This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

7.49 – A Team Leader’s Role

Zoey's daily training involved more than purely spellcraft. While something would have to go terribly wrong for her to be forced into melee combat, Rosalie considered basic physical skills, up to some minimum level of competence, a necessity for every wayfarer. Thus, Zoey often found herself being advised by her teammates on topics other than magic.

Today, she was training with Rosalie and Astrid.

Like how Zoey had enjoyed the ring-tossing game with Maddy because it had showcased her enhanced dexterity, sparring with Rosalie and Astrid was exciting because the fights highlighted how much her strength and speed had developed over the past month. Not that she would last more than a second against either of the team's physically oriented fighters, but she was able to put up a much better fight than before, objectively speaking. It was thrilling to move her body with such fluidity, to deliver heavy blows with light jabs of her fist or smacks of her staff. Weak, again, compared to Rosalie or Astrid, but a fourth-advancement wayfarer with stat-sharing skills could pack a punch, regardless of whether she was a mage.

Sparring with them was fun in other ways too. Zoey didn't consider herself a masochist, but she suspected anyone would secretly enjoy being smacked around by a duo of hot girls to some degree.

Last night's mention of 'dealing with the bonding situation' sat on Zoey's mind throughout the spars. It couldn't be a coincidence that it was the three of them today. Rosalie was growing more competent at hiding when she was flustered, but she gave plenty of signs still—Zoey doubted she would ever leave that trait behind. It was in her nature.

Astrid was more obvious about her nervous anticipation. Zoey picked up on it early, and while she was preoccupied with defending herself and implementing her mentor's suggestions, she found plenty of opportunities to subtly tease her. A brush of hands here, a veiled innuendo there, with plausible deniability. It was hilarious—and endearing—how quickly Astrid could go from the brusque, serious instructor, demonstrating how to hold a stance or swing her weapon, to stammering over her words and retreating the moment Zoey's shoulder bumped into hers. It was no wonder she and Rosalie had become fast friends, even disregarding their similar mentalities and upbringings. The parallels in their personalities were adorable.

Since Astrid had been living in Mantle and surrounded by locals for some time now, her speech patterns were growing more natural and her accent less pronounced. Not that it had been difficult to tell what she was saying, and she was definitely hanging onto a few quirks like preferring shorter sentences and dropping articles, but even in the exchanges they'd had today, Zoey noticed the improvement.

This training session had definitely come about more as a segue into the main event than because her melee skills needed sharpening, so she wasn't surprised when only an hour in, during the second of their breaks, the topic was finally broached. As she was sitting on a wall bench, greedily downing water and wiping her forehead with a towel, a sweaty Rosalie and Astrid—who had gone longer, having better stamina—walked up to her. Both were slightly red-faced, and Zoey could tell it wasn't exertion from the spar. She knew how to read the difference on Rosalie, if not Astrid. Zoey had seen them talking, but hadn't heard what they'd been saying.

"This has been productive," Rosalie opened with. "I'm thinking tomorrow morning for our next shard, if no one has objections. We should be up to the task by now."

Zoey recognized what her role was here. "Sounds good. But we've got at least one more thing to take care of before that, right?"

Her eyes drifted sideways, but Astrid was staring pointedly at a random section of wall. Zoey bit her lip. Coward, she thought affectionately. She was really letting Rosalie 'take care of the whole thing'? She couldn't articulate why she found that so cute, but she did.

Especially contrasted with her appearance and personality. Astrid was the second tallest in their group, only a bit shorter than Zoey herself, and was well-built, wore her red hair in braids, and was covered in full-body war paint under her sturdy leather armor. She was every inch a Viking as Zoey thought of them. Her personality didn't suggest shyness, either: she was blunt, confident, and otherwise acted with the sort of unwavering sense of purpose reserved for prodigies.

Just not when it came to this, apparently.

"That we do," Rosalie agreed. She cleared her throat, but she didn't shy away from meeting Zoey's eyes like Astrid; she'd grown at least somewhat more resilient over the past two months. "I've been speaking with Astrid about that. We came to the, ah, mutual conclusion that she would feel more comfortable if it were to happen as a group. A team activity. Seeing how it is a requirement the team needs to fulfill. So, as her teammate, I'll be helping her … accomplish it. So to say."

Zoey really, really wanted to know how that conversation had started and developed. 'You need to bond with Zoey, but since it's being done for the team's sake, we should jerk her off together. For solidarity.' Had it been Rosalie or Astrid to arrive at that absurd conclusion? Or had it been mutual?

A grin slowly sneaking onto her lips, Zoey wrapped the towel around her neck, leaned back, and crossed her arms. "Makes perfect sense to me," she lied, holding back her laugh. "It's the team leader's job to jerk her girlfriend off onto the newest team member's face. Everyone knows that."

The tips of Rosalie's ears colored at Zoey not hesitating to draw attention to the ridiculousness of the logic, and Astrid squeezed her eyes shut and made a strangled noise in the back of her throat.

Zoey couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "Okay, so, what's the plan?" she asked, addressing either of them. "I'm just along for the ride, I'm guessing."

Rosalie cleared her throat. "As you said, as your girlfriend, much less the team's unofficial leader, it's natural I would take charge of the situation. Astrid needs merely be involved, and, ah, as the skill requirement states, be the—recipient."

The formal language hiding the fact Rosalie was talking about her cumming on Astrid nearly made her break out laughing again. She held off, somehow.

"Additionally," Rosalie said, "giving a demonstration of techniques she has little experience with is a natural means of training. Should the situation arise in which she's the only person available to recharge you. That's also why we're, ah, doing this."

Uh huh. Sure. This event totally hadn't come about for some other reason—say, the two girls wanting to team up on Zoey because they found the idea exciting.

Though there was a kernel of real logic. Being split up was more than possible. Shards often did that to them. It was rare for normal ones, but common for theirs, not that she had a huge sample size.

"Sounds great," Zoey said. "So she'll just be watching, or?"

Astrid was still blushing and looking away, despite Zoey's attempts to catch her eyes. Who would've thought the brusque, hardened warrior would have a temperament near Maddy's when it came to these topics? Honestly, she probably had even Maddy beat in that regard.

And yet, somehow, this bonding wasn't going to be a quick, impartial affair, just to meet the skill's requirement in a technical sense. Instead, Astrid and Rosalie had colluded to make it a group event, and, Zoey suspected, not even one that was going to be quick and impersonal. She expected more than hands would be coming into play.

Which meant despite how she was blushing up a storm, Astrid was a bit of a pervert. There was no other explanation for how, through chatting with Rosalie, the two had decided to double team her under the guise of 'teammates supporting each other.'

Seriously, she wished she'd been a fly on the wall for that conversation. The delusions involved had to have been ridiculous even by Rosalie's standards.

"Perhaps not just watching," Rosalie hedged. "Just to ensure the skill activates. But I'll be handling the majority. I'm sure you understand the gist of the situation." She gestured with her hands in a way that didn't seem to mean anything, obviously growing more flustered the longer the conversation went on. "So. Ah. Stand up, now."

Happily, Zoey did so.