Ch201: Crafting Couches & Easing Adeline’s Anxiety

“Hmm...” The Drakling’s gaze trails across the many markers marring this smooth stone floor, her emerald eyes darting between those different notches and lines. “It’ll take up most of the room...”

“Y-yes...?”

“Oh, I’m just thinking out loud.” Krvavy nonchalantly comments, sparing just the briefest glance towards that adorably anxious Halfling of hers.

Adeline awkwardly shifts her weight from one little bunny paw foot to the other, wondrously wide hips swaying side to side, like an unsteady pendulum. Each swing sees the hem of her sundress brush just above the spot on her shins where dark-blonde fur transitions into light olive skin, that bright yellow fabric making her shine like a beautiful little sun.

“Besides,” Krvavy casually continues after a few long seconds, “having such a big couch isn’t really a bad thing. It’s not like we have anything else to put in here. Though... it might be a bit of an obstacle to get around...”

“We c-can split it.” The Halfling speaks up... only to faintly flinch as that, quite predictably, draws the Drakling’s attention back to her. “H-here, there, and th-there.” She quickly gestures at three different spots on the floor, her finger... and the entirety of her outstretched arm... shaking ever so slightly.

“Ahh...” Krvavy slowly nods, taking a single step forward. “We’d have four couches sitting in the shape of a ‘U’ instead of one single giant ‘U’ shaped one...” She absentmindedly mutters, voicing her train of thought. “The central table means that we still wouldn’t be able to walk straight from the hallway to the balcony... but that hardly matters... Having it split like that would make it a lot more convenient to actually get on the couches... saving us the need to walk around or jump over the back...”

The bunny-mouse girl lets out a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumping and her thin tail going slack, as her suggestion is easily accepted.

Brow furrowed just a bit, the barbarian lowers herself into a squat, crouching next to one of the deeper markings. The tips of her fingers tap into the stone floor, palm pressed flat to the ground. That hand is lazily lifted up to various different heights, helping Krvavy visualize how tall this couch may end up being. “The backrests might make the areas behind them feel a bit cramped... Like a hallway instead of an open room... Well, that wouldn’t be a problem for me, but it definitely would be for you and Inanna...”

“W-wh-what if y-you sink this whole a-a-area in-into the floor...?” Adeline anxiously asks, shrinking slightly as a pair of emerald eyes turn her way. “J-j-just a little...!”

The Drakling pauses, her mind freezing for just a moment. “Of course!” She sharply exhales, bumping the back of her hand into her forehead. “The kitchen ceiling isn’t anywhere near as high as the dining room, so we’ll have plenty of space to lower the couches and everything in between. It shouldn’t go too low though... We’d need to keep a fair bit of stone between the floor and the oven chimney or there might be some odd warm or hot spots... But the whole thing would have to sink down pretty far for that, and at that point it’d basically just be a big pit... Which would be weird to have in the middle of the room...”

Adeline continues to awkwardly stand around, not really knowing what to do with herself as Krvavy’s mumbled thoughts meander their way through the air. She idly glances off to the side, looking out over the balcony and into the grotto. Though she can’t exactly see anything but stone walls and the cave ceiling from here...

“See?”

The Halfling jumps and just barely resists the urge to squeak in surprise as Krvavy suddenly addresses her, a wide smile plastered across that barbarian’s pale face.

“I knew that you’d be a big help here.” The Drakling stands up and steps towards that tiny blonde, reaching over and warmly patting the rather short girl on her little head. “So far, this whole layout is entirely your idea. I would have gone with something smaller and less stationary. Like some cozy couches or loveseats, or whatever they’re called, that we can slide around the room as needed. Which I guess we could still do on the other side of the fireplace... though that sort of thing would work better if it was lighter, made out of wood instead of stone, so that’d be more of a job for Beryl than for me...”

A rich and rosy red hue fills Adeline’s round face as the Drakling’s strong fingers linger atop her head, ruffling her dark-blonde hair and leaving her loose bun looking a little dishevelled.

“Anyway,” Krvavy gently shrugs her thoughts aside as she carefully lowers herself down onto one knee. An act which sees the bunny-mouse’s blush burn even brighter, for some reason. “I want to thank you for helping me out here.” She earnestly states, ignoring her slightly askew pelt loincloth as her black-scaled fingers glide down Adeline’s arms, clasping onto that timid girl’s tiny hands. “I mean... I know that I asked you to, but still. You could have done nothing but hang around and keep me company. Which, to be clear, I would have been fine with. But you didn’t just do that. Instead, well, you’ve been really helpful.”

The Halfling shudders and turns her head away, too embarrassed to meet her barbaric lover’s affectionate gaze. “I-I-I-I-I...!” She stutters and stammers and struggles to speak.

“I’m serious, you have a real talent for this sort of thing. Don’t forget, you helped design the kitchen as well. Which turned out amazingly, remember?” The Drakling’s thick tail twists around her waist, its tip tapping into Adeline’s cheek before clumsily cupping that adorably embarrassed girl’s chin. “And this isn’t just me being nice or trying to complement you for no reason. You’ve had some genuinely good ideas. Ones that I’m not entirely certain that I would have come up with on my own. At least not until after I’d already finished it all. I was more focused on just adding furniture, but you’ve been thinking more about remodelling the room instead. And that is turning out way better than what I would have done on my own.”

Adeline’s blush grows and grows with each word that passes through Krvavy’s pale lips. The timid blonde continues to quiver and quake, almost convulsing as those ceaseless compliments cause her already crumbling composure to completely collapse. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiieee...” She shakily blinks her big hazel-brown eyes, sending streams of wet tears rolling down her round and rosy cheeks.

Realizing that she might have just broken the poor girl, Krvavy stops herself from pointing out how useful lowering the floor will be for getting stone to build the foundation of the couches, saving who knows how much time and, potentially, mana. That feels like it would just be the equivalent of pouring fuel onto a fire. And so, instead of doing that, the Drakling simply pulls her tiny Halfling into a tight hug.

It takes the utterly overwhelmed girl a few long minutes before she even begins to calm down. But, eventually, her tears do run dry.

“Sorry.” The Drakling sheepishly apologizes, running her fingers through Adeline’s dark-blonde hair, further ruining the bunny-mouse girl’s already loose bun. “I didn’t mean to... uh... embarrass you so much.”

The Halfling makes a sniffling sound as she slowly pulls her face away from Krvavy’s bare chest. “I-it’s okay...” She softly squeaks, still unable to meet those emerald eyes.

“Here, why don’t I go get a stool for you?” The Drakling gently brushes her thumb across that adorable girl’s wet cheek. “I think you’ve more than earned yourself a bit of a break, so you can just sit back and keep me company, alright? Though if you have any more ideas, don’t be afraid to share them.”

Adeline takes a deep breath and slowly nods her head. She awkwardly clutches at her floppy ears as the barbarian backs up, giving her some space. A look of longing fills her big hazel-brown eyes as she watches Krvavy stand up and step away. Her lips quiver as she slowly turns her gaze down to the ground, their corners lifting up just a little.

Krvavy’s carnivorous teeth lightly chew away at the inside of her cheek. “Do you think this is tall enough? The cushions will add more a bit more height to it. About... this much, just like the bed.”

The Halfling gently furrows her brow as she looks over the stone foundation of the couch. After a few seconds, she nods her head.

“Great.” Krvavy shoots the bunny-mouse girl a wide and warm smile. “That means we’re nearly half done already. And to think that it isn’t even time for us to have lunch yet...”

Adeline idly twiddles her thumbs as she stands beside the kneeling barbarian. She can’t help but briefly glance back at the stool resting over near the fireplace, her gaze lingering on it for a good few seconds.

“Do you mind sitting on this part here?” Krvavy taps a narrower part of the partially finished couch, where it curves into the bottom part of it’s vague ‘U’ shape.

A little bit of colour fills the bunny-mouse girl’s face as she does what her Draconic lover requested. Her thick thighs squish beautifully against that solid surface, prompting her to begin nervously patting down and straightening her sundress in a futile attempt to distract herself from the fact that she is putting on such an alluring display.

“Thanks.” The Drakling gives that adorably timid girl a pat on the head, focused more on her work than the Halfling she is leaning over and around. “The armrest would be roughly here and the backrest there, so... this spot is definitely better for someone like you or Inanna, but it wouldn’t feel too snug for someone who is a bit bigger. Or a lot bigger. Like Khalia. Or me. Though my tail would be a bit of a problem...”

No longer needing to stay seated, Adeline scoots forwards and all but jumps back onto her feet. The blush colouring her cheeks grows a bit brighter as that sudden movement causes the hem of her dress to rise up and flutter around her. She quickly – a little frantically – pats it back down.

Krvavy grabs a brick from the nearest pile and presses it into place, spending just a few points of mana to merge the stone together. Another brick quickly follows the first as the armrest begins to take shape.

The tiny blonde slowly, and quietly, exhales. Her shoulders slump slightly as she gradually calms her rapidly beating heart. She takes a very small step back towards the barbarian, standing as close as she can without being in the way. And without her presence being too obvious.

Nothing but the sound of stone being placed atop stone fills the air, a comfortable silence surrounding these two lovers. Well, the silence is comfortable for Krvavy, at least.

Adeline’s anxiety just seems to grow and grow as the seconds tick on by.

The Halfling’s big hazel-brown eyes worriedly look over all the work that has been done. A handful of large stone rectangles, not yet smoothed and rounded into quite the right shape, fill what will soon be their living room. All of the work done so far came from the suggestions that she made.

A thin, fur-tipped tail tightly twists around Krvavy’s much meatier one, drawing the Drakling’s attention away from the stone bricks and towards the jittery girl by her side. “You doing alright?” She gently asks, a tinge of concern underlining her otherwise calm tone. “Not still embarrassed about earlier, are you?”

Adeline’s grabs at her floppy bunny ears, distractedly rubbing their soft and velvety fur between her little fingers. “Uhm...” The timid girl shrinks beneath Krvavy’s kind gaze. She nervously shifts her weight side to side while fighting a losing battle against the urge to hide behind those adorable ears of hers.

“It’s okay.” Those soft words seem to do little to ease the Halfling’s nerves. “I’m not going to drown you in more compliments, even if you do deserve them.”

“D-d-d-do I...?” Adeline flinches at her own stuttered words. “D-do I?” She quickly repeats herself, keeping Krvavy from responding right away. “The t-t-trait th-that you g-ga-ga-ave me... i-it...” A choked noise cuts her wavering voice off.

A frown fills the barbarian’s face, one which is luckily not seen by the bunny-mouse girl, who is now fully hiding behind her ears. “Altruistic Assistance?” That question gets a shaky nod in response. “What does that...?” Krvavy trails off before she can finish asking that question, already knowing the answer.

That ambiguously worded trait, which the Halfling got alongside a part of Krvavy’s soul, does two things: it increases the experience gained by whoever Adeline is helping in relation to how helpful she is and it makes Adeline more ‘effective’ at helping others out. It is, no doubt, that second part which the poor girl is getting worked up over.

“You’re worried about the suggestions you’ve given me.” Krvavy carefully comments, resisting the urge to pull her Halfling into a hug. For now. “About if they came from you or from that trait.”

Adeline shudders and slowly lifts her gaze, just barely staring past her bunny ears with wet, glistening eyes.

Krvavy takes a deep breath, her lungs gradually filling with air. She isn’t a particularly eloquent person. Which means that she has to really consider what she is about to say so that her words aren’t misinterpreted. And so that she doesn’t just come off as rude or callous either. Krvavy slowly exhales. “Well... I, personally, really don’t think that trait had anything to do with you coming up with those ideas.”

Confusion fills the tiny blonde’s face, intermingling with worry, fear, embarrassment, anxiety...

“Altruistic Assistance might be unique in what it does, but it isn’t unique in its nature.” The Drakling gently explains. “You aren’t the only one who my soul has... rubbed off on. Both Thea and Khalia also have their own unique traits that they got as a result of... that.”

Adeline jumps slightly as the barbarian’s big hand delicately drops down onto her shoulder. But that bit of contact does seem to reassure her a little, even if it takes her a few seconds to recover from that small surprise.

A soft smile plays at Krvavy’s pale lips, her emerald eyes glimmering with a loving light. “And while those traits all do different things, they aren’t entirely different from each other. As Inanna would point out, they share a pattern. A common factor. They are all built around aspects of who you are. They all focus on a part of your personality or character and... accentuate it.”

The Halfling shivers as the hand on her shoulder gives her a soft squeeze, one which slowly shifts into a tender massage.

“Khalia’s trait, Ardent Anger, focuses on her rage.” Krvavy continues on, her thumb rubbing back and forth across Adeline’s collarbone. “She is an Orc, a Were-Beast, and a berserker. All three of which have rather strong associations with anger. Has that trait turned her into a feral animal that is always frothing with rage and consumed with fury? No. Khalia might be a bit aggressive and excitable, but she isn’t angry all the time. In fact, she is hardly ever angry. She smiles and laughs even when fighting, when she is ‘frenzied’ and supposedly overtaken with rage.”

The bunny-mouse girl slowly lowers her hands, only covering her mouth and chin with those floppy ears of hers. She hardly reacts at all the Drakling’s other hand comes to rest on her other shoulder.

Krvavy leans just a little closer, her strong fingers softly squeezing and kneading all of Adeline’s worries away. “Thea’s trait, Carnal Compliance, focuses on sex. Specifically, it focuses on her ability to have sex more frequently and more intensely. Because, whether she’d admit it or not, that girl is just as much of a degenerate and just as much of a pervert as I am. Maybe even more. But has that trait turned her into a complete nymphomaniac who spends her every waking moment trying to get off? No. She has a high libido, sure, but she is in control of herself and those urges. Thea may have mellowed out and maybe even matured a little since the early days of when I got her, but she is still the same girl that I found in a cage in the middle of that bandit camp.”

The tiny blonde shudders and lets go of her soft bunny ears, letting them drop down and away from her face. She makes a soft breathy sound as the Drakling’s reassuring hands move inwards, brushing against the sides of her neck before gently cupping both of her round cheeks at once.

“And your trait isn’t any different, Adeline.” A warm, affectionate smile accompanies those reassuring words. “It is focused on you helping other people. It makes your help all the more valuable than it already was. But it doesn’t force you to help others, does it?”

Adeline weakly shakes her head.

“That’s right. You help others when they ask, and sometimes even when they don’t, because you are a good person who wants to help people.” The barbarian slowly breathes in and out, her upper horns so close to bumping into that bunny-mouse’s forehead. “The ideas that you had for the kitchen and this new living room are your wonderful ideas. They came from you, not some trait. If you really want to attribute anything to it, then maybe, just maybe, that trait helped you work up the courage to voice your thoughts and get those ideas out into the open. But even then... I think it is fair to say you did that on your own as well, my beautiful little bunny. After all, you are getting more comfortable around here. Slowly but surely, your are growing more confident.”

The Halfling’s little lips quiver as she stares up at Krvavy. Her big hazel-brown eyes are awash with a mix of emotions. Doubt. Relief. Anxiety. Joy. The flurry of feelings reflected in her expressive eyes rapidly shifts and blends together, before being drowned beneath and silenced by surprised shock

Krvavy’s nose clumsily bumps into that of the Halfling as she leans in for a kiss, their lips chastely pressing together. Adeline remains completely still, like a beautiful bottom-heavy statue, utterly overwhelmed by this sudden intimacy.

A deep, red blush fills the timid blonde’s face. And it only seems to grow brighter as the kiss comes to an end... sooner than she would have liked.

“You are so adorable...” Krvavy quietly whispers, her hushed voice hardly even audible.

But the bunny-mouse girl, with her big ears, hears those words. And they snap her free from this daze. “Eeeeeeiieeee...!” She weakly squeaks, slipping free from Krvavy’s gentle hands with a hurried lunge. Her embarrassed face is quickly buried between the barbarian’s bare breasts, her little arms wrapping around Krvavy as tightly as they can.

The Drakling easily meets Adeline’s clingy hug with one of her own, resting a hand on the back of the Halfling’s head while her other arm returns the girl’s embrace.

Krvavy slowly exhales. Her shoulders sag in relief as tension leaves her body. She lets her stressed mind go blank as she relaxes into this hug, thinking of nothing at all while enjoying the warmth of another body pressed up against her own.

Eventually, after who knows how many minutes, their hug comes to an end.

Adeline wiggles and squirms within their shared embrace, prompting the Drakling to loosen her grip and let the girl go.

Rather predictably, the Halfling immediately grabs at her floppy bunny ears and hides her flushed face behind them, muffling the soft and shaky squeaking sounds she just can’t help but make.

A blissful smile plays at Krvavy’s lips. “You know...” she idly begins, still coming back to her senses. “I don’t think I’ve told you this, but... I love you, Adeline. You’re so sweet that... that it’s hard not to.”

The bunny-mouse girl freezes in place. She remains completely still for a few long seconds, not even breathing. Her coiled tail twitches, its tufted tip brushing against the Drakling’s much thicker tail, as she slowly, ever so slowly, peeks past the safety of her soft ears.

Krvavy sheepishly meets the timid Halfling’s unreadable gaze. “Sorry, that’s... probably a bit too much... You don’t have to –”

“I-I...!” Adeline hastily drops her bunny ears so that her little hands are free to grab onto the Drakling’s wrist. “Iloveyoutoooo!” She cries out, her frantic confession blending into a single high pitched squeak.

“Really?” Krvavy can’t keep the surprise off of her face. “I mean –”

“Y-yes...!” The bunny-mouse girl’s courage burns away as she pulls the barbarian’s hand up against her nearly flat chest, sharing the frantically drumming beat of her heart. “Mhhhnhnnnnnhhhh...!” She cutely presses her lips together and makes an even more adorable whining noise

“This... isn’t too fast for you?” The Drakling’s doubts and concerns take advantage of her hesitation, festering in her mind. “We haven’t spent all that much time together. Not really. We hardly even interacted before... before I needed to help you handle your heat. And then I left for the city just a few days after that...”

A slight bit of frustration enters the flurry of emotions filling Adeline’s expressive face. Having to put her thoughts and feelings into words is not something that she is even slightly good at, but it looks like she will have to try...

“I-I...” The Halfling’s hands tighten their grip around Krvavy’s wrist, her little fingers digging into pale skin and black scales. “I-I-I se-see...” She forcibly shuts her eyes, scrunching up her whole face as she takes a deep breath. “I see you and the oth-others...” She slowly exhales, her breath coming out as a soft whimper. “How y-you look at them... H-how they look at you. The warmth... Th-the love... I...” the girl shudders, her little nose twitching as if tears are about to stream down her cheeks once more. “I... want t-t-to b-be a part of th-tha-that... I w-want to love them... t-to love y-y-you... an-and be l-l-loved i-in r-ret-t-t-turn...”

The barbarian bites her bottom lip. “You... you can have that.” She quietly states, confidence returning with each word she utters. “You can have all of that. And more.”

Adeline timidly opens a single eye. “Eeep!” She squeaks and quickly turns her head to the side, unable to muster the courage to meet Krvavy’s intense gaze. That sharp sound breaks the spell hanging over her and this Drakling that she has chosen to love.

A blush colours the cheeks of both barbarian and bunny-mouse.

“Well... I... I guess we should get back to it...?” Krvavy awkwardly speaks up after a few long seconds, savouring the warmth of the two small hands still holding onto her wrist. “Or maybe we should just... go straight to lunch?”

“Lu-lunch...!” Adeline frantically nods, looking a little relieved to just be moving past all of the embarrassing things that they’ve both said.