A Novel's Beast World

6. Candy Is Taboo

Originally posted: March 25, 2022. Edited: February 17, 2023.

After receiving a strong blow of humiliation to my fragile ego, I weakly mustered up the courage to ask for a cloth and water to wash with. Harvey never said anything during the whole ordeal and brought me what I needed. He even stepped out to let me bathe, apologizing for the lack of bathing basin. I tried to tell him it was fine. I knew that he lent his tub to Parker.

Harvey came back with a a rabbit and asked how I would like my food prepared. His consideration was really touching. If the earlier incident hadn't crushed my soul, I would have been moved.

I tried my best to explain what I wanted from my spot on the floor. It took some light convincing to use 'medicine' for cooking. Harvey wasn't one to argue and gave up quickly. He only insisted on tasting it first. If I didn't feel so dead inside, I would have felt proud that I was able to carry on an almost healthy conversation with a creature of intelligence.

Harvey was good at following directions and improvising when I lacked those directions. I was a baker not a cook. If it wasn't a dessert, I wasn't confident in my ability to make it. Thankfully, Harvey knew how to roast rabbit. I didn't know a damn thing about flavors of wood used for the fire, so that was all on Harvey.

I wasn't going to eat half-naked. I found my dirty shirt close by and gave it a sniff. Gag me. That reeks. I don't want to wear it. I could feel my nose wrinkling at the thought. I looked at the fur covering me. "Harvey, can I use this as a shir-top? Just for now until I can wash my clo-furs.

"Of course, Drew. You can use whatever you want. I'm sorry, I didn't give you anything to wear. I'll sew some spare furs soon and I'll wash your furs tonight."

"It's fine. You helped me a lot." Damn, it was hard to talk all of a sudden. Should I insist on washing them myself? Would I be able to drag my sore ass over to the water? Should I tell him to be gentle with them? Should I thank him? God, this was hard.

I swear I felt eyes boring into my skull, but Harvey had turned away to tend to dinner. I tied the fur around me quietly, trying not to aggravate my back. Harvey plated the rabbit onto a large leaf. It reminds me of a banana leaf. He handed me a second leaf of fruits after I set the first leaf down.

The food turned out okay. Definitely not what I was used to, but edible. The meat was tough, but juicy and it had a garlic flavor. I want to make chopsticks or forks somehow. Eating with my hands felt sticky and dirty.

"Is it okay?" Harvey had never cooked a meal for a female. It turned out that Rod wasn't her male and she hasn't mentioned any others.

"It's good. Thank you." It was strangely hard for me to say. Why do I have to be so difficult. It's not like I've never expressed gratitude before. It's not like I was lying either. The food was good considering the limited options. I am literally leeching off of this guy, so he at least deserved an honest 'thank you.'

Harvey was speechless. Seriously? Did no one thank this poor guy before? Do I have no way to repay him?

Oh! I have something in my backpack I can give him. I looked through the catastrophe that was my backpack's interior. Why do I keep so much shit in here again? I can never find what I need.

Found it. I handed a lemon head to the unsuspecting leopard. He stared at it curiously. Dude, it's not a foreign species. Well, I guess it might as well be to him.

"You peel off the wrapper like this." I had to demonstrate for the poor man. Not that I'll complain. I don't need a good excuse to eat sweets. I popped that amazing piece of diabetes inducing substance in my mouth and savored the taste. No telling how many I have left in my backpack. I hunted for another and handed it to the less bewildered leopard.

I side-eyed Harvey with great attention. How would a leopard react to sugar and artificial flavors? He removed the wrapper carefully, like the contents were precious.

"Oh. You suck on it slowly." Damn. That sounded lewder than I intended it. Come on Drew, get your head out of the gutter. Worry about him swallowing it instead. I'm not confident in my Heimlich maneuver. Not that he'd choke on it. If someone was going to choke on it, it'd be me. Poetic justice and all.

Harvey dropped the yellow piece of candy into his mouth.

Pfft! Don't laugh! Don't laugh. Hold it in girl, you can do it.

Poor, trusting Harvey. He has my respect for not spitting it out, even though he really seems to want to. His ears won't stop swishing and his tail went poof like my freaking cat. His eyes barely remained in his head and I could see him questioning his life choices.

I can't hold it in anymore! Laughing my ass off, I buckled over with tears in my eyes. Gasp! Fuck! I forgot about my bitchy back and nearly swallowed the candy. Damn universe, you don't have to prove me right.

I tried hard to collect myself before facing the leopard. He looked embarrassed and damn if that didn't sting my conscience.

"Uh. Sorry." Yes Drew, very eloquent. Now say it like you mean it. "This is one of my favorite kinds of candy. You probably don't know what that is...Umm. I wasn't sure how you'd react." Liar. I was hoping he'd react strongly. I just didn't want to feel guilty over a small prank.

"It's okay, Drew. I never had anything quite like that before. Thank you for sharing your favorite 'candy' with me." That hits in the feels. Harvey looked super happy right now. Too happy. I got to try to be nicer to this guy.

Harvey resumed a nervous and bashful look as something occurred to him. "Umm. Does this mean you will accept me as your male?"

What in the bloody fuck did he just say? Come on Drew! Think. You can do this. Was I that desperate that I'd dream of getting hitched this way? Maybe, but that isn't important now. Oh God! He's still waiting with such a expectant expression.

Why does he look so damn hopeful? Wasn't he obsessing over another chick's foot like a couple hours ago? We've known each other for like a quarter of a day. Did he just propose? Oh no! His face is falling, say something damnit.

"Just give me a minute." I'll definitely top the charts for worst response to a proposal. What in the world did I do to make this guy think I was interested? Sure, he was drool worthy, but I kept that to myself. We got along well. Was it enough to just have a civil conversation and boom, marry? The standards here were really low, but that doesn't seem right.

It's got to be the candy. Is candy exchange a more simplistic exchange of rings? No. I gave us both candy. But Wait! He fed me rabbit. Does that count? Was there anything like that in the story? Something about a campfire and the males brought meat to the females they liked. Did I just reverse the proposal?

Okay. According to what's left of my grey matter, I probably just proposed accidentally. Well Shit.