Growing Acceptance Ch. 03

I stopped him before he could hang up the call. "Before you go, Joshua, I have something I want to tell you."

He paused.

I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds but I think this is something that he needs to hear.

"You know you don't have to disguise yourself from us. We're both fine with seeing you how you truly are." I felt confident at saying so for both Lexie and myself. "If you are more comfortable with the disguise, that's fine and I can accept that, but if you wish to be as you are with us, that's fine too.

Joshua stayed silent for a handful of seconds before he moved. His hands slowly traveled to the chain and drew it over his head. His black-carapaced anatomy slipped into view. He tapped the amulet speculatively as he lost himself to his thoughts. "Thanks for that, Syd. I can get a little self-conscious about how intimidating my appearance can be. To have your acceptance means a lot. Don't hesitate to let me know if I can do anything more to help out."

"You've done plenty," I assured.

He opened his mouth.

I continued before he could speak. "But yes, we will of course inform you if we think your expertise will be helpful."

"Thanks. Be safe, Syd. Lexi, it was nice to meet you, again." Joshua didn't try very hard to keep the small smirk from his face.

"Ahem," Lexi coughed. "Yes. Thanks for your assistance, Joshua. Both now and back then. I'm sorry that I wasn't in the correct... frame of mind, to offer my gratitude the first time we met."

"You can say that." Joshua looked toward me and puckered his lips in a couple of playfully mocking kisses.

I responded classily by extending my middle finger and gently scratching at my chin.

We all smiled, glad for the welcome moments of brevity during these stressful times. Still, we all had things to do. After a round of awkward farewells, we closed the call.

Lexi had a speculative look on her face when she turned toward me. "How do you do it?"

"What?"

Did I do something weird again like with Annita and her tail? What is she talking about?

"You've spent all of..." She did a few quick mental calculations. "Three hours talking with the dude and you already seem like such close friends?"

I fidgeted a little in my seat, picking at my fingernails. "I mean, sometimes you just gel with someone, you know? He's a nice dude and he helped me out when he was in trouble. It's not that strange that we're friendly."

Lexi's arm curled around my midsection and she partially pulled me onto her lap. "I'm not mad or disappointed. I'm astonished and amazed. You're incredible. And you two are friends, not just friendly, it's blatantly obvious between the both of you. It's a talent that I envy, honey."

"Oh. I've never really been that good at making friends. I mean, I have a few people online I talk to, but they're more acquaintances than friends..." I babbled, a little flustered at Lexi's praise.

Although, now that she's brought it up... I guess I have been a lot better at making those sorts of connections. First Lexi. Then there was that game night with Sam. Then soccer with Blondie and Tifa. Mocha too... I mean, Annita, but that was later. I guess she's right, I have made a plethora of friends in a relatively short amount of time.

A pleased smile unconsciously tugged my lips up. I wiggled my toes in front of the couch. My breath 'whompfed' from my chest in a rush as I was unceremoniously squeezed into a vice-like hug.

"You're too cute," Lexi squeaked into my ear.

"Too... Strong... Crushing... Me..." I ground out with what little oxygen was available to me.

"Oh, sorry," she said, not at all apologetic. Her arms relaxed but did not release me. "But you were adorable and I take no responsibility for my actions." Her expression invited a challenge. It dared me to contradict her.

I did not rise to take the bait. She was being too obvious and I was feeling sneaky. Sneaky and bold after her compliments. My hands slithered beneath the back of her shirt and around the base of her tail, understanding now from personal experience just how sensitive that junction actually was. I gave it a quick tug which made her stiffen, her arms retightened around my body. Expected something of the sort, I was able to better brace myself this time and I avoided having my lungs compressed.

I followed up my rough treatment with a few soothing strokes from the soft pads of my fingers. Lexi relaxed in short order. Her blue eyes drooped, half lidding with arousal. There was a gentle pressure that grew beneath my thighs as I continued to gently play around with the base of her tail. I kissed her nape lovingly, her erection becoming more pronounced by the second. The scent of her arousal washed over me like a welcome cloud and my body shivered in a well-trained response. It understood what sort of pleasures that scent usually preceded.

Sorry buddies, I apologized to my sexes. But unfortunately for all three of us, we don't really have time for this. The succubi should be arriving in a couple of minutes. Smirking, I placed another kiss onto Lexi's skin. But we do have time for a little bit more teasing.

I successfully managed to whip Lexi up into a near frenzy with my antics. I was less successful about avoiding the consequences of said antics myself. Which meant that now both of us would have to suffer the ache of arousal throughout this meeting.

Annita was the first to arrive. She wore a tight fitting shirt that did a wonderful job showing off her impressive physique.

The twins came next with Sariel in tow, all of them arriving in a bunch. The twins' expressions were grave while the angel's expression was full of excitement that seemed to be plastered there ever since she'd been freed from Dr. Leshey's influence.

"Syd!" She clamped onto me and started rubbing her cheek across my jaw.

It was beyond strange and oddly endearing. I nudged her with my head to create some space. It gave me all of a second free from contact that went right back to it. I succumbed to my fate and let Sariel do what she would to me.

After what was done for her, she deserves all the little pleasures we can give her.

"Awww," Lexi cooed unhelpfully. Instead of saving me, she thought it would be better to leave me to Sariel's mercy and stand back and watch.

And she will pay for that- I stiffened, my buttocks tightening suddenly with surprise. And now Sariel's groping my ass.

"Alright, that's enough from you." Sam's hand landed firmly on the angel's shoulder and inexorably pried her off of me.

"But, but, but," Sariel pouted after she stumbled back onto her feet. Her hands still reached out for me. She huffed and stamped her foot down onto the floor. "You don't need to be sour just because she lets me touch her and she won't let you do the same."

Sam's eye literally twitched and her grip on Sariel's shoulder tightened. "Why are you being such a brat?" she hissed.

"Because..." she whined. "I want to have sex with her. And I'm never going to get to, if you don't give me a chance."

Uno laughed loudly while the rest of them fell silent. I could feel the collective eyes of the group drift between me and Sariel, waiting for my response. There was nothing I could do to stop my blush. My arms curled around my stomach and I suddenly found the view of my feet enthrallingly interesting.

"Me too, kid. Me too," Sam told the childish woman sympathetically. She released Sariel who reluctantly accepted the subsequent hug with all the grace of an impatient two-year old.

Uno, still laughing, slapped her sister solidly on her back. "She got you there, sis." She received a glare of loving-hate that was only capable of being produced by a sibling while Uno directed her attention toward Sariel. "And you. You have more than a little bit of competition if you want to get into that particular set of panties."

"I knowwww," Sariel responded. "But she doesn't think I'm as much of a threat as the other two. Plus she feels sorry for me for what happened in the past. It gives me an advantage."

Uno gave her a begrudgingly impressed nod. "Damn, you're sneakier than you look. But you probably shouldn't be doing it so blatantly in front of your target." She glanced my way. "Huh, would you look at that? I guess you lucked out."

While the twins and Sariel were doing their thing, I was in the process of being saved by my lover and protector. Lexi's warmth and scent washed over me when her arms surrounded me and pulled me into her pillowy chest. It was like I'd been instantly teleported to a haven of comfort and safety only occupied by the two of us.

"You doing okay?" she whispered at a level only the two of us could hear.

"Yep. Thanks for checking. I'm gaining a level of appreciation for you succubi's unique quality of blunt charm."

"Us. You're one of us, Syd."

Right, tail and horns.

Lexi continued even as I stiffened in her arms. "You always have been. Even before you accepted Bel's gift and your body began to change towards ours. Sometime between me changing you, and you tackling an angel with a sword, you chose to accept me and I will forever be grateful for that."

The sense of her happy, emotional tears that filled her eyes washed over me as if it was my own. Velvet steel that masqueraded as biceps unintentionally tightened around me. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make our bodies press closer together until our stomachs and waists.

"You are one of us," she stated into my hair.

"I'm getting there. Or at least I'm trying to. But, Lexi, there's going to be stumbles along the way."

She snorted. "When haven't there been troubles?"

"We've had a somewhat turbulent start that only looks to get... turbulenter... Is that even a word? Whatever."

"Sure, but the good so far has outweighed the bad." Lexi said it as a statement, but I could taste the hint of uncertainty.

"The good has definitely outweighed the bad," I echoed. Rising on my toes, I captured her lips in a kiss. It was brief, but we managed to convey our feelings through that slice of affection better than we ever could with words.

I was grateful for her friend's restraint as our lips and bodies drifted away from each other without comment or teasing. We all found some seating and the meeting began in earnest. Operation: Save Belini finally had all the players assembled so that we could begin. There was even one additional player present of which none of those invited into Lexi and I's house were aware. In the corner of the room, a shadow fluttered like a drape as if it could feel the light breeze from the ceiling fan overhead.

Annita led the meeting, having trained the most for just such a scenario. This was literally her job and she had the professionalism to show for it. She made sure everyone knew everyone else before launching into an outline of the known information, both with the environment and the threats that Dr. Leshey had displayed previously. Continuing, she moved onto the main objectives.

"That brings us to the next point. Sariel?"

The increasingly bored looking woman sat up straight on the couch, her head whipping around like a sleepy student called out in a classroom. "Yes?!"

Everyone shared a chuckle at her overly loud response.

Annita smirked for a moment before continuing with her question. "Do you have anything to add about Dr. Leshey or the compound?"

"I do not, Ma'am," Sariel tacked on that last word after a significant pause.

Lexi and the twins frowned and Annita wrinkled her nose.

"I'm sorry I could not be of more help. Most of my memories of that time in my life were scrambled when Syd helped... -How did you put it, Sam?- reformat me."

Did I do something while I was under Bel's influence? That priestess state is something else. It's possible that I tried to help her with that emotional trauma by distorting her memories so they wouldn't bother her and she could move on.

I didn't have any rational explanation, but my burgeoning priestess instincts informed me I was on the right track.

"That's okay. We'd already assumed that might be the case. Please let us know if anything changes and you remember something."

"Will do, Ma'am." Sariel went to actually salute, but an embarrassed Sam caught her arm before it could reach her forehead. The succubus shook her head. Sariel was perplexed. "But that's how they do it in those movies you showed me."

"That's not real. We've talked about this."

"But they have such passion." She pumped her arm in the air like she was celebrating some victory. The pure innocence radiated around her like a summer breeze and her hair tousled and I caught a shimmer of wings not-fully present in reality flapping behind her.

The team continued their discussions, Lexi, Uno, and Sam providing most of the back and forth while Annita ran point on the entire thing. I faded into the background, content to listen to the patter. Still, I clutched at my chest, unable to stop the feeling of foreboding that grew stronger and stronger.

Something bad is going to happen during the operation.

The feeling crept into my head like something insidious. It coiled around my skull like an ephemeral snake, its ever scale rasping uncomfortably against my senses. I frowned. Something about the sensation didn't sit right, and it wasn't just the unpleasantness of the emotion itself.

It doesn't feel right because it's not mine.

The emotion was invasive and elusive, its location hard to pin down. Now that I was aware of its foreign nature, I glanced around, trying to remain surreptitious in my attempts to find it. I mentally slapped myself at my naive disregard that'd ignored the strange presence my priestess sense had been trying to inform me about for some time. Before I could make much headway, either at castigation or searching, Annita brought the meeting to a close.

"I think we've done all we can do here. Let's rendezvous the day after tomorrow at the rally point. You and I will be on transportation." Annita pointed at Lexi. "Then we'll hike to the operation site with gear, leaving her-" She turned her finger toward me. "-with a running car in case we need a quick exfil..." She trailed off as I stood up right in the middle of her speech.

I wasn't looking at her at all. My gaze was fixed beyond her to the far side of the room.

Got you.

My gaze drew the attention of the others in the room toward the space. A hiss of surprise issued from Annita's mouth and she pulled out and unfolded a wicked looking pocket knife, holding it in front of her like she knew how to use it. There was a flash of light and Sam's arms were suddenly enfolded in chrome gauntlets.

Annita's voice rang out, commanding all those assembled. "Hold! Do not offer violence until we know their intentions."

A previously unnoticed shadow in the corner swirled. A figure resolved out of the dancing darkness as a woman dropped her cloaking magic, revealing herself to everyone present. Lexi growled. Her hand darted out and pressed into my stomach, guiding me behind the bulk of her body. The woman smiled as she stepped out of the corner.

The woman was thin, unnaturally so, and portions of her body seemed hard to pin down like they didn't exist fully in this part of reality. Dark smoke dripped off those portions of her limbs like her body was constantly sublimating. A blocky script levitated an inch over her skin, but I could only catch glimpses of it as it hovered above her. She trailed a finger along the edge of her forearm and swallowed as something beneath the surface of her skin came up to meet it.

"Who the hell are you?" Lexi demanded.

"I am Artissa and I'm here on behalf of Belini's sister."

"Sendra?"

She waved her hand. "Not her. The other one. The cooler one." The shadow-clad woman waited for a moment but received no response. "You don't know yet." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "I guess that's not too surprising considering the nature of my goddess. I'm sure she'll reveal herself when she deems it appropriate."

"What are you doing here?" Lexi kept shifting her body to interpose herself between me and the moving stranger.

"I came to help with your little incursion." Quick as a snake, Artissa slipped around the room, hovering for a moment before her next lurching dash. "Not an altogether bad plan. However, if I might make some suggestions..." She fixed her pitch-black eyes on me and cocked her head to the side with speed that wasn't human.

I shivered and Lexi growled again. Holding my ground, I set my hand on my succubus' muscular shoulder, her skin warm beneath my touch. She settled but remained alert. I let my hand fall as my mind raced to try to keep staring at the woman. Something about her unnerved my gaze, prompting me to keep from looking directly at her.

"You'll want her there with you when you make the assault." A thin finger topped with a grey nail pointed my way.

Lexi and I responded at the same time. "Absolutely not." "Why?"

Those eyes never left mine. "I... can't tell you that." Artissa seemed genuinely troubled by that fact. She continued, answering my next question before I could ask it. "I can't tell you because my goddess wants to see if you have what it takes to tackle the defenses of the compound and claim what is held there. I do wish you the best. You seem like nice people in the time I've been observing you."

"How long have you been stalking us?"

"Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it?" She bounced her eyebrows twice before winking.

My succubus wasn't about to let Artissa's advice go without contestation. "Do you want her there so that you can swoop in and save her after she's threatened by some danger that you put there?"

Logic never is her strong suit when she gets all protectory like this.

Lexi's knuckles popped like over-taut threads. One after another, the snaps rang out threateningly into the room. A dusky pattern of tribal tattoos flickered across her skin.

Artissa appeared unconcerned by the accusation. "That's not my style." Her eyelids hooded sultrily. "And she's not my type." The woman slipped through the air like smoke, closing the distance between them surprisingly quickly. She dragged the back of her fingers across Lexi's jawline. "You, however, Miss tall, dark, and muscley, are exactly my type." Her ears flicked as she slid around Lexi in a full circle like she was riding a cloud.

Once she'd completed the circuit, she darted back before Lexi's angry grasp could restrain her. The succubus' eye twitched with anger and another flicker of the dusky tattoos crossed her skin.

Artissa's lips quirked into a smug smirk. "Take my advice." She shrugged. "Or don't. I don't care and it's not my job to convince you, only to inform you. And, having done that, I'll be off." The wraith-like figure glanced sideways at Lexi. "Unless..."

Lexi's growl was sub audible, and the only answer Artissa was going to get. I'd been moving my hand closer to my girl, but the scene had the quality of a dream in that, no matter how I struggled, I still only moved at the pace of dripping molasses. Finally, I managed to touch her shoulder and impart what support I could, willing her not to give in to her anger and do something we would regret.

"Jeesh. That's a strong reaction. And, I must say, it's really doing it for me. Are you sure I can't convince you to..."

The rumble that issued from Lexi's chest vibrated my spine.

Artissa shivered, and it certainly wasn't in fear or submission. And, if I was being honest, her thin, shadowed style when combined with her feckless attitude wasn't exactly unattractive to me. I could see the appeal of Lexi and I taking her to bed and bringing her to heel, one forced orgasm at a time. My hand was idly stroking at Lexi's shoulder as I pressed myself firmly into her taut back muscles. The thought of the three of us together didn't strike me with worry the way it might've even a short time ago.