The Spring Mating Season really didn't have that much to do with what would be understood as "Spring" or with the weather that would be associated with "Spring." In fact as Abby, Sarah, Malice, Samson, and Travis came into WSA on the Monday that came after the start of that "Spring Season," both Lyre and Animalia were looking at the potential for more winter weather coming in the future as cold fronts coming from the north and humidity being dumped from California hit the twin towns in northwestern Nevada.
"A lot seems to be building," Samson commented off hand as he took a few tentative sniffs, noticing an odd scent on Sarah and Malice in particular.
"Spring mating season," Sarah said slowly, lowering her ears with a whimper before raising them again, "Malice and I are in heat... for the moment."
"But... but Abby and Josephine are only in season in the fall," Samson pointed out shaking his head to his mate.
"Not all animals have their mating season at same time," Malice commented, "and some can... and DO mate all year."
"Humans are like that... and to a great degree dogs are like that," Sarah commented, "Unlike a lot of wild animals, we're well fed all year long and that means we're not hampered by the seasons with regards to feeding offspring."
Samson slowly nodded with some understanding at that. The same sort of thing went for many of the livestock that the Brown family had owned and had been uplifted. It also applied for Abby and Josephine as converted American Quarter Horses. Many farm livestock were often bread in the fall so that when they gave birth, the offspring was born and raised when their forage was naturally high as a result of spring rains and winter snow melt. Samson vaguely remembered the Browns putting him through some of the same processes before his uplifting during the initial outbreak. It had also meant that he and Abby had to be extra careful during the fall.
While both were physically mature, thanks to Samson having been an adult stallion when he was uplifted and Abby being double dosed when her accidental conversion occurred, both had agreed to wait until Abby and he had made it through high school, at least. Potentially there was getting through college as well, but for the moment that was still something on the horizon. Though due to how fertile Animalians were... or at least could be, the two had to be careful, and even there, that didn't mean things were easy. While Abby wasn't in season, the scent in the air was enough that Samson could feel his equipment straining against his pants, and he was glad that she had taken her birth control pill for the day.
"I heard something about Horizon coming out with a new pill," Travis commented, "You know... one that would actually lessen the actual sex drive that comes along with the mating season..."
"I don't mind the sex drive," Sarah gave her mate a knowing smile, "the thing to be wary of is to make sure that we don't end up as parents before we're ready."
Travis nodded as he looked to his mate and her sister. Both were carrying the scent that had him interested, but he knew that Malice was Simon's mate and that parenthood was probably a decision saved for after they had graduated. It could be tempting, and he had the sensation that his own parents were actually trying for puppies now, just as Sarah and Malice's had had Belle and Bash the previous calendar year, but that didn't mean it was something be easily given in to.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Hey... you okay?" Sophie asked to Jessica as she found the young rabbit Animalian looking a bit flustered in the hallway between classes.
She'd just come out of one of her classes to find her friend sort of staggering a bit as she came out of a different classroom. Some of the other students walked around them and went about their way to their next classes. Jessica managed a small smile as she saw her friend approach and managed to nod.
"Yeah... just had something that got Roger on my mind," Jessica managed.
"In history?" Sophie wondered.
"Well... the lesson was talking about royal lineages and who sired who," Jessica managed with a small grin, "and that got my mind to wandering..."
Much of what was going on was something that those at WSA would be more openly aware of. While humans had a cycle in which a woman was receptive to a male, human senses were generally so dull that neither could really know without the help of technology. Animalians, with many of the natural senses being far higher than those of humans were more aware of these issues, and while Jessica knew she wasn't fully mature, yet, she was well aware that she was going through puberty, just as Sophie was. In theory so were Sarah and Abby, but their double dosing had meant that their "growing up" had gone in fast forward. For Jessica and Sophie, though, they still had all the assorted issues that went along with "growing up," though for Jessica, she knew that this included a natural awareness on when the Mountain Cottontail had its breeding season and the assorted instincts that went with it.
That was something that Sophie couldn't be presently aware of, and while Jessica and Roger had transferred back to Lyre to avoid some of the temptations that went along with things at WSA with regard to those that were double dosed and had mates, that didn't mean that she wanted to go around boasting that she was presently coming into season and could literally breed like a bunny if she wanted to. It was a temptation that Jessica was well aware of and was looking forward to, but she'd still felt it important to wait, as there was to explicit reason truly rush into anything. Sophie and Roland would probably become aware of that too when they converted during the summer.
"I... I don't get it," Sophie managed after a moment.
"It's a part of being an Animalian," Jessica managed slowly, "I'm... I'm physically getting ready for... well... YOU KNOW..."
"You mean?" Sophie blinked as they walked along toward their next class.
"You don't just go through life and go from looking like you're ten to looking like you're twenty," Jessica answered, "not without a double dosing of the Animalia Virus, anyway. Sarah... Malice... Abby... with all of them being double dosed and physically mature, they got all that in fast forward. My parents only allowed for a single dose for me... so, I'm essentially growing into it... You will probably go through the same thing when you become a Pterodactyl."
Sophie blinked as they walked along and noted that Jessica had managed to compose herself as they walked along.
"I hadn't thought on that..." Sophie said slowly.
"It's probably a part of why many of the decisions regarding WSA were made they way they were," Jessica managed, "with all our super-charged hormones... we Animalians need to be consciously aware of our surroundings and what's going on..."
"Oh..." Sophie managed and looked down for a moment.
"You were probably right," Jessica commented, "and that the full separating of the Animalian students from the Human students wasn't the greatest idea, but it was something that I'm sure Clara and others were nervous over in wanting to avoid accidents."
"But it's not like this is going to force you...?" Sophie wondered.
"No," Jessica answered, "as much as a part of me really wants to give myself to Roger... I'm not out of control and I can wait until we're eighteen and that our first time is a romantic moment... not because one of us is... interested... You and Roland will probably be the same to... Instincts won't control you if you're ready for them."
Sophie slowly nodded, remembering on what had happened with Heather. While her becoming a Syntixisaurus Rex hadn't been planned, her biggest issue had been being unprepared for the predatory instincts of the various theropods that had gone into the one samples she'd used in her transformation, and leading to her attack at the start of the present school year. She felt she'd be a bit more prepared for a Pterdactylus's instincts thanks to some of the research she'd done, but at the same time, she also felt some confidence in simply having Jessica there as a potential coach. As while it was unlikely that Pterodactylus Antiquus and the Mountain Cottontail Rabbit had the same instincts, Jessica would surely be able to help with certain aspects that related to being a single doser, as while her parents and Roland's parents had ultimately accepted the idea on them becoming Animalians together, they had remained firm that they wouldn't allow for them to get a second dose. In that, they'd essentially grow up together.
Though as they walked along, a thought soon came to Sophie that made her wonder. If Heather had been unprepared for the predatory instincts, what would happen in relation to mating instincts. She knew that Heather was crazy about Jeremy and that he had converted for her, but just because an animal went extinct before the modern era and observation by man, that didn't mean that that animal didn't have a mating season. That then made Sophie wonder as to when the various Dinotopians would have their respective breading seasons and how strong would those feelings be?