Life and Culture in the Capital as described by one

Rou Erial - Sage of Fluff

Goddess Consort - Affection

Let it be known that despite being in my early twenties in age, as of that point, my experience within the capital was by far and largely hurried and in passing. Rushed into the capital at the tender age of four and only emerging from a situation of isolation fifteen or more years later.

Shortly thereafter, I was granted the title of Sage of Fluff purely by chance after the King and Church both saw fit to publish the brief research I made into anti-gravity magic, granted under study of inverse dark crystals. So of course, my findings and interactions naturally may be distorted due to my fame, but I would be remiss not to mention such now. And I would be equally remiss to wander around in disguise as I feel it would be an insult to those who cherish and appreciate the title of Sage in their day-to-day happenings.

Why did I feel the need to write this small memoir of my curiosities and amusements? No particular reason.

–

Of course, it was many years later that such an accounting was penned. But in current times, the discovery process was lived.

Once united with Affection through a sharing of five senses, essentially being her living terminal in the mortal world, Rou made it a habit to wander. Continuously. Sure, Affection knew a fair bit about the world from observing divinely, but actually experiencing it in street view, on foot, in person, was a different matter altogether.

Leaving his house this morning after giving his father a light hug and his mother a much more firm hug and kiss, and sneaking a much longer, deeper kiss onto his maid companion whom the both of Rou and Affection had taken a liking to, the overly attractive Red Panda made his way onto the street. While it was hardly his first time out and about, there was always new things he discovered and things that were so wholly different from his previous world that they always left an impression on him.

First and foremost?

The peoples lack of care about nudity. Not to say they walked around naked or paraded their bare forms for some reason, but there was also no real shame in such either. Clothes were for comfort, style, protection from the weather. They were a display of wealth, a display of peacockery, of a great many things. But what they were not was a way to cover something that was deemed shameful. As a result, while not common by any means, it wasn't uncommon to see someone standing around in a state of lacking dress for some reason or another. Male and female both, young and old alike, all were equal in the eyes of the Gods and Mortals.

Of course, to Rou this was all rather odd, but he'd soon gotten used to it. Of course, /he/ wasn't going to be allowed to wander bare, waving about as he liked. Even fully dressed, where the Sage of Fluff walked, others followed. To try and beg boons, to simply observe and appreciate the proximity to a living legend. Or, as some younger ladies and occasionally men had begun to find amusing, trying to coax a kiss or display of affection from Fluff Sage. Naturally Rou was, too, quite consternated about all this but given how well Affection took it, how much it made her giggle and cackle to see the antics of everyone trying to catch him off guard or in a good mood?

He relented and began to live up to his title. Naturally Affection was no Goddess of love, nor even experienced in anything related to love until she and Rou spent a while teaching themselves and each other, but to the mortals who followed the tenets of faith of the standard capital Church? Affection very much was. They had long ago fictionalized an entire pantheon of gods, many of which did not even exist, and the high-dimensional beings that did exist? Out of amusement took on monikers to their liking and largely posed as these beings. Some gods even took on two, three or more identities. Such as Creation. He was also Destruction, though none besides the Gods above knew this, not even their priests or apostles.

But back to the wanderings of the Fluff Sage, it wasn't uncommon for Rou to grant kisses to giggling parties at least a few times an hour, though some who overstayed their welcome or pressed their luck would receive his ire. And usually find it funny and run off giggling in turn much to his annoyance. These kiss blessings, a fad though they were, were almost always chaste even to those he found terribly attractive. Only occasionally was he caught on the spot with his mouth open enough to give further access and usually those who earned his frustration were the cause of this.

Rou's normal morning routine was to wander the stalls and markets until he found some place he hadn't been before, choosing to eat there. Though traditionally since coming to this world, Rou was a very light eater, terrified of gaining weight once more as he had in his past life - he soon found out that his draconic inheritance as well as the various bodily perks he had been granted in essence made it impossible to gain weight.

At which point his appetite grew a bit more than he'd have preferred. Mostly thanks to Affection's sweet tooth. She wanted to try a little of everything. A bit here, a lick there, sometimes a swallow or a swig. While Rou could tell her no, he rarely did, it was only when his personal discomforts were not only touched but impressed upon that he stood his ground and she always relented. Though in those cases he'd throw the food she wanted to try into an aether node and she'd try it herself while briefly disconnecting the shared senses between them, reconnecting after and regaling Rou with how it was.

Of course, no morning would be complete without the two sharing a hug and a kiss, Rou often disappearing into an alley to vanish briefly and reappear rather content with himself. No one ever really knew what took place, as none had knowledge of the time scale difference between high and low. Though all concerned, it was usually very tender bonding.

Affection had long since realized she found holding hands very endearing and if she could get away with it, she'd have monopolized one of Rou's hands all day and night for herself.

–

After breakfast and mid-morning breaks with his dear goddess, Rou more often than not continued browsing the markets to enjoy people-watching. So many different kinds of people and species, colors and variants. Some true breeds like he, some cross-breeds like others. A great many of every mix and variety, short and tall, slim and fat, quiet and boisterous. There was no class or commitment to duties or jobs because of stature. There were giant maids and tiny guards. Robust whores and slender patrons. Variety was indeed a spice here.

Though on note of variety, Rou had discovered the hard way on several occasions that he really was a country bumpkin as far as those in the capital were concerned. No matter how much Rou tried to learn the way of the land, certain things, like the idea of how openly sexual those in this land were, always confused him. Rou even in his old world had a strong sense of modesty. Not that he was formal or shy by any means, but he was a very private person. Voyeurism and Exhibitionism, while kinks in a sense and something that amused him conceptually, here it was very much the case a lot of times. While there was rarely if never blatant, open hedonism, it wasn't uncommon to see sex plied as bluntly as one might sell a piece of candy or a bag of spice. Disappearing into a nearby alley or even just leaning against a stall while a paid partner ducked just out of sight and what was taking place was left to the imagination, albeit only just.

Something that forever ago greatly frustrated the church, but eventually they gave in and tacitly condoned it as long as others didn't overstep basic boundaries. There was a movement several hundred years past that how could mortals consider such things taboo when Affection herself 'promoted' such love. See: the Church had made a great mistake in their preachings. Having tried to put a simple governance and tithe tax in place regarding the number of kids one had, they began to preach the idea of 'have many kids' and all kinds of associated things, trying to use Affection's name as to why that should happen.

And the populace bloomed. And quickly began to get ornery when they realized their breeding was going to be taxed as a mandated tithe. So to protest? They began to procreate and breed in front of the clergy, fully in spite of warnings and threats of jail and other such. It became so popular it almost became a health hazard. Finally the King at the time had to step in, chastise the church as being greedy, denounce the tithe as a tax of man and not Gods, and all was well.

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Though the 'just go at it openly' never quite went away, it did fade back slightly.

This all was terribly funny to Affection as she recounted it all, and equally funny to Rou who greatly loved irony in such things and protest.

–

Lunch was quite similar to breakfast, only instead of light foods and sweets it was usually something a bit heartier. In an effort to space out discovery and let the enjoyment of life last, Rou struck a bargain with Affection. One flavor of each staple in a single course meal per day, per lunch. This did not go over well at first but she did understand his point and understood that he wanted to be able to share this love of exploring with her forever and ever.

Today's lunch? Pit-roasted applefish. A type of fighting fish monster that was rarely seen inland, a swarm had rushed up the central tributary to the port of the capital and began to wreak havok in the bay. In the water as they were, the normal homeland defense group and military alike were caught unable to do anything. Luckily, there was, as Rou found out, a sea force. Primarily composed of fast-swimming, agile fellows like otters and others who could traverse both land and sea, it was a bloody fight. For the fish. Why were they called applefish? Both because of the distinctive 'knob' that hung from their foreheads in the shape of a crabapple, but also because they had a distinctly appley taste to some.

Rou couldn't taste apple at all, and in fact, found it rather unpleasant. Though for Affection, she swore up and down she could distinctly taste the apple despite his inability to share that belief even when their senses were shared 1:1. The fish's flesh reminded him of fatty, bottom-feeding fish from his past life. The type that would develop a thick layer of muddy-tasting fat from their eating habits.

Once again after lunch, Rou vanished into an alley as he tended to do at minimum thrice a day, to spend time with Affection. Three days to one typically, at his normal pace.

Though after returning to the capital and moving from the main street towards the dedicated commerce district, he happened upon Ellie and they spent a couple hours wandering the streets together, chatting minimally and eventually returning to drop off some parcels to Dame W'elma that would have normally taken Ellie several trips. Instead she completed her tasks with just the one, thanking Fluff Sage for his time. The tabby cat was, as ever, extremely prim and proper and despite his belief she was in her late teens or early twenties, did not at all act like most around him. Rou actually appreciated it as he never felt he would have to worry about getting felt up or kissed on.

Not that he would have ever said no should she have inquired, friendly as they were by default, but Rou had a distinct impression that their 'relationship' started off on a very sour foot. Why? Rou was quite certain she was enamored with W'elma but would never risk their cordial and professional life to pursue a romantic one.

On which note, 'deviant' sexualities were equally present, and despite the focus on 'breeding' several hundred years back, or perhaps directly in spite of it, same-sex 'breeding' and displays of such were equally a fuck-you to the Church as anything else. Thus by this point, in this day and age, same-sex relationships were not at all uncommon, though typically marriage was still heterosexual to a nominally sufficient capacity. Same-sex affections and acts were largely seen as a bonding exercise between close friends or even dedicated lovers, some even maintaining life-long romantic associations and cohabitations. But the idea of 'breeding' did still remain and even otherwise homosexual individuals did tend to dip into the breeding pool for at least one direct child.

Despite this, blood seemed to hold no sway. Adoptions were rare if only because they were rarely formalized, family very much 'found' rather than defaulted to blood. It was entirely common for family groups to include individuals of other bloodlines who simply found one group or another more comfortable or meeting with their personal beliefs.

Which was why Rou would occasionally even get attention from males who wanted to see if they could get a blessing from the Fluff Sage. Odd at first as, despite him being nominally with other exclusive preferences, he was never terribly capable at emotionally bonding with other males. Physically? Didn't bother him at all. But emotionally was another matter. So the kisses were always awkward for him. Something he tried to work on over time. Something helped largely by his and Affection's bonding sessions. With their mutually shared senses, they could both sense each other while they were in the low and high domains respectively, or even both in the high. Kissing each other was odd for Rou at first, but soon uniquely enjoyable as he could experience both sides of the coin.

The same went for other more… vigorous bonding.

So he had more experience knowing the sensation of kissing himself through Affection's senses than he had kissing others, something that amused him and Affection both to no end. When Affection discovered the phrase of 'go f* yourself', an expression from Rou's old world, she began to use that playfully and much to his annoyance, way too often in regards to their time together sharing senses.

But back to W'elma, Ellie and Rou, they'd often spend time together. Either discussing business and how it was going, or simply appreciating each others company. After W'elma had let down her hair so to speak, she rather awkwardly admitted she still found Rou terribly attractive and within her interests and Rou certainly was flattered and did not at all mind. But with W'elma's overwhelming desire for professionalism and never risking letting such things bleed over, anything that ever took place between them from when their work relationship started was purely mutual scratching of itches.

It was only when one day, Ellie approached Rou and actually leaned up to kiss him rather gently in passing that Rou came to realize his playful suggestion one day to W'elma, of extending that trust of 'scratching itches' to Ellie instead of bottling it up for him might do her better… it would seem that pairing came to be after all. Otherwise he couldn't imagine the overly proper Ellie, who he was fairly certain was expressly homosexual, would deign to give him a kiss of thanks.

–

Evening and Dinner usually was more exploring for entertainment than directly seeking food and sustenance. Be it reading books together or watching plays, or listening to musical performances, it was typically a date for Rou. Sometimes even Millet would accompany Rou and Affection when she otherwise didn't have duties at the household. Even with her siblings at times, leaving Millet especially fulfilled emotionally. Rou wasn't the best with children but tried to be placating. Occasionally the outings would feature his parents, or them all as a big family unit, always trying to bring about something new or unique to their enjoyments.

Minor nobles that they were at this point, Fluff Sage Rou himself a bit higher-elevated simply on principle of his title, despite his desire otherwise, they were often seated with the nobility who were out and about for various purposes. Despite the long standing resentment of the nobility at the lower class masses, they were not overly cruel about it. Just… didn't enjoy mingling. A lingering issue from many hundreds of years past that another Sage actually fixed.

One 'Sage of Comfort' had clearly been reincarnated like himself and a scientist to some degree as he had gone through the process of systematically trying to erase mites and other pests from the day to day lives of the commonfolk. At the time, the nobles were almost pristinely clean, not from overly bathing, but having the time in the day to actually excessively groom and dust themselves in expensive, perfumed powders designed to keep pests from latching onto themselves. They would also hoard monster crystals to sublimate towards their body to prevent mites from being able to draw blood from bites and feed, and, thus, avoided them as well.

Commonfolk, however, did not have that luxury. The Sage of Comfort had innovated and spread various solutions to the commonfolk, both in cheap solutions and spreading the breeding and growth of a several species of plants that now populated the world over. Natural mite killers as it were.

So now, mites were mostly eradicated from the daily lives of the masses. Even if 'Fleas upon you' was still a common curse, as were things such as 'like a mite'.

–

Night and Bedtime rituals varied individual to individual, though also thanks to the Sage of Comfort, communal and family bathing had spread like wildfire. Again, not that the commonfolk were dirty, but they were usually so busy, fineries were second fiddle. But now, thanks to his efforts, even if one could not afford a private bath in their home, public baths were available as was the ability to use fresh water that ran into the ocean from a nearby river. A certain large section of the river had essentially been turned into a river-water pool as it was lined with bricks and all plantlife and sediment was regularly cleaned away, leaving room for thousands to bathe and relax simultaneously.

But for those like Rou and his family, and Millet and her siblings and such, a single, large bath they shared and spent time in was much more common. It was really strange for Rou to parse the idea of 'family bathing' past a certain childhood age, but eventually his relenting led to his understanding that, like with public nudity, this world simply didn't have the same aversions his old world had. It was not a case of 'better or worse', just different.

It also meant his mother got to bathe her son again like when he was a child and that was /terribly/ important to her in trying to make up for lost time. Millet's siblings found it funny to see the great Fluff Sage treated like they were by Millet, and tended to hold him in high regard even more for it. Though as the mice now had food, regular, healthy and fattening food, they'd all put on weight. Millet, too, much to her frustration. Not much of course, she was active as any other could be. Both in her household duties, in wandering the city for various tasks, as well as when she eventually warmed young master Erials bed. But a few extra pounds just would not leave her tummy.

–

Each night, Rou spent a couple of hours lower-dimension time studying magic from the various books in the royal library that he borrowed and kept on a regular basis, though he spent the time in Affection's domain, which gave him far more actual time to study. By this point in his parents home where he stayed, he had his own personal library, a gift from both the Royal Family for his 'contributions' to their legacy - who continued to try and arrange a marriage between him and their eldest daughter - who also very much fancied Rou and tried to kiss on him every chance she got. …something he never allowed to avoid a sense of impropriety and a false acceptance of their terms. As well as the church, whom he had essentially blackmailed after they leaked his relationship with Affection as if they were a tabloid news source.

Sure, Affection might have cured the Kings erectile dysfunction, but mysteriously the church leaders gained a spell of impotence until they realized the cause and learned their lessons, trying very hard to make amends.

Though one day, while reading and observing his screen, Rou paused and asked aloud, "Aether, I meant to ask a while ago… why is the Screen so… sloppily thought out? Was it a rushed product?"

A terribly huffy Aether appeared, seen for the first time by Rou since he'd only ever heard her voice, and demanded, "Sloppy? Rushed? We haven't spoken in forever and the first words out of your mouth to me are an insult?"

Well, he certainly just stuck his foot in his mouth by being overly blunt.