Soul Merger

"Kanpai!" Akari watched as Ibaraki and Rosalina did a toast. The oni possessing her threw back the cocktail and took a hefty drink. As always the oni was terrible at savoring her liquor, but at least Akari could get the taste of it. A nice bittersweet cocktail. She'd never tell Ibaraki, but Akari actually liked drinking more when the oni was in control. The spirit's unnatural resistance to liquor made it taste better.

Rosalina leaned forwards. "So! Now that we're alone, what kinda fun have you gotten up to since we last talked?"

"Oi oi dragon girl," Ibaraki said. "I'm the one here right now. I'm letting Ms Perfect hang around so she can let her hair down in secret, but I can't talk for her."

"Aw come on." Rosalina pouted. "I can talk for the dragon in me, and he's dead. You gotta have better control than I do."

That was Rosalina for you Akari mused. The woman had never really gotten the difference between a soul merge and possession. Though it was hard to tell how much of that was deliberate misunderstanding.

Ibaraki settled for snorting and taking another sip. "It's easier because he's dead. Anyway I suppose I can spill on some of her juicy secrets. After all, I've been watching. But you'll be giving up your story too. I'm here to be entertained, not to be the entertainment."

"Sure thing," Rosalina said. "We've got plenty of time before we're properly drunk and can look for some company." The dragon priestess swirled her drink and gave a crooked grin. "And on that note, find anyone while you were touring the small cities?"

Akari felt her ears twitch in sync with Ibaraki. "If she'd found someone worth a damn she wouldn't have been living in a barn full of cats. Hell there wasn't even a good pick for one night stands. The blacksmith's apprentice got all clingy after a few hookups, and the cute farm girl was straighter than an arrow."

"So how about you?" Ibaraki asked. "You've somehow slapped together a group that looks more like a erotic woodblock printing than a delver team. Sure we're all in it because we're actually good at the job, but there's no way you could stand being around so many beautiful girls and not get frustrated."

Rosalina shook her head in mock sorrow. "I know. It's a terrible burden to bear. All of us being so beautiful. But fortunately I've had access to a real city so I could find people willing to spend time with me. Mostly hosts and hostesses. And I've been spending some time with one of the orphanage women. Perhaps I can introduce Akari when we get back."

"What? Not gonna introduce me?" Ibaraki laughed. "How rude. We've already slept together. Surely you'd be willing to show off your other lovers to your new flame." Akari tried to project her exasperation to the oni with little success.

"It's not like that." Rosalina waved the comment off. "We're not dating. We just meet up often, I'm good at getting idiots to leave her alone, and she really can use the stress relief. Besides, I said I was going to introduce Akari. And I know you share senses whenever you're having fun."

"Tch." Ibaraki took another drink to cover her annoyance while Akari made sure to pour her amusement on the oni. A few years ago she'd have been incredibly embarrassed by someone speaking of their relationships openly. But while she wasn't as lusty as the oni she wasn't as 'pure and innocent' as she used to be. "Bad enough I've got the shrine maiden grinning over my shoulder. Now I've got you talking shit."

Rosalina laughed. "And you love it. If everyone let you walk all over them you'd get bored. Just like that dragon in my head."

"I love it when people struggle, not when they win," Ibaraki shot back. "I'm not some overgrown lizard who gets off on pithy philosophy. I like watching people squirm before stepping on them. And I know you hate losing just as much."

"True, but I can't hoard victory," Rosalina said before waving a waiter over. "Another drink for me and my friend. The salmonberry wine please."

"Of course." The birdfolk server gave them both an eye before rushing to grab their order. Akari felt Ibaraki's momentary interest, and mentally shrugged.

The oni focused back on Rosalina. "Are you still obsessing about that hoarding thing? Dragon really got under your skin didn't he? It's weird how you humans get so hung up on details like that. 'Oh no I'm not sharing enough. I'm sharing too much. I'm being too lazy.' You all need to have more fun."

"I'm having plenty of fun," Rosalina replied with a finger wag. "I just don't sit around on piles of stuff for that fun. Worrying about the long term is bullshit. In the long term we're all dead."

Akari felt Ibaraki's emotions once again mirror her own. The dragon priestess was far less of a free spirit than she let on. But they both knew that was a conversational dead end. So instead Ibaraki turned towards something else. "So what's your bet on the slime girl and the titty demon hooking up? I figure it'll take them a year before they get basic romance through their skull."

"No odds," Rosalina said with a shake of her head. "Those two have issues. They'll need to learn to stop hiding behind their masks before they get any sort of romance going." The dragon priestess smirked as she looked Ibaraki in the eye. "Though I suppose hiding behind masks isn't something only humans do."

"Don't want to hear that from the Saint of the Slums," Ibaraki shot back before finishing her glass. As Akari watched Rosalina's face pucker the waiter returned with the wine and two fresh glasses. "Oh, thanks." Ibaraki in a rare flicker of generosity tossed over a tip before pouring glasses for both of them. "Alright, let's see how good this stuff is."

Akari and Ibaraki's senses fused completely as the oni sipped the wine. It was quite sweet, perhaps too sweet for the temperature. It would be better with ice.

"Ditching the mage was a mistake," Ibaraki said.

"Eh, we can figure something out." Rosalina raised her hand again. "Waiter! Two frost stones!"

It seemed like her friend was going to be spending most of her gains from this delve Akari mused. Still it was looking to be a fun evening.

Alissa breathed a sigh of relief as she flopped down on her bed. "This is a way better victory party than getting plastered." She'd had a good meal, a long bath, and now was relaxing with a fluffy towel on a feather bed. All things she'd be happy for later instead of regretting.

"Gotta agree," Clara said from her own extra large bed. She'd swapped to a nightdress and was working on her nails. "And thanks for the help Fili. That water heating spell of yours was on point."

"Ah, don't worry about it," Fili replied. It had taken some work to get the mage to actually use any of the services the hotel was offering, but they'd eventually convinced her to enjoy a bath and wear the complimentary robe. She'd relaxed enough to start going over her notes. The faint smell of mint lingered as she scribbled on the papers.

Alissa stood up and walked over to look at the pages. She'd never really delved too far into monsterpedias. Right now it looked like just a set of jumbled notes, with Fili busy listing out and occasionally crossing out bits. "Hm, still getting details down from our delve?"

"Eh?" The mage looked up, then blushed and turned back to the page as the smell of violets spread. "Oh, this. Well I work on the primary page. Here." She pulled out a tome and opened it up to reveal a monster entry. "We start with the primary page which gives common details. Sort of an overview. Then we have the drawing. Those have to be done by a woodblock sketch artist, otherwise the printing costs would be insane. After that are detailed encounters and full breakdowns of materials."

She circled another section on her notes. "So what I have to do is determine what's good information for the primary pages, then give the rest of the details to the other writers. You have to convey the important details without getting too repetitive."

"And the little slime drawings are there because?" Alissa asked with a grin.

Fili blushed even harder and sank into her robe. "The others said it was good marketing."

"They are cute," Alissa admitted. It probably required a fair amount of work at the printers but it was the sort of thing that made your book stand out.

"Pretty impressive," Clara said, having wandered over. "Maybe I should look into grabbing a copy if you've got that much info written down. Histories can be kinda fuzzy on monsters."

"Yeah! It's annoying how much monster info is ignored." Fili flipped through. "Especially regional variants! Stuff that delvers take as gospel in one place might be totally wrong in another city. Like the Salamander liver." She looked up before blushing and turning away again. "Um, but yeah. You should check it out."

Alissa patted Fili on the shoulder. "You shouldn't be ashamed of your hobbies. It's actually quite interesting."

"Er, it's not that it's just," Fili squirmed a little. "You're a bit close. And from this angle..."

After a moment Alissa realized Fili would have accidentally ended up looking right at her and Clara's chests from that angle. "Ah don't worry about it. It's not like you're trying to stare."

A whiff of moss came up from Fili but before she could figure that out Clara took control of the situation. "That reminds me, Alissa. You never explained what your hobbies were. I know you can't spend all your time training."

Alissa winced. "Yeah unfortunately you'd be wrong. Though it's not all practicing fighting." She walked over to her pack and grabbed a lock and her tools from it. "Behold my other hobby."

As the other two watched she put the lock under tension and quickly set each of the six tumblers. "Ta-da," she said as the lock popped open. "Alissa's secret pastime. Lock picking."

Fili blinked a few times. "Is that an easy lock? You usually take more time in the labyrinth."

"It's supposed to be a hard lock," Alissa replied. "But really most locks are pretty mediocre. The reason I take my time in the labyrinth is because of traps. If there's nothing trying to kill you, most locks won't last two minutes."

Her two friends looked a little surprised by the revelation. Clara slowly shook her head. "So you're telling me all those locks I have to keep my stuff safe are worthless?"

"Well it keeps normal people out," Alissa hedged. "But against a labyrinth trained thief? Yeah. The only way to keep one of us out is a guard. Unless you make opening the damn thing really complicated."

Clara rubbed her forehead. "Well let's set that terrifying truth aside. You should probably get a hobby that isn't job related."

"Yeah sure," Alissa shrugged. It was a good idea but... well she'd think on it later. "Anyway, do you have any tips for nail care, Clara? Despite how it looks, my nails don't magically fix themselves."

"Heh suppose that'd be too convenient even for a succubus merge. Sure I've got some good tips from my mama and aunts." She sat down and pulled out some tools. "Oh and Fili I probably have something that will help with writer's calluses."

Fili hesitated a moment before setting aside her writing. "My slime protects me from calluses, but maybe you could help me find a nail polish that doesn't disintegrate on me?"

"Sure, let's see what we can put together...."