3rd POV
Yesterday was a disaster, Maxine ended up sleeping late just thinking about it! She couldn't bring herself to look at him. If he started to tease her about it. Maxine wouldn't have the guts to fight back. Instead, she would have died from embarrassment.
When Maxine said she slept late, she REALLY slept late. It took her half the night to fall asleep. Trying to distract her lucid thoughts out of her dreams. Which was hard since Sebastian was RIGHT BY HER!
At first, Maxine didn't mind sharing the bed since this is the only bedroom in the house and it was a pretty large bed. She felt bad if he slept on the stone floor. Sebastian was hesitant at first but they ended up sharing the bed together.
(TIME PASSED)
The next day, Maxine ended up sleeping late, waking up at noon. She got up from bed walking to the main room feeling groggy. Her stomach growled loudly, feeling hungry after missing breakfast.
In the main room Sebastian sat at the table fixing his bone knife. He held a piece of fiber in his mouth. By the looks of it, Maxine saw that the wooden handle and the stone blade broke off. He used the plant fiber to tightly tie the parts together. His ears twitched as he heard her footsteps, turning his head to look her way.
When he heard her stomach growl for the second time. He got up and stopped what he was doing. Going straight to the kitchen to reheat some food he made earlier. Maxine sat at the table next to where he sat, patiently waiting for the food.
Maxine saw him scooped up a portion of the leftover soup into a bowl. She smelt pork coming from the soup. She thought that it must be the boar he hunted several days ago as it didn't rot. Since she taught him ways to preserve food longer by rubbing salt or by smoking it over fire. So that he doesn't have to go out and hunt everyday.
She knew that some of his prey he hunted days ago were in the cellar below. The days begin to get colder. Food and warm clothing were the top priority for them in order to survive. Maxine had to make sure they had enough resources for the two of them to survive. That includes medicine, fur, spices, and wood.
They stored many fruits, veggies, and other preservatives like jam, pickled goods, and olive oil. Maxine knows that in the cold season food will become scarce making it harder to survive. The harsh weather and freezing temperatures were one of the challenges during the cold season. Maxine heard that many beastmen died from starvation during the cold seasons, some would go out of their way to fight for resources even if it meant losing their lives.
As she was thinking, Sebastian handed Maxine the big bowl of hot soup. She shook her head and saw that the soup had chunks of pork, cabbage, carrots and onions. She thanked him and ate while he went back to repair his bone knife.
Maxine swears his cooking is getting better and better these days. She taught him some things about cooking and spices, but surprisingly he understood it. His cooking knowledge rapidly grew, making it gold star quality that is almost like her grandma's cooking.
After Maxine finished her late brunch, Sebastian told her the bathtub was done, which meant the bathroom was complete. She quickly opened the bathroom door and saw that the wooden bathtub was filled with hot water. She took off her clothes to dip in the warm tub.
When Maxine was done bathing, she changed into her blue sun dress. It was her favorite dress out of the rest, since it took her a whopping three days to make. Due to Sebastian giving Maxine a bunch of different colored fabrics and materials during her time in isolation. Her time at home was boring during isolation. But at least she had stuff to do that will be useful later on.
Her dress was light blue that had a neck v-top with straps tied into a bow. The skirt had two layers of cloth with ruffles to give it depth and fluff. In the back of the dress, it had a thick bow strap to tie the dress together. She wore it with lace sandals that were made out of leather and rubber.
" Is that my basket?!"
Behind Sebastian's chair Maxine saw her basket she left from yesterday. Maxine told Sebastian she left her basket behind. But he was mad and ignored her since she disobeyed him from going out too far than she was supposed to.
Maxine learned her lesson after that incident. Which was to never anger Sebastian! He is scary when he is mad! She remembers from yesterday she was sweating nervously, panicking when he looked at her after beating them. It was like he was going to beat her to a pulp after he knocked out those wolf beastmen. Like they weren't enough for him and Maxine was next on the list!
"Yea, I searched for it this morning. It was near some berry bushes" he said
He handed Maxine her basket that was behind his chair. Then went back mending his broken bone knife. Inside the basket, it still had the herbs and seeds she collected from yesterday.
Maxine began dumping her harvest onto the wooden table just across from him. And she started extracting them to make more spices and herbal tea.
Across the table, Maxine heard Sebastian cussing as he was getting irritated by his knife. She was done extracting the spices and placed them into a jar. Sebastian began fuming as he struggled fixing his bone knife. In front of him there was a bowl of tree sap, he used it to glue the broken fragments together.
In the end, Sebastian gave up and decided to buy a new one later. He stood up tossing the broken knife on the table then walking over to the bedroom where Maxine was.
Sebastian observed her rummaging through the strange leather bag. Initially, he didn't know how Maxine got the bag but didn't care where she got it. He cared that she had something to do in the coming days. He was surprised that whoever made this, it showed mastery of craftsmanship on a whole new level. The material was better than any leather villages sold, it was shiny and smooth. The stitches were crafted with precision.
"Maxine, stay inside I'm going to hunt"
When she heard he was hunting, she started to grab some things out of the duffle bag. Then, quickly running straight to the door with a basket in her hand as he was about to leave.
"What!" She said, gaped turning her head back to him although he was gone.
" I'm coming with you!"
When Sebastian was about to transform into his jaguar form. He was abruptly stopped by Maxine, who was right behind him.
The door slammed open and there popped out Maxine with puffed cheeks and teary eyes. It made him alarmed by the sudden action that made his fur and ears shiver in shock.
" No, stay-"
Sebastian suddenly stopped as he saw Maxine's pitiful look as if she was about to cry if he denied her request. Making him rethink his choices, deciding whether to bring her or not.
If she came with him, it would be dangerous for both of them. He needed to hunt without distractions. Sebastian feared that if he brought her, she would be frightened by wild beasts they might encounter or even worse she might be harmed by them.
Undoubtedly, Sebastian didn't want to make her feel dejected. He knew that Maxine hadn't had the most fun during the past months. She has been outside a few times but only with him to guard her. He had to be cautious as they lived in a place hidden in the forest with many dangers around.
Yeah, they could have moved to the wolf tribe nearby as it has many orcs around making it a safe place for Maxine to stay at while he is away. But Sebastian has not one bit of trust in that place, he hated those dirty dogs moping around.
Sebastian clenched his fisted hand furiously in thought, if they moved into the wolf tribe. Those lousy dogs would cling to her all day. He remembers a saying that if you give a dog a treat it will come back wanting more. In other words, if Maxine gives her attention to them they would come back with more of them around.
Sebastian sighed, shaking off his thoughts as it would be such a hassle for him to swat every single dog away from her.
But just once Sebastian wanted her to be happy and enjoy her life without being locked up in their den. He wanted to see more of Maxine's new side and her bright smiles. To him, whenever she smiles at him, it makes him feel joy and satisfaction inside of him.
Making him speak the final verdict on whether she can go or not.
Thank you for reading!
Question: If you had to own any animal as a pet what would it be?