Chapter 496: Settlement by the sea

Mason and Streak chased down Demi’s magical scent-trail for two days. Mason soon shapeshifted back to normal for better speed at distance, letting the wolf follow the scent. They ran day and night, stopping only to eat and drink a little and rest long enough for Streak to dog-nap. The path took them west to the edge of the swamplands and beyond.

The air changed, getting cooler with more moisture, the ground moving to rolling hills. Mason wasn’t surprised when he crested a large hill and finally looked out at wide, blue horizon.

“She ran to the sea,” he said to himself, nodding in approval. A piece of him had always wanted to do the same. His post-apocalyptic fantasies involved either a bunker in some forest, hunkering down to wait out the madness in a place no one thought to look. Or else a sailing ship on open water, always moving, always ahead of danger.

He wondered what sort of Nexus-city he might have made with a coastal settlement. Would it have been a port-town, a

real

Nassau? Or could the Nexus itself have floated out into the waves?

He clicked for Streak and ran on, running down further and further towards the coast. The green hills turned to rocky sand, the scent getting stronger now and quickening Mason’s pace. He slowed, though, when he found a man-made looking dock stretching out in the water.

Behind it there were a few simple, wooden buildings, at least one of which was smashed to pieces. Mason wasn’t sure what he was seeing but he didn’t care. Demi’s scent was strong here and he didn’t need Streak anymore.

He could sense her like he had in the Neutral Zone—a magical tingling in his senses, implanting a kind of emotional

pull

that told him a woman was nearby and needed his help. He could feel her sadness like it was his, her loneliness, her desperation to be found.

He ran straight in with his bow, senses tuned and ready for anything. He flew past the first building to find a few more ruins around a central ‘square’, with what looked like a handful of stakes in a circle.

There was Demi, sitting cross-legged beside them. She looked a bit filthy with a few cuts and bruises, her long, dark hair a tangled mess. Her home-made clothes were torn and half falling apart, but she was very much alive.

She turned as he slid to a stop, eyes wet with tears before they met his. Her lips parted into a wide smile, and she wiped at her face.

“Is it really you?” she whispered. “Am I dreaming?”

Mason shook his head and banished his bow, walking slowly up to her before dropping to a knee.

“It’s me,” he said. “We followed your smelly magic.” Demi shook with a silent sob and maybe laugh as Mason grinned. “You’ve been stinking up a trail from here to the swamp. Look at you, you’re filthy.”

Demi lost control, overcome with emotion before slamming into Mason’s chest and crying openly. He wrapped his arms around her and just held on.

“You’re alright,” he said, breathing in her scent. “We’ll get you somewhere safe.”

Streak wandered the abandoned camp as Mason held Demi. The wolf sniffed and gave him slightly sheepish, but mostly opportunistic glances, with a kind of: ‘if she’s alright, I’m pretty sure I smell bones’ kind of mental projection. Followed by a ‘Should I dig them up?

Can

I dig them up? I wonder if they’ll

notice

if I dig them up’.

“Streak, go check out the sea.”

The wolf snorted and ran off with a teenage ‘fine’, and Mason glanced at the little circle of sticks again. He said nothing, just letting Demi take her time. She eventually wiped her face and looked at herself, pulling her scraps of animal skin and fur a bit better over her chest.

“Yeah I’m a mess. I need magic armor like you.”

Mason snorted and ran a hand over Demi’s tangled hair. She was definitely a mess, but she was a beautiful mess. Between the magical scents of relief and happiness pouring out of her, and despite the days of sweat and dirt, he doubted there was much she could do to make herself unappealing.

She was also soft and a third naked and pressed against him. But that train of thought wasn’t part of his ‘keep things platonic’ plan. He cleared his throat and gestured at the sticks in the ground.

“Who were they?”

Demi’s jaw clenched, but she was collecting herself now and kept it together.

“People I met early on. Things were good for a little while.”

He wanted to ask what happened but doubted she’d want to talk about it. And what difference did it really make? Death came easy in roboGod’s new world. Whether monsters or other players, dead was dead.

Streak yipped with surprise through their bond, giving off a palpable ‘I found a sea monster!’ emotion, followed by a ‘I think I’ll eat it’. Mason heard growling and splashing and cracking carapace and sighed. He glanced at the falling afternoon sun.

“It’s getting late. Do you want to stay here for the night? Or…we can go off a little ways, somewhere that isn’t…”

“I don’t mind.” Demi pulled back from him a little, looking a lot more self-conscious, or at least aware. “It would be nice. Having life here again for a night. Maybe we could start a fire? I usually tried not to in the bog. But maybe with you here…nevermind,” she shook her head and looked away. “I know it’s not worth the risk.”

“We’ll start a fire, warm you up some water.” Mason smiled, helping Demi to her feet. “I’ll go hunt something to eat, make sure there’s nothing lurking around. You’re safe with me and Streak around, I promise.”

Demi fought off another sob and nodded. Mason led her to one of the still standing houses, checking inside first. It was simple and small, but looked cozy enough. There was even a sturdy looking chair and a metal bucket, probably from some civilian’s kit.

His One with Nature was like an active radar ping at this point—detecting life in every direction if he just paid attention. He sensed a few little animals that scurried off, but he didn’t imagine that would bother a girl like Demi. He was about to ask if she wanted to wait inside, then realized her eyes were drooping.

She’d probably been awake for days, he realized—on the run not knowing if the demons could follow, or if where she was going was safe. He wished he had Haley with him to pull out a half dozen of her ‘assistant’ luxury items. Even at level ten or something she’d had a tub. By now she could probably pull out a mobile home.

He guided Demi to the chair and asked her to wait, scurrying through all the structures as he mentally commanded Streak to get back.

“Guard her door,” he said, and the wolf whined with some kind of broken shell in its mouth. “I don’t care if it’s boring. Stay here and chew on that. When we get home I’ll get you ten bones. Yes ten is a lot.”

He managed to find some kind of home-made pillow in another ‘house’, as well as some dusty hides. He beat them all out as best he could, finally going back to find Demi curled up on the floor. He covered her and slipped the pillow under her head, getting little more than a mumble.

Then he sprinted off into the surrounding hills, One with Nature scanning as he looked for anything useful. It didn’t take long to find a few animals worthy of a kill, and he came back carrying a post-apocalyptic rabbit the size of his chest.

He gathered firewood and kindling, smiling as he felt somehow back at the start of the game. Just with a few extra superhuman powers. He’d come a long way, that was for sure, from running around in terror and just trying to kill one gnoll, to scaring off demons with a mean look.

He butchered the giant rabbit and fought off Streak before giving him half, then made a fire in the pre-made stone pit. He even found a little wooden boat down by the water and decided it would make a decent tub. He was debating how best to get the water quickly before remembering he had superhuman strength. He filled up the boat with sea water, lifted it over his head, and carried it back to the camp.

It was late by the time everything was ready. He scooped Demi off the floor with her pillow and ‘blanket’, setting her by the fire on a crudely made bed of leaves. Her nostrils flared and her eyes blinked open when she smelled the cooking meat.

“Did I sleep?” She looked around in confusion, but shivered in pleasure and pulled the hide around her shoulders, holding her hands to the fire. “You’ve been busy.”

Mason grinned and brought her a stick draped with several cuts of the meat.

“I fed the wolf, first, and he’s not whining or dead. So we should be alright.”

“It smells amazing.” Demi grinned and took the stick, glancing up at the stars. “My friends and I used to sit out here and talk with a fire like this.” She frowned and looked around the camp. “Why is there a boat full of water?”

“That’s your tub.” Mason grinned. “Figured you’d like a warm bath. Though the salt might sting those cuts. I’ve been heating it with the pale.”

Demi stared like he was a crazy person before she realized the water was steaming. Mason could literally

smell

her urge to strip and jump in, but she had that self-conscious look again.

“I’ll face that way,” he said, turning away from the boat.

“It’s not that. I can’t decide if I want to eat or get clean more.”

“I’ll bring you food in the tub.” He glanced at her and winked, and was rewarded with a big smile. He turned again and heard her strip. The desire to turn around was pretty strong, but he realized it wasn’t as strong as the urge to just…take care of her. To make her feel safe and comfortable.

“You can feed me now,” she said, a bit of a grin in her voice. Mason brought a few more pieces on his stick and paused as he saw her. He wasn’t sure why he’d thought the water would hide her, and it was clear she thought it did. But his eyes pierced the dark, and the water was clear. Demi was totally revealed—her slim, amazing body on full display. He did his best not to look.

“Oh God, I haven’t had a warm bath in…” Demi closed her eyes and dipped her hair. “Well, since the Neutral Zone, I guess. And never before that.”

She took some meat from his hand and chewed with a happy grin, brown eyes closing as she sighed.

“I bet not every girl gets Baron Mason as a servant. What do I owe for this?” She swallowed and groaned. “And how did you even do all this? It couldn’t have been more than an hour or two.”

“First service is free.” Mason smiled and took another strip and held it out. Demi looked at it, then leaned forward and took it directly with her mouth, soft lips brushing Mason’s fingers.

She met his eyes, and it must have been some impulsive thing, because she blushed and pulled back before dipping down into the water as if to hide. He couldn’t stop the laugh.

Her magic came out in waves of clear emotion—bouncing between ‘I should have sucked his finger’ to ‘I can’t believe I did that’, ending with ‘I can never come out of the tub again. I’ll have to drown.’

Mason chuckled and waited, eventually reaching over and taking Demi’s arms to pull her out, careful not to touch anything he shouldn’t.

“You’ve been alone for a long time, and roboGod fucks with our brains. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Demi swallowed and practically cringed, obviously no idea what to do with her face. Mason sat back and handed her the stick. He didn’t want to make this harder than it had to be. In fact it felt a bit like he’d be taking advantage of her, and despite the Cerebus-infused portion of his brain that rolled its eyes to the floor, he had no intention of pushing.

“I found some clothes in the other house. I’ll put them on the side of the tub, and you can just stay in as long as you like. I’ll sit here and face the fire. You don’t even have to talk, if you don’t want to.”

Demi smiled shyly, and Mason did just what he said. Streak eventually wandered over and plopped down next to him, huge face on his paws. Mason scratched his neck and looked up at the stars, thinking about his girls.

He missed them, and hated how his life seemed to keep him anywhere but home. How his attention was on constant problems instead of figuring out how to improve their lives. He wondered how Haley’s pregnancy was coming along. If Naya was pregnant now, too. If the girls were all getting along in that house…

Eventually he heard Demi splash out of the tub and get dressed. She came up next to him by the fire and sat shyly.

“Do you mind if we…I mean if we just…um, cuddle? I haven’t touched anyone in...I mean if you…”

“Not at all.” Mason held out his arm, and Demi practically threw herself into his side and held on. He smiled and looked into the fire, holding her there without a word. He wasn’t sure if she or Streak started snoring first. But in that moment he didn’t mind one bit.