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"Can do!" Eladehl called back from the other room
So I turned Nari toward the bathroom, ignoring the rest. "Step in there and rinse off all the food, ok?"
She obeyed, sighing in contentment when the hot spray hit her back. I quickly stripped off my own clothes, stacked them up at the side, and then found a couple towels. After that, I followed her in.
"Hair toward me," I ordered.
She turned around obediently and my eyes slid down her curvaceous figure. The pattern of lace on her skin was amazing. Dark lines accented her shape instead of detracting from it. The markings up the back of her legs drew my eyes to her ass, which was gloriously bare of black. Then when she slicked her hair back, I got to see the markings on her arms that resembled evening gloves.
Never had I seen that much lace on any Path, let alone all of them at the same time. Zeal was making a statement, but I had a feeling my girl hadn't figured that out yet. Pouring a handful of shampoo into my palm, I reached up to work it into her hair, debating whether or not I should even mention it.
Everyone knew that the larger a person's lace was, the more our god approved of them on that Path. The bigger our match-marks were, the stronger our bond. Knowing that it was a piece of our ward's soul made sense. The more of someone else we carried, the stronger we'd feel them. But Nari?
The band down the middle of her back wasn't straight. It was a complicated knot of shapes, all made of so many smaller swirls inside it. My eyes scanned them, looking for anything familiar, and I found so many. A circle here, a jagged point there. I couldn't even say who they belonged to, but the pattern always felt like I'd seen it before.
Our god had admitted what they were - pieces of other priests' patterns - but seeing it now, I realized it was a bit more than that. Yes, she was matched to the entire faith. Yes, the priests were all her responsibility, but there was one little thing he'd left out.
"They're all Zeal," I realized.
"Huh?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder.
"Your back," I explained. "That's why those smaller marks make sense. Every mark a priest wears is worn by our god. You can't match tohim,because he is made of nothing but us. We've been looking at it backwards, trying to make this fit humans. Just one problem. He's a god, not a man. You can't carry a piece of him, but you can carry a piece of the same thing he carries. His partner, not his guardian."
"You really think so?" she asked.
"Looking at it, that's the only thing that makes sense. Kinda like he's asking you to lighten his burden." I let my eyes run across the lines one more time. "Still, that's a lot to carry. Nari, how do I make this easier for you?"
The whole time, my fingers were lathering her hair, focusing on the hard places that had to be some dried bits of food. Eggs, flour, and who knew what else she'd managed to get all over herself down in that basement. That she didn't fight me or try to do it herself was nice, but this wasn't enough to help.
She turned, leaning her head back to wash out the shampoo. "Talin said I should specialize in domination so I can work with Ela after we graduate."
For a moment, I thought she'd ignored my question. Then I realized she was actually telling me. This was the thing weighing on her the most right now. It was the problem she couldn't work through on her own, and she was letting me know that she trusted my opinion.
"I don't see you as a dominant," I admitted. "Could you? Sure. I just don't think that's your sexual flavor, Nari."
"Then what is?" she asked. "And more than that, if Ela's a punisher, then how are we going to work together after graduation?"
Yeah, ok, that was a valid concern. "Maybe you'll just do separate sessions? Not every partnership performs together."
"But I'd rather perform with him," she admitted. "I mean, if we're all there, then it feels less..." She leaned back, letting the water wash over her face, then turned her back to me again for another round of shampoo. "It means something with you," she finally mumbled.
"Ok..." Because I honestly liked that she cared this much, but right now, I was worried that was part of her problem. "Let's look at this another way. Without worrying about everyone else, what do you see your purpose as on the Path of the Body?"
She twitched, wanting to look back but unable to because of my hands in her hair. "What do you mean?"
"Amerlee takes rage," I clarified. "Shalsa deals out shame. That doesn't mean it's all they do, but it's their purpose. It's how they mitigate the base instincts of others." And now I was all but reciting my lessons to her. "So what is your reason for being on the Path of the Body? How will you help others with your form, Nari?"
"I want to bring them back to Zeal," she said.
"No, that's your Path of Temptation. I'm talking about just this one aspect. When you are in bed with a patron, what will you be doing for them? What can you offer?"
The answer fell from her lips like a breath. "Peace."
"Then specialize in Sensuality," I told her. "Take enough classes in dominance and submission to round out your education, add in a few for pain mitigation because of your partner, but specialize in Sensuality."
"How does that work, though?" she asked, turning to rinse again. "If he's dealing pain, what will my sensuality have to do with it?"
"That's what you'll be able to prove on your graduation demonstration." I reached up to palm the side of her neck, making her eyes open again. "You and Ela don't fit in the narrow roles the temple has for you. You lead and he follows. Haven't you realized that yet? He's your weapon."
