33. Start of Maid training and Alleyway encounter
(maid outfit I based Max and Alex's on)
The next morning, in a borrowed guest bedroom of the Manor.
“C-can't believe I-I'm doing this” Max whined softly as he pulled on the maid uniform he had fitted to him the previous night. It took some convincing but he didn't have a lot of options when we found that none of the men's uniforms were close enough to alter.
‘So tempting to just… bend hi- No, no, no, stupid heat, not the time…’ I sighed, shaking the thought out of my head, then grimaced a bit as the top I just slipped on put an uncomfortable pressure on my chest. “Hey, Natasha… ? Is the top supposed to still be this tight?”
“No, Ms. Steele. Unfortunately, your wings made adjustments difficult and Caitlyn's spares were the closest we had on hand for you. You're… even more blessed by Nyarae than her,” the catgirl (half-nekomata according to her yesterday) maid called back from the other side of the folding privacy screen Max and I were using. There was the slightest hint of amusement in her voice.
“Very blessed,” Kat giggled in agreement from the other side as well.
“You're lucky you don’t have all these damn layers',' I grumbled as I glared at her from around the partition while pulling up the “dress” part. It was modest (for a decidedly French maid outfit), but still embarrassing to wear. It only brought more attention to my chest by stopping just below my breasts with straps on either side that made it even worse.
“No cursing while you're wearing our uniform.” Natasha scolded immediately.
“Sorry…” I apologized and looked back at my girlfriend, tying off the straps to the dress and putting on the half-apron before walking out with Max not far behind me. “But seriously, All you have to wear is a padded tunic.”
“But I have to go out and bake in the sun in it” She pointed out with a slight smirk. “You guys look adorable.”
“Y-you're the one wearing one of t-these if we ever have to do this again,” Max huffed indignantly, cutely crossing his arms as he looked up at her.
“Oh yeah?” she snickered a bit, looking us over with a slight smirk. “You guys are missing something…”
“I know, I know… the headpiece…” I sighed, untying the twine keeping my ponytail up.
“Well that…” She kneeled down and started rifling through her pack. “Natasha, is there any problem with um accessories?”
“Kat, what are you up to?”
“... we're allowed to have small ones as long as they don't attract too much attention” The maid answered.
“Good, good…”
“Really? Now? I thought you were going to surprise her with it…” Max sighed and I looked between my partners as Kat stood back up.
“Surprise me with what?” I asked. She grinned and playfully wrapped her arms around behind my head as she kissed me. How the two of them were acting left me confused at first but I soon happily gave into it. My heart skipped a beat and warmth flared up between my legs when something tightened ever so slightly around my neck.
“That~” she giggled as she pulled away.
“K-kat! now's not the t-” I reached up to remove what I assumed was Ensnare vines but paused when I touched a metal ring with leather straps on either side of it that went around my neck.
“Told you I'll get you a choker~ Max helped me pick it out” I glanced at our boyfriend and he quickly looked away with an even deeper blush than before.
“... I thought s-she'd give it to you back at the room…’
“So w-why now? It's really n-not the time to spring this o-on me…”
“It's cute. And it's black and silver so it fits in with the rest of the outfit. I can take it back if you don't want it.” She put out a hand for it and I hesitantly looked away from her, unable to bring myself to take it off. “Hehe, ok Natasha, she'll be tame for you, I have to make it to roll call”
“Damn it, Kat, d-don't make it sound like that!” I protested as she gave Max a brief kiss and retreated to the door. She didn't respond to me, only flashed a grin and waved before leaving.
“Language, Ms. Steele,” the maid scolded again and I flinched a little. “Such an odd group…"
“Sorry…” I sighed.
“You will have to watch your tongue if Lord Hargreave's plan is to work.” She continued as she handed both Max and I the headpieces we were missing. I hesitantly took it and put on the ridiculous accessory.
“I know… sorry, our girlfriend… really knows how to push my buttons…”
“Then it's good that Ms. Torres won't be around during your training then,” she smiled ever so slightly. “Speaking of, we should cover how everyone is addressed before we leave this room. Since you two are new “staff” members, you will address me and the other unmarried maids as our first names preceded with Ms.. The men, except Mr. Smythe, are addressed the same, just with Mr.”
“Seems easy enough…” Max mumbled softly.
“Our charges are Lord and Lady Hargreave and their children, Miss Asuna, Miss Nora and Young Master Thomas.”
“So many different titles…” I groaned.
“You'll have to get used to it. Now, let's get started.” She started towards the door and Max and I immediately followed her out as she kept talking “We'll focus on manners and carrying food and drink today. If you do fine we can try bringing Miss Asuna tea tomorrow morning as practice. Understand?”
“Yep…”
“Try again, professionally this time.”
“... Yes?... Ms. Natasha?” Max hesitantly offered.
“There you go.” she glanced back briefly with a smile. “Oh and another thing, try not to look as embarrassed. Head up, ears up, don't let your tail drag on the floor and no slouching.”
‘Ugh… this is going to be a fun day…’ I thought sarcastically to myself, fixing how I'm holding my tail and glancing at my boyfriend. ‘Sorry for bringing you into this, pup, but I'm glad I'm not going through this alone…’
Later that afternoon.
“Ugh” Max groaned as he slumped against me on a bench outside the keep while we waited for Kat to meet up with us. I smiled a little and pulled my hand away from touching my new necklace for probably the hundredth time that day to lean back against him. “Why are those trays so heavy… my arms hurt.”
“They weren't that bad…" I sighed and he peeked up at me before prodding at my bicep with a finger.
“For you…” he huffed, “it would probably still be easy when you're small like this…”
“Hey, at least we're out of those ridiculous outfits…”
“I wouldn't m-mind seeing you in it longer though…”
“Of course you wouldn't, pup. I saw how you were looking at me~” I teased softly and his ears went back.
“You were looking at me too!”
“And? I'm in heat, of course I'm going to look at my mate~” I purred and playfully kissed him. Only after I pulled back did I realize what I called him. “Agh… already messing with my head again… guess the medicine only does so much…”
“... You know I-I'm always happy to help…” he mumbled softly as he shyly hugged my arm.
“I know, pup, and I really appreciate it”‘I’m affecting you too, aren't I?’ I thought with a sigh, petting his hair a bit as I resigned myself to people-watching as a distraction. Then another realization made my face heat up out of embarrassment.‘That entire house can probably tell I'm like this too… shit… Glad we were only really around Natasha…’
“Huh… what are they up to…?” My boyfriend mumbled after a bit of silence, his ears perking up. I glanced at him and followed his gaze to a cloaked figure about our height peeking out from an alley. Their gold-colored eyes went wide and they quickly ducked back out of sight.
“There's no way…” I slowly got up. ‘There's no way that's her, right?’
“What are you doing? A-aren't we going to wait for Kat?” Max protested.
“...” I looked back at the keep for a moment. “I can come right back, I want to see why they were staring at us…”
“... I-I'll come with you…” his cute determined look crossed his face, there was definitely no way to convince him otherwise quickly enough.
“Ok, ok, you go to where they were, I'll find the other exit, ok?” He gave a slight nod and I kissed his forehead before taking off down the street at a brisk pace, trying not to attract too much attention. Thankfully, the buildings throughout the city were tightly packed in blocks and this block in particular only had one alley through the middle of it. Unfortunately, though, by the time I reached the other entrance, I saw a couple human men and a gnoll in leather armor between me and the figure Max and I were tracking.
“You heard Shenzi, this is Thieves Guild turf, if you're not one of us, gotta pay to cut through our alleys,” one of the men scolded the hooded figure as he tried to rip a canvas bag from their grip.
‘Please tell me that's the name of the other guy, if it's the gnoll I'm not going to take these three seriously…’ I sighed and quickly used Threat Analysis.
Highest threat: Gnoll fighter
Comparison analysis of Gnoll Fighter to Alex Steele.
Strength: Slightly lower
Dexterity: Slightly higher
Durability: Moderately lower
Arcane Magic: None
Divine Magic: None
Nature Magic: Slightly lower.
Conclusion: Low threat in current form, No threat during rage.
Other detected targets are of no concern.
‘Ok, should be easy if this devolves into a fight, they aren't a threat even without my poleaxe.’ I felt myself smile a bit as I called out to them, while charging my lightning just in case: “Hey! Just let them go, there's no need for this!” The gnoll looked over their shoulder.
“Fuck off pipsqueak, mind your own business,” she barked back in a gruff voice.
“Yeah! Fuck off!” the other man parroted.
“Is she the only brains of your group or something? That's the second time I heard one of you repeat what she said.” I looked past them to see Max hesitantly watching the situation from behind a crate, hand at the ready to cast.
“Apparently more brains than you, ‘Hero’, I'm not going to tell you again.” the gnoll said as she turned her attention towards me. The golden eyes of the person she was shaking down darted between the two of us and they clenched their hand into a fist.
“Just let them go and we won't have a problem” I replied as the easily seven foot hyena-lady approached me.
“That's it, fork over your coin purse too” She snarled, half-drawing the khopesh sword on her hip.
“It's three on two, you should listen, hero,” the first man cackled. I sighed, my lightning crackling in my mouth. Their victim’s eyes widened for a moment once again before they drew their fist back. Before the closest man could react, they threw a punch at his stomach but it never connected. The man was suddenly launched backwards into the wall and a breeze flew through the alley the next moment. At the same time, the figure’s hood was blasted back to reveal an admittedly cute human girl with messy, medium-length, black hair.
“Gods damn it…” the gnoll growled as she tried to draw her weapon the rest of the way.
“Fulgur tactus,” I quickly muttered and used my now-crackling hand to grab her wrist, effectively tazing the sword out of her grasp and I snatched it up right away.
“Quaerens sagittas!” Max's voice yipped down the alley. Two purple darts of energy sucker-punched the gnoll the next moment and by the sound of it, others also struck the second man. Thinking quickly, I stuck my foot out in front of the stumbling hyena and tripped her before rushing to the girl and my boyfriend. Along the way, I shoulder-checked the still-standing second man out of the way.
“I didn't need your help” the girl hissed in draconic and confirmed who I thought she was.
“Good go see you too, Saerrei…'' I replied, sticking to common as I looked back at the thugs getting back to their feet.
“Alex… what's the plan…?” Max mumbled as he appeared next to me.
“I rather not kill anyone in the city… I really don't want-”
“Give me back my blade you little shit!” The gnoll roared, storming our way
“ -to explain it to the guards…” I sighed and looked down at the odd curved sword in my hands. The blade was etched with a pattern and certainly well taken care of. “Be ready with create water.” I took a breath before addressing the thug “Shenzi, right? I can give it back… if you leave us alone”
“No chance, our turf, and you just stole it from me, give it back and I'll think about you leaving with your lives and empty purses.”
“No deal, guess I'll just melt it down” I bit the end, and relying on my resistances, let my lightning flow into it and heat up the bronze. The electricity flowing into my hand made it feel tingly but given that I was letting out enough to make the metal start to glow in the middle, it was hardly doing anything to me.
“Fine! Just give it back!” I let go of the sword and watched as the middle cooled from red-hot to a bluish-purple.
“Good, we can just go our separate ways… right?” I asked flatly and set the weapon down on a nearby barrel.
“Sure, sure just fuck off.”
“We're just letting ‘em go?” The man I shoulder checked hissed, only to get roughly elbowed by the gnoll.
“That is my father's blade, I'm not letting some runt break it!”
“Might want to get it re-tempered the right way…” I jokingly suggested as I slowly backed up, putting my arms out to gently push Max and Saerrei that way as well.
“We should just kill them. I've had better interactions with Skaven than this…” the other dragoness grumbled and I could feel her tense up as the gnoll approached to take her weapon back. As soon as she grabbed it, she brandished it, ready to attack. Before I could react, she was drenched with water from Max's spell at the same time an authoritative feminine voice yelled behind us that I quickly recognized as Kat's.
“You! Stop right there!” She ordered but the three goons scrambled to take off down the alley, the gnoll trailing water behind her as she ran. As they disappeared at the end, my girlfriend hugged me from behind. “Aww… I didn't get to say the rest…”
“I swear to our gods, Kat, if you were going to do a Skyrim guard line…” I sighed, glancing up at her.
“Hey, you put it back on after you changed back~” she giggled, tracing a finger across my necklace and making me shiver a bit when she touched my throat.
“D-don't try to change the subject! You were going to use one of those lines, weren't you?”
“You don't have any proof that I was going to.”
“Agh… whatever… Let's just go before they come back…” I gently freed myself from her hug before grabbing her and Max's hands to lead them out. “You too, Saerrei… I want to hear why you were spying on me and Max. Did you come here looking for us?”
“W-what? No!” Saerrei protested as she bounded in front of us, walking backwards to talk to me, nearly as light on her feet as Kat. “I… I came to get some things I can't find out there…” She held up her canvas bag, some glass clinking inside, as a slight blush crossed her face. “I j-just happened to see your mate and stopped…”
“Oh, you know her.” my girlfriend mused quietly and peeked around me to look at Max. “You guys meet her in Rookville?”
“N-no, never saw her before…” he answered.
“She rescued me from the water the other day.” I explained, knowing it would be bad to outright announce that she was a dragon, especially since we were just reaching the street. “I guess this makes us even.”
“I-if you're looking for a thanks, you're not getting it. I didn't need your help…” The other dragoness protested then she glanced around, seeming to realize she was in an open area and contemplating running away again. As she turned her head, I couldn't help but notice that her hair had the same kind of iridescence that her feathers did.
“...We have a safe place at an inn, just come with us before you run away again.” Her attention snapped back to me.
“I didn't run away last time…” she huffed. “F-fine… just until night then I'm going back to my den.” I smiled a little and started leading the way back towards the inn.
“Well, Alex? Are you going to introduce us? You're already inviting her back to our room~” Kat teased, elbowing me.
“Oh um yeah, sorry… this is my girlfriend Kat and boyfriend Max…” I slightly raised the hand I was holding as I introduced each of them as we walked.
“Girlfriend and boyfriend…” Saerrei murmured. “Does that mean you're not actually mates with them?”
“N-no… we are,” Max answered, shyly pulling the collar of his shirt to reveal part of the scar I left on him.
‘Really? I expected that from Kat, not you, pup… are you proud to be mine- dammit, my mate or something…?’ “Talks about this stuff should probably wait until we're in private…” I suggested, glancing at the oblivious people we passed.
“...oh, u-um, probably a good idea…”
Saerrei stayed quiet for nearly the entire walk while Kat, Max and I got caught up on what each other did throughout the day. She apparently had a lot of testing on what she could do too but had a much easier time proving herself to the captain of Lord Hargreave's personal guards than Max and I did with Natasha. She even managed to get some time to map out the courtyard and walls in her head to find points to look out for during the party, which she was finishing up when we were waiting for her.
‘She likes you, you know~ or at least has a crush~’ My girlfriend's voice sang teasingly in my head as we entered the room.
‘What?’ I replied, watching as Max wandered past us toward the bed and tiredly plopped onto it face-first. I smiled a little and sat next to him. “You good there, pup?”
‘Still as dense as ever, Alex. She was checking you out the whole way here’
‘You have to be reading too much into it… it has to just be that I'm a hermaphrodite too, she seemed excited when she figured that out…’
“ ‘m fine… tired” Max groaned against the bed then peeked up when I mentioned Saerrei's sex. ‘S-she's like you?’
‘Oh, I'm glad you weren't left out of this. But yeah by how she acted, she basically admitted she's like me…’
‘Of course I wouldn't leave him out.’ Kat mentally laughed as she shut the door behind the other dragoness. ‘Ok, so let's say I'm right-’
‘I'm sure you're not.’ I interrupted.
‘Let's just say I am. What do you think of her~?’ I rolled my eyes and looked away from her to Saerrei, who was shyly taking her cloak as she looked around the room. She was definitely about my height, admittedly had a cute face, her chest was smaller than both mine and Kat's, and as far as I could tell with her scavenged-together outfit a kind of gymnast's body build.
‘She's cute I guess…? ’ “You ok, Saerrei? you kind of seem nervous… We're not going to do anything to you”
“It's n-not that. I just don't like being inside.” She answered quickly.
‘You guess~?’ Kat's voice teased.
‘Shut it…’ I responded as she sat next to me with a slight smirk. “Sorry, I didn't realize you were claustrophobic…”
‘What? I think I might agree with you’
“What? No, I'm not ‘phobic’ of anything. I-i just would rather be in my true form…" the dragoness said flatly and looked around as she seemingly tested the floor with her foot. She then glanced at me. “Actually… How are you like that? I thought your other form was half- Dragon , not this”
‘You're very distracting, you know, Kat…’ She didn't respond this time, just playfully leaned against me.
“What do you mean?” Max asked as he sat up next to me.
“I saw you on the beach before your fight, she was bigger and had her wings and tail.” She paused and got flustered. “N-not that I was watching the whole time, I-it's just you were getting close to where I was staying…” Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Kat giving me a look.
“I can turn into that too, and something in between,” I explained, ignoring my girlfriend. “I thought other dragons could do that.”
“No, we have just two…” Her eyes lit up a bit and she moved halfway to us. “I want to see it, change into one of your other forms. I-I want to make sure I'm talking to the same dragoness I fished out of the water.”
“Go on, Alex, back to Amazon” Kat giggled softly and I shot her a look.
‘You're a menace’
‘You love me though~’
“Ok, I'll show you,” I relented and pulled my shirt off and squirmed out of my pants to save them from the change.
“W-wait… before you change,” Max interrupted before I heard the snap of a button coming undone and the choker falling loose from around my neck.
“Oh… I almost forgot about that…”
“You aren't allowed to break it so soon,” Kat joked softly and stole it from me before I gave Inspect the command to make me change to half-dragon. As soon as I became more dragon, I noticed the same scent the last time I was around her, definitely weaker, but it was still enough to make me start feeling slightly warmer.
“T-There… happy now?” I sighed as I wrapped my wings around under my arms as I reached back and undid my now too-tight bra. My boyfriend hopped up and quickly went to retrieve the one that would actually fit me in this form.
“A-amazing… you actually have more than two…” Saerrei murmured, closing the distance between us and hesitantly touching my forearm as if she expected I was an illusion. She quickly snapped out of it and her face turned red as she took a step back. “Y-yes… you're definitely her…”
‘I think I'm ri~ight,’ Kat “sang”.
‘You enjoy this way too much.’ “Thanks, Max,” I told my boyfriend as he returned and awkwardly worked on switching bras while covering myself with my wings. He sat back next to me again while squirming ever so slightly and looking at the dragoness.
‘...U-um… she… she kind of smells like you do… I-I think she's in heat too’ He shyly observed.
‘...that explains what I keep smelling…’
“How are you able to do this but not fly?” she asked, shyly looking me over again. “Actually… you do act odd for a dragon… your name too…”
‘Shit.' I glanced towards my partners for help. ‘She's piecing it together…’
‘Let's tell her then,’ Kat suggested.
‘What? You waited to tell me but you're going to tell her right away?’ Max asked, ending up grabbing and squeezing my hand a bit.
‘I still feel bad about that…’ I agreed.
‘Best option we have, you want to lie to a dragon?’ Our girlfriend pointed out. 'She's friendly now, but what will happen if she finds out we were lying to her?'
“...I can tell you're using magic to talk…” Saerrei huffed.
"Sorry, I didn't realize all dragons could just see magic…” Kat responded with a shrug. “We were trying to figure out if we should tell you, you'll just think we're crazy.”
“... Try me.” The ranger looked back at me and after a moment of consideration, I gave her a nod to go ahead.
‘I-if she gets to know, you should tell my dad too whenever he gets to the city…’ Max said indignantly as he buried his face against my shoulder.
‘I know, pup-’ I started to agree as Kat finally explained to the dragoness:
“To make it short She and I were humans before. We died on another world and we were chosen by Rissaeth and Ivra to be champions here. Rissaeth made her a dragon and Ivra turned me into an elf,” Saerrei gave her a blank look.
‘... but, um in a less of a bomb drop like that… explain that I'm a dragon first then slowly give the rest…’
“...D-definitely explains not being able to fly… but you're right, you sound crazy, i-it's not possible that…” Saerrei gave a nervous laugh and looked me over. “... You… you didn't say anything when I joked about you actually being scaleless… by Rissaeth, what she just said isn't just a tale, is it?”
“She wasn't lying,” I confirmed and she groaned before starting to pace a bit.
“O-of course… knew it was too good to be true… finding someone else like me…”
“Hmm…” Kat murmured, spacing out for a moment before getting up and getting in front of her. She gently stopped the smaller girl by grabbing her hands. Saerrei froze and looked up at her. “Hey, hey, slow down a bit. All it means is that she wasn't always a dragon, she is one like you now.”
“...” she shyly glanced at me then back up at Kat, taking a breath. “You also said she's the champion of Rissaeth. She hasn't taken a champion in two thousand years, before even my parents have been around.”
“I did.”
“W-what did I get myself into…” the rest of what she said devolved into mumbles but Kat definitely heard whatever she said and was smiling about it.
“You don't have to teach me how to fly anymore if you don't want to,” I offered. “We're going to be busy this week anyways.”
“Huh, why?” she half-yelped as she pulled away from Kat.
‘She was looking forward to it~’ Kat pointed out before answering her “We got a job with the lord of the city to the end of the week. We'll be busy during the day.”
“Oh um, there's still night. I would have suggested that anyways… we blend in better in the dark.” she suggested and my girlfriend smirked a bit at me.
“Night time is busy too, Max and I have to help her deal with her heat~”
“Kat!” Max and I scolded her together and she smiled at us. I sighed and glanced back at the now red-faced girl.
“S-sorry you really didn't need to know that…” I apologized. “But I mean it, you really don't have to…”
“But we might have more afternoons free like this,” My girlfriend teasingly continued.
“I s-suppose I should come to the city during that time then… U-um only because I can't just let our Goddess's champion be completely clueless about our kind,” Saerrei sighed, acting like she was going to be inconvenienced.
‘Definitely a crush even after knowing you weren't always a dragon…’ Kat mused.
‘You're right… she enjoys this too much’ Max said, not moving from his spot against me.
“I-in exchange” the dragoness continued. “I want to know about this other world…”
“That's fine, where should we start?” I chuckled a little, preparing for the barrage of questions.