Beastly Roommates Ch. 03: Her Father

I'd like to thank everyone for their kind and encouraging words on part 2. I'd also like to congratulate Redneck_390 for correctly identifying David playing Borderlands 2 in the last installment!

Chapter 1

I took a deep breath as I walked into the apartment. While I was at work Ruth must have turned the heat down because it was really cold!

"I'm home," I announced when she wasn't in the front room. Movement could be heard from the bedroom, and a couple seconds later the door opened. Ruth's normally well brushed hair was a tangled mess and was only wearing her underwear. That wasn't like her, and even if it was I had no idea how she wasn't freezing. Even when just around the apartment she normally at least wore one of her nightgowns.

"Hello, David." After having gotten used to her almost exclusively calling me 'dear' or 'darling' I almost winced at how formal she sounded. She'd started acting distant and agitated a couple days before, and it seemed to be getting worse. Regardless I approached her intending to kiss her 'hello,' but when I got to the doorway she stepped back and adopted a very standoffish posture. With a sigh I backed away too. I was about to ask what was wrong for the dozenth time, but remembering how she snapped at me the last time I stopped myself. Instead I took the conversation into a different, but also slightly hazardous direction.

"Do you mind if I go to the range with Tom tonight," I asked.

"That would be fine," she answered curtly, though I was relieved that at least she didn't seem to be bothered by my choice of activity.

"Want me to pick you up something to eat on the way home?"

"That would be appreciated." I was glad that she at least had an appetite. Though if anything, it seemed like she was eating more than usual!

"Does something sound good in particular?"

"No, anything's fine," she answered, shaking her head.

"Ok then. I'm gonna head out after getting cleaned up." We both turned away and she went back into the bedroom while I went to the bathroom to take a shower.

After washing I spent only a few minutes in the bedroom getting dressed, and Ruth just laid on the bed reading. We didn't really say anything other than 'bye' when I left the room.

Entering the spare room I opened up the gun safe. I passed over my usual carry revolver and instead pulled out my largest handgun, one that I bought years ago on a whim. Chambered in .454 Casull, it was even more powerful than the infamous .44 magnum and could put down just about anything walked on land. Tom nicknamed it The Beast when I got it and the name stuck. With a sigh I strapped the massive hunk of steel and its holster to my belt, stuffed a couple boxes of ammo in my backpack along with my .22 revolver for warming up, and headed out.

When I got to the shooting range Tom's car was already in the parking lot. I headed inside and he was at the counter buying a couple boxes of range ammo. We greeted each other briefly as I walked up and paid for the lane rental.

"Hey, how ya doing?" He asked as we headed back.

"Alright, I guess."

"Alright? Ruth still acting weird?"

"Yeah..." I answered under my breath.

"I still think it's probably that time of the month."

"We've been living together for almost a year and she's never been like this before."

"Have you asked her directly?" I snorted.

"Yeah, and she almost bit my head off last time!" I exclaimed.

"Maybe you could see if your sister has any ideas." I stroked my chin for a second.

"You know, that's not a bad idea. I'll give her a call on the way home." I put on my safety glasses and hearing protection and that was the end of the conversation.

We shared a lane like we usually did. He watched my form while he reloaded his magazines, and while he shot I watched his. It worked well for us.

I put up a couple of targets side-by-side, one for each of us, and sent them out to ten yards to start. I pulled out my little .22 to warm up with while Tom loaded up some of the target rounds he bought at the counter.

By the time he was ready to shoot I'd loaded up and shot two cylinders. My grouping was about two inches across and pulling to the right about an inch. It wasn't bad, but not up to my personal standards for that distance, especially with how easy the .22 was to shoot!

"You're jittery. Take a few breaths before your next round," critiqued Tom as he stepped past me.

He squeezed off his first shot and to my surprise it hit about two inches below the bull's eye! While I was normally better at skeet shooting than him, Tom was an incredible marksman with a handgun!

He popped off the rest of the magazine and I was shocked to find that I'd shot better than him!

"Your grouping's a little loose. What's going on?" I asked while he reloaded.

"I dunno," he grunted, before taking aim again. He shot his second mag with roughly the same results as the first. He left his gun on the firing bench but brought his magazines back behind the firing line to reload them while I walked back up to take my turn. I loaded the.22 again and took a couple deep breaths like Tom had suggested before firing. The results were a little better than the first round and I decided it was time to get down to business. I drew The Beast and loaded it with target round. After taking a couple more deep breaths I carefully squeezed the trigger.

BOOOOOOM

The rest of the range went quiet as the thunderous shockwave echoed through the room.

"That never gets old." Chuckled Tom and after a few seconds of silence everyone else started shooting again. I looked at my target and was pleased that despite the ferocious recoil my shot was pretty good.

BOOOM

BOOOOOOM

I cranked off a couple more and was satisfied that while my accuracy wasn't perfect, it was definitely serviceable. I fired the last three shots and pulled the target in. Somehow I managed to shoot better than with my .22 ! My grouping was around and inch and a half at it's widest point, and the furthest one was only an inch below the center ring.

I set up another target, sent it out to 20 yards, and after reloading I shot off another cylinder with similar results. I glanced back at Tom, who had finished reloading.

"That was a bit better," he said as we swapped placed again. He shot the contents of his magazines, but still wasn't shooting up to par. Unfortunately I didn't really see anything wrong with his form either, so I couldn't give any pointers!.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked when he came back to reload again.

"Yeah, I've just got something on my mind." He said. "I'll tell you about it later." I just shrugged.

The rest of the range time went similarly. I tested my level of accuracy at several different ranges and was pretty happy with the results. Tom, on the other hand, seemed to be having issues. His groupings were loose and he had a quite a few 'fliers.'

"So, you don't normally bring the big boy out, what's the occasion?" He asked once we were done and leaving the range.

"You remember me telling you that we were going to see Ruth's dad?"

"You expected it to go that badly, huh?" Tom said with a laugh.

"Nah, I couldn't bring myself to pull it on him, but I wouldn't want to be helpless if we happen run into some other bull that takes exception to us." He stopped laughing and took on a thoughtful expression.

"Makes sense."

"I'd rather it stay on my hip..."

"I'll bet," Tom grunted in agreement as we reached his car and he put his gear in the back seat.

"What about you? You said there was something on your mind."

"You're gonna laugh..." I snorted out a chuckle.

"With an intro like that, I'm already laughing!"

"Ok, fine!" Tom rolled his eyes. "You remember when we went to Serafina's for lunch a while back?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I've been back a few times..." I looked at him curiously.

"Ok, why?"

"Well..." he glanced away and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I went to go see Alice..." It took me a second to realize who he was talking about, but eventually it clicked and my eyes shot wide open!

"You mean the waitress?"

"Uhh, yeah."

"Are you serious?"

"Uh huh, and we went on a date last Friday." My jaw dropped.

"Really!? How'd it go?" I exclaimed exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Honestly, not so good. She was really quiet and didn't seem to be having a very good time," he replied with a sigh.

"I guess that explains your lousy shooting." Tom snorted. "For what it's worth, I'm kinda proud of you for trying."

"Thanks, though I wish it would have gone better. I really liked her." He started getting into his car. "Oh, well. Plenty of fish and all that, I guess. I'll see you around. Good luck with Ruth."

"Thanks. See ya." After that he took off and I headed to my truck. Before taking off I called Jill and put her on through the speakers.

"Hey David, what's up?" Greeted Jill after a couple rings.

"Just headed home from the range."

"Fair enough... you don't normally call out of the blue, so what's really up?" I sighed.

"There's something up with Ruth, but I can't figure out what."

"I'm sorry to hear that..."

"I was wondering if you had any ideas."

"Is it that time of the month?" She asked and I laughed.

"That's what Tom thinks, but I really don't think so."

"Ok, fine. This is gonna sound dumb, but have you tried asking her?"

"Yeah," I answered with a snort, "but she just snaps at me."

"Ok, how do you ask?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, scrunching my face in confusion. "I just ask if there's something wrong?"

"Mmhmm..." was all Jill said.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"How about this: instead of you asking her what's wrong, try to lead her into coming to you instead."

"Alright, how's that supposed to work?" I retorted with a snort.

"Well big brother," I rolled my eyes as much as I dared while driving, "let her know that you're there for her. That way her opening up is her decision, not yours." I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but realized that her suggestion just might work.

"You know, that could be worth a shot."

"Good. Let me know how it goes."

"I will." I was about to say goodbye when I remembered I had other reasons to talk to her. "There's something else too that I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

"So... umm..." I stammered.

"Use your words..." Jill teased in a sing-song voice.

"Shut up," I snapped rolling my eyes again. "Let's just say that me and Ruth are together for good."

"Uhh, what does that mean?"

"When female Minotaur mates for the first time, they're stuck with that person. It's part of their biology." There was silence on the line for a few seconds.

"Oh god, please tell me you knew about that before you two started doing... stuff..."

"Yeah. She explained it to me on our first date and we took our sweet time making our way to the bedroom." I heard Jill breathe a sigh of over the phone.

"That's good, at least. Still, this is big..."

"I know."

"Like I just found out that you two were together a couple months ago, and now you're telling me that you may as well be married!"

"Well, I do plan on marrying her, though I guess that depends on if she is up for us being that public, which she's said that she will be." Jill was quiet for another minute.

"Is it legal?"

"I've looked into it and haven't found anything saying that it isn't."

"Ok. Just checking." She sighed. "Well, you're a big boy and can handle yourself. Have you told mom or dad yet?"

"No. I wanted you to be the first to know. Though I did tell dad it was a possibility to get him to take our relationship seriously." Jill chuckled.

"I figured you guys were arguing over her."

"Heh, yeah." It was then that I pulled into a restaurant. "Anyway, I just pulled in to pick up some takeout. I'll talk to you later."

"David, wait," Jill called out and I held off hitting the end button. "It sounds like I'm gonna have to get to know Ruth a lot better. She seems nice though. I'm happy for you. Good luck." A smile crept to my lips.

"Thanks, Jill."

"Though you two kissing did look pretty weird!" She teased with a giggle.

"Shut up!" I retorted, but without any real hostility.

"See you around, David." After that she hung up. After a quick trip inside I was on my way again with some of Ruth's favorite Italian dishes. I certainly wasn't above buying a peace offering!

"Hey, I'm home," I announced when I made it back to the apartment.

"Hello," Ruth politely returned the greeting, emerging from the kitchen. She'd at least gotten dressed while I was gone.

"I brought dinner." I lifted the bag of Italian takeout I'd pick up on the way home. Ruth sniffed the air and smiled slightly. It was the first one I'd seen in a while so I was hopeful that maybe she was starting to feel better. "I'll get us some water and silverware." She headed into the kitchen while I started pulling the Styrofoam containers out of the bag. A couple minutes later Ruth was back and we started eating in silence.

When the food was almost gone I figured I'd take another stab at finding out what was up with Ruth, this time taking Jill's advice.

"Hey, umm... I started awkwardly.

"Yes," Ruth answered shortly.

"Well, I guess I know that somethings going on, but I don't know what." Ruth tensed up defensively. "If you don't want to talk about it that's ok, but I want you to know that I'm always here for you." As the words came out, it almost looked like Ruth was going to snap back like she had before, but sighed instead and her shoulders slumped.

"I know that. I also know that I've been difficult for the last few days, and for that I apologize."

"Apology accepted," I said quickly. I grinned in relief as it finally felt like I was making headway!

"However, I don't know what's going on. I just feel uncomfortably hot and frustrated all the time, but I don't feel sick otherwise." She sighed again. "Unfortunately I don't know how long this is going to last either." My grin faded as quickly as it came.

"Oh, I see."

"I should have asked this some time ago, but... please be patient with me."

"I can do that," I said with a nod. The problem wasn't gone, but at least we were talking again. That was something.

"I'll take care of the mess," offered Ruth. She took the takeout containers to the trash, and then the trash to the street while I washed the cups and silverware by hand.

When we went to bed that evening it was still a little tense. Ruth's behavior didn't seem to have anything to do with me though, and that made me feel a little better about where we stood with each other. However, I couldn't help worrying about her and what could be making her so irritable. I rolled over with a sigh and went to sleep.

Chapter 2

Saturday morning came and I got out of bed with a groan. In addition to the general irritability and dull burning feeling I'd felt all over for nearly a week, I was starting to become sore and stiff. If it went on for much longer I was starting to think that I might have to see a doctor... I'd been a few times before they always treated me like an animal. With another groan I got dressed for work and shuffled out of the bedroom. I could smell that David was making breakfast and I headed to the kitchen.

"Morning sweetheart!" He greeted with a grin. Upon seeing him, the fire in my belly increased, but I smiled anyway. After our conversation he'd been doing his best to stay cheerful, and in return I'd been trying to do a better job of keeping my moodiness in check, but I could see that my state was worrying him. "Want some breakfast?" David gestured to a small stack of pancakes.

"Yes please." He put a few on a plate and handed it off. His hand brushed against mine in the process and my fur stood up on end. I went to the dining table and David joined me after he finish making breakfast. We ate in a tense silence, which had unfortunately become a regular occurrence.

Shortly after breakfast we left and David drove me to work. On the way I started feeling a little short of breath, but that wasn't a new development.

"You alright?" Asked David, noticing me breathing heavy.

"It should pass..." I said, though when I glanced over at him and my heart started to flutter. It almost felt like when we first started to date. Despite feeling quite uncomfortable in most other ways, I smiled and hoped that was a sign that my condition was starting to subside.

By the time we made it to work, that flutter had started turning into arousal! It had been been several days since I'd felt that, so that was very welcome, even if the timing was less than convenient.

"I'll be back to pick you up," David said, dropping me off. As I was leaving his truck I almost got back in and told him to take me home! However, with a fair bit of effort I thanked David for the ride and closed the door.

As he drove away I braced myself for the usual heart break, but instead of the expected dull ache, it felt as if I was kicked in the stomach! Doubling over, I fought to catch my breath for at least a minute.

"Hey, are you alright?" Asked a familiar voice and I forced myself upright. I turned and saw Jenna with a look of concern on her face.

"I-I'll be fine, thank you," I replied, but with the way my voice was wavering she didn't seem convinced.

"You sure?" She asked and I took a deep breath before answering.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Ok..." Jenna said skeptically. "I'll see you inside." She went into the store, and after a few more deep breaths to calm myself I did the same.

On my way to the time clock I started noticing a pungent smell, and it was getting stronger by the second!

"Ugh, that's nasty!" I turned and groaned when I saw Tiffany. She was hanging up clothes with one hand and made a show of holding her nose with the other. "You need to take a shower or something because you stink!" I ignored her snottiness and left, but after another minute of the smell lingering I gasped as I realized that she was right! I quickly made my way to the bathroom, managing to avoid any customers. When I arrived I splashed some water on my face, but it did little to reduce the burning feeling that somehow getting even stronger!

Out of nowhere, my mind turned to David, and my knees almost buckled as my breathing got even heavier!

"What's wrong with me!?" I cried into the mirror. Supporting myself on the counter I managed to stand upright again and felt a wetness between my legs. After shambling into a stall, I reached under my skirt and felt my underwear. Not only was it soaked, but when I held my fingers in front of my face the smell got much stronger... and I suddenly knew exactly what was going on.

I pulled out my phone and called Sara, and desperately hoped she would answer. Thankfully, my hope was not in vain.

"Hi, Ruth. What's going on? I thought you were supposed to be at work."

"I am at work, but I can't stay..." I gasped.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"... I'm in heat," I whimpered.

"Oh... OH!" Exclaimed Sara.

"It's in full force. I can hardly stand, and I... smell! There's no way I can work like this!" I sobbed.

"Ok. I'll call the supervisor and tell her that I'll be taking your shift because of an emergency. You get David to pick you up so you can... have your way with him, or his way with you, or whatever!" She said very quickly.

"Thank you, so much."

"Don't worry about it. You just do what you need to do..." there was silence on the line for a moment. "And try to have a good time!" She added with a laugh and hung up before I could respond. Without any further delay I called David.

"Hey sweetheart, what's up?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice.