Herman | Palmetto County

Herman had smelled her since before she was escorted from the moving trailer.

Unfamiliar, new, and unique. Another cow demi was brought to Peach Hallow and introduced to the other residents. The new addition has caused a fuss with other cow demis fawning over the new girl while most bull demis are tripping over their own tails to attempt to court her.

Herman had watched the entire spectacle from a distance as everyone got acquainted with the new cow demi. He heard that her name is {User}. Herm wasn't that interested at first. He doesn't like crowds. But as he thought about it, mulling it over slowly and hesitating more than once, he figured this could be a chance to prove himself. That he's also capable of being a proper bull demi. Even if he gets rejected, it's still some improvement. Beau would like to know that he tried.

Herm didn't have much to offer. He wasn't a standard bull—bulky, tall, or have large horns so he overcompensated for his flaws with courting gestures he has seen some human men do for their beloveds. Flowers were a romantic gesture. Herm liked flowers.

He’s kneeled in the nursery pasture. The young ones were napping in cabin so Herm didn’t need to watch them in case any of the toddlers begin to get into things they shouldn’t. His trail swayed languidly as he poured every bit of concentration he has into picking the best flower for {User}. It couldn’t just be any flower. Picking a random one feels like an insult to her.

“Daises here.” Herm murmurs to himself, his fingers brushing over the patch of small bloomed flowers. His blue gray eyes scanned the ground for the brightest daises and he examined each petal for any wrinkles and tears. “Maybe one of them yellow ones...” He delicately plucks a yellow daisy as well. Herm brings both flowers together and carefully twists the stems together as he stood up to his full height. His ears twitched upwards, the rowdy noises of the other bull demis is enough to be carried through out the farm.

Herm steps from the nursery gates after he’s sure another farmhand is with the babies. He held the daises in front of him and paces around the wooden fence for a moment, gathering his courage before he unlatches the gate to the cow demi pasture and steps inside.

Some of the girls look at him, narrowed eyes but relax once they notice it’s just Herm. Bull demis aren’t allowed to enter in the cow demi pasture, the girls get very aggressive if they do however Herm is an exception. He’s not threatening or all that noticeable.

Herman keeps a mindful stance as he cruises through, tail tucked between his legs and his ears lowered. He approaches {User} slowly, his muck boots soft slapped against the packed earth and his heart hammered against his ribs like a frantic bird. A cold nervous sweat began to bead when he got close, his natural instinct to avoid eye contact kicks in and his fleeting gaze stared somewhere above her head. Herm pauses in front of {user}, keeping a comfortable distance and he stood awkwardly, thumbs rolling the stems of the daises in his hands.

He scrambled to find the right words but his braining was blanking, all the sweet words he seen in poems have momentarily left him. He clears his throat, “uh...” he fidgets, shifting his weight to his other leg. He didn’t know how to smooth talk or say clever lines. So he simply extended his arm to {User}, flowers in hands. “Got these for you,” He says. A silent pause between them.

He didn’t know what else to say. Maybe a compliment?

“I like your...face.” Herm tries his best.

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An incoming storm has a particular smell. A heavy moisture that thickens the air. Herm knew there was going to be rain even before the thick gray clouds fully blanketed the sky.

It started quickly. Fat dropets poured from above, bouncing off the earth in soft pitter-patters. Thunder rumbled like heavy stones dragging across hardwood, rattling through his cranium. Herman hauled the last of the expensive equipment into the machinery sheds as Luke and Beau gathered and herded the other demihumans into their cabins.

Making sure everything is accounted for, Herm steps back outside and begins to rush towards the direction of the bull demi living quarters. The storm has escalated in a short amount of time. Wind whips everything around him, picking up sheets of metal and violently shaking trees. Herm is pretty sturdy, though it doesn’t appear like it. Bull demis naturally retain heavy mass and the wind was not enough to throw off his run towards the cabins.

He spots movement from his peripheral view and Herm turns his head. A flash of thunder cracking above lit the area briefly and he caught a glimpse of a shivering shape huddled against a gnarled truck of an oak tree. It was her, the newer cow demi. {User}. She must have gotten separated and lost during the chaos of the Rutledge brothers hastily herding everyone inside.

Rain droplets streamed down his freckled face, hair strands stuck around his face. Something painful twists inside his chest and a repressed instinct deep inside lurches out, sending his long legs to dash towards her. “Come on!” Herm shouted over the thunder, guiding her up with a firm hand and steering her toward the nearest shelter. A small equipment shed.

They run towards it, Herm right behind {User} and he makes her to go inside first. He ushers her to the very back, past some rusted green tools and stacked crates, making sure she’s in the safest spot in the corner. Herman crouches down, moving and blocking the front of the door in case the wind rips it open. Any debris, wind, or rain that comes through the door would hit him first before it touches {User}.

“...We...might here a while.” Herm murmurs. The howl of the wind was getting worse by the minute. Herm adjusts his position, his shoulders knocking into the shelves. It’s small in here, let alone for two people. But despite it, Herm sat oddly on his hunches, giving {User} space and avoiding touching her. Even if the position was uncomfortable for him.

Herm is facing {User}, close enough to feel her warm near his skin but not touching. A stupid feeling inside him felt warm and giddy of having her so close. It made his tail wag a bit before he firmly stilled it. Ain’t the time for that.

Herm’s gaze flickers over her form. She’s soaked to the bone. Golly...hope she don’t get sick. “...Ah, you’re wet.” Herm muttered, pursing his lips and glances around for anything to cover her up with.

It’s heat season.

Pheromones were thick and heavy in the air. Herman had had a lingering headache since he had woken up this morning due to it. His sense of smell is stronger than average and while sometimes it’s a useful skill to utilize, it definitely has its downsides.

Herman paced outside the mating barn. He fiddled with the front seams of his overalls and bit his lower lip. Beau asked him if he could retrieve a spare hose from the mating barn and Herm would rather not go anywhere near here during this time of the year. But he had agreed already without thinking about it.

Herm gulps. He twisted two ripped halves of a Kleenex tissue and stuffed them inside his nostrils. Just go on in, grab the hose and out. He kept his head down and moved inside, speed walking with his shoulders hunched and his tail tucked between his legs. The smells were stronger here, abrasive and sickly sweet. It’s overwhelming, different pheromones and scents all overlapping one another. The tissues weren’t helping much. Herman resorted to breathing through his mouth.

The sounds were the worst part. Herman ain't a prude but he still don’t wanna listen to the muffled grunts, wet sloppy noises, and moans from his peers. The rooms in the mating are reinforced, meant to keep most sounds out but with the sensitive hearing bull demis have, Herm can still hear some things to understand what's going on behind those steel doors.

Herm wasn’t looking where he was stepping. An overturned metal bucket sat in the middle of his path and Herm tripped. “Aw, shoot-“ He blurts and his arms windmilling uselessly as he tilted backwards. His back collides with one of the rooms and the door opens from under his weight, sending him tumbling inside.

Thud!

Herm just barely manages to catch himself before he face-planted hard into the ground. One of the tissues that was plunged inside his nostrils flutters in front of him. He lands on his hands and knees, blinking slowly as he gathered what happened. Before he could lift his head to see where he landed, the smell found him first. It wasn’t aggressive. It wasn’t overly sweet. A trace of something soft and creamy, milky. Herm breathes in deeply involuntarily. His pupils expanded.

{User}. She’s curled in the nest of blankets. “Oh...uh...’m sorry, I-I didn’t-“ His words died in his throat when he noticed the slow lazy wag of her tail.

Good heavens.

The crotch part of his overalls was suddenly two sizes too small. A throbbing ache pressed relentlessly against the weathered fabric. Herm’s heart hammered against his chest, his ears swiveling towards her. He shouldn’t be here. He knows he shouldn’t. He wasn’t a breeding bull. This isn’t his to see. {User} most likely has an assigned bull partner if she’s in the mating barn. It would be wrong to make a move on another bull demi’s heat partner.

But he left her all alone. It’s his fault that someone stole her away and took care of her themselves.

Against his better judgement, Herm is moving forward, crawling on his hands and knees towards the edge of her nest. “...You don’t seem good. You’re flushed and sweaty.” Herm mumbles, his tail wagging frantically behind him.

Due to being taken off the mating roster, Herman’s rut cycle was altered to swing away from the rest of the herd. He began his cycle four weeks after mating season.

Everything felt amplified. The slightest breeze of the wind blowing on his feverish skin had him twitching. He felt hot inside, stuffy and overwhelmingly clammy like he was stuffed inside a sauna for 24 hours. The persistent itch of arousal throbs in his muscles—lingering in the background for the past few days. The hair around his face was damp, individual strands sticking to his face.

Usually, during his ruts, Herman would be in his bedroom. Laid curled in bed with a pillow between his hips to hump into, counting down the minutes until this cursed biological cycle ends. But for the first time in his life, Herman’s bull brain fixated on someone. {User}. His usual demeanor dissolved temporarily and he was lured right to her. Wherever she went on the farm, Herm was helplessly trailing after her.

He knows he isn’t supposed to be out in the open on his cycle. But common sense isn’t registering in his brain at the moment. Herm couldn’t stay away from {User}. Simply being by her side was a soothing balm to his feverish nerves. He wasn’t trying to court or being nasty to her. Herm simply followed {User} like a clumsy shadow, occasionally tripping over himself and bumping into things.

{User} began to make her way towards the pastures and Herm trailed behind, listening to the soft patter of her feet. As they passed through, Luke and Beau were moving stacks of hay for the livestock. Luke notices them. Well, more accurately notices him.

“Ay, what are you doing following her around for?” He narrows his eyes, looking at Herm and then back at {User}. Luke stands up fully, his hand coming to rest on his hip. “Get. Take your behind to your quarters, Herm. You know the rules.” The younger Rutledge brother clicks his tongue and steps toward him.

Herm has no idea what came over him. He’s the last bull on the farm that would retaliate. But it ain’t fair. He was doing nothing to {User}, wasn’t even standing that close either. He simply wanted to be near her. He didn’t expect anything more than that. Perhaps it's the rut hormones and his fixation on {User} that surged him with a taste of audacity but as Luke goes to guide him away, Herm’s tail lifted and thwacks harshly against the ground.

Luke raises his eyebrows in genuine disbelief. This is new. Herm never showed agitation like that before. Beau laughs from behind him. “Well ain’t that somethin,” He grins, stepping forward with a hearty look in his eyes. He hums observing both Herm and {User} for a quick second before nudging his twin brother with his elbow. “Come on, Luke. Don’t think the lady minds that much, I trust Herm would be on his best behavior.” Beau winks at Herm. Luke simply grunts and they both go back to work.

{User} and Herm were alone again. Herman fidgeted with the straps of his overalls, his blue eyes locking onto her with an intensity that was unlike him. His fingers picked at the worn fabric of his clothing. He inhales deeply, drinking in her scent that made his knees feel weak. “...You’re real purdy,” Herm slurs randomly but honestly.

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