Leto squeezed her hand, then raised her fingers to his lips and kissed them.
"Time passes quickly." On a day like this, the pain of knowing what he would lose was more vivid. He rarely spoke of it, and he had uttered the words almost without thinking.
Despite this, he was smiling as he watched his daughter on the floor. Once again she pulled herself up, once more she fell, then, once she made sure she had her parents' attention, she let out a wail.
Alice sent a concerned glance at Leto. Was immortality weighing on him again? She could not imagine facing so many years. Much less loss.
"Then we should savor each moment as it slips by," she said, wishing there was more she could do. His very presence quieted most of her fears; it saddened her that she could not alleviate his.
Philosophical musings were cut short by Hania's plaintive cries. Alice withdrew her fingers from Leto's embrace and stood up.
"There, there, you've only fallen onto your backside," she shushed, scooping Hania up easily and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That's why one has padding there, love. So one can fall and not bruise."
The pain of loss was the price to pay for love. That was one of the facts of humanity, and one of the ways he would still, always, be human.
"I remember the frustration of having a body that would not let me do the elemental things in life, like stand on my own two feet. Hania might not know why she is angry, but it is quite reasonable."
He got to his feet too, snatching one of the toys from the floor and offering it to Hania as distraction.
"That must have been maddening," Alice mused, trying to imagine being herself, but housed in the body of an infant. "Able to know what one wants and needs, unable to communicate to those around one, unable to reach out and take such things one's self. I would miss words so very dearly. Did you speak in gibberish syllables, as tongue and mind fought, or did you jump immediately to complete sentences? One wonders if the impairment is mental, physical, or both."
Hania's chattering were not words, and only vaguely connected to the world around her. But she greeted the toy with an excited "Oh?" and clutched her tiny fists towards it.
Proof that communication did not rely solely on words. It was not as though the wee one had difficulty making her displeasure known.
Ghanima had come back to Dune just for the occasion right after her class, and had stayed a bit later doing Official Work after the party to smooth over the small wrinkles caused by her absences at court and to divert people from trying to continue to pester Alice and her brother.
By the time she made it to their chambers, it was much later indeed, and she rapped on the doorframe lightly. "And how fares the youngest member of the House? I notice she didn't try to bite anyone..."
"Only myself, unfortunately," Alice said brightly. "Another tooth is making itself known, and she finds my fingers to be far more palatable than any of the toys designed to be chewed upon. One wonders if my hands taste like jam."
From her mother's arms, Hania brightened visibly at the presence of her aunt. And squealed. "Bah," she announced, holding her arms out and diving forward.
"If you're too loud, the sandworms will come up through the floor and eat you," Ghanima admonished dryly, reaching out to take her niece from Alice. "Although if she only chewed on the toys she was supposed to teeth with, we'd know she had been replaced at some point with a pod-child that was clearly not yours or Leto's. " After all, both her brother and her former student could be a wee-bit... contrary. Mostly when vexing other people on purpose.
"I have new sympathy for my own mother," Alice said -- and to her credit, there was only a hint of sadness to those words. Today was not a day for dwelling on loss.
Hania burbled happily and reached one hand into Ghanima's hair assuming there's some down so that she can do that.
"I should have used her more wisely, against the parade of dullness today," she mused. "Told the Ixians that she was wailing because she didn't like how they smelled, and ask them to drench themselves in lavender before they return."
Comments 12
"Time passes quickly." On a day like this, the pain of knowing what he would lose was more vivid. He rarely spoke of it, and he had uttered the words almost without thinking.
Despite this, he was smiling as he watched his daughter on the floor. Once again she pulled herself up, once more she fell, then, once she made sure she had her parents' attention, she let out a wail.
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"Then we should savor each moment as it slips by," she said, wishing there was more she could do. His very presence quieted most of her fears; it saddened her that she could not alleviate his.
Philosophical musings were cut short by Hania's plaintive cries. Alice withdrew her fingers from Leto's embrace and stood up.
"There, there, you've only fallen onto your backside," she shushed, scooping Hania up easily and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That's why one has padding there, love. So one can fall and not bruise."
Reply
"I remember the frustration of having a body that would not let me do the elemental things in life, like stand on my own two feet. Hania might not know why she is angry, but it is quite reasonable."
He got to his feet too, snatching one of the toys from the floor and offering it to Hania as distraction.
Reply
Hania's chattering were not words, and only vaguely connected to the world around her. But she greeted the toy with an excited "Oh?" and clutched her tiny fists towards it.
Proof that communication did not rely solely on words. It was not as though the wee one had difficulty making her displeasure known.
Reply
By the time she made it to their chambers, it was much later indeed, and she rapped on the doorframe lightly. "And how fares the youngest member of the House? I notice she didn't try to bite anyone..."
Pity.
Reply
From her mother's arms, Hania brightened visibly at the presence of her aunt. And squealed. "Bah," she announced, holding her arms out and diving forward.
Ghanima wanted to hold her, right? Clearly.
Reply
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Hania burbled happily and reached one hand into Ghanima's hair assuming there's some down so that she can do that.
"I should have used her more wisely, against the parade of dullness today," she mused. "Told the Ixians that she was wailing because she didn't like how they smelled, and ask them to drench themselves in lavender before they return."
Reply
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