“Kyr Litvir, can I speak to you, privately, please?”
Litvir sat up and turned to who was talking to him. Admittedly, Litvir was ever so slightly tipsy, but he was on his own right now, keeping an eye on things while everyone else partied.
“You do not need to call me ‘kyr’, deary. Is something wrong, little Retvik?”
“Um… I do not know… Also, calling me ‘little’ feels weird. I am two and a half metres tall, ever so slightly taller than your friend Elkay.”
“That is fine. What do you want me to call you instead?”
“Uh… I… I do not mind being called Ret, I guess…”
Litvir smiled. “No worries, Ret. What is troubling you?”
Ret clearly looked embarrassed. “Um… do you have any spare loin cloths? The Allbirther brought us all five days’ worth of clothing, but I have… uh… bled through all of mine.”
Litvir blinked, then sat up properly. “You are bleeding?”
“Yes.”
“You are menstruating?” Litvir asked. “We have tampons and underwear liners for our purely female members, do you need some?”
“No… Us Rethans do not do that… I… I do not know why I am bleeding.”
Litvir inspected Ret some more, then sighed and stood up. “Do you mind coming with me, please?”
“Yes, of course.”
Ret followed Litvir as they headed to the patient areas, normally meant for purifications and Corruption removal. The first room Litvir knocked on was both unlocked and unoccupied, and he dragged Ret inside.
“Are you… like, the medic around here?”
“Out of us younger Decay Lords, I do have the most medical training, but I only did a short course on general health, my specialization is psychology. That being said, I think I know what is causing you problems. Can you stay here for a moment? I need to go and fetch something.”
Ret nodded. Litvir frowned, then rushed through a nearby shadow. He was gone for about a minute, before returning with a few bits and pieces.
“Those cloths clearly belong to Kyr Retvik…”
“They do yes. But I have also brought some of Phovos’s underwear liners as well. How long have you been bleeding for?”
“Uh… About a day? I do not know, time feels so weird and there is no sun or moon to judge.”
“And what is the blood like?”
Ret hesitated. He had been hesitating constantly, but Litvir knew he was both scared and embarrassed, concerned that something was genuinely wrong with him.
“Spotty. Clotted. Not like normal blood.”
“Is there any blood in your urine?”
“No.”
“Have you had any stomach cramps?”
“Yes.”
Litvir knew exactly what was wrong. And, according to his discussions with Kuta in the past, Litvir was aware that little Retvik didn’t really know much about reproductive health. Enough to get by, but not the details.
“You know what is wrong with me, yes?”
“I do. But, firstly…” Litvir handed out a loin cloth, some wet wipes and the sanitary pads. “Get yourself cleaned up. The bleeding will last about a day, but as long as you have a warm shower every couple of hours, focusing between your legs, it will pass quickly. These pads will catch the bleeding, so you do not stain your clothes. You will need to change them every two hours, but we have plenty of pads so use as many as you need until the bleeding stops. I will avert my gaze while you change.”
Ret frowned, then did as he was told. Litvir disappeared through the shadow again, giving him some privacy. Thankfully, there was a small… well, Ret thought it was a bin, but it turned out to be a miniature incinerator. Either way, Ret could throw away the used, bloody wipes. After five minutes, Litvir returned, but he knocked on the door first and waited for Ret to let him back in.
“Feeling better?”
“Not really. I do not know what is wrong with me.”
“Understandable…” Litvir sat Ret down on a nearby chair, before sitting down himself. He gently held Ret’s hand, which made Ret feel very, very concerned.
“Am I badly ill?”
“No, no. You are physically mostly fine. At the very least, you are not ill.”
“So, what is wrong with me?”
“You… had a miscarriage.”
Ret opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. It took a moment for him to actually say something. “I was… egg-ridden?”
“Yes. Which explains why you threw up when you first arrived here. This is clearly news to you, and Kuta was unaware as well, so I assume that you were pretty early in the egg cycle. And I am going to guess that Sini was aware but did not say anything, because she was hoping you would not find out and eventually lay.”
“That… that is… bad…” Ret seemed genuinely saddened. Litvir didn’t mean to pry, but he realized that Ret now believed he couldn’t ever have kids.
“It is unfortunate, yes, but I will be blunt, miscarriages are actually insanely common. Especially from your first potential egg. Up to one in four potential eggs die before they are laid, and a sixth of laid eggs unfortunately die before they can hatch. This does not mean you are infertile or anything, you could, in the future, have kids, if you want them though.”
That sadness lifted slightly. “I… I could have kids?”
“Of course. But I would leave it for a while, at least… four evs, which is about a month back at home, and discuss things with Kuta too. Kuta probably had no idea. Off the top of my head, you two probably…” Litvir paused, quickly scanning Ret’s recent memories, as well as swiftly glancing at how Ret spoke. After all, new-universe Rethans did seem tamer and more… child-like than old-universe Rethans. “You and Kuta probably played and had a mishap with your protection. It happens, no form of contraception is 100% effective. But all the commotion, the fighting the Corruption, the stress, the whole being frozen inside a strange time crystal and becoming part of the Periuniversal Void, and the fact that you have not been eating and drinking properly… So much has happened to you in such a short amount of time that your immune system spiked and your body aborted the egg to protect itself.”
“Ah… I see… That… also explains why I was so… angry. I was not angry, I was being overprotective because of my hormones.”
Litvir nodded. “Most likely, yes. The throwing up is pretty typical of most sapient beings when they are expecting, and, admittedly, we should have realized sooner.”
Ret sighed. “It… is fine. How were you supposed to know when I was oblivious myself? I, uh, do have some questions though.”
“Ask away, dear.”
“Can we play still? And… do you have any rubbers we can use?”
More nods. “The answer to both of those questions is yes. Amusingly, us Thantir are considered abnormal in a myriad of ways, and one of those reasons is an insistence on safe sex. But I would recommend holding off until the bleeding stops, and waiting about 50 hours. I also recommend holding off on telling Kuta until after the festivities have calmed down. Kuta has been on edge since you arrived here, but they are finally calming down and it would be unfair to spoil the mood.”
Ret took a deep breath, then smiled a tiny bit. “I can do that. Thank you for helping me, Kyr Litvir. You seem… less like the asshole Kuta and Arkay both suggested you were.”
Litvir shrugged. “Well, I am known to be an asshole in different ways. But you deserve a thank you too. Thank you for looking after my little sibling and making them happy.”
“Hah… you have no idea how happy Kuta and I make each other…” Ret stood up, smiling properly now. “One last thing, would I be able to get some painkillers for my stomach cramps? One which I can take while also consuming alcohol?”
“Oh, yes, of course. Come along now, we will stop by the storage areas, then we can return to the party. I am sure both our partners are wondering where we are…”