Two is Better than One [Vitor Imperieuse]

[Nikolas Faselli]

Zahat'n'ira
Imperieuse residence
@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

The cold season had started on Zahat'n'ira. People didn't have so much to do, so they spent most of their days inside, meditating, or outside, trying to tend any plants that may be hurt by such cold. Meanwhile, in the residence of Vitor Imperieuse, Darth Malificete and the family's youngest member, Lilin Amore Lancaster, there were other problems. At least Malificete had never been on a planet which had a cold winter. On Coruscant, it had always been warm. She had searched for a spell to make a house warm from her spellbooks, but there was nothing about it in any of them. Their library wasn't a big one yet, though, so there was a chance, that a spell like this existed, but the Council of Sorcery had no information about it.

She knew there is a Force Power which can heat up things and everything, but she didn't know how to perform it. She was just a simple Knight, after all. They had to buy something to make their house a bit warmer or they had to make a fireplace.

At that exact moment, Malificete sat on a chair, shivering, covered with sheets, coats, cloaks and whatever she was able to find from the house. She was a bit ill. It was surprising, that Lilin, who was really young, was perfectly fine with cold.

 

[Onrai]

A soft smiled crossed Vitor's face as he stepped over to his wife. She was suffering from the sniffles, weak sickness brought along by the cold weather. The chair was large, most of its bulk filled with the covers as he slid over to his wife, slippping underneath the fuzzy blankets, warm sheets, and wrinkled cloaks that she had wrapped herself with. Yes, it was warm - but he felt most of the warmth coming from her, not from the blankets.

"Lilith... How are you doing, beloved?"

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I-it's so c-cold..." Malificete spoke, her voice mutated by this illness and teeth clanking. It was terrifying, Lilith hadn't been so sick in a few years. Lilin was draining her energy, literally. She already had weak Sorcery powers, so she was able to drain everybody out of energy, which may have resulted with Lilith having fever. The baby slept in her bed which was made by the local Zahati'i. It was a huge double-bed, decorated with beautiful ornaments and Zahati'i talismans. There was also a strange amulet hanging down the ceiling. It was supposed to limit the baby's dark powers, because everybody was able to fell how strong the darkness in her is.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

A soft smile crossed her face. "Lilith, oh Lilith..." He smiled, stroking her cheek and giving her a soft, loving kiss. "You'll be alright, darling. You and I just need to warm your body up by cuddling together." Smiling, Vitor thought of all they'd been through up to this point, a somber smile on his face. "Darling... I have a very important question for you. One I've considered. Our family feels.. incomplete. Should we have another child, beloved?"

He loved her dearly, regardless of her condition. The yellow eyes she had merely were another feature of her beauty.

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I... I-I don't know..." Malificete replied. She couldn't feel emotions nor anything physical. There was only cold. "M-maybe it c-can help." She couldn't move herself much due to being really sick, fighting against the cold. The cold bothered her. She softly whispered something, which was a spell she had learned from a book. "Sun lighten me, fire brighten me, how can one be free of this misery." It was originally in another language, but Malificete had found out it works just as fine if it's translated to Galactic Basic Standard. Hopefully, it was able to make her feel a bit warmer, though she wasn't quite sure about it.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

Smiling, Vitor slid behind her, letting her lie back onto his warm chest. "I love you, Lilith. You're a thief - you've stolen the key to my heart." A soft smile crossed his lips as he kissed the back of her head, gently running his hands over her body underneath the warm covers. "Having another is probably a good idea, beloved. We can be the standard galactic family - husband and wife, with a son and a daughter." He smiled, moving to give her another kiss.

"This time, if we do this... Promise me you won't leave me."

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"B-but... do we w-want to..." Malificete was interrupted by a need to cough. She was indeed a bit sick. "... do we want to b-be a normal fam-family?" She was a bit unsure about trying to get another child at the moment. Lilin wasn't very old yet and she was already a bit too much for Lilith. With two energy-draining children, it would've been a bit too much.

"Could you make some tea for me, please?" she managed to ask clearly, without her voice breaking or anything.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

Smiling, Vitor slid out from his current position with Lilith, a soft smile on his face as he moved to boil some water, mixing it with finely ground leaves of a tea he'd acquired before. Soon her warm tea was proper and ready, a small plate with a bit of cream and sugar also being brought in with it. "Darling, here you go." He brought the cup to her lips, tilting it up again so she could rest. "I would like to have another child, if you wish." A soft smile crossed his face.

"Besides, being so close to be can't be bad for your body heat."

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

After taking some sips of the hot tea, Malificete managed to continue, already talking quite normally, though her voice was still not the same: "You don't understand how difficult it is to raise Lilin. She is a stubborn, strong girl..." She took a deep breath. "Maybe we can have another child in case raising them is easier than raising this little girl. She is just... impossible." Taking the cup from Vitor, she freed him from holding such a warm thing in his hand. Assuming, that it had burnt Vitor's hand, Malificete thought it would be better if she held it with a blanket covering her hands.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"She's not impossible. She just needs people to be more firm with her, as well as more accepting. I suppose that we need to get her friends who are willing to accept her as what she is. If we don't, she'll grow antisocial as she gets older, and it'll be hard for her to relate to anyone, even people like herself." He gave a soft sigh. "With enough love and work, she'll be a good daughter. She loves us at least. Maybe we can show her that she needs to behave to show how much she loves us."

He smiled, sliding back under the cover as he ran his warm hands over Lilith's cold body. "I love you. If you wish to have another child, we will give it the love and adoration that he or she deserves." He knew she was drained, but if she conceived as such, perhaps the child would not bear as much of - or any - of her deep taint.

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"Will you promise to me, that when we have the second child, you'll be more with us? I can't deal with a really powerful daughter and maybe even a stronger kid alone. Zahati'i are quite afraid of Lilin already. They think she is an abomination. A Zahati'i suggested, that I should..." Malificete spoke. Her sentence was not finished, it was interrupted by sudden tears.

"... sacrifice her to Mother Nature."

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"Sacrifice our daughter?" Vitor began to grow angry. Surprisingly angry. "If it means I must quit my job in order to spend time with our children, I will gladly do so, no strings attached." He gave Lilith a kiss. "I will never allow our daughter, or any other child, to be used as a sentient sacrifice, human or otherwise. To do so is an abomination to the Force and to mankind." He sighed, running a finger up to her cheeks and wiping away the tears before following up with a kiss.

"Lilith, there there... Shall we have another child?"

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I think... we should," Malificete said. She was still feeling bad because of remembering what had happened only some time ago. The memory was clear... A group of Zahat'i with the Head Druid had come to their residence, spoke in Zahati'n, that they're going to sacrifice the girl to Mother Nature, if the mother has nothing against it. They seemed over-confident about their actions. Of course Malificete had taken her child and run away from them.

It was terrifying to even think about what had happened. She had to stop thinking about it.

Then she kissed Vitor.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"That's right, my love. Take your mind off everything - work, stress, Lilin, the Zhat - just focus on yourself." He paused, running his hands over her flesh as he pulled back, taking off his outfit. "I think I need to get dressed for the occasion. Shall we walk to the bedroom, or do you want me to carry you like the princess you are?"

He smiled. She always was his and only his.

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I don't feel good enough to walk on my own legs..." Malificete spoke in her seductive ways. It was the sly, playful version of Malificete who was definitely better at surviving than the normal version of her was. "I am your body, I am your heart's home..." The Dark Side Spell was always useful when such things were about to happen. Malificete had come to understand, that the spell makes Vitor better than he is without reciting it. Waiting for the man to pick her up, she just sat on the chair, under the heavy layers of blankets and coats.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

Smiling, Vitor extricated his wife from the large pile of softness and fuzziness, instead choosing to pick her up and, as a hero should do, carried her to the bedroom. He began to kiss her, lovingly and passionately, the way only husband and wife could. Slowly, the door would shut to the room.

It was a good thing Lilin was asleep.

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

- Fade Out -​

- - -​

- Fade In -​

​

Two months had passed before trying to conceive another child. The pregnancy test which Malificete had done didn't show anything remarkable. She was not expecting a child according to this test. "Vitor!" she shouted. Her condition was better now. It wasn't so cold and Lilin's powers weren't so strong anymore. But the mother was still quite tired. Now that she wasn't pregnant again, she felt a lot sadder than before.

"I think... we weren't successful."

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"We weren't?"

He frowned, moving in to curl up with his wife. She wanted another child, and it made her quite sad that conception evidently hadn't taken place. "Well, what do you want to do? We could lie together again, or on a consistent basis until you indeed beget child. Or we could wait a bit more, since this could be aftereffects of Lilin's draining, or could simply be caused by it being so close to her birth date."

He curled up with her, kissing her on the cheek. "We could be together whenever or wherever you wished. It would... Increase the chances significantly."

@[member="Darth Malificete"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"I'm really... disappointed. Even though I realize it's all a game of luck, it's still..." Malificete was slightly disappointed and sad. "But I feel a bit odd. Maybe the test is just lying. They can do that sometimes, right?" When she was expecting Lilin, she had used a different test. This one she used now was a bit cheaper, mostly because their family had limited supplies. It was most likely the only kind of pregnancy tests on the planet.

@[member="Vitor Imperieuse"]

 

[Onrai]

"I suppose so." He nodded. Pregnancy tests never were perfect, as many unfortunate teens who made the biggest mistake of their life learned. "But I suppose that we will have to keep trying until we get a positive reception." Slowly, he turned and gave her a soft kiss before curling up with her even more, his arms wrapped around her. "We can keep trying, just to make sure." He ran a hand through her silky hair, running it up her neck and to the tip of her chin's underside.

"I would... Like that."

@[member="Darth Malificete"]