Here is the next chapter! This one is... mostly comedy honestly. I still hope you will enjoy it though!
Small warning, it does contain a lewd(?) scene. Personally, I don't REALLY think this warning is needed, since it's not really explicit or anything, but I still felt like giving a warning.
Lastly, on a note so great note, I am not doing to well with writing progress right now. I just finished Chapter 9, so I still have four chapters in the backlog but... I feel like a two weeks upload schedule might burn through those rather quickly, so I will instead tune it down to only one Chapter per month. I am very sorry about this, but it means it will be easier for me to write and keep active, so I hope you can accept this decision.
Regarding uploads, from now on, to make it easier to keep track of, I will try and always upload on the 1st of each month.
Having guided Bell to his room, Riveria made her way towards Loki's bedchamber.
After arriving in front of Loki's room, she took one last long breath. Letting out a sigh, she knocked on the door…
There was no answer.
"Is she still in the living room?", Riveria wondered, however her instincts told her otherwise. Or… rather than instincts it was more like experience…
Trying her luck, the elf turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Inside, she found a passed out Loki, sleeping hunched over on a wooden chair, several empty bottles of wine beside her.
"I should have known…", Riveria mumbled as she walked towards her sleeping goddess, shaking her shoulder to get her to wake up.
Eventually, Loki slowly opened her eyes, still seemingly drunk and pretty much ready to fall back asleep any moment now…
"Hm…? Is that you Riveria…?", she mumbled.
"Yes it's me. I will let you sleep again soon don't worry. I just wanted to inform you that Bell Cranel is staying in one of our guest rooms for the night and maybe a while longer after that.", Riveria answered, quickly letting go off her goddess afterwards.
"Hm..? Ok…", Loki mumbled, barely responding to Riveria's words.
Riveria didn't mind that at all though, in fact, she had hoped for exactly that!
Quickly she made her way out of the room, for once glad that Loki was such a drunkard as it meant she wouldn't complain about Bell staying here!
Of course it's not like Riveria would have kicked him out even if Loki refused to have him here, but… still it was easier if she agreed to it! Not that she would even remember agreeing to it tomorrow…
Riveria put her hand onto the doorknob once again, preparing to leave her goddess alone for the night…
"Hold it! What did you just say?!", Loki yelled, Riveria's words finally having sunken in!
"Tsk! Of all the years we know each other you had to listen now of all times?!", Riveria cursed her goddess under her breath as she let go off the door and turned around with a sigh.
"What is it Loki?", Riveria asked the redhead who, unlike earlier, seemed to be wide awake at this point!
"What did you say just now? Bell Cranel is staying over in a guest room?!", Loki asks, trying to confirm Riveria's words from earlier, hoping she had misunderstood…
After Riveria confirmed her words with a nod though, that hope was immediately crushed!
"Why?!", Loki fired her next question at her vice-captain.
"Well… he seemed rather down after goddess Hestia went back to heaven and he was being bothered by all kinds of gods and goddesses. He didn't have anywhere to go, so I wanted to help him out…", Riveria hesitantly said, for now omitting how she had specifically searched for Bell, rather than just met him by chance…
Loki sensed the truth of Riveria's words and… well given how she knew Riveria liked him a lot it wasn't hard to believe her anyway.
"Well, I guess he can stay over for a few days.", Loki eventually agreed with a shrug.
However… the goddess felt that Riveria was still hiding something! In fact, Loki could clearly sense it!
Jokingly the goddess said: "Well, it's not like you planned to invite him into your bed right?"
"N-No! Of course not!", Riveria said while blushing! Though… actually she HAD thought about it earlier!
And Loki clearly sensed that lie! Immediately her eyes widened in shock. She hadn't expected such a thing of Riveria of all people! "What?! You planned to eat him up the first time he is staying over already?! What are you?! An amazon?!", the goddess cried out!
"S-Shut up! I didn't plan to sleep with him you pervert! I just- I- I thought that… maybe it would be… nice to… to share a bed with him…", Riveria yelled, though her voice gradually got smaller as she confessed that she had thought about sharing a bed with him after all, blushing more and more as she spoke…
This time, Loki could sense she was telling the full truth, so she relaxed a little once more.
There was a moment of silence between the flustered elf and her goddess now…
After a while, Riveria finally broke the awkward silence, asking Loki for a favour: "So Loki… you said you wouldn't mind it if Bell joined our familia… Would you ask him to join?"
Loki seemed to think for a while before she broke into a smile. That smile inevitably caused Riveria to show the hint of a smile on her face as well.
Before long, Loki gave her answer: "No!", the same big smile still all over her face!
"Great so you- Huh?!", Riveria said as her hopes were crushed after she expected Loki to agree!
"But you said-!", Riveria began, however she was interrupted by her goddess who told her: "Look, I said I wouldn't mind your little romance if he were to join our familia and I still think so. I don't mind at all if he joins!"
"Then why-?", Riveria began to speak once more, but was once again interrupted by Loki: "But! I am not going to invite your little boyfriend in! If you want him to join then ask him yourself!"
Riveria was stunned for a moment. Loki didn't have a problem with Bell joining after all, she just didn't want Riveria to chicken out of asking him!
"H-He is NOT my boyfriend Loki!", Riveria insisted, though she couldn't help but think: "Not that I would mind if he was…"
"W-Well anyway, then I will ask him myself! Eventually…", Riveria said before turning towards the door again.
"Good night Loki", she said as she turned the doorknob and left, hearing Loki's voice from behind her saying: "Good night Riveria! Have sweet dreams of your lover boy~", in a teasing voice…
Once Riveria was gone though, Loki let out a sigh. This was getting troublesome.
To be honest, when she had told Riveria about how she wouldn't mind her love for Bell as long as he joined their familia, she had hoped that he wouldn't actually join them! At least not so soon…
She hadn't wanted to hurt Riveria, which was the reason why she had agreed to allow him to join in the first place, but… there was still a certain goddess of beauty that surely wouldn't be amused if she found out that Loki had allowed Bell to join or… well rather tried to have him join since she wouldn't know if he wanted to join or not just yet…
Either way though, it would be troublesome for her familia if he joined… Yet he was definitely more than qualified to join with his achievements so far and considering that he is like… the first guy EVER Riveria showed any interest in, Loki could hardly bring herself to deny her wish…
She was starting to feel a headache thinking about all of this!
"Damn it… Where are my other bottles?! I need some more alcohol…", she mumbled, preparing to cope with her stress and worries in… her own way…
Riveria on the other hand had arrived at her room by now. Unaware of what her goddess was dealing with, she prepared herself for bed and soon fell asleep…
*The next morning*
Riveria got up bright and early that day, wanting to see Bell first thing in the morning! Well, that and because she wanted to make sure no commotion would ensue because of an unexpected visitor. Mostly because she just wanted to see him though…
However, when she went to the room she had guided him to last night, she found the door open already!
She walked inside, only to find Bell surrounded by girls!
Bell was sitting in the bed, Aiz right beside him while Tiona was on his other side, hugging his arm with a grin! Meanwhile, a furious Lefiya was yelling at Bell while a bewildered Alicia stood beside her. Truth be told, seeing him surrounded by so many girls made her feel just a little jealous…
"What is going on here?", Riveria asked, trying not to let them notice her jealousy…
"We are just here to greet Argonaut!", Tiona told the high elf with a smile as she kept hugging him.
Bell for his part was kind of lost right now. He was feeling flustered because Tiona was so overly touchy with him, while at the same time he felt scared due to Lefiya and now he even felt guilty since he thought Riveria would be mad about seeing him like this, even if it wasn't his fault!
Riveria, unaware of Bell's feelings on the current situation, asked Tiona: "How did you even known that he is here?"
"Hm? You brought him here yesterday didn't you? We heard it from Lefiya!", Tiona told her with a grin.
Hearing her response, Riveria now turned to the furious elf with a questioning look. Snapping out of her anger for a moment, growing a little scared that Riveria would be mad at her, she told her: "I heard it from Alicia!", while pointing at the elf beside her!
Riveria than focused her attention to Alicia. "H-Huh? Uh yes, I told her. I heard from our new elven recruits who were guarding the entrance last night that you had brought Bell Cranel home with you Lady Riveria", the elf said, hoping that Riveria wasn't mad…
Eventually, Riveria let out a sigh, mumbling: "You girls and your gossip…"
Almost as if only remembering now, Tiona then asked: "Why did you bring him here anyway?", while looking at her vice-captain.
"I- uhm… I-… I met him and he seemed rather down. Since he is friends with you all I thought it would be good to help him", Riveria said, providing her with a reasonable explanation, though it seemed a bit strange that she had so much trouble forming a sentence at first…
As to why she had so much trouble… well she still feared that Bell might take her words at face value and think that she had only helped him because of others…
Either way though, the room went quiet after she said that as all of them remembered what Bell must be going through right now, considering what happened to his goddess…
Unlike the others though, Tiona seemed unable to read the mood! "Oh yeah, that thing with your goddess huh? Say, now that you are without a familia, why don't you join us?", she asked with an innocent smile…
The other girls in the room were clearly shocked by her words, Riveria among them!
"Tiona! Don't be so insensitive! He is going through a lot right now! Surely joining another familia isn't the first thing on his mind right now!", she told her with a strong voice.
"Eh? Was I being rude? Sorry!", Tiona said with an apologetic smile.
Of course to her, who had switched familias more than just once, a change wasn't such a big deal. No rather, to her it felt only natural for him to look for a new place to stay, after all, that way he wouldn't have to be alone!
Riveria felt like there was another headache incoming already thanks to the amazon…
Either way though, while Tiona had definitely been rude, the elf saw it as a chance at least!
Almost off-handily Riveria added: "…But… if he ever feels like he is ready to join a familia again, then he is surely welcome here. In fact, Loki pretty much approved of it already in case he wants to, after all we would be delighted to have such a promising adventurer join us!"
She finished her words with a smile towards Bell.
To Bell, hearing her say that was a great thing! After all, it was a chance to get closer to Riveria!
The two elves in the room on the other hand were absolutely shocked! Lefiya because the guy she had a self-declared rivalry with might be joining them soon and Alicia because of Riveria's words and behavior! Not only had Riveria acted as if she was trying to convince Bell to join, she had even acknowledged his potential! It felt unacceptable to her that she would recognize a human of all people!
Noting how shocked Lefiya and Alicia seemed, Riveria decided to move the conversation away from the matter. Quickly she clapped her hands and said: "Now then. As the vice-captain and all I suppose I should tell you a little about some of the rules you should follow while you are staying here, just in case you plan to stay a little longer."
Honestly… it might have been Loki's mischief rubbing of on her, but she really felt inclined to wink at him right now…
Of course she resisted that urge! It would only make matters worse…
Instead, she continued talking. She informed Bell about the schedule for breakfast, lunch and dinner and other important information like that.
She also told him about the scheduled bath times for men and women of the familia, adding: "I am sure everyone here would like to prevent any incidents from occurring because you are lacking such crucial information."
Hearing those words prompted Bell's face to turn red, alongside of Aiz and Alicia while Lefiya felt her anger building up once more!
Tiona on the other hand spoke up with a silly grin: "Don't worry, I don't mind if you join me for a swim!"
Ignoring them all, Riveria said: "If you would rather not bath with the men of our familia then just make sure to bath outside the regular bathing schedule and it should be fine."
Lastly, she finally informed Bell about the location of Loki's, Finn's, Gareth's and her own bedroom, telling him: "In case you want to talk to any of us, feel free to visit at any time!"
Once again that statement caused Alicia to feel like passing out as she thought about Bell visiting Riveria's room in the middle of the night!
Unaware of the elf's thoughts, Riveria finally bid Bell and his visitors farewell, seeing that they wouldn't leave him alone any time soon…
From that meeting, several hours passed.
During that time, Tiona, Aiz and Lefiya gave Bell a tour through the mansion and they introduced him to some people since, while everyone knew Bell's name at this point, he wasn't acquaintance with many members of their familia yet.
Bell also met up with Finn and Gareth to thank them for giving him a place to stay and greet them.
Before that, Riveria had held a short meeting with these two as well as Loki to explain why Bell was here (obviously telling them the same lie she had told the guards), which prompted Loki to mentally note that Riveria seemed to get better at lying by the day, truly a worthy follower of hers…
In the afternoon, Bell had had a private chat with Loki as she wanted to finally talk to him in person, a situation which had made Riveria quite nervous as she hoped Loki wouldn't say or do anything dumb!
During said chat, Loki mostly just probed Bell to see if he had any ill intentions, though she had to admit, she would have loved to ask him what he thought of Riveria just to know if her elf mama was going to finally get a lover for real…
In the end, she had held back though!
Finally, after all of that happening, it was time for dinner!
Unlike most members of Loki familia though, Bell wasn't present in the dining hall!
Instead, he used the opportunity to take a bath.
While he was allowed to stay here, Bell didn't really feel like the lower members of the familia, the males especially, had accepted him just yet! Most people seemed to feel sympathy towards him, knowing he must have it rough right now, but even so, some men just weren't as understanding! He felt their icy glares throughout the entire day since he was always accompanied by at least one beauty of the familia… Thus, Bell had decided to heed Riveria's advice and take a bath outside the regular bathing schedules. Of course there was no point in a bathing schedule if no one followed it, so exceptions from the schedule were few, thus Bell wouldn't have to be scared of walking in on someone in the bath!
Even so, he made sure to stay cautions! He didn't want to get into some awkward situation that would make Riveria (or anyone else really) think badly of him! Again…
And so, before he entered the bath, he made sure to listen for the sound of splashing water or any other presence in the room, even shouting into the room to announce his entry!
No response…
It appeared everything was save!
And so, Bell walked into the bath… only to find it empty (what a surprise!)
Glad to see he had not caused another scene, Bell entered the warm water and began to let the tension flow out of his body…
Speaking off the people that were excused from the bathing schedule. There were a total of two of them. Well, three if you added Loki…
The first one was Tiona. Since she loved swimming so much, she would often bath several times a day which obviously clashed with the schedule. Since she was one of the familia's executives though (and since she wouldn't be bothered by others seeing her naked), Tiona had been allowed to use the bath whenever she wanted as well.
Part of the reason why she had been allowed to do so was the other person that could use the baths whenever she wanted, though that person had been excused for an entirely different reason!
The second person in question was Riveria. Since the elves of the familia were far too busy looking out for her, neither herself nor the other elves were able to relax in the baths, thus she had decided (together with Finn, Gareth and Loki of course) that she would bath separately from the other women. Part of the reason for why Tiona was allowed to bath outside the schedule was because one of the executives already had that privilege and she complained that it was unfair…
Either way, basically that meant that, since Bell too was bathing outside of the regular schedule, he wouldn't be able to run into anyone but those two…
Riveria let out a sigh as she walked into the changing room. Since there were quite a few things to take care of, she hadn't been able to relax at all today, so she was really looking forward to her bath!
She usually bathed during dinner time as she could always get something to eat later and the meal times were the only times that Tiona was sure NOT to use the bath. While she liked the amazon, she could definitely be quite annoying when the elf was trying to relax…
Of course unlike Bell, who had experience with walking in on people during bath time, Riveria was yet unexperienced when it came to this! Thus, unlike Bell, she did not go through such lengths to make sure no one was inside the bath right now…
And so, after getting naked in the changing room, she walked into the bath, blissfully unaware of the human currently occupying it…
As luck would have it, Bell was just about finished with his bath and so he soon got out of the water. Turning around to lift his leg and step out of the large bathtub (more like pool really…), he froze as he met eyes with a green-haired elf…
"Riveria?"
"Bell?"
The two of them were completely surprised by the others presence.
Even so, almost as if natural, each of their gazes soon moved on from the others eyes, downwards…
Before long, both of them started blushing and quickly the covered up with towels! Riveria with the one she had brought along for herself, Bell with one he had prepared for when he was done bathing.
"S-Sorry! I- I didn't expect you were bathing right now of all times!", Riveria apologized, keeping her eyes strictly down onto the floor!
Bell for his part had to deal with a completely different problem though! "I-It's fine! I- I guess I could have told someone about it! D-Don't worry about it! I- I don't mind really!", Bell said, though it was clear that he DID mind, at least… his body did, as it gave a clear indication that it liked what Bell had seen just seconds ago!
Doing his best to hide his 'natural and healthy response' to Riveria's body, Bell quickly got his feet out of the water, telling the flustered elf: "I- I will be going now!", before running off.
A fatal mistake! (Don't run on a wet floor kids!)
Just as he was about to pass by Riveria, his foot slipped on the wet tiles of the bathroom, causing him to fall forward, towards Riveria, while letting out a small shriek of surprise!
Riveria noticed the accident of course, however she was still stunned by her embarrassment and thus she was just a little slow to react! Nonetheless she began to move, thereby letting go of her towel to catch Bell with her hands…
In the end, that result in Bell as well as Riveria losing their towel and, since the floor was wet not just for Bell, but of course for Riveria as well, she ended up unable to catch him and was instead taken down along with him!
Unlike Bell though, Riveria still had a falna, so falling down didn't really hurt her. To begin with, right now she didn't feel any pain. No, right now she couldn't focus on anything… anything but Bell's nude body lying on top of her!
The two of them were face to face and none of them uttered a word as they laid there in silence…
But before long…
"I am sorr-", Bell began but was interrupted by a fist smashing into his face!
"YOU PERVERT!", Riveria exclaimed as she punched him, sending him flying through what felt like half of the room!
Landing near the baths entrance, Bell seemed to be stunned for a moment, but miraculously unharmed otherwise. Before long, he exclaimed: "I AM SORRYYYY!", before running out of the baths for real this time…
Riveria was left behind, her fist still raised with a confused look on her face, mumbling: "What just… happened?"
Only when she gradually began to recall what had caused her brain to overheat just moments ago did she finally realize what had happened and what she had done! Immediately her face flushed red again, but rather than pure shame, this time she felt guilt more than anything! She hadn't meant to punch Bell! It had simply been a reflex, a reflex honed through years of living under the same roof as Loki!
Thankfully, punching him just like she normally punched her perverted goddess, Riveria's punch shouldn't have been too hard since she would always hold back her strength against Loki, after all, if she were serious, she would probably blow off her head with a punch, even if her strength stat was on the low end…
Feeling the guilt overcome her, Riveria quickly went into the bath and submerged herself into the water, before she began screaming underneath the surface! Of course all that could be seen from the surface were bubbles emerging, but had anyone been able to hear it, they would have heard some unimaginable things: "I am sorry! I am sorry Bell! Please don't hate me! I- I don't mind if you touch me! I promise!"
The person she worried about had arrived in his guest room again at this point. He was clothed again, but of course his own guilt still weighed down on him. In fact, he was in a rather similar situation as Riveria!
Now of course he couldn't yell right now as others would hear him, so instead he was sitting on his bed with his head between his knees, muttering: "I am sorry, I am sorry! Please don't hate me! It was an accident I swear! Please, I am not a pervert!"
It seems that Bell and Riveria living under the same roof started out in a rather awkward way…