Hyacinth is roused a few minutes ter, halfway to drifting off, by Liath, who’s tucked a new vial of Stingseed into her own bandolier and cleaned up the mess — the mess that’s not on Hyacinth, at least.

  Liath pets Hyacinth’s hair and sits down across from her. “I know you’re tired,” she says. “I am too. But you can’t sleep here, it’s meant for sex. C’mon, up and at ‘em…”

  Hyacinth takes a deep breath, and sits up again. Her back is one giant scald, and she feels fucking exhausted. “Mmmmm… Help me get into the guild?” she asks. “Food, maybe…?”

  Liath nods, and stands, offering Hyacinth her hand. With a reach up, Hyacinth takes it, and Liath hauls her to her feet; Hyacinth almost overbances, and sags against Liath, leaning against her heavily.

  “You look like you’re really exhausted,” Liath says.

  “I didn’t get a good sleep st night,” Hyacinth says. “Then I walked all over the city, had sex, and got burnt all over. My fitness is only two, it’s no wonder I’m suffering.”

  Liath raises an eyebrow. “You should probably look into raising that,” she says. “I’ve got fitness five and I still feel out of breath sometimes doing the things we’ve done together.”

  Hyacinth sighs, and lets Liath help her along towards the Housepet’s guild. “What’s your ardor?”

  “Two,” Liath says. “That’s the lowest it can go. So it’s no wonder I’m ending up making you come more often than I get it myself.”

  Hyacinth nods and rubs her face. “We… are going to need to do something about that, long term,” she says.

  Liath nods. “Save your strength. We need you in good enough shape to eat a good meal and have a nice nap.”

  Hyacinth smiles. “Alright,” she says. “I’ll do my best.”

  ~*~

  With Liath’s help, Hyacinth’s able to get all the way back to the housepet cafeteria, mostly under her own power. They’re serving lunch, so she flops onto a couch (careful of her back) and tells Liath to just bring her whatever looks tasty.

  Liath nods, and goes to the buffet. A pointing and gesturing exchange happens with one of the cooks, who finally nods and starts handing Liath items from the buffet after a small fsh of pink light.

  Liath comes back a few minutes ter with a tray piled high with mb nuggets and fresh fruit, and sets it down in front of hyacinth along with a huge gss of apple orange peach juice.

  “Drink,” she says. “You need to repce your fluids.”

  Hyacinth takes the ptter and looks up at Liath uneasily. “What was that fsh of pink light about?”

  “Had to promise I was bringing the food to you to eat before they’d serve me,” Liath expins. “Simple enough security measure against freeloaders, I guess. Anyway, eat up, they won’t serve me here since I’m not a guild member.”

  “Don’t you need to eat too?” Hyacinth asks.

  Liath sighs. “Yes, but the way that happens fastest is if you get that —” she points to the pte. “ — into you and get settled back in your basket so you can take a proper nap and I can go eat back at the Succubi’s guild.”

  “Right.” Hyacinth stares at the ptter, then takes a deep breath and starts eating mb nuggets.

  Liath cuddles in close, and smiles. “Don’t worry too much. You did beautifully today. We’ve made over four steel in commodities today and that’s not even counting the ring. We’re going to be okay.”

  “Okay,” Hyacinth says. She takes a bckberry and pops it in her mouth, then follows it with a handful of blueberries. She exhales hard. “I don’t feel like I did beautifully today.”

  “You did, though. Is there anything — small, that I could get you as a comfort or a treat?”

  Hyacinth frowns. “Ummm… there are wildberry jujubes in my dorm, but I’m not sure if you’d be allowed in…”

  “I’ll see if I can find Stel,” Liath says. “She should be able to fetch them.” She starts up from the cushioned floor.

  Hyacinth’s hand snakes out and grabs Liath’s wrist. “No.”

  “No?” Liath looks back over her shoulder.

  “Don’t go,” Hyacinth says. “I need you here. Okay?”

  Liath exhales, and sits again. “Okay. Sorry, I got so caught up in getting you something nice that I almost abandoned you…”

  Hyacinth shakes her head. “S’ok. Just stay.” And she goes back to her food.

  A few minutes pass, and then Mica comes down the hall. “Hey,” she says. “Just checking in, one of the other catgirls said they saw a guild member wearing a lot of wax and looking in bad shape. I should have guessed it’d be you. Is there anything I can fetch?”

  “Hyacinth has some wildberry jujubes in her welcome package that she’d like for a treat. Can you fetch? I need to stay by her side.”

  Mica nods, and goes.

  “There,” Liath says. “See, it’s all going to work out anyway.”

  Hyacinth nods, and cuddles a little closer to Liath, careful of her stinging back.

  “Good girl,” Liath says, tenderly stroking Hyacinth’s ears. “Good, good girl.”

  Hyacinth coos, and settles in, and rests.

  Liath offers her another mb nugget. “C’mon, you need to eat.”

  Hyacinth sighs, and bites half the mb nugget out of Liath’s hand.

  “Very good pet. Would you like another?”

  Hyacinth lets out a little giggle, a bit of energy returning to her. “I feel like I’m getting treats. Yeah, I would like another.” Embarrassment makes her shift a little in her seat, but… if she’s being treated as a pet, a lesser being, it’s still in a really nice way.

  Liath offers her a bckberry next. “Say aah.”

  Hyacinth bites it out of Liath’s hand, and leaves its juice on her fingers. “Mmmmm…”

  “Who’s spoiling whom here, I wonder?” Liath leans in a little and presses a kiss to Hyacinth’s head. “You’ve earned every bit of it, darling.”

  “Alright,” Hyacinth says. “Alright. I’ll eat. If it’s for you.”

  “Good girl.” Liath gives Hyacinth a little pet as a reward, and shivery pleasure slides down her spine from the soft strokes, not tinged with sexuality when she’s this exhausted, but still very, very nice. She feels very rewarded.

  They go on that way for a while, Liath nudging Hyacinth to eat, Hyacinth eating and begging a little for pets, and manage to get most of the meal into Hyacinth over a few minutes.

  Just as they are finishing up, Mica comes back into the cafeteria and sets down the tin of jujubes. “Here,” she says. Then with her other hand she pulls out a small blue pill. “Give her this, too. It’s made from calmseed and it’ll help the pain pass. A poor housepet’s remedy, compared to ichor, but sometimes you can’t afford the ichor.”

  Liath nods, and accepts the jujubes and the pill.

  Hyacinth regards the pill with suspicion, but when Liath brings it to her mouth she accepts it. Liath brings her the gss of juice a moment after, and she swallows it down with a sigh.

  “There,” Mica says. “She’ll heal by tomorrow: Sapphired bodies are strong. I’ll get her back to the dormitories. Your work here is done, Liath.”

  Liath looks back and forth between Mica and Hyacinth, and Hyacinth nods and gestures her away. “Go,” she says. “I’ll be okay.”

  Liath exhales hard, and nods. “Alright. I’ll be back to see you this evening, alright?”

  “Alright. Don’t promise. But be there. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Liath pets Hyacinth’s hair. “I’ll be there.” She presses the tin of jujubes into Hyacinth’s hands, and stands. “Take good care of her, Mica.”

  “I will.” Mica takes Hyacinth by the hand. “Now, then. Here we go. It’s back to your dorm room for you, young kitty.”

  “M’ a fox,” Hyacinth feebly protests. But she goes.

  ~*~

  For all that she’s just eaten, Hyacinth is just about dead on her feet when she slumps back into her bnket nest in the dormitory. The other petgirls in the room give more than a few envious or unsettled looks at her wax-marked back, but she ignores them and simply curls up to rest. She’s too tired to care about their opinions.

  As soon as her head hits the pillows, she’s out like a light.

  ~*~

  Even when Hyacinth wakes, she still feels tired. Rather than leave her cozy pet bed - or try to fill her brain with knowledge when she feels exhausted - she pulls out the porn that Avaline lent her, and masturbates. But even that doesn’t go very well; though she manages to come despite her exhaustion, it’s not satisfying at all, and generates not a single Ichor.

  She curls up in her basket, and waits for Liath to return.

  ~*~

  A few hours ter, it’s finally time for supper. Hyacinth reluctantly drags herself out of her bed, but when she comes to the dining hall it’s all she can do to eat chocote kibble with her hands. She doesn’t feel like a person; she feels like a pet without its owner. She pines.

  At st, Mica comes with a smile on her face -

  “Liath?” Hyacinth perks up instantly.

  Mica ughs, nods, and pets Hyacinth’s hair. “Good girl. Yes, it’s her. She’s waiting outside in the square.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right out.”

  Hyacinth takes her bowl of kibble outside with her, blinking at the low rays of the evening sun, and spots Liath immediately, waiting right outside the doors. Despite herself, her tail starts to wag, slowly at first, but then with increasing speed.

  “You came,” she says, joy in her heart, and tackle-hugs Liath even though it means the remains of her paper bowl of kibble go everywhere.

  Liath ughs, and gently squeezes Hyacinth, careful of her back. “Of course I came,” she says. “I’m your domme. And…” She brushes a little of her scarlet hair out of her face, and looks away, the suddenly bashful expression out of pce given her slitted eyes and bck sclerae. “I meant what I said, yesterday. I think. I just… I can’t help but care about you after we went and did that. I know some people do casual sex, and I’ve even done it myself, but… Something about an experience like that changes you. So yes, I think… I think I love you.”

  Hyacinth squeezes Liath harder, and presses in her head against her shoulder. “I love you too,” she murmurs.

  “Come sit with me?” Liath asks.

  “Okay.”

  Liath takes Hyacinth by the hand, and leads her over to the mattresses in the square, where she sits with her. “So…” She looks into Hyacinth’s eyes. “I’ve been thinking. We’ve been having a lot of sex, and that’s good, but… there’s more to a retionship than just sex. More to a retionship than just sex and shopping together, even. I wanted to take some time for you. I know you’re really tired, and this isn’t the best time, but…” She takes both Hyacinth’s hands in hers. “I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate you, and that I’m really proud and impressed with you for everything you’ve done with me so far, and that I think you’re a really cool person. And a really good pet.”

  Hyacinth takes a long breath, and looks down at her hands, squeezing Liath’s hands in return. “Okay…” She feels a fluttery feeling in her heart when she’s praised like that, something golden and quivery that doesn’t pass easily. “Okay.”

  “I would have gotten you a gift,” Liath says, “but, well, we have no idea how the money situation is going to shake out, and I don’t know your preferences well enough yet. But… I want you to know that I thought about getting you a colr.”

  Hyacinth closes her eyes, and headbutts Liath’s shoulder. “That… should be done together,” she says. “You were right to not. But…” She kisses Liath’s skin. “I’m really gd you thought about it.”

  “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” Liath asks. “We have nothing but time, and I’m not going to ask you to have sex again today, not after the day you’ve had.”

  Hyacinth rests against Liath. “... is it okay if I ask a business thing?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Should I just put my Numinosity into Fitness right now?”

  Liath tilts her head. “... Honestly, maybe not a bad idea,” she admits. “If you’re this exhausted on your second day out, I think it’s going to be our most pressing constraint, given that sex is usually pretty exhausting…”

  “Okay,” Hyacinth says. “Do I have your permission to do that?”

  Liath considers.

  “... Yes, but only because I want you to be about as fit as I am, so we run out of energy at the same times and have to rest at the same times. And I want you to know that if you put your point in fitness, I’m putting my point in ardor, to be closer to you.”

  Hyacinth takes a long breath. “Okay,” she says. “Then… Let’s do it.”

  Liath kisses Hyacinth gently, and nods.

  Hyacinth presses in against Liath, and focuses on that feeling of perfection inside her, the feeling of a moment she wants to remember forever and ever. Their first time together.

  It swells up in her, bright and beautiful. She almost can’t bear to part with it.

  But if she can spend it for more time with Liath —

  Then it’s easy.

  She pushes it into her body, into the strength of her muscles that can’t keep up with Liath’s demonic body, into the vitality of her whole self, the part of her that could pick itself up from anything and everything, just to be with her Liath —

  And she changes, and the flickering light in her heart — doesn’t disappear, but melds with her, becomes part of her, becomes something that strengthens her and that is of her, something she’s done to grow together with her love.

  She kisses Liath softly.

  “Was it… precious for you, too?”

  “It was,” Liath says. “And now it’s part of me. For as long as this body holds out.”

  “Yeah,” Hyacinth says. “Me too.”

  And they hold each other close, and stay.