Ch156: Dinnertime Talk & Planning the Kitchen

“Feelin’ kinda off~?”

“A bit...” Krvavy softly sighs, the tips of her fingers pressing right into her temples.

“See, this is why ya need ta work yer way up ta castin’ so many different kinds o’ spells~.” A playful warmth fills the tanned tomboy’s faintly teasing tone as she leans in and... pats her Draconic lover on the tit...? “Did learnin’ those new Fire and Ice spells earlier leave ya so excited tha’ ya just couldn’t ‘elp but get carried away~?”

Krvavy hardly spares a glance at the hand that has quickly shifted its reassuring pat into a gently kneading grope. Her gaze climbs up that caramel coloured arm, lingering briefly on the perfectly pert and perky boobs squeezed tight by a certain skimpy leather strip of a top, before rising past a mischievous smile and gazing deep into a pair of bright, twinkling blue-green eyes.

A single brunette eyebrow raises up, reminding this barbarian of the less than serious question she had just been asked.

“No I just... dragged it out longer than I should have, I guess...” Krvavy slowly shakes her head, trying and failing to banish the dull throbbing at the back of her brain, only to find her attention drawn back down to the nimble fingers that have now captured her pale nipple. “You’re not here to try and seduce me again, are you...?”

“While tha’ would be ratherfun~...” Beryl’s palm presses into that big and bare breast, giving it one last squeeze followed by a light tap as she pulls her hand back. “No. Dinner is ready, and Ah felt like comin’ down ‘ere myself rather than shoutin’ fer ya.”

“Oh.” Krvavy isn’t quite sure if she should be disappointed by that or not. But she is rather hungry...

“Now come along~.” The tanned tomboy grabs a single black-scaled hand in both of her own, encouraging her Draconic lover to finally stand up. “The food is gettin’ cold~!”

“Mm.” Inanna places her plate down and looks across the room. “MyUshumgal, you are nearly done excavating the kitchen, yes?”

The Drakling pauses just as she is about to sink her teeth into a tender piece of meat. “Kind of?” She shrugs. “I’ve got the general space all dug out, but none of the actual kitchen stuff built yet.”

“Hmph! You sure are taking your time with that!” Thea dramatically rolls her eyes as she leans against her Draconic fiancée’s side. “I can hardly wait until we have aproperplace to sit down and eat! At atable!”

“There is nothing stopping us from having a table up here.” The Dwarf calmly points out, before nodding her head towards the tomboy pressed against Krvavy’s other side. “Beryl could easily use her magic to grow one for us.”

“Ach, why bother?” The Wood Elf woman dismissively shakes her head. “We ‘ave laps ta rest our plates on and ‘ands ta ‘old our bowls.”

“Mngh.” Khalia grunts in support, pulling an empty and ‘clean’ bowl away from her messy face, carelessly dropping it to the ground. Without needing to be told to, her paw-like hand reaches over and grabs at a little damp cloth, using it to wipe up the food sticking around her plump lips. And on her nose. And chin... Her cheeks too...

Thea wordlessly opens and closes her mouth as she realizes that her previously unspoken complaint could have easily been solved ages ago by simply pestering that Elf. A slight bit of impotent rage builds up in the bratty girl’s soft-blue eyes, though it quickly fades into a tired and frustrated groan. “Ugh...”

“Mm.” The grey-skinned Dwarf idly hums, turning to the side. “Are there any special features that you want in the kitchen, Adeline?”

“Eep?!” That sudden question startles the tiny blonde, causing her to jump and accidentally toss her piece of bread up into the air. Adeline flails around, trying to catch her food... only to utterly fail as it just bounces off her face instead. “Eeeeeeeiee...” She slowly squeaks in a depressingly defeated manner, her cheeks tinted with an embarrassed flush.

“Little meat?” Khalia tilts her head and presses that piece of bread back into the Halfling’s hands, having caught it before it hit the ground.

“Th-th-thank... y-y-y-you...” Adeline blinks away a few tears as she shrinks into herself, her awkward fumbling made all the more humiliating by the fact that everyone’s attention is currently on her.

The Were-Beast shrugs her shoulders and turns towards Thea, ignoring the brat’s unwelcoming gaze and grumbling complaints as she nuzzles up to the noble girl. Khalia’s shaggy tail slowly thumps against the ground as she decides to have a nice nap now that she has a full stomach, burying her face into Thea’s belly as she forcibly uses the noble girl’s lap as a pillow.

“I am not the most familiar with kitchens.” Inanna continues talking as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “So, Adeline, is there anything specific you want Krvavy and I to build for you? There will, of course, be a few sinks to make washing the dishes far less of an ordeal. But do you have any preferred method of cooking? Perhaps an oven? A stove? Or would we be keeping an open fire?”

“I-I-I-I-I...!” The Halfling nervously stammers as the Dwarf expectantly stares at her. Those intense, copper-orange eyes almost seem to pierce into her soul... “Ov-oven! I-I...! I’d l-like an o-oven...!”

“Mhm.” Inanna slowly nods, mentally noting that down. “It should not be too hard to design one, though I would need your input. It would be best to make something that is fairly close to what you are already familiar with. Doing so would be the most efficient course of action, saving you the need to relearn how to use such an appliance.”

“We’d still ‘ave an open fire, aye?” Just the slightest bit of concern can be heard in Beryl’s voice as she asks that question. “Or would Ah need ta use the fireplace up ‘ere if Ah wanted ta make some stew?”

“Ididoriginally plan on having another fire down there, directly beneath the one up here, but now I’m not entirely sure... There is only so much room for me to add chimneys.” Krvavy shootsher sweet berrya rather apologetic smile. “So, maybe? Really, it’s up to Adeline.”

“I-I-I...! Y-yes...! F-fireplace, pl-lease!” The tiny blonde awkwardly stumbles on her words, her eyes watering as she embarrasses herself even further.

“Thank ya, sweetie!” The Wood Elf beams so brightly and warmly that Adeline isforcedto hide her flushed face behind those floppy bunny ears of hers.

“If space for chimneys is a concern to you, myUshumgal, then I may have a solution.” Inanna draws everyone’s attention back towards her, giving the Halfling a moment of respite. “I could make an oven that requires no physical fuel, instead using runes to produce heat and flame.”

Beryl finds herself faintly frowning at that suggestion. “Just ‘ow practical would tha’ be? It sounds... rather mana intensive. Especially compared ta just burnin’ wood.”

The Dwarf furrows her thick brow, possibly running some complex calculations in her head. “Mm. It shouldn’t require too much mana, though it would certainly benefit more from a level of infrastructure which we currently lack... I suppose that, as we are now, a runic oven may be too much... The same cannot be said for simple stove tops though. I do believe that it would be much more convenient to have those powered by runes and mana. Especially since the smaller burners would not use as much energy, and could be powered by a single quartz crystal each.”

“While this is all good to consider, I’m not sure if now is really the best time to talk about all of this.” The Drakling diplomatically states, glancing at the curled up Halfling with a degree of concern in her eyes. “We don’t even have an idea of what the layout will be yet, so no need to get caught up in the technical details.”

“Mhm.” Inanna hums in agreement, seeing the logic to that. “This topic is better suited for a more private conversation anyway. There would be fewer chances to be distracted with fewer people involved.”

“Ugh!” Thea impatiently groans, repeatedly nudging Krvavy in the side to gether fiancée’sattention. “When you are done with the kitchen, will youfinallybuild that balcony you promised me?!”

The barbarian opens her mouth to respond but pauses before any words can come out. She glances over to the empty wall that has long since been marked as the spot for that balcony, and then towards her Dwarf.

“This balcony is to be located above the kitchen, yes?” Inanna tilts her head as she asks that question, her copper-orange eyes piercing into Krvavy’s own emerald pair as the Drakling simply nods in response. “Then building it, and the required supports, should be a rather simple affair. It is unlikely to take more than a single day.” She calmly states. “Though I do have a request regarding that balcony. Or perhaps calling it anideawould be more accurate...?”

“Hmph!” Thea contemptuously rolls her eyes at the thought that they even needed Inanna’s permission for her tofinallyget what she has long been asking for. “Go ahead.” She impatiently waves her hand at the Dwarf. “What idea do you have that could possibly improve a simple stone platform?”

Inanna raises a single thick eyebrow at the brat’s disrespectful tone, but after a moment she simply shrugs it off. “Nothing. My idea will not affect the balcony, at least not at this level. I propose that we add a lift hanging from its underside, one which would reach all the way down to the grotto below.”

The silver-blonde brat’s eyes light up at that. “Ooh! That is actually agreat idea! It–!”

“Would not be for us to use in that manner.” The Dwarf curtly cuts Thea off, turning her intense gaze towards the already pouting noble girl. “It would not be right to turn our kitchen into a front entrance for the lazy. This potential lift would simply exist to make it easier for produce to be brought up from the garden.”

“Lazy?Lazy!?” Thea bristles and glares at the completely calm grey-skinned woman. “It takesforeverto walk all the way down there! You should know that, youfat-titted short-legged boulder!”

“Ah think it is awonderfulidea~!” As she so often does, Beryl completely ignores that brat’s brief tantrum, which quickly comes to an end as Khalia threateningly growls at the girl for disturbing her nap. “Bein’ able ta lift our crops straight up ta the kitchen sounds soconvenient~! Especially fer Adeline~! The walk is already quite a bit fer tha’sweetieslil’ legs, so Ah’ll feel better if she isn’t forced ta carry baskets o’ food up wit’ ‘er as well.”

“How would we even build something like that?” Krvavy curiously wonders, looking to her Dwarf for an answer.

“I believe it would be best to keep it simple,” Inanna plainly replies, “so it would just be a basic pulley system with a large amount of rope.”

“We... probably don’t have enough rope for that...” Krvavy scowls slightly, her eyes glancing in the direction of the storage platform. Of hermeager hoard.

“Since this lift wouldn’t have any of us as passengers,” Inanna pointedly looks at Thea as she says that, “the rope does not need to be the most sturdy or of the highest quality. As such, we could easily braid our own from plant fibers.”

“Aye, tha’ would be fairly simple ta do... Though it’d be rather tedious wit’ ‘ow much we’d need...” Beryl idly muses, resting her head on the Drakling’s shoulder.

“Well, the kitchen will need to be built before we can even get started on that lift. So we’re not in a rush or anything.” Krvavy tilts her head to the side and briefly leans it atop that of her Elf. “And if you need an extra pair of hands, just get Thea to help you out.”

“Hey...!” The bratty girl bristles a bit, restraining herself as to not disturb the ferocious Were-Beast trying to sleep in her lap. “Do not just volunteer me for things...!”

“Why not~? You always complain about having nothing to do, and this issomething~.” The Drakling’s emerald eyes gleam with joy as she so cruelly teasesher little princess.

“Aye, and a bit o’‘onest workwill be good fer ya~!”

“Ugh...!”

“Hmm...” Krvavy’s brow furrows in thought as she looks over the rough charcoal sketch in front of her, scaled fingers idly drumming against the flat piece of wood it has been drawn on. “So you want that wall to be covered in cupboards? Well, except for the part that’ll open up to the lift...?”

“Y-y-yes...!” Adeline hastily answers, her little fingers and hands shifting slightly around the glowing quartz crystal that she is clutching so tightly to her nearly flat chest, blocking off more and more of its needed light.

Krvavy gently chews the inside of her cheek, eyes raking across this crude drawing. “Right...” It looks like the kitchen will be rather...square. Not perfectly so, but pretty close.

The Halfling awkwardly shifts her weight between one bunny paw foot and the other. A noticeablypinkblush tints her cheeks, though the exact reason for that isn’t quite clear. It isn’t like Krvavy is naked or anything, having worn the usual loinclothandaccompanying pelt top rather than bare it all before this poor girl. Is it because the barbarian is still taller than her, even when she is standing and Krvavy sitting on the ground...? Or maybe Adeline is just nervous about pretty much being in charge of how the kitchen will be built? Thatisquite the responsibility...

“So... you want thetop, where the sinks will be, to have a counter that spans the whole wall?” The Drakling gets a quick and shaky nod in response to that question. “Therightwall will have the cupboards and lift... Thebottomwill have the fireplace and a couple thinner counters to make it easier to get food into the dining room... And theleftwill have some more counters, just with a gap as the entrance to the kitchen. Do you not want any walls over there?”

“N-n-no...!” Adeline hastily shakes her head. “W-we c-c-c-can h-have st-st-stools on the o-oth-ther s-s-s-s-side...!”

“Like a bar...” Krvavy idly mutters, only to pause hardly a second after those words pass through her lips. “But wait... That wouldn’t really work with the height of the counters... Unless the whole kitchen floor was raised up...?”

“I-I-I-I-I...! P-please!” The tiny blonde suddenlybegs, her big hazel-brown eyes staring pleadingly towards the barbarian. “St-stool! I-I c-can use a-a st-st-stool!”

“Not this again...”

“It...! It...! Itwillbemoreusefulthatway!” Adeline hastily spits out, her blush growing just a bit brighter as she leans towards the significantly larger Drakling, all but pressing herself into Krvavy’s shoulder. “M-more sp-sp-space benea-beneath c-c-c-counters! M-miss Beryl w-w-won’t n-ne-n-need t-t-t-t-t-to c-c-c-c-crouch!”

Krvavy pinches the bridge of her nose and stifles a sigh. The stuttering Halfling has a point. Or, really, a few points. But that doesn’t change the fact that it still doesn’t feel right to make Adeline use a stool in the kitchen that is pretty much being made for her... “And what’s this in the middle?” Krvavy taps her finger onto the charcoal sketch, trying to move past this issue. It’ll be a problem forlater.

“I-I-Island...! An island!” Adeline forces her eyes shut as she gives that reply, her whole body shuddering as her breathing grows increasingly ragged and unsteady. Were Krvavy not here to literally lean on, then she probably wouldn’t even be able to stay standing...

Which is more than a little concerning.

The Drakling can’t help but frown, unsure if she should ask if that little bunny-mouse girl is alright. Bringing attention to all this nervous fumbling would probably just make the whole situation even more awkward and uncomfortable for her...

A sweet scent tickles at Krvavy’s nose as she slowly and deeply inhales. She stares at the trembling girl leaning heavily against her. Adeline smells... oddlygoodright now. Like a delicious and savoury snack. Which sorta makes sense...? She was helping Beryl take stock of the spices and other food-related supplies before Krvavy brought her down here...

With a sigh, Krvavy pushes her thoughts and concerns aside. She doesn’t want to needlessly embarrass the poor girl. “I... I guessed as much.” She forcefully taps the sketch as she returns to the topic at hand. In the center of that drawing, right beneath her fingertip, is a large ‘H’ shaped countertop, the two long sides of which are aligned with the entrance to the kitchen on the left and the gap for the lift on the right. It is the part that connects those two thick lines which has confused Krvavy. “I’m just wondering what this gap is. You shaded in the rest of the island counter but left that square right in the center empty.”

“O-o-ovehnn...!” Adeline slurs that word, her face flushing a deep red as her big hazel eyes shoot open. “Oven! ItswhereIwanttheoventogo!” She repeats herself with words that are a lot more clear and properly pronounced, even if it is a bit difficult to tell where one word ends and the next begins with how quickly she spat them out...

“A single one that can be opened from both the, uh, sink and fireplace sides? Or do you want two separate ovens?”

The sound of heavy, panted, gasping breaths is all that can be heard for a few long seconds. Nearly half a minute, though it feels much longer than that...

The tiny blonde blinks rather owlishly as she stares blankly at the barbarian. “Eeeip!” She squeaks in surprise and jumps back as she seems to realize that she was just standing there silently rather than responding. “T-t-t-two...! P-p-p-pl-pl-p-plea-please...?”

Krvavy chews on the inside of her cheek as shereallystruggles to ignore Adeline’s weird behaviour, forcing herself to focus on the charcoal sketch once more. She stares directly at it, doing her best to not get to distracted. To think about designing their kitchen. To think aboutovens. So... Having a couple dead in the center of the kitchen shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The shared chimney could easily be hidden in a pillar that’ll transition into the vaulted ceiling. But then where wouldthatgo? Not straight up, their living area is kinda in the way, and towards the grotto isn’t much of an option either... Thea would be less than happy if her balcony was constantly surrounded by smoke.

“O-one i-i-i-is f-f-fine t-too...!”

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking!” Krvavy shakes her head and, without thinking, tries to give the Halfling a reassuring smile... though that doesn’t seem to help the poor girl’s nerves at all. If anything, seeing those sharp and carnivorous teeth so close to her just makes the little bunnyeven moreuncomfortable... “We can have a separate oven on each side, no problem.”

Adeline’s shoulders slump as a faint flash of relief fills her incredibly flushed face.

“Okay...” Krvavy pointedly looks away from the tiny blonde, emerald eyes aimlessly glancing around the excavated room. “Guess you don’t really need to stick around while I work, so –”

A faint scurrying sound draws Krvavy’s attention back to where Adeline was standing mere moments ago... just in time for her to see the Halfling’s tufted tail disappear around a corner. The light emanating from the quartz crystal fades into the distance as Adeline unintentionally takes it with her.

“Really...?” The Drakling tiredly groans, having been left alone in the dark.