NOVEL WEB Chapter 22: Teacup
“Did you have a good day today, Hannah?” Rayne asked as she sipped her nightly tea. The past few nights she hadn’t actually drank much of the tea that was brought to her. Playing with Hannah’s ears had taken a bit of a priority over actually drinking the tea. Maybe today she should take it a little slower. It was an off day for Hannah after all. It would also add to the time Rayne got to spend with Hannah.
The tea Hannah had brought up was still quite warm, and she wasn’t used to drinking or eating hot things. She always had to blow on it, but hopefully in time she would get used to it again. “I did, Mistress. I really liked going to the bookstore.” She was going to live off of the emotional high of going there for quite a while. Not to mention the joyous feeling she got after seeing Rayne smile at her in the mirror.
It was so easy to smile around Hannah. It was probably more accurate to say it was hard not to smile around her. “I’m glad you liked it.” The lady wanted to say something about taking her again every off day, but even to Rayne that felt like a little much. At least once a month sounded like a good idea, though it would also depend on how long it took Hannah to finish her book. To be fair she also did have an entire library to pick from, but Rayne just liked the idea of buying things for Hannah that she clearly loved. “Maybe when you finish the book we can go again.”
Hannah could tell her cheeks were flushing but she didn’t care. The idea of being able to go back, and it being Rayne to be the one to take her made Hannah feel happy. “I would like that.” When they were at the store Hannah had been treating it as if it wasn’t a one time thing and now she was happy to know that it truly wasn’t. Rayne was so kind to her. So kind that her tail picked up the gentle wag it had gained by just being here with her.
Seeing Hannah’s tail wag gave Rayne so much joy. There was just something about Hannah being expressive in a way that Rayne wasn’t used to that tugged at her heart. It was so cute watching Hannah’s tail wag. Humans could be almost as expressive in Rayne’s experience, but she had never been around beastkin much in her life to know how they emoted, so all expressions with ears and tails now looked big and open in comparison. The lady was very good at reading people without animal ears and tails, but she could find it annoying to have to read into people. Wouldn’t life be so much easier and more pleasant if everyone was so open and honest about how they felt?
“I actually had some questions I wanted to ask you, if you don’t mind?” Rayne asked, thinking back to earlier in the day.
“I don’t mind.” She was happy to answer any questions the lady had. At least most. Some things she still didn’t feel she could be open about, even with the lady. It wasn’t a good feeling to still feel closed off to Rayne regarding certain things. Humans were just not as accepting generally and Hannah feared that could end her happy life here.
“This morning when you woke you spoke in a language I had never heard before. Was that your native tongue?” She was already certain the answer was yes, but it still felt more polite to ask rather than to assume.
Hannah had almost forgotten about this morning being so caught up in shopping. The heat in her face grew as she remembered how nice it felt to hold onto someone. To feel Rayne’s comforting warmth against her. It had been such a long time since she had fallen asleep in someone’s arms. “It was, Mistress.”
“Everlian, correct?” Rayne hoped she remembered that correctly and Hannah gave her a confirming nod. The thought occurred to Rayne that she should be thinking of the freelands by the name its people called it, and not what the Dewath Empire said it was. Everlial also sounded much nicer than “freelands”, too. It might be a bit of a struggle to adjust, but the lady was determined to make it. “I’ve never heard a language like that. It doesn’t sound anything like the languages I know.” It was maybe worth mentioning that Rayne had only ever heard human languages before.
“It isn’t related to human languages.” Hannah felt herself going into full teacher mode. “Human languages developed in the south of the world and moved up as humans expanded their lands. Kin are originally from the northern part of the world and used to have a closer relationship with the elves than we did humans. Because of that our language sounds more similar to theirs than it does yours.”
Rayne had thought that it sounded like what she imagined elves would sound like earlier and it was nice to know she was right. “How similar is it?” For the first time Rayne got to see Hannah’s excitement for teaching first hand. Hannah was clearly so happy to share new information and the lady felt like she could just spend hours letting Hannah share all the things she wanted to.
“The languages are quite similar. There are many words we share directly and even full sayings. The biggest difference between Elven and Everlian is the sentence structure and grammar.” The fox looked at the tea in her hands. “You could think of it like teas. Two different teas from neighboring fields where there is a lot of cross pollination and similarities in flavor, but still distinctly different.”
Tea was always an analogy that Rayne could understand. “Does that mean you can speak Elven?” That seemed like a logical conclusion to the lady.
Hannah shrugged a little nervously. She never liked admitting to not knowing something fully. “I would never say I’m fluent, but I could maybe get by in a conversation. Though we share a similar tongue, since the Divide was made there wasn’t much chance for speaking to one another, so the general knowledge and need faded away. I only really know as much as I do because my father liked old and often sad poetry, and elves are well known for their melancholic poetry.”
“I had not known that.” Truthfully, humans didn’t know much about elves. Before the Divide was made, elves and humans had never really gotten along so there wasn’t much shared between them. At least culturally. There were a number of historical battles they shared, but most of those were but legends at this point. There were still a good number of different kinds of artifacts from before the Divide was made, but most were in the hands of collectors. Rayne had never even seen an elven artifact in person, unless you counted the potion that was smuggled across the Divide. “I wonder if Hamish would find that interesting.”
“Elven poetry is interesting to say the least.” Hannah had only seen what her dad managed to find, but most of it was all very depressing. There were some that were absurd and Hannah never really understood. “Poetry was never my strong suite, though.”
It was rare that Rayne didn’t know how to push a conversation on. She was rather skilled when it came to small talk with other nobles, but those were all light pleasantries, nothing deeper. The lady wanted deeper conversations with Hannah, but had no idea how to approach that. “Would you say some for me? Everlian, I mean, not elven poetry. Though I’m sure Hamish would love to hear some if you have any memorized.”
“What would you like me to say, Mistress?”
The first words that came to Rayne’s mind were ‘I love you’, and it took the lady by surprise. Never before had she wanted to hear those words from anyone that wasn’t family, and she wasn’t even fully sure what those words meant outside of a familial context. How could she know if she had never felt that? Was she feeling that? Rayne's face heated up far more than it had in quite a while and she quickly went to hide it behind her cup of tea. She wasn’t in love with Hannah, was she? Yes, she was clearly and desperately attracted to her vixen, but physical attraction didn’t automatically mean love. That was clear from a number of her friends enjoying the use of a seal over their womb without the desire to marry the man.
It had only been five days since Rayne and Hannah met. Five days wasn’t long enough to fall in love with someone. Was it? Though there had never been any romance in Rayne’s life before, she had been known to read a love story or two. A few had been what you would call love at first sight, but the ones Rayne had liked more were when the main pair disliked each other at first but were forced to get closer. For some reason in the few times she had ever imagined falling in love it typically played out with that story in her head. Though she could never get past disliking the man in her own imagination. She always imagined getting closer with the man’s sister. The past few days had made why it always went that way in her head very clear when she looked back now.
Could Rayne truly have fallen in love with Hannah at first sight?
Hannah had seen Rayne blush a little before, but then it had been so very light. Light enough that Hannah wouldn’t have noticed if she wasn’t looking close enough. Now the fox could genuinely say she had seen her mistress blush. The lady's was so red as she tried to hide behind the teacup and look away as if in thought. With Rayne’s head turned to the side it gave Hannah a first real look at her ears. Human ears were such a strange and small shape and they stood still, never moving, which made Hannah feel weird. Thanks to the human that lived in her village she was used to them even before being taken as a slave. Only after meeting him for the first time had Hannah been interested in human ears, but she did quickly grow past that. Now, though, Hannah had to admit she was interested.
The fox had absolutely no idea that a human’s ears could turn red when they blushed. A kin’s ears could warm up and feel hot to the touch when they were blushing, even Hannah’s ears did that at times. Was it the same for humans? Would Rayne’s ears be warm to the touch? What would they feel like? Were they hard? Soft? Hannah had never touched a human’s ears before and she did understand they didn’t receive the same physical ‘comfort’ from it that kin did. At least not that she knew of. Maybe touching someone’s ears was strange amongst humans if it didn’t do anything for them.
“How about ‘I had a very nice day today’.”
“What?” Hannah asked, confused, her mind still stuck on Rayne’s red ears.
Even to the lady asking someone to say they had a nice day sounded strange. Rayne was struggling to come up with something because her mind was still stuck on the idea of hearing Hannah say I love you. It felt like hearing those words in Everlian would mean even more than when they were said in Celian. Rayne shoved those thoughts down. “Just tell me if you had a nice day or not.”
“Oh.” Hannah’s mind finally remembered what they had been talking about. “I really enjoyed my day today. The book store was my favorite part.”
Just like this morning the language sounded magical to Rayne’s ears. It was beautiful. “What did you say?” A blush grew on Hannah’s face as she repeated what she said in Celian. Hannah had already told her this only a few minutes ago but it still made Rayne smile. “I’m glad you had a good day, Hannah.” The heat in the lady’s face was starting to fade, which was good. The tea in her cup was also empty now and she set it down on the table. Maybe Rayne had waited long enough to play with Hannah’s ears.
Though it had only been a few days, Hannah was able to pick up on the routine: when Rayne set down her tea, it was time to lay her head in her lap. Quickly, the fox sipped the last of the tea that was still in her cup before setting it down on the table. While doing so Hannah felt her tail start a slight wag in anticipation. What did it say about Hannah that she was already starting to look forward to Rayne playing with her ears at night?
Rayne felt a little excited by the fact that Hannah appeared to already know what she wanted. She was even more excited by the fact that Hannah’s tail was wagging in anticipation. Eagerly the lady watched as Hannah laid in her lap. It was such a strange but grand feeling to have such a gentle person rest in her lap. For as close as she was with people, her brothers, Eda, and friends, Rayne didn’t have much physical intimacy in her life. In all honesty in the past few days with Hannah, Rayne had had more meaningful touch with someone else than she had in years. It felt so nice and Rayne knew she was never going to give this up. At least as long as Hannah continued to allow her to touch her.
It was easy for Hannah to relax into the affectionate ear touching, especially after a good day like today. There was some part of the fox that worried about how easy it was to relax. She hadn’t been able to relax like this in so long and it had been less than a week since she met Rayne. The only other time Hannah had been able to relax this much around someone so fast was with Elaine. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Yes she was happy, but it did fill her with some confusing and conflicting feelings. Did any of that matter right now? Did she really need to work through all these feelings right now? Would it be so bad if she just let go and enjoyed the feeling?
Rayne breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of any of her stress as she felt the soft fur of Hannah’s ears. Not that she had much stress at the moment thanks to her day. She hadn’t been able to play with Hannah’s ears last night, though she didn’t mind why she didn’t get to. It was a struggle to decide which was better, playing with Hannah’s ears before bed or falling asleep in each other’s arms. The only way she would really know was to do both a few more times just to really make sure she had the full experience of each. If only she could play with Hannah’s ears and then fall asleep cuddling one another. Rayne couldn’t help but smile and lean back into the seat as she continued her play.
Hannah came to the conclusion that it was okay to let go of any strange feelings and just relax. There were so many things she could worry about other times, but right now she was just going to give into the feeling of having her ears played with. Honestly it felt as if this was a gift from the Goddess. Who would have imagined Hannah would have gotten to have her ears played with again? Who would have imagined she would feel comfortable with her owner doing it? Honestly, there was part of Hannah that felt like Rayne was deserving of playing with her ears as much as she wanted. Rayne was so kind and gentle with her. She even treated her like another person. The lady had gone out of her way to make Hannah happy and now she wanted to do the same back. Letting someone she had just met play with her ears was a small price to pay. It didn’t even feel like a price. It was a benefit if anything.
Even though she had done this a few times Rayne still found herself exploring Hannah’s ears. There was part of her that wanted to memorize the feel of every part of Hannah’s ears. More than that, she wanted to know what felt best for Hannah. As evidenced by the first night, there were ways in which Hannah didn’t like having her ears touched, and over the past few days there were ways Rayne discovered made Hannah appear to relax more. She didn’t have to watch Hannah for reactions as intently as before now that the fox’s tail was free. Rayne could just ideally watch the tail swish more or less depending on her touch. The fur on Hannah’s ears was definitely softer than the fur of her tail, but that didn’t mean Rayne didn’t want to pet it more. Oh no, she could see herself ideally relaxing by the fire with one hand holding a book and the other gently stroking her vixen’s tail. Maybe she would have to spend some time with Hannah in the library in the future.
The way Rayne was rubbing Hannah’s ears was perfect. Any kin would be lucky to have someone this skilled play with their ears, and Rayne had only been doing it for a few days now. Hannah wasn’t even sure if she would be this good at playing with another’s ears. Yes she had done it many times with Elaine in the past and got very good at it over time, but it did take time to figure it out. Time to find what made her fiancee feel the best. Rayne was just gifted at this naturally. Hannah missed the feel of Elaine’s ears. She missed being trusted enough to touch another’s ears. Would Rayne trust Hannah enough to let her play with her ears?
Focusing on what Rayne’s ears would feel like brought Hannah’s mind away from what Rayne was specifically doing with her own ears. Hannah was just so calm and relaxed that she felt she didn’t need to worry about anything. Didn’t need to worry about what specific motions her mistress was doing. The lady’s finger rubbed in circles at the base of her ears before gently pinching along the edge of her ears and pushing all the way up the sides. When she got to the tip she pinched a little harder and rubbed in circles. The little airy moan came out faster than Hannah could realize what was happening.
Rayne stiffened at the sound that came out of Hannah. The fox also stiffened under her touch as well. Instantly Rayne pulled her hands away from Hannah’s ears, a panic starting to grow inside of the lady. “I’m so sorry,” Rayne said. She hadn’t been paying full attention to what she was doing and just went by feel. There was a good chance she might have repeated the same motions as the first night and she regretted it instantly. Guilt ran rampant through her at the thought of having just hurt Hannah. She needed to pay better attention to how she touched Hannah’s sensitive ears.
Heat was filling more than just Hannah’s face at the moment. It felt like her whole body was on fire. Both from embarrassment of the sound she had just made and the physical reaction that specific touch brought out of Hannah. This wasn’t okay. This wasn’t something okay to do or feel in the presence of her mistress. She had been careless and unguarded. If she had been paying attention she wouldn’t have let this happen. Wouldn’t have embarrassed herself like this in front of Rayne.
Hannah having no reaction to Rayne’s words made the lady feel even worse. What should she do? Hannah trusted her to play with her ears and now she had hurt the fox while doing so. This wasn’t okay. Rayne’s hands were acting faster than her mind as she started to pull Hannah up off her lap. The fox wouldn’t want to be close to her after this and she didn’t want Hannah to feel forced into staying in her lap. Hannah quickly complied with her motions and Rayne got to see just how red Hannah’s face was. Pain wracked through Rayne at having clearly hurt Hannah so much. “I’m sorry, Hannah. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Rayne’s voice was shaky. It was never shaky.
Hannah’s slitted wide eyes couldn’t get much wider at the realization that Rayne thought she had hurt her. Rayne had done the complete opposite of hurting her though. “I-it’s okay, Mistress,” she said, not feeling as if she would ever be able to look Rayne in the eyes again. “Y-you…” The next words caught in Hannah’s throat. She needed Rayne to know that she hadn’t been hurt, but how did you admit to letting out a moan of pleasure?
“You don’t need to lie, Hannah.” The lady felt like she was about to cry. Hannah didn’t need to lie to her about being hurt. Was she afraid she would be hurt more if she admitted it? Had she been treated like that in the past? “I’m so terribly sorry that I hur—”
“You didn’t hurt me, Mistress.” Hannah felt so nervous that she was almost shaking. She was going to have to admit what really happened.
Why was Hannah so insistent that she hadn’t been hurt? She had literally moaned out in pain. Yes it was really quiet, but it was still audible. That being said Rayne didn’t feel like Hannah was lying to her though. “If I didn’t hurt you, then what happened?” She was getting a little confused now, and she never liked being confused. What else could have made Hannah make that sound?
Hannah swallowed nervously as she felt her ears fold back. The heat in her face was only getting worse and now her heart was pounding as well. “Our ears are really sensitive.”
“I know they are. That’s why you don’t like other people touching them.”
Hannah bit her lip in thought. “We don’t trust many people to touch our ears, but we do like having them touched.” When Rayne didn’t react Hannah then said, “We can really enjoy having our ears played with and it can feel very good.” Still no reaction. “It can be very… stimulating…”
It all suddenly clicked into place for the lady. She might be personally inexperienced with such things, but she had heard enough stories from other women to understand what Hannah was saying. Now Rayne’s heart started pounding in her chest and not from worry. “Oh.” That hadn’t been a bad moan, and now that moan was repeating in her mind. By the Goddess, Rayne didn’t know if she had heard anything as sweet and gentle as that moan. Heat started rising in the lady’s face, but it wasn’t the only thing that started rising. Rayne’s hands quickly came to rest in her lap as she opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out as Rayne's own eyes nervously looked away from Hannah. She had made Hannah moan. Biting her lip, Rayne tried to force the memory and barrage of new images out of her mind, but couldn’t. “M-maybe that’s enough for tonight,” she eventually found herself saying while her mind thought about what other sounds Hannah could make.
There was no way Hannah was going to be able to say anything else now that Rayne understood. Instead of speaking she just nodded. Was it wrong that there was some little part of Hannah that didn’t want to leave just yet? She didn’t stand up right away, a little unsure if Rayne had just meant with the ear touching or tonight in general. When Rayne didn’t say anything further after a few seconds Hannah did stand up.
Rayne didn’t like this. She didn’t want to say goodnight to Hannah just yet, but she knew she had to. There was no way she was going to be able to calm down with her vixen still in the room. Rayne had never felt like this before, and she was a little afraid that she was going to say something she regretted. Maybe even do something she regretted. Like kissing Hannah. Goddess, would Hannah moan into a kiss? Rayne had to shake her head to get the thoughts away. This wasn’t okay of her. She needed to feel bad about this, not excited. “I hope I haven’t ruined your day…”
Hannah took a deep breath before forcing her voice to work. “You didn’t, Mistress.”
Hearing the words mistress really wasn’t helping the heat Rayne was feeling. Nor was it letting Rayne move her hands away from her lap anytime soon. At least as long as Hannah was in the room. “I also hope you can forgive me.”
What was there to forgive? Rayne hadn’t actually done anything wrong. It was an accident and Hannah understood that. “There’s nothing to forgive.” The lady didn’t look convinced, but Hannah didn’t know what else to say. She could say this was something normal, something expected to happen at some point while playing with a kin’s ears, but Hannah didn’t feel like a human would be happy to hear that. At least not happy because it was between two women. “I hope I haven’t made you feel uncomfortable,” she said quietly.
Rayne finally looked up at her fox. “You haven’t, Hannah.” It was quite the opposite of uncomfortable. Somehow she managed to put a genuine and gentle smile on her face. “Have a good rest of your night.”
“You too, Mistress.”
