Tabula Rasa: Adventures In A New World

“Mm. And here I thought you would take the day to relax.”

Krvavy lifts her head and glances across the mostly excavated room towards her Dwarf. “Huh?”

Inanna’s lips curl upwards ever so slightly, her normally neutral voice tinged with the faintest hint of mirth. “You spent all of yesterday hunting with Khalia, which surely must have been rather tiring. And, on top of that, the two of you also remained rather active all night.”

“It wasn’t all night…” Krvavy weakly defends herself, knowing full well that her excuse hardly changes a thing.

“No,” Inanna’s smile grows just a little as she agrees with her Draconic lover. “It was only all evening and part of what might be considered night.”

“We weren’t too loud, were we? You know how Khalia can get…”

“That would depend on who you ask.” The Dwarf idly shrugs, parking her handcart not far from Krvavy. “To me, the volume was little more than a nuisance. Tolerable though not ideal. Thea, as you may expect, was rather annoyed. In the beginning, at least. She cared considerably less once Beryl started pestering her. Soon after, they were both ‘enjoying’ those sounds together, so to speak. As for Adeline... she spent most of her time trying to cover those large ears of hers, though I am uncertain how effective that would have been.”

The barbarian closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She should have been more mindful of the noises they were making… “Right. I’m sorry about that. I’ll have to apologize to the others, when they wake up.”

“Mm.” Inanna simply nods as she meticulously loads bricks onto her cart. “We need to add a door to that bathroom.”

“So that those... loud sounds… don’t bother anyone else?” Krvavy hesitantly questions, feeling more than a little sheepish about that whole situation.

“More to keep the steam contained.” The Dwarf plainly replies. “I am not a fan of humidity.”

“Sorry…”

“No need to apologize for that. You were otherwise occupied, so it is understandable that such a consequence would pass your mind.” Inanna gently smiles at the Draconic dickgirl who can’t help but tower over her. “Besides, it is good to see that the showers can handle such prolonged use without any issues. The water maintained a similar level of pressure throughout your time in there, yes?”

The Drakling pauses, her brow furrowing a fair bit. “Uh… Pretty sure it did...?” She lightly shakes her head. “I wasn’t paying too much attention to that, but it felt normal when I eventually turned it off.”

“That is good. Though I suppose it could also mean that the pressure decreased at such a slow and gradual rate that you simply did not notice…” Inanna glances up at the ceiling, looking in the general direction of where the bathroom is. “Mm. Perhaps we should put it through a proper stress-test? One in which every showerhead and faucet in there is on?”

“That feels a bit excessive, but if you think it is necessary…” Krvavy idly shrugs, returning to her work as she pulls yet another brick from the wall.

“It may very well be some day. You do have a tendency to collect women, and that whole room, shower included, is designed for multiple people to use it concurrently. It would be prudent to ensure that it can handle more than what we would expect of it. As to avoid any annoyances in the future.”

“Alright,” Krvavy agrees with the shortstack who knows better than her, lips curling into a slightly wry smile as she purposefully ignores that faintly playful and utterly truthful jab that Inanna made. “But if having just one showerhead on for a few hours was enough to fill our bedroom with steam, then we definitely should put a door in first.”

“Mhm.” The busty Dwarf accompanies her nod with a hum, before falling into a comfortable silence.

The quiet clack of brick against brick, from both the pile Krvavy is making and the neat stack atop Inanna’s cart, is all that can be heard for a good few minutes.

“While we’re talking about the bathroom…” The Drakling eventually speaks up. “I haven’t really had the chance to ask, but how do you feel about those two lowered countertop sections? They’re more for Adeline, but should still be a good height for you.”

Inanna simply shrugs her shoulders in response. “I have no complaints. The height is convenient and the sink is easily within reach.”

“Sorry it took so long.” Krvavy shoots an apologetic smile towards her Dwarf. “Must have been annoying having to use a stool all the time...”

“It was hardly an inconvenience.”

Rather than argue with that, Krvavy instead asks her next question. “What do you think about adding another counter above those ones? At a good height for me to use without having to bend over so much.”

“Mm…” Inanna’s thick eyebrows furrow slightly as she turns to look her tall lover up and down. “That might make it a bit cramped for me, though I suppose that Adeline will still have plenty of headroom… But is it really necessary to double up like that? It is not like we are short on counter space.”

“It was just a thought. I’m not sure if I really want to do that. It might look a bit weird…” Krvavy idly clicks her tongue. “But I don’t really want the main countertops to be all uneven, wildly zigzagging up and down. Guess I could just make it like… like a staircase, with the counters getting taller as they get closer to the wall...?”

The barbarian’s words trail off into quiet muttering as she loses herself in thought, continuing her repetitive menial labour all the while.

A final clack rings out as Inanna finishes loading her handcart. The grey-skinned shortstack wheels the cart around but doesn’t leave just yet. “Krvavy, my Ushumgal, do you know what you are going to do once you are done excavating this area and outfitting it for use?”

“Uhh... No...?” Krvavy pauses her work and turns towards the Dwarf, head tilted slightly to the side and a curious look clear on her face. Is Inanna going to suggest something, or...?

Inanna stares back at the Drakling, her copper-orange eyes gazing intensely into Krvavy’s emerald pair. “No other planned additions for our home? Nothing else to add to this floor? Just a kitchen, dining room, entrance hall, and hallways connecting them together?”

“No, not really. I mean, what else do we need?”

“It isn’t about what we need.” Inanna replies with the faintest of sighs. “Krvavy. You spend a great deal of your time doing this work, and though it is not the most engaging it still gives you something to do. So, what will you spend your time doing once you are finished with this?”

Krvavy opens her mouth to respond but pauses before a single word leaves her lips. After a few seconds she gently shakes her head and shrugs. “I don’t know. Guess I’ll spend more time with you and the others? I could help you build your workshop, and I’m sure Beryl would love having me help out in the garden more.”

“Mm.” The Dwarf curtly hums, raising a single thick eyebrow as she maintains her gaze. “I do not want to see you grow restless, my Ushumgal. It would be best if you had something to do which is independent from all of us. Such as the work you have been doing on our home.” Inanna holds a hand up to stop her Draconic lover from speaking. “I am not saying that you can’t, or shouldn’t, spend time with your girls. Far from it, in fact, as that would also be a problem. Albeit one in the opposite direction. No, I am simply concerned that subjecting your time to our whims may... burn you out.”

The grey-skinned shortstack steps away from her handcart and walks towards Krvavy, stopping just before her bountiful breasts press against the barbarian’s knees. Inanna’s face remains calm and collected as she stares almost straight up at the Drakling looming so high above her.

“There will be times when I, and the others, may not need your help with anything. What would you do then?”

“Alright...” Krvavy slowly sighs that single word. “Alright, I get it. You want me to get a hobby.”

“Mm.” The Dwarf noncommittally hums. “Less a hobby and more an activity to occupy yourself with. Such as what you have been doing thus far: expanding our home. I would not consider that a hobby, yet it provides you with something to do all the same.”

A feeling of awkward discomfort wells up inside of Krvavy as she stares down into her Dwarf’s intense copper-orange gaze, though it isn’t caused by anything that Inanna has said. No, it is purely because of the odd position that the two of them are standing in, needing to crane their necks to look into each others’ faces. Not to mention the fact that Inanna’s head is at the perfect height for a standing blowjob, which is... a little distracting...

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the Drakling decides to lower herself down to the ground, sitting on her knees so that she is roughly at eye-level with Inanna.

The shortstack doesn’t react in the slightest to that, nor does she react when the barbarian’s hands grab onto her shoulders and pull her into a hug. Those massive tits of hers squish against Krvavy’s body, dwarfing the Drakling’s own pale breasts.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Krvavy smiles a little sheepishly even as her touch slips beneath Inanna’s voluminous coal-black hair and begin to trail down the grey-skinned woman’s sturdy back. “Anyway, uh... I don’t want to prove Thea right or anything, but there isn’t all that much to do around here. I’m not sure what else to add to our home once I’m done down here, as we’ll have pretty much everything we need... Guess I can mess around with the storage platform a bit? Maybe change how we get up there, so that we don’t need to pass through our bedroom?”

“Mm. Have you forgotten the suggestion I made some time ago?” Inanna’s thick black brow ever so slightly knits together. “You could fortify the entrance to the grotto.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember now.” The Drakling nods her head as she idly gropes her Dwarf’s prodigious rear. That ass is a real hidden treasure, one which Krvavy doesn’t get to enjoy nearly as much as she should. “You were kind of concerned about us getting attacked. Hopefully that’ll never happen, but it is better to be prepared for that sort of thing...”

“Mhm.” Inanna firmly nods her head. “And in the short term, such defences would help to keep unwanted animals out of our home. That hasn’t been a problem yet, but it is only a matter of time: many creatures hibernate through the winter months, and the grotto would be quite the appealing place to do such a thing. Especially with the potential feast that is Beryl’s garden.”

“Right, yeah...” Krvavy nibbles on the inside of her cheek as she takes a moment to think. It would be a little annoying to cart bricks all the way down past the grotto, but maybe she won’t have to do that? It isn’t like they have a shortage of stone in this entirely underground cave that they live in, so Krvavy could just use what is already down there... “Okay. I’ll see what I can do once I’m done with the kitchen.”

A faint smile fills the Dwarf’s face as she leans in to give the Drakling a quick kiss. “Thank you, my Ushumgal. The presence of such fortifications, basic as they may be, will do much to ease my worries. I understand that stone walls will do little to hold back the enemies you will one day make, but they are still a comforting thought.”

Krvavy’s pale lips can’t help but curl down into a slight frown. She even stops her groping... for a moment, at least. “I haven’t been stressing you out by ignoring all of that, have I?”

“No. Not particularly.” Inanna gently shakes her head, her voluminous locks brushing against the backs of her barbaric lover’s hands. “My mind may prefer the safety of sturdy stone walls, but it recognizes the security that you, Khalia, and – to a lesser degree – Beryl provide. I have no reason to fear errant animals or other intruders as long as I have the assurance that I won’t need to deal with them myself. So do not worry yourself with my worries, my Ushumgal. I am a Dwarf, after all.” A slightly teasing shine enters her copper-orange eyes. “I cannot help but long for the construction of robust underground fortifications.”

“How lucky you are that I live in a cave~.” Krvavy playfully replies, her concerns abated. “Would you have wanted to stick around if I had taken after Beryl and made my home in a tree~?”

The Dwarf actually shudders at that thought, drawing an amused laugh from the Drakling.

“Ha~! Really~? Nothing to say about that~?”

“If I must be completely honest, one of my greatest concerns after you rescued slash abducted me was along those lines.” Inanna admits with a slow sigh, lightly grabbing onto Krvavy’s arms and simply holding onto them. “Yes, I was more worried about having to live under the open sky than I was afraid of the half-naked Dragon woman who would make me live in such a manner.”

“Wouldn’t you have been living under the ‘open sky’ anyway though?” Krvavy raises an eyebrow as she idly gives her Dwarf’s rear another grope. “Since you were heading to a human city and all.”

“Yes, but there is quite a difference between that and living in a camp out in the woods.”

“Fair enough.”

Inanna closes her eyes and falls silent, breathing deeply as she remains standing on her feet. “Mmmh.” She quietly hums after a few seconds, her eyes opening ever so slightly. Without saying a word the Dwarf lowers herself onto the ground, breaking free from Krvavy’s groping grasp as she settles down beside the barbarian. “It is odd...”

Krvavy raises an eyebrow and glances at the busty shortstack pressed against her side. “What is?”

“This is.” Inanna replies with a relaxed sigh, resting her head against Krvavy’s chest. “We met under... less than ideal circumstances. Yet here we are now...”

The Drakling smiles and wraps an arm around her Dwarf, unable to resist the urge to rest her hand atop one of those massive grey-skinned breasts. “What’s really odd is that most of my relationships started that way, and have somehow worked out. Well enough, at least.”

“Mmm.” An almost teasing glint enters Inanna’s copper-orange eyes as she glances up at her Draconic lover. “I’m sure the fact that we are entirely at your mercy definitely didn’t play a part in that, my Ushumgal.”

Krvavy sharply exhales and rolls her eyes, though she can’t keep the smile off of her face even as she tries playing up her annoyance. “Don’t act like you weren’t the one who came onto me.”

“You were the one who came onto me, actually.” Inanna’s lips spread into an undeniable smile as her normally neutral voice fills with the warmth of subdued joy. “My face, specifically.”

“I... Ha~! I wasn’t being literal~!” Krvavy squeezes down onto her Dwarf’s titanic tit in an almost reprimanding way. “The only reason my cum ended up coating your face was because you confronted me and pretty much demanded that we have sex~! If you hadn’t done that... then we wouldn’t be in this relationship right now.”

“Do you truly believe that?” The grey-skinned woman abruptly asks, her tone rather serious, as she curiously cocks her head to the side. “You struggled to keep your hungry eyes off of me. Would you truly have never made a move on your own?”

“I don’t know.” The Drakling honestly responds. “You were... kind of off limits to me back then. I had the occasional lewd thought, of course, but I never actually considered acting on any of them. I didn’t want to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do. Not like I kind of did for the others...”

“Mm. And that is part of what I love about you, my Ushumgal.”

Krvavy’s cheeks flush a rosy hue as the Dwarf suddenly straightens up and plants a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“Now...” An almost reluctant sigh escapes Inanna’s lips. “As much as I’d like to spend all day sitting around with you, especially when you are doing this,” she gestures towards her huge tit, which Krvavy’s hand has been idly groping and massaging for a while now. “I do have work to do. But before I go, I have two more things to speak of. The first is news and the other is a request. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Uh... The request.” Krvavy picks at random, immediately regretting having answered so quickly. She could have dragged that out and enjoyed having Inanna by her side for a little longer...

“May I use some of the weapons that you have up in the storage area?” The Dwarf earnestly asks, before deciding to elaborate a little. “Not for personal defence or anything of the sort, but for experimentation. I simply want to see what sort of improvements I could make to them. I have never worked on non-Dwarven weaponry, so I am uncertain about what they may or may not be able to handle. I will try to avoid destroying any of them.”

“Sure, go ahead.” The Drakling hardly has to think before easily agreeing to that. “They’re basically just trophies, and not even good ones at that, so I have no complaints if you want to put them to use.”

“Thank you, my Ushumgal.” The busty shortstack sharply nods her head. “Now for the news... I levelled up this morning.”

“Oh?!” A wide smile quickly appears on Krvavy’s face. “That’d be your first level up since I met you, right?”

“Mhm.” Inanna nods again, raising a thick eyebrow as she stares at the Drakling. “Why do you seem so excited about that? It is just a single level up. Nothing much changed.”

“Still, it’s proof that you’re growing more powerful, even if just a little. Which is something I want to happen. Because I love you.” Krvavy responds, her joy hardly dampened by the Dwarf’s lack of enthusiasm.

“I love you too, my Ushumgal. Which is why I feel the need to say this: you should not consider levelling up to be as important as you currently do.” Inanna firmly states as she stares unblinking into her Draconic lover’s eyes. “Yes, it is a good way to quantify growth, but it isn’t perfect. Personal development cannot be shown purely through numbers.”

“I know, I know.” The Drakling slowly sighs... and gives her Dwarf’s huge tit another squeeze, lightly pinching at that pleasantly puffy nipple. “Thea has definitely grown more than her character sheet would imply. Though she’d probably say the opposite and complain about her Eromancy spells having too high of a level for how much control she has over them, or something...”

“Character sheet?” The grey-skinned woman curiously repeats Krvavy’s words, a faintly teasing smile playing at her lips. “Is that what you call it~?”

Krvavy’s cheeks flush a little further as she finds her free hand awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry, guess that’s a bit of a... a holdover from when I thought this was all just a game... But, uh, I sometimes think of it as a stat sheet as well, so...”

“By the Ancestors,” Inanna slowly shakes her head, “how did I end up with a clumsily awkward Dragon like you? And why do I find the fact that you have such poor social skills so attractive?”

“Uh...” Krvavy has no idea how to respond to that, nor does she really get the chance to before the Dwarf grabs onto one of her horns and drags her into a kiss. Unable to help herself, Krvavy immediately melts into the shortstack’s embrace, pawing at Inanna’s thick body with lewd intent.

“Now, now. That was just a kiss.” The Dwarf gently scolds the barbarian as their lips separate. But despite her words she doesn’t do anything to stop Krvavy from groping her bountiful breasts, nor does she try to push away the hand sliding between her thick thighs. “You can call whatever you see with Inspect by whatever name you like. People refer to it by numerous names already, and what you’ve said is a lot more quaint than simply calling it personal information.”

“Speaking of Inspect...?” The Drakling leaves that half-spoken question hanging as she continues to molest her seemingly indifferent Dwarf, gently stroking at Inanna’s lower lips with fingers that so desperately want to push their way inside.

“Go ahead.”

Krvavy finds herself frowning at that answer. She was hoping Inanna would deny her request, as that’d give her a reason to ignore her curiosity and continue her groping... But she did ask for this distraction, so...

“Didn’t you say that nothing much changed?” Krvavy skeptically narrows her eyes at Inanna, who maintains her utterly neutral expression. “I don’t exactly remember what was on here before, but I’m certain that your Endurance and Toughness weren’t at fifty. Which means that both of those milestone traits were upgraded.”

“Did you even read what those traits do? They are rather underwhelming and nearly useless.”

The barbarian gently bites the inside of her cheek as she brings those two descriptions into focus.

Enduring Education II: Increases Endurance by 5%, significantly improves affinity for all scholarly & academic skills, and provides 10% of Total Endurance to Willpower. Associated attribute = Endurance.

Tough Tutelage II: Increases Toughness by 5%, significantly improves affinity for all scholarly & academic skills, and provides 10% of Total Toughness to Rationality. Associated attribute = Toughness.

“Really? They don’t sound underwhelming.” Krvavy states, meeting her Dwarf’s near-emotionless gaze. “Not the most immediately useful, sure, but not useless.”

“My affinity for ‘scholarly and academic skills’ is already quite high, thus the increase was rather negligible. On top of that, I have not actually had need of those skills since I graduated.” The Dwarf plainly states, her tone steady and even... despite her Draconic lover’s lewd touch. “As for the bonuses to Willpower and Rationality, I will admit that those are a little more useful. But not by much. The amount provided is rather negligible. And the most tangible result of increasing those two attributes is a greater amount of Total Mana and Mana Regeneration, both of which I have a rather hefty penalty to on account of being a Dwarf.”

“Be as pessimistic as you’d like.” The Drakling gently shakes her head. “But it pretty much means that some of your physical stats now go towards increasing your mana. Which is pretty nice. Definitely better than nothing.”

“I would say that I am being realistic more than pessimistic.” Inanna dispassionately responds, even as a bit of colour enters her grey cheeks. Her copper-orange eyes briefly glance down, failing to look past her massive tits to where Krvavy’s fingers are idly sliding in and out of her tight slit. “Are you not going to ask where I placed my attribute points?”

The barbarian blinks a couple times as she tries to guess that herself. It has been a long time since she last used Inspect on Inanna, so she can’t rely too much on her memory for this. “Uh... Might...?” Krvavy thinks aloud, not sounding particularly confident. “Yeah, might.” She nods her head, feeling a little more certain the more she thinks about it. “That trait doesn’t sound familiar at all.”

“Mhm.” Inanna nods in confirmation. “I figured that I could use the extra strength considering how many bricks I have been lugging around recently, though I have yet to see how much of a difference it has made. And, before you get excited, the milestone trait is nothing special. Just another lackluster one.”

Krvavy simply raises an eyebrow as she brings up its description.

Masterwork’s Might I: Increases Might by 2.5%, increases affinity for all crafting related skills, and improves the quality of all new Masterwork creations. Associated attribute = Might.

“Again, that hardly sounds lackluster.” She dryly points out.

“I already have a high affinity for crafting skills, at least the ones that matter.” The Dwarf’s voice almost wavers, her neutral mask cracking a bit from the constant pleasure drawn out by Krvavy’s strong fingers. “And while the other part of that trait sounds impressive, it simply is not. A Masterwork by definition is already of incredible quality. A further increase to that is negligible, and that is not just my opinion. This particular trait was fairly common amongst my teachers.”

“Fine, fine, if you say so.” Krvavy shakes her head again and decides to put this whole conversation aside. After all, there are more enjoyable things for them to do than just talk. “Guess that’s all the news you had for me, huh~? Which means tha–”

“That I should get back to work.” Inanna finishes the barbarian’s sentence, just not in the way that Krvavy intended. Her lips curl into a faint smile, with just the slightest trace of a sadistic gleam, as she pushes those touchy hands away from her body. “And so should you.”

“But, we–!”

“Have plenty of other opportunities to indulge in pleasure, yes.” Inanna’s copper-orange eyes shine with amusement as she stands up and steps away from her Draconic lover, clearly taking more than a little joy in cock-blocking Krvavy like this. “We can enjoy ourselves some other time, my Ushumgal. See you then~.”

Krvavy bites her bottom lip as she wantonly watches her Dwarf leave. “You tease...!”