“Are you sick?” Ciel asked gleefully, knowing full well what was wrong with Vex as he poked the other man’s groaning form, still mostly covered by the duvet. “You were the one who said swimming at nine a.m. sharp”

“Go drown,” Vex hissed venomously as Ciel cackled, prodding the hung-over demon even harder. “Alright, alright I’m up!” Vex snapped, jack knifing up in the bed and snatching at Ciel’s offending limbs.

Ciel let out a strangled yelp as Vex’s fingers missed his wrist and instead enclosed around his hovering tail. Immediately the bright blue scales twitched and convulsed whilst the normally azure fin at the end flushed a delicate pink.

“Is your tail blushing?” Vex asked with a snort, still not letting go.

“Shut up,” Ciel muttered, wishing now that he had just had the good sense to leave Vex in bed whilst he went and enjoyed breakfast and the cancellation of swimming. “It’s just sensitive at the moment due to water retention.”

“Didn’t Felix tell you to massage it regularly?” Vex questioned.

Ciel gasped as the other man’s fingertips edged carefully along the quivering scales.

“I –“ Ciel began but then he overheard Vex whisper,

“It’s so thin.”

“Get off me!” Ciel snapped, yanking his tail back and wincing in pain as some of the dry scales flicked off, leaving his skin raw. Ciel had always been horribly sensitive about his tail, especially as it was what so many of the other demons at the orphanage had picked on.

“What did you do that for?” Vex chided, looking surprised but then frowning at the sores left on Ciel’s tail. “Now we’ll have to oil it before we get in the pool or it will sting like a bitch.”

“I’ll do it,” Ciel huffed, striding over towards the bathroom as his tail tried to shyly push itself into his trouser leg.

“Fine,” Vex sighed in resignation before flopping back on the bed.

***

Ciel stared at himself in the mirror of the changing rooms in horror. How had he not realised how ridiculously short these swimming trunks were when Vex had given them to him?

Ciel wasn’t exactly tall but the shorts’ hem only went down about halfway up his thighs. Ciel’s face darkened, he was sure that Vex had done this on purpose to embarrass him.

He was still in a grumpy mood when he pushed out from the changing rooms and into the indoor swimming pool area.

“What are you wearing?” Vex asked. The other man was already in the pool, his dark hair wet and dripping as he slicked it back in waves around his horns.

Some of the gold flakes from Vex’s tips had dislodged and run down in expensive looking rivulets, making his hair shimmer and glow.  

“Your stupid shorts,” Ciel snapped.

“No, I meant the shirt,” Vex rolled his eyes. “You can’t wear a t-shirt in the pool.”

“Why not?” Ciel asked defensively, crossing his arms over his chest. “There’s no one else here.”

“Look, if we were on a beach or something it would be okay, but you can’t wear an everyday t-shirt for this,” Vex sighed, swimming over to the edge of the pool and hauling himself out.

Ciel tried to avert his eyes but they kept treacherously slinking back to see Vex’s honey skin covered in water droplets. The other man was broad shouldered and leanly muscled with strongly defined abs and dark hair leading down below his own black, and appropriately sized, trunks.    

“Is it your skin?” Vex asked, suddenly looking awkward. Ciel wasn’t surprised, he figured that Vex must be grossed out by his aquatic issues. Feeling a flare of annoyance Ciel huffed, quickly shucking his t-shirt over his head and chucking it over to a nearby bench.

Ciel knew he looked a mess, large patches of lighter pink skin stretched across his usual coffee hue, some of them were still healing, albeit quicker than usual thanks to the medicated oils.

Unlike Vex, Ciel also knew he had no muscle, no defined abs, certainly nothing good to warrant Vex’s eyes to go as wide as they had.

“Holy shit,” Vex gasped as Ciel flinched. “You’re showing already.”

“No I’m not!” Ciel half shrieked. “I just ate a big breakfast.”

“You had a blueberry muffin,” Vex snorted in disbelief. “Ciel, you are showing.”

“N-No,” Ciel shook his head, but hurried over to the nearest reflective surface, twisting himself to the side. To his dismay he realised that what he had been assuming for the last week was simply bloat was in fact a barely there, but still identifiable bump.

Ciel felt his head start to spin, this…this made it real. To his horror he suddenly heard voices coming from up the corridor, evidently other students had come to swim.

“Vex –“ Ciel began in a panic, not even sure what he was going to ask.

“It’s okay,” Vex replied, already having materialised behind Ciel and blocking him with his larger body. “I was just being a dick about the t-shirt okay? I’m sure it will be alright to put it back on.”

Ciel nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he quickly grabbed his shirt and shucked it back over his head, tugging it firmly down.

At that moment a couple of students strolled into the swimming area, sparing a fleeting glance at Vex and Ciel before disappearing into the changing rooms.

“How about we just get in the pool?” Vex asked cautiously. “You’ll feel better with something to focus on.”

Ciel wondered if Vex knew how much he was freaking out right now. From the looks of the other man’s expression he seemed to be going through something similar himself.

Not that he has anything to actually worry about, Ciel thought bitterly. As soon as the baby’s here, he’ll be gone.