Work Text:
Lars struggled to open his eyes. Familiar, oppressive exhaustion pressed down on his eyelids, his shoulders, his hips, weighing him down into the mattress, and yet there was another pressing need in his bladder that demanded attention.
Annoying.
It was going to be a while until his body woke up enough to move, though. So he laid there with eyelids barely open, staring blankly at the bloody and stained fabric in front of him. He took the time to process where he was, what the last thing he remembered had been.
Already he could feel pain throbbing at his neck, sharper than simple bruises. Kerbos had decided to bite again – Lars wondered distantly how long this one would take to heal, if he could get Kerbos to return to it and break the delicate skin of his neck deeply enough for it to scar.
The pain was elsewhere, as well, as he woke up more. His shoulders, his back, his hips, his thighs, his ass. He was sure that he was a mess of bruises and cuts – breeding season was always a time of little restraint for either of them, a fact that Lars appreciated.
As far as he could recall, the last thing that had happened was Kerbos behind him, claws threatening to slice at his belly as Lars was rocked by very possibly the hardest orgasm of his life. Based on the fact that he couldn't remember anything after that, he most likely passed out from the rush of endorphins. It probably didn't stop Kerbos from continuing on, either, the thought bringing a lazy smirk to his face.
Lars would likely be called insane by many for sticking around like he has for so long. He knew he was nothing but a toy for Kerbos to play with when he was horny and wanted to punish something. But, at the very least, Lars could say that he was Kerbos's favorite toy. That was good enough for him, with how many playthings the greedy bastard had.
Sufficiently awake at this point, Lars whispered a groan and pushed himself up onto his elbows, his head lifting from the pillow with some difficulty.
He hadn't realized before, but he wasn't alone in the bed. Kerbos was still there, head buried into the pillows and breathing softly in sleep with an arm loosely slung over Lars. Surprising, it was rare for the sloth demon to wake up before anyone, really.
He wanted to stay, but the need for relief won out his momentary urge to watch his bed partner sleep. So, naked and covered liberally in blood and various sticky bodily fluids, Lars shuffled off to the bathroom to take care of his business. Maybe he'd take a shower too – he'd go for a bath if he wasn't so sure that he'd floor the house by falling asleep waiting for the tub to fill.
Unsurprisingly, he was joined after what had to only be only seconds after stepping under the nearly too-hot spray of water. He felt Kerbos chuckle against the back of his head, smirking against his bloody hair.
"Can't believe I overslept," the greed demon rumbled. Dark hands with flaking blood under the claw-like nails clutched at Lars's hips, pulling him back into that warm chest.
Lars tilted his head up until he could look over his shoulder at Kerbos and gave a lazy grin. "Must've worn yourself out pretty well, then."
"No thanks to you, little bedwarmer."
He hummed at the nickname – it was an insult, technically. One that Kerbos had thrown at him countless time now. Calling him useless, only good to keep his bed warm.
Maybe the heat of the shower made it sound warmer than it was, but Lars didn't particularly care. He'd been living in this blissful illusion for hundreds of years now. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt, like he'd been telling himself for all that time.
"You like it anyway. Not many people canteen up with you either way, just be glad that I let you keep going without me."
Sharp fangs nipped at his ear and sent a shiver cascading down his spine. Lars felt those dark hands trail down to his cunt, nails threatening to pinch at his clit in painful retribution. But they only slid further on, until fingers pressed flat against his entrance.
"Anyone else wouldn't have a choice. You're just too eager for it, aren't you? You wannabe my little breeding bitch, hm?"
A breathless laugh huffed out of Lars as he pressed back against Kerbos. The greed demon wasn't going to do anything right now, just as worn out from the last two weeks as Lars was. If he had wanted more he would have taken it by now.
"I've told you a thousand times. You can do anything you want to me, as long as I get a safe place to sleep with you."
Another nip at his ear, and Kerbos growled, dark and possessive as ever. "Good boy, that's what I like to hear."
~~~
It wasn't until weeks afterwards that Lars realized that something was off.
He was home alone, tracing over the newly reopened bite on his neck when he was hit by a sudden realization. It wasn't anything monumental or profound, not at first. Just the knowledge that something was… different.
He felt heavier. Not physically, or even mentally really. Stepping into the bathroom, he stared at himself in the mirror to see if he could somehow parse the answer to his unspoken question from his own reflection.
He didn't look any different. Exhausted, somewhat gaunt – but nothing out of the ordinary for Lars. He was a sloth demon after all, constantly exhausted, tucked into bed rather than accompanying Kerbos on his trips to beaches in the human world.
Going down a mental list, Lars checked off everything he could. He wasn't sick, or he'd be hibernating for the next week. He wasn't suffering from some magical attack, as Kerbos made sure that his homes were warded to hell and back, quite literally. It wouldn't be something he ate, or any kind of poison. Nor would it be abnormal exhaustion.
It was only when his eyes landed on the scarring bite mark that he had his answer, a hot flash blitzing through him.
Breeding season.
Lars took a deep breath, leaning over to grip onto the vanity as his legs shook.
Demons might have the minds of humans, but they were still instinctual creatures. They could be driven by the whims of nonsensical things, lead along like cats after a string if you found the right toy.
Lars had grown up hearing how his mother knew the moment that she had gotten pregnant with him. He had thought that such things were some sort of hoax, but he didn't know what else this feeling could be.
Not unless something had taken. Something between the blood and tears and skin becoming slick with wetness of all sorts.
Slowly, his knees gave out. Lars sank quietly to the cold tile of the bathroom floor, fingers idly tracing over his navel. Could it be something? A little life, growing within him, made of both him and Kerbos…
A tight joy built within his chest, not sure where to go other than back in, building and building until it caved back into itself and became a black hole, consuming itself.
He'd always wanted this to happen. In his own little fantasy, he'd been stuck in bed, with a belly swollen with a growing life, given one after another. Cared for, adored, taken apart in the most viciously sweet way imaginable - a breeding bitch only good for fucking, his body a good little mother for the children that came.
But this wasn't that fantasy. This was Lars sitting alone on cold tile while Kerbos was away, clueless, with an unknown reaction waiting to be unleashed. If Kerbos became angry…
Lars didn't want to risk this new, little life being hurt. Just the thought made his heart ache with even the potential of the loss.
He made his decision quickly.
Dragging himself out of the bathroom, Lars started gathering some of the clothing that was lying around the room, from both himself and Kerbos. He didn't care enough to differentiate at that moment, as long as it was clean enough to wear. He packed a bag as quickly as he was able to, trying to ignore his dread.
Though exhaustion eternally dragged at his body, he stepped out of the door, locking it behind him with a pulse of magic that Kerbos had taught him. He'd been so happy when he earned enough trust for Kerbos to show him that touch of personalized magic to twist the deadbolt into place. Now it almost felt wrong, leaving the house without him, but… there was someone he needed to see.
As he got further into the city, his senses became more alert, naturally becoming more watchful for potential dangers. The city was dangerous for him, especially with the streets so quiet.
But it wasn't long until he found the place he was looking for, circling around the side of the building until he found the window with dried planters, any plants that were there before having been left to die.
Carefully, he hauled himself up, muscles straining and protesting. He had never been the strongest, just enough for him to take care of himself. Hauling on the edge of the window, balanced precariously on the planter, he forced the window open with a squeal of metal on rust and slid into the room beyond.
The room was empty, filled with dust with only a few stray footprints leaving tracks on the ground. His mother rarely came in, only when she heard the window open.
It didn’t take long, the door quietly creaking as a sallow-skinned woman stepped through, shutting it behind her. There were no greetings traded between them, just a moment of silence and a shared look. It had been too long since he had been back here, back home. He didn’t know where his father was, and he didn’t care, as long as he was gone for now.
"I need a place to stay," he said eventually. "Somewhere safe."
Her eyebrows rose, and pinched together in worry. "What happened to that boy you were staying with? Did he finally kick you out?"
"I just need somewhere new to stay for a while, don't ask so many questions," he snapped back, arms coming to wrap around himself. "Probably just a year or so."
There was a definite pause, and Lars was almost ready to crawl back out of the window and find another way before she slowly spoke.
"Alright. There's a girl I know just a few blocks from here, you can stay with her for a while if you'd like. Just tell her that I sent you."
Lars nodded back to her, and again they stared at each other for a few long moments - before he finally turned away, pulling himself back through the window.
This time he climbed down, instead of dropping and letting gravity do the work for him.
~~~
Juliana, as he found, was a rather harsh woman. She stared down at Lars, taking in his small stature against her six foot frame and seemed to be trying to intimidate him, though he wouldn't let himself be fazed.
She'd eventually welcomed him in with a gruff order, stepping aside to allow him entrance. A quick tour, and Lars was told to keep himself in his room with the door locked whenever possible, as there would be people coming and going through the house near constantly.
He wasn't sure what kind of place this was, but he was happy enough with the bed and shower that he was given.
Meals were placed at his door twice a day, or whenever he found the will to come out and eat - it seemed like Juliana knew just when he was ready to eat, always with something warm and filling to give to him. The bathroom was his to use and clean, not that he really felt the need to do so too terribly often, just every couple of times that he woke up or so.
The first time he decided to take a shower in this new place, he came back to his room to find the sheets changed and a new set of clothes on the bed for him to wear.
For the first few weeks, he didn't notice much change. Then came the lurching nausea that struck him, woke him up from his slumber and sent him skittering to the bathroom to purge whatever food was left in his stomach. It was awful, one of the worst things he'd experienced when the scent of his own bile sent him reeling into another set of heaves that brought nothing up but acid, until he was finally able to pull himself back from the toilet with an awful sob.
Juliana brought him a cup of water for him to clean his mouth out, but that was the extent of her compassion for him before he was left alone, shivering with aftershocks on the bathroom floor.
Time passed in a blur, and in between all the discomfort Lars slept as much as he could, craving for a warm embrace to curl into, wondering if Kerbos missed him as much as Lars did. He received a few texts, wondering where he'd been, and he only responded with vague answers and dismissive emojis until they stopped.
Slowly, as the weeks passed, Lars started to be hit with cravings, and the food left outside the door reflected that as he devoured everything that was brought, forced to do his best to keep it down as he returned to sleep. Somehow it seemed like Juliana knew exactly what his body, his baby was craving at any given moment, the most odd and somewhat disgusting combinations of food laid out for him.
His hips started to fill out, his belly becoming soft and pliant with more than just the coming baby bump, his thighs becoming less painfully thin and bony. Even as his belly began to slowly swell with a growing life, he found his chest starting to get sensitive, blooming into tiny breasts that he hadn't had for a while. Not since he had chosen to change his body to his own preferences.
It was at that point that the sense of discomfort that he'd been carrying with him turned into a quiet panic. His body was changing , he would be having a baby soon enough, and he was alone with a stranger. He was scared , worried about what he would do, where the child would have to go - there was no way that he could keep it, not if he ever wanted to return to his normal life, the one that he'd kept with Kerbos…
Would he even be able to go back? Had Kerbos forgotten about him already? The thoughts swimming around in his head ended up with his phone pressed against his ear, listening to it ring for far too long before it stopped, and Kerbos answered with a groggy voice.
"Hmn? What… what's up?"
And Lars froze. He wasn't sure what he should say, what he should do - even as a sort of euphoria sang in his throat at the sound of his voice, he had nothing to say to Kerbos. So the call crackled with static, waiting to be broken, until Kerbos hummed again, seeming to wake up a bit more.
"Lars? You there?" His voice was quiet, and despite the somewhat harsh tone Lars could tell that he was worried .
"Yeah," he choked out. "I'm here."
Kerbos gave a hum, and Lars could almost feel the rumble that his chest would give under his fingers with that noise. "You okay?"
A little nod to himself, a reminder that yes, he was okay , and he blew a breath out. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just wanted to hear you."
"Where have you been? You just disappeared, I was starting to think that someone kidnapped you."
"I've just been away. Maybe I'll finally move out, isn't that what you wanted?" Please don't say yes.
Kerbos gave a little huff. "I don't know, maybe I've started to realize the value of having you around the house. I don't have anyone to take my frustrations out on."
That brought a ghost of a smile to his face, a hand idly rubbing over his belly, phone tucked under his ear to listen to Kerbos. "What's been bothering you recently, then? You can still tell me about it, even from all the way over there."
"Hmmmm, but what's the fun in that if I can't fuck you as well?"
"Guess you'll just have to deal with it alone, then."
"Now that's just rude, my little bedwarmer."
Lars hummed. "How do you know I'm still yours ?"
"Well, if someone else has stolen you away, we're going to have a problem…" the growl that echoed through the call made Lars shiver, wanting to press his ear against the chest that made it, feel the way it rumbled. "You know how I am about my things."
It seemed to drain the air from his lungs, for Kerbos to call Lars his . "Then you'll have to make sure everybody knows I'm yours when I get back," he said, breathless.
"I'll make sure to do that, then."
~~~
The calls continued, unexpectedly. When Lars started to feel too panicky, lonely, even sometimes if he was just horny and wanted to get off to the sound of the other's voice.
And over the months that he was gone, his belly grew, he experienced more discomforts and symptoms of pregnancy.
But his mind would wander, his dreams filled with what the baby growing inside of him would be like. Would it be a little girl, would she follow Kerbos's ambition, his need for everything that sparkled, or would it be a boy with the same sleepy urges as Lars? He dreamed of a dark-haired child wiggling in his arms, crawling, learning to walk. He dreamt of Kerbos holding them with a laugh, and ached when he woke up, knowing that it would never be.
Juliana still cared for him, though it seemed like she was becoming more distant as time went on. His meals would come later, and her gruff help seemed more and more distracted when she was around.
It was right around the nine month mark, when Lars was starting to expect this baby to come at any time, that she left. All that she left him was a note taped to the inside of the door, explaining that she had family issues she needed to take care of.
Which left Lars alone. Alone, with a baby on the way. Terrified , because suddenly he didn't have anyone to help him, he was on his own, and the house was so dreadfully quiet without the footsteps of his caretaker.
The tears came to him in a tidal wave. The panic he'd been feeling creeping in from time to time now washed over him entirely, drowning him. He laid, shaking, in one place as he tried so desperately to breathe . It seemed like even the baby felt his fear, as he felt the little kicks of tiny feet.
It caught him somewhere between a bubble of calm and his panic redoubling, knowing how close he was to giving birth. But outside wasn't safe, Lars had too many enemies that could find him out there, even if a small part of him knew that such a thought wasn't logical. The outside world was dangerous, more dangerous than being alone through this.
He curled his arms around his gravid belly and sobbed , until his energy ran out and he fell into a deep sleep.
~~~
During one of his naps to escape the thoughts that plagued him, Lars was awoken by pain lancing through his abdomen. It startled another bout of panic from him, but this time he couldn't afford to shut down - his body told him that it was time, he couldn't ignore it.
So he got up and unlocked the door, faced with an empty house, intent on getting what blankets and such things he would need to take care of himself. To each room he went, finding soft blankets and pillows to prop himself up on, grabbing a handful of vaguely medical looking supplies from the bathroom as he passed, feeling a trail of wetness streak down his leg as he made his way along the hall of the upper level.
It continued until he nearly tumbled down the stairs with a wild pulse of pain that made his legs lock up, at which point he finally allowed his addled mind to lead him back to his room and crawl into the nest he'd made for himself.
With shaking hands, he shoved off the loose shorts he'd been wearing, soiled from his water breaking earlier. It was a moment of deliberation before he removed his shirt as well, exposing himself entirely to the room. It felt terrifying on his own, without the comfort of another person there next to him. Once he was done undressing he felt his body tense up again, and he let his head fall back and the tears to flow.
Another, and he had the lurching realization that he's- these were contractions . The baby was coming, and he had never wanted it out of his body so badly, he wanted this pain to stop. He wanted to sleep.
But he couldn't, as his instincts told him to push . He followed it's instructions, feeling a sob tear at his throat, his hands fisting the sheets until his knuckles turned white with his grip and he nearly screamed with frustration. How fast could this go, how long would it take?
He found himself sobbing, chanting Kerbos's name in the hazy moments between contractions like it was something to lessen the pain. He might've lost himself in the delusion of him being there, squeezing his hand where he clutched at the sheets below him, until agony threw it all into sharp reality once again and he felt something stretching, tearing at his body and he babbled with no coherency left in him at the thing that was slowly emerging from him.
It didn't feel real , it felt like a nightmare induced by a touch of magic and hurt reaching too far into his body to comprehend.
But it didn't stop, he felt the baby's head leave his body and sobbed, as there were no hands to pull it away from his body as the rest of it came along, having to pull his body up, back so that with the next contraction he could finally feel a tiny body pass through and continue into the outside world.
~~~
When Juliana returned, she found him in a mess of blankets and blood, a small bundle attached to one modest breast, and Lars was numb. His eyes were glued to the opposite wall, barely coherent enough to react when she walked in.
She stared at him for several moments, taking in his state of undress, the baby in his arms, his blank stare.
"Have you named him?"
Slowly, Lars nodded. "Elepis. His name is Elepis."
"Good. You and Elepis have a few more days in my house before you have to go, I'm moving on."
Just another blow, one among many others. He nodded with that same empty stare, looking down at the baby he held, cheek squished against his skin. Tiny, fragile, hopelessly precious.
He couldn't keep him. As much as it hurt, he couldn't.
~~~
It took three months. Elepis was left in the care of a friend, but after that Lars left. He drifted for a while in a state of empty confusion, his phone stolen as he starved on the streets. He wasn't sure what to do, where he could go.
Until, eventually, he wandered his way back to Kerbos and pressed his palm to his door, unlocking it. He stepped in, secured the building once more, and found his way upstairs to shuffle into the sheets of a bed that smelled familiar.
Kerbos grumbled a little as he turned over and pulled Lars closer, back against a broad chest.
"You haven't been sleeping," he whispered. He could feel it, the exhaustion weighing on Kerbos.
"I've been fine."
"Sleep."
"I'm trying."
Lars hummed, and turned around to press a kiss to his lips, his magic stirring for life for just a moment. "Sleep."
And he listened as Kerbos settled into place and his breathing slowed, Lars himself awake and attentive enough to pause for a moment to take in the face of the father of their son.
Then he pushed those thoughts out of his mind and curled closer to the warm body beside him, comfortable for the first time in a year.