Heartstone

Nymphs!

Dappled sunlight played across the grass and along the thick tree trunk next to Arwin and his new companion. The delicate sound of feminine laughter and giggling voices carried easily through the fresh air.

"Go ahead," Yaz motioned towards the forest glade before them. "You play with the beauties over there, and I'll take a nap while I wait."

Arwin looked at the playful nymphs and wanted to go but hesitated. This should be an easy decision. But it wasn't. "I don't know..."

Yaz laughed. "From the way you're staring at those lovely ladies, I think you do know."

Arwin shrugged. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go over and talk to them," he admitted but made no move to do so.

The skeleton shook his head. "Oh no, you can't do that. They'll just disappear on you. They're nymphs. You have to chase them down and catch one before you can do anything else. It's how things are done."

"And then?"

"What do you mean and then?" Yaz raised a figurative eyebrow. "You're a virgin? You don't know what to do with a woman?"

"Of course I do!" Arwin sputtered. "But you mean to tell me that I just chase her down, jump on her, and have my way with her? Sexually? Just like that?"

"Yep."

"And it's not, you know, rape or something?" He blushed.

"Nope."

Arwin gestured wildly, completely confused. "No talking, no introduction, no foreplay, no courting rituals, no dinner and a movie first, no bribery of any kind, like with money or chocolate or flowers or designer handbags? I don't have to pay them? I don't have to promise them the future? We just have sex? For fun?"

"Yes."

Arwin blinked, his mind gone totally blank. "I don't understand."

Yaz looked at him as if he were broken. "For them, the chase is the only foreplay they require. They want to be chased. Just look at them. They are perfectly well aware that we're watching them. I'm sure they're laughing a little louder so that we can hear, prancing a little more often where we can see, all to get our attention. See how they're looking in every direction except for ours? They're smiling, flinging their hair, touching themselves and each other suggestively, bending over at alarmingly sexy angles, all in a way that someone standing exactly where we are would appreciate."

Arwin had to admit it was like looking at a live version of social media, every woman poised and perfect in a way that usually happened when you were trying to appear that way.

"They're attracting sexual attention, and it's exactly the kind of attention they want. Attention makes them excited. And when you chase them down, they'll get even more excited because they've successfully garnered a man's lust and are about to consummate that desire. Teasing is their passion. Sex and mutual happiness is the fulfillment of that passion."

Arwin shook his head doubtfully. "I'm used to there being more to it."

"There's no hidden agenda here," Yaz explained, "there's no worry about things leading to a relationship. They're not exchanging sex for favours or goods. They are nymphs. The act itself, the happiness it brings both parties, that's the whole point."

"They look and sound like a dream come true." Arwin hesitated again. "Are you sure I wouldn't be crossing a line? I really don't want to hurt anyone by physically taking advantage of them. I mean, this is absolutely not how things are done back on my world."

"Trust me," Yaz assured him, "with nymphs, you chase, then you have sex. Very simple. You don't have to think too hard about it. If they don't want to be caught by you, they won't be. And if you do catch them, they'll be plenty excited."