The Feast of Champions

Gabe

I could get used to living like a king. The feast was huge, and it all looked great. Modern too, no turnip stew in goat broth. It looked as fantastic as the armor, weapons and fashion of the world. I couldn’t wait to eat.

I tried to focus on that and not the burning mass of anxiety and dread I had from seeing Jasmine. More than my usual paralyzing anxiety, I’d been physically sick just thinking about what was going to happen.

I guess that explained why I was so hungry. Though I don’t know how I was going to eat after this.

“My lord, your champion is here.”

I nodded to the servant. “Bring her in.” A part of me wondered which Jasmine I’d get, but I’d be fooling myself if I thought I’d be in for anything but a fight.

I hate it when I’m right.

She came in with her arms crossed, an unmoveable fortress of raw nerves. She was so scary. Those muscle, that scowl, the tusks. I kept a strong front against her as a human for months, and I thought she was scary back then. I couldn’t imagine standing up to her as she was now, not for long.

I needed to get her on my side and fast.

A moment passed where we locked eyes. We didn’t say anything, but the silent conversation went like this:

Jasmine: Are you going to greet me?

Gabe: Is there anything I can say that’s not going to get attacked.

Jasmine: Nope.

Gabe: Okay then.

That exchange thus left unsaid, she took a seat at the table. The servants or Skye or whoever is in charge of these things smartly gave us a small round table. Otherwise she would have been as far from me as could be. Instead we were right across from eachother, separated only by a table, and a small arsenal of sharp objects.

She looked great. She was back in the toga, her strong arms exposed, her thick thighs from what I’d seen too. Her red hair was up in a crown of braids, and she was wearing an out of place laurel, which worked wonders in giving her a feminine bent.

She looked to the empty table, and then to the table off to the side loaded with a feast. Finally she took note of the goblet of wine, and took a drink from that. “Starting with drinks?”

“Figured we could use some.”

“Maybe two, bleh.” She made a sour face.

“Something else?” I asked.

“Yeah.” She smiled, though I think it was for the universe and not me. “The orc isn’t a wine drinker.” The servants were quick to get her a mug of ale instead. She then looked down at my goblet and gestured for me to drink.

“Nah.” I pushed it aside, “I feel sick.” I sat up, my stomach lurched. “Listen, I am sorry. I had no idea what you’d been through. If I’d know…” I gave a helpless gesture. “I’d like to think I would have acted differently.” If I’d know we’d end up in this quest, I would have done a lot of fucking things different.

Somehow I hadn’t been expecting consequences.

“You shouldn’t have needed to know, to not act like an asshole.”

The servants squirmed, the second hand embarrassment of all of this had to be immense.

“Of course.” This was all so fucked. “I’ve come around to your way of thinking.”

“Congratulations.”

“It was slimey what I did, it was wrong, and I’m sorry. But you have to see it’s not the same as what happened with you…”

“Hilda is a kid!” She was up on her feet. It only took a moment. That anger was so close to the surface, and it just exploded out of her. Of course, this was her trauma, in all likelihood all of this was bringing her back to it. Memories are bad, but flashbacks… your body thinks it’s all happening again. “She’s the same age I was when I made it stop! It wouldn’t have stopped if I did…”

She paused.

“What?” I didn’t notice but I had slunk into my chair, more than a little afraid of the angry orc in front of me.

“I can’t remember how I made it stop…” She sat down in her chair, and looked flush. “My coach… on the island? There are no humans on the island…” she hit her head, like she was trying to get water out of her ear. “Aaargh, something’s happening… I can’t remember.”

“It was the wine.” I confessed. I owed her at least that. One final confirmation that I really was what she thought I was.

“Wuh?” Her eyes were glazing over, her sight turned inward to explore her memories, but they focused for me.

“I put a potion in it.” I held up an empty vial. A box of text appeared above the item.

The Present Moment (Elf): A potion used by elves to treat those weighed down by centuries of trauma. Taking the potion allows someone to distance themselves from their past. For Contestants, it will allow them to temporarily separate themselves from their memories of Earth and embrace the new lives that have been given to them. (1bp)

Her eyes scanned the text, and the landed on me. “What the hell did you do?” Her fingers were in her hair. “My family… I can’t… my first…I…” She looked at me, eyes no longer furious, scared. “…why?” She whispered.

Ah fuck, I wished she’d just punched me. “You’re in the way of me saving everyone, and you told me that would never change… I had to!”

“No…” her arms went limp and her eyes went distant. I could only imagine what was happening to her. “…you didn’t…” She mumbled those, and a few more words out, but I didn’t catch them. She grew still, her only movement was her breathing, and a tear streaming down her cheek.

“Fuck!” I surged into the next room and buried my head in a bucket, unloading bile and acid into it. There was poison and sickness in me, but none of it in my stomach.

——-

Jasmine

The prince came swaggering in, looking sick and pale. You know… more than usual. “Did you start drinking before me?” Had to catch up if that was to case, so I started chugging the ale in front of me.

I gave a loud burp when it was done, and he was looking at me, funny, leaning on his chair too like it was the only thing keeping him up. “Do you feel alright?”

“Me?” I laughed. “You look like you caught the plague.” I raised my tanker. “I need another of these!”

“I’m fine.” He half collapsed into his chair. “How’s your head…” he was acting like I caught him off of his patrol. “With the potion, and everything?”

“Oh yeah.” I practically forgot about that. “I’m good.” I shrugged. “Best I’ve felt for a few days. I feel like you took a bunch of I dunno, terror from me or something.” I wouldn’t be a very good warrior if I let that shit get in the way. I looked over to the food. “Can we eat dude? You put me in front of all this food, and I’m not getting any if it!”

Finally the sad boy smiled, and got his minions to feed me.

Oooooooooh my God!

It was so fucking good guys. It was human stuff, so you know the portions were too small and too fancy, but they were letting me go back for seconds!

They started out with this orange soup, super thick and these fatty pieces of bred. On the island all the bread is just pound flat, and you roll everything thing up in it, but this stuff was fluffy. You could stick a chunk in The soup and it would just slllllllllurp it up.

I remember my manners with the spoon for a bit, but that bread was so good I was using it to sponge up most of my two bowls.

“Hungry?” He asked with a smirk, his bowl was untouched. He was watching me. Like I was an animal? A prize?

“Of course.” I shot back. “I just kicked your whole party’s ass.” He liked that.

“You were very impressive.”

I looked up from my bowl. “Think you can find a use for me?” Was that sexy? I meant it to be kind of sexy. Should I tell him? Maybe humans flirt different than orcs

“I think I’d be dumb not to.” He went quiet then. He let the minions trade out our bowls for plates.

Guys.

Guys.

On this plate was this tiny fucking golden bird. A whole bird just for me! I looked at the arsenal of forks and knives, and spoons. Which was the tiny fucking bird fork?

Eagerness got the better of me. God gave us hands for things other than strangling our foes in the mud.

I giggled after my first bite. “This fucking bird …” I grinned and took another bite, and this guy was still frowning. I huffed. “Who stuck a slug up your butt huh?” Was that flirty? I meant it to come out as flirty.

He gave the sad boy shrug. “I got a lot on my mind.”

I nodded. “You wanted someone else to win.” One of the humans probably… the pale one and him actually used to date right?

For some reason that seemed to stir him. “No I’m glad you won. I wasn’t rooting for anyone honestly, you guys are my team.”

“Mmm.” I sucked some meat off a tiny fucking bone. “It’s just tough being the messiah, huh?”

He smiled. “No that actually comes pretty naturally” oh, so he can joke. “I’ve just felt like a big piece of shit for a while, and…” he unclenched his hand like he was letting a bird fly away. “I think I am.”

“Well… suck it up.” I reached out for his tiny fucking bird and started stripping it.

“Excuse me?”

“I said suck it up.” Was he deaf? “You’re our leader on this quest. You’re useless to us if you’re going to be second guessing every choice you make. You’re leading us into battle this is serious. I don’t care who you’re kissing, or who has a crush on who. All I care about is that we win, and if you’re too busy navel gazing to get us there, then you and I have a problem.”

He gawked at me, stupid look on his face. “I just… I just sealed your human memories away. You’re okay with that?”

“If I’d known you could do that, I would have suggested it myself. Those memories were making me weak, and they’re making you weak too.” I don’t know what exactly he hid away from me, but I feel better now that it’s gone. All that anger and fear I had was gone, and I didn’t really care why.

He’d been good to me, heck he’d favored me. I think he earned a bit of trust.

I must have got him thinking because he didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Long enough for me to pick that tiny fucking bird clean. “So you just going to mope for the rest of the night?” I asked, once I was met with nothing but bones. “This was supposed to be a prize for me you know.”

I finally got a smile out of him. “No, you’re right. I think I’m ready for the third course.”

——-

Gabe

After the feast we retired to some kind of fancy room. A salon, or den, or something like that. There were two couches, a fireplace and a bearskin rug that made me feel especially lecherous.

The two of us were feeling a little wobbly from the drink, and very bloated from the food, and sat on our respective couches half catatonic. I hope the quality of my company improved as the night went on. The potion was only temporary it’s not like I killed Jasmine… I just put her to sleep so she couldn’t get in the way.

Jasmine was right. It was my call to make, and I couldn’t go second guessing myself now. I didn’t doubt myself when I coached these girls, I couldn’t start now. Jasmine was my best unit, with a major drawback. It was basic strategy to seek to counter the drawback as soon as possible, especially if it was going to slow my progress with the others.

Telling myself that helped keep down the food, and pass the night.

“So what’s the deal with orcs? You guys aren’t what I expected.” In hindsight perhaps not the gentlest way to bring up a conversation about race.

Jasmine didn’t mind though. Her arms were stretched out along the back of the couch. “I’m guessing you expected a bunch of slobbering men in loincloths?”

“Not that I’m disappointed.”

She shrugged, smiling. “Oh you know how it goes, one insecure adventurer gets ejected from an island of warrior women, and makes it his business to slander us across the world.”

“What a guy.”

“No kidding. You’d have to ask my sister about all the history stuff. I know the basics. We were created by Silophan to assist your ancestor in some great battle. Orca was our leader back then, we’re named after her, back then we were called hobgoblins.”

“Right, you guys were created from goblins.” I couldn’t believe what my life had become. “You couldn’t be more different.”

“God is good.” She agreed.

“How do you guys feel about goblins then?”

“How do you feel about monkeys?”

“They’re cute, but I wouldn’t let them run for office.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah minus the cute. Frankly it’s embarrassing we’re related to them at all, but whatever. My sister says we should take pride in how far we’ve come.”

I’m sure me turning goblins into sex toys didn’t help that opinion. “To each their own, I distracted you from your story, go on.”

“Right.” She yawned. “So Orca meets up with the prince, and she decides, well goblins have basically been minions to people since the dawn time. She rejects unthinking servitude to Silophan and the prince, and says ‘hey if you want our help you got to beat me in a fight.’ The prince agrees, and she kicks his ass, naturally.”

“Naturally.” I smiled. “Thus setting me up to get my own ass kicked years down the line.”

She smirked. “It’s almost enough to make ya interested in history huh? So she kicks his ass, and despite this offers to help him anyway. She respected that he took on the challenge. And that’s kind of the model of what ever Orc kind of aspires to be.”

“Can you explain that?”

“Yeah, Orca wanted us to be strong enough that no one would fuck with us, and wise enough to value things like honor and valor. If we did what Silophan asked of us without thought we would have been like goblins, and if we refused to help just because we were stronger than the humans, we’d be no better than drow.”

Interesting. “So Orca is kind of like your George Washington.”

“Who?”

Oh, right. “Your founder that everyone really respects.”

She understood. “Oh of course, there’s not an Orc on that islands that doesn’t want to be like her.”

“So did they win?”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you rule the world?”

“People tell me I do.” It was hard to imagine I did though, not just because I’m a loser who had no business running an esports team let alone an empire. I just had a hard time imagining all these different people living in harmony.

She sighed, and shook her head. “You have to sack up dude. Stop letting yourself just get thrown around.”

“You live on an island of lesbians, where did you even learn that term?”

“I’m serious. I’m letting you change my body, my mind. I’m putting a lot of trust in you. I need you to be a leader.” She was getting frustrated with me. Understandable. I’d drastically changed the dynamic between us but that didn’t mean I’d won Jasmine and could move onto the next.

So I laughed. “You have no idea how tempting it is to play the tortured prince, like this is all my fault.”

“So play it for your humans, play it for the people you fucked over. I’ve got no use for it.”

Her mouth to God’s ear.

So I stood up, swaggered my way over to her, and flopped down next to her on the couch. Hard to feel very strong when I was the obvious small spoon in this situation. “How’s that?”

She shook her head, smiling. “Oh look out, he’s trying to conquer the world.”

I decided to tank the barb, and put my hand on her thigh. Her arm was around my shoulder and I was kind of resting in the crook of her armpit. A little jarring for a guy I’ll admit. Jasmine was taller and broader than me, so I really had no hope there.

I breathed gently. Her beauticians were not overly inspire, she smelled like Jasmine.

——-

Jasmine

He didn’t say anything.

He just sat there, doing what? Moping? Thinking?

So annoying.

I’m sorry for ruining his flow there during story time, but weak and sociable is still weak. Who knows what the next challenge was. For all I know it was going to be math all the way down and this was my one chance to get my point across to him.

Then he moved his hand. It went from the top of my thigh, to the inside.

Fuck!

I froze like it was my first fight. Just muscles s , heart beating, mind on high alert.

He shifted his head, and kind of nestled his head against my chest, against my breast. His eyes were closed, for a moment I thought he was asleep. I wished he was asleep. His hand moving down, his head shifting, it could be from his sleeping.

But he was awake, his fingers were stroking my thigh. He just kind of sat there against me, like he was calm and at peace.

He was…cuddling me.

I didn’t know whether to focus on his soft breathing, or the infinity signs he was tracing on my thigh.

If he had come over to me and tried to dom me, I knew exactly how that would have happened. I could see it happen in my mind, a repeat of our brawl in the throne room, but a little sexier.

This, I don’t know. I don’t know what this was. I slowly took my arm off the back out the couch and wrapped it around his shoulder. A warmth filled me, not lust, something else. He brought his free hand up to my hand, and just held it.

It felt wrong. Not like a crime like… like sneaking into Juniper’s bed. Just a little naughty.

“You’ve never seen a dick, right?”

I blushed, embarrassed and insulted. “The philosophers made sure I’m well versed.” I’d seen plenty of drawings and diagrams. “Medium sized gonads for a great ape, but proportionally the biggest penis. It has a shaft topped by a head. This head has a somewhat mushroom shaped because you’re communial animals, so it helps you scoop a rival male’s sperm out of the female’s vagina.”

“I’ve never had that pleasure.” He snarked. “But you’ve never worked with one, never pleased one?”

I was slowly turning read. “I’ve held… models.” I said meekly.

“That’s okay.” His hand startered moving towards my crotch. “I won’t make you tonight.” He made contact, and I nearly jumped. He light stroked me through my cloth underwear, as gently as he had my thighs.

So we were doing this. I didn’t think he’d have the balls, thought I’d have to be the one to convince him. I wanted that wish.

“No way.” I husked that line, I didn’t mean to, I thought I’d say it normally, and yet, husk. “This is my one shot I got to show you what I’m like in bed.” I wanted him to put me through my paces, he needed to know I could go as long as he could, as long as he wanted.

His fingers were having an effect. I was getting wet. This stroking was a weird kind of foreplay, like he was coaxing my vagina into arousal, not very orc-like. I wasn’t being conquered, or claimed, I was being… courted. “Maybe another time, tonight I just want to please you.”

“No.” I said again. “I might not get another shot.”

“You will.”

“You can’t be sure.”

“You will.” He said again. “I trust you.”

And that was… hot? I… I don’t know. I was already wet, but a roll of warmth went through me. It was like a barrier that was stopping us from working was removed, something was healed, or maybe addressed. I don’t know, it shut me up though.

“This is your reward.”

I let him move his hand under my underwear. His fingers slide down my lips, and opened them up. My wetness became apparent to him now. He ran his finger up my slit and painted my lips with my own lubrication. I wasn’t sopping just in case you get the idea that I was completely unhorsed, but it was still embarrassing.

He brought his fingers up and found my clit. Not a hard search but there we were. He brushed it, maybe to gauge me for a reaction, I guess my moan was good enough for him.

I guess he kind of sweetly just stared stroking it, and he wasn’t in a hurry. All my fun with Juniper was rushed, like we’d be found out. That was part of the fun. This was slow, leisurely.

I looked up at the fire. Listened to it crackle, listened to him breathe. Him stroking me, was so nonchalant, so casual like it was just part of the scene.

It wasn’t sex. Not so much. Sex is abrupt passionate. You know when you’re having sex. We were just cuddling, enjoying the fire, relaxing after a feast, and he was… pleasuring me.

It wasn’t Orcy. He hadn’t won this, hadn’t won my body. He didn’t pin me down, didn’t dirty talk me into a dribbling puddle. If anything he gave himself to me.

I’m thinking too much.

My sister would have a laugh at that.

I shiver.

I think about what I thought this would be, me riding him until his hips were powder.

I don’t get that flash of heat.

Did he know something? Did he not think I’d be good just because I never had sex with a man? I practiced!

Did he not think I was good enough?

I shiver, I moan.

I look at the fire.

I think of home.

I’m cozy, I’m warm, my belly is full.

This is nice.

I squeeze him a little bit.

He kisses my breast.

I wish I was naked.

I unclasp my toga. It falls away. I loosen my chest binding and that too falls away.

His fingers get clumsy as he kisses my breast. He’s eager for it. His tongue flicks my dark green nipple.

Not so cozy anymore. Now we both had something in us. I moan, I don’t have to but I want to. So he knows I appreciate it, if not that then so I’m sexier to him, if not that then because I want to.

And I want to.

He moves his hand down, his fingers slide into me. No pride to be had there, no excuse, I was wet and it was easy for him. He was up to his knuckles in Orc and I moaned.

I spread my legs, I squeezed him again. I kissed his head, held him tight. I hope he felt it, what I wanted to say.

I don’t know what it was, I’m not good with words. But I thought lips could say it without the words.

“The clit, please.” I murmured. His hands were smaller than I was used to, the clit was better.

Much better.

I moaned, I nodded, I kissed him again.

I came.

Sudden?

Me too.

I was nearly at the peak before I knew it was there, and then I was tumbling, tumbling, tumbling. Moaning regardless of if I wanted to or not. It came.

I came.

He’s lucky I didn’t condense him like a soda can i was squeezing him so tight. He noticed me cumming, I guess I gave a few loud signs. He moved away from my over stimulated clit, and began to pet my lips. Then he kissed my hand.

I thought that was sweet.

I giggled, ah fuck me. Don’t get used to that, it’s a cum drunk thing. “That was nice.”

I’m a fucking poet.

I couldn’t have told him, that I thought that was something special?

I mean, that was something special, right?

He sat up, looking at me with lusty Angel eyes. “Better than forcing something. I like to play.” He took his hand away from me, just soaked enough in my juices to be humiliating. He looked at it, fingers pruny, and licked them.

Now that was orcy.

I grinned. “Well?”

He thought about it for a moment, like he was tasting wine. Then with a shrug, and smile “more Jasmine.”