January Catch-All

[tempredmental]

🧙 WHO: Keith, OTA
⚔️️ WHAT: TDM Prompts, Quest Board, Events
🕒 WHEN: Throughout January
🗺️ WHERE: Many places! Will note in prompt.
⚠️ WARNINGS: Potentially things like violence against monsters, bullying from fairies, checking bodies for signs of life, and whatnot. I'll update as needed.

Links to Prompts:

• Winter Solstice - Arrival (Tree), Dance, Inn, Elphame Traders (food)
• Don't Say Neigh - Blessing
• Gravestone Faced - Fight, Search
• Yelling Yetis
• Frosty Forest Glamp - Igloo, Ingredient Search
• They Grow Up So Fast - Egg Baby, Baby Bear, Release Time (own release in Camelot, will assist with releases in Elphame, open to multiple co-parents)

Comments

[tempredmental]

Heh... yeah.

[Keith looked down at the little galaxy patterned egg in his hands.]

I have no idea where to start.

[He sighed.]

I'm better with animals. Like... ones that are already hatched...

[chatwithdeath]

Well, start by approaching this more as you're caring for a toddler. Do you have any childcare experience, or have you consulted any books?

[She assumed not, but... who knows. He might surprise her.]

[tempredmental]

Uhh...

[Keith shook his head. He'd been an only child until his dad died, and then he hated the group home so much that he refused to participate in any sort of babysitting responsibilities... to the point of sabotaging himself if he got stuck with it so that they wouldn't stick him with it again.]

Not really.

[chatwithdeath]

... We'll start there then. Come along...

[She'd help him with the basics, and they could pick up a book or two so he started getting an idea of what to do.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded, looking very relieved for the help. Gosh... he was going to owe Naomi big time at this rate. He was pretty sure she'd helped him more than the other way around...]

I really appreciate this.

[chatwithdeath]

Don't worry about it. Besides, I might be helping you, but this will be fairly general. It will still be up to you to know what your egg takes comfort in or will eat, and what it responds to. They can be... selective.

[A polite way to say 'picky'.]

[tempredmental]

[Eat...]

Oh... is that why it rolls around in food? I thought it was just making a mess and playing. I mean, I guess that makes sense? They don't exactly have mouths...

[chatwithdeath]

Yes, it was eating. Though, for a toddler, eating and playing at the same time isn't uncommon. Fortunately for the eggs, they can be put in bowls and other similar containers to prevent a mess.

[tempredmental]

[Oh, hey... a bowl. That would actually help!

Keith nodded.]

Yeah, it was kind of messy this morning when I finally figured out that it was hungry.

[chatwithdeath]

And I imagine until he was fed, he must have been raising a fuss. Be aware that it will cry for other things such as exhausting itself or wanting attention. Try to be patient with it.

[Of course, there's a reason she doesn't work in certain sections off hospitals.]

[tempredmental]

[Uh-oh.]

Patience was never my strong suit.

[chatwithdeath]

[She'd like to say she doesn't know that... but...]

Hm... and how has it been getting them to take a nap?

[tempredmental]

It uh... no. [Keith shook his head.] It's stubborn about that.

[chatwithdeath]

That's not surprising. What have you tried to do in order to get it to sleep?

[Just so alternative methods can be suggested.]

[tempredmental]

Just putting it in the basket I'm using for a bed and hoping it falls asleep eventually?

[Which was why he was looking kind of strung out and stressed.]

[chatwithdeath]

...

[It's... an approach.]

Have you considered rocking it at all?

[tempredmental]

[Keith shook his head.]

Wouldn't that keep it awake?

[chatwithdeath]

A gentle rocking motion can encourage sleep.

[Though now the keyword is 'gentle'.]

[tempredmental]

Oh. [Welp. He'd have to give that a try next time.] Thanks.

[chatwithdeath]

You're welcome.

Are you starting to get a picture of how to care for an infant?

[tempredmental]

Kind... of...? [Keith cringed.] It sounds like a lot. [Which then had him wondering...] Why did it pick me?

[chatwithdeath]

It is a lot.

[She's not going to sugar coat that.]

Hm... why did any of the eggs pick us? We still have no idea where they came from.

[tempredmental]

Or what they're going to hatch into...

[After all, the assumption here would be some sort of bird... but Keith was fairly certain that it wouldn't be that simple just because this was Avalon and Avalon did nothing simple.]

I hope that's... well, yeah. It's gonna be something weird, isn't it?

[chatwithdeath]

[She nods. They really have no idea. They could assume a bird or reptile, but ere? It could easily be anything.]

Yes, it's highly probable it will be.

[tempredmental]

Oh... man... [Keith took a deep breath.] So... uh... about those books...? [Might as well make the best of it.]