Soul/Whisper Baby Short

It had been way too long since the team had all sat down to breakfast with each other. So much had been happening as of late. With Tarquin alone, there was the issue of balancing his hero work, royal duties and trying to upkeep a healthy relationship. Never mind the fact that he'd been laid out after his most recent battle with, among other things, a particularly nasty concussion. As it was, he still wasn't quite on top form, but he also didn't want to spend longer than strictly necessary in the medical bay.

Everyone was sat down, happily enjoying a meal made by Shard and Hex, and a good one at that, but Tarquin had to admit he was a little...distracted. the others were holding a conversation, and he kept out of it with his head injury as an excuse, keeping his mouth full so no-one would ask him to speak. 

When everyone had come into the kitchen that morning, he had noticed something unusual. A thrumming, fluttering sensation at the edge of his senses that seemed to be attached to Whisper. Like something else was there. At first, he thought it might be an insect on her clothing, but he couldn't see anything. Other than appearing tired, she also seemed entirely unbothered.

The fluttering wasn't an entirely new sensation. He was sure he'd felt it before, but it wasn't something he was used to, and he certainly wasn't used to sensing it among his friends. Taking another mouthful, he tried to think about when he'd felt this before.

Here and there, from passersby on the street, and for a while, from Zhen's boyfriend as well, though not the same. At the time, he was undergoing some form of impossible pregnancy via demon possession. The parasite attached to the girl from Skylark had also given off an awful fluttering, but both of those instances had been clearer than this, stronger, solid and more...unnatural, disturbing even, than this. The life energy of a fully formed being within another, such as a parasite, was always a strange sensation, but there was something about these demonic beings he had encountered that was...unnerving? Revolting.

Even so, the thought of some form of demonic being attaching itself to Whisper was concerning. He would have to bring it to the attention of the others. But the sensation didn't quite match...it wasn't the same unnerving thrum, but more the gentle pulse of...of...what was it?

There was some kind of memory his mind was trying to recall. Something back from the shimmering plains he had once called home. It eluded him the more he tried to force it, so he backed up, focusing once more on the sensation itself.

Moments of little thought passed, and he found his gaze drawn to his sister, across the table. She seemed quite proud of herself. Whisper and Shard had been teaching her to read and write, and she'd taken to it well.

Viahar...

That was it!

The fluttering pulse sensation was the exact same as one he had once felt at age six, from his step-mother. He had asked her why her belly was pulsing, and those around him had been confused. He was scolded for saying strange things, but his mother later explained his step-mother must have been pregnant. Indeed, some time after, it was announced she was expecting. The fluttering sensation he had felt was the moment his baby sister's heart began to beat for the very first time.

It was a warm memory, despite the scolding. It had been his first real experience of the beginning of life. And now he could feel that very same first heartbeat feeling as he did back then from right...beside...him...

Wait.

The same sensation as his sister's first heartbeat in the womb.

From beside him.

Where his girlfriend sat.

The girlfriend he'd been sleeping with before he was injured.

She...

Whisper was...pregnant?

The realisation stunned him. A tiny gasp had part of his breakfast go down the wrong way, and he began to choke. Around him, he heard sounds of concern, felt Whisper's hand on his back, but, aside from trying to breathe, his mind was focused on one thing.

He was sure of it. Whisper was definitely pregnant.