When the pair finally did return to camp, they found that Spencer had not, in fact, returned. Each set to work, wordlessly placing firewood to optimize heat, with St. Benjamin occasionally reaching over to set one of Samantha's pieces of wood more firmly in place. "Thanks," she said quietly, not expecting a response, and the pair made short work of their campfire. Samantha's hands were in agony and full of splinters, but she ignored the pain in order to keep the silence. She had built fires before, but never for cooking and always with heavy gloves to protect her hands. Even bringing firewood in, before she got sick, was done with a tough leather bag that never seemed to sustain even a scratch from the most splintered piece of wood. 'I guess that's one downside to having an endoskeleton,' Samantha thought, for once keeping her opinions to herself. While she absorbed the warmth from the fire that St. Benjamin had started, he carried three rocks over and placed them in a triangle with the campfire at the center. He stared at Samantha's contemplative face in the firelight, and while she certainly looked healthier than she had during the first part of their acquaintance, her spirits seemed much lower.

The brush in the distance began to rustle, and eventually Spencer's beastman form was visible. He was laden down with prey of various kinds; he had taken a little extra time to try to find something that would appeal to Samantha and also, if he was being honest, to blow off some steam. Samantha got up to relieve some of the burden, as if he were carrying mere grocery bags, and Spencer took the opportunity to formally present the entire lot of prey to her. "Samantha," he said, as she reached toward his bird-laden arms, "I hope you will accept these gifts from me as a token of my affection for you." Not understanding the subtext of his words, Samantha misinterpreted this as an apology and thanked him, choosing two medium-sized birds and sitting down in an attempt to prepare them, hoping they would begin to look like something she was more familiar with cooking. Spencer had also brought back a large deer and began to skin it, his sharp claws and vast experience making quick work of the animal. Samantha was still pulling feathers as Spencer moved on to disemboweling the deer.

"Why don't either of you wear any clothing? Err, coverings?" Samantha asked the males, as she was used to talking while she worked. "Is that normal for everyone in this world, or is it just the two of you?" she said, half joking. St. Benjamin, who had been stoking the fire, shared a glance with Spencer, unable to believe that there existed a female so completely ignorant of any cultural traditions on the beast continent. Spencer, who was beginning to understand where exactly he had summoned Samantha from, cleared his throat before beginning his explanation. "It isn't just the two of us," he began, "but most single males will decline to cover themselves because it helps us attract mates. Firstly, our physique is visible to potentially interested females without our having to even say a word to them. Secondly, not all beastmen's beast stripes appear on their faces, so St. Benjamin, for example, can easily show both females, who might be interested in him for his strength, and males, who may want to fight him, that he is a four-striped beastman and therefore quite powerful. If he wore a covering over his torso, the black beast stripes that are on his sides would also be covered."

"What exactly do beast stripes represent?" Samantha interrupted, "And where are yours? I don't remember seeing them, but then again, I only saw both of your, umm, beastman forms for the first time a few hours ago." Spencer, surprised that St. Benjamin had also kept his body concealed from Samantha, felt a twinge of guilt that he had been as deceitful to her as the feral beastman. "As beastmen become more powerful," he began, "they earn stripes that appear on their bodies in places related either to their race or to the nature of their power. The most common location is the face, but mine are on the sides of my neck." He leaned forward into the light and moved the hair curling gently near his jawline, exposing two red stripes on each side of his neck, sitting high on his neck where the four marks were normally mistaken for tendrils of his hair. "The first beast stripe that a beastman earns is not especially difficult, and often happens shortly after they are old enough to transform from their beast form to their beastman form. The additional ones are acquired through physical training and combat, and the maximum number of stripes any beastman can have is four. This level of power is often referred to as giving one the power of a 'Beast King' because few can attain it, thus giving a beastman the power to govern those with lesser power than themselves. Rumor has it that there is an additional level of power, but nobody has ever seen a beastman with more than four stripes," he finished.

Samantha's mouth was agape, and the piles of feathers she had amassed from plucking the birds was blowing in the slight breeze, unsupervised. Spencer, assuming Samantha wanted to keep these feathers for whatever reason, wrapped them in a piece of leather he cut from one of his bags and stored it safely for her while also removing the birds from her hands to continue processing them. Cutting off their heads, he continued with his lesson on clothing customs on the beast continent now that he felt the tangent Samantha had sent him on was concluded. "Thirdly," he began, making sure Samantha's attention was on him and St. Benjamin was roasting the deer meat he had prepared, "animal skins will tear and be ruined every time we shift forms if we do not remember to remove them, and it's really inconvenient. Then we have to sew ourselves a new set of animal skin clothing, and most beastmen are not known for their sewing prowess. Finally," Spencer cleared his throat once again, this time from embarrassment, "not wearing clothing over our pelvic area allows females to see our reproductive organs, and if they find them pleasing, they may choose to mate with us for that reason." He blushed as he wondered whether Samantha had found his own organ attractive when she had seen it before he left, and if she had, how much that might influence her decision to mate with him or not.

Now that Spencer had fallen quiet for more than the time it took for him to catch his breath, St. Benjamin jumped in, feeling left out of the conversation. "What Spencer has forgotten to add," he said, noticing the other male's blush and guessing the reason behind it, "is that these are also the main reason that females prefer for their mates to wear coverings over their hips at the very least. So it's much more likely that mated beastmen will wear animal skins even at the increased inconvenience to themselves. What their female says, goes, unless he wants to find himself unfavored in his family or even have his spousal contract canceled by his female." The longer he talked, the more his silky voice seemed condescending toward mating, which was no shock to Samantha. 'In fact,' she thought, 'it's probably better for the females of this world that he has no interest in mating.' To finish further discussion on the topic, he added, "Females, on the other hand, clothe themselves as they please, but their clothing's purpose is to show their status. The more flattering or elaborate their clothing is, the more likely they are to attract additional males for their family, thereby increasing their power and, ironically, their status. Again."

The deer meat had finished cooking, and St. Benjamin cut off a slice for himself with a clawed hand. Samantha was busy roasting the birds by placing them near the fire on spikes cut by Spencer. "Samantha should eat first," Spencer reminded him quietly. "She's not my female and she never will be, I'm not going to serve her. She can get her own food," he finished, taking an even larger piece and putting it on a slab of rock to begin his digestion process. Once digestive juices started dripping from the scorpion's mouth, Spencer rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Samantha, who was now at the fire and attempting to pick what she could from the piping hot deer roast. Burning her fingertips after securing a dripping piece of meat, she stuck both the meat and her fingers in her mouth, suddenly regretting that she hadn't washed her hands before taking a piece of supper. Spencer seized her hands and saw that not only were they burned, but they were covered in scratches and splinters. He glared daggers at St. Benjamin, who gave him a dispassionate look in return, and picked Samantha up. "I found a river earlier; let me take you there and care for your injuries," he said, his heart aching. St. Benjamin continued to eat, but he found himself also regretting Samantha's injuries. Her hand had felt so soft against his face when she caressed it, and now, even if he was lucky enough to receive her touch again, it wouldn't be the same, and he could only blame himself.