The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son' Chapter 124 - The Stalks Of Fondness Grow Taller In Absentia

A black haired swordswoman sought out a new secluded spot near the edge of the encampnt. It hadn’t felt right to her to ask her cousin to leave while he was stuck in his own introspections. She eventually found a cluster of trees that offered so privacy.

With movents that showed a combination of careful choice and outward recklessness developed through being accustod to bedding down anywhere, she laid out her bedroll and settled in on the forest floor. Her sword was within easy reach and the sky was so clear that the thought of any rain felt foreign.

The talks with the Coiled Serpent mbers and with Navuill weighed on her as she sought rest, but it was an absence beside her that kept her mind running. Qatrand forcefully closed her eyes, but it was not long before her hand drifted across her chest. She focused on the faint connection the fragnt enabled with her wife, even in separation.

Her wife’s mint eyes... sotis sparkling with mischief and love, sotis listless with ancient honesty, and so many other variations that she had seen gazing at her spread out like a field of stars in her imagination. The teenager felt a sharp pang of longing so intense to her that it was almost physical.

’This is the reason for her ’diversions’...’

It stabbed at her in a different spot than her father’s hurtful words, but she would almost rather he be calling her nas again than this. Qat was whispering into the night before she even realized it.

"El, I wish you were here."

Instead of trying to bury or control the feeling, she found herself imagining the Goltbred heiress and her reaction to the conversation with Navuill. She could almost hear her cute wife’s voice and see the pride in her eyes as Qatrand shared her newly worded resolve to shape the Yecine family’s future.

’You’d be proud of , wouldn’t you?’

In the imagery, the girl finally felt free to help proactively instead of holding back so much, while waiting for the decisions that Qat needed to make for herself. She pictured the brunette’s enthusiastic nod as well as her rapid-fire questions and suggestions. The Yecine saw them laying together intimately, planning and dreaming... and felt like being able to make herself happy in a way with these thoughts while sohow still brooding was strange.

Qatrand’s last thoughts were of their actual reunion as sleep began to claim her. She would share these new ideas with Elua, while most likely feeling her wife’s arms hugging her - and if not, she would take the initiative on her own. If the girl wanted more kisses, then surely she wanted more hugs!

The piece of the girl’s spirit pulsed gently, as if in response to those ’brave’ thoughts, and the swordswoman drifted off in much more comfort than when she first laid down.

---

In the city that one cultivator longed to return to, a girl lay awake in her bed. The silence of the night felt oppressive without the desired steady breathing beside her. She shifted restlessly, her body and mind both yearning for a presence that she had been robbed of twice in a row... though for different reasons.

"Qat..."

The raw desire to simply not be apart gnawed at her the most, making sleep quite elusive. To distract herself, the young teen thought back to their days at the Youth Guild. If she could not find solace in reality, she could seek it in mories! After flailing around for the most compelling ’anchor’ - all of them were so great to her that it was difficult! - one particular day stood out.