Veridia Round 8: Midwife

[eulalia]

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What does one do after being kidnapped, un-cursed, and told your own life story? That's the question Arturo has been left to ponder after the former queen of the fae sent them home with a simple wave of her hand.

(Or rather, sent them to the pond across from their home with a simple wave of her hand, because Arturo's wards on the house still stand and he is still very good at warding. At least he has that to console him.)




Apparently what one does next is lie down despondently and let Helenet pet his hair the same way she does for the children when they get upset.

Elmet: I’m gonna to head to Eisu's place to check on the children—

Arturo: They're fine. I can sense Lune’s magic; she’s hardly moved an inch for hours. Asleep, I would think.




Helenet: You can sense that?

Arturo: I can feel her magic, and yours, and Elmet, and Angus over there and your friend down the hill… and the forest's own spirit and the fae in their ruined court. All of them. I could not tell the fae apart from the forest before, but… I can now that I know to look for it.




Elmet: Well... in that case, I'm gonna make us some of that chamomile tea instead.

Helenet: Oh, put some honey in the cups! Honey is good for shock.

Arturo: I am not in shock.

Helenet: I might be after all of that. Goodness.




Helenet: You were right. The fae are assholes.

Arturo: *snorts* I don't know how I knew that. Just that I did.

Helenet: Intuition. Your body remembers even if your mind can't. How are you feeling?




Arturo: Please do not ask me that. I hardly know myself right now. Who I am.

Helenet: We know who you are. You're Arturo; you're clever and grumpy and proud and thoughtful, and we love you. Whatever happened in the past doesn't change who you are now.

Arturo: Does it not, though? Allegedly I am a man who would steal someone's most beloved person and pay a price for it.

Helenet: It's not stealing if someone offers himself up to be taken. You are not responsible for another's actions, especially not some capricious faery. And anyway, we only have their interpretation of events—who knows what the truth is?




Arturo: The fae queen did not discredit his claims.

Helenet: Yeah, well, fuck him and the faery queen and the rest of them—

Arturo: Helenet.

Helenet: She doesn't know you. We do.




Perhaps Helenet is correct. But the whole affair has left him discomforted. He hardly feels like a person right now. The fae called him mortal like the others, but for a very long time he wasn’t mortal; he was a creature in limbo, neither human nor monster, built of pieces stolen from both. Even now he doesn’t look fully human. And yet he’s afraid of what his face will look like if tomorrow the green pigment fades from his skin.


* * *












Life around here is a little chaotic lately, especially with three young children (admittedly, Lune is the sole source of the most major chaos). Fiona is usually toddling after one parent or another to demand snuggles and stories, and Faolán, of course, still requires a lot of care.




Arturo has to admit that he enjoys all of it, and not only because it helps distract him from his brooding thoughts.








Lune: Get out of here, mean doggy! Only nice doggies allowed!

Random wolf: Oh shit, my bad.






Lune is teaching the wolves, or at least Toast, to howl on command. I'm sure all their neighbors love this.






Elmet: The curse, it finally came for me!

Helenet: What?

Elmet: The grays. They're here. Soon I'll complete my transformation… and look exactly like my father.




Helenet: Oh. You're being very silly, you know. Gray hair means you've survived long enough to grow gray and old; not everyone does. You should appreciate it.




Elmet: I know, but thanks for taking all the fun out of it.

Helenet: Does this mean your werewolf form is graying too?

Elmet: Good question. I guess you'll have to do a thorough search later.

Helenet: *snorts* I'll fetch Arturo's looking glass.




Elmet: So, should I grow a big, bushy beard like Eisu did? Really complete the look?

Helenet: Please don't.




Elmet: Anyway, what were you up to before I interrupted?

Helenet: Oh... I'm only trying to figure out how else I could help Fial and Dinn's boy. Faro is sick more often than a boy his age ought to be.

Elmet: I think heart problems run in their family. The menfolk, anyway. I know Fial and Norweni's father and grandfather both went that way.




Helenet: Yes, she told me that. I don't think that's it, though; the symptoms don't match what I would expect from some sort of issue with the heart. He just picks up every cold that looks his way. *sigh* My mother had a way of using her magic to sort of look inside the body. It didn't work for everything, but she could see if, say, a body's organ was misshaped, or if the heart was out of rhythm, or if someone was carrying twins or a single baby.




Elmet: That's amazing!

Helenet: It was. Unfortunately, I never learned the details of how she did it, and to be honest, I probably still don't have enough control over my magic to do the same even if I had learned.

Elmet: Does your cousin know this stuff?

Helenet: No... it was my mum's trick, so to speak, and anyway, the family never properly trained Orla in medicine.

Elmet: Why not?




Helenet: Well, one, herbs are still better than magic for some ailments. I gave her a pot of rosemary last summer and she managed to kill it within a week. Two... she's a sweetheart, but would you trust Orla to run an apothecary?

Elmet: Oh, yeah, I see your point.




Angus dropped by with one of the cats and proceeded to spend the whole time in the yard playing with Ash and Snow.






Helenet: Lune, when I said Toast could come in the house, part of the deal was that he has to stay clean and off the furniture.

Lune: Aw, but she likes the bed—

Helenet: Stinky wolf, outside, now.




Good thing he takes more regular baths than Toast does.


* * *








Birthday time for Fiona!




Fiona continues to look nigh identical to her mother.






Helenet finally had the opportunity to properly introduce cousin Orla and Arturo. Arturo finds Orla to be saccharine, overly friendly, and...

Orla: Are those real antlers? Can I touch one?

Arturo: Absolutely not.

...more than a little annoying. Incredible that she and Helenet were allegedly raised in the same household.






Fiona fell asleep not long after the party started, but she's soon awoken by the strangest feeling—




—lycanthropy!




Fiona: Aroooooooooo!

Elmet: Okay, okay, rule one of being a werewolf is no howling in the house. At least until Faolán gets old enough that it won't bother him.






Elmet had wondered when, and if, the lycanthropy would show in any of the children. Somehow Fiona's fifth birthday is both sooner and later than he expected. Arturo was right, though, all those years ago: Fiona is only a little fazed by the transformation after growing up with two werewolves, and she has people to answer her questions and feed her roast chicken and tuck her into bed after she crashes. It's good. It's a far cry from hiding out in a stranger's barn and trying to catch rabbits.

Also, Fi is the cutest little werewolf pup ever, if Elmet does say so himself.




I can barely keep track of everyone at parties these days.








Aww, Norweni approves of Angus and Gytha's relationship. I'm not sure why, since she barely knows either of them, but it is cute!






Since Faolán is definitely, for sure, totally going to be the last baby here and he can sleep in the crib now, Helenet passes his sleeping basket onto Gytha and Angus for Aedan.

Gytha: Thank you. Just between us, we miiiiiight need the extra basket soon.




Helenet: I see! You two are very... eager, aren't you?

Gytha: *giggles*




Helenet: Had enough of the party?

Arturo: Frankly, I had enough of it quite a while ago.

Helenet: Hang around a few moments and you can take this one when we're done nursing—

Arturo: Of course.




Faolán is the only child who doesn't seem to hold any supernatural potential, or at least nothing that Arturo can sense. He'll have to tell Helenet and Elmet when the boy gets a little older, though; it wouldn't do to have Faolán feeling left out in a family full of witches and werewolves, and he thinks forewarned will be forearmed in that particular battle.




After the party winds down, Norweni hangs around for a bit to talk with Helenet, and...

Norweni: I suppose I never asked you why you don't like Maddan, you've only said that you don't.




Helenet: Hmm... do you remember way back when you escorted me here from Evervale and you asked after Angus's father, and first I said that he wasn't here and then I said he was a dickhead?




Norweni: Oh. I'm an idiot.

Helenet: Only occasionally, which is true for most of us.

Norweni: Sorry. I should have asked back when it first came up. I was distracted, and then… it's not a very good excuse.

Helenet: I'm an adult, I can tolerate being in the same room as him. It might involve a lot of eye rolling, but...




Norweni: *mumbles*

Helenet: What's that?

Norweni: I said, I can't believe I've been sleeping with the man who insulted you like that.

Helenet: You've been what.


* * *




Lately, Arturo has been spending his nights in the house. It's simply that the woods are frozen and icy, you see, and the house is nice and warm. That's totally it and nothing more. Once Elmet has gone to sleep, he spends his time either cleaning or with his nose in a book.




GREAT news, buddy! Your yard is FULL of wolves.




Lune: How come Fi gets to be a wolf and I don't? I don't think it's very fair!

Arturo: That is simply how it is. None of you were guaranteed to inherit the trait—much like how you and your sister have eyes the same color as your father's, but Faolán does not.




Lune: You and Da could make me into a wolf.

Arturo: Perhaps when you get older. If it makes you feel better, you have latent magic that Fiona does not.

Lune: Really? Neat! What does latent mean?

Arturo: It means your abilities have not yet manifested. That reminds me, today is a reading day—

Lune: Noooooooo—

Arturo: Yes.






Fiona is such a mini version of her mum, I couldn't resist giving her a matching kerchief for her outerwear.




Netty is spending the morning working on her potions...






...while Lune has to endure a writing lesson before going out to run around with the dogs wolves...




...and Fiona is learning to weave. She has an arts & crafts OTH like Elmet and keeps rolling wants to gain creativity points.




Speaking of Fi, while she might have inherited her looks from her mother and her fur from Elmet, Arturo is the one she's constantly following around. It's very cute.




She's also content to sit quietly and play, unlike chaos personified Lune.




Helenet: Lune...

Lune: I'm not doin' anything!

Helenet: Down.




i just like her face, part 1032421.


* * *








It feels like everyone is always in and out of this house lately. Xiuying came over to hang out with the cousins, and Myr has brought River along to one of her routine appointments with Helenet.




Xiuying: Hi.

River: Oh—uh, hello. You're one of Eisu and Liu Xiang's children, right?




Xiuying: Yeah. Xiuying. Um, can I ask you a question that's probably rude?

River: Can you... I suppose so, but I don't promise to answer it.




Xiuying: When people talk about you, they don't say he or she, they use other words.

River: That's a statement, not a question.

Xiuying: Oh... why?

River: *sigh* Because those are words for men and women, and I don't consider myself to be either.

Xiuying: That's an option?




River: Spirits, I forgot this place is a backwater...

Xiuying: Hey!

River: Um, I don't mean that in a bad way. Mostly. I just suppose that you don't get exposed to as many people and things and concepts as you do in a larger town.

Xiuying: So... can anyone just decide that, then? Where you come from?




River: I was wondering if that's where this was going... um, yes, I suppose so, if that's how they feel about themselves.

Xiuying: Is it very common in Wyll?




River: It's not uncommon. You know, across the sea there are whole orders of priests made up solely of people who don't subscribe to one gender or another.

Xiuying: Huh. Okay, thanks. Bye! Sorry for being rude!


* * *






Birthday time for Faolán! He doesn't get a full party b/c we just had one and that's enough parties for me for now, sorry Faolán. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like his older siblings, he's very cute.




Also, I'm begging these children for a CRUMB of neatness. Four points, that's all I ask. I'll take three, even. But noooo, they all have two neat points. This is all Elmet's fault.








Using her magic for evil. 😔 Arturo thinks it's funny as hell.






Helenet does not.

Helenet: That's a very irresponsible use of magic, Lune—

Lune: But—

Helenet: Especially since you're too young to know your limits or your own strength. And—

Elmet: Netty, love, lay off. She was just having a bit of fun. Don't do it again, Little Moon, okay? Except to Arturo.

Helenet: Elmet.








There's a lot of howling around this household.








Elmet: We haven't gone out, just the two of us, for a while. Wanna do that tomorrow?

Helenet: That would be nice, if Arturo or your brother don't mind getting saddled with all the children...

Elmet: Already checked! Arturo's fine with it. He's busy planning lessons for everyone as we speak.

Helenet: Hah, I should've known.










Lune: The kraken, she's got us! Seize the oars, we're going down!

Fiona: Can you be quieter? I can't concentrate!

Lune: Hmm... no.






Lune gets to escape her reading and writing lessons occasionally now that Fiona is finally also getting lessons. Score!






Sun: Hi, Aunt Netty! Soooo my mothers told me I should come talk to you about contraceptive tea if I was ever interested in, um, having sex with someone capable of... yeah.




Helenet: I see! First, I'm sure your parents talked to you about it if they told you that, but do you have any questions for me about anything? Even if you think it's embarrassing to ask, trust me, I've heard it all before and it's really not. There's no such thing as a stupid question, you know!

Sun: No, they were unfortunately thorough on the topic.




Helenet: Alright. Brew a spoonful of this in boiled water for, hmm, about as long as it takes to boil an egg. You ought to drink it once a day for several days before engaging in sex. My mother always recommended seven days, so that's my suggestion as well. Don't skip days once you start taking it or it'll be less effective.

Sun: Okay. Uh, will you talk to my mothers about this?

Helenet: Not if you don't want me to. You came to me in confidence and I always do my best to uphold that.

Sun: Okay, thanks, Auntie!


* * *








Elmet and Helenet head into the village to spend the morning walking around the market and people watching (and gossiping, of course).






Hmm. I like Elphin better than Maddan, Norweni. Can you dump Maddan into a well and date him instead?






Aw, I think River might have a little crush on Netty. 😭 That or they think she's too good for Elmet—wouldn't be the first sim to think so, lol.




For a sim with like 1 active point, Lune sure spends a lot of time SPRINTING around the lot.




Fiona: Lune says she's gonna be a witch, but I think being a wolf is more fun.

Angus: Um, it probably would be nice to have some fur this time of year.

Fiona: Yeah! I don't have to wear my cloak at night! Until Mummy catches me and tells me to put it on...




Fiona: Mummy and Da went out to the market, but we didn't get to go with them.

Lune: That's 'cause they didn't wanna have to look after babies like you and Faolán.

Angus: Lune, that's not very nice.

Fiona: If that's right, how come you didn't get to go, Luney? I guess that means you're a baby too—

Lune: Am not!

Xiuying is so glad right now to not have any younger siblings.


* * *






I know it's mostly me projecting it onto them, but I get the biggest compersion vibes from these three.




I'm less thrilled by them kicking a sleeping Arturo out of bed so they can woohoo a second time, though. 😂








Xiuying is helping Fi build some sort of little mud-and-rock fort in the yard, while Lune has discovered Arturo's abandoned hammock.




And Elmet and Faolán spend the evening working on Faolán's vocabulary.








I never get those cute potty-training faces y'all are always posting. My sims always look like this. tbf, I probably would too if I was in their shoes.






Please be assured that Arturo also gets plenty of attention from Elmet and Netty. 👀 He just still prefers his alone time sometimes, so he's often off in the tree house or yard somewhere when they're together.





* * *




Elmet: Oh darn, you got me!

Fiona: Yes! I win again!








There's a thick blanket of snow on the ground at Yule, and everyone spends a few hours that morning playing in it.




Fiona: Eeee!

Elmet: C'mon, time for little wolves to go warm their paws up inside! You too, Little Moon, Netty.

Helenet: We're almost done—

Elmet: How come I'm being the responsible one here? Wow.




The wolves aren't having such a peaceful morning. Calm the fuck down.












Arturo insisted on making the holiday meal; he's gained a great appreciation for the art of cooking since he started being able to eat real food again.




This was probably a mistake!




It's okay, Arturo has the fire magically extinguished within moments. Which is good, because apparently Lune has no survival instincts, since she just looked at the fire for a few moments before leisurely walking her butt out of the house at the slowest possible pace.






thanks 2 Elmet for continuing to be the responsible parent today and actually taking the toddler away from the fire. Again, it's already out, but it's the thought that counts?




Since the roast was charred beyond recognition, they end up eating a fish for their supper. Naturally Faolán gets served first!






Angus and Gytha are here too! I'm just gonna pretend Aedan is just out of sight, asleep in his basket.






Thank god someone in Veridia is finally taking a stand against this topic of severed thumbs.




Fiona: Daddy says I can't have any mead—isn't it made of honey? I like honey.

Angus: Um—

Elmet: It's very bad-tasting honey. You'd hate it, Little Wolf.

Fiona: Then why are you drinking it?

Angus: She's got you there, Elmet.










I finally downloaded this 'Go Hunting' mod, and I've gotta say, it's really great for the wolves. They can go scavenging to fill their hunger bars, and it gets them off the lot for a while sometimes, which feels more realistic.


* * *




Helenet: Lune!

Lune: What?

Helenet: You know what! You can't just pick up random animals you find in the woods! Especially not dead ones! Sometimes dead things have died from something that could make you sick as well.




Lune: But I was gonna feed it to Toast! Daddy goes hunting, why can't I?

Helenet: Because you're seven and your father is a grown man. *sigh* Just... go wash your hands, thoroughly, and do whatever lesson it is Arturo has for you today.

Lune: But—

Helenet: Now.

Lune: ...Yes, Mum.




Helenet: At least you're still too little for now to cause this sort of trouble.








Lune: Sorry, guys... you would've loved that thing, but Mummy said no.

Toast: Woof!*

*Transl.: This is completely unfair!




Fiona: I don't think Mum likes dead things.

Lune: Well, she doesn't gotta eat it. Toast was gonna eat it!




Helenet: Elmet, your child tried to bring home a dead animal she found in the woods.

Elmet: First off, somehow I just know this was Lune and not Fi. And why is she just mine when she misbehaves?

Helenet: Sorry. But I hardly know what to do with her anymore! Every time I turn around, she's making some sort of trouble!

Elmet: Let me guess—she wanted to give it to the wolves?




Helenet: Yes. *sigh* I would never have been allowed to get away with half of what she does when I was her age—

Elmet: From everything I've heard, your family, no offense, was a bit shit.

Helenet: I mean... you're not wrong. But...




Elmet: I think you were a little bit spoiled by Angus being such a calm child, love. I was constantly doing stupid stuff at her age. Trust me, you can ask my brother about it. She'll grow out of it, or at least find better things to channel the energy into. And in the meantime, we should help her find something to channel it into. I think scolding her is just gonna make her start to push back more.

Helenet: I suppose you're right. Any suggestions? She hates weaving, doesn't have any interest in music, and drags her feet doing anything about the house—




Elmet: Well, she'll probably be happier when she can play around in the vegetable garden again. Until then... more walks? But, uh, maybe you should bring Arturo along with you guys next time. More hands. Or, weren't you talking about possibly training her in midwifery?

Helenet: Eventually, yes, possibly.

Elmet: Bring her along to your appointments—not, like, the really important ones, the ones where you give people some herbs and say 'everything looks good here!'

Helenet: That's a horrible oversimplification of what I do, you know.

Elmet: If nothing else, maybe walking around the village will tire her out and she'll have less time for mischief.

Helenet: Or she'll just get up to mischief in someone else's house. Well, I suppose we can try it.


* * *




Lune: Someone at the gate's askin' for you, Da. Two someones.

Arturo: For me, specifically? Do you recognize them?

Lune: Nooooo.

Arturo: I see. Thank you, Lune. Could you be very, very helpful and go watch your siblings for me while I see what they need?






Inanna: Arturo! Do you like my human disguise? Macha helped me!

Arturo: I am under the impression that most humans wear something over their legs, particularly in winter. Hello, your Highness. Why are you here?

Inanna: Oh, trousers, of course!

Macha: I told you, sister. Good morning, Arturo. I do hope we aren't bothering you, but I did promise to return your visit.




Arturo: Was that a promise? It sounded like a threat.

Macha: I understand your encounters with Fenrir may have left you a bit shy of us, but I mean you no harm. Now that I know of you, I might pop in from time to time to check in on you. You live very close to our domain and after everything that happened, I feel a bit you're like one of my citizens now.

Arturo: Wonderful.

Macha: If it's Fenrir you're peering about for, I left him safely ensconced with Bel. Our brother has been studying transmogrification; I'm sure he'll keep Fenrir… occupied until I return.




Arturo: Just... leave the children alone. Do not speak to them, nothing. They're too young to be involved with any of this.

Macha: If you insist.




Inanna: Oh, but I love children! I had a baby once. Can I hold one? I'm very good at holding babies.

Arturo: No.

Macha: Hush, sister.