Egaran Stars - 7. Reinard- Culture Shock

A knife slid over a slice of bread, Reinard sighing as he prepared a sandwich. He hoped he'd gotten the food right. The last thing the Faro wanted was to accidentally be eating fish eggs or something.

The jelly looked okay, a white, near translucent spread that didn't seem too lumpy. The fox prayed that it wasn't cum. But why would s jar of cum be here? He was being ridiculous. Reinard added a strip of salted meat, frowning at the rubbery feel of the food.

"You don't want to eat that."

The Faro jumped, nearly falling off the chair as he spun around. Galen was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, munching on his own sandwich with obvious relish.

"This is what you used for your sandwich. I watched," the fox accused.

"Nope. I used jelly. That's not jelly," Galen said.

"Whatever, I'm eating it," Reinard grumbled, before taking a bite.

Gooey salt flooded his mouth, filling every corner of the hole as his eyes widened. Galen burst into laughter as he watched the small fox, shaking his head as Reinard spat the food back out.

"I tried to warn you," the tiger said, smirking.

"What the fuck is that?!" Reinard yelped.

"Médousa strips and mucus from an eel. They're actually pretty good, if you're used to them. If not…"

Galen shrugged.

"I'm not sure why Themis stocked them. Especially if this is supposed to be your house. Maybe for me, but they aren't my favourites. Just an occasional snack, and never together."

Whining slightly, Reinard stared at the sandwich. He was not eating that… but he had made the food. He needed to eat it…

"Here, the fish around here are probably hungry. Why don't we give them an offering?" Galen suggested, taking the sandwich. "The water around here's pretty deep, maybe we'll call up a sea devil."

"There's already a sea devil here," Reinard scowled.

"Ah ah, play nice or I won't help you," Galen chuckled. "Besides, I'm not nearly cranky enough."

It was weird, his earlier anger seemed to have melted away. Reinard found himself questioning it. He didn't doubt there was something coming, some way the tiger would get him back for his words earlier.

It wasn't like Reinard could blame him. The fox had been out of line, and he knew it. But he had apologised. Why hadn't Galen accepted it? Reinard couldn't be the first to insinuate… okay, downright say, he was worried about being raped. Surely the tiger wouldn't hold it against him.

And yet, he could still see the darkness of pain in Galen's eyes. He noticed how the tiger took the sandwich without so much as a hair touching the Faro. Reinard had hurt him, worse than he could have imagined.

They stepped outside, under the setting sun, Galen leading to a spot a bit away from the house. He knelt beside the water, tearing up the sandwich into little pieces before tossing them into the ocean.

Frowning at the wasted food, Reinard's expression turned to one of awe as a glowing blue fish moved through the water, snapping up the offerings. It bumped into some sort of invisible wall, the glow flashing a sudden green.

"Huh… there's something down there… tiger made, I think," Galen said.

He pulled his shirt off, unbuckling his pants a second later.

"Wait... what are you doing?!" Reinard yelped.

"Going to find out what that is," Galen shrugged, his furred butt flashing in the dying light. "It's not that cold."

"But you're naked!"

"So? Get used to it, you're going to see a lot more naked butts soon," the tiger smirked, sliding into the water. "Just watch the water and yell if you see anything too big, okay?"

"Wha-?"

Galen dove under the water, speeding for the fish. He hit a wall and followed it up to the surface of the water, taking a deep breath.

The fish was still darting through the water, a glow trailing as it snapped up the remnants of the sandwich.

"It's a metal wall," Galen called over. "Must be a viewing wall; there should be a platform on the other side. I'm going to look."

Reinard watched in horror as the tiger dove again, heading deep before suddenly rising again. Nearby, he heard a thrashing, the fish they'd fed caught in a net of glowing ropes. A giant orb blinked, taking Reinard in with disinterest.

"Galen?! GALEN! THERE'S A GIANT GLOWING THING WITH TENTACLES!!!" he screamed, hoping the tiger could hear him.

"Shit! Okay, stay away from the water!" Galen yelled back, his voice muffled. "If you touch the water, it will attack!"

Reinard scrambled away from the water, tripping over his feet. He stared in horror as the creature started engulfing the fish, eating it alive.

"I never should have come here…"

Spinning lazily, the creature began jetting toward the wall, Reinard staring.

"It's coming your way!" he called.

There was no response.

"Galen?!"

He had no idea what to do. Stay out of the water, obviously, but what then? Galen was trapped, unable to get back. There had to be a way for Reinard to help him.

"Reinard! If you can hear me, go back inside!" Galen called. "There are stairs here, I think they lead to the house!"

Stairs to the house…?

Reinard turned, hurrying back to the house. He had an idea where those stairs came out. There was a door he had opened, only to find a nearly solid wall of cobwebs blocking the passage. If he was right, Galen would need him to clear the webs out so he could get through.

Slipping into the house, Reinard instantly headed to the door, flipping a switch he hoped would turn on a light somewhere. The fox reached up for the handle, pulling the door open to find the staircase still dark and still covered in webs.

Shaking his head, Reinard grabbed a broom, trying to stab holes in the webs. It was slow going, but after a few minutes, he finally had a Faro sized hole in the bottom half of the doorway.

Using the broom as a cane, Reinard slowly descended down the stairs, trying to clear each step as he walked. If they were right, he would be clearing a path for Galen. If not… well, hopefully their neighbours wouldn't mind a naked tiger in their home.