While the Mice sleep... (Interlude)
#22 of Child of the Sands
Do you know, when writing something long and drawn out, that moment that you've been foreshadowing pretty much ever since the story started? Now, do you know the moment JUST BEFORE THAT. That moment when you're SO CLOSE to the big reveal, and everyone's still oblivious. It's hard to talk to anyone without either giggling maniacally or laughing maniacally, but either way, you're filled with childish glee that they don't know what's around the corner. This is that moment for me. Still... it would be better if you at least knew where to look...
So, this is the interlude, and it consists of Kalokin's uncensored thoughts and actions while Khaesho and Shouyousei are asleep.
Shouslept deep as her body underwent the final stages of its metamorphosis. Khaesho had placed her sleeping form underneath multiple fur blankets, with him coiled all around her, but sleep called to him as well. He would only get antsy while waiting, and Kalokin did indeed want to fiddle with his anatomy little more than he already had. Kalokin gave a rough attempt to hybridize his metabolism the same way he did Shou's, so that he could metabolize energy as heat only when needed. It worked... kind of... Khaesho would still always hate the cold, with reason, but he'd be able to generate at least a little heat. In addition to that, he altered Khaesho's flesh, crafting a decently sized knot at the base of each of his already sizeable shafts. He poked at Khaesho's venom glands a little, but decided that attempting to alter Khaesho's venom to be nonlethal was a task that would take far too much time and energy. Once he'd completely run out of excuses for productive things he could be doing, he took a comprehensive look through the differences between Khaesho and Shouyousei's DNA and reproductive systems.
It was, as he'd thought, a nightmare. Khaesho was a Naga, an oviparous species whose females were only fertile during a few of the dampest and rainiest winter months. Shouyousei was a Canine Bipedal, not even a reptile, but a mammal! She gave birth to living, breathing creatures rather than laying quiet eggs. The different species of Bipedals could easily interbreed, though with mixed results, but Naga... they were entirely different animals. They were as different from the Bipedals as the renderings of two artists belonging to different disciplines. She even had two lungs! Two! Naga got along just fine with one, who would need a second...? He'd need to play trial and error with both of their reproductive organs, and that would take time. Also... much as he loved his Vessels, neither of them were ready for children yet. Khaesho's prospects included a cave, a knife, and a crippled god. Shou's possessions included... well, he actually didn't know intimately what she called hers, but he was willing to bet she wasn't materially prepared for raising a child. He set the foundation for what he suspected would need to be done, but he didn't actually make any real attempt. Just to be safe as well, he quietly rendered Khaesho infertile; at least until they both knew they were ready. He did what he could to make them comfortable and ensured that Shou's body could continue its work without his direct micromanagement. Then, he shuddered, and what remained of his resolve collapse. He could only delay the inevitable so long. He was exhausted, but more importantly than that, he was famished. With a whispered apology to them both, he abandoned them both for three days, so that he could feast to regain his strength.