A light snore woke me up from a far too deep sleep. I felt exhausted, my whole body did, but I still tried to force my eyes open. Something was wrong, horribly even.
«WHO THE FUCK IS LYING NEXT TO ME?!»
My question was answered within mere seconds. When my vision cleared, after blinking several times, the fuzzy contours right in front of me gained clearer colors and forms. It was Ofris. I long since knew how his hair looked, dark brown with few strands of grey, but his familiar dark green eyes were nowhere to be seen. He slept.
«Why is he so close?! This is my tent!»
「You have no tent, silly~」
«That explains nothing! He is almost touching me! I can feel his breath!»
「Doesn't he look incredibly peaceful?」
«He does...»
「You shouldn't disturb him. It was you who exhausted him, after all!」
«Me?»
「You don't remember?」
«Remember? What? What did I-»
Something in my head suddenly broke loose. I started remembering the past day, everything that had led to me waking up next to Ofris, but no matter how hard I tried, there were many hours missing. What I saw before my inner eye, however, was far more than enough to send cold shivers over my body.
«He- he kissed me!!»
「You made him.」
«I never wanted for that to happen! Never!»
「What did you think would happen if you seduce him?」
«...»
「You really didn't think it through, did you?」
She was right. I hadn't thought it through. Not because I was too stupid to even think about my actions, but because I trusted him. I had trusted Ofris to somehow deal with the situation I had tossed him into. He had always saved me, so often in fact that I had long grown accustomed to it.
«... damn it.»
「Don't worry, I am sure he will be a great father~」
«Great father?»
A cold shiver went over my body as I lifted up the blanket that protected our bodies. A wide, muscular chest awaited my gaze. Ofris was wearing just as much fabric on his body as I did. There wasn't even underwear.
«No, no, noo! NOO!»
「He seems to be on the slightly bigger side~」
«This can't be happening! This can't be happening to me!»
My mind was long consumed by a maelstrom of chaos. I saw images of me talking to Ofris fly by, heard words he had said to me, saw him saving me over and over again, but also his lips that were closing in to steal a kiss. The pictures slowly changed into torture, as I started imagining what had happened in the night.
«Why?! WHY!»
Before I realized, I had already freed myself from the blanket that had protected our bodies from the cold grasp of the night. The air was still chilly, it sent goosebumps all over my skin, but I just couldn't pay it any heed. My chaotic mind only screamed one word: Run! Run! Run! It echoed through my mind, consuming any other thought.
My panicked hands tried to open the tend, but they were unable to. For seconds, they searched for the loops and buttons the dark grey fabric held together with, but even when I finally held them between my fingers, I was shaking too much to even dream of escaping.
"Rika? Is that you?" A half-asleep voice asked.
I didn't need to turn around to see who it was that had discovered me. «No, no, no, NOO!!»
I tore open the tent, using all of the little strength I had gained from my recent level ups. The fabric just gave in, it ripped apart with a loud noise before finally setting me free. I immediately jumped towards the morning sun.
My flight ended abruptly as I found three silhouettes that had only waited for me to jump out of my prison. Miriam, Jack and Sophia had all sat next to the remains of the campfire. They seemed to prepare food for the day, that was until they heard the bluster I had caused in my panic.
They stared at me. First at my face, but their gazes quickly wandered down. It was only when Sophia used both of her hands to cover her husband's eyes and shield him for my nude body, that I escaped my shock.
«They know!! They all know!!»
I had to escape them, not only their eyes but their grasps, too! They already had thought of me and Ofris being lovers, and I could still somewhat handle that, but them thinking we had kept ourselves busy the whole night was something wholly different. I couldn't accept, no, I couldn't handle it! It was just too much!
"Kon kon!"
It was just two barks combined by two silly ears formed by my hands, nothing more but the ridiculous attempt of copying a fox, but it gave me more safety than a thousand soothing words would ever be able to. Soon enough, everything inside of me started tingling and a familiar mist fumed from my skin. It captured my everything and blurred my vision, though only for a short moment, before giving me free again.
I just began running. The short legs of mine carried me away, faster than I would ever have imagined, but I wasn't questioning this new quickness of mine. It helped. It helped me escape all those knowing smiles and hints they would make, but most importantly, I wouldn't have to meet Ofris' eyes ever again.
«WHY?! WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME!!»
⊱————- Extra ————-⊰
Ofris: What did just happen?
Miriam: She is just a little shy~
Ofris: Shy?! She transformed again!
Sophia: Maybe things went a little to fast there...
Sophia: I bet she is pretty ashamed right now.
Ofris: Ashamed!? What happened? Tell me!
Miriam: You kissed her! Bunch of times! And you even carried her into your tent, as if she was your bride~
Ofris: I did what?!
Ofris: I- I really did...
Jack: ...