Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 70: brought to you by the muse that wouldn't shut up

Self-Mutilation Warning--- Neara gets spirited away and her period arrives at the most inconvenient time. Aetius stops her slow descent into madness. They have a Beauty and the Beast moment... haha. But which moment? Obviously not 'Be Our Guest.' More like 'Be Our Kidnap Victim' or 'Be Our Breeding Machine' or any number of demeaning, misogynistic terms.

____________________________________________________

Captain stiffened, his ears riveted towards the horizon and the barely rising sun. "I need to leave for a few hours. Stay put, gather medicines and berries. Aaron, please alert the others to move if I'm not back in an hour." He shot off like a stone from a sling.

Neara peered over the slightly lumpy form of Aetius. Did he never sleep? She never heard him snore and he was always awake before her, even when she got up in the middle of the night to pee. It felt like he was more machine than beastman.

"You can sleep in this morning." His voice startled her for its clarity and lack of early morning funk. "I know you like doing that."

"Sleeping isn't the only thing I like to do." Her voice sounded so much worse in the morning.

"I'll bring you tea and breakfast; you stay in bed." His brown back disappeared from her vision and she snuggled deeper under the furs.

She awoke with a snort to his large eyes peering through the tent.

"I brought you the porridge with extra berries foraged this morning and a cup of tea." He gently laid them next to her slitted eyes. "I know you're awake, but the food will not be warm for long in this weather. Drink and eat up."

Neara groaned and fished out a pale hand. "Fine." She scooped a shell-full and brought it inside her cocoon. It singed her lips and she tried to breathe through her mouth as she ate. "This is too hot!"

"I said it wouldn't be warm for long; I never said you had to eat it now." Although his back was to her, she could have sworn he was smiling.

"Right, like that makes a difference." She glared at the wooden cup and bowl and waited until she could barely see any steam rising from the dishes. A little cool, but otherwise good. The leaves in the tea settled near the bottom and she sipped at the slightly sour liquid. "I didn't know rabbits had tea... I didn't know beastmen had tea."

"This is a staple on the West part of the continent, and we brought it back with us. We use the leaves available here, of course, since the dried leaves don't keep well in humidity. I've wanted to stay to study their techniques, but the Clan has... other interests."

"What kind of beastmen are on the West side?"

"All sorts. Hyena, leopards, bears, lizards, various birds..."

"Panda bears?"

"Did you sneeze?"

"You know I didn't. Pan-da bears. Big black and white animals."

"Yes, there are those sorts of bears around, although they're mostly black with white beast marks. And they're not very threatening."

"Are there bug beastmen? Like grasshopper and praying mantis and..." She had to stop because he was laughing too hard.

"Insect beastmen? That's my new favorite joke. Neara, you have to be a beast to be a beastman; insects are too small and pathetic. Even if they did exist, they would have been driven extinct already."

"I was just asking..."

"I don't mean to make you feel poorly... Forgive me."

"Only because breakfast is delicious." She took a big bite and thought while she chewed. "So where do the dino... Colossus live?"