This post has the following content warnings:
Aurene has lost all of her adults
+ Show First Post
Total: 163
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

"Mmmmnot really? It was hard but not really clever," she corrects. "Clever was digging a hole into a hill from underwater for a place to sleep so nobody could find me. I know the difference." Wait, oops, she skipped a step. "... Hi, it's nice to meet you, too."

Permalink

"I'm Esme," says Esme. "We're very glad to have you with us. May I hold you?"

Permalink

"Okay," she agrees, nodding. She gives Rosalie a squeeze and then goes to hug the other grownup. "You were my second choice," Aurene informs her, because this is high praise and probably she should know it.

Permalink

"I'm so delighted to hear it," says Esme. "Welcome to the family."

Permalink

"I'm going to take her to Sears for clothes and possibly other birthday presents, if you-all could get started on the process of extracting us from the likely search radius."

Permalink

"We can do that. Carlisle and I may need to stay for at least a week or two at work but you can go ahead of us."

Permalink

Wait, no, that doesn't.... that doesn't look right, something important is going to be missing she sees it she remembers where it used to be.

"...Mmm..."

Aurene frowns and gives a hum.

".... but there's about to be another one?"

Permalink

"...again? Already?"

Permalink

"...do you know who it is, sweetheart?"

Permalink

"Um. You were carrying him? He's very big and smiley and you were happier with him there. I can try to find him and show you, but he's... buried under... this."

By 'this' she means, specifically, 'the situation my presence has caused.' It looks sort of like a wall of (messy, fragmented, painted on top of each other) artwork has covered what used to be there, but... she remembers. She can't show anyone, but Edward can see what she saw. A fallen, bloody bear, a large man with dark curls whose chest has been torn open by it, a flash of Rosalie scooping him up and carrying him off to a golden light, leaving blood red rose petals in her wake. Then his eyes opening newborn red.

Permalink

 

"We could save him without turning him, with - advance information, couldn't we -"

Permalink

"Mmmnn."

Probably, and that's... better...? but she's not sure it's the best. And it doesn't... he was... Edward's missing something important... she pulls up other memories of what she saw, wishing she'd been paying more attention then. It didn't seem important, then, but it was. He was happy, as a vampire? She slides memories of moving paintings across her mind, he was one of the happiest here, he brightened Rosalie up so much—oh! Oh, yes, this one she saw, and stopped to look at to figure out what it meant because it was weird. It illustrates the thing perfectly! Okay here.

It is an artistic rendering of the man that will be Rosalie's mate mid-turning. Stylized, greyscale fire burns him from the heart out, burning slowly, draining him of color, and tears run down his pained face. There is a golden light beside him, and in it is Rosalie. The man twitches, and he reaches up to take her hand, and she says with him while he burns. The tears still fall, but he smiles.

There was a thing that was going to be there and it was beautiful and valuable and, and. Aurene would be sad if they just. Decided to make none of that happen at all. Because it's easier.

Permalink

"Rosalie's mate," says Edward. "She'd like him to be part of the family, apparently. She thinks he'll be happy."

"None of us chose this, Aurene," says Carlisle softly. "None of us would inflict it on someone who had a choice short of death."

Permalink

"Mmmmmnnhmm." She brings her fingers to her lips to nibble at her fingernails.

There are probably paintings she could look through to figure out how to get to where she wants. But she doesn't want the paintings, the paintings are hard and annoying and fiddly and don't always work. Uncle Blair said the paintings could become a crutch if she lets them, she has a point and she wants to make it and, and. She thinks she can make it with words.

"... But it is anyway, though." It is transparently obvious to this half human, half vampire, that humans like her mother are very squishy and breakable and die very easily. They always die. "And he might want something different."

It is NOT FAIR to not let him PICK. That was why Uncle Blair was raising her at all, so she could get to CHOOSE (what she wanted to do about Thing That Looms), it is IMPORTANT.

Permalink

 

"Sweetheart, do you know how old your uncle or your father were?"

Permalink

"Mm-mmmm," she says, shaking her head.

She doesn't see what this has to do with anything, but, okay?

Permalink

"Vampires can die too. Sometimes they die younger than some humans. And - it's going to be especially dangerous to be around us, for a while, while you're growing, and -

- if you tell me you want this man to be your uncle, that you're going to miss him, we can go - track him down in some way that doesn't let me see him, and ask, but we all agree that the only thing it would make sense for him to say would be no."

Permalink

"Mmmmmm." Nibble nibble nibble these poor little fingernails.

"I... would miss him, he was happy, but." This is not the crux of her argument. His choice matters more than whether or not she'd miss him, him saying no and meaning it would be important. It would mean that, that. She didn't show up and change all the paintings and erase his entire life-that-could-have-been without him ever even knowing. She showed him, and he decided which path he wanted to take, and that is the best thing she could have possibly done. If he decides to leave it and erase all she'd seen, that's sad but it's fine? Her mommy dying to bring her into this world was also sad, but. It was what she chose.

Permalink

"...I'm not sure how much we want me to be rendering this argument verbally," murmurs Edward.

"Honey," says Esme, "except Carlisle, vampires - wind up killing people. It's an awful thing to wrestle with."

Permalink

…. Okay, this is apparently new information to her. But killing people is bad! And, and. They have gold eyes!! They are good vampires, she checked!!

Permalink

"Yes, we eat animals," says Edward. "But it's hard not to kill people. Carlisle is as far as we know the only vampire who never has."

Permalink

"I didn't eat any people," mutters Rosalie.

Permalink

Sniffle.

… Vampires maybe killing people throws a wrench into her whole argument, and she doesn’t know how to recover. She can passionately regurgitate what is clearly her late uncle’s philosophy at them, or at least at Edward, but actually refuting a new point is a bit beyond this six month old child.

So instead she guesses she’ll just cry, because she is sad, and because using your words is so hard.

Permalink

Rosalie collects her back from Esme and snuggles her.

Permalink

Yes, okay. Snuggles. Snuggles and quietly crying. She seems kind of close to throwing an actual tantrum, at least to Edward’s senses, but it mostly seems to be about how hard it is to make yourself heard and know all of the things instead of not having this Cool New Family Member.

Total: 163
Posts Per Page: