Song of the Alkonost

• Seto was still bored, looking at everything with disinterest. After all, the baby kicking had gotten from amazing to novel to boring to annoying already.
  


• Noting his disinterest, Theoris reached over and nudged him, harder than she should have--on the side. For crying out loud, it was their child! She would have said something, except at that moment the doctor cut her off. "The child is female."
  


• Seto's eyes went wide as he addressed the doctor, and Theoris could almost see the camera zooming out and leaving him standing alone in empty void. "What's this? A female? You mean I have... a daughter?!"
  


• "That's right, Mr. Kaiba. You're going to be the father to a little girl." Theoris bit her lip, resisting the urge to declare "Called it."
  


• Seto was in a widened stance, eyes wide, and yes, a dramatic wind had come up as he made a slow descent to his knees. "Not a son?"
  


• "A Daugh--"


• "Are you done being a drama queen yet?"
  


• "I can't have a few more minutes of it?" Seto asked, moving to where he held his head in his hands but not quite making that pose yet.
  


• Theoris simply waved at him in resignation, as if to say she was done with that; it might as well been granting him permission to continue.
  


• The doctor had to put up with the occasional "How... how can it be?!" and "It's not possible!" through the rest of the visit.
  


• Theoris heaved a sigh and made an appointment for two months later before leading Seto out of the clinic and into the limousine. "You can cut it out now."
  


• "Don't make light of this." Seto told her.
  


• "I'm not making light of it." He was starting to get on her nerves...
  


• "You know what this means don't you?" Seto said, still in his melodramatic tone.
  


• "What does it mean, Seto Kaiba?" Theoris asked, still in her tired-of-his-melodrama-yet-resigned-to-it tone.
  


• "I'm going to have to paint the nursery pink!"

AlkonostStorm: Throughout the weekend the cocktail of good things vs bad things would be a heady mixture. On the one hand, the doubled funds from MacDowan corp. prompted others to do the same, so in that sense things were going incredibly well. On the other, Seto and Theoris were awkward around each other for most of the week.

JW%: For Seto, 'awkward' seemed to be normal enough. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing, but it didn't do cause any harm to his productivity at least. Mokuba on the other hand was growing worried. That weekend he voiced a concern that the two of them were fighting.

AlkonostStorm: "F-fighting? Last I checked we weren't. Fighting that is." Did avoiding each other count as fighting? She wasn't sure...

JW%: The boy frowned. "Why did you answer like that." He broke into a triumphant grin. "Because you're feeling guilty! You are fighting with Big Brother!"

AlkonostStorm: "I am not fighting with Seto. I was just...just dealing with womanly issues I can't avoid even if I tried."

JW%: "Riiiight. You're fighting. And my big brother is going to win!"

"Shut up Mokuba." Seto said coming down the hallway to shoo the boy away.

AlkonostStorm: She watched as he shooed the boy away, relieved she wouldn't have had to explain herself further. Granted, Mokuba probably had SOME knowledge about menstruation by this point thanks to school but still, it was awkward having to explain that.

JW%: Seto did order Theoris flowers and chocolates that evening, but did not visit her, and without plans, he mostly continued with work and kept an eye on Mokuba's antics.

AlkonostStorm: Theoris did store away the chocolates but she didn't do anything with the flowers, leaving them be. Personally, she was more than a little irked by the gifts: if they were meant to replace his presence, they failed utterly at that. After a few seconds, she grabbed the box of chocolates and headed over to his room, knocking on the door.

JW%: "Yes?" Seto answered.

AlkonostStorm: "I..." There was a pause as she showed him the box of chocolates. "Want some? I could never eat this all by myself." Pause. "And I...I missed you."

JW%: He opened the door and let her in, gesturing for her to head to the bed.

AlkonostStorm: She walked into the room, moving to sit on the bed and placing the box beside her as she removed her slippers and pulled her legs up before crossing them.

JW%: He took a moment to consider her, gazing along her legs as she crossed them before her. "Lean back." He told her, taking a chocolate from the box.

AlkonostStorm: Dark chocolate shell with mint filling... She remembered as she leaned back for him, using the headboard as support.

JW%: "This is probably going to sound rather strange." Seto told her, feeding her the chocolate. "But I've been wanting to do this for about a week now."

AlkonostStorm: She took a moment to savor the treat, appreciating the combination of dark chocolate mixing with the minty filling to combine something new. "What? Feed me chocolate?" Theoris straightened and reached for the box, picking out a white chocolate lump lightly dusted with cinnamon and containing a coffee filling. "Now you lean back."

JW%: "Feed you chocolate... rub your feet... pamper and worship you... something along those lines." He said, leaning back against some pillows.

AlkonostStorm: She smiled slightly, placing the chocolate in his mouth before moving to lie down on her side, facing him. "That's very sweet of you."

JW%: He seemed more inclined to suck her finger than the chocolate, though he closed his eyes in enjoyment of it. He liked the coffee flavor filling. He took a moment just to lay there eyes closed on the bed with her.

AlkonostStorm: She moved a bit closer to him, her forehead lightly pressed against his own as they relaxed, enjoying each other's presence in comfortable silence.

JW%: "I suppose I should get started, shouldn't I?" He finally sighed.

AlkonostStorm: "We could just keep on with what we started." She told him as she leaned away to reach for the box again.

JW%: "If that's what you'd like." He smiled, and caught her fingertips, lifting the bit of chocolate to his own lips.

AlkonostStorm: This time, it was a dark chocolate with mango filling. Theoris did not immediately pull her fingers away, watching as his lips brushed past them. After a second, she withdrew her hand, gazing into his eyes.

JW%: He took a bite of the chocolate, and then held the other half for her to taste, closing his eyes and leaning against her again.

AlkonostStorm: She leaned in, taking the other half from his fingers with her mouth, blinking once when it dawned on her they had just shared an indirect kiss. Of course, it was entirely possible he had planned that...

JW%: He had, though the fact that he followed it up with an actual kiss didn't hurt matters either.

AlkonostStorm: She returned the kiss, one hand going up to caress his cheek. Theoris couldn't recall a time they had slowed down like this but she wasn't complaining either. It was...nice. Warm. Intimate.

JW%: He stroked her shoulder and reached for another chocolate, but let his hand rest near the box as he simply gazed into her eyes and waited.

AlkonostStorm: She pulled back, giving a slight nod so that he could go ahead and pick.

JW%: He picked another one with a kind of cream filling and offered it to her first this time, moving to kiss her almost immediately to get the flavor from her lips and tongue.

AlkonostStorm: Milk chocolate with a cream almond filling. Theoris barely had time to chew and swallow, never mind savor, before he moved in for the kiss. This time it lasted a bit longer than the first but was still slow and gentle.

JW%: "You're still not... in the mood for something more physical, are you?" He asked touching her cheek with his knuckles, to avoid his sticky fingers touching her face.

AlkonostStorm: "Not yet. Soon, perhaps but...right now I just want your company, Seto." She said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

JW%: "I'm fine with that." He said, putting his arm around her, but not squeezing, just holding her gently. "So I don't have to rub your feet?"

AlkonostStorm: "I'll take a rain check on that one." She told him, a teasing note in her voice as she spoke.

JW%: "I suppose I'll have to owe you." He said, teasing her as well, and leaning in to touch their noses together for a moment while he gazed into her eyes.