Pollen
"Hey, Nam Dowon. Water."
"One moment."
The unchanging law of all things in the world, first rule: Every endeavor always requires cleanup afterward.
For some reason, we'd been at it for hours with the mana recharges today. After a brief break, we finally started the hesitant tidying up. Ventilating the room thick with the scent of sweat, bodily fluids, and that intoxicatingly sweet witch aroma was a given. And of course, replacing the thoroughly soaked bedsheets.
By the time Neria and I—both just in our underwear—finished up, it was full-on night. When we'd opened the windows to air things out, the crimson sky had still been beautiful. Now, under the low-hanging night sky, only the city's lights filled the view.
"Haaah. I'm so damn thirsty, but now I can finally breathe..."
She'd produced that much arousal fluid throughout the sex. It'd be weirder if she wasn't parched. I'd chugged water mid-session myself just to fight the thirst.
"The cold water you sipped during those short breaks wasn't enough, huh."
"Yeah. Since you were constantly supplying mana anyway, maybe I should've just let you handle it."
"...Surprisingly efficient, though."
"If it's just enough to quench two people's thirst, it's barely any mana anyway."
She grabbed a robe from somewhere—probably something she'd seen in a drama—and draped it over her underwear, striking a pose. Meanwhile, I was stuck in just my pitch-black drawers, rolling my stiff shoulder as I continued.
"So, um... is that it now?"
I didn't think she'd demand more sex after all this, but better to tie things off cleanly.
"Wh-what? Newlywed roleplay?"
"...Including that. I meant the mana recharge."
"Ah." Neria let out a short sound of understanding, then scratched her cheek. A few strands of her pale blue hair near it tangled around her slender fingers and vanished.
I'd arrived at Neria's place around 1 p.m. Subtract the meal with the dumpling soup, the quick shower time, the breaks chatting about random stuff... and we'd still spent a solid three or four hours lost in sex. Sure, you could split that into foreplay and penetration, but still. She'd have to be satisfied after all that.
I waited for her answer, already half-convinced.
"N-no way... You still want more...?"
"...?"
Wait, her response suggested I'd been misunderstood.
"I wasn't saying we should keep going. It's about time for me to clock out."
"...Oh."
Our department ran on such a haphazard schedule that proper policies were rare. But we did have some rough rules based on common sense. One was my "don't-get-scolded-for-leaving-this-late" quitting time. Plus, under civil servant law, the standard workday was eight hours—not entirely baseless.
"...Newlyweds don't really need to clock out, though."
"......"
If not for that exception, my logic would've won outright.
"Was that roleplay supposed to keep going? The newlywed thing."
"Urk... Wh-what? It was just a joke! ...But the concept's pretty good, so I might use it now and then."
Now and then, huh. I scratched the back of my neck at that realization, and Neria, who'd been watching, piped up.
"...Why the reaction? Didn't you like it?"
Wasn't this afternoon special for you? My answer was set.
"If I didn't like it, we wouldn't have had that much sex."
"......"
"We even took breaks to talk, played some games... then jumped right back into it."
"Uh, um, yeah..."
The mood had felt like it was winding down, but then she got horny again, and I grabbed her thighs, pounding away. She was still clutching the game controller. The game was still running. Just like old times, leaving the Game Over screen up forever.
Mentioning that made her already-flushed cheeks burn redder. She clamped her mouth shut, pretending nonchalance, but she looked mortified. Since she was still a witch nim, I pretended not to notice.
"...So you loved it, then. What we did today."
She mumbled in a small voice, then cleared her throat—ahem, ahem—hiding a smile. You know that common gesture? Covering your mouth with your fist while clearing your throat. Her twitching lips peeked out beside it anyway, but oblivious Neria crossed her arms and puffed up proudly.
"Figures. You came buckets today! Like five times more than usual."
"Good news for you too, Neria-nim. Means you recharged a ton of mana."
"Hmmm. Not exactly. That pervert husband kept pumping fresh semen in without a break, so a lot went to waste... Still, about double the usual."
"Double, huh."
Pure efficiency-wise, breaks might be better. But we'd both been too worked up to care. I glossed over it as she closed the window, complaining of the chill, and came over to my side.
"You seemed to love it, so I'll do it again sometime. Don't be too bummed it's over. We've got tons more ahead."
"...Thanks. You're the only one, Neria-nim."
"Heh. Oh, and Nam Dowon—do one thing before you go."
"Overtime...? What is it?"
"Nothing big."
Then, softly:
"...I'm getting hungry."
She mumbled it low, avoiding my eyes.
*****
I swallowed the cheeky joke about delivery food being fine after such a long afternoon. Cooking gave me an excuse to stick around longer with Neria—I should be thrilled about this overtime. And if luck was on my side, maybe I could push for naked-apron Neria like earlier. Or hit her with some absurd line like "room service" and get a bathroom-style blowjob.
Delivery wouldn't have the same vibe, though—that was just my solo fantasy.
"Thanks for the food!"
Unlike this wretched pepper sprout, Neria sat at the table looking utterly innocent, no lewd thoughts in sight. Made sense after hours of saturation charging. That was normal.
She'd slung her usual black cardigan over her shoulders and was already shoveling fried rice into her mouth before I'd even grabbed my spoon. Starting without me? She must've been starving.
"Eat slowly. It's still hot."
"That's what makes it tasty."
Her words slurred around the steaming fried rice. Just in case, I set a glass of cold water beside her, then sat across with my spoon. Trying to replenish my own depleted energy...
"Nam Dowon, what about Dorothy?"
Her cheeks puffed out as she asked, so I set my spoon down.
"Oh, things went surprisingly smoothly with Dorothy-nim. Even creampie."
"Huh? You went all the way with her right away? How?"
"Well... I brought in some alcohol. She wanted it too."
"Aha. Guess she's a lightweight. Didn't know."
"But she doesn't remember anything from when she was blackout drunk. She drank fast to get there."
"No memory? No way."
"...What do you mean?"
"What witch blacks out from a little drunkenness? Our brains aren't that fragile. ...Well, sometimes? If Dorothy's a special case..."
"......Yeah."
"But she'd feel the mana change herself after sex, right?"
"Yes. She acknowledged it, so we scheduled for this weekend. Alcohol as backup if needed."
"Weekend..."
She'd called you a gorilla to Nam Dowon and freaked out spotless, but then got drunk and took a gorilla creampie? Neria muttered it half to herself, then shoveled another bite of fried rice.
...Which reminded me of a name.
"By the way, Neria-nim—do you know someone named Orca?"
"Orca?"
"Yes. She's another apprentice witch I'm handling alongside Dorothy-nim. Heard the name but never met her."
"...Whoa? So now you've got three women including me...?"
"Team Leader said my success with you spread my name around."
"Ah... Another master connection... Sigh..."
I'd mixed in a white lie just in case, but she bought it with a deep sigh. After a moment, she tilted her head.
"Anyway, Orca's probably that flower one."
"Right. Orca Edelweiss."
"Edelweiss. Don't know her well. Just the name."
Come to think of it, knowing Dorothy was thanks to Neria's tiny social circle via their masters. Marie Edelweiss definitely had that shut-in witch vibe—even from my brief glimpse. Lucky Neria knew the name at all. I got nothing useful, though.
"You're not asking me to tag along like with Dorothy, right?"
"N-no. Probably not."
"For real...? Fine, handle her yourself then. Stay put for a sec."
"...?"
Guess I'd have to contact Marie-nim max for info. As I pondered alone, Neria stood and sidled up beside me. What wind blew this way? Extending the newlywed bit to feed me by hand?
The reason for this sudden quirk revealed itself three seconds later.
"Hey. Nam Dowon."
"Yes. Listening."
"Wanna drop the formal speech?"
"......"
"Doesn't your long-winded talk bug you? I feel weird doing formal with my master. Too much to watch."
What do you think, Nam Dowon? Her pale blue eyes met mine, casual as ever.
"We're the same age anyway. You're twenty, right?"
"Yes."
"Plus, you've slipped into casual with me a few times during sex. When you get excited, you forget the honorifics."
"...Did I?"
"You did. You get too hyped to remember, huh?"
Casual with Neria? No memory of it. But her confidence meant it happened. Good thing I kept my dirty talk internal...
"Sex with you today was amazing. So I'll allow it for you. Call me casually."
She thrust out her chest, boasting her generosity. I answered cautiously.
"...Then I'll ease into it gradually. Switching cold turkey would feel awkward."
"Mm... Fine. You're not planning to save it for when we fight, right?"
"Who knows. Probably more like..."
When I'm super excited, like you pointed out. Full-throttle during sex.
"When it feels more natural for you."
"Huh? How much more comfy do I need to make you...!"
I teased her meowing complaints and swallowed a cooled bite of fried rice.