Welldark B1 Ch. 04

To dispel any notions to the contrary: I am not, was not, have never been and will never be a morning person. Not that morning was even the correct way to put it. The first eight hours of the day, when most people woke up and society began to turn its wheels, were simply when I typically ran into my issues. The most accurate way to formulate things would be that I wasn't a 'waking up' person.

There were people who could just open their eyes and be awake. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it a few times in person, when I spent nights in camps or crashed at a friend's place. Those people needed to stretch and they were good to go. When my mind peeled out of the soft embrace of sleep, I usually suffered a prolonged state of grogginess. I had always been a vivid and often lucid dreamer, which didn't make things easier.

Being thrown out of a fantastic, if illogical, realm into the confines of a body with low blood pressure was a dazing moment in its own right. Once my active mind managed to slog its way back to the surface, I could start the battle to open my ledden eyes, look for the alarm clock, and lift the blanket. That had been the procedure in the old bed and the new one was no different.

Originating from the laptop I had bought yesterday came the tune that had roused me from my slumber. A classical little melody, that played on repeat and grew in volume the longer it was ignored, was blasting at me with trumpets and drums. Yawning, I rolled over, purposefully wrapping the blanket closer around me in the process. My almost limp hand slammed down on the laptop, feeling around in an attempt to find the spacebar. I only found smooth plastic. The sound continued.

'Damn you, me,' I cursed my yesterday's self for closing the laptop and denying me easy access to the snooze function. In order to end the loud noise, I had to open the laptop or remove the Ashod from its socket in the side. Neither were tasks I could fulfill while remaining in my near-sleep state.

I rolled around on the bed, pulled the blanket over my head and tried desperately to just fall back asleep. The quality of everything around was superb. The sheets were smooth, making friction burn from certain activities a non-issue, and the mattress was of a foam that was both soft and firm at the same time. Pillows and blankets were not only warming and comfortable, but they also had a good amount of breathability. Especially in the current, warm summer weather, that was greatly appreciated. All of it was of the high quality one could expect a reputable institution like Welldark to provide to high-performing students.

There was one thing about it I didn't like, however. Besides the swelling music, which wasn't an issue with the room itself. The very same reason why I took this bedroom bothered me at the moment: it was way too large. It was only my third day on Welldark, so it couldn't be helped. Assembling a harem to make use of the entire size of the mattress wasn't something that would happen quickly.

'Esther...' I thought and realized why that alarm was blaring into my ear. My will finally managed to overcome my desire to keep laying in bed and I sat up. I was still blinking the sleep from my eyes when the screen blinded me temporarily. After a couple of seconds, I got used to the light and finally disabled the alarm. Then I opened the browser. 'Surfing on a larger screen is just so much nicer.'

I opened one of my bookmarks and was greeted with a friendly voice, belonging to an attractive female in a cropped top and yoga pants. Her smile and athletic body did serve to make my morning wood announce itself in all its hardness. I ignored it. My vivid dreams were expectantly often of the sexy kind, but the video before me didn't exist to take care of the resulting urge.

Well, it did take care of it, but only in the sense that it was difficult to maintain a hard-on while doing my stretches. The attractive female was a yoga instructor and guided the people watching through a routine that got the body warmed up for the day. I knew the entire thing by heart, since I had been doing it every morning for several years now. It wasn't all that exhausting and got the sinews loosened. Despite my familiarity with the exercise, I liked hearing her voice and she was some nice eye candy to remind myself what kind of reward I promised myself from maintaining my body. Good health was nice, yes, but my primary motivation was that I thought it arrogant to demand a highly attractive, fit female if I wasn't at least a fit male. A reward in life was given according to the work put into acquiring it. When everything went right, anyway.

After the stretches, I was awake enough that I craved my morning dose of caffeine. I started to retrieve my Ashod from the laptop. Opening a lid at the right side revealed the minimized magical phone. With a firm push, I triggered a mechanical grip, which loosened with a little 'click'. The Ashod was pushed out far enough for me to grab it. Once I had it pulled out, I put on a simple white shirt and comfortable blue jeans and left my room. Yawning, I trotted to the kitchen.

There was a water boiler around, which wasn't quite as convenient as a coffee machine, but it was enough. Slowly blinking, I watched the water go from still to bubbling and then filled a cup with instant powder and the hot liquid. I wasn't picky about the taste of my coffee. Black, with milk, sugar, stale, fresh, it all suited me fine, as long as it was strong. Frankly speaking, it didn't even have to be coffee. I was a caffeine addict and had been for about three years. Likely, that wasn't helping with my previously present awakening issues.

I drank the coffee as quickly as the cooling water allowed me to. Once the drug pumped through my system, I was ready for the hygienic necessities of the morning. Brushing my teeth after coffee may have been an odd order, but it was the only way I could function sometimes.

The bathroom showed signs of recent use. Not a whole lot of them, Esther cleaned up after herself. The glass walls of the shower cabin had been dried, the black and brown tiles were clean and even the sink seemed completely untouched. The fresh smell of citrus and cherry was all I needed to clue me in, however. It was a delightful smell to be surrounded by when stepping into the shower myself. I allowed myself the little fantasy that we might take the showers together in the not-so-far-off future.

After all of that I went back into the kitchen and rolled my neck. 'Here goes nothing,' I thought, committing myself to the gamble. The fridge opened and the ingredients of yesterday lay stacked before me. I reached in and began my work.

Finding none in the kitchen, I created a tray with my Artefact and loaded onto it numerous things. A salad of leafy greens, small tomatoes and balsamic, slightly toasted bread, numerous toppings, fried bacon, scrambled eggs, milk and breakfast cereals. I made what needed to be made and arranged everything in a neat set up. The end result was heavy, but nothing that a healthy young man with basic knowledge of gravity magic couldn't lift.

After making it light enough that I could hold it with one hand, I wandered to Esther's door and then knocked twice. 'I sure hope I'm right about this,' I thought, too far in to pull out now. The quiet of the wait was unbearable. Just like yesterday, she didn't answer immediately. I arrived half an hour later today, delayed by all the preparations.

Esther seemed all the more furious when she opened the door.

Eyes like liquid sulphur stared at me, the pupils thinned to a point where they were basically just black lines. Her hair was orderly done this morning, but I only really caught that because it framed the face that I was so carefully watching. I wasn't enticed, at least not as much as usual, I was waiting for her reaction.

"What do you-?" Her tone was sharp, while her voice was velvety and her accent seductive as always. A blade sheathed in silk, the unwrapping of it only stopping when she saw the tray that I brought between me and her. It had more protective power than any shield in the world, at that moment.

"I am going to eat breakfast up on the tower," I said everything gently and clearly, not wanting to set her off when I seemed to have properly calmed her, "care to join me?" I raised the tray a little higher, hoping the smell of bacon would do more than words ever could. As for the choice of location, I didn't want to barge into her room and it conveniently lay on the way to the tower. She did like the view, which could only enhance my chances of leaving a positive impression.

With a simple nod, Esther showed her agreement. My theory confirmed, I relaxed and looked over the rest of her body, as we made our way to the tower. Her choice of clothes was its own reward.

Esther was wearing sportswear. A light grey top and black yoga pants with white lines running down the side stuck tightly to her curves. It barely showed more skin than her uniform, only her arms were uncovered by the short sleeves, but the way the breast and bossom were elevated by the snug fit was better than any fantasy I had this morning. Tall and curvy in all the right places, Esther could have started a model career at the drop of her hat. Speaking of the tricorne, she was currently not wearing it, leaving her black hair completely visible. Combed backwards, it was held in a low-bound ponytail by the typical white ribbon.

Through a miracle, I followed her up the stairs without tripping. I could sing the praises of her bubble butt a million years. At the top, I put the tray down and grabbed the plates. Decisively, I placed them in front of two seats right next to each other. Esther clearly didn't care where she had to sit. By the time I pulled my chair back, she was already spreading butter on a piece of bread.

She took the time to spread the butter orderly, the cheese she put on top was placed for minimal overlap between slices, and she didn't give up her straight posture for a moment, even when she brought the meal to her mouth. Despite all of that discipline, the way she moved had something urgent and ravenous about it. A clear desire to indulge in the food. Her full, red lips parted, revealing pearl-white teeth with canines slightly sharper than the average. Bite for graceful bite, she claimed her breakfast.

'Man, even the way she eats is sexy.' I caught myself watching her a bit too much, while she devoured strips of bacon. She somehow managed to stay clear of all of the drops of liquid fat. Only some spread on her lips, elevating the colour to glistening ruby.

I forced myself to eat my own breakfast, a simple bowl of cereal, and guided my mind to a slightly different topic. It was still about her, as the infatuated mind dictated. Specifically, I wondered what species she was. Amber eyes, slit pupils and fangs, that didn't limit the category a whole lot. She could have been a half-breed catgirl, a humanoid basilisk, some sort of shapeshifter, a vampire or a myriad of other things.

'Well, I won't learn anything about her if I just stare and wonder,' I thought, before fishing a piece of bacon off the greasy plate. The salty taste was especially nice after the comparatively bland cereal. "You're being a lot nicer this morning," I said afterwards. "I mean, no words are definitely better than the harsh treatment I got yesterday."

"You are attempting to shame me," she gave me a warning glare with eyes that shifted just the slightest bit towards a bile yellow. "Do not."

"Okay," I replied quickly and in earnest. It was a dirty tactic in the first place, but keeping someone interested wasn't the easiest task. "It is true though, you are being a lot nicer," I switched to a teasing tone. "Does this have something to do with it?" I dangled a slice of salami in front of her face for a few seconds, then wolfed it down myself.

"I am irritable when famished, yes," Esther responded in the resulting pause. With knife in hand, she gestured over the quarter-finished buffet. I had relentlessly overprepared. "Had I known revealing this would result in breakfast brought to me, I would not have withheld this information."

"Always happy to help," I grinned and bowed a little where I sat. "Whatever you are willing to talk to me about, I'll listen and help to the best of my abilities."

"I believe you," Esther simply answered and resumed cleaning up what she had loaded on her plate. After the hill of food had nearly been depleted, the miraculous happened: the lady of my desires started a topic of her own volition. "Do you realize what I find oddest about you?"

"I could propose numerous things, my lady," I started to blabber. "My wits, my charm, my fittingly dashing looks, you seem to be taking a liking to all of these things - if I may be so daring to analyse your reactions to me in the short days we have known each other. Of course I'm also self-aggrandizing in a bold fashion. Perhaps it is my straightforward nature? It seems what perturbs you the most."

"Close, good Karitas," she turned towards me, entirely focused on how I would react to her words. "You are not the first person, particularly not the first man, to try and socialize with me. Seldomly did I care about such advances and never have they continued for any notable stretch of time. Yet, you advance at a pace beyond my imagination." I nodded and waited to see if she had more to say. She did. "I won't pretend I dislike it. Neither will I lie. I always preferred to be on my own, but you intrigue me. The way you push me is... entertaining?" she shook her head. "The correct word escapes me at this time. Regardless, you retain my interest." With her fork, she lifted a slice of salami herself and dangled it in front of my face. "Largely due to your ability to read me like this."

"Does it irritate you?" I wondered with a slight smile on my lips.

"A slight bit," she conceded and moved the slice close to my mouth. I know when I was given a gift, however small, and gleefully accepted it by pulling it off the fork with my teeth. "I admire it, primarily. I will not regurgitate your compliments, but I do agree that you are an outstanding person, in multiple aspects. Further, I resolved that there is only one way to answer your unexpected moves, good Karitas." She leaned over to me. I wondered if she might want to whisper something in my ear, but she got too close even for that. Pleasing tingles spread all over my body when I felt the soft, velvety touch of her lips on my cheek. I blushed, purely out of simple joy. "Your advances make me discover things about myself. I enjoy that. However, you will have to be patient for me to find all the answers I seek."

"I willingly signed up for that," I said with a giant grin on my face. "Does this mean I have your agreement to court you, my lady?"

"You may continue as you have. If you reveal to be less than you seem," Esther orderly put down her fork and knife, "then I'll be thoroughly disappointed."

___________________________

A while later, we were back down in the kitchen. Esther had offered to carry the tray back down, since I had done everything else, but I insisted that it was my task. When it came to putting the remains back into the fridge, she didn't even ask if she could help, she just did it. Similarly for the dishes. Once we were done, I grabbed the container of instant powder from one of the drawers, "Coffee?" I asked.

"Tea," she responded, pointing into the drawer and at a box of tea bags that she must have left in there. I grabbed a single bag and placed it in a porcelain cup, while she filled the water boiler. "I must inform you that you and your friends have an atrocious sense of order."

"What order?" I cheekily replied.

"Exactly." The water boiler's switch went 'clack' when Esther pressed it. "Your acquisitions are randomly distributed across the kitchen. The sole limiting factor is whether there is room or not."

"Guilty as charged," I conceded and shrugged. Cleaning up after myself was a sensible obligation, but I had never thought much about the arrangement of things in my kitchen. The disapproval radiating from Esther forced me to reconsider. "Alright, how would you like things to be ordered?"

I came to minorly regret that question, as she actually gave me a long and detailed explanation of where things should be, by what characteristics they should be grouped, which shelf in the refrigerator should belong to which person, and a whole slew of other things. The regret came purely from the length of the rant and was overpowered by all the advantages. I was figuratively bombarded by her sexy voice and her showing such interest in the state of the kitchen had to mean she wanted to be comfortable in it long-term. Being the chosen ear for a rant also pointed to the complete breaking of the ice. It had been paper thin before, thanks to the mutual interest, but the smell of bacon often did what boob fondling could not. Love went through the stomach, as they said. It was a fallacy to believe that only applied to one sex.

She also made a vast number of good points. That should have mattered more, but my priorities were more aligned with her than the practicality of my kitchen. In order to keep the mood light, I responded to her stream of commanding advice by making a joke here and there. Sometimes she laughed, most of the time she responded seriously. It was just some friendly banter, if she had been annoyed with my jests, she would have just told me. I understood that much about her.

We rearranged the kitchen together, which did take us about fifteen minutes in total. The end result was visually pleasing and practically more accessible. "This does look much better," I told her. "You would make for a great Queen." I wasn't talking about the standard monarch.

Esther crossed her arms, seeming unconvinced by such a statement, "As I informed you earlier, my social skills are limited. Putting me in the overseeing role of an Anomalia may end in unsightly scenes."

"Nonsense, I'm certain the girls that I add to my harem would get along splendidly," I suggested and winked at her. "I have two good eyes for people."

"No, he doesn't!" The sudden shout interrupted our time spent alone. Arlethia marched into the kitchen, stretching and yawning as she went. The shirt she was wearing was two sizes too big in length, but wide enough around the bust to confine the entirety of her huge breasts. I wondered if they were bigger than Esther's. They certainly looked to be, but that could have easily been because Arlethia was quite a bit shorter. Along the shirt, she also wore tight yoga pants. Put together, she looked both sexy and cute.

I didn't look at Arlethia as a potential partner, so those thoughts were more observations than interest. "He has an absolutely terrible eye for people," Arlethia declared and grabbed the coffee container. "Seriously, no talent in picking out acquaintances."

"As you're currently demonstrating by stealing from me," I grumbled, watching the shortstack demoness throw three spoons of the powder into a cup. "Regardless of the mistake that befriending you may have been, she would make a splendid Queen."

"You just want her to be your Queen," Arlethia pointed out.

"And who would blame me?"

"Good point - Counter point: you are a babbling, philosophical annoyance."

"You shalt know, my dearest frenemy, that my philosophy is one of my greatest strengths. If you know only for certain that which you think to be useful in regular life, you will be left stranded when you are taken from your zone of comfort. Delivered into uncomfortable circumstances, your mind will struggle to keep up, your lack of curiosity becoming your downfall. I, for one, know of many secrets in this world, many of which may not serve me at this very moment, but which may serve me at a juncture in space and time at which the most irregular of wisdom is required."