Home Sweet Home

Caspian feels his heart beat faster in his chest as he hugs Iris tighter to his chest. He may have just met Iris, but her beauty was captivating, with hair as dark as the night sky and sapphire blue eyes that seemed to complement each other well. Her strange attire and curious behavior just added to her charm. A powerful beastman like him could attract quite a few females, but despite how precious and rare females are in the beast world, none could grab his attention quite like the one in his arms now.

For Iris, familiarity was better than taking a chance on the unknown. So, she quickly wrapped her arms around Caspian's neck, hugging him to her, and declared

"I want Caspian to be my mate!"

James chuckled as he patted Caspian on the back.

"Well, you'll be in good hands. Caspian here is the strongest warrior in our tribe. I'll let the two of you get settled in."

With that James went into the cave, leaving only Oliver standing there with us.

"Be sure to collect enough food for the little female before the cold season starts. If she falls sick you know where my cave is."

The witch doctor turned to head into the cave, but Caspian reached out a hand to stop him.

"Wait, Oliver. My female wanted to ask you about some herbs."

Oliver made a surprised look as he turned to look at Iris.

"Are you sick, little female?"

Iris gave an awkward cough as she cleared her throat embarrassedly.

"Um, no..... I was wondering if you have any edible herbs?"

Oliver thought for a moment before answering hesitantly.

"Well, yes..... many herbs are brewed into medicine that you drink. Only a few are used by applying them to wounds."

Iris had learned a lot about various herbs from her world and knew that many were used as medicine in the past or in Chinese medicine. Thus, she was hopeful she might find some herbs and spices among Oliver's medicinal herbs.

"Would it be okay if we stop by later and take a look at what herbs you have?"

Oliver nods in agreement before bidding farewell. Caspian then headed into the cave entrance. Inside, Iris was surprised by how much it reminded her of an ant colony. The entrance was part of a large passage through the mountain. From there you could see smaller paths branching off with caves built into them.

Caspian brought Iris deep into the mountain until they came to a small cave. Caspian set Iris down inside the cave and declared,

"This is our home. It is a bit smaller than the caves most females prefer to live in, but I can expand it to meet your preferences."

The cave was certainly small with only a single medium-sized room. A few hides made up a bed on the floor and a few large pieces of dried meat lay in another part of the room.

Most of the cave system was fairly dark other than some algae that grew along the walls and gave off a dim glow. Caspian's home was not much different and was also quite dark. For someone not from the beast world with no night vision, it was painfully dark.

Very few caves had privacy. Doors simply weren't a thing and only a few beast families bothered to use beast hides as a curtain above their doors. As Caspian had been a bachelor up until now, he was among the many who did not bother with the additional privacy.

"Right now, I'll be your only mate but, as you get more mates and you have cubs, we can add onto the house more. For now, just let me know what you need to be comfortable."

Iris couldn't even imagine the practical details of how to arrange a house in a non-monogamous relationship. Still, starting by arranging the house in a way that resembled those from her world seemed like a good start.

Iris decided to expand the size of the first room to nearly double its original size. She felt it best to use it for everyday activities such as entertaining guests, eating, etcetera. Next, she had Caspian make a medium room for a bedroom, a medium room for a kitchen, and a small room for a bathroom. She also had Caspian build a basement cellar under the kitchen for food storage.

Watching Caspian turn into his beautiful snow-white wolf and carve out the walls with his sharp claws was impressive. She didn't know how he would go about reshaping the cave but watching him do so with ease, she was highly impressed.

Caspian had no clue what all the various rooms were for and just happily did as Iris instructed. When she was describing the cellar and explained its use, he was quite surprised. He'd never seen anyone else build multi-story housing before.

"Why do we need all these extra rooms? Are you planning to take that many mates this cold season?"

Iris turned bright red and slapped Caspian on the arm, embarrassed.

"No! I don't plan to accept mates so easily as all that. You're the only one I plan to mate with right now."

Caspian just chuckled at his shy female amusedly.

"Okay, it'll be as you say. Why all the rooms then? Even cubs would not need more than a single extra room."

Before Caspian could embarrass her any further, Iris rushed to explain

"This large room is the main room for everyday activities like eating and entertaining guests. This medium room is a bedroom for sleeping, this medium room is a kitchen for cooking, the room below it is a cellar for storing food, and this small room is a bathroom."

Caspian had never heard of most of these things. Beasts didn't have names for their rooms, nor did they organize them by activity.

"What is a bathroom for?"

Iris looked away embarrassedly

"It's for cleaning yourself and excreting."

Caspian looked extremely confused at this.

"We do that outside. It'll make the house smell if you do that inside."

Iris sighs, a bit frustrated by how embarrassing explaining everything is and concerned that her strange behavior will cause her issues.

"In the cold season, it isn't good to go outside too much. If we build a Toilet, we can use the bathroom indoors and go outside to dispose of it as necessary."

Caspian wasn't sure what a toilet was but figured he could build anything so long as his mate told him what to do. Thus, he decided to ask about the other thing he was confused about.

"Okay. What is cooking, though?"

Iris blinked her eyes at Caspian with a blank look on her face.

"Does your tribe not cook their meat with fire? I have to eat cooked meat not raw or else I'll get sick and die."

Caspian began to panic. He rushed towards Iris and grabbed her by her arms as he peered down at her, concerned.

"Fire is dangerous, many beasts have died from it. Must you use fire? Will you really die without it?"

Iris steeled her nerves. She knew fire was known to be feared in primitive societies, but it was definitely a necessity of life for her.

"Yes, I have to eat cooked food. Don't worry, though, I know how to safely use fire. As long as you don't treat fire recklessly it can be quite safe to use."

Caspian was afraid of fire, but he was more concerned about properly taking care of his female. Thus, he decided he was willing to take the risk for her.