Growing up in a single-parent family, Zeri began learning to live independently from a very young age. With her mother's teachings, Zeri was no stranger to the birds and the bees. In fact, in a place like Zaun, if you didn't understand even these most basic things, you really wouldn't know how you died.
However, before this, Zeri didn't have as many thoughts and fantasies as she did now.
Mental pressure increased constantly, making Zeri instinctively try things she hadn't tried before to pay the price of joy. Unconsciously, clean fingers were sent into the moist valley. Under the intense emptiness of the Joy Curse, the nerves transmitting the sensation of the finger's light touch became exceptionally keen. The electric-shock-like feeling made Zeri's eyes tremble suddenly.
"Mmn..." The slight sound caught Faen's attention. Turning back slightly, he only saw Zeri sleeping wrapped in the quilt. Seeing this, Faen didn't mind and continued to devote himself wholeheartedly to organizing his thoughts.
Seeing Faen didn't notice her movements, Zeri quietly swallowed her saliva. Reason told her to stop immediately, but those soft fingers began to move uncontrollably. Intense sensations attacked Zeri's reason like a tide. The physiological pleasure meant Zeri could only forcibly control herself to not let out shameful sounds.
A bit prickly.
Zeri quietly swallowed saliva and buried her head in the quilt.
It had been three or four days since first meeting Faen... she wasn't sure exactly how long because she couldn't think straight right now. The hair shaved for cleaning the wound had grown new stubble. Although it was just a sparse tuft before, the new stubble felt slightly prickly when rubbing.
Faen... Faen must have seen everything when he shaved it!
Was it because she had gotten used to it over the past few days? Thinking this, Zeri found no anger or dissatisfaction in her heart. She didn't even feel much shame about being bare down there. Instead, she couldn't help imagining how Faen shaved it and how he cleaned the wound. There was so much blood flowing from her stomach then; simple rinsing surely wouldn't have cleaned it...
Breathing gradually became rapid. Zeri could feel waves of warm wetness constantly coming from her lower body. Like a valley during the flood season; perhaps nothing usually, but once the lush rainy season arrives, it forms a rushing river valley.
Shameful soft flesh squirmed constantly. Fluids thicker than saliva were squeezed out from deeper within the body, flowing freely. Fingers rubbed uncontrollably, faster and faster, accompanied by the blur in her eyes. Zeri felt her spirit had reached a precarious edge. She should stop, but the more she thought so, the more her hand couldn't stop.
Intense excitement made her little bean engorged with blood, making Zeri feel a wave of shame. Why was her reaction so intense? Just gently rubbing with fingers caused such a severe reaction. If being so careful caused this, then when Faen was cleaning...
Thinking this, Zeri couldn't help swallowing saliva. She quietly raised her head to steal a glance at the busy Faen. Although his back was to her, the light on the workbench illuminated Faen's tall body curves clearly.
Solid body, full muscles, hard lines like they were chiseled. Those large, thick, powerful hands were always warm. Others didn't know, but Zeri knew. Faen's hand joints were distinct, fingers slender and clean, but due to years of training, there were actually thick calluses on the pads and base of the fingers...
Faen was too strong. Beside him, she was like a pocket-sized toy. She felt he could lift her up with one hand... No, not felt, he definitely could.
And this strength wasn't the roughness and obesity brought by chemical mixtures and augments. On the contrary, every inch of muscle on that tall body presented a streamlined beauty. Fighting side by side in the factory, Zeri knew better than anyone what terrifying explosive power brewed within.
Every impact was irresistible.
And he was too tall, at least 1.95 meters, right? If he picked her up, her feet might not even touch the ground...
Although she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, every morning she could more or less feel that thick and long scale through the outline printed on his pants against her inner thigh...
Wait, what am I thinking?!
Feeling a sudden burst of warm wetness between her thighs, Zeri couldn't help holding her breath. Although she tried to control it, the haze in her eyes was about to swallow her rationality.
Can't think anymore, can't think anymore... if I think more, my body will start becoming weird. Need to finish quickly, I have to finish quickly...
Thinking this, Zeri found that the more she controlled herself not to think, the easier her brain went there. And the more she resisted this psychological and physiological impulse, the more violent the impulse came.
Constantly telling herself to be calm, but in the end, what Zeri got was a stronger emptiness accompanying more intense movements. That pure mental pressure made Zeri realize that simple physical stimulation couldn't fill the multiple times the price brought by the continuous forced joy during combat.
This made Zeri uncontrollably start fantasizing: what if it were Faen...
As soon as such a fantasy unfolded slightly, Zeri found she couldn't control it. Her small face, already blushing with shame, was now completely red. Wrapped in the quilt, her tender nipples became hard due to intense excitement while becoming more sensitive.
Although inexperienced, Zeri realized that doing it dry versus having the erotic fantasy as a casting material were two completely different things. Soon, Zeri felt a sense of release coming from the bottom of her heart, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Just then, sensing the abnormality in Zeri behind him, Faen frowned slightly.
Wrapping herself entirely in the quilt, Zeri trembled and twitched constantly. That strange expression soon caught Faen's attention and reminded him of something he had almost forgotten—the Price of Joy.
Yes, although they hit the Chem-Baron's accomplices hard in the factory battle, under the slaves' pleas, Faen and Zeri didn't destroy the energy workshop, leaving Zeri in brief confusion.
Although she pulled herself together in the end, this didn't allow Zeri to harvest enough satisfaction and self-realization... especially since Zeri had continuously boosted her spirit this time.
"Zeri? Are you okay?"
Just as she reached the most intense moment, Faen's concerned voice came from the side, making Zeri's mind go blank. Whoosh! Large amounts of fine sweat popped out on her soft body. Shame, terror, fear, and hidden desire erupted all at once, even making Zeri uncontrollably fantasize about turning back time...
Unfortunately, time wouldn't turn back, and after sensing something was wrong, Faen had already arrived at Zeri's side.
Feeling the palm landing on her through the quilt, Zeri buried her head in the bedding. She wanted to refuse, but just as she opened her mouth, she clearly felt a large torrent of water rushing out.
"No, no, I'm fine!" Zeri shouted, slightly urgent and flustered. "You, Faen, go do your work, don't mind me!"
Looking at Zeri's body still trembling while wrapped tight in the quilt, and those unnaturally red ears that were incredibly eye-catching even with her face buried in the soft bedding, Faen frowned deeply—this price of joy must be eliminated immediately, otherwise severe mental pressure would produce very serious consequences, even directly twisting a person's personality.
Thinking this, ignoring everything else, Faen said, "Don't worry, let me help you," while lifting the quilt.
But immediately, the scene that came into view made Faen's eyes widen.
Originally hiding in the quilt barely maintaining her dignity and decency, Zeri suddenly felt a wave of coolness. When she opened her eyes again, looking at Faen close at hand, and watching Faen's eyes subconsciously scanning her body, Zeri's reason, which she had been struggling to maintain under her extremely sensitive spirit and nerves, collapsed in an instant.
Instinctively covering her face with her arms, crystal tears welled up in her once vibrant eyes, shouting with a crying tone: "Don't, don't look, Faen, Faen! —Eek!"
While speaking, Zeri suddenly let out a mournful cry. Then her slender waist arched honestly. Accompanied by whimpering sounds, her fair, smooth shoulders and neck, along with her long, tight legs, propped up her body like an arch bridge.
A continuous, torrential stream sprayed out from the bridge hole, splashing onto Faen's chest like waves. It took three times before it finally stopped. But even so, when the limp body fell back onto the soaked bedding, the trembling body still twitched uncontrollably, and every time, a few more warm streams were squeezed out from the bridge hole that had already been released.
Lying on the bed, Zeri covered her face with her arms, wanting to say something, but the spasms and twitches of her body interrupted her thoughts and the girl's scant remaining dignity every time. In the end, tears and warm currents just flowed constantly from the corners of her eyes and the valley.
The air was somewhat silent. Zeri was just silently fantasizing if time could turn back, if everything could start over. Amidst this awkward silence, Faen eventually rubbed the center of his brows while controlling the clean water in the cup to fly over as a water ball.
"Anyway, let's wipe it first..."
"..." Zeri didn't speak, just covered her face and shifted her body twice. A moment later, Zeri could feel the completely soaked bedding gradually returning to dryness, along with a soft coolness on her body. Because of the aftershocks just now, Zeri's body was still somewhat sensitive. The cool water ball rolled on her body, washing away the sweat, while the slight coldness made Zeri tremble from time to time, causing the river valley that had finally calmed down to flow out a few more streams occasionally.
Covering her with a dry quilt again, Faen said with some emotion, "Looks like we have to find a way to change bases; the space here is still too small."
Although this secret base was hidden, it was only about twenty square meters. The not-so-large space was also piled with many usable tech scraps Zeri collected. Usually, she even had to go outside to use the toilet... It was fine when they had no money before, but now that they had money, various inconveniences became exceptionally sensitive.
Seeing Faen didn't tease her about those shameful aspects, Zeri hid in the quilt for a while before revealing half her face.
Looking at the slight complexity between Faen's brows, Zeri nodded, then defended herself softly, "It's all because of that... that Joy Curse that I became like this."
"I understand." Faen nodded—he guessed it.
Meeting Faen's gaze, Zeri hesitated for a moment before shifting her gaze downward. Although Faen's expression was normal, Zeri soon noticed something wrong.
Squatting on the ground looking at her, although it wasn't very clear due to the lighting, Zeri could still clearly feel a strong masculine scent through the bulging python outline on Faen's inner thigh. This made Zeri's nose twitch involuntarily—influenced by the joy factor, Zeri was exceptionally sensitive to some of Faen's scents.
Feeling the feedback from her sense of smell, the haze that hadn't completely faded made Zeri feel her brain was a bit out of control, but fortunately, her remaining reason didn't let Zeri completely give up on life.
It wasn't the first time Zeri had seen it; after all, Faen's thing was really obvious, especially every morning when Zeri would see the vigorous vitality of Faen in meditation.
But unlike that unconscious congested state, Zeri could clearly feel that the root of trouble now was more aggressive, and larger and harder in scale. Through the not-so-thick pants, Zeri could even see the throbbing veins.
The dual stimulation of vision and smell made Zeri, who had just recovered a little, swallow subconsciously. But meeting Faen's gaze, Zeri hesitated for a moment before asking carefully, "You won't think I'm a bad girl, right..."
"No, I know this is Ashlesh's curse playing tricks." Hearing this, feeling the worry in Zeri's words, Faen shook his head and said frankly, "Don't worry, I won't look down on you because of this kind of thing, nor will I think you are a loose, bad girl."
After a moment of silence, Zeri looked at Faen nervously. "...Then why?"
"Why what?" Faen looked at Zeri in confusion.
"Just... that." Zeri pointed to the shadow at Faen's crotch.
"If you don't hate me, I can't refuse either... and... Ahhh! Just let it be!"
Blushing on the spot, Zeri felt it was too shameful to directly say she still had some hidden expectations.