This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder than Expected (A Futa LitRPG)

3.02 - Future Plans

Zoey woke first. She drifted to consciousness, morning sunlight trickling in through the window, pressed in by a soft body.

Her eyes opened to a sleeping Rosalie.

Zoey sighed.

They'd gone to sleep on separate halves of the bed, but had, of course, intertwined while asleep. She and Rosalie had become easily acquainted with each other's bodies, so night-time cuddling was an inevitability.

Zoey basked in the moment. Sleep-addled and her brain not fully roused, the arguments—dilemmas—of yesterday didn't breach the warm glow of Rosalie tucked into her.

It was crazy how different she looked, asleep. Even more than most people, Rosalie walked around wearing an expression carved from steel. 'Gentle and serene' was a description ill-fitting her. And while Zoey wanted to draw out a more easy-going side of Rosalie, she knew that wasn't Rosalie at her core. Zoey needed to accept that if she ever wanted ... something with her.

Rosalie was married to her work, to use a comparison Zoey could understand. Maybe romance was possible, but trying to claim first priority in Rosalie's life would be selfish. She'd trained her entire life for wayfaring, and had responsibilities to her family, besides.

Zoey sighed a second time, and maybe it was louder than she meant, because the blonde woman in her arms stirred.

Pale, ice-blue eyes blinked up at her. Zoey simply studied her back, watching the crease-lines return, the sleeping serenity melt from her face.

Rosalie sighed, then snuggled in closer.

Zoey squeezed back. "Morning."

"Don't remind me."

Zoey chuckled, pressing her forehead into Rosalie's. She closed her eyes.

They mutually enjoyed each other's warmth, ignoring the problem hanging over their heads.

"One of my runes evolved," Zoey murmured.

"Mine as well. Which?"

"How would I know?"

A pause, then a soft snort. "Right. Another thing you need to learn."

A short silence at the reminder of Zoey's deficiencies.

"You can check," Zoey offered. She didn't bother asking what Rosalie's evolved rune had provided. She was, unsurprisingly, tight-lipped about her skills, even to Zoey.

'Even to Zoey'. Zoey had only known Rosalie for a handful of days. Even if they'd become fast ... friends? ... she was overestimating what, exactly, they had together. Why would Rosalie share her runes and skills in detail? In her culture, it was apparently a deeply intimate secret.

Like had happened a few times before, Rosalie's finger went to Zoey's forehead. There was a brief pause as she scanned Zoey's tabula anima.

She stiffened.

Then shot up in bed, throwing the covers off.

"What is it?" Zoey asked, sitting up herself. Rosalie's shocked reaction—though her face stayed calm, but in a frozen-disbelief kind of way—had worked to get Zoey's heart pumping. The tenderness of their intimacy faded away, and the cold air of the inn room seeped in.

Rosalie opened her mouth, then closed it.

"What?" Zoey repeated. "It's that weird?" She'd grown used to expecting strange things from her class and circumstances, but so should Rosalie have.

"Not weird," Rosalie said. Her brow furrowed. " ... convenient."

Convenient?

"Clue me in?"