//countryhuman stories\\

DenEst (goddess au) 3

Once he was certain she was asleep, Den slipped out of her embrace and got off the bad, gathering the warm sheets and bunching them up around where she laid, so she could be warm. Then he left, quietly shutting the door behind him, and then leaving the house as he went out to run some errands.

He came back a half hour later with food and clothing, setting the items down on the table once he was inside. He wasn't sure if she ate meat or not, but with the way she reacted to the deer, he figured he should play it safe and stick to things like fruit, bread, and dairy.

Esti was up and awake in the room.

It didn't take very long for her to wake up, only sleeping for around thirty minutes before she could sense she was alone again-- but that was okay, she knew he was busy.

So, naturally, she spent the next thirty minutes exploring his room. She didn't touch anything, though, only opened drawers to look at the contents inside.

That was until she found his dresser, of course.

She couldn't help but be curious of his clothes, running her hands over the soft cloth, staring at it in almost wonder before she decided that it wouldn't hurt to try it on.

Slipping out of the sheer white dress, she took the shirt from the dresser, pulling it on and feeling as the fabric pressed against her smooth white skin, unfamiliar with the material. She had only ever worn silk, it seemed.

Deciding that she wanted to wear his other shirts, she patiently slipped out of the oversized green one, folding it and placing it back where it belonged, picking out a long-sleeved black one instead.

When Den finished putting the food away, he went to check on Esti, swinging the door open. "Hey, I--"

Esti quickly pulled the shirt over her head and pulled it down her body, tugging it down to cover past her hips as her face flamed up, a frown on her face as she was caught red-handed. She was sure he had seen her body, if not at least her hips.

Den took a step back, not exactly expecting to have seen a pretty naked girl in his room. But hey, he wasn't complaining. "...I bought you a dress, if you'd rather wear that...?

Clearing her throat, she bit her bottom lip, her eyes unable to lock onto his face as she looked at the floor, embarrassed.

"Sorry-- I didn't-- I was curious-- I--" she seemed lost with her words, not quite sure what she was trying to do either.

"It's alright." He smiled at her, waving it off. "I'll bring you the dress, yeah? Wait here."

He left and returned with a rather simple dress, but it was nice, and it seemed of a thicker fabric than her previous one. "Here, try this on. Do you want help changing?"

"Oh," she made her way over to him, her face still beetroot red. "S- sure. Okay."

She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that. Was helping people change normal here? Especially with the opposite sex-- was that okay? She didn't know, but she didn't want to seem stupid or anything.

The red on her face never left, only darkening as she hesitantly put her hands up so that he could take the shirt off. Was this what she was supposed to do?

Den took the hem of the shirt and lifted, pulling it up and off of her, exposing her body to him. Her skin was so smooth and perfect, and her breasts were just the right size for Den to cup in his hands.

But he didn't, tossing the shirt on the bed and picking up the dress, fitting the opening over her head and outstretched hands, pulling it down over her and, sadly, covering her beautiful body. It almost felt like he was dressing a little kid. "There— how does that feel? Comfortable? I'll have to find somewhere to purchase undergarments later, sorry."

Esti nodded gently and let her hands just above her thighs, her red cheeks providing a lovely red hue as her eyes finally met Den's face, linking her arms around his torso as she hugged him.

"Thank you." She spoke gently, cheek against his collarbone. "It's lovely. You're very kind. I don't know how to repay you for it."

"Don't... don't worry about it." He patted her back, unsure if he should hug her when he was turned on. "I'm going to make dinner in a few minutes, do you want to help? If you're still tired, you can sleep."

"No, I'll help." She pulled away, looking at him and offering a gentle smile. "Of course I would help. You've done so much for me."

Den nodded. He figured if there was nothing for her to do, she might get bored quick. So, might as well have her help with the food.

He brought her to the kitchen, and several minutes later, they had prepared a simple meal with no meat (he still didn't know if she liked meat or not). As soon as they were done, a cat jumped up on the windowsill of an open window, sitting there and staring expectantly at Den.

It took Den a few moments to notice. "Oh, that's a stray that likes to visit sometimes. Can you give him a piece of cheese or something?" he asked Esti while putting their plates on the table.

Esti did as she was told, taking a piece of cheese between her fingers before walking over to the curious creature, tilting her head a little as she offered it in her palm: What was this creature? A stray, apparently.

She watched as the cat's tail flicked from side to side, eating the cheese from her palm before deciding to bite her finger, which caused her to jerk back and let out a soft yelp, looking at the cat. Was that supposed to happen? She didn't know.

Rubbing her finger, she still looked at the blob of black sitting on the windowsill with great curiosity, unsure of how to approach it.

Hearing her sound of surprise, Den hurried over. "Did he bite you? He does that to new people, probably trying to see if they taste good or not." As he spoke, he took her hands in his own and turned them over, looking closely for a bite mark.

Esti's eyes widened in surprise when she saw a red liquid ooze from her finger, eyes fixated as it formed a bead before dripping down.

"Oh," she blinked at the small wound, wanting to touch the blood. She'd known about blood before, but she... didn't expect it to be quite so slow-moving, or... red.

"That little bastard," Den mumbled, leading Esti over to the sink and making her rinse her finger under a thin stream of water. "Does it hurt much? If it keeps bleeding, I can find a bandage of sorts..."

"N-- no, it's alright." she looked at Den, and then at the cat, who was still patiently sitting on the windowsill, now lying down. Judging by his reaction, that probably wasn't supposed to happen. "The stray... does it have a name?"

"Mm... not really." Den turned the tap off and helped her dry her hands, then bringing her over to the table and making her sit. "He's called a bunch of different names from the other townsfolk, but I just call him 'buddy' 'n stuff like that. He doesn't have a real name."

He slid a plate of food in front of her. "Here, eat."

Esti hummed and nodded before doing as she was told.

It was all very strange to her. Did creatures usually have many different names?

She let the thought slip from her head as she continued to eat her food-- it was enough wondering for today, she decided, and just ate peacefully as she thought about what had happened before.

Her cheeks warmed up again. He really had seen her body, huh? Maybe it wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it.

Whatever. It was fine.