10-09-2018, 08:09 PM
Home was safe, dark and quiet and warm, cozy in this blissfully undisturbed way that left the boy sleepy and content, happy to curl up niiice and tiny even as his body developed more and more. Tiny was sneaky and tricky, and made him smile to himself with a little wiggle and a flutter of his itty bitty wings. He was gonna be the best surprise ever.
It was almost time to come out. He knew by the way it got so, so hard to stay still, by the way even the vastness of home’s warm embrace didn't feel big enough anymore, by the way his cozy contentment started to fade, replaced by restless irritation.
And then the world suddenly felt a whole lot less safe. Spikes of fear leaked in through his belly, spreading in a way that told him it was not his but Mom’s. His little ears heard the way her steady heartbeat took to racing, heard screams muffled by layers of flesh and fluids. Chemicals coursed through him, trying to keep him calm and alert and ready to act, but there was nothing he could do. Home shook and crashed, screamed and cried, and there was nothing he could do.
She kept him safe as she burned, as she bled, and he could feel her rage and pain and her endless defiance. Ohhh, his chest puffed up with pride even as he fretted, hidden away safe inside home.
Home got a lot less safe though, bright and hot invading and retreating , the nightmare orange lighting through flesh and making home glow, making his eyes squint and try to focus.
It wasn't long after that her body gave out and they crashed to the earth. And still he could feel the fight in her veins, flowing into him, flowing through him. So strong, his Mom. She held him until everything was quiet again, until the danger passed and the fear faded from their blood. And then, when it was as safe as she could manage, home pushed him out.
He entered the world with a plop, just a tiny glob of tissue filled with fluids, tied to Mom still by his belly. The cord broke though as he grew rapidly, expanding out to his full size, tearing through the tiny birth sac and gasping in a breath as she raised her raw, mangled head to look at him.
To be honest, he didn’t know what a mom was supposed to look like. But he was pretty sure not that. He peeked down at himself, and nope, he wasn’t all gross and oozey and cracked peeling bleeding ick. Just hair that wasn’t even that wet ‘cause he’d gotten big and the wet had not. Okay. So probably that was the screaming and the scary things and all, ‘cause also the air smelled like danger and burning and charred hair and skin and there were bits of what looked like Mom skin sorta strewn about and yeah okay that...was bad.
Bad, bad, bad, bad, very bad.
At least whatever had hurt her was gone now, or he hoped so anyhow. But what the hell was he supposed to do though? His ears flicked back all anxious, and he worried at the corner of his lip, looking around and trying to make his eyes focus even though that was a whole new thing, being able to see farther than the inside of Mom. Well. If she couldn’t take care of him now that he was out, he’d have to take care of her. So. Yeah.
He took a big breath, huffed it out, steeling himself to try and get up. It took a couple of goes, ‘cause he’d never been this big before and it was a little disorienting there being like, a ground to stand on and having to hold his weight up with his legs and balance on them when really they were just big long sticks to wobble on. But after a couple of failed tries, he managed it, standing on splayed legs and ducking his head to sniff at Mom and touch her cheek lightly. She jerked with a soft, scared little cry, and he crooned gently and found a spot to touch that still had skin.
She stared up at him, and he looked right back, peering into her eyes for the first time as a feeling of safety washed over him and chased away all the scary stuff for just a moment. His mom. She was his mom, and look how hard she’d fought to keep him safe already. She touched him gently and croaked out his name, and he puffed out his chest again and took it on happily, and gave her the only truth he knew in return.
“Mine.”
Her answering claim back was obvious enough he barely commented on it, but her little kiss to the side of his face made him grin even as she closed her eyes and drifted off again. So he stood guard over his Mom, not sure what else to do.
Something rustled in the trees, and he huffed and puffed himself up real big, flaring out his baby wings and snorting and stomping. “RAAAH!” he yelled as big as he could, and well hey at least successfully scared off a squirrel, so. Good. Best protector. He tossed his head and snorted again, arching his neck and charging after it a step ‘til it ran faster. And then um tripped over a damn rock on the way back to Mom.
Good thing the squirrel didn’t see that.
He caught himself and managed not to fall on his face at least, and cleared his throat and stood guard over Mom again.
‘Til someone who looked super fuckin’ scary came into sight, and he wanted to shrink down so damn tiny and hide in the crook of Mom’s neck. But her neck was a whole lot of hurt right now, so it was his job to be big and brave. So he narrowed his eyes and flared out his little baby wings and growled. “Mine,” he told the man covered in bones, blood oozing out of the edges. “You can’t hurt her, I won’t let you.”
It was almost time to come out. He knew by the way it got so, so hard to stay still, by the way even the vastness of home’s warm embrace didn't feel big enough anymore, by the way his cozy contentment started to fade, replaced by restless irritation.
And then the world suddenly felt a whole lot less safe. Spikes of fear leaked in through his belly, spreading in a way that told him it was not his but Mom’s. His little ears heard the way her steady heartbeat took to racing, heard screams muffled by layers of flesh and fluids. Chemicals coursed through him, trying to keep him calm and alert and ready to act, but there was nothing he could do. Home shook and crashed, screamed and cried, and there was nothing he could do.
She kept him safe as she burned, as she bled, and he could feel her rage and pain and her endless defiance. Ohhh, his chest puffed up with pride even as he fretted, hidden away safe inside home.
Home got a lot less safe though, bright and hot invading and retreating , the nightmare orange lighting through flesh and making home glow, making his eyes squint and try to focus.
It wasn't long after that her body gave out and they crashed to the earth. And still he could feel the fight in her veins, flowing into him, flowing through him. So strong, his Mom. She held him until everything was quiet again, until the danger passed and the fear faded from their blood. And then, when it was as safe as she could manage, home pushed him out.
He entered the world with a plop, just a tiny glob of tissue filled with fluids, tied to Mom still by his belly. The cord broke though as he grew rapidly, expanding out to his full size, tearing through the tiny birth sac and gasping in a breath as she raised her raw, mangled head to look at him.
To be honest, he didn’t know what a mom was supposed to look like. But he was pretty sure not that. He peeked down at himself, and nope, he wasn’t all gross and oozey and cracked peeling bleeding ick. Just hair that wasn’t even that wet ‘cause he’d gotten big and the wet had not. Okay. So probably that was the screaming and the scary things and all, ‘cause also the air smelled like danger and burning and charred hair and skin and there were bits of what looked like Mom skin sorta strewn about and yeah okay that...was bad.
Bad, bad, bad, bad, very bad.
At least whatever had hurt her was gone now, or he hoped so anyhow. But what the hell was he supposed to do though? His ears flicked back all anxious, and he worried at the corner of his lip, looking around and trying to make his eyes focus even though that was a whole new thing, being able to see farther than the inside of Mom. Well. If she couldn’t take care of him now that he was out, he’d have to take care of her. So. Yeah.
He took a big breath, huffed it out, steeling himself to try and get up. It took a couple of goes, ‘cause he’d never been this big before and it was a little disorienting there being like, a ground to stand on and having to hold his weight up with his legs and balance on them when really they were just big long sticks to wobble on. But after a couple of failed tries, he managed it, standing on splayed legs and ducking his head to sniff at Mom and touch her cheek lightly. She jerked with a soft, scared little cry, and he crooned gently and found a spot to touch that still had skin.
She stared up at him, and he looked right back, peering into her eyes for the first time as a feeling of safety washed over him and chased away all the scary stuff for just a moment. His mom. She was his mom, and look how hard she’d fought to keep him safe already. She touched him gently and croaked out his name, and he puffed out his chest again and took it on happily, and gave her the only truth he knew in return.
“Mine.”
Her answering claim back was obvious enough he barely commented on it, but her little kiss to the side of his face made him grin even as she closed her eyes and drifted off again. So he stood guard over his Mom, not sure what else to do.
Something rustled in the trees, and he huffed and puffed himself up real big, flaring out his baby wings and snorting and stomping. “RAAAH!” he yelled as big as he could, and well hey at least successfully scared off a squirrel, so. Good. Best protector. He tossed his head and snorted again, arching his neck and charging after it a step ‘til it ran faster. And then um tripped over a damn rock on the way back to Mom.
Good thing the squirrel didn’t see that.
He caught himself and managed not to fall on his face at least, and cleared his throat and stood guard over Mom again.
‘Til someone who looked super fuckin’ scary came into sight, and he wanted to shrink down so damn tiny and hide in the crook of Mom’s neck. But her neck was a whole lot of hurt right now, so it was his job to be big and brave. So he narrowed his eyes and flared out his little baby wings and growled. “Mine,” he told the man covered in bones, blood oozing out of the edges. “You can’t hurt her, I won’t let you.”