“To Empress Siya! One, one year! Long may shhhe reign!”
The man’s loud cheer was met with silence, every table hushing until his friend ushered him out, muttering, “Tha’s enough drinkin’, Dar. Le’s ge’ ye back t’ the missus.”
Once the door closed, the whispered conversations carried on.
Lola frowned, resisting the urge to nibble her lip, unable to keep herself from stroking her long, floppy, furry ear. That habit was twice as hard to break: stroking something soft calmed her, and having her ears stroked calmed her. Being a lagohym, she was rather prone to stress, so coping mechanisms and a lot of cardio were an important part of not dying young.
Once her heart settled, she turned to her companion at the table. While she was a high-hymoid, her friend was a low-hymoid and covered in leathery scales. Lola had been rather afraid the first time they met, but, in all fairness, her instincts made her rather afraid of everyone—unless they were also a lagohym, in which case her instincts tried to pull her to the other extreme.
Her nose twitched, thin whiskers fluttering. “Kisa, I’ve been thinking—”
“Oh dear,” Kisa said, the ends of her split tongue resting on her lip like they always did when she was amused.
Lola stared for a moment, then shook away the thoughts trying to distract her. Quieting to a whisper, she said, “Why is everyone so… scared? I mean, since, you know, nothing has really changed, has it?”
“Well, she did sssay that all she wanted wasss to have a wife or three.”
Lola’s nose twitched again, a tell-tale sign she was thinking deeply. “Wait, she’s a woman? And she wants wives?”
Kisa laughed, ends of her tongue fluttering between her lips. “You never heard?”
Lola shook her head, ears swaying.
“She changed the lawss. Now, anyone can get married if, letsssee, they are willing to devote a ssignificant period of their livess together.”
Sitting very still, Lola quietly asked, “A-anyone?”
Kisa’s mouth curved into a smile. “Yess, even uss of different racess,” she said, her hand sliding across to the middle of the table.
For a long moment, Lola stared at that hand, then rested her own on top of it.
“You know, before my people were ahymiliated, it wass common for two or three motherss to lay their clutchess together, treating all like their children, and all children called them mother.”
Flushed beneath the thin fur on her face, Lola said, “I’m told it was… similar for us. Even in the same litter, our kittens can have different fathers, and digging is easier with more paws, so….”
Kisa adjusted her hand, fingers intertwining with Lola’s. “I haven’t slept asss well asss I did with you, my fuzzzy heater.”
Smiling, Lola looked down, then let her gaze rise until she saw Kisa’s lips. “Your tongue really got my leg thumping.”
“It would be nice if my clutch had ssomeone to keep them warm. And when they hatch, ssome cuddly ssiblingss.”
Lola’s foot started tapping, a soft and gentle beat under the table. “I hear that my people often… get hot when pregnant, so someone cool to snuggle would be nice.”
Kisa’s tongue fluttered in silent laughter. “I hear your people get more than just hot.”
Face burning beneath her fur, Lola didn’t disagree. Then Kisa leant over the table and pressed her cold hand against Lola’s cheek, and Lola closed her eyes in bliss, a long sigh slipping out her lips.
“Do you think you can handle a night with a sstud?” Kisa whispered, voice deep and rich, enchanting.
“It’s okay if I drink before I’m pregnant, right?” Lola said, still gently rubbing against Kisa’s cold hand.
Chuckling, Kisa gently scratched Lola’s cheek with her claws, just like she used to. Underneath the table, Lola’s foot tapped louder. “Do you remember lasst time you drank too much? Ah, I ssuppose not.”
Although her nose twitched, Lola didn’t whine. “What about you? Or can he… fertilise after you lay the eggs?”
“I believe only fish do that,” Kisa said, smirking. “But I have a friend I wass… intimate with many moonss ago. If you don’t mind, he could be an uncle.”
Her emotions clearly showing, Lola scrunched up her face at first, then pouted, then sighed and settled into a wanting-to-be-spoiled look. “I suppose, if he’s your friend, it would… be good for them to have a man for a role model.”
“Have you ssomeone in mind?”
Again, Lola’s face scrunched up. “Well, to be honest, our reputation is… earned. Any lagoman we ask would probably agree, especially if he’s not from around here and we don’t know his name.”
Kisa pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. It went without saying that a person could say such a thing about their own people, but would take offence if other people found it funny. And even though Kisa knew Lola wouldn’t mind, it was a habit better to keep than lose.
The short silence that followed let both reflect on the conversation thus far, which ended with Kisa giving a small chuckle, getting a curious look from Lola. So Kisa said, “Here we are, disscusssing sseeding, when we haven’t assked the mosst important quesstion.”
Lola’s head tilted to the side, thick eyebrows bunching up.
Kisa sandwiched Lola’s hand between her own and she looked Lola in the eye. “Lola, my little bunny, would you marry thiss ssnake?”
Bursting into a grin, Lola nodded so quick her ears flapped. “This bunny would marry my little snake.”
It would have been the perfect moment for a kiss, but Kisa looked around and already saw a few less-than-pleased stares their way, even after keeping their voices down. Lowering her head, she pulled her hands away.
“Ssome thingss change quickly, ssome sslow,” she said.
Lola cottoned on, bringing her hand back. “Soon, we won’t even have the time to care—have you ever seen what trouble a few kittens cause?”
Kisa’s smile returned. “No, but I look forward to finding out.”
Here I am to say that reading this epilogue once more after finished reading this whole arc, the epilogue feels more impactful. Thank you for the arc!
You're welcome
Why the epilogue is at the start? Usually epilogue is at the end and prologue at the start. Anyway I am looking forward for this arc! Thank you for the story.
I felt like an epilogue was a better fit to sort of say what this arc is going to be about and give some narrative direction to the chapters--and a prologue wouldn't have the cute talk of raising babies together
And I hope you enjoy the arc! I've had a lot of fun writing it so far.
@mialbowy Nice!