Trips are good for the soul, Right? (M)

[Nevin]

Her clothes….had virtually come apart, the intricate bows that tied her entire outfit together had loosened. Exposing more of her skin. The slightly tanned curvature of her breast, the rounded softness of her upper thigh…. Was she - sweet flow. No he could not think that. It was the alcohol, or he was misunderstanding. That had to be it, because there was no way, no damn way, that his girlfriend’s sister was inviting him to bed with her. He stood there, resting deeply - then moved to the bed.

Before she could react, he had grabbed the edge of her futon covers and flipped them on top of her, taking the bottle from her hand in the process. He leaned down and stared into her eyes for a moment, his gaze dark and hungry - then he stood up and took a long swallow from the bottle.

“I told you I would have loved to make you scream.” His voice was thick with desire, but he turned around and walked towards the door. “Have a good night, Ayaka.”

“FUCKIN TEASE!” He heard her spit back. Then another mumble. “Fuckin Eteri getting the good ones…” Then more incoherent rambling. Then silence. His grip on the bottle of alcohol tightened. Oh, he wished he could do more than ‘tease’ her. A fiery, feisty woman who knew her way around Alchemy? He drained the bottle and left the room, stumbling towards where she had indicated the bathroom was.

He needed an ice shower after that display and that cry. Otherwise he might go back. Not a good idea. The redhead had to fight with the sliding door to get it to work - he wasn't sure he had done it correctly. Finally with a grunt and a slam he got it to open fully, and he ducked through to look at the bathroom. And he stopped, and blinked.

In one corner sat a decently large tub, currently empty. But there was no shower - instead, against one wall was a low bench in a tiled area, with a faucet and hose in front of it. Huh. Did you wash, then soak? He sighed and shrugged - that's what he would do, even if it might be wrong. Not like Ayaka, drunk and passed out, was going to come join hi- come judge him.

So he slid the door - well, he got it half closed before he gave up. He shook his head and dropped his bag against the wall, then began stripping down. As Nevin took off his clothes he folded them up and set them down beside the bag. The water to the tub was started, so it would fill as he scrubbed down, and then he folded himself down onto the little bench and turned on the water to the hose.

He thought he heard movement from the next room but did his best to ignore it. It was her house after all. If she was stumbling around drunk it was her perogative. She said she did this often. If she was having to fill a role she didn't want for people she clearly didn't think too much of - well. He wasn't one to talk poorly of using drink to de-stress. He ducked his head into the water and began scrubbing his hair down.

Ayaka stumbled in, wearing nothing but a towel around her lower region. “Eh?” She stared at him for a few moments as though her mind was still processing that he was here. She turned and left and Nevin stared after her for a solid minute. Then he slowly shook his head, and rinsed down before heading to climb into the tub.
That had been - well. She was a looker. Those full, heavy breasts were mouth watering. Thank Crimson she had left -

She returned with a few vials and approached the tub pouring them into the water. “This’ll….help relax… or..fuckin….make yer rashy… cant remember…” she mumbled as she tried to read the labels…. After pouring the sweet smelling concoction into the tub. Ayaka fell to her knees and pressed her painfully naked breasts on the side of the bath. “Whats yer fuckin’ deal?” She mumbled.

Nevin dragged his gaze up from the compressed flesh, shaking his head slightly to clear the thoughts away. As the sweet concoction filled his nose he tilted his head to the side.

“What do you mean?” no one could blame him for his voice being tight. Or his eyes for wandering despite his control.

[Ayaka]

Ayaka was an early riser; so when the first rays of dawn hit her face she groaned and pushed herself up and out of bed. Ignoring the pounding headache from downing a few good glasses of whiskey, and bottles of sake the night before. “Ugh…. She pressed her thumb and forefinger to her head and moaned. Now was not the time to be hungover. She had to get dressed and head back to the temple.

Then there was the matter of Nevin. Sure...he was moping about in the next room… but that wasn’t on the top of the list of priorities she had. He had his own shit to sort out.

Ayaka busied herself with her daily tasks; bathing, eating, dressing herself and making sure she didn’t look like a sloppy mess. The usual stuff that a functioning adult was required to do, of course, her routine also included a few hairs off the dog. Pick me up shots.

She turned to the small space used as the living room where Nevin was awkwardly curled up. She gave him a kick. “Oi. Wake up. We gonna see yer girlfriend.”

He uncredited himself and shook his he'd roughly, clearing away the fog of slumber as he stared at her silently. He seemed to be examining her for something, but he snorted and stood up, then pulled on a jacket over the clothes he had gone to sleep in.


Ayaka left her small one bedroomed house smelling faintly of whiskey but she didn’t give a flying fuck. She turned into the main street. Ayaka prefered the streets like this. Quiet. Peaceful. The few nekojin dotted here and there...and…. One other thing….

Her eyes narrowed upon a tall and dark man. No...his soul was old. Very old. He was approaching her, walking the opposite direction. As they passed she caught whiff of whiskey, sex, and something else. He gave her a smirk and a small wink. “Hello.” he said, tipping his head slightly.

“Fuck off Demi-god.” Ayaka spat back. It was an assumption of course. The man was way, way too young compared to his soul but he didn’t hold a divine spirit. “Go crawl back into the brothel you pulled yerself out of.”

He shrugged with an amused chuckle and continued onward. Ayaka glanced behind her at him. Well, at least he had a good ass. Damn….that whole ordeal with Nevin last night really messed her up. Maybe she’d find the man later if he was still in town and offer him a quick fuck.

Nevin watches silently, his head tilted to one side. He seemed about to say something, but shook his head and continued on towards the temple. He had yet to say a word to her, now that she thought about it.


Ayaka arrived at the temple with Nevin. She headed past the open room and into the private quarters, to the side there was a set of stairs that were partitioned off, no entrance was normally permitted. But, Ayaka being Ayaka..wasn’t going to pay attention to that. She stepped over the thin rope and ascended the stairs. It lead to what was known as the ‘observation bay’ into the solitary ceremonial chamber.

It was solitary, but not completely closed off from the rest of the world, how else would people monitor those inside? The narrow staircase lead way to decking painted red that overlooked the ceremonial chamber. Thin glass separated the two, it shimmered with enchantments, no doubt to stop sound and other pollution.


<”Of course it ain’t working…..”> Ayaka mumbled as she looked down into the room.

The room itself was unassuming, and could be considered relaxing. A constant breeze blew, creating gentle airflow. The bells attached to Eteri chimed gently. She sat in a shallow pool of warm water, surrounded by smooth rocks in the centre of the room. Surrounding the pool was a small path out in stone atop white sand. The sand had been raked in weaving patterns. It was not a place to fear, it was a place of peace, worship, and purity.



A place for silent contemplation, solitary meditation and new beginnings. So why…

Why was there such a feeling of unease. Ayaka looked down upon her sister, resting with her legs curled up under her in the pool of water. Her eyes half lidded. She was dazed and swaying back and forth. The priest stood in front of her with a palm on her head, steadying her as he chanted.

This….this looked normal but it felt wrong. Ayaka hugged herself, she wasn’t used to feeling such uneasiness. She swallowed and tried to rationalise it. She was watching her younger sister, someone who couldn’t sit still for a moment be...perfectly still. It was unnatural to see. So that was why Ayaka felt uneasy. She shook her head and turned to Nevin.


“See, nothin’ to worry about.”

She didn’t sound so sure about that.