Truth Seekers

“Is Creator John gone?”

“Yeah, I think so. Looks like they all just entered their first Barrier. Now that they’re doing higher level training together instead of just John by himself, it should take longer, right?”

“That would align with their previous excursions, yes,” Aclysia agreed.

Farrah nodded resolutely, slipping down from the window to rejoin Aclysia. Both of them had been “hiding” under the windowsill in Farrah’s room since they left the breakfast table, patiently waiting for the others to leave for the day’s training. It had taken John longer than usual to finish his meal, but finally, he had ventured out again – along with Orria, Shishun, Sophia, and Lerianna.

“Okay, then it’s time to put our plan into action!” Farrah announced, pumping her fists into the air victoriously, trying to amp them both up. “Operation: Forgot To Come Up With A Name is a-go!”

Farrah managed to get a slight smile out of Aclysia, but much more satisfying was the comforting feelings that she could feel radiating from her, a warm embrace to her very soul. Happiness was Farrah’s favorite emotion; it rolled over her like hot water from Yvara’s new shower installation, covering her from head to toe and bringing an inner peace that was so rarely found elsewhere. Aclysia might not show her emotions on her face as clearly as the others, but she clearly felt them just as strongly as anyone else.

“Who shall we ask first?” Aclysia asked, her eyes already wandering toward the door. “Master has taken many of the others with him. Shall we ask Yvara?”

“Yeah, good idea! She might leave for that temple of hers if we wait too long anyway. Plus, since she had those books in the first place, she probably knows a ton about teaching sex. I bet she talks about it all the time, probably to everyone!” Farrah nodded certainly, as if the matter was undebatable.

“Very well. I will go and fetch her.”

“Oh no. Oh no, no, noooo! You didn’t!”

“What? Did we do something wrong?” Farrah asked, tilting her head slightly. All they had done was tell Yvara why they’d asked her to come upstairs, and yet Farrah suddenly felt like waves of electricity were starting to dance on her skin. Anxiety, she had learned. Like pins and needles that flickered across the body in unnatural patterns, making it difficult for her to sit still. Not her favorite, but not the worst. A kind of fun, tingly experience, at least in short bursts.

“Aclysia, I shouldn’t have… I mean, that book was… it wasn’t supposed to be in that part of the library,” Yvara said, half-whispering and half groaning. “I must have put it back in the wrong spot by mistake, and then when I was fetching the worship books for you, I was in such a hurry that I didn’t even check the titles! I was trying to tell you not to mention any of it to Lord John, but then you walked away before I could finish.”

“I apologize. I was quite eager to begin researching further and gain a greater understanding.”

“Yes, I can tell,” Yvara moaned, her hands clasped at the side of her head as she shook it back and forth, letting out a slight squeal. Her face was blushed a tremendously deep red, and Farrah could actually see small bits of Yvara’s dress starting to smoke, something that would’ve alarmed her if the dragoness had shown even the slightest concern when she brushed away some of the ashes.

“W-well, like we said, we already talked to John. He didn’t seem particularly upset-”

“Oh, by his mercy, perhaps I won’t be flogged for this.” Yvara stared off to the side. Relief, a cool breeze that lightly brushed away the tingling on Farrah’s skin. But… was that something else under there? A chill beyond the cold wind. Disappointment? No, that didn’t make sense. Perhaps Farrah’s skills weren’t advancing as quickly as she’d hoped.

“...and so we were hoping you could help us understand a bit more of what a first time should be like,” Farrah finished, quirking an eyebrow at the strange woman’s behavior. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t here for whatever conversation you two had, but… what’s the big deal? John said that everyone learns about this stuff eventually, and you even have a whole book on it, but you two are acting like it’s so bad to talk about it. Why?”

“It’s just… well, it’s not something talked about quite so openly by most. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just a bit shocking, and imagining having a conversation about it with Lord John is just… ah!”

Yvara yelped a bit and jumped as an entire section of the front of her robes caught ablaze at once, burning up in an instant and leaving only a few scattered ashes to float away. The patch left a considerable amount of the dragoness’ bust exposed, fiery red scales and skin now visible nearly to the nipple. Yvara let out a skittish squeak and waved a clawed hand through the air; with a burst of blue mana, the few remaining ashes and cinders vanished, and the hole in her dress mended itself almost immediately after.

“Are you alright?” Aclysia asked, eyeing her own dress as if suddenly worried it too might spontaneously combust.

“D-d-dragons blushing is something of an… environmental hazard,” Yvara said sheepishly, scanning over her outfit and patching up the other sear marks. “We run a lot hotter than most races. I’ve gotten used to it, mostly – it’s part of why I’m so handy at crafting things and mending clothes. A-and don’t worry, I crafted this outfit to burn out almost instantly – there’s no danger of the house catching on fire. I just haven’t had the time or strong enough materials to fully fireproof this outfit yet. This happens a lot lately. Last time you ran off while I was still panicking too much to be embarrassed, before I started fantasi- um, before I started dreading what John might do to me if he found out...”

“Well, we won’t put your clothes in danger for long. We were mostly just hoping you could tell us about your first time. What was it like? And how did you know it was the right time?”

“Oh, um… that’s… i-is this really important to you both?”

“Very! Creator John informed us of many of the mechanical aspects of things, but he was rather… vague on the other parts, despite insisting that they were very important.” Aclysia emphasized her words with a firm nod. “We would like to know what is considered an ‘ideal’ first time.”

“And if I tell you, you promise not to go telling anyone about it? Especially John… he may have granted me some form of mercy for the book, but I don’t want him to think I’m just teaching you all these lewd things every time he’s out of the house,” Yvara murmured, clutching her dress and kneading the folds timidly.

“Of course!”

Yvara nodded uncertainly, not convinced, but at least willing to continue.

“Well, it’s a bit of an awkward story, but I guess most are.” Yvara shifted back and forth on the bench as she continued, her eyes now always down, checking for the slightest sign of ash or smoke over her entire frame. “It happened when I was still very young, not even forty yet at the time. My mother Ysia had just moved us to a new temple, and I’d been getting along very well with some of the other acolytes. Particularly a lovely little morphling named Arvana. She had the cutest elven form she adapted most of the time I knew her – I didn’t even realize that she was a morphling for almost two weeks, until I caught her shifting into one of the priestesses to mock her!”

Yvara seemed to notice her own daydreaming and corrected it with a small cough, along with an appropriate blush – and a large chunk of her sleeve searing off, though that was easier to fix than her embarrassment.

“Well, after a few months there, other children came and went, but the two of us ended up stationed there for the long term. We came to rely on each other, and then, somehow… it became more than just relying on each other. It started with an innocent kiss – well, almost innocent – and then that kiss turned deeper, and there were hands everywhere, and clothes started to come off… or singe off…”

Yvara murmured the last bit even as she repaired the sleeve of her robe, shrugging sheepishly all the while. Farrah and Aclysia remained silent, leaning forward and waiting for the rest of the story. When none was forthcoming, Yvara’s flush only grew brighter.

“Y-you said that you already knew the mechanics, I don’t need to give a full recount,” Yvara objected, huffing slightly as she crossed her arms and glanced toward the door. Indignation – a rare one, not a particularly pleasant one. A sun shining with the prickles of roses, heat that pierced rather than soaked.

“But how did you know it was right?” Farrah pressed. “Did you worry that you were picking the wrong person, or…?”

“What criteria did you need fulfilled to allow these events to transpire?” Aclysia added quickly.

“C-criteria? Well, I was certainly anxious, but I wouldn’t say I was worried I was making a mistake…” Yvara half-whispered, the distance in her gaze showing that she was still very vividly reliving the night in question. “We just… both wanted it. We didn’t even really know exactly what we wanted, or why, but we found out. Goddess… we certainly found out quickly.”

A beat passed, with Yvara’s clawed hands folding over her chest absently, her eyes hazing over with old memories as another blush erupted across her neck and cheeks, until a puff of smoke drifted off her collar and wafted in front of the dragoness’ eyes. Yvara jumped in her chair as her flammable attire frightened her out of whatever memory she had started to relive. She cleared her throat before continuing.

“Ah, what I meant was… we didn’t really mean for it to happen. We just wanted to explore ourselves, and each other, and then we kept going as long as we were both comfortable… which ended up being all the way. I think as long as you’re spending your first time with someone you care about, and you know that you really, really want it, you can’t go wrong. Lord John is probably just worried about you two rushing into things.”

Farrah huffed, puffing her cheeks out and giving a pout as she leaned her head into one of her hands. “But how long is rushing? Are we gonna have to wait forty years?”

“L-Lord John is only nineteen, so I don’t think…” Yvara let her words die out as she saw the distinct lack of happiness at the implication that nineteen years was still on the table. “Allow me to try that again – Lord John knows that the first time can be important, and he doesn’t want to feel as if he’s pressuring either of you into sharing it with him – or anyone else. If the moment feels right and natural, not **** or artificial, I think you should be fine.”

“Still pretty vague,” Farrah whined. “But okay. Thanks, Yvara. You can, um, go fix up your dress now.”

“W-wha- ahh!” Yvara let out a squeal as she stood up. The motion of her tail twitching around caused quite a scene as the tip found its way through a newly forged hole in the dress, the thick appendage easily tearing through the thin fabric, exposing most of Yvara’s rear from the waist down. “C-curses! I need to go find some stronger materials… or convince Lord John to lend me some of his enchanting materials…”

Yvara furiously weaved as much of the dress back together as she could on short notice, furiously backing away from them toward the door, trying to keep her ample rear covered until the garment could make a full recovery. Farrah waited a good half second after the door closed before she burst into a loud, snorting laughter, covering her face with one hand as she gave Aclysia a conspiratorial grin.

“I’ve heard John mention a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ before, but his explanation never really made sense… until right now,” Farrah wheezed out through a last gaggle of giggles, finally wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. Aclysia had her head tilted in an odd way, but there was the faintest emanation of something resembling humor – dim, buried, and uncertain, but it was there. Tiny ribbons dancing in the wind, grazing across Farrah’s skin, a barrage of feathers barreling over her body as if blasted by a nearly gale **** wind.

“I too found that quite amusing. But it does leave us little better in our understanding than before,” Aclysia noted, tapping her lower lip. “Shall we call another?”

“Yeah! I think we went the wrong way with this plan. We already have the mechanical knowledge – we need someone a little more in touch with the primal side of things.”

“Who did you have in mind?”

“Nyaa, what’s up? You’ve never invited me in here before. Your room’s kinda empty. Nice bed though! Do you sleep? Myaster doesn’t sleep much anymore, so Myaera never gets to cuddle up in bed with him now. Last time, he started yelling something about a magic seal, and then he shot up so quick Myaera jumped and bounced her head off the ceiling.”

Maera was darting around the room the whole time that she spoke, somehow both energetic and cautious, inspecting what little furniture there was so closely she might well have been sniffing at it. Farrah tried to interject several times, but it was fruitless – Maera’s interest had been captured, and no amount of coaxing her to join them in the chairs seemed to work until the Neko had made a full three laps around the room and bounced on the bed for a brief stint.

When she finally settled down, it wasn’t in the chair that Farrah and Aclysia had prepared for her. Instead, the Neko luxuriously stretched herself out across both of their laps, making a great show of flexing and twisting herself into position, with her legs hung out over Farrah’s lap and nestling her head in the crevice of Aclysia’s generous thighs – though when her head actually made contact, the Neko let out a frustrated mewl rather quickly.

“Nyaa! You’re soooooo hard,” Maera complained, adjusting her shoulders and head a few times in an attempt to find some softness below the thin dress, though it was to no avail. “Can you make yourself softer or somethin’?”

“Softer? Oh…” Aclysia murmured, shifting a bit in her seat. “Well, some of the materials that Lerianna gave me to consume were fairly soft. I suppose there might be enough for at least a little…”

Aclysia focused on her form the same way she had to give herself vocal chords – and found the process surprisingly easy this time. Not only did she feel a reserve beyond what was needed in her body to perform the alterations, but the actual change came quite easily to her. Perhaps it was because instead of a complex set of organs, she merely had to replace the outer layers of her body with something soft enough to be more comfortable for others. She did briefly try making her entire body soft – but the bizarre feeling of her entire leg starting to compress underneath Maera’s head quickly put that idea to rest.

“Oooh, nyaa, that’s nice. Even softer than humans! But myaybe a little firmer?” A devious grin came to the Neko’s face, Maera managing to pull off a mischievous and yet relaxed expression at the same time. “Myaster is gonna want to be able to enjoy squeezing you.”

“I could… but how much firmer is ‘enjoyable’ for squeezing?” Aclysia asked. Farrah nodded, as if she too were planning on reshaping herself. Maera didn’t answer the question with words, though – instead Maera grabbed Aclysia’s now almost squishable hand and firmly planted it on her own thigh, placing her fingers over Aclysia’s and making the Artificial Spirit give her a good squeeze.

“Feel that? Little bit of myuscle, little bit of softness, and lots of squish!” Myaera cooed, flushing as she shamelessly used Aclysia’s hand to fondle her own body.

“I could try that…” Aclysia murmured. Maera huffed a little bit at the complete lack of reaction as Aclysia resumed reshaping her form. Maera’s head lifted up ever so slightly as Aclysia’s body began to firm underneath her, a small measure of her thigh’s consistency shifting between an unusual mixture of different silicones, rubber, neoprene, until she achieved something that closely resembled the toned thigh of the playful Neko resting on her lap.

“Nyaa, better,” Maera said. She moved her head in something between a nuzzle and a nod, purring loudly and squeezing Aclysia’s hand a little tighter on her thigh.

“Ahem…” Farrah said, making no effort to disguise her interruption as natural. “We actually called you here because we were hoping you’d be comfortable telling us about your first time having sex.”

“Sure thing! That’s no big deal. Myaera and Mithra have been making each other feel good since we became adults,” Maera said, shrugging with a carefree smile. “Dunno when it started exactly, though. We kinda got tired of dealing with our heats ourselves, and then figured it’d be nice to help each other!”

Aclysia and Farrah glanced at each other, but didn’t say anything. John had failed to mention anything regarding that kind of relationship, save for an off-handed mention that the affection he spoke of was “different” than the kind family felt for each other. Apparently, Maera disagreed.

“Well, what about your first time with someone other than Mithra?”

“Ah, that was Myaster!” Maera nodded happily, bothering to actually open her eyes this time as she continued, “He used that weird glowy ability of his, I guess. One second Myaera and Mithra were chasing each other out in a big warm field, the next we were in this weird house thing, and then the house exploded! And then we were back in a field, but a different field, but kind of the same. And Myaera had been running a lot, but Myaera wasn’t sweaty or tired for some reason, so all Myaera’s energy was really pent up, and Myaera saw Myaster lying down in the grass looking really, really tired and kind of sad. Myaera wanted to feel good, and Myaster looked like he could use something to help him feel better too, so Myaera went over and started taking off his pants, and then she saw his big dick flop out right in front of-”

“O-okay, that’s probably the part that we needed to hear about,” Farrah said, blushing only a little. The energy that was radiating off of the Neko was becoming more and more intense. It was a little bit like the feelings she got from John’s room sometimes when he was in there with someone else and locked his door, except a little less happy and a little more… heated.

Unlike most of the other emotions Farrah had sensed, this one didn’t just tingle on her skin. It poured through her body, seeming to soak into her flesh and bones. It warmed her skin like ripples of hot water, it made her breaths come in deep, slow heaves even when she didn’t feel tired, and it seemed to pool in her body like rainwater filling up a lake, increasing in intensity, making her vision go hazy and her mind-

“Creator John did not push you away when you did this? He allowed you to give him your first time with another aside from Mithra, without telling you it was too sudden?”

“Hmm… well, my memory’s kinda fuzzy. Myaera wasn’t as smart back then, and didn’t really talk much, so Myaera couldn’t just ask him. Myaster seemed a little worried, and he did tell Myaera to stop once or twice, but Myaera didn’t hold him down or anything like that! Just gave him lots of licks and kisses on his big cock! Myaera just wanted to feel good, and Myaster wanted it just as much, he was just nervous at first. By the time Myaera was rubbing herself on his dick, Myaster was just as eager as Myaera. Especially when Myaster felt Myaera wrapping around him all the way to the base of his-”

“Thank you, that will be sufficient,” Aclysia noted. She sounded dismissive and monotone, but Farrah caught the way she glanced over at her. Still huffing slightly, Farrah managed a grateful nod to the ivory-haired woman. As Maera huffed indignantly, the waves of heat ceased at last, replaced by the prickly barbs of irritation – far less pleasant, but easier to handle.

“You two are no fun,” Maera complained, managing a nimble roll that carried her off both of their laps simultaneously and breaking seamlessly into first a crawl, then a steady walk toward the door. “Come and find Myaera when you wanna learn more! But not with silly questions!”

Maera shut the door on her way out, leaving Farrah and Aclysia alone to contemplate what she’d said.

“Should we fetch her sister and see what she thinks of the matter?” Aclysia suggested.

“No… Mithra is probably busy with the kittens, and John was very specific about not bringing any of this up around them.” Farrah sighed, glancing at the empty chair the Neko had never even bothered to sit in. “Besides, I don’t think we’re going to get an answer that’s any more helpful from her. I bet she just went for it like her sister did.”

“Indeed. I did not anticipate both Yvara and Maera sharing the same characteristics.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Farrah huffed. “They’re so different from each other, but they both had their first time with other girls, they both did it without any big fanfare, and neither of them really knew what they were doing any better than we do now – they just knew about it for longer, and picked people they were close to.”

As she pouted, Farrah stood from her chair, marching over to her bed and flopping down on it with an annoyed toss of her hair. The motion eased some of the tension still in her body, but it didn’t relieve what remained of the heat she’d felt emanating from Maera. If anything, lying on her bed was just making her feel it even more strongly – a restlessness was surging through her, one that made her rub her thighs together almost uncomfortably as she stared at the ceiling. She was so caught up in the unextinguished embers smoldering within that she didn’t notice the matching blush on Aclysia’s face, or the way that the Artificial Spirit was massaging her own thigh gently now, almost reverently.

“Perhaps there is still something that we can learn from their experiences, though?”

“Oh? Did you come up with an id-eeeaaaa…” Farrah squeaked the last part out as the bed bounced slightly underneath her, creaking with the weight of Aclysia, who was now crawling atop her. Farrah stared in a quiet shock for a moment, slightly intimidated by the sight before her. Aclysia hovered over Farrah with a soft but somehow hungry smile on her face, a deep pink coloring her pale cheeks. The long locks of Aclysia’s white hair fell around her head, forming a halo that cascaded around Farrah and blocked everything else from her sight except the beautiful woman straddling her.

“I believe there is a logical conclusion that can be reached from their stories,” Aclysia mused. Farrah had been so caught up in her own feelings and so busy blaming Maera that she hadn’t realized there was still one other source of those flickering flames… but now that Aclysia was so close, she could feel the same warmth emanating from her.

“A-and that would be…?”

“We are two women. We do not see the need for any grand performance to prepare ourselves. And… we are close, are we not?”

“I- I suppose,” Farrah murmured in shock. After a moment she managed to shake herself out of her stupor enough to give a nod and a slightly firmer reply, “I mean, yes! Of course! You’re… you’re wonderful, Aclysia.”

“And… we both want to explore ourselves. Do we not?”

“I… y-yes, I do, I mean-”

“Farrah, I would like to explore you as well. Would you like to do the same to me?”

The words were spoken so clinically, but Farrah didn’t need words or tone to feel the heat radiating from both of them, the heat that only multiplied every time Aclysia’s spread thighs grazed against her own, which were clenching together more tightly by the moment.

“Yes, I would. A lot,” Farrah admitted breathily. The fire was burning in full intensity again, making her feel like she had to gasp for air, making her feel like she needed to tear her clothes off to relieve herself of this blistering fever.

“Then perhaps we should follow in Yvara’s footsteps and retrace her story.” Aclysia spoke her words in the same tone, but she leaned in the entire time she spoke, until their lips were so close that Farrah could hardly stand it.

“Which… which part?” Farrah gasped, hardly able to think while staring directly into those beautiful blue-and-green irises. Aclysia smirked down and spoke one final time before their lips finally met.