Chapter 71: Talking with professor Scott

Alex Sandclaw’s POV (continued)

Tiki looked between the two of us, her head cocked in curiosity. “Actually, you know what, tell me in a minute. I feel ridiculous without any clothes on,” she said.

She was only wearing a towel at this moment, but it was a small towel meant for travel and did a poor job of covering her up. I made an effort not to stare. I wouldn’t be comfortable with someone staring at my slit, either, let alone something more visible like breasts. Nudging Felix, I turned around so she could get dressed. Felix followed my example. It was a token effort at best, since we’d both already seen everything when we were down by the river, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

“Thanks,” she said. “I know neither of you particularly care since I’m a woman and all that, but it’s still a bit weird to have two men looking at me while I’m getting dressed. You can turn around again, by the way.”

I gave it another second, then turned back around. She’d put on a t-shirt and some light pants, and was now putting on socks and shoes. They looked comfortable.

“Why didn’t you just wash up and dress further up or down the river? Or waited until Felix and I were done?” I asked. It was what I’d originally expected, before she had just waded in right after us.

She shrugged. “I had no desire to be covered in blood a minute longer than I absolutely had to, and neither of you care about these, anyway,” she said, gesturing to her breasts. “Besides, I’m already used to it. We used to have servants to bathe us. It was rather annoying, but it got me used to being naked around others—while bathing, at least.”

I blinked. “You had servants to… bathe you?”

“That’s actually rather common,” Felix said. “Many of the richer nobles and royalty have servants to do all kinds of things for them. Bathing, getting dressed, making food, taking care of children, and I even heard about a king having a servant to wipe his ass, but I’m sure that’s just a false rumor.”

“We had most of those, yeah,” Tiki said. “Not the last one, though—as far as I’m aware. Servants were around all the time, doing everything you might ever need or want to do. It was awesome until I realized a few years ago that I didn’t even know how to tie my own shoes.”

“What made you figure that out, then?” I asked.

She scratched the back of her head, looking embarrassed. “I tried to sneak out.”

A mental image of a younger Tiki trying her best to put on a t-shirt, but constantly putting it on backwards, or frustratingly trying to tie her shoes, all the while looking over her shoulder popped into my mind and I chuckled.

“Why were you sneaking out?” Felix asked.

Tiki’s embarrassed expression melted into a faint smile that had a hint of sadness to it. “I wanted to see a friend, a boy, without my servants and bodyguards constantly watching over my shoulder.”

I raised an eye-ridge. “A boy, huh?”

She sighed. “It wasn’t like that. I wanted it to be, but he didn’t. His reasons were a much needed wake up call,” she said, then shook her head. “It’s all in the past, though. Let’s focus on the present, there was something you wanted to say, right?”

“Right, there was,” I said. I considered for a moment how to best tell her, but decided being blunt was for the best. “I wanted to let you know Felix and I are dating now.”

Tiki let out an overly dramatic sigh of relief. “Finally!” she said. “You two have been driving me nuts with all the lovey-dovey behavior.”

“You do realize that won’t stop, right? If anything, it’ll get… I don’t want to say worse, but it’ll get more,” Felix said, and as if to reinforce his point, he pulled me into a hug and kissed me on the top of my head. It was surprisingly nice to get a kiss while Tiki watched. It made the whole relationship feel more real. Now it wasn’t just our word.

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously, but now there won’t be that weird tension anymore,” she said. “It was really awkward to sit with you. I just wanted to scream for you two to kiss already, but couldn’t.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t,” Felix said. “The way things happened was the best it could have, I think.”

“Well, now I’m curious. How did it happen?”

And so we told her. The lead up, the meal, the flying around, and finally watching the sunset together and kissing. We left out the details of the making out that happened right after, though. She didn’t need to know everything, nor would she probably want to.

While we told her, she smiled and giggled and aw-ed at the right times. By the end she looked much more relaxed than she did after telling her own little story.

“That was adorable,” she said, then her stomach rumbled. She looked down at it, then back up at us. “Want to go back to the rest? I’m getting hungry.”

Felix chuckled, then nodded. “Alright, let me just put some things away first.”

Felix put his book away, and we headed back to the main campfire for dinner. It probably wouldn’t be ready quite yet, but that was okay. There wasn’t a reason why we needed to stay at our camping spot specifically. We could just as easily hang out at the main firepit until the food was done.

When we got there, we saw that the pit had been repurposed to have almost a dozen smaller fires. Some had pots hanging above them, while others had spits with large chunks of meat. From the state of things, it would take another hour at least.

We asked if there was any help needed, but there wasn’t, so we decided to just hang out near the edge of the clearing. We sat down by a picnic bench that must have been placed there over a decade ago. It was made of stone and looked old. At least the moss was very comfortable to sit on.

We talked for a while until the food was done. Tiki and I got our bowls filled with a healthy serving of wolf-sheep stew. Felix sadly had to wait for a little longer until one of the spits was done. He had one entirely to himself since he needed quite a bit of food. There’d been some grumbling about that, but in the end, there was nothing they could do about it.

Once all three of us were done eating, we decided to go back to our camping spot, but were stopped by professor Scott.

“How are you three settling in?” he asked.

“Well enough,” Felix said, and both I and Tiki nodded in agreement.

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Professor Scott nodded, too. “That’s good. You all did a good job hunting, by the way. We’ll have enough food for a few days.”

“It tasted good, so that’s great,” Felix said, then paused. “Was there any reason in particular you wanted to talk to us? Not that I mind, but…” he asked, trailing off.

The professor chuckled. “No, you’re right. I’m actually here to talk with Alex about the hunt,” he said, and turned to me. “If you have time, of course.”

I glanced at Felix, but he just nodded. “Of course, professor. I have time,” I said, and turned to Felix and Tiki. “I guess I’ll see you two later. Will you be going back to our camping spot?”

Felix nodded. “We are. We’ll see you there, then,” he said, before saying goodbye to the professor and turning away, walking down the path leading to the river.

“What did you want to talk about, professor?” I asked.

“Why don’t we sit down first,” he said, gesturing to a picnic table. “Or we could walk if that would be easier.”

I glanced at the table and the other people nearby. “I would prefer to walk if you don’t mind.”

He shook his head. “Not at all.”

He gestured down a path—a different one than Felix and Tiki went down—and we started walking. For a minute neither of us said anything, then professor Scott broke the silence.

“I noticed earlier that you were rather nervous when your group was assigned to the hunting task. I wanted to check in on you if you were okay, and if you wanted to talk about it.”

I hesitated for a moment, thinking of what to say. A part of me wanted to lie and tell the professor there was nothing to worry about. But I didn’t want to lie. I also remembered what Felix had told me quite some time ago now. That professor Scott was a good person to talk to when it came to combat related issues. In the end, I decided to just be honest.

“I’m more okay now than before the fight,” I told him.

He nodded. “That’s good to hear. Can I ask what was wrong?”

I hesitated again, but I’d already decided to be honest, so I pushed through. “I’ve been getting anxious about fighting with monsters since what happened with the dire bear. I keep thinking something will go wrong, even when there’s no sign to show that it will.”

“That’s understandable. That was a really unpleasant thing that happened to you and Felix. But you went on the hunt anyway; how did you deal with the anxiety?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t want to hold Felix back. I know he’d stay behind with me if I didn’t go, and I didn’t want that. He was too excited about finally fighting again. I also knew I was significantly stronger than before, and that one of the assistants was nearby in case things turned sour anyway.”

“That’s good. There’s nothing wrong with being anxious—moons, even I am anxious before most fights—but you shouldn’t let it stop you from the things you want to do. There’s also nothing wrong if it does stop you, either. Anxiety can be really nasty, and even the best of us can crumble underneath it. If that ever happens, don’t force it. Talk to your friends, come talk to me, or talk to a counselor. Just don’t bottle it up, please. I’ve seen what can happen if people do that, and it’s never pleasant.”

“I will.”

“Do you talk about what happened with the bear with your friends?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’ve talked with Felix about it. It helped.”

“That’s good. But if you ever need someone else to talk with about it, or anything else, you’re always welcome to drop by. Your mental health is very important when it comes to combat—and life in general.”

We walked in silence for a few more minutes. “Could I tell you now?” I asked finally. “About the fight with the bear?”

He nodded, and so I told him what happened. From spotting the bear, to how it felt seeing Felix being tossed aside like a toy followed by being tossed aside myself and losing consciousness. Then about the goblins and the stress of it all, and how I had snapped at Felix. That last part didn’t feel entirely relevant, but it was part of how I reacted under the stress, so I didn’t want to leave it out.

Professor Scott sighed. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that. You shouldn’t have had to. All I can say is that you did your best, and that what happened is beyond rare.”

“I know. That doesn’t make it easier, though. I keep thinking through all the things that can go wrong tomorrow, from a cave-in to a sudden level-thousand monster popping out of the ground. It’s better now that I know I can handle myself, but it’s only better, not stopped.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid it will never really go away. Or at least not within any short amount of time. You learn to live with it, and to filter out the reasonable concerns from the anxiety induced ones. I really recommend you ask for a counselor when you get back from the excursion. They can help you much more than you can do by yourself.”

I nodded. “I think I’ll do that.”

We talked for a little longer, and the professor told me about some of his fights that he had gotten very anxious about. Eventually, we reached a fork in the road, where we split up. Professor Scott went back to the other students still at the main firepit while I went to our group’s camping spot by the river. Before he left, though, he made me promise to come talk to him again this week if the stress or anxiety got too much. It was an easy promise to make. This had been nice.

When I got back to the tarp, I noticed neither Tiki nor Felix were there. I looked around and didn’t spot them by the river, either.

“Tiki is with her friends,” Felix said, and I almost jumped out of my scales. I spun around and glared at him. He was lying beside a boulder and I hadn’t noticed him because of the dark shadow he laid in. “How was your talk with Scott?”

I sighed and walked over to him to give him a hug before sitting down in front of him. “You almost gave me a heart attack,” I said. “And it went well. Good even. You were right, I should’ve talked with him earlier.”

He tilted his head. “Oh, is that what you guys talked about?”

I nodded and told him of the conversation I’d had. “I’m glad you got to talk to someone about it,” he said once I was done. “Besides me, I mean.”

“Yeah, it was rather nice and I already feel a little better for having told someone who wasn’t there. It’s just not quite the same. Have you talked about it with other people, too?”

He chuckled. “I have yeah. People wouldn’t stop asking about it. I’m glad that’s over, honestly.”

I imagined what that would be like, to constantly have people asking you to relive a bad memory and frowned. “I can imagine, yeah.”

We talked for a little while, and I eventually asked when Tiki would be back.

“I asked to give us some privacy, so probably not for another hour at least.”

I raised an eye-ridge. “Privacy? What would we need that for? Did you want to discuss my Skills?” I asked and he raised an eye-ridge of his own, and the realization hit me. “Oh. Oh!”

He chuckled. “Figured it out, did you?”

I scooched a little closer as I answered. “I think I did. You want to continue where we left off earlier, huh?”

He stood up and walked over to me, cupping my snout in one of his talons. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Yes, I do. If you want to, that is.”

I nodded. “But only making out, alright?”

He nodded, then nuzzled my snout. “I wasn’t planning anything else. Your pace, remember?”

I nuzzled him back. “Thanks. I really haven’t said it enough, but thank you.”

He smiled. “Anytime,” he said, then his voice got lower. Seductive, almost. “Now, you never answered my question earlier, you know.”

“Yeah? And what was that?”

He pulled me in and pressed a gentle kiss to my snout. “Have I ever told you that I find you incredibly hot?”

I put my own hand on his snout, too. “Not this directly, no. Why don’t you tell me again?”

“You’re really hot,” he said, “And I really want to kiss you.”

I smirked at him. “Well, what are you waiting for then?”

Needing no further encouragement, he pressed his snout back to mine. We both tilted our head in just the right way to make the deep kiss work and opened our maws slightly. His bigger tongue pressed his way inside, wrestling with mine, and I let it, my hand moving to his horns and behind his head.

Felix pressed one talon to my chest and softly pushed me to the ground. I was glad Tiki wouldn’t be back for a while.