Dungeon of Niflheim

"Start talking." Maya ordered with a stern voice; her eyes fixated on Frost as her mind twisted itself in knots. Were they really having the baby talk right here, right now and why on Nova was he so crass about it.

Frost failed to understand the true ramifications of his previous outburst, so he dove right into explaining himself without much care. "I've been sleeping with both you and Daki for months now and not to toot my own horn I've been filling you up with a substantial amount of…seed." Maya had to catch herself from slapping him as a rush of embarrassment flooded her heart.

Frost was certainly very proactive during their nights together and certainly wasn't lacking in terms of volume.

"So I'm wondering why neither of you are pregnant by this point." Frost was genuinely puzzled as well as a little afraid. Did this mean he wasn't compatible with them, was there something wrong with his 'seed'.

Maya's upper lip twitched as she tried to calm herself down and speak in a rational manner. "You've never mentioned this before Frost, is it a recent thing or have you been genuinely trying to get us pregnant?"

"Well it's kind of recent. Even though I know that there's always a chance in getting either of you pregnant whenever we get intimate I've been specifically aiming to get 'you' pregnant for the past 3 maybe 4 weeks." Frost nervously admitted.

"..." Maya didn't speak, her mind practically exploding from his confession. It was a genuine shock, to hear that her boyfriend was selfishly trying to get her pregnant without even informing her was a lot to take in. Her heart was awash with a cascade of emotions, anger pain, irritation but also love joy and even hope.

Eventually the latter emotions overwhelmed the former surrounding her heart with a peaceful and protective warmth. She smiled at the possibility of having children with Frost and felt victorious at the fact that she was chosen over Daki. However there still a lingering confusion, the why?

Frost had never brought this subject up even once during their time together, it was a complete and utter surprise.

"Why? Why do you want to get me pregnant now?" She asked with neither anger nor joy.

Frost squirmed in his seat feeling rather guilty about what he was about to say next.

"The next family gathering is just around the corner Maya and with it the end of your duties as my Guardian. 365 days that's how long father allowed you to be by my side, to help prepare me for world of Nova and nurture my independence.

Once that deadline is crossed, our bond is to be severed, and we'll be forced to go our separate ways." This was the duty assigned to the many guardians, they were teachers and protecters but for a limited time.

"I've asked father time and time again to rethink his stance, but he's refused to say anything on the matter….I don't want to lose you Maya." Frost gazed deep into Maya's eyes with heartfelt affection, his hands curled up into tight fists as he felt powerless to stop what was coming, he was afraid and in pain.

"I thought that by having a child Father would be unable to tear us apart." His actions though misguided were born out of love, the desire to not be separated from his woman.

Frost's words filled Maya's heart with love, several tears slid down her cheeks as she hugged him, never wanting to let him go. She quietly sobbed against his shoulder; she was also rather stressed about their upcoming separation. But with Dark refusing to give out any information on the matter she could only hope for the best.

After holding one another for a couple minutes Maya pulled herself away from Frost and dried her eyes before staring at him with a stern gaze. "Answer me this honestly, do you genuinely want to have kids with me or is this just a ploy to force your father's hand?" She needed to know the truth. Whatever Frost said here could determine the future of their relationship.

Frost straightened his back under her gaze. "Honestly, yes I'd love to have kids with you Maya, you're someone I want to by my side till the end of time… but ideally I would prefer us to be a little further along in our relationship." Maya's heart lurched, and her gaze showed pain. In response Frost took her hands in his and peered into her eyes before continuing.

"However that's just the ideal situation, regardless of the time I'd be over the moon Maya. My heart would be filled with endless joy at the prospect of having a child with you." Maya's eyes opened wide, and a torrent of hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She then sunk into Frost's chest and cried her heart out for a good ten minutes before regaining her composure.

"Thank you." She whispered with heartfelt gratitude.

"Don't thank me I failed remember, no matter how much effort I put in you never got pregnant….I think there might be something wrong with me." Frost felt a wave of guilt. He tried and failed to impregnate her after months of activity, and now it was clear to both of them that they desired children at some point. What if he couldn't make good on that desire, would she no longer want to be with him.

Seeing the depressed look on his face Maya blinked her eyes several times before laughing. Her laughter only seemed to aggravate Frost's depression but thankfully she explained.

"Relax handsome there's nothing wrong with you hahahaha." She continued to giggle finding Frost adorable.

"But you're not pregnant and neither's Daki!" He loudly protested, sure that there must be something wrong with him down there. It was all well and good for him to be able to satisfy them in the bedroom but if he couldn't get them pregnant he was a failure of a man, at least that's how he viewed it.

Maya quickly held back her laughter upon seeing how distressed he was and cupped his face with her hands. "Frost trust me there's ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with you down there, I guarantee it." She spoke with clear confidence which calmed him down.

"But?"

"No buts you're perfectly healthy Frost, if anything you're too healthy." Maya let loose a sigh and shook her head before explaining. "Daki and I are on contraceptives, meaning that no matter how much effort you put into your work there's zero chance of us getting pregnant."

"….So it's not a problem with me?"

"Not in the slightest…you feel better?"

"Un" Frost meekly nodded his head, a weight finally lifting from his chest.

"Good."

Slap!

Suddenly without warning Maya slapped him across the face.

"Ow."

"That's for trying to impregnate me without asking." Maya angrily said before once again cupping his face with her hands. "And this is for wanting to." She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Frost thus enjoyed both a tasty pleasure on his lips and a searing pain on his left cheek.

"…Sorry and… thank you?" He was a bit confused by the whole mixed signals thing and spoke as though he was asking a question.

"I forgive you and you're welcome." Maya replied with a toothy grin and a set of crossed arms which pushed up her breasts and drew Frost's gaze. He momentarily lapsed into a daze upon seeing her mountainous landscape, those things were dangerous.

"You said you were on contra…something?"

"Contraceptives yes."

"And that is?" The inherent knowledge granted by Dark didn't trigger upon hearing the word nor had he found it in any of the books he'd read so it was a complete foreign concept to the young Dungeon core.

"Contraceptives are preventive measures that stop a woman from getting pregnant thus allowing them to enjoy the wonders of a healthy sex life without having to worry about children." Maya started explaining the term from the basics, not embarrassed in slightest that she had to explain something like contraceptives to her boyfriend.

"Contraceptives can come in a few forms such as herb based pills that have to be taken every day, potions that can be taken every month or contraceptive runes which are placed on the body with magic and are semi-permanent.

Just so you know both Daki and myself are currently using contraceptive runes since they're the most effective and hassle free for women of our age." Contraceptive runes were incredibly useful, once it was placed a woman never had to worry about getting pregnant again.

Out of all the preventative measures contraceptive runes were the most effective and easy to manage, the user's internal mana would feed the rune allowing it to function indefinitely. The only downside was that it could only be applied to young women and only on women who had never been pregnant before.

Therefore it was a rather big deal when removing them as after that they'd be forced to rely on either expensive potions or daily pills to prevent pregnancy. Of course there were also male contraceptives, but they weren't nearly as effective nor as developed.

"So as long as you and Daki have this contraceptive rune I can't get you pregnant."

"Correct."

"Not even if I put in a serious effort." An evil smile grew on Frost's lips as he asked playfully.

"No….but you're free to try." Maya responded back with a flirtatious wink and coy smile.

Frost's evil smile stretched from ear to ear as he donned a wolflike expression, his hands silently wrapping around Maya's soft, curvaceous body.

The two of them quickly checked where Nanna and Loki were before dashing to the bedroom in attempt to put Maya's contraceptive rune through the ringer.