Meru lowered his head. He was a bit embarrassed to be looking at caps, but the beastfolk was curious. He picked up one of the stretchy wool caps that fit over the head and felt it in his hands. He pulled on it a bit to check the elasticity and whether it was a good size. "Hmmm." He looked around the story, then smiled coyly, fixing his hair. Once everything was in place he slid the wool cap over his head. It flattened his long ears down, causing them to poke out the bottom on either side. The boy's eyes widened.
"Oooh! Mel might like this." His short tail wagged as he turned left, then right to see himself from different angles in the mirror. He was wearing short jean shorts and a loose-fitting black T-shirt with a band-logo on it. The black cap seemed to fit the ensemble.
"That looks so good on you!"
"Ah!" Meru jumped a full foot into the air as a female voice came out of nowhere from behind him. He took the cap off and scrunched it up in his hands, blushing as he turned to face the person.
"I was just look-" He saw a familiar face. A bunny girl with pink hair and some blonde highlights, or perhaps it was her real hair colour peeking through. She couldn't tell. You calmed down, moving from feeling weird to suspicious.
"Oh, it's you."
The girl smiled cheerfully and waved. "Yep, it's me." She was wearing camouflage leggings, boots that reached up her calf and a loose jacket with fur-lined hood on the back. The girl took the cap out of Meru's hands, inspected it, then stretched it back over his head before patting him on top. She carried a wide, admiring grin.
"It's cute on you."
"Uh, thanks." Meru adjusted his ears. He looked at her, adding:
"I don't think I should be talking to you?"
"Why not?" She asked curiously.
"Aren't you on bad terms with Mel?"
She laughed. "No no. We're actually co-workers. I'm Mars." She presented a slender hand. As Meru took it reluctantly he flinched, noting how firm her handshake was.
"Sorry! Sometimes I don't know my own strength."
Meru rang his hand out in the air after she let him go. "It's fine. I guess all you people are pretty strong..."
Mars exhaled a little. "Ah, I guess she told you about me and what she does?"
"A little... She says she's a magical girl and that you're a gang leader, but I don't really get it." Meru admitted.
She nodded slowly, thinking. "She hasn't really explained anything to you, has she?"
"Not really."
Mars adopted a sly look. "You know how she can exaggerate, right?"
"She's usually pretty straightforward." Meru rebuked without really thinking.
Mars blinked. "O-oh, really?"
"Yeah. She usually says what she means and does whatever she says she's gonna do."
"Are you curious about what we do? Who we work for?"
Meru tried to pull his ears a little so that they were a little more comfy beneath his tight cap. He sighed with relief once he finally got it into a good position.
"I never asked. I assumed it was a wrestling thing."
"I'm sorry, what?" Mars covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep it in.
Meru looked up in thought and explained his reasoning. "Well, yeah... You all seem to have themes and you're strong and like fighting and you two work together but you got such an antagonistic relationship that I'm guessing you're playing enemies right now in the ring. I know Mel's probably a heel, but you also seem a bit like a heel so I assume you guys will join up at some point."
"Oh, yeah. We are on the same team. It's just that we're both kinda heels, like you said. So we don't get along that well." She let out a small chuckle.
"You're a pretty clever guy."
Meru nodded proudly. "Thanks!"
"Got any plans for the future?"
"I'm also trying to be an athlete! Mel and I met at the gym, where I guess she was training for a match, or something."
Mars covered her mouth again to hide her smirk with her palm. "Wooow, an athlete. You have such a great body for it."
"Yeah, I'm kinda ripped." Meru stated. I don't got muscle but I got lots of stamina!" He uttered. Raw determination washed over Mars. It was blinding. She began to salivate a little.
"Hey... Uh, you know my 'theme?'" She asked, wiping her mouth.
"It's orc gang leader, right? That's a funny one. I didn't know a beastfolk could be an orc gang boss. But I guess it's because girls are gonna be more popular with the crowd."
She got closer, resting a hand on his back. "Funny thing is, I'm not a beastfolk."
Meru stared at her appraisingly. "I don't get it." His eyes were centred on her drooping pink bunny ears.
"I'm an orc." Mars stated, leading him with her finger tips resting in the small of his back. She gently ran it up and down his slender form as she walked with him.
"See, my dad is an orc. My mom was a beastfolk before she converted and after that she was considered an orc in the eyes of our culture. That's kinda the gist of how it works."
"Oooh. Sorry. I didn't know. So your dad was an orc and you're an orc, even though you're..." He trailed off, pointing up to her ears.
She nodded, exhaling from her nose. "Yeah. When girls are born from orc parents we retain the appearance of our mother with traits of the dad being something that are more internal. For example, I'm about as strong as an orc would be by default, and then when we add up my enhanced abilities I'm a pretty scary adversary." Mars winked.
"Strong as Mel?" Meru asked curiously.