Page 69 of Storms & Sacrifice
With a handful of new clothes, I look around for the changing area we used last time, a tall divider blocking out a corner of the room. I start to walk over, then notice I’m doing it on my own. I look over at Khazak, who instead of following me is aimlessly looking around at the clothes still on shelves. Huh?
“Are you not gonna help me try them on?” I ask with much more confidence than I would have two months ago.
“I did not think you needed my assistance this time.” He looks surprised at myquestion.
“Someone’s gotta tell me if they look good, right?” I try to give my best flirty smile.
“I suppose I am qualified for that.” He smiles as he walks toward me and follows me the rest of the way to the changing area.
I put the pile of clothing down on the chair behind the divider, turning to face Khazak before I start stripping. And I do mean stripping. I start to very slowly unbutton my shirt, trying to look as sexy as possible as I reveal my lightly furred chest. From watching his face, it seems like it works, his eyes traveling down my chest to my stomach. Hanging my shirt over the back of the chair, I unbutton my pants next, pushing them down to slowly reveal the dark red jockstrap coveringmy crotch.
I wonder if I should get some new underwear, too? It probably wouldn’t hurt, but if I’m being honest, these jockstraps are actually pretty damn handy. Not covering your ass aside, they do a great job of keeping all your bits in place, and the straps stay tight, which is more important than you’d think in a fight. Still not convinced of the combat applications of thongs, though.
Once the pants are off, it’s time to start trying new things on, something else I make sure to take my time with. I turn to the chair, silently examining the pile like I need to decide what’s first, making sure my ass remains on display. Of course, I just end up grabbing what’s on the top, a dark brown shirt, but that just means I get to not wear pants a little longer.
I pull the shirt on by its sleeves, slowly buttoning it from bottom to top. I turn as I dress, Khazak’s eyes torn between following my hands and staring at my butt.Good.When I finish with the shirt, I take a moment to stretch, gratuitously enough to make Khazak laugh before I reach forthe pants.
It’s not super easy to look sexy while putting on pants, but damned if I don’t try, pulling them up to just under the curve of my ass, lifting it that much more before I finally let the waist slip over. What? I’ve had this entire flirting “asset” back here for years without knowing. I’ve got some time to make up for.
The outfit gets the approval I wanted, though not as much as the strip tease. I start to undress again, and as much as I’d love to take my time and draw all of this out, we do have to get back to work at some point. I still make sure I look damn good doing it, but I try on the next few outfits a little quicker.
Four gold pieces and one new wardrobe later, Khazak places my purchases into his bag, and the two of us bid the shopkeeperfarewell.
“We still have some time before we are due back at the station,” Khazak tells me as we exit the shop. “Was there anything else you wanted topurchase?”
There isn’t a whole lot else I can think of supply-wise that I’d wanna get right now. Definitely not anything like food. But there is one thing in the last couple of months that I’ve realized is worth taking with me: books. Or at least,abook.
“Can we stop by the bookstore?” All the time we’ve spent reading by the fire has kinda grown on me.
“Of course,” he answers with a nod. “Perhaps Nylan isworking.”
The bookstore is on the way back to the station, not far from the marketplace. I’ve been there a couple of times in the past with Khazak, just to pick up a book he’s had the shop order for him. It’s nice, if not a little small, and most of the books are in Atasi. But I know they carry some stuff in Common too, and if Ny’s working, he’ll help me out.
We walk in the open door to see that Nyisworking, currently speaking with a customer. “Speaking” is generous. It looks more like he’s being berated and is desperately trying to keep a smile on his face instead of yelling back. The person giving him a hard time is a short, older orc gentleman, and I of course don’t understand a thing being said.
It takes a few minutes, but eventually the man is either satisfied with Nylan’s responses to his questions, or he’s just tired of yelling and decides to leave. He gives both Khazak and me a real stink eye as he walks out for no apparent reason. Real charmer.
“Hey guys!” Nylan greets us cheerfully once he notices us, then looks down behind the counter in front of him. “Are we supposed to have an order in foryou, sir?”
“No, we are not here for me this time, Nylan.” Khazak nods in mydirection.
“Really?” He looks over to me, surprised. “You didn’t strike me as much ofa reader.”
I could choose to take that as an insult to my intelligence, but I won’t. “Yeah, just figured if I’m going to be on the road again in two weeks, it might be worth bringing a book or twowith me.”
“Aww, that’s right. You’re leaving soon.” The elf frowns. “Not a bad idea, though. What kind of books are you looking for? Anythingspecific?”
“Uhh...” I probably should have thought about this more. “I don’t know. When I was little, I used to love reading stories about heroes and dragons, but that’s pretty childish, right?”
“What? No.” He shakes his head. “There’s tons of adventure novels for adults. People wouldn’t write them if other people didn’t want to read them.”
“Oh. Well, I still don’t know the names of any good ones.” I scratch the back of my head, starting to feel like a dumb jock again.
“I can think of a few books you might like.” Nylan taps his fingers against the counter as he thinks. “Give me a day or two, and I’ll pull some and bring them by your place.”
“That would be great.” He’s the one who works in a bookstore, so I’m happy to trust his judgement on what I should read. “Just tell me how much I owe you. I have money now!”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll work something out.” Ny winks at me, and I learn that I am very okay with trading sex for books. “Is there anything else you might like?”
