Help! I Got Parasitized by a Slime

“You are nice with her, it’s… cozy,” Candy noted as Galine trotted out to see who had arrived.

I smiled into my mug.

“Will you tell her about me? I want to make a friend too,” she added hopefully.

I hadn’t expected that. I was hesitant; I had quite literally only met Galine a few hours ago. Jesus, the time had flown, and we had drunk most of the bottle.

And yet, the Tavern Crew knew about Candy more or less, and Galine really did seem trustworthy. Not that I was in any state to make a decent judgment about anything, though.

“Sure,” I muttered. “But not tonight,” I added. “Tonight is for being sad and angry.”

“Pamela!” Galine called. “Guess who’s back?”

“Shady’s back?” I muttered, giggling to myself stupidly as I went to find out. “Tell a friend,” I hummed.

Fuck, I was drunk.

The Tavern Crew was back! They all stood at the counter looking largely dishevelled and exhausted, but they were alive.

“You made it,” I smiled, raising my glass. “How did it go?”

Kimrel groaned, stretching out his back. “We’ll live. We encountered a stormscale.”

I nodded, turning to Frida. “We got your letter.”

“Good,” she smiled. “How are you holding up?”

I glanced over at Martrix, who was writing something down in the ledger beside Galine. “Good,” I nodded. “Still adjusting, but I’m okay.”

“Good,” she repeated.

“Look what we brought back,” Perven called, hauling a large sack across the floor. It was sickeningly wet and heavy.

“I don’t think I want to know,” I muttered.

“Petven lured it down a gorge,” Kimrel grinned. “Then we dropped a big rock on it.”

“The stormscale,” Frida supplied.

Kimrel nodded. “Even just the bits we could carry back will be worth a fortune.”

“Yeah, none of which you should have done, by the way,” Galine spoke up, somewhat scolding. “None of you are cleared for epic tier threats.”

“We had a plan,” Martrix smirked. “And no offence, but just reporting a stormscale makes a lot of money move around, and none of which would go to us.”

Galine just shook her head with a sigh. I didn’t know what to make of any of it. I just sipped my wine and tried to keep up.

“Oh come on, guys,” Martrix groaned at both of us. “We killed a fucking stormscale without taking a single damage. You can be a little impressed.”

“It’s certainly impressive,” Galine snorted, “but how your scheme failed, it would have eaten the lot of you. Pamela and I have been worried sick.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “You had her climbing stairs.”

I regretted the words the moment they were out of my mouth. But it didn’t seem to be news to anyone.

“Ohh,” Martrix cooed, saccharine and teasing. “How about this, we’ll pay your entrance fee to the academy, and you find it deep, deep in your heart to forgive us?”

“What?” I choked on my wine.

“We all agreed,” Frida added sheepishly.

“Yup,” Kimrel nodded.

“You’re serious?” I blanched. How the–What?! Why?!

Martrix smiled kindly. “Yeah. We… really fucked up with the… in the grass,” she grimaced, correcting herself for my sake. “I mean, we totally destroyed any chance of you becoming a mercenary.

“We want to make things right,” Frida tried to smile.

I shook my head, speechless. “Wow, I… thank you so fucking much. That's… that's crazy. All of it?”

Martrix chuckled. “It’s really nothing, we can absolutely afford it now. Don’t worry about it.”

“Wow… y'all are really great,” I sniffed, tears running down my cheeks. Frida wasted no time pulling me into a hug.

The next few minutes were an emotional mess. Even Petven semi-begrudgingly gave me a hug. It was unbelievably, like winning a total scholarship, or the fucking lottery. “Thank you,” I ended up just mumbling again and again.

“We’re going out for drinks, you wanna come?” Martrix offered slyly.

I grimaced and shook my head. “I shouldn’t. I’ll already be hungover tomorrow. Go celebrate. I need to drink water and go to bed.”

Kimrel patted me on the shoulder with a laugh. “We’ll make sure to drink extra for you.”

I smiled but spared a glance at Galine. She had been quiet through it all. Notably, they hadn’t asked her to go out. That didn’t matter; they knew her better than I did. I yawned. Fuck I was suddenly exhausted. The last thing I wanted to do was go to bed.

Petven finished dragging the sack of what I could only picture as viscera into the back room. Then the Tavern Crew, apropos of their name, headed to the tavern.

“Goodnight!” I waved. “Try not to kick the door down when you get back.”

“Oh,” Martrix chuckled. “We won’t be back until the morning.”

Even Frida hollered with excitement.

Oh my god, they were monsters. I kept waving dumbly until they were once again gone.

“I feel like I’m on shrooms,” I muttered, trying to blink away the chaos.

Galine smiled, scribbling something down in the ledger. I walked over to lean against the counter. “Hey, I’m sorry about mentioning the stairs. I’m really drunk. But I shouldn’t have done that. It’s not anyone’s business but your own.”

Her smile grew more sincere. “It’s okay. It’s not a… secret.”

I nodded. “I’m still sorry. Now, please give me a good excuse to go finish the bottle with you rather than going to bed?”

She chuckled. “I do have to work tomorrow.”

“Please?” I pouted. “I’m sure Frida can cure hangovers or something.”

Galine bit her lip, scrunching up her face. “Oh, fine. But you’re really sure you wouldn’t rather go with them?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’m not sure I’m up to party until dawn.”

“No?” She asked, closing the ledger with a thump. “You’d rather get drunk with little old me?” She smiled.

I grinned. “Already drunk. Can I touch your fur? You’re very pretty.” I was probably putting my foot in my mouth, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. At least I was being honest.

Galine flushed and rolled her eyes. “Do you know how many people ask me that a day?”

I grimaced. “Sorry.”

“Do you know how many people I let touch me?”

I shook my head.

“This time only, one,” she smiled, reaching down to take my hand and thread her fingers through mine.

My heart fluttered at her touch. Oh… her skin was so soft, too.

She picked up my mug and tugged me back to the office.

I couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot. None of this was normal, but it felt more normal than anything else since I had arrived here.

Galine poured the last of our wine into our mugs. I was still stupidly holding her hand. She lifted my mug to my lips for me to drink. “Okay, clever,” I muttered with a giggle as I licked my lips.

“Hmm?” she blinked.

I shrugged, all too aware of my blush. “That was just smooth,” I flailed slightly to explain. “Cus… with the…” I held up our joined hands for emphasis.

She laughed, releasing my hand as she took a few steps forward, brushing her equine flank against my shoulder. “You can touch,” she reassured, clearly embarrassed.

Curiously, I ran my hand down her shoulder, fingers brushing through coarse hair. She shivered and sipped on her wine. On Earth, I had never pet a horse, and I wasn’t really petting a horse now, but I figured it was close. I zoned out slightly, just running my fingers through her coat.

“Pamela?” Galine asked, setting down her mug as she nervously fiddled with her hands. “Can I kiss you?” she blew out a breath.

I swallowed, looking up at her, nodding. “I think I’d like that,” I mumbled.

Her smile was adorable. I held my breath as she leaned down, running my hand along her back as I slid closer. She gently brushed her hips against mine, tasting wine. I kissed her back, harder and giggling.

When we broke apart, she nibbled on her lip. “Outworlder or no, you're rather something for a human.”

I gulped down more wine in a failed attempt to wipe the stupid grin off my face that seemed to be etched into me permanently. “Thank you for tonight,” I whispered. “I really needed it.”

Galine leaned forward, this time kissing the corner of my mouth. I relaxed, leaning into her side.

“So did I,” she sighed. “Can I ask you something?”

I nodded.

“Does it really not bother you?” she asked, scrunching up her nose as she tried to hide behind her mug.

“Does what?” I blinked, my brain far too foggy to keep up.

“My equine half,” she grimaced, flicking me with her tail for emphasis. “Humans are… always weird about things.”

“Oh,” I mumbled. “Not really. I mean… we didn’t have centaurs on Earth. Just humans.” I frowned, needing to continue. That didn’t really get my point across, and I was pretty sure I had already said that. “It’s definitely new, but… it doesn't bother me. I’ve now spent more time around centaurs than horses. I just hope you feel the same about my arm and… oh fuck, I forgot to introduce you to Candy,” I frowned.

“Candy?” Galine asked, confused.

“I have a symbiote,” I yawned, tapping on my skull. “Long story, she’s a little bit evil, but I’m teaching her how not to be so evil. Anyway, another conversation. I just mean… you’re gorgeous, Galine. I’m sorry people are too stupid to see that.”

She blushed with a chuckle. “You’re quite a looker yourself, but maybe let's get you some water, yeah? You can introduce me to your… symbiote another time.”

I groaned. “I know it sounds stupid, and she really is–”

“Hey!” Candy protested.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Galine smiled, cutting me off with another kiss. It was seriously effective. “It just means we’ll have to do this again soon,” she added hopefully.

I grinned, downing the last of my wine. “Definitely,” I agreed happily. I felt like I was on cloud nine.