Holy Templar Sanctum (Aincrad)

[Bloodedge]

Charlemagne was frantically picking up sticks all over the ground where he stood. It seemed nothing could stop his snatching, until... Angelica spoke from nearby. He was picking up a lot, she said. He paused all movement to look under his own left arm, finding the strangest assortment of sticks. There was one more still in his right hand, which he let go of after a few moments of hesitation. "Eheh. Well, yeah... can't be too sure, right? We should be fine with all these," he proclaimed. With that, he looked up at last. What a terrible idea that was, as he upward shift of his gaze resulted in a full bottom-to-top view of the bikini-clad blonde.

Hesitation was inevitable. Charlemagne paused for several moments, once again struggling to function properly. Soon enough though, he stood up properly and took the first steps toward camp. "No stress here! Camping's relaxing, no room for stressful things!" he chanted along the way. When they reached camp again, he'd drop his own pile of sticks next to the prepped fire pit. Ah, but there was one thing he'd forgotten that was worth mentioning. "Oh! Tinder! We're going to need a little bit of dry brush of some sort to get it started."

[Apollymi]

Preparing for the eventuality of being short was Charles excuse for continuing to collect. That was reasonable. Angelica had never built a fire without magic so perhaps there was a bit of trial and error involved. What was interesting though, was the marked hesitation after Charles lifted his head. It took him a moment to get himself together, but he did so eventually. Angelica wasn't sure what to make of that reaction, she really needed to have a conversation with another girl to figure out this strangeness. Still, if he was content to keep up their living off the land, she'd continue to learn what he had to teach.

There was the claim that here was no stress, but it was quite obvious he was stressed out more than he'd been before she'd told him about their impending marriage. "Uh-huh, if you say so Charlie. If that's true though, you should probably actually relax a bit~" she mused. In this moment, it seemed they'd need dry brush to use as tinder. She'd never heard of tinder, of course she hadn't. Magical fires needed no extra catalyst. "And tinder is something that helps build a fire?" she asked seeming to find the whole thing strange. Even so she gave a bit of pause, picking up some dried dead leaves and some smaller straw like needles and sticks. Given his description this probably counted right? "You mean like this stuff right..." she said holding out the hand which had just dried leaves in it, while keeping that stack of dried sticks tucked under her other arm. This was going to be an interesting day for both of them.

[Bloodedge]

It was true that Charlemagne should make an effort to actually relax. He'd do so easily while they fished, hopefully. For the time being however, he had to make himself focus. "Yeah, I'll work on that. It should be fine," he said while bundling the drier of the sticks together in teepee formation within the circle of stone. Two particular sticks were set aside, however. They would have use of those only after collecting tinder, which Angelica took the liberty of after presenting a question. "Yeah, it's a necessity," he answered.

Angelica brought forth a collection of dry leaves and the like. Charlemagne reached out to take the pile into his own hands, shuffling it about within sight to make something almost resembling a bowl. "This'll work! So, what we need to do is get this burning. We're going to make coal out of... these!" he said after putting down the tinder, taking up instead the two sticks he set aside earlier. One was a fair bit thicker than the other, but they seemed to have originally come from the same tree. "Wanna get your hands dirty? We need these two, and one of these sharp rocks." While starting his explanation, Charlemagne took a seat on the ground. A quick glance toward the water let him confirm a bit of movement in the net placed within earlier. It looked like they were on the right track to a perfect agenda for the day.

[Apollymi]

Apparently, Charles would work on relaxing. That was good. It would be sort of bad if he didn't manage to relax while they were on a date. Still she couldn't quite place what it was about the situation that he managed to find so stressful. As far as she was concerned this was just like all other times they spent together, only she was getting more hands on life experience to think over.

Oh well, Charles took the dry pieces from her hands and formed them into a bowl. She watched this whole thing carefully while he described the next steps in their current journey. He claimed they had to get everything burning and instead of pulling out any individual pieces, he claimed sticks and rocks to get a fire started. She watched this process with wide eyes only to be invited to participate. When asked if she wished to get her hands dirty those eyes of hers sparkled and she nodded. She'd take a seat on the ground as well, ready and willing to take the directions necessary to begin this fire they were building. Of course, she was more than a little exciting by the prospect. "Of course I do. What do I do?" she asked seemingly excited to be included in such a thing.

[Bloodedge]

There were a few tedious steps to take when starting fires in the wilderness. Charlemagne wasn't sure what good this knowledge would do someone like Angelica, but in this life so far, Charlemagne himself had used life skills he never expected to need. Maybe she'd find it useful one day, even for a casual experience. When Angelica took a seat in the sand, Charlemagne scooted himself closer. Strangely, he didn't even think of any sexual implications when taking his place at her rear, his front against her back. There was only propriety as the male held those sticks out to Angelica's fore from the left, and the rock from the right.

His teaching method was to be a very direct one. If Angelica merely took the items in hand, he'd guide her movements by the forearms from behind. "First thing. It's always better if these sticks are from the same branch, or at least the same tree. One needs to be bigger, and your rock needs to be sharp. Ideally, you'd have a knife or something else handy, but we'll do it with nothing. Now, we want one side of this bigger stick stripped. Take the rock here and scrape it nice and flat, making it at least a bit longer than your hand. Once you've got your flat surface, carve a gentle groove lengthwise down the middle. Just don't take it along the whole flat part you've made."

[Apollymi]

Rather suddenly, Angelica was on the ground taking some very specific instructions from Charles. All of this was fine, he went about explaining how they'd start this fire using nothing but sticks and stones. How interesting. Ah, but when he settled in to completely explain it leading by example and using the woman's own arms and hands to make the proper movements after she accepted the things needed into her empty palms. She was surprised by something.

The flesh of her back was rather exposed by virtue of her being in a bikini. This wasn't a problem but there was a newfound closeness between herself and Charles which left the man's torso against her back. This wouldn't have been a problem either, but he was also shirtless. She could feel his bare skin against her back and it was warm and muscled and because of her enhanced senses she could also feel his mana through his body. She became overly quiet and seemed to turn into a completely different person. She hadn't expected what it would be like to be in such close proximity. Suddenly, she was feeling rather shy. Her own face had gained a heated tint and she was rather glad he couldn't see her. Oh, but now she was thinking about it and being rather quiet at the same time. What to do? "Uh-huh... so we strip the stick, flatten and end, and carve a little groove. Yes... I understand. I don't know why from the same branch but... I guess I don't have to understand everything..." she mentioned softly. Quite unusual it was for her to skip over information. But she kept her hands moving and tried not to think about the very muscled man pressed against her back. Yep. It was fine. No need to let her mind wander, in a moment like this though, she wondered what such a feeling would mean for the future. Whatever the case, the groove would soon be made and maybe the next set of instructions would be given. What she was doing here and now wasn't exactly pretty but it could be considered functional as she followed his directions and guidance.

[Bloodedge]

Perhaps it was strange that Charlemagne initially thought nothing of their current positioning. In truth, it was nothing new to him. He'd even been shirtless in the company of a topless Astolfo before, teaching a skill in a very similar fashion. With enough luck, Charlemagne could continue teaching without encountering a single hiccup. Sadly, even A-rank Luck couldn't help him in situations like these for long. Oh well. At least he had something to occupy his mind for the time being. He was also none the wiser to Angelica's state of fluster. Good thing he was holding her arms high enough to avoid his line of sight being far too convenient. "Yep! Strip, flatten, make a groove!" he said in the most casual manner.

Angelica had something very interesting to say. She wasn't sure why the sticks had to be from the same branch, and frankly, he wasn't sure either. "Huh. You know, I don't know for sure either. It's what I was told, so I always just went with it. Though it probably has a lot to do with texture or something. This takes a lot of rubbing together," he said. Charlemagne probably could have phrased something like that better, but it seemed he didn't have a mind to. Angelica was making decent work of the first stick. It wasn't something that needed to be attractive in a physical sense, but when judging it on potential functionality... "Beautiful! Alright, next is the other one. We only need to mess with the tip this time. We're making it into something like a wedge, one long slant and one short slant. Don't worry if the point isn't super fine; it doesn't need to be."

[Apollymi]

Something about the phrase, 'Strip, flatten, and make a groove...' was eating away at the mind of Angelica. Even as she got help from Charles, she couldn't help but hear the voice of a certain young woman in her mind. Once over drinks there was an utterance about innuendos. Words that could be taken sexually in specific contexts. Angelica in those moments, hadn't understood exactly what was meant, but here and now she was positive that Charles words could be viewed as such. Was innuendo about the state of mind of an individual... was that the missing context clue? She really needed someone to talk with, too bad her resident 'big sis' was long gone. It was tragedy, she could definitely use the advice. Though given that one's personality she was sure she would have seen this scene playing out, walked by, given a thumbs up, said aww... and left her to it. Yes that sounded right.

What didn't sound right though? The next sentence out of the mouth of Charles. He didn't know why they needed to come from the same tree or branch but he knew it would require a lot of rubbing together. "O-okay." she stuttered out. Yes, this was quite the interesting turn. She was certain that this whole situation was some sort of strange innuendo. Her mind twisted the words this man spoke and began relating them to her understanding of 'Mana Transfer'. Surely this shouldn't have been the case, but here she was... gaining a practical education to go along with her given knowledge on the subject. Somehow even on autopilot she managed to do what she needed to with the sticks. Of course, Charles mentioned they didn't have to be aesthetically pleasing simply functional. "Alright, I can manage that..." she said knowing full well her mind was several steps away from such a simple set of uses. She'd make the wedge to go along with the weird slot. Assuming it passed the test as well, she asked her next question. "Okay, what's next?" she asked her excitement was normal but she was quite distracted in addition. He was holding her quite closely, and though it was probably just to teach this activity, she was certain she liked it. There were obviously other situations in which she could be held like this right?

[Bloodedge]

Progress was being made, and nothing had gone awry just yet. Well... that much was true of Charlemagne, who was none the wiser to the mental hoops Angelica leapt through. He was doing fine, much to his own surprise. Even better, Angelica went about forming a wedge of the second stick. That little stammer in her verbal confirmation was odd, but Charlemagne attributed it to some light nervousness. "Nothing to worry about. You're doing fine," he assured for what he thought was the right reason.

Once that wedge was made, Angelica wondered what the next step was. Next on the agenda was basically the final step, though there were some requirements. "Alright, so next we take the bigger one and keep it held down firm. For that, uh... here, this'll work!" Charlemagne's idea was not the brightest. He shifted to hook one of his legs around Angelica, aiming to place it under her thigh while pinning the flat-sided stick under his shin. It needed to be as firm as possible, but he didn't want to subject the lass to any splinters. Sadly, Charlemagne created three issues for himself. In addition to feeling Angelica's soft thigh against his own leg, it was very difficult trying to keep his groin from pressing against her backside. That was only going to become more difficult over time, he imagined. Worse still, he could only continue offering assistance by looking down... which gave him an eyeful of cleavage from over Angelica's shoulder. Right... fine. He could ignore all that, right? Damned be the hastening of his heartbeat already. "Ah... Okay. So uh... now we just... take this stick... put this end of the wedge into the groove here... and... rub it... back and forth. Not too much pressure, but uh... it'll start to feel different when the friction builds up... so you can start moving faster. It might start smoking by then too. When it does, put pressure down as well. . ."

[Apollymi]

Oh? He thought that she was nervous... that was probably for the best. There was no way she was about to explain the random things moving through her mind. She didn't know much, but she knew for a fact it would be embarrassing. "Okay, I won't be..." she said knowing full well she was falling apart. She was certain her face wasn't meant to be the temperature it was currently.

And it would only get worse. Charles soon had a leg beneath the girl, tucking her into the space between his legs, leaving just enough room for her to breath but there was still the full texture of his leg beneath her own to deal with. Was he really this muscular? How had she not noticed before? Oh this was going to be great, wasn't it? No. Terrible. She couldn't say the things she as thinking aloud right now, they were on a date. She was learning a life skill. She needed to focus! Focusing was so hard! And it was made even harder by Charles, words. She was to take the wedge stick and rub it back and forth against the groove she'd created. It was supposed to be done without too much pressure initially but it was supposed to build up? This was definitely an innuendo! Her eyes were swirling. Still those movements of hers started. She couldn't let him know how far her brain had fallen today. No. She had to move. So she did. Slowly at first and then it became easier. There was a lot of friction involved in this and her body was moving steadily to accommodate this. She could do this, she could make a fire... just going to rub sticks together, in a manner which was way too similar to the mechanics of Mana Transfer and ignore the fact that it seemed to be a one to one understanding as far as she understood.

[Bloodedge]

Speaking of one-to-one understandings, Charles had a few of his own. The concept of mana transfers was once foreign to him, leaving the lad at the later end of an opposite extreme. He'd come from another world long ago. In that world he was first born into, the idea of sex had become an epidemic by his generation. Innuendo was a way of upholding normal conversation for some, and for good reason. Charlemagne was soon to understand said reason, if he didn't already.

Angelica began rubbing wood against wood in a way Charlemagne strangely hadn't equated to anything sexual. What he did make the connection to however, was the movements themselves in this strange position he had them in. Oh... now he was having problems. He had to keep an eye on Angelica's efforts for the sake of teaching, but all that back-and-forth shifting was making her breasts sway in the most hypnotic manner from where Charlemagne saw them. His attention was taken with ease. Just as well, the whole of her back was in his periphery. There wasn't much to see past all that hair, but there was just enough between swirls of blonde to endanger the young man. He was fidgeting. There wasn't much choice, lest his hardening manhood make obvious his train of thought. How long would it be now before he could stand up again?! Whatever the case, the teaching had to continue unhindered. "Alright. Now, apply pressure. Once you see the buildup start, you uh... push harder and faster, pushing more into a pile at the end there. We want to work up a good little amount so it stays hot for awhile after we stop."

[Apollymi]

Unlike Charles, Angelica was born in this world. She didn't know of the innuendo and euphamisms used by the sex-crazed youth of Charles' time. No. Instead she was left to discover some strange extra meaning that existed in Mana Transfers that she didn't know should. That being said, she didn't innately dislike it at all. She loved and appreciated things which were pleasing to her eye, which were useful and innovative. Why shouldn't her future husband be all of those things as well?

Obviously he should be. But right now they were way too distracted. Here and now, Angelica was receiving extra instructions while she was trying on purpose to keep her mind focused. She was busy, but her eyes were practically swirling. This was definitely sexual. She definitely understood how to start a fire now, she could almost feel one of a different sort, as she found a certain warmth spreading in her loins. Definitely unusual, but not unwelcome. It was fine, she just had to make a fire. That little build up was starting to occur, she'd added a bit more pressure as she moved. She was starting to get a feel for it, it had its own type of rhythm. Obviously she was almost there... almost to the point she was looking for. "Alright it's getting there, I guess...." she murmured. "I'll keep going..." she said in finality. Yep, she'd fully dive into this activity in the hopes that her reddened face, and spiraling mana weren't at all something anyone else would notice.

[Bloodedge]

It didn't take very long to start a fire. Charlemagne could surely survive this ordeal without the temptation of sin rampaging all over his mortal soul. This was all seeming worse than the idea of being captured and tortured by the Saxons; he'd probably have an easier time resisting them. The more pressure she applied and the faster she rubbed those pieces of wood together, the more Charlemagne saw the most appealing bounce of her breasts. That was only the visual factor.

Ah, but Angelica would keep going; she had to keep going. The buildup was starting to show in more ways than one. Charlemagne, in his position, was suffering a form of buildup that would prove dangerous in a matter of seconds. His angle made this all look like penetration could have been happening between them. Luckily there were no moans or heavy breathing coming from Angelica, but unluckily, that didn't stop the feeling of Charlemagne's crotch rubbing against his own trunks while it pulsed. The smell of Angelica's hair was also prevalent from where he sat with all that gentle wafting happening in front of him. It was so ridiculously pleasant, yet he couldn't compare it to anything. "Ah─... yeah, keep going," he said, simply meaning to encourage the activity so this could be over before any surprises came his way. It was almost over, right? The coal would be ready before things spiraled out of control, he could slide out of this dangerously-close position, and he could just... sit there for awhile, right?

[Apollymi]

Angelica was using her current activities to try and ignore any strange happenings. She'd come to understand the nature of bodies in a singular moment, she was quite certain she didn't need anything else on her plate right now. So imagine her surprise when hearing a sentence she couldn't take any way but sexually. Her eyes really were swirling now. How was she supposed to think? She seemed to be exhausting herself just a bit, basically holding her breath as she tried her best to just get this fire started. She really needed this fire to start. The build up was there, it was continuing to work. That smoking had to start any moment right?

At the same time, she felt quite nice tucked into Charles' body like this. She could even while her mind was practically blank even appreciate how attentive he was as a teacher. She could do this. She could put for the same effort not to be distracted that he was given his still spot on speech and catches. Maybe it was just her? Maybe she was the one blowing this whole thing out of proportions. Her work on those sticks had indeed become quite vigorous. Her body was starting to shift with her movements as she tried her best to keep the right pace while creating the fire.

[Bloodedge]

For once, it seemed things were starting to stabilize. Finally finding an end to the fidgeting by settling into a position that wouldn't incriminate him. Charlemagne didn't even realize he'd been holding his breath, but now that this moment had come, he certainly heaved a sigh of relief. Tension left the young man's body... at least most of it. Only time could reverse the stiffness of his member. Time... and lack of further prodding.

Alas, the metaphorical prodding had not stopped yet, nor would it stop until Angelica produced results. Thinking he could offer her greater freedom of movement and force, Charlemagne moved his hands away from her forearms. They settled instead upon her upper arms, just beneath the shoulders. After all, it wasn't his direct assistance she needed now; she could just do with a bit of guidance or... encouragement, rather. "Looks good. Your uh... arm work is pretty um... vigorous," he said, finally having an eye-widening link form in his mind. "I mean! In a good way, of course! It's a good way to start a fire!" he added suddenly.