Heart to heart

"Lucy! I'm sorry!" Talrach sobbed over Lucile's shoulder. "I'm so, so, sooo sorry!"

"I'm sorry too, Talrach." Lucile apologized, hugging her friend back. "That venom was stronger than I thought, and I just... I never wanted to hurt you, Talrach!"

"But I've been hurting you for years!" Talrach sobbed, pulling away and staring into Lucile's eyes with a mixture of guilt and remorse. "I love you too. As in, I'm in love with you! I always have been..."

"What?!" Lucile asked in shock, eyes going wide. "But why didn't you -"

"I was scared!" Talrach admitted softly, sitting on another rock as she placed her head in her hands.

"Scared? YOU?!" Lucile asked, staring over at the woman she loved. "But... But we've known each other since we were kids. You were always the braver of the two of us. You're not afraid of anything!"

"I was afraid of losing you..." Talrach admitted. "I was scared out of my mind that, if I said or did something, you'd want nothing to do with me anymore. So I kept those feelings down because, while it would hurt me if you never loved me back, it would kill me if I lost you as a friend."

"So, all the times I -"

"No, I really had no idea that you felt the same way." Talrach replied, "I really thought that you meant all of that in a friendly way. I mean, I'm the one who took five years to grasp the concept of a joke. Remember?"

Lucile opened her mouth to say something... Only to close it again as she realized that Talrach was right, blushing slightly as she had forgotten all about that.

"But if I had known for one second that you felt the same way..." Talrach began, trailing off before letting out a sigh. "No wonder you hate me. I'd hate me too if it felt like I didn't care."

Now Lucile began to hate herself again as she saw Talrach stand up. "Talrach! Wait!" Lucile cried out as she jumped to her feet, the tiefling jumping in surprise as she paused. "I... I can never hate you. I love you way too much to hate you!"

"Y-you mean that?" Talrach asked hopefully.

"Does this answer your question?" Lucile asked as she pulled the tiefling closer, kissing her passionately as Talrach let out a surprised squeak...

Which immediately turned into a passionate moan as she closed her eyes and kissed the witch back, her tail wrapping itself around both of them and bringing them even closer. After a few seconds, the two broke away as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Do you have any idea how long I wanted you to do that?" Talrach asked.

"Do you have any idea how long I wanted to do that?" Lucile replied.

"Lucy, when this is all over and we help Tara overthrow Intectus, would you like to -"

"HELL YES!" Lucile exclaimed, making Janice jump back in surprise as Talrach giggled at the witch's eagerness. Lucile chuckled sheepishly before clearing her throat and saying, "I... I mean, I'd love to."

"C'mon! C'mon!" Collette explained as she, her siblings, Integra, and Olga entered the supplies bunker, the woman looking through the shelves. She gasped excitedly as she shouted, "YES! Rose puree and vinegar! And there's even more Dragon Root here! Ooga! Where's the bathing cauldron?!"

"Olga's name not 'Ooga'! Olga's name Olga." The half-orc said with a frown.

"Just point me to this bathing cauldron, you green freak!" Collette snapped before pointing to Cevin. "And you! Get your girlfriend here some clothes so no one has to see her fat, naked, green ass anymore!"

"Said the woman in a wet diaper..." Cevin muttered.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing." Cevin lied as Olga pointed towards a chamber in the back, the man rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Olga. I hate seeing that beautiful body of yours covered up, but let's see if we can find you something."

"Mate Cevin really think Olga beautiful?"

"You better believe it!" Cevin purred, slapping Olga's right ass cheek and causing it to jiggle as the half-orc laughed.

"Mate Cevin be careful." Olga warned playfully, "Mate Cevin spank Olga again, Olga make Mate Cevin help Olga break bed."

"Was that a threat or a promise, my big, beautiful, green goddess?" Cevin asked seductively, his three inches becoming erect under the skirt he was wearing.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Collette exclaimed as she pumped water into the cauldron after lighting a fire under it, pouring the vinegar, rose puree, and dragon root juice mixture into water as it heated up.

Cevin rolled his eyes as Olga stuck her tongue out at Collette, the couple walking around the bunker to find anything for the half-orc to wear.

Meanwhile, Clarisse merely stared at Integra as the latter, stood guard at the door in case the manticore came back. "So, do you at least know who that woman was?"

"For the last time, Clarisse, no. Now please drop it." Integra lied, making her voice sound annoyed.

Clarisse leaned up against a shelf and closed her eyes, getting lost in thought. "There has to be a way to find out if she's lying. I could try to **** it out of her with The Amulet of Thungada, but anyone who can work a magic ring like that must have some sort of powerful mana. I wish there was a way to figure out what she's playing at. The Orb of Revealing could help, but that thing is two days backwards, and they'll surely notice I'm gone if I go after it. Unless..." Clarisse brought a hand to her chin, "I remember hearing a legend about an artifact called The Ring of Truth that causes the wearer to answer any question they're asked truthfully. It should be in a mine a few yards from here, so when they all go to bed tonight, I'll just sneak over to that mine and search for that -"

"WHY DO I SMELL EVEN WORSE?!" Collette screamed as she sat in the cauldron, practically scrubbing her skin raw as she bathed in the mixture.

"And you're certain that you saw them go this way?" Integra asked Tara, the naked woman in a panic.

"Yes! Oh, this is all my fault!" Tara said as she looked around, "I couldn't stop Lucile from getting stung and from blowing up on Talrach, and now their friendship is ruined!"

"You can say that..."

The group looked up to see Talrach and Lucile walking towards them, both grinning from ear to ear with Janice walking alongside them.

"Because we're not friends anymore." Talrach said as she gestured to their intertwined hands.