<~> CHAPTER 44

Luna and I took first watch together and chatted casually while we relaxed by the campfire. It was fairly easy to pick up the sounds of people and monsters walking nearby on this floor so I didn't need to pay too much attention as long as I kept an ear out for trouble. After a small lull in our conversation, Luna started scooting closer to me until she was practically leaning against me. I took the opportunity to wrap one of my arms around her and pull her against my body. I was still in my human form and wearing the light armor I had found in the lake chest, so it wasn't as comfortable as it could be, but I got the feeling she appreciated it all the same.

("Helena... What do you think about Demi-humans? Or beastkin generally?") Luna asked.

I turned and looked at her, my eyes gravitating to her ears. ("If they're anything like you, then I think they're cute?")

She smiled and swished her tail. ("I'm serious. You don't have any problems with me? You're not hesitating on making our engagement official because I'm a beastkin, right?")

I squeezed her. ("That's not it, I promise. Like I told you before, I've never met any beastkin or demi-humans before. You're the first one I've ever met so I would say my opinion of them is pretty positive right now.")

Luna giggled a little bit before suddenly having to cough and clear her throat.

I handed her waterskin over to her. ("Are you okay?")

She seemed a little embarrassed. ("Yeah... my throat just got a little irritated.")

I nodded and pulled her back into a hug once she had set her waterskin back down.

("Can I play with your tail?") I asked her.

She tilted her head to the side. ("Uhm, sure. I don't mind.") She flicked her fluffy tail into my lap. The orange and black fur of it shined in the light of the campfire.

I ran my fingers through it slowly. ("It's really soft. Do you use anything on it?")

("No, I just wash it with soap. Some people like to use oils and things on the fur of their tails but I never had the luxury,") she said with a smile.

("Would you like to try it sometime? Oils or conditioners?") I asked.

("Maybe... perhaps when money is less of an issue. I've never looked but I think oils are expensive.")

I nodded. ("Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised.") I ran my fingers through her fur, gently pulling out knots and tangles with my fingers. ("Do you ever brush it?") I asked.

("I try to run a brush through it every few days or it starts to get matted. The one I have isn't very comfortable though, it's mainly for getting dirt out of it. It's over there in my bag,") she said waving to her pack by her bedroll.

("Do... humans normally not like beastkin? Or vice versa?") I asked.

Luna frowned and met my eyes. ("Normally no... It's not unheard of for them to live in the same villages and cities but the two groups often stay away from each other. Humans usually don't find beastkin trustworthy and often see them as dangerous or wild.")

I grinned at her. ("What if I like wild?")

Luna blushed and glanced away with a smile. ("Then that's good for me.")

("Is there a history between the two... peoples? Did they fight a war or something?") I asked.

("Nothing as direct as that,") Luna replied. ("A lot of beastkin are wanderers and have trouble settling down until they're older. That means most beastkin are outsiders wherever they go at best and intruders at worst.")

I continued to run my fingers through Luna's furry tail. ("Do... people have issues with... I'm not sure what to call it, interracial or interspecies relationships? For that matter can the two even have children?")

("Neither of those two words mean anything to me so I can't understand what you're asking, but to the second question, yes. The two can crossbreed with minimal trouble but the children are always beastkin. I think that's also part of the issue, some people see beastkin as impure humans, whatever that means to them.")

I frowned, I didn't really like the sound of that. It struck too close to several of the problems from my own world. For now, I shrugged it off.

("Would any of that stuff bother you if we did make things official?") I asked.

She smiled. ("No. I don't mind if some humans don't approve of us and you're strong enough that any beastkin won't have anything to complain about either.")

I raised an eyebrow. ("I'm not going to have to fight people off to prove my worth, am I?")

She gave me an amused smile. ("Maybe just a few, here or there. Nothing you won't be able to handle. I'm not sure many people could win a fight with you in single combat. And you wouldn't have to win, just show that you're strong enough to protect me.")

I chuckled and kissed her on the head. ("Too bad you're worth it, I'm just going to have to resign myself to fighting off all my competitors.")

She looked up at me and bit her lip. The intensity of the look she gave me made my heart thump in my chest. That line must have struck a chord with her. I leaned forward and kissed her and she wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned into me. I pulled back from the kiss before we went too far with it, we were supposed to be on watch after all.

I cleared my throat. ("Uhm. What is the difference between demi-humans and beastkin anyway?")

Luna leaned against me and smiled. ("Humans call anything that isn't a human but is intelligent and humanoid a demi-human. Beastkin are specifically any humanoids that have animal traits.") She held her tail up with her hand. ("No one's sure where beastkin come from but we're distinguished by these traits. Even if the traits aren't very noticeable, they always have children with similar traits, but they can be more or less pronounced than their parents.")

("So you would technically be both a demi-human and a beastkin by those definitions?") I asked.

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She nodded. ("Yes. Most people don't mind the term beastkin but some people find demi-human derogatory. Especially when coming from a human, just a word of warning.")

("Good to know.") I looked up at one of the large glowing crystals on the ceiling. ("Would I be considered a beastkin? Or maybe a demi-human?") I asked.

She tapped her chin. ("I don't know. Umber hounds are considered monsters, not animals, but I guess technically you could claim you're a beastkin. I think most people would still think your eyes are unsettling even if they didn't know about your transformation.")

("There's a difference between animals and monsters too?") I asked.

She nodded. ("Sure, like the difference between the deer you killed and the barlette. One is relatively mundane, barely having any magic in them at all, and the other is full of magic, making it strong and monstrous. Even when animals are dangerous, they're not nearly as dangerous as a similar animal with magic coursing through their body.")

("Interesting. So there aren't any barlette beastkin?") I asked.

Luna giggled. ("Not that I know of. But it's a huge world. Who knows what else is out there.")

I stared into the crackling fire. ("What do you think of Aria and Maxwell?")

She tilted her head. ("What about them?")

("You haven't noticed Aria trying to get with Maxwell?") I asked.

("What? Really?") Luna asked with wide eyes.

I stared at her blankly. ("You really couldn't tell? She's been following him around and glancing at him constantly.")

("But then... oh. And Piper... oh.") She stared off into space with a startled expression.

I laughed. ("You're not joking? Man, it was so obvious. Piper practically pushed her into Maxwell's lap the other day.")

("I just thought she was teasing them! I didn't think that she was actually trying to get the two together!") Luna said defensively.

I pulled Luna over and kissed her on the cheek. ("You're so cute.")

She rubbed her face and pouted but the blush on there told me she was more embarrassed than angry. ("At least I don't need to worry about her stealing you from me.")

("So you were jealous then?") I asked.

Her tail flicked back and forth behind us a few times. ("Maybe protective is the better word for it. It's too early for any competition. I like you too much to let anyone else get in my way before we've fully established anything...")

I grinned and patted her on the head. ("No need to worry about my eyes wandering to other girls, and you don't need to worry about her. I don't think she likes other girls even if her eyes weren't all over Maxwell.")

("What makes you say that?") she asked.

I shrugged. ("I don't know. Intuition? Gut feeling?")

She snuggled into my side a little more. ("Well, that's a relief then. I do hope she finds her people though. Even if she ends up staying with us, having all of your friends die at once would be sad.")

I frowned. ("Yeah... I don't like to think about that possibility.")

("Yeah...") Luna agreed.

I patted her on the shoulder. ("It's about time to wake up Piper and Aria I think. Would you mind taking care of Aria? I think I still freak her out too much.")

("Sure, but I did hear her say that you're less scary with the blindfold on. I think she likes you better when you're wearing it.")

I chuckled. ("I bet. She's lucky that I don't mind wearing it so far. We'll see how things look on the next floor with this blindfold on.")

We stood up and woke the two others for their turn on watch. The two of us usually took first watch since we liked to chat for a while before going to sleep. Since Aria joined us, Maxwell and Piper have been switching off for 'middle watch' and letting the last person get a bit of extra sleep before we all got up. Aria kind of gets the short end of the stick but since the others like to have two people on watch at all times it kind of makes sense. Luna and I should probably take a middle watch sometime too, to make things fair. I think Piper and Maxwell are letting us have some alone time on purpose though.

When I made my way back over to Luna she was already sitting on her bedroll with the blanket pulled up. ("Helena, shift and come here,") she said patting the bedroll.

("Are you sure?") I asked. ("I don't know if I'll fit under your blanket with you.")

She smiled. ("It's fine, just trust me and lie down!")

I shifted to my larger form and awkwardly rolled onto my back. Luna lifted her blanket and laid herself on top of me sandwiched between me and her blanket. In this form, I was so much larger than her that it wasn't too hard to hold her against me comfortably, but I was mostly outside of the blanket. It was a little awkward to be lying on my back with the small blanket only covering a bit of my chest but Luna seemed to be enjoying herself. I didn't need to worry about the cold anyway so it wasn't that big of a deal as long as I could get to sleep like this.

Luna traced her fingers through my fur as she looked up at my wolf head. ("Are you comfortable?") she asked.

I wiggled a little. ("Lying like this feels a little weird but it's not uncomfortable.")

She smiled and rested her head against my chest. ("If it's not too bad will you put up with it for me? I really like the way your fur smells.") She nuzzled her nose into my chest and took a deep breath, making me blush. ("Sorry if that's a little weird...")

I carefully traced my clawed hands down her back. ("A little, but I can put up with it.") The idea that I smelled good to her was kinda weird but it was also... kind of flattering? I was a little glad that my fur-covered head didn't reveal my blush because I was sure I would be quite red right now. I protectively wrapped my arms around Luna which seemed to make her melt against me. It didn't take very long at all for her relaxed breaths to signal that she had fallen asleep on top of me.

Closing my eyes I focused on her slow breathing and her warmth against my chest. Luna gave me a lot to think about after that conversation. It was nice to know a bit more about this new world I was in, but it was also sad to learn about some of the issues we would face. They didn't really phase me though. It's not like being a lesbian didn't have its share of challenges in my old world either. There would always be people around judging you for who you loved. Truthfully, I was more confident in dealing with the challenges in this world than my original one. The thought of showing off my strength while Luna watched from the sidelines did have a certain appeal to it.

Not long after that thought I followed Luna and fell asleep hugging her against me.