Chapter 9: Details

There was a cooldown. Natalie and Jordan’s second make-out session didn’t provide further energy.

They did, at least, keep better control of themselves. Jordan hadn’t mounted Natalie in her excitement, and while Natalie had definitely gotten hard again, she wasn’t naked from the waist below, so Jordan was spared from the physical proof of how excited Jordan’s tongue wrestling made her.

Kissing her best friend. It really shouldn’t be so much fun.

Natalie cleared her throat. “Yeah. There’s one. A cooldown.”

“That makes sense.”

Did she sound disappointed, or was Natalie imagining things?

“So,” Natalie said. “Looks like it’ll take time to progress.”

“Not that long,” Jordan said. “Only need two or three more, to get to the next stage. Plus, I bet it’s because it’s me.”

“Huh?”

“It might not be an absolute cooldown. Might be independent to each person.”

“Oh. So, like, every girl has their own?”

Jordan shrugged. “It’s the first thing that came to mind.”

She didn’t sound bothered by that. Though, why would she? It wasn’t like she and Jordan were a thing. What would she care about Natalie and someone else coupling up?

Ugh ... these kisses of theirs were definitely leaving Natalie more of a confused mess than they should. She needed to rein herself in. They didn’t mean anything. Natalie didn’t want them to mean anything. She liked what she and Jordan had. Best friends, since forever. She wouldn’t risk that for anything

“Guess I’ll have to figure it out.”

Jordan nodded, still unconcerned. Natalie had a good read on her; she really must not care if Natalie was with someone else. Whether that was because she had open views on relationships, or because she didn’t have feelings for Natalie...

Of course she didn’t have feelings. What was Natalie thinking? Ugh. Kissing another girl had never left her a mess like this. Receiving her class had left her more disoriented than she’d thought. And Jordan’s kisses. Why was she so good at them? Natalie thought Jordan had only had one or two partners. Why was she so good, then?

Pull it together.

“Later, though,” Natalie said. “Uh. So. Letting Tenet know is going to be weird. Hope it’s not a problem.”

“Being a mage hybrid class?” Jordan said.

Natalie nodded; the lewder parts of her class, she just wouldn’t divulge.

“Hm,” Jordan said. “Paladins are more fighters than they’re casters, aren’t they?”

“I guess it depends?” Natalie, like Jordan, had spent plenty of time learning the endless amount of common adventuring classes. But there were too many to know in depth. There were as many classes as there were grains of sand on a beach. Infinite, more less ... though maybe not actually. “I think most paladins are more fighter than mage? But even if it’s just a small part of my kit...”

“You’ll figure it out,” Jordan said firmly. “It’s not your strength, but that’s fine. You’ll work through it. If there’s anything you’re good at, it’s persevering.”

For a second, Natalie held Jordan’s serious gaze. The words washed through her, comforting in a way even her parents couldn’t have managed. How did Jordan say something like that with such confidence? Like she knew what she was saying was right. That she wasn’t trying to be comforting, but speaking with total conviction. No doubt in her mind. A foregone result. Natalie would figure out her ill-fitting class, and that was that.

Natalie glanced away. “Yeah. I guess. Thanks.”

“You’ll just have to be extra good at punching people, until then,” Jordan said, bumping shoulders.

Natalie laughed. “I can manage that, at least.”

Jordan smiled, too. A brief silence. “Paladin, though. That’s going to be interesting. Having a patron. Is that how it works?”