Dungeons and Dalliances

7.59 – Palace Basement II

It had been a week since entering the dungeon, which meant [Divine Invigoration] had expired. Also, she and Vanetta were about to head down into the Palace Basements, which was the most dangerous part of the City of Eros—as far as fights went. Not that death was a risk. Defeat, as in the rest of the city, was resolved through lewd activities. Which, in this case, meant a variety of humanoid—and some less humanoid—monsters having their way with the defeated party. Among other, stranger activities. In the Palace Basement, anything could happen.

Which Natalie was secretly interested in, but only to some extent. She intended to fight her way out of anything that went a little too far for her sensibilities. Thus, [Divine Invigoration] needed a new target so they could enter at full strength and have the most autonomy in what 'events' assaulted them against their will.

Specifically, it needed to be used on the teammate who would be tackling the Basement with her.

How to broach that topic, though?

'By the way, before we go in, do you mind if I cum in you?'

"What are you smirking about?" Vanetta asked.

"N-Nothing," Natalie said. "Well, actually, something." They had been headed to the Palace Basement entrance, Vanetta leading them and Natalie following automatically, but now she pulled Vanetta aside. "Can I tell you something, and you keep it a secret?"

"Oh? Where's this coming from?"

"I have a skill I want to use, but I don't want it getting back to Elida or anyone else. I trust you if you say you'll keep it a secret."

"You … would?"

"Sure."

A week had passed, and while Vanetta had continued warming to her, her statements in the Bordello held: she wasn't the quickest woman to trust. Her past remained opaque to Natalie, and while Vanetta never seemed upset when she tried to poke out more information, neither did she open up and share unprompted.

So, Natalie's claim of 'trusting her' surprised Vanetta, since that trust wasn't fully returned. But Natalie did trust her. At least with this—it wouldn't be the end of the world if details about her class abilities leaked; it would just be unfortunate for various reasons.

"… Alright," Vanetta said. "But there's seriously a skill that you haven't used yet? We've been in some close fights in the Ruins." She sounded reproachful.

"It was occupied until now," Natalie said. "It's a strong buffing ability. I was keeping it on a teammate. My—real teammates." She winced at that phrasing. While temporary, Vanetta and the rest were 'real teammates' too. "It lasts for a week, so it expired last night."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Ah," Vanetta said. "And you want me to be the next target?" Her brow furrowed. "Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?"

Natalie coughed. "There's a specific requirement."

"Oh. Heavens. What is it?"

"On a scale of one to ten," Natalie asked, "how much have you warmed up to the idea of … being more intimate together?"

Because, despite the two of them interacting frequently this past week, including more Bordello events, Vanetta seemed to have settled into a clear level of comfort: external only. Natalie's cock had—delightedly—been pleasured by just about every part of Vanetta's body, but only the outside. Tits, thighs, hands, and even one interesting foot job, but no holes. Likewise, Natalie herself hadn't gotten a chance to get her mouth between Vanetta's legs. Hands only.

Which was all perfectly fine; Natalie had had plenty of fun under those restrictions, and her partner's comfort mattered more to her than getting her dick wet, as fun as that could be. But it posed a real problem, considering [Divine Invigoration]'s fundamental requirement.

"A little more intimate?" Vanetta asked.

"It doesn't matter how, exactly," Natalie said, squirming in place—her face heating up. Hitting on a girl on her own will was easy enough, but she'd always found, and likely would continue to find, the artificial rules of her class much more awkward to explain. "But, I need to—" She paused. The only way forward was to just say it. "Cum in you."

That statement sat in the air for a while, Vanetta's face draining of expression, a stony mask forming.

"You need to cum in me. For a skill."

"Yeah."

"Uh huh. And you totally aren't making that up."

That, Natalie was slightly offended by, though not overly so, since the accusation stemmed from incredulity more than mistrust.

"I'm not. And if you don't want to, like always, that's fine. But—it's a pretty big buff. And it lasts for a week, so it'll get you through the rest of the City." She hesitated. "It's also expensive. Non-trivially." Since she planned to use [Empower] and expend Carnal Energy. "Don't wanna get into the details, but there's a real personal cost associated, since it's so strong. It'll make you—a lot more powerful. I'm not understating how effective it is."

Slowly, Vanetta's expression morphed away from her blank incredulity. She seemed curious now, as any delver would be. "And you've just been sitting on a skill like that? Also—a lot stronger how?"

"Main stat increase. For you, that'd be Prowess?" It was a rhetorical question; the number of non-Prowess rogues had to be less than five percent. Few were Furor or Tenacity-based.

Vanetta nodded slowly. "Okay. I believe you that you're not just trying to—do something." Get your cock inside me, was the implication. "It's really that vague? Just 'inside'?"

"Mouth works." Natalie coughed into a fist. "Tested and verified. The other two ways would be fine too, I'm sure."

"Two?" Vanetta had to piece together what she meant, and her face reddened. "That's not happening."

"Nothing has to, if you don't want," Natalie said. "But. Uh. It is on the table, if that's what you'd prefer."

Vanetta shifted in place, crossing her arms as she narrowed her eyes at Natalie. After glancing around the hallway, she unfolded them. "I can't believe you're serious. Ugh." She rubbed her forehead. "I mean … if it makes me stronger … we'll want that for going down into the Basement. Means we'll have—more choice in what happens, being able to fight out of it. And better this than that, right? Lesser of two evils."

"Lesser of two evils? My poor self-esteem."

Her feelings weren't actually hurt; she found Vanetta's constant protesting cute. But only because it was always followed up by the other girl climaxing on her fingers, thighs, or cock shortly afterward. That was a great salve to any worries about whether she actually wanted her.

"Well," Vanetta finally said. "Whatever. I guess we're stopping by your room first, then."