family picnic

Seeing her two favorite - well, three favorite, counting her son - males together warmed her heart. Eris lifted her head to watch Sota approach and returned his smile, although her smile was smaller and looked a touch worried. There was always an air of worry about her now. The distant look in her eyes that always colored her expressions with concern never faded. Nuzzling Casper and encouraging him to come along with her, she approached the pair of them. After looking between them for a long period of time, from Oxide to Sota and back again, she opened her mouth a crack. At first nothing came out. She coughed and cleared her throat, trying to find her words again. They had been buried so deeply and for so long. "H..." It was a start. "Hello." She looked at the pair of them, her eyes almost liquid with emotion. It threatened to spill over. Eris was consumed with the great love that she felt for all of them. The Ademre, her people, and this smaller, chosen family. "I'm," she croaked and cleared her throat, "I'm glad you're still here," she said to Sota, then turned to Oxide and gave him the gentlest of touches on the cheek. He already knew that she was perennially glad for his presence. That would never change.