Everyday Life with Bubbles Ch. 17

Author's Note: I apologise for nothing.

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Avician bounced towards the roof as a chair flew through the space her head had been in, the bunny looking mildly amused as Bubbles hissed at her and looked for something else to toss.

Ninaein held out a throwing star idly, from where the thief was sitting at the table and scarfing down her fish.

That only got an irritated snarl out of Bubbles. It wasn't like she was actually trying to hurt the bunny. If she wanted to do that, she'd just try and blow a fireball up in her face. Try jumping over that.

"Not... Going... On a diet!" Bubbles snapped.

It was her own fault, in some ways.

She had gone to Erientyara and asked for a little doctorly advice. Concerned that she'd put on a little bit of weight since becoming queen, and mostly worried that the fucking goddess had tried to get her fucking pregnant, again. Thankfully, it wasn't kittens.

Unthankfully, Erientyara hadn't felt the need to keep that to herself, and had threatened or encouraged Bubbles' entire household and staff until they had each agreed to help Bubbles lose a little bit of weight.

Which was probably why the dragon wasn't present at breakfast this morning, when Bubbles found out that the kitchen wasn't going to be serving her fish anymore, and had instead served up some stupid biscuit, the colour of shit, that tasted like Kaia's asshole.

"After breakfast, you have a meeting with the new palace smith, Master Cohen." Avician continued, whilst smiling at the attempt to hurt her, "Master Redfern is retiring, and suggested this man as the replacement. He is professional, and well-skilled. However, he is human, which may upset some of the local populace, who expect all government positions to be filled by exotics, now that there's one on the throne."

"Don't wanna." Bubbles pouted, dropping to the floor and crawling under the cloth that surrounded the edges of the table.

"Master Cohen apparently has a project of some kind that he would like the palace to consider funding. Something to do with the... Milk Cove, m'lady." Avician's derision of the ancient myth was plain as day.

The neko under the table fell onto her back and idly began scratching a loveheart into the underside, continuing to ignore her bodyguard. The bunny had been a lot more fun when things were still unstable and on the brink of civil war.

Though, putting her in the same room as Erientyara was still a bunch of fun. Neither of those two were willing to admit defeat, and they really did seem to be equals in anything short of a fight to the death. Even as angry as she was, Bubbles was never going to encourage them to go that far.

Part of Avician's problem was she was a stuck up prig. She was a holy warrior, who served the temple and empire. She knew what it was like to live to high ideals whilst turning a blind eye to all the shit happening to the common folk, to achieve the lofty goals.

The bunny was a titled lady.

On the other hand, Erientyara had been born to wealth and glory, but she had given that all up to be Sharhalla's mate. She was a doctor's wife, and a doctor in her own right, but she carried no title. She was a nobody, or had been until the bitching goddess had shoved a crown on Bubbles' fucking head.

The salamander knew what life was like, on both sides, and preferred life without a title. Fewer responsibilities, more freedom to do what you wanted. A life where being happy was easy.

Erientyara was an enigma to Avician. The dragon had abandoned her duty as a royal-born. Something that was beyond the imagination of the woman who lived her entire life in service to a goddess that didn't even care if she lived or died.

Bubbles' own disrespect for the goddess, probably wasn't helping the bunny to adjust to her new life.

"Finally, m'lady, the Royal Engineers would like some extra funding, for exploring... There was an explosion, during the Halfdark festival. Piece of the mountain erupted, though it doesn't appear to have been caused by the volcano. Thus, they want to analyse the cavern exposed by the explosion." Avician drummed a foot on the ground, impatiently.

Bubbles huffed and kicked her feet, "Don't wanna! Don't wanna! Why can't you or Phoenix deal with boring shit!? She doesn't wanna be queen! She wants her fucking fish!"

"To distract you from your hunger, your grace." Avician replied gently.

She sat up, wincing as she smacked her head on the table, "Ow! You made stupid boring meetings for Bubbles, just to make sure she sticks to fucking diet?"

"Of course, m'lady." Avician sounded mildly amused. "It is no mystery to me, how much you dislike being the chosen ruler of this city. Well, apart from the benefits that the position affords you."

She crawled out from under the table, still rubbing her head, and glared at the bunny with an exaggerated huff. "Being bored not help with hunger. So, dumb idea. Bubbles not meeting no one."

"As you command, m'lady." Avician bowed her head, before beginning a light curtsy.

As soon as the bunneko began the ritualised movement, the catgirl bolted. She sprinted for the heavy wooden doors, and nearly fell over her own boots as she did it.

Bubbles grabbed the brass handle of one and wrenched, starting to giggle at her escape. Right until she saw the person waiting on the other side. A large and red-scaled figure, tapping one clawed foot impatiently.

The catgirl fell backwards with a surprised squeak, followed by an ear-piercing scream as she landed on her tail with an audible crunch.

Bubbles lay on her side, sobbing and pawing at the ground, as Erientyara immediately descended on her. The salamander's tail flicked a nearby maid, sending them tumbling out of the way. The dragon's eyes filled with black as she began casting.

Delicately holding the end of Bubbles' limp tail, the doctor's tongue flicked at the air, and she muttered grumpily to herself. A knife appeared casually at her throat, and Ninaein spoke quietly, "Break or sprain?"

Erientyara bit the knife and spat out the shards to the side, "Break. How many times, Bubbles? I told you! You served as a claker-well. You require long term healing. Your bones are fragile! No running all over the city. No running, full stop! Eat the food I prescribe. The gain in weight hasn't -"

"Fuck her!" Bubbles sobbed, drawing in her arms to hug herself. "Not like... Sh-she meant it!"

"Oh, sweet." The salamander stroked one of her cheeks, and then surrounded her in what she thought was going to be a cuddle. Disappointment and blistering agony hit, when the dragon instead lifted her up and off the ground.

"Ow! Fuck!" Bubbles screamed as her tail dragged.

"Thief. Doors." Erientyara snarled at Ninaein, who actually did what she was asked, for once.

Avician trailed after the three of them, one hand on her sword hilt.

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Being put to bed was an ordeal that left the neko shivering, and without any tears left.

Erientyara's treatment also made Bubbles feel more than a little violated. The woman burned off her fur at the base of her tail, without asking, before crushing chalk into some cotton, and soaking it with honey.

She didn't need to ask why the bitch burnt off her fur.

Ninaein very quietly put Bubbles' crown on the bedside table, from wherever she'd stolen it this time, along with a fist-sized cup of bright red strawberries. The fuck knew where she had managed to steal those - the plague had killed them all, last that Bubbles had heard.

With those left behind, the catgirl left before Bubbles could thank her. Nina wasn't very good with those kinds of emotions.

The bunneko found a corner of the room, knelt down, and started to pray and meditate. Like she always did. Bubbles still wasn't used to it, and it had ruined the mood a couple times when she'd seen the woman in the room, when she was busy with Kaia's tail.

Whilst she hadn't heard him, Bubbles could also just see the tip of a pink tail poking out from under the edge of her bed. Knowing that Inny-Inny was making sure he was close at hand, did have her give a small smile through her pain.

The monster in the room, on the other hand, was the enormous salamander who gently sat on the end of the bed and made the wood protest like it might fall apart.

The bed had originally been designed for a human. A fat ass human, but a human, nonetheless. The craftsmen had never imagined a creature so heavy that their bones had been used in building construction, to be making use of it.

Bubbles couldn't turn her head far enough to see, and she was too terrified to even try and shift her hips. "What is the Erin doing? Bubbles gets it. She has to lie in bed and heal. She not going anywhere. Couldn't, if wanted."

"I didn't mean to upset you. I... Was frightened." Erientyara half-whispered, "I'm sorry. I should not have yelled at you."

She sniffled, "Still mad. Everything hurts. But... She doesn't hate the Erin. Never hate the Erin, anymore."

"You... You did something for me, that no one else could. Beyond..." Erientyara sounded like she was actually about to cry, "Domiowijom."

Bubbles' ears twitched back and forth, "Did... Was that dragon-tongue? Bubbles still doesn't speak it. She's sorry."

"Gave egg." Erientyara rasped weakly.

The neko gave a nervous sort of smile, "Luna gave egg. She just happy to do it, because she likes fucking Bubbles. So the Erin should thank moon goddess, not Bubbles."

"I... Losing egg... Was..." Erientyara choked as she whispered, "There is no greater pain. No greater loss. I know I shouldn't, but I felt... Ashamed. The number of times I considered simply ending, because of that... I cannot count. Do not... Trivialise this, Bubbles. For this, and only this, I would pledge my soul to your service, for eternity. I would guard your grave, a thousand years after you have passed. For this alone."

She swallowed nervously, "That would make Bubbles feel bad... She's happy for the Erin. Proud that she and Shin can have egg, now. She doesn't want to... Make the Erin do anything."

"Sharhalla would not allow such a thing. He is too proud." Erientyara stood up slowly, walking back and forth, pacing. "This gift? He will disown me, the moment he learns of it."

"No!" Bubbles said frantically, "Meant to be gift! Not bad thing! Why he get so angry at the Erin!?"

"Not angry." The woman said with a hint of frustration, "Oh, how do I say it in terms that you can comprehend? Dragons are a proud race. We do all that we do, within... A set of rules. Honour and blood. Everything is done by honour and blood."

"Bubbles... Dishonoured the Erin?" She asked fearfully.

"No. Sharhalla could not allow me to live with this honour that you have given me. It is too great a thing to be shared between just us. He..." The woman kicked the ground and made the entire room rock. "He would feel the need to give me to you. He cannot command me to become anyone's, and thus, he would end our relationship."

Bubbles let out a small whine, "She wasn't trying to steal the Erin from man she loves."

"There is no greater love!" Erientyara moved around into her view, going down on her knees in front of the neko. Tears falling down her scaled cheeks as she reached out a tentative hand and cupped Bubbles' cheek. "My soul... Is yours. Honour demands it. If it did not, then it would still be. What you have done for me... Is... Beyond anything. No greater gift has been received in the entire history of my people. I say that, confidently, without exaggeration. Dying to save my life would be... Paltry, by comparison."

Bubbles glared at her, "You waited until she couldn't run away, to have this conversation, didn't you?"

"Of course." Erientyara gave a small smile and wiped at her tears, "One must always ensure the prey is cornered, before moving in for the kill. Or... One might just be cowardly."

"One wants Bubbles to give her an egg." She glared harder, "Bubbles... Does... Not... Want... To... Be... A mother! Fuck! She's already got Shin's kitty. She gets that egg is big deal for dragon. But fuck's sake! No! She does not give her fucking consent and this is the last fucking time the Erin is allowed to ask!"

Erientyara winced, "I comprehend that. I wasn't... I would never push you for consent. That... Is disgusting. Understandable, because it is the only damn thing that I can think about, but disgusting, nonetheless. I was trying to tell you, that I am now yours. Not Sharhalla's."

"So, Bubbles now owns two things she not wanting to fuck."

"Three." Avician said quietly from her corner of the room.

"Silence!" The salamander thundered, glaring at the bunneko, before turning back and smiling at the catgirl with an agonising pain that broke her heart with guilt. "I adore you. I am yours. I swear by any god that is listening, that I will devote all of my days, to you, my king. If I fail in this, may my soul be forever damned."

Bubbles ears pulled back and she let out a terrified whine, "Erin! The fuck!? You know Luna hold you that!"

"I swore it." The salamander said testily.

"I swear witness to this vow." Avician stated calmly, as if it weren't incredibly disturbing. "May the goddess guide you, in your duty."

"Fuck off." The red salamander snarled at the bunny, and then rubbed a thumb gently on Bubbles' cheek, that she was still holding.

The neko shook her head slowly, "No. She doesn't like this. She knows it probably dragon-thing, but she really doesn't like this. She feels responsible for the Erin, and that isn't fair. She's just... She's... A streetcat! Bubbles never want responsible for anything! She's nobody!"

"You are my king." Erientyara replied gently, and then scared Bubbles further by climbing onto the bed, which threatened to bounce her fragile tail, and then curled up until the dragon was completely sealed into some kind of sphere that seemed way too small to actually contain the woman.

Bubbles couldn't see a single crack or seam to it, but she did feel an instinct to bat at the thing, and a pulsing heat rolling out from it.

"I can remove her, if it irritates you, m'lady." Avician offered with half a smile, eyes still closed and hands together as if she were meditating.

Bubbles gave an angry huff. She would have rolled over if she could, but her tail still hurt like crazy. She knew moving would result in screaming.

She settled for closing her eyes and crossing her arms, and trying to get some sleep.

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A breathless grunt was the sound that woke Bubbles up.

The minute it did, she realised that there was something solid wrapped tightly around her gut, and something small pressing into her back. Carefully avoiding her tail.

She opened one eye slowly, ready to growl at Inny-Inny for hugging her when she wanted the entire world to fuck off, until she saw exactly what had grunted.

The neko clapped her hands to her mouth and tried to stop from screaming, as the would-be assassin was lifted up into the air. Avician's sword had run through their back and out their chest, and Erientyara's teeth had closed around their throat.

There was a sickening sound, and the two divided the assassin between them. The small knife fell from the hand as the creature went limp.

Avician flicked her sword and sheathed it, tossing her hair and sneering, "Darkthorn, m'lady. Nothing to be concerned with. Empress Vanhern is merely testing our defences."

"How did they make it this far!?" Erientyara snarled, spitting into the bunneko's face, "Into the room of my king? Is that what you call an adequate defence?"

The bunny rolled her eyes and drummed one foot on the floor, "I asked the guards to allow it. I wished to see whether the assassin would merely leave a threat, or attempt to kill the queen. She was never truly at risk, dragon."

"That risk was unacceptable!" Erientyara roared, flames erupting from beneath every single one of her scales, causing black smoke to rise above the seething woman.

The paladin placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, "I have not failed in my duty. The queen was not at any risk."

Bubbles winced, "Can they not fight? She can't exactly cringe with broken tail. Hurts to try and hide."

Erientyara turned to her, "Look at the floor! This is what that bitch allowed to come within a breath of your hide! I should skin her for -"

"Bubbles is scared." Her bottom lip quivered.

Avician signalled to a nearby maid who looked like she'd been bleaching her face and not the sheets. The woman coughed nervously, and whispered, "I will... Get some help to clean, m'lady."

"Take it to the morgue. I have further investigations to perform." The paladin stated firmly, and then looked over at her queen, "You were never at risk, m'lady. I cast a shielding enchantment upon the bed, when we entered, and have been maintaining it since."

Erientyara gave an unhappy snarl, and then sighed, "I can detect the aura. The spell she speaks of, is still in place. Feels like her holy magic, as well. Luna would bite the one who breaks it."

"Yikes." Bubbles shivered, "That might have been messier than if they didn't... What they did."

"The assassin was not intended to succeed, m'lady. This was just a..." Avician waved a hand vaguely, "Thing of politics. The Empress simply wished you to know that she has not forgotten you, and does not consider you to be an ally. It doesn't mean she sees you as a threat. It is merely a polite warning to not antagonise her."

"Don't wanna be queen!" Bubbles squeezed her hands into fists, and into her eyes. "Make it go away!"

The paladin sighed, "Under these circumstances, doctor, might I suggest we violate your orders, to provide distraction so that the mind does not become as ill as the body?"

"I hate you. I will not be forgiving this situation." Erientyara declared, and then sighed, "Inny? Will you please ask the kitchen to cook a small, very small, portion of salmon, for our king? I would do it, but that would mean leaving her in the bitch's care."

"I speak Common!" Inny kissed Bubbles' cheek briefly, and then vanished from the bed, without causing it to bounce.

Bubbles blinked, and looked towards her dark-skinned bodyguard, "Um... She thinks she just realised... Has Avician ever named the Erin? Since meeting her?"

"She knows I would treat it as a challenge." The salamander sneered.

The woman gave a small incline of her head, "That is so, your grace."

She groaned and pulled the blanket over herself. She did not need the realisation of how close those two were to really fighting. She still remembered the way Avician had carved through the dragon's eye. Didn't matter that it had healed, practically overnight.

It was not comforting, and it wasn't fun to watch the two, anymore.

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"How long did her diet last? Twenty minutes?" Sana's teasing voice came from the doorway.

Bubbles pulled the blanket back, and grinned, "Sistren! She hasn't seen her in ages. What has princess been doing?"

"Trying to convince Kaia to sleep with her." Sana smirked, as she carried over a silver platter with a small porcelain plate, featuring a square of rice with a smaller square of dark red fish flesh on top of it. "Don't mind, do you?"

"Prefer her sister to find her own girlfriend." Bubbles gave a small glare, "Kaia can sleep around... But Sana should not be making habit. Sana might end up wanting to take. And Bubbles has claws."

"Mmm." Sana stepped carefully, looking at stains on the ground, before laying the platter down in front of her. "Avician is in the morgue, if you're looking for her. Woman looks... More dangerous than usual. Does Sana want to know what happened?"

"Nooooo." Bubbles shook her head, and then winced, "What about other loud one? Where's the Erin? She swore to gods to be Bubbles'. Eugh."

The other catgirl ran a hand through her own hair, pulling it over one shoulders and playfully beginning to plait it. "And...?"