Whew. Another chapter done. This one is mostly filler, however, as nothing particularly interesting really happens other than some, as Kap puts it, "gayshiet". And I seriously realized that I need to stop being such a dialogue addict, as most of my fics are, liek, are at least 50% taken up by dialogues instead of...Anything else, really.
So yeah, hopefully it'll be worth a proper read. Prolly going to have a more defined plot for the next chapter, though.
Review responses. Yay.
symbiotic: The first trimester is always the worst from what I've heard and read up on. In the first trimester, the pregnant woman's body is just adjusting to the pregnancy, and of course the hormones begin acting up like no tomorrow. Which also means that, aside from the usual pregnancy stuff in fiction like the morning sickness, the mood swings and the cravings, there is also the problem lowered blood pressure, which often leads to fainting or light-headedness. In other words, Akko's had a bit of a rough start is all. She's not exactly helpless, it's just that that particular chapter took place on a bad day for Akko, what with the weather affecting her even when she's inside a house thoroughly chilled with cooling enchantments and all.
GeminiAlchemist: Wow, now I know how you must feel whenever I utterly fail to give a review longer than one or two lines of text. But I'm not mad. And I was writing that AmandaXLotte bit in with the thought that "Alc's gonna love this, I know it." ;)
(Current in-story month: August)
"I know the rain outside is calming and soothing, but you wouldn't wanna sleep through the entire day, would you, Akko?"
Of all the days for a strong rain to happen, it had to be right on a Saturday. Right in the morning, too. So much for that morning stroll while the sun's not too high up, huh? On the other hand, both Sucy and Akko had generally agreed that they'd take a heavy flooding rain over the scorching sun any day of the week.
"I don't wanna get up, especially after yesterday. Not to mention that I'm still drowsier than usual, remember?" – Akko remarked, hoping for at least a few more minutes. Or preferably hours.
Sucy, however, was not having any of this dying swan act, and proceeded to pull the covers right off of her half-asleep wife.
"Hey!" – The brunette shouted as she practically jumped upright.
"Come on now, the first trimester can't leave you this helpless. You need to walk some more, otherwise…" – Sucy poked her wife's side. – "You're probably going to end up with more fat than just the usual baby fat."
"Alright, alright, I'm getting up. But it's not like I can even do any exercise today, no thanks to that stormy weather outside." – The asian witch remarked drowsily.
"Relax, I won't have you doing much on the physical side. I just needed a bit of help with some potions for the next week. Hopefully running around the lab is enough of an exercise to you. " – The alchemist replied while her wife ran off to the shower. Sighing, Sucy figured she might as well wait for when Akko's finished, as she tended to take really long showers sometimes.
Oddly enough, this time was an exception, as Akko came back rather quickly and went to get her casual clothes on. Same shirt with the honestly rather corny text, same short shorts – hey, it wasn't that cold in the house anyway – same childish pink slippers. Sucy just watched her wife get dressed back up, although before Akko pulled her shirt on completely, the violette couldn't help but walk over to her wife and give her a slight belly rub. Sure, the witch was just three months in, but she still had a rather noticeable, if small baby bump.
"Really now, Suce?" – The Japanese girl asked, blushing.
"You know I can't help it. Just be glad I didn't get even more intrusive, he-he-heh." – Sucy remarked, finishing off with her trademark shark-toothed grin. Although this time, it seemed just…A tad less mischievous than usual?
Akko was pretty sure it was just a trick of the light, though, and just replied: "So anyway, what is it you needed help with today anyway?"
"Just a batch of pretty basic potions. The most you'll really need to do is either prepare some ingredients accordingly, or just pass me some of the readily-prepared ones whenever needed." – The violette replied as her wife followed her to the ever-so-familiar lab.
Even now, the lab was not much to speak about – several shelves neatly lined with various alchemical ingredients and various vials of premade potions, a wooden table with tons of alchemical implements standing near the window, and a brewing cauldron situated right in the middle of the room with an elemental-based flame under it. Not that it mattered to Sucy, as she felt that a good alchemy lab just has to have all the practical things in place, and the looks are not really necessary.
With a few careful preparations, like putting on some basic protective gear like gloves and gas masks, the two witches went to work.
"So what is it you're brewing anyway? Even the gas mask doesn't seem to filter the smell of it completely." – Akko asked as she tossed in another ingredient per her wife's request.
"It only filters out the toxic fumes, so I guess it should be obvious that I'm not brewing any poisons today." – Sucy deadpanned as she continued stirring the contents of the cauldron. – "All I can say is that the potion's from my private orders list."
"Guess I won't pry at the matter, then." – The brunette remarked, looking a bit off to the side. After a few moments of the lab being silent save for the sounds of the bubbling cauldron, however, she asked: "So, why exactly did you need my help? I mean, I'm sure you could have just tossed the ingredients in yourself, right?"
"Sure, but it would take me a couple seconds longer than needed. And besides, running back and forth from the shelves to the table and then over to the cauldron is a little tiresome. Even more so – doing it on repeat several times in a row. Not to mention that in potion-making, any extra hands are well-appreciated. So there's that." – Sucy then gestured her wife to exit the lab, on the way remarking that the potion just needs to be let sit for a little while, and, as the two exited the laboratory and shut the door behind themselves, took her gas mask off and remarked: "Besides, working with you is always a pleasure, even if you are still a bit of a klutz."
Akko did the same, tossing her mask off to the side, and replied: "Yeah, I guess it's a lot better than just lying in the bed and doing nothing all day. Although I am feeling a little hungry right now. Maybe dragging me to the lab before breakfast wasn't the best idea?"
"Actually, it was. Think about it: If I were to drag you in right after breakfast, it would be pretty much one small whiff of any odd smell and EUUUGH!..." – Sucy paused for a moment, barely avoiding giggling at her own rather accurate imitation of the sounds that Akko would often make when she was sick, then continued: "So it's only natural that I decided to fool-proof this activity a bit, so that your morning sickness wouldn't get in the way of things. "
Akko couldn't help but groan at this one: "Well, now that I'm away from any possible smells that might set my morning sickness off, can we please have some breakfast? Especially considering that I'm kind of supposed to be eating for two here."
"Alright, alright, calm down, just let me go cook something up." – Sucy remarked as she walked over to the kitchen, with her spouse following just behind her. Sighing after she looked all over the place for what ingredients they've had available, she asked: "So, cheesy mushroom omelette as usual?"
"Yeah, that would be nice."
The two girls honestly didn't talk all that much while Sucy was busy cooking – it was kind of hard to start a proper conversation when right now, Akko's mind was mostly all on about getting some food already.
"At least she's not craving anything weird, so I guess that's a plus." – The violette thought to herself as Akko kept sitting at the dining table with a look that just screamed "hungry as hell".
And sure enough, when the meal was finally served, Akko chowed down on her portion like no tomorrow, of course being her usual messy eater self. Sucy couldn't help but chuckle at the sight and remark: "Easy there, bunny. I don't really want you to-"
"Shoshe, shessh, I kshnow." – Akko remarked with her mouth full. As she swallowed her meal, she corrected: "Choke, yes, I know."
Sucy just rolled her eyes and smiled. Akko sure still had zero manners and still refused to act her age, huh. In fact, the violette couldn't help but begin laughing out loud after a few moments, even if a certain part of Sucy told her that laughing in front of Akko like that is basically equal to stepping into a mandrake field – sure, her mood swings have died down recently, but the risk was still there.
"What are you laughing at?" – Akko asked, not exactly angry at her fiancée but still a little confused. The alchemist calmed down and asked back: "You mean right now, or all the time?" – Clearing her throat, she remarked: "Right now, I can't help but laugh at how you still refuse to act your age, despite, you know, being a mother-to-be and all."
"I guess there are things that never change, so too bad!" – The brunette remarked in faux grief, even blowing a raspberry at Sucy, making her snicker again.
"Hey, it's alright, take it easy. You're a walking punchline, and that's on the list of things I like about you. I can never get bored with you around." – The violette remarked, hugging her spouse. Akko hugged her back and quietly responded: "I'm glad you feel that way. Truth be told, I can say the same last thing for you. After all…" – She briefly pulled her half-do ponytail up for a moment, which still, amusingly enough, had a few green strands, likely left over from some of Sucy's past experiments. – "You've made my life a lot more exciting as well. Even if it was an unintended side effect of your various pranks and experiments. "
The alchemist chuckled at this notion courtesy of her wife. Looking out the window, she remarked: "Well, we've got the potions ready for tomorrow's sellout, and it doesn't look like there's much else for us to do until the rain's over. Want to go back over to our bedroom and lie down for a while?"
"I thought you said that I needed to move a little bit more today?" – Akko asked, a little confused.
"Alright, if you don't want to cuddle, then-" – Sucy didn't finish her sentence as she pretended to walk away, dragging out the "then" as long as she could. This trick always worked, and of course Akko fell for it now as well as she immediately shouted out: "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't say that I'm declining the offer!"
Cue the shark-toothed grin.
Yup, some things really never change.
Quietly lying in their shared bed, the two girls didn't really say much to one another aside from the occasional small talk. Sometimes, Sucy would slightly stroke Akko's small but still noticeable baby bump. The brunette couldn't really think of any other gesture in return other than quietly running her hand through the violette's silky smooth hair.
When Akko decided to pull Sucy's eye-obscuring bangs a little off to the side, the alchemist didn't really mind – she only really did it whenever they were all alone with one another and Akko decided to get a little more affectionate than usual, but not outright amorous, so she didn't really feel that bad from this particular gesture of affection.
As Akko found out way back in their second academy year, when the two were already together for quite a while, the alchemist did have something to hide under her hair – rather mundane heterochromia, as her hidden left eye turned out to be blue instead of red. It was another one of those things that Sucy feared stood out about her too much and made her even more of a weirdo, this being the main reason why she always has those "peek-a-bangs", as everyone would call them. And naturally, Akko accepted it, in fact, even complimenting it and saying that it actually makes Sucy at least 20% more beautiful, if not even more.
Sucy still insisted on keeping her odd eye hidden, though, but she still didn't mind Akko moving her bangs away whenever they were getting all affectionate when all alone with just each other for company.
"It's real nice to see both your eyes every now and then, you know." – Akko remarked as she looked her fiancée in the eyes.
"Don't get used to it. It wouldn't be so special if it happened all the time." – The violette answered, smirking. After a few moments of thinking, she asked: "Say, what do you think are the odds of our kid actually inheriting heterochromia?"
"I'm not a genetic scientist, how should I know?" – The Japanese witch replied, giggling. As she calmed down, she added: "Although, heterochromia is kind of rare, so I doubt that would happen. For that matter, I don't think she would inherit that pretty hair color of yours either. Which is a real shame, to be honest."
"You're already so certain that the child is going to be a girl?"
"Another one of those things that I can't say for certain, really…" – Akko stammered, blushing. – "But I wouldn't complain if the child were a boy. After all, the world really lacks proper wizards."
"Boy or girl, I just hope the kid's not going to be a complete and utter klutz like their mom."
"Or a mischievous prankster not unlike their "other mom", then."
The two girls couldn't help but laugh out loud at this one. Friendly jabs like these were pretty much integral to their relationship.
"We can't really say much on it. After all, we've both been getting low-to-mid grades in Fortune Telling, so we can't say for absolute certain just what kind of person our kid would turn out or grow up to be. Either way, I think there's one thing we know for certain." – Sucy remarked as she gave her wife one last belly rub.
"You and I will make for quite the wonderful, if a little weird parents."
I feel like I may have flunked the ending, as always. In any case, I hope this was a somewhat enjoyable read. Also, there will be moar appearances from other characters in later chapters. Specifically, a bit of a surprise "ships that pass in the night"(Look it up on TVTropes) kind of couple right in the next chapter.
And with that said...
Darky Out!