NOVPUBErik's eyebrows shot up. "Oh…" he muttered, stunned.
For once, he was caught entirely off guard. Had he used his omnisense on her at any point, he'd have learned about this long ago, but he hadn't. He'd kept his promise and waited to see her with his own eyes after their marriage.
Seeing Erik remain silent, Naeku started to pout. She took a coquettish stance as her hands reached to caress her furry ears. "Don't just stare like that… tell me what you think."
Her words caused Erik's mind to restart as he shook his head. Grinning, he jumped up from his chair, completely tossing away the scene he'd created, and approached her. "They look amazing! Are they actually real?"
Instantly, Naeku's eyes lit up. "I know, right! They look so cute!" she exclaimed, quickly perking up. His enthusiasm obviously affected her. "And of course they're real!"
Erik reached for her ears but stopped and glanced at her. Smiling happily, Naeku nodded and removed her own hands. He moved forward and gently took one in each hand. A shudder went through Naeku's body.
"So soft…" he whispered as his fingers slowly caressed her ears. "They're just like the ones from your other form."
"Hehe, yeah," Naeku giggled, her body squirming a little. She'd closed her eyes and was enjoying his touch. "They simply never disappear when I change back to human form. It's why the headresses are always form-fitting."
"I see," Erik nodded, truly fascinated by this phenomenon. His hands roamed curiously around her ears and base, caressing her fur and hair. "Is this why that tradition was born?"
"It was probably part of it…" Naeku sighed contentedly as his touch sent shivers down her spine. She reached out her hands and started caressing his powerful chest through his clothes. There was no noticeable embarrassment about the underwear situation.
Looking down at her reaction, Erik smirked a little. "Am I the first to touch them besides yourself?"
A blush and a shy nod were the response he got. "M— My family has touched them, but never like this… Just accidentally, or when they caressed my hair…"
Suddenly, Erik remembered he'd actually seen both Leila and Ankhur in human form already. "Wait, but your aunt and father don't have these. Is it not a family thing?"
Still dreamily enjoying his touch, Naeku shook her head with a small smile. "No, it is. It's just a little complicated, genetically. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that my grandmother, who was born a Bastet-Seti, inherited the ears from her father, and that ou—"
Suddenly, she fell silent. Her eyes opened again. Her body tensed. A sadness fell over her. "I— I mean…"
Falling silent again, she stepped deeper into Erik's arms and buried her face into his chest. "Never mind…" she muttered hoarsely.
Once again, Erik was stunned as his hands froze. He had no idea what was going on.
"What do you mean, never mind?!" he exclaimed, frowning with concern. Taking his hands off her ears, he reached down to lift her chin from his chest, forcing her to look into his eyes. Her eyes were a little wet, but she was obviously trying to push them back.
"Tell me what's wrong," he demanded gently, concern in his voice.
Naeku tried to blink her tears away as she shook her head. "N— No, it's fine… We can talk about it later… or not… let's just not ruin tonight."
But Erik rolled his eyes. "Don't be stubborn, Naeku. Do you really believe I can still enjoy myself when I know you're just suppressing whatever this is? Our first night should be special, even if we have to postpone it to deal with this now."
Without another word, he swept her into a princess carry and returned to the chair. He sat down with her on his lap and looked at her sternly. "Tell me."
As tears still continued to form but never fall, Naeku pouted and squirmed in his lap. "You're treating me like a child…"
Erik didn't answer. He simply continued staring at her, his stern gaze boring into her skull.
"I—" Naeku muttered softly, hesitating. Yet, his response to her clear melancholy was spreading a warm feeling in her chest. This decisive and caring attitude was part of why she loved him. Truthfully, she didn't really feel like continuing where they'd left off right now, either.
She just… really hated that she was ruining their night.
Finally, the tears fell, and she looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with a mixture of love and blame. "I was doing such a good job of ignoring this, too!" she complained with almost amused helplessness. "But then you had to go and get me talking about the genetic workings of my ears!"
Erik smirked slightly. "And I'm happy I did. I can't believe I never noticed anything, but I definitely wouldn't want you to continue bottling this up." He frowned. "Now, stop beating around the bush and tell me."
Frankly, he was beginning to get an inkling of the problem, but he needed to be sure.
Naeku deflated a little again. "I—" she muttered again, and then quickly hid her head in her hands, refusing to look at him. "I just… I always wanted to have children, a— and I know our chances are really bad…"
Children between different shapeshifter types weren't as rare as those between shapeshifters and humans, but they remained a rarity. Not to mention that those chances worsened even more when the two types didn't even belong to the same overarching family—Erik being a dog-type, and Naeku a cat-type.
Erik blinked and parted his lips to speak, but Naeku wasn't done. She lifted her hands from her face and quickly planted them on Erik's chest. Her expression was one of light panic.
"N— Not that I blame you!" she assured him quickly. "I chose to marry you, anyway! It's neither of our faults, and we love each other, so… I just need a little time to— to—"
"Stop," Erik interrupted her with a sigh and a gentle smile. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. At the same time, he now understood this was what Ankhur had hinted at.
"Did you never mention any of this to the girls?" he asked softly as he caressed her hair.
Naeku shuddered and melted into his touch, shivering slightly. "N— No… of course not…" she whispered, sobbing lightly. "I mean… they're great... and all… but I would… never trust them… not to report… my every word back to you…"
"Heh," Erik smirked with a hint of pride. "That's probably fair. They're very good girls."
Then he shook his head calmly. "But… that's also because our family shouldn't have any secrets. If you don't share your problems, we can't help solve them, either."
"I—" Naeku began, head buried into his chest, but Erik interrupted her. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
"In this case," he chuckled, once again lifting her chin. "You really burned yourself by not talking about it with them. I mean, none of my wives are werewolves. Did you really believe this hadn't come up before…?"
