Ashley's invitation and Merona's new feelings

Lex kissed Bianca's forehead while holding her close. "Listen, when we get home. I want to properly apologize to you. I can't change the past, but I want to try and make it up to you." Bianca lifted a brow. "Oh? And just how do you plan to do that?" Lex looked to the side then down slightly while blushing. "Um, I bought some lingerie at Urici's shop. It is just part of my way of apologizing to you. I, I've never worn anything like it before. So, um, I'll be putting myself on the spot for you." Bianca leaned in slightly. "Oh? Are they unnecessarily revealing?"

Lex nodded slightly while looking to Bianca. "Yes, very revealing." Bianca playfully smiled. "You haven't shown them to anyone else, have you?" Lex thought for a moment before saying. "No one other than Urici." Bianca started to grin devilishly. "Oo, this does sound fun. Does this mean we'll get to have one on one time when we get home?" Lex blushed deeply. "As much as you'd like." Bianca leaned in and kissed along Lex's neck. "Sounds like a good start to me, beautiful." Lex turned her face and almost kissed Bianca's lips when a coughing sound was heard coming from an archway nearby.

When Lex and Bianca looked, they saw Ashley standing in the doorway with a hand upon her right hip. "My my, trying to get hot and heavy without me? How rude." Ashley walked slowly towards them with a playful smile upon her lips. "I was thinking as a show of good faith that I'd invite you to my little guild and brothel, Lex. You've met the main members. Most of the rest are simply dark servants or similar to my pets, Tanila and Alexander." When she mentioned their names, she lifted up her left hand, pointing out that they were peeking in from behind the door she just walked in from. "Ugh, you two may come out. I told you I am not upset, anymore."

Tanila and Alexander both walked out into the room. Tanila came out first, wearing a pair of brown shorts, a white blouse, and mid thigh high tan leather boots. Her lovely heart shaped face was accented nicely by her new hairstyle and her rounded eyebrows. It was tied back in a braided pony tail, causing it to fall to the middle of her back instead of down to her mid thigh. She bowed her head to Ashley, Bianca, and begrudgingly to Lex as well. "I was not expecting you to be so strong. I heard you had only joined the Abyss a few days ago. I swear Gaia's chosen are bullshit. Why do Abyssal people like us have to be stuck in the slow lane?"

Alexander walked out behind Tanila and began laughing after she spoke. "Oh Tanila, this is why you don't end up in bed with our mistress as often as I do. It's because you don't understand the ways of the world we live in. Sadly, Gaia's chosen are given a much much harder beginning than we ever had. Unlike them, we don't have to play catch up." He shook his head slightly. "You may not realize it, standing with your head held high as the High Elf you are, but many of Gaia's chosen die within their first barrier." Tanila huffed before looking away, blushing lightly. "Yeah, well, I have other things to worry about."

Alexander lowered his head slightly as he brought a hand over his heart. "True, but some end up with even worse fates than that, Tanila. They could be sold as slaves or sold off to a mana factory. You know as well as I do that the Abyss is an unforgiving place. One day you are on top and the next you are someone else's plaything." He looked over to Ashley as he walked to her side and knelt down beside her. "We were lucky to end up by our mistress's side." He looked over to Tanila. "Don't forget that it was our mistress that deemed us fit to continue living after our blunder." Tanila turned to look at him and stuck out her tongue. "We get your point. I'm a sore loser."

Alexander smirked before turning his attention to Lex. "We lost fair and square. It was a pleasure to face you and your companion in combat, Lex." His eyes gazed up towards Lex's before he bowed his head. "Forgive my companion, Tanila. She forgets that people of different upbringings and situations have extremely different lives." Lex blinked several times before nodding slightly. "No need to fret. I didn't take any offense, honest." While she spoke, she took notice of what Alexander was wearing and parts of his appearance. He was wearing black slacks, a white buttoned up t-shirt, and dress shoes. He had short light brown hair accenting his square face, light blue eyes lined by neat steep arch eyebrows, and a neatly trimmed mustache.

Ashley started to giggle as she touched the top of Alexander's head. "Mm, you're so handsome when you put on such a display. Are you trying to turn me on?" She leaned over and kissed the top of his head. "How about you and Tanila go talk to our other guest? I still have much to talk about with Lex." He began to blush, but stood up before turning to bow his head slightly to her. "As you wish, mistress." He looked over to Tanila. "Come on, let's make ourselves useful." Tanila was still pouting, but followed him. However, while walking over to talk to Merona and Ismael with Alexander she whispered to Lex as she passed by. "I wouldn't get too comfortable if I were you."

Lex lifted a brow as Tanila passed by. However, Ashley walked closer to Bianca and Lex, her hands ran up along their backs, drawing their attention to her. "Now that I have your undivided attention. I want you to follow me into the other room. There are things you need to know upon accepting my invitation." Bianca leaned in and whispered into Lex's ear. "My mother is quite clever. Pay attention to everything she does. She is quite the deceiver." Ashley lifted a s-shaped eyebrow as her right hand touched her own cheek. "Do you really think I plan to deceive your precious girlfriend? Just how little do you think of me?"

Bianca lifted a brow. "I don't think little of you. I just know you love to be on top of any deal. Even with your own daughter." Ashley playfully smiled, running a finger down along her own chin. "Mm, come now. You love it when I am on top. You never seem to want me to stop." Bianca blushed deeply and fell silent. Ashley's attention turned to Lex. "Follow me. I promise I won't bite. For now." She turned around and walked out of that room, swaying her hips ever so slightly with each step.

Meanwhile, Ismael was talking to Merona

Ismael smiled while stepping slightly closer to Merona. "I'm curious. Does your mistress know you harbor such feelings for her?" She looked down then over to Lex and shook her head. He quirked a straight eyebrow. "I would suggest not keeping those feelings to yourself. It will only cause you harm." He looked over in Lex's direction. "She deserves to know and quite honestly, I think she'd be happy to hear it. I am assuming she is your creator, right?" Merona gave a slight nod while thinking about all of this new information. 'What am I to my mistress? Am I simply her bodyguard, a simple creation, a tool, or am I something more?'

Merona felt a pain inside her that she couldn't quite explain. This wasn't like the warnings inside her head when she took too much damage. It wasn't even like the sensory feedback she received when she took damage. Sure, taking damage hurt, but this pain felt worse. This pain felt deeper and likely had more significance. This brought a couple of questions to mind. She didn't like this feeling, but how could she relieve something when she wasn't even sure what it was? Should she ask her mistress about it?

Merona shook her head while thinking. 'No, my mistress was just reunited with her girlfriend. I like it when she is happy. I can't get in the way of that.' She felt she needed to be strong for her mistress. A good girl in fact. It was her job to protect her mistress from anything harmful, even if it was her own feelings. However, while she mulled this over, Alexander and Tanila had entered the room. Ismael tilted his head slightly and gently touched Merona's left shoulder. "Is everything all right?" She turned her attention back to Ismael, her sensory logs telling her she hadn't missed any data of importance. "Yes, I'm fine."

Ismael leaned in slightly while gazing into Merona's eyes. "I can't say I understand everything going through that mechanical head of yours. But, if you were human. I would say that you are in love with your mistress." Her eyes widened slightly before refocusing as they twitched to the left then right while processing the significance of that statement. "No, that can't be a thing." He tilted his head while leaning back. "Oh? Well, I still think you should talk to her about it. She wouldn't have brought you here if she didn't trust you. You might want to take that into consideration."

Merona thought about that for just a moment before coming to a swift conclusion. This might be an error within her programing. As such, it must be addressed before it becomes a problem. However, she would wait until her mistress wasn't so busy. "I see. Well, I will wait until she is not so busy. Thank you, Ismael. I feel better about this." She smiled gently to Ismael before bowing her head to him. He lifted up both of his hands as a nervous smile appeared upon his lips. "Now now, think nothing of it. You are simply trying to look out for the best interests of the one you are protecting. Kind of like me, Merona."

Merona looked toward Lex with a slight nod. "True." At about this time, Alexander and Tanila were walking over to them to strike up a conversation.

Back to Lex's perspective

Lex started to follow Ashley with Bianca, but began to wonder what was to follow. Was this simply a pretense to get her out of this room? Or was this mostly about joining Ashley's guild? And what of Merona's feelings? Was it actually love or a simple programming error?