I finish up the sandwich, adjusting myself on the couch to get my tail into a good position to get used to touching it. I run my hand along it, shivering a little, but able to calm myself down. The scales feel odd to touch, honestly feeling like a harder version of the scales on a snake. I touch one of the blades, my tail twitching away from me as a awkward sensation rolls up my back. I almost pull my hands away, but am able to stop myself.
I adjust again, running my hand over my tail once more. I touch another blade, feeling the edge before I shiver and my tail twitches. That's a lot sharper than I thought it would be... With how hard the scales are, I would think that it wouldn't be this sensitive...
"Hey, take it slow." Melina says, apparently watching what I am doing, I feel my face heat up.
"I need to get used to it though..."
"Not right away."
"But I want to..." I don't want to feel uncomfortable having my tail touched anymore...
"I get that, but don't force yourself through it right off the bat."
"Y-yeah..." I stop trying to touch my tail for now, I am making some progress, so it's fine. I lean back on the couch, relaxing from how crazy this whole experience has been. Of all of the things I would bet to happen, this is not one of them. I question how this even happened, the last thing I remember before waking up in the dungeon was going to bed. I don't remember feeling off, and I don't remember waking up the next morning... I feel like I have been here too long for this to be a dream, and everyone seems to be here as well... I... wonder how my brother is doing... I haven't talked to him in... what was it... 2 years? Damn... He played with me once back when it released... I wonder if-
"Hey, everyone, I have a question to ask." Leo says, drawing my attention over. Guess I'll try later...
"What's up?" Zorae asks.
"Since everyone still needs combat practice, I was wondering if you all would be alright going to Korus and doing a clear of that?"
"Sure, I would like to get some tank practice in since I missed out on the last chance." Roana says, making me feel a little guilty.
"Then we will do that after breakfast tomorrow, it would probably be best for everyone to crash here for tonight. I know that we all probably have enough money to buy the inns outright hundreds of times over, but lets try to keep our spending low for now until we gather more info."
"I already paid for a room here, plus, I'm not too good with sleeping with others near." Roana says.
"I have already paid for a room too." Inglis says, raising his hand.
"I would like to stay here... If you don't mind..." Nabe says.
"Of course, anyone else need to stay? there is enough couch room for 2, any more than that any I will have to put out some extra beds."
"I only paid for one night, so I would like to crash here." Melina says.
"Same here." Reggie says.
"Alright, I'll get a bed out for someone, the bed will be able to hold 2 if you guys are fine with that." He says as he flips through his inventory.
"I wouldn't mind staying here too, I don't really feel like looking for a room right now..." Zorae says scratching his cheek.
"Alright."
"So am I sleeping with you again Leo?" I ask with a smirk, getting an odd look from the others. hehehe...
"Yeah, just make sure you can walk right in the morning."
"Only if your gentle..."
"You wanna keep going?"
I shrug, "The looks on the other's faces are amusing." I chuckle a little. There is a mix of embarrassment, amusement, and confusion mixed on all of their faces.
He looks over to the others, chuckling himself. "You guys should really expect these jokes by now."
"Just start dating already, jeez." Reggie says. "Anyway, is there a bathhouse here?"
"Oh, yeah, on Lina Street." Leo says.
"Good, I fucking need a shower right now." He says as he leaves the room, "Be back later." I um... probably need to take a shower too... I realize I haven't had one yet.
"I think that might be a good Idea for all of us to go take a bath." Melina says.
"Yeah..." I say. Wait, if the only place to bath is the bathhouse... then I will have... god damnit...
"Then let's all head over there."
Everyone starts to get ready to leave, I get up and stumble over to the door, not really ready for what I am about to have to do.
"Here, I'll help you walk." Leo says, getting under my arm.
"Thanks..."
We start walking to the bathhouse, I go back to what I was doing before the conversation started. Flipping to my friends list and scrolling down slightly to find his character name... Oh, right, I forgot we did this.
[Camaella] - You alive dumbass?
And now we wai- Holy fuck that was fast!?
[Anduda] - This thing works!?
[Camaella] - Yeah, good to hear from you. I am kind of surprised you are here as well.
[Anduda] - I am so glad you are as well, I was starting to worry I was going to know no one here. I overheard people talking about everything that was going on.
[Camaella] - Yeah, we are a little lost too. We should meet up, I'll send you some things for you to get to Areoha. If the gift system still works that is.
[Anduda] - I sure hope it does, I only ever played this with you, what, 2 years ago?
[Camaella] - Something like that, I should be able to send you a warp stone linked to here. No guarantee it will work though.
[Anduda] - I better not be one of your tests!
[Camaella] - You want to risk the multi-day travel to get here?
[Anduda] - ... No...
[Camaella] - Then you get to be my test subject, it will take an hour to link it, send it to you when it is done. Stay safe.
[Anduda] - uggghh, you too...
By the time I am done messaging my brother, we finally make it to the bathhouse. I start the town link for the warp stone as we get into the lobby.
"You seemed to be focused on your menu, you okay?" Leo asks as he sets me on a bench.
"Yeah I'm fine, just trying to get my brother to get over here."
"You have a brother?" Leo asks, surprised.
"Yeah, he only played when the game first came out, we played together for maybe 10 hours before he got bored?"
"Sounds like the start of the game." He sighs. Yeah, it was a grind at first...
"By the time we are done here, the link stone I am setting up should be ready." I should send him some gold, this should test the gift system and, he probably needs it. I flip through my inventory and find my stack of Lens, god damn I have too much of this. I send him 1000, should be enough to hold him off for now. To my surprise, the gift actually goes through, and I almost instantly get a message.
[Anduda] - Holy fuck man, did you have to send so much?
[Camaella] - I won't send you any more if you keep talking like that.
[Anduda] - Nope, this amount is fine, thank you!
"Haha, that's what I thought." Melina walks over.
"I... Don't even want to know, you ready?" She asks.
"Oh, yeah... wait... no... fuck..." I realize what I just agreed too, making my face heat up.
Melina looks down at me confused for a second, then her face lights up with understanding. "Ooohhh... You know it's not a big deal right?"
"But... I..."
She sighs, "So, what are you going to do? Going into the male section naked? Or are you going to go without a bath?"
I feel my face heat up even more. "I... no... I just..."
"Oh my god you are overthinking this so much. C'mon." She pulls me up and helps me walk into the female changing room, closing the door behind us. God damnit Melina! You are way too chill about this! I was a guy, remember!?
She sets on a bench, taking a step back and opening up her inventory. Moments later she is standing naked in front of me. I instantly cover my face and eyes as embarrassment destroys me. I hear her sigh, making me peak through my hands to see her looking at me expectedly.
"You just going to sit there like a dear in headlights?" She asks. At this point. Yes, I am regretting even coming here.
"I just... I can't do this... I feel so wrong..." I cover my face again.
I hear her take a step forward, and next thing I know, my hands are pried from my face. "Whuwhathafuk!?"
"Strip already." She releases my hands, leaving me in a daze. "I'm waiting..." She says commandingly.
"Y-Yes ma'am..." I look to the floor and pull open my inventory, unequipping all of my clothing as I get even more embarrassed.
"Good girl, now, lets go."
"Don't call me that..." I say as she picks me up off the bench, walking me inside. At this point I don't even care...
She walks me over to a small section with tubs of water. Sitting me down, then setting herself next to me.
"Well, you need help washing yourself?" She asks.
"N-n-n-no I s-should be f-fine!" I stammer.
"Calm down, you will have to get used to this now."
"I know... i-its just so... awkward... I feel so... out of place..." I shrink into myself.
"How are you out of place?" She asks.
"I am a-"
"Don't you finish that sentence, I know where you were going with it. Right now, no, you are not, so you are not out of place."
"That doesn't-!"
"Just shut up and wash so you can get in the bath, it's relaxing, trust me."
"I...*sigh*" I lean down and start to wash myself off. Feel very weird touching myself, especially now that I have nothing to block my own body from my vision, and I don't have anything to distract me. I was kind of worried I would feel something by looking at my new body, but I guess my subconscious has already accepted this as me, still very weird. After a few minutes, I look back at my tail, shivering at the thought of trying to wash it. I decide it's probably best not to try and scrub it, so I just splash some water on it. My tail twitches as I recoil from the water hitting it.
"You okay?" Melina asks from next to me.
"Y-yeah... I just... I want to clean my tail off... but touching it is... a no go right now..."
"Want me to try something?" She says as she gets up, taking the few steps she needs to close the gap.
"Huh!? W-w-wait I-" My mind halts as she rubs one of my horns, causing my breath to slow and my muscles to relax. I feel a warm sensation over my tail as my eyes un-focus, next thing I know, Melina is snapping her hand in front of my face.
"Earth to Camaella? You okay?" I shake my head vigorously.
"What did, wait... you..." I feel my face heat up more than before as I my mind catches up. "God damnit Melina..."
"What? Your tail is clean now." She shrugs.
"That doesn't mean I liked you doing that..."
"Your face said otherwise, you looked like you were having the best massage of your life."
"At this point don't tell me that!"
She helps me up and walks me over to the bath, slowly lowering me in. The warm water starts to soothe my mind as I sit down, my tail submerging and only feeling odd for a moment before the warmth overrides it. I let out a small moan that surprises me and gets a chuckle out of Melina.
"I told you it's relaxing." She says as Roana lowers herself into the bath.
"First time in a public bath?" Roana asks me, making my face heat up even more... She doesn't know though...
I nod, this being my first time in a female bath that is... Of fucking course it is!
"There is no need to be embarrassed about it, were all girls here." Thank god there is no one else in this bathhouse right now...
"Uh... about that... I um... I was male in real life..." I look away from her, I don't want to make her uncomfortable but I feel like she should know.
"And?" She says.
"What do you mean 'and'?!" I say, still looking away from her.
"Why does that matter right now?"
"Huh!?" I look over to her, she stands up and walks over to us, making me turn away again.
"You know everyone thinks you are female anyway, right?"
"Yeah, I have been told multiple times now..."
"So guess what, you're female enough, it's no big deal. You are female right now, so quit thinking so hard about it." She sits down next to me, forcing me to look straight ahead.
"But I... I feel so wrong... I don't want you both to feel uncomfortable with me being here."
"Do you really think I would drag you in here if I was uncomfortable about it?" Melina says, chuckling slightly.
"But..."
"Calm down, just enjoy the bath and relax." Roana says, letting out a sigh.
"I-"
"Don't make me touch your horns again."
"Okay!"
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Melina asks as we leave the changing room, my face still hot as can be.
"Easy for you to say... I just feel like a creep..." I mumble.
"My god, you know what, we are taking you here every day until you get used to it."
"No, please!"
"I'll just rub your horns and force you in." Melina smirks.
I shiver, "That sounds so bad..."
"Oh... Yeah, yeah that does, sorry." Melina scratches her cheek.
I get a notification that the warp stone is linked, and I quickly open up my inventory. Sending the stone over to my brother.
[Camaella] - It's sent, I'll meet you at the town square.
[Anduda] - Alright, thanks bro, see you soon.
"What's got you so happy?" Roana asks.
I look up to her, "Oh, my brother also is here, I just sent him a warp stone to get to Areoha. Are you guys alright with helping me get to the town square?"
"Of course, I didn't know you had a brother, so I kind of want to see what their character looks like." Melina says.
"I think you'll be amused." I say.
After a few minutes of walking, we start closing in, as I hear a younger girl's voice echoing between the buildings.
"You motherfucker!" She yells.
"You will sell for a lot as a slave, younger dragonkin like you are perfect for labor. So how about you just let me get some Lens and you can get a home?" A woman says, I feel my blood pressure spike as we set our sights on the town center. A woman is grabbing a smaller female dragonkin, 4'9, with white horns with gold spirals on their head. Their shoulder length blonde hair bouncing around as they struggle. They are wearing the pearl like armor I helped them get long ago, confirming who it is.
"Let go asshole! I'm not- Ah!" I teleport next to the woman, grabbing her wrist and breaking it as I pull it away from the dragonkin. She screams in pain as I throw her back, barely able to keep myself steady as I wobble slightly trying to keep my balance.