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Jahoda was highly capable as much as she brushed it off—there had to be reasons for Nefer and Ashru to hold her in the highest esteem; going as far as intentionally making it difficult to get Jahoda’s services without the boss's approval. Those capabilities however, faltered in special cases. Having a cold, enduring some sort of injury on a previous commission, but the worst case scenario; happened every month in time with the lunar cycle.
“God…damnit! This friggin sucks!!” Jahoda cried out as her mechanical hand rested on top of her human one trying to keep heat in her lower belly. “Why me? Why now?! Why can’t I just live in peace?” She griped to no one as her feet dragged across gravel and dirt. If this was a normal day, it would be just an average run of the muck commission! Nothing to it! But no, her own body decided to betray her and menstruate painfully halfway through the commission.
Worst was coming to worst, all she could think about right now was…That dumb metalhead never had to go through any of this. She was so lucky her abdomen lacked any kind of human flesh at all; saved from having this kind of stabbing pain during an important commission, hell any job. Well that, but the main reason she was thinking of Ineffa was that she was equipped with a wonderful self heating module that felt really really good when she was dealing with period cramps that were bats out of hell. Jahoda was basically fantasizing the way it would feel right now if Ineffa was here; warm wonderful Ineffa.
Jahoda bit her bottom lip as a particularly horrible cramp came on, tightening and throbbing as she leaned on a tree bashing her forehead against it to distract from the horrid grip in her abdomen.
“I wanna be home, I can’t freaking take this anymore!” Jahoda cried out to emptiness, only the tree bark and watercolored starry sky as her only company during such a turbulent evening. Jahoda only thought of home, she would be enjoying a nice hot water bottle, some delectable dark chocolate imported from Natlan, a good book, and not lugging home materials to Nefer for a commission…Oh well, as the boss always says a kitty's got to make its kibble.
Her commute home was lengthened by how often she would have to stop and collapse on herself every few minutes when her body gave its best attempt to make her want to just die and shrivel up like a grape. Aino said it was important to think of the bright side of things, so at least it was making her suicidal in a scenic part of Nasha town.
Jahoda could not muster up any greetings to the townspeople as usual, her nostrils flaring and her eyebrows knitting together as she tried to keep upright during what could only be described as a knife twisting. At this point—she was bargaining with whatever god would listen!
“Hey Columbina Hyposelenia! I’ll give you my other arm if I never have to feel pain like this again!” Her unuttered words echoed in her mind as she gripped the handle of the staircase to the Curatorium of Secrets.
Seeing the door to the curatorium made her body feel heavy–as she knew she would finally be able to lay down for a little bit and let the dizziness in her head subside. Metal met metal as her hand pushed open the heavy door and she was finally in one of her homes.
“BOSS!!” Jahoda screamed as soon as the door opened. “I need PTO right now!” Jahoda leaned her upper body over the tall counter, Ashru sniffing the bag in search of the rare materials. “Or something to sedate me! Whatever would be faster!”
“Oh my dear weary soul.” Jahoda recognised that voice and that definitely was not Nefer’s condescending tone and the ‘I’m better than you.’ inflections she often sported.
Great, guess she could never go back to Hiisi island to save herself from this humiliation of the Moonchanter seeing her like this.
“Jahoda are you not well?” Lauma moved Jahoda’s bangs and put a hand over her forehead to check her temperature, a little hotter than normal but nothing to be concerned about.
“I guess you could say that…Look this is really embarrassing I can’t worry you of all people with this, where’s boss Nef—I just wanna lay down.” Jahoda’s tone was whiny and all in all just exhausted as her resolve grew weary in a familiar place like her job.
“Jahoda, that took longer than usual.” Nefer was not far behind Lauma, but Jahoda could have guessed that. “Are you trying to get fired?” Jahoda and Lauma both looked at her with pathetic eyes, causing Nefer to look away from the scene of Lauma’s hands on Jahoda’s shoulders. The sight would only serve to weaken Nefer’s ironclad will.
“God whatever! Everyone can know!” Jahoda cried as she buried her face into her soft arms and the hard counter.
“m on m perd.”
The words were muffled into the polished wooden counter as Ashru now headbutted Jahoda’s hair to give her a semblance of comfort.
“…Pardon me?” Lauma asked as she rubbed circles into the poor girl's back.
“I’m on my period!” Jahoda’s head shot up before her forehead promptly found the wood again with a thump as she cried into it. “mmfthecrampsfriggingsuckandIjustwannadie.”
Lauma and Nefer looked at each other as Jahoda was breaking down into the wood–Nefer’s more calculating look met with the palpable empathy of Lauma’s features.
“Oh, Jahoda…There is nothing to be embarrassed about.” Lauma undid her braids and started to play with her undone hair. “The elephant shrews and bats even have trouble with their cycles so do not worry.”
“…What?!” Jahoda’s starshine eyes glossed over with tears just looked at Lauma completely confused at the strange sentiment left with no further explanation. A weird yet very Moonchanter way of letting her know she was not alone in her suffering.
“Sorry, nevermind that…” Lauma turned her attention to Nefer. “Your very faithful employee is in pain Nefer…” Nefer let out a deep breath as she knew this was going to be a losing battle. “I will help you around here, she is in no state to work.”
“Lady Moonchanter, I appreciate the offer but…” Nefer’s words trailed off as she saw both Ashru and Lauma soothing the poor young woman. “…Okay fine, Jahoda you have the rest of today and all of tomorrow off.”
“Really boss?!” Jahoda lit up, only long enough to go and hug her before another cramp settled in from her sudden movement. “I think I’m gonna throw up.” The sudden rush of pain prompted nausea and a buildup of saliva in her mouth as she gripped her midsection.
“Lauma, can you get a message to Aino and Ineffa. Just ask to borrow Ineffa for a bit, I’m sure neither of them would mind.” Nefer asked as she helped Jahoda to the couch in the back where customers would not be able to see her as she was tearing apart at the seams.
“Yes, it would be my honor.” Lauma smiled as Ashru batted a pen to her and rubbed up against the pile of paper. Lauma scratched his cheek before excusing herself outside to summon the only one who could without a doubt make Jahoda feel better.
“Ineffa!” Aino’s voice cracked as she called out for her. “There’s this…Bird here for you.” Aino wiped machine oil off of her rounded cheek as the particularly beautiful bird stood on their porch, tall and dignified to be Lauma’s messenger. Ineffa walked to the door and bowed, her greeting not changed from human to bird.
“Good evening Mr. Bird, how may I be of assistance today?” The bird extended its neck to showcase Lauma’s handwriting tied around its neck and the paper resting on its breast.
Ineffa quickly analyzed the contents of the paper and the uncharacteristically messy handwriting of the Moonchanter.
“Aino, I will be visiting the Curatorium for an urgent matter, no snacks while I am gone.” Ineffa’s eyes glowed as her systems warmed up to prepare for a great exertion of energy to get there as fast as possible.
“Huh what for?” Aino asked—not bothering to read the message herself as she was fixated on her current project that just had a few more small adjustments to be made.
“Jahoda requires my services.” Was all Ineffa disclosed to Aino before she was off to Nasha Town to visit someone dear to her in desperate need for her.
My dear friends at the Clink Clank Krumkake Workshop,
Jahoda is having trouble at the moment with something she is quite embarrassed about. She is requesting relief from this—and I think it would be good to have such an attentive friend with her. Ineffa, I would be delighted if you could tend to Jahoda. She is currently on the cusp of tears at the Curatorium so please make haste.
Lauma.
This was it, Jahoda was seeing the light. Of course she wouldn’t die to Rerir or for infiltrating the Marionette’s freaky machine nest, but to period cramps of all things. She stared into the abyss on the ceiling as Lauma and Nefer chatted about who knows what in the other room. Ashru stared at her on the coffee table as a messenger in case she needed something from the two women up front.
“Ashru…Can you dictate a will…?” Jahoda asked with a strained voice as she assumed fetal position on the sofa cushions.
Ashru meowed before jumping on her side and purring as he licked her ear.
“At least I won’t die alone…” And like Jahoda was hit by a Snezhnayan train, light consumed her and a cramp made itself at home in her lower belly as she struggled to breathe through the pain as she taught herself to long ago.
“Jahoda, you seem to be much worse than what Lady Moonchanter described to me.”
“INEFFA WHAT ARE YOU?!?” Jahoda screamed out from the explosive combination of pure pain and utter surprise. “Ineffa, why are you here…” Ashru jumped off her and rubbed against Ineffa’s ankle before excusing himself back to his work station.
“The Lady Moonchanter summoned me to assist you.” Ineffa leaned down to be eyelevel with Jahoda and the pain must have been great as it felt apparent when she looked into Jahoda’s starcrossed eyes.
“…it started late while I was on commission. I thought I missed it this month because of the stress from breaking into that giant research facility.” Jahoda confessed as Ineffa moved her hair back and looked at her with pity.
“Just to confirm, you are dealing with menstrual cramps?” Ineffa wished to confirm as she did track Jahoda’s cycle with her permission to clear her week of any time consuming chores. Jahoda’s eyes were filled with disdain as just admitting something as silly as period cramps had caused her to be like this was embarrassing at best.
“Yes, god please keep quiet or else Ashru might tell the alley cats then every living thing will know I’m on my period.” Jahoda cried out as she grabbed a pillow to scream into as the tightening and nausea hit her once again.
“It will be okay. I am here for you.” Ineffa pat her head with a smile as she prepared to adjust the environment, or rather herself, to provide optimal comfort to Jahoda. This would not be the first time doing such a thing but she had never seen it affect Jahoda so severely that she was taking more extreme measures herself to combat the physical ailment.
“Lauma and Nefer said to bring you to the bedroom to provide comfort and warmth.” Ineffa said— preparing to transport Jahoda as fast as possible to start the ‘menstrual cramps be gone’ protocol she had adapted for the blonde.
“Boss Nef’s bedroom..? Then where will she sleep?!” Jahoda asked Ineffa as the silence was deafening until they heard laughter in the other room. “…oh.”
Well, Lady Moonchanter being here had completely turned the tides in her favor. From summoning Ineffa to getting Boss Nef out of the Curatorium so she did not need to overexert herself when she was already on the cusp of passing out. Seems the odds really were in her favor for a singular thing today.
“It seems they have arranged some other sleeping quarters tonight. I will now carry you to the bedroom and help you dress into loose clothing.” Ineffa effortlessly tucked a hand behind her back and under her thighs to transport the poor unfortunate soul to the comfort of a bed instead of the limitations of the couch.
“I can dress myself you know…” Jahoda said–tucking her head into the crook of Ineffa’s neck as she finally felt safe for the first time today. Usually, she would hate showing weakness and even fight being in Ineffa’s arms, but her grit was depleted and it felt fulfilling to just be held after the day she had.
“Affirmative, however, in your current state it seems you are having trouble even standing.” Ugh, always so smart, so tuned to every situation it made Jahoda envious of her even more. How she wished there was only a concept of menstrual cramps to her instead of having multiple lived experiences of it.
“Fine…Just get me one of Nefer’s shirts and that will be fine.” Jahoda mumbled weakly as a whimper escaped her lips out of reaction to a sudden onset of pain.
Ineffa had no clue what Jahoda was feeling, but she did know it must have been painful to make someone as competent and resilient as Jahoda not even be able to stand up on two legs for long. All Ineffa knew was that she would be here to aid her as much as she could to lessen this horrible sting.
Ineffa placed Jahoda on the bed with much care—making sure to have her sit up at first to make changing into different clothing more comfortable.
Task one: Put Jahoda in Nefer’s bed, complete.
Task two in progress.
“Will this one prove satisfactory?" Ineffa asked, holding up a loose plain black shirt. This would be loose on Nefer so surely with someone of Jahoda's stature this would be more than comfortable.
“Yeah…” Jahoda’s voice was fatigued as she undid her shorts and loosened them off her hips. “Can you help pull these down?” Jahoda asked as the sudden motion of leaning down right now would surely punish her.
“Of course, it would be my pleasure.” Ineffa replied as she assisted as prompted.
“Why would you say that to taking my pants off?!?” Jahoda suddenly had feistiness back as Ineffa helped slide her pants and tights off.
“Helping you, Jahoda, is always pleasurable to me.” Ineffa replied as she folded the discarded clothes and put them in the hamper, earning a scoff from Jahoda as folding dirty clothes before the wash was a complete waste of energy. “Now your top.”
“Look away for this part okay…” Jahoda said with a faint blush gracing her soft cheeks. The pants and tights were one thing since her body suit and underwear provided cover from totally being naked…but her bodysuit? She usually just wore that on her upper body and nothing underneath.
“Why? I wish to assist you with anything I am able to.” Ineffa craned her head to the sudden uncooperation of Jahoda. How would it be different from removing the clothing on her bottom half?
“My shirt is my bra you dumb metalhead!” Jahoda said to her as if she would get it immediately but Ineffa just stared at her like a confused animal.
“So I should face your back to avoid seeing your breasts?” Ineffa asked her as Jahoda was fiddling with the black shirt.
“Fine, sure! As long as I’m not half naked in front of you.” Jahoda waited until Ineffa would be safely out of view then she removed the straps of her body suit and pulled it down—quickly replacing it with the shirt.
Now she just needed peace from this god awful experience of having pain built into her, a timebomb ready to explode at any given interval.
“Jahoda is even cuter like this, my system did not think it was possible. Recomputing.” Ineffa’s eyes glowed as she reran the different possibilities that opened up now that she had seen Jahoda with her hair down and in such a simple but effective outfit.
“Can you stop that and just make yourself warm?! I’m dying over here!” Jahoda cried as her head hit the pillows—her energy at an all time low yet she would never be able to fall asleep in this amount of pain.
“My apologies, now preparing to provide comfort.” Ineffa bowed before she sat on the bed herself and made her systems completely warm her body up. “My body is adequately prepared now. Are you?”
“Get under the sheets before I die.” Ineffa’s eyes widened and she did as was commanded of her. Jahoda faced her and all shame went out the window at the first feeling of heat. “Gods, there is mercy…” Jahoda’s worries melted as she put her thigh over Ineffa’s hip and pressed herself against her, providing just a bit of relief from the pain in seconds.
“Is this heat level adequate?” Ineffa asked her —blinking a few times as this was a new ‘hug’ she had never had with Jahoda. Ineffa was fond of this one though, so she logged it in her system as one to attempt at a later date.
“A little hotter, pretty please with a krumkake on top…” Jahoda mumbled into her neck, her arms shamelessly wrapped around Ineffa’s shoulders as she kept Ineffa as close to her as possible.
“Affirmitive, raising one degree in the Celsius scale.” Jahoda audibly breathed out a sigh of relief as the twisting went down in intensity and for the first time in hours she was not fighting for her life.
Ineffa was satisfied with this—if she could though , she would rather be in this position with Jahoda not in total agony. Providing care to Jahoda was fulfilling to Ineffa, but Jahoda not being in pain was the most optimized situation.
“Now starting mental comfort.” Ineffa’s hands tangled into Jahoda—one on the crown of her head and one on her lower back. “There there, it will be ok.” Jahoda let out a weak laugh as Ineffa patted her head.
“Fine, you can get away with it this time.” Jahoda mumbled as her eyes fluttered shut. “For one night only.”
“I feel disappointed in this condition. I wish to pat Jahoda’s head when she is well too.” Ineffa replied to her, feeling a squeeze and release from Jahoda’s fingers on her back.
“…” Jahoda did not reply beyond incomprehensible mumbles, finally feeling comfortable enough to fall into a light sleep after one of the longest days of her life.
“Pat pat.” Ineffa made her voice module quieter as she kept patting Jahoda’s head and put her lips on her forehead for one last bit of mental comfort.
Task two: solve Jahoda’s menstrual pain is complete.