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It didn’t stop Ingram, though.

Whenever he wasn’t facing Emerie expectantly, he was staring at one of the baby Duskwalkers with his head tilting and twitching. If his tail was around her wrist or ankle, it’d curl tighter. That, or she’d feel him tense. He would also do it whenever the other couple were sweet to each other, and his orbs would change to a bright green.

He was jealous.

No matter what he wanted, he’d never get what they had from Emerie. If he tried to push it on her, she knew she would break and that wasn’t fair on him. Her past choices shouldn’t impact him, or his life, and it just made her acutely aware that she needed to draw a line in the sand between them.

No, not just a line, an entire field.

It’d been less than two days since they’d arrived in the Veil, and already she was antsy about going after the Demon King and ending all this. Either she would die, or they would be successful, and she’d ask to be dropped off at the nearest village or town.

They were her plans... even if it wasn’t what her heart was telling her she wanted.

Ingram tightened his tail on her again, and she looked up from the table towards Mayumi in the kitchen. Her pulse raced with urgency.When will dinner be ready?

The quicker it was over, the quicker she could go hide.

If she fell asleep before Ingram could even enter the tent, maybe she could avoid him touching her intimately. She wouldn’t deny him the comfort he sought by lying down next to her to relieve the wallowing loneliness that obviously ate him up inside. It was also why she hadn’t kicked his tail away when she desperately wanted to for her own self-preservation. And because she secretly knew, deep down inside, she pathetically craved it too.

She knew she liked Ingram on a level that no human probably should. Which was becoming easier to deal with now that she understood she wasn’t alone in developing feelings for a Duskwalker. Hard not to when she’d met three other women who had fallen for their own.

She wasn’t the only one that craved touching them, learning them, pleasuring them, just so they could do so in return. Just the thought had her nipples pebbling for it against her will, despite her despondent emotions.

However, if Ingram wanted a life like theirs, she just wasn’t the human for him then.

She was sure he could find a new one, a better one. One that wasn’t broken in more ways than she could count. He could use all that she’d taught him to not make mistakes and frighten them, not that Emerie minded any of the times he’d accidentally hurt her or frightened her.

At least she was setting him up for a brighter future, she hoped.Just one I probably won’t be a part of.

Gosh, why did that make her want to tear up?

“Emerie, if you are cold, I can warm you,” Ingram offered when he noticed her shiver. He placed his big hand over her left thigh.

For some reason, her scars were more sensitive, and she was more self-conscious of them than ever before.

“No, I’m okay,” she assured.

She wasn’t shivering because she was cold. She was trembling because her mind wouldn’t shut the fuck up and she wished it would stop pestering her. She wanted to enjoy her time in this warm house, filled with lovely people.

Stop pressuring me,she silently begged at him.

He didn’t mean to. He was just showing he cared, but right now, she felt like an imposter. She was worried she was going to hurt him, whether it be now or in the future, and the guilt of it was already making her skin itch.

Then, to make matters worse, Faunus approached Mayumi from behind while she was stirring something in a frypan. He licked the side of her neck while asking her what she was making, not that he was going to eat it, and placed his hand on her shoulder to bring her closer.

One of their children crawled off her and onto his hand.

At first, when Emerie had met Mayumi and her family, she had thought she was a cold mother to them. She hadn’t held them, and only let them walk over her when Faunus was nearby.

It was only partway through today, after she and Emerie had spoken and grown a little closer, that Mayumi’s affection with them changed. She held them, spoke to them even though they would never be able to understand, and even openly snuggled with them.

It was totally different to the already hard and abrasive personality Emerie could see she had.

It eventually dawned on her that Mayumi had been distant with them due to Ingram and Emerie’s presence, keeping her precious children with the parent that could protect them best: Faunus. Before today, they’d still been strangers. They had been threats to their family.

She’d given up her precious time with them for their safety.

Emerie watched as Faunus moved away from Mayumi. He only made it about three steps before her head perked up.