Chapter 9: Pets & Gifts

Summary:

9. There are many different ways you may find to take care and coddle your mate.

Senri found that being mated came with an impossible-to-stifle need to pamper and coddle his mate, spoiling him insistently. But as Raha initially balked at attempts at such, he eventually learned to find different ways to appease that need while not smothering his lover to the point of annoyance.

After Raha unknowingly Soul-Bonded him, the shapeshifter got a full 'overview' of what exactly was that was causing his cute redhead to grow so agitated with his doting, and as time progressed, set to course correct his misconceptions about his mate's needs.

Though his lover's apartment was small, he realized why Raha grew… annoyed when he offered to find a 'better' lair for them, as his cutie liked his lair, and that Senri could somewhat understand – if he wasn't really used to being in any way contained by insufficient space.

As said before, his brothers downright spoiled him (and not to mention his magic), so before facing his lover's misgivings, his concept of material possessions was quite skewed. Whatever spiked his interest, he just needed to learn how it was built and could create an endless amount of copies with barely a thought! Sometimes his creations were even better than the originals, too, if he felt inspired enough. So the idea of willingly limiting yourself was a tad strange, but what he initially took for another weird human custom, he later understood better: Raha didn't want for more than he had. He was comfortable in his lair and nest, and if he wanted to have his 'pampering' received better, Senri had to be more cunning about it.

And honestly…? It made the whole idea quite fun!

After his adjustments to their living space were taken with some bemusement but not resentment, he learned that if he explained why he needed a particular thing changed, his mate took it with a smile – even if not always aware of the way his apartment 'value' with some of the tweaks just skyrocketed. Senri didn't mind that his lover didn't recognize that some colorful 'crystals' – as he believed adorably – decorating the adjustments were it truth precious stones whose value and purity would astonish any human jeweler…

"…seriously?"

"Obviously, babe. You saw the interior of our lair, yes? Ares taught me that during the time when it was created – before the split and with the assistance of the Keepers – our predecessors would use the found pretty stones as the decorations. Any kit in the Seekers' lair learned the 'blueprint' of those stones as one of the very first things since it's easily accessible and all. And one of the reasons why humans, in general, aren't allowed anywhere near our lairs, too, since they tend to get… funny ideas about such."

"I can imagine…"

"And anyway… Well, the story is, it was the Allagan Clan's lair that was the most lavish and comfortable lair of all: since it served not only as their nest but as well our goddess's domain. I did tell you that Seekers and Keepers worked together to make it so, yes? Up to the Bastet's taste, the walls themselves were coated with the purest gold and etched with jewels of the highest quality – created by the most skilled of our kin to bring smile to our deity's visage. Her favored children were Her gift for us, so it was a show of appreciation and gratitude."

"Huh… I guess I understand better why you felt such a need to cover my apartment in all kinds of decorations, then. It's like a… inborn drive for Seekers, isn't it? By the nature of their gift, they're kind of… providers, hm?"

"You could say so, yes. Why would you even use that talent if not to provide for those around you…?"

"…"

In Senri's eyes – and by his instincts – the beauty of his mate was unmatched, and by design, he needed to express his gratitude for the fact that his redhead – initially reluctantly, but still – 'accepted' their mating. Back in his lair, surrounded by Seekers as he grew up – it was a well-expected custom to show off one's skill and 'value' by displays of creations, and by the fact he was a hybrid, he and his brothers were naturally the most skilled in both kind of magic of their kind.

Once he was pleased enough with the beauty surrounding his lover, he set to look for other things that would please his mate without poking Raha's need to establish his independence, even weird as he found that correlation. But, apparently, without the ability for magic, Tail-less were taught that gifts came with attached expectations, and he figured that it was something of a work in progress: to make his redhead realize that he wanted for nothing but his pleasure.

During one late-night chat among the bouts of mating, Raha somewhat wistfully admitted to missing the company of 'Ink,' and though it was said with humor, the next day, Senri gleefully set upon the task of attending to his mate's needs. He had a very poor idea of how exactly that worked – as did his brothers, surprisingly – and only after a clearly amused lecture from his brother's mate he found out that there were places that offered the 'adoption' services of pets.

Using the time when his lover was distracted by working on his book and the excuse of work for his Clan, with Damon in tow, he visited one of such establishments… and was quite appalled by the conditions humans kept the 'unwanted' animals in.

Smaller creatures like cats and dogs, on an instinctive level, were always drawn to his kind – sensing that Miqo'te offered protection from the predators… not to mention the cats were his goddess familiars! In ancient Egypt, to keep one contained to a small cage like this… would be an insult to Bastet and a sure way to lose Her favor!

After Damon taught him how to make and send pictures on the phone Hades gave him, Senri 'documented' that… travesty, and after a consult with his brothers – as appalled by his find – they established that if the humans didn't want those smaller creatures, well… they didn't deserve to be kept in such places, either.

Funnily enough, Damon laughed quite much when a pile of diamonds was enough to get them the rights to every animal in that 'shelter,' and humans who worked there – despite their obvious apprehension at first – agreed to deliver every next 'unwanted' pet to a given destination. Figuring that his Clan's lair never wanted for space – and with the help of even one Keeper, could be easily expanded if necessary – his brothers raised no objections to his idea of claiming those pets. Humans, when assured that they didn't wish to eat them – as insulting as was the notion – helped to move the animals to the grounds surrounding their lair, and while the dogs apparently enjoyed the open space near the mountain, the cats eagerly moved in into the lair, finding comfortable spaces among Seekers kits. The kits themselves seemed pleased by the addition of new playmates, not to mention that the older cats somehow instinctively took to teaching much bigger felines the art of the hunt – freeing of the task the Miqo'te caregivers.

Pleased by the idea's success, he moved on, if it still took him to visit three other shelters in the city to find what he was looking for: a cat to perfection matching the pet he played during his unusual 'courting' of his mate. Establishing the same deal with those places – and every other shelter they missed – Damon took it upon himself and his brother, shooing Senri off with the explanation that it was his responsibility – as Ares's mate and future co-leader of their Clan – to take care of it.

So, with the ball of fluff in an ink-black coat of fur, he went back to their 'lair' and was immeasurably pleased by Raha's obvious pleasure in not only the explanation of their efforts but in the addition of Ink II.

After getting a lesson in how to exactly take care of a pet like that – especially considering Ink's youth and size – Senri took to the human idea of rising felines with some grain of salt, adjusting Raha's ideas in some aspects of it.

Canned food, for one… ugh! Opening one was enough for the shapeshifter's sensitive nose to give him nausea! So, taking only the note of the ingredients necessary – leaving the added chemicals and such – he took to preparing the Ink's meals himself, very much the same way he took over his lover's diet. Though Raha did realize that they only ordered food when Senri wished to learn something new to add to his repertoire, he wasn't sure if his lover even knew that whatever he later prepared was carefully 'missing' the toxins that humans seemed determined to ingest.

"Not initially, no. But as time passed, I couldn't miss the fact that I felt… better than ever since you took to prepare our dishes. Not to mention how Ink developed into one of the most beautiful cats I've seen in my life… was hard to miss."

"Hey, I had some experience… taking care of kits in our lair and all. And, on a side note, I think a proper diet did wonders for your stamina, too, babe."

"Sen…!"

"What…? It's true, and you know it. You can't put all of it on the Allagan genes, hm? So, in a way, I was killing two birds with one stone."

Ink II also came to enjoy the immense size – for him – of Senri's scratching posts, and whenever the shapeshifter sprawled in his true form, the smaller feline had no fear, happily climbing on top of him and funnily enough showing his gratitude for care by attempting to 'clean' his fur. Tiny as the pet was by comparison – the size of Senri's paw – Raha found it especially hilarious, and for causing his mate's amusement, the Miqo'te didn't mind the pets 'affections.'

Little as their lair was, he had designed a spot where he would sprawl if wishing to 'stretch' his true size, and sometimes when he drifted off into a nap during such occasions, he would wake up not only to Ink's finding a 'nest' in his fur but also his lover curled into his side, so turning the spot into a comfortable space filled with pillows and blankets – a smaller copy of their nest – became a must for his mate's comfort. Caught, blushing beautifully, his cute Raha would sheepishly admit that he enjoyed the heat Senri's true for exhumed, and – funnily enough – his lover called him the most comfortable 'pillow' for a nap.

He could hardly mind that!

On the other hand, he was quite… surprised when his lover offered him his first 'material' gift. Seeing him – his mate – as the most valuable present possible, not to mention the impossibly lucky find his lover was by his Allagan blood, he still wasn't ashamed to admit that he absolutely loved Raha's idea: a gorgeous necklace with a pendant forming both sun and moon at the same time. Honestly moved by the way it represented his dual nature – and heritage – it also served as a valuable lesson by itself: the best gifts came from knowing the heart of the receiver. And this one, simple enough gift proving that his mate knew his… was as humbling as made him even more fiercely want to match his lover's care.

Perhaps that notion – in a way – was also what brought to life his scheme, too. Knowing that his heat was approaching, he chose not to say anything, quite to take his mate by surprise.

As the months passed, with ache, he watched his lover grow increasingly frustrated with his inability to Shift, especially when it seemed that the changes affecting his physiology just… stopped, letting Damon's catch on, in a way. With approaching in big steps audience and despite taking distraction in his work, Senri could see and feel that his lover worried that by this, he was disappointing them. And the shapeshifter blamed himself for causing that, too, knowing that their initial excitement in finding Raha's bloodline put a sense of impossible expectations in his mate's mind.

He – as the hybrid – grew up with the notion that he was unique, and his brothers instilled in him pride for that fact. Their people seeing in them the favor of their goddess, saw them as precious and never let them doubt that – even despite the fate of their parents. But Raha and Damon being quite literally the last of their kind… well, even he could hardly imagine the pressure that idea put on his lover's sensitive heart.

In the end, it was a gamble – the biggest reason why he didn't warn his mate beforehand as he didn't wish to raise his hopes in case it failed – and he was no less shocked when it actually paid off! And the joy and relief on his lover's face – in his heart – when faced with the news (after giving Senri a tad of scare passing out) made the shapeshifter's soul soar with elation. Staying in the female form for a while was a puny price for that alone… much less for the idea of having their kits to coddle and pamper!

The only real issue was finding a proper lair for them before their offspring's arrival. In normal circumstances, he would insist that they move to his Clan's lair, but… the circumstances were far from normal!

The nature of their kits was unknown by itself, but what's more… they weren't ready to risk revealing the twins' status, especially without a proper lair to keep his mate and their kits safe beforehand. Damon, whenever visiting their Clan at Ares's side, carefully kept his eyes hidden behind lenses, as Raha did before, and was determined to do so at least until the meeting with Bast – as their uncertainty for the goddess's motives was palpable. And after discreetly searching the archives held by the Clan – and not realizing how crucial it was for them – he shared with them the hints hidden between them that suggested that the true form of the Allag was somehow unique among their kin. Senri knew from his brothers' stories that they were… smaller and more delicate than the rest, but Damon's investigation into all the possible remains of the lost Clan suggested that there was more to that than the size alone.

So letting their kits be born among the Seeker Clan would be a dead giveaway in case they were Allagan!

So, while his lover prepared himself – mentally, mostly – to face the upcoming audience, and knowing that he and his brothers were banned from accompanying them to that – for whatever reason Bast saw fit – he focused his efforts on searching for a lair that would fit their needs when done with it. A task made harder by the need to keep it a secret – temporarily – from his brothers. And by the time 'That Day' arrived… well, he was half convinced that a place fitting all of their needs didn't exist!

"Okay… let's stop it here, hm?"

"As you wish, babe. Anyway, the lesson for this chapter is clear: if you wish to spoil your mate with gifts – whether they're human or Miqo'te – take time to get to know them. A present most fitting for your intended mate's interests or likes will always be the one best received, no matter its material value, I learned, because it can also show your care and knowledge of their character and heart."

"Agreed. Okay, so we're done with the guide part, and the next one is the epilogue… Honestly, I can't wait to sit down to that one!"

"Mhmm, I know. Let's move on then, and after that, the Q&A… What, I actually look toward the most."

"Last time was fun, yeah… Well, Dear Readers, you still have time to submit any other questions you may have while we'll see you again in the epilogue!"

"Ah, before that: I want to thank you all for putting up with my rumbling! And I think – for both of us – we wish that this guide will serve you as intended: to spare you the issues we faced due to our misconceptions about each other's worlds. But more than that, too: that you had fun following our story and don't mind our occasional… silliness along the way. Working on this was immense fun, I admit."

"So true! Well, perhaps after we're done with this one we can write another one about [* €!^#*!^ ]"

"No spoilers, remember, Raha?"

"Ah… my bad, this one time, I'll cross it out, and we can return to that idea after the epilogue…?"

"Perhaps. Well, see you on the other side, guys! And hope after all this build-up… you're going to enjoy Raha's take on the resolution!"

"…if I can do it justice, and all. But, yeah, see you all in the next one, and have a wonderful day."