You're not sure bringing your baby sister to the council meeting was a good idea.
Sure, Kronii had told you it was fine, but these things tended to be chaotic at the best of times, and you knew infants were a bit fragile.
Honestly, you were still disturbed that you had a new sister with such a wide age gap, but you really didn't want to think about how that happened.
Thankfully, you're left out of the 'important' discussions, waiting outside the meeting room itself. You spend the time watching the baby, glad she managed to fall asleep.
You're about to fall asleep as well when the door opens, and scarlet ears poke through, soon followed by the rest of the head.
"Hey, dude." She's quiet, at least—you didn't even know that Baez could be this quiet, honestly. You thought her voice only had two options. "yell" or "scream".
"Yeah?" Your voice is a whisper, one eye on the baby's sleeping face. "What's up?"
"C'mere for a sec." The chaos goddess beckons you towards the room, and you brace yourself for another one of her pranks. "Need you to settle something."
You're not sure what she means, but as you near the door, she sizes your wrist and pulls you inside—the door softly clicking shut behind you as you disappear into the council chamber.
You thank whoever had the idea to soundproof the meeting room, because as soon as you're inside the door you can hear the argument raging inside.
"Alright!" The diminuitive woman claps twice, the sound booming through the chamber. "I got a second opinion!"
With no idea what exactly you're meant to comment on, you stumble forward, pulled along by Baelz.
"What's going on?" you ask, directing your eyes at Kronii. She's still seated on one of the carved marble thrones, seeming disinterested in the argument.
"They're arguing about something stupid again," she sighs, rolling her eyes.
"It's not stupid!" Baelz shoots back. "Look, uh, Anon, right?" You nod. "Great. We're trying to decide which of us would be the best mom."
Your brows knit, utterly baffled as to how this subject came up, and how the council members got so invested in it.
Fauna is quietly determined, holding her apple between her hands as her gaze turns to you.
Baelz is grinning like she's already won, now that she's roped you into this, her eyes flickign between the other girls smugly.
Mumei is rubbing her arm, seeming uncertain of her own worth.
Sana is the only one who doesn't seem to be taking this seriously, winking at you like this is some fantastic joke.
"Alright," you sigh, rubbing your temples. "And why do you think I can help you?"
"We saw you come in with a baby, Anon," Sana says, her eyes flicking to Kronii for a moment, who just sighs. Likely she'd been interrogated about that already. "So you've gotta know about kids, right?"
That was a spectacular leap of logic, but whatever.
Maybe if you just heard them out, you could figure out a way to defuse this situation?
"Fine. Let's go one by one. What are your arguments?" you ask, putting on a neutral face.

"Ooh! Okay, I've been waiting for this!" Baelz claps, bouncing on her heels.
She fixes her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest.
"Alright! So, what's the most important thing about being a mom?" she asks you.
"Uh, a kind and forgiving attitude?" You're not sure if she wanted a real answer or not.
"Wrong!" She jabs you with a finger. "There's only one requirement to be a mom!" she tells you. "And that's having kids!"
"I… don't think that's how it works." Your tone is uncertain, going to the other girls for confirmation. Fauna shakes her head, which reinforces you.
"No, listen! Listen!" She pokes you again. "I've done my research! You guys had a whole TV show about a lady who had eight kids!"
"That wasn't because she was a celebrity, Bae. It's just really rare for a human woman to have eight children at once." And even more rare for her to be fine afterwards, you add mentally as Fauna lectures her.
"Yeah right!" She clearly doesn't believe the kirin. "Anyway, did you know the gestational period of a rat is only like, three weeks? And that rats have litters of around 6-9 children?" She chuckles at the figures—that's a couple Mom Points docked, you figure, for being so immature.
"Why do you know that?" you ask, confused. She blinks, stymied for a moment as red streaks onto her cheeks.
"Because I do, okay! That's not important!" she insists. "The point is, I am clearly the candidate who would be able to have the most children, therefore, I'm the best possible mother!"
"I dunno, Bae-Bae. Kronini could do that too, I think," Sana says, staring at the ceiling.
"What? Why are you bringing me into this?" Kronii asks, catching the mention of her name.
"I'm just saying, Kronini! I mean, you could probably use your time powers to accelerate your ovulation, or the growth of your children, right?" Sana asks, clearly enjoying flustering her.
"I wouldn't do that! For one, I don't even like kids!" she fires back, blushing furiously. You wince internally, reminded of the fact that you'll never get a chance to raise a child of your own. "And for two, it would hurt! A lot!"
"Oh, yeah." Baelz murmurs, as if she'd forgotten about it. "It does hurt when humans give birth, doesn't it?"
"Yeah!" Kronii agrees.
"That's not something you have to deal with, though," Fauna whispers, her voice still perfectly audible. "I mean, if one of us was to get pregnant, I could ensure you had a clean and painless birth." She releases her apple, and it bobs in the air beside her, a golden sheen coming from its skin.
"Oh! Thanks Fauna! So I'm still on top, then!" Baelz puffs out her chest again. Her smug face is extremely cute, making you want to pat her on the head. "See? I won before anybody else could even speak!"
"That's… At least let the other girls say their piece, okay?" you ask. Baels taps her foot, tilting her head.
"Fine, I guess. You'll realize I'm the best at the end, though!" She skips off towards her 'throne', a bit lower than the other girls' seats. It's secorated signifanctly more, though, bottles of cola and snacks against the side, along with a bunch of pillows to make the stone seat more comfortable.
Still, it takes her a moment to scramble up onto the seat, eventually managing to assume a position she must think looks intimidating, or judgemental.
"Alright, alright. Who's next?" she asks, knitting her fingers together like a movie villain.

A sigh. Fauna steps forward, her apple following behind her.
"This is kind of embarrassing, but… I'll go, I guess," she murmurs. "Ahem." She clears her throat, already blushing. "Um, do you mind if I only tell you, isnce you're the only judge?"
"Ah, sure." Her awkwardness was making you nervous now, and you have to keep your voice steady. "Whatever works.
"Hey, that's no fair!" Baelz interjects. "I said it all really loud!"
"You say everything really loud, Baelz," Kronii grumbles.
"Ahh, fair point." The rat nods, stroking her chin. "Okay, go ahead."
Fauna steps up to you, swallowing nervously. You can see the worry on her face, as she leans in, her lips practically brushing against your ear.
"The other girls always tease me for this, but, uh, a kirin is a symbol of fertility," she tells you, her breath hot on your skin. You can feel yourself blushing, now. "So, you know, my… my womb is always… prepared, for that kind of thing." She trails off a couple of times, her cheeks bright red. "And, uh, my apple, also has minor a-aphrodisiac effects, when pre-prepared a certain way."
"Okay." You gulp, swallowing audibly. "Is that all?"
"So," she starts, licking her lips nervously. Oh Christ. "I may not be as, um, fecund as Baelz, but any children I give birth to would be… really healthy. "
"I, uh, I see." You do your best to not feel the slight pressure of her chest on your arm. You were as stone. Unmoving, unfeeling. You would not be influenced by her body.
"Uh, well…" She steps back, thankfully. God, your heart felt like it was about to burst. She clears her throat, returning to a normal volume. "People tell me all the time I have a very… motherly demeanor, as well."
"R-right." That was more what you were expecting, rather than her telling you intimate details about her… private parts.
"Hey, what did you say to him?" Sana leans forward, eyes sparkling with curiousity. "Something naughty?"
"No!" The kirin nearly jumps out of her skin, glaring at her. "I didn't say anything p-perverted!"
"Better not have," Kronii mumbles, glaring at you. You sit up straight, trying not to look flustered.
"Whatever she said, it couldn't have been better than mine," Baelz shrugs, unconcerned.
"I didn't say anything weird!" Fauna whines, upset that they don't believe her as she retreats.
Her chair, as she sits back upon it, is entangled in vines—grape vines, it looks like. For a snack, you suppose. And, in contrast to Baelz's pile of pillows, Fauna's was decorated more sparsely.
A few cushions were laid upon the seat, and the back of the chair, in order to soften it, and there was a small blanket thrown over one of the arms—not big enough to cover her entirely, but more than enough to lay upon her legs if it was chilly. Kind of cute, really—like your grandma, if your grandma were… no, don't think about it.
"Ahem." The keeper clears her throat, knocking your thoughts away from that strangely erotic moment. "I think I'm done. Mumei, do you want to go next?"

"Ah, uh, sure." The owl girl's head pops up, and she gives you a faltering smile, hopping down from her seat. "I don't think I'll win, though."
"Meimei, you gotta be more confident!" Sana tells her, "C'mon! You can do it!" She pumps a fist, trying to transfer her fighting spirit to Mumei.
"R-right." She nods at you, pulling her cloak tighter around herself as her cheeks color. "Um, I'm sorry if this is… annoying, for you."
"It's fine," you lie. You know Kronii can return you to the same time you entered if it's a problem—it's not like there's anything you're missing.
"I-I made a list! Here." She clears her throat, opening her journal to one page. "Okay. First reason I'd be a good mom," she narrates. "Um, out of the five of us, I'm the only one who's ever had anything like a childhood."
"Excuse me?" You didn't quite understand that. Mumei jumps—interrupting her seems to have shocked her. "Sorry, I don't get it. Didn't all of you have a childhood?" you ask, looking around at the council.
"Nope!" Sana pops the P, sitting cross-legged now. "We were created by the gods in our current forms. We did spend a bit getting, uh, educated on our duties, but that was time-compressed, I think."
"Yeah." Kronii nods in agreement. "I've pretty much always looked like this," she shrugs. "Never saw much of a reason to change perfection, I guess." You smile despite yourself.
"And I wasn't made by the gods! I, uh, I think?" Mumei pauses, uncertain. Baelz gives her a thumbs up. "Right! I was formed from the will of humanity. So I spent a while, you know, not fully grown. While they were still… figuring things out."
"I see," you nod. You're not sure that it's comparable to a human childhood, but it was… more than the others you guess.
"Uh, number two! While I may not remember all of it, as the guardian of civilization I have access to the entirety of society's advancement through the ages. And I was there for most of it," she adds quickly, an ad-lib, given how she flicks her eyes away from her note pad. "So that means I would be really good at teaching kids!" She smiles, but still seems unsure.
"Okay." Unlike the other two, Mumei was… actually presenting points in a reasonable manner, which was refreshing.
"I also, uh…" her voice trails off as she flushes, looking at the next point. "I didn't write this!"
"Just say it!" Baelz tells her, razor-sharp teeth smiling down at the two of you. "Trust me!"
"O-okay." She swallows, gripping the notebook tightly. Her voice comes out as a choked whisper as she speaks. "I also, uh, have kn-knowledge of all the… s-sexual positions humans have invented." Her cheeks are as red as cherries at this point. "I-I don't know how that helps my case," she whispers to you, her voice nakedly honest.
"It really doesn't," you respond, in the same tone. "I think Baelz was just pranking you."
"Ugh!" She huffs, pouting. "Rude!" You hide a chuckle—the girl is quite adorable when she does that sort of thing.
"Yeah," you nod. "Was there anything else?"
"Oh. Uh, I did have a real third point, yeah." She clears her throat, but this point still seems to be somewhat embarrassing to her "Did you know that some species of owl mate for life? They form pair bonds just like many mammals, and even, uh, s-sing duets together at night." For some reason, that part seems to be more embarrassing than the idea of mating.
"I see." If you were actually trying to judge this, you're not sure if that fact would be earning her any points.
"Oh! And, uh, since B-Baelz mentioned it." Her voice drops to a whisper. "While I don't lay eggs—obviously!" she hisses at your uncertain look "Most owls lay at least 13 eggs each mating season. If you translate that to, uh, ovulation periods… and include the chance of s-superfetation…" She's flushed cherry-red again, bringing her notebook up to hide her face. "Nevermind! I shouldn't have said that!"
She beats a hasty retreat, returning to her seat, which was undecorated—instead, a bunch of books are stacked around the carved chair, and the back seems to have been worn down by the talons of birds as she seats herself on a worn, comfy-looking cushion, still stealing glances at you as you try to put that thought from your head.

"Guess I'm up, huh?" Sana stretched as she stood, arching her back slightly as a groan escaped her lips. "Nnah~!" It was undeniably erotic, and you feel your face grow heated.
She grins at you, as if she'd intended that, and skips towards you, bouncing in… multiple places as she did.
"Right." You meet her smile with one of your own as she comes to a stop. "So, what do you have?"
"A lot, actually!" The chocolate-skinned woman snaps her fingers, and a clipboard falls into her hands from nowhere. "I may not be as forthright as Faufau, or as creative as Kronini, but there are things I can do with my powers, too!" she tells you, noticing the surprise on your face.
"That's fine." You throw up a hand to stop her. "Please, continue."
"Right! Number one—I'm great with kids!" she starts, boasting proudly. "Even before I came to Earth, kids everywhere loved me!" She tosses a twintail behind her shoulder smugly. "Plus, I spent billions of years working in the Cosmic Nursery!"
Knowing her, that wasn't a metaphor—she literally shepherded the births of stars and 'raised them' over time.
"Hey! I'm great with kids too!" Baelz interjects, raising a sharp nail. "They love helping me prank people! And watching me blow things up!"
"Baelz, if anything that's worht negative points. You set a terrible example for children," Fauna huffs, crossing her arms.
"Rude!" the rat hissed. "They have fun! Which is the point! If Mumei can make her being good at teaching one of her good points, then I can make being good at just entertaining kids one of mine!"
"You're not really considering this, are you?" Fauna asks, her gaze pleading.
"That's my line, I think," Kronii sighs, still seeming impossibly bored. "This whole thing is still stupid, by the way."
"Two!" Sana spins on a heel, bringing the room's attention back to her "When I became an apostle of the Ancient Ones, I spent a while with them, helping their little ones! I have references if you'd like." She attemtps to pass you a paper filled with text that makes your mind scream, and you push it back. She clicks her tongue, but relents with a shrug.
"Sorry, that just… not a good idea." Being the only human in the room, there was no guarantee that any of them even knew that it would hurt you to read it.
"Fine, fine." She raises up three fingers, unrelenting. "Three! I'm really good at cleaning, since I can just dump all the trash into the nearest sun or black hole!" That's… certainly an ingenious method of removing waste. "It makes dealing with dirty diapers way easier!"
That was… actually practical? Were things turning around?
"And four! I can use my powers to keep dangerous stuff away from them!" She snaps her fingers, and a tiny hole opens up in reality, to some dimension beyond. That definitely wasn't a normal 'space' power, just from the vibes it was giving off. "It's a tiny pocket dimension! I could use it to store dangerous chemicals, like bleach and cleaning supplies that you need for, ya know, everyday stuff."
You nod, absorbing the information. Another practical point. While Fauna was a high bar to beat, with her naturally motherly demeanor and soothing personality, Sana was… actually coming close.
"Right. So you come highly recommended as a nanny and babysitter?" you ask, trying to get all of this into a normal frame of reference.
"I guess that would be how you'd put it?" She shrugs again, uncaring. "I dunno. My powers don't really have anything to do with having kids, unlike Faufau or Baebae." She snaps her fingers, as if remembering somehting. "Oh, but I have one more thing."
She leans in, waggling her eyebrows as she lifted her breasts, barely constrained by her leotard.
"When I was with the Ancient Ones, the goat lady I worked with always told me my breasts would be amazing for feeding babies," she tells you.
Oh, god. Now you were imagining Sana's naked breasts. Why did these girls have to torture you so?
"Wanna see?" she asks, a conspiratorial grin on her face as she made to slide her leotard aside.
"No!" you choke out, stumbling backwards. Sana just giggles, winking at you.
Clearly she never had any intention to actually do anything—she was just teasing you. You bite back a curse. Fucking hell, these women were going to be the death of you…
"How was that?" she asks, still grinning. "Did I make your heart race?"
"Go sit down," you sigh. She does, but you can tell she's hiding more giggles inside as she seats herself on the chair, cross-legged.
Sana's throne was significantly larger than the others—maybe somehtign to do with her limiter?—but otherwise similar, though one arm of the chair was covered in glitter from some incident, and the mixture of blue and pink pillows made it look a bit more 'psychadelic' than the others' choices.

"Are you finished now?" Kronii's gaze it cutting, passing over each council member in turn. "I've been waiting forever."
"No, we're not done yet!" Sana replies. "For one, Anon still has to make his judgement!" Right. The entire reason you were here to begin with. "Also, you haven't gone yet!"
"I'm not doing that," Kronii states through gritted teeth. "This whole thing is stupid and I'd rather be anywhere else right now. Preferably with my boyfriend." Another glare.
"Jeez, you're no fun sometimes." Baelz sighs, deflating into the huge pile of pillows that nearly drowned her seat.
"Come on, Kronii," Fauna pleaded. "It was really embarrassing to say all that for us, too—why not try it?"
"Seriously?" She looks down at you, expecting you to back her up. Then the other four look down at you, expecting you to back them up. You have to make a swift judgement. Which is worse—an angry Kronii, or an angry Baelz, Fauna, Mumei, and Sana?
You shrug up at her, upturning your hands. The numbers didn't lie. Also, you didn't want to wake up with bright pink hair again. She clicks her tongue at you, rolling her eyes.
"Fine. I'll make one point." She rises half-heartedly from her seat—unadorned and utilitarian, besides a single pillow—one you'd bought for her, you recall. You'd always wondered what happened to it. "He's definitely going to pick me anyways" she shrugs, like it's a foregone conclusion.
To be fair, she's probably right. You'd have to endure weeks of her complaining if you chose anybody else. Forget that she didn't want kids. Forget that she didn't like kids. She'd still moan about how little you valued her that you weren't willing to take her side in something like this, and you'd have to spend weeks cuddling and cooking and maybe buying her something nice in order to get her back to nromal.
She steps up to you without care, pulling you in close. You have to hold yourself back from swooning at the romantic energy she gives off.
"There's only one thing that matters when you're raising your child," she tells you, eyes locked on yours. "And that's time. How much time will you be able to spend with them? Can you be there for them every time they cry? Every time they laugh? Every time they succeed, or fail?"
"No, of course not." You respond automatically, as soon as she finishes speaking. Sometimes you find yourself shocked by how well Kronii's trained you.
"Exactly," she nods. "To be able to capture every single important moment in your childrens' lives… that's a luxury nobody else in this room can give you." Her lips quirk into a smile. "Only I can do that for you." Her fingers bursh a strand of hair behind your ear. "So I think the decision is obvious, isn't it?"
"That's cheating!" You're not sure who says that. Your focus is centered entirely on Kronii in that moment—on the shape of her lips, the glimmer in her eye.
"You'll pick me, won't you?" she asks, her tone husky as her breath brushes your ear. "I'll be sure to give you a very nice reward, if you do."
"That's double cheating!" A different voice from the first. "You can't abuse your relationship like that!"
And suddenly, she releases you. You're left swaying, dazed, as her scent, her presence, dissolves. She seats herself carefully, primly, and reclines against the bare stone.
"Good enough?" she asks, raising an eyebrow at Sana. In turn, she turns to you.
"I dunno. Do you think you can judge it now?" she asks. Five sets of eyes turn to you, each one carrying the weight of expectation.
"Yes. I'm ready to declare the winner." And go back home, honestly.

"Kronii wins," you say. There was really never any other choice. You'd already made the comittment to live with her—whether she wanted kids or not, she was the only one out of this group that you'd want to raise children with.
"Aw, c'mon!" Baelz collapses into her pillow pile, grumbling. Fauna clicks her tongue, glaring for only an instant before resolving her expression into something less disappointed. "That's definitely cheating! I heard her promise him a 'reward' if he picked her!"
"Leave it," Kronii says, shaking her head. While she doesn't show any expression on her face, you know her well enough to tell her moods by now, just by body language. She was happy you picked her, truly, but she couldn't show it in front of the others, after she'd made such a spectacle out of hating this.
"Tch." You shake your head. "What am I, Paris of Troy?"
"Ha!" Mumei lets out a single laugh, before blushing, when attention is turned her way.
"C'mon, let's go." Kronii reaches out a hand, and you take it, feeling suddenly content, even as the rat continues to grumble about how unfair it was.
You return at the same time you entered, your baby sister still sleeping peacefully. You envy her, a little bit.
Kronii takes you home—you drop your infant sister off on the way back, to the eternal thanks of your parents—and you drop onto the couch almost as soon as you're inside, exhausted from all that you've gone through.
"Hey." Kronii's offended tone makes you jump. Did you forget something? "Up, come on. I said you'd get a reward, didn't I?"
"Oh, right." What, like a massage, or something?
She leads you into the bedroom, and then unzips her skirt, lying back on the bed seductively.
"Like I said. I don't like kids. But for tonight…" She pulls you on top of her, her legs wrapping around your hips. "At least we can pretend."
Her voice fades into a sultry whisper, and a shiver runs down your spine.
"Get naked already. You're not sleeping tonight until you've bred me properly."

Edit Report
Pub: 08 Sep 2021 14:53 UTC
Edit: 10 Sep 2021 03:43 UTC
Views: 150