[Shieba]

(Using my initiation and participation slot as well as a load of potions: My Emission Liquor, my XX Draught, a Generative Draught and a LLP on Malva. The girls breeding are Cassandra and Malva.)
[Emission Liquor, XX Draught, Generative Draught, Lovey Love Potion and slots recorded.]


(The male is Cassian, who is not breeding and only here for plot.The female is Malva.)

"I am glad you are feeling fine again." Cassian closed his book and then nudged it to the side with his paw. "Your body is obviously recovering quite quickly, which is rather unusual after the kind of curse you've been under. I wonder if the curse itself or your good physical condition is the cause for that."

"I actually don't care which it is, but I sure am glad. It was such a blessing that Mr. Ashur sent me your way - if I hadn't met him, I bet I would have gotten more than just these few remnants." Malva got up and stretched her legs. After sitting for so long, waiting for the test results, she felt a bit stiff and the lines did still hurt a lot. While it looked like a normal Arach marking, it actually wasn't - it was what was left of the curse she was finally breaking free from. "May I repay you in the usual manner?"

[Shieba]

Cassian gave her a small smile. "You know you don't have to repay me at all, but I suppose I should give up on telling you that. It's not like you ever listen." Slowly, he started to put his books and tools away.

Malva quickly started to help him. It wasn't easy to live in a normal house and use everyday things made for beings with hands when one was a Lucain, so despite Cassian never demanding any payment for his services, she had quickly started to help with at least part of the cleanup. "It's the least I can do. While I understand that me coming to you for help is actually helping you with your studies as well, it just doesn't sit well with me to take up your time without doing anything in return - especially since you saved my life." Well, and there also was the fact that she wasn't helping just to be nice or repay what she felt was a debt but also for another reason, but she didn't say that.

"It was the mages who saved you from the curse, not me", Cassian gently reminded her. "I merely provided my studies and their results to show them how to do it."

[Shieba]

"How is that any different?" Malva chuckled. "When I, full of despair, met Mr. Ashur and he told me to seek you out, I had already visited countless mages and doctors, but no one had known how to help me. It's only thanks to you that I'm fine now."

"Maybe so, but still..." Cassian sighed and glanced at Malva, obviously bothered. "My studies were not enough to fully restore you to how you've once been."

"So? I am almost completely free of pain. For all I know, soon the only thing that will remind me of what I've been through will be the fact that my Arach marking will forever be black. But it's not burning into my flesh anymore and that's all that matters." Malva had long understood that Cassian was a bit of a perfectionist and the fact that she would never totally look the same again actually bothered him more than it bothered her. Actually, at the moment, it was even helpful to her since it meant she was still around since Cassian wanted to see if he wasn't able to figure something out. And because of that... "Will your sister stop by again today?"

[Shieba]

"Ah, it's quite likely, I suppose." Cassian grimaced and looked around, obviously thinking about how to hide the newest results gained from helping Malva today. "I'm very sorry she always barges in here and tends to mess up all the things you just put away again. I admit it's largely thanks to Cassandra that I sometimes just don't bother cleaning at all."

Malva chuckled, forcing herself to not let her thoughts drift. "There's no need to apologize. Your sister just wants to help and I actually like her quite a bit, so I don't mind at all." She didn't dare to look at Cassian, scared that he could easily see that 'liking her quite a bit' was a rather big understatement. In fact, she wanted nothing more than Cassandra visiting and messing up everything again, just so that there was a reason to put things away once more while Cassandra was around.

[Shieba]

Malva didn't really understand it herself - just a few weeks ago, after she had found that strange whatever-it-was on the ground and had touched it to see what it was, her formerly peaceful life had turned into nothing but pain when the artifact had cursed her and turned her Arach marking into pain lines which would have eventually killed her. It was only thanks to a kind Seraphent named Ashur who had used spells to at least subdue the pain for some time and who had known about Cassian and Cassandra that she was still alive. No healer had ever seen anything like her curse before and some didn't even believe her, for the strange artifact had vanished once Malva had touched it. And so, Malva had left everything behind to move to Aldrect and get help - and Cassian had willingly offered it for free, without wanting any payment so that she could instead pay the healers.

During these weeks of pain, all that Malva had wanted was to be free of pain again - in the end, she hadn't even cared anymore if it was thanks to a cure or death; she had just wanted it to stop. The idea of returning to her peaceful life had been nothing but a blissfull dream. And now that she could have that dream again... she didn't want it anymore.

[Shieba]

When she had met Cassandra for the first time, she had still been in so much pain she had barely been conscious. Weeks later, Cassandra had told with quite a few giggles that Malva had actually asked her if she was an angel. Malva had blushed crimson, having no recollection of doing that, but didn't doubt the tale at all. She never had been able to take her eyes off of the other female; to her, Cassandra indeed looked like some heavenly being.

Normally, Malva had always preferred the company of kind, gentle people, much like Cassian was. Cassandra, however, was often messy and noisy, but for some reason, Malva didn't mind - maybe because Cassandra always only had the best intentions and wanted to help as much as possible, learn things quickly and continue to improve. On top of that, she was always optimistic and that had helped Malva so much during the hard time her curse had given her.

[Shieba]

(This is Cassandra.)

One second later, the female who was the center of Malva's thoughts suddenly burst through the door. "Cassian? Is Malva already-- oh, there you are!" Happily, Cassandra beamed at Malva, who just had to smile back. "I thought you probably would have left already!"

"Oh, no, I decided to help a bit again today." Malva did her best to seem relaxed and not as nervous as she felt. In the beginning, this had been easier, as the pain had not allowed her to move much, but by now, just standing still was already a challenge. "Did you need me for something?" She really hoped Cassandra did.

[Shieba]

"You're too kind to my brother. He's a neat freak anyway, so you hardly need to help cleaning when it comes to him", Cassandra laughed. "But well..." She glanced towards Cassian's research papers. "I had hoped to indeed see how you are doing and what my brother found out."

Cassian grumbled a bit and Malva almost jumped; she had completely forgotten he was there. "It's up to you, Malva. The 'neat freak' can indeed put his files away on his own - to a place where his rude sister won't find them - so if you want to leave, feel free to. Not that you have to endure my sister, mind you." His tone was still light enough that Malva knew that he was only mildly annoyed; Cassian and Cassandra were known to argue sometimes, but in the end, they both loved each other dearly, even though Cassandra teased her brother a lot.

[Shieba]

Cassandra pouted for a second, not pleased with the fact that her brother seemingly didn't want to share his results with her, but recovered quickly. "Will you tell me then, Malva? I'd also like to take a look at you, if possible, if my brother is being difficult."

Cassian looked as if he was about to tell Cassandra to leave Malva alone - after all, his own research had already taken a few hours - so Malva quickly smiled. "Oh, I don't mind at all." Sitting around for even longer was really not what she felt like doing, but when it was Cassandra examining her... well, that made everything different. "Do you want to do that here?"

Beaming, Cassandra gave her brother a smug look and then smiled at Malva. "Oh, thank you so much! Let's just go to my study, yes?"

[Shieba]

"Yes, of course!" Malva liked Cassian a lot, but right now, being alone with Cassandra was the much more preferred option. She just hoped she hadn't sounded too eager right now.

If anything, though, her reaction only made Cassandra smile more. "I'm so glad you're so nice! Not like my brother. Just let him deal with his papers on his own." Cassandra waited until Malva had somewhat ordered the papers she had been about to put away when Cassandra had entered the room and then led Malva out of Cassian's research lab. Malva quickly gave Cassian a small smile and then hurried after the other female.

[Shieba]

She had been in Cassandra's study before, but back then, Malva had been in a way worse condition and didn't have the possibilities to enjoy being alone with the other female as much as she did now. Differently from where Cassian worked, Cassandra's workplace was cluttered with many different things - a bookshelf full with books about every imaginable topic next to a desk, which was next to a table full of tools from hospitals, magic laboratories and other things; some of these items looked so weird Malva had no idea where they could be from. There also were some artifacts on a table, but again, Malva was clueless when it came to imagining what powers they could have.

"Yeah, I need to... clean up here some day", Cassandra laughed, actually a bit embarrassed. "Sorry about that, I just am not as much of a neat freak as my brother is, so sometimes I just do a million things at once and then it looks like that in the end and cleaning up just seems like a waste of time when the chaos is back just an hour later anyway."

[Shieba]

Malva just chuckled; she wasn't that much of a neat freak herself, but her home tended to look at least somewhat more clean and tidy than this room... not that this was a difficult thing to do. "It's hardly a problem, I can still see the floor, after all", she joked, hoping to conceal how nervous she was.

"And that will be all we need anyway." Cassandra happily led her into the middle of the room so that Malva was standing under the lamp. "I just want to get a good look at the lines, if that's fine with you. I'll just find everythig else out from my brother's papers later."

[Shieba]

"Alright..." Malva did her best to stand still and not be completely nervous, but it was hard to do. Humming happily, Cassandra immediately proceeded with her task, coming so close that her nose almost touched Malva's fur. The lines didn't hurt anymore, but she could feel Cassandra's breath on her skin there. This seemed... really intimate. Not that it really was - it was a professional examination, after all, but Malva's mind decided against her will to see it differently.

It wasn't so bad as long as Cassandra looked at Malva's tails and back, but the closer she moved to Malva's neck and face, the more nervous Malva got and she had no doubts that Cassandra, once she would get a good look at Malva's face, would be able to tell.

[Shieba]

It appeared, though, as if she was already fidgeting a bit. Cassandra stopped and frowned even before she reached Malva's front. "No worries, I won't touch the lines", she quickly assured. "I mean, I am curious but I definitely don't want to hurt you. No need to be so scared!"

"I'm not scared", Malva quickly said and only then noticed how dumb this had been; after all, Cassandra had just given her a good reason for any nervous behavior and she had just ruined her chances of using that excuse. "Actually your brother touched them today and it wasn't very painful at all, though he only carefully used a brush to see if something would come off." Hopefully, that would draw Cassandra's interest and made her forget about the whole nervousness issue.

[Shieba]

Thankfully, Cassandra indeed stared at her. "And? What happened? Did something come off?" Before Malva could even answer, Cassandra hurried towards one of her chaotic piles and started to dig around in it before finding a brush.

"Well, no", Malva said belatedly when Cassandra was already back, unable to speak with the brush in her mouth but giving her a questioning, pleading glance which almost made Malva giggle. "But go ahead and try. Just... please be gentle."

Happily, Cassandra indeed very carefully ran the brush over one of the lines on Malva's back. It was slightly unpleasant, like someone pressing down onto an almost-healed wound, but not painful. Malva did her best to hold still. Cassandra hummed and finally dropped the brush, kicking it under the table. "Yeah, nothing coming off. You're probably stuck with them, to be honest, but with any luck, they'll just start to feel like normal skin sooner or later, without any pain at all."