The Dolorosa was completely confused by her wards. At one point, she'd been convinced that they'd had red crushes on each other, and she would have willingly blessed whatever relationship might have come from that.

That had been almost four perigrees ago. Since then, they'd gone through phases similar to quadrant swapping but more intense. They teased each other mercilessly, provided emotional support, kept the other in check, and went out of their ways to show affection for each other.

The Dolorosa finished ticking off their most recent attitudes towards each other on her fingers, and she sighed, frowning. That just didn't add up. That included all four quadrants, and quadrant flipping normally referred to the concupiscent quadrants, not the others.

Chewing her lower lip, she examined her wards. Meulin was teaching Kankri a game with dice that she'd undoubtedly picked up from the bar they'd visited yesterday (the Dolorosa regretted telling them they had an hour to themselves; Meulin had learned much more than she would've expected). Kankri was frowning, but he obediently flicked the dice. Whatever happened, he must've done horribly, because Meulin let out a shout of laughter and jabbed her elbow into his ribs, teasing him.

Kankri flushed bright red and snapped back, but that only made her laugh harder. The Dolorosa sighed, her lips quirking into a smile. Whatever their relationship was, they were happy, and so she would be happy as well.

Deciding not to worry about it, the Dolorosa pushed the matter to the back of her mind. She would wait until they brought it up.

In the end, it was Kankri who finally gave her the chance to really talk about it. Meulin had gone off hunting, and, as it would normally take her a couple hours, it was left to the Dolorosa and Kankri to set up camp. Kankri and Meulin were still adolescents at that point, although they were old enough to be bouncing titles off one another to see how they sounded. Kankri, after he'd finished cutting wood, sort of awkwardly asked, "Do you want help with that?"

The Dolorosa looked at him, startled. As she normally did at the end of the week, she was repairing their clothes, stitching together the rips and tears. Due to the very nature of their existence, their clothes required repairs more often than they didn't. Her son, as much as she adored him, literally couldn't sew to save his own life. Sensing that he had something in his mind and knowing that he'd get there eventually, the jadeblood nodded. "Why not? See if you can do this; Meulin ripped her skirt again." She handed him what she'd been working on and grabbed one of her own shirts, which had gotten stabbed full of holes when she'd accidentally stumbled into a thorny bush when searching for berries a couple days before.

Kankri was silent for a while, struggling with the needle and thread, brow furrowed in concentration. The Dolorosa was content to work in silence, although she listened when he finally began to speak. Awkwardly, he asked, "Do you ever get sick of seeing?"

Kankri was so clearly distracted that the jadeblood couldn't help laughing a little. He looked up, abashed.

"I meant sewing!"

Still laughing, the Dolorosa said warmly, "I know, dear. The answer is no to both, but you already knew that."

Kankri changed the subject, obviously unable to think of a comeback. "It's a nice night."

The Dolorosa nodded. "Meulin should be coming back soon. I hope we'll have enough time to cook and clean before the sun rises."

Reminded that Meulin would be returning soon, Kankri bit his lip. Ah. So there was the source of the problem.

She put down her needle and thread and asked, "Is there something on your mind?"

He looked at her, chagrined. "Was it that obvious?"

"Just a little," she said wryly.

Kankri sighed and put down Meulin's skirt. "I just—" He shook his head. "I don't know." The Dolorosa waited. "It's Meulin," he whispered finally.

The Dolorosa couldn't help it; her grin widened. "What about her?"

Kankri looked up helplessly. "She confuses me! Sometimes I think she's interested in a proper flushed relationship with me but most of the time she just keeps sending me mixed signals." He shrugged, frowning. "When you were in the brooding caverns, did you ever get this confused by somebody?"

Taken aback, both by the question and the revelation that Kankri was just as confused as she was, the Dolorosa shook her head. "I— no. I never really had any real relationships, and only dabbled briefly in the conciliatory quadrants."

Kankri sighed. "Why is she so confusing?"

As she'd been considered the neighborhood expert in auspisticism back before she'd been brought to the brooding caverns, the Dolorosa was able to reply immediately. "How do you feel about her?"

Kankri opened his mouth and then closed it. Slightly sheepishly, he admitted, "I don't know?" He thought briefly and then added, "I mean, I know for sure that I love her. But my blood-pumper can't seem to decide on one quadrant?" He looked briefly afraid. "What if she thinks I'm being greedy, trying to drag her into every quadrant with me?"

The Dolorosa reached out and stroked his hair. No matter how old he would get, he would still lean into her touch. "Meulin is an outspoken girl, Kankri. If she's uncomfortable with your advances, it's likely she'll tell you outright."

Kankri sighed, playing with his sleeves. "Maybe I should just try to pick a quadrant and be done with it? Is this type of vacillation normal?"

"Not at all," the Dolorosa said mildly. Something struck her as she pulled her fingers from her son's hair. Almost to herself, she mused, "I suppose it's natural that your love wouldn't follow the quadrants as neatly as others; your upbringing was hardly normal."

"I'd prefer this upbringing over having a proper lusus," Kankri said immediately, eyes glowing with sincerity.

The Dolorosa's heart warmed at his words, and she leaned forwards to kiss his forehead. He flushed and leaned a little away, which made her laugh. "If I have to guess," she said finally, "I'd say you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Meulin. I believe you were the first to send her conflicting signals, and she's simply responded likewise, if with a bit more vigor."

Kankri nibbled his lower lip. "Do you think she'd still agree to date me, even if we're not in a proper quadrant?"

The Dolorosa shrugged. "That's her decision, although you'll never know until you ask." She had known that they would start dating eventually, and found now that she really didn't mind, especially as they were interested in each other.

Kankri asked, "Mama, do you think Meu—" He was interrupted when Meulin herself came crashing through the bushes, dragging a musclebeast behind her.

"I'm back!" she announced, flashing a smile, "And I'm starving."

Face bright red, Kankri leaped to his feet. "R-right." The Dolorosa shook her head and stood to help as well, a slight smile on her lips.

Several weeks later, Meulin approached her with the same dilemma. Unlike Kankri, she wasted no time bandying about or trying to figure out how to word things. She more or less ordered Kankri to go fishing by himself and then sat herself down besides the Dolorosa. Bluntly and without and shyness, she said, "Mama-Porrim, I'm going to ask your fluff-headed son to date me."

Shocked, the Dolorosa only said, "Okay."

Meulin's lips quirked into an open grin and she giggled a little. "Sorry, that was a little rude. But I really am, because he's either too shy to ask me first or he's just too dense to realize I'm flirting with him."

The Dolorosa was unable to resist smiling — again. Who cared what quadrant her wards were in; they were adorable either way. "It's probably a little of both." Meulin shrugged and nibbled on something leftover from lunch. When she didn't say anything else, the Dolorosa prodded, "Were you going to ask what quadrant you two are in?"

Meulin blinked in surprise. "Huh? No. Why would I do that?"

She never failed to surprise. The Dolorosa admitted, "I'm not sure. I just assumed, because you both flirt with each other in all four quadrants."

Meulin shrugged. "I don't care about that," she said firmly, "Kanny might, because he overthinks things. But he's just silly. I don't care what quadrant we're in. I don't care if we're even in a quadrant. After all, it's just love, right?" Her olive eyes were bright, and it was clear that she'd put a considerable amount of thought into this. "And love beyond the quadrants sounds so romantic anyways. But there's no way that Kankri would ever love or hate like other trolls. I mean, he was raised on a love that can't be classified into any of the quadrants, right?"

The Dolorosa pulled the stick that the oliveblood was now chewing on away from her. "I suppose."

Meulin shoved her surrogate mother's shoulder. "Porrim!" she exclaimed, "We both know how awkward it gets when strangers ask what quadrant you and Kanny are in; love beyond the quadrants isn't exactly a new concept." She picked up another stick and stuck it into her mouth. "Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I was going to ask him out."

The Dolorosa took that stick, too. "Go ahead, dear."

Meulin giggled, shoulders falling back and relaxing. "Thanks, Mama-Porrim."

In the end, it was Meulin who finally made her and Kankri's relationship official. The redblood nearly cried with relief when he learned that she couldn't care less about the quadrants while Meulin teased him good naturedly. The Dolorosa watched them from afar, a bittersweet smile on her lips, but she gave them their space. They were her children, yes, but it was time they grew up.