Not The News I'd Hoped to Share [End]

[carcinoGeneticist]

There was a part of him that was disappointed by Zuberi's answer, of course, but he understood. He also felt - for the most part - somewhat relieved by it. He'd been on his feet for far too long, his arms and legs were beginning to protest every little movement, his hand was throbbing, his ribs ached... Then there was the general feeling of unrest that permeated the air now that he was back at the Court. That just filled him with emotional pain, though.

That he could swallow, at least for now.

So he simply smiled at Zuberi, nodding. "That's fine. I'm sure that someone can think of some important thing that I needed to do three days ago yesterday. Seems like that's how things go around here." He wasn't sure what else he could say or do. Would she want him to touch her somehow? She hadn't seemed to mind terribly before, but now... There was an exhaustion that filled the air around her that he hadn't noticed before, and he sensed he should just leave. When she stepped close to him and leaned forward, he was caught somewhat by surprise, but that didn't stop him from slouching so that she could easily reach his face.

It turned out his lips were the least bruised part, and so he pressed them softly against hers. He wanted to touch her face, but with his hands... He'd wait on that, give her some time to adjust. "Baths are more fun when I'm sharing the tub with you, but I'll manage fine." He said in a teasing voice, a small smile crossing his face. "Get good rest, tomorrow might be busy. I'll come and find you for breakfast." With that, he leaned in again and kissed her forehead before slipping out of the room. Once he was out of sight, he grunted softly and then limped back to his own room.

---

The next day was busy. Apocalypse did come early in the morning bearing a cart laden with all sorts of breakfast foods. Then, as soon as she was fed, he led her to Heilyn's room and then to the nursery to finally meet the infants she was here to help care for. He excused himself partway through to attend to a meeting, figuring the woman would want some time alone with all that was left of Seth's legacy.

It was amazing how time could crawl on when one didn't give a shit and had something they would rather be doing, but Apocalypse finished the hearing and everyone seemed pleased by the time he left. He couldn't consider that now. Instead, he hurried back to the nursery as fast as his tired and aching limbs would allow. A soft knock at the door would warn the woman that he was back before he slipped the door open. "Zuberi?"

[Nako]

Zuberi couldn't help but blush when the man angled in his head craftily to catch a kiss from her lips. It wasn't the goodnight kiss she'd intended, but at the same time she couldn't help but smile with something with a more genuine happiness than had been there before.

And finally, when the man retired for the night, Zuberi was finally able to cry in peace.

-------------------

She'd actually been almost fearful when she woke up, forgetting where she was or what she was doing there. When Pale walked into the room with food, it came back to her in one heavy dose.

But not even grief can stifle a pregnant woman's appetite.

Heilyn.. she looked a mess, she really did. She'd only gotten to see the woman briefly, as the woman was doing paperwork at her desk. She knew she was going into the right room when she heard infants -screaming-.

When Apocalypse excused himself, Zuberi turned around and stared at his retreating back with a look of panic that the man never saw. Every baby was upset... and many of them smelled like they were in dire need of changing. Fuuun...

Zuberi didn't have -time- to look at the children and really appreciate them; she had to move to each one, frantically picking them up and assessing what they needed.

Diapers.... -fur-..... So many children had to have -baths- because of that fact alone. She was sure there was a layer of baby powder up her nose, but then again that might have helped with the diaper smells... and to top it all off, the baby human girl had a rash on her bottom and she had to find the salve for it.

Finally though... oh -finally-, the crying stopped and Zuberi found herself sitting down with a finicky human baby girl spread across her huge belly, and another on the crook of her arm. She wasn't even sure which one it was; it was just one of them that wouldn't stop -crying-. But now they were quiet.. and Zuberi found her eyelids growing heavy. Yawning, she closed her eyes. It'd only be for a moment.

The knock made her jump, causing the two children in her arms to complain. Almost desperate, she pulled them closer to her and rocked them, making sure that their fussing didn't escalate to all out crying.

"Don't wake them! I've only just gotten them settled. Zuberi whispered as she put the human girl and the other child back up into their proper cribs. It was probably only then that she gave a double take to the biped she'd been holding. Goodness.... he looked so much like a Solandrian version of Rhiannon.

[carcinoGeneticist]

Though Apocalypse couldn't say that he was pleased when his other duties called him away from Zuberi's side, he couldn't honestly say that he was displeased, either. More often than not, the man felt like a time bomb that was just waiting for someone to say the wrong thing, something to go just ever so slightly wrong, and then... He was holding himself together, but some days it felt as if it was by a very tenuous thread that had the potential to snap to rather extreme consequences on the part of everyone around him. He didn't want that explosion to happen around Zuberi. She'd done nothing to earn it; in fact, she was helping him to keep things under wraps.

All the same, he felt somewhat refreshed by the time the meeting was over, and he was able to reapply a slightly reassuring smile to his face rather than the strained exhaustion that had seemed to be his default emotion before.

The second he knocked on the door, however, that smile wavered at the sound of crying. Damnit, he shouldn't have bothered to knock, he'd just wanted to give the woman some sort of warning that he was about to come in... With a sheepish look on his face, he gently closed the door behind himself, giving the Midori woman an awkward shrug as she hurried to get the fussing infants into their cribs. It was amazing how quickly she could get them to quiet down, and that was reflected quite clearly by Apocalypse's expression. Then he grinned, speaking in a soft voice. "Sorry about that. Damn, Zub, you are going to be an amazing mother. That's the fastest I've seen anyone get those two calmed down."

Slowly, he crossed the room, but she might notice that he put some distance between himself and the little Biped. The fact that it was a Club seemed unimportant, when compared with its other qualities. Rhiannon. It looked like Rhiannon, except... Apocalypse made a soft noise in the back of his throat, his attention once again focusing on the Queen.

"So, what do you think? Shall we walk somewhere so we don't upset them, or would you rather stick around for a little longer?" He reached out, lightly clasping her shoulder in one strangely large hand. "Heilyn'll be by soon, so you don't need to worry about that if you need a chance to breathe."

[Nako]

Zuberi looked as if she might have been in a state to be somewhat moody, but his comment immediately disarmed whatever uncharacteristic ire the woman had up her sleeve. Her strained expression dissolved into that of a smile as she cut her eyes shyly upward at the taller man, a motion that had her looking almost cutely over one shoulder.

Well, it seemed relatively cute.. but Zuberi felt it hard to actually appear impish and sweet when she looked about like a bloated whale."They just needed a pair of hands that wasn't channeling bad juju; da stress in this place be so thick it can be cut with a knife and spread on toast." She reached into one of the cribs to slick back a bit of mane before looking back at the man. "Aye. We can wait in the study till she comes around." Slipping out of the door, the Midori woman held the door open until he was through before closing the door with great care.

"Not that I can blame anyone. Everyone in dis family has reason to feel some level of upset." Zuberi eased herself down on the couch with a sigh. "I'm just lucky dat I don't have to help run de Courts."

[carcinoGeneticist]

Zuberi might not have considered herself cute at this point, but to Apocalypse's eyes the look was exactly as adorable as she'd intended it to be. When he glanced down at her he actually cracked a genuine smile, somewhat crooked and embarrassed around the edges as he tried to keep from blushing. He raised a hand and pressed it against his face to try and hide his smile, glancing away from her for a moment.

"I'm very grateful for those hands of yours. Makenna, the little human girl... She's a sweetheart, isn't she?" He followed her lead out of the room, then caught her eyes for a moment to offer her a small smile as she closed the door. He moved over to the desk, himself, leaning against it. "Usually Heilyn foists her off on me." He didn't want to go into too much detail about it. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the paternal instinct that seized him whenever he looked at the little girl, especially with the knowledge that she was more sister than daughter.

But a part of him... He shook himself mentally, crossing his arms and turning his attention back on the woman. He smiled at her, then shrugged. "It's been a rough few weeks, to be sure. I'm sure we'll all get back to our usual cheery selves soon enough." Slowly, he crossed the room, standing beside for the couch for a moment and looking at the Midori woman thoughtfully. Then he sighed and slipped onto the couch beside her, lightly wrapping an arm around her and bumping his head against hers. "Are you doing okay?"

[Nako]

"A human child is a rare gift indeed. No wonder she be coddled.[/b] Zuberi remarked, cutting a glance at Apocalypse as if calling him out on his obvious bias. Even then, Zuberi understood why he found the child so charming. Human children were so... vulnerable. From helping babysit the young children in the Midori she knew all too well how self sufficient the little quadruped children grew. Humans though... so tender. So easy to coddle.

She'd somewhat... wandered off mentally as Apocalypse was talking. She truly hadn't meant to go on the mental tangent of thinking of the differences of Seth's children's needs, and the bias that took place that made the family members prefer one child over another. The motion beside her made her more mentally jump than physically so, but the light fluttering of her eyes as she refocused her gaze might have been noticed. "Oh! Aye... good enough, anyways." Zuberi attempted to hide the guilt from her expression and flash a somewhat genuine smile. "Da day has been going by in a bit of a haze...

[carcinoGeneticist]

That was one reason, yes. There were other reasons that Apocalypse himself favored her, one of which being her pure-Bog heritage. That strange half-smile on his face didn't fade, and he shuffled almost awkwardly as she called him on his favoritism. It didn't seem wrong for him to play favorites, though... After all, as much attention as he gave the children, they weren't his. They never would be his. They were Seth's, through and through.

He gave her a curious glance as her eyelids fluttered, one of his brows arching forward. She seemed exhausted, mentally and physically. He couldn't blame her for that. It had been a busy day for her, in many ways.

The man sighed lightly and then closed his eyes. He nodded slowly, his closeness to her making the movement quite a lot like a slight nuzzle. It was easier to mask his pain when he was sitting down, that much was certain. It only got difficult when he had to move around. The previous night... It had taken quite a lot out of him to see Heilyn as she was, and the spell had drained him more than he ever could have dreamed it would. "Alright. Well... If there's anything you decide you need, you know where to find me. I want you to be as comfortable as possible while you're here."

[Nako]

His affection was one of those things that took getting used to. She'd wondered if it were inappropriate more than once already. What would his Queen think? Perhaps she wasn't the jealous type, but regardless of having ranked up to a Queen, Zuberi would still not want to be on the sharp end of that woman's ire. Since Heart ire usually came in the form of a weapon.

She shifted uncomfortably, not because of Apocalypse but rather at an uncomfortable sensation. "Da only thing I can think to ask for is some hot pads! Not ta give ya too much information, but it hurts all along here." She traced around her pelvic region, right below her trembling belly. It had been doing that for days, though. She was still a week or two away from her due date, and suspected nothing more than the practice contractions that a woman suffered through for sometimes weeks before the child's coming. "It's like da baby is getting lazy and deciding to use me insides as a hammock. Ever since yesterday it's dropped awful low."

[carcinoGeneticist]

It was a good thing that the woman didn't vocalize her concerns over the man's affection, because Apocalypse wouldn't have known how best to answer her. He rarely thought about how his actions could upset his Queen, generally taking her acceptance of his many loves in stride. It wasn't done out of any sort of maliciousness - just a part of his generally careless lifestyle.

But he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable. He touched her simply because he liked to touch, to feel that physical bridge. It had been a long time since he'd seen her, after all.

What she did say, however, didn't do very much more to calm him. It actually made him draw back, his eyes flicking down to her belly as she used her hands to demonstrate exactly where she felt pain. His mind wandered back to his own pregnancy. Granted, it had likely been different, but he remembered feeling quite a bit of discomfort and irritation in the days before Linnea had made her rather dramatic entrance into the world. She hadn't been due for another month, and the doctors had told him a bit of squirming near the end of a pregnancy was completely normal. Things hadn't ended up that way.

A flicker of worry crept into Apocalypse's eyes as he looked at the woman. "...I'm sure I can procure a heating pad for you. I got you an ice pack before, didn't I?" He tried to mask his concern with a light joke, even if he wasn't feeling much in the mood for humor. "I'd also like it if you would check in with the Court doctors. Please. It would make me feel better. Sometimes things can catch us by surprise, and then...."

Bad things could happen. Seth's absence should have been proof enough of that. Gently, Apocalypse folded one hand around both of Zuberi's, still looking her in the eye as he brushed his lips against the backs of her fingers. "Please."

[Nako]

Zuberi immediately cringed when he suggested that she see a doctor. Damn rooms and their astringent smells and damned creepy corvies just waiting to cut someone up. She'd have much rather had her local shaman take a look at her but... the woman couldn't risk being at home when she didn't know what sort of creature she was going to birth.

"You don't think...? Come now, I've got another fortnight before I should be worrying about such a thing! And doctors... Peh. With their whitewashed walls and metal doo-dads!" She visibly shuddered, absolutely abhorring the thought of having to actually go through with seeing a doctor.

The hand on hers though, made her pause, his imploring request catching her attention. The expression that had just a moment ago been twisted with disgust now softened. Finally, she gave a relenting sigh. "Eh. Fine den. I'll let them -look- at me." This wasn't like the last time she'd been to a doctor and she'd thought something was genuinely wrong; she felt fine, save for the fact she certainly felt like she was ready to get this heathen-child out of her.