I aimed us towards the large shopping centre at the main plaza of the city. It wasn’t our favourite place to shop. The fact that everything was close together meant that they all charged a premium for the convenience. That, and the quality was that of mass fabrication. Good, still, Welldark had clear quality control, but not measuring up to what could be found in specialized places.

Eventually, Esther raised her voice. She had been gasping and covertly panting for a little while. “I a-ahmm given another good ree-ason to wear a bra.”

“That’s the absolute worst thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth,” I declared and gave my masochistic Queen’s nipple a pinch. She inhaled sharply and gave me a glare that reflected a mixture of annoyance and lust that I quite frequently induced in her. Both of us enjoyed that. There were few things better than a horny, bantering lover.

“I appeal to your pride, lustful Karitas. Your hands are too distracting.”

“Are you giving me an ultimatum?” I asked.

“Indeed.”

I sighed and gave her tits one last squeeze, one after the other, before moving my hand off her sensitive chest and to the same place my hand was on Aclysia. It was not all bad. I got to compare their asses with my hands again. Aclysia had the larger of the two, by a notable but not absurd margin. It was softer, wider, and rounder and all of that were reasons why I preferred Esther’s. The lady of my love had the perfect balance between size, muscle to fat ratio, jiggle and firmness. Both of them had asses to die for. Cushions for my head and for the thrusts with which I would drive them into the mattress.

Comparing them with direct physical contact was a privilege and I could not wait until the day, not too far from now, when I would be able to put a side-by-side image to the sensations.

Sad as I was about my boob fondling privileges being rescinded, the glorious bounces of her breasts with every step we took hardened my resolve. I would rather have her not wear a bra and only get the almost full effect of her breasts in motion than I would have her wear a bra and get to knead her tits with the hard fabric in the way.

My eyes wandered over to the left and to Aclysia’s petite chest. Small but fantastic, especially in how they gently raised the front of her summer dress. Yes, I did prefer it when I had a lot to work with and it was a shame when the possibility of tit fucks was off the table. All of that said, I did adore the aesthetics of smaller assets.

“Where are we going?” Aclysia asked, her voice returned to that pleasing softness that I was used to.

‘I wonder what buttons, exactly, I have to push to see more of that crazy side of hers.’ I had seen something under that soft-spoken, diligent exterior that intrigued me and I wanted more of it. Without shattering that exterior, since I did also like her as she was a lot. Simply, I wanted to know all of her. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” I asked. “I was so deeply distracted thinking about you.”

Aclysia gave me a tiny smile. “I asked where we were going,” she said again.

“A clothing store,” I told the white woman. Her shininess was currently subdued, because we were moving in the shadows of several buildings.

“Clothing was not part of our list of necessary items,” Esther remarked. Obviously, we had something like that. To be more exact, she had something like that. I usually bought what I had in mind, often on impulse. Which was exactly why she was the head of the household finances. “I have already…”

“…bought replacement bras, yes,” I finished the sentence for her and then theatrically sighed. “Can we not talk about the cursed item?”

“What else could you aim to buy?” Esther wondered.

“You will see.” I wanted to keep the mystery up for just a little bit. We moved towards the mall and to the clothing store within. Locating the area that had hats was a quick affair.

I picked up a nice sun hat with a large rim and then put it on Aclysia’s head before she had a chance to react. As expected, the light blue item looked wonderful on her head and the slight tilt had a decorative element. The real reason why I had picked one that was slanted was so that I could still see her face while we walked side by side.

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“There,” I said and smiled, “Perfect.”

Aclysia moved in front of the mirror and inspected herself. The hat went nicely with the dress, even if the colour coordination wasn’t perfect. “It does look nice,” she agreed, “but why do I ought to have this?”

“To put it in unblemished terms, my adored, maidly half-elf, you are radiant… sadly, in a bad way,” I confessed and scratched the back of my head. “It’s difficult to look at you when you reflect the sun like a field of freshly fallen snow.”

“Oh,” Aclysia looked a bit distraught at this news. “Mother did warn me… I should have taken her more seriously… I shall acquire this immediately.” The maidly woman strutted towards the nearest cash register.

I did not like that I had made her self-conscious and uncomfortable in the same breath. However, part of being a good partner in a relationship was to make those one loved both self-conscious and uncomfortable. To not do so was to forego any right to complain when issues weren’t fixed for days, months, and years.

Swiftly, I followed Aclysia and took the hat off her head. She turned around, but I just wordlessly walked by her and reached the cash register first. I paid for the hat and then handed it over. “A gift,” I told her, “not something you have to buy to make me happy.”

“I… thank you, Karitas,” she said, raising the hat in front of her lips to hide her smile. It was the most adorable gesture I had seen all day, grace and youthful embarrassment in one moment. The words ‘I love you’ almost poured out of me instinctively.

I would have meant them, because that was how I felt about her. It had been quite some time now since she moved in with us. Between our daily talks, the way she took care of the household, and the way she allowed me to take care of her, I had just about everything from her I could have asked for.

Those three words, however, I kept in my heart until the proper time. I trusted she did the same. We had made all but the formal confession, after all. “Nothing to thank me for, it’s my honour,” I assured her. Careful to not disrupt her backwards-combed hair, she put the hat back on. Then she circled around me, so she would be on my left side again. The tilted design of the sun-shield worked wonderfully and I could see her smile without difficulty.

Until she grabbed onto my arm and rested her head on my shoulder. There was no hat design in existence that would have let me see any part of her face in that position. Considering that I was reimbursed with her fingers locking with mine I was, all around, happy with the situation.

“Now, where did we leave Esther?” I asked, checking our environment. Each time the three of us were on a date, the raven-haired lady got a little better about giving me and Aclysia a bit of time to be amongst ourselves. It was something she had started doing on my request and had recognized as necessary, doubly so after an Anomalia Management Class had outlined that situation. My Queen wasn’t a natural at conceding time to other haremettes, but she was making an effort and I loved her for it.

That being said, I had actually lost sight of her.

“Esther?” I shouted as loudly as I dared.

“In the changing rooms, my Karitas!” she responded.

‘Could have guessed that,’ I chided myself and moved over with Aclysia. We sat down on one of the benches. “What are you trying on?” I asked, intrigued. “I thought we didn’t need any more clothing?”

“I was intrigued… and am… trying to get more comfortable,” my Queen’s voice came from the inside.

“Were the clothes you picked too tight?” Aclysia asked, not having the context that I did.

“No, it’s… about a primary reason why I asked for the delay on your joining.”

I was mighty proud of Esther that she even said that much. While I was wrestling with Taurus’ pressure, she was dealing with her own demons. Personally, I believed I had the easier fight. Yes, sure, it was physically more exhausting, but I had a goal and ways to work towards that goal. Fighting long entrenched insecurity that had only been challenged relatively recently, that was an uphill climb at the best of times.

Whenever she could, Esther had avoided changing in these public areas by keeping her exact measurements at heart and just buying what fit them. Aclysia must have thought that was just a time-saving measure, it certainly fit with the rest of Esther’s character. I had made the same mistake, although I had dispensed with it fairly quickly after getting other clues.

Aclysia did not have a proper response. I had to nudge her a bit. “She can’t see you right now,” I reminded her quietly.

“Oh… Oh!” she responded first to me, then to the initial sentence. “Is it a physical situation?”

“It is.”

“May I ask of what kind?” Aclysia asked softly.

“The… disfigurement kind.”

“I understand,” was all the maid had to and could say. She turned to me and whispered, in a worried tone, “You should check on her.”

I considered that for a moment, then nodded. The argument could be made that Esther was trying to be strong about this and that I should give her the space to unfurl further. What had been said was already a mighty leap though. She had been strong enough for a day.

I slipped swiftly inside the cabin and found Esther, dressing herself. She trembled, like only nervous wrecks could tremble. With big eyes, she looked at me. I smiled and embraced her.

After a minute, the trembling stopped.

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