I think I understand all of the stress Drari is under a bit better now, this really is too much. Thera thought to herself as she was flying back to Stonewall, moving the cart just slightly slower than she usually would out of a need to decompress from the day.

It wasn’t that it was a hard amount of work, with all the mana at her disposal, anything that could qualify as such could only be a disaster, but it was mentally taxing. There were plenty of towns and villages in the surrounding area, and after going to ten to help treat anyone she could for that bit of extra skill and job experience, she was seeing more and more of what she’d been seeing at Stonewall. People who hadn’t done anything to try and get stronger since the world first got notice from the gods of the invasion, who were now trying to rush to gain any levels to combat and magic skills they could in an effort to keep themselves just a little bit safer, with far too many of them getting hurt for it.

It’s not like I don’t understand, but I’m seeing a few too many people who’d be on death's door if I wasn’t here. Gods above, even if combat needs some hands-on experience, magic can be trained plenty safely!

Perhaps she wasn’t the best to pass such judgments on others as someone who only a couple years prior had been acting as an adventurer when she could only cast a couple simple spells a day, and who had just done a tower trial for whatever extra strength it would bring, but the difference was that she knew how strong she was. As tough as the earth tower had been, it had been manageable for her compared to what any normal mage would have to deal with, and even back when she was adventuring alone, if her staff ever broke and something got too close she could raise a cloud of dirt around herself to scare it off or run since her agility had always been reasonably high thanks to her years of dancing. For people who had normal, smaller mana pools or lacked experience with weapons, trying to hunt whatever could be found in the depths of the woods could be a death trap, especially as the ecosystem slowly shifted with more and more dangerous beasts making their way to the area.

Alright, enough thinking about that. I’m almost home, I can have a nice relaxing rest of the day. Hmm, it’s a bit late to see if Aso wants to do anything, but Sachel’s back, I could always bother her… mmh, no, she still seemed pretty exhausted after helping the demidemons and I can’t exactly blame her for that. Maybe I’ll start working on dinner for aunty and Ben for a change. Yeah, that sounds pretty nice. And after I think I just might get him to help me practice more of my life magic. Since I put up with him using me to finish his job that seems fair. She thought with a playful smile spread across her face.

She wasn’t as annoyed about it as she had been the day before, it was important to her that he get stronger as well to match her desire that he stop getting in situations where his life was on the line, and he’d done plenty to make it up to her immediately after too.

But it does feel nice to see him try so hard for me… She couldn’t help but think, the feeling trailing off as a far more uncomfortable one took its place. Oh gods, I don’t like being spoiled, do I?

As soon as the notion crossed her mind she couldn’t exactly deny it, so she did the next best thing and ignored it, not in the mood for any level of self-discovery at the moment.

“Alright, thanks for the meal Thera, It was lovely,” Her aunt told her, giving a wide smile. “But now it’s time for me to be off. I promised Ceselee I’d grab drinks with her and Falk so I’ll be home late, just in case you two want to do anything that might need a couple hours of privacy.”

“Whatever you’re thinking isn’t happening!” She called back, feeling the blood rush to her face as she did. Her aunt wasn’t shy about teasing the idea of… something happening between her and Ben, and she never knew how she was supposed to react whenever she did.

“Later Sonya,” He said, significantly less bothered about it than she was as he focused on her. “So, using me as a practice dummy for your life magic then?”

“It’s nothing I won’t be able to fix if anything goes wrong, don’t worry so much.”

“I think if you’re a healer you need to learn to be slightly more reassuring than that.”

“A part-time healer, my bedside manner isn’t the most important, especially when I have the skill. Now come on, it will be fine,” She told him, leading him to the couch and filling him with her life mana as she used her mana examination to see exactly what was happening within him as she did.

She’d decided to practice buffing, an aspect of her magic she didn’t have too much experience with but figured she could use more as she watched how it affected him, his heart rate picking up as the mana flowed into his muscles and bone, each of them flooding with power that seemed like it wanted to be used, all while he sat still, just accepting whatever was going to happen to him.

She usually held his face as she cast her magic if she wasn’t treating any specific wound, but as she watched the changes the buff did to his body her touch strayed to his arms and chest as she felt them.

He really does look stronger than when we’d first met, doesn’t he?

Her mother had commented on Ben having nice muscles when she’d first seen him and while that had been true enough then, he had certainly gained more since that time as he practiced at the forge, his line of work taking plenty of strength. Combining that with the fact that he hadn’t regained all of the body fat he’d lost as she and Yuzu had desperately tried to repair the damage he’d taken in the earth tower and it made the change all the more stark as she touched him, completely lost in her thoughts till he spoke up.

“Feeling handsy?”

“You wish. It looked like something you ate poked at your stomach lining, not a big deal but I fixed it,” She lied, not having any desire to own up to how distracted by him she’d just been.

I definitely wasn’t feeling handsy… probably… maybe. Mmh.

She continued to practice her magic on him, but she couldn’t help but feel just a bit distracted as she went, Ben’s little joke and her aunt's implications swirling around her head.

Things are fine now, I don’t need anything to change. She told herself, trying not to let her eyes linger anywhere too long.

…But maybe he does? I mean, I know from Steph that his kind doesn't seem to have too many inhibitions or social taboos against it, but he hasn’t brought anything like that up since we’ve been together so it’s not something I need to think too hard on.

…Unless he’s just taking things slow for my sake.

Before she’d had to learn just how terrible it felt to lose him even without the clear romantic connection they now shared, she had made it clear that she had no interest in romance thanks to the life she could expect. That had obviously changed, but she couldn’t deny the chance he was just leaving things because of how new to everything she was on that front, but the easiest way to change that was to ask.

“Hey Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you… no actually, it’s not important.”

As if I could just ask!

Her own kind weren’t exactly shy about that sort of thing on either side of her heritage. Hell, when she was giving her mana to the spirits, she was helping them recover from their racial side effects attached to the act, and Anailia wasn’t just a goddess of love, but of seduction too. The only reason she was feeling weird about it was because she’d so thoroughly denied the idea of ever falling in love for so many years she hadn’t even considered just what that might mean for the future.

The two of them had been dating for nearly a year by that point, by succubus standards it would be surprising that nothing at all happened, but then she wasn’t a normal succubus, and in the end of it, just as important as what he might or might not want was what she herself desired.

But do I want that? She asked herself, feeling her eyes looking him up and down as she did.

“Uh, you know what, I’m actually feeling pretty tired so I think I’ll end here,” She told him abruptly, leaning in to give him a kiss and feeling extra aware of his lips against hers. “Have a good night Ben, try and get some proper rest, okay?”

“Will do, sleep well Thera.”

She tried to be casual about it as she walked back to her room but she was sure her thoughts must have been as clear on her face as they ever were. She could feel the blood in her cheeks as she changed and slipped into bed, tightly hugging her pillow as she did.

I mean, we could both be dead in a couple months anyway. She told herself as she laid there. And I do love him, and I do want to be close to him, and I’m enjoying being in a relationship more than I ever really expected and this is just part of a relationship, right?

Ugh, why did aunty even need to put the idea in my head?

…I might maybe want to. Mmh, I just need to think about it a little more.

With the idea firmly lodged in her thoughts, Thera didn’t manage to get any sleep that night till the morning sun rose.