With an effort, I wrenched my head back to face Mia once more. Something was going on with her, too. But then, she was an ex-goddess and a Faen, so the unexpected was a given.
Mia smiled mischievously and batted her eyelashes. “Yes, Master. A bedroom.” It took me a moment to realize she was still on the earlier conversation, and I had to mentally switch gears to catch back up. “I think this place changes to welcome me the more that I welcome it. If that makes any sense.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly before risking a surreptitious glance at Lynnria. I did not exactly want to divulge every detail about the situation. Especially now that Mia had taken to calling me that. Just like Jax. And much like her, the change seemed to represent something quite significant—even if I did not have any idea of what that might be. “If you are referring to the… incident from earlier.”
Mia’s smile broadened, but before she could speak, Lynnria responded.
“Of course, I am.” Blinking, I focused back on her, rapidly shifting gears back again. I felt a headache coming on. “I thought I was about to die, Donum. Then… then… what even happened back there? How could you tell what I was feeling under my hand? How did you know what to do with it? None of this makes any sense!”
“I uh…” Hesitatingly, I looked between the two of them, wishing I had more than one mouth to speak with. “You know, this would be so much easier if we could all talk to each other at the same time.”
“I am not powerful enough to exist within more than one mind at a time, Master,” Mia informed me.
“Oh… you were still talking to her?” Lynnria replied at close to the same instant.
“Uh…”
Mia continued, ignoring her. “Though, I suppose… it might be possible to do more than just exist within a mind.” With that enigmatic statement, she began idly inspecting her claws.
“Wait, what?”
Mia immediately shivered again, and certain parts of her recently covered anatomy began to announce themselves, perhaps in protest.
“Donum, can you please focus?” Lynnria asked. “This is important!”
“Well—“
“Oh, Master! That feels—fuck me like the slut I am—absolutely divine! I should have done this ages ago.”
“Okay!” I said a tad too loudly. “Mia… Lynnria… Mia is uh… Well, something about the… the thing with the door earlier is causing her to go through a-a thing? Apparently. And it’s a little distracting.”
Lynnria frowned. “She’s not swearing more is she?”
Mia began enthusiastically clutching at herself and slowly sank out of view.
“Not… exactly.”
“Well, that’s good at least. No offense, Mia, but you can be a little hard to take.”
“Hn~ likewise,” Mia moaned out, though obviously Lynnria could not hear her. “Just… just one more, Master. Please? I’m so close!”
“Uh… are you… enjoying yourself?”
She gasped exultingly. “Oh, fuck! Yes!”
It was a struggle, but I did just manage to wrench my mind away from her swan-dive into the gutter. For which I was thankful. With the way I was pressed into the ceiling, my lower half was already uncomfortable enough as it was, and any blood that decided to rush down there was not going to be coming back any time soon.
Whatever was going on with Mia, I was definitely going to have to explore it… but later. And preferably in private.
Clearing my throat, I once again addressed Lynnria, though my voice might have been raised just a tad. I was having some difficulty in hearing myself at the moment.
“What were we talking about?”
“The hidden door?” she reminded me. “How did you do that?”
I tried to shrug, but the trap prevented me. “I’m not entirely sure. Mia showed me some sort of symbol hidden within the uh… well, one of the Words I happen to know.”
“Labia,” she supplied. “Yes, I remember. Unlucky find, that. And before today, conventional wisdom would have called it completely useless. But what do you mean by a symbol hidden within a Word?”
“I… don’t know much,” I began.
The few times I had managed to visit the strange dimension within my own mind had raised far more questions than answers, so I focused mainly on the books and the many symbols found within them in favor of some of the more… confusing details. She did not really have any need to know them, and I was pretty far from understanding them myself.
That seemed par for the course when it came to this world. Or any world, if I was being fair. I just happened to have come from a place where most of the puzzle had already been filled in. But unlike certain individuals I had no need to mention, at least my world did not deliberately withhold answers. In any case, I concluded by introducing some of my thoughts about the nature of her Class—scant though they might be.
“Donum… I mean, I get it. As an Engraver, it makes sense I would have some ability with them, but I have never heard of anyone being able to make permanent magical engravings. There’s just no way,” she argued. “Still, that’s… well, it isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but it’s at least something interesting. And kind of a relief, if I’m honest. I’ve been half afraid I’d spend the rest of my life working with a chisel. I’m not sure how useful being able to sense Words through touch might be, though. I still can’t read them.” She furrowed her brow and gave me a considering look. “What I don’t understand is how these… books or whatever let you understand Words you don’t know.”
“They don’t,” I admitted. “But when Mia gives me a hint, I can sort of infer their meaning. Or somewhere in the ballpark, anyway.”
“Ball—you mean a pitch?” She tried to frown her confusion, but it came out a bit lop-sided. “But… how? I couldn’t describe… actually, I don’t think I can even remember that symbol. And it was me that was touching it!” Her frown deepened. “Now that I think on it, you couldn’t feel them. How could you know which one it was?”
I sighed. I was not keen on admitting this, but it would not do to keep it a secret. Not if I claimed to at all care for this girl.
“Well, much like you, I can also sense some things. I can’t really control it, but sometimes I can pick up a bit of what a person is thinking as we uh…” I paused briefly, hesitant to finish the thought.
“Kiss?” she supplied in a whisper.
I swallowed. Thinking back, there had been a few times with Jax… “Yes. And other sorts of… intimacy.”
“By the Three…” she breathed dreamily, but then she quickly jerked her head away. “Agh! This is so frustrating. I’ve never been this pent up in my entire life!”
“That… wasn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting,” I said.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
With an effort, I wrenched my head back to face Mia once more. Something was going on with her, too. But then, she was an ex-goddess and a Faen, so the unexpected was a given.
Mia smiled mischievously and batted her eyelashes. “Yes, Master. A bedroom.” It took me a moment to realize she was still on the earlier conversation, and I had to mentally switch gears to catch back up. “I think this place changes to welcome me the more that I welcome it. If that makes any sense.”
“Maybe,” I said slowly before risking a surreptitious glance at Lynnria. I did not exactly want to divulge every detail about the situation. Especially now that Mia had taken to calling me that. Just like Jax. And much like her, the change seemed to represent something quite significant—even if I did not have any idea of what that might be. “If you are referring to the… incident from earlier.”
Mia’s smile broadened, but before she could speak, Lynnria responded.
“Of course, I am.” Blinking, I focused back on her, rapidly shifting gears back again. I felt a headache coming on. “I thought I was about to die, Donum. Then… then… what even happened back there? How could you tell what I was feeling under my hand? How did you know what to do with it? None of this makes any sense!”
“I uh…” Hesitatingly, I looked between the two of them, wishing I had more than one mouth to speak with. “You know, this would be so much easier if we could all talk to each other at the same time.”
“I am not powerful enough to exist within more than one mind at a time, Master,” Mia informed me.
“Oh… you were still talking to her?” Lynnria replied at close to the same instant.
“Uh…”
Mia continued, ignoring her. “Though, I suppose… it might be possible to do more than just exist within a mind.” With that enigmatic statement, she began idly inspecting her claws.
“Wait, what?”
Mia immediately shivered again, and certain parts of her recently covered anatomy began to announce themselves, perhaps in protest.
“Donum, can you please focus?” Lynnria asked. “This is important!”
“Well—“
“Oh, Master! That feels—fuck me like the slut I am—absolutely divine! I should have done this ages ago.”
“Okay!” I said a tad too loudly. “Mia… Lynnria… Mia is uh… Well, something about the… the thing with the door earlier is causing her to go through a-a thing? Apparently. And it’s a little distracting.”
Lynnria frowned. “She’s not swearing more is she?”
Mia began enthusiastically clutching at herself and slowly sank out of view.
“Not… exactly.”
“Well, that’s good at least. No offense, Mia, but you can be a little hard to take.”
“Hn~ likewise,” Mia moaned out, though obviously Lynnria could not hear her. “Just… just one more, Master. Please? I’m so close!”
“Uh… are you… enjoying yourself?”
She gasped exultingly. “Oh, fuck! Yes!”
It was a struggle, but I did just manage to wrench my mind away from her swan-dive into the gutter. For which I was thankful. With the way I was pressed into the ceiling, my lower half was already uncomfortable enough as it was, and any blood that decided to rush down there was not going to be coming back any time soon.
Whatever was going on with Mia, I was definitely going to have to explore it… but later. And preferably in private.
Clearing my throat, I once again addressed Lynnria, though my voice might have been raised just a tad. I was having some difficulty in hearing myself at the moment.
“What were we talking about?”
“The hidden door?” she reminded me. “How did you do that?”
I tried to shrug, but the trap prevented me. “I’m not entirely sure. Mia showed me some sort of symbol hidden within the uh… well, one of the Words I happen to know.”
“Labia,” she supplied. “Yes, I remember. Unlucky find, that. And before today, conventional wisdom would have called it completely useless. But what do you mean by a symbol hidden within a Word?”
“I… don’t know much,” I began.
The few times I had managed to visit the strange dimension within my own mind had raised far more questions than answers, so I focused mainly on the books and the many symbols found within them in favor of some of the more… confusing details. She did not really have any need to know them, and I was pretty far from understanding them myself.
That seemed par for the course when it came to this world. Or any world, if I was being fair. I just happened to have come from a place where most of the puzzle had already been filled in. But unlike certain individuals I had no need to mention, at least my world did not deliberately withhold answers. In any case, I concluded by introducing some of my thoughts about the nature of her Class—scant though they might be.
“Donum… I mean, I get it. As an Engraver, it makes sense I would have some ability with them, but I have never heard of anyone being able to make permanent magical engravings. There’s just no way,” she argued. “Still, that’s… well, it isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but it’s at least something interesting. And kind of a relief, if I’m honest. I’ve been half afraid I’d spend the rest of my life working with a chisel. I’m not sure how useful being able to sense Words through touch might be, though. I still can’t read them.” She furrowed her brow and gave me a considering look. “What I don’t understand is how these… books or whatever let you understand Words you don’t know.”
“They don’t,” I admitted. “But when Mia gives me a hint, I can sort of infer their meaning. Or somewhere in the ballpark, anyway.”
“Ball—you mean a pitch?” She tried to frown her confusion, but it came out a bit lop-sided. “But… how? I couldn’t describe… actually, I don’t think I can even remember that symbol. And it was me that was touching it!” Her frown deepened. “Now that I think on it, you couldn’t feel them. How could you know which one it was?”
I sighed. I was not keen on admitting this, but it would not do to keep it a secret. Not if I claimed to at all care for this girl.
“Well, much like you, I can also sense some things. I can’t really control it, but sometimes I can pick up a bit of what a person is thinking as we uh…” I paused briefly, hesitant to finish the thought.
“Kiss?” she supplied in a whisper.
I swallowed. Thinking back, there had been a few times with Jax… “Yes. And other sorts of… intimacy.”
“By the Three…” she breathed dreamily, but then she quickly jerked her head away. “Agh! This is so frustrating. I’ve never been this pent up in my entire life!”
“That… wasn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting,” I said.
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
