Future Mother-In-Law's Favorite

"Oh, you've mated with her! Splendid!" she cried. She was holding what appeared to be some folded clothing, as well as a bowl of fruits and roasted meat…enough for two. "Finally! I'm so proud you've been claimed!"

I stared at the little old woman and silence fell on the room. She wasn't very tall but had long, silky white hair and wrinkles for days. She looked like your average little old lady, minus the long hair and the medieval 'I'm an elderly person' get-up. After a long moment, she frowned at the both of us and seemed to stare back a little harder. I was…suddenly quite nervous.

"No marks…? Child, you didn't mate with the Otherworlder, did you…?" she grumbled. His hair flopped against my shoulder as he turned his head, lifted his chin, and sniffed defiantly.

"You ungrateful little pup!" she raged. "You finally show the SMALLEST amount of interest in a female and you turn her away?! A FATED one, no less! I knew there was something wrong with you!"

"What do you know, you old hag?!" he snapped back before they both started yelling at each other.

This was going to quickly develop into a headache if someone didn't put a stop to this…I rubbed my temples and sighed.

"Uhm…Ma'am…?" I queried. Her entire tone shifted as she broke off her loud argument with Gharret and suddenly beamed at me like sunshine and rainbows poured out of my butt.

"Yes, sweet dear? What is it I can do for you, child?" she cooed as she shuffled forward. "I brought you some breakfast and a change of clothes. I'm also having your old ones repaired, though it may take a while to find thread as fine and delicate as what you were wearing, I do so apologize, my dear." She plopped the bowl in my lap and set the clothes on a previously unnoticed bedside table.

"I…uh…thank you. Wow, this looks amazing," I said nervously, though my stomach growled loudly in response.

"Ohhohohohoh," she chortled, covering her mouth with the large sleeve of her cardigan. "I see I was just in time. Now tell me, dear child…what made you reject my idiot son so? Is he in need of punishment?" Her eyes, mostly hidden by folds of wrinkles, widened enough to see the mischievous gleam emitting from them.

Oh. Oh, dear. This was…Gharret's mother. I wasn't sure whether to be amused or embarrassed for him.

"I…it's not…" I couldn't come up with a diplomatic explanation and she seemed intent on having SOMETHING from me.

"Yeeesss….?"

I hesitated and swallowed hard before looking down at my bowl.

"I'm…a virgin."

If silence could make a sound, this would be a wall-shaking, earth-shattering thunderclap of a void. To use the outdated term perfectly: you could hear a pin drop in the other room.

"I…had no idea…," Gharret mumbled as he blushed and looked away. Suddenly, the little old lady burst into a fit of laughter.

"Two virgins! Now that makes sense! Perhaps you don't know the methods of copulation, my dear? I can educate you-"

"NOPE. NO. THAT'S FINE!" I responded a little too loudly and probably too quickly. She huffed slightly and planted her hands on her hips and I realized my embarrassment led to rudeness. "I'm sorry. I am…ah…aware? Of…how…sex happens. But thank you for the offer." Suddenly all those years of flicking the bean to porn stars on the internet came flooding back and my face turned a violent shade of scarlet. She seemed to relent and smiled a little.

"Waiting for the right one, I see…" I nodded slightly and looked back up at her, a pitiful pout on my features. "Ohhh, you poor dear. The past day has been quite traumatizing for you, hasn't it?" Gharret flinched on the bed beside me and turned his face away in his typical haughty pout. "I know my son is an idiot when it comes to romance and mating…but please be patient with him. He's not the prettiest male in the village, what with his scarring and his irregular color…but he is a strong male who can protect you quite well. After all, he is a five-marked beastman."

I frowned and looked over at Gharret. Now that she mentioned it, I couldn't see any marks or stripes other than the various scars all over his body. I reached out and poked his cheek, causing him to snort and turn his angry yellow eyes back on me. How could they count if there weren't any marks to be had…?

"I don't…understand what that means." The term sounded familiar, though, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The old lady chuckled again.

"Five marks aren't visible, and a sixth mark is something else entirely. They denote a beastman's overall strength and power, only gained through battle and dangerous trials." She bobbed her head wisely as I stared at Gharret and he stared at me. Slowly, his expression was beginning to soften.

"I see…," I mumbled quietly. There fell a gentler silence between the three of us before the old lady chuckled again. I turned my attention back to her and she wore a similar gently kind expression.

"I will leave you to eat and get dressed. We may talk further at that time, alright, my dear?" She smiled more broadly before reaching out and touching my cheek with tender affection. I felt a flutter in my chest at its familiarity and I smiled in return, nodding my head.

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll be out soon." With that, she nodded as well before turned and headed for the door, closing it softly behind her.

When I had turned back to Gharret, he'd snatched a small morsel of meat from my bowl. I had half a mind to slap him again for it, but the look on his face was…weird. He looked mesmerized by me, his yellow eyes wide but gentle as he brought the morsel up…and pressed it to my bottom lip.

"Please…," he begged softly. I was taken aback by just how…desperate…he sounded. "Allow me to…feed you…please…"

I stared at him for a long moment before parting my lips further and opening my mouth. I watched as his adam's apple bobbed as breath hitched in his throat and heard his tail thumping wildly on the bed behind him. Gently, I accepted the piece from his fingers and began to chew.

I will say…it wasn't THAT bad…but probably not the best thing in the world, either. Thankfully, he grabbed what looked like a large berry and tried that out at first. While I could feed myself, I couldn't help but indulge him.

With every new morsel of food I accepted, his tail thumped even more loudly until it was a blur behind him and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

If this were an anime, there'd be hearts in his eyes as he gasped softly.

"So…beautiful…"

I put my hand out and pressed it against another incoming bite of food. "Okay, okay. Enough. You need to eat, too. And I need to get ready. So get out, okay?"

Gharret seemed to wilt slightly, but nodded and quickly got to his feet. I watched him briefly put the bowl down to pull his white leather pants a little further up his narrow hips – the dude needed a belt or something – before grabbing his matching white leather fur-trimmed jacket. With a brief glance in my direction, he left through the door on the other side of the relatively large room, making sure to shut it tightly.

Now that he was gone, I could calm myself down…oh and do some yoga.