Ashes of the Fallen

Pushing me slightly, she stepped back and turned to look over the caravan that was in tow. Three cows and a bull, plus seven curious looking fuzz balls of liveliness that could melt any sentient creature's heart. There was also a mound of furs and hides piled high on top of my make-shift sled, though I figured that wasn't very important to her.

The kittens were of course, the singular focus, as they instantly caught her eye. As she focused her gaze on them and forgot all about me, I felt a little jealous.

I wanted to continue where we had left off, but the kittens were winning.

Pulling her back in, I put my arms around her waist and tried to get her attention, but she wasn't having any of it. She didn't break her gaze from the forest cats that were perched on the back of the cows, clearly more interested in what I brought, than me, myself. That was a little depressing, in itself.

"You can wait," she said after pushing me aside. "I'm more than worth it."

Ah, I guess my attempt to be coy, backfired.

I laughed, silently in my head, so as to ensure that I wouldn't earn her wrath or dig myself into a deeper hole. The last thing I wanted, was for the gifts to become apologetic in nature rather than as a reward and out of good faith. They were the best companions I could have asked for, and Selene was a little special at the moment.

Even if she was an NPC with an Artificial Intelligence, she was special.

They had grown on me, both of them really.

"What are these things?" she asked as she picked one up and held it in her arms.

"They're Northern Forest Cats, barely a few months old now," I answered without restraint. "Pick one, they're for you and Katherine, and the rest I'll probably breed and give out as gifts, or sell if the price is right."

Selene had started to giggle as the kitten mewed and pawed at her finger, clearly enjoying each other's company. There were a lot of ways to soften a woman's heart, and a cute and cuddly animal was one of them.

The mission, was a success.

"I get to pick one?" she asked, somewhat dubious of me as she raised an eyebrow.

"Did you want to pick two?" I countered with a grin.

"No, no… one is enough," she replied as she turned around and started to walk towards the village. "I think I'll keep him, I'll name him Mewers."

"Ah, Barkley and Mewers," I mumbled a bit as I ushered the bovines to follow. "I think, I'm beginning to understand your naming scheme now."

"Is there a problem, Sir Sigurd?"

"Ah, no, not at all Miss Selene," I said with a bit of a concealed laugh.

Yeah, there was no problem here.

Silence filled the air once more as we began to head towards the village.

"Walk slowly if you will," she said after a minute had passed. "Katherine's request, she wishes for me to slow your advance, so she can tidy up, to be presentable and what have you. It wouldn't do if you arrived too soon now."

"Is that so?" I asked with a feigned innocence. "What is that silly woman thinking."

"You very well know the answer to that," Selene replied, somewhat seriously.

"Quite right you are… I'm not really sure what to do about it."

She stopped for a second as she turned to face me, clearly wanting to make sure I heard her correctly. "If you keep pushing Kate away, I'm afraid she will lose all confidence in herself… the least you could do, well, I think you know what I mean."

What, was that supposed to mean.

Elaborate, please.

I wanted to ask, but the gist of it sounded like I should not turn her advances away and actually accept them… that, didn't sound right. Was she encouraging a harem? Was she in league with these developers, or did they code that into their personalities as a way to free up the polygamist route for players to pursue.

This was all insane to me.

As much as I wanted to though, I wouldn't dare ask her to describe to me in detail what she was requesting. She didn't seem to enjoy saying it as her face wore a complicated expression, one that seemed torn by her decision. If my intuition was right, Selene was stuck between being a good friend and wanting to monopolize me for herself, the latter of which was perfectly reasonable.

I was on the same page, until now.

Now, I was confused.

As I was busy thinking, I didn't even notice that Selene had crept up beside me.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Selene said with a devilish grin.

With the kitten in one arm, she twisted to the side and put the other arm around my neck, hooking me forward and down into her. A deep, passionate kiss followed as she took the initiative and left me speechless. Then just as quickly, with her lips near my ear, she whispered seductively, "welcome home."

I think my heart skipped a beat.

Yeah, it was good to be home.

Chapter 54: A Simple Village

(Wednesday, July 28th Game Day / Thursday, March 11th Real Day)

A man could get used to days like these.