Boots off, Chloe quite literally got cold feet about river washing.

Tove went first, at her insistence, and ensured she made a show of every splash and drag of her hands over her skin. She was waist deep, probably half-frozen to death, and didn’t flinch from dunking her short hair. When she paddled back to Chloe’s seat, her hard nipples bobbed out of the water every few strokes. It felt deliberate. Chloe’s were the same, pressing tight against her bralette, but not from the cold of the water, she only had her toes in so far. Despite her body’s embarrassing reaction to seeing all of Tove… It was soothing just to watch her play in the water, listen to the laps against the river bank, and enjoy the slightly cooler air in the crevice that split the woods.

Chloe had shuffled, mostly against her will, closer to the river, dragging her butt over pebbles that left round indents on her palms. Tove had already returned to land once, and taken a flying leap back into the water after tossing Chloe's pack far enough away to avoid splashes. That was where they would sleep tonight, Tove had told her. The logistics of shelter and food would be left to the wolf tonight, Chloe decided, she could allow herself a night of letting Tove care for her while she was injured. Her ankle throbbed in agreement.

“If you won’t slide in far enough to cover your legs, I’ll have to wash you myself,” Tove threatened. She had reached the bank and dropped to her knees just beyond Chloe's feet. The water barely covered her crotch now.

“It’s cold!” Chloe whined childishly.

Tove gave her a flat look, it almost morphed her face into a different person. “Cold will numb your ankle.”

She was right, but Chloe didn’t want to admit it.

"Come here." Tove grabbed Chloe's leg and pulled her closer, unswayed by Chloe's babbling about losing her glasses in the murky depths.

Chloe hissed when her ankle was fully submerged. After a few seconds, she let out a long, slow breath. That did feel better. Tove wasn't satisfied, she pulled Chloe in till her thighs were soaked, till they floated either side of Tove's bare hips. The icy water lapped at her higher and higher, and her skirt was hitching up as she slid over the pebbles. But the problem wasn't the cold water or her glasses or her skirt, it was Tove's nakedness so close, getting closer, and Chloe's brain having no reference as to what to do in this situation.

She spent the majority of her school years in a dormitory, for goodness' sake, she had seen bits of naked women. But it wasn't so open and so brazen and they weren't pulling Chloe in as though to press their bodies together in their most intimate places-

"Please don't get my skirt wet!" Chloe yelped. As hoped, Tove paused.

"Take it off then," she replied, as though it were that simple.

Chloe frowned, feeling her cheeks puff indignantly.

"Ah yes." Tove's grin slipped back. "The nakedness issue." She released Chloe's legs and floated backwards, deeper into the river.

"It's not an issue."

Tove's twinkling eyes told her she didn't believe that. She returned to her lazy body-washing, brushing her fingers over every inch that Chloe could see above the water. "Your skirt is barely covering anything now, so what is the point?"

Without dragging herself back from the water, Chloe began to wash too. Far more discreetly than Tove, with scooped handfuls of water rubbed along each limb. Bit-by-bit the dirt came away. "It's not about showing everything... " she finally answered. "It's about certain parts."

"The sexy parts?" Tove snagged Chloe's uninjured foot and waved it above the water with a grin.

Chloe squeaked and pressed the little roll of skirt down between her legs. She looked away for a moment before she could answer. "Yes."

"Who chooses which parts are the sex parts?" Tove let the foot drop into the water with a splash that hit her in the face. She laughed.

"Well, they're the parts you have sex with," Chloe explained.

"What about nipples? Your face goes all red when you see mine."

And once again, Chloe's face had done just that. "They are... erogenous zones."

"There are plenty of erogenous zones, why those in particular?"

Some of the pebbles were quite pretty, Chloe distracted her eyes and hands from the awkward conversation by digging around those nearest her. Pinky tones and striped patterns... maybe she would take one with her...

Tove waited patiently for an answer.

Chloe sighed. "If I'm honest, Tove, I don't really know."

"Then what is keeping you covered?"

"It's ingrained, I guess." She began to pile the shiniest pebbles together. "You spend all your life being told it's disgusting or perverse to let anyone see those parts… then if you did-"

"Or you saw someone else's," Tove added.

"It brings out this deeply buried shame."

"It's a wonder your kind hasn't gone extinct." Not said unkindly, but trust Tove to find the humour in anything.

"Well, that's the exception.” Chloe flicked the top rock, shy. “Your lover would see you naked - but they're the only one. It's supposed to be... special."

At the corner of her vision, just beyond the glass of her spectacles, where the world turned blurry, the Tove shape had gone very still. Chloe glanced up from her collection, finding Tove's face... a little pink... and quite awkward in expression. Before she could ask what had overtaken her, Tove mumbled, "That's... romantic."

Chloe shrugged.

"I think I see why you are uncomfortable now."

"You do?"

Tove side-stepped from Chloe, wading through the water. "Since we met, I have been acting like your lover, right?"

"That's not quite how it-"

"And since you haven't reciprocated, I should have backed off and put clothes on." Tove's solemn tone was a shock. It reminded her of the stern moment in the cabin, one of very few times Chloe had seen Tove appear serious about anything since meeting her. "Instead, I've continued and made you feel uneasy.” Her head hung a little, as though ashamed. “Maybe even unfaithful if you already have a lover."

"I don't-"

"I'm sorry, Chloe." Tove climbed up from the bank, lithe and light-footed, and headed to the backpack. "I promise I never meant to disrespect you... sexually." She retrieved her clothes and pulled them on, tying the waist of the long skirt tight. It clung to her wet legs.

"Tove, you haven't done anything wrong!" Chloe called over her shoulder, twisting as far round as was possible without twinging any sore spots. "It's not- I'm not- I do reciprocate!"

Tove's hands froze. Chloe's whole body froze. How was it, in all her twenty years of existence, she had never managed to find the right words for any situation?

"I mean, I would. If you were actually-" Chloe snapped her mouth shut. It was getting worse. Tove did not move or speak. Realising that swimming away from her own poor communication skills was not an option, Chloe tried one more time. “I just- It's not as black and white as I have explained it. The nakedness between lovers, it comes after some time. The... being naked is not an announcement of... attraction. It's more of an... end goal."

"Chloe..." Tove spoke slowly, approaching again with cautious steps. Her bare feet unbothered by the pebbles digging into them. "Is the nakedness tied to the act of sex?"

"Yes!" Chloe exclaimed, scaring a pair of birds from the trees, "Sorry, that's what I was trying to say. You see each other naked for the first time when you have sex."

"Does this mean, in magic folk culture, I have been doing some kind of naked mating call since we met?" Her face was still pink, it paired perfectly with her tan, giving her a peachy hue that Chloe wished she could keep forever. Wished she was closer, so she could admire it better. Wished she had paint or chalk with her to try and match the colour and cover her life in it. Wished she could reach out and touch it, and know the warmth beneath that was causing it.

A few moments of tense silence had passed before Chloe realised she had been asked a question. She pushed visions of juicy peaches from her mind.

"No! No, I didn't take it that way at all," Chloe assured her. "The issue is not you. At all. It's me and my own embarrassment around naked bodies. But I'm getting used to it- yours, I mean."

"Maybe I don't want you to get used to mine." Tove put her fists to her hips, jutting her chest out, it only emphasized the tight fit of the top. And how wet the skin beneath was. "Maybe I want it to be special, too!"

"I'll do my best to forget," Chloe replied weakly.

"Good luck." Tove winked with her tongue poking out. "I've been told I'm unforgettable."

She was absolutely right, but Chloe was too grateful that the topic had come to a close to bother responding. The sun was setting, a welcome sight to watch in silence while she revisited every word she had said that day. I do reciprocate. Chloe cringed at the sun, it shone pink and orange back at her. Almost peachy... Chloe's flush returned. There were snaps and splintering noises from behind, and Chloe let out a long breath, an almost-sigh, releasing stress she hadn't realised she was holding up in her chest. Tove would take care of things tonight. She was more than qualified, and... she wanted it be special, too. The sky purpled, but Chloe stayed red.

A witch falling for her familiar, in any other circumstance, was disgusting. But Tove was different. Not just in that she wasn't solely an animal, but her way of being, her views of life and the world around her - it wouldn't fit in well with magical society at all, but Chloe loved it. And it was infectious. Being around Tove gave Chloe a feeling that maybe one day, she could be just as carefree. That nothing was worth the worry.

When her cheeks had cooled a little, and she had managed to drag her legs back out of the water and crossed them under her, Chloe allowed herself to peek back at Tove. A weak fire was gaining strength in a pit dug in the dirt just beyond the pebble bank, thick tree branches had been tied into a lean-to against the nearest tree, with reeds for rope, and their bedding was laid out beneath. Tove smiled at her from the other side of the fire, Chloe returned it and turned her attention back to the river, watching the moonlight in the ripples and wondering if it made her an awful person to wish they could stay here until the end of the summer.

Tove cooked fish for dinner on a spit made with twigs, caught with her bare hands like a bear, much to Chloe's horror. Chloe had a jarred vegetable stew for her dish. As they ate, Chloe attempted to gather intel on what was ahead of her... at the end of their journey.

"What do werewolf dens look like? I've only seen paintings in books and I don't know how accurate they are anymore." There was no colour, only ink sketches wherein they all simply looked like long caves. There was no furniture, no culture, no art. Having met Tove, Chloe was fairly certain this couldn't actually be true.

"Mmm." Tove swallowed her bite. "Easy to get lost in. Dark. Sometimes stinky."

Maybe the old ink was accurate.

"Sounds fun," Chloe mumbled.

Tove laughed. "The den is the underground bit, but a pack's territory includes the above ground part, too. That's much more simple, brighter, a bit less stinky." She winked.

"And how do you know when you have entered pack territory?"

"Well, there's a wall around it usually."

"Oh."

"And big wolves patrolling it."

"Ah."

"Who would have smelt you before they could see you."

Chloe swallowed.

"But they'll smell me, too." Tove's canines flashed when she smiled, possibly trying to be reassuring. "You're safe as long as you don't wander off."

"That I can promise," Chloe squeaked.

Tove laughed.

With dinner finished, they shuffled back down the bank, listening to the water and watching the sky. Chloe's ankle felt much better, and her cuts were all washed. She had planned to bandage them up with the kit in her pack, but it felt too good airing them out. Maybe in the morning, before they set off again, back to dry dirt and brambles.

Long after her body had chilled to the temperature of the pebbles under her palms, a wolf nudged her, pointing its snout to their camp. Chloe let herself lean heavily on the wolf's back as they trudged back up the sloping bank and under their shelter.

Tove had been right, wolf fur was very warm. Chloe cuddled in close, wrapping herself in a Tove duvet.