010 ♍ text ♍ locked from norman osborn, hazel lockwood

[glowsferatu]

hope can be such a fickle thing

ive lived my life without it for years and it chooses now of all times to barrel its way back in
but none of that makes it fit in the environment
its only like an ice cube trying to enjoy a summers day

even when im staring at it in front of me i cant seem to conquer the idea that it isnt mine
that im not the one who gets a happy ending its only being borrowed from someone else
another me from another timeline who things progressed more happily for
another me who could look at this and actually feel like shes earned it

i dont know what to do with this feeling
except to know its made a fool of me

[ She includes a photo taken on her desk, some weird black ball covered in candy corn spikes. Is it a Halloween decoration? ]

im going to be a mother after all

Comments

video, private.

[boobwindow]

[ Great Rao. ]

Huh. I'm guessing they're very different from human babies.

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

Well, uh. I thought that would be obvious. There's very little commonality between the young of insects and mammals.

video, private.

[boobwindow]

I guess my question is... do you need anything like diapers? Baby powder?

[ What the heck do insects eat. ]

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

I think there's some part of "giant larva" that isn't quite clicking for you yet. Though...I will have to consider how to handle waste. I'm just not entirely sure that will work for it.

[ How do daughter grubs even poop?? ]

video, private.

[boobwindow]

Okay, okay.

How is this going to work?

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

I've gotten as far as "when the time is right, I hatch the egg." The rest is...stuff I'll need to work out.

I never planned to be able to do this. I certainly never expected to on Earth! Rose suggested holding a larva shower, but I'd need to first work out a gift registry.

video, private.

[boobwindow]

So that egg can stay unhatched as long as possible?

[ That's not such a bad thing, honestly. ]

Do you need some time off work, by the way?

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

I won't say it's exactly indefinite, but we do have time. And I'm inclined to take it, until we've seen everything sorted.

[ How long, exactly? Who knows. She took a month before she was given a sign that it was time to hatch it, and that sign may have only been for her to let it out to be destroyed.

That's not a chance she cares to take now. Much as she wants this, and she wants it with every fiber of her being, she can't risk bringing her daughter into a world where her enemies roam free. She's waited nearly five years, she can wait a little bit longer. ]

I may, when the time comes. But hopefully I'll be able to give you notice of that, when I have a better idea of the date.

Still, the idea of taking time off of work when the income will be more important than ever is a little...unsettling.

video, private.

[boobwindow]

If you think you're up to it, you can come back after a couple of weeks.

[ Caring for a child is time-consuming and given all that's happened to Kanaya, she can't exactly imagine how emotionally exhausting it's going to be. ]

And look, if you need any financial assistance I'm here.

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

[ Well, Kanaya knew she wouldn't be able to do all of this on her own, but she didn't expect such a direct offer. ]

That-- Thank you, Karen. That would be an invaluable help.

video, private.

[boobwindow]

Hey, it's no problem, Kanaya. We're friends, remember?

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

We are, yes. And... I appreciate it, Karen. I appreciate everything you've done, really. I can't imagine the position I'd be in without it.

video, private.

[boobwindow]

It's the least I can do. I don't want you to think or feel you're alone in this.

video, private.

[glowsferatu]

I know I won't be doing this alone, this is too big a matter for me to make that mistake again. Every bit of help offered, I won't dare forget, when the time comes that it will be needed.