"What did I just touch..." He stood up in a rush. That feeling, that warm flesh in his hands—it was a lot, more than Travis could ever dream to handle.
And it didn't help that he actually felt the urge to touch it again. That part alone was baffling. Still, he needed answers—like how the hell he got to the bed in the first place. With that in his mind, he has totally forgotten about the terrible premonition he got.
Derek stretched his hands, standing right in front of him shamelessly as his dick dangled beneath his leg. He yawned and smiled.
"Just wanted to experience how the nest felt like," Derek answered.
Travis facepalmed himself, giving up on the man. A nest? Did he just call a bed a freaking nest? And why was he still standing there naked? Turning away, he found a piece of fabric hanging on the wall and threw it to Derek.
"Take that and cover yourself before you blind me," he said, giving him a look before walking out.
If seeing Derek naked that early in the morning was alarming, then stepping out of the hut made things ten times worse.
Parading around were beastmen of different age gaps from the lion tribes, all in their human form, walking around and speaking in their native language. Travis's eyes nearly rolled out—he couldn't look away this time, just gawked at the "toys" that dangled continuously, only coming back to his senses when a mouth grazed his neck.
"This is normal in our clan," Derek's voice came softly behind him. "At night, we don't sleep with our clothes on, so we go about our morning duties naked. Once it's all done, then we can put on clothes."
The ridiculous sets of traditions just kept surprising Travis more and more. He thought nothing could traumatize him anymore, but Derek dashed that thought away.
While he stood rooted at the spot, Derek simply shook his ass and walked over to a group of men talking, joining their conversation as if nothing happened. Women carried the cubs around, making suitable breakfasts for their mates.
Travis, who finally took off from his spot, suddenly got attacked by an upset stomach. At first, it seemed like hunger, but before he could even ask for anything to eat, he began to feel an itch in his ass—that dreadful sign of nature calling. He badly wanted to go.
"Oh jeez… and I'm in a jungle," he muttered. "How the fuck am I supposed to relieve myself here?"
This was embarrassing, but he had to ask Derek—if only that stubborn-headed lion would stop talking for once. But no, he kept on rambling, saying more than anyone should say in a day.
Not able to hold it anymore, Travis quickened his pace toward him, mentally preparing how to bring up the topic. But Derek turned and pushed a large leaf containing raw meat toward him.
"Hmm? What's happening? Why is he pushing meat at me?" Travis thought.
"I decided to give you this," Derek said proudly. "It's rare and can only be gotten once a year. That piece cost me a quarter of my gold!" His eyes glistened with pride.
Travis frowned, moving his feet and trying to contain nature. Was he supposed to be glad about getting raw pork? This wasn't even that special! Despite his poor background, he remembered eating this at least weekly—but here it seemed like a luxury.
Too bad—he didn't give a damn about pork right now. He needed to talk about where he could shit.
"Derek, I want to—"
Once again, Derek cut him off.
"You want to eat? I can get it sliced into little chunks for you. Eating it raw is the best!"
The conversation was heading nowhere, and Travis now understood that his cooking lesson from the previous day had been completely useless.
"This is a brand-new sweet morning," Derek continued to ramble, smiling. "A day I got to wake up with my mate beside me..."
"Can you stop talking!?" Travis finally snapped. "It's not a good morning! Nothing is good about this morning because I want to take a shit, and you're preventing me from doing that! My stomach and ass are about to tear apart right now!"
He said it all in one breath, and Derek finally stopped.
"Oh, you mean the Golden Offering," Derek said, his eyes twinkling.
Travis's eyes widened. "What the fuck is he thinking about this time?"
Unknowingly, his words came out loud enough that all the men in the tribe—naked as ever—gathered around.
"Good morning, our future Queen! We heard you want to offer us the Golden Offering!" a short half-lion, half-human man spoke up.
Travis shifted aside. "Do they mean… shit? Do they really collect that?"
Oh goodness, that was so freaking gross.
A younger female lion rushed off and came back with a leaf—a large one that could easily be mistaken for an umbrella back in the modern world.
He missed his world. Not this crazy place filled with people who clearly needed therapy.
"I've laid it right here," the young female said, bowing slightly. "You can come forward and release. We can join if we have any, and it shall be carried to our god's temple."
Travis suddenly lost the zeal to go anymore. Out of nowhere, he began to laugh—giggling so hard he had to hold his stomach as he stared at the confused men.
It was their serious faces for him. So, this was what they did? The so-called temple? Oh, the stench that must be oozing from that place! And they proudly called that a sacrifice?
Poop. He couldn't believe it.
"Don't worry, guys. I don't want to do it anymore," he said between laughs. "I'll just hold myself and go back to the room to wait for the twins to wake up..."
As he turned to leave, Derek stopped him with a wave.
Travis turned, ears twitching.
"What's a room?" Derek asked curiously.
Travis's expression turned from bewildered to shocked, then to pure dismay. "What kind of punishment is this?"
He ran out of the scene quickly, desperately wanting to remain sane before he lost his mind right there.
Back at the hut, he rushed inside—only to be hit by a peculiar stench that nearly made him faint. It was oozing through the air. The twins had pooped all over the bed, staining the white bedsheets.
"God, nooo! I can't do this anymore! This isn't me—it's not!"
The twins, noticing his presence, stood up immediately. They'd been awake the whole time doing God knows what. When they rushed toward him, he waved his hands desperately, signaling them not to touch him until they washed. But the stubborn little crew didn't listen and lunged at him, rubbing their dirty bodies all over.
Travis's face turned crestfallen. Next time, he was running from anything called babysitting.
Turning back, he saw Derek standing at the doorway, wearing a playful and mischievous grin.
"You smell like ass, Travis. Did you poop all over here?" Derek asked teasingly.
Travis frowned and threw a pillow at him. "Go to hell, Derek!!!"