FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Today was a typical early summer day at Bolanar University, the patchy grass of the university on the dry half of the continent’s mountain range leaves it a dry and uncomfortably hot for its mostly mammalian staff and student body, especially in the buildings built without air conditioning during the planet’s initial colonization. As some of the more cynical students went about frying an egg on the pavestones, classes were canceled for all undergraduate students while the graduate students were at the meeting of the scholars on Ingram’s Isle. Grazoc and Elric were playing tennis, the clacking of Grazoc’s hooves were matched by the squeals of Elric’s sneakers as the age-old thwack of rackets. The two were drenched in sweat, the human’s pale skin glistening while the light brown of Grazoc turned a much darker shade exemplifying his equine features, still they played with each species' version of a smile cast upon their face. The two women are playing a very casual game of badminton in the neighboring volleyball-badminton court while talking among themselves. As the men continue, the automatic point counter bings as Grazoc puts the ball low and soft over the net while Elric is in the back right corner, while Elric goes to retrieve the ball the auto-announcer blares in its mechanical voice “40 Grazoc, 30 Elric, Game Point”. Despite the brief moment of reprieve, the two go at it again with fast and slow balls that have hooves scrape and sneakers squeak across the court. The girls keep the first point of their game on its twenty minute bounce cycle, the speed of Vaeda matching the stamina of Matilda for a game that was more mental than physical as they were both enjoying the show.

“So, how long do you think their little match will last?” Matilda asks her feathered friend.

“I dunno, Aethelric can’t bring himself to stop until he thinks he’s given Grazoc a good game, while Grazoc won’t stop until he’s brought the best out of Aethelric.” Vaeda says.

“Ah the vigor of Eku and the stamina of old Earth makes for an excellent spectacle doesn’t it. Makes games last somewhere between eternity and forever don't they?” Matilda declares.

Just as Vaeda opens her mouth again, the tell-tale double twack of a rubber on wood.

The autonnouncer’s mechanical voice pours across the courts again. “Forty-Forty, all tied up.”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, the biology of the Pferden, much like the horses of your homeworld they resemble, gives them an excellent consistency, tapering off slowly, and their ability to sweat into their thin coat lets them stay in the game longer than perhaps any other mammal, but the human biology lets them take the hit to performance at the start, before slowly warming up to their peak.” Vaeda explains with a smile.

“Wait so other species don’t need to warm up? Even raptors like you?” Matilda inquires

“Firstly, not a Raptor . Most endothermic species need to stretch, my own included, and most true mammals need a little bit of warming up, but not like fifteen minutes to really get going.” Vaeda explains as she hits the shuttlecock in a slow, high arch across the net.

“Funny, I’m sure my brother and his wife can use that advice.” Matilda snickers before hitting the return in a shallower, faster curve.

“I didn’t know you had a brother Mattie.” Vaeda recalls.

“Wait, do you also have any nieces or nephews, actually how many brothers and sisters do you have?” Vaeda continues, her focus so much on the passing remark that the shuttlecock lands in the sand like a crashed rocket.

“I have seven siblings, five older than me, four of my older siblings are married, three with kids.” Matilda simply answers.

“That’s a pretty small family, did you have more at one point?” Vaeda asks.

“Vae. What kinda question is that?” Matilda says, shooting an outraged look across the net.

“I figured you’re somewhat noble with a suffix like fitz to your last name, I’ve heard some have like thirty progeny in the same house.” Vaeda explains.

“That’s the reason we don’t Vae. Jeez, for how much you know about our biology you know very little about our society.” Matilda grumbles.

“I didn’t mean to offend.” Vae protests.

“Vae, I’ll tell you why you don’t ask those sorts of questions some other time, in the meanwhile are you gonna be free this summer?” Matilda asks suddenly.

The feathered female stops suddenly. “I-I don’t have anything going on at all, why do you ask?” She stammers, the usual behavior of a feathered korvan caught off guard.

“Splendid.” Matilda replies.

On the other court, the two men are playing, the speed of their game prevents anything conversation beyond taunting and praise of a good play. In the mind of Grazoc, the exhaustion games was the only thing keeping him from banging down the door of the orbital shuttle and catching the first starliner back to Neustand, where some lucky sons of Eku became the Pferden, and where his beloved betrothed had recently found the two of them a home in the star and seaport of Shevarstren. Grazoc wanted little else in this universe than to run his fingers through the void-black mane of his darling Janne, share a plate of smoked fish and sauerkraut, and enjoy the cool, salty air blowing in from the sea. As for Aethelric, his mind was back home on Sundorwic, particularly his family who, in no ill-meaning way, only wanted him to return home after getting his degree. While Aethelric longed to see his parents again and see what kind of men and women his younger siblings had grown into, he knew it would be an unwelcome return. A part of him was trying to figure out something to do this summer, but with the Guildsmen out on official business until classes resumed, he was stranded planetside.

After five more games the men are tied, four to four and satisfied, their bodies sufficiently worn down to sit down and enjoy the next part of their plan, a cold drink and lunch. The Explorator guildhall had a drinks bar, non alcoholic of course, for the residents and guests of the Explorators while lunch was to be at the All-Officers hall where Grazoc called home courtesy of his former rank, and the wonderful, inexpensive sit down restaurant therein. By the time the two men had finished playing Vaeda and Matilda had already quit, enjoying conversation beneath one of the many awnings that lined the courts.

Soon the four were at the towering petrified wood doors of the Explorators guildhall, the building, a combination of a orange-brown brick with jade accents opened into the great hall where the Explorator’s had their planetary prizes including an exhibit of a one-to-one replica of the now extinct Freline Land Nautilus looming in the center of the atrium, to the right of the entrance is the drinks bar, where the four serve themselves from either a soda fountain or slushies made from native fruits and flavors. The group sit down, and in complete silence, drink down their two-quart containers, leaving the towering horse-man still thirsty and going for more.

Once “hydrated” the quartet exit the palatial guildhall and are once again dumped into the searing heat of summer and begin the closest thing to a mad dash walking can bring. The All-Officers hall is perhaps two kilometers away, and no endotherm enjoys excessive heat barring ice cream sellers. The power-walk is shadeless and breezeless, the only saving grace is that the humidity is exceedingly low courtesy of the drought, either way, by the time they arrive at Grazoc’s hall, the three mammals are soaked with sweat, and the dinosauring’s feathers are standing on end by the time they get to the next oasis of air conditioning.

Within the Officer’s hall, affectionately called the Barracks by its occupants, is notably smaller and less grand than the Explorator’s guildhall, but this is really a luxury for those who belong to military linages and are destined to never leave the long arm of He-on-Mars’ armies. The hall’s quartermaster rises from his chair upon the group’s entrance, the towering dragon-like Takori with an unamused look on his face.

“Lieutenant Grazoc, it is 40 degrees today, where is your cold-weather dress soldier?” He chastises from a poorly hidden grin.

“Sorry sir, won’t happen again sir.” Grazoc replies, playing into the joke as the group passes.

The restaurant within the building is staffed by officer cadets, except for the chefs who are professionals, and maintains a dark theme like that of the system’s uniform, dark wooden flooring, veneers. The furniture bears burgundy upholstery for the chairs and tablecloths all with a powder blue trim and accents. The only light comes from candles and the windows that show the hall’s parade grounds. The walls are plastered with iconography of the star system’s military contributions, memorabilia, commemorative paintings, and the whole nine yards. The group is seated quickly in a booth where the menus are already placed.

After the group has their orders taken and drinks served and finally conversation begins to flow again as the sweating stops. Seeing her long awaited opportunity, Matilda finally makes her move.

“Grazoc, did Janne find a home fit for a future Dux Militant on Neustand? If so I’d love to hear the details.” Matilda asks.

“Well Mattie its two and a half stories in the silk district, Janne has already brought over her sisters over from Blyvan to live in the guest rooms upstairs that used to be the old owner’s servants quarters. My cousin Hener, I’m sure you’ve met him, gave us a marital portrait, and my uncle Enrik gave us his old furniture set, the one of Halararian hardwood and whole-cut quartz. The walls in the living areas are half-up with wood paneling and the other half something we call Wandvamer, which roughly means wall warmers. They’re kinda-eh, like a smooth carpet or rug that is cut to, and completely covers the walls. They keep homes in the cities warmer and quieter as the wind, people, and conversation can get quite loud, it's an old tradition brought over from Eku.” Grazoc rambles.

“I didn’t know you bought a house, congratulations” Aethelric praises, his smile contrasting his furrowed brow. “Or married for that matter…”

Vaeda seems to be rather interested, goading him into telling the group more. “Well, tell us more how’d you go about it, and when are you going to go see it?” Vaeda inquires.

“Yes, I’ve been shopping for some months with my wife back home on Pferden, in fact I’m leaving for the planet in three days time. I haven’t seen Janne since last summer when we were wed and I was granted a promise-of-charter for the port city of Neustand. Technically I won’t graduate from the academy until next summer. Even so, I won’t be returning to Freline in the fall, the next phase of my training is to be in the field against the insurgency in Raken.” Grazoc continues.

“When were you going to tell me this Graz? You didn’t even invite me to the wedding?” Aethelric protests.

“Elric, among the Pferden marriages are a private ceremony. As for telling you, this is why I’m treating you to lunch.” Grazoc explains.

“Then how did Matilda know you were married and moving?” Aethelric asks.

“Oh, my fifth cousin once removed is the Lord-Marshal of Raken’s wife and had to approve their marriage, she gave me a call to ask if I knew a Grazoc Ostrodland, and it was the one time one of her calls to me was someone I knew.” Matilda explains.

“Pardon me for cutting in, but why is Raken up in arms?” Vaeda asks innocently.

Grazoc turns to the Korvan girl and begins an in-depth explanation about his new home and job, and where his intel ends, Matilda’s fills in where she can, and when Grazoc switches from English to Nadositch. Aethelric is left sitting at a table wondering firstly why he was so far out of the loop, and secondly a way to keep himself from going crazy this summer. Despite the rest of the table just taking the news in stride, he’s left to think on what else he doesn’t know. Soon, or perhaps some significant time passes, it’s just as well to Aethelric, the food comes. He stares down at the food, having already forgotten his order, but it is a plate of pork chops or some alien equivalent.

Vaeda looks curiously across the table to where Matilda and Aethelric are sitting, and she notes the sweat beading at the brow of Aethelric. “Pardon to change the course of conversation, but Aethelric, are you alright?” She asks, her knowledge of human biology contrasting as to why someone would be sweating at a measly seventy degrees.

Grazoc seems to notice. “Brother, are you alright?” He asks, putting a hand on his friends.

“I didn’t know you were married or moving? I figured we would camp in that canyon like we planned and now I have nothing to do, not even signal pings to look forward to.” Aethelric says in a hushed tone, his mind racing to regain his composure.

Grazoc’s face flashes as if remembering something too late. “I suppose I thought Matilda told you, but I did ask for silence from her until today.” Grazoc confesses.

“Don’t worry, Elric.” Matilda assures, putting her hand on his shoulder and a slight smile beginning to curl at her lips.

“I’m not worried, I’m just shocked, like seeing a star undimmed after a truedark mission, that’s all.” Aethelric states, his composure, at least visually, coming together again.

“Well Elric if you’ve got nothing to do, my uncle had decided to me have free reign at his summer home on Lake Catholan, Vaeda is free this summer too so it could be the three of us enjoying the estate, it has some ruins thought to be of the Hano Achoi, it's on the lake, and it's not far from town.” Matilda offers.

Aethelric sighs and raises his head with a slight smile. “Why not Maddy, I haven’t anything else going on.”

While not as enthusiastic as Matilda wanted, she had her hooks in him now and every muscle in her face were focused on keeping her satisfied smile a caring face. Vaeda’s head swings like it's on a swivel towards her friend, and while she sees no obvious signs of some grand scheme. Grazoc gave his fellow noble an impressed nod. As for Aethelric, he had no idea why Matilda would invite him, but figured it was nice nonetheless. As the lunch dragged on Vaeda swore she could smell satisfaction through her perfume. Afterwards Matilda and Grazoc had to share some words privately, noble stuff supposedly.

“Well done Matilda, well done. I must say you have my blessing in this matter, though roping Vaeda into your scheme, not that, that was impressive. Make sure while you’ve sunk your hooks into them, you get him to do the same.” Grazoc praises.

“Thank you Graz, for all your help in this, and for introducing me to Elric.” Matilda says.

“No need to thank me, the two of you are complimentary, just like me and Janne, it was a duty to my friends.” Grazoc assures.

“Now off with you Matilda, I have to say my goodbyes.” Grazoc says dismissing the conversation.

As Matilda reunites with the pair she can overhear snippets about one of Vaeda’s usual interrogation this time about human courtship and reproduction. Finally letting a smirk hit her face for the first time tonight she strides up to the two.

“You know Vaeda, if you’re so interested in human reproduction, you can always just ask Elric or I for a demonstration.” She offers her in usual sardonic manner.

“Though, it would be awkward to just watch, don't you think?” She continues.

The first gets Elric laughs heartily while Vaeda puffs up in embarrassment.

“Though, were I to be the subject of your study Vaeda…” Matilda says, walking towards Aethelric.

“...I would have no experience in the matter personally, and I’d naturally be very exclusive in who I’d select for the other end of the study...” She continues running a hand from Aethelric’s cheek to his shoulder.

Seeing Aethelric turn red as a beet and letting her grin spread. “...However, I do know of one, though the tricky bit would be convincing him to do the same.” Matilda continues, taking her hand off Aethelric and shooting a dangerously devious look to an increasingly flustered Vaeda.

“Enough Mattie, Vaeda is gonna burst in embarrassment from all this teasing.” Aethelric protests in regard to Matilda’s verbal onslaught.

“Oh, but that’s the fun part, she always talks about us like we’re objects of study, lean into it a little bit and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Matilda offers her wry grin mixing with her dark hair and pale skin to give her the look of a witch. In her mind, the more she could get her darling Elric to see her for the woman she was, the more successful her summer would be.

“I’ll need convincing of that.” Aethelric offers, his instincts were screaming, though what they were trying to say eluded him.

“Heavens above the stars Elric you’re denser than a dead star’s heart.” Matilda sighs, her plan mere inches from success. The thought of taking a kiss wasn’t far from her lips.

“Weh-Weh-Well, I th-thank you for the offer Matilda.” Vaeda stammers, trying to keep her puffed-out form contained while keeping formalities.

“Either way, Aethelric, would you mind driving to the summer home the day after tomorrow?” Matilda asks politely.

The conversation switched from thereon to matters of planning for the summer on the lake. Sleeping arrangements, cooking plans, activities and the like. The next day would pass, with the trio meeting only in twos, Vaeda and Matilda, Matilda and Aethelric, and Aethelric and Vaeda. When the sun rose the next the tell-tale shriek of the second most common land vehicle on the planet, the Sankrow Skipper, an old el-mag with a twenty-generation outdated reactor. Vaeda had never ridden in a private maglev as they weren’t very common on more populated worlds. She watched the teal and tan boat-like vehicle from her window as it rode in. Suddenly, the vehicle lurched and four legs shot from the hull and it slowly descended onto them. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she had packed everything that she would need. Unexpectedly, three knocks hit her door. She rushed to greet the unexpected guest, finding the slim, tall figure of a female human. As she looked towards the figure, she saw the usual chocolate hair, fair face, and green eyes of Matilda fitzGrenwick, an always welcome sight in her mind.

“Hey Vae, Elric is here to pick us up. Did you want a hand in carrying your things?” She offers.

“No, no, I don't need help Mattie, I’ve only got two bags.” Vaeda answers before she realizes the rudeness of her own comment. “...Thanks for the offer though.” She continues, hoping she didn’t offend her only human female friend.

“Alrighty.” Matilda nods before raising a finger. “...Oh, wait, have you eaten breakfast?” she asks.

“No I have not, do you have any ideas?” Vae replies, content with the expediency of her reply.

Matilda grins and her eyes shine like forbidden stones. “I know a place not far from here, I’ll treat.” She answers. “Now we best get going, we don't want to keep Elric too long even if we want him to.” Matilda says with a wink, the latter half of that phrase confusing Vaeda greatly.

Fortunately, Vaeda is not subjected to the strange mannerisms of this part of the galaxy any longer. She sometimes wished she could speak to someone else whose mother tongue was Shani but she fears she’s forgotten much of the language of her parents. Though she was as equally grateful to have her uncle and aunt to be so thorough in their education in the local Anglic language, so much so she completely lacked the usual accenting. She went back in, took her bags and found Matilda missing when she returned. One solitary elevator ride down, and she found Matilda with the male of their species, chatting already about the travel plans.

“Hey, where do I load my bags?” Vaeda asks in shock at the size of the maglev up close. The more shocking part was how cheap she remembers Aethelric boasting it was. Not a scepter over twelve bishops, less than half a month’s rent, all because three fuses and a resistor were shot which cost less than a pack of sliced cheese.

“Oh I’ll take care of that.” Aethelric says, snatching the bags from her talons and marching like a soldier to the rear of the skiff. Looking over Vaeda sees that the rear has some sort of deployable ramp that seems to be the primary point of entry and exit. “Alright everyone, come aboard.” He calls from an open window on the skiff.

Vaeda walks over to the rear, where the ramp has steps that run along the edges of the sheet, next to some rather dingy looking collapsible railing. The ramp led into the main cabin, which was about two paces across, and maybe seven long. The windshield stared across a pointed bow that concealed the engine. Overall the vehicle was the size of a sailboat minus the mast with a cabin the size of a large van.

“Nice ride? Boat? What in the world is this thing supposed to be?” Vaeda asks. The conflicting design of the vehicle throwing her for a loop.

“This thing was originally sold to someone living in the archipelagos of the southern hemisphere, so it can function as a boat as a safety precaution, I think. All in all it's supposed to be a daily travel vehicle, so it can be parked on land or water.” Aethelric explains.

Matilda follows a moment later, smiles sweetly, and soon the trio are off. The first stop along the way is something Matilda whispered in Aethelric’s ear, some sort of cafe in a small Kyawthuite mining-cutting town. Inside a family of Drakorites man the counters and run the obvious bakery while a separate staff operate an Old Amehr style diner up front.

“The Ma’dien fitzGrenwick return to us after many month.” The towering reptilian creature bellows to the empty dining room before taking a slight bow.

“It is good to see you well, Mister Seirt.” Matilda replies in turn, offering a small curtsy in return of the gesture. Aethelric offers a bow of the head, and pressured in the moment, Vaeda does as well.

“I take it a table for three?” The man asks sarcastically, pointing to a booth.

“Naturally.” Matilda says in return, before leading the trio to the booth.

Soon Seirt brings over six cups, three of some sort of juice, three of some sort of tea; The juice is a violet color and the tea a strange blue. Next comes three plates each, scrambled eggs, bacon, as well as a stack of two waffles no larger than CD that are unique to their plates.

“So, what’s on the waffles Sir Seirt?” Aethelric asks, lacking any decorum in his tone.

“Ah-Aeh, you’re is, Satros themed? I do not know the word in Anglios. It fruit. The raptor is, ehh, passion, fruit again. The ma’dien has dairite? She know.” He explains nodding enthusiastically at the end, while Vaeda thanks her feathers for concealing her annoyance at the comparison to the avins.

“Thank you Seirt, what do I owe you?” Matilda politely chimes.

“You pay? Your table, nine scepters.” Serit nods.

In return Matilda draws a twelve-scepter piece from her coin purse. “Keep the change my friend and say hello to the missus for me.” She says with her usual polite and friendly manner.

The meal was overall delicious, though it may have been Vaeda’s own steadily building hunger that drove her to the ravenous consumption that left the plate bare. The eggs and bacon were cooked properly with crisp bacon and fluffy eggs. The waffles however were, in the words of matilda, passionfruit, some sort of old-earth delicacy enjoyed by many scaled korvans and dracorites for its tangy and sweet flavor, a flavor Vaeda thought was a bit overrated but still tasty enough to snarf down. Later into the meal Aethelric figured out that satros meant citrus, when he realized that it was oranges, lemon, and grapefruit that were the core of his toppings. Matilda pawned her bacon off to Aethelric who seemed to inhale his food, Vaeda knowing that Matilda didn't care for meat with breakfast. Not long after Matilda finished her final bite of food, the trio again departed.

“Does anyone here have a problem with heights?” Aethelric asks out of the blue.

“Why?” Vaeda asks curiously.

“We’ll get better time if we move up a grad, that’s about two hundred and fifty feet in the air.” Aethelric explains.

“I haven’t got any.” Vaeda states confidently. “What about you Mattie?” She follows.

“As long as we aren’t shaking like a maraca I have no issues either.” She states flatly before taking the seat next to Aethelric’s captain seat. Or is it a driver’s seat?

Nine hours of cruising over the landscape, where the rocky drylands of where BU sits transitions first into a savanna of gullies and ravines to a hilly, still dry, forested landscape. Matilda’s uncle’s cabin sits perhaps five miles from the nearest settlement, and thus, five miles from the nearest neighbor, but the grounds host a small village of caretakers and a handful of shepherds. The primary estate is where the trio is expected to stay, the building itself is four bedrooms, three bathrooms, with a large patio and balcony connected by a stairway and a humongous living room. The whole building is made from natural tan and dark brown speckled gabbro, with dark green roof tiles. As for landing, a small clearing fits the vessel. Just as the vehicle lurches to the ground sending everyone forward more than a little bit. As everyone raises their heads again Aethelric proudly proclaims “Ladies, and, uhh, ladies, we have arrived, thank you for flying Elric’s Airways.”

“Welcome to my uncle’s winter home everyone, I’m afeared we are only allowed two of the bedrooms so the two of us will have to share.” Matilda welcomes and proclaims. “As for how we’ll divide it up, shall we do species or sex?” Matilda offers.

“Can’t we figure this out later?” Aethelric asks stupidly, as if he doesn’t realize Matilda's question.

“I vote…” Vaeda starts, her mind running to consider an answer. As far as she knows Aethelric and Matilda are good friends but there are some things Matilda does only for Aethelric that makes her think at least one of them wants more. However, the mental image of the pair sleeping together makes Vaeda feel something she doesn’t like, something that feels like a hollowness in the stomach. On the other talon, she really doesn’t want to share a bed. Vaeda seems stumped and so she bails out of the decision for now. “I don’t know… actually…” She sighs. Her mind races again, and a single thought makes it through her filter. “...If the beds are big enough why don’t we just share one, that way if someone else shows up it doesn’t get awkward.” She says in the full confidence of an unmitigated mental stream.

Matilda seems to have an impressed look on her face, strangely. “Well my cousins aren’t known to give warning, sounds like a plan.” Matilda pleasantly remarks, a slight smile in the corner of her mouth that makes Vaeda feel like something is afoot before whatever remnant of an instinct goes back to its usual state as the background noise of the body.

“Don’t I get a say? At all?” Aethelric raises with a tad of either ire or annoyance on his tongue, Vaeda can’t ever get the two distinct.

“No, this, like our Empire, is a monarchy with a council, not a council with a monarchy like the Old Isle.” Matilda raises. “...and if you don’t like it Elric, I suppose you’ll have to deal with the consequences of separatism.” She continues.

“Who would be the sovereign of this realm then?” Asks Vaeda sincerely.

“Me of course, after all I am the only one with blood ties to this place.” Matilda says with sarcastic pomp before throwing her chocolate hair over her shoulder for dramatic effect so obvious even Vaeda catches it.

“Whatever, I figured you two would want privacy.” Aethelric details.

Vaeda cocks the layer of protective feathers that resemble an eyebrow at that statement. “Privacy? You two are the same species nor do you need to preen.” She retorts.

Aethelric just nods. “You know what, this’ll be a learning experience for the two of you.” He says, whatever annoyance he held shifted into some newer, unknowable idea, at least to Vaeda.

Soon the trio land with the usual forward-sending lurch with the tell-tale hiss of hydraulic stabilizers and shocks. Aethelric gets up, unlatches the rear door, and presses a button to send the boarding ramp down to the ground. As Aethelric begins to gather the luggage of the party while the two ladies look for a semi-mythical collapsible wagon, a yet unknown voice fills the cabin of the skiff.

“Good day Lady fitzGrenwick, Mister Holdan, and the Miss Hjanno. I am the Head Groundskeeper, Mikel, of this estate, allow my men to lead you to your room. You will have to share as the Lady Beau has requested a room for her own use this summer and you know how she gets about, shared, things shall we say.” Mikel proclaims. “Should it be an issue my Lady, I know one of the villagers have a spare bedroom, as their son was just called to serve his Emperor should you not wish to share a room with a man.” He continues.

“It will be no worry Mikel, Aethelric is a Explorator Lorem and is with the guild.” Matilda offers in return.

“I was unaware he was with the guild, this does reduce my concerns, however proper protocols must be maintained.” Mikel counters.

“We must speak of this in private groundskeeper, as it will involve my uncle.” Matilda offers, slinking off with the groundskeeper.

As they leave, Vaeda catches a hushed word too softly spoken for Aethelric to hear. “...natural born spymaster…”

“Nobles, amiright?” Aethelric offers. “Makes me glad I grew up on a planet where the population and the governance was all local, all the time.” He boasts.

“What do you mean by that?” Vaeda inquires, having never known Aethelric, to mention his home or homeworld at all.

“Well, Sundorwic is defined by her clans and her tribes, mine, luckily me, mine was not unfamiliar with cold and dark expanses. We have no nobility, just a leader, some may call them a king, or chief, or elder, but few command more than a thousand souls be they shepherds or settled. “ Aethelric explains.

“What’s your tribe?” Vaeda blurts out before she can hold her snout.

“The Explorators now.” Aethelric replies flatly.

“What?” Vaeda answers.

“Nevermind. I need to check the reactor output fuses, I think I may have broken one during landing.” He answers before quickly leaving the cabin of the vessel to go to the maintenance hatch on the front.

With that the conversation abruptly, and undesirably ends. Just like every other time Aethelric has mentioned the planet known as Sundorwic. While the aggressive sound of boots on a hollow ladder rings through the whole vessel.

Just as a relative quiet allows Vaeda to settle into her usual track of thought, a gloved hand rests on her shoulder. “Miss Vaeda of the Feathered Raptorans-”

“It's Falakar, we are called the Falakar, I am no avin.”

“Of course Miss Vaeda of the Falakar.” The butler so politely chimes but his smile does little to hide his confusion. “Either way, my Lady Matilda wishes to speak with you privately.” he continues.

Vaeda, annoyed at first the drop of the conversation with Aethelric, and now Matilda can’t even be bothered to come and get her, begins to think coming here was a mistake from the start. That, and maybe raptor means two things in the Anglic languages.

Matilda sits in the air conditioned receiving room already irked at the insistence of the staff to show off how proper they were by taking the opportunity to treat her like an either geriatric or gravid woman. She felt her face flush as an obviously irked Vaeda entered into the foyer of the quarters given to the trio.

“P-Pardon the over formality, the staff really like to make a show of their properness on the first day.” Matilda apologies, and finds herself pleasantly surprised that she’s still capable of stammering.

“I am… deeply unfamiliar with this sort of life being from a world ruled by twelve rather than one.” Vaeda replies.

“Vaeda. This is how the vast majority of the galaxy is ruled, I would suggest less questions and more integration into it.” Matilda flatly says. “Either way, I have no desire to talk politics, only schemes.” She continues.

“Schemes?!” Vaeda decries raising a clawed hand to her ample breast.

“Yes Vaeda, schemes. Do not worry, all involved parties stand to profit, and with your help I think I can get it done before midsummer.” Matilda replies, hiding her plan in an obvious way to draw questions.

“And what is this plan of yours?!” Vaeda demands.

“Simple, I’ve seen the way you look at our friend Aethelric, the confusion as to why you wish to do more than just study him. I was much the same, fortunately for us, we need not compete in our matters of the heart.” Matilda offers.

“What are you talking about?” Vaeda raises, her snout’s feathers fluttering the in the pattern of embarrassment Matilda had come to understand.

“Oh Vaeda, be honest with yourself. You like Elric enough to want to be more than friends, you ask him so many questions about courtship and the “human sexual experience” as to make your intentions obvious to anyone but him, Grazoc saw it, even Geursy saw it before he graduated.” Matilda raises. “Don’t believe me, tonight when you see Aethelric naked, tell me you don’t fantasize about him copulating with you.” She offers to her friend, her mind wondering about the gamble, her mind says ninety-three to four, her favor, but her heart can hardly bear the anxiety of that.

“H-How do you know that we will s-see Aethelric in the nude tonight?” Vaeda demands, her voice faltering in the manner Matilda predicted when she forced Vaeda to feel her own emotions.

“Because he sleeps in the nude and goes straight from the shower to his bed.” Matilda simply states.

Vaeda glares at her in outrage. “I would protest that claim of indecency, but it is very much in character.” She declares.

“Relax, my friend, relax, I…” Matilda pauses, unsure if to actually reveal her hand. She suddenly sighs as she drops her guard. “I love Aethelric, I didn’t know it at first, when I realized it I realized how narrow my window of opportunity was I was forced to see my feelings for what they are.” Matilda confesses.

The falakar recoils at those words. “Why would you never be able to find Aethelric again?!” She demands.

A lump fills Matilda’s throat as she begins to speak her next words. “Because the Explorators will wick him away to the farthest corners of the galaxy and beyond, and as a man of Sundorwic, he will forsake all bonds not soul-forged to do this.” Matilda says, feeling a wetness at the corner of her eyes. Matilda just sees the confusion in Vaeda’s eyes and some small part hates her for it, another wants to comfort her, hold her like a sister, and a final part wants to guide her like a mentor. However, her own torrent of feelings and the discomfort of letting her own fears be shown, she just watches and takes mental notes of how Vaeda responds to the news. As she stares at her friend, her. “I’ll let you rest on that knowledge, so I will extend you my offer on the morrow, as for the night, should I have the help prepare the couch.” Matilda offers, purposely twisting her smile into a sympathetic arc.

Vaeda nods stiffly, looks up at Matilda with a look Matilda could only describe as pathetic. “I-I would greatly appreciate that Mattie.” She replies sullenly.

The Lady fitzGrenwick turns to one of the household’s many helpers nods at one of them who reciprocates the act and escorts the clearly perturbed feathery, raptor-like girl out of the antechamber and through the hallway to the grand living room. Matilda lets out a breath that must’ve been mostly some sort of aerosolized lead with how much lighter her chest felt afterwards. Matilda decides she needs three things in short order, the first is the knowledge of where Aethelric was and what he was doing, secondly is to see the quarters, and thirdly, a moment alone.

Matilda sits on the throne-like chair for some time, collecting her thoughts, rebuilding her calm. She ponders the potential outcomes of her showing Vaeda a brief bit of vulnerability. She thinks it may be beneficial to have someone who understands that she is, contrary to popular belief among her house, human. On the other hand, it may have sharpened the spear that will one day pierce her armor. She laments the inability to drop her guard further, knowing that her depth of emotion may even be unknown to her yet. She turns her mind to Aethelric, well her plans about him anyways and with that diversion to purpose, calmness washes through her well-trained psyche. Feelings of attraction begin to bubble up into her mind the moment her walls are reestablished, and Matilda begins to comb her memories for where her uncharacteristic desire for Aethelric began. She recalls her initial meeting and attraction to him, his lean form was well fitted in the uniform the Explorator’s had made for him. His demeanor she found played off of her own, complementing her usual games in some manner she couldn’t place, maybe it was a hidden intellect and a poor grasp on emotion. On its own it would’ve been a curious friendship, though she did know full well what she liked about the pale man physically. Turning her mind back to her personally assigned mission, she rises from her throne-like chair.

Matilda ventures from the room and back into the searing heat of summer and the pleasantly cool breeze coming off the lake. By the skiff two of the help have gathered with tools and both are locked in conversation with a shirtless, sweaty, and grease-stained Aethelric. Matilda takes a moment to fully catalog the image before her, the slender, lightly toned body is near as white as alabaster, his blond hair gently catching the breeze like summer wheat just before harvest. While notably taller than his newfound companions, but much more slight of build. She could see every muscle in his chest, and while none were of great spectacle individually, the whole of it made Matilda’s mind and body tingle in delight.

“One of three, good for me” she whispers before turning on her heel to return to the marvel of machinery that is air conditioning, within the now-empty antechamber she winds her way out and to the prepared quarters for the trio, or tonight’s duo. She peers over to the loveseat that Vaeda is already napping in as she moves on the edge of the living room, satisfied with the state of affairs she continues onward to the proper quarters.

Opening the door to the guest quarters immediately and suddenly reminded her of her uncle's extravagance. The “welcoming room” was of modest size, the size of a comfortable den in most homes. However the interior of this space was almost entirely made from wood and petrified woods, including a mosaic of her dynasty’s founder, Ulysses Grenwick, Lord-Marshall of Veltax in petrified wood. She could see her father’s features in the man, the same dark hair and emerald green eyes that all Grenwicks, fitz or otherwise have. The room is filled with wood furniture, petrified wood tiling, miniatures and carvings. The sofa, if it can be called that, is a stone bench with some wood-fiber cushions laid upon the seat, the construction faces a screen projector of some sort, be it a proper television or backlit projector makes little difference to the overall function of the overly ornate entertainment center and cabinet. Matilda feels almost insulted at how garish the room is, however, she is getting it for free, it's clean, and one can’t complain about that.

At some point, Aethelric began to show a pair of excited in-house machinists the works of his skiff, which then turned into them helping with the basic maintenance. This, in turn, brought over more of the staff who had a desire to see this new machine, until there were perhaps a dozen men of varying ages crawling around his engine bay, reactor core, magnetic inversion transmission, and avionics, and three more women who had brought chairs to watch. The men seemed merry and meticulous about the impromptu tune up. Every time Aethelric popped out of his engine access panel something new showed up, first it was a cooler, which made sense, then a table full of snacks, then a grill and an old man, then a mobile hoist, then a lift, and then an mobile mechanic vehicle with an engine press, blade balancer, and a null entropy device to work on the reactor core itself. More and more questions came his way, and eventually, he was exhausted by the deluge of questions headed his way. The skin on his arms was black up to the shoulder and he looked like a chimney sweeper. The sky had since turned from pale blue to deep orange and indigo and Aethelric passed the manual to the man who looked most familiar with leadership, and began to slump indoors, the exhaustion of removing both rear-jet transmissions, and reinstalling them by hand, made his arms feel like they had been on fire and had been unaware. He swore he could feel soreness developing in his fingers, legs, and neck. He went into the welcoming room where a servant began to guide him through the hallways like an ox who’d been working the plow all day. He wasn’t really paying attention to anything, though he swore the servant mentioned “not supposed to do this” as she guided him through the labyrinth of artifacts and curiosities in what was surely some sort of museum room, until she opened a door that she wouldn’t enter.

The lanky form of Aethelric sees the obvious tile of a bathroom and begins to shakily walk towards it. He strips what little left he had on, kicking it into a corner before stepping into the shower. He thought it was funny that the bottom third of the shower’s door was frosted as it covered nothing but his feet, calves, and maybe two thirds of his thigh. He reaches for one of the dials, and previously unseen nozzles begin to blast cold water on him from behind blasting the sandman away from his eyes. He turns another dial and the a large amount of water begins to dump on him from above, another yet and a normal shower head activates, the fourth dial, as he turns, it begins to make the water colder, and, much to his own ire, it is the final dial that adds in hot water. He finds a bar of soap with some aggregate in it and begins the work of cleaning himself. The black grease and slurry of other, surely toxic, fluids that bound with the dirt on his skin, stain the water by the drain a black with a reddish tint. The last part that washes out is his hair, and finally, the pale man is, once again, pale.

After stepping out of the shower he searches the nearby cabinets for a towel only to find them laid upon a special rack in such a manner as to give it the appearance of an even wall, he drys himself off and puts it back where he had gotten it from to look for his bags that he was quite certain the servants brought into this room at some point while he was working. He sets his foot on the carpet of the bedroom to look for the baggage; massive bed, no- some nick-nacks on the dresser, no- Matilda in the bed, perfect maybe she knows.

“Matilda, would you happen to know where our baggage is? I’m quite certain the servants took it in, but I haven’t a clue where they pu-.” Aethelric asks before his brain can catch up with his mouth. “-Wait how long have you been here?” he asks, his tone switching to a much more serious one that the more nonchalant one.

“Long enough Elric, I’m getting quite the show.” Matilda coos, Aethelric unsure if it's her usual sardonic humor or a genuine expression. “If you want to see me in the same fashion, I’ll have you know I’m dressed in the same way you are underneath these covers.” she continues before biting her lip ever so slightly.

“I’ll come to bed when I find out where my clothes are, I’ll need them in the morning.” He continues.

“They’re already packed away in the dressers…” She says rising from the bed. “Here I’ll show you.”

She walks over the wall opposite the bathroom and presses one of the panels on it. Out pops a drawer full of women's undergarments. “The dresser is in-built into the wall. I suppose that was fashionable at some point, though my uncle is a bit eccentric.” she states flatly.

“That’s really cool actually, saves a good amount of space.” Aethelric responds, though in earnest he’s trying to do everything but leer at Matilda. Forcing his eyes to stare at the wall, and locking his muscles so that every move he makes is coordinated. Despite this, he is subjected to a full view of Matilda’s body.

“You know, Elric, if I wasn’t okay with seeing you seeing me naked I wouldn’t have offered to let you share a bed with me.” Matilda says in a way that suggests this was planned.

“You’re a noblewoman Mattie, I’m just an Explorator Adept-” Aethelric gets to say before he is cut off, a finger placed over his lips that forces his eyes to look at Matilda directly.

As he looks up at her he can see impatience without even looking at her face. The hand on her hips and slight tilt of her narrow shoulders are telling. She takes the finger from his lip and makes a motion that draws attention to body. He takes a moment to look at her frame and build, and how different it is to the women of his planet. Her shoulders are thin, and arms slender, not used to work at all, while her body bears a feminine curve, her still-slim hips are telling of having never born a child, which he of course knows this, but for whatever reason, it caught his attention. Though, strangest of all to him, is the lack of any real blemishes upon her skin, no obvious scars, freckles, or moles, just the usual rosyness of womenfolk around the hips and shoulders. He finally wrangles his attention back to the conversation at hand, he did not know how long he zoned out. Though a quick look at Matilda’s posture tells it couldn’t have been longer than a moment. Despite his brief lapse in attention he raises his eyes to Matilda’s where he finds a heat in them, not of anger, but of coallessed frustrations of which he did not know.

“Do you realize that I am a fifth child?” Matilda demands with a pointed tone. “There are twenty quadrillion souls in the empire, 20 trillion of them are Nobles, do you know how many Explorators Imperi there are?” She asks impatiently.

“Thirteen billion, four hundred thirty-one million, seven hundred and twelve thousand, six hundred and ninety two, as of last census.” Aethelric answers. “Still, I’m not sure wha-” He continues.

“It means, Aethelric of Sundorwic, that whatever divide of class you think exists betweens us, favors you.” Matilda says, her ire now obvious in her tone as well as her face. “I don’t know much about Sundorwic, Aethelric, but I can tell it's one of those that was one of those worlds alone in the stars. You know my family history all too well, I think it's fair you tell me some of yours.” She beckons, the ire sliding from her face.

The question forces Aethelric to take a step back mentally, and process all of the past two minutes where finally realizes that he is as naked as Matilda, and moreover, that she seems to be quite glad at the overall situation. A part of him, a part that feels as withered as it does primordial calls out to him, a compulsion that feels not dissimilar, though much more intentional than the instinctive desire to ogle. Whatever part of his mind or soul is affecting him, seems to desire a closeness, partially in an instinctive, almost sexual sense, but more of a matter of the heart, as it makes itself known there more than in his loins. He hesitates, having never spoken of home before in any meaningful context. The feeling compels him to sit, but more it forces him to accept the symbolism of nakedness before him. The young man takes a moment to appreciate the contrast between Matilda’s chocolate brown hair and how it complements her green eyes upon a skin as pale as his own.

He takes a moment, taking careful note of Matilda’s oval face to search for any signs of her previous annoyance. He only finds visible interest in Matilda’s leaf-green eyes, which are only accentuated by the dark brown eyebrows and hair that seem to frame them. Her usually slightly rosy complexion almost seems a blush in the dim light. Her slim, pink lips draw attention to themselves if for no other reason than because of how pale Matilda’s skin is. Though aside from the pale skin, there is little familiar in her face to the women of his home, a place dominated by sharper, wider jaws, flaxen hair, and eye colors that could be found in the sky, that of pale blues and stormy grays.

His mouth hangs open for a moment before he begins to speak as he tries to find the right words to begin. “I am, my mother’s first birth, and first child. I am named after my uncle who died in battle, and supposedly I look quite like him. My home is a rocky, mountainous, and heavily forested island that seems to double in size in the winter.” He explains, not fully pleased with such a haphazard composition.

“What did you mean by first birth? And who did your uncle die fighting?” Matilda asks with a furrowed brow but eager enough tongue.

“Not all who are born survive their first winter, and you are only given your name at your baptism. My mother gave birth twelve times before I left Sundorwic, and I have seven siblings.” He explains in a calm tone, though as he hears his own words he only then realizes how callous they must surely seem.

“That’s horrible Elric, how- how do you live with that?” Matilda asks, her usually slightly rosy cheeks taking on the corpse-pale color of shock.

“It is simply the way things are, those who cannot walk must soon be able, or they are not long for this life, be they young, old, or maimed.” Elric says solemnly. “Much like my uncle, he died fighting the men of Fifbol a wealthy town on the mainland as he was trying to raid it, losing first his leg to an axe, and his head to a sword. That is the story my father told me as to how the world works, and I have seen it true many times since.” Aethelric continues, his own complete acceptance of this simple view is only matched by Matilda's obvious horror at the concept. Seeing Matilda’s usually cheery face contorted in a look of silent horror pains his heart, and that unfamiliar feeling seems to grow, its nature absorbing the pain as if it were some sort of sustenance.

Matilda places an arm on his back. “Why? Don’t you have hospitals or are the winters so cold it makes no difference” She asks in a whisper, hiding her face from Aethelric.

“Because we have nothing you call medicine, we have herbs, stitches, and casts. Death is a part of life in Sundorwic, and you never forget that you will die, strangely enough…” Aethelric says before taking a hand to Matilda’s cheek and raising her eyes to meet his own. “...it makes life more special.” He finishes, trying to show the earnesty of his statement with a sincere smile.

Matilda places another hand on him, this time his knee. “I suppose in some sense it makes you prioritize what really matters in life. H-how does romance work among your people if they feel like they could die at any moment? And why would women want to marry and have children if they may die in childbirth or their children will not survive?” She asks, the color slowly returning to her face as a curious visage returns to her face.

“Love is as much of a choice as it isn’t, and when you know you could die tomorrow, what choice other than to embrace love? Both men and women die for the sake of love on that world every day, women because of love and men for love. When the Higehwild started to raid the Blackwater Coast just before the Emperor took me, my best friend gave his life to protect his wife. He took a spear straight to the sternum, but in his sacrifice he took the head of their Warchief clean off its shoulders and raised it high for all to see before he collapsed dead. Botwulf may be dead, but his love of Wassa lives on in their children. I suppose that among the stars that sort of affair is far less common, isn’t it?” Aethelric explains the somberness of that recount only hitting him as he spoke his final words.

“That’s a beautiful way of thinking about love and life, Elric… and I have never known anyone to have died in such a manner to protect their loved ones” Matilda says, scooting closer still to the man on the bed. “Though I thought all men are required to serve the Emperor for four years?” She asks as she takes his hand with the one that was on his knee.

“Officially, yes, but on worlds like mine the Emperor uses something we called the Andaling, it translates to allotment, where every village gives one son who lived through eighteen winters. They can volunteer or levied, but only one. I volunteered as I was the only man left my age without a wife or a betrothed and my father had three other healthy sons. If they took every man between eighteen and twenty-two there may not be enough food to go around as that’s about one in ten grown men, and that means a tenth less food.” Aethelric explains rather plainly.

“You know Matilda, if you’re going to ask me about my younger days, I should ask how you spent yours?” He asks, feeling he has spoken too much about himself.

Matilda pulls away from him letting go of his hand, she moves to rest on the arm opposite of Elric putting a gap between them. “When I was five my parents sent me off to a boarding school run by a distant cousin of mine in the Auxbreau system, the school is…” she pauses suddenly “ …was a station above Auxbreau Pasifik, an ecumenopolis. I left the school when I was twelve, it was the first time seeing my parents again in seven years. Some years later when a war began with the Talforac, the navy evacuated and took over the station where it was later destroyed in the battle above the planet” She corrects, a slight smile curling at the corner of her mouth despite an otherwise pained look beginning to grab at her features.

“Well what happened next?” Aethelric asks leaning closer to hear her soft words better.

“I-I was then taken under the wing of my uncle after returning home, the same one who owns this estate, Jacob Grenwick the ninth. He was one of the Emperor’s hand picked emissaries, and I learned much in the way of diplomacy from him, and it is in fact he who inspired me to take on my studies to be a diplomat. Throughout that time my older brother and sister would visit me occasionally as would my grandparents.” She confesses, the smile fading completely from her face.

“Not much to it really other than keeping a low profile and learning as much as I could as a girl. Though Uncle Jacob would take me to his events when he could and then quiz me on what was going on, I got so good at reading the room I could tell when other diplomats were lying before he could.” She finishes before starting to laugh mirthfully.

Aethelric puts a hand on her shoulder and pulls her close, the skin of their thighs and shoulders touching. “That sounds awful Matilda, I couldn’t imagine growing up without my family, much less without a world to explore and live in.” He offers trying to sympathize with her.

“What do you mean? How did you spend your childhood?” Matilda says softly.

“I spent it with my family. From the moment I could walk my cousins and their friends took me with them to forage the coast for shellfish, and when I was a little older into the woods for berries and mushrooms. Helping my father and mother around the smokery, weaving with my aunts and fishing with my uncles. As I got older I would teach my younger brothers, sisters, and cousins as my own had taught me. As I grew from a boy to a youth I would accompany my father and uncles on journeys to the mainland for trade.” Aethelric answers candidly. “Matilda, tell me, how did you manage without your kin?” He asks, caught up in his own shock at such a childhood.

“It was lonely, very lonely Elric, I had a cousin at the school, but she was much older than me and I don’t think we ever spoke. I made some friends but they never stayed at that school very long, maybe a year or two. I had this room when I was maybe nine, one side of it was mine, and the other this other girl, we never got along, and one day she moved out, I didn’t even notice, until one day I realized that I had left a sock on her side of the room and there wasn’t a screaming match.” She says, her eyes beginning to wet.

“And I would have been fine with it all, every night spent in silence, if when I had returned they had said ANYTHING, to me. I was in my family home of three hundred years, a total stranger. My older brothers were at war, my oldest sister was preparing for her wedding day so I do not blame them for not speaking to me. I learned at that time, I had an older sister, I’d never met her before. Despite me being home, if I can call it that, for three months, my parents never said a word to me, so I spent my time with my siblings, my fourteen-year old sister, who was soon to be a lady-in-waiting, and my younger brothers, one of three and the other not even a year old.” She continues, the first beads of tears beginning to round in the corners of her eyes.

“But instead of spending time with their new baby, my mother was always on a call or at a conference over hologram projector, and my father, he would always be in his study muling over some papers and maps, and endless stream of guests, some military, some priestfolk, others I couldn’t say. I figured they were busy, but then uncle Jacob showed up, he saw me tending to my brothers as my sister and since departed and offered a chance to become his protege. I think my father only saw me as his own that night when uncle Jacob announced he was taking me with him, he protested. He had the nerve...” She says, the first tears that had been welling in her green eyes starting to stream down her face.

Aethelric pulls Matilda close, closing the gap that had been created as his inadvertent reversal. “What happened Matilda, what did your father say?” He asks, trying his best to sound comforting.

“He had the nerve to protest, and Uncle Jacob asked him what my name was, both my father and mother hesitated, and took what felt like an age pass before they answered, but answered correctly. Something about the way they answered seemed to anger him, and so he asked them when I returned and how they had received me. They fell silent for a time, but my mother protested saying she was “too busy” to recount such things, so he asked her to guess, she said three days at most, he then asked her how long it had been since she nursed her newborn, and what little color existed in her face flowed right out. He told her that I had been there for three months, and that they had not spoken a single word to me. My father glared at me, but my uncle barked some words at him and said…” She continues, her lip beginning to quiver as she speaks.

The young man raised a hand to the woman’s face and wiped the tears from her chin, and with his arm on her shoulder he tried his best to silently reassure her with a consoling pat. “I…” He begins to speak, but Matilda starts again, so he falls silent.

“ I recall the words he said to my parents perfectly, Elric. “If you think your work so important, then I should find someone else to parent your children in your stead. Larkin, I have been here more than a week, yet I do not think I have seen you in the same room as your children before tonight, as for you Amice, are you aware that one of your staff has taken your youngest as her own? He sleeps in their home in the same cradle as their child, suckles from your servant’s breast as their child does, not because you asked for a wetnurse, but because you forgot you had a baby.”” She continues, another pair of tears forming her eyes, her breath ragged under the deluge of emotions unconfronted.

“That’s awful Matilda… If your father protested, how did you leave?” Elric asks, despite his desire to remain in silent consolation.

“He took me by the arm, and stormed out of the room. As we were leaving, he threatened my father, I do not recall the words exactly, but I remember him saying that if they so much as looked at the servants who were taking care of his nephew, I recall that being important, he didn’t say their son, the wrong way, he would raise his estates to war with my father for the honor of our family.” She continues, her lip quivering once again. “I-I still haven’t-” She tries to start before having to visibly fight back tears. “I… still…” She tries to resume but this time her fighting is in vain, as the tears in her eyes begin to flow, and she begins to cry.

Aethelric opens his mouth, whatever thought he had in his mind seems to have been lost in the sudden collapse of Matilda’s emotional walls. The feeling that now seemed to live in his chest retreated to just his heart and his throat, letting a distinct hollowness form in his chest. He had never felt anything like Matilda, even when he was on months-long solo watches he always knew that his family thought of him and prayed for him, he could feel it as sure as he knew it. In this moment, the sorrow he feels for Matilda, and the compulsion of the feeling drives him to her in a hug, feeling her chest press against his own and the tears flow down his shoulders. He feels something like a pair of half-tears develop in his own eyes, but fights them back, some part of him knowing that he has to be strong, an anchor of stability. So he sat there, holding Matilda close as she cried, his heart felt as if it rested firmly on the seafloor, and a frown of pity or sympathy painted his face, he did not know for he could not see it, but he remained silent for a long time. As Matilda's crying deepend he could feel her arms wrap around his body tightly, seemingly trying to bring her into himself, and consciously, he pulls her in tighter yet somehow knows it's the right decision to do.

As Matilda’s sobs turned to sniffles, Aethelric whispered. “Should I leave the room to you tonight.”

She pulled him tighter “No, no, don’t leave me, stay with me...” she pleaded with a whisper.

Aethelric said nothing, but picked up Matilda, and tucked her into bed, making sure to hold her hand as he himself climbed in. She clung to his arm as he began to feel his exhaustion force him into the arms of sleep.

The morning sun shone upon Vaeda, and with its rise, it compelled hers. The couch she had slept on was ridiculously soft, so much so that she found it hard to actually get out of it. She realized she was still in yesterday's traveling clothes, and she smelled a day unwashed. She notices a servant drinking a cup of tea and moves to inquire to the whereabouts of the guest room, and if there was an attached bathroom, as well as her own clothes. As she prattles on, she notes a sly smile creep across her face. She directs her to a door but refuses to enter “the lady fitzGrenwick’s quarters.” a pointed reminder of Mattie’s noble birth. The room’s theme is that of wood, of which she knows exceedingly little about, but some is petrified but most is not, there is much of the Grenwick’s own history and a handful of figures she recognizes from general history, Ulysses the Somber, Lord Marshal Veltax, and Bohemund II, the famed translator who codified a latin alphabet for a number of Dakori languages,, the rest are too obscure even for Vaeda’s extensive knowledge of both earth-bound and early stellar human history.

Eventually she finishes her stroll of the artifacts, be they the busts, portraits, or a number of artifacts to another door. She hesitates before opening the door, a strange wave of unease washing over her that leaves as quickly and randomly as it came. She presses the door open to see Elric in nothing but his trousers, and it dawns on her that this is the first time she’s ever seen him without a shirt. His body is pale as are all of the Anglo-Germanic stock, however his arms, neck, and face are slightly tanned compared to that of his nearly pure white torso. Despite the obvious lack of exposure to the sun, his body was obviously well-worked, a well-defined musculature and the modification to the bone structure typical of pre-industrial maritime peoples, scars line his arms, abdomend, and shoulders, almost textbook of the damage patterns of such a lifestyle down to the line scars on the skin between the fingers from knife-slips when cutting fish. It all seems rather out of place for someone alive today though some sports can yield a similar development. He suddenly gets up, and the sheer physical difference in size between the two of them becomes blindingly obvious. While Matilda was taller than her, Aethelric towered over her, his face was long, and while narrow, held a defined jaw. His eyes were a pale, sky blue, and his flaxen hair parted down the center of his head but was cut short enough to barely pass his ears. He grabs a green plaid button-down shirt from the in-wall dresser and in a moment he’s back to being Aethelric, Explorator Adept. She steps into the room.

“Uh, Elric, where is the bathroom?” She asks mutedly.

“Oh, it's just over there, the fifth dial is the hot water.” He says pointing to an open, adjoined room that only has a door for the toilet.

“Is there a door that closes?” She asks, knowing the answer would be no.

“No, but if you’re worried about me being here, I was just on my way.” Aethelric assures. “Just need to find my socks and boots.”

Vaeda walks over into the bathroom, the tiles are cold and her talons clack against the floor. She turns around seeing the man frantically searching through the drawers for his socks, and she begins to strip. She can feel her snout and neck warm as she begins to undo her bra, worried that Aethelric could turn around at any moment. She feels like her feathers will light ablaze as she takes off her underwear. She stamps quickly into the shower only to realize that the frosting on the door only covers her lower parts. Her mind seizes as she sees the mass of dials before her. In this moment, her embarrassment and her panic form an alliance as tenuous as the American Republic and Red Russians. Together her two temporal emotional superpowers pried a most terrible combination of words. “E-Elric c-ca-can you show me whi-which dials are which?” She stammers, and as she hears her own words she thinks her blue feathers will soon be red, orange, and yellow as the heat in her heart will surely combust her well-kept feathers.

The man, now tying up his boots just casually walks over to her, as if she were wearing normal clothes, but as Vaeda looks at him, he’s not looking at her body, but her face and the dials. This, for whatever reason, angers her than the idea of him seeing her naked embarrassed her. He points as one of, though which she does not know. “It’s that one, the fifth one.” He states in a matter of fact manner. However, the fact that the dials are in two rows confuses her. “Which fifth one?” She asks hushedly.

“The fifth one, its pretty obvious.” Elric offers, obviously not getting it.

Vaeda can feel her eyes narrow. Through barred teeth she bites “Show. Me. Which. Fifth. One”

Aethelric rolls his eyes and does the unthinkable, he opens the door, grabs the dial she thought of as the fourth one, and says “See, fifth one, pretty obvious no?” He prattles on.

“Thank you Elric. Now get out of my shower.” Vaeda snarls before shoving the man out.

Vaeda gets about cleaning herself, making sure every feather is properly cleaned and conditioned, and once she gets out that her feathers will set smoothly before putting a much more casual set of clothing than her normal scholar’s robes, some sort of form-fitting, forest green pants, and a sunburst orange t-shirt. Elric is long gone, but it is only then that she notices Matilda smirking from beneath the covers.

“How long have you been awake, Matilda?” Vaeda asks, expecting a particular answer.

“Just did, though with the look on your snout Vae, I assume you had a… shall we say interaction with our most-different companion.” Matilda offers, much to Vaeda’s surprise.

“Even if I did, what would it matter Mattie?” Vaeda retorts. “Regardless I’m glad you’re up, now we can discuss plans for the day over breakfast.” Vaeda firmly informs.

“Yes, yes. Of course Vae.” Matilda assures rolling from the bed, completely in the nude.

Vaeda’s unexpected anger at this comes not from being flashed by her friend, as they had shared a changing room many times, but from elsewhere, the same kind of anger she got from Elric’s inaction. “Were you sleeping with Elric last night?” She asks suddenly.

“In literal sense yes, in the way you’re thinking of no, though I do need to pick your brain about something.” Matilda answers plainly.

Anger boils in Vaeda at the words. “And what do you need from me?” She says, trying to keep her cool.

“What do you know, if anything, of the planet of Sundorwic?” Matilda asks.

“It was a mining world.” Vaeda answers.

“Was?” Matilda asks curiously.

“Was. Now it chooses to live in a manner not dissimilar to the Northern and Western germanics of the migration and early medieval age of Earth, but on a planetary scale.” Vaeda answers flatly. “Why the hell are you asking me these questions Mattie?” She demands suddenly.

“I heard something of the world, some things didn’t line up with expectations, figured I’d ask you.” She confesses.

Vaeda rolls her eyes. “Get dressed, so I can get something to eat.” She follows.

“If you’re looking to ea-” Matilda says slyly.

“Don’t even bother, you've made that lesbian joke a dozen times, get something new.” The raptor-woman snaps.

“Jeez Vae, relax.” the human responds as she dresses herself. “Regardless, Aethelric is preoccupied today, I have something in mind for the two of us today. I was thinking we could go tour a very nice wildflower trail not far from here, we’ll picnic. As for the evening events, I have nothing yet in mind, so we can chat about that over breakfast.” She finally answers.

“What is Elric doing?” Vaeda demands

“While you were napping yesterday, he was fixing his skiff, which got the town all excited, so they’ve demanded his company for the day. I doubt they’ll let him return sober given how competitive they are in their own beer-brewing. She states as she finishes pulling the side-zipper on her skirt. “As for breakfast, the chef will probably already be working on, if not finished with it.” She informs her friend.

They leave the chambers and return to the much more open, and from Vaeda’s perspective, comfortable living room. Matilda guides her through a small walkway into a kitchen with a solarium that is fashioned to be the obvious main dining space of the occupants. As they sit, a servant comes and asks if they would prefer water, milk, juice, tea, coffee, or a kind of soda of some sort. Vaeda asks for water with a slice of lemon, and a cup of ginger tea with lemon and honey; she paid no mind to Matilda’s request. The morning conversation begins with a continuation of Matilda’s plan; the journey, timing, and meal to be brought along. Eventually a servant returns with their beverages and a bowl of fresh fruit, none of which are familiar to Vaeda, though Matilda assures her they are local cultivars and totally safe. Soon, the servant returns again with two plates with toast cut into strips, a sort of rolled omelet, and a thick, sweet and savory sauce that tickles something instinctive in Vaeda’s brain and palette. With that they departed to a waiting carriage, with a large reptilian beast of burden that would’ve been compared to rhinos or hippos by earth-bound humans, though it reminds her of a very similar beast from Falakar.

The ride is gentle down a dirt path that deposits them at a well-maintained trail dedicated to a locally famed colonel who was a local to these parts before dying in the Battle of Mount Olympus on Mars. Vaeda takes a moment to read the sign, and appreciates how local history and galactic history seem to meld in this instance.

“So, Vaeda, what do you intend to do with your anthropology degree after you finish it?” Matilda asks, breaking her concentration.

“I -uh- intend to study the ruins left behind by the Long War and hopefully catalog and study the cultures that emerged in the wake of the five centuries of chaos.” Vaeda explains. “I’m fascinated by the convergent developments to old-earth cultures, and since the devastation of your race’s homeworld, the only way to piece together its history and culture is to cross-reference the cultures that descended from them.” She continues, feeling strangely comfortable exchanging her thoughts.

“What drives you to do that?” Matilda inquires leaning in as they continue to stroll down the trail.

“We Korvans have history minted in the mythical ages before the rise of the Ancie-Hori dominion, our true homeworld is lost to time and her cultures and the races of our kind are divorced from their origin.” Vaeda answers. “Look at me Matilda, I’m covered in blue, white, and black feathers, there are those among my wider species that lack any at all, others have feathers so fine as to call it fur, and that doesn’t even cover all the variations of the Falakar of my home.” She says, making a motion with her arms and purposely flaring her arm feathers to draw attention to her body.

“So, you want to spare my people’s history because time stole yours?” Matilda inquires with a smile.

Vaeda ponders the question for a moment. “I suppose, but its more than that, its learning about pre-industrial societies that speak your language, hell there was a planet not from from Falakar, other feathered Korvans resided there, when we found them, they were waging war on a planetary scale with black powder and muskets. Millions of soldiers adorned in bright uniforms fighting for kings who, still yet, called themselves servants of the Emperor of the Stars. It's fascinating how much material conditions can change and the core of society remains unchanged. Even the aristocracy, most of whom had descended from the leaders of the Pro-Emperor and Pro-Senatorial forces. The genetics of the population was fascinating as their political and military…” She continues.

Matilda listens and seems legitimately interested in the striking similarities and the gulf of distinction between the now-linked stories of the human and korvan races. Strangely, she has little interest in the grand wars and great leaps of her civilization, but rather individual characters, and seeing how their lineages continued, with some fading into obscurity, others dying out in a blaze of glory, and some cementing themselves as common last names across whole worlds. Eventually, Vaeda figures out why the interest seems so concentrated.

The raptor woman realizes that her human companion is self-conscious about the longevity of her own household.

“You know Matilda, I think I’ve rambled on about history long enough…” She trails off, noting a slightly smug look on Matilda’s face.

“I’ve been enjoying, though probably for the wrong reasons, the grand narratives, I suppose because of how old they are, are like ancient ruins of propaganda, nation-building efforts, and diplomatic rebranding, Like with the Gheu Autocracy you were just talking about, the wordage you used made it both appear as non-functional and yet hypercompetent, which a tell-tale sign of a collapsed third pillar in ideological conflicts, with both winning sides using the great struggle against them to build a national consciousness while also trying to discredit their system. Though that's rather advanced internal diplomacy and planetary political control theory. Matilda says cooly.

“Wait, you were paying attention to that? I thought you only cared about the lineages.” Vaeda confesses.

“Care…” Matilda starts before quickly trailing off. “I care about all of what you say Vaeda, though I must confess lineage has been on my mind, I must say, the characters within stories of lineages paint a truer picture than singular men whose lives can be wholly made up or altered in the histories, as for we womenfolk, our stories are less slandered but can be aggrandize to the point of parody.” She finishes.

“I thought you didn’t care about history, like much at all.” Vaeda protests.

“No, I say I don’t care to study it, very big difference. My uncle doesn’t care to learn about wine, but he knows good from bad, and enjoys drinking it nonetheless. I am the same with history, it's interesting, I can give my opinion on it, but I do not care to immerse myself in it, there are better things to occupy my time with.” She explains.

“What could be better than learning the story of life?” Vaeda protests.

“Making life, continuing the story.’ Matilda counters, the silver whip of the tongue-lashing Vaeda into a stammer.

Vaeda quickly regains her composure. “Making life? Whatever do you mean by that?” She contests.

The emerald-eyed woman's thin lips make her twisting smile all the more mischievous as she steps towards her friend. She places a hand on the raptor-like woman’s shoulder, and another on her arm. “Vae, look at yourself…” the human says moving her hands to take the clawed fingers of Vaeda’s between her own. “Making life can be done in a number of ways, and to get out the obvious remark, no in the most literal sense, though that can be part of it. Making life is about doing things, finding your purpose, it is the fading in, and fading out, it is ultimately making sure you lived a life well, more than mere survival.” She details, all the while moving closer in.

“Mattie-” Vaeda utters. Her heart racing, the look in Matilda’s eyes suggests a kind of hunger that food can’t sate.

“Hm-” Matilda opens, her eyes shifting to an almost seductive tilt.

“A-Are you trying to seduce me?” She asks, leaning back from the woman.

“What?!” Matilda protests. “No-No I read up on the Falakar, isn’t same sex skinship a sign of close friendship?” She explains.

“When did you read up on the old ways?” Vaeda stammers.

“If I were to explain when you would ask why, then I would have to share too much.” Matilda says, pulling back.

“Well give me a start then so I can at least get a glimpse?” Vaeda demands outraged at the secrecy.

“I want children, and I don’t want to risk them being without guidance.” Matilda offers cryptically.

“What the hell does that mean?” Vaeda demands. As she does so she begins to scour her memory for anything that could be useful to this. Children- so a man involved. Guidance- Whatever does that means. Vaeda begins to recall what she knows, and the only man Matilda has ever seemed to actively seek out is Elric. Something clicks within Vaeda’s head, and it bypasses her conscious thought.

“You want to wed Elric?” She says quickly, before another bout of memories wash into her head, she knew this, she was told yesterday but forgot. “Guidance… parentage…” She thinks aloud. Another two pieces click, the human male is going to be an Explorator, so even aboard the Exploration-Colonization ships there could be weeks without contact, Matilda may be called to her family, which may take weeks or months. “You want another woman around?” Vaeda asks tacitly.

The falakar does not wait for an answer, the slight curl at the edge of the human-woman's comparatively flat face telling all. “But how do I play into this Mattie?” She demands.

Matilda’s face slides into a slight disappointment. “I thought you wanted to explore those left behind among the stars, what better way to do so than with the Explorators?” She offers.

“I don’t know the first thing about-” Vaeda protests.

“And you won’t make first contact, you would teach aboard the ship just as you said you wished to, but you could also study the populations that are reunited with their own kind. The best of both worlds, stability and safe study.” Matilda cuts in, proactively addressing her concern.

“How did you know I would say that?” She demands, her teeth barring at the agitation of not realizing how deep the human had her hooks.

“Because I care to learn about people I like, particularly the woman I knew would be the perfect complement, to cover all the bases I and Aethelric left uncovered.” Matilda coos.

“Does Elric even know your scheme?” Vae demands, the statement both warming her heart but angering her mind. “Actually, don’t answer that, I just realized why you approached me first.”

“Oh, pray tell daughter of the Falakar” Matilda raises.

“I did some reading about your family when you told me about it. Both of your older brothers do not associate with the house of fitzGrenwick, with your oldest being a planetary commander, and older brother being a functional ghost, your oldest sister married into an Orion noble house, and older sister being a lady-in-waiting still. Your younger brothers live with your great uncles and use Grenwick in all official documentation. I won’t ask details, but I imagine it was a home so lonely that it outraged the rest of House Grenwick.” She lists, cross-reference to her knowledge of other human households from Earth and the situation seen she read. While Matilda’s face wears the features of respectable pride, she could’ve dissuaded armies from marching.

“Very…” Mattie forces out bending a polite smile onto her face as she continues. “...on the nose. Color. Me. Impressed.” She forces out between closed teeth. She visibly tenses like a spring under load, and in an instant shudder across her whole body. She lets out a deep, full, sigh, and seems to have recollected herself. “Let's keep walking, and just process all that has happened.” She says, her face in a truly neutral expression.

And so they continued to walk down that wildflower trail, in total silence. Vaeda could’ve sworn Mattie was steaming like a kettle the whole time, though much of her own mental energy was focused on the most indecent proposal Matilda had been scheming. The idea of the women of Elric was, unfortunately to her pride, something that did not revolt her. The swirling knot of emotions as she had to face the nature of her friend’s words became more present within her feathered chest, and as it was allowed to, swelled. She reflected on past events, particularly the human woman’s foreknowledge of Grazoc’s departure, and her premade plan to offer a place at one of her kin’s estates. Everything seemed too perfect, but only if Grazoc wasn’t involved, which he very well may have been given his insistence on finding a woman for Aethelric. The more she tried to put together the timeline of events and who and to what end others were involved, the less and less clear it became, and it both impressed and infuriated her. It annoys her doubly so as she has to contrast it with her earlier conversation about the artificial narratives in history. She knows Matilda is forcing her into a decision, one she will be able to say no to, but one that she will sweeten so much honey will look bitter in comparison.

The longer they walked the more she looked at the wildflowers, the way the wind whipped them into waves like that of the sea but in all manner of color from patches of pink, orange, yellow, white, and red. She saw a strange six-legged herbivore nursing its two young, while the male, and presumed mate of the female watched from the tree line with a menacing watch and equally so crown of horns. The sights of the wooded prairie soothe the unrest in her mind despite her usual reluctance to go out into nature, and as the turmoil in her head begins to subside, the turmoil of the heart makes its smaller presence known once more. “Well Vaeda, do you like Aethelric?” It asks. “We certainly don’t hate the idea.” It beckons.

The question persists within her emotional substrate, but something does change its nature from incessant nagging for an answer. “Say, why were you mad that Elric didn’t look at your body earlier?” and she can feel her face grow red as the events of earlier are brought up by her subconscious. The next question it asked was equally benign “What did you want him to do instead?” It inquires. Her mind begins to paint the image with her emotions. She wanted him to strip, and when he got the shower just right, he’d help shampoo her feathers, while the image is vague he’d begin to fondle her breasts, then cup them, and squeeze them, a hand would slide down her soapy body between her legs and begin to rub the feathers around her womanhood, whispering in her ears that they needed to be cleaned too, and “accidentally” slipping one in. She would lean against the shower wall, and lift her tail, offering herself to him. She cannot imagine what penetration feels like, she’d never done it. Her fantasy pitters out in the newfound storm of questions in her mind of “what is it like” and “what does she want to try” begin to fill her mind for the first time since her hormonal teenage years, unlike then though, her body reacted to to the mental imagery as she could feel a sensation sticker than sweat between her legs. In that moment, she decides she at least see if Matilda’s plan is worthwhile for her rediscovered urges.

The rest of their day out consists of no more talk of men, the two talk over fashions throughout history, their favorites. Then the two spoke about what kind of weapons they think are the most culturally powerful, to which Vaeda vehemently disagreed with Matilda's choice of the axe, in favor of the bow. They ate lunch and discussed much in the way of their personal opinions on various galactic figures, before gradually moving on to matters of pop culture. By this time the sun was low in the horizon, and the looping trail was at its end. Matilda reveals a sort of device and soon an actual horse-drawn carriage appears, offers the two a ride, and begins its way back to the estate. There the two drift into separate worlds, Vaeda reading on the couch she has claimed as her bed, Matilda watching something in the museum-esc antechamber of her quarters.

The raptor woman at some point goes to take a shower before going to sleep for the evening, this time polishing her claws from the day walking, before drifting off to sleep on the couch. Her mind drags long-suppressed images of lust and desire from a more instinctive place, though she won’t be able to remember a single one, just a vague desire for more of such a feeling. When, or if, the male of the trio appeared, she could not say.

Aethelric had found himself sitting in a chair alone facing the past. Everyone else in the bar was drunk beyond the point of sentience, while others were somewhere between sleep and passed out. A number, he knew, had gone home and some, he assumed, had taken their spouse with them. He could feel the mental haze of having drank far too much, but was spared the nausea. He got up to see the tavern owner, the man who had hosted the local brewing competition, passed out at his bar. The lithe, pale man took two unsteady steps before properly getting his footing. He sets back towards the noble retreat, and along the way he gets welcoming waves and polite calls of acknowledgment from the populace which he responds in kind. He cannot remember anything past noon from yesterday, just that every family brewed beer enough for the town in competition, and every beer was good.

He continues for about a half-hour before arriving at the retreat, he is let in by a smug-looking servant who refers to Matilda as “your Lady Matilda” for whatever reason. He sees Vaeda sleeping on the couch with a book propped open by her snout as he passes through the living room, and when he enters the living room attached to the bedchamber. He continues into the bedchamber to find Matilda sprawled in the nude across the bed, which makes him smile as he realizes the humanity of his friends. Feeling a full-day's worth of partying grime on his body and his clothes, he leisurely goes about making ready for a shower. He strips, kicks his clothes into the pile he made two days ago, and gets the shower just right the first time. He groans like a tired mule and sits down, just enjoying the hot water flowing over him. He can feel his eyelids flutter as his body realizes that collapsing from exhaustion isn’t sleep and now demands compensation for the lie his brain gave it. As his body saps the energy from him he can finally enjoy the soothing sensation of the hot water.

He doesn’t know how long he sits there in a state of half-consciousness, though at some point he begins to sing a summer song of his people. “On one summer's nightless night… A fisherman was in a fierce fight, swinging, swaying left to right. Pulling tugging, reeling in, and when the sun rose he could see the fins. Silver in color with rubies for eyes the fish would give him a woeful surprise ....” He sang, eventually the lyrics of “The Fisherman’s Fight” came as naturally as breathing to him. The conscious mind gradually restored itself to the cadence of the song and the flow of the water, until the body only demanded a promise of sleep, while the mind could once again lead the triage of Elric’s existence. Fully aware, he continues to enjoy the water and sing the looping-tune of the song.

The pale man finally opens his eyes after some time, only to notice a blurred out shape from beneath the frosted line of the shower milling about the bathroom. He shrugs and ignores it, it being either Matilad or Vaeda looking to shower, or a servant to collect the laundry. He leans back, and just as he gets comfortable on the tile again the door opens. Unsurprisingly it is Matilda in all her glory. “Good Morning Matilda, though I feel if we keep meeting naked our friendship may require a pastor’s blessing.” He jokes, laughing at his own observational humor.

“And why would we need that?” The woman counters obviously playing into his joke by striking a pose as she closes the shower door behind her.

“I imagine it's because the more comfortable we get around someone, the less inhibitions the two hold.” Elric offers in a too-self assured manner.

Matilda sits down in the shower, spreading her legs wide and joining the two beneath the frosted plane. “So you’re not comfortable with me?” She says dropping the game.

The man pulls back, forgetting that he was an inch from the tile and slams the back of his head into it. Pain shoots into his head and he puts a hand to rub the back of his head. Matilda leans in as he rubs the coming bruise with one hand. “Are you alright Elric?” she asks concernedly.

“Oh I’m fine, it’ll just be a bruise.” He answers candidly.

“Here let me feel it.” Matilda scooting closer, their faces now inches apart.

As she begins to run her fingers through his wet hair, the star-lost son of Sundorwic had a feeling pinging in his chest, not like the desire to be an anchor last two nights prior, but one that has a pleasant smile blooming upon his face. He looks into the eyes of Matilda and sees the concern for someone more than friend, and in this moment he had realized he cared rather deeply for this woman, and it was blindly obvious, now at least, that the feeling is mutual. He sees the slim, pink lips of Matilda so close to his own and has the urge to take them with his own, answering a question to himself on the matter of the nature of his emotion.

“You know Matilda, maybe I should be more comfortable around you.” Aethelric confesses.

Matilda’s eyes lock on his own. “Prove it.” She aggressively whispers, leaning in closer.

He leans forward and places a tender kiss on her lips. “Proven.” Aethelric says as he pulls back

Matilda freezes suddenly, then begins to shake as she blushes from her face to just above her breasts. She leans and places a very awkward kiss on Elric’s lips before timidly pulling back. “There, now you have taken… and been given… my first kiss.” She says flushing from a pink to nearly a red.

Aethelric’s shock at the news must be worn on his face. “What? Is that shocking to you?” She demands.

“A little? Like is Saint Valentine’s or Saint Florius’s not celebrated with festivals of love in this part of the galaxy?” Aethelric inquires.

“NO. AND THOSE DON’T COUNT ANYWAYS.” Matilda pouts.

“Well if those don’t count then I suppose that was my first as well.” He so plainly states.

The woman lets out a sigh that feels like a pressure release as she makes a move to sit in his lap. In this brief relief from the strange interaction, he reflects on the whole of the past two days. “How long have you been planning for an opportunity like this?” He asks with a grin, expecting a diversion.

“Ever since I met you at that movie night at Grazoc’s apartment. I didn’t realize how hard you’d be to reach.” She admits. “Either way, I need to start catching my lost time.” She states, a leering smile spreading across her face.

Aethelric rolls his eyes and pulls Matilda into another, deeper kiss that has the hand on the back of his head pulling him. Though just as he started this action Matilda usurped it, and in the energy of this initiation of romance, he could feel a burning desire for more resonating within the vibrations of Matilda’s human form. It was almost instinctive how he was able to learn such things by just holding her close as they passionately kissed on the shower floor. The pale human woman pulls back, the pair drawing their breath.

“Hold on Elric, I’ll be back in a moment, but I nearly got carried away…” She pants between heavy breaths. As she steps out of the shower, throws on a robe and leaves Aethelric on the shower tile alone.

The man gets up, turns off the shower and annoyedly finds wrapping the towel around his waist and issue. Just as he enters the bedroom, Matilda is rushing back in with Vaeda. “Oh…” Aethelric says.

“Before you ask, the two of us have an understanding, so to speak.” Matilda answers, trampling over anything he had to say.

The man gives each of the women a look, to which Vaeda nods her compliance in such a scheme while Matilda wears a look of desire and pride. “And what is this arrangement?” Elric asks.

“I think you know full well what this will entail.” Vaeda answers. “After all, it was rather common among the nomads of old earth, and the Explorators are nomads.”

Aethelric cannot decide between fury or elation at the offer, he had never considered Matilda or Vaeda as lovers until minutes ago, now the pair are insisting he take them both not even bothering to ask about moral objections, of which there were quite a number. Fury grabs his lips “Do the two of you take me for a womanizer?” He sternly demands.

“You? No.” Vaeda replies. “Though Matilda, I wouldn’t call her a womanizer…” She trails off.

“So, Matilda is what? A polygamist, an aspiring amour, what?” The man demands. He turns to the human woman. “Explain yourself, as I would sooner die than violate my conscience.” He demands the fire of fury subsiding into a sense of being used.

“I didn’t think much of it until a few months ago, and not seriously until a few weeks ago, but I thought it would be perfect to have a second woman around.” Matilda confesses, beads of anxious sweat forming on her brow. “I figured that… that if I laid out my intentions at the very start then there wouldn’t be an issue.” She says nearly stumbling on a number of her words.

“That’s not why.” The man corrects.

“I-I-I know, I don’t want any children born of me to not have a parent around, and I-I-” She stammers.

“Enough, I understand now.” Aethelric cuts in. “I didn’t and don’t want to be part of any perversions.” He sighs. “Of course, though, I have to ask Vaeda why she agreed.” Turning what was left of his subsiding fury on the blue-feathered woman.

“I agreed with her assessment, and I-uh-I didn’t realize you kinda turned me on, and the explorators always nee-

She says tripping over her words beneath his gaze.

“So, you agreed because you found me attractive, agreed with Matilda, and figured it would help you professionally?” He says laying out the arguments.

“-yes-” She murmurs.

Aethelric tenses, no longer feeling betrayed or furious, but like a fool. “The both of you are truly noblewomen at heart.” He admits. “I shall give this my best shot.” He stubbornly states.

An awkward silence falls over the trio, only for him to break it with a yawn. “I will be going to sleep now.” The man says before crawling into the bed and throwing the towel he was wearing out from underneath the covers.

“D-Do you mind-” Matilda starts.

“Once I fall asleep, I am quite obviously upset at your twisting of my emotions.” He states.

The two leave the room quietly, thankfully. Aethelric closes his eyes and pretends to sleep for a time churning the emotions of fury, embarrassment, shame, and a kind of happiness to resolve each within him. He was, and remains angry with Matilda for her dropping of a bombshell in the manner she did. He feels embarrassment and shame for not prying into the human woman’s schemes and that his two closest female friends wanted to bed him for some time without his knowledge. That last bit led a part of him to feel happy, which he was disgusted by. Though how the hell the Vaeda and Matilda ever talked about sharing a man neither had a claim to was beyond him. Eventually, his hangover caught up with him and he fell asleep.

Before he drifted off though he heard a heated, though hushed argument.

“What. The. Hell. Mattie?” Vaeda snaps from barred teeth.

“It was needed.” She bites.

“In what way.” She Vae demands.

“So that the intentions and offers are laid out at the start, lies are no foundation.” she whispers.

When Aethelric rose from his slumber he felt groggier than when he had gone to sleep, but at least it was one that he knew would fade rapidly. He felt skin on his right arm and what felt like the inside of the pillow on his left. He turned, first noticing the alarm clock that read eight thirteen AM. He sees Matilda having grabbed his right arm while he slept and as he turns left he sees that Vaeda has wedged his arm between her breasts, which upon paying attention to them for the first time in his life, are notably larger than her human counterpart. Regardless he can feel his stomach lurch with the hunger of having not eaten anything in a day, even if such a day was spent sleeping. The man tries to plot a way out of the trap when he notices that a certain human woman his now biting her lip.

“Good morning Mattie.” He whispers. “I think I will lift the covers now.” He says before flinging the covers off her side off revealing the young woman thinking she’s just playing a prank of sorts on him.

As he throws the covers towards Vaeda’s side, the look on Matilda’s face turns to shock as while she had one hand around his arm, another was between her legs. Again, his eyes are drawn to notice a more intimate place than he usually would. The most obvious attribute he finds is the wetness on her fingers and that had soaked into her pubic hair, which was the next thing that caught his attention, while unshaven, it was not unkempt and the dark brown of her natural hair color contrasted starkly against her pale skin.. He looked back up at her face where her eyes would greet him with accusation and her face with accostment, or at least that was what he thought he would be met with. However as he looked into Matilda’s eyes there was only a challenge in the leaf-green pools, and the curl of her lips suggest one she would be most eager to have undertaken upon her.

While he does wish to on an instinctive level to ravage the woman before him, the rational mind reimposes itself. “With Vaeda right there?” Aethelric so politely refuses as he gets up to dress himself.

Her arms wrap around his waist. “Why do you deny me? I can’t think of many men who would deny such an offer. ” She whispers, leaning against his shoulder.

“Because I can’t tell if you’re trying to sink your hooks deeper in me or if you’re just horny. Either makes me feel like a tool.” He illuminates.

The woman tightens her grip around his waist. “What would it take from me to-” Matilda starts.

“Mattie, it will take time. I’m not like you where I can read one’s intentions and drives in a few minutes, I need proof, commitment, and not just from you.” He whispers looking over to a still obviously sleeping Vaeda. “Were it just you, I may accept, but you forced my hand into taking more than you. I don’t know if you brought me here for a summer of sexuality or if you dragged me here to trade hearts, but either was not what I came here for.” He states flatly.

“Can I join-” She pleads, beginning to tremble.

“Of course you can join me for breakfast, I’m upset, not enraged.” Aethelric assures, having already prepared himself for the coming weeks, strange how similar winter was to this summer. Everything going well, a festival, and an equivalent to first frost had already fallen, for Matilda’s sake, he hopes he’ll be able to fit two beneath the blankets by his hearth, though, in truth he was never known for having a large heart doubts both his desire, and ability to properly tend two women.

The son of Sundorwic dressed like he normally would in the summer, a thin, plaid shirt, with a breathable vest atop, while he dons his usual brown jeans. The scion of House Grenwick by contrast puts on a just-shy-of-knee length skirt, a pair of knee-length socks, and a high-cut blouse. The pair leave the room and sit down for their first meal together since having arrived. Vaeda joins them not long after, before they finish their meal, uniting the trio for the day’s planning. The Falakar in blue suggests a day exploring the Hano Achio ruins, to which no opposition arises.

The group departs with a picnic basket, and take Aethelric’s skiff to the ruins. While the man among them knows not what, or who, or when the Hano Achoi were, though he knew he would be getting a lesson in the field. It takes about a half-hour of slow flight to arrive at the site, of which is obvious from hundreds of feet above the land with the radial structure of the lifeless city with the whole city resembling that of an extremely ornate star pattern. Aethelric lands in the center of some ancient, barren square within the city, perhaps a marketplace, perhaps parade grounds of a barracks. Regardless, the spot seemed safe from both the elements and prying eyes.

The day passed with Vaeda guiding the trio throughout one of the points of the sixteen-sided start, pointing out places of interest, historical functions, and holy places. The Hano Achoi, according to Vaeda, were an ancient race of arthropoids that defied both the Hori-Ancie and Jeewol during the War of the Outer Stars and suffered dearly for it. Ultimately their society was pushed from their home systems and forced into a million scattered colonies, where most populations declined until they were either wiped out by inbreeding, disease, war, or famine. According to her the last of the Hano Achoi formed a minor empire that was completely destroyed by the Jainor Republic where the two waged a war of extermination against the other with the Jainor emerging on top before collapsing into warlordism. She led them into a temple of sorts, one depicting the long dead race in graphic depictions of their most intimate moments. The rotund arthropods were depicted hatching from their eggs, copulating, dying of old age, comforting their sick, and giving both eulogies and their apparent inverse, with them holding their yet hatched eggs and clearly speaking on a life yet lived rather than one long ended. As Vaeda guides the two humans through the ruins she takes Aethelric’s hand, and only once noticing, seems to lament when releasing it. The day ends back in the empty square which turned out to actually be execution grounds, the trio return, and sleep sharing a bed, though Elric dons some sleepwear.

The days seem to blend together not long after that one, with each day being defined by one or two outdoor activities or excursions with Vaeda and Matilda sometimes getting time alone with him, apart from when Aethelric is occasionally being invited to join the townsfolk for something as simple as Sunday mass or as grand as a large festival. Matilda bides her time, increasingly worried and increasingly self-conscious of her advances being denied. Vaeda, however, finds a growing closeness to Elric.

It is a rather normal night for the three as far as far as the man among them can tell until he feels a broad feathery tail brush across the calves and shorts. Looking to the only one of the three who could’ve done such a thing, he notices the raptor-esc woman shuffling about. He raises himself, moving from a lying position to a sitting one, leaning against the headboard. As he does so, Vaeda straddes where his hips once were. Obviously peeved by Aethelric’s movements, she has to do a sort of shimmy to get close to his face. The man realizes what this is all about and takes one hand to her hip and another to the back of her head.

“What made you think you had to act first?” Elric asks playfully.

“Because you’re denser than concentrated lead Aethelric.” Vaeda replies without a hint of teasing.

“At least tell me what I didn’t see.” He asks before the inevitable.

“Lets see, we’ve been on a number of dates, and despite this you never move to touch me.” Vaeda details, her annoyance at the state of affairs being quite obvious. “I think you may be deluding yourself into thinking I’ll just be fine with a kiss like Matilda right there, Elric, I want much more than that.” She explains.

In the next five seconds the humans on the bed learn two things, one, being how fast Korvan clothing can be removed courtesy of interesting button and zipper placement, and how obvious their bodies wore sexual frustration. Aethelric could see the long, wet trail that started midway down her thigh and ended at her peeking, pink womanhood. She moves to pull off his pants and is stopped.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing Vae?!” Aethelric protests

“If your heart can’t conquer your mind, I know the one thing that will give it a way in.” She states flatly.

“Yeah and what is that?” He demands.

“Sexuality.” She says pulling down his shorts as he lets go. “Now, I know much about human psychobiology Elric, but human men, even those who are ever so detached from their body’s urges…” She begins, though by this point the man of her intent has already, unknowingly, physically reacted to her so obvious desire. “Will find themselves balanced when their most basal desire, so often suppressed, is placed at the forefront…” She continues lowering her hips to the point where he can feel her wet lips, where just a single movement down would have him inside of her. His mind protests faintly, but his body and heart, having finally realized they too can express their wants, have him place his second hand upon her hips. His mind, still having final say, capitulates to the burning, needing hunger of long-repressed needs.

Just as he accepts the offer, Vaeda leans in her snout and eyes taking up the vast majority of his vision, and kisses him hungrily. “Just to be proper.” She teases, sending the final signal that has him swiftly move her hips down upon, pressing himself into her hot, tight, wet intimacy. He lifts her light body up, and down, feeling the way she quivers and twitches around his manhood, he cannot compare the feeling, though her insides feel like oiled velvet, and almost painfully tight. He looks at the woman in front of him and sees her as one.

While her face may resemble the feathered raptors of old earth, there is still an obvious femininity within its soft features, her golden yellow eyes are filled with lust, surprise, and growing satisfaction. He sees her feathers in full, how the white at the underside of chin continues down the whole front of her, highlighting her pink nipples, and the overall curve of her body. How the light blue of her inner thigh, while dark blue and wet now, almost seems to entice those men who are otherwise too foolish for other advances. Were it not for her fluffy down, he wonders how this woman’s features would look otherwise, so he runs his hands from he hips to her waist, sinking his fingers into the surprisingly deep fluff there and finding that would have something of an hourglass figure were it not for her ample fluff. So thin his waist, on an otherwise short body that he can wrap his hands completely around it. He frees one his hands and takes one of her breasts in his hand, feeling it, squeezing it, and it feels right, natural even. He pulls Vaeda close to him, feeling her soft, fuzzy exterior pressed into his own chest, feeling her racing heartbeat, and the moans she tries to hide within her snout.

Wanting, needing, to hear her body’s cry of satisfaction, he takes a finger and parts her lips, sliding it back until he can slip it between two her teeth, and pry her mouth open just a little, instead of welcoming this, some primal part of Vaeda clamps down on his finger cutting deeply into it, but he doesn’t care or notice, his attention is wholly on both pleasuring this woman, and using her light body to pleasure himself. He figures he ought to change positions, and lifts the woman off of himself and almost tosses her back first onto the bed, while he gets off the bed, stalking his query like a hunting beast, Vaeda’s eyes look desperate for more. He obliges this, taking his time to gently, intimately reinsert himself into her, feeling her body twitch in response to a man arriving within her. He starts off slow, with Aethelric leaning to put kisses on her breasts, neck, and lips, but eventually ends with him getting faster, and faster, Vaeda’s mouth begins to hang open as guttural moans flow from it, spurring him further on. He can feel himself coming close, Vaeda seems to snap back to lucidity, as he feels the question of where to place his seed arises.

She looks him square in the eye, burning desire. “Inside, fill me, make me yours.” She begs, and where is Aethelric to deny her. He picks her up off the bed, still inside of her, and bounces her up and down until he feels the urge to fill her completely. He feels the pleasurable twitching of release and can feel her womb filling with his seed. Her body seems to go lip, her tail hanging droopily behind her, and a look of exhaustion and satisfaction gives a lewd look upon her face. “Thank you for taking my virginity Elric.” She pants, a satisfied smile on her face, her sex twitching as it leaked his seed. As he processes the words he realizes he is still hard and ready to go again when suddenly, he feels a pair of arms wrap around his own waist.

“Am I next?” Begs Matilda, pulling him tighter so she can kiss his neck and press her soaking wet sex to his thigh. “Though human women bleed their first time unlike the Korvans.” She informs the man before her. “First though, let me clean you off.” She offers.

Elric doesn’t hear what she says and grabs the young woman, tosses her onto his shoulder, he hauls her to the shower, feeling a trickle of something down his shoulder blade. He sets her down, planning to pick up where they left off weeks ago, but Matilda drops to her knees before he can start the water. “I said, let me clean you off.” She seductively reiterates.

“Why do you think I took you to the shower?” He replies bluntly.

Matilda just sighs in frustration, opens her mouth and hesitates a moment staring at his manhood which is still covered in a mix of Vaeda’s juices and his own seed. She leans in, putting her lips around his shaft, she starts to move her head towards his hips. Aethelric is more shocked at the circumstance than the act itself, and while it isn’t terribly pleasurable, the occasional graze of teeth and lack of contact is, on some instinctive level expected of someone so inexperienced in matters of the bedroom. He feels a distinct pride, like the first time he was part of a raid, it feels like rolling barrels of grain and salted fish into the hull in the sense of the pride of something done right even if the plan wasn’t his own. He looks down at Matilda, seeing her alabaster white skin and womanly figure on her knees all but showing off her bare bottom to him. The noises she makes, the moans cutting the slurping and sucking noises further spurs on this awakened desire within him. She pulls back, gasping for air, and looks into Elric’s eyes with a look that begs for affirmation. He runs his fingers through her dark brown hair, and raises her to her feet. Her face is red with both embarrassment and want, her eyes hungry and betraying the momentary fragility of her heart. He knows he could shatter it with a single word, but he has no inclination to it, he leans in and presses a kiss to her lips, one that Matilda hijacks in a moment.

He can feel her tongue try to wrap around his like a snake, and her arms hungrily pull him closer, and he takes the moment to feel her human body just as he did the Falakar’s a moment before. Her smooth back lacks the softness of feathers but instead offers the smooth intimacy of skin, with another hand he cups her breasts, firm yet still soft, again his body tells him what he already knows, “she’s never born a child” but this time it does more than inform, “have her bear yours.” it urges and the hand sliding down her back reaches her butt. He grips her soft bottom sinking his fingers into the soft flesh until he feels the resistance of muscle. Matilda’s moans of satisfaction resonate between their joined mouths, and feeling the mounting urge his body has so graciously provided, he pulls back from Matilda’s lips, and takes her hips with both of his hands. He presses his manhood between her thighs feeling her body quiver and tremble in anticipation and anxiety, with a single movement of his hips he presses against her intimacy, he looks down as she leans back trying to rest on the tiled walls of the shower.

Aethelric takes a moment to appreciate at Matilda’s womanly features, her slim waist fanning out to hips that seem slightly too-wide on a woman so lythe, how her chocolate-brown hair doesn’t curl like his own pubic hair, but lays flat upon her milk-white skin, the ever-so-slight peek of pink of her most sensitive spots, the same pink of her nipples on her petite breasts. Her eyes burn, but for the first time in some minutes a word is said between the two.

“Well Aethelric, what are you waiting for? It's already yours.” She whispers in a most sultry tone.

“Just taking a moment to enjoy a flower that is soon to vanish.” He whispers, biting back a much more primal tone.

With that he presses himself into her too-tight virginity, he stares deep into Matilda’s eyes as he does so, noting the suppressed, though clearly expected, wince of pain, her hips tremble, and face calm as he presses his member to her cervix. He leans in to kiss her as he does, and for once, she doesn’t try to take it over, letting him tenderly kiss on her in the way he preferred. He slowly begins to move, not daring to look down for the sight he knows he’ll see. Her insides loosen ever so slightly as what was left of her hymen is torn away, and the wetness changes from a mix of two contrasting fluids to a domination by a thick, sticky one. That suggestive feeling given a voice beckons to him again, “squeeze her softer bits, and kisses her as deeply as she does you.” it advises, and he hesitates not to act upon its whims. He locks their lips together and tries to wrap her tongue with his own and with both hands grips her supple buttocks as he would a heavy sack of grain, not even bothering to respect the little resistance her muscle provides his unrelenting grip. He can feel a shiver run up the woman’s body and her sex tighten like a vice around his own. He pulls back from his romantic assault, and stares back into her leaf green eyes, which despite the assured lack of it in the current situation look as innocent as a fawn’s though lacking the naivety. He does it again, to the same result, and this time he feels powerful in doing it, so he does it again at his leisure as his tempo unwittingly ramps up.

Time passes and the once energetic look of Matilda’s face fades to a growing satisfied looking exhaustion, while Aethelric feels his urge to fill the woman grows, he can feel his desire mount as they copulate, until he knows he’s at the point of release. He presses himself deep into Matilda, feeling the quivering, twitching mess of her velvety sex as he presses against the entrance to her womb and feels the familiar throbbing of orgasm. The two do not share any words but an understanding is made all the same as Matilda moves a hand over her womb, rubbing the smooth skin above her well-kept bush ever so slightly. Elric looks at the mess he made of the noblewoman, her hair scattered about, her body drenched in sweat, and a trickle of blood that runs halfway down her thigh.

The door to the shower opens, and Vaeda steps in, she looks at the two, nods at Matilda, and turns the water on, this time, there is no mistake in the setting of temperature or flow. As the water flows over the three, the exhaustion seems to collectively set in.

“So, Elric, do you still question the offer of two?” Matilda asks between bated breaths.

“I’m almost certain the both of you are pregnant. What choice do I have?” He replies smiling slightly.

Matilda and Vaeda cock an eyebrow at the man. “Elric are aware of the existence of cycle-suppressants?” Vaeda asks.

“What in God’s Great universe is that?” He asks incredulously.

“W-Well, it functionally freezes our reproductive cycle, unlike the primitive, and frankly put awful birth control of the past, cycle-suppressants freeze our hormonal cycle just before ovulation, so we don’t waste our eggs in education.” She explains. “The apothecary gives it to all unmarried women to keep women enrolled.” she continues.

“Nonsense, you cannot expect me to believe the High King of the Stars has allowed the use of a magical potion, and those are made by the mountain witches. I would not trust them.” He denies.

“Witches?” Vaeda asks, confused.

“Elric, it's just medicine, we have to take it every few weeks but it's really only temporary, it's not magic.” Matilda offers.

“So, the High King’s medicine men have created a potion that freezes your fertility for a time?” He asks. “And that this potion is meant only to be taken temporarily as I imagine it comes with some side effects with prolonged use?” He further asks.

“Close enough.” Matilda says.

“About right.” Vaeda offers.

The two women look at each other with the same look of amusement before the trio clean themselves and each other, and while Aethelric expected the night would be full of cuddling, he would not know as he crashed into sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He had no dreams though he thought was already in one.

Aethelric awoke before the women and slid from the bed ravenous for food as he normally was in the morning. He donned his usual dress, a button down shirt, belt, and work jeans. He finds the main living room and watches the sunrise before sitting down and reading a book about some ancient explorer. Time passes in his world all his own, no thoughts, no feelings, just himself, his book, and the pleasant warmth of sunlight on his face. The vivid descriptions of the tropical seas and the islands that dot it so laden with fruit made him wonder how different his upbringing would’ve been if he had spent it climbing palm trees for fleshy fruit rather than chasing giant crabs and lobsters that lived upon the shores, perhaps he would’ve tanned. Despite being coastal, there is little similar between his home and the people of the Mahuaxels, they make war in strange fashions, they abhor drink yet smoke more varieties of leaf than he knows of spirits.

. Some part of him waits for the women to rise so he can eat with them, though eventually one of the menservants comes looking for conversation over good smoke, with nothing better to do, he joins the man on the spacious patio for smoke and talk. They speak of much, starting with the good summer weather, then the lack of rain, and eventually the man and Elric share talk of tomorrow’s service when the man makes a seemingly offhand remark. “Well, I hope to see you there not on a sunday soon enough!” the man laughs, his salt and pepper beard looking like a shaking pine tree as he does so.

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Aethelric inquires tacitly.

The man gives him a knowing look. “Aethelric of the Explorators, we all see how the women look at you, and when we see them one morning glowing, we’ll know you fell into their talons, figuratively in one case, literally in the other. Don’t worry too much about it, womenfolk are strange creatures, but if they like you enough, they’ll make sure to have you.” He says with a grin.

Aethelric laughs, finally accepting the most strange predicament. “Well then, you’ll have to tell me when you see it.” He bellows. As he does he can feel his heart accept the situation he was in, realizing his reservations had never had never even been a consideration for the two who shared his bed. For what feels like the first time in weeks he can feel his usual calm wash over his body. “Regardless, thank you for the wisdom, now I have to ask, what kind of leaf is this?” He starts, shifting the conversation from his personal life to a long list of how this man seems to grow an enormous variety of herbs in his garden that he smokes and his wife makes into tea.

The sit and enjoy what the starlost son of Sundorwic finds is a rather complex cocktail of herbs that, in theory, is supposed to gently soothe the nerves but energize the body, the former he can attest, the latter not so much. Eventually the man returns to his work of tending the estate’s grounds and he returns to his book indoors. The sun changes from the red bead on the horizon to the orange ball and eventually the blinding white orb that the summer sun is always destined to be. He finishes the travels of Don Jacci through the Sapphire Sea, and of the numerous strange and numerous peoples the fifty-page manuscript provides, and finally he sees a bed-headed Matilda looking emerging from their chambers like a frantic weasel before seeing him and a visible tension is released from her body. Vaeda, much more casually follows with a look of “I told you so” strewn across her feathered snout.

The pair eat, an awkward but not unwelcome silence between the trio. The man among them looks to the lake and has a sudden realization that he had not yet enjoyed the water here, and seeking to rectify this, offered an end to the silence. “You know, it dawned on me that we have been here nearly a month now, and never once have I been down to the lake. Since it is usually you two who propose the day’s outings, I think it’s my time to do the same.”

He met no resistance, in fact, he received jubilation, with the two girls going on a massive, self-contained tangent about swimwear. To which Matilda decides on a one piece with something of a skirt, and Vaeda on a two piece with a floral print, as to why this conversation took a half-hour, Aethelric had no idea. Soon enough however, he is in a pair of trunks, while the women bar him from entering their shared quarters to dress themselves. It baffles him, as he has, in the most literal sense, been inside both of them and yet they insist on changing apart from him. It's not even the changing in the other room that’s the problem, it's the inconsistency and the confusion as to why such an idea has come to be.

Soon the trio is down at the lake, the dirty sand just barely taking on the heat of the day, and the water still cool from the nightly lows. Fish the length of his forearm fill the slightly deeper sections while swarms of baitfish school towards the shore. The temperature of the water is not dissimilar to the ocean water of his homeland but it lacks that familiar salinity. Were he to describe it, it would be, sticky by comparison, the way the water seems to cling to his skin rather than form around him. While not unwelcome, he would prefer the salinity of home. Though for what the water lacked salt it made up for with its sights, with beautifully kept wildlands around it, with tapering banks, and several private nooks to be alone. The entire lake seemed to be, if not was, tailor made to facilitate comfort within its occupants. Well, that and the two womanly figures who wore faces of clear denial at his decision to stand where the water covered his shoulders and it was, in his mind, most pleasantly cold. As the day wore on, they seem to migrate to one of the nooks, and as they did his shoulder-deep pit of cold seemed to grow shallower and shallower.

Eventually, through the game of subtly and subterfuge, Aethelric plays into the movements of the womenfolk as they splash about, swim, and tease each other. Though, as they do so they edge closer and closer to the shaded gravel bank, and the teasing is less playful and more rubbing against one another, then little kisses into wet feathers or upon glistening skin. Until, eventually he finds his lap being used as a seat for two. He could feel a warmth between the three of them that was felt inside, contrasting against the cool water on his skin. The trio began to tenderly kiss around midday, the slightly leathery lips of Vaeda’s raptor-like snout and the fleshy softness of Matilda’s danced around his cheeks and lips as he responded in kind feeling feather, skin, and scales with his lips.

Of course, they all knew where this was headed as he felt clawed fingers and familiar fingernails slowly trend from his neck, down his back, and eventually to his waist. Time, words, and all such temporal matters seemed to escape the trio. Though as skin and feathers press closer together, the haze of the subconsciousness’ dominance begins to fade. Where the baton of control is passed from instinct to the twin hands of emotion and conscious thought is jarring to Aethelric. He moves his own hands, each arm around one of the women’s waist, and takes a buttock of each. In the same moment he can feel the women pull down his swim shorts.

The next moments were a blur of color and skin, and he found himself on his back, his whole view consumed by the white and blue feathers of Vaeda’s underside, in the center of it all, a contrasting pink wet in a different way. Further down his body he could feel the familiar wetness of Matilda’s sex rubbing against his manhood. He opened his mouth, and leaned in to lick the bead-like clit before him, acting purely on impulse, moving his tongue in a circular pattern and relishing the gamey, warm fluid that flowers from her despite his usual aversion to similar flavores, while further down he felt the tightness of Matilda wrap around him, and the clumsy motion of her hips. The trio set into a steady state, and he could feel the involuntary shivers and tremors of Vaeda while the familiar contractions and pauses of Matilda told him on a basal level he was doing a good job. The pleasure he felt was lesser than he was with each woman alone, though the womenfolk were clearly enjoying it more. He couldn’t focus on either one of them, and if he could put it to thought, he’d be peeved at that.

Time again eludes him and in exchange he gains a heightened sense of himself. As if he could see them, he knew Matilda and Vaeda were looking into each other’s eyes, both satisfied and hungry for more. He moved one of the two hands that pulled Vaeda to him to Matilda’s hips, caressing the smooth skin and contrasting the downy feathers of Vaeda’s thighs to her soft skin. While they may have finished, he was not. He moved his hand back to Vaeda and lifted her up and off him, placing her in Matida’s lap as he rose up to look the pair in the eye.

“What are you doing?!” Matilda remarks, astonished at the sudden change in his attitude.

“He’s not finished Mattie.” Vaeda answers. “Let this happen.” She says with a wink as she gets off Aethelric.

Matilda is then promptly rearranged, her breasts on the fine gravel and her mind dominated by a far rougher sex than she had expected. Elric could feel her body clench and tighten to accommodate him, the wet smacking of his body connecting to her cushiony butt spurred him on, her moans, usually so soft became more like a banshee’s howl as he realized that this was the only time in her life she’d ever been manhandled. He saw Vaeda sit in front of Matilda, spread her legs wide and begin to say things to her that he did not hear though the sight both a woman’s back and front was certainly nice as he continued to thrust into Matilda’s insides, feeling his member press against the entrance to her womb just as he had the first time, and as it was then he felt compelled to fill it, feeling the familiar throbbing of climax he he filled her once again.

This time, however, she did not fall asleep, she wore the work of sex beautifully, and she crawled behind Vaeda, helping prop her wide-spread legs. “Come on Elric, finish what you started…” she pants.

He presses himself into Vaeda, staring into her amber eyes as he thrusts into her, bottoming out as her body freezes a moment before violently trembling as she sinks her claws into his back not to the point of drawing blood. It was a strange motion to copulate in such a position, his whole body moving in a wave with each thrust shifting the gravel and making Vaeda’s breasts bounce. Again he feels the rising pleasure seek its due. Though, unlike with Matilda who he stopped to fill, he keeps thrusting into Vaeda’s wetter, hotter sex, thrusting like a sewing machine as he pumped her full of his seed.

The trio spend the rest of the day enjoying their little cove, each time they looked at each other it was first the eyes then the groin, and Aethelric felt proud seeing the women who wanted to be known as his dripping with his seed. Whenever he felt the urge he would simply grab the body that most caught his eye and do with her what he pleased, much to her pleasure. He would take Vaeda mid conversation with Matilda and with nothing but his fingers sliding in and out, he reduces her to a quivering mess before waiting a minute and using Matilda’s mouth for his own pleasure. Another he found Vaeda lying about and decided to pump her full of seed while Matilda watched in awe and sexual frustration. Some time later Matilda was bent over, being pulled down Aethelric’s shaft by the wrists, her tongue dropping from her mouth. Sometimes the girls would come to him for more, Vaeda being the more direct, sitting herself down on him, pressing her fluffy breasts into his face and taking what she wanted, or presenting to him flashing the blue-white gradient to draw his eyes and his lust to her.

Matilda is more subtly in her desire, she would first massage his shoulders then get him hard, and slowly she would move herself over to enjoy a tender intimacy. Hunger for another’s body translated to hunger for food, and all were sore, for the women, in one part, for Aethelric, his whole body was exhausted. In such a state his final protest against taking two faded to nothing, accepting the notion in its completeness.