“You didn’t have to.” Hannah tells her, clearly not buying Bug’s reasoning. “But you did it anyways. Please, why did you save me?”

Bug just watches her for a moment before finally talking again. “You answer a question of my own first, and depending on your answer, I’ll tell you the truth. Why do you keep trying to touch me and why are you always watching me?”

“I already told you. I think you are interes-“

“And that was a lie. At least a partial one. Tell me the real reason.”

“I…” Hannah’s eyes go to Bug’s face, looking into her emerald eyes, gliding over her smooth skin, taking in her little nose, and finally stopping on her pink lips to trace over their curves, a cute little tongue shows itself for just a moment as Bug wets her lips. With a blush, Hannah glances back up to her eyes, but has to look away as a blush hits her even harder. Those eyes… Why did they have to be that beautiful shade of green? If they were any other color...

“Do you… Do you promise not to tell the others? If I tell you?” Hannah asks nervously, holding her arm to her chest like she is trying to protect herself.

“Sure? Just tell me.”

“… I… I like girls?”

“Ok…? What does liking girls have to do with this?”

“Wha?”

Bug just tilts her head as Hannah look at her in confusion, her fluffy ears twitching a little in a cute manner than makes Hannah want to reach out and pet them. “Uhm… It means that I am… well… I find women attractive…”

“……………….. Oh… Wait… So, you want to mate with me? I’m sorry, but no. I don’t want to be touched like that. And if you try to, I will kill you. I already killed the last three that tried.”

“Ahh! I don’t mean, I… Not like… I don’t actually want to, do that, with you… I just find you attractive…”

Bug tilts her head curiously. “Really? Does it work like that?”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, of course, why wouldn’t it?”

“I just don’t know much about this. The first two times, they were like animals. Mating and having fun were clearly the only things on their minds. The second one really confused me, because it was a girl… The last one was an adventurer. He kept talking about my chest and said he was going to rape me, but I killed him… Why were you looking at my chest? Is there something appealing about these things?” Bug asks as she uses her hands to bounce the large things growing on her chest, a look of uncertainty and annoyance in her eyes. Her form fitting leather chest guard really doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

Hannah is screaming in her head as she sees this.

She knows I’ve been looking at her chest?!

“Uhm, well, you see… I don’t really know what to tell you, but, breasts are nice and most people… like to touch them… And big ones, like yours… are… appealing…” Hannah manages to say through the blush that is dying her face crimson.

“Hmmmm… So, you want to touch mine?”

“Ehh! Uhm, yes?”

Was that an offer!?!?

“But you don’t want to mate with me?”

Hannah has to take a second to think before answering. “…Yes.”

“Hmhm… weird. Well, I’m not going to let you touch them.”

“And I won’t, I promise! You don’t like being touched, right?”

“Yes. Ok, some more stuff is starting to make sense to me now… Why don’t you want the others to know?”

“You don’t know why?”

“No, should I?”

“Wait, I guess that makes sense… You don’t spend much time around other people or in cities, do you?”

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Bug extends out her four arms and tilts her head to show off her horns and her fluffy ears, “Do I look like the kind of person that would?”

“No, not at all. Honestly, most people would probably mistake you as a Demi-Human or a Demon, and they aren’t exactly tolerated around these parts…”

“Hmh, so why then?”

“Well, in most places, people that like the same sex are… seen as sick or evil, as heretics… It isn’t so bad here, but in some cities, I could be executed… I might be safe with these guys, but I can’t guarantee that they won’t turn on me or start treating me poorly if they found out…” Hannah says sadly, her voice sounding weak.

“Huh… Weird, but ok. I won’t tell anyone. But shouldn’t you be worried that I might have turned on you for telling me?”

“I don’t know, I just felt like you are… Different. Like it wouldn’t bother you, or I guess more accurately, you just wouldn’t care… You felt safe to tell… Because you’re nice…”

“But I’m not nice…”

“But you won’t tell anyone?”

“I won’t.”

“And you won’t judge me or hate me for this?”

“As long as you don’t try to touch my chest or breed with me, I have no reason to.”

“You protected me from the poison trap.”

“I’m immune to those poisons.”

“And you healed my eyes, and even made them better.”

“I already told you why I did that.”

“And you saved my life, please, tell my why you did that. The real reason why, and not just because I am your guide.” Hannah implores, her voice serious but also somewhat hopeful.

…

Bug lowers her head and thinks for a second, gathering her thoughts before finally answering. “…Because I am having fun.”

“Fun?”

“Mhm… I am having fun being around you people. Even if you are weird and keep looking at me when I tell you not to, even though you want to touch me, and even though you are weak, I am having fun. I have spent my life so far doing nothing but fighting and trying to get stronger so I can get my revenge and my freedom. And now, on my way towards that goal, I have a chance to maybe enjoy some time around other people without having to kill them. Because that is how most of my interactions with other people have ended, with me killing them. Sometimes, I even toy with them and lead them into traps. I am not a good person. I was not born to be a good person. I was born to be a monster.”

Hannah watches Bug for a long while as she digests her words, the two of them walking together, probably pulling her own interpretations out of her words. Bug simply remains silent so as to not say too much.

Eventually, Hannah comes to her own conclusions and says, “I still think you’re nice. Even if you are lying-“

“I only speak in truths. I have never lied, not once in my life.”

“- Then even if you believe that you were born to be a monster, or to be a bad person, I still think that you are a good person. I think that you are nice. You didn’t have to save me or heal my eyes, and even if it is because you don’t fully understand or care, you don’t judge me for who I am. Even if you just did it because you are having fun. I think you are nice. You are a good person. I like you…”

Bug just watches Hannah’s eyes, looking for lies in those hazelnut eyes of her, but she doesn’t find any… She is telling the truth.

So, she looks away and hugs herself under her cloak, a weird mix of emotions filling her chest with feelings that she is not used to. “Well, you’re wrong. Even if you aren’t lying, you aren’t right. But you’re welcome to think whatever you want…”

Bug walks a bit faster and grows the distance between them, the fact that this conversation is over being made clear. Hannah just stops walking as she watches Bug from behind, the others soon catching up with her.

Sam is the first to address her as she gently lays one of her big hands on Hannah’s shoulder, “Hey, everything alright? What where you two talking about?”

“I’m alright. And… it was a private matter.”

Sam doesn’t try to push that subject any further. Anyone who has been an adventurer for long enough, knows that private matters are not to be touched. It is usually more trouble than it is worth, and most adventurers have plenty of their own troubles to deal with. A common phrase used by most, would be, ‘Picking up Side Quests.’ A term coined by some Immortals that ended up getting picked up by mortals a long time ago.

“Is… Is Bug alright? She is more distant now after what happened. I’m thinking that she doesn’t like us anymore.”

“She’s fine. I don’t think she actually cares all that much about it, though she was curious. She doesn’t seem to understand much about how adventurers think and work, so…”

“Mmm… Hey, again… I’m really sorry that we left you behind. There was just so many of them and-“

“It’s fine, Sam. I understand, this is just one of the risks of my job after all. I’m not one of your party, so you don’t need to make excuses.”

“It’s not! Haah…” Sam tries, running her fingers through her short hair in frustration. “Sorry… Just, know that I will protect you if anything like that happens again. I swear it!”

“Mhm, thank you, Sam.” Hannah says with a smile, though it comes out a bit hollow, and from the look of Sam, she can tell that Hannah doesn’t honestly believe her.

Max turns and tries to say something as well, to try and help assure Hannah as well, but she interrupts him and says, “For now, our way to the next floor is getting close, you see that tree over there? We need to take the next branch on our right and head that way. It will lead us down to the nineth floor. If we are quick, we can make it to the final Safe Room before the tenth floor, before nighttime sets in.”

“… Alright, that is good. Thank you for your assistance, Hannah. Jakub, could you run up ahead and let Bug know for us plea-“

Hannah cuts in, “I can tell her.” And then, before anyone can stop her, she moves to go and catch up with Bug, leaving the three of them behind as she runs up ahead, her big backpack bouncing against her back as she moves to catch up with the little figure.

The three adventurers just share an awkward look with each other as they watch her run off, feeling guilty for what had happened.

“We really fucked up, didn’t we?” Max says.

Jakub comments, “She would rather hangout with a complete stranger than with us now…”

“To be fair, it wasn’t us that risked their life to save her. Let’s just try not to give her anymore reasons to hate us…” Sam says sadly.