Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 17: Difference in paradigms (nudity/teasing/wholesome)

'Oh god...'

I was the winning son. Not because a damn beauty in nothing but a slightly oversized shirt brought her knees up before stuffing her feet in my face.

No.

I was the winning son because I stopped myself from recoiling and stepping back. And on the other end of the spectrum, I managed to rein my inner pervert and hold back from instantly taking in a deep, dedicated whiff.

But that was it when it came to my victories. Because everything else was but a total loss for me.

Wait, no. That's the wrong way to put it. Everywhere outside of this fetish side of things that I managed to somehow endure consisted of me losing against Fay hard while, at the same time, winning as no one else could.

"The other cloth! Peter help Fay!" Fay repeated in response to my hesitation, wiggling her feet in the air, right in my face.

As if she was trying to tempt me into something as simple as helping her put the pants on...

Gulp.

My throat made a funny sound as my thick saliva slid down my throat. In a sense, it made me feel as if I just licked my lips in anticipation of...

Of what, exactly?

I shook my head while making sure to pull it back a bit, just not to tickle Fay's feet with my nose.

"Are you really not aware of what you are doing, or are you that much of a tease?" I asked in exasperation, sighing out a sigh of my defeat.

If there was no escaping it, then I could very well just do it.

I retreated half a step to get some distance from Fay's feet. Then, while doing my utmost to keep my eyes as low on the ground as I could to keep Fay's feet at the very edge of my peripheral vision and thus render myself unable to glance up her long legs... I took aim and raised my spare sweatpants up.

Thankfully, the material was soft, and designed to be easy to wear and put on. As such, I had little to no trouble putting the over her feet... Only to realize the drawbacks of keeping my eyes low as soon as I failed to keep my hands high enough and ended up stroking Fay's knee.

"Am I doing something wrong?" Fay, most likely startled by my question, appeared to realize that I wasn't all that comfortable with what was going on. Yet, in response to her own thoughts, she happened to pull her knees higher, as if towards her chest...

Right as my hands and the pants in them moved beyond the point of her knees.

Pulled by the sudden move, I swung forth. I was too focused on keeping my eyes low, ignoring the sensation of Fay's extremely soft skin, and keeping my hands high enough to even consider my stability. And as I fell forward, my hands shot up in my poor attempt at regaining any sort of stability.

In the end, my hands only found their support all the way down on the edge of the bed, while my body pushed up the pants nearly all the way up Fay's legs... Mostly because I ended up falling right into her lap, mere inches away from pressing my face into her chest.

My body, as it fell forward, pushed Fay's legs aside, wrapping my stomach with the extreme plumpiness of her thighs, all the way to the point where my belly button touched the texture of the one thing that was left to protect Fay's dignity.

'Is this what lucky pervert is all about?' I groaned in my thoughts, too terrified to move.

Terrified of the consequences of what just happened... And even more terrified of the slightly startled but amused look on Fay's face.

"Peter helped Fay!" Without even a hint of hesitation, Fay's smile beamed as she pushed herself towards me, wrapping her hands around the back of my head as she pulled it into her chest.

With nothing but the thin, breathable material of my shirt to keep our skin from touching, I now got to enjoy a loving embrace that only those accursed normies would usually be able to experience.

'Just hold on,' strangely enough, my mind turned calm, as if all the spare thoughts washed away. Right on the edge of losing it, I reached the nirvana of holding onto the very last thread of sanity.

"Whiff, whiff," leaning over my shoulder, Fay suddenly started to sniff something out, only for her body to slightly tense up.

For the very first time, I saw her getting uncomfortable over something that wasn't born out of her worry.

"Are you..."

'She's hesitating?' My mind trembled.

After seeing how calm she was throughout everything that happened, her sudden tension took me by surprise.

"Are you in heat?" Fay's voice nearly broke as she clarified what she had in mind. And now that we were tightly pressed against each other with barely any clothing keeping us apart and still on the safer side of things... The question that she jokingly asked before now turned much more serious.

It came to me like a shock. A shock that helped me to finally notice one of the key differences that made her act so strange in my eyes.

It wouldn't be the last paradigm she would have to change, but the very first one that would set Fay on the path of becoming someone who could safely walk the streets of the modern world.

"Forgive me for asking if it's a sensitive matter, but does your kind have periods when you go into heat?" I whispered my inquiry while allowing myself to gently hold Fay back.

She was warm, far warmer than I expected. Back when I woke up with her naked body in my arms, I simply assumed it was the wondrous insulating effect of the fox's fur... But no. It was her, it was Fay's skin and flesh that now burned in my light embrace, filling me with warmth of a kind I hadn't experienced in years.

"Fox do, Peter not?" Fay slightly relaxed in my arms, flipping up the vibe of our hug. Now, she held me closer, as if the distance that suddenly appeared had suddenly halved.

The sense of slight awkwardness was still here, just not at the same level as before.

"Peter doe... No, that's not it. Fay, listen," I gently snuggled myself out of the girl's embrace. This moment was too important for me to whiff it over a primitive desire that was born from how close Fay was.

I couldn't allow my lust to fuck it all up.

"Fay, humans do not go in heat. Because, in a sense, we are always in heat. Or rather, once our mating period starts, it only ends when we get old. And showcasing lots of skins, especially of someone as beautiful..."

Despite all my seriousness, when I saw Fay blush a tiny little bit in reaction to my words... I hesitated.

It didn't feel right.

If my current understanding was correct, Fay felt free and unrestricted around me because she expected me not to be ready to mate. When she noticed the possibility I was in an actual heat, she suddenly realized how risque our closeness was... Or something like that?

Still, going by this assumption, Fay's reaction to my compliments was rather... mild.

As if whatever allowed us to communicate struggled to translate certain words, or maybe Fay didn't really understand the meaning of a word not used out in the wild all that commonly.

"Fay, when I say you are beautiful, I mean you've reached the peak of how desirable you are. You couldn't be any better fit for who I could ever wish to partner with."

Not sure what exactly was the problem with this strange, automatic translation... So I could only try to pass on my meaning by being as direct as possible. Judging from how Fay's small blush suddenly exploded in intensity...

My words fell on a fertile ground.

"More. Your looks, your body, your shape... They are all enough to put most human males in heat on the spot. That's why when you showcase your... charms? Intimate beauty that should be hidden, no man will be able to hold back."

Now, Fay's entire face and even parts of her neck turned red. Her eyes even teared up... Not out of fear, as she didn't back out or even try to wrestle herself free from the hold I still had on just the tips of her fingers.

"It's not Peter's time... But it always is?" Fay asked in a tiny, shaking voice. "Peter... in heat? For Fay?"

I closed my eyes.

For some strange reason, Fay's broken manner of speaking only made her all the more adorable in my eyes. Unable to stop myself any longer, I simply decided to give up.

And so, I reached out, only to give Fay a light, gentle and restrained hug. One that was comforting yet not intrusive or overwhelming.

If things went any further, my desire for her would win. Giving up at the strategic moment of being overwhelmed by her cuteness allowed me to turn away from my desires and opt-out for simply cuddling and comforting her instead.

"I don't want to hurt you. But please, you need to mind how beau... desirable you are. Because even if I can still somehow hang by a thread, others in this world won't."

I took a deep breath and raised my eyes, looking right into Fay's heavily blushing face as she struggled to keep up with my stare.

Pushed something, I reached out and gently caressed her cheek.

"I don't know Fay for long, but I would really hate for something to happen to you. I don't want to let any other man ever cast their eyes on you. But..." I closed my eyes before lowering my chin as an ugly grimace of powerless desperation flashed in my eyes. "But behind that door," I pointed my hand at the entrance, "I won't be able to protect you."

Powered by the momentum I've already gained, I raised my face and looked into Fay's eyes again.

"I won't be able to protect you... yet."