The heat of the day woke me up.

I blinked a few times, unsure of where I was for a moment. I was sitting down, not lying down, and…

Yes. I was on the couch. In the little house at the Summit. The windows had their blinds shuttered, but the bright sun was peering through… and was strangely a little warm… Maybe this winter would be a mild one.

Taking a small breath, I caught myself and reached up to pull something out of my mouth. Or rather, from between my lips.

For a small moment I had absolutely no idea what I was staring at. Some kind of bug? Fuzz? But as my mind finished waking up… I recognized the few strands of Renn’s hair dangling on my fingertips.

“What the…?” I frowned as I tried to figure out how and why they had been stuck to my lips… but it was rather obvious after a few moments of pondering it. She had been basically lying all over this couch since we got here… so I must have…

Glancing around, I realized I was still in the exact spot I had been in when I had sat down after Renn and Oplar had left earlier. Other than me moving my arm and hand, to grab the hairs, I’d not budged.

No chance for the hairs to have gotten into my mouth by rolling around then. Which meant…

“On purpose? Or had her hair just dangled over my face too long?” I wondered lightly. Sometimes she did like to stare down at me as I slept. When she did her hair sometimes brushed against my face, but she was usually more aware than that. Though that might just be because her hair had started to grow long again. I had noticed that the other night. It was no longer just at her shoulders… and it was now far below her chest, and was starting to get wild again.

Rubbing my eyes, not of sleep but despair, I wondered what to do with myself. She was so odd sometimes.

Listening a bit, I confirmed Renn and Oplar weren’t in the house. No one was here but me. I heard voices and activity beyond the shuttered windows and walls, however from the sounds and the heat of the midday I knew it was likely time people sat down for lunch.

Which meant Renn would either be back soon, or would not be back for hours. It depended on if she and Oplar got distracted and or ate with anyone else.

Odds are they would… Renn and Oplar were both the friendly types. The outgoing ones.

Yet…

“Just in case…” I mumbled as I slowly stood.

I’ll prepare something light. Light enough to have food on the table for if she returned early, but not so much it’d be wasted if she didn’t. Plus while she munched on that light meal I could prepare her a proper one, something a tad heavier…

She enjoyed cooking, but I’ve noticed she also enjoys it when I make her food… though not the meals I myself would prefer. I wonder if she’d ever grow to not mind them, over time, or if she’d groan and mumble when I make them even hundreds of years from now.

Before stepping away from the couch, I noticed the book on the table nearby. It was shut close, without any hint of a bookmark of any kind. I’d wonder if she had finished it without me noticing, but I knew Renn didn’t need a bookmark. Her memory was flawless.

It was a little amusing she didn’t seem to be enjoying it much. It wasn’t the plot or the characters… but instead the little ways the characters interacted she found displeasing. She didn’t like the main character’s personal attractions towards the first love interest.

Was it because she wanted to relate to the main character, and now couldn’t… or was it because she now found herself strange and odd? For not sharing what so many others not only enjoyed, but likely agreed with?

I’ll need to ask her later. Maybe after more of the story. Near the end, and during the second installment, things got spicier. More heavy in themes and topics… so…

About to step away, to head for the kitchen, I paused as I felt something odd in my hand. I lifted it as to stare at the things wrapped and tangled around my fingers, and smirked at Renn’s hair. “Really?” I asked myself.

I had absentmindedly wrapped several of the hairs around my index finger. As to not drop them.

The hairs had a very slight gleam to them… and were a tad darker than the rest of her hair, telling me they were sections where her rosettes would be. Usually only visible under the right light, like the glare of the setting sun.

Spots…

She had mentioned once that her family had been darker. Some even a pure black in color, particularly the ones with more fur on them. That was interesting. I’d not ever asked if she had seen or known other family members with similar markings and colors as she possessed, but…

It wasn’t usually very common. For a non-human child to inherit different traits such as that. A non-human’s colors were dictated similarly to a person’s eye colors. You had to have the right traits in the bloodline for them to arise. Plus each trait had a dominant and recessive aspect to them. And although jaguars did indeed come in different colors, I could have sworn such dark coloration was considered dominant amongst large cats.

If all of Renn’s family had black fur and hair… she really should have had it too. At least statistically.

Though it did not matter her hair color. Renn was Renn.

About to walk into the kitchen, to make some kind of salad snack for the woman on my mind… I paused as I heard feet scrape a dirty brick.

Glancing down the hallway, I sighed as I confirmed someone was approaching… and it wasn’t who I wanted to be doing so.

Ollie did not even knock on the door. She simply opened it.

She noticed me rather quickly, and frowned at me. “Vim,” she greeted me.

“Ollie. Come on in,” I greeted her.

Turning away, I went to the kitchen even though it wasn’t Renn… but not to make food. Not because I didn’t want to be rude to my guest, but rather the opposite. She’d have interpreted it as me inviting her to lunch if I did.

Ollie entered the building but didn’t close the door behind her. I listened to the sound of her steps as she walked down the hallway, and heard a few tiny rocks stuck beneath her shoe. She must have been walking out in the dirt, or fields.

“Hm…” Ollie paused at the doorway as I went to put on tea. She preferred tea over just plain water, or alcohol.

“How’ve you been?” I asked. I was actually a little surprised it had taken her this long to show up. She usually came to say hello not long after Thrain left the moment I got here.

“Is… she not here…?” Ollie asked softly.

She…? “Oplar?” I asked as I turned to look at the woman.

Her arms were crossed… and she looked a little troubled. As if she had just heard some hurtful words or something. “No… I had come to meet your wife,” She said simply.

Oh. Renn. “She’s out with Oplar. Not sure when they’ll be back,” I said.

“Hm…” Ollie hummed.

After lighting the small cook-stove fire, I went to fill the teapot. The one here was rather large, made of cast iron. It was honestly a little crude, but it worked and it allowed one to make a lot of tea at once. Perfect for me lately, since Oplar and Renn really did sometimes chug the stuff down. When we were on the road, particularly at camp, we usually had the pot boiling constantly as to make enough for them. It was annoying enough to make me consider bringing along another pot or kettle specifically for them.

I heard Ollie sit down in the next room. At the table where we all ate dinner. Either she was content sitting here and waiting for Renn… or was simply waiting for her tea before speaking up.

“I’m surprised you didn’t notice her while walking around. She and Oplar can be quite… noisy, sometimes,” I said as I placed the full teapot onto the stove.

“I hadn’t really looked for her. I had heard from Ash that she hadn’t left at all, so I figured she was a skittish creature or something… hiding in here with you,” Ollie said.

Huh… was that how they had interpreted Renn’s lack of wanting to meet them all and see their village…?

It made sense, I suppose. From their perspective.

I stepped away from the teapot as to glance at Ollie in the next room. She had sat with her back to me, and oddly in the same chair Renn had been sitting in too.

She looked… fine, I suppose. Ollie was one of the oldest living members here. She herself did not remember my actions, but her parents had. In fact she had been born not too long after…

Frowning as I tried to remember if Ollie had been born before or after the Societies creation, I realized once again that I really should pay more attention. I didn’t have Renn’s memory, but I really should be doing better…

“I can smell Oplar, but not her…” Ollie mumbled, and I was about to respond… but realized she hadn’t been talking to me. She had been simply speaking her thoughts aloud.

Right… her lack of scent…

Stepping back to the stove, I crossed my arms as I realized that her lack of scent… and maybe even my own, was actually a good thing.

I had noticed that some members, like those at the Crypt… had been very comfortable and happy around Renn. Same with at the Armadillos and the Camels. Most of our more recent stops, bar Landi, had members like those here. Frail and timid creatures.

Thrain and Ash had been wary of Renn, but not because she was a predator.

Her lack of smell could very well be the reason she hasn’t, lately, been avoided by our more timid members. Lumen hadn’t been that big of a problem, thanks to everyone there being more compatible. Those there dealt more directly with humans and those like Renn… and have most of their lives. But the Crypt? The Armadillos? Both of those places had members who would run and hide at the first sign of danger or distress. Yet I hadn’t remembered anyone there outright ignoring Renn, or acting uncomfortable near her.

I’d entertain the argument that Renn introducing herself as my wife could be factor, but something such as that really shouldn’t have overcome natural instincts so readily. For instance at Tor’s village she had nearly been banished on sight. And although I still didn’t know the full story yet about the Bell Church incident, it was safe to assume it was something similar. Her smell alone had gotten her banished… for right or wrong.

There was a very good possibility that Renn’s lack of scent would… allow her to easily circumvent barriers and defenses of those susceptible to their instinctual terrors. Them realizing she’s still a predator would obviously happen… even if one ignored Renn’s obvious ears and tail, and their likeness, her personality was not something one could ignore. She was a kind woman, but she did have a bit of a headstrong attitude toward certain aspects of life. Plus when life got rough, Renn became firm and unyielding. She had un-waveringly been willing to vote against the whole of Lumen. Her doing so several times in a row had partially been why she had been banished. They didn’t want more people like Merit there, and thus endangering themselves by doing so.

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There was a lot more to it of course but…

Smells…

As I pondered the strange revelation, the teapot began to release a bit of steam. Thanks to its crude design it didn’t whistle like some would, but the steam told me it was ready.

I picked it up, gathered a couple cups, and went to sit with Ollie.

Ollie accepted a cup, and I filled it with tea. She only nodded lightly as she studied it as I sat down across from her.

Putting the teapot, and the other set of cups aside, I relaxed a tad as I stared at the only woman in this whole settlement that has ever tried to flirt with me.

“You look tired,” I noted.

“Because of you. I was the one chosen to handle the execution,” she said without looking at me.

Oh…? Maybe because of her age. “With respect comes responsibility,” I said lightly.

She smirked at me. “Funny, coming from you.”

True. Especially when said here, in this town, I suppose.

“I’ve been told of the vote by the way. Very funny,” Ollie said, and then took a drink.

“Isn’t it?” I agreed.

Ollie’s smirk grew a tad as she put her cup down back onto the table and tapped it with a nail. “Does it bother you?” she asked.

“The vote? No. I’d be a tyrant, I’d think, if it did,” I said.

“Hm… likely true. You’ve always been able to separate yourself from us in that way. A little too much sometimes, I think,” Ollie said.

“My wife would agree with you,” I said.

She paused… and then sat up a little straighter. “So… you really did get married?” she asked.

I sighed as I tapped the table with a thumb. “Not technically. But I’m sure she’ll eventually fix that, whether I like it or not,” I said.

Ollie’s smirk died rather slowly, and upon seeing the look of disappointment on her face… I realized something rather sad.

So her little attempts over the years hadn’t been just whims of fancy…?

“Ollie…?” I asked carefully.

“Mhm… I suppose I should be sad. I feel a little disappointed, but I’m not angry. I wonder why,” she said as she stared her cup.

As I stared at the woman who looked defeated, I tried to remember if she had gotten married or not. Surely she had… right? This town had many people… and she was one of, if not the oldest, here. I couldn’t remember. And the fact I couldn’t made me feel like an ass. Not just because it meant I had never paid attention to her, but…

Surely I wasn’t mistaking that look on her face… right…?

“I… I’ve never gave you false hope… had I?” I asked, feeling bad.

“No. You’ve always been very upfront, Vim. Plus it’s not like I’ve ever actually thought it possible… but it still hurts… and…” Ollie raised a hand, putting it flat against her chest as if to feel her heartbeat. “I feel like I’ve just lost. You’ve made me feel inadequate, suddenly… which is silly,” she said.

Watching her closely, I was glad to see she wasn’t crying… and that a tiny smile had wormed its way on her face. “I’m sorry for doing so, Ollie… but really, it’s not like I’m much a catch myself. You shouldn’t feel bad for losing out on me, of all things,” I said to her.

Her tiny smile returned to that smirk as she nodded. “Right…? That’s very true. If anything I should feel sorry for her… you’re a very troublesome man,” she said.

I nodded. Right?

Ollie and I smiled at each other for a moment and then she sighed and took another drink.

Once she finished, she leaned forward and put her head on a hand, as if to rest. “Is she pretty?” she asked.

“To me she’s adorable, yes,” I said.

“Adorable…? Hm…”

“You’re beautiful Ollie. I’ve always found my eyes drawn to you,” I said honestly.

Ollie perked up, and then giggled. “What… giving me hope after all these years Vim?” she asked.

I smirked at her and shook my head. “Simply stating a fact.”

“Hmph… Well, it’s fine. I’ve been told we’ll need to send someone to Telmik for that vote of yours. Maybe I’ll volunteer and find myself a catch or two,” Ollie said.

“You’d have better luck than most, to be honest,” I said.

Ollie scoffed. “If most of our women are like Oplar then I’ve no doubt. I love the girl, but who could ever put up with so much noise from a single person?” Ollie said.

Surprisingly more than you’d think. Oplar was just a tad picky. What with her religious antagonism.

Ollie took another drink, emptying her cup, so I went and filled it back up for her.

“When’d you meet her…? This Renn?” Ollie asked.

“A few years ago. This winter will be our third,” I said.

“Huh… So… a new member then?” Ollie asked further.

I nodded. “She’d be more than happy to share her story, if you’d like to hear it. She’s… a very open person, for certain things,” I said.

“Hm… I wonder if I could endure it,” she wondered.

Endure the stories, or hearing Renn lovingly recount how she had fallen for me, I wonder?

Ollie drummed her fingers on the table for a moment in thought, and then sighed. “The execution is set in three days, by the way,” Ollie then said.

Oh? Sooner than I’d thought. Good. “I’ll be there,” I said.

She smirked at me. “Do you want to meet him first? To speak with him?” she asked.

I pondered that, and sat back a bit.

Usually I would. To hear the accused story. But…

“I’ll let Renn meet him,” I decided.

“Hm…? Really?” she asked.

I nodded. “I’d be interested in hearing her views on it. So yeah. Let her meet him,” I said.

Ollie sighed. “Maybe I really should feel sorry for her…” she mumbled.

Maybe.

“Fine. I’ll have her do so in the morning. Thrain might not like it though,” Ollie said.

“He’ll get over it,” I said. He was a man of rules, but unlike many here he didn’t have a heart attack the moment one was broken.

“Sure he will.”

Oh? She disagreed. Oh well… If he really threw a fuss then I’d just have to go myself and bring Renn along. He’d not be able to do or say anything about it then.

“Hm…? Scheming something are you?” Ollie asked, and I forced a frown to hide whatever thought she had seen on my face.

Scheming…? Me…?

Maybe.

“If you’re in charge… does that mean you investigated it too?” I asked.

“Hm…? Yes. I was a part of it. It was rather clear, Vim… he killed the boy in front of dozens of people,” Ollie said with disgust.

“Boy…?” I hesitated. He had killed a child?

“Young Sillti’s husband, yes. I suppose you’re right, he had been a man… man enough to marry after all. But lately everyone seems so young to me… maybe I really am getting old,” Ollie grumbled as she explained.

Feeling a little relieved, I nodded. So she had just been speaking relatively, then.

Not that it was any better. He had still killed a man. But…

“His name is Rollo. He’s not taking his execution well, but what do you expect from a man so spineless he’d kill another just for waving at his wife?” Ollie said with a sigh.

“Is… is that all the other man did?” I asked. Waving? Really?

“Hm. They had been friends I guess. Sillti and he had been friendly. But there was nothing to validate Rollo’s actions, Vim. The man had no reason to court or desire Sillti,” Ollie said.

“Yes. So I heard.”

She sighed as she lightly twirled her cup, staring into it at whatever was left inside as it sloshed around. “Wish I knew what it felt like. To love someone so strongly that I’d be unable to control myself because of it,” she said.

Hopefully she wasn’t thinking of Renn right now.

“Such strong emotions usually end badly, like this Rollo,” I said lightly.

“Hm… so Ash has told me repeatedly. Oh… she’s his aunt, by the way. Rollo’s. It’s why she’s been so prickly lately, she’s very embarrassed her bloodline is causing this mess,” Ollie pointed out.

“She had seemed a little off earlier. As if she and Thrain had been fighting or something,” I said.

Ollie giggled. “Because they have been, Vim. Thrain made a stupid comment in front of many people when he heard of what Rollo had done…” Ollie sat up, coughed and lowered her head. “Typical of Ash’s family. So hardheaded,” she repeated what he had said with a deeper voice.

I smiled softly, and kept the fact that he had said basically the same thing the other night in front of Renn and I. “Typical marriage squabbles.”

“You’d know now, I guess, wouldn’t you?” Ollie said with a smirk.

Would I…?

Renn and I really didn’t argue much. Which was honestly a little too bad. I enjoyed debating with her. Though usually when we did it was because of something a little too serious and personal, and thus only made her sad… and I didn’t like that.

Ollie sighed and then downed the rest of her tea. Before I could grab the teapot to refill it, she waved me down. “I’m fine. I’ll just meet her when she comes to meet the fool,” she said.

“You sure…?” I asked. “She might be back soon.”

“Yes. This way I can meet her alone, without you… so I won’t feel so weird about it,” she said.

I smiled at that. “Okay.”

Ollie stood from the table and stepped away… but only once. She paused, and then turned to stare at me.

“Hm?” I noted the way she was glaring at me.

“Maybe you two will have a son or something, I guess,” she finally mumbled, and then turned around again and left.

Watching her go, I couldn’t help but groan as I rubbed a temple. I did not like that at all. First Nasba and now her…

Really. What a bunch of cradle-robbers. If they had been human saying such a thing would have been absolutely shocking.

“Is it like that though…?” I wondered as I heard Ollie shut the door behind her as she left.

After all… I was so much older than Renn. So if I judged them that way, then in a way I needed to do the same to myself.

Rubbing my temple for a new reason, I glanced at the teapot nearby.

“Things used to be simpler,” I mumbled.

War had been easy. It was direct. Simple. You had enemies. That was it. There might have been a million or more ways to kill them but the bottom line was the same. Defeat them.

This though…?

The Society was one thing. As annoying as it was. As numerous the problems were… they were things I could handle, or at least not bother me too much.

Renn however…

Everything about her made me so unsure of myself. She made me question my own beliefs. Beliefs that hadn’t wavered or changed in over a thousand years. Plus she was starting to make me realize I’d not been as observant as I had thought myself to be.

Ollie had desired me. Even if only a tad… and I had never even noticed it. I had noticed her flirting, of course… hard not to. She tried to sneak into my room here when I visited just like others did, sometimes. Particularly like those in Lumen. Yet I had not realized how serious she had been.

Which meant I had likely not realized, or even registered if I did, that others had not been as frisky either.

Merit had taken me a long time to realize, but that was because she had taken many years before she even said or did anything obvious. Herra, Ollie, and the rest though had done so very clearly. Their attempts had been so obvious that I had not taken them seriously because of the intent behind them. I had simply thought them trying to enjoy the moment, not attempting to genuinely form a relationship with me.

The fact it took until now for me to realize something so obvious was depressing. Not just because it meant I was thickheaded, but also inconsiderate. I should be kinder to those I protected. Not in the sense that I should have indulged them, but rather I should have made it more clear to not even entertain the idea at all.

I sighed as I wondered if I should ask Renn’s opinion about it or not. It was her fault I’d realized it, after all. She should be responsible for some of these strange thoughts and emotions I was feeling and… well…

“A son…” I mumbled as I tried to imagine it.

Ollie may have said that just to tease me, but Nasba had not. She had been very serious in her statement. That I should give Merit a son, as if to apologize for all these years.

Such a ridiculous thought. It really was. Only a non-human could think like that… but it was startling how quickly they both had come to that conclusion… even if… well…

That was typically what followed wasn’t it…? When one settled down… children usually always appeared shortly after. How many times had I left somewhere, bidding goodbye to newlyweds and upon my next visit find myself greeting a tiny child? Or at least a larger belly?

More often than I could count.

But… was it even possible…?

And even if it was…

Lowering my hand from my head, I paused as I noticed her strands of hair still wrapped around my fingers.

Really… what was I going to do with myself?