Shower Thoughts

“Alright, everyone, let’s call it there, it’s time for a dinner break.”

“Finally! Myaera is staaaaarving, we worked soooo hard,” Maera mewled, rubbing her stomach through the chestpiece of her armor. “Can we have extra dinner tonight?”

“You can eat as much as you want, Maera, you don’t have to beg,” John said, rolling his eyes a little at the speed Maera could switch her train of thought over to food.

“Yay! Extra dinner!”

Maera and Mithra bounded off together out of the training area and back toward the house, with Orria and Sophia close behind. John stayed behind, hand already flicking through a few of his menus, checking on the status of all his party members before settling on his own page.

“Made it all the way to 61 today,” John mused as he glanced over his new stats. “I’m capped out at seventy right now. Definitely going to hit that before much longer… and then I’ll have to do a reset. Should probably set aside a day to do that – I don’t want to be slowing the others down around my world, and I definitely don’t want to risk going back to the old world while I’m anywhere near level one. I’m pretty tough even when I Reincarnate now thanks to the stats I keep, but it would still be...”

“Lost in thought again?”

“More or less,” John said quietly as Orria strode up. He hadn’t caught exactly when she turned around from the others, but he’d not been so out of it that he missed her approaching. “Just planning out the next couple of training days. It’s going to be time for a reset soon.”

“Mmm. You always get so stressed out when you Reincarnate, but I suppose it can’t be avoided if it’s necessary to improve your level,” Orria noted, offering John a smile and an empathetic nod. “If there’s anything that I can do to aid you or help relieve some of that stress, be sure to let me know, alright?”

“You’ve really become quite familiar with everything in the short time you’ve been around,” John mused back, smirking at the blonde elf. “You notice things no one else does – about the world and the people around you. Not that my stress is particularly subtle sometimes, I suppose, but… I wanted to thank you, Orria. I appreciate everything you do. Knowing that you’re here to protect this place when I’m gone, and that you’re looking out for everyone… it means a lot to me.”

“...Will you be taking me with you when you leave Springfield to go to war?”

“…” John let out a long sigh, eyes leaving the menus, but still staring off into the distance. “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“John, I understand your fears, but I-”

“But you are needed here,” John said, a bit more firmly than he meant to. He softened his tone when he continued, “If something terrible happens and I need your abilities, I can always summon you up wherever I am. That also means if I get taken prisoner, you’ll be the one to break me out. I know you want to come along directly, but I want you here, Orria.”

“I understand that, I just…” Orria sighed, twiddling her thumbs slightly as she looked down to the earth below her feet, “...I love this world, and all that is in it, but you are the core of it. To me, caring for it and caring for you are one and the same. And I will spend every moment you are away wondering if a part of it all is lost forever.”

“...Do you remember the day we spent together in the meadow you made?”

“Of course I do,” Orria said. The melancholy lifted from her face almost immediately, replaced by a warm mirth as her eyes grew distant. “It was right after you gave me permission to experiment with your fruit plants. I had grown so fascinated with their flowers… I can’t even remember why they caught my eye, but they were all I could think about. I spent hours studying every part of their anatomy.”

“Yes, you did. You spent so long I got worried and came looking for you,” John said, walking up behind Orria. He wrapped his arms around Orria’s waist and pulled her against him gently; she nestled into his shoulder instantly, gently nuzzling his neck and the bottom of his jaw with her golden locks. “By the time I found you, you were surrounded by an entire field of flowers of every color in the rainbow.”

“I was trying to replicate the flowers on their own, apart from the bushes and the fruit… I tried so many times I lost track of how many I’d made.”

John remembered the sight vividly. It was only a week or so after he’d Purified her, yet her passion for his world was already undeniable. He’d found Orria standing in a field of flowers that covered every hue of the rainbow, huffing all the while about some small imperfection she’d found in the latest blossoms.

“And when I asked what you were doing, you practically broke down,” John said, grinning deviously as he pulled her a little more tightly into him. “You thought I was mad because you messed up the plains.”

“W-well, it wasn’t really my place to mess up your designs,” Orria said. Despite herself she started blushing as the memory played in her head.

“I’ll tell you the same thing now that I did back then… this world may technically be mine, but I’m no bigger of a part of it than any of you are,” John whispered, gently nuzzling Orria’s silky soft cheek against his own. “We’ve made this place our home. Together. That’s why I need you here, Orria. I’m not just doing it for my mental health, you know. I need everyone to know that this place is in good hands while we’re out there fighting for everyone else.”

“...I suppose. But promise me that you’ll call me if you need me,” Orria insisted, smiling through the worry.

“I promise.”

“…Do you remember what we did after you got me to stop apologizing?” Orria asked. John couldn’t see her face, but he could tell by the way her words lilted that she was smiling deviously.

“How could I forget?” John sighed dreamily. “After I finally convinced you that I loved it, you gave me this look like you were about to cry… then the next thing I knew, your lips were pressed against mine.”

“You did look pretty shocked,” Orria agreed, giggling a bit as John tightened his grip around her waist.

“Well, you hadn’t been around for that long, and I didn’t really think we’d spent enough time together for you to develop those kinds of feelings,” John admitted, giving a hearty chuckle.

“I call you a part of this world, but it isn’t as if it’s only your connection to it that I admire,” Orria replied, turning her face toward his and meeting his gaze with a look of genuine affection. “You have a good soul, and a kind heart. And… there’s something more about you. Something as unique and special as this place. I feel the same joy looking at you as I do when I’m studying this world. I’ve felt it from the very moment that you first created me, the same as the others here. I love you, John.”

“I…”

A brief pause was enough to crack the atmosphere between them, breaking the serenity for a moment. Orria’s understanding smile helped to cover up the cracks, even if it was only a little, as she turned around in John’s grasp to return his embrace.

“I know.”

John enjoyed the feeling of her body against his, pressing into him as if to fill the hollow that threatened to form there. They stayed like that for a long while, the silence of the empty landscape around them comforting the two and allowing them to focus solely on each other.

“You know… I wouldn’t mind reliving that memory a little more directly. And I think you could use an excuse to get your mind off things for a while,” Orria offered, looking up at John. Her smile had turned devious once more, as she cocked her head at him provocatively.

“You want to go to the grove? I wouldn’t mind… we haven’t gone there together in a while.”

“Because every time we do, we end up roughing up my poor flowers,” Orria shot back teasingly, gently poking John in the chest. “But that’s too far of a walk anyway. How about we head back to the house? The others are probably wondering where we are by now… This would be a fun way to let them know.”

“They won’t have to worry for long. Come on, then. I’ll try to make this even better than you remember it.”

“You’re serious?” Lerianna asked, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in astonishment.

“One hundred percent. I just completed the work. Lord John asked me to inform you; he said that you’d been exercising more than usual lately-”

“And I stink?!”

“-and that you seemed like you were enjoying a lot of simpler pleasures lately. He said you would be the most likely to appreciate a hot shower, as opposed to the usual bathing in the river,” Yvara finished, almost unperturbed by the bunny-girl’s interruption.

“Well… I guess that makes sense,” Lerianna huffed, blushing at her own outburst. “How does it work?”

“Just activate the runes on the edge of the tub to start the water and to choose your temperature. The faucet has an enchantment that will create water on demand, the drain has been enchanted to dispose of it, and the orange runes are enchanted for heat – the more you activate, the hotter the water will become. I limited it to be mildly painful at worst… dragons like hotter showers than most species, but I didn’t want anyone to hurt themselves. Especially the kittens.”

“That was thoughtful. I’ll go check it out,” Lerianna said, giving the dragoness a thumbs up. Yvara offered a smile and bow as Lerianna turned toward the bathroom.

“A hot shower, huh? Haven’t had one of those in years. Been taking them cold since my hormones went crazy,” Lerianna thought, allowing herself a grimace. Bathing in the river was annoying because of the distance, but before Tricia’s device, the chilly water hadn’t phased her. She hadn’t bothered asking John to heat up a bath for her like she’d seen the others do because the last thing she wanted was to feel too comfortable or sensual while naked in the same house as a bunch of perverts.

Lerianna grabbed a towel and the rest of her hygiene supplies from the closet as she headed past, then strode into the empty washroom. The moment the lock clicked into place, Lerianna eagerly stripped out of her leotard, tossing it unceremoniously on the floor as she hopped over to inspect the tub.

The construction was more or less the same as John had originally created it, with a few minor additions. There was the enchanted showerhead Yvara had mentioned, a large opaque white curtain that hung from a railing she had also erected, and a gray stone slab that looked as if it had been carved to fit and then simply slapped onto the ceramic, yet seemed locked firmly in place.

One large blue rune was carved at one end of the stone slab, while several smaller orange runes were aligned in a row on the other side. They were all dull right now, so dark their colors were only just barely discernible. Curiously, Lerianna tapped the large blue rune, and the showerhead immediately sprang to life. A cluster of jets sprayed from the showerhead, loudly splattering against the smooth ceramic at the other end of the tub. Lerianna tested the water with one hand and found it surprisingly warm, closer to body temperature than room temperature.

“I guess when you’re creating water out of nothing, you don’t have to settle for ice cold pipe water,” Lerianna murmured, reaching to the other end with her free hand. She tapped the orange runes one after the other, watching them light with magical glows as she felt the conjured water rapidly shift from slightly chilly to warm, then hot, and then by the time she reached the second rune from the top, it had just the slightest burn to it, on the very precipice of being painful.

“Mmm, that’s nice, I didn’t realize how much I was gonna look forward to this.” Lerianna grinned as she stood up straight and reached for the device around her ear. It was waterproofed both magically and mundanely, so using it in the shower was no concern, but Lerianna wanted to enjoy this shower. She placed one leg in the tub and slowly lowered the device’s function until the feeling of the not-quite-painful water running down her thigh made her groan with pleasure.

“Fuck, that’s good. Oh, this is gonna be great.”

Lerianna stepped fully into the shower and quickly pulled the curtain around to fully enclose herself. The jets of water pelted her skin and the heat seemed to soak into every pore, washing away every bit of stress, strain, and tension that her body contained. Her ears twitched and flopped about in ecstasy as she let the water pour over her, running down her whole body. The heat and steam rising from the falling water felt like a comforting embrace from the whole world around her, a warm welcome back after being away for so long.

She stood in the water for several minutes just enjoying the feeling of it, allowing the heat and comfort to seep into her bones, warming her to the core.

"This device is the best thing in the world," Lerianna thought as she reached for the soap she'd brought, finally starting to actually bathe herself. "I missed being able to just do things that feel good without worrying about my libido."

She soaped up every inch of her body, making sure not to miss anything and to take special care with her more sensitive regions. She couldn't remember the last time she'd spent so long cleaning herself. Hell, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to let her hands wander so freely without being tempted to explore even further.

"Fuck, I could get used to this," Lerianna sighed as her hands moved over her body, caressing the smooth, silky skin and the firm, well-developed muscles beneath, lathering her dark skin in soapy heaven. As she was lathering herself up, Lerianna heard the somewhat muffled sound of the downstairs door opening.

"Hm? Did John finally come back? Took him long enough. Must have been worrying about something again."

Lerianna could just barely make out the sound of feet climbing the stairs, headed toward one of the rooms on the second floor. The footsteps stopped at one of the rooms, then there was a brief silence and the sound of a door closing. Lerianna didn't think much of it... until the sound of giggling started to come through the wall.

"Geez, is that why it took him so long?" Lerianna murmured. "He's been out there flirting. Damn pervert."

Lerianna continued washing herself, expecting the noises to be silenced at some point by the wards around the house. That didn't happen. In fact, as she continued bathing, the noises got a little louder as John and whatever girl he was with began having more fun. Lerianna grit her teeth a bit and tried to ignore it... but when she was bending down to clean her legs and feet, she couldn't help but hear them in full effect.

"I know my ears are pretty sensitive... but someone must have been messing with the wards. Was it the Nekos again? Or maybe Orria felt like letting the world hear about her conquests? I doubt Yvara messed anything up with how many measurements she takes just to carve a hole, and Sophia is too devoted to do anything this perverted without permission. At least, I think so..."

There was nothing to be done about it now. Lerianna was enjoying her shower too much to bother warning them, and she didn’t relish the thought of kicking the door down to tell John that his soundproofing wards had been tampered with anyway. Especially given she might well find him balls-deep in whatever girl was making those rather delighted noises. Besides, now that she had the device, hearing things like this didn’t send her into a rutting frenzy the way it once would have.

“They really do sound pretty happy about it,” Lerianna murmured. “You know, if the shower feels this good, I wonder...”

The moment Lerianna noticed her hand had already begun creeping downward, carving a path through the last few suds that still clung to her flawless skin, she froze. Years of habit and trauma made her whole body tense up then, no matter how relaxing the water felt. Panic shot through her veins and her mind went blank as she looked down, seeing the tips of her fingers just inches above the cleft of her lower lips.

The raw panic only lasted for a few seconds, but the emotional pain took longer to fade. "I... I know what's going on. I'm not out of control. I know what's going on," Lerianna thought, trying desperately to calm herself. "I just got carried away. The device is still on. I could probably even... but it's not like I have to..."

Lerianna hesitated for a long time, staring down at the small tuft of white fur above her clit and the smooth, soft skin just beyond it. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Touching herself was something she only did when absolutely unavoidable before, a last resort to cleanse some small bit of lust from her overwhelmed system to try and wrest back some control. But now…

She hadn't touched herself since Tricia had made her the inhibiting device. Any time that she thought about touching herself, any time she felt the lust growing to the point that "want" became "need," she would just turn the device up a little bit higher. But now that she was starting to become more comfortable with the idea of pleasure, her guard was starting to slip. She didn't just need the pleasure. She was starting to want it in a way she hadn't allowed herself to since... well, ever.

"It... it should be fine, right?" Lerianna thought, her hand shaking slightly with trepidation, even as it rested on her stomach. The sound of playful laughs and teasing moans from the other room had turned to full-throated ecstasy, and despite how quiet the sounds were, they were lighting a fire in Lerianna even through the fear.

“That was the whole point of this thing. And the point of experimenting with how low I could set it while doing things. So that I could learn to let myself enjoy things again, and get over all that fear. And if that’s the case...”

Lerianna bit her lip, half in lust and half in fear, as she lowered her hand a little bit further, until her fingers began to brush past her well-trimmed pubes.