WARNING: Suggestive themes/mentions of sex
Lydia
"Damn… I picked the wrong one again, didn't I?" Lydia sighed in exasperation. Cornelia, Rain and Tinker only shared amused looks before the latter nodded her head.
The human looked at the offending mushroom in her hand before throwing it carelessly to the ground.
Ever since the incident with the mountain lion five days ago, Lydia had been joining the females on their foraging trips, seeing as Caesar had deemed her unfit to hunt again until her injuries had healed and she would no longer be limping. Thinking back on it now, she had wanted to protest, but could also see the logic in what the Ape King was saying. So, she had joined Cornelia and the other females on their quest to find edible roots, berries and mushrooms, wanting to at least still feel somewhat useful.
There was only one problem with that.
It had quickly become apparent that Lydia, while being an avid huntress, possessed absolutely no skill at all when it came to finding the plants they needed, not to mention recognising them from the ones that were not edible or downright poisonous.
It was pitiful, really. The last couple of days Lydia had felt more like a young child in need of constant supervision rather than the capable adult she knew herself to be. Luckily, the other females seemed to view her struggling as an amusing break from a repetitive task rather than an annoying distraction from important work. Honestly, she was just glad that she could tag along with Cornelia, Tinker and Rain as they had split into smaller groups.
Cornelia patted her reassuringly on the back with a gentle smile gracing her feminine features. Lydia could understand why Caesar had chosen her for his wife. She was kind, understanding and had more patience than anyone, human or ape, that Lydia had ever met. But she did also have a stubborn streak to her personality, which only made the human all the more fond of the Ape Queen.
"How about we take a break?" She signed. Now, Lydia wouldn't say no to that. The sun was high in the sky with no clouds to block its rays, and they had been out foraging since morning, having left not long after the males had gone hunting.
And so, they found themselves a peaceful clearing to rest in, sitting down on the soft grass while Storm and Blaze sniffed around in a bored manner before settling near the group for a nap. Most of the apes had been wary of the rather large dogs when Lydia's little family had first arrived, and a select few, including Koba, still gave the canines a wide berth. Others, however, had become quite accustomed to Lydia's fluffy and generally good-natured companions and had no qualms about patting them and handing them morsels of meat at mealtimes. When Lydia would let the dogs run free around the Ape Colony, she would often find them sniffing around the school-area, being rubbed behind the ears by the ape children, or near the entrance to the village, where the Gorilla Guard resided and where many of the burly gorillas off-duty would scratch the dogs' bellies. Now, though, Storm was resting in the shadow of one of the huge trees, while Blaze was lying on his belly, dozing off while leaning against Tinker's thigh as she rubbed him behind the ear.
Lydia was pleased to see how comfortable her dogs were with the apes of the village and smiled fondly at the image before her.
She breathed in deeply as she leaned slightly backwards in her cross-legged position on the ground. The light from the sun was filtering through the leaves of the massive redwood trees and birds were chirping happily all around them. All in all, it was an outstandingly pleasant day in the middle of spring.
The three apes and the human discussed different things going on in the village, which was, to be honest, pretty mundane, until Tinker gave Rain a mischievous look that promised mortification for the slightly younger female.
"How is it going with Flint? Still no luck?"
Rain looked at them bashfully. No blush appeared on her face, as Lydia knew it would on a human's, but her embarrassed expression and slightly hunched shoulders at the mention of the object of her affection was enough confirmation for the others, even Lydia. She had been around apes long enough to know their tells.
Cornelia pant-laughed along with Tinker and Lydia could only smile knowingly. It was no secret among the females that Rain was more than a little interested in Flint, but had yet to approach him about it.
"He is… difficult to figure out." Came the timid reply from Rain.
"Males can be like that. Do you think it was easy to catch Caesar's eye?" Cornelia replied good-naturedly, a raised eyebrow accompanying her question. Lydia turned to her with an amused smile.
Now, here was something she didn't know. While she often talked with both Caesar and Cornelia, neither had really mentioned how they got together.
"Caesar was oblivious, was he?" She signed at the Ape Queen, who nodded with a fond, reminiscing smile on her face.
"My husband was very focused on doing good for all apes in the beginning. Building ape society. Not making time for romance at all. And so stubborn too! Listened to no one! Not me, not Koba, not Rocket. No one…" Cornelia huffed, "And had no experience with ape females. Did not know how to show his interest when he realised his feelings. It was so frustrating for both of us."
She shook her head in an exasperated manner before continuing.
"He has come long way since then. We both have."
Tinker nodded in agreement and Lydia turned to her as she began to sign.
"Was difficult with Rocket too." Tinker said, scratching her shoulder absentmindedly.
"But Rocket must have had experience with other apes, right? He must have known how to approach you, surely?" Lydia signed in confusion. From their talks, she knew that Rocket had been with other apes for most of his life, unlike Caesar, which she had learned from her private talks with him.
Tinker huffed and shrugged before replying.
"He did. But took long to realise. Was like Caesar. Very focused on following him and was not looking to me for many months. Only when…" She paused and seemed to look for the right words before continuing, sending Lydia a questioning look. "When dust settled?" Lydia nodded encouragingly. Many of the apes had picked up on the metaphors she used in her daily speech, either finding them funny or simply very fitting for nuancing their language, which was usually simplified and straightforward.
The female ape continued.
"When dust settled after fights with humans, he noticed me and began to show interests. Offering meat from his hunts, sitting together at meals," her hand reached fondly up to her neck, where a necklace with an arrange of sculpted animal bones, honed into circles and claw-like points hung on a crude string. "Give me gift to show his devotion…" The slight smile on Tinker's face at the memory quickly turned to one of mischief as she finished. "But he still was awkward and brutish... Did not know how to be soft."
All the females laughed. Lydia could picture it quite well in her mind. Rocket handing Tinker his finely crafted gift in a tight fist, thrust awkwardly towards her with an unsure, yet determined look on his dark face. It only made her laugh all the more.
"Not in nest either?" Cornelia signed with a teasing expression at her friend when they had settled down, and the question caught both Rain and Lydia off-guard. Tinker didn't seem bothered by the question, and answered casually.
"No. Hopeless. Had to learn what female likes. Took long time for him too!" She said before adding with what Lydia could only describe as a downright naughty expression. "But he learned well…"
Rain looked both curious and mortified at the same time, while Lydia came to a sudden realisation.
This was girl-talk. Like any group of female humans would have with each other. She almost laughed out loud at the thought. Turned out ape and human females weren't so different after all. At least not when it came to chatter about their relationships.
She turned to Cornelia with a curious expression, not sure if she'd cross a line by asking, but taking the chance anyway, since she felt fairly close to the Ape Queen.
"What about Caesar? Did he have the same problem as Rocket?"
To Lydia's relief, Cornelia only huffed out a laugh and nodded. So, she wasn't offended by the question, at least.
"Not the same problem, but was difficult. My husband was unsure. Very careful in the beginning." She looked slightly bashful, but still maintained a smile as she signed her answer to Lydia.
"Treated me like I was dry twig. Like I would break." She continued, shaking her head, "Needed to learn to let go. Take charge. Was worried he was too strong. Too rough." Lydia and the others nodded, though Rain looked shocked at the information. To be honest, it only made sense, in Lydia's opinion. Caesar was the biggest chimpanzee in the Ape Colony, taller and burlier than any other male, so naturally, he was also stronger than most and very aware of it. She could understand why he would be hesitant in the beginning when being intimate with his considerably smaller wife.
In truth, it wasn't much different with Roy.
Lydia blushed at the thought and quickly turned her attention back to Cornelia's signing.
"But didn't take long to learn for him." The Ape Queen smirked at the group. "Caesar is fast learner." She added with no small amount of mirth in her eyes.
Tinker huffed out a laugh and Rain gave an amused smile. Caesar's intelligence and ability to learn quickly was a well-established fact. Him being able to apply the same skills in the nest quickly too should come as no surprise.
The conversation continued along those lines for about five minutes before Tinker turned her attention to Lydia with a raised eyebrow. She looked expectantly at the human woman, though Lydia could see that her friend was still hesitant to voice what she was about to say.
"What about you and Roy? Everyone wonders but no one asks." She paused before elaborating, "You two are… close? In the nest too?"
Lydia should have expected the question, she really should. She knew well that her relationship with Roy was a hot topic in the Ape Colony, even if no one dared confront either of them with it directly. Even Koba had restrained himself from commenting on it, though Lydia didn't know if it was because he had been ordered to by Caesar, or if he was simply too disgusted with the concept, or simply didn't care.
Somehow, she doubted the latter of the three options.
Now, faced with her friends' questioning gazes, she saw no other option than to spill the beans. They had no qualms about sharing their own intimate experiences, so why shouldn't she be able to do the same? Even if it was rather strange or even taboo.
After all, she couldn't help who she loved. Neither could Roy.
Another aspect of girl-talk, she mused briefly. Feeling that you owe the others something for their willingness to share their intimate details. While she remembered that she had always refused this impulse before the Simian Flu, when she was having similar talks with the few human female friends she'd had, she somehow felt more at ease with sharing such things with the apes sitting before her now.
Maybe it was because she had matured and didn't feel so insecure about it now. Maybe it was because the females sitting before her felt like closer friends than those she had before the outbreak. Or maybe it was because she actually had concrete experiences to share now, instead of just thoughts and imaginings about how it would be.
Either way, she found herself smiling slightly at the three apes before nodding somewhat timidly at Tinker's question.
The three had the decency to look surprised, though Lydia sensed that they might have guessed that the answer would be in the affirmative. None of them looked to be judging her, though. If anything, they looked more curious than before.
"How far you two go?" Tinker asked, a teasing look somewhat covering up her curiosity.
Lydia found it in herself to smirk at her friend.
"All the way." The human woman replied. "How else? After so long?" She teased back. Did Tinker really expect her and Roy to just cuddle through the dark nights for these past few years?
"What is it like?" Cornelia asked with a wondering expression.
At this, Lydia paused briefly, looking for the right words to explain her experience with this strange arrangement she had with Roy.
"In the beginning it was probably like with you and Caesar… Roy was afraid to hurt me…" She gestured to her own, rather slender body as she explained further, "I am not among the largest of human females myself, and he is a strong male. Even male humans are not as strong as apes. He thought he'd break me in half most of the time."
The other three nodded in understanding. Roy was almost as tall as Caesar himself, so it was obvious why he would show extra care with Lydia.
"It got better over time. He is very attentive still, but he has learned to let go now. At least a bit." Lydia smiled.
"Does it feel weird for you? Compared to human male?" Rain spoke up. She had been quiet for some time now, having nothing of her own to share on this topic but listening intently and sucking up information like a sponge.
It was a good question, though.
"I honestly couldn't tell you, Rain. I have not been with a human like that. Ever." She decided to elaborate when their looks of confusion caught her eye. "I was 16 years old when the flu broke out, so I was quite young, some would say too young, for such things."
That makes me 21 years old now, Lydia realised. Who would have thought she'd end up as an adoptive mother at the age of 21? Well, she had been even younger when she'd first found Orion and Roy. 19 years, to be exact. Barely a proper adult herself.
She'd had to grow up fast.
"But I guess it does feel different. It must, though I have nothing to compare it with." Lydia said.
"How so?" Cornelia asked with a slight tilt of her head.
"Well… It does tickle a bit sometimes… Because of the hair." Lydia explained. "Humans usually don't have that much hair. And the biting is definitely different than what a human would do…" She reached up to move her thin jacket out of the way to reveal a set of old bruises along her shoulder for the others to see. They were a week old and had almost faded away completely, but were still clear enough to be seen up close.
Cornelia and Tinker both hooted excitedly and gave Lydia teasing looks. Such marks were not as visible on apes because of the hair covering the skin, so Lydia's marks were a sight to behold for the other females.
"I see why you wear clothes. Must be hard to hide." Tinker teased, referring to her numerous jabs at Lydia's "human modesty".
"You have no idea…" Lydia sighed with a smile.
"Is Roy good?" Cornelia inquired with a curious smirk of her own. Lydia could only roll her eyes in disbelief at the Ape Queen, usually so regal and dignified, but now reminding Lydia of a giddy teenage girl hungry for gossip. She herself had been quite elaborate in describing Caesars prowess in the nest earlier and now it seemed that it was Lydia's turn.
The human woman smirked naughtily at her friend. It was no secret that Roy was a rather good-looking male, and many of the female apes in the colony had sent him longing looks ever since he had arrived. All knew of his loyalty to Lydia, though, even if they didn't know the exact nature of the relationship, so it was no use chasing after him. No doubt most of them thought it was a waste of a good male.
Lydia had no complaints, though.
"Amazing." She signed simply, to which Tinker gave a dissatisfied grunt.
"But what is he like? Rough? Gentle?" She elaborated Cornelia's question, "Takes his time? Or finishes fast?" She paused before adding her last addition to her barrage of questions, "Any special… tricks?" Tinker lifted her eyebrow as if to underline her point and Lydia found herself chuckling at her friend's impatience.
"It really depends on the mood, Tinker. He can be both whenever he wants to… Or whenever I want to." She winked at the others suggestively. Rain looked more and more shocked with every sentence, but Lydia sensed that it was mostly due to her inexperience in the area rather than a sense of disgust for Lydia's relationship.
"To answer your second question, well, he usually takes his time. I don't think he's ever finished too quickly… He has always made sure I was satisfied before that." Lydia continued. Cornelia and Tinker both nodded approvingly at the information. Seems like it was looked badly upon, even among apes, if a male didn't tend to his female in this regard.
How different are our species really? Lydia pondered.
"As for your last question… Hmmm…" Lydia had to think. Roy did several things while being intimate, though Lydia had no idea which ones could be considered "special".
"I don't know if any of the things he does would work for a female ape, but… Well…"
Blushing more profoundly, she proceeded to explain a couple of the things which usually sent her "through the roof" at home. Most of the things the other females nodded at with knowing looks, clearly having similar experiences of their own. One thing seemed to catch the three ape females slightly off-guard, though.
"He has you be on top?" Tinker asked with an amused look on her face, almost as if she didn't quite believe what she was being told. Cornelia looked quite taken aback as well, as if the mere notion of a powerful male such as Roy giving up control during intimacy was lunacy to her.
Ah, Lydia thought, so this isn't normal for apes… At least among the chimpanzees in front of me.
"Well, yeah. It was me who started it, really, but he seemed to like it from the beginning. It's quite normal among humans." Lydia said with an embarrassed smile.
She knew dominance was a big part of the apes' lives and many of the interactions they had with each other. To hear of a female, a human no less, take charge like that must have seemed strange to them, now that Lydia thought about it.
Oh well, at least they didn't judge her for it. In fact, Lydia had the feeling that they were even more intrigued than ever.
The conversation had gone on for a while longer before the group decided to get back to work. In a strange way, Lydia was glad for their girl-talk session. It was liberating, in a way, to talk about such things with other females, especially now, when she could give her own inputs.
The feeling was only amplified when Tinker approached her the next morning, before setting out on their foraging expedition, with a satisfied smile on her face and a victorious look in her eyes.
"Good trick." She said simply before going to find Cornelia.
Lydia's suspicions of what Tinker meant were immediately confirmed when she noticed Rocket sending his wife a particularly longing look before heading out with his hunting party. His eyes briefly strayed towards Lydia as he turned towards the entrance to the village, and gave the human woman a smirk and a subtle nod.
And then Lydia knew, she just knew.
Oh, Tinker was so in for it!
Roy
The hunting party had separated into smaller segments to surround a herd of black-tailed deer further ahead and Roy, like usual, went with Rocket's group to flank the prey.
He had noticed something was off about Rocket lately, though he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was.
He suspected it had something to do with the nod he gave Lydia a few days ago before they had all left to go hunting.
Roy had noticed the exchange but refrained from mentioning it. It seemed like any other friendly interaction the two had had so far, though Lydia did look slightly shocked when it happened, only to shake her head in exasperation moments later.
Perhaps he should inquire about the scene when he got home. No doubt Lydia knew what was going on with Rocket.
It didn't take long for the apes to surround their prey and chase it into a barrage of spears further down the hill, giving the deer little room to manoeuvre around the danger and no room at all to halt their sprinting down the sloping terrain.
Today's catch was good, though it would probably have helped to have Lydia's hunting as backup. The last week had been measly, and with Lydia recovering from her injuries now, the colony had lost the safety net it had become so accustomed to for the past year-and-a-half.
Perhaps it was time to focus more on fishing, Roy mused as the groups started to gather for a short break before continuing on to another hunting ground.
He sat down and began tightening the strings holding his spear together when Rocket came over to him and sat down unceremoniously.
Now, there was nothing unusual about this. The two had become fast friends when Roy and his strange family had been properly settled into the Ape Colony, and they often shared long conversations, with topics ranging from balancing hunting spears properly to stories about their pasts.
Needless to say, Roy felt comfortable with the older ape. Mostly.
This was different, though. Rocket had seated himself in front of Roy, with his back to the rest of the group, almost as if to hide what he was about to sign to the younger male.
Roy fixed him with a raised eyebrow, urging him to say what was on his mind.
"Tell Lydia thank you from me, will you?" He signed discreetly, but with a slight smile on his rough lips.
Roy was taken aback by the request.
"Thank her for what?" He asked confusedly. He really had no idea what this was about.
Rocket huffed out a laugh.
"Did not tell you? Had talk with Tinker. Gave advice. Good advice." The older chimpanzee clarified, though Roy still felt out of the loop. What exactly had Lydia said? What kind of advice?
Seemingly sensing that Roy needed more info to understand what he was talking about, Rocket leaned closer and raised an eyebrow suggestively while signing.
"Intimate advice." Was all he said, and Roy's eyes widened in surprise and slight worry.
"What did she say?" He refrained from asking further questions, like who else had been present to hear this advice, and instead let his eyes dart behind Rocket to the other males. They didn't seem to take notice of the exchange but Roy still felt cautious.
His and Lydia's relationship was quite… Unconventional, and he knew many had their speculations. He also knew that some might not take kindly to it if they knew exactly how far their relationship went in terms of intimacy.
He'd had problems getting used to the idea himself when it had all first started so long ago. He had a vague idea of how others might see it, not knowing how great and how natural it actually was.
Rocket immediately grunted to get his attention focused back on him and smiled as he replied.
"Just told about some human tricks. For mating. Nothing bad." He assured. Roy now had a vague idea of what he was talking about and nodded in understanding at his friend. He was still confused but now, it was about something else.
"Why would she talk about that with others? She never has before…" Roy asked, to which Rocket let out an amused huff and patted him on the shoulder in a reassuring way before replying.
"Women talk, Roy. And we do that too, even if you never join. It is not a bad thing." He winked at Roy before adding, "And I do not judge. Neither does Tinker… Or Cornelia… Or Caesar." He smiled teasingly as he jerked his head towards their king, who was busy discussing something with another hunter.
Roy resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands in mortification, which was only made harder when Rocket continued.
"If you have any other advice, please tell." Rocket winked again teasingly, before his expression turned a bit more sombre.
"You are lucky, Roy. Be happy she can live so well with apes."
Roy gathered himself enough to nod and smile slightly as Rocket got up and left his presence. It was true. He should be happy that Lydia was doing so well among the apes. She had friends she felt comfortable enough to share personal things with now, though he might have to talk to her about how to go about it. He was sure she knew what she was doing, however, and he didn't mind it all that much, if he was honest with himself. He knew he was not half bad at pleasuring his female, if Lydia's reactions and praise was anything to go by.
Also, it seemed to have benefited one of his closest friends.
Roy smiled as he picked up his spear and stood from his spot on the ground. The group was moving on now and he'd better keep up.
Yes, he was lucky, he realised. He was surrounded by his own kind, had a strong and smart adoptive son who was doing well and had many friends. He had a roof over his head and a warm nest waiting for him every night, and a mate who he couldn't get enough of, even if he couldn't show it openly in public. Life was good, he decided with a smile.
Really, who was he to complain?
