After breakfast, Julius stepped away briefly to get changed out of his workout outfit he'd had on since the beginning of the meal, leaving Black Rock Shooter and Lilith to enjoy their caffeine experimentation.
Black Rock Shooter took to the beverage quite well, electing to add at least some sugar to the bitter drink, then after a few taste tests, added milk to round it off, much to the amusement of Lilith across from her.
"My my, that's quite the taste test." Lilith teased, earning a smile in return. "But, judging by the way you're already jittering, might I reccomend only one coffee per day, just to be safe?"
[I don't have any coffee at home anyway, so that's not a bad idea.] Black Rock Shooter nodded, her pupils slightly wider than usual for the lighting level around them.
"If you do get any, I would reccomend decaf." Lilith laughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, like she always did when she would laugh. The musical, elven giggle so light and measured.
They let the joke hang in the air for a moment, with Lilith glancing in the direction that Julius had went, then her eyes narrowed as a small smile crept onto her face, along with a slight raising of her chin.
"If I know my husband as well as I think I do... he's going to come back here with a gift for you. A personal gift, I should add."
[I thought he already gave me my phone as a gift?] Black Rock Shooter had heard the thoughtful tone in her voice and raised an eyebrow at the change of topic.
"That's for the contract itself, so we can communicate with you when you're away at work or at home. No... This is different..." Lilith shook her head slightly, then let out a small exhale through her nose as she considered her next words. "Well, now I'm the one at a loss for words to use... Hmm..."
[Take your time.] Black Rock Shooter signed without even thinking about it.
"Well, I should probably explain the contract we have... has been something Julius and I have been doing for almost ten years now. We've had a total of nine contractees, and each of them gave reason or necessity to modify the contract itself, our approaches and our rules to the whole thing. But, a mutual agreement prevents us from going into full detail about the previous partners, as it would breach their personal privacy. Any information we give you about them will, of course, be censored, or we'll have to refuse the questions. I'm sure you can understand the reasoning."
[I get it, yeah.]
"So, even back with the first signing, Julius would give the respective girls a particular gift during this exact morning you're currently in. My first gift, along the same lines, is less... simple. It's always customized to the individual girl, and yours will be the same. But..." Lilith smiled slightly. "Julius is quite predictable once you figure him out. And I know exactly what the gift is."
[I get the feeling you're not going to tell me what it is.] Black Rock Shooter smirked slightly, almost knowingly, as she signed her response.
At that moment, Julius' footsteps returned, and within moments he entered the dining hall and sat back down, now wearing his usual crisp black suit... and holding a medium sized felt-lined box in one hand.
"I have a gift for you, my dear." Julius smiled at her, gently placing the box in front of her. "But, there's a catch. You can't open it at the moment. Think of it as... a little game."
[I'm listening.] Black Rock Shooter hadn't reached for the box, but was quite clearly interested in what Julius was planning.
"For now, I'd like for you to take it home and put it somewhere you'll remember it. After work, for you and for me, I'll video call your cellphone and we can continue with this game, alright?"
[You're trying to make me think about it all day, aren't you?] Black Rock Shooter felt an oddly excited shiver sneak up her spine at the idea. Clearly this was what Lilith had just been talking about, but somehow the lingering unknown nature of the box's contents was what was making the idea so interesting for her.
"No, that's completely unintended. One of the previous contractee's misplaced it, and didn't find it for two days. Sort of ruined the game, to be honest." Julius explained. "Now, the previous one to her actually tried to open it prematurely, and I have since taken to locking the box with my magic. Can I trust you this time around not to peek inside?"
[Yes. I promise to leave it closed until you call me.] Black Rock Shooter nodded in agreement, and Julius smiled slightly before placing one finger on the top of the box and it faintly clicked, clearly having used magic to remove the locking mechanism or whatever spell he had used in the first place.
"Now then, would you like a drive back home? If we leave shortly you'll have plenty of time to get ready for work." Julius checked his watch and glanced at Lilith, who was smirking knowingly at the box. She had been right, and Black Rock Shooter could tell she was enjoying her moment of smugness.
[Yes, please.] Black Rock Shooter nodded, then added. [Thank you.]
"It'd be my pleasure. Whenever you're ready, we'll depart." Julius patted the top of the gift box. "Don't forget this." He added with a smile.
After the drive back to her apartment, Julius walked her all the way to her door, and she surprised him by stretching herself up onto her toes to give him a quick kiss before almost scurrying into the door, leaving him smiling at the gesture before he left for work.
Inside, Black Rock Shooter let out a long, slow exhale through her nose, the heated air shimmering as it went. Once she was calmed down from her impulsive decision to kiss Julius like that, she retrieved the gift box from her hoodie pocket and glanced around her apartment for a spot to put it that she wouldn't forget about it. After several long minutes of indecision, she gave up and just tossed it onto her bed, where it lightly landed, in plain view, without an issue. She knew it would be opened later tonight, and felt absolutely zero temptation to open it. So she decided that a shower was the best way to spend her remaining hour and a half before she had to go to work for the day.
Minutes later, with the water cascading down her back and into the inner parts of her wings, and she let out a sigh, causing the hot air to billow the steam in front of her.
So far, just a day into the contract, she was already starting to favour Julius more than Lilith. It wasn't her intention for that to happen, but for some reason, Julius just made her feel more comfortable, and talking with him was just... natural. But Lilith was just so... loving, and gentle with her. She liked that, it made her feel wanted too, but how would she be able to share the two of them like this? She wasn't sure at the moment how things would play out either, and that was something to be nervous about, but at the same time, that unknown factor was also exciting for her too. Maybe this was what a strong relationship felt like?
It was by this point that she realized that the water had gone cold. Coming back to her senses, she hurriedly shut the water off and got out, wrapping herself in a towl and noticed that she'd been in the shower for almost a full hour, and she still had to get ready for work.
Letting out another sign, she set to getting prepared for the day, drying herself off by repeatedly taking in lungfuls of air and internally forcing them into her fire valve, the source of her fire breath and the reason her internal body temperature was around eighty degrees Celcius. That process caused her body to quickly begin heating up, thus drying herself off in record time, but came at the cost of requiring her to vent the air she had taken in at some point soon.
Thankfully, being able to fly on her own, she would typically let it all out in one big blast on her way to work, high in the city's airspace where air travel was sparse in general due to the buildings and lack of decent landing zones.
So, with a slight shimmer of steam still lingering off her body, she could feel that familiar pressure in her chest, she finished getting her uniform on, and with the new addition of her cell phone in her pocket, fully charged and ready for the day ahead.
Instead of heading downstairs, she went to the roof and unfurled her wings, still steaming in the mid-morning sun before she launched into the air, headed high into the air, letting loose her contained blast of bright cyan-blue flames, depressurizing her fire valve in quick order.
In her usual time she was landing in the empty parking lot, quickly furling her wings and adjusting her uniform over her back before she went inside to begin her shift.
The first thing she was greeted with upon entering was the plentiful green busom of Glasha, her Orc employee. The big girl herself was just about to flip the closed sign over to open when Black Rock Shooter opened the door and almost received a faceful of her prominent breasts on the way inside.
"Oh my gosh, Black! You startled me!" The big girl immediately took a step back, one hand covering her mouth in surprise, but she recovered quickly and flipped the sign around while she watched Black Rock Shooter sign her reply.
[Sorry, I just got here.]
"How was your night?" Glasha asked cheerily, practically prancing back to the front counter where Gunnar, a Lizardkin boy, was reading a book beside the cash register.
[I have something to share on that particular subject.] Black Rock Shooter signed as she moved out of the waiting room and into the back area behind the counter with Gunnar.
"Oh, this oughta be good..." Gunnar chuckled, bringing his full attention to his fellow reptilian. "Why do I get the feeling you got laid?"
[Not quite.] Black Rock Shooter shook her head as she clocked in at the wall beside him before continuing her signing. [I am in a relationship with Julius and Lilith Blackthorne... It's a bit new to me and all, but they call it a polyamorous relationship. I am their mutual girlfriend.]
"Don't let Doc Saki hear about that, you know her and gossip..." Gunnar shakes his head slightly, turning a page. "Do they care about your better half?"
[No, they actually seem to enjoy that I'm draconic. Lilith is half-Drow.] Black Rock Shooter replied. [So what do we have on the records to work with today?]
Now in work mode, the topic of gossip ended, there were animals and tasks to attend to, and that ended the conversation for most of the day. It wasn't until about mid-afternoon that during a calm moment between customers that Black Rock Shooter's phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her just as Doctor Saki Crest, their kooky on-staff vet - and their boss - was passing behind her in her usual floaty way, being a Wood Elf that was as thin as a rake.
"Ooooh, new phone, eh?" She spun back not unlike a leaf getting caught by a crosswind and gracefully leaned over Black Rock Shooter's shoulder, her long fingers resting on her upper arms to see the device in her hand. "And who's this Julius you're messaging?"
Black Rock Shooter held the phone against her chest, giving Doctor Saki a pouting expression before lowering the phone to sign to her. [One of my... partners.]
"Partners? What, like a partner partner?" Doctor Saki arched an eyebrow, the gesture going along with her long, knife-like ears to twitch upwards at the same time - much longer than Lilith's ears, but they moved in the same manner - to denote her curiosity.
[That's all you're gonna get, I'm in a relationship now. That's it.] Black Rock Shooter slid the phone back into her pocket, waiting for her gossip-prone boss to walk away. Which she did, after a small chuckle and a pat on the dragon girl's shoulder. With that, she withdrew the phone again and tapped at the device to bring up the message from Julius.
Just wanted to check in, how are you?
She started tapping out her reply, a small smile tugging at her lips. Just on my break at the moment, an average day so far. How are you?
I'm taking a late lunch break, had two meetings today, and a third afterwards. Has Lilith messaged you yet?
Not yet. Should I be expecting her to?
I would say yes, but that's depending on her schedule at the moment. If she's not sent one yet, she might be busy.
I'll keep an eye on my phone for her message.
Okay, thank you. I'll send you another message later after my meeting, talk to you then, my dear.
Black Rock Shooter's cheeks blazed with embarrassment with the sight of the 'my dear' he called her. It was so endearing, but felt so natural, it felt good to see it in text.
In that moment, Lilith sent a message, once again startling her, still unaccustomed to the device's vibration, which had remained idle during her responses to Julius since the message app was already open. But, the new message, being from outside that chat, revived the vibration right in her hand.
Swapping over to her, the message read. Hey honey, you busy right now?
Nope, on break. How are you?
Working on your gift that I mentioned, I should be done tomorrow morning. How is work going?
So far, an average day. My boss spotted Julius' message earlier and started getting gossipy.
Oh, I don't think we ever looked into your boss. Nosy type?
Likes to know things around the shelter. Wood Elf, she's the vet on-staff, little ditzy, but she practices both magic and medicine, so she has her head on somewhat straight.
Sounds like most Wood Elves I've met, in all honesty. Mind if I take you on a date after work? I know Julius wants to play his little game with you at some point tonight, but I can let him know we're out for a bit.
Sure thing, where do I meet you?
I'll come pick you up, I already know where the shelter is, your shift ends at six, right?
Yeah, I should be out within a few minutes after that.
Excellent, see you then sweetie. Have a good afternoon at work.
See you then, Lilith.