The Devil's Adieu

After he took the drink, Orion initially did not feel anything. Unlike Bell, whom seemed quite happy with the lack of any outward reaction, Orion was feeling underwhelmed and possibly even skeptical. It was the same situation as when he first found the spring. He was not sure what he was expecting exactly, but he was expecting more than seemingly nothing. Maybe a tingle or a glow of some kind? Something to indicate that the potion had any kind of effect on him, much less the desired effect.

"So..."

It took a moment to register, but he realized the kiss from Bell had not triggered a reaction from the thrall. There was no tugging sensation or a painful jolt. Nothing. Maybe there was a dull soreness on his neck, but that may have been just in his head. His eyes lit up more when he realized it.

"I think it worked...! Let me run a second trial."

Orion took several steps toward Bell until she was pinned against a nearby tree, and his lips soon found her's again in a more prolonged kiss while his hands held her bottom. He broke the kiss slowly, and only just enough to pull his lips away. The rest of him was completely pressed against Bell.

"Huhu~ Not a tug nor tingle to be felt, Miss Bell. I think you cured me~"

The thrall may not have been hurting him, but the heaping helping of possible innuendos that Bell heaped upon him certainly did. Or rather, the many statements that he could have easily turned into an easy come-on. There were so many, and he had naught the time to properly give each of them his attention! So he ended up keeping them all buzzing about in his own head instead of letting them loose into the woods around them. Considering that Bell seemed more than willing to reciprocate his kisses and movements, though, there was probably very little need for them.

She was right however. Orion would be going back to the succubus, if only for the fun and not exactly for the same reasons he would be coming back to Bell as well. He could have summed it up in the way both of them kissed, yet he lacked the words for it. Different in good ways, yet irresistible all the same.

"So you got me around your little finger, huh, Bell?"

The way she put it, it was like he traded one thrall for another. It did not bother him at all, though, and he continued grinning at Bell, even as he slid down to his knees in front of her with his hands on her hips.

"Don't do that me~ I need that potion..."

A glint of devilishness passed through his eyes before he slipped his head under Bell's poncho and began kissing her gently on the tummy and around her bellybutton.

"I'll show you that I'm deserving..."

For all intents and purposes, Bell was reading Orion quite correctly. He was like a pet. Something to be owned, played with, and controlled. It was why he was on Manta Carlos in the first place, and it was partially why he adopted his eccentric persona for everyone but Delise and Bell. It was why he seemed to be at the mercy of his Ship, in regards to his own SAGE glove and letting people poke around with the gadgets and gizmos he owned. It was why, despite looking like a hot bad boy, he never seemed to leverage his looks as often as some might assume. Young men who looked like him were typically more full of themselves and eager to exert authority, but not Orion. Usually.

It was why Delise thought of him as a lap dog, and Bell thought of him as a cat.

He had been sent for a purpose, and his personality had made him a great candidate. Someone who could follow orders even when not under direct supervision. But maybe it had been a miscalculation. Perhaps Orion was a little TOO obedient. With Delise and Bell, he showed that he was prone to falling under another's grasp quite easily and willingly.

As Orion focused on not using his rash-destined hands while pleasing his sweet potion brewer, he was not thinking about how much he had already leaked about himself. As they played around the sacred fountain, it never occurred to him that maybe all the cavorting around was getting in the way of his purpose. Even though it was plainly obvious, it never entered his mind that he had other, more important things to do besides fill the empty woods with their affections.

But the Ship knew.