Rain with the Fox Spirit

I woke to the sound of rain tapping the windowpane. Faint light streamed around the curtains, and I became aware of a weight on my chest and something brushing against my leg. It took me a moment to realize they were Becki’s head and leg.

Glancing down, I saw her chest rise and fall as she breathed. I didn’t dare move. I didn’t want to wake her, and I didn’t want to risk touching somewhere I shouldn’t.

At some point I must have drifted off again, because I blinked awake to the tickle of something brushing my cheek. My eyes focused - and nearly jumped out of my head. Becki’s face hovered just above mine, smiling when she saw I’d noticed her.

“Good morning.”

My tongue flopped around uselessly as my eyes tried, and failed, not to glance down at the… distracting angle.

“H-h-how long have you been there?”

She shrugged, not easy to do while balancing on all fours.
“Not sure.” Then she grinned. “But come on. Get up. I wanna do something.”

I became aware again of the steady drumming of rain outside.
“Do something? But it’s raining…”

“Yeah. I know. Come on, let’s go outside.”

She was serious. She really wanted to go. I groaned.
“But what if you catch a cold?”

Her grin widened.
“I’m a spirit, silly. I can’t get sick. Now hurry!”

A few minutes later, I was half-jogging down the east wing’s hallways, trying to keep up with her eager pace. Breakfast had been completely abandoned for her first taste of rain. Thankfully, the dorms were still quiet. I prayed she wouldn’t start whooping before we got outside.

We dashed down staircases and through the main entryway before spilling out into the downpour.

The rain was heavier than I expected. My hair plastered flat to my head, rivulets ran down my clothes until they clung to my skin, and I shivered. But Becki didn’t care in the slightest.

She laughed aloud, sprinting across the pathway, her white dress soaking through in seconds. She twirled and spun in the rain, tail sweeping through the air, ears tall, her whole face lit with delight.

I couldn’t look away.

She was… radiant. More than beautiful. Watching her made my heart pound and the cold blur into nothing. Finally she caught my eyes, her own gleaming with joy as she bounded over.

“Isn’t this great? This is rain!”

Of course. She’d never felt rain physically before. She spun again, close enough her soggy tail slapped against my legs.

“I like the rain!”

I couldn’t help smiling. Somewhere along the way, I’d stopped thinking of her as just my assigned spirit. I loved the way she found wonder in everything. The way she never hesitated to press close to me. The way she smiled as though the world was hers.

I wouldn’t admit it aloud, but I loved it when she rested her head on my chest, or looped her arm through mine. I loved… her.

Eventually she circled back, still smiling but with a faint shiver.
“It’s kinda cold.”

I grinned.
“You reckon?”

She laughed. “Yeah. Let’s go warm up.”

“Yeah. Let’s.”

We turned back toward the college, dripping with every step.

The bath filled with the hiss of rushing water, steam curling upward to drive away the chill. I leaned against the bath wall, wet clothes sticking to me, resisting the urge to peel them off - Becki stood behind me, tail dripping across the floor, watching the water rise with eager eyes.

When I turned to ask about bathing order, I almost choked. She was already in a cyan two-piece bikini, her skin glistening.

I whipped my head back around.
“Becki… when did you change?”

She crouched beside me, chin resting on her arms to mimic my posture.
“Just now. Magic.”

I blinked at the flowing water.
“Is there anything you can’t do with magic?”

“Plenty. But when your clothes are made out of pure magic? Easy.”

Silence lingered, broken only by the tap, before my nerves forced the obvious question.
“You want to bathe together, don’t you?”

Her grin was audible.
“You’re a sharp one.”

I sighed and stood.
“I’ll go get my swimwear.”

“Okay! I’ll keep an eye on the bath!”

I lasted only a few minutes in the bath before retreating to dry off, warmth thoroughly restored. Becki’s voice drifted over as I rubbed at my hair.

“Don’t dry yet. Sit down on that stool.”

I glanced back - caught far too much skin - and quickly obeyed, perching on the stool, stiff with nerves.

A moment later, a towel brushed against my bare back.

My breath caught.

Gentle, unhurried strokes worked up and down, more caress than drying. The intimacy was overwhelming, yet I couldn’t move. Deep down, I didn’t want to.

For those quiet seconds, I could almost believe this was a dream.

Her voice broke the spell.
“I wanna go to the beach.”

I started to turn, but she pressed my head forward with a gentle hand.

“The beach?”

“Mhm. Can we go?”

I thought about it. The sea was only an hour’s walk from town.
“Yeah. We can.”

Her grin was audible in her tone.
“Really? Great.”

The towel slid across my shoulders, warm and steady, and my thoughts drifted off again into hazy comfort.