Chapter 13: Amori's Dorm Room Part 2

After Amori leaves two towels hanging by the doorknob, Randell strips off his clothes and dips into the water.

The liquid soaks quickly into the fur along his lower body, though it never hits him with a shivering cold.

If anything it felt the opposite, warm, almost deliberately so, easing the tension out of his shoulders until the thought of just closing his eyes and sleeping right there didn't feel so unreasonable.

Of course he forces the thought out, that would have been suicidal. So instead he just leans back in silence, occasionally glancing around the bathroom before letting his eyes drift.

Feeling the aromantic liquid flowing through his body, until he felt something settle behind him.

Large, but not quite solid, closer to smoke that had decided to gather specifically at his back.

" Enjoying the bath? "

‘ Oh… ‘

Randell exhales slowly, as he looks up to see Mhyv's wolf head staring down at him, still with that blank dead stare, while his legs and the rest of his many arms droop to the ground outside the bathtub.

" Well I was… aren't you supposed to be watching our dinner? "

" Hehe, that's the beauty of six arms baby~ "

He said almost playfully, which leads Randell to be confused for a bit until he counts the rest of his arms and notices that there's only five.

He tried to look for the other arms until he soon found it being submerged below the bathtub, as Mhyv's arms had already disappeared into the floor still tending to the microwave from the other room, pulling out a finished cup, sliding in the next one.

Randell didn't press further. He just let himself sink slightly against Mhyv's non-existent chest, faintly feeling his own fur lift and drift at the edges where the two of them met.

" You know, it's rare that you actually join me here

Usually you just stand in the corner and watch me bathe "

" You made it sound like I'm some kind of creep. "

" I mean, you kind of are "

" Whatever… "

A brief silence settled between them.

Randell curious as to why he was here simply ask him.

" So what do you want? "

" I wanted to bring up my requested spell "

" The one that brings back the dead? "

" That's the one!

You mentioned you don't have enough mana to pull it off, so I'm here to show you how to handle mine

All you have to do is raise your wrists ”

Curious, he did exactly that, pulling both arms out of the water and holding them still, waiting.

Without any particular ceremony, Mhyv coiled his arms around Randell's forearms, wrapping tight with no gaps. Then he retracted a single claw from each thumb and pressed them slowly into the lower part of Randell's palms.

There was no pain, no sting.

Yet Randell’s pupils dilated in utter fascination, ecstatic at only the mere sight of Mhyv's claws sinking deeper on his wrist.

“ Woah… “

“ Up up up!

That's not the best part~

Try creating a mana construct “

Randell stared at both his hands, studying the spring-like coil of Mhyv's arms before slowly letting his mana surface.

It left his palms in a soft yellow glow, gathering between his fingers and condensing into a small ball. He pushed more into it. The ball grew. He pushed further still and it kept growing, responding to him as if the ceiling on his mana had simply been lifted.

He stopped only when the ball nearly grazed the bathroom ceiling, hovering there in a wide, almost blinding yellow light.

" Oh my god's. "

" Uh huh, Pretty cool right~"

" Definitely!

I barely feel tired! How exactly does this even work? “

" Eh, I just converted my mana into yours. Makes it compatible for your spell creation “

" But wouldn't that drain your mana? "

" Don't worry I have plenty to go around.

Now, get familiar with what you're working with and let me know when you're ready to start on the spell."

" Got it! Hehehe~ "

For the next few minutes Randell filled the bathroom with light, reshaping the mana between his hands over and over, stretching it wide, compressing it small, splitting it apart and merging it back.

The sheer volume of it made everything feel effortless in a way that he wasn't entirely used to.

Then Mhyv uncoiled his arms.

" Hmm? What's wrong? "

" Food's done "

" Oh right. I've been in here a while huh…

Go ahead, I just need to rinse off "

" Okie dokie! "

And without another word, Mhyv sank into the floor of the bathtub and disappeared.

Randell spent another minute dunking his face under the water before finally climbing out, soaking the bathroom tiles beneath him as he reached for the towels on the doorknob.

* Creak *

As Amori eats pieces of chocolate strawberries on the box, the bathroom door swung open that made him turn a glance.

Watching as Randell stepped out of the door, with a towel already wrapped around his lower half and the second one working furiously at his head, almost as if it covered his entire upper body.

Randell crossed the room toward his bags to get some clothes, which Amori was about to ignore until Randell pulled out the towel on his head.

* Puff *

His fur, freed from the towel, expanded all at once that made his entire body covered in large amounts of fluff.

Heck It was so sudden that Amori almost chokes on one of his chocolate strawberries.

“ Cough… cough… “

“ A-Amori!? “

“ Cough… I'm fine…. I'm fine…

Cough… cough… “

‘ He's so fluffy!

I knew that fur from mammalian beastkins would do that after getting wet and dried, but dang! There's just a lot of fur!

I-I wonder how it feels to touch it… ‘

Amori was curious about it, but not wanting to seem weird to Randell he refrains from saying it out loud and just cleared his throat, turning deliberately back to his desk.

" Cough… I-I just almost choked on my chocolate strawberries that's all "

“ Oh, well you better be careful next time “

“ Hehe, yeah… “

Amori kept his eyes on his sweets, even taking another bite and carefully chewing on it to calm his mind.

Randell didn't pursue Amori any longer as he continues to rummage through his bag.

‘ Shoot…

I hope he doesn't notice. ‘

Across the room, Randell pulled out a change of clothes and held them up to check, still oblivious, his puffed fur catching the light from the ceiling lamp.

That is until he hears a click from the door.