Carefully, she approached the boys.
They were so focused on the food stalls that they only noticed her once Mirabelle softly spoke to them.
"Are you hungry?"
Their first instinct was clearly to run away.
But the second they realized a female was speaking to them, their feet rooted themselves firmly in place.
One of them — the oldest, a young badger Beastboy — gathered all his courage and answered for the group.
They had clearly been raised to always behave politely around Beast females.
"We don’t have any feral cores."
As though that explained everything.
Mirabelle nodded understandingly despite not actually understanding at all.
Still, the gentle smile never left her face.
"Could you do a favor?" She pointed toward the table where Kaelith still sat surrounded by food. "We accidentally bought too much, and now we can’t finish it alone."
A small rabbit boy flattened his ears hopefully while glancing toward the older badger pup.
His stomach growled quietly.
But the badger shook his head.
They weren’t allowed to beco a burden to a female.
People would probably gossip if they accepted food from her.
Mirabelle’s brain imdiately started working.
Then she leaned down slightly and whispered conspiratorially:
"It would actually be really embarrassing for if I had to throw all that food away. Everyone would call wasteful." She pointed dramatically toward the table. "But if you help us eat it, then it’ll look like I bought this much on purpose."
A thoughtful expression appeared on the badger boy’s face.
Then finally, he nodded magnanimously.
Well.
In that case, they obviously had to help the female.
Otherwise she might get into trouble.
Imdiately the five children sprinted excitedly toward the table.
Mirabelle followed after them positively glowing.
The mont they reached Kaelith, however, the children made a very large detour around him before settling nervously across from him instead.
Which unfortunately left Mirabelle no choice except sitting directly beside the hyena Beastman again.
The five boys looked like a mismatched little pack.
The oldest among them was the badger pup who had spoken to her earlier. He looked perhaps twelve or thirteen and carried himself with the overly serious expression of soone who felt responsible for everyone else.
His brown shirt had been patched so many tis with different fabrics that almost no original material remained visible anymore.
Beside him sat the little bear boy Mirabelle had noticed first. Round-faced and broad even at his young age, he looked permanently hungry. One sleeve of his tunic was entirely missing while rough stitches held together the torn shoulder seam.
The rabbit pup was the smallest of the group. His long ears constantly twitched nervously while he hovered protectively near the others. His trousers were several sizes too short and covered in careful hand-sewn repairs.
There was also a skinny fox boy with reddish fur and sharp clever eyes who moved quickly.
The last was a wolf pup around the sa age as the bear boy. Quiet. Watchful. His gray clothing looked the most worn out of all of them, with old tears stitched closed using completely mismatched thread.
None of them looked dirty or abandoned.
Just...
like life had not been particularly gentle with them lately.
The pups looked toward her with huge eyes, silently asking permission.
"Go ahead," she laughed, but her heart suddenly felt a little heavy.
Instantly tiny hands started grabbing food from every direction and stuffing it enthusiastically into waiting mouths.
The joy lighting up the pups’ faces told her she had made the right decision.
The heaviness eased.
Kaelith observed the entire scene with a strange warmth spreading through his chest.
Then he slowly leaned closer toward Mirabelle, who was watching the children with an almost peaceful smile.
"That could be ours soday."
GURGL
Mirabelle choked on the spice-heavy air she had just inhaled.
Panicked, she tried to breathe again.
’There is no way he just said that?’
But her shock was quickly overtaken by her traitorous imagination.
...What would a little hyena child even look like?
In her mind, a little girl appeared.
The tiny hyena girl possessed a wild, mischievous kind of beauty that was impossible to ignore.
Her face was covered in freckles scattered across her little button nose and high cheekbones like tiny flecks of sunlight.
Her amber eyes looked both cunning and far too intelligent for her age — as though she was constantly planning trouble and probably getting away with it too.
Most noticeable of all was her wide hyena grin.
Not elegant.
Not cute in the traditional sense.
But that wonderfully chaotic smile full of sharp little teeth and pure joy that instantly revealed exactly which Beastfolk she belonged to.
Just like Kaelith’s.
Her dark reddish-brown hair had been forced into two short ssy braids while loose strands stuck out wildly in every direction.
anwhile her rounded hyena ears twitched attentively at every sound around her.
She looked like the kind of child who constantly climbed onto forbidden things, regularly caused disasters, and then five minutes later innocently claid she had absolutely nothing to do with any of it.
’Oh my god...ehm... Beast Goddess.’
Mirabelle violently shook her head.
The ntal image imdiately scattered apart like fog caught in a gust of wind.
She had to remind herself that female pups always took after their mother’s Beast form.
Which ant it would be impossible for her to have a female hyena child.
The lynx female cleared her throat.
Still slightly struggling to breathe.
"Isn’t it a little early to talk about children?"
Kaelith blinked at her question.
Then slowly—
very slowly—
a grin spread across his face.
The hyena Beastman leaned back lazily in his chair while warm afternoon sunlight filtered through the giant tree canopy overhead, dancing across his golden skin in shifting patterns.
Around them, festival music drifted through the air together with laughter, clinking dishes, and the rich scent of roasted at and exotic spices.
"I don’t know," he mused casually. "You’re the one who just looked like you ntally raised a child with ."
Mirabelle nearly died on the spot.
Her ears flattened instantly.
"I did not!"
"Oh?" Kaelith tilted his head with exaggerated innocence. "Then why did you look at like that?"
"I was choking!"
"That explains the panic." He nodded thoughtfully. "Not the blushing."
Mirabelle stared at him in absolute betrayal.
anwhile the stupid hyena looked entirely too pleased with himself.
His tail swayed lazily behind his chair while sunlight caught against the rings decorating his ears.
"I’m just saying..." Kaelith continued while casually stealing another piece of roasted at from the table, "if our daughter inherited your eyes and my smile—"
"STOP."
Several nearby Beastn imdiately turned toward them curiously.
Kaelith lowered his voice slightly, though his grin only widened further.
"She’d be terrifying."
Mirabelle imdiately covered her burning face with both hands.
Why was he like this?
And worse—
how could he possibly know she had imagined a daughter?
And worst of all?
So deeply traitorous part of her brain imdiately agreed with him.
Sowhere nearby, musicians struck louder drums while the sll of honey glaze and smoked herbs drifted through the crowded festival clearing.
Kaelith watched her silently for a mont.
Then sothing softer slowly entered his expression: warmth and affection.
Sothing deep and frighteningly genuine.
"You’d be a good mother," he said quietly.
As he spoke, his gaze briefly shifted toward the five pups happily stuffing food into their tiny mouths while their bellies visibly rounded with every bite.
The sincerity behind those words hit far harder than the flirting had.
Mirabelle slowly lowered her hands.
For once, Kaelith wasn’t grinning.
Wasn’t teasing.
Wasn’t trying to provoke her.
He simply looked at her as though the thought felt natural to him.
As though he could already picture it.
Her chest tightened strangely.
.
So naturally, Mirabelle did the only reasonable thing possible:
She grabbed another piece of food and shoved it directly into his mouth before he could say anything else.
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