Aetherfall (66)

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AN: Aaand 66! With tomorrow being scheduled 67.

Finally catching up a bit on the backlog.

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[066][🍋]

“I can’t feel my toes.” Aisha’s body was draped over his own, she kissed his shoulder, biting it every so often, fingers switching between hugging and possessively scratching him. They both lay on the pile of pillows, drenched, bodies naked and pressed closely together.

“That’s a non-intelligent design human for you,” he said, one arm holding her close, the other providing support for his own head. “We’re built different.”

“I’ll say.” She playfully bit again, then paused. “You’re serious.” Letting out a huff, she slowed down. “Let’s hear it.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You want to boast.” She accused him, finger poking at his chest. “Not the first time I see that smirk. You have something up your sleeve.”

Liam couldn’t help himself and chuckled. “What’s the main focus a deity would have when they think of sex for a mortal?”

“Reproduction.” She answered without missing a beat. “The divine made our bodies to make it easy to reproduce and prosper.”

“Bingo.” He squeezed her closer. “That means the most logical approach is to optimize the process, to make it as pleasurable and quick as possible. Something intense and rewarding, but brief, to save up on time and energy.” His fingers buried into her comfortably, the woman’s body was soft from spending so much time sitting down. “Our world did things a bit differently, evolution put a lot of pressure on competitiveness.”

“Wait.” Aisha’s manicured brows furrowed, hand trailing down his hip. “You can’t be…” Her eyes widened. “I wasn’t lying earlier, I can’t feel my legs, Liam.”

“Don’t worry.” With a sinister chuckle, he shifted them both, moving her so she’d lay on her back, meeting her eyes as she bit her lip. “I’ll do all the work.”

---

Sitting down with his legs crossed, Liam mumbled a happy little tune as he moved his hands over the training spell-knots of the black rope. He was nude, and trying to put his thoughts in order, feeling like there was still a lot of pressure lingering overhead. Currently, that sense of doom was just sticking to the margins, however, only peeking and making itself known, but not stepping in.

He… was still terrified of the prospect of commitment on the harder edge of things, the fear hadn’t truly left him. Yet Aisha had helped him get past at least some of it. Just one step at a time, he figured.

Rustling pillows preceded a soft pressure on his back as Aisha groaned, draping her naked body on his, hugging him from behind. “What’s this?”

“A divine tool from the Whisperer.” He answered. “It simulates creating spell-knots. It’s great practice, at least until I can get some mana-sense.”

“Hm…” Aisha reached out. “Like this,” she whispered, placing her hands on his own, guiding him. “You’re putting too much pressure on your fingertips. Don’t poke at it. Imagine you’re sanding it down, one caress at a time.” Not missing a beat, she kissed his shoulder, then froze.

“What?” He followed her gaze down to his groin. “Oh, it’ll go away on its own.” He tensed as her hands trailed down his flanks.

“Or I can help it along.” Aisha had a look of focus, like she was taking an advanced math exam. “I do need to be able to walk today.”

Liam had no complaints.

---

Liam groaned as he sank into the hot waters of the hammam’s hot-room, his body sore all over, but it was the good kind of soreness. His skin in particular stung, scratches and bites, as light as they’d been, had still left a roadmap of red lines over most of his torso and arms. The physicality of it all left little room for thoughts, just mindless satisfaction as he went through the motions.

Aisha had insisted they bathe separately, and had gone in first with a servant to accompany her. Liam had intended to go in on his own, but a certain lagomorph had insisted on giving him company. That aforementioned rabbit was currently perched atop his head, wearing a tiny white towel Liam was certain she’d made for herself.

“I’ve been meaning to ask.” Bunny mumbled with a sigh. “You seem happy.”

“That’s not exactly a question.” He muttered. “And after last night, I’d need to be dead not to feel like on Cloud 9 in some way right now.”

“Do you plan to keep it that way?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“As… your friend, I feel like I have an obligation to point this out to you.” She wriggled on his hair. “You can stop.”

“Stop?”

“You’ve got twenty years before that thing in your arm kills you. I doubt you’d live that long anyway if you keep up the habit of getting into trouble and pissing off Gods.” She let out a sigh. “It’d suck for me, but it wouldn’t be a bad life for you.”

“Where is this coming from?”

“You know what I mean. Aisha said no to becoming Origin’s champion.” Bunny answered. “She’s going to have fifty years tops, meanwhile, if you become a demigod…” She shook a little. “I’m just asking. I wanted to be sure you… well, that you haven’t changed your mind. Mortals can often get complacent when they find something that makes them this happy.”

He submerged a bit further into the water. “This feels a bit premature to ask.”

“You almost had a panic attack because you imagined she wanted to marry you. Which. She. Does.” Each word was punctuated by a pat on his head. “You wear your emotions on your sleeve. You like her. It’s…” She hesitated. “...it’s ok to like her. But we’re worried. We’ve seen what this kind of situation can lead to.”

“I’ve written about it plenty.” He splashed some water on his face and left the tub, his mind turning to other things. Things like how deities would often bring relationships to premature ends for the sake of the ‘benefit’ of their charges. He wanted to believe Maridah wouldn’t do that, but he also knew better, since it was something she’d done over her very very long lifespan. “When I stepped through that portal in my flat, I didn't care much whether I died or not. I’ve since reconsidered that stance. I don’t want to die, and there are too many things this world has to offer that I’d be willing to pass them up.”

“Ok.” Bunny said. “So what comes after you become a demigod?”

“Well, by then there ought to be a high concentration of talent in Cracked Bay, and an inordinate amount of aether available, so the next logical step would be to start a magic school of some sort.” He stated nonchalantly. “I’d use my knowledge of interesting and skilled people to go about the place recruiting them, and turn Cracked Bay into a place with such an inordinate amount of magic we kick-start a magical revolution.” With a slight chuckle, he began to scrub himself. “But honestly, all of it would be for the sake of me learning magic. I want to be a mage, THE mage. I want to be the guy that when someone says magic, my face pops up to rub in that no one knows magic as well as I do.”

“Why not become a God of Magic?” Bunny asked. “I doubt you wouldn’t know of a way to pull it off.”

“Because Gods become an incarnation of their divinity. Origin is a divinity of secrets, and she’d become a living secret herself. Honestly speaking, absorbing Volkanar diluted it a bit, which is good.” He made a vague gesture with his hand. “To become a God of something it means to allow that to change you as you grow stronger. Demigods are limited in that way, they still have bits of mortality within them, and it’s what keeps them grounded.” Closing his eyes, he glanced up at the roof. “What better example of a God who’s reached the pinnacle of their path than the God of Hate?” He pointed upwards. “It’s the dude that’s going to come smacking down on us.”

“God of Hate?” Bunny blanched. “Lame. Was that his original divine aspect?”

“Lame, but powerful.” Liam replied a bit defensively. “And no, he’d originally been a God of Growth. Hate had been a tiny piece of the portfolio, but he doubled down on it after… well, getting exiled into deep space.”

“Geesh.” Fiery rabbit eyes regarded him. “It’s good to know you’re not just losing yourself or anything.”

“Don’t worry. If I think I ought to change plans, you’ll be the first to know.”

Rinsing off and drying off, Liam stepped out of the hot-room and let out a sigh of relief, his body feeling practically as if it glowed from the heat it had absorbed.

“Hey, quick question before you step into the cool room where your not-girlfriend is waiting for you.” Bunny interrupted him. “Let’s say a hypothetical scenario here, you’ve had sex and though you still want to have a go at it, your mortal partner is out of steam. Would you be open to having another mortal-?”

“No.”

“You didn’t let me finish the question.”

“I’m well aware that polygamy is a thing that exists in the Caliphate, especially in the upper echelons.” He replied, shaking his head. “My preference is not to participate in it. I’m also a bit angry at being spied upon.”

“I didn’t do it,” Bunny said defensively. “It was Origin. Not like she needed to be active about it…”

“I swear, the very first thing I’m going to do the moment we reach the Frostwyrm kingdom is finding the damn Tool of Opacity.” He growled, opening the door to the cool room. “Damned Gods and their damned super-powered gossip.”

As he glanced around, he realized Aisha hadn’t been the only one waiting for him. There were three others in the cool room, servants, dressed in light yellow garments. The first was a volar, the second a dwarf, and the third an elf, all three women. The trio acknowledged his presence with a deep bow.

Liam took a moment to glance at the servants, then at the hesitant Aisha. “Out.” He declared. It was a command that the servants quickly confirmed with the Amil they were to obey. “You too, Bunny. And this time I’d prefer privacy.”

“Fine.” The aspect was gone the next moment.

The moment the door to the hammam closed, Liam marched straight up to Aisha, sitting down next to her. “I don’t like dividing my attention.” He quickly pushed down on the irritation, focusing on the way she looked at him. “If this makes you uncomfortable, then I’d like to talk about it first.”

She laughed a little, leaning closer. “You sound like you’ve had experience in this.”

“I was a horny teenager once. I know better now.”

“But would you be against it?”

“I’m ok with trying new things. I’m not ok with bringing in more people into… us.” Reaching out and pulling her closer, he wrapped his arms around her waist as she settled on his lap. “Does that bother you?”

“No, it does not.” Aisha didn’t hesitate to answer, hugging him in turn. “It’ll just take some adjusting.”

“Really?” His smile faltered a little.

“Yes, really.” She snuggled into his chest. “I’ll have to take some training to be able to keep up.” She added with a husky whisper. “Perhaps you could help me with this.”

“Only if you help me learn magic,” he said. “It’s a bit of a shame that I’ve got that whole blessing and mana-germs going on. It’s going to take a few years before I can cast anything.”

Or at least, that’s what he’d thought at the time.

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AN: So this is a bit of a meta-commentary moment in the story for various reasons, but that I feel is interesting to consider.

"Why is it that an Age lasts a Billion Years?" -> "Kid Liam tried to imagine a really big number"

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