tygertyger said: And... Mistress Akeldama? Don't think you can slip a Gail Carriger reference past me, rafiq. :) And that is not the only reference in her name. Her first name comes from Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. A card in Magic the Gathering (with some pretty neat fan-art, some examples: pic 1, pic 2, and pic 3). Coincidentally the Drana in the flashbacks from my story is also a Vampire bearing that name. Three guesses where I got the inspiration for the name from :-P |
MetallumOperaturJan 24, 2018 7:34 AM
tygertyger said: Yep, I'm definitely Team Kasumi now. I'm liking where this seems to be headed. And... Mistress Akeldama? Don't think you can slip a Gail Carriger reference past me, rafiq. :) Pretty tough to sneak something past you :P MetallumOperatur said: tygertyger said: And... Mistress Akeldama? Don't think you can slip a Gail Carriger reference past me, rafiq. :) And that is not the only reference in her name. Her first name comes from Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief. A card in Magic the Gathering (with some pretty neat fan-art, some examples: pic 1, pic 2, and pic 3). Coincidentally the Drana in the flashbacks from my story is also a Vampire bearing that name. Three guesses where I got the inspiration for the name from :-P Yeah, I had completely forgotten that there was someone named Vela in your story, then again, it has been rather amazon heavy :P |
| I like Kasumi. Though, and this thought is based on vague inferences, the picture the overall flow of the story paints in my head, and a dream I had last week, I somehow feel as though there's someone en route with whom I'd rather knock boots. =P |
emeraldtryst said: I like Kasumi. Though, and this thought is based on vague inferences, the picture the overall flow of the story paints in my head, and a dream I had last week, I somehow feel as though there's someone en route with whom I'd rather knock boots. =P I guess you'll just have to wait and see :P |
| Chapter 29 After we spent most of the day in bed, the time eventually came for me to get to work. While heading down, I wondered once more what Kasumi really did for a living. Working for a rich and influential person could mean just about anything. Checking out a dealer at a seedy gambling den was certainly an interesting sort of assignment, though what did it indicate as to the overall nature of her employment? My work behind the bar that night was a fair bit busier than before. It seemed word had spread further that I was not taken and I received more propositions than I cared to count. It was still as flattering and mildly tiring as ever, though I couldn’t help but wonder if I would ever fully get used to it. “Is there anyone catching your eye?” Kasumi wondered as she suddenly appeared behind me and startled me. Her fingers snaked downwards from my stomach, to soon arrive at my rather potent erection, hidden from sight of the other patrons by the bar. “How about you?” I asked playfully. She gave me a tug. “This tells me that at least someone here is turning you on. It’s not healthy to hold back.” I crinkled my brow in puzzlement. “And here I thought that it was you who wanted me? Why are you trying to get me to take someone else to bed?” “I don’t mind sharing. If you’re with me you don’t need to worry about missing out on other fun,” she said, sounding very sincere, which was simultaneously a strange thing to say and kind of turned me on. “Well…” my gaze scanned the crowd and stayed on the raiju I remembered had been masturbating when I had given my first performance. She had touched my hand earlier while I handed her a drink and the shock of electric pleasure that had run through me was to blame for my current excitable state. “That one then?” Following my gaze, Kasumi disappeared from behind me as quickly and silently as she had appeared, quickly making her way over to the raiju and exchanging a few words with her. The raiju alternated her gaze between the kunoichi and myself, the look of surprise quickly morphed into a ferocious, face filling smile and she enthusiastically nodded at Kasumi, saying something I couldn’t make out over the din of the crowd. Negotiating the crowd with ease, Kasumi made her way back over. “She appears willing.” “I figured. I actually didn’t give the go ahead though.” “You know you want it.” She was right, I did sort of want it. Though I was still wondering why Kasumi would actively try to get me to screw another woman. Excitement slowly built up as the rest of the night passed me by. When the time finally came to close up for the night, the raiju, who had stayed close to the bar for some time, made her way over, visibly impatient to get started. “I’ll make you howl with pleasure,” she informed me with a toothy grin. She took my hand in hers as I stepped out from behind the bar. A weak current of electric pleasure started coursing through me immediately as she started to pull me in the direction of the stairs. I looked around for Kasumi, but couldn’t see her. It was too late to back out now, I already felt my knees going weak. We made our way into my room where she wasted no time throwing me on the bed. H-Scene I lay utterly exhausted and deeply satisfied between Kasumi and the raiju who, I only then realized, I hadn’t even asked for her name. In spite of my exhaustion, I had a hard time falling asleep as occasional shocks still coursed through me, causing some mild twitching in my body where my skin touched that of the sexy weasel. Evidently I had fallen asleep at some point as, when I woke, the raiju was gone and Kasumi was already awake, propped up on one arm and looking at me. “Good morning,” I said, stifling a yawn. “And to you,” She drew little circles on my chest with her fingernail. “So, you didn’t feel like joining in yesterday?” I asked, carefully broaching the subject. Why had she not joined in, but just watched instead? “Hmmm… You seemed to enjoy yourself and there is something enticing about a man…. my man, getting ravaged like that.” Her free hand went down to her loins as she said that. So she’s a bit of a voyeur, I guess. I think I can live with that. “But if you want, I’ll join in next time,” she continued. “You should,” I smiled, placing a hand on her side and kissing her, enjoying the taste of her lips. I scooted closer to her, enjoying the feeling of her warm body pressed against mine. She seemed just as fond of feeling me against herself, as she pressed her head against my chest and under my chin and hummed contentedly. After spending a while longer in bed, we finally got up and enjoyed a relaxed day outside. At my request, Kasumi showed me some of the sights of Bestallion, such as the forested garden surrounding Kioko’s castle. It seemed to be a popular location, as many mamono were strolling around and even an above average number of humans could be seen out and about, most of them in the company of one or more mamono. “How about that one?” she asked, pointing at a slime. “You seem quite occupied with finding women for me to sleep with.” “You don’t like it?” She asked. “Well, I’m not exactly bothered by it, but I can’t help but wonder whether you don’t actually want to be with me yourself?” “I do, but… are you sure it’s alright.” She patted her loin. I rolled my eyes. “I thought we were over that? Do you need me to blow you again right here before you believe that I don’t mind? That I like it,” I added. “So bold,” she said with a teasing smile. “Your preference is to have onlookers then?” “Ehmm, maybe not HERE here in the park,” I quickly backpaddled. “I was thinking back at the inn. I don’t really have… you know… exhibitionist tendencies.” “I don’t either, but if you want to, I’ll allow it.” “No, I guess you place closer on the voyeuristic spectrum.” “I suppose I do…,” she agreed thoughtfully. A thought entered my mind and I asked carefully. “Well, if you like watching that much… how come you stopped those other mamono from raping me?” “What do you mean?” She wanted to know. “You know, those goblins, that kappa, the oomukade. Why’d you stop them?” “You didn’t want that,” she said. “It’s better if both sides want it and…no. I mean, I thought it might help me get closer to you.” It certainly didn’t hurt, I mused. But it sounds like there is more to it than she is saying. “So you were not tempted to let them do their… thing before helping me?” “…No,” she said. “I suppose what counts is that you did help me, thanks again.” She affectionately squeezed my hand in response. We returned to the inn late in the evening and directly retired to my room. She seemed a little reserved at first, but I made sure to show her, through action rather than words, that there were no issues. The next morning, I decided that I had skipped my exercise for too long already and headed to the inn’s small walled garden to make up for it. Kasumi was once again watching as I went through the routines that Ella had taught me. Her expression indicated that she was still not convinced by my efforts. “I don’t think that’s going to do you much good,” she finally commented after some time, giving voice to her thoughts. “Why not?” I asked, though I secretly could not help but agree with her. I did this mostly for the exercise, less for any hope of actually becoming a decent fighter, certainly not by this world's standards. “Waving around that sword is not going to be of much use to you.” “I probably won’t win a fight, but maybe I could hold on for a little. Long enough to maybe make a difference, if it ever comes to that,” I mirrored the argument that Ella had made to me initially, even if I thought it was a thin kind of an argument. “For a while, huh?” She stepped closer. “Then let’s see how long you can hold on.” “Don’t you need a weapon as well?” I felt stupid for asking this even before the sentence had fully left my lips. She chuckled in amusement and shook her head. I took my stance as Ella had taught me, while Kasumi maintained a completely relaxed posture. Since my goal was to hold on, rather than win, I did not make any offensive moves, but rather waited for her to make hers. Seeing that I was not coming, she moved forward in a single burst of speed. In the blink of an eye, a foot found the gilt of my sword. Without even hurting my hand, it was sent flying from it. Still without any difficulty, she wrestled me to the ground. She bound my arms with her knees and reached behind her, her dexterous fingers unlaced my pants. “And just like that, it’s rape time,” she said dryly as she got up. “Or worse.” I was lying on the ground, stunned not necessarily at just how easy she had brought me to the ground, that part wasn’t unexpected. What was unexpected was the speed with which she’d done it. My eyes had barely been able to follow her and she hadn’t even given off the impression that she had tried particularly hard. I quickly re-fastened my pants, rose to my feet and retrieved my sword. “Well, what would you have me do then?” I asked and couldn’t quite suppress a note of petulance stealing its way into my voice. “It’s fine if you want to train, I encourage it. But don’t overestimate your ability to hold your ground.” She mused for a moment, then added. “Perhaps a different kind of weapon might be more suitable. A bow perhaps, so you can stay away from any potential enemies.” “A bow wouldn’t have helped me in that situation either. And let’s be honest, as fast as you are, you could probably dodge an arrow.” “Sure, if I see it coming. But if I don’t, a bow is a much safer option for you to eliminate an opponent.” “Well, I agree with that. A bow seems a much more suitable option. Still, I think it can’t hurt to continue exercising with the sword.” “If only to stay in shape,” she agreed. “What do you say we go and see if we can find a suitable bow for you?” “Sure,” I agreed. After cleaning myself up, we headed out into the city and soon arrived at a shop that had all kinds of weapons on offer. A bored looking cyclops was sitting behind the corner, reading something. She looked up for a moment when we entered, gave Kasumi a nod, but didn’t seem inclined to get up. I let my gaze wander over the wares on offer. There was a wide variety of weapons to choose from, starting with small weapons like daggers and jittes and reaching all the way up to larger weapons like a large battle-axe. The most impressive piece was a ridiculously oversized sword on the wall behind the counter that I imagined even most mamono would have difficulty even lifting off the ground. It really seemed less like a sword and more like a colossal black slab of metal. There were also a few bows and crossbows, which I focused my attention on. Unsure of how to choose the right one, I shot a questioning look at Kasumi who addressed the cyclops. “We’re looking for a bow.” “For yourself or the man?” She asked without looking up from her paper. “The man.” The cyclops looked up and gave me a quick look-over. “I’ll have to see if I have something suitable for a man. Those are all for mamono.” She gestured for the bows on display. “I’ll have to see if I have something made for humans or children in the back.” “Children?” I asked. She gave me an incredulous look. “Of course, you wouldn’t be able to draw a real bow.” That made sense. In a sobering sort of way. The cyclops exited into an adjacent room and left us alone. I passed the waiting time by looking at the wide range of weapons that were on offer in more detail. After a few minutes of waiting, she returned with an unstrung recurve bow in hand. She got a bowstring from behind her counter and quickly strung the bow before handing it to me. “Try drawing the bow,” she instructed me. I took the bow and drew back the string. The resistance was very stiff, more so than expected, and I did not manage to draw it back fully. After struggling for a moment, I gave up in slight frustration and the cyclops ran a large hand over my shoulder and arms. “Your frame is decent, but you’ll need to build up a little more muscle if you want to use it.” “Do you have anything that would be a little easier to draw?” I asked. “No, there’s no demand for bows that a human could use. Mostly custom work if it comes up. The one you’ve got in your hands would be interesting as a training weapon for a young amazon or the like. Others I have that are suitable for children are too small for you. But you should be able to use that one with some training.” “I see,” I grumbled. “In that case I suppose I’ll take it. How much is it.” The cyclops named her price and I picked out my purse, pinching coins and hoping I had enough. Before I could determine if I could afford it though, Kasumi had already handed over a handful of coins. The cyclops unstrung the bow and handed it to me, along with a few bowstrings and a quiver filled with fifteen arrows. I thanked her and turned to leave the shop. Outside, I asked Kasumi. “Why’d you pay for it? I have a job so that I can pay for things myself.” “You didn’t have enough.” “How do you know how much money I have?” She smiled coyly and ignored my question as we headed back to the inn. |
mugen91Apr 11, 2023 8:22 AM
| Guess she would know all your contacts by now if you still had your phone. Can you imagine how quickly that would get uncomfortable? "Hey who is this girl that you called four weeks ago? She looks cute, how about we have her over for a threesome?" "That is my mom..." "So?" *facepalm* Also about time I updated this: |
| Hmm... if memory serves, this is the first H-scene with a raiju. And her addition makes the passport... current. ;) |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: Hmm... if memory serves, this is the first H-scene with a raiju. And her addition makes the passport... current. ;) I almost clicked 'report' to bring you to justice for that bad pun :P |
| I mugen91 said: tygertyger said: Hmm... if memory serves, this is the first H-scene with a raiju. And her addition makes the passport... current. ;) I almost clicked 'report' to bring you to justice for that bad pun :P I am shocked that you would even consider doing that to Tyger! |
No one is safe from the pun police! |
| Chapter 30 The next week passed me by in a flash. I was working and working out a lot and further familiarizing myself with my new home. Kasumi often kept me company, now actually staying by my side, rather than following me from some unseen corner. One day we walked through an open air market with copious amounts of food stalls all around. Suffice it to say my coin purse had been unhappy about my daily visits since. There were many dishes and snacks that weren’t all that unfamiliar to me, though mamono often had added their own spin to familiar dishes like soups, meat skewers or sweet and savory breads. My favorite by far had to be a rose colored, soft and savory pastry filled with a black paste whose taste I could neither place nor get enough off. “You seem a little stiff,” Kasumi commented as she ran a hand softly across my shoulder while I was busy sweeping the Wet Scale’s common room. “I’ve been training a lot over the last few days, so being a little sore and stiff doesn’t seem very unusual.“ I shrugged. I was feeling quite good about myself actually. Even if I doubted it would ever really come in useful in a fight, the exercise was satisfying. I had no particular aspirations to get into another fight in any case. “I agree. Still, I was wondering if you didn’t want to do something a little more relaxing today?” “Already tired of accompanying me to the food stalls every day?” I chuckled. “But sure, what did you have in mind?” “I was thinking about a massage,” she said, somewhat coyly. I rolled my shoulders, considering her comment about me seeming stiff. I certainly felt good about myself, but it couldn’t be denied that my muscles were somewhat sore. “That sounds terrific actually, let’s do that,” I said eagerly. “When I’m done here, that is,” I quickly added. About an hour later, we left the inn behind us and headed out into town. As we passed by the many wooden structures, I gave vent to my curiosity and was asking about the place we were heading to. Kasumi remained fairly tight-lipped and merely promised I would enjoy myself and be plenty relaxed when we were done. We walked through the eastern portion of the city, where I hadn’t spent much time yet and the surroundings soon became unfamiliar to me. Most buildings were a bit smaller than in the western and northern portion of the city, whose main avenues I had become somewhat more familiar with. Eventually, we reached a fairly small house. ‘Full Body Treat - deep relaxation services’ the sign outside advertised. “What’s with the emphasis on ‘deep’?.” I wondered. “Don’t pay it any mind. Like I said, these girls know what they’re doing,” she had a mischievous kind of glint in her eyes. “Then let’s go in,” I had a vague idea that this would probably turn sexual before it was over. If I was being honest, that expectation had set in more or less the moment Kasumi had suggested a massage. We entered the building and were greeted by a dark elf with almost sheer black coloured skin and long, white hair. She had her head slightly upturned, so as to look down on us from her red eyes. As she looked us over, she licked her lips and seemed to consider me. “Hello Kasumi. Here I was wondering why I hadn’t seen you in a while. Now I see you have picked up some delectable company.” She gave me a lascivious wink and I couldn’t help but swallow dryly. That in turn caused an amused look to pass through her dark red eyes. “What can we do for you today?” She finally asked, turning back to Kasumi. “It has been a while,” Kasumi agreed, making no mention of the dark elf’s obvious ogling. “We are both in need of… relaxation.” “Relaxation, yes. The full program? Or is there something else you had in mind?” Her gaze moved from Kasumi to myself and back to the kunoichi. The way she was eying me and biting her lip, emphasizing her surprisingly pointy canines. “I was thinking about the full program for him and…,” she shot me a sidelong glance. “...The special for me?” “An excellent choice,” the dark elf rasped and stepped closer. “I’m not sure which is which,” I admitted. “Oh I can assure you,” the elf stepped right up to me and I had to bend my head up slightly. She stood almost half a head taller than me, rendering her turning her head up to look down on us a bit strange. “Your companion has made a most excellent choice. I stake my reputation on your full satisfaction.” She placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, then ran it further along my arm and continued her inspection. I shot a look at Kasumi who gave a slight nod and a faint smile. “Alright then,” I agreed. I was getting quite curious now. “Excellent,” the elf rasped once more and moved to lock the front entrance. “Please follow me,” she directed us both. She led us through a side door and into a short corridor. “This is you,” she said to Kasumi, pointing her hand towards a door, though Kasumi had stopped in front of it even before, providing another proof that she was familiar with the place. “I’ll see you in a bit,” she said and disappeared through the door. I was led on a few steps more and guided through the very next door, which led to a fairly small room with a massage table in its center, a few cabinets and a sort of divan on one side. “Please get undressed and lie down there, pet,” she purred. “I won’t be long.” With those words she disappeared through the door once more. Rather than immediately complying, I first took a look around the room. I tested the divan and found it to be very comfortable. I opened the door to one of the cabinets and found a few jars and other containers containing pleasantly smelling oils, towels, a set of long needles with red feathers on their ends and other supplies you might expect in a place like that. I closed the doors and opened a second and paused. Now this is something different, I thought. That cabinet had hidden lengths of rope, blindfolds, two cat o’ nine tails, a few wooden dildos polished to a shine, collars of varying sizes and other odds and ends. I cleared my throat and quickly closed the cabinet. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being watched all of a sudden and strode back towards the center of the room. For a brief moment I wondered if it wouldn’t be better to just leave, but just then the door opened and the dark elf returned. “I believe I told you to get undressed, did I not, pet?” She asked, a mild hint of reprimand in her voice. “I got a bit distracted,” I admitted after struggling for words for a moment. The woman had changed clothes and was now wearing a short robe with a dark blue and red floral pattern, exposing a great deal of leg and cleavage alike. But it wasn’t just her changed appearance, a strange, very pleasant scent had entered the room with her. Her eyes briefly fell onto the second cabinet and humor flashed through her eyes for a moment. “I see. Before we begin, I must request your consent.” “My consent?” I wondered. “For what?” She stepped very close to me and ran one of her hands along my flank. “For what we are about to do, dear pet. I wouldn’t want to make you unhappy, not with the company you keep.” She smiled and a promise of pleasure shone through that smile. “You may feel a slight discomfort in the coming hour, but I promise, it will lead to nothing less than sweet bliss in the end.” She bent down slightly and softly bit my ear. “What do you say?” She whispered. “Yes,” I replied after a moment of silence. “And this,” she continued to whisper. She took my hand and guided it between her legs. “I assume you want this?” The folds of her robe parted slightly and my palm brushed against her half hardness. “Oh wow,” I couldn’t help but mutter, which seemed to please her greatly. I licked my lips. Was this some manner of test Kasumi had decided on? I gripped her length a bit more tightly and bit my lip. Admitting to wanting this was still a bit strange, the fact that I wanted it was undeniable, so I nodded. “What do you want me to do?” “Oh pet,” she chuckled. “You are here to relax. Undress and lie down.” She gestured towards the massage table. “The doing shall be my responsibility.” “Oh, of course,” I said quietly. Under her hungry eyes, I shrugged out of my clothing and soon stood naked. In spite of all my experiences in this land so far, I couldn’t suppress the urge to cover up my modesty under her hungering gaze. She chuckled with amusement as I finally lay face down on the massage chair. “Very good, pet,” she cooed and stepped closer. She softly let a hand run along my back, causing a comfortable shudder to run through my spine as her nails brushed against my skin. “Close your eyes,” she whispered huskily into my ear. I complied and felt another shudder run through me as she gently caressed my back and shoulders once more. Her smart fingers moved from my shoulders to my neck and to my scalp, back to my shoulders and down my back towards my butt. She softly kneaded there for a moment before going further down to my thighs, my calves and my feet. I hissed as I felt oil drip over my back. I didn’t know how she could have heated it up, but it felt hot against my skin. “Calm, pet,” she cooed as her grip became stronger. Her hands moved from brushing and teasing to pushing, pulling and kneading as she skillfully sought out every source of tension in my body and displayed her skills on them. I shuddered and moaned and sighed as I became putty under her skilled fingers and my body became more and more relaxed. This was a lot more normal and tame than I would have expected. “Are you enjoying this, pet?” Came a softly whispered question in my ear. “Mhhhh,” I agreed. “You can use a bit more strength.” Her grips became slightly stronger and I continued to enjoy her ministrations. I lost track of time as I steadily approached a nirvana of relaxation. The pleasant scent the elf had brought with her when she had reentered the room ebbed and swelled in my nose as she leaned in closer. “You seem quite relaxed now, dear pet,” she cooed. “Mhhh,” I agreed. “Then it is time we moved on, don’t you think?” “Hmmm?” I wondered, struggling to form coherent thoughts in my stupor of relaxation. She slipped away from the table and I heard the soft creak of one of the cabinets being opened. I cracked open an eye and turned my head to look at the elf standing before the opened cabinet, running a finger along some of the instruments. She turned her head and considered me thoughtfully for a moment. “No, I don’t suppose,” she said, sounding mildly disappointed. Her hand brushed across one of the collars and she sighed. Finally she pulled out a blindfold and stepped back over to me. Fully naked as she was now, I could see her half stiff pole swinging pendulously between her thighs. “I don’t suppose whips are to your liking, pet?” She asked, all innocence. I shook my head and she sighed. “I thought so, put these on,” she said as she handed me the blindfold. I bit my lip, then complied. H-Scene H-Scene “Well, pet, what do you say? She demanded. “I feel very relaxed,” I admitted. “And somewhat tired.” The elf chuckled softly. “As you should be.” She stepped right up to me and let her hand run along my side. “If you return, perhaps I will allow you to touch me as well, wouldn’t you like that, pet?” “Yeah,” I muttered softly. “I will let Kasumi know you are ready.” But before the elf could leave the room, the door was already opened and Kasumi stepped inside. The two exchanged a few quick words and the elf left. “Did you enjoy your… massage?” Kasumi asked, a satisfied smile and a soft glow on her face. “Well, yeah. I did. Not what I was expecting, to be honest. Not sure about the pet name either, but I sure am feeling relaxed.” “You’d make a good pet for her, don’t you think?” Her look told me that it was not meant as an insult. “Hmmm,” I mused. “So what was this all about?” “Rest and relaxation?” She asked, all innocence. “Kasumi!” I said with a bit of reprimand. She shrugged. “Better to be sure.” “So this was some kind of test after all?” She shrugged again. “Are you mad?” “I am… No I’m not mad. But you know, you could have just asked me if I was alright with receiving.” “Now I know,” she said with her slightly mischievous smile. I sighed, but decided to let it rest. It had no doubt been a pleasurable and deeply relaxing afternoon. “So how’d you enjoy the show?” I wondered. “What do you mean,” she asked, all innocence. “You expect me to believe that you set this up as confirmation and weren’t watching?” I asked incredulously. She clicked her tongue, but then shrugged once more. “Got me,” she admitted. She sat on the divan next to me and softly stroked my side while I was trying to work up the necessary strength to rise from my relaxed stupor. When I finally managed it, we got dressed and headed back into the entrance room where the dark elf was now waiting once more. She waved us goodbye and gave me a lascivious look, running her tongue over her lips. We slowly sauntered back over to the inn, where we decided to round out our ‘wellness day’ with a nice bath. “How come you aren’t shy around those two by the way?” I asked Kasumi, remembering how reluctant she’d been to show me her privates at first. “What do you mean?” “Well, unless I’m stupid, you’ve been there before and presumably got naked. Yet you were very reluctant to let me see you.” “They’re mamono?” She said, like it was an answer. “And how is that relevant?” “Mamono tend to like cocks,” she enlightened me. “Come on, not all the men around here are going to be bothered by that, especially those who were born here.” “Maybe, but those I’ve been with were. Very.” “So you had a partner before?” “Yes,” she said reluctantly. “Something like that.” “What happened?” She remained quiet. “Something bad?” “A long time ago, I brought a man back to my home village. A man who found me repulsive. But that didn’t matter to me. Not then, at least. Well, it’s a story for another time.” I gave her a measuring glance and sighed. She had slowly backed away from me while she talked. Given how she’d approached me, she didn’t seem like that kind of person anymore. “I can’t say I’m thrilled about such a story, but given the way you treated me, I don’t think you would do that.” She looked relieved and moved closer once more. “Thank you.” The mood changed rapidly when the tall form of Vela the dragon entered the bath. She strolled through the room and into the water, not bothering to acknowledge either of our existences. The same couldn’t be said about the two of us. I had a hard time averting my eyes. There was something very attractive about her sheer size and aura. And it was a goddamn dragon. “I suppose now I know who you want to do,” Kasumi whispered into my ear. “It’s a challenge I am looking forward to.” --- We were sitting in the common room of the Wet Scale with Rayne and Syri. The blue oni sisters, who had been out of town for a few days, had insisted that we have a few drinks with them. Kasumi had wasted no time agreeing and I, seeing no particular reason to refuse, had tagged along. As it turned out though, Kasumi did not drink and so the two sisters seemed more than content to get me drunk. I had started out confident that, even knowing that drinking was among an oni’s favorite pastimes, I’d be able to keep pace. After all, my liver was steeled by years of living in a dorm and being a student. Edged on by Kasumi, I had started out matching the two drink for drink, but while my speech started to become slurred and my thoughts became sluggish before long, they seemed almost entirely unaffected. “I ge ze next roun,” I declared to the cheers of Syri and Rayne, heavily slurring my words as I finally drained my cup. I got up from the table, tried to clear my blurry field of vision enough to find my way and unsteadily made my way toward the bar. An endeavor not made easier by a fairly large number of claws, paws, hands and other appendages slapping, pinching and otherwise touching me on the way. When I arrived, I leaned on it heavily and said to Mirri. “I take three more o ze same.” She squinted at me. “I don’t think you should drink anymore.” “Ahhh, I’m fine, fine. No’ my firs time drinkin.” I opened my purse and squinted inside, before upending it into my palm and holding it out to her. She gave me a pitying long look before fishing out what I owed and gave me three new cups filled with strong smelling liquor. It took me a few tries to re-affix my purse to my belt and securely grab the beverages before I murmured my thanks and began the arduous task of maneuvering back to our table with my precious cargo. As the vague sense of vertigo I was already experiencing grew stronger, I suddenly started to doubt the wisdom in pouring more alcohol inside me. I somehow managed to arrive safely and set down my cargo, then murmured. “I thi’ I nee’ som fresh air.” Not waiting for a response, I made my way to the back of the building and opened the door to the garden. I breathed deep, forcing the warm summer’s night air into my lungs, leaning my head against the wall for support. Except the wall was surprisingly soft. I mashed my head into the soft wall and leaned my body into what felt conspicuously un-wall-like. Then someone, somewhere above me, cleared their throat. I lazily opened an eye and craned my neck upward, taking care not to lose my balance in the process. “What do you think you’re doing?” Vela, whose breasts I’d been using as an impromptu pillow, asked in a tone I struggled to identify, but might very well have been deep displeasure. “Errr,” I recoiled and promptly lost my balance. I flailed wildly with my arms as the world started spinning faster and the floor fast approached me. My fall was suddenly stopped when clawed arms reached out and held me before I could get acquainted with the floor. Vela carefully set me back on my feet and I managed to remain standing this time, though I was swaying precariously. “Shorry.” I murmured. “I dint.. I… didna see you zere…” I giggled. “I I guess zat doesn happen often.” She looked at me appraisingly, then sighed as she lifted me up and carried me over to the bench by the small pond. She lay me down and started back when I reached out and held her claw. “Why yu hate me?” I wondered. She was silent for a second, then said. “Why would I hate you? You are of no consequence to me.” “Look at zose scale,” I said, still holding onto her scaled claw. Her midnight black scales were dimly reflecting the light of the moon “Zey’re so beautiful. You’re soo beautiful. And scary. Beautiful scary. No, Scary Beautiful. Can I hug you?” I slowly got back up from the bench and tried to hug her. She used her other clawed hand to keep me at a distance. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met a man as drunk as you,” she looked like she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of me. “Drunk on you,” I declared, still trying to get closer. “No, is acshually alohol, but…” She finally freed her arm from my grasp, grabbed me under the arms and set me down on the bench again, before sitting down next to me. I started leaning to the side. She resisted at first but, perhaps recognizing that drunks are sometimes a bit like persistent children, Vela sighed and let me continue until I was lying on the bench, my head resting in her lap. I closed my eyes and rubbed my head against her thighs, inhaling her scent. I started kissing her thighs when suddenly, an entirely different sensation made itself known. “Oh no,” I groaned, right before I started retching and moments later, I hurled all over Vela’s legs. “You…,” she roared, her voice wavering with barely contained anger. “I’m so shorry,” I said as I got up and the world started spinning again. “I go get a cloth to get you cleaned up.” I started to walk to retrieve a cloth or towel or anything to clean my puke off her legs, but quickly lost my footing as the world spun quicker and quicker around me. Before I knew what was happening, I landed face first in the pond. In my addled state, I promptly swallowed a mouthful of water and started panicking as I struggled to find the right direction to move my head to breathe air again. That’s when a claw closed around my right ankle and Vela lifted me out of the water, my head dangling just above the surface. With blood quickly rushing to my head, I blacked out. --- “Never again,” I groaned as I awoke with a splitting headache and feeling thoroughly sick to my stomach. “Never drinking again?” Kasumi asked, sitting on a chair and reading something. “Pahh, like that’s going to happen. No, I’ll never try to keep pace with an oni again,” I said slowly. Then I groaned again as the memory of last night’s embarrassment manifested themselves in the forefront of my mind. “Oh no, I puked all over her legs.” “You sure did,” Kasumi agreed with a barely contained giggle. “How angry was she?” I asked, dimly remembering that she had pulled me out of the pond. “She told me I should better control my man or she would need to teach you discipline,” She said in an even tone. “I guess that marks the end of any hope I had to lay the dragon,” I said, a little regretful. “Maybe.” After I finally managed to move myself out of bed, we went down to the common room. I hoped to find some hangover curing food. “…fatty or salty. That’s what you want when you’re hungover,” I lazily explained to Kasumi as I listlessly poked at the rice I had been given for breakfast. Rice which was neither fatty nor salty. A short while later, the door to the outside opened and Vela made her way into the common room. I groaned in embarrassment, but resolved that I at the very least needed to apologize for my behavior. I got up slowly and tried to ignore my pounding headache as I made my way over to her. Needless to say, she did not look happy to see me. I placed myself in front of her and though she looked tempted to walk right through me, she stopped and glared at me. “I’m very sorry for my behavior yesterday. I was blackout drunk, but that’s not an excuse. You deserve better than that,” I sincerely apologized. “You were just talking out of your ass then?” I looked at her quizzically. “The things you said.” She seemed intent on ignoring my apology. “Do you mean the stuff about you being attractive? Well… maybe not the way I would normally have said it but… well… I think you are quite beautiful….” I trailed off. “And scary?” She asked. “You are somewhat… intimidating.” I admitted, which was not hard with a two and a half meter dragon probably weighing twice as much as I did glaring daggers at you. “I see,” she said simply. Her mood seemed to brighten a bit, or at least her glare became a little less intense, as she brushed me aside and continued on her way. I slowly made my way back towards Kasumi who licked her lips and said.” Perhaps not all hope is lost.” |
mugen91May 8, 2023 3:08 AM
| Hmmm... I'm going out on a limb and declaring that our esteemed author is rather fond of futas. |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: Hmmm... I'm going out on a limb and declaring that our esteemed author is rather fond of futas. Perish the thought. How could you possibly arrive at that assessment? :P |
| Excerpt from an anonymous scholar's notebook: "Today I have observed a man trying to court a dragon. It seems that for the man's attempts to be successful he has to flawlessly perform an odd mating ritual. The man first has to get drunk and then vomit over her legs while complimenting the beauty of her scales..." P.S. @tygertyger Told you he's a futa magnet :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: Excerpt from an anonymous scholar's notebook: "Today I have observed a man trying to court a dragon. It seems that for the man's attempts to be successful he has to flawlessly perform an odd mating ritual. The man first has to get drunk and then vomit over her legs while complimenting the beauty of her scales..." See, it's not that dragon's are playing hard to get, it's just that the proper courting rituals are not known to many :P |
| Chapter 31 As I lazily ran a palm along Kasumi’s smooth skin, I couldn’t help but think that I had been quite lucky ever since my unplanned arrival in this strange new world. Thinking back on it, so many things could have gone wrong. I may not have been found before expiring in the desert. I may have arrived in a place where the people were much less hospitable than in Ahmose. I might have been found by some bandits. Though truthfully I wasn’t sure how badly they would have treated me in that case. But no, I had been exceedingly lucky. I leaned forward to kiss the nape of the kunoichi’s neck. “What are you doing?” She asked. “Just thinking about how beautiful you are. And how lucky a guy I am,” I said with a smile. “You don’t need to kiss my ass, you know?” She said, but she let her satisfaction with the statement show in her tone. I grabbed a handful of her taut backside, slowly kissed my way down her back and said teasingly. “But who could resist that sweet booty?” --- I was humming to myself as I swept the floor in the common room. I was in a good mood. You might even say in a very good mood. Living in a steady environment with no immediate worries for the future had really done wonders for me. The job I was working left much to be desired of course but it was a good start. Perhaps I’d be able to secure something better in the future. Kasumi had told me that there were a number of well regarded universities throughout the continent. The closest one was in a city called Westholm in Elizabeth. Working at a university certainly sounded interesting and like a better use of my education. The obvious question was just how relevant my specific set of skills would be in this place. That and whether or not they employed humans. “You seem to be in a good mood today,” Jean said as he entered the room, Shibi slithering behind him. She had started moving about on her own a lot more recently. “Oh, just generally satisfied with myself,” I said cheerily. “Good. That’s good to hear. Kasumi seems to make you happy. Did you consider taking the next step? You’ve been together for a month now,” he gave me a sheepish smile. “I guess we have.” The time had passed quite quickly, in spite of all the new things I’d experienced since my arrival. “Still, it seems like a weird thing to ask for; getting branded.” I shuddered a little at the thought. I knew of course that it wasn’t exactly the kind of branding I had first thought of when I heard it, it still seemed like a big commitment. “She seems patient, but maybe you shouldn’t keep her waiting for too long,” he said with conviction. I thought that he might be right. She had not brought it up after the very first time the topic had been breached, but it was clear to me that it was what she wanted to do. “Speaking of her, where is your shadow?” I shrugged my shoulders. “No shadow today, I guess. She said she had some sort of meeting, she went out to… well, she said she’ll be back later.” “I see. Anyway, Seba wants you to go see Cymede and place another order. Ever since you started here, we’ve had more customers and if we don’t restock we might run low.” “Sure, I’ll head out as soon as I’m done here,” I assured him and resumed my sweeping. I finished my rounds sweeping the floor and when I finished, I headed out into the city. One month. Without all the distraction of modern life, one month had sufficed to make me a lot more familiar with the city than I’d have expected. My destination was a shop on the outskirts of town, run by a satyros called Cymede and her husband Jon. They produced and sold liquor there. Though admittedly, Cymede was the more involved in the process. With Kasumi neither by my side nor shadowing me today, I was more vigilant than usual as I made my way through the city. I hadn’t had many issues like during my first couple of days, but it paid to be aware of your surroundings when walking around by yourself. The trick was not to outright ignore mamono, as some might interpret that as a challenge but also not pay them too much attention, as that might be seen as an invitation. Still, the most important thing was to look like you knew where you were going and to not seem nervous or out of place. That kind of thing was like a beacon to mamono, especially those with a more aggressive or protective disposition. When I arrived, I knocked loudly on the door frame and slid it open. The, by now, familiar smell of sweet liquor that always permeated the place greeted me. “Ah, the bald man. Nice to see you,” Jon greeted me, looking up from a thick ledger. “I’m afraid it’s a bit early still.” Ever since I’d first met him on one of my errands for Seba we had met up regularly to play cards and have a relaxed drink together. “Yeah, agreed. Not what I’m here for though. Seba sent me. We need another refill,” I clarified and handed him the note Jean had given me. “Already? Well, well. Ever since you showed up, the Wet Scale sure has picked up a fair bit of business it seems. Weird, considering that you’re not really on the market. Not that we’re complaining about the extra business,” he gave me a cheeky grin. “Well, I guess Kasumi’s enthusiasm for seeing me get my brains fucked out by other girls is not really a secret. Not that I’m complaining.” It was my turn to give a cheeky grin. Jon nodded with a smirk. “I’m not sure I envy you, I feel like I have enough on my plate with just Cymede.” “Hmm, most of the time she just watches from the corner when she puts another woman in our bed. Sometimes I wonder if she enjoys that more than actually having sex with me. Although it is kind of exciting to ‘get to know’ so many women, if you know what I mean.” I shrugged. I really didn’t much understand the appeal of voyeurism, but I didn’t see the harm in it. “You really are a slut at heart, aren’t you Sönke?” Cymede joined us from a back room. Jon had a hard time peeling his eyes off her as she fluffed her flowing lilac hair. I smiled as they kissed, raised an eyebrow as they started to squeeze and caress each other’s bodies and cleared my throat when her hands snaked its way into his pants. “Sorry, bottling always makes me horny,” the satyros said with a shrug. “Well, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your fun time,” I said, raising my hands defensively to show I had no intention of inserting myself into the situation any further. “We’ll have your order on the way tomorrow,” Cymede assured me, quickly looking over the note Jon had handed her, as Jon clapped her on her backside. “Seba will be glad to hear that. Business is going pretty good. Well, you two have fun.” “Close the door behind you, if you would,” Jon exclaimed as I stepped outside. I chuckled and complied. Still chuckling and shaking my head, I didn’t pay much attention to my surroundings and didn’t notice when someone suddenly stepped up from behind me. I was not nearly as startled as I might have been a month ago, considering Kasumi's propensity for suddenly appearing behind me. Then again, this was not Kasumi, that much was certain. A pale hand with red painted, claw-like nails grasped my shoulder, holding tight and pushing me forward at the same pace as I was walking before. “No need to make a fuss,” the person behind me said, her tone somehow threatening and soothing at once. “Who are you?” I demanded. “What do you want?” “I said not to make a fuss. I am not your enemy, human,” the woman said calmly. I tried to wrench out of her grasp, but I might as well not have bothered. She kept me secure like a vice and didn’t even need to hurt me to do it. “Help!” I shouted, but somehow no one seemed to pay any attention to what was happening. The hand momentarily squeezed tight and I gasped with pain. “What is so hard to understand about not making a fuss?” The woman asked. “I’m afraid no one is going to be paying us any heed. Not unless I want them to.” I bit my lip and ceased my struggling for the time being. “Who are you?” I asked again, calmly as I could this time. “Much better,” the woman commented. “I am Mea. Mea the rose.” Her tone indicated that it was a name I should be familiar with, but I was drawing a blank. I nervously licked my lip and wondered what the correct answer was. But it seemed I hesitated for too long, as Mea clicked her tongue. “Don’t tell me you don’t know of me.” “Sorry, I don’t,” was all I could say. She wrenched me around and I got a good look at her for the first time. Before me stood an inari with long, straw blonde hair. A look of annoyance on her sharp featured face and six tails swishing annoyedly behind her. I gulped. If I remembered correctly, six tails would indicate a great deal of power. Enough perhaps to make unwitting passerbys unknowingly avert their gaze and close their ears. “I already have a…,” I started, but was promptly interrupted. “If you think I’m interested in a promiscuous man like you, I can put your mind at ease.” She said it without judgment, just matter of factly. “And I am quite aware of who shares your bed.” “Then what do you want from me?” “I want you not to make a fuss and to follow me,” she said, turned me around and pushed me forward once more. “And if I don’t want to follow you?” I asked, though it was mostly rhetorical. “You think you have a choice?” Mea asked. “If you make this unnecessarily difficult, I might show you that roses are not only beautiful, they have thorns.” I’m aware, I wanted to say, but bit my lip. I kept quiet and Mea seemed to interpret that as me resigning myself to following her commands. She led me back towards the center of the city and I eventually noted that whatever magic she’d worked to divert attention away from us seemed to have been lifted. I considered calling for help once more or trying to wrench free, but the sharp points of her claws digging against my skin in warning made me reconsider. We entered a small house, proceeded into the basement and into a tunnel built from cut rocks from there. Further attempts from my side to weigh Mea’s intentions were rebuked with silence until we finally stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. Fishing for a key, Mea pointed at it. “You will wait in here, It shan’t be long.” Ignoring my protests, she opened the door, pushed me inside and closed it without another word. I heard the lock click shut and was left alone to wonder what was going to happen next. Squinting at my surroundings, I could make out richly decorated furniture in the dim candlelight. Attempts at opening the door revealed nothing beyond it being very sturdy. I was at a complete loss as to what was going on. Judging by the furniture, whoever had arranged this seemed to be somewhat wealthy. Whether that someone was Mea or someone else, I did not know. The inari had not appeared particularly interested in me. She seemed to have expected me to recognize her name and had claimed to know I was with Kasumi. Was she an acquaintance of hers? An enemy? I mulled over my course of action, but of course, came up blank. I was locked in a room that I couldn’t get out of, left with no other option than to wait. I wondered whether Kasumi would sweep in for the rescue once more, but how could she? She hadn’t been following me today. At least as far as I knew. It felt like a long time pacing back and forth, but looking at the candles told me that it hadn’t been all that long by the time I heard the rustling of keys outside the door. I quickly moved to put a large armchair between myself and the door as I heard a key being turned in the lock and the door swung open. In stepped Mea, her tails swaying behind her in a much more relaxed manner. “Where am I? What do you want from me?” I asked. “Again?” She asked, then ordered. “Follow.” She turned and stepped outside. I hesitated, but then followed. There really wasn’t any advantage in staying in my impromptu cell. The tunnel outside was flanked by armed guards now, who unobtrusively followed me with their eyes as I cautiously fell into step behind the inari. “What’s the harm in telling me what this is all about?” I tried again. She slightly turned her head and watched me out of the corner of her eye. “Perhaps I like seeing you squirm, human,” she said. We continued following the tunnel until we reached a set of stairs leading up. The stone floor and walls gave way to polished wood and the inari ordered me to remove my shoes. After I complied, we started following another corridor with numerous sliding doors to both sides. There were numerous paintings adorning the walls. Looking closer, I could see that they all depicted a similar scene. An Inari, looking much like the one guiding me, depicted in the act in a variety of positions. The only real difference between the Inari in the picture and the one guiding me was that the pictures showed one with a full set of nine tails. Paying attention to the male actors in the depictions showed that every picture seemed to depict a different one. I considered the distance at which the pictures were placed and the apparent length of the corridor and drew the conclusion that there must have been a lot of men. That was if these paintings depicted real scenes. It seemed improbable, considering the scarcity of humans, but who knew how old or how rich the house's mistress was? Mea finally stopped at one of the sliding doors, knelt down in front of it and gestured for me to wait. I was about to ask again for her to explain herself, but she cut me off with a gesture before a sound could escape my lips. I gnashed my teeth and leaned against the wall, but remained quiet for the moment. I shot a contemplative look at my captor, or perhaps it was my guide, and couldn’t help but feel she exuded a somewhat dignified, almost regal aura, even while staying at attention on her knees. Now that we were both still, I could also hear voices coming from the adjacent room. “You have heard of the fate of Haktiva?” I heard an authoritative voice ask. “A village of xenophobic humans that quickly fell after they lost their protected status some years ago,” A familiar voice answered. “Indeed, but have you heard of what happened to them?” A short pause followed. “Not in detail,” said the same familiar voice. I scrunched up my face as I tried to place it, it was probably being distorted by the wall between us. “Most of them were shipped off to Alnor, but some of them had rather interesting curses placed on them; to pay for their crimes. “An expansion to your collection then?” The familiar voice asked. Was that Kasumi? She said she had a meeting with Marchesa, was this Marchesa’s place? If so, why have me kidnapped? “Just so. I received word that Lycylla has managed to get her grabby hands on one of them. Someone previously called Melnik or some such. My information tells me she has him stashed in a safehouse somewhere in Elizabeth. I’d like you to retrieve him for me. I trust that will not be an issue.” “Of course not.” “Wonderful, you’ll depart tomorrow then.” A moment of silence followed, then Kasumi spoke up again. “This could possibly be a lengthy mission and…” “You’re worried about your boy toy? Don’t look so apprehensive. Of course I know about that. You’re a valued asset. Why else would I have had so few assignments for you this past month.” Suddenly, the door slid open and my Inari guide took me by the arm and dragged me into the room. I suppressed an eek from escaping my lips as I quickly tried to get an overview. The room was spacious and had a high ceiling. A raised pedestal was positioned in the middle of the room and on it, an Inari with long silver-blond hair was lounging on a pillow. The nine tails swishing behind her indicated her to be the woman from the pictures. Kneeling in front of the pedestal was Kasumi, wearing her full garb, including the mask. The mask could not hide the look of surprise in her green eyes though. “What is this…?” She began, when the inari cut her off. “I assumed you’d be worried about your boy toy, so I had him invited to join us. Set your mind at ease, he will be taken care of while you are gone.” The lasciviousness in her voice made a shudder run across my spine. I was about to protest when she leveled her gaze my way, quickly shutting me up before I could say a word. She radiated authority and power that was almost tangible. Suddenly, a foot hit me in the back of my knee and I collapsed to my knees. “Show some respect,” Mea hissed. “I was going to take him along,” Kasumi finally said, maintaining a neutral tone. “Oh no, you’ll not want to burden yourself unnecessarily.” “I believe he might be useful. If we need to find the right safehouse, he might be useful for information gathering. Happy women often become talkative,” Kasumi said indifferently. “I don’t recall you struggling to gather information on any of your previous assignments. But I suppose there is some truth in what you say, though your motive is a bit too transparent.” She shifted her gaze from Kasumi to me and eyed me hungrily. She gracefully grasped a shallow bowl and took a siü of whatever it contained. “What about you, boy? Do you intend to go along, or would you not prefer to enjoy my hospitality?” Her tone woke in me the desire to melt in her embrace and her piercing gaze directed my way caused a painful swelling in my pants. At the same time however, something told me I did not want her too close to me. This woman legitimately scared me. Not in the tangible sense the bandits on the road from Umbra had. I was more primal. The way, I imagined, the mouse feels when the cat regards it. “I’ll go along with her,” I finally managed to press out, my voice sounding pathetic even to my own ears. She narrowed her eyes for a moment, holding a fan before her mouth. “But of course, I shall permit it,” The nine-tailed inari, who indeed seemed to be Marchesa, said. “Then there is only one more thing. There is another who will accompany you.” She snapped her fingers at a guard standing on the opposite side of the room, who promptly slid open the door next to her, revealing a black dragon with a massive scowl on her face. If looks could kill, I reckoned everyone in the room would have perished instantly. I was surprised to see her. She had left the Wet Scale not long after the unfortunate incident and I had not seen her since. She stepped in, but as expected made no move to kneel down. She did however honor me with a passing, irritated sort of glance. “Vela Nightshroud,” Marchesa exclaimed with a hint of mockery. “You have answered my invitation, so I assume you require my… assistance after all.” “Just name your price,” Vela said in a disgusted tone. Marchesa smiled thinly. “You will accompany those two and help them retrieve what I want.” If that was possible, the dragon’s scowl deepened even further. “You expect me, a dragon of the Nightshroud, to go on an errand for you?” She hissed. Her hostility felt near as palpable as the inari’s aura of authority and intimidation and I had to fight an impulse to shrink away from the brewing confrontation. Marchesa showed no reaction to her outburst, merely narrowing her eyes and suddenly the intimidating aura emanating from her seemed to grow in intensity. The bulge in my pants grew more intense as well, decidedly closer to pain on the spectrum of arousal and pain. “You will go on an errand for me, Vela Nightshroud, dragon or not. The fact that you followed my invitation shows me you are incapable of finding your mark on your own. So, you can either bury your pride and do as I tell you or give up on your… petty little revenge.” The tension in the room was so palpable, you could probably have cut it with a knife. For a moment, I thought that the dragon would charge, yet after a minute-long staring contest, she gave in. “I will do this thing, but I will not forget the words that were said here today.” Without another word, she turned and left the way she’d come, voicing her displeasure with every loud clomp of her clawed feet on the floor. I couldn’t help but wonder at why I should have to take off my shoes if surely they’d have to replace the flooring where Vela had come through. “You know the assignment then. A ship has been prepared and will depart tomorrow. Faela will be waiting for you in Faldafar. As always, I expect regular updates through the common channels,” Marchesa dismissed Kasumi in a tone as if nothing at all had happened. “By your will,” Kasumi said before rising to her feet. Her eyes told me to follow and not say anything. I carefully got up and, shooting a wary look at the inari behind me, followed after her. The way out of the mansion was much shorter than what I walked from my underground cell and we soon found ourselves outside a large estate. Finally, I felt like I could breathe freely again. I also noticed that I was covered by a sheen of cold sweat. “What were you doing there?” Kasumi asked, her tone somewhere between anger, exasperation and relief, when we passed a wall separating the estate from the rest of the city. “Got snatched off the street on my way back from Cymede and Jon’s. What the fuck was this? Why didn’t you just tell me to come along?” “I was not aware your presence would be desired, nor what the meeting would be about.” “Then why have me snatched off the street?” She considered me thoughtfully. “Posturing, most likely. If the lull in assignments really has been a consideration to let me… enjoy myself with you, it could merely be a reminder where my loyalties should lie. Or perhaps it’s related to the assignment. Did you hear what she wants me to deliver? She could be making it clear that if she can’t have what she wants, there’s another man she can add to her collection.” “She can’t just ‘add me to her collection’. I’m a goddamn person, not some pet or piece of memorabilia.” Kasumi stopped, turned toward me and grabbed my arm. “Don’t be a fool! She could if she wanted. As long as there is no brand on us, you are fair game. We’re going to change that now.” I stopped dead in my tracks and narrowed my eyes. I had considered taking this next step with her, but being told that I had no choice in the matter didn’t sit right with me. “I don’t get a say in this matter?” “Look,” She took a deep breath and continued in a neutral tone. “We’ll be going on this mission together and before we leave, this has to happen. You can’t stay here unless you want to end up in Marchesa’s basement for the foreseeable future. Believe me, that is not what you want.” “Why?” I asked, although I already agreed that I didn’t want that. “You have seen what she is? Do you need to ask that question? Do you know how much power a inari requires to grow nine tails? She possesses great demonic energy. More mana than can be contained, especially when she gets heated. You humans are not built for it. It will break her partners eventually, which is why she hungers for new ones. She grows bored with the broken ones.” “Wait, what?” I asked, shocked. “I am serious. You can find some of the final results in the brothels she owns. They barely manage a thought beyond finding the next hole to stick their dicks into. Is that what you want for yourself?” “No,” I said quietly and let her continue to draw me forward. “I thought so. Now, I hoped that you would eventually come to me and that we could do it properly and enjoy it, but this must happen quickly. There are preparations to make for tomorrow.” I chewed my lip, still unhappy with things happening so quickly. “Ok,” I finally conceded. “What’s the next step then?” “We’re on our way to a keeper. She will perform the ceremony.” |
mugen91May 8, 2023 3:06 AM
| And now we see Arcadia's version of a shotgun wedding. |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: And now we see Arcadia's version of a shotgun wedding. On some level I have to wonder if getting the girl knocked up actually has a higher probability of excusing you from a potential shotgun wedding... |
emeraldtryst said: tygertyger said: And now we see Arcadia's version of a shotgun wedding. On some level I have to wonder if getting the girl knocked up actually has a higher probability of excusing you from a potential shotgun wedding... How so? Seems to me the girl would still be interested to put a ring on him and have an official claim^^ |
mugen91 said: emeraldtryst said: On some level I have to wonder if getting the girl knocked up actually has a higher probability of excusing you from a potential shotgun wedding... How so? Seems to me the girl would still be interested to put a ring on him and have an official claim^^ Yeah, but they all want to get the official claim. At least the one that got knocked up gets a consolation prize =P |
emeraldtryst said: mugen91 said: How so? Seems to me the girl would still be interested to put a ring on him and have an official claim^^ A consolation prize and a good way to pressure him into staying^^ Yeah, but they all want to get the official claim. At least the one that got knocked up gets a consolation prize =P |
Definitely. You think Cleo or the twins would've shied away from that if they'd known they'd conceived? Not bloody likely. |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: Definitely. You think Cleo or the twins would've shied away from that if they'd known they'd conceived? Not bloody likely. Then again, poor Cleo found no friend in the RNG and the even poorer twins didn't even get a roll :P |
mugen91 said: Then again, poor Cleo found no friend in the RNG and the even poorer twins didn't even get a roll :P What you didn't took the chance to knock up Tyger's sisters in law? A travesty! Also that Youko/Inari is a bitch! And I'm not even going to pardon for that pun :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: mugen91 said: Then again, poor Cleo found no friend in the RNG and the even poorer twins didn't even get a roll :P What you didn't took the chance to knock up Tyger's sisters in law? A travesty! Also that Youko/Inari is a bitch! And I'm not even going to pardon for that pun :-P The pun police will overlook this egregious act for now :P Tony's sisters in law only get rolls when they get together with their eventual husbands, until such times they are using a powerful contraceptive known only as 'Author's choice' |
Chapter 32 After the rather sudden turn of events at Marchesa’s mansion, we made our way through Bestallion, heading towards the outskirts of the city. “So,” I wondered. “Who is this Mea character anyway?” “Hmm?” Kasumi wondered, seeming lost in thought and not paying much attention as she was pulling me along. “She seemed to think I should be knowing her, but, you know, never heard of her before.” Her steps halted for a second, but then she continued pulling me along the streets. ”She’s a contact. My contact, usually. I rarely get my orders from Marchesa herself.” “So she’s a colleague? A friend?” She scoffed. “No, just a contact. One of Marchesa’s daughters. That’s all.” That seemed to be all she was willing to share at this time. Kasumi was exuding a sort of nervous energy I’d never noticed with her before. As intimidating as I’d found my encounter with the inari, perhaps I had still underestimated the danger it had posed? As we proceeded, Kasumi slowly began to calm down once more and eventually returned to her usual calm and controlled demeanor. We soon left behind the city proper and before long, there were more trees than there were man- or rather mamono-made structures. A warm summer wind blew peacefully through the leaves and I realized I hadn’t left the city since my arrival two months or so earlier. Some short distance outside the city we made our way into a small grove hidden in a rocky outcropping. There we were greeted by a small temple-like structure. Gentle flowing water was surrounding the small building and a beautiful garden was in full bloom around it. I followed Kasumi, who went straight for the entrance without paying much heed to the carefully tended beauty. I followed, somewhat reluctantly as she removed her shoes at the entrance and knelt down on a cushion in front of another, larger cushion. We waited for a moment in silence, until I became impatient. “What are we waiting for?” “To be seen,” she explained. “We need to show some patience.” We waited for a few minutes until I spotted a figure moving behind the half-sheer paper doors that led into the building proper. Rather than come out to us, the silhouette quickly moved out of sight once more. I cast a glance Kasumi’s way, but she didn’t seem bothered by this, so I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I wasn’t sure how I’d imagined getting married might go for me, but this probably hadn’t been it. We waited for another few minutes after the silhouette vanished when another, larger one, took its place. The door was slid open and a tall, or rather long, figure came out to greet us. Her elongated body was reminiscent of that of a lamia. However, while it seemed that she was slithering over to us, I observed that she actually gently waved in the air just above the floor. She coiled up on the large cushion in front of us and graced us with a gentle smile. She radiated power, but where Marchesa had radiated intimidation and lust, she radiated calm and benevolence. The form of her lower body, her horns and claws identified her to be a ryu. “It eases my heart to see young ones who have found each other,” she opened. “You have come to mark the bond you share now and in the future?” Her voice reverberated, in spite of the half-open space, but was not oppressive. Rather, it further strengthened the aura of calm and benevolence she radiated. “We have,” Kasumi said. I remained quiet, but when the ryu did not continue and looked at me with a gentle, but expectant smile, I also said. “Yes, we are here for that.” “It eases my heart to hear that. I must ask - You are not yet claimed by another?” She asked me and I nodded. “Is there anyone who will bear witness to your union?” “It’s kind of a shotgun wedding, I suppose,” I said, scratching my head uncomfortably. It wasn’t as if I had made any truly close friends in the last two months, but I imagined Seba and Jean might’ve joined us. Jon and Cymede probably; Mirri maybe? I cast another sneaky glance Kasumi’s way. In spite of all the time we’d spent together, I hadn’t met any of her friends. The ryu did not seem overly bothered by the lack of additional witnesses, only smiled and said. “In that case, please follow me and I will bond you two.” She flowed up from her cushion and floated over to the backend of the room, where she’d first come in from. I looked to Kasumi, who got up to follow the woman. I rose to my feet and followed as well. In the back of the temple, a small corridor revealed sliding doors to each side. The ryu was waiting beside one of them and gently gestured for us to enter. I entered and Kasumi followed. The room was sparsely lit by pleasantly scented candles. A luxuriously upholstered depression in the floor took up almost half the room. A drawer was placed in one corner. The Ryu slowly moved over and produced three vials filled with clear liquid from it. “Are you aware of what we’re going to do?” The ryu asked. Kasumi nodded but I shook my head. She smiled at me. ”Follow your partner's lead. There is nothing to be afraid of.” She took one of the vials and mustered it for a short moment, enclosed it in her clawed hand, then repeated the process for the second one. H-Scene “A beautiful display of affection,” the ryu said from above. “It fills my heart with joy to see the affection and desire you carry for one another.” I kissed Kasumi’s forehead and she slowly pulled out of me, eliciting a final moan from both of us. We slowly got back to our feet. I was feeling wobbly and exhausted as I slowly made my way up out of the depression. “Was that all?” I asked. “I thought there was a brand involved?” “Look at yourself,” the ryu said with a smug smile. I looked at myself and only now noticed the light red patterns covering my upper right arm, shoulder and chest. They were reminiscent in design to the markings that adorned Kasumi’s thigh, though not the same. I also now noticed that similar markings had appeared on Kasumi’s body, complementing the existing markings, though the color was different from the original markings and bearing the same red as mine. The new marks extended the existing markings on her thighs across her hips and butt and even added to the existing ones, changing them slightly. “You may now want to clean yourselves off, while I prepare the documents and ledger,” the ryu said and gestured for us to follow her again. The ryu handed us off to a shirohebi and floated off as our new guide showed us to a spring hidden behind the temple. “Documents?” I asked as we cleaned off before entering the pristine water. “Nothing big,” Kasumi said. “The brand itself is all the proof we need, but some people, especially those not native to Kioko, care about official documents.” “Well, not that I’m unfamiliar with bureaucracy. Back where I’m from.” “She will also keep a ledger recording our bonding. Duplicated records are kept in every larger town in Kioko. This is to ensure that when only one of us is present, they are able to clearly identify the other.” I remained quiet for a moment, then wondered. “Strange that we could just come by without an appointment and barely had to wait.” “This is a small shrine,” Kasumi explained. “There is another, much bigger one where people usually go. It is to the north of the city. We’d have had to wait for some time if we wished to have the ceremony performed there.” We spent only a brief time in the water. There was plenty left to do before our departure the next day, after all. When we got out and re-dressed, the same shirohebi was already waiting for us, guiding us into yet another small room in the shrine. We waited for a few minutes until the ryu graced us with her presence once more. She was carrying a scroll in one of her clawed hands, which she laid down and unfurled on a pedestal in the center of the room. “This is the document attesting to the union I have performed today,” she explained. I looked it over. In beautiful script it named the shrine and the ryu and stated the ceremony had been performed on the second of the master. It left space for us to fill in our names. A simple document overall, but I supposed it stated all the relevant information. Kasumi and I both signed our names and I noticed something funny. I could naturally read the script. Even though it was reasonable to assume that mamono did not use the latin alphabet, I could read the text as though it was. Only when I signed my name, the difference in the lettering suddenly became stark and noticeable. It did not diminish my obviously magical ability to read the script, but with both being present side by side on the page, I could actually realize that the script was different indeed. The, for me, somewhat profound realization passed unnoticed by the other two and, after drying the ink, the ryu handed the scroll to Kasumi and dismissed us. --- We left the temple a short while later. The waning light announcing that the day was turning to evening. “How long were we in there?” I asked. “A few hours. You were quite vigorous. Perhaps we should employ help more often, we could have even more fun.” “Just the two of us?” I wondered. “Of course,” she said, blushing slightly. “And with others.” I wondered how she could be blushing at that after everything we’d just done in there with the ryu looking on. I put my arm around her hip and pulled her closer to me. “How are you feeling?” She asked me. “Wonderful. And quite sore,” I admitted. I wasn’t quite so wobbly on my feet as just after we finished anymore, but was surely feeling sapped of strength still. She gave me a devious smile and ran her tail over my backside. “It felt good. I suppose it was a bit irrational to think that you’d mind.” “Well…,” I said. “Better to realize late than never, eh?” We walked in relative silence for a moment before I breached a topic that had bugged me since we received the scroll. “Say, at the risk of sounding stupid….” She tilted her head and looked at me, waiting for me to continue. “Second of the master… what does that mean exactly?” She looked at me for a moment, then chuckled. “You mean to tell me you have been here for all these months, and you’ve never learned about our calendar?” “Ahh,” I exclaimed. Calendar. Of course. I had just been assuming that it was just like back home. But why would it be? This was a different world. “So, about this calendar of yours…,” I said sheepishly. With some humor, Kasumi explained to me that on arcadia the year was separated into 16 months, where one month corresponded to 24 days and a week contained just 6 days. The master, I learned, was the ninth month of the calendar and the first month of summer. At least the four seasons were present on arcadia just the same as I was used to. Since the number of days to a year was different, I was wondering whether there was a difference to the length of a day as well, but she could not tell me of course. After all, how would she be able to compare without knowing the length of a day on earth? I judged that it had to be similar for me not to notice a difference, but knew that a discrepancy of even a few hours could easily go unnoticed if one was following a simple day and night cycle. My best would have been to take notice just after arriving, but I hadn’t exactly been in the right state of mind back then. With Kasumi explaining all these things to me as we made our way back into the city, we seemed to arrive back at the Wet Scale quickly in spite of moving slower than I had on our way out of the city. After getting back, Kasumi departed again almost immediately, citing travel preparations to be made and left me to explain to Seba that she’d have to do without me for a while. As might be expected, she was not particularly thrilled with the idea, but given that Marchesa was technically her boss she had little room for argument. Afterwards, I went up into my room and considered the few possessions I had come by since my arrival in Bestallion. I judged that I’d be able to take most of it with me. I would need to ask Seba to keep the three books I had been lucky to purchase on the cheap. I had no desire to expose them to the wear and dangers of the road. Even though I had been lucky to get them quite cheap, books were still very expensive and they had eaten up a large chunk of my wages and tips. Buying them might have been considered stupid, but I was fond of books and it wasn’t as if there was a whole lot else for me to spend my wages on if I excluded food. The first book was an encyclopedia of sorts dealing with mamono. I had been excited to find that one, but it ultimately provided me with little information that I had not already gained from Aneksi’s lectures. Even still, I enjoyed perusing its pages, looking at the various illustrations, descriptions and anecdotes. It wasn’t a complete compendium. I imagined that was impossible anyway, since at any time a new breed of mamono could theoretically come into existence from an echidna. The second book dealt with the absolute basics of magic. As a human, I’d likely never use magic, but it was a topic of some fascination since day one. Even still, I had been somewhat disappointed. It described basic techniques for the aspiring sorceress to practice, but didn’t describe the actual process of how it worked. I had hoped to learn how magic was physically possible, beyond the explanation of ‘well duh, it’s magic’. While this book had not answered that question, it was still an interesting read. The final book, I had purchased on a whim. It contained mostly fairy tales targeted towards children or young adolescents. Curiously, many stories struck a familiar note, relaying similar lessons to the fairy tales from earth. Don’t be greedy, trust your instincts, don’t judge others by their appearance and other such things. It had to be said though that the actors' roles were usually reversed and/or twisted. Beautiful princes kidnapped by a dastardly dragon and the brave heroine's quest to free him. Amusing was also the reversal in one of the stories in which the prince soon fell to the charms of his draconic kidnapper and defended her lair against the heroine along with his newfound love. The most distinct difference came in the often rather explicit endings to the stories, in which the well-hung dude in distress often shows his gratitude or affection in a very direct manner. I shook my head at how shocked I’d been when I first skimmed through the book. It should’ve been expected of course, but seeing that kind of explicit descriptions in a story directed towards children had still been a head scratcher. As I busied myself packing my sparse possession, I couldn’t help but contemplate the surreality of the situation. I had basically just married Kasumi. I wasn’t sure what I had expected, but that was certainly not how I imagined it to go. The realization really hadn’t quite set in. And now we’d be going on our honeymoon with a foul-mooded dragon to kidnap a dude so Marchesa could fuck his brains out. Things had taken quite the turn. After setting my things in order, I headed back down to the common room. Vela had apparently decided to stay in the Wet Scale again. Unlike previously, she did not ignore me, but rather punished me by proxy with a smoldering stare somewhere between annoyance and anger. I carefully made my way over to her, hoping she would not vent her frustration with Marchesa on me. If we were going to do this together, I’d not be able to avoid her anyway. “What do you want?” She asked in an annoyed tone as I sat down opposite of her. I could see that her gaze found the new brand on my chest where it poked out of my tunic. I supposed her immediately acknowledging my presence was a vast improvement over our first meeting. “We’re going to be traveling together soon, so I thought we should try to get along.” “I don’t need you, little man,” she said condescendingly. “Anyone who gets in my way will rue the day.” Seriously, you can stop calling me that. “Still, help in finding your target might be useful?” I suggested, trying to ignore her abrasive tone. Marchesa had said something about revenge and Vela being unable to find who she was looking for. She reared up from her seat. Even seated, her size was impressive, but her towering over me as I was sitting really drove the point home. “Do you think I have problems convincing people to tell me what I want to know?” “Maybe not… but perhaps you need to find the right people to ask first?” I suggested. I was tempted to repeat Marchesa’s reasoning about the dragon being unable to fulfill her goal on her own, but kept my mouth shut. I was not suicidal after all. “Hmm,” She made a dismissive sound and then started ignoring me again. I sighed and rose to my feet. It was probably a good idea to get my hands on something to eat before my, for now, final performance in the Wet Scale. |
mugen91May 23, 2023 1:24 PM
| I'm actually impressed that you didn't accidentally end up with both Kasumi and that Ryu as your partners :-D I imagine Vela doesn't have many friends. Tread with care my friend, should she start developing feelings for you, she might turn out really clingy :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: Tread with care my friend, should she start developing feelings for you, she might turn out really clingy :-P What? A tsundere dragon, clingy? Perish the thought! |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
MetallumOperatur said: I'm actually impressed that you didn't accidentally end up with both Kasumi and that Ryu as your partners :-D It took a great deal of restraint o everyone's part :P tygertyger said: MetallumOperatur said: Tread with care my friend, should she start developing feelings for you, she might turn out really clingy :-P What? A tsundere dragon, clingy? Perish the thought! Yeah! I mean whoever heard of such a thing? :D |
mugen91Feb 22, 2018 9:41 AM
| Chapter 33 Morning came much too early as I was entirely convinced I did not want to head out on this stupid assignment. Leaving aside the moral ambiguity of setting out to kidnap a man so that Marchesa could fuck him into a drooling mess, I loathed the thought of giving up the sense of normality I had built up here. I traced the line of the yet unfamiliar markings adorning my body, well, unfamiliar only on my own skin. I thought to myself that nothing had really changed with that mark, except for the fact that Kasumi and I were now legally bound, at least as far as Kioko was concerned. Was this actually the same as getting married? I moved out of the bed and assembled my clothes. No point in making Kasumi drag me out of bed. I filled the numerous pouches on my cloak with various small items, belted my blade and quiver. I moved the bow into its holster on my side and shouldered the backpack Kasumi had brought with her the night before. It was still light for now, as we would be picking up supplies when we arrived in Faldarfar. I made my way downstairs, where I grabbed some quick breakfast and finally said my goodbyes to Seba, Jean and Shibi. Kasumi stood ready to depart, but Vela was still missing. “Take this,” she said to me, holding out her hand, a plain silver ring in her palm. I furrowed my eyebrows and took it and inspected it closer. The inside was engraved with writing I could not parse. “What is this?” I wondered. Kasumi smiled, holding up her other hand, an identical ring adorning her ring finger. “I heard it was tradition to exchange rings where you’re from?” “Well, yes, but also… nevermind,” I said, slightly flustered. “Thank you,” I added and gave her a hug. “You’re welcome,” she said and gave me a small peck on the lips in return. Luckily, Vela did not make us wait long and soon made her way downstairs, a sour expression on her face. Not wasting any more time, we left the Wet Scale behind us and moved northward, towards the harbor where a ship would be waiting to take us to Faldarfar. I dimly wondered why Vela couldn’t just fly us there, but thought it would be wise not to suggest it. I doubted she would be thrilled at the suggestion of us using her as a mount. When we reached the harbor, Kasumi directed us towards a cog anchored at the far end of the pier. Vela’s mood seemed to sour further when she saw the vessel, as she let out an annoyed huff. Nonetheless, we headed for the cog and were greeted by a rather alluring, but seemingly human woman with short black hair called Misty. “Welcome aboard the Sea’s Bitch, we’ve been informed of your destination.” She greeted us after introducing herself. Then she turned to me, ran one finger across my cheek and licked it off after. “Delicious cargo to be transporting, you’ll find us very accommodating, I promise.” “I’m afraid I’m taken,” I said, shooting a look at Kasumi, who seemed about as unbothered as expected. “I’m sure Kasumi won’t mind a little fun,” Misty said with a lustful grin. “We’re no strangers, you see. But, for now, let’s get you settled in.” We followed her aboard and Misty showed us to the small cabin we’d be sharing with most of the crew. Given the way Kasumi had not protested and Misty’s forward attitude, I had a premonition that there might be some sexy times ahead. Not that that was in any way new nor particularly problematic for me. After we put away our luggage, we returned to the deck, where more women were now present. There were two more human women, which made me suspicious of whether or not they were actually what they seemed. One of them, the captain, who introduced herself as Sisayn, looked almost identical to Misty, with the exception that she looked a little rougher around the edges with a few faded scars visible on the exposed bits of skin. The third was a blue haired woman with a ferocious kind of look on her face and rather a rather sharp toothed grin. She seemed visibly to fight the urge to jump me as she introduced herself as Zadra. The last two crew members were a white haired red oni called Kathy and a nureonago called Lucy. I introduced myself as they already seemed to know Kasumi, but Vela only harrumphed and ignored them with her arms crossed over her chest. I sighed and hoped her attitude would improve eventually. The ‘I’m better than everyone else’ and ‘I can’t be bothered to interact with anyone’ routine was only entertaining for so long. I was happy at least that this journey was paid for and I wouldn’t be forced to extend any sexual favors in exchange for passage again. Meaning I’d probably be passed around free of charge, knowing Kasumi’s preferences. Speaking of the crew. After introductions were over, they wasted little time getting to work untethering the ship and raising the anchor. Kathy used a long pole to make some distance between the ship and the pier while Zadra got to work on raising the sails. The fact that a single woman pushed off the cog from the pier without so much as a sound of strain was another stark reminder of the physical differences between a mamono and a human. A short while later, we had put good distance between us and land and moved northeast towards Elizabeth. Kasumi, who seemed to have undertaken this trip before, informed me that it would take us seven to eight weeks until we reached our destination. --- We had only been at sea for half a day and already I was bored. As was expected, the crew was making passes at me and Kasumi was somewhere between unbothered and encouraging them. I didn’t exactly mind, but dropping my pants on the first day seemed a bit much, even if I was a self-admitted slut at this point. There was little to discover on the ship. Aside from the deck and crew quarters, there was a small kitchen, which was the domain of the nureonago Lucy, and a cargo hold which was filled with crates and sacks of varying sizes. I shook my head at the inefficiency of using non-standardized containers. For most of the first day I lounged about on deck and watched the crew at work. Possibly the most entertaining part was Vela. Even though the waves lapping against the ship were not all that bad, she had not taken well to the gentle swaying of our vessel. I tried to suppress a chuckle as I tried to put the image of a sea-sick dragon out of my mind, but her slightly green face was difficult to ignore. The dragon seemed resolute to deny me even that little bit of fun however, as just a few hours into our journey, she had taken to the air. She had declared that a cog was not a worthy mode of transport for a dragon. Instead of taking the ride with us, she would meet us again at Faldarfar. With that diversion gone, I was left with little more than regarding the slowly passing coastline and pondering the crew-women moving about busily. Kathy and Lucy were easy, but the other three still appeared as highly attractive human women. “Thinking about who to do first?” Kasumi asked from behind me, following my gaze. I turned around and kissed her. “I think I know which one I want.” “You don’t need to kiss my ass, we already belong to each other. Now, which one?” She rolled her eyes to accentuate her remark. “I don’t know, aside from the nureonago and oni, I don’t even know what species they are.” “They could just be human?” “Ha, somehow I strongly doubt that. What are they then?” “They,” Kasumi gestured for Sisayn and Misty. “Are nereids and, as you probably guessed, sisters. Zadra, on the other hand, is a Mershark. I think she would be interesting, if somewhat difficult to watch.” I raised an eyebrow. “Why would she be interesting?” She had certainly been the one who had made the most aggressive passes at me so far. Kasumi smiled with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, you’ll see before long.” “So if they are aquatic mamono, how come they are operating a ship? Wouldn’t they be quicker if they just swam?” “Quicker? Sure. But how would they transport the cargo?” “Why are they transporting cargo on the surface? I thought there was a whole world underwater? Isn’t it inconvenient to take that form for them?” Kasumi shrugged. “People have their reasons,” she said. “Perhaps they were bored of things below the waves. Perhaps they needed a change of scenery. As for the changing of forms. Well. I can’t speak from experience, but you’ll see they still spend plenty of time in the water and all three are very adept at using their ‘fake’ legs, so it’s not much of any issue.” “Hmm,” I grumbled. Still seemed strange to me. Perhaps I would be asking one of them about it later. In the evening, when it became time to turn in for the night, we headed down into the crew quarters. Sisayn and Misty shared the captain’s cabin and Zadra had the first watch of the night. This left me with Kasumi, Lucy and Kathy, the latter two looking at me with obvious and lecherous intent. I considered the hammocks that would serve as beds for the duration of the journey. They did not seem like the ideal support structure for intercourse. Probably nice for cuddling though. Nonetheless I got on one of them and gestured for Kasumi to join me. She nimbly got on and laid on top of me with her head resting on my chest. The other two looked a bit disappointed at that but kept watching us for a while nonetheless. Seeing that no show was forthcoming however, their attention soon shifted away as they began playing a game of cards.. --- The next five days passed without anything worth mentioning, aside from when Sisayn informed me that we were just passing over the Sunken City, the capital of the underwater domain and home to Lord Michiko. It was now the evening of the sixth day and I was leaning against the cog’s railing, watching Elizabeth’s shoreline slowly pass us by in the distance. “How come you’re operating this ship?” I asked Misty. “What do you mean? How did we come into possession of the ship?” She asked back. “No. You’re a nereid right? You and your sister both? It just seems weird to me that aquatic mamono would operate a ship.” “It’s actually not uncommon at all. Being safe from drowning in the event of disaster, catching food in the sea, access to seawater as a drinking source. A few of the many good reasons many ships are operated by or at least have aquatic mamono in their crews.” I mused it over for a moment. “Makes sense, I guess. But isn’t it weird to be crawling over the waters’ surface when you can swim so much faster by yourself?” “You get used to it.” She shrugged. “Besides, I get to swim in the water a lot when I’m hunting for food.” “I guess.” I considered the lightly trailing waves for a moment, then wondered. “How does it actually work with men… down there?” “Interested?” She stepped closer to me and placed an arm around my shoulder. “There are fewer men below the tides than above as you can likely imagine. It is for that reason that many of us spend a great deal of time near the surface of the water or even walking on land.” “Makes sense. It’s not like I could survive unaided down there,” I agreed with her. “How about once you…acquire one? A man, that is.” “That varies. Some will stay on the surface, but most will prefer to take their man down to the depths.” I shuddered, which she picked up on and grinned. “Does the ocean make you uncomfortable?” “Not sure,” I said honestly. “I’m fine on a ship, but the thought of being stranded out in the ocean, the unfathomable depths below me. It’s kind of… I don’t know… creepy? I also don’t know if I could do that… stay below the waves indefinitely.” “Don’t knock it till you try it. Most men eventually appreciate it. Our Samuel had a hard time adjusting as well, but came to enjoy it.” “Your husband?” “Yes,” she smiled warmly. ”My sister found him floating in the waves. Poor fella had been out there for a while and was quite delirious. It took a while until he believed that he was not hallucinating.” “I can imagine. Did he… come into this world in the middle of the sea? Or was it some kind of ship wreck?” “No, he was not of this world,” she smiled as she seemed to recall that first encounter. “After he finally acknowledged that she was real, he thought she would drown and eat him.” “Well, yeah. Superstitions and all that,” I agreed. “Still, coming into this world in the middle of the ocean seems like an especially unfortunate way to start your stay here. When do I get to meet this Samuel then?” Her smile waned as I said that. “He’s passed away, I’m afraid.” Fuck me and my obliviousness. Why else would he not be around? “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to pry open any wounds.” “It’s fine. You had no way of knowing. One might think that fifty years would be long enough to get used to the thought.” She sighed deeply as her gaze turned inward. Fifty years? I keep forgetting that mamono don’t age the way humans do. I put an arm comfortingly around her shoulder and lightly squeezed her, unsure what to say after stepping on that landmine. “Don’t worry your head too much over that,” she said, ruffling her hand over my head. “But I guess that may be one of the reasons we came to the surface. Get a change of scenery, if you know what I mean.” I nodded my head, returning to gazing at the shoreline when Lucy shouted. “Dinner is served, move your lazy asses.” I shook my head, her foul mouth stood in stark contrast to her rather demure appearance. Together with Misty, I made my way over to the small room in which we took our meal. It really only consisted of a table, a bench and a few chairs bolted to the floor. Lucy was already there and had started eating. I took a seat, but instead of eating I kept watching Lucy. I doubted I could get used to seeing her eat. Given that she was a type of slime, she didn’t have any rigid internal body structure and her semi-transparent body meant that if I looked closely, I could see how she slowly dissolved her meals. She had taken my staring for interest on previous occasions, but I was quite hesitant to stick my dick into something that I saw was quite capable of dissolving meat. I shook the thought from my mind and hurriedly grabbed some food as well. Most of it was already gone during the time I had spent staring. I shot a look at Kathy who was generously sharing some booze with Zadra. So far, I had managed to hold on to my solemn oath of not engaging in another drinking match with an oni. “You sure you don’t want any?” Kathy suggested in her best seductive tone while shaking the large gourd in her hand to make the contents slosh back and forth. “No thanks, I’m good,” I said, shaking my head vigorously at the memory of the incident. “This is so annoying,” Zadra suddenly exclaimed loudly. “Stop being so reserved. Have a drink and whip out your damned dick every once in a while.” I nearly choked on my food as she continued her tirade. “Five nights I keep smelling that juicy thing just a hand’s reach away.” She got up and got all up in my face, looking at me with a mixture of annoyance and horniness. Then she grabbed my hand and pushed it against her admittedly very nice breasts. “If your mate didn’t want it, fine. Cunt move, but I understand. But she’s fine with it! Don’t tell me you don’t want it too?” It was not that I didn’t want to, but it felt weird after I’d basically gotten married to Kasumi just a few days ago. If I looked at the expression on her face though, it was clear what course of action she’d vote for. And if I was being honest, after days of invitation after invitation, exposed breasts, accidental wardrobe malfunctions and clumsy dropping of spoons to bend over at the hip to pick them up, my will to resist had also been lowered substantially. When my hand was pulled from Zadra’s breasts and down to her already wet sex, I finally had enough. “Oh fuck it then,” I finally exclaimed. I slipped a finger into her and slapped her squarely on the ass with my other hand, eliciting first a surprised yelp and then a grin from her. Before I had a chance to change my mind, she yanked me first to and then off my feet, and carried me up to deck. By the time we arrived, her skin had turned paler than before and the white of her eyes had turned black. She made quick work of the clothing covering both our bodies and, without further ado, she threw me over the railing. As I sped towards the water, I could see her jumping after me, her body caught in the throes of her transformation as her legs melded together into a shark-tail and fin-like excesses spouted from her arms and hips. I could also swear that her somewhat sharp teeth had turned into a row of razor sharp pricks. And perhaps it was just the light, but I could’ve sworn she’d grown a fair bit longer. H-Scene Zadra kept holding me inside her, my head mashed between her tits, floating through the water, even after her wild movements had ceased. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” She asked, in a much more relaxed tone than earlier. “I guess, but you could be a little less rough.” I was feeling sore all over, my skin rough where she had rubbed against me and the saltwater burned against the many needlepricks from her love bites. I had no clue how I had not suffered serious wounds, given the frenzy she was in earlier. And speaking underwater was a strange sensation to say the least. “Ahh, I was a bit backed up. It’s your fault for having that delicious smelling thing between your legs.” Sure, blame the victim will you? “Does that mean you’re open for business from now on then?” I heard Sisayn’s voice from somewhere below us. Zadra reluctantly let me pull out and I saw both Misty and Sisayn floating below us in their natural form. “Hmm,” I mumbled a noncommittal answer. Back on the ship, Kasumi was sitting on the railing, still idly stroking herself, her thighs painted white, with a dreamy smile on her face. “I thought it was all about watching for you?” I shouted up at her jokingly. “You couldn’t have seen much with all this thrashing.” “It’s still a good show. And my imagination fills in the blanks,” she said, still carrying the same smile. With help from Zadra, I finally returned to the deck of the ship after a while. There, I quickly picked up my clothes and covered my modesty. With the looks the rest of the crew were shooting at me, if I left my crown jewels on display for too long, the night would no doubt continue and as raw as I felt, I did not feel like any more action just yet. |
mugen91Jun 5, 2023 8:00 AM
| Yeah about that... Think Zada getting Sönke added to her passport, rather than the other way around, is way better justifiable. :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: Yeah about that... Think Zada getting Sönke added to her passport, rather than the other way around, is way better justifiable. :-P But Zada doesn't have a passport... I think... definitely... and there was also consent... sort of. So technically it was Sönke who 'conquered' Zada :P If we reverse it, it could be a passport, not of conquests, but a passport of those he was conquered by :P |
| Chapter 34 The next day started with me still feeling sore all over from Zadra’s rough idea of ‘love making’. Judging by the smoldering looks I kept on receiving, I also had a feeling that the dam that had made the others hold back had well and truly broken. And with Kasumi not inclined to dissuade them, I had a feeling that I would soon be adding a few more names to my list of conquests. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that my name would be added to a few more lists of conquests? Had I not felt so raw, I might’ve been added to Kathy’s and Lucy’s lists already the day before. Things had quickly gotten raunchy between the two in the crew quarters and the sounds they produced had seemed to indicate they enjoyed each other’s company greatly. Given how drained I had felt, I had declined their invitation to join them. Instead I had enjoyed the softness of Kasumi’s body against mine and being soothed to sleep by the gentle swaying of the hammock by the ship’s gentle swaying. As I stood up on the deck, I considered Kasumi thoughtfully. She seemed to have no qualms about this mission we’d been sent on. Or rather, that she’d been sent on and I was tagging along for. While I perfectly understood why I had to tag along, I had could not help but have some serious qualms about going out to kidnap some guy so Marchesa could literally fuck his brains out. I also didn’t really understand what was so special about that one that the inari would spend, what I presumed to be, a lot of money on retrieving him. I had been told that he had been cursed so as to feel an unquenchable hungering after mamono, but with the various aphrodisiacs and magic available, I felt like making sure your partner was willing and able was not too big a challenge for most mamono anyway. Certainly not for that. Hadn’t Kasumi said that most of Marchesa’s partners tended to eventually end up in a similar state? Only able to think about their next nut? “Is this what you typically do for a living?” I finally wondered aloud. Kasumi seemed unsure of my meaning, so I clarified. “Retrieving men for Marchesa… is that the kind of thing you usually do?” “Hmmm,” she hummed, thoughtful. ”This is not the first time. But I have done all kinds of things for her… espionage, security, carrying vital messages…” she trailed off. The look on her face told me not to ask, but I couldn’t help myself. “Assassination?” I asked hesitantly. She looked at me for a long moment, before continuing in a perfectly even tone. “Rarely, but yes. I think you need to understand that the vast majority of her ventures are quite legal. Even what we have set out to do here is in a legal gray area. But in her position, sometimes a show of force is required to show would-be usurpers what awaits them.” It was my turn to remain quiet for a while. It would have been a lie to say that I had not kind of expected that, but it was troubling to hear nonetheless. “How did you come to work for her?” I finally asked. Her eyes became distant and she took on a look I couldn’t place. Hurt maybe? ”It was some time ago. Perhaps… 120 years ago. I was still…,” She broke off, a conflict showing behind her eyes. “No,” she said as her gaze turned resolute and she turned away from me. I reached out, grabbed her by the arm and before I knew it, I was lying on my stomach, my arm painfully twisted behind my back. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly let go of me. ”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, I just….” Once more she took a step away from me. I was rubbing at my aching arm. “Wait! I’m sorry. No need to run away. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m not going to pry.” She relaxed somewhat and took a step closer, helping me to my feet. ”It’s not your fault. I just don’t think that…” “I said it’s fine. You can tell me when you feel comfortable about it.” I carefully put my arms around her, praying she wouldn’t throw me like that again. That one had hurt. And quite a bit. “You gotta teach me some of those moves, I feel like they might come in more handy than my attempt at swordplay,” I said half-jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. She considered that and seemed to look past the flimsy attempt. Nonetheless, her lips slowly drew up into a weak smile. ”I suppose that could be fun.” I decided to let the topic of her employment and past rest for the moment. The thing that concerned me much more however, was the something in her past that made the normally perfectly in control Kasumi lose control to a degree where she would unintentionally hurt like that. I had noticed her reluctance to speak of the past before and even though I had promised not to pry, I couldn’t help but wonder. Clearly there was something more here. Something she wasn’t ready to show me. I flexed my arm and rotated my shoulder as I considered her. There was nothing left in her face of what had briefly shown itself. Now she just showed a hint of remorse as she watched me work my arm. Only then, as we continued to regard one another, something else dawned on me. “120 years ago? Just how old are you?” I quickly shut my mouth. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know. The thought of my partner being many times my age was… strange to say the least. The question was out however and she answered. ”I’m 167 years old.” That number caused a number of interesting emotions and I guessed that showed on my face, since she asked. “That doesn’t bother you, does it?” “Oh no, of course not,” I quickly shook my head. In a way it really wasn’t that important, I told myself. After all, by Mamono standards 167 probably wasn’t even all that old. Still, she had lived more than five times as long as I had and I had a hard time imagining the difference in life experience we possessed. Shouldn’t this be weird for her, rather for me? Could she really see me as an equal partner under those circumstances? I cursed at myself mentally. This line of thinking was exactly why I had not asked for her age before. She shot me a doubtful glance and, before she could call my answer into question, I sealed her lips with mine. Perhaps this too was a talk that was better left for a later time. After a short moment of reluctance, she nestled herself against me. When I broke the kiss, she was outwardly back to her usual, even self. She excused herself and made her way below deck. I looked after her, hoping that she really was fine now. “Trouble in paradise?” Sisayn asked from behind me. Only now did I notice that half the crew was watching. ”I don’t think so. There’s simply still a lot more to learn about each other.” I kept my tone even, trying not to betray the conflicting thoughts I held. She gave me a smile that seemed to say ‘I can see right through you’. ”Well, if you ever need to retreat a little, I’m sure we can make some space for you in our cabin.” I rolled my eyes in mock exasperation and she laughed. ”Who’d have thought that that was an option?” I wondered sarcastically. --- Later that same day, when the sun had gone down, rather than going into the crew quarters to sleep, I decided to stay on deck and do a little stargazing. I laid down on my back, my hands behind my neck and considered the unfamiliar star formations in the cloudless sky. Though it wasn’t a modern city, there was still enough light in Bestallion that the light of the stars was dimmed, though not nearly as bad as in a modern day earth city. But not so out here. Here they twinkled brightly, a veritable ocean of unfamiliar formations. As I lay there, I slowly felt myself enter a deeply relaxed state. I stopped worrying about the vast gap in age and experience, my trepidations about Kasumi’s work, the once more looming uncertainty of the future. I slowly emptied my head as I stared up into the sky with nothing but the gentle lapping of the waves, the gentle swaying of the ship and the hard planks of the deck to keep me company. “What’s up with you?” I craned my neck a little and saw Kathy step up next to me. Not just the waves then. ”You’re not going to sleep?” “Not just yet, just enjoying the view. It’s not something you can enjoy all that easily where I’m from.” ”Are there no stars where you’re from? In the other world?” She asked, sounding genuinely curious. I chuckled a little. ”No, of course there are stars, a lot of them. Billions in just our galaxy. And who knows how many galaxies there are, each with billions of stars of their own. But if you live in a city, there’s usually not too many to be seen. Too much light pollution. Even more sad if you think that one day the universe will be completely dark. Though I suppose everyone will be long dead then anyway.” Damn, I sound depressing. ”Light pollution? How does that make the sky go black?” She asked, still sounding curious. ”I guess I didn’t say that well. In cities where I’m from, there’s almost always so much light that all but the brightest stars become difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye. But that doesn’t have anything to do with the universe going black. That is many, many years in the future. Unfathomably far in the future. Even by the standards of a mamono’s life. But eventually the universe will probably reach perfect entropy.” She looked confused, so I continued. “That means that all energy in the universe will be perfectly distributed. In a completely stable state nothing has any reason to ever change again. It’s called the heat death of the universe. Though it’s only one theory for where the universe is ultimately headed.” ”Damn, that’s… depressing. Why don’t you think happy thoughts?” She shifted to stand directly over my head, proudly displaying her lady parts, my view unobstructed in this position, and said in a mock dramatic tone. ”Like the universe, this beauty too will one day be lost to you, but now it is within arm’s reach.” I snorted with amusement. “Come on. You don’t find me attractive?” She asked, annoyed. ”No, it’s not that. That was just corny.” “You find me attractive, then we should have….” Her intent was abundantly clear. I sighed. Somehow, I was not in the mood. ”What’s wrong? Kasumi won’t mind, right?” ”She might mind if she can’t peep.” A wind suddenly blew over the deck, making me shiver. It was a warm, early summer night, yet I felt a bit chilly. She looked clearly annoyed. ”Why don’t you just go to sleep then?” ”Not tired,” I retorted. She sighed and stomped off. I returned to staring up at the sky, wrapping my cloak a little tighter around me. A minute later, silent as the night, Kasumi appeared next to me, drawing me into her arms. ”I’ve been told you were feeling a little out of sorts?” “Maybe a bit,” I admitted. ”Thanks.” I said to Kathy who was standing a few meters away. She snorted loudly. ”You’re welcome. You can return the favor tomorrow.” I chuckled as she walked away, then embraced Kasumi back and enjoyed the warmth of her presence next to me. “Does our earlier discussion have something to do with you feeling…?” She ventured. I considered my answer. Long enough for her to put a hand on my cheek and turn my head to look at her. “Look, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t all a bit much,” I admitted. “I think I need some time to think things through.” She pressed her lips into a tight line as she frowned, then sighed. “Considering I have a hard time talking about the past, it seems I don’t have a leg to stand on. Lecturing you on opening up, that is.” --- ”Ohhhh… Why did I do that?” I wondered, stretching my aching back. Sleeping on the wooden planks outside was, in retrospect, a poor idea. I shot a disapproving look at Kasumi, who appeared entirely unbothered. She had risen some time ago and had left me to moan and groan to myself for a bit. But now she was back and pulled me to my feet. ”You said you wanted to learn some of my moves. Are you still sure you want to learn?” ”Yes,” I nodded without enthusiasm. “But now?” “Now is the best time in fact! Alright then, let’s start with something easy.” She gestured for me to step close to her. ”I will demonstrate a grip on you and then you will try it on me.” “Isn’t it possible you’ll be hurt if I don’t do it correctly?” She gave me an amused look in response and I conceded the point. She motioned me to come for her and I nodded reluctantly and acted like I was trying to grab her. She grabbed my wrist, stepped in and threw me over her shoulder. Before I could crash into the planks she broke my fall with her leg. ”Did you get it?” I nodded hesitantly and got up. I hadn’t really gotten it, but that throw had introduced a bit of vertigo and I wanted to buy a little time before she demonstrated again. At least my back had somehow been a bit loosened by that. Kasumi now took the role of the mock attacker, moving very slow and allowing me to grab her and throw her over my shoulder. It didn’t feel like I did it right and rather than crashing into the planks, she nimbly spun through the air and landed on her feet. She looked doubtful. ”That wasn’t right, look closely…” I had been eager to learn, but I almost regretted asking for her instruction. Though Kasumi made every effort to break my falls or at least make sure I didn’t crash to the floor too hard, I was soon aching all over. More so than before we started. To spare me somewhat, we had moved on from throws to grappling holds. Many of these seemed to end with my head stuck between her thighs, even when that was not the optimal path for her to take. Of course there was no real urgency for her to do anything optimally against me. I had to admit to myself, as the sun slowly crawled across the horizon, that this was actually kind of exciting. I could easily put my head there whenever I wanted, but the thought of a woman teasingly choking me with her thighs was something of a guilty pleasure. And it seemed like I was not the only one, as with every time I felt the scent of her excitement growing stronger. H-Scene I quickly pulled up my pants, not keen on having my ass hanging out in the breeze for too long. ”You missed the show,” Misty said to Kathy, who was just now coming up from below deck. ”Dammit, today was supposed to be my turn,” she complained. ”Well. Too late, sorry and better luck next time,” I said, giving her a slap on the ass as I passed her by. Now that we were done, I felt embarrassed at acting like that with everyone watching. So I planned to stay below deck for a while to calm down. |
mugen91Jun 19, 2023 11:54 AM
| What secrets lurk in Kasumi's mysterious past? Stay tuned! |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: What secrets lurk in Kasumi's mysterious past? Stay tuned! Whoa, that was fast :D Will the secret be revealed? Stay tuned for a lot more chapters and (hopefully) not be disappointed |
| I see that Erwin is not the only one who thinks about stuff like the heat death of the universe. It is comforting to know he is not the only one :-D Also passport update: |
MetallumOperatur said: I see that Erwin is not the only one who thinks about stuff like the heat death of the universe. It is comforting to know he is not the only one :-D Certainly not, though the topic did not seem to interest her quite as much :P Yay! Update. Though if I look at it like this, Sönke really slowed down after coming to Bestallion :P |
| Chapter 35 As the days of our voyage passed us by, the coastline started to shift, from barren cliffs to lush forests and coarse sanded shorelines. By now I had been with all the women in the crew, although I was feeling somehow a little less enthusiastic about it than usual. Kasumi had also noticed this and one day she decided to ask me about it. “Enthusiasm?” I asked , putting on a mask of amusement. ”I think you’re mistaking me with yourself?” ”I’m just as I ever was,” she proclaimed. ”But you’re not in it with your heart.” I considered her thoughtfully and remained quiet for a while. Finally, I made an ambiguous sound. ”I don’t know. Somehow I thought that... Ah never mind.” I broke off, feeling embarrassed at what I was about to say. ”No, No. Tell me.” She nudged me. Then, when I didn’t say anything, she nudged me again. I sighed. It seemed she wouldn’t let it go. I took a deep breath. ”Well… I guess I may have thought that… with the branding slash marriage and everything….” I rubbed across the fabric, above where the branding marked me. ”Maybe I expected that things would change a little.” She pulled up an eyebrow and considered me curiously. ”Do you want things to change? I’m not going to force you fuck other women. Not if you don’t want it as well.” She let out a long sigh. ”Although it would be a shame.” ”Does it really turn you on so much? More than doing it yourself?” It wasn’t like I couldn’t imagine it. I liked watching Kasumi with other women, but I still vastly preferred sleeping with her myself. It was her turn to consider me thoughtfully for a moment. ”Well… it’s different. I like both. But they are not mutually exclusive. I can see you get mounted while you bring those sweet lips to bear on me.” She turned her tone sensual for the last sentence and ran a finger over her breasts. I smiled. ”I guess that is pretty hot,” I conceded. ”I may just still be acclimating. Forget I said something.” She shook her head. ”No, if something bothers you, you can always tell me.” Then she gave me a scrutinizing look. ”But that’s not all, is it?” ”What do you mean?” ”Ever since that talk about my work, you’ve been more distant. Are you really that bothered by what I do?” I was startled. Had I really? I bit my lip and thought it over for a second. ”I’d be lying if I said that, eh… wet work didn’t bother me. Or what we’re set out to do here, for that matter. But that is my problem, not yours. And I assure you, that has not made me become more distant.” ”Really? If it’s not that, then what is it?” ”I said you’re imagining things,” I said, got up and walked away. Too late did I consider that this retreat would only strengthen that idea in her head. The rest of the day, she made it her mission to get an answer out of me. To that end, she applied various methods. She tried to surprise me into answering by asking very loudly and unexpectedly. She tried to annoy the answer out of me, she tried to tickle the answer out of me (I should never have told her the soles of my feet were ticklish) and she even had the crew prying. The crew, of course, was highly amused by the whole thing and enthusiastically joined Kasumi in her efforts. After a few hours, she finally had my resistance worn down and I exclaimed. ”Damn, woman. When I first met you, you didn’t seem so morbidly curious.” ”You didn’t take me for a woman that tenaciously pursues the information she desires. A woman that will employ any dirty trick she can?” Her smile had more than a hint of mischief behind it. ”Alright, alright,” I exclaimed exasperatedly. ”You win. It’s not a line of work thing. It’s the …age. There, you win.” I crossed my arms before my chest in annoyance and turned my head away from her. ”You’re bothered by my age?” She seemed honestly taken aback. ”You know I’m still young by mamono standards?” ”Of course I know. It’s not your age per se. It’s more the… I don’t know! The whole general idea.” She looked at me confused. ”The general idea of age?” She demanded clarification. Feeling flustered, I tried to calm down a bit before I answered. ”It’s not your age per se. You don’t look like an old woman, don’t act like one either. It’s just that… the idea that I’ll be long dead before I reach where you are already. Isn’t it a shit deal for everyone? I avoided the topic, because I didn’t want to think about it.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me, not saying anything for a while as she frowned. Perhaps it was a tough topic for her as well? Maybe I should really just have kept my mouth shut? ”It’s a difficult topic. I can understand that you’d like to avoid it. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a short natural lifespan, but that only makes our time together that much more precious.” ”It’s so fucking lopsided. On the one hand, wouldn’t it suck for you to get emotionally attached? You know I’ll just die and you still have centuries and more ahead of you. On the other hand, how can something real come to be under these circumstances? I’ll end up giving you my entire life, while you share just a small portion of yours. You know, someone might love their dog, but when that dog dies, they will get a new one.” I cast down my eyes and she slapped me across the face. I held my stinging face while she angrily said. ”I do not think of you like a dog.” “Just a bad choice of words,” I retorted half-heartedly. ”Even so. What solution would you suggest then? Stay alone all your life?” ”No,” I said in frustration. ”That’s the thing, there is no solution.” She slung her arms around me again and this time I slowly reciprocated the embrace. She still seemed angry, if you could call the intense stare she threw my way that, but her voice was perfectly even, soothing even. ”I can imagine that it’s not easy for you. It’s not an easy thought for me either, but we can only do the best we can with what we have.” I knew that. Of course I knew that. But knowing a thing and feeling it can be very different things. I looked down at her, still giving me that intense look and sighed and finally relaxed against her. ”I know. But that doesn’t always make it easy.” She kept staring for a moment longer, than nuzzled her head beneath my chin. ”There is one piece of good news though. You humans tend to live a fair bit longer on Arcadia than in the other world from what I hear. Reaching 150 years is not uncommon and with the aid that some mamono can provide, even substantially longer lifespans are not unheard of.” ”I did not know that,” I admitted, while trying to wrap my head around the thought of living past 150. I had never considered living that long realistic and had frankly never wanted to be such an old man. At least not one that was so decrepit as to be reliant on others to take care of him, which was my mental image of most people that lived past 90. ”I guess we’ll have to take it as it comes.” Looking up at me once more, she still looked unhappy with me yet did her best to change the subject. ”Come on now, let’s cheer you up,” she said and grabbed me by the wrist, then threw me on my back. With the training she’d given me the last few days, I saw it coming, but was still powerless to stop her arms from snaking in and grabbing me. She straddled me and leaned down to touch her lips against mine. Her lips parted and her tongue probed against mine, demanding I grant her access. Her tongue invaded my mouth more aggressively than normal and, combined with the sensation of her grinding her hot loins against mine, I let myself be convinced to set my brooding aside for the moment at least. --- ”I like it when you’re so aggressive, " I quietly admitted some time later. Kasumi’s naked body was still lying atop me as I idly caressed her back. ”You should do that more often.” Truth be told, the issue was not solved. Not even close. But she was right. The alternative to stay all alone was not an alternative at all. Perhaps trying to find a human wife was possible, but what kind of married fan would do that? Naturally living so much longer than I’d ever thought, especially considering that the arcadian year might be longer than an earth-year, was difficult to wrap my head around as well. ”I might be persuaded,” she conceded. ”We should dial back on the public sex when we get off the ship tomorrow though. I really am not an exhibitionist,” I noted thoughtfully. ”Ha, don’t lie,” Sisayn exclaimed from a few meters away, holding Kathy’s head between her legs. ”You know you love to let us watch. Though you should let us join more often.” I waved her off. ”It’s one thing on the ship where I’ve already screwed everyone, another thing entirely in a city full of strangers.” ”Don’t you think it would be exciting?” Kasumi asked. ”You getting ridden or maybe have that cute ass drilled in a town square with a large audience. Me in the audience.” I felt her rod, trapped between our stomachs, stiffen at the thought and I snorted a short burst of laughter. Of course she wanted to be in the audience. ”No, we’re not doing that,” I reiterated. ”Not yet?” Kasumi asked in a playful tone. I shook my head and swatted her ass as she chuckled. --- Early the next day, on the 14th of the housemaid, we reached a medium sized port town. Quickly after we berthed at the pier, a woman in an official looking uniform came aboard to inspect the cargo and, after confirming that everything was in order, half a dozen dock workers quickly came aboard and started unloading crates from the cargo hold, supervised by Sisayn and Misty. Kasumi and I said our thanks and goodbyes to the crew and moved off the ship. I considered the town and was amazed at how, once again, there was a drastic shift in the architecture of the buildings even though the distance we traveled wasn’t all that long. Then again, even with international standards there were noticeable differences in the buildings of different European countries and realistically, those were often closer than the distance we had passed between Bestallion and here. Wood, but also blocks of stone, were the primary building materials and most roofs were covered by thatched straw. Overall the city reminded me of depictions of early medieval Anglo-Saxon towns. “What now?” I asked. “Do we look for Vela?” “No need,” Kasumi said. “She’ll find us, I’m sure. We’ll head towards Faldarfar first.” “Shouldn’t we get some supplies first?” I asked. “How far is it?” Kasumi was contemplative for a moment. “I suppose with you along it’ll take a bit longer. We should arrive in the evening tomorrow or perhaps the day after.” “And when would you arrive if you were by yourself?” I asked curiously. “Today,” she stated flatly. “Right,” I said as she led us through town with confident steps and it seemed she was familiar with the place. We visited a few stores to pick up some supplies. At my insistence, our final purchase was a tent and some blankets. Though it was clearly summer already, a few days out on the ship the temperatures had turned quite chilly during the night and I was not looking forward to sleeping out in the open in any case. We finally headed out, my backpack now filled and the tent on my back made my load considerably heavier. “What’s our course of action now?” I asked, not having any experience with the sort of thing we were set out to do. “We’re heading for Faldarfar,” Kasumi said, repeating her previous declaration. I rolled my eyes. “After that,” I clarified. “That’s hard to say. We’re meeting up with Faela and hear what information she has managed to collect. Only after that will I be able to decide what the best course of action will be.” “And who is this Faela person?” “She’s an elf, one I’ve worked with on multiple occasions.” By now we had left the port town behind us and we moved through the heath. A few other mamono were on the road, but didn’t pay us much heed. “Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Vela?” I asked again. “We’re supposed to do this thing together right?” “Perhaps that’s her,” Kasumi said instead of directly answering me, pointing her finger in the direction of a small crag along the coast in the distance. I stopped and squinted my eyes, but could not see a thing. I shot Kasumi a doubting look, then shrugged my shoulders and hurried after her as she had continued walking while I was trying to make out whatever it was she had pointed at. I occasionally looked back in the direction she had indicated though and after a few minutes I thought I could see a dot in the distance moving closer. After a few more minutes, the dot began to take shape. Just how good are her eyes? I wondered. Shortly after, I could clearly make out Vela, who landed surprisingly softly with a few beats of her large wings. I was a bit awed at how someone that massive could fly through the air with such grace. She folded her wings behind her back and fell into step without acknowledging us. I sighed and swallowed the greeting I had on my lips. I felt like at some point I had to do something about that. --- As evening approached, Kasumi decided that we would set up camp. I was thankful, after walking all day long my feet and back were aching and I was feeling tired. A few months of comfortable living in Bestallion had apparently sufficed to negate my being used to marching from going there in the first place. Or maybe it was the fact I was not used to marching with a decent amount of weight on my back. Nonetheless, I got to work on setting up the tent while Kasumi and Vela both headed off. I was not sure how comfortable I felt being left all by myself out here, but I figured they would be close enough to notice if anything happened. And though my pride was surely a shriveled husk of what it had once been, I could still not quite bring myself to vocalize worries like that. A short while later, Vela came back and dropped a cache of smashed wood on the ground. “Make a fire,” she ordered. “You’re a dragon right?” I asked carefully. “Wouldn’t that be easier for you?” “A BLACK dragon,” She said, like that explained anything. Did that mean she couldn’t produce flames? Did dragons in this world have different kinds of ‘breaths’ based on the color of their scales? I sighed and got to work. I had never actually built a fire myself, not without a lighter anyway. Although I theoretically knew how to do it. I stacked up the wood and got to work on collecting some kindling. When I was satisfied with my setup I grabbed the flint from my cloak to try and light the kindling. It took me an annoying number of attempts to produce some decent sparks with the flint and I was getting increasingly annoyed as it took a lot more tries until the kindling finally lit up. I quickly moved it to the small sticks I had set up in my wood stack and anxiously waited until they caught fire. I made a satisfied sound and turned around, where Kasumi and Vela were both watching me with some amusement. I arched an eyebrow. Was that the first time I’d seen Vela smile? “Enjoying the show?” I asked. “I’d enjoy it more if you didn’t let the fire go out,” Kasumi said, still amused. I turned around and cursed, the sticks had almost burned out, but the bigger logs had yet to catch fire. I quickly added more kindling and sighed in relief as the fire grew again. “You’ll have ample opportunity to practice,” Kasumi promised me as she clapped me on the shoulder. “In the meantime, you can help me with these.” She dropped two rabbits on the floor. “I’m not really sure how,” I admitted. “You’ve never even gutted a rabbit?” She asked, shaking her head. “Alright, I’ll show you.” She handed me a knife and knelt down opposite of me, showing me how to skin and gut the animal. Somehow, she and also Vela were quite amused at my initial hesitation cutting into the animal. It’s not like I had never seen an animal being butchered, but I’d never done it before. At least there’s something they share. I thought resignedly. For my part I thought I was doing well. After the initial hesitation, I noted that I had little issue gutting the animal. When we finished, Kasumi speared them both on a stick and placed them above the fire to cook. I felt a little foolish at having insisted on buying supplies. The thought of just catching our meals had barely entered my mind. Perhaps that was due to my own lack of hunting skills. That and, I supposed, nearly three decades of modern earth living had conditioned me to think along different lines. “What were you doing the whole time we were on the ship?” I finally asked Vela while the rabbits were cooking. “Just looking around,” she said tersely, obviously not looking to share more. When the rabbits were done, Kasumi tossed one of them to Vela and shared the second with me. Vela obviously had no issue with the heat as she held it in her claws and ripped out chunks of meat with her teeth. Kasumi and I took turns holding the stick and taking bites out of the rabbit. Not long after we finished eating, I felt the exhaustion I had suppressed earlier come back with a vengeance. My eyelids seemed to weigh a tremendous amount and so, before taking the risk of falling asleep where I sat, I decided to turn in for the night. I moved into the tent and, without bothering to take off any of my clothes, lay down, covered myself with a blanket and was fast asleep almost immediately. |
mugen91Jul 4, 2023 4:42 AM
| Aha! A legit fire starting experience! 'Cause we all know that Tony cheated! |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: Aha! A legit fire starting experience! 'Cause we all know that Tony cheated! Say what? Tony cheated? Did he use his secret plot-wand to make the fire? |
| Nah, the only logical explanation is that black dragons are way too selfconscious about their fire breath to show it in front of others :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: Nah, the only logical explanation is that black dragons are way too selfconscious about their fire breath to show it in front of others :-P You sure? Perhaps their breath consists of noxious fumes or acid? :P |
mugen91 said: You sure? Perhaps their breath consists of noxious fumes or acid? :P According to DnD 5E the breath weapon for black dragons is acid. Greens have poison gas, white dragons breathe frost, and blues breathe lightning. Reds do fire. That's the chromatic dragons, of course. Now, the metallics: gold & brass = fire, silver = cold, bronze = lightning, copper = acid. |
| "When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling |
tygertyger said: mugen91 said: You sure? Perhaps their breath consists of noxious fumes or acid? :P According to DnD 5E the breath weapon for black dragons is acid. Greens have poison gas, white dragons breathe frost, and blues breathe lightning. Reds do fire. That's the chromatic dragons, of course. Now, the metallics: gold & brass = fire, silver = cold, bronze = lightning, copper = acid. I know, the question is actually whether MGSG dragons are D&D style dragons or the more classical variety that all breathe fire. |
mugen91 said: tygertyger said: According to DnD 5E the breath weapon for black dragons is acid. Greens have poison gas, white dragons breathe frost, and blues breathe lightning. Reds do fire. That's the chromatic dragons, of course. Now, the metallics: gold & brass = fire, silver = cold, bronze = lightning, copper = acid. I know, the question is actually whether MGSG dragons are D&D style dragons or the more classical variety that all breathe fire. That I'll leave up to the writers ;-) Vela, though, she's too self conscious to show it, cause it can't match Sönke's barf breath from a couple chapters back :-P |
MetallumOperatur said: mugen91 said: I know, the question is actually whether MGSG dragons are D&D style dragons or the more classical variety that all breathe fire. That I'll leave up to the writers ;-) Vela, though, she's too self conscious to show it, cause it can't match Sönke's barf breath from a couple chapters back :-P All Arcadia shall tremble at the fearsome Barf and Acid breath combination :P |
| Chapter 36 I awoke with Kasumi by my side, her head on my chest, still feeling sore and not looking forward to another day of walking. I really had gotten lazy in the short time I spent in Bestallion. I tried to remain quiet, to put off getting up a little while longer, but in spite of my best efforts, Kasumi’s eyes opened and she looked at me with a smile. “You were asleep awfully fast. I followed after you only a short time after, but you were sleeping already,” she pouted. I shrugged. “I was tired.” She smiled again and rubbed a hand over my chest. “I noticed. Want to make it up to me?” “How could I make it up to you?” I asked with a knowing smile. I moved my hand down to grab a handful of her toned butt. She smiled. “Oh, I think you know.” Her tongue pressed past my lips as I smiled and my hands began to roam across her body. --- I poked my head out of the tent, squinting as I consciously realized that the sun had barely begun to rise. That meant that I couldn’t have gotten a lot of sleep. Especially if I counted the time I had spent making it up to Kasumi how I had fallen asleep so quickly the night before. Vela was standing outside, her arms crossed before her breasts. She had her familiar scowl on her face. I looked around and couldn’t find a second tent. “Where did you sleep?” I wondered aloud. “Where do you think?” She asked, still scowling. Someone’s not a morning person. I thought to myself. Or a people person. Kasumi and I quickly ate some of the dried meat we’d bought the day before and only after that did I take down the tent. As we finally got back on the road, Vela’s bad mood persisted and her constant scowling was beginning to wear on me. As morning slowly gave way to noon I asked. “Given the speed we’re making, when will we arrive in Faldarfar?” “This evening, I expect,” Kasumi said. “Hmm,” Vela agreed taciturn. “You know the area as well then?” I asked her, hoping to distract her from her bad mood and perhaps learn a little more. Vela remained quiet for a moment, but finally answered. “I’ve been through here.” “Your search?” I asked. “Marchesa mentioned that you were looking for someone. Who are you looking for?” She narrowed her eyes and regarded me angrily. “That’s none of your business. We’re not friends. I’m only here so I can get my information, human.” After that declaration Vela unfurled her wings and took off without another word. “What was that about?” I wondered. “Don’t be too hard on her,” Kasumi said with a shrug. “I think she’s still very young.” “Young? What makes you say that? And being young doesn’t exactly excuse being a cunt.” “It’s unusual for a dragon that young to be about on her own like that. I suspect she has her circumstances.” I scowled at that. “Are you pulling that out of your ass? Her behavior seems pretty much like what I heard of dragons. Arrogant and thinking that everyone else is beneath them.” “I’m not pulling anything out of my ass. Besides, I suggest being nice to her if you want any chance at her.” “Hmmm,” I grumbled. “I’ve been nothing but nice, she’s the one who’s making things difficult.” I didn’t bother denying that I wanted to sleep with her. We both knew that was the case. Though we walked for most of the day, we didn’t quite reach the city that day. Vela returned a few hours later, shortly before we made camp for the night and at the very least she had wiped the scowl from her face. In the distance, I could see the treeline where the terrain finally changed into the forested environment I had been led to expect of Elizabeth. A short distance from the treeline, there was a fair sized city that I suspected was Faldarfar. Like the evening before, I set up the tent, while Vela and Kasumi headed off. I noticed that Vela was flying towards the treeline. Had she gotten the wood from there the night before as well? I knew I was slowing down Kasumi a lot, but I hadn’t paid any mind to how much we were both slowing down Vela. Was that part of the reason she was so annoyed? I imagined I would be annoyed if I was anxious to be done with something and someone else was slowing me to a crawl. The fire was already crackling by the time Kasumi returned empty handed. “The great hunter returns empty handed,” I joked, but it was probably difficult to find any game this close to a big town. “We’ll have to make due with what we have tonight,” she retorted with an even tone, not reacting to my playful tease. Like the previous night, I was dreadfully tired and decided to turn in soon after we finished our meal. I stopped at the entrance and shot a look at Vela. After a moment’s consideration, I offered. “Vela, would you like to sleep in the tent?” Three people would be quite the tight fit, especially considering the dragon’s size, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. She hesitated for a moment as her eyes wandered between me and the tent. “No,” she finally said and I sighed, turning to get into the tent. “But thanks,” I smiled, perhaps not all hope was lost. --- The next morning, we left the tent without any hanky panky. Kasumi had wasted little time following after me the previous night and had gone to sleep well satisfied. To my positive surprise, Vela seemed in a much better mood today as we headed for Faldarfar. As the town came into closer view, I could see that a fairly large portion was taken up by uniform buildings, arranged in neat rows around a large, open plaza. “What’s that?” I wondered aloud. “Faldarfar functions as one of the main bases for Elizabeth’s army, as well as the primary location for the training of troops.” Kasumi explained. “So you’ll find a lot of soldier types there.” “And this Faela we’re meeting. Is she a soldier as well? Why have your main army base so far away from all your borders?” “Not really. If she were, she’d hardly have the autonomy to do missions like these for Marchesa. As for Elizabeth’s tactical considerations, I am afraid I am not an expert on those.” I decided to drop the issue and focus on the contact we were to meet. “Then what does she do?” I wondered. “Wouldn’t she be suspicious if she doesn’t have a job of sorts?” “I don’t have any official work either when I’m in Bestallion,” Kasumi suggested. “Well, just seems like it would be better cover to have some kind of pretend job.” I shrugged my shoulders. In Arcadia, means of keeping track of inhabitants were probably not as advanced as back home. And even back home there were plenty of people coasting by even though they did not seem to have any proper income streams. We arrived in Faldarfar shortly past noon, plenty of time remaining to meet up with this Faela person. “Where are we meeting her?” “A tavern,” Kasumi stated. “Nice,” I said, wetting my lips as was looking forward to a drink. We headed through the street and I noted that a lot of the mamono I saw were amazons and elves. There were others of course, but I thought it was weird that they were so numerous. I asked Kasumi about this. “That is simply because elves and amazons make up the bulk of Exercitus and Faldarar is Diane’s city.” “Exercitus? Diane? Are these names I should know?” “Exercitus is the name of Elizabeth’s main army and Diane is an amazon who runs this army for her,” Kasumi clarified. “The high commander, if you will.” “So if there’s a main army, there’s more?” I wondered. Kasumi thought about it for a moment. “There’s the patrol system, but that’s mostly made up of elves. There’s the scout regiments, which are made up mostly of werebats and harpies. There’s the green guard which is-” “Yes?” I urged her on. “Well, mostly they maintain order around the capital, but also occasionally venture further away. Their areas of responsibility are not as rigid as the others.” We finally stopped in front of a tavern, a sign outside proclaimed it the ‘Heated Mare’. We stepped inside and found that there were only a few patrons inside, probably due to the early hour. We sat down at a table close to the far wall, Vela’s seat creaking dangerously under her tall form. A centaur quickly made her way over to us and I arched an eyebrow. I had expected it, but was every tavern on Arcadia named after the species of their owner? “What can I get you?” She asked in a friendly tone and fluttered her eyelashes at me. “Beer,” I said. “Beer,” Vela said. “I’ll just have water,” Kasumi said. “Coming right up,” said the centaur and turned, flicking her tail in my face. I turned to look at her and she gave me a wink. “Looks like you have a suitor,” Kasumi said with a familiar look in her eyes. I sighed. “I don’t think I’ll ever run out of those.” “Will you take her up on it?” Kasumi wondered. I shook my head and Kasumi continued. “Why not? Don’t you think she looks good?” I shot a look at her. The top half was very attractive, certainly my type. And the horse half was certainly also beautiful, but not exactly in a sexually attractive kind of way. “I don’t know.” I finally said, keeping my tone low to make sure the centaur wouldn’t hear. “She is beautiful, but the thought of doing it with her horse half is… weird.” “Hmmm,” Kasumi mused. “Just imagine it. She has you backed against the wall and keeps pushing against you. You’ve slept with a lamia, right? And a mereshark? So why not a centaur?” “Sorry, just not my cup of tea,” I refused. Vela was looking on with interest. A steep change from the ignoring she’d done when I first met her. “Why are you trying to get your man to mate with another woman?” She asked. “Because it’s hot,” she said with a grin and Vela scowled. Whether that was due to confusion or something else, I could not tell. “Don’t bother,” I told her. “She’s a bit of a pervert.” “Voyeurism is not perversion,” Kasumi stated resolutely as our drinks arrived and the centaur gave her a curious look. Vela was still shaking her head at Kasumi and, rather than stay and drink with us, got up from her seat and left us, heading over to a small group of wyverns that had come in shortly after us. I looked curiously as she cut into the group and they made space for her. “I guess she prefers their company over us non-dragonic peasants,” I said, scratching at my temple, wondering how I would ever get that one to open up to me. Kasumi only shrugged in response and silently nipped at her water. Since my companion didn’t seem in the mood to entertain me, I let my gaze wander through the tavern. While most of the patrons followed the pattern that I had observed outside, meaning that most of them were either elves or amazons, there were also the group of wyverns that Vela had preferred over us and a few others. My eyes stayed on a pair of jinkos for a moment, as they had a friendly arm-wrestling match to decide who would pay for their next drink. I almost expected the wood of the table to crack as one of them finally slammed her opponent’s arm down with force. The victor caught me staring and gave me a victorious grin. She seemed quite happy with my attention, even taking a pose and accentuating her impressive triceps, pushing up her breast at the same time. I enjoyed the show, though it quickly came to a close as her companion swatted her on the head to regain her attention. I was well into my eighth beer by the time a short and slim elf with long blond hair and sharply cut features stepped up to the table. “Good to see you, Kasumi,” she said to my wife. She then took a seat next to Kasumi, resolutely ignoring my presence. “I’m Sönke,” I attempted a greeting. Aneksi had told me that elves could be a bit difficult and many didn’t like men all that much, or at least acted like it. I had assumed it to be hyperbole. In reply, Faela only stuck up her chin and made a ‘hmpf’ sound. I raised an eyebrow and took a deep swig. This was going to be fun. I thought getting a bit friendlier with Vela was going to be the biggest challenge I would have in our little group. Kasumi ignored Faela’s behavior, which in turn annoyed me a little, and instead asked her. “What have you got for us?” “Well,” she said evasively. “Aside from the information that Lycylla got her hands on the merchandise, it’s been hard to get anything concrete. My usual informants got nothing, except that Melira knows something. For obvious reasons, I have refrained from contacting her.” Kasumi groaned in displeasure. “What about known hideouts, safehouses? Have you checked with that?” Whoever Melira was, neither of them seemed to want to deal with her. “Definitely not in any of those we know about.” “She won’t deal with either of us, but she doesn’t know Vela or Sönke.” Faela considered me, for the first time really acknowledging my presence. “By the time we’re there, she will know of them. Still, it might work. The man might be useful to get something from her.” She gave me a rancorous look, then shifted her attention to where Vela was still drinking with the wyverns. “I assume that is Vela Nightshroud?” She asked in a neutral tone and Kasumi nodded. “Who’s this Melira?” I asked. “She deals in information and may… have a grudge against me.” Kasumi said grimly. “She’s not the most pleasant person to deal with.” “And she has what info exactly?” I asked Faela. She wrinkled her nose at me, but answered nonetheless. “My sources indicate that she either knows where our target is, or can point us at someone who knows.” “That seems very vague,” I complained. “It’s a lead,” Kasumi stated flatly. “We’ll pursue it.” “Pursue what?” Vela, who had come up to our table after spotting Faela, suddenly asked loudly and slurring her words. I was startled at the volume of her voice. I gave her a closer look. Vela stood before the table, swaying lightly. I noticed that her face was slightly reddened. Considering her slurred speech, could it be that she couldn’t handle alcohol very well? I thought back to the Wet Scale, had I ever seen her drink there? And how much had she drunk? “We will leave Faldarfar tomorrow,” Kasumi decided. “Ohh,” Vela planted her butt on a chair, though a bit too forceful this time. One chair leg snapped under her and we were treated to the sight of a drunk dragon sprawled on the floor. I tried hard to suppress my laughter, at least until Vela herself broke into a laughing fit, rolling on the floor. I had not expected the normally arrogant and somewhat sour dragon to react like that. Had she gotten drunk out of frustration at our slow pace? I almost felt bad, though I couldn’t hold the feeling for long, seeing her rolling on the floor. The centaur made her way over to us, nervously swishing her tail behind her as her gaze darted between us sitting at the table, and the weirdly acting Vela. “I’m afraid you can’t just break the furniture, you’ll have to pay for that.” She said, looking unsure who to address. “Although I may be tempted to call it even if…” she gave me a coquettish look. “Sorry, but no,” I said to her disappointment. In response Kasumi handed over a few coins. “I trust this will suffice?” To our group she said. “We should end this evening if we wish to depart in a timely manner tomorrow. I trust you have made arrangements?” The last question was directed at Faela. “Of course,” she replied haughtily. “Nooo,” Vela exclaimed. “I’ll take one more.” Kasumi raised an eyebrow, then asked the centaur. “Can she have one for the road? I’ll pay for the mug.” The centaur nodded, seemingly relieved to be rid of the drunk dragon and went off to fetch one more drink. “I don’t think she should drink anymore,” I whispered to Kasumi. “It doesn’t seem like she can handle her alcohol.” “Afraid that she might puke on you?” She retorted teasingly, bringing a hint of embarrassed red to my cheeks. “Even if she’s drunk, good luck keeping a dragon from a drink if she wants one.” She continued with a shrug. I looked at Vela, who was slowly getting back on her clawed feet and thought that was a sensible argument. With Vela cradling her drink, we headed out of the tavern and towards the inn where Faela had made room arrangements. I kept shooting looks back at Vela who was swaying back and forth dangerously as she trudged along. I shook my head and thought to myself that at least I probably didn’t have a lot of macho points to lose, even if I acted like an idiot when I was drunk. A few steps later, Vela stepped up to me from behind and heavily laid her arms on my shoulders for support. My knees nearly buckled under the unexpected weight. She tried to bend down towards me, an undertaking that was obstructed by her large breasts supported on my head. “So, Kasumi is a pervert who wants others to mate with you?” She asked drunkenly. “I suppose,” I said. “Something like that.” “Does she want you to mate with me?” She continued her line of inquiry. “Yes, I believe so.” “And do you want to mate with me?” I hesitated for a moment, then slowly said. “Yes.” She leaned on me heavier. “Then I will take you tonight.” I found myself in quite the pickle. It wasn’t that I didn’t want this, but this was certainly a product of her being drunk. Her speech had gotten even more slurred since before. I might have my fun tonight, but how would the proud dragon react after sobering up and suffering, what I presumed would be, an impressive hangover? While these considerations went through my mind, I had also had a few drinks and my curiosity and want quickly won out. Surely she wouldn't punish me too badly… I thought to myself hopefully. We arrived at the inn and Faela showed us to the two rooms that were ours. Vela wasted no time nudging me into one of them and I noticed Kasumi nimbly following along, while Faela shot a very unhappy look. In the room, Vela quickly got to work removing her clothes and I followed suit. She struck a pose, the effect somewhat ruined by her continued swaying, showing off her impressive form. Even in the almost non-existent lighting, I hardened in anticipation as she quickly closed the distance and threw me on the bed. She climbed onto the bed after me, the bed creaking dangerously. She climbed atop me, but then collapsed, burying me under her weight. “Uhmmm, Vela?” I asked. The only reply I got was light snoring. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed. I tried to get out from underneath her, but my arms were stuck in an awkward angle, giving me no leverage. Kasumi stepped up to the bed and poked Vela’s side a few times, but got no reaction. “Well, that was anticlimactic,” she commented. Then she gave me a grin and headed for the door. “No help?” I asked. She turned and gave me another grin, then headed out. “Great.” I weighed my options. I could just sleep with Vela as my weighted blanket. Probably not a great idea, so I began the arduous task of extricating myself. After what felt like an eternity, I managed to get my arms free and managed to get out from under Vela. I considered her naked form, running a hand along her back and stopping at her butt. I felt the urge to satisfy my desire. After all, she had consented, right? I quickly shook the thought from my head though and headed out the door after grabbing my clothes. I went to the next door, figuring that’s where Kasumi had gone and entered. This room had no window and I could barely make out one form lying in the bed. Hoping I’d get lucky tonight after all, I got behind her and rubbed my shaft against her backside and ran my hands to stroke her into excitement. I froze when my hand encountered a warm snatch and no dick. Realizing my mistake, I quickly tried to retreat, but it was too late. “How dare you?” Faela shouted. She quickly turned around and somehow managed to snap her foot into my groin. The one leg that I had managed to get back on the ground buckled and I went to the floor, holding my groin and groaning in pain. I tried to get out a word of apology, to explain my mistake, but Faela jumped out of the bed and kicked me in the side a few times as I tried to get back up. When she let off for a few moments, I took my chance, stumbling to my feet, grabbing my clothes and fleeing from the room. Outside, I leaned heavily against the wall, still holding my aching groin and tried to clear my vision again. After a few minutes of heavy breathing, I felt I had mostly regained control of my body and slowly put my clothes back on, thinking that standing naked out in the hallway would be seen as an invitation by just about any mamono coming this way. And just then I was not feeling up for any more adventures. I then went back into the room with Vela, rolled her to one side of the bed with much effort and curled up on the other. |
mugen91Jul 17, 2023 6:33 AM
| The chapter of anticlimaxes, clam jams, and cock blocks :-D No regular hat in the whole of Atalantheis comes even close in awesomeness to Erwin's hat, but I begrudgingly admit that having a pair of Dragon-boobs on your head is pretty awesome too... |
MetallumOperatur said: The chapter of anticlimaxes, clam jams, and cock blocks :-D No regular hat in the whole of Atalantheis comes even close in awesomeness to Erwin's hat, but I begrudgingly admit that having a pair of Dragon-boobs on your head is pretty awesome too... Well, if Erwin is looking to step up his own hat game, he could always see if Aisly is willing to lend her rack (which I remember described as very impressive) to this great cause |
| Chapter 37 The next morning I awoke in almost perfect darkness, my face pressed into soft, yielding flesh, legs and arms wrapped around me and some kind of sinuous membrane covering me. I was still feeling somewhat buzzed, but could infer that my head was resting between Vela’s breasts and her wings were covering me. Given her normal attitude I doubted that she would be too happy about this situation when she woke up sober and, in addition, probably hungover. I stirred and tried to get out of her grasp, but she was holding me far too tightly. I could do little more than wriggle around slightly before her arms tightened and I felt like a living, breathing body pillow. In addition, her pleasant scent and the closeness of her body caused my manhood to stir awake as well, straining against my pants and by extension, against her. On top of all of that, I was still tired and snuggling against the dragon seemed the much preferable option, compared to fighting her grasp. Then there was the fact that my wriggling did not have the intended effect of getting me free, but it did cause Vela to stir. At first, she only made a few sleepy sounds and moved a little, then she froze. The membrane, which was indeed one of her great wings, covering me was lifted and the arms and legs wrapped around me quickly released as she pushed me away and threw me an icy glare. Reminded of the painful experience of the previous night, I moved my hands down to protect my crown jewels. Not that that would help if she decided to be angry with me. Those claws could tear me in two as easily as I tore a piece of toast in two. “What do you think you’re doing?” She asked in a dangerously calm tone. “Calm down,” I tried to calm her (and probably achieved just the opposite). “Nothing happened.” “Why are you in my bed?” She continued her line of questioning. She slowly rose and evidently did not really care that she was naked. For once I was not distracted by the display of naked flesh though. The gleaming of her huge claws was doing a tremendous job keeping my attention. “You got drunk last night,” I reminded her, speaking carefully. “You were very intent on taking me with you… But you fell asleep before anything could happen.” I quickly added the last part when her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She narrowed her eyes as if trying to remember. “Then why were you in my bed?” She repeated her previous question. “Because in the other room there’s a balls-hating elf.” She furrowed her brow, then let her gaze wander downward, to where I was still protectively holding my hands over my groin. “Then why were you hugging me?” I rolled my eyes in disbelief. “You were holding me, you probably latched on while you were sleeping.” Eyes still narrowed, she continued thinking for a while, then groaned and held her head. “You need any…?” She continued groaning and waved a claw at me dismissively, which I took as my cue to get out of the room. I quickly grabbed my remaining clothes and disappeared out of the door. I headed down the stairs, where I found Kasumi and Faela, the latter of which shot me a toxic look and said in an accusing tone. “What do you want, you damn rapist?” Rapist? Seriously? “It was a misunderstanding,” I tried to assuage her, but was promptly interrupted. “You came into the bed and immediately started rubbing yourself on me, you damn pervert,” she said accusingly. “I ought to cut off your balls, maybe you’ll learn to behave yourself.” “It was dark and I could not see. Kasumi was supposed to be in there, not you. You said those were OUR rooms you crazy bitch,” I shot back. It was way too early in the morning for an argument and as my blood pressure grew, I felt a pounding discomfort in my head quickly asserting itself. “You shouldn’t touch her with your dirty fingers either,” she shouted at me. As the few other patrons who were around looked at us with faces ranging from curious to amused, I looked disbelievingly first at Faela then at Kasumi, who shrugged her shoulders. “Seriously? Nothing to say?” I asked, now actually getting a bit angry. When no answer was forthcoming, I angrily went for the door. Outside, I barely made it ten steps before a hand grasped my shoulder from behind. It was Kasumi, even though I could have sworn she’d still been sitting when I stepped through the door. “Wait, Sönke,” she said. “What?” I asked curtly, but made little attempt to hide my disappointment in her. “Don’t take it too hard. She just doesn’t like men,” she tried to explain, missing the point entirely. “Yeah? So what? She tries to crush my balls and all you’ve got for me is a shrug? I thought we were supposed to be partners?” I asked. Perhaps I was playing up Faela’s assault slightly, but I didn’t feel bad about it. “We are,” she assured me. “But Faela and I have history together. We also need to work together with her to succeed on this mission.” “So what? You’re lovers and because she hates men I’ll have to suck it up while you take her side, because we need to work together?” “We’re not lovers and I’m not taking her side,” Kasumi said, placing special emphasis on the ‘not’. “But please, just try to get along with her.” “Not lovers? Then why did she crawl into your bed when it seemed like I’d be with Vela?” She sighed annoyed. “We’re not lovers, but she….” I narrowed my eyes and thought about how she had looked at Kasumi since yesterday.“…Wants to be?” She nodded and I stewed in my thoughts for a moment. “Why didn’t you just tell me in advance? It was foreseeable this would be an issue, wasn’t it?” Kasumi pursed her lips. “I hoped Faela would be mature enough to not let her personal feelings interfere,” she said, looking somewhat dejected. “She’s proud though, even more so than I thought.” “Well, major miscalculation there.” I shrugged off Kasumi’s hand, took a deep breath and then headed back. Inside, I sat down at the table where Vela had, by then, joined Faela and then I made it a point not to acknowledge the elf’s presence at all. “I don’t know why you bother with trash like that,” Faela said to Kasumi. “The world would be better off if we got rid of all these brutes.” I bit my lip to keep from rising to her provocation and looked at Kasumi with clear expectation. The kunoichi sighed and spoke, obviously picking her worlds with care. “I’m with Sönke now, Faela. Whether you like that or not. Comments like that will not make me leave him. Nor will they raise you in my estimation.” I shot a smug smile at the elf, whose look at me turned even more hostile. “Let’s try to keep the hostilities at a minimum so we can do what we’ve been told to do.” I nodded, all I needed to do was ignore Faela’s presence. She also nodded, although her look at me did not change by one iota. “Good, then you two should probably eat something so we can get going.” The last statement was directed at me and Vela, who was still cradling her head and letting out the occasional groan. She had also ignored the conversation in its entirety. “Where do we find this Melira then?” I asked, looking mostly to Kasumi for an answer. “We’ll need to head to Elewyr,” Vela grunted to my surprise. “How do you know her?” I asked, curious. Vela considered me for a moment before answering. “Marchesa was hardly the first person I reached out to in order to…..” “To…?” I wondered, but the dragon just shook her head dismissively. “Who are you looking for anyway?” Vela grunted something unintelligible and turned her head away, refusing to answer. I sighed and said. “Great, let’s get some food.” --- After grabbing some breakfast, we quickly assembled our belongings and headed out. Not owning much and carrying even less with you really helped with quickly leaving places in your rearview. We headed south-west on a stone paved road leading through the forest, towards Elewyr. Elewyr was the capital of this realm called Elizabeth. That would be my third capital in the time since my arrival in this strange place. Vela, who had recovered from her hangover with enviably quickness, seemed to be annoyed at something and had reverted back towards ignoring everyone. Faela stuck close to Kasumi and glared daggers at me. I, in turn, was somewhat annoyed with Kasumi for not clearly taking my side against the elf bitch. I knew that she was probably trying to take the middle road, trying to keep the peace, but I was still feeling somewhat betrayed. After all, rationally knowing a thing and feeling it can be two very different things. As a consequence, a deep and broody kind of silence accompanied us for most of the first day after leaving Faldarfar. In the evening, silence still hung heavy over the group. Kasumi ordered Faela to go out and hunt us something for dinner. She seemed inclined to give Vela a task as well, but quickly thought better of it. After all, when we decided to stop, the dragon had brought her claws to bear on a mid-sized tree, quickly felled it and plopped down on the trunk. Since then had had her arms crossed before her chest and stared balefully at her surroundings. Since no one was inclined to say much, the time to turn in for the night came much earlier than the previous days. Faela had brought her own tent, which was set up next to mine and Kasumi’s. However, as we prepared to turn in, I observed her gaze flicking between the tents and Kasumi. I put a smirk on my face and stepped close to Kasumi from behind, slapping her on the ass and throwing her over my shoulder. I made sure to grin at the elf as I carried her into the tent. As said elf looked on angrily, I shot her a final spiteful look and closed the tent flaps. Kasumi let me do this without making a sound, but when I dropped her on her back in the tent, I saw that she was actually blushing just slightly. --- “Wherever did that come from?” Kasumi asked when I had finally finished releasing my passions upon her. “What do you mean? I wondered innocently, but a bit out of breath. “You didn’t like it?” Her hand reached out and I felt her dexterous fingers deftly stroke my scalp. “No, I liked that. But you did make quite the mess.” With gentle insistence, she turned my head and thus directed my gaze toward where our bodies were sticking together with her seed. “That mess is all you,” I said with a satisfied smirk. “If your messes are my responsibility, then I believe the reverse should be true as well,” she said matter of factly. I raised an eyebrow as I imagined the contortions I would need to perform to intercept her release while plowing her. “I think you’re overestimating my flexibility.” “Perhaps,” she agreed. “I noticed a little stream, just a little way off of our campsite. Perhaps you would like to make it up to me and give me a little scrub?” I nodded my assent and we slowly got up. We left the tent and did not bother with our clothes. Faela was nowhere to be seen, but Vela was sitting on her tree trunk. I saw her smoldering eyes follow us in the dark. When she noted my attention, her gaze drifted away as though she had merely been scanning through the campsite and not been looking at us. Kasumi wrapped her tail around me and pulled me along with her, away from the camp. It took no time at all before we found the small stream and started washing each other clean with the cold water. Strange how quickly one could get used to such things. I used to hate washing with cold water. I still vastly preferred warm or even hot water, but I was far less squeamish about it. When her skin was clean again, she finally decided to speak up. “Maybe I should make you jealous more often.” She paused for a moment and considered my reaction. Then she continued. “I mean to say. I know you’re trying to make Faela jealous. I didn’t think you’d be petty about it, though I can’t complain about your methods.“ Her face was, as so often, an unreadable mask. Was she disappointed? Amused? “Maybe I’m trying to make her jealous, but she just doesn’t sit right with me,” I told her after a moment’s consideration. “She tends to have problems with her attitude,” Kasumi admitted. “But you don’t know her story. You’ve also been quite hostile.” I scowled. “She doesn’t know mine either. And I certainly didn’t do anything to her. I wouldn’t have had an issue if she didn’t decide to be queen bitch. Besides, I’m not the one who went straight for the balls,” I said stubbornly. Kasumi sighed. “I know it’s not easy. But please, just try to get along.” I suppressed the urge to pout and nodded reluctantly. “If you can get her to stop looking at me like she wants to gut me. And just maybe she could use a more diplomatic tone. I don’t see a reason we can’t have a… productive working relationship.” It wasn’t as if I didn’t have plenty of experience putting up with coworkers I didn’t care for. It was Kasumi’s turn to put a frown on her face. Perhaps she knew how difficult a task that was. “We’ll see about that,” she said and rolled her eyes. We remained beside the small stream for a short while longer but, at my insistence, we soon headed back to our tent and went to sleep. While the temperatures were plenty warm, even at night, I still enjoyed pressing up close against her from behind. The next morning, things remained quite unchanged. Faela was still glaring daggers at me and Vela was still not talking, though she did shoot the occasional glance at me and the others again when she thought I wouldn’t notice. As we moved closer to Elewyr over the next few days, Vela’s attitude thawed just slightly. She was still far from a bright personality, but at least she communicated in a sort of normal manner and didn’t glare at anyone daring to address her all the time. That left Faela as the pointiest thorn in my proverbial side. Even though I’d promised Kasumi to try to get along with her, her shit attitude and constant antagonizing made it remarkably difficult not to be an asshole in turn. Truthfully, it was a bit of a strange one for me as well. While I had barely had issues getting along with anyone since arriving in Arcadia, there had certainly been people I did not get along with in my life before. I had rarely ever felt a particular need to be antagonistic though. Usually I was plenty content ignoring people that rankled my sensibilities. I rarely had to spend extended periods of time together with those people though. Spending a few hours every day in the same office, apparently, was not the same as spending all day, every day with someone. “What’s the plan when we reach Elewyr?” I asked on the twelfth evening after our departure from Faldarfar. Supposedly we’d be arriving on the next day. I couldn’t tell how they knew, as everything around us was forest. The number of mamono we met on the road was steadily increasing though, so I supposed that was some manner of indication. “You will pay Melira a visit with Vela. Too stupid to even remember that?” Faela wondered condescendingly. I sighed and pressed my fingers into my eyes. It was the only thing that slowly stopped the persistent ache in my head her voice rarely failed to summon. “I meant what exactly are we asking her and what will she demand in exchange,” I finally said slowly, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice that threatened to bubble to the surface every time Faela opened her mouth hole. “You’ll ask her about the Harbinger. We need a location or someone we can find who can tell us more,” Faela spat. “And. What. Will. She. Demand. In. Exchange?” I said, stressing every word like I was talking to someone with a less than stellar command of the language. “That’s hard to say,” Kasumi finally entered the ‘conversation’. “Normally she’d demand payment in coin, but if she knows that you’re with me… Well, she might be less inclined to be so cooperative.” “Why would she know about you?” I asked. “It’s not like we’re going to announce our arrival for everyone to hear.” “She deals in information. Knowing is her job. And we wouldn’t be going to her if she wasn’t good at it,” Kasumi reasoned and I couldn’t help but agree. After all, she was the expert at this stuff. What did I know about the information gathering capabilities of magical monster women? Still, I hoped that she wouldn’t know. I wanted to get this over with as fast as possible and be rid of Faela and complications in getting that information was a hindrance. We arrived in Elewyr shortly after noon the next day. The city was wildly different from the two other capitals I’d seen so far. Parts of it might’ve been how one imagined a city of wood elves. Many houses were built high into the trees. Many of the separate trees were connected by wooden bridges. While most of the trees of the forest were impressive in size, at the center of the city sat a truly massive one. It stood at least twice as high as the ones surrounding it and was far, far wider. Given my previous experiences, I suspected that that was where Lord Elizabeth made her home. Thanks to the trees making up part of the cityscape, it was actually somewhat difficult to see more than a small part of the city at once as trees eventually always blocked my sight. At ground level, cobblestone roads lead the way through the city, straight towards the massive, central tree. But that was only for the main thoroughfare. Most of the other ‘roads’ through the city appeared to be no more than packed earth. We made our way into the city, though it was weird calling it that. In most parts we passed through, there were few houses actually built at ground level. I found it surprising how few elves we actually encountered on the road. Given the city's appearance I had expected it might be a predominant elven city. I may have asked about it, but I had a feeling I would gain little, except for a derisive comment from Faela and I could do without my blood pressure spiking again. And perhaps the lack of elves was not such a lamentable factor. Though I held out hope that Faela might be a particularly unpleasant individual, the general reputation of elves as derisive and stuck up people left me with little hope of that just then. After following the cobblestone road for a time, we reached a large marketplace that surrounded the central tree. I shot a cursory glance over the large assortment of wares that were on offer. But we had not come to Elewyr to shop, so I asked. “Where do we find this Melira then? Up there?” I pointed up towards the treehouses. Faela gave a condescending snort. “As if they’d let the likes of you up there.” I let out a low growl of annoyance, but before I could bet her that the vast majority of mamono would likely prefer my company over hers, Vela interrupted. “We’ll find her in the lowlands, not up in the trees.” “It’s less conspicuous there,” Kasumi agreed. The vein on my temple still threatened to start pulsing, but I pushed down my annoyance. “Well, then let’s go,” I said. “You’ll head over there yourselves, we’ll meet up again when you’ve met with her,” Kasumi said. “It’s doubtful she doesn’t know about us already, but there is no need to get too close to her.” “Sure, then let’s go,” I said to Vela. This whole business was uncomfortable and I wanted to get it over with quickly. I kissed Kasumi and gave her a pat on the backside and headed off after Vela, who had started walking even before I had said anything. “What do you think of that Melira person then?” I asked, feeling a bit more comfortable with asking questions without the elf around. Funny, if I considered that earlier I had felt uncomfortable with Vela as well, though for very different reasons. She didn’t answer immediately. She actually stewed on it for a while. Then she finally said, “Hard to tell, I haven’t interacted with her much. She didn’t have the information I was looking for, so any further talk was pointless.” After that, she fell silent once more. She simply strode along the cobblestone road leading down towards the river, an obviously poorer part of the city. The cobblestone road ended as we walked by houses, some in a state of disrepair, built of wood and stone that lined the riverbank. Some were even built into the river itself, standing on stilts. As we walked through narrow alleys, I couldn’t help but notice the watchful and hungry eyes following us. Naturally, I was quite used to some degree of hungering gazes, but normally that didn’t feel quite so disconcerting. Was it the knowledge that Kasumi was not around? Or was it the fact that many of the women we passed practically screamed ‘thug’ and I felt like the only reason I was not robbed and raped more or less on the spot was the behemoth of a woman I was following closely. I couldn’t help wondering why this part of the city was in such a shabby state, given the overall niceness of the rest of it. It was to be expected that there would be poorer and richer districts in cities, that had been the case in Umbra, though the aftermath of the civil war would be an assignable cause there. Bestallion too had poorer districts, but no obvious slums. If only these alleys weren’t so narrow. I was holding on to my coin purse for safety, but that only made me feel like more of a target. And there was a decent chance that my coin purse was not what many of these women were after. After a while of walking in silence, Vela finally stopped and clearly showed her intent to step into an even narrower side alley. She was stopped by two mamono, who, by their uncomfortable expressions, weren’t exactly keen on standing in the dragon’s way. “Oy, what do you want?” One of them snarled nonetheless. The tip of a claws hand poked at the hilt of a sheathed blade. Vela stopped, but shot a threatening glare and the two women recoiled just a little. Still, they continued to bar the way. “We have business with Melira,” I finally said when I saw hands skittering in the direction of sheathed weapons. The two shot me looks that somehow at once conveyed skepticism and the thing they’d rather be doing just then. “And stopping her is not the best idea,” I added, almost as an afterthought. After a moment's consideration the two seemed to reach the same conclusion and one of them gestured for us to follow her into the alley. We reached a door and the woman told us to wait while she headed inside. Vela was tapping her claw on the ground impatiently, her arms crossed before her chest. It appeared she had no taste for this business either. Either that or she was annoyed at being made to wait. We waited for about five minutes and I worried that Vela’s patience might be running thin. Then the door finally opened and another woman beckoned us inside. She was a high grown elf with a rather martial appearance, clad in tight fitting leather and a sheathed dirk at her side. “The mistress will see you momentarily, please wait here in the meantime,” she said after we entered. If she was nervous at all about Vela, she did a good job of not showing it. I let my gaze wander around the unimpressive room, the inside was almost as shabby as the outside. A few rickety chairs, a couch that had seen better days and a table made up the room’s furniture. The elf was, in fact, the only thing that didn’t look crappy in there. I took a seat on one of the chairs and crossed my arms before my chest, following Vela’s example. The dragon meanwhile had resumed her earlier pose and was now puncturing small holes in the wooden floor with her claws as she tapped them against it. Fortunately, we did not have to wait long before one of three doors leading out of the room opened and a kunoichi with a distinctive scar running from her forehead, through her left, closed eye and down to her chin, entered. She considered both me and Vela. She narrowed her one eye and then smirked before quickly heading out. I couldn’t help but feel a degree of familiarity with her appearance. Then again, she was a kunoichi and of similar build to my wife. I shook the thought from my head as the elf beckoned me and Vela to enter the same door the kunoichi had stepped through. The next room presented quite a different picture from the entrance area. For starters, it didn’t give the impression that everything was falling apart. The furniture was solid, luxurious even, and the walls were dressed with bright red, expensive looking cloth. Long shelves filled with scrolls and books lined the walls. There was no obvious source of lighting, yet most of the place was well lit. An ominous shadow hung over a large desk placed at the opposite end of the room. I concluded that magic had to be at work here. Some means of presenting the right image, perhaps? Hidden in the gloom behind the desk stood a woman, her cerulean skin, violet hair and piercing red eyes half hidden. There was no white in her eyes, instead her red pupils were surrounded by sheer black. |
mugen91Jul 31, 2023 11:51 AM
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