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Truthless Recluse stared numbly at the wall, absentmindedly stroking her belly.
Dusk of Silence reentered her room with a tray of food in his hands. Wordlessly, he sat it on the bedside table, then sat back down on the edge of the bed.
“You need to eat.”
Truthless Recluse said nothing, just continued to stare at the wall and rub her belly.
“If not for yourself, then for your children.”
That got a reaction.
She glared up at him through her eyelashes, tears clinging to them and desperate not to fall.
“That’s a dirty trick.” She grumbled. She sighed and pushed herself up.
“Worked back then, figured it’d work now.” Dusk didn’t really care if she hated him for it.
Truthless Recluse crossed her legs as best she could and looked expectantly between him and the tray of food that was now out of reach for her.
Dusk of Silence leaned forward and picked up the tray, he turned and handed it to her.
“Thank you.” She grumbled again.
Dusk waited until she took a few bites of noodles before asking, “So…what do you intend to do?”
Truthless Recluse raised her eyebrows at him, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, it is clear you still love Sage. You're just going to,” Dusk thought for a moment, “Let him leave? Raise these children alone?”
“Well, what am I meant to do?” Truthless Recluse asked. “I divorced him. He moved back to Beast-Yeast.” She glared at the plate on her lap.”That’s…it.” She sighed.
“That’s…it.” He repeated slowly.
Truthless Recluse stubbornly took another forkful of noodles in her mouth.
“You want your children to grow up without their father?”
“Crumbs, Dark Cacao!” Truthless Recluse covered her mouth with the back of her hand to keep from spitting up, “Of course not!”
“Then I do not understand how you could give up.” He narrowed his eyes at her.
She glared back at him, “You’re one to talk.” She shuffled uncomfortably and turned her glare towards her plate, “You gave up on everyone and everything after Dark Choco…”
Dusk of Silence was silent. He inhaled and exhaled slowly in that familiar way that told her she’d gone too far.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled.
“Pure Vanilla?”
She looked up at him.
“You need your husband back.”
The Sage of Truth had never been better.
HONEST!
Sure his hair was a mess, he hadn't slept in days, and he was fairly certain that fermented smell was coming from him.
And, yes, his other half had divorced him for “being selfish” and “not listening to her wants” and “neglecting her” but he was a working Emissary for the Witches!! Couldn't she have cut him a little slack??
She’d been a Virtue, once upon a time, and cookies not cutting her any slack were exactly why she’d corrupted —
“No,” Sage told himself out loud and slapped his cheeks to knock those thoughts away, “No using that against her.”
It hadn't really been her fault for falling, after all. There were so many other factors — her husband crumbling her son, her fellow Virtues slipping into their own corruptions, the whole of Earthbread falling into war…she had a lot going on back before the sealing.
But still!!
All because he wanted to spend time with her? Spend his eternal life teaching and spreading the truth? Because he kept telling her “no” when she brought up the subject of having a family?
Sage splashed his face with water again.
“Blue..? Are you alright in there?”
The Bringer of Happiness knocked on the bathroom door.
Sage groaned softly and let his head hang.
Ever since the divorce and his subsequent return to Beast-Yeast, The Bringer of Happiness and her guard, The Protector of Paradise, had been staying in the Spire with him.
“To keep him company”
He didn't want company. Especially not theirs.
He wanted to stew.
He wanted to be angry. At his (ex)wife, at himself, at Dusk of Silence, at the world, at the Witches!!
He stopped himself from going down that line of thinking again by splashing more water on his face.
“Splashing water is not the equivalent to showering, Blue.” Bringer trilled through the door.
“Go away, Sugar!” He snapped.
“Not until I hear you scrubbing!” She shouted back.
Sage groaned dramatically and spun on his heel to face the shower.
He grumbled as he turned on the water, grumbled as he stripped, and grumbled all the way through his shower.
The only time he stopped grumbling was when Bringer found a way into the bathroom and picked up his discarded clothes.
“What are you doing in here?!” Sage demanded.
“Relax, Blue,” Bringer waved him off. “I’m just gonna have these cleaned, and don't worry, I’ll have a fresh set waiting for you when you're out.”
He grumbled as she left.
Once he was out and dried, he floated out to his bedroom and saw she had left him some fresh clothes.
The clothes he wore when he was forced to attend parties at her garden.
Sage sighed and got dressed. There was only a loose button up and a matching pair of slacks. No vest, hat, socks, or boots. He returned to grumbling and went back to his closet to fish around for more clothes.
“Uhhh, your Emissary-ness?”
Sage glowered over his shoulder at The Protector of Paradise, “What?”
“Dark Cacao is here.”
It was as if the fragile piece of glass holding back his emotions shattered.
“What?! What, does that apathetic asshole get off on pissing me off?!” He shouted at Protector.
“He —,”
“H-He’s probably here to brag about stealing my wife and child!! We-e-ell that crumb-wad has another thing coming!” He laughed dryly.
“He’s actually —,”
“I will undo his brain neuron by neuron, rip his DNA until he is down to his barest ingredients and nothing but crumbs!”
“Uhm, your Emissary-ness, he —,”
“And then I will scatter those crumbs across the stairs to the Ivory Pagoda so he may always grovel at the feet of the gods!”
“Actually…”
Sage’s anger immediately deflated upon hearing The Dusk of Silence’s voice. He lunged himself towards the closet door and glared at Dusk.
“I am here to speak with you about Pure Vanilla.”
“What, you want me to give up parental rights? Not a chance!” He hissed.
“No.” Dusk blinked, deadpanned.
“Want my blessing to fuck my wife? Drop dead!”
“No.”
The Protector of Paradise watched them go back and forth for a moment more before Sage finally threw his hands up in defeat.
“Then what, you apathetic bastard, do you want?!” He huffed.
“Pure Vanilla needs you.”
Sage’s shoulders softened, “She…” he shook his head and glared at him, “No she doesn't. Deceit is not nearly as attractive coming from you.” He seethed.
“She has been crying herself to sleep every night.” Dusk continued.
“Oh, poor Nilla.” Protector sniffled.
Dusk looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, “Hollyberry…could you…perhaps…give us some privacy?” He asked slowly.
Protector blinked, then her eyes got wide and she blushed, “OH! Of course! Sorry, old friend!” She thumped him on the back as she left and Dusk grimaced in pain.
Sage almost wished she’d stay. Or maybe even grab Sugar so she could rescue him from this situation.
Dusk waited until the door closed.
“Every night?” Sage asked quietly before Dusk could confront him.
Dusk exhaled slowly, then nodded once, “Yes.”
Sage frowned, “She’s probably making herself sick.”
“Yes. And being pregnant on top of that isn't helping.”
“Well, then, what the ovens are you even there for? Aren't you supposed to take care of her?” Sage crossed his arms.
“She is stubborn. She does not always accept the help.” Dusk blinked slowly.
Sage couldn't help but smile. That sounded more like his wife. She refused help all the time, from something as basic as reaching something off a high shelf, to when she’d push herself to take all of him before he’d properly loosened her up.
Then he frowned, “So. She just wants me to take care of her? What, and then she kicks me out when our child is born.”
Dusk, for the first time since Sage introduced himself to the Beast, looked irritated, “For Witches Sake, she still loves you!”
Sage blinked in shock. He’d never heard the apathetic king raise his voice. There was a slight draconian rasp to his voice.
“Even though you make everything about you, she STILL loves you.” He snapped, “She never wanted to leave, she never wanted you to go, she just wanted to stop hurting!” Dusk argued, “She wanted you to notice HER, SEE her! But you're STILL making this about you! During what should be the happiest time of her life!”
And if that wasn't a solid punch to Sage's gut…
A sudden burst of jealousy ignited his stomach. Dusk of Silence got to spend time with his wife while she was pregnant back when he’d been married to her, and now he was spending time with her while she was pregnant with Sage’s child!
Dusk continued, his voice still uncharacteristically sharp, “You will find no better mother in this whole world, no better cookie to raise your children, no better wife! But you will RUIN this and ruin HER if you do not get back there and make things right!”
“Fine! You think you can just spend all this time with my wife and assume that I don't care?! That I wanted it to be this way?!” Sage pushed himself into a hover, “I’ll show you. I’ll show her! I will redevote myself to her whether she wants me to or not!” And he disappeared from the Spire with a puff of stardust.
Dusk of Silence sighed, “What a pair of stubborn assholes.” He grumbled.
Sage reappeared at the Peak, just inside the foyer to Truthless Recluse’s crumbling palace, “RECLUSE?!” He shouted, “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
“Sage??” Truthless Recluse stepped out from behind the door at the back of the foyer with a teacup in her hand. She’d never looked more beautiful. She’d shed her heavy recluse robes, and was wearing the blue silk robe he’d gifted her for their six month anniversary over the baby blue pajamas set he’d gifted her for their eight month anniversary. And she looked much further along in her pregnancy than she had when he left a few months ago, her belly was even poking out of the bottom of the top of her pajamas.
Sage shook his head to clear his thoughts of grabbing her belly and worshiping her, “You, my dear,” he landed on his feet and marched over to her, “have a lot of nerve demanding a divorce and then sending your other ex-husband to summon me back to your side like a lost lamb.” He towered over her and pointed an accusatory finger at her, “You push me away when I only wish to be with you and then when I give you the space you so desperately deserve —,” he ignored her wince, “You cry about my absence! I am only giving you what you want! And furthermore I happen to have enjoyed my time apart from you, I think I shall —!”
His voice died in his throat the second Truthless Recluse grabbed his accusatory hand and laid it on the side of her belly.
He felt a kick.
Truthless Recluse breathed heavily.
Sage’s anger ebbed away and he slowly lifted his other hand and laid it on the other side of her belly.
He felt another kick.
Sage gasped and looked up at Truthless Recluse.
She breathed slowly, in pain, and stared up at him.
He tried to wrangle all his anger back into his voice, “This…this changes nothing.” He lied, “You can't just demand a divorce and then cry to have me back and expect me to drop everything to —,”
“It’s twins.” Truthless Recluse’s voice was soft, gentle.
Sage’s mouth hung open.
He felt another kick.
“Twins?”
Truthless Recluse nodded, “Your mother confirmed it.”
He finally collapsed to his knees and he rested his head against her belly.
Truthless Recluse’s free hand came to rest on the top of his head. Her dull nails gently scratched his scalp.
“Hello, in there…” he whispered after he felt another kick, “It’s daddy…” He swallowed hard. “I never expected you…either if you…but,” He craned his neck back to look up at his (ex)wife, “I love you so much.”