Feeling all the attention focused on me felt suffocating. My face was already flushed like a ripe apple, and being laughed in the face by Alita didn't help to calm my fury. I squirmed out of her grasp and immediately reached for my staff, which was leaning against the counter a few feet from there.

I grasped it, tentatively weighed it in my arms, feeling satisfied with its perfectly balanced structure, then I turned around sharply. The other patrons were following my actions curiously until then, as I leveled my piercing gaze at Alita's annoying expression.

I pointed my staff at the woman and spoke in a clear tone. ─ "Apologize."

She raised an eyebrow, questioningly. ─ "Fine, I am sorry." ─ She paused for a second before adding. ─ "I didn't think that you would dislike it so much, she made a disappointed expression, turning back to her beer.

Not expecting her to fold so easily, or to turn the tables and start guilt-tripping me. I was left out in the open, expecting a confrontation that never came, holding out my staff like an idiot. I could already hear snickering laughter in the background as people whispered to one another. This time, I didn't dare to listen in on the conversations.

My face flushed with rejuvenated vigor as I silently lowered my staff and walked back to Alita's side, who, in the meantime, managed to down another mug of beer.

I hovered by her side, glaring at the empty mug. ─ "I think... it is time for us to go home."

"Alita lay her forehead against the top of the counter, right between two empty mugs of beer, her most recent victims, and didn't seem to comprehend my words." ─ I poked her side tentatively, and she chuckled, but didn't react in any other way.

Looking at the scene, I cursed my luck silently. I don't even know how to go home, on my own... This was absolutely ridiculous. I was never going to let her live this down, nor am I going to let her drink.

I sat down beside her, back to my original seat, staring blankly out of my mind.

This was definitely not how I supposed to spend my night.

"Miss?" ─ The voice of a woman appeared next to me, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Ah? Y-yes?" ─ I squeaked, while focusing on the dwarven woman standing behind the counter.

She offered me a sympathetic look while giving a pointed glance towards my companion. ─ "Seeing your current predicament, I would like to offer you a room for the night. Would that be acceptable? The cost will be four silver coins for two."

I sighed, already dreading tomorrow morning when I would have to explain this to Emrum and Nerha. I nodded eventually and started to fish out the four silver coins before sliding them over to the counter. I got a key in exchange, then the woman lent me a hand in dragging the lightly snoring Alita over to said room. I was glad for her foresight in choosing a room that was located at ground level.

Breathing in the obscenely alcohol filled breath of my friend, while dragging her along the guild, was an experience that genuinely made me question my life choices.

I directed a heated glare towards the remaining patrons who were still watching the show. The men, sensing my glare, immediately looked aside, acting like they never even looked in our general direction. My right hand clenched into a tight fist, seeing the shameless behaviour. Of course... now neither of them is offering any help, useless brats, the lot of them, and some still dare to glance at my butt. What is wrong with you, you horny piece of crap!

I continued to glare daggers at the fools until we left the main hall and entered one of the unfamiliar side corridors.

I grunted, struggling under the shared weight of the brunette's body, while my impromptu assistant held most of Alita's weight.

Being an elf didn't seem to help with lifting heavy weights. I was glad for the dwarven woman's help, since I would have never managed to bring Alita here half as gracefully as we did now, and calling it graceful was an overshot by a mile.

After shouldering our way into the small but cozy room, the first thing we did was to unceremoniously throw Alita on the bed with a grunt; both of us were panting heavily by this time.

The guild assistant chuckled at the sight of the sprawled-out girl, who only registered being thrown on the bed with a slightly elongated moan.

There was a barely hidden smile on my helper's face as she professionally pointed me towards a washbowl filled with hot water and a pair of towels next to it.

"You can wash up there, sweetheart. There are blankets in the wardrobe. Feel free to use them. Oh, and the toilet is down the corridor. You may call any of us in case you need help. Have a good night." ─ She smiled politely, while giving me a wink, before leaving the room and gently closing the door.

I blinked, feeling a lingering confusion after witnessing the woman's antics.

I shook my head. ─ "Whatever..." ─ I sighed, and locked the door, dropping the key on a nearby nightstand. I turned to check the room for a second time, taking in the simple design and metallic furniture, which counted as the standard in dwarven society, having an abundance of those materials.

The room was simple, and the various furniture showed signs of the passing years.

I stepped closer to the washing bowl and decided to wash my face in the warm water, drying my skin with the help of one of those towels.

I untied my long black hair, allowing it to drop down freely across my shoulders. I carefully placed the hairband, which I got from Tumnus as a gift, allowing my mind to briefly wander on the unlikely possibility that he was still alive, somewhere in the lost sections of the deeproads, surrounded by armies of dark elves and their equally filthy ilk.

I shook my head, unwilling to linger on the thoughts any longer.

I sighed again... stepped over to the wardrobe and pulled out several blankets from the lower partition before kicking the door shut and finally turning towards the beds... only to finally realize the meaning of the assistant's wink. There were no beds, just one bed, and it wasn't even that big. It definitely didn't look big enough with that stupid dwarf sprawled out in the middle of it.

My left eye twitched.

Why am I always the one who ends up in these sorts of situations?

Of course, the responsible action would be to walk back into the main hall, explain the misunderstanding, and rent another room instead. Alas, I didn't feel like going back into the main hall alone, not after everything that went down. I could feel my cheeks blazing and my insides cringing from the thought of it alone.

I didn't even want to think about running into Dorian or something like that...

I enthusiastically glared at the sole culprit behind all my present problems. ─ "Fuck." ─ I said. All of the annoyance, the complicated feelings and doubts, frustrations, and helplessness were perfectly culminated in that simple phrase.

As I stood there in the dim light of the strange, partly mechanical and partly magical light of the room, which the whole city used to lighten its otherwise forever dark streets. The edges of my lips started to turn upwards, slowly turning into an evil grin.

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"It's time for payback." ─ I mumbled barely audibly as the final strings of my plan formulated in my mind.

I pulled off my bluise, took off my skirt, flicking them randomly across the floor, before starting to take off my dear companion's armor and throwing the pieces around in a similar fashion. ─ "I will teach you not to mess with me, dwarfy..." ─ I chuckled while struggling to pull off one of Alita's boots.

It took me some time and considerable effort, something that made me genuinely tired after all the excitement of the day. Leaving only my underwear on my person, I finally climbed into the bed right next to the unconscious Alita, who herself had little more on by this point than her unmentionables and an outstretched shirt that she wore under the armor likely to soften the tough leather's friction against her skin.

Using the last of my evil inspiration, I decided to lay one of Alita's arms across my chest in a half-hug, before pulling the blankets across both of us and slipping into the comfortable sensation of warmth, and the still lingering smell of alcohol oozing off Alita's every pore.

It didn't take too long until I succumbed to my tiredness and slipt into a comforting sleep.

~oOo~

My peaceful sleep was cut short by a disbelieving voice, shouting at me. I blearily blinked my eyes open and hesitantly looked up at the clearly frustrated, if not panicking, figure presently shaking my shoulders with much emphasis.

"Selora, Selora! Wake up, you dumb elf, what... what is the meaning of this? Where in the hell are we, and... wait, is... is this the adventuring guild? Tsc... damn it, my head is splitting into two, no, scrap that, three! It's splitting into three!" ─ She shook my shoulder, while looking around the dimly lit room in a frantic motion, trying and evidently failing to piece together last night's events.

By then, my mind cleared enough, from the lingering drowsiness, to remember my evil plan from the previous night. I made a pouting face, pulling myself into a sitting position on the bed, while staring at Alita accusatorily.

She soon enough noticed my silence and turned towards me, finally noticing my apparent lack of clothes, besides my bra and panties, which were mostly hidden under the blankets, so she couldn't realize that I wasn't completely naked.

Alita flinched the moment she noticed my pouting glare pointed at her and froze suddenly. ─ "W-what?" ─ She squeaked, a reaction that was quite unusual for the tomboyish woman.

I continued to glare at her, which caused her to look aside and finally notice the chaotically thrown-around clothes lying across the floor or hanging from the edges of some of the furniture.

Alita's expression paled suddenly. ─ "Don't tell me... t-there is no way, did we actually d-d-do it?"

I sniffed before hiding my expression in the folds of my blanket.

I could feel Alita's confused stare as she struggled to comprehend what was happening.

I kept my face hidden in the blanket as I told her. ─ "You... you! How can you do this to me... are you telling me that you don't even remember?"

I peered a glance at Alita, seeing her utterly dumbstruck, stuck between the urge to comfort me and trying to remember last night as if her life depended on it. ─ "I..." ─ She struggled with her words, clearly clueless about what to do. ─ "What... what did I actually do?" ─ She asked eventually, but she didn't actually seem to want to hear the answer.

I stayed silent for a while, creating the necessary tension, before telling her. ─ "You... did..." ─ I began, taking another long pause before looking up from the blanket and saying with a wide grin on my face. ─ "You got wasted like a complete imbecile, and we had to drag your sorry arse into this room since I didn't know how to get home on my own!" ─ I shouted my words into the utterly flabbergasted woman's face and then even threw a pillow at her for good measure. Which didn't seem to trouble her at all, since she kept staring at me.

I laughed at her, right in her face. My shoulders were already shaking before this from the barely restrained glee; my whole body was shaking now, with the sweet taste of revenge. So this was how Alita felt when she kept teasing me... I will admit seeing her clueless and lost expression was somewhat addicting.

There was a sudden lurch on the mattress, a small shriek left my mouth as I lost my balance, my body being pinned against the soft rolls of pillows and blankets, with the weight of Alita hovering over me.

All my previous sense of joviality suddenly vanished, and I gulped drily gazing up into the frantic eyes of Alita, her signature smirk once again on full display.

"So you want to play like that... elfy?" ─ She whispered into my left ear, leaning a lot closer than she needed for me to hear. I could feel her breath against my earlobe, and the foreign sensation sent shivers down my spine.

I gulped a second time, suddenly feeling hot and a bit weak in my limbs, a soft tingly sensation spreading across me.

Alita, seeing my reaction, chuckled ominously as she once again whispered into my ear. ─ "Look at that... aren't you a horny little elf, elfy? Acting all innocent all this time... you even got me believing you for a bit there." ─ She snorted.

"I wonder... what will you do now?" ─ She let her words hang in the air as she traced gentle circles on the bare skin of my stomach, an act which made me shiver. ─ "After all... There is only you and me, a closed door... and we are practically naked. Did you think that far when you prepared this little prank on me?" ─ I moved to shake my head, to which she reacted dismissively. ─ "Your innocent act won't move me again, honey." ─ She smiled, sweet but ominous at the same time. ─ "Since you already had your morning fun, you can't say no to me having my own?"

With that said, she moved the hand that so far kept drawing circles into my stomach slowly upwards, with a practiced flick of her wrist, she pushed my bra up, simultaneously freeing my breasts from its soft confinement. Staring at the sight, I noticed that my nipples were already perking upwards as if in anticipation of the gesture.

I shivered once more as cold air touched my erect nipples. Alita stared at the sight, thoughtfully, for a few seconds, before saying in a soft, comforting voice. ─ "I see you healed well, she gently touched my breast, making me take in a sudden breath as she moved her hand exploring both of my modest mounds."

"It's... t-that's enough... A-Alita..." ─ I breathed out between my longing shivers.

"That bitch made you suffer... I will make you forget that she ever touched you. How does that sound, elfy?" ─ Alita's hot breath hit against my left nipple, sending sparks of electricity through my body, but she didn't stop. With a firm hand around both of my breasts, she started massaging them. My mind clouded by the variety of sensations started to wander. When did she even let go of my other hand? The fickle thought dispersed right after I felt her soft-wet lips engulf my nipple in a gentle, warm hug, before she firmly suck on my breast. I could feel the tip of her tongue doing circles around my tit, making me lose my breath and start panting softly in a matter of seconds.

"Uhhhm~" ─ I moaned eventually, unable to hold back the flood of sensations. My body was shivering under Alita's weight like a leaf in a storm; the sensation was incomprehensible. Foreign, yet inherently personal at the same time.

"Did you say something, elfy?" ─ Alita asked suddenly, with a grin stretched across her face. ─ "Should I stop?" ─ She added teasingly.

"D-don't sto-" ─ I started to answer, my mind clouded by the flood of foreign sensation, just then, suddenly, a heavy knock banged against our door—startling both of us out of our skin.

As we both scurried to the opposite ends of the bed, the clearly uncomfortable voice of a man echoed from the other end of the door. ─ "I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we have received several reports throughout the night about a missing woman, whose general description matches one of the ladies who are supposedly residing in the room." ─ He paused for a second. ─ "As it is part of the adventurer guild's responsibilities, we have alerted the initiator of the search, and we have been notified that an escort from the Dimhollow House is already on the way to ascertain your person. I would advise you to prepare for said party as soon as possible."

My voice was stuck in my throat as the happenings of the last several minutes blinked through my mind like a thunderstorm, occasionally making me flinch on my own. I couldn't even answer for the man, who seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable and eventually left on his own. Giving us a few reluctant threats that we shouldn't make the escorts of a noble house wait on our doorstep.

As both of us were stuck with evaluating our recent actions, our eyes met halfway above the bed. I gulped, pulling and adjusting my bra on autopilot. It was something you got used to after having to use them for several months.

I gulped dryly, unsure what to say. My face still flushed, and presently dying of embarrassment, I forced out a few words... ─ "I.. uhm... should dress up... probably..."

Feeling the suffocating awkwardness lingering in the air, Alita only shook her head. Sideeying me as she said. ─ "Yeah... probably... Me too..."

She hit the bed in a burst of frustration before telling me in a tone that didn't give place for argument.

"Damn it! We are not done with this, elfy. I will have you next time. You'd better wait for it!"

With that, she jumped up from the bed, starting to pick up her clothes and pulling them on with a furious intensity.

I stared at her for a while, completely lost in my thoughts.

I couldn't shake off the lingering sensation.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be... My previously discarded skirt was suddenly flung into my face as a clearly annoyed Alita ordered me to start dressing.

"Ah... uhm, yes!" ─ I answered, as that specific lingering wrongness continued to pulse in the back of my mind.

Then I realized that I would have to explain this to Emrum, who is undoubtedly part of the previously mentioned escort.

I sighed... as I realized the unfortunate reality. I am so cooked...

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