Thomas had been assigned to watch over Raven and the baby while Van was off, and grudgingly accepted. For the last hour or so he had sat in the room watching while Raven stonily ignored him and did... woman's stuff. It was so odd to see Raven breastfeeding, let alone learning to change a nappy for the first time.
A nurse who was older than both of them and built like a battle ship had come in with a bundle of linens and clapped her meaty hands together. "Now, gentlemen." She said briskly. "Since no one has bothered to educate you on the basics of child maintenance, it has fallen to me to teach you." Thomas was about to object when she shot him a look that dared him to object. Thomas wanted to melt into the floor. Raven was incredibly interested, which made Thomas nervous.
"Observe closely," She ordered as she shook out a square of cloth nappy with a snap of her wrist that spoke of years of practice. With that one flick the cloth was layed out on the bed perfectly flat. "Now you fold the corner here, and then here." She folded it into neat triangles with one edge having two loose ends. "You place the baby onto the nappy here, fold up this part between his legs, bring to the center the top loose bit, then this single corner to the middle, then the last loose bit tucks into the top like this. See?"
Raven nodded, amazed at the ease of how she did that, and wondering who the first person was who discovered how to fold like that.
"Using this particular technique means you don't have to worry about pins, which is best for both of you." She continued. "Now, you try." She spent the next half hour observing the men practice folding.
"I don't see why I have to learn this." Thomas grumbled. Nurse battleship slid over to him to growl in his ear.
"It's a skill no one should be with out." She hissed. "You either learn it now, or put yourself to shame when your own children come along. And they WILL come along. I can assure you of THAT!" Then she turned to observe Raven, and beamed down at him. "Excellent work, young man." She said, then grabbed hold of what Thomas had been trying to fold. "Not at all as pathetic as this little lily."
Raven smiled slightly. Thomas glared at him.
Eventually they had been shown how to bath, change, dress, burp, hold, and even play with Kouryo. Thomas was thoroughly bored and looking forward to the end of his shift. He had other things to do, important, MANLY things, than baby sitting. Speaking about babies, Raven was feeding the little thing again.
"Doesn't that ever stop?" Thomas snapped without really meaning to.
Raven looked up at the sound of his voice and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Thomas. But he made no comment. Just like he had the entire time. It made Thomas suspicious and itchy to pound something.
Raven traced Kouryo's silvery skin lightly, and ran his fingers through the dark curls. Kouryo was once again asleep, but was still suckling strongly. The nurse that had actually bothered to teach him things (he had no idea of any of their names because they seemed to change with the hour), had warned him about problems with 'incorrect nipple attatchment' and 'engaging in sexual intercourse with his partner too soon after the birth' which had made him go red all over. As if he would ever have to worry about THAT again. He couldn't understand what was so great about it anyway. There was nothing pleasurable about the disgusting sex act that would make him even consider allowing that kind of vulnerability again. Not consentially anyway. He frowned, lowering his eyes and curling himself forward, shuddering. What could he do? What if Prozen came back for him? For Kouryo? For... No don't think about that. Don't think about it!
After a while Raven became aware that Thomas was watching him. It made his skin crawl. "What do you want." Raven's voice was a hiss.
"I want to know what you're up to."
Raven blinked and frowned. "What makes you think I'm up to something?"
"You haven't insulted me once today." Thomas leaned forward mennisingly, Raven cringed slightly then tried to cover it up by looking away. It made Thomas smirk.
"You want me to insult you?" Raven refused to look him in the eyes, instead he looked at his sleeping son dressed in a blue singlet, booties, pants and a little knitted cap. "Seriously, I'm too tired to even be bothered thinking of something so simple enough for you to understand it. If you want insults go listen to what the other pilots are saying about that monstrosity you 'created'." He sneered the last word and waved Thomas away like he was a servant or something.
Thomas beamed.
All was as it should be.
Van approached the bed silent as a hunter, simply observing his lover relaxed in sleep. A sheet was draped artfully around the sleepers hips, dark hair spread out over the pillow. The sleeper lay on their side, one hand under the pillow the other resting on their large round belly. The sleeper stirred at Van's presence and rolled onto their back. Violet eyes opened and lips turned up in a smile as Van was seen.
"Come feel our baby kick." Raven invited softly.
Van sat up with a gasp, his pleasure still escaping onto the sheets. He sat panting, his sweat cooling in the night air, and willed his heart to slow down. He ran his fingers through his hair getting it all out of his face.
"Shit." He whispered, then got up to have a shower. He blinked when he turned the lights on, then he turned on the taps and stripped off. Just what he needed. A wet dream about an enemy. A MALE one. One who has been altered in horrible ways. One who was already bordering on psychotic before this particular mess started.
/But he might not have always been our enemy/ He thought as he soaped himself down under the spray. Van found his curiosity pricked. Where did Raven come from? Who was he when he was not fighting a war? What sorts of things was he interested in? He would have to do some research...
Van was shocked to look down and find himself aroused again. He turned the water to cold and tried to steer his thoughts away from that particular young man and towards Fiona. He tried to imagine her without her clothes on, but grimaced. Fiona was too much like a little sister than anyone he could find sexually attractive. What about Moonbay? Nope. No good either. At least his arousal had gone down... but was that really a good thing?
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