Advent Of A Gunslinger

Everyone would sleep in a bit the next morning. The battle from yesterday left them all quite drained.

However, Madam Martha was the first one up and stirring…

She was no longer being cuddled upon by Axel. In fact, she was in the kitchen…

Axel would soon wake up also, and start sniffling. The aroma of a freshly cooked breakfast was flowing through the apartment, and into the bedroom where the hippogriff was practically hypnotized by it. “...Hot damn, what’s that?”

There was no way he’d find out just by lying there, so he got up and out of the bed.

In the kitchen, he would find Martha at it again, cooking up a nice meal for him on the stove. Except this time she was wearing nothing but a pink apron. Her entire backside, including her plump ass, was exposed to him. “Morning, kiddo. How are ya?” she asked with the slightest hint of excitement in her voice.

“...Slept well,” he replied, doing his best not to stare, “Yer bed is nice and soft. But uh...whatcha up to?”

“Didn’t think I was gonna letcha just walk outta here feelin’ worse than when ya came in, didja?” she said whilst flipping some pancakes over. “Oh no...you and your friends are gonna get the ultimate relaxing treatment before you leave today. No charge.”

Axel was flattered, but wondered just what she could mean by that. “...Uhm. Is that gonna be a bit much? Also, you really don’t gotta make me breakfast like that.”

“Yeah well, I want to. See, kiddo…” she paused, and hopped off the stool with the hot pan, and onto another stool so she could put the pancakes on plates that sat on an island counter in the middle of the kitchen. “I can tell clear as day how you’re feelin’. I’ve been on this earth too damn long to not notice when something’s wrong with someone.”

“Really now?” he glanced over at the plate, “...Just what do you see in me?”

“Well for you in particular, I can see how tense you are. You really need a massage to loosen your body up, son.”

Wouldn’t you know it? She had a point. Because of how often Axel flew around and practiced the art of gunslinging, his wings were a bit sore.

As soon as he went to unfurl them, he bit his lip. “...Ach! What the…?”

“Mm-hmm…” Martha went on, “See. You don’t notice it at first, but eventually--every so often, your work pains catch up with you. I know because my hips and back started to kill me at some point, but once I started to attend massage appointments every so often--at the request of my gals--I feel peachy.” She turned her back to him, shot a teasing wink. “That's why I still look this good. Don’tcha agree~?”

Axel couldn’t help but look since she was practically inviting him to, but quickly snapped out of it. “Erm...uh--yeah, you’re quite fine for your age…” His eyes then drifted over towards the spread of food she had made for him that was placed on the dining room table. “...What in the goddamn?”

“Oh yeah,” she placed the plate of pancakes on the table. Netx to that was a plate of bacon and fried eggs, as well as a plate of hash browns mixed with hay. “Remember last night when I made you dinner? I noticed you ate and finished yer meal kinda fast. That’s when I also realized--you got yourself a fast-acting metabolism, son. From all that flyin’ and gunnin’ ya do. You lose more calories than you take in, so you eat quite a bit, don’tcha?”

“Well...that’s half-true,” Axel replied, staring at the table, “In reality, I kinda stave off eatin’ as much as I can so I can be as agile as possible. Then I eat whenever time suits me.”

Martha hopped up on the stool once more, and pat him on the head. “Yeah, well not in my house, sonny. Your folks may not be around’ta give ya a good meal anymore, so the least I can sorta do is repay that kindness to you. I’m sure your ma, Lee, and your pa, Enfield would want ya to be happy.”

As she approached him with the affectionate gesture, Axel had to think about it. Martha essentially received life-saving advice from his parents when they were still alive. Advice that allowed the older faun to escape a system that actively harmed her. With no way to repay those nice people, she sought to do what she could for their child--Axel--instead.

And he knew this. Refusal was simply not an option. Why would he object to such a nice old lady’s offerings?

“...Thank you, ma’am,” he replied with the best smile he could manage, “I can’t wait to dig in.”

“It’s all yours, dear. Oh, and I made you a fresh glass of milk to go along with it,” she said as she went to her fridge, and pulled out two small glass bottles. She set them on the table next to the food. “Eat up. Because once you’re done, you’re gonna join your friends for a nice massage session before you leave. And if ya ever come back…” Martha beckoned for Axel to lean down towards her.

The hippogriff obliged, leaning his head downwards.

The faun lady reached up, and hugged him with her arms around his neck. She whispered into his ear calmly. “You’ll always be welcome with open arms...as if you were my own. Don’t forget that.”

He shut his eyes for a moment, and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her in return. “...Yes, ma’am. I promise.”

She let him go, and gestured towards the table. “Anyway. Go on, eat up. I have to get everything else ready. And don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll get them myself when you’re done.”

And with that, Axel would accept the invitation, and sat down to eat…

Once he had finished eating, he piled the dishes next to the sink to make things easier for Martha when she got back. “...Everything was damn good. And that milk was smooth and buttery. Nothin’ like regular milk.”

He decided to leave his gear in Madam Marth’s place since he knew everything would be safe there until he got back. As he walked downstairs to the first floor, he wondered how Vido would react to the plan he had proposed. But then…

“Speak’a the devil…”

The griffon would eventually make an appearance, rounding the corner. “Oh. Hola, Axel. How are you?”

“I’m alright, how’re you?” he asked.

“I’m fine...wondering what we should do next as far as these gangsters are concerned,” Vido rubbed the back of his neck, “Also--apparently Lady Oveja wants to offer us some kind of massage treatment? I’m not sure what she means. We ate breakfast a bit ago, so here we are.”

Moments later, Chang would also round the corner. “Ah. You both are already here. That makes things less awkward.”

“Does it?” Axel asked, and looked around for his two other companions, “Where’s Kora and Rosie at?”

“Gata said she and Rosa are going to have their own, female-specific treatment,” Vido relayed, “Which leaves us to our own devices as they say.”

“Fair enough,” said Axel, “This gives me the chance I wanted to speak with ya.”

Vido was in disbelief for a second. He paused, and tilted his head. “Hang on...you wanna talk to me? About what? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah it’s just--”

Before he could continue that thought, a nearby door opened up. The one behind it was the gray minotaur from before who had met Axel alongwith Clarabelle and the others.

“Hey,” she said casually, “I’m Brandy. Ms. Martha told me that you and the boys were supposed to receive a massage treatment. Follow me.”

Axel replied, “Oh...thank you?”

Curious, the three gentlemen followed the minotaur woman into the room. It was a beautiful massage parlor. From the beautiful velvet carpeting to the equally stylized marble massage tables and chairs, everything was set up perfectly for one’s relaxation.

Axel, Vido, and Chang were all instructed to lie down on their bellies with their faces resting nicely upon cushions at the end of the table. Soon enough, two more minotaur gals would enter the room, and begin to massage Vido and Chang.

Brandy, the first one, had selected Axel. She carefully spread each of Axel’s wings apart, and carefully worked the kinks out, causing his ligaments and joints to pop-pop-pop with every few movements of her fingers.

“...Eek!” he squawked quietly. It caused a very slight amount of pain; pain from muscular strain that he put on himself from how much he moved around and how hard he worked regularly.

Since he also had wings, Vido would be getting a similar treatment as well. Chang’s masseuse simply started on his back.

“...Gah...so, like I was saying earlier, kid…” Axel went on with his conversation from before. “...Once we leave here, we’ll have half the money we need to purchase you a new airship. Will that be alright with you?”

“...You want to get me a new ship?” Vido asked, almost hesitantly.

The hippogriff grunted a few times from the massage, and cleared his stance. “Ngh...listen, I ain’t tryin’a replace what yer pa made for ya...eergh--but we need yer flyin’ skills if we wanna make any--”

“Say no more--ach!--señor,” he interrupted Axel, “...The sheer thought behind your gesture is enough. I--awk!--I’m grateful that you’d think for me like that...so I'm in agreement.”

Axel let out a relieved sigh, happy that the conversation went much smoother than he had anticipated. “Alright. But based on how much we’re ‘bout’ta earn from this here bounty, I reckon we need at least one more good’un before we could afford an airship.”

That’s when Chang would speak up, his voice wobbly from the pressure his masseuse applied to his back. “I-I-I t-think I have an...idea…I’ll explain...l-later...”