[video | un: TeaOnRice] wakey wakey eggs and -... nevermind it's just an egg

[gekkajuu]

[Atsushi likes his life on the planet, but now that he's on Thesa to help the people waking up, he doesn't mind spending the night. Or, rather: between all the simulations and the free food, he got so tired, he didn't even think to go home.

He wasn't expecting to wake up to a surprise next to his bed.]

I need help! No - some advice would do...

[At first, the video just shows a very panicky Atsushi, but the view shakily shifts to the bed, where an egg lies, the blankets carefully wrapped around its base so it won't roll off. It's not just any egg, either: it's huge, the size of Atsushi's arm.]

S-Sorry, I'm aware that this is a busy time for everyone, but... [The camera remains shaky, as does his voice.] I don't know what to do? This egg was next to me when I woke up, and... it's not very loud, but there's definitely a heartbeat inside of it.

If it was a chicken egg, I'd know what to do! And I'm sure that this egg just needs warmth and safety too, but... I have a job, now! I can't stay here. For that matter: even if I went home, I couldn't spend all day and all night keeping an egg warm... and I can't carry around something so big and expect to keep it safe...

... but I can't let it die.

[That comes before everything else, even his job that he's desperate to keep. It doesn't matter that he basically works on commission; he'd feel terrible if he didn't regularly check in to see if there's anything he can do. But now he's suddenly an egg mom dad on top of everything... This is too much responsibility all at once!]

I wonder if... maybe someone could babysit sometimes??

((OOC: omake thanks to Rune.))

Comments

[gekkajuu]

Ah, that's true!

[He's a little relieved now. At least it's not a fish. So he doesn't have to worry about Dylas eating it.]

I see - because one side will always be warmer, right? [Okay, good. This is what he needs: solid guidelines to counteract the panic. He's only 18! He's not an adult, let alone ready to be a parent.] I'll make sure to do that regularly. Maybe set alarms on this phone..?

[rampager]

[dylas "i made my daughter-son into fishsticks" von rudeass]

Exactly. [BOY, WHEN I WAS 18, I WAS FLOSSING MY TEETH WITH THE SPINES OF MY ENEMIES!!!] Alarms, written reminders, anything that can keep you to a routine will suffice.

[He taps his chin, thoughtful. Getting into the swing of thinking about egg-care, ridiculously enough.]

The matter of humidity bears thinking about, as well.

[gekkajuu]

[Atsushi is so considering a divorce. Can this be like Dream Furry where he tries some other parent next?

Flossing with spines can't be good for your enamel, daddy.] I'll make sure to do so!

Humidity..? It's true that baths would probably be bad, even if they seem like a nice way to keep warm... but I don't know that there's a lot I can change about the humidity, one way or the other.

[rampager]

[Yes, but you run the risk of picking the Furry with the scrapped datamined cult leader ending and having everyone hate you as a result.]

Simply taking care to avoid leaving the egg in overly dry conditions should be enough. Maybe spray the shell with water now and then? I mention it only because it's a factor that can be easily overlooked. [Ah.] ...please don't actually bathe with your egg. The egg. Whatever.

[This is Dream Furry, not Shower With Your Furry Dad Simulator!!]

[gekkajuu]

[Everyone already hates Atsushi, it's all good.]

It was in my room; it's hard not to consider it mine. [HE IS. NOT THINKING OF IT LIKE THAT. Jeez, have you not seen the size of it?!] Until someone reclaims it, of course! That said, if they wanted to keep it, I don't see how they could simply abandon it like that...

And yes, I'll spray it from time to time! I just want to be careful not to cause any mold, or anything like that.

[rampager]

[Look, he just didn't want to accidentally invite any weird discourse about human biology!! Even Vorin knows that you hairless monkey-apes probably do the live birth thing.]

The odds of that are low. Abandoning a child.....well, even among my people, it's a decision that's rarely reversed. For all sorts of reasons. [He's not condoning the practice, exactly, just implying that sometimes it's a complicated thing. A grunt of acknowledgment as to his advice follows this, then he peers a little closer at the screen.] This happened on Thesa Station?

[gekkajuu]

[Atsushi doesn't really expect the egg's mom to come back, either, but... for the egg's sake, he wants to believe there is a chance.]

It did. I didn't even go back here until today - that is: yesterday - to help the people waking up.

I suppose the only thing I can do is wait for it to hatch, see what kind of bird comes out, and find a place for it accordingly.

[rampager]

The simulation exercises? I see.

[Same, bruh. But let's not talk about that, or people might think he's some kind of a softie.]

That's strange, though. If you were on Olympia, it could have been the work of a native. [Which would just raise so many other questions.] Perhaps someone there would be willing to take the youngling in?

[gekkajuu]

Someone suggested it might be the work of someone newly woken up, but that still doesn't explain why...

I hope so. I'll have to take it back there regardless. I only work on commission, but it would be bad to start slacking at the job already... I need to get back to Olympia for that if nothing else.

[rampager]

Mm...well, what matters now is that you have it.

[Hopefully someone will support you in raising this egg-child. Someone who isn't Dylas.]

You should decide on a name.

[gekkajuu]

[Now accepting applications for adoptive egg dads. Nags not welcome.]

A name..? But I don't even know what it is yet, let alone whether it's a boy or a girl. And what if we can't tell?

[Birds aren't always easy to sex!]

[rampager]

[slips in an application under the door....under the name nirov not-a-goat]

The child will have enough to struggle with as is once they're born. You can't just keep calling them an "it". [Like everyone in this bar has been doing this whole time....] Beasts have names that are neutral to such things. Maybe "Andor", or "Quilla".....

[Or Merk Jr.]

[gekkajuu]

[We are the egg moms who say ni(rov)!]

That's true... "They", it is.

Still, it doesn't feel right to pick a name without even seeing them.

[rampager]

It doesn't?

[??? Is this another weird human culture thing.]

[gekkajuu]

At this point, they might be a dragon as easily as they might be a bird, a boy as easily as a girl... Deciding on a name already feels like it ignores who they are.

[rampager]

"What" they are, you mean. My name has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a goat.

[Hm.]

Does your name have any special meaning?

[gekkajuu]

Hmm, it has meaning, but it wasn't especially chosen to suit me... Nakajima is "inner island" or "middle island", and in my case, Atsushi is written as "industrious, kindly".

I suppose names like that are more wishful thinking than a representation of reality.

[rampager]

...."written as"? I'm not sure I'm following.

[gekkajuu]

Ah, back home we had a different writing system than here... We used characters that usually only had one meaning, but many different readings. So they represented that meaning more than a sound. And the reverse applied as well: one sound, or collection of sounds, could be written in many different ways.

Atsushi could also be written as "pure", for example. [Like with a famous BL seiyuu.]

[rampager]

[Bliss would be so happy to have someone to talk linguistics shop with. But she's stuck in a stasis pod, asleep under glass, so...]

Ah! Now I understand. It's similar to my native language.....our writing represents ideas rather than sounds, as well.

[There's a key difference that he would love to mention, but canon never details what it is.]

[gekkajuu]

[Hopefully the lack of kana, because whoo boy, who needs three writing systems for one language...]

I see! That really does sound like the same basic principle.

Maybe I should name them after someone, but that feels strange when I don't know what they are, too.

[He is 100% going to waffle until the baby is born, and possibly even after that.]