Dungeons and Dalliances

7.75 – Slime IV

"That's two questions, not one," Cheri pointed out.

"What?"

"Asking who Malice is is one, and Lady Lust another. You're cheating."

"I am not," Vanetta protested. "Besides, I'm just getting caught up. I'm the only one here who doesn't have the basic context." She folded her arms under her breasts in annoyance. Where Cheri had done so to intentionally prop them up and frame them, Vanetta was clearly just irritated, though the lack of awareness made it twice as endearing. She wondered if Vanetta noticed how both her and Cheri's attention gravitated downward. "Just answer me," she said, leaning forward with obvious agitation in her voice. "Don't be obnoxious. Especially after how much you violated me while undressing me."

"I haven't started violating you," Cheri said, amused. "Oh, fine, I'll let it slide, even if it really is two questions in one. In exchange, I want a concession of my own. A mini-request to make up for it."

Vanetta eyed her, but reluctantly said, "What is it?"

"Let me ask a question too."

Vanetta blinked. "Uh … okay?"

Natalie could interpret her tone: she was thinking that it was an easy concession to make, because what did she have to hide from a dungeon monster? Cheri was the one with all the interesting knowledge.

Walking up, the slimegirl rested her hands on Vanetta's hips, who, while not necessarily comfortable with that level of familiarity, allowed it, stiffening only slightly as her space was invaded.

Leaning forward and bringing their faces together, Cheri studied the girl across from her with obvious interest.

"Those scars," Cheri said curiously. "What caused them?"

It was reasonable, Natalie supposed, for the slimegirl to be interested in the rather relevant and immediately noticeable quirk of Vanetta's appearance, and she would only ever get an answer now, since they'd never meet again.

But Vanetta's face wiped blank, and she took a quick step backward, slipping away from the girl who'd invaded her privacy. Natalie also stepped forward instinctively, knowing Vanetta well enough to predict how that question would go over.

Cheri, at least, blinked twice in response as her hands fell off Vanetta's waist, and she didn't try to close the distance again. Natalie had sensed no hostile intentions in the question, which was the only reason she wasn't annoyed. Or not especially so; she was definitely a bit annoyed.

"Never mind," the slimegirl said, breezing past her misstep. "I change my mind. I have a more fun question." She pointed at Natalie. "How did you two meet? What made you teammates?" She pursed her lips. "And just so you can't get out of it," she added teasingly, "what do you like about her? I get the feeling you're not the kinda girl who'd go spelunking down into the Palace Basements with just anyone."

Vanetta stayed stiff for a second, then slowly eased, her posture relaxing. Natalie gave Cheri credit for recovering from her careless question as gracefully as she could; there was lingering tension, but Cheri had maneuvered past the blunder as best she could.

"That's several questions," Vanetta pointed out. "You're being a hypocrite now."

Cheri considered that, then grinned. She stuck two fingers out in a 'V' and made a silly expression. "Oops. Guilty."

Vanetta rolled her eyes. She seemed to forgive the lapse in their technical agreement, since Cheri probably could formulate a single question that would get her the information she wanted; it would just be tedious. This whole arrangement was based on good faith, anyway.

"Ugh," Vanetta said, looking away. "You're seriously asking what I like about her? That's your question? Why would you even care?" Under her breath, she muttered, "and it's almost worse than the first."

Natalie wondered if she should be mildly offended by that. Also, she wondered why Cheri was asking those questions too. She seemed oddly interested in their personal lives.

"We … met through an acquaintance," Vanetta finally said. "It's a temporary arrangement, she's a trial on our team, but the dungeon split us up so it was just the two of us. We've been … adventuring together. Since we're …" She was clearly struggling to choose the proper words. "Compatible."

"Oh? Compatible?"

"In a professional sense," Vanetta huffed.

"Sure," Cheri said, snickering. "But why do you like

Vanetta looked away. There was a long pause, her cheeks reddening. "… because she's an idiot, I guess."

"H-Hey."

"It's not a bad thing," Vanetta said. "I mean idiot as in, you don't—scheme. Think too much. Whatever you want to call it."

It still kinda sounded like an insult to her, but Natalie was much more entertained by the fumbling response than anything. She was pretty sure Vanetta was just incapable of giving a straight compliment.

Vanetta growled. "It's hard to explain. You don't plot, like everyone else in that stupid academy does. Or everyone else everywhere." She sighed, then waved her hand, trying to play casual, though she still wasn't meeting her eyes. "It's not a good thing to refuse to trust people. And you trusted me, for some reason. Being cynical is easy, but having faith, especially when nothing warrants it, is hard. Caring is hard. But you care." She shifted from foot to foot, squirming in place, and Natalie got the sense that she'd said more than she meant to. "Anyway," she said, turning to glare at the slimegirl. "There's your answer. Now give me mine. I swear, if you keep trying to wiggle out of it, this is gonna turn violent."

"Kinky," Cheri said. "But of course I'm wiggling. That's what slimes are good for. Look." She shook her body side to side, and, uh, Natalie was forced to agree with her assessment.

Vanetta tried to keep her annoyed expression plastered on, but Natalie caught the way her eyes tracked the jiggly slimegirl's assets too.

"But alright," Cheri said, pounding a fist into her palm. "A promise is a promise. A full answer, in good faith." Placing a hand on her waist and striking a pose as she pointed at Natalie, she said, "For Malice, though, don't you think you're better suited to talking about who she is?"

"No. You definitely know more about her than I do."

"Really?"

Kind of? Possibly not in a personal sense, but generally, without doubt. "She's stingy with the details. I've only gotten a bit out of her."

Or, rather, Malice liked to make her work for the details. She couldn't help but draw a comparison between the way Malice had made her 'bully' answers out of her to the 'requests and rewards' situation Cheri had instigated. They were both dungeon monsters, she supposed. Maybe that was why. They liked playing games.

"Fair enough, actually," Cheri said. "Hm." She met Natalie's eyes. "I suppose you won't gimme a freebie and tell me how you met her? I can make a few guesses, but …"

"Not unless you're willing to pay for it."

Cheri's eyes lit up. "However you want," she said in an instantly sultry tone, batting her eyelashes and swaying a few steps toward her.

Natalie guessed that teasing a flirtatious sex-monster that the goddess of Lust herself had created was a somewhat toothless strategy.

"You first," Natalie said, retreating. "Explain what you know, and then I'll tell you how we met, afterward."