Dungeon 42

Immortal Folly

Chapter 83

Even though I should have been focused on the server transfer, I didn't care. What was happening between Henry and I had my full attention. Every other sensible thing I should have been worried about was just white noise.

Neither of us had to come up for air, so it went on for quite a while. We only pulled back minimally from each other to try something different or say something briefly. My weird physical state brought it to an end as I eventually grew too tired to keep going.

"Is this okay? Am I making you feel claustrophobic?" I asked. We'd been cuddling for a bit. Or at least my version of that, which was more like tangling myself oddly with and around Henry. He answered by pulling me more tightly to him and kissing my hair.

I couldn't help a laugh. I felt kind of fuzzy but relaxed in a pleasant way. I laughed again when I realized what I was doing would probably look kind of fucked up to an outside observer. More like a flesh-eating shadow clutching the skeleton of its victim than cuddles. I was okay with that.

With my head resting on Henry's chest, I noticed something kind of odd. There was a kind of faint humming. It wasn't like the wet thrumming of a pulse, but it had an ebb and flow to it all the same.

Curious, I shuffled around a bit, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"Hm?" Henry inquired, sounding amused.

"Sh!" I replied. Oddly enough, it ended up being strongest where a human heart would be. I slipped a hand inside Henry's ribcage, his undone shirt making it easy.

"42- ha!" Henry laughed, and I felt something sort of fuzzy though there wasn't anything visible. It was strange, but a couple of things I'd read clicked into place along with some of Aaron's magic lessons.

"I think I can sense the mana animating you," I said, looking up at Henry.

"W-Well, apparently it’s t-ticklish," Henry said. I wiggled my fingers and got another laugh before I withdrew my hand. It was interesting, but I wanted to understand what was happening better before messing around too much. The last thing I would want to do was hurt Henry by accident.

"How are you f-feeling?" Henry asked gently.

"Still tired. Hopefully, I'll feel more normal when the transfer happens," I said. That was when it occurred to me I'd forgotten about the notice. My orbs flickered as I shook off my indulgent haze and looked at my interface properly.

It was the same as before, but I noticed a small marble under my system clock. A drop-down opened, revealing a timer labeled transfer. It looked like it would finish just before today's reset.

"That should happen today at reset," I said aloud for Henry's benefit. He hummed pleasantly in reply. One or both of us should have been responsible and started getting to the day's tasks. Me specifically, but Henry was distracting me.

I chose not to do anything about it. I could chuck stuff in my upgrade panel without moving from my spot. My interface didn't care where I worked from. So really, I could do pretty much everything aside from walk-throughs and environmental sculpting. Things that could wait until I had access to my store again.

"Ahem," the sound startled me into a half-sitting position. Henry rose up too, looking toward the door. Dawn stood leaning against the door frame, clearly amused.

Henry made a noise like a strangle squawk and hastily pulled his shirt closed. I had to fight not to laugh. Most skeletons still walked around with little to no clothing. Dawn was dressed in something like a Sari with pants, though, so maybe that added an awkwardness to it.

"Uhm... How can I help you?" I asked, feeling oddly exposed. It occurred to me that I was, in fact, not wearing anything myself. It was something that didn't matter but felt a little more significant than usual. At least, considering how I was tangled with Henry.

"I came to see how you were feeling, Mistress. I'm guessing rather good right now," Dawn said merrily. Yep, now I was feeling the awkward.

"I'm great, thanks. I should be all better tonight. The system issue will resolve before refresh," I said hastily. I was doing my best to unwind myself from around Henry without making it too obvious. That and avoiding accidentally throwing him on the floor.

With some teamwork, Henry and I managed to sit up in a more appropriate manner. However, I wasn't sure if our scramble to try and look decent made things better or worse.

"I see. Well, I'll let everyone know the good news," Dawn said, and I could sense a shit-eating grin. She gave a respectful nod and left with a spring in her step.

"She left in a hurry... Am I being paranoid, or is she about to got collect on bets?" I asked Henry. Dawn seemed a little too eager to leave after barely poking any fun.

"I should hope not," Henry muttered darkly.

"Didn't bet on yourself?" I asked teasingly.

[No.]

Henry texted me, looking away uncomfortably. It definitely hadn't landed as intended. Not if it bothered Henry to the point where he couldn’t respond verbally.

"I was kidding, Henry. It's kind of a thing where I'm to tell others not to bet against you as a display of confidence," I explained.

[Dawn will speak of what she saw if you don't instruct her otherwise.]

I felt my orbs flicker. That blunt statement took a couple of seconds to sink in properly.

"Oh... If you're embarrassed, I'll tell her not to," I offered a bit weakly. Henry had reacted pretty strongly to getting caught, but I hadn't really considered that it might be about more than that. He'd kissed me, but it was possible he didn't want that known or was regretting it. I felt a sick little shiver at that thought.

"Embarrassed?" Henry asked as if he'd never heard the word before.

"Of you?" Henry asked. I cringed, not sure what to say. Henry laughed, and I half jumped out of my skin. It didn't last long, just a loud bark and softer chuckles quickly fading.

Henry got off the couch and knelt in front of me, taking my hand as he did. I let him, numb with confusion.

[I thought you would be embarrassed of me. How could someone as unworthy as I dare feel that way about you?]

With that text, I felt myself relax a little. I knew exactly how to feel about that as a concept—pissed off.

"Henry, if I was embarrassed by you, then I'd be the unworthy one," I said flatly.

[You say that without knowing me as I was.]

"I say that knowing you as you've chosen to be since you arrived here," I shot back. Henry stood, seeming flustered.

I felt a different kind of unease than before as I looked at him. We hadn't really talked about his past outside of a few random facts. I honestly didn't care, but that didn't mean it didn't still have its ugly hooks in him. I'd seen his stats. His stutter wasn't a physiological problem.

"I was an assassin," Henry said flatly. I was surprised but not entirely because of the reveal. He'd had four levels of warrior and one of rogue to start with. Based on that, I hadn't assumed he was a former assassin, but it wasn't that hard to believe. Henry was exceptionally good at finding weak points in other skeletons' fighting styles.

"During the kingslayer rebellion?" I asked without thinking. I knew almost nothing about that event—just a few names and locations.

I only knew that much because Chris kept asking me to make books about one of its historical figures. The Grave Man. An assassin with a kind of Zorro flair to him.

I only thought of him now because of how badly Henry had reacted to the mention of him before. I had to wonder if they'd been rivals of some kind.

Henry visibly wilted and my heart dropped. Before I could say anything, he took off in a blur of blue. I stood up, hand outstretched as if I could stop him. The sudden move left me dizzy, and I fell back on the couch after tottering unsteadily.

I felt completely at sea as I tried to understand how things had gone from lovely to this.