Promises Made, Debts Collected

“This was… an excellent… training session…” The sweat dripping from Kim’s brow and the discoloration of her normally flawless features did little to disrupt the Slayer’s focus. Not only was she still half-heartedly swinging her sword, as if she could make any comparison between her strength now and after a full rest, but she managed to meet John’s gaze with as much intensity as ever.

“Can you focus on something other than training for one minute?” The sigh that escaped John’s lips seemed to amuse Kim. She threw him a cocky grin, finally sheathing her blade and relaxing her body further into the dojang’s wall.

“Bold words for one with a Slayer’s blade hanging over their neck.”

“I’m glad you find my imminent demise at the hands of your own father so amusing.” John **** out a laugh as he pried himself off the floor.

Their last dungeon had only been level fifty, and should have been a relatively easy clear, but Kim had insisted that they all push together to clear it as quickly as possible. Even John had been momentarily fatigued; everyone else without the aid of Gamer’s Body was downright exhausted, and he’d quickly sent the others home, partly to let them rest and partly in case the Slayer was going to try to **** him into another run.

“Come now. You are growing into your own, John. By the time that this war arrives, if you train as hard as we did today, you might even be stronger than me.”

“You don’t sound as angry about that as I think you once would have.”

Kim gave a softer smile this time, one tinged with just a bit of sadness. “I still cannot afford to rely on the aid of others, but… I trust you. I trust you well enough by now that seeing you grow more quickly does not threaten me. Only make me envious.”

“Coming from you, I’ll take that as fairly high praise.”

“It should. Though it’s not as though I’ve ever actually found you threatening to begin with.”

John smirked and let the barb hang in the air, a comfortable silence filling the air, broken only by the Slayer’s breathing as it slowly evened out.

“You haven’t mentioned anything about our last encounter, or my relationship with Moira,” Kim finally dared, her eyes reflecting an uncertainty that was rare to see in those hazel pools.

“I can’t think of any reason why I’d need to,” John replied simply, offering an amenable shrug. “Unless you were hoping I’d finish you off by fucking what little stamina you have left out of you.”

“Not a bad way to go…” Kim’s smile twisted into a lecherous grin, and despite her usual composure, it took no small effort for her to wrest it back into form. “If there is nothing you wish to discuss, then far be it from me to create problems where there are none – I only wanted to clear the air.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about, Kim. And, to be honest, I don’t care if anything changes between the two of you or not.” John gave it a moment before continuing, thinking over his words a bit more carefully. “Well, if I’m being completely honest, I do care a little. I’d prefer the two of you keep going. It seems like you’re good for each other, and...”

“And?”

“...And while I’m being honest, it’s pretty fucking hot.”

Kim heaved an exaggerated sigh, rolling her eyes just in case John had somehow missed the overture. “Men.”

“I don’t have any concerns about what I learned, saw, or shared. I already got the feeling something was different between the two of you, I just didn’t know what. It was nice to know what exactly it was, but as far as I’m concerned, nothing changed between the two of us. Or three of us. Whatever.” John gave a brief wave of his hand, a physical embodiment of his feelings toward the matter. “Like you said… I trust you, Kim.”

“Thank you. You’ve been a bit more perceptive than usual lately. Then again, I’m comparing you to the newly matured boy who would barely notice something as it slammed into his skull.

“Well, here’s to hoping I can learn with fewer concussions from now on.”

Kim reached out to the wall with both hands, pushing herself up until she could stand straight, with at least most of her usual dignity intact. With one hand on the hilt of her blade as a rest, Kim gestured to the door to the dojang gracefully.

“I must take my leave now, John. It is late, and if I’m to have any energy for tomorrow’s efforts, I will need a great deal of sleep. Feel free to return at any time – I’ll ensure my father knows better than to approach you like that again.”

“Think nothing of it,” John responded easily, bowing his head slightly. “What’s a few **** threats between friends and their fathers?”

“I… do hope some form of normalcy can be returned to us soon, John.” Kim fiddled with the pommel of her blade in a rare display of what seemed to be nervousness, perhaps even fear. “Should all of us return from this war safely, I would… I mean…”

“We’re all coming back to Springfield together. I promise.”

“...Be that as it may,” Kim added half-heartedly, “should the three of us return here when this is over, I would not be opposed to another… spa day. Purely as a celebration, of course.”

Kim maintained her composure, but John could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he recalled their last visit to the hot springs.

“I’ll bring the wine.”

“So long as you bring that insufferable redhead and that cock of yours, I’ll be satisfied.”

“Oh, I won’t stop until you are.”

John wasn’t sure if training got Kim’s libido flowing like it often did for some of his creations, or if she was just in a particularly playful mood. Either way, she wore a cheshire’s grin as she accompanied him to the door, as much ushering as following.

“Will you be alright to return alone?” Kim finally asked when they stood at the edge of the barrier. “I’m aware of your-”

“Yes, my habit of getting myself as deep into shit as possible,” John summarized with a sigh. “I’ll be alright. The mercenaries Moira has hired aren’t quite fully formed as a security net yet, but they’re cohesive enough to warn us about anyone getting into Springfield. Well, probably. I still don’t know how I feel about them watching over things, but I trust it enough to get back to the Manor.”

“Well, then I’ll allow it.” The last words were almost a dare, but John didn’t take the bait of challenging her authority in her own home.

“I’ll be back at least once more before the war. I’ll try to be stronger by then, so be ready for a real challenge.”

“I look forward to it!” John began to step over the threshold of the Barrier, one foot breaking through and back into the mundane realm. As the rest of his body began to follow on through, just as he felt the magic begin to ebb over his body, a pressure caught his sleeve. John’s shoulder was pulled back, and as his head turned into it, the Slayer’s lips met his own.

The jerking motion might have resulted in an awkward and painful meeting for anyone else, but the Slayer’s precision was as impeccable in romance as in battle. Her lips met John’s with a gentleness that was as surprising as it was welcome. Kim’s muscles, personality, and gaze were unforgivingly hard… but her affection, her lips, were as soft as a breeze – and gone just as quickly as the wind.

Kim smiled in a coy way that might have come from any Academy girl that John used to attend classes with. Affection and joy mingled together with just a hint of naughtiness as her eyes darted briefly toward her home.

“Do you think he saw that?”

“If he did, you’d better get going,” Kim half-growled. “And, John… you’d better keep your promises.”

“Of cour-”

A hearty shoved pushed John the rest of the way through the barrier before he could finish. Unceremoniously stumbling out into the street, John cast one final glance back toward the Barrier, wondering if he should go back to call her out on stealing the last word like that.

“No… let her do things her way.”

For all the abruptness of it, John still had a beaming smile on his face as he started off toward Brighton Manor. Maybe she just felt a need to compensate for her father’s gruffness, but John was glad he got to see this side of Kim all the same.

A brisk run with Barrier Walk and a quick World Shift later, John found himself back at home – and for the most part, quite alone. Mika and Miya were lazily chasing each other around the yard outside, with Orria tending the flowers along the perimeter of the house while she kept an eye on them, but everyone else had gone to bed.

“I guess anything that can tire out Kim is enough to knock the others out completely.”

John quietly and somberly made his way up the stairs, feeling no rush to reach his bedroom. If he were being completely honest with himself, he had hoped the others might be too amped up from training to sleep just yet.

“I guess it doesn’t really matter. I wouldn’t want to keep them up all night… and I’m not going to be able to **** myself asleep like this.”

The day’s activities had done an excellent job of taking John’s mind off things. It was difficult to be too consumed by thought when it took every ounce of effort to keep up with Kim, and the undercurrents of anxiety that ran without conscious worry were buried under fatigue and pain quite easily. But now, in the calm quiet of the night, with no dangers or external concerns – no more than usual, at least – John’s mind turned again to what the dawn would bring.

A grim look must have still been firmly etched on his features when his hand finally settled on his doorknob, because when John entered his room and found Aclysia already waiting inside for him, her usual even gaze quickly turned to a frown.

“Ah, hey, Aclysia.” A smile **** its way past the creeping dread, though he wasn’t sure if it could even fool an inexperienced reader like Aclysia. “Sorry if you’ve been waiting a while. I sent the others home early; bit of a rough training session, everyone’s pretty wiped out.”

“Yes, I spoke with them briefly before they retired for the evening. They seemed happy, though even Sophia spoke more curtly than usual.”

“Heh, what’s that mean for her, she only gave you half of a word instea-”

John blinked a few times, his thoughts circling back over what they’d failed to process the first time. His eyes ran a quick loop around the room to reorient themselves, then settled again on the pretty alabaster woman sitting on his bed.

“Aclysia, you talked! The materials must have been enough?”

Aclysia nodded happily, her smile brighter than ever, and seeming to sit more naturally on her face. “Lerianna helped me pick out the proper materials, and I believe the materials which you had the others deliver were quite useful as well.”

“That’s wonderful!”

John tapped through his menus quickly, opening up Aclysia’s page. There was still a grayed out tab, but her stat sheet was more than enough to see that quite a large difference had been made. John wasn’t sure if it was the level of the materials that they had gathered or simply the pace that the Slayer had pushed them at, but the last several sessions of training had apparently given them enough materials to seriously boost Aclysia’s level.

~

“So, did you two manage to have a chat after all, then?” John asked, swiping the menus away again so that he could clearly see Aclysia.

“Yes, she was very helpful, though I fear I may have upset her with our discussion.”

“Really? Usually I’m the only one who does that,” John said, only half-joking. “Did you want me to talk to her about it?”

“No, I believe we resolved things at the end, but I was hoping you might be willing to answer a few questions. Lerianna’s reaction to my questions was very different from Yvara’s when we were discussing a similar topic, and I’m worried I may be missing or misunderstanding something of the subject.”

“Of course I’m willing to help, Aclysia.” John seated himself next to Aclysia on the bed, just enough distance between them to avoid touching. “I’m more than happy to talk about this kind of thing, it’s just that Lerianna has a bit more knowledge in the field than I do. Even if it’s not exactly suited to this exact situation, it’s still useful, and I’d like for you to have someone else to rely on when I’m not here.”

“I do appreciate that.” Aclysia gave him a beaming look, softer and more subdued than he might get from the Nekos, but with a strength behind it that resonated as powerfully as any of his creations’.

“Well, just tell me what-”

John cut himself off as three quiet knocks sounded on the door, hesitant and almost apologetic. John quirked an eyebrow at the door, silently judging the wood with a deep scrutiny.

“Hold on, Aclysia. I bet it’s just one of the kittens begging for a midnight snack.”

John closed the distance to the door in just a few moments, but it was not one of the twins on the other side. Farrah stood quietly on the other side, her head hung low, a contemplative look on her face. Her pink nightgown bounced lightly as she swayed on the balls of her feet, only hesitantly looking up when she saw John’s figure highlighted by the light of the room behind him.

“Um… sorry if I’m interrupting. I can feel it again.”

“Feel it again?” The words had hardly left John’s lips before he found himself nodding, a wordless noise of acknowledgment echoing from his throat. “Ah. Yes, I’m… I’m sorry about that. I have a lot on my mind, it’s gonna be a long night for me. Was it really bad enough to wake you?”

“Well…” Farrah glanced away, looking slightly ashamed to admit the inconvenience, but she managed a quick, jerking nod after a moment.

“I understand. Let me just have a quick conversation with Aclysia and I’ll leave the house for the night. I won’t be sleeping tonight anyway, so at least one of us should get some shut eye. Sorry, Farrah.”

John moved to close the door, but Farrah’s hand darted out to stop him – or at least to make an attempt. Despite the fact that Farrah looked like she was putting her weight behind it, John could barely even tell something was in the way, though he quickly stopped all the same.

“Um, actually…” Farrah’s eyes moved to John’s once she was sure the door had stopped completely. Her twinkling eyes were a lot less distraught than John expected, considering how much it had affected her the last time someone in the house had been emotionally agitated. “Could I come in? I thought maybe this would be a good chance to practice tuning things out. I can already sort of pinpoint where things are coming from. That’s, uh, how I knew it was somewhere in here.”

“Oh, that makes sense. But are you sure you wouldn’t rather practice that on some positive feelings? That way while you’re figuring it out you aren’t just… suffering.”

“Well, I don’t really wanna kick you out of the house. I mean, it’s kind of your house.” Farrah giggled, her mood clearly not affected by her discomfort. The woman’s wholesomeness warmed John’s heart, especially since she didn’t show any signs of blaming him for his turmoil. “Besides, this is gonna keep happening. I mean, like you keep saying… there’s a war coming up, right? I better learn now before everyone’s all stressed out all the time.”

“...Right. Sorry. This is not great timing for learning how to be an empath.” John started to move out of the doorway, then cast a quick glance back to Aclysia. “Aclysia, do you mind if Farrah joins us?”

“Oh? Am I interrupting something?” Farrah leaned in the doorway to peek into the room, and when she saw Aclysia, a quiet gasp of surprise escaped her. Farrah clasped her hands over her mouth, eyes shimmering as they scanned the ivory-haired woman from head to toe with **** interest. “Aclysia! I can feel you!”

“I assume due to our distance you are not referring to the sensation of touch,” Aclysia replied, quirking her head slightly. “Am I missing something?”

“Oh! You can talk now! That’s great!” Farrah clapped her hands animatedly, smiling brightly for a few moments before her joy slowly turned into a slightly apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to confuse you, it’s just… I’ve never really noticed any kind of emotions from you that were strong enough for me to feel. If we’re right about that being what these sensations are, I mean. You were always kind of blank, like you weren’t there. But now you feel really nice! I mean, you feel warm, and kind of fuzzy, which I think is a good feeling. It feels nice to me, anyway! Maybe a little unsteady, though. Sorry if I’m, uh, reading it wrong.”

Farrah ended on a second apology with an awkward smile and a slight bounce on the balls of her feet, shrugging her shyness away as best as she could. John patted her shoulder reassuringly, then gestured further into the room, shutting the door behind Farrah as the bubbly woman bounced inside.

“You do not need to apologize. I am aware of my rather dulled emotions compared to others. Creator John has been most helpful in teaching me how to become more like the rest of you, and to understand these new feelings.”

Aclysia described her own mental evolution with as much investment as she would the weather. The irony seemed lost on her, though Farrah made enough of a puzzled look that John was sure he wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“Actually, we were just discussing Aclysia’s emotions. Maybe hearing what she’s feeling while you’re sensing it could help you get a more accurate sense?” John’s eyes shifted to the bed as he finished that thought. “Well, as long as Aclysia doesn’t mind. Is it anything personal that you wouldn’t want to share?”

“I do not mind discussing it. Though given that Lerianna reacted much more strongly than I anticipated, I should apologize in advance if I upset you, Farrah.” Aclysia gave as close to a bow as she could without rising from the bed, prompting Farrah to giggle.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Lerianna’s always a little on edge, though… usually not around girls.” Farrah gave John a pointed stare, her eyes glimmering with mischief. Despite being directly in the room with him, she already seemed to be in a better mood.

“I can’t tell if you’re getting better at reading people or if she’s just that obvious about it,” John deadpanned as he spoke. “Anyway, take a seat anywhere you want, Farrah. Aclysia, go ahead and tell us what happened.”

John sat himself on the bed as he had been before Farrah walked in. Farrah took his other side, just a bit farther away than Aclysia was sitting, smiling happily as they both waited with interest.

“Well, I had thought that I had a reasonable understanding of this ‘sex’ that Yvara’s books spoke of-” John’s eyes seemed to alternate between twitching and widening as his brain processed that statement and all it entailed, while Aclysia continued on heedlessly, “-but when I mentioned it to Lerianna, she grew quite animated. She advised me to seek additional experience in such matters, but attempting to gain that experience caused her to grow even more agitated. Would you please teach me about sex, Creator John?”

John blinked a few times, not stopping until he noticed Farrah leaning over to peer at him from the side, an amused and curious look on her face.

“Wow, that’s an interesting feeling. He’s radiating this… kind of fuzzy, stunned feeling. Like when you sit on your legs for too long, but coming from his head,” Farrah noted. Although her voice sounded amused, she was lifting an eyebrow at John in a very pointed way.