-Lebo Grand

Earlier, at Teajuvenation…

Layla did not breathe easily again until John cleared the doorway. Her body was still flooded with the remnants of that unexpected burst of pleasure, that uncontrollable surge of ecstasy. John must have noticed - how could he not? Yet he had continued their conversation relatively calmly, and made no obvious signs that he did not believe her excuse.

How she had managed to keep up the façade of a normal conversation herself was a mystery even to her. Layla's training, her years at the Academy… none of it prepared her for such feelings, or for such a visceral and physical reaction to an aura, especially so publicly. Even now, Layla's mind was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. John had always affected her in such strong and unusual ways… but this? Layla had never felt so ashamed from something that had felt so unbelievably satisfying.

More importantly, and more disturbingly, Layla had rarely had an orgasm that intense, and all it had taken was to let her guard down for a moment, and for John to merely hold her hand for a moment. Replicating that pleasure herself would have taken time, effort, and quite a few toys, how could one person do it just with their presence? The notion frightened Layla, and sent chills down her spine...

So why did her body still ache for more?

Layla wanted to flee the tea shop immediately, to return home and find some quiet place to think things through and consider what she had just experienced. She kept seeking John out, hoping to understand the effect his aura had on her… but it seemed like instead of gaining resistance, continued exposure to him was only wearing away at her more and more. What was it about his aura that had such an effect on her? Being around him was electrifying, it was arousing, it was excitement incarnate… it was terrifying. Because what explanation was there? She'd met dozens of people at the Academy alone, hundreds in her life. None had felt even remotely like this. There were very few explanations… none of them rational. None of them comforting.

Was he manipulating her somehow? No amount of reading into his aura gave the slightest impression he was aware of his influence, much less trying to do it actively. Was he a late-bloomer with the talent for having a particularly… "delicious" aura? The thought seemed too absurd to consider. John had even mentioned offhandedly that other - weaker - aura readers had been around him, and Layla was quite certain none of them would have failed to claim such a delectable…

Layla **** herself away from such thoughts, though at great personal effort. **** herself to stop imagining John's aura washing over her, his body wrapping around her own, his face glistening with sweat and desire as he-

"No, enough," Layla **** herself to think, painfully tearing away the images of her mind. "You've done enough damage today."

Layla steeled her body and her mind as she reached down to grab the sack full of unneeded groceries by her legs, standing and mechanically walking from Teajuvenation with a certainty she did not feel.

"By Gaia, I miss him already. Come back to me, John Newman. Come back or I will find you."

"Oh, yer back! Miss'd ya, Lay, kiss-kiss!"

Tessa leaned in and planted a firm smooch on Layla's lips the second she could get close enough, her eyes alight with a joy Layla was now frantically trying to emulate.

"Sorry it took so long; I should've known better, leaving in the early afternoon. I made the mistake of going to the mundane store, but I couldn't justify spending a few thousand on a half-dozen ingredients."

"Why would you be apol'gizin' to me? I still feel bad I miss'd so many ingredients! Swore I got everythin' when I stopp'd by the store."

"They could have forgotten to give you a bag. It's really no big deal, I don't mind making a trip out," Layla promised, smiling widely. Ordinarily she would've been distraught at the subterfuge, but Tessa was unlikely to discover it. Layla had made certain herself that the receipt for Tessa's last shopping trip was shredded into pieces too fine to ever reassemble before she’d hidden Tessa’s ingredients and disposed of them in a dumpster on her way to Teajuvenation. Crude, but effective at giving her a reason to leave the house on such short notice...

"Prob'ly," Tessa agreed, shaking her head. "Yer a doll, I'm gonna go an' fix this lil' dessert up early for ya just to show ya how much I love ya for doin' this."

Layla only smiled in response as Tessa made her way into the kitchen, humming a little tune as she grabbed the sack from Layla's hands and went off to cook. Layla only smiled until Tessa was out of sight and engrossed in her task; the moment her ebony lover was thoroughly occupied, a weariness set in on Layla's face.

Consciously, Layla wanted to believe something was wrong with her. She'd spent years at the Academy, and nearly as many with Tessa. Her girlfriend had been with her through rough semesters at the Academy and had never wavered in her devotion. Until now, Layla had returned those feelings intensely. Now? Now she was no longer sure what she felt. Nothing seemed to have diminished between herself and Tessa. In her heart she still felt an undeniable love for the woman, an appreciation for all they had been through together. But now that feeling seemed to pale in comparison to the love - no, the need that she could no longer deny was coursing through her veins every time John's name even passed through her mind.

She'd only known the mage for a few weeks, only met him by chance, but Layla felt as if they were made for each other. As if Gaia herself had brought them together. Once upon a time she had convinced herself she was only meeting up with him to study the effects that he had on her being, to learn more about the nature of auras… but now she couldn't quite believe that it was mere curiosity that drew her to John. His personality, his looks, his body, his soul… his overpowering, pulsating aura… all of it drew her in. For reasons that she couldn't deny were far more than a mere curiosity could describe.

"Tell ya what," Tessa called from the kitchen, "I was gonna make this a nice ol' strawb'rry flavah, but since ya were so nice t'me, why don'tcha tell me what flavah ya'd like?"

Layla responded without thinking, not entirely sure of what answer she'd even given. Her body was on autopilot. Her mind… her mind was replaying that scene over and over in her head. The feeling of his skin, the brush of his palm against her body, the wonder of experiencing such unexpected joy…

Layla wasn't sure whether to curse the memory or treasure it. But no matter how she hated it, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't forget that feeling…

And Gaia help her, she wanted more of it by the moment.

Meanwhile, in John’s private realm

The rest of the day had passed without much excitement. Nobody at the camp seemed too ill at ease even after John delivered the news - probably because he was the only one who had ever met or spoken to Lady Arista, and until today, only the once. Whether her word was reliable or not, though, the idea that the Albidians were around was enough to put John on edge. While Seras rested in his arms that night, John sat awake for far longer than usual, trying to decide what the best course of action was.

Lord Brighton's words stuck in John's mind. That he and Moira, together with his creations and the Knights, might be able to take on the Albidians now that they had grown. The thought was oddly frightful, yet calming… not unlike his creations. John was tempted to add some new members to their family, to Purify up bodyguards.

It didn’t resonate well with him, though. His creations were free-willed and unique individuals. Purifying them to serve as soldiers wasn’t just unlikely to work, but it was downright immoral - and to top it off, he could hear Moira’s voice taunting him in his head as he finally gave in and did what she’d asked of him so long ago. No, manifesting life was questionable enough as it was - doing so purely to raise an army had always been out of the question.

Of course… of the four creatures he’d Purified and the one that had hatched as a quest reward, four of them were extraordinarily loyal, to the point of following him into battle without question. That was a pretty good success rate, and it wasn’t like any of them were purely warriors. Well, Sophia kind of was, but she seemed to be into that. Seras, Maera, and Mithra all had their own desires and goals, and still wanted to help him.

Plus, there was the matter of his promise to Lunaya… if he was ever going to reliably pull beings into existence, he needed practice. But if he wasn’t willing to control someone’s desire to fight, what could he control that was less ethically questionable?

”Well, I sort of already control their race by whatever I use to create them. Even if it’s as big of a stretch as werecats to Nekos, and vampire bats to just plain vampires. As long as I’m not using them for immoral reasons or creating them only for personal gain, maybe shaping them a bit isn’t so bad? What about people like Lunaya, who have memories of family… or maybe have family, how would that work if I make them? Did they always exist then, or are the memories still fake? Does it matter?”

John continued mentally grumbling his way reluctantly into a deep sleep, contemplating the moralities of creation, nature, and nurture.