Inside-Outside-In

Zena

Everyone did eventually make it to bed, which had been a struggle, as they had had to make it back to the nearby town, first. It wasn’t too far away, though, so it wasn't a terribly long wait.

The whole team woke up late the next morning, sore and not wanting to move at all. Even Zena, who had only endured some bruising, didn’t want to do anything. Partially because of the beautiful woman in her arms.

Really, the very first night after we finally started dating, and that happens.

Eventually, they did get up, and she and Shae spent most of the day healing everyone more; mainly Konial and Melo.

They decided to wait until at least tomorrow before returning to Marlonn to give themselves more time to recover.

The town was large enough to have a small inn, probably because of the spider farm, and the team sat around a table for most of the day.

As noon approached, the chef and one of the hotel staff approached with several plates of hot food.

He raised his palm. “Hello, mercenaries. Thank you so much for dealing with that dreadful bear. The spiders are our town’s pride, and what was happening to them was terrible.
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“As a thank you gift, I have prepared lunch for all of you. A side dish; leg of spider and vegetable medley, with the main course; spider eggs, prepared to be crispy on the outside. Please enjoy.”

Shae froze when she saw the plate placed in front of her and heard the chef’s words. She smiled politely, but it was obvious to Zena that this was not something she was looking forward to, even knowing that the eggs are a delicacy.

Zena chuckled and placed her hand on her girlfriend’s. “It’s true that he should’ve asked before doing something like that, but you should try it. I haven’t had them myself, but I’ve only heard good things.”

She relaxed slightly and sighed. “Yeah. I wasn’t going to just not try it. It’d be rude and I’m too curious. It’s just so unlike anything I’ve ever had before.”

“I’m sure you’ve eaten something absolutely bizarre on Earth that you think of as normal.”

“Oh, definitely. Like, so much of the food where I lived was full of chemicals, though I was definitely aware of how weird that was. Not all of them were bad—some were just misunderstood—but there were some that you should really try to avoid. The food in this world is so much better without them.”

“…I’m afraid you’ll have to explain that one.”

“Uh… It would take a while. And I’d rather not think about it when I’m about to eat spider eggs.”

Everyone began eating, including a nervous Shae. Zena watched with delight as her expression changed from timidity to surprise.

She muttered something in English while shaking her head, then ate the rest normally.

When they were done, her girlfriend said, “I figured it was going to be at least okay, but I wasn’t expecting them to be outright delicious.”

They remained at the table afterward, occasionally getting up to stretch their limbs. The two healers needed a break to let their mana recover a bit, so they decided to go pet some cute spiders.

Reaching the farm, they were happily led to a pen with one of the more docile and friendly spiders in it. They passed the pen they had fought in last night and saw that the tunnel was now sealed off. They also heard that people were thoroughly filling and blocking the tunnels to prevent something like this from happening again.

The farmhand led them in and coerced the spider to come down from its web to them. Following his instructions, Zena and Shae both pet the spider, and it wriggled its legs a bit.

The farmhand explained, “The sensation of being petted actually doesn’t do much for them. They aren’t like dogs. Rather, they just like the attention. Well, some of them do. In general, they kind of just don’t care or understand.”

After leaving, she told Zena, “I was looking forward to it last night, but it just felt kind of weird. It was cute, but I couldn’t help but think about how delicious it would be.”

Zena laughed. “Maybe we should’ve waited longer between the meal and the visit.”

Shae giggled and shrugged. “It was still fun.”

They held hands as they took their time returning to the others.

Not quite what I had in mind for a first date, but I didn’t hate it.

 

———

 

The team departed the following morning, not yet completely healed, but enough to move around to an extent. They didn’t get an escort mission back to Marlonn, though. The carriage wasn’t transporting anything other than five mercenaries, which meant they had to pay for the ride.

Zena asked Melo, “How did you get us that mission? I imagine a lot of people would’ve wanted it.”

The silver-scaled man shrugged, “The bear was expected to be at Level 100 or lower, meaning most mercenaries other than new ones were beyond it. Plus, there was no mention of being served spider eggs. That was something they chose to do afterward.”

With the exceptions of Shae and Tria, everyone else mostly sat in silence for the ride back. A weak monster would show up occasionally, and either one of those two or Zena would take care of it. They were weak enough that taking care of them was a non-issue for even just one member of the time.

Like Konial had done yesterday, Shae was describing her hometown and other sights from Earth, and Tria would try to match it in her sketchbook.

Zena commented, “Your world sounds fascinating in some ways and dull in others.”

Her girlfriend’s dark eyes turned her way. “I agree. I do think it’s amazing what people are capable of when they don’t have any magic to work with, but at the same time, Earth is really missing out by not having magic. It’s like a blank canvas.
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“That’s just how I feel, though. Many people there would think this world is a nightmare.”

“Would Victoria?”

“I’m confident she won’t.”

Shae dug underneath her armor and pulled out the necklace she always wore.

“The symbol on this necklace comes from a story about magic she likes. She’s interested in several other things similar to that story, and I can think of numerous other reasons she’ll want to live here, too, or at least visit.”

They continued chatting, and because people were still recovering and couldn’t move around as much, Konial pulled out some cards. He had a folding wooden tray with slots to lay the cards in that would get passed around to people whenever it was their turn.

Everyone was relieved when they eventually made it back to Marlonn and booked rooms in another inn. The sleeping arrangements were different this time, though.

Melo and Konial would be sharing a room like they had last time, but would be sharing a bed this time. The other bed in their room would be taken by Tria. Zena and Shae got a room for just themselves, and it only had one bed.

Shae walked around the room and stretched a bit, then mentioned, “I’m glad soewans¹The tall, fuzzy lizard-like creatures commonly used for pulling carriages. move as fast as they do. It feels like the speed a car would drive at. 60 kilometers per hour, maybe?²37 mph It’s good.
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“Sleeping in a tent is fine, but it doesn’t beat a bed.”

Shae had had to camp out when she was first making her way to Marlonn and occasionally on a few missions they had gone on, so she understood how camping on Tamyre compared to camping on Earth. Magic tools made some things pretty much the same or better, but having to keep a lookout for monsters took a lot of the fun out.

Zena replied, “They can go faster, too, but that places a bigger burden on them.”

“Makes sense.” She pulled Zena in close and gently kissed her.

Zena returned the kiss and led Shae to the bed.

Shae paused. “I might be a little lost… New body and all. I tried some things on my own, but you’re the first person since I changed.”

“Then I will help you find your way.”

 

———

 

Shae

A couple days of rest passed before they accepted another mission. Even Melo rested, having refrained from doing extra work like he usually did.

During those days, Zena and Shae had more fun together. Zena had gone easy on her the first time, but after that, Shae learned in intimate detail just what a long tongue was capable of.

The next two missions they accepted were easier ones. Melo had specifically chosen ones that weren’t very difficult, though that also meant the completion reward was lower.

It was when they were looking at taking a mission befitting of their abilities again that the clerk specifically wanted to talk to Shae. She recognized him as the man who she had spoken to when she first joined.

“Hello again, Shae. It’s been a while.”

I have literally had exactly one conversation with you before.

“Yeah, it has. You wanted to speak with me?”

“Yes, we’ve potentially found a space magic trainer for you. She wanted to talk to you before agreeing to anything, however. If she does agree, you’ll have to pay her for her time. That’s not something the Center will help with.”

“Yes! Yes! Thank you so much! Where is she?”

“I only know that she’s somewhere in the city right now. When she comes in again, I will let her know you are here as well. Would you be willing to leave where you are currently staying in a message?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Anything I should know about her?”

“Her name is Anmerrinciathet, and has a mostly-mundane human appearance. She’ll stop by the Center later tonight most likely. If not tonight, then sometime in the morning.”

That’s certainly a name.

What the clerk meant by that was that this person hadn’t transformed very much upon receiving a Skill, or even after any additional Skills they might’ve received.

Going back to her teammates, Shae explained the situation. She then requested, “Would you be willing to either hold off on accepting that mission or go without me?”

Melo shook his head. “I grabbed this one with all five of us in mind. I’ll give it back, and we can consider accepting something after we’ve heard how your situation changes.”

“Okay. Sorry, and thank you.”

“Don’t mind it.”

With the mission canceled and not having to prepare for anything, everyone went to do their own thing. Shae and Zena were the only two who stayed together.

Shae asked, “Is there anything you want to do while we wait until nighttime?”

Zena thought for a minute. “We could go dancing somewhere? I used to do it a lot, and I’ve been missing it.”

She was smiling, but looked a little sad when she said that.

“Everything okay?”

“I used to dance with the other girls back home. Then they didn’t want me to dance with them anymore.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Should I go fight them?”

She snorted. “No no, I’ve already done that enough for the both of us. Do you want to go?”

“Hell yes, I do.”

Zena sighed happily. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”