King Scorvis' perspective:
5 years ago.
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLG56QlcuXm
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAo2ZWpg2O
"Scorvis, are you awake?"
"Mmm, I am now."
I whispered, my Lalian wrapped in my arms, her head on my shoulder.
I brushed her beautiful hair back behind her ears, smiling.
I could stay there forever, with her in my arms, where I could protect her from anything.
I wished I could...
"Hungry..." She mumbled, and I chuckled.
Poor Lally, she'd been starving everyday since she'd gotten pregnant.
I wished I could make it better.
"Ok, let's get you something to eat, Lally-pop."
I forced myself to get up...I was always so tired...but I could manage for my Lalian.
She got up with me, and I gave her a small twirl, mindful of my baby girl.
Why, Lalian's belly was almost bursting!
There were just 56 days left to prepare.
To make sure I was the best father I could be.
Lalian laughed as I spun her, a sound that was like straight sunshine, that infused me with warmth.
"Vis! Be careful!" She laughed, and I pulled her close to myself.
"I'll try my best, sunshine," I said, tucking her cheek closer to plant a kiss on her lips.
"But you'll have to stop being so beautiful first so I can think straight."
Lalian blushed, then smiled that cute smile of hers that still made me dizzy.
I swore she did it on purpose!114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymYwMUrKv3
She pulled herself closer to me, standing on her tiptoes, and slipping her arms around my neck.
From this close I could see every beautiful detail of her face, things most people probably wouldn't notice.
The curve of her cheeks, the fullness of her lips, her dimples as she beamed.
"How dare you tell me that, when you're looking that fine!" She gasped, and I smiled at her.
I couldn't help myself, I put my hands on her cheeks to give her another kiss.
Three years together and she still had me spinning in circles for her!
It ought to be against the law!114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcnw1SBwsC
She beamed at me after we parted, and giggled, hand on her belly.
"Come on, Scorvis, let's go get something to eat! I'm starving!" 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3g8lYiPio
She said, turning around and flipping her violet hair.
I took in a deep breath, as I stared after her.
Everything was going to be ok.
Except it wasn't.
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPA9mlqTKv
--
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQWSBUZ9Vj
50 days before Celeste was born, me and Lalian were laughing as we painted the baby's room.
Carefully, my brows furrowed, and I painted each stroke of the walls.
Painting was something I'd always loved to do, something that always calmed me down....
It almost made me forget about everything.
About how in heaven's name I was going to raise a precious little girl.
I painted the white and rose-colored flowers in light brush strokes, making sure there were no mistakes.
Everything else faded into the background as I brushed the walls and--
Splash!
I heard Lalian giggling as sticky liquid soaked into my suit. 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLn8auBbJU
I whipped around, grimacing, to see Lalian laughing as she held a paintbrush.
My eyes narrowed, she had just ruined my suit!
"Oh, you're gonna regret that~!" I teased, painting her cute cheek with Pink, which made her giggle, and splash me back with white.
"That means war!"
Accepting my suit was completely ruined anyway, I grabbed a handful of paint from the bucket and threw it at her, right at her fancy dress.
"My dress!" She cried, hiking it up to her ankles, but her pink eyes were dancing.
I didn't know what she was worried about--she still looked drop-dead beautiful.
But then again, that wasn't fair, she could be covered in mud from head to toe and still would look like a model!
"My suit!" I shot back, glancing at my utterly soaked outfit, and lightly throwing another swish of paint from my paintbrush at her. 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFv55VyZalq
She narrowed her eyes in a way that made my heart fly.
"Oh, it's on!"
"Bring it, Lalian!"
We laughed as we splashed each other, running, I made sure we went slow, to be safe--across the room, splashing paint on the floor.
Even though my clothes and hair were ruined it was worth it, to see how happy it made Lalian.
Maybe it was also fun to be messy, for once.
It was nice...until Lalian tried to dump paint on me, and accidentally splashed it all across the patterns of flowers I had been working on.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry..." She whispered while I laughed at how dumb I was for doing this in our new room.
But when I looked back, I saw, far from laughing, Lalian looked like she was about to cry.
Uh oh.
Problem.
"It's ruined...." She muttered, and dozens of possibilities to try and make her feel better crossed through my mind in a few seconds before I spoke.
"Hey," I said, smiling at her lovingly, and took her by the hand.
"No, it's not," I led her to the painting, I put the paintbrush in her hand, and lightly used my magic on her.
I guided her through my magic, tight enough to guide her arm to paint, but loose enough that she could break free from it whenever she wanted.
It was a...tough balance...to say the least--even harder when angry.
I had to be extremely careful, one wrong move and I could break her arm.
Yeah, yeah, it was hard being powerful, I knew. 114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUXrgH5qIY
"What are you doing, Vis?"
"Just wait."
I lead her hand with my thoughts, getting her to do several strokes of paint along the edges of the splash.
I let go of my magic and went to the other side of the splash with my paintbrush after she realized what I had planned.
We painted and painted until the accident turned into something beautiful.
"Oh, it's perfect," Lalian whispered when we finished.
We had to turn the splash into a massive flower, with just a few outlines.
And it was even prettier than any of the others.
I stopped my magic, and put an arm around her, beaming.
"Great job, Sunny."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdirPHeEIN0
"Thanks! You too! It's almost finished!"114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta9M9Eq1Y6
She said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
"What, the room or the baby?"
She smiled as I placed a hand on her belly, getting even more paint on my hand, but her hands trembled faintly.
"Hm, both. We have such good timing, huh?"
"You know it!" I grinned and snapped the fingers of my free hand, pointing at her.
Then I saw her expression, the same fear and anxiety I had seen in my own face so many times.
I just didn't let it show, I didn't want to burden her with my problems.
"Hey. You're gonna be a great mom," I whispered seriously.
Her eyes crinkled, some of the worry fading from her eyes.
Good.
"And you're gonna be a great dad."
She cupped my cheek, and we locked eyes for just a moment.
For a second I thought of telling her how terrified I was...but no...she was going through enough.
I'd just have to toughen up, huh?
"Thanks...Lally-pop. I love you."114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnVgWYrJYt
"I love you more."
I would have done anything for that moment to last forever.
But it couldn't.
Nothing could.
So I broke free from her pink, happy eyes and took a step toward the door.114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNsVe8ZO07
"Come on, Lalian, we gotta prepare for the feast next week!"
I said, and just like that, we left, holding hands, from a baby's room that would never ever be used.
114Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqy0JhN9Lp
