Chapter Text
The three royal children had been talking for quite a while, they had all begun experiencing strange things. Like the urge to nest, the eldest had become more territorial and a bit aggressive towards strangers, their sister was experiencing a heightening of her senses on overwhelming levels, the youngest was fine, but they were worried about their siblings.
‘Maybe we should just ask dad. This is obviously a wyrm thing, right?’ Ghost signed.
“Absolutely not!” Hornet snapped, she hadn’t meant to, and that just proved that Ghost was right. It would be better to know what was going on.
She did not want to talk to their father though, and no one could convince her to, except Ghost was giving her the puppy eyes.
“F-fine...we’ll talk to father.” she said
He didn’t leave home often, so he was very easy to find, plus he was literally in the next room, sitting on the couch reading a book.
Hollow walked in front of him and crouched down, ‘Father’ they signed, ‘Could you answer some questions for us please?’
He closed the book he’d been reading and set it aside, “Of course, what do you need to know?”
‘Could you teach us about… wyrm biology?’
“Oh.” He wasn’t surprised, he knew he’d have to explain eventually, “I’ll do my best, but i’m not certain how much of my genetics are being expressed in you three. Could you perhaps explain what you’re experiencing?”
Ghost climbed onto the couch and frantically signed, the wyrm had to ask them to slow down. ‘They’re both being mean to everyone!’
“Mean?”
‘Sister is yelling all the time and sib keeps hissing at people!’
He looked at the two elder siblings, then back at Ghost, “When they get near?”
‘Yes!’
“So, they’re becoming more territorial…” He looked at them, “Have either of you had a nesting season yet?”
The confused looks on his childrens’ faces was all the answer he needed.
“I...hm. I suppose you wouldn’t be old enough. Is it just territorial behavior and aggression?”
“No.” Hornet said, “Heightened senses as well, it feels like I'm seeing through multiple pairs of eyes.”
“Ah, yes, I know what that’s like.” Wyrm said, he could still remember the migraines it caused, “Well, since I now have a better idea of what you’re going through, I should explain. You may want to sit down for this.”
Hollow went to sit next to Ghost on the couch, causing their father to move over so they could all fit, Hornet preferred to stand.
“Alright, everyone listening?” He got nods, “good, this isn’t exactly easy to explain...how to start…” he thought for a moment, “Well, to begin, there’s no need to worry, what you’re experiencing is perfectly normal for wyrmlings. I honestly would’ve been more worried if you hadn’t become more territorial, and the heightening of your senses is normal as well. It marks the nearing of your first nesting season.”
“ Nesting season ?” Hornet asked, concern and scrutiny clear in her voice.
“The nesting season is not a mating season.” he reassured her, “Those happen at different times and will have different tells. The nesting season happens every few years, you’ll know when it starts due to an increase in appetite, urges to build a nest, extreme mood swings, and after a week or two of that you go into a six week hibernation. The mating season is similar, with appetite increase and a week long hibernation afterwards, the mating season itself lasts about 8 weeks… it happens every 10 or so years.”
Hornet gave a sigh of relief, “so..the nesting season...what should we expect with that?”
“It’s...different for everyone.” he started, “but..ha. I don’t usually remember much from my nestings, but Root once told me about a time when I had, apparently, taken to curling up in her roots and the train of her dress. I once woke up covered in moss, according to one of the retainers I had torn the pillows open to get to the stuffing…” He saw the looks on his childrens’ faces, “I’ve done some odd things, you’ll have to ask Root if you want more interesting stories…”
‘And the mating season?’ Hollow signed, this earned a surprised look from their father, and a hesitant and angered look from their sister.
“The mating season…” Wyrm said, “feels incredibly different. For more reason than one… Wyrms are naturally born intersex, so during the mating season our bodies often carry a clutch of unfirtileized eggs. I’m uncertain if this applies to you three though. But if you do begin going through this, I do have some tips to make it easier.”
“And...those are?” Hornet asked
“Don’t ignore your body. If you feel hungry, eat, if you're tired, sleep, if you need...company...then just allow it. Trying to ignore it just makes it worse, just makes the mating season last longer. I once ignored my hunger during a mating season, it did not go well. Nearly ate a retainer.” He laughed nervously, “And isolation doesn’t work either...tried that. Didn’t go well…”
“hm...and...What would happen if a mating season and nesting season somehow aligned?”
“Ah--” He started, thought, and answered, “Ha, I don’t know, that’s not something that's ever happened to me, and I've never heard about it happening to others… though I suppose it’s possible.” He just laughed, what a silly question, ah well. At least they’re curious. “Any who, there’s no need to worry. What you’re going through is perfectly normal.”
This put the children at ease, at least they knew nothing was wrong. After thanking him they went back to their day, leaving their father to chuckle about how silly it is that parents dread explaining such things.