A Drow's Dilemma Ep. 83: In-Between

Except for just enough breathing not to sound creepy, R.I.S.A. was completely silent as they fucked. She leaned back like Selene had, pushing forward into her while the drow shifted. It was a very strange sight, the amethyst woman and the obsidian one moving against each other.

Eventually, though, Selene found herself unable to resist. Her head lolled back, her silver tresses nearly reaching the floor of the library. Then, with a silent gasp, her body convulsed around R.I.S.A's cock.

Given the way that her orgasms worked in hologram avatar form, R.I.S.A. of course came the moment Selene did, shooting a strange, effervescent substance up into the drow that spread warm pleasure-infused vibrations through her body before dissipating. It was quite an alien substance. [I think we can conclude this hypothesis confirmed.]

Selene let out a breathy laugh. Somehow, that fluid that was pumped into her made her orgasm that much stronger. In that moment, the mage felt that this was an activity entirely worth revisiting when she needed a break from sorting the books. "Yes." Selene agreed. "Ejaculate confirmed."

Normally, this would have been the time where she cuddled into Ashyr or Caleldir (or both) But, though sex with the A.I. was nothing but pleasurable, Selene harbored very little fond feelings for her. So she simply laid back on the floor for several moments. "I should get back to sorting the books." The drow said after most of her afterglow was enjoyed.

R.I.S.A. pulled away and morphed back to her normal form. [We should indeed,] She said contentedly. [When you wish to further assist me in the discovery of my various functionalities, I will be pleased to offer my services. But now the books call out. We need to make sure that we will be able to find the ones we want when we want them, after all. Especially in this section.]

Several nights later, the outside party reentered the pocket dimension. Ashyr informed Selene that they were getting closer to the drow territories. There was still some days of traveling to do after that, but it meant that the journey was going along smoothly.

After the report was made, everyone ate dinner together. Then, exhausted after a long day, they retired to bed.

As was typical, Ashyr was awake a good deal before the others. There was Bard to take care of, after all. And nature to commune with, from whence she got her few spells. When she was done exploring a part of the woods in R.I.S.A's moonlit dimension, she came back to the master bedroom to find both of her lovers in stages of waking up. Selene, of course, was still in bed and was blinking blearily out at the world. Ashyr joined her at the end of the bed, looking between Selene and Caleldir.

"I'm going to need you to stay inside today, Cal. Tsabdrin and I have some scouting to do and, well..." Ashyr shrugged and looked a little bit guilty. Caleldir could be a fine scout, she was sure. Just... not anywhere near as good as she and her cousin could be.

Typically, however, he might pretend at half-awakeness, Caleldir's mind at least woke up very quickly. This morning was no exception. Although he was still lying in bed with his eyes closed, he was actually fully alert. "I fully understand. I am not going to be quite as useful underground. I am not very familiar with this area, after all." He sat up, yawning, then grinned. "I suppose I will just have to spend some quality time with Selene today."

Ashyr grinned. "I suppose you will," she agreed. The ranger leaned forward to kiss both of them briefly on the mouth. Then she was out of the room and off.

Selene blinked at the sight of her cousin leaving. It seemed as if her sleepy mind was having issues catching up with things. She brought her hand up to absently rub at her face. Then she sighed and curled up closer towards Caleldir. "R.I.S.A? Can you bring us some food?"

As R.I.S.A. was nothing if not eternally happy to be helpful, the goddess (as she thought of herself now: she had proved her divine credentials by making Selene her temporary cleric a few days ago) appeared next to the bed. Or perhaps it was one of her maid subroutines, given her outfit. [Of course! She said. Did you have anything in mind?]

Caleldir put an arm around Selene. "Whatever Fucking is making this morning should be good. If he has not made anything, then I like eggs and buttered biscuits with honey."

"Yes. Whatever Fucking is making is fine," Selene agreed as she shifted deeper into Caleldir's embrace. There was not a single thing that he had made that she didn't like. Which was high praise for the little goblin.

Maid(?) R.I.S.A. curtsied and disappeared, popping back up with a large tray of food. [Eggs! Biscuits with gravy! Cranberry juice! Milk! Hot Tea! And some assorted fruits and vegetables! Also, cold water, of course,] she said cheerfully, levitating the food into an arrangement on the table in front of the grand window that looked out over the moonlit forest. R.I.S.A. had not yet gotten around to adding a sun to her little pocket realm, but there was a rather large moon now.

After arranging the food, Maid R.I.S.A. lit some scented candles and put what seemed to be a bouquet of pine-needles in the center of the table. [Enjoy!] Curtsying again, the Maid R.I.S.A. disappeared.

Caleldir pulled himself out of bed and pulled a robe from nowhere around himself. "Mm. Maple Sausage..." He glanced over at Selene. "Do you want me to bring you some?"

Selene began to haul herself out of bed when the food was set out on the table. "No. I will eat at the table. It would be easier to do so, after all. Though she supposed putting down a tray was possible. That was a good way to accidentally stay in bed all day, though, and Selene didn't really want to do that. She, too, pulled on a robe that came from nowhere and joined him at the table. "Thank you, R.I.S.A." She muttered as she began to fill her plate with biscuits and gravy.

The food was, of course, really, really good. Although Caleldir did wonder about the pine branches in the middle of the table. They were artfully arranged, but pine needles? "R.I.S.A. seems to have a thing for evergreens." He mused after setting down his cup of lemon tea. "The forest is pretty much all evergreens trees, and now this, admittedly lovely, decoration. I wonder where her liking for conifers came from?"

Selene swallowed a mouth full of food and frowned at the decoration. She didn't give the arrangement much thought. Selene didn't much care about trees or nature. That would be something Ashyr would pay attention to.

"No idea," Selene said. At least, by the sound of her voice, she was beginning to wake up properly. "Maybe it's just all she has to work with." She took a sip of her own tea. Mint. Herbal. She usually liked the more energizing stuff but was careful not to ingest anything that could even be remotely harmful to her child.

[That is partly true,] R.I.S.A. said as she appeared beside Selene in her default unclothed form. [I can magically grow trees, but I need a lot of samples and seeds. I had a lot of evergreen seeds in storage, and very few deciduous ones. Besides, I do like evergreens...] She sighed, seeming to be breathing in the scent of pine needles that blew in the window. Then, she clapped her hands together. [I have been getting a lot of power recently, and last night I added a mountain and a lake. And a small house up on the mountain. Would you two like to see it?]

A small smile formed on Selene's lips. It approached the suggestive grin her cousin was so fond of wearing. But then the smile faded as she considered the question. "I... could use the exercise and change of scenery, I suppose," Selene admitted. The mage was spending most of her days sitting in the library sorting books or in the bedroom with Caleldir and Ashyr (and R.I.S.A.) "Must be a very small mountain - unless your dimension has also grown outward quite a bit."

Caleldir walked out to the balcony and looked out at the surrounding forest. "It is more of a large hill right now." He confirmed. "But this demiplane is definitely getting bigger."

[Much bigger!] R.I.S.A. cheerfully confirmed. [I hope to expand it to be the size of a large island eventually! Most of it will be just forest, of course, but I like forests!]

"Why will most of it be forest?" Caleldir asked.

[Because forests are just dirt with trees on them. For every square foot of buildings that I make, I can make a thousand of forest. It is also easier to maintain them. The forests give stability to the realm.]

"I suppose that makes sense." Caleldir processed this information.

"Well. Ashyr will approve," Selene agreed. She put down her flatware on her now empty plate and stood to join Caleldir at the balcony, taking hold of his arm as she did so. The noble mage had to admit, though, it was quite beautiful to look out on. Even if it didn't have the look of the wilds of her homeland. R.I.S.A. had mentioned doing some caves, though, so Selene looked forward to a time when she could look at those, too. It would ease the yearning she had for home, no matter where in the real world they were.

[She will be happier once I add animals to the place,] R.I.S.A. said. [Right now it is just trees and some moonblossom flowers. One of the other reasons I want to make this place large is to support a full ecosystem. But I will need a massive amount of physical resources to do that. Creation magic is very limited.] She looked thoughtful for a moment, then clapped her hands together again. [Right! A nice walk. Would you prefer the underground passage or the overland journey? The cabin is about two miles away either way. You could teleport there, but that would ruin the fun, I would think.]

"There is an underground passage?" That Selene had not been aware of. But, like usual, it was probably just the goddess reading the thoughts of the people in her plane. Selene had long stopped being disturbed by it. Especially not after the strange bonding experience they had the other day. "I would like to take that... er, unless there are a lot of uphill parts."

Yeah, she was not opposed to going out for a walk, but she also wanted to put in as little effort as possible. Physical activity should be avoided in the mornings if at all possible, at least according to Selene.

[Uphill parts?] R.I.S.A. asked. [The cabin is fairly high up. Yes, there are a lot of steps... but... hmm...] Closing her eyes, she fizzled for a moment, fading in and out of focus. There was a slight rumbling and the winds picked up. She opened her eyes again. [I installed a lift. Now, the underground is rather sparse right now, just some glowing fungus, but I can decorate it much more if I am brought enough Underdark ecological samples.]

"I am sure that we can manage that," Caleldir agreed.

R.I.S.A. beamed. [Well then, I will show you the way down. Then, I will leave you two to yourselves. Call if you need me! I can always hear you in this realm, after all.]

Selene smiled. A lift, just like that. Some might feel embarrassed to be so lazy as to need one of those, but not the pregnant mage. "Alright, R.I.S.A. Show us the way, then."

Just because she could, she morphed her robes into something more suitable for going outside, assuming there were other people to see her. There were not, of course, but it was the principle of the thing.

Because R.I.S.A. apparently thought that 'Underground' meant 'magic fungus', the lift down into the underground passage ended up being a large floating mushroom head that one could stand on as it descended. The underground passage itself was a slightly meandering cavern that was reasonably well lit by masses of glowing fungi. Despite it being unnecessary for people with Darkvision, R.I.S.A. appeared to just like the aesthetic. It was a calming, surreally lovely place, though, with the muted glowing colors painting soft images across the variegated stone and the quiet sound of water dripping and flowing an echoed distance away being the only real noise.

Caleldir held Selene on the way down, more for psychological than practical reasons, as the lift seemed to be perfectly safe. She happily held onto Caleldir back, even if she was perfectly confident that she'd be able to save herself if something went wrong. Featherfall was a beautiful spell. Selene simply enjoyed feeling his touch and embracing him back.

As they touched softly down in the underground, Caleldir looked around. "This does not look like any part of the Underdark I have yet seen," he observed. "It is beautiful, though."

"This is not quite a common sight in the Underdark, no," the mage agreed. "But one can find something like this in noble gardens. Duskhaven manor has an area very like this, near the back of our cavern. I will show you." She moved forward through the area in not much of a hurry. Just taking everything in thoughtfully.

"I hope to see those gardens soon, then," Caleldir replied. It made sense. Come to think of it, this place did look like a mystical underground garden.

And so, they traveled just over two miles through the meandering passage. There were a lot of side caverns and other paths, but R.I.S.A. had not yet gotten around to lighting them. Most of those other places looked rather incomplete. While there were a few waterfalls and streams along the pathway, most of the watery noises seemed to come from other places in the underground.

It was a rather quiet journey. Both Caleldir and Selene seemed happy to listen to the ambiance and enjoy the peaceful quiet rather than talking a lot. Though she didn't say so out loud, Selene gave every indication that she was enjoying herself. Sometimes she walked beside Caleldir, absently threading her fingers with his. Other times, she split off of observe a particularly interesting-shaped formation or something that looked different from the rest. All the while, there was a soft sort of absent-minded smile on her face. This was a journey she was quite glad she agreed to. A journey that she decided she would make often. It was easy enough.

At the end of the passage, there was another one of those mushroom-lifts. And a half blocked-off stairway of some type. It seemed as if R.I.S.A. had hurriedly put the lift where the stairs had been and was planning on moving the stairs elsewhere later. Not that any of that mattered.

"Well, shall we head back up? Or did you want to look around here a bit more?" Caleldir asked Selene.

"I think I will have plenty of time to look around later," Selene decided. "Let's go up and see the cabin R.I.S.A. spoke of." A larger smile pulled across her full lips. "I wonder if we can see our house from there." She stepped onto the mushroom lift, pulling Caleldir by the hand into her so they could stand much as they did on the way down.

"We shall find out," Caleldir replied.

They emerged into a cave in the side of a hill, with a view of the night sky beyond. Emerging from the little cavern, they were greeted with an absolutely stunning view of a valley among the mountains. A deep, mirror-still lake reflecting the stars. Huge dark mountains covered in lightly swaying trees. Waterfalls leaping off of high cliffs and barreling down into the valley. Caleldir's eyes went wide.

"But... how..." he muttered something indistinct as he cast a few spells on himself. Squinting, he looked over the valley again. Then he burst out laughing. "We are on the other side of that hill R.I.S.A. made, and all this is just a painting. A really, really good painting, but we are looking outside of the actual space R.I.S.A.'s demiplane occupies. She did a magnificent job with giving the illusion of distance and size, though."

"That is... that is impressive," Selene said as she looked out over the 'painting.' "R.I.S.A. is extremely talented and creative for an artificial soul." Not for the first time, Selene was glad they had her. But, like usual, those were not opinions that she would speak out loud. Part of her was aware that it didn't really matter; the goddess probably knew what she was thinking either way.

"Well, in the end, we are all artificial souls after a fashion," Caleldir mused. When he turned off his magically enhanced senses, the illusion became perfect once more. And he preferred it that way.

Still arm in arm with Selene, he continued up the gently sloping path to a small, rustic house made of stone and dark wood. It was open in design, though also comfortably closed-in, making for an intimate setting. It was only very lightly furnished with a couch, a few chairs, a table, and a small (ish, by their standards) bed in an otherwise empty bedroom. There were a number of rooms that seemed to be intended for other purposes, but besides the bathroom, the rest of the cabin was empty, as R.I.S.A. had probably not gotten around to furnishing it yet.

"It really is a nice view," Caleldir said as he sat down on the couch, letting out a long sigh and looking over the valley. He looked over at Selene. "This is a pretty nice view too." He said with just a touch of mischief in his voice. He had also changed into clothing more suited for travel before leaving, but now he was back into something 'a bit more comfortable', as the saying went.

Selene entered the cabin behind Caleldir and gave the place a cursory inspection. It wasn't quite as interesting as the caverns had been for her. The view outside easily made up for it. It was there she was staring when Caleldir made his observation about the outside, and then the less specific 'that.' Curiosity crossing her features, she looked towards Caleldir to see what he was looking at. Her, apparently. The unexpected compliment brought a pleased smile to her face.

"A nice view indeed," Selene responded as she approached him and knelt on the couch, straddling and facing Caleldir.

Caleldir reached up to Selene's face and brushed an errant platinum hair behind her pointed ear. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

"We do not get a lot of one-on-one time together these days," he said quietly. "This has been..." he paused, wondering what to say.

"Really nice," he finished. He had wanted to say something more profound, but looking into Selene's lovely crimson eyes had made him lose his train of thought.

"Yes," Selene agreed. "Perhaps we should... I don't know, make more time to spend alone with each other," she said as if it was a subject of little importance. When, in reality...

Instead of admitting anything further, Selene began to gently run her fingers through his hair. All the while, she stared back at him, equally entranced by the color of his eyes. Clearly, she was enjoying herself. All the worry that usually subtly touched of her features was completely absent. What was left was a small, serene smile that edged dangerously close to a loving expression.

"Yes. Make more time," Caleldir responded. His tone and expression were lightly amused as he observed Selene's simultaneous affection and recalcitrance. She was almost certainly in love with him, and even more certainly would not admit that to him or even herself. But that was perfectly all right. He only needed her expression to tell him what he needed to hear. And so, he put his left arm around her a little and leaned forward once more, giving her neck a light kiss.

A hum of pleasure escaped Selene's throat. The hand entwined in his hair moved to the back of his head and gently pulled him back - not hard enough to hurt, just to move his head enough that she could press her lips against his. There was no aggression, no desperate need in the movement of her mouth. Just softness and affection. Both her arms moved to lightly rest on his shoulders as she did this.

Caleldir was not about to resist Selene's gentle urging, so she needed no force at all to pull him back enough for the kiss. He readily followed her lead with his lips. It was strange, being this tender with her, but exactly the sort of tenderness that he had always wanted. He wrapped both his arms around her, hugging her waist and upper back firmly though not so much as to be constricting.