Ch 49 – Ace’s insecurity

"Wha-!" Ace froze, she had never expected something like this to happen. 'Why is the "This is a sin!" girl kissing her?!' She thought Necro was the one making a move on Mary, not the other way around. 'The heck!'. She just stared at them, motionless, her eyes open wide and mouth agape.

It wasn't a heated kiss like that of Ace. The subtle way their lips connected made Necro melt. Yes, there was no tongue involved. Yet, the affection and tenderness in the way Mary turned her head to the side a little was a newfound delight. Necro's hand slid under Mary's hair, contouring the side of her neck. Mary's hairs stood on end as Necro's grip became stronger and she felt her tongue invading her mouth. 

"Hmmm~!... Wait!" She moaned a little and suddenly put her hands on Necro's chest, there was no strength whatsoever, but Necro let Mary distance herself by letting go of her, breaking the kiss. "I... I'm not sure about it yet. Please let me think a bit. Sorry." Mary sheepishly apologized as she shrunk in embarrassment, lowering her gaze. There was a slight feeling of guilt creeping up inside her, but in fact, she was just afraid.

"It's okay." Necro approached her lowered face, kissing her forehead. "There's nothing wrong with feeling the way you are... It must be rough to go against something you believed in your entire life."

'What is she even talking about?' Mary did not even remember what she was supposed to believe in. Rather, she was just afraid of how far she would go if that kiss continued. Her whole body was burning and she could feel a wet sensation between her legs.

"Thank you. I... I should check the food." She gave a rushed excuse and stood up, walking towards the boiling pot of soup.

"... She's a box full of surprises ain't she?" Said Ace, inching towards Necro and resting her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah... I would never have expected that." Necro turned her body to the side, making Ace get back to normal. "And you!" She said, pinching Ace's cheeks.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"You are a jealous bun!" She kissed Ace's mouth once more, before hugging her tightly. "You don't have to worry about pointless things, you know?"

"hehe... Sorry about that." Ace hugged her back. It felt liberating to know that Necro really felt this way about her. She'd always been used as a bargaining chip and, deep inside, had always felt like she was easily replaceable. She cried a little, while resting her head against Necro's shoulder. Noticing what was happening, Necro allowed herself to remain in the hug for a long time. The fresh smell of Ace's hair did help it a lot though. After a handful of minutes, the two sat back side to side, holding each other's hand as they stared at Mary, who was fixing the taste of the soup by throwing in more ingredients. 

It took her almost half an hour to finish cooking. In the meantime, Ace took a nap on Necro's lap, who combed her hair with her fingers every now and then. 'She does kinda look like a housewife doesn't she...' Necro's mind wandered quite a bit while watching Mary tend to the pot. There wasn't much she could do, and she'd much rather be outside experimenting with the undead but hey, there wasn't really a choice. 

"It's done~!" Mary's bright call woke Ace, who slowly raised from Necro's lap, rubbing her eyes.

"The food's ready?" She asked, still half asleep.

"Seems like it." Responded Necro, standing up from the bed. Her legs numb from sitting for that long in such low beds. "Ow..."

"Sorry... I was kinda heavy wasn't I?"

"No, it's fine... It's just the bed's height." The crude "bed", if you could call them that by Necro's standards, consisted of a few wooden planks connected with rope and a straw mattress, sewn from cheap hemp cloth. It ended a little under knee height, making it acceptable, but not great. It was still better than the one in the tents, at least in height. The two made their way to where the fireplace was, on the other side of the shed.

"I found some wooden bowls and utensils but... Do you have any inside the ring of yours?" Mary was clearly not comfortable with using those she found. The cleaning was... not perfect to say the least.

"Yeah, sure..." Necro quickly pulled up three bowls and spoons out of her ring, there were still a handful more inside. 

Mary proceeded to get some of the soup from the pot. It was mostly empty, so the long wooden ladle she'd found earlier and used to cook was a happy convenience. The three sat on the closest bed to eat.

"Haaah. The salt makes it taste a whole lot better doesn't it?" Ace asked.

"..." Necro, however, still thought this was as bland as it could be. It was heaps better than plain soup without it, but yesterday's meat was much better.

"Yeah! I hope one day I'll be able to eat salted food every day!" Mary, on the other hand, rejoiced on having salt. 

"Ace... Did you not eat food with salt back then?" Necro thought, curious.

"Me?! You bet! We were too poor to afford salt. Unless it was a banquet or a party, we never had salt on the table."

'Heh... Her family sure looks to be a hell of a facade...' Necro's opinion on Ace's family kept falling further and further. The previous talk about arranging her a marriage was a little rough, but to be expected of nobility. Necro was the fortunate one for having an understanding father.

"What about you, Mary? What's your past like?" Necro tried to change the subject, but seeing Mary's face gloom, she realized it had been a poor choice. 

"I'd... rather not talk about my family... But back in the church we only had the regular troop rations..."

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"No... It's fine. My parents just died when I was pretty young so it was a bit rough."

After Necro's blunder, they ate silently, before going to bed. 'Haah... This is gonna be a nightmare...'

"What is it?" Ace asked, seeing Necro's troubled expression.

"It's just that... There's straw poking through everywhere..." Necro responded... 

"Ah... I see what you mean..." Ace responded.

"We don't have anything to cover the beds with though... Unless you have something in that storage thing of yours." Mary complemented. She herself was also not that fond of sleeping on the raw mattresses either. She'd rather sleep on the floor had it not been so dirty. 

"AH!" Necro gasped, remembering she did have something inside her ring.