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“I do not understand the need to lie down for this.”
Dagny, the one that Zenos had always called friend, sighed as Zero said this to her once more. It was late at night, hours after the sun had set. Zero had found a favorite place to watch it, near Radz-at-Han’s airship landing in solitude. While it was obvious she thought no one had picked up on her preference for this location, the Radiant Host was the Sartrap’s eyes and ears when he could not be present. Varshan had told the Warrior of Light where to find her, and it was only after the moon had risen and the night was overtaken by stars that they returned to Meghaduta.
There had been an agreement. Dagny agreed to let some of her aether be taken for nourishment when they walked back, a curious mixture that Zero could sense was unlike anything else. Overwhelming in its amount, dark and fueled by emotion. Powerful.
“Y’shtola will not forgive me if I just let you take it,” Dagny said, staring down at the bed and then back up to Zero. “I have had a history of collapsing when I expend large amounts of aether.”
“So I should not take it.”
“No! No–-” The au ra exhaled again. She confused Zero quite easily. Whenever she was in the presence of Zenos, she seemed to be fueled by that emotional aether dwelling inside her. Anger was all that seemed to overtake her very being, until the very end, when she collapsed and P’iuma had to fight in her place at the edge of all creation. But here, she was softer. More gentle, at least, until battle called for it.
Then she was fierce once more.
“It is fine. I asked Y’shtola a few days ago and she said it would be okay if you were hungry.” A pause. “You are hungry, yes?”
Zero moved to pull down her hat slightly and hide some of her face. More curious than anything, there was no clawing need for nourishment-–Vrtra had been sure Zero remained well fed after she woke up in this bright, colorful world. “Yes.”
“Then I will at least lie down,” Dagny said to her with a sense of finality, smoothing out the simple white dress she wore that Zero assumed was intended for sleeping. Nidhana had provided her with some similar clothes-–though they were a loose tunic and pants–-after recently learning Zero was resting in her armor.
The scolding about how uncomfortable it must have been rang in Zero’s head as Dagny laid down on top of the bed, seemingly unsure of how to position herself. Zero never thought of it being uncomfortable until she realized how comfortable wearing something else to sleep was .
“I am going to go change,” Zero murmured, as she removed her hat and set it down on the bed stand. Her eyes wandered over Dagny far too long, and she needed to distract herself, unsure of the way her pulse quickened and a warmth overtook her. Dagny didn’t say anything to this announcement, and only hummed slightly in acknowledgement when Zero stepped behind the screen to take off her armor.
When she was finished, and in the nightclothes, she hesitated. This felt like something more than just a simple meal, but she stepped out and moved towards the bed, staring down at the figure that laid waiting for her.
At first Zero thought Dagny drifted asleep, for her eyes were closed. But they opened suddenly, a pair of golden lights that flickered with curiosity. “Are you just going to stand there?”
“No.” There was no hat to hide her awkwardness this time. Instead, she climbed into the bed swiftly, her body soon resting on top of the au ra, straddling at her hips. The look on Dagny’s face soon told her she must have done something wrong, however.
“What are you–-?”
“It seemed convenient,” Zero said, her voice flat. Dagny huffed, tilting her head to the side, which exposed some of her neck to Zero. The curious mixture of tawny skin and pale scales that Zero knew she had to have seen before her world became the void, but could barely remember. A hand reached out to touch it lightly.
Her skin was cool, but warmed under the touch. A slight breath was caused by the unwarned sensation, but Zero didn’t care.
“Do you wish for me to just take it?”
“I guess so,” Dagny mumbled, tilting her neck a little more, eyes fluttering shut. Zero’s eyes trailed down the woman’s neck to her collarbone, and then further, to the first indication of her breasts, hidden by smooth, white fabric.
Why did this feel so damned different?
“You guess so.”
“It’s somewhat…hard to imagine just giving aether to you when you’re on top of me like this.”
The words didn’t make any sense, but somehow Zero understood. She leaned down, her body meeting more of the smaller one beneath her. It took Zero aback over how soft it felt. It was like lying on one of this world’s wonderful beds in some ways, but it was also firmer.
And it reacted. Dagny’s face now slightly flushed pink, the end of her tail now trailing against the bed in a slow motion out of the corner of her eye, back and forth. One of the smaller woman’s hands reached up and landed on Zero’s waist after some fumbling. A sign of submission, acceptance. An encouragement to keep going.
Instead of Zero keeping both hands on the bed for support, she used one to explore. It touched the edge of Dagny’s jawline, trailing gingerly, noting how it made her fidget and breathe more deeply. “You’re teasing me.”
“No,” Zero disagreed. “Just observing.”
“I thought you were hungry,” Dagny accused her. Her eyes were still closed, and she shifted underneath Zero. The movement set something off in Zero for a moment–a hunger, indeed, for something different. To hear her moan and beg, to watch her squirm–
She blinked, taken aback by the sudden image in her head. “I am.”
The hand that was exploring the au ra’s face lightly grasped her chin to keep it tilted the way it was. Zero closed the remaining space, her lips finding a spot where supple skin met leathery scale. Dagny gasped in surprise, a slight tremble running down her body, but she didn’t object. Zero’s own eyes soon shut, and she focused on the feeling of the still unfamiliar, ambient aether in the room. Soon she was able to finally focus on her prize, the abundant, curiously simmering aether that coalesced within the body underneath her. Her lips parted and her tongue trailed out, tasting both flesh and the beginnings of the aether that slowly trickled out of Dagny’s body and into hers.
“Ahhh….” A shuddering exhale indicated to Zero that it was working. The meal beneath her sounded pleased, and any tension in Dagny’s body was soon gone. She relaxed entirely, seemingly melting against the bed. “You didn’t take Y’shtola’s aether this way.”
Zero paused, the sweet flow of aether temporarily stopping. She smirked in some amusement. “She didn’t lie in bed waiting for me, either.”
And without waiting for a response, she began to feed once more, earning her the gift of another gasp that trailed off into a content murmur. The hand against Dagny’s chin grazed downward, against her neck, until it found itself against one of au ra’s breasts. It was too large for Zero to entirely take in her hand, but she tried anyway, grasping at as much as she could, squeezing first.
Dagny’s entire body jolted, and her eyes opened wide. She tried to turn her head, but Zero sensed this before much movement could be completed. Her other hand against the bed swiftly coiled in her deep violet, feathery hair, and her body lowered more, until they were entirely against each other.
“Stay still,” Zero said quietly, in a whisper. She let the flow of aether, a bluish glow tinged with blood red, continue to run into her mouth and then absorb into her body. Dagny didn’t resist after these words, only making a slight noise of annoyed confusion. Zero took that as permission to continue, even if it might not have been, exploring with her hand, now massaging the breast through fabric. Softly, carefully, for Zero had an instinct she shouldn’t startle her.
The hand trailed and shifted until she found the indication of Dagny’s nipple, and after some consideration, she shifted her fingers to squeeze and twist it between thumb and pointer finger. Gently. But that movement, even in its caution, seemed to have been once of immense approval. Dagny’s back arched upward, and there was a brief moment in which the aether was more of a steady flow than slow trickle.
Zero wasn’t sure what to do at first. Her hand kept moving, naturally, especially after she fully processed the slight, light laugh she heard from Dagny, who was so willing to be a meal for her.
“You…you can keep going.”
There was something always more exciting, more delicious when the aether Zero fed upon was consensual. When fear didn’t run through it, but acceptance, excitement. Dagny’s tail tapped against the bed in a content rhythm when Zero let go of her hair. The now unoccupied hand trailed further down, exploring and committing to memory every inch of body that Zero discovered. Soon it gripped the hem of Dagny’s nightdress and pulled it up, exposing her legs and stomach.
Awaiting her, Dagny’s legs spread slightly. The hand against breast rapidly darted underneath the disheveled garment, finding the nipple once more and twisting and pulling it directly. Dagny whimpered, but it turned into a giggle, and the hand against Zero’s waist trailed up in return to grip onto her short, dark hair.
“Keep going.”
The aether was so delicious, so intoxicating. Anger still dripped throughout, but there was also contentment. A sweet yet bitter mixture, though Zero only learned what these flavors were recently. She could drink it forever, and Dagny seemed very willing to.
But only a little more. She didn’t want to suck every last bit of her friend’s life away, even though she was right, Dagny seemed to have aether in excess. Zero wanted to taste this intriguing cocktail of aether again, again, with these flavors and new ones.
Counting to ten, Zero finally let the flow of aether stop. The steady stream soon faded away to the usual trickle, and then even that disappeared entirely. Her head lifted and her hands withdrew, placing them against the bed to right herself once more. Dagny stared up at Zero with incredulous confusion as Zero politely pulled down her nightdress, adjusting it as closely as she could to how it was before.
“Why’d you stop?” She demanded, her face bright red, her cheeks puffing out.
Zero looked down at her with a small frown, brows knitting together. “I was done feeding.”
“Hells,” Dagny breathed, her head falling back to land against a pillow. “Did they…did they not have sex in the Thirteenth, or something–-wait, don’t answer that, of course they did.” She groaned and moved to try and sit up, though Zero was still on top of her. “I’m going to make some tea, do you want any?”
Zero slid off the au ra to let her free, though she felt like she should have kept her pinned against the bed. Maybe that’s what Dagny wanted. But didn’t she still want to live? Zero felt like if it went much further, she might have depleted her aether in its entirety, and then the entire city state of Radz-at-Han would have been after her.
“Yes,” Zero told her as Dagny stood. The au ra ruffled her hair with her fingers, as if to make it look more natural. “I do like the peppermint you shared with me a few nights ago.”
“Peppermint it is,” Dagny smiled at her, her tail swaying in a long, swooping motion, before flicking as she left the room, closing the door behind her with a dull thud.
She definitely did do something wrong, but Zero had no clue what.