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Louis and Harry have put so much effort into making their nest sturdy and warm for their egg.
Well, Harry put in most of the effort, moving stones around every which way until he was satisfied with the result. Louis mostly sat back and watched on fondly as Harry nudged bits and pieces of the nest around with his flippers.
However, Louis did add the finishing touch to the nest once Harry was done. He placed the beautiful and perfectly round pebble that Harry had given him as a proposal months earlier right in the middle of the nest, on display for the entire Antarctic to see.
Now every time he looks at their nest he thinks of the day that he and Harry became mates and his insides get all warm and tingly. It is absolutely perfect and Louis can’t wait to see their little egg bundled up inside, safe and warm and protected from the world.
It’s the day before Louis has to leave to make the long voyage to the sea to find krill to bring back for the hatchling.
Harry is not looking forward to being separated from Louis at all, and he’s especially not looking forward to being left alone with their brand new egg. He’s clumsy and accident-prone and very, very sure that he’ll fall and crush the egg, or that he won’t be able to protect the egg until Louis returns from his dangerous trek.
He’s been fiddling with the twigs and stones in their nest all day long out of nervousness and Louis must sense something is wrong because he nuzzles up against him and rubs his flipper against his head just the way he likes. It relaxes him some, reminds him that Louis chose him to be his mate so Louis must have seen something worthy in him.
Louis reaches over into their nest to grab The Pebble, the one that brought them together, and he hands it to Harry. It’s something to remember Louis by; something to get him through the coming months that he’ll have to face without his mate.
It’s a small gesture, but it’s just enough to give him the burst of confidence he needs to send Louis off to sea.
He can do this.
He can’t do this.
Louis’ been gone over a month now.
Harry is freezing, and huddling with the other soon-to-be-fathers isn’t making him any warmer. He’s hungry and he’s cold and he’s sad, misses Louis and his beautiful eyes and his soft flippers. The only thing that’s stopping him from leaving to find Louis is their egg, their beautiful little egg nestled safely at his feet.
Louis will be back in a few more months, and he’ll have food for their hatchling and everything will be alright. It’s just a few more months of eating absolutely nothing and withstanding the absolute worst weather conditions.
Harry rests one flipper over the egg to keep it extra warm, and he holds The Pebble in his other to remind him that Louis’ real, that he’s his mate, that he will be coming back.
He will.
A few months later all the penguins return home.
Harry is just rearranging bits and pieces of the nest to make it more comfortable for the hatchling when he spots the group of penguins waddling down a slope.
It’s like he can finally breathe again. Louis’ back. Louis’ home.
He spots him, at the head of the group, moving through the nests as quick as he can, eager to get to Harry.
Harry bounces up and down a little in excitement, unable to do much else since he has to be careful of their egg.
He spent months starving and freezing and constantly worrying, worrying that Louis wouldn’t make it back from his voyage to sea, worrying that he’d break their egg and kill their hatchling before it was even ready to hatch.
But when Louis nuzzles up against him and puts his flipper over Harry’s on top of their egg, all the months of worrying and pain just fade away.
Louis is back. Their flippers are intertwined and their egg is about ready to hatch and their lives are about to begin.
For the first time in a long time Harry feels full and complete and warm, so warm he thinks the snow underneath his body might melt.