Episode Eight: A Slice of Sleep

By TheCrimsonDM

Jade stood in front of her little sister, marching back and forth as they stood in Opal's room. Opal was sitting there, her dress was torn up, her hands and feet were covered in oil, tar, and feathers. It looked like she took a bath in a tar pit and then punched a chicken. Honestly, what was she supposed to make of this mess?

"So," Jade began. "Let me get this straight. You broke into Pascale's home, made a huge mess, and then came back here."

"The ritual has begun, she's already walked into the room and discovered an uncomfortable history... um, I mean, I played a good prank on her." Opal smiled innocently.

Jade shook her head. "Prank or no prank, you shouldn't have done that. Pascale is very temperamental over her stuff, she actually kicked me out of her home for licking one of her pens once."

Opal scrunched up her muzzle. "Ewww, gross. How many people touched that pen before you did that?"

"I, was trying to be attractive and aloof. I achieved only one of those things apparently. The point is, that was just me licking a pen, easily cleaned. You actually broke into her home. I'm going to have to apologize to her for this.. in a big way too."

Opal lowered her head. "I'm sorry. I thought it would be funny, and complete the dark one's goal for world domination, but mostly that it would be funny."

"I don't blame you, pranks are a normal part of childhood, but Pascale is scary when angry so you are grounded to your room until I say otherwise. I'm going to go over and make this up to Pascale, somehow."

Still, her sister came first. "Oh, and you need to get cleaned up and dress up into proper clothing. You are a girl, not some nasty boy. Now go."

With her order in place, Opal nodded and left. The spa was closed again, so was the hot springs. She had things to do today, and now that included apologizing to Pascale. She just really didn't want to walk all the way up to Pascale's home. If she had a vehicle like she used to it would be a quick drive. Now though she didn't have much in the way of transport except for a single Giant Snail. Well at least the Giant Snail was doing well in its pasture feeding on the grass. Her snail was blue-skinned with dark gray shell. She got out to it, and it bowed its head as she approached for her to give it some slimy but well-deserved head scratches. "Oh Seabrease, how have things changed so much? I'm glad you still with us at least." it was true, Seabreaze had come with them from their old home in the capital, back when she was a real noble. Thanks to Princess Twinkle, she found a peaceful life here for her and Opal to live.

She climbed up the side of Seabreazes's shell where a rope ladder hung down and once on top of Seabreaze she used the reins to get Seabreaze to start moving. At normal speed Seabreeze slipped along the earth faster than human feet could carry. So it was a pretty quick but gentle ride up along the roads and toward Pascale's house. Along the way she saw all the green and blue kobolds out and about. Most were doing small chores around their homes, fishing in the stream or going up to the cliffside farms to help Blue with the harvest.

It was just another bright and sunny day all in all. Surely nothing could go wrong. At least that's what she thought until she got to the library. She holstered Seabreeze outside and walked in. Once there she saw Ziggy sitting on the counter. He stared at her. "Oh, it's the pretty one."

Jade huffed. "I am not just pretty you know."

"I know, but your better looking than the rest of Pascale's friends."

Jade offered a small smile. "Why thank you, and you are quite handsome for a chicken."

"Thanks, but I don't date lizards."

Jade's smile faltered. She walked right into his trap, didn't she? that evil, little piece of protein. "Where is Pascale?"

"She went out on some important mission with Princess Twinkle. She didn't even take the time to clean the mess Gray left in the back room."

"Oh, so it was Gray who made that mess."

"Must have been, who else would break her window and make a mess like that? Probably some kind of prank."

Jade put a finger to her chin in thought. She could easily just leave it at that, let Gray take the fall and be done with it. Still, she wouldn't feel right completely abandoning her sister's mess. "Tell you what, I'll do Pascale a favor and clean the mess for her. That way she can come home to a nice and clean home."

Ziggy ruffled his feathers a bit. "Be my guest. I'll just keep manning the counter like I'm supposed to."

Well, at least this made things a bit easier. she could clean up her sister's mess, not feel guilty about it, and let someone else, someone a bit more sturdy take the fall for it. All in all, it was a good plan. As she walked to the broom closet she asked. "When will Pascale return home anyway?"

Ziggy offered a shrug. "Who knows? Important missions can last days sometimes."

Well with that out of the way Jade was able to easily clean up the mess. It only took about thirty minutes, but hoo boy did Opal do a number on this room. How in the world she reached the ceiling to draw weird funny shapes into she didn't understand. The symbols of strange tentacle monsters or of kobolds turning into big shadow beasts were all just a mess. One particular symbol showed a square shape and a monstrous arm crawling out of it as what she assumed was Pascale and Princess Twinkle were running away. That was going too far, graffiti of the princess was probably illegal. Well, probably, this was mostly innocent, just weird. But, Opal was weird and she loved her for it.

After cleaning the mess she put everything away. The only thing she couldn't fix was the window itself. At least, she couldn't fix it all by herself that was. Someone else could easily fix it. She just had to find them and bug them until they stopped working and came to help. Jade left the library and got back on her snail with the goal in mind to go and visit the one person who could help, Blue.

The lift that went up to the cliffside farms was massive and easily allowed for the likes of her and her snail to go up. Of course once there she had to tie the reins to one of the posts in the back of the cliff. Once securely tied up she was able to leave Seabreeze and look for Blue. It wasn't too hard to find the kobold in question. She was in her home, and as usual, after knocking on the old wooden door she had to look up at the camera and make some kind of hand signal. Jade couldn't remember the hand signal correctly so she just made the peace sign. The door opened a moment later but only a crack, a single bright green eye looked out at her. "Jade?"

Jade nodded. "yes, darling, it is me. I have a favor to ask of you my dear."

The door opened up fully and Blue motioned for her to come in. Jade followed and once inside the door closed automatically and locked behind her as Blue led her through the mess of a hallway she had. It was filled to the brim with mechanical pieces, half-built contraptions, and a few guns. There was even a bear trap in one of the shelves built into the stone wall. This was as much a traditional kobold living space if Jade ever saw one. Tradition though was not common much anymore. After all kobolds no longer had need to hide in caves, or to build so many traps. Yet here Blue was, toiling away, living in a cave, and being endearing as she could.

Blue opened up a side door and stepped into a dark room that was surprisingly clean to the rest of the house. Her bed was a small double bed one sitting in the middle of the room. And although dark, there was some pink mood lighting on either side of the door. Blue walked to the side of the bed, to a stereo where she pushed a tape in and then pushed play. A strange mixture of funk, drum beats, and gong music began to play from the tape. Blue turned around and offered a weak smile as she nodded to the bed. "Um, I'm um, r-ready if you, um, are?"

Jade bit her lower lip. "oh my, darling. I think there was some miscommunication."

Blue's eyes widened and she quickly pushed pause on the tape. "O-oh, you're not here for um, a um, p-p-private message?"

Jade shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry but no, not this time. Though you are quite magical with your fingers, especially when they run all, over, my, body."

Blue's hands were grabbing the side of her green dress tight. The poor dear must have really needed this massage. Jade just didn't have the time for this kind of thing today. Blue was looking at the floor, her face was a deep shade of red. "I-I see... um, well... w-what can I do you for? Oh wait, I mean what can I do to you? Oh no, I mean, um, well, oh no." she crouched down and covered her hands with her face, now reduced to making merely squeaking sounds.

Jade walked over to her and knelt down so she could pet the top of Blue's head. "There, there. I promise, I'll enjoy your massage later. I just have a bit of a timetable that needs taken care of. You see poor Pascale had her window broken and I'm looking to fix it before she gets home."

Blue looked up at her, her fingers spreading so she could see through them. "Why would you fix it? Isn't it G-Gray's responsibility?"

"Well, normally yes... but this time my sister was the one who broke it. So I must fix this immediately."

Blue looked down again. "I-I see. I'll help then. Should only t-take an hour."

"Thank you, darling."

Blue lowered her hands and grabbed at her dress again. "Um, if I do... I um... can you..." She nodded toward the bed."

Jade rolled her eyes. "Oh, darling. You don't have to bribe me to let you have some private massage time. You just need to ask, I'm willing to help out anytime. Just don't tell anyone okay? I don't want rumors spreading."

"So you will?"

Jade stood up. "Of course I will. Tomorrow though, will that be alright?"

Blue nodded. "Of c-course."

"And, I would like it if you came to my house for said massage. I have more… tools to use."

Blue's face went deep red. She couldn't even speak she just nodded.

After that the two of them left the bedroom, went into the main living area and although it took a little bit of work they found a replacement window and all the tools that Blue would need. After that they left. Blue on her bike, and Jade on her snail.

It was maybe an hour or so later before Blue finished repairing the window and though she looked pained to do so, she left Jade there alone. Jade needed that time so she could wait for Pascale and surprise her accordingly. Hopefully, this would reduce any amount of anger that Pascale would have.

The wait was the hardest part. It took hours, and by the time the sun began to set she was almost positive that Pascale wasn't actually going to return home. She'd honestly have been better off in the arms of Blue, than wasting her time here. In fact if the wait went on much longer she was going to go back to Blue and demand that massage.

The door opened and Pascale walked in. Just outside Blue caught the brief glimpse of Princess Twinkle flying off to the castle. Pascale shut the door behind herself, threw her broom to the side, locked the door and then fell to her knees pressing her face against the wood hard. A small whimper escaped her as her entire body began shaking.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jade stood up, she had to act fast. There was no way she could leave Pascale in such a horrible state. She almost ran up to Pascale before sliding to a stop behind her, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around Blue while saying, "Blue! What's wrong? What happened?"

Pascale's entire body froze for a moment. She looked up over her shoulder at Jade. "J-Jade? 'sniffle' Why are you, 'hiccup' here?"

"Oh darling, I heard about what happened to your back room, so I came to clean it and repair the window. Now that it's all taken care of I wanted to make sure you were okay yourself. I didn't realize you'd be so distraught. What happened?"

Pascale looked down at the floor. "I went to some place today. Me and Princess Twinkle went to the Dream Factory... that's all I can say. Please don't make me say more."

Jade had no idea what this Dream Factory was, but it sounded just awful if it could make such a strong and brave kobold break down like this. "I won't make you say anything."

Pascale leaned back into Jade's embrace. "C-could you hold me?"

"I will hold you as long as you need. You’re one of my best friends and I will always be here for you."

Pascale looked back at the door. "I, I don't really want to stay here tonight... or at the castle. C-could I stay with you?"

That sent off a hundred warning flags in Jade's mind. Not so much that Pascale didn't want to stay here all by herself with only a chicken for company, but the fact that she didn't want to stay in the castle, the castle where her favorite princess was. Jade was terrified that perhaps something had happened between Princess Twinkle and Pascale. something that Jade, no matter how much she wanted to, couldn't do anything about. At the end of the day not only was Princess Twinkle an actual princess, she was a goddess, immortal and powerful beyond measure. The reason Twinkle didn't have a personal bodyguard wasn't because it was safe here, but rather because there were so few things in this world that could ever even hurt her that it would be worthless to worry about it.

"Yes, you can. My bed is plenty big enough and I will cuddle you so hard you'll forget anything that hurts you for the rest of forever."

It took a few minutes but they slowly stood up together. Pascale set her side pack down by the door in favor of grabbing a different one. Once that was done they said goodbye to Ziggy and left. With the door locked and riding the snail home, Jade was determined to cheer up Pascale tonight. The first order of business was going to be creating a wonderful dinner for her.

Once back at home she put Seabreeze back into the stable and the two of them went inside. They went in the back door which led to the kitchen since the actual business was closed today. Once inside Jade found Opal there, she was wearing a sky blue dress with flowers around the hem of the dress. She looked at them and then narrowed her eyes at Pascale. "I didn't do it."

Pascale blinked. "What?"

Jade had to intervene. "Opal, she's just here for a sleepover."

Opal let out a sigh. "Oh good, I thought she was going to be mad at me for destroying her break room. After all, I can't very well take her soul if she's angry with me."

Pascale blinked. "It was you who destroyed my break room?"

Opal covered her mouth with her hands. Way too late for that maneuver. "Um, no?"

Jade wrapped an arm around Pascale and closed the door behind her with her tail. She squeezed Pascale's side. "Hey there, I fixed the break room, cleaned it, and everything. I already grounded her too. Can we call it even?"

Pascale lowered her head. "I don't even really care. I just... don't feel very good."

Opal frowned. "She looks sad. Sister, cheer her up. Her soul is rotten if it's sad. Sad kobolds actually make awful sacrifices. Just like with cow meat, you want the cow to be happy before you slaughter it and feed it to your dark gods."

Pascale blinked. "What is she talking about?"

Jade shrugged. "I think she's trying to say she wants you to cheer up. Don't worry, Opal, that's what she's here for."

Jade led Pascale to the dining table and set her down. Once there she went to work looking through the cupboards for something edible. "Hmm, Opal, darling, what should we make for dinner? I want to make something special for our guest here."

Opal sniffed a few times and took a few careful steps away from Pascale and toward Jade before whispering. "She smells weird."

"She smells sad, and sweaty, but mostly sad. I'll clean her up later. Food first."

"You never let me eat before bathing."

"Your not a very sad kobold, just a little special."

Opal harrumphed and walked to the fridge. "Well, I'll be looking in here for something to eat. Should we make some stirfry? We have rice."

Jade smiled. "Aha, yes, that sounds lovely. I know our old servants used to make that all the time, but I think I've gotten pretty good at it too."

Opal grinned. "Yeah, it's almost like eating before everyone was killed horribly."

Jade fell silent at that. She glanced at Pasacale hoping there would be no follow-up questions. With Pascale laying her head down on the table and looking away from them, it was doubtful she even heard it. Jade glanced at Opal and hissed. "We do not talk about such things remember. Now go get the vegetables and I'll start the rice."

Opal nodded and began singing as she grabbed the vegetable. "One little, two little, three little potatoes. going to the guillotine to be chopped up really mean. One little, two little, three little carrots, going to the pot to be boiled until they rot."

Jade giggled a little. Opal was so cute with her little song and dance as she cut vegetables. She wished that the scrapling innocence would last forever. One day it would be gone, but that wouldn't be today, that wouldn't be for a very long time. Not if Jade had anything to say about it, and considering she was willing to fight, then she most certainly did. Looking back over at Pascale though it was clear that Pascale was in a bad place, her tail was laying limp through the back of the chair and on the floor. Her ears were folded back against her scalp and she was covering her face with her long-sleeved robe. even Opal's constant cheer couldn't slay the sad dragon that lived in Pascale's heart at that moment. Well if Opal couldn't do it, then Jade would simply have to cook up a meal so delicious that Pascale wouldn't ever feel sad again.

A half-hour later, and the three of them sat in front of their plates at the table. The rice had been burnt. Jade shook her head. "I just don't know what went wrong."

Opal was happily crunching the rice in her teeth. "I dunno, tastes good to me."

At the very least Pascale was eating, not a lot but some. It broke Jade's heart to see her friend so sad like this. Of course, she had to admit that she rarely had dinner with Pascale, they'd gone to the diner a few times in the past but this was the first real private dinner they'd had in some time. It was just nice having Pascale over. Opal continued shooting worried looks at Pascale, it was clear that Opal could tell that something was wrong and wanted to fix it, but neither of them really knew how it would seem.

Pascale eventually looked up. "Jade, thank you for this. I know I'm a little down right now but it means a lot to me that you'd let me stay the night like this."

Jade shook her head. "This is what friends do for each other."

Pascale smiled gently. "You know, I never had friends growing up."

Opal gasped. "What, really? But everyone has friends."

Pascale stirred the food on her plate around with a fork. "Maybe I did when I was really young but I don't remember that. Most of my memories really start after I got put into the training program. We weren't allowed to be friends, we had to be rivals. But, a few of the other girls were nice to me here and there. Even Saphire was nice to me, she was the strongest of us you see, but she was probably too nice..."

Jade got the feeling this might be going into territory not okay for her little Opal. "Darling, does this story have a happy ending?"

Pascale looked up and met Jade's eyes. She offered a weak smile. "I got to come here, and meet all of you. So I think it does."

Opal grinned. "I'm happy your starting to feel better. I shall let you keep your soul for now. I shall consume you later."

Pascale stared at Opal. "Jade, are you sure that Opal is uh, alright?"

Jade waved a hand dismissively. "Oh relax, she's just showing her affection for you. In fact," She added a little purr to her next words to tease Opal. "I might say that Opal might have a little crush on you."

Opal's eyes widened. "I do not! You do! I'm going to my room. thank you for the meal."

She got up and stomped off with her tail clamped down in anger. Jade giggled as Pascale relaxed. "Oh my, the poor thing. She's just starting to come that age where she'll start to notice boys and girls. With me being her guardian I suppose it's only natural for her to start looking at sexually attractive older women first."

Pascale shrugged. "I was a little older than her when I first started looking at women... wait, did you just say that I was sexually attractive?"

Jade leaned forward. "Why of course, I'm attracted to you, you know."

Pascale's cheeks went a little pink and she looked down and away. "O-oh, thank you. Um, I um... well you’re really pretty too."

Jade licked her lips. "Is there anything I can do to help cheer you up? Anything you might want to ask me to do?"

Pascale swallowed. "N-not that I can think of."

"Oh come on, darling. You're getting to stay the night in my home, in my bed of all things. Are you quite certain there isn't anything you'd like to ask me? Anything is on the table after all." Jade didn't feel the need to add she would put herself on the table too. The table could hold her weight after all, she’d tested it.

Pascale shook her head, but her cheeks were growing a deeper shade of pink. The poor dear was blushing her desires through her face. If only she'd man up and ask for what she really wanted, Jade would give it to her. Oh well, there was always later tonight. "Oh, are you done eating?"

Pascale nodded.

Jade stood up and picked up their plates putting them in the fridge. "If your hungry later it'll be here for you." She made sure to lift her tail a little as she bent over to put the plates in. Pascale's eyes did indeed wander to the right place. Jade stood up again. "Now it's time for your bath."

"My bath?"

"Yes, you and I both likely smell not quite womanly, so it's time to bathe and to get all nice and clean."

Pascale seemed a little more tense than before. "C-can I take my bath by myself?"

"Oh, what's wrong darling? We've all enjoyed the hot springs together before haven't we? We've seen each other in intimate ways in the past? Or has something stirred in you? Perhaps a desire so intense, that a hot, and wet bath can’t handle it?"

Pascale's entire face was red. "Um, I think, maybe, I need a private bath."

Oh ho, trying to get out of this with a private massage was she, well Jade wasn't that easy to fool. "Hmm, I think I can take care of all your needs. Come with me."

Pascale stood up but she spoke again and with a little bit more stern tone in her voice. "I would really like a private-" Something hit the window outside and she jumped forward wrapping her arms around Jade and squeezing tight. Looking out the window it was just a confused fruitbat who didn't realize windows existed only to discover one the hard way. It flew off in a daze. Pascale finished, "Okay, I'll bathe with you, just no weird stuff okay?"

Pascale was never this jumpy. This was Blue levels of fear. It would be wrong of Jade to abuse that power. Maybe if things naturally slid into place she could enjoy some interesting event with Pascale but for now Pascale didn't need a lover, she needed a friend, a supportive, protective friend. As Jade ran her fingers over Pascale's head she whispered. "Okay, I will bathe with you. Nothing strange, just two friends sexually attracted to each other taking a normal, non-sexy bath." what she didn't say was that she might be staying in the bath a little longer after Pascale was done to work out some of that heat she was feeling by herself.

The bath itself was relatively calm and non-surprising. After the bath was over she was able to get dressed up in a nightgown and gave a pair of pajamas to Pascale. Pascale was a little small for them in the chest area but it didn't really make much difference other than showing off a little too much of her flat chest. Not that Jade held that against Pascale, sometimes petite was indeed great, though she'd prefer the Princess's generous sizes any day.

Once in Jade's room, Pascale went straight to the bed and laid down. Jade smiled at her. "Oh, you ready for bed already?"

Pascale replied. "Y-yeah... you said you'd do anything for me right? Even something, weird?"

Jade turned off the light and walked to her bed. "Anything for my beautiful, lovely friend."

"Could you hold me?"

Jade climbed into the bed and up behind Pascale. She wrapped an arm around Pascale's waist and pulled her close. "Oh but of course. Anything else, you'd like me to do. Perhaps for me to hold a certain, part of you?"

Pascale whispered. "Could you kiss the top of my head and tell me you love me?"

Jade pressed her lips to the top of Pascale's head. "I do love you. We all do, but especially me."

Pascal was a little quiet after that and for a few minutes, Jade just enjoyed holding Pascale close to her. Even with Pascale's tail somehow finding its way between Jade's legs, she didn't escalate things yet. Eventually though she realized Pascale wouldn't have the guts for it, and she really, really needed this. "Pascale, do you mind if I ask a favor from you? Even if it's a bit weird?"

Pascale made a small noise that Jade took as an affirmation.

jade swallowed. Here it was. She was finally going to ask Pascale a question that would either make or break their relationship. "Could you, touch me? I'll show you where to touch, and I'll even return the favor if you'd like."

There was no response.

"Pascale?"

She heard a soft snore.

Jade leaned up on her elbow and looked down at Pascale. The poor thing was dead asleep. Well, she was too precious to wake up for something so selfish. Jade just decided that if she really needed this she'd take care of her own needs. Once again she was going to be left hanging when she wanted something a bit special. Pascale's sleep was a blessing though and she couldn't be happier that the darling was finally getting some rest after whatever horror show of a day she'd had. By tomorrow things would go back to normal and everything would be alright…