[voice]

[imperial_ray]

-Yep. More crying.-

Oh my... A-ah... If I could only feed it, this wouldn't be such a problem! But they don't seem to be responding to anything! Oh dear... I need help!

-And to think, she's going to be a real mother someday...-

Comments

[imperial_ray]

Mm... Should I make us some food, then? We may be here awhile.

[reverentresistance]

I could help, if you wanted.

[imperial_ray]

Ah... One of us is going to need to hold the egg, Ky.

[reverentresistance]

It can't just be set down somewhere?

-Ky doesn't think it'll be likely to roll away.-

[imperial_ray]

No no, you must keep her warm.

[reverentresistance]

Oh. Does it have to be body heat, or we could get a blanket?

-She feels a little silly holding an egg, Dizzy.-

[imperial_ray]

Hmm... Oma used a blanket with me when I was really little, so maybe?

[reverentresistance]

We can try.

If it gets upset it seems as though it will tell us.

[imperial_ray]

Okay... I'll get a warm one from the closet.

[reverentresistance]

-Ky studies the crib and the expression on the egg's face as she waits.-

It just showed up?

[imperial_ray]

When I woke up, she was there.

[reverentresistance]

I hope that it didn't wake you up?

[imperial_ray]

She did, but it was okay...

... You really shouldn't call her an 'it', Ky.

[reverentresistance]

It's an egg, not a person, even if it cries, Dizzy.

[imperial_ray]

How do you know?

[reverentresistance]

Because it's acting in line with the Queen's other attempts to manipulate us into doing what she wants.

[imperial_ray]

That doesn't mean we get to be cruel to her.

[reverentresistance]

It's not being cruel if it doesn't truly have any sort of existence.

[imperial_ray]

-Something flashes in Dizzy's eyes... something distinctly darker.-

You've never been called an 'it' before. You don't know what it's like.

[reverentresistance]

...It's not the same situation, Dizzy.

You're a person.

-And it's an egg.-

[imperial_ray]

She has a personality. She has desires. She needs love and care. I'm not an 'it' and neither is she.

-Her hands clench, almost trembling as she turns her face downward.-

You don't get to just... arbitrarily decide what is or isn't a person...

[reverentresistance]

-It's not arbitrary if there's nothing to indicate the egg is feeling things beyond a drawn-on face and crying. And it's particularly suspicious when the desired effect is the same as what they experienced before.-

There is some cut-off, and I don't think it includes this egg. I don't know that I accept it's anything more than a magical artifact from the Queen that's pretending to feel!

[imperial_ray]

-Dizzy's lips quivered, and without thinking, her arms shoved forward, pushing Ky away.-

Get out.

[reverentresistance]

-Ky takes a few steps back quickly, she doesn't want to push -- not physically anyway -- and she's sorry for having upset Dizzy. But even if it were an option to leave, she wouldn't wish to leave things like this.-

I can't. I'm sorry.

But I can go in another room or just outside, if you'd prefer.

[imperial_ray]

I don't care... Just go away...