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It had been almost nine months.

Not only since Avani and Oblivion had officially become mates, but from the day Avani had become pregnant with his children.

She had known all along she was having twins, just some feeling, some inkling she had in her heart. Though the village healer wouldn't come near her—saying that she wouldn't touch the abomination within her—her mother had said everything looked normal, Avani felt fine—besides the fact she had twin beasts fighting constantly in her belly—and things progressed as normal.

Except she was going mad on bed rest. Her mother, aunt, and Shenra had put her there. She did not like it.

The only worry on her mind was about the birth. She looked at her swollen belly and rubbed it lovingly, but with fear for the babes inside. Also for herself. While Oblivion and she had met couples with khehorian/orderite hybrid children, she was still afraid.

So she had sent a letter with Honoka to Eowyn to the only healer that she knew of that could possibly help her, and she expected him soon. She knew now he had twin daughters himself with his mate, and understood his hesitation with leaving. So they had planed to have him come to her house when her time to deliver was close, just so he didn't have to leave his own fledgling family.

She could feel the time was near. The babes were restless, and she was getting weary.

Avani sighed, and rested her hands on top of her belly.

"I'm scared little ones." was all she whispered as she leaned back and looked at the ceiling, "Mostly for you."

Casseth was not pleased.

Lithian supposed, in some respects, he understood his mate’s concerns. Lithian was dark for a dovaa — not a great issue on Taliuma, but downright stare-worthy in the land of light. Among orderites, he stood out like an ink blot on clean parchment even in good company, and alone, well, he hoped his encounters with others would be limited, regardless. It didn’t help either that he was travelling specifically to attend to a situation most healers would — and apparently had — washed their hands of and turned from, which he supposed could, by association, get him into some trouble. Add to that the fact that the stretch of desert between Taliuma and the coast facing Serenia was brutal enough, and then came the ocean after that. Lithian padded Casseth with assurances and reminders that he had travelled extensively, they had travelled extensively, in the past and he was quite capable of taking care of himself.

But still, Casseth fretted. He emphasized that the travel then had been a they and now it was just he, Lithian, alone, and what if something happened? He did not want him travelling so far with no means of immediate contact or aid. He asked why they had to have Lithian specifically, could they not find another healer? And he stalked about the house, displeased and uneasy in all the days prior to Lithian’s departure.

Their daughters were still young, not quite three years old themselves, and Lithian did worry, but he knew, too, that this was not something he could turn down. With his mate they discussed, briefly, the thought of Casseth accompanying him, but that made Lithian only all the more uneasy about Tanarah and Talanah. Even knowing they would be safe in their grandfather’s company he wanted at least one of their fathers available for them. There to hold them if they had nightmares. There to explain that he would be back soon. There to tuck them into bed and follow all the little rituals that went unspoken in every family.

So, he traveled alone. Upon receiving word from Avani and her khehora mate of their need for a healer at delivery, and after all options were spoken over with his mate, Lithian packed what he needed, prepped, and departed. Having a true form, at least, made even the worst of the travel — over the brunt of the Malro desert — bearable, and upon reaching the south shore of Eowyn, he melded with the ocean, speeding his way through the currents as briskly as his magic would carry him towards the shores of Serenia.

The trip, all told, took him not quite three days, but was — blessedly — uneventful in terms of untold dangers. He arrived in the forests surrounding Avani’s house weary and well-traveled, drained by the elements, but undamaged and — he prayed — prepared for whatever lay ahead. After sending silent tidings to his god on that front, requesting that all would be well, he raised a hand and knocked.

Oblivion's weary sign quickly turned to a discontented rumble as the hand Avani placed upon her stomach suddenly received a battering from the spawn dwelling within her. "Be gentle," he warned tartly, feeling a spike of concern for his mate's squishy two-legged frame. Basically all he'd gleaned from their now-multiple meetings with other hybrid parents was that nothing was for certain. They were as likely to survive as not. As likely to be deformed as not. As likely to hurt her as not. The Diabi rubbed his temples.

Avani did have a way of absorbing the news better than he. She at least already seemed sure of her feelings toward the little creatures. So on top of harboring a fearful loathing that they may hurt his mate, there also lay a terror that he wouldn't like them even if they didn't. Even should the best occur, they wouldn't be like Honoka or Vazarri or Keke, who while not his by blood, were still his and perfect and exactly what they should be.

The nameless creatures were not. He had no idea what they'd be. Little monsters, likely.

The sound that erupted from Levi's throat as he tucked his nose against Avani's neck was probably as close to a whine as his two-legger vocal cords would allow him to come. "You say that, but how can you really-?"

A knock on the door cut him off, and Levi sat up sharply with a low warning growl. "Seems a bit early for your mother..." He commented, briefly cocooning her in his arms and tugging her back down onto the bed. He'd been quick to learn that despite not being of Oblivionite or even Dovaa blood, many people were not receptive to Avani carrying his children. And some of those many people were not above doing rash and unnecessary things that Levi outwardly believed the punishment for should be death. While no one had yet to invade his home, the potential was still there. "You wait here, hm?" He suggested, turning to nose her hair before laying a kiss on her cheek. "I'll call you down if it is your mother."

He took long, quick strides through the house, wings fluttering and pushing him along until he stood at the door. Levi sniffed the air, noting immediately that Maiika was not around at the time. To be fair, the scent was mostly unfamiliar to him. One he'd come into contact with on a very minimal basis, but one that brought him relief nonetheless.

"Lithian," the Diabi greeted as he opened the door, long tail swaying thoughtfully back and forth. "I know the trip was long and you have duties of your own, so thank you for coming." He gave a thin smile. "Avani will be happy to see you."

Avani scrunched her nose. But then his kiss on her head mad her smile and her disgruntlement at being tucked back into bed fade a bit.

She strained to hear the words of whom ever was down there. She closed her eyes and focused and heard two male voices. One was Livi, and the other was... Not her father or uncle.

She heard the new voice clearer as it made it's way in the house, and she smiled.

"Lithian!" Avani shouted happily clapping her hands. She patted the bed—as if he could hear her anyway— and smiled, "Come in here! Second floor, on the left! We can have a chat before you rest!"

Avani smiled happily. A new person to talk to as well as being a good friend. Letters and packages of healing plant seeds passed between them over the years had helped cement a friendship.

She watched the door for a few moments, and smiled as she watched him come around the corner and into her room.

"Lith!" she said happily smiling. She felt really happy, "I should have babies more often to get you to come!" she patted the bed again, "Come and have a chat before you go rest. No mind checking me now, I'm sure if we can survive till now without one, we can survive a little while longer."

When she saw her mate follow her guest in, she smiled at him and then patted where he sat before on the bed. She smiled brightly at him, happy he was in the room. She was always happy when he was near.

"Dinner will be coming soon, my mother or aunt will be here, so you can meet them. They have been helping me during this time, so they should be able to answer any questions you have during any check over." Avani rubbed her belly and said, "They are lively so I am assuming all is well anyway."

Lithian smiled, a flush of abashed appreciation warming his cheeks at the woman’s ever-enthusiastic greeting. She was immediately obviously very pregnant indeed, massive and larger, he was sure, than either Araceli or Takhi had been while carrying their twins. While Lithian didn’t suppose that ought to come as a surprise, given the genetic makeup of her children, it did heighten his concern for her small body. He kept that worry, though, off of his face and out of his voice when he spoke, approaching towards the opposite side of the bed from where her mate had settled.

“I don’t think that much is necessary,” Lithian said in regards to her first statement. “I am happy to visit without any dire emergencies in play and ought to more often besides. When my own girls are more grown, I will have to make a point to come see you more frequently. It took enough ‘bargaining’ with them as it was to convince them they really couldn’t come this time around and were better off keeping their papa company…”

As he settled against the mattress’ edge, careful not to disturb Avani’s position too much with his own weight, Lithian reached out. Despite Avani’s initial assertions that she needed no immediate attention, his own instincts — and habits, for that matter — guided him, and they were to perform at least a rudimentary check now that he was here. After glancing to her to ascertain that there were no objections to his touch, he brought his fingers carefully down to rest over her belly and shut his eyes.

With a wilful pulse, he gathered at the latent reservoirs of his peisio magic, and drew on it, guiding it up and out through his fingers to ‘seek’ and search through her, testing the basics first — vitals, energy, immune system, minor injuries or illnesses which might hinder her — before, after finding none, turning his focus to the infants. Large, was Lithian’s first thought. On seeing her, of course, he had noted as much — she looked stretched all but to her limits, making him wonder if she were possibly carrying three. But no, his magic confirmed: just two.

Two, healthy, lively boys who — Lithian prayed — would hopefully not be too large for their mother’s body to handle on the exit. He almost wished he had been present a month or so earlier and wondered if speeding the delivery might have helped her given that, large as they were now, they likely would have been easily strong enough to enter the world at a slightly earlier stage and been easier on Avani. But, that option was now long passed, and Lithian didn’t suppose it did any good to mention now.

Instead, after assuring himself that — exhaustion aside — his patient was healthy, Lithian let a ripple of magic intended purely to soothe travel through her: focusing on easing sore muscles and strained joints and softening over the edges of her fatigue. When finished, he leaned back and offered her a smile. “You are doing amazingly well,” he said. “They are healthy and I am sure more than ready to be joining us any day now…it’s a wonder that you’re carrying them so smoothly. It must be so much weight…but good, at least, that you seem to be keeping mostly to your bed. If you hadn’t been already, I certainly would have recommended it.”

Levi's ruby gaze flicked down, resting dully on a crumple in the sheets as his fingers found his way to Avani's arm. His nails skated lightly up her skin, from her forearm to the notch in her elbow and down to her wrist. When her fingers caught his, he looked back to her, meeting smiling and chipper, if not exhausted and wary emerald irises. His other hand went out, smoothing back disheveled orange strands from her face and dusting them behind her ear.

'Twins,' she'd said. 'Happy,' she'd said. Oblivion huffed softly, leaning in to press against her side with a muted snort. One would've been plenty. They already had Honoka (never mind that she was an adult and capable of caring for herself) and copious amounts of other farm animals to care for. Having two monster babies shrieking and running amok would not do them any favors. Neither of the families they'd visited had had twins, and since that was all Oblivion had to base their chances of success on, he wasn't rightly satiated by the news.

Twins. As if they needed twins.

"Do you see how ridiculous she is?" He commented off-handedly, knuckles brushing against Avani's neck before settling back at her side. "She fears for them." Levi looked up then, pinning ruby orbs on Lithian and sending him a pointed look. "Surely you, of all people, can talk some sense into her. It isn't as if I'm not concerned for... how they'll be, but of the things that should be priority where health and wellness are concerned, tell her her own life is most important!"

"They don't know the outside world, and it won't hurt them to never know it." It was probably a bad time to bring this up, but better to do so before Avani's family arrived, anyway. "I'm probably being facetious, but you- She'll listen to you, maybe," Levi grumbled out, shifting awkwardly from where he rested. "Because she certainly won't listen to me."

Oblivious to any of the looks the two males were giving each other, Avani concentrated on her thoughts for a moment. It was nice having second opinions. Her mother and aunt, she could tell, were not that comfortable without a trained healer. It was one thing to bring full-blooded Orderites into the world, hybrids of this size were a different matter. She knew the looks that had been exchanged between the two women were ones of worry, and so she had taken it upon herself to find someone who would attend her. Luckily she had remembered that Lithian was a healer, and that he had attended other births which ended all well.

She sighed, a weight lifted off her shoulders, and closed her eyes. She had been tired earlier, but now more so. And with Oblivion near, and touching her so tenderly as he always did, she couldn't help but feel safe, and that nothing would ever happen to her or her children.

"Hmmm?" Avani said, startling her out of her doze, as she heard Lithian speak. Oh yes, his room. She smiled at the Dovva and said, "Choose whatever room you wish. You know where the bathroom is, so feel free to take a bath if you want." Avani yawned, and as she covered her mouth she said, "I would show you to your room," she then closed her mouth, smiled and said, "However, I am banished here."

She nuzzled Oblivion's side and said, "I love you so much." She looked up at him and smiled. She could do no more than that before she snuggled up to him and fell asleep.

Lithian’s gaze followed the khehorian as he rose, not missing for a moment the shifts in the man’s posture and tone. Cross. On edge. Wanting nothing to do with him personally, obviously.

But he held his tongue, dipping his head with a murmured, “Thank you…” before following after Oblivion as he left the room. When the khehora shifted, claws clacking to the ground with abrupt enough impact to jostle a frame to the floor, Lithian subdued a wince and straightened his shoulders instead. The khehora was sizeable, though not especially so — he supposed — by khehora standards, and the terse click of his talons and stiff sweep of his tail only served to further emphasize his foul mood.

Lithian made no comment. As they neared the end of the hall and arrived at his temporary ‘room’, he stepped over instead, moving to gather the fallen painting and lift it back to its prior position — high enough on the wall that either Avani would have needed aid in setting it there, or Levi had done it himself, but not so high that Lithian could not manage righting it — before stepping into the bedroom indicated.

Assured that from here, at least, he could speak plainly, Lithian finally turned a serious look on the would-be father, weighing his options before speaking. “If there is anything in particular you would like me to know before she comes into labor, now would be the time to tell me. While I have delivered hybrid children before, there is no telling exactly what to expect — particularly given the vastly different birthing methods of khehora and Magescians — until things come underway…have there been any indications so far that the children possess any instinct to…hatch? As opposed to be born?”