The Midnight Sun

The twins giggle into their milk.

"Vampires don't poop? That's funny."

Who would have guessed?

Learn something new every day, I guess.

I wonder what they do with all the extra time not spent pooping.

Probably reading books on how to make babies.

That's just her.

Oh yeah.

They sip their milk, then turn to Skarlet again.

"What will you feed the baby? Babies are supposed to drink milk.."

The twins giggle once more as she adjusts her clothes.

I wonder if she has any spare pairs of ears.

I dunno. Probably?

I'm sure she needs them for work, though.

Ah well.

They sip their milk, nodding thoughtfully.

"We're not sure babies are supposed to drink cow milk, Miss Skarlet. Didn't Madame Naoki tell you that?"

"Really?"

The twins giggle again, watching Skarlet.

She doesn't know where milk comes from?

This should be fun.

Let's go to Madame Naoki and ask her. I want to see her squirm.

May as well, since we're not allowed to stab her or anything like that.

"We don't know where they're supposed to get milk. Let's go see Madame Naoki, she'll tell us!"

They stand to either side of Skarlet and each take one of her hands. Gripping firmly, they lead her up to Naoki's office.

"Madame Naoki! Miss Skarlet has a question for you!"

As they wait, they both look up at the tall and busty vampire.

"How much work is it to wear that, really? It doesn't look like very much, so it can't be that heavy..."

(I am branching Takhana's timeline to further this particular quest arc, as it takes place post-employment acceptance.)




Takhana had just sat down to a pleasant cup of tea when her keen ears caught a voice above the crowd. While it initially didn't hold much interest, hearing her friend and coworker's name spoken in such a tone of near-frantic urgency quickly drew the Seer's curiosity. Lowering her cup back to its saucer, she turned her head and fixed her non-sight upon the man who had spoken Alden's name. His aura positively glowed with emotions; worry, panic, and fear, just to name a few. But she could also tell that this fellow was normally quite stoic and assured of himself, even if that was overlaid by his current tumultuous set of emotions; he didn't seem the type to seek out Alden over something small. This was enough to drive the tall Elf to her feet, and she made her way across the room with careful ease, to come up behind @kematiansahar and speak softly.

"Alden isn't in the building right now, my good sir, but I do know where you can find him. If the situation is dire, I can provide you with the location of his home." Yes, she wanted confirmation that the problem was as important as it seemed, but it was clear from the tone of her voice and her sympathetic expression that she would probably help him either way.

Some time after Thorok’s departure, a new set of interruptions knock on Naoki’s door. After a short delay, it swings inward on creaking hinges, revealing yet again the form of Madame Naoki herself. Her desk is still piled high with books and documents pertaining to tomorrow’s trip, and her hair is done up into a small, spiral sort of bun on the back of her head. This configuration draws to attention to the lack of ears on the sides of her head- she’s found that some find it unsettling. It isn’t so much the addition of non-human body parts, but the absence of such a common one. Regardless, Naoki is past caring at this point; she has no appointments scheduled right now, any visitors are invited, and will have to deal with her appearance as it is.

The first person she sees as the door opens is Skarlet, there in her outfit. Naoki begins to smile, but also pans her gaze downward, and sees the twins. She stops smiling, instead choosing to nod at the group of them. She beckons inside, and gestures to the guest chairs, which have been returned to their original positions.

“Girls. Come in, what can I do for you?”

As Skarlet poses her question, Naoki’s face develops an expression of mild exasperation tinged with disappointment. She sighs, and shakes her head slightly. Skarlet really does not know this sort of thing. But she can’t be blamed for it, Naoki supposes.

“I really am going to have to educate you properly, aren’t I. Come on in, then.”

Naoki beckons inward once again, and takes her own seat across the desk. She placed a bookmark in the tome currently occupying the forefront of her workspace, and moves it to one side. Assuming that Skarlet sits, Naoki leans back in her chair, planting her feet up on one corner of the desk, and begins her explanation.

“To answer your question simply, milk of the sort that human infants drink comes from the mother’s breasts. However, let me give you a bit of context to explain that answer. First of all, this following information only pertains to mammals, as they are regularly understood. That means… things that have hair, and breasts. Creatures like you and me, but also things like cows, and… bears… and cats and dogs and horses and such. Not fish, not birds, not reptiles, not undead, nor animated skeletons or dragons or any of that nonsense.”

“Creatures that are mammals give birth to their young, in a manner that is, generally speaking, essentially the same as the human reproductive system we discussed previously, with the eggs and all that. You figure, after that, once the infant is born, it falls to the mother to provide for the infant until it is capable of operating and sustaining itself autonomously. That means feeding it, taking care of it, protecting it from danger, and generally taking steps to ensure the child survives until adulthood. … Hmm. Have you ever seen a newborn child, Skarlet?”

As Naoki poses her question, she raises one eyebrow in Skarlet’s direction. It’s entirely possible that Skarlet may not have ever seen a newborn child.

“Hm. Well, you’re not missing much, but you should probably refer to a book or go find one to have a look at later. However, for the purposes of our discussion, imagine a little person… at birth, human babies usually tend to range between two and a half kilograms to four and a half kilograms. Little, tiny things, maybe…”

Naoki flattens her hands and holds them out to indicate a distance of about forty centimeters.

“This big, though they vary in size some. Not very large at all. Also not very strong, or capable of doing anything much at all by themselves. This early on in development, the infant’s body- brain and all, is still growing at an incredible pace, but doesn’t yet have the capacity to do really much of anything. They have to be, as the term has been named, babied. To be cared for, treated, pampered. In almost all scenarios, the responsibility for caring for the child goes to the mother. In some cases, the father may take a large role, and midwives are a thing that exist, but generally speaking, it’s up to the mother.”

“To return to your question, as I stated, one of the responsibilities of the mother is to feed the child. At this point, the infant’s mouth and digestive system are not capable of processing solid foods at all. They don’t even have teeth yet, those come in later. They cannot chew or digest anything that isn’t a liquid. And, on top of that, there are only a small handful of liquids that are nutritious enough to sustain the rapid development of a newborn child, and all but one of them can be mixed by Kevin. That one remaining liquid that Kevin cannot create is breast milk. You see, one of the changes that occurs in a mother’s body during the process of pregnancy and childbirth is lactation. Lactation means, essentially, to secrete milk, and… well, women do that.”

“You figure, the nipples, the little raised bits on one’s breasts...” She indicates by tapping her fingers on the front of her sweater. “They secrete milk following childbirth. The idea then is to hold the infant sort of like this… and they go ahead and suck it out.” She continues to pantomime, holding one arm in the other and mimicking the clamping lips of an infant with two fingers.

“The mother’s milk is the infant’s single source of nutrition for about the first six months after birth. Past that point, through a process known as weaning, the mother then begins to supplement the child’s diet with other things. Usually mashed fruits and vegetables, things that are runny and liquid. At this point, though the child’s digestive system is advanced enough to handle some things other than breast milk, it still has a hard time with some things, and feeding the baby the wrong thing at this point will at least end with a very upset stomach, and at worst leave the child with a serious health issue. One must be very, very careful with young children, in matters of food, and in all other respects. One mistake or show of neglect may evolve into a very serious problem, and endanger the life of the child. Unfortunately, due to this massive vulnerability in the early stages of life, a depressingly large number of human children do not reach adulthood.”

Here, Naoki pauses for a moment, closing her eyes apparently in mourning, before continuing.

“But I digress. Human children drink from their mother’s breasts for the first half year or so after being born, before gradually switching to other sorts of food, and eventually becoming able to consume the regular sorts of things humans tend to. The process of female lactation is almost always related to pregnancy, though it can be induced with some manners of drugs, and is sometimes seen in adoptive mothers. Most probably something to do with feelings, I imagine. Other sorts of mammals also use this same process, and it is through the efforts of ranchers milking their livestock, notably cows, goats, and sheep, that we get milk to drink. I really don't know how you even intend on having a child in the first place, if you'd begin to lactate, or if the vampire children would need blood, so I can't help you much there, but does that adequately answer your question?”

Naoki fixes Skarlet with another look and raised eyebrow, still leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Good, that’s the goal. In lieu of any of that, it’s still my job to educate you on how to function and be capable in today’s world. To that end, I’d like to start having regular sessions with you, wherein I set aside some time, perhaps a couple hours each week, most days of the week, to meet with and educate you. There are still an awful lot of things you don’t know about the world, and I feel obligated to help you alleviate that issue personally. I’ll have a look at my schedule and get back you about it later, but unless you’re terribly opposed to the idea, we should start doing that soon. I suggest considering what sorts of things you might like to learn about first, we can tailor your lessons to suit your interests. ”

Removing her legs from the desktop, Naoki stands from her seat, slides the book back before her, and moves to open the door so that Skarlet and The Twins may exit.

“With that said, however, I’m currently preparing for tomorrow’s trip. We’ll speak about this later, but for the time being, I need to get back to it.”

With a wave of her arm, she indicates the hallway. Leaving the arm outstretched, she also extends the other in a suggested stance for a hug as Skarlet presumably stands to exit.