— Gerald Durnhart, “The Hunter’s Guide to Elixars and Oils”, page 132
Emily sat by the fire.
Though her hair still stuck to her body in tendrils, and she was still slightly damp, the heat was helping her dry off. Alaric had gathered some dry wood to feed the fire, and the group roasted pork over it with some skewers and a grill. As the evening went on, Emily noticed that the wine and liquor were lifting everyone's spirits. Everyone was becoming more talkative and witty. She found herself laughing at the smallest things, and with everyone talking at once and stumbling around the campfire, there was a lot to laugh at.
Emily breathed deeply. This had to be what independence felt like, what it meant to be an adult. After everything, she couldn't imagine being a child anymore. The night had been completely un-orchestrated, from swimming naked to drinking and smoking around an open fire to eating freshly cooked pork; she loved all of it.
Lux suddenly stretched her arms high and hopped atop one of the fallen tree logs. Her hair was still damp, and her cheeks were flushed. “I’ve got a brilliant idea,” she declared, swaying slightly. “We should play a game!”
Tristan snorted. “She’s drunk enough.”
“Last time we played any of your games, Lux,” Alaric said, “I nearly lost an eyebrow.”
“Maybe you should have been more careful around the fire then. But relax, this one’s safe...ish. We’re playing Questions and Commands.”
Ophelia gave a groan, leaning back on her elbows. “Again?”
“We already know everything about eachother,” Alaric said.
“Buuuut, we don’t know everything about Emily,” Lux said. “At least, you idiots don’t. She rarely gets to spend time with us; this is your chance to ask her anything or tell her to do whatever.”
Emily, a little flushed from drink and the lingering warmth of the fire, tilted her head. “Wait… just me?”
Lux nodded. “We’ll take turns asking you stuff, obviously, but yeah. I can’t tell them everything about you, so this is their chance.”
“I am curious about a few things,” Tristen said.
“Exactly,” Lux said. “It’s more fun to do it this way. Especially once the questions stop being about ‘what’s your favorite color’ and start being ‘who here would you shag if you had to pick.’”
Emily blinked as her cheeks heated. “I actually have to answer that?”
“You do if you want to win. And trust me, you’ll want to win. Three strikes. If you tap out, that’s a strike. Back out of too many commands, that’s a strike. Fail too many commands, that’s a strike.”
“What’ll I get?”
Lux shrugged. “What do you want?”
Emily took another sip and pondered for a moment. What did she want? “I can pick anything?”
“Anything.”
Almost immediately, an idea came to mind. “You all have to do whatever I say, no matter what it is?”
Lux nodded, then gestured for the others to nod as well.
“Alright. If I win, the next time we all hang out, Violet gets to join us.”
They all immediately groaned.
“Seriously?” Ophelia said.
“Yup. If I win, Violet gets to join us. You can’t make fun of her, and you can’t be mean to her. You’ll see, she’s really fun to be around.”
“Augh,” Cedric said. “So, if you win, it’s a punishment for all of us.”
“It won’t be a punishment, you’ll see.”
Lux stared for a moment. Hesitation flickered across her face. “A- Alright,” she relented. “But, in that case, your punishment for losing has got to be just as humiliating as spending time around that creature.”
Emily took another sip, waiting for her answer.
“You lose, and you gotta walk home naked. And no sneaking behind houses, you gotta walk from the plaza to your place. Right down the middle of the road.”
The others chuckled immeasurably.
Emily blinked. “W-What? That’s as humiliating as spending time with Violet?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a game if there weren’t a proper incentive to win. But yes. I’d say that's fair.”
Emily was starting to have second doubts about this. She wasn’t exactly keen on streaking through the valley, and it wasn’t just because people would see her naked; It was because Mina would find out she had snuck out after dark. She’d never be able to explain to her how she ended up in that situation without getting another punishment from her. Then again, if Lux and the others were really going to stick to their word, then it would give her the chance to show them that Violet isn’t the freak they’ve made her out to be. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but that sounded worth the risk to her.
Emily took another swig from her bottle and nodded. “Alright, I’m in.”
Lux grinned, then nodded in approval. “Good girl.” She pointed to her. “I’ll go first. Question or command?”
Emily sighed, then took another sip. Her stomach was feeling a little woozy from all the drinking. The burning in her throat hadn’t gotten any lighter. “Question.”
“Alright, Emily, do you secretly admire anyone in the valley?”
Another collective groan erupted from the others.
“It all makes sense now,” Ophelia said with a giggle.
Cedric leaned forward with a cocky grin. “It’s me, isn’t it? Go on, you can say it. I don’t blame you. Who could resist this masterpiece?” He flexed his arms.
Tristen slapped him upside the head. “Cedric, you’re so fucking ugly that even a siren would swim away.”
The group burst out in laughter. Even Emily couldn’t stop herself, snickering. She didn’t know why she found it so amusing.
“Fuck off,” Cedric grumbled before shoving Tristen off his log.
When the attention rolled back to Emily, the laughter softened. “W-Well…” she hesitated, cheeks turning pink beneath the firelight, “yeah, you could say I admire someone.”
“Oh yeah?” Lux asked. “Who?”
“You can’t ask a follow-up, that’s cheating,” Emily said.
“Yeah,” Alaric said. “You know the rules, you pointy-eared cheat.”
“Fine, fine,” Lux relented, sitting back down on her log. “I’ll just ask when it’s my turn again.”
“My turn,” Ophelia said. “Question or command?”
“Question.”
“Coward,” Alaric said.
“Hey, you never said I had to pick a command.”
“Still makes you a coward.”
Ophelia rolled her eyes, then asked, “Have you ever kissed anyone?”
Emily smirked. “I used to kiss my mom goodnight.”
“No! I mean romantically!”
“You didn’t specify that.”
“Oh, I see how she’s playing it,” Cedric said. “Question or command?”
Emily paused for a few seconds. “... Question.”
“Have you ever kissed anyone romantically?”
“There we go,” Ophelia said with a chuckle.
Emily shook her head. “Haven’t had the time. You know, between running for my life and training every day.”
“So, your first kiss is up for grabs?” Lux teased.
“I guess?”
She smirked. “Noted.”
The drinks kept flowing as the night went on. It was admittedly fun to try and work around every question they asked her, though Emily found it progressively harder to keep up with each passing sip of alcohol. The questions were unassuming and harmless at first: What was her favorite time of year, what's something she always wanted to do, what's the hardest thing she’s ever had to do, what was her favorite book? The dares were just as fun, simple, and childish.
“Climb that tree in under a minute,” Aldric said.
“Race Tristen to the lake and back,” Ophellia said.
“Drink the rest of your bottle,” Lux said.
They were all trying to get her to fail at least one of those, Emily knew that. If she lost any of those, that was just another strike. Despite that, Emily was rolling on the ground laughing. She had drunk so much at this point that she was getting lightheaded, and yet, very energetic. Everything was becoming unbelievably funny to her, and she didn’t know why. Emily sat up and overbalanced, falling back to the ground, which only caused everyone else to laugh harder. The others found it hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing. Emily lay there, giggling. It seemed too much of an effort to sit up again, so she just rolled on the ground. The world was spinning, but she couldn’t stop laughing. The world felt slanted, and no one seemed to be talking normally anymore.
“Sit on Cedric’s lap for the next four turns,” Ophelia said.
“What’s your biggest secret?” Tristen asked.
Emily hesitated with that one, then mumbled thickly, “I peed myself once… when I was a kid.”
“Dumbass,” Cedric said. “Gotta be specific, remember!”
“What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?” Ophelia asked.
Emily told them about the time she tripped down the stairs at Peccatum University’s library, and how her peers all laughed at her.
“What's your biggest fear?” Alaric asked.
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Emily skipped that one.
“What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?” Lux asked.
That was an easy one. Emily recounted the strange, recurring dreams she had been having as best she could. The archway, the bridge, the gate, and the fossil. Everyone looked as confused as she did about the whole thing, but still found it amusing.
“What was the most scandalous thing you did while you were homeless?” Ophelia asked.
Emily skipped that one, too.
“How about we change things up?” Alaric said. “Does ‘the vampire’ sleep in a coffin?”
Emily laughed. “What? No! Mina sleeps in a bed like everyone else!”
“Why isn’t she sleeping during the day?” Ophelia asked.
“She doesn’t need to. She can go days without sleeping.”
“What kind of underwear does she wear?” Cedric asked with a laugh.
Emily just stared at him. “I… I don’t know? Why are you so curious about her all of a sudden?”
“This is our chance to learn more about her, too.”
“We’re supposed to be asking Emily things,” Lux said, trying to veer them back on course.
“I’ll give you this one,” Tristen said. “I command you to punch anyone you want.”
Emily didn’t hesitate, launching to her feet toward Cedric, only to fall flat on her face. The others laughed as she scrambled up, and Cedric tried running. The two drunkenly tumbled before Emily drove a fist hard into his gut. He ended up puking in the bushes while everyone jeered and cheered like it was some badge of honor. Even he’d been laughing between dry heaves.
“That’s for earlier, pervert,” Emily said before stumbling back to her spot.
“I have a good one,” Lux said drunkenly. “Tell us, Emily, why’s the Vael’thaen always dragging those creepy little dolls around?”
Emily’s hiccup turned into a small laugh. “She’s got a name, bitch. It’s Violet.” She rolled onto her side, propping her head on her hand. “And she carries them ‘cause she likes dolls. Shocking, I know.”
“Yeah, but isn’t she, like, twenty?” Cedric said. “Bit old to be playing with dolls, don’t you think?”
“She’s nineteen, idiot,” Ophelia cut in, nudging Cedric’s boot with hers. “I think? Pretty sure, anyway.”
“No, no, she looks twelve,” Lux said. “That’s why she still plays with them. Like some little orphan baby.” She had progressively been scooching closer to Emily the entire game and was finally close enough to lie beside her. “Maybe you’re just into the whole ‘lost puppy’ thing, Em.”
Emily, too drunk to notice the suggestion under the words, giggled and shoved Lux with a playful roll of her eyes.
“Emily, question or command?” Cedric asked.
“Question,” Emily sighed, without thinking.
“Why do you even waste your time hanging around Violet?”
Emily frowned. “For the love of Asdros, you’re all fucking stupid,” she grumbled. “She helps me train. And meditate. She’s smart. She’s funny. And she’s nice, which is more than I can say for half of you assholes.”
“She’s weird, is what she is,” Lux added. “The elf-dwarf mutt should be ashamed of herself.”
“Yeah, you only remind us every other fucking day,” Tristen muttered. “I forgot her name was Violet for a while. I’ve just been calling her ‘vael’thaen’ in my head.”
“Oh, gods,” Ophelia snorted, kicking her legs out in front of her. “Have you seen her talking to her dolls? I once saw her tucked behind this little bush, hunched over like a fucking goblin.” She started laughing so hard she had to pause to catch her breath.
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘talk’?” Tristen said. “She can’t fucking talk. Isn’t she mute?”
“Shut the fuck up, Tristen, you know what I mean,” Ophelia huffed, rolling her eyes. “She had her notebook, y’know? She was writing shit for them. Whole conversations. Like the dolls were answering back or some creepy shit.”
“She is creepy,” Alaric agreed.
“Be honest, Emily,” Lux said. “Would you even hang around her if you weren’t training?”
“I do!”
“But why?”
“I guess... I felt bad when I first started seeing her around. By herself, all the time.”
Lux tilted her head, smirking. “So you were just being nice, huh?”
Emily shrugged. “I like spending time with her. You all don’t get it… She’s a really great person. You’ll see when we next meet up.”
“Yeah-fucking-right,” Lux burst out laughing. “I’d rather kill myself than have to spend a day around her.”
Emily stared at Lux, disappointed. Maybe there really was no changing their minds about Violet. As much as she wanted to include her and spend time with both her friends, it just didn’t seem likely. There was no changing Lux’s mind.
“You aren’t winning this game,” Lux then said confidently.
“She’s not that weird,” Emily said a little more defensively. “You guys are being dicks. She’s just… quiet. And lonely.”
“Oh, okay,” Alaric replied mockingly. “She’s lonely ‘cause no one wants to spend time with a girl who doesn’t talk and dresses like a dead woman.” He looked at Emily. “Does she have a facial deformity under that mask she always wears? Tell me her face ain’t rotted off. That’s why she won’t show it.”
“She’s hiding something, for sure,” Tristen said, pointing a finger at Emily. “You know what it is, don’t you?”
“I don’t,” Emily said, shaking her head stubbornly. “She hasn’t told me anything.”
“Bullshit,” Ophelia said. “You spend more time around her than anyone in the valley. You definitely know.”
“She’s hiding something, right?” Alaric said with a chuckle. “You gotta know.”
“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” Emily mumbled, “Not telling either way.” She was starting to get sick of hearing the constant barrage of insults.
“Emily, Question or Command?” Luxasked.
She didn’t want to keep answering questions. “Command!” Emily snapped, hoping it’d shut them up, and hoping for a harmless, easy dare.
Lux grinned like a fox. “The Vael’thaen has a secret. I command you tell us what it is.”
The group burst out laughing.
“Real clever,” Tristan cackled, drunkenly nudging Alaric with his elbow. “Should’ve seen that one coming, Em.”
Emily groaned loudly and clenched her fists. She couldn’t tell them, but she wasn’t about to streak through the valley either. They weren’t going to let her weasel out of this one. She could feel it. She could feel… something. The world was tilting in a fuzzy, nauseating way. Everything was starting to feel loose. Her thoughts, her tongue, her grip on what was right and what was just... whatever. The group's laughter pounded in her ears. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms, trying to anchor herself, but the alcohol had already blurred the lines. Why won't they just drop it? She thought hazily. It's not funny. Violet's not funny. Maybe they'd laugh it off and move on, and she could stop feeling like the odd one out, the one always defending the “freak.” The penalty for refusing loomed in her foggy mind. It wasn't like Violet's dolls were a real secret, right? Just... weird. Harmless weird. The words bubbled up before she could swallow them. “Okay, okay, fine, I’ll tell if you stop fucking asking me about it! Fuck! Her dolls are like… possessed, or something. I don’t get how it works, but they’re alive… kinda. They got souls in them, and she takes care of them. Or something. I don’t know.”
Everyone burst out laughing again.
“Seriously?” Tristen said. “That’s it?”
“Her dolls are haunted?” Cedric laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world. “Think she fucks any of the spirits?”
“You dumb fuck,” Ophelia barked, snorting into her sleeve. “Ghosts don’t have holes! She’s not fucking ‘em, Cedric, she’s just… playing house like the fucking freak she is.”
“Maybe that’s why she wears the mask,” Tristan muttered. “It's what turns her on. She’s into dead people.”
Lux laughed. “I’ve been telling you her first boyfriend would be a corpse.”
“Wait, Ophelia, you’re the one who’s fucking stupid!” Cedric said. “She can’t fuck anything with holes. Unless she uses her fingers.”
“Then that means the ghosts are fucking her, right?” Alaric said.
Ophelia burst out laughing again. “Do you think she does it with all of them at the same time?”
“Do you think she likes it when they hold her down?” Lux asked. “They’re ghosts, so they can change how big their bodies are, right? That’s how it works, right, Em?” She could barely finish her sentence without breaking out into laughter.
Emily wasn’t laughing. She just wanted this conversation to end. “Alright, that’s enough! I just like Violet, okay! I like spending time with her. She’s not like the rest of you.”
Lux raised her near-empty bottle and giggled. “That’s why you’ll always be the sweet one, Emily.” She tilted the bottle back and drained the last mouthful. “And sweet things don’t last long.”
Emily swallowed hard, her chest aching in a way the drink couldn’t numb. She felt like she had just done something wrong, but she had managed to survive the round. Still, she felt a burning feeling, like someone was staring daggers into her chest. “Someone else go,” she mumbled.
“Alright, alright,” Lux said. “Lets get on to the fun questions. What turns you on, Emily?”
The others cheered and laughed.
Emily narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”
“Answer the question, Emily,” Lux said with a grin, “Or start stripping.”
“Fiiiiine. Ummm… I guess those scenes in romance stories where the knight pins a princess down. Things along that line.”
“Do you want your first time to be gentle…” Ophelia asked, “Or unforgettable?”
“... both?”
“With who?” Cedric then asked.
“I don’t know?”
“Are you shy… or just pretending you don’t know what you’re doing?” Lux asked.
The question spun in Emily’s brain for a moment. “W-What?”
“If someone here leaned in too close, would you pull away?”
“I… uh…”
“I know where this is going,” Ophelia muttered with a girlish giggle.
Lux got up on all fours and drunkenly began a slow crawl toward Emily. “Do you like it when someone takes control, or does it scare you?”
“It… it doesn’t?” Emily’s cheeks burned as she rolled onto her back, scootching away from Lux for a moment before stopping. Her sudden presence felt so overpowering that Emily tensed on the spot and watched as she approached.
“Be honest… are you holding back right now?”
She stared.
Lux finally came to a stop directly over Emily. Her golden hair spilled down like curtains around her head. “Answer the question, Emily.”
“I… uh… no?”
“Are you enjoying this?”
Emily’s mind raced. Her head swam with heat and wine and the weight of Lux above her. All she could see was the sharp line of Lux’s jaw, the fall of her hair like molten gold, the way she loomed over her. Her chest felt tight, her breathing shallow. Every nerve buzzed as if she’d been caught doing something wrong, but also something good. Her skin prickled where Lux’s gaze lingered, her stomach fluttering in a way that made no sense at all, a warm, dizzy pull she couldn’t name. This wasn’t fear, not really, though it wore fear’s clothes. It was excitement twisted up with uncertainty. Her body reacted before her mind could keep up. She told herself she was just drunk, just flustered, just overwhelmed, but underneath the whirl, one clear, startling truth surfaced: whatever this feeling was, she didn’t want it to stop.
“Yes…”
“Good.”
Before Emily could process it, Lux leaned in. Her lips were soft and warm. Emily tensed as her eyes went wide. Lux’s thumb brushed the corner of Emily’s jaw, and she kissed deeper, pressing down until Emily was firmly pinned to the ground. Her heart fluttered for a moment before violently thundering against her ribs. The world outside vanished; the laughter and whistling of the others faded into the heavy throb of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.
She… liked it?
When Lux finally pulled back, strands of saliva bridged their lips. Her eyes stayed fixed on Emily’s, watching the confusion and heat still flickering across her face.
Emily lay there, breathing hard, realizing somewhere in the back of her spinning mind that she hadn’t breathed at all while it was happening. The kiss had knocked the air from her lungs, but it had also lit something unfamiliar inside her. It had only lasted a second, but it felt way longer than that. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “W-woah…”
The others were still howling, Cedric the loudest.
“Don’t stop there! Keep going!” Cedric snorted, half-choked on his own laughter.
“Piss off, Cedric,” Ophelia barked. “Let them breathe!”
Lux chuckled softly, her thumb brushing over Emily’s cheek again. Emily’s muscles slowly came back to life, but her head was still lost in that electric fog. Her heart hadn’t slowed its hammering. She laughed, more from disbelief than anything, her voice cracking through the tension in her chest.
But then Lux leaned in again. Emily’s thoughts didn’t even get the chance to catch up. Her breath caught in her throat as Lux’s kiss grew bolder. She wasn’t rushing this time, but she wasn’t pulling away either. She was savoring the moment. Lux braced her hand beside Emily’s head, then slid the other under her shirt. Her fingers closed around Emily’s bare breast. She moaned into Lux’s mouth as she pinched her nipples, rolling them. The campfire roared violently beside them as a mix of excitement and surprise rushed through Emily. The flames erupted in a small burst of fire, shooting embers and ash into the tree tops above like a sputtering engine. The others all gasped, screamed, and laughed.
The awkward stiffness Emily had felt before was melting. Her heart was tripping over itself. Emily felt drunk on more than the ale. Her mind had turned to static; all she could feel was the tension easing inside her. Lux didn’t stop. Emily didn’t want her to stop; it felt so damn good. The fire roared higher, licking the dry leaves and branches above.
But then Lux pressed herself against her gut and something else stirred inside her. Her stomach gurgled loudly and violently. Lux’s hand left Emily’s breast and fumbled at the laces of Emily’s trousers. Emily’s hips lifted, and Lux’s elbow jammed hard into her overfull stomach. An awful, hollow cramp gripped her gut. Emily’s eyes fluttered open, and a thick wave of vomit surged up her throat. The moment Lux pressed in, deepening the kiss, leaning in for more, it hit.
Emily gagged, and the mess spewed straight into Lux’s mouth.
Lux recoiled like she’d been struck, spitting and coughing, strands of bile glistening between them as her own gag reflex kicked in. Lux turned, doubled over, and hacked the rest into the grass.
Emily clutched her stomach, still sputtering, her throat raw and her eyes stinging. Another wet, violent retch forced its way out of her, splattering near her lap as her body doubled over with the aftershock. The liquor burned just as much coming up as it did going down, and tasted twice as bad. Everything she had eaten she spewed out in chunks.
Cedric was howling so hard he toppled backward, wheezing between fits of laughter while Tristan was bent over, face in his hands, barely able to breathe.
“That’s karma, Lux!” Alaric screamed between his bursts of laughter. “You mouthy bitch, that’s what you get!”
Even Ophelia, usually the first to bark at Cedric or Tristan for being too crude, couldn’t keep a straight face. She wiped her sleeve across her eyes, still laughing. “Never seen you move so fast, princess,” she snorted.
Lux, still crouched on the grass, was coughing hard, spitting and wiping at her chin, her face pale and twisted in disgust. She hacked another mouthful onto the dirt, looking absolutely mortified. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, face flushed, but her eyes flicked down to Emily’s spit-slick, swollen lips, then to the obvious hard peaks of her nipples pressing against her shirt.
Emily sat frozen, one hand clutching her stomach, the other swiping helplessly at her mouth. The heat that had been building inside her hadn’t disappeared; it was still tangled up in the nausea, the panic, and the crushing, suffocating wave of humiliation. Her face was burning so hot it hurt. She wanted to vanish, to crawl into the dirt, to do anything but sit here with vomit on her lips and Lux’s spit still lingering.
But then, she heard a voice that bottomed out her stomach.
“EMILY!”
Her heart skipped straight from mortification to cold, hard fear.
There, standing behind her, was Mina.
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