He pulled up his points and found another point resting in amongst his other ones. He knew immediately that it was different. It wasn’t simply that it was new, there was a … ghost like quality to it. He frowned and pushed it around, and quickly noticed that it did not react nor move with his thoughts with near the smoothness he’d come used to. It was slow, delayed, and on the whole just… lesser. He couldn’t explain it any other way than that. In some way he could easily feel, if not quantify, the point was inferior. He began trying to squeeze and manipulate it similar to the others, and found it just as receptive to his efforts as his original mana points, but when he tried to move it, it reacted slowly, unable to take turns with the momentum defying capabilities of his original points, nor accelerate or even teleport, as his points seemed capable of doing. Joe found himself fascinated by the differences, driven to explore them but his fatigue caught up to him rather quickly, and shortly after, exhaustion overwhelmed him completely and he fell back to sleep again.
He awoke with the silky smooth slick coolness of Kilniara’s body sliding into his side and he groaned, rested once again but also quite comfortable in her arms. She also moaned slightly, soaking into his heat and they both settled into each other a bit more before Joe drifted in and out of sleep for a bit more before finally coming awake. She groaned as well, a deeper moan than Joe was used to, but he didn’t really note it as Joe slipped back into sleep for a time Kilniara never fell asleep but did rest comfortably in his arms, her hand drifting lightly up and down his arms and sometimes sliding across his chest. After a while, he was able to awake fully and turned, smiling as he slid a kiss on to her forehead.
She giggled and snuggled deeper into his side then froze as she groaned in pain, “Morn… ow… ooh… that hurts… morning.”
Joe smiled at that, whispering “Good morning to you. Really sore?”
Kilniara nodded, “I… could barely make it here.”
Joe’s good humor vanished, “Hurts that much?”
“Yeah… it… really hurts. Are you certain this was wise?”
Joe’s frown deepened, “I… don’t think I pushed you that hard. You guys stopped almost immediately after your SP dropped… was that…”
“Well… I’m sore.”
“But you were able to make it here?”
Kilniara nodded a bit curious now with Joe’s questions, “Yeah?”
Joe frowned at that, “You were… walking around after… even at the dungeon easily enough.”
Kilniara frowned at that, “It didn’t hurt then.”
Joe snorted then shook his head, “Yeah… that matches… but if … you guys should be a LOT more sore if you are having trouble even walking.”
“I am sore,” Kilniara retorted angrily.
Joe chuckled, then frowned, “Things… seem weird. I’m not sure what to think. If the time you had your SP didn’t count, you really shouldn’t be feeling this sore. You pushed yourself really only once… I didn’t let you do more. I knew you would be this… well… even worse than this.”
Kilniara’s frowned with a twist of good natured, if bitter, humor, “You knew we would feel this way and you made us do this anyway?”
Joe shook his head with a smile, acknowledging her joke, “That’s kinda why I warned you and stopped you. You shouldn’t really feel this sore… but… huh… maybe SP doesn’t exactly block all of it? Or … is it if you strain first… then SP doesn’t block it totally? Or is … hmm… HP shenanigans?”
Kilniara fell silent at that as Joe lost himself in his thoughts, and Joe didn’t notice the simple gift she gave him, allowing him his thoughts. He drifted through his musings for a time before she shifted and then Joe startled, glancing over at Kilniara.
“Oh… uh… I’m sorry… got lost in my thoughts.”
Kilniara smiled, “No. It’s… one of the things I like about you.”
Joe smiled a bit at that, “Really? Getting lost in my thoughts and then ignoring you?”
She grimaced at that and slapped him lightly on an arm, “No!”
Joe chuckled, “Well… that’s why I was apologizing.”
“Then… thank you.”
Joe sighed, frowning, “Probably going to do that a lot… sorry,” he ended with some chagrin.
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Kilniara’s smile returned and she shook her head, happy enough with her simple reply. The two fell silent at that, simply staring at each other when Joe suddenly yawned.
“Sleepy? Still?”
Joe smiled, “Stayed up late.”
Kilniara smirked and lightly slapped his arm, “You fell asleep first!”
Joe chuckled, “Yeah, but I woke up at midnight.”
This surprised Kilniara and she raised herself up to look down into his eyes, searching them for truth before leaning forward and kissing him on his forehead.
“You work too hard.”
Joe smiled, “More I’m just waking up naturally.”
“Then you sleep too early!”
Joe laughed at that, “Too tired to stay up late though.”
“That’s not really normal,” Kilniara replied, worry in her voice now as she looked into his face.
Joe smiled, rubbing her back in comfort, “Actually, it’s very normal for my people.”
Kilniara stared at him, suspicion rolling her gaze over his face before she began to believe him, “Truly? You are not lying?”
Joe stared at her, not hiding anything, “Really.”
She stared another few moments before nodding and laying back down quietly, “OK. Please be careful.”
Joe chuckled, “I’ll be careful, but I’m always going to work hard.”
“Like I didn’t know that.”
Joe smiled, “Glad you know that.”
She sighed theatrically, “Of course. You are such a burden as I stand and watch you fight, kill, and help me grow while I stare at you and swoon, exhausted from standing for so long.”
Joe’s smile grew to laughter, “Of course, of course, my queen. I will care for and serve you as you deserve,” Joe spoke with mocking laughter.
Kilniara grew quieter, staring at him, an intensity that rapidly grew, her look growing considering, excited, fearful, and expectant. She continued staring at him almost too long and when Joe was just about to interrupt, she continued in a tone of awe and wonder, “Truly?”
Joe saw her intensity and nodded, wanted to reaffirm her, “I told you. I’m not one who makes choices lightly. I make my choice, especially when it concerns others, and I stay true to it. I do not like … I don’t know. I make sure to make my choices carefully and keep my choice when I do make them. I will treat you as a queen. My queen. I will keep you and treasure you, if you will have me. But I do need to know our relationship is true and a good one for each other. You do not have to fear that I will treat you badly, but please allow time so we can see if we are good for one another.”
Kilniara seemed to shiver at his statement and her passion erupted as he finished his statement, only cooled slightly by the ending. Joe pulled her in, kissing her quickly then pulling her into a hug because he wasn’t sure he could resist if she poured all that passion into her kiss. She shivered into his arms, moaning in and odd mix of both soreness and passion, excitement growing ever more until she finally pulled away from him, moaning again in the pain of the movement but too overwhelmed by the passion to really care as she leapt at his lips, devouring him. Joe found her passion overwhelming and lost himself in her kiss. He soon found her on his lap, straddling him even as she sucked the life from him. He lost himself in her kiss but then pulled back.
“Hey. Hey. The guys are right here. Your brother…” Joe trailed off as she continued staring at him with an intensity he hadn’t seen before.
She cut him off, “I know. It’s the only thing keeping you safe!”
Joe chuckled at that, seeing her passion cut back a bit as she struggled, “Hey. I thought I was supposed to say that to you!”
When she heard him, realization seemed to slam into her like a tidal wave and all that passion wilted under the overwhelming embarrassment as she curled into his chest, wailing softly. Joe laughed and wrapped his arms around her, speaking to ease her embarrassment.
“Honestly, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. That passion is incredibly… enjoyable to me… probably to any man, but especially to me. You have no need to fear it was a bad thing. Please, show it to me more and regularly… just… wait a bit more until we are married. Wise choices are needed and this is not a wise choice. This is a horny choice.”
She slapped him hard, then moaned in pain at the movement, the pain mitigating her embarrassment even as it was swamped by anger. She looked up at him and his smiling accepting face calmed her and she smiled back, wryly, “A horny choice?”
“I didn’t say it was only your choice. You don’t think I’m incredibly horny as well?”
Her eyes widened at that as her passion swelled again, her eyes hooding, “Really. You didn’t show it too well.”
“I couldn’t.”
Her passion receded and hurt flooded her face, “Why?”
Her question escaped before he could even reply to the hurt in her eyes, and concern filled his voice, “Hey! That wasn’t to say I couldn’t because I didn’t have passion for you. I couldn’t because if I did I would have not been able to control myself. I would have ravished you on this bed, now, in front of Garnedell… and your brother.”
Any hurt was flooded away in another bout of passion and embarrassment and she settled back into his embrace with a soft groan, “OK. Yeah. I can see that.”
Joe smiled, “One of us has to keep control. It’s fine if you want to release control. I will keep it. You can trust me. But if it’s hard for you to keep control even when I make sure we stay safe, then how will you do if I were to release my passion on you. Could you reject me, if I were to relax my control?”
She stared at him, shuddering as she saw his eyes flare with his own emotion and she found herself lost, “Do you want to try?”
Her question struck him, hard. He shuddered, his eyes wavering until he closed them and breathed deeply, turning away just a bit to distance himself, “You… thank you for your trust, but… you have no idea what you do to me. I won’t stop. I know myself well enough for that.”
She looked at him for a bit before smiling, not a brilliant or bright smile, nor one of triumph, but one of utter peace, “Really… you are an amazing but strange man.”
Joe looked back at her, “In a good or bad way?”
Kilniara lifted her head, looking up at him through her bangs, “Definitely good.”
Joe stared back at her then turned away, flushing and with passion once again, “So are you.”
They fell into silence at that point and neither spoke as each rested in each other’s presence. They’re silence ended after a few and Joe cleared his throat and embarrassment.
“So… let’s do a bit of practice.”
Kilniara looked up at him, this time with a smile that lit the room and nodded, humming in agreement before returning to her privacy, but this time obviously practicing her magical skills. She shifted, groaning deeply at her soreness as she turned in her bed and Joe frowned a bit, worried. She settled after, though, so Joe relaxed and joined her.