Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 102: brought to you by the best makeup: DIRT!

Today on "Man Titties": Neara and Winston share a heart-to-almost-heart that doesn't end in them mating, although Neara discovers something interesting about her Sheep mate. She 'claims' Winston in front of Ape King and assumes a new persona to better fit in. She and Orson argue over his secret and conspire to bring Tony into the mix.

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When she finally stopped crying, she pulled back from Winston. She knew it was him because Orson, while muscular, was made of thin wires and not thick slabs. Color and light flooded her vision and she winced against the impact. Reconstructing her thoughts, she gently pushed herself further from him until his arms fell to his sides.

"Neara," his voice heavy with emotion, "I... failed you. I left you here under my protection and it wasn't enough. You endured heavy trials because of me. I... I will never be sorry enough."

"No, Winston, it wasn't..."

He waited for her to finish, but she didn't know what else to say. It wasn't his fault? If only she'd gone with him, or gone with Orson? Why hadn't Orson wanted her to go anyway?

She twitched slightly when she noticed his eyes were filled with tears, almost brimming over his eyelashes.

"It was. I am ashamed of myself and my failures to protect you. I asked to be called your guardian, and I abandoned you." They both stayed silent, the sadness in the room almost overwhelming her to tears once again, though she managed to keep them from falling. "Forgive me for holding you... I couldn't stand idly by while you were in so much pain. If you didn't want me to, I'm sorry."

"No, I... thank you." She looked around the room and noticed that, except for the two of them, it was empty. "Where's Orson?"

Winston stood so still that only his lips moved. "He left."

"Oh." Guilt flooded her system. He was going to try killing the Rabbits, wasn't he? "Winston... you have to stop him. He's not strong enough."

"You don't know?" She thought she could hear surprise in his monotone, but maybe she just wanted it to be there? Why did she want it to be there? Because it would be easier to have him shocked she didn't know than to assume she didn't know and to just say those words to make fun of her. Not that he would, after beating himself up... ugh! Why did she think so much? What was wrong with her head?

She grasped at her hair in frustration, finally twisting both hands on the sides of her hair and pulling as hard as she could. Calm down. Wasn't she calm? Calm up. Don't spiral, don't get lost; she had ten kids for heck's sake! She shouldn't be reacting like this. Wasn't she supposed to be an adult at this point?

"Orson is the strongest beastman I've ever encountered." Winston said tightly, the words sounded like they were knit from his soul, ripped out fiber by fiber.

"Orson? He doesn't... I've never seen any stripes." And she'd seen a lot of him.

"I hadn't seen it before, but when you get more than four stripes, you instead get a powerful aura that follows you wherever you go. Other beastman will instinctively feel your strength. And when you gain another level of power, you can control it." He sounded like he still faced her, although her eyes were screwed shut. "Although I didn't know this until he threatened me earlier. I've never met a stronger beastman than Curtis, Shay's mate, but I feel Orson is several times his superior."

Her stomach sank, or floated, or maybe it just disappeared. "Orson's a Sheep," she whispered, unable to fully comprehend it. Orson, who always lost at rugby, Orson who never openly fought against the predators... was he really that strong? Winston had never lied to her before, but what if he really believed it?