In which Shay visits Neara and they talk about the disasters of the fertility ceremony. Almost all of them. Neara's flirting goes over Orson's head, probably because Neara's bad at it, but not in a funny way.

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Neara looked outside at the pouring rain and sighed. It rained all night and it looked like it was going to rain all day today. Orson had finally pronounced her in good enough condition to visit her friend on the provision she wait until the weather was dry. She'd explained holding banana leaves above her head to shield herself, but he scoffed at the idea. Her eyes searched the river for any splash of color and she'd zoned out so far, she didn't realize a red, orange, and white blur was headed for her door until they were almost across the river.

Shay's white arms stood in stark contrast to the dark sky as she waved them back and forth, a big smile on her face. Curtis held her tightly in his arms while Parker trailed behind, looking more annoyed than wet.

"Shay!" She screeched and bolted from the door before Orson could stop her. She'd almost made it to the bridge when Curtis emerged from the water, scales gleaming in the rain. She stopped in fear and locked her eyes on the ground. Shay whispered something to Curtis and he reverted back to human form, his two-headed penis staring straight at her.

"Let's go inside. You look like you've seen two ghosts." Shay snorted at her own joke. Once inside, Parker shook like a dog and Curtis affixed his tunic to his body. Neara sighed in relief although she tried not to let anyone see it.

"Shay! I'm so glad you're here! I've missed you so much, I have so many questions."

"And I have so many answers." She shot a wary look at the beastmen. The bunny beastman stood in the corner looking terrified while Orson ignored everyone in favor of weaving something long and complicated. Winston and Curtis maintained a civil distance, both silent in their power, and Parker kept his eyes fixed on Shay's face, eager to serve. "Um, let's talk in private. I have something to tell you."

Neara followed her into the bedroom, her eyebrows furrowed. "What's up?"

"Ok, so, you're probably going to think I'm a slut, but I slept with Curtis. Like, full on intercourse. Like, it happened over the course of 24 hours."

"I... wow."

"And I kind of think I'm pregnant." Shay tried to make it sound nonchalant, but her blush gave her away.

"Oh my gosh! You're pregnant!" Neara held in her joy and hugged her friend tightly. "That's really great! I mean, is it? You look happy, but I can't tell. Are they snake babies? Or eggs? How will you tell?"

"Curtis explained I'm going to be pregnant for a month if I eat a lot, and with Ryan hunting around the clock, I'm pretty full." She patted her stomach, which didn't look distended in the least. "I'm pretty sure I lay eggs. Live birth for snakes would be... weird to say the least."

Neara shuddered. "That sounds really great for you though. I'd hate it, but I'm glad you're happy."

"Yeah." The conversation grated to a halt and Shay picked at her arms in the silence.

"So... are you ok? How was it?"

"It was good." She blushed and looked down. "Gal, I can't even talk about it. It happened, it went on for a long time, end of story. What about you? Last time I saw you, you were wandering away from the fertility ritual with two men." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, the blush fading from her cheeks.

"Um... so, awkward thing happened: apparently I'm allergic to whatever herb they were burning and I disassociated so bad, Shuu almost raped me."

Shay's gasp could have been heard from the Ape King's palace. Thankfully, it was raining, so nobody else but the males in the front room heard it. "Neara, that's horrible. Are you okay? Did Winston kill him? Because if not, I can have Curtis go kill him now--scratch that, I'll kill him myself. I thought they didn't do that here."

"I don't know if it was the herbs or what, but he just grabbed me and brought me back here, and then the bunny guy saved me..."

"Wait, you don't remember his name?" Shay raised an eyebrow.

"Um... no? Kind of a lot happening at once, remember?"

"Oh, right, I'm the one that's good with names. Anyway, his name is Theo. I don't know if it's short for Theodore or whatever, but that's what he told you RIGHT after saying 'beautiful female' a million times." She winked at her friend, who blushed.

"Ugh, now I feel bad. I never even asked, and he's been here, what, two days?" Neara dragged her hand over her face and pulled her eyelids down. "I mean, for real, what kind of place are we in? Also, he's not even 18 yet! He's, like, the youngest bunny or something."

"Ouch. I guess they don't have laws against dating minors here... or their version of minors means 'before sexual maturity' or whatever. Still, that's awkward. What are you going to do about him?"

"I have no idea. Honestly, I'm kind of hoping he gets bored and leaves. I'm not comfortable doing that."

"Pssht, obviously." Shay scoffed. "It's not like Curtis, who's like forty or something."

"Forty? But he looks so young!"

"Yeah, I guess it's just how snakes are. Which makes sense." She shrugged. "Snakes don't exactly get grey scales."

"You're right." She trailed off. "What happened to you after the fertility ritual?"

She blushed deeply, the red returning to her skin with a vengeance. "I don't remember much about the actual ritual after Joseph fought Curtis."

"Oh, it messed with you too?" She didn't wait for her to finish. "So I guess you're hungry right now?"

Shay hesitated before rolling her eyes and slouching on her arm. "I'm always hungry! I ate almost an entire goat-shaped thing before we came over here, and I'm hungry again!"

"Orson has some rice..."

"That's the weird thing; I only want meat. Like, I could seriously go for a steak right now. Vegetables don't even sound tempting. I want to gag when I think about it, which, as you know, is very weird for me."

Neara nodded. "I know Curtis will probably want to go hunting for you... I won't tell the guys here if you don't want."

Shay shrugged. "I don't care. I mean, everyone will know in a couple of weeks when my belly explodes anyway. I'm pretty sure that's how it works."

"How will that work with releasing one egg at a time? Or maybe the water here is weird and makes us drop multiple so we can have litters..." Neara frowned and looked at her own stomach. "Weird biology here."

"Understatement of the century." Shay stood and stretched. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"

They walked into the main room and Curtis sped to her side. "I know you're hungry. I'll go hunting for you immediately."

"Thanks, Curtis." Shay smiled and Curtis blushed deeply before the skin around his legs flickered scarlet. He glanced at Neara, sighed, and walked outside. His skirt flew through the open door. "I should probably go hang that up for him." Shay stooped to pick the garment up and draped it over a rough stone near the fire. Orson had brought it from the river one day to act as a seat for Neara.

Neara dished herself up a leaf full of rice and veggies and, after offering some to Shay, who refused, sat down and began eating.

Curtis came back almost instantly with a large animal the size of Shay. Blood glistened on the still-wet fur as Curtis ripped off a large chunk with his bare fingernails and set it over the fire to roast. Parker inched towards the fire, his hand twitching towards his bag.

"Let me roast it for Shay! I know how she likes it!" Parker whined.

Curtis shot him a death glare until Shay put her hand on his arm. "It's ok; you can hold me by the fire, if you want." He looked placated and settled in front of the fire, arms wrapped around Shay.

Parker happily seasoned the meat and rubbed in a generous amount of salt. The meat sizzled and popped over the fire. Theo looked disgusted and turned away..

Orson took his own leaf and settled next to Neara. "So when are you going to tell me your friend is pregnant?"

Neara gagged on her food and coughed violently. To Winston's curious stare, she shook her head and gulped the water Orson handed her. "How did you know?" She hissed.

"I'm a doctor, not a predator." He rolled his eyes. "And judging by the overprotectiveness of the snake, I'd guess he's the father, although Parker is also eager to please..."

"I was going to tell everyone later..." She shoveled food in her mouth to give her time to think. "But I guess it's fine you know. She said it's coming in a..."

"A month," he finished, "which isn't strange considering snake biology. They'd have to be fast reproducers otherwise they'd be killed off." He shot a glance at Curtis hovering protectively over Shay. "Which is why his age is so remarkable. He's survived this long..."

"How do you know how old he is?"

"He's a tetra-mark; if he'd gotten his stripes earlier, he would have stolen a female by this point. No, it has to have been a long time coming." He shook his head and nibbled on some fresh greens on the side of his plate. "Parker's remarkable for getting his so young."

"Well, what about you? I don't see any marks on you, and you're pretty strong." She hadn't had much time to see his body, but he didn't brag about it like the others.

He looked down at the fire, which cast a red glow over his face. "It's not important. Plant-eaters rarely get beast marks because you have to essentially win them in battle. We're not known for fighting."

"Oh. I bet you could take them on and get a few beast marks yourself." She attempted to grab the last few grains of rice, gave up, and funneled them into her mouth. "You're pretty strong, right?"

Orson looked down at his clenched hands. "Right."