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Cale’s relatively peaceful day is interrupted by a loud bang.
The doors to his bedroom are slammed open, his three children rushing inside like they’re chased by demons. Frowning, Cale watches in puzzlement as the kids run towards him, Raon stopping just right in front of his nose and letting out a loud yell.
“H-Human! This is bad! Noona is sick!”
The panic in the black dragon’s blue eyes is obvious to see, and so is Hong’s as the little boy--in his human form--tugs Cale’s sleeve continuously.
Eyebrows furrowed, he directs his gaze at On, who, after running inside the room, instead of barreling to him like the other two, actually slows down and is now busy tugging her shirt downwards, her yellow eyes teary.
“On,” Cale calls to her, placing the book he’s been reading down on the table. His hand beckons her closer, and the eldest of the three shuffles slowly towards him, still tugging her shirt down to cover her short pants.
This, in itself, is already odd enough to send warning bells within his head. On has always been a particularly calm and confident child. Although still blanketed with some innocence children her age would have, On is the most mature between the three children as expected of her as the eldest. It also helps that On is probably the one who did the most protecting when only her and her brother were trying to survive while on the run, and later when they lived in the slums.
Therefore, to see On, teary and so clearly troubled, yet hesitant to go closer and bluntly ask Cale for help-- It’s… odd.
“Come here,” Cale says, his hand automatically reaching out to pat On’s head when she gets closer to him enough. “What happened?”
It’s Hong who answers first, his words choked up as he blubbers through panicked tears. “N-Noona is hurt! There’s b-blood a-and Noona’s hurt!”
“Blood?” He says, alarmed. “Where? Why didn’t you use healing magic? Did your potion run out?” That can’t be possible, Cale thinks. Raon has stored so many potions in his dimensional space it’s scary, and there is no way a simple scratch or a little amount of blood can make these vicious children go into such a panicked frenzy.
“No,” this time it’s On who finally speaks, her words spoken quietly as she ducks her head as if ashamed. “I-It’s weird, Cale, I don’t feel good…”
“Weird how?” Cale can’t stop frowning, his gaze assessing On’s body from head to toe, a few times for more measure. She does not look hurt, nor does she look like something has attacked her. Though if it’s the latter, the two other children would be more furious than anything...
He notices then that On hasn’t stopped pulling her light blue shirt down. Settling a hand on top of On’s own, he feels the nervous flinch from On.
“What’s wrong? I won’t understand unless you tell me,” he says, annoyance and impatience seeping into his voice. The other two children are still teary and fussing, what with Raon seemingly unable to decide whether he should perch on Cale’s shoulder or the chair instead, and so he settles with continuously pacing by crawling around like a lizard in his tiny corner of anxiety. Meanwhile, Hong hasn’t let go of his other hand’s sleeves, his fist literally clenching on it though his anxious gaze does not leave his older sister’s form.
On shuffles on her feet, fear and anxiety apparent in her eyes. Surprisingly enough red starts to adorn her cheeks, as if she’s ashamed or embarrassed by something. Then, visibly steeling herself, the girl lifts up the shirt she has been pulling down for the whole time she’s been in the room.
Oh.
“Oh.”
Cale’s eyes turn wide at the sight before him, realization and a bit of awkwardness he can feel seeping into his bones. Subconsciously his shoulders relax, the man not realizing how tense he had been at the prospect of On being hurt until he realizes the real matter that’s going on.
The kids, having lived with Cale for so long, are well aware of his body languages.
Upon noticing that the man has relaxed even when he sees the spot of red on On’s pants, the three children, though confused and mind still chaotic, quiet down on their little mumbles and tugs asking for help, or in Raon’s case, his lizard crawl on the chair and Cale’s shoulders.
“H-Human?” Raon says to Cale’s ear, his tone not quite relaxed just yet. “How do you cure it?” There isn’t even a sliver bit of doubt in Raon’s mind that Cale can cure his noona, not when Cale looks this relaxed and calm.
Sighing, he lifts his hand that has been held hostage by Hong, patting the redhead on the head as he speaks, “Hong, go call Ron and prepare a hot bath, as well as a change of clothes. Raon,” he turns his head to look at the black dragon, “go call Rosalyn. Tell her to come fast.”
“O-Okay!”
“Alright, human! I will call Rosalyn as quickly as I can!”
The two children make an aborted move towards the doors, still glancing back at On every so often in apparent worry. Cale flicks his hand, shooing them away. “It’ll be fine. On is fine. Just do what I told you to.”
That does the trick, as the two boys nod their understanding and literally run head first to the doors. If it’s not for Raon’s magic slamming open the doors on their way, Cale will actually worry that he’ll have to tend to one anxious and two actually hurt children.
“Now that they’re outside,” he sighs heavily, gesturing for On to come closer. “Come here.”
“Am I really fine?” On asks, her tone worried. Cale nods at her question, though she still looks wary, her eyebrows furrowed. “But I’m… bleeding! And-- I feel weird…”
“Weird how?”
“I don’t really have the appetite to eat,” On says, mournfully. “My stomach and legs hurt and they feel sore.”
“Okay,” Cale nods, “that sounds like normal symptoms, yes.”
On looks at Cale, “Am I sick?”
“No, nothing like that,” he shakes his head. On still looks worried though, so the man leans back on his chair, gesturing On to come closer yet once again. “Come here,” he pats his thigh a few times, and On looks alarmed for a few moments. “Sit.”
“Are you sure? But blood…”
“I’m wearing black pants,” is his easy answer, impatiently waving his hand so On will move.
Finally, after a few more moments of hesitation, she settles on top of Cale’s lap, one of her hand automatically gripping his shirt like a child seeking comfort, and Cale easily wraps his own arm around her body in resemblance of a hug.
To think he’ll end up having to talk about this… He pinches the bridge of his nose as he closes his eyes, sighing once again. He never really thought he’d end up having to talk about this to the children, but he’s basically their guardian right now, and On is a growing girl. He can’t believe that he’s forgotten about it until now.
...Fuck. He has to plan for sex education for the kids now. There’s no way he will let the kids run around blind about this sort of thing when they’re obviously growing up faster than he realizes. The changes of normal human bodies, places you can and can’t touch or let other people touch, and many other things… He didn’t pay attention to it during the war, mostly because the kids were in their Cats and dragon forms anyway, but now that they attend classes with human tutors, they have started to walk around in their human forms as well.
Education is education, and the kids do need it.
He’ll talk to mother later to call for the appropriate teachers for this. Maybe Ron can help too.
Opening his eyes, he looks steadily towards On’s yellow eyes, the child looking up at him patiently despite the anxiety she’s surely feeling right about now. “I don’t suppose you have learned about menstruation in your lessons?” He asks.
On blinks, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. “...No.”
“Alright,” Cale nods, “What you’re experiencing right now is called menstruation. Or periods. This is your first time, and it happens to women every month after they’ve reached a certain growth stage.”
On blinks. “Every woman?” Then, taking a more hysterical tone, “Every month?”
Cale nods. On looks at him as if he’s said something so earth shattering the earth should have blown up by now.
“I’m gonna bleed every month? Why?” She sounds offended, and if she were in her Cat form now, she’d look every part of an angry little cat.
“Hm, that’s a part of growing up for people with uteruses, and although there are explanations about it, the simple one would be that it means you can now get pregnant.”
On immediately looks disgusted. Cale quickly amends, “You won’t. Not unless you do something first, and that will be a lesson for another day. The point is, you’ve grown up.” His free hand reaches up to pat On’s head, “And this is normal. You’re not sick or dying. You’ll be okay.”
“Really?” She sniffles, and Cale realizes how the experience must’ve shocked her to the core. How would children feel, playing around and rolling on the grass only to realize you’re bleeding out of your private parts?
“Yes, you’ll be okay,” he answers firmly, watching in satisfaction as On nods, finally relaxing in his hold.
“But why blood?” On asks after a few moments of silence, and Cale drags his gaze towards the ceiling as he flips through his record for that particular information.
“Apparently, that’s because your uterus, the one inside here,” he gestures towards her lower body part, “has its lining built up to prepare for your egg to be fertilized. For pregnancy,” he clarifies at her confused look, “really, I’ll make sure you’ll learn later.” He’ll have to check the curriculum to make sure she does. What is the sex education standard in this world anyway? Fucking hell. “But because you didn’t get pregnant, the lining breaks down and bleeds.”
“So it destroys itself?” That’s what On manages to get from that explanation apparently. “Because I didn’t have a baby it decides to destroy itself?”
“It’s meant for a baby,” Cale shrugs. “No baby, no built up lining. It builds itself up every month, and whenever there’s no baby...”
“It will bleed every month,” On concludes, scrunching her nose. “That’s stupid.”
Cale shrugs, noncommittal.
“Is that why my stomach hurts?”
“Probably,” he mutters, a warm palm placed on top of On’s stomach, rubbing it gently in an attempt to help soothe the pain. “I only know a few things, and it may not be entirely accurate because I never experienced it myself or learned extensively about it on my own.”
On, the smart child, instantly catches on. “Is that why you called Miss Rosalyn?”
“Yes,” he nods. “Miss Rosalyn is smart, and she must also experience menstruation just like you. She’ll know way better than me how to handle this, and she can teach you.”
“Oh.”
“Of course, you can also ask Hannah, Mary, or any other adult women you know. As far as I know, people may experience menstrual pain differently, so the more you know of possible symptoms, the more you’ll know how to handle it.”
On nods, her expression serious. “Okay. So, reconnaissance. Got it.”
“...Sure.” He doesn’t even know why that is the conclusion she ends up having. Did Ron teach her too much military jargon?
“...Cale?” On calls him as they wait for the others to come to his room, her legs now swinging as she’s now less anxious and more comfortable to sit on Cale’s lap.
“What?”
“I want cake.”
“Hmm?”
“I dunno,” On mumbles, “I don’t really wanna eat, but I want sweet things, like cake… Or chocolate. Or chocolate drink… Chocolate ice cream…”
...Ah. Right. “It can be a form of menstrual craving,” he informs the girl, brushing her hair back with his fingers. “If you want to eat something, just tell Beacrox. He’ll prepare everything for you.”
“Hmm,” On hums, content. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
“...This is still weird, though.”
“You’ll get used to it. Just go to Rosalyn or any other women when you’re uncomfortable or in pain, okay? You can come to me too, though I may not know what to do sometimes.”
“Mm-hmm,” On nods again, resting her cheek on Cale’s chest. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Sure.”
Soon enough, the two boys are back with the people Cale asked for, and while Ron is efficiently preparing a hot bath for On, Rosalyn easily settles on a chair beside Cale’s, giving On simple explanations and reassurances about her condition, even going so far to answer Hong’s and Raon’s worried and later, intrigued, questions as well.
All the while, On stays on her seat on top of Cale’s lap.
She looks sheepishly at Cale’s stained pants later when she’s clean and well equipped to handle the blood dripping out of her, the scent of blood obvious to the children’s sensitive noses, but Cale simply pats her head before he shoos the kids back outside to play.