A few motes of dust danced in a sunbeam before my eyes. They floated about between the hustle and bustle of several people as I sat there with my back against the wall. I was limp and tired beyond coherent explanation. The amount of comfort I got out of a simple chair was a bit troubling. It had been about a week since I had last graciously parked myself on top of polished wood. My memory was full of nothing but stumps, hard cold ground and filthy dirt. Daylight, starlight, clouds, leaves: these were the only things I could recall whenever I looked up. Now I focused my weary eyes on the intricate latticework of wooden crossbeams holding the roof of this tavern up.

 

If you spend too much time roughing it, you start to develop a distinctive appreciation for the simple things of civilized life.

 

     “Hoowee~”, Rose cried out as she stretched her arms behind her head, “This is just about what I needed.”

 

I lowered my head and out of the clouds and saw the three girls seated around the square dining table. Rose was seated on the opposite side. She was leaning back on her chair and her talons resting on the table. Shoshanah sat on my left with an irritable tic in her eye directed at Rose. She did her best to suppress it, but she was gradually losing her composure. Chris was absorbed in something else entirely. She was silent, but preoccupied with fumbling through a thin paper menu between her wings' forearm talons. It was starting to tear and the edges were rolling. I felt a pang of guilt watching it because printed paper wasn't something you could buy by the box at an office supply store.

 

Shoshanah finally slammed her paw on the table. A few patrons seated at the surrounding tables jumped and looked over, but they quickly looked away because they were desperate to not get involved.

 

     “We took great risk and ventured to this restaurant to relax our weary bodies. Can you at the very least exercise a modicum of restraint and cease spoiling my appetite by shoving your filthy leathery soles in my face?” the anubis barked.

 

     “Yeah, like you said. We're here to relax, so why don't you get on that?”

 

Shoshanah didn't dial back her glower one bit.

 

That's right. Our journey had become a meandering detour through the rugged fringes of civilization. We had little other choice. A skirmish here and there wasn't something we couldn't handle. The full attention of the Church was a whole other matter; especially after I might have caused one of their agents to go rogue. Now she seemed to be following me and I couldn't exactly explain why.

 

No. That's too muleheaded even for me. She was onto me like a bee to a garden. The girl hovered around, never further away than my whisper could reach. She'd return sure as shooting when she was called; the girl also seemed to know when she was needed... Or was it only whenever she felt like it? She had a habit of just showing up out of the blue without anything to say. Then she'd hang around and vanish for another couple hours or so. I wasn't sure what to make of the girl. Her lack of expression made her a puzzle I couldn't solve. It didn't help that she was very articulate either; the girl hardly spoke.

 

Now that I thought about it, she hadn't shown her face for some time today.

 

That memory of her coming onto me at that inn in the city kept coming back to me. It was... An experience, to say the least. That assassin had a certain intensity to her that always showed on her face, but I had been caught off guard in that brief moment of passion she showed me. Emotion wasn't something I expected from her. A straight lip and furrowed brows was all you could safely bet on. Maybe, just maybe, you could catch a frown and knit forehead as she thought about something. But that was it. So when she did become aggressive, it blindsided me. I ended up getting swept along. Again.

 

I turned back to the ruckus getting louder in front of me. Rose was either trying very hard to ignore Susan, or she had a natural and effortless aptitude for it. The anubis' mean glares got more and more furious, but Rose remained unflustered. Shoshanah was relentless though, and eventually Rose would have to cave in a little.

 

     “What? I wiped them clean on the way in. What do you want from me?” Rose said indignantly.

 

I sighed and turned away again. What is it that I want? I thought that to myself. Yes, I couldn't afford to continue drifting along on the wind. We all couldn't afford to keep hiding and scurrying away. My pride might catch up with me one day, but I'd sooner fear that there was also danger in being too cautious. If we were already being tracked and followed, it only made it easier to catch us if we foot slogging through the forest all the time.

 

Rose was defiant and crossed one leg over the other as leaned further back in her chair. If it were not for her tail slipped through the rails of the chair she would certainly have fallen over backward by now. The flames crackling on the ridge was more violent than the hearth in the corner and it made a few people nervous as it slithered back and forth along the vulnerable wooden floor. She paid them no mind, but she opened one eye and looked at Shoshanah with a look of indifference.

 

     “What? I wiped them clean on the way in. What do you want from me?”

 

Those two wouldn't stop any time soon, so I turned over to Chris who was still having problems with the menu.

 

     “You going to be okay there, Chris?”

 

Even with the scarf wrapped around her mouth I could see the frown she was making. She also didn't answer. I leaned over and reached out with a helping hand.

 

     “Chris? When the waitress comes back, it will be the third time we asked for more-”

 

     “I am quite alright, sir,” she said with her eyes still focused on the menu with laser precision, “I must overcome this puzzle myself. I would fail to grow if I gave in now.”

 

The tone in her voice gave me pause and I retreated, albeit reluctantly. She was doing her best to keep the menu between her face and me. It was just a passing thought to step inside here for a drink and a meal. Now I was actually starting to get a couple hunger pangs. My hand clumsily nicked a knife as I withdrew. It rang once as it bounced off my chair and then ricocheted underneath the table.

 

Great. Now I was starting to get lightheaded too.

 

I lifted the white linen table cloth, looked underneath the table and saw Minte. She was sitting dead center under the table with her knees tucked up to her chest. Her eyes were staring dead ahead and right into my own. I paused again. The clatter, rustling and banter above me faded away. An awkward atmosphere settled in and my lazy tired thoughts shifted gears suddenly. How the hell did she even get in here and under the table without any of us noticing?

 

The girl slowly lifted a knife into my line of sight. I still had a little residual panic left in me when seeing that expression on her face and a sharp object all at once. It was just the dinner knife I had dropped. There was no way that blunt harmless scrap of metal was anything to worry about... Especially when you looked a little to the left or right and saw those long and vicious arm blades tucked away against her biceps

 

There was another awkward moment of silence as she slowly held the handle toward me. I cautiously reached out and took the knife back from her.

 

     “Laven?” Shoshanah's voice called out.

 

She caught me off guard and I jumped a little. The back of my head bumped against the underside of the table, but I managed to recover and come back up topside. That bump and clatter which shook the table got the attention of all the girls.

 

     “-You okay?” Rose asked.

 

     “Yeah. Fine. Everything is fine. Just went to grab the knife I dropped.

 

     “Laven, there is no need, we shall have it replaced,” Shoshanah said as began to turn and look for a waitress to call over, “-there is no excuse needed to eat with a dirty-”

 

     “What did I tell you 'bout relaxing,” Rose groaned, “Ten second rule applies.”

 

Actually, it didn't even hit the floor. I only heard it bounce off the chair and not the ground.

 

     “Ten second what?” Shoshanah gasped, disbelieving what she was hearing, “You may very well be a savage, but I for one will not abide Laven eating with grime encrusted cutlery!”

 

Okay. Good. I seemed to be the only one who noticed that little discrepancy. Those two were already back at each other's throat. I don't want to begin thinking about the ruckus Minte would cause if everyone noticed she had been hiding under the table since- well... I don't know when.

 

It was still bothering me though. I couldn't get my mind off of it. What the hell was that girl doing down there? If she wanted to sit at the table with everyone, I think they would let her. Had the girl wanted to kill me, she certainly had more than enough chances. Rose had sensed her intent to kill, somehow, but she was as relaxed as could be right now. There wasn't danger anywhere near, so I couldn't help but flip the linen cloth up one more time. And there was Minte's face, staring right up at me. My heart skipped a beat and I dropped the cloth back down.

 

     “Drop something else?” Rose asked, ignoring the fuming anubis.

 

All three looked over at me again. I grabbed hold of my knife and fork and clacked their bottoms against the tabletop.

 

     “N-no. Not at all. They're right here.”

 

I put on the best smile I could, but it came out awkward as could be. I knew it. Luckily, the three girls took my word for it and retreated back into their own little worlds. Rose and Shoshanah's little spat had petered out and our waitress still hadn't returned.

 

Minte could very well have disappeared the second I had looked. She could have done it a third time too. It was like peering into Schrodinger's box. But I didn't have to look a third time. Something touched my thigh. My muscles spasmed and I shivered all over. At least no one else saw that one. Once my initial shock subsided, I realized that only fingers had that kind of dexterity. Very small fingers that softly massaged the stiff but tender muscles on both my thighs. I could feel it through the denim of my jeans, the tips of some feminine fingers applying pressure and the warmth from someone's palms caressing me.

 

Jumping up and out of my chair may have been my first reaction, but I felt pinned to the chair. I nervously studied everyone else around, the girls were still absorbed in their own troubles and the other tavern patrons couldn't care less. The longer I ignored the problem, the more daring the fingers got. The fingers reached where my legs met my hips. I felt those fingers trace around the bulge of my groin and that was when I couldn't suppress a guttural sound that escaped from my nose.

 

The eyes of all three girls turned on me at once and they dropped what they were doing. I stretched my arms above my head and let our a pathetically fake yawn.

 

     “Oh man~... Oh, sorry, just stretching a bit.”

 

That seemed to convince them and after seeing I was alright, they went back to their previous engagements. The fingers got bolder, Minte was getting bolder. They were no longer satisfied caressing the ever growing lump between my legs, so the fingers found my zipper. The teeth of the zipper on my jeans came undone exasperatingly slowly, tooth by tooth. Now I could feel the smooth silky texture of those fingers as they glided past and into the folds of my underwear.

 

     “Whoa! Wait!” I cried out.

 

All three girls and a few other nearby tavern patrons looked my way. I went red in the face instantly.

 

     “What?” Rose pouted, “You don't want appetizers?”

 

Chris also sounded concerned, “Plates of spiced chicken legs and wings...”

 

I flailed and waved my hands in front of my face.

 

     “Oh? No. Sorry. You said hold off on the honey glazed right?” I laughed nervously, “Ha ha ha. I wouldn't be too happy if you left those out. Ha ha.”

 

     “Honey glazed?” Rose's repeated with her eyes widening and her palate salivating, “How did we miss that?”

 

     “Let me check,” Chris said, going back to fumbling with the menu.

 

That would take some time. My eyes shifted left and met with Shoshanah who had been staring silently at me for some time. I was still red in the face, so when I looked at her like that her face also flushed. She quickly turned away. When the crisis was averted, the feeling of heat and humidity which had been building up in my loins bubbled back up. but the heat and touch from those hands shocked me like having a bucket of ice water dumped on my head.

 

I bit my lower lip to stop making a sound and luckily no one caught me this time. Now those fingers gently wrapped themselves around my half erect dick and pulled it free and into the chilly air. Minte's hands were so small and delicate that they couldn't wrap themselves completely around it. That didn't stop her from tracing her fingers gently up and down and all around the shaft and head. It was a merciless unending taunt as she stopped just short of taking a firm grip. Then her fingers pulled back.

 

My breathing was heavy by now. I kept my mouth open and slacked-jawed so that the wheeze of air through my nose wouldn't alert anyone. The scene I imagined if any of these girls came over or peeked under the table was a disaster. It kept me petrified. At the same time I felt a voice screaming in the back of my head which protested the girl let go. I was completely rock hard now, so I felt it when a new sensation grazed against my penis. Two long hard and flexible fingers. It didn't take me long to figure it out. I slowly and cautiously lifted the linen table cloth again.

 

There I saw Minte. Her green, limber and smooth chitinous antennae were gliding over the surface of my penis from head to base. She had withdrawn her hands which were now between her own thighs. My ears cut through all the white noise and I could hear the subtle schlick. If that wasn't enough of an auditory cue, I spied the wetness trickling down her bare thighs from underneath the hem of her tattered skirt and the small pool of viscous clear fluid on the ground right underneath her.

 

I was speechless. Of course she'd do something like that though. Those antennae of hers had some serious nerve endings in them. There was a sense to them stronger than just scent, hearing and touch. Her lips were slightly parted as she also began breathing a little heavy. The girl's eyes had gone a little dull as though she were in a trance. That face of hers was virtually unchanged, but now that expressionless face was flushed red. Sweat, pheromones, everything down there she was sniffing and feeling. It was turning her on and making her lightheaded as well. Her antennae got more aggressive and started to put a little pressure as they clamped my member between them and coiled around it the best she could.

 

Finally she stopped. I wasn't sure if it was because she was satisfied, or because she couldn't hold back any more... It was the latter. A new feeling touched against the very tip of my dick. It was soft, but it was also slimy. Her fingers wrapped themselves tightly against the base of my shaft and that warm and wet feeling slowly traced over my entire glans. When a trickle of pre leaked out, a tongue licked across and every nerve from my loins to the entirety of my hips shuddered. When I looked down again, I saw the Minte's brown haired head peek out from under the cloth and I watched, slowly but surely, as my half of my dick vanished into her mouth.

 

I could feel her yellow compound eyes looking at me, watching me. Every time my composure broke down, she intensified on what she was doing at that particular spot. Her head pulled back, my penis now slick with her saliva, and she grabbed hold of it in her hands and started to knead. Her fingers moved back and forth in a piston motion. One hand would grab tighter than the other and then switch. Minte's grip twisted as one hand curled counterclockwise and the other clockwise. As her hands were busy, her lips returned and wrapped around my glans. Her slick petite tongue returned and slid over the soft tissuey membrane that was now locked in by her lips which teased and clamped down harder around my most sensitive spot.

 

That's when I felt like I'd fall over. I grabbed hold of the table to hold on for dear life. It wasn't something the other girls could ignore.

 

     Shoshanah had been glancing over every so often for a while now and asked, “Laven, your face is flushed. Are you alright? Perchance you need a place to lay down and recuperate?”

 

     “No!” I said abruptly with a squeak in my voice. “Everything is fine!”

 

The color from my face nearly drained when she appeared ready to get up from her seat and check my temperature despite my protests, but I was saved when some an older man dressed in grubby farmer's clothes bumbled in through the front entrance with an announcement.

 

     “Hey, everyone! They're gonna start the eating contest for the planting festival. Got a couple minutes left to pay up and take part.”

 

Chris' head perked up.

 

     “Contest?”

 

All four of the legs on Rose's chair slammed back down onto the floor. Her head turned around toward the door.

 

     “Eating?”

 

     “Winner gets their weight in food and ale!” The old man announced jovially to the whole tavern.

 

There was quite a crowd outside now that the door was swung wide open. I don't remember anything about- The absolute silence happening between my legs let out the first slip of noise. A quick slurp that escaped Minte's lips caused my strength to leave my body for a moment and I had to brace myself with my elbows on the table.

 

     “Weight in food?” Chris repeated.

 

She looked over at the Salamander whose eyes had lit up as well.

 

     “Then I shall participate. We'll have enough free food from here to-”

 

     “Oh no. I don't think so girly,” Rose said with a wry smile.

 

The wyvern and salamander glared at one another. Both of them made their move at the same time. They kicked off their chairs and fought to beat one another to the door. That just left Shoshanah and I at the table... And Minte underneath whom the anubis was still oblivious too... If there was anyone who'd freak out about what was going on, it would be her. She was distracted for now while she watched those two girls nearly tackle one another as they clamored to be the first outside, but then she turned back to me and put her concerned expression back on.

 

     “Are you quite certain you have not fallen ill, Laven? These nights have been rather brisk as of late. Perhaps you have been afflicted with a case of-”

 

     “No, quite alright. Honest!” I squeaked again.

 

That didn't help at all. My heart beat faster when she slowly pushed back her chair and stood up. She turned toward me, then her face titled in concert with her ears that twitched. Shit. They heard something. Minte was getting more aggressive underneath the table and making some noise now too.

 

     “Entry fee a bit more than I expected,” I heard Rose's voice say from out of nowhere.

 

The salamander had snuck back in from somewhere at some point. With a dagger in her claws, she cut Susan's coin purse loose. She tossed it up into the air a bit to hear the coins inside jingle, then without another word ran off and out of the tavern. Shoshanah didn't even have a second to respond of get anything more than a short 'huh?' out. Once she realized she had been robbed by Rose, her paws clenched up into fists and her face contorted in rage.

 

     “Rose!” She howled, “Mind your own budget!” The anubis spun around, growled and hunched over with a predatory glint in her eye, “Give that back!”

 

As the three girls sped off I felt my body relax, but that was probably a bad idea. When Minte next moved her hands, lips and tongue, I was caught off guard and couldn't hold back. Something was coming and I couldn't stop it now. My hands pulled back and I grabbed hold of Minte's head when I felt as though I'd fall over backwards. I grabbed hold of the girl's antennae which was the one thing I shouldn't have. It was as good as any erogenous zone so far as the girl was concerned, her whole body shook. With one hand pressed up against my pelvis and fingers wrapped around my base, her other hand was back between her legs where she delved deep. My body moved on its own and I pulled her head toward me. She had only been working the top half, but now I felt my whole cock slide twist and go down her throat.

 

Minte nearly choked and her eyes went wide when the pressure building up inside me finally gave way and a torrent of spunk flew down and splattered her esophagus and painted it white. I doubled over and nearly hit my forehead on the table, Minte gagged, but she did not pull away as she moaned along with every spurt of cum sliding down her throat. When everything that I had backed up was spent, I finally let go of her head and she released me as well. My dick was still wet and slick, but not a drop had been spilled.

 

I pushed myself off the table and leaned back in my chair. My eyes looked around in a half daze and I saw a few other men and women around the tavern who had not left to see the festival give me suspicious glances. Perhaps they were worried that I looked so disheveled? Maybe they knew something was up and they were trying to mind their own business yet curiosity got the better of them? I wasn't in the right mind to care.

 

Until I felt a weight on me.

 

My eyes opened again and Minte had revealed herself at last from under the table and took a seat on my lap. The girl was light, so that wasn't a problem. She wasn't showing me her face though. Her mantid abdomen was in the way though. It was pressed up against her back and therefore I could feel it press up against my chest. The texture was tense, but it felt alive. It was warm and I could feel something stir underneath as those insect wings of hers stirred restlessly hidden away by protective lays of chitin.

 

     I couldn't hide my bewilderment “Minte?”

 

She didn't respond.

 

     “What are you doing?” I asked again.

 

I hissed quietly with the first coherent moment of thought I had left.

 

She still said nothing. The girl's response was to wriggle her body closer to mine. I could feel all her body heat as she stuck to me as though there were a sticky fly trap stuck to my chest. My mind descended back into chaos when I felt my pant legs get wet. There was something rubbing against my thighs and it wasn't her underwear. I could feel the folds give way as they rubbed against the rough denim of my jeans. Minte was drenching my lap and it wasn't long until the unfettered scent coming from her nethers wafted upward. My heart had just calmed down and I had caught my breath, now it was all starting again.

 

As Minte's body pressed up against me, she also squished my recovering penis against my stomach. It was supported and held tight within two folds of soft flesh. My dick had been buried in her cheeks and trapped. That feeling alone was almost as intense as before, so when she started to rock her hips a bit it caused me to shudder again.

 

The girl's sudden appearance had already gotten the attention of others in the tavern. Her sitting on my lap like this was just another oddity to add to that. No one could see our hips since the table was in the way, but I was left to wonder if her movements were giving it all away. I still couldn't see the expression on her face and if it had changed, or if her movements were subtle. They weren't to me. I could feel every time she budged even just a bit. When she didn't move her hips, I could feel every time she clenched her buttocks and it pinched my cock not so differently from her hands. It was just a lot softer. A lot warmer too.

 

That's about when the waitress finally returned. She was an older portly woman in an apron and muddy brown dress with her hair tied up and hidden behind a bandanna.

 

     “Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd need a table for five... Or where did your friends go.”

 

I peered over Minte's shoulder and answered the woman, “They heard about the festival so they went off to take look. And don't worry about the table. Can we just get some wings out here?”

 

Minte did not stop even with the woman standing at the end of the table. She kept backing up and putting pressure on my dick and letting it hot-dog between her ample cheeks.

 

     “How about the misses? Do you need anything?”

 

     “I already ate,” Minte said quietly with a disinterested voice and straight face.

 

I seethed and went a brighter shade of red.

 

     “Are you alright, sir?” The woman asked, leaning a bit closer.

 

     “Yeah. Just hungry. That's all!” I said, accidentally raising my voice.

 

She gave Minte a few glances every so often, but the look on that woman's face told me she didn't see anything she thought was out of the ordinary. It was me that she looked at with suspicion. That was until I nearly yelled at her when I raised me voice. She took it for a rebuke and backed away. The kind old waitresses bowed and asked for forgiveness while retreating toward the kitchen.

 

I breathed a sigh of relief, but then groaned. Minte lifted off my lap and sat back down. Now she was sitting on top of my penis; the tip of which was sticking out between her thighs. I could feel the wet lubricated folds of her pussy on the top of my shaft. It felt like warm honey was being poured on it as it slid over the surface. And the smell... Too many pheromones. My mind was starting to go-

 

Minte rocked those hips back and forth. Her lower lips slipped and parted over the base of my penis while her thighs clenched down on the rest and squished my glans between them. This time I couldn't suppress my moan. That only spurred the assassin on further. Every sound I made got her more excited. She never let out so much as a whisper. There was only the schlick where our genitals met. I couldn't take it anymore. My body had been plastered to the chair all this time, so I moved my hips just once. The head of my penis slipped between her pussy folds.

 

The girl made the first sound she had after all this time. My hands moved on their own to cover her mouth and stifle the moan, but I thought that would be harder to explain than just the moan, so I pulled them away just in time when a few patrons looked over at our table. Perhaps they thought we were just flirting before, but now that Minte was hunched over and breathing heavily, they probably couldn't write it off like that anymore. They still looked away, but now they were visibly flustered a bit. Neither could they stop from looking back over their shoulders now and then. At the same time there was just enough plausible deniability. They couldn't just point it out.

 

I had caught the girl off guard, but now it was Minte's turn to strike back. She lifted her hips and sat back down straight onto my cock. My head had been squeezed between her quivering entrance, but now I felt the full force of her folds, inside and out, grip me tight. I grit my teeth tight and breathed heavily through my nose. Letting out a groan or moan would be much louder. Minte felt the same way, she was shivering like crazy, but she manged to keep dead silent. We stayed like that for a moment, but Minte couldn't be restrained for long.

 

The usually aloof Minte became a little wild. Her movements were still subtle, not enough to catch the attention of anyone from the corner of their eye. Her hands grabbed hold of the table's underside. She used it as leverage to keep me pin to the chair while she lifted her self up every so slightly and then dropped back down. The whole time most of her movement came from when she ground her hips around in a circle or left and right. Idle hands are the devil's play thing and since they were dangling limply at my side, they caught hold of her butt from underneath. My fingers sunk into the soft muscly flesh. I pushed up with my hands as she pushed down on me. Every time I massaged my fingers into her backside, she let out another sweet moan.

 

All the other people in the tavern had been at the forefront of my thoughts, but that was starting to go now. I'd move if I could, but Minte wasn't allowing it. She was keeping me still while she moved quietly, but as wildly as she could. I could feel my dick twist and turn around inside her as she moved. I could also feel the rough patches and sensitive areas of her insides that tweaked and rubbed against me. All of that excess honey pouring out from where we met was staining the chair I was seated on. It didn't stop. Minte continued to squirt a bit as she shuddered, enduring a minor orgasm silently. She still didn't stop.

 

Minte picked up the pace. I could feel my member begin to twitch inside her and I know she could feel it too. The very thought that I was coming to my limit let slip another moan from her lips. It was quiet, no more than a whisper. My eyes other senses were too dull to notice or care about any of the other people in the tavern now, but it looked as though they had already moved on from the oddity of the monster seated on my lap.

 

I reached my final limit. Minte lifted her hips up all the way once, and only once, then dropped back down. That full stroke was all I could take and when she came harder the second time, the convulsions rampaging inside her and milked me harder than before. I was reloaded and my second package tucked up inside my scrotum and then blasted itself out until it oozed into Minte's insides. I whited out, I wasn't sure if anyone was watching. My face was certainly a mess and from Minte's quiet moans of ecstasy, she had to look the same. Her mantid abdomen tried to open and her wings attempted to buzz, but they were trapped against my chest. She squirmed and rocked back and forth and I couldn't even give one single care about the blades rising up from her shoulders that were dangerously near my head as she writhed on top of me.

 

Spurt after spurt that kept coming as though I were reliving my number one inside her didn't quit. I let out even more into her vagina than I did down her throat. A new fluid seeped out. It trickled down our thighs, to the chair and onto the floor. Her small body couldn't hold it all in her. We kept connected and neither of us had the strength to separate. Our bodies went limp. The only thing holding up was the chair which was up against the wall. My arms were wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling off.

 

Everything I had backed up was released at last. There was a warm after glow as we waited there. But through my closed eyes, I could hear someone approach.

 

     “Sorry about the date,” the round old waitress said.

 

Sorry about the what?

 

I opened my eyes and saw the old woman standing there. Or I thought it was. A round woman was there alright, but there was a giant withered raisin there instead of where her head should- Wait, where the fuck am I? Why are we in town? No one seems to care that there are monsters in-

 

***

 

My eyes shot open wide. My head lifted up, but the rest of my body was still numb, unresponsive. A tingling sensation that was slightly painful coursed through my whole body as though it were all asleep and my circulation was a mess. I looked up and saw the millions upon millions of strange stars in patterns unrecognizable to me. Crickets chirped in the distance and all that was left of a fireplace a stone's toss away smoldered weakly.

 

Just a dream. People with fruit for heads and- Minte. I looked down and say that my body wasn't numb for a reason. There was something bulging out from underneath my blanket. There was something weight down on me too. I slowly lifted it up and I saw a yellow glint in the faint moon and starlight. A head of brown hair with a streak of green. A rush of cold hair caused the girl to shiver and cling even tighter to me than before. Her cheek, slightly drooling on my chest, rubbed against me and her arms clung onto me tighter than before.

 

It was Minte. She had at some point snuck under my blankets and laid down on top of me. I was at a loss for words. She had been hanging around the fringes for days like some sort of shy stray cat. Why would she now... Forget it. I was about to shake her awake, but the best I could do was put my hand on her head. She buried her cheek a little harder into my chest in response and- there was a softening of her expression and... a faint smile on her face.

 

I didn't have it in me to do anything at all. I lowered my head back down on the makeshift pillow and stared back up into the night sky. The girl had gone through enough. If this is what she needed right now to pick up all the pieces and put herself back together... I could do that. A little numbness isn't anything... The invasion of personal spaces.. No. It's alright.

 

Except now I noticed my pants were a little tight... and wet... Wait. I remember a bit of what I saw in that dream I had. Minte... She... Wait. No. She didn't while I was- Did she?

 

I lifted my head back up and raised the blanket again. Minte was still sleeping soundly with the faintest smile on her face. The antennae twisted freely; poking against my body and cheeks with a mind of their own.

 

Well- No. Forget it... I'll just... Change in the morning.