‘Hamena, hamena, hamena,’ Korith was still chanting in her head, eyes glued to the hunk of manmeat. His black hair waved in the salty sea breeze, his muscles shifted visibly under the robe, his emerald wings elegantly folded, underlining nicely the sheer weight his bare feet carried over the deck. ‘He looks like he was crafted to look perfect,’ the kobold thought. She had no idea how right she was.

“Could have warned me that your friend is oversized!” Joey shouted. “Matt, take over the wheel for a minute. Just keep it steady. You can do that much.” The ever-annoyed captain stomped down to the main deck. “Seriously though, what kind of giant are you?”

“None?” Apexus responded, tilting his head quizzically.

‘Hamena, hamena, hamena,’ the chant returned to Korith’s head, hearing the deep, calm voice. To her, it was an odd moment of expectation and reality meeting. If she had to pick a voice for a man who looked like him, that smooth baritone would have been it. ‘Is he a learned singer or something?’ she wondered.

“Come with me,” Joey commanded and marched towards the traveller’s quarter.

Apexus did not obey immediately. He did not know this Joey and his abrasive attitude did not spark a desire to go anywhere alone with him. “He’s a funny guy,” Reysha assured him, grabbing one arm of the humanoid slime. “Come on, let’s go.”

‘Oh,’ Korith thought, realizing what there was to the gesture and what the relationship status was between Apexus and Reysha. In the broad strokes, at least. A twinge of disappointment filled her when she realized that this man was not available. ‘Ooooohhhh!’ she added to her own mental outcry, when the bottom-heavy fairy grabbed the other arm. ‘So there is a chance!’

Korith didn’t know what kind of chance exactly she was hoping for here. To describe this as love at first sight would have been overstating it. Her interest was piqued and she had always had a thing for tall men. She also rather liked what she saw of Reysha and Aclysia. Beyond that, she still had several days to get to actually know them and adjust her opinion accordingly. Her tail bounced when she followed after the three, too intrigued to wait any longer than she needed to talk to them.

‘Hamena, hamena, hamena,’ she thought, eyes glued to the absolutely incredible ass of the pale woman. Fundamentally drab, the casual dress she wore wasn’t sexy in any way by itself. The size of her derriere forced desirability on the plain article of clothing, her backside stretching the fabric. Each of her long, deliberate steps showed the outline of her magnificently round cheeks.

They entered the quarters, a couple of other sailors and the remaining travellers following them, if they weren’t already inside. “This would be your hammock,” Joey said and pointed towards one of them in the corner. “Try laying down in it.”

‘Hamena, hamena, hamena?’ Korith thought, somewhat confused by the way the hulk of manmeat treated the hammock. Before making even an attempt at jumping into it, he grabbed the fabric, turned it around, stretched it between both hands, and checked how it was secured to the boat. It was as if he had never seen a hammock before – because he hadn’t.

‘That’s a weird construction,’ the humanoid slime thought, gently putting some weight on the hammock by leaning on it. The wood and ropes creaked a bit, though they were sturdy enough that they held even after Apexus sat down on the swinging bed. He transitioned to lying. “This is nice,” he said. The gentle swaying reminded him both of flying and swimming.

Joey did a double take on the rope and everything around. “Seems like it’ll hold,” he said, obviously relieved. “We don’t have any oversized hammocks, so you’ll have to sleep with your neck on the net.” He flicked the mesh of rope that connected the stretched linen to the walls. “Also, you can’t sleep in the same hammock as your partners. Usually, I’d just let you do what you want, but the hammock definitely can’t take much more weight.”

“I understand,” Apexus nodded and got out of the relaxing sway. “Can we sleep on the floor?”

“Wouldn’t recommend it,” Joey said.

“The primary advantage of hammocks is that they adjust according to gravity and remain level, darling,” Aclysia explained to him. “It may occur that intense weather causes the ship to tilt in various directions. A hammock prevents one from being tossed around by the constant movement.”

“That’s, at best, halfway correct,” Joey corrected her. “Does she usually say so much bullshit in so many wo-“ The sailor stopped himself when Apexus’ head whipped around like that of a cat that had localized fresh prey. Although he was no pushover, Joey was too seasoned to risk pissing off an almost two-metre-tall man built like a brickhouse. He cleared his throat and continued with a diplomatic tone. “While it’s true that a hammock does prevent being tossed around, a bed with a high border would work just as well if that was the goal. We mainly use hammocks because they can be stowed away during the day and they dry easily in case a high wave gets some water into the ship. Also, they’re cheap.”

Apexus was still pondering if he should grab the man and shake him until he apologized to his beloved angel. Aware of this, Joey excused himself and returned to the steering wheel. He had confirmed what he needed anyway.

“Ya don’t need to rip his head off, he was just joking around,” Reysha playfully chastised the humanoid slime.

“He was using a highly inappropriate tone,” Aclysia complained.

“Appropriate, shmappropriate. I like the way he talks. It’s just bursting with years of annoyance and an utter lack of fucks to give.”

“I suppose that would appeal to your own lack of manners.”

“Yep.”

“I don’t mind the brashness, only that he insulted Aclysia,” Apexus confessed. “Perhaps I was taking it too seriously. He did teach us the correct reasons.”

“Ya definitely did,” the redhead grinned and walked over to her own hammock. That was to say: she picked her hammock at that moment. They hadn’t been assigned and Reysha just wanted the closest one. “Guess ya ain’t having sex while we sail across, big guy.”

“You won’t either, if we stick to the hammocks,” Apexus pointed out.

“Nah, see, I’m a delicate girl and Aclysia is a featherweight. I can have plenty to grope.”

“I do not consent to this course of action.”

“We’ll see how ya think about that when it’s the middle of the night and ya realize the only two choices for cuddling ya have are me or none at all.”

Aclysia took a very long inhale. Her mind attempted to put together something that sounded like a good comeback. Before she could select a good choice of words from the many options she was aware of , she noticed Korith standing next to them along with the other travellers, who were a bit taken aback by the openness of their statements. Hastily, she bowed her head, “I deeply apologize for any inappropriate comments made by my cat-eared acquaintance.”

“Acquaintance? That hurts, bubble butt,” Reysha laughed and smacked the metal fairy on the named feature. She couldn’t help but yelp in an indecent fashion, only causing the redhead to laugh louder. “We’ll hang a sock on the door or something,” the tiger girl unashamedly warned the people. “We won’t do it during sleeping hours. However, if any of you get creepy about watching, I will stab you.” Revealing her sharp teeth in a dangerous grin, she made everyone question how much, if anything, of what she had just said was a joke. The correct answer was: nothing.

The other travellers and the remaining sailors decided, at that point, that it was best to just let this be whatever it was and go about their day. While luggage was stowed away in the provided chests, Korith remained where she was, considering how to start a conversation. Remaining so close eventually inevitably brought Apexus’ attention to her.

Truthfully, Apexus had noticed her from the start. Her unusual shortness had drawn his attention quickly. He just hadn’t found the time to properly look at her until now. The humanoid slime noticed three things about her instantly. Two were what any man would have seen: she was adorably gorgeous and had a massive rack. One was confined to people with a keen eye, those with a preference for certain bodytypes, and unique slimes whose first instinct was to scan for the breeding fitness of potential partners: the athletic shape of her arms.

Her biceps were of a proper thickness, betraying a good level of strength even before magic enrichment elevated it to superhuman levels. She looked sturdy, but not stout. Nothing about her conveyed a feeling of broadness. She was short and curvy, visually appealing in all feminine ways and obviously healthy.

That being assured, Apexus blatantly stared at her tits. He had been wondering what enormous breasts like this must feel like, ever since he had first started properly playing with what his two loves had to offer in that department. That such behaviour was improper didn’t cross his mind. As far as he was concerned, he was conveying interest in her attractiveness – essentially, he was giving her a non-verbal compliment.

From the female side, such an advance was easily deemed creepy if unwelcome. Who wanted to be intently stared at by a person double their size and the ability to pin them down at a moment’s notice? Korith, as it turned out, as this attention was most definitely welcome. It did a bit to boost her self-esteem that such a hunk was analysing her the same way she had analysed him. A lustful flutter in her stomach slowed down her thoughts. For the first time, she breathed in the sweet scent of his pheromones. They had no outstanding influence on their own. They did serve to further deepen that desire she felt.

As a self-respecting kobold, Korith did not want to drop her panties immediately. ‘Well, I do, but I won’t!’ she told herself. ‘Control, Korith, control. You shouldn’t lose your virginity on the floor of a boat… Oh, Hoard, they are all looking at me now!’ the realization managed to snap her somewhat out of her horny daze. She scrambled to search for something to say.

“Do you wish to speak to us?” Aclysia asked.

“That’s Korith,” Reysha introduced her. “She’s my onboard entertainment.”

“Your entertainment?” Korith squeaked, not happy that this was her introduction.

“You’re just that easy to mess with.” The Rogue grinned at the shortstack. “Anyway, these are my two comrades or sex toys, whatever you prefer. The stud is Apexus, the bubble butt is Aclysia.”

“I’m a kobold.” The seemingly contextless response caused a confused pause in the conversation.

Apexus was the first to get it. “Not a clysia or a pexus. It’s our names. Aclysia and Apexus.”

“Oh… Oooooohhhh!” Korith slammed a hand into her face.

“ha… hahaha…AHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAAHA!” Reysha fell back into the hammock, kicking the air wildly while roaring with amusement. She was too loud for the rest of them to have a conversation. Apexus was also chuckling, while Aclysia at least had the decency to hide her smile behind a raised hand. Only when Reysha almost fell backwards out of the dangling bed, did she regain enough self-control to stop. “So, how badly do you want to jump off board right now?”

“Very badly,” Korith said miserably.

“Too bad you’d float even if you did,” Reysha purred.

“I got heavy bones; I would sink to the sweet embrace of nothing without problem.”

“That would be a waste,” Apexus asserted and sat down on the floor, so she could stop straining her neck. “You want to talk to us about something?”

‘Don’t say I want to talk about how you look naked – don’t say I want to talk about how you look naked – don’t say I want to talk about how you look naked.’ “Do you have room in your party?” she blurted out instead. ‘Dammit Korith! Take it slow!’

The question caused the trio to exchange awkward glances. To Korith it seemed like they were mentally preparing how best to tell her that she was inadequate. While she was right that they were weighing how to turn her down, this was not the reason.

Trying to get ahead of the disappointment, she added, “I mean, I’m just asking to know, you know? I’m heading to Wise Shire and I thought: ‘by Hoard, what a lucky coincidence I ran into a small party on the way! Might as well ask them!’ So, yeah, it's totally fine if you aren’t looking for people, and all of that. It would just be nice to know if you are and if you are, if you were searching for a Warrior, or something like that. So… yeah, that, and all of that.”

When Aclysia was certain that the stream of words had ended, she said, “We have circumstances that prevent us from considering an expansion of our party. Beyond that, we have just met and an immediate joining of our fates in any long-term agreement would be ill-advised.”

“That’s true,” Korith agreed readily. That the white-haired woman spoke common sense allowed her to remember that she had that herself.

“You’re interesting and attractive,” Apexus said, regret at their current situation making its way into his voice. Under other circumstances, he would have at least entertained the thought of her joining the party. With Turlesh on their trail, it would have been irresponsible.

The mixture of blunt compliment and regretful tone made Korith blink a number of times. ‘I guess they really do have some kind of situation going on?’ she thought, but didn’t pry. Not immediately, anyway. “I have games too,” she responded instead. “Games and a lot of time. You have that, too, right?” She smiled and reached into her adventurer’s bag. “Even if you aren’t looking for party members, we still have to overcome the boredom.”

“Told ya, she’s my onboard entertainment,” Reysha hummed and sat down on the floor next to Apexus. Aclysia followed her example. “What’re we playing? Cards?”

“For a start,” Korith smiled.