[Closed] The Stork Came...

[thetaintedsorrow]

Who: Chuuya Nakahara (thetaintedsorrow), Atsushi Nakajima (gekkaju), Reign Fear (eaudevamp), Dylas (sullenstallion) & Dazai Osamu (cassus)
What: Chuuya finds an egg in his bed, proceeds to question his life.
When: 3/4 and throughout the month.
Where: Olympia Nobles’ District, Atsushi’s new mansion.
Warning(s): None yet. Will update if that changes.



[The morning after the housewarming party Chuuya had, of course, been laid up in bed with a hangover, and so his entire morning routine of waking up, making coffee, and crawling back into bed had been forfeited in an attempt to get more sleep. Of course, he can’t just lay here when he has to pee (that would be gross) and he reluctantly drags himself out of bed (in his very wrinkled clothes) long enough to stumble over to the bathroom and do his business.

When he returns he sees a bright red egg the size of a chicken egg with orange speckles laying smack in the middle of his bed. Uh...?

Oh. OH. Did he finally get an egg to hatch his very own pet? But it’s so small compared to the others...what could be inside?

Of course he has to show everyone in the house, along with Reign, a fellow egg mom, his new discovery. He holds it gently in his gloved hands, treating it with the utmost care.]

I can’t believe it. It’s so tiny...

Comments

[gekkajuu]

It really is! [The size is an advantage, if you ask Atsushi - and it gives him an idea.] Have you held it against a light yet? You might be able to see something.

[Probably not, with that color shell and those speckles, but hey, it's worth a shot.]

Regardless, you need to keep it somewhere warm! Like in a pouch on your body, or...

[His eyes drift up to Chuuya's hat. Are you pondering what he's pondering?]

[thetaintedsorrow]

Not yet.

[He’s been keeping it dark because of the hangover that’s still plaguing him, but the excitement of being an egg mom is enough to make him temporarily forget about his pounding head and churning stomach.

He flicks on the light switch and holds the egg up to it, and unfortunately there’s no obvious clues to what it could be.]

Whatever it is, it’s tiny.

[He sees Atsushi looking at his hat...]

What? Are you suggesting I keep it under my hat???

[That...could actually work.]

[gekkajuu]

That much was expected...

[Tiny, indeed. Atsushi says it very seriously, not even in a "duh" kind of way. More importantly, his expert egg mom skills have made him focus on that hat. Really, it's ideal - especially with Chuuya's ability to keep it from falling off!]

Not just like that! [That is said in a "duh" kind of tone, as if the very idea is preposterous.] You'll need to wrap something around it to make sure it stays warm... Maybe a towel? Look - like a sushi chef's headband!

[Or... not at all like that, since it'll be going under the hat. It'll be more like a bird's nest, if anything.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Don’t “duh” him, Atsushi. He’s new to this, okay? Being responsible for a tiny life is not what he’d had planned for today. But of course he’s going to do his best to take care of it! You can count on that.]

You got anything like that? A cloth maybe?

[This is going to mess up his hair, isn’t it? Oh well. At least it’ll be covered by the hat.]

I want to make sure it’s nice and warm. How did you hatch Daifuku?

[gekkajuu]

[In today's episode of "Extreme Hat Hair: What Happens When Your Hair Is an Actual Bird's Nest?"]

A towel should do! Or... Hang on!

[Atsushi storms off and quickly returns with some... rags?
... They're clothes. Or they used to be, before he transformed and ruined them.]

Those should do it! They're soft, if nothing else. You should probably keep an eye on how much air they let through, though.

[As for hatching Daifuku:] Well, first I had a friend shrink the egg until it was a manageable size. Then I had a heating lamp at home, and I often took the egg outside, too, carrying it on my body for heat... and I listened to the heart beat frequently, just to make sure it was doing okay!

[#just-egg-mom-things]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Looks like he’s getting a much needed lesson in being an egg mom today! Chuuya takes the rags from Atsushi with a nod, oddly quiet as he listens carefully to the suggestions Atsushi makes. He’s past questioning the shrinking thing at this point, but he notes the heat lamp thing, and listening for a heartbeat. He had no idea that was a thing with eggs...]

I feel like I should stay home for ten days until it hatches.

[If the egg were to break...well. Chuuya would be very upset. He might’ve already attached himself to this pet without even knowing what it is...

Eventually he carefully wraps the egg in the rags, but for now he’s going to hold it to his chest instead of putting it in his hat just yet.]

This really is like having a kid, huh?

[He huffs a soft laugh.]

I wish I could’ve seen your face when Daifuku hatched. Must’ve been priceless.

[eaudevamp]

[ Reign and his pet giraffe, Scorch, had decided to stay for the night after the party. Not just from being tired out, but also for certain safety seeing as there were still possible riots outside, more so when it was so late into the night. Reign may be able to defend himself, but not if he had Scorch with him.

So he slept in one of the spare room downstairs, only to be roused awake by some loud noises outside. Vampires were not early creatures, so Chuuya would have to forgive Reign when he blearily stepped out of the room, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. ]

What's so tiny, Chuuya?

[thetaintedsorrow]

This.

[Chuuya turns to show Reign the tiny egg in his hands with a look that screams “I’m a mom!”. He’s so careful in how he holds it, making sure not to drop it while also not holding on too tightly.]

I woke up this morning and it was in my bed. Crazy, huh?

[The best kind of surprise. He’d been wanting a pet of his own anyway.]

Is that what happened with you and Scorch?

[eaudevamp]

[ Reign blinked a few times when he was shown the egg, then his eyes snapped open, hands cupping his own cheeks as he awed and fawned over the egg. ]

Oh gosh! It really is tiny! [ "Like you" was sort of implied, though Reign didn't say it outloud, but the implication was almost there, a subconscious though.

He pretty much hovered over Chuuya and the egg, pleased that Chuuya now had one of his own. ]

Yes, that's right. I woke up one day, opened my eyes, and saw an egg right beside my pillow. It's a good thing I hadn't roll over and accidentally break it.

[ That would have been unfortunate. ]

Anyway, I can't believe you've an egg now! [ Welcome to the Egg Mom Club, Chuuya. ]

[thetaintedsorrow]

Yeah. This one is so tiny that I’m surprised I didn’t break it myself.

[Scorch and Daifuku both hatched from larger eggs, which would’ve been both a blessing and a curse. A curse to keep warm and a blessing to keep an eye on. Chuuya is kind of relieved it’s so tiny, honestly, even though he can’t help but think that Reign is low key calling him small. Oh well, he’s too giddy to care right now.]

Yeah! Atsushi gave me some advice on how to care for it. I wonder what it could be.

[A pause.]

Was Scorch’s egg colored differently? Maybe the shell color is an indication of what’s inside.

[eaudevamp]

Oh, Atsushi gives the best advice since he got the egg before us. He helped me with mine as well. Though since yours is such a small egg, it probably would be easier to care for.

[ Reign hummed for a moment, trying to recollect the day when he laid eyes on his egg. ]

No, I don't believe so. It was a beige-coloured egg about the size of a melon. I've not ask if Daifuku's egg was white either.

[ He squinted at Chuuya's red egg. ]

Maybe yours will turn out to have a red theme to it.

i'm so sorry

[sullenstallion]

[Just where did Dylas come from? It doesn't matter. He can be sneaky when he wants to; ever since the Orbiters upped his senses, he's been careful not to be too noisy himself.

He pats Dazai on the shoulder from behind and leans in, a sad smile on his face.]

Of course it's tiny. But it's not about the size, it's about how you use it, yeah? Not that anyone's had to say that to me.

[Dylas has never made a dick joke before, but Chuuya can't just set him up like that? It would be criminal if he didn't take that opportunity for himself.]

Dylas PLS

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Chuuya is so caught up in the surprise of finding an egg in his bed that he hardly even registers the fact that he’s being snuck up on. Damn, his Mafia skills must be getting rusty. Regardless, he glares daggers over his shoulder, and Dylas is lucky that he’s holding that egg, or he might have gotten a very swift kick to the shins.]

Haha, very fucking funny. You wouldn’t need to brag if that were actually true.

[He huffs, turning to show Dylas the egg. He’s not about to get into a pissing contest with Dylas right now. Next time he’s drunk though? All bets are off.]

I found it in my bed this morning. Dunno where it came from.

[sullenstallion]

[The day Dylas gets kicked in the shins is the day the mansion catches on fire from a stray lightning bolt. Just how many long until that day? Dylas ignores the counter just to be extra infuriating, since talking about penises is only fun when he's doing it.]

You found it in your bed? ...You didn't lay it, did you?

[He looks Chuuya up and down...huh. He didn't take him for some kind of egg-layer? He looks and smells human.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[...wow. Dylas isn’t joking, is he? He looks pretty serious as he asks that question.]

What??? No! You should know this just happens after seeing Daifuku, right?

[He holds the egg protectively to his chest.]

Don’t even think about trying to cook it.

[He’s watching you, Dylas.]

[sullenstallion]

You can unclench. I'm only joking.

[He didn't sound like he was joking, though? And Dylas has a duty to ask that question, the eggs randomly arriving all over the place is still a phenomena he doesn't understand. Someone is laying them.]

What's that supposed to mean? Eggs are easy to come by. I wouldn't want to cook it until I see what it hatches into.

IT’S TIME

[thetaintedsorrow]

[Just as instructed by Atsushi, Chuuya has kept his egg warm and safe, mostly tucked under his hat and wrapped in a cloth during the day, and safely on a pillow beneath a heat lamp at night. He’s protected it to the best of his ability, kept it close and even talked to it on occasion, encouraging it to hatch. Of course he would deny that last thing with every fiber of his being, but it’s true.

And now, at two in the morning, his hard work is finally paying off.

Chuuya is currently nursing a glass of wine, as per usual on most nights, when he glances over at his egg, and lo and behold, the egg has a tell-tale little hole in it, and...

A tiny little beak poking through.

Chuuya immediately rushes over and kneels down next to the pillow to watch, eyes alight with excitement. So it’s a bird? Not exactly a huge shock, but he’s excited as hell regardless. So excited that he texts several people the news, despite the time.

Anyone who walks into his room now will see Chuuya intently focused on the egg, oblivious to anything else.]

You can do it. Let’s see what you are.

[gekkajuu]

[One thing about living with other people is that Atsushi always feels responsible for asking them if they want food and/or drinks when he's getting something for himself. Maybe it's a burden, but it's more of a pleasure: he likes doing little things to take care of his friends, in whatever small ways he manages.

So when he leaves his room to go make tea, he drops by Chuuya's room before he heads on down.]

Chuuya-san? Would you like some -...?

[Hmm...? Is something wrong with the egg? Chuuya didn't drop it, did he?! No - he couldn't have.]

Is everything all right?

[thetaintedsorrow]

Better than all right. It’s hatching.

[And taking forever to do it, but the little beak peeking through diligently chips away until it makes an opening big enough that Chuuya can catch a glimpse of what’s inside.

It’s a baby bird, featherless and ugly and peeping up a storm, but very much alive and determined to be born. If only there was a way to help it along, but that may end up doing more harm than good, and Chuuya isn’t willing to risk it.]

I think it’s almost out. I can’t even imagine how Daifuku looked when he hatched.

[gekkajuu]

It is?!

[Atsushi immediately forgets all about his tea, rushing over to stand next to Chuuya, leaning over for as close a look as he can get without getting in Chuuya's way.]

A bird..?

[He's not disappointed, but he's definitely surprised. That is so much more normal than he was expecting! He doesn't mind "normal", though.]

... Wet, mostly.

[He gives a little smile. Drying off Daifuku had been strange, but it had been a thing that needed to be done at the time, and that had been very welcome - and saved Atsushi from a lot of pointless panicking. By the time he'd been done, he'd still been in awe... but very happy.]

[thetaintedsorrow]

Yeah? I guess that’s normal. Except not because tigers don’t usually hatch from eggs, but whatever.

[The bird finally hatches, but in its featherless state, it’s impossible to tell the species. Obviously something small and not a duck. That’s all Chuuya knows.

He scoops up the tiny peeping baby in his hands once it’s broken free of its shell and gently dries it off with a nearby cloth. It peeps in irritation the entire time, and at one point tries nibbling on Chuuya’s finger.

Oh. Right. Food...]

...shit. You don’t have bird food, do you?

[eaudevamp]

[ Reign had been working when he received Chuuya's text, and of course he wasn't going to miss this chance to see what creature it was that would hatch from the egg. By the time Reign arrived at the mansion a couple hours later, the animal likely had already hatch, or maybe it was still in the process of breaking out from the egg.

Either way, here Reign was knocking at the door, waiting to be let in. Hopefully no one minded that he was here even before the sun rose. ]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[The baby finally did hatch, and when Chuuya answers the door it’s with a tiny, peeping baby bird in his hands. It’s largely featherless save for a bit of fuzzy down, and Chuuya has it bundled up in a cloth to stay warm. The smile on his face is incredibly endearing.]

Look. It’s a bird.

[eaudevamp]

[ If it hadn't been for the awkward timing, Reign would have brought Scorch along with him. But that could be arranged later as Reign took one look at the peeping bird and immediately fawned over it. ]

Oh my gosh! It's so cute! I would have expected a different kind of animal other than egg-laying creatures.

[ He reached a finger out with the intention to pat it on the head, only for the bird to peep up a storm. ]

My, quite the temper it has too. [ More likely because the bird still considered Reign a stranger. ]

[thetaintedsorrow]

[I mean. Look at who it’s mother is. That should explain the temper just fine.]

I think it’s hungry...

[Oh boy. What do baby birds even eat?]

Uh. You got anything I could feed this guy? Or any suggestions?