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Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 21, 2009 22:15:15 GMT -5
The whole ordeal had been fairly horrible. Not only had she gone into labor earlier than anticipated, but it had been decided that a cesarean section would have been the best course of action. Xiven was completely unaware of what had happened beyond her nearly tearing some innocent bystander's arm off and then everything promptly going black. Her eyes fluttered open, and she gave a small groan. Children. Why did she keep having them if they caused so much pain? She shifted on her bed as she blinked away the bleariness.
"Apocalypse?" she asked, looking around for the man. He had been there when her water had broken, and she hoped that he was still around. Or at least... someone. She wasn't in any condition to get up. When she saw his form through the curtains she tried to sit up straighter. She promptly gave up with a grumble. "Pale, where's Mephit?" |
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Post by Vyn on Sept 21, 2009 22:40:00 GMT -5
These last few days Mephit had been feeling... odd. Paranoia had always troubled her, but lately it was worse than usual and oddly oppressive. It was easy enough to manage, she just avoided people whenever possible. It was logical to just... avoid everyone, to whole up in her dungeon and just wait for it to pass. It gave her time to work, after all. When a visibly nervous servant popped her head in to mutter something about Xiven and cesarean, Mephit sent her scittering out of the room with a well-aimed glare. Damned servants. Returning to her work, however, seemed impossible. Her mind was whirling much too fast lately and she found herself struck with dizzy spells constantly. Groaning in renewed frustration, Mephit collapsed onto the work bench just in time for the spell to worsen. Her heart was hammering and, suits, she was sweating and trembling. A panic attack? Mephit had never had one, but this felt like the documented effects. Furiously she clutched her head, trying to block out the chaotic rush of thoughts and anxiety, unaware that she was starting to hyperventilate until she finally noticed her vision blacking out, but by then it was too late. The last thing she recalled before the darkness swallowed her up was a less than graceful fall from her bench. That was going to hurt when she came to. |
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 21, 2009 22:48:47 GMT -5
Apocalypse was twitchy. He hadn't been expecting Xiven's water to break as it did, and he felt like he must have been at least as shocked as she was about it. He'd scooped her into his arms and rushed her to the medical wing, calling for Temmin, his world dissolving into a blind panic as memories of his own pregnancy plagued his mind. It was probably a good thing that they'd forced him out of the room while they operated. He hadn't thought so, of course, and had spent the time waiting. He sat down. He stood up. He paced. He laid on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He bit his nails. He bit his lip. Once, he bit the nurse, when she'd passed by too closely and her tail had waved in his face. She'd thought he was asleep. That was almost amusing, until the panic over Xiven's condition set back in and he'd shooed her away, telling her that sometimes a bite was just a bite. He got angry. Were was Mephit? He'd sent someone down hours ago, it felt like, and she still wasn't here. He wanted to be angry with the Doe, but he just couldn't manage it. Maybe something critical had come up? As long as one of Xiven's Kings was with her when she woke up, it would be okay. The man leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to keep his calm. He must have drifted off, because he woke with a start to the sound of a quiet voice. He sat forward with a jolt, tossing aside the weariness of sleep and slipping behind the curtain. He felt a swelling of emotion when he looked at Xiven, biting his lower lip. " Hey, lover..." he said as he walked to her side, smoothing her hair aside and kissing her forehead. " How are you feeling?" Of course, she wanted to know where the woman responsible for her condition was. Apocalypse felt the Angry again, but he swallowed it, forcing a smile to his lips. " I'm.. not sure, but I can go get her, if you want." |
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Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 21, 2009 22:59:31 GMT -5
At his question she whimpered reaching up to pull him closer. She felt miserable, and probably looked it.
Her ears pressed against her skull as he responded. She took note of the way he looked. She frowned, and twitched a bit as she tried to shift again. No. That hurt. Try again.
She made a frustrated noise. "I'm going to kick her ass," she commented as she ultimately gave up on sitting up at all. Natural birth had hurt enough, and this? The aftermath really did suck.
And honestly she didn't want the man to leave. She frowned. Mephit should be here though. She needed to be here. "Before you go... what happened? Did everything go all right? All I really remember is nearly taking off someone's arm." Hopefully if she did manage to ever have Pale's children she'd be a bit better at this. She doubted it though.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 21, 2009 23:12:25 GMT -5
When Xiven tried to scoot forward, Apocalypse lightly pushed her back down, shaking his head slowly and closing his eyes. He'd been through this one before, and he was much better at dealing with pain than she was. "Just rest, love," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone, kneeling beside her bed and resting his folded arms on the covers. One hand found hers, and he squeezed it gently before bringing it to his lips, brushing them softly across her knuckles. "And leave asskicking to me. I'll be a good judge if her excuse for not being here is good enough. You need to take it easy for a bit. Don't be a moron who rips her stitches like me."
He was angry, wasn't he? It kept surging forward. He should have been the father to these children. He adored Mephit, in truth, but he couldn't help the possessive jealousy he felt in regards to Xiven. He'd wanted a family with the Queen. Instead, he got Linnea, and Xiven got knocked up by someone else.
Someone who wasn't even there.
"Don't sweat the small stuff," he said with a wide grin. That had been entertaining, to be certain. "She's fine. As far as they've told me, the operation went without a hitch. You're a real trooper. Give me a minute or two, and I'll be back with Mephit." he kissed her hand again, standing slowly and giving her an almost soft smile before leaving the room.
The second he was out the door, the smile was gone. By the time he was making his way into the dungeon, a sneer had made its way onto his face. He understood some things, but this was unbelievable. Where was the Doe? "Mephit," he called out, lips pulled back to expose his teeth. He glanced around the room, looking for any sign of the woman. There was nothing. His brows furrowed slightly, his lips relaxing into a much more normal expression. "...Mephit?"
Something caught his eye. That was when he noticed the prone form of the woman, laying on the floor, looking as if she'd collapsed.
Panic gripped the man, and he rushed to her side, gently lifting her head. "Mephit, wake up," he said, giving her a light shake, glancing around the room. There was a faucet in one corner that was useful when the floor needed to be washed. If the shaking wasn't enough to wake her, he'd get some cold water to use instead. What the hell was wrong with her? The only color on her body was gone, replaced with a strange, dead-looking gray. "Fuck. C'mon, Mephit."
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Post by Vyn on Sept 21, 2009 23:21:54 GMT -5
Wrong.
Everything was wrong.
The moment the darkness fell away Mephit knew it. Even before her eyes open or she found the will to move, she knew something was wrong. Not something, everything. Everything was gone. The doe twitched and was greeted with an odd sort of pain she'd never felt before. Her back was tense, her ears hurt...
Someone was shaking her.
The doe hissed suddenly, yanking violently away from Pale as her eyes opened, the orbs themselves shockingly blue in the absence of her tree, and panic filled her again. Why was he touching her? Why was she on the floor? Why... Why was everything hazing and confusing and wrong. The tautness of her dead tree filled her with agony, almost caused her to cry out but she kept her mouth clamped shut.
"Apocalypse..." The doe was shaking, eyes darting around as she tried to recollect her memories. ...What was that junk on the table??? What had she been working on? They weren't poison, she couldn't remember any of the concoctions. She withdrew a couple of steps, looking for the mirror. "What happened... to my secret?" That was it. That was it, she couldn't remember her secret. Nothing... It was just, gone.
Down her back the withered grey tree burned with the ferocity of it's absence.
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Post by Kari Muffin on Sept 21, 2009 23:32:56 GMT -5
She made a rather pitiful sound as she was pushed back. She didn't protest any further. He was more than a little right. Xiven gave a small nod in confirmation.
When she was alone she whimpered, tears threatening to slip out of the corners of her eyes. She should be happy about everything, and yet why did she still feel so awful about all of this? The woman shrugged everything off as she closed her eyes. Mephit would be here soon, and she could see the babies.
But.... it seemed like it was taking a while. She stared up at the ceiling. Maybe she was being impatient?
It was taking a while....
A nurse finally popped in, a rather cheerful woman. She seemed to be thrilled at the idea of bringing the babies in, even if Xiven wasn't in any condition to sit up at the moment. But perhaps that was a good thing. Because the children would certainly give her one hell of a shock when she did see them.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 21, 2009 23:39:50 GMT -5
When was she going to wake up? He could tell that she was alive by the slow rise and fall of her chest, but he simply couldn't comprehend the rest of her condition. Her tree. What was wrong with it? He used to lay beside her after she was finished with whatever it was she was doing and trace his fingers across its delicate patterns. He'd never told her, never told anyone, but he'd loved it, all that bright color against her ebony fur. It was striking and beautiful.
It looked as if it had been burned, the trunk gone gray and crackled. Before he could properly react, however, the woman jolted alert, prying herself from his arms.
Even her eyes had changed. He blinked in confusion, watching her writhe, and reached out to her, his fingers pausing in mid-air. "Mephit, please calm down. I don't know what happened. I came down to tell you that Xiven's awake, and..." what was she saying? Her secret? He didn't know a lot about Avingtons, beyond the well-known fact that their tree had something to do with it. "I don't know. Your back doesn't look... good, though. Come on. We should get you to a doctor. You might have a concussion."
Was that possible? Could an Avington stumble and fall, losing a part of their memory and their secret with it? It didn't seem likely, but it was all he could think of.
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Post by Vyn on Sept 21, 2009 23:53:31 GMT -5
Mephit wanted to scream.
Everything was wrong. She trembled, staring at the mirror and the alien that was her own skin. She couldn't remember anything. Even past her secret, the past was hazy. She could remember enough to know that she had a wonderful memory which made it even more infuriating.
Why was she even here? She hated politics, worthless... but she was here and she was attached to these people. Apocalypse, Xiven... she was a father wasn't she?! The doe's brows furrowed and she shook her head repeatedly, barely acknowledging Pale. "Everything's wrong..." The doe swallowed once, twice... Tried to clear her head. "Everything..." Her head was a mess of chaos, she was a muck with emotions she didn't understand... and what in the name of the suits had she been working on??? The vials were full of variously colored chemicals, but the look of them annoyed her. They cluttered her table...
Apocalypse. She focused her attention on the pale human and felt her heart wrench with confusion. All of her emotions felt so strong, as if she'd never learned to buffer them properly, but she kept herself from letting them spill over and out of her mouth. The pain of moving helped distract her from that.
Pain. Doctor. Shit, Xiven?
The doe rubbed her head, groaning at the sheer confusion of it all. "Fine, yes... Doctor... We should go there. What about Xiven, is she alright? The children?" There, that was better... More normal, right? Why couldn't she remember who she was?
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Sept 22, 2009 0:03:28 GMT -5
The pale man was at a complete loss.
The person sitting in front of him didn't even look like Mephitista anymore. Without her vividly colored eyes, the twining cyan tree, the sneer to her lips, it was as if he was sitting beside a complete stranger. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he couldn't. It felt wrong to do so, especially when she seemed to be so confused herself.
What had happened to her? He didn't understand, didn't know what to say, didn't know if there was anything to say. It was one of the many situations in which the weapon found himself groping for invisible straws, feelings that someone with a normal life and normal upbringing might had seen as clearly as day. Or not. It was a bizarre situation, and the man had always felt horribly lacking when it came to intuitions about Mephit's mind, what she would like and dislike.
So he simply waited, letting her come out of the strange haze on her own. Her next statement was more hopeful. "Right," he said, reaching out to her, carefully helping her to her feet. If she needed it, he walked beside her, offering her an arm, a shoulder, anything, as they made their way back to the medical wing. "Don't know about the kids. Xiven's fine. Pissed that you weren't there when she woke up, but she'll get over it. Don't worry about her right now, we've gotta get you checked out." Worry shone bright in his expression.
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