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Today and yesterday; (nomae)
Mae pursed her lips, clutching the already worn blue fabric and yanking her necklace off in rage. She smashed it against the damp earth and cursed at the sudden stench that hit her nostrils, drawing a soft, frustrated growl from her throat. It was ridiculous! She had always been prepared for the predictable things her upbringing taught her—but who could have prepared her for events of this magnitude? Her golden hair, plastered to her tear-soaked face, couldn’t even hide her shame. Her burning cheeks and lips already bruised from biting them were just one more reminder, one more frustration. She simply let herself collapse to the ground, feeling the miserable nausea rise in her esophagus, sharpened by the petrichor.
Tears began to roll down, shining like pearls, ending as dirty as seashells—the same kind she used to dig out of the tumultuous sand as a child. She stared at the scattered necklace among the leaves, then lifted her gaze to the swaying trees dancing in the turbulent wind. She placed her icy hands on her belly, looking at it with a grimace, feeling emotions she wouldn’t be able to name even if she truly questioned them. She huffed, grabbed her weapon, tucked it behind her, and picked up the necklace with nothing resembling joy—only resignation—rising with a faint guttural sound.
There would be time to cry during the journey.
—
Noa often questioned matters of morality, philosophy, ethics, culture, and even religion. He was an ape, an animal, of course, but his thirst for knowledge surpassed that of many ancient echoes. It wasn’t only Raka who had opened him to new perspectives on wisdom, making him question his own upbringing and beliefs—Mae had expanded them even further. It wasn’t something Noa would ever admit in front of Anaya or Soona, not even in front of Dar, because it made him vulnerable and, at the same time, he felt it pulled him away from his responsibilities.
Noa didn’t hate “humans,” least of all Mae.
Sometimes Noa suffered through that unpleasant silence when remembering the pale echo, the simple yet enigmatic question “Why?” circling in his mind. But it didn’t just lead to that question—it forced him to focus on sensations and stimuli that only guided him to Mae’s scent and the softness of her skin.
To him Mae was nothing more than a wild animal, and the feeling was mutual—but that difference and contempt existed only because of the wall of species between them. Don’t donkeys and horses abhor each other? Chickens and ducks? Cats fearful of lynxes? Even among animals, that hatred spread. And honestly, Noa sometimes thought it went beyond a simple (and disastrous) flu and “intelligent apes who kill humans and so on.”
Damn it, he’d gotten distracted by Mae again. When would he learn?
“Noa,” Soona almost murmured, her eyes nearly closed and—what he’d dare to call—ashamed, stepping slightly aside. Noa frowned.
“Mae.”
He didn’t need another syllable. He stood and let warm Soona guide him. And then he saw those golden strands fluttering, that frail, slender figure (though agile in its fragility). He could have stayed tense and distrustful quite simply, if not for the disgustingly sweet scent emanating from the human female, contrasting with the usual smell of dirt and sweat.
“Noa,” Mae exclaimed, her eyes calm but pupils dilated, hands clenched, lips parted as she searched for words.
Soona stepped away, understanding the need for privacy before the conversation even began, receiving an approving glance from Noa, who now perceived even more strongly that odor coming from Mae.
“It’s been two months since our last meeting… and I understand that you didn’t like my opinions about…”
“About us? Mae.” He finished bluntly, limbs tense, features hard.
“Noa, I know you notice it.” Why was she like this? Sometimes he felt she frivolously ignored him in every sense. Not that he considered her frivolous, but definitely rude and selfish about anything she found (in her human opinion) “unpleasant.”
“Your scent? Yeah, I do. Have you bathed?”
Son of a bitch ape.
Mae swallowed hard, squeezing her hands too tightly, staring at the ground nervously, almost consumed by fear and the urge to run from the uncertainty of what might happen.
“No… Technically yes, but that’s not it.”
“Then?” Noa thought maybe echoes had mating or heat cycles, and therefore their scent intensified and sweetened in an attempt to attract a male or female—even if it was useless in her situation. Maybe that sweet smell came from the blood he’d once seen coming from her genital area, though that didn’t quite fit because that smell had been strong, not sweet. Or at least he wouldn’t call it “attractive.”
“I’m… something’s wrong. It’s been two months since we were together… there. I think… I think I’m…” She tried desperately not to stammer, but it felt like she was saying something colossal and ridiculous that would only bring more conflict than benefit (though what benefit could there even be?).
“I think I’m pregnant, Noa.”
Well. Pregnant?
“Pregnant?…” He raised an eyebrow, relaxing his stance in confusion.
“Knocked up, Noa.” Mae closed her eyes for milliseconds, resigned and exhausted, glancing around and avoiding Noa’s expression.
Noa stepped back gently, brow furrowing, grimacing as he looked around as if the answer might be hiding among the flowers and ambiguous trees. Honestly he had no concrete response he could give right now. He just placed his hands on his head, covering his face—not out of frustration, but pure bewilderment. It wasn’t supposed to be possible… there was no way…
He wouldn’t call Mae a liar. He already knew she had accepted being his mating partner, and no lie could come from her mouth about never smelling another male of her species—or any other. Mae had lied to him many times, but not in this case, not now.
“What are we going to do…?” Mae murmured, without any real fixed plan—something that irritated her in situations like this. But what exactly could you plan with an ape growing in your womb? Noa already looked overwhelmed just hearing the question.
Mae huffed, lying back on the damp grass, exhaling in discomfort. Noa finally seemed to react (slowly) and mirrored her, only moving closer, shortening the distance they had broken so many times with blows and kisses. Mae watched him with wide, serious eyes, no trace of tears but clear anguish. Noa looked at Mae’s slightly rounded belly, so many questions crashing into him that he shook his head, sighing.
“Stay here until it’s born. Then we’ll see what to do for real,” he finally said, looking down with uncertainty.
“Here? You think I’ll stay here?” Mae grimaced.
“Pregnant? Yes.”
“Why do you think that’s a good idea? I almost killed most of your clan. How much do they esteem me?”
“As much as I tell them to. Do you think they’d kill a pregnant female? Do you think we’re that cruel?” Noa questioned shrewdly.
“I think they’re capable.”
Well, shit.
“They’re my clan. I know what they might intend. I know you’ll be safe if you obey the clan’s rules and respect the elders,” the ape clarified, receiving another reproachful look from Mae.
“No, they’ll kill me and they’ll kill my child. Let me stay in some nearby hideout where you can visit me and the baby. Doesn’t that seem safer?” she proposed with faint desperation, blinking too much.
“Are you proposing a nest?”
“I suppose…”
Noa truly didn’t know what to do in such an event; he was frozen, and from what he could see, Mae was behaving like pregnant ape females: defensive and stubborn. He understood Mae’s fear, but she had to understand his words—he was looking out for her safety; he wouldn’t put her at risk.
“We can try living here, and if it doesn’t feel right, we’ll go to the cave,” he proposed, voice trembling.
Mae didn’t like it, pressing her hand to her belly, displeased with the progenitor’s solutions.
“Straight to the cave, first and last,” the blonde insisted, now more annoyed.
“Mae…”
“No. Don’t you even think about what you’re suggesting? It’s way too dangerous. I’m not going to put myself or it at risk—and it’s your child too. Do you want something to happen to it?” Her pitiful look and parted lips in a worried grimace made Noa growl.
The echo was stubborn; it was clear he couldn’t convince her that his clan wasn’t a bunch of savages. So he could choose a cave himself and make a nest with his female. Though he’d have to explain why he kept disappearing—maybe lie and say he’s hunting… but alone? That wouldn’t make sense. Then again, he was the leader—who would question him?
Ah, right. Dar, Anaya, and Soona.
Noa huffed. For fuck’s sake. Why did Mae have to be so complicated?
“Fine. But I choose the cave.”
—
It was an abrupt change; Mae’s frustration and irritation only kept growing. She couldn’t even imagine how she would feel about her… offspring? Could she even call it that?
Nausea climbed up her throat imagining that the child would come out hominid-ape-like, that this baby would have impressive and unmatched capabilities for a sapiens. Though it would be a magnificient experiment for a scientist, Mae was not one. Her pain was far more intimate because she was the mother—the one in whom this being was growing, a being that did not bring joy to Mae’s heart and, she suspected, not to Noa’s either. Or did it? After all, she knew female chimpanzees chose the male they would mate with and even mated with several males, and fortunate was the one who impregnated her with his offspring. Though she was not an ape, she supposed that Noa, being one, felt at least a brief pride in having impregnated a female (even if not of his species).
She placed her hand on her now three-month belly, clenching it and staring at the earth, soaking in that damp, stinking smell. She was fed up with being fed up, and though it sounded ironic, it was the truth. Why hadn’t she been able to say “No” to Noa? Why had she let him tear her pants? It was sick after all; she had mated with an ape who, though blessed with consciousness and reasoning, still followed instincts. From a human perspective, she had abused Noa. Would they think the same in Noa’s clan if they knew?
Mae slipped out of the cave quietly, stepping on the dry leaves that creaked in the least helpful way possible if she were being chased by another animal.
“Fuck…”
She continued toward the river and shed her clothes, revealing her bruised body. She plunged eagerly into the treacherous cold of the river, feeling how the temperature changed in every section. She wet her hair, grimacing in disgust when she saw how the water stripped away the dust, mud, and grease from her body. Did she really go so long without bathing? Well, it wasn’t that she was dirty exactly—her mother had taught her basic hygiene in survival zones where there would be no access to “delicate” or “fine” bathrooms. That annoyed her quite a bit, and even more so the lack of soap, forcing her to use plants to make foam. She remembered how unfunny it was when one plant gave her an allergic reaction on her skin.
She huffed and, once finished, simply stayed under the sun, having taken the opportunity to wash her clothes too. The sun was strong today—that was great (and tedious for a pregnant woman, but she was surrounded by trees anyway).
“Mae”
She jumped, turning to see Noa, covering her breasts with her hair and her crotch with her hands. She raised an eyebrow in clear reproach toward him.
“I went to the cave to see you and you weren’t there. I figured you were finally going to bathe.”
“The baby is fine. And so am I,” she said quickly, grabbing a damp garment and tying it around her hip, no longer worrying so much about modesty now.
“I know. I can smell it.”
“Of course…”
Noa watched the rhythm of the river, then shifted his gaze to the echo. He became slightly entranced by her hips and the way the wind lifted her hair away from her firm breasts. It wasn’t that he usually paid attention to Mae’s body (or so he told himself), but he found the marked curves of echoes interesting compared to female apes.
“What are you going to do with the baby when it’s born?”
“What are we going to do?” Noa rephrased.
“Yes, we.”
“I… haven’t thought about it. I really would want it to be raised in the clan, but I don’t think that’s suitable. I also don’t intend to raise it in a cave and by the river for the rest of its life.”
“I wouldn’t let you take it away from me,” the woman murmured, clenching her fists, almost defiant toward Noa.
To Noa it seemed strange how protective his female was becoming—mainly defensive. Were pregnant human females naturally like this? He admitted he didn’t dislike it, because to him it was a clear sign she would be a disciplined mother in her role. It was similar (or worse) among ape females; they would even fight the male to protect their young from a nonexistent threat.
She simply growled when she noticed his silence, grabbing her clothes and hanging them on a long enough branch. He shuddered at her figure swaying as she disappeared among all that tall grass.
A few weeks later, Mae’s behaviors grew increasingly erratic; she wouldn’t let Noa get close, would even become agitated and furious if he tried to make any contact. She spent her time with her hands on her belly and watched the father of her baby with distrust.
He would be fine if he could just understand what the hell was going on. He would never attack or harm his own offspring—there was no reason to. Or was he wrong? Mae acted stranger every day and he sometimes felt pushed aside, even though he was the one feeding and sheltering them both with sarcasm every single day. The ape felt displaced, rejected by his own female—and though he didn’t know how to express it easily, it distressed him. He didn’t feel like a good male or a good father. Was he somehow hurting Mae?
“Did I do something you didn’t like?” he asked almost in a murmur.
“No,” she replied curtly, illuminated by the faint campfire that traced her features sharply.
“Do you not accept me as the father of this child?” This didn’t even make sense to him, truly.
“I don’t want you to take it away from me. Because it’s mine, my baby… mine!” she snapped harshly, staring at him fiercely, standing so close it looked like she might attack him. Though thinking about it was almost funny: that small, thin body trying to pounce on him, trying to win something that was already lost.
“Calm down, Mae. I’m not going to take our child away from you. I’ll help you… we’ll help each other,” he clarified, almost in a whisper, holding the girl’s icy hands.
Mae shook her head, eyes teary and gaze already lost, squeezing the opposing hands hard. She was tense and terrified.
“Mae, I’ll be there, like I am now. Look at me.” He caressed the soft skin, his eyes softened.
“No…”
“Mae, please. I won’t hurt them.”
She let out a hiccup and quickly buried herself in the blankets, clearly signaling she wanted no more conversation right now. This only deepened Noa’s anguish. He approached the lump and touched it, stroking uncertainly but with a desire to show love. She seemed to shudder, then pulled her head out from the sheets and grabbed his hand.
“Trust me, Mae. Please.”
She looked away, then focused on the ape’s face.
“Tell me you love me.”
Love? “Do you love me”? How…
———–
Hi! This is my first script about this ship, and I apologize for my English, is not my maternal language.
I will follow this in ao3 when ao3 accept me lmao.
Thank you for reading! ❤️
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Back to my still very much needed PB/KOTPOTA crossover au…
Mae gets rescued by Dek before Noa can save her and Noa gets very mopey about it when he sees them start to get along.
Thia and Rakka explain to Noa the human concept of jealousy.
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@krn-art drew me the cutest nomae art!
I love it so much! The foreheads touching, the bridal carry, their cute little smiles!
Everything about this is perfect!!
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This fandom needs to grow, huh. Because I want to see more material about this ship, and the three years until the next movie seem like an eternity to me.😭
I love them so much 🥹
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It’s fiction. Why couldn’t a humanoid ape end up with a human? Especially since there’s more romantic undertone between Noa and Mae than between Noa and Soona. I remind you that we live in a world where a woman ended up with a fish-man…
Also, the logic of saying there can’t be a romance because Mae almost got Noa and his family killed… Like… hello ? If they can still end on a positive note at the end of the movie, why would a romance be impossible ? Literally, in theory, someone who almost did to you what Mae did… well, you don’t want to be around them at all ? And we all know they’ll be bound by affection for each other throughout this whole story ?
The idea of trying to see this story as if the characters were in the real world is absurd.
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Today marks 2 years since I officially started shipping Nomae when the first teaser came out for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Technically I’ve been shipping them since summer of 2023….
The reason I say summer of 2023 is because I knew at the time a new POTA movie was coming out and I remember thinking “Oh I wish there is a girl and an ape I can ship.” Like I had started coming up with OCs to ship and explore how that dynamic would work in the meantime.
So the second I saw Noa and Mae in that teaser BOOM I was on board that ship. No questions. No hesitation. I had a dream and I’m holding on to it still.
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The Time Machine AU
“One generation passeth away, and another cometh but the Earth abideth forever.”
After Mae discovers a mysterious time machine, she ends up hurled into the far distant future where sentient apes have replaced mankind while the underground is ruled by the monsterous Morlocks.
When Mae and the young ape Noa of the Eagle clan get captured by the Morlocks, with the intention to make Noa their food and Mae their breeding vessel, she has to sacrifice her only possible way home in order to save them both and Noa’s clan - destroy the time machine and kill all the Morlocks.
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Livestream sketch tonight from the Discord
Nomae Bridgerton AU
Mae is the illegitimate daughter of two nobles who were already married and shes currently living as a disgrace with her spinster aunt Korina. She has caught the eye of one ape Lord Nathanial “Noa” of Eagleton.
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Every time I see a fan art of Nomae
😭😭😭😭 ahhh nooo that should be meeee *saves it*
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I’m over the moon because of this Nomae art the talented @ineffapable drew for me as a gift. I love it 😍
“Noa knew it was a dream. Not because he was wearing the wings befitting the Master of Birds but because Mae stood before him. Her face gentler than he could ever imagine. And when his callused palm touched her cheek, it was warm. Her skin glowed more golden by the second. Like the sun. Mae was the Sun. And Noa was torn between pulling his hand back like it had been kissed by flames; or be like the eagle and soar closer to her brilliance.”
I wanna thank her for not only the art, but for reading all of my POTA ideas and theories on discord for the past year. For example, I’ve talked about Noa as Icarus for both fic ideas and character analysis, and she took it as inspiration for this artwork ☀️🪽
This is the first time I have ever been gifted art, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Once again, thank you! 🥹💕
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Okay I’m still getting likes on my nomae posts almost daily. I know the fandom has died down but it’s nice to know there are more people out there who like nomae, even if they’re quiet about it and only like posts about it. Like I see youuuuu 🥹
If you want to join a nomae discord server (we also talk about POTA in general of course), please feel free to message me. The more the merrier.
