Slide Sideways to Mairr's POV

More and more lately, Mairr had the sinking feeling that her life just wasn't going anywhere. She had a comfortable home and enough money to take a mate and start a family, but by 26 years of age she still had never met anyone she liked enough to take as a mate. Den was cute, her other lovers had been nice, but... there was always that 'but'. But they weren't pretty enough, weren't delicate enough, weren't that gorgeous dramatic contrast of black feathers and white scales... weren't Graciles. Mairr had known for a long time that she liked Graciles - from the first time she had, as a teenager, sneaked up to where a band of Gracile traders were doing business in a small area of the market, surrounded by a watchful perimeter of Robust soldiers. It was a common game for the teenagers of the village to dare each other to sneak a peak at the mysterious and ill-reputed Graciles. With two companions Mair had crept up to a seam in a tent and peered in; and the three were rewarded with their first sight of three Graciles.

None of the Graciles were pregnant, or at least not yet noticeably so, so they presumably were not plotting to capture and **** anyone. They were not even doing anything particularly interesting. One was bargaining with a Robust, one was apparently making dinner from the smell of it, and the third was making notes on a piece of parchment. Still, the three teenage Robusts gasped at the sight - the other two as all the frightening things they had been told about Graciles were suddenly represented in solid alien-looking flesh right before their eyes, and Mairr... Mairr because she was utterly struck with their beauty and suddenly found herself with a cock so hard it threatened to burst through the front of her trousers and a pussy hot and slick with hunger.

The teens watched with fearful (or lustful) fascination for a few minutes, then a guard spotted them and shouted at them, and they ran away as fast as they could to avoid getting in trouble. Mairr never really discussed that sensation of sheer awe with anyone; well, she did once ask her older sister if she thought a Robust had ever mated with a Gracile rather than just being impregnated by one. But all Mairr got for her trouble was a very odd look and a "How the hell should I know?" But although she didn't talk about it, Graciles had a starring role in Mairr's fantasy life from that very first night. Mairr at first wanted to be a soldier because she thought that would be an easy way to get close to the Graciles and she also thought it would be an easy job for her because of her size; but actually Mairr did not like **** or fighting and was not a good hunter, nor did she like the idea that soldiers had to live in a barracks and would immediately lose their job if they happened to get pregnant. Realizing that she was totally unsuited to be a soldier, Mairr considered her other options.

The other kind of people who got to get close to the Graciles were the merchants and craftsmen who traded with them; and after some contemplation Mairr decided this was a much better choice, because the craftsmen actually spoke with the Graciles, while the guards just stood around and looked threatening. Mairr was also naturally suited to be a craftsman because she loved working with his hands and had a creative bent. So she apprenticed with her uncle who was a toolmaker, and later opened her own shop. And she did indeed take the first opportunity to go deal with the Graciles. But much to her disappointment, nothing ever came of this. Her size terrified most of the Graciles, although they tried not to show their fear. And even those who got used to her or realized how gentle her personality was did not seem to be interested in idle chatter, much less anything more intimate. The Graciles could not leave their area, so Mairr could never see any in a bar or other more relaxed location, and the Graciles also did not want any Robusts to linger in their area once their business was done. All they wanted to do was sell their wares and leave town before anything could go wrong.

So Mairr knew exactly what she wanted, could see the Graciles and even talk to them, but could never have one. Mairr took Robust lovers, but was always all-too-aware that she wished they were more delicate and graceful, with paler skin and ebony feathers and that fascinating alienness... She knew, deep down, that she could never fall in love with anyone but a Gracile, and if she could never find a Gracile to be her mate she would never take a mate at all, never have a child, just lead a lonely empty existence and eventually die pathetically alone. In other words, Mairr maintained a cheerful exterior, but that was only a fragile little boat on a vast, cold sea of depression. And the icy water was always threatening to seep through the cracks in the boat and pull it down, never to be seen again.

Mairr had little fear to start with because she was used to being the biggest and being seen as intimidating by everyone; and depression makes one careless. And perhaps, on some irrational subconscious level Mairr thought that even if she were to be **** and impregnated by a Gracile, that would at least be some sort of contact with her unobtainable dream lover. Thus, one day when Mairr discovered she needed a special type of wood for her latest project, the wood of a tree which only grew in the foothills between her town and the nearest Gracile town, Mairr made a snap decision; she locked up her shop, made up a backpack of supplies for traveling and cutting down a tree, and just walked out of town... alone... towards the Graciles.