A/N: Right now it's Kim Taehyung's birthday and he's in the same time zone as me!

I'm so excited to see them perform on New Year's Rockin' Eve.

:::)))

Anywayyyy

Update: Love you all. 

izzy

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Laurel Castle was bathed in darkness. 

Florian wandered around the many grand hallways distracted by something Jimin had told him when he'd visited the day before.

I'm sorry about Eonjin...sorry about destroying her statue and hiding our friendship all this time. I was unsure if you'd be upset with a demon talking your wife's ear off all the time...

The Stone Prince coughed as he rounded a corner holding out his tall candle, admiring the way shadows flicked across the many artworks hanging from the walls. He hoped Eonjin hadn't woken up to an empty bed because she had to go to the bathroom this late. She'd worry about him--ask what was on his mind. She still had no idea that the half-blood had even visited him earlier...she had no idea that Florian had readily agreed to help his troubled cause, even if it put their unborn child in danger.

"What am I...doing?" 

The Stone Prince asked one of the artworks which bore a warrior holding out a pig's head. The pig had it's snout hung open angrily as if in mid-shriek. As if it was robbed of its last words before getting the chance to shriek them out. Its eyes were glassy and the warrior's hand clung desperately to its bloody neck. Florian felt uneasy by the scene, wondering how Taehyung picked out his pieces when he was Laurel Prince. 

The Stone Prince lingered by the painting a bit longer, staring at the triumphant look on the warrior's face with growing disgust.

 What was this feeling of...of deja vu?

Brushing it off as soon as it had sunk into his thoughts, Florian rushed quickly down the hall and back to the room he was sharing with his wife. During his extended stays at the Laurel Castle, he became so accustomed to the place that he knew most of the shortcuts and intricacies of the grand palace. However, there were some things (like the paintings) that he felt he could never get used to. Their hidden messages and emotions always threw him for one, no matter how long he spent mulling over them. It almost felt as if Taehyung was there in spirit, watching over what originally belonged to him.

No, now the Oak Castle was Taehyung's home...just like the Stone Castle was Florian's...or was it?

Inside the Stone Castle, Florian felt like a worker. The huge, new structure created after the war was done because it was necessary--because the old Stone Castle was destroyed by Jihoon's men. Despite it never being lived in by Jimin, he still felt the stares from the permanent statue of the old Stone Prince in his backyard.

Watching him.

He knew that version of the Stone Prince was no longer alive--that it was now a demon who wore Jimin's name...but regardless, when he was in the Stone Castle it still felt as if he was just visiting. As if it belonged to someone else entirely.

When he finally made his way to their shared room, he paused by the large doors. He watched the flame of his candle flicker for a few seconds before he realized some shuffling noises were coming from inside.

Shit...Eonjin must've woken up-

A small cry leaked from the doorway and Florian felt a wave of fear wash through him. Was she being attacked?

He pulled at the sword clinging to his belt and burst through the doorway. The entire room was pitch black save for the tiny light of his candle. He creeped towards the huge bed pushed against the back wall and heard Eonjin crying.

"Eonjin?!" He ran forward, shocked to see the sheets covered in streaks of blood.

"F-Flor? I...we...get a medic..." She cried out weakly. "The baby...i-is coming n-now."

Florian gasped as the light of the candle reached her face. Her blonde hair stuck to her sweaty temples, eyes ravished with pain. She was deathly pale, sitting with the sheets skewn off to the side of her. The Stone Prince's stomach dropped when he saw the huge splotch of blood between the legs of Eonjin's nightgown. It wasn't at all how he expected his child to come, especially since the baby wasn't expected until...until...

Two months?

"Okay love! Hold on, I'll be back!" Florian set the candle on the bedside table and tried to calm his crazed nerves down as he beelined from the room. His legs took him down two flights of stairs and his mind went numb as he called for the medic.

"EONJIN IS HAVING HER CHILD!" 

He didn't care if he had to wake up every person in the castle. His wife was in labor and bleeding...something clearly wasn't right and she needed help immediately. After pounding on the door of the infirmary in vain, a few Laurel Servants rushed to his side.

"Your Highness! What is the matter-"

"EONJIN IS IN LABOR! WHERE'S THE MEDIC?! HE'S NOT-"

Suddenly, a man in his late fifties appeared from the doorway of the infirmary. His white gown and widened eyes told Florian it was just the man he was looking for.

"YOU!"

Florian grabbed his wrist, dragging him away from the growing group of Laurel Servants and up the stairs. He explained the situation with Eonjin as the man motioned for more servants to join him. Nervous sweat beaded at the prince's forehead as he rushed up the stairwells; the medic was out of breath by the time they reached the top, sporting a frown on his serious face.

"You mentioned she was bleeding a lot? Are you sure in the lighting it wasn't just wet, like liquid--like her water broke? Or was it-"

The Stone Prince had an out-of-body moment when his gaze met with the painting he passed by earlier with the warrior and the pig head. The dead pig seemed to be laughing at him, it's bloody neck reminding him of the red pool on the bed under his wife-

"It was definitely blood."

Florian felt his skin turn cold when the medic's expression molded into half-panicked understanding. The two picked up their pace and finally reached the room in the dim light. The Stone Prince barged in and rushed to the princess's side.

"Eonjin? Are you alright? I'm back with a medic."

The Laurel Princess raised her chin up in the candle lit room, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. As her eyes met with her husband's, her lower lip began to tremble. He reached out to grab her hand, which was slick with blood.

"I...Florian-" She struggled to get words out as a contraction hit her hard. His hand was smashed as she tensed her fingers around his, back arching with the wave of pain. "I-I d-don't-"

"Don't talk, darling. Just breathe, I'm right here." He leaned forward to brush her matted hair off to the side and kissed her feverish forehead. The medic was explaining things in hushes to his team of servants, telling them to fetch certain tools and follow specific instructions. Florian could tell the team was hurrying; the servants rushed to and fro, whispering amongst themselves and stealing glances towards the bleeding princess. The Stone Prince forced himself to stay strong for his wife, no matter how scared he felt on the inside.

Be strong or she'll panic.

"We need to get under that gown immediately--clear the bed."

The medic ordered in a commanding tone. The Stone Prince remained by Eonjin's side as they tore the sheets from the bed onto the floor. 

"Put some more pillows behind her back--get some more candles so I can see better."

All of the servants obeyed instantly. Florian bit his tongue as Eonjin focused on her breathing after her contraction was finished. Her eyes wavered towards his own and he refused to believe the look she was giving him. He shook his head, as if that could bring some life into the message she was sending him with her gaze...but the look didn't disappear. He couldn't believe it.

Eonjin was giving up.

Was it the blood loss?

"Honey!?" Florian grabbed her hand in both of his. He prayed that what she meant by that look wasn't true--that it was just the light of the candles that had him believing that...that-

"Florian..." Her voice confirmed his worst horror. "I can't feel it--I, I c-can't feel it kicking, it's heartbeat-"

The medic interrupted them by leaning over the bed and reaching under her nightgown. Eonjin stiffened as he lifted his head back up to face them.

"You aren't quite ready yet, I'd say this baby will come in about an hour, no less. Something must have ruptured when this baby decided to come out--when did you first notice this pain? The bleeding has stopped, but there's no saying it won't start up again, and you've lost a lot already..."

Eonjin frowned. Her eyes trailed from Florian's downcast eyes to the medic, and she opened her mouth to speak.

"I...had a horrible dream a-and I woke up..." Even the act of talking was exhausting her. Florian felt her pain as he mourned silently. "I t-thought someone was hitting me--I felt intense pain and s-started b-bleeding...I could f-feel it moving in me at first b-but n-now...n-now-"

Eonjin wept as the medic eventually understood what she was trying to tell him. His blood-covered hands folded politely as his demeanor changed to become empathetic. He didn't want to bring the royal couple false hope, but he didn't want to hurt them even more than they already were.

"Your highness, sometimes the heartbeat is difficult to feel if you have experienced intense pain in the lower region of your abdomen. I would suggest staying strong until this child is out, because we're going to need you to be here and active to participate in pushing. If you need to lean on the Stone Prince for strength and support, please do, but we can't have you give up. This child needs to come out."

Florian nodded at the medic's efforts as he stroked his wife's hair. She turned to him with a knowing look on her face and for once he felt powerless to change the situation they were in.

"Baby...it's okay. We'll get through this, as we always do. I'm always here by you...okay? Let's do this together."

Eonjin regarded the small smile of encouragement she gave him with a hand squeeze before he realized that she was just having another contraction. He frowned as she jerked forward, reaching for the space in between her legs. Her hands grabbed at her thighs as she whispered quietly to herself. What she said made Florian's mouth taste strange with slick unease.

"I'm sorry Jimin. I'm sorry Jimin. I'm sorry Jimin."

* * * 

Taehyung sat up with a groan, grabbing his head with both hands. By doing so, he bumped into someone else who was...laying on him?

Jungkook?

The ravenette wiggled around on him, rubbing his eyes with his palms and yawning loudly. Whatever they did last night, it must've been very late that they went to sleep. The blonde tried to think back to before he fell asleep and found he couldn't.

"Hey, what are we doing sleeping in the study? Did Rose get put to bed last night? I can't..."

Jungkook sat up suddenly, eyes wide. He was sitting by Taehyung's hip, one leg sprawled across the other male. The blonde leaned forward, eyes squinting at the bright light that was pouring through the windows. He noticed that the other had puffy eyes and that they both were dressed in normal clothing instead of nightgowns.

"You can't remember." Jungkook shook his head before nodding. Taehyung felt confused at why the Oak Prince suddenly started biting his lip again--nothing bad was happening to them that could stress Jungkook out...right?

"Yeah, I can't remember. Did something bad happen? Why are your eyes puffy? Did we..." He trailed off, unsure of what he was trying to get at. His gaze moved about the room to look for any visual clues that would tell him what happened. A tiny slip of paper on Jungkook's desk jogged his memory.

The contract...

Jimin? 

They were talking...did the half-blood hurt Jungkook?

"Kook, did Jimin hurt you last night? Are you alright, babe? You look as if there's a ghost in the room-"

The ravenette laughed rather sadly--it appeared to the blonde--before scooting closer to him.

"No, Tae. Last night we just did some experiments with Jimin and then we got tired. You don't remember because the emotional stuff he did probably drained you out." The ravenette smiled kindly and attached their lips, gently caressing the back of his blonde head. When he pulled away, he looked at Taehyung expectantly. "You want to do something fun today with Rose? Just us three? We can go to the lake, I know it's cold and all, but we can sight-see and maybe they'll take us on out on the docks--we can explore the woods with her, remember how much she liked it the last time? And then-"

"Wait...slow down." Taehyung giggled at how fast his husband was speaking, but it was also a bit hard for him to follow. "Why are you so excited to do something? Shouldn't you be studying Jimin right now? I thought it was super urgent--not that I'd complain if you didn't help him out..."

"I-" Jungkook sighed, lowering his head. Taehyung thought that it was strange, the way he was acting. "We could...yeah, I guess we should still help him. He needs us."

Taehyung scoffed. "He doesn't need us, Kook. He's using us-"

The Oak Prince's eyebrows furrowed before he shook his head, brushing their noses together. After an intense kiss, the ravenette grabbed on to both of Taehyung's shoulders and moved back.

"Tae, you can trust me okay? You don't have to lie if something is wrong or...if you have something to tell me, you can trust me. You know that, right?"

The blonde nodded slowly, allowing Jungkook to wrap his arms around him comfortingly. "Did I mention my dad again last night? Were we drinking? Gosh, why are you acting like we haven't known each other forever? Kook, will you actually tell me what happened last night and why you're suddenly babying me-"

"I'm sorry, Taehyung." Jungkook buried his face in Taehyung's chest, listening to the other's heartbeat. "We...we um...Jimin used one of his powers on you that made you..."

The blonde sat up, suddenly interested. "That made me what? Did I hurt someone? How bad was it-"

"Tae, you kissed Jimin. And hugged him. It was hard to separate you from him. Then you...said you loved him...?"

"What?"

Taehyung stood up off of the couch, rubbing at his head to remember. Had he really said that? Jungkook's facial expression was dead serious and the blonde almost died on the inside.

He...really said that?

"Do you need me to repeat? I said-"

"No..." Taehyung walked over to the window, facing away from his husband. The sun was barely rising out of its spot in the east and in the early morning the blonde saw carriages milling about the Oak Castle. "But...did Jimin hear me? Or did I just tell you when I was...acting like that?"

Jungkook walked up next to him. Taehyung turned to read his husband's lips, his heart racing. Jimin couldn't know that Taehyung loved him, he couldn't. Because it would make the half-demon pity Taehyung even more--it would make everything awkward and-

"No, Tae. You only told me--after he left the room. He doesn't know. But...is it true? Do you really...love him? I won't be mad at you if you do but I just want to know the truth..."

The blonde turned back towards the window, pretending to watch the late fall sky with avid interest. He was glad he couldn't hear Jungkook's tone of voice. He was afraid that the other was just lying to him to protect his feelings. Taehyung could see Jungkook staring at him closely in his peripheral vision. 

The blonde made up his mind. He needed to protect Jungkook and that was final.

"I-"

A vibration in the floor of the library made Taehyung turn his head before Jungkook even did so. When his eyes met with the person who had just entered the room, he couldn't help the next word from leaving his mouth in little less than a whisper. 

Although Taehyung couldn't hear how loud he was, he doubted that the ravenette could even hear such quiet talking.

"Yes I do."

But Taehyung was wrong.

Jungkook heard every word.

Jimin blinked at him from across the room. His face was somber and all business as he walked up to the two freshly woken males. A plain black blouse fell loosely upon his pale shoulders and he wore tight black pants that his shirt was tucked into.

It took Taehyung a minute to realize that the half-blood was wearing his clothes.

"HEY!" 

In that moment the blonde forgot all of his manners, rushing straight forward to grab at his clothes. One of his tan hands tugged at the sleeves of the black lacey material, revealing the odd markings on the demon's arms. 

"These are mine! Who gave you permission to wear these! Why got into you all of a sudd-"

"Taehyung." Jimin's red eyes didn't regard him with such coldness as usual. He never even turned to look at Jungkook the entire time he was in the study, which sat wrong with the blonde. 

Why wasn't the demon acting normal?

"What is it, Jimin?" Taehyung didn't remove his hand from sleeve of Jimin's shirt.

"It's about Eonjin..." The half-blood finally turned to glance at Jungkook, but only for a moment. The normal stern gaze aimed at him was softened into something of worry. Taehyung frowned.

"The baby is coming."

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