Growing Acceptance Ch. 02

Spoiler Tags: Futanari, HH, Succubus, Goddess, Golem, Adventure, Transformation, MtH, Male to Futa, Futa

"What do you think dear?" I asked Lexi, my lips practically tickling her ear as I formed the words.

Our arms were around each other's shoulders, linking us together and allowing us to whisper our conversation such that it would, hopefully, not be overheard by the visiting goddess Sendra.

She clenched her jaw, the tightened muscles visible from where they ran under her ear to her chin. "I'm... not sure."

"We should go for it. If Belini's in trouble, and I think she is, then we owe it to try to free her." I paused for a moment, recalling my foray into Sariel's mind, and the vision showed to me of Lexi dying. "She helped us and if we can do the same..."

My succubus sighed, a forlorn expression crossing her face. "Okay. I agree with you." Tilting her head, she placed a kiss on my cheeks. "But, we're going to do this right. Full planning and preparation. We're not going off half-cocked and getting someone hurt."

"Roger that. Full cocked or not at all."

My joke brought a sliver of a smile to her face. 'Love you' she mouthed to me before turning to the patiently waiting goddess. "Okay. We'll do it."

"Excellent. I thought you might agree. There are three things you'll need to overcome in order to rescue my erstwhile sister, as is proper. First you'll need to find the hideout of the enigmatic scientist Dr. Leshey, a man who vanished more than a few years ago."

My fingernails bit into my palm as I clenched my fists, but otherwise showed no reaction to the name.

"Then, once that task is done, you'll need to overcome the guardians that will no doubt be there to dissuade unwanted visitors. Finally, once the base has been found and the minions vanquished, you must ferret out the hidden vault. Inside you will find my sister's soul gem. Liberate it and bring it to me and I'll take care of the rest." Her wings fluttered as she casually picked at the nonexistent dirt under her immaculate fingernails. "And as easy as that, my sister will be liberated."

"That hardly sounds easy," I said with a heaping helping of disdain.

My succubus wrapped her arms around me and I leaned back onto her upper half. "But it does sound doable Syd. If this is something you wish to pursue," she murmured into my ear.

A thread of something, some sort of disquiet, rang out in her tone, magnified by the refined senses of my priestess form. Ignoring the goddess in front of me, I focused on Lexi. Rotating in her arms on the couch, I turned my head so my temple pressed into her cheek.

When I spoke it was quiet enough that I hoped Sendra couldn't hear. "Something is bothering you."

Lexi flinched. It wasn't much but it was more than enough for me to pick up on and extrapolate.

You are afraid... But of what?

I tasted her acrid sweat, coming to a quick and easy conclusion.

"I will be fine. We cannot live our lives in fear of what may happen. I will do what's right, and you will not keep me safe in a cage of bubble wrap. That's not who I am." Her arm was soft and pebbled with goosebumps after I gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Lexi responded with an unexpectedly shy smile, as if I'd caught her in the midst of something naughty. She leaned in closer and spoke loud enough that I'm sure our visitor could hear it. "I will never apologize for caring for you and for working to keep you safe."

"Nor would I expect you to," I chuckled. "It would be entirely hypocritical considering my feelings for you. Are we still in agreement that we should do this?"

Her lips mussed up my hair with a planted kiss. "You're right. You often are," she said, mostly to herself than to me. "Of course we should rescue Belini. Even if we weren't the beneficiaries of her assistance, it would be wrong to let anyone languish in the possession of a man such as you've described in Dr. Leshey."

The angelic woman smiled an aristocratic smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Seeing as we're all in agreement, I believe I'll be going. No need to linger around, even if it is amusing to watch the two of you dance."

"Dance?" I asked, peeling my torso away from Lexi's with a fair amount of reluctance.

An amused smile met my question. Sendra rose to her feet and gave a brief swish of her hips in an impromptu two-step. "Of course the world is a dance. Relationships, choices, feelings, all of these are the results of dances both big and small. And, if you have the eyes to see it-" She tapped her temple significantly. "Anyone can begin to read the choreography to see what's coming." Her eyebrows bounced high and she rolled her shoulders and upper back in a quick stretch. "I've provided you your quest. As always, what you do with that information is up to you. For my part, I need to track down my sister." She laughed at my look of confusion. "My other sister. She likes to keep to herself, but there's something stirring in the background. Some onlooker that seeks to disrupt our collective party and change our dancing tune. Au revoir, sweet things. Don't forget me and good luck with my sister." She blew me a kiss and then was gone, her presence drifting away like flower petals on the wind.

Lexi and I held our breaths for a long minute, eyes slowly surveying to see if anything more was forthcoming before our sphincters unclenched and we could relax. The tattoos dripped from my body like fingerpaint in the rain. In their place a tiredness settled into my brain, a thick mental fog that gummed up thoughts, slowing them to a slothful pace.

Lexi opened her mouth to say something, probably an immediate discussion on how we wished to handle the list Sendra had given us, but upon seeing the look on my face, closed her mouth with a pop. Without speaking a word, she scooped me from the couch and carried me to our bed where she tucked me in.

I lay there, blinking a bit while my brain continued to chop up and organize the deluge of information we'd received today.

Sendra...

Priestess...

Aspects...

Wings...

I failed to notice, but Lexi managed to get a plate of spaghetti into my hand and a movie playing on the television. Blinking, my fork was halfway to my mouth when I froze and looked over to my succubus. She gave me a reassuring smile around her own fork and sent a half-handed wave my way. I smiled back and finished my bite, my brain gradually catching up to speed with the world around me.

"I'm back."

"You okay? My muscles always ache something fierce after it happens to me," she informed me with an absentminded rubbing of her shoulder, her body responding to the remembered pain.

"I never knew."

White spread across her lips when she pinched them in a small frown. "I didn't want you to know. And the times it's happened have usually been fairly charged, emotionally speaking."

"You can say that again," I thought remembering the soccer match. My hand dipped to my crotch when I recalled the experimentation and the animalistic fucking that came after.

The way she bent me over and pressed me against the countertop... Hmmm.

Hips shifting involuntarily, I bit my lip in a carelessly sultry manner. I took another bite, chewed and swallowed before looking over at my girlfriend.

She had a gigantic shit-eating grin on her face that made me acutely self-conscious.

"What?" I asked in an abnormally high-pitched voice.

"You're just adorable," she replied smugly.

I threw a chunk of garlic bread at her.

She deftly plucked it out of the air and popped it into her mouth. "Stop that Syd. You'll get crumbs everywhere," she said around the mouthful of savory carbs. Despite her words, she held up her hand and gestured for another.

I obliged and again she snatched it and stuffed it into her mouth. We repeated this a few more times until I was out of bread at which point we both dissolved into a series of giggles. After a minute or so, my laughter petered out and I was left with the looming monument of the task left to us. Head dropping, I pushed the last of my spaghetti around the plate, facing the reality of the 'quest' without the shield of surety provided by my priestess transformation.

"I don't know if I can do this, Lexi. You're so confident and strong... This is somewhat bigger than anything I've ever done before." I set the plate aside and pulled my knees up to my chest. "And it's important. If I screw this up... What do you think? Should we have turned Sendra down?" I trusted her to give me her honest opinion, regardless of how it might chip at my pride to hear it.

Only, when I looked at her, she seemed as troubled as me.

She chewed on her tongue, searching for words or courage, I wasn't sure, her eyes locked onto the fluffy tangled comforter at our feet. Eventually, her head rose. "You're not the only one who worries," Lexi admitted slowly in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

I stilled, not wanting to interrupt her upon seeing the effort it took her to make that admission.

She pulled the blanket into her lap and began to fiddle with it. "I feel like I have to be strong for you. I mean, I dragged you into this dangerous world. Then I let you get kidnapped..." Her forearms bulged with muscle as she beat herself up internally over the failure.

I ached to comfort her but I could see she was not done with what she wanted to say.

"It chews me up inside. So much so that I want to spend all my time training and all my time hovering around you like a protective mother bird." A sharp, humorless, barking laugh slipped from her gut. She tossed the edge of the blanket from her feet back onto the bed, drawing her knees up against her chest, unintentionally mirroring my pose.

Offering my hand was my way of providing support without getting in the way of what she was trying to say. Taking it, our hands lay between us. I gave it a squeeze that she returned.

"I never thought I could feel so lost. Everything had been so sure in my life. I was sure of what I was going to do. I was sure that I would follow in my mother's footsteps. I was sure I was gonna find a woman to love."

"In a way you have." I cupped my breast with my free hand, lifting it up and letting it fall against my chest in an attempt to cheer her up.

Crickets.

Frustrated and lost, Lexi's shoulders slumped. "Just another way everything went off the rails when I did that terrible thing to you."

"You know I've already forgiven you for that Lexi."

"You're so kind and forgiving and inquisitive. Which is all the more reason I need to do right by you."

I squeezed my hand that was interlaced with hers in an attempt to reassure. "You have."

"I really haven't." She turned to look at me and I could see the tears glistening in her brilliant blue eyes. "I've been trying to build this image in your head that I'm this confident, strong woman. Someone who is steadfast in the face of any problem. But I've been faking it. I'm such a fraud."

I opened my mouth but closed it again without saying anything.

"You don't need a protector. I don't need to be that person. That's demeaning to you and the person you've shown yourself to be. You need a partner who can bear your burdens and share their burdens in turn. Which I will do better with. I promise." Her tail snaked around my waist and pulled my hip up against hers. "Starting right now." Her thumb rubbed across the back of my hand. "I'm scared, Syd. I'm scared about this task and these goddesses. This... 'quest' they have presented to us and what it could mean if we should stumble. I'm worried that I'm not strong enough to save myself, and how that would hurt you if I was gone." It was reassuring to see the fear be replaced by determination on her face, like streaming sunlight peeking through dark storm clouds. "Syd, I want to teach you how to protect yourself. That way if anything goes wrong you have a line of defense if I'm occupied. Also, it will be a good way to get some exercise. Plus I can show you how-"

"Lexi, you can stop with the hard sell. I'm in. I would love to learn some self-defense from you."

She smiled that special smile of hers that I thought of as mine, the one she reserved only for me, and my heart melted in my chest to paint my ribs in a nice even coating of love.

"Besides, it sounds fun," I admitted off-handedly.

"That's surprising."

"How so?"

"You just don't seem the sort to revel in violence Syd."

"It's not about hurting anyone, it's about learning what this new body can do. About feeling the burn of muscles but to work and the feeling of accomplishment that comes from that. About learning new things. I love to learn new things. All my friends used to complain about school being a waste of time, but I never thought that way."

"School never really clicked with me. I always felt like I could learn more by doing than sitting in a classroom." A bemused smile crossed her face. "Although, with my mother being who she is, I still had to work hard and do well in school."

"I can imagine." I shivered. "I would not want to disappoint your mother."

She wrapped me up in a half hug. "Hey, she's not so scary." Wincing, she punched my arm lightly. "Although I will admit that the way you two met was... Less than ideal."

"That's putting it mildly." I paused for a moment and looked over at her. "We good? I get some physical training, you're not a perfect being, and we will both work together to try to free Belini... As well as try to worry less and enjoy the moments we have together more," I summarized, counting the items off on my fingers.

Her tail reached up and ruffled my head. "Sounds good to me. And, speaking of enjoying the moment..."

I groaned. "You and your cheesy segues."

"I have a game we can play," she finished, heedless of my interruption. "The only question being: Do you want to be the hunter? Or the hunted?" At her first question she materialized a thin black blindfold, at her second she held up a pair of delicate-looking nylons with a cross-hatched pattern.

Considering the question carefully, I looked at both the objects. "Now, this is just for fun, right? No un-edictable mystery requests this time?"

Lexi rolled her eyes before answering. "Just for fun."

"Still don't know why you did that," I muttered to myself. Reaching out I snatched the pair of nylons from her hand.

When it comes down to it, I just love the feeling of her chasing me. It makes me feel valued and desired.

Like every garment Lexi had crafted for me, it was soft, comfortable and just my size, slipping up my legs with silken ease. Walking over to the switch on the wall, Lexi plunged the room into darkness. And in doing so, revealed the secret of the nylons.

They glowed in the dark.

Emitting a feathery white light from the crisscrossing threads that had moments before seemed like a certain black. They elevated the quality of my legs, previously I'd thought them to be simple but elegant.

But now they were-

"Exquisite," Lexi said from the darkness across the room, finishing my thought for me. The white light made my skin seem to glow, the effect of which made my legs look like they were wrapped in gossamer wings. I stroked the soft fabric, my eyes wide with wonder. Coming up mid-thigh, I marveled at the nylon's appearance while bending and extending them

"So, I just try to avoid you?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the shifting grace the once simple looking fabric gave me.

"Yep. Once I put the blindfold on, I shouldn't be able to see anything other than the nylons, and even that will be restricted to about a meter or so."

"Ah, so we both have to use sound to track the other until we get close enough." My eyes darted across the darkness of the room, trying to remember the location of everything. The pace of my heart was already starting to rise as I realized that I had no idea where Lexi was when she wasn't talking.

This is thrilling.

I scooched to the side, using the meager light to help me avoid hitting anything.

"That's the idea. You try to avoid me, and I try to catch you. And once I do... Well I think we both know what happens then."

The location of her voice told me that she hadn't moved from near the light switch. "Sounds like we both want me to lose, what's my incentive to try to avoid you?"

She laughed, but this time it came from closer and my heart rate spiked, eyes darting around trying to make out her shape in the darkness. "As if your pride and competitiveness would let you do anything other than your best."

Damn, she knows me too well. Was hoping I could get a few concessions out of her like having her do the dishes and laundry for a week. Also, she sounds closer, I should be careful.

I tried to keep my voice quiet in an attempt to keep her from locating me. "Alright, seems like a fun idea. When do we start?"

"We already have."

A hand darted out of the darkness, only felt by the air it disturbed as Lexi lashed out in an attempt to grab me. An involuntary laugh, full of excitement and adrenaline, bubble out of my lips as I hurried away from where I thought the arm might have come from. I could hear her as she stumbled on the edge of the bed and onto the mattress, giving me a precious moment to stealthily slink away, my arms outstretched in an effort to keep from running face-first into a wall. A grin was plastered to my face and I had to fight to keep from laughing as my mind was struck by the absurdity of the situation.

"How do you come up with things like this?" I asked.

It's a calculated risk, but with the emitted light from the nylons, soft though it is, I should have the advantage in navigating. If I can get her to talk, I can keep moving to stay out of her grasp. Although, that advantage disappears if she gets close enough to see the glow through her blindfold.

"You're happy when you play games with me. I like seeing you happy. Ipso facto, keep providing you with games and you keep being happy with me."

Awww. Although her voice sounded dangerously close. I shouldn't answer until I'm at a safer-

The hint of a shape in the dark was my only warning. I danced away on the balls of my feet at the same moment that Lexi's tail darted out and glanced off my ankle. Pinching my lips, I managed to contain my nervous laughter.

"Darn, almost had you there," Lexi stated amusedly. Her swipe had originated from close to the floor.

She's probably crawling around on all fours so she doesn't have to get so close to see the light from the nylons. Clever girl.

I remained silent, using my hands to walk myself quietly around the love seat and over to the end table by our bed.

"Don't go quiet on me now," she crooned menacingly, her voice growing louder.

Is she trying to scare me by increasing her volume or is she actually getting closer?

I didn't take her bait and continued to quietly shuffle around the bed. My chest was working overtime in an effort to keep my muscles supplied with oxygen, the tension running through my body was tight with anticipation. Keeping my eyes open to where I thought she might be.

If I can keep the bed between us she'll have to wander around blind-

My smile grew even more brilliant as an idea occurred to me. A naughty, dirty, underhanded sort of idea.

I love it.

Understanding it would take a bit of finagling to pull off, I decided to go for it. Reaching out, I placed a hand on the comforter and started to ease it from the bed. It made a little more noise than I wanted.