Familiar with Benefits Ch. 01-06

"Sure sure," she said with a wink. "But seriously, I'm so bored. We have to do something."

"We can't! You have to-"

"We have a pact, you dumb slut."

"Yes! And you can't do anything that would expose yourself or me! So you're stuck here until we figure something out."

"We don't get to uphold it when it's convenient for us. You realize that, right? If you intend on breaking it-" she held out her clawed hand, and it radiated a black smoke, "I can send you to the abyss too."

"It's not my fault our pact is worded so poorly! This puts us in an impossible situation! Be reasonable!"

"I bet you wish you'd just summoned a cockroach instead, huh."

"You know what?" he shouted. "I'm starting to wish exactly that!"

"Bet it makes you really happy to imagine me as a tiny bug, huh?" She put her hands on her hips and walked up to him, puffing out her chest. "Probably you're one true desire."

"In this moment, yes! That would have been ideal!"

"Perfect. Enjoy your bath, bitch." It only took a fraction of a second for her to transform into a small cockroach and skitter under the door.

"Kiu!" He threw open the door. "Kiu you-" Several other initiates were looking at him. He gave an awkward laugh and slipped back into his room.

He wished he was more comfortable swearing. He gave it a try but only managed to sound like a gas leak. Having exhausted all his options for verbal outbursts, he gathered up his bath supplements and made his way to the bathing hall.

The bathing hall was one of the newer buildings within the keep. It was gifted to them by a gnomish engineer as thanks for negotiating a better contract for designing a city's sewer system. Not long ago, a bath was pouring a cold, soapy bucket of water over one's head. The warm baths, while not in aesthetic keeping with the premise, were a welcome addition.

The bath hall doubled as a sort of sauna. Upon entering, you were greeted by the hiss of steam and the smell of bath salts with an earthy hint of mushroom. The steam was so thick it was difficult to see more than a few feet in front of you. It was designed as a shared space, so everyone appreciated the thin layer of privacy the steam provided. It was also no small secret that this was a favorite hookup spot for many of the cultists.

The baths themselves were made of polished ceramic and built into the floor. A few dozen were equally spaced around the room, with enough space to walk comfortably between each. A crank was affixed to each one that, when turned, would allow water to rise up or drain through a hole in the center of the tub. Even to abyss summoners, this was viewed as magical.

A funny silence hung in the air as Ryg traipsed through the dense steam. The kind of silence that only comes from someone desperately trying not to be heard. The kind where the rippling to water could be attributed to wind, or a quick breath may just be a steam emission. Ryg was sore and felt disgusting, so he paid it the bare amount of attention.

"Hello?" he said, trying to sound cheerful. When there was no response, he didn't investigate any further. It was midday, and most people bathed in the early morning or late evening. There was generally one other reason people used the bath house around this time, and having been surprised by masturbation enough for the time being, he didn't want to press his luck by looking around.

He drew himself a nice steamy bath and stripped down. Gingerly, he descended into the water, immediately feeling a sense of absolution. The grime of the last few days was cleansed by healing bath salts. He leaned back, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and lost himself in the pleasant sensation. It felt good. Too good...

A snippet of his encounter with Kiu flashed in his mind, followed by a familiar tingle. His face crinkled as he tried to focus on something else. It was no use. He was just glad no one could see what was happening underwater. He concluded there must still be poison in his system. He wondered what soap blend was best for removing shame.

He let his head fall back and opened his eyes, expecting to see a steamy ceiling.

Úll was standing behind him, silently glaring down at him.

"Gah! What the heck, Úll?!" He jumped to the other end of the tub, clutching the edge.

She stood there naked and dripping, her arm covering her breasts. She looked more gaunt than normal. Her usual tightly wound blond hair had become a tangled mass, and her eyes had seemed more sunken and black. Her skinny, pale body was sharply contrasted by bright red cuts and purple welts that covered her throughout.

"Endless night!" he exclaimed, "What happened to you? Are you alright?"

She didn't respond and continued to glare at him.

"Úll?"

"You know," she finally said, "I really didn't think you had it in you."

"Excuse me?"

"A buy-in like you controlling a greater imp." She let out an uneasy laugh and rounded the tub. "It sounds absurd to say it out loud, really. Yet here you soak. Uncut. Unbruised. I just had to see it for myself."

"Did your imp do that to you?! Why have you not banished it?!"

"And lose to you? You'd like that, huh?"

"It's not a contest. You-"

"I should have known," she sharply interrupted, "the whole nervous nice boy thing was an act. I just don't know why you bothered for so long."

"I don't-"

"Please," she said, growing serious, "don't insult me. These things are controlled through cruelty and fear. You must be doing something pretty fucked up to keep a shape changer in line. I can't imagine what Dys did to get her's to wear a sweater."

"Really, we just... get along." He hated his phrasing.

"Oh, shut the hells up," she said, dropping her hand and fully exposing her small breasts. She squatted and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You can drop the act."

Ryg avoided looking at her fully naked body the way one instinctively avoids looking directly into the sun. It's not that he found her unattractive; in fact, she had a knobbyness about her that he actually quite liked. He knew that he'd see everything if he dropped his gaze even slightly. He focused intensely on her cold eyes.

She smirked. "See, I knew you were a man of focus."

"Look, I don't know what you're getting at with all this. But seriously, you should see the town healer before-"

"Stop mocking me!"

"I'm not mocking you! I'm bathing!"

She let out a frustrated growl before quickly looking over her shoulder. "We don't have to be enemies here."

"What-"

"We should be teaming up."

"I don't follow."

"To take down Dys."

The two stared at one another. The silence was as thick as the steam in the room.

"What do you mean by-"

"Fucks sake! I can't do it alone, alright? I did all the difficult research on those glyphs! I figured out most of the modifications! She hardly did anything, and yet she has total dominance over her imp! And you. You just copied our work! But somehow, with minimal prep, you managed to summon a shaper changer that you can actually control!"

"Úll listen-"

"No, you listen!" she hissed. "Do you think this ends with your blackhood? Do you have any idea of the politics once you ascend? Of course you don't! You're fucking buy-in."

His face soured.

"Be as mad as you like, I'm still right." She seemed to be delighting in the nerve she'd struck. "But if you'd rather be a bottom-feeding little-"

"S-stop."

"-worm that never accomplishes anything then-"

He stood from the tub, fists clenched. "Shut up!"

Úll fumbled back and landed on her rear. "Make me."

"What?"

"Make me," she panted. Her face was flushed. She shifted awkwardly, exposing herself to him fully.

"What in darkness-"

"Shut this little cunt up, Ryg. I know you want to." Her eyes flickered to his lower region and back.

He looked down. He was hard. Very hard. Looking back to Úll, she eagerly squirmed and bit her lip.

Kiu's advice about listening to his cock and not his panicked body echoed in his mind. He wondered if this was even real. Was he still dreaming?

Slowly, carefully, he moved toward her. He reached the edge of the tub, taking in the full sight of her. The nipples atop her perky breasts stood erect. She moved her slender hand along the inside of her bruised thigh toward the blond mound atop her sex. He cupped his hands and lowered himself before her. Water pooled into his hands.

He splashed her in the face.

"What the fuck?!" She yelled, falling backward and spitting out bath water.

Ryg had already grabbed his clothes and made for the door.

"Nope, nope, nope," he mumbled to himself as he threw his clothes on. Still dripping, he burst into the drafty hallway, garnering a few looks and jests from his fellow cultists. He took a deep breath and made for his room.

He moved with a calm and focused gate. He was determined not to fly into his room in another panic and prove Kiu right. Despite his collected, albeit wet appearance, his heart and mind were racing.

He reached his door, collected himself, and pushed in. Kiu was absent. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He decided to hope for the best and enjoy his brief respite.

He sat down at his writing desk and let out a long sigh. He looked down at the protrusion in his robe.

"How long is that poison going to last?" he groaned, sneering at his erection. "And what in the endless abyss even was that?!" He muttered several possible theories to himself, not committed to any of them.

"I should write some of this down." He finally said to himself. He grabbed several sheets of parchment and his writing utensils and got himself situated. Quill in hand, he pressed it to the parchment to record his thoughts.

His mind went back to the bathhouse. Back to a naked Úll. What if he had listened to Kiu's advice? She looked meek and eager. He could have lept atop her, pinning her by the wrists. Pressing a kiss hard against her lips, if only to shut her up. Thrusting his-

He shook himself from the fantasy, nearly falling out of his chair. He was so hard it hurt.

"Focus," he growled and forced himself to write a very dry introduction sentence.

But she had been so wet. He'd seen it up close. He could have shown her. Maybe then she'd respect him. He could have-

He slammed his head onto the desk. "That's not healthy! That's something a monster would think to do! Gah!"

He pushed away from his writing desk, his chair screeching loudly across the floor. His leg bounced anxiously. He pressed his palm into his face and looked at the throbbing tent between his legs.

"Maybe I just need to... take care of this." Hesitantly, his hand moved toward his problem.

There was a rapping on the door.

"Ryg?" called Dys, "Ryg open up, we need to talk."

TO BE CONTINUED...