I gently rocked the crib as I fought back tears.

Two small babies were lying in the crib together. Sleeping. Twins, as Vim had called them. I hadn't even known what a twin actually was, but now it made perfect sense. It wasn't that they had been born at the same time, but rather that they looked just like the other! As if you were looking at two sides of a mirror!

So Twin Hills had been named because there were lots of similar sized, nearly identical, rolling hills all around it.

Funny. I had just thought it to be a name of a city. Or village, I guess, since the city of Bordu was near it.

When I had first been told to rock the crib, I had done so very gently and worriedly. Because it had seemed strange for a large bed-like thing to rock as if a boat on the water. What if it tipped over? Or fell? But after doing it for a while I've realized that the thing was solid and would not fall easily. In fact if I rocked it too harshly, the crib itself would slow in its rocking and lock into place almost. I wasn't really sure how it had been designed for such a thing, but I liked it. It made me feel more relaxed about letting such small babies sleep in something so strange.

Right now I was alone with the babies, but their mother wasn't far. She was rummaging around in the nearby kitchen, making us snacks she had said. A daughter, one who appeared a little older than Fly to me, was in the house too but I'd not seen her for a good time. I couldn't hear her, surprisingly, but I knew why. This house had several floors beneath it. Basements, something akin to the Armadillo's had in the south. I'd not been down there, but the entrance was in the next room over.

Her husband, and mine, and another younger son were elsewhere. The only request the family had of Vim was for him to check on their boat docked on the nearby ocean. They used it to not just fish, but catch the hard-shelled stuff that was found in deeper waters, supposedly.

I had been interested in that boat, of course, but the moment I had seen the two babies my attention had gotten focused entirely by them.

They were adorable. I wasn't sure yet just what this family was, since Vim had only said they were a type of rodent, but they all had these little gray whiskers that sprouted from their cheeks near their noses. The twins had tiny little ones, and it made them adorable beyond belief.

Sniffing ever so quietly, as to not seem weird, I did my best to keep my eyes from growing too watery.

Who would have thought I'd have been able to meet, and hold, another baby of our kind so soon…?

Hundreds of years I've gone without ever meeting one. Yet here, not long after meeting Root, I now met not one but two others!

Unlike Root though they had no names… and were as fragile as the humans they mostly looked like. Other than their little whiskers.

"So you just… wait until they pick something up?" I asked Bowl as she walked back into the room. Although the babies slept, Bowl didn't seem to worry over our light talking. They must sleep soundly.

"I know it's odd, but it's been my family's custom forever. It's a fine practice though! It has to be something they actually pick up on purpose, not just by grabbing. It's more like, the first thing they'll pick up with real intent, rather than just whatever they touch," Bowl said as she explained her families naming process.

Thus her name. Bowl.

Her husband had been Broom. Their son Line. As in, fish line.

"What if they pick up the same thing?" I asked as Bowl placed a small plate of what looked like bread on the table nearby. Although I did kind of want a snack, I was far more concerned with continuously rocking the crib I sat next to.

"Don't tell anyone, but I make sure that won't happen. Plus I'll make sure it won't be something stupid and ugly, like a boot or a hat," Bowl said with a happy grin. Her whiskers flickered a little as she smiled, telling me they were more than just plain old odd hairs growing in a strange place.

"Ah…" I nodded gently at that, and wondered why she had been okay with her son's name. Line…? It seemed… well…

I decided not to think too deeply on it as Bowl sat down across from me in a chair and happily smiled at me. "Does your family have a similar custom? For naming?" she asked politely.

It was the type of question that under normal circumstances would be completely… understandable. And in fact, something I'd be happy to talk about.

But…

"Honestly I don't know… but I think they do, yes. Vim had been named on purpose for a certain reason, so maybe we do?" I said as I thought about it.

Vim Vitae… he had said outright to me before that his parents had picked the name on purpose. To represent his great strength. His fortitude. His life.

So maybe there was a rhyme or reason for it. Did that mean we'd be using the same method for our own children's names…?

What would that have made me then…? If not cat, or something, maybe my strongest trait…? What was it? My memory, maybe?

"Oh… I had not thought about that. You're Vim's aren't you…? Hm… such an odd mate…" Bowl spoke quietly as she pondered something, and broke me from my thoughts.

Was he really that odd…? Honestly other than his strangeness about certain things, such as gods or his past, he seemed like a rather normal man to me. Calm. Easygoing. Gentle.

Even to those who didn't deserve it.

Glancing at the babies, I found myself smiling again and my eyes watering. By the dead gods they were beautiful.

Vim's not said it, aloud, but I knew this was how he saw all of us. Even the ones older, and who had children themselves. He saw them as… little bundles of hope. Life. Joy. Love.

It was why he forgave them for so much, because he saw them all like young little children who didn't know any better.

Yet it was also why he punished them so harshly when they did step too far out of line. Like Tim.

In the world of animals, it wasn't uncommon for a parent to outright kill and eat a baby that got too far out of line. A harsh cruelty that nature enforced, to ensure the longevity and continued existence of the rest of the children. Like cutting a diseased limb off a tree to save the rest of it.

"I found it!"

I turned and watched the young daughter return. She carried some kind of wooden thing in her hands, which kind of looked…

"Ah. Yes. That did break didn't it?" Bowl said as the girl grinned and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm glad I found it before Vim left, now he can fix it for me!" she said as she placed the object on a table nearby.

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"What is it?" I asked. It kind of looked like some kind of instrument, maybe. Like that musical tool that I had seen, and heard, that night in Lumen. When Vim had taken me on a small date, and out to eat. A human woman had played it, making wonderful notes and melodies as she did.

"A guitar! Vim made it for me, but my stupid brother broke it a couple years ago!" Glass said, a little loudly.

Glancing at the crib, I noted the still slumbering babies within. They hadn't been bothered at all by their sister's loud voice.

Maybe it was a trait of theirs. Or were… all babies sometimes this calm? I couldn't count how many times I'd heard mothers shout angrily at others when they had woken their slumbering babies over the years. So I had not thought them so capable of deep slumber.

Hadn't they been quiet when Root slept…? I think they had been. She seemed to have woken sometimes, though never loudly like most human children did.

Maybe this pair of twins slept so deeply had something to do with whatever they were.

"Honestly I was kind of hoping you'd not find it in time…" Bowl said with a sigh.

"Aw, Momma! But it's so fun! Plus our new little whiskers haven't heard it yet! I bet they'll love it!" Glass said happily as she stepped over to the crib.

I smiled at her as she stared down at her new siblings. Seeing her next to them made it more obvious that she was older than she seemed. Maybe she wasn't as young as I had thought…

"Are you older, Glass?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

"Hm…? Yea? I'm about thirty, right Momma?" Glass asked her mom.

"Regretfully…" Bowl said with a sigh.

"Oh shush Momma! It's not like how it was back when you were young, it's not fair!" Glass said as she stepped away from the crib, complaining.

"Not like what?" I asked. What'd she mean?

Glass turned to look at me, and crossed her arms. "Momma was already married and had children by the time she was my age. She's upset I've not left the den yet," she explained.

I blinked at that and frowned. Really…? But the son had not seemed that old either…! Maybe they had other children that were no longer here, and were now out living on their own?

"It wasn't easy for me back then either, you know? There had been all the wars, and I had even gotten separated from my whole family… yet even with all that chaos I still found my mate," Bowl said, and I noticed the way she spoke. The tone of her voice told me this was not something new they had talked about, but likely something often brought up.

Glass grumbled as her whiskers twitched. "I've tried Momma…! I've even gone with Papa when he goes to those docks, or Nevi, multiple times!" Glass said.

Really…? How did they hide their whiskers I wonder? Hopefully they didn't pluck them or anything.

"You're not looking in the right places, I told you that," Bowl said with a sigh.

"Yet she never tells me where these supposed places full of potential mates are, Renn, really!" Glass said to me, including me suddenly in their little argument.

Although I found it adorable, I also found it very heartbreaking… so I had kind of hoped to have been left out of it. Yet since I had been given an opportunity, I went ahead and took it.

"Well… I mean, I do travel around with Vim a lot you know? If you really do want to find a partner, I might be able to help if you'd like," I offered.

"What…!" Glass startled, and even Bowl perked up.

"Could you really? Even for this mess of whiskers?" Bowl asked.

I smiled gently. Mess…? She was adorable, but I knew she wasn't likely talking about her physical appearance. "Even if I can't… there's also the vote coming up, as we talked about. Supposedly a bunch of us will be gathering then," I said.

Glass stepped forward, her eyes going wide and her whiskers stiff. "So… during this vote, maybe I can meet someone?" Glass asked softly.

"Oh…? Yes. I suppose so, that would be a good opportunity. I'm told a lot of our members will be there, maybe more than ever at one place in a long time," I said, kind of liking the idea for her. I tried not to make it too obvious though, since her mother was looking at us with a weird look.

"Momma we gotta go!" Glass said as she hurriedly looked to her mother and stepped towards her.

Bowl sighed, her whiskers dancing as she reached up and cupped her cheek. "I don't know… Telmik is so far, dear."

"But Momma…!" Glass groaned worriedly, her whiskers dancing wildly as she did.

Gosh their whiskers were cute…! And Glass was too! She was acting so adorable, even if her mother looked as if she now had a headache.

So many of our members were so adorable and such lovely people. Why was it so hard for them to find love, I wonder? She had just admitted she had been willing to even consider humans, and it was just so hard to imagine her not being able to catch the eye of someone. Even if there were plenty who would run, or attack, our kind on sight… there were also plenty more who would calm down after the initial panic, or not even panic at all. There were thousands of humans in the Society alone that proved such a thing.

"What would your father think? And we have the babies too," Bowl said, and even I could hear where this was going.

"But…!" Glass inched closer, clasping her hands as she raised them. As if to plead.

"Plus it'd be during the winter…? Gosh, it'd be so cold."

Glass's face scrunched up, and I noted the way her hands fell to her sides and her shoulders slumped.

Had she given up that easily…?

"Um… I'd be willing to come pick her up, if you'd like. I can bring her back afterward too," I offered.

After all we weren't far from Nevi. A few days, so Vim had said. That meant we were only a couple weeks from Telmik, even if we had to travel during the harsh winter. It'd not be that bad, or take that long.

"What…!" Glass spun, her eyes going wide at me.

I nodded carefully, and made sure to note the look on her mother's face behind her. She didn't look too upset over the idea, and in fact her frown looked more contemplative than anything.

"Hm… I mean, you'd be with Vim too, so…" Bowl obviously connected the dots as Glass spun back around to face her mother.

"Yeah! I'd be with Vim!" Glass shouted happily, as if to further convince her mother.

"But how long would you be gone…? I don't know, Glass. We'd have to talk with your father about it," Bowl said.

"Okay! Please!" Glass quickly nodded, and I wondered if maybe I should start offering to help guide others to Telmik before the vote. How many were like her, that likely wanted to go but couldn't…?

After all those whiskers, even if not outright crazily noticeable, made them still very obviously inhuman. They'd not be able to easily travel long distances, I'd think.

Not safely anyway.

"We can talk about it once they get back," I suggested. Maybe Vim's presence, and his typical cool calmness as he spoke, would be helpful in a moment like this.

"I mean… that'd be swell of you Renn, but Telmik…" Bowl sighed as she thought about it.

Glass made an odd whine of a noise as she glanced at me. She perked up as our eyes met, and I nodded at her without saying anything.

Her whiskers danced wildly as her eyes lit up and she nodded back. She had understood what I just meant.

I'd help her. One way or another.

I'm sure Vim would too.

Especially since, much to my chagrin, he had decided to step down anyway.

That meant he could now… be a little more selfish. A little more open with himself, and his own desires.

Which meant he could bend his rules a little more. For me, especially.

Really… I should bring up my idea to make a place for our members to meet, as to find partners and friends. It has seemed lately that such a thing was desperately needed.

Why hadn't anyone done it before…? Maybe someone had, and it had failed. Vim hadn't mentioned it though.

"Could take Line too! He'll need a wife soon, too!" Glass then said.

"He's already got one, dear."

Glass startled, and spun to face her mother. "What! Since when?"

"A couple months ago. He met some fisherman's daughter, while he and your father were sailing. Why do you think he's been sneaking off so much lately?" Bowl asked with a mischievous grin.

"You're kidding! That snotty whiskered brat found someone before I did?" Glass didn't like that at all.

And it seemed, the twins didn't either. The two woke, a little loudly. Maybe because of how loudly Glass had just shouted, since I had not slowed the rocking at all.

While Bowl and Glass went to pick the children up, as to soothe and quiet them, I smiled at the family. I was jealous.

"Don't you even suggest it. They don't even have names yet," Bowl then said to her older daughter.

"Ha!" Glass snorted a laugh, having been caught at the thought, which made me laugh too.

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