Luna's Little Problem

Upon mentioning the word town, I saw Luna's eyes cast downwards, and a worried look creep onto her face. "What's wrong?" I asked her, worried about the sudden shift in her temperament. "I'm afraid that if you bring me with you, you won't be able to get into town."

Seeing my confused gaze, Luna offered a further explanation, "Oh yeah, you didn't have slaves where you come from. Any slave without a master is considered a runaway. If they were to get into a town, the guards would kill the slave for breaking the law." Thinking on her words, I rubbed my chin and remembered the tome from earlier. I pulled out the book and explained to Luna that it was among her previous master's possessions. Then I pondered aloud how I thought that maybe it contained something to help get rid of the seal.

Scowling at the book I held, Luna spoke, "Pardon my insolence, but I know that book contains nothing that can help us right now." As I tilted my head questioningly, Luna continued, "My previous scum of a master taught me how to read for the sole purpose of making me read the book to know how I could not escape. The only way the book explains to remove the seal is by getting a dwarf proficient in their ancient rune arts to disable and remove it." Clenching her fists in visible anger, she recited, "His favourite passage to get me to read was about how that even if he was to die, all another person had to do was infuse the tattoo with their mana to enslave me to their will. He would remind me that I will always have a master who treats me like the dog I am..." Luna trailed off as realization dawned on her face.

"John, you can become my master! Then I won't cause you trouble when you need to enter a town!" Luna exclaimed, taking several steps towards me. Now standing close to me, she lifted her shirt to expose the brand on her smooth, taut stomach while staring me straight in the eyes. I gulped as she thrust her belly forward to indicate I should go ahead and activate the seal with my mana.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! You can't just-" I started to stutter out in a panicked fashion.

I saw her ears pull back as she broke eye contact to look down, and she pushed her shirt back down. "You are right. I'm sorry, I forgot for a second that you would then be obligated under the law to keep me fed and clothed in public if you were to become my master. And that is a big expense to you, especially for such a useless mutt as me, who can't even really help in any constructive matter-" Luna started launching out all her inner doubts at a rapid-fire pace as she misunderstood my apprehension.

Gripping her by the shoulders, I gave her a light shake to make her look up at me and stop the torrent of self-directed hate. "Luna, I would be the luckiest man on the earth to have such an excellent person as my companion. I was more worried about the fact that you were rushing into this a bit quickly. I mean, you barely know me. What if this is all a front, and I am actually a bad person." Realizing the reason for my doubts, Luna reached up to her cheek and wiped away some of the tears that had found themselves there, a beautiful smile lighting up her face.

"That is easy; you have treated me better than anyone has in the last decade. And more importantly, there is your scent." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I raised my arm and sniffed at my armpit, a bit worried, but luckily there was no pronounced smell.

Laughing at my antics, Luna said, "You won't be able to detect it. Only a beast-man with a good nose would be able to, but you have a smell that reminds me of home and family." She once again lifted her shirt. This time though, hesitating slightly at first, she reached out and took my hand. She removed the Gauntlet and placed it aside on the bench. Taking my now bare hand, she put it on her stomach. As my skin touched here, I could feel her extra warm body temperature emanating from her smooth skin. The light peach fuzz of her stomach hair was slightly tickling my fingers. "Are you positive? You will have to live with this until we make it to a dwarf with the skill to remove the seal."

Without missing a beat, Luna nodded, not breaking eye contact. Exhaling slowly to focus, I activated my Mana Vision. Using my new Mana Control skill in conjunction, I directly directed the correct minute volumes of my magic to the tattoo's proper runes. I supplied just enough magic to activate the runes. as the process started, Luna grabbed my forearm with her paw-like hand. "Are you okay?" I worried as I slowed the mana flow. Luna gripped my arm to stop me from retracting it, "No, it does not hurt at all. Unlike the last time I was given a master, it's the opposite. This time, it is warm and gentle. I can feel your mana inside me, making me yours." Her other arm came over, and both her arms wrapped mine as she held herself close to me. I had to spin her around, to face away from me, so that I could keep my hand on her midriff. She was now positioned with her back pressed against my stomach as my magic finished infusing the seal. I heard the soft notes of Luna snoring as she had fallen asleep.

"I guess it took a lot out of her too."

I lifted her into a semi princess carry as she continued not to let my arm go. I set my Gauntlet on the bench and the one on my left hand to the storage dimension with a thought. I carried Luna into the tent and tried to tuck her into the sleeping bag. But as I made to leave, she mumbled in her sleep, "No, mastuuuuur, staaaaay..." not letting my arm free. Giving into yet another request of this little pup, I reached over and sealed the flap before climbing into the extra-large sleeping bag alongside her. I sent my armour to the shadow realm to join my gauntlets, leaving me in the bodyglove I wore underneath.

I silently sent Jupiter my thanks for the layer of protection as the timid girl in my arms wrapped herself in my arm and was pressed tight up against my front. Wondering if there was a skill for instant self-sleep I could get, I tried my hardest to distract myself from the two meaty warm globes pressed onto my arm and the larger ones pressed back into my hips. I chanted in my head for both parts of me to go to sleep. As I counted the most wholesome sheep ever, I finally drifted off to sleep.

I woke up as I felt a slight squirming in my arms. Opening my eyes, I found a cute floppy ear right in my vision. Tickling the ear with some directed exhaled air caused the slowly stirring Luna to awaken fully. Upon taking stock of the situation, she started to apologize hurriedly, "Master, I am so sorry, I thought it was just in my dream that I made you hold me, I'm so so-" She also tried to stand up and remove her weight from my arm. However, I cut her off by pulling her back into my arms. "Shh, good pillows are supposed to cause such a disturbance first thing in the morning."

I wrapped my arms around her, holding her in place, as I rearranged myself into a fully side-facing position. I had my eyes closed for this last bit, but as I sensed her face just to the left of my own, I cracked my eyelid enough to take a peek at her face. It did not disappoint. She was beet red. And to perfectly accompany it, she let out a little squeak noise as she was overwhelmed by the situation. I did, however, notice the smile on her lips as she gave in.