4.03 - (R-18) Sabina's Special Room

Sabina held the potion vial up to the air, inspecting the swirling red liquid with a critical eye. She frowned, and Zoey's heart skipped a beat. Had she messed up?

"It's poor," Sabina said, shaking the vial. "Clearly the work of an amateur."

Zoey stared at Sabina, distraught. That had been … more direct than Zoey had expected. Sabina tilted her head, pausing, as if confused at Zoey's reaction.

"You are an amateur," Sabina pointed out. "Perhaps not even that. A stark beginner. And in that regard, you've done quite well. Much better than expected." She paused. "Ah. I should have led with that. I apologize."

Zoey stared at Sabina a second longer, then laughed and relaxed. Well, she had known the tall, antlered woman for a bit now, so it wasn't like she was surprised. Sabina's lack of grace in social situations was well established. Her pride stung, still, but as Sabina had said, she was a 'stark beginner'. There wasn't anything to take offense at.

Alchemy was the sort of skill that took ages to improve at. And she'd said Zoey had done 'well' and even 'better than expected'. The flip side to Sabina's brutal and sometimes clueless honesty was that she could trust the praise. So, she'd done horribly, but all beginners were expected to be bad. And for a beginner, she'd done quite well.

"That's good," Zoey said. "Honestly, I'm just glad I got through it. I was getting worried near the middle. And then bottling, that it'd actually catalyze."

It felt like she had been tackling catastrophe after catastrophe during the brewing stage. Her rune afforded her plenty of instincts in identifying what was wrong, but much less so how to solve those problems. But even so, with minimal guidance, she'd managed a small pot of healing potions—about six vials' worth. And sure, health potions were one of the easiest recipes in existence, but progress came in small steps.

Sabina hummed in understanding. "The chaos of the brew is one of the most engaging aspects. One of the reasons I love it." At Zoey's dubious look, having found the situation quite stressful, Sabina said, "Once you get to upper-level brews, you'll understand."

"If you say so."

She'd grown an easy familiarity with Sabina over yesterday's, and now today's, lessons. Though Sabina remained as cool and clinical as ever, the two of them were starting to build a repertoire, a comfort around each other.

"Now," Sabina said. "Let's get cleaned up and try something more complex. Go ahead and throw that out."

The health potions Zoey had made were effectively worthless, and so Zoey had known it would be thrown out rather than saved and sold as merchandise, but she winced anyway. Sabina's frankness was endearing most of the time, but not all the time. She couldn't have put it slightly more delicately? That was Zoey's first brew ever … and straight into the sink, disposed of? It made sense, but still. Oh well.

She and Sabina started cleaning the many utensils and equipment they'd dirtied while brewing. While scrubbing down the equipment and scrubbing out the vials, Zoey brought up a topic she'd been chewing over.

"How much do alchemy runes vary, anyways?" Sink-water poured down as a backdrop noise. Zoey scraped and scrubbed while Sabina dried and laid the tools out on racks.

"You'll need to be more specific."

"You say that a lot."

"Because you're vague a lot," Sabina said pointedly.

Zoey laughed, and while Sabina didn't do so—or even smile—Zoey was learning to read the granite-expressioned woman. The quick retort was playful, by Sabina standards, even if it lacked the usual indicators.

"Can a person's overall class affect their alchemy rune?" Zoey tried again. "Their 'path', or whatever."

Zoey had been more specific, like Sabina had asked, but Zoey also winced at doing so. Because Sabina was a brilliant woman, and so, when Zoey asked questions like these, she always read the intent behind them.

Zoey had asked whether her class affected her alchemy rune. And Sabina had surely deduced what Zoey's class was, at least in roundabout terms. The lewd nature of it. She had dragged home several bizarrely sexual alchemy regents. And Zoey's bulge—the fourteen inch monster—meant her other not-so-typical circumstances were on display, too.

So, Sabina knew where Zoey was going with the question. Indeed, by the sideways glance Sabina shot her, she definitely had. Not much got past her, where deduction was required.

Sabina sighed. She set the utensil she'd been cleaning aside, then dried her hands. "That's it. Follow me."

"Huh?"

"You've been asking similar questions constantly. Both today and this morning. So, let's sate your curiosity. Follow me."

"Huh?" she repeated, cheeks coloring. Like she'd figured, she'd been seen through in an instant. How embarrassing. "I was just—"

Sabina waved her hand, cutting Zoey off. "Follow me," she said for the third time.

Perplexed, Zoey dried off her hands and followed Sabina. The rest of the uncleaned equipment went forgotten, a distinctly not Sabina action. While her store was nearly in disrepair, her equipment she kept meticulous care of—as expected of a dedicated scientist.

She followed Sabina out of her laboratory, into the storefront, and through a different door, which led to a staircase. Sabina guided her up into her living quarters, which sat on top of the alchemy shop. Zoey hadn't ever been here. Obviously. She'd only known Sabina a few days, and been apprenticed to her for two, so of course she'd never been to Sabina's bedroom.

But still. What was going on? What did this have to do with Zoey's question?

Her bedroom wasn't in much better condition than her store. She didn't have a bedframe, even. A mattress laid on the floor, blanket tossed to the side. She had a single pillow. Piled next to the mattress was heaps of books, notebooks, and papers. A sloppy academic, the image of Sabina was reinforced for the hundredth time. Chalkboards were tucked to the side of the room, with hasty diagrams and cramped script she couldn't read, both because of how sloppy it was and by how quickly she was led through the room. Sabina guided her through in a few short seconds, ushering Zoey through a second doorway.

Inside, Zoey gaped.

The walls were painted a deep, sensual red, and the light inside the newest room was dim, with a pink hue. The lighting dimmed further, Sabina closing the door behind them. And the most shocking part: at the center, a metal table sat, adorned with straps at the feet, hands, and neck. A mirror hung from the ceiling, pointing down—so someone could sit in the chair and look at what was happening to them.

"Sit," Sabina said.

Zoey gaped at her.

"I don't like repeating myself," Sabina said.

Numbly, she did as told. She sat, the cold bite of the metal piercing even through her clothing. She rested her arms on either of the armrests, and Sabina walked to her side, deftly strapping them down. She let it happen.

She idly tested how strong they were. Tugging, she found her arms firmly locked in place.

What … the hell?

What was happening? And why had she listened to Sabina's commands so automatically? Let herself be strapped down, with maybe a little too much trust?

Because she was, as a second test confirmed, very locked down.

This room. It didn't leave much up to interpretation. She looked around, stunned, at the furniture. A shelf was filled with sex toys, many of which Zoey couldn't identify. A metal rack was tucked in the corner, the sort of contraption a person would be tied up and hung from. All sorts of restraints and leather straps scattered the room. Zoey looked up, and in the ceiling-mirror's reflection, she saw her wide-eyed expression—and Sabina, snapping on a pair of clinical white gloves.

"You're distracted," Sabina said matter-of-factly. "I've caught you staring at least a dozen times. This is a problem. I can't have a distracted student. So, I will rectify this issue, and in the process, perhaps we can answer some of your questions."

"My … rune," Zoey said dumbly. "How it might differ from a normal alchemist's."

"Indeed." Having finished donning her gloves, Sabina tugged off her lab coat, revealing her daily clothes. As her curvaceousness even in the unflattering work wear had suggested, she had a lot going on.

The sight of Sabina undressing, even in a tiny, irrelevant way, hammered in, finally, what was happening. Zoey's cock stirred, swelling in her pants.

Sabina noted it, expression not changing. She approached, arriving to Zoey's side. "Let me preface things," she said. "In most circumstances, I prefer to extract pleasure, not experience it myself. This will be one sided." She moved down Zoey's body and tugged Zoey's legs into position, strapping those down, too. "This is fine?"

It took her several moments to find a response. "Uh. Yeah. Okay." She was reeling from the twist in events.

Seriously. Where had this come from? Their morning lessons had progressed without a hint of anything sexual, Zoey had thought. Sure, she had accidentally admired the stern older woman's body a few times—as she'd just been accused of—but Zoey hadn't made any advances, overt or otherwise. She hadn't even thought Sabina had noticed. Clearly, counting on Sabina's observational skills to be lacking had been idiotic.

But how had today taken such a turn?

Was it really as simple as Sabina wanting to help 'remove distractions'? And discover the intricacies to Zoey's class?

The existence of a sex room attached to her bedroom suggested probably not. Zoey's appraisal of Sabina was, clearly, slightly off. She'd halfway figured Sabina was … asexual or something. Maybe, still, she was. Or something close? She had said she preferred to extract pleasure, not experience it.

"You asked me, yesterday," Sabina said, "whether semen made an effective potion base. I replied it had been tested and found inadequate. But perhaps … hm. A person's class—the composite quirks of their rune or runes—do affect the general alchemy process. Sometimes drastically. Considering your class? Perhaps …"

Sabina's hands went to Zoey's waistband. Holding scalding eye contact, her fingers finagled the button free, popping her pants open. She gripped the sides of Zoey's pants and tugged down. Zoey, her head still fuzzy from shock, wiggled side to side to help her pull them down. Sabina left the article bundled at her shoes.

Sabina tilted her head, taking in the size of Zoey's bulge. It was noticeable even through loose pants, but wearing only underwear to cover it, now, the truth of the situation made itself clear. Fourteen inches. A monster. It peeked out of her underwear, stretching toward her knee.

"I have, of course," Sabina said, "theorized what your class is. You arrived to me with such perplexing ingredients, and with such uncommon biology. How this would combine with a rune of alchemy … your curiosity isn't yours alone. Semen. Perhaps for a libidinous class like yours, an alchemy rune would make use of such a potion base."

Sabina tilted her head.

"As such, we need to collect."

Zoey's heart skipped a beat.

"Additionally," Sabina continued, unruffled as ever. She wasn't even blushing. "You've been distracted. It is, admittedly, flattering how much you stare, but you need to be focused on your studies." Sabina gave her a stern look. "On my tutelage. So. Relieving you serves multiple purposes."

Sabina rested a cool, gloved hand against the exposed tip of Zoey's cock head. Zoey groaned, having become almost agonizingly worked up. Mostly, it was the fault of how surprising the situation was. Zoey squirmed in place, only to be reminded how firmly her arms and legs were strapped down. She'd almost forgotten. The restrictiveness of her positioning, again, made her heart slam faster. Pinned down. Unable to leave if she wanted to. Why was that so exciting?

"So," Sabina said. "Let's solve a problem, and answer a question. I do prefer being efficient."