Lillian stared at the campfire that crackled before her. Its flame danced as it gazed at the two beautiful women sitting in front of it. She then turned to Marionette, who was leaning in, staring expectantly at her.
The Assassin then said in a highly unemotional voice:
"Call me it again." But still had hints of excitement behind it.
Lillian smiled at her, feigning ignorance, "Call you what, exactly?" She asked, prodding a stick into the fire.
They were currently sitting on one of the logs torn down in her battle with the (now) deceased Spider, which was also where they got most of their firewood from.
But with that thought, she sighed, remembering her missing odachi. Although she knew where it was generally, it was still worrying to know it was just out in the open.
Her attention was soon brought back to Marionette as her voice echoed in her ears.
"You tease, Lillian." Marionette stared at her with her arms folded, pouting a bit. "And you have yet to answer my previous question yet." She then watched as Lillian chuckled before feeling her hand on her head.
Lillian rubbed her head with a soft look, "Aww~, don't be like that, Mari."
Marionette leaned into the hand, relaxed.
She then felt the hand disappear. She looked back towards Lillian to find her patting her lap.
Lillian smiled persuasively, "How about a lap pillow to ease you, then?"
Marionette looked between the two with a raised eyebrow. Why would she be pleased by having her head laid on someone's lap? She then turned her face to the side, adopting a pondering look.
It was Lillian's lap, after all. Not some random person's. She then glanced back at it. It would without a doubt be soft and comfortable to lay on.
Lillian smiled wryly, watching as Marionette eyed her lap like a curious cat. She couldn't help but find her adorable as she did this. But it didn't seem like she was going to make up her mind at this rate.
"I'm going to take back my offer if you don't decide quickl—"
"I'll take it."
Thump...
Lillian watched as the Assassin quickly planted the side of her face into her lap. Her smile softened.
"See~? Wasn't so hard now, was it?"
Marionette hummed, feeling how soft Lillian's lap was. "It wasn't indeed." She then shuffled a bit, getting into a more comfortable position. "You are right. This is nice."
"Heh! I'm always right." Lillian puffed out her chest, smug. She then waited for a response from Marionette, who was currently reading a book. And unsurprisingly, it was the Art of Seduction.
Lillian chuckled, stroking her hair, "Aww~... got bored of me already?" She teased as she played with Marionette's ear.
Marionette glanced up at her with a stoic face—unbothered by how Lillian was messing around with her ear—and muttered:
"Would you like me to play with you? I thought you wanted me to lie here for a bit."
"... Hehe... I guess I did imply for you to do that, didn't I?" Lillian scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. She then leaned a little, taking a quick peek into the book she was reading.
However, before she could even read a singular page, Marionette quickly—
—CLAP!
Slammed her book shut before putting it away into her spacial storage. Lillian stared at her strangely because of this. She later sighed.
Although she didn't get anything from the page she was reading, she did catch one word, which was... 'Marking'...
***
Lillian stared at her phone, checking out the time.
[22:29]
She scratched her head. Had that much time passed? She then shrugged before looking around. Currently, she was in the tent. The two of them just had dinner.
Fortunately, they didn't have to eat the Spider, but instead, the monsters they had killed on their way here. However, for some reason, Marionette wanted to eat the Greyed Lizard.
Its meat was as expected—tough and chewy. But more fatty and delicious compared to a Catacomb Brawler. She patted her stomach as she looked to her right, finding Marionette reading her book.
Whatever chapter she's on, she seemed to be quite drawn to it. She hadn't even spoken a word to her yet. Well... not after Lillian bothered her that was.
Marionette, clutching the sides of her book with her right leg crossed over her left, noticed something or more specifically, someone leaning against her.
She glanced to the side, smiling. She stared as Lillian cutely leaned the side of her head on her shoulder, peering into the contents of her book.
Her eyes were also drawn to a certain spot on Lillian's neck. This left her to fall into a momentary daze, which was only broken once Lillian found out.
"Uhh...? Are you alright, Marionette?"
"... Yes. I'm fine." She said, tossing her book into her earring.
"Hm... you sure? You were staring at me for a while. Like... really quietly." She asked, eyeing her sceptically.
Marionette gave a small smirk. Her eyes glance down at Lillian from top to bottom. She then briefly answered with:
"I was just briefly distracted by your beauty. That was all."
"E-eh?" Lillian was left taken aback.
Just as she was about to respond to Marionette's sudden flirt, she felt something crawl onto her right thigh. She slowly turned her eyes down.
Marionette, having placed her hand on Lillian's thigh, stroked it up and down. Slowly but passionately she gave it a couple of squeezes.
Lillian stared at this with a calm expression. Or that was what she wanted to believe. Internally, she was panicking like always when it came to anything 'Marionette-related'.
She turned to Marionette and asked:
"So... what do you think you are doing?"
Marionette continued to smile at her, "Why do you ask?" She inquired, ignoring the glaring look she was getting.
"Well, you know... you are stroking my thigh. That seems like something I should be asking about." Lillian said with a twitching eye.
"Hm? Is it wrong to do this?" Marionette tilted her head, confused, "I thought it was common sense for people to do whatever they wanted to the things that belonged to them."