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"It's alright Uthe, it's alright. It's dead." Say'ri says soothingly, although she doesn't stop Uthe from her only little catharsis. "It's ok kitten, it's ok." She repeats softly, following Uthe to the side of the room and stroking one of her paws gently to try and calm the agitated cat. "Be calm mpendwa." When the catfolk shoots a curious look at her Say'ri flushes slightly.
"Jazz is good with languages and I asked her to teach me a few words..." She says defensively. "Did I say it wrong?"
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"Good going everyone!" Say'ri declares. "Let's get out of here, report in to the temple and get lunch! I'm starving!"
"Jazz is good with languages and I asked her to teach me a few words..." She says defensively. "Did I say it wrong?"
"We both thought you'd appreciate being able to converse with someone in your language." Jazadi adds with a little smile and a knowing wink to Say'ri.
Uthe looks from Jazadi to Say'ri. "You say it well enough, but she should teach you the traditional greeting of 'Halo. Nina matiti makubwa'," she says with a grin.
Jazadi blinks. "That's the traditional greeting? But the last three words mean--"
She stops herself. "--oh. Right."
That was a joke.
The furry ear twitches at Say'ri's whisper. "Why would we wear a collar? We are not a slave. We don't understand," she whispers back.
Uthe's eyes narrow as she attempts to parse the implications. "So it is a joke suggesting that we belong to you?" she asks. "Now you're being silly. If anything, you would belong to us. Although, we haven't even properly groomed you yet, so we aren't sure whether we'd like you as ours yet or not." She shifts in her whispering and a soft tongue trails up next to Say'ri's ear. "Hmmm... more sampling will be required. And we must still discuss what locations are too intimate."
Jazadi's eyebrows arch when she sees Uthe and Say'ri being... well, flirty.
"Do you two need some time alone?" She asks as if the answer to that question wasn't obvious.
”Yes, you should definitely get a room!” Jamie declares. ”Ammon and I already have.”
Jazadi glances at Jamie. "Really? I suppose I can understand that--it's a good way to save money on sleeping arrangements."
Jamie blinks at Jazadi. ”Er, yes. Among... other benefits.”
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"I suppose we should." Say'ri replies, her nimble fingers seeking out all the sensitive spots she knows Uthe has from the bath. "After lunch maybe..."
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Jazadi's response makes her laugh aloud. "Oh Jazz, you are the sweetest thing. And a huge dork!" She adds, moving over to give the other woman a hug. "And we definitely need to get you a boyfriend, or girlfriend." She adds quietly. "How do you feel about shorter women?"
Jazadi returns Say'ri's hug with a confused look on her face. "I think I'm a bit above average in height for a woman, so there'd be a lot of women shorter than me. Why do you ask?"
"Um..." Jazadi scratches her head.
When the group comes out of the mansion, Dhakira exclaims « Well two down! Great job everyone, and we managed it without disrespecting the dead. We’ll tell my Pharasmin brothers about the body, so they can give proper rest to the poor man. »
She follows the group as usual, smiling with good humor at Say’ri and Uthe flirting, and laughing at Jamie’s remark about sleeping arrangements, pretty sure how the night finished between her and Ammon.
But when Jazida and Say’ri turn to look at her after some whispers, she wonders what is that about. She puts her hand to her black tresses « Do I still have a piece of Vargouille in my hair? » she asks, not really knowing why she blushes slightly.
Ammon blinks at Jamie's open admission of the previous' night's happenings to everyone without missing a beat. Then, he shrugs and grins. "Well, it certainly was pleasurable. You should try it sometime, Jazadi! Maybe you're too into your books and scrolls to notice, but a lot of men look at you longingly as we pass. There was that priest you told what we found, for one."
He pats her on the shoulder, then walks past her and Dhakira to Jamie. "You ok? You seem a bit... off, somehow?"
"Hmm? Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine," Jamie insists. However, she does seem somewhat drained. "Merely the burdens of true leadership. I have to be sure all of you are staying safe and healthy. Our team is depending on me!"
"We can spend the rest of the afternoon disposing of the treasures that we've recovered," Uthe declares. "Then dinner."
She leans in closer to Say'ri. "Would you like us to show you what amurrun grooming entails after dinner?" she asks quietly.
When we arrive at the tavern, Dhakira looks everyone over for diseases. "Let me look you guys over before going to your occupations." Winks. "You never know what filthy diseases one might encounter in those tombs and with the vermin we fought."
"While we defintely wouldn't be the same without our Jamie," Ammon begins, kneeling down and patting her on the shoulder,"You do look tired. Really tired. Maybe we should head back, get you a nice hearthy meal and take you to bed? Can't lead us tomorrow if you fall over!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, Ammon says, trying to open his throat long enough for Dhakira's inspection. "And, see anything? Thanks, by the way, for always looking after us."
"Oh, you're... um..." Jazadi's face flushes and she looks rather uncomfortable.
"...you're just being flattering. Who'd ever want to spend that kind of time with me?"
Jamie blushes at Ammon's praise. "Thank you. Yes, let's leave this forsaken place behind."
***
Once at the tavern, Jamie eats and drinks her fill. She seems to be feeling more hale and hearty after that, After Dhakira inspects Ammon, the halfling takes his hand. "Now then, I believe you promised to take me to bed?"
"...you're just being flattering. Who'd ever want to spend that kind of time with me?"
Dhakira looks at her when she says that, concerned "Why would you think that my dear? I find you to be very pleasant company." She smiles to her sweetly, but innocently.
Uthe leans over to Jazadi. "You should ask her if she likes being groomed," the sorceress asks quietly. "It's a good way to bond and build a friendship."
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"We can spend the rest of the afternoon disposing of the treasures that we've recovered," Uthe declares. "Then dinner."
She leans in closer to Say'ri. "Would you like us to show you what amurrun grooming entails after dinner?" she asks quietly.
"That sounds very interesting!" Say'ri replies. "But first, shopping."
Say'ri and Uthe set to work in the markets and manage to between them weave a good enough story to get good prices, even though the markets are becoming quite full of Necropolis artifacts. Then Say'ri drags Uthe to a smith and spends quite a long time talking animatedly to the smith and waving the flail in his face.
Once the negotiations are resolved to both parties satisfaction Say'ri emerges and slides her hand into Uthe's paw. "I'm all yours now." She says with a grin. "I'm looking forward to my session at Uthe's Grooming Parlor!"
"Why would you think that my dear? I find you to be very pleasant company."
Jazadi swallows and looks at her feet. "...I don't really want to talk about it. Not right now."
Once the party returns from the manor, she spends some time in the markets taking her share of the money and getting herself some better armour.
Uthe nods, happy to lead Say'ri back to her room.
The amurrun's room is devoid of an actual bed. Instead, there are thick pads on one portion of the floor with numerous pillows piled in and around.
"Make yourself comfortable," she says, indicating the pillows as she digs through her bag to retrieve the requisite items for a proper grooming. These seems to consist of a stiff brush, a flat block of stone of some sort, and a well-worn cloth of a course, but strange weave. "You will need to remove your clothing. And we now need to discuss human limits. Amurren have no need of such silly conventions. We are aware that the entire body needs to be cleaned, but we understand that humans are strangely uncomfortable about various portions of their bodies."
She lowers herself down to join Say'ri, setting the items to the side for now. She reaches one hand up and gently strokes the woman's hair. "This will present the most unique challenge. We have no implements for grooming such long and luxurious hair, but we will make do. So what would you prefer we not touch?"
"Oh, you're... um..." Jazadi's face flushes and she looks rather uncomfortable.
"...you're just being flattering. Who'd ever want to spend that kind of time with me?"
Ammon blinks and gives her Jazadi a flat stare. "Sorry, what? Dhakira's even putting it lightly. Here's the actual truth. Take this from me as a guy: If you asked a random man if he wanted to sleep with you, he would say 'yes' unless he was taken or lying. Now, no more of that self-defeating crap, you hear? You're a badass member of the Falcons!"
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Partway through his second bowl of filled olives, Ammon grins and excuses himself. "Sorry, everyone. Duty calls!"
He then walks off and follows Jamie upstairs. "So, straight to bed or a bath first?" he asks softly, leaning down all the way to whisper in her ear.
”Let us bathe first, to wash the grime and sand away. We will get clean before we get dirty once more,” Jamie replies with a mischievous grin.
Jazadi swallows and looks at her feet. "...I don't really want to talk about it. Not right now."
Dhakira lookes pensively at the young half-elf for a moment "I will not push you. But know that you always have an available ear with me, should you seek one." Then she sends a look towards Ammon, trying to convey the need to drop the subject.
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These seems to consist of a stiff brush, a flat block of stone of some sort, and a well-worn cloth of a course, but strange weave.
"This will present the most unique challenge. We have no implements for grooming such long and luxurious hair, but we will make do. So what would you prefer we not touch?"
"I think before I answer that question I want to know what you do with those things..." Say'ri replies with a wary eye on the block of stone. "You're aware that human skin is much thinner than say, fur, right? If you're going to be rubbing my skin with anything rough there are going to be a lot of areas I won't want touched - skin is sensitive, as well as fragile..."
Taking the hint from Dhakira, Ammon decides not to push or embarass Jazadi about her feelings of insecurity and/or obliviousness. He doesn't take the words back, however, as he believes them to be true.
”Let us bathe first, to wash the grime and sand away. We will get clean before we get dirty once more,” Jamie replies with a mischievous grin.
Ammon shakes his head, amused. "And here I thought you were tired..."
He motions to the barman to start preparing a bath. Then, on impulse, he sweeps Jamie off her feet and carries her up the stairs bridal-style. "At least I can relieve you of this burden," he says, grinning.
Jamie can’t help but giggle as Ammon literally sweeps her off her feet. She wraps her arms around his neck and lets him carry her to the bedroom...
"Don't be silly we amurrun have sensitive places as well. We wouldn't use a daash cloth on those places. Our tongue is much more effective and forgiving for those."
She holds up the stone. "This is our ... my," she emphasizes the singular possessiveness of the word, "... daash-na stone. Every amurrun is given their own when they come of age. It is unique and very personal and what gives each of us our distinct scent. Until we come of age, we're groomed by our family using their stones and carry their scent. But once we become an adult, we find our own which establishes our ... personal ... scent within the group. You have no stone of your own so we will use ours."
She grins at the hesitant woman. "It is as if we are claiming you." She rubs the cloth vigorously against the stone and then hands the smooth material to Say'ri. The stone is brown with streaks of shimmery quartz through it. She can't help noticing that there is a unique scent that it carries, the same scent she associates with Uthe herself.
Taking the cloth, Uthe begins stroking Say'ri's calf with it. There's a slightly rough texture to it, but it's not unpleasant and the amurrun is very gentle. "See? Not so scary. So shall you be like one of the 'True People', the Amurrun? Or shall we limit where we groom you?"
Uthe proceeds to groom Say'ri as if she were another amurrun - stroking most of her skin with the daash and periodically refreshing it with contact with the daash-na stone. The locations she indicates as being more sensitive she shifts to using her tongue. The human's reactions being quite a novelty for her.
When she's completed the traditional grooming, she takes a moment to consider how to deal with the hair on Say'ri's head. Heedless of the woman's ill-concealed frustration, she pulls Say'ri's head into her lap and slowly starts to stroke the long hair with both her body brush and the daash cloth. "You need to sit still," she says after a moment. "You shouldn't be squirming around like this. It's supposed to be relaxing."
The talk of Ammon and Jamie sharing a bath causes an idea to spring into Jazadi's head.
"I don't think we ever got those enchanted water spigots. I ought to go and get those--they'd be worth their weight in platinum out in the desert!" She snaps her fingers and glances over at Dhakira.
"Would you come along? There might be other denizens in there that we missed."
Knowing the other four members of the group will be quite busy with each other, and always happy to spend some time with the quiet half-elf, she answers Jazadi "It's great idea. I still have some healing power left if we run into trouble. I won't be able to summon allies though. But I think we've been quite thorough, we should be OK. And I do know how to throw a mean dagger when I have to." She goes back up to her room to pick up her adventuring gear and follows Jazadi. "Should we leave a note for Say'ri and the others?"
"Eh, sure. Might not be gone long enough for them to notice, but it can't hurt."
After scrawling a quick "Gone to fetch water spigots from manor. Dhakira's with me. -Jazadi" on a piece of paper, she gets up and starts leading the way back.
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The half-elf has a pensive and apologetic look on her face when the two return to the manor and make their way back to the bathing area.
"Thanks for coming out here with me. I didn't want to stay back at the Tooth and Hookah while the others were, well... occupied." She says as she starts to approach the two brass spigots mounted on the bathing room wall. "It reminded me of college... or, at least, the worse parts of it."
Dhakira chuckles "I know what you mean, there were more than a few nights of revelry when I was in seminary, all under the pretext of our patron area of concern being birth and life, as well as death. I've had a few wild nights myself. It's when I met ..." But then her smile fades, something that Jazadi hasn't seen often when nobody was in danger, and she stays quiet for a while. "But you don't need to worry about that..." She stops talking again.
Jazadi blinks before scuffing her boot in the sand. "I get the feeling I just brought up something unpleasant. I'm sorry."
She tips her head at Say'ri and her pupils narrow just a bit. "Would you like us to mount you?" she asks in a voice filled with portent.
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The challenge couldn't be more blatant...
Dhakira takes a deep breath and manages to summon her usual smile. " It's okay my friend. It's just that I was not alone on the patrol when I died and Pharasma brought me back. We were five in the group, one of them my best friend, and ex-lover." After a moment "I was the sole survivor"
Uthe slowly smiles and her pupils widen. "You are making a challenge." Without her head moving hardly a bit, the amurrun moves from sitting tailor fashion to her hands and knees. She then begins circling the semi-prone woman. Leaning in, her thin whiskers tickle Say'ri's ear as she whispers, "The dominant position it is." She switches to nuzzling at the ear, her pointed teeth occasionally nipping at the delicate shell. Say'ri can feel more than hear a low rumble coming from her companion, somewhere between a growl and a purr.
The slender fingers of one hand trace lines down the skin of Say'ri's back as Uthe continues to circle her, while at the same time she whispers words in her native tongue in the woman's ear.
Uthe seems to have finally reached the position she desires as she presses her belly against Say'ri's bottom. The purring/growling grows in intensity and a hand moves down between them and between Say'ri's legs. The fingers move skillfully in a way that is decidedly not grooming. The amurrun's other hand moves under Say'ri's belly and lifts her a bit and she can feel Uthe grinding in a rhythmic way against her thigh.
In spite of having just brought herself to self-satisfaction, Say'ri finds herself quickly approaching another peak due to Uthe's skilled fingers. The amurrun finally ceases her whispers enough to lower her mouth to bite at the woman's shoulder and that's enough to push her over the edge again. Uthe holds her throughout her climax, kissing and licking the back of her neck and shoulders.
She finally lowers Say'ri back to the pillows gently and moves to the woman's side, continuing to lick at the woman's shoulder. She pauses in her affections. "So do we have ... 'Game'?" she asks with a grin.