"Augh…" I groaned as I trudged back to my dorm from my college's indoor theatre. I was dressed in a pair of jeans, a "Hard Rock Café London" T-shirt, and a loose sweater to combat the Fall night chill. My backpack was slung over my right shoulder and my other hand held my precious 5-pound script. I had washed off all of my make-up and said goodbye to everybody who was staying a little later as I left, so I was currently alone on the cement walkways that crisscrossed the campus. It wasn't a horribly long walk and the pleasant scenery that my college was known for comforted me a little but my current condition didn't help my mood. I currently felt like shit as I dragged my sorry-ass back to my room at around midnight. As I had every night for about a week. The weekend of our performances of "West Side Story" was this weekend. It was currently Tuesday night, or Wednesday morning, I couldn't tell which, and I really didn't care all that much. All I knew was that this Jet needed sleep. Badly.

As I passed under the fluorescent lights, which cast a cheerful out of place glow on the pavement, I began to hear the sound of voices. I stopped listening as it sounded like a crowd was nearby but so far away that I couldn't hear a single thing they said. I turned my head left and right as the noise got louder and as it got louder I noticed my vision started to go blurry. It looked like images were flashing in front of my eyes at such a speed that I couldn't keep up and I quickly rubbed my eyes hoping to get rid of this effect. As my mind wondered if I was having a heart attack or stroke at the young age of 22, the voices grew to such a degree that I could have sworn that I was in the middle of it. I could make out the occasional word and it sounded like people were walking all around me. When I finished rubbing my eyes and looked up, I was immediately blinded by a great light. I stumbled back and bumped into what felt like a stone wall and shielded my eyes with my arms. When my eyes finally adjusted to the light a bit and I saw the scene that was around me, my arms (and jaw) immediately dropped and I stood agape at the view in front of me.

I was on the outskirts of a crowd, but it was unlike any I had ever seen, only imagined. I was on the side of a large courtyard which was home to a number of stalls and wagons set up with an incredible variety of goods that I had never seen before. The sun shone bright on the stone buildings that surrounded the courtyard but the midday sun was in just a perfect position that o shadow was cast on the courtyard itself. But what freaked me out more was the occupants of the courtyard. There were normal humans thankfully, but also pretty much every kind of demi-human species that any fiction writers had ever come up with; lizardmen, beast-men, hobbits, half-orcs, and many others. And that was just in this single courtyard! They were all dressed in medieval clothing but not the stiff historically accurate kind, no, they wore the kind that looked like it had come straight out of a game of dnd. Many of the females wore dresses that went down past their knees, with large hats, and often accompanied by children. The men wore baggy pants that went to about their shins and a thin T-shirt, a vest, or just nothing at all on their chest. The courtyard appeared to be a home for a market and the sound of people talking was deafening. I stood awestruck at the scene for who knows how long, until a young lady came up to me with a slightly worried expression on her face.

"Are you okay, sir? You've been standing there with your mouth open for a while now…"

She said as she eyed me rather cautiously. I was taken out of my shock her words and quickly turned towards her, still shocked that any of this was happening. As I turned towards her I must have had quite the expression on my face because she suddenly took a step back and continued to eye me suspiciously. She was dressed in a light blue dress adorned with a number of white frills that fell around her ankles and her light brown hair was tied into one large braid that nearly touched the ground behind her. When I noticed her slightly scared expression I realized that I must seem like a freak dressed how I am and standing around, saying nothing, for a long time. I quickly tried to make myself seem as normal as possible by laughing off her worry and trying to calm myself down as well by saying:

"Oh! Sorry I didn't see you there. But you don't need to worry about me I'm just fine. I was just awestruck by the beauty of this fine establishment! Now! If you'll excuse me. I have to go."

I then ran off in the opposite direction of where she came from, hoping that she wouldn't follow. The last I saw of her was her shocked face after my outburst and then I had melted into the crowd. I ran through the crowd, bumping into practically every person I passed, and thus earning quite a few shoves and smacks from them. I ran until I saw a nice empty alley, though I had probably passed a number of them in my panic, and I rushed into the alley. I staggered to the wall and whether it was from running or from the panic of my entire situation I hurled out all of the food I had eaten in the last day. I barfed for a number of minutes until there was nothing left and then I still dry-heaved for a number of minutes. I eventually backed away from the pool of my barf and slumped against the opposite wall. I was breathing heavily and I could hear my heart pounding like a cymbal in my ear. I held my hands over my ears and tried to calm down. 'Calm down. Calm down, Conor. Take a breath and think." I mumbled to myself as my mind went into overdrive to try to understand my situation. Eventually I was able to calm down enough to be able to look at my situation somewhat rationally. I thought back to everything that had happened and made some assumptions based on that. 1) I was no longer on any place on earth. 2) I was in a world where demi-humans were a thing. 3) I was in a civilization that appeared to be in a medieval stage, although it seemed to be a more advanced medieval age than earth's, judging by the nice clothing worn by who I could only assume were the peasantry. 4) My clothing and looks, although odd, didn't appear to be otherworldly to the people of this world. 5) I could understand the language just fine and seemed to be able to communicate back. I wrote all of these down in a small notebook and made room for more. After having done this I let a sigh of relief out and sat down against the wall, glad to have some sense of control in the situation. After sitting there for a short while I stood up, made sure my backpack was securely closed, and stepped out into the bright sunlight, my mind somewhat prepared for anything that might come my way. I am hoping my years of reading fiction and manga might help me. When I left the dark alley, I noticed that the sun was much farther down in the sky, creating long shadows across the street and covering the town in a soft orange light. I chuckled a little at myself once I realized I must have spent a few hours in there. After finishing my self-deprecating laugh I took some time to take in my surroundings a bit better. I walked around the town as casually as possible while taking in as much of the scenery as possible. Though after looking around for a short time I realized that "city" would be a better word. The city was made almost completely made out of a rough stone with wooden supports being common. The city was surrounded by a large stone wall which had a number of battlements with odd-looking contraptions on top which I could only assume were some sort of machine which was unique to this world. Though it was late in the afternoon, there seemed to be even more people out and about which made it hard to move around at times. However, it was good for getting a grasp of the mood of the city. I overheard multiple people talking about an election that was coming up, so this country was probably a democracy of some sort.

Other things that I noticed were that for every horse being used to carry or pull a cart, there was a giant lizard doing the same job. They were about twice the size of a horse and their colors ranged from dark brown to bright green or yellow. Their features also appeared to differ quite a lot between certain species as well. Some of them had longer jaws, shorter spines, or even a total lack of claws. I was lucky enough to overhear a conversation where I learned the name was "ground dragon" … fitting really. Sadly, this also led to large piles of dung that contributed to another aspect of the town which surprised me. The Smell. It didn't smell bad I would say, in fact the purity of the air was incredibly refreshing, however when passing certain places or when a ground dragon decided to relieve itself, you would get hit by an absolutely horrible odor that was an assault on one's sense of smell.

When the sun began to dip below the horizon and people went around and lit lanterns in the street and outside their homes, I decided to find a place for the night. I looked around for a place that looked like a tavern or inn and I quickly realized a major problem. Their written language was completely different from the spoken language. I had absolutely no idea what these chicken scratch marks meant and although I could tell that there was some order and pattern to them, I couldn't understand or even guess at a single word. I was left speechless for the second time that day as I realized how utterly screwed I was in this situation. I was in a seemingly fantasy country, had no money, couldn't read, no friends or even acquaintances, and I didn't even know where the hell I could go for help.

It was a number of hours before I even was able to find an inn. By then it was the dead of night and I stumbled through the door to this "fine" establishment in a drunken fashion. Needless to say, the many large, tattooed, and buff men at the bar and tables didn't take too kindly to my interrupting their happy hour. I was quickly grabbed by the scruff of my shirt and literally thrown out of the door along with a yell that sounded oddly like "Feck off!". I skidded for about 3 meters before my head bumped into a nearby fountain. I remained for that for a few minutes before I got up and went on my way. This process of going in and getting thrown out repeated itself about 5 times before I finally conceded to just sleeping in an alley however I never even made it that far. By that point the moon was high in the sky and I realized I hadn't slept for over 24 hours. I felt the adrenaline that had been sustaining me for the last half-a-day began to fade and I stumbled over to the side of the road and fell over as my backpack became too heavy for me to carry. I could feel my consciousness fade as I looked up into the moonlight and when my eyes closed I truly hoped that this would all have been some demented dream.

I awoke to the sound of cursing, laughing, and overall jubilation. I snapped my eyes open only to see the door to what appeared to be a medieval tavern. I was incredibly confused for a moment until the memories of the last half-day came rushing back. I sighed as I realized that it wasn't just a dream and that I was still stuck wherever this was. But then I realized something even worse. This was the first bar that I had been visited. I looked around in a haze and noticed that sure enough the moon wasn't as high in the sky as it was when I fell asleep. "Did I… go back in time?" I gasped to myself as I couldn't even contain my shock. I stumbled backwards and before I knew it I had backed up into the bar and was getting the same look that I had gotten the first time. As the same man that had thrown me began getting get up, I dashed out of the tavern and ran down the street, a newfound source of adrenaline pumping energy through my veins. "What the hell was going on!?" I thought to myself as I backtracked the path that I had taken before and found each bar exactly in order, exactly where I remembered them. I stopped when I saw the spot that I had fallen asleep and the energy that I had had suddenly disappeared as I slumped against the wall.

My mind was bombarded with possible scenarios or possibilities as I realized that whatever had happened, I had been able to go back in time. Not that it helped me out too much at the moment, but it did save me from getting thrown 4 or 5 times. I couldn't help but grin out of both nervousness and excitement as I realized that at least one thing in this world was going my way, however unknown it seemed. I spent a number of minutes just sitting there imagining how this might work and before I knew it I hit the limit of my stamina but thankfully the excitement kept me awake. I soon noticed that many of the large numbers of people in the taverns seemed to be heading home from their happy hour and forced myself to stand up, making sure to secure my backpack on my shoulders. I then ran down the street towards the nearest one of the inns.

I had to push through some people, some very drunk people, to get into the inn. However, I managed to get in and stay in the entryway without incident and was left practically alone in the bar now except for a number of individuals who were passed out at the bar and a lone innkeeper who stood smiling behind a small desk next to a single stairway up. He was dressed in the stereotypical butler fashion and had about shoulder length black hair tied into a man-bun. He stood with a respectful and calm fashion, seemingly unperturbed by the raucous excitement that had been here a few minutes ago. He quickly took notice of me and beckoned me over with a small wave of his hand. I walked over and as I did a small smile grew on my face as this was the first person to act civil towards me since that one lady. "I wonder what happened to her?" I wondered as I walked over. The middle-aged butler greeted me with a smile and asked, in quite an eloquent voice

"Welcome to the Silver Cup Inn and Tavern. What may I do for you today sir?"

I was quite shocked at the stereotypical reaction but I guess stereotypes are a thing for a reason. I quickly cleared my throat and answered him in as polite a tone as I could manage

"I would like a room to stay the night in."

He smiled, probably having guessed that's what I was there for, quickly held his open hand in front of him, and calmly stated

"Right away sir. That will be 1 gold coin."

Crap…. I forgot about that. He probably saw the panic and despair on my face as he dropped his hand and his expression became more stern before saying "Do you not have money sir?" I gulped as I saw the anger behind his eyes and quickly tried to cover for my mistake.

"I'm new in this to- city, and err, I just don't have any um… currency with me… yeah."

I could feel his eyes grow even more cold and I shrunk in front of him as his cold eyes looked me over. Probably trying to figure out if I was just messing with him or if he should have me removed. Surprisingly, after a few moments, he just sighed and looked at me with a combination of pity and disappointment before saying.

"Sir, do you have anything that you could give me in the form of a trade?"

I gasped audibly, quite to his disgust, as I remembered. The barter system! I completely forgot that trading items for other items or services was common in a lot of medieval society. I quickly through of my backpack and opened it up to search for something that I could give him. He initially seemed bored at my actions, but when he saw my modern backpack his interest became peaked and he watched as I went through a number of things he had never seen the likes of before.

Phone?

No.

Books?

He can't read them.

Clothes….

I quickly grabbed the extra hoodie I had in my front backpack pocket and slammed it on the desk, a little too forcefully due to my excitement and nervousness. He looked down at the hoodie with confusion and looked up at me with a judgmental eye as he probably had no idea what it was.

"This is called a hoodie! It's a special kind of clothing made for wearing in colder weather and it will help keep you warm, has a small pocket for holding things in, and even comes with a hood for covering your head. It's made from some really nice material."

God, I sound like a telemarketer…. However, my explanation seemed to peak his interest as he picked up the hoodie and looked it over with a rather critical eye, as if he was expecting something to be wrong with it. Not that I could blame him though, I must look pretty damn suspicious. I perked up as he looked at me with a somewhat resigned look and said:

"I'll buy this off of you for 3 gold coins, alright?"

I quickly nodded and judging by his heavy sigh upon seeing my reaction I could guess that he was loathing having to do this. I was knocked out of my dreams of sleeping in normal bed by the man following up with a second question after handing me three golden coins.

"You're new here aren't you. As in completely new. Just got here and have no idea what you're doing right?"

I was a tad offended by how he had dropped the cool butler-y act and was addressing me as a bit of nuisance now but I could understand what he must be thinking, and simply nodded, hoping to not cause any more trouble.

"Then why don't you follow me? I can explain a few things to you and make sure you've got a place to stay for a while."

I was shocked to see this sudden change in his harsh attitude as he walked towards one of the abandoned tables and took a seat.

"Well? Are you going to accept my humble offer or not?"

I grimaced at his self-praise but followed him nonetheless as I needed to find out more about this world and talking to him was definitely my best option. I just hope this goes well…

I had seen dragons walk around on roads, gotten sent back in time, and had managed to barter my hoodie off for a stay at a hotel, but where I was now being possibly the oddest scene that I had experienced yet. I was in a rough and smelly medieval tavern at around midnight with a few patrons still passed out at the bar or on the floor. I was sitting at a low table with a finish so rough I was worried that so much as poking it would give me huge splinters. And seated across from me was a middle-aged butler, dressed in a dark green hoodie that was too small on him, who was looking at me with possibly the most disappointing glare I had ever seen.

"First things first, let me introduce myself. My name is Charles Deanery and I hail from the land to the North of the capital. I co-own this fine establishment with my wife."

I had a small notebook in front of me and was waiting to write the important bits down as Charles continued his explanation.

"You are currently in the capital city of Halkeginia, a large central country which is ruled over by a royal family. Although there is currently no ruler or heir due to the entire family disappearing, there is currently an election being held to decide the next ruler. By the way, this country was essentially founded by a dragon."

At that I stopped writing and stared at him, shock quite evident on my face. He gave out a short chuckle seeing my expression, probably thinking that I was awestruck that the country was founded by a dragon. But no, I was shocked because a dragon existed. Thoughts ran through my head at light speed.

"Wait a dragon!? That means this is a fantasy world. Meaning magic and sorcery is a thing. Does that mean the time travel thing was…? And wait what else exi-."

My internal ramblings were interrupted by Charles as he continued his explanation.

"As I was saying, the dragon helped found this country after defeating the witch of Envy, Satella. A disgusting half-elf witch with silver hair who terrorized many people."

His face darkened a great deal upon mentioning her and after finishing that sentence I could have sworn I heard him say something under his breath. Did he say Emily? Who the heck is Emily?! Shaking his head, he smiled and resumed speaking.

"Anyway, that was a long time ago. Just a history lesson you should know. Right now, the country is under the rule of a contracted ruler, a court of nobles, a council of sages, and multiple orders of knights all working together to guarantee our safety and continued prosperity."

I chuckled a little at the classic set up of a fantasy world. Still though, I thought, this spells a difficult situation for me. I have no connections, no money, and a bare minimum knowledge of the world. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts. "No" I thought "I need to stay focused and confident. I can't waste a single second."

"There are a lot of other details I could tell you but for now I'll tell you the bare minimum that you need to know. Firstly, there are 3 types of coins used here Gold, Silver, and Copper. A silver is worth 5 copper and a Gold is worth 5 silver. Generally, copper is used to buy foodstuffs or small items. Silver is used to but larger things such as short-term services or larger items. And Gold is used for anything large or important. If anything, Gold symbolizes the importance of a transaction. Now the- "

It looked as if he was about to continue but we were interrupted by the sudden breaking down of the open door of the tavern. Charles' face drained to a pale and deathly white and when I turned around I could understand why. Standing in the door was a large… Beast. Well, beast-man might be a better word. I had seen some pretty impressive demi-humans in the streets but the size of this guy was terrifying. He wore nothing but a pair of incredibly baggy pants and a shoulder-strap which held a large metal plate to his right shoulder. It also held a large cleaver on his back which looked to be about as long as I was tall. The large beast-man ducked inside the room and stood at attention for the person who followed. And when she entered the room my breadth disappeared from my lungs.

I had never really been in love before and most definitely was not any form of romantic, but when she walked through the door the words "love at first sight" popped into my head. She was a small and relatively petite woman dressed in a long, snow-white, dress with fluff at the frills and edges. She also had a matching white cloak around her shoulders with a large with a large purse hanging across her small shoulders. Her hair was of a purple hue and fell to about her waist in a large wavy…. waves. But it was her eyes and facial expression that really caught my attention. They shone with a green-blue light and her face showed this visage of confidence and relaxation that took my breath away. She walked in, not like she owned the place, but like she knew that she belonged here and had a complete confidence in herself.

My staring at her was only disturbed by the arrival of three very odd puffballs behind her. The three looked almost identical and stood at about mid-thigh height. They seemed to be humanoid tabby cats and even had the ears to match. They were all dressed in white robes that seemed to complement the young woman, which made the hulking beast stand out quite a bit. She took a moment to look around and eventually settled her sights on Charles, who at this point looked as if he would rather die than be there. She gave a small smile as she walked over and stopped next to our table, flanked on either side by a puffball- I mean a cat person… thing.

"Excuse me, sir. Could I please ask what you think you're doing?"

Her voice was soft and cheerful, but yet again gave off this complete and utter confidence. Despite this I still noticed the cold and threatening message hidden behind those polite words and peaceful tone. I glanced over at Charles only to see him get on his knees and prostrate himself in front of her.

"I am truly sorry, madam Hoshin! We promise we will get the payment to you. Just give us a little more time. Please!"

Charles was crying at this point and his sobs interrupted his words as he continued to beg for more time. I stood shocked and looked at this young woman with horror. She was looking at this man with utter disappointment and if anything, a little amusement, as if she had expected this.

"Is this lady a sadist. And what the hell kind of mafia sh*t is this. Is she like the Big Boss of the local gang?!"

She eventually let out a sigh and leaned down next to Charles while giving him a look similar to that off a parent scolding a child.

"Charles dear. I know you have a very popular establishment and can pay it off at pretty much any time, so I would appreciate it if you stopped trying to get the sympathy of that poor man there in some fool's hope of saving money."

"Huh, what the hell is she saying!? Charles is bloody crying! How the hell could she say that!

However, it seems that she was telling the truth and that I was playing straight into Charles' hands as the second she said that he grabbed a dagger from his coat and launched himself at her, the dagger aimed directly at her throat. I barely saw it coming and though I was the closest, when I started forward, reaching out to push her out of the way, I knew I wouldn't make it. She on the other hand, yet again had this look of complete confidence. And I quickly understood why."

"Hyaaaaauuuuggghhhhh!"

The beast-man who was standing near the door burst forward with incredible speed, drawing his large sword in the same motion, and in ne swift action brought the back of the blade down hard on his back, slamming him into the floor so hard it cracked the floorboards. Charles gave out a cry and I could hear a number of sickening cracks come from Charles' back. Thankfully I was able to stop myself before I pushed the young lady over and simply ended up standing next to one of the cat-people next to her. The one I was next to me looked up at me and gave me a nod of thanks for trying to save her but then simply waved is hand at me to tell me I was not needed, so I quickly backed off and sat back down.

The woman gave Charles a knowing look despite his horrible condition and turned towards one of the cat-paople who stood next to her.

"Mimi, could you please go get the Mrs. And tell her that she is needed in the foyer as she has a debt to pay off and her husband needs assistance."

"Right-o ma'am!"

The little cat person proceeded to leap up the stairs and run into what I could only guess was their personal living quarters. Their shrill voice surprised me and caused me to hold one of my ears as it laughed when it jumped up to the second floor. The young lady and the rest of her entourage gave out a small smile at that one's actions, despite having just seemingly fatally injured someone. I gathered my courage and stood up facing the young woman.

"Uh… Miss… Um"

"Hoshin is fine. And madam please."

Her response was quick and calm with a practiced sound to it.

"Right. Uh, Madam Hoshin, is Charles going to be alright?"

The look she gave me next was one that looked as if I had asked whether the sky was green.

"Why would you ask that?"

"Huh, well he seems very hurt."

Her questioning look deepened and she even cocked her head to one side. Damn that was cute.

"I am very surprised your worried about his well-being. Did he not just try, albeit in vain, to kill me? And did you not just try to save me? Why are you worried about him?"

I took a step back in surprise. While I could understand her position and her reasoning, it seemed incredibly harsh and merciless. She seemed to be thinking that because he had done something wrong, however serious, he deserved none of the mercies generally granted to people. I get that this was a medieval world but that was just too harsh.

"Listen, you're fine and he's not. I get that he tried to hurt you but that's no need to abandon him to death when we could still save him."

Her facial expression changed from one of curiosity and interest to one of exasperation and with a heavy sigh she called another one of the furr-balls over.

"Hetaro would you please heal Charles. This… young man brings up a good point. And besides, we could use still use him."

The small cat-person walks over and places his hands over Charles back and says a few words. And then I saw something that shook me to the very core. Magic. A pale blue light emanated from Hetaro's hands and glided over Charles entire back leaving a trail of dust along his back that quickly disappeared into his skin and caused it to give off the same soft light. I stood in wonder at the amazing sight and didn't even notice when Madam Hoshin walked over and greeted a woman dressed in a nightgown. I only snapped out of my trance when I noticed that a large sum of money was exchanged between them and the woman bowed in apology. Hetaro then ended his spell, or whatever it was, and proceeded to bandage Charles up and carry him singlehandedly up the stairs and to jis room, which was quite the feat for such a small thing.

"What the hell is going on?"

I whispered that to myself as I grab my backpack off of the floor and head towards the door in the hope of finding another tavern still open. I was stopped however, by the large beast-man who had returned to his position by the door. The soft push he gave me may have seemed small to him but it sent me stumbling back, barely able to stay up. He gave me what I could only assume was a toothy grin as it looked like a snarl whenever he opened his mouth.

"Thanks a bunch lad. I know you didn't help much or anything, but I appreciate you trying to save Madam Hoshin."

Needless to say I was embarrassed and quite nervous. Here was a large Beast-man thanking me for trying to save some rich girl in a fantasy world which seemed desperate to throw me into a bad situation. I tried to say something but the words died in my throat. My fear and anxiety of having just seen an attempted murder and a nigh-successful one came bubbling up and I burst into a run, pushing past the large beast-man. I ran out into the street and baralled down the street, not really thinking of where I was going. It was probably about 2 in the morning and the streets were completely empty. There was a light rain coming down and my clothes were soon soaked from both sweat and the rain. I eventually stopped in a small alleyway where a small alcove had been cut out of a house to allow for cover from the rain. I stopped there panting and leaning over, my legs felt like hot lead and I swear I could taste blood in my mouth. However before I could catch my breath I heard a soft yet cold voice behind me.

"And who might you be, sir?"

I looked over in the direction where the voice had come from only to be met with an empty street corner. I squinted to see if I had missed something when the same voice came from right behind me:

"You're lost, aren't you?"

I turned around only to see a flash of light and sudden and searing pain in my neck. I fell backwards as blood burst forth from my neck and splattered the figure in front of me. There stood a girl, probably about 17, who was dressed in a soft white frilly dress and her light brown hair was put into a braid was placed over her shoulder as to cause it to fall to her waist in front of her. I couldn't speak and I could feel the blood draining from my body. And the pain. The pain felt like my entire neck had been spit open and I could feel my heart and lungs failing as their source of power and fuel stopped coming. My body quickly became cold and as my mind faded into consciousness I could only stare at the girl in wonder, wondering why she, who had been so worried about me earlier, would kill me like this.

"Why!"

That was the last thought that passed through my mind before everything went black.

"You hear me kid? Hey you okay?!"

The beast-man in front of me looked at me in worry as I stood there gasping for breath, my hand clutching at my neck, feeling for the gaping cut that had been there before.

What the f*ck! I just died! Was that really the chick who I saw earlier?! Why did she kill me? And how the hell am I alive!?

I tried to stand up but when I tried to all of the fear anxiety and the exhaustion of having not gotten any sleep in what seemed like days kicked in all at once and as I fainted, I fell forward towards the beast-man who moved forward to catch me. It's funny but my last thought before fading to black once again was:

"Hey. I wonder what this guy's fur feel like."