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“Nice to meet you, everyone. My parents have told me a lot about you all, thank you for escorting us.” I recited the finest introduction I could muster, just as my parents had been meticulously drilling into me over the past year.
This time around my speech pattern felt a lot more fluid and natural as opposed to my previous attempts at a proper introduction, so the key factor here must have been consistency.
Then again, I seldom had any opportunity to practice this kind of greeting on anyone.
“I’d like to say I’m surprised he’s already this polite, but weren’t we all expecting something like this?” Flynn giggled
“If he’s already this strait laced then he’s not too far off from his old man after all.” Myra shrugged, amused by my greeting.
“Well I say that’s a good thing! C’mere little man!”
“Woah! Wai-”
Before I even had time to react, my body was already being pulled in some arbitrary direction. I was immediately hit with two contrasting sensations, the first was a familiar soft embrace pressing against my cheeks, and the second was the stifling restriction of my body's airflow.
Jytte, the orange haired vixen had begun smoldering me in her embrace without so much as a warning, to my surprise, her body felt quite soft even with all the protective gear she was wearing.
“Mmgh!!”
“Jytte, you’re being a little too rough on him.” My fathers voice came piercing through all the squishing noises ruffling around my ears.
“ I’m almost done~” she melodically replied before take a deep, lasting whiff of my scent.
“….Aaaaaand done!”
“Gah!”
As soon as I was released from her predatory grip, I staggered backwards, placing my hands on my knees to regain balance.
“There… see it wasn’t that bad right?” My hunched posture made that childish question sound like a taunt.
“Sorry about that Liam, beastfolk can be a little….aggressive with their greetings.” Flynn patted me on the shoulder, making amends for his careless comrade.
“Umm…Lady Jytte, what was that?” I asked, wiping away the bead of sweat rolling down my cheek.
“Ahh I just needed to memorize your scent, Y’see it’s a custom where I’m from, it basically means we’re friends.” She puffed her armored chest, leaning her head back and twitching her nose as if she was still trying to catch a whiff of something lingering in the air.
“Y’know Liam…you actually smell kinda yummy. You have that rich Druid scent mixed with the tangy human flavor.” She said, using her hands to guide the stagnant airflow towards her face.
“Yummy?” I turned to face my parents, asking my next question with upturned eyes “Did she do that to you too?”
“Y-Yeah a few years back….” My father replied in embarrassment.
"Jytte can be a little passionate Liam. I hope you two can get along.” My mother added, a hand now pressed to her cheek.
“Oh well, if it’s just this one time then I don’t mind; you don’t have to do that again right?” I asked the unbothered lady.
“Oh no-”
She paused midway through that sentence to contemplate something, but before long another crude, sly smile was already starting to slant across her face.
“ Y-Yeah, I’ll need to repeat the process a few times…to update your scent and things like that…..hehehehe…..” Her reply was teetering at the pinnacle of indecency, she licked her lips lasciviously before wiping the drool leaking from the corners of her mouth.
“Eek!” Jytte squealed after suffering a deadly chop to her cranium.
“Flynn! W-what was that for!?” She yelled angrily.
“You’re being a pervert.” The man sighed.
“She’s lying Liam, she just wanted to sniff you again.” Myra commented, staring down her wobbling companion with a hint of disgust in her eyes.
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Looking at Jytte in this teary eyed state had actually started to make me feel a bit curious. I tried to give my own body a whiff, much to everyone’s surprise and amusement but, regrettably, I didn’t find my own scent to be as enticing as I’d hoped.
“I don’t get it…” I said, facing my parents for answers.
They both burst into laughter, giggling at me in delight.
“It’s not that kind of scent, beastfolk like Jytte and some other races like vampires are attracted to people with strong life forces so it’s not something you can just smell like that, and since you’re part Druid you’ve got a really strong life force. To her, you probably smell like a walking treat.” My mother slowly expounded on the details as she made her way over to me, taking my hand in hers.
“Ahhh but don’t worry about it” she said in the midst of flailing her arms around. “Jytte isn’t planning to eat you or anything like that, she just likes how you smell, right?” She asked the slumped girl who shamefully nodded in response.
For some reason, seeing her like that made me feel a tinge of pity for the poor creature.
“Lady Jytte, if it’s just that then I don’t really mind as long as you don’t squeeze me that tight.”
Her ears immediately assumed a perked posture as soon as those words registered in her rattled cranium, they flapped to and fro in sync with her fuzzy tail.
“Really!? Are you sure!?” She grabbed my free hand almost like she was seeking salvation.
There seemed to be something like stars twinkling in her eyes, so by now it was far too late. I couldn’t say no to that.
“Every once in a while is fine.” I murmured after prying my clutched hand from her grasp.
“Eh?”
“……That’s fine right?”
“Mhm, Mhm.” She nodded ecstatically.
“Looks like your son’s already getting some first hand experience with negotiation Oliver.” Flynn nudged him by the shoulder, barely holding back the laughter erupting from him.
“Yeah…looks like it…” Oliver replied with a smile.
“Hm? What’s with that self satisfied look?”
“Oh, I was making that kind of face huh?” My father said, looking off in the distance.
“I guess it’s because I’m watching him grow up so fast, but even with all that’s happened, he’s still just a child, I almost forgot about that just now.”
Flynn gave him a conflicted look before firing off an exhaustive sigh. “There you go getting all philosophical again.”
“Hehe…sorry I didn’t mean to kill the mood.”
“It’s fine.” Answered their floating comrade.
“I’ve known you both long enough to know when something’s bothering you, but from the looks of it you’ve already started feeling better, right Julia?” Myra tossed the question with a smirk.
“Looks like we’re busted dear.”
“I guess so, but since they’re going to be escorting us anyway, this is the perfect time to fill them in don’t you think.”
Oliver wiped the faint trances of melancholy off his face with nothing but a blink.
He approached his comrades with a look of thrill and vigor, spreading his arms wide before posing the anticipated question. “Say, are you all up for a meal?”
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The veil of night had once again been cast, and to no one’s surprise we were still using the Ashwell family home as a sort of rendezvous point.
If nothing else, Beatrice’s accommodative nature was commendable, she didn’t even bat an eye when my parents showed up at her doorstep with a group of armed strangers. Instead of panicking, she welcomed us all in with a smile.
The large round table was now decked out with an array of steaming hot dishes that made it seem like Beatrice was already anticipating our arrival.
“Woah! Are these weapons enchanted? Is all of this custom gear!? What’s your level?”
Now that we were all occupying the familiar confines of the living room, Isaac was bouncing around from member to member, gushing over the thought of their stature as raiders.
“Calm down Isaac”Beatrice reprimanded him with a motherly spark in her eyes. “Our guests need to have a serious discussion”
His shoulders drooped for a moment, but as soon as Flynn promised to answer all his questions later, the childlike glint of hope immediately returned to his eyes.
While all of that was going on, Emma and Jytte were locked in a fierce standoff, both of them shooting fierce gazes at each other.
I couldn’t say for certain what was causing all of this but it all started the moment we entered the house and Emma saw her snuggling up to me. From then, it seemed as if they both started exchanging silent dialogue.
If it was just their usual gimmicks then I really wouldn’t have cared that much but since they were both seated on either side of me, I was trapped in the middle of their silent confrontation.
No words were being said between them, but they were both trying to one up each other by feeding me food. I’m not exactly sure what they were competing for but at times their clashing gazes were so fierce that it ignited sparks in the space above my head.
Favoring either of them over the other would have probably made things even worse, so for the sake of peace, I decided not to get involved.
“Alright, on to the issue at hand…” Oliver seized control of the atmosphere as soon as we’d all finished eating.
With just that one sentence, he commanded the attention of everyone present, hardening his expression in preparation for the wave of shock and awe that was soon to come.
“Originally, we were supposed to head straight for the capital after leaving here but there’s been a slight change of plans. We’re going to the land of Elves and Druids - Sylvan.”