“Good morning,” Jadis said in unison with all three of her selves.
“Good morning,” Meli answered from her open door. “How are you today, Jadis?”
“I’m good,” she replied, only this time only her Jay self spoke while her other two bodies stood off to either side while maintaining the same pose and posture. “How about you? Are you getting used to living in the city?”
“No,” Meli admitted bluntly. “There are too many people and not enough trees. The streets feel constraining. I don’t understand many of the sounds and smells when I go out and they make me anxious.”
After a short pause, Meli continued.
“The compound has been easier to adjust to, though. And Tegwyn’s advice about the potted plants has helped.”
“Well, I’m glad there’s a silver lining,” Jay said with a wry smile.
“What is silver lined?”
“Never mind that,” she brushed the confusion aside. “I was hoping we could speak privately for a minute. Do you mind if I come in?”
Meli blinked her orange eyes a couple of times, a sign that Jadis had learned meant that the Dryad was thinking things through. After a moment, she stepped back, allowing her entrance to her quarters.
“Please, enter.”
Meli’s room was spacious for a single person, though not extravagantly so. Like the rest of the rooms in Building Three, the floor had been divided into multiple partitions, creating a functional dormitory. None of the rooms had a private bathroom as those were all located on one side of the building thanks to plumbing constraints, but the individual rooms were all easily twice the size of the dormitory room Jadis had lived in when she was in college on Earth, so at least no one would feel cramped.
Well, cramped was a relative condition. With three of Jadis squeezing into the space, there was suddenly a lot less room in Meli’s room than there had been a moment before. The large number of potted plants lining the walls made things feel even smaller than normal, though the overall effect was nice. Meli’s quarters smelled strongly of fresh leaves and flowers, with a wholesome and earthy undertone. Aside from the plants, there wasn’t much else to the Dryad’s room except for a single-person bed and a chest that had been placed there before Meli had chosen the spot for herself.
And the dildo.
It was, just as Maeve described, a shockingly accurate depiction of Jadis’ junk. Both length and girth were accurate, as was the overall shape. Jadis could see what the Fetch had meant about tiny details being slightly off, but the fact that Maeve had noticed those small imperfections, which were barely noticeable even to Jadis’ practiced eye, said more about Maeve than it did about Meli. Then again, the fact that the Dryad was the one who had carved the dildo said more than enough.
“Are you here because Maeve told you about the dildo?”
Jadis turned her attention onto Meli, only then realizing that she had been staring for a good few seconds.
“Yes,” Jay readily admitted, seeing no point in trying to hide the truth. “That is part of why I’m here, yeah.”
“I… didn’t offend you, did I?” Meli frowned as she stood awkwardly by her creation. “I was just trying to be… proactive.”
“I’m not offended. A little confused, maybe a little concerned, too. Part of me is absolutely laughing.”
Taking a step closer to the Dryad, which put her in a position where they were basically side by side, Jay whispered quietly.
“Meli, I have a skill that makes sex with me possible. You don’t need to work up to it. I’m actually entirely confident that it’s literally impossible to accommodate me fully without the skill. Using that really wouldn’t help you.”
Meli was silent for a long while, her wooden form still as a tree. Eventually, the Dryad slowly sank down to a crouched position, her arms wrapped around her legs as she buried her face in her knees. The words she spoke were partially muffled, but still surprisingly calm.
“Please don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t tell a soul,” Jay said as she crouched down next to the other woman. Patting her on the back, she added, “I’ll even tell Maeve to keep it secret.”
Jadis gave Meli some time to recover, quietly rubbing her back as she waited. There were various important things that needed to be done that day, but so far as she was concerned, none of them took precedence over Meli’s feelings at that moment. With a start, Jadis realized the truth of the thought. Meli really did matter more to her than any number of pressing concerns that vied for her attention on an hourly basis. She genuinely cared for the Dryad. She was important to her.
They really needed to go on that date.
“What do you say we go visit the giant tree today. You said the Dryads call it Eikr, right?”
“I would enjoy that, yes,” Meli said, her voice just a little shaky. “I have not visited Eikr yet and I would like to see it closer.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Jay grinned as she leaned a little closer to the other woman. “I’ve been looking forward to spending more time with you.”
“I have, as well,” Meli replied, finally looking up to meet Jay’s eyes. “I just… didn’t want to push. I already made a fool of myself jumping to conclusions once before. Now I have a second time…”
“Pfft,” Jay blew air from between her lips. “Wait until I tell you about how I met Noll for the first time. I was a way bigger fool than you, trust me.”
Meli smiled and rose to her full height, prompting Jay to do the same. Glancing down at the plain toga that she was wearing, she gave it a small pat.
“Perhaps I should put on something more appropriate.”
“Why?” Jay tilted her head. “You’re already the most beautiful Dryad I have ever met. The clothes you wear won’t change that.”
Meli crossed her arms again as she rocked from side to side.
“You are very flustering.”
“Thanks,” Jay grinned.
“If you want to change, I’ll wait outside,” her Dys self said as she put a hand on the doorknob of the room. “But don’t feel like you need to. I want to spend time with you, not your wardrobe.”
Meli nodded, though she motioned with one hand for Jadis to exit the room. Just as Dys started to open the door, she stopped as her Syd self pointed and exclaimed loudly.
“Okay, I have to ask. Can I take a closer look?”
“Uh, yes, you may,” Meli replied awkwardly.
Picking it up, Syd closely examined the dildo that Meli had so meticulously carved. The wooden woody had a pleasant heft to it, which tempted Jadis to want to swing the thing around, though she restrained herself just to make sure she didn’t accidentally break any of the pottery in the room. Giving the shaft a good slap against her palm, Syd grinned at the Dryad.
“You did a really good job! My only concern is, aren’t you worried about splinters?”
“I was going to polish and lacquer it,” Meli replied. “Before use. It would not be safe, otherwise. I won’t bother now.”
“Oh, you better bother,” Syd said as she set the wooden pillar back down on the floor. “I look forward to seeing the finished product.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Syd countered. “You put a lot of work into that project. As a representative of Lyssandria, it would be an affront to my goddess if you didn’t finish such a beautiful work of art.”
“Ah—alright,” Meli stammered, looking both confused and amused at the same time. “I will do my best.”
“Good,” Syd nodded once. “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”
With that, Jadis exited Meli’s quarters.
A few minutes later, Meli met Jadis in the courtyard in front of building three. True to form, the Dryad’s new clothes were nothing fancy. She had changed into a green toga with white and gold embroidery along the edges. Nice, but nothing compared to the expensive and majestic dresses that Jadis had seen some noblewomen wear in the past. Not that those noblewomen could even come close to Meli’s natural beauty, no matter how costly their clothes were. The orange-eyed tree woman had an exotic look that drew the eye, regardless of what she wore.
“As I said, still beautiful,” Jay said as the Dryad approached her.
“I believe you would say that even if I were to wear leaves, rags, or nothing at all,” Meli replied.
“Yes,” all three of Jadis replied instantly. “Absolutely. Especially that last option.”
It took Meli a moment, but she eventually realized what she had said and she went stiff with embarrassment.
“I am doing a terrible job with this word play,” she said as she tugged on one of her willow fronds. “I wish I knew Imperial better.”
“You speak it beautifully,” Jay assured her. “And the more we talk, the more practice you’ll have. Though, I hope we won’t be talking here. We have better views waiting for us. Shall we go?”
Jay held out her hand to Meli as she spoke.
“Yes, please,” Meli took Jay’s hand with her slender and smooth one. “But you do not need to carry me if we are going to Eikr. I can run.”
“I know you can,” Jay grinned. “But we won’t be running, Meli.”
As Jay lifted the Dryad into her arms, she cast Wings of the Succubi, causing the spectral tendrils of magic to extend from her back in a wave of white light.
“We’ll be flying.”
Lifting into the air, Jadis flew almost directly upward, quickly leaving both the compound, and the ground, behind. The boughs of the colossal tree that the city of Eldingholt was built around stretched far overhead; there was no need for her and Meli to travel to the base of the tree when they could just go straight up to reach the branches. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that Jadis had confirmed with Severina that flying individuals like Seraphim or those with flight-capable classes were allowed to freely walk among the great tree’s leaves. There were guards on the larger branches, but it was only the central trunk that was off limits, since the royal palace was built among the roots. That meant that so long as they stayed to the outer boughs, the two of them could have their date without worrying about trespassing where they might get in trouble.
As they soared upward, Jadis took the time to appreciate the Dryad she held in her arms. She had never really been this close to Meli before, and having her pressed against her body was proving to be a far more pleasant experience than she had quietly worried it might be.
Meli was, put bluntly, a plant. She had wooden flesh that looked no different from a statue that had been carved from a tree. There was no strangeness to her movement; she was just as fluid as anyone else who was made of blood and bone. However, when the Dryad stood still, it was sometimes easy to forget that she could move at all. Jadis had worried that Meli would be hard to the touch, unyielding and stiff just like the almost finished carving that the Dryad had been working on in secret. Instead, Jadis found that Meli was quite the opposite.
With one hand holding her bare shoulder, and the other touching the back of her bare thighs, Jadis could feel Meli’s warmth and softness. The Dryad’s skin was strange, as she felt just as smooth as a piece of polished wood, but her flesh still yielded to Jadis’ touch the same way as any of her other lovers would. As they approached the colossal tree’s canopy, Jay couldn’t help but rub her fingers gently across where she touched the Dryad. The sensation of Meli’s warm, yet oddly smooth, skin was almost addictive. She was tempted to slow her flight even further, just so she had more time to enjoy the touch of Meli’s body.
Meli’s fingers curled into fists, clutching at Jay’s red blouse. Pulling herself close against her chest, Meli rested her head on Jay’s shoulder, the Dryad’s breath tickling her neck. Jay could feel Meli’s thighs rubbing together as she leaned into her touch. To her, it seemed that Meli was no more interested in arriving at their destination than she was.
When all three of Jadis’ selves finally landed on one of the remote branches of the great Eikr, hidden from surrounding views by the thick foliage of oak-like leaves, Jay looked down so she could stare into Meli’s amber eyes.
“It’s a beautiful view,” Jay said quietly, her gaze never leaving the Dryad.
“Yes, it is,” Meli replied just as softly as she leaned closer to Jay’s lips.
“Did you want to take a walk through the branches?” Jay asked, her fingers rubbing Meli’s shoulder and thigh in little circles. “Maybe I should send one of my selves back down to the compound and get us some food, so we can have a picnic.”
“No,” Meli shook her head. “I don’t want to do either of those things.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want us to have sex,” Meli stated bluntly as one hand moved up Jay’s neck to run her fingers through her white hair. “Lots of it. Right now.”
“You’re very blunt about what you want, aren’t you?” Jay asked rhetorically, already knowing full well exactly what kind of person Meli was.
“Yes,” Meli answered plainly. “How else is anyone supposed to know what I want if I don’t tell them?”
“Good point,” Jay agreed.
As soon as she had finished speaking, Meli closed the distance and captured Jay’s lips with her own, locking them into a deep and passionate kiss.
There was something to be said for being direct.
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