"Ow"

  - Aeschylus

  "A bruised rib." Gaius decred.

  After they had been attacked by the spider, Aurelia and Junia had quickly returned to camp. They had found that the others had also returned, satisfied with their searches so far. After a few minutes of tending, Gaius had concluded that Junia had suffered no major injuries, and could continue on as normal, though she would do well to be mindful of her rib.

  They had also described the spider which had attacked them. After giving it's physical description, Aurelia saw recognition fsh in the eyes of Gregorios and Comak.

  "How big did you say it was again?" Gregorios asked.

  Aurelia gestured with her hands, indicating a size on par with a rge dog. Junia nodded, agreeing with her description, and gestured at herself, showing how it had covered her from knees to colr.

  Gregorios nodded. "Sounds like a juvenile. You're lucky there was only one of them. They're called Tree-Stalkers around these parts. Vicious jumping spiders which ambush their prey, and finish them off with some pretty nasty venom."

  Aurelia felt a shiver creep down her spine. It had been a close call, the spider had been rearing back to strike with its fangs. She and Junia met eyes, they were thinking the same thing.

  After talking a bit more about the spider and other monsters they might have the misfortune to encounter, Gregorios and Comak went back out to see if they couldn't salvage anything of use from the spider's corpse, after getting directions from Aurelia.

  Aurelia for one, was gd that they were the ones going out. She had spider gunk spttered all over her legs, and would need a deep clean to feel human again... To feel Seraphim again?

  Now that they had been on the road for days, the group had evening tasks down to a science. Aurelia and Monin went out and foraged for firewood, Junia tended to the animals, and Gaius and Thessa sorted dinner out. Tullius would normally snare fresh meat, but he was on the mend. Finally, Comak and Gregorios would normally be either scouting or pnning, but since they were staying put for a few days, they were busy gathering spider remains instead. Yuck!

  Aurelia was gd to say that she was starting to have quite the rapport with Monin. They shared gripes about being non-humans in Rome, and ideas about life in general. It was during one of these times where they were more or less alone while they gathered wood that Monin revealed something to Aurelia which made her first freeze in confusion, then nearly drop her load with mirth.

  "Ye know ss, my kin have cultivated quite the reputation for fine craftsmanship, which I'm sure ye know."

  Aurelia nodded. Everyone knew that metalwork made by Dwarves were among the finest that could be had.

  "Did ye know that they're shite?"

  Aurelia frowned, a question on her lips.

  "What ever do you mean?"

  He looked at her for a moment, as though appraising her character before he continued.

  "Now, this is more of an open secret among Dwarves, but the stuff we sell ye humans would have a craftsman thrown out of business in any respectable Hold."

  "I'm not sure I understand you right, are you saying that Dwarves tend to scam humans?"

  "Pretty much ss. Dwarven tools, when made right, should st many lifetimes. Since humans come and go so quickly, many craftsmen can get away with faulty products."

  Aurelia frowned again. Something wasn't adding up. Monin seemed to be telling the truth, but then why did everyone believe that Dwarven tools where the best? Back during her childhood, she distinctly remembered a carriage the priestesses used always breaking down under their gravid weight. When they repced it with one made with Dwarven parts, they never had those issues again.

  "But... Wait!" Realization dawned on Aurelia. "You're saying that Dwarven tools should be made to st several Dwarven lifetimes. Not human ones. So a crappy Dwarven tool that sts only one Dwarven lifetime, still sts long enough for humans!"

  They looked at each other. A grin on Monin's face, and a slowly spreading smile on Aurelia's as she began to giggle.

  "That is actually pretty funny"

  After a few moments in good company, Aurelia had a thought.

  "Wait... When you pointed me to your cousin with the shop, how do I know you're not scamming me?"

  Monin ughed, letting out great guffaws.

  "Ye'll just have to take me at my good word." He said while waggling his bushy eyebrows. "But ye seem like a decent ss. When ye do head over, and when ye tell him I sent ya, he'll do you good. I promise."

  After little bit more walking, he looked up at her again.

  "How long do yer kind live anyway?"

  "Truthfully Monin, I have no idea."

  Back in camp, the light cast by the roaring campfire coloured the grey stone ruins a warm orange. They had plenty of wood thanks to Aurelia and Monin, and Tullius was tending to a rge pot of stew with his good arm. Aurelia thought he was just trying to be useful in any way he could despite his injury, and the sentiment was appreciated.

  She sat leaning against one of the ruined walls, her belly feeling stretched taught with a full diner. Thessa sat beside her, leaning her head against Aurelia's shoulder. Junia was resting with her head in Aurelia's p, sleeping to help heal faster. She was gently stroking Junia's hair and face, gd that her friend was retively unharmed after their encounter that afternoon.

  "Thessa?" Aurelia said quietly, wanting neither to wake Junia, or to be heard by the rest of camp.

  "Hmm?" her ears perked up.

  "How would you feel if we pushed our tents together?"

  "Whose?"

  Aurelia look down at her Tauren lover, then gnced pointedly at Junia's prone form.

  "Like, joining our tents together? Like kids making a fort out of bnkets?"

  Aurelia made an expression which was half smile, and half grimace.

  "Well.. Not exactly like kids, but yes."

  Thessa was silent for long moments before speaking again.

  "I don't think we'd be able to hide things anymore if we do something that obvious."

  It was a fair point, but Aurelia was past that sort of thinking by now.

  "To be honest Thessa, I think everyone already knows about us already. We tend to make a lot of noise, no matter how hard I try to keep you quiet."

  Thessa quickly turned crimson at the comment.

  "Do... Do you really think so?"

  Aurelia just brought her closer, and ran her arm down Thessa's side comfortingly.

  "I do. I've seen the others discretely find excuses to give us space, and look away from things which otherwise would be noteworthy."

  "Ugghhh!" Thessa buried her face in her hands.

  Aurelia leaned over and nuzzled Thessa's head with her own. She felt the two hard mounds of Thessa's horns, she thought they looked cute when they poked out of her thick brown hair.

  Plus... They were great handholds in bed.

  "If it's any help, it looks like everyone is either accepting, or doesn't care enough to make it an issue." Aurelia said, trying to comfort the mortified Tauren.

  "Yes." The word came out muffled through Thessa's fingers. "I guess that's true. But I still have to look Gregorios in the eyes knowing he knows we've been..." She seemed to struggle for a word. "Making love a lot."

  Aurelia was gd that Thessa was taking the news decently well. But they had glossed over the main point.

  "So, about the tents?"

  "Yes yes, that's fine." Thessa's head rose from her hands. "There were sometimes simir arrangements among my people." She looked down at where Junia y in Aurelia's p. "And I like her too. Nice legs."

  While Aurelia and Thessa had been talking, a third pair of ears were also listening, unbeknownst to the pair. When they spoke about bringing Junia into the fold, a small quirk of a smile tugged at the edge of her lips. She quickly rexed her face again, and continued to pretend to rest.

  As evening turned into true night, they brought Junia back to her tent, and tucked her into her bedroll. They would talk to Junia about their... situation tomorrow. Aurelia hoped she was reading the equites's signals right, so they might combine the tents for the following evening.

  The pair then retreated to their own tent, where they quickly disrobed and sought comfort in each others arms. Aurelia's turgid member quickly emerged from her crotch, already dripping pre in her excitement. She was about to push the usually submissive Thessa down onto her back, but she shook her head and gestured to Aurelia to y down instead.

  Aurelia thought Thessa might have been about to straddle her, ironically a move called cow-girl, but the Tauren shifted back instead and began to trail kisses along Aurelia's legs. Making a path leading to her straining cock.

  Just when Aurelia thought she was going to try and strain her jaw open to engulf the tip, Thessa kissed her way back down the shaft, and went lower still. She began to nuzzle and lick Aurelia's taught sac, huffing and moaning as she did so. Her hands quickly joined in, hefting and massaging the heavy orbs where her tongue couldn't reach. She seemed lost in her own world, so Aurelia leaned back and settled in. Content to let Thessa have her fun.

  So long as she was able to stuff her silly afterwards, of course.

  Thessa was soaring high above the clouds, reaching into the heavens. Aurelia's musk was filling her nostrils, her mouth. The taste of her skin was indescribable, and the sensation of feeling Aurelia's balls pulsating against her tongue filled a need she hadn't known she'd had. Her pussy was throbbing with need, but she couldn't bear to take her hands away from the orbs in front of her. She needed their delicious cargo, needed it inside her.

  She moaned, and opened her mouth as wide as she could, trying to fit just one of those incredible balls in her mouth. But she couldn't stretch her jaw wide enough. She made do by working one orb at a time, vishing all her affections with her tongue and hands before switching to the other before starting again.

  A trickle of pre had dripped down from Aurelia's tip, down the shaft, and was now decorating her balls. Thessa collected all of it reverently. The world could end and she wouldn't care. This is where she wanted to be.

  Above her, Aurelia was getting pent up. But for now, she was willing to let this go on a while longer before she pounded the devious little cow into oblivion.

  Junia y in her tent. Her hand between her legs, and her ears wide open. Her other hand was in her mouth, keeping herself quiet so the others wouldn't hear.

  She felt herself crest a high wave, and crash down in climax.

  As she y in the afterglow, she felt a need in her cunny that hadn't been satisfied with merely her fingers. She needed something more. Something beautiful and winged. And she was going to get it.

  She rose to her knees in her tent, and wrapped herself in her robes, not bothering to fasten them.

  She wouldn't need them for very long.

  When she had covered herself, she poked her head out the fp of her tent. Seeing that the coast was clear, she quickly stepped out and rose to her feet. She walked quietly to the much rger tent close to her own. Just barely over the background noise of the night, she could hear moans and wet, slick sounds coming from the tent. Fueled by her needy cunny, she steeled her nerves, and made the final few steps to Aurelia and Thessa's tent.

  She paused by the entrance fp for only a moment, trembling with anticipation. Then she poked her head in, and nearly gasped loudly at what she saw.

  She had always thought that Aurelia was a woman, though non-human. But what Thessa was choking on was the single most masculine thing she had ever seen. Her pussy began throbbing, it had found what it needed.

  Aurelia, resplendent in her naked glory, looked up and met her gaze.

  "Come in!"