Justin does not, right at the moment, have any sort of desire to leave Razz's 
company, but he's beginning to feel naked without a blade or casting 
materials.  Quite reluctantly he excuses himself.  "I need to fetch some 
things, real quick.  You'll be okay, right?"  He gives her the sort of smile 
that says 'of course you will', and steps out through the curtain, off to 
fetch whatever things he felt needed fetching.

Even as the curtains swing back to their original place, a couple of young 
faces peek through, trying to see Razz.

There's some muted giggling from beyond the curtains.

Razz nodded, and shifted back to sit in an up right position. Her ears perked 
up and she turned her head towards the strange giggling in the area, wondering.

The girls quickly 'Sssshhh!' each other, and try to be very sneaky, tip-toeing 
into the room very quietly. But the rustle of the curtains, and their 
footsteps, are loud enough to be heard.

Razz turned her eyes upon the intruding girls, and for those who didn't know 
better, it almost seems as if she can see them. "Uhm, who's there?"

The girls freeze in place, and try to stay quiet. But the smallest one, 
furthest from Razz, loses her balance and falls to the floor. The other two 
girls try desperately not to laugh, but can't. They identify themselves with 
meaningless names that Razz would likely never remember anyway.

Razz wondered at their mirth. "What - What do you need?"

Justin is off in his chambers by now, grabbing up a minimal set of spell 
components, and his other coat.  Damn chilly in the tower, it's been. He loses 
a few moments searching for his broadsword, which Crulath destroyed, before 
sighing, and settling for a plain sabre.

The lead girl looks at Razz. "We came to see how you were doing. We heard lots 
of things about what's happened to you. . ." The other two move to surround 
her, looking at her critically.

One of the girls, behind and to Razz's left, pokes her. "How come you're 
wearing that dress? The robes not good enough for you?"

Razz frowned as the girl poked her. "I don't know, I woke up like this."

The girl behind and to Razz's right pipes up. "You mean, you don't remember 
what happened? You woke up next to Justin *girlish sigh* and you can't even 
remember the night before?"

Razz turned her head to the girl on her right, confusion written over her 
face. "What do you mean?"

The lead girl takes over. "We mean, what happened to you? We've heard stories, 
but we wanna hear from YOU."

Razz turned her head back to the leader. "We were... " she frowned again. "I 
don't want to talk about it." And she doesn't.

The lead girl again speaks. "You show up in the forest, naked, clearly having 
done SOMETHING, next to Justin. And again, but this time, he's half dead. You 
two must be pretty. . .kinky." The girls all go into a fit of giggles at the 
last word.

Razz's frown deepened in confusion. "I don't understand," she said, shaking 
her head.

The little one, in the back and left, giggles. "They say you teased Justin so 
that he couldn't take it anymore, and just had his way with you." The one to 
Razz's right shakes her head. "Nu-uh. I heard it was some other guy, and 
Justin just watched." The leader chuckled. "You're BOTH wrong. She did it all 
willingly, so she could have the guy's kid."

Razz kept on shaking her head throughout the questioning. "What are you 
talking about?" Her question had a frustrated edge to it.

The little one pokes her again. "You showed up, dragging Justin, wearing only 
his coat. Were you too much for him?"

Razz shook her head again. These girls are confusing her, and she didn't 
really feel like dealing with them anymore. She shifted to lie back down on 
the bed and pulled the bedsheet over herself.

The girls laugh. "Are you gonna show us what happened, Razz?" They say in 
unison, obviously quite pleasd.

Razz frowned. "What are you talking about???" Frustrated, she is.

One of the girls goes to find a magic rod, to show Razz. The others continue 
to hover, like flies. "We wanna see how it works!"

Razz sighed a long-suffering sigh, and gave up. She turned onto her side and 
pulled the blanket all the way up to her chin, trying to rest.

Justin has, by now, reconciled himself to not having a broadsword, and mad his 
way (ever-so-much slower) back down the halls and towards the infirmary.  
Sound of giggling, young voices.  Oooooh, damn, he should've waited.

The lead girl pokes Razz's foot. "So, ARE you gonna have his kid?"

Razz blinked, and looked up. "What kid?"

"Justin's!" she cries. Meanwhile, the little one hears the question, and 
simultaneously cries "That strange man's!" while the eldest says: "Your 
mysterious lover's."

Razz sat up again, cocking her head in confusion. "How can I have a kid if I'm 
not married?"

Justin would've hurried in if he could've, but not only is he still beat to 
hell from the Tree, but this is an infirmary.  Quiet is called for.  He 
reaches earshot /just/ as the girls chorus their ideas of whose kid it is, 
spends a costly moment calming himself, and parts the curtain silently and 
steps inside.  Doubtful if anyone's noticed him yet.

The oldest girl laughs loudly. "It's simple, silly! You just lie down, and 
spread your legs. . ."

Justin says: Ahem.  Keep your voices down, this is an infirmary.

Razz's eyes widened, stunned by the girl's words. Memories came rushing back 
to her head, and she buried her face into her hands. "Go away," she murmured 
softly.

The three girls turn, see Justin, and go bright . The mumble apologies and run.

Justin puts down the sword which somehow or another wound up in his hand, and 
crosses to her bedside quickly.  "Razz?"

Razz lifted her head slightly from her hands. "Where were you?"

Justin was, amongst other things, "...rearming myself.  And making sure my 
chambers were in order.  They didn't...  I'm sorry.  I should've waited.  
What'd they do?"

Razz shook her head. "No, it's alright, I was just wondering." She frowned 
again at the memory of the last conversation. "They kept on talking, it was 
hard to understand."

Justin frowns, likewise, glaring off at the curtains as though to fix his gaze 
on the offenders as they flee.  "Mmmh.  Probably for the best. You would think 
they'd have at least some respect for the wounded, y'know?"

Razz looked up at Justin suddenly. "They said I'm having a kid."

Justin staaaaaaaaares.  "They, ahh.....  well.  And, certainly, they'd know."  
He takes a breath, and...  wastes it trying to work the nerve up to say it.

Razz cocked her head again, waiting for Justin to go on.

Justin pales slightly.  "Well.  You, ah, you know what Crulath did to you, 
right?"

Razz turned her head away. "... what /did/ he do to me?"

Justin understands that as a 'yes', for all intents and purposes. "There's...  
it's rather horribly likely that you're going to have his child."

Razz's head snapped back to Justin, her eyes wide. "Why???"

Justin sighs quietly.  So many levels on which that might've been 
asked. "Because of what he did, at the Tree.  Because he wants to fulfill this 
lunatic prophecy of his.  I don't know."

Razz reached up to clutch at her head. "But... but we're not married!"

Justin turns away, shamed a bit, hiding the sour grin creeping onto his 
features despite his best efforts.  It doesn't penetrate to his tone, 
though.  "It can be presumed that he would've liked you to be."

Razz exclaims: I can't have a child if I'm not married!

Justin is silent.  There's nothing he could think of to say to that 
besides 'Sorry, you can', or something equivalent, and that's not going to 
help anything.

Razz buried her face into her hands again. A child? She's with child? It's 
impossible! How can she have a child? Why does Justin think so? God, she 
doesn't want a child! Let alone Crulath's child!

Justin is no happier with the situation than Razz is, believe you me. Nothing 
he can say, still, though.  He takes a seat on the edge of the bed (some fool 
took the chair), and lays a hand on Razz's shoulder.

Razz remained silent, and slumped over to lay her head over Justin's shoulder. 
What can she say? She can't even began to think of the issues and problems 
she'll face.

Justin has a quite limited, but almost workable knowledge of the sort of 
problems she'll face, assuming everything's normal about this. Unfortunately, 
that assumption is false right from the get-go.

You say: You still like me, right?

Justin puts an arm around her.  "Yes, I still like you, how would I not still 
like you?"

Razz shook her head slightly. "I just wanted to hear it."

Razz closed her eyes. "Tell me what you like about me."

Justin is, once again, presented with a question that can be answered on a lot 
of levels.  "The... most of it, is that you still believe I'm a decent person, 
even after all I've put you through, and all that I haven't saved you from."

Razz thought about it, and was confused. "You didn't put me through anything," 
she wondered. "And you saved me from everything, you always brought me back 
safe."

Justin sighs, quietly, and smiles.  "See?  I don't think I could get you to 
see how much of it was my fault if I tried."

Razz smiled as well. "Nope," she said, and ducked down to snuggle against 
Justin. Suddenly she sighed, still troubled by the prospect of being 
pregnant. "Does giving birth... hurt a lot?"

Justin nods, slowly.  "I'm told it does.  I can't know myself how much, but..."

Razz looked up. "Didn't you have a daughter?"

Justin nods.  "Yes.  Two, actually, but only one the way you meant it."

You ask: What was your wife like when she was pregnant?

Justin shrugs, slowly.  "Herself, only slightly less active."

Razz nodded. "How long did it take?"

Justin can name that figure for certain.  "Just under three hundred sixty 
days."

Razz reached down to feel her stomach. "That's a long time..." she murmured, 
trying to think of more things to ask. The memory of the earlier incident came 
back, and she chewed on her bottom lip before she asked. "Justin... who knows 
what happened, here?"

Justin blinks.  SO MANY layered questions.  "We're the only ones who know what 
actually went on.  Unless you've told anyone.  Almost anyone can have deduced 
that we both got beat up pretty nicely by something, though."

Razz nodded. "But... who knows that I'm... pregnant?"

Justin considers a moment.  Who does?  "Mmm.  You, me, and maybe a few of the 
medics."

Razz looked up. "Who knows how I got the child?" she said in an almost-whisper.

Justin voice is no louder than hers, but without dropping to a whisper, it 
seems.  "Nobody but us.  Unfortunately, everyone speculates."

Razz lowered her head, depressed by this fact.

Justin would hardly be helping her by letting her find that out on her own, 
much as it bothers him to have to tell her this stuff.

Razz looked up again. "Do they ever ask you these questions?"

Justin shakes his head.  "I think they're afraid to."

Razz cocked her head, waiting for him to elaborate.

Justin shrugs.  "What can I say?  Even the newest kids eventually clue in to 
the fact that I've been here since their parents were being born."

    Source: geocities.com/razberryl