In my infinite stupidity, born of more than redacted years of life, I said the first thing that came to mind.
"Isn't this a little too fast?" I looked her in the eye.
Her eyes widened and she laughed.
"Hahahahaha!"
Her chest trembled and her body shook against mine in joy, as if I had told the best joke since the Big Bang. Her jaw opened to the point I would almost see her tonsils, if she had any. My focus was on her blue forked tongue, though. Her entire mouth was blue on the inside.
She nuzzled her head on my neck, letting whatever she found so funny to overcome her. I let out a defeated chuckle. What is it with women of this world laughing so hard at my worries. The air in my lungs flew out my mouth.
"Aiyahh." she let out a deep sigh as she calmed down. "Natasha, you're the best." she kissed me on the cheek, sweet giggles making for an adorable sight.
"It's not?" my stupid face must've been funny, because she laughed again.
"For someone who's such a tomboy, you can be pretty cute." she moved over to me and placed her ample behind on my lap, her tail not changing places. "Though I understand, you're new to the world."
I'm a what? I was shocked. I always thought of myself as quite feminine, and considered myself a passive partner for many years, with both men and women. Is the definition different here? Or was I so clueless my entire life?
"I thought you didn't like me." she said, smiling at me and caressing my face. "When meeting someone like we did, to become partners, it's customary to share a kiss. Yet you offered me a handshake." she giggled. Her voice was surprisingly even, no shred of nervousness. The rich sound tickled my ears and relaxed the base of my brain.
"I… I didn't know." I looked away, way too embarrassed and confused.
"I noticed." she giggled. "I quickly figured the rest, yet I was still uncertain." she hugged me tight. "Then you gave me a romance novel and said it was fitting." she broke into another series of giggles, the sound divine. "Lapia must've kept the details to herself, the sexy devil." a sigh entered my ears, tickling my spine.
What happened to calling her 'Lady'?!
"Sexy devil?" shock evident in my voice, she giggled again.
"I told you I met her before." she kissed me on the cheek again. "I've been interested in her, but we never had the chance to 'personally' get to know each other. She's a mischievous little Elf." her giggles kept coming.
Goodness gracious, her giggles give me life. I relaxed in her embrace. The slight anxiety melting away.
"That's great." I inhaled deeply, taking in the rich scent of lemons emanating from her hair. "If I made you anxious, I'm sorry." I raised my head and softly kissed her lips, keeping eye contact.
"Oh, you." she smiled, her face blushing. "You don't have to apologize, really." she leaned her forehead on mine, her scales warm.
At first I thought her body would be cold, being a reptile species, but she was surprisingly warm and comfortably soft. I guess all, or most, species are mammals. My fingers felt strong muscles on her back, the scales following their shape, becoming firmer near the lower back. Probably because of the tail. The appendage around my waist seemed rock solid, yet incredibly flexible.
"Are you staying with Lapia?" she asked, her warm breath grazing my face, the sweet smell of strawberries tickling my nose.
"About that." I chuckled, not knowing how to answer. "We arrived to the city yesterday evening, stayed at an inn for the night, and in the morning we took a ride. She got off at her workplace and I came here." I explained. "I don't know if I can stay there, though. I was thinking of crashing at a hotel for the time being." I shrugged, I had the money for it.
Her eyes opened wide. "Did you bond with her at least?" her worried face was also cute.
"She said we did, I feel a sort of connection." I nodded, pointing to the south-east.
"Oh, that's good." she sighed in relief. "Will you have me, then?" she asked, her red eyes locked with mine.
Shes beautiful, cute, hot and her personality fits all my tastes.
"Yes." I nodded, kissing her again.
She giggled, her breasts pushing mine and winning the battle. "You really like kissing, huh?"
"I do." I laughed and felt my cheeks burn.
"Did Lapia explain what bonding is, by any chance?" she asked, lowering a hand and trying to circle my bicep with her long slender fingers. When she failed, a soft whimper left her. I did my best to ignore that particular moment of thirst.
"No, she didn't. I figured she thought I'd read on it at the library." she tried again, but the result was the same.
"Hum. I see." she abandoned the futile task and proceeded to trace my muscles with her fingers. "Did you find anything?"
"I found a guide, but it wasn't very helpful." the insulting contents going through my mind, a laugh left me. "I get the gist of it, though."
"That's good." she said, her voice was a little absent, focused on her hands. "It's very useful, and essential when you have a healer like me with you."
"Oh ho?" that got me. "How so? Does healing work through the bond?"
"No, not healing. Some of my Cardinal skills can only function with people I'm bonded with." she explained. "Though the term makes it sound like you must be close with people, a verbal agreement can form a temporary bond." she took my hands in hers and began inspecting them. "When you're actually close, the bond is deeper. It also deepens or weakens with time." she looked me in the eye for a second. "That doesn't mean spells become stronger. Only the feeling of direction and general well-being of your partner."
"Ohh." This E'er thing is pretty amazing. "What's the nature of your skills?" I asked.
She blinked a few times, and then a deep blush covered her face. "Right. We haven't talked about that." she sounded a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, you're just too... charming and alluring, I got distracted." she let go of my hands and covered her smile.
I moved them aside and gave her a peck on the lips. "Thank you. I'm fascinated too." we both giggled, she fixed a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I'm a Cardinal and Arch Bishop. I can heal in various ways; single, group, area, over time. Protect body, mind and spirit. Boost status, inflict various effects on enemies and in general save someone's butt." she giggled, taking my hands again. "How about you?"
"Hoplite, Lancer and Dragoon. I use a spear, though I have only fought once and against bandits at that. I can fight large monsters with relative ease if my skills are accurate. I'm strong, fast, and tough. One class benefits from riding a mount. I have auras to help fight monsters." I did my best to summarize my classes the way Alyssa did.
"Mhm. So you'll take the front in combat." she nodded, thinking about something. "What do you ride?" she asked.
"I haven't gotten a mount yet." I shook my head. "I'm planning on buying one soon, though."
"We could go together, if you want." she offered, tilting her head. "I've studied plenty of beasts in case a partner uses a companion or mount. I'd say I know a thing or two." she smiled, her fangs showing in their entirety. Her gums were blue as well.
That'd be a pretty nice first date. My heart warmed up.
"That'd be really helpful." I nodded. "I remember that Punten fellow mentioned a breeder he knew that deals with Beasts of E'er." I recalled. "Though I don't know if he ever said a name."
"Natasha." she smiled, holding back laughter. "The word is E'eral." she caressed my cheek.
"Ah. Good to know." my face heated up with embarassment. "I'm really ignorant on some things."
"It's fine. You have all the time in the world." she kissed me on the cheek.
"Right." I noticed I hadn't asked something. "Speaking of time, I apologize if this is an insensitive topic. How long do Luzo live?" I searched her face for any unfavorable reaction.
"Three, four thousand years." she said, putting a finger on her chin. "I'll live longer, though." she noticed my confused eyes. "I'm a healer. Deterioration from passage of time is something I'll be able to heal if I get powerful enough. It needs to show up first for me to detect and challenge, though."
"That sounds overly powerful." I chuckled.
"Look who's talking." she pinched my cheek, my skin too resilient to even register pain. "Miss level one thousand." her teasing tone almost sending my soul to the afterlife with her deep voice.
"One thousand three hundred and fifty." I corrected with mock offense.
She giggled, pulling me into a hug.
Loud bells interrupted the moment. The sound came from above, so I looked up to see the source of the deafening noise.
At the top of the cathedral, two massive white bells swung. The clang was exceedingly loud, making me wince in discomfort. The bells rung a total of twelve times, returning to silence immediately after the last, the things disappearing.
"That was something." I yawned, trying to rid myself of a light pressure in my ears. "Is it noon already?" I had lost track of time since parting with Lapia.
"It is." she stood from my lap, releasing her tail's grip on my waist. "Shall we go?" she fixed her robe/dress and I noticed a ring at the base of the appendage through the cloth.
A storage item, perhaps? I rose and straightened my skirt. Smart to place it there.
"Let's." walking next to her, I offered a hand.
She smiled and blushed, taking it and locking fingers. Her warm hand was soft on the inside and hard on her fingers.
"By the way, do you know somewhere I can buy a book or a notebook? I want to start a journal." I said as we walked back inside the building.
"You can buy one here." she changed directions and guided me deeper into the cathedral. "So, what kind of beast do you prefer?"
"Ideally durable, strong enough to pull a cart or carriage by itself. Also to carry me on its back, my skills are pretty demanding. My standards are not that high, to be honest." I shrugged.
"That does narrows it down quite a bit." she nodded.
"It does?" my tilted head made her giggle.
"Yes, it can't be that big if it needs to pull a vehicle, right?"
We turned left at the end of a corridor and came into a mess hall of sorts, an uncountable amount of tables and chairs in it. We walked across and into another corridor.
"True. I saw a big feline this morning. It was the beast pulling the ride we took. Huge, red fur with white stripes. Would that be useful?" I couldn't recall the name of the thing for the life of me.
"An Untu." she supplied. "If you want to spend fortunes buying high quality meat, sure."
"Oh, are they picky?" the corridor led us into a hallway lined with doors, we kept going.
"Not really." she laughed softly. "Breeders spoil them too much."
"Well, how about we see what they have in store and work with that." I figured we couldn't know until we saw the animals ourselves.
"Sure." she nodded.
We continued walking for a few minutes, talking about small things like food and the turkey I saw the day I woke up. She blessed me with giggles and laughter as I told her about the exchange.