Walking Home Togeather

Chp 59

Walking back from Jessica’s with Mustard the mock lightning adder around my neck, I had a spring in my step. Most of the conversation after the reveal of Bessy’s blessing had revolved around her telling me in detail how to take care of her snake. Things like what it ate, how much sunlight it needed, and the very important fact that she liked a kiss on the head before bedtime.

“Are y-you going to keep the c-creature at your town-town home?” Henry asked. Though he wasn’t touching the snake, he was looking at it with curiosity. Like myself, skeletons didn’t have a human standard sense of touch, even with the illusion of life.

It was still better than my near numbness, but I’d noticed Henry was a bit sensitive about it. He didn’t willingly touch living things often, and when he did, he was exceptionally careful. If not for that, I felt like he’d be petting Mustard or letting her ride on his shoulders instead.

“Hm, so Bessy can visit her when she wants to,” I said easily. My first instinct had been a terrarium but I felt bad caging the snake. Instead, I was discreetly altering the garden behind the house to make a habitat.

[42, that might be a problem since the Mayor isn’t often in, even when she’s around.]

Henry texted me instead of speaking. No one was close by but the Lepusan had excellent hearing. It was better not to say some things aloud. I blinked as what he’d written sunk in, it was true. I wasn’t going to be around the house most of the time but doing ‘mayor things’.

“I’ll have to ask if anyone wants to be my housekeeper,” I said aloud but quietly. It wasn’t anything revealing but could lead to trouble of its own. The Lepusan were inquisitive and on the lookout for jobs. If they knew I needed a housekeeper I could easily see some of them turning up to apply.

That would have been fine for most jobs but I couldn’t hire one to work in a personal area like my residence. I intended to let non-dungeon denizens in with some regularity but needed to be able to feel relaxed when I wanted to.

So far being Duex felt like wearing a mask that required I keep up a matching act. It wasn’t far off from who I was, but still exhausting to keep up for prolonged periods. The residence needed to be a place I could put it aside no matter if I reverted to my natural form or just talked freely.

I didn’t want the Lepusan to get the wrong idea when I inevitably had to turn them down.

[Elim’s written back]

I texted Henry and had to suppress a snort of laughter.

[Mistress 42,

Thank you for taking Mustard. I’m sure it will improve my mother’s mood immensely to know her home is snake-free. As for the blessing, I wasn’t sure but I did suspect. I was also hoping it would apply to dogs and horses as good money can be made with them. Even so, Bessy is my girl and this is just part of her. I’ll make sure she knows that when I come back by.

Your servant,

-Elim Grey]

I smiled, happy he wasn’t scared of learning of the blessing. His mother had taken it well too, but I still didn’t have a strong grasp of how local religions worked for the most part. I couldn’t predict taboos and heresy. Thinking about it though, he was also the guy who made a deal with me willingly. He probably wasn’t inclined to overthinking, unlike me.

That reminded me, I was supposed to send Jessica a write-up about the god in question. It was easy for me to look up and copy-paste into a text. Fortunately, the information was relatively positive. Segwa was a genderless serpent represented by a particular constellation.

They were primarily worshipped by reptilian monster races, but neutral in nature with an element of time and visions in the portfolio. It was an odd combination that made me question how a human family had managed to earn a hereditary blessing from them. Especially since the whole Dr. Doolittle of snakes bit wasn’t a minor thing to bestow.

To me, that felt like ‘ancient line of priestess’ more than repayment of a favor or even a great deed. I considered mentioning my conjecture, but decided against it. Jessica didn’t like snakes, and I was mostly guessing.

“I’m glad Elim’s taking it well. I suppose I was a little more worried than I needed to be,” I said aloud, as I realized I’d lapsed into silent contemplation. It was a bad habit of mine to forget about my surroundings when I did that. Fortunately, Deux’s body conformed to two-legged norms automatically and Henry had kept me from doing anything embarrassing like walking into a lamppost.

“It’s h-hard to predict how someone will take s-such odd news,” Henry offered with a single shoulder shrug.

“He does seem l-like a good f-father to me though I ha-haven’t met him. It-it’s reflected in his fa-family and their love,” he continued. Finding what he said sweet, I let go of his hand briefly to give him a hug. After explaining about illusions and my sense of touch a little more clearly, he’d gone through and had most of his wardrobe enhanced with them. Now I could feel something no matter what he happened to be wearing.

Feeling a bit naughty, I gave him a cuddle instead of a chaste hug around the shoulders. Henry blushed, looking bashful and I felt a deep desire to tease him a bit. One that made me remember something I’d been meaning to bring up.

“We should drop Mustard off first, but did you want to do anything before heading home?” I asked. I stopped cuddling him and took his hand once more, pretending nothing had happened, though I was almost certainly blushing just as fiercely.

“N-No, but I’m ha-happy to accompany you-you,” Henry said, with a curious quirk to his eyebrows.

“Hm… Where I’m from we had a stage of courtship called dating. It’s essentially just spending time together, though the idea is if it was a “date” you should try and do something fun or romantic,” I explained with a smile of my own.

“I th-thoroughly approve of this cus-custom,” Henry said immediately.

“Were there any from your hometown you’d like to try?” I asked, curious. He’d told me about himself and a little bit about his world but I still didn’t know much. I’d been a little too preoccupied with other matters to do an in-depth cultural analysis.

“Th-that’s… Several, but n-not this evening,” Henry replied, starting flustered but smoothing out.

“Oh? Now I’m curious,” I teased him.

“Well, lean c-closer and I-I’ll tell you,” Henry countered. Intrigued, I did as he suggested and bent down so he could whisper in my ear. Instead, he gave me a kiss on the cheek then bit it lightly. I stood up in surprise, an electric thrill going through my earlobe.

Henry grinned at me and I had to wonder which one of us was actually the shy one.