Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

Chapter 29: Grooming session (super slight r18/wholesome teasing)

'This is so comfy,' I thought with my head in the cloud, letting go of a hefty strand of Fay's hair... Only to separate another one from the storm of her hair and focus the heat from the dryer on it.

"Haaaa...."

Encharmed by the comfortable feeling, Fay started humming a singular tune while her body swayed lightly the the left and right.

"I see you are no longer scared of the dryer," I spoke softly while brushing my fingers through her hair to ensure it was properly dried out and the cosmetics didn't take away any of its fluffiness.

"Fay's not scared!" Fay announced with so much confidence, that I nearly lost myself in my desire to hug her from behind and affirm her bravery while patting her head.

I held myself back... but I didn't give up on my plans of getting my hands on her head so I could solve the mystery that puzzled me ever since I saw her assume this human form for the very first time.

It was all a matter of timing. If I reached out and started to massage her head out of nowhere, Fay would most likely get startled. But if I did so naturally, as per the course of the grooming session...

Everything was about timing. And I was willing to bide my time.

"By the way, you spoke how my aura grew heavier," I recounted Fay's words. "Does that mean you can see people's auras? Can I see it too? And what even is that aura, to begin with?"

With hands still preoccupied with drying Fay's storm of hair, I turned silent and awaited her answer.

"Aura... It's the feel... No, the shadow..."

Sitting behind the girl, I couldn't see even a hint of her expression. But from how she leaned forward, brought her hand up to her face, and slumped her shoulders down...

'Is she sucking on her tongue? Biting her fingernails?' I attempted to guess, only for my imagination to take me for a wild, dreamy ride.

"Fay can't explain..." she spoke a moment later, turning sideways and looking at me with such helplessness on her face...

But the moment our eyes met, Fay's expression changed to one of excitement and satisfaction.

"Fay knows!" she shouted happily, turning her entire body around... Only to walk on all fours towards me before climbing up on my lap and casually sitting down on my thighs.

'Wha...'

Before I could as much as utter a single word of protest or surprise, Fay reached out for my head... But instead of grabbing it, she pressed her inner palms against my face, fully blocking my sight.

"Peter, see... no, Peter, look!" she squirmed on top of my lap, making sure I couldn't see a thing and yet telling me to look...?

Puzzled as I was, I closed my eyes... while trying with all my mental power to see something anyway.

"No, not like that..." Fay muttered, moving around on my lap a bit and sending my mind to the pit of lecherously when I was subjected to this gentle, unintentional massage of her thighs flattening right on top of my crotch.

"Peter, keep eyes closed," Fay spoke again, this time her voice lined with hesitation.

Yet, before I could figure out what she was hesitating about, Fay removed her hands from my face only to wrap them behind my neck and hug herself tightly into my chest.

In an instant, my entire mind filled with the sensation of her soft flesh, protected by only a thin layer of cloth.

"Peter, feel," Fay whispered directly to my ear, moving her hips around a tiny bit as if to tease me and distract me from my attempts at learning how to perceive aura. "Feel!" she urged by whispering so close to my ear, her lips brushed against its lobe.

And felt it, I did, only to have a shiver move down my spine. My entire body trembled when subjected to Fay's voice at such a point-blank range.

'This girl really is dangerous,' I thought when Fay squeezed me even tighter as if she wanted my entire body to learn every nook and cranny of her own shape.

And then, somewhere on the border between lust-driven insanity and desire-lined protectiveness, I suddenly saw a flash of light...

The world changed in an instant.

No, it was the same as before. It was my perspective, my ability to perceive it that warped. As I opened my eyes, I could now see every biologically alive entity shrouded in an area where the air seemed to be thicker and slightly discolored.

The world was filled with auras... but with Fay all over my lap, it was her aura that I could see the best. And...

'Are you for real...?'

If there was one thing I desperately lacked in my life, it was attention. A mere shadow of the affection I once enjoyed from my mother and the one desire I hoped to fulfill with my failed, fake relationship with Cass.

And now that I looked at Fay's aura, even though I had no knowledge to explain how, I could sense just how much, how deeply she looked at me.

No.

Looked out for me.

'Is this girl for real?' I thought, sensing something wet suddenly appearing in the corner of my eyes.

"P-peter?" Fay whispered, taken aback by the changes on my face and in my aura.

'So that's how it feels to have someone not related to me by blood actually care for me,' I thought, too overwhelmed by the sense of gratitude that exploded in my soul to care for how a beauty literally out of this world was straddling my lap while focusing her entire attention on my eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered, ignoring the strange sensation of the wetness spreading from my eyes to my cheeks, only for fat drops of sweat to fall down the edge of my chin.

I didn't really know where those two simple words came from. Was it my gratitude? Happiness that someone finally saw me as a person rather than a target for bullying? Or was it my gratitude for the sense of comfort Fay offered me with every fiber of her being.

"..."

This time, Fay didn't call out my name. Instead, she moved her hands away from my neck... Only to press them against the sides of my head, locking it in place.

'What?'

Fay leaned over my face and opened her mouth. She pulled out her tongue before gently pressing its tip against the bottom of my face.

The hot, slimy feeling of her tongue instantly sent another shiver up my spine as she dragged her tongue up, licking clean the path that my tear took down my face.

'Oh my...'

Subjected to this unknown yet extremely pleasant sensation, I could feel my reason wane.

With Fay's face so close, I could only look directly into her focused and serious eyes, only managing to catch the slight blush on her cheeks at the very edge of my vision. And before I could as much as voice a single word, Fay leaned in again only to leave another track of her saliva as she dragged her tongue up my face.

As Fay pulled her head back a bit, I realized just how heavily we were both breathing. Fay's warm breath would strike my face every second or two, only adding it to how intimate this moment felt.

'Wait, isn't she warming up?' I suddenly realized when I took notice my hands somehow found their way to Fay's waist. 'She is! Her body is on fire!'

Thankfully, I overreacted a bit. Fay was surely warmer than the last time I held her body... but it wasn't the point I should be seriously concerned about.

'Wait, doesn't that mean she is going in heat?' I suddenly realized the dangerous meaning potentially hidden in this pleasant moment... And with the image of the massive fox appearing before my eyes, I reached out and grabbed Fay by her shoulders before gently pushing her away.

"We shouldn't go any further," I muttered while averting my eyes, unable to look into Fay's face.

Was she disappointed? Was she relieved? Or maybe she was simply surprised? But what if she felt nothing about my actions at all, opting to simply move on?

I was too much of a coward to find out, really.

Thankfully, rather than pressuring me further, Fay obediently slid down from my lap before turning around and sitting in the very same position we were in before. She then reached out and knocked her hair up with her hands, making it fall naturally on her back where I could easily access it.

Without a word, I picked up the dryer again and directed it towards Fay's hair... Only to realize it was pretty much dry by now.

'That's my chance,' my excitement from earlier awoke as I sensed the opportunity to solve the one mystery that kept puzzling me to no end.

Did Fay hide her fox-ears under that storm of her hair, or was I simply projecting my understanding of what a fox-girl was onto her?

Whichever option was the truth, I was determined to find out. And after covering my hands in a special, extremely expensive cosmetic I bought at the grocery... I froze.

"Now that your hair is dry, there's just one last thing left for me to do," I spoke, trying to twist the situation to my advantage, where my slightly impure desires would turn into a noble cause of helping Fay out.

At this point, I wasn't at all surprised when Fay summed up my efforts with a small, short chuckle... only for her to fall to the back.

With my hand covered in thick creme, I could only spread my arms out and lean forward, catching Fay's body with my chest... Only to have her snuggle up to it before she found a comfortable spot and rested her entire weight on me.

"Peter, go on," Fay requested with a self-satisfied smile blossoming on her lips. She then closed her eyes and rested the back of her head directly under my chin, as if to make it even easier for me to pet it to the full extent of my desire to do so.

"Here I go, then," I muttered, my head filling with embarrassment and fear...

That all vanished when I sank my creme-covered fingers into Fay's soft, fluffy hair and reached the soft skin of the girl's scalp.