Not Unlike You

Chapter 10

After the letter had arrived, Adam seemed to be in a more active mood than usual the following days. He was getting up earlier than usual, taking laps around the neighborhood, and randomly pulling everyone into a random dance routine with no prior notice. Suu ran with it because she didn't know any better, Miia was on cloud nine whenever she was pulled aside to dance, Yukino loved seeing her brother so much more alive, and Centorea began to join Adam on his laps in the early hours of the morning. On one such morning, a familiar mustache appeared.

Adam panted heavily, having finished three laps at a jogging pace, while Centorea looked as fresh as a daisy. "Master, perhaps you should rest for a spell. Your stamina won't improve if you push yourself to exhaustion like days prior." While she was right, Adam remained stubborn and focused, chugging his water like a man deprived in the desert.

"The sentiment is appreciated, but no. If anything, I need to get back in fighting shape." This statement confused Centorea. As far as she had been told, their family had no enemies of any sort.

"I'm afraid I do not follow your reasoning. Why must you be in fighting shape?"

Sighing to himself, Adam capped his water bottle and gave her what could have been a deadpan look, but with him it was always hard to tell. "Because if Brian is awake and recovering, that means sooner or later he'll try and come here for a visit. This, in turn, means that Rachel will be at his side, and wanting to see if my swordsmanship is lacking, and she isn't someone I would want to anger. Therefore, here we are." His miniature tirade stopped with him gesturing to himself and her in their current situation.

Before Centorea could ask any further questions, she heard heavy footsteps approaching, which cut her off before she could ask more about Rachel and Brian. Turning in the direction of the sound, the two of them saw a familiar Orc waving at them from a few yards away.

"Quite a surprise to see you up this early young man! I thought someone your age would rather sleep in, but I'd be quite the hypocrite if I didn't say that I was that way once upon a time. I'm on my way to the office myself. What are your goings-on today?"

After Adam explained his reason for an early rise, Edward playfully twirled his mustache between his fingers. "I understand quite well. When I was a tad younger, I was learning the art and brutality of the pugilist, and I was quite afraid of disappointing my teacher. She was a rose with MANY thorns!"

Reaching into his left breast pocket, Edward pulled out an old – but well taken care of – watch. Opening it up, he saw the time and looked to be slightly off-put. "Oh dear, I seem to have gone on a bit of a diatribe and lost time. I hope we can chat again soon." With that, Edward began to sprint faster than what his portly exterior would imply his top speed to be.

After that, Adam returned to his morning run with Centorea, finishing with a total of nine laps. Yukino waved goodbye as she met them at the door; her job calling once again. With some effort, Adam limped his way upstairs to prepare an after-run bath. Snoring could be heard coming from Miia's room, which meant it was just him and Centorea in the bath this early.

Entering the bathroom, this thought worked its way around his brain box for a minute as he turned the taps in the bath to the perfect temperature. For some reason, his heart rate had increased at the thought of being alone in the bath with his stalwart knight. He had done this plenty of times before, not to mention with Miia and Suu too. What was so different now? Adam ran through some background info on everything they had been through in his head. From their meeting to now, nothing much changed. Though when he went to think about himself only, puzzle pieces started to fall in place.

He was happy. Monty Python's Flying Circus and that letter had brought back memories from his time of being an American High School student, and all the good times he had with his small but unique group of friends. Though now that he thought about it, only Brian and Rachel had stuck around in the long term. Everyone else either got dragged away by moving families or had to transfer because of bully issues (that he later resolved...brutally). Besides his dad and half-sister, those two had been a huge part of his world. Perhaps the elation of recovering a bond so precious had opened his heart and mind to emotions he had kept at bay for a while? An interesting theory.

After cleaning off, Adam once again sat in his huge (relatively) new tub, conversing with his beautiful centaur knight. A new kind of heat worked its way into his cheeks as his eyes subtly wandered over the young woman in front of him. Tall, long blond hair, strong toned muscles, gravity-defying breasts, eyes like pools of sapphires, and the fact that her lower half was horse-shaped didn't bother him at all. Without warning, new thoughts assaulted his active mind, making him question everything as they zoomed by. His body got up and moved forward without notice, and only moments later, the thoughts stopped as Adam found his head buried in Centorea's massive mammaries, his arms encircling her upper torso. This caused her to freeze where she was, staring down at her Master in confusion and embarrassment.

A tense atmosphere arose, from where, neither could say, but one word came to the forefront of Adam's mind as he embraced the young woman in front of him. Well, not so much a word as it was a primal instinct given definition by the virtue of being a sentient intelligence, but a word none the less.

'MINE.'

After the bath, Adam seemed to go right back to his given definition of normal. Miia had complained about missing having a bath with "her Darling", for which Centorea admonished her late rising nature.

Lunch quickly came around, but with a twist no one saw coming. Miia was the one in charge this time. This raised some eyebrows, and Gregory couldn't care less. Adam had a few guesses on how this could go wrong, but gave Miia the benefit of the doubt, as she acted like she had done this before, with the key word being "acted". Something seemed to be bugging her a tad, as she looked a little zoned-out while cooking. One such moment later, and she ended up having touched a hot cooking pot with no gloves, leaving noticeable first degree burns on both of her hands. Centorea tended to the first-aid, but after the wraps were applied, Miia retreated to her room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Adam and Centorea tried to knock and see if Miia was okay in any sense, but all she would respond with was "GO AWAY!" or something along those lines. After a few failed attempts to infiltrate the room, Adam decided to call Ms. Smith to see if she could come over and help. She could not. Though she did send over one of her teammates, an Oni named Tionishia. She was quite possibly the tallest person he had ever met.

A little over 7 feet tall, caramel skin complexion, hair a slightly darker blonde than Centorea, a large black horn protruding from her forehead, and boobs that would leave any person to gawk in amazement at how this woman was able to stand up straight. Seriously, her spine must be as strong as steel for all he could guess.

"So what's the situation? Ms. Smith didn't give me much to go on." After retelling the prior events that led to the present, Tio nodded and gently knocked on the door. "Hello, Miia? My name is Tio, and Ms. Smith sent me. Would you like to talk about what happened?" Only silence replied. "When I first started cooking, I accidentally burnt my first loaf of bread, so that made me a little sad. But that didn't stop me! Practice makes perfect, after all, and I'm sure this is only a small setback. You'll be cooking like a five star chef in no time!"

While the little speech was encouraging, it didn't quite have its intended effect. Instead, Tio only heard a muffled reply from behind the door, as if Miia was holding a pillow in front of her face. "Huh? I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?" Another groan, and then a small click was heard. Miia had unlocked the door. Tio signaled for everyone else to stay outside, as this could be a sensitive issue.

Adam tapped his left foot to a rhythm no one but himself could hear. Patience had always been his strongest quality, but something in him was disquiet. A nagging feeling of concern, maybe? To bother, or not to bother. That was his dilemma. Pondering on how he could help, Adam felt something squishy press against his back.

Seeing everyone else gathered around Miia's door, Suu had become curious and clung to Adam's back, wanting to know what was going on. At that moment, Adam began to concoct a plan so silly that it just might work.

With a little time and elbow grease, Adam had been able to teach Suu simple words and phrases to help communicate around the house, but it didn't take too long for her to absorb more than he thought, due to her topmost pseudopod constantly planting itself to the top of his head, which he surmised is how she primarily learned anything (besides imitation).

"Miia seems to be dealing with feelings of inadequacy. She doesn't want to see me right now, so could you go cheer her up on my behalf?"

A smile and nod was all he got before Suu proceeded to melt and slip under the door. Adam wasn't sure what went on exactly. All he heard were some surprised cries, a squeak here and there, the occasional weird moan, and then all went quiet. He decided to leave after it went quiet, thinking Suu had pacified the injured Lamia. A flustered Centorea following close behind.

"Looks like we're on our own for lunch. How about I make us some sandwiches?" Sure it wasn't very filling, but Centorea loved the fact that her Master never shied away from cooking and food prep, unlike most menfolk back home, and she ended up eating three as she didn't want to fill up too much before dinner came around.

Once digestion had taken place, Adam went to the continuous task of cleaning out his shed in the backyard again. He had already made great progress in using spare materials to build the outdoor gym. All that was left to do was organize his tools, sort out any junk, sweep the floor, and then it would be clean enough to where Tio and Centorea combined could stand in there, and there would still be room to spare!

Having a helping pair of hands definitely helped make it all the easier, especially when moving the MIG welder and table saw. Two hours and several minutes in change later, the Knight and her Master were sweaty, tired, but fulfilled in knowing their task was complete. Just as they both put up their respective brooms and sweeping bandannas, a surprise came in the form of Suu. She eyed them both up and down, a mischievous glint in her gaze. Just as Adam opened his mouth to ask what she was up to, Suu pounced! She expanded and coiled around them both, her form grasping with slimy tendrils at places normally they would never.

Adam looked toward the door of the shed, hoping he could find a way to sprint out, but Suu had shut it behind her. Centorea's moaning caught his attention. Looking at his lovely Knight, her shirt was nearly see-through due to Suu's ministrations over the poor girls breasts and stomach. His own situation wasn't much better as Suu reached all over his body for every bit of perspiration she could find, eventually finding his lower body to be a fair area to scour.

At once, both Adam and Centorea lurched when Suu reached for their most private of areas, neither of them unable to stifle gasps of ecstasy. They both tried to fight off this wondrous invasion of intimacy, but failed miserably.

This wasn't something Adam had experienced in some time. Sure, when he first discovered self-gratification, it had been nice, but in the greater pursuit of knowledge, a sexual rush of dopamine to the brain was not a regular pursuit he endeavored to achieve. What Suu was doing was entirely different, and it felt amazing. The way she spread her mass across his and Cerea's bodies, the grasp of her tendrils upon his rigid member, the constant stimulating motion of not just up and down, but multiple directions at once with added vacuum suction in the right places. The only word to describe what was happening to him was Euphoric.

Suddenly, Centorea and Adam were yanked toward each other, their bodies stuck together by Suu. Adam found his head planted once again in Centorea's chest, her breathing hitched at such close contact during a moment of weakness (in her eyes). From between her grand flesh mounds, Adam looked up, and something in his head clicked. Eyes fogged over, he looked Cerea in the eyes as his hands clambered to raise himself to her face.

Centorea had never known such physical pleasure in her entire life, and she was torn between shame, guilt, and pure happiness, knowing that her Noble Master was sharing in such an experience. Then her eyes met his as they lay on the floor, plastered together by their liquid-hungry housemate. Slowly but surely, Adam's face came closer and closer to hers, and she couldn't help but panic on the inside. What was he doing? What were his intentions getting this close? It should have been obvious, but the panicking centaur was foggy-headed and not able to think straight. Just as the pleasure had reached its peak, IT happened.

A kiss. Their lips met just as Suu was close to finishing them both off, and combined with a synchronized climax, the two of them saw stars. Centorea screamed in orgasmic bliss into the kiss as Adam let out what sounded like a howl mixed with a wild hiss. Suu lingered on them both, gathering every single liquid substance she could find on their bodies before reforming into a human-like form and walking off with a smile.

In the afterglow, Adam and Centorea continued to lock lips, their inhibitions lost to lust, until they needed to breathe. There they laid in each others arms, basking in each others warmth, not wanting to let go. Centorea had only one thought after she came to her senses. Miia must never know.

Adam, on the other hand, was finally starting to understand (if only slightly) his recent changes in behavior. He had only read about stuff like this in books and online (including manga), but experiencing it in real life was so much more amazing. In the end, he couldn't help but vocalize all his thoughts into one sentence.

"Is this what Love feels like?"