Chapter 8 #8
“What this here?” a rumbling voiced male called out.
“Mind you busy-ness, skunk butt! No want you here!” Rek called out, to the blonde woman’s grinning amusement. Everything with Rek appeared to be centered around Middle School humor.
“We’ve got a newcomer, Pepe,” Jo smirkingly replied.
“Eh?” Pepe the skunk butt called back.
Any confusion as to how he got that name was cleared with one look at the male.
He was like a Lo denaii in size and shape, but there were these vibrant colorations to his pelt, namely two thick sections of greyish black, that explained the moniker.
It was an unwanted moniker, if the scowl the male storming up had plastered to his face was anything to go by.
The blonde woman hunched and crouch-walked closer to Jo, like she was avoiding this Pepe guy.
I felt like I was dropped into the middle of some furry soap opera drama as I held onto Kehlor and my gaze ping-ponged about.
Pepe jumped into the madness but chose to converse with the males in that growl-speak. It made him easy to tune out.
Craning my neck, I spied the blonde weaving her way to the back of the crowd. She turned at the last moment, met my gaze as I turned my head and my hood slid down, exposing more of my face, and she paused. Her hands instantly went to the top of her head and she grabbed the beanie she was wearing.
Sometimes people got really weird about my lack of hair, sometimes they were just curious, sometimes it was assumed I was sick or something, and sometimes shit got really weird quick.
I never really knew which way it was going to go in any given situation.
I wasn’t really picking up any kinda vibe from the blonde until she started clutching her beanie and moving it around on her head like she was considering what it might be like to have no hair.
Coming around the back behind beings, I watched as she worked her way closer. And closer. Until she was coming up behind Kehlor, just out of his sight.
Without a word she took her beanie off and held it out to me in offering.
“Don’t you need it?” I asked quietly.
“I can make things now. I learned.” She seemed nervous, unsure, fidgeting in place. It had nothing to do with giving up her beanie. “I’ll make another,” she replied quietly. “I’m Dace, by the way.”
“Pru,” I started to say, to be interrupted.
“Eh! What you do?” the Pepe guy came rushing around Kehlor like a stormcloud with a bad attitude. “What you do, Candy-ass? What you say Kehlor female, huh?”
The way he talked about me made me feel like he thought of me as Kehlor’s property, not a person. The way he spoke to Dace, who had graciously offered me her beanie, was kinda pissing me off.
With an unhappy look his way, I darted my gaze back to Dace and smiled as I accepted the offered gift. If anything, I hoped it pissed off skunk butt.
Stuffing the beanie on my head, careful of that gash mash, I gave the male a dirty look.
“Berkr knowed it,” he crowed. “Candy-ass says bad things ‘bout Berkr! Berkr not say Candy-ass say bad things ‘bout Berkr?”
“Dace no need say bad things ‘bout Berkie. Make self look bad, show butt!” It was that voice that had been calling Jo Joalee that spoke.
Naturally my gaze dragged past Berkr and over to that voice. Blue was the first thing I noticed, the stripey things, the spot like patterns, those ears… a tail?! It just kept spiraling from there.
“Catch flies,” Celuk rumbled out teasingly, “stare at our Jo Buu like that.”
A thick finger came up and slowly closed my mouth for me. Kehlor gave a grunt as his finger drew away from my mouth. “Kitty,” I breathed, stunned stupid.
“My kitty,” his Joalee mumbled covetously, but she was smiling. Either way, it snapped me out of my stupor.
Grabbing at his ear, the blue male dipped his head self-consciously.
“She thinks you’re kick ass, baby, the bee’s knees of coolness, that’s why she’s staring. I told you you’re the rockstar of furry hunks,” his Joalee reassured him.
“Think… Think Buu cool?” the male asked, looking rather bashful for such a beast of a male. It was all rather sweet.
“Buu Rek best friend. Buu the coolest,” Rek told him.
Buu beamed at the compliment, flashing fangs and bluish gums.
“You are definitely cool,” I blurted, mouth closed but still obviously gaping.
Buu’s gaze darted my way briefly before landing on his female. He bent to hug her close, a tail coming around to wrap around her leg as he dragged her into his arms.
“He’s my Jojomine’s,” Rek informed me, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at the blue giant.
I nodded my understanding, though after the fact it felt kinda unnecessary. It wasn’t like I was going to try and take him or anything.
“You have mates,” Berkr grunted. Several loud sniffs later, he blurted, “you Lo denaii? Lepyr?”
“You know Lepyrs?” I asked curiously.
Berkr made a spluttering noise like my question had flustered him.
“Budny peoples,” Rek added. “She say she part budny peoples. Wants know we see any.”
Holding up his hands, Gofur motioned about like long ears, then mimed a fluffy butt stub.
“Doogie have drawrings, fluffy butts, long ears,” Odix interjected.
Doogie nodded. “Mama’s books. Urf animals.”
“But they peoples,” Rek felt the need to add firmly.
“Sunned-Bun,” Berkr blurted, like any being should know what that meant.
“What that?” Rek asked.
Berkr shook his head. Turning to me, he looked a little funny colored, maybe even a pinch green as he eyed me. Leaning in, he tried to give me a sniff but it was way too close to my neck and had me instinctively curling in and away from him.
Kehlor let out a warning growl that had Berkr scowling back but backing off.
“Who you mama?” Berkr grumbled. It was a demand with a question hiding in there somewhere.
Sunned-Bun? That was way too close to Forest’s nickname for Sunny. His Sunny Honey Bunny, or Sunny Bunny if he shortened it.
Kinda obvious with the pet names there, Forest.
“Shirl,” I muttered softly, eyeing him.
“No know that name,” Berkr grunted out after a minute. I got a funny feeling that might not entirely be true but wasn’t about to press. If he wasn’t going to tell me, prodding him wasn’t going to get it out of him, not right now.
“Then you don’t need to smell me anymore,” I grunted out back.
Kehlor’s hand came up my back and he slid my furry blanket better over my neck, blocking any further attempts from Berkr.
Turning to the male holding me as I scrubbed a hand down my face, I gave him a pleading look. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could handle, at least not right now.
“Where Pink Eye?” Rek grumbled. “Him always follow feisty females, think one mate him.”
Pink Eye? He must mean Vurhg, who had strangely vibrant pink eyes.
“That, uh, that doesn’t mean what you think it means,” Dace cut in quietly.
“You no know it mean,” Berkr grumbled at her.
“Do you know what a troglodyte is?” Dace chirped softly.
“No,” Berkr admitted. After a pause, he grumbled, “You know?”
Eyes widening until her doe eyes looked enormous, like she was a living anime, Dace smiled sweetly up at him and quipped, “I know one when I see one.”
A snort escaped me as her comment went right over the beast’s head and he reached out to give her a there-there pat like she was the one with a screw loose.
“We go. Purr-roo need rest,” Kehlor announced.
“Sorry about the mix up with your name,” Jo called out. “I’ll tell Mal so she doesn’t call you Kehlro anymore either. It was nice to meet you, Pru!”
“Kehl,” Khelor offered, an olive branch if ever there was one.
“Kehl,” Jo repeated with a sheepish smile.
“Why she get say Kehl and fecked face c’rrect Rek, Rek say Kehl,” Rek bitched.
“Maybe not call Kehl fecked face with you butt’s hole mouth,” Doogie taunted.
Odix and Gofur thought this was beyond hilarious. Even the horned guy that was as tall as Buu and bigger than all the rest, the silent giant of the group, found Doogie’s sarcasm entertaining, grinning as he heckled Rek.
“Do you think I came off wrong?” Jo wondered aloud as Kehlor turned and with a few grunted acknowledgements as a round of good-byes started, headed off.
“Bye,” I heard Dace call softly.
Turning, I threw her a little wave over Kehlor’s shoulder.
With that wild and wacky encounter over, swimming in my head, I was silent as we headed, uh, well, wherever the hell Kehlor planned taking me.
“Unmated female huts not ready,” Kehlor told me.
“Are there a lot of unmated females?” My gaze slid over the column of Kehlor’s throat, pale skin peeking past whatever he was wearing. Some sort of hood.
“No,” Kehlor answered on a short grunt.
Thinking about that, wondering what he planned to do with me, I rested my chin on his shoulder. Kehlor was strong, comforting. I felt safe with him. Just like I did with Elm and Cy.
“Can I stay with you?” I murmured, turning to eye his throat. That was as high as my gaze could go, unable to meet his eyes.
“Stay with Kehl,” he confirmed.
Blowing out a long breath, I noted the way he shivered as my breath coasted over him, turned to rest my cheek on his thick shoulder, leaving my breath to fall on his throat, and closed my eyes. My lips tipped up, thinking about him referring to himself as Kehl with me. “Good,” I mumbled sleepily.
His hand came up again to cover mine where it was gripping his fur. Thick fingers smoothed over mine, comforting and maybe a smidge more.
I barely knew Kehlor. I should be freaked out, shouldn’t I? How right this felt, how completely natural, it wasn’t normal. It wasn’t human normal, I had to correct.
The human world half of me screamed this was nuts, don’t trust him so easily, Pru! But this other part of me felt overpoweringly strong about Kehlor. Kehl, I should say, since he all but gave me leave to use it.
As my eyelids grew heavy, a single stray thought hit me, a whisper of it really.
Mine.