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"So we're seeing a fertility specialist." Pearl said to herself, voice edging on nervous.
"Yep." Scar was as calm as he could ever be.
"And we're going to tell them that you want to get pregnant." Pearl went on.
"Correct." He said with a nod.
"So what they need to do is take one of my eggs and turn it into a swimmer." Her cheeks dust a bit, but not from embarrassment.
"That's what Zed said." He nods again.
"And that's it? That's all we need?" Pearl said, seeming to calm down a bit.
"Mhm!" Scar hums positively.
"Okay, alright." The moth nods as she looks around the office. "So when the doctor comes in—"
"We explain that I'm trans and disabled and want to be pregnant." Scar easily answers.
"Mhm." Pearl hums in return.
"Don't sound so nervous, Pearl." He says as he takes her hand. "I'm sure this will be better than the last one, I checked them over."
"You also said that last time and they still didn't understand the whole sitation and talked down to me after seeing my bipolar one diagnosis…" Pearl says in annoyance.
"Oh, I did, didn't I…" Scar murmurs to himself. "We either way—"
There's a knock on the door of the office they'd left in. Soon enough, a small galeborn with a nametag reading 'Dr. Coot' on it. Kinda funny seeing as she looks to be on the older side of things…
Scar snorts when he probably shouldn't, earning himself a glare from Pearl.
"Sorry." He meekly apologizes, but there is still a obvious smile on his lips.
Dr. Coot, the old lady, doesn't bat an eye as she sits at her desk and arranges some papers before looking at her computer.
"My name is Dr. Cootfoot and I'll be your practitioner for today." She doesn't even turn to look at them as she types something up.
"'Cootfoot'?" Pearl echoes curiously. "Sounds like a felid name."
"I was adopted by cats." Again, not even giving them a glance.
There's a part of Scar that grows annoyed at just calling felids 'cats', but maybe that was simply the ground Dr. Coot spent her time around? Not all felids wanted to be referred to as regal beings, some were simply and plainly cats.
"So you two have been having pregnancy difficulties, correct?" Her voice is grating against his sensitive ears, but he nods through.
"Well, yes and no?" Pearl says quickly. "You see, we're not compatible."
"I can see, you're a moth and lion—"
"Nature spirit-lion hybrid." Scar corrects swiftly. "My dad was a dryad. I shed my mane in the fall like a tree sheds its leaves."
"No wander you're having difficulties getting her pregnant. You're a herbivore-carnivore hybrid." Once again, she doesn't look at them, instead typing something up on her computer.
"Actually, that's not it…" Pearl tries her best to cut in calmly. "He's not—"
"I'm not cisgender." Scar says easily. "I'm actually trans and the one who wants to get pregnant."
Dr. Coot finally looks at them, but she seems more indifferent than surprised. Cold blue eyes of the galeborn looked him up and down before she says. "Well, you could've said that from the beginning."
You didn't give me a chance, but go off I guess. begs to be said out loud, but the both of them remain in their semi-calm composure as they look at her.
"Well, let's see here." Dr. Coot says as she looks away from them again. "You're both coded in as female—"
"That's actually wrong, I'm coded in as neither." Pearl interjects. "I just happened to look mostly female… and work mostly female…"
"Oh, so you're intersex." The old hag mumbles.
"Correct, ma'am." The ma'am isn't a polite thing, it's edged with a quiet hostility that Scar has learned only from these visits to fertility specialists.
Dr. Coot hums to herself as she nods, eyes darting around something on her screen.
"We actually came here to ask something very specific." Pearl pipes up.
"And what would that be?" Dr. Coot asks, her voice as plain and grating as it'd been this whole time.
"For you take one of my eggs, turn it into sperm, and inject it into Scar." Pearl says evenly.
The galeborn hums, seeming almost thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Do you have eggs?"
"I— I think I do?" Her voice squeaks slightly in indignance.
"Not you," Dr. Coot turns again, this time slightly, as she points as Scar. "him."
Scar wants nothing more than to glare her down, but he retains his calmness as best he can.
"If it's a worry, I froze some of mine before I began transition." Scar offers with a false smile. "Back when I was still a teen."
"Were you eighteen?" She asks.
"Of course I was." Scar says as his politeness slips.
Dr. Coot hums again. "Alright then."
Her keyboard clicks loudly as she types a few things out.
"I will be referring you to a specialist in LGBTQ+ care." Dr. Coot says calmly.
It sits heavy in the air, even heavier in his chest. Had he gone through this just to find someone that was as transphobic as the last one? But there was still something positive about it, a referral to someone who would hear then out, who would help them.
"They also specialize in hybrid care." Dr. Coot noted as she prints something out. "This being said, they're further away from this hub and are on a private server."
The doctor takes the papers she's printed, stapling them together before handing them off to Scar and Pearl.
Scar blinks as he looks over the papers, blinking again as he sees they username… how does one even pronounce 'DNtDstrbMySlmbr'…?
"Their name is Dr. Slumber. I'm sure they can deal with your special case." If it weren't for Dr. Coot's plain face, Scar might have mistake it for some form of agitation.
Not that he doesn't 'mistake' it for a form of agitation anyways…
"Scar, this specialist isn't that far away from Hermitcraft." Pearl tells him in a hushed tone.
He looks over the location again and sure enough it's only two or three stops away from Hermitcraft's private hub. Which makes things easy as this one and the last one were about ten to fifteen stops away.
"Oh, that's amazing!" Scar chirps happily before turning to the other person in the room. "Dr. Coot, does this server also have other care? Like a hospital or—"
"It's a private server." She reminds coldly. "The only place that is open to the public is this fertility clinic and its attached maternity center."
Scar grits his teeth as he nods, but Pearl glares harshly at her.
"I think we've asked enough here." Pearl says as she stands quickly.
"Yep, all my questions are answered." Scar says as he rolls away from the desk
"Are you sure?" Dr. Coot asks with a quirked eyebrow.
"Yes, we're sure." Scar says as he gets closer to the door that is held open by Pearl.
Before he's fully rolled out, he turns to Dr. Coot with a sugar-sweet, toothy grin and says, "I hope you have a horrible day."
— ❁ – ❁ – ❁ —
The soonest available time that to get in, and apparently the only time the server is even open to new people, is that very wednesday.
It's the first red flag that Pearl notices. The second red flag is the outdated look of the page for the clinics online. They look ancient, like they were made before endermen and enderians were added or 'discovered'.
The third red flag? The server itself…
It looks…
"Who built this place?" Scar says in disbelief as he rolls off the train.
"Maybe this isn't a builder heavy server…?" Pearl tries to reassure, but she herself is cringing at the literal boxes that make up buildings.
Scar easily leads the way inside, checking in at the desk.
Funnily enough, the interior is— okay it's not better, it's average for a clinic, but it at least has stripped oak lined walls? Thin panels of wood… is it real wood…?
She shoves off the feeling at the idea of it being fake, instead waiting in a empty chair as she waits for a assistant to get her and Scar.
Another red flag: It's taking painfully long, even past their scheduled appointment time, for them to go back.
None of this bodes well to her, absolutely none of it, but Scar sits besides her. He's as relaxed as he possibly could be, smiling contently as he leans back in his wheelchair.
Eventually, after a painfully long wait, they are called back by an assistant who leads them to a back office.
It looks bland, the same possibly stripped oak walls around them with a desk right in the center. Cabinets line the wall behind the desk and proudly to one corner of the desk sits the a shoddy, boxy monitor with an equally as old computer.
When the assistant leaves after asking only one question about where the live — yet another odd thing that she notes down — she looks to Scar and Scar looks to her.
"Why do I feel I'm about to either die or be called a slur…" Pearl mutters.
"I like this place." Scar says cheerily. "It makes a child's work looks amazing by comparison."
Pearl huffs out a laugh and prepares herself for another long wait.
Luckily the universe seems to be on her side as a creeper— wait, that's not a creeper…
Their small, at least for a hisskin. The tail they have isn't stubby, it's lanky and tappers like a skink's. Along with that, their fur is a pale green and flecked with white, like a evergreen in the dead of winter. Further even on that, they have a shortened muzzle, like a rabbit's been turned into a persian but not as caved in.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Slumber." They greet with a warm smile before sitting at their desk. "What brings you into my clinic?"
"I want to get pregnant." Okay, so Scar is leading this time, nice.
"Mhm." Dr. Slumber isn't typing on her ancient computer, instead getting out a pen and notepad to write on. "So I'm guessing you at the very least have a uterus?"
Pearl blinks at the specialist then turns to see Scar giving her an equally as confused expression.
"I'm a trans man who hasn't had bottom surgery, so yes." Scar states calmly.
"And you?" They turn to Pearl with a raised eyebrow.
"My code marks me as neither, but I have most of the equipment of a stereotypical female." Pearl says with a nod.
"Okay, okay." Dr. Slumber says with a nod. "So I think my first question for you, Ms. Moon, is do you know if you can produce eggs?"
"I've had periods and avian-like mating seasons." The moth answers before swiftly adding, "My grandmother was a avian, same as my father."
"Mhm." The doctor hums to themself. "That doesn't fully answer my question, but I know you mean well.
"We'll have to do further testing on you to see if you have eggs and if they're viable, but this will be done for both of you so it's not like I'm singling you out via mistrust or something." Dr. Slumber says gently before she smiles. "I give you the highest amount of trust a stranger can give."
"Okay…" Pearl says with a nod.
"What if my eggs have been frozen since I was eighteen?" Scar asks.
"Then those eggs will still be tested for viability." Dr. Slumber nods. "Just as a cautionary step."
"And our things have both been found to be via— variable?" Scar asks quickly.
"Then we'll see if you can get pregnant." Dr. Slumber says with a smile. "Seeing as you have a disability that effects your muscles and paralyzes you, this may be a bit tricky, but I'm sure by the end of this you will have the child you want."
"Are you sure?" He asks with barely hidden excitement.
"Mhm!" Dr. Slumber nods quickly as they smile.
It almost feels like a weight is lifted from Pearl's chest as she relaxes into her chair with a sigh. There's a sound of relief in the wheelchair beside her, Scar putting a hand on his chest as he leans backwards.
"I was terrified since the moment I got in her, stars." Scar sighs again.
"Same, this place just seems—"
"Sketchy? I get that a lot." Dr. Slumber says gently. "Our server manager doesn't believe we need to keep any technology updated so we keep to the old stuff unless 'absolutely necessary'."
"That sounds horrible." Pearl blurts.
"It's… manageable…" Dr. Slumber says tensely. "We plan to move servers, but the upkeep on other servers for a operation like ours is simply too expensive."
The two of them nod, Scar humming as he does.
"So about your maternity center?" Scar asks eagerly.
"I'll explain it to you more at our next appointment if you'd like?" Dr. Slumber chirps with a grin.