Act 5: The Book

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"Why wolf evil? Book bad!"
Razor seemed irritated.

"Sorry, sorry!"
Bennett rolled through the pages, hoping the next option wasn't as negative.

Razor grumbled and looked away, ears drooping.
"Wolf not bad."

"I don't think you're bad!"
He felt guilty, he didn't mean to hurt him. His eyes spotted the next title. Let's hope the next story doesn't involve cutting open his friend's kin.

"How about this one? It's called 'Sleeping Beauty'."

The wolf didn't turn yet leaned closer to show he was still listening.

Bennett started to read aloud. This story was very different.

It was about a cursed princess, destined to fall asleep. She'd sleep for eternity and wither away if the spell wasn't broken.

"Only one thing could free her, true love's kiss."

"What is kiss?"

"Oh! um..."

It wasn't the first time razor had asked him to explain a word he hadn't heard before. Princess, spinning wheel, magic. Many new words. Bennett tried to think of how to explain this latest addition but struggled to find phrasing that wasn't embrassassing. He didn't exactly have experience on the topic.

"Kissing is when um... when two people put their mouths together..."

Razor did his cute head tilt again. The one he does when he's confused.
"Mouth together? Why?"

Bennett blushed. He hid deep in the cloak's hood and silently thanked Amber for letting him use it again. He coughed to clear the nervousness from his voice.

"Kissing is something people do when they really like eachother, i guess."
That wasn't his proudest explanation

Razor seemed to ponder the description. After a little while his ears twitched as if to indicate he was done.
"So we kiss?"

"W-what!?"
Bennett sunk even further into the hood. His cheeks burned bright red. This was something he could have never predicted. Razor suggested it with such casual tone, he had no doubt he would do it if he let him.

The wolfboy looked at him with anticipation. He was curious, not understanding what the act suggested.

The tomato red adventurer squeaked, trying to blurt out an answer.
"We- we can't!"

Razor was shocked by the firm response.
"Why not!?"

"It- it's complicated..."
He shrunk into the cloak like shriveled paper, making himself as small as he could.

"Because wolf bad!?"

"N-no! Of course not!"

"Then why!?"

A guilty chill crept up on Bennett's thoughts. His friend wanted to learn about his world and he denied him. He made him feel like the monster the previous story described. A big bad wolf, too dangerous to trust. He knew explaining it wouldn't work. Wolves have a different culture, right? At least he thought so. Still, he couldn't leave things like this.

He couldn't deny he was curious about kissing. He's never really had a girlfriend or anything. His dads told him he should only kiss someone when he truly loves her, they made that very clear. It's something special between a boy and a girl. If Razor isn't a girl then it should be okay... shouldn't it?

"M-maybe we could try..."

Razor's ears perked up as Bennett continued.

"If we're both boys it should be okay i guess... B-but we can't tell anyone!"

"Razor no tell."
He covered his mouth with his hand.

Bennett inched closer, heart beating in his chest. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? This wasn't supposed to mean anything.

Once he felt he was close enough, he looked at Razor. seeing his face up close made his cheeks red and he turned away again, hiding in the cloak's hood. He felt the air flow through his lungs and remembered what his dads had taught him. Simple breathing tricks, to help calm adventurers in times of peril. In, out, in, out. You can do this.

He closed his eyes and slid off the hood.
"O-okay i'm ready."

Razor put his hands next to Bennett to support himself as he leaned forward. What a strange thing this was. He wasn't sure what to do, this was all so new to him. He'd only met this boy recently, yet he'd been so kind to him. Seeing him like this, waiting for him to do something, made him feel emotions he didn't understand. He decided to go for it.

First their lips touched. It felt a bit unusual but not as spectacular as it was described in the book. Maybe it was more like this? Razor parted his lips a bit and Bennett followed. They brought them closer again. Was he doing it right?

"Ouch!"
Bennett pulled away in shock

The adventurer dabbed a finger against his lip. A drop of blood was left on his fingertip.

Razor saw it and panicked.
"Sorry! I sorry!!"

"No, no, It's okay!"
Bennett didn't want him to feel guilty! he had accidents all the time, after all. It was the fault of his curse, not Razor.

The wolf looked away, ears drooping. Here he was talking big about him not being dangerous and then immediately hurt his newest friend...

Bennett had to find a way to reassure him. He opened his bag and showed it to the wolf.
"Here! You can pick one for me."

Razor stared at the bag in confusion. Inside were many small, colorful pieces of paper.
"What this?"

"I'll show you after you choose one!"

Razor pondered over his options... so many colors...

Finally he picked one, it was green with white bunnies on it.
"Rabbit!"

Bennett smiled.
"A good choice! do you like rabbits?"

"Yes, tasty."

That was not the answer he was expecting. He took the sticking paper off the back of the bandaid and applied it to his outer lip, covering the wound.
"This is a bandaid. When we get hurt, we use it to cover the wound so we stop bleeding."

Razor was impressed. The humans can't clean wounds like wolves can, this was a smart solution.
"Why color?"

"Oh! They were gifts, see?"
He started gesturing at specific bandaids.
"I got this blue one from Barbara, the yellow ones are from Noelle, and the one i just used is from Amber!"

"More... people?"

"Yes! my friends!"

His ears perked up.
"Friends! Like Razor!"

Bennett chuckled. Both of them had already forgotten his lip wound. The adventurer got an idea, though it would require planning.
"Would you like to meet them?"

the wolf's head tilted.
"Meet Bennett friends?"

A nod.

Razor shook his head.
"Human friends won't like wolf."

Ah... He wasn't wrong. Amber was extremely suspicious of his newest friend. Convincing her to meet him would be difficult.

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