Nicorina is made to stand still, with her arms out and legs spread, while Mave goes about taking her measurements. "Hmmm, and you want to be on your best behavior for this party, rather than just do as you want?" the Yodhinala asks the naked (but very decorated) Skreek, as if making sure that's what Nicky actually asked her. Tulani is off in the racks of costumes and dresses that fill up a large section of Mave's underground bunker beneath the Temple of Inala.
"Well, it is supposed t' be an importan' dinner an all," Nicorina claims as she's measured. The only part of her that keeps moving constantly is her tail. "An I don' t'ink even in Babel it be lookin' good iffin I be havin' sex in public wit' everyone I meet. Even iffin it does feel good t' have things inside me." The skreek then cackles maniacally at that very thought!
"And your escort is the man your body craves most, isn't it?" Mave asks, putting away her measuring string.
"I'd be on me hands and knees for 'im day an night," Nicorina confirms and grins in a rather disturbing way. "Wit' him either behind, or in front of me!"
"So, you need something to take your mind off of that particular activity then," Mave deduces, as she plays with on Nicorina's rings. "I can use this in the dress design," she says, and removes the chastity-chain. "There is something that might work. But it means going to collect the Tears of Inala, which grow only near the graves of the Yodhinala. Are you up for such a task?"
"Take me mind off the activity how?" Nicorina inquires as she squints at the Yodhinala. She also leans over and licks Mave's cheek when her rings are played with, then the chain drawn out of them. "Y' should play wit does more often," she cackles. "An I guess I kin try and collect some weird water near a grave."
"The Tears are actually a flower," Mave explains. "Well.. a flowering weed, anyway. The flowers are small, with white and blue petals around a yellow center. The temple cemetery is down the back of the mountain, simply follow the path that leads to the older shrines. Oh, and you mustn't wear any clothes. The flowers should be plucked with as much stem as possible, and worn in your fur to be carried back. Try to collect at least three dozen."
"I gots t' go naked? Kin I keep my jewelry in? I feel really weird without it in," Nicky claims as she proceeds to play gently with her nosering.
"There are no rules about jewelry," Mave notes. "I suppose you could use some of it to hold the flowers too.."
"An what d' dese flowers do?" Niccky asks, looking slightly relieved that she can keep her jewelry.
"They will help to soothe things," Mave notes. "To bring calmness."
"Y'make it sound like I gonna be in pain," Nicky remarks. "Anyways, I go gets yer flowers an such, all nakedlike. At least no one else is here, so it be quiet."
"It was not unusual for the Yodh to go unclothed into the gardens," Mave notes. "I spent many an evening meditating in the nude."
"It be nice t' be naked, anyway. I likes it," Nicorina notes as she heads for the exit. "I be back soon, wit' as many flowers as I can carry!"
As nice as nudity is, it's still a bit off to be naked in an crumbling, abandoned ruin. At least the path is easy to follow, especially since the gardens are dead, dirt-filled stone boxes at the moment. Further down, however, Nicky can make out.. a crowd of naked women! Well, Eeee. And statues of them, at that. The important or especially well-liked Yodh were immortalized in stone of course.
Nicky whistles to herself as she walks, unashamed to be naked, though also not unaware that it does feel a bit off here. Her whistling stops momentarily when she spots the statues through the garden. "Ah, dere we go. Dey musta been a pretty lot," the skreek comments as she makes her way through the dead garden slowly. "Kinda wish sometimes I was born as one; I have a gift fer pleasure."
A better gift right now might be a gardener; the areas between the statues and graves are choked with vines and weeds.. but none of them have the all important flower! Well, there's one visible next to some former high-priestess's stone toe at least.
"Oh great, dis is gonna take forever wit dem just so hard to find," Nicky complains after a few minutes of searching through the weeds, only to finally spot one. She goes to collect that one at least. She'll tuck it by her ear she decides as she bends over to pick it up.
That's one! Another flash of blue-white-yellow catches her eye from a different statue. After searching nearly every spot in the cemetery, Nikky has managed to collect five flowers.. and that's when she spots the motherload. A little higher up the slope, there's something that looks like an entrance to a dug-in shrine or tomb, and there must be dozens of the plants climbing up between the stone bricks, and hundreds of the flowers!
And what has Nicky done? She has hung the five flowers from the five rings that adorn her 'altar'. "Oh, dere we go!" she declares as she finally spots the shrine further up where the other flowers are. Happier now, she whistles again as she heads up the slope to that collection of flowers and the tomb. "I wonder who dat was?" she muses along the way.
There aren't any markings on the open entry, which seems to go fairly deep - deeper than the fading daylight, certainly. But there are plenty of flowers! Maybe it was the gardener's grave?
"So, in Nicky goes, gathering flowers and tucking them here and there all over her body. She even ends up with one dangling from her nose ring in the process. At one point she even goes a bit of the way into the shrine. "Who was dis for?" she asks.
Just as she asks, she feels a rumble in the floor, brought up through her bare feet. And it's getting stronger, as if the source were moving closer..
"Ooo, dat is never good!" Nicky says as she quickly backpedals her way back out of the shrine! "Something might have come t' live here."
The rumbling because audible, and the sounds of.. snorting accompany it. Just as the Skreek gets back to the lip of the entry, something big charges out of the shrine and scoops her up over its shoulder!
"Oh crap! It be the servant of Inala, Rugharo!" Nicky finally realizes. She tries to squirm out of its grip!
"I have you now, Shrine.." the monster begins to say, coming to a stop and holding Nicky out in front of it. Rugharo is big.. certainly bigger than the other guardian demons. The odd mix of Eeee and Rughrat result in something that looks ugly. The head is too small, with giant rams horns curling from the sides, which actually squash down the Eeee-like ears. Teeth are too big and flat for the mouth, the eyes too small and beady and black. A giant ring is looped through the oversized nostrils, and the beast may or may not have a neck. It's body is far to muscular for any Eeee, and probably for a few Vartans even. His legs look Eeee-like, but end in hooves, and his wings are huge and wooly. Between the legs is.. well, Nicky's never see what a Rughrat bull packs before, but it's definitely.. bullish.
"Who the hell are you?" the monster demands.
Nicky's eyes are huge as she stares at this beast that now holds her! "Nice horns," she squeaks as her own be-ringed nose quivers; the ring tiny in comparison to his. "I be a friend of the Yodhinala; I was sent t' collect flowers for Yodhinala Mave," she answers. "I be Nicorina, de tail."
"Tail?" Rugharo snorts, bringing his muzzle close (or Nicky closer, since he's still got her by the arms) and sniffs her. "What does that mean?"
"I be a follower of Inala, too!" Nicky squeaks out to placate the beast. "'er mark is tattooed in me skin right above me altar." The question comes and her ears twitch, "It means, uhm, sometimes I be a ship prostitute. An outlet for de sailors."
"You'll do then," the demon says. Nicky is pushed down on top of a tomb and despite all her experience in different types, including Fnerf's.. this is unique. It's liked being violated by a barbell. The internal ridges probably don't even register on the monster - but as a 'blessed' guardian of Inala, Rugharo has the ability to mate with anything it seems without causing horrific damage. It still hurts though.
The sound a skreek makes when it's in pain is quite loud! Her eyes are also clenches and watering as the sacred beast satiates itself on her much smaller form. It may not be damaging, but it hurts and boy does she feel full with the creature inside her. It's also probably the first time Nicky actually pleads for someone to stop!
It's possible that Rugharo hears her pleas, for he does stop for a moment. "That is not how you pray," he says gruffly, then flips the Skreek over onto her stomach and grabs her tail, which he hoists high. And then, either the monster has bad aim, or the Yodhinala are expected to use ever orifice at their disposal.
If Nicorina thought she felt full before; this adds a whole new dimension to it! She might have enjoyed it where her partner more gentle, or smaller ... but he's making her feel like she's going to burst! It's hard to say mugh of anything like this; but the beast's comment about prayer gets her to think in moments of less pain. "Inala," she squeaks out through clenched teeth, "I pray to you to allow me to have these sacred flowers. I give unto you and your sacred demon my body. He blesses me with the honor of being his... rut." And as much as she wants to tell the creature to stop, the poor skreek ends up pleading, "Don't stop..."
It seems to go on until Nicky is sure she'll never be able to walk or have normal bodily functions after this. But it does stop, eventually. "On your hands and knees," the demon commands.
Dripping with .. well, Nicky doesn't dare look for fear of blood; the skreek's ears fold back. She's about to object; but fear something worse might happen if she does directs her movements. They're slow and awkward; and the skreek has to keep her legs spread because of the discomfort, but she does make it down on her hands and knees before the beast. Her head is bowed and she's looking at the ground.
Something bumps the Skreek in the forehead. "Pleasure me," Rugharo growls. "If I have to thrust, you will be swallowing your teeth."
"Oh Goddess, he wants m' to..." the skreek thinks. she swallows, then lifts her head up. Since the order was to be on her hands and knees, she just has to use her mouth ... and while it is something she's good at, this situation is rather disturbing. It's a unique experience to be licking something so oddly shaped; and even moreso when she further works this horrible demon by putting her muzzle around what torments her to ... nurse.
The whole ordeal is made worse by the fact that Rugharo never changes his expression. He looks constantly angry, and may as well be made of stone as far as body language goes, so there's just no way to tell if he's being 'pleased' or is about to violently create a new opening in the back of Nicky's skull. Even the part she's in intimate contact with feels.. not dead but hardly alive.
"Iffin his fountain releases, I might drown," Nicky finds herself think while she works. And work she does, because that expression drives her to! She doesn't want him to get more aggressive, so she has to get creative, insistent, and make a lot of use of the stud in her tongue. This might be the first time Nicky has ever been afraid of a male.
Just before Nicky is out of tricks, and her jaw feels like it's going to be locked in position forever, Rugharo says, "Enough," and withdraws. It isn't clear if he was satisfied (just as it wasn't clear earlier - the demon never seemed to be enjoying any of it). "Clearly it is only the Shrine Maiden that can satisfy me," he declares, and cups his hands over Nicky. When he pulls them apart, a small shower of Inala's Tears flowers falls on her. Without another word, the monster turns his back and marches towards the shrine.
Nicky remains on her hands and knees until she can't see Rugharo. "/Thank the Goddess he's gone. I'm going to talk to Inala about im!" she thinks as her entire body shakes. Once she's satisfied he is gone, she finally inspects her body to see if she suffered any damage at all; she's now worried how, ah, open she might be stretched in certain areas!
Everything looks normal. Nothing is bleeding or torn or shredded, but it sure feels like it was. There's definitely some bruising, and a sore jaw.. but Rugharo wasn't real after all. The demons are just spirits, not physical beings.. aren't they?
Nicky lets out a long breath and gets to her feet. "I 'ope Snowcora never has t' see him; or be 'is lover. De only one she has let touch 'er bottom like dat is Mordecai," the skreek mutters. Gingerly, she crouches down to collect all the flowers. Mave is going to get a yelling, too, for that! She should have warned her.
It's a slow climb back to the Temple. Nicky's hips aren't dislocated.. they just feel like they were, and then the joints popped back into place. It takes nearly an hour, and the sun is fully set by the time Nicky gets back into the hidden bunker.
"Mave," the skreek calls out in obvious pain as she makes her way back down in the bunker. "Dat was a mean trick t' play on me. Dat demon Rugharo used me as 'is rutting toy! It forced 'imself into every part oh me just about, den had de nerve t' not even give me the release of his fountain and walked off!" Therei's a short pause, then she adds, "Also, I got de flowers."
"What?" Mave asks, blinking through her pipe smoke and looking the Skreek over.. noticing the bruising around the rings. "That doesn't make any sense, Nicorina," the Yodh points out. "Rugharo should only appear to Yodh, or Alptraum or Snowcora. Are you sure you didn't.. run into a big ugly rapist or wild animal?"
"No, it was quite 'im. I gots t' hold 'im in me mouth for like an hour, I t'ink I know," Nicora practically growls as she dumps the flowers on a crate near Mave. She tugs on one of her rings afterward and points to the bruising, "An he did dis."
"Hmm, maybe your aura was leaking," Mave suggests, and collects up the flowers. "At least you got enough to deal with this as well. Follow me."
"Feel like 'm all open,/" Nicorina mutters as she follows after Mave. Boy is she walking bowlegged and slow. She also swipes Mave's pipe on the way and puffs on it, hoping it eases the pain.
After several minutes of mashing the flowers to paste in a mortar, Mave adds some sort of oil and mixes it up some more. "Okay, present the parts that hurt," she tells the Skreek.
Nicky eyes Mave for a moment. The skreek then turns around, and bends over, practically hugging her legs and presenting herself to Mave. Even her tail flicks out of the way, presenting her bruised bottom.
The pasty ointment is cool, creamy.. and soothing. Almost numbing, really. It doesn't make the pain go away so much as recede into the background. And Mave doesn't stop with just the bruised parts. The ointment is applied in seemingly bizarre places: the base of her spine just about her tail, the backs of her knees, inside her elbows, behind her ears, over her breasts and around the base of her whiskers and along her cheeks.
There's a sigh of relief when the pain fades into the background at least. "I guess it be a good t'ing he didn't bless me from his fountain; I might have exploded. He be huge," the screen comments to Mave while she works. She also reaches up and pokes at her cheeks where the ointment was applied to see if it really did numb anything.
the skreek
It doesn't feel numb in most of the areas, especially around face. Mave catches her testing them, and explains, "You won't feel anything different, but your.. sensitivity to certain subconscious scents - and ability to produce them - is greatly suppressed for the time being. Your body is blind, deaf and dumb to pheremones, to be more exact."
"Oh, so I can't turn on someone and dey can't turn me on?" Nicorina asks in confirmation. "How long does it last? I don wanna be completely sexless forever!"
"It lasts until you wash it off," Mave notes. "And it doesn't mean you can't be aroused, just that.. well, the mere scent of the First Mate's desire for you won't make you bend over automatically now. More direct means of stimulation still work, of course - but in a public setting, and with you not giving off 'bend me over' scents yourself it should be sufficient. It does carry the risk of being exposed to romance though."
"Oh, well, dat no so bad. I kin still bend over fer him later, in private. Or be on me hands and knees," Nicky says, sounding a little relieved about that. "An I kin deal wit' romance fine. Hmph." she also pauses and notes, "An I gott say, Rugharo is rather rough; didn' expect dat from Inala's demon. I gonna have a talk wit' her about dat."
"Well, I'm sure he's gentle with the right partner," Mave claims. "He always seemed like a big puppy to me. Your dress is ready, as well."
"It is? Can I see it? Will it make me pretty?" Nicky asks, her ears perking up. "Well, prettier. An should I remove my jewelry fer it?"
"I modified it with your jewelry in mind," Mave notes, she presents a bit of red Zolk and Grabbit-silk webbing. Like all Babelite fashions, there's a strong 'lingerie' sense to it.. especially with all the lace. In fact, it's mostly lace, with large expanses of exposure. There's almost nothing fully solid in it at all. "This will show off your jewelry without showing off too much of what it is attached to," she explains.
"It'll even work fer me nose ring?" Nicky asks. "Can you help me put it on? Please? I promise t' behave. I even be yer servant iffin you want for a bit."
"You mean all this time you haven't been?" Mave asks in jest, and helps apply the dress. The chain and lock are actually what holds it up in front now. And while it has shoulder ruffles, and a skirt of sorts and other basic dress-like elements, it doesn't really 'hang' over the Skreek's body. It actually attaches to her jewelry at point, either by laces or button-slits in the case of her nipple piercings. Even the nose ring holds two ribbons that sweep back under and behind her ears to connect to a big frilly bow atop her head. More ribbon wraps around her tail in a double spiral, and laces hold in what might generously be called a stringless thong to her lower rings. The ruffle-skirt is split in front to show that part off. In any city but Babel, the dress would be absolutely scandalous.
Nicky squirms about a bit as she's dressed and taking a look into a full-length mirror at every chance she can get. "Ooo, I love it!" the skreek cackles and claps her hands; obviously pleased!. "I look so sexy and on display; it makes me jewelry stand out. Me altar too," she adds as she twirls around. A moment later she hugs Mave. "T'ank you! I jus' adore it. Y'really know how t' make a girl sexy. When I see meself so like dis I wish I were a Yodhinala too."
"It is also rather difficult to take off," Mave warns. "Try not to drink or eat too much."
"Is dere any way I coul' be inducted as one of dis temple?" Nicky asks, even though she knows you have to be born into the Yodh. "I owe it an you so much. Even jus an official servant, mebbe?" She spins again as she watches herself in the mirror.
"This Temple exists only in memory now," Mave notes. "Inala is no longer an active force in Babel."
"So? I can't still pledge t' her?" Nicky asks, even frowning slightly. "I guess dat okay. An I also guess since I no bat, no many will really take dat much interest in me at de party except fer de First Mate. He really wants t' get me pregnant, ya know."
"Do you want to get pregnant?" Mave asks, grinning. "And you already serve Inala, just in other forms. Your soul is still the same, it doesn't matter who you happen to be at the time."
"Sometimes I do, yah. But I know dat woul' be a bad idea," Nicky admits, then grins. "Won't stop me from doing the act, tho! Except, maybe no again with Rugharo. Ow."
"I'm surprised he responded to you," Mave notes. "He must have been expecting Snowcora."
The skreek then rubs her chin. "Where in here can I go commune with Inala? I should speak with 'er again sometime," she says. "And yah, I t'ink he was. He called me Shrine once. Does dat mean Snowcora should go to 'im? Would he rut her in de same way?"
"I have no idea, but.. now is not the time to approach him, I would imagine," Mave notes. "And communing with Inala in your present state is problematical as well, unless you wash off the ointment first. It is called Inala's Tears because it isolates you from Her for a time. Is it urgent that you feel Her presence immediately?"
"No, I guess not," Nicky admits and shrugs her shoulders. Deciding to distract herself a bit, she asks Mave, "So, t'ink I should get more jewelry in me face?"
"That is hardly for me to decide," Mave notes. "Not without know what you had in mind first, and whether it would be for Nicorina only or for everyone."
"I jus askin' yer opinion! what d' you t'ink might be pretty or useful?" Nicky asks, "An generally dey be for everyone, no just me."
"Hmmm, you want something pretty that would be pretty for everyone then," Mave says, tapping her cheek as she looks at Nicky's face.. as if trying to see all of the other faces as well.
"Ya, something like dat," Nicky agrees with a nod ( and a flutter of the ribbon tied to her nose ring. "But failing dat, jus something fer me is fine too! I jus remove it when not in dis body."
Finally, the Eeee presses a claw right in the center of the Skreek's forehead, and asks, "Does Snowcora have anything here?"
Nicky has to think about that. "No. Zakaro's mark is between me brow and on me cheeks. Forehead is just patterned," she answers.
Mave considers this, looking thoughtful. "Something could go there then, but.. I feel it should be set aside," she finally says. She seems to focus more intently on the Skreek's features now, putting aside the others. "Raise your eyebrows up and down. Show me how expressive they can be."
Nicky looks intently at Mave. She arches her brow, scrunches it, raises one brow, then the other, then makes them dance. All in all the skreek has an impressively expressive brow. She can get at least half an inch of movement out of each one, and move them independently. This also causes the skreek to grin and make silly faces.
"Eyebrow rings, especially with shiny bits attached, would work well for you," Mave notes. "But not for the others. It's a question of.. deliberate attention grabbing. It suits you."
"Oh, so mebbe a couple in each brow?" Nicky asks and waggles around her brow more. "Mebbe I do dat sometime. I know a place in Babel dat does it. De one me savanite form works at as a slave and stud."
"You shouldn't have the same number in each eyebrow," Mave suggests. "Or the same spacing. They should be deliberately out of symmetry."
"Oh? How come? Because I be rough around de edges?" Nicky asks.
"Because you have no edges," Mave corrects. "No boundaries or need to fit in. Symmetry is a symbol of order, and of traditional beauty as well."
"You seem to prefer people to be slightly off balance when they meet you," the Yodh notes.
"Well, I keep dat in mind as a possible date fer Orca after de party," Nicky notes. She twirls again, making her dress flap. "T'ank you again for de dress; I really do love it. Also, t'ank you for de flower potion to help keep things less crazy! I guess it was worth it t' let Rugharo rut me a bit for both."