Jadis woke with a start, a soft knocking on a wooden door jerking her out of a deep sleep. Floundering, all three of her selves wrapped in a tangle of long limbs, she moved to sit up, blinking owlishly in the light that streamed through the partially curtained window. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was or how she’d got there, a feeling of utter incomprehension twisting her mind in circles. Then the knocking came from the door again and Jadis’ thoughts came back into order.
After a quick cold meal of bread, cheese, and glorious sliced meats, Jadis had been shown to a large room in the mercenary company’s headquarters that was ordinarily reserved for important guests. She didn’t rate as all that important, but there were no other guests anyway and all the other private rooms would have been a cramped fit for the three giant Nephilim.
The room was large and well appointed, with a thick, soft rug, rich green curtains, and dark wood tables with finely carved chairs. Against one wall stood a large plush bed that could have held five men in it with room to spare. The furniture was all too small for Jadis. Even the huge bed would have left her feet dangling, but the ceilings were tall enough that she didn’t need to stoop and with a bit of creative redecorating, Jadis had shoved the bedframe upright and against a far wall, turning the goose down mattress and comfy blankets into a nest on the floor.
Even better than the bed, the room had a connected bathroom with actual plumbing. Plumbing! Jadis had given up all hope of seeing anything quite so modern as a flushing toilet and a running bath, but there they were, if in an unfamiliar design. The toilet was an awkward experience, size disparity once again making things difficult, and the bath couldn’t hold even one of her completely, her arms and legs having to dangle outside the metal rim. But the water was gloriously warm and there was a drain in the stone floor of the bathroom so Jadis didn’t mind splashing up a great sudsy mess with all of her selves making ample use of the sweet-smelling soap.
Feeling gloriously cleaner than she’d been in far too long, Jadis had snuggled all three bodies into a pile in the makeshift nest she’d made and promptly fallen completely asleep, not even one of her selves staying up to keep watch.
Waking up clean and well rested, her health full and her bodies free of any aches brought on by sleeping on the barely covered earth was so disorienting that for a moment, she almost thought she was back on Earth, in her dorm, late for class.
The knock came from the door for a third time, this time accompanied by a familiar voice.
“Jay? Dys? Syd? It’s Aila. Are you coming to breakfast? It’s already past ten.”
She’d slept in. Jadis hadn’t done that in a while, the constant state of alertness forced on her for so long ensuring she always rose with the sun. Without any part of her on watch to notice the sunrise, she’d slept like a log.
Scrambling to her feet, Jay stepped up to the door and opened it, happy the redhead had thought to come get her since she’d clearly missed their morning breakfast date. Just as she started pulling open the door, Jadis realized a fact she’d forgotten in her sleep-fogged haze. After the wonderful warm bath, she’d not put on any clothes since what she had she’d washed as thoroughly as her own skin and had left up hanging to dry. She’d gone to bed au naturel, a state she was comfortable being in having spent so long alone with only herself for company.
She was naked as a jaybird as she opened the door for Aila.
Moving with all the speed her seventy-nine points in overlayed agility afforded her, Jay did not rudely slam the door in the young cart driver’s face. Instead, she stepped to the side, hiding herself behind the door while Dys and Syd quickly wrapped themselves in blankets behind her. With the height difference, Jay had to bend low to one side anyway to look out the doorway. Aila was also taller than most people, her head nearly brushing the doorframe. Jadis dearly hoped that her quick movement combined with Aila’s higher-than-average head height meant she’d not just flashed her naked cock, half erect from morning wood, right in the redhead’s face.
Flashing Aila an abashed smile, Jay tilted her head a little lower and greeted the freckle-faced girl.
“Morning! Sorry, still half asleep, forgot I wasn’t wearing anything yet.”
Aila’s frozen expression didn’t change much, other than a couple of blinks. After a moment, she met Jay’s violet eyes with her own blue ones and answered slowly.
“…it’s fine, I didn’t mean to intrude. The kitchen’s closed for breakfast now so I thought you and your sisters might join me for breakfast out in the city.”
“Sure!” Jadis chorused from all three selves, careful not to answer at exactly the same time.
“Just give us a few minutes to get dressed and we’ll be right out,” Jay grinned at Aila, running one hand through her messy white hair. “Don’t want to give the city an eyeful.”
“No, of course not,” Aila agreed with some confusion in her voice. “I mean, yes! Of course, take your time. I’ll wait by the stairs.”
Waving a bit awkwardly, Jay gently closed the door.
All was silent in the room for a moment as Jay stood with her forehead pressed against the wall above the doorframe, Dys and Syd sitting together under the covers.
“She totally fucking saw something,” Syd finally announced.
“Yeah, but she didn’t freak out, so maybe she didn’t think it was all that weird that I’m packing a dong?” Jay said, tone uncertain.
“Or she just wasn’t sure about what she saw and is questioning her own senses,” Dys sighed, getting up from the bedding on the floor. “Come on. Either way, she didn’t back out of breakfast and we’re starved.”
“So fucking embarrassing,” Jay groaned, moving to pull her now dry underclothes and armor from where they hung in the bathroom.
Jadis had grown quite accustomed to nudity during her relatively short time on Oros, but flashing someone she was interested in first thing in the morning, only a couple days after they’d met? When they hadn’t even had a drink together or been on a date yet? That was outside of her comfort zone. There was a reason she hadn’t taken that weird streaker class she’d been offered.
Dressing quickly, Jadis made herself as presentable as she could, considering the shambles that were her clothes. She also put the bed back together and in its proper place. She wasn’t sure if she’d be back to the room again, since Gerwas had indicated that today she’d have to register with the magistrate and wouldn’t be under Bernd’s Blades’ hospitality, so she didn’t want to make things difficult for whoever was going to be cleaning the room up later.
Aila was indeed waiting for Jadis by the stairs when she exited the room, a puzzled look on her face that quickly smoothed into the neutral placidity she normally wore.
“Hey Blue, sorry for keeping you waiting. We must have needed the extra sleep,” Jay greeted the girl as casually as she could manage.
“Did you have a place in mind for food?” Syd asked, grinning brightly.
“You must know all the best places,” Dys asserted, looking down at the shorter woman.
Jadis saw Aila’s eyes flicker down slightly before quickly jumping back up to meet the gazes of the three giants. A light blush rose in her pale cheeks for just a moment.
Yup. She’d seen something.
“I know a place that has outdoor benches. Good leg room for me, so I’m sure it’ll be more comfortable for you three than elsewhere. I’ll take you there,” Aila said in a cool, unflustered voice, completely covering up the momentary flush that had colored her face.
Following Aila out of Bernd’s Blades’ headquarters, Jadis saw far fewer mercenaries about than she had expected, none of them anyone she recognized. The building wasn’t the largest she’d seen, but it was still a huge structure. The dining hall she’d been given dinner in the night before had been large enough to hold hundreds of people, easily. Hardly anyone had been in the hall for dinner either, though, the cavernous place made more so by the lack of activity.
Jadis guessed that most of the mercenaries had to be out in the field and when she asked Aila, received confirmation.
Most of the people in Far Felsen were mercenaries, or so Aila explained. Bernd’s Blades had built their hall in the city before the demons had invaded, having already been heavily active in Weigrun for years, along with many other mercenary companies. A whole district of the city had been sectioned off for the mercenaries, hence the large walled-off compounds all gathered together.
Taking a walk through the mid-morning streets of Felsen, Jadis saw far less activity than she would have expected considering the size of the place. Most of the people she saw looked like mercenaries, though some clearly weren’t and had to be regular workers, probably the necessary but mundane type of person that kept a city running. There were no children, though, Jadis noticed. She didn’t spot a single one.
Jadis was led through the orderly streets to a section that felt like a mix between residential and commercial, with many of the buildings set up to have shops on the first floor and living space above. Most of them were closed up, their doors locked and windows shuttered, but a few still stood open, maybe about a third of the total. There was also a large square with a flowing fountain in the middle, numerous tents set up around it. The tents had to be a market or bazaar, though the numbers were obviously reduced, the square nowhere near capacity.
Aila strode past several places that had the enticing scents of cooking food wafting out from them, taking Jadis to a building slightly down the road from the large square. It looked like someone had taken two three-story buildings and connected the top floors together, creating an arch. There was a paved courtyard beyond the arch where benches had been placed, along with a variety of potted plants, showing someone cared at least a little for aesthetics if nothing else.
While still not quite the right size to be comfortable, the benches were wide and the table tall enough that Jadis didn’t have too much trouble crowding her selves into the space along with Aila. As she took her seats, a wide-eyed brunette looking every bit the part of a tavern barmaid approached.
“What can I get the four of you?” she asked in a slightly awed tone. Even sitting on the bench, Jadis was still taller than the diminutive woman.
“You know what’s good here,” Jay motioned to Aila, letting her take the lead.
Sitting stiff-backed and slightly apart from the three Nephilim, Aila nodded and ordered plates for each of them, then thought better of it and ordered double helpings for the three giants, plus four loaves of bread.
As the waitress scurried off inside the building, Jadis found herself alone with Aila, no one else in the courtyard of the restaurant.
Before an awkward silence could take shape, Jadis struck up a conversation in the best way she knew how: by doing it with herself.
“It felt so good to finally have a warm bath again, didn’t it?” Syd asked Dys. “It’s been, what, months?”
“Absolutely. I felt almost bad putting these scraps back on this morning. Even with all that scrubbing we still couldn’t get our clothes all that clean,” Dys answered, picking at the leather bracers she’d inexpertly crafted.
“Better than what I’m wearing,” Syd said, motioning to the tunic and skirt she’d fashioned from coarse blankets. “We have got to get some new clothes after this. Any recommendations?”
Syd turned to Aila expectantly, casting a lure to rope the silent redhead into conversation.
“I know a tailor that does well with tall fittings,” she answered. “She caters more to orcs than anyone else so her sense of style is… different from most, but her work is quality.”
Jadis smiled, happy to get the redhead talking. In moments, a pleasant chat took off between Aila and her selves, discussing clothes and what was considered fashionable lately in the big cities of the empire. It turned out that Aila wasn’t exactly a fashionista and didn’t pursue trends, her own habit of wearing leather pants not seen as ‘in trend’ nowadays, but since Aila spent so much time riding back and forth from Felsen to the camps around the outer perimeter, she overheard a lot of people talking, many of whom had traveled from all over the central continent, so she was generally in the know when it came to what was currently popular.
Eventually the discussion on whether or not leather was good for all seasons or not was interrupted by the waitress returning with four plates balanced on her arms, a second woman right behind her with even more. The plates were piled high with scrambled eggs, sausages, and sauteed vegetables. Large loaves of brown bread were also laid out on the table, with heaping helpings of fresh butter and a red jelly that almost tasted like apples, but not quite. The only true oddity of the whole dish were the slices of lightly fried fish that were also added to one side of the plates. Otherwise, the presentation was comfortingly familiar to Jadis.
Jadis immediately dug in, letting out little happy noises as she devoured the delicious meal. She didn’t know what the cost was, but she’d have happily handed over the entire purse of silver coins she’d brought with her if asked, she was so pleased with the food.
Aila ate a little more circumspectly, but still kept a good pace with Jadis, clearly not one to peck at her plate.
“So, what’s the difference between being in a mercenary company like Bernd’s Blades and being an independent?” Dys asked between mouthfuls.
Aila seemed to consider the question carefully before answering.
“Well…” the redhead began, launching into a detailed explanation.
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