The atmosphere in the safehouse after Jimmy and Anna took that shower together, was quite awkward.

They didn't have sex in there, as they were beyond tired, and sore, but Maria had heard them giggling and whispering while they were in there, and in hindsight, being around such an intimate couple felt awkward. These folks were strangers to her, after all, so she didn't know how to behave.

She laid flat on her bunk bed, eyes wide open, and was even attentive to how she breathed. She behaved like this for a full hour, until she was sure that everyone fell asleep.

Only then could she relax properly.

Maria stood up from her bed, and blanked out, trying to find it within herself to relax fully.

'I guess I won't sleep much tonight,' She thought.

Although the recent guests weren't aware of it, as they've lost track of time thanks to their travels, it was night-time now. A couple of hours past midnight, specifically, and unlike them, she maintained a perfect sleeping schedule until now. She slept at night, and worked during the day, like most humans did, but tonight, her perfect schedule was interrupted.

What was worse, she couldn't fall back asleep, even now, when everyone else was asleep, which in turn gave her the perfect conditions for her to relax.

Her eyes burned for sleep, the glare of the thin light panels on top of her head didn't help her whatsoever. She put her hood on to avoid the glare.

'Why can't I sleep?' She thought, frustrated, rubbing her forehead, 'These people are perfectly pleasant. I can't be that socially awkward, can I? Or am I just paranoid?'

The clothes on her back constricted her thin body as if they wanted to strangle her. Her clothes made her feel uncomfortable, and the recent awkward situations made her feel hotter than usual, and yet, she couldn't take some of her clothes off to relax properly. Her expensive black and blue fabric worked against her. She wouldn't ever feel comfortable sleeping naked, or nearly naked, with three strangers around, even if most of them were women.

Other than that, she hated the fact that only she appeared to be uncomfortable. She envied the people who snored their way into deep slumber, and wondered if she could do the same tonight.

Eventually, she realized that she had been blanked out in front of a naked woman, Almara, specifically, with her gaze dotted towards the perky mountains that Almara called her breasts.

However, she realized this too late.

Almara woke up, randomly, and noticed that Maria was facing her. Although sleepy, she was quick to complain about the matter.

"Why are you looking at me?" She asked, and then turned to her side, facing Maria properly. "I thought we had an understanding. I'm a shapeshifter, you know, so clothes make no sense to me."

"Oh…" Maria blurted, embarrassed.

She wanted to apologize right away, but then again, something gnawed at her, encouraging her otherwise. All the awkwardness she had felt over the past couple of hours rushed back to her, and she heated up like a kettle, her ears metaphorically whispering in embarrassment as she developed a rapid blush.

Instead of apologizing, Maria spoke slowly, muttering over every word, as she tried to excuse herself, "Considering that I don't remember meeting, or seeing a shapeshifter in particular, we have to guess that they were wearing clothes while they were in the city. They had to be, because there are plenty of kids there, and so the Guards would never allow nudity."

"We're not in the city, are we?" She asked.

Maria tried to come up with another comeback, but she was stumped. Worse yet, her lengthy excuse caught Almara's attention, and so she fought away the drowsiness that would've won the battle under most other circumstances. She started paying more attention, and so she focused on Maria's face, and noticed that she was really struggling. Red as an apple. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Wait…" She smirked, "Do you like women?"

"What?" Maria exclaimed through a whisper, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It might explain why you're acting like a branch slipped up your ass," She said directly, "If you want to share the bed with me, just ask. I can't promise you much, but I'll let you sleep on my chest… you must've been staring at them for hours now."

"I wasn't!" Maria shook her head frantically, "I'm just uncomfortable around strangers, that's all. I couldn't sleep, so I blanked out for a moment, but I wasn't staring at your breasts, I promise."

"Whatever you say," She sighed, and laid flat on her bed.

Her breasts jerked up and down in response, waving around for a short moment as if they were made of water.

Maria hated to admit it, but she was stunned by all that movement. The light panels above their heads shed light above the mystic mountains of fun quite thoroughly. She was a big fan.

'Dear Lord,' She grinded her teeth, quietly, 'What a stunning woman…'

Maria was flustered. She didn't know what to do at this point, but she didn't want to go through another experience like that again, so she laid flat on her bed, and pretended like she was sleeping.

It was unlikely for her to catch some sleep throughout the rest of the night, especially since Almara put her in fight or flight mode, wreaking havoc through her nervous system, but she didn't know what else to do. She didn't feel attentive enough to go out in the jungle right now, and she needed more sleep in order to become more attentive, so he was stuck here, trying to think of a solution.

Much against her will, she couldn't stop thinking about Almara's body. She was mesmerized by her, with good reason, even though she wasn't planning on admitting it anytime soon.

This train of thought came with a great challenge, because she was aroused, and could hardly do anything about it.

She wanted to pleasure herself, with the aid of her trusty right hand, as she usually did in private, but her clothes prevented her from doing so. She couldn't strip naked either, because she was shy, so she just laid there, festering in her own intimate emotions.