Sword and Snow

I laid in my bed, mulling over all kinds of thoughts. Paired Cultivation was something I had never heard of - but to be fair, I was pretty sheltered while growing up. The base idea was intriguing enough; two people could Cultivate together for essentially exponential gains. Having four hands to do the work was better than two, obviously.

It was the rest of the situation that gave me pause. First was the trust part of it. When two people are Cultivating together, they are actively sharing their Qi and access to their Cores with one another. It meant that if the participants were mismatched in some way, one person could drastically take advantage of the other. Vale even mentioned that this connection is believed to be the basis for some of the demonic techniques that allow one person to steal another’s Qi.

In practice, it mostly just meant that you shouldn’t Cultivate together with someone you didn’t trust, or with someone who far outstripped you in strength.

While this was a minor concern, I didn’t think I had that much to worry about on that front from Avuri. She seemed straightforward enough, and a good person as well. If she had orchestrated everything up until to make an attempt to steal from me with Paired Cultivation, I would be shocked. Impressed, too, admittedly. But mostly shocked.

Ultimately, the more concerning part of the whole thing was the social aspect of it all. Apparently, people who engaged in Paired Cultivation often took part in intense physical acts while Cultivating together. To be clear, it didn’t always involve sex. It often did, but physical closeness seemed to be more the important part than the more erotic side of things.

The conversation earlier tonight had gotten rather awkward when Vale began assuring the two of us that if we did choose to try this, simply cuddling or hugging one another would more than likely suffice. Avuri and I had looked at each other, our faces both growing scarlet, before we shouted that we’ll think about it and split off into different rooms for the night.

I didn’t want to make things awkward between us. We didn’t have some great, storied friendship between us that we’d be risking by getting a little awkward, but I thought that we got along very well. Maybe some great friendship for the ages was even a possibility. Who knew?

But a larger part of me was still focused on the information Avuri brought with her. There was potentially a new demonic sect in the Dying Lands. And they were definitely targeting children. While I would need to get stronger - at least to the Sky Realm - to do anything about it, I wasn’t about to sit back and let them continue doing this.

On the upside, I was fairly sure that once I broke through to the Sky Realm and trained myself to handle a Domain, I would be able to match most demonic Cultivators even at the peak of the same Realm. I had done it before with Earth Realm Cultivators that were far superior to me in raw power. As long as I could feasibly defend myself against Domain related attacks, I should be able to handle myself.

Avuri would be in far more danger, and that was something we would have to consider when the time came - if the time came. I wouldn’t bet on anyone else except me in such a lopsided fight without cause. If Avuri wanted to help, it’d have to be logistical or otherwise, and not in the fray. Or she’d have to prove herself to be able to hold off multiple stronger opponents. At least well enough that I wouldn’t worry about her on the field.

I shook my head to get back on track. Regardless of all of that, the main concern right now was what to do about the potential of Paired Cultivation.

I told myself to focus.

If I was honest, the idea of being physically close and in contact with Avuri while Cultivating didn’t bother me. Not really. She was a pleasant person from what I had seen so far, and looked like she would be just as pleasant to touch. We were both recently bathed, smelling fresh, and just generally clean.

And while I was never really one for ‘the ends justify the means’, I thought that I could even put up with someone who wasn’t pleasant if it meant growing strong enough to save some children from their own personal hells.

But again, the idea of getting close to Avuri was hardly a negative one.

The major hangup was more of an emotional one, I supposed. First, while I certainly thought of myself as a straightforward person, even I drew the line somewhere. And asking someone to engage in…whatever sort of acts may occur in this situation, when I wasn’t sure where their own thoughts lied? That was certainly over my line.

And on top of all of that was the potential romantic or erotic complications that apparently went along with Paired Cultivation. I had never been in any sort of relationship of that kind. At least not a real one. I was no stranger to…dalliances on occasion. Traveling got lonely, and spending the night with someone that I’d never see again while tracking a target was an easy way to lessen the burden somewhat.

The potential gender concern…wasn’t really so much a concern. At least not for me. Cultivators were a notoriously pretty bunch, and I had never had any difficulties finding women as equally as appealing as men. I wasn’t sure if that was common or not, but it didn’t seem all that unusual. It was absolutely worth considering how Avuri felt about being physically close to another woman though.

As far as actual ‘romance’ went…well, that would be a wholly different bridge to cross when and if it materialized. I wasn’t so much opposed as inexperienced in that field. But with the potential of hundreds or maybe even thousands of years of life ahead of me, actively tracking down a romance was put on the backburner when I had more pressing goals directly before me.

I sighed aloud. Laying here in thought would only get me so far, and I was pretty sure that I had come to a conclusion for my side at least. If Avuri offered to collaborate on this, I would accept. The potential gains were incredibly tantalizing, and if I went with my gut instinct, I felt like Avuri was a good - maybe great - partner to work with. It really came down to how Avuri felt about working with me. And I wouldn’t stick my nose into that situation; the subject matter was too personal to interfere.

I decided I wouldn’t get anywhere by sitting here thinking about it. With that decided, I swung my legs out of bed and made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water and a late night snack. As I turned the corner into the kitchen, Avuri greeted me with a little wave from the kitchen table, where she sat with a glass of her own.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” She asked.

“You say that as if being up in the middle of the night isn’t normal for us.”

“Fair enough.” She chuckled. “Even though I’m physically used to the lesser sleep schedule, it still feels a little weird to need so much less. And it’s been years since it changed.” She said, staring down at her water. Her finger lightly traced the rim.

I triggered the water Array to fill my glass and leaned against the counter. “I’ve never been good at sleeping at night.” I said wryly. “Needing so much less sleep made me actually feel so much better. I wasn’t constantly sleep deprived afterward.” I laughed, trying to diffuse some of the tension that seemed to be forming between us.

Avuri, in response, just suddenly thumped the table with her hands and shot to her feet. “I think we should do it.”

I blinked at her sudden movement. “You…what?”

“I think we should try Paired Cultivation…” Avuri said, then muttered, looking unsure of herself. “If…if you want to.”

I stared at her for a moment, then laughed. I struggled to keep myself somewhat quiet to avoid waking Cierra a few rooms away, but managed to stifle myself. Avuri looked at me, stricken. “What? You don’t have to laugh about it like that.” She said, starting to look angry.

“No, that’s not it.” I said, trying to recover my breath. “I thought about it while laying in bed for the last few hours. I decided if you were amenable to it, I would be all in.” I took a big gulp of water. “You’re sure about this?” I asked.

“Not even a little.” Avuri laughed. I gave her a concerned look in response, which apparently made her reconsider. “Alright, that’s not quite right. I’m sure. My gut has said I could trust you from day one, Emery. And while I’m not sure I want to commit for life or anything, I think pairing with you to help us both reach the Sky Realm is a good idea.”

“And you’re comfortable with the other stuff?” I asked, wanting to be sure. “I don’t want to take part in anything until I’m sure we’re both comfortable with it.”

Avuri nodded. “Yes. I am comfortable with it.” There was a pause before she added. “Just the physical closeness, to be clear.”

“Of course.” I responded. Our eyes locked for a moment before I went to take another big gulp of water, mostly out of my urge to fidget.

And then the woman across from me had the gall to add, “I might be amenable to more in a few weeks..” And then she gave me one of the most suggestive looks I had seen from someone in years.

I coughed and sputtered, rather spectacularly, sending a bunch of water up and out my nose and mouth. Avuri just laughed at me, doubled over. While I was recovering, I tried to motion at her to be quiet. To her credit, she glanced down the hall toward Cierra’s room and immediately quieted her laughter.

I hacked and coughed, trying to rid my sinuses of the remaining water. Avuri walked over and rubbed my back and lightly smacked it, trying to assist.

“Are you alright? I didn’t mean for you to end up coughing so bad.”

“Yeah, sure.” I said, my voice coming out broken and scratchy. “You absolutely did that on purpose.”

Avuri nodded with a grin. “I wanted to see water come out of your nose.”

I smiled, finally more or less recovered. “Did you want to go talk to Vale now? Tell him we’re interested?”

She considered for a moment, then shook her head. “No, it’s been a few hours. I imagine he’s in meditation now. We should go to bed.”

“Together?” I asked, giving her as suggestive a look as I could manage.

To my dismay, she was not thrown off at all, but instead considered it. “Why not?” She said finally, with a shrug. “If we do this tomorrow, we’re gonna be a lot closer than sleeping in the same bed half clothed. May as well get comfortable.”

“I suppose you’re right…” I said, then chuckled. “We are doing all of this so far out of order.”

“All of what?” Avuri asked, as she began to clean up her late night snack.

I motioned nebulously around us. “I’ve met you…let’s be generous and say four times. And we’ve bathed together, are about to share a bed, and have decided to Cultivate together.”

Avuri raised a brow at me. “So…what? Are you…propositioning me, Miss Emery?” She gave me a sultry look up and down, and licked her lips. “I could be amenable.” As her gaze traveled back up to my face, our eyes locked.

And then we both broke out laughing. Still somewhat quietly to avoid bothering Cierra, but whether it was laughing at the joke or to banish the awkwardness of the moment was something I wasn’t too sure of.

Worse, as we walked toward the master bedroom to try to get a couple hours of sleep, I found myself thinking about whether her statement was genuine or not.