[PLOT][PRP] You Never Really Forget (Masozi, Coracias, babs)

[Menelie]

Dai

It was bright and early this morning in Koehaira, might earlier than Cora needed to wake up in recent seasons. She had a pot of coffee going on the stove - how they smelled so good - and was smithing some grape jam onto a freshly-toasted piece of bread.

When Maso eventually entered, she offered him a cup of coffee. "You excited for today?" To watch the babies was the implied finish to that.

Mene

It had been an easy "yes" when Miriam had asked him to watch her girls for the morning. That's what family was for, right? It had been easier when his own children were small--Miniel had still been around then--but he'd watched Kasmai raise his on his own, with close to no help. And the village had been smaller, then, so there wasn't much help outside the family either. So yes--Masozi was glad to help out where he could.

"You know, I am excited for today," he agreed, taking the offered cup with a nod and a "thanks". "Been a long time since we had babies in the village," he remarked, then paused to think. "In fact, I think Miriam and Xalia were the last ones." Turned out a winemaking town didn't exactly attract many young families.

He was curious, though. "Are you excited for today?" he asked.

Dai

"Were they?" The pair of them had already been grown by the time Cora made it over, though now that he mentioned it, that did sound right. She couldn't recall actually seeing any children in quite some time. That said, she could think up a few ways to get more people to visit, at least. Maybe diversify the industry. Why, the groves were quite pretty, surely there was a way they could be pulled into tourism... Not to mention the harvest festival...

No no, she was getting ahead of herself.

She took a bite of her toast, then a sip of coffee before shrugging. "Net neutral, I'd say? Children aren't exactly my strong suit."

Mene

Masozi nodded with understanding, sipped his coffee, and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Good thing you're so good at learning new things," he commented reassuringly, but with a warmly teasing tone. Another sip of coffee. "Oh, that is delightful."

Dai

Cora laughed before brushing him off with a wave of her hand. "We'll see, we'll see." A smirk. "Thank you - maybe I should quit the sommelier thing and become a barista." She was obviously joking to pass the time - the two should be getting here soon.

Mene

Masozi laughed with a snort. "Mayyyybe stick with one thing for a little while, eh?"

Just then, a knock at the door. He set his coffee down and opened it. "Ah, good morning," he greeted Miriam warmly.

 

[Menelie]

Mene

Miriam smiled gratefully. "Good morning. Hi Coracias!" She waved at her. "Thanks so much for watching the girls. They've already been fed but they'll need to eat again after their nap. Usually their morning nap should be...soon, so I hope they'll mostly just sleep for you."

Masozi took the satchel full of necessities and set it down bear the door, then helped Miriam take the girls out of an elaborate front-and-back carrier she was wearing on her body.

"Thanks again! I'll be back as soon as my rounds are finished!" And Miriam was off.

Dai

Cora shrugged noncommittedly before glancing at the door as she heard knocking. She looked back to Maso, then to it before sipping on her coffee and letting him handle the door and their new little guests. "Mornin' Miriam - how's the workload looking for today?" she waved back in turn as she offered this small talk.

Her eyes widened slightly at the large volume of just... stuff that was quickly exchanged.

And then she was off. "Always running off somewhere, that one, isn't she?" She sipped on her coffee again (she was just about finished now) before approaching a bit closer. "So these are the girls? It's my first time seeing them... but the blue one is Leah, and the black one Naomi, right?" She'd also heard their father was a good-for-nothing, as seemed to be a common trend.

Mene

Masozi laughed and nodded. "I suppose it's sort of her job to be running off somewhere. But then, she is well-suited for it."

He shifted the little ones in his arms. "Yes," he agreed with a nod. "I've no idea what their father looks like, but Leah obviously takes after her mother." He peered at Naomi. "And this one looks just like my aunt." He chuckled and shrugged. "Here, grab a blanket and lay it out on the rug, we'll let these girls have some floor time. Supposed to be good for them, they learn to crawl this way." Masozi was assuming that he would be doing most of the heavy lifting, so to speak, at least at first until Cora got her bearings.

Dai

"Guess the father must be rather unmemorable," she joked as she placed her cup on the counter. Really... It was hard to tell much about him from these two - just some orange? The rest was just as he said, either Miriam or her parents. Still though, they were cute kids, she'd give them that.

She glanced over at him. "Oh, is that so?" Noted. She moved to lay a blanket onto the floor and straightened out all the wrinkles, then looked over at him with a thumbs up. "Area set - babysitting is easier than I'd thought it'd be."

Mene

Masozi snorted a laugh and nodded in response to her comment about the girls' father.

Once the blanket was set, he carefully knelt down and set one, then the other, onto their little bellies. Then he shifted back into a seated position, cross-legged. "It helps when they're so sweet. Isn't that right, girls?" He tousled their soft hair.

Dai

Like a derpy baby should be, the ruffling of her hair sent the little Leah off-kilter and flopping on her side. Her little legs kicked, but she was struggling to right herself back up.

Sniffle.

Not sending the impending danger, Cora nodded. "Guess so. They're not all that bad when they're just laying around like this." She moved a bit closer and crouched down next to Maso. "Hello girls~"

Mene

Ooh, a face! Naomi fixed the new face (Cora) with a wide-eyed baby gaze and then started to try and get closer. She was moving her arms and legs in the correct way to crawl, but didn't have her belly off the ground enough to really be considered crawling. Sort of....belly-shuffling. She made little grunting noises with the effort until she finally bonked into the face's leg. Then she rolled over onto her back and lifted her arms.

Masozi smiled. "Aw, Cora look, she wants you to pick her up." He glanced back at Leah. "C'mon, little one, you can do it."

 

[Menelie]

Dai

Cora looked over at Maso with a confused blink before looking back down at the smol child. "Really? That's what a headbutt + rolling over means? Fascinating." She cautiously reached out and picked up the tot in a bit of an awkward manner - almost like how one would pick up a cat. "Well, she's picked up now." She stared at the child.

Leah's cheeks were starting to redden as she kicked her limbs and failed to get enough tracking to roll back on her belly.

Mene

"Well, she went to you, which means she wants you, and she held her arms up. That almost always means they want to be picked up," explained Masozi.

He noticed Leah looking like she might cry from frustration and had pity. "Here," he said, picking her up. "You wanna make sure their head and their bottom both have support. These little ones are old enough they can support their own heads but they're still kinda wobbly, so watch they don't like, flop backward." He held Leah to demonstrate.

Naomi wiggled uncomfortably. Unstable! Falling! She began to fuss.

Dai

"Huh... Noted." She was staring at Naomi as she listened to Masozi, but a brief look of panic flashed as the child started moving about in her hands. "s**t I'm gonna drop her ahhh... Stop moooooving..."

She did not, in fact, drop her. But she did set her in her lap instead of keeping her in the air.

Leah's impending outburst was deftly stifled with Maso's quick actions, and instead of a meltdown, she just had a few quiet sniffles as she leaned into him.

Mene

Naomi seemed satisfied enough with this. She tipped her head allllll the way back to look up at Cora's face with her big baby eyes. "Nananananana," she said, smiling toothlessly.

Masozi cuddled Leah onto his shoulder and patted her back rhythmically. "Even though they can't talk, infants are actually pretty good at communicating what they need. That and being cute is how they get us to keep them alive," he joked. "It just takes a while to learn their 'language'." He'd been worried about not remembering how to handle babies, but it seemed that the skill had laid dormant for many seasons but was still there.

Dai

Cora looked back down, pretty relieved to not have just dropped a child. "Nanana? Banana?" She looked at Maso. "Do we have any bananas?" Wait, she knew they didn't. Looking down at Naomi, she shook her head. "No banana."

Mene

Masozi smiled. Guardians, Cora really didn't have any experience with kids, did she? "I think she's just babbling," he said. "It's almost like, practicing?" He looked at Leah to make sure she was doing okay. "I remember when Cari and Kasmai were little, they'd listen to us adults talking and try to repeat it." He might have gotten a little misty-eyed, remembering his own children as infants. What a long time ago that was.

"Buh!" said Naomi happily. "Buh buh buh!" Something captured her attention. Soft! She reached out to touch the feathers on Cora's body. Sooooooft. She cooed happily and patted the soft with her hands.

 

[Menelie]

Dai

Cora looked back at Maso. "Is that how it works? Huh... Interesting." Duly noted. She was looking back down at Naomi just in time for her to grab a certain softness in the feathers on her chest, which elected a reactive jerk and yelp from her. She covered her chest with an arm and shook her head with a pout. "No touching. No. Touching bad. Very bad."

Leah had actually gone and drifted off to sleep in Masozi's arms at this point.

Mene

The grownup's sharp reaction startled Naomi, who promptly began crying. Scared! Not safe! Want mama! She arched her back and squirmed.

Naomi's sudden crying spiked Masozi's heart rate and he felt slightly panicked. "Uh oh," he said with a calmness he definitely didn't feel. "Want to trade?" he gestured to the sleeping Leah.

Dai

The sharp crying quickly stirred Leah back awake. She blinked at bit before the noises registered. Very loud! Scary! Sister crying! Scary! Pretty quickly, she was also wiggling in Masozi's arms while crying.

Cora blinked before a clear look of panic crossed her features as they both quickly started crying. Uh.... UHHH... What do? She looked over at Maso, silently implying him as much.

Mene

"Oh hell," muttered Masozi. "Um, okay, time for a...distraction." He reached for the bag Miriam had left and rooted around until he found something that would make noise. Aha, set of toy wooden keys. He jingled them, hoping the sound would distract the girls long enough to quit crying.

The tactic worked on Naomi, at least, who immediately stopped crying and oriented to the sound. She held her arms out, trying to grab the toy and leaning forward precariously.

Dai

Leah, however, was more of a crybaby than her sister and kept on the wails even despite the distraction.

Cora looked between the two and continued to look confused about where to go from here.

Mene

"Okay, okay, one down..." said Masozi, trying to keep cool. He handed the toy to Cora to give to Naomi, then refocused on Leah. He rocked her gently and made soft shushing noises, but his heart was pounding. Come on, you can do this, he told himself. He hoped Cora wouldn't notice he was getting frazzled.

 

[Menelie]

Dai

Cora graciously took the toy, which she then dangled in front of Naomi to keep her distracted. She offered Maso a silent glance, somewhat impressed and somewhat annoyed that he was clearly better than her at all of this.

After some time rocking, the motions combined with the energy of crying eventually took its toll on little Leah, and her wails softened to sniffles, then to sleepies.

Mene

Masozi's anxiety levels were creeping higher and higher the longer Leah kept crying. Once she finally stopped crying and got drowsy, he visibly relaxed, almost slumping. "Thank the Guardians," he sighed. He tried to discreetly dab at the corner of his eyes, relieved. He was embarrassed that one little episode of crying had gotten him all on edge like this. He tried to shake it off by chuckling softly. "Well, their temperaments are already pretty clear, huh?" he joked. "It'll be interesting to see how their personalities develop."

Dai

Cora nodded emphatically with his observation. "Oh I'll say - is it normally so obvious? Or so different?" She kept dangling the keys in front of Naomi while otherwise keeping her attention on Maso.

Mene

Masozi nodded, but then made a sideways expression. "Obvious, yes. Their temperament comes out early like this, and then their personality develops and gets more complex as they get older. But I'd bet that Leah here will continue to be a little more delicate even as an adult, unless something big happens." His face darkened for a moment. "Cari was like that, as a child," he said, nodding toward Naomi, who was sitting up precariously and reaching for the jangling keys, giggling. "Outgoing, bright, active." He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. "But it seems like her time in the dark place really did a number on her. I mean, I still see that resilience," he added, trying to keep the conversation light. "But it was a big thing that changed her personality." Then, with a bit of a laugh, he added again. "Kasmai's just always been like that. And to your other question, no, they're not always different. Kasmai's boys were almost like twins, they were both sweet, sensitive children. Cosme at least has found his voice as he grew. I don't know about Citlali--we haven't seen him in seasons."

Dai

Cora nodded - duly noted. "How strange..." It had been a long time since she'd last dealt with children, and even then, never so directly. Was it...? Yes, Hotaru must have been the last. Now wasn't that a while ago...

Now, he'd said something curious there. "I thought they were twins... Though I've never met Citlatli - he left for the City as a teen, is that right?" She paused and glanced upwards in thought. "My sister has yet to visit either... I really should make time to send her a letter at some point."

Mene

Masozi nodded and made a "well yes" sort of acquiescing motion. "Yes, of course, they were born at the same time, but they aren't identical. I mean, Cosme and Citlali were quite a lot alike, but they didn't look the same." He paused thoughtfully, then nodded. "Yes, he said he was interested in learning and studying at what I'm assuming is quite a large library. He must still have his head in the books, because we haven't gotten so much as a letter since he left." He curled a lock of Leah's hair idly around a fingertip. "They don't say anything because they're boys, but I know Cosme misses him terribly, and of course Kasmai worries."

 

[Menelie]

Dai

Cora nodded as Maso spoke and moved to lift Naomi up and set her back on her belly on the rug, then put the toy in front of her if she wasn't otherwise holding onto it.

She then rolled a shoulder before bringing her legs in towards her chest and wrapping her arms around them for a moment before leaning forward to rest her chin in-between her knees. She smiled. "Looks like you've calmed yourself down - and I thought you were gonna be a wonder with kids." This was a hard bluff considering her own ineptitude displayed, like, a few minutes earlier.

Mene

Naomi belly-scooted toward the toy and, once she got it, giggled triumphantly, rolled onto her back, and happy chewed on it. Which was, of course, partially what the toy was for.

Masozi also shifted, lying on his back with his feet on the floor and knees in the air, the sleeping Leah on the flat part of his chest so he wouldn't have to hold her up anymore. "Yeah..." he said awkwardly, mildly embarrassed. "I thought so too," he agreed. A small sigh. "I guess there's just....a lot of memories, taking care of babies." His voice sounded tight. He put one forearm across his face and sighed again. "Didn't really expect that."

Dai

Cora tilted her head so that is was moreso her cheek resting than her chin. She shifted her hands slightly, opening and closing her fingers. Then she narrowed her eyes slightly and smirked. "Guess that just means you need more practice." Her smirk softened as she continued, leaving no room for him to immediately comment on her previous statement. "You... Wanna talk about it?"

Mene

Masozi sighed. "I suppose I ought to," he agreed. "Being here with you, with the little ones....it reminds me of...another life." He squeezed his eyes closed. "Most days the pain is like a dull ache, it's manageable. But this all for some reason is all sharp again. I'm happy now...I've let go...I hate that it still hurts." He laughed sort of hollowly. "I guess I just wasn't expecting it, you know? It's just babysitting, how was I gonna know it was gonna bring all this up? And at the same time..." He peeked out at Cora from under his arm, "I just...love doing this with you."

His face was flushed red. This was the most emotionally vulnerable he'd been with her since...a while. And he knew she did have a tendency to exploit those vulnerable moments, but he'd also gotten the sense that she knew what was a bridge too far at this point. He had been looking forward to being calm, cool, in control with this babysitting thing, since he had much more experience with it than she did. And yet.

Dai

Yeah, she supposed it made sense he'd be remembering his late wife at this moment.. not that it didn't also make her a little unreasonably jealous about it. Jealous, annoyed... quite a few nastier emotions, really. It just drove home the fact that all of her firsts were his seconds... his thirds... and it all felt so unfair at times. Most of all, she loathed herself for so deeply envying what someone who had passed had experienced.

But she wasn't someone to let that show on her face. So while her smile may have stiffened up in a very minute sense, it remained almost the same as before.

"You can always ask Miriam to watch them more if you want, you know. They'll be like this for a while. Combine your therapy sessions and childminding practice into one efficient bundle."

Mene

Masozi pulled his arm off his face and looked meaningfully over at Cora, eyebrows arched. "And why might I need childminding practice, Coracias?" He inquired, giving a light laugh and waggling his eyebrows, thinking he had caught her in something. He watched her face, then got up on his elbows, putting one hand on the baby's back to keep her from slipping. "Cora??" He thought he had gotten her, but in effect, she'd gotten him.

 

[Menelie]

Dai

Cora shrugged in a non-committal sort of way, her smile disappearing as she feigned ignorance. "Well, your son and grandson seem to be doing better in -that- department, so I figure it's only a matter of time." She then leaned forward herself to smirk. "Why? What'dya think I was gonna say?"

Mene

"Well I--I mean--I wasn't trying to imply anything--I mean, not anything that you already weren't--Guardians, Cora--" sputtered Masozi, blushing. Then he saw her smirk and knew he'd been had.

"Augh," he groaned, making a get-outta-here motion with one hand and lying back down. He felt real dumb for even entertaining the thought. Cora didn't seem like the...type...to want babies, and he'd already had his, hadn't he? Still, though, he couldn't help a brief fantasy of tiny ones in his arms again, striped in red, yellow, blue, and pink.

He pushed the thought away and focused on the other part of what she'd said, grateful that her needling, irritating as it was, seemed to have broken him out of his mood. "I wouldn't be too sure about those boys..." He joked. "I sincerely doubt that Kasmai is doing anything serious with Eniko, and Cosme's pining after a guy he met one time. I'm, uh, not really holding my breath."

Dai

Cora's smirk only deepened as she watched him flounder at this low-stakes teasing, breaking only when she started laughing as he realized he'd got got. "You shoulda seen your face! Oh man, it's been ages since I got you that good!" And if he wasn't going to push -that- sort of thinking further, neither would she.

Maybe after a few more 'babysitting therapy sessions.'

"Really? From the way they've been talking, I'd figured Cosme at least. Just once though, huh?" Yikes. She offered an offhand shrug. "Evidently Kasmai should at least keep in mind that apparently a fertility tonic isn't always needed..." She gestured in front of her towards the two little ones that were evidence of this fact.

Mene

Masozi smiled--he loved hearing her laugh, even if it did often come at his own expense. "Yeah, I guess the guy implied he'd visit Koehaira but that has....not yet come to pass." He shook his head gently. "And as for the fertility tonic--I'd chalked it up to some nonsense from that village she keeps visiting, but it does give one pause." He chuckled.

Masozi glanced over at Naomi, still entertained with the wooden keys, but he made a bit of a face. "Ah, seems it's time to switch after all," he said. He sat up carefully and slowly started to transfer Leah to Cora's arms. "Unless you'd like to handle a soiled diaper," he said with a bit of a teasing tone. Did he also want to watch Cora hold a sleeping baby? A little bit.

Dai

Cora, who'd been preoccupied with making fun of Maso (and some bit of self-loathing), suddenly made a face as he correctly determined that she did not want to deal with a dirty diaper. Nope! "Yeah.... Knock yourself out with that." She was even actively reaching out to receive the child. Once in her hand, she adjusted to a more comfortable position for both of em.

Mene

Once Leah had been safely transferred, Masozi turned his attention to Naomi. "Alright, you little stinker," he said, grabbing the bag Miriam had left and digging through for a clean diaper. Then he made quick work of the dirty one, using the clean bits of the diaper to make sure the baby's skin was clean before rolling it up upon itself and securing it with the pins. Then he put the clean one under her and pinned it securely, despite Naomi's giggling attempts to roll away. Seemed like some things you really didn't forget, especially when you'd done them enough.

He flipped Naomi back on her stomach and put a new toy just out of her reach so that she'd have to work for it. Naomi, for her part, blew raspberries as she scooched toward it.

"D'you want to keep holding her for a while?" he asked Cora. He hoped she would, but he'd never say that or he'd never hear the end of it.

Dai

Cora watched, mildly impressed, again mildly annoyed, as Masozi displayed his prowess at the childcare. Seemed he wasn't half-bad when he took a few moments to calm down and breath. In fact, one could argue he was actually pretty damn skilled at it. Not that Cora would compliment him for it... at least not in her funky sort-of-mood.

Still sitting with the sleeping bab nestled into her, she offered a minute shrug and responded back in a whisper, "I don't want to wake her up..." She also wasn't skilled or knowledgeable in the matter to know how to move her in a way that would ensure she (hopefully) remained nice and asleep.

Mene

Masozi smiled. Cora looked so sweet holding Leah. "That's fine," he responded softly. "Here," he grabbed a pillow from the sofa and tucked it under her arm. "So your arm doesn't get tired," he explained. He gave her a soft kiss and then sat cross-legged again.

"How're things at the winery?" He asked, trying to settle into a normal topic of conversation.