Scourge - 6.1 - NSFW Scene Expansion (Patreon)

My hands against the bark of the now decidedly unnatural tree, I kept its shape steady as I expanded it. Bit by bit I smoothed out the bark of the inner bowl as I went, leaving a finish that wouldn't grate against our skin. Lorna was already pouring buckets of water into the makeshift bathtub, the same as the last time, and her heat stone sat on a raised platform in the centre.

The only real difference from that trip home last winter was... well, Vivi. And Calia, Lianne, and Tricks I supposed, but mostly Vivi. The bigger tub was necessary and, maybe, important.

It was even a trip back to Crowford after travelling on gryphons in winter, and we expected to make it home tomorrow. The coincidences were kind of absurd.

"And you know you can't be peeking, right?" Vivi said, pulling my attention away from my work. She had her hands on her hips, accentuating her narrow waistline as she dictated the rules to Caedan. "We'll know. I promise you, we'll know."

I added a little extra to the barrier of leaves I was making between the tub and the camp. It wasn't like I thought Caedan would peek, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Yeah, yeah. Yer all tae tall fer me anyway." Caedan said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Nae got no bonnie lass o' me own, sad tae say, but I nae be interested in tall folk."

Lorna laughed as she dumped out a bucket. "So that means you wouldn't mind Gwen, right?"

"Hey!" I protested. "I'm not that short!"

"Mebbe! Mebbe." He laughed loudly. "Bit thin, though. Like lasses a wee bit matronly an' the wee lass be all maiden-like."

Letting out a loud huff, Vivi shook her head. "Well, so long as you don't." She said threateningly, then made her way over. I couldn't help but notice she was blushing a little.

Well, so was I. Neither Calia nor Lorna seemed embarrassed in the slightest by the idea of a communal bath, not that I was surprised by Lorna on that front. I already knew her lack of shame quite intimately.

"Ah! Hot!" Little Lianne cried as she clambered over the side and splashed into the water. With her clothes still on. "Hot, mama! It hot!"

"Yes, it is." Calia sighed, smiling with fond exasperation as she lifted her daughter out of the water and started helping her out of her now soaking-wet clothes. She clearly cared for her deeply despite how short a time they had been together. "But it's nice and hot with how cold it is, isn't it?"

"Cold, mama!" Lianne shivered now that she was in the open air. For some reason she found that funny and started giggling. "Hot'n'cold!"

I smiled at her antics, the childish silliness being just... silly and cute. I really did like children, though her earlier protests about staying home alone until her papa came back, the tantrums, hadn't been so pleasant.

Calia's decision to lie to her daughter and tell her they were going to find Sir Rotham, her husband, didn't sit right with me. But Lianne wasn't my daughter, my child, and it saved us a great deal of trouble when it came to the little girl's attitude. If she hadn't done it I would likely have had to keep her asleep with magic to stop her doing something dangerous mid-flight.

The lie she had chosen wasn't innocent, but it wasn't malicious either. Just manipulative and going to have consequences for her in the long run.

As Lorna carefully undressed, casually putting her body on display for us all, I found my cheeks reddening deeply and struggled to find somewhere to look. Calia wasn't much better, having no issue with holding her daughter to her naked chest and slipping into the water with a long sigh of contentment at the heat. Vivi was frozen with her cheeks burning like mine as she held tightly to her shirt.

Taking a deep breath I tore my clothes off quickly, tossing them to the side. They were enchanted and could take it. As quick as I could I slid into the steam, sinking down up to my chin.

Maybe my flushed cheeks would be disguised by the heat? Lorna was already turning a little red herself as she leaned back, her sodding chest floating in the bath. Memories of how her breasts, her sodding giant boobs, had felt pressed into the back of my head the last time we had a bath hit me.

I sunk up to my nose, hiding my distressed whine in a column of bubbles.

Just because Vivi liked girls didn't mean Lorna was going to change her mind, no matter how much of a voluptuous figure she put forward.

Thinking of my maybe-still-my-girlfriend, her toned legs started to slip into the bath slowly. She held her arms over her chest but her trimmed pussy was plainly on display, as was her delicious firm tummy. I wanted to shuffle over and hold her, feel the muscles hiding just under her skin.

Letting out her another distressed whine I forced myself to look at Lianne. The little princess couldn't possibly cause...

Huh. I tilted my head at the sight of Tricks balancing on the edge of the tub, the fox tapping the water with one paw. She chirped curiously then jumped in.

"Foxy!" Lianne cried, clapping excitedly in her mother's lap. "Fox, mama, foxy! Look at the foxy, she cute!"

"She is cute, isn't she." Calia said contentedly. "And such a curious little animal."

Tricks huffed indignantly, then spluttered as she swallowed some water. I laughed as she wasn't doing great at the whole swimming thing just yet; she was getting the hang of it though.

It was adorable how she paddled up to Lianne and booped her on the nose with her own. Such a good fox.

"Maybe she'll smell a little less after this." Lorna said conversationally, also watching Tricks. "I like the girl, but she's not the most fragrant of creatures."

I snorted. "Blink foxes, compared to regular foxes, are aromatic. She doesn't smell much worse than a dog would and doesn't scent mark." Red foxes were the worst; silvers, which were pretty common in the Ember Hills, were more flowery. Blink foxes, on the other hand, produced whatever smell they felt like; they were tricky like that. "If it bothers you, we can make this more regular. So long as she doesn't mind."

Tricks chirped out her approval, enjoying the warm water and the floaty feeling from swimming.

"Mama? What mister dwarf mean 'Mat-ro-ly'?" Lianne asked, looking up at her mother.

Before Calia could answer, I felt a sense of déjà vu as Lorna's arms wrapped around my middle, pushing up my chest, and I was forcibly dragged above the water's surface into her lap. "Lorna!" I squawked in alarm. "What are you–"

My protest cut off in a furious whine as she hugged me tight to her bountiful, soft chest and pressed me between them.

Lorna, why.

"Matronly means these, Princess Lianne. Like what your mother has." Lorna said with a great deal of smugness. "Only Gwen's a little behind on her bosom for Thane Caedan's standards."

I wriggled impotently in her grip, feeling myself flush further and further. Matching eyes with Vivi, who was watching the situation with widening pupils and heavy breaths that set her chest heaving only made me struggle harder. Wriggling for an entirely different reason.

This was not appropriate, Lorna!

"Which means Thane Caedan would like someone of Lady Lorna's figure, but with Miss Gwyneth's height." Calia told her daughter with a smirk on her face. "Alas, she is too tall for him."

Lianne nodded sagely, as if her mother had imparted some truly essential truth upon her.

Lorna beginning to chuckle didn't help my situation much, her chest vibrating and forcing me to bite my lip to not whine piteously. Vivi's eyes, why was she watching? Why was she staring so intensely? Was she... was she liking this? Seeing me manhandled by Lorna?

Did she... did she want to see Lorna...?

Oh, Keepers. The thought of the three of us together, Lorna toying with me before we turned on a Vivi who had been watching the whole time... Bad Gwen, bad. Lorna wasn't interested.

Just because Vivi was interested didn't mean Lorna had changed her opinion.

"Have you ever met any female dwarves?" Lorna asked jovially. Oh, how on earth was Vivi finding new ways to blush? Her ears were going red as she hid herself under the water.

Calia nodded. "I have, they do tend to be quite stocky and large women." She smiled, stretching out her back slightly. "Though, I do have my pride." After a moment of holding her posture she deflated slightly, running a hand lovingly through her daughter's hair. "Having Lianne did take something of a toll on my figure, of course. But I hardly mind."

"Is Mama mat-ron-ly?" Lianne asked, grabbing her mother's chest.

"Yes." Vivi said, then dunked herself under such that only her hair was floating above the surface.

Lorna, once again, burst out laughing. "Gwen might be able to help with that. It's just clearing up scarring and stretching, isn't it? You've explained you can do that before. A little cheating like you do with your hair."

The princess smirked, looking at me with a glint in her eye. "Oh, is that how she acquired a figure on a body so small? By cheating?"

"I'd never!" I shouted in protest. "They're annoying and heavy and–"

"I like them." Vivi said, emerging from the water again.

"–and they're not so bad really, but they're natural."

As Lorna set herself off with laughter once again, I gave up and shifted my way out of her arms. I wasn't, wasn't dealing with that! Not in front of a child. Paddling up to Vivi I shifted back into a human, a deeply frustrated and bothered human girl.

"Hair, was going to fix our hair. Right?" I pleaded desperately. It was fun, it was nice, but it was also a bit much. "That's why we're doing this?"

Vivi stared at me, her eyes still wide, before she swallowed thickly and nodded. "Yeah." She quickly turned around, resting her chin on the edge of the tub. Seeing the nape of her neck and the way water slid off of it, her skin just begging to be kissed and lavished with attention, made it easy to tune out the distractions behind me. "If you would?

Forming a vine out of grass I grabbed my bag, bringing it to me so I could fish out my combs and soaps. She really wouldn't need much, but I was deeply intent as I started working through her hair.

Smoothing out split ends between forefinger and thumb, replacing strands that were old and falling away with a careful application of magic, washing away grime, and clearing up tangles bit by bit. It was methodical care for Vivi, my Vivi, and–

As I finished, on a whim I couldn't refuse, I swept it all to the side and kissed the nape of her neck. Lingering for just a moment before pulling away.

She squeaked quietly at the contact, her head turning to stare at me, and I smiled. Her red eyes shone with desire and care. We would get through this. Everyone fought sometimes.

I loved her, I still loved her. Even if she was mad at me and we were fighting, I loved her. And she loved me.

It was just a matter of time before things were better again.