Volume 13 - ComicMon, Chapter 98 - May and Kyle, On Vacation

A huge hand dialed a number from memory on a comparatively tiny cellphone, then held it to a floppy pig-like ear. The phone rang for a moment, then was answered.

"Hiya, this is May!" a quiet yet cheerful voice said.

"Hey, it's Kyle. How are you today?" came a much deeper voice that fit its owner's seven feet of height. Kyle was average size for an orc and had typical looks for one too, with dark brown skin, large muscles, broad shoulders, and a pig-like face. What wasn't average about him was his attitude. Unlike most orcs, Kyle didn't have a mean bone in his body. He was friendly and kind to everyone.

"Kyle!" May cheered, happy to hear from him. "I'm wonderful, thanks for asking. You?"

"I'm good, but a little exhausted from work lately," he said with a sigh. He didn't like to put his problems on his girlfriend, but he really was feeling worn down. Working as a bouncer at the busiest liminal-centric bar around meant a lot of loud noise, drama, and late nights.

"Another hard night at the club?" she asked.

"Yeah… there was a bit of trouble, but nothing Brutus and I couldn't handle," he grumbled, then his voice turned more lively. "On a different note, I have a fun idea."

"Oh? Tell me, tell me!" May was easily excited, at least when Kyle was involved. Any excuse to spend time with him was quite welcome.

"Let's go on a vacation, just the two of us!" He quickly added, "If you think you can take a few days off…"

He could practically hear May's smile as she said, "That sounds wonderful! I'm sure I can work it out with my boss. The bakery isn't that busy right now." There was a slight pause, then she asked, "Where were you thinking, for this escape?"

Kyle blushed and said, "Well, it's not much of a vacation, since it's so close, but I heard there's a hot spring inn just outside town that specializes in accommodating liminals. Even big ones like me." Kyle could be self-conscious about his size, especially since most places in Japan weren't made with tall people in mind.

"Ooh, that sounds nice. A mountain hot spring sounds so relaxing," May responded.

"Great. I already got some time off for next Friday through Sunday, and Agent Will approved it. Does that work for you?" Kyle asked.

"Yep! I'm already looking forward to it."

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The back seat of the taxi was beyond snug for Kyle, but he didn't mind, since the drive wasn't long and he had May next to him. He wore a grey button-up shirt and black jeans, looking somewhere between classy and casual.

May was wearing a loose-knit blue sweater over a black tank-top and a cyan skirt. The outfit was great for springtime and the colors paired well with her currently pale green skin. Being able to adjust her skin to match her clothes was a wonderful ability, at least until she got flustered and it changed color on its own. Being a chameaonide had its upsides and downsides.

"So I kind of know the woman that owns this place," Kyle mentioned casually. "Her name's Yuisu and she came to the Wild Life a few times, along with a bunch of the liminal women that live here."

May's skin and scales turned a deeper shade of green as a bit of jealousy crept up on her. Part of her had always feared that other liminal women would eventually realize how amazing Kyle was and try to steal him away. "Oh, really?" she asked, fluttering her eyes at him.

Kyle continued, "Though it sounds like they're all out of town right now for some convention. A nice old lady is going to be in charge instead. I already talked to her on the phone."

May's color returned to normal and she hugged Kyle's beefy arm to her chest. She knew her wonderful boyfriend would never even look twice at another girl, but she could get a little possessive all the same. She held his arm tight until the cab slowed to a stop a few minutes later.

They paid the driver and got out of the cab. The car's suspension rose a couple inches from the loss of Kyle's weight. The driver winced at that, then helped the young couple with their baggage.

As the cab drove away, Kyle waved an arm at the rustic building and said, "Welcome to the Mountain Lily Inn! We're booked until Monday at noon, so no more worrying about work 'til then!" He said it to remind himself and for May too. They both tended to be workaholics, often taking on extra shifts to help out. With their gym routine on top of that, they had very little free time to just relax, a problem that this vacation hoped to solve.

May smiled and nodded, sending her rainbow-colored spikes of hair swaying. She loved her job at the bakery and baking in general, but a change of pace would be nice. "Alright. Nothing related to work. Just relaxing and spending time together all weekend."

The first day was just as amazing and relaxing as they'd hoped. To start with, they got settled into their cabin, which they had all to themselves, then went for a short hike around the mountainside.

The spring air was cool and comfortable but the sun was bright enough to keep May's cold-blooded body at a good temperature. As they walked, May paused to admire the wild mountain lilies that grew in the shade of the pine trees all around the property. She changed her eye color to match a particularly pretty orange-yellow flower, then waited to see if Kyle would notice.

He did, immediately. "Ooh, nice eye color, May," he said with a warm smile that always melted May's heart. "It feels very warm and lively, and suits you wonderfully. You look beautiful."

While May recovered from that knee-weakening bit of romance, Kyle said, "Want to hit the hot spring while it's still light out? Or wait for nighttime?"

May's long, curled tail flicked through the air as she pondered. "Hmm, I guess daytime is fine. We can always go again tomorrow night."

The short hiking trail, which had been well worn by the inn's various visitors, looped back around and ended right by the hot spring. While there, Kyle crouched down to read the sign on the changing room door. "Bathing schedule: female only bathing from noon to…" He skimmed ahead, then said, "Ah, here we go! Mixed bathing from three to five."

Kyle turned to May and asked, "What time is it now?"

May pulled a cellphone from her pocket. It was in airplane mode since she didn't want to receive any calls during their vacation, but the clock still functioned. "Three fifteen," she said, already smiling at their fortune.

Kyle smiled back. "Perfect. Let's go get our swimsuits from the cabin."

May's smile transformed into a mischievous grin. "It's a traditional Japanese hot spring, Kyle. You aren't supposed to wear swimsuits…"

"Oh." Kyle blushed. "Ohh…" They'd been dating for several months, and they'd seen each other naked before, but the thought of being naked in an open space got him all embarrassed.

Without even intending to peek, Kyle could see over the tall fence that shielded the hot spring from the path. It looked to be empty, so he said, "I guess we can go in now, then…" Still blushing, he opened the wooden door and ducked into the little changing room and May followed him in.

The two liminals stripped down and put their clothes in the provided baskets, then stepped out the spring-side door. As Kyle had seen, the large stone-ringed pool was unoccupied. The pool formed a crescent around a large boulder in the center, with the deepest and hottest water at one end. It was calm and peaceful, and the only sounds around were birds tweeting and the gentle splashing of hot water flowing into the pool or flowing out the other side.

But more than sights or sound, the smell of the pool struck Kyle like a sledgehammer. "Whoa, that's strong," he said, his eyes already watering from the potent sulphur scent, like a thousand hard-boiled eggs.

May's sense of smell was nowhere near as sensitive as Kyle's, but she couldn't deny that the smell was strong. "Give it a moment. You'll get used to it," she said, patting his arm.

He smiled down at her, saw her naked form, and immediately forgot about the smell. He couldn't take his eyes off May as she walked forward, her wide reptilian feet gripping the smooth stones. She was lithe and toned, with the fit and muscular body of a woman who went swimming or dancing every single day.

Kyle glanced down at his own body and he was actually satisfied with what he saw. A few months ago, he'd been pudgier than he liked, and always eating May's delicious baked goods hadn't helped. But thanks to their gym routine, Kyle's bulk started to become more muscle than fat, and his progress was noticeable. He had been getting compliments from patrons at the bar, and he seemed to get less trouble from ruffians too.

"Come on in, the water's fine!" May called, pulling Kyle from his thoughts. He glanced up to find that she was already neck deep in the steaming water.

Kyle stepped forward cautiously, not trusting the wet stones, then dipped a foot in the spring. "Ooh, that's hot," he mumbled, but kept going.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Yeah, it is…" May said in a mischievous tone.

Kyle looked up and saw where May's eyes were looking: right at his exposed crotch. His blush returned full force and he quickly slipped the rest of the way into the water. Once safely in the hot spring, he chuckled and said, "You're acting pretty frisky today, May…"

May paddled over to Kyle's side. "Well, yeah," she said, as if it should have been obvious. "It's all so romantic. This was such a great idea, Kyle. I love you."

Kyle blinked. It wasn't the first time she'd said it, but the 'L' word was pretty new to their relationship and it still sent his heart skipping every time. "I l-love you, too," he stammered, smiling a goofy smile.

May cuddled up against his chest for a while, relaxing in the heat. After a few minutes, she whispered, "When we were in the cabin, I felt the sheets on the bed. They were silky smooth and wonderful…"

"Oh, that's nice," Kyle responded.

"Do you want to try them out?"

"Huh? Well, yeah. I guess we'll sleep in them tonight. Should be comfortable," Kyle said, oblivious to her intent.

"I meant now," May said, trying not to get frustrated.

Kyle's eyes went wide. "Oh, okay. We can always come back to the hot spring later." He stood up, giving May another eyeful of a certain body part, then darted to the changing room.

May giggled and muttered, "Finally," then followed after him.

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That evening, while Kyle and May were snuggled up together on the bed, each reading a book, Kyle's phone started to ring. Unlike May, he had forgotten to turn his phone to airplane mode.

"Sorry, May. One sec." Kyle wriggled out of the bed and answered the ringing phone, "Hello, this is Kyle."

"Kyle my man, how's it going?" The voice belonged to Brutus, Kyle's exchange program host, coworker, and best friend.

Out of habit, Kyle paced around the cabin as he spoke. "Pretty good. This is a really nice place. It's not far from town, so you should check it out sometime."

"Nice, nice, good to hear…" Brutus said slowly, like he was working himself up to something. Finally, he took the plunge and said, "So, since you guys are still really close by, if things get crazy at work, can I call you in for backup?"

Kyle was too nice for his own good. He started to say, "Uh, sure I gue—"

"Oh no you don't!" May interrupted from the bed. She'd overheard enough of the conversation and knew Kyle well enough to know what was going on. "We are on vacation. No work for either of us!"

Kyle winced and he moved the phone from his mouth and said, "Sorry, May. My bad." He put the phone back and told Brutus, "Actually, I can't do that. Sorry." He continued pacing out into the kitchen area and added, "It would take a while for a cab to come get me anyway. I wouldn't be that much use."

Brutus was understanding as always. "Ah, alright. Thanks anyway, bud. You two have a good night!"

They definitely had a good night. After an additional apology and some cuddling to make up for Kyle's near mistake, the loving couple made use of those silky sheets again, late into the night.

Saturday morning brought a spring rain with it, making the outdoors a bit too damp and chilly for May to handle. So they stayed inside where they snuggled and read and talked to pass the time. However, there was a lot of time to fill and even sex could only take up so much.

Eventually, Kyle got dressed, stealthily slipped his phone into his pocket, and walked to the cabin door. "May, I'm gonna go for a little walk to stretch my legs. I'll let you know if it looks like the weather is warming up."

"Sounds good. Be safe on the wet trails," May called back from the recliner where she was all curled up, reading a book.

Kyle really did want to stretch his legs, but he also wanted to call Brutus and check in. Friday nights were always crazy at the club, and he felt bad about leaving Brutus on his own. Once Kyle got out of sight of their cabin, he pulled out his phone, turned off airplane mode, and called Brutus.

Meanwhile in the cabin, May was itching to do some baking, which was how she often filled the time at home. She snuck into the kitchenette and dug around in the partially stocked fridge, taking inventory. The cabin had the basics, like eggs and flour and sugar, but was totally lacking in more specific ingredients like baker's chocolate.

May rubbed her chin in thought and her skin slowly drifted through a rainbow of colors. She picked up a bottle of vanilla flavoring. "Hmm, this just might work. In fact, I've been thinking of adding something simple and charming to the bakery menu…"

Outside on the trail, Kyle spoke into his phone as he walked. Of course Brutus and the Wild Life had been fine in Kyle's absence, but he felt much better knowing for sure. While chatting with Brutus about work, Kyle turned around and started heading back to the cabin.

Still on the phone, he absentmindedly opened the door and stepped inside. "Good to hear that everything is good at work, Brutus. Call me if you need anythi—" His voice cut off as May turned and looked right at him.

She froze, holding a whisk in one hand and a bowl of batter in the other. There seemed to be one pan of muffins in the oven already and another batch in progress. Judging by the number of bowls and pans she had out on the counter, she was testing out a bunch of slight variations on a recipe.

Kyle hung up his phone, then smiled sheepishly. "Uh, you know how we promised we wouldn't think about work? Because we're on vacation?"

"Yeah…" May nodded, her entire body blushing pink. "I had an idea for a recipe we could sell at the shop, and I just had to try it out."

"And I couldn't stop worrying about work so I called Brutus," Kyle admitted.

May smiled and said, "We suck at vacations."

Kyle chuckled and said, "Yeah, we do."

May set the bowl of batter down and grabbed Kyle by the arm. "Well, I might as well finish baking these muffins, and you can be my taste tester."

"Sounds great, May," Kyle said with a grin.

About two hours later, May had settled on a recipe she liked well enough to sell at the bakery. She cooked up all the dough, rather than let it go to waste, and ended up with a few dozen extra muffins.

May flumped into a kitchen chair and looked at all the muffins arrayed on the counter. "What should we do with them?" she wondered aloud.

Even the rejected recipes were quite tasty, so Kyle wouldn't have minded eating them all himself, but he knew he could do without all those calories. The towering orc thought for a second, then said, "Maybe we can give them to the other guests of the inn?"

"Great idea!" May cheered, already scooping the muffins up and arranging them on a large cookie sheet for transport.

The muffins ended up taking up two sheets, so Kyle and May each took one and started down the hill to the main house. At the front desk, they found Sari, the acting manager while Yuisu was out of town. She was a human woman with short grey hair and a wrinkled yet kind-looking face, and she was wearing a simple traditional kimono.

Sari smiled at the sight of the young couple, but tilted her head at the cookie pans in their hands. She could see that they were covered in muffins, but couldn't fathom why. "What's all that, hmm?" she asked.

May's face and hair was pink with embarrassment as she said, "Uh, I accidentally baked a few… dozen… extra muffins. Vanilla flavor. Maybe you can give them to the other guests staying here?"

Sari laughed heartily. "Ohoho, I'm sure the other guests would love them." She hopped out of her chair and shuffled down the hall toward the kitchen. The little old woman seemed pretty nimble for her age. "Over here, you two. We'll set 'em up here in the kitchen and I'll go tell the other guests in a bit."

As May and Kyle put the pans on the kitchen counter, Sari asked them, "What was the occasion? It isn't often that people bake while on vacation."

With a chuckle, Kyle spoke up first. "May works at a bakery, and it seems even on vacation she can't help but bake."

May punched him lightly in the bicep. "Says the guy that called work to check in on his day off," she teased.

Sari smiled warmly and said, "I've been running inns for a long time, and I've seen this before. Worrying about avoiding work can be more problematic than the work itself. If you're having fun together, then it's a good vacation, no matter what you're doing."

May and Kyle both nodded thoughtfully. Kyle bowed down and said, "Thank you for the advice, Sari." Even bowing deeply, he was still taller than the sagely woman.

"Yep, thanks, Sari!" May added.

"Oh, you're welcome, darlings. Now I'll let you get back to your vacation," Sari said, then turned and shuffled back toward the front desk.

Kyle and May looked around for the first time and realized they were in the middle of a well-lived-in house. While it was quiet at the moment, they could imagine how lively this kitchen must be when all the seats at the big kitchen table were filled with a variety of liminals and their host.

May wondered what kind of life those liminals must live, now that their house was part of a bustling inn. Do they mind sharing their home with strangers? Do they get enough privacy? It's just me and Ayumi at our place, and she's usually busy with university, so I have plenty of time to myself.

"Over here," Kyle said as made his way toward the back door. "This leads right to the hot spring. Want to take another dip? We didn't stay long last time…"

May dropped her previous line of thought and answered, "Sure thing, love."

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It was late Monday evening when a Hummer limo rumbled to a stop in front of the Mountain Lily Inn. A bunch of liminal women and one liminal girl poured out, happy to be home after their weekend of convention fun and sightseeing. They practically stampeded up onto the front porch and into the main house, leaving a single human behind to address the limo driver.

"Thanks again, sir," Yuisu said as she paid for the ride. She made sure to get a receipt so she could get some of the expense reimbursed by the Exchange Program. Then she went inside to talk to Sari, thinking, I hope everything went okay while I was gone. Sari never called, so I guess there weren't any emergencies at least.

Sari was waiting at the front desk for Yuisu. "Welcome back, Yuisu. You'll be pleased to hear that everything went swimmingly." She offered a hand for a handshake.

Yuisu skipped the handshake and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me that you'd help out like this. This inn is my baby."

"Oh, it was no problem, Yuisu. It was a nice change of pace to manage a smaller inn again."

Yuisu winced as she stepped out of the hug. I guess my inn really is small compared to hers, but it certainly feels big when I'm doing everything myself. I should get around to hiring staff. Maybe one maid to start…

"Oh, before I forget," Sari said, then presented a cardboard box with a slit in the top. "I asked the guests to leave feedback and opinions for you before they left. You should take a look."

Yuisu's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Ooh, alright. Let's sit at the kitchen table and read these." With that, she sock skated away with the box under one arm.

A minute later, Yuisu had the box open and its contents spread across the table. She squinted in confusion as she read the third letter in a row about muffins. "Sari, what's all this about complementary muffins? Did you buy those or something?"

Sari shook her head. "Nope. Those were a gift from a guest, a lovely chameleon girl named May. My understanding is that she works at a bakery in town."

"Hmm," Yuisu said, "It looks like people really loved them. I'll have to work out a deal with that bakery. I could make Sunday morning muffins into a recurring thing."

"Speaking of May," Sari said as she passed a note over to Yuisu, "This feedback is from her and her orc boyfriend, Kyle."

Oh, I know him. That nice orc bouncer from the club, Yuisu thought as she unfolded the note. She read, "The cabin's kitchenette was great, but more variety of baking ingredients would be even better! Baker's chocolate, condensed milk, fresh cream, etc."

After that was another paragraph in different handwriting, "As a bouncer, I felt the security was a little light. I recommend installing a key card system to control access to the main house and the hot spring. The hot spring fence could also stand to be higher, so tall liminals don't accidentally see over."

Yuisu giggled at their suggestions, which she wouldn't mind fulfilling if she somehow got a lot more resources at her disposal, then she grabbed another note at random. This one didn't have any name on it, but the handwriting looked similar to Kyle's note about security.

It read, "It would be great if you added a shop that sells certain… private amenities, in case guests run out." Below that in familiar girly handwriting was an explanation, "He means you should stock condoms. BIG ones."