Okay, here's my next chapter. I would say more, but I'm already 10 minutes late for work...
Chapter 22
“So how was it?” Inali asked me as I pulled up my pants lethargically. My mouth opened and shut soundlessly, unable to find words to do the experience justice. After a few seconds of this a sly smile formed on Inali’s face. “That good? How would you like to do it again?” That was too much. My brain crashed, causing my mouth to freeze in a pathetic open position. As I fought desperately to unhang my frozen brain.
I was saved as the front door swung open and Elzia stuck her head inside. “Are you almost done? We need to go now if we want to get to the village before sunset. Inali stood.
“We just finished.”
“Good. Grab you stuff and let’s get going.” With that Elzia turned and stepped back outside, Inali following close behind her. I slowly did up my belt buckle and, with effort, stood.
Once the lethargy from Inali’s blowjob had faded the journey wasn’t too bad. Wesoon came to a well worn road, possibly a trade route considering it’s width and how worn down it was. No longer needing to navigate between trees or avoid stepping on rock and roots our pace quickened. Still, even with the easier path it soon became apparent a life of bumming around on library computers does not well prepare you for hours of hiking. My breathing became labored and I had to work to keep up with Elzia and Inali. Only my pride kept me from asking for a break. I was trying to decide whether falling on my face would be less painful than on my back when Inali spoke up.
“I think I need a break. You and Yoann keep going, Berrett and I will catch up in a bit.” Elzia, a surprised look on her face, consented with a nod and continued down the path without a break in her stride. From her perch on Elzia’s back I caught Yoann giving Inali a covert wink before turning back and whispering something in Elzias ear.
Relieved, I followed Inali over to a large stone to the side of the road and, with a sigh, sat down next to her. I glanced over at her, the fading sunlight glancing off her glistening black hair causing my breath to catch. “Thanks,” I said.
“You looked like you needed a rest.”
“Yeah. It’s amazing what a few years of inactivity can do to your endurance. I used to be able to hike all day, but now…well, you can see the results.”
Inali smiled. “What were you doing during that time?” she asked.
“Not a whole lot. Mostly reading and…” I paused briefly, not really in the mood to explain the advanced technology of computers to somebody who had probably never seen the power of harnessed electricity. “Yeah, mostly reading.” I finished lamely. I quickly continued, “I also had a low paying job that I worked a couple of times a week, but rather than saving the money so I could move out of my parents’ house I wasted it on Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and other useless stuff.” Seeing confusion flash across her face I quickly clarified, “It’s a type of card game where you collect cards with different effects and build decks with them so you can ‘duel’ other people. I was kind of addicted to it actually. Probably the biggest thing I miss from my world...” Well, after anime anyways, but I wasn’t prepared to explain all of that to her. I opened my mouth to continue, but Inali spoke up.
“You don’t miss your parents?”
“Well, I do,” I answered, slightly surprised by the question. “The rest of my family too. And I miss the friends I left behind. Not that I had a lot of them,” I added wryly. “But really, there’s not a whole lot I can do about it, so why worry about it?”
Inali’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I lost my mom, and it really hurts, but you lost your whole family. I can’t imagine how that must be.”
I hadn’t thought about it like that. I reached my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me. “My case is slightly different than yours. For me the realization that I wouldn’t see them again came slowly over a few days. That gave me time to accept the fact and adjust to it. And it’s not like they died. They still have their whole lives ahead of them. With you though…” I paused, not quite sure how to say it. “Well, for you it came all at once. One day she was there, the next somebody’s telling you, not too gently, that she’s gone and never coming back. I think you have the rawer deal there.”
“Her sickness was already killing her though. We were already preparing for her to… pass. And I still have Auntie Elzia. And Auntie Yoann. Mostly… You were thrown here without anybody or anything.”
“That’s true,” I conceded. “I’m older than you, though, so I’ve had more time to mature.”
“Actually,” Inali countered, “Inari reach maturity at about 12. So I should be just about as mature as you are.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. I quickly filed that information away for further study, taking the time to quickly throw out about half my inhibitions towards the relationship between Inali and me. “That does change things, I guess… The biggest thing then,” I said, pulling out my big guns, “would be my superior ability to almost completely ignore life.” I gave her my best self-deprecating grin. “If you don’t want to deal with it, just ignore it!”
Inali looked up at me in wonder. “Does that actually work?”
“No, not really,” I admitted. “Sure, you don’t have to deal with a lot of the pain, but in the long run it causes a whole lot of issues, and it ends up doing more harm than good.”
“Oh.” She looked back down at the ground. “But you do it anyways?”
“Yeah. I suck at dealing with stress, so I unconsciously started doing it. It became a habit, and kind of messed up my life. Or helped anyways. I have plenty of other things to help with that as well.”
We lapsed into silence, the sounds of the forest rushing in to fill the void. After a few minutes Inali spoke again. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, why do keep doing that?”
“Doing what?” I asked, confused.
“That thing with your face, and wiping your face with your hand.”
“Oh,” I said, my hand reaching up to wipe my face. I hadn’t noticed I was doing it. “It’s a tic. An involuntary movement caused by neurons in my brain misfiring and…” I trailed off as her eyes began to glaze over. “Basically, I have facial twitches and other various bodily movements that I can’t control.”
“That sounds annoying.”
“It is kind of. But you get used to it.” We fell silent again, letting the sounds of the forest wrap around us. Eventually Inali stood.
“We should get going now, before it gets too dark to see the path,” she said. Groaning, I followed her lead, my now relaxed muscles protesting the renewed activity. As I started walking Inali sidled up to me, slipping her hand into mine. Hand in hand we walked down the forest road, neither one of us in a hurry to catch up to the others.
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We reached the town just after the sun finished disappearing over the horizon. In the darkness I couldn’t tell much about it, but the torches placed periodically along the main road gave us light enough to find the inn. Elzia and Yoann were standing just outside the door waiting for us.
“Took you long enough,” Yoann said. “Did you stop to have some ‘fun’?” She gave Inali a not so subtle wink.
“No,” Inali answered, “we just sat and talked. We’re saving the ‘fun’ for later tonight. Are we staying here tonight or..?”
“No,” Elzia cut in. “We were thinking of stopping for a quick bath here, but we’re going to be spending the night with the others. We need to let them know about Sinopa.”
“Okay.” Inali turned to me. “Are you going to join us?”
My heart almost stopped. After a long day of traveling, the thought of what the three of them might do to me in a bath… “I think I’m good,” I replied quickly. I didn’t think my body could handle much more stress at this point.
“Are you sure? This place may be small, but it’s baths are amazing.” Inali pressed up against me, a pleading look in her eyes.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep my lower member relaxed so as not to reveal its excitement by poking her. “Maybe next time.” Inali pouted, but gave in.
“Well,” Elzia said, “if you aren’t going to join us you might as well go on ahead.” She turned and pointed down the road. “If you follow this path here for about a mile you’ll come to where we’ll be staying. Just tell them you’re with us and they’ll let you in.” Without further ado, she turned and walked into the inn.
Inali quickly followed, pausing only briefly to say, “We shouldn’t be too long, we’ll see you in a bit.”
The door closed behind them, leaving me alone on the street. Well, I managed to get out of that one, I thought to myself. Might as well get going then. I turned and started down the road. Not excited by the prospect of even more walking, I might as well get it over with as soon as possible. It wasn’t long before I passed out the edge of town, leaving it and the light of the torches behind. Travelling by just the light of the stars, as it turned out, was actually fairly relaxing. I quickly forgot about my aching body and let my mind go silent. All too quickly though the walk was over and I found myself approaching what looked to be a farmhouse. An old wooden fence wrapped around both sides to meet in a small gate in the middle with a sign hanging from it. The darkness made it difficult to read, but as I got closer I was able to make out the words:
I stopped. Well then… That didn’t bode well. But I guess in this world what was I expecting? It was probably just a joke. And as long as I made sure to tell them I was traveling with Elzia and the others… I walked to the gate and opened it. I was half expecting a loud screech, but they must keep it well oiled. I let the gate shut behind me and walked up to the door. Well, here goes nothing. I knocked.
After a few seconds of silence, I heard the tell-tale signs of someone rushing to the door. But, that was strange, usually you could hear the footsteps… The door opened and a familiar face appeared.
“It’s you!” the lamia gasped in surprise. |
