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For the first time, she made her move. Lacy watched from the bushes, waiting patiently for the human camper to leave. The young man had been getting his backpack ready, a clear sign he was about to leave his campsite for some time. And that was the perfect opportunity for the lizard girl to finally get her claws on some delicious human food tucked away in a white container.
She watched as the man turned his torch on and walked away into the dark of the night, waiting until he was far enough before coming out into the open. Once she could only see his light in the distance, Lacy crept out of the bushes, tip-toeing on her clawed feet. Her long tail dragged behind her on the ground, brushing against the short grass of the campsite.
Despite the chill in the air, she only wore a white crop top with her red shorts, as layers of clothing had little benefit for a cold-blooded girl like herself. Her scales were made up of black and cream-colored rings that repeated through her body and limbs, the unmistakable pattern of a lace monitor. At least, it was unmistakable to her, she'd heard others had trouble telling the difference between lizard species.
Lacy moved slowly, both to remain quiet and because she was already lethargic from the cold temperature. But as her long tongue flicked out, tasting the air, it revealed to her more of those delectable tastes campers always left behind. It was enough for her to push through the chilly night to claim her prize.
Snooping around, the sneaky lizard checked the tent, peering through a small opening to see inside. She had made sure this camper was alone, spending last night watching him from the dark. But she couldn't be too careful, most didn't camp alone, but thankfully no nasty surprises awaited her.
Confident she was in the clear, she quickly turned her attention to the white container and ran her claws along it. She tried to lift the lid, but it wouldn't budge easily. She had watched the man open it before, and after fiddling with the latches, the container opened wide.
Inside was a treasure trove of goodies, bags and wrappers with bright colors on them that she knew contained those elusive human foods. Her tongue went wild, tasting all the wonderful scents in the container, each new and exciting to her. They were different from the food her people normally had, only meats and greens for them.
Lacy was flush with choice, reaching to grab whatever her claws found first. Grabbing a bag, she lifted it up, the red package crinkling in her grasp. She'd seen this one eaten by humans before, one of the more common ones she had seen in their possession. With her sharp claws she tore the bag open, but she used too much strength and sliced that package open. An avalanche of triangle-shaped chips fell out, half the bag emptying on the grass below. She quickly picked what she could off the ground, shoveling them into her mouth.
An explosion of flavor filled her toothy maw, a crunchy delight with a cheesy taste she couldn't get enough of. Crumbs fell from her mouth, Claws became covered in cheesy dust. But as delightful as those crunchy treats were, there were many more foods to try out.
Lacy couldn't hold back, she tore packaging and wrappers to shreds as she licked and chewed all that was edible. There were brown bars that melted in her mouth, disk-shaped treats that crumbled with every bite, and colorful worms full of flavor she chewed on. She was solely focused on the bounty before her, her head completely inside the container.
But she had made a mistake, she hadn't even considered the human might return already. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the flash of a light that was far too close. Her snout had been buried in the bag of a particularly salty food, licking the flavor from the insides clean. It was then that she realized her mistake.
The lizard girl panicked, jumping to her feet as instinct kicked in. She needed to climb, and fast! She looked to the closest tree that was big enough to hold her and ran to it, not stopping to remove the bag still attached to her snout. She began to climb, a surprisingly difficult task, as her body felt sluggish not just from the cold but from something else. She gave a quick look back over her shoulder, seeing the human almost back at his campsite.
Lacy's arms and legs hugged the tree as her claws dug into the tree trunk for support. The effort it took to pull herself up was far more strenuous than usual, making it a slower process than she'd like. And then her stomach protested, a loud gurgling noise that brought with it a sudden wave of sickness. She couldn't climb anymore, especially with that bag on her snout making breathing harder. She just clamped down on the tree and hugged it tightly, she'd just have to wait until it was safe to crawl down and escape. She hoped she managed to get high enough to escape the campers' notice.
One side of her long lizard face was pressed against the tree's bark, letting one of her eyes keep track of the campsite below. The human was already looking at the mess she had left behind, she hadn't meant to leave it like that, but he left her little choice.
“God damn it…” She heard the man say, his temper more restrained than she would've expected. “Did I really leave that unlocked?"
It wasn't long until the man was using his flashlight to survey the perimeter of the campsite. He hadn't looked up in the trees yet, and she hoped it would stay that way.
But her stomach betrayed her.
Another loud gurgling sound, followed by a bout of nausea, overcame her again. And it was loud enough for a light to fall upon her. She closed her eyes in response, the bright light doing nothing for her already nauseous state.
“Are you serious?” The man called out from below, his light turning back to the pillaged food container, then back to her. “I go off for a quick walk, and you decide to eat all my snacks?”
Lacy felt heat rush to her cheeks, feeling guilty over what she had done. She had no clue how rare or important those snacks were to humans, only that they didn't share them with her people.
“I-I'm sorry!” She squeaked out through the bag on her snout. She needed to lie down, or else she might regurgitate what she just ate.
“Listen, you better get down here, you know that stuff isn't—” the campers' words were interrupted by another loud gurgle from Lacy's stomach. “It's not good for you, okay? You could be pretty sick, I don't need you falling off that tree and making me call animal control to get you help.”
“Don't call them! I'm coming down…” Lacy didn't need to get in trouble with animal control, she was already pushing her luck sneaking out of her people's reservation to visit a campsite. But stealing a camper's food would definitely get her in some trouble.
She slowly climbed back down, her limbs thanking her once she finally touched the ground again. She turned to face the human, his arms crossed as he stared at her. Lacy looked away, finally pulling the bag off her mouth. She wasn't sure if she should hold onto it, drop it, or give it back. But her thoughts were interrupted as her belly rumbled, another sick feeling that made her lurch over. She had to lie down.
“Hey, are you okay?” The camper asked with concern in his voice. He watched her lay down on her back and cradle her tummy. “I really don't need a lizard dying in front of me because she's scared animal control might give her a stern talking to. Are you sure I shouldn't call them?”
Lacy lightly shook her head from side to side. “No, I just… I need to rest and, ugh, let my stomach sort itself out…”
The man sighed and threw his hands up in a shrug. “Fine, let me get you some water and a pillow at least.” He didn't wait for a response as Lacy lay there, the camper walked off to his tent to grab what he needed.
As amazing as the food had been, she was paying the price dearly for her gluttony. It was no wonder her people didn't allow those kinds of foods to be easily accessible. She'd certainly have a funny story to tell her family when she got back, but she wasn't optimistic she'd be walking back home tonight.
After a brief wait, the human was back with pillow and water in hand. “Here, rest your head on this and have some water.”
Lacy lifted her head as the man slid the pillow under her. The bottle of water was offered to her, which she took a sip from, doing what little it could to help her.
“Well, I guess you might be spending the night here, huh?” The man mused. “My name is Terry, by the way.”
“Oh, uh, hello Terry… I'm Lacy.” She replied, offering a toothy smile as she tried to ignore the nausea billowing in her gut.
“So, do you usually sneak out to steal from campers here?” He asked casually. Whatever anger he might have had over Lacy stealing from him seemed to have evaporated. She could only guess he viewed her sorry state as enough of a good enough punishment.
“No… I just wanted to taste those delicious foods you humans have.” She explained, a frown forming on her mouth. “I didn't mean to eat so much, I just kind of lost control and kept eating…”
“That's why they don't like most anthros having access to that junk, they can't control themselves when they eat it and get sick easily.” Terry explained, now kneeling next to her. He reached his hand over to feel her forehead, the back of his fingers was warm. She let out a sigh of relief as her cold body got some much-desired heat.
“Hmm, you aren't overheating, in fact, you're pretty cold to the touch.” The man said in surprise.
“Well, yeah, why would I be hot?” Lacy asked, confused by what the camper was talking about.
“Because you're sick and people normally have a temperature?” He answered back before something clicked in his head. “Oh, you're cold-blooded, duh…”
Terry retracted his hand from her forehead, with Lacy giving a small pout at the loss of the heat.
“We actually prefer heat when we're sick, you know…” She not so subtly implied, earning herself an unamused expression from the man.
“…I suppose I could light the fire. I hadn't planned on using it tonight to save some wood.”
“But you're warm enough already, just… put your hands on me.” She pleaded, wanting that warmth now so she might escape the sick feeling in her belly. “I just need to warm up a little. I don't want to waste your wood too….”
The man sighed and looked back at the mess of food and wrappers surrounding the still wide-open container. “Fine, I guess I can't leave you sick and cold. You're lucky, those were only snacks and not my meals.”
With that, the man reached his hands down towards her, hesitating on where to actually place them. Lacy reached up and guided his hands to her belly and the side of her face, the warmth immediately sinking in.
“Ah, feels better already.” She cooed, her nausea already lessening.
“Ok. Good. Uh, how long will I need to do this for?”
“Until I feel better.” She told him, before adding, “Please.”
Lacy then closed her eyes, focusing on the hot hands that were now heating her up. She nuzzled Terry's hand, one of her arms reaching up to hold it closer to her. Terry remained quiet as Lacy slowly found herself seeking more of his warmth. She pulled his whole arm closer, rubbing her long snout against the forearm too.
“You, uh, okay now?” the camper asked, uncertainty in his voice.
“Better, but… need more.”
She was acting on an instinctual need for warmth now, her arms reaching for his shoulders as she pulled herself closer to his body. The man only offered a small gasp as he let her slowly encroach even more onto his warm form. She was no longer lying down, instead, she had pulled herself against his body fully, nuzzling into his neck.
Terry remained motionless as she climbed him like a tree, her arms wrapped around him and legs straddling his waist. Her soft breasts pressed against the man's chest, her pursuit of heat pushing her to cover as much surface area as possible.
In the back of her mind, Lacy seemed to recall that seeking warmth from warmbloods like this with strangers wasn't socially acceptable. But she was cold and sick, and the man had already agreed to warm her up, and he hadn't protested once so far. She even felt his hands run along her scaly back as she clung to him.
They were both silent as she warmed up, but she began to feel worried as she could feel him getting colder. She pulled her head back from the crook of his neck to look at him. She was greeted by his beet-red face looking back at her. “You're getting colder, should we stop? I already felt better.”
“Stop? Uh, no need. I'm… fine.” Terry reassured her, the acceptance of her closeness was surprising, especially after his reluctance before.
Lacy didn't need to hear another word, she went back to hugging him. Her sickness slowly faded away as the heat helped her digest the food better. As she began to no longer feel that sick anymore, she worried about how she'd repay the human who was kind enough to help her despite her thievery.
“Terry?” She asked in a low voice, still nuzzling into his neck.
“Y-yeah?”
“Sorry for stealing from you. I don't know what I can do to repay you back for being so understanding.”
“Pay me back? Uh, think nothing of it. It was just some snacks, nothing important.” He assured her, his attitude change once again surprising her.
“Really? Shouldn't I pay you back somehow?”
“No need. I mean, this is fine for payback already.” He emphasized with a pat on her back.
Lacy smiled, giving him a little squeeze. “This IS good, isn't it?”
“Yeah… it is.”
Lacy then felt something start to nudge into her ever so lightly through Terry's pants. She was concerned at first, but it felt warm, so she wasn't too bothered by it. Her mind then started to recall something else, specifically about humans and how their bodies could react to cuddling, but she couldn't quite remember what it was.
“What's that poking against me?” Lacy asked innocently.
Terry went frigid in her grasp.
“U-uh…”