"Hey Erika, my storage ring isn't working. Is yours?," Alice asked several minutes ter as the two women finally mustered enough strength to move off one another.

  "No, and it's never not worked before," Erika said with a frown. She had stood, then helped Alice to her feet, and the two women were trying to find a way to get clean. Between the tentacle cum, their own bodily fluids, and the dirt, they looked like a mess - two crazy, naked, dies out in the woods. Unfortunately, they didn't have any good ideas on how to resolve any of their issues.

  "Okay, well, we can go back to the stock pond where I was reading the other day and at least wash ourselves off. But some clothing would be really nice right about now, Fi," Alice said gncing up at the air.

  Erika shrugged, her breasts bobbing up and down as she did, catching Alice's wandering eyes. "I mean, until we get clean the clothing doesn't matter that much, right? Even if you did have something to wear, you'd just ruin it with the mess."

  Alice sighed, gncing down at her own body, the smears of fluids mixed with dirt only driving Erika's point home. "Yea, you're right," she agreed. "Let's at least go wash up, though." The two women walked off, away from the farmhouse and toward the stock pond. Alice fervently hoped nobody else from the town was out and about today exploring. She would be mortified if any of the vilgers saw her walking around with Erika, the two nude women covered in cum. Alice would be totally unable to expin it and while she was sure the vilgers would wave away anything that Alice did as "just an adventurer thing," it wasn't a conversation she wanted to have.

  Some minutes ter, the women reached the pond where they had initially met. Alice's hammock still y stretched between two trees and the gentle bank led down to a rather rge and deep pond. "It's going to be cold," Alice warned as the two women stood at the edge. "You can try to wade in and get used to it, or rush in and dive underwater, just getting it over with. Your choice."

  Erika looked to Alice, "What do you normally do?"

  Alice grinned, sticking her tongue out, "Well, normally I don't go skinny-dipping here." Erika smirked, acknowledging the unusual nature of the situation. "But I think just wading in might be the better choice. It might be a warm day, but the pond is cold until midsummer."

  The two women stepped off the bank, easing their way into the water. The shallow part of the pond wasn't as bad as Alice had feared, the warm afternoon air having heated the water near the bank to a tepid range. However, the deeper they waded, the colder the pond got. As Alice reached knee-deep water, she stopped and gnced back at Erika, her nipples crinkling with the chilly water temperature. She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself, and took another few steps in, the water rising to mid-thigh.

  Erika waded in after her, standing next to the healer, and gnced over. "It's fucking cold as it gets deep. Dive in?"

  Alice's teeth were starting to chatter and she nodded at the witch. "Yea, I'm thinking we just get it over with at this point. On three?"

  "Which type of counter are you? Three two one, then go? Or three two one, go on one?," Erika asked, wanting to ensure they were in sync as she eyed the busty healer, taking in Alice's pale thighs, covered in goosebumps and pink tattoos.

  "Uh," Alice said, thinking for a second. "Let's do three, two, one, then go. Works?"

  "Works," Erika confirmed. "On your lead."

  Alice took a deep breath and blew it out, mentally preparing herself for the cold she was about to dive into. "Three. Tw-"

  Erika rushed forward, shoving Alice pyfully into the frigid water as the healer let out a shriek of horror. Alice roared to the surface and grabbed Erika by the waist, dragging her into the depths and shoving her underwater as well. Erika surfaced with a cry of frustration, shaking her head as water dripped from the short pink hair. Alice tried again, diving forward onto the witch and pushing her backward, trying to shove her underwater once more. The two women dove together, their bodies grappling back and forth as they pyfully fought in the pond for several minutes. Hands accidentally groped each other in many sensitive pces as they grasped and tickled and shoved, trying to spsh and roll each other in the frigid water. Finally, they pushed off each other and surfaced, both gasping for air while treading water in the middle of the pond.

  "Got you," Erika said while sticking her tongue out. Alice smiled wryly, shaking her head in dismay as water flicked from the ends of her hair.

  "I used to do that with Bridgette," she said. "I got her every single time, she was so gullible about counting down from three. Never expected someone would turn the tables on me."

  "So, uh, you two," Erika started, a questioning tone in her voice as she trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. Alice could guess the unsaid words, though.

  "Friends growing up, had a crush on each other for years but neither of us admitted it. It took the apocalypse, and Fi, for us to get out of own way. Ever since, it's been amazing."

  "That's awesome," Erika said, genuine warmth with a trace of something else in her voice. "I'm gd you've got someone like that. Finding someone is hard."

  "I'm sorry about your friend, Yuki. The impact she left on you, despite only knowing her a few days, means you must have cared a lot."

  Erika gnced away, not wanting to meet Alice's gaze, just making a brief nodding motion.

  "Okay, it's so cold my nipples are about to cut gss," Alice finally said. "How about we get out of here?"

  "Sure," Erika agreed quickly. The two women swam back toward the bank, but as they began to walk out of the water, Erika paused, calling to Alice. "You've still got a bunch of caked ... stuff on your back. I could, uh..."

  "Scrub it off for me?," Alice said, turning around and looking toward the suddenly bashful witch. The two women were standing about waist deep in the water, topless. "I think at this point we're a little past modesty over naked bodies or even touching each other. Please, that would be great. Thank you."

  Erika waded over, scooping water in her hands and then doing her best to scrub the dried cum and dirt off Alice's back. Alice leaned back, the sensation almost like a massage, as the older woman's hands moved across the muscles of her back, prying loose the filth.

  "All done," Erika said. "Clean and sparkly."

  "Thanks," Alice replied. She turned back, carefully looking the witch over. "Spin around, let me check your back?" The witch turned and sure enough, a few patches of the dried cum almost remained, stuck between her shoulder bdes and on her lower back, as well as a few spots on the backs of her thighs. Alice repeated Erika's procedure, scooping water and gently rubbing away the filth from the other woman's body.

  "So those tattoos really do go all the way up, huh?" Erika asked, openly staring at the lipstick marks that twined up Alice's frame, around her inner thigh, pelvis, and up to her breast. "I'm guessing those are a Fi addition, not something you did in the Before?"

  Alice gnced down, nodding. "Honestly they don't do much, aside from just constantly trickle a little lust into me, making me always just a little horny. Sometimes, they help me channel a ... certain ritual for Fi. But that's not useful in combat. The rest of the time, they just look hot. How about you? Are any of those from Fi?," Alice said while pointing at Erika's own intricate tattoos.

  "Nah," Erika said as she ran her hands across her body, touching each tattoo in turn as her hands wandered across her legs, chest, and breasts. "All of it, even the tentacle monster, were things I did before. Tattooing myself was my way to spend my extra income and have fun. Body as art, I guess."

  "They look quite lovely on you," Alice said politely. "I never thought I'd want a tattoo myself, but I don't mind this much," she said and touched her inner thigh where the lipstick marks were most visible, her breath catching slightly as she did, noticing Erika's hungry gaze on Alice's pelvic bone and the pink tattoos covering it.

  As the two women reached the bank of the pond, Alice was finally able to access her storage ring, retrieving both a fluffy towel and a very thin and short white sundress. She quickly dried herself off and started to put the dress on, gncing down at her attire.

  "Normally, Fi gives me t-shirts and shorts when I lose my clothes," she expined to Erika who was toweling herself off with a simir set of items she had discovered in her ring. "Which happens surprisingly more often than you might think. I've even gotten a skirt once or twice, but normally she prefers gym shorts or leggings. And she always leaves funny messages on the clothing, like you saw at my house yesterday. Giving me a sundress is new."

  "Huh," Erika said, extracting a pink front-button sweater dress. It was quite short and had a low cut to the front, showing a daring amount of cleavage, but was surprisingly comfy as she buttoned it up. "This is not my usual type, although I guess you're much more the dress type?"

  Alice nodded, the white flutter sleeve mini dress a perfect fit as always as she finished tugging it into pce. It showed off a ton of cleavage as well, but that was Fi's usual finger on the scale of determining Alice's fashion choices. "I just love dresses," she said. "I know, farm girl, fnnel and jeans are the stereotype, but these days I'm not much of one. I just want to embrace my beauty, which sounds kind of vain I suppose, or maybe my vulnerability?"

  Erika shrugged, unsure but willing to concede the point. "I mean, I just like looking sexy, feeling sexy. I don't really care what it is past that, but that dress looks damn good on you." She cleared her throat awkwardly, "So back to the farm?"

  Alice smiled brightly at the other woman, then took her by the hand. "I know that's not your normal style, but it looks beautiful on you. Yes, let's go. They must be worried about us by now." She dropped Erika's hand and turned to walk, the witch staring after her with a poleaxed expression on her face. Erika blinked twice, recovering, then hurried to catch up to Alice as the two continued walking back to Persistence.

  Ten minutes ter, they reached the farmhouse and found Bridgette sitting in a chair out front, continuing to read Alice's smut book. She gnced up as the two women approached, raising an eyebrow at their unexpected attire and wet hair. Bridgette walked down the steps, coming to a halt as Alice and Erika slowed to a stop as well, and the redhead finally tucked the book back away.

  "So," Bridgette began, stretching the word as she gnced between the two women. "How'd it go?"

  Alice cleared her throat awkwardly, gncing at Erika and then back at Bridgette. "Erika figured out that she and I were both infected with spells that only the other could undo. I had a curse she was required to remove, she had a poison I needed to cleanse. Once we helped each other, the hyper-sensitivity faded. Fi had set it up to make us work together." Erika nodded along with Alice's expnation.

  "But when we were done, Fi shut off our rings. I didn't want to do the slut walk covered in tentacle cum through Persistence, so I took her to the stock pond, and we rinsed off. By the time we got out, Fi was willing to give us towels and these dresses, and here we are."

  "Hmph, that pond has got to be pretty cold, even this time of year," Bridgette mused.

  "You aren't kidding, Bridgette," Erika said. "About as bad as the kes up in Minot we used to try to swim."

  Bridgette's head snapped around, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the short witch, "What did you call me?"

  Erika stammered for a second, looking confused. "Sorry, uh. I told Alice earlier. I normally make up nicknames for transient people in my life, easier than getting to know them. It's just an emotional distancing thing. I'm trying to make an effort to do better, now."

  Bridgette gnced over at Alice who nodded and shrugged while blushing, then Bridgette gnced back at Erika. Finally, the redhead let out her own shrug. "I actually didn't mind, Red is a fun nickname. I've been called worse. You can keep it up, whatever is easiest. Well, thanks for bringing my girlfriend back home. It was quite the show, watching you two battle. I look forward to more traditional practice sessions in the future."

  Erika blushed, gncing at her feet. "Me too, thanks. One more week of training before we go?"

  "Yea, something like that," Bridgette replied. "Anyway, I'm going to head in. A, ready for dinner?"

  "Starved," the healer said. "I could eat a cow. See you tomorrow, Erika?," she said as she turned to the witch. "Same time, and we can practice as a group more?"

  "Sure," the witch agreed with a nod. "Thanks for everything today, both of you. It was ... memorable." The pink-haired woman turned and began to walk back to the tavern, her lone figure casting a short shadow as she left the pair standing in front of the farmhouse.