"Leaving so soon?" Celine asked, her voice raspy from just waking up.
"No," Lucian quickly answered, putting the vial back in its place, his heart pounding in his chest, "I was looking for something to eat."
Her lips were swollen red, so much that it looked painful. Their state had worsened since last night. He had bitten her too hard.
'No, it was not hard enough. Not nearly hard enough,' the devil on his shoulder whispered. 'She deserved worse.'
'But she's pregnant...what if─'
"Come here," Celine patted the spot he had just left.
Lucian automatically got under the blanket and pressed his body against hers.
"It's strange seeing you so obedient for once," she said, squeezing his body in a bear hug, "It's nice. I might get used to it."
Lucian grumbled in protest, but didn't try to free himself. He wasn't going to ruin her mood. Not yet.
"I had a strange dream," she began, "I was standing on the edge of a cliff, and you were there, telling me to not jump."
He didn't say a word, listening to her story.
"But I was a bird. So I jumped, and you jumped after me. But you were not a bird," she paused, looking at him, "Why are you such a fool even in my dreams?"
"...you would have given me wings if you had the power to do so. Means you didn't have full control over the dream," Lucian defended the dream version of him.
She was interested in mastering her dream control like him, and imagining themselves as animals was part of the training.
"Perhaps," she hummed, blinking at him as if expecting him to share his dream with her as well.
Lucian dreamt of her cheating on him with another man and how he murdered the unrealistic version of her in his dream together with the man. The prophecy better not come true.
He was not going to share it and ruin her good mood, so he lied, "I dreamt of flying pigs, so I could bring them to you and have my little wish of watching you bathe fulfilled."
She chuckled, releasing him from her hug, and got up to retrieve the long pieces of cloth she used for binding, handing them to him.
"You can help me bind my chest instead."
She then sat on the bed in front of him, her arms raised and her back turned towards him.
"..." Lucian helped her remove her shirt, sliding it down to her waist, his hands lingering on the sides of her breasts.
"Aren't they being crushed to death? I don't want my future children to starve to death because you're killing their milk supply."
Celine laughed, her body shaking, her breasts jiggling from the movement.
He cupped them from behind, checking their shape to make sure they were fine, "Don't laugh, it's a serious concern. I'll be sad if I can't drink from them too."
"They're for the children," she scolded him.
"But I'll have some too," he insisted, "How could a small body like theirs drink all of this?"
He weighed them in his hands for good measure, "They're so big, and our child is going to be so small. What a waste. You'll have to feed me with them, I'm a growing man after all. I need to eat more than a child to stay strong."
She held in her laughter and waited for him to start binding her chest.
"You should let them free sometimes, they're suffocating."
"They're not suffocating," she defended herself.
"If they could talk, they would be begging for their freedom."
"Lucian. Bind them."
"Let me say goodbye first," he protested.
She sighed, but did not stop him.
He turned her body around and hugged her breasts, his head leaning on top of them.
She sighed, waiting for him to finish his shenanigans. "Are you done?"
♡
"Not yet," he replied, rubbing his face against them, and then kissing them, his mouth lingering on her nipple, sucking on it lightly. His hand came up to play with the other one.
♡
He shouldn't be doing this, playing house like this. It used to be a fantasy they both liked to indulge in. It made them feel like a normal couple, and not two cursed people who were doomed to be apart.
The bruises on his body tingled in reminder. He shouldn't get seduced by her body and lose focus of why he was here.
♡
He pulled his mouth away, watching the trail of saliva drip down, connecting to her swollen nipple.
He switched to give the other the same treatment, and was satisfied when it swelled under his tongue.
♡
Pulling away, Lucian wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
Celine's face was completely flushed. She was hot and bothered, needing him to cool down the fire he had ignited, only for him to slid her shirt back on.
Celine realized what he was doing, her leg flying towards his head to kick him to the ground, but he anticipated it, and leaped to the side, dodging her attack.
As long as he wasn't touched by her or her weapon, he would be alright. She was still a woman, her speed was not enough to keep up with his.
Lucian started to put on his clothes again, leaving her upper body naked to give himself extra advantage in their fight.
A fist flew past his face, "You don't know when to quit, do you?"
Lucian buttoned his shirt, her second punch missing him again. He searched for his belt, dodging another one of her attacks. He grabbed his mask and cloak.
"You really need to work on your temper, my lady," he commented, moving out of her reach and putting on his mask, "Before you kill someone."
"Get here!"
"I'll be back by dinner, don't overwork yourself while I'm gone," he advised her before leaving her tent, "If you want to take it out on someone, use a training dummy and not me. My body can't handle much."
Celine grabbed her bindings, a vein pulsing on her forehead, a blush spread across her face, suppressing a foolish smile that only he could bring on her face.
"It's hard for me to be the only sane one in this relationship," he sighed dramatically as he fled from her camp.
What did pregnant women needed the most?
Rest.
What was Celine not getting?
Rest.
──────────────────────────
Lucian quickly traveled to the nearest city, changing a couple of horses along the way to move faster. He had some nutritious meals prepared for Celine, which he planned to pick on his way back.
Sitting inside the infirmary with a physician who had a few decades of experience, Lucian was eager to learn more about Celine's condition.
"Is she the type who is prone to anger?" the physician asked.
"Annoyance is her middle name," Lucian answered, "And her last name is Anger."
"Try to avoid conflicts with her," the physician didn't get Lucian's sense oh humor. He went straight to the point as if he could spot the root of their problems already, "Putting too much strain on her body and mind could cause a miscarriage."
Lucian paused, remembering how he provoked her and made her angry. He had done the complete opposite of what he should've done. He began to sweat buckets as if the world depended on him and his actions, "Is there a way to check on the baby's safety?"
"For how long has she been pregnant?"
"Half a day," Lucian counted on his finger, bending his pointer.
"..." The physician looked at him strangely, like he had never met a more stupid person than Lucian.
No mask could hide the idiocy that hid underneath, and Lucian couldn't bother with bringing fear and respect to his face.
He was a man on a mission.
A mission of a father to be.