Chapter 576
No longer a living, breathing organic being. No, I’m a teddy bear. A huge, stuffed huggable bundle of fluff is what I’ve become... fated to an unbreakable embrace for all eternity.
Compared to the blistering cold of the outdoors before, right now I’ve never been any warmer in my life.
Her arms, like soft, smooth caressing feathers holding me tight. The top of her head glistening white would lightly graze the tip of my nose, and more and more, it was beginning to feel as if her body was melting into mine.
If this was the life of plushies, then as a species, I daresay we humans are seriously missing out on a lot.
Then there were the noises.
Little noises.
.....
Ash noises.
And I just completely die inside.
“Mmm, Master, my Master~” she’d softly murmur, expressing her delight with purrs she’d muffle against the fabric of my clothes, ears wriggling as she buried herself deeper. “I missed this, I’ve longed for this, this simple pleasure, ah, this smell, this scent... my Master’s scent~”
Ash then took a loud long whiff, and at once, I felt her freeze stiff, her pointed ears snapping to a straight rigid bridge, to then be followed by a long disgruntled groan.
A not-so-pleasant noise.
“I see Lady Irene has long accompanied you for today, hasn’t she?”
Oh right, almost forgot. I seriously reek.
Knew I should have taken that damn shower.
“Lady Amanda too, my...” Ash made another unpleasant noise. “Oh, Master my lovely Master... quite the eventful day it has been for you, hasn’t it?”
“You’d be surprised...” I muttered.
“Ah, I truly resent this dreaded sickness of mine!” She suddenly bellowed, slamming down a fist on the sheets that momentarily sent us both bouncing. “Rendering me unfit to indulge in what were once my simple pleasures. Touching Master, feeling Master, being with him – it is unjust, unfair! To be forced away from you is a cruelty like no other.”
“I’m here now...” I assured her, shushing her back to a calmer level. “And I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
‘And I will take this instance for granted no longer, then. From this moment onwards, I will resolve to hold Master forever and ever. Never to be separated, never to be apart. From dawn to dusk, I shall remain by your side.”
“Well, that might be a bit troublesome actually,” I responded, indulging her woozy self for the time being. “I have to go to work tomorrow, you see.”
Ash sounded a quite raspy groan, muttering out a solution, “Then I’ll simply work alongside you too.”
“There’s also that acting thing too afterward...”
“Then I shall engage in that acting thing with you too,” She vehemently proclaimed, fastening her arms around my back, tightening her hold. “I will always be with you. As your Servant, your Elf, your Wife...”
“Wife?”
“Knight!” She quickly corrected herself, jerking a little. “After all, it is best we stay inseparable... no, I want to stay inseparable.”
“So which is it then?” I asked. “Is it for the best, or is it what you want?”
Ash quietly pondered the question, drawing out a long crackly note that’d eventually shape out into her answer. “What I want is for the best.”
“Very wise...” I agreed with her.
“Indeed,” She replied, humming sluggishly with glee, mushing our bodies even closer to each other. “Mmm~ Master agrees... Master said yes... now it’s forever a promise to be upheld.”
Didn’t say a word to discourage her. Give it ten-fifteen minutes, and all of this would just be a dream, just scattered bits and pieces of a foggy, rather dubious memory.
But there’s just one thing though... two things, actually... that’s really wearing down at my restraints. Those two things – I could feel them, every move she made, always brushing, pressing, shifting, those soft tantalizing sensations... it was seriously getting harder and harder to keep my hands to myself.
“No bra?” I asked, quietly huffing, puffing, and sharpening my dwindling mental fortitude. “Didn’t we get you some just the other day?”
“Hm? A bra?” She slowly peered up at me, batting dreary blinks without a single clue of what I’m referring to. “Ah, those restrictive things, yes, I remember.” a small smile began to form, expelling a little giggle. “I don’t like them. Master, they’re restrictive. An added discomfort to my already debilitating ailment. I most prefer the liberation I feel without them.”
“They’re kinda necessary,” I reminded her. “Outdoors especially.”
“Necessary, yes, yes, unequivocally, yes, but not at home, surely?” She slurred, paying little heed and drawing out a loosely swaying finger to jut at my chest to go with her ditzy smile. “And most certainly, not with you, especially. I know Master... and I know my Master’s a true gentleman, well-mannered... never one to really admit his true pleasures so brazenly.”
Again, she shifted closer, harder... and the light suppleness I felt rubbing on me was like very stimulating jolts of lightning. Ash propped her chin against my chest, an almost coyish look to her heavy, sleepy gaze.
“But you needn’t be hesitant, Master. You can say it, admit it, I want you too...” She feebly giggled. “A simple admission of truth, ‘I love my beloved Ash’s breasts’, allow me to hear you proclaim...”
It was quickly getting hot in a way that I think didn’t have to do with the stuffy blanket. Is there a research paper somewhere I can read that says anything about hibernating sickness equating to a lack of shame?
Maybe I should go back to the wiki again...
“Must... must I really?” I asked, feeling something pop into existence, and wedging itself in my throat. “Seems like you already know that.”
“Aww, Master’s embarrassed. You’re embarrassed, what an endearing, loveable sight. I could simply stare at you for ages,” Ash leaned in closer, her frail breathing blowing hot against my lips. “I know you love them, Master... and that’s precisely why I wish to hear you say it. Flatter me, praise me, like you always do... won’t you?”
“Yeah, but – ”
I was abruptly interrupted. Ash shifted slightly back, failing to stifle a cough that sapped her of most of her energy.
Yet if you ask me though, it kinda sounded a little forced there... especially considering that quick sly glance I saw her throw in-between wheezes. Alas, I can’t really be sure though, so...
Fine.
I let out a sigh, waited for her to be done, and unabashedly confessed, “I love my beloved Ash’s breasts.”
The smile and look that formed on her face then, had no close equal. No words left her widely curved lips, thoroughly satisfied. Instead, she just settled back down, conveying her appreciation once more with another loving embrace.
For the longest time, we just lay in silence – tangled in a web of our limbs. I watched her struggle as her eyelids began to heavier and heavier, listened, as her breathing grew fainter and fainter.
Gone was her boldness, her teasing expression, sleep, and exhaustion quickly overtaking everything else, but her smile still prominently lingered, never once fading even when slipping into the slippery slope of slumber.
I carefully parted her bangs, planting a light kiss on her forehead, to which she reacted with a little purr... almost like a cat.
Ash was more asleep than awake at this point... which makes her the perfect candidate for a test run. Anything after this point would be but a dream, including any and all spoilt surprises in store.
“Hey, Ash?” I began, and I saw her ears perked, paying heed – I continued. “Say, if you could have anything you could ever want, what would it be?”
“Ah...” She exhaled, uttering slowly. “I... have Master... already. I need nothing more...”
See, I knew that already. But that wasn’t the answer that I was looking for, flattering as it may be.
“Give it a little more thought, come on,” I said, deciding to reword the question a little. “If I, me... if I could give you anything you wanted, what would it be?”
Ash gave a big yawn, turning around to face me with barely parted eyes.
“Alas, Master...” She drawled, slightly amused. “I fear you’ve already missed the opportunity... do you recall? That night, at the lake, as we... consummated our love... remember... the request I’ve made to you?”
Ahh, yep... can’t forget that. But again...
“Aside from that,” I pressed her on. “Anything else, Ash, anything your heart desires...”
“Anything...” her lips sounding a silent chuckle. “Truly, Master... anything at all? Really?”
She sounded doubtful... in an endearing sort of way.
“Yes, Ash,” I affirmed to her. “Anything you want.”
“Anything my heart’s desire and Master will grant...” She repeated, and her eyes fell shut for the longest time. “Very well...” She muttered suddenly, just as I was thinking to shake her awake. “Anything... Master said... anything...”
Hearing that, I decided to add a last-minute amendment. “Anything within reason, of course.”
“Within reason,” She parroted again, nodding, falling, and I think, not actually listening. “What I wish... what I want...”
I barely heard it, she barely said it... speaking a desire that more belonged in the realm of dreams than they did reality.
And hearing her say it, I honestly didn’t know to which realm that request truly stemmed from.
“I wish to meet with my little sister again.”
Within reason, that’s what I said, that’s what she heard...
Right...