I didn't get many answers from Shen in the end. Noa finished her food— quite messily too, leaving crumbs everywhere on the table. I already feel bad for the waitress who has to clean up here.
But… we parted ways and the suffocating frustration Shen had was gone. She seemed happy walking by my side. Her strides were less rushed.
Her harsher tone also became softer. We decided on walking around for the rest of the day. As we did so… Shen started to flip her hood up. For a split second she disappeared then reappeared in full clothes. It looked almost instantaneous.
What the hell?!
"Hm? What?" Shen lifted her hood fully and tilted her head. "What's with that look?"
"Did you just change clothes?! How did you do that?!"
I could see her shoulders rise and lower in a shrugging manner. Seriously that'd be so handy! I would be able to change my shirt or pants anytime I want…I mean I can… but these damn things…
Y'know I miss being a guy since I would be able to change my shirt anytime I want without being stared at pervertedly. But… due to my breasts in this life it ruins that chance.
There's a lot I do miss, I get stared at a lot more in this… this life. I'm already heavily scarred, and ever since I woke up in that forest. So even more I'd rather change in a room myself. Even if I was in the same room as the same gender. So yes… a handy thing like that would be so good.
It's also scary that someone could wander into my room. There's no lock on the door, it was a storage room afterall… Might need to ask James for a lock honestly.
"What are you thinking about?" Shen interrupted my train of thought by leaning forward and asking me.
"That teleporting thing you did… It seems really handy."
"It's not something anyone can have— only Frederic and I have it."
"Only you and him?"
"Yes. We cleared— why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're not doing anything with my dad, are you?"
I narrowed my eyes looking at her. Explicitly showing I was onto her. All that mumbling she did while she was asleep the past few days is making me even more suspicious of her.
And bear hugging the pillow too.
Shen stared at me blankly. Her eyebrow started to twitch a little bit. Thus we left it at this as I held a smug smile.
She and I stayed quiet through the rest of our walk, only we exchanged words randomly.
This sight gets boring. People aren't staring at me anymore, but I can hear them talking about Shen. She's very popular, huh?
Usually people talk about her looks, and the fact she's a vampire… doesn't make me jealous. I would hate all that attention if I'm just walking through these streets.
Shen probably is used to this by now… Orrr she likes it. She's walking with a straighter back and firmer strides compared to before. Her chest was puffed too, she's really enjoying the attention.
Probably wishes it was dad…. I eyed her sideways as we got closer to a destination. We started to slow down.
Happening faster than I thought…
Outside of a rather… lavish shop, Lora and Melinda were talking. The former looked meek and quiet when her mouth was moving to talk with Melinda. Her arms were down to her legs and her head was hanging.
"Oh, Miss Shen and Yukina." When we got near Melinda called out to us.
Without missing a beat Shen stated, "new shop?"
"Mhm— Missus Gabri bought me this shop."
"It was owned by my parents, I didn't really need to pay for it." Melinda stated whilst scratching the back of her head. "Mom and dad planned to make a similar shop, but… mom got sick so they put it off until she got better."
Mellisa's sick? I tilted my head at that. She smelled healthy… I remembered her in her home and the realization sort of hit me. That's why she started coughing and calmed down…?
"Thank you still… Missus Melinda…"
Melinda sighed before opening the door, she turned to Shen and I. She then asked if we could help clean the place up.
The internals were standard for a gigantic shop… There was no furniture however. The building was ready to be renovated and had an empty feeling. But honestly, it was very spacious I can already see how much she can utilize that space for changing rooms and more racks.
Can definitely smell the abandonment though… My nose became clogged with a bunch of dust and dirt. Shen didn't seem bothered when I turned to her. In fact… she cut her own breathing off didn't she. Why is being a vampire handy at times?!!
Her chest wasn't rising or lowering. Lucky… I had to take slow breaths and cough to clear the dust out of my mouth. We'll definitely need more people than what we have here…
Before I took one step forward I felt an immense tingle in my ears. Yeah… I have to leave this building…
The dust was getting too much! I could feel it bypass the fur that protected the inside my ears and caused an uncontrollable itch to appear.
"Clean your ears when you get home." Shen stated after a deep breath. "Itchy ears like ours suck."
Her voice sounded dampened. Great, this is something new…. I still have a lot to learn as an animalkin…
Itchy ears with dust never became an issue on the road… but apparently in this decrepit current shop it is!
We also have to plan out how the shop would look inside, that part was for Lora mainly to figure out. But I can already see her asking Melinda for advice.
We decided to leave it be today and come back tomorrow, we were in no rush as we haven't collected the monster materials she'd use. And by we I mean Shaun. And by Shaun– it'll be the entire party isn't it..