Affinity [PAUSED]

Girls with Tails... are Really Annoying

Orion pointed me in the direction of my room and this time I found it easily. I changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that I found in the dresser and walked outside.

“So when are we going to-?” I stopped mid-sentence, “You guys!” I wailed. Silvia chuckled. Orion had already set up a picnic and they were munching on finger food that looked delicious. “You didn’t even tell me!” I grabbed a biscuit and moaned.

“You have the appetite of a dinosaur,” Silvia remarked dryly as she watched the food rapidly disappear.

“Whatever,” I said popping another scone in my mouth. “Who is the cook?” I asked with my mouth full.

“Orion” Silvia pointed at him and I gave him a thumbs up. “there are only 2 maids, a gardener, and Orion that live here besides me.”

“Huh” I said, expecting a much larger staff.

“Okay, let’s head to the forest.” Silvia said brushing the crumbs off her dark violet dress. “Orion we’ll meet you at the Falls”

He nodded with a grimace and started to clean up the picnic, I started to help him and Silvia tapped her foot impatiently. “All right, I’m coming,” I dropped the stack of plates on a corner of the table cloth before leaving with Silvia.

“I used to come here a lot when I was little,” Silvia murmured, fingers brushing across the trees. “Anyway, have you found your Affinity yet?”

“Affinity?” I echoed, sensing that I still had much to learn about the demon realm.

“It’s what a demon or supernatural creature specializes in, mine is dark matter.”

“Uh no” I said absorbing the information.

“Well, that’s fine, I didn’t find mine til I was 14”

I gave her a blank look. “Grandma” I said and satisfactorily watched her purse her lips, “I’m 16!”

She squinted at me “Hph, not enough nutrition in the human world.”

“Ugh! I’m just short for my age!” I said frustrated.

“Nonetheless, here we are,” she pointed up ahead and I realized that we had hiked to a clearing with a waterfall in the middle.

“Wow, it’s so pretty,” I said, forgetting our spat.

“Mhm, wait til you meet the inhabitants,” she looked around “Orion!”

“What,”

I jumped, as Orion replied, dropping from a nearby tree branch.

“What took you so long?” Silvia said with a smirk and I suspected she knew why already.

“Do I have to go to the Falls?” he sighed.

“Yes” Silvia replied leaning towards me “Orion feels suffocated by all the girls, he’s just their type.”

“Girls?” I echoed.

She led us to the edge of the pool of water. “Ida, Neda, Maia!” she hollered and there was a splashing sound but then it was silent. She rolled her eyes “I brought Orion!” she sung and then the pool of water separated so that a path was formed which led to under the waterfall. Silvia dragged Orion and I followed them.

As soon as we went under the waterfall the path was covered with water again. Silvia gestured for me to climb onto a rock next to her. Orion was left standing in the water alone. “O~rion!” a chorus sung and a bunch of beautiful girls swam up to him.

“You haven’t visited us for so-o long,” one of the girls said draping her arms around him. He stiffened at her touch.

“We really missed you,” another girl sung, playing with his fingers.

“Do you still like us?” a girl asked twirling a finger around his brown locks. For some reason I felt the urge to knock her fingers away.

“No,” he said peeling off their hands, “I never did.” They gave a wail of despair.

“So cold Orion, we like you so much,” one of the girls sighed.

“Ladies” Silvia said from where she was perched on a rock. They reluctantly shifted their gazes to her. Before she could say another word they saw me and started to shriek.

“It’s a girl!”

“A girl?”

“Orion brought a girl!”

“He won’t be leaving with one!”

They swam to me and started pulling me down in the water. “What are you-” I pushed at their grappling hands “Get off me!” I fell in the water and I heard a shout.

“Stop!”

Their heads turned in the direction of the shout. “What?” a girl said swishing her tail back and forth.

“We were just playing with her,” said another girl.

“Maybe she didn’t want to be played with,” Orion replied angrily.

I slipped out of their grasps and looked down at my drenched clothes. Gah.

“Okay, you adolescents,” Silvia said clapping her hands “Let’s get down to business shall we?”

“What business?” the water nymphs gave Silvia a bored look.

“The business of your rent” she smirked and they groaned in unison.

“Now?” a nymph whined.

“Yes, now” Silvia replied with an irritated look.

“Here,” the nymph with green hair dumped a large bag on the rock next to Silvia.

Silvia looked in the bag “Are you forgetting something?” The nymph sighed and handed over a small silver disk. “Thank ya very much” she snatched the disk from her fingers and gestured for me to come over.

I shook the water from my hair and sloshed towards her. “Close your eyes” she said and I gave her a look, she rolled her eyes.

“Fine don’t close your eyes” she sprayed me with a putrid smelling spray and my eyes started to water from the teleporting spray.

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“Why didn’t we just teleport into the nymph cave in the first place?” I asked, looking down at my ruined tennis shoes.

Orion offered to help but Silvia refused, stubbornly insisting she carry the mysterious bag the nymphs had given her as “rent”. “Because…” she drawled “I need more exercise.”

I gave her an exasperated look and she flicked my forehead. “Respect your elders”

“Yeah yeah,” I said tromping up the stairs of the mansion splattering mud everywhere. Orion grimaced and I just laughed.