Mature Content Warning: Blushing and cuddling and a disturbing mental image

Author's notes: I am unsatisfied with the length of this incredibly short chapter. Everything I thought to add, such as some of what training was being done, and a few other things, but it felt like filler content to me. I am not above putting in filler... you've read my works.. lol, but it just didn't sit right. Ah well, longer chapters are coming again soon when the mission arc starts up.

Chapter 18: I'm Sorry...

Her delicate fingers slid through her glossy hair. Alexis sighed at her last message from Scott. He had not spoken to her since that morning and now she felt like garbage. It had been petty and vindictive. She had been so annoyed at him for ignoring her the entire night after her argument with that bitch Eina. When he finally contacted her it was well after midnight.

She sighed. Originally she had been thrilled that he had gotten in touch with her, but on his way to her apartment resentment began to creep up. She knew that their relationship was a contracted thing and that they had no real connection to each other. Still, it had hurt, dammit. The longer it had taken him to arrive the more resentful she had become. So, she had taken out her frustration and resentment by not answering the request to send him up.

Alexis looked into her bathroom mirror then bit her lower lip. She had realized how petty she was, but it was too late. He was not talking to her.

She looked down at the sink. Had she ruined everything? Why had she done it? Their relationship was just business, so why did she become so angry?

“What do I do now...?” she asked the girl in the mirror. What could she do?

It was difficult for her for various reasons, but she had to accept her responsibility in the matter. Alexis sent Scott a message. She said, “I was wrong. Please forgive me.”

She received no response for a few hours. When it finally came it was short, but it made her laugh so hard that she started to cry. He sent her an image that had obviously been manipulated. It was the image she had sent him previously, but with his head on her lingerie clad body. He had a goofy and perverted expression and the caption below it read:

“Come to daddy, baby.”

She turned bright red and clutched at the sink. Her stomach hurt. Alexis gasped and wheezed a little while trying to fight back the laughter. What had gotten into him? She had not laughed like that in ages.

She sent him back a message once she managed to get hold of herself. She giggled repeatedly while sending her response.

<<< Message >>>

I’m jealous... You wear that better than I do.

>>

It did not take long for Scott to respond afterward. Alexis’ face turned red for another reason. “You’ll take it off if I ask you nice, huh?”

The idea had merit but they did not really know each other that well. She had thought to do something like that with him last night, but her annoyance had gotten the better of her. She sent back a message that told him that she would meet him later. He replied that he would be sure to wear something slutty.

Alexis giggled softly. She assumed that he forgave her, but he had not actually said it. That was fine. It was good that they could at least keep talking, besides that she was actually a little curious about what he hid underneath that lingerie.

***

Scott looked over to the girls as they continued their training. Tara had fit in well-enough after she started to talk like a normal person instead of an overly dramatic tragedy girl. While they trained he worked on battle plans and tried to determine what skill-sets to develop. It took time to gain true affinity with an element. If he wanted to maintain that affinity when the girls were not equipped, he would have to train. The problem was deciding where to start.

He looked through the list of current elemental affinities he could develop then rubbed his chin. It would be a while before he managed to become strong enough to fight effectively against higher level Crystallim or aberrations. While fighting directly was discouraged, it did become necessary at times both for bonding purposes and for survival. Against aberrations it was practically a must.

“Shadow, plant, vitality, water, and earth... Either of those elements would be good to work with at first.” Tara had added quite a bit to his affinities. Humans naturally had a vitality affinity and a lesser affinity to the psychic element. When Tara joined the team his affinity for shadow and vitality doubled because Pirouette also had shadow affinity.

Scott chose between shadow and vitality then looked up vitality training skills. The most basic skills were Empower and Boost. He could learn both, obviously, but it would be best to focus on one first. “Boost has a much shorter duration, but it enhances all stats... Empower lasts a lot longer but it only works for one stat.”

He placed the side of his index finger against his lips then nodded. “I’ll go with empower.”

Scott looked up the price list for basic skills then chose the most expensive empower skill, Empower Vitality. It cost him one gold credit, far more than any of the other basic empower skills would cost. However, after he learned and trained the skill, he could develop it to the point that he had much more vital force to work with. It was practically a must have skill for a mage given the slow growth rate for humans. Higher vital force meant more capacity to train skills. Stronger skills required more vital force. It was a vicious circle and humans often did not rate highly in regards to high-end skills because of it.

“We have that mission in a few days. I better get started.” He doubted that he would learn the skill before then even with dedicated training, but once he mastered it he would be able to train skills with much greater ease. Scott called up a copy of the training manual that he had just purchased then went out to train.

A few hours passed and most of the girls wandered off to the steam room to enjoy a relaxing steam. The only people left in the room were Scott and Shaia.

The hunter glanced over at the water tank and watched as Shaia relentlessly fired water spears toward moving targets.

She panted heavily a moment later then collapsed in the water. Scott knew that she would not drown, and suspected that she had depleted her vital force by too great a degree. He ran over to check on her.

Scott hopped into the tank then pulled the girl back to the surface. He swam her back over to the narrow entrance ladder and sat on the little shelf next to it. Non- amphibious water types used it to sit above the water so that they could practice their skills easier.

He held the gasping girl gently in his arms and nuzzled his head against her hair. He called up his inventory and pulled out a health restorative hypo-spray. He placed it against her arm and a brief hiss signaled the fact that its contents had entered the girl.

She began to calm down a few seconds later and soon she breathed normally once more. Shaia shuddered and trembled briefly, but said nothing for a time.

Scott stroked her hair then gently kissed her on the ear. The mermaid tensed up for a moment then slowly relaxed into his embrace.

“I... I’m sorry.” she said after a few minutes had passed. She sniffed again.

Scott realized that she was crying. “Shaia...”

She made a cute little noise then shook her head. “S’ok...”

Scott said, “You have been training hard.”

She remained quiet but her tail fanned slightly. Her master took that as a good sign.

“Your accuracy has increased greatly and you’ve become quite strong.” he said.

She sniffled once more, but her tail fanned the water a little more. Softly she said, “Not enough...”

He gently rubbed her shoulder then ran his nose against her ear. Shaia’s tail curl over slightly and she made a strangled gasp.

“Do I still frighten you?” asked Scott.

“A little...” she said in a gentle and nervous tone.

He kissed her sweetly on the ear then whispered, “What can I do to make you feel better?”

Her tail spasmed and she started to pant. Shaia was too stimulated to respond.

“You’re such a sweet and beautiful girl. I am sorry to see how upset you are when I’m around.” he said.

Shaia spasmed in his arms then she went a little limp. Her panting slowed and her tail began to fan.

“What about me frightens you?” he asked gently.

“Everything...” she replied quickly.

“Really? Is it so bad that you wish for a different master.” he asked in a soft tone of voice.

“No!” Shaia wriggled in his arms. “No, no....”

He kissed her on the shoulder and she froze up again. “I care about you Shaia. I wish I know how to help you be more comfortable around me.”

“You... You do?” she asked in a tiny little voice.

“Yes, I want you to be comfortable and have a happy life.” he replied

Slowly, her tail began to fan once more. It picked up speed and showed a nervous motion. “I would like that too...”

Scott thought about what he had seen recently. Shaia had undergone training with Pirouette and Flora to help her be able to deal with him easier. He had no real idea what they did, but it had seemed quite interesting. That image was burned into his mind. He knew that she wanted to spend time with him, but she was so painfully shy and easily embarrassed that she could not bring it upon herself to make it happen.

He took a deep breath then sighed. When they had first met she had seemed extremely interested in physical intimacy.

After she had been awakened from Nightmare status and became stable, her personality had been far from what he had expected. There was no problem in that, she was a sweet girl and she worked quite hard. He had resolved to take things slowly and let her move at her own pace.

However, she now trained so hard that she risked injuring herself. She obviously had a psychological issue. She was frightened by what he represented. She was a supremely innocent sort of girl and the idea of developing any physical intimacy caused her to panic.

“We don’t have to do anything, you know.” said Scott.

“Huh?” she asked.

Scott hugged her tightly. “I’m not going to molest you, or force you to do anything that you do not want to do.”

“I know...” she said softly.

“Does holding you like this make you uncomfortable?” he asked.

“Yes.” she said with a slight quaver in her voice.

“I’ll let you go then.” said Scott.

She shook her head a little. “You don’t have to...”

“Then I’ll hold you tighter... alright?” he asked.

She made a strangled noise but nodded her head once. Scott’s arms were crossed over her torso, one hand was on her left shoulder, and the other lightly caressed her hip. He embraced her tightly and she made a squeaking noise.

They remained that way for quite some time. Shaia and Scott grew a little closer that day, and by the time that the other girls returned to the training room to check on their master and mermaid companion, Shaia had returned to training. She was determined to become as strong as she could so that she could be a confident and powerful member of the team.