The cecaelia's mauve tentacles boost him upwards a bit before he marks on the stone slab. Connecting eyes with her, Cochu declares, "I'll 'ave Kieva 'rin ah carrier fer 'em." Vera's eyes widen, and her heart stops a moments. She's in shock, and while her father rubs his green tail against hers, a grin stretches from cheek to cheek. Cochu smiles himself, directing for the siren down corridor.
"Let's visit yer merlin's," he suggests.
With a wide, excited smile, Vera dashes for the quad's room with Dariol and Cochu following close behind. Vera is the first in the cave, spotting the four merlings playing with a few seaweed dolls. Their white hair floats around their ears as their dark eyes widen with adoration. The female gnawing on the sea flower is the first to catch sight of Vera. She laughs, pulling the flower from her mouth and waves her arms around. Her sister, who plays with a doll in front of her, observes the merling's behavior before glancing towards her fixation. She instantly smiles and whines for Vera. This catches the attention of one of the males. He turns his head around, bursting out in happiness as Vera comes closer, grinning at the four. Just as the last male merling whips his head around to see her swimming towards him. Each merling crawls toward Vera until they grab a part of her body; the females grab her arms as the two males find their way to her hips.
Vera gushes at the sight of the four, finding four mini mes surrounding her. Smiling, she pets the girls' heads, holding the bottom of their chins in comfort as they grin with sharp fangs, similar to hers. The males gently claw at her stomach, leaving white scratches against her tan skin. Vera only giggles at their actions, wrapping the four in a group hug. She squeezes them tightly as each one finds a place between her neck or shoulder. They snuggle into her skin as if she would disappear, and the merlings finally sigh after a moment.
Dariol soon swims into the room and finds the five snuggling together. He smiles for his daughter and marvels at the second male. He's sure there were only three last he saw, but he was happy nonetheless. A part of his lineage seeped into these merlings, and Dariol couldn't have been happier. The dark eyes of the merlings creates a smile on his mouth, showing off his fangs. The male only lingers in the back of the cave as the cecaelia and the shark soon arrive. It was only a few seconds, but the aid speaks up.
"Miss Vera," Cochu began.
Vera regards Cochu and Kieva, and observes the cloth she had brought with her. It was a beige color and seemed to be able to hold plenty of fish for meals. Vera recalls few females carrying merlings in them, and smiles at Kieva. "Appreciated," she says with a smile.
Kieva smiles back, bowing her head. Cochu is the one to speak, "'Ave yeh decided what tey are te beh called?" With the slab in Cochu's hand and his eyes waiting for her answer, Vera draws a blank. She never thought about names before, and now, she certainly didn't know any to choose from.
Vera is silent for a moment, turning to the four merlings in front of her. Now, that they were right in front of her together, she could see small differences. The male clinging to her right breast was the first merling she had seen. His eyes were charcoal black, a bit darker than the rest, and his claws are barely sharp enough to knick the skin. His ears were webbed and his hair floats on top of his head instead of laying back. His tail had one fin already, and twitches around Vera's stomach. He holds onto his parent tightly, determined to never let go. The gen bares his teeth at his other male sibling.
"Atlas," the little merling blinks up at Vera, grinning with his sharp fangs.
Vera glances to the second male, who clings to her left breast and gnaws on her exposed nipple, expecting nutrition but receiving nothing. His teeth hadn't formed into fangs like the others, but his dark eyes were bright with a sparkle in his two shining abysses. The merling licks at her skin until he notices the siren watching him. He pauses, tilting his head before a smile stretches across his lips. His two little hands claw at her chest, wanting to be lifted onto her shoulder. When the merling realizes he cannot reach his destination, the gen frowns and hugs Vera's right breast tightly. His webbed hands knead at her scales.
Vera smiles gently at the merling, naming the gen: "Adare." The gen whistles at the siren with immense joy in his dark irises.
Atlas and Adare snuggle into Vera's hips, fighting to claim her sides with one another. The females, however, snag her arms as Vera scoops the two in her palms. The gen in her right hand bubbles with laughter as she attempts to crawl up her bicep. Her hair floats around her in a white fog, hiding behind her shoulders. Her chipper smile greets Vera with happiness. The merling stares into Vera's eyes with a mirror-like expression. Vera suddenly notices the markings on the gen's cheeks, noting the three star-like dots below the outside of her pitch black orbs. The further outwards the markings travel, the bigger the star grew. The siren looks to each gen, finding the pattern similar, only the marking were different.
Upon Atlas' cheeks were three suns, softly distinguished by the noir color against his tan skin. They were in the same pattern as the female's. Vera searches for any marking along the other merlings' cheeks, which she finds three lightning bolts on Adare's face and three crescent moons on the second female merling. Vera was shocked to say the least, yet she was pleased to see a spark of personality from the quad. A smile grew on her lips and she watches the female giggle in her palm.
Vera thought for a moment, thinking of plenty suitable names for the gen, but she only adored a selected few. Touching the little one's tail with her littlest claw, Vera calls her, "Elsa." The little merling straightens at the mention of Vera's voice, and gnaws on her tiny claws.
The last merling was quiet, and seemed to observe everyone else in the cove. Vera remembered how she held on quickly when she caught her from the cave's entrance. She was fragile, yet showed no fear. She catch the eye of Vera and smiled. The little gen nods in full respect of the siren. Vera notices the reflection of her markings, smiling at the moon's cycle imprinted on the merling's cheeks. The gen blinks a few times before sighing, and begins to curl into a ball on her palm. It soon became obvious which name Vera claims for her.
"Eira." The gen stops before she's settled in her palm and maintains eye contact with her Vera.
Vera suddenly freezes, fully understanding the bond now. She understands why she found the merlings in the cave instead of those wretched MeClans, why they had bit her fluke, why she needed to find the fourth merling, why they were a quad. They weren't looking for her protection; they were genetically written to blend with their bonded parent. For them, it was more about possession of the parent than the protect for themselves. The Tagris species is a very complicated creature compared to the common merfolk. It was finally clear why Vera was chosen. She didn't need the quad of Tagris merlings at all.
In fact, they were seeking to protect her.
• • • • •
You can have the best of me baby.
And I will give you anything.
• • • • •