Everyday Life with Bubbles Ch. 11

"Where is Kaia?" Rali glanced around.

Bubbles pointed without even looking, "That way. Lying in the field and pretending not to exist."

Sana popped her head out of one of the huts, a handful of crumbs falling from her face, "Wait. Bubbles is bonded to her Ninaein, too? That's... Weird. Bonding hard. Usually only twins or very, very powerful neko have shared bond, and usually more vague than Bubbles is saying it."

"She thinks... Maybe... Luna?" Bubbles bit her lip.

Sana stifled a giggle, "Sounds like something a god would think is a gift and not a curse."

"Might explain why it's only one way." Ninaein said, clutching the handle of a knife and trying to crush all of her fears. Force all her emotions down until she wasn't feeling anything at all. "'Cos she can't feel Bubbles. Not at all."

Bubbles yawned, "What's Sana eating?"

"Mmm... Things... So Ninaein really isn't bonded? It's just Bubbles who has to suffer by knowing what her girls are feeling?" Sana rubbed the crumbs from her face quickly, "Sounds like Luna was a real bitch to Bubs."

The knife flung from Ninaein's hand before the woman even realised she'd done it. Causing Sana to squeal and dance backwards as it didn't just hit close to her foot, but carved a chunk of leather hide out of her boot.

"What the fuck!?"

Bubbles sighed and patted her lap, "Sorry, sister. Nina didn't mean that. Really. She didn't. Come here, Ninaein. Bubbles will stroke her hair. You're too tightly wound up by everything."

"Not... Hate her?" The thief whispered.

"Bubbles is still pissed at her. So shut up, and come get your hair patted."

Ninaein scrambled up, and curled up on the edge of her. The golden eyes shut and the rough thief collapsed. She didn't just lie down, it was almost like she died on the spot. Her breathing became weak and ragged, and she started trembling as if she had a cold fever.

Bubbles stroked her claws through the permanently matted black hair, and smiled apologetically over at Sana, who was busy inspecting the damage to her shoe and double checking that the foot inside it hadn't been injured. The whore shot more than a few dirty looks at Ninaein, but didn't say anything.

That was Sana. She was the most temperate of them.

"Rali make any brownies? They're Nina's favourite." Bubbles asked, before looking at her sister, "Unless Sana ate them all."

"Only the oat biscuits! She... Sorry. She's hungry." Sana looked down in shame.

The elf chuckled, "Now then, sugar, never you mind. Nothin' wrong with a little bit of comfort eating, now and then. You can't imagine the state of my kitchen once Erientyara goes on a feeding frenzy. She had a false egg, a couple years back. I thought she was going to stop eating outta the shelves and just give up and eat the cook."

"Brownies? Please?" Bubbles asked.

Rali sighed, "Sorry, sugar. I mostly made bread. Sweet rolls and buns, and the like. No access to cocoa, at the moment. The Tangles has cut off the road, in protest of... Well... What the empress did to you and yours. No trade with the Golden Mountain. But I have heard that there's a place in the Wastes that managed to grow it, so we might be able to find some, on our way."

"Oh gods." Bubbles eyes widened, "Desert food! She didn't even think. She likes insects as much as the next neko, but she's going to miss her sugary things."

Sana laughed, "Nah, she's really not. Sana used to buy desert limes, when she had the silver. Hard to get in the city, but absolutely everywhere in the homeland. Incredibly sweet. Also quandongs are kinda like really tart peaches. And we got mangoes there, too. Lotta things to eat in the homeland."

"Bubbles used to suck freaking sugarloaf." She glared.

Ninaein gave a tiny but hacking cough, and then whispered, "Her favourite nekan food? Jerked iguana. Track the big damn lizard, cut it down, and up, and six months later... Love it. Hard to buy in city, rare."

Bubbles giggled, "Can you imagine if an iguana attacked the Erin?"

All three catgirls descended into hysterics at the imagery, whilst the elf just frowned, looking at them a tad confused. Rali's ears wiggled, "Eh... She'd get a bit mad, but it'd just be a charcoal roast?"

"Iguana meat is poisonous." Ninaein explained, coughing between her laughs. "Nekos not affected by it. Have to cook the shit out of it... Or you'll be shitting for days!"

Rali nodded slowly, "Ah. So Erientyara would... Be sick."

"No fun when you have to explain the joke." Sana rolled her eyes, and sat down at Bubbles' feet.

Bubbles yawned tiredly, "But have to cross the Wastes, first. She only ever heard horror stories about them. Przekleta bestia."

"It's because of how the wastelands were made." Ninaein snuggled into tighter, shivering a little. "The experiments for the humans' damn war against us. They had to dump their shit somewhere, and it made the Wastes. So we dumped our shit there, too, and made worse things. Most of the cursed beasts out there are nekan. Or were, once. Only cursed things and rats can even live in that mess."

Rali stood up, and began hanging out another basket of clothes, "I've heard that things have changed, recently. Got better. The rattata apparently got themselves some kind of... King, or something. The Ratrad? Rattarad? Something."

"Cohen Rataraed." Kaia said, walking over glumly, before sitting down and leaning onto Bubbles' shoulder. "Edric gave me a letter to give to him, from... Someone. Asking for Cohen's help in establishing a corridor for the fleeing nekos. If the Rataraed helps, he could make crossing the Wastes safe for us. Or if he doesn't like the idea of us going to the homeland, he could seal the Wastes. Apparently the rattata live or die by his command. But he doesn't sound bad."

Bubbles frowned, "How her Edric know him?"

"Apparently he ordered some clothes for his bride from Edric, once. And apparently it was a real shady deal." Kaia fiddled with where her horn had been cut, looking on the verge of tears. "Something about being an exile from the empire. Needed to use go-betweens to get the dresses."

She idly brushed Ninaein's hair, "Huh. Wonder what rattan marriage like? Actually... What succubus marriage like, Kaia? Expectations?"

"We're not monogamous." Kaia chuckled and kissed her cheek, "We eat lust. Need it. Surviving on flirting is basically like living on water and bread. Shit diet. So we have a lot of sex. Friends, family. Doesn't matter. We also like things... Rough. It isn't respectful to be gentle. Unless you've just seen your whole home destroyed by a racist fucktard."

Bubbles kissed her cheek, "Sshh. Just tell Bubbles what kind of wife that she wants her neko to be."

"What... I want?" Kaia asked in surprise, and the succubus nearly collapsed, "I... Hadn't thought about it. I was thinking about you. Cooking for you. Feeding you. Thinking how hard it will be to keep the house clean for you if we're living in a desert."

She giggled, "Kaia assumed she would be housewife?"

"For the most part. We're going to be dirt poor. We're starting over in a new place. I'll... Probably end up working for a lord or princeling. Probably bed them, too." The succubus shrugged.

"Kaia would fuck a hooktooth." Ninaein murmured, eyes closed as she smiled. "They the real power in the tribes. The buckteeth control everything. No one risks their anger, not when they can dump literal buckets of fire on your head."

The woman laughed, "Well, why shouldn't I?"

"Tomcats come with a personality to match their dicks." Ninaein replied in exhaustion, "Hookteeth think they deserve to be fucked. That all the women in the tribe just want 'em. The kind of guys who have a woman on each arm and another between their legs."

Kaia nodded, "Ah... So... About that... Bubbles... Most of your... Family... Are women. How well will that go with your tribe? Clan? Will we look for your clan? Or am I being racist?"

"Long Cast, of the Forgotten Cave." Bubbles stated, "But she doesn't really care if she does or doesn't. She's never had anything to do with them before. But... Nina? You want to see the Twisted Knife?"

"No fucking way!" The thief surprised her, "She hates her fucking family. Ew. No."

"Well, Sana wants to at least visit the Brilliant Star." Her sister piped up, "Though... She doesn't think her hookteeth are going to be very impressed with her. She not exactly became rich and powerful in the city, like her family was planning."

Ninaein groaned and touched the scars on her head, "For what it's worth... The Shadow Keepers have a habit of burying lesbians in the sand. Her hookteeth are all fuckin' assholes."

Rali looked over at them, suddenly frightened, "Women aren't allowed to love women, in your homeland? Then why are we going there? We'll all die!"

"Tomcats be assholes, but not catgirls." Bubbles shook her head, "Things have been... Different. She doesn't know the whole thing, but before Toofy, all nekos were slave. Just fighting to get by. To escape. But after... All free. And so free of fucking bell, no catgirl willing to let herself be a slave to a tomcat. The men are... Still learning."

"Toofy! Empress of fucking world!" Sana said with a grin, leaning back on her palms, "She changed... Everything. Our empress. Gods... She... How is the world even gonna keep living without our Toofy?"

"She was what a real woman was." Ninaein gave a small cough.

Kaia smiled sadly, "The empress did bring out a little patriotic streak in myself. However, she really did bring out a lot more in the rest of her kind, didn't she? She was only ever Empress Twenty Four, to us. I can't imagine anyone calling that weapon of mass destruction... Toofy."

"Pff. Names are names." Bubbles laughed, "Like her name is Kitten. That the name her Kaia gave her. So she might be called Bubbles, but her real name is Kitten. Toofy's real name is Toofy, because that's what Prince Sai said it was."

The succubus raised an eyebrow, "I though you said that was a private name only? Just between the two of us?"

"That was before she agreed to marry you." Ninaein groaned and then sat up and vomited all over her feet, Bubbles, and Sana's hair.

"Erin!" Bubbles screeched loudly, "Help! Doctor-wife! Help!"

Ninaein shook her head weakly, "No, don't get dragonbitch... She... She fine... She..."

Her lying was cut off as she projectile vomited everywhere again, before falling back onto her side, twitching once or twice, and going still.

"Erinteara!" Bubbles squealed loudly.

The salamander crashed nearby, shrouded in red flames, "Don't fuck the name! Oh. Shit."

The red-scaled woman patted out her flames and scrambled over, falling to her knees. "Succubus. Do me a favour. Check the catgirl's hair. The vomit, are there traces of blood? The soil would absorb it. Harder to see."

Kaia picked over Sana's head, as the horrified catmaid was still frozen, as vomit dripped from her chin and eyebrows. "Not that I can see. Or smell."

"Smell! I'm surrounded by good noses. What do you smell, girls? Quickly!" The salamander demanded.

Bubbles sniffled, "Not just smell. Feel it. It hurts! She can feel Nina's tummy. It's all twisted up in knots. Stabbing pains, here and here. Hurt as bad as stabbing by knife! Maybe worse!"

"The appendix." Erientyara said hollowly, "Well, fuck me sideways and call me a goat. Damn it! Ra'li, clear me a fucking operating table. Somewhere indoors, and fucking clean. Rest of you... No. No, I need you, Bubbles. And I hope to the void you aren't about to scream when I cut into her. Rest of you, stay out of the fucking way. Bubbles, fetch me water. A lot of water, clean."

The salamander started rolling up her sleeves, looking down grimly at the thief.

"What's wrong with her?" Bubbles asked, trying not to burst into tears.

"Water!" The salamander roared at her.

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Bubbles pokes at the swollen black and red tongue-like piece of meat sitting on the end of the table, and looked back up at Erientyara as the doctor flashed into flames again, burning off the muck from the emergency surgery. "This little thing? Nearly killed her Nina?"

"It still might." Erientyara shook her head, "I'm sorry. I wish that I could give you better news, Bubbles. However, the fact of the matter is that about half of those who have to have it removed, die. Some on the table. Ninaein is lucky. She didn't bleed out. But her chances... She was already compromised, from her head injury. She cannot afford to get sick. The woman's stubbornness will kill her, if I don't."

Her bottom lip trembled, "How... Help? How can Bubbles say thankyou to Erin?"

"I could think of a few ways..." The salamander smiled slowly at her, and then chuckled, "But, I am above taking advantage of you, right now. Your world has collapsed, and you nearly lost your wife, twice. Stay beside her, with her. Keep her warm. I'm returning to the city to fetch some firestones for her."

"Firestone necklace!" Bubbles pulled it off quickly, "This help?"

"It will. I am still going. I need to collect a few other things, as well. Some tonics, fresh dressings." The salamander replied, "It will take me a few hours to return. The city has sealed the gates. No one is supposed to get in or out. That's how I took the damned arrow. They're shooting down flyers. Edric will find me a way in."

The neko slipped the necklace around the unconscious thief's neck, and kissed her cheek. She spoke quietly, "Loves her."

"Keep her warm, and away from the wet. Preferably, don't move her." The salamander stretched and rolled her scales back and forth. "Build up a nest around her, if you can, but only with dry and clean, very fucking clean, straw."

With that, the red salamander strode away confidently. The elf who had been in the background of it all, approached and put her arms around Bubbles' waist, kissing her cheek lightly. "She'll be okay."

"She knows." Bubbles tried and failed to smile. "She knows. Luna not let Bubbles get all hurt and sad. Likes her too much for that."

"You threatening a goddess, sugar?"

"Little bit."

The elf laughed and kissed her again, "She'll be okay, sugar. Erientyara may act deferential to Sharhalla, but between the two of them, she's the surgeon. He's a doctor. He knows the ills of a hundred different species. But she is the one who knows how to shape their insides."

"Is... Is it okay?" Sana asked from the doorway, covering her nose with her hands.

Bubbles shook her head, "Um... Can you ask the nice farmer man if we can have any straw? Only clean! Very clean! And dry! Does... Does he have any?"

"'Kay!"

Rali hugged her tighter, "It's okay to cry, sugar."

Bubbles bit her lip and shook her head. Refusing to give in to the emotions overwhelming her. There was too many things, too often, in too much recent history. She was going to stay by her thief's side, and pretend the universe wasn't trying to break her.

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"You need to feed."

Kaia looked up in surprise, seeing not her wife, but the one she had called sister. The blonde-haired catgirl with shining bright and golden eyes, and a compassionate heart that seemed to bleed for each of Bubbles' girls.

Her tail twitched back and forth a couple times, and Kaia just silently shook her head. She leaned back against the wall, listening to Bubbles breathing just on the other side of it.

Sana sat down beside her, and sighed heavily, "You don't want to feed... Because you're not in the mood... Or because you're scared of feeding?"

"I lost a horn." Her throat constricted, making her croak.

The catgirl nodded slowly, "Bubbles said that was a huge deal. But she doesn't know, does she? Almost as bad as if Sana had been stabbed in the girl's valley."

"Ah. Whore." She whispered, "You know more about succubi than you try to let on, don't you? Letting Bubbles feel like she knows more. You play the little sister, well."

Sana's ears twitched, "Her boss... Tish... Tish was a halfbreed. Half-human. Tish tried very hard to come to terms with that. She had a tail... But no horns. She was... Hated."

"That poor bitch." Kaia closed her eyes, "It's... They're more sensitive than our clit. More important than our breasts. Losing a boob, that I can hack. The horn? Kill me."

"How upset with her would you be if she licked it?"

Her eyes popped open and she stared at Sana, "What?"

"She's not proposing a relationship, or any shit like that." The catgirl smiled confidently, "This isn't going to be a thing like with Bubbles. But... Bubbles is in heat. Which means Sana is syncing with her. And you need to feed."

"Touch my horn, and I'll gut you like a fish, and hang you up like a flag."

"Tail?"

Kaia glared at her, "I don't want... I... I hate this. Damn it! Yes, I am horny. And you can probably smell it, because you're a damn neko. I am horny as shit. But I don't want, to want it."

Sana shrugged, "Well, she wanted to make her feel nice, but if that's not an option, then you can feed off her, right? If Sana plays around with herself, than Kaia can sit in a corner, sulking and eating?"

"I wouldn't stay in the corner. I would get... Uncontrolled." Kaia said testily, "I might just turn around and eat your soul. And then my wife really would hate me as much as I hate myself."

The catgirl rolled her eyes, "Sana can tie you up. So that even an experienced succubus couldn't run away. But she also knows she doesn't need to. You wouldn't eat her. You would cry. You will cry, after you feel good. Because everything about your soul is hurting. You're not the first grieving one to cross Sana's shadow."

"I don't want sex!"

"Then, don't! But you have to feed!" Sana snapped, "You starving isn't going to make your wife feel any better. Bubbles already has one of you dying on her! Again. So, stop being selfish, and take care of yourself!"

Kaia burst into tears.

The catgirl slunk into her lap, and wrapped her arms around her. Pressing her scarred chest into the dissolving maid's outfit, and rubbing the small of her back as she purred reassuringly.

"I... Don't know... How..." Kaia croaked.

Sana kissed her cheek gently, "Clearly. But that's okay. The rest of us are spoiled brats. We know everything there is about taking care of ourselves. Just let us help you."

"Don't tell Bubbles."

The catgirl frowned, "Don't tell her that you're depressed? 'Cos that's obvious as fuck. Or don't tell her that Sana's fooling around with her girl? 'Cos that's a neko thing. Not proper sisters unless you both bounced on the same guy."

Kaia shrugged, "I... Don't know. Just don't."

"Fine. Won't." Sana purred, "Besides... She's not actually into girls. She's doing this because Kaia needs it. Now... Shall Sana play with Kaia? Or the other way around?"

The succubus sighed, "Wish I could just stuff myself like Bubbles does."

"Oh, that's right." Sana grinned, "Feeder... Wanna feed Sana? She loves comfort feeding. Wanna make her belly pop and make her burp 'cos she ate too much?"

Kaia felt her loins stir, and she swallowed, "Y-yes. But we can't. Freaking plague. No food."

"Sana... Might um... Hoard her food?" The catgirl tried to say innocently, and then reached into the front pocket of her black and white dress. She pulled out three broken biscuits, two pieces of a white fish, a paper bag of something that might have been a rice cake, and several pieces of dried seaweed.

Kaia stared in surprise, "When did you...?"

"Nekan temple. Sana ate a lot... And then... She um... Pretended to keep eating... Don't blame her! She had no food when she and Bubbles escaped the city!"

The succubus smiled slowly, "Wasn't blaming. I wasn't laying any blame at all... I was... Looking forward... To feeding you."

Sana slid down her, rolling over so her head was in Kaia's lap and smiled up at her. The catmaid purred quietly, "She used to say she was baking pies, when she got a man's best feature. Her cafe was very... Food oriented in the way they did things."