He grins at his mate, but Ah-Lanah does not look amused. “Can we all stop using the C-word around the baby?” she asks, her tone annoyed as she indicates to little Nova with a jerky tilt of her head.
The suggestion that we should not discuss this topic around the youngling is a strange one. Nova does not yet know to respond to her own name, let alone engage in conversation. I, myself have witnessed her trying to devour her own, tiny foot instead of greeting someone, so I do not think she would be much help in my pursuit of knowledge.
I will admit that she is adorable. I, and all my brothers cherish her as our tribe’s first daughter. But, I do hope as her body grows, so too does her intelligence.
My Second Spear looks as though he is about to argue the same point I have been contemplating myself - cunt-pleasing is a very important aspect of matehood, so why should we be concerned with speaking about it around a youngling whocannot yet even say her own name? I watch as his mouth opens to argue, but promptly halts as he notices the stern look on his mate’s face. “Come,” he says instead to his daughter, hoisting her higher up in his grip. “Let us indulge in your favorite pastime and find some green-males to bellow at.”
With that, he leaves his hut with a swift ‘kees’ to his mate’s temple.
She eyes him as he walks away, a soft, dream-like look on her face before she shakes herself from it. “That man is going to have her running the whole tribe when she’s older,” she laughs, turning back inside with a gesture that invites me to follow. “Y’all better watch out for High Spear Nova in the future.”
She sits on a thing made of wood that the humans call a ‘stooool’. Many of the mated males now fashion these sitting objects for their females, and some unmated males have started whittling the wood for stooools to attract a female of their own. Personally, I do not see the need for an object such as this when there are perfectly good sitting rocks and the ground to seat yourself upon. But, I must admit, if it would please my Bea to have her own stooool, then I will happily fill my hut with as many of them as she so desires.
“Please, sit,” Ah-Lanah says, gesturing to the other stooool facing hers.
I do as I am bid, wary that the wooden object may not be as sturdy as a sitting rock and may struggle to uphold the weight of my large frame. I freeze on the first creaking noise, but thankfully, this is the only protest from the stooool. When I look back to Ah-Lanah, I catch her eyes roaming my chest, no doubt in search of heart-stars. I hold my breath. It is dim here in their hut, perhaps it will help them shine and be noticed?
When her gaze rises to meet my good eye, I do not see any indication that she had found what she had been looking for. A part of me sinks like a rock in riverwaters. If someone else wereto notice my heart-stars - even if they are faint, and flickering - then, perhaps my Bea may be more inclined to accept me as her mate.
I shift on my stooool.
“Did Bea ask to…” Ah-Lanah starts, her words drifting off like leaves in a breeze. “… be touched?… in that way?”
“Yes.” Of that I am certain. And I think that she enjoyed the experience as much as I did. But, it did not change the fact that I did not know what I was doing. I should like to be a capable and skilled male in all aspects of matehood for my Bea, hence the visit to seek advice.
“Ok, I’m just checking,” Ah-Lanah says, holding her hands up. “I’ve had a few of you guys in here with crossed wires about us humans. And being touched when we don’t want to be is a big no-no, right?”
She raises her brows at me, as if asking for clarification that I understand her message fully. I nod my head. “Correct,” I agree. “The biggest of no-nos.”
Ah-Lanah seems pleased with my understanding and gets up to pour two cups of some kind of tea concoction. “Right,” she says, handing one cup over to me. “Just checking. I know Bea is shy and likes to please people. I wouldn’t want her taken advantage of.”
“I would not want that either,” I say, taking a sip of the hot tea. It is disgusting. I wince at the sharp flavor. “I only want what is best for my Bea.” Which isnotthis tea. I make a note in my mind to check the stores of fruit and dried herbs to create a more palatable blend for my mate. If I make enough, I will give Ah-Lanah some as well, to save her from this Goddess-awful taste.
“YourBea?” Ah-Lanah asks, taking a sip of her own tea, and, for some reason unknown, not flinching at the taste.
I want to say,‘yes, my Bea. My mate.’I want to explain - explain about my heart-stars, but also about how I’ve alwaysthought of her as mine. From the very first moment I saw her - when my High Spear ordered me to watch over her. Even though her reaction to me was much different. She was a scared little thing, and I do not think my size and all my scars had helped her to be at ease that first night. But now, she lets me touch her. She sleeps soundly in my nest.
“Zyntarr,” Ah-Lanah sighs. I had taken too long in my silence, lost in thoughts of what is waiting for me back at my nest. “I know you like Bea, and you’re both two consenting adults, so there’s nothing wrong with fooling around a little-” she pauses to huff and shake her head. “-ora lot, in Chastity’s case. But Bea isn’t Chastity.”
“I know this,” I grunt. Chaz-Titi is a fine female. Full of smiles and a skill of making merry in any given situation or company. But she is not my Bea, and could not mimic my female if she tried every day until the last flame of the twin suns died out. Only Bea is the best at being Bea, and this is the way I like it. I do not quite know what Chaz-Titi has to do with me seeking advice on how to better pleasure my female, though? Is Ah-Lanah suggesting I go to ask her instead?
The female in front of me takes in a deep breath as she scoops up her dark hair and fixes it in a pleasing bundle on top of her head, all fastened with a little leather cord. “What I mean by that is Bea will get invested. She’ll develop feelings for you if she hasn’t already, and if some other male’s heart-stars spark up for her, or yours-” her eyes drop to my chest again and I resist the urge to puff myself up, praying to the Goddesses that my heart-stars make an effort to shine bright as she surveys my skin. Her brows furrow, but she makes no comment on what she so clearly does not see. “If you get your heart-stars for someone else, it will crush Bea. I’m just trying to look out for both of you.”
I deflate.
She still does not see them.
“My stars will not ignite for any other female,” I state. “And no other male shall be my Bea’s mate.”
“You don’t know that, Zyntarr.” Ah-Lanah says the words quietly, as if in softening the sounds of them, she could soften the blow they would issue to me.
I do not answer. Instead I will my fucking heart-stars to shine brighter than the combined light of the twin suns. My jaw tenses with how I clench my teeth, trying to force my heart to show itself.
Ah-Lanah sighs again. “Look, I know you two like each other, and I’m not trying to discourage any kind of relationship you might have with Bea, but, those heart-stars,woo,” she shakes her head and takes another sip of her disgusting tea. “I tried to fight it with Mav, but they sure did a number on me. You can’t deny them, and I think I knew all along that there would be no-one else for me but him.”
I am quiet for a time, my focus gone hazy as I stare off to nowhere at all. Ah-Lanah actively tried to deny Mavyx’s heart-stars even when they were plain for everyone to see. What does it mean that mine are so weak? “It was the heart-stars, then?” I ask out loud before the sight of my good eye hones in on Ah-Lanah again. “That made you choose to accept my Second Spear as your mate?”
She is in the midst of taking another sip of her tea as she eyes me and my question. I find myself mimicking her for want of something to do. It was a mistake. The tea still tastes like fruits picked too early and mixed with puddle waters.
