Chapter 42
It was a little later than I'd have liked, but I felt I owed the girls a story. I tried not to embellish it too much, but by then, the few patrons who were left after the dinner rush were listening in, and I couldn't help myself. By the end of it, the bar was cheering at how I'd managed to chew a drake's head off, almost literally.
After saying goodbye, I walked towards home through the familiar streets, my path lit by flickering magic stone lamp posts.
"Oh? Fancy meeting you here." A familiar voice said from the mouth of an alleyway.
"Hermes." I greeted, saying his name casually, but turning to greet him to show at least a little respect. I sniffed the air, tilting my head to the side. "Asfi isn't with you?"
"And probably worrying about me, no doubt." He said, stepping into the light. Dressed as he usually was in his well worn travelling clothes and hat, he gave me a once over look, and 'hmm'ed.
Speaking English, I said, "Not to put too fine a point on it. I'm still a little angry with you."
He held up his hands in surrender, thought he kept that tiny little smile of his, "Please, I want only peace between us." He motioned with his hand, "You really do cut a striking figure. A dark heroine if I've ever seen one."
The smile he gave me was probably supposed to be 'disarming' but to me it was only 'irritating'. I wasn't sure why exactly Hermes bothered me so much, but something about him set my nerves on edge some times. "Welf and I make a good team. He's an able teacher as well."
"And you are a proficient monster killer." He replied. "But something seems to be missing from you there. I mean, everyone knows monsters are the enemy."
It struck me then why I didn't like him. He knew far more than he let on. Not only that, he liked to manipulate people with that information. Glaring at him and letting a little anger filter through my voice, I replied, "People can be even worse monsters than what you find under the tower. In there," I hooked a thumb over my shoulder towards the tower, "Things are simple. -If- attacks you, you kill it. People against monster." I met his eyes, my senses sharpening, a little more of my anger rising to the surface, "Out here, the monsters aren't so well defined, and hide themselves behind clever talk or secrets." I had to fight the urge to get even more angry, but Hermes held up his hands again in surrender.
"I understand. Asfi did deliver your message after all. Such a temperamental child you are..." He mumbled, "I want to clear a little of the air here." He said, his eyes staying locked onto mine, "Some of what I've done is to keep a promise, to Bell's grandfather." His smile returned as I relaxed a little more, "I can't say more," He made a point of looking around, "But, now that things are rolling, I no longer need to step in."
"An object in motion stays in motion, until acted on by another object." I said, earning a puzzled look as I finished the sentence, "I will tell you now, that I will make you very very unhappy if this mess gets one of my friends killed."
"Now now, its not like you could harm me." His voice took on a little edge, and I felt I might have overstepped my bounds. "But, let us leave that aside for now."
"I'm late for dinner." I replied.
"Then I ask Hestia Familia for the small favour of walking with me a ways. It's not safe at night." His smile returned as I shrugged and turned, waiting for him to fall in beside me. "You are such a puzzle you know."
"So I've been told." I replied, my tails twitching, but not visiting the God. Me and the committee agreed at least.
"Don't think I didn't notice how you worded that reply, either." He said.
"I speak this language so I am understood." I was still speaking English for that exact reason.
"But I wonder why that is? Does your homeland not have monsters?" He asked.
"Only ones who walk on two legs and pretend to be doing the right thing." I looked sideways at him, "Most people are past the old grudges, letting the past stay in the books." Most, but not all, I thought to myself.
He winced at my little dig at his methods, but nodded, "I see. An interesting place you used to live. Where was it again?"
"In relation to here?" I shrugged, unable to say anything more, as it would be a lie.
"Interesting... How are you with local politics? Recent events?" His topic switch made me blink in surprise.
"In broad strokes, the city works. There is a little friction here and there, but that's expected. As for local events, aside from ones directly involving me, or my house," I said 'house' with a little emphasis, to indicate Takemikazuchi Familia as well as my own Familia, "I've been too busy for some reason."
"You're not going to let that go, are you?"
"Being an adventurer gives me a great memory."
"Fair." Hermes chuckled, "Being as large a city as we are, and having the world's only source for magic stones, means that we have some what of a monopoly on certain things." I nodded, and he continued, "For example, do you know why monsters are forbidden outside of the dungeon, aside from the occasional special case?"
"I can guess." I replied, "Some can be bred, and while the magic stone shrinks with each generation, its still a magic stone." Hermes's eyes widened, but he nodded, "Or, they can be released as a weapon. Rakia would probably be the only place other than here that could withstand say, a Silver Back, or a half dozen Hard Armoured, or even a Drake."
"I honestly hadn't thought of the first one, but yes, the second one has happened before." Hermes admitted.
"I'm sure a suitably broken monster, like say, a Lamia, or a Harpy, could be sold to someone with more... exotic tastes." I growled, thinking of the half woman, half monster hybrids I'd heard about from Eina. "Sex sells." I stated simply.
"You really don't like humans, do you? I'd never have thought you were a racist." Hermes chided, his voice almost teasing.
An old anger ignited inside my chest, and I turned on him, my hands aching to grab his shirt, but I managed to stop myself, "It's not racism. It's the fact that a Monster is following an instinct. Eat, defend its territory, rut, sleep. But a Person must think about it, they must be deliberate. There is no 'instinct' for evil. It's a choice." I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again, turning away from Hermes and starting to walk again, the God catching up a moment later. "So no, its not 'racism', it's 'realism'."
"The Fox is wise."
"From you, that's kind of irritating."
"Sorry." He really did sound sorry, for once, "So where was I?"
"Politics, and black market deals."
"Ah, just so." He hm'ed again, "Do you remember the monster festival?"
"Yes." I clenched my fist, the knuckles popping quietly.
"Oh, right. You and Mr. Cranell... Never mind. Well, Loki Familia was asked to investigate some of the others things that happened. You were on the far side of the district from that, but they fought a few monsters that day, that were not in any of the cages." I looked at him, and he nodded, "Yes, not brought through the tower, either. That meant..."
"Another exit..."
"Yes. And they found what might have been that exit, too. But it had been collapsed, and they abandoned their efforts." He replied.
"And it hasn't been used since?"
"No."
"Hm. But if there is one, there might be, no, must be more. The city is massive, the dungeon equally so..."
"We suspect some one is taking things out of the dungeon through one of these secret exits." Hermes continued, "Magic stones, monster loot... Exotic monsters..."
I wanted to shake him, this wasn't the first time he'd dropped such a heavy hint, but I simply couldn't trust him. Seeing that we were close to the Hearthstone Manor, I knew we were running out of 'conversation time.' So, I tried to see what side he was on... "Say Hermes." I started.
"hm?"
"If you know anyone who's lost a black owl, tell them I'd like to give them a stern talking to about keeping it away from my home. In person. I do have a bite sized needle rabbit, and I really like her." I looked across at him, catching a familiar scent on the wind, "Think you could do that for me? And I think I smell Asfi... Her shampoo is rather unique."
He looked around a moment worriedly at the mention of Asfi, and when he saw her, he looked over his shoulder at me, "I'll do that."
Dinner was a somewhat awkward affair. Some of the energy that was usually present wasn't so much 'missing' as 'drained'. I could tell that the tension was getting to some of us, and it was sapping moral in a huge way.
"Not like you to be late on pasta night." Welf said as I entered the dining room, still wearing my armour. "Need a hand with that?"
"Sure." I replied, sighing as I swept my gaze over the two Familia. Welf helped me out of the coat, undoing a couple of the harder to reach buckles and hanging it on the back of my usual chair at the table, leaving me to undo my shin guards and bracers. "Thanks, Red." I said to him before seating myself and eyeing the spread. "Oh? Who did the bread tonight?"
'The bread' was a little lumpy, but still looked quite edible. "Ko-san, Wiene and I baked those." Haruhime said, the dragon girl smiling at me, mouth closed but with a little strand of spaghetti hanging from the corner of her mouth.
"We also taught her about table manners." Mikoto said firmly, but not unkindly.
Nodding and snatching a bun from the basket, making sure to take one of the oddly shaped ones, I bit into it and made a pleased noise. Mostly for effect, but it wasn't half bad. Maybe a little under done, but I'd rather that than burnt.
"Kodori likes it?" Wiene asked, mouth no longer occupied with food, though she had a little smear of tomato sauce still on her cheek.
"Yes. It's good." I replied, smiling at her, but also noticing many of the others at the table smiling slightly as well. "Though, how many tries did it take?"
Ouka chuckled, and Asuka mumbled 'busted...'
"Well... Umm..." Haruhime started, but Wiene interrupted her.
"Four!"
There was a ripple of laughter, bringing back a little of the energy we were all missing.
"Even I took more tries than that. I'm quite proud of her." Hestia admitted. "Maybe we can teach her how to make cookies?"
And just like that, with Wiene asking, "What's a cookies?" We collectively shrugged off the depression looming over us. A temporary thing, but after my chat with Hermes, I didn't think I could handle much more gloom in my day.
Of course, that lasted until we all gathered in the living room, with its warm fireplace and array of comfortable couches and chairs.
"So, yeah..." Welf started as we got comfortable. As usual, he was in his first attempt at making a reading chair. It looked more like a throne, but it was at least comfortable and he could easily hook his leg over one of the arm rests while leaning back. "Bell and I did a little investigating, and we met a rather interesting... Person? Sure, at this point, yeah, person."
Bell, who had Wiene sitting in his lap like an overlarge cat, while Hestia sat next to him trying not to look jealous, reached into a pouch at his belt. This was a little odd, as he usually took all of that off while inside the estate. From inside, he fished out a shockingly green feather.
"She was a harpy." He said, handing me the feather, all eyes in the room on it, with Wiene making a quiet 'ooo green'. "At first, she said asked if it was us who captured her friends. But then, she got closer, and sniffed us. Saying that we didn't smell of blood." He motioned to the feather, but Welf spoke up then.
"I noticed she was wearing your old pants, sister." The smith said, shivering, "She looked like she was going to get angry when I mentioned it, but she sniffed me, and said I smelled like someone she knew."
Unable to resist, I said, "Sure, we get hot and sweaty together all the time." Haruhime blushed, giving me a light swat on the shoulder, and a few of the others chuckled quietly, "Go on." I twirled the feather between my thumb and forefinger, admiring the colour of it.
"Ahem, well yeah. She said something... Bell, you remember the name?" Welf looked at Bell, who nodded.
"She asked if we were the ones Fels mentioned." Bell said, sounding a little lost.
"Hm." I handed Wiene the feather, "be gentle with it." I mumbled to her, then, "More questions... No answers..."
"That's not all." Bell tapped my arm with his hand to interrupt, "She asked... She asked if we could coexist. If we could understand each other, to hold hands as friends."
This shocked us all. Not only were there more of these 'aware' monsters, at least one of them, probably more, understood at least some of the situation. "Don't swear, Ko-san." Haruhime mumbled quietly, leaning on my shoulder and hugging my arm lightly.
Closing my mouth with a 'click' of teeth, I sighed, took a deep breath, and felt everyone's eyes on me. Even with my eyes closed in thought, I could feel the expectation in the room, and it felt... Unpleasant.
"Is there anything else?" I looked at Welf, who shook his head, swept my eyes over the Takemikazuchi Familia, who also gave me a negative. Marius held up a hand, index finger extended, and I nodded to him, holding up a hand of my own to hold that thought. Takemikazuchi and Hestia shook their heads as well.
"Actually there is one more thing." I looked at Bell, who looked like he was remembering something unpleasant. "After we split up, I had to think. Clear my head." I nodded, though some of the others looked surprised. Bell wasn't usually 'shaken' by anything. Of us all, myself included, he was the most steadfast. "I... Met another God. Some one named Lord Ikelos."
Ikelos... Ikelos... I remembered reading the name before... Greek god... brother of... who was it again...
"He asked if I'd seen a Vouivre... He even mentioned the nineteenth floor, and h...how pretty she is..." He fumbled for words a moment, "Mentioned his Familia was bothering him to look into it too... But before he could ask anymore, Lord Hermes walked by. He told me he needed to speak with Lord Ikelos, and to go home."
"Bell, next time you see Hermes, buy him, and Asfi a drink." I said. Not explaining yet, I looked across to Marius, "You had something to add?"
"A minor thing. I was assisting with the shopping today, with Ma'am Asuka."
"He can carry so much stuff!" Asuka said with a grin.
"Ahem, well, while ma'am Asuka was bartering with that elderly vegetable lady," We all nodded, knowing that exact lady, who, despite her age, knew us all by name and offered us the best deals, "I overheard one of the wholesale vendors you mentioned a while ago ma'am."
I thought a moment, thinking of the placement of the stalls in that area, "That would be... The lumber seller?"
"Indeed. He was talking to another of the dealers you mentioned, who was complaining about someone demanding a deal on all his metals. All of it. I did not hear all of the conversation, as ma'am Asuka finished trading with the elderly lady, but he was rather upset at the treatment, even though he sold pretty much his entire stock." Marius nodded to me, indicating he was finished.
"I must have just missed you Bell, or missed Ikelos." I said, "Hermes and I had a little chat. He knows too. But... I think he's on our side."
The room got quiet a moment, everyone except Wiene looking gloomy. I sighed quietly, and took it upon myself to address the dragon in the room.
"For now, I vote we keep things as we have been. Keep safe, keep alert for new news, and be ready to take any advantage we can get." I held up a hand before anyone could speak, "Politics in the city are making the people we can work with kind of shy. Ganesha knows, but he is too much of a public figure to just step in. Hermes knows, but his Familia is probably too busy to help directly. I'm almost positive there is a third person, or group, who know, and can't help yet either. But we DO have allies in this."
"How does that help us now though?" Ouka asked, as captain of the Takemikazuchi Familia, "Meaning no disrespect, but..."
"We are all smart people." Welf said with half his usual enthusiasm, "We just have less room for a mistake this time."
A few nods, though the stillness from some was louder to me than a rejection of the plan itself. Wiene was also looking up from her feather, picking up on the mood in the room. She started to make a noise, a half formed word, but she stopped, tried again, stopped, then a third time, she said, "i'm sorry."
If the sound of a heart snapping in half could get any louder, it would be when a half dozen of them do it at the same time.
Hestia was first to respond, virginal Goddess or not, her motherly instinct would win awards. "It's okay Wiene. It's not your fault. But the situation is delicate."
"Situation?" The girl asked, looking at Bell, her slender ears twitching.
Bell nodded, as his face bunched up a little, thinking hard, "It's like... Oh! Bread. When you made the bread. You have to make the dough, then knead it, then put it in the oven. If you do anything wrong, it might not turn out, right?"
It was a silly example, but our expert cook Mikoto jumped on the analogy adding, "In this case, we are the bread. We must add you to the mix, Wiene-chan, and make sure the people out there," She made an 'over there' gesture towards the nearest window, "Do not burn us."
I could see the dragon girl think on this. Her innocent face twisting in thought, "But... why would they?"
This time, it was Takemikazuchi who came to the rescue. Leave it to the 'father' of an orphanage to answer the endless 'why's of a child. "They do not understand yet. Do you remember, when you touched the stove? And it hurt you?"
Wiene held her left hand with her right, "Yes..."
"To most people, you are the stove. But do you remember what I told you after, about the stove?" Takemikazuchi asked, approaching and kneeling in front of Wiene holding out his hand.
Without any hesitation, she nodded and put her left hand on top of Takemikazuchi's. "You said I have to be careful, and to be sure to learn what is dangerous when in the kitchen, before I touch it."
"And so, we much teach them about you. But it isn't time yet." He said with a smile. From the corner of my eye I could see Mikoto trying to cover her jealousy at seeing the two hold hands, "So for now, we need to be careful. And when the time comes, we can teach them about you."
"Now who's wise?" I mumbled in English, making the two Gods in the room smile, but not take their eyes from Wiene, who was still looking sad, but nodding slowly.
I felt Haruhime give me a hug, then a second one when I didn't return it with my usual speed. Looking over to her, and away from what might be either a great event in the making, or a total disaster for everyone I cared about, I returned her hug, trying to soak up some of her brilliance to brighten my mood.
"Miss Kodori is worried." Lilly said simply as I sat next to her. She was washing herself before getting into the massive bathtub for a soak.
"What's a word for 'very very very'." I asked, moving the stool under me so I was behind her, one of my tails curling around my little bucket with my scrubbing brushes and such and bringing it with me, while another tail swept up one of Lilly's washcloths and brought it to my waiting hand.
"Um... How about 'incredibly'." She sounded out the word, raising her arms so I could scrub under them. "Heehee... tickles."
I tried not to tickle her as I added a little more soap to the cloth and scrubbed her back, though the temptation to do so was rather high. "Yes, incredibly worried." I looked over to a shampoo bottle, and one of my tails fetched it for me, "You're worried too, I can tell."
"Lilly..." She paused, shook her head once from side to side, "I am worried. I don't want her here." She spoke as an adult now, her voice losing the usual sing-song tone she usually adopted, "But, you and Bell gave me a chance. Even after all the trouble I caused, even after trying to rescue me almost got you both killed..." Her back and shoulders slumped a little, "Even though I was a criminal. And wanted to steal from you both. And was only planning to use you both to get money."
"And now?" I lightly used my fingernails to scratch her back, making her straighten up a little before I started washing her hair, "I made this shampoo... keep your eyes closed."
"I don't want her here." She mumbled, the steamed up mirror in front of her showing me her 'scrunched up' face of keeping her eyes shut tight. "But I want to help. If I didn't try... I'd be more of a monster than Wiene."
It might have been condensation on the mirror, or that she was crying. It was hard to tell. "Best supporter." I said to her, another one of my tails looping itself over a shower head and bringing it to me. I sprinkled water over her head, putting a hand over her forehead to keep the suds from her eyes, "Hear that?" I said a little louder towards the door the changing room.
It was hard to imagine a door opening 'excitedly' but the sliding door to the changing room did in fact manage to do so. Wiene, with the slightly taller Haruhime behind her, both with tears in their eyes, were standing there.
"No running." I warned before Wiene could enter, even as I hugged Lilly so she couldn't escape.
Foot raised as if to start running, the dragon girl put her foot down, carefully entered the slick tiled bathroom, walked over to us, and joined me in hugging a very surprised Lilly. But, before Wiene could dissolve into emotional happy/sad hugging, Lilly looked sideways at me and said, "Miss Kodori plays dirty."
Not answering, I slipped away from the two, and smiled at Haruhime. "Thanks love." I said to her quietly, "Wash your back?"
A short while later we got into the tub to soak, Haruhime and I getting in last, as my tails all but demanded to be washed by her, the rest of the women filtered into the bathroom. Sinking in between Haruhime and Hestia, I sighed a long winded sigh as the hot water enveloped me.
"Miss Kodori sounds like an old man." Lilly teased as my rear touched the bottom of the tub, my tails slinking into the water like furry black serpents.
I rested one arm on the lip of the bath behind Haruhime's head, and cracked an eye towards the supporter. "Being a big sister is hard." I said, earning a giggle from almost everyone.
To say nothing of Apollo being a titanic jerk, who ever he asked to design his baths deserved every valis they were payed. The edge, all the way around, let most races sit and lean back against the stone wall of the bath and have the water up to their shoulders. Being a little taller, my rear was a little further from the wall, and being really short, Lilly was kneeling. As one got closer to the centre, the tub slanted slowly, making for easy draining, and cleaning, as there were no corners or nooks for dirt to cling to.
It was also deep enough in the middle for those not content to soak, to swim a little. Like Wiene was. It was kind of adorable to watch her 'dragon paddle' around, visiting people, getting splashed, then swimming away to hide behind someone.
Like me. After Asuka made a 'rawr!' noise at her and started to stand up, Wiene 'eep'ed and paddled over to me, taking advantage of my slightly further from the wall position to duck under the water and get behind me. Popping up again with a 'fuwah', her slim body clinging to my back, her head peeking over my shoulder.
"Are you bothering Asuka?" I asked her, turning my head and poking her in the nose lightly, "baths are meant for relaxing." I told her.
"But... its the water is so nice! The warmth makes me want to swim!" the dragon girl pouted at me, hiding her nose from a second attempt to boop it.
"Let me explain then, 'can' and 'should'." I said, my tails swishing out from behind Hestia and Haruhime, making them both 'eep' as the slick fur brushed their backsides. "Oh! I have a good topic for this one." I made sure to give a few of the ladies in the room a 'pay attention' look.
Confused, Wiene sat there a moment as my tails gathered her up. With a little push, I slide over and crouched in the deepest part of the bath, not wanting to leave more than my head out of the wonderful heat. My tails deposited the dragon girl where I'd just been, "So, you might have noticed, Bell..." I gave Wiene a halfhearted glare before she could get excited about her favourite person/topic/squeeze toy. "Is very huggable."
There were a few snickers from around me, a couple of blushes, and an enthusiastically nodding dragon girl.
"But! Not everyone likes hugs. Affection is good, but you should know how much, or how little to give. Can you hug someone? Yes. Should you? Maybe."
"But... i like hugs..." Wiene pouted.
"Me too. Lady Hestia?" I gave the Goddess a 'move over' shake of my head towards the downcast dragonling, "Lady Hestia isn't one for many hugs. However, she likes to give them."
I think it clicked for my Goddess what I was trying to do, and she moved over, her divine body kind of defying most laws of physics, as she wrapped one arm comfortingly around Wiene's lower back and drew her into a hug. "There there." Hestia said, patting Wiene's head with her free hand.
"Haruhime, likes hugs. But she likes gentle ones. She's very soft, but not like most of us, and isn't very tough." I explained as Hestia let Wiene go, her 'assets' returning to their perfect shape again as she sunk back to her shoulders under the water.
"Like this?" Wiene asked as she wrapped her arms around Haruhime, my opposite's bosom compressing amusingly as Wiene seemed to be hugging her like she was picking up a fragile vase or something.
"A little tighter is okay." Haruhime said with a smile, carefully patting Wiene's back before letting go. "Good girl." She said, earning a brilliant smile from the dragon girl.
"See? Just because you can hug really tight, doesn't mean you should." I looked over to Chigusa, who guessed it was her turn, "Chigusa is very shy." I said, "You can't sneak up on her for a hug." I did that once, and only once, she was worse than Bell, and I felt really bad after.
Wiene waded over to the Takemikazuchi supporter, not reaching out yet, but standing just close enough to make the shy girl shrink a little. "No hugs?"
"Actually, she's more of a pat on the shoulder, or on the back kind of person." I said with a smile, wading over as well and brushing my fingers over top of Chigusa's shoulder, "You did great with that salad tonight, by the way." I told her.
"it was nothing really... you're welcome..." Chigusa mumbled, smiling but trying to hide her face.
"See? You can even show someone you care, without a hug." I gave Wiene's head a pat, nudging her to turn towards Asuka, "Now, Asuka is also not much for hugs." I wiggled myself between Asuka and Chigusa, getting shoulder to shoulder with the quiet fighter. "But, she does like being close. See?"
Taking my example, the dragon girl wiggled over to Asuka's other side and just kinda, almost, sorta, leaned on her. "Like this?"
"Almost." I reached behind Asuka, grabbing Wiene's hand, and putting it between Asuka's shoulder blades. "just give her a light rub here. Show her you care, but don't cling."
For effect, Asuka leaned against Wiene and gave her back a pat as well. "Ohhhh. I get it." She said, starting to get excited again, most of us laughing.
"Wait wait, not done yet." I said, "Mikoto?"
Giving me a raised eyebrow and a look that was close, but not quite 'long suffering' for disturbing the tranquillity that was supposed to be the bath, "I don't really like hugs." She said plainly, "But," She offered her hand to Wiene, who took it, and was puzzled when all Mikoto did was give her forearm a light squeeze.
"See? Just a little. Enough to show you care." I said, one of my tails slinking under the water and lightly brushing Mikoto's leg as I went by. "Then, there is Lilly."
"i don't wanna." Lilly pouted.
"Lilly sometimes likes hugs. Other times not. But, if she wants a hug, she'll say so." I explained, "She also likes head pats."
"i do not." Lilly said, ducking her head under the water with a grumpy 'blublublub'.
"Oh no!" Wiene said, ducking under as well and standing, lifting Lilly out of the water, both her arms wrapped around the shorter girl, "Don't drown!"
Surprised, most of us sort of froze, unsure what to do. Wiene's curiosity and happiness switched instantly to concern at the perceived risk of Lilly drowning. It took a moment to calm her down, but once Lilly was proven to not be in danger, put back into the water, and given a head pat, Wiene relaxed.
Bringing us full circle, I sat back between Hestia and Haruhime, "Phew. So, do you understand? Just because you can hug someone, because you like them, doesn't mean you should."
Like a proper student, Wiene sat in front of me and nodded, but then stopped, looked deeply puzzled, and asked, "What about you? Do you like hugs?"
"Ko-san likes many things." Haruhime said in one of her rare mischievous tones, "But she especially likes getting her back scratched."
"The secret is out." I said in mock defeat. "Though... My tails seem to do all the affection giving before I get a chance to most of the time."
"Like this?" Wiene, suddenly behind me again, started to scratch my back.
"Miss Kodori is broken again."
"A little higher, right there. Lightly, oh, you here that?"
"Foxes can purr?"
"I'll get you Ha-chan... ... later... maybe..." I mumbled.
"I'm not sorry." Haruhime said quietly as she closed our door, her smile still in place as she got ready for bed. "You... Are really worried, aren't you?"
Setting out my clothes for tomorrow, then hanging up my bath robe, I replied, "Yes. I hate to admit it, but I've almost lost my temper a few times recently, once yesterday, twice today. I nearly punched Hermes..."
As I stepped out from behind the dressing panels, the night air feeling just right over my skin, I saw that Haruhime was 'shocked'. Not just surprised, but dumbstruck. "But... He's a God."
"He's a jerk." I said grumpily, standing in front of her and putting my hands on her bare shoulders, "Never mind that it would have been a stupid thing to do. Some of the things he does are the exact things that annoy me."
I drew her into a hug and she mumbled into my chest, "You have to keep strong. You are our captain. You see the path in front of us before we even know there is a path at all."
"It's just... Something I've learned how to do." I replied, leaning down and resting my chin between her ears, "Thank you for bringing Wiene to the bath. Perfect timing."
"How did you know?" She asked, giggling quietly as I scooped her up in my arms effortlessly, and carried her to our bed.
"Of us all, Lilly has had the hardest life. Of us all, she wants to keep her place in the world. She has a good home now, friends, family, things that make her happy. But our situation could easily take it all away, from all of us." I sat down in the middle of the bed, my golden fox in my lap. "Usually, she speaks her mind, but when she didn't, I knew she was thinking something. Not sure what exactly, but I had to get her to talk about it."
"It was hard to keep Wiene from running." Haruhime replied, "I had to hug her tight and tell her to trust you."
"And you did a wonderful job." I leaned down and kissed her forehead with a quiet growl, "Except then, you told her about scratching my back... You know there's more than one thing I like about that..."
"Are you going to punish me for it?" She replied with a smile, her arms reaching up to encircle my neck.
Notes!
-ahem-
So, in light of this being an anime story, I thought, why not! Bath scene!
... I'm terrible at writing 'adult' things. At least I think I am.
I think, I will do a little stretching out of the events that are about to unfold. Do a little 'slice of life'ing or some such. Maybe get a few side stories worked in before 'the other shoe' happens.
Also, the three anime of choice for a potential 'Kodori drops in' vote is still on. I've had some great suggestions, and since there is still a fair bit of story left to tell, I'm keeping the poll open.
Until next time. :)