Dakky's May Commission: Zolta and Asha bein' cute.

“What are you still doing here?” Zolta demanded quietly. Asha looked up from her loom.

“I’m weaving, darling,” she explained the obvious, catching Alyra’s eye. The look on the priestess’ face made it clear she was free to go whenever she pleased.

“I thought we talked about this…” The young smith tried, though he knew it was likely a pointless effort.

“Zolta, does it look like I’m stressing our cub by sitting around here all day? Would you rather I be out in the fields instead like some females have to be?” Asha demanded pointedly.

“No, of course not. It’s just-”

“I want to enjoy my few remaining cycles of freedom while I can, Zolta. If you think this bump in my tummy is bad, just wait until it’s crawling around trying to bite and scratch things.” Asha’s fingers moved nimbly around the fibers strung together before her as she talked, the process of weaving a garment long committed to muscle memory. 

“This is pointless, isn’t it?” Zolta laughed.

“If you have any sense, young man, you’ll cave early and cave often,” Alyra offered with a delighted chuckle.

“Alyra!” Asha exclaimed. “I mated with him because he is strong like the metal he works…and because when I make this face he caves immediately.”

“Yep, this was a mistake. I’m leaving,” Zolta insisted as Alyra and Asha no doubt pleased the Twins greatly with their mischief. The females looked after his tail as it disappeared around the corner.

“I’m sure he’ll be waiting for you. Seil has almost set Asha, you really should go. If there’s one thing I don’t need it’s Gentia scolding me again for keeping you here too long.”

“I’ll not tell my mate that Gentia is more intimidating to you than he is,” Asha laughed.

“She’s more intimidating than Antoth!” Alyra insisted. “Let’s just be glad Ratha doesn’t serve the Mother. Selah, Asha. Be safe on your way home,” Alyra bade her apprentice farewell.

“I will, goodnight Alyra!” Asha tidied up her workspace and left, finding Zolta waiting against the wall of her temple. They looked at one another for a moment before she leaned in and kissed him. His lips yielded quickly before they set about nuzzling one another and walking home. “You’re cute when you pout like that.”

“You know I’m only doing it because I care about you and our cub,” Zolta insisted. Asha waved her feathers affirmatively.

“Of course I do, Zolta. And I love you for it. I think you need to accept that when our cub is born though, many things will be outside of your control. And that number will only increase as we grow older and have more.”

“Seven?” He asked fearfully as a warm summer breeze ruffled their feathers and carried the smells of the village to their noses, cooking fires, agriculture, and the muted scent of the forest beyond the walls.

“Yes! I think seven would be lovely,” Asha asserted as the two of them passed one of the guardsmen patrolling the streets with a torch. They smiled and went on their way.

“Let’s see how one goes, alright?” He offered seriously. “We don’t even have a house yet.”

“That’s alright, Zolta. There are plenty of young couples who have cubs and live with their parents.”

“And if I wanted that sort of life I would have kept working the fields and not bothered learning how to smith,” he countered, taking her hand. “I just want us to be happy.”

“I’m already happy, Zolta,” Asha assured him, resting her head on his shoulder. He exhaled slowly. 

“I know, and I’m happy we’re together and have a cub on the way. But that doesn’t mean I want to still be living with your parents when you give birth,” he complained.

“And do you intend to build us a house on your own?” Asha wondered pointedly. Zolta allowed his shoulders to fall.

“No, of course not. I know Winters was trying to do us a favor by having Antoth hold that plot aside, but it’s not like I have time to use it. We’re all still so busy. And now his sister is here. The gods only know what’s going to happen now.”

“Things were certainly simpler before they arrived,” Asha agreed as they crossed the road that bisected the village into north and south. “But we would both be dead if not for them, so why don’t we just do the best with what we have? I would rather have you and seven cubs than an empty house.”

“Why seven?!” Zolta groaned.

“Because it’s fun to watch you worry every time I mention it. That and...being impregnated by you was a surprisingly pleasant experience, one I’m eager to repeat as soon as I’m able,” Asha informed him with a sultry lilt to her voice. Her whispered teasing had him swallowing heavily.

“Not that I would mind either but isn’t it difficult being pregnant?” Zolta asked nervously, considering that his mate might very well be serious about the idea of having a veritable flock of offspring.

“In some ways, but the entire village dotes on me,” Asha admitted freely, giving the side of Zolta’s muzzle a quick kiss. “You most of all. What do you have there?”

“Oh this? I wanted to show you before you and Alyra decided to have your fun.”

“Come now, you know she approves,” Asha insisted, giving him another smooch as a concession. He smiled at her and passed over the bundle in his arms. 

“I added a couple things. Hope you like it.”

“A couple things? Zolta, you lined our cub’s sling with ursae fur!” Asha gasped.

“What? That stuff is incredibly durable. You want seven cubs, right? Might as well build it to last,” he reasoned, quite proud of using Asha’s little quip against her. 

“When you asked to do some work on it I didn’t think you meant this,” she murmured as they arrived at her parents’ home. Dinner preparation was in progress, but Asha’s parents insisted that she take things easy. The expectant mother threw an ‘I told you so’ look at her husband.

“I know you won’t let me make their clothes. I have to contribute somehow,” Zolta said before greeting her family. Asha was testing the fur lining with her paw.

“And I appreciate that, but when they soil it you’ll be cleaning it out! Leather is so much easier to deal with!”

“Then make them a little leather loincloth or something,” the smith suggested, helping her to be seated on the bed she used now that she was mated and pregnant, separate from the rest of her family’s quarters in the bedroom. “Between the two of us I’m pretty sure that shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Alright, I admit that would be adorable,” Asha agreed. “Do you think Gentia’s right, that it’s a boy?”

“How should I know?” Zolta asked, waving his hand about. “Do you want a boy?”

“I just want a healthy cub,” Asha replied, earning sounds of agreement from her parents. Zolta couldn’t argue with such logic, cradling her belly with a calloused hand and rubbing her gently. Her feathers began to wave appreciatively.

“Yeah, me too.”

“I thought you might have an interest in having a little heir running around,” Asha teased, leaning against him as she curled her toes and allowed herself to relax as best she could with a cub in her belly shifting her organs around.

“Heir to what, singed fur and rough paws?” Zolta laughed. Asha hummed, looking at him knowingly.

“The muscles and wealth are certainly aspects of your trade I approve of. It got you me, didn’t it? Besides, if we have a girl she’ll never be able to find a mate of her own. They’ll all be worried about you and your hammer.”

“Damn right they will,” Zolta insisted.

“I seem to recall you approaching me at the harvest festival and not my father, dear.”

“Better he did too,” her dad cut in. “I would have said no.”

“Daddy!”

“He would have said no to anyone dear, don’t make a fuss. You’ll only upset the little one in your belly. And you should be happy our daughter mated with a male so very much like yourself, don’t you think?” Asha’s mother asked of her father. He grumbled an admission.

“Yes, I suppose so. Wouldn’t want any old whippersnapper going after my granddaughter.”

“Oh you two will be just the worst!” Asha giggled as the smell of stew permeated the room around them. Zolta stood straight as his stomach growled.

“This smells amazing but I should be going, see if my own parents need any help with dinner.”

“Oh if you must,” Asha’s mother allowed. “Please do say hello for us and tell them we absolutely insist on having another potluck sometime soon. Maybe the cycle before the harvest?”

“Of course, I’ll be sure to do that,” Zolta agreed, bowing to them politely before embracing Asha with care. He still did not dare kiss her in front of them, but that didn’t mean Asha felt the same way. She nipped lightly at him with a contented sigh.

“I’ll miss you, love. See you tomorrow!”

\-----

“I know that if Alyra wonders I’ll simply tell her the Twins compelled me to frolic a bit, but what about Nerazek?” Asha asked as she lifted the hem of her dress and settled in between Zolta’s legs on the bank of the river. The methodical creaking and groaning of the water wheel combined with the splashing and shimmering of water had turned the site into something of a couple’s getaway for them, given that Zolta had participated in its construction. He nibbled her ear playfully.

“I asked permission, silly.”

“Oh but where’s the fun in that?” She replied, nevertheless allowing herself to relax against his chest as he hugged her and played with the amulet around her neck. “What is it, Zolta?”

“There are just some things I can’t say with others around,” he admitted. 

“Don’t worry, dear. I love you too.”

“Not that!” Zolta exclaimed as they both laughed. Asha could sense a nervousness about his chuckling though.

“I know. But we’re here now with just the river and Seil warming us. What is it, my love?”

Zolta rested his chin on her shoulder and laid a hand on her belly. “Aren’t you afraid?” 

“Zolta?” Asha called his name worriedly, but he didn’t close himself off. 

“A year ago the biggest worry on my mind was figuring out a way to get you to say yes. I was looking for stones in the river and helping Veera harvest her dato. Now…I have a cub on the way and no home of my own. I don’t know if I can be a good father. I don’t even know if I’m ready to be any sort of father! And I know that there’s a chance that I’ll lose you…”

“Zolta!” Asha reached up to caress his ear and feathers with one of her hands, placing the other on the hand that rested on her cub bump. 

“I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t be the one to-”

“No. Hush, please,” his mate bade. “It’s not that. Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

“It didn’t seem like such a pressing concern when you were only a little bit pregnant. Now you’re, you know, really pregnant?”

“Such a way with words,” Asha tittered. “But I’m actually happy to hear that, Zolta.”

“What?”

“I think if you’re worried about being a good father you’ll be a good father,” she assured him, lacing her fingers between his as one of the animals of the forest cried out pleasantly, perhaps seeking its own mate. “And of course I’m scared of giving birth. But I want to.”

“Seven times, I know,” Zolta sighed with disbelief.

“That and it will be nice to feel lighter...and mate again,” Asha whispered, looking forward to the future. “I’ll be alright, Zolta. My mother never had any troubles with me or my siblings.”

“Yeah, just after what happened…I thought that was real fear. But at least I could swing my hammer at it. If something happens to you I’m powerless,” Zolta explained, hanging his head. Asha kissed him sweetly.

“The humans are not,” she murmured. “And Gentia is not. I will be meeting with one of them soon, the one Alice spoke of. Gentia has already gotten to know her.”

“That just makes me more nervous,” Zolta admitted glumly. “The way Xan talks about their ship…why would I ever want you going up there?”

“What if it saves my life?”

“Well of course, it’s just…Asha we have no idea what they want with you. Great, there’s another thing I’m nervous about now!”

“I think we should mate again right now. It’ll make you feel better, right?” Asha teased. Zolta swallowed audibly.

“Uh…you can do that?” He wondered, momentarily distracted by the question. Asha raised her feathers, tickling his nose.

“I don’t see why not! It’s not like our cub is using it at the moment.”

“Alright, all desire to mate is now gone,” Zolta declared flat out. “Asha just…I’m sorry. I know this is probably making things worse.”

“It would be worse if you didn’t tell me. I told you, Zolta, I’m nervous too. But our mothers went through this to give birth to us, and our cubs deserve the same. If I need to be cared for by the humans I’ll do that too. Alice is a bit strange, but she is an open and honest person. And you and I both know her brother and Io will be there too. We survived the raid, my love. This will be nothing in comparison,” Asha insisted sweetly. Zolta breathed deeply and looked at the sky.

“We…were very lucky.”

“I serve the Twins, darling, of course we are!” Asha assured him. “Did I ever tell you they came to me in a dream one night?”

“What?! Are you…you’re joking to make me feel better,” he concluded. Asha turned on her knees to face him.

“I’m serious! They came to me and asked if I wanted a boy or a girl!” She insisted. Zolta’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

“A-and…what did you say?” He whispered fearfully, not enjoying the idea of his mate being mixed up with the gods one bit.

“I said I wanted our cub, and no other. They seemed quite pleased with the answer. There was also that time with the caravans this year that I convinced the merchant my cloak was the last of the ursae fur that we had available. Nerazek was quite happy with all the ingots we managed to acquire in exchange!”

“No! That was you?!” Zolta gasped.

“Devious, right?” Asha stated proudly. He glanced away nervously.

“What have I gotten myself into?”

“You got yourself into my womanhood and womb, and I expect you to be at my side when the time comes,” she teased lovingly before hugging him around the neck. “Zolta, thank you for this. Sometimes you are so rigid and whatnot I…I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling nervous.”

“I love you, Asha.”

“I love you too, Zolta. And I promise that when the time comes I’ll do everything in my power to be there at the end so we can raise our cubs together, even if that means going up to the human’s vessel. Kel protected our cub once. Perhaps he will do so again.”    

“These humans…they’re relentless,” her mate complained. She nodded.

“I know. Alyra won’t stop complaining about how Alice still hasn’t come to see her about changing her fur color. We were doomed the moment Russell arrived…doomed to survive raids and starvation and birth and who knows what else!” Asha described dramatically. Zolta groaned.

“You’ve made your point. Why do you like them so much? Not that I dislike Winters but…”

“Because I think the Twins like them too, so why shouldn’t I?” Asha reasoned. Zolta let out an even louder groan.

“That’s just what we need, allies blessed by the Twins!”

“Would you rather have allies blessed by Kel?” She wondered.

“So long as they’re killing for us? Yes!” Zolta insisted as Asha returned to snuggling in his lap.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Living is fun,” he deadpanned.

“And what if one day we could live like humans? Did you see the light Alice gave to Veera? It’s as though the Twins themselves shine from within. And it’s so bright!” Asha gushed. Zolta narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.

“What...are you talking about?” Asha leaned her head back on his shoulder and smiled at him. 

“Oh I won’t spoil it then, but you’ll see! I guess I only saw it since I happened to poke my head into Alice’s home at the right time a couple mornings ago. She has so many wonderful things in there that I have no idea what they do.”

“And that doesn’t scare you?” Zolta wondered. She shook her feathers.

“Like you said, giving birth scares me. The future excites me. Give them a chance, Zolta. Even the new male is proving to be quite kind,” Asha evaluated. 

“I’ll try,” he eventually replied. “It’s natural to fear the unknown.”

“If you believe the stories, we never would have left our old home behind then,” Asha reasoned. Zolta nodded.

“I know. Just be careful with them. I trust Winters…but I don’t know if we can trust them yet.”

“I will, Zolta, I promise. Now do I need to return you to your work?” She wondered, a sweet lilt to her tone. He hummed deep in his chest and held her tightly.

“No, let’s stay here a little longer.”

Asha closed her eyes and relaxed against him, sighing happily and thinking about all the things to come in the future. She could only hope that her evaluation of the humans was correct. “I’d like that, my dear.”

“I love you.”

“And I you.”