Once again, the foxes regretted leaving their clothes behind before descending the cliff not because of any modesty, but because of all the sheer raw material their attire could have provided. Maybe they -had- for even a little bit gotten too much into the 'garden of Eden' mentality. Well, logically speaking clothing had in their cultural mentality only been a means of covering, not thought of as material that couldn't be easily gotten. Sure, they knew there was no Jenny's on this planet, but it hadn't really felt, well, real to them. Not at the time anyway.
The clothes could have really come in handy as makeshift towels for their fur! It had now been two week since the rain had begun, three weeks and two days since they had been sent here by Danielle's monster of a sister. One week before they would have to risk catching a cold or begin to starve. And the rain did -not- show any signs of letting up, at all.
Brandon had been right, this did indeed seem to be the rainy season for this world, or at least the insignificant corner the foxes were stuck on. The foxes had entertained the idea that maybe a hotel manned by humanoid foxes was just over the next horizon, but they doubted the power drunk witchling would have given them the mercy of such a trait. True it could have been a bait and switch, but to be perfectly honest, she really, really, wasn't that clever.
Danielle tried to reason that the rain couldn't last that much longer or the trees might catch leaf rot or something. Of course, as Brandon pointed out, they really had no clue how resistant to disease the trees around here were. They were just lucky their transformation seemed to come with some basic immunities to whatever nasty germs their alien bodies weren't used to on this world. Or maybe that was the thing, they weren't alien, not in the biological sense. It would explain why the rabbit meat and fruit on this alternate Earth had been edible for them, if their body chemistry had been made to match the local flora and fauna.
Danielle having had a night to sleep it over, she wanted her little self starred match maker plan to go without a hitch. She also realized this seriously just be the hormones talking again, like had happened that first day where she had been reasoning like an animal rather than a person. As soon as this rain stopped she told herself, she would do it. Once she knew it was herself talking and not just her body, she'd show Brandon that she was indeed ready for that next step. True, she never imagined she'd be rushing to home plate with her other half like this, but, given the circumstance, she knew normal convictions were out the window.
Oh! Why couldn't she remember more on how foxes courted in the wild? Then again, it wasn't something she ever considered she'd have to know in real life.
To keep themselves sane, without hunting and gather to keep their mind occupied, the foxes had begun to share every book they had ever read with each other, going as best they could from memory. At least it made things interesting when the other had to make things up on the fly to make up for them not remembering the events of a story exactly. Danielle found herself strangely attracted to Brandon's mental collection of romance novels. Then again, it -was- the female stereotype to be into that sort of thing.
Danielle had been so terrified of being female when they had first gotten here, of losing that piece of herself. But now less than a month later, without anything to really drive the point she was supposed to be male home, she had found her revulsion at her fate lessening. She hadn't been lying to Brandon, or at least she hoped she wasn't, if something DID come about of them making love: she wasn't scared to live with the consequences. Though one sobering thought did occur to her. Would she have a cub? Or a litter?
++++
As a woman, it had always been pressured on Brandon to be a follower, it was never intentional, and it was hardly something that implied she was inferior to her male classmates (well, normally), but now he found himself thrust into the role of leader, thinker, and doer. Oh Danielle was still doing plenty of those, but she seemed to be turning more introspective the longer they stayed here. She was thinking more and more about the philosophy of them spending the rest of their lives here.
Brandon on the other hand, seeing the rains were not letting up, was already thinking of ways they could keep themselves relatively dry while going out for a food run. As comical as it was, the best he had so far, was to take an oversized leaf and used it as an umbrella. Or maybe one person to hold the umbrella, the other to carry the fruit back, (hunting was going to be pretty much impossible in this rain) together and back forth, next to each other, leaning on each other-agh! Okay, he admitted it, he was thinking about Danielle in that way. At least his common sense and will power was holding out.
Brandon wondered if he had changed roles out of the social expectations they had brought with themselves here, or was yet another part of the change the little witch had brought on them. If that lass was supposed to not have her powers for all that long, how the heck had she been able to do something like this? Had she been amplifying her power somehow? Not that it mattered at this point.
The pint sized sadistic monster could bring them home a moment from now, eighty years, or eighty thousand years from now! Stupid time reality compression relations! At least when she brought them back, (assuming she even kept that part of her word) she wouldn't be any more powerful since it would have been only a short time for her. Danielle on the other hand. Brandon had warned her NOT to use the chance she'd gain magic once her age hit a certain time as a crutch. But if Danielle -did- they'd need some kind of defense from the little monster, or she'd just torture them -again- the -next- time she got bored or angry.
Maybe she'd recall them just before that time just to be on the safe side? He doubted she was -that- smart. Maybe she was watching until they both made love and then would teleport them in front of all their friends for one big laugh. If they were lucky, she wasn't that clever.
Brandon did know this much, if the rains didn't let up, he'd be the one to risk it, if Danielle was going to follow his choices as loyally as she was, the least he could do was take some risks to shows it wasn't a one way street.
Brandon also knew he was very much in love with Danielle, but how could he know he wanted to be with her and it wasn't just the instincts talking? Maybe when the rains ended, if either of them lasted that long.