Uninhibited
Commandant Flynn Schifo of the Imperial Knights led a white equine beast through newly made dirt road that cut through a sparsely wooded enclave. The pale dirt bore telltale signs of heavily laden wagons, which had gouged and made tracks in the loose dirt.
Eventually the small green woods opened up into a wide clearing revealing two buildings in various degrees of completion. Flynn walked up to a hastily erected sign that read BRAVE VESPERIA in thick sloppy white paint.
Leaving his mount by the sign, Flynn carefully trod upon a stone walkway that wobbled under his steel boots. Reaching out a gauntleted hand, Flynn tugged on the new shinny brass doorknob. The young commandant's handsome brow furrowed.
'Locked?'
Flynn thumped on a rough wood with the back of his gauntlets in quick business-like taps. Nothing. He wasn't seeing things; the small sign on the doorknob did say "open". He knocked again.
…Still nothing.
Flynn peered through a windowpane into the building's interior. Most of the shades were drawn, leaving the first floor too dark to see anything. However, his blue eyes were drawn to a pair of muddy boots in the foyer, which were still slick with thick wet brown muck from ankle to sole. This could only mean that the boots couldn't have been there long.
Flynn recalled passing by a small marsh on his way here and his eyes narrowed with annoyed suspicion. His handsome boyish features hardened. Without of doubt someone was here, and he wasn't about to leave empty handed. The town of Aurion was counting on his success.
Without an ounce of hesitation and determination in his blue eyes, Flynn marched around the back of the building to find another way in; growing up in the slums with Yuri gave rise to habits he would never admit to.
Crabgrass and wildflowers crunched beneath his steel boots as Flynn rounded the incomplete complex. Further down Flynn encountered a maze of clotheslines, each laden with everything from bed sheets to socks. The rest of the yard was overgrown with a tangle of vines and shrubs, something that the commandant did not feel like grappling with.
Flynn "tsked" when he laid eyes on a pair of frayed boxers shorts. Yuri never did know how to maintain his clothes properly.
He entered the fresh scented labyrinth with caution. The high sun beat down against the white sheets and a soft breeze fluttered the fabric. Flynn had ducked in between drying trousers and shirts when he heard a faint humming. He followed the voice, hoping to find assistance, quickly. If he was gone too long, his absence would be discovered. It wasn't easy escaping from Sodia, and Flynn would not have his efforts going to waste.
Finally after a few wrong turns and dead ends, he spotted a silhouette behind a large white linen sheet.
"Excuse m-" the words died before they could exit the decorated knight's mouth.
As if by magic a tall sleek form unfolded before his eyes. At full height Flynn discovered the contours- generous contours of a woman's body. Even Flynn Schifo, the embodiment of knightly virtue felt his mouth go a little dry.
He couldn't tear his eyes away; least of all speak. Part of his mind questioned such a view. The lines of this mystery woman's body were awfully delineated despite being behind a long white bed sheet. This led to Flynn's second startling revelation.
She was naked!
Struck dumb, Flynn watched the lithe silhouette move fluidly behind the hanging white sheets. Up and down it moved in some kind of hypnotic ritual.
"Staring is rude you know," slender fingers wrapped around the hanging sheet and pulled it aside. "Most people offer a greeting when crashing into a person's backyard."
"uh," grunted hoarsely.
In full view, Judith, the Krytian bombshell of Brave Vesperia, grinned mysteriously. "Close enough," she shrugged and then bent down to pluck something else from a thigh high wicker basket.
The first intelligible thought that came to Flynn's mind was staunch relief. She wasn't naked. He wasn't sure we would have been able to handle it if she was completely sans clothing.
Her body was scarcely encompassed by what looked like a two-piece bathing suit of blue and gold, which hugged and restrained her generous dimensions.
Judith kept that mystifying smile on her face as she reached down again into the basket, and plucked a kind of leather holster reserved for a small knife.
"I see you're going to make me guess why you've come to visit us, hm?" she said in the mildly amused way that Flynn had come to know from their few encounters.
Judith didn't seem bothered in the least that the handsome young soldier appeared stiffly distressed. Instead she stepped closer to Flynn as if trying to get a better look as his expression.
"So let me guess. You've come to higher Brave Vesperia for a job, right?"
Flynn nodded taking a tiny step back for every forward step Judith took.
The long eared Krytian smiled while putting her hands behind her back and bending at the waist; Flynn's eyes grew a little bit rounder.
"Hm… lets see," Judith said placing a slender finger under her chin. "You couldn't get in through the front door so you wanted to break in through the back, correct?"
"N-no. I-"
Judith's ruby eyes narrowed with inward glee.
"That's alright," She looked up to the second floor window, and said casually. "Yuri's most likely napping. That's probably why he locked the front."
"Ahem," Flynn cleared his throat politely. "But if possible I would like to settle the arrangements as soon as possible," he said in a voice more collected than he felt.
"Of course," she said in that relaxed and gentle voice of hers. "One moment, please."
Taking the leather strap in her hands, Judith stepped through the loop and brought the material along her calf and thigh.
Convinced that she was taking her time on purpose, Flynn helplessly watched, as the leather was pulled taut against that supple thigh, and then fastened around her hips. A sheer amount of will allowed Flynn to drag his eyes away and look Judith in the eye when she was done.
"Let's go inside, shall we?"
Flynn's voice cracked when he replied, "Yes."
…
Once inside, Flynn distracted himself by looking around the guild's interior. There wasn't much in the way of decoration or furniture. It was very Spartan in fact. Then again according to Estelle, Brave Vesperia only moved into their new headquarters less than a month ago.
At the end of as second story hall, Judith beckoned him forward through a double doorway. Inside Flynn's eyes met a shadowy interior, which took his eyes moments to adjust to.
Judith had not moved from the door and Flynn was treated to a slumbering, Yuri Lowell. Even with the shades drawn to keep out the sun, Flynn could make out bare feet propped up on an antique desk while the dark haired swordsman precariously reclined in a leather chair that had seen better days.
"You'll have excuse me, I have laundry to finish. And as an apology for your inconvenience, I'll wake up our current bookkeeper," Judith said with pleasant smile that was almost too professional.
Before Flynn could even thank the Krytian she slammed the door with enough force to shake the building to its foundation.
Yuri nearly fell as he flailed about in the squeaky leather chair. He fortunately caught himself with both hands braced against a large wooden desktop. With his long black hair falling in his eyes, Yuri wildly looked about for the cause of such a rude awakening.
"Damnit, Judy," he growled casting bleary dark grey eyes across the room. But instead of the sleek and curvy Krytian there was another. Yuri blinked.
"Flynn, how the hell did you get in here?" Yuri asked throwing his arms over his head in a joint popping stretch.
"Y-Your friend," a fleeting image of smooth skin drifted across his mind like a stray feather in a strong breeze, "J-Judith let me in."
"Oh, did she?" Yuri grey eyes were now fully alert and equally full of cunning. Was that a hitch in Flynn's voice just now? Yes, yes it was. Yuri's lips quirked into a sly grin.
"Generous, isn't she?"
Flynn felt heat rush up his collar. Generous wasn't the half of it.
"What's got you so hot and bothered?" Yuri drawled. "I haven't seen you this red since I pushed you into the women's bath when we were kids."
Flynn's jaw tightened. He wasn't about to dignify that with an answer. Yuri chuckled.
"Come on, pull up chair. You look like you're about to fall over," Yuri said reclining in his leather hand-me-down seat. Flynn was such a cherry-boy, and as far as Yuri knew, still was.
"So what did our Judy do to you? She can be kind of a fox when she want to," Yuri grinned.
"Nothing of the sort," Flynn defended, and then added brokenly. "She's, she's just a very f-free spirited." ... Uninhibited more like…
"Ha, ha. That's a first!" Yuri barked with humor. "Nah, its more like Judy just doesn't give a damn."
"Well, I did catch her in the middle of doing the laundry," Flynn replied with a frown; he did not enjoying being laughed at.
"Laundry?" Yuri immediately sobered. "That's today?"
No sooner when the words had left his mouth, Yuri pushed back the window shade and peeked out the window.
Flynn, now completely annoyed, rewarded Yuri with a flat gaze. He hadn't even been able to tell Yuri why he wanted to hire out the small guild. Unlike some others he had a schedule to keep.
"Yuri?"
No response. Flynn's longtime friend was transfixed on whatever was going on outside the window.
"Yuri, I have business-"
Yuri held up a hand without looking, "One second, ok?"
"Yuri!" Flynn clipped in his best commander's voice.
Clearly annoyed, Yuri dragged his eyes away from the window, though he still held the shade open with his finger.
There was a long pregnant pause.
"Does she always walk around like that?" Flynn curiously hazarded.
Yuri shrugged, "Only when its her turn to do the laundry. She washes everything; even what she's wearing. But you get used to it."
"Somehow I doubt that." Flynn murmured, looking at the slight coloration on his friend's cheeks.
Yuri let the shade fall again and eyed his friend levelly. "So aside from peeking at Judy, what brings you to our humble abode?"
For the record, Flynn was not peeking. Everything he saw was in plain sight. "Peeking, what would you call the act you were just engaged in?"
"Details," Yuri shrugged dismissively.
"Anyway. Back to the task at hand… As the town Aurion's representative I wish to hire your guild to help transport a large amount supplies from Zaphias," Flynn said tightly.
Yuri looked at his friend lazily and leaned back in the old leather chair as if to resume his nap. "Transporting goods? Hm, that sounds like a job for the Capt'n. Unfortunately, he's on a mission to buy furniture with the newly dubbed, Interior Decorator Princess. Come back tomorrow."
At that moment something in the recesses of Flynn's mind cracked.
The End