stardust in your eyes, love [birth]

Kiyo had been snoozing peacefully in the early hours of the morning when Aki had suddenly nudged her awake, informing her that Venom had gone into labor. The woman startled, sitting upright with less grace and poise than she usually did and wincing when the world began to tilt from getting up to fast. She took in a breath, waiting a few seconds for her head to clear before she got to her paws, quickly moving to the corner of her room where she’d stowed away some herbs for just this moment. She’d prepped several days prior when Venom’s belly had begun to hang lower than usual and she’d began experiencing the first pangs of braxton hicks, knowing that they didn’t have long before the real thing happened. The last thing she’d wanted to do was be caught unawares.

She ordered Aki and Yui to prepare a bowl of water and some of the more raggedy pelts then bring them to the Empress’ chamber before picking up the bundles in her jaws and taking off at a clipped pace toward the very room herself. She flew through the archway without much pomp or permission like she normally would, instead depositing the bundle of alfalfa nearby and heading toward her daughter-in-law with the bundle of motherwort and trillium in her jaws. “Alright, dear, I won’t lie and say this will be pleasant, but I have some herbs that will help the process along. This is motherwort, for the anxiety and contractions, and this is trillium for the pain,” she said with a gentle, reassuring smile.

Kiyo worked with the sureness of someone who’d been in the same position hundreds of times before, doling out the appropriate amount of herb for Venoms weight and disposition before placing them in front of her so she could easily lap them up. “They’re bitter, but you’ll thank me for them later,” she forewarned before settling down. They were likely in for a long day if prior experience told her anything.