A/N: Ey bois, ready for another chapter?

Life was full of surprises, both the good and bad kind. Oftentimes, it can throw bouquets of flowers your way, and otherwise, it just grabs and dumps you in the local waste disposal company. 

He simply supposed that was what made life so scary and exciting, you never know what's gonna happen at one point.

But he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about this certain surprise.

A woman of unparalleled youth and beauty was standing in front of him, who spoke of how she had been apparently dying to meet him. Him? An exile and an abnormality? Something was wrong.

While most would fall to their baser instincts and woo the woman, he calmly assessed the situation. The situation rang random bells in his head. He never knew this woman nor did he do anything to warrant any strange attention from the outside world.

Then his thoughts went to the village.

Yeah, the idiots at the village might've sold him out, the pricks.

Not that he wasn't pleased with the thought of having new, pleasant company but with what happened years ago, he simply couldn't open himself up so easily to anyone nor find one willing to accept his oddity.

And if it wasn't weird enough, Io and her family somehow recognizes the woman and bowed to her like she was royalty. Was she like him somehow? 

Ahh, what was he supposed to do? This was the first time in a long while that a person willingly came to find him, not to mention a woman! His social anxiety was slowly starting to catch up to him after years of isolation from human interaction and the fact that this woman was still smiling at him was making things worse!

He can talk with girls sure, but not with mature women! Quick brain, say something!

"Uhm, do you like bread?" 

Stop it. Stop smiling at my wreck of an attempt at social interaction.

...

Salem merely blinked, somewhat unprepared for the random question. So random, she found herself laughing merrily at what seemed to be his first attempt at interacting with a fellow person.

To the boy, her laugh sounded wonderful, like the soft chimes of little bells. Her laugh could just lull him to sleep. Was this the charm of mature women in their prime? But goodness, she doesn't look like she's over 20!

"I do enjoy the noonly toasted bread," she finally spoke after calming herself down, a smile on her face.

"Ah," he absently noted. She actually answered his question, thank the gods! 

"M-my name is Y/N, miss Salem," he meekly introduced himself to the mysterious woman.

"Pleasure," she nodded with that ever serene smile. This beauty should have no right being here in Remnant, he thought.

"What are you doing here, though?" And how did she know about him being here?

"I'm a traveler of sorts and I just so happened to hear about this Grimm Whisperer in hushed whispers in the nearby village."

Ah, so the village did sell him out.

"They spoke of how you had the ability to tame Grimm." He continued to listen regardless of what she was about to say. "And that you led an attack on the village before."

"The same old story then," he softly spoke in a sad voice. 

Salem felt her maternal instincts kicking in at the boy's face of sad acceptance. A part of her did not wish to see such disappointment on his face.

"There clearly seems to be more to the story." 

He remained silent, monetarily lost in the memories of the past. Io, noticing her master's negativity nudged her head at his waist, bringing his mind back to reality. She received a head pat in turn.

"A-ah, yes. That's if you're willing to listen to my side of the story," he lowered his voice at the last half of his sentence and looked away, unsure if the woman was willing to listen.

Salem bit her lips inward, gushing at just how adorable this boy was being right now. The boy was nervous about how she may react to his story. She took a small step forward and knelt down so she was at his head level. 

"Y/N," she softly called his name. She watched as his eyes widen by a small fraction before slowly turning to look at her in the eyes. Perhaps this was the first time he'd ever been called by his name in a long time. Having only beastly companions, she could only assume. 

"I will listen."

His wondrous eyes slowly widened at the prospect of someone finally willing to listen to him, to not see him as a monster from first glance simply because he was mingling with the Grimm. A well of gratitude nearly spilled forth from his mouth only to repress it lest he scares away the woman.

Instead, a small, grateful smile lit his face. It was a smile of someone who had yet to give a true smile in a long time. Even with how little his smile was, the happiness radiating from it conveyed more than words ever will. The rays of the sun only served to make his face even more vibrant and holier than ever.

"Thank you."

T-this innocence.

Truly, the villagers were fools for letting such a treasure go.

She stood up and lent her hand to him. "Shall we walk? Walks with nature can be quite soothing to the soul."

The boy nodded his head and gestured for his Grimm named Io and her family to follow. His hand accepted hers and couldn't help but admire just how soft and long her hand was.

Both started to walk towards the open meadows and Y/N began his story.

"It all started two years ago..."

He recalled everything in his life. The life he lived every day back then, the little things he enjoyed, his thoughts, how he met Io, his mother, everything he had experienced up to this point, including his exile from the village, he told her and she listened aptly.

Both walked across the green meadow as they exchanged words. The sun shone upon Y/N's slightly muddied person, giving him a halo of a poor yet humble and kind child and Salem's beauty seemed so otherworldly to him, the light only serving to make her beauty even more enchanting.

It was only normal that he wanted to gaze upon such beauty longer for he might never get the chance to see her again. 

Little did he know, Salem thought the same of him. Only that, she'd be seeing more of him on a permanent basis.

Together in the grasses, they exchanged their stories. Joy and sadness were shared in smiles and frowns, uncaring of the time that passed. Both were so immersed in each other's words for the same reason.

Y/N continued to tell Salem his stories, the excitement of finally having a companion prompting him to share more of his life with her. His ups and downs, and the embarrassing portions that were unfortunately plucked by Salem's way with words.

Salem listened to this wonderful boy's stories. Her teases here and there brought about laughter to her lips. His reactions were so adorable, she couldn't help but tease him more. Though there were moments when she was caught off guard by his innocent questions.

And even better, he wasn't too ignorant of the attractiveness of women and the delicacy of certain matters regarding them, which made teasing him all the more fun to do. It's been so long since she's had such banter with someone.

For so long that they chatted, they ate lunch, and the day had turned to dusk.

He gazed upon the setting sun, frowning that his day with Salem was closing to an end. He knew she won't be here any longer after this long conversation. She was a traveler, after all.

"My life in the village was fun while it lasted," Y/N softly spoke as he brought his knees closer to his chest. "They're nothing but memories now."

Salem came closer to him, seated on the grass, and looking at him."Do you hate them for what they did?"

To her surprise, Y/N shook his head. "Just sad. Maybe at one point, I did hate them. But I understand why they reacted that way. I just wish they'd let me explain." 

"From what you told me, it's clear they wouldn't listen." He nodded sadly.

Salem stared at the distant sky varnished in shades of red and burnt orange. "If given the opportunity, would you rejoin the village again?"

"No," he answered. "They hate me. That will never change for a long time. And I don't want to be with them anymore, either." He raised his head and smiled. "But I don't regret what happened."

In response, Io and her little family cuddled in Y/N's lap and barked happily at her.

He turned to her with a grateful smile. "If I never left the village, I wouldn't have met you, miss Salem."

The queen in disguise merely blinked at his statement, taking a brief moment to register his words. For centuries she'd ruled with a cold and iron fist, she wasn't accustomed to such genuine gratitude. Had it been from anyone else, she'd have simply brushed them off.

But to hear such gratitude from this child felt good.

"What of your mother?" She barely restrained the urge to spit contempt upon that word, knowing what the child's mother did to him.

Y/N's smile turned to a frown immediately and his eyes darkened. Her face contorted in fear flashed through his mind. "She is still my mother, at least by blood. But I don't see her as the mother I wanted anymore."

"Can you imagine it? Your family looking at you in fear?"

Salem could. She'd been there, after all. Her daughters died in an altercation between her and Ozma. And being Grimm, she saw and felt their negativity, their fear, and she fed off from it.

His next words served as one hell of a wake-up call though.

"I wish you were my mama, instead."

Ah.

What did he just say? Salem's eyes widened, hearing the word she never thought she'd hear in her lifetimes. 

"What?" She turned her head to him so fast Y/N thought her neck could've broken.

"N-nothing! Forget I said anything!"

"You did say something."

"I said nothing! Your ears are playing with you."

"I assure you dear, my ears are non-living and not playing with me."

He sighed in resignation. "You're not letting this go, are you?"

"No." Worth a shot.

He pursed his lips before retelling his words. "I wish you were my mama instead."

A mother. 

How long has it been since she'd been called that? A feeling she thought buried now rose back within her, the desire to have a child to call her own.

Can you call me that? She nearly asked him.

A spike of negativity brought her out of her daze and looked behind her at one of the trees at the edge of the meadow. Io and her family snapped their necks to where she was looking, sensing the same as she did.

There was nothing there, at least from a glance.

Fortunately, Y/N was looking away from her at the moment and didn't notice their strange behavior.

"And what makes you think I am a capable mother?"

"I don't know how to describe it," he scrunched his face in thought, an adorable expression for Salem. "You feel so much like mama like you took care of children before but more mother-ish. You feel gentle and warm."

That was quite a sharp intuition, Salem thought. To be able to tell from being with her, a sense of excitement and elation burned within her.

Resisting a smile that threatened to split her face, she sighed in mock disappointment. 

"Y/N, perhaps you should try to reign in your endearing quality."

"Eh? Endearing?" The boy simply tilted his head at the mysterious word. "What's that mean?"

"I mean stop being adorable."

"E-Eh!? I'm not adorable, I'm manly!" She simply laughed at his cute declaration. 

"You're just making fun of me, aren't you?" He pouted.

"Guilty as charged," she admitted shamelessly. He pouted even more.

"I'll have you know I eat lots of meat and drink lots of milk!" He huffed to the side with arms crossed.

"What about your vegetables?"

"T-that, too!" He stuttered, which was a big mistake for a former mother like Salem, knowing her past daughters' tendency to shy away from certain vegetables.

"Now that is simply sus," she said, suspicion evident in her voice. 

She neared her mouth to his ear. "Are you sure you eat your vegetables, you naughty boy?"

He shivered from her voice being so close to his ear. That, and her tone at the last part sounded like something else. But he refused to look at her in the eye, not wanting to bust out the truth. 

"I-I do! Get off me, will you?"

"Then why not look at me when you say it?"

"I don't need to look at you to say it!" 

Time to pull out an old trick. Silently, she snuck up and grabbed him from behind, pressing his back against her bountiful bosom beneath her cloak, and pressing her fingers shaped like a gun against his hip.

Comical extortion.

"W-what?" He shivered once more as her cool and soft hand gently cradled his face. He would've taken in how good she smelled if it weren't for the obvious threat pressing against his sensitive spot.

H-how did she know?

"I'll ask once more," she whispered. "Do you eat your vegetables?"

"I-I-I do!" He ended up stuttering. "Nngh!" His body arched when he felt Salem's finger pressing further against his hip.

"Hmm? Do you, now?" She playfully drilled her fingers softly into him, drawing hitched breaths from the boy.

"I-I swear! Hih!" He nearly shrieked when her fingers dug a little too deep. 

"Do not lie to me, Y/N. I shall offer you this one chance to come clean." 

He whimpered softly, body stiff from her finger pressing against his sensitive spot. "I w-won't tell you even if you b-break me!" 

Salem's body froze as her mind registered his words. 

Break me. 

Heat surged in her loins.

How tempting. The frozen smile plastered on her face widened to an unhealthy grin for an instant, one that spoke of untold sin against the forbidden fruit.

The urge to call out his name numerous times surged within her. Y/N. She wanted to scream that name, to let the world know that this delectably innocent child was hers. She'd embrace him very soon enough. And once he was in her embrace, he would never leave her side. She would never let him go.

Oh child, why do you tease me so~?

She had to calm down, quell her rising desire to just grab this boy and take him away. Losing control would not be beneficial to both parties.

Y/N wondered why Salem suddenly went silent until her fingers suddenly dug deep enough to garner laughs out of him.

"Will you submit?" She asked him with an undertone of hidden lust.

"N-Never! I eat my vegetables!" 

"Wrong answer." 

She continued to torture the boy, his joyous laughter ringing throughout the meadow as he squirmed in her tight grasp, refusing to him go. Tears were gathering in his eyes as he wheezed in laughter. He had such a burst of sweet laughter only a child could possess.

This continued for a while. However, the poor child didn't seem like he'd last any longer and released her fingers. What she had not foreseen was for him to lean his exhausted body against her chest, his head nestled on her neck as he gasped for air.

And if it wasn't already worse, his sweaty complexion only served to birth more impure thoughts in her mind, each scenario involving him sweating and begging. The sun's remaining light shone on his beads of sweat trickling down that soft neck. His haggard breath hitting her skin was not helping one bit.

"No, no more~," he gasped out with an exhausted smile, a bit of drool trickling down the corner of his lip. His gasps being so close to her ear slowly ignited the already burning flame within her.

This was just unfair.

It was taking so much of her discipline to reign in her carnal desires but fate just seems to throw these delectable situations at her almost as if it wants her to lose control. 

Patience. Patience.

She could not jump at him right now. It was not the right time. Fingers, stop twitching!

But she could tease and play with him. 

"Surrender," she growled in a manner akin to a demon whispering temptations.

"N-never," he croaked out softly in denial. 

"Y/N, Y/N," she sighed. "Do you really seek punishment this much?" She discretely slid her hands beneath his shirt, her cool fingers softly pinching his milky skin, making the boy in her embrace shiver. "I can do this forever."

"And," he gulped, "I won't tell you my hatest vegetable." Only after saying that did he realize his fatal mistake.

Oh, gods why did I say that!? 

Y/N didn't need to turn his head to know Salem's eyes had just turned predatory. Curses, why did he blurt it out!?

"So there is a vegetable you don't eat, after all." Gods, Y/N could just hear the huntress coming for her prey. He smiled shakily, shivering and mildly afraid.

"M-mercy?" 

All he received was an innocent smile.

The next thing he knew, he was roughly pushed down with his back against the grass, and Salem's cold fingers dug into both of his hips, bringing about bursts of laughter.

"No, no!" He tried to push away her fingers in the midst of laughter but Salem's immortal strength prevented him from doing so, not that he'd know about it.

Y/N wasn't sure if he could take such comical torture any further and did what any child would: spill the beans. "T-tomatoes! I don't like tomatoes!" 

Immense relief filled him as her hands ceased tickling him. He gasped for air, gulping his saliva to wet his dry throat.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Salem spoke until her eyes locked on the boy's current state.

Beads of sweat trailed down his face and neck. Red flushed his cheeks from the lack of