Time Warp: Almost Due (Open)

[Takchawee Ominotago]

July 2013

It was getting harder and harder for Tak to get around these days as her due date drew nearer. She was due at the end of the month, but of course there was always the chance that her daughter would come early, so she was being as careful and easy on herself as she could while she dealt with the effects of the end of her third trimester.

It hadn't been too hard to hide her growing waist at first, she'd just worn baggy shirts that hid the soft swell as it came. But now, there was no way to hide it - even with her maternity clothes, she looked like a balloon, and was very aware of the stares and whispers she got around her, as well as the more obvious remarks and rude comments that got thrown at her on nearly a daily basis. She tried to ignore them, but they still hurt, no matter how hard of an exterior she tried to put up.

The aches and pains weren't fun, either. By the time Tak had grabbed her food and found an empty table to sit at, her feet were sore and her back was complaining. Sitting down was a relief. The Native girl pointedly kept her gaze off of her peers milling around her, focusing on her food and the soft movements of her unborn child. It was all going to be worth it, she told herself. Tacicala was going to be beautiful. Even if her father had left without warning for California...

Tak sighed and prodded her fork into her salad. It would be nice, she thought, to at least have someone to talk to sometimes. But she was stubborn and proud and wasn't going to ask anyone to come sit with her so she wouldn't be alone.

[Chester Douglas]

When he found out about Cameron having left for California, it was like a switch turned off on the telepath. He didn't really go on a raging rampage but if he had lost control even a little bit, his ability could have messed someone's brains up.

He had skipped school the past week and now was only there because Alex had made him go. He was trying very hard not to snap at people who looked at him differently. He must have looked a right mess; circles under his eyes, his usually neatly combed hair ragged and lifeless, even his clothes were less designer and more wasted frat boy.

He didn't even go back home to have his lunch because he was just too damn tired to do anything that required more brain cells than he had to fry so the cafeteria was his place of choice.

It was a little empty save a few couples and one decidedly familiar face that he had long thought was out of his life. He had forgotten she still went to this school. After grabbing his food, he walked over to her empty table and did a double take when he found that she had gained weight. A very particular way that could not be mistaken.

"You're pregnant?" He asked, already somehow knowing exactly who the father was.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak continued to eat quietly, occasionally pressing a hand against her stomach at a particularly hard kick or movement. As much as she tried to be strong... She would be glad when this was over. Even she had her limits about how much mocking and cruel comments she could take. And she'd about reached her limit.

Cam leaving didn't help matters. At least if he'd been around, he could have helped support her, could have carried some of the burden. It took two people to make a baby, after all. Now Tak didn't even know how to contact him.

It wasn't fair, she thought as she stared at her food.

It wasn't until she heard the sounds of someone approaching that Tak looked up. When she caught sight of who it was, her eyes widened slightly before she put on her poker face again. Chester was the absolute last person she would have expected to approach her. What did he want?

Of course he would state the obvious. Tak snorted and resisted rolling her eyes. "Good observation," she told him. The Native girl looked over the boy - he looked horrible. Not to mention, the snippets of what she perceived from the red-head were all quite depressing, and Tak knew why. "You've seen better days," she told him with a frown. Even if they didn't get along, she couldn't help but feel concerned. "... You miss him too, huh?"

[Chester Douglas]

Tak's snippy response did not come as a shock to the ginger. He kind of got that coming to him. He was actually distraught enough to ask her not to look at him the way she always did when she started reading him. When they were still messing around, she would get that exact look when she made him believe he was with Cameron.

Her reading of him made him glare at her but he couldn't really deny anything, could he?

"I don't know. I just know I feel fucking shitty." He confessed. His anger seemed to have dissipated from before. Or maybe it was because he was with someone familiar. Whatever it was, he was just damn tired so he sat down and looked at her, taking in her glow despite the thoughts in her being pretty bleak.

"It's his," he remarked, looking down at the visible bulge.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak thought about those days sometimes, back before she'd really gotten into the mess that was Chester and Cam. When they just hooked up for the sake of hooking up. She'd enjoyed it, despite the roughness and rudeness. It'd been... Right up her alley, actually. Intimacy without commitment, and kinky to boot. She knew they would never go back to that, though. Too much had happened.

His glare just brought a slight, sad smile to her face. She wondered how much he was reading her mind.

She had almost expected something cruel, but when Chester spoke again, she was surprised. "I'm sorry to hear that," Tak said, being completely honest. She didn't wish him ill-will. "It's damn hard. I don't know why he just... Left." Too overwhelmed, maybe. Tak wished she could just run away like that, but she was stuck with the evidence of their activities. At least until she was born.

Tak glanced over at him as he sat, and nodded faintly. "Yeah," she replied, although she knew it hadn't been a question. "She is." She let out a small, breathless laugh and poked her fork around in her food some more. "I'm due at the end of the month," she told Chester, unsure how much he cared. Since it was Cam's, she thought he might more than if it hadn't been. "It's sort of... Surreal, you know? I still don't think it's set in all the way."

[Chester Douglas]

It was probably worst to get sympathy from someone he hadn't given any to. Especially when that person was being genuine.

Chester knew why Cameron left. Or rather, he thought he knew. He had been a large chunk of the reason. But Cameron ran because he had been scared. And Chester wanted to think that had never been his fault.

Not knowing how to react to the fact that the giving birth part was soon, Chester just frowned and wondered how Cameron was going to deal with this. If he came back at all.

"Is anybody taking care of you?" Chester asked, a sense of responsibility somehow creeping up. The person growing inside of Tak was part someone Chester still, deep down, cared deeply for.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak felt the guilt Chester had over Cameron, though it was vague. She was tempted to ask about it, but she didn't want to push her boundaries with him. The red-head was being awfully docile, considering the circumstances, and she didn't want to risk making him upset. She didn't want to put up with that at the moment.

She glanced up from her food again as he asked an unexpected question. "Taking care of me?" Tak repeated, musing over the question. "I'm taking care of myself. I don't... Need anyone to fawn over me and my every need." In truth, she had hoped Cameron would be the type to dote, but there wasn't much she could hope for with that anymore.

"You're going to want to meet her, aren't you?" she asked, letting her hand smooth over the curve of her stomach. "You want to see if she's going to look like him." Tak had no idea what physical traits her child would have. Blonde, dark-haired, blue-eyed, or green... She was certain she would be beautiful, though.

[Chester Douglas]

He could sense that she wanted to ask him quite a few things, which was why when she didn't, he almost felt relieved. A lot of things had happened to them, things that Chester was pretty sure they hadn't actually shared with anybody else. He was grateful she hadn't told anybody.

Chester thought it was fair enough of her to be independent even in this state. It didn't stop him from wanting to offer some form of consolation. He felt like he owed the baby, Tak and Cameron. It was a stupid thought, one he wouldn't have, had Cameron been here. But he was gone. The immature piece of shit was gone and neither of them knew if he was ever coming back.

Her question brought his eyes up to meet hers and he suddenly looked much younger than his eighteen years. "I feel like I should. But...she's not mine. I shouldn't feel such an obligation to something that isn't mine."

[Takchawee Ominotago]

This interaction was going weirdly... Fine. Tak had always expected if the two met again, it would be with hostile words and mutual hate(lust?). But apparently losing Cam in their lives was doing more to them than Tak had realized until now.

She didn't expect him to want to help. Well.... Maybe she had thought he would a little. Only because of the father, and probably nothing to do with Tak herself.

She met his eyes with an uncertain stare, wondering what to make of this new Chester. Tak could... Feel his sincerity. And it was... Off-putting. ".... You can meet her, when she's born, if you want," Tak finally said, slowly. "I... Understand how you feel. You love him. It makes sense."

A sudden thought came to her mind, and Tak's brow furrowed curiously. ".... Could you read her?" she asked Chester, turning slightly towards the red-head. "I mean... Your ability.... Is she... I don't know, developed enough to have thoughts?" Tak wasn't sure how that worked. She turned enough so she was facing him, one hand still cradling her stomach protectively.

[Chester Douglas]

He couldn't even be bothered with reading her mind as she responded with her permission. Her 'understanding' remark made him sigh a little. It was a little annoying that the one person he had actively avoided was the one person who actually understood him.

A small frown furrowed Chester's eyebrows when she asked her question. Then again, he hadn't really thought much about how his ability actually worked. He had recently discovered that he was about to read the mind of a person who was linked to the person he was actively taking to.

In theory, reading a baby's mind could probably work. They had a functioning brain by the twelfth week. But to actually hear coherent thoughts?

"I don't know. Don't they develop thoughts when they're outside?" He asked, though his mind was already reaching out to see if he could pick anything up from the baby. It was a little ridiculous but at this point, he was willing to do anything to be close to something that was made up of half of Cameron. It was pathetic.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak wasn't sure why she'd asked what she did. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she wondered if Chester trying would somehow harm her baby. It would.... it would be fine, right? There was no guarantee it would even work. At the worst, he might just roll his eyes at her dumb question.

But it actually seemed like he was considering it, if his expression meant anything. "I... I'm not sure," she murmured, smoothing out a wrinkle on her shirt. "That would make sense, wouldn't it?" None of her classes had said anything about if telepaths could reach into the mind of an unborn baby. "It was... Just a thought. I'm not sure why it came to mind."

Tak couldn't feel that Chester was trying, but a sudden kick from the very large baby made her let out a small gasp; her hand pressed more firmly against her tummy. She wondered if Chester had seen it through her figure-skimming shirt. "Did you do that?" she asked uncertainly, looking up with a furrowed brow at the redhead. For all she knew, it had just been coincidence. "She's usually pretty still. I don't think she'll turn out to be as... Energetic as her father." Tak smiled sadly as she thought of Cam and his seemingly unending supply of energy. She could really use that right now.

[Chester Douglas]

Looking at Tak, he shook his head, not really sure what to think. "I don't know. I mean I guess if I tried hard enough? But I'm pretty sure all she's thinking about is food and warmth." He offered, wondering exactly how he would seem to other people, being this comfortable around Tak.

Chester didn't see the kick but he felt it. Whether it was from Tak's thoughts or from the baby itself, he didn't know but his eyes immediately went to her stomach. "No...I didn't..." He answered.

The tone Tak adopted had Chester feeling as melancholy as she did but his excitement over the kick sort of glossed over that.

"Can I...God this is so stupid but...can I touch it?"

[Takchawee Ominotago]

Tak's cheeks flushed a pale pink as Chester spoke, and her smile turned a little embarrassed. "I guess so," she replied, taking another bite of her salad while thinking about her child being hungry. It was weird, knowing there was something inside of you that was absorbing some of the nutrients you consumed.

It was amazing, she thought, how absorbed Chester was with her unborn child. She could feel his eyes on her even when she wasn't looking at him. "Maybe she can hear your voice," she offered. "Maybe she likes you." It was all just assumptions, of course, but it looked like Chester could use all the kindness he could get.

When he asked if he could touch her, Tak looked up at him, surprise coloring her expression. She hadn't thought he would be that bold. "... Yeah. Of course," she replied, turning a bit more so she was facing him full-on. She felt another kick, and smiled. "She is being wiggly today," Tak chuckled. She held her hands under each side of her stomach, supporting the weight as she waited for Chester to make contact. If he showed any signs of nervous hesitation, she would gently take his hand and place it against the area where she felt the most movement.

[Chester Douglas]

Chester didn't need to be psychic to know that he had embarrassed Tak but he didn't quite have the capacity to care much about it. At least not yet. He would learn, eventually.

He knew she was trying to placate him, and in ways, it worked. Or rather he wanted it to work. He was in a weird place. He gave her a smile to show that he was at least trying.

Hesitating just slightly, Chester finally reached a hand out, tentatively looking at Tak with an almost child-like curiosity. When he finally made contact, a small smile crept on his lips. This wasn't so bad. It was weird, but it wasn't bad.

[Takchawee Ominotago]

It would take Tak quite a bit of adjusting to get used to this new(?) Chester. Half of her didn't believe it would last, and that he'd be back to being a no-good rich bastard within the week. The other half of her hoped, not that his sadness would keep him less rude and snarky, but that he would at least continue to treat her with some sort of kindness due to the strange bond they shared.

The look he gave her when the redhead reached out to touch her stomach made Tak's eyes soften even more. It was so rare anyone showed her much kindness anymore - everyone was too busy judging her for the result of her actions. "Do you feel her?" she murmured, her fingers lightly brushing against Chester's. The baby was still moving around, and probably impossible not to feel.

She bit her lip and looked up at the boy again, several questions on the end of her tongue. Finally, Tak said,"Thank you... For not treating me like pretty much everyone else has." She glanced around the room. "I... To be honest, I didn't think this was how this would go." In the situations she'd imagined in her head, Chester would either sneer at her predicament or be jealous of it because of Cam.