Miracle of Life [V'ler, Ryvian, Talian]

Lead up, woo. I’ll just do the whole fade-to-black for her actually giving birth but I wanted to torture her some first XD
Realism may be slightly dramatised for, well, drama lol.

Indivara’s eyes shot open, the girl suddenly and inexplicably wide-awake; there was a low ache residing in her belly and there was nothing to be seen, as she stared at the roof, wondering why it was she was suddenly awake and restless. She shifted slightly, kicking the blanket aside so her feet could be free, and Indivara rubbed a hand lightly over her stomach. Psh whispered a sleepy chirp of question before humming softly, and Indivara pet her head gently, frowning and unhappy as she attempted to fall back to sleep.

The sudden, painful sensation tearing through what felt like her entire body caused the girl to jerk awake once more, having been on the fringes of sleep, and yelp in surprised pain. She panted as the sensation wore away, confused and more than a little frightened; her sleepy mind wasn’t capable of quite connecting the dots. Moments – minutes – hours? – and the pain tore through her again. Indivara cried out, scrabbling to sit up as realisation hit home, and she kicked Blood Sucker off the bed by accident, causing the firelizard to screech. Sitting on her pillow, Psh’s soft humming gained level and depth, and Indivara bit back a sob.

Mum, mum, “mum?” Indivara struggled out of bed, stumbling to the wall and using it to help her balance as she wobbled out of her own bedroom in the hut she shared with her mother and younger brother, and toward the woman’s bedroom. She barely knocked before pushing the door open, groaning out a pained whine of distress as another contraction hit. Wide blue eyes stared into the empty room, and Blood Sucker appeared from between and knocked the top off the bedside glows. The bed was empty, and clearly unslept in. She was at someone else’s hut, then. Indivara didn’t bother keeping her voice down when the next contraction hit.

They were coming hard, and fast, and Indivara was distinctly confused by that, as she staggered across the hut. Weren’t they supposed to escalate slowly? It didn’t occur to the girl that she’d managed to sleep through the first stage, woken only when the serious contracts began to strike. She made it to the door, and shoved it open, when her waters broke, with far less fanfare than she had been expecting to occur. How anti-climactic! Indivara gripped the doorframe as her body revolted against the child within it once more, and she screeched mentally for the first dragon that came to mind.

She should have tried for Khaduceth, to call Talian to her; or even for Grith, to wake Par’a (and the entire Weyr) or maybe Krypth, with Jada who was so steady and always managed to keep Indivara from quite toppling over the edge of her emotions. But those were people that knew her, or didn’t know her, and Indivara didn’t want to deal with the way they’d stare at her, or struggle to cope with her doing odd things like crying or doing something so dramatically feminine as giving birth.

She called for Veeth. Her relationship with V’ler was steady, if neither here nor there, and the bluerider was a solid type; she knew without knowing that he’d be able to take it all in stride without looking at her like she was growing another head. He wouldn’t act weird, or try to say the right thing, or refrain from telling her she was being stupid just because she was in pain. He’d just be himself, and as much as Indivara adored her friends, she wasn’t prepared to bet the same faith in their ability to retain their them-ness, in the event of her giving birth.

Unfortunately for Indivara, both firelizards had already vanished to wake the twins, and Krypth had calmly informed Khaduceth that Indivara’s brat was ready to make itself known to the world, though she left Jada in her peaceful sleep – the woman would just fret and get underfoot. Indivara clung to the doorframe, caught between sobbing and panting as the latest contraction faded away for those few minutes before it opted to make itself known again.

While the temperature was still rising into something a tad more comfortable, V’ler and Veeth were still outside enjoying the night together in silence with the occasional question or comment. It was still something they liked to do and V’ler was glad his dragon enjoyed spending that quiet time with him since Veeth not only made for a warm body to lean against, he made for the silence to be companionable and not just stark and closing in. It didn’t bother the man either way but sometimes it was nicer to enjoy it entirely instead of simply existing with it. It was getting late, however, and the chill was starting to set in despite Veeth blocking the light wind of the night and sleep was usually a beneficial thing.

The way Veeth jerked his head up suddenly, V’ler thought maybe his thoughts had been picked up on and the blue was either about to agree or pout at him. When neither came and Veeth held still as if he was listening for something, V’ler finally gave in. “What’s wrong? Wait… another flight, right? Who is it?” V’ler sighed and waited for the answer but when he got it, he wasn’t prepared for it. Indivara.

For a moment V’ler was convinced he misheard and waited for his brain to supply the proper name but nothing fell into place. “She doesn’t have a dragon, Veeth.” He spoke slowly as if dealing with the particularly troublesome blue weyrling in B’jin’s class. I know and you’re the one obsessed with flights. She’s calling for us. Something’s wrong, I heard it in her cry.

That made even less sense. Indivara wasn’t one to ask for help and if she had to, it certainly wouldn’t be directed at him. However, if she was, then she had a good reason for it and given how far along in the pregnancy she was, V’ler had a feeling it had to do with that. “Let’s go.” Without another word, the two of them were off, aiming for Indivara’s hut after Quill and Vex were sent to find the girl and report back her location. He had never been to her hut before and wasn’t about to circle the Weyr all night to find her.

His firelizards heralded his arrival with chirps and squeaks from where they circled near Indivara. V’ler slid from Veeth’s back and strolled right up to the woman that was clearly in pain though, as predicted, he didn’t slip into some sort of coddling companion. “Vara, you better have called T’lian as well.” He could ask her about why he was called after he got that answer.

Ryvian was, surprisingly, asleep in his own bed with only his brother beside him. It wasn’t that he had someone different in bed with him on a regular basis but it was odd to have him sleeping at a decent time without having at least socialized earlier that night. Sometimes, he simply wanted to stay in with only his brother since Nyvian was the best sort of company a guy could ask for; agreeable and sexy.

Tryst woke first when the firelizards came bustling into the bedroom, chittering frantically and all together making too much noise. He called back to them, trying to hush the intruders before the boys and Lace woke but soon fell silent as the images were given to him. Indivara was one of the precious humans to Ryvian! That earned the blue firelizard jumping onto Ryvian’s back and very carefully tapping a talon against the bare skin it found. Soon Ryvian was stirring, mostly trying to shake the pesky flitter off but when all the noise registered, he finally rolled over and sat up.

He hushed them all before they woke Nyvian and then let them share what they came for, blue eyes growing in shock. Indivara was in pain? No, well yes, but it wasn’t just pain but it looked to be something to do with the baby. She was about to deliver it! Ryvian jumped out of bed and was almost to the door before he stopped, remembering he wasn’t dressed for such an event. The shorts he sometimes slept in were a good start but a shirt was grabbed and tossed on to make himself somewhat presentable. There wasn’t time to find pants to replace the shorts and shoes weren’t really needed, were they? Perhaps they were since he had to go running and he usually ended up finding the one sharp rock on the path when he opted to go without.

As he sat on the bed, lacing up his shoes, Ryvian leaned over closer to his stirring brother and kissed Nyvian’s forehead. “You stay warm and comfy in bed. Tryst will get you at the right time.” Nyvian was Indivara’s friend as much as he was but he had taken a step back since Ryvian announced his efforts to sleep with the girl. Nyvian was also the more sensible of the two of them and no doubt understood crowding the mother-to-be wouldn’t help anyone and could wait until later on to see how Indivara was doing. It was why Ryvian loved his brother so much. He was understanding and simply amazing.

With the shoes finally secured to his feet, Ryvian was racing out the door and down the familiar path to Indivara’s home. He assumed she was still there but if she had already been taken to the Healing Hall, he’d just continue his dash in that direction. Personally, he found it made more sense to strap her down to her own bed and have the Healers go to her but what did he know? He didn’t even know who the father of the child was! He was willing to claim it as his own but Indivara had been quick to counter that no one would believe it. That was no doubt true but they wouldn’t believe he stayed away during such an important and scary moment either. If he didn’t put in an appearance for the birth, especially after the way so many had seen and commented on the way he left the Hatching to check on Indivara who had fled away looking ill, they’d wonder what was wrong.

“Di!” He called his friend’s name when he rounded the last hut and swore he heard her call out in pain or anger, he wasn’t sure and didn’t care. Indivara needed a friend and he was up to the task! He hoped he was, especially since he promised to be there for her and help where he could. As he came to the front of the hut, the first thing he saw wasn’t his friend but a pretty blue dragon and then the rider. “What’s he doing here?” Ryvian blurted out before thinking though he held the suspicious glare on V’ler all the same despite the bluerider looking almost as confused.

The sight of the recognisable blue wings, even in the darkness, sent a thrill of relief through Indivara before the girl choked out a strangled sound as another contraction wracked through her petite build. The girl clung to the door frame as V’ler strode over, teas on her cheeks as she gasped for breath, fearing the next moment it would be stolen from her. “K-kryp-pth did,” Indivara stuttered, slowly standing a little more solidly as the pain faded away for a few moments. Taking a deep breath in, Indivara lifted pale, accusing eyes to stare at Valerian.

It had taken a lot of work – mostly in the math department, an area that Indivara was not at all skilled – in order to put together who was at fault for the growing monster in her belly. The girl’s frequent flightmoth habits had made it that much more difficult, but there had been a final clue in it all. Even if Indivara had failed spectacularly at the mathematics, all bar one of the men she had ‘mothed with had taken her on a quick trip between to avoid what it was that she was currently entangled in. Her post-flight exploits with Valerian had not.

So concluding, Indivara had opted to keep the information to herself. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it herself, and it made her uncomfortable in a whole additional way. It was bad enough that everyone could see she was pregnant; she wasn’t sure how she would be able to cope with everyone knowing who was at fault for it, too! Additionally, Indivara wasn’t quite sure how to make the most of punishing Valerian for his horribleness. Obviously, it was a ploy to make her life even more miserable, and that irked the girl. Until she figured out how to turn it around to make him suitably miserable, Indivara wasn’t prepared to share the details with anyone.

That moment, the girl decided, was the perfect moment, and she snarled softly under her breath as she staggered forward. Shoving both hands solidly into his chest with all the vicious intent she could put into such a childish move, Indivara bemoaned her lack of ability to throw a punch in her current state. She had learned a couple months earlier that it was not a good idea to throw punches when she was not quite capable of holding her balance well. “This is all your fault!”

Pulling back a little, small hands curled into fists and Indivara pummelled them against Valerian’s chest, repeating the last two words in an increasingly high octave until the next contraction hit, startling her and ruining the second word halfway through. She staggered, suddenly changing from attacking the bluerider to clinging to him desperately with fists full of shirt lest she topple to the ground – she was quite sure she’d never be able to stand again if that happened! – and burst into tears just as Ryvian came around the corner, babbling something that was meant to be ‘it hurts!’ though the word was slaughtered by both tears and the deep need to breathe.

Perhaps it was the fists trying to pound on his chest or the fear that the baby was going to be delivered by his hands that had a normally clever brain working a bit slower than usual but V’ler stared at Indivara for a moment. His fault? How did the girl figure that? V’ler only showed up because she called for Veeth and he couldn’t say no to his dragon or leave a woman he considered a sort of friend to fend for herself. If she didn’t want to be seen and that was why he was being blamed, then she only had herself to blame. What else could it be?

Oh Great Faranth!

She was insinuating the little spawn was his. That simply didn’t make any sense at all! “It can’t be mine; we slept together,” V’ler’s face paled as the math sank in, “nine months ago…” Surely she had slept with someone else before that. Everyone knew Indivara was a flight moth and had hook ups almost as much as he did thanks to Veeth’s enjoyment of chasing greens to show his affection. On that point, the girl surely had to have had lovers after him as well. Lovers, V’ler liked to believe, were better than him at remembering to offer a trip between to save them having to deal with a pregnant Indivara. He was used to being nabbed by other randy blueriders or actually winning the flight so all of his lovers had dragons of their own. How was he supposed to remember such a thing?

The child likely was his and V’ler had no idea what to think or do about that. If she had told him sooner, would he have told her to keep it? Did his opinion even matter? It likely didn’t given the girl in question and their interesting history. He wasn’t very paternal and could barely tolerate brats as he taught them so being a father was something he never thought about becoming. “It’s mine?” he asked dumbly as hands moved on their own to help support Indivara as she worked through the current contraction.

Where was T’lian? Should he just get Indivara to the Healing Hall on his own? This was almost too much for him to handle!

Ryvian only gawked at the pair as he watched Indivara struggle in pain and then try to catch her breath. It was so hard seeing his tough friend look so vulnerable. He knew and remembered her youth where she was sickly and often weak and in bed but it was different now. That was just a child and this was a grown woman though the turns did seem to fade away and Indivara looked like a youth that just needed to be held and told everything was fine.

It wasn’t fine though, not at all. He had missed the accusations Indivara tossed at V’ler but the bluerider’s voice, as soft as it was, was still heard clearly. How hadn’t he known they had slept together? Worse, it seemed V’ler was the irresponsible flight loser. The urge to jump the man and punch him for what he inflicted up Indivara was strong but Ryvian refrained. He wasn’t the violent type and even if he was, it wasn’t the time for a brawl. There was a woman in labour that needed help and the twin was far too concerned about how the delivery would go for the fragile frame of Indivara.

“You suck at holding a woman, V’ler,” Ryvian playfully commented as he came up and hip bumped the man out of the way. Indivara had a good hold on him but Ryvian slowly worked at the fingers to free the hold so he could easily slip into place. Once Indivara had been lightly guided through that, Ryvian slipped one arm around her waist to rest on the small of her back as the other hand brushed back bangs from her brow.

“Hey, I’m here now. I’ll get you through this.” He really didn’t know if he could or how well it would be but Ryvian was all for trying his best. “Veeth can call for a Healer while we get you back in bed. I think… no, wait. You’re supposed to walk through the contractions, I think.” In an effort to help for the big day, Ryvian had asked around some of the women, especially Par’a, what should be done to make it a smooth delivery. Apparently walking was a good thing though he wasn’t sure how. Did it take the mind off of the pain? Was it how the muscles were posed while walking as opposed to lying down? This was so complicated!

Ryvian needn't had worried; moments before, T'lian had awkwardly crawled on Khaduceth's neck and taken off for Indivara's hut. He didn't take kindly to being woken up for something like a childbirth, which he was not specialized to deal with whereas several other healers at Katila []were[/i], but after about thirty seconds is was obvious that none of them were moving anywhere near fast enough. Idiots, idiots, idiots...T'lian's impatience with their ineptitude grew a little bit every day. Or was that his own pride? He was often scolded for what others branded as false modesty or unnecessary self-depreciation. The last turn or so had been a boost in confidence to equal his skill, but he didn't like to think of it as pride. As long as he made mistakes, even small ones, they would be too much.

Right now, he was sleepy and not exactly feeling well himself. Indivara, huh? He'd known that ugly little brat had been pregnant, but didn't care near enough to chase her down and point it out. There were rumors, but he'd assumed that if she needed him, she would come to him. Interesting that he was being called now, though according to Khaduceth is was Krypth's doing.

Khaduceth appeared outside only moments after Ryvian displaced V'ler. The dragon landed fluidly and lowered his head, allowing T'lian to scramble down and burst into the room moments after the lack of a healer was noticed by those inside. Tansy and Fellis appeared alongside him, landing nearby on a table and huddling together as they watched. Fellis whimpered, but Tansy quickly wrapped one wing around him and began to sweetly lick his face, trying to soothe him.

"Hold still," Tal said as he walked over, urgent but calm. It was just a childbirth, but he also knew knew the mother was sickly. Caution would do them well. He set his bag down and quickly recovered a bottle of fellis juice. "Here...Drink this, for the pain," he instructed, handing the bottle to Ryvian, who he trusted would administer it properly. Past quarrels with the pair were forgotten. Tal felt little need to hold grudges these days, and right now making sure the baby was all right was a priority.

Had he known it was Val's, the urgency would have been even greater.

Laughter spluttered through the tears, and Indivara stared up at Valerian with eyes laced in tears, shaking her head slightly at him. “Idiot.” She stated, slowly relaxing as the pains wore off for a moment, the ache lingering through her back and belly. She was suitably startled when Ryvian was suddenly battering V’ler out of the way, wide eyes shifting between the two, before refusing to meet Ryvian’s.

She didn’t take the young man seriously in his attempts to get into her pants, figuring it was far more his trying to make her feel desirable than any real desire on his part to actually succeed. So, she played along with him, occasionally batting her eyes or making teasing remarks or exchanging playful gropes. Nothing was ever meant by it, at least on her part, and had she realised he was genuinely interested she likely would have been floored. That, however, didn’t stop the girl feeling guilty for keeping the information about who was the other half of the terrible situation to herself. He was her friend – though that was a good part of why she’d kept it to herself; she really didn’t need him running off and decking V’ler!

“Can’t,” Indivara responded to Ryvian, breath hitching as another contraction rocked through her, clinging to her fellow candidate desperately with a pained moan, bursting into tears again as the pain began to fade once more. Still clinging to him and trying desperately not to fall apart as he guided her back into the hut, the girl staggering and leaning heavily against him, turning to look over her shoulder desperately to see where V’ler had gotten to – he was not getting out of it that easily! “Val?” It was a question, as the girl wiped her wet face, sweat and tears both, against Ryvian’s shirt, before being told to hold still by a new voice.

Startled once more, Indivara peered around Ryvian to stare at Talian for a moment before another contraction hit, and the girl crumpled once more. When would it stop? Someone make it stop! The issue of pain relief was met with desperate demand from Indivara, who just about snatched the bottle from Ryvian when he offered it to her, the girl stomping on his toes to make him hurry up. She then guzzled as much as she could before the bottle was snatched from her once more, and Indivara hit Ryvian in the chest with a weakly fisted hand.

Indivara was not the easiest person to get along with at the best of times; Indivara pregnant had been even more prone to tantrums and tears. Indivara in labour was lucky she didn’t have any strength to throw behind the fists she was quite insistent on pummelling into whichever of the three men was closest at the time, and no balance with which to justify kicking them all where it would hurt them, as much as she was currently hurting. That had never been something that would stop the girl from trying and Indivara proved her point by aiming a kick at T’lian’s face when she’d been shoved back onto the bed, only managing to miss him because of the healer’s quick reflexes. The girl’s gasping quip, something along the lines of ‘useless fucking painkillers’, was her excuse before succumbing to another contraction.

Par’a rocked up at some point, strolling in like there was nothing at all odd with the entire situation, and calmly taking charge of Indivara’s attitude and shoving a leather strip in the girl’s mouth with a wink at the boys as she told her to shut up and bite on it. Par’a’s commentary filled the room as Talian and Indivara worked to birth the baby, and the greenrider prattled on about her own children and the events of their birthing over the top of the girl’s labour induced noise; she’d always known the girl had a set of lungs on her.

Indivara clung to the hands of Ryvian and V’ler, determined to break at least the bluerider’s fingers before she was through. He needed to suffer at least a small part of the pain his thoughtless actions had put her through! Any blame Indivara herself was responsible for bearing were completely outweighed by her desire to blame V’ler for everything; he was the one with the dragon!

~ ~ ~ all the horrible labour straining and yucky stuffs ~ ~ ~

Par’a was the one that took the baby from T’lian, when the young healer had the infant sponged down and swaddled, the woman shamelessly flicking aside the covers to see what gender it was. Clearly the brownrider had no idea exactly how important it was to cry out what gender the child was as soon as the sex was visible! “It’s a girl!”

“Brilliant,” Indivara drawled, voice as exhausted as the vague look on her face as she glanced at the infant from where her head was resting in Ryvian’s lap, the older candidate sitting at the head of her bed. She had no idea when he’d moved there. Her gaze shifted to look at Valerian accusingly, “She looks just like you.” The statement was clearly intended as an insult; the child still squished and red from being born was squalling in Par’a’s hands, and looked nothing like anything more than an angry newborn.

“Varlea, and if you don’t like it you can go jump.” The girl wanted nothing so much as to curl up and sleep forever, was dreading having to feed the child, and was awkwardly conscious of T’lian checking her for damage. In the short space of time before T’lian settled the blankets back over her, Indivara was dozing, barely conscious enough to process the soft hum of her friends’ voices as they spoke, and the unhappy baby being settled by Par’a, before the woman was trying to get V’ler to take the child.

I tried to haze over... pretty much everything. Brought in Par'a because the woman practically raised Indi and babysat both her and Ry and all the other brats... Indi is one of the eldest female brats, too, so this is probably Katila's first third second(?) gen baby? XD Indi wants to know if she gets a prize. Lol. I can edit any of the power play.
The baby's name is said "VAR-lee" I pulled it out my arse all of 5 minutes ago when I flipped a coin. Literally. To determine the gender xD

During the delivery, V’ler stood near the top of the bed, purposely avoiding going too far south. He was squeamish when it came to blood and the mere thought of what was happening between parted legs was enough to make the bluerider sway. So he stayed firmly planted in a spot where Indivara could claim his hand before he decided watching from across the room was a wonderful idea. At first a light squeeze of assurance was given back to the girl but as her pain increased, so did his and V’ler tried in vain to free his hand. “I’m a Harper, Vara. I need that hand for writing and the guitar.” He pointed that out over and over but it only seemed to tighten her grip. It was clearly payback for what she was going through and he was stuck with it.

Finally, the kid decided to give him a break and show itself. Once that final push was done and Indivara’s hand fell away from his, V’ler sighed with relief. Some time was spent staring at his abused hand while he flexed it in various ways, bending his fingers and mimicking plucking a guitar or writing his next amazing song. He would have missed the declaration of what the child was if it wasn’t for Par’a’s loud and jarring voice drawing his attention. It was a good thing he looked up as well given the squished mess that was trying to be given to him.

“I’m not taking it. It’s filthy.” The sight of the child still covered in whatever that substance was – he didn’t want to think too much on that – was making V’ler’s stomach turn and colour stay drained from his face. No way was he holding the baby in that condition and likely after she was cleaned up, he still wouldn’t want to. He didn’t get along with babies and it was best for everyone concerned if he kept his distance. “The mother should hold the baby first anyway.”

Since it was obvious Par’a already knew he was the father as well, unless she wanted everyone to have a turn holding the squished face thing, V’ler figured T’lian shouldn’t be left out of the fun either and casually pointed out that fact, “apparently the kid is mine. Losing flights can end up a bit complicated it would seem.” There wasn’t an apology in his voice nor was there shame. It was a simple fact that was being shared, nothing more. During the delivery he had been too focused on not losing the ability to use his hands to focus too much on being a father and how it happened. In the end, V’ler decided it was just something that happened and he’d roll with it like he always did. It didn’t mean his life was changing forever but a new adventure had been uncovered.

Ryvian did his best to be the helpful friend he had promised to be by doling out the fellis, fixing the leather strap when it looked like it was slipping whether Indivara accidentally did it or not, and let his hand be used as something to grip and channel her pain through. He also did his best to be a cheerful and supportive friend by being polite to the Healer, not punching V’ler for being a horrible partner, and for keeping an upbeat look on things. He wouldn’t call it babbling, but his mouth did move a lot as he told Indivara stories about what he got up to in recent times or how Tryst got his head stuck in a jar and fogged it up from all of his angry chitterings. Childbirth was something he had completely zero experience in but Ryvian was going to make it the best one either of them had attended!

Thankfully it didn’t last nearly as long as some of the horror stories the women had told him. Ryvian wasn’t sure any of them would make it through. His energy was waning, V’ler looked sick, and Indivara looked drained and no doubt they all worried about her physical condition and if the delivery would do damage. When the baby was finally presented, Ryvian’s face lit up in a large smile, laughing at his friend’s statement that it looked like the father.

He wasn’t quite sure when he had done it either, but it was only when Indivara slumped into his lap that Ryvian realized he was sitting on the bed and lazily brushing his friend’s damp hair away from her face. “You did well, kid,” he whispered, still doing his best to be encouraging. Ideally, the situation never would have happened but since it did, there wasn’t a point in pretending otherwise and praise after all of that pain and time was needed.

When V’ler unsurprisingly denied holding Varlea, Ryvian held out a hand and motioned for Par’a to place it with Indivara and him. She seemed mostly asleep but a glance at her brat before passing out was something she should have!