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    Kat and Burnice currently had a table to themselves. Burnice was eating breakfast and Kat was ying around with a bit of food. One of the things on offer were these see-through green balls that tasted a bit like a mix between an apple and a grape. Kat had eaten two, and was now running the third one around her bowl to pass the time. There was a bit of small talk, but Burnice was focused on eating more than anything else.


    So Kat was quite happy when Lily stumbled downstairs. She was yawning deeply, and her ears were flicking all over the ce. Kat did have to raise an eyebrow at Lily''s outfit. It was a light blue shirt with purple flowers on it and short pants that had waves sewn onto them. Lily''s tail was waving happily at her back as she flopped down next to Kat.


    Kat gave Lily a few scratches behind the ears just to get her purring before grabbing some breakfast for her girlfriend. When Kat got back, Lily just looked adorable. Like a sleep cat. Her face was squished against the table and her ears were still twitching. Kat put the te down and then ran her fingers through the fur on Lily''s ears. Setting Lily purring again.


    "You two are disgustingly cute," said Burnice between bites. "Obviously I know elves can be cute when you get them to wiggle their ears… but damn if I''m not getting an appreciation for beastkin watching this,"


    "Huh… you know, that''s not something I''ve thought about. The world I grew up in is mostly human… so… do many couples form between races?" asked Kat.


    Burnice made a ''so-so'' gesture as Lily continued to purr, ignoring the food to baskpletely in the feeling of Kat''s hands. "It depends. A lot of rtionshipse down to proximity. People are inherentlyzy, and they''ll pick someone they grew up with, or work with or whatever. Of course, Auctifer is pretty famous for his… broad tastes, so it''s not like it used to be back when my grandparents were growing up. It''s pretty widely excepted, at least for elves, that you can love whoever…


    "But far more practical concerns tend to keep people within their own species. The big one is lifespans. Unless you''re talking about the strongest of the strong, the true 1 percent of the species in terms of power… then we have wildly different lifespans and that''s inevitably going to lead to heartbreak. Of course… there is a rather disgusting practice, or at least, I hate it, of young elves finding a human to marry.


    "They treat them less like a spouse and more like a pet, keep them around for sixty of so years, and then when they inevitably die just… move on. It''s a disgusting subculture in my mind, and I didn''t mean to stumble into it. Marigold goes to… interesting ces. She THOUGHT it was something else, and I''d believe her considering she beat up most of the elves there before leaving…


    "But yeah… not a great look for us as a species. Though, frankly, the humans that go along with it aren''t always meless. I asked around a bit afterwards… and some of them know what''s going on, but find it eptable. Any kids they do have, if they even manage it, get to live longer with a parent that can provide for them. Then well… some humans just really like elves for some reason."


    *I see elves are still fetishised even in a world where they exist. Not a surprise. Though, I suppose it also isn''t a surprise that elves fetishise humans in different ways.* "Right… but what about the other races?" asked Kat.


    Burnice shrugged, "Look it''s not really something I look into all that much. Remember I''m not that interested in romance right now. I only know as much as I do because of Marigold, so you could ask her if you want. I just thought you guys were cute, nothing more,"


    Kat nodded. Lily was adorable, and Lily was stillpletely out of it because of Kat''s constant petting of her ears. *I suppose I shouldn''t have expected Burnice to have thought about this sort of thing too deeply. It''s not like I''ve spent time on it either.* "Sorry, it just seemed like an interesting topic," apologised Kat.


    Burnice waved a fork at Kat while chewing. After a few moments she said, "No hard feelings, just don''t expect me to know too much about romance or weird sex stuff. That''s Marigold''s territory. I mean, Vanya might know because well…" Burnice paused, not sure if she should admit it out loud, then shrugged. If Marigold didn''t want it spread around, she should''ve said so. It wasn''t subtle. "Vanya is… Marigold''s… I don''t really know what they count it as but Vanya''s normally around when Marigold is off being adventurous. Vanya is just less likely to answer questions,"


    "So… they aren''t dating?" asked Kat.


    Burnice groaned at the question, "Honestly Kat? I don''t have aa clue. All signs point to yes, but both of them say they''re just friends with benefits. Vanya further goes on to insist that she''s just doing her job as Marigold''s attendant sh, bodyguard. Which… no? Auctifer may be a bit unorthodox but he''s never going to mandate that sort of thing for the servants. Unless Marigold''s Mum did up a special contract just for Vanya…"


    Burnice left it there, the implication clear enough. "Strange," said Kat with a nod. "I suppose… I can just ask Marigold about itter if I want to get to the bottom of it,"


    As Kat said this, Gareth tapped Kat on the shoulder, "Mind if I join you girls here?" he asked. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Kat looked over at Burnice who had a weird look on her face. ncing back at Gareth, Kat was quick to work out the reason why. Gareth had no shirt on. He was wearing a pair of shorts that didn''t quite reach his knees and nothing else. Kat could see a few faded scars and a lot of muscles… but… well… *Why isn''t he wearing a shirt?* "Umm… Burnice?" said Kat passing the buck.


    Burnice red at Kat but said, "Sure you can sit here… though what''s with the whole…"


    "No shirt thing?" said Gareth stepping in just to get it out of the way as he sat down with his breakfast. "Well, after nominating me for the volleyball contest, Green decided it would be ''only right'' that I skip out on wearing a shirt. To ensure this, she had Nixilei help remove all the shirts from the closet before I woke up,"


    "Not sure I can believe Green actually woke up before you for anything," said Kat.


    Gareth gave a smallugh but nodded, "Yes, I know, very impressive. Still, signing me up for the volleyball contest is one thing, but taking all the shirts? Including my entire set of armour? I feel like that''s a step too far so I''m punishing her by ignoring her for the rest of the morning. She should''ve just asked. I''m not sure I''d have agreed but well… she is my fiancé so…" Gareth finished off with a shrug.


    Kat looked around until she found the table with Green pouting and Nixilei smugly eating breakfast. When she saw Kat''s gaze she waved, and Kat waved back. "Why does Nixilei seem so smug about this?" Kat asked as she turned back around.


    "Just at a guess?" said Gareth. "I''d say Nixilei rmended just asking, and Green responded with ''it''s more fun'' or ''it''s funnier this way'' and Nixilei decided to go along with it for her own amusement. Regardless of my reaction, it Nixilei likely would''ve found it amusing,"


    "Hey Kat?" said Burnice.


    "Yes Burnice?" said Kat.


    "Should you… I dunno… maybe let your girlfriend eat at some point?" asked Burnice.


    Kat looked down at Lily who was now drooling slightly on the table, her eyes zed over and not even trying to lookposed anymore. "… Maybe," answered Kat as she carefully lifted her hand off Lily''s head. Lily pouted and tried to follow said hand for a bit, but eventually she came back to herself somewhat, and gained a massive blush in the process.


    "So… is that a weird sex thing?" asked Burnice.


    Lily''s blush deepened and started to spread down her neck, "What! No! I''d never do something like that in public! I mean… it does feel nice… but not like… erotic nice. It''s… I don''t know how to exin it. Maybe… hmm… what happens when someone ces with an elves ears?" redirected Lily.


    "Properly? It bes super erotic. We have a tonne of nerve endings in them to help us work out where sounds areing from and help judge how the wind is blowing. So… seemed pretty erotic to me," stated Burnice.


    Lily shook her head, "No, no, no it''s not like that at all. It''s… It''s like cheating with a back massage? Yeah that sounds about right. It''s super rxing and veryforting. Like a whole bunch of hugs and a massage wrapped up in one," exined Lily.


    Burnice just stared back and said, "Hmm… sounds at least kinda erotic to me," Lily huffed and looked away pouting.