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Eda woke up to soft crying coming from down the hall. The mama owl in her demanded she checked it out, so she reluctantly got up and groggily found the source of the crying; it was coming from inside the bathroom.
She knocked on the door.
“What’s going on?” Eda tiredly asked as she heard shuffling from inside. The door opened up to reveal Hunter. His eyes were puffy from crying and he looked scared.
“I-I need help, I’m not sure what’s happening..” He mumbled, stepping out of the bathroom and into the hallway, closing the door behind him.
“Well, what’s wrong, kiddo?” Hunter hesitated before responding.
“I-I’m bleeding and.. I think I’m dying. Please help me, Eda!” Hunter suddenly burst into tears.
“Hey, it’s okay. What happened? Where are you bleeding from?” Eda asked as she inspected the boy in front of her.
“I.. um, down there.” Eda looked down at the boy.
“Huh..?” she confusingly asked.
“I-I, um, I’m bleeding from my.. crotch , ma’am,” Hunter mumbled, his face glowing red. Her eyes went wide as she finally put together what had happened.
“Didja get your period?” Hunter looked up at Eda with a confused expression. “Titan, did they not teach you about all that stuff in the Emperor's coven?” Eda asked as she tried to wipe the tired off her face. Hunter embarrassedly shook his head no. “Okay, well, first let’s clean up and get you settled in, and then I’ll tell you about it.” Eda reached out to grab the doorknob before Hunter stopped her.
“N-No, don’t go in there. I-I made a mess.. just let me clean it up —” Eda cut him off.
“Is this your first period?” She asked. Hunter mumbled out a small yes. “Let me show you how to clean it up, okay? If this is your first time, you probably don’t know how to pick it up right.”
Eda pushed open the door.
..
The two of them walked into the kitchen. “Doesn’t that feel better?” Eda asked as she opened the pantry.
“Yeah, thank you so much, Eda.” Hunter watched as Eda pulled out snacks and assorted items from the pantry. “S-So what is it..?”
“Let’s talk about that over cocoa. Does that sound good?” She prompted.
Hunter nodded his head as she started boiling water. “Do you want a snack? We have all this stuff that King picked out but never ate.” Eda pointed to a pile of candy and snacks.
“Uh, sure.” He picked through the pile and chose a human candy that resembled a worm.
“Go sit on the couch. I’ll meet you out there.”
Hunter nodded then walked into the living room while munching on his snack. He sat down on the couch that had his blanket and wrapped it around himself. Titan, why was Eda so kind to him?
After a few minutes of waiting, he finished his human candy and tossed aside the wrapper. A sudden sharp pain in his lower abdomen scared him out of his train of thought. “Ow, ow, ow, Eda!” Hunter half whispered, half yelled, while grabbing at his stomach. Eda walked in with two mugs in hand.
“I know, kiddo. Those are cramps,” she said, handing him his mug of cocoa.
“Oh, so they’re normal…?” He asked, sipping from the mug before deciding it was still too hot.
“Yeah, you get used to them but you can always borrow pain killers or a heating pad from Luz.”
Hunter sat his mug down on the coffee table. “So what is it even?”
“So once a month, until you're like 50 something, witches and humans bleed. But only if they have a uterus. The curse stopped mine a while ago, but I’ll answer questions you have.”
So it’s a girl thing.
“So.. why does it happen?”
“Your body wants you to get pregnant, and if you don’t get pregnant, the lining stuff breaks down, and you bleed from your vagina once a month. I can go to the library and pick you up some books on it.”
Hunter's face turned red. He was 16! He was supposed to know this kind of stuff..! Maybe the ‘sex and protection’ talk Darius gave him wasn’t that good.. They sat in a comfortable silence before Eda spoke up.
“I didn’t know you were trans.”
“Good, that was the goal..”
“Do you have everything you need? Are you binding?” Eda asked.
“Yeah, Raine helped me out a few years ago. They told me about binding and how dangerous it can be,” Hunter replied.
“Aw, Rainestorms looking out for you?” Eda giggled at the thought of her ex and her kid bonding.
“Yeah, they did. I actually went to them when I first realized I wasn’t a girl.”
“It’s gettin’ late. We should go back to bed.” Eda sat up and stretched as she spoke.
“Alright, thank you, again.” Hunter laid down on the couch and pulled his blanket over him.
“Goodnight, kiddo.”
“Night, Eda.”