paradisalogs | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Simon Tam

pompous_today and Alexis Castle

raisingdad
What: Simon and Alexis try to deal with their bouncing bundle of joy- a unicorn baby!
When: May 10th
Where: Starting off at Alexis' room, who knows where they'll go from there?
Rating: Can't see it going above G with these two.

Simon knew something had to be up when he awoke to find an egg on his doorstep. He'd been passed over for a child last year, a fact which he was grateful for as it would likely have made his longing for Kaylee unbearable, but this year, he wasn't so lucky.

But an egg?

Whatever was inside it, Simon was sure it wasn't going to be human.

Stranger still was the accompanying card telling him to seek out Alexis to help him care for the so-called "bundle of joy".

Simon figured that there was no use waiting, so he went to find Alexis' room and knocked on her door, egg tucked under one arm.

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Alexis was expecting him and opened the door with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Hey," she said, letting him move past her into the room. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

From what she gathered, people were getting eggs, usually addressed to two people, and instructing them to take care of whatever hatched out of them. Usually, it was not human. She eyed the egg in Simon's hands warily.

"Not really," Simon admitted, looking down at the egg. "I mean, apparently it is a yearly occurrence for some residents to be given a child every year- it happened last year, at least- but, well, forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but humans do not hatch from eggs."

"Woah, really? I mean about the castle giving people babies, not them hatching from eggs."

Then again, how surprising was it, really? The castle liked to mess with people, so of course they would give them non-human babies to take care of.

"There's been some activity on the journals... I'm kind of scared of what's going to come out of that egg."

"Yes. It did not happen to me, but I was around for it. But as far as I know, it's always been humans."

He sat down in a chair, then looked up at her.

"I am, too," he admitted. "Not only are the babies not human, but some of them seem to be causing a little destruction. And who knows how long they are going to stick around?"

Because, Simon thought, it would be just like the castle to rearrange the layout of the castle and town, then suddenly populate it with dangerous creatures the residents were forced to raise themselves.

Alexis eyed the egg warily as a crack started to form along the side.

"Oh God. Do you.. think we need a weapon or something?"

What if it was a dragon or something and it set the room on fire?

"... We'd better go out into the hallway," Simon said warily, going toward the door again, but even in the circumstances, his inner gentleman won out and he waited for her to exit first. "Less to harm out there- whoa!" He was startled as the egg began moving, more cracks appearing in the side.

Forget being a gentleman; in short order, he was out in the hall, setting the egg on the floor.

Simon was out the door, but Alexis found her curiosity being piqued. She kept her legs loose and ready to run though, just in case whatever came out decided to go for her neck. Peering carefully over the cracked edges of the egg, she let out a gasp of delight at the tiny horse that laid on her bedroom floor.

"Oh my God, Simon, it's a unicorn!"

Simon cautiously looked at the remnants of the egg just in case something else came out, totally perplexed, holding himself back from voicing the obvious reactions- that unicorns didn't hatch from eggs, that unicorns indeed didn't exist at all, the second phrase being banished from his mind as soon as he remembered where he was.

He knelt and began reaching out to the unicorn, but hesitated, not wanting to frighten it.

"... And here I thought I'd seen everything," he replied with a small laugh. "This place never ceases to amaze me."

Alexis was so charmed that she was also willing to overlook the glaring scientific inaccuracies. She practically cooed at the thing as it laid in Simon's arms.

"He's so cute, oh my God... Does he really belong to us?"

Simon gently held the unicorn out to Alexis, smiling. It actually felt nice... having such an innocent, beautiful creature nearby.

"I suppose so... well, for as long as the castle deems us worthy of having him, at least."

Alexis carefully took the unicorn in her arms, gazing down into its clear blue eyes. This must be what it felt like to hold a baby for the first time.

"He's beautiful..."

She chose not to hear that "for as long as the castle deems us worthy" part.

Simon couldn't help but feel happy for Alexis, even if his own excitement was tempered by the fact that he knew the creature's visit would be brief.

"Well, shall we pick out a name?" he wanted to know.

"Probably, yeah." Poor Alexis hadn't been here long enough to know how fleeting things like this were. She placed the unicorn carefully down on the bed, where it stared up at them with big blue eyes. "Any ideas?"

Simon decided to just let go and enjoy this moment they were having. After all, fleeting happiness could still be enjoyed, right?

"I admit, my mind is going toward unoriginal ideas," he chuckled. "Prancer... Trot... or Pierce, because of the horn. Got anything better?"

"Oh, Pierce is cute," Alexis replied, petting the unicorn's short mane. "Or Sam. Just because I like the name Sam."

Simon sat down next to the unicorn, looked in the eye and said solemnly,

"Then I dub you Sam, official unicorn of Cair Paradisa, for as long as you choose to serve us." He then looked up at Alexis and shook his head. "We got lucky- I've been seeing horror stories all over the journal all morning."

"So have I. Imagine getting a demon or something. I guess the castle doesn't hate us."

That made her feel good. She hadn't done anything to make the castle hate her so she was glad it was being nice. She could only hope her luck would continue.

"Or a phoenix, like Katniss got. Might as well say goodbye to all of your possessions in that case."

Well, the castle not hating me for once is a nice change, Simon thought to himself, but he stopped himself from saying anything further aloud. No need to be a killjoy, after all.

"Should we take him to the stables? He can meet horses there."

"Ooh a phoenix. What's wrong with a phoenix?"

Alexis cradled the unicorn in her arms, feeling a sudden maternal bond towards it. She was hesitant to send him to the stables, where he might get hurt without her looking out for him.

"Well, only if I can stay with him for a while. He's still a baby."

"Hers has apparently set things on fire," Simon said with a grimace. "I suppose a young one does not have much control over its abilities yet, so..."

He nodded, opening the door for Alexis once again.

"I'll accompany you- I've gotten to know some of the horses, so I can be of help."

"Oh yeah, ok. I can see why that's a problem."

She doesn't have a lot of familiarity with mythological creatures since they don't exist in her world. Alexis thanked him for opening the door and carefully carried Sam in her arms down the hall.

"I've been meaning to go down to the stables, actually."

"It's peaceful out there," Simon replied, following close behind. "And even if Sam doesn't get big enough to ride, he'll have others for company and can at least run alongside them. My friend Vanyel and I have been taking rides when we can... it's very... freeing."

Simon realized with a slight pang of guilt that he hadn't ridden in a long time, and that perhaps he might feel a bit less stressed and directionless if he had been. He made a mental note to talk to Vanyel about it when he could.

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