Welldark B1 Ch. 06

Working three shifts a week at a café wasn't a giant sacrifice and a good meal hardly compared to a gold ring, but the principle applied. It showed that I was willing to sacrifice in order to bring her happiness. She appreciated it and was hesitant to take mindless advantage of me. A pretty basic thing for a working relationship. Basic and, as so many things people just accepted for granted, of fundamental importance.

After supper, I successfully talked her into coming into my room. Using my laptop, I put on a harmless show from Earth. It was a comedy/drama about a bunch of doctors fresh out of med-school, starting in a hospital. Most of the time the lady of my desires just blew air out of her nose when something amused her. Occasionally, the show coerced a true giggle from her. We stared at the screen, my arm around her waist and one of her hands resting on my thigh. We managed to keep sitting like that for a long while, until my absent-minded caress of her side pulled her shirt out of the confines of her belt.

She tensed up with such force that I could feel her jumping. There was fear in her eyes, fear I didn't understand. I immediately took my hand off her, my arm just hovering around her. The fear immediately subsided and was replaced with irritation. The rigidness shifted to a readiness to move. Sulfuric yellow glowed in her eyes, preparing me for the next bump in our relationship. Then she closed her eyes and just sat there.

'I better hit that pause button,' I decided, quite sure that whatever happened next should not be underlined by gags. With a frozen screen, a silent room and a beating heart, I waited for her to order her thoughts.

"Do not..." she started, swallowed and opened her eyes, the anger was gone, the fear was back, if greatly diminished, and there was a pleading note in her voice. "Do not attempt to undress me, good Karitas," she pleaded, raising a hand to my face. "I am not willing to show what is underneath - not even to you."

That formulation stung, despite the way the day had panned out. I nodded regardless. "It was just an accidental move," I assured her and put my hand back down on her side. She trembled, but didn't move away. "I will wait until you trust me."

"I do trust you," she stated, putting her head on my shoulder. Her soft voice was a whisper more fragile than I thought she could sound. "It is absurd how much I trust you. Even if I expect you to fail me, you manage to make my day brighter. This, however, requires more than trust."

"I understand," I assured her.

"You really do, I think," Esther's tone reflected surprise. "How odd. I believe you. I appreciate this... I appreciate you being here..." After a little while spent in silence, she put out an earnest question. "I suppose this is us talking about problems?"

"It's exactly that," I smiled. "I want the two of us to be firmly planted side by side, like trees that grow with each other, one day intertwine and..." I stopped extrapolating there, also trying my best to apply her feedback about my overly wordy statements.

"I do have to admit..." she snuggled up against me, "...this is more assuring than wrath."

Afterwards, we quietly flirted for about ten minutes. Tender words, exchanged between long pauses, in a warm silence. I offered that she could stay the night, but she denied with a straight look on her face. "That would be too dangerous," she said.

The remaining fragrance of cherry and citrus engulfed me when I laid down eventually. She was absolutely right. That lingering presence of her alone was making my determination to keep my hand off my dick waver. However, it also sent me off into a pleasant sleep, when I did manage to shove my immediate lust aside.

_________________________________

When I woke up on Friday, I had regained my balance. My entire lucid dream was spent meditating and that left me in an optimistic place. Progress with Esther was good, fantastic even. It had now been two weeks since we met each other. Every new day was another step on the road that led to, and I was certain of this now, us ending up together.

At this point, I had to do two simple things. One was the obvious: to stay around her. The second was to continuously reinforce that I was willing and wanting to take things further. Doing just the first without the pressure of the second would lead to the hopeless pit called the Friendzone.

It was also the path to painful rejections, admittedly. As a wise man once said, however, you miss every shot you don't take. The risk of heartache was worth avoiding the uncertainty of the 'what if'. An absolutely disastrous crash was still a possibility, but I was betting on success.

Friday was the sole day of the week on which I had to leave the house before Esther. Every other day, she either had something to do before me or we had our first class together. Even with that in mind, I wouldn't have to hit the road before 7:30, so there was ample time for breakfast. Like so often, we took our meal on top of the tower. On this occasion, Arlethia and Willt joined us.

My warlock buddy was scraping some butter on some toast in silence, occasionally shooting glances at the three of us to show that he was listening. Willt still hadn't warmed up to Esther and so he kept his mouth shut. His girlfriend was a lot more talkative. "You're like, a disciplined lady, right?" Arlethia asked and pointed at the table.

By Esther's design and insistence, there was a gap that separated what she and I had bought from what the warlock and the demon owned. It struck me as unnecessarily orderly, especially since both parties were happy to share on request anyway. Because it had its utility and because it was such a tiny thing, I decided not to bring it up. Her trend to be this clear with ownership was something I poked fun at, but didn't take actual issue with.

"I would apply 'proper' to me, not 'disciplined'," the woman of my desires responded after thinking about it after taking a new slice of bread. "I assume you ask in service of a sequence of questions?"

"Yeah, see, I think I have never seen you leave the house before 6," Arlethia continued on in her questioning. "Like, you strike me as the type that takes the earliest classes, gets up at 5 and is out the door at 5:30."

"If circumstances allowed, I would start my day at around 4 AM and aim to be on the road at 5:30," Esther essentially confirmed Arlethia's hunch. "That way, I could eat and learn, before heading to class." She looked over her choice of toppings and stroked her hair. Like always, it was orderly confined in a low-bound ponytail. Individual strands rebelled against the containment of the white ribbon. They framed her face and Esther brushed them behind her ear every so often. To no avail, they were always back.

'Which is fantastic,' I thought, since I absolutely adored both the little chaos her untameable hair introduced to her orderly appearance and that cute brushing motion. It temporarily distracted me from eating, even, leaving me frozen with a piece of bread in my mouth. Then I resumed, just like the conversation did.

"How much time do you spend preparing in the morning?" The succubus kept following the line of questions, obviously still confused. "Like, without eating."

"About one and a half hours," Esther replied, causing everyone on the table, including me, to give her a befuddled look. I had been under the impression she took forty-five minutes tops, for everything. "Excluding showering," she added, while placing a slice of cheese on her bread. Noticing our joined gazes, the raven-haired lady raised an eyebrow. "Is this unusual? I was informed that such time is within reasonable bounds for a woman's hair care."

Arlethia put her head sideways, quizzically looking with her red eyes. "You were 'informed'? By who, fashion magazines?"

"Yes."

Willt carefully remarked, "I didn't think you would read such things," to which his girlfriend nodded. Personally, I would have assumed her to read history magazines, if any.

"While they may be filled with exaggerated stories about minor inadequacies, I did require advice about several mundane problems. Are you asserting that women never take over an hour to prepare?"

"Oh no, we definitely do sometimes, that's not what I'm saying," Arlethia waved around in an attempt to pin down what she meant. "I mean... okay, look, people that take over an hour or more to get ready usually apply make-up, do their nails, do their toenails, powder their nose, draw on their eyebrows, and... do other things, I don't know, I don't do any of that. If I was to take an hour to get ready for the day, I'd be visiting a party that day."

Esther continued to be confused. "You will answer two of my questions..."

"Esther," I interjected softly. "You're coming on a bit strong there. Maybe reformulate a bit?" It was in my best interest that my future girlfriend (and Queen) got along with my best friend's girlfriend (who was also a good friend of mine on her own).

With amber eyes, the raven-haired lady looked at me for a few seconds. Then she nodded. I took it to be a sign of thanks as well as agreement. Then she turned back to Arlethia. "May I ask you two questions?"

"Sure thing," the red-skinned succubus said with a gracious gesture.

"If not to prepare, why do you wake up at a time that allows you to discern I have never left before 6?" In her position, I would have also added the question why Arlethia even tracked those things. I knew when Esther left the house or not because I was trying my best to catch her at breakfast every day. Arlethia had no such justification.

I also held the answer to both of those questions. To the one I posed myself, it was that I myself had told Arlethia through the usual chit-chat between friends. However, I believed she had also verified those things for herself. There was a very simple reason as to why a succubus was up so early. "Semen demon," I stated.

"Semen demon?" Esther asked, out of her mouth those words sounded surprisingly innocent. As she looked at Arlethia for an explanation, she must have noticed the succubus' spade-tipped tail wrapping around Willt's lower arm. When the red-skinned demon also giggled, the obvious implication clicked. "I understand. That appears to be a rather useful ability to have." Esther analysed this thing like there was nothing indecent about it. "Is its effect equivalent to coffee? If you allow the additional question."

"It's like coffee that actually gives you energy, instead of just making you feel more awake," Arlethia reported with a smile.

"It comes at a cost," Willt mumbled, shifting with visible discomfort. That he was willing to even speak up in this conversation was something I appreciated. With his introversion, confessing on sexual topics must have made him cringe with all his soul. "The energy comes from me. The better I get at being a warlock, the less this affects me, but it still... makes me snooze."

"Interesting. I did not assume this legend to be true." Esther was done with eating now and reached out to the cup of tea in front of her. She had timed things well and was immediately able to drink it. "My actual second question, then: how long do you take for your morning routine?"

"Like, twenty, thirty minutes? Depends on how long I shower, really."

The raven-haired lady to my right suddenly tightened her grip on her cup. She seemed ready to crush it. Either that, or throw it out of frustration. "How?" she demanded to know. She sounded like a priest that had just learned that god was dead.

"I brush my teeth, get into the shower, then brush my hair. The better question is what you're doing every morning. Pretty sure you aren't wearing make-up... despite those awfully glossy lips you have..."

"Is that an insult?"

"It's a thickly veiled compliment," Arlethia clarified.

"It's the nicest you will get out of her," I chimed in with a smile.

"Sit on a dick, Karitas."

Esther raised an eyebrow, "Does Karitas have a history of bisexuality? I would like to be informed of the potential addition of more men, should our paths join."

"No," I firmly denied such allegations, to Arlethia's loud amusement. Even Willt giggled. "Can we get back to the topic at hand? Esther, what do you do every morning before breakfast?"

"After I wake up, I inspect myself for any sort of physical issues that might exist..." That was medically worded, but I still imagined Esther standing naked in front of a full-body mirror and just turning around, inspecting her perfect curves. Somehow, I got the feeling that what she hid under those clothes was even better looking than my imagination. "...Afterwards, I comb my hair, then I go to the bathroom, then I do my hair again," Esther finished her answer.

"How long do you shower, girl?!" Arlethia wanted to know. "It must be absolutely insane!"

"Except, my dear frenemy, my beautiful Esther here already specified showering did not enter the equation." I pointed out.

"Okay... so, what, are you permanently fucking constipated or how do you need that much time? Or is self-inspection a code for you taking care of yourself every morning?"

Esther shook her head. "Assuming that was a euphemism for masturbating, I don't partake in that activity, nor is my time wasted on the remaining suggestions you made. The majority of my morning is spent tending to my hair."

I looked intently at that brilliant display of raven-black strands. "Why? What happens if you don't do that?"

"It becomes unsightly," Esther simply stated.

"Do you have a photograph for us to judge or...?" I totally wasn't gunning for a new background image for my Ashod or anything like that. My intentions were purely academic.

"No." Esther's tone was as hard as a shield carved from diamond. Slit pupils and eyelids narrowed as she side-eyed me. "It becomes unsightly. It waves too easily and falls into chaotic patterns." As if to prove it, one strand of her silky hair fell across her face at that moment. I found the way it crossed between her eyes aesthetically pleasing, Esther must have hated it, as she brushed it back with quite clear frustration.

"No chance for that photograph?" I asked, still totally not aiming for that background. She shook her head, quite firmly, so I didn't ask a third time. Not that I even had the luxury of time. As much as I enjoyed this conversation, I had classes to attend. "Shame. Can I leave you with this?" I gestured at the table and Esther nodded.

"It is only just that I bring it back down," she informed me.

"Thanks."

"There is no gratitude required."

"I'll thank you anyway, in any way I see fit," I told her and guzzled down my remaining coffee.

It was guaranteed that I would indeed see them again pretty quickly. I was headed to my Interdimensional Etiquette class now. Afterwards, I would attend the Basic Sexual Skills lesson with Esther and Arlethia. Then, Willt would join us for the mandatory Anomalia Bond class.

"You sure you don't want to come to the Sexual Skills thing, honey?" Arlethia asked, leaning against her boyfriend's arm until it partly vanished between her large tits.

"Yes," Willt kept it short, blushing intensely. He only turned red, not beet red, which was the reaction he had when total strangers watched his girlfriend flirt with him. There was absolutely no way that guy would attend a class that had 'Leave your embarrassment behind!' in its information blurb.

As they continued to banter, I rose from the table. When I was down the first step of the stairs, Esther suddenly called out to me, "Good Karitas?" The way her sensual voice was carefully formed by her velvety lips sent a shiver down my spine, and I came stepping back like a loyal dog. Admittedly, this was an image of myself I usually avoided, but in this specific case I rolled with it. A wink of her finger beckoned me to lower my head. Then, into my ear, she whispered, "Do not forget to reserve my place at your side later."

There was something sharp in her sultry tone, something threatening. My concerns about that were sealed away by the sudden warmth that washed over my skin, cascading outside from the place where I felt her red lips on my cheek. It was the second kiss she had given me and I loved it no less than the first. My entire being felt elevated to a new place of happiness.

"Ewwwwwwwww," Arlethia's hypocritical disgust reached us. There was a lot to be said about her boyfriend's upper arm having completely vanished in her red cleavage. None of those comments came to mind. I was too busy smiling like a doofus.

"Will do... I mean, won't forget - will do the thing!" I stumbled over my words in my enthusiasm. It made Esther giggle, which only made my mood soar higher. I let that glee carry my steps, as I left my home.

_________________________________

Not even the fact that I missed the train by as many seconds as Esther had taken to kiss me ruined my mood. Sure, jogging the entire distance to the school wasn't my definition of an enjoyable morning, but I still arrived on time. To be more precise, I arrived 5 minutes late, but the professor hadn't started the lecture yet, so all was well in that regard.

What managed to put a damper in my mood was that I saw Aclysia in the front row. That we shared a class was fundamentally pleasant, but with me coming in so late there was no way I could get a seat, much less one in the front row. Welldark had a lot more enthused students than the average university and all of them arrived ahead of time. It would take a lot for me to score a seat next to her. Already, she was beset on both sides by other men.

As for the lecture itself, it was the usual first-week dribble. Structure, how we would be rated, who the professor even was, all the usual things people subjected themselves to out of politeness.

The class was over eventually and, with Aclysia leaving before I could make myself noticeable, I made my way towards the Sexual Skills lecture. The change of classrooms was accompanied with a change of scenery. Each branch of Welldark's education was housed in its own dedicated building or complex. Overall, the architecture remained gothic, but many details changed. Going from the simpleness of the Communications branch to the Sexuality one was as stark a difference as could be found on the campus grounds.

Perhaps one would expect the Sexuality branch of Welldark to be a place of depravity. A shrine to the highest excesses of debauchery, with echoing moans and ecstatic screams filling the halls, and the smell of sweat, semen and pussy juice dominating the air. I would have been able to learn at such a place, certain primitive parts of me would have revelled in it, but I already knew this not to be the case. I had scouted the area out in advance and was as pleased now as I had been pleasantly surprised then.

Rather than depraved, the word ascended fit better with my surroundings. Everything was clean, even cleaner than anywhere else in Welldark, and the university was not a filthy place by any description. The large window frames of the halls were filled with stained glass depictions of erotically enticing forms. Statues of humanoids filled the hallways, showing healthy physique and the beauty of intercourse. Wall paintings, tapestries, they all showed scenes of love-making, delicate or rough, but usually with an artistic note of adoration between the partners.

Men and women were both glorified in numerous shapes and sizes, each honed to its individual ideal. The number of depictions between the genders wasn't equal, with male forms being noticeably rarer than female ones. There were two likely reasons for this. For one, the skewed gender ratio that came with the Dimensional Truth and the consequential tendency of harem Anomalias. Showing that at this location just made sense. The secondary explanation was more fundamental: women were the fairer sex and generally more pleasing to look at.