4 Weeks ago
"So you ate a god's offering? I'm not surprised you got cursed." Tohru was happily working in the kitchen part of the living room while everyone else, Kobayashi, Fafnir and Elma, were in the living room proper.
"T-They were the special limited time double hazelnut filling hand-kneaded cream puffs from that store by the station where they use a special flour for the dough that gives them an extra light fluffiness! They were just going to waste!" Elma defended herself.
"Trespassing on a god's domain. How foolish." Fafnir squatted down next to Elma and tried touching the deep purple blindfold with the ancient Japanese symbols on it. A number of black sparks crackled off of it and repelled the cursed dragon. "This is a pathetically simple curse."
"So you can remove it?" Elma sounded jubilant already. If not for her having Kobayashi's cellphone number and getting her to pick her up, she would still be walking around blind in at the outskirts of town.
"I will have to tear out your eyes with it."
"Please don't." Kobayashi had been watching the event unfold with increasing worry. "Isn't there another way you can remove it?"
"You don't know anything about curses, do you, human? A curse's power is directly proportional to its simplicity. A curse like this, with a singular purpose and finite duration is among the most powerful curses that can be cast. Add to that the matter that this was cast by a deity, no matter how scarcely worshiped, and it becomes impossible to remove without causing damage to the cursed."
"But there is always stuff in legends about using rituals to break curses." Kobayashi wanted to help Elma. It's going to be a drag to explain why she is not coming to work on monday.
"Legends are legends. They don't matter in reality." Fafnir got up. "If you don't want me to break the curse by force then I am leaving. I still have 218 quest drops to obtain to finish the summer time extravaganza special fireworks mission set." I only came by in the first place because Takiya asked me to as a favor.
What is he talking about? Kobayashi didn't want to try and reason with Fafnir. "Tohru can you do something about the curse?"
"If Fafnir-san can't break it without collateral, I probably can't break it at all." Tohru was not particularly inclined to help Elma. Since Kobayashi was asking her, she would have done it anyway to please her, but she just really couldn't.
"Then what am I gonna do?!" Elma tried to get up, didn't notice that her knees were under the table and nearly knocked over the table as she got up. "Ah, I'm so sorry!"
"Please just stay put." Kobayashi got up instead. "If a god put the curse on her, another god might be able to lift it, right? Or the same one, at least." Walking towards the entrance, Kobayashi turned around once more. "I'm going to the Kichijoten temple and- ah." She realized something. "We do all know a former goddess, don't we?"
"Oh, that's a splendid idea, Kobayashi-san!"
And so, about fifteen minutes later, Lucoa was welcomed into their apartment, wearing the same black sweater and white pants that had replaced her old outfit a while ago, on Kobayashi's recommendation. "I came because you asked me for my help and I am quite a bit in your debt, so what- Elma, I didn't know you enjoyed fetish play like that."
"This is not a fetish!" Elma's face devolved into an overgrown tomato beneath the blindfold and she was quite happy she couldn't see anyone else right now.
"She stole a food offering at the Kichijoten temple and got herself cursed." Kobayashi explained things to Lucoa in abbreviated form. "You used to be a goddess and so I thought- what's wrong?"
"Ah… it's a bit of a sore point. Former goddess." Lucoa was normally a pretty easy-going person but confronting this issue of her social standing never went all that well. "But I get it. You thought I could break the curse?"
"We'll treat you to dinner." Kobayashi offered and Lucoa just waved her off.
"I already owe you. If I can help, I will." Sitting down next to Elma, Lucoa exerted some of her powers to get a better feel of the curse. "Oh, this could be problematic."
"That Fafnir already said he can break it but it'll tear out my eyes! Don't even think about something like that!"
"I wouldn't do something so crude. I can sense what kind of curse this is, and I can probably break it, but… it looks like breaking it will cause something to happen." Lucoa looked at Kobayashi with her otherworldly heterochromia eyes. "What kind of god cursed her?"
"She was at a Kichijoten temple so it's almost certainly her… wait..." Kobayashi felt a dreadful realization come over her. "This means that the gods that have temples all over the country are actually real, doesn't it?"
"Oh, you thought they weren't?" Lucoa was fairly amused by this. "So what kind of god is Kichijoten?"
"A goddess. She's one of the seven gods of fortune around here. I… think mostly teenage girls pray to her for success in love. There's probably some adult women doing that, too." Kobayashi unusual noticed movement from the kitchen as she explained. "Tohru?"
"I'll be right back! I'm just going to this Kichijoten temple real quick!"
"Tohru… even if she is actually real, I don't think she will bless a dragon. And I'm not sure what you're hoping she will do since I do know how you feel."
Lucoa raised her hand, just a little. "Uhm… so, should I try to break the curse? I am pretty sure it won't cause her any discomfort, at least not physically."
"Hm, yes, please." Kobayashi quickly changed her mind. "Ah, but please not in here! If there's some sort of explosion, it'll be a mess."
"It's not that kind of curse, but sure." Lucoa turned back towards Elma, realizing that she couldn't possibly walk anywhere like that. And transforming into dragon form could have some really unexpected consequences while being cursed. Putting one arm behind Elma's back and the other right behind her knees, she lifted the harmony dragon up. "You're lighter than I expected. I guess all that eating isn't affecting you at all."
Elma didn't really feel anything in particular when Lucoa lifted her up. "I understand that this is probably quicker, but you could have simply directed me outside or to the roof."
"We'll go to the roof."
And so, about ninety seconds later, the group, including Kobayashi and Tohru, were on the roof. The only one that had been suspiciously absent the entire time was Kanna, who was having a sleep over at Saikawa's place.
Elma sat on her knees roughly in the center of the roof, surrounded by empty space, and even further out chain fences. "Okay, I'll break the curse. I really don't know what is going to happen exactly but I can tell that it isn't some kind of dangerous effect. Consider the nature of the goddess that cursed you, you will probably have some really bad luck in love for a while."
"My only love is food." Elma gasped. "Does that mean I won't be able to taste anything?!"
Kobayashi looked a bit amused. "I don't think a goddess wants to account for strange love like that."
"There's nothing strange about-" Elma could see again. Lucoa had covered her hand in formless, translucent energy and simply used her index finger to cut through the blindfold right above Elma's nose. "I don't feel any different. Quick, someone give me something to eat! I'm sure I heard Tohru make dinner earlier!"
"That's strange. I was sure that there had to be some sort of effe-" Lucoa and Elma alike were engulfed in a massive red explosion, that immediately turned into a red cloud, that smelled extremely strongly like saffron for some reason. Both of them coughed a whole lot but staggered out of the cloud in one piece. "That's a very strange effect," Lucoa said in-between fits of coughing.
"Is that… saffron?" Kobayashi looked at the ground, where the red cloud was now settling, and squatted to touch it with her finger. "It is. I don't recall Kichijoten being related to that."
"Do you think the part that isn't touching the ground is still usable?" Tohru bend down and tried the spice after picking some up with her finger. "It tastes okay at least."
"We should take part of it inside… but we can't leave the rest up here either." Kobayashi noticed that she hadn't noticed Lucoa or Elma for over a minute now. Looking around, she found Elma figuratively hanging from Lucoa, arms around the blonde's neck and an idiotically happy smile on her face.
"Lucoa~." Elma sounded drunk.
"Is this…?" Kobayashi made an educated guess.
Lucoa looked only mildly bothered and far from being disturbed or uncomfortable. "It looks like the curse was set up in such a way that she would fall unconditionally in love with whoever broke it. Love spells never last very long, but this is still a problem."
"Having her come to work like this..."
"Is going to be difficult. But that is not what I meant. I haven't mentioned this to anyone yet, but I was kind of banned from the premises of Shouta-kun's house by his parents for some sort of deviant transgression… I've been meaning to ask what that could have been but I happened upon an old acquaintance and lost track of time." Mildly annoyed now by having Elma hang on her like a wet bag of flour, Lucoa picked her up just as she did not even five minutes ago. Elma rubbed her left cheek against Lucoa's shoulder like it was the most fun thing to do in all the universe.
"So you have nowhere to stay. I'm sorry to say, but we absolutely do not have space to let anyone else stay here." Kobayashi couldn't imagine having Elma and Tohru under the same roof. It would be ragnarok.
"Elma is gonna follow you to the ends of the earth, so why don't you go there?" Tohru shrugged the whole matter off. Lucoa was a close acquaintance, but Elma was just a close annoyance instead.
"Tohru." Kobayashi reminded her that she didn't like it when she spoke like that.
"Yes, yes. I'm sorry. But Elma has her own place to live, doesn't she?"
"Come to think of it..." Kobayashi looked at Lucoa and figured that that would be the obvious place to crash at.
"You can stay at my place forever, Lucoa!" Elma sounded so happy that it was almost gross for everyone that was listening.
"Are you going to be… okay?" I'm fine with dealing with Tohru, but I don't know anything about Lucoa's preferences.
"I actually don't mind that much. I do think I understand better how you feel, Kobayashi-san."
"I am not that clingy!" Tohru was quick to become defensive.
"I'll leave you two to it then." Lucoa didn't want to stand around until they realized that there was still several kilos of saffron on the roof and someone had to get rid of it. Carrying Elma down the stairs, Lucoa quickly got tired of doing just that and let Elma down. "You can cling to my arm, if you are going to walk on your own."
"Whatever you ask of me, darling!"
Current Day
"Lucoa! Did you see my Estrago pudding? You didn't eat it, right?!" Elma shouted, her nose deep in the fridge, looking for her prized dessert.
A cool thing, a bit of plastic, touched Elma's neck and the dragon jumped, startled. "You ate it yesterday. I knew this would happen so I bought you another one." Lucoa, her hair tied into a ponytail and still wearing that same sweater as always, smiled her at flatmate.
Elma had made a habit out of blushing whenever she looked at Lucoa, not on purpose but because her feelings were completely out of control. The curse was long, long gone; it had only lasted for roughly a hundred hours to begin with. But in the meantime, she had told everyone at work, everyone she knew in the shopping district and just everyone she knew in general that she was now living with the most beautiful of all girls, and how much in love she was with her. Of course, all of that had been the curse talking through her.
"I-I'm in your debt." Taking the extra pudding, Elma ripped off the lid and grabbed a spoon from the cupboard. "What did you do today?"
"Tohru taught me how to clean the floor." Lucoa had been learning, little by little, about household chores and duties from the maid. She didn't feel so good about being a freeloader at Elma's place and since Shouta's parents hadn't changed their mind so far, she wanted to make herself useful.
"You cleaned he floor?" Elma, spoon in mouth, looked at the floor and it didn't look all that clean.
"I will tomorrow. It took me a few tries to get it right. Tohru had to dry the place with magic a few times." Lucoa had the same smile as always on her face. If she felt embarrassed, she didn't show it.
"You're a big help." Walking over into her small living room, Elma sat down on her bed and grabbed the TV remote, putting on something or other; what it was, was insignificant. She just liked the background noise nowadays.
"Tohru asked me what exactly our relationship is now." Lucoa dropped a bomb on Elma without warning, just as she sat down next to her.
Elma remained composed, if only because she had been asking herself that same question every morning and every night for the past three weeks. She was used to it now. "I wonder."
"You wonder? Aren't we still a couple?" Lucoa was amused by what she was doing. Elma was a beautiful woman and her personality being what it was, she was also fun to be around. So much in fact that she had stopped missing Shouta and his reactions.
Elma managed to actually choke on something was soft and delicious as pudding and turned scarlet red. "W-When did we become a couple?"
"When you let me stay here after the curse wore off and nothing changed from when the curse was affecting you?" Teasing Elma was surprisingly easy and even more fun than that. "Or are you saying you are just using me?"
"N-No! A harmony dragon wouldn't do something like that!"
"Then I won't have to call Tohru to tell her that I was mistaken about our status."
"You told her we're together?"
"She was quite polite about it."
"That evil dragon…!"
"You manage to go along fine whenever we are invited for dinner at their place or when she cooks too much and gives me some to take back."
"That's true… but… but…!"
Lucoa rubbed shoulders with her sort-of-girlfriend. "I am not being a bother, am I?"
"Weren't you… bothered when the curse made me cling to you?"
"You're a beautiful woman. And you are pretty fun to be around. I didn't mind then and I was happy when you didn't seem to mind either after the curse wore off." Lucoa turned lightly, smiling at the dragon lady. "Given how indecisive you are, I might have pushed things along a little."
"I'm not indecisive!"
"Is that why you spend sometimes minutes contemplating which flavor of toothpaste to use?" Lucoa mused with a very big smile. "There is nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their quirks."
Putting the empty pudding cup on the table, just in front of the bed, Elma quickly got of the bed, grabbing the empty cup she had just put down and walked to the kitchen part of her flat – first standing in front of the sink and reaching for the tap, then she just threw the cup away as is.
Lucoa didn't bother to follow Elma around like a dog and just stayed put. Perhaps it is because she is so indecisive that she can't decide what to do about our situation. But it is entertaining to see her fret a little. "I am fine living with you like this. I am not prejudiced in either way, and I have no complaints when it comes to your looks or personality."
Elma put her fingers together and was even more embarrassed than before. Usually, her growling stomach in the middle of a conversation was the sole reason for her to feel that way. "I've never actually dated anyone."
"Oh, but you have, for three weeks now." Lucoa grinned by herself and turned her attention towards the TV that was still running. "And just imagine how jealous Tohru will be when she realizes you beat her to the punch."
"What do you mean?"
"She serves as Kobayashi-san's maid, but everyone knows how she really feels about her. If she sees that you found a partner before she managed to get Kobayashi-san to return her feelings the way she wants her to, imagine how jealous Tohru will be."
Elma smirked for a moment and quickly wiped it off her face when she realized it. "That doesn't matter!"
So you say, but I saw it, that smirk. You see Tohru as more than just someone you need to bring back to the other world. She's your rival, in some ways. "Oh my way back, I actually found a new restaurant that opened. It serves… what was it… Italian cuisine I think. You really loved that pasta I brought over a few days ago, so I thought you'd want to know."
"What's the name?" Elma was suddenly back in the living room. "Do they run any promotions?" And now she was right in front of Lucoa. "Did their noodles get recommended by the Gourmet Blog I visit?" Elma was now pushing down Lucoa, staring right in her face. And like that, Elma saw for the first time what it looked like when the goddess Quetzalcoatl were to blush lightly. Realizing the position she was in, Elma tried to back away immediately but found her hands, put on her bed, to be held down by the feathered serpent. "I-I mean…"
"I happen to have some money we could use to go there. But in exchange, there is a little something I want from you."
"W-What?" Elma swallowed her drool. A new Italian restaurant… they're probably putting out the best stuff they have right now to get good reviews. If we go right now we might even get there at prime time… and since it is new, there probably won't be that many people, so the kitchen won't be under a lot of pressure and I can order seconds and second seconds!
"In four weeks of living together, and despite the curse, we have never kissed."
"K-Kiss?" Elma was surprisingly pure and naive when it came to such matters.
"It has been quite a long time for me since I had the chance to be with someone like this." She still held Elma's arms in place. In terms of pure power, Lucoa exceeded both Elma and Tohru, although her being a feathered serpent but her at a disadvantage in all out combat.
"So if… we kiss, you'll take me to that Italian place and pay for dinner?"
Lucoa nodded and made a sound of approval. I can already see the wheels of indecisiveness turning behind her cute face. I never expected that living with a harmony dragon could be so entertaining and still let me have a laid back life. Lucoa was strongly opposed to stress and she did her best to make Elma's day better when she came home very late in the evening because the company needed her to stay overtime.
"F-Fine."
Gluttony beat her aversion to lust. Lucoa smiled even wider than before and finally let Elma go. But this position might perhaps be a bit much for her. Waiting for Elma to back away, now that she was free, Lucoa was very surprised, almost shocked, when the dragon lady instead bent down further. Her voluptuous breasts pushed down by Elma's, Lucoa tasted for the first time what it was like to kiss a dragon.
Elma tasted like nothing that was particularly memorable but rather the pudding she just ate. Lucoa knew that people's lips really didn't have a taste of their own, but each had a unique feeling to it. Elma's were supple and still had the right amount of firmness. For Lucoa, her tongue was as important as her eyes or ears. And feeling Elma's lips with her tongue sent a shiver down her spine. And to her surprise, Elma met her advances on her own, their tongues entangled with each other, wiggling about for never-ending seconds until Elma drooled on Lucoa's face and immediately backed away, embarrassed by that. "T-That's enough, right?"
"Yes. That was plenty." Lucoa wiped the drool from her cheek and rose from the bed. "Your tail is poking out."
Elma panicked a little and tried to hide her blue tail with just her hands until she remembered she could use magic. Finding enough composure to keep the spell intact from now on, she stepped away and opened her wardrobe. "Do you think I should wear something else?"
"I am going like this." I don't understand why she bothers to buy clothes when we could just make them from our scales. I thought the harmony faction was all about non-interference in this world. "I think your office clothes are just fine."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" As if to emphasize Elma's desires, her stomach growled loudly. "T-That's a coincidence! It has nothing to do with-" Another growl and Elma just didn't bother to say anything else.
Despite being a dragon and a feathered serpent, the two took the normal route – public transportation. Lucoa couldn't drive and neither could Elma. Even if either of them could, Elma didn't make enough to afford a mostly pointless car. From the outside, she looked like a perfectly normal and mostly hard working office lady. Lucoa raised a few more eyebrows with her blonde hair and enormous breasts, the size emphasized even by the dark blue, almost black, sweater she wore at all times.
Sitting next to each other on the bus, which was a slightly unusual experience for Lucoa since she usually just walked everywhere, Elma tried to make the time until they got to their stop go by faster by starting a conversation. "I didn't know you had a job, Lucoa."
"Hm?"
"You said you had money." A realization hit Elma. "You didn't make the money, right? That would be a crime."
"There are a lot of things I own in the other world I can safely sell over here. I sold just a little bit of gold for 150,000 yen. I've been a freeloader at Shouta's place for a long time but after seeing you work hard every day, I didn't want that to continue."
"You could have looked for a job."
"Hm, I feel like this is fine."
"You shouldn't bring in otherworldly stuff."
"Gold exists in abundance on this world as well."
"That might be true, but… well, I suppose I can look the other way since it is for a good cause."
Treating you to dinner is for a good cause then? Lucoa really enjoyed being around Elma. Tohru was a little too high-strung at times, when it came to Kobayashi-san at least. Elma was much more relaxing and amusing in how easily she was directed with promises or helpings of food. And if I am being honest with myself… Elma is pretty attractive. It's been a few centuries since I last thought that of someone. "What are you planning to order?"
"Everything."
"Everything? What do you mean? Everything you haven't tried before?"
"Exactly what it means."
"The entire menu?"
"If you have 150,000 yen-"
"I didn't bring all of that with me." Lucoa reached form her pockets and pulled out the bills she had on her. A quick count and she had a concise number. "45,000 yen. That's what I got on me."
"That's okay!" Elma clenched her fist. "I can definitely eat through the entire menu with that!"
"Where are you going to stuff all of that food?"
"My stomach is as big as my sense of justice."
I wonder what is bigger, your sense of justice or your gluttony. I'm rather inclined to believe it's the latter.
The two dragons kept chatting nonchalantly for a little longer, and about nothing in particular, until they made it to their bus stop and got off the vehicle. Walking together, just side by side, the two of them headed through the evening streets, the red dusk bathing the streets of Japan in its still warm light.
Lucoa changed sides a few times, walking to the left or the right of Elma depending on where the next food shop or stand was. Distracting her with questions about Italian food, so the dark haired woman would look at her and just her. Lucoa at one point took Elma's hand with confidence, the two of them walking not just together, not merely side by side, but together, holding hands and shoulders close together. Lucoa avoided embarrassment because she cared relatively little about what the humans thought. And Elma was too preoccupied with fantasies about plates with mountains of pasta and pizza to think about what others thought.
The evening streets were fuller than anticipated, especially around the station, and at one point Lucoa and Elma had to really push together to make it through the crowds. The restaurant was barely noticed by the average passerby, despite a big sign saying Grand Opening hanging on the door. The inside was pretty packed despite that, and Elma looked somewhat dejected to see this.
Sitting down, both women pulled up their own chair, Elma immediately leaped into the menu, her eyes greedily absorbing every letter, every price point. It was somewhat expensive – enough so that she was sure she couldn't just come back on her own. "You're really treating me, right?"
"Would I lie to a beautiful face like yours? Of course not." Lucoa was naturally adept at being charming when she really wanted to. She still didn't understand why Shouta had been so unreceptive to her encouragement.
"Then… I'll have everything from this page and this… and this and this, this, this, and that, and maybe this twice since it looks like a small portion..." Elma's eyes were shining with glee. "What are you gonna have?"
"Hm, I don't know. It's been a while since I had food from Italy. If you could only pick two things from the menu, what would you eat?" I can't ask her for recommendations – she would just hand over the entire menu with that big smile of hers and I definitely cannot eat that much.
"Only two things?!" Elma peered at the menu with everything she had, quickly flipping pages back and forth, she couldn't make up your mind. "Maybe the… no, definitely… but..."
I never thought indecisiveness could look so adorable, Lucoa thought and prodded one of Elma's feet with her right foot. "Close your eyes."
Elma didn't argue with her savior, anyone that was treating her to an all she can eat was her savior after all, and just did as Lucoa asked.
"Now point at something on the menu." Lucoa waited for Elma to do so. "Open your eyes and tell me what I'll be eating."
"Pizza Hawaii."
"Pizza Hawaii it is then." Lucoa really didn't have any preference one way or another.
A waitress came over right after Lucoa waved at her. She resembled Elma the faintest bit because of her hairstyle but she was otherwise much more reminiscent of Kobayashi. "Drink bar for two."
"I'm sorry miss, but we only serve individual drinks on a per customer basis." The waitress was still very polite, which told the two women that she was either new, or very experienced.
"A large cola then." Elma ordered instantly.
"Same for me."
"Of course. Are you also ready to order your meal?"
"You should probably warn the kitchen that a challenger has appeared," Lucoa commented with a big smirk that got even bigger when the waitress didn't really understand. "You will be rather busy. She looks like this, all slim and beautiful, but she can really eat a lot if the food is good."
"Oh." The waitress looked at Elma, who was not embarrassed in the slightest. "I-I'll tell the chef that we might get really busy then." But how much can a woman like her eat? She looks Japanese, like me… but this blonde, is she American? She… her chest certainly looks American!
"I'll have a large pizza hawaii. What are you starting with, Elma?"
Three minutes later, the waitress, pale as a sheet, ran into the kitchen, giving out Elma's starting orders. The two women had forgone their complimentary offer of bread and just went straight to the meal – or their eating marathon, the waitress thought.
"The waitress had a pretty amazing expression when you just kept telling her what you're going to have." Lucoa played a little with her glass, running her finger across the rim at the top. "You're like one of those martial artists that go around and challenge dojos for their signs. But with food instead."
"I just wanna eat something good."
"Looks like a lot of other couples had the same idea we did." Lucoa took a quick look around and was amused, which admittingly didn't take very much, when Elma turned on her chair, arm on the backrest, to look behind her. "Although it looks like we're the only girl couple here."
"We're also the only dragons here." Elma was too excited to feel embarrassment or anything like that and so she went along with Lucoa.
"They don't know that. So let's keep that a secret between us."
"But… telling everyone we're together and then actually being together..." Elma's stomach growled in anticipation of food, and also from the smell that was permeating the air inside the restaurant.
"Would you be more comfortable if I was human?"
"Absolutely not." Elma shook her head lightly. "I still think Tohru is setting herself up for suffering when Kobayashi's lifespan runs out."
"Well, there are a few things she can do to extend it."
Elma looked both nervous and uncomfortable now. "Using magical items from the otherworld on humans in this world… that is definitively interference!"
"She's a Chaos Dragon. If she lives sixty or seventy years with Kobayashi in peace and then uses some water from the fountain of origins – actually I think they call it the fountain of youth in the legends of this world… I think you could overlook that, don't you think? Just think of it as giving her a treat for behaving all that time."
"You're not wrong, but…"
"And you haven't really thought about going back to the other world, have you?"
Elma swallowed and felt like she had just been caught doing something naughty. "O-Of course I think about going back, but I can't travel on my own and I have to bring back Tohru and-"
"I guess for as long as Tohru remains here, you will have to watch over her activities. And I will be here to keep you company."
"For as long as it takes?"
"If you don't kick me out, sure."
"I-I wouldn't do something like that." I would if you take my pudding, though!
"What about breaking up with me?"
Elma managed to actually be embarrassed now, despite her anticipation for food. "I've got no reason to. For now."
"We feathered serpents actually chose our partners very carefully." Teasing her is quite fun. "And in some cases, we chose our partners for all our life. We never stop loving them." It's so cute how she blushes. I can't get enough of it.
"F-For life?"
"Sometimes."
"Are you-"
"Who knows." Lucoa grinned again. "I think your first order is coming."
=== Curses can be Blessings ===
"I still cannot believe that you really ate everything on the menu." Lucoa was really impressed with Elma. "And you look no different. I guess dragons really do have a stomach in a league of their own."
Walking through the streets at night, the cold, but not too cold, air pleasant on their faces, they held hands once again, walking a lot more slowly back the same way they had come. Lucoa had wanted to walk back all the way, but Elma insisted on taking the bus – flying in their true forms was not an option because for a harmony dragon, all interference was forbidden. And she didn't want to get home too late since she did have to go to work tomorrow. For a dragon, Elma had very human worries.
"There are a lot of things in the other world that can eat much more than me! You're making me sound like a glutton!" Elma felt full. So full like she hadn't felt in a long, long time. Eating for 368,000 Yen was something she had never done before and when Lucoa paid the bill, to the visible relief of the restaurant staff, she felt a bit guilty.
You are most definitely a glutton, Elma. "I almost expected you to go to that ice cream stand that was across the street when we left."
"There was an ice cream stand?! What kind of flavors did they have, did you see?"
"I should have known." Lucoa chuckled. "I suppose eating everything is one way to avoid deciding what to choose."
"Well, I can't just grab gold from the other world and sell it to make money! So if I get the chance to eat everything, I will. I can't just spend everything on food normally." Elma pouted a little but still held on to Lucoa's hand. She was a little surprised how it didn't bother her at all to be seen acting like, no, as a couple with her.
"So you would rather I don't keep doing that? I won't be able to treat you anymore."
No more treats… but… interfering in the economy… but treats… interference… I shouldn't look the other way… but she's my partner and I owe her already and she is using it to treat me so I can focus on my job and she's not really… not really interfering, just kinda, a little…
Lucoa watched the little gears behind Elma's face rotate and grind. She's fretting about whether she should let me keep doing it so I can take her out for food or focus on her role as a member of the harmony faction. "Gold is found and lost all the time in this world. It is no more intereference than you taking a job that could have gone to someone else."
"Ugh… I didn't think that I was interfering that way… "
"Interfering is just another way of saying interacting, you know?"
"Hm?"
"You are interacting with humans and people from the otherworld you would have never dealt with. As much as you and Tohru dislike each other, you manage to get along for Kobayashi-san's sake. Such a thing would be unthinkable back in the other world. You are trail blazing the path of a pioneer, Elma."
"Y-You think so?" Elma felt flattered and walked a little closer to Lucoa from there on.
"A lot of life is interpretation."
"I wonder what the others in my faction would think of me dating an outsider."
"Hmm… I'm not that powerful, so I don't think they'd care. They'd probably be jealous, though. Some of you, some of me."
"Jealous of what?"
"Of being your lover of course." Lucoa hit Elma with a seductive glance and smile, something she was very skilled in.
"Is that really something to be jealous of?"
"Oh, you weren't popular back home?"
"I didn't say that!"
"So why would they not be jealous then?"
Elma didn't answer and just looked away as they kept going and going, right past the bus stop, with Lucoa letting go of her hand only to hug her arm, like a more intimidate couple would. "Even if you're not popular in the other world… among everyone I met during my time in this world, you're the only one I ever considered seeing as my lover. That's why I wasn't bothered by the effect of the curse."
"You didn't know what breaking the curse would do, right?"
"Maybe."
"You knew, didn't y- ah, that's our bus!" Elma broke away from Lucoa in a hurry, chasing after the bus so she would make it in time for the next stop. But since there were people everywhere, and she was far more concerned about being perceived as non-human than Tohru was, she couldn't use her superhuman strength and speed.
Lucoa chased after Elma and she attracted quite a few stares for doing so. As a former goddess, she wasn't really used to the idea of wearing a bra or running somewhere like a human. And as such, her chase after Elma, who was much more used to running like a regular mortal, was filled with bouncing and jiggling. "E-Elma, w-wait!" T-This is tough. Being limited to the capabilities of my disguise…
Elma barely made it in time to the next stop, out of breath, her chest heaving with heavy breaths, one hand against the bus and the other against her right thigh. "One… one moment. My girlfriend… is coming too..." Elma incoperated a limiter into her shapeshifting spell, just so she didn't have to consciously limit herself all the time. Maybe I should sign up for that gym program after all…
Lucoa, with her head red and a terribly uncouth running form, barely arrived in time for the bus driver's second complaint and both of them got on the bus. Elma paid for Lucoa's fare with her cellphone, her latest acquisition, and the two of them dragged themselves all the way to the back.
"We could… have just… walked… or maybe… flown..." Lucoa was so out of breath that she had trouble speaking. "My chest… is a world of hurt..."
"You don't wear a bra… that's why." Elma had had time to recover a little bit. "I just didn't want to get home past midnight. I need to be up at six at the latest."
"I… I know..." Lucoa leaned back against the seat, her golden hair glistening with sweat that also ran down her forehead. I haven't been this tired in… at least a thousand years. "How could you… run like that with your stomach so full?"
Elma had never really paid much attention to Lucoa's physique but now that she was sitting there right next to her, sweating and out of breath, she couldn't help but feel tempted by her. She's… pretty erotic. I didn't really realize until now because she always dressed so… sluttily before, but…
"Something… caught your eye?" Lucoa still managed a smirk through her exhaustion and slowly calmed her breathing.
"I am taking your measurements when we get home and you need to either make yourself a bra or get one made." There is no way a Japanese store will have anything big enough for her. And custom made… is expensive. It's one thing to sell gold so we can go and eat out, another if it's something she could just use her scales for. Or feathers… I actually don't know which one is right.
"I don't think that is really necessary."
Elma turned her head and looked at the people they had passed by when they walked to the back of the bus. "No, it definitely is. I don't want them staring at you the second we walk faster than a casual stroll."
"Monopolizing my allure… how feisty of you."
"T-That's not… I mean… not really what it is..." Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush!
"Your face tells a slightly different story."
Dammit. "Whatever the case, if you want to stay with me, you have to obey the rules of my household."
"Can it still be called a household if you live in a small flat?"
"It can!"
"No choice then I suppose."
Elma felt relieved and breathed a sigh of relief. "I am glad that you changed your clothes to something more appropriate on Kobayashi-san's behest, but not wearing a bra is definitely not a good decision. It goes against the standards set by society!"
"You should have started with that. Then it wouldn't sound like a justification for-"
"It's not a justification!" Elma blushed more intensely this time around. "There's nothing t-that great about your breasts anyway."
"Other than their size, softness and flexibility?"
Softness… "They're just big."
"I cannot let that stand. I suppose I'll have to teach you about their qualities back home."
"W-What are you saying in public, you harlot?!" Elma raised her voice a little too much and some of the other passengers started to look over their shoulders and whisper.
The dragon and the serpent both spent the remainder of the bus trip in silence, Lucoa quite happy with herself and Elma as embarrassed as Lucoa was happy. They were the only ones to get off at their stop and Elma was already fumbling about with her keys when the bus drove off and Lucoa made good on her earlier promise a little early, squeezing Elma's right arm between her voluptuous chest. "Shall we go home?" Lucoa clung to her much more intensely than before, Elma's arm outright swallowed up by her breasts, contained by nothing but the black sweater she wore.
Elma felt like one of those characters in manga that she had recently started to read on the recommendation of that human that Fafnir lived with. "Let's go." She didn't have the mental capacity for a witty comment or even just lecturing Lucoa on what constituted acceptable behavior in public. It was late, past nine now, and there were few, if any, people about.
Elma lived in a large apartment complex, in a small flat. In reality, it was too small for her and Lucoa, but she didn't have the savings to find another place, and so far it happened to work out because Lucoa had spend her nights out or reading, while Elma slept.
Ascending the stairs slowly, because Lucoa would not allow for anything faster than that, they reached the fourth floor, where the two of them lived in apartment 408. As they shut the door behind them, Lucoa finally let Elma go free – for scarcely a second, that was. Flinging around, bolting at her like a snake about to reach their prey, Lucoa pushed the dragon turned office lady against the door using all of her body. Breasts pushing against breasts, her right thigh between Elma's legs, Lucoa slowly licked along the furthest right of Elma's neck.
A blazer was hurriedly unbuttoned and roughly pulled over the arms of the black haired woman, binding them behind her back for a moment. The black skirt forced down her legs, sliding all the way to the ground, over stockings and high heels. Elma was already half undressed by the time she realized what Lucoa was doing to her. Shoving her so hard that Lucoa staggered backwards, Elma didn't bother to fix her appearance. "Bath. You reek of sweat."
"E-Eh?" Lucoa had never been rejected like that, certainly not in the middle of seducing someone.
"I'm not allowing you into bed like this. And you'll have to hurry. I'm bathing first and you can go second." Kicking off her heels at the door, Elma walked right into the bathroom, leaving a befuddled Lucoa in the main room.
The bathroom door closed and locked, Elma slowly slid down, her back against the door, her face immediately turning to a fierce red. W-What was she gonna do? Elma nearly transformed out of shock when someone knocked on the door, twice. "What?"
"Was I too forward? Are you angry?"
"No." Just… you were kinda pushy and sudden and… my heart is beating like crazy.
"Can I… join you in bed later?"
The silence that emerged between them was almost as solid as the door that separated them. Finally, Elma made an agreeable noise. "You can."
Lucoa heard the water turn on right after but felt relieved nonetheless. I was worried there for a moment that I pushed her too hard. But knowing her, if I did nothing, she would just be indecisive forever. Or maybe that is just about picking between foods.
Sitting at the table, the serpent reached for the laptop that Elma had bought about two weeks ago. A cheap thing that wasn't useful for much more than browsing the web. Lucoa had spent a long time around humans, but there were quite a few things she had never picked up on. After watching Elma a few times, she at least knew the bare minimum on how to use a computer.
Typing something into the search machine, Lucoa was quite impressed with the technology that humans had come up with. She still had trouble with the touchpad of the laptop however. Sitting there and looking things up, Lucoa passed the time until she heard the bathroom door unlock. Leaning back, this was one of the extremely rare times that she would see Elma in her human form naked – or almost naked. A large white towel covered her from the chest down, reaching slightly above her knees.
"Feel better?"
"Lots. Every day I think… how do we dragons live without the comfort of a bath like this?"
"You even change your scales when you bath."
"Of course! It would be unhygenic and unpleasant to bathe with clothes, even if they're technically my scales."
"I suppose that's true." Lucoa kept her eyees on the dragon girl that talked towards the fridge now, lightly staring at her butt beneath the white towel. Staring at her still damp hair, pulled back and fully revealing her forehead. From one moment to the next, the hazelnut colored and curved horn emerged from there. A single breath after, her tail poked out from below the towel and she turned her head.
"You're staring."
"Between Tohru and you… you have a much more beautiful tail."
"R-Really?" Elma looked at at the fridge and opened it, taking a small cup of yoghurt from it. Not pudding, but yoghurt. She was very peculiar about that – one cup of yoghurt after a bath while she was still just wearing the towel. The rare time of day where she didn't hide her dragon features.
"It's not as bulky. The tip also looks cute while Tohru's is just simplistic. Yours isn't visibly covered in lots of scales."
Elma still hid her face and ate her yoghurt while standing up. But it was obvious how she felt. Her tail was wiggling back and forth like that of a puppy that had been praised. Finishing the milky treat, Elma went to the trash bin to throw away the empty cup and as she walked, the towel came undone. Caught indecisive between grabbing the towel and throwing away the cup, Elma was about to be completely naked.
Lucoa appeared like a storm behind her, holding the towel together, above her breasts. "Careful." Fixing the towel for Elma, Lucoa took off her hat and smiled at the harmony dragon, not caring that she couldn't see it. "Don't fall asleep without me."
Elma was left behind when Lucoa vanished into the bath, drawing a fresh bath for herself. How unlike me, to act like that. The feathered serpent changed the way her scales manifested and from one moment to the next, she was just in her humanoid form, naked. Unlike Tohru and Elma, she didn't manifest a separate tail, even if she got sloppy. She hid her horns after some child had pointed to them and made a fuss in the presence of Elma, who from there on had asked her to hide them when she went under out and mingled with the humans.
It feels strange, bathing in this form. But the hot water on this skin… on my skin… it makes me think back of before that day. The warm rain of the rainforest, cleaning my body, rinsing away the leaves of the trees. I have been with the humans for so long, sometimes it slips my mind that I am even more different from them than Tohru and Elma. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to Elma now. To be with humans is fleeting, albeit entertaining. But to find love, beings like me… we cannot be satisfied with a mere sixy or seventy years. Even if Tohru would use magic from the other world to make Kobayashi-san young again fifty years from now… even such magic has limits. I want someone that can be by my side for a long time. Perhaps until this civilization falls and a new one rises from the ashes. Maybe the harmony faction will reconsider their policy of non-interference once a civilization rises that is more… open-minded towards the grandiose. Soaking in the bath by herself, not that there would have been space for the two of them together, Lucoa went all the way into the water for once, her wavy long hair sticking to her neck as she came back up. Maybe I should put it up into a ponytail sometime.
Sitting down on her bed, Elma glanced at the open laptop. Before anything else, she took off the towel, stark naked for a single second before she used her magic and scales to re-create clothes. But instead of making her office lady clothes, she switched it up, making pajamas, pants and a shirt; both in white and with a motive of chocolate coronets.
I shouldn't look… but it is my laptop and I'm curious… what would someone as powerful as Lucoa even want from the internet? Curiosity won out and Elma peeked. The results were underwhelming. The tabs in the browser were all about underwear, primarily bras. Elma felt shameful about peeking. Closing the laptop, Elma sat back on the bed and smiled by herself for a little while. Being Lucoa's… lover… I think I want to get used to that.
She turned on the TV. Elma didn't really understand the appeal of most of the things that were on there, but she decided to wait for Lucoa instead of going to bed on her own. She happened to catch a re-run of an anime about animals that were turned into girls that she liked. Lying on the bed, elbow burrowed into her pillow and hand supporting her head, Elma killed time. Before she knew it, her eyes had come shut and she was lightly asleep.
Something tickled her nose and she tried to get rid of it by moving her hand over her face. Then it happened again. Something long, slightly wet. It was touching her cheek now. What a pest… Elma was not quite awake just yet. The mattress gave way, something heavy was by her side. And finally, there was this weird noise that wouldn't leave her alone… p… k up…. Ake up… wake… p…
Waking up, blinking a lot, Elma squinted because the bright light of the room was too much for her. "A goddess…?"
"So close." Lucoa felt a little sad that she couldn't just say yes to that, but it was still flattering that Elma would mistake her for a goddess even in her human form.
"Lucoa… oh, did I doze off?" Yawning loudly and only realizing after the fact how wide she opened her mouth for that, Elma blushed yet once more and averted just her eyes. "Did you finish your bath?" A nod with a smile was all the answer she got, no more, no less. When her gaze wandered, Elma found Lucoa to be wearing some truly scandalous clothing; merely panties and a large shirt, as if she was a young lass alone at home. Elma groaned a little, and rolled over, kicking the comforter with her feet and then reaching for it, pulling it up up her waist. "Can you turn off the lights before you lie down?"
Lucoa considered just using magic to flip the switch but then she decided to play along with Elma's rules, got off the bed and flicked the light off normally. The laptop was already closed and the TV was shut off. It was eleven thirty now and Elma had to be up in six hours. I suppose I will have to postpone my seduction of this beautiful dragon lady until the weekend.
Lying down with Elma, who was already back asleep, Lucoa felt quite strange. To… sleep. I haven't really slept like this in so long that I can't remember anymore what it was like or when it was. I think it was before that young man, that son of the carpenter, built the foundation to that really popular religion that's just everywhere today.
Elma didn't notice how one arm slowly arced above her hips, descended in front of her stomach and then rested there. Lucoa rested on her side, just scarcely enough space between herself and Elma for her to breathe without her chest touching against the dragon'd back. I wonder how many centuries it has been that I have been with someone of my own world like this. A goddess, fallen from grace and a dragon from the faction of order and harmony… what an unlikely pair we are. It is strange that it is a human that served as a catalyst for the two of us to meet. And if I had not been tricked… I would have never met you. That fascinating old man was right when he said that opportunities multiply as they are sized.
Thinking about her past, Lucoa drifted further and further away from what she was doing, closing her eyes and letting the domain of Tezcatlipoca whisk her away to a place she had not been in a long time; the land of dreams.
=== Curses can be a Blessing ===
Lucoa… get your boobs out of my face… Elma was still too sleepy to be ready to wake up. And take your hand off my butt… and my hips… you harlot. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, which meant she still had precious sleeping time left. Spending months like this, living like a human, she had gotten very used to actually needing that sleep. Trying to turn over, her bed wasn't really big enough for the two of them to be in there at the same time and still have space to toss.
Accepting her lot in life, Elma begun thinking about the truly important things. Should I have rice or toast for breakfast… maybe rice… but I bought the toast a few days ago and it goes stales if I wait any longer… but fresh rice in the morning is kind of heavenly… Lucoa take your paws off my butt…
Opening one eye, just the tiniest little bit, Elma saw nothing but white cloth in front of her and an immense softness that was all over her face. Almost… no, is this even softer than those special extra soft daifuku they sold at that shop two streets from the convenience store for the cherry blossoms… ah… they were really delicious...
Elma struggled and struggled, little by little and barely able to overcome her desire to just shift back to sleep; but finally, she had escaped Lucoa's original embrace. With one eye open she could see the sleeping face of the feathered serpent, a face that she had never seen before – that no one alive in either world had had seen and could still remember. Elma opened both of her eyes, just looking at Lucoa's face, dozens of fine golden strands falling over the serpent's cheeks and ears. It didn't make her any more beautiful than when she was awake, but the peaceful expression, defenseless and so different from the almost perpetual smiling she did… it was like a serene sight, from beyond the edge of the world, a peek into the depths of the abyss, past the darkness and the hidden light that few ever had the privilege to witness.
Despite the dim light shining inside through the curtains, Elma felt almost like she was seeing taboo and so she closed her eyes again, her heart beating faster now. I became the lover of someone incredible, didn't I?
Now that she had been almost awake once and her heart was acting up, so was her stomach. A loud growl, enough to draw a smile on Lucoa's face, embarrassed Elma. She had been wanting to stay in bed for just a little longer.
"Maybe I should learn how to make breakfast," Lucoa whispered to her girlfriend at the same time as she renewed her embrace of the dragon. "I thought I heard a thunderous noise..."
"I didn't hear anything," Elma lied through her teeth and faked innocence.
"I guess you're not hungry then. We can skip breakfast and-"
"I'm sorry. It was me. It was all me. My stomach growled. I'm hungry." Elma changed her tone immediately.
"Being honest with your desires is a virtue. That is one area where you could learn from Tohru."
"W-Who would want to learn from a chaos dragon!?" Elma got so childishly upset that she flailed her tail about, causing it to pop out from beneath the comforter.
"A wise woman that sees beyond the constrictions of her faction assigned at birth. Or someone who wants to have breakfast brought to bed."
Elma wagged her tail again. Breakfast… in bed? That's… that's that thing that only exists on TV! Her tail hit the mattress several times until Lucoa put a stop to it by putting her index finger on Elma's lips.
"You dragons and your tails. Although it is really cute."
"C-Cute?"
"Pretty cute."
Nobody ever complimented my tail… it's strange, I never even thought I wanted them to… Elma started to feel a little sore and wanted to stretch. Using her elbow, then her arm, to push herself up, Elma just casually glanced at her alarm, knowing that she still had to have lots of time before she had to actually get up.
Lucoa was physically thrown off the bed when Elma, in a state of maximum panic, jumped out of bed and instantly switched her scales to her office uniform. Running to the fridge, opening it, closing it, she didn't take anything out, then jumped at the rice cooker, only to realize it would take far too long. Grabbing bread from the breadbox, she opened the fridge again, wiggling her fingers like crazy because she couldn't decide.
Another look at the clock, this time the one by the fridge. I don't even have time to eat! "Why was the alarm off?!" Elma nearly shouted at Lucoa, who had sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Alarm?"
"My clock! My alarm clock! It didn't go off!" Elma just grabbed some cheese sliced, sandwich bread, stuffed it together and then just squeezed it all into her mouth in one go. Washing it down with milk, also from the fridge, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and ran to the entrance. "I'm gonna be late. I am already late! The chief is gonna have my head!"
"Should I ask an acquaintance to eat him?" Lucoa joked and Elma seemed to consider it for a split second.
"No, the one next in line is even worse!"
"Are you gonna take the train?"
"I have to but I'm not gonna make it in time!" Trying to put on her high heels in a hurry, Elma slipped and the shoe slipped out of her hands. "Ah, what do I do, what do I do? I'll never make it in time and I can't just fly there, my superiors would drag me home and then I'd miss the upcoming super-sale on that premium chocolate with nuts!" Finally getting her shoes on, Elma rose and was ready to step out the door, about to run and run as hard her limited form allowed her to.
"Elma."
Lucoa had changed back into her regular clothes, the white pants and the black sweater – with a little something extra under the sweater now. "Do you remember those muffins I brought home last week?"
"They were so delicious and fluffy… the way the dough just fell apart when you… what are you making me think about!"
"Just close your eyes and think about the muffins for a little longer."
"I don't have time for that!" Elma tried to open the door but Lucoa grabbed her hand.
"Just for a moment."
Elma let go of the door and closed her eyes, picturing those delicious muffins of which she could have eaten at least a hundred, maybe a thousand even! They came in different flavors too, some were a little more chewy. She could almost smell them. Ah… the fresh smell of muffins in the morning. I could really just eat a dozen right now! I can even hear the sound of the ovens in the back and… wait… hear? Elma opened her eyes and found herself standing inside that very shop she knew sold the muffins.
"This is close by to where you work, right?" Lucoa was still holding her hand.
"Lucoa!" Elma hissed as loudly as she could while it was still considered hissing. "You can't just… what did you even do? I didn't know you could teleport or what was this even?" Elma peered around and there was nobody up front in the shop yet. "You can't just make us appear around the humans! I'm still a harmony dragon!"
A quick kiss shot the dragon up well and sound. "You need to get to work, don't you? I'll wait for you at home. Or maybe I'll pick up some muffins after you leave and see how my favorite dragon lady is doing at lunch time."
Seconds later, the door bell rang, alerting the staff in the back to the presence of a customer. When they came up front, a foreigner, a woman with blonde hair and enormous breasts, was waiting for them with a smile. "How many of those delicious muffins can you make before lunch time? They're a gift.
=== Order seconds? ===
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