Living on Borealis-9: The Story Of A Reincarnated Human

Chapter 10, Part 3: Profession

Luna did get a potion of healing for me. Stuff works wonders. If I could, I would drink that stuff all day, not just because it greatly increases your body's healing processes, and boosts your metabolism into high gear with a mixture of chemistry and magic...But it tastes like strawberry jam. I've got a lot of memories with strawberry jam...I like it. Except, I like REAL strawberry jam, hand pressed and made in a fiery fireplace. Not this, 'natural-preservatives-treated-pulp-free' bullshit you can find everywhere. Real jam? Doesn't exist anymore unless you make it yourself or get it from grandma. Except grandma is dead. So you have to make it yourself. And I was either too poor, too busy, or just too lazy to make the jam myself.

So yeah. Healing potions are red and taste like jam. I bet that...I dunno, mana potions are blue and taste like blueberries. Mmmm...

Back to it. Luna gave me some healing potion, I got better overnight, all was good. When we woke up, we were met by a loud knocking. I rolled out of my makeshift hammock, grumbling and groaning as I had to wake up at a totally reasonable hour.

"Ugh..." Luna groaned from her cot. "This sucks..."

"Preaching to the choir..." I grumbled back. I opened the door of our little house, only to be met by the Werewolves from yesterday.

"Ah, Werewolves!" I exclaimed, slamming the door. Then, I promptly opened it back up. "That's how it...sort of felt. What do you want?"

"Um...Yo, what's up? Look, we're hella sorry 'bout yesterday. We were totally wasted and not in our right minds. Me, personally, I was all messed up, you feel me? Anyway, I just wanna say I'm sorry. We were all in the wrong, and I hope you can forgive us, bro. Can we like, start fresh and be cool with each other?"

I...I...Nope. Matt.EXE has stopped working. I give up on understanding this world. This dude is sounding like he's from some kind of hip 90's movie. I am...AUGH, NO!

"Yeah, sure. You're forgiven and all."

The lead Werewolf smiled wide. He should not do that anymore. "Alright, wicked! Yo, mind if I introduce you to my crew? We're pumped to have a legit newbie Werewolf we can maybe school."

"Yeah, sure." I replied tiredly. And I really didn't care much after that. Honestly, it was all a blur in my head. My priorities were more set on rebuilding more of The Town.

You see, we needed wood. Most of what we had was salvaged from really just totaled houses, which couldn't have possibly been rebuilt. We would take what we could get from the ruined houses, recycle it, and be good to the environment. Except...We were running out. And I didn't have an axe or anything. However, a very stupid but somewhat sneaky idea went through my head.

The afternoon came, and after a simple lunch of raw sashimi, Luna and I went out into the woods under the guise of a normal little stroll. It...wasn't wholly untrue. I did kind of want to just spend some time with her, maybe gauge our complicated relationship a bit. All was well, in my mind, but it couldn't hurt to check. Something I did notice, however, was just how much the lush greenery around us was...Green. It was a stark contrast to the desolation of The Town, with even the plants having a thin layer of ash or dust on them against the lushness around us. It was a discrete little grey filter on everything back at The Town. The air was fresh out here also, and the sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting a warm glow on everything. It was a lot...nicer. I liked the colours. Maybe, I could convince Luna to let me harvest some flowers, we can grind them up, and make paint for the houses back home, bring some colour to the drab grey and brown stone and wood.

But I wasn't out there to admire the scenery. Well...Not THAT scenery. Another kind. Luna. Maybe it was just my feelings talking a bit, but...She had been getting prettier and prettier over the weeks. And I was noticing a lot of small things, like the patterns of black streaks in her marble-like skin. Or the tiny scar on her chin that was at a 30 degree angle. Or the way that her collarbones pointed up-and-out, and were so prominent. Or the VERY slight shade difference between her eyes, making it look like, on close inspection, she had heterochromia. I was noticing a lot of the small things that made her really just...her.

And, again, maybe feelings, but...I did actually feel affection towards her. I felt like we had a real connection, as people.

So, I swallowed a bit harder than usual, and piped up.

"Hey, Luna?" I asked.

"Yo?" She said as she climbed up several tree roots. "What's on your mind, man?"

"Er...I've been thinking quite a bit recently about our relationship. I...I really appreciate everything we've been through together, and I think we've become really good friends over the months. I mean, from when we chilled out in your ruin-home, to our journey to The Divine, to when I killed that Reaping Death for you...to here, where we've been working side-by-side for months now. And...I want to know if you've made up your mind yet. You said you wanted to evaluate our relationship, take it slow, make sure we didn't mess anything up. Well...It's been months now, so...Do you have an answer?"

Luna sighed, then dropped down to be at eye-level with me. She was slightly blushing...Wow. "Yeah, I've been thinking about it too," She began.

"And don't get me wrong, dude, I really have been thinking! And...I'll go ahead and say it. I've kept it all lock and key for a while now, it's time I just...go ahead and speak. You have caught me with your immense strength, your loyalty, your stupid expression and stupid head, and your big arms, and those scars of yours..." She said, trailing off and beginning to get closer to me.

"And your...scent. Like spice...and water. And the way that you take mercy on so many things...And your...eyes. And your hair..."

Her voice quivered as she spoke, which was...o...kay. Kinda weird, but I can work with it.

"I've tried to deny it, to bury these feelings deep within me, because I feared what would happen otherwise. I feared that you would leave me, or hurt me, or that our friendship would end. But it's become unbearable."

She was trembling like a leaf at that moment. I kinda...just wanted to hug her. Nothing all that mushy, I just wanted to give her a hug and hold her. So, I did. I grabbed Luna, pulled her towards me, wrapping my arms around her as she melted into me.

"I...Love you." I said to her, taking deep breaths of her natural lemony-mint smell. That was something else I noticed about her.

"I..." She squeaked, letting the implied words hang in the air. She leaned in further to me, crying.

"I love you." I reassured her, squeezing tighter. "I'm here for you, ok?"

She didn't make any sounds, but I felt her nod against me. Yeah, her antlers were stabbing into my arm and kinda scratched my face when she nodded. But you know what? Who fucking cares? She was going to hug me as long as she wanted, and then we were going to hold hands while we set relationship boundaries and give her kisses on the littles corners of her mouth that would always hike up somewhat when she smiled! I fucking loved her! I loved how strong she was, and how she was able to actually relate to me and see me as an equal! I loved how her hands were tracing circles on my back! I loved how she cared for me when I was injured, and how she forgave me for so many things!

I...Loved her. I loved Luna, gently rubbing my hand along the nape of her neck, on the edge of her hair. I moved my hands up to her horns, pulling her up by them as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She leaned up and kissed me on the face multiple times, over and over again like she was trying to catch up on missed intimate gestures.

"I...Really...really...love...you..." She said between pecks.

"I do too..." I said, stroking her hair slowly.

"It...Just being able to hold you...and hear you breathe...It means so much to me..."

She smelled...Like fresh mint and lemon. That is all I will say...And all I am willing to say. Some things, I'll keep for myself.