[FweepFwopFwoop]

Delas yawned. "You can't work if you're sleepy. I guess. C'mon, I wanna curl up in my big fluffy bed."

[Eskal]

Cormac huffed and nodded. He removed his apron and headed back to the house with Marius and Delas.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Once home, Delas stripped off his clothes, put away his bag, and curled up in his bed. Astien, however, had no such luxury. He lay in his bed, naked and sweating, panting and quietly groaning as the familiar pain of false contractions gripped his body.

[Eskal]

Cormac flopped onto his own bed without removing his clothes as well.
Marius peeked his head into his and Astien's bedroom. "I got the boys home. They were so wrapped up in their..." He rushed to the bedside. "Astien, what's wrong?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"C-contractions... Very painful.... Ooow..." He panted. "Don't worry, it's just…" he groaned, "b-braxton hicks..."

[Eskal]

"It must be the stress of the hearing..." Marius sat on the bed beside Astien and took his hand. "Just squeeze if you need to. I can handle a bruised hand for few weeks."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"No, that's fine, I-" Astien squeezed his eyes shut as pain wracked his body, an he squeezed his lover's hand as hard as he could. "If this is what f-false labor feels like… haaaaaaah, then I hope Aiden never comes out!"

[Eskal]

"Are you sure it's false labor? It seems pretty intense."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien nodded. "First time I felt it... I was sure he was going to burst out of me."

[Eskal]

Marius squeezed Astien's hand reassuringly and gave it a light kiss.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Astien took deep breaths, and groaned as waves of pain wages over him. He squeezed Marius' hand. After what felt like an eternity, the false cintractions finally ended. "See?" Adrienne panted, "nothing to worry about." He did a bit of quick healing on his lover's hand, removing any bruising he could have caused, and settled down into bed, pulling the blankets over himself.

[Eskal]

Marius kissed Astien's forehead as he settled into the bed next to his lover. He gently took Astien into his arms and slipped off to sleep.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Morning came, and Astien didn't wake up as early as he normally did. Instead, Marius woke up before him, only to find Astien still fast asleep with his head resting on his chest, his mouth agape, and drooling into his chest hair.

[Eskal]

Marius chuckled and stroked Astien's hair. He didn't blame the poor man for being so exhausted after the previous night's ordeal with false labor.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

A knock was heard at the door and Delas poked his head in. "Hey Marius, ya decent? I was-" he raised his eyebrows at the sight of Astien. "Hey, shouldn't he be awake?"

[Eskal]

"He had a rough night. Let him sleep," Marius said quietly.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"But he has to be at the hearing. What's to stop them from assuming he's run off to his his guilt or something?"

[Eskal]

"Then they'll just have to wait," Marius said. "He needs his rest."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Oh man. How do we know they'll be willing to wait? From how Astirn speaks of them, they seem like they'd throw a fit if he was even a minute late."

[Eskal]

"Then they can come and get him. I'm not waking him up."