Complete Providence Hunt or be hunted

[Fina Drago]

Things managed to get a bit quieter after the fight's immediate reactions were over. Now the girls just sat there in mild awkwardness as they slowly regained their strength after the fight. And while it was certainly peaceful, Fina just couldn't help but fidget from time to time as her ear was subjected to a fierce assault of scratches and pets. At the same time, she didn't want to say anything since it wasn't like it felt bad. Quite the opposite, it felt maybe a bit too long, and the girl wasn't wholly comfortable sharing that side of herself with others. Especially since she didn't quite understand it yet herself.

But somehow, that was not where things ended as the girl suddenly felt something soft against her cheek. Her body froze for a moment before her golden gaze turned to the side, and she realized what had just happened. Almost instinctively, her body jumped to the side a bit as Fina turned to face Cleo, face bright as a ripe tomato. "Wha- whaaaaaa—"

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

The animated response to her little reward was quite amusing. Cleo could see why Vina acted like this more often than normal, to be honest. That being said, she had let things go on for a little bit too long. Cleo chuckled, letting go of Fina's ears and raising her hands as Fina put some distance between them, face burning bright red with a blush of embarrassment or shock.

Haha, sorry about that. That was a bit too forward of me, wasn't it? I've been hanging around some pretty bad influences in the past couple of weeks, it seems.

Spending a week with Vina during the expedition for the whole Red Fever thing probably hadn't helped keep her modest either. And then there was the incident with Mizuki and her meeting with Kaede too. This game was really making some very forward people and Cleo was starting to wonder if she should be counted among them.

She pushed herself up until she was standing.

Shall we start making our way back, then? Or would you like to keep resting for a bit longer?

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Frankly, Fina was far too stunned to be capable of a normal response to what just happened. It certainly was very forward. Perhaps anyone else would have handled it with a bit more grace, but Fina was an individual who was simply not used to any physical contact in the physical world. Her body had forgotten how the touch of another felt. Thus, whenever someone became this forward with her and initiated skinship, the feline's brain simply overloaded and stopped functioning correctly.

At least Cleo did not pursue the contact further, which allowed her victim to regain her composure and shake off the embarrassment. "I—err— right, going back! I'm fine, I'm fine!" Almost jumping up, Fina would also get onto her own two feet and stretch a bit to show she was definitely fine and completely rested so they could go home and forget this whole thing ever happened! Or would they? "Erm… yeah, you can just lead the way."

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Fina certainly didn't seem fine and it was a bit of an overreaction for just a simple kiss on the cheek, but Cleo had already decided that she wasn't going to dig into the catgirl's life if she could avoid it. Still, she would give Fina the time that she needed to actually shake off her embarrassment and return to something that seemed almost normal. Still, if the girl jumped up and stretched like that, Cleo could only allow the girl to assume she'd convinced her that she was fine.

And if Cleo stared a bit when Fina stretched? Who could say for sure...?

Sure thing. We'll be setting a slower pace this time anyway, since we're not ina hurry to catch something before it gets away and we lose it.

With that said, Cleo beckoned for Fina to follow her, beginning her walk back to the treeline of the forest, retracing the path that they had taken to get here.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

"We really don't have to be slowing down because of me or anything. But if you want to walk slower, then sure." As long as it wouldn't take so long that Fina would run out of time and have to log off, everything should be fine. But then again, the land of this game world was rather vast, so traversing it would take a good while. At least they still had each other for a company so that they wouldn't die of boredom at the very least.

- After a long trek, the two would make it back to Stokbon -​

"Haaah, seriously… waypoints for teleporting..!" The feline once again complained about a lack of a fast-travel system for a game this large. The journey might have taken a while, but they were not attacked by anything on the way here, nor did they run out of supplies. All in all, the whole expedition was a success. "I guess I'll have to be more careful about picking quests that need me to travel far…"

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

She didn't particularly want to walk slower, but she was by far in no hurry to get anywhere and didn't want to wear herself out doubletiming it back to town, not when she had plans that she had to fulfil and she couldn't do them when she was having to crawl everywhere due to exhaustion. Still, the walk wouldn't be too bad with the two of them, for once on good terms with one another thanks to whatever chance Fina had managed to go through since they'd first met.

It was definitely a long journey though, so Cleo could agree with Fina's complaints when they had finally arrived.

How is a game this advanced missing something as basic and convenient as a fast-travel system? It can't be about the lack of immersion, otherwise magic wouldn't even be a thing...

Cleo groaned, shaking her head. The fact that they had to walk everywhere, if they didn't have a mount or know how to ride one, was just ridiculous. When would the magitech engineers create cars and trains and stuff? She wanted that version of this world.

Well, either way, I enjoyed getting to come on this little quest with you. It was good seeing you again.

@Fina Drago

 

[Fina Drago]

Once they were done with their short rant about how frustrating this one specific part of the game was, Fina would straighten her posture and close her eyes for a bit. She's been playing for a good while now, so it was probably about time she logged off and ensured her physical body wasn't dying of thirst or hunger. It would be no problem, given they finally got to a major town and its safe zone.

Though, when Cleo said she enjoyed the whole trip, the feline would toss her a glance with reddened cheeks, remembering that this whole thing almost did not happen due to how they were at the start. "Y-yeah. Thanks for joining me… and not letting me get torn to shreds by a wolf." That was a nice bonus. "I should be going now, so, um… have a nice rest of your day. We'll probably end up on an adventure together in no time anyway."

That last comment of hers might have been a bit presumptuous, but the feline assumed that Cleo wasn't lying about having a good time. And, well, their relationship was clearly improving. Just remembering the kiss on her cheek made her tenser, so she just looked to the side and prepared to log off as soon as the two would exchange their goodbyes for the day.

@Cleo Looker

 

[Cleo Looker]

Fina's red cheeks made Cleo blink in confusion, wondering what it was that Fina could possibly be blushing about now. They hadn't mentioned the fact that Cleo had kissed her cheek or even referenced it in the slightest, so she wasn't exactly sure what the sudden tenseness and unsurity was, when she knew that Fina could have quite the active and acerbic tongue whenever she wanted to. It wasn't like Fina was the type to just collapse and fold in an argument, so the blushing and embarrassment was strange.

Unless the girl was attracted to her...?

Right, of course. I could never let anybody get torn to shreds by anything, though I think that you're strong enough that you could've beat it without my health. It would've been a tough fight, but still. Thanks for giving me a chance to practice my healing abilities a little more.

She nodded, hearing that Fina would have to be going soon and watching the girl open her menu and prepare to log out. Still, she couldn't help but tease the catgirl one last time before she logged out.

By the way, your skin tastes really good. I very much enjoyed kissing you.

With that, she grinned and began to walk away, leaving a likely flustered feline to log out behind her.

@Fina Drago