I lay on the floor looking at the ceiling, “Damn Lorraine, that was, I don't have a word for it.”
She panted while her head lay on my chest. “Did I earn a spot on your journey?”
“That depends. Can I keep the clothes?”
She giggled, “You are a fun person, I am glad you walked into my store.”
We heard a bell, Lorraine got up, “There are some customers.” She started getting dressed. I smiled as I looked at her putting her tail through a hole in her pants. She looked over her shoulder, “Are you checking out my tail?”
“Yes, is that wrong?”
She wiggled it for me, “Nope, I like it if you admire my tail.” She freshened herself up with the nearby sink.
I got up and started getting dressed. “The flower inn? I will see you tonight?”
Lorraine smiled and nodded, “I am coming with my backpack, my mom can run the store while I am gone.” After getting dressed, I saw Lorraine walk outside, I followed her.
Lorraine waved at the new customers, “Hello there, I was just helping another customer.” I smiled and waved at her as I left the store.
As I looked at the busy street, I saw Abby and Funk sitting on a brick bench. I walked over, “Hello there.”
Funk looked up, “That took quite some time.”
I scratched my head, “Sorry about that, Lorraine will be joining us on our journey, I hope that is alright”
Abby grunted angrily, “Really? Just why?”
I looked back at the shop and smiled, “We can use her help. She knows a lot, like Funk.”
He smiled at me, “Thanks, I am fine with her tagging along.”
Abby got up and stood in front of me, “Did you decide that with your brain, or your dick?”
I put my hands on my waist, “What would it even matter to you? We needed help, and now a wolf human is going to help us.”
Funk sighed, “Can you please stop acting like children? Abby, currently, Steve is not interested in you. Let him pave his own way, and if he wants to play it dangerous with a wolf-girl, then let him.”
Abby sighed and nodded, “Alright, where are we going next?”
Funk smiled, “We should head over to buy a tent and a backpack. After that, some items like a tinderbox, and other utility items. It will be pretty boring, thereafter, we can go to the flower’s inn.”
We went through plenty of stores and bought a couple of items, Abby grumbled and mumbled all the way, until we made our way to the Flower’s inn. From the outside it looks folksy, cheerful, and peaceful. Softwood and huge, stone beams make up most of the building’s outer structure. It’s difficult to see through the closed windows, but the laughter and cheering from within can be felt outside.
Abby looked at me, “You are describing the inn in your head again, aren’t you?”
I sighed, “Yes, does it matter to you, you have been acting angry at me all the time we were shopping?”
She sighed, “It just drives me nuts that you are thinking about it.”
Funk shook his head, “We should just go inside and book two rooms. You guys are not going to sleep in the same room, or you might kill me with your bickering.”
Both of us sighed and we walked inside. The bartender is quite busy, but she still managed to welcome us with a wink. Funk looked at me, “You guys spend all your gold, let me pay for the rooms.”
I grinned, “I bet that is the gold that you got for betraying us, right?”
Funk chuckled, “Who knows.”
I sat down on a bar stool and Abby sat down next to me.
Funk sat down and gave me a key. “We should go to the guildhall tomorrow. If we can find Rictor, he can help us with finding Alice.”
I nodded, just agreeing with him, he knows this place better than I do, “That seems like a good plan.” There were more people here. Most of them were drinking as it was already late.
Lorraine walked inside, I beckoned her over to me. She sat down next to me. I looked at her, “You did indeed bring your backpack.”
She smiled, “But now, I need to get drunk. What do you say? Beer? Rum? What is your poison?”
I chuckled, “Anything with alcohol will do.”
Abby grunted, “Fine, count me in, getting drunk sounds good”
Funk shook his head, “I am not in the mood to get drunk, but I love to party.”
Soon, Liquor found itself to me. We just started drinking. I just found myself in a new reality and having a party seemed like the perfect idea, I needed to wait anyway until tomorrow before we could go looking for Alice.
I woke up with Lorraine beside me and I grabbed my head, this room had only one bed. “What happened last night?”
Lorraine giggled loudly, “We got drunk and fell asleep. What was our plan for today again?”
“I need to freshen up, and then we have to go to Rictor. A friend of mine is lost.”
Lorraine smiled, “If he gives a basic direction, and she is the same race as you, I can help you with finding her.”
“Thanks, Lorraine.”
She grabbed a brush out of her backpack.
I stretched my right hand out, “Oh, can I?”
She looked at me, “That is a strange question.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, our brush is a holy relic. We normally only allow our partner to use it.”
“Is it something special? Like an artifact?”
Lorraine nodded, “But since you just got into this reality, you would not know. It has been a very long time since someone brushed my fur.” She let out a sigh, “If you don’t tell anyone, I won’t either.”
I chuckled, eagerly wanting to brush her fur, “I am not telling anyone.”
She handed me the brush, “Just be gentle with my tail.”
I got up and started brushing her hair or fur, whatever you call it, I could feel it was a lot thicker compared to human hair. “You know, this is not something I usually do, but it seemed like something fun to do.”
Lorraine just hummed happily. It must mean she agrees with me, her ears twitched.
“Do I also brush your ears?”
Lorraine nodded, “Yes, but very gentle, and don’t brush the wrong way.”
“Alright, like this?”
“Yes, just, like that. Oh, that feels good. That place always itches a lot.”
I smiled, “I am learning more about you already.” Thank you, for offering to help me find my friend.
Lorraine just slowly nodded. I sat down and took her tail in my lap. “If I am doing something wrong, please let me know. This is unknown territory to me.” I slowly started brushing her tail. She seemed to be enjoying it very much. After a while, I looked at her, “is this alright?”
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She smiled at me, “This is perfect.”
“Yeah, no worries at all. We shared a bed, and a backroom, after all.” That made her laugh.
Lorraine sat down on my lap and started kissing me, “Thank you, Steve.” Somebody knocked on the door.
I called out, “Not right now, we are busy.”
Lorraine chuckled, “That sounds wrong.” The knocking did not stop, Lorraine got up and put on something.
I sighed and called out, “Yeah, stop knocking already.” I put on my underpants and opened the door while hiding most of my body behind it.
Funk stood there, “Finally, he opens the door. We are about to leave. Are you coming?”
“Yes, we are on our way. Where is Abby?”
“She is waiting outside for us.”
“Alright, we will be there soon.”
Funk nodded, “your new look suits you,” then he left.
I closed the door. My new look? I looked at Lorraine, “What is my new look?”
She giggled, “I shaved off your beard last night.”
I ran off to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I'll be damned, she had indeed shaved off my beard, and she washed my hair. It is totally rad now, oh my god, no one says it like that. Oh, I love this lock of hair on the front of my face.
Lorraine walked into the bathroom, “You asked me to change your look, remember?”
I looked at her, “No, I don't. But, I am satisfied with it. We should put our clothes on and leave.”
She nodded, “That seems like a good idea, but while we do that, I have a question.”
“Alright, hit me,” I braced for impact.
Lorraine laughed, “what are you doing? I am not going to hit you.”
I sighed in relief, “whew, I should really stop staying that.”
Lorraine chuckled, “did someone actually hit you when you said that? Never mind, I have a question, are you looking for a short-term fling, or a long-term partnership?”
“I honestly don’t know Lorraine, I have been married before. And I am not always this nice guy.”
Lorraine walked over to stand very close to me, “What happened to your wife?”
I let out a very long sigh and gathered my voice, feeling strangely comfortable around her, “She died, along with my unborn child, she got shot.”
Lorraine nodded, “I can understand how that can affect someone. And what do you mean, by not always a nice guy?”
“I have this unbridled rage inside of me, and it leads me to killing people.”
Lorraine took my hand, “I see, I know what you mean. It does not bother me so much, rage is also a problem of mine. I am not always this cute woman. We do not have much time right now, but would you like to tell me more about your wife later?”
I gave her a warm smile, “Yes, I feel like I can be honest with you.”
We made our way outside, and I saw Abby and Funk talk with each other. Abby looked at Lorraine before speaking up with an angry tone, “Your fur looks brushed, did Steve do that?”
Funk sighed, “No, wolf-humans do not just let any random people brush their fur.”
Abby looked at him, “What do you mean?”
Funk sighed, “only if a wolf-person is interested in having someone as a partner, then she lets the other person brush her fur.”
I looked at Lorraine, and she let out a slight smile towards me.
Abby nodded, “Alright, sorry for being a bit hostile. It is just, you know what, never mind.”
Lorraine nodded, “Thank you, Abby, we should head to Rictor.”
Abby looked at me, “your beard is gone, did it walk away? And did you wash your hair?” She shook her head, “strange.”
Funk grunted and interrupted me before I could answer Abby, “We need to visit that big building. It is also where people go to learn more about their past. To unlock your inner power. It might be a good idea for your Steve.”
“Thanks, I will think about it. As for your question, Abby, do you like my new look?”
She nodded, “it makes you look less like a train wreck,” we all laughed at that comment.
We made our way to the guild hall and walked inside. It looked very empty, there was a clerk tough. I walked over to her and greeted her, “Hello there, we are looking for Rictor.”
She stood up, “My name is Jenny.” Blonde, short hair slightly covers a full, menacing face. Hooded black eyes, set handsomely within her sockets. “I am sorry, Rictor is not in.”
I sighed, “Funk told me about something that teaches me more about my past. Can we at least do that?”
Jenny sighed as if she did not like me, “Follow me.” We all followed Jenny to a small room with a gate. She looked through a manual, “I am sorry, people with silver eyes are not allowed through the portal.”
I scratched my head, “It is racist, saying I cannot see a part of my past, since I have silver eyes.”
Lorraine nodded, “Indeed, so if I asked for that service, I could use it?”
Jenny nodded. I looked at Lorraine, “Are you thinking, what I am thinking?” She nodded.
Jenny sighed, “you cannot just open this gate, you need my hand.”
I walked over to Jenny, I punched her in her face. While she grabbed her nose, I walked behind her. Then I pulled her head back. Lorraine walked over and unsheathed her claws. Then she slit her throat open. I loved to see the light go out in Jenny's eyes, just like with Sasha. But Lorraine, she seemed to revel in murdering Jenny, somewhere that made me happy, no matter how awful or strange that sounds.
I looked at Lorraine, “That was some fantastic teamwork.”
Funk shrugged, “This is still not going to help.”
Abby just looked at the corpse, “You just killed her!” Funk kneeled beside her. Abby pointed at him, “At least he is showing some respect.”
Funk looked at her, “No, I am just looting her body, when someone dies, their interdimensional inventory becomes accessible as their mana leaks from their body. At least, for people of my kind. All magical beings have a gen for this interdimensional storage, it gets activated by ambient mana. There is none in your reality, but if you go back now, you will keep it unless a magiscientist disables it.”
I blinked a few times, “A what?”
Funk grunted a few times before answering, it seemed as if he would rather not answer, “Basically a person who is a scientist but can work science with magic.”
Lorraine looked at Funk while she was definitely trying to keep her mouth closed, but she said nothing.
Abby sighed, “You are all a bunch of maniacs.”
Lorraine and I cut Jenny’s hand off. She gave it to me, “We should see where this portal leads.”
I nodded, we opened the portal. Funk threw the hand against the wall and it stuck. Lorraine chuckled, “I did not expect that.”
Funk laughed, “She is fun to hang around with.” Funk looked at me, he just stared for a moment. Then he shook his head. “We should leave.”
Abby nodded, “Indeed, I would rather not hang around this corpse anymore.” Together, we jumped through the portal, hoping to learn more about my past.