Vol.5 Ch.30.1 – Future Plans And Caring Goddess I

Chapter 30: Future Plans And Caring Goddess

“You know,” I said as I was taking off my clothes, “when you said you wanted a hot bath I was expecting something different.”

Alisha, Yume and I had headed straight to the bath after our little talk and I had fully expected to find Melinoe bent over, being teased relentlessly by Selene and Anna. What I found instead was the three of them sitting in the enormous tub, soaking in the hot water, simply relaxing with their eyes closed. In a way, this seemed stranger to me. Not so much because I had expected them to just go for it but because of how naturally Melinoe fit into our little group, already comfortable enough to simply bathe with everyone, with no ulterior motive.

“We could use some dinner before we do any of that,” Selene said, her tone a bit wry.

I opened my mouth to protest right as my stomach began to growl.

Selene raised a single eyebrow.

“Alright, you have a point,” I said.

“Should I make us something?” Alisha asked, pausing with her hands on the knot that held her top together.

“Later,” I said. “If we get too hungry we can just have those sandwiches you prepared us.” After the talk we'd just had there was no way I'd send her away for any reason.

“Oh gods below, did we even eat any of them?” she asked and the question gave me pause as well.

Alisha had made sandwiches with the whole pork loin we'd roasted before heading to Olympus and aside from the short breaks in Hermes' and Athena's tholoi we hadn't actually taken any breaks long enough to warrant eating.

“I grabbed one in Athena's tholos,” Selene said.

“I took one after Poseidon's shrine,” Yume said. “It was good, thank you.”

“Did cutting those chains tire you out that badly?” I asked. Yume had, after all, cut the heavy chains holding Poseidon down while underwater. Even with a mastery of Qi on her level, that couldn't have been easy.

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Get in the water already,” Melinoe said, “it's nice.”

I chuckled and continued undressing, then placed my clothes into a little basket. Folded, of course, lest Anna's maid get angry with me. Once naked I did not immediately jump into the tub, however. Anna's bath setup was apparently similar to something from Yume's homeland and so the actual cleaning was done on a few stools arranged along a wall. I sat down on one with a basket of warm water and a bar of soap. I was about to reach for the soap and lather myself up but before I could Yume snatched the soap away from me.

“Allow me,” she said and began lathering me up.

She did this occasionally, about as often as I did it for her, but right now I could tell that it was her way to redress whatever imbalance she had apparently caused in our relationship and so I didn't argue but simply enjoyed it.

As she worked she let out soft coos that told me Alisha was busy lathering up Yume's magnificent fox tails, something that never failed to cause Yume to let out the most adorable sounds.

“We shouldn't have rushed into the bath,” Melinoe said wistfully and I turned around to see her watching us from the edge of the tub.

“You'll have plenty of chances to get lost in Yume's tails,” Anna said and Melinoe blushed furiously in response. Anna had just implied that we wanted Melinoe to stick around after this and, crucially, Melinoe hadn't refused the suggestion.

I was about to make a comment but then I felt Yume's pillowy breasts pressing against my back as she started taking the bar of soap to my chest. “That feels amazing,” I muttered instead as I got lost in the feeling of Yume's soft skin on mine.

“I know,” she replied. Her tone wasn't as smug as it should have been, more gentle than usual. I leaned my head back and she took the opportunity to give me a soft kiss.

When she had me all lathered up I snatched the bar of soap from her and began lathering up her front while Alisha continued working on her tails. Yume's tails were enormous balls of fluff that took a lot of soap and getting them all soaped up took a while. I wondered sometimes just how long this routine used to take her when she'd had nobody to do this for her but it was one of the many things about Yume that I refused to pry about. She had led a storied life, that I knew, but the specifics still eluded me. Neither did I know much about her family, other than the few snippets about her father, a merchant from our realm. She had never offered much about her mother, other than the fact that she'd played the perfect mother and wife while Yume's dad had still been alive.

I wondered if she'd ever trust us enough to tell us more about her life and her family. Or maybe it simply had nothing to do with trust and was simply about her not wanting to relive old memories, even with people she trusted.

But I shook the thoughts off. Getting lost in melancholy thoughts was difficult while lathering up Yume's perfect breasts, firm globes just large enough to fit comfortably into my hands.

“I thought we weren't going to do anything lewd until after dinner,” she cooed, squirming under my hands on her boobs and Alisha's hands on her tails.

“I'm just making sure to thoroughly clean my mate,” I said, then focused on the underside of her breasts.

“Is that so?” Yume asked, mock suspicion in her voice.

“Absolutely,” I said, then pulled her into a hug, off of her little stool, so that I could lather up her exquisite ass. Alisha had since graduated to kneading Yume's cute little fox ears with soapy hands.

“So jealous...” Melinoe muttered, still watching us intently.

“If you're jealous already, wait until you see what happens next,” I said and leaned just far enough away from Yume to give her a wink.

The little fox understood instantly.

As one we turned on Alisha and yanked her between us before beginning to lather her up. Soon enough the little elf was the one cooing and moaning between us and I made sure to look Melinoe dead in the eyes as I started lathering up the elf's ass.

As I'd said, Alisha and Melinoe looked similar, to an almost eerie degree. They had similar body types, with Melinoe being the littlest bit shorter than Alisha, and their hair was similarly fluffy, though of different colors. And Melinoe understood exactly what I was trying to tell her. That, soon enough, we would be doing the same to her. And judging by the demigoddess' labored breathing, she clearly couldn't wait.

When we had the squirmy little elf all lathered up we each retreated to our own little stools to wash the soap off and only then did we join the others in the bath.

“So, what's next for us?” Anna asked. “After tonight, I mean.”

I chuckled soundlessly. “I assume we'll be going back and forth between here and Olympus for the next couple of days. I need my sword back, we need to get our reward from Athena and we need to collect our boon from Zeus.”

“About that,” Melinoe said. “Have you already decided on something?”

“I have an idea,” I said hesitantly, “but this is too big for me to decide alone.”

“You've already thought of something good, though,” Yume said. It wasn't a question.

“I have,” I admitted. “Hestia was right. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we need to ask for something outrageous, something no one but the King of the Gods could grant.”

“So tell us,” Alisha said.

So I told them. With each word I spoke the corners of Yume's lips rose a little bit more and by the time I was done speaking Melinoe had grown pale.

“Outrageous is right,” she said. “There's no way he'd grant those wishes under ordinary circumstances.”

“Then it's a good thing these aren't ordinary circumstances,” Anna countered, then looked at me. “I think those are good wishes.”

“I agree,” Yume said. “Though I admit I am biased.”

I gave the little fox a smirk. They were fairly selfless wishes, as these things went, but the first one would benefit her more than anyone else.

“I get what you're trying to do,” Alisha said, “but I was still hoping you'd pick something a little more selfish.”

“That's what our reward from Athena is for,” I said. “With Zeus' boon we have the chance to ask for something on a cosmic scale. Don't worry, we'll all get a lot of nice new toys to play around with once we raid whatever treasury Olympus has.”

She nodded at that.

“What about you?” I asked Selene. “What do you think?” That first wish would concern her as well, maybe more so than Yume.

“That first wish...” she said hesitantly. “You know what that means, right?”

“I'll be there with you every step of the way,” I promised. “But if you don't want to...”

“Then you'll do it?” she asked. “With Athena?”

I winced. Yeah, that would be a last resort. I would do it if I had to but only if I had to.

“Don't worry,” she said. “I'll do it. But I'm still not happy with her.”

“Thank you,” I said very clearly.

Yume, likewise, nodded her head in thanks.

“Shall we get something to eat?” Alisha asked once it had become clear that the discussion was over.

“I think that would be for the best,” Yume said and, as if to underscore her point, her stomach growled.