down in the forest, with the devil in me

James blinked as Tahi walked off, a bit confused before he came out with the gemstones. He stared at them for a moment, sniffing each of them before humming softly.

"That would be nice," he breathed out, "So that our child can have a sibling."

He looked up at Tahi and bumped him gently, "You'll be bringing two lives into this world."

He didn't mention Elias or Pride, and peered at the stones again, eyeing them critically. He could hindsight them, but something told him a surprise would be worth it too.

"The claw," he said, "I wonder what it could have been. A beast, perhaps? Like Draconua or Vargas? Or even a regular animal like you or me."

Regular animal, he says, with one of them wielding a fungal crown on his head and the other covered in feathers with a pair of wings.

He laughed a little breathlessly and did not share his previously morbid thoughts about the unfortunate ends they might have met with James. His heart was beating fast in his chest, and he felt unusually... light? Euphoria, he decided, and nudged James with the side of his face. "I was thinking the claw, too." He gently pushed the other stones aside. "Do you want to do this one first, or... ours? Or, uh, go inside so the chrysalis'll be in your house?"

Just the thought of it was exciting and a little nerve-wracking -- he couldn't wait. "And speaking of ours, do we want to do my stone and your magic, or my magic and your stone?" So much to consider!

James bit his lip and shifted, humming, "Hm... actually... in the clearing near our house, but not in it. They ought to wake up to hear the birdsong, I think."

He walked towards the house and just past it, headed towards the edge of the clearing. He was a tiny bit reluctant to cleave off a piece of his perfect gemstone, but he inhaled and sucked it up, getting himself ready.

"We'll do your magic," he said, "I'm certain that together we can teach them your fungal magic properly."

There was a flash of magic and a chunk of stone fell off, falling to the ground and landing gently in the grass. He stood slowly and lifted a wing to his forehead, breathing out gently. That was more stressful than he thought it'd be.

"Alright... do your thing," he breathed out, touching his gem gently, the sliver having dug into the eye of the stone, making it almost seem as if it had a pupil.

"Right, okay," he breathed, remembering vividly all the times Fungal magic had both helped him and hurt him. He'd raise the child to be better, he was sure of it -- they'd never go down the path he had. Tahi-shei grabbed his stone and trailed after James towards the clearing. He nudged the other stone to the side, and watched as the tiny piece of James's stone was removed. That was... a little troubling. Tahi-shei recalled the scar on his chest, and wondered how that would have happened with his own stone, seeing as it was totally internal.

He took a deep breath. It was now or never, wasn't it? He focused on the little piece of rock before him, and felt the magic push out into the air. His breath caught, jagged and somewhat confused -- why did this feel like that? He felt dizzy, and a little bit nauseous. It wasn't entirely pleasant, and he drew in a sharp breath as he steadied himself against James. "Whew. That's rough," he said, laughing weakly. In the meantime, though... "Did it work? Is it growing yet?"

Tahi himself was unable to see it as the now-living stone anchored itself in the soil and begin growing into a chrysalis.

James inhaled sharply as the other cast his magic, eyes wide as the stone lay there, motionless. A chrysalis started to form out of it, slow and steady, creating a swirling miasma of pink and purple and blue, with a white and yellow pupil down the center front, slightly translucent, meaning a silhouette of the child inside would be able to be seen as it grew.

"I-It worked," he said, sniffling, and pushed Tahi a step forward, guiding him to touch it, "I can't wait to see what they'll look like."

He was getting all emotional, wondering if their child would look more like him or like Tahi, possible names for them, even planning out indoor and outdoor nests and beds for them.

He nosed gently at it, and let out a breath he'd been holding. "Oh, awesome. I'm so glad." He leaned into James a little, his head still swimming, and moved a few feet away to place the next chrysalis. He was subconsciously wary of either chrysalis trying to swallow the other. He breathed in and out deeply before focusing on his magic and pushing it out and into the sardonyx in the shape of a tiny claw.

He felt rather like he'd been punched in the stomach, and glanced over in James's direction. "Okay. Did-- did that one work?" he asked a little anxiously, looking down at the direction of the stone. He felt drained like he had with the last one, but he also... wasn't totally sure, considering he couldn't actually see the stone.

James held his breath and walked forward towards the other chrysalis, cooing gently, "It worked! Gosh... they're so beautiful Tahi."

He wanted to build nests for them under the shade of the trees and surround them with flowers. Oh he was just so happy at that moment!!

"Children!", he cried, bolting off with his tail raised and head down, bucking and kicking his legs as he giggled and pranced, more excited than ever.

"Tahi you're going to be a dad and I'm going to be a dad again-" he rambled, trotting circles around him, occasionally breaking out into a canter.

Tahi laughed breathlessly and skittered out of the way (he had no clue how fast a chrysalis grew) before settling down to lay in the grass. In fact, he was even laying his head down, which he'd probably done less than five times since he'd hit his third cycle. It was a sign of utter exhaustion -- Give Life was a rough spell. "Making babies is exhausting," he muttered, his ears flicking as James danced around. Keeping track of him, mostly -- the Fungal Crown was surprisingly helpful for keeping an eye on his surroundings, though.

Speaking of...

"Hey James. Weird request." He rolled onto his side, which he had never done before, and then immediately regretted it on account of his antlers before moving back into his other position. "There's this Fungi spell, it basically lets me like... keep tabs on you? Kind of. Uhh, it's like, okay so. It's fungal in nature and it like, sticks to your skin -- it's like impossible to see unless you're me though, don't worry, you'd need like an actual spell to see it -- but it passes me sensory information -- fungal sensory information, mind -- from your surroundings and from you. Which is it's own thing, and is useful and whatever, but more importantly it'd let me see you right away when you got close, 'cause I'd know 'hey, that vaguely quadrupedal thing with my spores on it is my boyfriend, probably.' It's fine if not though," he said, pausing to yawn. "I've just been thinking about it for a while. I'll probably Spore the area around the house though, now that I'm thinking about it. You probably could, too, but I'll honestly be sticking around for a while anyway. At least unless the kids want to do my path with me."

He then recalled something else. "Oh! It shouldn't hurt, and Fungal Wake can take it off. It'd probably hurt to remove, now that I think about it, but not like, actually having it. Could be pretty useful, though."

James slowed to a trot and lay down beside him, head cocked, "That sounds nice. As long as it won't make me or others sick, then go ahead."

It would let Tahi sense him better and wouldn't look like he had some kind of infection. He thought that was fine.

"Go ahead, dear," he said, nuzzling the other gently, "I'm glad you're staying. I'll admit that having you around has been wonderful."

He cherished Tahi's company and just loved grazing with him and falling asleep at night with his head on the other's neck in their house, either standing or laying on the furs inside. When it rained there was no better comfort than his lover's warmth, and when it thundered the other's fur never felt softer.

"I'll let Peggy and Comet know," he mumbled, but didn't hurry to send Darling off or anything.