Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

844 - Girl Friends

“I thought that h-he’d be happy,” moaned Nenet, her shoulders jumping as sobs wracked her body. “That he’d be p-proud of me...”

“He is,” murmured Solvei, holding the weeping sphinx. “I’m sure he is. He’s just...”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish, sighing as she hugged Nenet closer, letting her cry into her chest.

Under any other circumstances, she would have been profoundly uncomfortable letting a naked girl – which was what Nenet looked like now, thanks to that oh-so-convenient Three Legs in the Afternoon power, or whatever it was called, that her bond with Lex had given her – press herself against her the way the sphinx was right now. While Solvei had been entirely ignorant of such things, Akna had been very much aware that her preferences ran entirely toward the opposite sex.

But she couldn’t bring herself to push Nenet away, not with how utterly crushed the poor thing seemed by what had just happened. Even the thought of trying to extricate herself now made Solvei wince with guilt, remembering how – less than a day ago – she’d not only furiously protested her master’s decision to treat the sphinx kindly, but had gone out of her way to heap more abuse on her during Lex’s battle with Hvitdod.

That was why, rather than pushing her away, she stroked Nenet’s hair as she gently rocked her back and forth, the way her grandmother had done for her whenever she’d been upset. “He loves those other two Sirens, Sonata and Aria, very much, and he doesn’t know if they’re alive or dead.”

She’d tried to make that sound as nonjudgmental as she could, but Nenet shivered anyway, wings shuddering as she hugged Solvei tighter. “I didn’t know,” she whimpered. “He told me about his adventures while I was flying to Mo-, to Adagio’s hideout, but he never said...”

She trailed off, swallowing before looking up at Solvei, her eyes watery. “Does...does he hate me now?”

Giving her a reassuring smile, Solvei gently ran her fingers across Nenet’s tear-stained cheeks. “I’m sure he doesn’t.” She couldn’t sustain her smile as she glanced up, however, looking at where Lex had gone. “If he hates anyone right now, it’s me.”

The admission came out thick with anger and guilt alike. Being called a liability had hurt more than she cared to admit, and she was furious that he’d said that to her after everything they’d been through together. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but regret how forcefully she’d insisted on accompanying Nenet. I saw how much it hurt him when I died before. Telling him I didn’t care if I died again in order to save him was like saying I didn’t care if he went through that again. It’s no wonder I made him so mad-

“That’s not true!”

Nenet’s outburst took her by surprise, eyebrows rising as the sphinx sat up, freeing herself from Solvei’s embrace before giving the adlet a heartfelt look. “He loves you very much!”

Solvei felt her ears fold back then, recalling what Yotimo had told her a little while ago. “That’s not...it isn’t the same. He cares about me – we care about each other – a great deal, but that’s not love-”

“But he does love you!” insisted Nenet. “He told me so himself!”

For some reason, Solvei felt her breath catch in her throat then, and her chest started to throb in a way that had nothing to do with her stab wound. “He...what?”

Smiling, Nenet took Solvei’s hand in both of her own, squeezing it. “He said so right before he bound me to him, that he loves you and wants you to love him back! That’s why he hasn’t told you about-, EEP!”

Letting go of Solvei as though her touch was painful, Nenet’s eyes went wide as she covered her mouth with her hands, wings flaring out behind her.

In that moment, Solvei’s entire world shrank down to what the sphinx had just said. “Hasn’t told me what?”

Nenet shook her head wildly, her eyes still wide with horror as she kept her mouth covered.

But Solvei wasn’t about to be deterred. “Hasn’t told me what?” she repeated. “Nenet, what hasn’t he told me about?”

“I’m not supposed to say!” came the sphinx’s whispered reply, further muffled from behind her hands. “I don’t want Master to get mad at me again!”

It was all Solvei could do to keep from grabbing the sphinx and trying to wring the answers out of her, knowing that wasn’t fair to Nenet, especially after what Lex had just done.

As it was, she didn’t even stop to wonder why she needed to know what Nenet was hiding from her so badly. All Solvei knew at that moment was that she had to uncover the rest of what the sphinx had let slip: that Lex loved her, and wanted her love in return, but was keeping some sort of secret that was interfering with that. Everything else – his angst over what had happened to Sonata and Aria, Thermal Draft’s pregnancy, and the revelation that Adagio was a Siren – was completely forgotten in the face of that.

“Nenet, I need you to listen to me.” Reaching out, this time she took the sphinx’s hands in her own, feeling them tremble as she gently but firmly lowered them from her face. “If Master...if Lex really l-lo-...” – she couldn’t seem to make herself say the word, her throat closing up when she tried – “if he has feelings for me, and wants me to return them...don’t you think that whatever it is that’s getting in the way of that is something I should know?”

Cringing, Nenet looked like she wanted to run away, glancing in the direction Lex had gone before giving Solvei a pleading look. “What if he’s listening right now? You know he can use our senses! I don’t want to upset him again.”

It was all Solvei could do hold back a whine of frustration. “If he was listening, he would have said something in our minds! Nenet please, please tell me what’s going on!”

For what seemed like a short eternity, Nenet bit her lip, and Solvei held her breath as she watched the sphinx waver. Finally, Nenet gave a nervous swallow and spoke. “He said that...he has a blessing from Kara...”

“Kara?” echoed Solvei, drawing in a breath. “I know that name. Why do I know that name?”

“She’s a pony goddess,” answered Nenet. “Her divine portfolio is-”

“Love,” murmured Solvei, the answer coming to her in a flash as she recalled Lex’s conversation with Sanguine Disposition back in Darkest Night. The red-eyed stallion had appeared out of nowhere after they’d defeated White Wraith, saying something about how Lex had a blessing from Kara, with her master confirming that to be the pony goddess of love and deception.

But he never actually said what the blessing was! she realized, having forgotten that detail with how their subsequent battle through the wilderness had ended with her becoming Solvei and Akna together.

Now, however, she couldn’t think about anything else. “What blessing? What does it do?”

“He said...” Closing her eyes, Nenet took a shuddering breath, nodding to herself as if confirming to herself that she was actually going to speak. “He said that it makes others fall in love with him. It doesn’t work on everyone, but while he doesn’t know why it affects some people and not others, he’s sure that having a soul-bond qualifies.”

Solvei blinked once.

Then a second time.

And then a third.

Finally, she found her voice. “Are you telling me...”

Swallowing again, Nenet nodded. “He thinks that your feelings for him are because of Kara’s blessing.”

The same rebuttals that she’d given Yotimo came to mind then, ready to deny that she had amorous feelings for Lex: that the two of them were different races, that he already had a lover, that her actions were an expression of loyalty rather than romance...

But this time, those excuses all died on her lips, unable to make herself utter any of them.

“I thought that sounded like a wonderful thing,” confessed Nenet, looking down guiltily. “I’ve never been in love before, and with how much he seems to love you back...” Behind her, her tail thrashed in embarrassment. “That’s why I agreed to be his. I wanted to have someone care about me the way he does for you. But I swear that I was never trying to take him away from you! ...Solvei?”

Pausing as she realized that the adlet hadn’t responded yet, Nenet gulped. “Are you alright? Please don’t be mad at me...”

Shaking her head, Solvei took a deep breath before giving Nenet’s hands – still wrapped in her own – a squeeze. “I’m not.”

“Really?”

“I promise. I’m not mad at you, Nenet.”

“And Lex?”

“...”

“He didn’t tell you because he thought you’d try and fight it.”

That was enough to make Solvei’s brow furrow in confusion. “He thought I’d...what?”

“That’s why he didn’t want to tell you about the blessing,” admitted Nenet. “He thought that if you knew that your feelings were artificial, that Kara’s influence was the reason why you’d fallen in love with him, you’d try and fight those feelings off. And he doesn’t want that, because he wants you to love him as much as he does you.”

Solvei’s eyes widened at that. All of a sudden, a lot about how Lex had been acting over the last several days made sense. The way he’d been upset about her fretting over Silla. His cautioning her not to take her anger out on Nenet. How badly he’d blown up at her when she’d made it clear that she was willing to die for him. In light of what Nenet had just told her, all of them took on new meaning.

“...he was feeling guilty.”

“Huh?”

“He was feeling guilty,” muttered Solvei. “I know how his mind works. He thought that Kara’s blessing was manipulating me, and so it was wrong of him to react to that.” She gave a hollow laugh then, looking upward. “All this time, I’ve been trying to make his life easier, and instead I’ve just been making him feel even worse.”

She fell silent then, and Nenet didn’t say anything either, the pregnant pause stretching out until at last the sphinx couldn’t take it anymore. “Solvei?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?”

“I...” Taking a deep breath, she licked her lips before answering honestly. “I don’t know...”

“...”

“...”

“Should we, I don’t know...try and get those diamonds Master wanted us to excavate?” ventured Nenet cautiously.

“Vutok take his diamonds,” muttered Solvei, standing up at last.

Nenet leaped to her feet as well, brimming with nervous energy. “Then what are we going to do?”

“First things first,” announced Solvei. “We’re going to get you some clothes.”

“Clothes?” Glancing down at herself, Nenet gave Solvei a bewildered look. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want Toklo to have a heart attack when he sees you,” muttered Solvei, pulling her top closed; the fabric’s faltering integrity hadn’t been helped by Nenet’s crying into it. And yet that made a rueful smile cross her lips as she glanced at the sphinx. “And because I want to thank you for telling me what Master said. Something to wear seems like a good way to do that.”

But rather than looking excited at the prospect, Nenet started tearing up again. “You...you want to...”

“Nenet?” Concerned, Solvei took a step toward her. “Sorry, did I say something wrong?”

But the sphinx shook her head, giving her a shaky smile as she rubbed her eyes. “No, it’s just...I’m really happy! No one’s ever thanked me for anything before, let alone said they want to give me a gift.”

That was heartbreaking enough that Solvei couldn’t help herself, going over and giving Nenet another hug despite the latter’s nudity. “Come on. There isn’t much out here, but I bet we can scrounge up something pretty for you.”

“It’s okay,” sniffled Solvei. “You don’t need to waste anything nice on me. I know I’m unpleasant to look at.”

Breaking the hug, Solvei gave Nenet a quizzical look. “Are you kidding?”

A confused look crossed Nenet’s face as she shook her head, causing Solvei to scoff. “Nenet, you do realize that you’re gorgeous, right?”

The question made Nenet cringe. “But my tail...”

Unable to help herself, Solvei snorted, glancing down at the sphinx’s chest. “Trust me, there are two very big reasons why most people won’t pay any attention to your tail. Now come on” – grabbing Nenet’s hand, she led her toward the edge of the chasm – “I’ll make a serac for us to ride out of here, and then we’ll find something for you to wear.”

“But, what about when I change forms?” fretted Nenet, stumbling after the adlet. “Won’t anything I’m wearing be ruined?”

“That was how it was for me when I was Akna. But later, when I became Solvei too, my shapeshifting changed to keep my clothes from being torn.”

Nenet cocked her head in confusion. “When you were...Akna?”

“Right, I forgot, you don’t know much about me, do you?” Solvei sighed as they reached the cavern wall. “Okay, even with a serac it’ll probably be a little while until I can get us both out of here, so I suppose I’ll have plenty of time to tell you the whole story. But the bottom line is that I was originally two different people: a winter wolf named Solvei, and an adlet named Akna...”

Author's Note:

Comforting each other after Lex lashes out at them, Nenet tells Solvei the truth about Kara's blessing!

How will this affect their relationship going forward?

Comments

[Alzrius]

Not so long ago, Lateral Movement crossed the one million word threshold. Now here we are at double that milestone, and I once again find myself (ironically enough) at a loss for words.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to upvote, favorite, comment on, or simply read and enjoy, this story. Your dedication has been what's kept me writing about Lex's adventures for all this time. I'm grateful to each and every one of you for making this journey with me, and I hope you're looking forward to what comes next as much as I am!

[Booster Spice]

Lex yet again fails with the ladies.

You can almost hear Fall Foward back at the bar yelling at him to.

Get a spine.

[Not so New Brony]

First off, congrats on the new milestone! And here's hoping for more down the line.

As for the unintentional reveal on Nenet's part, it appears that it didn't turn out as bad as Lex had feared though it seems Solvei/Akna has mixed feelings on the matter among them, guilt for causing Lex to feel guilty for her first death. So a guilt circle? Squared guilt?

At least she can distract herself with getting some clothes for her and Nenet who is in need of some education on the standards of beauty though now I can't help but imagine her trying to show off to Lex down the line only for Lex to just think "What is this supposed to be?" due to his lack of attraction towards two certain things that Akna and Nenet now possess.

[Alzrius]

11624329 Well, he's always been the type to show some backbone. Now he just has to make up with Solvei and Nenet, albeit after he's pulled himself together (in more ways than one).

[Alzrius]

11624603 Thanks for the accolades! And thank you for being such a dedicated reader and commenter for this story!

With regard to Solvei, my read on her reaction is that she's not sure how to feel regarding Nenet's revelation about Kara's blessing. Guilt, love, anger, desire, and more are all clearly emotions that she's struggling to process, with no idea how to handle them all. The difference between her and Lex is that she's mature enough to admit that she doesn't know how she feels, and she's not letting herself be overwhelmed to the point of lashing out. Instead, she's focusing on what she can do at this moment, which is being nice to Nenet, whom she knows deserves better than how Lex has been treating her. That, and as you noted, it's a nice distraction from her jumbled feelings.

As for Nenet, I concur that she's practically asking for a scene where she shows off an outfit that complements her (humanoid) figure, only for Lex to have no reaction. Though given how he responded favorably to the sight of Adagio, I can't help but wonder if that might change soon...