Bolt Action Serenade

Redagga the Wall. Taller than the others (Luvetra aside) at I think about six four. She was broad and muscular and built like a warrior. That does not mean she was all ripped muscle and no body fat, there was muscle tone but she wasn’t some body builder going for aesthetics. Thick legs and arms, with a solid core that gave me little doubt she could toss me like a rag doll if she wanted. Deep green skin on the darker side, bright silvery gray eyes, and dark auburn hair that reached just below her ears. Her breasts were on the small side but still a bit bigger than mine had been before my change, with cute nipples only slightly paler than the rest of her skin. Her rear was firm and well muscled, it looked like she could crack a walnut between her cheeks. She clearly took her physical shape seriously. The only thing some might call imperfections were a downright worrying array of scars. Burn scars, jagged gashes, puncture wounds, and one twisted black line on her back that showed signs of not having healed right. Overall she had major ‘orc warrior’ vibes and I was here for it even if she scared me a bit, at least at first.

As it turns out, the second floor of the vardo was just three bedrooms that were more or less identical, though the stairs and my wobbly leg made exploring to discover that difficult. But Redagga’s room, which she shared with Briggavel, had all her weapons in it and she wanted help cleaning her guns. Well, I think Dekarru told her to ask me to help because for the couple of days prior she had been avoiding me as much as possible. Sort of. I kept noticing her keeping an eye on me from afar, but that was it.

Anyway, I knew how to clean and care for firearms from my military training, even if it was almost entirely just muscle memory. So I found myself sitting next to her in her room and doing exactly that with her honestly impressive collection of carbine rifles, handguns, scatterguns, and one small pintle cannon that looked like it came off of some antique sailing ship. She also had her axe and a shield that looked like it was a repurposed giant turtle shell, but mostly it was guns.

Twenty minutes of quiet work passed with her avoiding looking at me and only grunting at attempts of small talk before I sighed “Okay, you don’t like me, got it. I’ll just shut up and work.”

She set the barrel she’d been working on down and huffed. “I like you fine. You’re just… complicated.” she said without turning to look at me.

“I’ve been told that before.” I set the revolver chamber I was cleaning down and turned to face her as well. “By someone close to me no less.”

“Did you end up driving them off?” she asked, poorly covered bitterness in her tone.

“Actually I ended up with my head between her legs.” I said bluntly.

Redagga looked at me then and blushed. “Uh… that’s…” She cleared her throat “Okay look, I don’t have a problem with you, alright? At least not-, not as long as Dekarru says you’re safe. My job is to protect us all so I’m suspicious and a bit paranoid. But that doesn’t mean I dislike you.” she grumbled and rubbed a hand down her face.

“Okay, so why the silent treatment? Why have you been avoiding and spying on me?”

She bit her lip and looked pointedly away from me. “It’s just a personal issue, not important.”

“It’s something important enough that it’s bothering you. I’d rather talk about it than just let whatever the problem is keep causing this issue, whatever it is. I don’t like letting things just fester and I though the Green Mother’s Path would be against hiding shit like this anyway.” She tensed with every word, looking more and more upset as I spoke and by the end of it she almost looked ready to either bolt or hit me. Though not out of anger so much as… I’m not sure, some sort of internal discomfort.

Just then Carmilla screamed from downstairs “FUCK! Bloody fucking shit! What in the abyss was that?!” and we both jumped from the sudden loud intrusion of our heated moment.

Weren’s voice came next “Dang it woman. Jaina! Come heal this poor dumb child that doesn’t know you shouldn’t let a hot stove touch bare skin!”

“I’ve never bloody had any fucking skin before you green twat! I don’t know all it’s idiosyncrasies!”

I couldn’t help it, I fought the laugh until it freed itself with a snort. Redagga had the same problem, but once mine broke free hers followed and after a few moments we were fighting to stay sitting up as we laughed madly.

Once we calmed down we looked at each other and I took a breath. “Look, I’m sorry, I just feel like I’m doing something wrong to you but don’t know what it is or how to fix it.”

She nodded and took a minute to breathe as well. “It’s-, it’s not your fault. Honestly. I’m just jealous.” I blinked and tilted my head “Of your dick.” she admitted with blush.

“Oh.” I cleared my throat “I mean, I would give you one if I could?”

She laughed and shook her head “No, I mean, I might like it, I dunno. But…” She sighed heavily “Brigga wants kids. I obviously don’t have the equipment to provide them. We’ve talked about adopting but Willow Creek actually has some pretty strong laws on that kinda thing and our mobile lifestyle on top of being Path kinda has us… not blacklisted, but close.”

I reached out and gently took her hand in my own and squeezed. “I’m so sorry. I’m guessing finding some man and getting drunk is-”

“Extremely off the table, exactly. Even if men were not a huge turn off for her it would have to be someone we both trusted implicitly. That would mean someone we know which would make interactions with them going forward super awkward at best.” She let out a soft whimper and squeezed my hand back firmly. “I’m so sorry about this. It’s not your fault, you’ve been great and you fit in so well with us. But I see that cock and I think ‘why couldn’t that have been me?’ you know? It would solve so much. I want to give her little mixes of her and me, stout orcs with red hair and bright smiles running around.”

“I can see why it bothers you, having me there to remind you of what you don’t have and desperately want has to be rough.”

She nodded “But it’s not right of me to treat you the way I have been over it. It’s not like you’re doing anything to us on purpose. So, I’m sorry. I’ll be less of a cunt going forward.”

“I dunno, in my experience cunts tend to be deep and warm and very enjoyable to be with.” I said with a smirk.

She groaned and kicked my organic leg “That was terrible.” She fought the smile on her face and turned back to work on her gun again.

“Okay so.” I spoke as I set back to work as well. “This is a lot of guns though they seem less advanced than the ones Uvtrayl soldiers have. Between this and Weren saying Uvtrayl gave Willow Creek radios, I’m wondering if there is a serious technology gap between you and other nations?” I figured talking about something else might help her out. I know it would help me.

She nodded “Not because we’re dumb or anything, but orcs have a much higher rate of magic classes than humans do so we’ve been fine with shamans and the like doing things that human inventions historically did. Though in the past couple centuries with the rise of arcanicraft, the jump in what tech is capable of has made even the elders pay more attention to it. Radios alone made even the stubborn old guard stop fighting the idea. Normally long distance communication is difficult and unreliable even with magic. But arcanicraft radios? Pick up piece, dial target frequency, channel mana, talk, done. Even children can use low power models.”

“You seem to like firearms too.” I noted, waving at the collection.

She grinned “I’m a warrior. A true warrior knows that a good weapon might not be required for victory, but ignoring a superior weapon is also a good way to be a corpse real fast.” She patted the handle of her axe leaning against the table “I have Madame Chopps here mostly for intimidation. If I’m in an actual fight I want a trench-gun, or a good pistol if I’m using my shield.”

“Oh true, I miss the old bolt action I had when I first woke up. I like the semi-autos okay, but the feeling of actually pulling the bolt and sliding the next round into place is so satisfying.” I sighed “Also I think one of my skills might require manual action weapons to function, it failed when I used the Uvtrayl rifle.”

She raised a brow and stood, walking to a cabinet and after a moment of digging through it, pulled an old, worn rifle out. She came back, leaned it against the table and smirked at me. “Well then, we should fix this one up for you. Been sitting in there for months while I paid more attention to my preferred babies.”

I looked at it, rusted, dinged, bent, cracked, but the model itself was lovely. “Oh wow, I would be happy to trade you for this is you want?”

She scooted her stool closer and leaned towards me, grinning as her face drifted close to my own. A hand slid down my stomach and came dangerously close to my member “How about you show me how well you know how to wield your rifle and if you prove proficient enough, you can handle what’s mine whenever you like?”

I was rock solid in seconds.

She chuckled and grinned, glancing down at me. “Okay, they were right, this is fun.”

“Oh you all are going to be the end of me.” I muttered before we both got back to work.