How to Train Your Orkhai Ch. 06

...That was just fine. Just this once.

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She had to be the luckiest girl in the world, hugging the gorgeous, kind catgirl she had the delight of calling her girlfriend. Her girlfriend! In truth, it was still hard to fully believe that fact, or everything else that'd happened these last few weeks - but even if it was just a dream, this was a moment for Tarai to treasure...

Lanica's subtle, happy purring vibrated softly again Tarai's chest, never having stopped ever since she started work on those shoulders - in and of itself it'd been enough to make the orkhai coo a bit, but when those fluffy ears had started twitching the way they'd been for a while now? Tarai nearly melted into a puddle of orkhai squees. She never quite did, however - staying focused on her work had been far too important!

"Today must've been so hard on her - it was like everything in her'd tightened up into boiled leather," she mused, never quite having felt anyone like that. Or was it because of neglect...? Wasn't it normal to help others like this where Lanica came from...? "...At least I've been taught well!" the orkhai noted happily, sneaking in another little peck on the beastkin's neck.

A little squeeze of Lanica's hands drew her from her thoughts and towards one of the neko's eyes looking over her shoulder. "...Very, very nice, Magic Hands..." her girlfriend sighed contently. "You really weren't kidding, were ya? 'S like an angel descended from the heavens and carried off all of my pain..."

Tarai could only blush, sitting up slightly as their hands let go and the neko began to turn underneath her. "If y-you ever want more of t-this, I'd be honoured to..." she stammered, freezing slightly when her girlfriend's slender fingers cupped her chin.

"Rai-Rai..." Lanica cooed, the new pet name making Tarai gasp, "don't be so humble. With hands like that, it'd be my honour - just imagine what those girls'll be able to do after a nice manicure..."

Now Tarai was a bit lost. "...Um, what is that? Cured of what?" the sheepish orkhai asked, uncertain but certainly curious.

Rolling her eyes, the smirk on her face didn't fade whatsoever. "We're getting ahead of ourselves, I guess - let's just leave that as a surprise for later," she replied, her chuckling rather undermining the exasperation she tried to exude. Letting go of Tarai with a quick peck that left the tall girl flustered, it was the devious glimmer in her eyes as she looked up that really made her Tarai swallow. "Dont'cha think you missed a spot...?"

Missed a spot? "D-did I? This is how we always do it back ho- Oh, your legs!" Tarai gasped as realisation flashed in her mind, ready to get started.

Lanica didn't even need to speak for the orkhai to know she was very, very wrong. A big, knowing grin and the catgirl's hands travelling across her own body with exaggerated slowness got the message across quite well - and when they pressed that large, shapely chest, there was absolutely no room for misinterpretation left at all.

"Oh," the half-elf gulped. This... wasn't what she'd planned a massage meant for easing tension to lead to! Even with how blatantly the catgirl wanted this, it was hard for the tall girl to bring up the courage to give her what her lover desired... With Lanica smiling that gorgeous smile as she so often did, however, Tarai could almost feel her hesitation melting away. A bit, anyway. "O-okay, if it'll make y-you feel good!"

Trying to be confident, the little jitters in her hands rather undermined it all - but they didn't stop her hands from brushing against those soft tits and cupping their sides. Their impressive size, their fair, flawless skin, their subtly seductive jiggling as she touched them - each of them alone would've gotten Tarai excited, but all these properties at once? Biting on her lip was all she could do to prevent a tiny, pathetic moan from slipping out!

"These never get a-any less... stunning..." the orkhai praised earnestly, gently kneading that neko rack a few times before that approving smirk made her that much more brazen. It'd been so hard to take her eyes off those stiff little nubs standing proud like crowns, and she wasn't going to ignore them any longer!

"I'd hope not - they're my pride!" the neko huffed playfully, pressing her chest forward into those eager hands that bit harder, "...Well, one of many prides. At least twenty percent, I supp- ohhh!" Lanica cooed when the half-elf took the massage one step further and began nibbling on her tender tits. "Someone's getting brave!"

Her cheeks as red as a ruby, the self-conscious did absolutely nothing to stop them from hollowing as Tarai sucked and kissed and licked and worshiped every inch that she could. And still, despite her excitement, she was so careful, deathly afraid of squeezing too hard or leaving a hickey. Judging by the fingers intertwining with her dreads and Lanica's ceaseless purring, however, her approach was working wonders! "You - mwah - are - mwah - b-beautiful..." she whispered between heartfelt kisses, rubbing her face between those magnificent catgirl tits and wondering if this was what nirvana was really like.

"I know," her answer came, smugly and yet - to Tarai - entirely deservedly. "Mmmhhmmm... We really gotta keep practising this - soon enough you'll be able to make a girl melt into a puddle by simply touching her like this..."

A thrilled shiver shot down the orkhai's spine - the neko's approval felt good, and the thought of getting that good at something sounded like music to her ears! "I-I'll be a good student!" she promised, pulling back slightly to look Lanica in the eyes.

"Of course you will." Lanica delivered her reply so matter-of-factly as if it was the most obvious fact in the world - which Tarai thought was a good thing. Probably...? "But for now, I think the realm's prettiest orkhai's gonna go down further and show me what she can do." Slender fingers guided the half-elf's head back to look the neko directly in her sultry eyes. "You'll do that for me, won'tcha...?"

She'd always been told everything was possible if she put her mind to it... but saying no right now? Utterly impossible. She didn't trust her words not to come out as a flustered, garbled mess and so let her actions speak for her instead - by beaming a coy smile and giving that lovely chest one final kiss.

Moving down with a deliberate slowness, Tarai's nose brushed against Lanica's smooth, fit stomach as she peppered the neko's skin with her lips, taking in the softness and the occasional scars alike - both a part of the catgirl and thus a part of who she loved.

Her hands reached her lover's thighs before her face did, and found them opening without even needing to do that for Lanica, paving the way for her to reach her goal - and what she saw made her gasp. It was hard to overstate just how ready the catgirl's pussy looked between thin rivulets of excitement that'd leaked down those thighs, or the rosy-red swollenness... It was hard to imagine something more tempting at that moment!

"A happy ending after all..." she heard her girlfriend murmur, and Tarai's brow furrowed slightly. "A happy ending to the day?...But I'm just beginning...?"

Breathing deeply, the catgirl's aroused scent made her decide to leave her confusion aside - there was something far more important at hand, after all! Leaning in as her tongue slowly slid from her lips, she could see the neko's thighs twitch just the tiniest bit, hear her breathing in with subtle excitement, feel her fingers guide the orkhai's head closer - each that much more blatant as Tarai closed the inches until her tongue was a hair's breadth away...

Before the tension between them could burst into a display of sapphic desire, something in the fire actually burst, making the half-elf forget what she was doing as she hurriedly looked at her side in alarm. "The food, I forgot!" she yelped, scooting over the fire quickly to try and salvage a meal both of them could really use.

Focused as she was on the salvaging, Tarai entirely missed the way the absolutely dumbstruck neko's jaw dropped, that stare of disbelief, the unspoken resignation as Lanica eventually just hugged her knees again, the mood well and truly killed for her by some food that just couldn't wait a few more fucking minutes.

It'd better be good, or Tarai would face a second storm this day...

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Okay, it was good - much more than good, in fact! "Thish ish amazing!" Lanica awed with a mouthful of crispy mushroom, toasted to perfection and falling apart so delightfully with a bite. Scarfing down the steamed, juicy fish that carried the herbs and the leaf wrapping's subtle flavour so well, the very aroma quite the pleasant experience to her sensitive nose, the neko could've hugged herself in joy had she any less self-control...or a plate of food on her lap.

Her sense of table manners overwhelmed by sheer hunger and the amazing smell alike, Lanica cared about as much as the fish' oil staining her fingers and even dripping down her wrists as Tarai seemed to - that was to say, not very much. Not that this was a particularly formal dinner, admittedly. Cutlery wasn't something they'd packed, so who cared if she had to lick her fingers from time to time? Tarai was clearly used to eating like this, given that she could pluck the fish apart in a way that looked almost graceful!

The girl honestly made for pleasant company around the fire, happily eating her cooking and sipping that same broth that kept beckoning the neko, compelling her to sample the heartwarming goodness that tasted even better than it smelled again and again - she was already on her third cup, and it still made her shiver in delight!

Tarai for her part focused less so on the food, and far more so on the catgirl's face as she searched for approval. Under most other circumstances Lanica wouldn't have been quite so quick to give it... but she couldn't truly hide this glee even if she tried. "...I'm glad you like it," the half-elf said with a shy, yet proud little smile. "Small blessing that the right herbs grew nearby!"

Screw it - if Tarai wanted to feel proud right now Lanica was going to let her. "It's not like she didn't earn it, anyway," she mused, before biting down on another crispy bit of fungal heaven, so tasty as to send a shiver down her spine that grew into unabashed swaying with her tail. "You've got to tell me, where'd you even learn to do this?" her curiosity boiled over between bites, a playful undercurrent in her voice. "Didya apprentice at some classy tavern without telling me? If you did, I oughta interrogate you to see what else you've kept from me!"

The smile that Tarai beamed had to be one of the warmest she'd seen on the tall girl yet - and there was some stiff competition there. "Well..." she began, biting her lip and visibly fighting back the urge to giggle, "Cooking most of the meals for a few dozen hungry ogre nomads for the last decade helped... When all you have are bonfires and a pot or two, you kind of have to get creative!"

"A decade?" That must've been so much work, and yet Lanica couldn't even find the slightest bitterness over it on the orkhai's face. "How'd you manage all that as a kid? You couldn't have been older than twelve - surely they didn't make you do it all by yourself, right?!"

Tarai lost the fight against her laughter, her joy echoing melodiously through the cave. "N-no of course not!" she shook her head in amusement. "I don't think that would've gone well - there were plenty to mentor me, thank the spirits!" Her eyes turned away from Lanica and towards the dancing, scarlet tongues as an air of nostalgia came over her. "When I was fourteen Ma let me handle my first roast entirely. Having to gut the carcasses really sucked at first, but I learned quickly..." the half-elf reminisced fondly. "And seeing them all carve the beast up to eat when I was done with it - that made it all worth it..."

"Never hurts to be recognized for doing a good job, don'tcha think?"

An all-too-familiar redness began to tinge the orkhai's ears. "Y-yeah..."

A desire to tease just a little bit made Lanica's hand brush Tarai's muscular thigh. "And you really did a good job tonight..." she purred, smirking that much more as the girl went scarlet - almost like clockwork! "It's been a long time since I ate this well, so well done~!" And for once she was being entirely on the level!

Those mismatched eyes didn't quite meet Lanica's as the half-orc's brow furrowed in thought. "...I-Is this that rare for you?" she asked, earnest and clearly not trying to offend.

"What, good food?" the catgirl replied with her head cocked slightly, answering Tarai's nod with an exaggerated little grimace. "Adventuring with my, erm... erstwhile companions didn't really lend well to cooking, I found. So... let's say yes."

She could see the question in Tarai's eyes well before the girl even spoke it aloud. "No one wanted to be a cook...?" It was clear the orkhai struggled to believe it - but did she really think most people would ever actually enjoy cooking? Lanica'd mostly just heard people complain about it, nor had she ever felt the desire to do it herself.

Somehow, however, Lanica didn't imagine sharing her disdain about something Tarai seemed to enjoy so much would achieve anything....That, and the girl was good at it, she had to admit. "Well, not quite - but after the latest attempts of cooking for each other ended up with me bent over a shrubbery or bedroll-ridden with food poisoning for a few days, it wasn't like I was just gonna let them try again. 'S not like ya can blame me for that, surely?" she asked rhetorically.

Shaking her head softly, the half-elf couldn't keep herself from smiling just a bit. "N-no, that does sound fair," she relented, but her curiosity wasn't sated yet. "But then what did you eat...? Nekos need more than just sunlight!"

"Well yeah, that's what water is there for," Lanica rolled her eyes playfully. "But seriously, we just ate at cheap taverns when we had the coin. Cheaper hardtack and thrice-cured meat when we didn't..." the catgirl shared, a revulsed shudder running down her spine from the very thought. A swig of that heartwarming broth swiftly banished the discomfort, however, as it called forth entirely different memories. Memories of a better time, and before she even knew it the words had left her lips:

"...Haven't eaten this well since home..." the neko sighed, a bittersweet sting in her heart before Lanica realised just what she was about to share and promptly shut up.

"...You h-haven't been home in a while, have you?" the annoyingly astute orkhai asked, and the catgirl cursed herself - one slip up and the seed of curiosity had been sown. "What're they like? Y-your family back home, I-I mean!"

The words that normally came so easily to Lanica left her wanting, for just a moment. In that second, she met the shy half-orc's gaze before a sharp reply came: "I don't talk to them anymore, okay?"

Taken aback, Tarai's head jolted backwards just a bit, her eyes betraying her surprise. Not wanting to waste any more words or thoughts on those long-gone days, the neko instead decided to deflect with some questions of her own. "...What about yours? How come a girl like you ended up being raised by ogres?"

Blinking once in thought, a little smile returned to the orkhai's mouth. "Ma and Pa? They're probably guiding the clan around just like they were when I said my goodbyes!" she shared without even the faintest hint of worry. "There's no need to worry about them, honestly - everyone takes care of each other back home!"

"Not much that can trouble a band of might-as-well-be giants, no," Lanica admitted - and she didn't miss the pride her words brought to Tarai's eyes, however faint. "But... what about before you were taken in by them? Where're your birth parents, if I'm not touching something sore?"

"Birth...?" Tarai echoed, as if she didn't even understand the question at first. An uncharacteristic tenseness and countless subtle, warring emotions the catgirl caught on her face betrayed that she absolutely did, however. "...I...I don't know..." the orkhai's voice wavered.

Unconvinced, Lanica wanted to press a bit more. "'Don't know'? What don'tcha know?"

"I just don't know!" Tarai snapped, her knuckles growing wide as her stress-fueled grip on her knees deepened. "I've never known who they are, or what they look like, or why they left!"

That outburst Lanica hadn't been expecting - clearly this had been simmering in the orkhai for a long time. Scooting backwards just a bit reflexively, her surprise wasn't missed by Tarai. With a pained swallow, the tall half-orc tried to compose herself, and her mismatched eyes looked at the neko's apologetically. "...I-I'm sorry," she sighed and took a deep breath. "All I really know is that dad said they 'couldn't afford to take care of a young girl', but he never really explained." Then, softly and a bit bitterly: "My real family is my clan, and that's all that matters."

"Poor thing's trying to convince herself, it sounds like - she's far more curious than she lets on," Lanica mused. Still, the catgirl knew full-well that further questions about Tarai's birth-parents might do more harm than good, and that she'd better shift the topic and lighten the mood right now if she didn't want to risk seriously upsetting the girl. "It really is," Lanica soothed with a warm smile, leaning closer again. "I gotta ask, though..." the beastkin began, sensing the orkhai's worry as to what this question might be about. "What's life like for you, like living among your clan? You're big, but they're like... way big."

Just as she'd hoped, the question appeared to work wonders with lifting the somberness clouding Tarai's expression. A little smile slowly built, and a twinkle of a joyous past could just be discerned in the orkhai's eyes. "Ha, they really are..." she hummed. "I guess I just never really noticed before I met you...?" And then, a bit more sheepishly as the half-orc realised what she just implied: "Um, n-notthatyou'resmall-!"

"Whatever, beanstalk," the neko stuck out her tongue, not at all bothered. "I'd have to be delusional to think she isn't a mountain next to me." Cocking her head slightly, she gave the girl a curious, challenging stare. "Didya fit in easily, then? Or... were you like the runt of the litter?"

"Runt?! I carried my weight around them, you know!" Tarai huffed lightly with (mostly) feigned indignation, before her eyes drifted towards the fire in thought. "...But it wasn't always easy, I guess. It always felt like... like I had to work thrice as hard as my sister and the others just to keep up." Lanica could see the jealousy, hear the envy, no matter how well the girl tried to hide that green-eyed monster as the orkhai glanced over her muscular arms with a hollow chuckle. "The elders never thought I was ready for one of our greatbows, no matter how hard I trained. But one day... one day I'll get my own bow!"

"I mean - from where I'm sitting all I see is a marvelously fit orkhai who'd be able to tackle any challenge with enough time and effort," Lanica grinned, all the wider when Tarai answered with a determined little nod. The girl had some spunk, at least, and the catgirl had to respect that! "But you've gotta tell me - you weren't the only non-ogre among them, surely?"