Chapter 203: Thera's Perspective

Ever since she’d walked in on Ben getting his blood sucked and briefly losing control of her mana in the surprise her thoughts had been a mess. She’d done worse with training with her father and during the time she spent helping her aunt in the hospital, she’d been needing more guidance to make up for her straying thoughts.Worse was that she kind of understood why. She was jealous. It was a feeling she was used to enough, experiencing it plenty for other succubi with normal levels of charm, and more intensely for the races that were lucky enough not to have it at all, but feeling it like this was new to her and she didn’t understand why seeing that had set her off so much. Even though she was an adult in the eyes of her people, her experiences with any sort of positive relationships outside of her family were few, making her go through situations she never had in the past. Understanding why it just had left her so unhappy was proving to be a struggle.

That left her in her current situation, regretting how she acted while not knowing what to do from there, or how to keep it from happening again.

They’d both been so busy since then that they hadn’t even been able to talk either, with Ben focusing on his work and herself doing what she could to get the most out of her time there, but that was its own issue. She’d found herself so used to his companionship that without getting to chat for a while she felt lonely, no matter how much she enjoyed her aunt’s company. Just one more thing that left her in a poor headspace, but one she wanted to fix.

“Thera,” Lux began, pulling her from her thoughts. “Why don’t you take a break for the rest of the day? Maybe even go and talk to your friend?”

She’d cut straight to the heart of the matter, and while Thera wanted to decline, she couldn’t deny her head wasn’t in it. “Maybe a bit of a break would help. Thank you Lux.”

She walked out of the hospital, thinking a walk would be good to clear her head when she ran into the very target of her thoughts, Ben, waving wildly from the distance as he biked over to her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, surprised to see him at the hospitals of all places. “Don’t tell me you managed to hurt yourself while my mom wasn’t around.”

Looking him up and down, he didn’t seem injured, but she couldn’t be certain and went to apply her healing magic before he shook his head.

“No, I’m fine. I finished up everything I’d had to do and figured I’d come see you, not hanging out for the last couple days has felt… unusual I guess. Wanted to see if you’d be up for a ride around town since I finally put this back together?” He asked as he patted the back of his bike, right behind his seat. It was more of a long, flat bar compared to what he was sitting on, but it didn’t look too uncomfortable and if she were being honest with herself she was curious about what it was like to ride given the amount of effort he’d put into making it.

“Sure, I guess that could be fun,” And with only a little bit of work to figure out how to actually sit on it, riding sidesaddle instead of mounting it like Ben had to, they were off.

“You might want to hold on for safety,” He told her as they started to make their way through town, Ben taking it slow for the well-being of themselves and those around them while Thera was trying to figure out just what she was supposed to hold onto as she tried to keep the speed and lack of control from freaking her out.

“Hold on to what?”

“Me. I don’t want you getting tossed off if I need to hit the breaks.”

“I feel like you should have mentioned that could happen before I got on!” She yelled as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Ha, it’ll be fine, now just relax and enjoy the scenery. Let's try some different parts of the city for the day. I feel like I’m always going to the same few places when I’m here.”

With that they spent a few hours riding around, stopping occasionally for a snack and carrying on to enjoy the sights. As new as it all was to Ben, plenty was new for Thera as well, with them traveling through parts of her city she’d never bothered to visit herself in all of the time she’d lived there.

It was only when they came across a public garden that Ben decided he needed a rest, so they found a bench to sit at while admiring the surrounding flowers.

“Nice place, I didn’t know there was anywhere like this in the city.”

“I didn’t either, she agreed, smiling down as she took in the plants around her. She was fairly sure they were all ones that originally hailed from the succubus homeworld, though there were a few she didn’t recognise so she couldn’t be certain. A rainbow of colours was blooming around them and she was able to enjoy them in all of their vibrance, none of the muting that came with having to view them through her cloak, and she couldn’t help but look to the person who’d made that possible, only to find him already looking at her.

“...What? Is there something on my face?” She said as she looked away, not able to meet his gaze.

“No, I was just wondering if you’re ready to talk about whatever’s bothering you?”

“What makes you think something’s bothering me?” She asked, playing dumb despite the fact that she could already feel her blood reaching her cheeks. She just hated how easily he could see through her, all the more so for the fact she didn’t have her cloak on.

“You seemed put off when you saw me being munched on, and both Myriad and Pelenia mentioned that you seemed to be more… expressive since then.”

She couldn’t help but cringe. Of course her mother would say something, but she tended to ignore the fact that as an apostle, Ben was typically under the watchful eyes of his god. Since they were always together then of course she was being watched too. As for his question though, it left her struggling to figure out how to answer, so she didn’t, instead leading with her own question.

“Do you think you’ll be leaving Stonewall soon?”

“What? Where did that come from?”

“I mean, no matter how much you think you still need to improve, it’s obvious various nations are interested in your skills, and at your levels you really don’t need to be training under anyone at this point. Besides, it seems like you could get some good rewards if you left.”

“Maybe, but I really don’t want any of that.”

“In that case, what about Mercy? She seemed interested in you, at least more genuinely than anyone getting their braces made.”

She hated herself as soon as she said it. Why did that even bother her? The vampire was attractive, even she could tell that. Surely Ben could be happy being involved with someone like that, but the thought was far from pleasant and left her comparing herself to the other woman. Unlike Mercy, who had one of the more standard hominid type forms, she was alone in her appearance, looking more like a well-made sculpture compared to a person because of her heritage. It was never anything that bothered her in the past, but for whatever reason it now circled her mind with her other worries. The only thing that pulled her from her thoughts was Ben’s gentle laugh as he took her hand.

“I don’t want Mercy. Aside from the fact that she’s going to be somewhere between three and six hundred while I’m… probably around twenty, I think? Either way, I wouldn’t run off with someone just for showing me a little interest, and hers was one hundred percent focused on my flavour.”

“I guess I’m, well, I just don’t want you to leave Stonewall,” Her face burned as she blushed, feeling like she wanted to curl up and die from admitting that. No matter how much she told herself that he had his own life, that if he would one day go off to do what he wanted then it would be fine, that didn’t change the fact that she cared for him and that any such parting was going to hurt terribly.

She couldn’t look him in the eyes as she admitted it but felt as he put an arm around her shoulders.

“You know, I really don’t have any reason to leave. Almost everyone I care about is in Stonewall, and let’s be real, I’m rich enough now that I don’t actually need to sell anything I make, so whenever me and Falk decide my training is done I can just do what I want with my skills, or I can just sell directly to your mom, she seems like she’d be happy enough with that. I mean, I guess what I’m saying is I don’t plan on leaving you either, so don’t worry about it too much.”

She raised her eyes just enough to see his red face before looking away again as she ignored her pounding heart. She didn’t like being so honest, so open about her feelings, but she couldn’t deny that it helped clear the air and put her worries at bay as she felt a small smile touch her lips.

“So what did you mean you don’t know your age?” She asked when they got back to her family's home, having enjoyed the ride back once they’d both calmed down.

“Huh, what?”

“In the garden, you said you thought you were around twenty but didn’t you say before your people celebrate their birthdays?”

“Oh that?” He began awkwardly, making it clear as it always did when she’d hit on a topic that left him feeling complicated. “Well, the days are a bit longer here but the years are shorter compared to my homeworld, not to mention on earth we have these annoying things called leap years that sometimes happen, so I’d have to take the time and do the math to figure out how old I actually am here. It wouldn’t be too hard I guess, but…” As he trailed off he gave a small shrug as she squeezed his hand. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad when she hit on topics of his homeworld, she could never be sure what would leave him down, but she still wanted to understand, to know more about him if she could. It was only after when she had to figure out just what to say when she fell short.

It was only thanks to the intervention of one of the servants that she didn’t have to as one of the maids ran up to her, her cloak in hand.

“Lady Thera, it seems Lux is about to give birth! I was asked to hand this to you when you arrive if you’d like to join everyone else in the main hall.”

“What? Oh, okay?” She was able to grasp why she was given the cloak at least. The newborn might not have the resistance to avoid the small amount of charm she still put out, she couldn’t put it at risk. The only thing that wasn’t clear was why they were going to the main hall instead of the hospital, but instead of wasting time asking she threw on her cloak as fast as she could and rushed over, Ben following closely behind as she pushed open the doors, only to find her parents, her aunt, and Writ, all seemingly lounging around waiting, making small-talk as if nothing was happening.

“Ah Thera, you’re finally here!” Her mother called out. “You two kept us waiting.”

“Why are you waiting! Aunty Lux, shouldn’t you be going to a healer or midwife or something?”

At that the great light spirit let out a small chuckle. “Thera, unlike what your poor mother had to go through with you, I don’t have a genuine physical body to get in the way. The baby is fully developed and ready to be born, I simply thought you might like to be here for the birth of the second half-spirit in existence. Now please, since everyone’s here, come closer and I’ll begin.”

As short and mildly concerning as that explanation was, Thera couldn’t help but do as her aunt asked as she and everyone else walked over to witness the birth of the second being like her to come into the world.

She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it wasn’t her aunt simply passing her hands through her stomach, pulling out a baby as she did while Writ stood to the side, tears in his eyes as he carefully wrapped the child in a blanket before handing it back to its mother.

Pelenia let out a low whistle and drew a chuckle from Lux. “Sure wish I had it that easy.”

“The benefits of lacking a fixed form,” She said as she cooed over the newborn. “Oh, he’s so precious, no wonder the mortals do this. I guess I owe you an apology for telling you to shut up from how you were going on after Thera’s birth Abrus.”

“Ha, it is rather different from how our kind regularly does things, isn’t it? A lot harder too.”

“Well, I hope you’ll give us plenty of help.”

“Of course,” Pelenia said, barely containing her excitement at seeing the child. “Well give you all the help you need while you choose to stay with us. It’s going to be so nice having such a cutie around since Thera left.”

With the gleam in her eye clear to see, Lux gestured for the queen to come over, placing the baby in her arms and only making her eyes light up all the more as Pelenia gently rocked it, whispering sweet nothings all the while before handing it back.

“Do any of you want to hold him?” Lux asked the rest as Abrus quickly rushed over, excited to get his new nephew in his arms, while at the same time Thera took a step back.

“I won’t get too close. My cloak leaves my hands exposed so it might not be good if I get too near him,” The small bit of exposure hadn’t caused issues in the past at least so long as nobody touched them, but she wanted to be cautious. This was her aunt's child, she’d never forgive herself if being around it caused any harm.

At least, that had been her intention, but as soon as she said it Ben went fishing in his pockets and pulled out a pair of long gloves, shoving them in her hands.

“Here, fanet’ail gloves, you shouldn’t have any issues if you want to hold him.”

“What?” She asked, shocked that he just had such a thing on him as he shrugged in reply.

“I mean, it was pretty obvious you’d need something like this so I made some in advance. Never forget what a thoughtful and wonderful fiancé I am.”

She didn’t even have it in her to react to his comment as he put on the same playful smile he always did when he joked about being her fiancé. She was just stunned by the turn of events as she looked at Lux and got a nod before she slipped on the gloves as her father handed her the infant.

She hadn’t had the chance to see many babies up close in her life. She’d always kept some distance to be on the safe side, so she wasn’t prepared for just how soft the boy looked. He appeared to take mostly after his father’s race more than lux, being a mostly standard hominid type, with the key distinction being that the horns on his head were glowing with the same purplelight that Lux did, and she could vaguely feel the thin tail of an incubus through the blanket, not a trait of spirits or satyr’s, but a characteristic of the form her aunt chose to take.

She was surprised at how she felt staring down at him. She was transfixed. How could something so small and cute exist in the world? Not only that but he was her family, her very first cousin. She could only imagine it was like what the other succubi felt amongst each other, a subtle charm.

“What’s his name?”

“We’re going to call him Seren.”

“Then hello Seren, I’m your cousin Thera,” She wasn’t sure what people usually did with babies, but she was more than content to simply stare down at him before handing him back to Lux.