How Did I Go To the Beast World in My Pajamas?

Chapter 2: I Guess This Is Good Night

She was too tired to open her eyes and still too groggy to understand much of what was going on around her, but Samantha vaguely felt herself being carried princess-style by a pair of strong, slender arms. With her face nuzzled into a warm, flat chest, Samantha could smell traces of a clean, animal scent that reminded her of the cherished cats who had accompanied her for her entire life. There was an unfamilar earthy smell that covered the former and smelled of trees and roots and soil, with another note she couldn't place. Whoever was transporting her must have felt the change in her breathing, because she felt a whispered breath in her ear speaking in a language she'd never heard before, and then she was out once again.

'At least I'm catching up on my rest,' Samantha thought as she awoke in this strange world for the third time. Once again, she was unable to place her surroundings, but she supposed this room with its dirt walls, firelight, and animal hide bed was considered "indoors" for this strange, naturalistic world. "Roger?" she called out, though she had a feeling Roger wasn't there. In fact, as far as she could tell, nobody was there; however, somebody had obviously been here recently to light the small fire that was keeping her warm. Deciding to look around, Samantha sat up and let the animal fur blanket covering her to fall away. "Annnnnd I'm naked," she said wryly, without much surprise. Apparently that was just what people do here, and she found she was more or less okay with it. Samantha had far from an ideal body in modern terms, and she was fine with being called fat, as that's what she was. This was hardly the most uncomfortable aspect of living in her particular body, so it wasn't hard to accept. She was proud of the curves she had, numerous as they were, and even if she didn't see herself as sexy, she did think she could be pretty cute sometimes.

The furs she had awoken on were luxuriously soft, and she almost didn't want to get up, but she felt compelled to explore this new place. Despite being a glorified hole in the ground, the space was large enough to have what her world would consider "high ceilings", the furs spread on the ground were larger than a king-size bed, and there was a small hole above the fire to let out the minimal amount of smoke it created. Someone had gone to a great amount of thought into making this a comfortable home for her, if Roger's naïveté was anything to go by. After she'd seen what she was able of the room proper, Samantha followed the gentle sounds of the night toward and out of a short tunnel leading up and out of the room and into what looked like a forest...

Before Samantha could reach the end of the tunnel, a fox that looked larger than the tunnel itself stuck its face and forepaws into the outside entrance. This pretty well prevented her from leaving, but not from letting out a short scream of shock. Oddly, the fox looked equally, if not more shocked than Samantha did, its brown eyes wide and jaw dropped. Samantha laughed at its undignified expression before apologizing, "Sorry, it looks like I wound up in your home here." Her own eyes widened as large as the fox's when she recalled her nudity. 'Okay, okay, it's a fox. Foxes don't know about clothing, we're okay here, no need to freak out. Just act natural, in case you need to get out...' she rationalized. "I'm just gonna squeeze by you here, sorry for the mix-up... and umm, thank you for the use of your home," stammered Samantha, trying to sidle past the monstrously huge fox.

The fox seemed to have a different idea, and it gently nuzzled her back around and into what Samantha was now calling a foxhole. "You... want me to- to stay? Here?" she inquired, momentarily forgetting that even if a fox could understand her language, it could hardly give her a reply. She had to admit, she had no other plans, and she was already starting to feel unwell again. Spending a night with a fox who didn't seem to be dangerous, all things considered, and in a warm home with furs to replace her missing pajamas, was beginning to seem preferable to roughing it naked in a strange forest with no supplies of her own. 'Maybe I'll just figure out this whole fox thing tomorrow. In the meantime, I may or may not be deceased, there are naked men running around desiring mates? to breed with? ...Yeah, we're staying with the fox," she decided.

"Um, Dear Fox, err.. friend... my name is Samantha, it's very nice to meet you. Thank you very much for your hospitalit-" she started to say, but the fox, apparently very weary itself, nudged her backward onto the pile of furs, gingerly picked up a corner of the fallen blanket with its teeth and covered her with it. Without missing a beat, it turned around to extinguish the fire by pulling a mound of dirt from the floor over the flames with its paw, and curled up with its back to Samantha. "I guess this is good night," she said quietly, curling up in the furs with her back to the fox.