Soul Merger

Fili awoke in a strange place. The ceiling was cedar, not the concrete of her hotel, and she was in a bed, not on her floor mat. How long had it been since she'd slept in a real bed?

She shook that thought off and looked around. It was a small room, her stuff was sitting on the nightstand, which sent her heart doing interesting things as she thought at how terrible it would be if she lost any of that!

When she recovered from that terrible thought she noticed the hammock in the corner. Bundled up was that stunning woman she'd met yesterday. Alissa.

After a few moments she remembered what had happened and she groaned. She'd really screwed up this time. How did she manage to forget alcohol wiped out Sleep Away? She'd managed to look like a total idiot in front of two super competent adventurers. She'd be lucky if they talked to her after they handled the mythril deal, much less let her join their party.

She stood and blushed crimson as she realized someone had taken her robe off as well. At least she'd kept her underclothes. She'd... borrowed them from the university since they handled being slimed better than anything else.

Well she was in a strange house after passing out, and she'd slimed the good bed. Just great. At least she could try to do something about that. She stripped off the covers and sighed in relief to see she hadn't soaked the bed proper.

That done she picked up her staff and walked into the smaller of the two adjacent rooms figuring it was probably the washroom. As a bonus she found her robe and Alissa's cloak soaking already. That'd make things a little easier.

She located Alissa's laundry cord and set it up, then clipped first the sheets, then her own robe to it.

As she pulled up Alissa's cloak, the woman's tiny leather outfit fell out onto the ground. Fili stared at the black leather bra and panties. That meant Alissa was naked right now....

She threw that thought out of her head with a hearty shake. One, the woman had helped her out and didn't deserve idle fantasies. Two, Fili was a messy nerd who literally dirtied everything she touched. Best to kill that idea fast. The leathers joined the rest of the laundry on the rope. Looking around she found the woman's boots as well, and moved them to be close to the sheets.

Now the tricky part. She pulled up her staff, letting her mind open up to the universe's energy. Next she selected her steam spell chip, letting the complex etchings call up the fire and water and mix them as she needed. Finally she completed the spell, carefully fixing the target location in her mind as well as how strong she wanted the spell to be.

Power flowed through the staff and into the world, the multiline spell altering the world as she'd demanded. Steam flowed around the clothes, sticking to the small area she designated. As the heated water rippled in the air the stains and slime boiled off the clothes, leaving them clean.

That done she channeled the steam towards a window vent. Always important to make sure your spells' lingering effects were controlled. The next spell she wanted was a single slot down, so it was easy to open the channel and summon up the low heat to finish drying the clothes.

"Oh hey, you already cleaned everything before I asked. Thanks."

Fili turned and immediately felt her head swimming. Alissa was leaning against the doorframe showing off every inch of her impossibly sexy figure. It had to be because of the merge. Her red hair accentuated her face perfectly despite the fact she'd just woken up, her chest was blatantly defying gravity, and her pose just steamed casual attractiveness.

"Don't mention it!" she quickly turned back to the laundry line, grabbing her robe to hide her embarrassment. Between the uncanny beauty behind her and the priestess who looked and acted like a goddess she was pretty sure her gay heart would give out.

Assuming they wanted anything to do with her after last night.

"Anyway I'll let you get dressed," she said scurrying out to the main room. Fortunately she managed to put on her robe without any trouble; showing she was able to accomplish basic tasks.

"Are you feeling alright?" Fili took a chance and turned around again. Alissa was clothed now, which helped. A tiny tiny bit. At least cardiac arrest wasn't on the table.

Fili managed a bow. "Yes. I'm really sorry for troubling you last night. It was a terrible mistake. Thanks so much for taking me in despite how messy I am."

"Nah it was our fault for forgetting you had one hell of a day," Alissa said walking to take one of the chairs. "We weren't going to stuff you full of drugs just so you could collapse at your own place. And as for the mess, well you cleaned it and the labyrinth grime up fine so I'd say I got the better end of the deal."

Fili took a breath. It seemed like the other woman wasn't too mad. Still she should probably focus on business for now. "Are we still getting the mythril appraised today?"

"Yeah." Alissa motioned for her to take a seat as well. "Hour before noon so we'll have time to get breakfast if you want. Or you could run back to your own place if you don't want to spend cash."

"Ah breakfast might be nice. I'm good on money and I don't need to change or anything." She gave a weak grin as she slid into the other chair. "I already washed my robe so it's clean. At least as clean as anything I wear gets."

Alissa grimaced. "Merges can be a real pain," she muttered. "Didn't really turn out as the blessing we'd thought they'd be as kids, did they? Damn monsters."

It seemed hard to believe that a merge that made you incredibly strong and sexy had downsides but Fili could hear the hatred in the other woman's words. Maybe there was something more to it. Still better to complain about her own issues then speculate on someone else's. "Yeah, I've come to really hate linen. And it's been pretty bad for my dating life."

"Hm, I'd have thought some people would be into that." Alissa muttered idly. "It's not like you're bad looking."

Fili felt a twinge of annoyance. "Well, would you date me?" Heat flooded her cheeks as soon as she realized what she'd implied. "Er, sorry that sounds weird."

Alissa blinked in surprise a few times before looking up at the ceiling. "Not your fault. I said some weird stuff too. I honestly don't think much about dating or romance anymore. At least not as something that I'd seek out instead of something this damn merge forces on me."

"Ah." Fili sank down in her robe. Of course the succubus girl has issues with sex. She'd been old enough pre merge to notice how some guys stared at her. Having a magical compulsion that forced guys to stare at you would probably make things worse. And in another genius move Fili'd gone and referenced that trauma.

"Well, no use sitting around and waiting." Alissa stood. "Let's grab that breakfast and head to the guild offices. We'll need to make an appointment at the reception area anyway, and I'd bet Rosalina shows up early to get us a good spot. Might as well join her."

A goal. That was good. Fili gathered her wits and thought about what she needed. "Do you mind if we visit my apartment along the way? Just a quick stop. I need to get my account books."

"Sure thing."