bout to get fruit punched

Firm, yet loving, was the type of mother Thalia aspired to be. She never wanted any of her children to doubt that she'd move mountains for them, but likewise she didn't want them to think she'd love them no matter what they did. Some things were unforgivable. They'd all learn that in time. It was hard not to feel a little softer than she usually would, though, as her small daughter tried to steady herself, licking blood from her lips.

"Everything is soft," she agreed gently. Lore wasn't wrong. Their bodies were temporary things, prone to injury- only in the afterlife would they become immune to all the dangers that lingered in this world. Thalia nodded slightly when Lore showed her tongue. "But some parts are even softer. Some parts of you help protect the really important things inside you. Your throat, and your belly, where your food goes in and moves through," she explained carefully.

Another nod was given to Lore's interpretation of setting her defenses. Good enough for now. "Very good. Now, you can't protect all of you at once, not unless you hide, and we as Abraxas do not hide," Thalia explained. "Sometimes you have to decide what parts of you need the most protecting. It's hard, but something you learn with time. If you find yourself on your back, for example, you'll want to keep your neck protected- it's an easy target if someone were to be on top of you."

As if to demonstrate, she closed the distance between them and gently nosed beneath Lore's chin. It was a difficult feat, to stress the importance of these lessons without being morbid, and Thalia hoped she wasn't spooking Lore too much.