A month had passed since Arae’s blessing and a certain spring had taken hold of Tendlepog. The gnarled forests of Limbo began to sprout small delicate flowers, almost translucent. Their aroma was subtle but invoked a great nostalgia in tandem with the rest of the strange place. In total it was peaceful, and if not for the random swims of nausea, Hermes might say it was perfect. 

The Dreamer held her head, sick of the scents around her. It was like everything was assaulting her nose, she even refused Xiaoli's tea -- even after the reluctant River Girl offered to add Sweetgrass. 

Hermes closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree she sat at. Beyond closed lids she could hear Xiaoli putting the finishing touches on the last of the three houses of the estate, and as much as she'd love to watch, she was afraid of further vertigo. Her stomach curled and she said a silent prayer, ever thankful that she was born in a time before food.

Xiaoli clapped her hands free of dust and took a few steps back to admire her work. The guest house looked nearly identical to the bedroom house, and made for quite a satisfying parallel across the courtyard. She let out a sigh and grinned.

“Okay! I’m done! Hermes, what do you think?”

The Dreamer all but peeled her eyes open and squinted from her spot, “It looks wonderful,” her voice lacked enthusiasm but was genuine enough. The woman eventually forced herself to her feet, her brain sloshing forward. It took a couple steps but the nausea began to recede as quickly as it came -- for now; it was a tricky thing. 

Hermes stopped next to Xiaoli and examined the house, “Shengshi oughta like it,” She said carefully, “Would- would Shengshi use it? He'll be here any day now.”

“Yes, I think he will.” Xiaoli gave her a sad smile. “Is it the nausea again, dear?”

“Always,” Hermes said fatigued, “So far, I'm not a fan of pregnancy. You know, I was reading about similar--” she paused, “There it is again.” Her colors changed to a dull pea green and she sat herself down.

Xiaoli crossed her arms over her bosom, maintaining the compassionate smile. She then leaned down, picked up a rock and turned it into a cup before strolling towards the creek.

“It's not like we don't have bigger things to worry about,” Hermes cursed as she closed her eyes.

“We do, but I cannot stand seeing you like this. You haven’t eaten for nearly a day.” She filled the cup with some creek water. Then as she walked back over to Hermes, she took a deep breath and blew on the water surface. The water soon began to produce tiny, fizzy bubbles along the walls of the cup. She offered it to Hermes.

“Here. It’s a little better than the sweetgrass juice I made for you yesterday - I hope.”

Hermes hesitated but took the cup and sipped. She furrowed her brow, “Thanks,” her voice sounded slightly irritated, a sound Xiaoli had been getting used to the last few days. The Dreamer tipped the cup and gulped the rest of the fizz and then laid flat on her back and groaned.

“Xiaoliiiii,” Hermes whined.

“What is it, dear?” Xiaoli said patiently and laid down on her belly next to her, propping her head up on her fists.

Hermes rolled so they were face to face, her brow slanted and mouth in a line, “Twenty something all powerful Gods and not one of them thought to do away with this part,” her face fell from serious to misery, “I'm sorry.”

Xiaoli’s mouth was at first a straight line, but promptly turned into a somewhat silly smirk backed up by a quiet giggle. “Nothing to be sorry about, dear - we could write complaint letters to all of them, if you’d like.” She winked playfully and snickered.

Hermes smiled and let her face fall onto the mossy forest floor, “mmmpphh,” she muffled. 

“Sssssoooo…” Xiaoli began, casually playing with Hermes’ hair with one of her hands. “Whaaaat should we call it?”

“It!?” Hermes voice muffled, “You mean our baby?”

“Well, yes - we don’t know the gender yet, after all. Let’s ssssaaay it iiis a -boy-! What would you like to call it?” Xiaoli rolled over on her back and tucked her hands underneath her head.

“Ermph,” Hermes thought into the moss, “You go first.”

Xiaoli giggled. “Okay, okay - I’ve given this a lot of thought, but constructive criticism is welcome.” She rolled back over on her stomach and kicked her feet playfully in the air above her.

“Okay, so, if it’s a boy, I would love for him to be called Wenbo.” She wrote the characters in the moss, pouting slightly as the moss bounced back. “Anyway, the character wen means ‘literary talent’ and bo means ‘erudite’. A fitting name for the son of us, right? Oh, oh! But in case that one sounds odd, fear not - I have more.” She tried to write again, this time seeming more annoyed at herself at making the same mistake twice. “What do you think about Rongxuan? ‘Prosperous’ and ‘tall’? Oh! How about Yongfu, ‘eternal wealth’? That one’s not too bad, right?” She gave Hermes a look. “Dear, did you fall asleep?”

“Nuh uh,” Came from the moss, the Dreamer lifted her head and propped her chin up on her fists. She seemed to ponder for a moment, “What does Xiaoli mean?”

Xiaoli beamed at the question. “Well, Xiaoli is composed of the characters xiao and li, each respectively meaning ‘little’ and ‘beauty’.” She caressed herself with playful vanity.

“Hmm,’ Hermes seemed to think, “I think I see it,” she stuck out her tongue. 

Xiaoli’s smile vanished. “You -think-?” she said sourly.

Hermes laughed to herself and fell back into the moss, “As if you didn't know how beautiful I think you are.” Her voice muffled with a tiny chuckle, falling into a thinking hum. 

“Oh, I know,” she said, her smile reappearing. She rolled back on her belly and continued plucking playfully at Hermes’ hair. “Soooo, what do you think of the names?”

“I like them,” Hermes rolled her head on its side, “Wenbo is my favorite though. I have names in mind but-- well they don't have those special meanings other than I like them.”

Xiaoli’s mouth straightened out. “... Yeah…” There was a pause. “... You can still say them, if you want. We’re in this together, after all. I shouldn’t hog all the names.”

“Well,” Hermes scrunched her face, “We can say they mean things, who says we can't? We are the very first to do this, after all.”

Xiaoli pondered for a while, then slowly nodded. “Yeah… Yeah, you’re right! We can actually do that!” She gave Hermes’ temple a peck. “Okay, what’ve you got?”

A bright smile formed on Hermes’ face, “Well, what about Chinua--” She smiled, “Blessing. Or, Oktai -- understanding.” She lounged on her side, “Maybe even Chaghatai.” She had a buzzing smile, “Our baby.”

Xiaoli let out a humming giggle. “Heh… They’re all so sweet! I really like Oktai and Chaghatai - especially Chaghatai.” Her eyes sparkled with joy. “Though I suspect that he’ll be a bit embarrassed when we tell him the name’s meaning.” She winked. “Okay, we got some boy names. How about girl names?”

“A little embarrassment wouldn’t hurt too much,” Hermes mused happily, before pondering with a buzzing smile, “...Tuya? Ray of light.”

Xiaoli tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Could work… I feel like Her Holiness Asceal would be very satisfied if she heard that. How abooouut… Xihui? ‘Joyful’ and ‘bright’? Or…” She caressed Hermes’ exposed cheek. “How about Yanli after her mother?” She paused and put on a playful smile. “‘Colourful beauty’?” she added with a giggle.

Hermes let her own hand fall ontop of Xiaoli’s, “I like both a lot,” her eyes twinkled, “I’m sure we will get a chance to use all of them.”

Xiaoli’s eyes widened. “I-... I mean… How many do you want, if I may ask?”

Hermes scrunched her nose as if incredulous and leaned up on her elbow, “What did Shengshi say again,” She thought for a moment, “Ten thousand?”

“Y-... You realise he was hyperbolising for effect, yes?” She sat up on her calves and cleared her throat. “I’m not saying I don’t want to have many children, but… Ten thousand may be a bit excessive, no? Both on you and our future food stocks.” She tapped her chin. “Although, I suppose I could just make some more food, in that case… Alright, so our main concern in that case would be your body.”

Hermes sat up and was laughing, “Oh, Xiaoli,” She nudged her shoulder, “I was kidding-- but you should be so lucky as to have a partner willing to make ten thousand babies.” She gave a knowing smile.

“I’m not lucky to have such a partner - I’m lucky to have you,” she snickered and crossed her arms over her bosom. “Although, if -I- were to set a number… How about… Eight?”

“I don’t want to set a number,” Hermes uncharacteristically pouted and crawled over, setting her head in Xiaoli’s lap, “What if I end up wanting more -- or less.”

Xiaoli began to absent-mindedly caress Hermes’ head, her eyes staring forward. “Well, yes, I suppose… We should have enough to fill the whole house, though. It’d be a little quiet here otherwise.” She looked down and brushed Hermes’ bangs to the side. “I wonder what they will be like - how much they will look like you or me; if they will be as colourful as--” 

She paused, her eyes widening. “What if they inherit my powers?”

Hermes looked up with a quizzical expression and shrugged, “Do you think they will?”

“I-... Don’t know.” She gave Hermes a slightly somber look. “I’ll be honest - I hope they don’t.”

Hermes furrowed her brow and reached up to cup Xiaoli’s face, “I don’t think it works like that, you don’t need to worry -- from what I gather from our talks, your powers come directly from Shengshi. They -- won’t be coming directly from Shengshi,” Her own eyes widened as she looked off to the side, “No, they won’t.”

Xiaoli looked away for a moment. “That…” She paused. “No… You’re probably right.”

“Mhm,” Hermes closed her eyes and tucked her arms over her chest. “They’ll be colorful though,” She gave a tiny nod, “I can feel it.”

Xiaoli giggled. “They’ll be even more colourful than you, I bet. Our home will look like spilled paint.” Her giggle turned into a chuckle. “Oh, I will definitely teach them to paint. I can just imagine them standing in front of their paintings afterwards and taking on that pallet.”
Hermes smile grew but then suddenly shifted, and tears began to pour from the corner of her eyes, forcing her to turn her head and cover her face with a single hand.

Xiaoli’s pupils shrunk and she raised her hands in confusion. “H-Hermes, what happened?! Did I say something wrong?! Are you feeling sick again?!” 

“No,” Hermes sobbed into Xiaoli’s lap, “I’m just scared.”

Xiaoli’s eyes dimmed. She snuck her arms under Hermes’ and pulled her into a hug from behind. “I won’t let him get to you, you hear me?” she whispered almost menacingly. 

“I don’t even care about that,” Hermes lifted her face from Xiaoli and sniffled, eyes a beet red, and nose not much better, “I just want my family.” She squeezed Xiaoli with a helplessness the river-girl had never felt before. 

Xiaoli felt her eyes water and squeezed back. “I’m not going anywhere, Hermes - no one is. We will--” She sniffed. “We will get through this, and we will have a family, and we will--” She let out a few sobs, pulling away before pressing her head against Hermes’ chest, following by a long wail.

Hermes wrapped her arms around Xiaoli, a gentle stream of tears running down her face, “I want to go to bed.”

Xiaoli pulled away, letting out a curt ‘mm’ of agreement.

[hider=Timeskips and names]
A months has passed since Arae’s blessing. Hermes suffers from morning sickness and Xiaoli has just finished the three houses of the inner mansion. They discuss its as a guest room and, seeing as Shengshi is on his way to Tendlepog, Hermes complains about morning sickness being a thing, to which Xiaoli suggests that they should discuss baby names! 

Xiaoli suggests Chinese names; Hermes, Mongolian names. They then dicuss how many babies they should have, to which Hermes playfully responds ten thousand, as per Shengshi’s guarantee. They then decide not to set a specific number.

Suddenly, Xiaoli remembers something and wonders if the kids will inherit their powers. Hermes thinks they won’t, but Xiaoli may not be as convinced. As they talk about how colourful their children will be, Hermes begins to cry, telling Xiaoli that she is afraid of losing her family. Xiaoli tries to comfort her, but it’s soon clear that she is also scared - as she begins to cry, too. 

In the end, they decide to go to bed.


[/hider]

[hider=Prestige]
18+3=21 - she can now legally use it to buy alcohol in the US.
[/hider]