infringe | Prompt - Something Lost, Something Found

For the past three years, their little family had been six, all crammed together into the cottage next to the lighthouse by the sea. Kate adopts readily to their dynamic, even if she had clashed now and again with Alecto at the beginning, two strong personalities that had developed set ways of doing things when it came to the household tasks (after all, Kate had kept house for their aging parents for almost fifteen years at this point, and been primarily responsible for successfully raising up the three youngest siblings), but after those early hiccups, things had smoothed out between them. She was quickly becoming a familiar face in town and, most importantly, got along very well with all the children. In fact, Joshua thought Avery was a little intimidated by Kate, far more than he was of Alecto; she never yelled or raised her voice, but she had a way of speaking and reminding Avery of his assigned chores and duties that was almost terrifyingly effective ("Where on earth did you pick that up from, Katydid?" "When was the last time you looked in a mirror?"). Daphne, on the other hand, utterly adored her other aunt and was often seen trailing after her on errands, helping to carry packages or the shopping and being cooed over by passersby. When it came to Percy, she made it a point to direct or guide Alecto, rather than taking over care of him herself, and on those occasions when she did have to travel out of town - on other visits, or to check on their parents - things continued to run smoothly even in her absence.

She'd taken the revelation of who exactly Joshua had married entirely in stride, a hint of amusement in her eyes at the fairy tale he'd found himself in. Kate was a romantic, but only in the abstract, in story and song; she had no real expectation of falling in love or being whisked off her feet personally, being quite content to live out as comfortable a spinsterhood as she could manage with friends and family, or perhaps looking for opportunities to teach - as a nanny or a governess, or a school teacher. Joshua knew she had some degree of wanderlust and interest in traveling, and was conscious of coming to depend on her too much.

Percy, for his part, after a rough start, made leaps and bounds in progress well in advance of most human children, though Joshua could tell Alecto was anxious for his progress, without having anything to compare him to. He started walking early - at around nine months of age - and took to swimming just as easily a few months later, if not to the same level of expertise as his elder siblings. Daphne loved carrying him - once he was old enough to be carried without fear of accidental injury - and after he started walking they could often be seen together, her larger hand linked with his smaller one as they wandered around outside, picking seashells, wildflowers, blueberries as the season dictated, bringing back basketsfull in accordance with their ability.

Perhaps due to his tumultuous start, while his physical development seemed to grow by leaps and bounds ahead of his peers, he started speaking quite late. But once he did begin to talk, they were mostly full sentences, complete thoughts, and there was no doubting that he was taking in almost everything he saw and heard. By now, at age three and a half, he was generally a quiet, preternaturally polite child, with Joshua's eyes and Alecto's coloring, following after his older siblings, his aunt, or his parents without making much of a fuss, saying 'please' and 'thank you' even to acquaintances and strangers without being prompted, or throwing tantrums.

On this particular evening, a waxing half moon hung bright in the sky. Joshua was up tending to the lamps. Avery and Daphne were visiting their other cousins, loud barking and splashing carried up to the windows by the wind, while Percy, with a solemn expression on his round, childish face, constructed a circular tower out of blocks on the rug in front of the hearth. Kate was stitching ribbon trim onto a hat for Daphne and keeping half an eye on Percy, lest he stray too close to the flames.

Alecto brings over a tray of warm tea, sugar, and cream, and sets it on the low table in front of the sofa before settling down on the floor in a flutter of pale taupe and white linen. Even after all these years, his actions are tinged with a supernatural sort of grace and tenderness that evoked a sense of captivating calm and allure. His touch is delicate, his motions fluid. Quietly, contently, he fixes two cups of tea - one for himself and one for his sister-in-law - before taking a sip and turning to his son.

"Well, isn't that something, sweetheart?" he says gently, observing Percy's serious little face as he stacks his blocks. "What are you making?" Alecto's heart warms at the sight, thinking briefly that the way Percy's brow knit together was so reminiscent of the way Joshua's would whenever he was particularly focused on a task at hand. He reaches a pale hand out, smooths back his son's hair to kiss his forehead with utmost care.

Percy squirms a little, turning his face up into the kiss willingly but impatiently, accepting the affectionate gesture but wanting to get back to more important things, like his building project.

"'m building the light house," Percy replies, sounding a little offended that Alecto hadn't been able to tell immediately, but happy to explain in more detail. "An' this is our house," he points at a smaller cluster of a few blocks, dwarfed by the height of the other structure, "an' over here is where you, an' Av'ry, an' Daphne go sometimes," he gestures towards the farther side of the open floor, beyond the edge of the carpet, where he had quite deliberately arranged a few groupings of blocks, seemingly at random, demarcating a border. He glances over the scattered smaller structures, shrugs, and turns back to arranging the stacks of the higher structure, frowning as he tries to figure out which shape of block he wanted to use for the top.

He hums softly at that, continuing to pet Percy's hair a few more times before he lets him be, bemused at how the boy tries his best to endure the distraction of his mother's attention while still keeping his focus on his playing.

"I'm sure Papa would love to see this when he comes back down from work tonight," he says, encouraging and kind. "You should be sure to show him."

At first, it had been alienating and strange for Alecto to try and figure out how to interact with Percy in a way that was meaningful to the both of them. With Avery and Daphne, it had come more naturally of course: they shared the sea in their blood with their mother. Donning their skins together, Alecto bonded easily with his older children by teaching them selkie traditions, training them to play and hunt and survive in equal measure. But none of that could apply to Percy. In fact, Alecto's initial attempt to teach the boy how to swim had been so stressful and confusing for Alecto himself, Joshua had to intervene and take over entirely.

Presently, Alecto's fingertips dance over the blocks farthest away, the ones Percy indicated were placeholders for the shoreline and the wild waves from which he was generally kept a safe distance from ("At least until he's older, and stronger," Alecto had reasoned, panicked when he saw how much Percy flailed in even the shallow end of the tide). "Percy, honey," Alecto starts, trying to keep his voice even and calm instead sounding like the worry he was starting to feel bubble up in his chest, "How do you feel about Momma and your siblings sometimes going off to play without you?"

From her own seat, Kate puts the hat she'd been working on aside, clearly listening to the conversation. For his part, Percy seems unconcerned, selecting yet another block and frowning down at it, clearly more interested in what he is building than Alecto's question.

"'m still growing, Momma," he replies, standing up on his tiptoes to carefully place the block on top of the slightly uneven but seemingly steady stack.

Automatically, Alecto reaches a hand out behind Percy, not quite touching him but present nonetheless to steady or catch him if needed.

"I know," he says, watching Percy determinedly try to balance everything before him, "and every day you're getting bigger, aren't you? You'll be just like your father very soon, strong and tall." He pauses, knowing he unconsciously and yet intentionally left out a comparison to himself.

He pauses at that and puts the block down, turning an almost pitying expression on Alecto. "Momma, don't be silly. Even Av'ry's so much older'n me an' he's still not as tall as Papa!" He turns around again and heaves a huge sigh, sounding more like a sententious old man than a child of less than four years of age. "S'going to take forEVer."

Kate bites her lip to muffle a laugh.

“Mm, yes, momma can be quite silly sometimes.” He sighs in agreement, glancing at Kate and sharing a little smile with her as they listen to Percy huff and puff about.

Idly, he strokes Percy’s small back, absolutely charmed by him in the moment. Maybe, Alecto thinks to himself, he didn’t have to worry just yet. It seems that Percy hasn’t been particularly hurt or concerned about the obvious divide between himself and his siblings. Yet.

Edited 2022-05-23 03:41 (UTC)

He keeps a hold of one of the blocks that hadn't gone into any of the buildings and flops over into Alecto's lap on his stomach, curling up there against the familiar, beloved warmth. "Momma, if you wan' hug, just say. 'm done with the light house!"

He laughs, a twinkling sound, as his arms automatically come around his son and hauls him up into a large, warm hug.

“And what a wonderful job you did,” he says, nuzzling into Percy’s hair, tickling his sides just a little as the boy squirms with joy. He’s so amused by Percy’s positioning, noticing how similar it is to the way seals generally flop about.

“Percy, sweetheart, would you like to go for a swim with me? As long as you hold onto momma’s fur tightly we can go.”

He laughs and yelps with faux outrage, even as he nestles even closer to Alecto, wriggling involuntarily at being tickled. "Mm, right now?" He grabs Alecto's hands in his tiny ones, as though determined not to let himself be tickled any more. "Just me and Momma?"

He nods, his hair falling into his face as he smiles down at his son. “Yes, sweetheart. Just the two of us. We can go to the shallow waters near the caves and practice together, hm?”

Alecto takes Percy’s tiny, chubby hands and squeezes them gently.

“Come on now, let Momma get his sealskin and we’ll go.”

He gets up and leaves for just a moment before returning with his furs, slinking it on to his shoulders before bending back down to pick Percy up into his arms.

“Kate, would you mind helping me with the evening chores while we’re out?”

She nods immediately, giving Percy a small wave of her fingers; he automatically returns the gesture over Alecto's shoulder, his face buried in the soft sealskin with only his eyes and one small hand visible. "Of course. Have a good time, both of you."

Even without a full moon, it is still bright at night. Percy stays well-behaved and still on Alecto's arms, hearing the barking of seals in the distance. He can pick out Daphne and Avery's voices, but he had only ever seen a few of the cousins in passing while in their seal forms, though he'd met Aunt Pippa a few times. "Momma, you usu-ushu-ushu-all-ee go swim when the moon is big," he observes, sounding curious."

He chuckles, patting Percy's back as he walks them to a relatively safe area of a nearby sea cave. The waters here were less violent and more relaxed and shallow. Even if Percy were to fall off of Alecto's back or decide to cause unrelated mischief, he couldn't really hurt himself or risk getting lost out at sea.

"We do, sweetheart. It's so that Momma and your siblings can stretch our fins." He sets his son down softly so he can test the waters with him, letting the boy dip his feet in and get comfortable.

He kicks at the water, and the sand he's sitting on. He knew how to float and turn himself over in the water if he should get washed out to sea, and a few simple strokes on the surface, but compared to Avery and Daphne, he really was very slow, even with the difference in age. "But Papa an' Auntie don' go with you," he says.

Alecto nods solemnly, stroking back Percy's hair. "No, they can't. They aren't...like me. Just like you aren't like your brother and sister. We're selkies, sweetheart. And when Momma gave birth to you -" he stops, feeling an unspeakable sadness and a tinge of guilt rush over him. "Well, you didn't get any of that magic."

He leans forward, pressing a long and deeply-felt kiss to the top of his son's head. He doesn't know if he should apologize, if the child before him would even truly understand the sentiment.

"That's why I have two forms. And I can do this." He slips the hood of his coat over his head and completes the transformation, blinking down at Percy with the wide, dark gaze of a white, spotted seal. He barks and trills gently, pushing his snout into his son's arms to nuzzle him.

He gasps with delight; he'd seen this before a few times, but generally these transformations happened slightly away from him. "Momma!" he greets, throwing his small arms around the seal's neck and squeezing, rubbing his cheek and nose against the soft fur. "You really are magic, like Papa says."

He honks happily, licking the side of his son's face as he feels those little arms squeezing him tight in a hug. Unable to speak, he nods in response instead, and nudges his son to climb onto his back before easing them into the water. He glides slowly, allowing Percy to get comfortable, before going a bit faster, dipping in and out of the surface for short periods of time, trying to teach his son how to hold his breath for longer and longer.

Now and again, he pauses, just to do something cute in order to hear his son's darling little laugh and together they play about in the shallows until Alecto smells a familiar scent on the wind and perks up, lifting a single flipper excitedly when he sees his husband approaching them.

Edited 2022-05-23 20:46 (UTC)

He'd walked down from the top of the tower to find only Daphne and Avery sleeping soundly - Kate having corraled them into bed for the night before turning in herself - and heads along the path to the sea caves to see if he can locate his wife and their third child. He notes the faint, musical peal of childish laughter carried on the wind, and follows the sound down to the shallows, hearing the barking of a seal and catching sight of a white furry coat and water splashing. He smiles to himself and stops to take off his socks and shoes and to roll up his pants, carrying them with him as he picks his careful way down to the sand.

"There you are," he says warmly, the water swirling around his feet as the wave breaks on the sand. "It's getting a bit late."

"Papa! Look! Momma is magic!" Percy greets with an earnest, eager wave, one hand grasping Alecto's fur tightly while his other hand is waving in mirror to the flipper Alecto had raised.

Alecto honks loudly in acknowledgement and slips back up onto the land, letting his son scramble off his back and run to his father, colliding with his legs and throwing his damp around them. Alecto inches forward and extends his neck to press his damp, briny snout to Joshua's chin in lieu of a real kiss before he flops over onto his side, content. He's listening to his son babble on and grunts comically when the boy jumps back onto him, burying his face into Alecto's soft, wet fur.

He ruffles Percy's wet hair - not an easy task - and bends automatically so it is easier for Alecto to reach him.

"Hello, dearest," he murmurs, as affectionate and loving as always, then stands back up, watching the two of them interact with a soft smile on his face.

"Percy, you'll need to dry off before bed," he warns, holding out a hand for Percy's; unusually for him, Percy pouts and burrows even closer to Alecto, his face pressed against white fur.

"'m not tired, Papa," he claims, his words a muddled mess, whispered against Alecto.

Prompt - Something Lost, Something Found

[changing reflections under the rain]

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