"Why do I have to go?" Vermallelia slouched, walking in Kai's shadow—his large body shading her from the shining sun. "I don't even know how to swim."
"I don't think I'll swim, either," Bella said, her dog-ears drooping.
"Come on, this could be our last chance to be together like this," Kai glanced over his shoulder at the two as they continued walking down the street.
"Our last chance?" The dog-girl tilted her head to the side.
"Now that I have a girlfriend, Vira's job is done… she will be going soon and won't be around to cast spells anymore," he explained. "I want us all to have fun together while we still can."
"I understand that, Mr. Holloway… but my master doesn't like it when I go swimming," she hugged herself. "He says it makes me stink."
"Ah," the Oathless stopped in his tracks, and they all halted behind him. He vaguely remembered Mr. Isaacson had said something about that the first time he walked Bella. Take her to the beach, but don't let her swim.
"Don't worry, Bella, I'll use my magic to dry you once we are done," Vira said, trailing at the back in her human-form. "Your master won't notice a thing."
The dog-girl considered it for a few moments, then wagged her tail.
"Are you really gonna leave us, Vira?" the rat-girl whined.
The fairy godmother smiled at her. "I usually stick around until my godchild gets married," she looked at Kai. "Maybe—"
He scoffed and continued walking. "That could take years."
"Years?!" she cried in alarm.
"What did you think? This isn't medieval times—I can't just go out with her for a couple of dates, then ask her dad for her hand in marriage."
"Ugh…" Vira groaned. "I hate the modern age. Love used to be a lot quicker back in the day."
"So… you will stay?" the rat-girl asked with hopeful eyes.
Vira nodded. "For the time being." She then turned her attention to Kai. "Is Felicia coming, too?"
"She is waiting for us there, and she bought you all swimsuits."
"Felicia?" Bella snarled, her ears going flat. "You mean that fox?"
"Swimsuits are nice and all," Vermallelia crossed her arms, "but they won't teach me how to swim."
"I have brought floaters," he lifted the large bag he was carrying. "And a shovel, and a bucket, and some food and drinks. So even if you don't swim, you'll have plenty to do."
The rat-girl's ears twitched. "What kinda food?"
The Oathless smirked to himself. Her priorities were clear.
***
Felicia waited for them on the sand, wearing a white bikini, her beach-scarf blowing softly in the wind along with her bushy tail and thick red hair.
"Felicia," Kai called, and she turned, stylish sunglasses hiding her golden eyes.
"There you are, darling," she said, and the word put him at pause.
Was she mimicking Evelyn?
"Well, well," she came toward them, kneeling in front of Vermallelia, who wore her casual outfit—white shirt and pink shorts. "Who's this tasty little thing?" The fox-girl licked her fangs. "So cute, I could eat you up."
The rat-girl went rigid, her tail spiking in a straight line.
"Don't even think about it," Bella growled, getting between them, and the fox-girl rose to meet her rival's gaze.
"Hey, don't start fighting again. We are here to have fun, so… can't you just pretend to like each other for a few hours?" Kai said.
"Please, darling, I am the pinnacle of civility compared to this… savage."
Bella narrowed her eyes. "You are fooling no one but yourself, vermin-eater."
"V-v-v-vermin-eater?" The rat-girl stammered.
"Enough, you two," the Oathless said. "Did you bring what I asked?"
"Naturally," the fox lifted a shopping bag and presented it to the dog-girl. "Your clothes."
Bella took it.
"You can change over there," she gestured to the public restroom.
"Come, little rat," the dog-girl put her hand on Vermallelia's back and led her away protectively.
The Oathless watched them leave. "You didn't buy her anything embarrassing, did you?"
She scowled at him. "I'd sooner claw the dog's eyes out than use my fashion sense to humiliate anyone."
"You had no issues humiliating me when we first met."
"With words, not with clothes."
"Fair enough," he conceded.
"I got something for you, too, Vira," the fox-girl reached into another shopping bag.
"Please, you shouldn't have. I do not intend to change into—"
She paused as Felicia presented her with a wide-brimmed sun hat.
"Oh," she accepted it and placed it on her head with a satisfied smile. "Thank you. It's lovely."
"You're welcome, darling."
***
A while later, the Oathless sat on a folding chair under a beach umbrella, with Felicia lying on a long chair beside him, and Vira standing against the wind, facing the soft breeze. Out in the water, Bella tried to teach Vermallelia how to swim but found little success.
The Oathless's eyes lingered on the dog-girl, who wore a sportive blue one-piece swimsuit with long dark sleeves. She seemed happy with it, and though it matched her preferences and contrasted well with her blonde hair, it was not nearly as revealing as he had hoped.
Some one-piece suits at least have the courtesy to leave the back open, he thought.
The rat-girl wore something that—to his mind—was bought from the children's section. A two-piece, the top covering her entire chest, held with straps tied behind her back, and the bottom a frilly skirt. It looked cute, he supposed.
"Felicia, could you help me with this?" He held up a sunscreen bottle.
She scoffed and shook her head, as if he had made a silly joke.
"Give it here," Vira snatched it from his hands. "Turn around."
He turned to face the lying fox-girl, and the fairy began applying the lotion to his back.
"How did your date go?" Felicia asked.
"Pretty good, no thanks to you."
"No thanks to me? I gave you something to talk about, and besides, I warned you not to go to Monarchy."
"We went to Caesar, but they had a thing…" He glanced at Vira over his shoulder. "Did you do anything to sabotage my date?"
No, but a part of me wished I had, she thought. "If I did, you'd have known."
He eyed her suspiciously but detected no deception. "Ah… Guess it was just a coincidence."
She finished with his back and handed over the bottle. "You can do the front yourself."
As he began applying the lotion, he saw the rat-girl break away from Bella and stomp her way toward them.
"Swimming is stupid," she discarded the floaters next to their bag.
"That bad, huh?" he asked.
She shrugged, then picked up the bucket and the shovel. "I'm gonna go digging."
"Alright, have fun."
She stomped off.
"Mr. Holloway!" Bella waved at him from the water with a smile.
He rose up, finally ready. "Felicia, wanna join us for a swim?"
"Sorry, darling, I don't swim."
He frowned. "Then why did you come?"
"Where else am I gonna wear this swimsuit?"
"You came to the beach to wear a swimsuit?"
"Mhm…" she nodded.
He stared at her. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Yes, yes, it does," she rolled her eyes. "You just don't get it."
He shrugged and returned his gaze to the dog-girl. "Damn it," he cursed as he saw a group of guys crowding her. "Can't leave her alone for a minute." He dashed toward her.
***
There were four of them, standing with the water up to their midriff—one of them at the front, chatting her up, and the other three at the back.
Kai smirked to himself. It didn't matter if there were four or twenty of them; he knew how to handle this situation, just like last time—make them think they were hitting on a minor, and they would leave. His plan was subtle and foolproof.
"Ah, Bella," he waved. "Are these your friends from school?"
The four turned to him, seemingly unbothered by the remark. The guy at the front, tall and dark-haired, smiled at the dog-girl. "You go to school? Which one?"
"See?" A chubby guy at the back elbowed another scrawny one. "Told you she was our age."
Kai's face darkened as he scanned the four more closely. His foolproof plan wasn't so foolproof after all.
"I don't really go to school," she said warily. "But I am fifteen."
"Whoa, really? I would have pegged you for a senior, at least," said the dark-haired guy at the front.
Teenagers, the Oathless lamented. What have I done? Maybe if he knew ahead of time—had noticed what they were—he could have come up with an excuse that made sense. No, his face went darker. It didn't matter what excuse he would have come up with; they were teenagers, they didn't care about anything—not as long as she was hot.
"Why don't you go to school?"
"I'm not sure," she tilted her head. "But I don't think my master would want me to."
"Master? Are you, like, home-schooled or something?"
She nodded enthusiastically. "I learned a lot from my master; he has been training me since childhood."
"You should come by our school sometime," he smirked. "We could teach you some stuff, too."
"Alright, that's enough." Kai cut the air between them with his hand. They might be horny teenagers, but he was an adult. He had the voice of authority—and the size and strength to back it up. "Why don't you four just scram?" He cracked his knuckles.
"Or what? You're gonna beat up a bunch of school kids?" the chubby one asked.
"Yeah, what's your problem?" asked the scrawny guy.
"He is just jealous because he is old," chortled the fourth, a short guy with a nasally voice.
Each insult pierced straight through the Oathless's sense of authority until he was left with nothing, feeling completely helpless.
"Come on, Bella," the tall, dark-haired kid grabbed her arm and pulled her with them. "Let's ditch this loser."
"Hey!" Kai karate-chopped the teenager's arm, separating him from her, and lunged to stand in between. "She is with me! Stay away from her!"
"With you?" All of their faces contorted with disgust. "Ugh, you're like twice her age."
"No, I'm not," he said defensively. "And that's not what I—"
"You see this?" moaned the short guy. "This is hypergamy at work, older men stealing all the young females."
All of them nodded in agreement.
"Look, you've got it all wrong. I am not—"
"Save it for the police, pedo," said the scrawny one.
"Dating a minor…" the chubby one shook his head. "What a creep."
"Mr. Holloway is not a creep!" Bella shot forward.
"Ugh," the scrawny guy gagged. "You make her call you 'Mister'? That's gross, bro."
"Fuck this, let's get outta here," the dark-haired one said, and they all turned to leave. "I feel sick just talking to this guy."
The short guy lingered for a moment, frowning at the dog-girl. "I thought you were cool, Bella, but in the end…" His shoulders jerked, and he sniffed, as if about to cry. "You're just a whore like the rest of them." He turned and left with the others.
Kai hid his face in his hands, cringing with embarrassment.
"Why do you always do that?" Bella turned on him.
"Do what?"
"Every time I'm about to make new friends, you come in and scare them away."
"Huh?"
"Mr. Holloway," she put her hands on his shoulder, holding him at arm's length, and looked seriously into his eyes. "You need to understand something… I—am adorable. When people see me, they want to scratch my belly, and pet my head, and hold my hand."
He stared at her, dumbfounded… In a way, she wasn't wrong.
"And while sometimes it can be annoying," she said, "most of the time I kinda like it. I want people to touch me and be my friend."
He blinked at her.
"And I need you to be okay with that," she finished, letting go of him.
He took a deep breath, collecting himself. What was he supposed to say? How would he explain it to her? Should he even try?
"Bella," he put his hand on her shoulders. "These people didn't wanna be your friends, and they didn't want to pet you… sort of."
"What? Why?" she asked, sounding offended. "Am I not… adorable?"
"You-you are… in fact, you are more than adorable. You see, they were attracted to you, and they wanted to…" He paused, searching for the right word. "Mate…" He winced. "With you."
She snorted. "No way."
"Ah, no—actually… yeah—that's exactly what they wanted."
Her eyes squinted with suspicion. "How do you know?"
He scoffed. "Trust me, I know."
"And how was I supposed to tell?"
"Well," he pursed his lips, "if you are in your human-form… and they are a guy… and they are talking to you…" he shrugged.
"No… that can't be right."
He shrugged again.
"But… you are a guy, and we are talking all the time, and you don't want to… do you?"
"Ah, well, you see—" he stumbled over his own words. "I know you are a dog, so… That's the difference."
"Hm…" she cupped her chin in thought. "So, all I have to do…" Her face lit up with the idea. "Is tell them I'm a dog, and then—"
"No, no, no!" He cleared his throat. "That wouldn't work either."
"So… you're telling me that as long as I'm in my human-form, I can't be friends with men?"
Kai looked up, doing the math in his head, checking for any holes in the logic. "Yes," he said cautiously and nodded. "That's right… that's exactly what I'm telling you."
She crossed her arms and frowned. "But… that's not fair."
He looked up again, doing the math, checking for holes. "No," he admitted solemnly. "No… I guess it's not."
She let out a huff of disappointment through her nostrils and looked back at the shore.
"Look, maybe I'm exaggerating. I'm sure there are some men out there who could be your friends… but you have to be careful because they won't always tell you what their intentions are up front," he said.
"What about the little rat?"
"You mean Vermallelia? What about her?"
She nodded to the shore. "Can she have guy friends?"
Kai followed her gaze and frowned. "Damn it."