It was the morning after the little disagreement I had with Praxis, though I am sure he thought of it as more of a fight, as I woke up to not only the sun shining through my curtains and birds chirping but also him having a little fit next door as he also seemed to have just woken up.
I wasn't sure what made him feel like this the morning after, likely a dream he had or something, but I wanted it to disappear along with the migraine and groginess I had.
Groaning, I turned toward the window, putting the blanket over my head and smooshing my pillow over my ears to muffle out the noise. Eventually the crashes and slams stopped, as he seemed to calm down, letting me get a few minutes of respite.
Sephtis was likely out on a run still, as he would have rushed upstairs to see what was going on, but didn't. Thankful he wasn't here to make the sounds worse, I drifted back off to dreamland, but only for a few minutes as I soon had a knock sound at my door.
"Master, I know you are awake; open up," Praxis announced, his tone of voice flat but with very subtle anger.
"..." I didn't answer, of course, pretending like I didn't wake up. I didn't want whatever storm he was bringing to come my way. But it seemed he got annoyed enough to bring it anyway.
"My dearest Master, I know you are awake, so please get up," He said in a much more sweater voice, as if it were covered in honey. Praxis was, of course, in my room now and said that right over my ear as he bent over.
Once again, I didn't reply, staying in place like a rock. Praxis straightened himself and looked down at me with his arms crossed and a look full of displeasure. Beads of metaphoric sweat dripped down my neck as I silently begged him to go away.
Praxis still just stood there, waiting for me to move, thinking that he was gone, but then realized I could sense when he wasn't. Grumbling in annoyance, he pushed me off my side onto my back, threw the blanket off, and climbed on top of me.
'What the fuck is he doing?!' I started to panic internally. I didn't think he was going to do anything intimate, as he was still mad at me. But he was sitting right on my crotch, so I wasn't too sure.
"Master, if you don't get up right now, I am going to help myself to a little snack," Praxis threatened, rubbing himself on me. My eyes flew open as I glared at him with a frown.
"What the fuck do you want, Praxis? You are still mad at me, so I know it is nothing good; just get over it," I spat, not moving an inch to try not to arouse him or anything.
"So you are awake? Good. Get up, I want us to do something today," Praxis demanded, placing both his legs by my hips and crossing his arms.
"Ha?! After our spat yesterday, your fit this morning, and now this, you think I want to go out and do something with you? No." I exclaimed, sitting up and watching Praxis' expression twitch as my crotch moved with me.
"Ahem. I want us to make up, so I thought we might as well go and do some adventuring for once. Plus, as you said, my value is already diminished as I am now a slave, so I might as well make myself a slave worth something," Praxis explained, clearly feeling a bit better as his cheeks reddened and he rubbed on me some more.
"...Wow, that actually wasn't a bad suggestion. Is what I would say if you currently weren't rubbing your ass all over me!" I shouted, watching Praxis put both his hands on my thighs, "I am willing to do that, but what the hell are you doing?!"
"Rubbing myself on you for stimulation and sexual energy. I blew through quite a bit of energy during my fit, so now I need to replenish it," He replied with honesty, moaning a little as he found the right spot to get me shethed shaft inbetween he cheeks.
"Yeah, no. If you have to do this to go adventuring with me, then no. I am still rather unhappy," I groaned, pushing him off me and putting the blanket over myself.
'Jeez, what are we, in some sort of hentai manga or something? No thanks! I may find Praxis quite attractive, but there is a time and place.'
Praxis didn't say anything after that; he just lay there, then sat down next to me. He watched me for a while before sighing and coming to a conclusion.
"Haa, fine, sorry. I just thought that was a good way to get you to agree to it," Praxis admitted, crossing his arms.
"...Just don't do it again unless you really need to," I sighed, getting out of bed and going over to my closet. "Go get changed into something easy to move around in and try to hide your tail if possible."
"Okay, I will meet you downstairs then. Or if I get ready before you, should I try and catch a carriage heading into the city?" Praxis asked, getting out of my bed and heading towards the door, now back to his usual self.
"Stay up here; we'll go down together. I don't want Sephtis getting a whiff of me on you while your down stairs; he may get the wrong idea," I replied, taking my shirt off and throwing it into the hamper next to the closet.
"As if we haven't already done something along the lines of 'getting the wrong idea'..." Praxis muttered under his breath as he left the room.
***
Once I was finished getting ready for the day, I went across the hall and knocked on Praxis' door to let him know it was time to go. When he opened the door, I was a bit shocked to see him wearing genuinely modest clothes, besides the buttons left unbuttoned in a purposeful way.
"Um, Praxis, I appreciate the effort, but having half of your chest exposed defeats the purpose," I commented, raising one eyebrow with a look of unamusement.
"Apologies that I don't like wearing such restricted clothes like a proper gentleman such as yourself, Mr. Suit," Praxis said in an emotionless voice, crossing his arms and finishing with a small smile.
I was currently wearing a white button-up, a gray blazer buttoned with a corset belt that matched my tie overtop of it, while another blazer with black and dark gray stripes was on top and left open. My pants were just plain dress pants with black boots decorated with a buckle or two; luckily, I managed to find a pair without a proper heel.
While Praxis unknowingly matched me with a button-up the same as my outer blazer, a few belts to accessorize his white dress pants, and black leather dress shoes. And of course he had to leave half of the buttons on his shirt undone as he tucked the other half into his pants.
'At least it isn't leaving him shirtless; I am just worried about him catching a cold.'
"Haa, fine. And where's your tail? Make sure you also put a coat on; it has gotten rather chilly outside," I nagged, causing him to roll his eyes as if his mom was lecturing him about not being dressed enough.
"I tucked my tail into my pants; it's wrapped around my legs. Luckily, my shirt helps cover it," Praxis added, grabbing a gray trench coat from behind his door and closing it behind him. Luckily, it covered up the bump in his pants by his butt, where his tail was.
'"Luckily, my shirt covers it" My ass, the only thing it covers is the spiral from it by your crotch.'
"Ahuh. Well, where did you have in mind to go today? Surely you wouldn't ask me to go out for nothing," I asked, following him down the stairs.
"To be honest, I just felt like getting some fresh air, but I didn't want to go alone," Praxis admitted, looking over his shoulder at me.
"Then why didn't you ask Sephtis to go with you? He's your best friend, isn't he?" I questioned, following him down the hall on the first floor to the carriage.
"Mmm, yeah. I guess I just wanted some time away to think," Praxis ended, opening the doors and quickening his pace to the carriage, clearly not wanting to talk on the topic anymore.
'Hmm…Alright, if that's how he wants to put it,' I shrugged and summoned the same skeleton I'd been using to pull the carriage, making sure the cloak was still covering it properly before boarding and ordering it to start our way to town.
"Well, I suppose I might as well use this as a chance to get some cigs while we're in town. I'll run out soon. Ah, and check out the adventurers guild. I have yet to do any commissions," I commented, almost speaking to myself.
"Just so you know, Sir Gwyneira instructed me to make sure you didn't smoke. But because you clearly don't care for my opinion, I'm not going to bother," Praxis clicked his tongue and looked out the window, avoiding my gaze.
"Ho? So you are still mad at me, look at that," I commented, raising an eyebrow with an amused chuckle.
"No, I am merely annoyed. If you hadn't declined my request to write a letter to my sister, I'd likely be on my way home…why the hell are you smiling?" Praxis started, but paused upon seeing the look on my face.
"Hehe, I am merely satisfied that you are finally showing some emotion; that's all," I shrugged, being honest for once. The expression on my face turned into one of relief.
"...Apologies for my language, but you are an asshole," Praxis spat, surprising me that he could actually curse.
"Pfft- hahahaha! Thank you, I know I am. But also thanks for showing me so many more sides of you; it is rather refreshing to know that you are more than just a simple doll," I teased, putting on a smile of pure amusement, watching Praxis' face redden.
"Y-You! Haaa, whatever, just stop using your face against me. I have always been capable of showing emotion; I've already told you why I don't," Praxis pursed his lips and shook his head.
Merely chuckling in response, I left the conversation like that, turning my head and looking out the window as we approached the town square. As it was the weekend, it was rather busy, giving the two of us plenty of leeway to do as we pleased without suspicion.
"Master, are you not going to use your disguise?" Praxis asked, tilting his head as we came to a stop.
"Hm? Oh, no. As Llyr already knows where I am, there is simply no point. Besides, I doubt anyone from this country's political sphere knows who I am," I shrugged as I disembarked, fixing my clothes as Praxis followed behind.
"Hmm, while I don't exactly know how widespread your militia efforts are, considering that the kingdom is all the way across the continent, I am sure you are fine," Praxis expressed, his face turning pensive with thought as he stood behind me.
I motioned for the driver to leave, then started heading down the main road. I wasn't sure where exactly Praxis wanted to go, so I just headed in the general direction of shops.
"Master, are there any shops you see that you want to stop by yet?" Praxis wondered, following closely behind me.
"Nope, just wherever you want to drag me. Please do your best to drag me somewhere; I'd like to see how far your efforts to annoy me can go," I expressed, smiling at him over my shoulder.
Praxis clicked his tongue, huffing as he passed me on the street. I was thoroughly convinced that he had no plan and was merely doing this on some random whim in order to get me to do as he pleased.
Suppose he wanted me to feel bad for not letting him contact his sister, but no matter, it was not going to work as he wished, unfortunate for him but fortunate for me.
Praxis then turned down an alleyway, paying no mind to where he was going. I felt as if I should stop him so he wouldn't run into any trouble in his annoyance, though I thought it best to learn from his mistakes.