Vignette: Tiny Nibling
#4 of Studies, Vignettes, & Scraps
Space goat-marsupials! With a tiny nibling (a gender-neutral portmanteau of sibling and niece/nephew)!
I decided to try my hand at a dialogue-only composition--881 words' worth. This experiment doubles as more world-building for my favorite goat-adjacent critters, the lyrrens, as well as a little bit of character-building for the dear Hrvalye Hederian and his mother.
This is Draft 1.5 or so. There will be no updates unless I decide to change the format to something like a stageplay. Or if I hate the canon I've made.
"This is an honor, Hrvalye."
"It is, mother, you're right, but I don't--I don't know if I'm the right choice. I'm busy at the labs, and when I go into immersion I'll be completely unavailable to the kid."
"You are the child's only uncle."
"Their only blood uncle. Ferrie is as good as a brother to Trvoll--and a better brother than me, frankly. This should be his honor. Don't look at me like that! I love Trvoll, but she and I just... we never got close. You know that."
"This is an opportunity for you to become closer. You won't be immersed forever, and Trvoll wants you to be a part of your nibling's life."
"And I will be! But I'll be cycling on and off for as long as my mind can take it. I can be a good uncle but I can't be a constant presence. And a pretyiel ought to be a constant presence, mother. That's Ferrie. Not me."
"Trvoll didn't choose Ferrellian. She chose you. She's not an idiot; she knows that you won't always be there. That's part of why she chose you. She wants you to bond with the baby. And even if you and she aren't close now, she wants to be close to you, Hrvalye. She adores you even if you don't adore her."
"I do adore her."
"Even still, this means a great deal to her. And I'm coming to you now because she is extremely nervous about asking you, and with damn good reason."
"It wouldn't be fair to the baby--"
"It will be fair enough, Hrvalye. Let Trvoll look after the child's welfare. You be a good sibling for her."
"I... when is she planning to ask?"
"Tonight."
"It has to be tonight?"
"She's working herself up to it. And she's been talking to me about it for days on end. Planning. Worrying. Don't ruin this moment."
"I need to think."
"Hrvalye, what has she ever asked of you?"
"...Nothing."
"She's your sister."
"She's my sister."
"You are her big brother. This is an opportunity for you to embrace that role."
"How long would I be... carrying my nibling?"
"It won't be long. Two weeks, give or take. Thank you, Hrvalye."
"Two weeks should be fine. And obviously Drender already knows about this? And is ready?"
"Obviously."
"Right. Obviously. So I would need to stay close to both of them, right? For pheromones? Are they already being produced?"
"You will, but the pheromones probably aren't strong enough yet to trigger you. Just spend some time with them with them tonight. Sleep in the same room. That should get the engine running, at least."
"And then just... bloop?"
"Then you spend a few days with them. Then your pouch should open up and the milk will come in--don't shudder like that."
"I'm sorry. It's just weird."
"There's nothing weird about it. Egh. You've become so absorbed in human culture that you've lost your lyrren perspective."
"That's a good thing, mother."
"Yes, but now you're acting like a teenager, and I don't know if you're taking this seriously."
"I'm sorry. This is serious. I'm serious. And I know it's natural. But it's always just seemed weird--really, mother, it has--since I was a kid."
"Fine."
"It makes sense that parents share the carrying and the feeding. But looping in a pibling makes it feel like... I don't know, like they're an intruder in an intimate relationship."
"Mhm..."
"It's not--it's not that I'm worried about intrusion for intrusion's sake. But when the kid is this young they're probably easy to care for--"
"--They're never easy to care for--"
"--relatively speaking--and Trvoll and Drender are sacrificing that time to me. I don't really deserve that."
"Trvoll thinks you do. And it will make her happy."
"What about Drender? Is he really on board with this? I've seen him, what, five times in my life? Six?"
"You can ask him and Trvoll yourself when she asks you to be her baby's first pretyiel."
"Oh--okay. So there will be others."
"Of course there will be others."
"Well, how am I supposed to know? How many _pretyiels_did I have? And my sisters?"
"Those were different times, Hrvalye."
"What? Our family is steeped in antiquated shit. ...Besides, I don't know anyone that's having kids right now; I don't know how people do things."
"I imagine all of the siblings and maybe siblings-in-law or friends will, but Trvoll and Drender haven't thought that far ahead. She just knows that there will be several."
"And she wants me to be the first."
"Yes."
"So... start the engine, wait a few days, hang out with Trvoll and Drender for a few days, pouch opens, milk flows, then bloop?"
"Yes. Then... bloop."
"And then I avoid them for two weeks."
"Correct. To help the bond."
"How big is my little nibling at this point?"
"This big."
"Huh... so no one will even be able to see a bump. Which makes sense, cause, Drender. Obviously."
"Someone might notice. You're thin. And the baby is growing quickly. And you'll be giving off some very new pheromones."
"It'll make for some fun office conversations, then."
"That's the spirit."
"Hooraaaaaaaay."
"Okay, shut up."