“Ah! There you are! Hey, Earnest!”
It was a typical afternoon in the typical dorm. School had ended for the day, and Blade had been looking for Earnest. When he found her, he raised his hand high and called out to her.
“What, Blade?” Earnest smiled for a moment, then put on a more serious face. “I can’t goof off right now. I’m going to the Proving Ground for some intense training. I mean…if you want to join me, I guess we could practice together, but…” She shot him a glance.
“Okay, see ya. I’ll go find someone else.” Blade turned around and started to walk away, not a care in the world.
Earnest grabbed the hem of his shirt. “Hey, wait, wait, wait! What? What is it? I can practice later, so spill! Are you gonna have fun with Ein and Zwei? Or maybe Cú? Wowie! Sounds fun!”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Really?”
“I’m looking for a test subject.”
“A…‘test subject’?” Earnest took a step back—almost a whole foot.
“Oh, it’s nothing dangerous, though! I don’t want you to help me try out the eighth dragon-destroying technique I just came up with or anything!”
“Dragon-destroying… Wait. Weren’t there only three of those?”
“No. There’s a four through seven, too.”
“And now eight, huh? Are these moves something I could even withstand?”
“No, there’s no way a human could handle it.”
They were targeted only at the oldest members of the draconic race. They’d all joined together once to take on Blade, in fact.
“All right, enough nonsense. What do you want from me?”
“Well, I’m always getting massages from you, right? So…”
“Huh? Massages? You want one? Should we go to the thermae?” Earnest looked delighted. Being sought after like this enlivened her.
“No, listen—”
“I’m listening.”
“I want to give you a massage.”
“What? You?”
“Right.”
“Do you know how?”
“What do you mean?”
“Won’t you destroy my body?”
“What do you think I am? A monster?”
“A super-being.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll ask someone else. Claire or Yessica or whoever.”
“Hey, wait, wait, wait! I’ll do it, I’ll do it! I’ll be your test subject!” Earnest clung to Blade, stopping him in his tracks and dragging him backward.
“Where should we go for this?” asked Blade. “My dorm room? Yours?”
“Huh? Why in a room?”
Alone in a closed room…? The thought made Earnest’s heart skip a beat.
“We need somewhere you can lie down, remember?”
“Oh, um, right,” replied Earnest, running a hand through her hair. “So…the bath?”
“Okay. Sounds good. Ready to go?”
He grabbed her hand. He grabbed her hand. He grabbed her hand! And then he set off briskly, tugging Earnest along behind him.
✦ ✦ ✦
“A-all ready…”
Earnest tied her wet hair on top of her head and stood in front of Blade. She was covering her privates with a small towel for some reason. They were at the usual large rock in the open-air thermae. The rock, half-submerged in the water, was always warm, its smooth surface perfect for lying down on. This was where Earnest always gave Blade her massages.
“Okay, lie down,” he said.
“S-sure…” She settled down on the rock.
“How does it feel to be having your first time, Anna?” Yessica heckled her from down in the bath.
“It’s not my first time!”
“Oh, it’s not?”
Yessica looked surprised, but Earnest was telling the truth. She had received a massage once before, though she’d been so nervous at the time that she couldn’t remember much about it.
She lay down flat against the rock, her heart pounding in her ears.
“Okay, put your arms up here and twist your hips a little this way.”
“Huh? This doesn’t seem like a normal massage.”
“Like I said, I’m doing an experiment.” Blade was telling the truth.
“You sure like some out-there positions, huh?”
“Yessica, please stop…” Earnest adjusted her pose as instructed.
“Okay, here we go…”
Blade began to wrap his arms around her in an equally strange position. Then…he pushed against Earnest’s body. Hard. With all his strength.
“Guuuh!”
Earnest sounded like a chicken being strangled. There was an audible crunching sound as her bones cracked. Strange noises came from her neck, spine, and lower back.
“Okay,” said Blade. “It’s going great.”
No! No, it’s not! Thought Earnest. Those are really dangerous sounds!
“All right, I’ll tackle this side next…”