NOVEL NEXT Chapter 208: Whipped
After eating some BLT’s my sister managed to put together and rewarding my cats with the salmony price of my bribery, I got back to work while my sister decides that she has done enough drawing for the day and wants to listen to some music while petting our cats instead. A very good and wholesome way to pass time if you ask me.
As time goes on I really get in the flow of working on my manga and manage to do more than I had initially set as a goal for myself. I was really happy with the progress and my sister was also really impressed with the quality of my work, earning me some good pets for myself.
Around five o’clock in the evening Sam finally returns home, that’s quite a bit later than I expected but it quickly becomes clear as to why she is this late as she enters with a bag in her hand which my nose immediately tells me it contains at least some fish.
“Hello there, Sam.” My sister peaks her head over the edge of the sofa. “What’s in the bag.”
I immediately reply. “Food.”
Sam laughs. “Yes, there is indeed food inside. I passed by my parent’s house and my mom really insisted on taking this with me.” She puts the sizable bag on the table and starts unpacking some tupperware boxes from it.
I seize my drawing for the time being and quickly get up to see what kind of goodies my girlfriend brought along. Élise does much the same, leaving our two cats curiously regard what we are doing.
“Wow, that’s quite a lot isn’t it?” My sister picks up one of the boxes.
Sam nods. “It is, they had people come over yesterday so they prepared way too much food, as usual. These are part of the leftovers.”
“Patatas bravas, croquettes, jamon, gazpacho…” My sister quickly goes through the boxes.
“There’s some churros too and sardines…”
“Sardines!!” I react, my ears going into full attention and my tail instinctively starting to wag quite a bit more. It’s rather funny that she brought sardines along as that’s what my sister’s drawing was about, but hey, I didn’t mind my sister being a little bit of a nostradamus when it comes to yummy fishies.
“Yeah.” Sam chuckles. “And you will like this too.” She takes out the final box from the bag and shows it. “Homemade calamares. Mom made her own batter, only thing that’s left is for us to fry them.”
“Oooh.” My sister claps her hands contently. “All this food might even be too much for us four to eat in one go.”
“I will definitely try to eat as much of it as I possibly can.” I nod confidently.
“I’ll send Carlos and Lucy a message to thank them.” My sister puts the box she was holding back down. “How are they doing, don’t they miss you too much?”
“They always miss me.” Sam replies quickly but with a smile. “But it’s not like I’m far away or that I don’t call and message them. They know that I’m happy and that’s plenty for them to be happy for me too. That said, they did hint towards having a big family dinner again soon.”
My sister nods happily in return. “I would not say no to that.”
“But first, let’s deal with the entire business down in Haurchefaud, at least that way we can sleep on both ears.”
“Yeah… That might not be a bad idea…” I stop thinking about the food for a minute. I didn’t really want to pry but it’s quite possible she went to go and visit her parents because of what we were going to do this evening.
“Did you visit them because of your outing later today?” My sister just decides to ram the bus through the front door. Leaving my intentions of not prying broken and scattered in the dust.
“Hmm.” Sam hums. “It has been a while since I last visited them so it was well overdue… but yeah… that probably helped push me a little.” She admits. “I don’t really expect anything to go wrong, but if it does… Well… at least I will have seen my parents… You know?” Sam pauses for a second. “Sorry.” Presumably referring to the birthgivers of my sister and I.
“Don’t worry, I understand the sentiment. So does Ami, I’m sure.” My sister reassures Sam. “We’ve said this before, but of course it’s nice to see that your parents love you. What kind of people would we be if we were angry at you because people love you?” She winks.
“We wish it could have been different but we can’t really change the past.” I shrug. “Plus, it’s clear your parents love us too, considering they invite us and give us very yummy food.”
Sam laughs.”True, that’s definitely a big part of how my parents show their love for certain people.”
Lise raises her finger and nods. “Tasty love is one of the best kinds of love, in my humble opinion.”
After that statement we put the food in the fridge while we wait for Nikki to come home after which we regale Sam about our day in more detail than what I had conveyed through text and during her phone call. The only thing that really manages to do is to make Sam even more curious about Sidolphus.
“Did he really say that I was an interesting character?” Sam chuckles.
“Yeah, I think he very much appreciates people like you. Loyal to a tee.” My sister nods.
“He does sound interesting himself. Somewhat like a kind of Hercules-figure from what you told me.”
“Apparently the people that worship him are practically Greek, so who knows. Maybe he is actually someone they based those legends on.” I reply.
“Wouldn’t that be awesome. Meeting someone who is the basis for the legends that people believed thousands of years ago. I think Hilda would literally die if she met the real deal.”
We go off about the idea for a bit longer and stray into the realms nearby fiction too by thinking about long-lived vampires and how Hilda would question them for hours on end if she knew about them. As we are just about to stop our conversation about the topic, Nikki finally comes home, swiftly embracing her lover in her arms. She must have been holding back coming home the entire day to see my sister again.
My sister almost has to pry herself out of Nikki’s embrace so she can breathe again.
Needless to say, she was very happy that her girlfriend’s issue was less serious than what she had thought. She wasn’t very happy about Sam and I going however, but she does understand why we kind of have to go.
“Ami, please, for our sake, stay safe and don’t take unnecessary risks, okay?” Nikki then embraces me as well. “You are very much my little sister too. And the same goes for you, Sam.” Nikki looks over my head directly in my girlfriend’s eyes. “I understand why you can’t let Ami go alone, but…”
“Yes, I know.” Sam interrupts Nikki. “We will try to be as safe as we possibly can be.”
Nikki nods and then proceeds to give me a final squeeze before letting me go too. “If I see any of you come home with a purple scar like my dumdum of a partner and I’ll raise hell.”
“I am very happy that Nikki doesn’t have access to her fire magic in this world.” My sister jokes. “Otherwise that threat would weigh quite a bit more heavily than it does at the moment.
“Just try me, sweetheart.” Nikki is quick to reply. “There are more ways than one to make your life hell. Don’t make me go and fetch my whip.”
Rather than scaring my sister, that comment makes her blush more than anything else. The implication of which also makes me pretty flustered in my sister’s stead.
After an awkward couple of moments of silence in between us Sam delivers us with a cough. “Uhum. Uh, maybe we should start making food. Ami and I don’t want to miss our appointment with the gods, that would not be a great first impression I want to leave on Sidolphus.”
“G-good idea.” My sister, still very red-flushed, makes her way to the kitchen and beckons Nikki along, who has a very big grin on her face at the moment. “Come look at what Sam’s parents have given us to eat for today.”
And with that, the somewhat weirdish sexual tension slowly starts fading away while we get ready for our dinner. Although I do have the faint sneaking suspicion, that while Sam and I are in Haurchefaud, that my sister and Nikki will take this opportunity to arrive late for their rendezvous with Hilda and the gang in a different game. The fiery gazes between both of them in the kitchen making that more and more of a possibility every passing minute…