Chapter 25
"Say, do you like... like Thalia?"
Admittedly the question came out of nowhere, but the mood felt right for an honest answer, so he asked without a hint of hesitation.
"What," Chaska frowned, turning to face him, her face mere inches from his, her tan skin glossier than ever after the massage.
They were both on Thalia's bed now, after her full-body massage, and after Shiro had finally been allowed into Thalia's section, and onto the bed itself. Thalia had since left to rejoin the others still entranced by the magazine, leaving him and Chaska alone.
"You like girls," Shiro established. "In light of that, would you want to have sex with her, hypothetically, if given the opportunity? I want a truthful answer."
She gave him a look she clearly knew how to deploy, then asked, "You? Would you like to have se, no, actually, I already know you do. You picked her the moment you got here, so I suppose I shouldn't even bother asking. So, why her instead of any of the other girls?"
"Are you deflecting my question on purpose?" Shiro asked, directly.
"You want answers from me, you give me answers in exchange first."
"Well, I'm sure you already know the answer," Shiro said. "I had a theory that needed confirming, and she looked the most equipped to help."
"Because..."
"Because she kind of looks like you. Which I thought would help with my condition."
That didn't seem to surprise her much, which he'd already suspected, given she'd caught the two of them together in this very room.
"Plus a few extra features," he added, and as she glared at him, he pressed on.
"Her chest. Hey, don't give me that judgemental look, you too look fascinated by the roundness of them, why do you think I asked if you want to sleep with her?
Today, yesterday, and even the day you first met her, you've been eyeing her chest more than I have, probably. So confirm what I asked."
"What good would confirming that do for me?"
"Well, if you admit it, I could start begging."
"Begging?"
"For you to let me watch, like you let me with your massage."
"You want to—"
"Watch. I want to watch you do it."
"Just watch?"
"Yes, just— wait, are you actually suggesting you'd let me get involved?"
She laughed at that. "I never said that."
"I said you suggested it," he said, glancing at Thalia, who, amid the other girls, seemed to have picked up on the two of them looking her way, lifting her head from the magazine to glance back.
She gave Shiro a smile, which only encouraged him to whisper into Chaska's ear, "So, when are we doing this? "
"How can you possibly be thi—" she started, then stopped, likely sensing exactly what had just stiffened against her. "Shouldn't you focus on fixing that before thinking about anything as extravagant as a threesome?" she asked, right as it went soft again.
Yep. It was one of those spontaneous and fleeting erections. He'd had plenty of rapid reactions over the past three days, most likely thanks to how much more eventful those days had been compared to any time before.
"We've got a fix. A temporary one, the aphrodisiac," he pointed out, expecting her to barely acknowledge it, the way she had earlier when he'd raised the pragmatical possibility that the Morpheus Brew might not be as bad as he'd first assumed. Instead, she actually seemed to consider it.
"First," she said, "we'll have to confirm it's as safe as you think."
Hold on. Is this actually happening?
"You'll try it," she said, making it sound like a warning. “In a controlled setting, and we'll see what it does to you down below and most importantly in your head."
Yep. It was happening.
"Chaska," he whimpered, kissing her cheek while tackling her onto the bed, "I love you."
"You're supposed to— hey," she squealed.
"I love you. Platonically and sexually."
"Not here," she protested weakly, as Shiro made quick work of the little she still had on. "At least close the curtain," she begged, and moments later they both watched it swing shut, courtesy of Thalia, who gave them a wink before leaving them their privacy.
We really do have to do this with her, Shiro thought.
???
A few hours later, as the nearest temple's bell announced noon, Shiro and Chaska left Satin and Silk, which did serve food, though if he ever had to review the place, that particular aspect would earn a mediocre score, an unfair comparison, admittedly, given he was pitting a brothel's kitchen against actual restaurant fare.
They left right around the time they were offered a meal, but instead of heading straight for the Bower, they made a stop first for something they'd need later.
"How about this?" Shiro asked, handing a rope to Chaska.
"Feels sturdy enough," she said, testing it by pulling both ends taut, "but I don't think this'll do. You’ve got something sturdier?
" she asked the owner of a small hardware stall, which wasn't quite a stall and wasn't quite a shop either, more a small building overflowing with stock the man had to dig through.
"How about this," he said, returning with four thicker variants, all bulkier than what he'd first offered, which had already been about as thick as a thumb. Eager for the bigger sale, he handed over the thickest of the four first, a good four fingers around.
"That's going to be uncomfortable," Shiro immediately pointed out, not even mentioning how impossible it'd be to tie a proper knot with something that bulky.
The merchant argued it was the best option for sturdiness, apparently missing that Shiro wasn't out here trying to moor a boat.
With some reluctance, the man handed over the third thickest instead.
Chaska tested that one too, and once Shiro gave his approval on the comfort factor, asked, "This should do, right?"
"It should," he nodded, before adding, "but will it hold?"
"What kind of beastly strength do you think I have, to break out of this?"
"Do you really want to have this conversation right here, right now?"
Granted, he was athletic, sturdier than most people, admittedly, but could he actually break free of properly tied rope like this? He tried to picture it, and to his own surprise, the answer his gut gave him was a confident yes.
So, for Chaska's sake, just in case, he turned back to the stall.
"Let me take a look at those chains I see in the back.
Bring some over, and locks too, if you've got them.
Also, chains against skin is a bad idea, so I'll need something to go between, some thick fabric, leather, if you've got it, to sit between the chain and my skin. "
The stall owner stared at him for a long, unblinking beat, till an "erm, alright” came out of him. "Chains. Locks. Skin protection. Give me a minute to get all that for you two."
Forty or so minutes later, they had everything: twenty meters of high-quality chain, ten pounds of soft, supple chamois leather, and half a dozen locks for good measure.
"I've never seen someone so eager to be chained," Chaska remarked.
He just smiled, carrying it all. That smile stayed on his face until they reached an alley less than ten minutes from the Bower, where he started noticing something. People were trailing them.
When he pointed it out, Chaska reached for her gun, which only reinforced what Shiro had started to consider one of her more glaring flaws: she was trigger-happy.
It made him question, in retrospect, the wisdom of ever handing her firearms. Stopping her before she could just blast whoever it was, he motioned quietly for her to keep walking, and she continued ahead, taking the left turn into the alley, while he lingered behind to tie his shoelace.
Once she had a good lead, he calmly followed her into the alley.
Their pursuers followed too, staying a dozen meters back.
But when they finally rounded the corner, all they found was Chaska standing alone at the far end, with only the gear Shiro had been carrying left sitting on the ground.
No sign of Shiro himself. Until he dropped down from above, landing directly behind them.
"Easy, creepy friend," he warned, pressing his gun against the side of their hooded head. "Wouldn't want me squeezing this trigger by accident. Now, let's see what's under there. Off with the hood."
Shiro stepped back, doing so less for the person in front of him than for the one still hiding behind them.
He had noticed there was more than one person following them.
In fact, it was the second person who had given them away in the first place.
They simply weren't nearly as skilled at tailing someone as the one Shiro now had at gunpoint.
And speaking of the second follower, the moment they saw Shiro's gun trained on their companion, they panicked.
“Master Shiro, don't shoot! It's us!”
The voice, followed by the sight of the face beneath the hood, confirmed one of Shiro's suspicions about their mysterious pursuers.
“Anya and Vanya. Hello there.” He lowered his gun as the two sisters pulled back their hoods, revealing a pair of prominent black cat ears. “Didn't expect to run into you two around here.”