"A plan indeed." Astien replied, and with that returned to inhaling his eggs.
After breakfast, Astien led Cormac to the pond he had mentioned. There was no one around, thankfully. As he removed his clothes, Astien observed as Cormac jumped into the pool. He was somewhat jealous of his ability to move so nimbly, and felt large, heavy and unwieldy as he slowly lowered himself into the pool. He pulled from a small satchel bars of soap, one of which was passed to Cormac, and bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
Cormac dipped under the water and swam for a bit before coming up and shaking out his hair.
Astien let out a contented sigh as he lathered his body, and slowed down as he moved to his midsection. One hand cradled his belly as the other ran the soap across it, tenderly, gingerly, as though he were already holding his baby in his arms. Small bumps occasionally popped up as his baby kicked, causing Astien to giggle. "Does that feel good, little one? It must, you won't stop moving!" He playfully poked the spots where the little bumps appeared, playing along with his child's game. He closed his eyes, shutting out the world, and simply enjoying the sensation of having a new life growing within him, kicking and tumbling, strong and healthy. He then whispered something. It was inaudible above the sounds of the waterfall, but from the shapes his mouth made, it must have been 'I love you.'
Astien looked up, and blushed as he saw Cormac staring at him. "What?"
"Nothin'," Cormac shrugged. He moved to get out of the pond, having not touched the soap or shampoo.
Astien quickly grabbed Cormac and dragged him away from the pool's edge. "Not so fast, mister." he admonished. "I said I was washing your hair, and I meant it. Now, I can understand why you'd shy away from the shampoo, your hair being so... unwieldy, but really? You haven't even touched the soap." Astien shoved his bar of soap into Cormac's hand. "Wash your body while I do your hair. I won't have an assistant looking or smelling like he sleeps in a barn."
"I've never slept in a barn though." Cormac huffed as he rubbed the soap on himself.
"But you smell like you do." Astien pulled a brush out of his bag and took the bottle of conditioner. He moved Cormac closer to the edge of the pool so he could have easy access to the bag's contents. He took a moment to survey Cormac's hair and grimaced. "I'm probably going to end up using this whole bottle. Hoo boy." And with that he set to work. He massaged the shampoo and conditioner into the boy's scalp as best as he could through the knots and tangles. Finally, time to use the brush. There was a lot of tugging and pulling, and both parties were struggling.
Astien grunted. "Well, how else will I get it out?" The largest knot was just in front of Cormac's neck, and glared back at Astien like a wild storm. Or a small ferocious animal. He decided he would work on that knot last. He tried to yank less to make it easier for his young friend, but found that the brush couldn't even be moved without sufficient force. With more shampoo and conditioner, and more grunts of frustration from Astien, he worked the knot into smaller and smaller segments. His baby apparently didn't appreciate the exertion, as it kicked in annoyance. Astien briefly pondered if Cormac could feel it against his back, but then turned his mind back to the task at hand.
"So....Are you one of those guys that can have kids...?" Cormac asked, just wanting to past the time.
Astien froze, before realizing that that was suspicious. He quickly resumed working out the tangled strand before him. He could feel himself growing hot, and beginning to sweat nervously. He thanked the gods that Cormac was turned away from him. "W-well, I am pregnant, aren't I?" He said. He was trying his hardest not to strutter, but it escaped him anyway.
"Did he jus' dump 'n' leave or somethin'?"
Oh no. Questions. Astien fumbled, and tried to think up a story. "Well... we were colleagues. Or rather, he was my body guard. I went around doing my work, and he kept me safe, did the heavy lifting, things like that." Something in the back of Astien's mind told him that this was a story from somewhere else, but he continued telling it anyway. "We eventually fell in love. Or at least, I thought it was love. We would gaze at the stars; me telling stories about all the constellations, and him just listening... It was nice." Was Astien being pulled in by his own lie? Well, at least he'd have an easier time remembering it. "He'd make me laugh, and tell me stories too. When we made love, it was wonderful." Astien paused in his brushing. "When I told him I was pregnant, I thought he'd be as happy as I was. But he just looked at me. I can't forget how my heart sank. Over the next few days, he was quiet. He didn't laugh as much. Then one day, I woke up, and he was gone. All of his things were gone, and he took a fair bit of my money, too. The only thing he left behind was a note that said 'It can't be mine.'" After a moment of quiet, he resumed his brushing.
"Heh. Mum said that about my pop. I mean, she wasn't the most chaste of people, but still." Cormac scrubbed at himself.
With one final yank, the knot was gone, replaced with a strand of smooth, soft hair. Only three hundred knots left. "There!" he chirped proudly. "Run your fingers through that! Feels much better than all those knots and tangles, right?"
"It feels weird," Cormac said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"Only because you aren't used to it. You won't be able to stop running your fingers through, I can tell you that!" he set to work on the next strand of hair. "So, tell me a bit about your mother."
"Well, she was a 'companion' in the most kindest of terms. So I pretty much grew up in a brothel. When I was little she started getting sick all the time and then she got some rare disease. I heard there was a rare plant that could help her, so I set out to find it and when I couldn't I returned home only to find she had passed away." Cormac shrugged. "She was a good enough mom I guess. I had a roof over my head and food on the table."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Were there many healers where you lived?"
"Not really. The only decent ones worked exclusively for the nobles."