After the shuttle recovers from being spit out of the gate, the rest of the trip to Tharhome is without incident. Even the landing is surprisingly smooth. Surprising only to Shiran most likely, as he's used to seeing Copernicus's more famous landings. Diane is so pent up with excitement she's bouncing with each step as she waits for the shuttle doors to open at the space field.
Shiran quietly stands well back; he's learned that bouncing felitaurs are best regarded with caution. "It's all right.. we'll be there, soon, really. From the thump, I'd say we just landed."
Diane purrrups, "Oh, Shiran, it's been nearly a year. And I thought they were gone. I mean, who expected them to move the solar system? The ramps down. C'mon, kecharra, let's go!"
Shiran manages a chuckle, and begins treading down the ramp. "True.. but give me another year and I promise you'll ceased to be truly surprised by much anything."
Diane bounds out of the shuttle and just looks around, listening to the sounds of the spaceport, and taking in the sights and smells of her home city. "Here comes the customs agent. Good, we can get this over with."
Shiran stifles a sigh as he takes a look around. "Paperwork?"
The much larger male Chirr'T'Thar, with a Siamese like pattern strides up holding an electronic pad and purrs, "Just a few questions first. We need your full name, and home planet and or dimension."
Diane blinks, "Dimension?"
The customs officials ahems, "Well, considering our new gate, we felt we'd best be prepared."
Shiran nods, and considers that for a moment. "Sounds easy enough. My name is Shiran, formerly scribe for Delavair. Home planet would be.. hm. Let's put it down as Firaia, since that's technically true. As for dimension.. wherever Copernicus moved your world from. I'm not sure what you call it."
The customs officer nods, "I have a feeling this is going to be happening a lot more often. Fine, then, let's see. Any property to declare?"
Diane gives Shiran a look, as if daring him.
Shiran raises an eyeridge at Diane, and hmmms. "One carry-bag of assorted everyday clothing, books, and a flute.. you can inspect it, if you like. Other than that, I tend to travel light."
Diane's fur settles down.
Shiran holds out a brown canvas bag somewhat bigger than a duffel, following up that thought.
With a bit of scribbling with a claw over the pad, the customs official nods, "So, reason for visiting Tharhome? Are you familiar with our customs? And what are your preferences?
Shiran shoulders the bag. "I'm visiting with her.." He nods to Diane, then continues "..to meet the relatives. I'm familiar enough to probably get through the visit in one piece. As to preferences.. Hmmm." He gives Diane a 'is this about what I think?' sort of look.
Diane just grins and remains silent.
The customs officer is scribbling away while Shiran ponders.
Shiran shakes his head, and sighs.. that wasn't quite helpful. He turns back to the customs officer. "Well... preferably to be left off, for the most part."
An ear flicks as the custom officer looks at Diane's widening flanks, "With one exception I take it? Well, that's your right. In fact, lets see, where is one of those buttons?"
Shiran says, "Or left out, as the case may be."
Shiran nods, earfans lightening.
Shiran says, "One, er, very impressive exception, yes."
The customs officer nods and hands a button to Shiran, upon which the words " Just say no!" are inscribed in the felitaur language. "Someone proposed we start this campaign to help some of our more...restrained visitors. Let us know if it helps any. Have a good stay here."
Diane leans over and kisses Shiran's ears. ;)
Shiran ahems, and manages a nod, even whilst being distracted. "Um. Thank you.." He mock-sighs, and tries to maintain some composure, even if he does lean up to nudge a tortoiseshell-feline nose.
The sound of thrumming felitaur wings can be heard, seconds before Diane, who was nosing Shiran, suddenly disappears with a "WHOOMPH" sound, as some blurry tortoiseshell colored thing plows into her from the air.
Diane giggles, flat on her back as the other felitaur licks her nose, "Sapphis! It's good to see you sis!"
Sapphis mrrps, "You're back! We were afraid you'd be lost after we "moved"."
Shiran just about jumps back. His eyes only widen a little, so the move is less surprised and more trained reflex. (Probably from living around Diane.. ;))
Diane and Sapphis hug close, then the younger sibling lets Diane get to her feet. Sapphis purrs, "So, who's your handsome friend with...oh, one of THOSE buttons. And aren't you getting fat?"
Diane growls, "I am not getting fat."
Shiran ahems. "Not fat. And I'm Shiran."
Sapphis pads up and headrubs, "Shiran. Good to meet you. I'm Sapphis Rockhopper. The cute one in the family. ;)"
Diane snaps Sapphis's rump with her tail, "Be nice little sister. Even 6 months pregnant I can remind you that you're my LITTLE sister. :)"
Sapphis yeeps and blinks, "Pregnant? But who? Ohhhhhhhhhhh. ;)"
Shiran rumbles, and headrubs the new arrival.. then steps back, and coughs rather pointedly. "_The_ cute one? I'm not so sure about that much."
Sapphis grins, "I must admit, if you're going to choose a non Chirr'T'Thar as a Kech't, you might as well choose a cute one."
Sapphis hmmfs, "Well, maybe his taste isn't the best. ;) C'mon sis, the whole family is waiting to see you."
Shiran grins. "I happen to think I did.. especially since Diane would probably take issue if I didn't. ;)"
Diane just smirks.
Diane grins, "Ok, ready to meet the rest of our clan Shiran?"
Shiran straightens up. "I hope so. Are we in for tackling again?"
Sapphis giggles as Diane purrs, "Probably just me. C'mon, if you were really this afraid of Chirr'T'Thar I wouldn't be waddling when I walk. ;)"
The two felitaurs leap into the air and take off, flying towards the northern part of Chareka, the capitol city.
Shiran flashes a brief grin-and-nod before blinking. "Be careful, all right? You probably shouldn't be playing too rough right now.."
Shiran stops, then snaps out his wings and takes to the air, following in echelon; he has no idea where the group is headed.
Diane whirls happily as she flys through the city, pointing at the various towers and giving Shiran a whirlwind tour. As they pass the largest tower, she purrs, "That is the home of the Skygazer Clan. Note the dents in one side?"
Trailing pencil-thin trails of vapor from shimmering wings, Shiran nods. "Big surprise, eh?" He rolls over and peels off, ducking for a better look.
The main tower, a good 50 stories tall, overlooks the rest of the city. There are a few felitaur shaped dents, in between the large windows that look in on a setting that is more like a greenhouse than normal rooms. Seems the felitaur's like to keep close to nature.
Shiran banks and pulls back up, arcing around Diane and Sapphis. "Ouch! Looks like someone made some wrong turns."
And in one window, an older male felitaur, who looks a lot like Copernicus, looks up as Shiran passes by and chuckles to himself.
Sapphis giggles, "Yep. Copernicus always had the strangest luck. Well, sis, you're getting slow. Race ya home!" and takes off with a burst of speed, but not going supersonic. Apparently that's not allowed over the city.
Diane hmmmfs, "She's as bad as you and Copernicus were. :)"
Shiran does a flip, 'testing'.. "You want to meet me there, or should I hold back here? I think that was a challenge."
Diane purrrs, "Singe her wingtips love. I'd do it, but I'm not very aerodynamic right now. ;)"
Diane purrrs, "Hand me your duffel bag Kecharra."
Shiran nods.. and the quiet tones around his wings rise to keening shrieks, small layers of water vapor briefly forming over his wings as he hands off the bag, then banks hard, pinions sweeping back as he arrows after Sapphis; the race is on.
Sapphis has a fair lead, due to the delay caused by Shiran's politeness to his mate, but she's not going at full cruising speed, which is the upper limit before she would shift gears for the mach speeds for which her race was designed. She's not looking back as Shiran rapidly catches up. It is clear from her path that the medium sized tower in the distance must be the Rockhopper home.
His wings are held back and still, with only an occasional minor twitch as Shiran adjusts, pulling up slightly to give himself room to maneuver as he closes, and hopes this will be a brief run.
Sapphis hears the sound of Shiran's flight and turns around, and mrrrrrps????? as Shiran blows by her. After recovering, she rights herself and the chase is on. She does close the distance, but Shiran has the lead, and the tower looms closer second by second.
Shiran pulls higher and inverts, watching for signs of a landing deck of any sort. The tiny contrails are now cloud-white bolts wider by far than a hand, writing his track across the city skies.
The top of the tower is done in concentric levels, with large flat porches on each level, plenty of room for felitaurs to land. The top level has the roof irised open, showing the riot of plant life growing inside the high tech domicile. Sapphis growls something as she watches Shiran approach her home.
Shiran frowns, watching for arrows, larger-than-usual spaces, or other markings indicating a 'public' landing point; at the same time he angles so as to use one eye to track Sapphis, seeing if she chooses a direction.
Each level has some fairly wide, open areas. One or two of the lower ones have some felitaur's sunning in them, but the upper three levels are clear.
Sapphis is aiming for the top level, that surrounds the open roof.
Shiran rolls to return to his back, and angles up; if the choice is there, aim high. His wings begin to fan back out, in preparation for a rapid braking.
The contrails from Shiran's wings, along with the race itself, has attracted the attention of several neighboring towers. Numerous sets of wings are in the air, watching the two competitors' progress.
With his nose fixed on a point at the edge of the platform, Shiran snaps his wings straight out and fully spread, and flies straight in, at a level just below the lip of the rooftop.. on a course straight for the wall.
Several of the lounging felitaurs all wince sympathetically. Apparently it's not an unusual event to see someone land into a wall, so Shiran's impending fate is taken with some stride.
Shiran suddenly pulls up and over into the start of a wide barrel roll, straightening out at the top and dropping into a feet-first landing, backwinging furiously to slow down. He hits the deck with a *thud*, dropping into a crouch to absorb the impact.
Sapphis is so impressed with Shiran's landing that she neglects her own, and rolls right off the roof and falls 30 stories to land with a thump on her back.
Shiran blinks as Sapphis overshoots, and runs to the deck edge, looking over. "Ack!"
Sapphis hmmmfs as she struggles to get out of the mangled privet bush. She looks up at Shiran and just blushes, ears turning a pinkish tinge at the edges.
Shiran yells down, "Are you all right?!" He's panting, half from exertion, half from shock at the fall.
Sapphis brushes herself off, pulls a twig out of her ear and launches up into the air, and moments later lands much more gracefully next to Shiran. She purrs softly, "Yeah, I'm fine. I can't believe I did that, and in front of my sister's Kech't too. I just didn't know you could fly so fast!"
Shiran shakes his head, leaning against the railing and strrrretching out his wings. "Until recently, I couldn't. Are 'events' like these why the buildings are all dented?"
A deeper voice purrs from behind Shiran, "Well, not ALL the buildings are dented. And normally they're fixed regularly anyhow. But youngsters do seem to have troubles remembering to be careful when landing. I'm Ryenar, head of the Rockhopper clan. And you are?"
Shiran turns around. "..Shiran, Firaia-eth. I came with Diane.." He turns again, scanning the horizon. "..who should be here any second."
The large male felitaur with the same tortoise shell pattern as Diane nods, "She was flying rather slowly, and from the way she stopped in mid air, I think she was laughing at her sister's "landing", but here she is now."
Diane lands fairly well, though her heavier than normal body is apparent when she does so. Sapphis hmmmfs, "Stop laughing. I've heard about some of YOUR landings when you were younger."
Diane bounces over and snugs her sire, "Father, it's so good to see you again. When I heard Tharhome was missing I...I'm glad you're ok."
Shiran nods, twisting to peer over the edge again for a second. "I suppose I should be used to seeing that by now, but those still look painful." He shivers, then steps back as Diane pounce-greets relatives, flashing Sapphis an eyeridge-raised 'you _sure_ you're all right?' look.
Ryenar grins softly and snugs her close, "It's good to see you too daughter. I swear, the Skygazer's can lose anything that shouldn't be lost, and find things that shouldn't be found. I also see you've made a few important decisions while you were away?"
Sapphis nods to Shiran as she brushes bits of leaves off her fur, truly embarrassed at this point.
Diane blushes to her eartips at her sire's comment.
Shiran's earfans are a lovely jade color right now, several shades lighter than they should be.
Ryenar looks at Shiran and mmmhmmms, "Matching ears. So you're the sire? Let's head into the main room and settle down to talk. Dinner will be on soon."
With that, Ryenar abruptly turns and leaps inside the roof, to the first floor "living room".
Diane's whiskers twitch a bit.
Sapphis gives Diane a snug and purrs, "Good luck sis."
Shiran manages a quiet, sharp nod.. then treads after, trying to guess what sort of reaction that was.
Diane watches Shiran's reaction for a moment, then hops down through the open roof where her father is curling up on a couch. She looks up to watch her mate.
Shiran slips off the edge, fanning his wings out and falling to glide-land on the floor below.
The inside of the room is spacious, with plant life, and even some animal life, sprawled around the room, making it look like a tropical setting, with the technological devices of the room recessed or partly hidden. A large table is in the center, surrounded by a couple dozen large back-less couches. And a few of the colorful statues of the first mother adorn the room, one by a small fountain.
Shiran slips over, and follows suit by settling, lotus-style, into a couch, giving the room a glance. "Quite a garden you keep here."
Ryenar watches Shiran quietly as Sapphis bounds out of site behind a dividing wall, where she purrs, "Mothers! Diane's back!"
Ryenar nods, "We like to keep a lot of life in our homes. So, how did you meet my daughter Shiran?"
Shiran looks perhaps a hair nervous. All the in-laws about and being quietly watched will do that. "You know about Coper taking that group of students off world somewhat before your solar system moved, yes? I was living on that world at the time."
Diane frowns at her father, but stifles any comments she had.
Shiran . o O {Technically, that's true.. he said 'met', and the other time hasn't happened yet.}
Ryenar nods and also notices a small bit of evasion, but purrrs, "Do you truly think you're up to raising a Chirr'T'Thar child?"
Diane growls softly, but remains still.
Shiran's eyes go a touch narrower, contemplative. "I'll give you two answers to that. The first is that I know for sure that I'm up to living with Chirr'T'Thar from experience. The second is that I'll have to be, and that I've probably already done harder things."
Ryenar flicks an ear and turns to Diane, "So you have chosen him as a non-contract Kech't? You must want me to petition to postpone your regular contract time till the child is an adult? By 30 years?"
Diane purrrs softly, "I'm with him for the span of his life father."
The elder male's eyebrows raise at this, "How long do you live?" as he stares at Shiran.
Diane sputters, "Father!"
Ryenar flicks an ear at his daughter and waits for an answer.
Shiran hmms. "Average lifespan for a Firaia-eth is.. under decent conditions, maybe 70 years. I've probably got just under forty-five left, as is."
Ryenar's eyes give the only hint of a response to Shiran's answer, and you see a glimmer of...concern? But he nods, and purrs, "So, you wish to be part of the Rockhopper Clan for the remainder of your life? To help raise the child you've sired with my daughter?"
Shiran inclines his head; the 'nerves' seem to have been submersed for the moment. "Of course. Isn't that the primary reason for joining family groups?"
Ryenar nods, and scribbles something into an electronic pad and purrs, "It is, but many races don't seem to realize that we do take children very seriously. I'll honor my daughter's request for a postponement or her normal contract time. The usual minimum is a 100 years or so. I will ask that you symbolize your being Kech't to her though."
Diane's ears flick very subtly at her father's agreement to postpone, but go back slightly at the last, nervous.
Shiran nods. "So it is with my people.. and although I've come to disagree with many of their beliefs, that one at least does make some sense." He tilts his head. "that sounds reasonable."
Diane smiles subtly, but continues to wait as her father continues to scribble on the data pad, remaining rather quiet. Finally he purrs, "So, what do you do for a living?"
Diane rolls her eyes and mutters, "Fathers."
The first hint of a smile crosses Ryenar's face at his daughter's invective.
Shiran hmmms. "The position doesn't have a title, but effectively I'm a part of my world's planetary government right now. My 'resume', if you can call it that, includes Imperial Librarian and coordinating trade flotillas.. reasonably steady positions that nonetheless manage to be far from boring."
Ryenar smiles softly, "Trade is never boring. It's as much a part of a ship engineering race's life as the building and repairing of ships are part of that life. Considering where you are from, are you one of those that does this "magic" that's invaded our lives recently?"
Diane is watching her father carefully, still not entirely sure what's up.
Shiran grins. "Especially not the sort of expeditions we end up on, no." He stops, frowning, then nods. "I am; it's how I managed the landing you saw earlier, among other things."
Ryenar hmmms, "That ability seems to be quite a commodity, even if we have only recently been forced to admit it exists... Say, I bet we could make a fortune hiring you out to stud. :)"
Diane's jaw drops.
Shiran's eyes turn to saucers. "Errrrrrr...."
Ryenar chuckles loudly at the look on Shiran's face. As Diane starts to get to her feet he purrs, "Fine, fine. I agree Diane. It's enough teasing, for now at least."
Diane hmmphs.
Ryenar gets to his feet and pads over to Shiran and purrs, "Welcome to the Rockhopper Clan Shiran. I think you may actually have what it takes to survive. ;)"
Diane's father hmmms at the shocked look on Shiran's face and purrs, "Maybe I over did it?"
Shiran shakes his head. "Errr.. right. Teasing. I do have one thing I'm curious about, though."
Shiran runs a hand over his head, and mrphs.
Ryenar nods, "Certainly. What is your question?"
Shiran says, "The symbolizing you talked about earlier.. what sort of ceremony or event is it? Or am I supposed to start wearing some sort of marker?"
Ryenar purrs and reaches up to his left ear, where three stylized earrings dangle, each with a raised engraving of a felitaur female, "These are symbols of my pledge, or "Kech't" to my mates. You and Diane will trade these later. Not much of a ceremony really. And of course, we'll have a proper celebration for you two when your child is weaned. ;)"
Diane pads over to Shiran's side, "I didn't think it'd be necessary, but I guess I am asking a lot from my father by doing this. Will...that be ok Shiran?"
Shiran ah's. "Hmm. Jewelry sounds harmless enough." He manages a grin. "I can handle wearing ornaments, yes."
Ryenar hmmms as he looks at Shiran thoughtfully, then nods, "I'll make the proper arrangements. Should be ready after dinner. Speaking of which, it's only fair that you meet the rest of the family before you actually commit yourself. ;)"
Shiran nods. "Of course.. who else? I've met only Sapphis and yourself so far, so..."
Diane hugs Shiran, the bounce back in her step as she gives him a kiss and purrs while her sire shouts, "Well, it's over, and he survived, let's bring on dinner."
Diane hmmms, "Oh. I hadn't thought of that....Kinet just turned 20 recently, didn't he?"
Ryenar sighs and nods.
Shiran purrs and raises an eyeridge at the shouting all at once. "Kinet?"
Diane nods, "My brother."
Shiran ah's.
Diane purrs, "Who's just hit the start of Chirr'T'Thar puberty."
Shiran's eyes narrow a touch again. "You don't make that sound like the best of news."
Diane purrs, "It's said we hit the start of puberty the same way we hit planets during our tempering. :P"
Shiran tilts his head. "Ah. That.. actually sounds dangerous."
A tortoise shell blurrr about the size of Sapphis zips into the room, bounces off Ryenar's back and bowls Diana over and hugs, "Hiya sis. Say, you've gotten bigger!"
Shiran blink.. blinks. "And I though Ceres had energy."
Diane meeps and giggles at the licks she's getting on her nose, "I'm pregnant silly. It's good to see you Kinet. It'll be even better to see you in a few years, when you start to calm down. ;)"
Kinet grins, "Pregnant? Wow. How cool. Say, is he the sire?" as he leaps over in front of Shiran and headrubs the startled dragon vigorously and purrrs, "Wow, she does pick the cute ones."
Shiran gets drawn into a headrub by main force, but plays along; the dwagon is, after all, learning. "Errrrr... cute?" He looks over to Diane. "When did I become 'cute' to absolutely everyone?"
Diane rolls over onto her belly so she can get her four legs under her and chuckles, "Chirr'T'Thar are very good at appreciating beauty wherever we find it, especially in other races. But for Kinet, a couch would look good to him."
Kinet backs up from Shiran and growls, "That's not funny. I'm just growing up is all."
Ryenar is looking away, apparently to hide his laughter.
Kinet hmmphs and turns to Shiran, "So you're her Kech't huh? Does she make fun of you all the time too?"
Shiran just.. shakes his head, bemused. "Diane, did I ever tell you your family is.. remarkable?" He turns back to Kinet. "Not all the time.. but somewhat."
Kinet nods, "Yeah, she's like that. Say, I've got to go to training again this evening, but if you two ever want a third for a night, let me know. Gotta go." and with that, leaps out through the open roof and flies off.
Ryenar ahems, "Actually, we're known as one of the more stable of the clan lines. ;)"
Shiran hmmms. "Then this is going to be an interesting visit."
Diane giggles, "Seeing a Chirr'T'Thar, especially a male at the very start of puberty, isn't really fair. For the first 20 years, we're functionally asexual. No drive, no interest at all. Then *WHAM*, it's got you. ;)"
Sapphis pads in and wrinkles her nose, "I'll never act like that. He's so stupid."
Shiran watches Kinet take off.. and refrains from comment, but the ears pale again. "That must be a steep, stressful transition then."
Ryenar scritches Sapphis's ears and purrs, "Hopefully not that bad, but you'll still act rather differently for a while. Yes Shiran, it's when a lot of our males tend to...get themselves killed. He'll stabilize in a year or so, but it will take 10 years for him to fully mature. Ah, here are my mates now. ;)"
In walk three adult females, one is jet black and bounds over to hug and nuzzle Diane. The second is white with black splotches in her fur, and the third, slightly smaller one, is tabby colored. Their eyes are on Shiran as the first welcomes Diane, "It's good to see you daughter. And so big already. "
Shiran waits, and braces for impact, while trying not to _look_ like he's bracing for impact, looking relieved when there are no high-velocity midair greetings.
Ryenar purrs and points to the black splotched female, "This is my mate Sabra, and this is Velosa. The one spoiling my daugther is Zaura, Diane's birth mother."
The two females pad over and headrub Shiran, with Velosa licking Shiran's nose before she pads back towards Ryenar.
Shiran manages a wing-sweeping half-bow. "And I'm Shiran, the.. well, I'm with Diane." He steps into the headrub; the relative sedateness of this round of introductions has improved his enthusiasm for the proceedings considerably.
Diane grins, "It's good to see you moms." and nuzzles back with Zaura, who purrs, "So, you have good taste in males it seems."
Zaura lets her daughter go and pads over to Shiran and looks him up and down and grins softly, "So, being Diane's birthmother, do I get a welcome also, young mel?"
Shiran manages to just duck his nose at the comments.. and headrubs Zaura, rumbling. And hopes to high heaven he's getting this right.
Zaura oohs, "He purrs too. So, are you related to this other...dragon, named Kainudy?"
Shiran shakes his head. "Not at all." He stops, then looks back up. "She's here?"
Ryenar shakes his head, "She was with the Skygazer clan for a bit, but in tuning up our gate, it apparently swallowed her. Copernicus has claimed that she's probably just fine."
Shiran hmmms. "Well.. probably. Personally, I'd be worried, both about her and the gate."
Ryenar shrugs, "The gate was moved to a new location, to prevent such mishaps. And it's been working rather well from all reports since then. He claims that she's been traced to some fox's world, an old friend of hers."
Diane sighs, "I have to admit, the gate is a bit rough on exiting."
Shiran nods. "It seemed.. perhaps a bit out of tune, although I'm not sure about much beyond that."
Zaura purrs as she rubs against Shiran's side, while Diane is against the other, "To be honest, we've never made such a thing before, so we don't know too much about it yet either. It's time to eat, and I just realized, no one told us if you need special food or not?"
Shiran rumbles, caught between two felitaurs. "Nothing.. really 'special' that I can think of, no."
Dinner is a normal affair. Well, normal for large predators who enjoy live food. Shiran seems to stick to the desserts, which are cooked and even smoked meats, some cheeses, a few token breads and a little fruit. Diane keeps teasing Shiran about letting his entre' escape.
A small chime on Ryenar's armband sounds, and after he talks over the com system for a few minutes, he whispers to Sapphis and she grins and leaps into the air, flying off on an errand.
Diane grooms Shiran as her parents groom each other's fur. Within about 15 minutes, Sapphis lands on the roof and calls down, "I've got it."
Ryenar purrrs up, "Excellent."
Zaura grins to Shiran, "Your last chance to run. ;)"
Diane hmmmfs, but still smiles.
Shiran chuckles up at the felitaur. "Too late for that, I'm afraid."
Diane hmmfs and grins, before leaping up onto the roof where her younger sister waits.
Shiran looks up a bit, one eyeridge cocked. "Hmmmm?"
Ryenar watches his mates join them and then purrs, "Our turn. You first. ;)"
Shiran *gulps* in exaggerated fashion, then his wings start to pulse and shimmer, giving him a bit of extra lift as he hops up on to the roof.. on a full stomach. Ooof.
Diane's family forms a circle around the two, but an open one, so that the couple can be seen as they stand on the rooftop of the tower. Sapphis hands Shiran an earring that has a decent rendering of his image engraved into the side, and something that has a handle and a slot on the other end. To Diane she hands just the earring with Diane's image engraved.
Diane purrs softly, "Shiran, will you accept my Kech't to you, to stay with you to raise our child, and for as long as I can?"
Shiran closes his eyes, briefly, and inclines his head. "I accept. Diane, will you accept a pairing-pledge from me, for ourselves and the child.. for as long as I have?"
Diane grins, and nods, "Of course I do. Now hold still. :)"
Shiran does so, smiling softly.
Diane pads up close, gives Shiran a gentle kiss, then turns her head and takes the edge of his left ear between her fangs, and bites down with just the points.
Shiran winces a bit, but holds still nonetheless.
Diane licks the wound clean and carefully puts the earring with her image into his ear and seals the clasp. She whispers (though obviously everyone here can hear it), "You need to bite as hard as you can first Shiran, then use the piercer. It's a matter of tradition. ;)" At which she grins and offers her right ear.
Shiran nods, and waits for a second; Diane can probably hear quiet, whispering chords as he leans up, opens his jaws slightly, and nips hard with the left tip-teeth, then lets go and pulls back, ready to reach for whatever tool in case this didn't work.
A shiver runs down Diane's spine, all the way to her tail, and she mewls happily. On her ear, a small drop of deep purple blood appears. Somehow, Shiran did it. She holds her ear still, even as the rest of the family cheers.
Shiran quietly licks the mark clean, then clasps the earring through the pierce. "Surprise." He winks.
Diane mrrrrrs and snugs, "That was wonderful. You'll have to do that more often Kecharra."
Shiran headrubs Diane, and grins. "Surprise you? I don't think you want _too_ many holes in your ear."
Diane giggles, "I mean nips like that. Preferably on my neck."
The rest of the family (sans Kinet) snugs in and purrs their congratulations.
Shiran coughs. "Well.. if you insist.." He manages a grin, then allows himself to be drawn into the mass of greetings.. from new relations.
The evening closes amongst the joyous family. They all settle down into the family sleeping pile, with Shiran curled next to Diane, who grins even in her sleep. Velos, a light sleeper, keeps looking at Shiran's ears from time to time, their mild warmth from his constant blushing giving them a wonderful infrared signature. She giggles and goes back to sleep.