After about ten minutes, I hear the door open slightly and I look up to spy Miss Steele squeezing through the door and I sigh. “Oh that’s no way to treat a guest now is it?” she complains to me.
“A guest shouldn’t go snooping around in their host’s house,” I tell her
“Your housemates are concerned because you haven’t’ come back, from your break,” she giggles “and you were not answering the door when they knocked.” She walks around the room and stops in front of the vanity.
“So you took it upon yourself to find me playing the good citizen,” I say letting the acid leak into my voice for the last part.
“No need to be so hostile, everyone will just be justified in thinking you are in heat,” She tells me, turning to walk closer to me.
“That’s close enough,” I growl at her, as she gets closer to the foot of my bed.
“Why do you hate me so much?” she asks letting tears form in her eyes as if I have greatly slighted her, “I just want to make sure you are okay.”
“I don’t trust anyone that smells as you do... it’s to clean,” I tell her shifting my weight onto my hip bringing myself closer to the Estoc at the head of my bed, “Plus you have several daggers on your body, which I commend you on hiding them while sitting at the table.”
She quickly changes her mood and starts to giggle, “Oh don’t be that way, my adorable little fox,” She says walking towards me again, drawing four daggers and laying them down on the floor, the blades ranging in size from four or so inches, to around the length of my forearm.
And in the instant I was looking at the blades, she moves quicker than I expected and covers the ground between us, taking me by surprise since I felt no malice from her. She wraps herself around me, pulling my head into her chest, and she starts to rub her cheek on the top of my head. Then she starts to purr like a cat as she runs a hand underneath my blouse and up my abdomen.
“See I told you that some of them might bend your way,” Shiva manages to get out between filling my head with her musical laughter, and her gasps for breath.
“Waw-wa what are you doing?” I ask in a panic unable to move her from me, as she is heavier than she looks and the impact pushed me into a bad position to get any leverage from.
And of course on perfect timing the door opens again as I hear, “Lily?” and of course it is Melodiana looking for me. I can see her from the corner of my eye past the blue fabric of Miss Steele’s shirt. And she goes bright red before bowing and shouting, “Sorry,” Before turning and exiting the room behind her and shutting the door behind her and I hear her call, “She is in here.”
“You get back in here right now!” I shout at her. The door creeks open and Melodiana peeks around the edge.
“Ah are you really going to ruin our fun together huh?” Miss Steele asks from on top of me bringing her mouth to my ear and giving it a slight nip.
“Myah… move her,” I gasp and he continues to nibble at the tip of my ear as no amount of moving it would make her let go, and her tail winds itself around my thigh. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and my face growing hot.
Melodiana hesitates for a moment before stepping over towards us and Miss Steele sighs in my ear as if she is truly disappointed and sits up off of me and I roll off the bed into the floor and then quickly move up and over Melodiana’s bed as well and Melodiana pauses between the beds looking as if she is unsure what to do now.
“Hmm so you like your ears being played with,” Shiva says having recovered from her laughing fit, “Quite the naughty one aren’t you little princess?” and I feel my face flush an even brighter red.
Miss Steele begins to speak to us as if nothing has happened, “Well since you are both here and dinner is finished anyway, we may as well get down to business.”
“Business, what kind of business do you have with us?” Melodiana asks, and she already forgot we are supposed to be placed tonight.
“The Priminade has made their decision on which class you will be working with and I am here to relay that information to you as well collect a bit more information for your licenses, as there has been some leniency over the past few days about carrying weapons, but that courtesy will be dropped in the near future,” Miss Steele says as she is pulling papers out of a bag that she sat on the floor, and her daggers are hidden again; "she moves quite fast."
“In more than one way,” Shiva interjects giggling like an adolescent girl, which causes me to sigh.
Keeping the bed between us I ask her, “So what news do you have for us?” and Melodiana sits on the bed and has started to sulk again.
“Well after the stunts that the both of you preformed, there was quite a bit of debate as to where we would put you both,” Miss Steele starts and then looks to me, “We thought you would have a promising career in the medical field, but the results of your exams tell us that you are rather… unsociable at best, plus there is the fact that Lady Ledoux really does not like you. So we started to look for alternatives.”
She then turns to Melodiana, “We thought of placing you in with the gladiators but others and I felt that would be a waste of your talents and mind, so yet again we began to search for a place for you that would put you to good use.” She pauses to take a breath, “We finally came to our conclusion, and I am here to pass on your new schedules and job responsibilities and collect some information,” and she turns back to me again and smiles, “but before that I have an offer for you.”
Melodiana glances between is and is looking as confused as I feel.
I tentatively ask, “What offer would that be?”
She looks up to me and says with the most serious tone, “I want you.”
Before I can even process that, Melodiana jumps up with a bright red face and shouts, “WHAT?”
“I have to agree with the tall one on this,” Shiva whispers in my ear, “Quite the sudden confession, to go from light teasing to a full claim.”
“Her name is Melodiana,” I inform Shiva with a tilt of my head.
Miss Steele gets up off my bed and walks the distance between the two beds and begins to crawl across the second bed towards me, and she starts to talk again, “Ever since I first saw you sleeping on the bench I have thought about it, you are just so cute and I think you will grow into an even more beautiful woman, and once I learned your talents I just had to have you more.” She pauses halfway across the bed and purses her lips, “And on top of that you are an excellent cook, and you make the most adorable sounds when you get…excited,” She finishes in a breathy voice.
Melodiana comes to my aid or maybe just her own morals won’t let her stand by, “Now hold on just a moment.” She starts still burning bright red, “How can you claim to be an official from the Priminade and carry on with such behavior? You cannot expect anyone to take that type of talk seriously can you?”
“I am most serious,” She replies and continues, “I am offering her a place in my home amongst my other pets, where she will be pampered with the most beautiful dresses, and the most comfortable beds, delicious food and I will make it my personal goal to make sure she never goes without a want, and she will have a much easier life than the other option I have brought tonight.”
“At what cost?” I ask in almost a whisper, which causes her to smile and Melodiana looks at me with a bit of shock on her face.
“Hmm you like the sound of that offer little princess,” Shiva laughs in my ear, “Or maybe you enjoyed her touch upon your flesh more than you are willing to admit.” I choose to ignore her but she continues speaking, “Did you know when you are trying to ignore someone you roll your ears inwards just ever so slightly, it is very adorable.”
“Why is everyone calling me adorable tonight?” I ask while blushing.
“You are not actually considering her…offer?” Melodiana asks with disbelief in her voice.
“It would be…” I pause while searching for a good word, “impolite to dismiss her without hearing her out.”
“And you are considerate as well,” Miss Steele coos slightly before resuming speaking, “The only price you must pay is to be available to me when I request it, beyond that you are free to spend your days as you see fit.”
Melodiana cuts in again before I can speak, “What exactly do you mean by she needs to be available to you?” and she then positions herself slightly between Miss Steele and myself.
“I find it interesting that that is what she jumps at and not the fact that she used pet to describe you,” Shiva whispers in my ear.
Miss Steele smiles at Melodiana while speaking, “It is really quite simple, I enjoy having sex with beautiful people.”
Well that was quite blunt, what I figured she wanted, but blunt none the less. Melodiana’s shoulders stiffen and I can only imagine her face.
“Well as interesting as your offer is I am going to politely decline,” I tell her suppressing my laughter as best as I can.
Miss Steele looks genuinely disappointed as she asks me, “Is there a reason why not?”
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“You should know enough about my other half to have a clue as to why,” I tell her around Melodiana’s side.
“You only ever play the Kit in you when it is convenient to get you out of things,” Shiva mockingly accuses me with my own words.
“You can’t expect me to believe a lytlying like you would uphold that one mate tradition could you?” Miss Steele sighs.
“You can believe whatever you wish, but I will act as I do.”
She smiles again, “Then I will believe that you will embrace your loving side and I will indefinitely extend my offer to you so that when you choose to come to me you will always be welcome.”
“I will keep that in mind,” I tell her, “But we have other business, as you said before, to attend with each other for the moment.” I head over to the window and prop myself up with pillows, and off to the left I can see a beautiful red sunset.
Melodiana has calmed down now and she even looks a little relieved as she pulls a couple of chairs from around the small table to sit on.
“Thank you,” Miss Steele nods to her as she sits down putting her bag down on the floor next to her, which she pulls a writing board out of and a quill and a bottle of ink which she balances perfectly on her knee, “The Priminade have decided to place the both of you in the Wingless under my authority; if you so choose to accept,”
At this Melodiana’s shoulders drop in disappointment, “I suppose I’ll forget her punishment for tonight.”
Miss Steele turns towards me and adds with a smile, “Although Kira did put up quite a fight for your skills, but she owes me for more than one thing.”
Kira must be the other woman that was on the stage and in my examination.
“And what exactly does being under your authority mean for us?” I ask her.
She places a finger on her lips in thought for a moment, “Well first I suppose I should explain what it is that the Wingless do here at common grounds, being that none of that information was giving during the introductions.”
“Well that would certainly be useful,” I tell her and roll my eyes slightly; Melodiana, still in a slight daze, at least appears to be paying attention… sort of…
“The Wingless as a whole handle…” she pauses slightly before continuing, “special cases.”
“Do you care to explain what you mean by that?” I ask.
“Well in the Wingless there are even more subdivisions that handle different situations…discreetly sometimes, other times not so much,” She says tilting her head to the side, “And then other subdivisions handle in house work.”
“This feels strangely familiar,” Shiva says to me, and I can’t help but to agree with her.
Melodiana finally recovers and speaks up, “Can you be more specific?”
“Well sometimes certain divisions are hired to take care of a high priority target, or a small group, or sometimes they are hired to handle creatures that are so dangerous that even the Fänger’s would not dare touch,” She says with mixed emotions on her face.
“Ah so killing marks,” I mutter to myself while confirming her rather obvious hints.
“You should fit right in with them then,” Shiva responds.
“Not really, not anymore,” I sigh to myself more than her.
“What do you mean take care of?” Melodiana asks.
“Well frankly those divisions handle assassinations and that type of job,” Miss Steele says curling her lips slightly in apparent distaste.
Melodiana jumps up from her seat and raises her voice, “I refuse to kill someone just on the grounds that someone else wants them dead.”
“And I am not asking you to,” Miss Steele says calmly.
“No matter how you justi… what do you mean that you are not asking me to?” Melodiana asks, looking confused as her steam runs down.
“My division handles the in house work, specifically we are a somewhat of a peacekeeping force. When someone in the city oversteps laws in an extreme fashion, or if they are proving to be rather elusive we step in to apprehend the culprit,” Miss Steele says as she pulls more papers from her bag, “Or when any of the combat classes here overstep their privileges they are far too dangerous for the standard city constables to handle, or sometimes they are outside of the city, so we step in and neutralize the situation.”
“And what exactly do you mean by neutralize?” Melodiana asks looking at Miss Steele from the corner of her vision.
“I leave that up to the agents in the field to decide,” Miss Steele says and then continues on in a matter of fact tone, “If the team feels that they can subdue the criminal then go right ahead and do it, but I will never ask my people to risk their own lives trying to subdue a dangerous target, so if the team feels it to be necessary lethal action is an option.” She pauses for a moment, “And sometimes we work on an execution basis, for example if a mass murderer, or something along that nature, is being hunted they are given a bill of execution and are not even considered as a capture target.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Shiva says.
“So your main duties would include patrol assignments, training, a bit of learning here and there, anything that might end up a bit messy,” Miss Steele says with a slight smile and then adds, “and protecting the people of Common grounds.”
“I see,” Is all that Melodiana says as she sits back down and starts to ponder the information we were given.
“Ok so say that a member of the Wingless goes rouge, who do we answer to?” I ask readjusting a pillow and grabbing a brush that I start to run through one of my tails.
“Either another team, or if it is bad enough the heads of the divisions will step in and handle it,” Miss Steele says looking up from the papers she has been writing on.
“So what was the information that you needed from us?” Melodiana asks.
“I assume that means you accept?” She asks in turn smiling. Melodiana nods her head once after a pause, and then they both turn towards me.
“Hmm?” I question continuing to brush my tail moving on to the next when I am satisfied with the last.
“What is your decision?” Miss Steele asks sighing slightly. I hold up a finger while I decide, and I hear another sigh from both women this time. “Is this how she always handles things?” She asks Melodiana.
“I am not sure, as we have only known each other a few days know, but from what I have seen she only ever does things on her whims,” Melodiana says and then adds in sighing, “Or bribery seems to work well enough.”
“Accepting bribes now are we?” Shiva asks
“It’s for dinner,” I reply and then happily add in, “and cake.”
I can feel her scrutinizing gaze on me and then she says, “Even after all these years with you, you still surprise me sometimes.”
“So my Lytlying is a bit troublesome eh?” Miss Steele asks while giggling.
“It appears that way,” Melodiana replies and then asks, “What does that mean by the way? You have called her that a couple of times now.”
“What Lytlying?” she asks in response and I catch Melodiana nod out of the corner of my eye, “Well basically it means little sister or brother.”
“You’re not related are you? Melodiana asks in rapid succession, and continues just as quickly, "Neither of you look like the other at all."
“My you are just full of questions and curiosities aren’t you,” Miss Steele laughs, “No we are not related, and it is just a way that we Succubae refer to the younger members of our race.”
“So are we going to accept that job offer hmm?” Shiva asks me as I move on to another tail.
“Yes we are,” I tell her
“And you have not said anything…because?”
“I am just listening to them to see how they react…Plus I am brushing my tails.”
“…So you are punishing her for her actions earlier then?”
“In a nut shell”
“I do wonder where that nasty little trait of yours comes from sometimes,” Shiva says sighing to me.
“… I thought she was a Kitsune?” Melodiana asks, confusion in her voice
“Well she is, half Kitsune anyway, or less so if I had to guess, but her other part makes her a Succubus as well,” Miss Steele responds, and then pauses, “Although I am surprised you are surprised because she exhibits very telling traits of being a Succubus.”
I look up now to see what Melodiana’s reaction is as I am curious as well, she is fidgeting slightly and then she starts to speak quietly while blushing slightly, “I… have only ever really dealt with my own people and humans, we did not receive many other visitors in my home.” She finishes while looking down, and I move on to yet another tail.
“Just a bit of a sheltered life hmm?” Shiva muses.
“I can’t blame her for her circumstances or for my own,” I sigh as I answer the unasked question, “I've long since gotten over that complex.”
“As long as you are okay,” She says and I nod, earning me a curious look from Miss Steele before she turns back to Melodiana.
“Hmm… I understand,” She begins, and then offers, “Well I can help you a little with that, if you would like?”
“I…If it is not any trouble,” Melodiana says a bit meekly.
“Well the most telling feature is her eyes, well her eye to be exact,” Miss Steele says, “There are only two cases where you see someone with an eye color that is a shade of red, pink, or purple. If they are a Succubus or if they are a Paleborn, and Paleborns are more likely to have light blue eyes.”
“I see so her lavender eye indicates that she is likely a Succubus?” Melodiana asks in confirmation to which Miss Steele nods, and Melodiana asks another question, “Are there any other telling signs?”
Miss Steele looks at me, and then back to Melodiana before answering, “Well a Succubus, even Half-Succubae, are generally born with tails like mine,” She says waving her tail with a little spade shaped end back and forth while speaking, “but it appears that her Kitsune blood was a dominant trait in that area. Also you likely won’t see it if you aren't familiar with them, but her face is much softer than a normal Kitsune’s, amongst a few other signs but those are not quite as reliable.” She pauses; shifts papers around and then asks, “Is there anything else I can clear up for you?”
Melodiana thinks for a moment and then asks in almost a whisper, “Is she really able to…perceive how someone smells?”
“Well yes,” Miss Steele nods sounding a bit on the confused side, “Actually anyone can, to a lesser extent; a Kitsune is just exceptionally good at it with their sensitive noses why do you ask?”
“It’s just that she mentioned somebody smelled like a plant, and I thought that maybe she just noticed something in his bag and was playing a trick on me, and then I thought maybe she was saying her sense of smell was sensitive to get out of going into the spice shop,” Melodiana fidgets even more now then before, and she finishes in an almost inaudible voice that I have to strain to hear, “And when I asked what I smelled like and she just brushed it off.”
“Ah I see,” Miss Steele says almost immediately with a knowing look on her face and she reaches out and pats Melodiana’s shoulder, “You don’t have to worry too much about that, it is apparently extremely rare for a Kitsune to actually mention what someone smells like, as it is considered rude to do so for strangers and is an incredibly personal thing among friends.” And then she adds, “Unless it is to provide information that they think is important, or as a way to warn someone off, and they will not stay around someone that has a scent that they find unpleasant.”
“She seems to know quite a bit about 'your' people and their customs,” Shiva says, “Possibly even more than you do.”
“Well that is not really my fault,” I complain to her and all she does is laugh lightly knowing I don’t take any offense to her jab.
“One more thing,” Melodiana begins looking to Miss Steele for permission, and she nods, “You mentioned other signs but didn’t mention what they were,” She says leaving the question hanging.
“Well…” Miss Steele pauses and I can feel her looking me up and down, “She is quite…gifted in certain areas.”
“Gifted?” Melodiana questions and I decide that it is a good time to interrupt them and I speak up.
“I accept your offer to work in the Wingless,” I say causing Melodiana to start slightly.
“Wonderful,” Miss Steele says smiling dropping her previous topic with a twinkle in her eye, “Even better that you two live together. That makes it quite easy to assign you both to the same team, if you have no objections?” She asks and I shake my head as does Melodiana. “Excellent, now I just need a little bit of information from the both of you,” I nod, Melodiana although she looks a bit confused but nods as well. “First there are weapon licenses that require proper identifications of the gear that both of you use,” She says dipping her pen in the ink well and turning to Melodiana first, “If you would be so kind as to gather your things for an inspection.”