Day One Thousand Two Hundred And Six

Dear Diary,

As I might have mentioned, I have come to appreciate having competent life partners.

I think the two places where that's most pronounced are politics and diplomacy. Okay, they're the two places I recognize it the most, because I'd be both stupid and incorrect to say I don't appreciate Marie's Homemaking or Siobhan's Healing. Both of them make life so much better than it otherwise would be.

But here's the thing; I've learned how to help Marie out with some parts of her job, and I enjoy that. I've seen Siobhan do her job, and I realize that I would never really be any good at it, because it just does not fit my face.

But with politics, I've watched Saffron and Tallulah for a while now, and I think I could do that job almost entirely based on that old saw about diplomacy. Y'know, 'diplomacy is the fine art of treating your enemies like friends until it's true; politics is the opposite of that'. Because some part of me is pretty much terminally hypervigilant. I mean, I've learned to set it down in private, with my ladies and my kids, but it's never too far from the surface. Treating nominal allies like enemies because some part of me is sure they're gonna fuck me over at some point is just second nature. But I... Shit, that's not who I want to be. Whether or not I'd wind up fucking over somebody I shouldn't and making them an enemy, I would wind up seeing them do completely innocuous things that just rubbed me the wrong way and slotting them in the 'enemy' slot.

Meanwhile with diplomacy I'd just wind up inviting them to visit the Bedroom while they're planning to actually shiv me.

I mean, yeah, some of that is shit that isn't really who I am any more, because I don't have to be, and never really wanted to be. Other bits I'm not upset about, but I'm pretty sure they're not going to be effective against genuine bad faith actors.

So I'm glad I've got partners I trust to handle them for me, because that way I can focus on the things I do well, enjoy doing, and still like myself after doing. Or, well, half the time that last one is true, anyhow. The parenting part. The shit wrecking less so, but I can still tell myself it needs to be done. More importantly, I've got an increasing number of adult family to reassure me it does.

So yesterday Tallulah told me she had news for me. I almost figured she'd corner me the moment we all got home, but I'd forgotten how fundamentally Sidhe she is. Once everybody'd gotten their surgeon general's recommended dosage of familial affection, which varied from person to person, from pairing to pairing, we all settled in to eat.

Dinner was something I did not expect today, really. Burgers. Okay, technically grilled sandwiches, since not all of them were ground meat patties. Yes, I have opinions on what counts as a burger and what doesn't. I also think that as a subcategory of sandwich, burgers should be edible without making a mess of both hands, if you've got the oral nimbleness and manual dexterity for it. Both of which are equally important in the Bedroom, which means I can handle a pretty juicy loaded burger without a problem, and Marie could probably slot a sloppy joe into my burger definition. At any rate, she'd ground the beef and trimmed the chicken while I made the buns and the French fries, so hearing that sizzle and smelling the cooking burgers was kind of a surprise for me.

Dunno if homemade ketchup and mustard taste different or it's my taste buds, but they still do. Not bad, and not in any way worse, but still different. Weird thing to be even the slightest bit homesick for. Then again, might be some leftover sand in my Maw or some shit like that.

When we got up to the Bath, Marie wandered over to play with the kids while Siobhan, Cherry, and Giselle took turns nursing and playing with the three littlest. Shouldn't have been so stupid funny to see the kids trying to nurse from Cherry, or him surreptitiously tryna get them to latch on while pretending he's not all about that, but it was. Of course, now I want to maybe chivvy him to pass his Trials before Muiris is weaned, because then he could just Mimic Giselle or something.

Really funny how weird I found it the first few times, and how much I understand why he's missing it now.

At any rate, Saffron and Tallulah bracketed me, and before I could say anything Tallulah started in. "Are you both ready to hear my news of the Sidhe Courts?"

Saffron nodded and made an affirmative humming noise, and I said, "not sure, but I said after dinner, and dinner's done, so hit me with the news."

She paused a second, then said, "The Lord of Sun's Harbor has begun a campaign he thinks will earn him the Morrigan's throne."

"Uh... Does this relate to us?"

She rocked her head side to side. "He is using my nemesis' false charges against you as his primary weapon, or at least his opening move. Also, if she no longer holds the throne, she will no longer be protected by the Sidhe of the Courts the way she is now, so his success would make dealing with her that much easier. Although it will of course pit him against us in the long run, as meaningless as that will be."

I'd been gearing up to ask about other Courts and how we could help Sunny convince them, but that last drew a, "what?" out of me.

She rolled to face me, snugging herself against my side and laying her forearm between my breasts, her finger touching my chin. I felt Saffron's smile as she did, which is probably why I didn't respond while Tallulah explained, "when the time comes and our child is born, the throne will be hers, and any Sidhe who seek to bar her way will be as dust on the wind."

I winced. "Um... Maybe she could ask them nicely first?" Tallulah frowned. "I mean, I get it. Your Purpose. Not gonna try to argue with you about what you're tryna do, because I'm guessing that even though shit was awful, it was stable with The Morrigan on the throne?"

Saffron's fingers interlaced with Tallulah's as she mirrored her on my other side. "I've told you before, Elle, our Goof is smarter and more savvy than she appears, and far more of both than she allows herself to believe."

"Of course. Which only reinforces the fate of any foolish enough to stand in the way of our daughter."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, yeah, but here's the thing, somebody sitting in the chair between now and then is gonna be better than nobody, right?"

Tallulah rocked her head side to side. "I suppose. Depending on who it is."

"Okay, yeah, some people are just awful, but Sunny seems vaguely rational and smart, would he be better than nobody?"

That got me a little more thought from her before she nodded. "Yes," she answered, drawing the word out. "Sun's Harbor is historically conservative," if I winced at her use of the term, she didn't notice or didn't ask, "which means he won't seek to displace any other Lords save those who openly oppose him. Even those who oppose him indirectly, by refusing to support him, he would likely allow them to remain in their own Courts rather than disrupting those Courts."

"Okay, so, reactive?"

She nodded. "Not a terrible way to put it."

"So here's the thing; he's not a terrible temporary monarch, and it seems like a bad reward to ash him for keeping the seat warm for T Junior."

She made a face, but when she spoke it was only to say, "that is a terrible name."

Saffron and I both choked down laughter. "Yeah, uh, it's a placeholder. Kinda like Sunny, until something better comes along." Her booger look softened, and I decided to make my point clearer. "Also, I think we ought to teach our daughter to be a little less, I dunno, 'kill on sight'. Like, okay, she gets there and the only way to get him off the seat is a fight, okay, I guess, although that wouldn't be my first choice, but if she shows up and says 'you're in my seat' and he says, 'just keeping it warm for you, Highness', I don't think ashing him is the right move, do you?"

She pursed her lips, but nodded. Then looked at Saffron and said, "there is wisdom in your words, Imperator."

"Our Goof is in deed a Goddess of Wisdom, after all."

"Anybody else we should be worried about?"

Tallulah never took her eyes off Saffron, but as I heard that quiet murmur in the back of my brain said, "worried? No. And without a lesson in history and geography, I doubt you might follow the intricacies. Unless you'd like a lesson in history and geography now?"

I smiled and shrugged. "I mean, what else would we be doing?"

The next thing I knew, I looked up at the mirror above us to see us lying in the Bed in that same position. "Does this answer your question, love?"

Yeah, ladies in hazmat suits with long handled brooms pushing sand out of my Maw while watching the three of us on the big screen was not something I ever thought I'd dream about back in the day. Also never expected a mix of being mildly moral and nominally perceptive of political reality would substitute for high grade rizz. But here we are.

Today Furtim brought our girls to Troll Home for Math class today. Not the Troll girls, they were already there, but the rest of them. Apparently the Troll girls have opinions about the importance of mathematics, and want to make sure that all of their sisters understand.

Not sure whether they mean 'understand how important math is' or 'understand the math', but either way, they're all learning.

I mean, Ria and Maze aren't, not really, but with a class this size I need some Teacher's Assistants anyhow.