The Grandcypher

[Bloodedge]

As it seemed, Miki hadn't discovered that ability of her Artifact at all. She admitted to using it in just the opposite manner, but never the way he spoke of programming it. "I did say it had a lot of features. Since you like to collect things, I basically fitted it for the room building, but... I figured you might not want to keep going in and out all the time. So, I expanded the feature that creates gates, and let smaller gates be applied to connected rooms. It's pretty niche, but I thought you might like it." That was about all there was to Kou's explanation, as Miki went about using the very function they discussed. The closet she interfaced with using the device would not be replaced per se, but the door itself would act instead as a gateway to an otherwise sealed room in her trove. Kou rose when the passageway was made, choosing to approach and use Miki's time in the bathroom to find his sleeping garbs of choice. On his way though, he placed a hand upon Miki's shoulder, and laughed. "If you keep saying you're not a psycho, it makes you seem more like a psycho. At least... that's what girls always told me," he said, content to pull open the door from there.

Well... she was right about one thing. The sight of this room didn't make her seem psychotic, but it did make her seem like a bit of a hoarder. Just... a bit. Nevertheless, it was an impressive collection. A fair amount of time would undoubtedly be taken by Kou to discover what he wanted to wear. It had to be something, right? He couldn't go for the norm, which was nothing more than a pair of boxers... or could it?

[Apollymi]

It was the case that Miki didn't know of the thing Kou was speaking. Even so, he went on to explain what he meant in fairly good detail even as she used the object to open this gate. He claimed that the use of it this was rather uncommon but that he'd included it because the thought she might like it. "Hai, of course I like it. That is a great time saver, and adds extra utility for someone like me. I will always need that... especially since I can go quite overboard once I start collecting things..." she said with a bit of a sheepish chuckle. Moving right along the lad's hand soon landed on her shoulder as he laughed and made sure to tell her, that it was more telling that she continued saying she wasn't psycho. And while she understood this to some extent, she still couldn't really be faulted for that at all. "I know, I know, but there is a really reasonable explanation for all of this," she said of the giant collection he opened up the door to see.

In truth in-games like AoE Miki was a trader and merchant. She was always willing to discount her services in exchange for goods which she needed. Since they'd gone to Atlantis and become a pretty integral part of the economy, she'd had a lot of access to merchant goods there. Including the seamstress, who was content to design clothing for her, and take her ideas and measurements and make them for the lad Kou as well. Because of the amount of time they'd spent since first meeting the seamstress, it had turned into a large collection rather swiftly. This also didn't include all of the things which had been in her house in the Migrating Vale, which she managed to integrate a great amount of too. Whatever the case, she began sorting through her own choices and came to a strange realization. 'Normally, I sleep in just my underwear... or in silk pajamas with no underwear. If I wear both of them, I'll end up stripping naked in my sleep. But if I want to spend extra time thinking about anything, being in my underwear is best...' she had the set of thoughts before settling in. She figured that if they were going to get to know each other properly, they should know their habits. As such, she picked what she would be sleeping in, which was a matched panties and bra set. Red silk with black lace trim, which seemed to suit her tastes and this current avatar's skin and hair. "Whatever, I'm not gonna talk myself into sleeping uncomfortably," she mumbled. And with that she headed for the bath.

[Bloodedge]

"Oh? Good; I was hoping you would─" he said, seeming only the slightest bit sheepish about it. Whatever the case, it was good that Miki found satisfaction in his addition to the object. He felt she would enjoy other features yet to be discovered as well, but time would tell when those would even be revealed to her. There were even some things unknown to Kou at the time of the Artifact's creation, if only due to the number of code overlays made. There would be a learning experience for both of them, surely.

Kou was occupied on his own side of this large clothing room while Miki chose her sleepwear, so sadly, he didn't have a preview of something he was certain to enjoy the look of. Miki departed from this room soon enough to enter the bathroom, and not long after, he exited with a pair of purple, silk boxers in hand. He wasn't going to make any concessions either. Besides, the blonde he would be sharing a bed with (again) had already been in contact with his most sensitive area; there was hardly a thing to hide at this point. Ah, but there was the reason for his initial withdrawal. He didn't want to fall short of excellency, and he undoubtedly would have if they kept going the way they were. To avoid this problem in future, he had to be sure to relieve himself of his excess reproductive fluids. What better time than the present, while he had the main bedroom to himself? He was already quite riled up, after all.

He didn't know how long Miki would be bathing, but he did know... if there was even a chance of earlier events reoccurring this very night, he needed to handle things right away. As a Celestial, he had no 'need' of a bath without outside interference to his body. Since he hadn't sullied himself this day, he was clean as a newborn babe when he changed into those silk boxers and took his place in bed. Under the covers he went, and out came his manhood with his right hand to greet it. Sadly, he could not simply finish from Miki's earlier contact. Since he'd waited so long to get started himself, he was starting anew with nothing more than the memory of previous moments to guide his imagination.

[Apollymi]

Kou had managed to look a bit sheepish when she'd explained that she liked the feature he'd given in his gift. There were always so many new things about it, she never really knew what if anything she could do to repay the kindness. Ah, but that was a thought for a different time. She'd run off with what she'd intended to sleep in, and headed for this new shared bathroom attached to their quarters. It was better than she expected given it was a ship. A complete shower a separate soaking tub, pristine light blue tile. A double set of standing sinks in front of mirrors and a large linen closet filled with bath towels, toiletries and all manner of necessity. This would indeed be something worth being excited about. As such, he ran a bath filled with burning hot water, and as it filled, she had her typical shower, at masterful speed.

Strangely once her hair was washed and the water was finished running she still sat atop the little stool in the shower. She looked rather deviously with her hair up in a towel conditioning with a detachable shower head, set to a gentle pulse with warm water. 'Ah... I should try to be quiet about this... not sure if I can be heard from out there...' she thought to herself. Whatever the case, she dove in aiming to gently prod her bud with this strumming sensation. It was something like a low-tier vibrator, but more than enough to get her started, as she considered her most recent interaction with Kou. Her face reddened gently as her hips rocked just a little as she enjoyed the sensation, imagining not water rubbing against her loins, but the fingers of the lad outside. She saw in great detail in her mind, the imagine of his face, those glowing eyes of his, peeking at her through their corners. She imagined his head dipped over her shoulder as he rubbed her sex with one hand and cupped her breast with the other, as his breath danced gently over her ear. Yes. That was it a good enough place to paint the picture necessary to send herself over the edge of bliss with just a few more moments of imagination. Still, she couldn't help the gentle whimper that slipped through her lips... "Oooh~" passed through her lips before she bit down on her unoccupied index finger, only to adjust the speed of the shower head up instead. Only further feeding into the fantasy she created in her mind, perhaps it couldn't be heard.

[Bloodedge]

While Miki went about her own period of self-exploration, Kou took a different approach. He didn't pull fully from his imagination, but instead let his mind flesh out lost potential advancements of events already transpired. As he lay there, one stroke after another matched an imaginary scene which could have very well been occurring at this very moment. Underneath that thick blanket covering Kou was not only the lad himself, but what he thought to be the unclad form of the blonde who, in reality, was separated from him only by a single door. He could just about picture her every movement, rising and falling like a wave, as a wave of a different sort built within both of them. Not having a visual or audible stimulus was unusual to him, even a hindrance to his progress. He could, however, get something very close with imagination alone. In fact... he could have almost sworn he tricked his ears into hearing that little moan of Miki's once more. If he didn't know any better, it was... very real. Surely it couldn't have been, right? It was so brief, so distant, yet so actually audible, that it could have been. There was such potency to it, he felt a spike in arousal that forced a gasp from his own lips. Alas, the reality of it was far from his mind at the time. Over time, the blonde's movements in his imagination hastened, and the same could be said of the... stroking of himself, so to speak.

[Apollymi]

Unknown to the lass in the bath, the boy outside had a very similar idea to her own. And while he was busy, exploring himself in their bed. She was enjoying the usefulness of this detachable shower head's multiple spray functions. Here and now with a much faster, pace, she fought the desire to moan against this pulsing sensation, as she built further and further towards a rather delicious peak. While the scene in her head shifted slightly, the lad was still behind her, still wrapped around her, but instead, thrusting into her, while his fingers danced over her pearl. She thought back to that gentle stroke of her nipple and felt it harden again. She trusted herself just enough to flick it with her own fingers. Twisting it gently until it reached a proper peak, only to bite down upon her bottom lip as it became too much. "Aaaah~" the sound, another quiet moan escaped her, but it was just enough this time... to push her over the edge, she clamped her knees together as she felt her inner self tighten as a flush of relief and heat washed over her entire body. She'd stop a few seconds later, her breathing still labored, her bottom lip bright red from the extra force. Still, she'd avoided the most of the noise from what she could tell.

From the seated position, she went on to rinse her hair quickly and sit in the tub, thinking about what she'd just done with the most relaxed look upon her face. The entirety of this bath would take about 30 minutes. Only ten of which were spent actually cleaning anything about her body. The rest, she spent exploring herself with her fingers while submerged in the hot water of the tub, and playing out a few different fantasy scenarios.

[Bloodedge]

30 minutes would hardly be enough time for Kou, sadly. Roughly halfway through his endeavor of choice, he had a horrid realization; what was he to do when he finished? Realizing this would become a problem, he had to get up. His shaft remained grasped in his hand, and there was the occasional stroke yet, but the act of walking to the other side of the room alone was essentially resetting his progress yet again. By entering the closet once more, he was eventually able to locate a second pair of undergarments made of cloth, easily usable as a makeshift towel for the time being. With it in tow, he returned to bed and began working his way back up. It may have been something much to his chagrin that he encountered such a fate, as it would take about the same amount of time building up from the most recent restart of his efforts...

[Apollymi]

Kou hadn't thought through the ending of his own exploration, Miki on the other hand had given herself a few good flourishes. She'd even managed, to the best of her knowledge, to stifle the sounds she'd made incidentally. Ah, but she couldn't exactly stay in here for too long. He'd seen her get ready in the mornings, she couldn't take too much longer than normal to come out or suspicions would arise. She lounged back in in the tub a few minutes longer before she finally rose again. She let out the water, and then stood naked before a mirror brushing out her now dry locks of blonde hair. Once all of that was in order, and her deep crimson ribbons were restored, she dressed herself the way she tended to dress for sleep. This wasn't purposefully provocative. No, just a matching red silk and black lace set of panties and a bra, and some long silk stockings connected by a thin garter. This would keep her feet warm, her body mostly breathable and allow her to retain a certain semblance of the normalcy of her previous life. And once she was satisfied with how she looked in the mirror, she emerged from the bathroom with a relaxed body and less sex-crazed mind. "Ah, that's such a relief... I feel so much better," she mentioned of the bath she'd had recently. Of course, the bath itself wasn't the reason she felt better, bathing was just an excuse to reach true release without seeming sex-obsessed on the surface.

[Bloodedge]

Indeed, it was the most dangerous thing possible for Kou to have forgotten that crucial object when he started all this. He was at the cusp of completion with himself, and then... it happened. The bathroom door swung open, and out came Miki in the middle of his upstroke. He didn't become fully conscious of her entry until the following stroke downward, but that would be his last as his eyes darted toward the scantily-clad blonde. Kou's hand which held the 'towel' he intended to use could not move from his side, where it kept the makeshift towel under covers as well. The moment he saw Miki in those fancy undergarments of hers, his eyes widened; he could have expelled his seed right then and there. Resistance was mandatory, yet just about futile. His groin tensed more than it ever had before to resist ruining the covers and undoing whatever incognito status he managed. There he was either way, sweating bullets and pitching a tent as he stared at the girl who entered the room. When he spoke, he did so with a bit of nervousness applied to every word. "Eh... good, yeah. Glad you enjoyed your bath─"

[Apollymi]

Kou's words and his sweating bullets was a bit off to the situation. Of course, it could have simply been that he wasn't expecting her to walk out in such a manner of dress. But, she walked around in basically underwear all the time anyway. No. Instead there was something distinctly familiar about this situation and it brought Miki back to a moment in her own life. When Kimiko was left at home mostly alone while her parents were on vacation in the spring, they'd returned unexpectedly, and her mother had burst into her room while Kimiko was 'busy' below the covers. She'd had to have an entire very strained conversation with her mother, while naked under the covers with her fingers buried inside herself for fear of rousing too much suspicion. Oh, that was a terrible situation. And she could recognize it here and now by sight alone. 'Shit! We are way too much alike...' she thought, though she managed to keep a hint of it off her face. Though that likely didn't work as she kind of wanted to look, ugh she'd just gotten rid of all these kinds of thoughts. She didn't want to confront him with what she knew in the moment, that would be terrible for both of them... She had to make up an excuse. Yeah, that was it. Give him a bit of time, to ah, help preserve his dignity, and stop herself from looking by facing away. But not leaving the room, because that would be way too obvious. Yep, good plan.

"Um-hm, it was so nice. I almost didn't want to leave... I finally feel like I can concentrate now... you know?" she mentioned walking specifically away from the bed and having a seat in the high backed chair which faced away from the bed. She looked out of the window and tossed her hair around a bit. She could never really lay straight down so, this was fine. And maybe he'd be able to finish up. Maybe not, but at least she could give him the benefit of a moment or two to try. In the meantime, she moved her fingers and brought to her hand the necklace he'd given her as part of her present and lent her attention to concentrating on the object in her hands, while trying really hard not to imagine what this lad was doing under the covers, still, she couldn't really help it, and her leg began to bounce just a little.