Hearing the word "home" made her anxious since she wasn't sure if she was still in the world known as Earth or not.
The things that happened today were too complicated, just how did a simple showering lead her to this place?
There's probably no way that she was drunk or high on drugs when the last thing she drank was that cup of coffee, and of course, it was also not the case that brought her here.
Well.. what if there's a human tribe here? There might be a chance that there's a human tribe nearby. If so, at least she wouldn't feel like a lone freak.
The bloody stench jarred her out of her reverie. Her eyes shifted to the blood-dripping animal limb that had been in Frost's palm the whole time.
Oh.." as if he just realized that he was clutching a bloody limb. It was embarrassing, the frightened Keira has made him lose his bearings and forget why he brought this limb here in the first place.
"Ohhh..." finally his mind came back "You must be hungry, let me make some barbeques." He quickly spun and headed to the campfire.
When he was crouching down, Keira avoided looking at his exposed crotch. she didn't know how she should react to this.
It might be the first culture shock if what he's doing was normal, a grown, ripped man squatting near the campfire making a barbeque without wearing a single piece of clothes, probably not something she would see every day.
She tried to divert her gaze out of his tight bottoms, and the exposed thickness pole that were entirely displayed, as though it was staring back at her—and focus on the food, but this proved challenging, wondering if she should scream or cheer, or if she should treat it as part of the culture shock she was experiencing.
It seemed like he's noticed how her eyes were unnaturally rolling upward and realized that going nude might not be common in her tribe. He then wrapped his bottom with an animal skin's loincloth.
At last, Keira could heave a sigh of relief.
After he fixed his cloth to cover most of his privates, he squatted down again near the campfire, grabbed a stone knife and carefully cut the animal leg into handful pieces, stick the wood sticks through the meat, and set them on the fire.
Sitting back on a stone seat, she watched him flipping barbeques. The meat that Frost has put in the sticks was fresh and juicy, the oil from the meat dropped on the fire gave a sizzling noise with the smell of grilled meat that invited her stomach to growl in anticipation.
It had been half a day since she ate her last meal so she bent forward, staring at the barbeque with eyes sparkling.
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They're both silent, Keira was too lost in her mind and Frost was too dense trying not to overcook any pieces of the meat. He was distressed that he might cause unintentional mistakes and she would freak out and run away.
After Frost flipped the barbeques a few times until the meat looked well cooked, he picked it up and handed it to her.
Narrowing her eyes, she darted her gaze between his face and the grill before taking the barbeque stick from his hand.
However, she was still hesitant to put her full confidence in him. In spite of her hunger, she should give it to him to sample first, just to be positive it's okay to eat.
She returned the grill and said, "You should eat too,"
Nodding his head, he took the barbeque back. Actually, he was about to enjoy watching her eat the barbeque that he made. but it could be that she didn't trust him yet, so he bit a piece of the meat, making sure that there was nothing for her to feel unsettled.
When she saw that he looked fine after he ate it, she grabbed another barbeque stick and took a bite.
Yes, the meat was really fresh and juicy, but something was missing. There's no seasoning or salt, no wonder it tasted so bland. Well, what should she expect in the wild? The fact that they knew how to use fire here was a blessing.
"Do you have some... salt ?" She frowned as she chewed the meat.
"Yes, but it's only for the females in the tribe" frost answered, putting down his barbeque and continuing to speak "do you need it? I will go and bring salt for you"
"N..no I don't need it yet." She waved her hand, as she didn't want to bother since salt seemed to be precious in this place.
At the moment, she was estimating how advanced were the locals here. They were adept at cooking with fire, but might not have advanced to the point of farming salt yet, or it could be that the resource here wasn't abundant to produce sustainable salt.
"It's alright, you can ask me anything," he beamed so gently while saying that.
Frost could sense that something wasn't right with her, and she was very cautious. He knew that the forest was dangerous and feared she might come across something frightening while she was lost in it.
Keira nodded and faintly curved her lips back. Even if he says so, she didn't plan on staying here that long to ask him for things she needs.
If this place was truly not her world, she probably needs to explore and learn more just to be safe.
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After they finished their barbeques, Frost brought a small wooden cup filled with water and handed it to her.
Observing it for a while, the shape was more like a small soup cup rather than a usual modern glass, this might be what the locals here used as a glass to contain water, she drank it and handed it back to Frost.
Later, Keira was sought out for water to wash her greasely hands. She was relieved when Frost understood her gesture and guided her to a room that was hiding inside a far corner of the cave.
The walls and surfaces of this room looked like they had been dug out of the cave. It's all solid, and only the light from the campfire could shine through the doorway. In the middle was a large stone bathtub, that had been carved into a roughly oval shape. Next to it was a stone basin pedestal.
The moment Frost noticed that Keira was staring at the stone bathtub, he quickly went back to the campfire and started boiling the water.
It was not long until the water was boiled and poured into the bathtub. He mixed it well with the cold water that was inside the tub, and the temperature was now perfect for the female to wash up.
While Keira was going to take off her dress, she glanced back at the male, who was currently standing there unmoved.
"Thank you for the water, and could you wait outside?" She asked him nicely, trying not to be rude when he gave her food and even prepared the bath for her.
"I will help you bathing" What he just told made Keira instantly whirl around to face him.
She was taken aback by his unexpected words. Was he eager to check on her after he just showed his naked body during the cookouts?
But the look on his face was not like a pervert who wanted to see her naked body, his eyes were too unfeigned, not knowing that he was making her feel uncomfortable.
"I can do it by myself. Please get out first" Her voice was firm. She was so far frightened by things that happened today, how good was it that her mental state was still fine, so let's just give her the privacy she needed to collect herself.
Frost's dropped his gaze, he was hurt that she didn't want his help. In his beastman society, if a female decline to use a male's services, he can assume she does not like him; this was why Frost left the room in such a downcast mood.
Keira had no idea what made him so glum. She didn't want to believe that it was usual to be so depressed simply because she wanted to take a bath by herself? Things here really made her questioning her life right now...
However, she didn't let it effect her. It wasn't the time for her to overthink. Then she whirled around, took off her clothes, and stepped towards the bathtub.
Narrowing her eyes, she cautiously checked on the dress she has worn. There must be something mysterious going on with this.
When she was in the forest, this dress appeared in her hand without a trace. It's unbelievable to think that it was some kind of magical.
Just how could a dress appear at the exact time when she thought about something to cover herself?
Repeating what she did at that time, it was when she clenched her hand and thought about cloth and that was how the dress appeared. So this time, she clenched her hand and thought about soap.
That was when a soap popped up on her palm—the exact moment when the dress disappeared. So this was probably the method of how to use it.
What she just did was far beyond unbelievable "Conjure things?" she accidentally said out loud and quickly cupped her mouth. Didn't want Frost to run into the room when her whole body was naked.
Later, Keira tried to conjure other items to learn the rules, what she learned was that she could conjure only one item at a time, and the previous item would disappear after the new one occurred. So she used the ability to conjure shampoo, and the next was shower gel.
Another rule that Keira had learned was that it's possible for the conjured substance to pass through to other containers.
It was when she conjured a tube of toothpaste and squeezed a little amount of the paste on her finger, and then conjured a toothbrush, which made the tube disappear but the paste on her finger still remains.
She put the paste, which she had squeezed out before, on the brush and brushed her teeth, 'This is so convenient! 10/10 !!'
After she was done with her bath, she conjured the toothbrush back into the same white dress, wore it, and went out of the room.
She caught Frost sitting on the stone bed, he rotated his head at her and sniffed the sugary fragrance that touched his nose. It was unusually sweet, he couldn't believe there was such a fragrance in this world. The smell was so complex and intense, as if it were delicately mixed with many types of rare flowers.
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the fragrance. He walked unconsciously towards her, running his nose closer to Keira's neck. Her scent was ambrosial, like a blooming flower bouquet, He couldn't resist but inhale deeply, cherishing every bit of her enticing sweetness.
When he realized that he had startled her, he stepped back, pulling himself together, "I .. made the bed for you," he said, blushing to his ears, avoiding her gaze.
Keira was befuddled and couldn't catch up with his emotions. Observing Frost's ears grow red, she couldn't contain her giggle at how adorable he looked. 'Was that.. a shy?'
Then she carefully took steps to the stone bed. since there was only one bed in this cave, she naturally wondered, "If I sleep on this bed, then where are you going to sleep?"
Frost responded directly, "Of course, on the bed with you."
She was caught off guard by his answer.
He grinned at her surprised expression and added, "It's cold and dangerous at night How could I let you sleep alone in the cave?"
"..." Keira was completely floored. He had been acting shy up until this point, but what he said showed that she was likely mistaken.
All she could do was do as he said, When it was clear that she couldn't beat a grown male, almost eight-foot-tall and could change into a wolf.
She carefully climbed onto the bed and wrapped every inch of herself in an animal hide blanket, pleading with God that this blanket would serve as her best defense and keep her safe throughout the night. After that, Frost sat down and lay next to her.
Initially, she was worried that she wouldn't get any sleep, but despite her best efforts, she was physically exhausted from those few hours she had wandered in the forest and was unable to remain awake. She eventually gave in to the temptation and drifted off into a deep sleep.
Frost inched up behind her and gently drew her into his embrace, keeping her body warm.
He sensed Keira's nervousness and paranoia about everything she met. Even so, he was willing to be patient and show that she could trust him, he hoped that with time, Keira would learn to let go of her worries feel at ease in his presence.
.
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