Power Corrupts: Small Moments (ch.16) (Patreon)

“That’s right, get it all out…” I reassuringly whispered to Hestia, holding her hair back as she puked her guts up in an alleyway. Rubbing small soothing circles on her back, coaxing up another wave of vomit and unlike in anime, Hestia sure wasn’t puking up rainbows. Grimacing, I turned to the others in the Alley, Riveria doing the same as me to Loki, who puked in unison with Hestia. 

“I’m...I’m never drinking again,” Hestia moaned right before she puked again. She was braced against the wall, coughing loudly as she emptied her stomach. I sighed, looking over at the others. A lot of the Loki familia didn’t stick around to continue the party inside, leaving only Riveria, Ais and Tiona behind. I’m guessing that Tione would be joining us soon enough because she was hitting the bottle pretty hard back in the Hostess.

“T-that chibi...outdrank me…!” Loki groaned before puking, her tone laced with the bitter taste of defeat. “My liver was the one thing I had going for me! Stupid big-boobied midgit…!” Her rant was cut short by more vomit. Riveria simply sighed as she patted Loki’s back, looking at the other members of her familia. 

“There’s no need for both of you to suffer through this,” River started in a kindly tone, her point punctuated by another wave of vomit from both goddesses. “Go back inside. Perhaps make sure your sister doesn’t join us out here.” So I wasn’t the only one that noticed how much Tione was drinking, though I’m guessing it was out of character for her. 

Ais shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together while her lips pressed into a thin line. I don’t know what she was thinking about so hard, but Riveria seemed to have and idea. The elf smiled lightly, nodding in acceptance of Ais’ unspoken denial. “I see, and you Tiona?” 

Tiona threw on an incredibly fake smile, pretending like she hadn’t been looking at me, “Oh, I, uh...want to make sure Loki is okay?” 

“Liiiiiarrrrr…!” Loki moaned before dry heaving, slapping a hand against the wall to get whatever was left in her stomach up. I had to swallow a laugh at the dramatic pain in her voice, then another one at Tiona’s panicked expression. Riveria gave Tiona a reproachful look, while Ais tilted her head questioningly. 

“A-anyway,” Tiona quickly moved on to a different subject, turning her attention back to me. “You said you were looking for training, right? What kind?” She asked, not so subtly changing the subject as she scratched the back of her head. 

That was a question I actually hadn’t given a whole lot of thought to. I wanted to train my stats for the most part, but actually learning how to fight was appealing considering that I’ll be fighting people soon enough. But, I’m pretty sure that I would train my stats as I learned how to fight. So, that’s what I said. 

“My fighting probably needs the most work. I...uh, well, I just kinda swing my sword around until whatever I’m fighting stops moving,” I admitted, still rubbing soothing circles into Hestia’s back. Memories of the fight with Sword and Shield Guy came to mind -- I had killed the others because surprise was on my side, but once it became an actual fight I got my shit wrecked. 

Tiona nodded, “that’s how most adventurers are in the beginning, especially if they don’t have someone to teach them.” Then she threw on a megawatt smile, clasping her hands behind her back, pushing out her modest chest. “I can teach you whatever you want to learn!”

Seriously, what did I do to earn this many heart points?

Ais tilted her head at Tiona, “Tiona...you’re acting like Tione?” She questioned, sounding just as lost as I felt. Tiona flinched as if Ais had physically struck her, making an alarmed look pass over Ais’ face because she had no clue the critical emotional strike she just delivered. Riveria just let out a small huff of laughter while Loki groaned, pushing herself off the wall as she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. 

“I-!” Loki started, letting out a burp that warned of more vomit, but she swallowed it back down. “I haven’t signed off on this yet! I’m...I’m still the goddess of this familia, even if it is filled with dirty traitors!” 

Loki turned her attention to me, clearly still drunk, but she was making a stand. Well, she was swaying dangerously side to side, but Riveria kept her standing. “Yooooouuu...I don’t think you’ve thought this through, you really...really...really big guy,” she exclaimed jabbing a finger in my general direction, but she was off by a couple of feet. “And don’t think for a single, itty bitty second that I didn’t notice you eyeing up that dirty middle-aged man at the bar!”

I winced at that. Canoe had made a quick exit after I sat down with the Loki familia, and I hadn’t stopped myself from watching him leave. I could only hope that what he saw and heard tonight was enough to convince him that it wasn’t worth pursuing me and my wallet anymore. I guess I hadn’t been as subtle as I thought-

“First...you take the virginity of a goddess...and you steal the maiden heart of one of my favorites…!” Loki stumbled towards me, nearly face planting and ignoring Tiona’s sputtering. “And now you want to sleep with a dirty old man?! You...fiend! You deviant!” 

I blinked, looking at the other three for an explanation but Tiona was too busy hiding her face while Ais looked embarrassed by the mention of sex. Riveria simply sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. I looked back at Loki to see her thrust a finger at my chest, only to miss and would have fallen flat on her face if I hadn’t caught her. 

“Uh, that wasn’t what you thought it was?” I tried, really not wanting to get into the troublesome situation I found myself in. Mostly because I knew they wouldn’t be able to help. I doubt they felt bad enough about the situation to throw their weight around to take down the Soma familia for me. 

“HUUUUUUU?!” Loki made a disbelieving noise, slapping my hand away and nearly falling over because of it. “Then what was it like, huh? Stop toying with fair maidens hearts!”

I hesitated before I gave a mental shrug. I wouldn’t expect anything, but if the Loki familia made the Soma familia...go away, then I wasn’t going to stand in their way. “He’s a member of the Soma familia. About a week ago, five members of his familia attacked me in the Dungeon and I’m pretty sure that he put them up to it.”

Loki blinked at that while Tiona peeked from behind her hands. “Is that why you want to learn how to fight?” She questioned, getting a confirming nod from me. She shared a look with Ais while Loki shook her head.

“Oh. So you didn’t want to have s-s-s-s-s-s-sex with him?” Loki questioned, sounding like she didn’t quite believe me. I blanched at the mental image that she put in my head. Great. I was going to be seeing that for some time. I wonder if there was a brain bleach potion out there?

“No. I don’t want to have sex with him,” I said as bluntly as I could manage. I wanted to nip that misunderstanding in the bud then and there. Loki blinked at me, looking like she was struggling to comprehend that I didn’t want to have sex with him, but she slowly nodded.

“Oh...so...those Soma guys have been giving you some trouble?” Loki asked, squinting up at me. She really was out of it. I stopped bothering to keep count just how much both goddesses had over the past few hours, but it was a lot. Too much, obviously. 

I gave a shrug, glancing over at Hestia, wondering why she was being so silent, to find her leaning against the wall fast asleep. Well...at least she wasn’t drunk enough that she laid down in her own vomit. Glancing back, I gave Loki a nod. “Pretty much. I’m the new guy and some of them have noticed that I pull in a fair bit of money for being a rookie. Then my supporter, Lili, is  trying to leave the familia but their captain is doing his best to make it impossible for her.”

Behind Loki, Tiona wore an expression of anger while Ais frowned. 

“In that case-” Tiona began, only for Loki to make a sweeping gesture that nearly knocked her over. With a sigh, Riveria caught her goddess and brought her back to her feet. 

“In that case,” Loki continued, pausing for a long moment as she seemed to be fighting off more vomit. “In that case, you could join my familia, you know?” She offered, reaching up to me, pulling me down so she could whisper in my ear. “Tiona is really sweet on you,” she informed in a stage whisper, her breath reeking of beer. 

“L-L-Loki!” Tiona snapped, rushing over to pull the redheaded goddess away from me as if she was telling me new information. Hadn’t she told me pretty much the same thing like a minute ago? Or did they somehow think that Tiona was being subtle about her advances?

“I’m just sayin’ that if he joined, then all those problems would go-”

I held up a hand, a small smile on my face. It would be a lie to say that the offer didn’t feel good, but there was no chance in hell I was going to take it. There were all kinds of reasons why I should -- stats, access to better gear, and so on. In terms of net gain, joining up with the Loki familia was by far the smartest option. Hands down. With my falna, I could be a level 2...by tomorrow if they power leveled me. I could be a level five within a month. 

No matter how anyone looked at it, joining up with the Loki familia was the smart option. 

“Sorry, but I refuse,” I stated, making Loki look irritated while Tiona’s face fell, obviously disappointed. “Hestia is the only goddess for me.”

“Tsk,” Loki muttered, letting the topic drop. Riveria chopped her on the top of the head lightly, starting an argument between them while Tiona kept Loki restrained. Ais paid them no mind, looking at me and Hestia, a slight smile playing at the edges of her lips. 

“You have a good goddess,” she observed as I went to pick Hestia up. I smiled right back at her, my goddess resting her head against my shoulder as if she were a child.

“The best,” I corrected. 

“I…” Ais started, glancing back at Loki before her gaze returned to me. “...want to make up for our mistake. I can...train you?” She offered hesitantly, sounding like she expected me to refuse.

“I’d appreciate it,” I said, inclining my head to her, making her eyes widen a fraction. However, not a second later, the small smile on her lips grew ever so slightly. “Is there a time and place you would want us to met up?” 

Ais seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. Then she seemed to realize that she hadn’t told me, so in a soft voice, she continued. “The outer walls of the city by the eastern gate,” Ais decided, using the same location as the anime. 

I nodded, confirming, but before I could respond, someone else joined us in the alleyway. Tione. Leafiya carried the bronzed skin Amazonian, her eyes a puffy red while a dribble of snot dripped from her nose before she wiped it away. She barely managed to cross the threshold of the alley before she leaned over to start puking. 

“No wonder he doesn’t want to marry me!” Tione wailed between bursts of vomit, Leafiya sending Ais a panicked look. The golden-eyed girl made to go over, but hesitated, sparing me a glance. 

“I’ll meet you there...tomorrow around dusk?” I said, getting another nod from Ais. “And good luck. Seems like you’re going to have your hands full. 

And with that, I left the alley that reeked of puke. 

…

“Goodnight,” I muttered to Hestia, laying her down on her side on our bed. I put a bucket next to the bed, just in case she had something left inside of her. She didn’t respond, fast asleep, completely unprepared for the killer hangover she was going to suffer later. On that note, I poured a glass of water, left the pitcher and some potions. I don’t know if they would help with a hangover, but better safe than sorry. 

Especially because I’m pretty sure that she had to work in the morning. 

After making sure that she was tucked in, I left our home and as soon as the door slid shut behind me, I couldn’t stop the deep sigh that escaped me. “Tonight didn’t go the way I thought it would,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. I knew Hestia liked it long, but I was getting tired of it always being up in my face. 

It didn’t go wrong in a bad way or anything, but I expected a lot of mindless sex with Syr. Instead, I was blue balling myself since I didn’t finish myself off after me and Hestia had sex. I spared a thought of finishing myself off just to get the poison out of me, but jacking off in an abandoned church…

My feet carried me out of it, feeling aimless. I promised Hestia that I wouldn’t go into the Dungeon, and no matter how hungover she was, I knew she was going to ask if I kept my promise. I could try going back to sleep, but after a week of none of it, I felt wide awake. Should I do some training or something? Ah, my backpack got all ripped up. Shoot. 

“I guess...I’ll...run some errands?” I muttered, my feet carrying back down the path that lead into the city. It was weird -- now that I actually had some free time, I felt completely lost. At the very least, I had another six hours to do whatever I wanted, but I had no idea how to spend them. So, I defaulted to running errands. That was probably pretty sad, but whatever. “I’ll go check in with the Guild...see if I can snag another quest and look into getting a cheap sword.”

With my plan set, I walked into the city. Now that it was nearing midnight, the streets were a lot emptier, but they were still fairly busy. The anime hadn’t shown it, but apparently large familias returning from long expeditions spread their good cheer. I saw dozens of drunks stumbling down the street, most of them were regular citizens from the look of it. 

It was kinda like the Superbowl. A reason to invite people over, get drunk and have fun. Or scream at the tv. I never cared much for football, but when I went to a Superbowl party, I didn’t go to watch the game. The city had that same air about it -- the Loki familia had returned, perhaps not victorious, but they returned and that was reason enough to party. 

Because of them, it took some time to reach the massive tower of babel. Not for the first time, I glance up, trying and failing to see where the top was in the night sky. I’m not sure if there was magic involved, or if the tower itself was connected to Heaven or something, but if it didn’t then I’m pretty sure it could be considered a space elevator. Made of marble. I entered the building every day, but when you took the time to really think about things, it really stood out just how weird fantasy worlds were. 

Putting one foot after the other, I walked into the Guildhall, noting that as always at this time of night, it was pretty much empty. A few adventurers cashed out for the night, a skeleton crew of guild employes, but for the most part, it was empty. I wandered over to the quest board, my eyes darting between quests, but, as always, the bulk of them was beyond my current abilities. 

“Twentieth floor...seventeenth...fifteenth…” I muttered, failing to find any that were for the tenth floor or lower-

“I think you’ve already snatched up any quests for the upper floors,” Eina announced her presence behind me. Glancing at her, I saw that she had a teasing smile on her face -- there had been some grumbling when I kept snatching up quests as soon as they were posted. For everyone else, they were a great source of money, but for me, they were exp boosts. The money and exp boost were just an added bonus. 

“Eh, just making sure. You’d tell me if there was another one getting posted soon, right?” I asked, throwing on an easy smile while Eina’s smile grew in return. For a moment, my hopes soared. 

“Absolutely not,” Eina said in the same tone, ruthlessly crushing my hopes. “All quests are made available when they’re posted.” She explained, giving me the textbook answer to my question. I knew because she made me read the textbook. 

“If I want to get a quest ahead of time then I must be specifically requested by the poster,” I finished for her, making a show of rolling my eyes so hard they could have fallen out of my head. “Yeah, I remember, but aren’t rules just made to be broken? And what are friends for?” 

“Sorry, Jericho, but I won’t be breaking that rule for you,” Eina returned, seemingly enjoying the playful banter. Then I caught her glancing at my attire -- a black v-neck long sleeve thermal looking thing, and a pair of blue pants that weren't quite denim, but it felt close enough. "And I hope you don't plan to go into the Dungeon wearing that," she said, a warning in her tone. 

I shook my head, "no, I learned from that mistake already. I'm just here to check out if there are any quest available. Maybe head upstairs to look into getting another sword, too, while I'm here." I liked Welf and his weapons but at the end of the day, he was a level 1 blacksmith. I had a crap ton of money at the moment, so while brand loyalty was important, so was having a sword that would last longer than a week. Hopefully, a level 2's weapon would last longer. 

Eina's smile fell ever so slightly, "Jericho...you don't have to push yourself so hard. Not only is it dangerous, but it's unhealthy!" She pointed out sternly, "Not only are you staying up all night, but you've been continuing on during the day too! Just how long do you spend in the Dungeon, Jericho?" 

Ah. She found out. "Uh...awhile…-" 

"I don't want guesses, and that expression of yours tells me you know exactly how long you spend in the Dungeon every day," she accused and all of a sudden, I felt like I was being scolded by a teacher. Her tone and attire probably didn't help matters there. 

Wincing, I gave a lopsided shrug. "Around...sixteen hours or so?" I admitted, bracing for impact as Eina sputtered. 

"Sixteen hours?!" She half shouted before she realized what she was doing. "What about sleep? When do you eat? Jericho, you have to take care of yourself-" 

I cut her off by raising a hand. It would be a lie to say it wasn't a little frustrating getting chewed out for something like this, but it was infinitely easier to swallow since I knew that Eina cared. "I've been sleeping for six hours a night for the past couple of years, and I eat in the Dungeon. I'm fine, Eina. If anything, I'm feeling a little lost because I have free time at the moment." 

I half expected Eina to argue the point -- since she didn't know I didn't need to sleep, I knew what I was doing looked unhealthy and dangerous to outside observers. It wasn't just Eina who noticed, Syr did too. Somehow. 

"I...You know yourself best," Eina conceded, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "I'm sorry -- I thought you were...avoiding me, or something." Recalling what she had said before, it seemed like she expected that to be the case. 

"Don't worry about it," I dismissed the issue easily, making her smile. 

"But, I'm glad to see that you're taking the day off," she started and...oh. I knew exactly what she was about to say. "There was an incident in the Dungeon today when the Loki familia returned from their expedition. They scared a bunch of...mino...tarus…Jericho…" She trailed off, her gaze narrowing in suspicion. 

"Hm?" I hummed, trying to look as innocent as possible. Which probably gave me away because Eina's Look was sharp enough to cut. 

“Why do you look so guilty? Like you did something, very...very. Very foolish?” She asked ominously, her smile looking a lot sinister in nature. 

Right. Well, it’s not like it was a secret anymore, “Okay. The thing is, I tried to run away-! Hey, hey,” I tried to calm her down when Eina looked about ready to erupt. “I tried to run away, but the things were too fast. They caught up-”

“So you fought them,” Eina finished, her voice dangerously quiet. 

“So,” I continued, “I sent Lilly up to get reinforcements, but...you know, someone had to stay behind to cover her retreat. And since I was the only one there...it had to be me.” Um. I don’t think I was doing a good job of explaining my situation. 

Eina took in a deep breath and held it for about ten seconds. Which told me that, no, I didn’t do a good job of explaining my situation. Then she let it out very slowly as if she was forced to calm herself down, otherwise, she would try to throttle me. I opened my mouth to continue, but she held up a hand as her lips pressed together into a thin line. 

“So,” Eina repeated, “you fought them.”

“So, I fought them. Two of them. Well, one at first, then another one came out of nowhere...but...yeah,” I confirmed with a small nod. Eina took in another deep breath, counted to ten before she let out the breath in the form of a sigh that seemed to deflate her. She nodded to herself, making red flags raise high before she gestured me to continue. “And, uh...I...killed them?”

“You killed two minotaurs?!” Eina exclaimed, only to realize what she did a moment later. She slapped a hand over her mouth as if the action could take the words back. I pressed my lips together into a line -- it seemed that she still had a habit of shouting information that she shouldn’t when it caught her off guard. 

“I’m so sorry-” She started, but I shook my head. 

“It’s fine. Loki already blurted the secret out, so no harm done,” I tried to dismiss the issue because, well, chewing people out really wasn’t my thing. Especially when they looked as genuinely remorseful as Eina did. However, the half-elf simply shook her head, a defeated expression on her face when I mentioned that I wanted it to be a secret, even if it wasn’t one anymore. 

“No, it’s not alright,” Eina refuted, sounding frustrated with herself. “I could have just caused a lot of problems for you if Loki hadn’t already,” she muttered, looking up at me. “I already promised that it wouldn’t happen again, and it did. I’m so sorry, Jericho.”

I opened my mouth to completely dismiss the issue, but Eina didn’t look like she was ready to let it drop. She saw my hesitation, and followed it up with, “please, let me do something to make it up to you.” 

Despite myself, that piqued my interest, “like what?”

My question seemed to catch her off guard despite her making the offer. She seemed to think about it for a moment, before saying, “you said you were looking for a weapon, right? If you’d like, I have a day off in a couple of days and we could meet up?” 

I blinked -- that sounded a lot like something that happened in the anime. The only issue was, I couldn’t wait for a couple of days. 

“Actually,” I said instead, “how about we do something now?” I offered, “my sword is going to be repaired by tomorrow, so I was just going to do some window shopping and pricing an upgrade.”

“The shops are closed at this time of night, Jericho,” Eina reminded lightly. And she had a good point there. It was easy to forget that I was a nocturnal now when I spent most of my time in the Dungeon. “But...is the reason you spend so much time in the Dungeon that important?” she questioned gently, trying not to pry and that told me she thought the reason was far graver than I wanted shit tons of exp. 

She was used to dealing with Protagonists with tragic backstories and stuff. I needed the exp to level up so I could...beat up the Soma familia and rescue Lili. 

Huh. I had a Protagonist motivation now. When did that happen?

“It is,” I confirmed again with a small nod of my head. Eina nodded as if she expected that answer. “Sorry,” I said after a moment, not sure what exactly I was apologizing for, but I felt like I should. 

“Don’t be,” Eina dismissed, throwing on a smile, “if now is the only time that you have, then I’ll make it up to you now.” She decided, taking a step back from me before gesturing to the side at one of the private rooms. “I’ll go tell my boss that I’m taking a break, you go wait in there. I’ll think of something.”

With that, Eina walked away and, of course, my mind jumped to one thing. My gaze darted to her waist, watching the subtle sway as she walked to the front desk. And by subtle, I’m pretty sure she was just walking normally. Even still, my brain tugged to the obvious meanings of her words. 

She wanted me in a private room and promised to make it up to me? What else could she mean, though? 

But, in the anime, she made it a point to not get romantically involved with adventurer s under her care. Was I overthinking it? Yeah, I was overthinking it. At least that's what my upper head decided. Having been blue balled, tempted by Syr and now with Eina, my cock was about ready to revolt.

Quickly turning around so no one would notice the growing erection that struggled to rip through my pants. And now that my stats were starting to get up there, it was a real concern that my dick would rip through my pants. I stepped inside the office room used for consultations, crossing my legs to...no, that didn't work. 

Right. Try thinking of something other than Eina and what she could have meant. Don't think of that shapely ass that was perfectly complemented by business pants. Also, stop thinking about elf porn. And stop trying to picture what Eina would look like choking on my dick. 

Somehow, I don't think this was working. No, it clearly wasn't because I'm pretty sure I just heard a thread snap in my pants where my cockhead valiantly struggled for freedom. 

Instead, I turned my attention to the room only for it to prove to be the most boring, unimaginative, office I had ever set foot in. A couch, chairs, knee-high table, flowers in a vase...I'm pretty sure there was this exact office space if you googled 'generic offices.' There wasn't even a book or anything I could read or use to cover my glaring erection.

"I just had to go with a tight fit," I muttered darkly, having given in to temptation because tight clothing when you were as jacked as I made myself was a big win. Though, to be fair, if I went with a loose fit, in sure the problem would be a lot worse. It just looked like I was stuffing one of those comically large pencils down my pants. All I could do was hope that she didn't notice. 

So, naturally, when Eina entered the room after a minute or so, the very first thing she noticed as my dick tearing at my pants with all of its might. As if my dick was just so stupidly massive it creates its own gravitational pull that just drew her attention to it like it was a matter of physics instead of bad luck. Her eyes widened, her face flushed red, before she quickly looked away, pretending that she hadn't noticed. 

That told me that I was getting my hopes up. When she said 'make it up to me' she didn't mean taking care of my rather obvious...situation. That was...not great, but unsurprising. There were a lunchbox and a book in her hands, telling what she did mean. An innocent not-date between friends. Right. Of course, that's what she meant.

"I was thinking that since you're so serious about delving deeper into the Dungeon, I could move up some of your lessons," she explained, taking a seat across from me. Ah, and it seemed by innocent not-date, I meant torture session. Just...just perfect. 

"Uh," I started, trying to think of absolutely anything better than studying. A lot of not PG-13 things came to mind, none of which helped me. "Sure, sounds good," I lied through my teeth. Eina didn't seem to notice as a relieved expression appeared on her face as she cracked open the lunchbox and book. 

She opened her mouth to begin the lesson and I was instantly bored again. It wasn't because she was a bad teacher or anything, but to learn you had to be in the mood to learn. And I certainly wasn't. I watched her pink lips move, but I didn’t hear what she said. All I could think about was how fantastic they would feel wrapped around my dick. Worse, she wasn’t even trying to be flirty, or anything. 

I was just bored and horny, the absolute worst combination imaginable. 

Then I noticed that she was blushing again, and I’m pretty sure I just got caught ogling her. I threw on a smile, hoping that she hadn’t asked a question to cover it up, but her gaze dipped down. All the way down to my groin to where my erection remained, taking the lion’s share of the blood and leaving me running on whatever hormone causes arousal. 

Eina kept talking and I kept not listening. Every so often, though, her eyes would glance down while her blush renewed. Was she interested in me? I was less certain -- with Tiona and Sy, they pretty much threw themselves at me. Hestia, well, things escalated with her because she offered to give me a handy. Which was always a problem of mine -- I rarely, if ever, made the first move. Too uncertain, too afraid of rejections and so on. 

But, was she looking at my groin because she was interested, or was it because I was obviously sporting a hard-on? She didn’t look uncomfortable, or anything, just embarrassed. 

You know what? Fuck it. I was a new me, I was a badass adventurer, and I was mega-hot now. 

“My eyes are up here, you know,” I teased lightly, catching her glancing down again. Eina winced at being called out, her face going bright pink while her eyes widened. 

"I-I wasn' t-" she started to protest, her mouth snapping shut when she saw me grinning. She looked away, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry,” she muttered with mounting mortification. So, bad opening line. 

“No, don’t be,” I said, feeling like I tripped right out the gate. "It's fine. Kinda my fault in the first place,” I admitted, gesturing to my entire situation. What I meant as a flirtatious joke made the atmosphere beyond awkward. 

“I...did...you take some kind of potions...or…” Eina trailed off, apparently not letting the topic drop despite how it clearly embarrassed her. 

“No, nothing like that,” I was quick to pick up where she left off. “It’s just...you know,” except she didn’t know because she lacked a cock. “It’s just been a while for me, so it’s...acting up.” And now I was making it sound like my dick had a mind of its own. Which, to be fair, might actually be true. 

“Oh…” Eina trailed off, her attention falling to the book that she was reading. The seconds that ticked by felt like they were each separate eternitys. After a few of them, Eina glanced back over, her gaze landing back on my crotch before her gaze flicked back up to me. 

Okay. Be bold. “Eina?” 

“Yes?” Eina said, her gaze just as intense as mine was. She still looked embarrassed, but there was a calmness there. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” I told her, Eina’s expression not changing at all when I said that. “Would that be okay?”

“I…” Eina started, only to trail off. She met my gaze after looking away for a moment, twiddling her thumbs in thought before she gave a small nod. I leaned in, having to hunch over a bit so my lips pressed against hers. She tasted of strawberries, I noted as I kissed her, our lips moving in a steady rhythm.

I felt one of her hands land on my thigh as I deepened the kiss, her breath soft against my cheek. The wrong thigh. Ever so gently, I reached down to the hand that was on me and moved it over to the correct leg, directly onto my cock. Eina went stiff for a moment, her hand shifting as if she couldn’t understand what she was grabbing. Her hand ran the length of my cock-

Eina pulled back so suddenly, practically jumping out of her chair, that I was left kissing empty air for a split second. I blinked, looking up at her with surprise, to see that there was growing mortification on her face. 

“Uh,” I started poetically as Eina took a step away from me as I moved to get up. “Is...everything okay…?” 

“I’m just…” Eina started, failing to find the words as she turned around to bury her face into her hands. I stood there for a few seconds, feeling at a loss because I had no clue what the sudden change in heart was about. 

Slowly, as if she might take off running otherwise, I took a step towards her. I rested my hands on her shoulders in a reassuring gesture, “do you not want to do this?” I questioned, thinking that she had jumped away from me as if I had burned her. I was getting some pretty mixed signals at the moment. 

“If I have to…” Eina muttered as she accepted my touch, but her words made me go still. Unless I had vastly, vastly, vastly misread the situation, then she seemed to be into it. But ‘have to’ made this sound...rapey. I didn’t think I was that socially incompetent to make a mistake with consent, but that wasn’t something I was going to take a risk on.

“Oh?” I muttered lowly into her ear, simply standing behind her as I withdrew my hands. “And why would you have to?” I asked, making her fidget where she stood. I heard her swallow thickly, and if my hearing was any sharper, then I could probably hear her heart beating as fast as a hummingbird. 

“You...could go to my boss, and file a complaint,” Eina pointed out, her voice shy but I couldn’t tell why. I was really starting to worry that I completely and utterly royally fucked up. “I could get fired. Or you could tell them that I started...this and I would get fired.” 

With her back turned towards me, I took a step back. As much as I was worried that I had screwed up and completely misjudged how into this Eina was, I also had my doubt about that as well. She had been into it. Now that I took a step back from her and the situation, I’m nearly positive that it was a case of her getting cold feet. 

Right. So, I was going to get blue balled. Again. Well...if she didn’t think that she had a choice in this, then I had better give her one. 

“Eina,” I started slowly, “I’m not going to do any of that.” I told her flat out, making her turn around to face me. “I’m not going to tell your boss a single thing, I’m not going to file a complaint, and if you want to stop this, then I’ll stop.” 

Eina shifted from foot to foot, looking unsure as I took another step back. I tried to make my descent into the couch look natural, and like I hadn’t completely misjudged how far away I was from it. I landed heavily, the couch forming what would probably be a permanent dent, all the while I looked her levelly in the eye as my hands went down to my pants. In a moment, my cock sprung free of my pants, standing proudly and Eina couldn’t help but stare at it. 

“But, if you want to continue,” I said, spreading out my arms so they pretty much covered the length of the couch as I rested them on it. “Then I’d be happy to.”

Eina hesitated, staring at my cock with wide eyes as she flushed all the way down to her neck, and further I’m guessing. She hesitated long enough that I was about to tuck my dick away, apologize for the misunderstanding and then never enter the Guildhall ever again out of embarrassment. Right when I was about to move, Eina took a step forward and a tension that had been suffocating me vanished without a trace. 

She didn’t meet my gaze as she took another step forward, crossing the small distance. When she stood in front of me, she dropped to her knees, her hands going out to mine as I obediently made room for her. I saw Eina swallow thickly now that she was so close to my cock, if I was any less hard then it probably would have flopped onto her face at this point. 

“This only goes as far as you want it to,” I reminded as Eina licked her lip, her gaze briefly meeting mine. To my relief, she nodded carefully. 

Then, without a word, she opened her mouth and dragged her tongue on the underside of my cock. One hand went to the head, idly pressing her dainty fingers on the pillar of flesh as her hot tongue started from the bottom and went all the way to the top, her forest-green eyes never leaving mine as she did so. 

I sighed in relief, falling into silence as Eina continued, her gaze never leaving mine as she lavished attention onto my cock. That silence continued even as she reached into my pants to fondle my balls, her tongue lapping at the head while her free hand performed lazy strokes. I don’t think either of us so much as blinked as she began her blowjob. 

After a long minute, Eina pressed her lips onto the tip of my cock, her glasses falling to the tip of her nose. I swallowed thickly, anticipation humming in my veins as she began to press down. Her soft lips parted around my cock with ease, her mouth warm and wet -- within a moment, she took me down deeper than Hestia had ever managed. I don’t know if it was case of lack of experience on Hestia’s part or experience on Eina’s, but as she continued to take me deeper, her tongue playfully licking my cock as she did so, I was willing to bet experience on Eina’s. 

I groaned at the sensation, savoring the feeling of her wet mouth around my cock, her tongue battering at the underside of my dick. Reaching down with one hand, I couldn’t stop myself from resting it on top of her head. Her forest-green eyes never left mine, the sight of it was more intoxicating than the beer I choked down earlier. An actual elf was sucking my dick. Her lips felt better on it than I could have ever imagined, and in recent weeks, I was no stranger to blowjobs. 

She stared up at me with wide green eyes darkening with lust, her hands braced on my thighs as she began to drag her head up, nearly taking my dick out of her mouth entirely. For a moment, I worried she might, only for Eina to slowly push her head back down, her tongue lavishing attention on my cock wherever she could reach. 

It was probably wrong to compare them, but I couldn’t stop myself. Hestia’s blowjobs were enthusiastic, the clumsiness was cute, and how she tried to take more of me each time was simply...divine. Eina, on the other hand, was clearly more skilled. Which raised some questions because I had her pegged as a virgin married to her job, but I guess you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. 

She shifted her weight into a more comfortable position, her speed increasing, each time she took me a little further until I was pressed against the base of her throat. I could have forced her to take me in deeper, but I reframed and instead, used the hand that was on top of her head to fix her glasses so they didn’t fall off. Eina hummed her appreciation, her hand skillfully fondling my heavy balls. 

"Ohhhhh..." I groaned, my cock throbbing in appreciation, which only spurred her on more. "You keep that up, and I’m going to blow sooner rather than later." As if to test the truth of that statement, she started to twist her head from side to side, rubbing more and more of my cock with her tongue as she does. Soft hums escape her throat, vibrating my cock as she fucked her mouth with my dick. 

Then she kicked up a notch. Eina gagged a little as my cock pressed against her throat, she shifted again and I knew what was coming next. She dragged herself deeper onto my cock, sputtering, tears forming in her eyes, but she didn’t stop. Eina took in one inch, then another, and another and another. 

All the while I marveled at the sensation of her throat. My cock throbbed again, a warning on what was coming, but I fought it off out of habit. Eina tried to push herself down even further, absolutely determined to take me all the way, only to sputter as she pushed herself back. Her green eyes were determined as she tried again, her mouth never leaving my cock while her gaze never left mine. 

Eina pushed herself as far as she could go, taking me another inch, but she was forced to pull herself back. I felt her harsh breathing on my spit covered cock, it felt cold before Eina quickly rewarmed it again by taking me in as far as she could go. She gagged, sputtering, but she held firm, managing to take me even deeper but she couldn’t burry the entire length of my cock in her throat. 

“Don’t force yourself,” I told her, her mascara smudged from the tears that formed in her eyes. “There’s always next time.”

Eina seemed to disagree because this time, as she drew herself back, a look of pure willpower appeared on her face -- it looked at complete odds with droll falling from her chin, her makeup smudged. Even still, she pushed herself even further, my cock once again entering her throat, throbbing to the point it was nearly painful as an orgasm brewed in my balls. This time, no matter how she gagged, Eina pushed herself until her nose was pressed against my groin. 

Then she hummed. 

“Of, fuck,” I hissed, “I’m cumming,” I informed, my cock throbbing as I let loose. Eina kept herself where she was without any prompting, though she made a shocked noise as she felt just how much I was unloading into her. After an entire day expecting to get a nut? My balls tried to empty themselves as if they expected to never get another nut off in my entire life. 

Eina gagged, slowly drawing herself back as I came down her throat. I didn’t even try to count how me ropes of cum I was unleashing into her, simply losing myself in the blissful pleasure. I was lucky I was sitting down because if I was standing, my legs probably would have given out from underneath me. All the while I just kept cumming even after Eina passed the point of no return, forced to swallow cum else she would have been covered in it. And, even then, she couldn’t keep up with the sheer volume my cock seemed bent on releasing. 

“Oh, fuck me,” I groaned, feeling as light as a feather as Eina took my cock out of her mouth, her cheeks full, only to be hit with one final blast that smacked her in the forehead and dripped over her glasses. For a moment, both of us just recovered from that -- Eina swallowing cum while I panted, feeling like I had just run a marathon. 

“Wow,” Eina returned, her voice rough. I let out a little laugh at that, bringing her attention back to me. Or, rather, my still rock hard cock. 

“I don’t suppose you could do that again before your lunch break ends?”