The Chimera Summoner - Ch 34

Ch 34--

Lucy and I wandered the fair, sipping on fancy coffees and munching on a sugary, donut-y thing served on a stick. I thought they were a little too sweet, but Lucy loved them, so I was happy.

We had taken the train down to the port city of Mirrolin, at the expense of a small chunk of Loftys.

They had a nice, permanent thing in Mirrolin that was part fair, part open-air market, which occupied a swath of big piers over the chilly water.

It was winter, but so much lower elevation, and a couple hours train ride to the south-ish, so it was a good deal warmer than Bayloft.

With a happy Lucy tight against my side, and a good scarf, I was enjoying the crisp sea breeze on my face as we wandered through stall after stall.

Lucy, in typical fashion, had worn only a pair of tight shorts, and a crop top of mine that was serving an unfair amount of glorious skin on her. She was far too cold though, and so we hunted for a nice jacket for her.

"This way looks like clothes!" She said, pulling me along by my arm.

I scuttled along in her wake, as she zig-zagged between stalls each time something caught her eye.

I chuckled to myself as stall owners each did a triple take as she approached, one for a potential customer, one for a wildly beautiful and scantily clad woman bouncing up to them, chattering at a million miles an hour, and the last to her big floppy bunny ears jutting up from the top of her head and flicking to and fro as each new sound caught her attention.

Wayfinders were a rarer sight here than in Bayloft, or even one of the bigger cities with permanent Dungeon entrances, so we caught some questions and looks. But everyone was nice enough, and the general atmosphere was friendly and relaxed.

"Does this look good on me?" Lucy asked, holding a thick scarf over her hips like it was a wildly short skirt.

"It goes around your neck, love." I smiled, taking the soft green garment from her and gently wrapping it around her exposed neck.

She shivered, shrugging her shoulders up to cuddle into the luxurious scarf. The motion pulled her shirt to an alarming height, and I quickly caught the hem and tugged it below the tantalizing glimpses of her boobs that were peeking out underneath the shirt.

"Aren't you wearing a bra, you goofball?" I asked in a whisper.

"This is a bra?" She said, innocently indicating the loose crop top.

I sighed. "We need to find you a jacket before you give someone a heart attack."

"No one minds." She said, indicating the stall owner who whipped his gaze away from her chest at a speed that made me fear for the health of his neck.

"Me, baby. It's me that you're giving a heart attack to. I am the victim." I laughed. "I cannot look at all these nice things if all I am doing is trying to catch a peek of you under that shirt."

"You don't have to peek, I'll just show--"

"Down, girl."

"No titties...?"

"... later. Please."

"Yes, Daddy." Lucy murmured happily.

I passed some money to the blushing stall owner, brushing away his sincere-sounding apologies. "You're good, dude. We'll take the scarf."

We kept on wandering, Lucy now proudly bundled in her new green scarf. It looked exceedingly cute on her, contrasting nicely against her auburn hair, and bringing out the hints of green in her slightly mixed-colour eyes.

"What's this?" she jabbered contentedly.

"Fishing equipment. They put bait on the end, and throw it out to the water, and maybe a fish comes, and you can snag it."

"What's this?"

"Magic trinkets. I think yours are better than these, but do you want to--?"

"What's this?"

I coasted in the wake of her unfiltered enthusiasm, and basked in the warmth of her happiness. I could feel how much she loved getting my undivided attention for a while, and it made me glow inside that someone so lovely wanted--truly longed--to spend time with me and explore new things together.

She was, as always, generally adored by everyone we interacted with. A lot of stall owners were sort of overwhelmed by the shockingly beautiful bunny girl bounding up to them and demanding every piece of information about who they were, and what they did, and what they were selling, and how long they'd been doing this, and how they liked the town, and if there was anything that we shouldn't miss while we were here.

But the genuine interest she took in them quickly won them over each time. Like many craftspeople, they were happy to have someone smart show interest in their area of expertise. On top of that, our growing collection of goods from all over the market showed that we weren't just here to browse.

Lucy loved trying things on, now that she'd realized how much I liked her modelling things for me.

We found her a nice jacket, a big black bomber that gave her a modern, stylish look. She modeled it for me and the old woman who made the jackets and we clapped and heaped appreciation on her. The lady cut me a little discount and I accepted gratefully.

I wasn't even sure if it was a real discount, or if she was just buttering me up, and I didn't mind a bit either way. Today, let me be buttered. It was a nice jacket, and I wanted Lucy to have something comfy.

It was quite a struggle not to buy her everything she tried on, as she was either adorable, sexy or both in anything. But I restrained myself. Somewhat.

I bought a lot of it.

She flounced along with a warm and fluffy new hat which a stall owner had customized on the spot (using a fabric manipulation Class that I had found quite fascinating) to accommodate Lucy's signature bunny ears. Her auburn ears contrasted fetchingly with the white wool, and she admitted that she enjoyed the extra warmth, even if it was a form of her nemesis--unnecessary clothing.

What we didn't hold back on at all was snacks.

The vendors in this town universally offered a bite-sized version of whatever they sold, which I was obsessed with. We had miniature sausages (delicious and spicy), pickled radishes (delightfully crunchy), every kind of sweet pastry, cake, custard, or more magically exotic dessert that we could find to satisfy Lucy's unrivalled sweet tooth.

"We should get something for the other girls too!" Lucy gasped. "Wouldn't that be fun? You got me this nice jacket and this nice scarf and this nice hat. We could get you a nice hat! We could find something for Lorna and Violette and Serenity, and then they'll know that we were thinking of them, even though we were having some alone time!!"

She beamed at me, cozying up into my side and batting her eyelashes, like she needed to coax me into agreeing.

She didn't. But I was sorely tempted to let her think she did, if only to see what sort of bribe she might--

"I think that is an amazing idea," I said, ruffling her long ears fondly.

Even though I knew--I could feel--the way she absolutely coveted her time with just us, she still wanted to take care of, and show love to, the others.

Gods, let me live long enough to love this woman well.

"Let's look around, and I bet we can find something they'll like. It'll be fun! Scavenger hunt! Jennie says in scavenger hunt you-- " Lucy said, once again dragging me off through the market and fair, with a new purpose.

She explained the whole game to me, start to finish. Along with many potential strategies she had thought of, depending on what kind of items might be needed, and who your opponents were.

"I am so in love with you," I said, as we charged around from stall to stall.

She whipped around and grinned her little half smirk that I lived for, with the dimples and the cuteness and the playful Lucy-ness all over.

"Smooch?" She asked.

"Smooch." I smiled, pulling her in close.

We strolled around to what must have been most of the shops in a quarter-mile radius.

Lucy came out with her scarf, her jacket, her hat, and snacks of all descriptions, finding she had a great liking for the extremely spicy roasted nuts that someone sold in cute little colored paper bags.

I came out with snacks and a black baseball cap that Lucy insisted that I wear immediately. I stuffed it down backwards on my head, and enjoyed how Lucy admired me in it. She gushed as she carefully took it off, rearranged my hair properly, put it back on, adjusted some more, and then stepped back to admire her handywork with approval.

Lucy approval was, of course, openly horny looks and a few wildly lewd suggestions of what I could do to her while wearing this hat.

We giggled and strolled on, arm in arm.

Her undisguised, lip-biting glances made me even happier with the purchase with each moment.

The appropriate presents for the rest of our little polycule found their way into our possession over the next hour and a bit. With bag-laden arms, we pranced along, chatting easily.

We ended the afternoon sitting on a bench on the end of a pier, snacking on spicy nuts, and sharing a crappy old fishing rod we had gotten at a huge bargain.

Lucy had a great time sending the line shooting out to sea. Then she'd pass it to me, and watch me reel it back in with fascination.

"I liked the pastries on the stick the best." She said, "No, the nuts. So spicy. They make my mouth happy. I'm so cozy in this in my new clothes! Even though they're more clothing than you HAVE to wear! I love them, thank you for buying them for me! I hate that you can't get your hands on me when I am in them, though. Do you think you could spectral waltz through the jacket and grab my titties like that? No, it only works on your whole body at once. You'd go right through the titty, and that's no fun. Unless you're super cold like Lorna. It feels so good when she touches you in the right places. Do you like--"

She yapped on in a smooth, comfortable stream of consciousness.

I reeled in the line, listening and answering the occasional question, or explaining something she wasn't familiar with in my world. Even with our bond, I couldn't read her mind. But when she got going like this, I felt like I was in her head, experiencing everything through her eyes.

"Am I talking too much?" She asked, interrupting herself suddenly. "I'm talking a lot. I can--"

I kissed her cheek, then paused expectantly. After a second she caught on and turned so I could kiss the other cheek. Then turned again so I could kiss her soft, warm lips. She was just a hint spicy, from the nuts.

"I love, love, love listening to you." I said. I felt her probe at the bond to feel my sincerity. "Am I talking enough for you, or would you rather I contributed more?"

She shook her head. "You're perfect. I mean. I like listening to you too. I mean. I like talking a lot. But I like listening too. Cause I love you. And you say good things. I just like being with you."

She rested her lovely face on my shoulder.

I let a huge smile plaster itself over my dumb face.

"Wanna try one more time?" I asked, offering her the rod.

She nodded, "Mmmhmm!"

She stood and wound up before launching the line into the distance. She plopped back down by my side and handed me the rod proudly.

"Damn, that's even further!" I said.

"Yeah! Now, we will definitely get a good fish!"

We ended up sitting there for nearly another hour, chatting about the last few weeks, and the situation with the Netherim. But mostly we talked about nothing.

"I'm sorry we didn't get any fish." I said, as we stood, leaning against a rail.

"It's ok. I don't like fish." She said.

I laughed. "Then why did you keep insisting we keep trying?"

She looked shifty and mumbled.

"Hmmmm?" I asked, tilting her chin up to me with a finger.

"I just wanted to stay a little longer." She admitted.

I stroked her cheek fondly.

"Me too," I said.

We shared a long, unhurried kiss as the waves lapped gently against the pier, and the seabirds called the beginning of their evening song.

~~~~~~~~~~

I hauled a large wicker basket up a mountain, following the fluffy black and pink tail of my favourite fox girl.

She had our biggest blanket rolled up and slung over her shoulders. We weren't technically allowed to take it out of our room at Bayloft. But the worst-case scenario was getting fined some Loftys. And that risk was more than worth it.

We'd stayed the night in Mirrolin at a little bed and breakfast. It had been lovely to have a bed big enough for all five of us, though with other guests on either side of some rather thin walls, we hadn't been able to get in any spicy times. Still, curling up and snuggling with everyone at once was a rare treat. Falling asleep under Serenity's massive wing after chatting together in the soft light of her halo had been worth the stay, all on its own.

Violette had dragged me out of bed before the crack of dawn, our usual wake up time, ready for her chosen date. She was a creature of habit, in many ways, and bedtimes and wake-up times were absolutely one of those ways. If I slept in too much, I was liable to wake up to a fox girl pouncing on me.

There was about a half chance of that anyway. She liked to pounce on me, unexpectedly. And I had come to see it as the sign of affection that it was. She enjoyed a little rough housing more than most of the others in our lovely polycule. Both seriously, in the form of all the martial training that we did every day, and the sillier kind that she would instigate in our downtime. She loved nothing more than to provoke me into wrestling her into submission.

My ears heated up, imagining how things usually went after that, and I directed myself back to the present.

"How far, Vi?" I asked, curiously.

Instinctively, I spoke quietly. The symphony of the mountain forest coming awake had always felt sacred, in a way. I knew if we were loud, the sounds would change, as animals moved away from potential danger. And I didn't want to miss it.

We'd been walking for maybe half an hour. Chatting a little, but mostly just enjoying the cool morning, and each other's company, and the soft forest sounds.

She tilted her head back and forth a few times. "Ten minutes? Fifteen. You're very slow."

I suppressed a snort. "You've made us quite the feast," I said, hefting the heavy basket.

She turned. "Huh?"

I lifted the basket again. A carefully tied ribbon held the wicker lid shut, and I hadn't investigated. Violette had spent a lot of time preparing it, so I wanted to let her surprise me.

"That's not food?" She said, tilting her head. Adorably. The way that left one fox ear flat against her head.

I blinked in mild alarm. "It's not? But...? Picnic? What's in here?"

She grinned, fangs flashing. "We're going to hunt and forage for breakfast! You know. A date!"

I nodded. I was already fairly hungry, and dawn was already starting to burn the sky.

"Gotcha. That sounds cool. But umm... What are we... Ok. What am I hauling, though?" I asked.

"Dirt," Violette said, turning back around and nimbly hopping onto a log that led us over a pretty deep, soily valley that a stream had cut into the forest.

"Right. Basket full of dirt. Date stuff." I nodded.

Of the two of my girls who had never been Familiars before, Violette had come with the most preexisting conceptions about how things should be done, by far. Sometimes they lined up with concepts I was semi-familiar with, like her desire to treat me as a pack alpha, or her commitment to regularly rubbing her tail on each of us so that we would smell like her.

Then there were things like this. Bringing a huge basket of dirt on a date.

I jostled the basket by accident as I balanced across the log bridge, and heard a chorus of muffled clinking, like a bunch of glass.

That... was not a sound that I associated with dirt, particularly. But. You know. When your blisteringly hot fox girl asks you to carry a huge basket of dirt that sounds like a bunch of jars a mile up a mountain, through the woods, so that you can find a picnic spot, so that you can then hunt up a picnic...

You do it.

"Shhh," Violette instructed me, as I jostled the basket again, hopping off the log. "You'll scare away breakfast."

"My bad," I said.

"It's ok." She said, fluffing my face with her tail. "I'm a good hunter. I will feed you no matter what."

She got on her tiptoes to chomp my shoulder, and then kept leading me up the mountain.

As we wound our way up into the mountain, she would carefully pick her way off the 'path' and pick something up and stuff it into her pocket, and then meander back. When I asked, on the fourth or fifth time she did it, she just shrugged and showed me a weird rock with a purple stripe.

"How did you spot that under the leaves??" I asked, bewildered.

"Good eyes." She tapped the side of her head, knowingly. "Big ol' scary seeing eyes."

She opened her already large eyes as wide as she possibly could, giving herself a slightly bug-like appearance.

I laughed and batted her away from my face.

"Admit it!" She barked. "I am terrible! I am fearsome!"

"You are the most dangerous thing in the woods today," I said, wrapping my arm securely around her shoulders. "I am grateful to be under your protection."

She puffed herself up proudly. "Yeah. I'm humongous."

I looked down at the fox girl, who was a good six or seven inches shorter than me, and of a smaller build.

"Yeah. You're vast." I said, fondly.

She squinted suspiciously.

"Vast of spirit. Vast of heart." I clarified.

She blinked for a second, then averted her gaze, shaking her head like she was getting rid of water.

She snuggled into my side so hard I nearly fell sideways down a slope.

"Don't fall off the mountain, you'll scare away breakfast." She instructed, still trying to burrow into my side and squeeze the life out of my lungs.

By the time we made it, I was deeply grateful that I had done nothing but train since I got to Bayloft. My past self would have had to be rescued from this mountain. Now? Pleasantly sweaty. Ready to sit down for a bit. But I was fine.

And the spot Violette had scouted out for us??

The stream that we had crossed before came down in a lovely little waterfall, splashing down onto bare pastel colored stones and surrounded by mossy boulders. The water was deliciously cold on our bare feet, as we sat beside the bank to cool them from our hike. We were surrounded by foliage, singing birds, and dappled green light glinting through the trees.

"I did good," Violette said, proudly indicating the clearing.

"You did very well." I praised, ruffling her pink hair affectionately.

She leaned in, purring, pressing her shoulder hard into mine.

"You're a fox..." I started, listening to the rumbling purr emitting from her chest.

"Yes."

"Do foxes purr?"

Offended snort. "No."

An insistent nuzzle into my hand, more scritches, more loud purring.

"So... the noise you are making right now... is not purring."

"Of course not. Ew." Violette said, purring for all she was worth.

"What would you call it?" I asked, suppressing a chuckle.

"Friendly growling." She murmured, nestling even more tightly against me.

I smiled, switching hands so that I could wrap my arm around her wiry shoulders. "I'm honored."

"Yes."