1.16 – Karla

No content warning needed, I think.

edit: Per a comment, "... I'd add a 'questionable consent' warning to this and the next chapter. Her class is almost literally forcing her to be turned on and she acted on that impulse without really being in the right state to do so, while also being pushed to do it by Emma."

Maple hadn't needed to ask. A gentle stream of liquid was already shooting out the tip of Emma's finger and onto the cat lady's chest. It wasn't water.

The liquid dissolved all the dirt and rot it came into contact with and evaporated away. When the bulk of it was gone, the stranger came out of her stupor and looked up for the first time.

"What are you doing—oh. Ugh."

"Since when could you do that?"

And if she could, then why had she always insisted on manually scrubbing her? Maple eyed the Slime. Emma just grinned, too preoccupied with aiming her stream to write out the Skill. [Purifying Solution].

Maple's voice made the stranger turn to her.

"You! This is your fault—you kicked it right at me!"

She had actually gotten up and was bearing her claws at Maple. The only thing stopping her from actually pouncing was the fact Emma was still washing the rest of the ick off her.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident! It was coming toward me so I—"

"I'm never wearing this shirt again—you better pay to replace it! And for the psychological damage, and—wait a minute. What are you? A Soap Slime?"

Emma carefully slid herself between the two. The cat woman seemed to truly notice her then, and Emma tipped her cowgirl hat to her. Slipperiest [Soapy Helper] in Syber. At your service.

She didn't write that—that was just how Maple voiced the gesture in her head. She popped her work permit out from the palm of her hand and held it up to the lady as if it were a deputy's badge.

"So you are! Emma, is it? I'm Karla, owner of the Oasis Bathhouse. Are you looking for a job? What level are you? I could offer you...three silver a day. Plus benefits. Four silver—name your price!"

Karla's long cat ears twirled as she locked her sight on Emma. Within the sporadic sales pitch she was mumbling to herself about numbers and phrases like 'raw material cost', 'employee efficiency', and 'synergy'.

Emma backed away from the strange woman. She sucked Maple's arm into her body and was half-hiding behind her Human. She seemed intent on not dealing with this solid herself.

Maple flicked her gaze between the two—she'd already messed up big time with this lady herself. What a time for Emma to become shy. Three or four silver a day was pretty good, though.

As she understood it, about 1 silver a day was the poverty line for a single person in this world. At that level you likely wouldn't be able to live alone, but you'd survive. A couple living together and each making that could probably manage it.

"Maybe you should consider it?"

Emma gave Maple an unamused look. Not one of outright refusal—as far as she could tell—but one that said they'd already talked about this and she'd have to negotiate for her to make it palatable.

Maple turned to Karla while letting Emma use her as a Human shield. Karla frowned, but she knew the score. If she wanted the Soap Slime, she had to go through the less desirable Human.

"Um, uh—I think she mainly wanted to find a job somewhere that serves food..."

Emma nodded, looking pleased. Yeah, you tell her.

"Food? Why's that? Good luck finding an inn that'll pay...5 silver a day."

Karla's tail was swinging low and irritably while she looked at Maple, but became lighter when she turned to Emma and upped the offer by another silver.

Emma reacted by squeezing Maple's arm hard enough for it to start to go numb. She was shaking a little.

Some guilt crept into Maple as she realized she'd misjudged Emma's earlier look. She didn't understand what had Emma so upset, but she didn't need to. Even if it was a lot of coin.

"I don't think she's interested, actually. Sorry—"

"Listen here, girl. You don't speak for her. You're lucky I don't—"

"Maple? Are you two alright?"

Bailey was panting and covered in filth. Relief flooded through the couple as they turned and saw him. Followed by disgust. How many had he killed? It was soaked into his fur and clothes—and he smelled.

"Ew—um, sorry. Yeah, we're alright. There was just a little thing that happened though, and...Are you alright?"

Karla scrunched her nose up and backed away as she seemed to remember her own state.

"Ugh. We'll settle this later. I need a bath and I bet a lot of others do too. Stop by the Oasis if you change your mind, Miss Emma. And don't think you're off the hook, Human Maple. I have your name."

The bathhouse owner stormed off. Emma perked up and finally released Maple. She strode over to the off-duty guard and gave him a light hug on his side, avoiding actually touching most of the gunk on him.

"Hrr? Hello, Emma. Nice hat? And what was that about?"

He gestured to Karla with his eyes, and Emma pulled out her notebook while Maple shared her version of events.

"Um. I kicked one of those rats—and what were those things?!—and then it exploded and half of it landed on her, and then she got mad and—ewww, look it's on my leg still. Can you do that thing again, Emma?"

The Soap Slime looked up and shook her head. She wrote a single word: cooldown. She finished the sentence she was writing and showed it to Bailey.

Arrest that woman!

"Arrest? Why? Hrr. What an ordeal. They were just some undead rats though; one of the consequences of having a sewer. Nobody was hurt, at least. Not that this normally happens. The city will have a team of adventurers investigate."

"Ew. I wondered why they looked like that. And I don't know. She offered her a job at some bathhouse, but I think Emma doesn't like her for some reason."

The Soap Slime nodded and folded her arms. Bailey asked if she'd done something to her, but Emma just glared silently in the direction she'd walked off.

The Gnoll sighed. He looked down at himself and then back up at Maple.

"File a report at a guardhouse if it's serious. I need a bath and a fresh change of clothes. I don't think we'll be able to have lunch today. I'm sorry I wasted your time."

"Aw, it's not your fault though. We can still do it another day. And—I do too. Are you going to a bathhouse? The inn doesn't have much plumbing. We probably shouldn't go to uh, the Oasis, but..."

Bailey was looking down and rubbing uncomfortably at his wet fur. He looked rather miserable.

"The guard's dorm, where I live, has plumbing and private bathrooms. You might want to try the bathhouse east of here. It's only a few blocks."

He pointed and shifted his feet. His nose twitched occasionally, probably from the smell soaking into him.

"Oh. Well, alright then. See you around?"

"Ye—"

Emma elbowed his stomach and faced her notebook toward him. He read it and then shot a quick glance at Maple before sharply half-whispering.

"I can't do that. That'd be rude."

"Do what?"

Maple tried to peek at what Emma had wrote, but the Slime didn't let her.

"Hrr. Nothing—"

A raised eyebrow made him give up hiding it.

"Emma said that I should invite you over—and I thought that would be far too presumptuous, of course, so don't worry about it I'll just—"

"Invite me over then. If you want..."

Maple blushed and looked away. Wasn't that too presumptuous of her. Really, that pushy Slime...

"Wha—are you sure? It is a dorm. And the other guards live there. They might get the wrong idea if they see you, and me, together—"

"So what? They're a bunch of assholes. Why should I care about what they think?"

He just had to bring that up again. Maple frowned in thought for a moment and came to some angry conclusions.

"All I've done is feel ashamed about the classes the dumb system here assigned to me. And maybe I did get them because that's just how I am deep down, but I shouldn't have to care what a bunch of idiots think about it. You called them that yourself. So, so what?"

She looked up at the Gnoll and felt a little embarrassed. Her mood was worse than she'd thought, and the rant came off stronger than intended.

The largest factor in her sour mood, she realized, wasn't from remembering the rude guards yesterday. It wasn't from the rats or Karla either.

She was just—pent up. All the way from earlier that morning. Like hunger, it had turned into a dull ache and slipped into the background. A pang hit her conscious mind every now and then, but she could ignore it.

And yet the feeling affected her even if she did. Right now it was making her kind of grumpy. And would she have agreed to go to his home or said all that if her mental state were 'normal'?

She wasn't sure.

She worried her classes were changing her fundamentally. Was she still herself? Did she really feel this way? The question of whether or not this was a mistake reached the tip of her mind, but Bailey spoke.

"Hrr. I see. If you're certain, then let's go get cleaned up. Maybe we can still get food somewhere if you're not busy after."