Freya and Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 25: Bad Thoughts

"Is that everything you need?" Xavier asked as they made their way out of the department store.

"Should be..." Freya mused, glancing over at the bags Xavier was carrying in one hand.

Sadly the department store didn’t offer the same delivery services as the clothing stores did, so Xavier was stuck carrying quite a few bags. Which had her wondering if she went a little overboard.

She did buy quite a few things... Still, most of it was necessary in her eyes. She needed good hygiene products and that blow dryer because she was not about to let her hair continue being a fuzzy mess like it was right now.

Not to mention she also needed things like proper bedding for her new room. Most of the furniture was already at Xavier’s home, since they were converting an old guest room.

However, some things needed to be changed due to neglect. So, they got some things for her room and had them sent to the house. Thus her room would probably be done within two days and then she could finally have her own space.

"The bags aren’t too heavy are they?" Freya asked as they walked through the shopping mall, passing several stores and other shoppers . "I can carry some if you need."

Xavier glanced over at her and sighed, "Please don’t insult me like that... Carrying a few bags is nothing. I just want to make sure you’ve gotten what you need."

"I have everything I need." Freya confirmed. "We can leave now if you want."

Despite getting a little overexcited about shopping, a wave of guilt had built in her for dragging Xavier around. The snake beastman must’ve been bored out of his mind having to watch her mull over everything.

But it was mostly because she wanted to get a sense of how things were valued in this world. The currency used here was completely different to the one she used back home and it took some time adjusting to it.

But once she got the hang of it, shopping became a breeze.

"Let’s get something to eat first." Xavier proposed. "You must be tired and hungry by now."

Now that Xavier mentioned it, she was a bit hungry. Which made her wonder how long they’d been shopping for. They did stop at quite a few places.

"What time is it?" Freya asked.

"Hmm... Probably around three." Xavier stated. He then turned his head and added, "There’s a decent place by those stores that we can stop by. They have quite a variety of dishes too. Does that work?"

"That’s fine..." Freya nodded her head.

Hopefully, they were cheap too then it wouldn’t really matter what dishes they sold. She already spent quite a bit today, despite Xavier telling her he could pay for her.

However, Freya wasn’t having any of it. He had helped her enough and she didn’t want to be any more in his debt. Relying on him too much would not be good for her.

Xavier seemed to know what she was thinking because he added, "This is my treat. You’ve spent more than enough money in front of me that I won’t stand for getting any more glares from cashiers."

Right...

Some of the cashiers would give Xavier sharp looks whenever she stepped up to pay instead of him. Guess it was to be expected considering most beastwomen didn’t work and relied on their beast husbands or the FPA incentives.

Too bad the independent part of her couldn’t quite adjust to that. It wasn’t that she was against the whole "princess treatment" thing, but rather it felt wrong.

Xavier and her were practically strangers even if they were now married. Their deal only covered one thing and getting pampered wasn’t part of it.

"I can’t..." Freya answered honestly. "If I let you pay, it’ll feel like I’m adding to this unknown debt to you."

She knew it was better if she just let Xavier pay for it. Things would be easier that way. But realistically she couldn’t adjust to something like this so quickly. She needed time.

Xavier sighed, coming to a sudden stop. He then gazed down at her and murmured, "Is that how you feel? That you owe me some debt."

"Yes." Freya replied. "It’s probably stupid, but I can’t let go of this feeling..."

"If that’s the case, then let’s do this..." Xavier suddenly used his right hand to pull his left coat sleeve up, bags shifting on his right arm as he moved.

He uncuffed his black shirt on his left arm, also pulling it up to reveal a muscular, pale arm. He then looked up at Freya.

"You can hold onto my arm and use your ability on me to repay that so-called ’debt’ of yours." Xavier stated. "Does that work?"

"I guess it does..." Freya mused, looking away from his arm. "But why not hold hands instead?"

Because showing that arm had to be a crime. He barely flexed it and it got so veiny which just had to be the thing she was into. Urgh... She hated the thoughts that arm was giving her.

Holding hands would’ve been much easier than this. At least then her mind wouldn’t have gone to the gutters. Her face was heating up in embarrassment at the thoughts.

Xavier raised an eyebrow at her sudden red face before shaking his head. He then lifted his left arm and said, "I have to keep the gloves on and you need skin-to-skin contact to use your ability."

That snapped her out of her mini daze. Right, Xavier was constantly wearing those black gloves. She assumed it was a germaphobe thing, but he did carry her blood-stained, muddy self to the city.

So, it was unlikely that. Plus there were only certain times he would remove them. Meaning...

"Is it because of your ability?" Freya suddenly asked.

Xavier gave her a small smile. "Correct. They act as a precaution measure against my ability, so I don’t accidently send something to the void."