While I came to the conclusion about what I needed most to protect those I held some semblance of care toward, Yuki returned with an animal a few minutes later, prompting me to butcher it like usual before cooking it; once I finished with that, we all sat around the fire and ate lunch, with most of us doing so in silence. Yuki was still VERY angry with Lazuli, and she, herself, did not talk much while I was still thinking about how to gain strength.
When we finished eating, we quickly packed everything into the carriage and headed toward the road with Yuki at the reins; since I wasn't bold enough to argue with her right now, I just let her have her way. With Yuki pulling the carriage, we made decent progress and continued until dusk, only for Talis to find a decent area to camp for the night in the forest; once we arrived at our camping spot, we finished our food from lunch and then promptly headed to sleep, while I was serving as Yuki's plushie given how tightly she was squeezing me in her embrace.
When morning arrived, we continued like we'd been doing for the past several days: Breakfast, hitting the road, Lunchbreak, back onto the road, dinner, sleep, repeat.
It was rather monotonous, especially since our surroundings looked almost exactly the same, so it felt as if we'd been making no progress whatsoever, though that was merely in our head; however, I did feel a little bad for Chloe, the only time she was allowed to leave the carriage was whenever we ate, other than that Michelle had her stay hidden within the trunk in case of any bandit attacks.
Though despite each day feeling quite long, two boring and repetitive weeks quickly passed by, something I was both thankful and annoyed at; by this time, most of Yuki's anger had vanished, and all that was left was a deep-seated hatred she had for Lazuli, something that wouldn't be going away anytime soon or easily for that matter.
As night was rolling around, I had Talis find us a camping spot, which didn't take long, and about twenty minutes later, I was pulling the carriage into a small clearing.
"Finally!" Yelled Chloe excitedly as she squeezed past Yuki's figure before leaping onto the ground, causing Michelle to sigh while quickly following after her.
"Careful, Chole." Said Michelle softly as she tried chasing Chloe, though her stamina was no match for that of a child.
Following Michelle and Chloe, Lazuli, who was sitting beside Yuki at the front of the carriage, hopped off and stood beside a tree while looking at me, waiting for me so we could do a perimeter search or whatever, while Yuki also left the carriage, grabbing the leftovers from lunch in the process.
"Tha trait [Deep Stomach] isn't there for a reason." Muttered Alexander lightly as he glanced at Yuki, who began eating the leftovers, causing him to shake his head.
Securely tying the carriage to the tree to ensure it wouldn't go anywhere, I approached Lazuli as we headed into the forest, doing a perimeter search around our campsite, though this time, we had Talis join us as she flew overhead through the canopy of trees.
Despite doing this every time we find a camping spot, Lazuli and I never really talk much; it was a little weird, but I never really bothered to question it. During the walk, we happened to come across a small river that was just big enough for one to clean themselves in, and that's exactly what I did while I forced Talis to join me since who knows how long it's been since that bird has cleaned herself.
"Mind giving me a few minutes, Lazuli? I'll be quick." Asked Alexander lightly as he removed his and tossed it onto a tree branch.
"No." Replied Lazuli lightly, her voice seemingly containing the slightest hint of emotions as she stared at Alexander, who nodded.
Just as I was about to take off my pants, I glanced at Lazuli, who was staring directly at me, causing me to cough awkwardly as I tried to get her to turn around since I don't wear any underwear, though nothing I did worked.
"Um, Lazuli, do you mind turning around?" Asked Alexander lightly with an awkward expression as he glanced at Lazuli, who raised an eyebrow before nodding.
"Yes, I do mind." Replied Lazuli blandly with a nod, her words causing Alexander's expression to constantly twitch.
Sighing in defeat as Lazuli was rather stubborn, just as stubborn as Talis, I just stopped caring and removed my pants; not like I exactly cared all that much if someone saw me naked, especially Lazuli since she would hardly react to it like an ordinary woman. Tossing my pants onto the tree branch, I untied my hair and entered the cold river, which felt quite good as today was rather hot; pulling Talis into the river beside me, causing her to chirp aggressively, I cleaned her fist since she disliked the water, before I began cleaning myself, though while doing so, Lazuli squatted beside the river bank and was intently staring at my cock, which was semi-erect, though it wasn't about to stay like that for long.
"Um, yes, Lazuli?" Asked Alexander with a wry expression as he turned around, hiding his crotch from view while glancing at Lazuli.
"I am curious as to why Michelle and Yuki seem to love procreating with you; I am led to believe it has something to do with your cock, as you three call it." Remarked Lazuli lightly as she leaped to the other side of the bank, viewing Alexander's fully erect shaft, causing his face to once again twitch.
"I also want to know; I tried the same thing, but it doesn't feel as good as Alex makes it sound." Added Talis lightly as she perched herself atop Alexander's shoulder while glancing at his crotch, causing him to aggressively rub his face.
Dreading how annoying this conversation was going to be, I was about to tell Lazuli, but before I could, her eyes suddenly widened for a split second, and the next thing I knew, she was leaving, causing me to tilt my head as we hadn't even finished checking the perimeter.
"Lazuli, are you okay?" Asked Alexander in concern as he glanced at Lazuli, who stopped before nodding.
"Y-Yes." Replied Lazuli softly as she continued walking, heading deeper into the forest, leaving Alexander and Talis alone.
'Well, that was weird.' Mused Alexander with a confused expression as he rubbed his head.
"So, are you going to tell me why mating feels good? I also want to feel good." Asked Talis lightly as she looked at Alexander, who simply shook his head.
___
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After I finished bathing, I put on my clothes and continued the perimeter search since I figured I might as well; once I finished, I headed back to our campsite, telling Yuki and Michelle about the river, causing them to nod as they promptly headed there, with Yuki taking the leftovers with her.
However, while they were doing that, I was slightly surprised at the fact Lazuli was nowhere to be seen, which did worry me a little since I thought she may have left to find Soom, but considering she hadn't done that once over the past two weeks, I ruled it out.
"Lazuli is a big girl; she should be fine." Muttered Alexander lightly as he laid his and Yuki's sleeping bag on the ground away from the carriage.
After twenty or so minutes, Michelle, Yuki, and Chloe returned, and two of the three looked incredibly sexy.
"Yuki, please tell me you didn't eat all of that by yourself." Asked Alexander blankly as he stared at the empty box in Yuki's hands.
"No, I gave some to Michelle and Chloe." Said Yuki defensively as she folded her other two arms, prompting Alexander to look at Michelle and Chloe, both nodding.
"Well, what about Talis?" Asked Alexander as he glanced at Talis curled on his lap.
"I already ate some before Yuki got her hands on it since I knew I wouldn't get a chance to if she did." Replied Talis with a few chirps as she eyed Yuki, who did the same, the two having a staring contest until Chloe picked up Talis off Alexander's lap.
"C'mon, let's play Talis!" Said Chloe energetically as she tossed Talis into the air, prompting her to spread her wings and fly while she chased after her.
While Talis and Chloe played together, Yuki and Michelle sat beside me on either side, well that was until I lifted her onto my lap facing me.
"Eh, n-not right now, Alexander." Said Michelle bashfully as she looked at Alexander, who faintly chuckled while nodding.
"Hehe, I know; I just want to make sure you know I haven't forgotten about you; we haven't been able to do it much since we left Hyphen. You've been taking care of Chloe a lot, and the times we did get to have sex, it wasn't for that long." Remarked Alexander lightly as he tightly wrapped his arms around Michelle's waist, bringing her deeper into his embrace and causing her ample breasts to squish against his chest.
"Well, I am her Mother; besides, I usually wake up early enough to give you at least one blowjob." Stated Michelle softly, causing Alexander to roll his eyes as he passionately kissed her.
As I passionately kissed Michelle, I felt Yuki tugging on my shoulder, though I promptly ignored her until I felt Michelle trying to pull away from my lips, causing me to turn and glance at Yuki, who was pouting, and boy, did she look so beautiful.
"Hehe, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, Yuki." Said Alexander with a smirk as he wrapped his arm around Yuki's waist before passionately kissing her, forcing her to lean down, given the height difference.