This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the exceedingly cute creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.
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Chapter 46: Sharp Distinctions
Time was short, so with a few words of thanks I set off towards the Medical Tents. This would be cut short rapidly by a frankly enormous clawed hand, covered in golden fur, grabbing me by the scruff of the neck and pulling me backwards. New experience, to be sure. "I'm not through with you. You still need more healing if you don't want your scars to start pulling at you again."
Emily's combat form, apparently, has more applications than just tearing her enemies apart. My response would need to be quick and precise. "Uh..." okay, sue me, I was tired and off-guard. "Okay, Emily, tell you what. I'm headed to the Medical tent next for my task list. Soon as I get there you can use one of the facility clean rooms instead of the open dirt for the quick checks."
I could hear Nisha and Kamira laugh a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lucy with her arms crossed, grudgingly nodding. It seemed that Emily also saw the gesture and let me go. Thankfully. That was not exactly a gentle grip. After stretching a bit, I set off again... this time, tailed by my six-tailed healer along with my wife. Honestly, this was comfortable. It felt right.
The Medical Tents, much like other sections, did have rooms one could utilize to apply aid to oneself or, such as in my case, be seen to by a Guild healer. They were spartan, to say the least, only containing a table, chair, and VERY basic supplies, but they saved the overworked healers a lot of time. Thankfully, they also had solid floors and doors which locked.
"Alright, Jay, strip and get on the table facedown." Emily was in charge now, Lucy relaxing in what would have been the examination chair as she got to watch me get ordered around this time. I obeyed, rapidly. The Kitsune's hands roamed over my back, legs and arms, utilizing her curious abilities to siphon off some of the bruising and burns I'd gotten.
Not going to lie, it felt amazing. Same when she told me to roll over and did the same up front. Little though I wanted to admit it, the pain I sustained in that duel was not playing well with the
extensive
scarring I was dealing with. It caused my demonic flesh to pull at it oddly, causing more pain and interfering with my movements more than the sum of the two parts.
"Jay, other detail. You didn't have sex this morning at all, did you?"
Unexpected. "No, not today. Why?"
Emily's eyebrows furrowed. "You have been on the precise opposite of a cold spell for the last five years in general, and the last couple of weeks in particular. In case you forgot you're also an Incubus. You are distracted and can't feel it right now, but your balls are looking angry. Eighteen hours without an orgasm when you're hardly ever going more than eight isn't healthy. Stay right there." The speech, cold and clinical as it was, ended with me rock-hard and pointed directly at the ceiling. Emily, never one to waste an opportunity, climbed up and sank me directly into her, sighing in bliss as the feel of my massive member filled her.
"Jeremiah, you can't just abstain from sex because it can interfere with my pregnancy. Especially you." Lucy would be the one to give me a lecture while watching the golden fox on me get her feet into position to squat-ride me and get started. "I'm not the only girl with needs in our Guild, either, and you aren't slowing down our daughter by being intimate with the others."
I was having some difficulty focusing on her words. Both because of the surreal reality of my wife being the one to speak them at this particular moment, and the fact that as soon as Emily got to the good part I very suddenly felt what she had told me. My balls were overloaded and begging for an outlet, sore almost to the point of pain. Normally, I prided myself on going the distance, on making sure my partners very thoroughly enjoyed themselves by the time I finished. Emily in particular had experienced that many a time, a couple even before joining up.
Today? Barely thirty seconds after the sexy Kitsune got started, I was orgasming straight into her body. As I Fed upon her, I could see her face light up with pride and joy, could feel her join me in an orgasm of her own. Even for the normally highly sensitive Emily, this was unusual. Had I been neglecting her? I didn't think so, but life had not exactly been steady lately. It's possible I hadn't been physically intimate with my little fox in a while, and it was a thing she valued deeply. Even Lucy couldn't help but smile at her pure bliss.
I didn't want to have to put my lovers on a calendar, but it might be necessary.
Either way, I definitely did feel enormously better as I stood to get my gear back on and clean up the room. Both from the healing and from the relief. My stance was definitely much straighter as we walked out towards the back, a couple of other other healers giving Emily approving nods. One, some kind of Wolf Beastfolk, looked again with a twitching nose. He realized what I was, though, and didn't ask any pointed questions. Odder things had been done in those rooms at need.
Gloria and Amber met up with us out back, both with some serious smiles on their faces. Gloria was carrying her new bow in hand as if afraid to let it go. Apparently, Quiverbow did quality work. Amber was carrying Gloria's old one, and I could see the subtle glow on it indicating that her class features were at work upon it. That bow had been through a lot in the last month, and all of that was now feeding Amber's own abilities as if she had been the one launching the arrows. The two formed up with us as I spotted and sought out my next target.
Three men in robes stood to the side, observing the practice ground that Gloria and Amber had just been using. The better to react quickly to injury or mishap, I guess, same reason the grounds were located directly adjacent to the Medical Tent. A tall lizard-like Beastfolk with enormous, bulging eyes was discussing something with a Human, joined by what looked to be an electric-blue Otter, the latter whom I recognized as being at the meeting I just came from. He'd stayed quiet, though. There was a serious look on all their faces. Given how the meeting had gone, I could probably guess what the chat was about.
The lizard-like man had his back pointed to me, but I saw the moment one of his eyes swiveled to point my way. His green skin shifted, picking up highlights of gold and red. Ah, Chameleon of some kind. One who wasn't bothering to hide, which was a bit of stereotype which bore up unfortunately frequently among his peers.
The blue Otter stepped forward. A glyph of some kind was etched onto his white belly, also in blue. "Guild Leader Kithkin, what brings you our way?"
I had to dig through my memory a bit to remember the man's name. "Guild Leader Smith, I find that I need to ask advice from those who serve the Patrons. You are the authority on that here." I did not need to look to be able to feel Gloria scoff behind me.
"Call me Peter, please. I do not enjoy formality when I can avoid it. The meeting was a refreshing change from what I usually do. Congratulations on your promotion, by the by."
"It has not been confirmed yet." The comfortable feeling I'd had for the last five minutes found itself facing down a maelstrom of nerves.
"Oh, it has been. By the time I got to the table to sign, you had more than enough signatures just among the Leaders and Independents. Their people were streaming in to join up, too, once you put your own skin on the line to prove it. For a Minor Guild Leader, you now have at least informal command over at least as many personnel as any of your peers at the table on Monday's Conclave."
The maelstrom was rapidly winning. "Be that as it may, I'm here to ask about a different piece of my life. You see, Lucy is pregnant, we found out recently."
"Ah, congratulations! I assume you come to ask the blessings of our Clerics for a healthy and happy little one?"
"Not... quite. There is a problem. Due to Racial issues, whenever my wife and I are intimate, the pregnancy slows down. The doctor estimated that at the current rate Lucy may be pregnant for years, and I do not want to put her through that. We want to keep the child, but were hoping one of your people could help. Perhaps a Cleric of Teteoh or the World Serpent."
"Jeremiah, I am not a believer in coincidences. Hugh here," the Human waved, "and Daniel," the Chameleon nodded, "are my Clerics of exactly those two Patrons." The two stepped forward, but the Chameleon... Daniel... held out one three-fingered hand.
When he spoke, his voice was surprisingly smooth. "Guild Leader, in order for me to do anything, the World Serpent requires that I make sure I am tipping the scales in the correct direction. I must analyze your soul, and see where the weight of it tips the cosmos. With your permission, sir?"
I gave the question the weight it deserved. Magical information gathering was tightly regulated. He could not cast what he needed to upon me without my direct permission, not without running afoul of every temporal authority aware of it. However, there was no way to know just how much he would get from it. Given his Patron and how he acted so far, it was likely a good assumption that he'd be exceedingly proficient at this particular spell. He'd be laying my soul bare for inspection, and nobody is fully innocent. Refusing, however, would mean something wildly different. That I feared something there, or valued it above even getting help for my wife and unborn child. This, besides being false, would also set the forming union back five steps as I showed that I had skeletons in the closet.
The choice was clear. "I consent."
Many of these spells were subtle, some (like mine) effectively invisible unless one knew to look and possessed specific extraordinary senses. Daniel's ability was not one of them. From his outstretched hand, a soft white light shone upon me, and I could see flickers of gray and black within it. Over the course of a few moments, Daniel's own coloration shifted slightly, some of the red easing off, the golds and greens becoming more dominant and brighter. His eyes went a bit wild, seeming to drift rapidly and independently of one another.
