i pray at the altar of naia every night before bed

"it's just a show about puppets, it can't hurt you!"

meanwhile, the show about puppets:

the future - stonegrot week day 7 🌼

"Mama? What are you doing?"

Deet glanced down at her son, silently gushing at his little gap toothed smile. "I'm working on a new sweater for you, sweetie." She held up a tangled ball of red yarn being held between two knitting needles, "Winter's just around the corner after all."

Jen watched astonished as the mesh of red slowly began to take shape into something resembling a collar, then a sleeve, and very soon another sleeve to join it. He toddled closer to the side of the bed, beckoning Deet to scoop him up so he could get a better look.

"Would you like to give it a go?"

His big blue eyes widened slightly. "Really mama? Can I?"

Deet smiled warmly. "Of course you can. It's your sweater after all - you should have a hand in making it too."

Slowly did she guide her little one to sit between her thighs, placing her hands atop his and working them through the motions until the individual crimson spools were being tightly fastened to one another. At some point, Deet began to sing to him. A gentle melody that spilled effortlessly from her lips and filled the once still and quiet of the bedroom. Jen flickered his tiny ears in delight, briefly letting his mother take over knitting as he sunk into her inviting warmth.

That's when the door creaked open and a pair of deep cobalt eyes greeted them affectionately.

"Should I just leave this and be on my way?" Rian chuckled, a playful lilt to his voice. He gestured with his head to the tray of tea and mini confections that Brea had dropped off from the Vapran marketplace. "You two seem pretty occupied with one another. Would hate to interrupt."

Deet rolled her eyes fondly, already making room for Rian on the bed. "Well you could, but then you'd be missing out on some wonderful cuddle time, and that sounds awfully dreadful doesn't it?"

The Stonewood laughed a little louder this time. "Oh absolutely, Deethra."

Kicking off his boots, Rian placed the tray on the nightstand and took his place at his wife's side, bending his head down to leave a quick peck on Jen's forehead. It was then that Deet decided the knitting could wait until later. She had promised cuddles, and both her boys looked in desperate need of them. Especially Rian, who seemed particularly weary after running his earlier errands.

"Settle in my dears...." she cooed, wrapping her arms around both of them. "We've got the rest of the day to do absolutely nothing at all...."

oop best girl alert 🤧💕

afternoon delight - stonegrot week day 2 🌼

Rian posed the question to Deet one evening while they were getting ready to retire to bed.

"So.... I don't suppose they have lakes and things like that down in Grot, do they?"

She had turned to him while in the middle of trying (and failing) to tame her unruly hair with a brush gifted to her by Brea from a name day past.

"Oh! Well, we do have underground lakes and aquifers, but they're mostly used for collecting drinking water and such. Us Grottans don't really do a lot of swimming, heh. Though it does sound like it'd be a lot of fun."

She tilted her head curiously. "Why do you ask Rian?"

At the time, he has only given her a cryptic response of "Oh, just curious...." and for the most part, she brushed it off as just that - curiosity. Well, it was partially true. Rian had been curious, and since getting his answer, he had put a plan into motion.

One that would hopefully put a smile on Deet's face.

After finding a day where neither was too busy with other responsibilities, he surprised her with an impromptu trip to a nearby lake that was overlooked by rolling green hills and wildflower beds as far as the eye could see. It was the perfect location for a brief afternoon getaway. Judging by the look on Deet's face as she took in the scenery around her, she felt the same way.

Rian felt a smile tug at his lips. He hadn't even told her about the picnic basket he had hidden away among the grove of trees that grew near the lakeshore yet, but decided to hold off on that particular surprise a bit longer. For the moment, he simply stood there and drank in the sight of her petite form standing amongst the tall flowers that grew to reach her hips.

"You look lovely today..."

Deet finally turned to meet his gaze, and seconds later a bright red blush sprung up on her green tinted cheeks.

"Thank you Rian. Hehe, you look quite lovely today too."

Rian laughed softly, not yet realizing a bit of red had surfaced on his face as well.

"Come, the day is young," he extended a hand for her to take, "let's enjoy it."

Deet smiled, carefully weaving through the flowers to lace her fingers with Rian's.

"Lead the way...." she poked his nose playfully, "skybaby."

kiss the girl - stonegrot week day 1 🌼

Taking extra care not to make any unnecessary creaks as he stepped in, Rian quietly entered his home through the rear entrance. In one hand was a bundle of brightly colored carnations, and in the other was a gurgling childling that he kept supported at the hip. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about him alerting Deet to their presence for Jen was quite the mellow little gelf.

"Alright Jen, just like father told you outside...." Rian spoke to him in a low tone as he carefully placed him down on the fur rug at their feet. He placed the bouquet in his chubby hands and pointed in the direction of the kitchen, where the sweet sound of his mate's lovely singing could be heard.

"Go give these to mama."

Jen let out a small chirp of understanding, moving towards the familiar lilt of his mother's voice while cradling the flowers to his chest with surprising gentleness.

At one point, he stopped just a few paces away from her, big blue eyes looking back at Rian inquisitively. He silently motioned him to keep going, his own eyes teeming with anticipation. Finally, Jen was right where he was supposed to be, tugging at his mother's skirts with the flowers where she could see them.

Deet was just in the middle of preparing her little family some early lunch, assuming the boys wouldn't be back for a little while longer. So it was only natural that she gasped softly in surprise when she happened to look down and spot her son practically glued to the wispy ends of her dress.

"Oh my goodness, what's all this?" she giggled, lifting Jen up into her arms and giving him a brief nuzzle before focusing on the large colorful petals threatening to to spill over from the parcel they were wrapped in. "Where did these come from little one?"

"We picked them this morning," Rian replied as he stepped out from his hiding spot, chuckling under his breath when Deet startled slightly at his sudden arrival. "Just for you dearest...."

"Oh Rian...."

With a smile that could outshine even the Three Brothers, Deet started to make her way over to her husband. Rian met her halfway, wrapping a strong arm around her waist and pulling her in for a smooch on the lips. He held it for a long moment, briefly perking his ears at the curious coos of his son before pulling away to whisper in her ear.

"Happy anniversary Deethra."