Adder growls at the intruder. Helia sighs, pinching her nose. "Adder, my love, can you please hold it together until you hear what I'm trying to say?"
Eben rubs the gorgon's arm soothingly. "She's not gonna take it, Adder. She's just going to talk to us..."
The gorgon huffs, eyes narrowing as he clutches the egg defensively. It was morning now, and everyone was gathered in the main chamber to discuss the fate of his egg. His stomach turns uneasily, anxiety brewing like an oncoming storm.
"Daisy tracked down where the egg came from...there was no nest."
"Something happened to it?" Adder asks.
The elder sighs, smoothing out her head covering. "No...there was no sign that there was even one to begin with. Which makes me think that the mother abandoned the egg intentionally."
Relief fills Adder's heart. They wouldn't be taking it from him...
"So what do we do with it?" Eben asks.
Helia takes a deep breath. "I think it would be best to just put it back where it came from."
Adder growls, tensing. "It will die!"
Unbidden, traumatic memories flash to the surface; being cold, lost, alone...he can't let it happen again. He can't!
"Can we find another harpy to take it?" Eben asks.
"Unfortunately, no. From what I understand, most egg-laying creatures will refuse strange eggs, due to nest parasitism..."
"Ah, that is...?"
"When a different species destroys eggs to lay their own in a nest. Instead of hatching baby harpies, the parents will hatch a basilisk or some other creature by accident..."
"So there's nowhere for it to go," Adder growls, "we can't just abandon it!"
"Baby, I know you want to keep it, but this is the least painful path...."
Eben squeezes Adder's hand. "What do you mean?"
"As open as Nǣdre Tor is to non-humans, creatures with such power are still highly feared...if you hatch that egg, it won't find community here. Monsters like that will never be accepted fully."
Adder frowns, teeth clenched. He knows all too well that Helia speaks the truth. "How long until it can fly? Maybe we can keep it until then..."
"I'm not sure. This type of monster is so secretive that we barely know anything about them. They're deadly too, they can compel you with just their voice..."
The gorgon smooths a hand over the speckled shell. "Surely a baby won't be dangerous..."
As he says those words, his heart is struck with pain at how untrue that statement is; he remembers the face of each man, woman, and child he's petrified. Even after being brought back, elven magic cannot undo all the damage that 25 years of petrification does to someone's life...Adder is living proof that even baby monsters could do horrific damage.
Even so, he wants to keep the little egg. It deserved a chance...right?
He turns to his lover, voice soft. "It needs me Eben...the way I needed someone..."
The gorgon cannot see his partner's face through the blindfold, but he can hear the quickened thrum of the man's heart beat. The half-elf twiddles with his braid anxiously. "Adder I—this is a big responsibility...I don't know if I can take care of a baby..."
"Take it then. Whatever you want to do with it I—I stand by your decision," the gorgon's voice warbles.
Eben takes the egg gently from Adder's grasp. "Adder..."
Unable to bear another moment, the gorgon makes a hasty retreat to his bedroom. He burrows under the covers, gritting his teeth as he attempts to not picture the little egg dying in the cold. He'd like to pretend that his emotional reaction is just his instincts, but he knows all too well that even long after his hormones have calmed he will still be heartbroken.
Even so, there's a small kernel of hope that the half-elf will come to agree with Adder and bring the egg back to him. All he can do is curl up in his room, and hope his worst fears don't come true. An hour passes by excruciatingly slowly, with the gorgon awaiting his lover's return impatiently. But as one hour becomes two, and two eventually becomes four, Adder's mood shifts from impatience, to despair, to fear.
Why hasn't Eben returned? The gorgon expected the half-elf to take his time making his choice, but this was taking much longer than he'd hoped. What if something happened? Adder thinks of all the dangerous beasts which call the forest home; chimeras, basilisks, Minotaurs—Eben is powerful, more powerful than even Sheppard was, but he could still be surprised or tricked.
Fear in his heart, the gorgon slithers out into the garden, eager to find his partner before all the horrible scenarios in his head can come to fruition.
He doesn't find Eben at the chicken coop, the rocky outcropping, or near the gate. But thinking on where the redhead goes when he's upset, the gorgon knows exactly where to look. He enters the forest, moving through the trees with haste until he arrives at his destination. And thank the Gods above—he finally finds Eben.
Most would find the man hard to spot as he lay among the field of crystal poppies, but with Adder's excellent senses, he can distinctly make out the heat signature of his partner. The gorgon approaches quietly, observing the person he loves most in the world in slumber.
The redhead is lying on his side, lithe form delicately framed by the opalescent blue-green flower petals. In his arms...the egg.
Adder's eyes water at the sight. "Eben, wake up..."
Hazel eyes blink open. "Adder...? What time is it?"
The gorgon laughs, coming to join the half-elf on his bed of poppies. "It's been four hours..."
Eben groans, hand raking down his face. "Damn it—I'm sorry. You must have been worried sick. I just meant to sit down for a minute to think and..."
He sighs, eyes closing. "I don't know what to do, Adder."
The gorgon frowns, hand coming to caress a freckled shoulder. "I'm sorry...I put too much pressure on you to choose so abruptly, didn't I? I can—I can give you more time..."
"Adder no I—" Eben opens his eyes, the rainbow fractals cast by the flower petals decorating his irises. "I don't want to drag this out for you. I just...I don't know what the right thing to do is."
He traces the eggshell, fingertips flitting over the spots and freckles that decorate the surface. "We both know that being born into a world without acceptance is painful. What if it's never able to rejoin its own kind because it was hatched by us?" Eben's eyes flick to Adder's. "I don't want to condemn a child to that fate..."
Adder places his hand atop Eben's, feeling two heartbeats in his palm. "Both of us were forced to live without our peoples, but we found our way. Even if this creature isn't able to rejoin its own kind, they will have an opportunity to try and find what we did."
Eben squeezes his eyelids shut, groaning as he comes to cover his face. "This is crazy...you know that right? A former bandit and a gorgon raising an orphaned monster?"
Adder's heart begins to brim with hope. "I believe in us, Eben. We've faced much harder challenges before."
The half-elf snorts, hazel eyes crinkling in mirth. "I suppose so. dealing with diapers and magical infants can't be worse than dealing with rampaging chimeras or insane high priests."
"So you agree? We can keep it?!"
Eben grins, giving his lover a peck on the mouth. "Only until it can fly on its own. We're just...fostering it until it can rejoin its flock."
He laughs as Adder's tail swishes with excitement, sending up plumes of glittery pollen as the poppies are disturbed. "Oh Eben, I'm so happy...thank you..."
"Okay, okay. Let's head back now, I'm starving and if I don't eat soon I'm going to have egg-salad."
Adder huffs, taking the egg securely into his arms. "Not funny."
Eben chortles, picking a poppy from the ground as they walk. He twirls it between his fingers before placing it behind Adder's ear. "It wasn't a joke! I'll eat it—better feed me soon."
"I'll sacrifice some of the chickens' eggs instead, how about that. And after...we should talk about how we need to prepare."
Eben nods in agreement as they reach their destination. "Sounds like a plan! What do we need to do first?"
Adder pauses at the entrance of the cave, thinking. "Researching, I suppose...I'll take a look in the library."
"Well," Eben dusts off his hands, heading towards the kitchen. "You have fun with that. I'll make lunch."
"One day I will teach you to read, Eben."
The half-elf rolls his eyes. "I don't see the appeal, but okay."
Adder leaves his partner to his chores, curling up in their small library with his egg. Pulling down several books from the shelves, the gorgon begins researching everything he needs to know to help this lost child.
As Helia had claimed, there's not much known about harpies. Even his favorite author, Zarek Bestiarius, the authority on monsters, can't tell him what to expect from a baby harpy.
Adder sighs, turning to his other books. Even if he can't research harpies, he can read up on human infants and baby birds. Hopefully, that would be enough to keep the little creature alive and well until its flight feathers grew in.
A few hours into his research though, a heavenly scent begins to distract him. Following the tantalizing smell, he finds himself in the living room where Eben is plating two delicious-looking meals.
Adder takes a seat at the table, setting the egg down in his coils as he observes the meal placed before him; it appears Eben has whipped up a stellar meal, presenting his lover with shepherd's pie, apple pudding, and a mug of hot cider.
"I thought we ran out of cider?"
"I told you that so you wouldn't drink it all," Eben smirks, sitting down at the squat oak table.
Adder laughs, his tail wagging against the soft bearskin rug. "You scoundrel."
"Don't act like you don't hide your sweets from me. I found a satchel of chocolate chips in your nest the other day."
Adder begins to dig into the meal, a wide smile on his face. "That's different. You were going to ruin them by attempting to bake again."
"Wow. I burn two—"
"Four," Adder corrects.
"Four, batches of chocolate chip cookies, and now I'm not allowed to bake? My father taught me that recipe."
Adder snorts. "I would not let him use my chocolate either, then."
Eben laughs, peering down at his plate. They lapse into a comfortable silence as they eat, allowing the calming sound of cicadas to fill the cave instead.
Adder savors the peaceful moment. He remembers days like this before Eben came; at times like this, the sounds of nature seemed to only punctuate his loneliness. Now, it brings him joy to know he's savoring the season with someone he loves.
"Adder, do you ever think about your birth parents?"
The gorgon blinks at the sudden shift of topic. He glances at his lover, noticing the half-elf's attention is trained on the egg. "I do. As Helia explained, male gorgons go extremely broody when their mates lay eggs. So the fact that I hatched alone, with no other gorgons around..."
"You think they're gone."
Adder nods, hands clenching. "Yes, and since Sheppard admitted to purposefully hatching me...I think he was the one to do it."
Eben scoots closer, hand coming to rest on Adder's. "I'm sorry."
The gorgon smiles, leaning his head atop Eben's. "It's okay. I have Helia—and I have you to thank for bringing her back to me."
The redhead smiles, nuzzling into the gorgon's hold further. "I wish my powers could bring my father back."
"I know. But maybe he's still out there, looking for you..."
Eben sighs. "Maybe, but I don't think so. I used to make it a habit to visit our cottage and leave notes for him, but I never got any response. I think if he was alive, he'd return home and leave me something...unless he decided to abandon me. "
Adder nods, petting Eben's hair. "He didn't abandon you, Eben. Not if he was smart."
"It's not exactly smart to raise a half-elf. I always wondered if he knew the kind of power I'd grow into...was he afraid of me? Afraid that I'd turn into someone like Sheppard?"
"I'm sure he wasn't. You're nothing to be feared, you're someone to be loved, Eben."
The half-elf's ears twitch, turning red. "You sappy serpent."
Adder brushes a claw against his lover's ear. "Embarrassed? You know I love you, Eben."
Eben swats the offending claw away, laughing. "I know! My power is a testament to that, you lizard."
The gorgon traps his lover in his arms, grinning as the man feebly attempts to squirm away. "You wound me. First, you refuse to return my affections, then you call me a lizard. Is it your elven nature that makes you so cruel?"
"let me go, you fiend!"
Adder grins as Eben wiggles. "If can't have you as my lover, I guess I'll keep you as my bed warmer."
With one arm, Adder picks up his partner, carrying the egg in his other. Eben laughs, going limp as the gorgon slithers into their room. Together they nestle into their pile of furs and blankets, exchanging kisses and gentle caresses before blowing out the candles.
It's times like this Eben feels most secure, Adder knows. So he's expecting the soft "I love you," that comes. He treasures those soft words spoken in the dark. The future was far from certain. But Adder is sure as long as those three words remained true, they could weather any storm.