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Hath: “Ohhh, are you out on business?”
Hudd: “The answer to all of your questions is no.”
Hath: “It was just a question. You don’t-”
Hudd: “We’re just friends. Nothing else. You’re funny, but that’s as far as it goes.”
Hath: “That’s too bad.”
Hudd:
Oats: “So.. you remember that woman who stopped by to visit me.. right, Kimber?”
Kimber: “She’s married. Don’t - no. She shouldn’t-”
Oats: “Hey. That’s for me to decide. If I wanna fantasize about her coming back, I will!”
Kimber: “She could get in a lot of trouble with her husband for coming here y’know. You guys never even kissed.”
Oats: “I wanted to, but no, she was just lonely and overworked! She stopped by to see me - twice! And I didn’t even get to dance!”
Kimber: “And she’s human.”
Oats: “I don’t have a lot of elven options here. Gotta make due with whatever walks thru the front door ifyouknowwhati’msayin.”
Kimber: “I hope you get laid today so that you stop complaining about it.”
The next morning..
Everyone but Luanda gathers at the empty lot across the way and discuss in relative privacy what is to be done about her pregnancy.
Huddima says that she could always bring the baby to her patron temple after it’s born, but that if she doesn’t, they’d have to extend their resources quite a bit..
Oats has refrained from giving an opinion because he’s a man and does not feel qualified to give opinions on this. The truth is that he feels a little bit squicked out and has no idea how to handle the situation at all, so he’s letting the ladies who know what’s up handle it. So he just nods along with whatever Hudd is saying.
Kimber adds that this lot should be developed so that in the future they do not need to leave the island and can instead attract visitors here so they can ‘work’ at their own leisure and Luanda will be safer and more comfortable. She wasn’t paying attention to the serious part of the conversation.
It was a good idea, and they all agreed that that would be better, although it would take a lot of work to build and advertise. It would also cost a lot of money..
Luanda will be chilling at home today- she is not coming with!
Hudd: *purring, dragging her hand across Luanda’s belly*
Luanda (irritated): “Are you happy yet?”
Hudd: “Feels like a normal belly to me. No baby. Weird.”
Luanda: “I’ve not had my quickening yet, but I am sure that there’s a baby there.”
Hudd: “Let us know if you need anything, okay? You should rest for a few days and see how your body is adjusting to uh.. this. We’ll go out without you.”
Luanda: “You don’t have to.”
Hudd: “No, it’s best for the baby, at least until it’s comfy in there.”
Luanda: “I don’t want to- It’s my fault, not yours.”
Hudd: “It’s no one’s fault. I don’t mind and neither does anyone else. We gotta care for each other the best we can. You’d do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”
Luanda: “To be honest? I don’t know. I’m not.. I don’t fee like one of you yet. Even if..”
Hudd: “Ah, well, that’s alright. I think you’re one of us regardless, Lu. But it’s okay if you don’t feel the same.”
Luanda: “...Hudd?”
Hudd: “Hmmmm?”
Luanda: “I..”
Hudd: “Yes? Is everything okay?”
Luanda: “No.”
Hudd: “What’s wrong, sis?”
Luanda: “Someone knocked me up.”
Hudd: “Oh.”
Hudd: “Well, we’ll do the best we can, I guess. I’m sorry.”
Luanda: “Whatever that means.”
Hudd: “You don’t have to keep it if you don’t want to. *pausing* Uh, No one’s gotten pregnant here for a long time and the last person who did ran away and took the baby with them. I never even got to touch it before it came out. So.. would it be weird if I touched your stomach just to.. see?”
Without something to turn to to distract herself Luanda collapses in one of the most private places in the house - underneath the stairs in the basement - and cries until the hole inside her where the tears were is empty. She tries to fill it up again, with worries or anger or anything, but having cried everything out she has.. nothing left. She finds herself crying again for a time - this time, it’s a cry of relief, and not whatever the jumble of... whatever that was.. that had overwhelmed her this entire time. Something else fills her as she does, and it feels foreign and strange but not bad. She wants it gone, but it won’t leave.
When she’s done, she comes to a decision about what to do. A different one from before. Maybe it’s not the best decision, but like the last time she decided something big.. it seems to be the only one she’s got.
She stands up and wipes the tears away, a sense of surety washing over her.
Warren: “Good morning, beautiful.”
Luanda: “...Ah”
Warren: “Ah?”
Luanda: “I’m sorry.”
Warren: “Sorry..?”
Luanda: “If you’re looking to bed me...”
Warren: “Well, I was hoping..”
Luanda: “N-not me. Try one of my sisters.”
‘Sisters‘. Why was she saying this? She was hoping to drown herself in something, and instead, when given the chance.. the disorientation returned and with it the pangs of nausea. Perhaps it was because..
Warren: “No, I only want you. And if you don’t want to..”
Luanda: “I don’t”
..yes, it was because he was there when she realized she was pregnant. With some man’s child. The memory of him.. brought it back. As if it wasn’t just 3 hours ago. It felt as if it was forever ago. She wanted him gone now instead.
Luanda: “D-don’t take this the wrong way, but you should leave. We’re not open in the mornings.” A lie.
The disorientation is gone now. The fog has lifted, but it’s place now is an empty anxiety that stabs at her gut. The acid in her throat burns not even half as bad.
Luanda: I hope this ache leaves and that I can forget.
Luanda: No one needs to know. No one has a right to know.
She tries her best to forget, but it doesn’t work. An image of her two sons appears as she does. Tears claw at her eyes, and she wishes them away. That does work.
Luanda: They’re no longer mine, and this child is not either.
