"Tuck your tails into the blanket sweetheart, you don't wanna catch a cold, right?" Helping her daughters get back into bed, Helga watched as their scaly tails coiled up between their legs and slipped back into the blankets.
Hugging their own tails from the front, both Stella and Tatiyana blabbered in their sleep. Having carried them to their bedroom while they sleep talked, Helga wasn't all that surprised by how easily they began dreaming.
'I really need to find a way for them to hide their tails even in their sleep…' Closing their bedroom door with that thought, Helga headed back to the living room and was quickly met with Aria already sitting down on the couch with just a towel wrapped around her body.
"You're finally done, huh?" Moving around the coffee table, Helga quickly sat down beside her. But as her eyes turned to her again, she noticed something off about Aria. She seemed hesitant to say something even though her lips were quivering to speak. "Is something wrong?"
Shaking her head, Aria tried to dismiss the question, but then after a long look at Helga, she took a deep gulp and said what she had to say.
"I know you commissioned the portraits of Raven and Mel having sex!" As soon as she was finished speaking, her hands covered her mouth on their own.
Helga on the other hand continued to stare at her blankly–her mind failing to register what she'd just said. Blinking her eyes like a shocked deer coming to its senses, Helga pressed her lips together as her hands slowly reached for Aria's throat.
"Wh-what are y-you doing?!" She screamed, quickly getting off of the couch.
Her lips still awkwardly pressed together, Helga appeared like a puppet being controlled by a grand maestro. But with her target off the couch, Helga's body froze in place and so did her mind. For a moment silence lingered in the room, but then the Valkyrie's hands fell to her thighs with a sigh of defeat.
Slowly turning her head back to Aria, she glared at her through squinted eyes.
"How did you even find out?" She asked, no longer made just curious how she was caught for the devious act.
Still a bit nervous about the whole ordeal, Aria took yet another step backwards before giving Helga an answer.
"I found the portraits under the cabinet in your bathroom," adding onto it further, she began explaining exactly how she figured out that Helga was the one to commission those portraits, and to her surprise, the longer she went on the more lenient the valkyrie's expression got.
And by the time she was done, she was pulled back into the couch for her to sit so Helga could explain her own side as well.
"About the picture with me and Mistress, we had a deal," more concerned about any misunderstanding about that particular portrait, Helga wanted to clear it all up. "I don't know how long ago it was, but I helped her set up the maze in exchange for some blood potions and other resources only a devil could get their hands on."
"So the Mistress is a devil?" Having heard such rumors far too many times, Aria wasn't that surprised to know that the person with the second most influence in Athenia was a power-hungry devil.
Shifting her gaze between Aria and nothing at all, Helga grabbed the now cold cup of hot chocolate and took a hearty sip. Emptying the cup entirely, she set it down again and grunted out her frustration.
"Yeah, but is that really any news? Bitch has every duke and duchess by their balls, their second and third children are practically feed for her lust," though Aria knew about the virgin offerings, she wasn't aware of just how deep her influence ran. "Anyways, as for the pictures with your party members…"
Closing her eyes, Helga took yet another deep breath and opened them as she answered.
"Most of my life I've been at war, fighting–they call me a Valkyrie for a reason you know," looking right at Aria, Helga pressed her lips shut for a moment. Then with a sigh, she continued to talk. "And now I'm raising two children all on my own, my husband's dead–the only man I ever loved."
Letting her shoulders fall in defeat, she finally admitted everything herself.
"So yeah…I commissioned the portrait because I didn't wanna go to the maze again to help with my daily frustrations. Because if I did, more and more idiots would come banging on my door trying to get me in their beds," being as truthful and as vulnerable as she'd ever been, she'd laid down everything and almost felt bare in front of the young elf.
"Now, why the hell did you want to push this matter so much? There has to be a reason, is it because you wanna sleep with me too?"
Biting the inside of her mouth, Helga slowly reached for her shoulder strap and slipped it to the side. Shocked by the sudden move, Aria jumped off the couch again and waved both of her hands in front of Helga's eyes.
"NO! NO! I-I just want you to train me! That's it!" Hearing the elf's hasty response, the Valkyrie's fouled expression dropped.
In its place came a curious look, and quickly putting the strap back on her shoulder, she thought about her offer for a while.
"We're gonna be here for a while, I think and I wanna get better, more than just a barbarian relying on her gimmicks and items!" Aria pleaded, trying to convince Helga some more.
"As long as you keep what you saw a secret, then sure we have a deal," having already made up her mind even before the pleading, Helga offered her a hand with the faintest of smiles on her face.
For a spell, Aria simply stared at her hand–shocked that her plea actually worked, and that too without being pinned to the walls!
"Fuck yeah!" She chuckled, jumping on the spot a few times, but her celebration was cut short as Helga got off the couch and smacked her on the head. "EPPP!"
"My daughters are asleep, you idiot!"
"O-ohh…sorry?" She awkwardly smiled, and although she expected more complications, the deal was shaken on just a moment after her short-lived celebration.