important thing. 

"Yes. I'll do it. You guys are going to be great parents."

Moondance lights up, and hugs Starwind, laughing, and then wades across the pool to hug Abras as well, and then Starwind hugs him too, and Savil is grinning in a way where he's sure she's going to be finding opportunities to make plausibly-deniable lewd comments about it for weeks–

:You will make them very happy: Yfandes assures him. :Moondance in particular. He loves children so, so much: 

:Children are very good. I hope I get to visit them sometimes.:

She slides closer to the pool so she can nuzzle his hair. :We'll find a way: 

He ruffles her mane right back. :We can certainly try.: 

It's an enjoyable, if awkward, remainder of the evening. The awkwardness of the question subsides fairly quickly, though. (And the proposal is tabled for now, since Snowlight isn't feeling quite ready for a pregnancy and would like to wait a few months).

Instead, Abras is busy with lessons and practice and a growing number of scout-missions. He's getting pretty solid at the basics. Starwind digs up some books for him on more obscure mage-techniques. Savil teachers lessons on the judiciary and peacekeeping roles of Heralds on circuit. Moondance seeks him out fairly often for company.

In summary, there's no shortage of ways to stay busy and distracted and rarely have to be alone with his thoughts. 

This is great because being alone with his thoughts is still awful. Instead he will learn more things and go on more scout missions (it's so good to be part of something, to be contributing to something that matters) and spend time with Moondance and Savil and Yfandes and swim in the pools until he can fall into bed exhausted every evening and be asleep in seconds. Sometimes he stays up late enough that he wakes up still tired and can't go back to sleep, but hopefully that will go away if he gets strong enough.

The ensuring scout missions, for the most part, are actually more straightforward than the first; taking on a queen colddrake is a rare event. The spells and techniques he's learning are only getting harder, but that's really to the good – difficult magic is more engrossing and it leaves him more exhausted afterward. 

It's about three weeks after Midwinter when Yfandes' mindvoice prods him awake from a deep sleep. :Abras, love, wake up. There's an emergency – Starwind and Moondance just got back, remember, so Savil wants to take you with her instead of waking them. Can you get up?: 

Abras was up late trying to see if he could Fetch something he could only see with Farsight; he pries his eyes open and makes an incoherent noise. "Yup, I'm doin' it." This feels like it's going to be one of those days when he finds himself tempted to take a break and go sit in his room and do nothing, and has to remind himself that sitting around being emotional can't possibly be a better idea than studying. Make that one of those nights, actually, it's still dark out. "What's th'emergency?"

She's already right outside the ekele, waiting for him. 

:We're not sure exactly, yet – it's one of the longer-range scout missions, they were on their way back to the Vale, within Mindspeech range. Got out a message that they were being ambushed, then we lost contact. So they're in trouble, and - it's not just a Changecreature, there are people involved. That's all we know at this point: 

There's something he could be doing about that, some way to find out what they need to know, but he can't hold onto the thought long enough to know what. He stumbles out of the ekele, shoving his feet into his shoes, and scrambles onto Yfandes' back.

Savil trots into the courtyard on Kellan's back a moment later, holding a mage-light above her head. She's rubbing her eyes and yawning, but on her way to alertness; she guides Kellan close enough to reach out and pat his shoulder. "Glad you're with me, ke'chara. Let's go. And - I can't remember, can you manage Farsight from the saddle reliably? Um, unfortunately I'm not sure you've been that close to where the scouts should've been camping, but I've got a map."