In the late morning hours, the sun woke me more than any sort of circadian rhythm did. Somehow that day I felt particularly sluggish. The past few days had been twice as exhausting as I started to learn how insatiable Bao could get once she got going. It was almost like intense work only served to build up her pent up lust even more.
I sighed, really, really reluctant as I went to get up but there was work to be done. Duty calls and all that. At least I tried to get up. A heavy paw was weighing down on my chest belonging to a certain, similarly sleepy Ren Xiongmao.
Turning my head, I saw Bao still blissfully asleep, breathing slowly and deeply. She was sleeping soundly like nothing in the world could wake her. I really didn't want to do that to her either so I attempted to get out beneath her without doing so but it was situations like this that made me acutely aware of the size difference between us. Bao, being what she is, was a suitably bear sized woman and her paws alone weighed a whole lot.
I huffed and struggled but no dice. In fact, the more I shuffled around, the more she began to cuddle me and hugged my body close to her. It was so cute and I did feel bad about breaking this up but I'm pretty sure if I hadn't, she would have crushed my ribcage. Brute force obviously didn't work so I tried another approach.
I rolled over with the limited movement I had until I could face her. Aww man, her sleeping face was so adorable, really makes one want to keep sleeping but duty called and drastic measures needed to be taken. I knew her weakness after all.
Leaning into her, I peppered a few kisses around her nose, making Bao's face twitch and her giggle in her sleep. Finally, she lifted her paw and scratched the itch I caused, letting me slip out and get up. I took a deep stretch, making a few joints crack and me aware of how sore I was from last night. God was it worth it though because despite the slight pain, I was in high spirits. The last few weeks had been both fun and profitable. Bao had been working her butt off for my sake and took a huge load off my shoulders. She deserved to sleep in a bit.
At least that was the plan. "Mmmmhhh... MMMHH!? Magooooooo..." Bao patted around the spot on the futon where I just slept and got visibly irritated by me not being there. Her brow furrowed as she couldn't seem to find me until finally. "MAGO!" She shot up wide awake, scanning her in a wild panic until her eyes landed on me and she instantly calmed down again.
I sighed before breaking into a chuckle. "I JUST got up, Bao. You've gotta learn to sleep without me sometime."
Predictably, she pouted, burying her face in her pillow. "Nnnngghhh... I don't wanna learn that. Why don't YOU learn to stay in bed so we can cuddle longer?"
"You know we can't do that. Who's gonna tend the crop? And if I do give into your demand, when's it gonna be enough? We're not gonna get anything done then."
She reluctantly got up while I got dressed. Suddenly I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders and two big mounds on my back. Bao nuzzled my neck as she wrapped her arms around me. "Well I know of a certain someone who couldn't get enough 'cuddles' last night either." She placed a kiss on my cheek as she giggled.
I playfully rolled my eyes and craned my head over to meet her lips with mine for a brief but tender kiss. "You know that's different, Bao. The early bird may get the worm but what we do the night before is none of his business." We laughed among ourselves, getting ready for the day ahead.
"You know, we could go to the market later and pick up some sake if you want. Thanks to your hard work, we've got a much bigger budget now, I think we can afford to splurge for some of the good stuff." I mused as I wrapped a cloth belt around my shirt.
"That sounds awesome! It's been a while since I've had any. I don't even know if I could tell what a good one even is. Heh, but either way it's a good idea. We still have to celebrate after all."
I exhaled out of my nose with a befuddled expression. "Celebrate? Is it your birthday? Did I miss a holiday?"
She laughed. "Maybe I'm being silly. But I've been here for half a month now. I think that deserves a LITTLE celebration at least."
"You might be..." My heart sunk as the realization kicked in. All the blood drained from my face as I tried not to show my growing dread. "...today? That's today?"
Bao cocked her head, looking over at me with a jovial grin. "Yeah? 2 weeks. I know it ain't exactly an anniversary or something but it feels kinda special to me. What's the matter? What are you getting all pale for? I didn't expect you to give a me a present or anything." Her face turned from jovial to concerned. "Is... is something wrong?"
I shook my head and hid my worry with a smile. I hadn't actually told her what the bandits said back when they first robbed me. Time completely passed me by. "No, no nothing. It's just... time went by so fast I... I guess you don't notice it going by when you're having fun."
She looked relieved, giving me one more squeeze from behind after she finished putting on her underwear. A black pair of panties with white spots and a similarly patterned bra. "You're silly. I've had a great time too, babe. Love you."
"Yeah, I love you too." I couldn't quite manage to shake the heaviness from my heart. I looked outside. The sun was already far above the horizon. It must have been getting close to noon. My chest tightened as I thought about what to do. What to say. In a panic, I got her off of me and awkwardly laughed my way out of her hug. "Ah, sorry. I must probably smell a little after...hrmm last night."
Bao rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Hehe, yeah. I'm still a little sticky too."
I snapped my fingers as if an idea had just come to me. "Hey, we still got a little bit of a head start. Why don't you go up to the springs. Take a nice shower in the falls and I'll take one after. That way we can start the day nice and fresh."
She still looked a little suspicious but shrugged it off. "Okay. Will do. No peeking, right?" She joked as she passed me by and leaned down for another peck. And after that, I was all alone while watching her head out the door and up the hill.
There she went, the first girl I ever loved. Her absence made the weight of the air bear down on me twice as hard. I turned my gaze to the portrait of my parents, heading over to it and taking it down. The lockbox was still there and full to bursting with money. Money that those bastards probably wanted all of. The greed of people like them knows no bounds.
Most of this money I couldn't really call mine. Bao had worked her hardest to earn this. She didn't deserve to have people take from her again. It was her share and I would make sure that she would have it. I took out a small bag and filled it with a good chunk of the coins, shoveling almost half of it into the bag.
In the middle of doing this however, I heard a familiar noise. There was a wagon coming up the hill. The clattering of its cargo and the whistling of its masked driver announcing its arrival. A shiver ran down my spine and I started to hyperventilate.
It came to a halt in front of my hut and I heard that vile, mocking voice again. "Mago! Here we are again, just like promised. I see the door's been repaired, what a shame for the wasted effort."
I pulled the string of the bag, closing it up when...
