—

steel

clattering metal

footsteps on stone

marching

sparkling fire

bursts of flame

desperation

fear

resignment

acceptance

a new beginning

happiness

—

Khi’s eyes opened, suddenly, as if she had been awoken by force. But outside the window, rain pattered against the glass and wind gently battered the side of the building. The feeling as if she needed to be awake quickly faded into quiet, pleasant consciousness. Inside, the scent of fresh baked goods wafted in through the door, left ajar. Khi let it fill her nose, her lungs, her soul. It was only as she attempted to sit up that she noticed the arms resting around her waist.

“…was wondering when you’d wake up, flowerpetal…”

Khi let herself fall back into bed and melt into Evelyn. A puddle in her grasp, she spoke.

“Mmmh… good morning, love… Robin busy?”

Khi reached back and ran her fingers through Evelyn’s hair, caressing her head as she leaned farther back into her touch. Evelyn’s hands slowly slipped from her waist, up and around to her stomach, then slid up onto Khi’s breasts. As Evelyn’s fingers brushed past her nipples, Khi gasped.

“You know how he is… so focused sometimes…” Her breath on Khi’s shoulders was like steam, and as Khi felt her lips press onto her, she was glad they were laying down. That would’ve been precisely the moment her knees gave out.

 “…and besides, my beautiful little nymph, I've wanted this since last night. I don't plan on waiting much longer.” Evelyn pulled herself up against Khi’s back. Her hand that wasn’t pinned under Khi slipped down over Khi’s navel, between her legs. 

Khi felt her face flush bright red as her breath caught in her throat, and her legs spread on instinct. She grabbed a handful of Evelyn’s hair as her lover wrapped her hand around Khi. 

“You were thinking about this too, i know you were. probably all night.”

Khi giggled between shallow breaths. The thought had crossed her mind, but not to the extent she believed Evelyn meant. 

“Evvy…”

“Tell me you want it. Tell me you need it.” Evelyn half-whispered as she started to stroke Khi under the sheets. 

“Evvy, wait, don’t you~” Khi cut herself off with a moan as Evelyn took what began leaking out of her and spread it over her hand, making it glide smoothly over every inch of Khi as if she used another fancy oil. 

“Tell me, flowerpetal.”

Khi half-groaned, wishing she could’ve savored the foreplay a bit longer, and half-moaned, happy to receive such affection upon waking up.

“Of course i do, my love. I need it more than anything else in the world.”

Evelyn wrapped her leg around Khi’s and put the Vena on her back. She freed her stuck arm as well, and switched hands. Her free hand stayed between Khi’s legs but slipped farther down, and Khi felt her spread her lips and slip her fingers, still slick with Khi’s mess, inside her. Khi gasped again, the dual sensations threatening to overwhelm.

“Fuck, Evvy…” When Khi laid her head to the side she saw the determined hunger in Evelyn’s eyes. The girl had stopped really listening, focused solely on having fun with her lover.

“Oh, don’t keep it from me flowerpetal, you’re on a tight schedule today…” Evelyn whispered to her, her breath gentle but threatening to burn Khi’s skin. “…just give it up.” Her nipples stiffened, and the constant rubbing against their sheets threatened to be just too much stimulation for the girl.

Khi reached over and slipped her closer hand between Evelyn’s legs, desiring at least to return the favor if she couldn’t savor the moment. The pleasure was constant, but rolled over her in waves, matching the pace of Evelyn’s fingers. 

Evelyn gasped, smiling. “You’re so good, just what i wanted.” She was dripping down her thigh, and the sensation made Khi’s cheeks burn as if she had stuck her head in a furnace. A beautiful, seductive furnace, who knew every spot to make her melt. It was instinct, at this point.

Despite her efforts, Khi was sure to finish before her lover, who was dead-set on taking what was hers. And the poor vena was sure to finish soon as well. She held on desperately, her own fingers slipping back and forth, up, down, in tiny circles, flicking themselves to her own twitchy, erratic pattern. Her hips were trembling.

“Evvy, please, i’m gonna-… i-i can’t hold…”

“Go on then, flowerpetal. I’m right there with you, I’ll join you right after…”

Khi’s fingers dug into the bedsheets and she bit her lip, and a long, sweet moan slipped free between her gritted teeth. She could feel everything drip down Evelyn’s hand, back down onto her shaft, slowly running down over her own lips, all the while her lover’s fingers continued to dig away at her insides, scooping out a slowly growing puddle underneath her on the bed.

True to her word, as Evelyn wrung Khi of everything she had, Khi felt Evelyn clamp down on her fingers, squeezing, then releasing, and squeezing again, as her fingers were freshly coated and Evelyn kept her promise. 

Paired orgasms concluded, Khi laid in her mess, near unresponsive, while Evelyn eagerly licked her fingers clean. 

“Just what i wanted this fine morning. What a little treat you always are…” 

Khi felt Evelyn’s index finger press against her lips, and took her cue. Opening her mouth, she let Evelyn slip it inside, and as her lover pulled it free, Khi ensured all that remained on it was just a bit of saliva, which trailed from her lips as Evelyn giggled. 

“The best toy a woman could ask for… Now, get yourself together. You’ll be busy today, get moving.”

Evelyn practically shoved Khi out of bed. To Khi’s dismay, she was still a bit out of it, and practically stumbled into her clothes. 

“Take something from the table before you get to work, flowerpetal! Take two!” Evelyn shouted at Khi from the bedroom. As Khi finished setting her hair in order, she did take two of the pastries, immediately popping one into her mouth as she started to devour it. Delicious, flaky, sweet bread with hardened liquid sugar coating the top, filled with a wonderfully sweet blackberry preserve filling. With just a bit of tartness to it, Khi felt like she could hop into bed and give Evelyn another round just to thank her. 

The first pastry barely lasted to the steps down into the shop, and the second kept her busy until she was slipping on her singed-black gloves as she found her spot in the workshop.

“Rise and shine, Khi.” Robin greeted her before she could even fully see him. “Powders you asked for are the bags to your left, just there. Cost plenty, it’d be nice if this batch worked.”

“Oh come on, Robin. I’ve had a few batches that went well! Just-“

“Your gloves used to be orange, remember?”

Khi looked at the gloves she wore, remembering the orange that, no doubt, lingered somewhere under the black. “It was a hideous shade and we both know it. They look better like this.” 

The search for an alchemical alternative to medus-vitus based fire spells was Khi’s pet project. And it was one she had faith she could parse out. She was close as it was, and when she finally got the mixture right, she’d be able to pay Robin back twenty-fold for what he’d spent supplying her endeavors. The trick was making something more potent than hitting two rocks together that didn’t go off immediately and didn’t require the user to light it after use and was stable enough to carry and reactive enough to go off the second you needed it to and-

ugh… Khi thought, and sighed. Her main issue, she knew, was that she didn’t understand alchemical properties that well. She had a list memorized, but knowing how things would react based on how they react to other ingredients or from their intrinsic properties was something she was still learning. But she had good instincts. Or so she told herself, as she separated the pouches set aside for her, discerning which powder was which. 

She needed three factors: fuel, an igniter, and reactant. The igniter would “spark” with the catalyst which would then light up the fuel. And it needed to be three parts so the mixture could coexist with itself and travel through the air on a brief delay before igniting. There was no point to making a mixture to start a hearth fire, anyone could do that with a couple of twigs…

She tried two-parts catalyst, one-part igniter, and three-parts fuel. Packed it into a container, flicked it out into the air, CRACK! The second she shook the bottle the mixture ignited, a fresh layer of char on her gloves. The bottle shattered. Khi sighed.

Anyone could make a fire, and most humans could make fire using their innate medus and vitus. But not all humans. And almost none of the Vena. None of the ones born before the First Realm Shift, at least. Since then, things had gotten complicated.

Khi tried one-part catalyst, one part igniter, and three parts fuel. Everything into the special bottle, a centering breath for good luck, a flick into open air, and the various powders fell far enough to actually land on the stone surface before the entire amount detonated in a quick hiss-POW! But the bottle was intact, at least.

“Have I mentioned that I hate you using explosives in my lab?” Robin quipped over his shoulder, his head craned down and forwards as he watched a mixture begin to simmer over a gas flame. 

“Have I mentioned that I caught you staring earlier? So lay off. You don’t mind.”

Khi rubbed her chin. Supply was, of course, an issue, but so was time. The painstaking process of packing the materials one at a time into the bottles in such a way that it didn’t set the mixture off was delicate work, and not something to be rushed. Once again, she hunched over and started measuring.

hmm…

One part igniter, two parts catalyst, and only two parts fuel. Maybe less fuel would keep it from going off all at once, which seemed to be the issue. Packed, deep breath, flicked, cr-CR-CR-CRACK!

Yes! The staggering of the mixture was perfect! Now she just needed to get slightly more delay without blitzing what she’d achieved.

She tried several variations, including one-part three-part two-part, two-part three-part two-part, three-part two-part one-part, nothing stuck. Just several variations of the correct detonation on various incorrect timers.

“Try tamping the igniter down with some ash powder.” 

Khi turned, surprised. Robin was leaning against the counter, clearly watching her work. That was unusual of him, normally he did his best to pay her explosives no mind. 

“It’s… right over there…” he pointed to the shelves above the workstation down towards the far end of the workshop. Khi realized her surprise was causing her to stare. 

“Yeah, yeah i know where it is…” It was a good idea. The ash powder itself wouldn’t react with the mixture, but it would disperse pretty easily when the mixture was deployed. In theory.

Khi packed some of the ash powder into the mixture, defaulting back to her previous mixture. 

One-part two-part two-part, deep breath, flick of the wrist. And… it was too delayed. The mixture dropped out of the air and landed on the table, detonating in a beautiful but disappointing shimmer of sparks. Khi sighed.

“Maybe your ingredients aren’t pure. You sure the merchant you sourced-“

“Yes, Robin, i’m sure! thank you.”

“Hey, can’t blame me for asking. If i were someone trying to make a living…”

Khi felt Robin’s hand on her shoulder, and his other hand on the waistband of her trousers.

“… and some naive little girl came to me, wide-eyed and trusting…”

Khi felt his hot breath along her ear. Oooohhhh that made her melt.

“…I'd be hard pressed not to take advantage, myself.”

He pressed against her rear, stiff as ever. Just as Khi was getting comfortable, Robin was bending her over the counter, her trousers around her ankles. She felt him rub himself against both her openings. She was still damp from her session with Evelyn, and clearly Robin had realized that. 

“You two really were having fun. Hm. I’ll take the other one then…”

In classic Robin fashion, as he had so many times before, he skipped any measure of foreplay and crammed himself into Khi’s rear. She gasped, and grit her teeth, her fingers digging into the table she was bent over. Before she could even berate him he was setting to work, shaping her insides to fit himself perfectly. 

“you’re such aAAH- fuckingGHH- bastard sOH- metimes…” 

“Shush. You don’t mind.”

He was being especially rough, and Khi wouldn’t be surprised if the spots on her thighs where she banged against the table would bruise up afterwards. 

“Dont worry, i’ll be quick. I was pent up anyways. Grit your teeth and bear it.”

Khi thought about how lucky Robin was that he could press her button so easily. Otherwise she would surely give him a piece of her mind. She felt his fingers tangle themselves into her hair. He pulled, and her head followed, her mouth hanging open as he worked her rear like a smith working hot iron. He was already twitching, his pumps erratic and getting more irregular by the second. 

“And…”

All at once, he jammed himself as deep into her as he could get, causing Khi to gasp again. She felt the warmth along her insides as he finished, as Robin drained everything he’d kept built up into her. As he let go of her hair, she fell forward onto the counter, breathing hard, and shaky. And as he removed himself from inside her, she felt the trailing liquid leave a hanging strand and the lingering threat of leaking down her legs hung over her head.

“…there we go. Just what I needed.”

As Khi pulled her trousers back up and composed herself, she noticed that Robin was already getting back to work. Very much his style. Not big on foreplay, nor aftercare. Still, Khi couldn’t deny he was good at what he did. He had his angles down. 

Khi managed a look at the clock- OH SHIT! She needed to get to the market ASAP to pay Bonna back. She tended to hand her stall off to one of her family in the next hour or two. Despite the shaking of her knees, she pulled herself together and made her way upstairs, fetching a cor out of her purse to take to Bonna. As she then hurried down the stairs to the front door, she heard Robin calling after her. 

“Where do you think you’re going? And without tidying up your workstation.”

“I have to pay Bonna back, I'll only be a few minutes, promise!” She took her jacket from one of the hooks by the door, and as Robin waved at her, she took her dismissal gratefully and hurried out. 

The weather was overcast, cold, windy, but it wasn’t raining at least. The scent of fresh rain covered the streets, the foliage, and enraptured Khi as she made her way towards Bonna’s stall. The people were still lively, and most too busy to pay her any mind. She scanned the stalls, and there she was! Khi slipped through the crowd, dodging between shoppers and browsers alike.

“Bonna! Bonna, a second!” Khi caught a few stares from people as she yelled out to the tiny old woman, but Bonna, in the middle of telling some wannabe haggler what-for, just held a finger up telling her to wait. And so Khi did. As she waited, as Bonna insulted the man so thoroughly she thought the poor boy would start crying, she spent a moment looking around, idly taking in the sights and sounds of the market.

Oh shit…

Only a few stalls down the street, stood a person in full-body armor. Khi knew the style, too. The way it covered every inch of their body, almost like scales, like a second-skin, the uncanny mask of the helmet, that looked eerily lifelike… there was a Truthbearer in town. Her eyes were stuck on the figure, both in admiration of the armor and fear for what their presence meant. Most often, the presence of a Truthbearer meant power would soon shift hands. Most famously, they were king-killers, agents who held no allegiance to anyone but their own people, sometimes not even that, and Khi-

The figure seemed to straighten, as if they heard something, pulling their attention away from the stall they’d been browsing. Their head turned. Khi found herself staring directly into two black, empty eye holes. They were staring right at her. She was paralyzed. The figure was motionless. Surely, Khi had nothing to do with why they were here, right? Surely this was just their surprise at seeing a Vena in such a human-dominated town. The figure kept staring. Khi. Khi couldn’t pull her eyes away. It was hard to breathe. Khi! The mask made it seem like the figure didn’t blink, and Khi felt like she couldn’t either. 

“Khi!”

Khi’s attention snapped to Bonna, who was waving in her face.

“What’s gotten into you girl? Come over here hollerin’ at me, ain’t even paying attention. what’d you want?”

“Oh, uh, right. Here, for yesterday.” Khi handed her what the woman was owed, which she pocketed immediately. 

“You oughta go home and rest, clearly y’aint all there today.” Bonna chided, her attention already drifting back towards the other hungry stares and greedy hands encroaching on her goods.

“Yeah… yeah, think i’ll do that…” Khi looked back to where the Truthbearer had stood. They were still there, in the same position, unmoving. Khi started backpedaling, slowly, not fleeing, but not eager to remain where she was. As she did, she watched the figure. Ever so slightly, the head tilted. Khi felt a shiver run up her spine, the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and her ears perk up, as her breath caught in her throat.

“See ya later… Bonna…” Khi practically whispered. She didn’t get a response. She turned and hurried off through the crowd, refusing to look back, her head kept low.

The walk home was not nearly as enjoyable as the walk to the market. Evelyn was out front of the shop, in the garden, tending to her plants. Khi eagerly walked up to her, catching her attention with her uncharacteristically hurried steps. 

“Khi? Is something wr-“ Khi wrapped her arms around Evelyn and held her to her chest. Khi’s lover wriggled free, just enough to look up at her. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“There was a Truthbearer in town, in the market, i just saw them…”

Evelyn giggled. “And? Darling, what would they want with us? They’re probably just passing through town.”

“They were staring at me, Evvy. Right at me. It-“

Evelyn slipped out of Khi’s grasp. “They were probably just admiring you, i certainly would if i was them. Don’t think too much of it.”

You’re not listening!

“Evvy, I-“

“Khi!” Khi fell silent as her lover raised her voice. “I’m sorry they upset you, but I promise you they don’t want anything to do with us, any of us. Now, please, I’d like to finish up here so I can start making your dinner. And I believe you still have work to do in the shop.”

“…of course. you’re right. sorry, Evvy.” Khi’s voice was meek, quiet, her shoulders slumped forward as she turned dejectedly toward the door. That’s what she got for being a nuisance. She hated making Evelyn upset, and yet she seemed to so easily.

Inside, she hung up her coat and slipped into the shop, taking her gloves from the spot she’d left them. Robin was, strangely, nowhere to be seen. It was just her. She hoped no one decided to come shopping. She packed another bottle, this time at two-part three-part three-part, using the ash powder as well. She packed the bottle, breath in, flick of the wrist…

And out came a beautiful, sparkling, dusty mix that seemed to glimmer as it hung in the air and then cr-CR-CR-CR-CRAAACK! Khi gasped, covering her mouth with her blackened glove. 

Two-part three-part three-part.

Her hands were shaking. It actually fish-fucking worked. Fate be damned, it worked. And it was perfect. She went through the process again, packing another bottle, and tested it again. It came out just the same, the beautiful sparkling shimmers that heated up the air and danced before igniting and burning the fuel and making weaponized fire. Beautiful, perfect, weaponized fire. Khi leaned up against the counter behind her, her arms folded over her chest.

What was she supposed to do now? What was the next step? She knew she had to turn it into money, sell the mixture or the recipe for it. She’d need more ingredients. And bottles. And she’d need to get the word out. And-

Her head spun. She felt dizzy. 

Oh, I haven’t eaten since this morning. The two pastries. That…probably isn’t helping.

She tidied up, setting everything where it needed to go, and then made her way upstairs. Robin was sat at the table, clearly having decided he was done for the day. He was looking over the latest news sheet, which was, to Khi’s knowledge, was a couple days old.

“Finally finish runnin’ your errand?”

“Yeah, a while ago. And, i think i have good news.”

Robin raised an eyebrow, but remained speechless.

“it works. i got it to work. it does exactly what it’s supposed to do, finally.”

“no shit?” He sounded unenthused, but Khi was sure he was just tired. “That’s great. Now we can start making a return on it. Explains why your face is sooty.”

Khi rubbed her forehead. When she looked at her fingers, sure enough, they were covered in dark gray residue.

“Should probably go wash up then…” Khi said, half mumbling to herself.

“Mh, see that you do.” Robin went back to his news sheet, and Khi found her way to the washroom.

She stepped in, and looked at herself in the mirror, and- yeesh. Yeah, she needed to rinse off. Probably smart to fully bathe.She stripped, then stepped into the shower, and turned it on, only to feel nothing happen for a second or two, and slowly the water began to flow. As she started to wash, she tossed her new errand onto the list of things to do tomorrow. The shop’s plumbing pump needed a new boltstone, or at least to charge the current one. Which, luckily, was as easy as running it into town, to the local powerkeep. Definitely something to do early, if she could manage. If they got a third day of rain, Evvy might want a warm bath, and Khi would make sure she could have one. It was the least she could do for stressing her lover out.

She made it quick, rinsing herself clean and turning the water off as fast as she could manage. By the time she’d finished up, redressed, and stepped back into the main room, Evelyn was busy cooking. She could smell it already. Sweet pork, steam-cooked vegetables (mostly carrots), and Khi was certain there would be a bottle of wine and bread to compliment it. Evelyn and Robin were discussing their finances, how the shop was doing, Evelyn’s garden, and didn’t seem to even notice Khi re-enter the room. 

Quietly, she seated herself, and waited, and watched. She was truly, fully enamored. They were so wonderful, so pretty, so sweet. And the way they were so gentle with each other, the way Robin had his arms around Evelyn’s waist as she cooked, the way Evelyn’s head rested so gently against Robin’s cheek. Khi nestled into her hands and let herself float through daydreams. She thought of the wedding, of the beautiful jewelry, and how it was all only days away. She would need to start looking for a dress to wear, something elegant and pretty but not too much, she didn’t like overly gaudy attire. 

“Oh, Khi, how long have you been there?”

Khi didn’t bother moving, or shifting, or trying to hide the fact she had been watching them. 

“Mmh, not sure, but don’t mind me, you two are wonderful. Continue, please.”

Even as Evelyn set the shallow bowls onto the table, Robin was still all over her. 

“Please, Robin, if I spill any it’ll be your portion that shrinks…” Evelyn teased him, a coy smile on her lips.

“You heard her, she doesn’t mind. What, I can't touch my wife?” he teased back, and buried his face into the nape of her neck, drawing a long, quiet purr out of the woman. Khi could feel the tingles along her back, her arms, down to her fingertips, just from watching.

Evelyn set three places for dinner, Khi last. 

“Thank you, my love.” Khi eagerly eyed her portion, the succulent meat still simmering, the-

Evelyn’s finger slipped under her chin and brought Khi’s eyes to meet her own. “And what do we say when our darling brings us dinner?”

Khi’s eyes were wide in both confusion and arousal at the soft, sultry tone Evelyn’s voice had taken.

“Th-thank you…? I, I already-“

“I know, flowerpetal, I just like hearing you say it.”

Her finger slipped from its spot smoothly, leaving Khi floating in bliss. As she felt her face turn bright red, she was very glad you was already sitting down. For just those few moments, she didn’t even care about the food, forgotten it existed. 

“Go on, eat, don’t let it get cold.”

Khi turned back to her plate, her breath shallow and her eyes still wide, and started on her meal. She savored it, as best she could, and happily, quietly, listened to her partners talk more to each other about their days and their lives and their interests. And when she had cleaned her plate, she took it and the empty plates of her lovers and ran them through the washbasin. A quick rinse and a scrub, and they were clean as ever.

She heard one of the two load fresh wood into the hearth, and excitement made her nearly squeal with joy. Evenings in front of the hearth were her favorite. Khi eagerly made her way over to the lounge where Evelyn laid, her head in Robin’s lap, and sat herself down on the floor in front of it, facing the fire. Just like she always did, Evelyn got her hand into Khi’s hair, and started gently, lazily playing with it. Her delicate, soft fingers gently caressing her scalp and stroking her hair and making her melt against that comfy, warm, soft lounge. And then, Khi’s favorite part…

“Hmmmmm, hmm-hmmmmm, hmm-hmmm, hmmm-hmmm….” Evelyn’s voice, gentle and delicate like her hands, softly echoed through the living space. The same song she always hummed was burned into Khi’s mind but she never tired of hearing it. The easy, melancholy tune, starkly contrasted by the complexity and joy of Evelyn’s voice, it was all Khi needed to be happy. Every time she sang that tune, Khi just fell deeper in love with the woman. 

Her voice, her natural gift, it was soothing. Khi felt aches she didn’t even know she had melt away. And as she sat and listened, and sunk farther into the special fur rug meant specifically for her to rest on on nights like these, and leaned farther into the side of the lounge, she felt her eyes close, and she couldn’t seem to get them to reopen. But that was ok. This was an ok spot… to fall asleep in… so maybe, as the fire threw flickers of light across… her face, it was an ok time to… fall asleep…

As she submitted to the call, it came rushing up to meet her, and all at once, the Vena fell asleep in front of the fire, not to wake up until the light of day roused her for her destiny.