All Aflutter Ch. 01

"... right." Ásdís felt a hollow pit in her side as she remembered how casually she had ruined Aura's garden. "Um... so, I wanted to apologize, actually. I—I kind of destroyed your sunset strawberries."

A pause. "My what?"

Ásdís hesitated. Aura didn't sound angry, exactly, but her back was turned right now. Ásdís couldn't see the cowgirl's face. She licked her lips and swallowed her fear. "Your sunset strawberries, Miss. I... I didn't know they were yours. The—The sign had fallen over, and I was, um. I didn't mean to." The excuses sounded pathetic and unconvincing even to her.

There was another pause.

Aura turned back, and to Ásdís's intense relief, she was smiling. "Oh, not to worry, dear!" She walked over, now holding a glass of milk and a bowl of steaming something. As it came closer, Ásdís could smell the maple and wheaty richness, and realized it was porridge. "Please, this isn't even the picking season. I don't even bother with them this time of year!"

"Oh!" Ásdís blinked, caught off-guard. "Really? They were, um..."

"I imagine they were quite sour, hm?" Aura asked, leaning over to murmur right in Ásdís's ear.

"Y-Yes, Aura." Ásdís felt her cheeks heating up. Aura was rather close right now, and her sweet, calming voice was... nice. Nice to listen to. Ásdís had always been sensitive, and she could feel the tingles spreading through her at the softness of the voice.

"I'll put another spoonful of sugar in, then!" Aura giggled, sashaying around to set the bowl of porridge before Ásdís. Moving with fluid grace, she took Ásdís's spoon from her and scooped a hefty helping of additional maple sugar from the sugar bowl, plopping it in and stirring it casually. "We can't have that taste lingering with you and spoiling your appetite, can we?"

"Quite the opposite, really?" Ásdís grinned. "Begging your pardon, Aura, but I amstarving right now!" The porridge looked deliciously creamy, and it smelled nutty and filling. The milk looked even better right now, though.

"Really!" Aura reached over and dragged a stool over, plopping herself down on the opposite side from Ásdís. She smiled happily as Ásdís took the glass in both hands and greedily guzzled it down, heedless of manners. It was creamy and a little sweet, but cool, and it soothed both the lingering sourness and her sandy thirst in a matter of gulps. "Do they not send you up with provisions, Ásdís? I've never met a Toxin Ranger before!"

Ásdís lowered the glass and wiped her mouth with her sleeve—then noticed the napkin and felt herself flashing bright pink as she realized what it was most likely there for. "Well, I've never met a cowgirl before!" she said, belatedly taking the napkin and patting at her lips as if she knew how to use it. "Or a cow, for that matter. And they do send us up with provisions, but, well..." She scowled down at the bowl. "Honestly! I was supposed to reach the Bluebottle Road by now, and instead I'm still out here wandering these was—these lovely badlands of yours."

"Oh, of course!" Aura nodded, positively radiating sympathy. Ásdís felt a little vindicated, in fact. She usually didn't like to complain, but she had a lot of energy, and Aura was asking... "That's very natural. Most people have trouble navigating, even seasoned explorers. I met a Spirit Ranger once who had been lost here for weeks, and she kept having to come back here again and again to re-stock!"

"Really?" Ásdís felt her heart sinking. If a seasoned Spirit Ranger had gotten lost so many times, even after making it this far... "Do you have any, um, advice?" She glanced down at the bowl, and couldn't help it—she began spooning the porridge into her mouth, and gave a loud, "Mm!" of satisfaction. It was absolutely delicious, and exactly what she needed after a long day's hard travel.

"I can make you a map, dearest," Aura said smoothly, leaning over the table slightly. "The Spirit Ranger just wouldn't let me."

"Why not, Miss?"

"'Aura' is fine, dear." Aura's voice was patient, as was her smile.

Ásdís blushed. "R-Right. Why not, Aura?"

Aura sighed. "Well... some girls can be terribly proud, you see."

"Oh. Mm." Ásdís swallowed and wiped her mouth—with her napkin, this time. It was such a pretty thing, of fine pink lace, it seemed almost a shame to dirty it, and she made sure to use only the tiniest corner. "Well,that's just foolish. We're taught among the Toxin Rangers to always work with the locals when we can. It's practically part of our edicts."

"The Spirit Rangers are a proud order." Ásdís smiled. "Very independent. But I'm sure I don't have to tell an expert Toxin Ranger about other orders!"

"O-Of course not." Ásdís nodded quickly. Had she said she was a rookie yet? If she hadn't, it... well, it seemed a shame to let that slip now. People up north didn't need to know how inexperienced with the outside world she really was. It would be nice to be held in some respect for once! "Of course I know how they can be. But it's important to respect the local, um, customs and such. You have to..." She paused to take another mouthful of porridge (and to buy time to remember the word), noticing it was already half gone. Belatedly, it occurred to her that this porridge could have been drugged, and she hadn't thought to check it. That was a little embarrassing. But she didn't feel any different right now. Just hyper, and shy, and a little... well, those weren't anything new. "You have to defer, since you aren't there to be in charge. You're there to assist if they ask you to. That's all a community really needs."

This was something taught with special firmness in the Mountains, she thought privately. The Toxin Rangers didn't tell communities what to do, especially when they weren't from around there. Not like the Nyaskan Guard, who liked to strut down roads like they owned them and expected everyone to call them 'sir' or 'ma'am'.

"That's a lovely way to see it. 'Defer'." Aura nodded, eyes sparkling with interest. "So ultimately, a Ranger is subordinate to their community."

"Mm-hm!" Ásdís nodded absently, still thinking about home. Oh, how she missed home. Aside from the soldiers. She didn't miss them. They, and the Chosen, were why she'd decided to go north, and not south.

"I like that." Aura glanced at the glass with a slight smirk. "Would you like more milk, dear?"

'

"Mm. Um." Ásdís swallowed quickly, blinking big eyes up at Aura as the cowgirl rose. A thought occurred to her. "A, um... a cow's sort of like a goat, right?"

Aura blinked. "I... beg your pardon?"

"A goat." Ásdís bit her lip. "I-I mean, um, um." Aur ahad come to stand right before her, and Ásdís was staring up past Aura's massive bosom to stare into those pretty hazel eyes. "Um," she squeaked, suddenly very, very conscious of her size, "I... I mean, a goat, um. Is. We. We milk them. And. And cows." Her face was suddenly on fire, she was sure, drowning her little pink freckles in a sea of flames. "Nevermind," she squeaked, and looked down at her porridge, clutching her hands in her lap.

"Are you wondering if cowgirls have milk, dear?" Aura asked softly, leaning over slightly. Ásdís shook her head minutely, desperately avoiding Aura's gaze. "Ásdís, dear? Is that what you're wondering?" Ásdís heistated, feeling called out, as if Aura knew exactly what the answer was and just wanted Ásdís to admit it. She gave a tiny nod. "And you're wondering something about that?"

Ásdís swallowed, and forced herself to meet Aura's eyes again. "I-I was just..." She glanced nervously at the glass in Aura's hand. "A-And, I mean, it's fine, I mean, I just—"

"Feral cattle aren't too uncommon around here," Aura said smoothly, reaching down to pat Ásdís's hand—and force her to stop wringing her hands together. "Every now and then I go to collect some, and I keep it in an icebox. Does that answer your question?"

Ásdís blinked up at Aura. She blinked rapidly, feeling as if she could hide behind her thick, dark lashes. But Aura's beautiful eyes held her. "Y-Yes," she said meekly.

"Good girl," Aura said, patting Ásdís's cheek and turning away. Unseen to Aura, Ásdís felt her faze light up like a hellish inferno. "You certainly are new, aren't you? Well, ah, in case you're wondering, cowgirls do lactate, but there's no significant power to that milk, I promise you."

"Right." Ásdís buried her face in her hands. "Right." She remained there until Aura came back with a refill, and then she meekly accepted it. "Thank you, Aura."

"Not at all!" Aura's tone was cool, mellow, mild, encouraging, as if she sensed Ásdís's terrible embarrassment and wanted to put Ásdís a little at ease. "Dear, I quite like having someone to tend to right now. You've done me a wonderful favor. And I don't want you to be worried!"

"R-Right." Ásdís bit her lip as Aura sat across from her again. "Well..." She struggled, unsure what to say.

But luckily, Aura was always ready with more questions.

"I was actually wondering," Aura said lightly, tapping her fingernails along the table's engraving, "What it's like up there in the Mountains! You don't have cows, you say?"

"Mmm... nuh-uh." Ásdís bounced lightly in her seat, relieved at the subject change, as she spooned another mouthful of porridge into her mouth. "Th-This's so good, by the way!"

"Aw, thank you, Ásdís!" Aura's eyes shined with happiness. "Though you seem famished, so I'm just glad I'm able to fill you up!"

"You can try!" Ásdís giggled, then flushed at how confident that sounded. "I have a terrible appetite back home," she added quickly, glancing around Aura's home, trying to keep from letting her energy run her tongue away from her too freely. "We don't have cows, or any large pack animals, really. Sometimes dire goats, but those are expensive! Easier to manage a couple of smaller goats, you know?" She kicked her feet idly a moment before finding a comfortable resting place for them on the chair's spindle.

"That makes sense," Aura said, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

Ásdís nodded rapidly. "Goats don't have milk nearly so sweet as this," she gestured at the glass, then giggled. "Is all cow milk like that?"

"Oh, no." Aura shook her head. "In fact—"

"It's really good, though!" Ásdís said quickly, eyes widening as she realized this could come across like an insult. "I always heard cow milk was, like, bland, you know? But this is... mm, it's almost..."

Her antennae twitched and bobbed with excitement as she paused to eat some more porridge. She couldn't quite place the flavor. It reminded her of a cream rum drink she'd had once, three years into her Ranger training, when she'd hit the Toxin Ranger-approved drinking age of twenty-two. She gulped it down nonetheless, savoring the nutty, slightly spicy flavor of the porridge. "I dunno, but it's delicious!

"I'm glad!" Aura beamed with pride. "You seemed like you deserved a treat."

Ásdís's head bobbed idly as she tried to remember what she'd been talking about. It felt so nice to talk to someone else, she realized—she hated talking to herself, usually. The sound of her own voice echoing back at her from the cliffs had always unnerved her. But when she had someone else's ear to talk off... "Yeah, but anyways, life in the Mountains... it's nice! You can see the stars so much more clearly up there, and the villages stay in a lot of contact." Finishing the porridge, she tapped her fingers against the wood of the table, admiring the chandelier above them. "That's really pretty, by the way. Anyways, there's always something going on in the village! Always some drama or, like, event, or little tiny crisis that needs us to intervene."

"Are they all little moths like you, Ásdís?"

"N-No," Ásdís said, hesitating on that phrase. Little. She wasn't used to being called that, but Aura was awfully tall... and curvy... "My village had mostly humans and dopterines, but a lot of goblin maids, too. And I'm, um, tall, for a dopterine, and most of the humans were either very old or very young, owing to the..." She paused. She didn't want to talk about the collection drafts right now. "So I was actually one of the tallest people there."

"Goodness!" Aura visibly failed to conceal a giggle. "What a sight that must have been."

Ásdís couldn't help but giggle, too. "Yeah, it was weird. It's nice not being the tallest person in the room, though."

"Oh?"

"Being tall gets you attention." Ásdís frowned. "Bad attention."

"... oh."

"Like, I was always the one Widow Tam asked to reach stuff from her top shelves, even though any dopterine could've reached it! And whenever there was a baby bird that fell out of its nest, the kids would come and ask me what to do about it!"

"... oh!" Aura giggled. "Well, that must have been tiresome, being responsible for everything."

"W-Well, I didn't mind!" Ásdís drew herself up straight. "That's a Toxin Ranger's job, Miss! I mean, Aura! And I like being able to help, I really do! But, well, it's a lot of... responsibility, I guess." She bit her lip, suddenly feeling a little shy. She'd told Aura a lot, and she hoped she wasn't boring her—or that Aura didn't think her foolish or petty for resenting her admittedly trivial duties back home. Her antennae twitched with nerves.

"I was meaning to ask," Aura said, raising an eyebrow as she leaned over the table slightly, "about those pretty little tufts of yours."

Ásdís blinked. "You mean my antennae?" She reached up and daintily touched one of them, making sure no stray porridge had somehow gotten on it. The fuzzy fanning pale pink 'feathers' twitched at her touch. "What about them? They're just ordinary dopterine antennae. They don't do anything special."

"Really? Nothing at all?"

"Well..." Ásdís frowned slightly, tugging her antennae down very gently to look at it. It twitched in her grasp, and she released it, feeling tingles spreading through her. "It's very s-sensitive, for one thing," she said. "And some dopterines can make illusions with them. But I never learned more than the basics with that, and, I mean..." She blushed. "I usually just end up hypnotizing myself half the time, because the colors get out of control."

"Oh my! More, dear?"

"Uh-huh! I-I mean—" Ásdís smiled gratefully, and a little shamefaced, as Aura rose from her chair, circled around, and took the bowl from her to refill it with more delicious porridge. "I-I mean, I can get it—"

"No, no, dear~" Aura's voice was positively singsong as she bustled to the counter. "I know how to make it just right."

"B-But—"

"You just sit there and stay comfy, okay, sweetie? I'm already up, after all."

"O-Okay." Ásdís bit her upper lip, flustered but not knowing how to argue with Aura—especially when Aura was just trying to be kind to her. Aura was being incredibly kind to her.

A little self-consciously, while Aura's back was turned, Ásdís glanced at her reflection in her spoon and quickly adjusted her hair—the rosy-pink curls bounced messily around her face due to her hair tie being lost in the wind, and they only seemed to make her meddlesome little pink freckles stand out more against her pale lavender cheeks.

"Good girl," Aura said sweetly from right behind her, causing Ásdís's face to go so very deep pink that her freckles became quite invisible. "And those wings can actually fly? I didn't know it was possible."

"U-Um," Ásdís dropped the spoon and wrung her hands in her lap, staring shamefaced at the porridge bowl placed before her, "um, well, um, yes!" She blinked up at Aura, who smiled down at her as she returned to her stool. "Yes, Miss, the—I mean, yes, Aura, it is. Dopterines are much lighter than we look."

"I noticed earlier!" Aura laughed, tilting her head to the side playfully.

"Right!" Ásdís nodded and giggled, bouncing her feet on her tiptoes as she took up the spoon and resumed eating. "And—mm!—" Gods, it was even sweeter now, even creamier, even richer, as if the first course had been to fill her up and this was her dessert—"that's why we need so much sugar, see, we need the energy to keep our wings beating fast enough!"

"That makes sense! I'd heard dopterines had a sweet tooth."

"Oh, yes, but it's a need, not a want!" Ásdís wagged her finger importantly. "There's a big difference!"

"There certainly is."

"Uh-huh! Uh-huh!" Ásdís wriggled in her seat so she could flutter her own wings, filling the room with glimmering blue-and-pink-and-silver light from their shimmering reflective forms. "Our wings are much stronger than they look!"

"Really!" Aura reached over the table. Ásdís's breath caught at the sight of her cleavage, so loosely-contained within the sundress—she was not wearing a bra, but then again, that was one of the 'perks' of being fey, you didn't really need them. "May I?"

"Um. Um." Ásdís stared at Aura's chest, then at the hand, then at Aura's eyes, big and pretty and soothing and such a pretty hue of hazel. "S-Sure!" She giggled nervously and displayed her right wing for easier access. "Why not? Just be..." Her lips parted as the cowgirl's fingertips grazed her. "... d-deli... cate..."

Aura's touch was even more gentle and delicate than she had expected. It was barely a feather, wafting across the infinitesimal little scales that covered her wing and made it shine. Aura's fingertips ran over the wing with utter care, and she heard Aura whisper, "It's like silk..."

"Mm." Ásdís nodded weakly, quivering at the touch, unable to keep a tremble from her voice. "Y-Yes..."

Aura's hand paused, the fingertips still touching the wing. "Is everything alright, sweetie?" the cowgirl asked, her voice as soft as her touch as the fingers brushed down the wing's surface.

"S... S-Sensitive," Ásdís squeaked, blushing.

There was a pause. She trembled, biting her lip to hold back more embarrassing sounds.

Aura pulled back, smiling and waggling her fingertips. "Well, I suppose I don't need to understand how the mothgirl flies, if only I know that she'll stay out of the winds."

"Mm!" Ásdís nodded again, keeping her mouth shut as she felt her heart stop racing. "S-So anyways, um..." She felt flustered again, and didn't know what to say. "So, um..."

Luckily, Aura was there again to rescue her. "Was it hard, learning to be a Toxin Ranger?"

"Oh, ye—" Ásdís hesitated, then shook her head, affecting a proud smirk. "pfft! Of course not! I mean, it's tough, but I didn't have much trouble." She bit her lip. She didn't want to sound cocky. "I-I mean, not too much... " She took a spoonful of porridge.

"I've heard the Toxin Rangers are more, ah... conservative."

"Mm. Oh, yes, some places, they can be!" Ásdís shrugged, relaxing again. It was nice letting Aura control the conversation, honestly. Aura always seemed to know when to change the subject. "The Steppe, and basically everywhere south of the Mountain Range, totally. At least, that's what I hear. But the Mountain Folk don't really put up with that." She grinned, remembering something one of her mentors had once said. "It's hard to demand everyone's got to be straight," she remembered the word a guard had once used, "when half the population is cute goblin girls, you know? So the Mountains' Toxin Rangers are a lot more, like, easy-going."

She spooned another helping of porridge into her mouth, and couldn't help but moan a little, very quietly, at how delectably the flavors tingled in her mouth. "Plus, like, all that stuff about staying away from fey and arranged marriages and women's roles and straight romance is really an old Royal thing. We never liked the Royal Family, so..." She waved her hand dismissively, as she'd seen Widow Tam do when talking about this. "I think even the Toxin Ranger are putting it aside, mostly. Outside Nyaska, and the Kingdom of the Chosen, talk like that just gets you looked at funny."