Chapter 49: Girl's Talk

(3rd Person: POV)

While the guys of the Athena Familia were taking care of matters at the guild the girls were out and about shopping.

Not only for everyday things like food but also for potions and other essentials for exploring the dungeon.

This arrangement had been decided by Morax and Leonmitchelli the previous night when they had their brief talk in the formers room.

At breakfast the next morning the plan was laid out and no one objected.

Once it was things got moving.

Bags in hand the females of the Athena Familia moved through the streets of Orario.

Along with them their goddess Athena and Rogue's mother Reina, the caretaker of the Owl House when the others were on expeditions in the dungeons.

The group of ladies moved through the streets, taking in all that was around them. From the goods being sold in the stalls they passed to the different people in general.

Well all except one of them.

Ryuu.

Why?

Because at the moment she is very embarrassed.

Currently Ryuu isn't wearing her mask. Athena forbid her to do so today so she could get used to people outside the familia seeing her face.

At first Ryuu objected, but that only lasted for a moment due to Athena's....persuasive words.

Needless to say Ryuu stopped objecting.

But things did not end there.

No.

Instead of being allowed to wear her usual casual clothing which mostly consisted of pants and long shirts, Ryuu was forced into a dress.

A green one to be precise. One which only extended to just above her knees and has no sleeves at all, leaving her arms bare.

For a conservative elf like Ryuu who hates showing more skin than necessary, this is basically torture.

But no matter how much she protested Athena and the other girls ignored her pleas and now here she is.

Out and about, getting looks from men and male gods alike.

Ryuu is doing her best to ignore the stares. In fact, she is even sending a cold glare at those people giving her lecherous looks.

But unfortunately that is only making them stare at her more.

Since apparently being looked at like they are trash by a pretty young elf is an experience the males both mortal and God alike are coming to quickly enjoy.

The girls continued to walk around and browse, until eventually they all started to get hungry.

So they searched for a place to have lunch and found a nice little cafe.

Entering they were seated outside on a terrace.

As they placed their orders Leonmitchelli decided it was time to make good on her promise to Morax.

"Ok, may I have your attention please." She spoke, causing everyone to look at her. "Today I would like to welcome you all to the first ever Athena familia girls talk." She said.

Leonmitchelli and Millhiore often did girls talk together when they were younger just the two of them. Discussing problems and issues with each other and helping each other to work them out if they could.

And now that they had more female friends and were part of a familia Leonmitchelli decided to make the girl's talk a thing amongst them all.

"Oh, interesting." Echidna mused.

"Am, what are we doing?" Ryuu asked.

Since she had never done anything like what Leonmitchelli just said in her life.

"Basiically Ryuu we're going to discuss and problems or issues we might be having and getting opinions from the others here on how to resolve them." Millhiore explained to Ryuu. "But if you don't want to speak no one is going to force you too."

"Ah, it's been such a long time since I've done something like this." Reina said.

"This sounds fun." Athena mused.

"I'm glad you all think so." Leonmitchelli said. "So then first order of business. Seems Ryuu has an issue."

"Eh?" Ryuu exclaimed. A surprised expression on her face. "Am, Leon I don't have any issues."

"But you do." Leonmitchelli retorted, a small grin on her face as she did so. "It has come to my attention Ryuu that you are avoiding Morax."

"N...No. Not at all!" Ryuu quickly retorted.

Her eyes darting back and forth and her face slightly embarrassed as she did so.

Seeing the other ladies at the table all had the same thought.

'Such a bad liar.'

Which is true.

Lying is one of Ryuu's worst qualities.

Which is fine most of the time. But in a situation like right now it is her undoing so to speak.

"Ryuu we can all tell your lying." Leonmitchelli said. "So please, stop."

"I...I...fine." Ryuu said, hanging her head in defeat.

"Ok, so then let's move on." Leonmitchelli said. "Seems Ryuu is avoiding Morax due to an incident that happened during our most recent expedition. Go on and elaborate Ryuu." Leonmitchelli said.

As soon as she did so all eyes turned to Ryuu.

Seeing no way out she decided to get things over with quickly.

"Well. During the expedition when Morax was recovering I watched over him after I recovered. It was during the night. As I did this I noticed him twisting and turning in his sleep so I...I held his hand to calm him down." Ryuu explained. Her cheeks flushing a bit as she did so.

"That's not the end of it. Finish the story Ryuu." Leonmitchelli told her.

"Mu, Leon please don't make me!" Ryuu cried in embarrassment. "Its too embarrassing to say out loud!"

"What is?" Millhiore questioned.

"Fufu, goodness Ryuu you didn't sneak a peek at Morax's penis while he was sleeping did you?" Echidna asked.

"No!" Ryuu instantly denied. Her face getting redder as she did so.

"Ah, really? You really didn't?" Echidna asked.

"I didn't!" Ryuu denied again.

"Echidna stop teasing Ryuu." Leonmitchelli said.

"But it's so much fun I couldn't resist." Echidna responded. Laughing lightly as she did so.

Really she is undeniably black hearted.

But she cares for her allies so they put up with it.

Leonmitchelli simply shook her head at Echidna's actions. She then decided to put thinks back on topic.

"Ok so here is the situation. Morax woke up and caught Ryuu sleeping next to him and holding his hand. Since then this elf has been avoiding him unless absolutely necessary." She explained. "So, thoughts everyone?"

"Ah, Ryuu stop avoiding Morax." Millhiore spoke.

"Yes, you shouldn't be avoiding him over something like that." Echidna added. "I mean it would be a different manner if you had se-"

Before she could finish her thought and say something lewd Leonmitchelli placed Echidna in a sleeper-lock choke hold.

Which only made her smile brightly and get a hint of pink on her perfectly white cheeks.

Echidna seems to be awakening a certain fetish.

But that is a story for another time.

"Now Ryuu I agree with Millhiore and Echidna before she was about to add her lewdness into her comment." Leonmitchelli spoke. "Avoiding Morax like this isn't right."

Athena and Reins said nothing, but simply nodded their heads in agreement with the others.

"I know it's not right." Ryuu admitted. "But well...."

"Yes?" Athena questioned.

"What if Morax thinks I'm sort of pervert now?!" Ryuu cried.

As she did so everyone looked at her like she had grown a second head.

Noticing the stares she was getting Ryuu titled her head in confusion. "Eh, why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Ryuu, you think Morax will think your a pervert just because you held his hand while he was sleeping?" Leonmitchelli asked.

Ryuu nodded. "Yes. I mean, our bare skin was touching. We shared heat, Morax's hand was so warm. It made me feel at ease. Ah, it was nice to hold his hand. I got happy. But our bare skin touched, it touched." She spoke.

As Ryuu continued to ramble the other girls all had one thought again in unison.

'Ryuu is too pure and innocent.'

Leonmitchelli didn't know what sort of mythical creature she was looking at.

For Ryuu to become like this just from holding hands.

She thought Morax was exaggerating about how pure Ryuu was, but now with the evidence in front of her she can see he was not.

'This won't do. Not at all.' Leonmitchelli thought.

She will not allow Ryuu to remain so ignorant on matter pertaining to sex and intimate relationships.

Leonmitchelli has decided to teach Ryuu about such things. For her own sake.

As well as for Morax's.

Since its pretty obvious to everyone he likes Ryuu as a woman, except for the person herself.

But seeing her reaction right now Leonmitchelli can see Ryuu might be gaining feelings of her own.

This knowledge put a serene smile on her face.

Seeing this Ryuu stopped rambling and look at Leonmitchelli's smile.

As she did so she felt she was missing something.

But before she could speak again Athena did so.

"Ryuu, you need to talk things out properly with Morax." She said. "For both your sakes. You are part of the same familia, but more than that you are friends. He probably thinks he might've done something to upset you and that's why you're avoiding him."

"But he did nothing." Ryuu said.

"Then tell him that." Athena said. "Running away from problems doesn't solve them. What you need to do is face then head on. Doing so will allow you to grow as a person. Now I'm not saying you have to talk to Morax right away. But you need to do so eventually and sooner rather than later. Understand?"

"Yes goddess." Ryuu said.

"Good." Athena said.

"Alright then. So unless anyone else has anything they wish to discuss then I declare the first girl talk meeting of the Athena Familia over." Leonmitchelli said.

"Wait, I have something to say." Echidna spoke up.

"I'm probably going to regret this but what do you need yo say Echidna?" Leonmitchelli asked.

"Fufu, Ryuu if you really want to apologize to Morax I know the perfect way." Echidna spoke. "Simply sneak into his room and..."

As Echidna described her plan in vivid detail Ryuu's face became a tomato and steam started escaping the top of her head.

As it did Millhiore moved to attend to while Leonmitchelli dragged Echidna off by the nape of her dress.

Intending to take her somewhere to deliver sever punishment for the lewd things she just said to Ryuu.

As this happened the smile on Echidna's face got wider.

Like everything had just going according to her plan.

Needless to say after her punishment she returned to the table with a serene smile on her face.

Which everyone chose to ignore.

Instead they just ate their lunch and enjoyed the rest of their outing.

While they did so Ryuu resolved herself to settle things with Morax.

So the first ever Athena familia girls talk was a resounding success.

The first of many.