It still felt unreal to him. He couldn't believe that Junji was pregnant, and it was even harder to believe that he was the father. After four hundred years of supposed infertility, one couldn't blame him for assuming that the swell of his lover's stomach was just something brought on by food. His shock when Junji revealed the truth was enough to render him speechless. His first thought was that maybe someone else was the sire, but Junji wasn't like all the others. Junji was sweet, honest, and Luca couldn't bring himself to believe that he'd do something like that behind his back. But then again, Luca would be a hypocrite if he was mad at Junji for something like that. It only counts as cheating if there's an emotional connection, he tells himself, trying desperately to drown the guilt of the actions that had ended many of his past relationships. It was hard as a creature that thrived on sexual energy, hard to keep a faithful relationship without exhausting his partner of their life essence. He chewed at his claws at the thought of his past attempts at romace, a bad habit that he hadn't realized he'd picked up yet.

He had a headache, he knew that much. He assumed it was a result of his constant worrying about Junji and the unexpected kits. He had been causing quite the fuss about it, after all. Should i bring Junji this? Or maybe that. Which herbs are good for pregnancy, again? He was new to this, new to the budding feelings of responsibility and the protective nature that sprung out of nowhere. It wasnt uncommon to find him pacing and muttering these days, reciting to himself passages from books he could barely read about childbirth and parenting. What was new were the spikes of crystallized sugar that sat atop his head, residual magic from his broken seal that had sensed his new responsibility and manifested in the form of shiny pink horns. Luca seemed to be unaware of them for now, biting at his painted claws with a contemplative frown on his face. He had bigger things on his mind than his mysterious headache.

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Although an adult in terms of a feline, he's never thought about having his own kids. His mind doesn't stop to ponder the possibility of little spawnings from him, creatures that shared half of his blood. It was perhaps because Bakugou was immature, and although he was subject to multiple mood swings, never really felt those kinds of attractions. He never even put a label to himself and if asked, he'd probably just claim he was asexual - uninterested in such affairs or thoughts. There was so much more to life, he thinks, than to concern himself over matters of love. He was always too busy to stop and think. When he was blacksmithing, his mind was fixated on the sound of clangs, the way metal and stone heated red when blasted against fire. He was always considering the way he wanted the blade - how thin and sharp it was, where its deadliest point may strike, how it would fare against multiple uses. He put so much care into crafting one piece and now with his earth manipulation, he was able to pay extra attention to detail, using smaller and thinner rocks to chip his signature on the side, written delicately in kanji. Funny how he put all his being into his work only to throw them out routinely whenever his house began to be hoarded.

He would probably never be able to raise children with the same care as he did with his craft, or the same amount of strategic and calculative thinking as his training. He was selfish, looking out for himself, honing his body until he couldn't feel his own blood circulate. He had to fit the image of himself that he wanted before he could ever think of smaller things such as children. They were annoying to him. He could never see the joy in raising such parasitic things, so dependent on the ones around them and frustratingly pitchy with their voices. Love was something he also didn't pause to consider. His feelings were always strong and passionate but never directed towards love, instead becoming that of anger and frustration. Bakugou has always been this way and as far as he is concerned, he won't change. He's stuck like this, irony being that he was indeed changing - transforming from the environment around him, adapting and becoming a different person.

He doesn't understand herbs. They all looked too alike but even then he couldn't tell name from face apart. Weeds looked too much like normal flowers, sometimes he even saw grasses being used. He doesn't understand how the black mambas can tell them apart and it's clear that Luca too was struggling. If this had been before Masie's burn, he probably wouldn't have approached the demon. Not that he would ever admit it: he was scared of him, worried about approaching the other in case he turned on him. But as it turned out, they shared the same hatred with the raptors and the male didn't seem to go feral. He simply left it at that. He was hesitant to approach but he felt more certain now that he wouldn't be attacked by the other Reaver. He too noticed the sugar pink lumps on top of Luca's head, formed like horns. It was not hard to realise the brightness of it, especially considering they had not been there before. And yet he isn't so sure when exactly Luca had those horns. He was trying to remember seeing the male in other instances, such as when Luca was expressing his distaste for Owen, but nothing felt certain.

He needs to be blunt. "Since when did ya have those horns on your head?"

© LEXASPERATED

For a moment, there was peace. Dappled light filtered in from the treetops above him and coloured the grass with shades of dancing gold. The only sounds that accompanied him were the melodious birdcalls above, the slightly harsher rustling of leaves in the breeze, and clacking of his own claws between his teeth. He was chipping the polish from them, he could taste the bitter flakes on his tongue, so perhaps the sudden chittering of another animal was exactly the kind of distraction that he needed. He glanced up from the pile of miscellaneous plants in front of him to spot Masie, and his paw fell from his lips to rest back at its rightful place on the ground. His gaze quickly zeroed in on the offering in her jaws, and he found himself narrowing a luminous rose eye. It wasn't that he was frowning at the raptor herself, but rather at his inability to recognise the blossoms clamped between her teeth. Perhaps if he weren't so emotionally exhausted the gesture would be enough to make him question his raptor bias, but at the moment he seemed too engrossed in his plant hunt to even recognise her. Without a word he would turn to the encyclopedia to the side of him. The glossy pages lit with a soft pink glow as he grasped them with his telekinesis, staring intently at the pictures as he flicked though them. "Flowers..." he mumbled, the tip of his spaded tail twitching in an obvious display of irritation. "Why are there so many fuckin' flowers?"

But alas, he would get no answer, for no sooner could he utter the sentence than others were upon him. First came Bakugou, with words so blunt and sudden that it made his abilities flare, paper tearing beneath the sudden strength of his power. He didn't have time to process the loss of his page on hydrangeas. "H-horns?" Perhaps his attack on Bakugou had caused more harm than he originally thought. Luca was quick to write him off as crazy, and was ready to shake his head and go back to his study when Lucifer's voice joined them as well. Confusing, why were they all being so confusing? Didn't they know that three's a crowd? "What're you talking about?" He demanded, a hint of snappiness in his voice. He was busy, too busy to deal with a sudden rush of crewmates going on about horns and other topics they pulled out their asses. He was so intent in staring the pair down, cheeks puffed with air in a childish reminder of his short temper, that he completely missed the signs that he was being hunted. It was only when CCLIV flung herself upon him that he became aware of her presence. Her paws brushed over the scars on his back and his breath caught violently in his throat, an audible choking noise tearing itself from between his teeth. For a second his mind was free of Junji and herbs and horns, a burst of cold panic squeezing his chest and consuming his thoughts. But then the darkness fled from his vision as quickly as it arrived, and he was back. He blinked once, twice, and then began to pray that the horror hadn't shown on his face.

"What're you doing?!" He asked, fear turning quickly into faux, embarrassed anger. He whipped his head around to attempt to pry CCLIV off him with his teeth, but it only took half a second of distraction for another child to ambush him. Soon he was reeling back as Technopaw clambered up his chest, rocking back dangerously far on his haunches before miraculously righting himself. If that weren't enough, soon Beck saw it fit to join the party. The child clinging to his chest was going on about nubbies. What the fuck are nubbies? Luca tried to ask, but the words never reached his tongue. His throat felt like it was closing in on himself and he swallowed rapidly, his heart beating frantically in his chest. Beck's tongue was the last straw. The sight of something shooting towards him, the children smothering him, the many pairs of eyes watching him, and the pre-existing stress all combined inside him. The hellish combination of stimuli boiled over in his mind, sending his mind into a frenzy. "STOP IT!" Luca cried, raising his voice in a rare yet unpleasant occasion. His blood rose rapidly in temperature under the strain of his emotions. If those making contact with him didn't draw away, it was likely that the fire in his veins would scorch them something nasty. "What's going on, why are you touching me!? Leave me ALONE!"

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