SSV 4 Chapter 15 (Patreon)

I headed out of Frankie’s place, feeling good about what I’d gotten done. The use of the metal to help create a place for another citizen was pleasant. It helped make the battle and the loss just a little easier to bear.

I headed down to Pollen’s. She’d mentioned that there was some disturbance messing with her hives, and I wanted to try to help. I figured I could knock that back and then check in with Skel about the girl who wanted to try to mimic Frankie’s power.

Strolling down to the farms, I passed the farm with chickens and ducks, pausing and waffling my head a few times, before turning into it.

I wanted to meet the egg farmer, even if Stella had directed me past.

“Hello?” I knocked on the door to the home that was surrounded by the pens. “Anyone here?”

“Come in.” A male voice responded, surprising me.

“Oh?” A female voice perked up at the same time.

I opened the door to find a woman straightening her skirt and waving at me. “Welcome to Cluckies Egg Emporium.” She spread her arms wide in an inviting gesture.

“We aren’t calling it that.” The guy grumbled, fixing something below the counter.

“Until you come up with a decent name, I’m going to keep trying names out.”

“Sure, hun.” The guy mumbled.

They both seemed… normal.

“I’m Miles. I just wanted to come and say hi.” Before I could get much further, the guy cut me off.

“THE Miles?” He looked at the woman. “The one that the new customer raves about?”

“I’m guess it is the one.” The woman leaned on the counter smashing her hand into her cheek. “You know Stella?”

“She’s my… uh… fiance.” I awkwardly used the term. I was pretty sure it was the first time I’d said it aloud to somebody else.

“She’s cute.” The man eyed me carefully.

The woman spoke up. “You see, most people officially come in here for eggs, but what they really want is to rent out my husband.”

She gave a guilty chuckle. “We might have upset your fiance.”

The man held up his hands. “I go willingly. There aren’t enough of us guys around here. As long as they aren’t too rough, I don’t mind it. Though, if you ever want to tag team Stella, I wouldn’t mind.”

“No. I was just here to look at eggs.” My tone chilled without meaning to, but it did match my feelings.

The man held up his hands. “So, you’re the God King they are all talking about?”

I nodded as the woman waved me over to where she had some baskets of eggs.

“Yeah. Daeva has been trying to bring me in, but I can’t be here full time.” I replied.

The man and woman came around the counter, and I tried to hide my surprise so I didn’t offend them.

The man was a serpent from waist down, and the woman had a pair of goat legs.

They were an interesting combination.

“Shame.” The woman came up to my side and rubbed my shoulder. “You are a very handsome god. I wouldn’t mind helping you if you aren’t interested in my husband.” She smiled at me, completely invading my personal space.

Normally I’d shy away from anybody I didn’t know getting so close, but my normally bristly nature wasn’t prickling up at all.

And that was enough to set off an alarm in my mind.

“What is your power?” I scowled.

“Oh, I just have a calming aura. It works wonders for chickens. Otherwise the stupid birds would be scared constantly after a few monsters came for them.” She shrugged, and I pushed on Mona to see if there were any other effects currently happening to me.

After several seconds, I felt her slide back.

It’s chemical, not psychic. Probably pheromones of some sort. I see why Stella didn’t like this place.

I agreed. They weren’t quite forceful about anything, but the woman’s aura could lower some inhibitions all while she tried to pimp out her man. It made me uncomfortable.

And Stella was committed to a fault. She wouldn’t like this idea of them sharing each other so casually. Within the harem it was different. We were all committed.

But she hadn’t destroyed their building, so she must not have gotten too upset. They likely tried and then respected her boundaries.

“Why are you using your power on me?” I waited for her to turn it off, giving her a look that clearly told her I expected her to stop.

“It’s passive. I can’t turn it off. But I’d rather not stop anyway. You are quite handsome, and I can tell that you’re getting upset with us. I’d like to keep you from reacting badly.”

Her honesty was appreciated, but I was getting fed up.

“No. Get off and I think I’m leaving. If there’s anything you need, tell Stella. I’ll see what I can do.”

I turned and left.

Stella could deal with the swinger couple. I had zero concern that she’d do anything, and they likely treated her with kid gloves already. After our encounter, I had a feeling they would be even more careful.

My mood was a little sour. I didn’t appreciate having my emotions manipulated. But I tried to let it go as I headed towards Pollen’s place. She seemed full of energy and light, and I knew it would buoy my mood.

As I walked, I hadn’t quite reached the outskirts of the farms where she lived when the hairs on the back of my neck started prickling.

When I stopped and looked around, I didn’t see anybody.

I waited, but still nothing.

My power enveloped the area as I tried to get a sense for what was making my instincts go crazy.

The woman of the duo I had just talked to was watching me from her window with a big smile on her face while her man talked her ear off, but they seemed harmless. It didn’t seem like enough to get to me.

Casting my power up into the sky, I widened my search, but nothing stuck out.Huh.

Keeping my power active to watch my back, I headed into Pollen’s place. If someone wanted to ambush me, they could certainly try.

Maybe if I went into the woods to help Pollen, it would give me a good chance to take them out.

I knocked on the door before entering. “Hello, Pollen?”

There was a fumbling and the clinking of glass before Pollen shot out from the back room. “Goo—Miles!” She gave me the biggest smile.

Seeing her smile lightened my mood immediately.

She was wearing a black toga that looked a little worn and had honey dripping off of her. The way the sun streamed in and caught her blonde hair made it almost seem to glow.

“Hi. I just got back from a trip, and I was thinking about your request to investigate the hives in the woods.” I gave her a winning smile and decided to lean on her counter, bringing our faces closer. I couldn’t help it; there was something that drew me to her.

“You stare a lot.” She didn’t even flinch. “It’s kind of scary knowing that you are so powerful.”

“Yeah? Why is that scary?” I asked.

“Because you are still human. I mean, dating is perilous enough. There’s so many scenarios where me pissing off our precious God of Fertility could go badly. Can you imagine? Ex of the city’s precious god.” She stared back at me with her honey yellow eyes in challenge.

I was transfixed by her eyes for a moment before I reached across the counter and wiped a little honey off her cheek before licking it off my finger. “If you have any exes, they really missed out.” My void arm had moved almost too quickly for the naked eye, certainly too quickly for her to react.

I realized I needed to be more careful. Usually when I moved there was more time to think about the action. With my power, it reacted much faster once I gave it some sort of intention.

Pollen’s face went bright red at my question. “I do. I’m pretty low powered.” She said it almost defensively as if to protect herself.

“What landed you in New Haven then?” I asked with a frown.

“Uh. I was homeless in Coast City.” She flushed even harder, though this time was in embarrassment. “So… uh… I’m not one of those reformed prisoners around here. Stella said you liked them.”

I scoffed. “Stella isn’t always right. So,” I straightened back up. “Would you like to come with me and check out these hives?” I held out my hand.

She paused for a moment before seeming to make up her mind. She placed her smaller hand into mine, and then blushed.

I started moving, but I quickly realized she couldn’t get around her counter without breaking the hold on my hand.

She froze, not sure what to do, and clearly not wanting to let go of my hand. It was cute.

I walked with her around the counter to make it easier.

“Oh gosh. I’m all sticky.” She looked down at herself. “I should change. I wasn’t ready for this.”

“Hmm” I smiled down at her. “You’re right. You're all sticky and sweet. If you aren’t careful, I might gobble you up.”

Her blush deepened as I flirted, and I was genuinely enjoying myself.

She bit her lip. “Then why don’t we go into my garden and let you look at my flower?”

I laughed, finding the offer interesting. “Maybe later.”

Her jaw dropped open, and I felt a small swell of pride at surprising the stunningly beautiful woman. There was just something about Pollen that was enticing. She was beautiful, but there were many beautiful women around.

There was something extra to her. Somehow her artistry and craft added more depth to her.

Pulling her arm, I brought her to my side and hooked my arm in hers.

“Sorry if I am staring too much.” I murmured.

“It’s fine. Look all you want.” She brushed her hands through her hair. “I like it. I’m just not used to that much attention.”

She fumbled for what to say next, and then looked down at my arm. “Can I ask what’s up with the arm? It wasn’t black before.” She made conversation as we left her home, and she pulled me towards the woods that bordered her home.

I noticed a small stream of bees going in through the window in her place.

“I’ll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours.”

She smiled and nodded.

I let the arm disappear, showing where my real arm ended just past the shoulder.

Pollen gasped and covered her face. “No. What happened?! I’m so sorry.” She tentatively touched the stump, tears gathering in her eyes as she looked up at me.

It touched me that she’d be so worried.

“The Fenris Wolf. I went with Daeva, but I was a little careless. My new arm doesn’t take any effort now though, and it doesn’t have any limitations I’ve found yet.” I made my void limb appear, moving it around as fast as any speedster before I casually slipped it back in her arm.

She looked at me with wonder. “I’m surprised that you are so casual about it. It must have been recent.”

“It was tough at first. I thought I might lose my mind. But once I figured out how to use my power to make a new one, I was able to push through. And the telepath nestled in my head helped me too.” I kept walking into the woods, noticing a few hives hanging in trees.

There were enough of them that it wasn’t hard to spot some, though I was sure I was missing others.

“What does she think of me?” Pollen asked, batting her eyelashes.

Too pretty.

I nearly choked on a laugh at Mona’s honest reply.

“She thinks you are pretty.”

Pollen laughed. “You are a terrible liar.”

I rolled my eyes. “She said you are too pretty.”

The bee girl ran her hands through her hair as she bit her lip. “I like it when you say things like that.”

“Then I’ll keep it up. But I told you about mine. Tell me about your powers.” I smirked, not letting her off the hook.

Pollen paused at a nearby tree. The hive was ruined, cut in half with part hollowed out. I also noticed scratches in the wood of the tree near where it had once hung. “See, this is something.” She pointed at the scratches and the ruined hive.

I nodded along and sent out my power to try and sense for any nearby monsters. “You won’t get out of telling me your power that easily.” I could multitask as I scanned the forest. It took a little more time to pick out the trees and try and find someone or something among them.

Pollen sighed. “I have these bee mutations. Powers are often thematic with the mutation. The mutation and one power gives me strength and the ability to communicate with the bees. Maybe a little endurance…” She trailed off and I stared at her. “Okay, a lot of endurance. I don’t really ever get tired. So let’s call that my Queen Bee power. My second one is the ability to control honey.” She looked vulnerable as she shared her power.

“That’s wonderful. Truth be told, I don’t care how strong a woman is. Well, maybe that’s wrong. I care, but I can also strengthen other people’s powers, so if you want, I can help you raise your power level.” I squeezed her arm in reassurance.

“Without monster fruit?” She licked her lips. “I’ve always hesitated to take it. I don’t want to turn into a bee.”

I paused, wanting to be honest with her even though I had a lot more responsibility than she was likely used to. “There are studies right now where I’m helping Skel and a mad scientist back home control the monster fruit transformation.”

Her eyes widened with that information. “Really?”

“Yes. I think I’m starting to agree with Daeva, at least to an extent. Humanity needs to get stronger.” I couldn’t believe I was agreeing with Daeva’s logic.

But after seeing the Fenris Wolf, I believed that there were strong titans that could pose a threat.

If there really were two other city killers down in South America, then I had to imagine elsewhere in the world there were more. And that made me anxious. The cities were not ready to handle titans of that power.

Pollen was nodding along. “So, you are going to stay?”

I let out a sigh. “Yes and no, I’ll split my time between here and Point City. There are still things I need there, but I will be putting some resources here for sure.”

“Okay. And the power increase you mentioned, that’s without monster fruit?” She switched the topic back, which meant she was interested in it.

“Yes. Don’t go around telling everyone, but I’ll give you a little boost here.” I whispered conspiratorially with her.

I finished my scan of the area, but I hadn’t picked up anything large enough to damage her hive. There were the normal creatures, but nothing that would scrape the tree like that.

“R-really?” She had hope in her eyes.

“Close your eyes and relax. You’ll feel your powers activate when I do this.” I put my hand on her chest, feeling her heart pounding. I smiled, wondering if the pounding heart was from nerves or my touch.

It was certainly distracting, and I needed to focus.

Breathing out, I felt for her powers.

The two twisting loops both intermingled in her body and I pushed on both of them, making them speed up. Then I filled them full of ki. Based on their sizes, she was probably a natural C or B grade.

Her control of honey was her stronger power, but it was a limited power by definition. It wasn’t like water or earth, which were so abundant that it could be used at any time.

Pollen likely had a few jars at most, and that just wasn’t enough to show off her power.

She’d need to be able to create more honey to make her power far stronger.

“I feel like I’ve been drinking too much honey. A serious sugar rush.” Pollen groaned and rubbed herself against my hand.

“Don’t distract me.” I teased.

Her lips curled up in a smile. “Glad to know I’m that distracting. But this feels so strange.”

“Shh.” I used my other hand to put a finger against her lips, and I realized they were a little sticky.

Suddenly the idea of her sneaking honey into that back room constantly made me smile.

She laid a sticky kiss against my finger, nibbling it as I continued to push her power to its limits, essentially exercising it.

When I finished, she opened her eyes, and once again I was caught in them.

“Thank you.” As she opened her mouth to speak, she captured my finger and drew it into her mouth. Her saliva felt thick and syrupy as she sucked on my finger.

More curious than ever, I leaned forward, pulling my sticky finger back.

Pollen didn’t hesitate, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck and pulling my lips down to hers.

They were so incredibly sweet as she let me suck on her lips, drawing out just a little of the liquid in her mouth before she pushed her tongue into mine.

There was no doubt in my mind then. She had honey in her mouth, and with all the talking we’d been doing, it would have been hard to hold it in there just for this kiss.

Her body made honey somehow.

My mind wanted to go deeper into analyzing it, but my body had other ideas. Thoughts in my head fled as I cupped her rear and lifted her off the ground, pushing her up against the nearest tree. I wanted to taste more of Pollen’s honey.

I broke the kiss, a sticky strand clinging between our lips. “You didn’t tell me about that.”

“Was it a good surprise?” She licked her lips. “I like how you taste too.”

“A wonderful surprise.” I kissed her again, my hands wandering up her toga in excitement.

The way she groaned into my mouth told me she was just as excited.