Hi everyone! This is my first fic, ever! And yes~ It's a bit... mature. Oh my! I hope you like it! Feedback is always welcome! Thank you Tin for giving me the lovely cover photo! ;3

"There it is, again! You weren't kidding," her bat familiar whispered as they both watched a particular individual standing across from them.

"See!? I told you," the Void Princess responded loud enough to grab the attention of the red head standing next to her.

"Told me what?" Elsword yawned, fanning himself as he leaned lazily against the railing. It did little to abate the heat since the entire village was built on top of a literal hotspot of volcanic activity.

"Not you, Els. I was just talking to Angkor."

"Is he trying to get you into skimpier clothes, again?"

"Ah, you caught me," the little bat laughed nervously, feigning a look of guilt that the other two were quick to ignore.

"No," the mage giggled, causing the bat, which hung over her shoulder, to shrink behind her, "Just… trivial matters really. Nothing to worry about."

"There it is again!" Angkor whispered, tugging at the back of Aisha's top to garner her attention. She responded by elbowing the fat familiar in an attempt to shut him up.

The Rune Slayer shrugged, tilting his head back as sweat dripped down his face.

"Man… this place sucks! Raven and Rena are taking their sweet time talking to that Ignia chick… I'm gonna go see if I can find something cool to drink. Want anything?"

"Lemonade, if they got any?" Aisha said, turning her head to Elsword as she wrestled with her familiar.

The red head nodded and turned to the Nasod who had been standing quietly on the other side of the raised pathway. "Eve! Getting something cool to drink. Want anything?"

"Water will suffice," she responded. Dressed in an all-black one-piece and tall black boots and gloves, it was amazing that she was able to endure this heat. She stood with her back turned towards them and was staring out into the expanse of lava pools that covered the blackened lands. Only every now and then did she turn her head towards the other three… which was bothering Aisha in the first place!

As Elsword left, Angkor once again tugged on Aisha's top. The mage glanced at Eve just as she averted her eyes away from her.

"How long has she been doing that?" her bat familiar whispered.

"I dunno. Five months? Six? At least as far as I am aware. Around the time we were chasing out the corruption from my home town in Sander, I think. Remember when we needed to cull the harpy nests and how we had to rely solely on powerful updrafts to move from mountain top to mountain top?"

"Ah, yes. I remember that," Angkor nodded, "You were wearing lacy black panties that day. I was surprised and mildly disappointed they didn't untie themselves after all that, too. Trying a bit too hard to impress Elsword, that day, I bet." The bat was suddenly snatched from her back as the Void Princess threatened to tear the God of Darkness in half by his tiny wings.

"What I mean is: I started noticing her acting like this shortly afterwards!" she grumbled, clearly not in the mood for the perverted bat's commentary on her choice of clothing. "I didn't even do anything to upset her. At least… I don't think I did. Do you think she's mad at me for that or something?"

"Not sure, my student. But I do have a suggestion: has the thought of actually asking her what her problem is, crossed your mind?" If the bat had arms he would have knocked her on her head. The young woman was incredibly smart for her age, but she also had a horrible tendency to overthink things.

"Of course… But I was a bit apprehensive to ask for the first week or so. And then it just kept happening. I tried observing her and she only really does that to me. Never to the others. By that time it'd already been well past a month and a half… and besides we were pretty busy by then, preparing for the final assault on the behemoth… at that point I just kind of let it be. It'd be too awkward to bring it up now, of all times," Aisha shrugged, not taking her eyes off the Nasod for a long moment. After what felt like a good minute, Eve's golden eyes slowly turned to Aisha. Only when the Nasod realized Aisha was still watching her did she completely turn her head away, shifting from one leg to another as she returned her attention to the molten landscape.

Aisha sighed, "Maybe I should just bring it up…" She pushed off the railing she was leaning on and smoothed out her short purple skirt that hugged her thighs a little too tightly due to the heat. Honestly, if she would have the choice she'd wear something a little less skimpy. Though the mage had tried to fix this issue by wearing different clothing when she used magic, the truth of the matter was-as Angkor had warned-her powers required her uniform to be worn to manifest.

"Eve?" Aisha called, crossing over to her side of the overpass. Hearing her name being called the white-haired Nasod turned around, tilting her head innocently at the mage.

"Eve, if you don't mind me asking: what are you doing?"

"I'm surveying the landscape of this new territory," she responded flatly, "The stability of the ground we walk on varies. Sinkholes and magma spouts will be a constant threat during our operations and the intense heat surpasses that of your home in Sander. Working here is ill-advised."

"Yeah, I figured that much," Aisha said with a roll of her eyes, "But what I mean is… why are you always looking at me?"

"Is it wrong for me to look at you?" Eve asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well, no… But I mean, why are you looking at me more than you look at the others?"

Eve paused as she tried to process her question. Clearly she was confused.

"Is… it wrong for me to look at you?" was Eve's question yet again.

"No… Ugh, how do I even explain this…" Aisha scratched her head in frustration. The heat wasn't making things any better. Her level of irritation was beginning to reach a dangerous peak and she really didn't want to take it out on Eve.

"You keep looking at me. I mean I catch you staring at me. Is there something wrong? It's like you have something you want to say but you don't say anything."

"Oh," the Nasod answered flatly.

Aisha waited for her to add anything else to the conversation but received none. Her purple eyes searched the Nasod's golden orbs for answers yet as their eyes met, Eve quickly averted hers.

This was getting nowhere. With yet another sigh, Aisha waved it off. If Eve couldn't even explain it herself then it wasn't worth Aisha's time to try and figure out.

"Frankly, I'm not sure," Eve said out of the blue, "But I can't help it; the need to look at you, I mean."

Aisha stared at her. "Huh?"

"I cannot elaborate any further," Eve said with a shrug, "Though perhaps it's because I find your appearance symmetrically and aesthetically agreeable."

"Huh?"

"I think she's calling you beautiful," Angkor whispered, "I think."

"Aisha, Eve!" Elsword could be heard calling for them and he was seen waving them down at the end of the overpass. In his hand were the two bottles of drinks they asked for yet he continued to motion them over.

"Get over here! I found this tavern and it's a lot cooler in there."

Aisha ignored him for the moment. She was still confused about what exactly Eve was saying, but before she could ask, the other girl was already making her way towards Elsword.

They entered a rather elaborately decorated tavern uncharacteristic of a small village built over lava. Round tables dotted the floor and a lounge set had been arranged at the corner, surrounding a large coffee table. Positioned underneath a staircase and a second floor balcony, the lounge area, complete with cushioned seats and armrests, was the most inviting thing the group had seen in a while. Aside from the bar, where a single bartender sat lazily reading the paper, the area was empty. It would be, being early in the afternoon and with most of the town's working population running the iron mines.

Elsword collapsed on one of the corner seats of a sofa, kicking his feet out on the extended leg rests. As he had stated, it was much cooler here. Unnaturally so. Scanning the area more carefully, Aisha spotted several depleted El Shards hanging in the ceiling of the establishment and over the doorway. She could sense the flow of heat being sucked into these shards like a vacuum, which could explain why the room temperature was actually bearable.

Aisha took her seat at the footrest in front of Elsword, causing him to move his legs aside as she sat down. Eve sat across from them on a loveseat while her drones Moby and Remy flew over to look at the drink selection displayed at the bar. Angkor joined them.

"This place is pretty nice," Aisha commented, admiring the homely decoration of soft frilly window curtains and wooden interior. Even their lounge area had a pink and green rug. "Wouldn't expect it in an out-of-the-way town like Lanox."

"Yeah, true. It's a bit weird, huh? Hey, barkeep!" Elsword called, getting the tired, bored eyes of a man who just didn't seem in the mood to deal with anything. "This place is nice. What gives?"

As if forced to explain the story for the thousandth time, the bartender casually ripped away a bottle of rum from the bat before leaning forward and resting his cheek on his hand. "The establishment belongs to Madam Edel which fell under her care after her father passed. It was originally a home but, ever the industrious type, she converted it to better suit the working class and attract visitors like yourselves who come here for the hot springs."

"So there is a hot springs!" Elsword exclaimed excitedly as he looked to Aisha who immediately turned her head away with an upturned nose.

"No," she answered before he could even ask, "I'm done with this heat. You're more likely to convince me to take a freezing shower." As she kept her head turned away, she was once again reminded of Eve who instinctively looked away just as she caught her staring, yet again.

"Aw, c'mon Aisha. Learn to relax a little!" Elsword protested.

"No."

"Ugh…"

The bartender cleared his throat, "If you're not going to order something I'm going to have to ask you folks to leave. Otherwise you're just using up space for other patrons."

They all looked around.

"There's no one else here," Aisha stated.

"Are you going to order something or not?" the bartender asserted, palming the stack of menus at the counter.

The three of them looked at each other before Elsword stood.

"I'll talk to him. Explain who we are, maybe he'll let us stay for free," Elsword shrugged as he gave them an optimistic smile.

"Please?" Aisha said, sinking onto the rest of the cushion now that Elsword wasn't occupying the space, "I kinda don't want to leave this place, right now."

The redhead nodded before walking over to the bar, leaving the other two to cool off without him.

Aisha stared at the underside of the stairs that she laid under, noting how not a speck of dust or cobweb could be seen. The same could be said about the curtains and the wall lamps. Everything was pristine. The bartender looked lazy but he must've done quite a bit to keep this place well-maintained. Her eyes traveled from one end of the wall, to the corner, then along the other wall, naturally falling to the Nasod sitting across from her.

She was staring at her, again!

Following Eve's eyes, though, the mage suddenly realized just where she was staring. Natural instincts caused her to sit up from her lying position, crossing her legs as she turned her body away from Eve.

As she did so, she crossed her arms, feeling quite embarrassed for herself and equally angry towards the woman sitting across from her. Aisha couldn't believe it. She was staring at her underwear! At least, that's what it looked like. She couldn't be sure but the angle... It was bad enough that she had to keep herself in check around the boys but now Eve?

It was true, however, that the Nasod said she thought the mage was beautiful. At least according to Angkor. In a way, Aisha couldn't help but feel flattered, even though the compliment came from someone she wasn't really interested in. The anger quickly faded as Eve quickly, and rather unceremoniously, tried to play it off by looking away and flicking her hair over her shoulder. It was so dead obvious that Aisha had to keep herself from laughing. She couldn't bring herself to be angry at the Nasod. In fact, Eve's innocence to human nature was the most endearing part about her-so much so, that she was often, unknowingly, teased by the others for it.

Footsteps. Elsword arrived with Moby, Remy, and Angkor quite literally hanging off his shoulders looking at one of the menus he was reading over.

"Just get something cheap," Elsword mumbled, handing the girls a menu, "We're just here to avoid the heat, anyways."

"I want this one! And this one! Oh~ And this one!" Angkor pointed out, getting a series of clicks and beeps of agreement from the two drones.

"I said cheap!" Elsword shouted over the three.

Still keeping herself turned away, Aisha kept a vigilant watch on Eve who was genuinely occupied reading through the selection. She relaxed a bit, cracking open the book and immediately being greeted with literally a page of nothing but alcohol. The mage snorted. Not a huge fan of hard liquor, she quickly glossed over the choices before turning the page to sweeter drinks. A few caught her attention, mainly the berry mixes and vanilla shots. It was at the tail end of the menu where she was fully engrossed by the choices before her.

"This actually sounds pretty good," Aisha said as she read through the selections, "They serve ice cream! Oh… and a Lanox Volcano Mud cake! Oh~"

"Aisha…" Elsword groaned, having to deal with the three flying companions, he wasn't in the mood to listen to what expensive order she wanted.

"What? Can't I enjoy sweets?"

"Something cheap, please? I'm treating you all but I'm not exactly rolling in cash. I want to save some for the hot springs."

"Which I won't be going to," Aisha added.

"Fine with me. I guess I won't have to worry about you catching a glimpse of my sexy body," he said with a shrug, sliding his hand down his abs and thumbing the inside of his pants in his best attempt at a male model's pose.

Aisha reached up and lightly smacked him in the face with her menu. "Whatever. You do what you want. After this I'm taking a nice cool shower at an inn and that's that." Aisha knew he was joking, though. They were at that point in their friendship where openly flirting with each other was a norm. She'd whisper things a bit to risque for others to hear and he'd get back at her one way or another. Truthfully she couldn't help but picture the young man in her head getting undressed in front of her. He knew her weakness too well, running his fingers down his abs like that.

"Psh, you're no fun," Elsword grumbled, "You figure out what you wanna order yet?"

"Oh. Uh, no," Aisha said, kicking her legs up on the leg rest and looking over the menu again.

"Well, Angkor here apparently wants the whole damn restaurant. I'll sort out his order and mine first then come back to you when you're ready. No rush."

"Uh huh," Aisha mumbled, trying to decide between the mudcake and the banana split. The red-head left and spoke to the bartender over what sounded like a rather complex order. The mage quickly thumbed back to the previous page, looking over the mixed drinks. Now she was unsure if she wanted a drink or if she just wanted a frozen treat.

It felt like someone was watching her. Without needing to lower her menu to look, she could already feel a certain someone's prying eyes. But her legs were crossed so she should be safe. Should be.

Out of curiosity the mage slowly lowered her menu, peeking just over the crease of the hardback. Eve's eyes were reading the selection. She waited. Nothing. It was almost… disappointing not to catch Eve in the act. Either Eve was learning to hide it or Aisha was expecting too much attention. Either way, her amusement for the moment had died. Unless…

Aisha uncrossed her legs, leaning back on the seats backrest, humming to herself in an attempt to make it look like she was distracted.

Eve's golden eyes flicked up to Aisha. But only for a moment before turning the page in the menu. Close, but it could easily be passed off as an innocent glance. Aisha wanted to catch her red-handed. It'd be a funny story to tell the others. "Eve is actually a closet pervert," she would say. Of course it would all just be for fun. Nothing ill would be intended of exposing that side of the otherwise poker-faced robot… if she could just get her attention!

Aisha pulled her knees up closer to her chest as she idly flipped to the previous page. This was the perfect angle, now for the white-haired girl to look up her skirt. Eve tilted her head, eyes still glued to the menu. Aisha coughed. A pitiful attempt to garner Eve's attention. No luck. Further she pulled her legs in, letting the skirt slowly ride up her legs, exposing more of her inner thighs. White was her choice of color for the day and she wanted Eve to see it. Still nothing… or so she thought.

Watching the Nasod's movements, she noticed the twitch in the way her free hand gripped the corner of the cushion. The very subtle rise and fall of her shoulders as her breath seemed to quicken. Was… was Eve trying not to look? Was it really that difficult for Eve to resist? Again, the mage felt both flattered and entertained knowing she could push the Nasod's buttons like this.

Aisha glanced past the stairs. Elsword seemed to be locked in an argument with Angkor and the bartender about what they could and couldn't put in a strawberry sundae. She had a bit more time. She was going to pull out all the stops, now. No mercy until she can get the robot girl to look at her. Her hand snaked its way down her belly, reaching past the hem of her short skirt and pulling it up a bit more. Eve bit her lower lip, eyes darting up to Aisha for a split second before being forced to stare at the letters on the page. That wasn't good enough. She wanted her attention.

Slowly she rolled her hips, letting her body beckon at the other's golden orbs. If there's anything she learned about flirting, it was all about body language, and she had plenty of practice with Els. She pulled her skirt higher, letting her fingers sink in between her legs and running up and down her inner thighs.

Poor Eve, Aisha thought as she watched the girl struggle to keep her eyes glued to the menu. She had turned her body away from Aisha, now, but that only made the brief turn of her head towards the mage more obvious.

"C'mon," Aisha thought, "I don't know you're watching… It's okay to look."

Eve lost. With a turn of her head, she watched the mage from the corner of her eyes, as she drunk in the little show. Aisha smiled behind the cover of the menu, letting her fingers brush up and down her the single layer of cloth that separated her from Eve's golden eyes. It was damp. Not from the heat but genuinely wet as her own touch sent a little shiver up Aisha's spine. The entire time, Eve never took her eyes off her and, judging how the Nasod's hand tightly gripped her own thigh, she was enjoying it… and so was Aisha.

At this point it almost felt wrong to stop and catch her red-handed for staring but… could the mage really say she was guilty? It felt better just letting Eve enjoy the show, partly because she found it adorable and partly because she was actually starting to enjoy herself.

Keeping tabs on the others who appeared to be going over a complex order for the millionth time before finalizing, Aisha let her fingers work their magic while quietly watching her companion squirm in her seat. Her fingers quickly found their way to the small nub just above her opening. Massaging it in a light circle the sensation of her touching herself was strangely enhanced knowing that she was being watched.

A sigh escaped Aisha's lips as she sunk deeper into her seat. She pressed harder as she touched herself, wanting to push herself to that ecstatic high before Elsword returned. Eve wanted it, too. No longer hiding the fact that she was watching, she had closed her menu and leaned back on the backrest of her seat, finger slowly tracing up and down her own inner thigh. Was she getting excited? Did the Nasod want to touch herself, too? Would she want to get off, at the same time the mage was? The thought only turned her on more. Eve was such a pervert to watch her like this. She wondered if Eve ever did such things while thinking about her like this.

She was getting there. She could feel it like electricity through her body. Harder her finger pressed against the sensitive little nub as a soft gasp escaped her lips. Eve was there to watch her, quietly biting her lower lip as she did little to hide the fact that she wanted Aisha to continue. Whatever problem Aisha had with her staring was gone, now. She wanted Eve to see. She wanted to reach that climax just for her.

"Okay," Elsword grumbled, scratching his head as he stared at his wallet, "Thanks to a certain bat… I'm not going to say who, but you two are either going to have to flip a coin on who gets something or share an order. A cheap order."

Elsword looked up from his wallet, noticing Aisha curled into a ball with her back towards him and Eve quit literally sitting in an unnaturally rigid posture with her head turned towards the wall.

"Uh… are you two… okay?"

Did he see them? How could she explain herself? Was Eve going to just spill the beans about everything? Knowing that robot, she probably wouldn't see anything wrong about admitting it. Aisha opened her mouth to speak but was cut off when Eve answered for her.

"There's nothing going on that concerns you, human," she answered flatly. Aisha was dumbfounded. She wasn't sure if she should praise the Nasod for trying to cover for her, or scold her for being painfully obvious in the fact that she was covering her!

"Right," Elsword muttered, clearly unconvinced, "Are you picking on Eve, again?"

"No!" Aisha blurted out, still curled in a ball as she kept her face turned away from him.

"Aisha? Are you, okay?"

"Fine! I'm fine!" Aisha said. She had to speak louder with her face buried in the seat cushion, "I think the heat's just getting to me."

"Well if you want I ordered a sundae. You can have mine-"

"No! I'll just... I'm good. I'll share."

"Okay… Eve?" Elsword turned to the other, causing the Nasod to jump slightly.

"A parfait. Strawberry parfait."

"Right. So a strawberry parfait for the two of you… got it. I'll let him know," the redhead said, turning around just in time to see the bat familiar swallow the mud cake he ordered in one bite.

Aisha listened as Elswords footsteps faded before she raised her head from couldn't believe how into it she was… and to be interrupted just before she finished, too. Aisha looked over at the other girl, who had a hand on her chest as she let out a relieved sigh. Smiling at the cute way the other tried to calm herself down, the mage slid herself over to Eve.

"Sorry," Aisha whispered, "I kind of got a little ahead of myself there. You didn't mind… did you?"

For a moment it looked as if Eve was ignoring her. She glanced away from Aisha towards the bar as the bartender topped up the parfait they ordered.

"What do you hope to gain from your little show of heightened arousal, human?" Eve whispered back while keeping her head turned away from her, "You and I are both female, you cannot copulate with me so your efforts in courting would be wasted since we cannot reproduce."

It stung hearing Eve talk like that. She only referred to others as their race when she didnt care for them or when she was angry. Still, her flustered reaction when Els barged in at the wrong time was adorable to say the least.

"It was just for fun, Eve. I know I can't… reproduce with you. Nor did I intend to. You just looked like you enjoyed the show and… I felt generous. You did enjoy it, though… right?"

Eve didn't answer. Instead she kept her attention on Elsword as he returned with a single order of parfait.

"It's okay to admit it," she whispered over the Nasods shoulder, "I won't be upset."

Still Eve didn't answer and, for a moment, it really felt like she was really angry at the mage.

Instead, Eve chose to ignore her, reaching up to the tray that was handed to her. She scooped out the strawberry on top and ate it before handing the spoon over to Aisha to have a bite. As the purple-headed mage took the spoon from the Nasod, she noticed the pair of golden eyes meeting hers for just a moment too long to be considered a sideways glance. The way the orbs slowly dropped away from Aisha's was enough of a silent admission to reignite the sheer amusement of the moment.

Eve liked it. And she wanted more.