Between one blink and the next, the pod did its thing, depositing me back on the edge of the bed. The usual prompt hovered in front of me, blocking my view of the room. It was weird that the system considered my going back to Earth as logging off. Then again, what could the person that made the pods have put in without freaking a bunch of people out?
Welcome back Kyren Vulpier.
2 hours, 19 minutes have passed since you logged off.
Current in-game time: 11:04:36 AM
Dismissing the prompt, I found myself staring at a completely naked, save for the towel, Xander. My eyes widened, muscles freezing in confusion, fear, and another emotion I couldn’t narrow down, I looked him up and down.
Now, it wasn’t the first time I had seen a guy naked before. Hell, I had seen this guy shirtless on many occasions. Typically during work in the summers as being inside a building didn’t keep the place cool if the doors never shut.
But still, I had never seen him like this. His muscles were toned to a degree I had never seen in person. Couple that with the sheen of water, I found the sight oddly enjoyable. A strange flutter stirred in my chest — a sensation I had never associated with Xander or any other man before. It sent a chill down my spine, adrenaline into my blood, and panic surging through me.
He must have noticed me because he looked in my direction. “Alex,” was all he got out before I bolted across the room and through the door. My boosted hearing meant that I could hear curses emanating from his room as I sprinted in a random direction. I hoped that there was a stairwell in this direction. If not then I would have to double back.
Lucky for me, I found the stairs. Unlucky for the group of people walking toward them, I couldn’t stop in time to make the turn. My feet slid across the ground as I scrambled to stop. A scaled man casually reached out. Grabbing onto both shoulders as he brought me to a stop.
I didn’t give him time to say anything. I simply nodded my thanks before scurrying down the stairs. The group’s chat became more animated as I whipped around the first switchback. As I ripped around the second, I found myself face to face with a group coming up the stairs. Each of them wore armor that looked well-used. Given the dry blood and slightly tired looks, I was pretty sure they were just getting back from hunting.
“So, after we get washed up, do y’all want to hit up that new bar down the road?” One of the guys in lighter armor asked.
I tried to look for a way around the slow-moving group, but they left little room on either side. None of them seemed to have noticed me yet. “Sure, I need something to wash the taste of spider off my tongue.” A woman in a darker robe grumped before taking a sip from a waterskin.
“Hey,” the man in a light-grey robe groaned. “I said I was sorry for that.” The ring of blue gold hovering over his head caught my eye. Even if the stairs were not lit, I was sure that thing would have lit the group's way. Turning, I moved to get out of the way.
“Well, maybe you should figure out how to turn off your SoulStone artifact.” The first guy said before snapping his eyes in my direction. “Oh, what do we have here?”
His eyes trailing up and down my body sent a feeling of fear stabbing through my gut as the group's last person spoke. The man was huge, likely a tank or a heavy hitter, rumbled as he spoke. “Looks like a fox beastman.”
Now that I had been noticed, I saw no reason to wait for the group to pass. Pushing forward, I tried to move through a small gap between the woman and the wall. Something suddenly pulled on my tail causing me to squeak as it yanked me to a stop. Without reason, a wild thought flit through my mind of one of the men grabbing me and trying something.
Even when I was still a man, it was something that I feared would happen one day. Lucky for me, it hadn't. But maybe my time was up. Maybe today would be the day I didn’t get away. That didn’t mean I would go down without a fight.
My eyes were wild as I spun on the balls of my feet. A fist flew toward the hand of whoever was holding onto my tail. The perpetrator had it to their face. Rubbing it against their cheek and looking about ready to purr. My fist met her chin.
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She must have been quite a bit stronger than me because she only stumbled a step back. Either she didn’t notice or didn’t care as she just kept rubbing her cheek against my fur. That was a bad sign as I had thrown everything I had into that attack yet it had only caused her to stumble. Her lip wasn’t even cut. Worst still, I was now stuck in the middle of the small group with no easy way out.
“Alex!” Xander called as he ran around the steps. He must not have expected the group to be there as he nearly turned the light-grey robed guy into a speed bump in his hurry to find me. Lucky for him, Xander managed to grab onto the banister. Using it to stop his forward momentum.
“Smith,” the tank rumbled. His voice sounded respectful.
Xander gave a simple nod back. His voice was calm as he asked, “You wouldn’t have happened to see a Kitsune girl running through here, would you?” The frantically moving eyes and twitchy fingers were all I needed to see to know that he was nearly panicking. His eyes kept eyeing the railing as if he was debating launching himself over the damn thing.
I debated with myself if I should call out for him or to stay quiet. If I did call out to him and the group decided that they wanted me, what could he do against them? He was one person. It didn’t matter how many levels he had on me. Not when they likely were around the same level and had numbers on their side.
Of course, this was also a great argument against staying quiet. If he didn’t stand a chance, I sure as hell didn’t. My only hope in such a scenario was to somehow trick them into letting me go. Fat chance of that happening.
Before I could decide, the group collectively stepped back. Their eyes darted nervously between Xander and me, fear evident in their expression. “We, we, we didn’t know she was yours.” The woman sputtered out.
While none of their reactions made sense, given what I knew about Xander, I used it to my advantage. Turning, I raced between the two that had been behind me. As soon as I was past, I heard multiple pairs of feet scrambling up the stairs and away from me.
Not even halfway down another set of stairs, Xander dropped into my path. “Stop running,” his voice was calm. Hands gently patting the air as if he was trying to calm a spooked animal. Seeing no way around him, I grabbed the banister. Using it to stop my momentum. Glancing over it, I debated if I could get over it before he could stop me. “Why are you running?”
“Um…” I had no answer ready. “I need to,” my mind worked feverishly as it tried to come up with a convincing reason while also looking for an escape route. He stood there, not moving as he waited for my answer. “I was going to meet someone.” I blurted out.
His eyebrows lift as what he says next confuses me. “Dressed like that?” Heat rushed to my cheeks as I glanced down. The oversized t-shirt barely covered me. A cool draft reminded me just how exposed I was. Instinctively, my arms wrapped around me as my desire to run evaporated. Adrenaline petering out, I collapsed to the ground. Xander, seeing my reaction, slowly reached out toward me while speaking in the softest tone I had ever heard from him. “At least come back to the room to get dressed.”
Tears prick my eyes as I shake my head. I don’t have anything to wear. Not for this body. Maybe the dress would fit, but the strikes from the demon had likely damaged it beyond usability. So even if I knew where it was, it would be useless.
As I tried to keep from bursting into tears, Xander slowly moved toward me. He sat next to me as his hands slowly wrapped around me. The pull toward him was light. I knew that he would have stopped or even let me go if I resisted. I debated doing just that but eventually gave in. But despite my earlier panic, Xander’s presence was soothing enough that I didn’t fight him as he pulled my head to his chest.
He smelled of something dark and woodsy mixed with petrichor. We sat like that for a little while. People were quiet as they walked around us. Eventually, though, he asked a question. “Do you feel up to going back to the room?” Unable to speak, lest the damn burst, I shook my head. “Why not? Does it have something to do with me?” At first, I shook my head once before tentatively nodding. “Are you afraid of what I might do?” My head practically vibrated.
If there was a guy that I could wholeheartedly trust to not try something, it would be Xander. His sigh sounded relieved. “Are you afraid of what you have become?” I took a second to think about the question before lifting a hand in answer. My thumb and forefinger practically touching. “That is understandable but you cannot hide from it. No matter how temporary the change is, you need to face it face-on.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to face this body. I wanted to hide from it. To deny it. He sighed again before speaking. “At least come get changed.” Suddenly, something occurred to him. “You don’t have anything to wear, do you?” My flinch must have been enough of an answer because he lightly chuckled. “I expected as much, though I did hope you had something else that might fit. Still, I am happy my sister insisted that I get a few pieces for you.”
I jerked my head back in shock. I didn’t know that Xander had a sister. We had known each other for years and the guy never mentioned her once. Xander chuckled lightly as he stood up. He held out a hand as he said. “How about we make a deal? You come back and get dressed. Afterward, I will take you to meet her. I have a feeling you will both get along quite well. Probably too well.” He practically murmured the last part. The old me wouldn’t have been able to hear it but now it came across as a soft whisper in my ear.
Those words more than anything spurred me to grab his hand. He pulled me to my feet before stepping around me to start up the stairs and I followed. Partly out of curiosity and desire to meet his sister, and partly because he was still holding my hand. His grip was strong and insistent yet soft enough that it didn’t hurt.