7-9: COSTLY SUCCESS (take a social CONSEQUENCE, delayed onset until after the party)

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You successfully manage to put your lascivious plans out of your mind for most of the morning and afternoon, focusing on the final leg of your tests and trials. Your academic performance is adequate, but unimpressive - a few of your professors have to hide their disappointment that you aren't living up to the potential you initially displayed. You tell yourself that once you have 'worked through' your erotic distractions and tried tapping into more powerful magics, you would wow them during your next test.

It takes three trips to bring out the supplies and refreshments you had been stockpiling. On the second trip, your cute-yet-awkward roommate Gillian Merigold clasps a hand on your shoulder and looks at you conspiratorially.

"Oi there, Franzi! Where do you think you're running off to, luv? Aren't we good friends? You'd barely said much of anything about this party of yours for a good while now even though you had me puttin' the word in a few ears. Not snubbing me and leaving your dear Jill without an invite are you?"

Blinking at her, you clear your throat awkwardly. "Err... Well, of course Gillian, you are welcome if you want. But I think I may not have been entirely clear about our intentions. I was dancing around the fact that this is to be, well, the messiest sort of gathering. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you have a boyfriend and fidelity is important to you, this is not something you want to go to. The 'game' I was talking about us playing is not so much a game for points as for making sure no one feels left out... every attendee will have a rose, white for boys and red for girls, and when they present that token to someone else, that someone else has to, uh, shag them right then and there unless their orientation is entirely incompatible..."

Gillian was silent for a minute, thinking hard. Eventually she shrugged. "Well! What he don't know won't hurt him, aye? And easier to ask forgiveness than permission! Count me in so long as there's room, Franzi!" Punctuating her words she reaches down and gives your ass a grope through your robes, making you jump and give a little yelp with surprise.

"All right, well..." you say, getting a little flustered, "In that case you can help me take the boxes of small beer down, while I handle the potions..." Suddenly, seeing your roommate, so sweet and helpful, naked and engaged in all kinds of debaucheries was an exciting thought indeed. In fact you couldn't get it out of your mind while you were trying to focus on getting everything together...

A half hour later, you, Gillian, Berthold, and Kinzie were the first to show up. You are at an unassuming section of the castle-like academy's exterior, with the stone walls at your back and that spooky enchanted forest right on the other side of the Tarn river. Fifteen thick blankets had been spread out on the grass, and in case the air ended up getting too chilly for comfort, there were three large piles of wood for bonfires to be lit. Picnic tables had spreads of food widely believed to be aphrodisiacs; steamed oysters, chocolates, and fruit salad made with pineapple and passionfruit. Master Firetail had provided a variety of masks for those who wanted a fig leaf of anonymity... you, as well as your three friends, put on simple black domino masks so as not to get in the way of any kissing (or... other activities with your lips).

Bertie was asking if Kinzie wanted to 'get a warm-up round' with him, and she just waved him off with a dismissive snort. You're pretty sure that Fergus Firetail is here already, because on one of the picnic tables is a tray of some very fancy, finely-crafted sex toys - gilded ivory phalluses of both strap-on and hand-help varieties, strings of beads intended to be inserted in various orifices, and even some leather bondage straps and a riding crop for those who wanted to get a bit kinky. You hoped that your housemaster would 'enjoy' the festivities quietly and discretely from under his invisibility cloak.

As guests start to arrive, there's a certain degree of unavoidable awkwardness. Some of the girls you, Gillian and Kinzie have passed on invitations too seem on the verge of getting cold feet. Fortunately, the refreshments tempt them into staying for 'just a little while, to see what its like'. There are ten aside from you, Kinzie and Gillian, for a nice 12 witches. These were mostly the average girls - ones who were just a little too plump, or a little too skinny, or had crooked teeth or a slightly homely face. Even the two Draconis girls that Bertie had invited were a bit thick around the waist. Of course, that was perfectly alright with you; in fact, you were glad that there weren't any really stunning witches attending - they could easily become a proverbial golden apple of discord.

Just as you were thinking that, however, a thirteenth girl arrives - the exceptionally pretty Felice Collier, who you've only briefly met. Hoping to head off trouble, you go over to greet her and lean in to whisper in her ear; "Felice, do not ask me why, but please, please keep your glasses on, no matter what. It would be a great favor to me."

Then came the boys. Apparently word got around quite quickly in their coarse social circles, because 14 of them, aside from Bertie and the satyr playing Fabian, showed up, and not a one of them looked conflicted about it. In fact, one of them didn't even pause his stride before suddenly walking up to Gillian and wrapping his arms around her waist as she tried to awkwardly back away. You walk up and give the frizzy-haired redheaded boy a hard slap on his bottom, making him yelp and look back to you. "Come now," you say, "at least talk with the lady a bit before you start getting handsy, make sure you know what she wants or doesn't."

While you're chiding that eager beaver(tail), you see a somewhat unwelcome face; Tucker Redmont, from your tryst in the supply closet on the first weekend. You felt a knot form in your stomach; was he here to mess things up for you? Could he even be jealous? He wasn't coming over to you on his own; perhaps he really was just here to get laid again.

"Oi there, short blonde lass - you're the host, right?" A pale, moon-faced young man on the shorter side of average came up to you and tugged on your sleeve. "So this... this weren't any bait-and-switch, was it? We're really allowed to do anything with a lady we give this white rosebud to? Are we limited to that?"

"Oh," you say, speaking up so that everyone can hear, "That little 'game' of mine was just so that no-one ends up feeling left out. Of course, you can get intimate with anyone who fancies you and is willing to reciprocate, but those who are a bit shy can, well, they can use accepting a rose to get things started. Or if you prefer, you can use it to 'reward' someone who especially pleases you. The male and female who collect the most rosebuds will have a prize waiting for them at the end! Only if you have given away your own token, though."

"Of course," you add, with a blush rising in your cheeks, "since I went to all the trouble of organizing and hosting this function, I'd like to think that any of you would willingly take me up in your arms and embrace me without asking for *my* rose token."

"The most important rule, really," you say, speaking loud enough so all the partygoers can hear, "is that everyone has a good time, so please, respect the other guests' boundaries. Everyone - and this means you, boys - needs to ask before they stick anything any particular place, rose or no rose. And no one does anything that actually hurts anyone else or refuses to stop if asked."

You strut proudly and try to put on the air of being a jaded temptress. "Now, I personally do not mind being handled a bit roughly... pulling my hair, holding me down, squeezing roughly, and so on. But do not make assumptions about anyone else." Some of the girls gasped and giggled nervously in response to that - if they weren't thinking about the more forceful side of "love" before, they were now.

"Ahhh, and last, of course, I'm sure you can see everything on the tables here... food and, ah, toys, and the like. It's all for everyone, so by all means, eat, drink, and pace yourselves so you do not end up passing out too early - we have all night. One I should point out in particular - at the edge of this table here. The cherry-red vials contain potions of contraception, since the young men here probably have quite a bit of seed built up after so many grueling days of study."

You feel a warmth growing in your chest. "Ah-ahem. Now I suppose I have taken up enough of everyone's time so I shall butt out now..." you look around, drinking in the rapt attention that everyone is paying to you. They're giving you the respectful gaze due to an authority figure, but also have the conspiratorial grins of the type shared with fellow youths getting up to mischief. Seeing so many eyes looking upon you with fascination and desire is a bigger turn on than you even imagined. The fact that you don't even know the names of most of these people gives you a shudder of excitement.

Even so, youthful nerves can be a hard barrier to push through, sometimes, and for the first fifteen minutes, everything proceeds like an ordinary party, just with more teasing glances and flirtatious touches. Boys and girls alike, even that horny bastard Tucker - hell, even the disguised satyr - seem to be too bashful to be the first one to make a move in public.

"Ahem!" You say, putting your hands on your hips. "This is your host speaking again. I am sorry, I know I can be a bit stern and overly direct, at times. Let me demonstrate what you should be doing." you force a broad smile, trying to look confident.

"I am going to go over to a wizard..." You tiptoe up to the redhead boy who you'd chastised earlier for grabbing Gillian (who was now staying at the opposite end of the party from him) and hold up your red rose bud before pressing it into his palm. You didn't know his name, so you just thought of him as 'Grabby Lad' for now. "...and give him this."

You grasp his hand and guide it to your waist. "Now, he has to do what I ask, within reason. Almost as if I put a command spell on him, yeah? Heheeee... So, since I am choosing to work my way up to more adventurous things, for now, I am just going to ask him to kiss me on the lips... and then kiss the little flower between my legs, then plow me like a field in spring once I'm wet enough."

Note: because of the circumstances there will be one free "have sex" move - after that however, further acts will need to be preceded by an ENCOUNTER as usual. Being spurned or ignored twice in a row will demoralize you too much for any further encounters.