Intimancer

Rick wiped his brow and surveyed his work.

He and Tyr had spent most of the afternoon cleaning the massive building that was now their home.  Home…  The peculiar word rippled through him, leaving behind a strange cocktail of emotions for him to process.  He could hardly wrap his head around the fact that he and his friends had just purchased a house to live in.

I still can’t believe we got a borderline mansion for such a low price.  He thought with a wry smile.

If Rick was actually drinking anything when he saw the price tag, he would have most certainly done a spit-take, Sade certainly caught on to his severe reaction at least.  After nearly two months living in the kingdom of Shivani, he had a fairly good grasp of the value of its currency.  By doing some mental math, a subject he was fairly proficient in, he could reasonably convert the value of the various gold and silver coins used in the kingdom to the price of paper currencies from his old world.

And there was a wild discrepancy between many goods and services both worlds offered, and especially the price of housing.  Maybe it just goes to show how over inflated the housing market is on Earth.  He chuckled to himself.  While he had absolutely no hope of ever owning a home in his old life, the market in Shatak was actually affordable.  The four of them would have had to bend and scrape every last coin they could for several years, but even this old luxury inn was possible to save up for without the equivalent of winning the lottery.  But he was still grateful that they actually did acquire their large windfall, danger be damned.  It just made some things easier.

Shifting back to the present, Rick checked the floors for any signs of streaks or dust he missed.  The hardwood floors were spotless.  He grinned, the numerous sailors in his family line would be proud of what he accomplished.

“I’m done with this last room over here!”  He called out down the hall.  Tyr was somewhere on the property, but Rick had no doubt her doubly superior ears could hear him.  He just hoped that the woman didn’t make a bigger mess than when they started.  Tyr was many things, but tidy was not one of them.  Living with the rambunctious elf had hammered that poignant fact home several times over.

Rick padded over on bare feet down the hall.  One rule he insisted be followed was no shoes in the house.  They were going to get some carpet laid down or at least some type of house slippers for everyone to wear when the temperature dropped so they could still be comfortable, but there was absolutely no way he would tolerate tracking mud and who knew what else all over their floor while he was responsible for cleaning everything.

Not even his father’s side of the family wore shoes in the house.  Just one of the reasons they got along with the in-laws so well.  It was the little things where people from vastly different cultures could bond after all.

Rick made his way to the former Queen suite that they designated as the master bedroom.  Well… Tyr referred to it as the ‘orgy room’, but none of the other’s were acknowledging that silly name in the vain hope to not encourage her.  Jury was still out on whether or not it would work in the end.

He found the troublemaker in question hanging up their meager collection of clothes in the closet room.  “Hey’o!”  She called out, not even bothering to glance in his direction.  RIck padded forward and started helping her work.

“How are you taking all of this?”  He asked after a moment.

She gave her customary shrug of indifference.  “Better than ya are, that’s fer sure.”

“Oh come on!”  Rick whined.  “How in the balls do you figure that?”

Tyr put one last garment away.  All three of their clothes combined barely took up any of the space they now had in the gigantic closet.  She turned to Rick, her smug smile plastered on her face.  “Ya don’t need eyes as good as mine ta see how ya flipped out when ya signed those papers.”

Rick groaned, he didn’t think he was being that obvious.  But at least he had Tyr to tell him when he was acting silly.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”  He admitted.  “It’s just, my whole generation has been locked out of homeownership.  I honestly never thought I would be able to get this far.”

“Why wouldn’t ya be able to get a home?”

Rick let out a sigh.  Once more, he found himself discussing a long and complicated topic he barely understood but had to do his best to explain.  “Mostly because they are too expensive for anyone but the wealthy to buy.”

“Then where would ya sleep?”  Tyr asked, confused.

Rick gave a snort of derision.  “Either with my parents or renting.”  He waved away her followup questions.  “The point is, even if we didn’t find those coins, it just caught me off guard how easily we could have scraped together enough to buy a modest home for ourselves.”

“Bah!”  Tyr said with annoyance.  “I still don’t understand how ya mayflies make these things so complicated.”

“Oh?  How do the vaunted wood elves handle housing?”  Rick asked.  Elven culture was so strange to him, but he enjoyed noting all the various differences.

“Ya find a spot and build a house.  Simple.”

“Wait… That’s it?”

“That’s it.”  She confirmed.  “We got lots of space in the forest.  Just find a nice spot that isn’t already claimed, and then start building.”

Rick shook his head.  He shouldn’t have been surprised that it was just that simple with the wood elves.  Tyr hardly ever took anything seriously, unless it was something that somehow damaged her elven pride.  He had a sudden urge to visit his tall lover’s homeland one of these days.  He could only imagine what kind of trouble he would get caught up in, but that didn’t sound too bad in the grand scheme of things.

“Must be nice.”  He said honestly.  “I’m still glad you’re here with us.”

“I am too.”  She smiled back.  “The whole place is fuck’n daft, but ya make for some good company.  So it all evens out.”

“Plus all the amazing sex?”  Rick asked as we waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Mmmmm… indeed.”  She purred.  She then eyed him in a way that made him feel like a small animal about to be hunted.  Rick tried his best to hold her piercing gaze, but nearly every instinct he had was screaming at him to look away and run to the hills.  His dick on the other hand was telling him something completely different.  The term ‘scaroused’ flashed through his mind.  It was amazingly apt to feel such seemingly contradictory emotions at the same time.  He had yet to decide if he liked it or not.

“A-anyways, I think Sade and Lilie are due back any moment.”

Tyr looked at him in that predatory way a moment longer before she chuckled and slapped his shoulder.  “Yep, I think yer right.”  She said while wiggling her long ears.

When the two of them made it back to the stairs leading to the main entrance, Rick saw the other two women were in the process of removing their boots by the door.  “Welcome home!”  He called out.  It struck him right then that those words felt more right than ever.  Warmth suffused his chest at the notion.

“Indeed.  We have returned.”  Sade giggled.  She quickly moved in and wrapped Rick and Tyr into a tight embrace.  “It is good to be home.”

Rick saw Lilie still standing at the door, surrounded by her luggage, looking downward awkwardly.  Before he could even say anything, Tyr swung one of her free arms wide and beckoned the shaytoni over.  “Welcome home too.”  She said softly.  Lilie’s face lit up like a firework and she rushed into the group hug with great enthusiasm.

“So, how was getting everything packed at school?”  Rick asked once everyone had their fill of hugs.  Sade’s face soured somewhat.  Rick was confused, wasn’t it Lilie who had to pack her things?

“I seem to have been roped into something.”

Lilie let out a chuckle then patted Sade on her head.  It would have been funnier if Sade was still small and childlike in appearance, but now that the two women were nearly the same height, it lost some of its impact.

“We separated for a bit and I found her mobbed by the underclassmen.”

“And why did they mob you?”  Rick asked

Sade palmed her face and groaned theatrically.  “They wanted to start up a study group, with me as the primary tutor.”

Rick blinked.  Of all the reasons for Sade to be mobbed by her fellow students, he wasn’t expecting that.  “Well then… That’s kinda smart.”  Sade sent a glare his way, so he decided to elaborate.  “You are a good teacher.  I highly doubt that either Tyr or I could have gotten close to mastering ‘frozen mist’ without your help.  You know more about magic than most people could learn in a lifetime.  And you learn even more with each passing day.”

The others enthusiastically nodded at Rick’s claims to Sade’s magical prowess.  She still didn’t look quite convinced at the notion, so he tried one more tactic.  “There’s a famous quote from my country; ‘Those who can, do;  Those who can’t, teach’.  And while there’s a wrinkle of truth to it, I believe it to be mostly false.”  He smiled at his talented lover.  “Every teacher I’ve studied under has told me that teaching others has helped improve their mastery of that given subject greatly.  Even more than when they were learning in school themselves.”

“That does not make sense.  How would reiterating what the professors said help me if I already understand the subject?”  Sade asked.

“Think of it this way.”  Rick replied.  “Different people think and learn in different ways.  By having to explain a solution from multiple angles, you reinforce your own understanding by guiding others to their own path.”

“Like hiking through the woods.”  Tyr added.  The others turned to her, curious on where she was going with her off-beat example.  “Ya may know one route through the forest ta get ta the mountain peak.  But by accompanying others on different trails, ya eventually map out the whole forest, and may even find a more efficient path through than what ya started with.”

All three of them were dazed at the elf’s analogy.  “That… That’s a surprisingly apt way to put it.”  Rick said.  While their tall friend was young, brash, and rarely cared about scholarly pursuits, they all had to occasionally remind themselves that she was far from stupid.  Tyr had more practical life experience than all of them combined, and it showed itself in odd ways from time to time.

The elf preened at the compliment, her usual smug expression only deepening.  They would have to be careful with feeding her ego any further.  Last thing they needed was a wood elf with a big head.  Hers was big enough already.

“I believe I understand the benefits of working with my classmates.  I honestly was going to work with them anyways, but having something in it for me certainly makes the exchange less lopsided.”  Sade’s stomach gave an audible growl.  “Perhaps we should focus on sustenance instead?”

All of them eagerly agreed that food was the next order of business to take care of.

“I got just the thing!  Come on, let me show you.”  Rick excitedly told the group of women.  They all followed him to their new kitchen.  Rick and Tyr had the foresight to gather ingredients to stock the pantry at least partially.  The space was built to feed dozens, they were just four people, they wouldn’t be able to justify fully stocking the pantry even if they all ate as much as their giant friend.

Rick quickly set aside some roasted meats, assorted veggies, and several long rolls of bread that looked like mini baguettes.  He sliced the bread rolls along the sides then coated one half with mayonnaise and the other with a basic beef pâté.  He then loaded up the meat and vegetables before handing each of the women one of his creations.

“Uh… What’s this?”  Lilie asked.

“Bánh mì.  A simple anytime food that my family often made.”  Rick said, grinning.  While he loved the more European fare that the kingdom sported, he was beginning to really miss the type of recipes the other half of his family enjoyed.

Tyr wasted no time and dug her fangs deep into the eastern sandwich.  It only took her a few gigantic bites to reduce her meal to crumbs.  “Not bad.”  She said while reaching for a second that Rick already had prepared.  “A good balance of meat and greens.”

“Don’t worry, I put more meat in that one for you.”  Rick laughed.  He knew Tyr would never complain about a meal, but her tastes leaned heavily toward the carnivore end of the spectrum than what elves were usually depicted enjoying.  He didn’t know if that was a personal choice or just how wood elves were built, and he wasn’t about to force his views about dietary balance on her.

They all chatted while enjoying the simple meal together.  Sade supplied more details on how she got cornered by her classmates and the other two went over what they did while the two women were at the university.

“Okay,”  Tyr said while patting her muscular stomach.  “Time fer the bedroom.”

Sade gave the larger woman a firm nod of her head, the smile on her face turning mischievous.  “Indeed.  Time to work off this meal and break in our new bed.”