George was still lining up outside and he pointed at the market when he saw the group return. Ingrid was walking with an arm around Zefir's shoulder, which amusingly reminded him again of a bear holding up a rabbit to pretend it was friendly. Cecil was hovering behind and above them so he wouldn't be in the way of anyone, dangling from his room by a thin thread of slime while the rest of his body hung down like a teardrop behind Ingrid's face. As they talked, Zefir's eyes kept flickering up and down from Ingrid and then to Cecil.
The orc frowned a bit, finding it strange that the Ciltran was acting so lovey-dovey over a dangerous Nemesis-Stalker, he was definitely the strangest of the bunch. As the group saw him, he pointed at the Market for them to check out while waiting. The girl, Ingrid, waved her hand in acknowledgement and she steered the group towards the avenue of stalls and bustling commerce. As they turned around he saw the boy's hand indolently squeezing Ingrid's butt.
Strange boy. The orc thought. Wanting to mate with a human.
___
"What do you think?" Zefir asked as he wrapped a long silky blood-red scarf around Ingrid's shoulders. It was looped around her shoulders thrice, covering her collarbones, neck and her shoulders. The long ends hung dramatically down to her calves at the back. The scarf had a diagonal twill pattern weave and embroidered across its length was a pattern of gold lightning, which Zefir thought was fitting considering how fast Ingrid could move.
"I like it." Ingrid said, smiling as she twirled around in front of a mirror "You have good taste, Master." her aura automatically extended to the scarves, which while initially a frivolous thing to do would serve her well in many ways. If she wanted to, she could channel her aura through the scarves to act as extra limbs, or if an opponent tried to grab them could end up being subjected to a damaging surge of energy. When not in a combat situation the scarves were protected by Ingrid's Aegis, which caused it to repel itself from anything it could have snagged or caught onto.
As soon as Ingrid finished adjusting her scarf, it twitched as her aura flowed through it, causing it to dramatically billow out to the sides slightly as if there was always a breeze around her as well as spread out so as to look as heroic as every scarf-wearing hero.
"You sure you wanted to spend money on that?" Ingrid said as they walked out of the shop.
"Of course! Anything to make my hero look great." The Ciltran replied. "There's a good jewelry store here too."
"Now you're just showing off." Ingrid giggled.
"He said he's been working good at the smithy back in his village, so obviously he's got money to burn." Cecil said.
"You mean gold to melt." Zefir said.
He led them to a large tent with a label that said "Dain's Jewel Emporium." Inside was a jewelry shop. Various jewelry hung on one rack while another was various medallions. Aside from various customers coming over to check out the merchandise there were also people that looked like adventurers who were having their armor or clothing examined to see if they could have chanelling stones installed.
"I remember Fyrra telling me I could have chanelling stones installed." Zefir however shook his head and whispered in her ear.
"It's actually better if you get them from an adventure yourself. Most of the channeling stones you see in stores are usually third or fifth-rate loot adventurers sell off to merchants. We're here just to pimp out your costume." The catboy said.
Ingrid nodded and he led her over a red-haired dwarf who was busy examining what could only be a channeling stone. It looked like a large diamond but it was glowing with a light of its own.
"Is that a channeling stone?" Cecil asked. The dwarf looked up at him in mild surprise, but not as surprised as seeing a nobody like Zefir being snuggled up to by the most beautiful Nemesis-Stalker he's ever seen.
"Aye, pretty good one, but I doubt annae y'as can buy this." The dwarf said in a husky voice that had an accent that reminded Ingrid and Cecil of Scottish. He pointed an accusing finger at Zefir "Especially if Zefir's just buying off with his Da's silvers."
"I'm here for my favor Dain." Zefir said, stepping aside to gesture at Ingrid. "She's Ingrid, a Starchaser, like the stories I've told you about."
"Lad, you bring to me any Nemee's and claim they can pull the moon down and I won't doubt ya's." The dwarf laughed, noting her Drow-like attire. "So what you be wantin'?"
"Anything Dain, make her armor look a little prettier." Zefir shrugged. "And make it quick we have about just an hour to spare. Dain looked at her Deep Dragon vambraces and gloves and motioned for them to come around the corner. They sat Ingrid down a short stool and Dain had her stretch one arm out to the side.
"Lass, you better not be this foolish lad's thrall be ya?" The dwarf asked, and he smiled when Ingrid shook her head. "I thought too… you look too strong to suck up to him." He seemed to be counting something along Ingrid's arm.
"Well I have an idee… I reckon Fyrra's auntee's armor this be. If you're keen to scare the shites out of your enemies, I can fix something if you can wait.." The dwarf said. He looked at them and both nodded. Ingrid then loosened the Muay-Thai-like rope bindings at the back of her biceps and thighs and took off her limb armor and gloves.
"Brokky!" Dain called "Come ta here willa!?" A younger dwarf hurried over and looked like Dain if he was much younger. Dain handed him Ingridl's gloves. "Give em a good fixin' ya? I want that looking like you can smash a dragon's bollocks."
Brokky nodded, taking the gloves and headed back to his station.
Working with efficiency, Dain had installed on the sides of Ingrid's vambraces and boots a thin flexible strip of embossed gold-plated metal that looked like a length of rope. With dwarven accuracy and speed, he installed a series of several, equally spaced D-rings on decorated base plates. Once done, he then called two more assistants who quickly began attaching tassels of red cords crimped with silver heads.
It was over in twenty minutes.
"There you go, Reeve-mount Tassels. Now you look like a proper kill-hound… you'll scare the shites out of anyone Zefir points a finger at." Dain said, chuckling.
Brokky returned in twenty-five. The gloves' knuckles were retrofitted with new gold-plated metal and an explanation that it helped transfer her energies through them better.
"There ya go, that's settle's me debts." Dain said as Ingrid started putting her armor back on. In a way it reminded her of those fringes on the sleeves of some cowboy jackets and chaps.
Zefir laid some jewelry at the counter. "And these I'm buying."
"You want anything, Cecil?" Zefir asked.
"I don't' know, I'm thinking of something I can hang in my portal, it doesn't feel right without fuzzy dice."
"Ooof, that's something we'll need to commission from some tailor" Zefir said, but a thought occured to him "Wait, how are you going to hang that one?"
"Try slapping the back of my portal." Cecil said. He had extended a tendril around his portal and tried to push through but it felt solid.
Zefir reached over and found that it felt solid. Eyes wide in realization he said "We need something that could hang or hook onto these portals!"
"Exactly!" Cecil squeaked. "But aside from that, I guess my room can also function as an impromptu Item Box, it's always open and stuff so gear like ropes and lanterns would be good, or rations, that way you don't have to keep wheezing bringing up the Table Box."
"That's a good idea too." Ingrid said.
"Leave that to me, I know where I can get those. Let's do that later."
Ingrid had suddenly stopped by a stall. The gnome shopkeep looked up at her curiously.
"Yes?"
"How much for that slingshot?"
"Ingrid?" Cecil asked.
"I'm arming you." Ingrid said.
"Oh, for your slime familiar?" The gnome said, adjusting his glasses.
Ingrid nodded "Something pretty strong, let's say, for hunting."
"Oh, why didn't you say so…come on in!" The gnome said, hopping off of his bar stool and walked further into his odds-and-ends shop.
----------------------------------------
PARTY INFO
INGRID Obtained the following:
* Scarlet Lightning Scarf
* x4 Reeve-mount Tassel Set
* x2 Lion Brooch Medallions
----------------------------------------
At The Heucuva Tavern, George was already seated and drinking with his friends. After making the perfunctory greetings with the other town guards Ingrid and Zefir sat down and got to drinking with their newfound friends. Cecil as usual dangled from his portal above, a tendril dipped into his tankard to absorb the drink.
"So where are you from, Ingrid?" George asked as he filled her tankard. "I figure that with you wearing some of Fyrrina's hand-me downs you had to have done something to earn respect from those Ontala folks."
Ingrd responded by briefly giving them an account of how she came to on Ontala beach and was found by Mink and Roofe, and while heading back to the village she saved the two from a tusk boar's attack by killing it in a single blow to the head. As she spoke she pulled down her scarf slightly, showing the padloi; a collar that was a token of high esteem among the kobolds.
The orcs thumped their tankards in congratulations. One orc, who introduced himself earlier as Roger then asked Ingrid "...so you're gonna become an adventurer? Those folks at the Fenrir are a decent bunch."
Ingrid nodded. "That's the plan, I do have my reasons, one is to avoid the trouble with people who'd want to snatch me up as one of their pets and another is to help me on my journey to look for someone. Melrondia, if you've heard anything about her…anyone?"
The orcs looked at each other then shook her heads, apparently not even the name being familiar to them. "Who's she?" asked another guard, who was some kind of owl-man.
Zefir spoke up "She…and Ingrid go way back. Melrondia's like some kind of powerful witch. I've never heard of anything like her so far, so it was a shock to me to see Ingrid show up in Ontala. I believe that during their last battle, she may have forcibly teleported Ingrid here."
"Oh!" George said "So she was the friend of yours you've talked about."
Ingrid raised an eyebrow, but then again he was a fan of hers, it was only natural in his moments of boredom or homesickness he would obviously talk about his hero Star Lily.
"So you're the Star Lily that Zefir's been talking about." Roger said.
"What's Zefir been telling you?" Ingrid asked, amused.
Soon enough the conversation then denigrated to funny anecdotes and Zefir's interactions with them. Some that Ingrid picked up then was Zefir seemed to be a decent enough fighter, and many of them warned him however, not to go over his head when adventuring as fighting monsters is different from fighting someone with a sword or spear. Ingrid however assured them that his role in the party will be as porter for carrying essential supplies such as food and equipment.
"So you'll be muscle then?" One of the guards, an owl-man said. "What weapon do you use?"
In response, Ingrid held up a fist and a big holographic image of a lion appeared around her forearm. Ingrid lightly tapped the table, showing that it was a solid construct.
"Nemea" Ingrid replied, "it's my favorite punching glove for big bad monsters."
The guards oooh'd as they saw her form an energy weapon with just her aura alone.
"Looks like some of those cone-hats were right after all" Roger chuckled.
"Cone-hats?" Ingrid asked.
"They're like mad scientists," Zefir explained. "But wizards."
"Ohhhh." Ingrid and Cecil chorused.
"The pretty elf receptionist said something about us being tested." Cecil addressed the guards "Do you know anything about it? Or is it something you can't tell to newcomers?"
George shook his head "No, it's pretty standard really. There's three tests you'll be facing tomorrow. First is a Duelling Test to see how well you can defend yourself, next is a magic test, and finally you'll need to complete a pretty simple mission."
"Physical duel test?" Cecil said "Well I can't fight, I'm a slime."
"Liar" Ingrid chuckled. Cecil could be violent if annoyed.
"For situations like yours you'll probably be tested alongside Ingrid, she'll need to protect you from harm." Zefir said. "And the point of the duel isn't really to win, just to show that you can defend yourself, that's all."
"Feeling nervous, Zefir?" Roger asked. The catboy nodded.
"What happens if Zefir fails?" Cecil asked.
Roger spoke up "Well, if you three are registered as a team, then in theory you'll be accepted as adventurers so long as Ingrid passes, she does look the most formidable. That said, your rewards could be lower than usual because he'll be seen as a hanger-on. You'll probably be exempted from that evaluation, Cecil. You did say earlier that you're Ingrid's familiar."
"But I designated Zefir as a porter." Ingrid frowned, "He shouldn't have to fight."
"Still" the owl-man said "He's a member of the party, he should do his diligence in keeping himself prepared for the rigors of adventuring. The guilds have come to the conclusion that adventurers who are bogged down by hangers-on don't perform as well. Less jobs get completed and all that stuff and takes out the parasites."
"Hopefully we'll be tested as a group." Ingrid said "I mean if it comes to defending both Cecil and Zefir, I think I should be able to do it."
"Try asking the proctors." The owl-man suggested.
"No, I want to be tested." Zefir insisted "You're right, I need to show that I can pull my weight."
"You sure?" Ingrid asked. "I did a pretty good job defending four useless Starchasers and took down Melrondia" she smiled.
___
Sometime later, Ingrid and Zefir excused themselves. Cecil however preferred to stay.
"I wanna test how far I can be from you." He said. "So you two lovebirds go get your beauty sleep."
"Lovebirds?" Zefir exclaimed, obviously flustered. "W-well that's up for Ingrid to-"
Ingrid pulled him up "C'mon, we got a test early in the morning tomorrow. Oh and thanks guys for the treat."
"Take care of our boy Zefir." George said "he's like a little brother to me."
"Oh I will…" Ingrid smirked, as she pulled up Zefir he futilely tried to pull his shirt down. The orcs laughed, making jokes about him about to be ridden hard by Ingrid before returning to their stories. Cecil stayed behind to gather more information. Being a slime, alcohol had minimal effect on him and he was still quite hungry, which the orcs were more than happy to oblige as he was the first talking slime they've ever met.
___
As Ingrid and Zefir stumbled out of the bar, Ingrid concentrated her aura and soon the effects of alcohol had faded.
"Whoa! You do have healing powers." Zefir said as he straightened up.
"Chiron, it's my aura's restorative sub-routine. We need to find lodging." Ingrid said "I messed up."
"What about Cecil?" Zefir said "We can't leave him there, what if we get separated?"
In response, Cecil's Dialog window blinked into view.
"...and then, Ingrid went…. HEY!" Cecil said. "How'd you know you can do that?"
"Simple," Ingrid replied "I could FEEL a connection. It wasn't obvious while you're around but as soon as you were out of sight it started becoming more obvious. Also, I just repeated the same thing I did when I first opened your Dialog Window."
Cecil blinked "Well that's pretty neat. Though you should know I could pretty much zero in wherever you are, I got that Familiar Sense going on, it's still active."
"That's good to know." Ingrid said.
"Well, I got more drinking to do, see ya, lovebirds!" And with that, Cecil flew back into the bar.
"So…about that lodging." Ingrid said.
"Let's go out of town, somewhere in the nearby forest." Zefir suggested.
"There's Inns for that, Zefir."
"No, seriously, trust me. Some forest where we can't be seen."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Ingrid shrugged. "Alright, hop on!" as she said that she bent over, winking at him.
Zefir gulped as he looked at her. A few bystanders had stopped to gawk wondering what sort of depraved thing this catboy was making his human do. Zefir clapped his hands to his cheeks then jumped on Ingrid's back. As soon as he did, Ingrid effortlessly trotted along as if he weighed like nothing despite being only a head taller than him.
"See ya tomorrow, guys!" Ingrid said as she trotted past the orc night guard, then accelerated past the farmlands.
"Ingrid, if you see any undead, don't attack them!" Zefir yelled over the roaring wind around them.
"Why not?" Ingrid asked. She turned her head to face him but her Argus aura was practically giving her 360 degree vision with its radar-like scanning feature.
"They're the Night Men. Like our night-shift guards. They're good guys!" Zefir explained. As he spoke, they quickly passed a skeleton in full plate armor.
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YA CRAZY KIDS!" The skeleton yelled, Ingrid couldn't help but burst into laughter as the skeleton sounded exactly like an elderly driver in cartoons whenever a modern fast car cuts off their janky jalopy from the stone age.
In a few seconds, she brought them into the forest. Like the meadows around it she could smell the fragrant night time flowers in full bloom, here and there glowing mushrooms lit the forest and firefly-like insects flustered about.
"It's beautiful here." Ingrid remarked. "Pretty romantic too" she added, giggling as she felt Zefir pressing against her back as she straightened up more. He hopped off her and held her hand. Despite the moonlight filtering through the foliage and the natural illumination in the forest, it was still dark enough for anyone to trip over random roots and rocks, but her Argus aura made her navigate through the forest as if it was lit with flood lights. Zefir, being a feline, also had excellent nightvision.
"Is that a glowing moth?" Ingrid said as she saw a glowing insect fly by.
"The ones with glowing abdomens like fireflies are moths." Zefir told her. "The ones with glowing wings are night butterflies."
Ingrid saw that on the barks of some trees there were glowing shelf fungus, some were bright as desk lamps. It looked like she was in a cross between a forest and a night club.
"I'm no biologist but these glowing guys are asking to be eaten." Ingrid said. "The point of being out at night is to not be seen."
"I don't have much info about them either." The catboy replied. "What some have told me is that the glowing ones are either poisonous or don't taste good to bats and other predators," As he spoke, he gently pulled Ingrid closer and closer to the glade illuminated by the moonlight.
"So… why here? I get that it's pretty but…"
"Autumnhollow, it's my other ability." Zefir said.
"Autumnhollow?" Ingrid repeated.
Zefir kept quiet until they reached the middle of the glade. He then held out his hands and began quietly chanting for several seconds. As he did, Ingrid felt a large amount of energy coming out of him. Motes of various geometric shapes began to rise from the ground at four points, like the corners or a rectangle. More and more motes appeared and within the space of ten seconds, it started taking on the shape of a small house.
"Autumnhollow, my portable house." Zefir said, gesturing towards it in invitation.
----------------------------------------
PARTY INFO
* Ingrid rediscovered the following Abilities:
* Dialog Window Summoning
* Chiron (Healing)
* Cecil retains the following Abilities:
* Familiar Sense
* Zefir reveals the following Abilities:
* Autumnhollow (Portable House)
----------------------------------------
Ingrid expected the house to be some late medieval or renaissance era house but the result in front of her was modern. The house was boxy in shape and two-storeys tall. It had faux brick panel accents here and there while most of the walls were rough granite. The ground around the house was converted into a wooden patio floor near the house and further away was paved stone. The windows on the ground floor were floor-to-ceiling glass panels with curtains inside blocking the view.
"Glass windows? Doesn't sound safe in a forest like this." Ingrid remarked.
"Don't worry, it's tougher than it looks." Zefir assured her. Ingrid hmmm'd and walked around the house. It had modern electric lights lighting up the outside area both on the external walls as well as on the patio floor. The patio even had wicker chairs and outdoor upholstery on them, and a fireplace. There were only two doors leading inside the house, both were heavy wooden double doors that had an old-world charm to it, embellished with elaborate carvings depicting a pair of peacocks in mid-flight. To the right side of the house was a fixture for a garden hose, Ingrid turned the faucet and water came out.
"Whoa! This is cool! Where's the water coming from?"
"Magic? I'm not sure myself, for all I know it takes it from some lake."
Ingrid shut off the faucet and then entered the house. Inside, the floor was variegated granite, a whitish-beige color with flecks of black everywhere. The interior walls looked like stack stones in varying shades of white and the occasional black, gray, and maroon. Here and there were panels of black marble where some wall ornament hung.
"Looks like you do have a cheat power to bring in a modern house." Ingrid remarked. She felt like she was back on Earth. The house was lit with electrical lights and there was air conditioning inside as well.
"Well there's limitations, like my Table Box, this has an hour-long cooldown."
"Oof" Ingrid winced. She immediately headed to the refrigerator to check if there was any food. "Where'd these foods come from? Is it generated by the house too?"
"No," Zefir said, taking off his gambeson and laying it on the couch. "That's stuff I obtained outside."
"So you sleep here?" Ingrid asked, the catboy nodded.
"I'm kinda surprised I've managed to keep it a secret for more than a year." he remarked. "Of course, there's times where I just bunk in with some people in Ontala." He had brought in some slippers and dropped them on the floor, before sitting on the couch to undo his boots. Ingrid followed his example, taking off the deep dragon armor on her limbs first, followed by the harness and backpack on her torso, laying them on the low table in front of them. Then she took off her wemic sleeves and socks and then her scarf and padloi collar.
"I should go shower first." He said, Ingrid watched him go, taking note where the bathroom was before she got up and headed over to the kitchen. As she did, Zefir came out, wearing only a towel around his waist, his clothes bundled up in one arm.
"Washing machine's this way" He pointed at the door next to the bathroom. Ingrid waited for him to return to the bathroom before she got back to business.
She picked up her clothes in the living room, or at least the ones made of fabric and dumped them into the washing machine along with Zefir. The laundry room was well stocked, it even had boxes of detergent and bottles of fabric softener.
Back in the kitchen she got some coffee going. There weren't any instant coffee, they were all beans stored in sacks she saw from Ontala. They had to have been sourced locally.
As Ingrid put the beans through the grinder she thought about it for a bit. So far it seems that when it came to food and drink they had to be sourced directly from Terragalia, yet soap and detergent for some reason were consumables that could be called in from Earth. There were jars of salt, pepper, and spices but these could've been obtained locally as none of them were labelled with any brand and the town did have farms around it, she even had sweet-coffee last night.
As for other electronics, she didn't see any TV's or consoles though she figured that a former bachelor like Dick Wood would've probably just vegetated away in his modern retreat if he did. He could then see why he was also an avid farmhand, he was probably looking to stock up on resources for his house.
"I'm finished!" Zefir called, he had a bathrobe on.
"Where's the soap from?" Ingrid asked. "Foodstuffs I can imagine being from Ontala and New Gorpisal but what about the others?"
Zefir thought for a bit. "When I got reincarnated here, it wasn't like some goddess appeared before me and offered me choices on what I could have. After I lost consciousness from my accident I found myself in this wonderful sensation you get when you've awakened from a pleasant sleep… the type where you don't have that will to get out of your comfy bed, much less open your eyes. Imagine that sensation but a hundred times more pleasant. Nobody was talking to me or anything but I just felt like I had to make a choice over what sort of power I should have if I could live again." He paused and opened his arms, indicating the house they're in.
"I want a comfortable life as much as possible." The source of water and electricity are a mystery to me. The food and spices, you're correct, I get them from here, either catching them myself or buying them from the market, or from working people's farms. For other products I have this room over here…" he waved his arm at Ingrid and showed her the room that was behind the kitchen.
It was empty except for two features. One was the Table Box set against the wall, and the other was a square table made of ebony wood with gold and siliver engravings all over it resting against another wall. Pinned against that wall was a scroll full of arcane runes and symbols. Various other symbols and small statues of various religions perched on a the built-in shelves of the walls.
"It's like a crafting table from survival games. I put my mana into it and mix together different ingredients." Zefir explained. "For detergent I get ash, fat, oil and some fragrant herbs or flowers for best results, for paper it's usually tree bark that I get the best results from, leaves give me brown paper towels if any at all. Making stuff like these of course takes quite a bit out of me but I found a sweet spot where I can get good quantity and quality that's worth the exhaustion I get."
"And soap?" Ingrid asked
"Didn't Farryn bring you to her house? They exist here." Zefir laughed.
"Oh right…"
"You go on ahead, I'll make some hot coffee." Zefir said with a wink.
___
The two of them sat outside the house on some comfortable wicker chairs, dressed in fluffy bathrobes, hot coffee on hand and staring up the bright starry sky. All around the scent of night flowers wafted as a pleasant breeze blew around them. The glowing mushrooms with their different colors as well as the not-fireflies lit the forest around them.
"I can see why you suggested we camp out here." Ingrid said. "I'm guessing you've been here before?"
"Yes, it's why I always take up job requests that involve staying at new New Gorpisal for a couple of days."
"This is going to make adventuring so cool, assuming all other forests are like these."
"I can't say for sure, Ingrid. For all I know only the forests in Ontala and Gorpisal are like these. I know there's a bigger city farther to the north west called Teth-Odin, but that's really far, about three to four days of travel. With you it'll probably be much shorter…though I don't want to lose my lunch."
"If our party grows we're gonna need to build a wagon or something… you wouldn't happen to have the power to summon something like that, do you?"
Zefir shook his head. "Maybe I should've come up with a magic wagon but then again that would've meant I needed some beast of burden to pull it."
A thought then occurred to Ingrid "Earlier you mentioned you managed to keep it this power a secret for almost a year. But surely the house's lights would've been a giveaway. Granted, this forest looks like a cyberpunk bar, I'm sure you'll still stand out."
"That's the other thing about Autumnhollow, try stepping into the forest." Zefir said "You can detect my Mana, right? Once you step into the forest, trying making your way back to me without using your Starchaser radar, then try with it."
"Okay." Ingrid got up and padded over the forest, she was barefoot but her Aegis aura effectively gave her invisible boots and made her hover about the ground by an inch. As she turned around the house had vanished.
"Oh i see where this is going." Ingrid said. She made a straight line for the house and before she knew it she was back at the edge of the clearing. She should have bumped into the invisible house for now. She tried again and again, she knew the house was in the middle of the clearing but it was futile.
"Huh, interesting." Ingrid said "It keeps turning me around."
"Exactly!" Zefir said, materializing before her. "I was gonna ask you to try to just grab me but you already got the idea." As he held her hand, the house once again materialized.
"So it's not so much that the house is shielded but-"
"It is" the catboy corrected her. "It's got some basic level shielding so you can throw stones at it… well normal people throwing stones at the glass won't break it at the very least. Then there's that invisibility plus that misdirection spell that keeps making sentient things make unexpected turns."
"I wish I had a house like this back on Earth." Ingrid remarked.
"My cover on Ontala village is that I built myself a little hut a little off in the woods. They're nice folk and don't try to pry, except the the kids of course or the occasional beer-mate." Zefir said, sitting back on a wicker chaise lounge. "A house and an outdoor camp, it's like having the best of both worlds."
"It is, I think I'd like to sleep under the stars, it's waste not to with a nice forest like this. It's not like we'll worry about random wild animals coming now, won't we?" Ingrid said.
"No we won't, they'll just go in circles round and round without even seeing or hearing us. Blocks of all senses, even scent too. I mean, I live in a kobold village remember? They can't find me." came Zefir's answer, assuring her of their privacy.
Ingrid smiled as a breeze blew in and wafted through some fragrant lavender and heather-like scents "Talk about the best hideout ever. Safe from prying eyes."
"Wanna take advantage of this privacy?" The catboy asked, there was a purr in his voice, husky with desire, his vowels had a trill to them and his consonant had a purr like the feline in him was starting to take over. "Ciltrans don't have a refractory period."
Ingrid wiggled her eyebrows. "Mrrrrow."
Zefir sat up and undid her bathrobe, purring all the time, he gently pushed her down on the chaise lounge before he undid his.
image [https://media.tenor.com/8xZ9F9tym6YAAAAj/lick-lips.gif]
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image [https://media.tenor.com/M5hF1GwEc-MAAAAM/usb-pendrive.gif]
image [https://media.tenor.com/uWgoUEQlby4AAAAM/volcano-volc%C3%A1n.gif]
___
"Hey" Ingrid said. Zefir meowed and look up at her.
"Let's not be awkward about this tomorrow morning alright?" She said. Zefir sleepily nodded, he got up and led Ingrid back inside the house. A hot shower and another round of coffee together however ended up with both of them sitting across each other at the kitchen table.
"I'm calling it, either you or me are gonna end up growing a harem." Zefir said chuckling as the thought came to him.
"Would be nice." Ingrid said "but unless you're into some yaoi, I'm guessing you prefer we recruit only cute or hot girls for our party."
Whatever Zefir said however was cut off when Cecil showed up.
"Hiiii guuuuuys" He said, clearly drunk.
"How'd you show up?" Both asked.
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