ALL NOVEL 408. E'livia, No!
'Did it work?' E'livia asked herself. 'It worked, right? G'ana said it would work. It has to have worked. He's not saying anything. Is he going to hug me again? He isn't, is he? I can't stop myself if he does.'
E'livia's childhood friend, G'ana, had once told her how to get rid of annoying males who got too close: by pretending to have misunderstood things and treating them as she would E'forion.
E'livia didn't want to get rid of the Outsider. At least not permanently. She owed him for saving her dad. But she had gotten very confused when he hugged her. It was a mix of goosebumps with something in her stomach. The heat spreading through her legs didn't help, either. And it was even worse because, suddenly, her fear of him was replaced with fear of the consequences of this situation.
She knew what those things were, but she was not ready to grow attached to the Outsider.
Yet, she had almost gone for his lips! G'ana had been correct: E'livia would understand G'ana's partner-hopping and constant indulgence the day E'livia reached middle adulthood. For the E'holin, it came the first time they desired to give themselves to someone with a lot of intensity—
No! No! She did not desire to give herself to anyone! The Outsider was a bad boy! She didn't like bad boys! And she would never dishonor her bloodline by marrying outside the sect, either!
Her body was telling her otherwise. Her system was being bombarded with hormones. Culturally, holin frowned upon controlling their feelings too tightly, but she was instantaneously and stealthy destroying every hormone with her domain as soon as they were produced so the Outsider wouldn't notice.
Alas, she had been a bit too late on a few signals her body sent. That made her embarrassed, a feeling which, in turn, made her feel more confused.
Why did she even care about the Outsider's opinion? She would not allow herself to do anything with him, no matter what. But she also didn't want him to know she wanted the same as he did. Why? She even wanted him to try to hug her again, even though it would never get anywhere.
All that confusion led her to react the way G'ana had taught E'livia.
When the Outsider finally properly reacted, after leaving his mouth hanging open for a while, her heart became even more confused. She felt pity at the disappointment in his face—and was elated. She had never felt the way she did now. The Outsider had been very arrogant until now, but now, she subdued him by merely... existing.
She felt so powerful it was inebriating. It also made her even more confused.
And... roused.
E'livia found she liked feeling desired by him. Maybe by other similarly strong people. She recalled some of G'ana's adventures and wondered...
No. That wouldn't do. Before the Path Outlining stage of the Ethereal Harmonization realm, members of the E'holin bloodline got too attached to their first mate. Her first mate would automatically become her first object of self-sacrifice, thus awakening her bloodline.
Well... G'ana had bypassed that by delaying her awakening until she mastered her Laws...
No. No, no, no.
'You're afraid of him, remember?!' she told herself.
The Outsider could kill her at any time. She had seen how he wielded Un'Re. It had been terrifying. T'onir was the strongest Law Mastering Ethereal Harmonization Freedom Fighter in the sect, but the Outsider crushed him. To resist a Freedom Fighter's Path like that had been... Marvelous. Un'Re had ignored T'onir's Materialized Death! That should've been impossible! A Dominator of the same level could not resist a Freedom Fighter! And yet, it had happened. It displayed both Un'Re's and the Outsider's Path's mighty. Still, by the Outsider's reaction, he was unimpressed with his victory. It was almost as if he could've figured something out if he hadn't had Un'Re.
The Outsider's nonchalance that E'livia found so annoying at first had grown on her at that precise instant. Also, the Outsider looked so strong holding—
'No! E'livia, no!'
She turned her back to the Outsider and grabbed the glass before she did something stupid—like drinking with a guy she most definitely did want to fly with. Not. Did not. Didn't. Silly internal mistake.
E'livia immersed her glass in the lake, filled it with the A- Eternal Molten Bluefrost liquid, and pulled it up. Right after, Blue Lagoon's enchantments teleported her away.
Shen remained frozen in place for a few extra moments after E'livia left. To say he was shocked was an understatement. And it wasn't because he had been friend-zoned.
It was because the air stunk of the... female desire her body had released.
Shen had no idea what was going on at first. His mind got stun-locked at how E'livia's body released that smell after calling him a little brother. That was wrong on so many levels. He couldn't even understand it at first.
Eventually, however, he got to the crux of the matter: she had lied to him.
Part of him felt outraged at being tricked like that, but he mostly felt empathetic. E'livia was going through something similar to him. She desired him, but her reason said no.
Despite her many flaws, maybe they could find some camaraderie in facing their inner demons together, after all.
When E'livia was teleported away, a new A- crystal-like glass appeared on the arm-like pedestal. He grabbed it and did as she had just done. The A- liquid in the lake didn't feel like liquid at all. It was soft to the touch, like cotton candy, though it repelled him after the first contact. It didn't repel the cup, though; he collected it with ease.
The place's invisible formations teleported him away right after.
"Welcome to the Blue Lagoon!" E'livia said with a happy smile as the Outsider materialized on the seat on the other side of the table.
The Outsider checked his surroundings. They were in a cozy wooden cabin. It looked rustic, but everything was made of B+ materials. The cabin was invisible from the outside, but the table they sat by, the only one in the cabin, was beside a huge window with a view of the lake and the red sand. The pedestal and possible newcomers were invisible to the people inside, though.
"What's your favorite food?" she asked as the Outsider's eyes settled back on her, and a shiver of expectation ran through her spine. She told herself it was fear. Fear was good right now.
"I don't know," he replied.
Weird answer, but he didn't seem to be lying. She hated feeling glad about introducing him to her favorite food. She tilted the cup in her hand until a drop fell on the table and said, "Third Ocean's Armless Lobster."
The blue water drop shone and grew into the B+ food, together with a fancy plate and cutlery. It was her first time witnessing that, but it was as impressive as she had been told. The A- liquid had changed its entire structure to become the food she requested. Her every sense told her she was before B+ cooked and seasoned lobster. It was magical.
Shen frowned and copied her. Another plate of lobster appeared before him. He then released some of his aura on it. The lobster turned back into a drop of blue liquid.
"Don't be rude!" E'livia nagged. "Eternal Molten Bluefrost has a nascent sapience and wants to be consumed, but it's also easily scared. Don't let your Path touch it outside your body."
She grabbed her hashon and knife and started eating. It was as delicious as it should be. It also slightly purified her Path and formed insight pearls in her soul that she could consume later. They would allow her to meditate on anything she wanted as if she had entered a half-enlightened state.
Meanwhile, Shen—
E'livia froze. Since when was she calling him Shen in her thoughts? She meant The Outsider.
The Outsider repeated tentatively, "Third Ocean's Armless Lobster?" the liquid turned into food again.
He looked confused at the hashon, as if he had never seen the piece of cutlery before. Copying her usage was easy enough, though. He had no trouble balancing the sliced food on the edge of the hashon, as holin children did. He was an Ethereal Harmonization cultivator, after all.
E'livia smiled widely when he ate the lobster, and his widened eyes shone.
He consumed the rest like a starving holin. "This! This is my favorite food!" he almost yelled while pouring another drop of Eternal Molten Bluefrost on the platter and asking for more. This time, there was no cutlery or new plate, so the lobster was bigger. He devoured it, too.
As entertaining as it was to watch him love her favorite food, E'livia decided he had to introduce him to more pleasures than just this one.
"Slow down, qilin rider!" she said with a light smile. "Nothing I ever tasted beats the Third Ocean's Armless Lobster, but you said you would pay me a drink. Some food harmonizes with White Lotus Sunray Wine." She said the wine's name as she let another drop of Eternal Molten Bluefrost fall from her glass, and it turned into a beautiful B+ wine glass with the B+ wine. "And be sure to keep at least half the Eternal Molten Bluefrost in the cup to directly drink it later. I never had it, but I heard it's better than the lobster."
E'livia was surprised at how fun it was to share the Outsider's first time with so many delicious foods.
Maybe, just maybe, her fear for him was replaced with something else that day.
Shen found it weird to desire someone yet behave as if he didn't. Yet, he preferred this to the possibility of having laid with E'livia after their embrace.
In the past hour, they had talked about nothing too profound or the topics Shen wanted to breach, but it had been delightful. E'livia had shared some of her experiences with him, but he had nothing to share. Still, it was interesting to see an actual kind, confused, imperfect, and hard-working girl beneath the surface of arrogance and immaturity she had shown until now.
"No!" she replied, half-horrified, half-laughing when Shen said she looked like she was in her twenties by drow standards. "I'm seventy! Holins mature slowly before late adulthood. But our adulthood is about body and mind, not age; not really. I reached early adulthood ten years ago, and I'm a fully-fledged middle adult now!"
"What's the difference between early, middle, and late adulthood?" Shen asked as he ate a salad that had no business being that good.
"Early adulthood means our bodies and minds are mature enough for..." She blushed. "For everything an adult should do."
"And middle adulthood?"
She blushed even more furiously and deflected, "I heard drow are ready for... intercourse... before actual adulthood?" Her face was crimson from embarrassment at that point. She had changed the subject without adequately considering her next subject.
Shen didn't mind the subject change. They were just making small talk as they ate. He didn't need to know what middle adulthood meant for holin.
"A long time ago, drow used to be like holin in maturing slowly," Shen replied. "Drow, wood elves, and high elves came from the same world, and there should be some shared genetics in our ancestry. Not that most of us will admit to it. Drow dislike being called dark elves because we culturally look down on the elven races. Anyway, every elven race changed themselves to be more similar to mortals because mortals mature so much faster, and we're no different. Drow bodies reach puberty and become ready for procreation when we are fifteen or sixteen. Adulthood comes much later. It could be morally challenging if not for our rigid relationship rules."
"So, you're not an adult?" E'livia asked with too much fake disinterest.
Shen chuckled. "Let me put it another way. Drow bodies reach adulthood by fifteen or seventeen. Our brains are fully formed, with no further change, unlike other mortal races, like the werepeople. After that, adulthood is a psychological concept for us. I see myself as an adult. Do you?"
He didn't hide his interest in his question. He should have. However, E'livia hadn't told him that the Eternal Molten Bluefrost could intoxicate C-ranks.
It wasn't like a mortal getting drunk, but E'livia and him were growing... Freer. If Shen had to guess, the liquid was melting some of their social resistances—or maybe refining them. Some of his Honor's weak points were crumbling, and his Will surfaced stronger than ever.
Shen didn't stop consuming the Bluefrost, though.
Nor did E'livia.
Still, he found he liked the conversation more than he thought he might. It was fun to learn more about E'livia in such a relaxed environment.
Teasing her was even more fun, especially when she replied, "I most definitely see you as an adult... Outsider." The way she said "Outsider" was a clear divide, an unsurmountable barrier. It was also challenging and sexy as hell. Shen didn't want to lose this by actually entering a relationship with her.
In fact, his Will half seemed to accept that controlling himself in such an instance would show more Power than giving in to her provocation. It was nice.
After hours of small talk, Shen found he liked E'livia—the new E'livia. She hadn't elaborated on her middle adulthood, but clearly, that had happened right after his hug. And this new E'livia was somewhat more mature. The Bluefrost was likely also helping accelerate the process as she got more in tune with her inner self. Shen liked it and saw her as more than a piece of flesh to taste. It paradoxically strengthened his Honor not to play with anyone's feelings.
"Now, for the grand finale," E'livia said after they forced the plates, cutlery, and glasses to turn back into a drop that they returned to the A- glass. She held the glass for a toast, and Shen reciprocated. The glasses tingled melodiously as they touched. "For two years of companionship!" she said happily.
Shen was smiling back. They hadn't talked about his request for her to accompany him. He still didn't know why she had said he had saved her father. However, they had reached a silent agreement about enjoying each other's company, and the toast showed she was open to deepening their friendship by traveling together.
He replied, "For two years of a most pleasant friendship." He added a lot of emphasis to the last two words.
Their smiles widened at the internal joke that was no joke, and they drank the remaining half of their cups.
Shen's smile died as liquid pleasure entered his stomach, and he experienced ecstatic nirvana. He also felt closer to Reality despite being unable to improve his mastery over his Laws. His Path was purified somehow. He blended better with the world. And it was so pleasurable it was indescribable.
He wasn't sure if the moan he heard was his or E'livia. He didn't care to find out. He just closed his eyes and lost himself in the feeling.
That single glass had likely cost a big part of his fortune if not all of it, but Heavens, it had been worth it—and the physical pleasure was just part of the reason.