Right to a Bear's Arms, Ch. 10 (Patreon)

The ringing of a phone stirred Kelin from his slumber.  It wasn't so much actual ringing, but actually a dial-tone version of Carol of the Bells.  Rising groggily from his pillows of bountiful bear bosom, he fumbled blindly at the coffee table until his hand landed on top of his vibrating cell.  

His vision was blurry; the doctor had warned him about going to sleep in his contacts, so easy to remember now as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes.  His movements disturbed his bed/bedmate, and he winced, freezing still as Hera grumbled beneath him on the couch.  He slid off of her as gently as possible, still rubbing at his crusty eyes and walking to the bathroom quickly but quietly.

Once inside the room, he slid the green phone icon on the screen up and focused his eyes enough to read who was calling him, as well as the time. 6:45 AM.  "Mom?" he asked groggily.  Only then did he realize that it wasn't just a phone call, but a video as well.  The grainy image of his mother appeared on the screen, badly pixelated before it cleared up enough to see her more clearly. Somehow, despite it being so early, she had full makeup and such already done.

"Good morning Kelin!" she proclaimed in her brightest, singsong voice.  Her blonde hair was done up into several braids, and she wore her work smock overalls over a striped red and white shirt.  "How's my Mozart?!"

Sighing deeply, he cleared his throat and gave a retort of "F~ine mother~..." pitching his voice to match a descending musical scale.  The tiny ritual was something they had developed when he was just a kid and first got into music.  "How are you to~day?"  This time he made his voice go up the scale, and secretly he hoped that Hera never got to hear him do so.  While fun to do while growing up, he would absolutely die of embarrassment if his friends heard him doing it.

His mother beamed happily and nodded.  "Do~ing just fine as well~" she said, lilting her voice to do the same, first going down the scale, and then ascending as she continued speaking.  "How is your schoolwork go~ing?"

Shaking his head, and fishing for an eye boogie with his pinkie finger, he couldn't help but smile at his mother's energy.  "It's going just fine mom.  Exams aren't for a while and I have all my editing projects done ahead of time, just like usual."

She nodded, seemingly content with their game having been wrapped up.  "And your essays?"

"Nearly finished."  She gave him a searching, skeptical look that made him immediately give her a defensive scowl in return.  "They are!"

"Mhmm..." she hummed doubtfully.  "Not slacking off are we?"

He grimaced back at her, a face she returned, which was one of the reasons why that, despite normal stereotypes about not getting along with one's parents, he couldn't help but be usually happy around his.  They had raised him to be fun-loving, accepting, goofy, and loving.  "Oh yeah mom, I'm out at orgies all the time and drinking half the night away."

She shook her head gravely.  "Shame, I liked you.  Guess I have to start over again."  She chuckled and he couldn't help joining in.  She stared a bit more intently at the screen, eyes flicking left and right, and he abruptly felt a gripping sense of being scanned.  His mother had an eye for spotting things, which made it hard to hide anything.  "That doesn't look like your apartment."

His stomach tightened a bit for some reason and he nervously chuckled.  "Oh...yeah.  I'm at a friend's place."

"You? Staying over at a friend's house?" she asked skeptically.  "The shut-in child who hid behind me when the neighbors would come over?  Just a few months ago you were saying 'Oh no mom I don't have time for hanging out, I have all this school work to deal with.  'I hang out when I'm at the gym'."  She cocked her legendary eyebrow, and then her crystal blue eyes widened.  "Kelin, sweetie! What happened to your face?!"

He winced again.  Right.  The bandage.  It must have come off while he was sleeping or something.  The stitches on his face were mostly covered by his hair but he sighed and combed his black tresses to the side and showed her the cuts.

"What on earth happened?!" she demanded worriedly, bright eyes wide and her hair frizzing up.  "Did someone hurt you?  Are those claw marks?" she started to look stormy, her Viking heritage flaring up.  She would have looked completely at home in a shield wall with an axe.  "Why didn't you call?"

He waved her away quickly.  "Mom, mom!" he attempted to soothe hurriedly and a bit louder than he'd intended, then winced and glanced behind him.  He closed the bathroom door with a foot quietly, then took a seat on the edge of the enormous bathtub.  "It's fine, it's ok."

"My baby boy's face looks like a piece of carved beef flank and you're telling me it's fine?" she demanded angrily.

"They're just scratches mom!" he stated a bit more forcefully and then sighed, rubbing at his face.  He looked back up at the phone then, his mom's furiously worried expression staring back.  "If it had been serious, I would have called you, Dad, or Uncle Rolf.  You know that."

She nodded but her angry tears still gleamed on the screen.  "And how did these scratches happen?"

He looked up at the ceiling.  "It's a long story mom...remember that...girl?  The one I told you about?"

His mother thought about it and then nodded.  "The one from the gym?  The...whatsit...Ursid?  She did that?"

"No!" he snapped angrily before he could reign in that word, then winced at his mother's surprise and his own volume.  "No, mom," he amended, going quieter.  "It's complicated...I'll just start at the beginning.  So we all go out to this karaoke club in the middle of the city..."

***

A few minutes later, he was wrapping up.  "And after we burned a few letters, we ended up passing out together on her couch.  Clothed!" he pointed right at the screen, forestalling any snickering or judgment from his mother.  With a woman like her, you never truly knew.  "And now...here we are.  I am really sorry I didn't call you about any of this but it all kind of happened a bit too fast and I had to make sure she was okay."  He looked down from the phone and he flushed.  

"I...really really like her Mom.  More than I've liked anyone else ever except for Christine.  She's special to me, and at first I thought I was just trying to look out for her, keep her from falling into that dark place where I was before...but then...I guess along the way..."  He shook his head, flushed slightly.  "And when those guys were shouting and shoving her, I reacted without thinking.  I wasn't going to stand there and let someone so brave and who meant so much to me be treated like that."

His mom was quiet for a while, having sat down in one of her lawn chairs.  She had stayed silent the whole way through his explanation, nodding a lot, and finally now that he was done, she took a deep sigh.  "I had no idea things were this serious..." She wiped at her eyes.  "I'm really...really proud of you baby."  She smiled, then sighed again.  "I don't know I would have handled that any way close to how you did, pressing charges at the very least, but maybe you did what was best."  She seemed to grapple with something, eyeing him warily, but knowing her, she was just going to ask anyways.  "And there aren't any issues to you about...your differences?"

"No," he stated just as firmly as the previous time, albeit quieter.

She nodded, seeming pleased.  "Good.  I didn't raise you to be like all these idiots out nowadays.  If this is what you want, we are all behind you, 100%."

"Thanks, mom," he grinned softly.  His eye watered then and he winced, standing up and putting down the phone.  "H-hold on mom," he let out, hearing her speak, and he hurriedly extracted one of his contacts.  It had folded over from being dried out overnight, and it took a few tries to get it out.  Only after he had finally extracted the satanic little disk did he stand up s

traight, only to drop it on the floor.  "One sec," he asked, bending down to retrieve it.  He finally found the sticky plastic lens, and proceeded to wash it off in the sink before he shrugged and pulled out his portable contacts case, took out his other one, and let them soak in the cleaning solution he always brought with him.  He fished out his glasses from another pocket, protected by a shatter-proof case.  They were a simple, black-framed pair, and he put them on, blinking as his vision had to adjust for a second.  "Okay, sorry mom, I'm back.  What were you saying?" he asked, as he plucked his phone back up.

His mom's image went a bit static as she came back into focus, and her words were garbled.  "Back...home..." he heard her say.

Kelin frowned.  "Mom, I can't hear you, speak up.  Are you out in your shop again?"

Her image cleared up and she looked irritated.  "Stupid piece of technology..." she muttered.  "Kelin, sweetie, are you still here?"

"Yeah mom," he responded with a chuckle, sitting back down on the edge of the tub.  "Still here.  What were you saying?"

"Oh right," she hummed, distractably, smoothing her hair down a bit, as it had a habit of frizzing up when she was stressed.  "Your father and I wanted you to come home."

His chest lurched.  "Come home?  Why?  Mom if this is about the scratches I thought I explained..."

She waved him away quickly.  "No, no sweetie."  She said to placate him, and then her eyes became mischievous.  While usually a walking, talking personification of Freyja from Norse mythology, there was sometimes a bit of Loki about the woman.  "There's something coming up..." her voice had become melodious again.  "And you know what it is~"

His face went white and he shook his head rapidly.  "Mom, no, please don't say what you're about to say..."

She threw one hand up high above her head.  "It's your birthday party!  No buts!" she stated then sternly, pointing a finger at the screen with all the fire of the Goddess of War.  "We know it's only a couple of days away, and arranging transportation is always tricky.  Would you rather take a train, a bus, or a plane?"

His stomach dropped and he groaned, hiding his face in his hand.  "...not a plane..." he groaned finally, knowing from experience that there was no winning in this fight.  "You know I hate flying..."

"Oh!  That's right, Hawaii..." she winced.  "Well in that case, how about..."

A knock came at the bathroom door and Kelin jumped.  "Kelin?" came Hera's voice.  "Who are you talking to?"

"Uhhh..." he let out too quickly before he had a good answer, and then, thinking about all of the possible things he could say, he just sighed, hung his head, and decided on the truth.  "My mom."  Standing, he walked over to the door and opened it, phone on the counter.  Hera stood there, fur bunched up and fluffier than usual, eyes blinking slowly.  She yawned cavernously, showing off her long rows of teeth.  "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

She shook her head sleepily and leaned down to lick his cheek once as if still in a daze.  His face burned pleasantly.  "Is all right," she grunted as she scratched at her still exposed belly.  She took a double-take at him then, eyebrows furrowing. "...when did you start wearing glasses?"  She shook her head.  "You said mom?  She still on phone?  Do I need to go wait elsewhere?"

He started to answer, before his mother abruptly shrieked from the phone, "No you do not! His mother would very much like to meet you!"  He winced and palmed his face.  "Kelin, come pick me up!" she demanded, voice excited. "I wanna meet her!"

"One...second..."  All abruptly and completely at once, Kelin was suddenly exhausted, slouching over to pluck up the phone.  "Mom?" he asked, making sure her connection had not interrupted them, and when he saw her energetically waving, he sighed and ushered Hera over.  The Ursid leaned over, nearly bending in half, and looked over his shoulder with interest at the screen.  Her long, messed up silver hair cascaded down his shoulder in a soft, silken torrent.

"Hello, Mrs. Leod," Hera gave politely with a wide smile.

His mother visually gaped up at them through the camera.  "Oh gods in Asgard..." he heard her mutter softly and then her smile went twice as radiantly wide.  "You are so pretty!  Hi!  Good morning!  Uhh...privyet?"  She stumbled over the simple greeting in Russian.  "Kelin talks about you so much!"

"He does, does he?" she teased, voice turning smug and she glanced down at Kelin's furiously flushed face.  "It very nice to meet you as well!" She abruptly plucked the phone from Kelin's hand with a claw and stood back up to her full height, easily holding him off with the other paw.  "And I can see where he is getting the world's most beautiful eyes."

"Aww, well aren't you just sweet as honey-mead!" he heard his mother exclaim.  "Oh yes, he talks about you nonstop, every time we talk on the phone.  Endlessly praising you!"

"I am not!" Kelin denied, face bright red and furiously trying to lean up and take his phone back from Hera, who was beaming down at him.  "Mother, you shut your Ginnungagap mouth right now!"

Hera abruptly leaned down and kissed him full on the mouth, silencing him and nipping at his lip once.  "Quiet Kelin," she told him sweetly.  "Big girls are talking."  She leaned up from Kelin's stammering and flustered face.  He heard his mother guffaw loudly.

"Oh I like you already!"

"I am most pleased," Hera giggled, wiggling her ears and leaning against her bathroom counter.  "So, what was this I heard about birthday?"

Kelin froze and he glared up at Hera, and then at his phone.  "Mom, don't you dare..." he started to say, but he was talked over by his mother.

"Oh didn't you know?" she exclaimed too swiftly for him to say anymore.  "Kelin's birthday is in a few days and we wanted him back home to celebrate!  His family will all be here; me, his father, his uncle Rolf, his cousins, and his younger sister!  We were just discussing how to get him here.  He hates flying by plane so we were figuring on maybe a train.  Hey..." she paused dangerously and Kelin's stomach clenched in fear.  "Why don't you come with?!"

It was Hera's turn to flinch a bit, losing her teasing, superior air.  "Oh, Mrs. Leod that is very generous, but I would not want to intrude on family..."  Kelin sighed in relief, and she glanced down at him in worry.  Shit, that wouldn't sound great.

His mother scoffed.  "Oh nonsense, we would adore having you!" The Ursid beamed  delightedly.  "And who is this Mrs. Leod?  You can call me Ingrid!  I won't take no for an answer."  Her tone had become motherly and firm.

Kelin was quick to interject, "Mom, I'm sure Hera might be busy, right?" he looked up at her, who seemed if anything thankful.

"Oh...uhh...yes.  Much to do around here," she stammered out lamely.  She apparently had a horrible poker face despite that she rarely showed much physical emotion.

He heard his mother make her usual, lie-detecting sound of "Mmmm~hmmm..." before she just laughed.  "I won't hear another word about it, we are all dying to meet this girl that our little Kelin loves to go on and on about.  It would mean so much to all of us to have you here.  Won't you consider it?"  She must have turned on her pleading eyes, because Hera's ears folded back and she looked back down at Kelin, mouthing 'Help me', and turning the phone away from her to do so.

Kelin groaned and rubbed at his face, moving his glasses to do so.  "She's set her mind on it..." he grumbled.  "You either say yes, or she shows up in a longship with half the clan to abduct you..."  The Ursid arched an eyebrow down at him as if asking 'Seriously?' and he just nodded.  He smiled slightly then, face flushed for a whole different reason.  "If you want to...I can't think of a better birthday than one I got to spend with you."

The bear's face broke slowly from its worrying grimace and turned into a soft smile to match his own.  She lifted the phone again.  "I...would be happy to come then," she announced.  Her other paw reached down and grasped his hand wordlessly.  "Would it be easier if I drive us up?"

"Oh, only if you really want to!" he heard his mother say happily.  "We would have bought you both a ticket, but I suppose we could just reimburse you for the gas if you prefer.  No objections, a guest at the Leod Hall is a guest well taken care of."

"Leod Hall?" Hera whispered down at Kelin.

"We take our Scandinavian and Norse heritage very seriously," he sighed.  "Praise Tyr..." he half-heartedly made the upwards arrow sign on his right arm, then rolled up his shirt hem to show her the tattoo of the One-Armed God of Justice's symbol inked onto his ribs.  "Just go with it."

"Then I shall arrive with axe and drinking horn prepared," Hera chuckled down at him, eyes lingering on his exposed abs, before turning back to the phone.  "Skol!"  Kelin blinked in surprise.

His mother was silent for a second and then her voice came out, honey-thick and pleased.  "Oh I really like you..." she said dangerously.  "It would be best then if you're going to drive that you arrive in the next day or so!  Kelin can give you directions.  Bye baby!" she shrieked the last part, despite that they were all in the same room.

"Bye mom..." he muttered, and as the phone call disconnected, he hung his head in his hands and removed his glasses.  He sighed, loudly enough that it echoed around the room, before he put his glasses back on and looked up at Hera, face flushed.  "Sorry...about all of...that."

She was staring down at him with a mixed expression on her face, eyebrow arched.  She slowly put down the phone and crossed her arms.  She tapped one long clawed finger on her bicep, cocking her head to the side and her ears perking up.  A slow smile spread across her muzzle, and he could abruptly smell her Aggression spike up a little.  He met her eyes a little worriedly.

"You look good in glasses," she announced eventually.  It took him quite by surprise.  "Why you not wear them more often?"

He flushed a bit and then coughed.  "Because I prefer my contacts.  You can do more in them, and these fog up if I wear them outside and its raining."  He took them off and smiled up at her then incredibly blurry shape.  "Also, my eyes are my best feature."

She growled softly and he squinted up at her, only to not need to really see as she leaned down and lifted his shirt up again to inspect his tattoo.  The tips of her claw traced the simple design.  "And tattoos...how many other secrets you keeping from me?" she asked, growling softly.  "Do I need to strip search you, my little human?  What other lovely surprises in store for me?"

He flushed abruptly more and put his glasses back on, only to find her barely a few inches from his face.  "Uhhh, Hera?" he asked, to which she responded with an innocent-sounding 'Hmm?'.  "Are you really okay driving up with me to my family for my birthday?"

She smiled then, leaning back up to her full height and retracting her paw from his shirt.  "Of course.  Nervous...a little."  She looked away, crossing her arms again and chewing on her bottom lip.  "But sounds like fun.  Why, you not wanting me to while mother not on phone?  I can make excuse, last minute therapy thing"

Kelin chuckled and put his glasses back on, adjusting them with his thumb.  "Like I said, I can't imagine a better birthday present than being with you.  But this is literally me giving you an out.  I can't guarantee you won't take one look at my crazy family and run away screaming."

The Ursid rolled her eyes and sank down onto her knees in front of him, still more than eye-level with him while seated.  Her paws crossed atop of his knees and she leaned her wide forehead against his.  He sighed, smiling, and closed his eyes, enjoying the simple warmth and feel of her there.  She said nothing, just letting the silence speak for itself.

He breathed deeply of her smell, sighing eventually.  "Fine...but you've been officially warned."  He opened his eyes, staring at her big, white-furred head and then down at her paws balanced atop of one another while still both lightly gripping his legs.  "So...what now?" he asked.

She smiled, leaning slowly back from him.  One of her paws lifted, slid along his cheek, as if trying to memorize the feeling of it, and her bright eyes flicking back and forth across his face.  She lingered for just a second, then sniffed, stood quickly and abruptly turned away, wiping at her eyes with a paw.  He looked up at her worriedly, and she seemed to notice.  

"Do not be minding me..." she half-chuckled as she spoke.  "Had dream just before waking up; you were not there.  Was worried that last night was all dream too."  She shook her head, then eyed her hair.  She grimaced and said something vaguely familiar in Russian, which he assumed meant something like 'mother of god', before she turned to look back down at him.  "For now, I am needing quick shower, and then we pack."

He chuckled and nodded.  "I'll go wait out in the living room," he spoke while standing up, and then met Hera's twinkling eyes.  "What?" he asked, half wary half amused.

"You not wanting to stay for show?" she asked teasingly, and he swear he saw her eyes literally flash a brighter, more feral yellow.

He gave her a look.  "Of course I do," he said and she blinked, then smiled, ears folding down.  "But, A, I doubt this is the last time you're going to try and tempt me, because B, is it wrong to want the first time I see the literal perfection of you unclothed to be special?"

Hera looked away from him, smiling.  "Not wrong, but I flirt when not sure what to do or say.  Also when happy.  Like I am now."  She shrugged softly and she eyed herself in the mirror again.  "Are you...really happy with me?" she asked quietly.  "I am not needing grand, sweeping romantic gesture.  Just yes, or no."

"Of course I am."

"Good." Her yes sparked and she hurriedly cleared her throat.  "Wait for me on couch, okay?  I shower, pack, we go to your place for same, we grab bite to eat, and then we hit the road.  I am...excited."

"Excited?" he asked, chuckling even as he took a few steps towards the door.  He watched her lean into her admittedly massive shower, which had no door and instead a simple glass wall and a rainforest head, to turn the water on.  It was a separate thing from her raised bathtub, which honestly could have been classified as a large-sized jacuzzi.  

It was easy to forget that not only was she a large Anthro, but all of her household appliances, and even rooms, had to be sized for her as well.  Several humans could have lived in this apartment happily with room to spare, from what he had seen barely of the multiple bedrooms and expanded living area/kitchen.

"First road-trip with my boyfriend!" she teased, flicking water at him from her paw.  "Now go, before I pull you in with me."  She made a sudden small lunge at him, growling, and he hurriedly rushed out of the bathroom.  He heard her laughing heartily as he closed the door, his face blazing with heat and his cheeks aching from how much he was smiling.

Hera was right, this really was just like a dream.  He hoped he didn't have to wake up from it anytime soon, or ever.