Hector is having a snack on Drystan's bed. His left hand is bandaged and his scythe is leaning against the wall. There's still some goop on his shoes and various parts of his clothing. He hasn't completely stripped off yet. He was spent by the time he made it home. He just wanted to eat something and sit down. One thing is for certain...he's not going out on any 'adventures' like that again. He wanted to help Drystan understand what happened though. How earnest he'd been the day in the shop when he said he owed it to the families of the people who died. He still didn't have many answers, but at least they had made some headway. He glanced down to his hand. It had been thoroughly mangled earlier, but now it was just some scratches. Still...he needed to be careful from now on, so he had to hang back from all the fighting. That bandaged hand trailed lower to brush against his lower abdomen. "How we doing tonight?" He whispered to himself.
Drystan Windgrace lazily made his way in from the bathroom, having taken likely the longest hot shower he had in a long time, it was roaring in his ears so he hadn't heard Dinah and Hector come in, and missed seeing Dinah entirely before her bedroom door was shut and the light was off from under her door. HE was whistling a little bit of a tune, not really keeping in beat, but sort of just in his own head. He'd been such since the wallop of Dinah's psychic scream. He still hadn't figured out how he was able to talk in old tongue, but it rolled out of his mouth randomly when he was focusing enough. the new view into the world had finally started to adjust, and while he kept it glamoured most of the time, he had dropped it partially while in the shower. So here he was in his room with a robe and some soft PJ pants, wet hair and smelling like the soft linger of sandalwood soap and cleanness. He turned when he saw Hector on the bed, not noticing his 'state' quite yet. "Oh..Hey you! I didn't hear you come in! I was ..lost down the drain hole in the shower.." He smiled and stuck some of his toiletries into a shelf near the door, his back half turned from him. "...I think I'm a little prune like..." He laughed and turned to look at Hector fully now, slowly taking him in.
Hector is sweaty and gross, smelling of the sea and covered in some sort of goo blood. There's also regular blood, his own, easily recognize-able due to the fact that's got those black undertones. He's munching away, looking drained of magic and a little hurt, but not worse for wear. "You're beautiful...pruney or not." He said seriously, smiling and letting his huge hat slide off and to the floor beside him. He breathed out and shoved some more apple slices and other fruits into his mouth, chewing hungrily before starting to unbutton his vest and shirt. He wasn't in any hurry. He ached in places and his hand was unpleasantly aching. "You just missed your sister, but just as well. You and Dori aren't supposed to know she went out to the ship earlier." He smirked and winked. "We were fine, didn't even manage to get below deck. Not at all prepared for what was on that boat." He shook his head slowly and let out a heavy sigh, resting his hand on his lower abdomen again.
Drystan Windgrace 's eyebrows raised as he took him in fully, noting his haggard and worse for wear look. "What..the...The Atlantia? You two went out to the boat with the first group to inspect it??!! Are you both insane???" He started to look a little cross, and had stepped toward the bed, but the smell of the goo and such held him back. He sighed deeply and let his shoulders hang, "Are you okay?? Fucking Seven Hells....I expect Dinah to go run off towards danger rather than away from it, but you too? What if something had happened?: He was a bluster of confusion and questions. He spied Hec's hand. "Let me see." He held out his hand and made the "gimmie" gesture with his fingers. He'd expectantly take his hand and give Hector the "look" the same as he made the last time he was hurt, and demanded that Hec heal himself through his own life force. There was no reason for injury between the both of them, Stan was an eternal fountain and Hector could drink till he was settled and healed. Hector never took more than he needed anyhow. He trusted him of that.
Hector snorted when Drystan asked if they were 'insane.' "You already know the answer to the question." He spat out his tongue and then winked, lowering his voice to give a husky boyfriend purr as he shed his shirt and vest, leaving him nude from the waist up. "All we did was go on the deck to assess the situation. I was ready to fly home at any minute." He held out his hand, it was mostly healed already, but he seemed like he wouldn't protest if Stan wanted him to heal up the rest using his essence. He was just tired and stuffing himself. "There was nothing left on the upper floors actually. All the crew were dragged below and appeared to be behind a Corrupted Ward. I studied with my 'special eyes' and then gave the info to Dinah. She should have a way to break through soon. But I will NOT be going to that. My ghosts tried to body block me from that place. They don't want me there. They don't even want to tell me what it is. Only that it's bad, and has to do with something from the deep. I can imagine by the blood smears and the fact that a brood of nasty biters were drawn to the scent...it's bad." He shrugged. "I just wanted to help, my love. Remember what you said the other night? About owing the families an explanation? I wish I had more to help you explain. I can say...there are no ghosts on that ship. Blood, the scent of....rot, yes...but no ghosts. The ghosts of the sea hate it and want to tear it apart, but they won't dare go near."
Drystan Windgrace held his hand and listened, nodding a little bit as he did, waiting for Hec's hand to be in pristine order asap. "Well..." He sighed and sat on the bed next to him. "I understand, and I get why Dinah would go, even without Dorian. I just worry." HE scrunched up his mouth and tilted his head. "And you're right, you won't be going back out to that boat. I'm going out with a crew tomorrow to look myself and deal with whatever we have - if there are wards, your information and whatever Dinah digs up will be used. I'm going because I have a personal responsibility...but you know I'll be just fine, even if the dead won't go near it. I've got a little more experience working with things of the deep, and the deep cosmos than most ghosts I would imagine." He lifted his head and shook some wet hair from his face. "WHatever it is, There is a way to deal and dispatch such things. If the crew is all dead because of it, more of a reason for me to send it back to wherever it belongs."
Hector merely nods and says in an obedient tone. "Yes, Dear." He was placating, but he was also being serious. He twined his cut up fingers with Stan's and closed his eyes, pulling a bit of energy from him and working to seal up the rest of the small wounds, and then drawing back so he could unwind the dirty bandage. He wiggled his fingers and held up his hand as if to say 'see? All better!' Then he was back to eating. He was practically wolfing things down, when all of a sudden his face turned a bit white and he looked like he might vomit. He made a grunting sound, wings stretching out and then down, one flapping to fan himself a bit. He was a little warmer than usual, like he had the tiniest bit of a fever. The nausea came and went rather quickly and then he leaned into Drystan with a sigh, closing his eyes. "I love you. And I'm sure you will make short work of whatever is in the cargo hold of that ship. Umm..." He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. "Stan I...I think I'm..." He didn't finish the sentence, but he really didn't think he had to.
Drystan Windgrace leaned back into him, kissing a clean part of his shoulder, "I love you too..." He sat up though when Hec looked to be sick, and then started to announce something. Drystans eyes went big and round and he probably looked for a moment like he did in his youth, when things surprised him, when things were all new. "You're..." He whispered and looked down his body towards his belly. "Are you?...are you really?" Suddenly Stans skin flicked and cycled through being "normal" looking and what his trueform gave him, except the wild purple had turned to an ashen color, the white of it gleaming, and his forehead opened and an inky black eye opened there, as wide as the other two blue ones. His mouth hung open and little and he shivered as his pattern settled and the corners of his mouth slowly...started to turn upwards. "HOw are you sure? Can you just tell? I can ...Oh..Oh!" He looked around quickly as if he was trying to grab a book nearby, but he stopped himself, "I could find out, it shouldn't be hard.. Wait, are you sure you're sure?" He looked back again and now it was a mixture of happy and worried and lost all swirled up into one.
Hector drank in the 'I love you.' It was warm and fuzzy and made him want to curl up and snuggle. And then Stan started to go through a dozen different emotions. He just sat there smiling, watching it happen. Then a third eye opened and he blinked in surprise, but it was not a poor look. He cooed and reached up to gently run his fingertips carefully around the eye and then kissed Stan's forehead beside it. "You have a new eye. It's beautiful. Every day you grow more and more beautiful, inside and out." He drew in a deep breath and let it out, reaching down to press a hand against his lower abdomen. "I am not completely sure, no. However, I took out a crystal to 'check' the other day when I was talking to Blake and it started to spin furiously...and drip black ichor. I keep finding black...everywhere. In the tub, when I'm washing my hands, after I eat. I'm hungry all the time...I'm having weird...compulsions and I get nauseous easily. Things smell odd to me. I feel almost...territorial." He shook his head. "There was this...scent lingering on Blake. I didn't understand it, but it made my insides squirm and I felt hot. I wasn't angry, it was just...I don't know. If I'm not pregnant, then I would say that I am definitely in a perfect moment to GET pregnant. My body is adjusting for it." He kissed Stan's lips softly. "Do you want to...see if you can tell?"
Drystan Windgrace closed all three eyes as Hec's hand drifted over his face, and a bit of a blush rose to his cheeks. "I ...do. It..appeared after Dinah..uh...when she screamed?" He blinked and looked up and then back at him. "Thank you..." He said it softly, taking the compliment. His hand moved and hovered over his tummy, "May I?" It might have been the first time he'd asked to touch him ...ever? but he didn't have a clue about maternity, nor how Hector's adapted physiology would work with a baby growing. "Black? like...ink? Paint?" His face scrunched a bit and he nodded, "If you'd want me to try, I certainly could.... but that's up to you. I have no idea what you felt about Blake, but it...could have been anything..He's ah...good looking young man." He cleared his throat and focused back on Hector's belly. "You don't look any different than ...a week or more ago...but you've been having random nausea....wait, what sort of compulsions?" His hand hovered as a rather large book behind hm slid off a shelf and carried itself over to the bed, landing opened, and the pages began flipping wildly back and forth and then came to rest on a page that had anatomical drawings of a fetus, and many other stages of growth before that. Science was what he knew...he knew the particulars of HOW a baby was created, and grew and was birthed traditionally and also in new ways that had started during his life. Things were much more clean now, not so many women died trying to give birth, and surgical procedures to remove the child from en utero had been used for some time. But testing for the pregnancy - there were many different schools of thought. There was the obvious, which was to test his urine and use some basic grains to see if they would grow - an old Egyptian process he'd learned from a woman a long time ago. It was not always correct, and he wanted to KNOW KNOW. SO instead, he looked over at the book and made a page flip and looked for a section of text.
Hector nodded when Stan indicated it appeared when Dinah screamed. "At least it wasn't an ear in the middle of your forehead." he teased, reaching out to poke Stan in the side. He leaned back when the hand came to his tummy though. He stretched out on the bed and unbuckled his pants. He started to push them down, getting more and more comfortable. He probably should take a bath, but he was just so tired. He wanted to lay there and be lazy. He slid down with a grunt, getting comfortable and staring up at Stan. "Black and drippy like...like the tentacles from beneath the robes. You know the black I'm talking about. It's a very distinct black. The child, the one from the other world. He has that black on him. It...it's everywhere. I can't really explain it. It's there but, also not?" He sighed and closed his eyes momentarily. "I've had sex with Blake before. He adores the whole...monster cock on an older guy, thing. It wasn't that. We're just friends. He's helped me so much. No this was...this was something else. It was almost like he had something and my insides told me that he had something that was MINE. I almost growled at him. It was weird. But it faded quickly. Oh, I asked him to be the child's GodFather. I hope that's ok. When I first got here...when I landed in the bay...I was homeless and delirious, Blake was the one who helped me." Then he drew in a breath. "Compulsions to hunt. To, find a dark warm place. To get away from people. I crave fresh meat, way more than before. I have made a 'nest' back at my apartment. I haven't even tried to stop myself there. I figure I should do what I feel is natural as long as I'm not hurting myself or anyone else."
Drystan Windgrace placed his hand softly on his tummy, and left it there for a while. He closed his eyes and nodded, smiling as he did. He spoke with his eyes gently closed, "I don't know a third ear might be a nice addition, though i don't think it'd look all too pleasing." He smiled a bit to himself, imagining one of his big ear sticking out of his forehead. "No, I'm glad it is an eye, it's something Dinah has plenty of experience with, and I've watched her grow hers since she started. I've been wearing that night mask since it happened, at night, obviously, but then i just slide it up and cover it...I walked weird that whole day because my balance was so off. But I honestly think I might have the swing of it now." He opened his eyes and moved his hand and slid it to the side making space for his actual ear to lean and rest against his abdomen. "I'm going to ...just listen for a minute..." It would have been pretty ridiculous for pretty much anyone to stick their ear to a pregnant belly to "listen" for a chance of there actually being a life in there about to emerge at some point, but Drystan was settling in and let his eyes close, and focused on the familiar beat of his own heart, and Hectors as well. It was loud, this close, but if he tried, maybe he could sense blood flowing that was not entirely Hector's. Maybe a small heartbeat. He was silent for a long minute or two...but slowly his face scrunched and he opened his eyes, lifting his head and shaking it some. "I can't make out anything...but that could be ..Hmmm " He looked over at his clothes and shoes and reached out and touched it, and no...he would not put it in his mouth but he smelled it. NOPE. That was rancid. That was corrupt. He paused for a moment. "No.. I was wrong, that...isn't going to work." He sighed and slid his hand back up and sat up a little scooting closer to him. "I don't mind about Blake, he's practically family as it is. That...might be what you smelled. He's had some infusions from Dinah...bit of a long story, but it's also Blake's to tell." He cocked his head to the side, "Hey..., look at me. Think about the blackness you see. Do you see that on me sometimes? Just glimpses of it here and there? I ask because...I see it. I know it's there. I can usually cover it up, but..it's a bit of a side effect of being so close to the Gods."
Hector reached down and ran his fingers through Stan's hair as his head moved to rest against his lower abdomen. He let out a faint cooing sound. He relaxed even more, his wings stretching out behind him and then curling around the two of them loosely. This felt so right. He dozed lightly, just enjoying the feeling of Stan against him. Though he did furl his brows at the idea of Blake having Dinah blood transfusions. He didn't think that was it at all. In fact, he was pretty sure by the look on Blake's face that the boy knew EXACTLY what Hector sensed. Apparently it wasn't his business to know and that was fine. He wasn't worried about it in the least, he just...wondered. He wanted to know what his triggers were. He imagined as things went along, it was only going to get worse. He let it go, however, letting it slip from his mind and glide away from his thoughts. "I'm glad it's ok. I didn't think about it when I asked, I just...sort of blurted it out. He came into the shop when I first started to feel odd. Something about needing rejuvenation potions, which of course I had plenty of..." Then he looked up at Drystan and nodded. "It is and I do." He reached out and ran a hand along Stan's upper arm and when he drew his hand back there were a few drops of sticky black on his fingertips. "This. This. It will disappear in a moment. But this right here. It appears around me all the time, now. Also...ah, I have this...I have this feeling like. Mmm, will you trust me to test something? Would you...throw a book or something at me with your mind? Doesn't have to be hard just...toss something at me. I have a feeling something might...happen."
Drystan Windgrace tilted his head at Hector as he talked of Blake and nodded and waved his hand. "THe only person I would ask would be DOrian, and he will already be an Uncle. So really, it's fine." He waved it off as Hector pulled some of the shadowy ink like stuff off him and it fluttered into nothingness soon after. "Hm.. yes..I ..don't think you need to be alarmed over it, It just means you're that much closer to me...and if you are with child, it would make even more sense. It will have my blood mixed with yours as its own..." He frowned when Hec asked what he did. "Uhh...uh..yes? Okay.." He turned his head and looked at his room, and suddenly every book was FAR too large, far too dangerous to even carefully toss it at his beloved. Finally he settled on a cheap paperback smut book that was hiding in with secrets untold from ages of old...and it came as a gentle toss at Hector's person.
Hector merely nodded when Stan said that he didn't need to be alarmed. He was at first, but by now it was just another thing that was happening. He nodded about Dorian and as Stan had said, he was already the baby's uncle after all. Then Hector huffed as a tiny mag came slow as honey towards him. He crossed his arms over his chest as if to say 'really' but before he could speak the little smut soft cover would stop midair. It would spin in a circle right before it got to Hector, strange Old Ones runes appearing, flashing, crackling and then the book would slam onto the bed sharply, mist trickling out from between the pages and a few drops of that black smudged on the front cover before it all disappeared and it was just lying there. Hector gasped and immediately put a hand to his belly. "I didn't do that." He said sharply, looking to Stan owlishly before his bottom lip started to tremble and his eyes flooded with tears. "...I have to be, Stan. I have to be. You saw that, yes? I knew it. I felt it on the boat. It's like there's something inside of me keeping things away from me. It's faint right now, very small. You, Dinah, Dorian...being in this house. I feel calm and steady. When I'm outside I feel it pushing things away, judging every person, scenting them...tasting their essence and what is deemed, I dunno...'unworthy?' is rejected."
Drystan Windgrace watched as the paperback stopped and fell to the bed, and looked between it and Hector. "Oh...my Gods. Huhhh.....well...." He just grinned widely and tossed himself at Hector instead, but certainly not to see if their baby would smack him for it. He curled Hector up in his arms and pressed the side of his face against Hector's and held him so close and tight, but - not too tight. "Congratulations Hector..." He sort of bubbled and spurted it out, wetness creasing at the corners of his eyes. He'd never really wanted nor cared about having children. Even after being with Hector, it didn't cross his mind till it did, and now he didn't quite know what to do with the emotions that were gushing up out of him, Hector would feel swells of pride, and happiness, and excitement, and a little tinge of sheer terror.
Hector smirks and wraps his arms and wings around Drystan, pulling him down into a cuddle. He squeezed him and pressed his lips to Stan's ear. "Congratulations 'Us'...Daddy." He smiled and kissed Drystan's ear, nibbling it softly before pulling back. He stared at the other for a long moment before leaning in and kissing him deeply. It was filled with lots of things, love, devotion, trust, happiness, contentment, excitement, a bit of fear as well...but most of all it was just...completeness. Hector felt 'whole' in a way he had never known. He truly felt like Stan was a piece of a puzzle that fit in a cosmic hole that no one else could, but now more tumblers had settled into the lock. He was going to fulfill a promise to Stan, and a dream for himself that he had given up hope would ever come true. He had confessed to Blake that he'd actually LOST children before and the two discussed the possibility that...now he was with Stan, that he was stable and with the person he was meant to be with...maybe they would 'return' to Hector for a 'round 2' of sorts. He sniffled just a bit and nibbled Stan's bottom lip. "I love you so much. Here...lay with me. You should rest if you're tackling more of the ship's mystery yeah? You have a whole family and the rest of our lives to return home to afterwards."
Drystan Windgrace kissed him back fully and kept him wrapped up next to himself as he slid in next to him, and he pulled his hand to his belly as he did. There together, he put Hector's hand on top of his and took a deep breath, trying to relax. It was near impossible because of the swirl of thought in his head, but he turned his mind, and started to speak softly, words spilling out of him in a mix of languages. He knew several and now he had a fun new one that he didn't even know how to use, but just came out of him anyhow. He said prayers, and offered thanks to his patron once again for having blessed him. He chanted protection spells, from the most simple to the most complicated that was lodged in his deep memory. He cast spells and charms over and over, running through lists of things that would not only keep Hector safe, happy, and comfortable, but would bring luck and good fortune to the little one growing inside him. He spoke and spoke, switching from one incantation to another, from French to Italian to Latin and
then in R'Lyehian. a soft glow of inscriptions flowed around himself and thus around Hector. He'd not put this much into one action in quite some time. He resisted the urge to get his books and start painting symbols and wards all over his partner, because it felt too good to be there wrapped up together.
Hector tilted his head, smiling down at Stan as he started to chant, to speak in language after different language. It was cute. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, reaching up with his free hand to wrap around the pendant around his throat. He drew up the memory that Stan had sealed there...the two of them in perfect harmony in the little greenhouse outside. The moment they pledged just how much they loved one another, Stan gave him something he'd only ever given to one another person. He held that moment and let it spread around them. A stitch in time, a moment frozen. He would hold it there and let it cross over with the moment they were in. So Stan could spend as much time as he wanted saying prayers, casting spells, just simply being there and speaking to the tiny spark that was his child...or, unbeknownst to them...'children.' Eventually exhaustion would overcome Hector and the tiny frozen moment would end, falling back into normal time. He could only hope that Stan had tuckered himself out by then and would fall asleep against him. Hector would sleep peacefully that night, no nightmares, no dreams, no prophetic visions...nothing, but the feel of Stan near and a contentment that seeped all the way into his bones.