Stumbling Skyward

Fenja immediatly hooked onto this idea. "Yeah! That would be good for him. Always been trying to get him to see someone. Right. You're going to visit my friend. And you are gonna be nice. Else, you're dinner. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll something shiny to repay you with."

Fenja pointed to the small sack on her back. "I'm a bit of a packrat when it comes to loot. Everyone's got their thing. For Grip, it's books. For me, it's the treasure. Alot of it is real pretty."

Fenja couldn't help giving a little smirk. "And don't think that the fairy and I will forget about the sex toy idea any time soon." A little cruel, but pretty funny to see the expression on the elf's face.

Angella's expression turned into one of pure terror she struggled to escape "ok ok ok 'll see your friend just don't eat me"she says terrified both of the idea of being dinner and of being a sex toy
Aleena smiled and flew out from angella's pocket and then landed on fenja's shoulder

Fenja gave a thin smile and whispered to Aleena on her shoulder.

"So, do we use her as a sex toy before or after we drop her off with Grip?"

Fenja also noticed around this time they were getting close to Baras' cabin. She paused, stopping a little short of the area.

Aleena thought for a moment "after we drop her off with grip" she says smiling as she looks at angella
Angella is shocked when they suddenly stop "w..whats wrong"she says nervously "why did you stop"

"Well, we're here, of course." Fenja walked over to the pool, where the Sphere was resting. She knelt down and tapped gently on the side.

"Grip! Hey, Grip!"

Grip emerged. "What is it? You were gone for some time." he said, trying to be subtle.

"Yeah, the fairy and I were busy having sex." said Fenja with total bluntness. "Anyways, I brought someone who wanted to see you. We found an elf and she seemed nice enough so we brought her back."

Grip was a bit confused. Fenja generally ate elves at any opportunity. And what did she think she was doing just shoving one on him?

Fenja brought the elf up to her mouth, standing up and whispering so Grip couldn't hear.

"Ok. Now, you stick around here. You may be able to see me, but you don't know if the fairy is watching you. Now, he's really shy, pretty much a total recluse. And is pretty sarcastic when he wants to be. Just keep in mind that he's not good with people, but is really quite nice when he wants to be. And he's never rude, something I appreciate and I hope and elf like you can understand."

Fenja paused, thinking.

"Oh. And he's not seen a girl for quite a while. For quite a long time." She said slowly and deliberatly. "I hope you catch my drift, if you know what I'm saying. She flashed a dirty look and both the elf and the fairy.

"Now, you be good or...we'll use you as a sex toy. Then eat you if we're really mad. Or maybe I'll eat you and then use you as a sex toy. Or, uh whatever. So, have fun."

She moved her hand down towards the Sphere. Grip moved back down the hatch to make room. Gently pinching the elf, Fenja lowered her into the hatch, which she closed behind her.

"Jeez." she said. "I'm such a great friend, aren't I?"

Aleena smiled and patted fenja's shoulder "you sure are"
Angella rubbed her arm nervously as she was put in the sphere she made herself comfy before looking at grip "hello my name's angella its a um nice place you have here and your um your big friend seems.....nice"she says smiling softly she looks aound the sphere nervousy she looked otside and saw fnja standing there she then looked back at grip "so um what do you um want to do"she sys nervously

Grip was nonplussed for a few moments. He was still a bit annoyed at Fenja, but he had a guest at the moment.

"Ah, yes. She definatly is interesting to travel with."

Grip then noticed that the elf's clothes were slightly torn and she remains of what Grip had long ago learned to identify as digestive juice and saliva. His suspcions rose, but he decided to discuss that with Fenja later.

"You look a bit...disheveled. You're free to use anything in the Sphere. There's a shower there...a fold away toilet...bookshelf." He began to remember how darn small this thing was.

"Really, alot of my stuff is stowed away. So if you need anything, just ask and I'll try to find it. Oh, and uh, it would probably be best if you didn't touch anything at the front. The systems are rather...delicate."

He shifted a bit, uncertain.

Angella laughed a little as she looked around "wow thanks for the offer but um i'll pass i think ilike what you've done wih this place its.....roomy and does it realy hace all that stuff in here that is amazing"she says in awe she then turns and looks back at grip "so what stuff do you like?"she says smiling as she put a hand on grip's knee

Aleena giggled "so what do you thinks going to happen fenja"she says giggling a little

Hmm. Not something that he'd often thought about - what he liked. He was a bit surprised when she touched him - but of course, that was how most people on this planet were.

"Hmm. Well, I do enjoy reading alot. Actually, its more the collecting and the reading. I have a lot of books from back home and from Felarya. Some of the things that have been recorded about this place are...fascinating."

"I guess I also like engineering, a bit. I'm not the best, but I know enough to keep this thing together...just working on something can be a lot of fun."

He paused. He realized that there was alot of stuff he enjoyed that one simply couldn't do travelling on Felarya.

"One thing...I used to enjoy, and still would, I guess, would be music. I can't make any at all, but I used to enjoy going to see performances and such. I have some busted up music playing equipment somewhere in here...but I didn't manage to bring any recordings with me. Sometimes I wish that I still had them..."

Angella listened intently partly because she was interested partly because she didn't want to be eaten
"oh realy thats interesting i like music infact i play music myself"Angella says smiling she pulls out an instrument and begins to play a soft tune

"so fenja how long do you think it will be before they get it on"Aleena asks smiling as she pats fenja's shoulder

Grip listened to the tune. This was unlike anything he'd heard back home. The music flowed freely, unwritten and spontaneous. He stopped, completely silent, simply listening.

------

"Hmmm." said Fenja. "I don't really know. These little races are a lot wierder when it comes to that. Have you had any experience with sex with humans or elves?"

Fenja was lying out where she wasn't visible from the Sphere, listening to reports from the fairy, who could flit around the windows without being spotted.

Aleena blushed "well there were these humans took a little while to get them to do it although my being naked helped a lot there"she says smiling as she looked back at the sphere

Angella played the music for a few more minutes she allowed the msic to flow freely and peacefully when she finnaly stopped she moved the instrument away from her mouth took a breathe and said "so did you like that?"

"That was...beautiful" was all he could say. That was the truth, plain and simple. Grip looked at her more closely. She was very beautiful, in fact. But he still noticed the torn clothing...

"I...have to ask you something" he said. He would probably regret this later, but he couldn't continue without knowing.

"Did Fenja try to eat you? And...what did she end up doing to get you here?" Grip had had an experience like this in the past. He glanced out the window. He couldn't see Fenja.

Angella looked at her feet her shoes had been melted away from the acids "well um she did actualy eat me because she had this thing in her stomach and wanted me to get it out but i didn't want to so she ate me anyway then ifound the device,everything went white and then i ended up on the outside of her stomach and welli don't realy know how i got here but i think the fairy had something to do with it"she says nervously while looking at her feet

"Ah." said Grip. Fenja had been known to do that before. "I'm sorry...although that's probably better in the long run. If she used that device and you got out, it means that she won't eat you again. She has a...complex system for honour and things like that. Basically, in a wierd way, it means that you proved yourself to her. You've been promoted above prey."

"As for the fairy...well, I simply don't trust them that much. But Fenja seems interested in this one, at least in a physical sense, so I'll probably have to put up with that."

He looked around, uncertain. He'd suspected that Fenja had just brought the elf here.

"Look...I'm really sorry about that. If you want, I can talk to her and make her let you walk away. It's not fair that you have to be stuck here."

He had actually enjoyed the company - but it just wasn't right if company was basically a hostage.

Angella shook her head violently "no no don't do that i i'm fine realy i am i just i don't know i have plenty of er chance that she'll see me again anyway i may not be so lucky next time so no don't trouble yourself with it"she says before looking nervously out the window

Aleena flew away from the window and back to fenja "can't be certain but i think grip wants her to leave"she says smiling a little

"If you're certain." said Grip. "Like I said, I can make her leave you alone and let you leave, if you want." He paused. "And you don't have to stay in here either. We can go outside or do whatever. I promise I won't let her eat you."

---

"Dang." said Fenja. "I knew he'd mess this up. Hmm. Well, lets see. If he screws up too bad, we might have to intervene."

Angella sighed she gave grip a small smile "yeah we could go outside why don't we go for a walk"she says smiling getting to her feet bent over slightly

Aleena sighed "yeah too bad anyway why do you want him to find someone"she asks curiously glancing at the sphere she could see movement inside

"That's actually a good idea. This general area is pretty much predator clear...well, dangerous predator clear. Theres a cabin on the other side of the clearing with a pretty powerful guy living there. He seems to keep most preds out." Grip climbed up to the hatch, undoing it and helping Angella up, before climbing down some rungs in the side.

---

"Well...hmm." said Fenja. "It just seems right, doesn't it? I mean, you and I got off pretty well from the start. But he's very...isolationist. I find it hard talking to him and I've known him a while. He seems to not be interested to talking to humans. I'm pretty sure I've heard that if you're alone for that long you go crazy or something. It's just...healthy for him, I guess."

She paused.

"Plus I just find doing this kind of fun and cute." she admitted.

"realy that's interesting but there's still those two i don't like"Angella says as she jumps down rom he sphere landing perfectly on her feet upon the grass "so anywere particular you want to walk to or around"she asks curiously "i mean i probably don't know this area as well as you do"

Aleena giggled "fun well i can see how it would be fun when things don't work out and cute well i don't see how it could be cute strange maybe but no cute"she says watching the two exit the sphere "ohthey've got out should i follow them?"

Grip looked around. Still no sign of Fenja and the fairy - but the fairy could shrink and Fenja could be very stealthly when she wanted to.

"Well, I haven't really bothered to look around this area." he said. "Not really beyond the pool and the waterfall" he said, gesturing to the water near them. He looked over the pool again. He noticed that there was a second, smaller waterfall he hadn't noticed. It made an odd steaming when it hit the main pool. He looked up and noticed that there was steam rising from where it came. He was confused at first, but then it dawned on him.

"Hmm. Looks like halfway up there is a hot spring. I hadn't noticed that before." He was now curious. "Want to go check it out? I think we can find a path to there."

----

"Well...come on. If it does work out it would be a little cute." pondered Fenja. "Yeah, keep following them. It's gonna be harder for me to keep watching. So don't miss anything!"

Aleena smiled "sue thing"she says and then skillfully flys into angella's pocke without being seen

Angella smiled she looked around the water she to noticed the steam and looked around for the source "ooh how romantic sure i'd love to go check it ou"she says smiling she felt a lmp in her pocket but because she kept her knife in there she dismissed it she looked for a way up to the spring and noticed some rocks she could climb shee walked over to them and soon began to climb the rocks

Romantic? That was an interesting choice of words. Grip followed behind the elf, making decent progress towards the spring. The view was admittedly fantastic. Grip was glad that he couldn;t see that fairy. Lord knows what she would do if she was around...

He finally made it over the top. He gently touched the water. It was hot, but not too much so. They were rather lucky. He removed his boots and put his feet into the water.

Angella smiled she enjoyed the view she sighed when she got to the top she stood next to grip "nice view huh?"she says before testing the water in the spring Angella smiled she took off her top and bra then her trousers and panties before she jumped into the water and surfaced again smiling

Aleena smled she flew out of angella's pocket and back to fenja "something's about to happen im sure of it the elf just got naked"she says smiling

Grip was entirely unsure what to do at this point. He was smart enough to realize that being embarrased was the wrong response. But he was not sure of what to do. He took off his dark goggles, laying them on his coat, which he also took off. It was much hotter up here. He didn't enter the water. Just watched.