Chapter Text
Chapter 64
As the most experienced of his siblings, as well as the town physician, Kallamar had expected the yearly increase in couples seeking council or contraceptives. What he hadn't been expecting was the sheer number that would flood his clinic. Ezra had apparently never stopped recruiting any and every person he found on his excursions, and the town's population only continued to grow. He had to enlist Leshy's assistance to ensure the rubber trees did not die from over harvesting their sap due to the sheer quantity of condoms he produced. Thankfully, Forneus was always a delight to converse with, and she had been a godsend in managing the supplies needed for suppressants, which Leshy was able to cultivate more of, further bolstering their stock. He'd even trained two new apprentices in how to process the rubber sap and create the protective packaging to speed up production.
Brutus was also growing needier by the day, which would have been a delight, if not for his workload. Kallamar did not mind being the bottom during this time, seeing as he never went into heat, but the size of the bull tended to leave him sore afterwards, and were it not for the lamb restoring his healing abilities, he likely wouldn't be able to walk for the next month. It was a miracle the beefcake hadn't broken his pelvis by now. The problem was that the big lug had too much stamina. This meant that while enjoyable, their trysts left little time in the night for actual rest. It was a frustrating conundrum. Sure, he could ask his partner to take some suppressants, but then he'd miss out on the more dominant and rough treatment of his lover. On the other hand, he wasn't getting nearly enough sleep, and even if he could heal his bodily fatigue, the mental strain was taking its toll.
Narinder had mocked him for his weakness in making a decision, despite also succumbing to his own rut. Leshy didn't care either way, but still made sure to point out how 'wavy' the squid was in decision making. Horrible pun, really. Heket hadn't been seen outside her tavern since the last frost, presumably tending to her husband. The bear was a gentle creature by his very nature, but apparently the last two springs had seen him isolate himself. From the noises he could frequently hear echoing in the bedchamber above the tavern, it was wise of him to do so.
The boys had been ravenous after finally getting over their embarrassment at talking to him, and probably were his greatest drain on supplies. Honestly, he half expected one of them to get impatient and father a kit, but they were well disciplined by their father and always made sure to take precautions. He was proud to know that his little brother had become a respectable father, even while in chains. He felt bad about it, but Shamura had been terrified at the idea of Narinder obtaining an unkillable army. In hindsight, it was foolish, but they couldn't have known without exposing their scheme. It was such a disaster, the fact that any of them had survived was a miracle brought about by his own nephew. The Lamb had managed to drag his father out of the afterlife and convince him to release the rest of them from purgatory. The boy even managed to heal the wounds caused by Narinder, and, for no discernable reason, had restored a fragment of their old power to them. It was a mystery to him. Sure, he had been given his power only after Freya fell ill, but the Lamb had no clue he would recover his healing specifically out of all of his potential abilities.
Whatever the boy's reason, he was grateful for it. It allowed him to mend minor wounds with ease and treat fatal diseases without the use of complex alchemy. It still took a considerable amount of effort to purge more stubborn infections, so he used smaller doses of medicines to ease the process.
He was proud of what his family had become, despite no longer being a god.
Waking up covered in leaves was no longer a concern for Lenny. Ever since that first passionate night, Leshy had been much more open with his affection, frequently leaving tiny nibbles on any exposed fur. Evenings were spent relaxing until the worm got a little too touchy feely with his cuddling, and things would quickly spiral from there. Spring bringing his own rut didn't help, especially since Leshy didn't have the standard anatomy common to most mortal folk. He was most definitely male, but being part plant made him a bit more than just male. He probably couldn't carry a child, but Lenny's instincts didn't seem to care. Leshy was by far the more dominant of the two, but he humored his cat sometimes. It was always a thrill to get the upper hand, but Lenny certainly didn't mind being on the receiving end, even as his instincts wanted to take over.
So waking up underneath his lover wasn't surprising. What did finally shock him awake were the buds forming on the worm's belly. He'd seen Leshy's foliage change across a full year now, going from wide green leaves in spring and summer, to thin long needles during winter. The previous spring gave them a scare when he started to sprout buds all over his body. He was doing the same now, which they had both expected. The issue with this patch however, was that they were significantly larger than the rest. Almost the size of Lenny's palm, rather than a pea sized bud. His mind flashed back to several instances where the two had gotten rather...animated and certain things had...splashed. Neither of them had thought much of it, and simply kept going. Now, remembering that his partner was a plant he realized he may have...pollinated a few blossoms.
Oh Baba dammit
'N- oh, wow. You are a rather... interesting one. Not what I would have expected of a scientist, but we all make mistakes in the throws of passion.'
He'd forgotten his new family included the literal god of the village. Of course cursing in his name would draw his attention, and of fucking course he'd read his mind. Great. At least he wouldn't have to awkwardly explain to his god and probable brother-in-law what had happened. The Boss likely would figure it out if the Captain hadn't already told him. Shit, how would he explain this to his friends? The other farmers were always joking about 'plittens' being in the future for the two, but never had he given it much thought. Hagar might be excited by the idea of a sentient flower, but that was hard to gauge with the hyena. Oh well. He'd have to deal with it later.
"Mmm. Len, why do you look so worried?" his worm mumbled.
"You uh, you remember the scare we had last year?"
Leshy shot up, eyes wide. Lenny looked down at his belly. Leshy looked down.
"Well shit."
"Yeah."
"I hadn't thought of names."
Lenny blinked.
"That's what you're worried about?"
"What? We've been fucking for months now, it was bound to happen," he shrugged, his leaves rustling lazily.
"You knew?!"
"You didn't?"
"NO! I wouldn't be panicking if I knew!"
"Oh. My bad. Did...did you not want this?" he placed a clawed hand over the three buds.
"I don't know," the cat sighed. "I didn't know I wanted what we have until we had it. I don't know how I feel about fatherhood."
"Heh, fair. Counterpoint, the god of death turned out to be an awesome dad, and his kid basically changed the whole damn world. Imagine what ours will be able to do~" he crooned, leaning into his cat.
Russ was scaroused. That was the only way to describe it. He had been mistaken about Hagar. She was not, in fact, a hound. She was a hyena. He had no idea what they were like, but apparently, the females had their own...tool. He had been worried at first that he was about to become the bitch in this relationship, only to find that Hagar was a very eager bottom. They both hit their heat and had to seek out Forneus for suppressants for both of them. It had worked at first, but it turns out they fell into a feedback loop caused by their pheromones, causing them to lose control. Thankfully, Kallamar had already gifted them a case of contraceptives. As much as Russ loved the mountain of a woman, he wasn't ready to be a father just yet. Thankfully, Hagar was very understanding of his reluctance, but she did make it known that she would like pups of her own someday. He wasn't at all against the idea, but with the Boss being the manic mess that he was, he wanted to wait for at least part of the village to be stable before settling down for good.
That wasn't to say he hadn't been tempted. Some of the things Hagar said in the heat of the moment made him seriously consider taking the dive, if only to hear her scream. He, thankfully, had some amount of self control. He just hoped he could hold out for another week.
The last two springs had been odd for Ezra. He'd never lived in any one place long enough to notice relationships, but now that he had a home, it was much more obvious. He hadn't understood why so many couples had spent most of the season in their cabins, but just figured they were doing something special for couples. He wished he had been wrong about that. After what Zara had told him after the incident with Shamura, he no longer felt comfortable being in the village. It was bad enough the villagers were all affected by this, but his brothers? He couldn't look them in the eye during family dinners. He could smell the mouse sisters on them. In fact, he could smell a lot of things he wished he couldn't. He even noticed it coming from his Baba. That had been the worst he figured.
He knew Ma and Baba shared a bed. He knew sometimes there was blood on the sheets when he went to clean them. He also knew he sometimes got the odd urge to bite Zara's ear or neck. He did not, however, know why before this year. He shuddered at the thought of what else was on those sheets. He'd stopped cleaning them when his Baba spent an entire day in the bedroom. He wouldn't be surprised if he had a little sibling this year. At least he and Zara weren't affected. He knew he would be some day, but that was a long ways off for both of them. He didn't like to think about how he'd deal with that.
He instead was spending as much time as possible clearing out heretics and recruiting new villagers while testing out combinations of magic with Zara or testing new weapons and tools they came up with. They'd managed to make a wagon that didn't need a beast to pull it, but steering was still an issue. So far, it just went straight until it crashed, but it was progress! It also kept his mind from wandering.