Den Visit
Surrounded by lush vegetation and thick trunks, a green skinned man stood silently, admiring the lively landscape around him, his pointed tipped ears twitching frequently at every creature's footstep or song that carried in the wind, no unnatural noises could be heard, and he almost sighed happily before catching it as to not interrupt the scenery. Taking a silent sniff of the area, he continued his trek, careful to not take the same path he had taken the last time he was exploring his pride land, as to ensure that he didn't establish a path that the vegetation would not grow on, scared to ruin the flow of mother nature's creation.
Moments later he came across his goal, a large tree that had been hallowed out by some force of natural that was unknown to the young man. Approaching the trunks largest opening he stood silently, letting the bees come and scope him out, before long the buzzing settles down as they recognized the owner of their land, signaling him to approach and claim what they had gotten used to, the honeybees having adapted to leaving a section of their hive available for his pale skinned mate's consumption. Retrieving the Bota Bag from his waist his clawed hands gently scooped the honey into the carefully crafted leather pouch, after gathering a pouch full he gently laid a bundle of black locust flowers at the trunk, without them the honey would lose it's almost transparent yellow color and the taste his mate had come to love throughout their time since moving into their den, and then licked his fingers clear, the noise rumbling in his chest this time did escape his mouth, the syrupy liquid dripping down his chin before he wiped it off and started on his trek back home.
At the aforementioned home, a barefooted mystic, padded her way across the hard packed soil floor, reaching the kitchen she sighed heavily as she tapped her footstool in front of her, stepping onto it and gathering ingredients and seasoning that she had been instructed to by her cybernetic friend, though she hoped he was prepared to use only fresh or dried herbs, the pairing of a woman of magic and a man of nature both agreed that these were much preferred to the processed ones available in stores. In fact, the only thing that the pair bought from stores were sanitary products. Nevertheless, she laid them out on a circular slab of wood, and waddled out the doorway of their home, and towards the dugout pit that was designed for fires and let out a small giggle at the sight of a pile of firewood inside. "Always the doting husband, gar" she said just barely a whisper, before setting the ingredients on top of a rock that had been weathered smooth. She wasted no time willing the fire to life, her magic had its domestic purposes, setting on a pot of water from the nearby stream, which she had been assured was safe for consumption by her Husband. As the water came to life she sat on a nearby stump, her feet sore from the weight being held upon them.
Within a few minutes of the water bubbling, Raven heard angered bird songs and shifting of trees and the near completely quiet hum of the T-Ship, and then came the outpouring of emotions and thoughts from her closest friends, she took a deep breath and gently relaxed, having much better control of her powers these days, her current condition only amplifying them, which she chalked down to her demonic side evolving to protect them. Before too long she could see a light red hue, which she raised her eyebrows out, wondering what happened to her old friend's electronic blue hue.
"I can't believe she agreed to live like this, it's soooo…out here" the cyborg said in a hushed tone, not sure where the pair the group of three sought out were and he was not intending on upsetting a hormonal half demoness. "I believe it is because friend Garfield must feel this is the easiest place for him to protect their precious bumgorf" came the happy airy voice of a more mature looking Starfire. A gravelly voice responded with a careful hand placed on a large metallic shoulder, "Besides Vic, there's only two minds here, no one to stress her out, it's very important." Robin, scratch that, Nightwing said, his free hand gently ruffling a tuft of strawberry hair, a bundle of babbles coming forth in response. As the hulking figure looked down at the small child held in a harness a smile formed on his lips and when he went to turn around a head of almost purple hair stood a few feet in front of them, rubbing a hand over the growing bump at her midsection. "Welcome to our Den" she said quietly, almost just a hiss of breath, but she raised her free hand to signal to the clearing, where the four noted the roaring fire and rustic dining equipment, and they followed her towards the seats and silently sat down admiring the scenery around them, lush fields of lavender surrounded the home, and towering trees made it unseeable from anywhere but this clearing.
Cyborg was the first to speak, his eyes scanning over the board of herbs and hand-crafted rubs, "hey Raven, all this is nice but, I swear I requested meat" he said with a polite smile, knowing that the household had clearly developed a naturalistic ideology and wasn't sure if he was crossing any boundaries. Raven nodded before motioning out to the forest around them, "Garfield is out there somewhere gathering all that we need" she said with a tight-lipped smile, wishing for no further challenges as to her preparedness. Starfire was the next to act, scooping her child out of the harness on Nightwing's chest and rushing over to Ravens side, sitting cross legged and holding up the small hand of the redhead child onto the bump, "look my angel, your aunts very own bumgorf is in there, soon you will have a friend of your own" she explained while scanning the pale skinned girl carefully, making sure she was okay, after all they were sisters in their minds.
The group carried on in light conversation as they awaited the arrival of the only missing piece of their family puzzle, as Raven poured her water over some tea bags, there was a silent splitting of the lush lavender and out came a green skinned chisel framed man, with a buck carcass draped over his wide shoulders, a visible gash on its neck, he wordlessly placed it on a flat stone of its on , seemingly unaware of the groups presence he rushed over to his mate, sniffing her gently as his hands caressed her swollen mid-section. Raven leaned into his touch and the group could see her lips moving and assumed she was reassuring the worried challenging that nothing was wrong with them, then nodding her head towards their teammates.
The man's eyes carried a dark green intensity within them as he gazed over them, the heat in them lowering with each familiar face before he greeted them with his more familiar lopsided smile, fang jutting out and all, "you guys made it!" he cheered before wrapping them in hugs one by one, running the side of his clawed finger on the red headed youngling. "Garfield, Honey" came a soft voice, the mystic gently stirring her cup of tea. "Yes, my love?" The man said with a warm smile, to which he received a giggle in return which raised a few eyebrows "no, my love, the honey for my tea" she said an airy tone in her voice as she stretched out her hand. A deep rumbling chuckle escaped his ribs, and he removed the leather skin from his waist and held it out to her small pale hand, watching with wonder as she made the mixture to her liking, a twinkle in her eyes as it reached her goal.
The group separated into groups and worked to prepare the meal, Cyborg's laser precision made quick work of the buck, and the men discussed the joys of their lives, video games, superhero activities, and the women in their lives, to which the metallic man noted that his partner stayed at home at his advice, to ensure that there were no added stresses to his best friends growing child. While the women, spoke about the glorious nature of raising children, and the squeamishness of men, which was a topic covered mostly by Starfire. Which made Raven bean with pride at how her mate handled even the grossest of topics and tasks.
Soon enough the group gathered around the fire, sitting on stumps minus Garfield, who kneeled protectively next to his mate, his hand subconsciously sitting on her bulging stomach, feeling every heartbeat and every small contact against the pale skin. The green skinned man hummed happily as he observed everyone around him, chewing on a piece of wild potato, he leaned his head against his pale skinned bride, and took mental note that they would all always be welcomed in any home of his, they were all his pride mates, and he could barely contain himself at the thought of it expanding as the years moved on.
