The next morning, Beth woke slightly late, though likely it was still fairly early in the morning. She felt her small, naked girlfriend pressed against her, feeling Sabs's even breaths still washing across her chest. She slowly and carefully resumed her grip of the previous night, gently kneading Sabs's rear with her right hand. It actually took a surprisingly long time for the shorter woman to wake, likely a combination of her tiredness as well as just how comfortable she felt solely in Beth's presence, let alone in her warm embrace.
"Hmmm, that's nice, Beth. I like that as a wake-up," Sabs eventually murmured, weakly pressing deeper into Beth's front instead of pulling back. Beth chuckled and used both her arms to grab ahold of Sabs before rolling onto her back, bringing the smaller woman to lay on top of her. Sabs gave a weak squawk but, after readjusting her position slightly so she was face-first in the middle of Beth's ample cleavage, quieted back down. Beth combed her fingers through Sabs hair for a moment before moving her left hand down to join her right, taking one of Sabs's lower cheeks in each hand and squeezing firmly. Sabs grumbled a moan into Beth's chest, not bothering to move at all.
Beth spent a minute on Sabs's rear before sitting up, bringing the older woman with her. Sabs grumbled for a moment before shuffling back a little. With a bit of a gleam in her eye, she darted her head forward and gave Beth's right nipple a firm kiss, causing the younger woman to let out a squawk of her own. "That's for getting me up so soon."
"We can't stay in bed all day, Sabs. Much as I'd like to," Beth replied, turning to shuffle to the side of the bed. Sabs simply latched onto her, piggy-back style, letting Beth take them both to and then off the edge of the bed. Beth grabbed Sabs's ankles where they were crossed over her midriff and squeezed them lightly before walking over to the door to turn on the light. She walked over to the dresser with her passenger, sliding the towel to the side before starting to pull some underwear out of the drawers.
Sabs climbed down with another grumble and grabbed her set of underwear before turning to head to the door. Beth brushed against her as she did so and the two caressed each other as they walked over to the door.
"We're just incorrigible," Sabs commented as they got to the door.
"I'd rather lean this direction than barely having the time or will to say 'hi' to each other."
"Oh, totally," Sabs replied, pulling Beth down for a quick, sloppy kiss before they left the room.
Blood woke as they entered the living room, Sabs blushing a little as she thought about what they had done the night before, noting the wallscreen was still on. "We didn't make too much noise last night, did we, girl?" Sabs asked as she moved over to pet Blood, Beth heading over to open the bathroom. The two of them definitely needed a shower after last night, which got Beth thinking about what the best order of operations would be. She didn't really mind a quick shower in the morning, so maybe they could just keep on like they had been?
'I couldn't hear anything through the doors. I only heard and saw what you did in here,' Blood sent to Beth, who relayed it out loud so Sabs was in the loop.
"Oh, that's good," Sabs sighed, scratching Blood's neck and shoulders, get a deep growl out of the wolf in response.
'Your mating went well, sister?' Blood then asked, causing Beth to stumble a little in the bathroom.
"Yes, Blood, it went very well," Beth replied aloud. Sabs blushed furiously at that, able to easily deduce what the question was from the answer.
"Thanks for being so patient with us," Sabs whispered to Blood as she kept scratching her.
'It is not a problem; I enjoy the two of you being so close. After all, I will make the other small one my mate one day,' Blood replied, causing Beth to nearly drop what she had just picked up.
"Are you alright, Beth?" Sabs asked with some concern.
"Oh, I'm fine...physically," Beth replied before relaying what Blood had said.
"Well, it's great to have dreams," Sabs replied, only slightly surprised at what was basically a declaration of love from Blood, along with her statement of support of the two of them carrying on.
"Come on, Sabs, I think we need a shower," Beth called out of the bathroom, the smaller woman hopping up from Blood and joining her girlfriend in the bathroom.
"You got used to the nudist life quick," Beth commented as she led Sabs into the shower stall.
"Ah, well," Sabs stammered, glowing a bright red as she realized she had been schlepping around nude. "I just am starting to feel really comfortable with you, and Blood is really chill and not fazed by anything, so I wasn't even thinking about it…"
"Breathe, Sabs," Beth laughed, leaning down to kiss Sabs to stop the word salad before turning on the shower.
The two of them showered relatively quickly, only getting lost in physical contact a little, as Sabs insisted that they wash each other. Beth didn't protest, rather much enjoying the experience of giving and of receiving a good scrub-down. They eventually dried off and threw on their underwear, moving into the living room before Beth headed into the kitchen to heat them up some food.
They ate before heading up to the lounge, Beth walking in to see Kim sitting at a table with James and another young man she didn't recognize. Apparently, the membership was continuing to grow very slowly. Sabs made a beeline for the table to join their conversation, whereas Beth moved over to Baelvyr's table with Blood to sit for a minute until her instructor was ready.
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The ogre didn't take long before rising and motioning her to follow, Beth giving a wave to Sabs and the rest of the table as she and Blood headed out for their training for the day. They made their way down to the normal room where Beth dropped her pack, grabbing her sword before moving to the ring. Normally, she would have to use training gear, but the ring could technically handle real equipment, and it wasn't as if she was going to put even a scratch on Baelvyr.
"Ya got any money, girlie?" he started by asking her.
"Not much. I'm fucking broke right now," she replied.
"Ya got a gold?"
"Yeah, just under two right now."
"Give me one and I'll give ya this," he said, holding up a memory crystal. Beth used her new eyes to analyze the crystal as it sat in his massive mitt.
Copper Body Skill Crystal
{This crystal contains information that can impart the Copper Body skill to anyone who uses it. This skill renders a person's body as strong as mana copper, reducing the damage they receive.}
"Wait, so that just makes my defenses higher, just like that?" she asked, pulling out her last gold coin and flicking it to Baelvyr.
"Ain't that easy, girlie," Baelvyr replied, tossing her the crystal. She just held it until he was done with his explanation. "At copper rank, that'll passively make yer body a tiny, tiny bit more resistant, basically just to physical damage. Ya gotta actually pump mana into the thing to get it to give you a small boost. Other than havin' to spend mana on it, it'll overall just make you a little less agile; sacrifice a little agility for a little defense. Always worth it, in my opinion, long as ya ain't turtle slow."
"And what tier is this?" Beth asked.
"Ah yeah, right. That one's a tier two skill, oughta charge ya more than a gold for it, but I got a couple copies of it sittin' in my amulet. No sense in my hoggin' the thing, I ain't some crazy collectin' type.
"That skill'll naturally become Silver Body, Gold Body, Platinum Body, and Diamond Body, as long as ya can meet the minimum requirements for evolvin' it. As for gettin' beyond Diamond Body, well, that bridge is so far away ya shouldn't even worry 'bout it."
Beth held the crystal up to her forehead and learned the skill just like she had done for Swift. She looked over to Blood, who just shook her head, so she moved over to her pack and tossed it inside. Maybe Sabs would be interested in learning it, though likely she would want to ask John about a skill that lowered her overall agility before actually using it.
"So, ya and the real little girlie finally went all in, huh?" Baelvyr said as Beth returned to face him.
"What, you got some kind of Detect Sex skill or something?"
"Nah, girlie, I'm just old as fuckin' dirt. I could tell soon as ya walked in the room this mornin', the way ya twos moved and looked at each other, was real obvious. Well, maybe only Tazeen would have that keen an eye, but I could see it right away."
"Glad I'm an open book to you," Beth replied slightly tersely. "Any more witty comments, or we gonna train?"
"I ain't ever got any witty comments, girlie. Now let's get that sword and those fists strong enough to back up that mouth."
Beth spent the entire day with Baelvyr, training mainly in her use of the sword. She felt it had become a little easier that day and, when she checked her stat page at the end of the day, saw she was now Journeyman[1] in Swords. Smiling, she made her way down to the room, followed by Blood, who was in nearly as rough a shape. Though the wolf didn't have any weaponskills, at least, not yet, Baelvyr still ran her through complex combat situations, requiring her to have sharp situational awareness and rapid, precise movements.
Blood slunk into the bathroom as soon as they were in the room, Beth following after dropping her stuff in the corner. Sabs was on the couch and hesitated a brief moment, but she soon followed along after, joining the other two girls in the shower stall. They used the time to wash each other off, the two humanoid girls cleaning each other first so they could tag team Blood, who seemed to really enjoy the double helping of attention. They all dried off together, letting Blood stay in the shower stall as they got out so she could shake herself vigorously without coating the bathroom in wolf water.
Once they were clean, they moved into the living room, with Sabs and Beth moving into the bedroom to grab clothes. Beth simply grabbed one of the pairs of boxers she had bought and tossed them on, not bothering with anything else as she made her way to the kitchenette to cook them food. After they went through the whole process of dinner and cleanup, Beth began gathering a big pile of dirty clothes and towels. Sabs realized what she was doing and joined in while they let Blood sprawl in the center of the living room and doze.
They made a few trips back and forth to the laundry room, Beth reluctantly putting on a bra while Sabs was fully dressed. Once they had two washers loaded, they watched part of a fight commentary while they waited for the machines to cycle. Sabs had thought to set a timer, and they quickly ran back to the laundry and changed things over before watching a little more of the fight. They finished the night by retrieving and folding the laundry, with Beth putting on fresh blankets and sheets before they went to bed.
Beth stripped down in a blink and hopped in the freshly made bed, luxuriating in that clean and warm feeling. Sabs was a little slower, but she soon slid on top of Beth, kissing her deeply before rolling to the side. She turned to place her back against Beth's front and wriggled back hard, mashing herself into the little spoon position. Beth's arms instantly wrapped around the smaller woman as she pressed tightly against her, Beth nuzzling the top of Sabs's head. It didn't take very long for both of them to fall asleep.
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Beth remembered the skill crystal the next morning, hopping out of bed and strolling out into the living room in her birthday suit. Sabs had quickly pulled on some underwear before following, and Beth tossed her the crystal from the corner of the room, eliciting a squeak as Sabs's high DEX was the only thing that kept her from dropping it.
"What's this?" she asked, looking at the crystal.
"Ah, right, you can't see item info yet. It's a skill crystal for Copper Body. Baelvyr gave it to me yesterday. It passively gives you a very tiny defense boost, and gives you a somewhat bigger one when you actively use mana with it. The downside is it lowers your agility a little bit. I thought you might want to also use it."
"I'll have to ask John about it," Sabs said tentatively, eyeing the crystal.
"Just toss it in your pouch."
Beth then moved into the bathroom to take care of her morning routine, joined after a minute by Sabs. When they were done cleaning up, Beth reluctantly put on some clothes, not relishing the idea of even heating up food in the nude. The three had breakfast, with Blood seemingly a little myopic that she couldn't really prepare food herself without opposable thumbs.
They cleaned up and got themselves geared up for the day before leaving the room. Sabs was circling up with the others to take care of some live combat and leveling while Beth and Blood would continue with their training with Baelvyr.
The next three weeks continued in a very similar fashion until Sabs stopped Beth one Saturday morning. "We heading home today?"
"I guess we can. Something happening?" Beth asked a little puzzled.
"Well, firstly, we haven't been around for a few weeks. Well, you haven't been back for a few weeks. But secondly…it is Christmas, Beth."
"What, today?!"
"No, Beth, not today," Sabs laughed. "It's Christmas Eve today, making tomorrow Christmas."
"Fuck, I didn't get you anything," Beth groaned, rubbing at her temples as she frowned.
"Beth," Sabs sighed with a little shake of her head before climbing in the taller woman's lap and pushing her arms back, kissing her deeply on the lips. When she broke it off for some air, she continued, "I don't care about gifts, I just want to spend time with you and everybody else. But you in particular."
"I still feel bad," Beth replied with a sigh before giving Sabs a warm kiss on the cheek. "I'll see if I can get you something in the next couple days. I shouldn't forget about my girlfriend like that."
"I'd rather spend time than have gifts," Sabs said, snuggling against Beth for a little.