Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 5: brought to you by hot dogs, both processed and figurative

Still no sexy times for the desperate boys and women give birth to cats. Neara attempts to find native friends, but instead Shay finds an emotionally invested 1 and 2 thingaling. And more cats.

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Neara's head cleared as she walked to the village. She'd convinced the men to stand guard over Shay while she slept and they had strict orders not to wake her up. She should be back before the sunset and she'd memorized the fairly straightforward path to the hut. The grass was soft underfoot and she watched for unexpected branches or rocks. Once in the village, she spotted one of the women who had been kind to her earlier, although she couldn't remember her name.

"Hi!" she called out and waved.

"Ah, Neara! How pleasant to see you!" The female turned, her arms full of tiny leopard cubs.

"I'm so sorry, but I forgot your name."

"It's Eve. We're taking a walk near the commons." She gestured to her basket and a fat cub poked its head out.

"They're so cute!" Neara grinned at them. "Are they yours?"

"Yes, these are my cubs. I meant to congratulate Shay on having her estrous cycle, but men are impatient during those times. It won't be soon before she has cubs of her own."

Neara quickly put two and two together. "Oh! You mean... that's great!"

Eve knelt to release her cubs into the short grass and saw her confused face. "Will she reproduce with Parker?"

"I... don't think so." Neara hugged herself and watched the cubs play.

Eve's eyes opened and her eyebrows raised almost to her hairline. "Why? Does she dislike him?" She patted the grass next to her.

Neara arranged herself on the grass and kept her arms tightly around her waist. "No... we're grateful they saved us but everything is moving too fast. We're not used to having se... reproducing the same day we meet someone."

A cub came and batted at Eve. She held out her fingers for it to play with. "Having children is a woman's duty. Moreover, there aren't a lot of Beastmen. We're the only ones keeping us alive. If she doesn't hate him, she should reproduce with him soon." She smiled and pulled one of her cubs onto her lap. "The more, the merrier!"

"I... I don't want to reproduce with Calvin until I have feelings for him. And I know Shay feels the same way."

Eve looked at her other cubs, who ran to her and tumbled over her legs. "You should tell them then."

"We have... but Parker won't listen." Neara's hand moved to her shoulder.

"Hm." Eve closed her eyes in thought and circled a finger underneath her chin. "Then you should threaten him. Say you'll cancel your spousal relationship after you reproduce. He'll have to take you more seriously."

"Cancel your relationship?"

"If we don't love a man, we can break off from them. However the men who are abandoned will never be able to have partners ever again. Not even if they rejoin with you."

"Oh. How can..." Neara noticed Eve's knowing smile. "...never mind. It was nice talking with you, but I should go check on Shay." She stood and fought the urge to brush the dry grass from her knees.

"Be safe, Neara, and use the information I gave you wisely." She winked.

Neara waved and started the walk home. The light tickled the trunks of the trees and threw an orange luster over the tender plants underneath. The warmth faded from her skin and she shuffled faster through the small dirt path. Shouts permeated the air around her as she approached the hut and she could make out Shay's fury before everything else.