SSV 4 Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Melody sipped on some tea while Stella recounted our adventure.

“But then Pollen messed up and my plan went to shit. You should see her Mel. She’s pretty darn hot. Master even stared for a solid five seconds when he first saw her. I think he was drooling a little.” Stella slurped her tea and wriggled her nose. “This isn’t nearly as strong as coffee.”

I shrugged. Tea was easier to come by in New Haven. Coffee was hard to grow and harvest. Even in Point City it was more expensive; most of it came from Verdant City down south.

“I didn’t stare that long.” I corrected her.

“You stared for a long time.” Stella giggled. “Come with me tomorrow Mel, since Master is going to be busy on his romp with Daeva. We’ll be up to our own devices.”

“Well, I have his afternoon. Since you stole him away this morning.” Melody leaned back in the rough wooden chair.

The back room of Daeva’s temple was comfortable, but it was a little excessive.

“Speaking of, where is Daeva?” I frowned and looked around, as if one of the temple maidens would pop out and answer me. But all the maidens had left us alone after Stella scared the one serving us tea.

“Don’t know.” Stella shrugged. “Also, I didn’t steal him away. You were a lazy pants and decided to go back to sleep. I’m not stupid, you had him playing with those delightful tentacles of power and then went back to sleep.”

Melody just sipped her tea with her pinky popping out, as if to say she was above the current conversation. “What happens in the bedroom should stay there.”

“Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m supposed to catch you or not. This new Melody is both fun and confusing.” Stella played with her now empty cup of tea. “What fun and confusing things are we doing this afternoon?”

“Well, I was thinking about taking a nice stroll through the woods with Miles. I want to get out and see the area around New Haven.” Melody smiled at me.

“A picnic.” I interpreted. “Sounds lovely. Let’s go grab a few spices and then head off. I’m sure I can find something tasty to eat on the way.”

Mona jumped into my thoughts.

My fated, Angelina has told me that you aren’t allowed to miss therapy, even if you are out of the city.

I snorted. That didn’t seem entirely reasonable given I was out of the city.

I can surrender my body to you, let you use it in Point City.

I paused, not sure what to make of that offer. I didn’t exactly want to be running around in Mona’s body.

Just therapy, and I’ll pee before then so you don’t have to.

Hey I wasn’t thinking anything like that. I protested.

My fated, I’m inside your mind. Her tone came through flat. Even without seeing her, I knew she was giving me a glare from miles away.

Mona controlled light and had a second power that she didn’t advertise, which was that she could create a psychic link with someone. It had once been broken when her mom and manager abused it during her rise as a young popstar. But I had woken up the connection when I boosted her power.

“Twinkles is talking to him.” Stella informed a temple maiden, who had apparently paused beside me, waiting for me to acknowledge her.

“Twinkles?” The woman frowned.

I looked up at her. “My inner conscience. I gave birth to her from my thoughts.”

Mona snorted in the back of my mind. I smirked, talking back to her.

Oh come on, you wouldn’t love to come here and pretend to be an Athena stand in?

That would make you Zues.

He was a really horny guy that went around sleeping with a lot of ladies. It’s not crazy.

Mona burst into laughter somewhere in the back of my head.

“Alright. What did you need?” I asked the maiden.

“Nothing. I wanted to see if you needed anything.” The temple maiden gave a short bow.

Her dress is lower than yesterday. More cleavage.

No it isn’t.

Mona shoved the memory from the day before to the forefront of my mind, and I compared it to the girl in front of me.

Shit, she was right.

“I wanted to know if there are any nice areas just outside the city? Maybe a nice grassy plain that I can take Melody to go have a picnic in?” I asked.

With some privacy for a good time. Mona added in. Oh, a hot spring or lake would be perfect, Melody would love some water.

The maiden shifted backwards, and I realized I was glaring.

“Sorry. There’s a second conversation happening here that you can’t hear. She was adding to my statement. Are there any hot springs around here?” I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. Mona was right, that did sound romantic.

“Oh.” The temple maiden smiled. “There is a popular date spot Northeast of the city, where there are some rocky hills. There is a cave network there and some natural hot springs in the caves. It isn’t uncommon for a girl to bring a man up there for some… ahem… alone time.” She blushed heavily. “If you needed a guide or someone to take care of your things, I’d be available.”

Take her. Mona insisted.

Stella nudged me and bounced her brows.

I sighed. “No, thank you. Melody and I can probably manage on our own.” Even if my two harem enablers wanted me to bring another lady, I knew that Melody would appreciate the one on one time.

The maiden kept a straight face and nodded. “At least let me describe in more detail where to go.”

***

“This is really pretty.” Melody had her purple face pressed against my shoulder, her silver hair dancing over my back. “The maiden made us a nice spice pouch despite the fact that you turned her down.”

We were watching the landscape fly by as I flew us in an invisible carriage over to the caves with hot springs.

“I can’t pick up every girl here.” I grumbled.

“Just the pretty ones that make Stella’s honey.” Melody teased me.

I rolled my eyes. “Stella would do a lot of things for an endless supply of syrup.”

Melody burst into laughter. “Oh my gosh. She would totally pimp you out for endless syrup. You would really worry if somebody is able to offer her endless pancakes. We all might get pimped out for that.”

“If someone offers Stella endless pancakes, we may never see her again.”

She laughed a little and settled down. “This is nice. We haven’t gotten that many chances for some alone time, especially since the incident.”

“It’s been a whirlwind.” I agreed. “In the span of a few weeks I went from hiding, to openly being the most powerful super in Point City as Void, to running from the military.” My jaw clenched as I thought about Pratt’s smug face, or Hendrick’s fake friendly smile. They were vipers, and I couldn’t wait to cut off the head of the snakes.

Melody patted my arm, seeing my anger. “They’ll pay when we return. Honestly, a little vacation for you isn’t a bad idea. You deserve some time to enjoy your power and be you. And if that means life is a little slower paced and we get some time together, I’m certainly in.” She smiled at me, her face shifting with something unspoken.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, I don’t know how to say it properly.” She bit her lip a little in thought, and I waited, giving her some time. “I know you proposed to Stella. I’m just not quite… there yet. But I’d like some more one on one time so we can build our relationship.”

I smiled and rubbed her back. “Of course you aren’t ready yet. Not everyone can just throw themselves into something as fully as Stella does. Hell, I am a little jealous sometimes at how focused she can be.”

“Right?” Melody sat up. “She just like completely tunnel visions to ‘What does Master want?’ and nothing else matters.” She shook her head a little in disbelief. “I know Mona, Kim, Daeva… Obsidian…” She paused. “Wait, are all of the women in the harem but me crazy?”

I just smiled and stared at her, waiting for the reality to sink in.

“Hey now. I know that look. I am NOT crazy.” She gave me a playful glare.

“Sure.” I drew out the word. I couldn’t stop teasing her. “But if we’re honest, Angelina is the only one with a scrap of sanity left.”

Melody laughed. “Oh boy. You don’t see her when you aren’t around. She knows how to act and can play a good game, but when you aren’t around, it’s pretty clear she’s right there with Stella. Obsessed with you and our family.”

I snorted, but imagined she could be right. “Maybe one of these days I’ll have to sneak around and watch you all in your natural habitat.”

“Creeper.” She teased before she sat up straight in the invisible carriage that I was still moving through the air. “That looks like it might be tasty.”

I followed her gaze, spotting the mutated rabbit about the size of a car. I scooped it up with my powers, bringing it with us. “Your wish shall be my command.”

Wrapping the rabbit in a sphere that kept out the light, I went to work butchering it with my power. The little sack of spices we had disappeared too as I worked them into the meat with my power. I enjoyed experimenting with cooking.

“I have no idea how you do all of this.” Melody gestured around us, including towards the now black sphere following us. “You have to be doing at least a dozen different activities with your power right now.”

I shrugged. I’d had plenty of practice. And it was somewhat like breathing. If I focused too hard on it, it all of a sudden felt less natural. “A long time ago when Emma was training me, it became apparent that if I wanted something complex done, it was a lot easier to just imagine the outcome rather than the individual pieces.”

I tried to think up an example. “So if I wanted to make a giant invisible chainsaw, I would just think of that rather than all the different kinetic pieces that would go together to make the chain saw. If I want to make a flying carriage, I imagine the carriage and push it. Same thing with light. I just imagine it gone, bent, or concentrated for something.”

Melody stared at me. “You know this whole God King thing makes more sense every day.” A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Hey.” I protested weakly. I had to admit, being recognized for my power was a little fun. I was trying not to let it go to my head, but it was hard to turn down being pampered.

As we’d left the village earlier, I’d been nearly cheered on with smiles and waves from anybody who recognized me.

“You are loving it, and that’s okay. I’m loving seeing you use your powers openly. I think it’s like a part of you has finally been freed from its cage.” She smiled at me with soft fingers playing at my arm. “Miles, I might have been wrong. This place seems good for you.”

“Except their justice system may need work?” I teased.

Melody rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me started. She has the heaviest handed justice system ever. If it isn’t clear who’s at fault, she just kills them both. But crime is actually pretty low from what I can tell.”

“It’s the community.” I replied. I’d been thinking about it earlier. “Melody, I don’t know what to tell you, but today trading favors for goods was… was a lot better than paying for things with a credit card at an overly corporatized booth. It was like layers were peeled away between me and the people I was buying from. It felt so much more natural.”

She raised a thin, manicured brow at me. “Tell me more.”

“I don’t know. I made drains for flour today. What I did will help her in the future. She won’t have to scrub the mold and mildew off her floors as much, and it might make her flour and grains last longer. I was able to help her in return for the items I needed. Actually see how my power was helping.” I wasn’t sure exactly why, but it felt so much better than just buying something with a swipe of a piece of plastic.

Melody was watching me with a smile. “You should talk about this with Angelina when you have your session later. But I think you peeled away the credit card companies, the sales clerk, the corporation and their many layers, and it was far more personal to work directly with the woman who produced it. And you saw how you improved her life. It’s a lot more human and a lot less ones and zeros in a bank account somewhere.”

“Maybe that’s it.” I mused, noticing that we were coming quickly up to the area where the hot springs were located.

I disintegrated the remains of the rabbit that I wasn’t going to use before bringing us down to the open grassy area.

Injecting thermal energy into the steaks, I cooked them perfectly nearly instantly. As my feet touched the ground, two perfect steaks hovered before us.

“You know, half the fun of a date is waiting for the food?” Melody teased me.

“Well, this way we can enjoy them and then go soak in the hot springs longer.” I supplied.

She only smirked. “Won’t turn down more hot spring time.” She bit into her steak and moaned as a little grease dripped out the side of her mouth. “Holy shit.” She groaned again.

I took a bite of it myself. It was like sous vide cooking, only better. The rabbit melted in my mouth like butter yet was rich and salty. “Damn, that’s good.”

“You could just go around New Haven as the God King of cooking. You’d just serve out monster meat left and right. I have no doubt that you’d become well loved, and I’d have to start fighting off women with a stick.” She took another bite rather than continue to comment on it, making a happy noise.

I smiled. The set up was relatively plain, but it was still beautiful having all the nature around us. We ate with our hands, basking in the moment together.

“Okay, I changed my mind. Let’s do this again, and I’ll just lay here on the grass eating it while you thrust into me.” Melody was looking at what remained of her steak with a little sadness.

“Glutton.” I smacked her rear. “I want to go to a hot spring. Later, I’ll make more.”

“I’m holding you to that.” Melody’s face flashed with resolve as she went back to finishing her piece.

Once we were done, I scooped her up into a princess carry and walked towards the caves, casting my power out and mapping out the caves as we moved.

I found a number of other people within the caves, noting their locations.

But there were other open springs around.

I carried us past any other couples looking for some alone time, heading to one that was more secluded.

In the end I found a quiet pool and screened it off from the rest of the cave system with my power, making sure we had privacy before I stripped down, sliding into the pool and enjoying the view as Melody also stripped down.

She smiled as I watched, slowly parting her toga and pulling it to the side as it slid down her body, exposing her skin.

She slowly walked up to the side of the hot spring, perching on the side before she started sliding her body in slowly. I watched, feeling rather hungry for something other than rabbit meat.

“Feels great.” She reached out her foot, touching my thigh and starting to run it up to where my body was already incredibly interesting.

“Mhm” I managed to murmur, my body at attention and wanting to grab her and take her right then and there.

But I knew Melody liked to play.

She smiled as she glided towards me through the water, her silver hair floating on top of the spring.

Reaching me, she wrapped her arms around my shoulder and straddled me, a smile spreading across her face.

“You need to relax more.” She put her hands behind my head and pulled me closer, locking our lips as I ran my hands along her wet body.