"Ahhhh…" Shuixing managed to say as she stepped into the hot tub that had been set up to be kept warm by the geothermal energy that was being tapped into on Heiya Island.
The volcano was considered inactive to the point that any sort of eruption was considered highly unlikely and would require massive shifts in the tectonic plates around Japan in order to change that status, but some of the human scientists that helped set up the colony on Heiya Island as a means of contact between China and Japan and those Animalians that came from both countries had managed to find that even with the former volcano inactive, they could still tap into the geothermal energy as a means to help power the colony and things like the hot springs being used, and it did make for a good place to relax at times, particularly in the winter when the air temperature was a bit cooler. It wasn't as cold or snowy as Wisconsin was the prior year, but it could still be cool.
The thoughts back to Wisconsin brought her thoughts back to Nate, who was seated on one bench and seemed to be looking off in a random direction. Though judging by his blush, the slight scent of arousal on his part when she took her towel off, and the fact that she could see something pushing against the front of his swimming trunks before he got into the water was enough to give her the sense that the college student was really into her. In a way, it made her smile, particularly as Nate also seemed to be quite polite and respectful. His presently red cheeks was probably another sign of that. She'd told him about some of the things she and her sisters had to endure before Ping helped rescue them and their conversion into Animalians was to serve and prevent that from being repeated, and often noticed that Nate often went out of his way to be respectful to her. Which then meant that the attraction she sensed from Nate was honest, and she actually liked that.
"So... having fun?" Shuixing asked as she sat down by Nate.
"Yeah... the water's pretty comfortable," Nate asked as he looked up and away for the moment, "are..."
"The bench is far enough down that my girls are beneath the surface of the water," Shuixing shook her head, still noting the redness of Nate's cheeks. "And admittedly... we are all adults, and you've been good to me..."
"Yeah... but dad always said you don't go gawking at people," Nate commented, "and that you don't run around naked. So I wanted to be respectful."
"And I love that about you," Shuixing whispered softly to him and then nuzzled his check with her nose, "but this is just part of the appeal on these hot springs. Swim suits are optional... and some of the others seemed to have interest in things this way... and among Animalians, while the edicts say no public mating, there is a bit of tolerance for these things that aren't present in Human society."
"Though even with that there are points where lines are crossed," Nate quipped with his thoughts going back to Christmas.
"Of course," Shuixing agreed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nate quickly packed up his things and handled his last second business with the RAs before leaving the University of Wisconsin's campus. Finals were over the college was getting ready for its Christmas break, and that had a good many thinking on home or some other vacation spot to celebrate the holidays that commemorated the end of the year, though primarily Christmas. Though as he did so, Nate also knew he had a different mission, and that was one that he looked forward to more. As such he did his best to navigate Madison's streets until he made his way to the airport. He came in through the baggage claim area first, in the hopes of find a familiar face.
He eventually found Shuixing seated on a bench with her bags beside her. For the moment she was sending a text message on a cellphone that had been specially built for larger Animalians. She was wearing a large and rather poufy looking parka with its dark blue color working okay with her fur color, though for Nate it was just a good thing to see her.
"Hey... I'm here," Nate called to her as he approached, making Shuixing look up, "Sorry, if I'm late... finals were a killer."
"It's okay," Shuixing managed as she stood up and stretched, making it pretty clear that the bench she'd sat on hadn't been built with Animalians in mind, though with most Animalians living in only a few select areas massive infrastructure changes weren't going to be likely in many areas any time soon, "I was just texting my sisters to let them know that I'd landed safely."
"I'm glad you did too... I hadn't seen you since Thanksgiving," Nate gave a small smile. True, Thanksgiving hadn't been that far back, but it was far enough back that Nate did miss her.
Shuixing smiled as she picked up her bag and nodded to let him lead the way, "So any word on how your dad and aunt are doing?"
"Well... so far as I know, Meryl took Olly back to the farm after Thanksgiving," Nate answered, "I think they've had to replace her bed so that it can support them... but beyond that... I really can't say on what all is going on. Dad didn't say much. The cows seem to be doing well... I think there is some plans for some small... more mobile home type things being put down, once we get into a dryer part of the year. And those that haven't have found some apartments in town."
"They're all doing well?" Shuixing asked.
"Surprisingly," Nate commented, "between helping with the farm and working in cooperation with my dad to sell their milk, they've done reasonably well... though the big thing has been more that they've also been pulling some odd jobs here and there. Shoveling snow when needed and working at least part time as contractors for those that need something fixed. From what dad's told me, people have been surprised by how well many of them actually know to do some of those things. I expect everyone will be home for Christmas, so you'll get to say hi to them too."
Shuixing smiled at that, though also noticed something as they came out through the doors. The previous year, the weather had been cold and crisp enough that she could feel it settle on her nose. This year, while it was cool, it wasn't necessarily cold and there wasn't as much snow as there had been the year before.
"It seems you didn't get as much snow as last year," Shuixing commented off hand.
"Yeah... this December's been a bit mild so far," Nate answered, "though I've heard some reports on storms coming through in the future..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The ride from Madison to the Bowman farm was relatively quiet as Nate drove along. Shuixing had crouch and slouch a little bit, as while the truck that Nate had wasn't small, it was largely built for Humans and while Water Buffalo weren't the large bovine in the world, that happened to be the Indian Gaur, they weren't exactly small animals either. That was partially what made Shuixing the biggest and the strongest of her sisters. Nate told her a bit about his classes and how some of his agriculture professors were actually curious on what would be grown on Heiya Island and things like that Shuixing managed a laugh and told Nate about some of the things that had been going on at the island. Most of it wasn't too much, there was still some training, but for the most part the martial arts shows and competitions slowed down a bit in the winter.
Eventually they made it to a fairly familiar site and Nate found himself smiling a bit as he pulled onto the driveway and then up beside the house. Things hadn't changed too much, although there were some spots near the front that looked like they were putting in some spots on the other side of the driveway where some smaller mobile homes might go. Nate assumed that had to do with at least some of the cattle moving back, as while he knew that some had settled in town and all had some various odd job that went in addition to helping run the farm and supposedly even selling some of their milk as well, his father had told him that many of the cattle seemed attached to him in and the Bowman farm, though for the moment things seemed quiet, though there was another van that was parked there that wasn't one that belonged to Nate or his father.
"Does Olly or someone own a van?" Shuixing asked as she looked to the van that was parked there while getting her bags from the back seat. She moved one ear to hear Nate working the latch to get his things out of the bed of the truck.
"I don't know," Nate answered, "I don't think so... as we were kinda all piled in after Thanksgiving when Meryl brought Olly home."
"I really never expected it... to... to work out as it did," Shuixing said slowly, "it was a bet my sisters made... and I lost..."
"It's okay and it has enabled Aunt Meryl to be able to hear without a hearing aid," Nate answered, "and she's seemed pleased with Olly... so I suppose it all works out... Though I'd also think it's reinforced some things about Aunt Meryl that shouldn't be reinforced...."
"Still stubborn?" Shuixing wondered as they made their way toward the front door.
"As a mule," Nate answered, the irony of the comment clear in his voice.
They quietly made their way in to find things somewhat quiet as they entered. The main living room was done up for Christmas, complete with the tree set up and with the tree lights on and was something that Nate expected to come home to and Shuixing remembered from her previous visit. The thing that neither expected was to find Nelly seated on the couch watching television. Nelly hadn't come with Meryl back to the farm after Meryl's conversion and marriage to Olly, but yet here she was watching television with neither Meryl nor Olly present, and aside from the reporter talking about Wisconsin's preparation for the Rose Bowl in the New Year, Nate couldn't hear anything that would be assign of his dad being in the house.
"Uhhh…" Nate managed, which drew Nelly to look up from the seat.
"Oh... it's you," Nelly spoke.
"Yeah... is something up?" Nate asked, not knowing about additional Christmas invitations.
"Nothing much," Nelly answered with something of a snort, "and you don't have to worry. I'm just here for Christmas and making sure my brother doesn't do something stupid."
Nate looked to Shuixing, who only shrugged, as both of them could detect some of the sarcasm in Nelly's comment. Shuixing supposed it might have been jealousy, as Olly and Nelly appeared to have been Animalia's only Mules and while equines were relatively popular with some people that looked to convert to being Animalians, most favored horses with their connections to racing or zebras because they were one of the truly wild "horse" breeds out there. Most people didn't necessarily want to become donkeys or mules, thus with the fact that Olly had fallen for Meryl's own stubborn/sarcastic streak, Nelly was a bit jealous that she didn't run into similar luck. Shuixing also noted one small glance that Nelly gave Nate and was quick to wrap one arm around Nate to hold him to her. Shuixing might privately feel that Nelly deserved a mate of her own, but that didn't mean she was going to share Nate. A part of her was still a bit shy on some things, but with the more she was able to talk to and be with Nate, the more she wanted him to be hers and hers alone... Though, Nate's potential status in inheriting the farm was something yet to be fully worked out.
"So... Nelly... do you know where my dad is?" Nate asked, getting the sense that this year's Christmas might have a few more guests than just Shuixing."
"I think he and his main helper are checking something in one of the fields... it might be a fence or something like that," Nelly said slowly, "but I really don't know..."
Nate assumed that was Blueberry, as she was the one who'd seemed the most interested in his father. Some of which made some sense. Many cattle lived to be around twenty years and in this, the older cows that had been sent to Animalia to be uplifted, like Blueberry, had been there since Nate was young, and there were some times when he came to check on his father when he'd find him talking to the animals and assuring them that things would be fine. From what Nate had seen in some of the coverage on Animalia, was that pets and livestock that had often had such close relations in which the owner treated them well, the uplifted Animalian would likely see the Human or Human family either as siblings, parents, or potential lovers. From what little Nate could see between his father and Blueberry in particular, Nate couldn't but wonder if she had interest in his father and now that she could truly talk with him as an Animalian that she would eventually work her way up to saying as much to him. Which could then make some things easier when it came to his own future with Shuixing. Nate did want to finish college and wanted a "real" wedding... but the more he'd talked with Shuixing, the more he got the sense that she was the "one."
Nate was about to get into asking Nelly where Meryl was, only to hear some braying moans echo through the house from upstairs. One voice was deeper than the other, and that answered that question for him. For the moment, both Nate and Shuixing decided not to take their bags up to Nate's room and the guest room for Shuixing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"But maybe we haven't reached that line ourselves," Shuixing said to Nate and nuzzled him again as her memories from Christmas returned to the present. Her heart was a bit giddy at the fact that Nate had even said that his best gift was simply having Shuixing there to share Christmas with her. "After all... you've been a gentleman and I haven't forced myself on you..."
"Perhaps," Nate managed and then looked down. He then quietly ran his hand along the wooden bench that had been installed in the hot spring and was careful to make sure that he found Shuixing's hand and didn't tug on her tail or put his hand somewhere else, "but you've been special... and from what you've told me... you've been through a lot. And you've helped me in a few ways... the instructional videos on martial arts you've sent have been helpful... and... well... there's also that I don't want to do anything that would hurt you... or make you feel less of me. I've kinda been shy around girls at times... particularly with those I've liked..."
Shuixing felt Nate softly squeeze her hand. Given that he was still Human and she a Water Buffalo Animalian, he did her no harm, but she did like what he'd said to her.
"You needn't worry," Shuixing answered, "you've actually made me feel special too."
Nate smiled at that, though Shuixing did continue.
"My sisters may wish to get their jokes in before you have to head back for college," Shuixing then warned with Jinxing and Huoxing giggling in the background.