Several episodes of a drama TV series later, Black Rock Shooter was beginning to nod off on the couch, and they called it quits for the night, helping her up to the bedroom they had prepared for her, and bade her goodnight. She was so tired that the best, most complex thing she managed to accomplish was to wrestle herself out of her hoodie, leaving her still in her pants and her camisole, and the last thing she could remember was unfurling her wings and collapsing face down into the large bed.
The sounds of birds accompanied the sounds of her breathing in the room, too distant for her to detect through the haze of sleep.
She had remained face down since she had become horizontal, her large leathery wings acting like her own blanket, and easily covered her entire body, spreading out across the entire surface of the bed, and even hung off the edge.
A gentle knock on the bedroom sounded, but didn't garner any response from her, so after a brief pause, there was a second knock, accompanied by the sound of Lilith's voice calling through the door. "Sweetie? Are you awake?"
Again, no response came, so Lilith slowly opened the door and peered through the gap to at least check on her, and actually paused for a moment to realize that the black leather-like expanse covering the disheveled black hair of her new girlfriend was not in fact a blanket, since she hadn't brought a backpack with her... Those were her wings.
Considering her options, and the possible consequences of said options, Lilith's ears perked up as she detected the sound of Black Rock Shooter's breathing shift, and looked up to see her slowly pushing her upper body up off the bed, looking the other way out of the large bedroom windows.
"Morning, my dear." Lilith took a step inside, closing the door behind herself as Black Rock Shooter peered through her hair at her, still in the midst of waking up. It took Lilith a mere glance at Black Rock Shooter's upper back to spot the shoulder straps of her camisole, and another glance at the floor to find her hoodie laying within evident dropping distance of the bed's edge. With that, she put two and two together and let her mute girlfriend take in her surroundings for several silent seconds, then she seemed to nod to herself in understanding and crawled out from beneath her massive wings and sat on the edge of the bed.
[Good morning, Lilith.]
"Did you sleep alright?"
[I don't remember... Sorry.]
"No need to apologize for that, it's quite alright. Shall we go get some breakfast? I'm sure Julius will be done with his morning workout by the time we get to the dining hall." Lilith knew that Black Rock Shooter was quite drawn to Julius, so the mention of a work out clearly sparked something in her, judging by her snap to attention and the shrinking of her pupils into razor thin slits, then widened almost to full expanse as her cheeks turned pink where she had no scales.
[I just... need a minute.] Black Rock Shooter nervously signed, trying to hide her reaction, despite knowing that Lilith had clearly seen it.
"I'll be just outside the door, unless you want any help."
[I just... need to calm down, I was just... overthinking your comment about Julius working out.]
"Sweetie, you're his girlfriend now, and... if I may... you're not the first contractee we've had that thought the same thing during this first night visit. You are more than welcome to go down to the gym and stare to your heart's content." Lilith rested her fingertips to her cheek, supporting her raised arm at the elbow with her other hand, cradling her forearm against her torso, under her respectably large bust. "I mean, I speak from plenty of experience when I say that man shirtless is a sight to behold indeed."
Black Rock Shooter's face went even more red, but at the same time, her gaze had briefly been drawn to Lilith's chest, subtly emphasized, although quite unintentionally, by her arm placement.
[Where... is the gym?]
Lilith couldn't help but smile. Being bisexual herself, she knew when a contractee was bi-curious, and she knew when one was strictly hetero, and especially when they were a lesbian. But she couldn't quite figure out Black Rock Shooter quite yet, although it was quite clear she was already drawn to Julius to a large degree.
"Right this way. I'll give you a moment to get dressed." Lilith nodded before stepping out of the bedroom and closed the door gently behind herself, musing that she'd just missed a chance to get just that little bit closer to her early in the game, so to say.
Within moments, Black Rock Shooter exited the room, now wearing her hoodie, and Lilith's keen eyes noted that the back of the hoodie visibly indicated that her wings could fold down quite extensively for their size. But, that also made her gaze travel down to the slightly baggy pants that she also wore, in the vain hope of finding evidence that she also had a tail, but found no indication of her sudden thought being proven.
Those pants will come off eventually... She thought to herself with sly amusement. Oh, and she had an idea on how to do it before Julius too.
As they approached the gym, Black Rock Shooter noticed Lilith's ears perking up as they walked, and a moment later, she detected the sound of movement from inside, and quickened her pace slightly, and entered the gym only to come to a full heel grinding halt as she was greeted with the sight of Julius - shirtless, and just glistening with a sheen of sweat - perfectly balanced in the air, completely horizontal, using his arms to support himself on some sort of gym equipment she didn't recognize.
And by all that is fire and brimstone, he was just... sculpted with muscles in all the right places.
A gentle Elven hand under her chin lifted her slack jaw back into place, bringing her back to reality as Julius noticed their arrival and slowly lowered himself into a standing position and resumed his footing, exhaling as he did so, his gaze focused entirely on Black Rock Shooter's face, the eye contact unwavering even as he retrieved a towel from where he hung it on another piece of equipment, all the while slowly approaching her, not saying a word, just letting her enjoy what she clearly came here for.
He stopped several paces away from her, and she gulped audibly, the first real sound they ever heard from her.
"Good morning."
Black Rock Shooter was slightly distracted, still staring at his chest before she remembered that he'd spoken, and quickly signed. [Good morning Julius.]
"I take it you slept well?" Julius knew he was taunting her, but didn't bother taking a step in either direction, still letting her soak in the sight of his sculpted form. He worked out for several reasons. This was, in fact, one of them.
She nodded slightly, biting the corner of her lip, revealing the sharpened fangs she possessed.
"Should I put my shirt back on?" Julius smirked as he slowly reached for a nearby shirt, but Black Rock Shooter vehemently shook her head, taking a nervous step forward, glancing between his abs and his face as she slowly extended her hand, silently asking if she could touch him in the process. So he smiled and draped both the shirt and towel out of the way and let her approach, immediately placing her palms flat against his chest, awestruck by the sight and feel.
Every small movement Julius' breathing made changed the very landscape she was admiring from up close, and after several long moments, she gulped again and nervously withdrew her hands, stepping away after having her fill of oogling over Julius' muscle.
Black Rock Shooter clenched her fingers into a fist, but kept the back of her knuckles and the heel of her hand gently against Julius' abs, inhaling through her nose for a moment before removing the hand and taking a step back, nervously glancing at his face, still unwavering in their eye contact.
[My turn.] She signed, which finally got a reaction to appear on Julius' face. It was one of curiosity mixed with concern, but he watched her slowly unzipped her hoodie and relieved herself of it's embrace, and with it, simultaneously unfurled her wings a bit, showing them off to Julius, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"Beautiful." Julius almost whispered, slowly tracing his gaze from wingtip to wingtip, but only had his eyes on her face itself when he uttered his compliment, earning an even brighter flush of red to cross her face when she realized he was talking directly to her, and not about her wings. She may be shy, but she knew a compliment when she heard one.
[Lilith saw them when I woke up. I thought... it would only be fair if you did too... I mean... since you...] Black Rock Shooter signed, but Julius slowly held up one hand with a smile.
"You didn't have to... However, I greatly appreciate the gesture. Now, let's head up to get some breakfast, I'll just be a moment to get cleaned up. I'll meet you there." Julius glanced at Lilith with a small nod, and the two women left the gym and wandered back to the dining hall. Along the way, Black Rock Shooter shrugged her hoodie back on to cover her wings and joined Lilith at the table, with Julius joining them not even two minutes later, just as a servant stood at his shoulder to greet them.
"Good morning, sir. Ladies. What shall be prepared for breakfast this morning?"
Black Rock Shooter hesitated, unsure of what she wanted this morning. Her usual breakfasts were cereal and toast, when she remembered to even prepare it in the first place.
Julius noticed her gaze lingering off to the side, and after a moment concluded she was still thinking of what she wanted. He didn't pressure her, and let her take her time in deciding.
Lilith noticed the silent exchange between them, and unlike Julius' choice of distancing himself in that moment, she was more than willing to dote on her. "Sweetie, what do you usually eat for breakfast?"
[Nothing big, just cereal and toast... If I don't forget to make it in the first place.] Black Rock Shooter replied.
"How about we start with some tea or coffee, then decide in a bit?" Lilith asked, but Black Rock Shooter tilted her head to the side, clearly unsure.
[I don't quite understand... I get that you're insisting I eat, but why start with tea or coffee?]
"It's not an uncommon choice to start the day with, even for us. Are you not a caffeine drinker?" Julius asked, just as another servant approached with a tray laden with a pair of steaming mugs, placing them before Lilith and Julius before turning to Black Rock Shooter with an expectant gaze.
"And for yourself, young lady? Would you care for some coffee or tea?"
[Coffee, please.] Black Rock Shooter signed without even stopping to consider if the servant understood sign language, but they simply nodded and gave an immediate reply.
"And how will it be prepared?"
[It's my first time drinking it, I'll leave it as is for this cup.] Black Rock Shooter replied.
"As you wish. I shall bring sugar and milk for your experimentation." The servant bowed and curtly spun on their heel to fulfill the request.
The exchange immediately drew Black Rock Shooter's gaze towards Julius, her expression a mixture of shock and amazement.
"For once, that was new to me as well. Lilith? Did you teach the homunculi sign language?" Julius turned to his wife, who nodded.
"Not all of them, but I managed to instill it into most of them last night, just for her."
[Thank you. Somehow I didn't even consider the chances of that person not knowing sign language.] Black Rock Shooter paused, blinking in confusion for a moment. [Wait... what are H.O.M.U.N.C.U.L.I?]
"Magically created creatures, artificially alive, and often controlled by their creators. It's quite common amongst higher class mages, and almost a necessity at our level. All of the household servants are homunculi..." Lilith signed the word properly for her. "That I created over a decade ago when Julius and I were still engaged. Although, a normal one is just a mere flesh golem and dumber than a sack of rocks... but Drow techniques give them quite a degree of usable intelligence, and it's thanks to my mother's teaching that we even have a household staff. Otherwise we'd have been forced to hire workers instead of creating them from nothing."
[But... don't you pay them or something?]
Lilith laughed, covering her hand with the back of her hand. "They're smart enough to understand our orders, and yours too, now that they can translate your sign language... but, they're not fully self aware to the point of questioning their existence, or think selfishly like asking for payment."
[So... you made them that way?]
"Yes, that's exactly it."
[I think I get it now. And I've finally decided on my breakfast.] Black Rock Shooter signed to her partners, then turned her attention over to one of the servants, which, now that she had a good look at their faces, revealed that they were all genderless humans and elves. So, raising her hand the same way that Julius did to get their attention, one of them immediately spotted the gesture and approached, looking at her expectantly.
[Can I have buttered toast and a bowl of cereal, please?]
"Certainly, young miss. Which cereal would you like? and, for your toast, on which bread?"
Oddly pleased that it had worked, she specified what she wanted, and the servant homunculus curtly bowed and left, just like the rest of them did, at the same time that the first one returned with her coffee request.
"Your coffee, young miss. Included is sugar and milk for your leisure. Enjoy."