these days have been a mess.

leaving scilla is hard, harder than it should be. there are others to watch its injured sovereign, he knows, but still... it feels wrong. but life continues -- the sun keeps rising and setting and the tides, too, move across the shore. and so he finally gets the time ( and inkling ) to leave the familiar sands behind, and head for someone else's home.

the cay is not unknown to him but certainly as a pirate base, it is different. indeed, there are scents upon the sand that were not there the last time he'd come by here -- the weather, too, is clearer than the last time he'd visited. the swim is a short one and his fur adapts easily, tracking brine through the cay as he creeps ever closer, toeing the line between owned and public. he stops just short of where the scents are thickest, chuffing quietly for @Calypso from around a mouthful.

he hopes that the healer is in, lest he be lingering on their front porch for no reason.

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her days are spent between lagoon and cay, making multiple visits to ensure the chimera heals well. conflicted though she may be she is a healer first and foremost, and the alliance forged between the pirates and the sigrun home is strong.

calypso rests when she can, the hours often interrupted by bouts of play with grit, and she is tucked away in her den when he calls for her.

her heart lurches to her throat -- she knows his voice well, even muffled as it was -- and she frowns at the sensation. a few slow breaths to steady it, to remind herself that he was her friend and perhaps it was official business that brought him here. this is what she keeps in mind as she departs from the napping child, thankful that grit is asleep for the time being.

the sight of him sends warmth to seep through her carefully constructed mask, and the smile she offers is genuine. it fades, though, with a hint of concern -- "is everyt'ing alright?"

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fortunately he is not waiting long, until sure enough, @Calypso arrives -- beckoned forth by his call. he is always glad for it, and for her presence, and her smile is always a welcome sight -- something twisting and curling in his chest at its brilliance. but then it falters, and it's only then that hakon realizes just how much work has surely been heaped upon this woman's shoulders. the realization is late -- truly, it should have come months ago when she'd been the only thing standing between him and an early grave. then it was his ward and now saga, and certainly countless bumps and bruises in-between.

suddenly he feels ridiculous and his shoulders tighten, muscles rippling beneath the lightened fur at his nape. he should have grabbed her on her way out of scilla, rather than barge into her own home. stupid, he realizes -- but he's already here, and doesn't want to waste even more of her time. aye, he confirms, a little belatedly but with a firm nod. everything's fine. no world shattering injuries or illnesses, at least not yet. the day was early, still.

i just wanted to bring you this. he says with a roll of his shoulder, voice verging on defensive -- even as a paw reaches out, nudging the parcel with a toe. for you, and the cub. he's never met grit but calypso has told him of her, the cub she'd swooped in and saved. a ward of her own, though from the sound of it, she was certainly more even-keel than his own. still, it's nothing special -- a small show of gratitude from the man who can hardly string together a thank you. a bit of meat ( from something nice but not too nice -- it'd meant he'd hunted it himself, and he was hardly the best ) and a bone from the very same animal. a nice little chewtoy for her ankle-biter.

and maybe, if he'd been thinking, he might've brought her some more herbs since she insisted on patching up everyone i nhis life, but... well. hakon was never the best with gifts -- giving, or receiving -- and he stands on her doorstep, more than a little awkward, quietly regretting ever having the idea.

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the relief that floods her is palpable, the tense set of her shoulders easing in to a far more gentle stance. there is no emergency, no need to rush to aid; saga is well, and healing, and she cannot be found at fault for more death. he had not come for her the healer... he had only come for...

calypso stops that ship before it can leave port, afraid of the hope that unfurls in her chest. emotion rises with the beat of her heart and she imagines it might leap from her throat with how tightly it clenches. "aye," she repeats, her voice a smothered whisper as she battles back the feelings he always invokes, afraid to take the step forward that she had so often taken before.

calypso is chained by knowledge and the insecurity lurks behind her eyes even now. yet as her gaze follows the gesture of his paw she cannot completely smother it; there is a shine to her eyes that threatens tears, she blinks rapidly to chase it away. it means... something... this gesture. or perhaps she is the hopeless dreamer, imagining a future that cannot exist.

"fer me..." another quiet murmur as she reached to inspect the gift and when she looks back to him she does not so carefully mask the emotions he invokes. "it's... perfect." grit's teeth were sharp and growing, and calypso had spent more than a few mornings fending off the playful child. the words are an echo of a different time, and she realizes that perhaps she had always pushed forward, but in his own way...

in his own way he had shown her all along that she was not the only one.

the thought is enough to temporarily drown her concerns and take that step, pressing her muzzle up under his with a rumbling purr of thanks.

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his gaze drops, inspecting the offered limb with a curious expression -- one that melds into an almost sympathetic smirk. his own limb hadn't looked anything like that -- minna didn't gnaw on him as much, but when she did, she'd always set out to draw blood. it seemed that @Calypso's whelp was much more behaved, even with the sharp teeth. what's her name again? he asks, an ear tipping forward. calypso has told him before but... well. an awful lot has happened between then and now.

hopefully, the new mother would not take offense to it.

she backs off, and he is not relieved per-say, but hakon always seems to do best when there is some semblance distance. even if he does immediately miss the feel of her, pressed so close. his head tilts lightly at her words, curious of the implication. he knows she's been rug rugged recently -- if not by him, then by the lagoon as a whole. and certainly her band of pirates were not a quiet bunch. quietly he hopes she was happy here, hopes that her place here was solid.

it was either this, he says -- pitching his voice, aiming for something casual, with a soft thrum of humor. a meager attempt but an attempt nonetheless, coming from a man who does so little of it. or offering to babysit. and surely she'd been around him and minna enough to know that was hardly a good idea.

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“grit,” she answers easily, placing her leg back down beside its partner. she purses her lips at the name, features momentarily captured by a pensive expression. “it be a curious name, really. i wonder if it was somet’ing else when she be born.” it was something she had thought of before, as the name was unlike any she had heard before. it seemed a sad name for a little girl, if she was being entirely honest, but amongst the ragtag pirates it blended right in.

for all the thoughts her name evokes, though, it also stirs a deep affection. Calypso appears visibly softer at the mention of her adopted daughter, the bright spark in her life that has already brought her so much joy. the Druid had little doubt she would bring her fair share of stresses, but for now she is contained to the island and that is enough for her.

Her ears tip forward at the humour, lips twisting with a sly grin. “Be careful,” she warned, with the same teasing tone, “I may take ye up on d’at. slip away for a soak in de hot springs an’ leave her wit’ a new chew toy.” him being the chew toy, obviously.

“would ye like to meet her?” casually offered, as if she had no real stake in his answer (she did), “if ye have time.” if he did not have to hurry back, where more pressing matters waited…

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grit is the cub's name and an ear ticks forward at the knowledge. perhaps she reads the expression on his face, or their train of thought mirrored each other -- she explains, a little, the origin of the strange name. with a name like that, i'm sure she's a handful. strong, too, but he'll keep that thought to himself. the talk of littles and grit makes him think of stumbling across minna, and quietly he hopes that grit's entrance into calypso's world was less... bloody.

there's a big difference, though, between him and minna and @Calypso and grit. because even here, in these small snippets, it's clear that she loves the little cub. something turns in his stomach. it's not quite jealousy but it's close, and it comes at the easy way her features shift to something softer and warmer. it lasts only a moment longer, fading away when she answers his littlw quip with one of her own.

a grumbly little growl rumbles from deep within his chest, clearly not enjoying the idea of being saddled with a child he's never met. or maybe it's the idea of being a teething ring that he bristles at. remind me not to offer, then. he says with a twitch of his bobbed tail, the corner of his mouth twisting up briefly. the expression falters for moment at her offer -- obviously not expecting it.

he was never much a fan of ankle-biters ( he never has been, but surely minna has solidified that ), but he thinks that any child of @Calypso might be better behaved and more easily managed. teeth marks and all. ears tip forward and he gives a small little nod; aye, he agrees, relents -- albeit with a voice that's a little guarded. i can stay a little. he half expects the child to come tearing out from behind a corner and latch onto his ankle immediately -- he half expects to leave here with his legs looking like calypso's.

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i'm sure she's a handful.

the fond smile blossoms even more, and breaks in to a small chuckle from the medicine woman. "aye, d'at her be." a handful, but also... so very perfect. sometimes she found herself forgetting that she had not birthed the child herself, so neatly did she fit in to calypso's life. "i t'ink her will be a scrapper," she added, thinking of the long teeth that her daughter displayed and used so often. already she was a tough little thing -- she remembers the way she had dove in to try to help move meat off of the shore -- and it occurred to her that she might end up the size of @Hákon if her growth was anything to go by.

this thought has her tipping her chin up a little, studying him and trying to picture a daughter that towered over her the same way. hakon's head was a solid eight inches above her own, and she had a hard time thinking of grit at the same height. drawn back to the present by his grumble she laughs, and lifts a paw to poke somewhat playfully at his chest -- "an' why not? ye make a great chew toy." her grin turned a little more sly, her voice a little more husky, and heat sparked in her eyes that made it quite clear she was thinking of taking a bite herself...

but then -- i can stay a little -- and her features brighten again. the emotion that lit her face could only be called happiness, and she tosses her head towards her den with a "d'is way, d'en," as she turned to lead him towards where she hoped the girl was still slumbering.

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an ear tips forward at her comment, quietly considering. so she was a rowdy little cub. for some reason he'd just assumed that any child of @Calypso's ( adopted or otherwise ) would follow in their mother's footsteps, and learn the delicate art of healing. but then again, he was hardly what his mother wanted for him, so... a scrapper she will be. if she needs a teacher, hakon says -- an offer without being an offer, leaving it open-ended as he rolls a shoulder. he'd taught others to fight, though never someone quite so young as grit. how much different could it be, though?

her expression goes a little warm the edges and the corner of his lips tilt up, a questioning glint in his eyes to meet her heated ones. it's an easy thing to fall into her sway, to fall under her sway -- there is something familiar about her, even with this strange thing between them. the moment passes though as he offers to stay and meet her child ( and doesn't that mean something else? something different? something more dangerous? ), and she invites him in easily.

you know, he says, as they venture forth -- together, towards her den. this was one of the first places i visited after coming to this island. he'd been here before of course, long before the pirates had settled into the cay. it was strange to think of a group just settling in a place that'd originally belonged to no one, but then again, that's exactly what the other prides had done. still, he's unfamiliar with her pirates as as whole -- only knowing one other, and probably not connecting the dots there. still, he walks with an easy gait at her side -- doubting very much she'd lead him this far into the cay just to get pounced now.

at least, of course, until grit shows her little face.

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a child raised among pirates was bound to have some skill in fighting, and considering that grit was going to be large it was probably the best course for her. there was no doubt that calypso would at least teach her the basics, but she would not stand in the way of the path her daughter chose to take. "her would love d'at i expect," a wry grin twisted her lips, and she could not help but tease him once more before little ears were around, "an' when yer done perhaps i cen have a lesson..." a throwback to their first meeting as she tossed a small wink his way. imagine, that that had been the beginning of... this.

as they walked he gave her a small piece, a glimpse in to the past she did not know. it was strange to think of how much life he had lived before she had met him -- strange, because it felt at times like she had known him always. "oh aye? it was mine, too." her first venture forward from the cavern they had temporarily stayed in had been to this island, and calypso can't help but chuckle at the memory. "ended up in a fight, in fact. guy named newt... what a treasure he was." she rolled her eyes, making it clear that he very much was not a treasure.

her gaze flitted from hakon to their island surroundings, and a fondness for the land itself settled in to her eyes. "i like it," she offered, with a small shrug as if it were inconsequential. the cay had become home very quickly, and now that she was settled with her den(s) and grit... she had come to love it.

approaching the larger den (the smaller one set some steps away) she chuffed softly for her daughter, and then flashed @Hákon a smile that almost seemed apologetic.

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