DD 204 Ch 13

Chapter 13

"Time out," Penny said after we killed the most recent pack.

We had worked ourselves back up two more floors and were now on the 48th floor. The gazelle's only getting a little easier.

“I'm starting to slip," Penny said, looking over the group. "I'd say we should probably call it a night."

"Agreed," Des said. "I'm starting to go cross-eyed, focusing on my spells."

"All right then," I waved a hand, "but we should probably go back to Star City." With the hand that I had been waving, I ripped open a portal. There was a tense moment from the group as they all understood my unsaid words.

"Those Nekorians," Des nodded. "I have to agree with you, Ken. As much as I want to like your people, Felin, he was a little aggressive and I don't know if we can take a sneak attack from that group."

Felin bobbed her head. "Our safety is my top priority. Besides, I can't drink cream in peace if we're all worried about getting ganked."

"There’s the Felin that I know. Cream is top priority," I chuckled, waving them through the portal.

Rather than going through, Penny took up a defensive position next to the portal. Once Des, Charlotte, and Felin moved through, she nodded for me to go through. The woman took her role as tank quite seriously.

I stepped through, only for her to come out just behind me, and with the wave of my hand, the portal disappeared.

"Well, now that we're back, I want to take a nice long shower. Then I want to sleep in a bed." Des stretched out her arms, and so casually hooked around my shoulders. "Why don't you come do that with me?" The eye that was often covered by her bangs glowed pink for a moment.

"You go first, Des. I don't think I have the energy to shower with you, as tempting as that sounds. Not to mention, the others are going to want to take a turn, and we shouldn't take too long."

Penny blushed, it seemed she realized what Des was asking.

The warlock shot me a pout, but it wasn't going to work this time.

I set my blades down on the table and pulled out a whetstone as well as a cloth to clean them.

"Fine." Des twirled her hair before flipping it behind her. "I'll tempt you again when I wake up."

"I think there's a second shower over there," Penny pointed. "At least that's the way Crimson described it. I'll just go shower over there." She hurried away.

Meanwhile, Felin had disappeared. I wondered where the Nekorian was going to make her next nest of all my discarded clothes.

Charlotte glanced thoughtfully at the empty air. "I've never seen Felin bathe." She stated.

I turned to her. "What do you mean? Of course she bathes."

"But have you seen her bathe?" Charlotte emphasized, and I realized for the moment I had not.

"I mean, she doesn't smell bad and isn't caked in dirt. I assume she has to clean herself somehow," I said. "We would certainly notice it if she didn't bathe, Charlotte. Maybe she likes her privacy or perhaps she has the cleaning spell like Crimson?"

Charlotte  seemed less convinced, but shrugged and plopped down on the couch bonelessly. We were all worn out.

I joined her, only for her head to tilt to the side and rest against me. She was clearly exhausted. "You know, if you're this tired, we could have called it earlier," I ruffled her hair.

"No one else had called it yet, and I don't want to be the weak link," Charlotte grumbled.

"You're never the weak link, Charlotte. Honestly, I was so impressed with how you were able to sync Penny into the group so easily. I know that tanks don't all heal the same. For Des and I, once she gets the aggro, it's mostly the same. But for healing a tank, you have to consider far more variables. The tank’s damage could be spiky or spread out. Reading how she's about to take her damage is also a skill, one that is taxing until you get the new tank’s style practiced."

She kissed me on the collar. "Thank you for the kind words, Ken, but it's not that bad. Penny manages to take very little damage, especially with all those zombies. That part was easy. The antelopes were much harder." She snuggled in like we were going to be in this position for a while.

I shifted and wrapped an arm more tightly around her while making sure I would be comfortable for the long haul. No one liked a wiggly cuddler.

"What do you think about Felin?" Charlotte asked before yawning.

"I think she's a grown woman, and if she says she's okay, we have to let her make that decision for herself." I answered.

"What if she's just trying to be strong and we should push harder so that we can help her?" Charlotte asked.

I rubbed Charlotte's head again. "Just because you're the healer of the group doesn't mean you also have to be the therapist. Felin will deal with this situation in her own way. I think more than anything, the revelation about who the other Nekorians worshipped was actually the greatest blow. She knew she had other people out there. She didn't know that the God her people worshipped had somehow changed without her knowing. I mean, how would you feel if something you believed so thoroughly that you became a religious leader suddenly turned out not to be true?"

"Careful, Ken." Charlotte snickered. "Or you might become a group's therapist."

I shivered in horror. "No thank you. Talking about my own problems is unlikely. Talking with others about theirs is an impossibility. Therapists have the unfortunate jobs of listening to people gripe and groan all day long and they have to put a smile on through it all."

She kissed my cheek again. "But you're so good at it. I feel comfortable with you. Let’s talk about your feelings."

With each syllable her voice got quieter until she started to doze off. She laid on me softly snoring.

I was left to my own devices, and my mind wandered. Despite my words, I was a little worried for Felin.

After we found Alice, we should change directions and help Felin. Even if she doesn't have a great desire to see her people, whatever she might learn might help heal some old wounds. If nothing else it would provide a fair bit of closure and clarification to the other Nekorian's words. 

It had to be fairly confusing to be told something different than you believe your entire life. Going and seeing her people for herself would probably put her much at ease, or at least I know I would feel far better in that sort of situation.

We should at least give her the option as a party.

Hopefully that task wouldn’t take long, because I knew that I was going to be summoned back to do Haylon classes shortly. The headmistress had been clear. She still considered us students despite our level and I’d made a promise to help her rally the students back to class.

I didn't necessarily disagree with her assessment. After all, the dungeon was an incredibly dangerous place.

We had in many ways gotten incredibly lucky to have survived the dungeon shuffle, particularly with Neldra poisoned. If we did it over, there were a number of choices I would have made differently now that I was more experienced.

And as long as the headmistress didn't interfere with our diving the dungeon for more experience, then I could get on board with helping her continue our studies.

As for myself, I wanted to continue to push down the dungeon to grow stronger. There was a part of me that wanted to focus on the Nagato clan and the Silver Fangs, to grow a larger group.

Yet, at the same time, I refused to let that focus pull away from my own personal leveling experience. There was something captivating about the idea of pushing deeper into the dungeon, discovering these other races the Nekorian spoke of, as well as whatever might be further down. 

At the end of the day, once I had the levels and the stats to go with it, anything I wanted for the Silver Fangs and the Nagato clan could be easily obtained. Even something like looking for Charlotte's lost sister would be a snap of the fingers if I were level 100 and able to carve my way through the dungeon floor and build a city amidst it. That level of power was inspiring, and a bit intoxicating, that once again told me that if I didn't grow stronger, there would be a point where I wasn't able to make decisions for myself. Someone far stronger would make them for me. 

I gripped my fist tightly while also being careful not to disturb the soundly sleeping Charlotte.

"Now that's the kind of conviction I'd like to see," Des's voice suddenly whispered in my ear and I startled, only for Charlotte to murmur and snuggle up closer against me. I turned around to see the temptress in nothing but a white fluffy towel that was barely high enough to cover her nipples.

"Don't wake her." I whispered.

She kissed me on the cheek. "You need to go shower. Why don't I help you sneak her off into bed?" Des winked at me.

A small sniff at my armpit told me she was absolutely correct. Besides, if I didn't get Charlotte off of me, I was probably going to wake her with my stomach soon. It was near the point of growling. Rushing around with [Liminal Speed], burnt calories by the truckload. 

"Okay, I will take the help," I said, using my arm that was wrapped around Charlotte as leverage to get her started.

I grabbed her hips and Des took her feet. Between the two of us, we carried her into the main bedroom.

Crimson had already shoved two king-sized beds together, which dominated the room. And it was easy with Des to lay Charlotte out.

The cute druid blinked her drowsy eyes. "Ken," she said.

I quickly put a finger against her lips to quiet her. "Rest. I'm going to shower.

She nodded in a way that told me she didn't hear me, nor did she need to, as she rolled herself over and back to dreamland.

Des then turned away and began shooing me out.

The second I stepped in the bathroom, I heard the soft ripple of Des's towel hitting the floor.

I gritted my teeth and resisted glancing back before plunging myself into the shower and into the hot spray that washed away the day. 

***

I woke up in a tangle of limbs. Des and Charlotte were wrapped around me. 

Meanwhile, Felin seemed to have made a nest of clothes on the couch in the room. All were articles I had previously ‘lost’ and included the clothes that had gone missing with my latest shower. She was curled up like a sleeping kitten, still happily asleep.

Charlotte roused with me, stretching out for a moment, yawning, before she glanced over at Des. It seemed she had gotten up and showered herself at some point in the night, now in fresh white underclothes and her hair combed out in its full, long, emerald glory.

"You know, she's kinda cute when she isn't trying to drag you into her bed every waking moment." Charlotte teased.

"I don't think anyone normally describes Des as cute," I said, glancing at my other bedmate, who was still sound asleep.

She had a pair of black and red lace lingerie on. Meanwhile, her deep purple hair was splayed out in messy curls. Somehow Des always looked like a hot temptress. The only recent exception was when she’d been spooked by the idea of ghosts.

Des was usually described as bold, confident, and perhaps even fierce. However, I rarely thought of her as someone who would be scared of ghosts and need comforting. As if she knew I was watching her, she blinked her eyes open, immediately locking eyes with me.

"If you're going to stare at me that long, at least pounce on me," she said, a broad smile stretching across her soft pink lips as she spread her legs ever so slowly. 

"Tease," I retorted, pushing her away and rolling her off of me before she could drag me into the sheets. I knew if Des started something like that, it wouldn't be short. 

"Charlotte, he's bullying me. How about we bully him together?" Des suggested, rolling back the way I had already escaped the bed. Instead, she managed to entangle the cute druid who had grown bolder in our travels.

I realized I might need to stop thinking of Charlotte as a shy druid. Everything we'd gone through in the dungeon had made her more sure of herself and more confident in her own actions. 

She gave Des a long kiss before she squeezed Des’ breasts, causing Des to moan. But Charlotte had done the move strategically, using the moment of Des’ eyes closed to quickly escape the tangle of limbs.

"That's it for now. You're an insatiable fiend," Charlotte scolded Des. "We should get dressed and go out there. Penny is probably idling around, waiting for us." 

"What about her?" Des pointed at Felin. 

"Would you like to be the one to wake her up?" I offered, knowing that Felin had terrible sleep inertia. Trying to wake her up was like trying to push a boulder uphill. She fought every single step of waking up.

Des rolled her eyes but didn't volunteer to wake the catgirl. 

"Neither of you are any fun," Des sighed. "Who's going to make breakfast?" She yawned and pulled a short silk robe out of her CID, throwing it around herself. Charlotte, however, had a fluffy white and green robe that went all the way down to her knees, complete with a pair of fuzzy bunny slippers. 

"I cooked yesterday. Today is your turn," Charlotte pushed back, clearly not wanting to fully take on Fayeth’s role.

"I can make breakfast," I offered, wanting to keep the peace among the party. Apparently, with Fayeth’s absence, this was going to be a problem.

As soon as we opened the door from the bedroom, it was clear someone was cooking, and struggling.

"Oh, you guys are up," Penny poked her head out of the kitchen. There was flour dusted on her nose, and the apron she wore had several singes on it. 

I rushed into the kitchen as I smelled something burning. "Penny, what are you doing?" I quickly went into action, though there was little for me to do to save the food. 

There was an absolutely scorched pile of bacon, a crime if I had ever seen one. Meanwhile, the pancakes looked half raw in the center and crispy around the edges. 

Penny stuck her tongue out with a guilty look on her face. "Seeing that you guys were having so much trouble deciding who cooked, I thought I'd try my hand at it today." 

"Penny, thank you for being our tank," Charlotte put a consoling hand on her shoulder. "But please don't ever cook again." 

"It's not that bad," Penny tried to argue, then looked back at her creations and sighed. "Maybe it is." 

"We all have our strong points," Des patted her on the other shoulder. "Yours is clearly not cooking." 

Penny shook her head. "Sorry, I tried." 

"And that's what counts," I encouraged her. "But I offered to cook breakfast today and I think I'll start over from scratch.”

“Yeah,” Des picked at one of the pancakes and shook her head. “I'm not eating these."

"Well, if I'm going to be part of the group," Penny took a strong stance, "then perhaps I should learn how to cook better. “How about I help you?"

She rolled up her sleeves, ready to get to work, and I couldn't turn down that look of determination. 

"Alright, then let's get to work." I started pulling ingredients out of my CID including eggs, flour, milk, and a slew of bacon. We all had plenty of food stored away for a long trip into the dungeon. I began a frenzy of cooking, ordering Penny along as I went, hopefully teaching her a thing or two about the process. 

At some point, when the bacon was almost finished, Felin, led by her nose, meandered out of the bedroom. She planted herself squarely in front of the bacon and began to pick at the pile.

I smacked her hand away after she got the first piece. "Do not eat all of it before we're finished." I scolded.

The sleepy Nekorian reminded us all that she had retractable claws that curled out between the webbing of her fingers when she made a fist. She swiped them at me, but she didn't make contact. In my moment of stepping back, she snatched up a fistful of bacon and retreated, popping bacon in her mouth piece after piece.

"Looks like Felin's gone feral this morning," Des said, calmly sipping her coffee with an air of judgment. 

"I'm starving," Felin mumbled, devouring her bacon. "No one cooked yesterday." 

"She can't cook either?" Penny asked. 

"She can barbecue. That's about it," I sighed.

We were going to have a little bit of an issue on who was cooking. We'd probably have to rotate between Charlotte, Des, and I if we weren't going to go hungry for the rest of our journey.

That, or eat trail bars. I shuddered at the thought of only eating them for an entire dive. 

"It's fine," Charlotte said, tearing up lettuce and making it presentable for Bun Bun. "We'll take turns. Des, Ken, and then me. We'll rotate through breakfast and dinner. Perhaps Penny or Felin can help us with lunches? Putting together sandwiches isn't too hard, is it?" Charlotte hesitated and glanced at Penny before looking away, realizing that her statement was fairly rude. 

"I can make sandwiches," Felin perked up. "Bacon ones. Fayeth taught me how to make BLTs." 

Des sighed and dipped her head. "Of course. Quite possibly the easiest sandwich in the history of sandwiches." 

Felin scowled. "It is a sandwich. And not at all a bad one.” She looked ready to die on that hill.

“Felin can do BLTs now and then. I'm sure I can make a panini without burning it," Penny offered. 

And just like that, we managed to work out a quick rotation for who would be cooking what, and who would be cooking along our journey, keeping our stomachs full and our souls content. 

"So, are we back at it after breakfast?" Penny asked as I let her serve up the pancakes.

"I was thinking we'd go back to our search. We could take a few days off if we were that worried about the Nekorians." I prodded the group to get their thoughts.

Felin shook her head. "I don't think they would be as disgraceful as to attack us while we were diving. I do think, however," she hesitated, "that they might try and kidnap me." 

"Because that's better?" Des asked with a raised eyebrow and an incredulous tone. 

Felin shrugged. "If they think they are helping me, it will not seem disgraceful to them." 

"Fair point," Des conceded, and went back to her coffee. "I suppose then we should have Ken use his eyes of wisdom frequently if we're going to go back into the dungeon. If this skill gives you any warning, Ken, then we should be able to avoid an ambush. Maybe we should check out the Star City store for other useful skills." 

"That's really good thinking, Des," I said. This reminded me of work I needed to do in our downtime. I wanted to trim down my skill list and perhaps retire some of the older, lower level moves to have a more streamlined set of skills.

"We should keep our search up for Alice," Charlotte kept us on topic. 

"Of course," I agreed, and Des nodded along with me. "We'll look for Alice, but I think when we have some downtime, we should also check out Star City's stores. At the very least, we should get you all [Universal Language] so you're not being left out of the conversation, especially when it's concerning the Nekorians."

"The Orkai probably have a wonderful list of skills," Penny wiggled a little with excitement. "I'm sure for the right price, we can find almost anything. But that means we'll also have to farm."

"I agree," I said. "After we find Alice, I think we should go back to the zombies. If we go down to the 50th floor and farm them, we could build up more experience and a good stock of crystals."

The party agreed and we had our plan to move forward.