Chapter 6:
Picking Flowers
Despite the girls’ concern for his newfound sleeping problems, a tired Nameless insisted on taking the milk to market with Milly first thing the following morning, and not even Nina was able to threaten him back to bed.
For the first time they had bottled the milk without any help from Paul. So he and his cow pulled the cart along after finishing in the barn, while Helena and Kaylee tagged along, both to keep them safe and to give them some welcome company.
But a harsh voice caught up to them as they walked the road towards town.
“You! Boy! I have work for you!”
They turned to see an elderly lady with a heavy bag on her arm and wrapped in an oversized coat tottering towards them.
Janet Skinner had always been abrupt, even abrasive, with the people of Kettering, and Nameless was no exception to that, though she hadn’t often spoken to him before.
“Yes?”
He gave the two Amazons an apprehensive look as they bristled at the woman’s rudeness.
“I know you’ve helped that old fart with his bloody chickens, now I need some help with my garden! Come along!”
With that she turned and stomped away.
Nameless turned to Milly helplessly, unsure of what had just happened.
Janet turned back to them.
“Well? Don’t stand around like a half-wit all day! There’s work to be done!”
“Now?”
She stomped one foot, reminding Nameless of nothing more than a spoiled child.
“Yes now!”
But he didn’t move.
“Missus Skinner, I’m-”
“Don’t you ‘Missus Skinner’ me boy! You and everyone else in this town know I never married! Call me Janet or don’t call me anything at all!”
Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared at him.
Nameless nodded as he held his hands up placatingly.
“Fine, Janet. We’re busy at the moment, but I would be happy to come by when we finish at the market.”
She was taken aback, the stuttering orphan she knew wasn’t one to argue, she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but then the cranky woman noticed the Amazons gripping their spears tight and staring death at her.
“Don’t you barbarians go and try to bully a poor old woman! There’s no honour in that.” She barked at them.
Helena and Kaylee looked ready to fold her in half, so Nameless quickly whispered to them that it was fine, so they relaxed, though their fierce gazes lingered on the rude woman.
Satisfied that the Amazons weren’t going to cause her any grief, Janet frowned back at Nameless.
“You have two hours boy. Two! And bring the Minotaur, and these two muscle-heads, we’ll need the strength since you obviously don’t have any!”
With that she stomped away, muttering to herself.
“That woman is very rude.” Helena observed with a frown.
Nameless sighed.
“Don’t take it personally, she’s rude to everyone.”
Milly watched him for a long moment.
“What is it?”
“Oh nothing Master.” She smiled warmly; “It’s just that before we left Kettering, I think you would have just did what she said without even arguing at all.”
He shrugged.
“I suppose, there are much bigger things to worry about now than one mean old lady.”
Milly’s smile faltered and Nameless immediately regretted his words. They had been having a good morning, up until he brought their minds back to the events in Garland.
“Come on baby, let’s get the milk sold and then deal with mean old Skinner.” He tried to inject some enthusiasm into his tone but his efforts fell flat.
Milly smiled again, though it was a bit forced.
“Of course Master.”
The Amazons shared another look; they knew that their Valkyrja-datta was in pain, and both desperately wished they could do something to alleviate it.
While they were in the market the two glaring Amazons served to protect Nameless from being bombarded with too many questions from various people as to where he had been and what he had been up to.
But even the stern glares of the two wild Amazons guarding him couldn’t fully stem the tide of burning curiosity from the people of Kettering and he found himself deflecting more than a few questions.
Mostly they wanted to know about Volka and if she was really a Valkyrie. The angel had not made another appearance in Kettering since they had arrived. Privately she had admitted to him that it would probably have been better if she had not joined in with the spectacle of their return.
One thing that hadn’t changed about him, he still didn’t like being the center of attention.
Fortunately the milk sold quickly and they made their escape.
“That was more chaotic than usual.” Milly remarked.
He set his hand on the small of her back and gave her a reassuring rub while she pulled the cart.
“Yeah, I guess we’re the talk of the town?”
“Perhaps next time we should bring more warriors to keep these nosey people at bay?” Helena suggested as she scanned around them for any hint of danger.
He shook his head and shrugged.
“No it’s fine, they’ll get over it or get used to it soon enough. They’re good people mostly. Nothing much happens around here so they get excited from the littlest things.”
Kaylee pinched his ass, causing him to yelp.
“Valkyrja-datta, the return of the Valkyrie to the world is hardly a little thing!” She chastised.
He was forced to concede that point, but still, he found himself feeling rather unconcerned about the whole thing now that they were away from the crowd.
A while later they made their way up Janet Skinner’s drive and turned to go onto her front porch, but he spotted the old woman over by her shed.
“Hello Janet.” Nameless tried.
“You’re late.” She snapped immediately as she walked right past them.
He sighed. In fact they were almost an hour early, having chosen not to linger in town with all of the curious eyes on them.
She threw a glare at him over her shoulder.
“What are you waiting for? Come along then.”
Together they rounded the corner of a long squat building with glass walls and they spotted her Blomma garden a short distance from the wooden fence that separated Janet’s property from his field.
The beautiful flower girls were whispering excitedly to each other as they approached.
Blomma were an odd breed, their female bodies were nestled in giant flower petals that sprung from the tops of the broad-stemmed plants, while green vine-like roots stretched out from the dirt in the boxes beneath them.
The flowers ranged in height from six to seven feet, though the girls within were much smaller, between four and five feet.
Their skin was an assortment of colours; from pale yellows to rich purples, and likewise their petals were as varied as the flowers they embodied.
There were sixteen of them, planted in boxes arranged in two neat rows of eight.
“Hello Janey! Oooh did you bring us a present?” One of the girls called out when she spotted them approaching.
She giggled as she looked Nameless up and down, her gaze lingering on his groin.
He made an effort not to return the stare; within their petals the girls were naked and glistening with their nectar.
It was a common thread amongst the nature breeds: whether spirits like the Dryads or plants like the Blomma, all thought clothes were silly.
“Hello Petunia dear.”
Janet’s voice was now warm and matronly as she addressed the flower girls, a drastic change for the old woman.
It was brief however, as after greeting a few of the other girls she turned and snapped at him.
“You keep your eyes and hands to yourself young man! We need to get the girls into the greenhouse for the winter. Normally those layabouts Dillon and Brandon do it, but I don’t trust them to keep from defiling my garden! Especially after last night!”
One of the girls giggled and her green face darkened in a blush as she twirled a finger through a lock of her curly hair.
“I wouldn’t say ‘defiling’ Janet! The small one has gotten me where I wanted to go in the past, and I know he did the same for Rosy. I’ve been looking forwards to giving him another go!”
She bit her lip and her fingers briefly trailed over her naked slit at the memory of the teen’s efforts, then she raised her finger up to offer the rose next to her a taste of her nectar.
The reddish girl suckled on her sister’s finger for a moment and let out a hum that made Nameless shudder before she nodded happily.
“Yeah, the big one is a dummy, but the little one is a real sweetheart when you get him alone. And so earnest with his tongue!”
The other plant girls all giggled at her words, while Janet frowned and focused on Nameless.
“You can just have these muscle-heads pick up the boxes and wheel them on that cart of yours into the greenhouse. The girls know best where they like to be. And keep your hands to yourselves!” She repeated while she wagged one crooked finger at each of them, the warning digit lingering under his nose.
“Don’t worry Janet. I’m sure they’ll take extra special care of us!” An orange girl with white petals like a daffodil chimed in.
Nameless couldn’t help but notice that she gave her perky breasts a squeeze with each hand as she spoke, her gaze fixed now on Kaylee, who licked her lips and returned the smoldering look.
Again, Janet ignored the exchange, and with one last warning glare at Nameless, she stomped away.
The Amazons shared a bewildered look at the woman’s odd behaviour, while Nameless and Milly did the same.
“Dearheart? What are you doing here?”
He looked up to see Ophelia fluttering down to land beside them.
“Um, I guess we’re helping?”
Milly put her arm over his shoulder and smiled at his uncertain response.
“Well hellooo sexy!” One of the Blomma called out to the Flutterby, accompanied by more giggles.
“Hello Ginger, how have you been?”
“I’d be a lot better if you’d finally give in and spend a day or so inside my petals!” The green-skinned and orange-flowered girl responded, her petals opening invitingly.
“I’m afraid I’ve had my fill of the mornings after drinking your nectar dear.” Ophelia said drily.
“Pfft, you’re just a lightweight.” The other monster girl teased with a smug grin.
The Flutterby took a few minutes to exchange pleasantries with the various Blomma, fluttering from one flower to the next and kissing the girls within on the cheeks by way of greeting.
Once she was finished she did the same for Nameless, Milly and the Amazons, before pursing her lips in curiosity.
“So you’re here to help the girls into the greenhouse then? It’s a bit early in the season for that isn’t it?” Ophelia asked the various Blomma as much as them.
“Yeah, but Janey is worried about not finding any helping hands before the first frost. And we’re okay with the greenhouse, nice and cozy and it beats sleeping all winter!” Rosalyn explained, before once more giving Nameless suggestive looks; “You and this mysterious little fella should come by some night, we would love to host a little get together and steam the place up a bit!”
The orphan, despite having grown used to women constantly flirting with him, couldn’t keep from blushing at the girl’s heated invitation.
The Blomma exuded a raw sexuality that was a match even for Erica, the situation made all the more difficult for him given that they were all naked and two of his bond-mates were right there with him.
As if reading his mind another one called out.
“Yeah! And you absolutely must bring the Amazons and the stacked Minotaur along! They’d be a tight fit in my petals but sooo worth it!”
Now it was Milly’s turn to blush as the Blomma ogled her, though Helena distracted the horny flowers by raising a good point.
“I do not understand, what of the Skinner woman? Would she not object to such a tryst?”
There was a pause as the Blomma absorbed her words, then all together they burst out in fits of giggles.
“Okay, explain.” The Amazon said as she crossed her arms over her breasts in annoyance.
Ginger wiped tears of mirth from her eyes as she recovered her composure.
“Janet doesn’t want us not to have sex! That would be awful! Plus we wouldn’t be able to make our nectar, which is what pays the bills for her. It’s just this sort of game we play: we sneak boys and girls into the garden all the time, and she pretends not to notice, except when she doesn’t approve of our choices, then she chases them off with that big silly knife of hers!”
She spoke brightly, unperturbed by the thought of the vengeful old woman wielding a meat cleaver.
The Amazons shared another look.
“I… see.”
With that they set to work, though it was just as Janet predicted; all that Nameless could really do to help was gently maneuver the girls’ brilliant petals out of harm’s way while the Amazons and Milly worked to store them in the greenhouse.
“Ooooh! His touch is so very gentle!” One of them commended him while he kept her petals out of harm’s way.
It was awkward for him: he stood with his feet on either rim of the cart, his arms holding the giant flower like a blanket around the form of the green girl within. All while Milly wheeled them through the double doors of the broad building.
“I wonder how those gentle hands of yours would feel inside my petals.”
The girl’s voice was sultry as a vine stretched up from her stem and gently stroked across his neck and cheek. One green hand reached out and she traced her finger underneath his chin in a come-hither motion.
Due to the position he could do nothing but blush as she continued to trace her finger and vines over his face and whisper erotic suggestions at him. He could feel the insistent pressure of another vine slowly crawling up and around his leg.
His cheeks were burning scarlet by the time Milly had maneuvered the girl into the building and he was able to hop down off the cart.
It took them the better part of an hour to situate all of the girls how they liked, by the end of which Helena and Kaylee were more than ready to stay behind and help steam up the greenhouse, but Nameless and his girls were leaving and so they said their farewells.
They caught up to Janet in a rocking chair on her porch.
“Took you long enough!” She barked, but then she caught sight of Ophelia and once again her mood shifted as a smile split her wrinkled face.
“Oh! Hello Ophelia dear. It has been too long!”
“Hello Jane.”
The Flutterby greeted her as she had the Blomma, a kiss on either cheek.
“I heard you moved into that rundown little cottage next door? Tell me it isn’t so!”
Ophelia nodded with a smile, choosing to ignore her disparaging words about their home.
“Yes it has been quite lovely, but we really must get back to it. I would love to call on you for tea sometime soon though?”
Janet nodded and mumbled her agreement as she fussed with her purse and tossed a bag of coins at Nameless, who caught it deftly.
“Hmmm, good reflexes boy. You take care of dear Ophelia here! And I hope you understand that she is far too good for you!”
The Flutterby fought to hold back her smile at the petulant expression on Nameless’s face as he pocketed the coins.
They took their leave of the crotchety old woman and made their way home, choosing to heft their cart over the fence and into their field rather than take the long way around.
Once they were on Paul’s land again he shared a quick kiss with Ophelia and Milly who took the cart back to the cottage while he turned to the Amazons.
“Here girls, you earned this more than we did, well, more than me definitely.”
Nameless scooped out less than half of the coins and handed the bag with the rest to Helena.
“No! Valkyrja-data we cannot ta-”
He pressed the pouch into her chest.
“Yes you can, you earned it. Go and buy yourself something sexy for when you jump Paul.”
Helena blushed and Kaylee laughed out loud.
One thing that had certainly changed about him, his inhibitions about sex had taken a hit over the past couple months.
“Very well, but actually, now that you are safely home, Kaylee and I forgot to ask the Blomma something.”
“We did?” The younger Amazon looked confused until Helena jabbed her elbow into her ribs; “Oh! Yes, we did!”
He shook his head ruefully.
“Take your time, I’ll let Myrina know. Have fun.”
Helena’s smile was predatory.
“I think we will.”
__________
While her master was away, Nina had finished the crude shelter over her forge and had her work area prepped and ready.
Admittedly it was a very basic smithy: as a Gigas she was used to working out of a cave, and did more with her hands than with tools. Now that she was prepared, though, a familiar and intense focus had descended on her.
Her extreme training regime aside, she was obsessed with working with metal again.
There was only one thing in the world she needed, and her master should have it. This made her even more brusque than usual; as Nameless discovered after watching the two Amazons vault back over the fence to revisit the Blomma.
He turned and saw his tiny giant coming, he even smiled in greeting, but her eyes were distant as she accosted him, hammer in hand.
“Heartstone. Gimme.”
Clearly he wasn’t wearing his Witch-charmed bracer, so she roughly scrounged his person in search of the tiny gem.
“Nina what are you-”
But she didn’t have any patience for words and released him just long enough to stand her hammer on its face before climbing on top of it and grabbing him by the collar to pull him close.
Standing barefoot on the end of her hammer she was actually slightly taller than him, and his eyes boggled as she hefted him into the air.
“Wait Nina! Come on! I don’t ha-AAHHHVEIT!”
Despite his struggling she gamely flipped him upside down until she held him by the ankles, his head now facing away from her and hovering a few inches off the ground while grass tickled his cheeks.
“Gimme.” She repeated.
She shook him up and down mercilessly, causing his back to pop and his pockets to empty on the ground. The coins from Janet, his invoice book for their milk sales and the stub of a pencil all fell out as he flopped around in her grip.
His jacket and shirt fell down to reveal his stomach and chest to the chill autumn air, while with each tug his arms were dragged through the grass below his hair as he tried to grip the long stemmed grass to steady himself.
He’d lost half of his breath and spots were beginning to appear in his vision as all of the blood in his body rushed to his head, causing veins to bulge out on his forehead.
Then he heard a familiar voice.
“Master, what is happening?”
Sensing his distress, Milly had come back from the cottage to investigate, but Nina ignored her.
“Stone. Gimme.” She repeated.
“Milly! S-save me! I’m being mugged!”
His voice came out in a strangled pitch from being upside down, and Nina paused in her shaking just long enough to glower at the Minotaur.
“Go ‘way.”
“O-okay.” Milly spoke uncertainly before gesturing towards the cottage; “But your heartstone is inside isn’t it? On the vanity next to Ophelia’s teddy bear?”
There was a long moment where an increasingly disoriented Nameless considered the bottom of Milly’s breasts. She must have just changed after her work in Janet’s garden and had gone for her classic look, shorts and a shirt, rather than her overalls.
Absently he found that she made for a lovely sight from any angle.
“Why din’t you say?” Nina huffed down at him.
“You didn’t give me a chance!”
She gave him another shake and held him up and away from her.
“Milly. Take.”
Handing him off to his Minotaur, who hefted him with as much ease, if more confusion, the Gigas picked up her hammer and stomped off towards the cottage.
“Milly baby, put me down!”
She giggled above him as he considered her hide-covered knees and she made no move to let him go.
“I don’t know Master, I might just carry you off somewhere to keep all for myself!”
There was a rush of air and Nameless twisted to see Volka’s bare legs as she landed beside them.
“Volka! Nina and Milly have both gone nuts!”
Given that he was still upside down, he missed the smirk the angel shared with the Minotaur.
Without saying a word the nasty bitch used the tips of her wings to tickle his exposed sides with her feathers while he flailed and struggled in Milly’s grip.
Within seconds he was begging for mercy with tears streaming down his forehead.
“Okay! Uncle please! Uncle!”
“You’re an uncle? Since when?” Volka teased.
“Stop!”
At last the girls set him down, a wave of relief flooding over him as the blood in his head drained back into the rest of his body and his spine reoriented itself.
“What was that about?” He wondered.
Volka helped him fix the collar of his shirt and jacket.
“I don’t know, I saw you in a vulnerable position and immediately took advantage, forgive my weakness, Husband.”
“It’s alright. But I actually meant Nina, what does she want her stone for?”
Volka wasn’t wearing her armour so he slid his hand over her rump and pinched her ass through her shorts just as hard as he could.
She yelped and flapped her wings to bring her tushy out of his reach, her feet off the ground and knees pulled to her breasts as both hands gripped her tender bottom.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
Milly ran her own tongue over his brow a few times to help him fix his hair before turning to the cottage.
“Should we go ask her?”
Even as Milly spoke they heard a crash from inside and a faint cry from Ophelia.
“Nina! What are you doing?!”
“Gimme.”
Milly and Nameless shared a worried look while Volka bit back a grin.
Several crashes later, Nina came out of the cottage and went to her forge, presumably with her heartstone in hand.
After recovering the spilled coins, they went inside to survey the damage.
The front room was more or less fine, though the recliner had been upended onto one of the love seats; evidently Nina thought it was easier than simply walking around it on her way deeper into the cottage.
The bedroom was a disaster: the bed was on its side and Ophelia was leaning against it looking slightly dazed, while the vanity and their dresser had both also been overturned in Nina’s search, clothes and knick-knacks from the various drawers scattered everywhere.
“I tried to tell her it was right there.”
The Flutterby’s voice was faint and she was clutching her teddy bear to her breast as she gestured vaguely at the toppled vanity.
Once she had recovered and they had cleaned up the wreckage from Nina’s search for her heartstone they settled down for a late lunch, while the giant was hard at work in her forge and Erica was… they didn’t know where she was actually.
It was a nervous meal until Volka finally took pity on the confused family and explained Nina’s strange behaviour.
“When Gigas have a project in mind, they become incredibly determined and focused. We’re lucky she bothered going through the door at all!”
Ophelia filled the Valkyrie’s plate with slices of roast sausage and shook her head in amazement, if nothing else, the tiny giant kept their lives interesting.
“Any idea what she’s making?” Nameless asked.
The Valkyrie smiled mysteriously and stroked her finger over the golden feather in his hair.
“Maybe, but it is her secret to tell.”
Partway through their meal, Nina came inside. Covered in soot, she marched up to the table and grabbed a handful of Ophelia’s ass, causing her to yelp and leaving a black handprint on her light coloured dress.
“Good smell.”
She then used Nameless as a ladder, clambering up him roughly and knocking his half-empty glass of Minotaur milk over, then reached across the table and snatched up the bulk of the roast sausages with one filthy hand.
Without another word, she started scarfing them on her way back outside.
Ophelia evaluated both her ruined dress and their ruined lunch before sitting down with a heavy groan.
Silence reigned for a few minutes, save for the munching of a happy Minotaur, her bag of oats safe from the Gigas and her appetite.
Fortunately Erica arrived home just then and distracted them when she flounced into the front room from outside, excitement writ across her features.
“Hey, we got a letter!”
Nameless blinked, their giant problem forgotten for the moment: he’d never received mail before, and as he thought about it, Erica probably hadn’t either.
“What is it?”
The meal essentially over, they all looked to the Katje as she slit the folded letter open with a deft flick of one of her claws, unfolded the paper and read.
“It’s from that Katje from Bramblewood! And from Mishka! Yeah, Grace and Mishka!”
The others watched while she beamed and skimmed the letter, but her smile faltered towards the end and she swallowed.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Nameless fretted while Milly abandoned her oats and stood with a worried frown at the change in the Katje’s mood.
Erica finished reading and handed the letter to Ophelia, then wiped away her tears and offered him a quick, if weak, grin.
“They’re fine. They got a provisional adoption thing from the Aegis so that they can stay together. The Brael girls hooked Grace up with a job cleaning in the Bastion, Mishka is starting school. They’re fine.”
She swallowed again and shook her head as she was forced to wipe away more tears. Unable to speak anymore, she planted her face in Milly’s breasts as the surprised Minotaur wrapped her arms around her.
Ophelia’s hand lowered with the letter.
“It’s… about Kar. She was helping them get settled and they had grown close. I guess they were at the funeral, but couldn’t get through the crowd in the square. They wanted to tell us how sorry they were.”
Nameless had been distracted by work and small town drama for most of the day, but the sudden reminder caused it all to come back in a rush and he cleared his throat as sudden emotion choked him.
The thought of the innocent mouse girl learning of Kar’s death after everything else she had been through broke his heart.
“Th-they live in Garland now?”
He cleared his throat again, roughly this time, after stumbling over the words.
Ophelia nodded as Volka took the letter from her and Erica sniffled into Milly’s breasts.
“Forgive me.” The angel said with her brow furrowed as she read; “I know little of this pair.”
The Minotaur mooed as she rubbed Erica’s back to comfort her while Ophelia explained the relationship between Kar, Grace and Mishka, the little Dormaus child that they had rescued together.
Despite news of the happy ending for the unlikely duo, Kar’s death cast a shroud over everything.
“I’m sorry girls. I need to get some air.” Nameless whispered as he stood up and went outside in a rush.
“How long before this shit stops sucking so much?” Erica groused into Milly’s breasts.
Ophelia’s eyes tracked Nameless as he left the cottage.
“It takes as long as it takes dearheart.”