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RESPITE - LATE AFTERNOON
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Nesseth yawns a bit as he makes his way out of the barracks and down the lane, intent on going... somewhere to unwind after a long day behind the desk doing not much of anything other than reading rather mind-numbing reports over and over again. Most of his gear is stowed away at the barracks, and he's only got his personal equipment on hand, so he's pretty clearly off-duty, now.
Vix comes up alongside Nesseth from out of the shadows and latches onto his right arm. "Heya, handsome~"
Erika walks right after Vix and after a moment takes the cue to take Nesseth's left arm: "Hey there, Nessy."
Nesseth blinks and looks to the right as Vix slides up beside him and takes hold of his arm. He smiles and is about to greet Vix when Erika slides up on his left. "Oh... hey there, Vix, Erika. Were you two waiting for me to get off of work or something?"
Vix purrs, rubbing against Nesseth's arm. "Maybe~. We might have hatched a bit of a plan today~"
Erika giggles: "Something like that. Or we're just taking you and seeing where things go?" She glances at Vix: "We have a plan, right?"
Nesseth glances between the two, an amused smile slowly appearing on his face. "A plan, hm? I wonder what kind of plan." He chuckles after a moment, "And I take it you two are getting along great, then."
Vix giggles. "Yeah, we've been holdin' hands and stuff. Very saucy~"
Erika lets out a snort-giggle at that. "Y-yup, holding hands. That."
Nesseth smirks. "Really? Glad to hear you two got to know each other so well. Almost sad I didn't get invited, though~"
Vix redirects Nesseth's route onto a street leading away from his house. "Aw, you know I'm a bit shy about hand-holding, though~"
Erika looks at Nesseth: "Well not eeeevery time, Nessy. Besides, you just got invited right now."
Nesseth laughs a bit and nods at Erika as he follows Vix's lead. "Okay, that's fair. I can't always hang out with you all whenever you decide to spend time with one another, right?"
Vix smirks. "Turns out we have a lot in common. It's almost weird"
Erika giggles: "Not that weird. We've both been here quite a while."
Nesseth grins as he walks arm in arm with the two. "More in common just means it's easier to hang out together."
Vix chuckles. "For example, our houses are both super cluttered and we don't mind uh...holding hands in it."
Erika smirks: "Things in common like those, yes." She blushes slightly: "Hanging out together is fun, though."
Nesseth shrugs a little, matching the smiles of his companions. "Nothing wrong with a cluttered house, really. All the more excuse to just sit close to one another while... 'holding hands', I bet."
Vix blushes a little, though she suddenly finds herself stopping in front of the Thirsty Minnow with her companions. "Oh look at that, we're here~!"
Erika tilts her head, looking at the sign of the Minnow: "I wonder how that happened? By chance, surely."
Nesseth blinks and looks around at the entrance to the Minnow. "Huh... your plan was a date for all three of us? Sneaky~"
Vix chuckles as she pushes the door open. "Don't worry, we won't make you pay the check"
Erika giggles as she pushes Nesseth in: "You're invited and we won't take your nonexistent 'no' for an answer! ... Though I guess that means your answer is 'yes'."
Nesseth oofs as he's nudged into the bar ahead of Erika. "I know better than to argue against you two! It'll be nice to unwind a bit having dinner." He chuckles, "And we should probably get Plume something before we leave, too."
Vix takes a seat at one of the corner booths, squeezing onto the same bench with Nesseth and Erika. "Ah yeah, of course! We'll let you handle that~"
Nesseth slips into the booth with Erika and Vix, then happily gives the two a warm hug as he settles into his seat. "You're both super sweet for this. Seriously, thank you."
Erika giggles as she squeezes her ass onto the bench: "Or help if you need that. And nah, we're not sweet..." She turns to Vix: "Are we?"
Vix casually licks the back of her paw. "I'd say I'm more like dark chocolate~"
Erika tilts her head: "Does that make me vanilla? I don't want to be vanilla."
Nesseth hums thoughtfully as he looks over Erika a bit. "Hmm... maybe more like... ice cream? Chocolate swirl from the stripes?" He shrugs, "Either way, you're sweet~"
Vix giggles as she pretends to read the menu, already know she wants a classic burger. "What's wrong with vanilla? It's uh...exotic bean juice?"
Erika shrugs as she accepts her fate: "Sweet it is, then. And I want a huge cheese salad. With extra cheese."
Nesseth hums as he sneaks a kiss on both Erika and Vix's cheeks, then goes to check his own menu. It only takes him a few moments to decide on a nice stew for himself. "Cheese salad for Erika... I think a nice stew for myself... and Vix?"
Vix grins and sets down her menu. "The burger, naturally. No onions, though."
Erika hums: "Onions are the bestest. Or second-bestest, after ice cream. Though not in salad. Probably."
Nesseth hums and smiles. "Sounds like we might have an idea for dessert, too, with all the talk about ice cream."
Vix licks her lips. "Mmmm, I could go for some ice cream, for sure~"
Erika grins: "I can always go for ice cream! Unless we are out of ice cream, then it might get difficult. Difficult, but no impossible."
Nesseth laughs a little. "I mean... if we're out of ice cream, that'd be a disaster, but I'm sure we could find other snacks."
Vix smirks. "Somethin' else sweet to lick~"
Erika lets out another snort-giggle, blushing a bit: "...y-yes, that. Let's go with that."
Nesseth takes a moment to place their orders when someone comes by to do exactly that. Once placed, he simply grins at the two. "So... from how comfy you two seem to be hanging out... did you two go on a date or something?"
Vix grins. "We got spaghetti and did that spaghetti kiss thing from that one play. Completely by chance, of course~"
Erika blinks in surprise as her blush does not entirely vanish: "...there was a play?"
Nesseth tilts his head. "A play? Something from Sarn, I take it, Vix?"
Vix: Yeah, about two dogs in love! I snuck into it when I was a kid, but it's been novelized, I think...
Erika shrugs with a grin: "Sounds good enough excuse reason for me. All good!"
Nesseth chuckles. "Well, that might be a fun play to watch one day. Who knows, if the town starts up some kind of performance theater, we might even get the acting troupe to stop by for a performance."
Vix hums. "That could be fun. I miss sneaking into...er, watching plays~"
Erika tilts her head: "Don't think I've ever really seen a play. What's it like?"
Nesseth smiles at the question. "It's a group of people dressed up and acting through a story as though they're actually the characters." He pauses for a moment, "Er... if they're still doing the performances, you've probably seen the ones in the marketplace reenacting the Battle of the Prominence done by Enver, Teis and a few others."
Vix: I did get a peek at that. Very fun~
Erika raises an eyebrow: "...I should get out of my garden more. Oh well, you two and Plume make for an excellent excuse!"
Nesseth grins at Erika, and glances at Vix. "Between me, Vix and Plume, I'm sure we can come up with all kinds of excuses to take you wherever." He playfully pokes Erika, "Remember, we also have that little herb gathering trip vaguely planned, too."
Vix leans in. "Oho~? Perhaps I might invite myself along too~"
Erika shrugs with a grin: "Maybe? We're just heading out towards... well, not sure exactly where yet, but just finding stuff out there now what it's safe again." She pauses: "Well, safer, anyway..."
Nesseth smiles. "Safe enough with the knowledge between the two of us, I'd say. It's still just in the planning, though. We'll see how things pan out once I've got some time off, I think."
Vix sips a bit of water and leans on Nesseth's shoulder. "I'm around if you need a little more muscle~"
Nesseth hums and lightly hugs Vix as she leans against his side, then smiles at Erika. "We'll see how things go. If not this time, there's always a future opportunity, right, Erika?"
Erika nods with a smile: "It's not like I'm about to quit going out there anytime soon."
Vix sticks out her tongue. "I feel like I'll need to keep an eye on you two~"
Erika chuckles, leaning over Nesseth to give Vix's cheek a kiss: "Good luck with that then, I guess~."
Nesseth chuckles as he leans back and gives Erika a bit of space to kiss Vix. "I mean, we're just going out that way for some herb gathering, and absolutely nothing else~"
Vix chuckles and smirks. "Oh, certainly..."
Erika gets back to her seat, not that she even really moved her rear to lean over: "Totally just gathering herbs, I'm sure."
Nesseth nods sagely. "Yup, exactly! No mischief whatsoever."
Vix keeps a straight face for a moment, then starts to giggling uncontrollably
Erika does more or less the same, leaning back and giggle-snorting. "T-totally innocent, I s-swear!"
Nesseth manages to keep his face straight for several moments longer than Vix and Erika, but starts to break up into a bit of a giggle fit as well. "O-okay, okay... maybe a bit of... well, a lot of mischief."
Vix giggles a little more. "I'll give you guys some space if you want me to, though. I'm not completely nosy~"
Erika sticks her tongue out in turn: "Only somewhat moderately so."
Nesseth grins as his laughter dies down. "Not completely, but definitely enough that I can call you sneaky."
Vix smirks mysteriously
Erika shrugs with a smile: "But, heh, either way works I guess. Not sure if it's terribly exciting, but it's fun for us at least?"
Nesseth hums and nods. "Yeah, it'll be a fun outing no matter what. I can maybe do a bit of hunting, you can do some herb gathering, we watch each others' backs, and we get to stretch our legs after... what, two months of not really getting to just wander like usual?"
Vix giggles. "While you're out there, you should try uh...holding hands fireside~
Erika smirks: "I reckon we will keep that in mind~."
Nesseth smirks between Erika and Vix. "Yeah, we'll probably keep that idea in mind, for sure~"
Vix hums. "It's great~. Very romantic~~"
Erika smiles brightly: "Sure is! Also pretty sexy."
Nesseth leans over and pecks both Vix and Erika on the cheek. "And if there's one thing we all like, it's being romantic... and sexy." He pauses, then shrugs, "Okay, two things."
Erika shrugs with a grin: "Both... both is good."
Vix: Romantic, sexy, and adventurous. Three things?
Erika hums, then nods: "...yeah, we gotta add that too."
Nesseth thinks for a moment, then nods in agreement. "Adventurous does fit, doesn't it? Sure, three things."
Vix: Mmm, and snacky
Erika giggles: "Maybe! I dunno, I don't actually eat all that much when out there..."
Nesseth chuckles. "We're just multifaceted, aren't we? Just means there's a lot of stuff we can experience together!" He looks over at Erika, smiling a bit, "And once we're ready to head out, I'm packing some stuff we can munch on while out in the wilderness."
Erika sticks her tongue out: "As long as it's not just those tacky dried meat bits. They stink."
Nesseth chuckles and shakes his head. "Nah, don't worry, I'll pack stuff you like to eat, and I'll keep them separate from my rations."
Vix hums. "Want me to pack you some lunches?"
Erika shrugs, leaning back: "We'll figure something out. Gots plenty of stuff in my garden that's ripe to take with, too..."
Nesseth smiles at Vix. "Full lunches would be nice. Dried rations only go so far, but we'll rely on the dried stuff if we have to."
Vix: Well, let me know what you'd like to eat and I'll see what I can do~
Erika waves her hand: "I mean, I'm fine eating whatever's out there... but I suppose if I have this strong lizard carrying stuff, guess a sandwich or seven would not be the worstest."
Nesseth grins and winks at Erika. "I don't mind carrying some extra meals. Could probably mix in some fruits from the garden for snacks, too."
Vix snuggles a little closer to Nesseth. "You're pretty good at keeping your partners fed, after all~"
Erika giggles at that: "He's pretty good... well, on that, among other things. Sexy handsome scalie~."
Nesseth blushes a little under his scales. "I just try to make sure my partners are well taken care of, is all. Whatever they want~"
Vix smirks. "Like quenching thirsts~"
Erika giggles some more: "Certainly that~."
Nesseth 's blush deepens. "Like I said... whatever my partners might want~"
Vix gropes Nesseth's tail with her free hand. "Might be in the mood for a little extra dessert later~"
Erika leans on Nesseth from the other side, licking his frills just a bit: "Pooosssibly. Maybe. Perhaps. Possmayhaps?"
Nesseth 's tail wiggles in Vix's grip, and he twitches his frill at the teasing lick, taking a moment to hug both Erika and Vix a bit tighter. "M-mmh... something we can definitely see about doing, sure~" He blinks and notices a Minnow worker walking towards them with a giant platter of food, then gestures towards them to distract him from saucier thoughts, if only for the moment, "Oh, look! Our food is on its way!"
Vix stops teasing Nesseth for the moment and clears her throat. "Ah, food! Of course~"
Erika leans still on Nesseth, though her attention turns to food... for now, at least.