Chef in the Apocalypse

In the midst of a forest with towering trees and winding vines, the space flickered for a moment, sending ripples outwards. A moment later, two figures appeared from the distorted space, tumbling to the ground with a lack of grace.

The sound of breaking branches rang out followed by a loud thud of the bodies hitting the forest floor. "Ugh!" A groan of pain sounded as if the wind had been knocked out of their lungs.

Jayce felt the impact of landing on the ground from a great height, jumbling his thoughts and causing a wave of pain to wrack his body. He groaned, feeling a weight upon his chest, yet he struggled to open his eyes to inspect what it was.

His mind felt dizzy as if he had been thrown around inside of a tumble dryer for a long period of time. He lifted his head, slowly opening his eyes in hopes of relieving his nausea. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Lianna laying on his chest, her breathing even and steady as if she were sleeping.

Jayce paused for a moment, trying to understand what had happened. However he found it very difficult to think with the fairy-like Lianna sleeping on his chest. Her soft and warm breath against his skin sent a tingling sensation all over his body, causing a certain reaction to happen downstairs.

It didn’t help that her ample bosom was pressed against his stomach, their soft yet supple texture was enough to send his hormones into overdrive. He felt his little brother begin to press up against the sleeping Lianna.

The contact only made things worse, increasing the speed of its rise as well as the hardiness. Jayce cringed, his face turning red in embarrassment. ’Please don’t wake up’ he repeated in his head, trying to gather his strength in order to move Lianna before she woke up.

However it was too late. Lianna, feeling a stiff object poking into her stomach, began to stir. Her eyelashes fluttered before she frowned with a feeling of discomfort.

Half-asleep, her instinctive reaction was to remove the object that was causing her to feel uncomfortable. After all, she felt as if she was having the best sleep of her life, filled with a sense of safety and comfort before she was rudely interrupted.

Her hand moved toward her stomach, locating the thing that was digging into her. She grasped the object attempting to move it out of the way, however it turned out to be more difficult then she had first anticipated. Jayce sucked in a cold breath of air, his body tensing up in response, his embarrassment was at its peak.

The object snapped back into position, as if it were fixed into place. Lianna grumbled in annoyance, moving her body slightly so she could get a better grip on the damn thing. Now that she had a better angle, she realized that despite being rock hard, its exterior seemed a little soft and fleshy.

Her hand moved around, trying to get some more information, eventually finding a buckle. This time she was really confused, deciding to open her eyes so she could get a better look at what the situation was.

Lianna opened her eyes finally, revealing the curious yet confused emerald green eyes that had been hidden. The first thing she saw was the source of her discomfort earlier, a giant bulge which her hand was wrapped around with a tight grip.

She blinked a few times, trying to register what it was, before moving her eyes to the buckle she had discovered. It was attached to a black belt, which was neatly fastened. Her eyes traveled up further, seeing the familiar double breasted chef’s jacket she had seen time and time again.

It was then that her curious gaze met the clear blue eyes of Jayce, staring back at her with his face flushed red in embarrassment. Her mind went blank for a moment, unsure of what had happened so suddenly.

Seeing that their faces were so close, Lianna tensed up in fright, causing her hand which was still wrapped around the stiff object to contract. Jayce’s whole being twitched, feeling the sensation travel from his little brother all the way up his tense body.

It was then that the penny dropped. Lianna opened her mouth, yet no sound came out, the sheer embarrassment and shame that she felt was overwhelmed by the shock of what she had done in innocence.

"AHHHHHHH!"

***

The sound of a fire crackling mixed in with the sound of insects and the rhythmic sound of a knife chopping down on a cutting board. Jayce and Lianna sat on opposite ends of the fire as he was doing the only thing which could take his mind off the awkward atmosphere.

Lianna had her knees up to her chest, staring at the flames which were flickering and licking the bottom of the pot which was hanging above it. She was mortified at her actions and had not spoken a word since the incident, despite Jayce apologizing.

’Why does this stuff happen to me?’ she thought inwardly in despair. She had finally resolved herself to break the awkward atmosphere between her and Jayce when they arrived back in Bastion, yet something like this had happened instead, making it even more awkward.

She thought back to the incident, feeling another fresh wave of embarrassment wash over her, turning her face bright red once more. Her gaze traveled to Jayce who was busily preparing their meal, his face unreadable.

In truth, Jayce felt just as awkward as the one who had committed the act earlier. It was his fault that his little brother had reacted in such a way, therefore he held himself responsible for what had come after. For a moment he wished that he still had the Impotency ailment, however he quickly shook his head in a panic. ’Nothing would be worse than that’ he commented inwardly.

The two stayed silent, even after Jayce had served up the food, making the atmosphere even more awkward. It wasn’t until Jayce had finished packing up his cooking utensils that he opened his mouth to speak.

"Ah. I’m sorry for what happened earlier. I-It was just a natural reaction." He stammered the words aloud, trying to ease the atmosphere.

Lianna’s eyes widened for a moment, looking at the sincere Jayce. "I-I’m sorry too. I didn’t know that it was your–" she said, before her brow furrowed. "What do you mean by natural reaction?"

Jayce gulped, feeling at a loss for a moment. "Well, you know." he said, trying to skim over the subject.

Lianna tilted her head in confusion, "No, I don’t know. I don’t know much about m-men." she admitted, feeling a little embarrassed. From what she had read in her romance novels, the man would get hard whenever he wanted to... have sex.

Seeing the look of confusion in her fairy-like face, Jayce felt a headache coming on. He massaged his glabella, feeling like one of those sexual education teachers that would talk about sex in school. However, the girl in front of him was already 18, around the same age as himself in this life.

Jayce cleared his throat, he had a feeling that if he refused to explain anything to her that their relationship would not recover, which was something that he would not allow to happen. Not only was she their party’s healer, she was also a dear friend that he had feelings for.

"Well, when that thing gets hard, it means that the person is aroused." Jayce said, cringing at his own words. Seeing that she still wore a confused look, he expanded, "Ah, arousal means that they’re turned on I guess."

Lianna’s face flushed red, her thoughts in disarray from this new batch of information. ’Jayce was turned on by me?’ She thought inwardly, a mixture of embarrassment and glee filled her mind.

"D-Does that mean you were turned on by me?" She asked, fighting back the embarrassment that was threatening to overwhelm her.

Jayce’s face fell, he suddenly felt really uncomfortable, wanting to run in the opposite direction. Yet, his better judgment won in the end. He let out a sigh, deciding to tackle the issue head on like a man.

"Yes. Lianna, you are very kind, attentive and attractive. Any man would be lucky to have you in this life." He said, staring at her seriously.

"Any man? What about you?" Lianna wasn’t sure what had gotten into her today, it was like she had borrowed someone else’s confidence. She would usually struggle to have a proper personal conversation with Jayce, let alone one with such a subject.

"Me?" Jayce was taken aback for a moment, not expecting this line of questioning. "Y-Yes. I’m a man aren’t I?" he managed to say, keeping his embarrassment at bay.

At these words, Lianna felt butterflies in her stomach, sending warmth and happiness throughout her body. A deep smile appeared on her face, one that spoke of the true joy that she was experiencing.

"Then why don’t you be my man?" she asked in a small voice.