Meager Power

"That is... something," Thenishale said, looking at my hand. I'd awoken my friends slightly early to talk about it, show them what was going on. There was a bit of confusion, but now it had been replaced entirely by concern, or so it seemed.

Kelessta reached her hand forward, looking to my face to get permission. I was going to accede, but had a second thought. "Might not be a good idea. What if it'd spread?"

She snorted. "You've spent the last couple nights draped over my tail. If it's going to spread, it has spread." I couldn't argue with the logic, so I nodded at her to go ahead. She took my hand, feeling at the fur. "And this doesn't hurt anymore? Even this part?" She asked, pointing at the edge of it.

"Not at all, just unpleasant itchiness for a little bit." Glee over her playing with my hand warred with confusion and anxiety over the reason for it in my head. "Are there magics or whatever that can, like, change a person like this?"

The sekiss woman shook her head, still rubbing her hand over mine. Did she like it? Shit, should I take this as a dub? Yeah, sure, Allison, ignore the fact that weird magic is intrinsically changing your body because it might help you pull. Idiot. "I don't know of anything like it. Certain professions, like fleshmancers, can make edits to a person's body, but as far as I know, nothing like this." She finally pulled away.

"Well, damn. Maybe it's a magical disease that they can cure. How do I access healing in a city like Akh-Bhor? How expensive would it be?"

"Diseases are especially difficult to heal, magical ones even more so. If there even is a public healer here, they're probably in service to a god, and would require some sort of donation." My elf friend looked at me with concerned eyes. "But it does need to be looked at, if for nothing else than to learn more about it. If Basrith were here he might be able to triage it, but at the moment, we are in the dark."

So, just keep an eye on it, huh? Great. That... red lightning nightmare of a dome was still causing problems for me. Couldn't be as simple as a burn. I pushed it out of my mind regardless, resolving to simply hide the hand where I could. We would need to re-center ourselves once within the city anyway. Honestly, the uptick in animal activity would probably do us good. If we could get Thenishale and me armed, we could do a little work. I needed clothes as well; the set I was wearing was on its last legs. Clear out some critters, protect some people, and get passage up north. It might take a little bit, but it'd be a lot more secure than just traveling with the three of us. We weren't a good balance, unlike before. No tank, no support, no utility. Kelessta's ice was all damage, my lightning was almost all damage, and Thenishale's, well, damage, was all damage. We could handle shit like the mu- the legfishers just fine, but anything bigger, we'd have to be real careful.

Honestly, it did hit my mind that they could just abandon me here. Extenuating circumstances, and all that. I couldn't really hold it against them if they immediately wanted to head out to find the rest of their friends, my needs be damned. An extra mouth to feed, body to equip, and mind to keep track of, none of those were conducive to properly getting the next leg of our journey through. So, then, the solution was to either drop me, or integrate me.

Why drop me? Other than the reasons before, I'm also walking drama as soon as my secret is let out. I could sorta fit in with culture, with my affable manner, but I still needed supervision for the most part. I just didn't have the common sense of this world. I'd be just as soon outed for saying something dumb as doing something that could get me arrested. I was also lower level than them, just straight up less powerful. I'm also emotionally compromised, with my affection for Kelessta now being in the open air, at least among these two. If it hadn't been welcomed, that'd be a mark against me, but now it was probably closer to neutral.

But, then again, why drop me? I'm a Champion of a god. I've got a divine mission and no matter what happens, stuff around me is going to be momentous. If they can get in good with me, stay in early, my new friends could easily become part of those things. I had knowledge of science and technology beyond their wildest dreams, so even if I end up leaving the violent life behind, I'm sure I could make it somewhere. I definitely didn't want to inflict capitalism on this world, but it was preferable to dying penniless in the street.

Probably. I do really hate capitalism.

Mostly, at this point, nothing was holding us together other than the fact that we were already together. Inertia and all that jazz. And honestly? I think I was okay with that, at least for now. I needed to survive tomorrow if I'm going to be worrying about next week.

"-on. Allison?" I blinked for a moment, eyes focusing on the woman before me giving me an amused, curious look. "Welcome back," she said.

"Sorry," I said on reflex. "Got lost in thought. Lot going on. Just wondering about next steps once we get there." I pulled my hand away from her and slapped my cheeks. The motion to wake myself up was momentarily ruined by just how sad I was about not having Kelessta stroking my hand, but it served its purpose anyway. "Sorry again. Let's do this, huh? How much money do we have?"

"We," Thenishale said to me with a raised eyebrow, "have enough, for now. Arla has our party funds in her q-sack, but we all have individual stock as well. I spend less than the rest of us, so we will be set on necessities for some time. I can rearm both of us and set us up with lodging for some time, but we will definitely need to find some work if we're to hire help getting us to Vasano."

"It'll be good opportunity to get me some power, too, catch up to you guys." I looked at my - can it be called 'good hand' if both of my hands were good now? Dominant hand. There we go - dominant hand and squeezed it. "I couldn't do shit to that marsh drake."

Patrel laughed ahead of us. "It's a marsh drake. I'm surprised you survived an encounter with one, to be honest."

"Well, it was the red shit that killed it. We got away unscathed because of it, and despite it." I wasn't going to share with them what was going on with my hand. I had been using my left hand to keep my clothes held up for travel, hiding it under the rags to prevent them from seeing. I trusted Thenishale and Kelessta, but we'd just met the militia guys, and there was no telling what they'd do if I just said 'yeah I touched it and now I've got a weird magical disease.'

He just grunted in reply to that. Really not terribly talkative, that one. Outside of a comment or two like that, Han had done most of the communicating. I idly wondered how they knew each other, but it wasn't really that important. It especially fled my mind when we exited the treeline, finally, to see down toward the river valley in which Akh-Bhor sat. It was a sprawling thing, jutting out from several parts alongside its namesake river. No walls encompassed any part of the settlement, though there were clearly some better-defended areas near the center. A large manor stuck up above other buildings beside it, and I pegged it as the center of government, or said center's place of living. Otherwise, the spread of the city was quite impressive. I couldn't guess with perfection, but given the huge amount of little ports dotting the river, I suspected that we were looking at at least twenty or thirty thousand people. Far more than I would have expected, given that we were on the frontier, but hey, magic.

There was a bustle of activity, looking like ants from this distance, going in and out of the place from the east and the south. Lots of boat traffic up and down the river as well. It was a thriving place, somehow, despite its remote location. From the brief geography lessons I'd been granted, Vasano was the nearest large settlement, and it was a month and a half by foot. No road connected them either, as apparently there were political tensions between the individualistic people of Akh-Bhor and the expansionist republic. Settler-expansionist, not militaristic, though I was all too aware how easily the two could coincide.

I pushed existential, political, and economical thoughts aside as we approached the limits of the city. I also strayed a little and made myself seem smaller, trying to act as if I was in my companions' shadow. I wanted to talk to people and learn more, but right now, we needed safety more than anything else. We were accosted by a couple of official looking armed human men, who I assumed were guards, based on the odd pictograph they both had emblazoned on their tunics. It took me just a moment to connect the Y looking shape to the rivers combining into one. I suppose heraldry based on their city's namesake made a lot of sense.

"Militia boys? Two o' ye at least," one of them drawled out. "Got hangers on, by the looks o' it. 'splain, please."

Han stepped forward, hands peacefully on his hips. "Out investigating the source of the angry critters. Got some info, and found these ragged travelers along the way. They got some info for the Commander."

The other guard let out a tsk, leaning on his tall spear. Was it a pike at that length? "Outta luck for a li'l bit then, boys. Yer CO's runnin' 'round down south for another day 'r four. But, we ain't got orders not ta let y'all in, just to vet ye." He looked around Han to peer at us. "Travelers? Y'all look more like mercs to me. Ain't armed 'nuff, though."

"Been a bad couple days, sir," Kelessta said with a grimace. "One might call them disarming."

"Hah! Clever scaly." The first guard let out a quick laugh. "If these boys take responsibility for ye, then I ain't got nothin' against a couple mercs. Y'all do good work out there, makes our lives easier." At the words, the other guard nodded. "Pass on through, yer holdin' up the line."

I glanced behind us and the guards let out a snicker when I saw noone. Well, shit, can't blame 'em for a little bit of fun. "Yeah," I said, "looks like you've got a long day ahead. Don't get too worn down, now."

"I like her," the second guard said as we passed them by. Soon, though, we were inside the city proper. More and more people flooded the streets, and it was extremely colorful. No one species seemed to dominate the demographic here, which was honestly very cool to see. I had been worried, despite our conversations, that it'd be mostly humans everywhere. I'd had enough of that back on earth. Nobody really paid us any attention past a couple looks at Kelessta, who seemed to weather them without any care in the world. We pushed through a portion of the place, passing shops and houses in no real order, before coming to some sort of plaza. It was nice and open, with a couple kids running around one side of the big statue that dominated the center. I had no damn idea who it was of, though, it just looked like some weird modern art piece to me. Like a sheet floating in the wind, but with something inside it.

Han and Patrel turned around, and the former cleared his throat. "Alright. With the commander not around, I'm gonna have to ask you to stick around for a little bit. Probably that full day or four the guard mentioned. There's a decent inn with alright prices down the road here," he pointed, "called the Whistling Whetstone. Mercs frequent it. Right now, not a ton of you around, so there should be plenty of rooms. Or a big one." He shrugged. "You mercs get up to weird shit, I don't care. We'll come and find you once the CO's back, and bring you to him to answer whatever questions he's got. Otherwise, you're free to do what you like. I heard you talkin' about work, and as long as it's not gonna keep you out overnight, do what you like. It's been a pleasure," he said, holding a hand out. Each of the three of us shook it, one by one. The militia guys separated from us, and we shrugged at each other. Nobody was willing to say no to just finding a place to settle down after weeks on our feet. And scales.

Sure enough, a little down the way was the place they'd pointed out. It looked nice, and was actually pretty large. Thinking about it, I looked at a lot of the doorways, realizing that there were enough large sapients that big doorways and such were very normal. I was glad, honestly, that accessibility wasn't completely forsaken in a world like Avare.

Once inside, we hustled over to the reception desk where a bored-looking kanekk man with dull brown scales and filed-down claws sat with his head in a hand. When he saw them, he perked up slightly, though it was clear the boredom underneath the customer service smile hadn't disappeared. "Welcome!" He said. "To the Whistling Whetstone. May I ask your intentions?"

Thenishale nodded and stepped forward. "Looking to stay at least a week maybe more. Two rooms, one of them with accommodation for her," he said, pointing at Kelessta. "Make hers a double, for my two companions."

I could feel my cheeks warming a little, which was absolutely ridiculous. It made sense to have us ladies shack up together, and it wasn't like I hadn't been essentially sleeping with both of them for several nights now. Just not in the euphemism way. But my brain went to the usuals. Only one room left. There was one bed! Dumbass. She'd been my bed for a good bit now. If anything, this was an opportunity to separate, which I wasn't exactly too upset by. I just wanted a bed. I don't care how comfortable Kelessta was (I did, I cared a lot), I needed something normal for at least a few nights.

Kelessta poking my cheek with a finger broke me out of my minor gay overthink episode, and I realized she was holding out a key with her other one. I nodded, and followed along with her. Apparently, due to their weight, large species like sekiss usually bedded on the ground floor. I didn't mind, stairs sucked. Thenishale had already gone up to the second floor. With very little ceremony, my companion unlocked our door and slid in, with me on her tail. I let out an excited little noise that I couldn't hold back when I saw the bed. It was a pretty plain mattress, but the blanket, the pillow, I needed it. I shot towards and fell onto it face first, letting out a little giggle.

"Oh, fuck, I needed this."

"What, am I not good enough for you?" Kelessta's words hit me like a truck and I turned my head to stare at her as she pointed looked away from me and opened the window in the room. A blush was moving up her neck.

"I just needed some normal, okay?" I said weakly. "It's been way too long since I had a normal bed to myself."

She chuckled, but slithered over to the other side of the room. There was a slight indentation where there were several pillows and blankets laid out, like a soft nest. Honestly, it looked wonderful, but now that I was laying on the relatively soft mattress, I wasn't going anywhere. "Did we decide what we were doing with the rest of today?"

"No," she answered. "Rest for a bit. Get dinner when we're hungry. Real food, from a restaurant." I could almost see her salivating. "It's been far too long."

"Shit, that's right," I said. "You guys have been going even longer than I have. When was the last time you got to have this kinda experience?"

"We did stop briefly in Pewich, but that was almost six months ago."

"Goddamn." They'd been going three times as long as I had. "That normal?"

"No," she responded, shaking her head. "Even out here in the wilds, usually trips are planned with less danger. The professor had specific wants, however, and he paid well. Well, the countess paid well, I suppose."

"Shit. Well, alright. Bet you're glad to be back somewhere you can rest."

She hmmed in reply, and we both lapsed into quiet. It was half companionable quiet, half anxious. We both knew we'd have to talk, but weren't sure how to begin it. I was worried she'd blow me off because of what'd happened, and honestly, I couldn't hold that against her. I counted Arla, Rachel, and Basrith as friends, but still pretty new acquaintances. I was worried, but not devastated. It was like-

"So," my roommate prattled.

"So." I responded eloquently. "We don't have to do this now."

"I do," she responded. I looked over at her and shuffled my body so I could look at her more easily. She looked very guarded, and a little embarrassed, but nothing like scared or anxious. A good sign? "You said your world doesn't discriminate on it, but..." she looked away. "Some places here very much do."

I blinked. Great. Bigoted nonsense was the same even on another world. "Well, shit, some of y'all are really behind the times then." I huffed and turned to look at the ceiling. "It's ridiculous. You can't help who you're attracted to. It just is. I don't wanna make light of the circumstance, but girl, even if society is behind, you're just gonna be miserable if you let it control you." I bit my upper lip for a moment, then forced myself to release the flap of flesh. "Sometimes you just gotta live," I said more quietly. "Even if some people judge you for it."

"You were judged? For this? I thought you-"

"No," I said with a forced laugh. "Something else, but the lesson remains the same. Can't let other opinions of you control you. 'Course it matters what others think, but it only matters as much as you let it."

Kelessta huffed. "I'm not sure how we got here, but I'm fine. I do appreciate your perspective, but I am unworried about my own predilections. I was simply warning you."

"Consider me so warned," I said dismissively. I didn't wanna think about fundies, I wanted to think about cute snake women.

"Regardless," she brought herself back up, and my vision found her again. "I... admit to thinking fondly of you. You've been a pleasant travel partner and you're nice on my eyes. If you are willing to brave the odd looks and judgement, I would be happy to attempt to court you."

I blinked and had to fight back my reaction. She had just gone up several points in my book, because damn, I'm weak for assertive women. "I, ah, would love that. 'Court'. Mean, like, take me on a date?"

"Yes," she responded. She looked relieved, her glittering blue eyes softening. "Perhaps I could help you with your shopping tomorrow?"

I smiled. "That would be lovely. I guess, yeah, we're 'courting' I suppose."

"Just the initial phase," Kelessta said quickly. "I like you, but we need to spend time together, just the two of us, to see if it will go anywhere." She shifted in her spot and let out a big yawn. "Well, that went much easier than I thought it would. My heart was pounding something fierce."

I laughed. "Me too. I was worried you were gonna push me away."

She let out a hmph at that, but laid back in her nest, and settled in. "And let someone like you get away? Absurd." She rose a hand and waved it at me. "Now, with that terrifying bit out of the way, I need a nap. I'm sure Thenny will wake us in time for dinner." And with those words, she was out like a fucking light. I knew she could do that, of course, having seen it a couple times while traveling, but it was still damn interesting and impressive.

A big smile hit my face and I let out a little noise of happiness while I laid more comfortably on the bed. So what if my hand was weird now? I had a date.