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From:

neverwaitslong

Mikodez reached out to me already. I don't expect you to share his sentiment, necessarily, but if you want to talk, you know where to find me. [Since he's been to her cabin once before.]

I hope the breach wasn't too hard on you.

From:

droppedstitch

Oh I just left his cabin, actually.

You know, I am a very good Uncle. It's good to know these things translate.

From:

neverwaitslong

I've never had an uncle before, or an aunt.

You were a good one.

From:

droppedstitch

Mikodez and I have a nephew that we keep safe and attend to.

He is probably the only person from my universe that I miss.

From:

neverwaitslong

I don't miss anyone from mine. Except Signy, my former duet partner, but that's complicated. It isn't a simple matter of missing and wanting to see her.

In any case, I'm never going back. I'd rather go with the people I've met here. And I can travel between worlds so I don't need to choose between them.

From:

droppedstitch

How fortunate for you!

It seems a novelty to be able to stay on one world. What was your home like?

From:

neverwaitslong

You've only seen me human-shaped, haven't you? I'm half human, but it's not the form I'm most used to or comfortable in. I only use it when navigating the ship in my usual form grows tiresome.

I'm sildroher. My people are aquatic, with a tail and gills, and I grew up underwater. We use song for everything. Magic, stories, history.

From:

droppedstitch

I have seen the magic of your songs. It's lovely.

And is there land or is it only water?

From:

neverwaitslong

There's land. All sildroher can take human form, for a time. Which is how I'm half human. Sildroher aren't supposed to be able to bear children with humans. But my mother was a human witch who went to bed with my father during his summer on shore, and here I am. [Ulla doesn't sound affectionate toward either parent.] I was born with a tail, so she gave me to him to raise.

From:

droppedstitch

I take it he was not pleased with that arrangement?

From:

neverwaitslong

I don't know what he felt about raising me. [A telling statement, in and of itself.] I do know that he lied to me my entire life, then threw a fit at the notion of me visiting shore with other sildroher once I was grown. He didn't want to risk me learning the truth.

He couldn't stop me, but he did refuse to provide me with human clothes to try and trap me underwater. I scavenged rags from a shipwreck and made them myself. That's where the clothing spells I offered you began.

Edited Date: 2025-06-01 03:27 am (UTC)

From:

droppedstitch

Not a very good father, it seems.

From:

neverwaitslong

Mm. I suppose not.

A dozen breaches now, and this was the first that gave me a parent. I'd hoped I would continue escaping that.

From:

droppedstitch

There was much of Mikodez in Michael, if that eases your mind.

From:

neverwaitslong

Does it? Or does that make it worse?

Even now that I'm willing to trust some people, the idea of parents sets my teeth on edge. If he were wildly different in this life, that would be easy. Sometimes hard things are worth it, but they're still hard.

From:

droppedstitch

You're putting a lot of expectations on yourself, Ulla! There's no need to jump so far ahead.

From:

neverwaitslong

I didn't mean I planned on letting myself be adopted tomorrow.

I just meant... it's easier to let pieces of an alternate life go when the parallels are few and far between.

From:

droppedstitch

You would know better than me.

What parts do you want to let go of?

From:

neverwaitslong

[Ulla's tone is rueful.]

Mostly just my memories of having a doting father. Everything else was alright.

From:

droppedstitch

It is difficult to have memories of something you could never have.

From:

neverwaitslong

Yes. Or memories that dig into things unexpectedly. I knew my parents hadn't been... entirely good, but I never considered an alternative. It was just the way things were, and mostly irrelevant now that I've left them behind.