Vertex - Chapter IV, The House in Slender Woods

		Chapter IV,  The House in Slender Woods

"For the love of Ammy please don't answer that!"
Oh.
Farai wasn't looking him in the eyes anymore. There was a faint blush on her cheeks. What's happening here now? S&M? That stuff... wait, why didn't she want him to answer anymore? Why did she even ask?
"Uhh..." Craig started, feeling his cheeks blushing as well.
"Nope!"
Farai put her index finger on his lips.
"Hush. Pretend I didn't say anything. Please? This is just... just lame. Sorry"
But I want to do that stuff!
"But I want to..."
"Nuh-huh!"
Farai covered his mouth with her palm.
"I didn't say anything. Shh."
She removed her hand and took a deep breath.
"Sorry"
You don't have to apologize, I totally get you!
"Y-youh donaveto apolo-pologize..."
LAME! That was fucking retarded!
But Farai wasn't bothered. Rather, she was smiling now.
"I know right? There's nothing to apologize about, since I didn't say anything! Ahahahaha!"

The two kept walking then, with Farai yapping on about how adorable her little niece was. She had a niece? Apparently her sister was married and had kids. Nine years older than her, she was. Did not know that.
Craig's mind was a mess. Clearly Farai had intended to make an indecent proposal to him. She had wanted to ask his opinion about... S&M. And before that she had tried to ask if he'd become her... what? Her what?
There was no wrapping his mind around this. There's no way he could even think about such a thing.

Her partner.

No. Never. No way. She'd never ask that. The two of them hardly knew each other. He was under no illusions of his own worth. Craig was no Price P'Orc, no sirree.

"...and then they gave him Indian burns! Ahahaha!"
Wait, she was talking about her niece, right? Who got Indian burns? Some kid called Jimmy? Yeah, Jimmy. Wait, what? Right! Laugh!
"H-hahah...."

Farai stiffened again.
"Hey..."
Oh no.
"You don't think I'm a racial stereotype, do you?"
That was unexpected.
"Do I what?"
"Ooh.... it's just that, well, you know, the 'Dark Elf Dominatrix' thingie... I mean, it's like, not EVERY Dark Elf is like that, but it's ingrained into our culture and maybe our genes too, and I don't know... I mean, it's like, we're EXPECTED to be like that, right? So if I'm.... if I'm into that kind of thing, people are going to assume it's because I'm a Dark Elf and not because, well you know, because I'm ME, you know?"

Craig had no idea what she was talking about, but he felt a sudden urge to pat her head. He didn't though.
"I still remember being a little kid, like, before my family moved here, in this country... like, was I in... third grade?"
"Y-you moved here so you started the third grade with, with me and... the others..."
"Yeah, right, right! Before that, where we lived, it was like, you could take your partner out for a walk on a leash and nobody would think anything more than if you were taking a dog for a walk! I used to always want to pet their heads because they were so cute... but that's the thing! It's supposed to be normal to Dark Elves, right? So I've always been worried, that if I'm into it, it's just because I'm a Dark Elf, and I don't want to like something just because of what I was born to be, you know? But then I thought that maybe it's like a cat and stinky socks, it's just in their nature to love it, so why fight it?"
Craig was confused again. Why was she talking about it now after she had fussed for him to forget about it before? Why was she trusting him with this kind of stuff?
Oh dear god please don't let me be her Alp best friend and confidant!

"Ah, excuse me! You two!"
The deep and smooth voice belonged to a woman about 220cm tall. Craig had never actually seen a Jinko before, and the size of the tiger woman before him was overwhelming. She was leaning on a metal garbage pallet, dressed in worn looking but regular clothing, her paws in her pockets.
"Y-yes?" Farai was the one to reply.
"Uhh, don't want to be a bother, but somebody's dumped a couch here, and I was thinking that if the owners don't really want it, I could just grab it. The thing is, I've got a lot of stuff to carry here, and it's be easier if I had someone holding the other end of the couch. It's not heavy or anything, just bulky"
That seemed reasonable. Farai and Craig looked at each other, and Craig stepped forth.
"Sure..."
Might as well look cool and strong for the girl, right? The two girls.
"Ahh, thanks mate!"
The Jinko slapped his shoulder, but not as hard as Craig had anticipated. He winced for no reason from just the anticipation anyway.
There was a bunch of cardboard and other junk piled on the couch, that really looked perfectly normal. Whoever had dumped it had probably been moving and didn't have room for it anymore or something like that.
"I'll take the front so you take the back, yeah?"
"'kay..."
Craig followed the age-old wisdom of True Men and lifted with his back. Luckily for him, the couch really didn't weigh all that much, especially not with the tiger woman on the other end.
"So where are we taking it?"
"What was that?"
The Jinko turned her head to him.
"Where are we taking it?"
"Oh, uhh, just around the corner, really..." she replied. Craig shrugged and just followed.

During her walk-and-talk with Farai, Craig hadn't paid attention to his surroundings all that much, but now he did, and noticed they were on the side of Slender Woods he had gone through while going to the park. They'd already skirted around it? Time sure flies by when you're with a beautiful woman...
To Craig's surprise, the Jinko led them into Slender Woods itself.
"What are we taking a couch in the forest for?" Farai asked.
"What was that?"
The Jinko turned her head again.
"I asked what are we taking a couch in the forest for?"
"Oh. Uhh, because that's where I'll need it"
"Uh-huh. But why do you need it there?"
"Because!" she snapped.

The Jinko led them to a corner of the forest Craig could swear he'd never even been to. There was enough shrubbery around to make it unwelcoming to children, and the trees were so thick on all sides that you couldn't really see here from any side until you got close enough, and someone playing in the woods or using them as a shortcut wouldn't really end up here. He hadn't.
"Wow!" Farai exclaimed, seeing something Craig didn't, since he was behind the couch.
"Let's set it down here..." the Jinko said.
Setting down the couch, Craig felt relieved. It may not have been all that heavy, but carrying it for that long had felt taxing. He now remembered his list on his dreaded notebook. He really should start working out... more.
And then he noticed it. There was a hole in the ground.
In the shape of a square, there was like, nine cubic meters of earth dug out to the depth of... like, 30 centimetres? And it was dug neatly and evenly.
"What's this?" he asked the Jinko.
"Eh?" she turned her head again.
"What's this?" he asked again, louder.
"Oh, you don't have to shout, just make sure you talk into my left ear, my right one's deaf. The one with the blue eye, you know? Sucks being a cat, right?"
The one with the blue eye... eh? Oh. Right. She only had one blue eye. The other one was... green? Yeah, green. Craig remembered hearing from mom once that cats with different coloured eyes usually were deaf in the ear on the side of the blue eye. He hadn't really believed it, sounded like bullshit.
"So this..." she gestured at the pit, "...is my place"
Oh?
"Whaat~? Like a secret base or something?" Farai asked, exhilarated. She was so childish sometimes.
"Well, maybe something like that. Thanks for your help! This couch is gonna fit here just fine!"

There was a tarp bunched up on the ground. The Jinko used that to cover the couch and tucked it under its legs.
"Don't want it getting ruined if there's rain! So uhh... thanks, again. I'll let you kids get back to your date now, don't mind me!"

Craig already turned to leave, but Farai didn't.
"Are you going to build a house or something? Like, with planks and stuff? We used to try that stuff as kids all the time..."
Craig remembered similar attempts. None of them had been very successful since it was generally agreed that parental involvement was detrimental to the purposes of a secret base.
"Not really, I don't have stuff like that. I'm building it out of cardboard"
"Cardboard? But that's not going to survive rain!"
"It will if I make it waterproof with some trash bags. I've though this through little missy, I'm going to be living in that thing this winter!"
"Eeeehh~? Really? Is this, like, one of those reality TV shows?"
"N-no..."
"Then you're a reporter or something like that?"
"N-no..."
"Then why are you doing this?" Farai asked, a quizzical expression on her face, her head tilted.
"Because starting next month, I can't afford to pay the rent for the storage room I'm living in.  So there!"

"Eh? Y-you're... homeless?" Farai seemed to be actually shocked.
"So what if I am?"
"That's horrible!"
"Tell me about it sister"
"You can't live in a house made out of cardboard! That's just wrong! CRAIG! ARE YOU HEARING THIS?"
"Uhh, yeah..."
"Look, missy, I appreciate the sentiment, but I really don't need you fussing over this. Lots of people are homeless, I'm not anything special, really..."
"But this is wrong! You should go to the Church of Hathor and ask for a place to stay!"
"Now don't you go telling me what to do little missy, I'm older than you and I'll do with my life whatever I want"
"B-but that's..."
"No buts. I'm homeless, and I'm going to deal with it as I see fit, you hear?"

Farai was biting her lip.
"Isn't there anything we can do for you?" she asked.
"Hmm? Well, you could help me carry some stuff"
"Then we'll do that! Uhh, I mean, Craig? Is that okay with you?"
Craig nodded absentmindedly. It's not like he had any choice at this point, as a man, he couldn't leave the girls without his help or something else to that effect.
"Right then! The storage facility is really close, so it's not too bad a trip to make. No time like the present, right?"
The three set out.
What a day. Craig had not expected to become a roadie for a homeless Jinko today.

"Here it is then. My humble adobe. Hm"
The Jinko opened up the door to the locker. It was full of... junk. Piles and piles of cardboard and old newspapers were littered all over, with a few boxes of miscellanea here and there.
"Right..."
The Jinko grabbed what appeared to be tarps, made out of opened up trash bags duct taped together. She tucked those under one arm and with the other she picked up a wooden platform, the kind used as support when stacking stuff in warehouse or something.
"You two take as much cardboard and newspapers you can carry, okay?"
The two did so.

"You really live in there?"
"Yeah"
"Doesn't it get... cold?"
"I've got a sleeping bag"
"Where do you, you know..."
"Public restrooms"
"Ooh"

At the pit, they piled their burdens in piles.
"Right then. I'll take it from here, thanks"
Craig turned to leave again.
"Wait just a minute!" Farai said. Dammit.
"What is it now?"
"I want to see how you're going to make this work" she said, crossing her arms.
The Jinko took off her cap, letting her greasy, black hair fall to her shoulders.
"For the love of... look, it's simple enough, right? I'll put this..." she picked up the self-made trash bag tarp, "...in the pit. Like so"
She spread it in the pit. It fit pretty much perfectly.
"So why did you do that?" Farai asked, tilting her head again.
The Jinko sighed and lit up a cigarette. She didn't reply until after she took a good puff.
"It's waterproof, you know? And on top of this, I'm making like, a crawlspace or what have you. With these"
The Jinko picked up the wooden platform and put it in the pit.
"Too bad I don't have more than one of these. I'll have to come up with something else I guess"
"I could make you more of those" Craig said. He felt he'd been too quiet for a long time now.
"Make me more? How?"
"Well I've got tools, and there's plenty of planks and stuff back in the woods behind my house. Kids don't build bases anymore, so it's not like anyone will need them, so..."
"That's so awesome Craig! See Taiga, we're being helpful!"
"Taiga?!" asked both Craig and the Jinko at once.
"Oh, ahahaha, I don't know your name, so..."
"Raquel"
"Oh, okay. Miss Raquel, we totally want to help you, so please let us help you build your house!"
Raquel the Jinko took another deep puff.
"Hmm... it's not like I'm going to get rid of you by saying no, am I? Fine. You want to help me build this thing? Then you come here tomorrow. I'm not going to do anything more today. Shoo-shoo now"
"YOU CAN COUNT ON US, RAQUEL!" Farai shouted, doing an overly choreographed salute.

Craig and Farai left Slender Woods together.
"I kind of feel better about her being homeless when I know I'm helping, you know?" she blabbered again.
"I mean, it's just such a weird thing, to think that there's someone without a home, trying to live where we used to play as kids... I mean, my niece goes to kindergarten less than a hundred meters from here! And on top of that, she's a tiger! A Tiger Girl, living in Slender Woods! How weird is that? It's such a small place, too..."
Yeah, it's literally a half-acre wood. Wait, what?
"Y-yeah, it's, it's literally a... a half-acre wood..."
"Wait, what?" Farai stopped in her tracks.
"S-Slender Woods. Literally half-an-acre. A, a tiger. In there."
"AHAHAHA! That's true! A Tiger in.... ahahahahaha!"
Farai leaned on him as she laughed, and Craig couldn't help but join in on the laugh until they parted at her building.
Craig was feeling pretty happy as he walked home. Until he remembered what they had been talking about BEFORE they met Raquel.
Hoo boy.