Chapter 15: Heart To Heart

On the way back Abigail was quiet for a long time, then she asked:

“Can I ask you something?”

“Gonna be pretty tough to build trust if you can't”, Elaine quipped.

“Fair enough, I'll come right out and ask: I don't have to sleep with you to stay part of the squad, right?”

Elaine paused and stiffened. “I'm willing to answer just about any question in the interest of building trust”, she told Abigail, a touch waspish, “but the fact that you felt the need to ask that was extremely hurtful.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you. Well, not you specifically. It's just... the Professor told us to forge strong bonds, so when I saw the four of you, with such very strong bonds and who are also clearly involved in something, I was wondering if it had to be like this.”

Elaine took a deep breath and tried very hard not to take it personally. “As I understand it, the bond we need to forge only needs to be one of trust. Whether that trust is built romantically or platonically is irrelevant. And I would never force myself on anyone. It happened to me before and the very thought makes me sick.”

“Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean...”

Elaine could have told Abigail that she had stopped it before something could have happened to her, but she didn't. Brandon may not have managed to rape her, but the fact that he'd tried even despite them supposedly being on the same side had rocked her to her core. But to get accused of the exact same thing made her furious.

“What didn't you mean? To accuse me of forcing myself on them?! Then why did you?”

Abigail had shrank back from the sudden anger in Elaine's voice, but then Elaine visibly took several deep breaths.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. You're new to this and in your situation it was a legitimate question. You just hit on a very touchy subject. I don't even know where exactly I'm standing with the three of them and the last thing I want is for anyone to think they aren't doing this by choice.”

Abigail was shocked. She had just thoughtlessly insulted the woman and now she was the one apologizing.

“No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't even have assumed. It's just... it's not as though the idea of being with you is unpleasant, it's just that I have no interest in prostituting myself to further myself, to anyone. I've met too many people who were only interested in my body already. But it's not an excuse, I know.”

Elaine waited until a count of five before she replied: “Apology accepted. If you want to make amends you can sing for me some time. And if you want to talk about your own damage, I'm willing to listen.”

Abigail sighed. “Why can't you just be mad at me? I was a royal bitch to you and now you're being all nice like this.”

“Yeah, I know, I should talk to the angels, maybe they'll knight me or something. No, it's much simpler: You apologized. I've had people thinking the worst of me all my life and you at least apologized for it. So, you wanna talk or not?”

Abigail thought about it for a minute, then said: “Alright. So, as I said, I want to be a singer. I've been working really hard at it. This isn't some spur of the moment thing, either. I went to music school for most of my life. I've honed my voice for years. I've learned composition and everything. But when I want to find a gig people still only look at my body. And far too many times I've had people tell me that they could help me if I was willing to fuck them for it. And when I saw how the three of them acted around you I was worried it was going to be more of the same. Again, I'm sorry, it was wrong of me to assume.”

“Let's just chalk it up to both of us having baggage, okay?”, Elaine asked.

“Yeah, let's”, Abigail agreed.

“But you still owe me a song”, Elaine reminded her.

“I do, yes.”

**

“Knock knock”, said a sultry voice from behind Jeanne as she was busy packing for the mission.

“Rachel”, Jeanne said evenly. “What do you want?”

“So guarded”, the nurse said as she stepped into Jeanne's quarters. They were quite a bit bigger than those allotted to the soldiers but Jeanne had still been very spartan in her decorations. “I just wanted to wish you luck on your mission.”

“I somehow doubt that”, Jeanne said.

Rachel chuckled. “You don't have to believe it. You're an important part of this base and you're taking some of our most promising fighters with you. I hope you'll come back safe.”

Jeanne paused and considered, then replied: “Thank you. I'll do my best. So, was that all you wanted to say?”

“There was one other thing”, Rachel said.

“Of course”, Jeanne muttered.

“See, me and your Lady, we don't really see eye to eye. I'm excess and lust. She's temperance and chastity”, Rachel said, then added quietly: “Well, on paper at least.” Then she returned to her normal volume and said: “So I wanted you to know that I appreciate that you're willing to help with Elaine's Oath of Crystal Tears. You could have handed that duty off to your crony the moment she arrived here, but you didn't.”

“I'm just making sure that it only happens if it's certain to succeed”, Jeanne said.

Rachel's lips curled up into a smile. “I guess you're one of those angels who can get away with telling half-truths then”, she said, then explained: “Of course, you're making sure your morals aren't compromised, but let's face it: If you told Prudence to wait until the success rate was at 98%, she would have. But you didn't even suggest it.”

Jeanne sighed. “Alright, fine. I've come to like Elaine. She's a good person. It's not that I'm doing this out of any particular carnal desire”, at this point Jeanne looked like she was getting a headache and she hurried to add: “but I will admit that I am not opposed to the idea.” Her expression relaxed.

“Even if you have to share a bed with me?”, Rachel asked, her finger to her mouth.

Jeanne groaned. “I'm not going to tell you how good you look, Rachel, because you know it. I am... not opposed to that part either. I'm not sure if I'm fine with this out of obligation or desire, but I guess we'll see when the next candidate for the Oath presents themselves.”

Rachel stepped forward and gave Jeanne a quick hug. Jeanne stiffened and by the time she relaxed Rachel had already pulled away.

“You're pretty alright for an angel”, Rachel told her. “Keep them safe, okay?”

“I will”, Jeanne said.

**

As soon Elaine and Abigail reached Base 15 Abigail got another two notifications.

She was excited about it and they decided to work on her stats the moment they got washed up and could meet the others.

So the two of them split up, off to their own rooms.

As Elaine entered her room she kicked off her clothes and threw them all in the hamper by the door, then slipped into her shower. Evelyn had probably thought she was being sneaky but Elaine had noticed her hiding around the corner, she just hadn't said anything. She was pretty sure she knew what Evelyn had in mind and she wasn't going to do anything to stop her.

So when Elaine stepped into her shower it only took a moment for a very naked Evelyn to come up behind her and hug her.

“Welcome back”, she muttered, burying her face in Elaine's back, right between her shoulder blades.

“Hey there”, Elaine said, the feeling of Evelyn's body pressed against hers getting her hard. “Were you worried?”

“I knew you'd be fine”, Evelyn said. “But I still missed you.”

“Did you now?”, Elaine asked and placed a hand on Evelyn's forearm.

“Want me to show you?”, Evelyn asked, dipping her hand a little lower, down past Elaine's bellybutton.

“I'm sweaty and I stink”, Elaine told her.

“Then let me help you clean up first”, Evelyn said and reached for Elaine's shower gel.

Evelyn got to work very platonically washing Elaine's back, though her smooth hands still felt heavenly to Elaine, relaxing all her tightened muscles. Then Evelyn pressed her body against Elaine's soapy back and began lathering up her front, paying special attention to the underside of her breasts, and then dipped down. She lathered up Elaine's already hard dick and then began to stroke it gently. Elaine let her do it for a little, then placed her hand on Evelyn's and asked her to stop.

“You don't want me?”, Evelyn asked, worry in her voice.

“Oh I want you, but jerking someone off with shower gel hurts like hell”, Elaine explained. “I'd love to have you touch me, but only after we clean this off. Plus I still owe you for last time.”

“Oh. Sorry”, Evelyn said and Elaine reached back and caressed the redhead's cheek.

Evelyn relaxed and then grabbed the shower head to get Elaine and herself cleaned up, turning Elaine around to face her in the process. Once they were no longer covered in soap Evelyn grabbed hold of Elaine's dick again, then licked her lips.

“You have no idea what it does to me when you do that”, Elaine told her in a husky voice.

“Then maybe you should show me”, Evelyn told her and rubbed her pussy with her other hand.

“I...”, Elaine trailed off.

Evelyn chuckled. “Don't worry, I'm not telling you to fuck me. We've decided that you should have your first time with Alexis.”

Elaine's eyes widened. “What do you mean you've decided?”

“Did you really think we wouldn't be talking about you while you were gone?”

Elaine swallowed. That was one part of having three girlfriends that she hadn't anticipated.

“Stop looking so worried”, Evelyn told her.

“Sorry, I just...”

But Elaine didn't get to finish the sentence as Evelyn dropped to her knees and took Elaine's cock in her mouth, wrapping her lips around the crown and swirling her tongue all around the tip.

“Oh fuck that feels so good”, Elaine breathed and couldn't do anything but lean her head back against the shower wall and run her hands through Evelyn's hair as the redhead bobbed back and forth.

Finally she pulled back from Elaine's cock with an audible pop and said: “I love your reactions. They get me soaking wet.”

Then she began kissing her shaft from below, kissing from the tip down to her balls, then began licking them before she sucked one into her mouth, then the other. Elaine groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to deal with the sheer pleasure. When she'd first fucked Evelyn's mouth she had to focus on not hurting her and when Ophelia had blown her she had only lasted a few moments because of the earlier blood sucking, but now she could do nothing but focus on the overwhelming feeling of Evelyn's wet hot mouth squirming all around her hard dick. She could feel it building up inside her and just barely managed to whimper out:

“I'm going to cum.”

Evelyn reacted by taking Elaine's cock as far as it would go, taking a good three quarters of it down her throat right before Elaine couldn't hold back anymore and pumped everything she had down the redhead's throat, who did her best to swallow everything she was being given.

Elaine's knees buckled and she only managed to remain standing because the supernaturally strong Evelyn pushed her hips against the shower wall and kept her upright.

When she could finally stand on her own again Elaine grabbed Evelyn under the armpits, pulled her up, turned them around and pressed the redhead against the shower wall before mashing their lips together. She could taste the salty flavor of her cum on Evelyn's lips and even though she thought that it should have grossed her out, knowing what she was tasting only served to excite her more. She slipped one hand between Evelyn's legs and found her inner thighs already drenched and certainly not just with water. She rubbed along Evelyn's slit in long, slow strokes and the redhead groaned into the kiss.

When they broke the kiss Evelyn whined: “Please. Please fuck me. I don't care if it's just your fingers, I need you inside me. Please, Elaine, please---FUCK!”, she screamed as Elaine rammed two fingers inside her and began working her soaking wet pussy.

Evelyn was impossibly tight, her insides were exquisitely smooth like silk and Elaine's eyes glazed over as she imagined what she would feel like wrapped around her cock. But she pushed the thought down and worked on driving Evelyn even crazier. She curled her fingers back to poke Evelyn's g-spot and started rubbing her clit with her thumb and the redhead started moaning. Evelyn had already been holding onto Elaine for dear life but when she felt her fingers working her pussy from both sides she had to sink her nails into Elaine's back before burying her face in her shoulder.

“Think you can handle three?”, Elaine asked her and Evelyn mewled, then nodded into her shoulder.

In response Elaine pushed a third finger inside the redhead, turning her moans into guttural groans of pleasure. She felt so full she didn't even care that she didn't have Elaine's dick inside her.

“You're taking that so well, baby”, Elaine told her.

“Uh-huh”, Evelyn whimpered in response, rolling her hips against the brunette's fingers.

“Come for me”, Elaine commanded in a husky murmur. “Come all over my fingers. Can you do that for me, baby?”

“Uh-huh”, Evelyn whimpered again.

“Then do it. On three”, Elaine said, then began to count oh-so-slowly: “One... two... three.”

On 'three' Evelyn's entire body convulsed and she let out a piercing shriek as she came harder than she could remember ever coming.

It left her dizzy and she would have collapsed if Elaine hadn't held her up. Even so, Elaine had to dry her off and then laid the redhead down on her bed while she dried herself off. Only when Elaine was dressed again was Evelyn able to get up and get dressed herself.

As they left for the meeting Evelyn whispered into Elaine's ear: “I... I appreciate you.”

Elaine stroked her cheek as she replied: “I appreciate you, too.”

**

Finally the five of them sat down in the cafeteria and began looking through Abigail's available skills together, though only after Ophelia made a comment about how much Elaine and Evelyn were glowing, which got Abigail blushing while she scrolled through her level up screen.

“Okay, so the first thing I want to know is why they expect me to bother with a bow if I have an assault rifle”, Abigail began.

“Elemental damage”, Elaine said. “Things like the Dark Young you saw are weak to magic and this bow would do more damage than your gun ever could.”

“Infinite ammo”, Evelyn added. “Things haven't gotten bad for us yet, but most of the factories that produce ammo have been demolished so we're sitting on a rapidly thinning supply.”

“Light magic is powerful”, Ophelia said. “And if you have light magic and that bow fires light magic arrows you may be able to manipulate those arrows, do stuff like make them splinter into dozens of projectiles or gain homing properties, things like that.”

“And finally”, Alexis finished, “the bow is only ten points so you might as well buy it and try out how to get the most out of it.”

Abigail was stunned into silence, but then said: “Alright, forget I said anything. What about Skill Copy, then?”

“I can think of several things you could use that one with”, Alexis said. “For example, I can buy this skill called Charged Attack. I think if you were to apply that one to that bow, you could get some pretty spectacular results. But I don't have that yet.”

“You do have Highlander, though”, Ophelia threw in. “If she's hurt she can copy that, punch something weak and she's back in good health.”

“Would be interesting to see how that interacts with Font of Soma”, Evelyn said. “Do I lose my regeneration if she decides to treat someone with it or does it mean we get to double up?”

The five of them talked a bit more back and forth until Abigail decided what to level up.

“So, how does this work? I've bought magic and now I can just use it?”, Abigail asked.

“Sort of”, Alexis explained. “You can now use it, but that doesn't mean you can use it well. I have light magic as well so I can give you some pointers, but with fire you'll have to experiment yourself. I'm guessing it's good for more than just chucking fireballs.”

“Much more”, Elaine said. “Fire mages can't just produce heat, they can also drain it away if need be.”

Abigail looked between the two, then nodded to Alexis. “Yes, I'd love some help with it. Thank you.”

“I'm also noticing that her stats rocketed up there”, Ophelia said.

“Yeah, looks like Support skills increase Intelligence, Agility and Luck”, Evelyn added. “That sure sounds handy.”

“True. Can't wait to get enough EXP to buy mine now”, Ophelia said, then turned to Elaine. “So, what did you get?”

“What do you mean?”, Abigail asked.

“When one of you gains stats, so do I”, Elaine explained, then showed her notifications.

“That seems a little excessive”, Abigail said as she saw how high Elaine's stats were.

“I didn't make the rules”, Elaine said, a touch defensive.

“I didn't mean it as an accusation”, Abigail said quietly.

Alexis, Evelyn and Ophelia picked up on the tension but it was Evelyn who asked:

“Something happen when you were out?”

Elaine looked at Abigail, daring her to stay silent.

“I... may have said some thoughtless and hurtful things to Elaine while we were out”, Abigail finally admitted.

“Like?”, Alexis growled.

“Doesn't matter, she apologized for it”, Elaine said, a small smile on her lips. “And the fact that she was willing to admit it in front of you is good enough for me.”

“You were testing me?”, Abigail asked, surprised. She was worried Elaine was still furious with her.

“This is all about building trust, isn't it? Not just between the two of us, but between all of us”, Elaine said, then took hold of Abigail's hand and gave it a squeeze.

“So no hard feelings?”, Abigail asked.

“Not if you sing for me”, Elaine reminded her.

“Right”, Abigail said, blushing.

“Is that a euphemism for something?”, Ophelia asked. “I know I'd sing for you if---” Alexis clamped a hand over Ophelia's mouth to shut her up.

“Just keep your mind out of the gutter for once”, Alexis told her, then turned to Abigail. “You're a singer?”

Abigail nodded.

“So why don't you sing for all of us?”, Alexis asked.

Abigail looked over to Elaine, who shrugged.

“How about this”, Evelyn suggested. “If you sing for us, you can try that Song of Healing ability you just bought, just to see if you can activate it.”

Abigail's eyes widened. “That's a great idea actually. I've been wondering if those songs actually work.”

“Trust me, everything works as described, no matter how silly it sounds”, Ophelia said, then demonstrated by sending a tendril of shadow to wrap around Abigail's forearm. Abigail jerked her arm away on reflex but it barely budged, the shadow tendril holding on like thick rope. Having made her point, Ophelia retracted it.

**

And so, everyone gathered in Elaine's room, sitting down on her bed, with Abigail standing in front of them, her eyes closed and trying to feel out the new ability she'd learned. Finally she began to glow with a soft green light and began to sing.

Abigail had always wanted to sing her own songs but for the longest time people only wanted to hear her covers of other songs. Over time this had made her worry that her original music wasn't as good as she kept thinking so when prompted to sing for someone she fell back on one of her covers, a haunting version of 'You Raise Me Up'.

When singing this one on stage she had a backing track consisting of a lone violin to go along with it so of course she was more than a little surprised when the phantom sound of a violin began to accompany her as she sang and suddenly a soft green glow suffused the room.

Abigail's voice was clear as glass and did the song all the justice it deserved. Evelyn, Alexis and Ophelia were mesmerized, but Elaine had enough presence of mind to take out her utility knife and cut her finger. Sure enough, the green light from Abigail pulsed outward and the cut began to heal in front of Elaine's eyes until it was gone again. But even though she'd been able to conduct her experiment, Elaine was also impressed with the tall singer. She was captivating and it was only partly because of her beauty. Abigail had the kind of singing voice that deserved its own world tour.

By the end of the song everyone, even Abigail, had tears in their eyes and the girls all applauded. They all fawned over Abigail's performance but Alexis recognized a kindred spirit in the way the brunette shrank back under the praise so she pointedly asked, her voice noticeably louder than it needed to be:

“So Elaine, did it work?”

They all turned to look at Elaine, who showed her fully healed finger, then spoke while looking at Abigail:

“Yes. Whatever it was you did, it worked. So long as you kept singing our regeneration was sped up. If activating the Song of Courage is just as easy you're going to be invaluable. And we'll need to see how much stronger your lyre makes it.”

Abigail frowned at that last bit. “I have never played a lyre before though.”

“I've never used a spear or ridden a horse before but both felt like second nature the moment I summoned them”, Alexis said. “The knowledge comes with the artifact.”

Abigail relaxed at that. “It really is magic, isn't it?”

“It is”, Alexis agreed.

The women spoke a while longer until Abigail decided to go get some sleep. Evelyn soon went to her room as well, but Alexis and Ophelia lingered a bit and cuddled with Elaine a little before leaving her alone as well.

It took Elaine a while to finally fall asleep, knowing that the upcoming mission would be far more dangerous than anything they'd had to do before.