28 I will Never Drink Again!
A light knock came from the wooden door. I hurriedly pulled the blanket back over my unprotected body, before answering it.
"I'm awake!"
The door was pushed open and Ofris slowly made his way in. He was balancing a plate with a cup of a steaming hot liquid and a bowl on it. It was only when he had placed it on the nightstand next to the bed, that he let his gaze wander towards me. When he discovered that I wasn't wearing anything but the thin blanket of his, a slight red appeared on his face.
"Good morning," I heard myself stammering.
A sigh left his lips. "It is late in the evening," he explained, "you slept the whole day. How are you feeling?"
"Miserable ..."
He let out another sigh before handing me the brew. "Drink this. It helps against headaches and nausea."
Hesitatingly, I reached out for the cup. Ofris obviously tried to help me, but I couldn't help feeling slightly anxious when seeing the steam rising up from the cup.
«Calm down,» I tried to reassure myself, «it is just tea or something!»
Just as my fingers were closing around the cup, freeing it from Ofris grip, I felt the blanket sliding down my skin. I became petrified when Ofris avoided his eyes.
"We are both men!" I protested. "Don't treat me like a girl!"
"You are a girl," his weak answer came.
"I'm not!"
"You are not exactly convincing with that body of yours."
"Who cares about that!"
He sighed again. "You lost your memory. Where does the idea of you suddenly being a man come from? Are you so afraid that you don't want to be seen as a girl?"
"Afraid?"
"I won't touch you, ok?"
A quite vivid image of Ofris touching this fox body of mine appeared before my inner eye. It looked like a gentle father together with his daughter – a half-nude daughter.
«This is wrong! This is wrong on so many levels!»
「I didn't know you were into that, Rika.」 Shiro's gleeful voice invaded my mind. 「I mean, he is friendly and all, I give him that, but roleplay?」
My face was as red as a tomato. "He would never do that!"
「Shouldn't you do it more slowly? You didn't even confess!」
"Why did I even feel sorry for you ..."
Yet another sigh came from Ofris. His hands reached out for me, they grabbed the blanket and pulled it back over my shoulders, all of this without even risking a single glance on my body.
"So we are back to you talking to your goddess again ..."
«He still thinks I'm insane?»
「You aren't?」
"..."
A heavy silence weighed down on us. If it weren't for the cup in my hands, I wouldn't be able to handle it, but the slightly salty liquid made me almost forget the awkwardness I felt.
"Thank you ..." I whispered between two sips.
"Don't worry about it." Ofris took a few deep breaths. "I talked with Risa earlier. They will give you a room in the town hall for now, until you can stand on your own feet."
I couldn't hide my surprise. "The town hall? It has guest rooms?"
Ofris waved with his hand as if he tried to put more weight to his denial: "It's nothing like that. They are residential quarters for the mayor to live in."
"You just let random people live in the mayor's rooms?"
Ofris took two deep breaths. "After what you did today, you aren't exactly 'random' anymore."
"What do you mean?"
The fourth sigh came from him. "By now half the town should know you are a fox ..."
「That's great!」 Shiro celebrated. 「Nobody will think you are a filthy dog now!」
I felt all blood rushing out of my face. Ofris expression revealed not only pity but exhaustion and helplessness, too. It seems I really did something regretful.
"What did I do!? What happened to me!?"
Ofris answered me with a weak smile: "So you don't remember ..."
"It was that bad?!"
"You stripped in front of half of the towns' men ..."
The cup fell out of my hand and onto the blanket, spilling all of its contents over my legs. It was almost boiling hot, but I couldn't even react to it. My eyes were staring at Ofris, unbelieving and shocked.
«I did WHAT?!»
「You were great, you know?! You enchanted them!」
"I- I stripped?" My voice was shaking. "Why did I- why?!
"I'm sorry!" His answer came instantly. "I shouldn't have let you drink alcohol! I should have known you wouldn't be able to handle it!"
"You gave me alcohol ..."
"It is a tradition amongst adventurers!"
"Why didn't you do something?! Did they really see? All of them?"
「They did! They did see everything~!」
«That fucking vixen! I will get her!»
「You want to play catch?」 Her gleeful voice asked. 「We are not children anymore, you know?」
"..."
"I was startled!" Ofris suddenly confessed. "I couldn't react until it was already too late! When I tried to make you stop, you just jumped on the next table, I chased-"
"Wait!!" I cut off his words. "Wait a second! I danced on the table?!"
「He~ he~」
Ofris avoided my eyes. "Sorry," he said almost whispering.
"Why didn't you just catch me? You are far stronger and faster than me!"
"I caught you, but-"
"But what?!"
"You-" His voice got even weaker. "You attacked me."
「You certainly did.」
"I attacked you ..."
A deadly silence spread in the room. I could still hear Ofris breath, but he wasn't able to voice a single word. It was only after what felt like half an eternity, that he finally answered me. His voice, however, had lost even its last strength.
"You kissed me," he revealed, "and you licked my skin, claiming it was magic spells ..."
"..."
"You said you are best with that magic, since you are a fox and that it wouldn't count as a kiss. You even-"
"Stop!" I begged him. "Please stop!"
Ofris skin was long since hidden by a green quest-screen. It hid his shame, his pity and his helplessness, his gaze, however, could reach me without any hindrance. He didn't see the quest, there wasn't any green color hiding my teary eyes and beet-red face. I couldn't help but hide under the wet blanket.
⊱————- Extra ————-⊰
Shiro: 「Capture Target 'Ofris': Affection +27%」
Shiro: 「Capture Target 'Risa': Affection -90%」
Shiro: 「Capture Target 'Paul' is now aviable」
Shiro: 「Capture Target ...」
Rika: This isn't a dating sim!
Shiro: But Rika~
Rika: Just let me suffer in silence!
Shiro: But your harem-
Rika: We are not getting one!
Shiro: So mean! Rika is mean!
Rika: ...
