Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter LI

~Tuesday 20th March 2018~

Dakota was too hot. That was what woke him. He was comfortable, the silken sheets tangled around him loosely, and he had slept well, but the body heat was too much. For a moment, he panicked when his eyes fluttered open. Vasile's bedroom was painted in shades of blue, light pastel tones, not dark greens. Then everything rushed back to Dakota, as it had the previous morning. The explosion. The fear. The... Oh God, the foursome.

Dragging a hand through his matted hair, Dakota grimaced at the knots there, not even wanting to think what state the rest of his body might have been in. It wasn't as though there were gaps from the previous night, more like oversights. When he had been choking on Hades' cock, for example, he hadn't been keeping track of how many tears were shed, not to mention whoever had been rimming him. From the subtle ache behind his eyes, he would guess that it was a lot.

"You talk in your sleep," Dakota craned his head back, looking up to see that it was Hades' chest he had been laid on. He should have guessed, Vasile wasn't so hairy.

"Better than nightmares," the boy murmured drowsily, moving a hand down to rest on his stomach. At least morning sickness wasn't one of the symptoms of gargoyle pregnancy. Not that Dakota had actually had much to eat that he might have brought up. Judging by the taste in his mouth, he would have to guess it wouldn't be pretty no matter what.

"You lost one," Hades splayed his hand out over Dakota's stomach, rubbing his thumb gently against the boy's bump. Dakota thought about denying it, but decided against it. He was the devil, he probably knew everything there was to know about the boy. Lying was only prolonging the inevitable.

"Yeah," Dakota whispered, rolling onto his back to see Persephone and Vasile beside him. They looked comfortable too, with Vasile's head resting on Persephone's stomach and the boy's settled over Hades' shoulder. They never stopped touching, even through the night, they had always found a way to brush against one another, even for just a second. It was sweet really. If not completely depraved in every other sense of the word.

"A pain like no other," Hades' fingers traced Dakota's scars, lingering at the worst of the severed brands, making the boy blush all over again, "it isn't down here, if that makes you feel better."

"What do you mean?" Dakota met Hades' eyes once again, no longer finding that the man looked so intimidating. During their time together last night, he had seen lust and obsession and darkness. Now, all he saw was a subtle sorrow. The silver of the man's eyes had dulled, and he no longer wore that sly smirk. Instead, he looked passive, and Dakota found it bizarrely comforting to open up to him in a different way because of it.

"Angels are made from souls who die before their time, I play no part in that. Your child will be up there, a cherub learning the ways of the world from afar, safe and loved. Far from the pain we all have to endure," Dakota found himself smiling, feeling the familiar sting of tears that he managed to bite back. He had cried enough for the baby he had lost, he didn't need to shed any more tears.

"Kota, what is he talking about?" Dakota cursed under his breath, sitting up to find Vasile very much awake, looking just as distraught as the boy expected him to be if he ever found out, "is the baby OK?" Panic crossed Vasile's face for a second as he sat up too and placed a hand on Dakota's stomach. God, he never wanted him to know.

"Yeah, it's OK, Cael. We're OK, don't worry," Dakota cupped Vasile's cheek, caressing the velvet skin, hoping that might have been enough to throw the man from the topic. Sometimes it worked, sometimes Dakota could distract him enough to change the subject. However, when it came to the baby, Vasile's focus was laser-like.

"Then what were you talking about? What did he mean our baby is an angel?" Dakota drew in a deep breath, plastering a meek smile over his face, hoping that might be enough to stave off the tears that threatened to fall once again.