"Wow... they still aren't up yet. Should we wake them up soon, or..?"
Glancing at Mom and Mother, I saw that they were both frowning as well, clearly not expecting this outcome as we turned back to Grandma and Grandpa, who were sleeping soundly on the rocker and couch respectively, breathing softly and not moving a muscle past that.
"I... don't think so. If they are sleeping this deeply and its the first time in who knows how many days or weeks that they've finally decided to lay down and rest, then its their bodies saying that they need this. Go do... something else. Be back in an hour or so; they'll likely be up by then. If not, we'll wake them up for dinner before sending them to bed again."
Mother shook her head with an exasperated sigh as she looked between her own parents, taking in their sleeping figures and muttering "Shows them though..." before turning away and heading back towards her room, where Mother Julie had remained this entire time.
It was rather clear why that was, but we all tried to keep that from our minds as we tiptoed out of the room and into the halls, wanting to do something productive and get rid of some of the energy that remained inside us after quite a long time of making love.
I could have gone for a few more rounds - both stamina wise and 'need' wise - but we had come to a group decision to instead temper our desires for now, so that we could get used to reigning in our lusts and being able to do something else with that time...
I sincerely doubted we would stick to this plan for very long at all, if only because we happened to have an extremely needy and lustful minx in our mist who loved to try and act like she wasn't a minx, even though she made sure to do the things we all loved before just so happening to put herself in a 'vulnerable' position waiting to be taken advantage of.
So with that in mind, we came together and decided to do something as a group that wasn't sex or sparring, which was hard for me to comprehend for a moment since those were the two things I was good at, but the other three seemed excited about this idea of theirs.
They wanted to give Grandpa's advice a try to create something for both Grandpa and Grandma, and the consensus that we had reached was that a pendant would be the best since it could be out of the way yet always worn; it wouldn't inhibit anything for either of them like a ring or bracelet might, and we had settled on the idea that jewelry was the best idea since it was 'quick and easy', according to Anput.
"Anput gets to forge it, Leone puts it in a chemical bath, and then Kat enchants it... I can't wait to give them a gift that I didn't partake in~!"
I grinned at the three women as we stepped into the forging area that Anput had requisitioned, causing all three to roll their eyes and ignore me as they went about getting their things ready; Leone had a servant rush over to the Sanctum to retrieve some herbs from Lady Igna, so all she needed to do now was prepare a small bowl with mana water and make sure it was sterile.
"We decided on a type of thing to make, but not exactly what to make. We need some ideas, Jahi? There are three physical parts to this plan of ours, but we can't enact them if we don't actually know what we're doing..."
"Ah, so I get the pleasure of being the 'brains' for this operation of ours~? Are you all sure of that though~?"
Kat sighed and rolled her eyes again as she said "Not entirely, but there isn't exactly a reason to distrust you with this just yet. Don't give me one, please? Now, what should we make? Something quick and appealing, but also something meaningful. Any ideas?"
They all looked at me, making me sigh as I just leaned against the edge of the table and began to spitball random things that popped into my head for the time being, just getting things out there and thinking out loud.
"Haniel, Elves... something natural, something simple... Not a tree..? Could do a tree though, but it feels too on the nose. Haniel... If I am remembering correctly, it loosely means grace, elegance, happiness or joy in Elvish..? So something happy and graceful... or perhaps something that's just elegant in a 'happy color'?"
My musings being vocalized made all three of my fiancees purse their lips as they listened and thought alongside me, trying to figure out something that would work and determine what would make the most sense, only for me to disrupt everything as I asked "Does it need to be a pendant?"
"What?"
Looking at Anput, I ignored Kat for a moment and asked "How long would it take you to make a replica of some flowers? Life size and of different colors. They aren't that big though, about... this size, kind of?"
"That... would depend on the flower. And how many? Just one 'replica' or..?"
"Again, why Jahi?"
Both of my puppies were staring at me curiously, though Kat's gaze was heavier as she waited for an answer, something that made me chuckle as I instead asked "Do you know anything about the 'flower language', Kat?"
"A little, here and there. For the third time, why?"
"Because one of the flowers that represents happiness and joy grows in groups, and we could specialize each flower to represent one of us, as well as Alessandra and Lakshmi. If each is made from a different metal, given a different bath, and enchanted to glow and maintain its state, wouldn't that make an excellent gift? Instead of a pendant, though that wasn't a terrible idea."
Anput nodded while Kat and Leone exchanged glances, their surprise almost being completely hidden from me and making me roll my eyes this time as I quickly added "You three seem to forget that I do actually know how to read, and quite enjoy it too. All thanks to an Elven Mother who didn't want me to be a complete copy of my Mom, even though she is just as well read as I am."
"You... rarely act like it though, Jahi."
"Hey. Be nice. Anyways, I was thinking we could do Lily of the Valley; its a flower that grows off of a bunch of stems in as I am."
"You... rarely act like it though, Jahi."
clusters, and they- actually, Kat, can you make one with your Ice Magic? You know what that looks like, right?"
The Dogkin nodded, and her finger shone that arctic, ethereal blue as she traced out a rune, summoning a block of ice and moulding it into the shape that I wanted to convey to Anput, who may or may not have seen this flower before; it wasn't something that appreciated dry, hot areas after all.
A long stem that had six shoots appeared in Kat's hand, the stem point upwards and tilting slightly to the side beneath the weight of the shoots, which ended in downwards facing bell shaped flowers, their bulbous petals and small, simple shapes making for an interesting sight.
"That's... not too difficult. Six small sheets of metal gently wrapped around a sphere, flared at the edges and given an opening for something to create the flowers, a simple cylindrical stem with small hooks for the flowers to hang from... I guess I'll be engraving our names onto each? If I don't fully connect one of the petals I can create a small 'door' too that lets you get into the flower itself, so Kat can enchant the inside of the flowers... and if I put a small hook inside as well, we can hang bells or something inside, I dunno..."
Anput was studying the replica closely, and Kat was nodding alongside her mate as they both appraised the flower, all while Leone went to accept the herbs from the servant and request a few more, now that she was going to have to make baths for different metals, which needed different compositions.
"I have to say, I'm rather surprised by this Jahi..."
I gave Kat a glance as I snorted, replying "Yeah, I figured that out.", which made her come over after handing Anput the replica and give me a hug, her head resting against my chest as she stared up at me.
Sensing that she was about to apologize, I just chuckled and stroked her head, stopping her as I scratched just behind her ear and made use of that sensitive spot that she loved, allowing me to lean down and whisper "I really don't care, Kat... If I did give a damn about appearing scholarly and learned. I know what I know, and I'm content with that. So don't worry, I don't mind. Though that doesn't mean I appreciate the lack of respect..."
Leaning down closer to her, I glanced at Anput and Leone for a moment and smirked as I added something to that, something that made Kat nod demurely before she fell to her knees, showing me her sincerity the way I wanted it.
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