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

Chapter 22: Laundry Night

Author's Note:

I apologize for the recent lack of updates, life has been pretty crazy for me and not necessarily in good ways. Please enjoy this extra update and double-long chapter, I hope this makes up for my previous absence! Thank you yet again for all your support - all of your votes and comments and reads mean the world to me and inspire me to keep going! Until next time!

Carrying her in his beastman form so Samantha wouldn't need to use her injured hands to hold onto him, Spencer decided to take her to a nearby stream instead of the river he had previously decided upon. He only hoped the water would be cool enough to soothe her burns. Instead of putting her arms around his neck, she held her hands out slightly in order to expose them to the cool, fresh night air. "Spencer?" Samantha asked, sounding unsure of herself, "Why didn't you want me to know you weren't a fox?" He had known this answer was coming, and although he wanted to be honest with Samantha when she asked it, he was beginning to feel ashamed of the reasons he had kept his identity from her. "I'm sorry, Samantha," he murmured into her hair, "I shouldn't have done that. I saw how you reacted to Roger when you interacted with him, and I thought it was his beastman form that scared you. I wanted to get to know you as a female, and I wanted you to feel comfortable around me. That's why I didn't reveal myself." Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, the only sounds besides Spencer's footsteps being the nocturnal creatures of the forest. "So, you were the one who carried me to your den?" Samantha asked slowly. "Yes," he admitted regretfully, "I built it hoping that I could make you happy there, but I should never have deceived you. I didn't want you to be frightened by me the way you were by him." Spencer paused again, waiting for Samantha to say something so that he wouldn't have to admit anything else to her, and to his relief, she did.

"I appreciate that. I really was frightened by him, but I realize now that maybe I shouldn't have been. Where I come from, men, or males as you call yourselves here, are dangerous to, well, females. We call ourselves women, but in a world with so many different races, I can see why you don't do that. It's harder to tell what kind of race a female belongs to. My race is what we call the human race, so that makes me a woman, or a human female. But that's not really what we were talking about. What I mean to say is that in my world, we're extremely frightened of men. Sometimes, they'll kill us out of pure anger just for turning someone down like I would have done to Roger. As a fox, you were much less scary than you would have been had you looked like a man. To be honest, I really loved the time we spent together when you were 'Ao-ao'. I think I'll miss it," Samantha finished, letting her sentence trail off. "I have already missed it," Spencer confessed, "But I'm glad now that we can talk to each other, and I can turn back into 'Ao-ao' anytime you like." He felt her lean her head against his chest, nuzzling it until she found a comfortable position. "You do make a really cute fox," Samantha teased, "So, that would be nice, as long as you don't mind." Spencer smiled and said, "Whichever form I'm in, I'm still me. I'm happy to be with you as a fox or a beastman as long as you're happy, too."

The stream appeared below them as if from nowhere, and their conversation stopped as Spencer gently lowered Samantha to the ground. Tenderly grasping her wrist, he led her to the edge of the water. Samantha squatted down to put her aching hands in the refreshingly cold water, hoping she could still get some benefit from leeching heat away from her burned skin. The water stung both her burns and her open wounds, but before long, her palms and fingers became numb. She began to shiver from the cold, but she kept her hands in the water, and she felt something warm surround her back. Spencer had embraced her from behind, and Samantha began to warm up again. "Thank you," she sighed, touching her head to the one bent down to rest on her shoulder. Finally convinced that her hands were completely numb, she reached to her waist to finally untie her unconventionally-worn pajama pants. "Please, let me," Spencer requested, not wanting her to make the injuries on her hands any worse. He untied the flannel garment for her and pulled it through the bottom of her underwear, where she'd threaded it before to absorb the blood from her cycle. Thankful that he couldn't see the awkward look on her face as she felt the fabric come loose and then drag itself over her sensitive pubic mound, she was still ashamed of the sharp gasp that caught in her throat because of the unexpected sensation.