-Lain-
I hum happily to myself as I check over everything and make sure all our stuff is ready to go. It’s been five days since I last seen the soldiers and I have a feeling that they should be showing up soon.
I’ve got all my stuff packed away in my bags and I should be able to carry all of it myself. I ended up picking up some new stuff during our stay here, mostly books, and would rather not leave them behind. Sky’s trinkets and baubles are all safely packed up, but I will probably have to have the soldiers help us bring those back with us.
I’ve also made sure to get the rest of the boar packed away so Sky will have plenty of food after we move in. Hopefully I’ll be able to go out hunting and get her meat after we move on base. She can live off of fruits and veggies, but the girl really loves her meat. I don’t want to deprive her of it just because she is living with me.
Speaking of Sky… she has been giving me this look recently. Especially when she thinks I don’t notice her watching. Just staring at me with half lidded eyes like a tiger lazily watching a cute little rabbit hop by. Knowing that she can pounce at any moment and do whatever she wants to the poor little bunny...
Its honestly a little scary, like she is contemplating eating me, asking herself if I will taste good. Although, I am suspecting that our definitions of ‘eating’ will be pretty different…
A while back I had a theory that she might have a crush on me. I disregarded it at first, figuring it was just a case of puppy love; just her wanting to be loved on and spoiled. But over time, the thought that she might actually have those kinds of feelings for me has been growing.
She has… been getting a lot more ‘physical’ whenever I pet her. Pushing herself up against me and touching me, her hands exploring and grabbing me wherever she can. Also, the frequency of her just coming up and hugging me or wanting to fall asleep while holding me has been going up a lot.
It’s only been growing worse as her changes progress…
Which is fine. I can’t be one hundred percent certain that she has those kinds of feelings for me unless she tells me outright; I’m not going to make assumptions. And if she wants to touch and hold me, I am not going to push her away. It’s not as if she is sticking her hand down my pants or anything.
The only real problem is that I don’t know how or if I should respond to those feelings…
The issue isn’t with her not being human, something that is becoming less of an actual issue with every day that passes and her changes progress. Hells, I’m not even human anymore, so why should it matter?
The real problem is three things.
First: I can’t be entirely certain that her feelings are hers or aren’t just a result of her changes making her hormones go nuts.
If I were to take advantage of that and push her down, and her real feeling for me aren’t like that. That would make me feel like a monster and I would never be able to forgive myself. I’ve sworn to take responsibility for her, to take care of her, and taking advantage of her would just be horrible of me.
In the end, the only thing I can do is wait and keep teaching her English so that the two of us can have a proper conversation as two consenting adults.
Of course, there is the possibility that I am reading a bit too much into this, but I do pride myself on not being freaking blind. If there is one thing that I hate, it is a protagonist that can’t realize when someone obviously wants them and then goes three seasons before finally seeing the truth. No thank you.
Second: I need to ask myself, ‘Do I have those sorts of feelings for Sky? Can I reciprocate her love?’
For the most part, I can certainly say that I love her. But if that love could become the kind that lovers share is an unknown for me right now. My love for her is one of care and a desire to protect and spoil. Not one of wanting to pin her to the bed and have her screaming my name all night long.
As an aside though, while I have always thought that she was cute. Her changes have been bringing her into an entirely different kind of ‘cute.’
I’ve never been into Furies, I don’t judge, but at the same time I could never really understand the appeal. So, for me, Sky has always just been cute in the way that makes you want to pet and spoil. But with her changes making her much more human, she is growing dangerously close to becoming a Weeb’s wet dream. Cute girl + Animal features.
She is becoming very dangerous for my cultured heart and letting her press her newly developing features against me is very distracting. Again, I am not blind; it’s not just her height that has been growing recently...
So, while I am not sure if I can bring my love for her to that kind of level, I am at the very least quite certain that I find her a bit attractive now and is growing more so with each passing day. Which is dangerous, as I can’t be entirely certain that I have the self-control necessary to stop myself if she were to try and push me down…
Which circles back around to point One…
Third: I already have feelings for Anna.
For far too long I have been in the closet and too scared to tell her how I feel. Too worried about being rejected or shunned for outing myself. But now, I’ve sort of stopped caring as much.
Even if it was mostly an accident and ended with me getting rejected, I have asked out a girl now. There are people that know I am into girls, and they didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Which is great! It would have been much weirder if they had been really enthusiastic about it and thrown me a freaking parade or something.
Nope, no shits given. The little demon girl prefers pussy over dick? Eh, seems normal enough, moving on.
They didn’t care, they didn’t judge, hells we even cracked a few jokes. And to think that I had so much trouble deciding whether I should put a little pride pin on my backpack. It makes past me feel so silly.
So, I’ve decided that when I reunite with my family and Anna, I am going to out myself and confess to her… Which now that I think about it, that honestly sounds really scary…
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
No Lain! We are being brave now! You fought a bear as big as a house and slayed the Legendary Fluffy not Dragon, Dragon! If you can do stupid shit like that, then you can out yourself to your parents… and confess to your best friend... and potentially ruin your current relationship with her by making everything super awkward…
…
I shake my head and force myself to stop thinking about it before I get depressed and decide to chicken out. I just have to force myself to do it. That’s all there is to it. No thinking, only do!
Best to just stop thinking about this for now anyways. When the soldiers get here, I will finally be able to be with my family again. There is no reason to be stressing myself out over horny Kobolds and future confessions.
Peeking out the windows, I don’t see any signs of anyone approaching. The house is basically all packed and ready to go except for Sky’s nest.
I look over there and catch her staring at me again while lounging in her nest of blankets and pillows like a little queen. She turns away and blushes; something that she has recently been able to do. She tries to pretend like she wasn’t just watching me like a hungry hawk…
With everything all packed up, I don’t really have anything else to do. So, I grab a book and head over to her. I might as well spend some time teaching her English.
She perks up when she sees me approach and smiles. Her big fluffy tail happily wagging behind her and slapping the couch. I try to sit down next to her nest on the couch, but much like the last few times, she grabs me by the arm and drags me into her nest before snuggling right up against me. Practically crawling into my lap and clamping herself around me. To be comfortable, I have to wrap an arm around her narrow waist, which basically invites her to push herself against me even more.
To make matters worse, it seems that her big fluffy lizard tail is wrapping itself around my legs to keep me from running away. I don’t think she is doing it intentionally…
Mmmmm, these English lessons are getting much harder for me…
Hopefully she will learn quickly. We really need to have that talk before I go and do something I’ll regret…
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After a couple of hours of English lessons and me desperately fighting to control my libido like the poor little virgin that I am, I manage to buy my freedom from Sky’s incredibly soft embrace with the sacrifice of a cut of boar meat and a kiss on the forehead.
The kiss ended up sending me some danger signals as Sky ended up looking like she was going to jump me. Luckily, she seemed to be able to forcibly get herself back under control. I ended up walking away from her nest in a cold sweat. That was a bit to close… I will have to avoid giving her any kisses for now until she relaxes a bit.
In retrospect, it was very stupid of me to go and do that. Holding her on my lap for so long probably made me lose a bit of my reason.
Haaa… I’m going to going go sit outside and get some fresh air. Try and clear my head some…
I let Sky know that I’ll be outside, and she gives a wave as she munches on her meat. She looks very smug and happy with herself as she does so. As if she had just achieved some herculean feat.
Heading outside, I go across the patio and sit in an old rocking chair that was here when we moved in. Slowly rocking back and forth, I look up at the sky with its white clouds and just empty my mind. Relaxing my breathing and watching the clouds drift by. Up in the trees and on the roofs of nearby houses, birds sing out happily.
Another beautiful day.
More and more we are getting nice weather. It is almost getting to the point where one can forget that we are still in the apocalypse. Of course, I only have to redirect my attention to the Kobold totems made from monster bones in our yard to be firmly reminded that we are, in fact, still dealing with the end of the world.
But, at the very least I can gaze up at the clouds and relax for a bit. No fighting or having to hide from monsters and mutants. No getting thrown through walls and trees. No having to worry about protecting my V-Card from a horny little Kobold… Just white fluff clouds lazily moving across the sky.
I stay there relaxing, just gently rocking in my chair for some time until something catches my eye. Sitting up in my chair, I focus on the horizon until I confirm what I am seeing, and a big smile stretches across my face. From the look of it there are seven figures approaching and their forms are becoming much more clearly human as they draw near.
Looks like we are finally getting some company. Let's hope that they are bringing good news.
I don’t bother getting up. They don’t appear to be in any hurry, and I am feeling pretty relaxed in my rocking chair. I’ll just wait for them to get here.
It doesn’t take them too much longer to make their way down the street and to reach my house. Along the way, Rookie gives a wave and I lazily send one back. She seems to be in a good mood, so they should have good news for me.
Climbing up the patio, Sanders smirks as he looks at me relaxing, “Well, you seem to be taking it easy. Having yourself a good day?”
I give him a smile, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. How about you? You're looking pretty cheery. Let me guess, you finally managed to get yourself a girlfriend?”
He gives a big smile and scratches at his nose, “Why yes, yes, I have. She’s a real beauty, try not to be too jealous.”
“Hahaha, well now! Congratulations are in order. Regretfully I don’t have anything here for throwing a celebration, unless you want me to BBQ up some monster meat for ya?”
Rookie speaks up, “I’ll pass on monster meat thank you. Guys in the lab still aren’t sure if it safe to eat or not.”
Sanders continues, “Ya, I’ll pass on Monster BBQ. Anyways, when Sandy gets out of the hospital, I’ll be taking her on a date. We can have a proper celebration with everyone else after that.”
“Nice!” I say with a smile. “So, who’s your friends?” I ask.
One of the men in the back, who had been respectfully waiting for us to finish catching up, decides to step forward at that. I get up from my chair as he approaches.
“Sergeant Philip, it is a pleasure to meet you miss Lain. We were briefed on your heroics, and I would like to personally thank you for everything you did. Sergeant Lenz is a good friend of mine, and I am grateful for you saving him from becoming rat food.” He extends his hand and I take it to shake, “Thank you.”
So openly thanking me leaves me feeling a bit embarrassed and I feel a blush coming in.
“You don’t need to thank me… I mean, ya I saved him, but it’s not as if I am some superhero. I also had ulterior motives… a bit hard to negotiate getting into the base if they all died...” I say while scratching at my regrowing horn and feeling awkward from the praise.
“If I may be frank miss, I don’t expect you to be a saint or a superhero. Regardless of your reasons, you saved the lives of four, potentially five good soldiers, and risked your life to do so. That is all that matters.”
He lets go of my hand and takes a step back, clasping his hands behind his back.
“Now then, we are here on business and to deliver the news. For the first matter, your family has been informed of your survival and your letter was delivered. They are deeply relieved to know that you are safe and sound. Although for the sake of secrecy, they haven’t been informed of your current condition.”
He gestures to my body with a look.
“Oh, thank goodness. Thank you, and yes, I would rather that they not find out about me being an Imp until I get to tell them myself. So, I am thankful for the secrecy, even if it wasn’t for my sake.”
I feel tears start to well up in my eyes, but I fight to keep them down. I don’t want to cry in front of the nice soldiers. I’m saving these for my family.
The Sergeant gives me a small smile before he grows serious again.
“On to the second matter. Your request to be permitted entry to the base, along with your pet Kobold has been granted. However, there are some conditions that you are going to have to agree to and I am remorse to tell you that they are non-negotiable. You must either accept them and be allowed entry, or reject them and be barred from entering the base. You have my sincere apologies for this, but this was decided by Command.”
I’ll ignore the mention of Sky being my pet, it's not worth arguing over…
“I see… Well, honestly, I am not really too surprised by there being conditions. So long as it isn’t anything too crazy, I will be willing to accept almost anything.”
“That’s good to hear, and again, you have my apologies. If it was up to us soldiers, you would have been welcomed in day one with open arms. We don’t forget those that save the lives of our comrades. But Command has its duties, and we have to follow orders.”
“I understand, don’t worry. Well… How about you guys come on inside and we can go over those conditions. I’m already being a rude hostess by keeping you outside.” I gesture to the door, “Please come inside. Don’t mind the Kobold, she doesn’t bite. Just no trying to pet her, she’s feeling moody.” I say as a joke to try and lighten the mood.
All right, let's see what these conditions are…