A Novel's Beast World

14. Well Done

Originally posted: April 8, 2022. Edited: February 17, 2023.

So I may have promised a double update today, but...  It's a triple update!  Thanks for the support, readers.  As always, I am open to criticism or recommendations for improvement.

This is 1/3 updates for today, April 8, 2022

What the hell? Wasn't I yelling at Parker? How did I end up on the floor? Are people yelling? Why can't I hear or see anything?

My eyes started clearing up before my ears did. Bai was leaning over me, scared and crying. My head throbbed like a bitch.

Did I get hit? Did Parker hit me?

That's weird. I thought males weren't supposed to hurt females. I guess I did say a lot. Maybe I touched his bottom line. Ugg, my freaking head. Just wait till I get up Parker. I'll steamroll your ass.

Bai helped me sit up and my head spun. before I could catch myself, I retched. Bai looked horrified and I noticed my vomit covering her thigh. Definitely not a great way to make a friend.

I must be in bad shape. Where's Harvey? He could whip up some doctor magic and make this go away. Shit. I want to barf again. I turned my head away from Bai and hurled. That was pretty considerate of me, right?

Soon after, I could hear what she was saying.

"Are you okay, Drew? Please say something." Is that her favorite question? Why does she always ask me that when I'm obviously not okay? Instead of words, more vomit came out. How bad did he shake my brain? This wasn't good. My mouth really was going to be the death of me.

Eventually, I regained myself enough to answer her. Bai helped me lean against the wall and proceed to wipe my stomach contents off her leg. I bet I'll feel guilty about that later. Since the ceiling and floor keep switching positions, I think I'll hurl some more.

I don't know how long it took, but eventually Harvey came back. He asked me some doctorly questions and made me swallow who knows what. I really couldn't care right now. He carried me slowly and laid me down gently on the bed of furs. He washed my face with a cloth and apologized profusely.

"Not your fault." I didn't want to hear his apologies anymore. Me and Parker were the guilty ones. Harvey had nothing to apologize for.

Bai stayed with us that night. I slept and slept. Harvey woke me up several times to give me soup. I always felt more energetic and slightly better after those soups. Better enough to go to the bathroom on my own anyway. Though, Harvey still had to carry me to the box and back. I wasn't in a good enough state to care.

After three days, I started to feel human again. My head still hurt like hell, but I was able to move around much better than before. Harvey fed me a lot of soup and also crystals. I gaged on my first one. Took me a moment to realize it melts in my mouth, literally.

At first I wasn't sure how Harvey got them. From what little I could remember of the story, you have to beat up dinosaurs to get them. Guess some patients pay him with them.

Day four of my recovery, Harvey came back looking like he stepped out of the ring. I had a panic attack right then and there. Bai and Harvey tried to calm me down. Guess they don't know how panic attacks work. I had to pull the thickest fur up above my head and work on slowing down my breathing. Paper bags never did me well. I usually threw a pillow over my face. Can't say that ever helped much either.

Once Harvey proved to me that he was healthy and whole, I noticed the single orange stipe on his jawline. I was happy for him. Maybe he would stop bashing himself over being weak. He fed me the biggest crystal yet, and holy crap. Those things are definitely drugs. Must be speed.

Bai never left. When I woke up on day five, I was able to talk with her. My crippling social anxiety gave me a break. She told me that on the day I got my ass walloped, Harvey beat up Parker and that Parker didn't fight back. Damn, Harvey. I didn't know you had it in you.

"Hey." Anxiety has entered the chat. Why do I always feels so anxious when I need to say someone's name. It's like an intense fear of embarrassment hits me when I think I might flub their name.

"Yes." Bai waited patiently.

"Should I call you Bai or Qingqing?" I only knew a bit about Japanese culture, but didn't know anything about Chinese culture. Do they also use their family names until you get close to them?

"You can call me Qingqing. Bai is my family name."

Now I have to change the way I think of her too. Don't want to mess up later. Qingqing. This human is Qingqing, not Bai. Shouldn't be hard to correct.

"Okay, Qingqing." Got to get some practice in.

"Why did you pick a fight with Parker?" Qingqing asked liked she had wanted to for a while.

"He started it." Wow. That sounds real mature. "And we both fought, not just me." Did that sound better? I hope so.

"Yes, but he's stronger than you." That stings a little. She is right though.

"So I shouldn't say anything? I should just sit there and take it? Why do you think that's okay. Why do you take it?"

"It's not that. It's just dangerous. This place is so different from where we are from. What if Parker leaves me because I was disobedient? He is keeping other males away. You are too reckless."

She spoke defensively. I guess I did react poorly to her questions. I mean, I am judging her so I guess it's fair to judge me back.

"I don't know when I can go home, so I need to stay safe. I don't know what's going to happen now."

You're in luck, because I do. Or rather, I did. Parker hasn't been around, Curtis hasn't made his debut, and I have no idea what part of the timeline we are on. So maybe she isn't lucky.

"Okay, okay. I get it. We can all benefit if I keep my trap shut. I could understand being like that in the beginning, but we have both been here for over two weeks. Don't you know that Parker won't really hurt you? He wouldn't want you to remove his mate mark later."

"I was just being careful. How can you be sure? He ended up hurting you. And what's a mate mark?"

Damn. She has a small point. I guess she doesn't know about the mate mark yet. I thought Eve said something, but maybe I'm wrong. She definitely learns when she tries to divorce Curtis later.

"I'm not the female he's courting. He won't hurt you. You've seen the tattoos on the wom... females here. Those are the spousal marks that show up after you have sex with a male here. If you really don't like you're man, you can cut the mark and draw blood. As long as you don't have feelings left, you can break the bond. But a male can never get a mate again and will be fucked up mentally afterwards."

That was a lot of words and I think they actually sounded alright. Since I've already influenced the plot, who cares if I do more. Thankfully, Qingqing had to think about what I said. I decided to add something else.

"We should probably learn what we can about this world and the culture here." I said we, but I meant her. I know the gist of it. Except proposals. Maybe I should ask Harvey about it.

Qingqing nodded her head. We talked a little bit more about 'my' discovery of tree oil. Harvey returned with an ugly bird and cooked it for the both of us. Poor guy has to take care of two freeloaders now.