Jenny and the Beasts

15. Dinner Plans

August 7, 2022.

 Winston had been summoned by the ape king twice in the last couple of days. Jenny insisted that he reject them and he listened to her. He didn't ask for an explanation and Jenny felt grateful for that. The ape king would poison him, but Jenny couldn't think of a way to explain that right now.

She was sure that Winston heard a lot about her thanks to her discussion with Mestor and his sensitive hearing. Jenny had yet to ask his opinion on the matter, but wasn't going to push it. They hadn't even known each other for a full week and Jenny didn't want to dump everything on him at once. A small voice in her head kept insisting that he would go to the dark side if she did.

Since Winston was effectively grounded for reasons outside of his control, he helped her build a chicken coop. Jenny had helped her dad build his own and felt confident in designing hers. Winston was efficient to put it lightly. She didn't have to worry about a lack of power tools thanks to him.

Jenny had Mestor create wood screws for her to use to make the coop sturdier. It was a shame she didn't have metal to work with, but this was a prehistoric setting. It would be odd if they did have metal.

The rain hampered their work, but Jenny had them crafting and assembling as much as she could while inside the den. Obviously, she couldn't assemble the whole thing there since she wouldn't be able to fit it through the door. Still, they were able to create each wall, roof, and elevated nesting boxes.

Jenny thought about creating a fence. She ran the ideas around in her head and mentioned them briefly. The following day, she had a fence. Gaping at the crazy speed at which Winston could accomplish goals, Jenny realized she had to be careful about what she would ask for in the future.

The rains kept her indoors mostly. The men would not let her out in that kind of weather. She saw the reason in that, but it didn't stop her from getting bored as heck. She weaved bamboo, carved wood, cooked, and exercised in doors to keep herself busy.

Simon would disappear a lot and come back battered. Jenny thought about kicking butt, but knew it was a stupid thought. It still made her feel better though, but only a tiny bit. Simon insisted that he was okay and not to worry. Jenny did anyway since that was one of her natural callings.

Mestor spilled Simon's secret to Jenny at one point and she relaxed. It wasn't strange to her at all. She too wanted to be stronger in some capacity. She secretly rooted for Simon and always had some extra food for him to eat ready and waiting for him.

Harvey came over rarely, but Jenny couldn't go visit him in this weather. She gave him some housewarming gifts that he only accepted after Jenny threatened to decorate his front porch with them. Jenny knew that wasn't a thing here, but Harvey knew she wasn't from here. She would never push it if it really made him uncomfortable.

Simon was generally exhausted after returning from his training. He would eat and pass out. Jenny would give him some reassuring pats while he was unconscious. It felt weird to do it while he was in a human shape, but figured she'd get over it. There were times that she used these moments to inspect Simon's fluffy ears. She had been in this fantasy world too long without doing that. She could no longer hold herself back.

One day Mestor caught her red handed and Jenny flinched exaggeratedly. "Do you like his ears that much?" Mestor questioned with a hurt expression.

Mestor was not actually upset. He just wanted to appear that way. If Jenny felt guilty, maybe she would give him that kind of attention too. After a successful attempt to manipulate the situation to his favor, Mestor found his own ears being caressed. Overjoyed with this result, Mestor made purring sounds and sat obediently in front of Jenny.