No Need For A Core?
288: Precious Things

Hajime considered the chest that Mordecai had left him with. Moving it was going to be a little difficult and his current room was not large enough to make having it there very feasible. He was more than strong enough, but it was big enough that leverage was an issue, and these corridors were only so big. That limited his options for shape changing.

"Um," Dhamini said, "if you want, we could bring it to my area, and maybe we can bring the rest of your stuff there for now? You know, until you have to go."

An invitation to move in for the duration of his stay? Alright, he could work with that. Hajime smiled at her and said, "I'd like that. Which end do you want?"

"Well, I need to lead the way, so I should probably take the front. Plus, it's easier for me than it would be for you." She gave him an adorable and impish smile before moving to her end of the chest and turning her back on it.

Dhamini then proceeded to pick up her end with her hair.

Huh. It made sense that she was that strong, even with her hair, but how was she balancing... ah.

When Hajime took a better look at what she was doing, he saw that she had only used the center third of her hair to grab the chest's handle, leaving the rest split on either side. That hair had reached down and was pushing off of the floor to keep her from being dragged backward.

It was amusing to see her use her hair as two extra legs, but Hajime was more than wise enough to not let any sign of that show. At least, not right now when emotional things were waiting to be talked about. They could laugh about it together later but now was very much not the time.

The two of them had not talked much between the final bout and the feast. Their time had been split between simple cuddling and then getting him cleaned up and changed.

During the feast he saw more of what he really should have seen before. For all that her body and mind were those of an adult, Dhamini was young and inexperienced. In most ways, even more so than Cephelia, who had been awakened at the same time. The difference was that Cephelia at least had an unawakened mind previously and thus a portion of memories and personality from that.

If Hajime had thought it through, he would have realized that it was unlikely for Dhamini to have been 'awake' for very long; he knew that the Azeria dungeon was only a little over a year old, and the ocean zone was one of their newest zones. It was unlikely that very many slime-based inhabitants had possessed even animal-level sapience for long, let alone higher sapience.

He wasn't certain what to say about it, but it seemed that he had time to think still as Dhamini had plans of her own. Though Hajime was a bit distracted; this was the first time he'd been into this nexus's living space for inhabitants and he was rather amused to learn that they were called warrens.

She led him to a short corridor that had a door at each end and made sure that he knew only one door could be opened at a time. Hajime was rather curious about this setup for the entrance to her home but assumed that he'd learn the reason for it shortly.

The overall shape of Dhamini's home was that of a long tunnel, but there were several divisions created by having the tunnel grow sharply inward to create a wall with a circular opening at the floor level. That division was emphasized by long noren covering each doorway, and he rather thought that choosing lighter fabric hangings was probably the right decision here.

There were also a few smaller chambers splitting off from the main chain of rooms, some of those with heavier privacy hanging.

At the far end of her home was a large pool smelling of salt water with a faint metallic tang, which Hajime presumed led directly into the ocean zone; which probably meant that they were currently under the island at the end of the zone. The double-door corridor now made much more sense and it explained why the doors seals shut so tightly.

Huh, come to think of it, how did a nexus deal with the air and water pressure of being deep underground? He'd never had to worry about it before and had never thought to ask.

His musings were interrupted when Dhamini said, "Um, so, I wanted to try something before we talked."

They were in the water pool chamber, which was open and had no furniture, which was probably best given the salty humidity. Dhamini walked away from him before turning back around and giving him a smile. "Remember how we first met?" She said before shifting into her true form, which floated as lightly through the air as it had through the water. "So, what do you think of me like this?" Dhamini asked telepathically, which he assumed was because she couldn't physically speak in that form.

"As beautiful as ever," Hajime replied. He then stepped forward, brushing by her tendrils without worry so that he could reach up and gently stroke the surface of her translucent skin. Hajime trusted her, and he also trusted Mordecai's design. A normal jellyfish had no control over its stingers, but he couldn't imagine Mordecai not fixing that for an inhabitant, especially a sapient one. "My turn, yes?" He asked before slowly shifting into his draconoid form.

In this chamber, there was enough room for both of them in their true bodies, and here they could examine and explore each other. Their embrace was intimate and sensual, but it wasn't sexual; it was simply about getting to know each other better.

Eventually, they shifted back into humanoid forms, though not completely so. He still had his wings and a somewhat decorative selection of his scales, while her hair started with what looked almost like a jellyfish cap on her head and her eyes looked more crystalline. "Mm, being with you like this is better I think," Dhamini said. "We fit together. I think your dragon shape is pretty, but this is softer. And," she paused and bit her lower lip briefly, "um, while I still really like you in my other form, there are some things I can't seem to feel properly like that."

She kissed him then, drawing him into a tight embrace that he returned enthusiastically. Oh, he so wanted to indulge himself right now, but after a long moment, Hajime gently broke the kiss with a smile. "Tempting and tasty still, but we need to talk a little first."

Dhamini sighed and glanced down. "I know, but it feels scary. Why is this scarier than fighting people?"

"Because feelings are harder to heal once they are hurt," Hajime replied. "Also, you have been taught how to fight, but you haven't been taught how to deal with relationships. No," he said with a laugh when she looked up at him, "that bit of teaching is not 'relationships', though it can be important to one. But let's settle somewhere comfortable first."

"Alright," Dhamini said and led him to one of the side chambers with a heavier curtain. This turned out to be a bedroom, though he had the feeling neither it nor the rest of her home had seen much use yet. All of this was another new thing for her simply because she now had a reason to have a guest.

They curled up on her bed amidst a collection of soft pillows, which made Hajime think that she'd had some help in designing everything. Probably not Mordecai though; Hajime couldn't imagine his former boss picking out some of the more cutesy designs.

"Well," Hajime said as he stroked her hair, "let's begin with feelings. I like you a lot Dhamini, I really do or I wouldn't be here. I'm also happy to focus my time here on being with you, and I think we'll both be happier settling into the normal roles of a relationship. But when we started getting to know each other, I was deliberately keeping a certain amount of emotional distance because I was expecting everything to remain casual, just like it had been with Betty and I."

He sighed as he felt her stiffen in his arms and leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. That distracted him for a moment because of the unexpected texture of the jellyfish-like covering, though she didn't seem to mind whatever it felt like for her.

"Dhamini," he said in a very gentle voice, "I am going to be here for you, and you don't have to worry about anything regarding me. But you are a lot younger than I realized, so you are still changing and growing mentally. How you feel about me may change as you get to know more people, or simply as you learn and change."

She made an unhappy noise before looking up at him. "I don't want to change if it means I might not feel like this. Or maybe I should 'change' when you leave, and just be a jellyfish where I don't feel this so much. I want to be with you so badly that it hurts and I don't know what to do about it."

"That," Hajime said, "would probably not be a good idea. Learning to deal with emotions is part of living, even when the emotions are really intense. Hmm. I just realized something. Staying in the form of a jellyfish probably won't work the way you think it would. I know your core isn't the same as a nexus core, but I'll bet that you'll learn to feel just as intensely and complexly as you do in this form. You should ask Mordecai."

There was a moment of silence before Dhamini made a face. "He says you are right, but it also sort of felt like he was saying 'of course that's what will happen'. Like, how would I know that?"

"Sometimes things seem obvious to us older folk that make us oblivious to what is not obvious to younger people," Hajime replied.

Dhamini sat up and gave him a strange look. "Wait, you're like really old, aren't you?"

"Only a few centuries younger than Mordecai, though I've been active during his two-thousand-year nap, so I'm also sort of older."

"That..." Dhamini trailed off as she processed several different emotions and thoughts, and he waited patiently for her.

After a few minutes, she said, "I don't think that changes anything about how I feel, even if it seems weird if I think about it too much. But it doesn’t matter to me that you’re a similar age to Mordecai since I also don't think of Mordecai as my father or anything. Maybe. I don't know what it is to feel like someone is a parent to me, or anything else. Um, now that I think about it, you're sort of the first person that's been more than a close friend in any form."

Well, he hadn't considered that possibility. It was another thing to think about. Before Hajime had figured out how to respond, Dhamini started to shift her position and pushed him down. "No, no more talking. You promised to let me in, and I want that. I want everything. Let me be completely greedy tonight. Let me claim your mind and give me all of your tastiest wing scales."

Hajime had been aware of her hair lightly caressing him while they cuddled, but it wasn't until this moment that he realized she'd also been looking for loose wing scales to claim. They weren't generally toxic unless he used power to alter them, but there were a lot of options available to him, and Dhamini had already shown that she liked the taste of poisons, especially those that were new to her.

Her eyes were glowing and he could feel the mental connection forming between them, along with all the swirling emotions wanting to stretch across to touch him. Hajime let that connection form, but he didn't let her in just yet. Instead, he pushed back gently. While he couldn't form or maintain the connection, so long as she maintained it he had the strength and will to be the conqueror.

That would be going too far in this case, and he was going to keep his promise, but first, he used that mental bridge to reach into her mind. There he let his awareness touch her storm of emotions, then gently untangled them, just enough to give her a glimpse of the work ahead of her. It wasn't something he could do for her really, but he could give her some insight in how to work on herself.

Dhamini didn't really struggle against his intrusion; in fact, she welcomed him even as she tried to push back and work her way into his mind. But having both of them inside each other's minds at the same time was too complex for Hajime's ability and Dhamini didn't have the power or experience to manage it on her own.

So he simply let her push him back out on her way to entering his mind. Hajime teased her a little by controlling how far into his mind she could go and only slowly expanding how much mental territory she could occupy and control.

But he was giving her complete access to himself, if more slowly than her desire demanded. What he had promised her didn't require more than letting her have full access to his mind, but Hajime was giving her control as well and a few helpful tips.

It was technically dangerous to let her fully claim him like this, especially with her inexperience. He was trusting to both her intentions and to the power of Kazue's boon should anything go wrong. Slowly, bit by bit, his will gave way before hers until he simply became hers.

When he awoke much later, Hajime's body ached all over and he slowly began a review of what had happened. The physical part of her conquest had pretty much been a given and that was why she was now happily passed out on top of him. The mental part had some surprises; she had delved into his memories just as he had expected and given permission for, but she hadn't shied away from the memories of his relationships with other people. Dhamini hadn't looked at the more intimate parts of those memories; she'd understood when he told her those were off-limits, but Hajime hadn't put up any barriers. He had simply trusted her to not violate other people's privacy that way.

Her emotions were interesting for him to examine; she'd not been jealous the way some people might have been, but there was certainly a feeling of 'mine now' from her. Hah. Well, he had been wondering if a deeper understanding of how many people he'd been with would change her mind or feelings.

The breakups had made her feel uncomfortable, but she had not run away from them either. He was pretty certain she had taken note of things not to do and lessons to learn, but he hadn't been able to read her thoughts at that point. Her movement through his mind and memories simply left an impression of where she'd been looking and what she'd been feeling.

The most surprising thing was the number of new variants he had for his wing scales. Hajime had given her permission to control as much of that part of his powers as she could, but he hadn't expected her ability to taste and analyze toxins to create this sort of feedback loop. She'd manipulated his mana to produce wing scale variants that best suited her tastes.

Which explained why his wings felt itchy and raw; the girl really was greedy sometimes and had gotten carried away. Hajime was going to have to be careful until he got a healing potion or had a lot of rest; his membranes were feeling thin and delicate now. Even now some of her hair seemed to be looking for more scales despite her being asleep.

On the other hand, her work was rather enlightening. Hajime tended to not think of his wing scales as direct toxins and poisons, despite some of their effects being most potent once inside of a person. Dhamini's desires had focused on creating a rather exquisite collection of the deadliest poisons she could manipulate his mana and powers into creating.

It took Hajime quite a while to remember everything she'd been doing with his mind while his self had been under her control, and Dhamini eventually began to stir during his review. Hajime smiled and drew her up for a kiss before asking, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Mm, yes," she said sleepily. "It all felt so good, having you like that and tasting all your poisons, and being able to have you make more potent ones. It feels so good to taste them like that, it made everything even better."

Hajime laughed softly at the honest lusty gluttony in her words. "Well, we're going to need to work on your self-control, so I am not going to let you indulge yourself so much for a while. I don't mind, given the circumstances, but my wings hurt now."

Dhamini started and then pushed herself up to look down at him guiltily. "I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that, can I do something, what do you need?"

Well, she might be a little on the crazy side, but she certainly was sincere in how much she cared. Really, he found it kind of adorable, but it was probably a good thing she could only hurt him if he let her. Dhamini's abilities could be accidentally dangerous to someone around her own strength, let alone someone less powerful.

Hajime had no idea how this relationship was going to work out in the long run, but it was going to be interesting at least. Making sure she didn't hurt him or herself was going to be the hard part. Thankfully, Dhamini wasn't volatile, she was just unpracticed and overly enthusiastic at times. Volatile wasn't something he handled well, and he had no idea how Mordecai had dealt with Satsuki for so long.

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