A Priestess' Doubt
On an evening Pozëmka would later come to consider the start of a not truly unnecessary but most likely needlessly extensive series of excessive, albeith well-meaning efforts, the lupo could be found in the quiet tranquility of her quarter, her fingers moving switfly and yet delicately on the keys of her typewriter. A storm had driven her away from the deck of the landship, where she had spent most of the day working on her next novel. Confined to the privacy of her room, the size of which she had still to get truly accustomed to despite all the time spent there already, Pozëmka then decided to work on a few requests instead, advertisement commissions having the unique ability to keep her mind on her craft while putting the most stressful sides of it in a stasis of sort for a while.
At least until someone knocked at her door.
Her ears twitched. Her tail waved from right to left back to right again, and then her ears twitched again. She was almost sure she knew who that was from the knock alone, fact which gave rise to mixed feelings in her chest. Pushing her typewriter away a little, she got up and headed to the door. And, as it turned out, she had indeed guessed right.
"Hey, Pozy"
"You have no intention of stopping this butchering of my codename, do you?" she asked back, Blaze staring at her from at most three steps of distance.
"I'd drop it if you actually hated it"
"Hate is something I reserve for more worthwhile matters, yes"
"You don't even really mind it, do you?"
It bothered her that it was true.
"I am in the middle of writing a few pieces at the moment" she dodged the question "Whatever your business is, make it quick"
"Sure! Alright, I've got a plan for... "
Blaze found the door closing right in front of her before she could even finish her sentence.
"Hey, Pozy? Pozy? Oh, come on, I haven't even started yet!"
Pozëmka sighed. Blaze had... many good qualities, yes. Making plans, however, was most decidedly not among them, as those more often than not went so far off their mark she occasionally wondered if the feline wasn't actually doing it on purpose.
"At least listen to it before turning me down, would you?" Blaze pretty much shouted to be heard through the door.
The lupo didn't reply. Blaze could be pretty stubborn at times, but she would probably give up if Pozëmka simply ignored her for a while. So she sat down at her desk again and drifted back into the state of mind most appropriate to writing.
"You know what, fine. I think I'll grab a beer with Myrtle and have a little chat about what you were up to four night ag- "
The door opened again, the pale pink of Pozëmka's eyes nearly drilling holes into the feline for how intense her stare was.
"You wouldn't dare!" she half whispered, half shouted.
"Would I?" Blaze shot back with a grin.
Would Blaze truly discuss Pozëmka's private -intimate- encounters with Pallas -and Archetto, and Blaze herself for that matter- with others? No. No, she wouldn't. Pozëmka knew she wouldn't, Blaze knew Pozëmka knew she wouldn't, Pozëmka knew Blaze knew that she knew she wouldn't, and that was so intensely... something. The writer often made a conscious effort to not name that feeling, for fear of putting on it a label she might come to regret at a later time.
"Well then. You can come in"
"Nice! Oh, want some?" the feline asked as she strolled inside, turned around and showed Pozëmka a small box of cans "They arrived just today from Sargon. I haven't tried these yet myself"
... of all things. Of all things below the soil and above, you had berry tomato beer delivered here?
"... I shall have one" she conceded, making sure the door was closed before taking a can and a seat.
She was... not exactly a fan of Catch's blends. She wasn't sure there existed such a thing as a fan of Catch's blends, in truth. But, if nothing else, they tasted like home, if one of the less palatable parts of it.
Blaze, on her part, took a chair and sat down.
"So, you've heard about Arche, right?" the feline got started with the conversation.
"Naturally"
Apparently, some higher-up at Landen was reaching the end of his mandate or something like that and quite a few clerics got called back to attend to the ceremony and deal with some more burocratic matters, or something similar. A rather sudden news, Pozëmka hadn't heard all the details yet. Archetto was, in truth, quite happy to have a chance to return to Landen without feeling like she was skipping out on the duty which had brought her away from it in the first place, but she also refrained from making a show of it.
"You know the landship will pass nearby a small town tomorror, right? One of those mobile cities that only ever moves around when they have to. Arche will drop off there. I'm sure she'll take the chance to look for a business deal or two, and then she'll head back to Laterano from there"
"I am already aware of this, Blaze"
"Just making sure. Ok, here's the thing. I've been there once before, and the town hasn't moved at all since then, so I know of a certain place close to it. I need your help to... "
What came out of Blaze's mouth after that, well, it left Pozëmka quite stupefied. For many, many reasons.
"... listen here, Blaze" she eventually replied, pinching the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed, her head shaking a bit "I won't deny that the... spirit at the core of this idea of yours is quite commendable. But there are several other ways to get a similar result, each exceptionally less bothersome than this"
"Yeah, but think about it! This would be a one-of-a-kind thing!"
"That's true. And I don't... disdain the idea of preparing such an event for them, no. But you do realize that I have other commitments I have to attend to, right? Deadlines, Blaze. Deadlines"
"Put them on hold for a bit. How urgent can they be?"
"Listen now, you... "
"No, no, wait. I know I'm not that good with words, but I have something here that will convince you to help me out with this"
"Oh? And pray tell what this proverbial ace under your mug would be?"
With a worringly wide smirk, the feline pulled a photo out from her pocket and handed it to Pozëmka, face down. The lupo grabbed it, turned it around, and her heart stopped for a couple of seconds. After which its activity shot up immediatly, her tail going into a frenzy as brief as it was intense. Blaze swiftly took the photo back, both women dashing to their feet and nearly confronting each other.
"How- by what means did you come into possession of that?!"
"I have my ways, Pozy. So, will you help me out? This one's for your word. I have others ready for after everything's done"
You... shameless, manipulative brute...
"... fine. I shall assist you" she promised as the first photo was gracefully -... sort of- handed to her.
"Great! So, for starter we need to see if those two are actually free for the evening, three days from now"
"You mean to tell me you didn't even confirm that before coming here?"
"I'll go talk with Arche, you take Pallas. Then... "
The lupo sighed. Internally, and perhaps externally too. Those were going to be some long, long two days of preparations.
On the bright side, Blaze's clearly forced smile as she tasted the berry tomato beer put the writer in somewhat of a good mood.
Pozëmka made her way through the landship's long, cold hallways, their narrowness and lack of windows no longer feeling suffocating but still being, at best, quite unpleasant. She had spent the past forthy minutes or so preparing the letter currently in her hands, because if she really was going to give Pallas an invite then by her favorite quill she was going to hand her a proper one. With that said, the priestess turned out to not be in her room. There were quite a few other places she could be at, and in fact the lupo's first two attempts at locating her gave no results. She was neither at the bar nor at the pool. So she headed to the recreational room which Pallas had sort of turned into what most considered her atelier, a place where the minoan drew by pencil live portraits of, shall we say, a very specific kind.
Standing in front of the door, Pozëmka shook her head a couple of times to keep the memories of those two times she herself had posed for Pallas at bay. She quickly checked her own appearance again to make sure she was presentable, and only then did she knock. There was no immediate response, but Pozëmka simply waited and, not too long after, the door opened. Albeith not much.
"Ah, lady Avdotya" Pallas greeted her "To receive a visit from you is a pleasure I am honored to be blessed with"
"Good evening, Pallas. I infer that you are busy at the moment?" she asked, since the priestess had only opened the door enough to poke her head out. Sideways, due to her horns' shape.
"Do forgive my lack of manners, lady Avdotya. Your guess is correct, for I am currently transcribing one's figure from the present to the realm of scroll and graphite. Discretion was asked of me, thus I am not allowed to disclose who this person is. I trust that you will understand, then, why I refrain from inviting you inside. In fact, I fear I have to ask if it is an important matter that brings you here, lady Avdotya, for leaving a model to their own devices in the midst of the act is a most uncout behaviour"
Pozëmka couldn't help but notice that some of Pallas' hair were... sort of standing up a little bit, their ends apart as if charged to a small degree.
... hold on. She had walked past the hair saloon while searching for Pallas, now that she thought about it, and she was pretty sure she hadn't seen -no, no, she wasn't there for that, and she wouldn't pry.
Besides, the amount of people on Rhodes Island who had gotten themselves at least one portrait hand drawn by Pallas was, at that point, far higher than most would suspect. And that act in itself had no further implications of any kind. Archetto's case had been an exception.
In short, Pozëmka was just surprised someone like that hairdresser would be interested in posing in such fashion for a portrait.
"I have but a small question, Pallas. Do you have any commitments for the evening and night, three days from now?"
"I believe I have no plans for then, no"
"Then please, take this" she said as she gave the letter to the priestess "And, if all goes well, I will see you there and then"
Pallas took the letter, casting a quick but deep look at the refined envelope before moving her gaze back to Pozëmka, her curiosity clearly piqued.
"By all means. Now, if you would be so kind as to excuse me"
"But of course"
And with that Pallas closed the door, returning to her live portrait of someone Pozëmka really had an hard time actually picturing inside there. ... then again, that could be said for quite a few other people Pallas had drawn. Quite a lot of other people.
Her ears twitched as she brought her mind back to the tasks at hand. Pallas had been invited, now she had other things to take care of. So, for starter, she headed over to the logistic department.
Somewhere else, the following morning, Blaze was also making her way through the landship's hallways. Archetto had agreed to the evening too, though the feline had kept a few details to herself in truth. She didn't want to spoil the surprise too much. With that said, it turned out that the cleric had not a single evening dress in her possession. All her formal clothes were of the suit and tie variant, which worked just fine for business meetings but weren't exactly suited for what they were organizing. Blaze had sort of suspected this, yes, but she hadn't expected for Archetto to actually have one single dress in her drawer, and for said dress to be so old it didn't even fit her anymore: she had grown out of it. That one had been quite the funny discovery. Perhaps a little sad too, but Blaze made sure to not focus on that part. Anyway, that wasn't really a problem. Archetto was going to town before them anyway, she'd have plenty of time to find something to wear.
As for Blaze herself, she had drank a fair bit of coffee -a fair bit more than usual, some would say-, having spent most of the night awake. She trusted she could get some more sleep the following night though, so that was fine. Then she eventually reached her destination and knocked on the door. It was quite early, but she hoped that wouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't, as it turned out.
"Oh? The burst kitty!"
Blaze flinched. The person in front of her was the one she'd been looking for, yes, but there were a lot of things wrong with what had just entered her field of view.
"H-hey, Lappland" she said back, shaking herself out of her surprise "You're in a good mood, uh?"
"What makes you think that?" she chuckled back, a smile far too wide even for her standards plastered on her face, a surprisingly warm sarcasm in her question.
I mean...
Leaving aside the fact that Blaze had never been called "burst kitty" before -well, not by Lappland at the very least-, there was the fact that Lappland was half naked. And bloodied. And covered in bandages. And there was blood on the floor too. And on the bed as well, especially on the bed. Not so much one might think a person had been butchered inside there, but still more than enough to raise several questions.
"... had a fun night, hadn't you?"
"Oh, you have no idea, kitty! Not a soul on this lovely wretched land has!"
"... just to be sure" Blaze added, since she did sort of have a few responsibilities inside there "This isn't about another corpse, right? Aak's not involved?"
"Of course not! This and that are completely different!" she laughed back, apparently having the time of her life just by remembering whatever it was that went down the previous night.
Well, that was nice. A bit unsettling maybe, but still ultimately nothing to do with her. It's not like Lappland had ever caused any actual, serious problems after all. Much to the surprise of... well, of a whole lot of people honestly.
"Alright. Listen, I'm arranging a thing and I figured you'd be the most suited to help me out with an important aspect of it. Rumors told me so at least"
"My help?" Lappland shot back, her euphory giving just a tiny little bit of way to a mild surprise "With what?"
Before answering, Blaze took another look beyond the lupo. She could see a portable kitchen inside her room, a really well furnished one too that took up basically the entire quarter save for the bed, a wardrobe and a nightstand. Seems like Lappland had really sworn off the landship's cafeteria after that whole deal with the chocolate pasta. Or was it the pineapple on pizzas one? Either way.
"I need a crash course on making a siracusan dinner for two. For four"
Lappland's pupils turned into slits, her expression suddenly twisting into something that some would describe as reliable, most as unsettling. She placed both hands on Blaze's shoulders, and looked her straigth in the eyes.
"Why siracusan food?"
"Well, they say it's the most romantic cuisine around"
"When is this thing of yours happening?"
"In two days, but I still have other things to take care of so... "
"Alright. Everything else is secondary, forget about it. You're right, there's nobody else on this wretched den of culinary sins and gastronomic atrocities you could've turned to. Good call there, kitty, good call. Now" she continued, her fingers kind of sinking a bit into Blaze's shoulders "They say art can't be rushed, but if that's all the time we have I will make sure to drill the fundamentals into you. By the time we're done, they will be engraved in your very being. Treasure them well, kitty, for very few things are as valuable as the ways of true siracusan cuisine"
"... sure!"
And that's how Blaze ended up having to ask Pozëmka to take care of a few other things in her stead, because Lappland kept her locked down cooking for the entire day instead of just the morning the feline had originally planned to.
But she trusted the end result would be worth it.
With what she went through during that day, it just had to be.
On the afternoon of the designated day, Blaze and Pozëmka were together in a somewhat small pickup the feline had managed to borrow from Rhodes Island's garage.
"This is quite a poor fit for the kind of evening we are supposed to host"
"Well, we have a bit of a cargo with us, you know. And Rhodes doesn't really have carriages aviable" the feline replied.
"I am unfortunately well aware of that. Though I do admit that this is ultimately an irrelevant detail"
"You look a bit tired, Pozy"
"And who could possibly be responsible for that, I wonder?" she shot back sarcastically, though not really as bothered as her tone might lead one to believe "And keep your eyes on the road"
"Yeah, sorry. And thanks, really"
"... you are welcome"
They were driving on a small road, one clearly no longer in use but also still far from being unsuitable to traverse. A path, it wouldn't be unreasonable to call it, which cut through a sparse cluster of trees and bushes that not everyone would be willing to call a forest. There was a small village nearby, from where the road originated, but it'd been abandoned quite a few years before. Not the first case of a small settlement effectively relocating into a nearby nomadic city. That did make things easier for them though, as it meant the area was devoid of people. Well, of people and of large animals too, though those were less of a problem anyway, at least generally speaking. The two quickly got out of the woods, and the road faded into nothing at the entrance of a small glade.
"... this is the place?" Pozëmka asked, her gaze running all over the building standing alone on the opposite end of it from where they had arrived.
"Yep. Pretty good, right?" Blaze answered as she parked their veicle near the entrance "Now let's get started"
Pozëmka looked up at the sky. The sun was still quite far from setting. She held back the urge to down some malt.
"Let's"
"Oh, hey Pozy. All ready over there?"
The lupo coughed a couple of times while getting a bit of dirt off herself.
"For the life of me, I had never seen so much dust all together before. I think some of it made it into my lungs. And the cobwebs, dear ink, they were so thick... "
Blaze tried to laugh that one off, but Pozëmka's gaze told her she didn't quite hit the mark there.
"Alright, my bad. Anyway, they should arrive soon and I'm all set up here, the table's ready too. What about that other thing?"
"I would never dare describe it as romantic, but it is... functional. And prepared, yes"
"Great!" Blaze replied with a loud clap "Let's get changed and go receive them then? Yours is in that drawer there"
"Changed? What do you... no" Pozëmka shot back once she had taken a look at what actually was inside said drawer "I am not wearing this. You cannot make me"
Blaze smirked as she pulled out two photos from her pocket.
"Or can I?"
... curse you!
It was evening by then. Sunlight was still abundant enough to illuminate the path, but that would likely not be the case for the journey back. Assuming said journey were to occur before morning, that is. Pallas was not entirely sure of that.
"A most relaxing sight, this is" she mused as she walked through the sparse forest, following the indications Blaze had given the previous day.
And a most graceful act of kindness that was, too. One Pallas had every intention to return. As for the how and when, however, she would think about those later. Right there and then, her duty was to enjoy herself to the fullest, for doing otherwise would be nothing short of an offense to the efforts Blaze had surely gone through to organize such an event. And Avdotya as well, yes, Pallas felt gratitude towards her too. She couldn't see Hildegard anywhere, admittedly, but that was no source of worry. They were meant to meet at the destination, after all, and not on their way there.
Well, Blaze had purposefully given Archetto a slightly later time, but that was beside the point.
Back on topic, Pallas took her time to make it out of those lovely woods and into the glade. And there she saw something that, admittedly, took her entirely by surprise. A single-storey building, not too modest in size, made of stones and clearly much older than the road leading to it. The large, wooden door had been worn down by the elements, the outer columns had a few small dents here and there, erosion had robbed the bas-reliefs of an important part of their original meanings, and vegetation had begun to reclaim the entire place for itself. But she nonetheless recognized the shape of that building, the style, perhaps even the spirit.
Despite her gaze having actually gone over them a couple of times, it took her longer than she considered acceptable to actually notice the two women standing at the entrance and awaiting her. The priestess' tail waved exactly once, her ears flapping softly a couple of times as she made her way to them.
"Miss Blaze, lady Avdotya. Allow me to once again offer my gratitude for this invitation. I am sure that the preparations for this evening must have been difficult, especially when I think of how little time you had to take care of them"
"We had to act in quite the rush, yes, especially because a certain someone only conjured the idea at the last moment to begin with. But don't worry, it's all ready"
"May I ask by what means you managed to locate this place?" Pallas further inquired, her eyes briefly drifting once more to the building behind them "Temples of the Twelve Heroes are exceptionally rare outside the borders of Minos, and this one is remarkably well preserved despite being in a clear state of abandon"
"I happened to stumble upon it during one of my first deployments here" Blaze replied "And a friend who lives in the town told me the place was still pretty much unchanged from then, so I figured we could make use of it"
Pallas looked up, past the two women, her eyes settling on the cold stones. Pozëmka and Blaze exchanged a quick, slightly worried look, a small part of them wondering if maybe that hadn't actually been a good idea.
"Merrymaking is far from a disrespectul activity. In fact, to enjoy life when possible is part of one's duties. To remind people of this is but one of a temple's many purposes, for these constructions of stone are meant to inspire just as well as they are to remind. Celebrations of many kinds are meant to be held inside their walls. What are festivities, after all, in not a form of rituals? However brief this evening might be in the end, to spend it in one such place with the fine companionship of individuals such as yourselves is nothing short of a revival of this temple. Even if only for a night, even if only for but a few short hours, you have breathed life into this abandoned symbol of my faith, my most dear friends, and I fear words alone are unable to truly express the gratitude I feel towards the two of you for what you have accomplished here"
Pallas bowed, and the two women in front of her exchanged another quick gaze.
"We're grateful for your words too, Pallas. To have confirmation that our efforts were not misguided is a true relief, at the least"
"Aaahh, come here!" Blaze shouted, taking a much more physical approach as she simply went to hug the priestess.
Who was far too accustomed to the feline to be taken by surprise by that, in truth, and simply returned the gesture in kind. As for Pozëmka, she managed to not get dragged into the hug herself, though whether she actually liked that or not was an entirely different matter.
"Alright, I'll wait here for Arche. You two can go inside in the meanwhile"
"By all means"
And so Pozëmka guided Pallas through the entrance, and the priestess took the chance to look around. The internal structure seemed to be an ordinary one for a temple of that size: three halls in total, a large one in the centre connected to two of more modest size, one to the side and one at the back. There, at the center of the main room, was a table set for two, a table which clearly didn't belong there.
"If I may" Pallas spoke "While quite removed from your usual choice of attire, allow me to still compliment your clothes, lady Avdotya. You don them with a most remarkable elegance"
Pozëmka's ears twitched, though she managed to keep her tail still. Acting as a waitress for one evening was, at least under those circumstances, not something that really bothered her. She wasn't sure how well she could actually perform in that role, yes, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't drop any plate at least.
The maid outfit though? That one did bother her, oh did it bother her. Leaving aside the matter of how exactly Blaze had managed to get her hands on Pozëmka's exact measures -... not like she couldn't imagine how, in truth-, the amount of frills on those clothes was a fair bit over the line. The skirt was long, but not enough to completely cover the fishnets Blaze had -for some reason- picked for her. But what she really couldn't forgive the feline for was the gaping hole in the chest area, hole that left a generous portion of the underside of her breasts exposed.
Blaze wasn't entirely sure why Pozëmka minded that detail that much considering what she usually wore, in truth, but the two would settle that argument on a different occasion. If at all.
"You look lovely too, Pallas. Just as one would expect, might I add" she replied, partially to divert her own attention from her clothes.
"It has been a long while since I last had a fitting chance to don these garments, in truth" the priestess said back as Pozëmka guided her to her chair "To find them still a good fit was, I must admit, a pleasant relief on its own right"
The lupo briefly recalled what Blaze had told her about Archetto's only dress.
Maybe we should actually organize similar evenings more often.
"Now if you'd excuse me, I believe I should be at the front to greet Archetto as well. She should be here at any moment now"
"But of course"
And Archetto did indeed arrive within the following minutes, albeith briefly preceded by something that caught both Blaze and Pozëmka entirely off guard. A loud noise that didn't quite seem to fit the place. The rumble of an engine, to be more accurate.
Because Archetto arrived riding a motorbike. A sport model too, which the liberi drove to an halt right in front of the temple's entrance.
"Is this... a temple of the twelve?" she asked as she took off her goggles and put them inside the seat, fixing her hair in the meanwhile.
"... you have a bike?" Blaze asked back, blatantly ignoring the question "You have a bike and you never told us?! This is a racing model too! Arche! How could you?!"
"Well, this is... a-ahem, I never did? My bad, it must have slipped my mind... ?" she tried to dodge the question while looping a chain around the rim of both wheels.
She wasn't too keen on the idea of narrating that one shameful evening of drunken poker gambling at Lungmen to anyone. Far from it. Having won the bike back then, however, had been quite the stroke of luck. As for where and when she'd learned to drive a bike, that one story actually dates back to her years at Landen.
"Do you people on the surface truly like such designs?" Pozëmka chimed in, taking a look at the bike "Don't you find it far too cold?"
"I don't have much of an opinion on it, honestly"
"You two must be kidding me. Look at how sleek this thing is!" Blaze almost bursted out "I bet it runs like the wind!"
"Hold on" Archetto said as she walked up to them, having at last noticed something "You told me we'd be all having dinner together" she told Blaze, finger pointed at her, eyes focused on her clothes.
A white, double-breasted jacket, a chef hat and an apron, with matching slacks and shoes. Not to mention how Pozëmka was dressed.
"That's the plan" the feline shot back with a smile "You and Pallas eat, Pozy and I take care of the rest"
"Why you... "
Archetto then took a quick glance at Pozëmka, but refrained from making any comment, and only in small part due to the lupo's overly... expressive stare. The thoughts that crossed her mind though, those she was unable to fully rein in.
"That's quite a nice dress, Archetto" Pozëmka commented, making the cleric's tail wave a couple of times "But I really don't think the tie goes well with it at all"
Because Archetto was indeed wearing a tie. A long dress with a large skirt, a small shoulder cape to cover her otherwise bare shoulders -and back, if one were to ignore the straps of her bra-, fingerless gloves that made it halfway to her elbows, a couple of elegant and yet modest pins to keep her hair in place -she had taken off a larger one after having gotten off her bike-, a somewhat large purse because she hadn't had the time to have proper pockets added to that dress. And a tie. Everything was black for the most part, with a few red bits here and there.
"I... feared that might be the case. But honestly, I've been wearing ties for so long whenever I had to dress formally that not having one on at this point makes me a bit uncomfortable"
"Holy burdenbeast, Arche, that's just sad"
"Shut it"
"Anyway!" Blaze clapped her hands "Your date's right behind this door, so go ahead" she said, both Archetto and Pozëmka twitching ever so slightly at the way the feline had worded that "We'll take care of the meal and the after-meal too"
"... alright. Thanks, you two"
They replied with two rather different kind of smiles, after which the lupo opened the door, and closed it again once Archetto had walked past her.
The hall was larger than the cleric had initially expected, with a few columns to make it look taller than it truly was. There were a few bas-reliefs on the walls, a small altar of sort which seemed to have once hosted a bonfire, and some old, wooden pieces of furniture which had been moved towards the corners of the room to leave the centre empty. Or rather aviable, since it actually wasn't empty at all. There were a couple of windows to let the light in, their glass panels a bit cracked but still ultimately in one piece.
And then there was Pallas, standing next to her chair at the table and donning a flowy, layered dress, pearly white on the chest and closer to a light gray at the hem of the skirts and sleeves, with these reaching the wrist on one arm and only the elbow on the other. A couple of branch-shaped ornaments on her head to keep her hair under control, with one even following the curve of one of her horns to a degree. Black sandals with embedded decorations resembling obsidian stones. And there was also a small shoulder bag hanging from her chair's backrest.
Archetto swallowed around four entirely different things at that sight.
"Lady Hildegard" Pallas greeted as they walked up to each other "A breathtaking sight you are on this fine evening, if I might dare say so" she spoke as she gently grabbed Archetto's hand and planted a soft kiss on it, making her tail wave a bit behind her.
"You look beautiful too, Pallas"
"An honour to receive such words from you. Now then, shall we take our seats?"
"But of course"
Alright. Breathe.
Pozëmka, in the meanwhile, had opened a bottle of wine and poured them both a glass before excusing herself to the other room, a smaller and less consumed door separating the two areas.
"So, how's it going?" Blaze asked as she finished preparing the appetizer.
"They have quite literally just taken their seats, Blaze"
"Just asking"
A couple of minutes later at most, Pozëmka was already returning to the table with two plates.
"May I ask, lady Hildegard" Pallas inquired once the lupo had left them alone once more "For what kind of ceremony rite you are set to return to Landen?"
Archetto took a bite out of her serving of carpaccio. It tasted better than she had expected, to tell the truth.
"This probably sounds... unfitting of a monastery" she replied, the words she was about to speak making her vaguely uneasy "It's for our master brewer"
"Oh"
There were quite a few emotions mixed together in that simple vocalization, but genuine surprise seemed to be the most predominant one.
"I do admit that, when one thinks of a clerical institution of lateranian origin, such kind of positions would hardly come to mind. But allow me to say this, lady Hildegard: it is precisely this exceptional convergence of purposes branching from a singular goal that leads me to think so highly of your monastery"
"It's quite the odd thing, isn't it?" she said back, taking another sip from her glass -and noticing how little Pallas was drinking, relatively speaking- "Life at Landen was unlike that of all the other monasteries I've been to, so much so even I almost forget what the true nature of my home is on some occasions. But... " her words trailed off, her tongue entangling on itself as she wondered whether what she was about to say would've been inconsiderate.
Perhaps by pure chance, perhaps not, Pozëmka came to retrieve their empty plates just then, a few quick pleasantries briefly interrupting the conversations between the two.
"In truth, Pallas, I've been wondering. This trip of mine will take quite a while. I want to take this chance to pay my parents a visit as well, it's been a long time since I last saw them"
For a brief moment, a faint trace of something dark appeared on Pallas' face. But it was gone so quickly Archetto wondered if she hadn't just imagined it.
"Pallas, I was thinking... would you... "
"Did they like that?" the feline asked Pozëmka as she walked back into the makeshift kitchen.
"Forget about the food for a second" she whispered back to Blaze "Archetto just asked Pallas to go meet her parents in Laterano"
"Oh?!"
The two dashed back to the door, taking advantage of the thickening darkness and the rather low number of lamps they'd set up to at least try and not be seen.
"My most sincere apologies, lady Hildegard. Your invitation honors me, and I assure you that the one to Landen is a journey I would be delighted to depart for. Meeting your parents, too, I am sure would be a most pleasant experience, and I wish to make it abundantly clear that your invitation fills me with joy and, dare I even say, pride. Unfortunately, I have already taken commitments on behalf of Rhodes Island for the coming weeks, and to forsake my duties and my word for the sake of my own personal enjoyment would be unworthy of a follower of the Twelve Heroes"
"... she shot her down"
"Quiet"
"... no, it's fine. It was a sudden request, after all" Archetto replied, unconsciously glad that Pallas couldn't see her tail's motions from her seat.
"Is the main dish ready?"
"Oh damn!"
Blaze hurried back to the portable kitchen to keep the food from overcooking, while Pozëmka lighted a few candles and carried them to the table before returning to the kitchen. They did have a few lamps at the ready, and in fact both the third room over and the area around the kitchen had a couple already prepared, but at least for the dinner itself candles seemed more fitting. They didn't even have to worry about a gust of wind putting them out since they were indoors.
"Phew, safe. Pretty good too. Here" Blaze concluded as she tasted the risotto before dividing it into two portions.
Once again, Pozëmka walked back and forth between the table and the kitchen, taking care to bring clean cutleries and a new bottle of wine with her too. Or rather, a new stash of bottles.
"They are talking about the ceremony" she anticipated Blaze's question "Though it seems to involve a suspicious amount of beer"
"Not that weird, considering what Arche said about her monastery" the feline replied as she worked on the seconds "A bit weird though. I didn't expect her to ask Pallas to go with her at the last moment. This trip will last... what, two months if she wants to go see her paren -hold on, she wanted to introduce Pallas to her parents?! That's the spirit!"
There was perhaps something to be said about Archetto being the only one in their quartet who could actually introduce people to her parents, but that would probably be better left for a different occasion.
"Unsettling as it is to admit, I am of the same mind as you"
"Would it kill you to be a little less haughty with me sometimes?"
"I could stop at any moment, if you truly found it so upsetting"
"Alright, guess I set myself up for that one" she laughed back.
Not too long after that, Archetto and Pallas were served the next dish: breaded fowlbeast cutlets.
"It's a sort of tradition, yes. When a master brewer reaches a certain age... or rather, when he either feels like it or physically can't work anymore, we hold a ceremony for his retirement. A special reserve is opened at the beginning of the mass, one the master brewer prepares specifically for this purpose during their mandate. There is a small break for either lunch or dinner in the middle of the service, and then another reserve is opened at the end, this one coming from the master brewer's apprentice. Sometimes the appointment ceremony of the new master brewer is held right after, but that... well, it depends on the... general state of the attendant, let's say"
"A most fascinating procedure, this one you speak of. To use the present as a bridge to link past and future together, many cultures do so, but it is always a delight to learn about all the different ways such acts are performed" Pallas replied between one small bite of her cutlet and the other -it was a little overcooked, perhaps- "I must confess, however, that what I had heard about lateranian rites is remarkably different from this"
Archetto sighed, and drowned a second sigh with a more than generous sip of wine.
"Don't get me wrong here, Pallas, rites at Landen are only like this on specific occasions. But if I'm being honest, I think it's stuff like this that makes the central clergy so uninterested in our monastery! We're supposed to be an institution of faith, but what I just described is basically a party disguised as a religious rite! And, well... that makes them stingy with their funding. Our core beliefs have remained the same since the first stone of the first wall was laid down, but I can't deny that Landen's way to express its faith has grown quite... peculiar over the course of its long life. Though... that's what led me there in the first place" she added, a soft smile on her face, Pallas' gaze lured to the soft warmth radiating from it.
And in the other room, Pozëmka tried to not eavesdrop too much. Mostly by keeping herself occupied with Blaze.
"Your dishes look better than I had expected, I must admit it" she commented as the feline finished preparing the desserts. Though those -and the broth used for the risotto- had actually been made the previous day and all she really had to do at the moment was putting them on plates.
"You have no idea what I went through for this" she replied, a faint shadow briefly darkening her expression "Those were some of the roughest sixteen hours of my life"
"You told me you'd have an expert instruct you on siracusan cuisine, correct?"
"Yeah, Lappland"
Pozëmka's ears twitched. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't really associate it to a face.
"All ready here"
"This looks like a good time to retrieve the empty plates too" the lupo commented as she took a peek in the main hall.
And since that was the last course, Blaze decided to bring it over herself, the two women walking up to the table together. Upon seeing them, or more precisely upon seeing the state of Blaze's apron, Archetto barely held back a laugh.
"I see that you are as fiery and passionate wielding ladles and pans as you are in every other aspect of your life, miss Blaze" Pallas commented, because admittedly the feline had a lot more stains on her apron than one could've ever guessed by looking at the menu "A sight to behold, truly"
"Yeah, a couple of things nearly went haywire at some point, but we managed. So, how was the food?" she asked while Pozëmka retrieved the empty plates and dirty cutlery.
"A bit rough around the edges, if you want the truth" Archetto replied "But I admit that I expected worse"
"I'll take that as a compliment" she laughed it off as she put the dessert down.
"Your cuisine might not be able to stand on equal footing with that of an experienced master of the craft, miss Blaze, but the feelings you have poured into each of these dishes for us make this nonetheless a meal well worthy of being remembered"
"Keep your praises down, Pallas, or they'll get to her head" Pozëmka warned, mostly but perhaps not entirely as a joke.
"Pozy and I will take care of the table once you're done. There's a little after-dinner thing for you two in the third room over there" the feline added as she pointed to said room, the door leading to it closed "If you want to, we'll make sure nobody wanders too close. Though there shouldn't be anyone within a few kilometers anyway"
Now, Archetto might or might not have drunk a bit more wine than usual during that dinner. And she was undeniably the one with the lowest alcohol tolerance among the presents, though that arguably didn't say much considering who the presents were. But even if one were to assume she had drunk too much to notice the very telling smile on Blaze's face as those words left her mouth, she definitively was still sober enough to catch the intense twitches of Pozëmka's ears, not to mention the brief but wide flutter of her tail.
"Please, don't misunderstand" the lupo added "There are no double meanings to this"
The two exchanged a quick glance. Archetto held something in, though what exactly, she wasn't entirely sure herself.
"Truly most commendable, the dedication and passion you have poured into the preparation of this evening. Allow me to once more express my deepest gratitude"
"I appreciate it. Really" Archetto added.
Blaze and Pozëmka then retreated back to the -portable- kitchen, and the lupo decided to start cleaning the dishes herself to let the feline take a break. And so Blaze walked right up to the door to listen in a little bit, ignoring Pozëmka's reprimand.
Pallas and Archetto didn't remain at the table for too long, in truth. They ate their dessert, drank some more, chatted a while longer, and then got up.
"Let's see what else those two have prepared then"
"I cannot deny my curiosity, no"
And so the two walked to the third door to open it. It was, well, dark inside there. Night hadn't quite fallen yet, but it'd nonetheless gotten rather late. Three small windows, wide and short, were near the top of the three walls facing the outside, too small and high up to allow one to look through them. The glass itself was still intact, if perhaps a little cracked here and there, and let a bit of light through. Though Archetto honestly had an hard time picturing enough light coming in through those to properly illuminate the room even in the middle of the day. In fact, the only thing they could see other than those windows was a small switch, taped to the wall right next to them and connected to a cable that headed into the darkness.
Somewhat of a crude arrangement, in truth, but it wouldn't leave any mark once removed. Archetto flicked it, a lamp turned on in the middle of the room and her tail straightened at the sight.
A bed, nothing more, nothing less. A metal frame, a relatively intricate one admittedly as it even included a canopy, with a regular mattress and some ordinary sheets on it. The curtains hanging from the canopy were rather plain too, and the whole thing was, one could argue, a rather poor fit for the room it was in. But the fact itself that Blaze and Pozëmka had managed to even set up a bed there with what time they had aviable was quite impressive in its own right.
It was also rather impressive that Blaze had set up a stereo system but, since Pozëmka had managed to talk her out of playing a serenade on a drum set of all things at the last moment, neither Pallas nor Archetto would ever find out about that.
Those two...
"This does bring some old memories back" Pallas commented as she walked towards the middle of the room, her steps echoing on the stone.
"A bed in the middle of a temple does?" Archetto asked for confirmation as she closed the door behind her.
And noticed that there was a sliding lock still bolted to the wooden surface, one that looked suspiciously... new. She tapped her fingers on it for a few moments, and ultimately decided to leave it as it was.
"Back when my age still amounted to a single digit, me and a few other students happened to hear some remarkably interesting rumors describing a figure stalking the halls of one of the High Temples of Athenius at night. After preparations and plannings which, to our young eyes, appeared strenuous and meticulous, we succeeded in the task of entering the Temple after the setting of the sun. A feat by no means worthy of celebration, as only a few of the High Temples closed their doors at night, but young us failed to notice that most glaring detail. As I was saying, we made our way in, and that is how we learned that master Hypnos had been spending the nights there rather than at his own personal abode, albeith the reasons for such conduct were never disclosed to us. We did, however, catch a glimpse of the bed he was making use of"
Pallas, who had been walking in circles around the bed until then, stopped. Her fingers trace the line of the frame. Archetto couldn't see her tail under her dress, but she did notice the slight upturn of her ears.
"It is not rare for a Temple of the Twelve Heroes to never close its doors. But the thought of spending a night sleeping in the inner chamber of one... it does bring back memories of that old, little adventure from all those years ago"
The cleric walked up to her and put an hand over the priestess' shoulder, making her turn towards her.
"Pallas. We are quite far from Laterano. This is the last occasion -the last night we will have together for... two months, perhaps three. Do you really wish to spend it sleeping?" she asked, a faint redness to her cheeks, a conscious effort holding her tail still.
She had planned to try and take the evening into that direction in the first place, to tell the truth, once the dinner was over and they'd supposedly returned to either the inn she was staying at for those few days or at Rhodes Island. But since Blaze and Pozëmka had gone out of their way to even set that one up, well... why not give it a shot right there and then instead?
"If there are other activities you would rather the two of us engage in then, by all means I... "
"No, Pallas" she cut her off, a rather rare thing for Archetto to do "I'm asking you what you want to do"
The priestess turned around to fully face her, her head bending to the side a little bit. Archetto knew that gaze. She'd seen it before in Pallas' eyes, but she still couldn't quite figure out what went on behind it exactly. But it was an... alluring gaze, for sure. For an unspecified while, the two simply stared at each other, feeling each other's presence.
"... would it be improper of me" Pallas eventually spoke "Would it be improper of me, I wonder, to say... to confess to a certain desire of mine?"
"After all the experiences we have already had together" Archetto replied "I think I would be rather hurt by a lack of such desires from you, Pallas"
The priestess blinked. Her ears fluttered.
"It would seem that I nearly caused you offence with my behaviour, lady Hildegard. Allow me to apologize, for that has never, at any point, been my intention"
"I know, Pallas" she said back as she let her bag slide off her shoulder and to the floor before cupping the priestess' cheeks and getting on her tiptoes to a degree "I know"
Pallas didn't quite move at first, simply letting Archetto pull her down so that their lips could meet. She could still taste their meal on her, and beyond that she could taste her, Archetto's own taste, her scent, the texture of her mouth. After a brief moment, Pallas began to reciprocate, her own hands reaching for Archetto's shoulders and pulling her towards herself a bit, her fingers sliding underneath the cleric's cape to feel her skin directly. She took a step to the side, tugging at Archetto to tell her to follow along. Then a second step and a third, their lips only parting for a quick breath as Pallas led her to the front of the bed, their grasp on each other having at some point turned into something much closer to an embrace.
Archetto then felt herself being pulled up, her feet leaving the floor as Pallas lifted her to deepen their kiss, the priestess' progressively more aggressive exploration of her mouth sending a warm tingle through her, Archetto's tail beginning to wave left and right. She tried to pull back at some point, just to try and adjust her position a bit -how exactly given her current situation, that she hadn't thought about too much- and Pallas simply bit her lip to stop her.
Archetto's heart skipped a beat, her throat letting out a sweet sound as the priestess softly pulled her back in and resumed kissing her, savoring the entirety of Archetto's mouth, her lips, the inner side of her cheeks, her teeth, her gums, her tongue, their saliva mixing together, the cleric occasionally finding herself gulping it down for no other reason than to taste Pallas.
Archetto was almost panting by the time the priestess broke their kiss, her face red, her tail almost out of control.
"Lady Hildegard" Pallas said as she gently put her back down, one of her hands slowly moving to the bag still hanging from her own shoulder, the other tracing a line from Archetto's neck to her wrist "May I?"
She gulped silently.
"Please"
A smile appeared on Pallas' face, the intensity of her gaze making Archetto's knees weak, her desire clear in the way her hand gently and yet firmly grasped the cleric's wrist. Then the familiar clinking of a chain echoed between the stone walls surrounding them, and Pallas put a couple of steps of distance between them.
Thinking about it, the fact that Pallas had developed an habit of always carrying a few chains with her whenever she went anywhere with Blaze, Pozëmka or Archetto was quite telling. But such considerations only ever came to the cleric's mind after the act, never in the middle of it.
"Lie down" she equally asked and demanded.
Archetto's heart skipped another beat.
A small part of her noticed that the sheets were a bit thin as she got on the bed, but she was mostly just focused on Pallas, on her gaze that almost made her feel naked for how intense it was, on her soft, gentle and yet craving smile, on the way her fingers silently tapped the rings of the chain in her hands.
The few seconds Archetto took to get to the middle of the bed felt much longer than they truly were, and once she lied down with her head on the pillow -later she would notice that there was, in fact, only one- Pallas circled around the bed, all the way to what was technically the headboard, though in practice they were just a few bars of steel. Then again, that was actually more convenient for them.
"Your hand, lady Hildegard"
Feeling another shiver running down her spine, their eyes meeting, Archetto offered Pallas her hand just as she'd been asked, demanded, ordered, begged to. The priestess bent down and grabbed the open palm, bringing it to her face. The fabric of Archetto's gloves was thin, but still thick enough to make her wish she could feel Pallas' breath directly on her skin, her bare fingers finding themselves intertwined with Pallas' as she began to run the cold chain around the cleric's wrist, drawing a small pattern on her hand and then forming another circle around the wrist. A snap hook, a simple and yet surprisingly elegant one, secured the rings on Archetto's hand as Pallas stepped back, running the chain a couple of times around the bed's frame before walking behind the headboard to the opposite side of the bed, each step echoing like a thundering whisper in Archetto's ear, her eyes never leaving the priestess. Pallas then intertwined the chain to the bed frame again, bent down a second time, and the cleric offered her other hand swiftly, eagerly, relishing in each shiver that the cold chain sent along her skin as the rings ran around her wrist and palm. Another snap hook, and Archetto found herself firmly secured to the bed, her arms forced apart, enough to leave her defenseless, not enough to cause any discomfort.
Her tail waved. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead, probably not the first one of that evening, surely not the last.
Pallas then walked around the bed a couple of times before sitting right next to Archetto, sinking a little bit into the mattress as her index came to rest on the cleric's shoulder.
"I must confess" she said as she traced her finger over Archetto's skin "The thoughts that my mind produced upon seeing your figure clad in these garments were not all pure in nature, lady Hildegard"
"I was... hoping to produce that effect, in truth" she replied, warm shivers running through her as Pallas' nail softly drew a line over her exposed armpit and down along her side, making her squirm ever so faintly.
"To have such attentions directed at me is a source of honour and joy, my dear Hildegard"
Archetto trembled. Pallas turned around, getting on top of her and placing her other hand on the cleric's hips, pushing her palm down enough to make her feel the touch clearly through the fabric of her dress.
"If I might say" she added as she explored the cleric's body, Archetto's figure trembling softly beneath her as Pallas' digits left a tingling trail behind them over her skin "I find your tie especially beautiful. A most peculiar choice to combine such an article with an evening attire of this kind, and yet the result is nothing short of a perfect match. I only now truly realize how something as simple as a tie can highlight your slender figure. Dare I say, even, that I doubt any other single garment could have enhanced your already wonderful appearance to such degrees"
Archetto's heartbeat grew faster with every word, doubly so as Pallas placed an hand on her chest, on her heart, exactly to feel it beat, her other hand tracing two fingers from her navel up along said tie.
"People of old often depicted their gods and goddesses through sculpting and painting. Were a master of such arts to portray your figure and show the result of their work to me, I would well believe to be gazing at one such old works of beauty and wonder. My dear, sweet Hildegard"
Archetto's entire body, her entire being trembled. Her hands instinctively reached for Pallas, making the chain rattle and clink weakly, her cheeks hopelessly flushed, her breath heavy. The priestess' smile grew warmer, and she leaned down, her breath caressing Archetto's neck. Then her lips came down on her skin, making her jolt, the cleric just barely managing to keep herself from lifting her entire body up to feel Pallas', the hands roaming over her with gentle, reverential possessiveness making a jumbled mess of her thoughts.
Pallas then closed her palms over Archetto's lower back, her fingers digging softly into her warm flesh as she kissed her neck.
Archetto moaned, the sheer anticipation of what was yet to come leaving a visible mark on her underwear, her gaze locked on Pallas.
The priestess then looked up and moved her head a little further down Archetto's chest, their eyes meeting as she placed another kiss right above the hem of her dress, drawing another moan from her. Pallas slowly moved down, putting more strength -more passion, more desire- into her lips to make Archetto feel each and every kiss, every offer to her through the cloth that embraced her, the priestess' fingers pushing down on a different spot every time, her chest, her sides, her thighs, her hips. By the time Pallas had made it all the way to Archetto's feet, the cleric had already turned into a panting, shivering mess, her fingers tense, her skin sweaty, her needs burning fiercely.
Then Pallas slid Archetto's shoes off, and an entirely different kind of shiver ran up her spine, one not any less pleasant. Pallas adjusted her position, getting on her knees and lifting Archetto's legs up, embracing them with one arm while holding her feet with the other hand.
"Ah... P-Pallas... "
The priestess pulled her bare feet closer, taking in the scent of fresh soap and, underneath it, Archetto's own aroma.
"Is something troubling you, my sweet Hildegard?"
Embarassment, excitement, anticipation and a little bit of dread mixed together in the cleric's throat, turning into a knot that kept her words from leaving her lips, what little words she could think up at least. Pallas waited a bit, and then a bit more. And when Archetto still remained silent, she decided to proceed. Running her fingers over the cleric's leg, she slid them between her toes and parted them, taking Archetto's index toe inside her mouth and gently sucking on it.
Archetto's entire body jolted, the chain's clinking accompanying the stifled laugh that escaped her as Pallas softly ran her tongue between the cleric's toes, her fingers slowly scratching her bare, exposed soles. She moved from one toe to the other, tickling her feet one at a time, knowing exactly how much Archetto could bear before beginning to thrash around uncontrollably and tiptoing right before that line, her gaze fixed on the cleric's face, her composure -since long cracked to begin with at that point- growing weaker and weaker as more half-contained laughters left her mouth, her body jolting weakly as she focused on keeping her legs and feet still.
And Pallas simply continued, savoring Archetto's taste and scent almost as much as she did her reactions, her progressively less contained laughs, her sweat, her squirming, her embarassed smile.
Then, however, Pallas brought Archetto's legs back down and straddled her once again, giving her a few moments to take some more relaxed breaths.
"My dear Hildegard" she said as her hands slowly traced along her skin, her fingertips coming to rest on the cleric's sides "I would be oh so glad to hear more of your voice"
Archetto smiled. Her smile was, admittedly, rather cracked, shaky. But for all the right reasons.
And it turned into something else entirely the moment Pallas began to well and truly tickle her, no longer having to worry about potentially getting kicked in the face by mistake. Archetto's body jolted, it shook and trembled, but Pallas held her in place with a simple combination of her weight and her physical strength, which the cleric would have had admittedly no real hope to match even without her hands chained to the bed.
"They're really going at it, uh"
"This has been on my mind for quite some time now. Is there a particular reason why Pallas is so keen on tickling Archetto? She hardly ever does that with us, after all"
"Jealous?"
"Of this one act in particular, I... really am not" she sort of lied, sort of didn't.
Blaze and Pozëmka were having their own dinner, or rather they were getting finished with it. Sitting at the same table Archetto and Pallas had earlier, and even eating the same food as Blaze had made sure to make enough for four.
"You know, hearing them's kinda getting me in the mood too" the feline commented as she gave Pozëmka a look very few would consider subtle "What about you?"
The lupo's ears twitched, and her mind raced to what would soon enough replace the laughters coming from the other side of that door.
"Absolutely not"
"... you know, Pozy, this might be a good time to tell you that we have only a single sleeping bag for the two of us. The drums took up a bit more space than I'd expected so I couldn't fit the second one into the pickup"
Pozëmka pretty much jumped to her feet, ears tall and tail straight.
But what she said right after that is probably better left unrecorded.
Pallas was deeply, intimately familiar with Archetto's body. She knew exactly what singular spot on her sides was the most sensitive. She knew how much pressure to apply on her armpits to get the most intense laugh from her lips. She knew precisely where to kiss her neck to make her squirm with excitement and anticipation.
She knew, and she made use of that knowledge.
Beneath her, the cleric was squirming and thrashing around, all control over her own reactions being completely lost. Her laughters echoed between the stone walls, her faint awareness of Blaze and Pozëmka being well within earshot only adding to both her embarassment and her excitement.
Pallas would occasionally give her a brief reprieve, lying eager, reverential, possessive kisses on her sweaty skin while running her hands over Archetto's chest, swelling up and down with every breath, over her thighs, excruciatingly close to the cleric's dripping privates without ever making contact with them, over her rear, firmly grasping it to further eighten her arousal.
Pallas knew exactly how much time Archetto needed to catch her breath and allowed her exactly that, then a few more moment too, in case she had something to say, and only then did she resume tickling the cleric, the very same moment that time had gone by, relishing in each and every laugh her fingers drew from her, in every uncontrolled jolt and quiver, in every clink from the chain binding her wrists.
She leaned down, resting a little bit more of her weight on Archetto, embracing her while never ceasing to scratch her where she was most sensitive, whispering sweet adorations into her ears, every word making even more of a jumbled mess of the cleric's already hazy thoughts.
By the time Pallas truly stopped, Archetto was far too spent to even say anything, let alone coming up with any coherent sentence. Her breaths were heavy and broken, her skin glistening with sweat, an intense and peculiar mix of anticipation, satisfaction and burning embarassment on her face.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Pallas got off her, sitting to her side instead. She placed an hand over Archetto's hips, the other one sliding underneath her skirt and drawing a line over her leg, quickly meeting her wetness. Her middle and ring finger then entered Archetto, the simple act pushing air out of her lungs as warmth shot through her body, her privates so wet she nearly feared her panties had become basically see-through by then -though with every single piece of clothing still on, that wasn't much of a problem either way-, her insides clamping down almost viciously on the priestess' fingers, her own hands grasping at the sheets as if her life depended on it.
Her sheer, ardent need overpowering her sense of modesty, Archetto lifted her hips up to try and push them further against Pallas' touch.
The priestess, however, was deeply familiar with that part of her body too. She grazed the cleric's stiff clit with her thumb, making her quiver and whimper, while her other fingers gently caressed her hot insides, carefully avoiding the one spot Archetto desperately wanted to be touched the most. But even without that most craved stimulation, the cleric was simply too excited. She could feel pleasure building up quickly, too quickly for her to handle, her already ragged breaths breaking down further as her hips began to quiver, hes eyes locked on Pallas, the priestess' admiring gaze and her soft smile making everything feel that much more intense in turn.
Just as she was about to reach the tipping point, however, Pallas pulled her hand back and leaned down to cup Archetto's cheeks instead. Their lips met once more, the cleric utterly unable to understand whether she wanted to beg her to resume touching her more than she wanted to taste her mouth, Pallas embracing her with more than enough passion to make up for Archetto's inability to return the gesture.
Then her fingers trailed down, slowly and carefully entering Archetto once more and gripping her, holding her hips in place. Their lips parted, and the smile on Pallas' lips told the cleric everything that was about to happen.
Pallas pushed down on Archetto's most sensitive spot from within, scratching it with loving possessiveness, her thumb flicking the cleric's clit at the same time. Pallas' other hand, however, was right next to Archetto's armpit, her nails forcing another round of laughters out from her lungs.
The cleric's body jolted as Pallas once again held her relatively still underneath herself, masterfully keeping her on the edge, the tickling preventing Archetto from actually reaching her climax. The priestess' fingers kept touching her exactly where she wanted, exactly the way she wanted her to, but the touch on her bare, sweaty armpit made her laugh, loudly emptying her lungs, muffling the pleasure which kept building up and being dispersed over and over.
"You look beautiful, my dear Hildegard" Pallas spoke "But I know you can achieve even greater heights. Please, do show me just that"
Archetto couldn't quite keep her gaze fixed on anything, she had all but lost any control she might've had over her own body, but she still tried to keep her focus on Pallas' entire being rather than just on her hands. The priestess kept speaking to her, every word a loving praise, a declaration of ownership and reverence.
Then, without any warning, her hand moved away from Archetto's armpit.
The cleric almost felt as if something deep within her had just exploded, every muscle in her body growing stiff as searing pleasure erupted inside of her, crashing over her entire being like a wave, only to meet the confine of her body and bounce back, a feeling so overwhelmingly intense it turned her mind into a blank slate where only a single person existed.
"I wish to witness your beauty once more, my sweet Hildegard"
With those words her fingers resumed moving, taking Archetto over the edge before she could even fully get off the previous high. Pallas leaned down against the cleric, resting her chest on hers and taking slow, steady breaths, as if to guide her, silently appreciating Archetto's modest breasts pressed against herself. Then she pushed her fingers against her again, and then again, and again, each touch taking Archetto closer and closer to a complete mental short circuit, her moans growing weaker and yet more intense somehow, the priestess taking her from one climax to the other with no respite inbetween, her touches only growing even more intense when the cleric managed to lock her legs around Pallas somehow, without even realizing it.
It took her more than just a few seconds to realize that Pallas had stopped moving her fingers at some point, which she only did because Archetto could physically not take anymore. Her lungs needed air, her mind needed rest, her muscles needed a moment to relax.
Just one moment, which came swiftly and went by just as quickly.
"Once more, my dear"
The cleric failed to say anything in response, not because she hadn't recovered enough for that nor because she wasn't granted the time to do so, but rather because she had nothing to say, except perhaps a few exclamations that would make her embarassment grow even more intense. Something much less coherent than words left her mouth instead, something much more expressive, as Pallas firmly pulled her into another climax, gently leading there past the line.
"One last time, my sweet Hildegard. I know you can" she said, her sweet words turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy in Archetto's mind.
She grasped the sheets with all the strength she had, or what little of it was left at least, her insides pulsing and contracting against Pallas' probing fingers repeatedly, her back arching as much as it could as searing warmth filled her entirely. The priestess slowed her caresses, but she didn't stop, simply moving a little away from Archetto's most sensitive spots instead, prolonging her high, making it linger in her entire being for as long as she could.
She eventually pulled her fingers out of the cleric, gently tracing a line from Archetto's navel up along her tie and all the way to her cheeks, then further past them to her head. She gently stroked it, running her fingers through her messy hair, listening to her breaths growing slower, steadier, until she was sure that Archetto had fallen asleep from the exhaustion. Pallas got up, released her wrists from the chain and briefly lifted her up, just the time she needed to pull the sheets down, place her back on the bed and cover her. It wasn't a cold night, but it wasn't a really warm one either.
Pallas then silently walked to the door, just to be sure that the faint noises she had heard while tucking Archetto in were more than just a product of her imagination. Having confirmed that, she walked back to the bed, sat on the floor with her back against it and threw her head back, positioning herself so that Archetto wouldn't accidentally end up hurting herself on one of her horns even if she were to roll around in her slumber.
With her eyes closed, the priestess listened to the soft sounds around her, waiting for sleep to take over her as well, humming a barely audible tone from her homeland.
"... so, you two... "
"Please, Archetto. Don't bother finishing that sentence. There is nothing to be gained from it"
"... right"
Archetto and Pozëmka stared at each other. Both had messy hair, messy clothes, and were just generally not exactly in presentable conditions. Archetto in particular. The cleric looked to the side, at the single and suspiciously large sleeping bag rolled up in a corner of the room, but she decided to not make any question about that. Just like she decided to not bring up the fact that Pozëmka was still wearing the maid outfit.
"Anyway" the lupo said, taking advantage of the fact that Pallas was in the other room chatting with Blaze at the moment "There is one thing I wanted to confirm, if you wouldn't mind me asking"
Archetto's tail waved. Just once, but vigorously. Her hand closed around the small bag hanging from her shoulder.
"Sure, feel free to ask"
"Is it true that introducing someone to your parent is a way to present the person as a potential groom or bride?"
Both their wails waved a little bit, albeith in different ways, and they both decided to not comment on that particular reaction.
"... w-well, that... I mean, sometimes it's done for that, yes, but... " Archetto searched for a proper answer, making meaningless gestures with her hands in the meanwhile.
Pozëmka stared at her, something clearly going on in her mind.
"So!" Blaze then almost shouted as she made her way over them from the other room "Here's to you, Pozy! Just as promised" she said as she handed the lupo a bunch of photos, with enough enthusiasm to accidentally drop a couple of them in the process "Thanks for the help, I know it was all pretty sudden"
Archetto bent down to grab them, happened to see what the content of those photos was, and looked up.
"... yes?" Blaze asked.
The cleric, however, decided she didn't actually want to know how exactly the feline had managed to arrange a photo shoot of Durin in a fowlbeast onesie riding around on Myrtle's back, who was in turn wearing a metal crab onesie. No, she was better off not knowing the exact details behind that.
... then again, Pozëmka herself would surely dig those details out, and chances were she'd talk about them the next time they ended up getting drunk together. Which happened... a bit more often than it should, probably.
"So, you plan to ask her hand?" the feline inquired, her voice now noticeably more hushed.
"Wha- ?!" both women nearly shouted.
"Does that mean" she pressed the assault with a wide grin on her face "You plan to ask us too perhaps?"
"Blaze, you filthy, absolute- "
"H-hold on a moment, what do you mean exactly with that?" Archetto cut off Pozëmka.
"I mean" Blaze answered as she held her hand up "If it comes to that, we've all got more than enough fingers for it, no?" she declared with one of her usual smiles that radiated energy, closing the fingers of her other hand around those of the first one as if to mimic the gesture of putting three rings on.
Neither Pozëmka nor Archetto replied, but the feline knew them well enough to be able to read their expressions. And she could tell from those that she had hit the mark.
"Oh, Pallas" Pozëmka suddenly said with a slightly louder tone than usual, both to snap herself out of whatever mental state she had briefly slipped into and to notify the other two.
The priestess, who had only then made her way out of the other room, walked up to them, her looks by far the least disheveled of the quartet.
"Allow me to express my gratitude once more, for this most wonderful evening you have prepared for us. Miss Blaze, lady Avdotya, I give you my word that I shall return your kindness at the best of my abilities. Doubly so, as I believe it would be uncout to wait until lady Hildegard's return to reciprocate" she said, which meant she hadn't heard the trio's conversation about rings and fingers.
"Oh, I'm sure we'll think up of something, don't worry" Blaze replied as she shot Pozëmka a wide smirk.
The lupo's tail waved a couple of times.
"At times I truly cannot help but wish for all your beers to be lukewarm for the rest of your days"
"Aaww, that's just cruel"
"So, uh, Pallas" Archetto chimed in, taking a couple of steps closer to the priestess, taking her hands in hers "I still have a few things I need to wrap up before leaving, and I fear that idling here any longer might delay my departure too much"
"By all means, we have no intention of keeping you from your duties. Worry not, lady Hildegard. We shall take care of cleaning up here on our own"
The two looked at each other for a few, long moments, something unspoken going through their joined hands from one to the other.
"I'll get going then"
"Don't worry too much about us and enjoy your trip"
"The road is long, be careful out there"
"Please, do bring back some of Landen's most fresh brews on your way back, if at all possible"
"Oh, and say hi to your folks for us" Blaze added with a wink, which got a sudden rush of redness to both Archetto and Pozëmka's cheeks.
"I-I'll do just that, yes" she replied as she took the chain off her bike's wheels and put her goggles on.
And with those words they saw her off, Archetto riding away on her bike as she told herself that, in hindsight, she really should've brought at least a change of clothes with her the previous evening. Walking into the inn she was staying at for those couple of days in those conditions was definitively going to be awkward.
In the meanwhile, Blaze casually rested an arm over Pallas' shoulder.
"Say, Pallas. Just to be sure, does your faith have anything against going out with more people at once?"
Both Pallas and Pozëmka turned towards her, one with a piercing glare, the other with evident surprise. Blaze already knew the answer, in truth. Not because she had looked up informations about it, no. Rather, she figured it out by simply getting closer to Pallas. Which did technically mean she had an assumption rather than an actual answer, but Blaze trusted her guts quite a lot when it came to things like that. Pozëmka, on her part, had done a bit of research on the matter and actually knew the answer for sure.
"May I ask what might have led you to believe the Faith of the Twelve Heroes is in any way opposed to outings of multiple individuals together?"
Blaze nearly chuckled. Pozëmka almost let out something resembling a sigh.
"No, no, I meant romantic outing. Like being poly and stuff like that. How do you feel about those things?"
The priestess' ears waved once. Her neck bent to the side a bit.
"Then the answer to your first question is no, miss Blaze. As for your second question, I fear I am unable to provide a satisfying answer at the moment, for I must confess this is not a matter I have ever truly mused about. If I were to offer my most spontaneous thought on the matter, however, I have to say my opinion of such arrangements is, at least, not a negative one. But I do wonder what might have sparked this particular curiosity in you"
The feline casted a quick glance at the road. Archetto's motorbike was already too far to be heard.
"Oh, just making sure, don't worry" she concluded, patting her energetically on the back before turning around and heading back into the temple "Alright, let's clean up here! I've got a lot of training to catch up to after this!"
"Lady Avdotya, is there perchance something I am missing?"
"Surely not, Pallas"
The priestess' tail waved a little bit, perhaps in confusion, perhaps not.
"I see" she replied, a decidedly short answer for her standards.
Deep down, the priestess wondered if there truly was something she was missing going on around her. Or if it maybe there was something she was purposefully not seeing instead.
That doubt... unsettled her somehow.
Thank you for reading.