This Ascent to Divinity is Lewder Than Expected

3.05 – An Accident?

The long trip up Treyhull’s titanic stairway, carved into the center of one of the jungle-realm’s enormous trees, sucked as much as the first time, but at least it heralded their return, and a relaxing—hopefully—two week break.

Apparently, there were elevators, or magical equivalents, but however rich Zoey suspected Rosalie to be, she was surprisingly miserly; they took the stairs rather than the easier, more expensive, way up.

They said their good-byes to the guide at the Last of the Forest’s guildhall. Rosalie paid the woman’s fee, then some extra as a standard-expectation tip, and she parted without fanfare. Zoey briefly wondered whether she’d be resting in the city for the night before heading back out, or whether the golem woman would returning to her snowy outpost without break. She did seem unruffled despite their trip, and her stoic nature gave Zoey the impression she’d chosen her career because she liked the long hours of silent trudging.

From there, they split up, to Zoey’s slight disappointment. Rosalie headed off with their mundane equipment, intending to drop it off with Anja. Zoey and Delta, on the other hand, were tasked to handle the other half: the identification of lewd items through their other contact, Fe.

The store was unusually empty. There were neither patrons, nor Fe herself standing behind the counter. Slow day, Zoey guessed, since it was definitely open. She and Delta peered down the various aisles, and around the store, seeking the owner out.

They found Fe bent over—in a highly compromising position—in the corner of the shop, apparently trying to get to a hard-to-reach spot at the back of a shelf. Cleaning? She seemed to be wiping it down, but it was hard to tell for sure. Items were piled on the ground, to be re-stocked shortly. At a guess, Fe had taken advantage of the slow day to get some freshening up done.

Compromising. Zoey might’ve understated it. Fe was wearing a short skirt today, and—don’t ask her how—it seemed to have flipped up and bunched at the top of her lower back as she vigorously cleaned away the deep recesses of the shelf. Her enthusiastic motions … made the sight even more difficult to ignore. Her ass laid on plain display, pale blue panties squeezing and shaping her cheeks in an agonizingly amazing way, and her plush curves bounced with the rough back-and-forth scrubbing movements.

Delta, of course, was delighted—she shot Zoey a grin with raised eyebrows. She opened her mouth to say something—and Zoey could imagine a dozen taunts, or lewd comments she might give—but she paused, then thought better of it. Delta might have some issues with keeping her mouth under control, but she wouldn’t outright harass a stranger. However … amazing … the sight they’d stumbled on, Fe wasn’t part of their group, and unasked-for comments about her body wasn’t something socially permissible, even to Delta’s filter-lacking tendencies.

Zoey took one relief in the situation, at least. After so much degeneracy and lewdness, a bent-over girl with her panties showing wasn’t quite such an appealing site that Zoey couldn’t keep herself settled. With the Panties of Holding still not identified and tested—the reason they were here—she still had to keep her reactions under control, unless she wanted a fourteen-inch pillar in her pants becoming even more noticeable than it was normally. And seeing how Fe was a professional contact of theirs, Zoey needed to keep things friendly.

Though, still a close thing. Not an easy task to keep calm. Fe really did … have a lot going on. And she was seriously working away at the tough stain she’d run into.

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Zoey cleared her throat. “Uh, Fe?”

The plush sheep-girl startled, then banged her head against the upper shelf—she’d been deep between them, hence her compromised, bent-over position—in surprise.

“Ow!”

“Are you—!”

Fe staggered out from between the shelves, rubbing her head. Her skirt corrected itself, partially, flipping back down. Fe finished settling it, tugging and smoothing it out, though passively, an idle correction, as if she hadn’t realized what had happened, or that she’d fixed it.

That was for the best, Zoey guessed. Though how she’d ‘accidentally’ had her entire ass on display was … a bit suspicious, if Zoey were honest. Not really something that ‘just happened’, she felt like. Even if Fe seemed more ditzy than most. But what was Zoey implying? That Fe’d been hoping for someone to walk in on her like that? Her banged head—still being rubbed in pain—contradicted that.

“Zoey,” Fe said, blinking. “You’re back.” The bright smile that appeared on her face didn’t seem like a customer-service reaction. It had Zoey’s own smile appearing. “And company.” Fe turned to Delta.

Delta quirked an eyebrow at Zoey, a quick aside, before addressing Fe. It could’ve meant anything, but by the teasing smile threatening to break out on her lips, Zoey suspected it was something not entirely appropriate. Something along the lines of, ‘wow, you didn’t tell me your identifier was hot’, or, ‘that’s a big smile you got there, Zoey. Should I be worried for blondie?’

“Hey,” Delta said. “Delta, Zoey’s teammate. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Fe. And you as well.” Fe’s attention turned back to Zoey; she seemed eager to get to the meat of the conversation. “Successful adventure? That means you two have artifacts for me?”

Her interest, Zoey noted by the gleam in her eye, definitely wasn’t all business. While she’d be getting paid to identify their items, Fe was clearly interested for … more personal reasons.

Zoey, briefly, and as she had a few times before, wondered what exactly ‘testing’ entailed. Fe had seemed genuinely shocked at Zoey’s half-joke that it would require ‘cleaning’ afterward … but how else were items like theirs identified?

“Several more,” Zoey confirmed.

There’d actually been a few pieces of equipment, this time, that had straddled the line between ‘mundane’ and ‘not’, which the three of them had puzzled over who—Fe or Anja—would be better suited to inspecting. Though some armor was plainly lewd—Rosalie’s vine armor to name the most obvious, which literally wiggled around in her during the middle of a fight—they’d receive a smattering of less inappropriate armor, too. Thigh highs, bras—metal and not—with their centers missing, and other lingerie-like items.

While not as bad as literal butt plugs, erotic piercings, and such, and so Anja probably wouldn’t have too flustered of a reaction, they’d still decided to drag anything questionable to Fe. Fe was slightly more pricey—as a specialist in the strange—but they weren’t struggling with funds, so they’d agreed to take it to the person better suited for it.

Fe put up her ‘busy; please wait’ sign on her counter, then brought Zoey and Delta along to the back room, where, like once before, Zoey and Delta emptied their inventories of the appropriate items and laid them out in two separate piles, belonging to their respective members.

Fe’s eyebrows crept up as she inspected each. She didn’t touch anything, only leaned forward and turned her head side to side as she appraised the items. She didn’t blush, which Zoey gave her credit for, considering  how bizarre the items were. Like usual, a consummate professional.

“And I don’t know if it’s too much trouble,” Zoey said, “but is there any chance we can get these in specific handled? Early?” She held up the linking plate and the panties. “They’re, um, convenient. How long would one item take, if we pay extra? Could you have it done in the next few hours?”

Fe scanned the two objects, presumably inspecting them, then her eyes flicked to Zoey’s crotch before hastily correcting back up. “Oh,” Fe said. “Convenient. Um. Because. Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t normally do rush orders like that. Next-day is the best I do, usually.”

“But you’ll make an exception?” Delta interjected, leaning forward with a hint of a smirk on her lips. “Because you sympathize? With Zoey’s big inconvenience?” There was a little too much emphasis on the word ‘big’—it drew another flick of Fe’s eyes to Zoey’s crotch, and the first hints of a blush.

Zoey wasn’t sure what Delta was doing. Teasing Fe, obviously. But why? Delta had seemed previously determined to keep things professional—if there was a chance to tease Fe, it would’ve been catching her bent-over by the shelves.

“And,” Delta said casually, “she can show you how it works, if it helps speed things up. Helps you understand the item.”

The pink spread, and a third flick of Fe’s eyes.

Zoey said, confused, “I can?”

“I suppose I do sympathize with her predicament,” Fe said. “And for a repeat customer, it would be a show of good faith to make an exception. And you’re right, demonstrating would … would help me understand the item’s use more clearly. Expedite the process.”

Oh.

Zoey understood what was happening. Apparently, Delta had a better read on Fe than Zoey did. Up to this point, Zoey had thought Fe’s slight awkwardness simply a result of their circumstances—because they were strange. But Delta’s prompting—and Fe’s response—had made things clear.

“Perfect,” Delta said, the grin becoming more obvious. “We’re all professionals here. Go ahead and show it off, Zoey. She needs to understand what she’s in for.”

But, uh.

Show it off? Just like that? So abrupt?

Zoey was supposed to pull down down her pants and demonstrate the item’s use, while Fe was staring at her with big eyes, and a quickly growing redness in her face? Delta had produced the most flimsy possible excuse to set this up. And it had worked?

Then again, a chance to show off for Fe? Her heart rate picked up, and by no conscious decision—obviously—her cock started to swell inside her pants. Delta grinned at her, standing next to Fe. She was delighting in the situation she’d instigated. Happier about it than Zoey, even.

“Right,” Zoey said. “Demonstrate.”

Well. Might as well get to it. She fumbled with her belt, then unlooped it, setting it on the long desk with the unidentified artifacts. Her boots came next, kicking them off, and her pants and boxers after that, both in one smooth motion.

And so she was naked from her waist below, besides her socks. Somehow, wearing a shirt and socks made her feel ten times more exposed than if she’d been stripped naked.

Her cock stood at full attention, and Fe’s eyes were glued to it. The flush now suffused her entire face, and she seem enraptured. Delta also gave it an appreciate look, but mostly she seemed to be enjoying Fe’s reaction.

Zoey wasn’t quite sure whether this was more awkward or hot—or maybe, it was the first making the second so much more intense. Their explanations for this had been contrived, and Fe accepted them so quickly; she’d wanted to see Zoey expose herself.

Which … still didn’t make being the only one half-naked in this room any less awkward, but Zoey’s perverted side was enjoying things. Exposing herself to someone like Fe, who was entranced by the member sticking out, fourteen inches of throbbing excitement.

Not to mention the thick black writing on her pelvis. ‘DELTA AND ROSIE’S FAVORITE TOY’. It was an impossible thing to miss, and Fe definitely hadn’t.

Zoey wasn’t sure how to address that, so instead she ignored it, grabbing the panties off the table, then stepping into each of the leg-holes and tugging the pink fabric up. She guided her cock into the black portal, and, like the item’s description promised, fourteen inches of cock sprouted from the white linking plate, right in front of Fe.