Cherry & Lime

Why’d we have to get interrupted? I asked myself as we trekked back toward the city.

It’s been maybe an hour since we left the guys behind, but neither of us has said much to each other since then. It was just awkward.

We both seem lost in thought over what almost happened between us. And we won’t be able to do anything once we’ve returned to the city, either… Now or never, I guess.

“Allamyne?” I asked.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Well… Once we’re in the city again, it might be some time before we get another chance…”

Her eyes opened wide. “Oh. So… you want to…?”

“Um, yeah, I, uh… Yes.”

Ugh, this is so awkward! And I can clearly see my cheeks glowing! Stupid cheeks!

“Okay. The others were being considerate, after all.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, um, they know we’re both bad at this, so they were happy to let us leave so we could have some privacy.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, so…”

This isn’t going anywhere. I nervously stepped forward and wrapped my arms around her waist. My hands are probably so sweaty right now. Wait, do slimes sweat? No, shut up, stupid brain. You can think about slime sweat later, I’ve got a girl to kiss.

Several seconds of intense gazing into the other’s eyes passed, and we both decided to go for it. Our lips met, and hers were oh so soft. I forgot how awkward and nervous I was feeling and just lost myself in her.

It was several minutes later that we parted, and I saw her expression go from one of warmth, to confusion, and then worry.

“Jade!? Jade, are you okay?!”

“What? Yeah, I’m fine! What’s going on?”

She stared at me in bewilderment before finally speaking, “Uh, you kinda… lost your shape a little bit. Like, you looked less defined.”

“What!?” My hands were the only part of my body not covered in armor. I looked at them, terrified of what I might find, but they were completely normal. Or at least as normal as a pair of clear green hands can look.

“Um, I don’t feel any different?” I said apprehensively.

“You look fine now? You’re back to normal…”

“Well, what does that mean? What happened? Am I going to have to talk to Moore again?”

After thinking for a while, she said, “I have an idea. Kiss me again.”

“What? But what about…?”

“Just an experiment. I have an idea, but it will probably be easier if I tell you after. Just… try to relax. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“Okay?” I stepped closer to her again, nervous for an entirely different reason this time. What if I hurt her somehow?

She had to pull me in because I was hesitating, but we returned to how we were just a couple minutes ago. It felt just as nice as before, but I was worrying too much to get entirely into it.

We pulled back, and after examining my face, she began chuckling. “Oh, this is actually adorable.”

“Wh-What? Where did that come from?”

“You don’t change much, but there is a noticeable difference. Basically, kissing me makes you melt in my arms. Just a little bit.”

“…What.” That is not what I was expecting her to say.

“I think it’s fine, it’s just something for us to be aware of.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. And the only way to test it seems to be more kissing,” she replied cheekily.

I blushed. “O-Oh.”

“As a side note, kissing you literally restores me. I could feel the effects of the potion. A couple minor bruises and scratches went away.”

“Seriously? I have a healing kiss? What is this, a fairy tale?”

She laughed. “That’d make me your princess then, wouldn’t it?”

I groaned. “This is getting embarrassing. Sanor can never know.”

“Agreed.”

“I bet he’d make a dumb joke about my lips being lime-flavored or something.”

“Sounds like something he would say.”

Changing the subject, I said, “Um, so… this is nice, but it’d be even nicer without either of us covered in armor.”

She blushed, “U-Um…”

“I-I didn’t mean like…! I just thought that if we went back to your room, we wouldn’t have to be wearing all this stuff.”

“My room, eh?”

My cheeks were competing with the sun at this point. “W-We don’t have to d-do anything! I j-just wanted to not be covered in armor!”

She bit her lip and looked away. “You are way too cute,” I heard her mutter.

“I… Wha…? Huh?” She’s making me feel so embarrassed and happy at the same time. This is unfair! I can’t compete!

“Okay, let’s go back. Continuing here might mean monsters or other questers finding us. Or even worse, Sanor.”

“I… Yeah, okay.” Finally, a breather. She surprised me with a sudden peck on the cheek, then smiled and began walking ahead. I stood frozen on the spot.

“Are you coming or what? I thought you wanted to get back?” she teased.

“I’ll get you back for that!”

“Yeah, I hope so.”

“Anything my princess desires.”

“Don’t you start with that.”

I cackled.

———

After returning to the inn, we went to her room and were able to get much more into kissing than before. My “melting” didn’t turn out to be a problem, as so far it hadn’t gone beyond just minor changes that would simply disappear once I was no longer feeling so emotionally gooey.

Being able to be close with someone, to be able to feel the warmth of their body and their care and desire for you through their touch is a truly amazing feeling. A feeling that is only enhanced by my comfort in her warmth and her being healed through my kiss.

Because this was an inn that catered to questers, the rooms were smaller and cheaper than they would be at a regular inn, so with two people sharing a room, we were feeling pretty cozy.

We talked for a bit about whether or not we should share a room, and decided it was fine. While it was true that we’d only just begun dating, we both decided we were comfortable with it as it’s not as if we’ve only just recently met. I moved my things to her room and informed the proprietor, then we headed out.

Unlike some inns, the only food at this one was travel food for sale to questers, and nearly all the space the inn occupied was comprised of small rooms for the guests. There wasn’t a lobby or dining area, or anything else other than the bare minimum.

Questers usually held all their meetings at the Guild, and don’t often spend much time in their rooms, which is why they are so small and cheap. People in any inn usually don’t spend a great deal of time in their rooms, but questers do so even less than a non-quester would.

Since we needed a place to meet and weren’t going to discuss the details of a quest, we just headed to the nearby tavern that we’d been frequenting since arriving in this city.

After a couple hours, Sanor and Mallok showed up, and after ordering food and drinks, they sat down with us.

“So let’s just get the important stuff out of the way before we completely relax,” Mallok stated. Turning to Jade, he said, “We’ve talked in the past about getting a dedicated healer for our party, but considering that we’d have to find someone who was okay with all our situations, we think that that role should instead go to you.”

“I’ve considered that a bit,” I replied. “But you’re all aware that I can only heal through physical contact, yes? I don’t have anything that could even count as a spell.”

He nodded. “That’s true, but that’s still far more than an average person could do. Sanor can sing a song of minor healing for all of us, and Allamyne can cast a spell of minor healing that works a bit faster than Sanor’s song does. But you’re healing ability is much greater than that, despite the touch requirement. And though we didn’t test it, consuming a… pellet… could potentially eliminate poisons or internal injuries.”

I shared a look with Allamyne and could tell we both understood that I should share what I found out. “Um… We didn’t test it with a pellet, but, uh, my saliva worked.”

Sanor’s face started stretching into a huge grin. Before he had a chance to say whatever stupid joke he’d come up with, Allamyne and I both kicked him in the shins under the table and Mallok gave him a stern look.

“Ow! I’m being bullied! I haven’t even said anything yet!”

“’Yet,’” I repeated with my eyes narrowed.

With that settled, I added, “That said, I’m not sure how I feel about that since it’s something I produce with my body.”

Mallok responded, “You wouldn’t have to kiss us, obviously. Just… uh, emit some slime. And if you think about it, people eat all kinds of bizarre or even disgusting things in their daily lives. In your case, it would just bit a tiny bit for healing purposes. It’s not even food.”

I sighed. “Yeah. I guess. It still seems super weird, though.”

With a lull in the conversation, Sanor saw an opportunity to ask Allamyne, “So did she taste like lime juice?”

I kicked him again, Allamyne elbowed him in the ribs, and Mallok said, “That thing we were talking about doing tonight? It’s not going to happen now.”

If I mention that I predicted he would say almost exactly that then he might just become even more annoying.

This time Sanor looked aghast, and after settling down, said, “Sorry. One last one to get out of my system.” He pointed at me and said, “Since you’re green, you can be lime,” he moved his finger in Allamyne’s direction, “And you can be cherry!”

While the other two were justifiably abusing him again, I dropped a little slime into his ale.

“Wh-What did you just do?” he asked.

“Alcohol counts as a poison, right? Now if you drink that, you’ll be completely sober. And you’re not someone who would just waste a full mug of ale, right?”

“You should drink it,” Mallok nodded. “To make sure consuming it will really work like that.”

Sanor pouted at his ale. “So cruel, all of you.” He chugged it, then blinked his eyes and shook his head. “Yep, it definitely works. Probably didn’t need to put that much in, though. Felt kind of weird to drink liquid, then thick liquid. I also didn’t notice any difference in the flavor.”

“Thanks for the input!” I said with a false smile. “You can be our test subject for the night.”

While Sanor grumbled and went off to get another ale, Mallok said to me, “I’ve also thought of a use for your tendril ability; briefly extending your reach in combat. And other situations, too, I suppose.”

“Oh… Yeah, that might work.”

After coming up with a few ideas for myself and the party, we then moved on to just chatting as we normally would, while continuing to experiment with with Sanor’s ales. We found that I wouldn’t need to put much in to give the restoration effect, and that it would wear off before the ale was digested, so it wouldn’t work as a “heal over time” type of effect.

We also found that it could be stirred up so that it was completely mixed in with the ale and not a viscous substance at the bottom of the mug. The last thing we found was that the effect would completely vanish if left for an hour with a decent-sized pellet, and sooner for a smaller one.

Being properly mixed into the ale made the effect stay longer, basically making it so he couldn’t get drunk. He hated that. We loved it.

———

With the day over with, Allamyne and I headed back to her… our… room. Thankfully, it wasn’t uncommon for questers to share rooms, even with the limited space, so it wasn’t unusual for me to be here as a fellow party member.

People would usually share a room to save money, though there are exceptions, such as family members, or… couples.

We were both already in our nightgowns, and though we didn’t outright strip in front of the other, we didn’t make sure the other wasn’t looking, either.

“How many questers do you think are secret gays?” I thought out loud, thinking about the different scenarios that might cause questers to share a bed.

Allamyne stared at me. “…Probably more than we’ll ever know, now that I think about it.”

I nodded and yawned. It’s strange that I still yawn, considering I no longer sleep the way a human would.

“Inside or outside?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“The side of the bed against the wall or the other?”

“Oh, um, the wall side? I don’t really mind which side I sleep on.”

“Alright, then you get in first.”

I nodded and crawled under the covers. She deactivated the room’s light enchantment and followed me in.

“Hey, Jade?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah?” I responded.

“Do you mind if… if I hold you?”

“Sure. I’ve been thinking about that, too.”

“Oh,” she replied. I turned onto my side to face her and we gently wrapped our arms around each other. Finding a comfortable position was a little awkward, but we managed to find one that worked.

Since I didn’t have blood and was constantly being healed, my arms wouldn’t fall asleep the way hers could, so that made things easier.

There wasn’t much light from the moons tonight, but the faint glow from my eyes provided just enough for me to see her face. Thankfully that effect vanished once my eyelids were closed, however that worked.

We shared another kiss and settled into each other’s embrace.

“Goodnight,” I said with a slight smile on my face.

“Mm, goodnight,” she replied warmly, kissing the top of my head.

Her warmth is so comfortable…