78: Nerds and Their Secrets

The door took another two days to put in place, mostly because Dawn and I had to go out and get the money to buy it. That damned Baron was sucking up so much of the steel in the city that the price was through the roof. Made me want to go and raid one of his caravans, to be honest.

During those two days, we also had our first etiquette lesson with a really grumpy old man who didn’t really know what to do with a pair of lesbians. He tried to have us acting all feminine at first, but that didn’t work. He ended up throwing his hands in the air and stomping out of the room, yelling about how he needed to consult his peers.

The second afternoon was training with an arms master. Now that, that was my dealio. Since my method of fighting was so unorthodox, he decided that rather than having me learn all sorts of weird forms and moves, he’d do something different. I had to learn how to flow. He set up targets for me to hit with increasing levels of speed.

Then, he watched me, analysing while I tried my best to keep up with the advanced magical training system. Following each run, I had to change how I moved in order to optimise my movements. I was wasting a lot of force with my wild swings and leaping around.

On the third day, it was time to go down into the mysterious hatch. Dawn and I geared up with camping gear and several days worth of food, just in case.

Standing in what we were calling the airlock, which had once been the ancient man’s room, we checked our gear one last time, then approached the hatch. It was an old wooden one, but heavily bound with metal, which had allowed it to stay intact all these years.

“Ready?” I asked, meeting my girlfriend’s eyes. They glowed orange-red in the dark, and honestly I found it to be wildly hot. I wonder if May could give one of her crazy artificial bodies some stuff like that?

Dawn nodded, and raising her sword, brought it to bear on the rusted hinges of the hatch. With a quick flick of her wrist, a pure and needle-thin beam of fire cut right through. Hinges severed, I crouched down and grasped the metal bracing with my steel-clad fingers and ripped it free of its moorings.

Beyond, there was nothing but darkness.

“You know,” I said, staring into the abyss. “I realised my true name was Tami at the bottom of a hatch like this. With your fingers inside me, actually.”

“Want to re-enact it?” she asked, coming to stand beside me. When I looked up, she bumped my hip with hers and smiled. My heart fluttered in my chest. God, she was so lovely.

“Maybe if we get stuck in a dead end down there,” I grinned, and hopped down the hole feet first.

My boots hit the ground with a resounding crash from my armoured body. The echo made it sound like I was in some sort of tunnel, and when I raised my fists to shine a light, my hunch was confirmed.

A dry, musty smell permeated the simple stone hallway, making me sneeze. The utilitarian design of the room above me was continued down here, with only the most basic stone skirting on the walls. Rectangular, unadorned wooden supports had been placed at regular intervals in the walls. The wood on them was surprisingly well preserved and dry, considering how old they were.

“Looks empty!” I called up the hole, wincing as my voice was thrown back at me in an echo. If the crash of my armour hadn’t tipped any monsters off, that would have.

Dawn was at my side a moment later, her wings spread to catch her fall. Even better, her glowing eyes lit her lips up in a faint red light, showing me her beautiful smile. “Time to explore, then?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, turning my gauntlet lights down the hallway again.

There were doors set into the hallway at regular intervals, but when we opened each, we found only more utilitarian bedrooms. However, these ones had four beds in a room, instead of the single bed that had been up in the first bedroom. It was clear this place had been a permanent barracks.

“Do you think there’s like, a library somewhere?” I asked in a hushed whisper. Even if I’d made a ton of noise earlier, it still felt wrong to speak at normal volume.

“More likely a records room,” Dawn replied. “This is a military place, after all.”

I bounced forward, increasing the pace. “Let’s find it.”

Moving deeper into the strange underground complex, we passed an ancient mess hall, a large bathing chamber, and an exercise room. Most of the stuff that would have once populated these rooms was gone, methodically stripped out in a way that made us suspect the place was quickly but purposefully abandoned.

Eventually, we came upon the records room we were looking for. It was a relatively small room with four desks, a bunch of bookshelves, and a series of candelabras hung about the place.

Dawn all but rushed inside when she saw it, or more accurately, when she saw the books were mostly intact. "How the hell are these not dust?"

"Maybe they're enchanted?" I asked, following her inside at a much more sedate pace 

Carefully, almost reverently, she lifted one of the books. "Doesn't seem like it. Also, why was all the cooking, cleaning, and training equipment removed, but the records weren't?"

Before I could respond, the book in her hands fell apart at the seams, throwing pages all over the floor. "Shit!" She exclaimed, crouching quickly to collect it all. "Whatever they used for the pages has stood the test of time, but the covers and bindings are dust and bug food."

"What language are they written in?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder as she stood back up.

Dawn brought her head to rest on mine and sighed. “It’s old Parcosian, but I have the skill for that so… it’s in english. For me, that is. Probably looks like gibberish to you.”

“Yup,” I agreed, and after unequipping my gauntlets, I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Tell me a story, my love?”

“Once upon a time, there was a legion of military dudes,” she began, a smile in her voice. “They ordered six hundred pounds of wheat, five butchered cows, and two crates of apples. The merchant who sold them the food gave them a fair price. The end.”

“Awesome story,” I laughed, snuggling in close against her.

She turned around in my arms and gave me an amused, exasperated look. “We’re meant to be investigating the ruins and you’re being very distracting.”

I kissed her neck. “Then keep investigating, I’m listening.”

“O-okay,” she said, voice hitching. “Well, it looks like… this was the headquarters of a group called the Fifth Mhyridon, which is sort of like a legion for the ancient Parcosians. It’s a little confusing, though, because these records are from after the fall of the empire.”

“Since there’s no enemies down here,” I murmured into her ear. “Why don’t we get some help with all this, eh?”

“But it’s really—“ she began, only for me to spin her around and plant a passionate, needy kiss on her lips.

Carefully, she placed the book back on a shelf, then focused her attention on me. Her lips were warm, despite the cold of the ruins. Warm and oh so breathtakingly soft. I heard the whump of her wings manifesting, and the next thing I knew she had me in a cozy feathered embrace.

“Okay,” she whispered as we broke apart. “We’ll go get our steward and her scholar friends. We have training later, anyway.”

I laughed softly. “Right, we should delegate.”

“Yes, we’ll find out the lore so much faster with proper scholars working on this,” she agreed, lips brushing mine as she spoke. I allowed myself a secret little smile. Turns out she was gayer than she was nerdy.

****

We tumbled into our room after telling our steward to bring some scholars down there with our outer layers of clothing already headed for the floor. My hands were all over Dawn’s achingly soft skin, but they settled halfway between her waist and her stomach.

I kissed her neck, once over her pulse, then again on the tendon that connected her shoulder to her spine. Inhaling, I basked in her warm, slightly citrusy scent. “God, Dawn… how did I ever live without you? My whole world revolves around you now.”

“Aw, babe,” she whispered, wrapping her slender arms around me. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? The connection, the warmth of the emotions, the gentle desperation. I can’t get enough of you, and fuck, but the way you express that same need…”

“Yeah,” I agreed, loving her way with words. “I want gentle sex, right now, can we have gentle sex?”

She chuckled, and it was a throaty, happy sound that sent tingles up my spine. “Sure thing.”

Pulling me over to the bed, she flopped backwards, taking me with her. My breath caught in my throat when I saw how her beautiful wavy hair had cascaded out over the pillow, and I dove down to kiss her.

Our hands stilled against one another as we focused in on each other’s lips. God, what a kiss. It was simultaneously passionate and slow, like a dance at the end of a ball. Then I smiled, something in my heart sort of bubbling up like a popped champagne bottle of happiness.

Giggling in a way that was completely unlike me, I pulled out of the kiss and tugged at her shirt. Together, we wiggled and laughed our way out of our clothes, until nothing remained and we could press soft skin to soft skin. Lightning flashed lazily beneath my alabaster, and it was answered by a gentle lick of flame that turned her ochre into something like red onyx.

"You make me so happy," she sighed, cupping my butt with both hands. I tensed it in response, causing the whole dealio to jiggle slightly.

Laughing softly, she kissed me again, then paused. My fingers had found a nipple, and gently, I teased it up into a firm bud. I watched her face while I played with it, marveling at all the tiny movements going on there and what they represented. Underneath that nipple, my little flicks and twists were sending tiny signals up to her brain, each one conveying pleasant, erotic sensation that was reflected in the micro expressions of her face.

A fingertip pulled me back into the here and now, gently stirring at my wet entrance. She'd slipped a hand down past my butt while I was distracted. Her orange eyes were dark with desire, watching me as she slipped inside, just barely.

The world contracted inwards with almost frightening speed, and very soon all I knew was tangled limbs, wandering lips, and the oh so slow, luxurious ascent towards an eventual orgasm. Climax wasn't the goal here, though. Nah, tonight was about the journey.

QuietValerie