Calming Down Over a Few Cups of Tea

Krvavy’s throat is dry. Painfully so. Her body aches. Her muscles burn.

“Here.” Inanna calmly pours some steaming liquid into four separate cups. “Drink. It will help.” She slides one cup across the kitchen counter, pushing it into the barbarian’s hands. “Beryl gave me the recipe.”

A faint frown plays at Krvavy’s lips.

Thea, likewise, grimaces as she stares down at her own cup of tea. But that bitter expression doesn’t last long, shifting to pleasant surprise just a moment after she brings the steamy beverage up to her mouth.

Krvavy’s brow twitches as she takes a sip of the surprisingly sweet tea.

“W-will Miss Beryl b-b-be al-all-alri-right...?” Adeline shudders atop her stool, little hands tightly grasping onto her floppy rabbit ears.

“Mhm.” Inanna nods, reaching across the counter to pat the worried girl’s head. Her massive tits squish against the smooth countertop, drawing the Drakling’s gaze. “She will be just fine: from the sound of it, her ritual proceeded as planned.”

“So the whole area was supposed to be engulfed in vines?” Thea critically asks, scowling over the rim of her cup. “And none of us were told about that in advance?”

Inanna glances towards the understandably upset brat. “Yes.”

“B-but...!” Adeline loudly stutters out, keeping the glaring noble girl from immediately responding. “The b-b-bl-blood...! M-miss Ber-Beryl...!”

The grey-skinned Dwarf gently grabs and holds onto both of the Halfling’s hands. “As I said, she will be fine. Don’t worry. What you saw, what she went through and what she is going through, is nothing but a temporary pain. Her wounds will heal as her body is remade. And, if I may hazard a guess, I would say that Beryl will have an easier time with this whole process than is normal. The waters of our hot springs are filled with Life Magic, and her grove will drink deeply in the coming days.”

“Hmph.” Thea grumpily huffs out, her glare intensifying noticeably. “Typical. That Elf hag barely told me a thing, yet you seem to know all about what happened...”

“Mm. We spoke a great deal about that ritual over the past few days.” The Dwarf calmly admits, giving both of Adeline’s hands one last soft squeeze before letting go. “Our talks were not sparse on details, but most of it centered on the... personal conflict that Beryl has been struggling with.” Inanna slowly pushes a cup of tea towards the shaken Halfling, only turning her attention away once Adeline’s little fingers have wrapped around it.

Thea’s eyes narrow as she heatedly glares across the table.

“If you aren’t happy with that, then hold your complaints until Beryl can hear them herself.” Inanna slowly and wearily exhales, her neutral expression wavering for just a moment. “I may know more of this topic than any other of my people, perhaps of anyone who isn’t a Wood Elf, but... I can hardly be called an expert. Those ancient and sacred rites are... quite different from the magics that I am familiar with. There is no singular, defined way to perform the ritual that you all just experienced. There were so many variables at play, so many decisions based on... personal preference.” The shortstack’s grey lips faintly twist downwards. “It was a unique experience that shared similarities with what other Dryads would have gone through, but ultimately had more differences in execution. And in results. Truly distasteful to my Dwarven sensibilities.”

“That is no excuse to have left us in the dark!” The silver-blonde noble girl hisses out, elbows pressing into the countertop.

Inanna’s copper-orange eyes stare unblinking at the bratty girl. “I was little more than an advisor for Beryl. Someone for her to bounce ideas off of. I made some suggestions, yes, but I do not know if she used them or not. In fact, you know better than I what actually happened during the ritual.”

“Is that so?” Thea icily asks, staring through a veil of steam rising from her mostly ignored cup of tea. “Then, was it your idea to involve me in... in such a degenerate way?”

Inanna raises a single thick eyebrow. “And what ‘way’ would that be? At least half a dozen of the ideas you were involved in would be, by your definition, ‘degenerate’.”

The bratty girl’s eye twitches. “Cum!” She spitefully spits out, cheeks burning brightly. “That pervert made me make Krvavy cum into a flower! So that she could drink it!”

“Mmm... I see.”

“And?!” Thea jerks forwards, nearly spilling her tea as she aggressively leans towards the nonchalant Dwarf.

“No, I didn’t suggest that.” Inanna plainly states. “But I can understand why she went with that particular choice. It was supposed to be wine. Preferably red for the standard ‘blood’ symbolism. But semen also carries similar interpretations, less in appearance and more by nature. Life is –”

“Ugh!” The silver-blonde brat’s shoulders slump as she shrinks into herself slightly. “That damned Elf... Pervert...” She grumbles into her cup, sipping the sweet liquid. “Perverts, the lot of them... If they had any self respect, that would have been blasphemy or sacrilege or something...”

A pang of discomfort rolls through Krvavy’s clenched jaw. “So it’ll be a week then?”

The Dwarf doesn’t immediately respond, instead taking a moment to pat Khalia on the head as that Orc rests her face on the smooth table. “Perhaps. It should take a single phase – a major phase, specifically – of the ‘dancer’, as the Elves call the smaller of our two moons. Which is exactly a week, yes, but... The transformation into a Dryad, her rebirth, is far more intense and taxing than, for example, the transformation from Orc to Were-Beast. She will need more time to recover afterwards.”

The Drakling’s clawed fingers drum onto the side of her empty cup. “How long?”

“A full lunar cycle. Thankfully, of the smaller moon once again. So a month.” Inanna answers, grabbing the teapot and questioningly raising a thick eyebrow. “During that time,” she continues talking, pouring Krvavy some more tea, “Beryl will be lethargic and tired. She will spend most of her time slumbering in her tree, and will not be able to leave the depths of her grove without... withering.”

“Wha?!” Adeline jolts upright, nearly falling off her stool as panicked worry fills her round face.

“Mm... Maybe ‘wilting’ would have been a better word to say...” The grey-skinned Dwarf shakes her head. “Beryl’s tree will be just as much a part of her as her own body is, so being away from it will leave her feeling weakened and drained. Greater distances and longer periods of time will cause that effect to grow in severity, but this is truly more of a short term problem. After all, her ‘weakened’ state will eventually be more powerful than, or at the very least comparable to, her... previously standard ‘Wood Elf’ state.”

“And –”

“My Ushumgal,” Inanna firmly but gently cuts the Drakling off. “You don’t need to worry so much about her. Beryl may have had many... concerns... regarding this transformation, but she... she accepted the consequences. Beryl wouldn’t have gone through the effort of preparing herself and the ritual had that not been the case. She knew that you would give her the push that she needed. Beryl repeatedly told me that, ‘one way or another’, you would ‘make it better’.”

Krvavy glances down at her cup of tea, brow knit tightly together.

“Don’t blame yourself, my Ushumgal.” Inanna reaches out, resting her hand atop Krvavy’s wrist. “This issue would have reared its head eventually. Your visit to Raseyne simply made Beryl face it sooner, and Rina’s job offer gave her a deadline that she could **** herself to abide. She will awaken before you have to leave, and will be recovered by the time you return home. A timing too perfect for her to ignore.”

“I just... hope this wasn’t a mistake.” The barbarian sighs and takes a sip of the sweet, nectar-like tea.

“Mm.” The Dwarf hums and nods her head in agreement. “I cannot say for certain if becoming a Dryad will bring her the peace that she wished it would, but I do believe... I do believe that this was for the best. This has been hanging over Beryl’s head for a very long time. She no longer needs to live in its shadow.”

“P-p-pa-para...! Paradise!” Adeline shakily shouts out, sniffling slightly as she leans towards Krvavy. “M-miss Beryl s-s-said that it-it’d help her m-m-ma-make our h-home a p-parad-dise...!”

The Drakling wraps an arm around her little Halfling, thick tail twisting around the girl’s stool to pull her closer. “Is that the ‘surprise’ she had for me?” Krvavy softly wonders, fingers idly trailing through the timid girl’s dark-blonde hair.

“Y-yes...” The timid blonde weakly squeaks back, going almost entirely limp in Krvavy’s embrace. “Miss Beryl wa-wanted t-t-to make a-an-ano-other garden for you... A beautiful g-grove wi-with waterfalls and ri-rivers...”

“That duplicitous hag!” Thea slams a hand into the table, wincing as she finds the solid stone stronger than she is. “Did everyone but me know that she was planning something?! What of you, dog?! Did that Elf tell you some secrets too?!”

Khalia opens a single amber-gold eye, glaring at the outraged brat. “Rrrgh...” She growls in annoyance, reaching a single paw-like hand out to press it down over Thea’s mouth. “Elfy tell me nothing.” She reluctantly answers, seeing Krvavy’s curious gaze. “But... Me knew Elfy doing something. Elfy avoided Mate, gave distractions.”

“Mmphhph!” Thea hits and slaps at the Were-Beast’s furred arm, but all of that goes completely ignored. “Haaah!” She dramatically gasps out when Khalia’s paw-like hand finally pulls away, not because of her struggling but because the Orc wants to rest her head on it. “I...! I will have some words with that tree slut as soon as she is in any state to hear me!”

“I’m s-s-s-s-sor-so-rrrrryy!” Without any warning at all, Adeline begins to openly weep. The bunny-mouse girl shudders and buries her face into the barbarian’s side. “I...! She...! She!”

“Shh...” Krvavy pulls the tiny blonde up and into her lap. “Shhhh... It’s alright. You just wanted to help and Beryl... took advantage of that.”

“Mm. She didn’t exactly lie though.” Inanna idly speaks up, no so much as defending the Elf as simply explaining her own thoughts. “Beryl’s grove will be a place of unparalleled beauty, and knowing her she will dedicate it to you, my Ushumgal.”

“That is no excuse for her deceit!” The bratty girl boldly declares.

“We just have to wait then...?” The Drakling sighs out, ignoring her fiancée’s outburst as she continues to softly stroke her shuddering Halfling’s head.

“Yes.” The Dwarf nods her head in confirmation. “I understand that you would rather not stand idly by, but there is nothing we can do for Beryl but wait. Not even feeding mana into the vines will do much at all.” Inanna pauses as she sees Krvavy’s expression shift slightly. “I would caution against that, my Ushumgal. Those vines will strangle the life from anything within their reach. Damaging them, even in self defence, may have negative effects on Beryl’s state: her energy is needed for her rebirth, not wasted in repairing her defences.”

“Mnnngh...” Krvavy groans in growing frustration. She doesn’t like feeling so helpless. So... useless. “Guess I’ll... try to busy myself with work...”

“On that front, my Ushumgal, I do have some good news: the slime lure has been constructed and is ready for field testing.”

Krvavy perks up slightly at that.

“Of course, I am not entirely certain how effective it will be.” The grey-skinned shortstack admits with a shrug. “But, regardless, spending a day taking your frustrations out on a seemingly endless flood of amorphous masses could be good for you. Just don’t overextend yourself.”

The Drakling slowly nods. “Right, well... that’s something to look forwards to for tomorrow...”

“Hmph... These stools could be more comfortable...” Thea grumbles and frowns, not so subtly scooting closer to Krvavy. “Why are we down here instead of up on the couch...?”

“The tea was brewed down here.” Inanna points out in her usual neutral tone. “But we can move if you’d like.”

A faint smile plays at the noble girl’s lips as she slips off her stool. “Get up.” She roughly pats Khalia on the back, not even flinching at the growl at earns her. “You can nap upstairs.”

Adeline takes a deep breath, steadying herself before leaning forwards and getting ready to leave Krvavy’s lap.

But the barbarian is having none of that, instead scooping the bunny-mouse up into her arms.

“Eeeeeie...” The tiny blonde squeaks in embarrassment, her tear-stained cheeks burning bright red as a soft kiss is planted on her forehead.

A nice, relaxing cuddle is exactly what Krvavy needs right now.

No. It is exactly what they all need.