Bewitching Monsters

Orc - Part 3

Contains: swearing, explicit dialogue & scenes, alcohol mention

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I took my time freshening up. Even touched up my makeup despite it being perfect. I took advantage of the bathroom being empty to take an extra long moment for myself.

"Hiding out?" Imdes asked. I jumped, screaming a little. I didn't hear her walk in. She chuckled and leaned against the sink counter next to me. "You doing alright?"

"Yes and no," I admitted as my heart calmed down.

"I really threw you for a loop, huh?"

"In a way." Silence lingered between us. She made no effort to try to get me to talk. It was calming. In a way, it made me want to talk. "Luric really fucked me up."

I was staring at the sink faucet so I didn't notice her reaction other than her shifting and turning towards me. "That's why you're not official with Vee."

"Mostly, yeah."

"Have you talked to a therapist about it?"

"No."

"Perhaps you should, since he seems to be staining your life so bad still."

I growled in frustration. "I hate him! I hate all the shit he pulled. I hate that he occupies so much of my damn past I can't even take a memory potion to wipe him away." I hung my head and sharply exhaled through my nose.

Imdes gave me a moment to let my flare settle back to embers. "Have you told Vee about him at all?"

"God's no." I turned on the sink and splashed my face again. "I don't ask about his past and he doesn't ask about mine."

She clicked her tongue at me and said, "Still so bad at communicating."

"Hey! I've gotten a lot better since then, okay."

"Uh huh." She shifted her weight and crossed her arms. "You know—just because you don't want a serious commitment, doesn't mean you have to avoid these conversations. You be surprised by Azzi's story and—"

"Okay can we stop talking about this? I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's not making me feel better."

"Would eating you out right now make you feel better?"

I gawked at her.

What? I... I had no response to that.

The cockiest smile lit up her face. "Enjoying that new train of thought?"

I shook my head. "I'm glad you find this amusing."

"Oh come on. We both know you've thought about it countless times."

My face started to feel hot. "Yes, okay fine. So what? It's as likely to happen now as it was then."

"I mean I was joking at first, but I'm down to go down if you are."

My brow furrowed. "I'm seeing your cousin?"

She stepped closer to me, making me have to look up more at her. "You said so yourself: you two aren't official."

"But you're still cousins and..." I stammered. "I don't know, it's just weird now."

"Sorcee—Witch." Her voice dropped a pitch lower. She knew exactly what she was doing—with that voice, and that look, and how closely she teased. "If it's truly a no, I'll back off. But if your apprehension is just from our legal relation, know that it's never stopped us from enjoying the same beauties before."