Author note: Hey there, as many of you know, my writing has slowed down significantly. I used to post once a week, then once a fortnight and as of late I've been publishing once every three weeks. Unfortunately, my chapter buffer has dwindled. I used to have a buffer of 10 chapters, but now I'm down to 3. I know the like 2 people who read my branch might be disappointed to hear this, but I'm going to be going on a short break. I'm unsure how long the break will be. I think I'll be more productive in writing if I don't pressure myself into saying "it's only going to be a few weeks or a month" I'm hoping for a shorter break; my main goal is to get to a 5-chapter buffer, but I would like more if my plan of writing works. Worry not, this break isn't permanent, and I don't plan for it to be a long break either, but the pressure of ensuring I publish while trying to grow my buffer has been a detriment. I'd like to get to a point where I can have at least a chapter a fortnight once again. Thanks for your patience.

I know this comes on the tail of me explaining I'm going on a break but if you would like to support me or even just give a tip I do have a Buy Me A Coffee account. I very much appreciate every bit of support, monetary or other wise and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Achievement: Exchange Fae Love Letters

Give and receive a velamora. A deep expression of love between the fae.
Reward: Keys for Threshold Annexe. Lumiara’s key, John’s Key, Leilani’s Key, Spare Key

John stared at the notification; despite what he was reading, he wasn’t overly shocked. He didn’t know what it was, nor when he might have given it, but being surprised by every odd thing that happened when it came to Lani, the faeries, or anything would get tiring; best to just figure it out.

“W-w-what is a vel-vel-velamora?” Alison asked, peering over John’s shoulder at the achievement.

Taking a deep breath, Lani looked at the moss top. “It’s a fae custom. Names can be powerful, so giving someone a name is seen as very special and romantic. It’s not a custom shared with other races, though others usually know that giving a fae your name or giving them a name is something you shouldn’t do. John shortened Lumiara’s name when they met, and Sissy misunderstood.”

Lani turned to look at Lumiara. “I did have a conversation with her about it when John wasn’t here, but it seems she’s made her decision. Explaining to John what a velamore is was one of the things I wanted to talk about. I was getting to it, but it seems that Sissy had her own plans.”

John listened, glancing between everyone, then at Lumi, who had lowered herself into the water again, though she kept her head up.

John slowly stood, holding Lani in his arms before turning to Alison and placing the fae dragon in her lap. He took Alison’s hand and placed it on Lani’s tummy again before either could question him. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be back.”

Wading through the water, John approached Lumi and gently took her hand, pulling her a little away from the others.

Facing her, he took her other hand and drew a deep breath, trying to work out what he should say, how to say it, and whether to use her full name or the shortened one.

“So… Lumi… I’m not entirely sure how to word this… I don't want to hurt your feelings or play with you… uh…” John struggled.

Lumiara squeezed John’s hands slightly and gave a gentle smile. “I understand,” she said, her voice quiet and soft. “You don’t have to explain anything, Leili already told me… I want to be clear, calling you Ori isn’t reciprocation. You make Leili happy, and your other females seem quite happy, and your male seems capable, too.”

John’s eyes snapped wide. “Wait, you’ve misunderstood something. Robin is a friend, he’s not my ‘male’, I care about him a lot, but he’s like family, and I’m not interested in men.”

Lumiara nodded. “Ah, I see, apologies,” she responded quietly. “Regardless, your attitude towards others you care for is quite attractive, and I find you physically alluring. Being in physical contact with you for this long has affected my body.”

Again, surprised, John looked at her face to see it flushed. He pulled his hands back and gave a weak, “Sorry.”

Lumiara reached out and took his hands again. “No, I should be the one who is sorry. Despite the misunderstanding, and then Leili explaining everything, I still got rather excited and might have become a little too forward,” she whispered.

John took a deep breath. “It’s fine, really,” he started.

Squeezing his hands, Lumiara continued, “Wait, before you say anything else. I hadn’t considered human courtship. I am aware that typically, humans will get to know each other before deepening their connections. I won’t be taking back the name I gave you, nor the sentiment behind it. I’d also like it if you would continue to call me Lumi. After this, I would like it if we could spend time together.”

“After wha-” John began, cut off as Lumiara grabbed his face by his cheeks and pecked him on the lips.

In the background, several “ooohs” cut through the steam, and John looked to see Ellie and Violet watching from the next pool over, while Alison and Lani had moved closer to watch from the other side.

Both John's and Lumi’s faces reddened, and though they took a step back from each other, the awkward moment vanished as Agni splashed over. She paused as she spotted John, smiled and gave an energetic wave before grabbing both Ellie and Violet’s hands and all but yanking them back into the steam.

The tension dissolved, though John’s face remained red; he couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation, feeling a little more relaxed. John took Lumi’s hand in his and waded back towards Alison and Lani.

“So, when will my dear husband and sister be consummating?” Lani asked, a wide grin on her face.

Lumi reddened again, and one of her hands dipped under the water, whether to touch or cover herself, John couldn’t tell, and chose not to think about it.

Getting back to where they’d been sitting, John was pleasantly surprised to see Lani sitting in Alison’s lap as both girls stroked the fae dragon’s belly.

John moved closer and sat next to the two. Lumiara followed behind him, lowering herself shoulder deep into the water again.

Lani looked between John and Lumiara for a moment, then pouted, her cheeks puffing up. “You should sit in John’s lap,” Lani half-suggested, half-demanded.

“What?” John muttered. He guessed that it wasn’t entirely unexpected from Lani, especially after Lumi had just kissed him. There was a pause, where Lumiara seemed like she was going to say something, perhaps argue against it, or maybe ask if it was alright, but instead her lips pursed and she began moving towards John.

She placed her hands on his knees and looked up at him. John didn’t answer her silent question, but it seemed that Lumiara took that as him not expressing being against the idea.

She rose out of the water and climbed into John’s lap. He was quite stunned. As she sat in his lap, John’s face was almost pressed between Lumiara’s breasts. He knew that Lumiara was bigger than Lani; however, now that she’d come more out of the water, he’d gotten a much better scope of Lumiara’s size.

The faun dragon looped her arm around John’s neck to stabilise herself as John stared up into her eyes. She was bigger than him, maybe the same size as Robin.

“Aw, you look cute together,” Lani commented, playfully pushing John’s arm.

John cleared his throat and felt his cheeks burning a little. “Uhm, yeah…” he mumbled, before shaking his head and trying not to make things weird, he turned to Alison. “I didn’t expect to come and see you two like this.”

Alison gave a shy smile, then Lani brushed a few stray green hairs from the artist’s face.

“Uhm… Lani is n-n-nice,” she said. “I w-was wo-wo-worried sh-she might be p-p-pushy when you w-weren’t around, b-but sh-she just t-talked w-w-without m-making f-f-f-fun of my st-st-utter.”

John’s smile broadened. “That’s great. And thanks, Lani, it’s appreciated that you’re being so kind to Alison.” There was another pause. John wasn’t sure what to say, and he still wanted to get to know Lani more.

“S-so w-w-what do you do f-for fun?” Alison asked.

“Oh, I do all kinds of things, I like to play with the other faeries, I like to go see what all the girls are doing, I often go running through the forest, oh, or stretch my wings and fly over the canopy… Oooh, I also like to read,” Lani listed, pointing at her fingers as if to count the hobbies off.

Lumiara stifled a giggle. “Read? You mean listen to Dewdrop or me read for you?” Her voice was soft and quiet, even with her on John’s lap.

“Oh yeah, well, what do you do all day?” Lani shot back in a teasing tone.

The faun’s hands clutched to her chest as she thought. “Well, I read to you and to myself… I pick firewood…. I like to relax in the water…. Uhm, I meditate, and… uh… Oh, I love animals, I guide them out of the fog,” she whispered.

John nodded. “Hey, maybe we could try giving Agni a book to read. We’re trying to find more hobbies that she might like. We’re up to four, I think, so we need one more.” He muttered to himself before looking at Lani and continuing, “Anyway, so do you visit Lumi often, Lani?”

“At least every other day, though it does take a while to get here. Even knowing the fog, it’s still an obstacle to get through, even when Sissy comes and gets me,” Lani half-complained.

Then John remembered the reward. “Oh, actually, I might have a solution to that. You see that reward I got, I’m pretty sure it’s the same kind of key I got for Ellie, which means that it’s likely like some kind of house or study or something, there’s a few keys to this one though. Having that space should make it easier to see each other, though. And we have a key each plus a spare that Lumi should keep in case she wants to give it to someone.”

“What do you mean? Where does the key go?” Lumi asked.

“Oh, well, basically it’s like a magic item, you can open a door anywhere, and it takes you into a pocket dimension type thing, like a magic room. I bought one for Ellie, and it had an alchemy lab inside. I’m not sure what these keys will open, but I think it’ll be something similar, and the keys all open into the same space, so it doesn’t matter where we are; we should be able just to open the door and walk in.”

“Oooh, that sounds interesting, we should go and look,” Lani said, getting a little excited. Lani jumped up, grabbing both John and Lumi’s hands and pulling them through the water.

After climbing over the wall to the pool everyone else was in, they reconvened. “Elliiiiiee, come, come, we’re going to see Sissy’s new house thingy.”

Everyone looked slightly confused. Then John brought out one of the keys. Ellie’s eyes lit up, and she joined Lani in her excitement.

John pulled back slightly. “Hey, wait. Can we get out of the water and get dressed first? Almost all of us are naked, I’m sure Alison would be more comfortable clothed, and I’m not sure that Robin particularly wants to avoid looking at you while not in the water.”

There was a slight grumble as the excitement paused to allow everyone to get decent.

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Atreides
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