Maternal Mayhem

by Some Leech

Airing Out

Anon walked inside, kicked the door closed behind himself, and knelt down to remove his shoes after another long, relatively tiresome day at work. “Mom, you home?”

“In the kitchen,” she replied from deeper in the home.

Knitting his brow, he grimaced. Though it had been nearly two weeks since he’d done yoga with Leech, things hadn’t been the same between himself and his adoptive mom. She still made him lunch, treated him well, and took immaculate care of the house, yet she’d acted differently ever since they’d exercised together - almost distant in comparison to her normal, chipper self. Having played and replayed the incident a number of times, he was left to assume that her impassioned assault on him, forcing him down to straddle him, had taken some sort of mental toll on her.

He wandered through the house, into the kitchen, and smiled when he saw her standing at the counter. “Your - uh - your day go well?”

Without so much as looking back, she gave a small shrug. “It was alright. How was work?”

“Annoying as ever,” he halfheartedly laughed, stepping up behind her.

He lifted his arms, intent to give her a hug, but ultimately paused. This wasn’t right - this wasn’t right at all. She almost always greeted him at the door, regardless of whatever she was working on, and he’d only recently realized how much he appreciated her care and affection. He’d heard it said that you didn’t appreciate what you had until it was gone, but it was a bitter pill to swallow.

While he’d be the first to admit that she could be overwhelming at times, embarrassing him while they were out or occasionally hugging him so hard that he could feel his ribs creak, he didn’t necessarily want her to change. She was a good mare at heart, in spite of her flaws, and he felt terrible that he may have played some part in whatever was wrong with her. Lost to his thoughts, he started when she turned to face him.

As she looked down at his partially outstretched arms, her eyes went alight and a smile split her muzzle - regrettably, her joy faded almost as quickly as it had appeared. She stepped to the side, walked past him, and patted him on the shoulder, leaving him alone with the bowl of salad she’d been preparing. There weren’t many things that could leave him unsettled - genuinely unsettled, but her abrupt withdrawal struck a sorrowful cord deep within him.

“Wait,” he croaked, wheeling around toward her.

She slowed just beyond the threshold of the living room and peeked over her shoulder at him. “I ate a late lunch, but I can sit with you if you want me to -”

“I don’t care about the food!” he lamented, marching over and grabbing her by the hand. Staring up at her, seeing the shocked, almost wounded look on her face, he suddenly found it hard to speak. “Mom, can we talk?”

Opening her mouth to say something, she quickly pursed her lips, averted her gaze, and gave a small nod. “Of course we can…”

Her voice was as faint as faint as a whisper on the wind, barely audible, and it filled him with a turbulent mix of emotions. Anger, regret, sorrow, frustration - each fought for dominance in his mind, making it almost impossible for him to think, yet he fought through the maelstrom. She’d done so much for him, a weird alien she hadn’t known months prior, and he’d be damned if he was going to let the joyful, happy-go-lucky mare who’d taken him in disappear from his life.

“Mom,” he began, clearing his throat while lacing fingers with her, “we’re going camping this weekend.”

She cocked her head to the side, her melancholy sundered by confusion. “We are?”

“Yeah,” he asserted. “I already took time off of work, I bought us a tent, and there’s a little campground -”

“Sunny Meadows,” she interrupted with the slightest hint of enthusiasm in her voice. “They’re only a little way from here - two-hours’ walk, if I remember right.”

Grinning up at her, he tightened his grip on her hand. “That’s the one. After hearing how you’re such a wiz with outdoor stuff, I figure you could show me how to rough it.”

Once again, her expression wavered from barely-kept joy to somber. “I…I don’t know. It’s been a long, long time since I did any camping - plus I’m not as young as I used to be. Maybe you could -”

“No,” he sternly interrupted. “You’re my mom, I love you, and we’re going to eat s'mores and tell stories around a fire.”

Standing on his tiptoes, he hopped up, pecked her cheek, and slipped by her without saying another word. He’d freely admit that he was about as far from a genius as a guy could get, although he’d like to consider himself relatively clever - as such, he’d planned for this inevitability. Since Leech was showing no signs of getting out of her funk, he was going to take them on a little vacation, give them both a bit of time away from home, and hopefully - hopefully lift her spirits.

Even though he was tired, hungry, and reeked of fried food, he trudged upstairs to shower and pack. Given it was Friday evening, there was much to do and little time to do it. Not only did he have to rummage around in the attic for the tent he’d surreptitiously hidden from her, knowing she the collapsible stairs leading to the loft weren’t robust enough to hold her, but he’d have to get a change or two of clothes ready, shower, and go back to the Hayburger in the hopes that one of his coworkers would cover his Saturday shift. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he was going to bust his ass to get Leech back to her big, bubbly, bird-brained self.

As he’d expected, his evening was long and arduous. He wasn’t completely finished with all the preparations until nearly midnight, having gone so far as to go to one of his workmate’s houses to beg her to work in his place, and he practically passed out when he finally got to curl up in his bed. While he drifted off to sleep, it was all he could do to give a small, silent prayer that his little scheme would pay off.

“Hey…”

“Five more minutes…” he grumbled, rolling over and pulling the blanket over himself.

Gently jostled, he wearily turned his head and cracked an eye open. As impossible as it may have seemed, he’d apparently slept several hours over the span of what felt like mere minutes. Seeing a massive silhouette looming over the bed, recognizing the familiar voice, his eyes darted over to his clock.

In the dim, pre-dawn light, he grimaced. He’d intended to kick off the weekend by getting up early and surprising Leech with breakfast, yet she’d well and thoroughly turned the tables on him - moreover, she looked like she was already ready to go. For some damn reason, though he couldn’t fathom why, she was fully dressed in a pair of hiking shorts, boots, shirt, vest, and with a hiking pack strapped to her back.

“Come on,” she intoned, hitching a thumb toward the door. “If I’m gonna teach you how to get by outdoors, I’m gonna make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I…” he faltered, taken aback by how serious she seemed to be taking what was supposed to be a lighthearted outing. “Just give me a few minutes…”

He swung his legs off the side of the bed, placed his feet on the floor, and watched her depart. Sleep-deprived and groggy though he was, he was stunned to see she’d managed to not only wake up before him but get herself prepared as well. With a heavy sigh, he glanced through his window at the darkness outside, pushed himself up, and shuffled to his closet. It was going to be a long, hopefully interesting day…

Getting dressed only took a few minutes, gathering the provisions he’d gathered took nearly half an hour, and the hike out of town lasted more than an hour. Though she’d mentioned Sunny Meadows by name, she’d led him in the opposite direction from the established campground. Trailing behind her, carrying the tent and a rucksack on his back, he plodded along behind her and through the underbrush.

“So - fuck -” he cursed, slowing to kick off a blackberry bramble clinging to his pant-leg. “Are we going anywhere in particular?”

Continuing onward, she readjusted the pack on her back. “Should be a stream ahead. You hear it?”

“Yeah,” he replied, only then picking up the sound of running water. “Believe it or not, I do know that finding water is important when you’re roughing it.”

“Water, shelter, and food,” she noted, lifting and extending three fingers. “If you don’t have all three, you’re going to be in a bad spot.”

Stepping over a fallen tree, she slowed and craned her neck upwards. He stopped just behind and beside her, following her gaze up at the canopy above them. The sun shone through a relatively bare patch overhead, illuminating a small patch of leaf-strewn earth around them. While he was far from an outdoorsman, only having camped in his backyard as a kid, he felt reasonably sure she’d found a nice spot for them to set up shop.

“Want me to pitch the tent here?” he asked, bringing his attention down to her face.

She shook her head and kept moving. “Widowmaker,” she remarked, pointing upward. “If that limb fell on us, we’d be in a bad spot.”

He hadn’t spotted it earlier, but she’d been right. A large brand from a dead tree was situated almost perfectly over the clearing he stood in. There was no guarantee that the thing would break anytime soon, although that could change with a driving wind or a hard rain. It was no mystery that Leech had spent a large portion of her life on her own, eking out an existence for herself by herself, yet seeing her fall back on her utilitarian skills was beyond impressive.

Rushing up behind her, he was pleased to discover that she found a suitable site only a few dozen yards away. She looked to him, nodded, and unslung the pack from her shoulders. Unlike her typically laid-back self, she seemed laser focused. Her eyes carefully scanned the area, her ears swiveled on her head, and she turned her snout up to sniff the air. The blithe mare he’d come to know was gone, replaced by what he could only describe as a keen-eyed adventurer.

“I’ll get us some firewood and check out that stream,” she muttered. She only made a single step before she stopped in her tracks and looked back at him. “Just...just call me if you need me ~ alright?”

“I will,” he grunted, already struggling with the bundle of tent poles. “Thanks, mom.”

Her expression softened, a genuine smile met her lips, and she gave him a subtle nod. She was still in there, the loving mare who’d been looking after him since he’d wound up in Equestria, and the sight of her warmed his heart. Waiting until she looked away, he put himself to task and began constructing what would be their shelter for the night.

Much to his shame, by the time he finally got the tent properly erected, Leech had ended up doing the lion’s share of the work. Leaves had been cleared from a large patch of earth, a fire pit had been erected, and she’d managed to find more than enough wood to keep a fire burning for a full night. He would have felt bad for not contributing much, if he hadn’t been so amazed by watching her in action.

“You pack food?” she inquired, easing herself onto a rock while rolling and rubbing one of her shoulders.

He pointed to his pack and grinned. “Packed some dried fruit, oats, and a bunch of jerky.”

Resting her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward toward him. “Here’s the big question ~” she chuckled, “would you rather eat what you brought or do you want to find our dinner with me?”

The question instantly threw him off guard. “I mean, I guess you can show me. Is there even edible stuff around her?”

She guffawed as she stood. “Honey, there’s plenty of goodies out here!” she exclaimed, sauntering over and draping an arm over his shoulders. “If we’re lucky, and I mean really lucky, we might just find something sweet for dessert.”

“It’s funny -” he weakly laughed, returning her gesture by wrapping an arm around her lower back, “I never thought I’d see this side of you.”

“I just hope you pay attention,” she wistfully responded, pulling him close. “I know it would probably never come to it - heck, I hope it doesn’t ever come to it, but you need to know how to look after yourself.”

Though her wistful tone threatened to shake his reverie, he doubled down. “Then show me.”

And with those three little words, she did exactly what she promised to do. Amazing couldn’t begin to describe the experience of creeping through the woodland with her. She pointed out all sorts of edible plants, a few types of mushrooms that could be eaten or used for tea, and a cornucopia of vegetation that could be used for all sorts of different things. Stopping to ask her questions about what they’d found, doing his best to drink it all in, he didn’t realize how late it was getting until the sun was well on its way to the horizon.

“We should probably get back and get a fire started,” she huffed, rinsing off some cattail roots and arrowroot they’d stumbled upon.

“Yeah,” he conceded, compelled by his grumbling stomach. “Plus you gotta show me how to cook this stuff.”

Getting her bearings, she rose to her full height, gathered her bearings, and strolled from the creekside they’d stopped at. “They’re basically like potatoes. Between these, those wild onions, and those fiddleheads, we’ll be eating good tonight.”

“And the s’mores,” he added, rushing to catch up with her. “Don’t forget the s'mores.”

“And the s’mores,” she giggled, smiling warmly down at him. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you want to come out here - I mean, why did you really want to come out here?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and timidly smirked. “I just wanted to spend some time with you.”

“Well you’ve got me all to yourself until Sunday,” she hummed, reaching over and tenderly wrapping her fingers around his wrist. “I’m just surprised you were able to find a tent and sleeping bags big enough for both of us - not that I’m complaining.”

He nearly stumbled over his own feet, her innocuous statement sending a chill up his spine. His mind raced, going over the supplies he’d packed for their expedition. The tent was set up, he was positive he’d brought enough food, clothes, and toiletries to last several days, and he’d even bought a little hatchet for their trip, but there was one thing he’d forgotten, something that was going to make their outing both awkward and considerably less comfortable, sleeping bags.

“B…by chance,” he sputtered, looking up at her, “with all this outdoor experience you have, you wouldn’t know how to make bedding ~ would you…?”

Comments

[Rob_Rhapsody]

…. Kind of drawing things out, better be a big payoff at the end.

[mommy5260]

Leech made a chapter without porn or sex!?!?!?!?

HOAH-LY FUCKING SHIT