Around the words 4 - Neos' world

"...Strangely good," Neos answered her with a raspy voice. "I mean... I didn't feel pain, this time," he said after clearing his throat. "It's weird."

"I'm fine with whatever you decide," Karl told him with a smile, as he squeezed his hand in his.

Michela's smile was a bit hidden, since she was still nuzzling his neck, looking at the cuts healing fast. "Well, what did you feel then? As if you had a shot of morphine maybe?"

"Then let's go to wait for them!" Maverick smiled at him and got up. "I prefer not to stay still while waiting." He kept Karl's hand in his, waiting for him to get up and walking to the corridor.

"... A bit like that, yes. How would you know ?" he asked her, still a bit confused about what he had just felt.

Karl followed Maverick quite obediently, looking around them.

"Well, there is an hypothesis about that, that is fairly popular. The more you trust the vampire, the less pain you feel." Michela smiled brightly at him and kissed his cheek, feeling glad about him trusting her to that degree.

Maverick looked as happy as a kid, hand in hand with Karl. "I think I should ask Neos about where will we end up, now that he has a room of his own. I don't know if they will allow us to stay in his old room...", he thought out loud, walking close to Karl.

"Oh," Neos said, finally relieved. "Well, then I coun't agree more. I fully trust you, now." He gently pecked her lips, before he tried to sit up once more.

"Maybe we can try to find an inn not far away from the castle ?" suggested Karl, who had no notions of money yet.

"That is nice to know", Michela said with a gentle smile, helping him to get up. She hadn't taken lots of blood, but it was better to be sure. "And who knows. Maybe sooner or later, you'll get to the next phase", she said playfully, not explaining further, guiding him to the door again.

Maverick tapped his chin. "Well I suppose we could, but we should gather money before... we will ask! Maybe there is a way to get hosted here permanently. Maybe we can work for someone or something like that..." Maverick turned to Karl and smiled at him gently. Then he leant in to quickly peck him on the cheek.

"Wait, what's the next phase," Neos hurriedly asked her, making his best not to walk too fast.

Karl remained pretty confused at first, but he then smiled kindly. "Was that a kiss ?"

"Pleasure", she simply answered, very nonchalantly, walking by his side. "Not everyone gets to that, honestly, but it happens sometimes."

Maverick looked down, smiling. "Just a peck, actually. A kiss is a bit more intimate, and a bit more important. At least, I think it is", he added, looking at him again.

Neos blushed unwillingly, and mumbled a few incoherent words as he walked along with Michela. Yes, he was flustered.

Karl nodded. "I understand. Tell me when you wish to kiss then."

Michela's smile widened, actually becoming a grin. Oh how she loved to make Neos all flustered like that. Then her gaze softened, her hand gently taking his. "I also wanted to tell you that, even if now we are in a room all by ourselves, I don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't feel ready or particularly eager to do. Alright?"

Maverick nodded humming, his shy smile still on his lips. "I will. And, ah. I wanted you to know that it's fine with me, if you ever feel like doing things as... taking my hand, for example. Or touching me, or hugging. Whenever you want, and when you learn to recognize those feelings, that is. You have free reign!"

Neos sighed. "If you keep telling me that, we might never do anything," he mumbled as he shoved his other hand into his pocket.

"... I'm not sure I wish to do all of that without your consent beforehand," Karl told him with a still gentle smile. "But I'll keep that in mind."

Michela frowned slightly, her other hand massaging the back of her neck. "What do you mean with that? ... Don't tell me you think I do this because I don't want to proceed further, because it's not like that."

"O-oh, but you do have my consent!", Maverick stuttered, blushing a bit. "... you know, I've never asked, but do you have any sort of... powers? Aince you're not a regular human being, I figured...", he trailed off, studying him.

"No, I just... I don't know. Since I'm a guy, I feel like I'm expected to be into that kind of stuff a lot, but it feels so weird to me," he sighed. Then looked at her. "It might take time."

"... I don't know. Can you define what exactly you mean by 'power' ?" Karl asked him, tilting his head to the side.

Michela thought it over. Then she opened in a big smile. "I can understand that. You know", she continued, as she looked down, "as a vampire, I am always expected to be... well, a creature that relies heavily on sex appeal, and all that stuff. While to be truthful, I've never been too much like that. I'm a simple girl", she hummed.

"With power I mean... well, anything, like abnormal strenght, elemental control? I remember you taking me underground, that time in my village!" Maverick smiled. "I was rather amazed by that!" He saw Michela and Neos walking towards them and waved at them.

Neos relaxed at her words. "So... You're ok if we do take our time with this ?" he asked her.

Karl thought it over. "Mh. I know I can just become one with the earth and stone if needed, as the golems explained to me. That's why we could go underground."

Michela huffed and pinched his cheek. "As I told you. You do take your time. I want you to feel zero pressure on my part, because that's how it is." She gestured for Maverick and Karl to walk along with them.

"That sounds great", Maverick commented, walking behind Michela. "And apparently you can take people with you too. Which is pretty useful, as we saw. Especially when escaping a crowd of angry bear men", he laughed.

Neos just took Michela's hand in his, and walked with her to the great eating room.

Karl smiled back at Maverick. "I do hope it won't happen to us that often, though. That might get a bit annoying."

Michela kept his hand, all satisfied with herself. She returned to their previous seats and sat down.

Maverick smiled back at him. "I doubt we will meet lots of dangers here. This seems a quiet place, to be honest. Even if Neos told things get pretty freaky during the admission trials..." He sat down.