I awoke around noon the next day, sticky and pleased. I looked over at my guest, seeing Gruldia asleep, curled up on one of my pillows, clutching my stuffed bear. She looked so adorable that I left her there with the door open, and once I had a shirt and my lounge pants on, I headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for us. We had been having sex all the way up to the wee hours of the morning, and I was pleasantly sore.
I set myself to making some bacon and scrambled eggs for us both. I knew I was hungry, and I had no doubt she was, too. My boys both scampered over to me, and crawled up my pants, settling on my shoulders to watch. I’d never seen them do this before, so I was a bit more gentle in my movements with them perched on my shoulders, holding onto my ears for balance. It was a few minutes after I had finished cooking the bacon that I heard Gruldia’s panicked cries.
“Ivor? Ivor? Where am I? Ivor!?” she called out.
“I’m in here, Gruldia! You’re safe. You’re in my home, on Earth. Everything is okay. Follow my voice and you’ll find me. Everything's okay, I promise,” I said, and continued to talk to her encouragingly.
She emerged from my room, still clutching my bear, clad in just her bra, and ran to me when she saw me. I set the hot pan to the side and swept her up in a gentle hug as I knelt. She cried softly on my shoulder.
“Shh.. It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re safe. You’re safe here, and I promise nothing is wrong, okay?” I said soothingly as I caressed her head.
She sniffled and looked me in the eyes. “Okay… I’m okay now. I was confused, because I didn’t remember where I was, or what happened after Freyr opened the portal,” she said sadly.
I caressed her cheek, letting my hand slide back to gently cup the back of her head, my thumb caressing the lower part of her ear. She sighed in pleasure and leaned into my hand. I took the opportunity to kiss her lips softly. “Sweetheart, everything is fine. I’ll explain as we eat, okay? I have to make your eggs first, though. Why don’t you put on some pants while you wait?” I said.
She nodded, heading off to do as I had asked and I stood, retrieving the pan, and cracked three eggs in it, and began to make her scrambled eggs. She emerged from my room in a pair of skin-tight pants. She tucked my bear into her cleavage, and skipped to the table, picking a seat, her ears wiggling fiercely. I smiled and finished her eggs, sliding them onto a smallish plate, and brought both our plates, and the pound of bacon I had cooked to the table.
“Here we are, love.” I failed to notice her eyes go wide when I said this. “Scrambled eggs for breakfast, just like I promised I’d do. We have a whole pound of bacon to enjoy, too!” I said as I set the plates down. “And what would my lovely Goblin like to drink?” I asked her.
Gruldia sat there staring at me, her eyes wide, chest heaving as she started to hyperventilate. The stuffed bear began to slowly sink into her cleavage. I’d never envied a stuffed animal quite that much before. “What did you call me?” she asked breathlessly.
I looked at her in a panic. “Um, I’m pretty sure I called you by name. What did you hear?” I asked.
“I thought I heard you say ‘My love’. I must be mistaken, right? There’s no way you said that. Nobody’d say that,” she said, her skin flushing darkly.
“Uh-huh. You don’t think I’d call you ‘My Love’? Why? After the past two days” -I sat down beside her- “with me, the conversations we’ve had, and the blessings of Krathu, why would you think I wouldn’t” -I took her hand in mine and kissed it gently- “call you ‘My Love’ eventually? You have to know by now just how I feel about you, Gruldia. I know that it’s only been a couple of days, but this feels right. I’ve already told you that I find you incredibly attractive, and the more I learn about the woman inside, the more I find her attractive, too,” I said.
She giggled, her ears wiggling rapidly, and looked down. “You think I’m pretty, Ivor? And you want to know all about me?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t be saying these things otherwise, darlin’. It’s part of why I’m so excited you’re here. I get to know you. I get to find out what makes my Goblin tick,” I said softly.
She giggled some more and said, “You want to know what makes your Goblin tick, huh?” She giggled again, “Your Goblin.”
“Is there something wrong with me calling you my Goblin?” I asked gently.
She shook her head no, her ears flopping gently, and grinned happily. “I don’t know what makes your Goblin tick, but we will find out together, okay?” she asked, taking my hand in hers.
I nodded. “Okay. Together, then,” I said with a smile. “But first! Food. I’m starving. Burned quite a few calories last night. What would you like to drink? I have juice, I can make tea, or coffee, or just plain water. Your choice,” I said.
“What’s coffee?” she asked.
“How does your species handle caffeine?” I countered.
“Caffeine?? That’s a highly regulated chemical. Why do you have caffeine in your home, Ivor?” she asked.
I laughed, saying, “Humans almost run on caffeine. It’s in a lot of our drinks and in some of our foods. What is the safe dose for Goblins?” I asked.
“Less than 100 mg. We can handle more than most species. What is yours?” she asked.
“You know, I’m not sure. Let me ping our networks here,” I said, and visualized the connections in my head. I connected to my home wireless, and googled the question, receiving an answer almost immediately. “Huh. That’s a little less than I thought. It seems that we can handle about 400mg a day with no serious effects. What’s more, it says we can handle up to ten grams and recover completely in a few hours. Neat,” I said, and looked at her horrified face.
“Ten grams? That’s enough to wipe out an entire army of some species. Humans are frightening,” she said as she bit into a piece of bacon. She pulled back and stared at the meat in her hand. “What is this, Ivor?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Bacon. Part of a pig. Specifically the belly. Smoked and cured with salt and maple syrup. Freyr made a pork roast at my place. It wasn’t prepared like this, but it’s the same meat. Why?” I asked.
“Because this is amazing. I want you to make this for me every day. Mmm. So good,” she said, as she took another bite.
“As my Goblin wishes. I’ll be happy to. As a matter of fact, since I have plenty now, I can order all sorts of different stuff for you to try. Human cuisine is a marvel in and of itself. You’re going to eat all sorts of tasty things,” I said as I took a bite of my eggs.
We sat there, eating breakfast and talking for nearly an hour. I broke a piece of bacon in half and set aside two small portions of my eggs for my boys, and they pinged me their thanks. The four of us enjoyed our time together immensely.
Once we had finished, I sat back and sighed contentedly. “So what would you like to do now? I have video games, a few movies, and a few books. What sounds good?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I only know what movies and books are. I’m not sure I can read your language, though. What would you suggest?” she asked, resting her chin in her hand as she leaned on the table.
“Let’s take a look. Come on,” I said, getting up. I took her to the tv room, and let her peruse the movies I had. She cocked her head to the side a few times, apparently trying to understand the titles. After the sixth or seventh, she nodded.
“I think I can read them now. What’s this?” She asked, picking up a DVD case for a hentai.
“Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to watch that right now. Bible Black is good, but not right now. Maybe tonight,” I said.
“Okay… How about this?” She asked, handing me the case for Big Hero Six.
I laughed and nodded. “This is the movie you fell asleep to. Sure. Let me close the blinds, and we will watch this one,” I said with a smile.
She nodded and hopped onto the couch as I went to close the blinds. I popped the DVD in the tray, and sat down next to her. She curled up beside me and sighed. I shook my head and pulled her into my lap.
“You belong here, I think. As close to me as you can be,” I said, kissing her gently.
She made a pleased sound and snuggled close to me, watching the movie.
I spent the movie lovingly holding her as she held the teddy bear from my room, relishing the comfort that having her in my arms brought me. So odd that in just two days I’d grown attached to this beautiful woman. Almost as if some higher power had pulled some strings.
Must have been Krathu, I thought.
But here she sat. Contentedly curled up on my lap, watching a movie with me. Laughing at parts and being sad at others. I wasn’t about to question the why’s and how’s of this situation. I was intent on simply enjoying it for what it was, and hoping somewhere that it might become more. Much more.
As the movie ended, Gruldia looked up at me with a happy smile on her face and said, “That was nice. I liked that. What do you want to do next?” she asked with a broad smile, tucking the teddy bear back into her cleavage.
“Well, I can show you the games I’ve got. Mostly just single-player stuff, but I think I may have some co-op stuff in here,” I said.
She lay back on my chest and stretched. “Yeah, that sounds nice and all, but what do you really want to do, Ivor?” she said huskily, looking up into my eyes.
“Honestly? I want to take you out of this house and show you everything Earth has to offer. I want to go on dates with you” -she shifted in my lap, straddling me and gazing into my eyes with an expression that grew more tearful as I spoke. I gripped her plush waist in response- “to some really nice restaurants. I want to just go on a drive with you, with no destination, and no goal beyond just being with each other. I want to show you the love and devotion all people deserve to experience. I want you to know what a peaceful life outside of the Temple can be. You should know that I never wish to take you from your duties in the Temple; I just want to add to the quality of your life. I want you to be deliriously, ecstatically happy, Gruldia. No more, no less,” I said softly as I gently wiped a tear from her cheek.
“What did I do?” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“What did I do to get a man like you interested in an old Goblin like me?” she asked, her lip quivering as tears flowed from her violet eyes.
I wrapped my arms around the beautiful woman in my lap. “You existed, Gruldia. That’s all. You did nothing special beyond simply being yourself. I was caught by you, Gruldia. This wonderful, beautiful woman in my lap caught me. And she continues to do so with everything she says and does. That’s what you did, sweetheart,” I said, and kissed her plump, trembling lips softly, and held her close to my chest.
She sniffled and gripped me tightly, laying her head on my chest. “You’re too good for an old Goblin like me. You need someone younger and more energetic and active. Why would you settle for me?” she asked.
“I don’t want someone younger and more energetic and active. I want what I have. My Goblin. You’re plenty energetic and active for me, darlin. And no, I’m not settling. Not at all. I’m reaching for what I want. I’ve been extremely shy for most of my life. This? Asking you out? Wanting you here? That’s the boldest I’ve been in more than twenty years. I’m taking an active role in this. If you want this to end at any time, all you have to do is say so,” I said.
She sprang up, leaning back to look me in the eyes with a fierce glare. “No! Please, gods no. I don’t want this to end. Ever,” she said, tears flowing from her striking eyes once again.
I pulled her back onto my chest and held her. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t want this to end, either. I mean, I finally have someone who is excited to have me. I’ve never had that happen to me before you,” I said softly.
She leaned back again, looking into my face with awe. “Why wouldn’t someone be excited to have you? You would literally fight a god for me. You threatened the god of my entire species, and I have to tell you, that was sexy as fuck. You even looked like you would win, too. Like, ‘come back from the dead’ level of determination. I think you shocked the entirety of the gods with that display. I never want to be parted from you, Ivor. I just wish you could live in a more integrated world. Then I could visit and we could go do the things you say,” she replied.
“A more integrated world, huh? Hmm… I think I know a way we can make that happen, love.” She giggled, her ears twitching. “Hop up, we’re going to go to my computer. I need a screen for this,” I said with a smile.
She pouted cutely, and got off my lap, sitting beside me. I turned and kissed her passionately, which surprised her. She moaned softly and leaned into it, her tongue assaulting mine, fighting for dominance.
I broke the kiss, leaving her breathless, giving her a lopsided smile, and said, “For later. Now, though, I want to start making that dream of taking you places on my planet come true.”