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Eiden cupped at his lower stomach, groaning in pain as he writhed around in his ornate bed. He switched sleeping positions left to right, flipped his pillows to the other side and even tried sleeping with his head at the foot of his bed. But still, the pain lingered and he couldn't sleep anymore to deny its existence. His cycle had started.
It was still dark out before the sun had even risen, and Eiden dreaded getting up. But the thought of his sheets spoiled in his blood made him feel inspired to push through the discomfort to get up from his warm bed. Groaning, Eiden swung his legs over the side and headed his way into the bathroom connected to his room. Pulling down his pajama pants, his suspicions were correct.
Red pooled in his underwear soaking through to his pajamas. Sighing Eiden reached for a thin linen cloth to quickly cover himself with. Patrolling back into his bedroom, he hurried his walk to his dresser and grabbed an extra set of pajamas and underwear before slipping back into the bathroom.
Eiden decided he needed to wash off all of the excess blood that stuck to his body. Cranking up the water to its highest temperature Eiden discarded the rest of his soiled clothing into a spare basket. Eiden tried his hardest to stay quiet aware of the early hours as he washed himself. His shower ended up taking more time than expected. After washing himself down thoroughly, Eiden sat in front of the water on the porcelain tile as it beat down on his head. Inhaling in the steam he felt his relief in his body. Eiden found it hard to find the motivation to leave his place of comfort again. But his wrinkly fingertips yelled at him that it was time to leave.
Stepping back out Eiden slipped into a fresher set of pajamas and made his way back into his bedroom ready to become a puddle in his sheets. Eiden didn't even care to dry his hair as sleepiness over took him as his footsteps came closer to his bed. Pulling back his sheets, he was disappointed to be met with the sight of red splotches littered all around his sheets. He silently cursed himself for moving around so much trying to get comfortable in the previous hours.
Frowning, Eiden stripped his bed and placed them into the basket that held his soiled underwear and pajamas. Knowing there was no other place to sleep, Eiden left his room and descended the stairs of the mansion with his basket in hand. Stepping down, Eiden placed the basket outside of where the maids would wash the clothes. He felt partially embarrassed that someone else would have to clean them. But he didn't have it in him to get started and do it himself at the late hour as exhaustion and discomfort hit Eiden like a bus.
Stepping carefully, he made his way into the living room. Through the window light the moon reflected onto the couch where he saw a blanket lying. Internally jumping for joy, Eiden picked up his steps as he made his way over. Moving his body on to the camel back chair as if he were sliding over butter, Eiden pulled at the blanket that hung off the back of the couch. Unfolding it he properly spread it out to cover his cold figure that was desperate for warmth.
The pain in his lower abdomen had perisisted but the wave of exhaustion from walking down the stairs helped aid Eiden into falling into a deep sleep.
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"I told him he needs to let me know three days in advance so I can shoo Aster off somewhere for the week. I spent an hour trying to force him out of here."
"I've heard sometimes you can't predict when it happens, they can be off cycle."
"I knoww, but you should have seen him when he found that basket full of clothes with his blood all over it."
Cracking his eyes open to the voices above him, Eiden saw Morvay, Yakumo and Garu all standing around him. Noticing his eyes on them, they apologized.
"I'm sorry Mr. Eiden, did we wake you?" Yakumo asked, bringing his volume down.
Yawning Eiden grumbled beneath the blanket, "It's fine."
"Master I hate to disturb you but I think you might need to stay with one of the clan members for today. Aster is holding a couple meeting here today and I don't think he would be able to take you here." Morvay explained sadly.
Sighing Eiden finally sat up drinking in the bright sun that now beamed down on his face. Thinking of only sleep Eiden croaked, "I'll see if Quincy is available."
"Do you want anything to eat before you go? I can even pack food for the day if you'd like." Yakumo asked.
"That would be great Yakumo," Eiden smiled , "Garu would you mind coming with me to Quincy's house in case I run into any trouble on the way?"
"Of course!" Garu responded excitedly.
"Go get changed, I've already had the maids prepare an overnight bag for you." Morvay encouraged.
Eiden nodded and silently made his way up the stairs, dragging his blanket on the floor behind him.
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"And here are some extra greens to help you retain some extra nutrients." Yakumo offered to place his final container in the gingham-lined basket.
"Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you?" Yakumo questioned, handing over the basket to Eiden.
"Really Yakumo, you've done enough. I can't thank you more for looking out for me like this." Eiden encouraged kissing Yakumo's cheek.
Stepping out of the kitchen Eiden signaled his head to Garu to the door to start their journey. Getting up in an instant the two walked in tandem heading out through the main doors of the mansion.
Eiden was satisfied in his decision to bring Garu with him. Time felt quicker talking with him through the forest. He also felt more secure and safe knowing Garu knew the wilderness better than he did. Garu led the path to his house by hand with Eiden as the two paraded their way through.
Once they arrived Eiden brought his hand to the wooden door knocking loudly. A small squeak could he heard behind the door. Upon opening a very tired Quincy and a very chipper Topper appeared.
"Sorry to wake you so early, I was wondering if it would be possible to stay at your place for the night." Eiden asked politely to the sleepy man to which he yawned.
"I don't mind but what for?" Quincy raised his eyebrow.
"Master started his cycle, and Aster has some meetings to attend to today. So Eiden will need a place to stay temporarily." Garu explained.
Eiden felt slightly embarrassed at the situation, but Quincy nodded, encouraging Eiden to come in. Waving goodbye to Garu, Quincy shut the doo,r allowing Eiden in.
"Do you mind if I borrow the couch? I'm really sleepy." Eiden questioned setting down the basket on the counter.
"Let's share the bed together." Quincy suggested heading back to his bedroom.
"You're sure? There's a chance I could bleed onto your sheets." Eiden hesitated following his direction.
"I don't mind." Quincy shrugged, slipping into his sheets. Opening his arms, he beckoned Eiden over.
The rest of the day was spent mainly sleeping. For Eiden, who usually fought against such unproductivity, he found a lot of comfort in taking a day to just focus on sleeping. Admittedly, up until this week Eiden hadn't been sleeping as well as he was used too. He fell back into behaviors from his world while trying to get work done for Klein's next big event. It seemed that overworking himself would always be a bad habit for him.
The stress and lack of sleep is probably what made his period come earlier than usual. He made a mental note to apologize later to Aster and Morvay for it. A sudden knocking on the door woke up Eiden. Looking to his left at Quincy, deep asleep, he knew he would have to be the one to deal with it. In a hurry to get back to bed Eiden quickly rose up and pried himself away from the giant next to him.
Immediately regretting how quickly he rose, black spots came into Eiden's vision. Eiden felt around the area his eyesight growing darker. Feeling around, Eiden made it to the front door. Opening it, the feel of fresh air made the wave of nausea drip away from his stomach as his vision cleared.
"Ahem, Aster told us you would be staying here. Thought we would pop in to drop off some gifts." Edmond's voice cleared.
Looking up Eiden found Edmond and Dante wearing worried looks on their faces. Eiden reflected on how he probably looked disorderly to them. Nodding, Eiden let the two in and insisted for them to keep quiet for the sleeping giant in the other room.
"You're looking quite pale." Dante observed sitting down next to Eiden at Quincy's kitchen counter.
Nausea overtook Eiden again now that the door was shut. Pressing his lips together tightly he confessed gripping at his hair, "It's nothing, I think I just got up to fast to answer the door. I'm just feeling a little light headed."
"Light headed? Do you need to lay back down?" Edmond asked worry hinted in his voice.
Flapping his hand to Edmond Eiden insisted, "It's alright, I can handle it."
"Perhaps my gift could be of some use to you then." Dante suggested getting up from his chair.
Walking around Quincy's kitchen he grabbed for the kettle and began to fill it up as he explained, "Ginger root is good for killing nausea and building immunity. You can have it as it is but it tastes better as a herbal tea."
The thought of hot tea made a smile ghost across Eiden's lips at Dante's thoughtfulness. "Sounds delicious."
"Do you always tend to feel light headed during this time?" Edmond cut in still wearing an expression of worry.
"Not always but every couple few cycles I get this way. Once I forced myself to still go to work and ended up fainting on the clock, it was really embarrassing." Eiden laughed, thinking back to the memory.
"What? How did you bring yourself back to your residence in such a state?" Edmond interrogated, not pleased at how lightly Eiden laughed at the memory.
"I didn't, my boss encouraged me to finish the shift, insisting I was fine. I ended up paying extra for a cab to pick me up from my work." Eiden replied.
"Outrageous! To think they would treat their own employees so poorly." Edmond huffed.
The sight of Edmond looking so disgusted over it made him smile. He took comfort knowing that someone else found it ridiculous as well. Back then he hardly had any support to ramble with on how poorly he was treated. Footsteps were heard approaching the main room as Quincy stepped out.
"Sorry did we wake you? I hope you don't mind I invited them in." Eiden apologized, signaling him over to sit over at the table.
"It's no problem..." Quincy yawned taking a seat next to Edmond as Dante came over to the men to distribute the tea.
Eiden ended up moving over to the couch to lie down, his nausea getting the worst of him despite the tea. Very bashfully, Edmond offered up his lap for him to lie down on as a pillow. He also presented Eiden with his gift of dark chocolate that were beautifully wrapped in a silk blue bow. Eiden thanked him and assured him he would eat them once his appetite came back. The men in the room kept Eiden company as they all sipped the tea together, making light, friendly conversation. Eiden was starting to doze off again before a rapping at the door snapped him from his dreamlike state again. Quincy tiredly got up from his seat to open the door, and Eiden saw as Kuya easily slid underneath Quincy's arm, curious at the crowd in Quincy's living room.
Kuya sighed dramatically, looking around, "Look at you all, you're all spoiling him rotten as if he were some sort of princess."
Eiden turned his head to Kuya defiantly, "You're so mean."
Kuya cocked an evil grin at Eiden shocked by the sudden rudeness when usually Eiden had a better time holding his tongue back against him.
Dante interrupted, "We just stopped by for a quick minute. I would hardly call that spoiling him; however, if he had stayed in the mansion, he definitely would have been spoiled."
Kuya's silence made for a silent win, and he curiously took a seat amongst the men, making the atmosphere quite awkward. In order to appease the silence, Eiden was the first to speak up.
"Times like these make me wish I were back in my world. We had better resources there to deal with this kind of stuff." Eiden confessed to wishing for regular pads.
"Resources like what?" Edmond asked, looking down at his lap at Eiden's head.
"Like more medicine and sanitary products. I used to always have both on me in my world just in case of emergencies." Eiden continued, his eyes fluttering closed.
"If you're not satisfied here, you could always go back." Kuya remarked, leaving a heavy air in the room again.
Sighing, annoyed, Eiden spoke again, "While I do have to admit my world has better resources for dealing with it medically. I find in Klein it's easier to get through these times than I ever would in my world."
Eiden yawned, fighting sleep, "I'm sorry, I think I need to go back to bed. I'm really fighting to stay awake. But thank you all for stopping by to see me."
"It's no problem," Dante assured, getting up.
They all made their sweet goodbyes as they headed back out the door. Once back inside, Quincy scooped Eiden off his feet as they made their way back into his bedroom for another nap. When Quincy placed him back down, Eiden noticed an object that protruded from his back pocket. Reaching out he grabbed in his pocket and pulled out a vial. He popped the lid as Quincy watched Eiden sniff the liquid.
"That's a medicine for nausea, I'd only drink half of it. From what I've heard, it's a pretty strong elixir." Quincy explained, plopping down next to Eiden in the bed.
Smiling Eiden brought the vial to his chest, happy for Kuya's sly gift. He embraced the big man beside him and fell into a sweet, comforting sleep.