His morning was marked by a stiff feeling in his lower half and a dizzying softness everywhere else. Aether lazily looked down and figured that the gorgeous woman on top of him was the cause of both. The few rays of sunlight that seeped through the curtains made her nude body shine in tints of warm pink and gold. Her eyes caught his, and she smiled lasciviously at him.
Aether closed his eyes. This was a dream. He was wasting precious sleep by getting worked up in his imagination.
The bed creaked faintly as the weight on top of him shifted. She was leaning closer. Despite himself, Aether shuddered upon feeling her soft breath against his ear.
"Rise and shine, little one." She nuzzled into his neck, her fangs gently scratching the base of his jaw. Her laughter was like a cascade of precious gemstones. "I need to find a new nickname for you. After all, you did prove me very wrong about the 'little' part."
Her hand wandered up his thigh, and what Aether felt then couldn't have been replicated by a dream. This was real. His reaction elicited another laugh out of her.
"Despite everything you made me feel last night, you're still so bashful about initiating. Your expressions are timeless, darling." The hand cupping his bulge became slightly more firm, but still gentle. "That's one of the many things I love about you." Her eyes flashed with a sudden possessiveness as she closed the distance and captured his lips.
It didn't slowly progress into a deep kiss; rather, the explosion between them was immediate. The taste of her mouth set his senses on fire as she pushed against him. Aether didn't fight it. He soon felt her fresh tongue dart between his lips before pulling back, leaving him hungry for more of her taste. He returned the kiss with a desperation he didn't know he had. She let out a delighted mewl as his fingers brushed through her pink hair, locking her face against his. He wasn't sure whether the deep moans in his mouth came from her or himself, and he frankly didn't care. He clung fiercely to her body and didn't let go.
After several attempts at pulling away, all thwarted by their shared desire to go back in for more, she broke the kiss. Barely. Her mouth hung inches above his as they panted in unison with quiet, rhythmical breathing. His hand felt her racing heartbeat right under her breast.
He couldn't recall how far they had gone the previous night, but this was more important. More impulsive. He had no sense of time, yet every second of this moment felt fleeting and precious. He yearned for her love, for her acceptance, and for every touch between them to be as full of meaning as this.
She kissed him again. Only briefly before he could reciprocate and lose himself in her again. She moved away, lower, her eyes never leaving him. Her hands came to a stop at his belt. Aether reached down to help her unbuckle it, but she caught his wrist midway.
"No need," she assured him with a taunting smile. "You'll be putting these hands to work later. Just relax for now, and let a lady handle things on her own."
The dexterity with which she removed his belt didn't exactly quell the growing fire inside of him. His body still demanded more. She maintained a certain degree of suspense, slowly pulling down his pants and underwear with the grandstanding of a magician pulling a rabbit out of her hat.
This rabbit had jumped to attention in a matter of seconds. She quietly observed his erect manhood for a second before her soft smile morphed into an impish grin. He recognized the dangerous glint of a predator having finally cornered its prey in her purple eyes. She was going to devour him whole, and he'd thank her after the fact.
Her fingers gently wrapped around his cock, coaxing a faint groan out of him as she gave it a tentative stroke. His hips gave in to her, seeking more of her touch. Her hand kept working him slowly until he could barely feel the bed beneath him. He gasped sharply to the beat of her drum, as all of his nerve endings surrendered to the pleasure.
"You're being quite vocal today, darling," she purred. "Good. But I think you'll be making a lot more noise once I start taking care of you properly."
She leaned down and slowly brought her face closer to his cock. Her warm breath fanned over it, causing it to twitch slightly in her grasp. She licked her lips deviously before kissing the base, then moved up, letting her tongue trail across his sensitive underside.
Aether looked on with a mix of awe and desire as she wrapped her mouth around the top, and tantalizingly moved her head down, until…
He woke up with a start. His whole body ached. Aether sat up quietly on his bed, slowly processing how his traitorous senses had fooled him. The loving warmth and intoxicating fragrance that clung to his body a few moments ago now eluded him cruelly. His dream lover was exactly that: a dream, and all the feelings of arousal he'd experienced were relentless tricks of his psyche trying to translate a natural phenomenon. Looking down, he saw the taut bed sheets covering up a morning erection. Natural phenomenon.
After the disbelief came the unyielding rage.
Day 2 of the escort commission.
Ritou Harbor, International Trade Association.
"Little one, are you up yet? We have a very tight schedule, so hurry up and get some food in you. I can't guarantee you breakfast if you choose to sleep in."
The door creaked open before Miko could knock on it one additional time. The blond had gotten dressed in only a few minutes, taking some extra time to suppress his own urges through careful breathing exercises. While it didn't do much to alleviate his current mood, he at least didn't have to greet her with a full-mast erection like some deviant who couldn't handle himself around a female adventuring companion. Aether's skin crawled at the thought of letting her see him like this.
"I'm up, so don't just eat everything." he yawned, avoiding her eyes. He wasn't going to take his chances at mixing her constant teasing with his own sexual frustration so early in the morning. The easiest way to deny her any material was to speak less and cut to the chase.
"Oh my," The kitsune cocked an eyebrow. "Got up on the wrong side of the bed, darling? You look awfully drowsy."
She gently cupped his face to inspect it. The tender gesture and sudden proximity between them almost caused Aether's brain to shut down completely. He remained willingly trapped between her hands, not finding in himself any desire to turn or pull away.
She smelled amazing, and her scent inevitably reminded him of his unfortunate dream. Aether kept quiet before he could say something he might regret.
Miko clicked her tongue chidingly. "That's not good, did you stay up late? What were you doing all this time, hmm? Go on, tell me."
"I got enough sleep. I just had a bad dream." he mumbled. It technically wasn't a lie. The physical attributes and mannerisms of the woman in his wet dream was strikingly similar to Miko's, and he considered that to be bad enough. Fantasizing about her in his subconscious was counterproductive to the escort commission. And even that aside, he really didn't want to develop any awkward feelings that could potentially damage their friendship beyond repair.
With this newfound resolution, Aether managed to stop staring at her plump lips the way he had been for the past minute.
She finally let go of his face and turned around. "Well, as long as it's not the kind of terrifying nightmare that keeps you up all night, I suppose you'll feel better once you've had something tasty to eat. Come with me." She took his hand without ceremony and led him down the hallway. "But I must admit, waiting for you to emerge was dreadfully boring. I've been awake for a few hours with no one to keep me company. If you weren't so cute, I might have eaten the whole breakfast by myself and left nothing for you."
Even with her back turned to him, Aether noticed the slightest edge of worry in her voice. It wasn't habitual for her to care like this, but his own behavior was the polar opposite of how he usually acted when on commission. Nothing worth overthinking about.
He mentally scolded himself. Friend or not, it was below the Guild's standard to leave a client waiting so long.
"Sorry," he mumbled."And thanks for being so considerate."
She playfully laughed. "Relax, I'm exaggerating. That dream sure must have had you tense. We're here."
The Association had prepared them a quiet booth where they could eat away from prying eyes. With how many foreign guests they received since the Sakoku Decree had been lifted, their service had become more and more like that of a hotel. Aether took a seat in front of her, his eyes set on the copious spread of food between them. Not that copious in hindsight, considering over half of the dishes had been thoroughly sampled by a hungry kitsune. If anything contained tofu or had been deep-fried, it was gone. But she had made sure to put aside what she didn't like for him, and even saved him a seafood platter.
That was probably the most considerate thing she'd ever done for him. The bar was this low.
"We're not getting all this for free, I presume." He looked up at her. "Does this fall within your travel expenses?"
Her tiny smirk confirmed his bad feeling. "Darling, I am the wise and beautiful Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine, and you are the renowned Traveler, defender of the weak and friend to all. If anything, the International Trade Association should be honored to be receiving us. And they do, which is why this humble feast is on the house."
So in other words, she was using their combined reputation to get freebies. Why was he not surprised. She probably had poor Kurisu wrapped around her finger already. Aether made a note to send him a gift of thanks at some point.
His expression must have betrayed him, because she continued: "And before you say anything, the President is the one who offered to cover the meal first. I didn't even have to say a word. How thoughtful of him."
"I'm sure that's what he did. And I'm sure you were only too happy to indulge in his generosity." He slurped on some noodles before trailing off. "You can throw eight hundred big ones at me like it's pocket change, but a single night in Ritou is suddenly too steep..."
Her eyebrow twitched slightly. "If you like, I can deduct the cost of our stay from your final pay. No issue with that, right darling?"
"Guild contract stipulates that you can't change my pay without a written agreement between us."
"True. So I guess I should get my money back some other way."
Swift as lightning, she picked up her chopsticks and swiped all the shrimp from his plate in the same motion. Aether put down his bowl in a hurry, but too late. The last shrimp's tail disappeared behind her pearly fangs.
"I was going to eat that!"
"Not anymore, I'm afraid. Delicious." She elegantly wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, as if she hadn't just inhaled his share. "Do finish your pickled radish, though. It would be a shame to let such good food go to waste."
"I'll remember this." The threat wasn't serious enough to keep him from eating. "Or whatever. What's our plan for today?"
Miko pushed a few empty dishes aside to make room for a map. Her finger traced a route over Kannazuka Island. "We're going to take a ship directly to Tatarasuna. This is our first stop, and where I'll explain the details of our little errand to you. We won't need to travel by sea afterwards, so the boat will stay there until we make the return trip. There are a few safe areas where we can set up camp each night, and you will provide additional insurance against monsters. But I will have some work of my own to tend to, so I guess we'll both be busy little bees even past nightfall. Any questions?"
He carefully observed the route. "Yeah. Do you plan to keep me in the dark about what exactly you'll be doing for the whole trip?"
"Mmm, depends." Miko smiled smugly. "I do love it when you want something from me. How badly do you want to know? What are you willing to do in exchange for that information?"
A chill went down Aether's spine. His mind raced through a thousand scenarios, and none of them ended well for him. He shook off the unease. "On second thought, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We should get going now if we don't want to lose the tide."
Thankfully she didn't try to keep him on that topic. If he actually ended up owing her a favor after finishing the escort, that woman would fully take advantage of it to make him do something shameful. He was only too happy to let that subject go.
Aether gathered the Guuji's mountain luggage while she settled their rooms. Piling it up in advance made the load easier to carry, but he also didn't want to hear her trick a minimum-wage worker into discounting their one-night stay at the counter. Once they were both ready, Miko led the way to the pier.
Ritou Harbor was already buzzing with activity in the morning. Foreign ships had become commonplace since the trade routes had reopened, and crews from all Seven Nations converged to Inazuma for business. It wouldn't be difficult to find a rental ship and a crew to man it into Tatarasuna.
The kitsune was striding leisurely ahead of him. "While you were away in dreamland, I actually secured our ship in advance. A swift and sturdy vessel that will get the job done regardless of the weather."
Aether's tone wavered between reluctance and genuine concern. "Miko, what is this?"
He was looking at a sailing ship. Not an exceptionally large one either, but a small sailboat that a fisherman could use for a day out at sea. A fisherman Miko was not, yet she gingerly stepped into the boat all the same.
"What could you possibly mean? This is our ship." She shrugged calmly as if her own weight hadn't rocked the boat. "Come on now, be a dear and bring my luggage over here."
She seemed serious, but he didn't understand why she was pinching every last mora out of their travel costs. The idea that Miko could be having money troubles briefly crossed his mind. Aether dismissed it. She was shaving off on her expenses, but he wouldn't get a proper explanation out of her anyway. The blond had lost count of how many times she'd made him sigh during this trip.
"I can make this work, but I'm not saving your mountain of stuff if we capsize." he warned while loading another suitcase on the deck. "If you expected a comfortable ride, I suggest renting a bigger boat."
She ignored the first remark. "My fault for miscalculating." Her tone was brutally honest. Aether even double-checked for a hint of sarcasm, but Miko's expression didn't change. Her being so straightforward left him too stunned to reply.
"I forgot about one particular expense, so I had to shave off some mora from the rental to allocate the costs elsewhere. So we'll have to make do with this, little one." She chuckled bitterly as she tucked a pink strand of hair around her drooping ear. "How stupid. As if I haven't made this commission hellish enough to begin with."
Aether felt a heavy gloom befall the ship. Their conversation at breakfast had left him feeling less uncomfortable than this. Even seeing her speak so seriously made him feel wrong.
"Everything okay?" he tried.
Miko retorted with her usual half-smile. "Of course! You know better than to take my ramblings seriously, right, darling?"
Aether blinked twice. The change back had been so sudden that he now doubted his own unease. Her serious tone was nowhere to be seen.
"Right. Nothing serious." He undid the anchor knot, and the ship sailed out of the harbor with a swift burst of Anemo. Once they were out of Ritou's waters, the blond looked down at her questioningly. Miko stared vacantly into the horizon, shifting only when she felt his persistent gaze on her.
"Something wrong, little one?"
"This is supposed to be a two-manned ship." He held out one end of cordage to her. "You did know that before renting it, right?"
"..."
"You also know that the Ritou-Kannazuka channel is the most turbulent at this time of the year, right?"
Aether had the rare pleasure of watching the Guuji's face decompose in real time as she realized her own oversight. A mischievous voice at the back of his mind mused at how a fox who hated getting wet more than anything handled herself in the middle of the ocean. The restless waves ahead, which were a daily occurrence for any seafarer, constituted an insurmountable challenge for her.
Her smile had rarely seemed this strained. "Little one, I might've not thought everything through properly."
She obviously wasn't going to be of much help. He shrugged. "As long as you don't go overboard and dock my pay for it, we're good. Be sure to hold on to something."
Ei wasn't the only one who needed to get out more. Aether kept that comment to himself as they crested over an enormous wave. The bow took a dip almost to a vertical as they picked up staggering speed. Scrambling to do twice the work by himself, he finally tied himself to the mast.
He shot one last glance at a very tense kitsune just as the first wave washed over them.