Side Story:
Quentin Announces to Clarissa and Desmond That He Has Become a Mother
“U-UH, WHAT’S WITH your stomach, Quentin?!” Clarissa shouted. She’d been walking down the corridor when she encountered Quentin sporting a conspicuous stomach bulge.
Her concern was genuine, but he frowned anyway. “Keep it down! You’ll scare my baby!” He patted his stomach. “I’m going to be the mother of a griffon soon.”
Clarissa crossed her arms and cocked her head. Quentin’s going to be the mother of a griffon?
“Uhh, can men also experience false pregnancies?” she asked. “I don’t think a false pregnancy can make your stomach bulge this much though… And you said you’re going to be the mother of a griffon? At least stick with humans, even if it’s just in your imagination.”
“I’m not imagining anything!” Quentin said. “There’s a real griffon egg right here!”
Clarissa’s eyes lit up. She might have been serious or joking when she said, “Oh, interesting, interesting. Y’know, I hear griffon eggs are delicious and nutritious. I’ve always wanted to try one.”
“What?! Clarissa, how could you suggest something so terrible?!”
“Oh, come on. If you actually raise that egg until it hatches, we all know you’ll become obsessed with the griffon chick. That would certainly be fun to watch, but you’ll be too busy doting on it to buy me bread and cake when I get hungry. I need my errand boy.”
“If you eat my precious egg, I’ll never run another errand for you again! Forget that, I’ll never talk to you again!” Quentin growled like a mama bear trying to scare off a predator.
Clarissa took a hasty step back. When Quentin went on glaring, she hastened to leave.
Like a true protective mother, Quentin let Clarissa escape, choosing not to run and potentially injure his child.
Sometime later, Quentin encountered another captain. This time it was Desmond.
“Whoa, whoa, what’s happened to you, Quentin?” Desmond exclaimed when he spotted Quentin’s stomach bulge. “Did you change your uniform or something? I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think stomach bulges are in style this year.”
Quentin scowled. “What’s with you captains and your lack of common sense?! One look at my stomach should make it obvious that I’m with child, shouldn’t it?! In what world is this a new uniform trend?!”
“…What?”
“I said I’m with child! Griffon child! So don’t get in my way, don’t bother me, and whatever you do, don’t pester me!”
After a long pause, Desmond said, “…I see. I must be working too hard. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a wink of sleep these past two days. Ha ha ha, no wonder I’m starting to hallucinate.”
He put his hands up in surrender, refusing to believe the reality before him, and backed away. He kept his eyes on Quentin as he retreated, as though faced with a dangerous animal, then broke into a full sprint once he rounded the corner. In moments, he was gone.
Quentin watched Desmond go with a frown. “Does nobody understand the greatness of what I’m doing?” He sighed. “Everyone still has a lot of learning to do before they’re fit to be parents themselves.”
The day Quentin and the other captains could see eye to eye remained a distant dream.