Chapter 75: Fear.

Taking her left hand off of her camera, Melody grabbed the plate and pushed down a little, easily moving my legs back into their original place so she could grin at me, and then she kept it there, taking another photo using only her right hand. Once she was done, she spoke at a very normal volume. “Lift up your skirt for me.”

“What?” I replied in shock—not at the order, but… okay no! The order is insane too, fricking holding up my skirt so she can take pictures, but Melody spoke as if it was the most ordinary saying in the world, you know, like, loud enough that anyone paying the slightest attention in like a fifty-foot radius would’ve easily picked it up. As a result, my eyes instantly darted around the room, expecting to find someone staring at us in some one-eyebrow-raised, uncomfortable, wanting to leave immediately, type of awkward, slightly concerned grimace, which, fortunately… I think… I failed to find.

However, once my eyes returned to Melody and my hands remained by my sides, holding onto the handles of the workout machine, she repeated herself, louder this time. “Lift up your skirt for me, kitty.”

“Shushhhh!” I whined as I commanded my hands to grab my skirt. It was the only way she’d actually shut up.

“Too loud?” Melody chuckled, raising her camera back up. “Sorry, I thought you couldn’t hear me.”

“Sure,” I droned. As soon as my skirt was high enough that it no longer sagged, Melody began snapping photos with a shit-eating grin far more intense than her usual smug expression, and she definitely has far more humiliating things planned.

Hopefully not shit-eating. What the fuck even is a shit-eating grin? Surely shit doesn’t taste good enough for that type of… smug, evil expression. Even if it does taste good, why would that be smug-like? Not that I’ve ever tried shit. It sounds shit. Maybe it’s good, I mean, there has to be a reason people are into extreme scat things, right? Is the poop tasty or is it entirely the mental stuff—like being forced to eat it, being forced to do disgusting stuff, cuz that’s hot. I wanna be forced to do disgusting things. But shit specifically?

Are people even into that? I know there’s hentais but the shit people cook up in their imagination is different from reality. I don’t know. I mean, I’d try it once at least. Being forced to drink pee sounds hot to me… and shit is the same just… browner and dirtier looking. Wait, why would I want to drink pee? And now I feel like I kinda need to pee… shit—err pee I mean—

My thoughts were interrupted by Melody’s camera leaving my view as she headed toward her duffle bag sitting off to the side. As she leaned down and began searching through her bag for something, probably her phone given the ringing noise I just now noticed, I very stupidly attempted to roll over, and felt a brief but sharp twinge of pain causing me to yelp while I quickly corrected my posture and began rubbing my calf.

Thankfully the injury, if you can even call it that, was barely noticeable. Just a little sore—wait I can just heal with my system. Uhh… BDSysteM activate—

“Are you okay?” Melody interrupted, her mesmerizing blue eyes suddenly appearing above me, wide with concern. Her eyebrows were all scrunched up with worry or fear, complementing her gaze with some panic-like emotion. I shouldn’t have yelped. Melody’s way too concerned when I can heal myself in half a second.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, glancing down, or up, at my legs. BDSysteM activate heal please… And no more pain at all. Cool. Cool beans. That’s something people say I think.

Melody’s hand slipped past my eyes and landed on my chin, tilting it back so our eyes were forced to lock again and she didn’t have a hint of her usual domineering gaze, even the little bit she had moments ago was gone. It was just Melody and… she’s so pretty. Her eyes of course, but also her light red lips with a touch of gloss, I think. They’re not quite symmetrical, the left side of her mouth tilts a little higher. Her boopable nose is perfectly symmetrical though. Even the few barely visible dots, probably hair or something, are symmetrical. I wonder if I could get away with kissing her right now? Just a little peck on the lips? Before I could put my plan in action, she spoke, still holding my chin. “What happened?”

“I tried to roll over so I could stare at your butt.” Ah there’s the domineering glare I expect!

“Be quiet,” Melody ordered, leaning back and taking her hand off my chin before letting out a sigh. “You’re so stupid, Scar.”

Then, she chuckled, taking a step back and sliding down to my legs, placing a gentle hand on each. “Which one?”

“The left,” I began, causing her to lift her hand off my right leg, letting it join the other on my left. “But I already healed—“

“I told you to be quiet.”

Okay… Contrary to her words, her hand gently began rubbing my left leg for some reason. I don’t know what that’s meant to do even if I was still hurt. “I’m fine… I healed myself already.”

“Quiet.” Melody’s rubbing paused and she sighed again. Her hands left my leg and she spun around, heading toward her bag which had her phone resting on top of it. After grabbing it, she mumbled to herself while tapping some stuff on her screen. “Everyone’s probably in the dungeon already… I’ll… emergency line… S tier healer… their teleport artifact… B tier-level… anyway… Their request didn’t even make sense in the first place… stupid fucking guild… distracted…”

“What are you doing?” I asked, since based on the little I picked up, it sounded like she was trying to get me a healer? “I’m fully healed. You don’t need to… emergency or whatever. What was the notification anyway?”

Melody shook her head. “I wasn’t the one hurting you so I can’t be sure you’re fully healed.”

That is the dumbest, kinkiest, most out-of-place-for-our-current-conversation thing I’ve ever heard. “Just ask BDSysteM. I’m healed. Completely. One. Hundred. Percent. One-ten in fact.”

“I need a trusted healer to confirm,” Melody insisted, walking back over to me, phone in hand, although she was no longer staring at it, instead looking across my body still somewhat awkwardly sitting in the leg press machine.

“So you trust some healer more than me?” I retorted.

Melody froze. I did too. That was stupid. I should not have said that. Definitely not the right time. She’s just being careful. Even if it's a useless waste of resources. But those resources could be going towards saving other people in that dungeon or whatever is going on! Ugh… I should just keep pushing… but then Melody might feel more hurt… gah, but does she matter more than the people in the dungeon? I mean yes, to me, but we don’t need to steal their healer! Why did I say that… I’m so stupid.

“No…” Melody began, glancing down at her phone as a couple strands of hair fell and covered half of her face, obscuring my view of her gem-like eyes. This is such a cliche position. A side view, hair hanging down covering half of her face… and then she giggles or something and I fall in love. I’m already in love… A few seconds later, she continued. “I’d trust you with my life… but not with your own.”

That’s sweet… but… I absolutely care about myself right now. Especially with you around, Melody. Not that I’ve ever not cared about myself… ah, I did offer to cut myself on our first meeting didn’t I? That was just to test the healing ability though. I just don’t even see the possibility of… you know… with my horny mind endlessly revolving around Melody. “I’m not suicidal.”

“I know…” Melody replied instantly, before bringing her left hand up to tuck the loose strands of hair behind her ear as she turned to look at me yet again.

Melody's expression was another new one. Just barely biting her lip and the slightest hint of tears in the corner of her eyes. Is she scared? Of me being hurt? I mean, obviously, I knew that earlier. But she’s… it's like another level above when she was hovering above me. That time it was concern and fear, a fear of me being hurt, the time it's a completely different fear, a more psychological one, if that's possible, it's like she’s scared of not being in control… of me? Of herself?

For the stupidest comparison ever, it felt like she was playing a psychological horror game (I’m the game), the ones that creep you out with the soundtrack and the lightning and the world but never have a single jump scare, hell they don’t even need monsters—completely different from the jump scare horror games where monster come, you run away. Melody was playing the type of horror game where you freeze. Where nothing happens, but you just need a break because it feels like the world is ending, like it’s all out of your control. There’s no end. It's just… terrifying backrooms forever and ever. But why? Why are you so scared, Melody? “Then why…?”

“I don’t know.” Melody closed her eyes, opening them after a few deep breaths. “Just be a good girl and indulge me… please.”

She called me a good girl. How can I say no to that? “Always… how about you help me off of this machine first?”

“Yeah.” Melody nodded, setting her phone back by her bag and returning to my side to basically act as a stand  for me to grab onto.

Halfway through my motion, my right arm wrapped around Melody and my left pushing down on the equipment’s seat, I couldn’t resist teasing her. “I can see why you like this. Having servants is nice.”

Melody chuckled. Once I was standing on my own, she spoke some, rather ominous, words. “The best part is punishing them when they make fun of you.”

I was about to reply, ‘You can’t punish them when they’re hurt,’ but thankfully managed to bite my tongue. Probably a little too soon to joke about being hurt. I think Melody’s still recovering… of sorts. Her expression is definitely still tense. I need to think a bit more before I speak. Specifically with Melody. With most people I should be thinking less, otherwise I’ll never speak, but with Melody, I just don’t want to hurt her. Annoy, sometimes, be a brat, occasionally, be a good girl, most of the time, but truly hurt, hopefully never.

Melody and I moved back toward the wall, where we both sat down and waited. She was staring at the floor in between her legs. I wish I knew what to say. A few moments later, I leaned against her shoulder. It… felt like the right thing to do. Cuddle. And stuff.

Melody leaned into me in response, but before either of us could say anything, there was a flash of light. Melody’s emergency healer had arrived. Hopefully they wouldn’t be mad that I was perfectly fine…