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Vera (female) and Hunter (male) and every other character mentioned in this story (c) \r\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Made with Gothbunnyboy <3
~
It had been almost three weeks since Hunter first laid his grey eyes upon the forlorn Vera. He had replayed the morning over steadily in his waking hours; vividly reliving the memory over and over in his head. He could feel a physical assertion simply coursing within him every time he thought of her.
Hunter walked her to every class over this time, and he sat with her every lunch period. He was unaware that the abuse she received was becoming more and more malicious and that the biggest reason she would even show up, most days, was so she could see his goofy walk when he’d approach her with way too many things slung over his back.
Friday morning was like any other besides new joys that he held in his heart. He woke up very early to catch a refreshing shower, meticulously messed up his hair, and got into his layers of winter clothing; punctuating his attire with the grey and black scarf his ‘memaw’ had knitted for him when he graduated middle school. He took a lasting and vapid once-over in the mirror seeing as how he genuinely wanted to look his best.
Feeling satisfied, Hunter strode toward the front door after fishing up his backpack and guitar from their usual roost and briefly stopping to peer into the kitchen. His dad was brewing coffee and absently staring out the front window with a vacant but fatherly expression. It was so dramatic seeing him like that, but his father’s actual demeanor was nowhere near as broodingly serious.
"I-I'm g-g-gonna go now dad." Hunter stumbled on his first words of the day with a sheepish little wave to catch his father’s attention.
"What? Oh, um, have fun today, champ! T.G.I.F., eh?" his dad offered a fading, tired smile. “I hope you got all your homework done.”
"Yeah, t-t-totally... T.G.I.F," Hunter repeated like some automaton though his mind screamed and raged because, since it was Friday, he might have to wait another weekend to see Vera again. Oh, cruel fate!
Hunter didn't wait to carry on a conversation because he had things to do and his father was exceptionally awkward in the mornings. There was no malice or discomfort, Hunter simply didn't wish to ensue the dreaded 20-questions: "Do you have a gal yet? The girl down the street sure is a cutiepie, you guys would be cute together! Any girls been pestering you in ways you don’t quite understand yet, champ? Have you considered coming with me to the gym this weekend? I heard the 'blank' team was looking for kids! The guys and I wanted to know if you could go fishing with us.” Etcetera, etcetera. Hunter simply had no patience for it this morning.
His next stop was always the same, but, an absolutely vital one. There was a mini-mart facing the mildly busy street a block down. The store was such an ancient thing with the freezers having a classic 70’s kitsch and brands of food that looked like they actually belonged from that decade as well with the oddly old-looking-designed mascots of smiling women with poofy hair pointing some dish-cleaning soap with the slogan being “your wife will love this shit” or something similar.
The store itself was more of a convenient stop for internet-illiterate men to stop for a whack-rag-porno-mag and a six-pack than an actual market. They had a rustic hot food area in back and a mess of strange candies and sodas the likes of which Hunter would likely never find again anywhere. His purpose was crystal clear, though. It always was.
The owner and his wife knew Hunter by name and happily greeted him every school morning as he walked in. There was a ringing of a lone bell that hung from the door. Ding-a-ling! There’s a customer.
Hunter made his walk first to the breakfast "aisle" or, in reality, just a somber rack of items and fished up one of the three usuals: Donuts, muffins, or Danish. Today was a Danish day. He strolled quickly to the caffeine station, with a bag of Danishes under-arm and juggled three cups. Hunter was more than grateful for the cardboard carrying tray that sat complementary besides the machines. He made two very different mocha-lattes and a hot chocolate -- and hastily paid for everything while comically overburdened with his baggage.
It was time to stop at his favorite mouse-hole, that being, his childhood friend, and perpetual confidant, Lana’s house. Living relatively close together, but Lana and her sister being not quite as well-off as he was, he would always wake them up with a little treat. Then Lana and Hunter could head to school together while her sister stayed in bed. Lana was infamously horrendous at waking up on time or waking up in general, as she was an expert at falling asleep virtually anywhere at anytime – but the doorbell was always sure to persuade her. Her mom didn't mind because she was basically comatose at this hour and actually relied on the kindness and punctuality of Hunter to get Lana to school.
Ding-dong. Hunter tapped his foot as he waited with the bag of Danish flung under his arm, the tray of drinks on his hand and the guitar case and backpack weighing down his shoulders and giving him a bit of a hunchback appearance. Lana always took forever to answer and Hunter would always invent creative new reasons why she was so late to answer the door besides the boring ‘she has to wake up first’ thing. Maybe she has to dress herself because he assumed she sleeps nude. Maybe she tripped while trying to put her sandals on to protect her feet from the cold hardwood floor at the front door. Maybe she was in the middle of having a dream about ruling the world and he interrupted her just as she was getting to the fun parts of absolute dictatorship. Either way, she arrived at the door groggily after 6 minutes and 5 annoying doorbell presses.
Her noodle straps hung to her sides as she rubbed her dark, sunken-in eyes. She had obviously stayed up most of the night doing ... whatever.
“Hey, Hunterrrrr” she extended the R almost indefinitely before slurring it of into a pissy little frown.
“H-H-Hey, sleepyhead.” Hunter stuttered and entered as that was normally his cue to do so. He passed her the bag of Danish and spun around to set the ray of coffees on the small counter. This was such a ritual that Lana barely ever remembered to thank him or show any sign of appreciation. No, all the appreciation was masked by hatred for waking her up.
“Hey, Zaily!” Hunter rose his voice to grab the attention of Lana’s little sister.
A feeble little “Hello” rung barely audible from the other room as the sounds of bed sheets rustling drowned it out.
“Hunter brought us ...Danishes today, Zay.” Lana made her way to the kitchen and plopped the bag down on the counter – her tail flicking and swaying to and fro to indicate how she either wanted to try dusting the floor with her tail or showing how much she did not want to be awake at the moment. “He’s suuuuuch a sweetheart.”
The smaller twin sister appeared from her room with her braced headgear looking as out-of-place as ever and her hair, even just after waking up, completely pristine and made. Contrasting her groomed fur and brown hair (which was different from her sister's dyed red hair) were her, also, deeply sunken-in and bloodshot eyes. However, for Lana it was because of waking up – but for Zaily – her reasons stemmed from grave illness. “Do not be mean to him,” she huffed. “At least he gets us stuff like the Danish and is always so punctual in doing so, while you sit here and complain about gett—“
“Okay, okay, I get it.” Lana rubbed her forehead. “As I said – he’s tooootally a sweetheart.”
“I’m sorry for waking you guys up so early again.” Hunter put his hands behind his back. “J-just d-doing what I—“
“Shhh. You know you’re not even supposed to be the one who makes sure I don’t get late for school.” Lana sighed, “You’re just an asshole for being responsible. Oh, Hunter... you're my papa, is that what you wanna hear? Is that how you get your kicks?”
Lana lazily slumped over the arm of a chair and wiggled her behind and tail in the air in front of Hunter, her pajama bottoms barely clinging to her small hips. She looked back at him from over her shoulder.
"Papa Hunter, was I a bad girl?" She sighed with her half opened eyes looking back at him. "Just make it quick... we don't wanna be late for schoooool."
"Lana." they could hear the disembodied voice of Zaily coming from up stairs. "Stop being such an imbecile toward him, I can hear you teasing him with your 'perconious' ways"
"'Perconious' ain't a word!" Lana called back up the stairs; still lazily slumped over the chair.
"And neither is the word 'ain't'. Now, one moment, for I neeeeed to brush my teeth of its morning plaque,” Zaily sniffled; her consistently runny nose kicking in after a few minutes already. “Can’t come down there the way I am now, you know. My breath is simply 'barbonic'”
“We get it, Zaily. Just quit butchering the English language.” Lana rolled her eyes at Hunter; directed to her prissy little twin. Zaily always had an obsession with being as fancy and classy as she could with the little money and class that she had – plus being so ill all of the time makes it much harder to accomplish that goal. Especially when she was wearing the oh-so aesthetically pleasing headgear for her teeth,“You can come down and get the Danishes after the millennium you take trying to brush passed that fucking jungle gym wrapped around your face!”
Her little sister did not respond to that except with the sound of spewing water from the sink.
Lana wiggled anxiously for a moment, having sunk her chest deeper into the chair. It felt like stupid stupid karma that she would end up stuck like this.
"Hunter.. um... could I maybe get a... eh... hand?" Lana asked; a little embarrassed... no... a lot embarrassed. Hunter set his bags down and pulled his little mouse friend by the hips up to her feet, and from the way he picked her up she almost felt like something different was about to take place. Oh well, just over-active imagination running wild again.
Hunter set her down and offered a small smile as she peeled an old sock off her chest that had been buried on that chair for an eternity.
“So!” Lana clapped her hands together in desperation to regain her composure, “How are things going with the depressing girl?”
“Vera?” Hunter sighed happily, “S-She’s not depressing at all. She’s totally wonderful.” He said it in such a singsong voice that it made Lana giggle in response.
“Why don’t you ask her out, silly?” Lana said as she picked up one of the lattes, sniffed at it and then took a loud un-lady like slurp.
If Hunter could be any paler than he already was – he would have achieved that right at this moment. “N-no way, I can’t do that!” he stepped back a little. “I wouldn't even know what to say… and what if she is just interested in being friends, huh? I wouldn't want to make our friendship awkward then!”
“Ahaaa~ Classic teenage dilemma,” Lana shook her head as if she were the almighty authority on high school psychology, “Trust me when I say that you’ll feel better knowing that she said ‘no’ rather than just never testing the waters and being left with the mystery!”
“Yes, Hunter-dearest, please trust my sister,” Zaily lowered herself down the stairs dressed in her nightgown – her hands trembling greatly as she gripped the railing tightly with each descending step. Both Lana and Hunter tried not to stare as Zaily clung to her independence and would have been embarrassed if either of them tried to help her. “She is the master of relationships, after all. This one time a boy had spoke with her for no less then 2 minutes.”
“I swear, Zaily, your snark-o-meter is THROUGH THE ROOF THIS MORNING!” she let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed her temples. “Either way! It’s a very common thing to just… ask and get the anxiety over with rather than just wait and wonder what could have be--!”
“Tell me, Hunter,” Zaily interrupted her older twin, “What is it you like about this 'depressing' girl?”
“Her name is Vera! I, uh…” Hunter pondered for a moment. “Well I mean… she’s really sweet and very gentle… s-she’s uh… she’s beautiful and elegant and… uhm… she’s r-really funny and—“
“What does the girl look like, Hunter?” Zaily tiredly smiled. “I’d like to see what has you all in a tizzy, I do~”
Hunter passed Zaily his phone with a clean picture of Vera eating lunch – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to be specific. She was in mid-bite and looking up at the camera – caught right in the act and looking rather flabbergasted.
“Oh, dear me; what is wrong with her hair!” Zaily remarked quizzically, “It’s so… violet! Why is this? It’s completely just… violet! I'm shocked I did not see her at the hospital before; she is clearly sick!”
Hunter laughed at Zaily’s naivety. “S-S-She dyed her h-hair, Zaily,” he answered, “Her n-n-natural hair color is l-l-like… black, I think. Also, y-y-you know I d-d-dyed my hair too, right? I d-dyed it black.”
"And my hair is dyed too, you weirdo." Lana added.
“Yes, but… oh dear, oh my!” Zaily covered her opened-in-shock mouth with her palm as she stifled a giggle. “But completely violet!”
“Yeah, Vera is quite… something.” Lana replied – almost spitefully.
“Oh, d-definitely!” Hunter pulled his phone back and hugged it as if the picture of Vera displayed on the screen were a living entity, “She is so much fun to be a-around! And she’s totally the p-prettiest girl in the world – I can’t get her o-out of my head!”
To his dismay – both girls before him let out a collective ‘humph!’ at his brash and ignorant statement.
“W-what’s… wrong?” Hunter’s ears drooped as he felt suddenly cornered by the sisters.
“Hunter,” Lana gave a fake smile, “You have two beauuuuutiful young women here in front of you and you go and say that?”
Zaily sniffled in response as Hunter finally realized what he had done wrong.
“N-nonono! I-I uh… I mean…” his eyes darted left to right in a desperate attempt to figure out how to segue out of this one, “Y-Y-You two are b-b-beautiful too – but I’m t-t-totally biased b-because uh… I’m sorry.”
“You’re an insensitive boy, Hunter!” Zaily turned her back on him with a huff and slapped his knees with her mousey tail as she made her way to the kitchen – as if she had successfully made a Victorian-styled exit but forgot the ‘good day, sir!’
Left alone with Lana and embarrassed, Hunter poked his fingers together and inhaled to speak but was immediately cut off by: “You’re really clueless… jeez.”
She walked back to her room to grab her backpack so they could head out and Hunter was left alone with his own awkwardness. “A-at least I got you guys s-some Danish…” he feebly and sheepishly tried to justify himself to nobody.
~~
There was a solid 20 minutes before first period began and Vera sat; gathered among two of her friends beneath an onning on the southern wing of the school. This particular area was not only somewhat more quiet than the north gate's (and perpetually crowded) entrance, but it was also the direction from which Kas and Vera were dropped off everyday.
Vera rested her small body against the stucco crusted wall of the science building and watched the gray clouds lazily crawl across the blanket of even grayer sky. She listened almost absently as Kas, her constantly happy gay jackal friend, and Zara, a very busty young opossum who genuinely seemed ever-horny, spoke in great anticipation for their weekends. Fucking Friday!
Like any red-blooded teenager, Vera once often longed for the weekend but a circumstance changed the miasma of her dull life: that circumstance being Hunter.
Hunter had almost become her sole reason to be at school anymore and she desperately clung to the moments of him walking her to class or sitting together during lunch. She even blocked out the encroaching problem that was the way her classmates treated her just for him. She was particularly fond of the nerdy way he would specifically buy soy milk with lunch and then try to coyly play it off like he was "so full" in order to give it to her.
"So, um, what are you guys doing this weekend anyways?" Vera asked while offering a paltry smile toward her friends. In her mind she immediately felt an odd sting of regret -- maybe they had already told her earlier and perhaps she had simply not listened; either way, it was too late to back out of her conversation-starter now.
"Well..." Zara started with her usual pretentious-styled tone; still masking the fact that she had once had a rather heavy accent of some sort. "Kas and I..."
Vera almost rolled her eyes at the pronounced and proper way Zara talked when trying to talk something up or someone down. Usually Zara was prone to heavy slang, foul language and pretty found of the word 'cunt', but this was clearly a big girl moment for her so Vera listened as she continued.
"After school, I mean, Kas and I are going to go with Roxy down to Riverton to see some shows this weekend and also to escape this 'vestigial culture parody' we call home."
"Vestigial cultu- mmhm." Vera maintained her parched little grin and tried to coolly advance the talk along. "Well what are you seeing then?"
Zara glanced back at Kas who was taking this time to empty the contents of a sour gummy worms wrapper into his mouth. Kas was a bottomless pit of sweets and a one-man genocide to the residents of Candy Land, and though everyone jokingly told him he would obviously end up with diabetes from his daily sugar intake, his canon response was simply "Oh, dia-beat-me off~ I'd rather be sick than sad!"
Zara cleared her throat and looked at Vera again. "Well if we get there in time for tonight we will see 'Terror-antula', plus Roxy, is Facebook friends with the singer so... you know... we will definitely get to hang out after the show."
"Facebook is the closest thing we have to the singularity of all being under the same life...." Vera snickered playfully, both at her own sarcasm and at the fact that Kas now had cheeks full to bursting with gummies. Strands of green crystal noodles hung out of his mouth like tentacles. He had become a Kas-tapus.
"Shut it, Vera... and tomorrow we are going to see Bloody Vulva, The Anal Stains, and rumor has it that Abby Abortion will pop in for a set -- it's gonna be fucking epic~!" She took an almost sing-song tone by the end as her face lit up with a smile.
"Gah... those names make me feel like I should shower or something, I swear you guys like the weirdest stuff." Vera shuttered.
Kas gulped down his figurative ton of candy and turned to completely face Vera. "That is exactly why we thought you wouldn't wanna come... since you know... you like... umm.... classic music."
"Old..." Zara added. "If it's not at least a decade old, Granny tits Vera-chan ain't want shit to do with it!"
"Yep, granny tits.... remind me, when you take off your bra at night do your boobs hit your knees... cause a lot of boys like it when your special place is covered by boob." Vera said with a quizzical eyebrow lift and a smile that said: checkmate. Kas snickered in response.
"Okay, firstly, don't be talking Ms. 'A Cups', and second, it's called a 'pussy', take your vocabulary up a year or two; your tits may still look like your 9 but you're 15, Vera -- sheesh."
"I think Vera has cute boobs!" Kas playfully interrupted fearing that their friendly cat fight may escalate soon.
"Anyways, the other reason why we didn't bother asking you, Vee, is because we are going with Roxy and we know how you feel about him."
"Screw that guy!" Vera barked, feeling like she had to say it. "You guys are jerks for even hanging out with him -- he just uses people and is a real asshole! I think a real friend stands with their friends and doesn't spend a weekend with a douche"
"Don't bust your hymen, Vera." Zara cooed condescendingly. "Firstly, he has a truck, he's 18, and he has a place down in Riverton we can all stay... you think we are going to miss Bloody Vulva just because some guy makes you uncomfortable... Mmm-mmm!" Zara stubbornly folded her arms. "Why do you even care anyways?"
"Gaaaahhh..." Vera pouted and looked back at the clouds, it felt more dramatic, but she was also shy about her reason. "This weekend my parents have to fly my gimp cousin like a thousand miles to see a neurological specialist and they aren't even coming home till Monday at the earliest, and that's only if everything goes 'well'. So my butt is stuck all alone for 3 nights at my house, I was at least hoping against hope one of you would be able to hang out."
"Aw, poor thing, whats wrong with the little sweetie?" Kas said with a frown, focusing in on the part about Vera's cousin, Viola. "I really hope she is okay, she's such a cutie that the thought of her being scared is making my tummy have a heartache."
"Yeah, what the fuck do you mean "Neurologitical" specialist? that shit is serious, Vera!" Zara asked intently.
"Well a couple of years ago my cousin was in a really, really bad car accident and it shattered parts of her-" Vera started in.
"Nice exposition, narrator... how about why you tell us why she's going this weekend" Zara sighed.
"....right, well there is like a staple or some shit inside of the bridge of her nose and it might have broken off and so-" Vera started again.
"Blech, never-mind... too fucking vivid." Zara made a retching noise.
"The Anal Stains... Bloody Vulva... do nothing... but medical science..... never-mind... either way, I don't want to be alone this weekend."
"Ask Hunter" Kas said with a smile. "He would probably stay his whole life if you let him."
"Trust me," Vera sighed and slumped down on the concrete. "I... want to... but I'm scared..."
"Oh, um..." Kas dug in his pocket and pulled out a small container. "Here... pepper spray.... you know, in case things get bad, then no more scared-Vera."
"Hunter would piss himself or cry if he got it in the face from that... though I really don't think he's gonna rape you, Vera, that's retarded for you to think that." Zara included snatching up the pepper spray and looking at the back. "Though this is the shit the police use... pretty hardcore shit, Kas!"
"Guys, I'm not scared of him.... I mean I'm scared that... that.. fuck there he is." Vera quickly got up and wiped off the back of her pants.
Hunter and Lana were approaching, Hunter looking as goofy as ever in his hand-knitted scarf, huge guitar case and backpack. Vera could almost feel a sting of jealousy watching as he talked and walked with that mouse girl.
As Lana and Hunter merged in, Kas, Lana and Zara had began to talk within each other, leaving Vera and Hunter isolated in their cute awkward exchanges.
“Hey, youuu~” Vera spoke will looking at him from under her purple bangs.
“H-Hey! You look really nice today” Hunter sorta kicked at the ground.
It suddenly felt as if the rest of the group was silently watching them and in fact they where. Lana anticipated a proposal to date, and Zara and Kas had their money on a Vera sleep-over.
"So um... what's your weekend looking like?" Vera tugged at the sleeves of her jacket.
"K-Kinda sucks, I'm going t-to be camping-" Hunter began but was cut off by Vera's broken-hearted little sigh. "...c-camping... in the living room... are you okay?"
"Wait, what?!" Her tail perked up excitedly.
"My Aunt is c-coming into t-town to spend time with my mom and dad... she's g-gonna get married next month... so... she is sleeping in casa de Hunter...'s room this weekend and this also means my parents are going to be running her all over the p-place. So yeah, it sucks." Hunter said with a sigh. "It would be pretty cool if you wanted to like study or something this weekend cause I don't really like being around my a-aunt... she's nice... but weird."
"Well... ummm..." Vera almost wanted to squee with excitement. "We could totally study if you want... but I wanted to know if you wanted to stay over... like at my house.... this weekend... maybe... because, you know my parents don't really want me home all alone and I would feel safer and if you don't want to you totally don't have to because I could get someone else but I wanted to ask you and-"
"Yeah, I-I-I would love to!" he replied; though he was fighting back some urge to shiver from his quick agreement. "I'll pick up my things from home and head to your house after school if you w-want!"
Vera nodded and smiled wrapping her arms around him and hugging him. She could feel his heart pounding loud as thunder and she was more than happy to pretend like she didn't notice it.
~
Hunter had shown promptly at 6 and Vera had eagerly anticipated this. The house was rather quiet until then and she had spent the few long hours since she got home, uncomfortable, perched on the front window seat watching the dull drizzle outside. Hunter had, of course, his prized guitar slung over one shoulder and an entirely new backpack across the other. Quickly she learned it was his 'survival' pack for sleep-overs. Really, it was just a bag of his clothes and simple toiletries, though something else caught her eye.
"What's with the shopping bag?" Vera pointed at a plastic bag full of something that he clutched in his hand.
"Well.. ummm... w-wow, you have a really nice house. Oh, um... this is so I can make you dinner and stuff, can I set it in the kitchen?" Hunter asked while looking in awe at her very large house.
Vera's house was indeed a very large, though not nearly mansion-like, home and so well manicured. Hunter had almost thought he was walking into the set of a sitcom family show and not the house of his crush.
Vera led Hunter into the kitchen so he can put away whatever it is he brought and smiled shyly at his cute reactions toward being in such a 'wealthy' home. Vera kinda enjoyed his naivety and it was secretly reassuring that he hadn't known she had money. Often even the best art had it's flaw and she didn't want to find out Hunter's was gold-digging.
"Wow, you have some pretty crazy salsa and stuff!" Hunter remarked as he put the entire bag in the fridge.
"That's pico de gallo," Vera pointed out, "My parents usual make a lot of it every other week because it's something my cousin can help with so it makes her feel good or some crap."
"That's p-p-pretty nice," Hunter said with ears perked. "Whoa... what is that crazy st-stuff?"
Vera watched as he walked toward a small box on the shelf beside the pantry.
"A-a-ab-u- lita?" He tried to sound out the name on the box.
"Oh, my mom buys those for Viola too -- because that little girl is fricking worse than Kas about sweet stuff." Vera sighed; walking over to look at the box with Hunter. "They usually make Champurrado with it, which I'm not really a fan of cause you can't put soy milk in it."
"Huh... Your f-family sure loves Mexican f-food... there are so many spices and stuff here I have never seen."
"Well... they are Mexican." Vera said rolling her eyes and smiling.
"...I'm s-sorry, Vera!" Hunter felt that he had committed a cardinal sin as to not originally ask her what her nationality was.
"Did you just apologize for my family being Hispanic?" Vera giggled; but her smile faded slowly as she saw the look of grief and panic fallen over her friend.
"I-I'm not like that, I d-didn't me--"
"Shhh... I'm teasing you gringo puppy, I don't mind," she got on her tippy toes and placed her palm on his forehead. "If I was any mom in the world -- I'd totally say you had a fever right now. Calm down -- it's okay!"
Time was easy to escape them on their first night: she watched Hunter cook, they ate together and ultimately had become completely lost in conversation. The first actual yawn was in the early hours of 3am when both of them became alarmed at how hours melted away in what could have been moments.
"We had better get ready for bed" Vera cleared her throat with a shy cough.
"Cool, wh-where should I sleep?"
"Well, in my room I hope, I would feel safer if you did." she might as well as been nudging him with her elbow as she, unconsciously, took off her shirt which revealed her black and hot pink bra to him which matched her boyshorts -- unaware that even if she was completely and weirdly comfortable with Hunter seeing her bra, Hunter was not comfortable.
It was as if a switch had been flipped and his entire body froze up. It took an embarrassingly long time for Vera to notice, though questioning him what was wrong, that her being half naked was the problem. Jeez. Though she kept her not-so-glamorous past away from Hunter during their friendship -- she guessed that was one thing that seemed to stay with her. Most of the time boys barely reacted to her underwear -- they only really started jumping all over the walls when the underwear came off.
She thought quickly on her feet and decided to diffuse the awkwardness by playing it cool and sweet. "Gimme your shirt!" she almost rudely demanded.
"W-wait, wha?"
"I wanted to see if your shirt would fit me! Lemme wear it -- I could totally, like, use it as a make-shift pajama set for myself cuz... I dunno... I like your shirt?"
"Uh... okay?" he hesitantly slipped his shirt off and Vera snatched it away -- putting it on and covering herself.
Though she would normally be weirded out by circumstances such as these; Hunter's shyness and adorable innocence really charmed her. She would have to remember to be less... abrasive, she guessed. She needed to remember that not everyone was as experienced in sexual stuff as she was and she needed to make sure that she didn't mess things up with Hunter before they even started. She really felt like they were close to... maybe... going on dates soon. That would be the sweetest thing to Vera.
Luckily, eventually, Hunter was comfortable enough to switch to his own sleepwear which, without his shirt, consisted of his just black boxers and socks.
At some point in the night, however, Vera had gotten a text from Kas which asked how everything was going and Hunter, suddenly deciding to be ever-so-cute, decided to remedy the fact that Vera's ears always made her look sad. He patiently sat beside her as she started to text her response to their jackal friend when, suddenly, he pointed her ears up. It was as if that was his way of saying "thank you for the awesome night~"
She had just written and sent the text: "omg, he's the cutest thing ever -- I seriously think he's the one ^w^ <3"
Immediately after he had perked her ears up -- her response quickly changed to "He's totally gonna die tonight, too =w= <3"