A Break With Snacks

Arriving back at their lair, the Champions of Smug were cautiously optimistic after they got confirmation that they had taken out at least one of the other team with the bomb, when Ellen’s, Chloe’s, and Merida’s scores went up. But the thing that really improved people’s mood was what Aubrey said, “So, just before leaving, Laura hit me and the orcs several times with her ranged attack. The thing is, her attacks are pink and have an interesting effect on me. They still do some damage to me, but I felt stronger after taking the blasts.”

Merida asked, “Then why did ye ask for Merigold tae come extract ye, instead o' pressin' the attack?”

Aubrey replied, “Because now, when they attack the base, I can respond to wherever Laura is, and it will be a surprise that she’ll empower me. Especially because of how my none shall pass ability works.”

Merida stroked her chin and nodded. “Well, that’s guid tae ken. We dinna ken just how successful the bomb was yet, besides frae takin' oot one o' them. I dinna ken aboot the rest o' ye, but I’m gonna work a wee bit mair on the defenses before turnin' in for the night.”

The others generally nodded their agreement except for Symbietta, who hooked her arm through Mark’s. “We’ll be turning in early; I’m sure you all understand.” Symbietta didn’t wait for a response and simply started dragging Mark away.

Arriving at Mark’s suite, Symbietta made sure that the door was firmly shut behind them. While she did that, Mark crossed the room and collapsed on the bed. Symbietta went over and, with lust in her eyes, climbed on top of Mark and began to run her hand up his chest. Until Ellen took over and got off him. Mark asked, “Not that it’s a problem, but is there a reason you stopped Symbietta?”

Ellen nodded as she cuddled up next to Mark. “She mostly has a one-track mind. She wants orgasms and can ignore certain obvious signs. I, on the other hand, can’t help but notice you’re clearly exhausted. You need a night off. So let me pamper you tonight. If you decide you’d like to have sex, that’s fine, but I’m not going to be doing anything to deliberately entice you.” Ellen got up out of bed and gently tugged on Mark’s hand, getting him to follow her. She led him down to the hot bath. She removed her own gear and had Symbietta transform into a thin choker, leaving herself naked.

Mark noticed the distinct lack of a corset as they both entered the water and asked, “Are you sure you’ll be okay without a corset on?”

Ellen nodded. “Yes. There’s plenty I’d be willing to do that I likely wouldn’t be if I were wearing one, but I’m focused on taking care of you right now. Besides, Lucia really likes it when we give up control over what we are willing to do.” Ellen moved behind Mark and pulled down on his shoulders so he was sitting in the pool, then began to massage his shoulders as she knelt behind him.

Mark asked, “How is it? Having Lucia in your head? Cassandra said you aren’t actually separate people, but it seems like to you she is.”

“Well, we both experience everything that happens to us. It isn’t like in some media where one or both of us isn’t aware of what the other does. Symbietta has been becoming more and more like that as well. We mostly get along, which makes sense because, as you said, we aren’t different people. Lucia is just me, if I were much more submissive and had been Laura’s sister from birth. Overall, I’m fine with the transformation.”

As Ellen spoke, she continued working on Mark’s shoulders and neck, and he heard several pops as she pressed into him. “You’re great at this. Did you learn it for a role?”

Ellen chuckled. “Yes, and your wife said the same thing when I did this for her.”

Mark detected a hint of sadness there. “Are you disappointed Allie broke up with you?”

“A little, yeah. I think it’s ultimately for the best that it happened, but she would have been a good Mistress.”

Mark let out a grunt of pleasure as Ellen pressed down on his back, relieving a large knot of tension. Several minutes of amicable silence passed, with only the occasional grunt from Mark or splash of water disturbing it. When they were finished soaking, the pair got dressed in evening clothes. Mark went and prepared some tea for both of them, along with a snack. Ellen frowned slightly as she had been the one who wanted to take care of him, but she had noticed that Mark seemed to take some amount of solace and enjoyment from preparing tea and food for everyone.

She waited patiently, and when Mark put down the two trays on the table, one with tea and one with little finger sandwiches. Ellen reached out to take one of the mugs. Mark held out a hand, stopping her. “Wait. This one is for you.” Mark offered her the one she hadn’t taken.

Ellen took the other mug but asked, “What’s different about them?”

Mark took a deep sip of his tea and said, “You’ll have to drink it to find out, but I think you’ll be happy about it.”

Ellen looked between the mug and Mark, then shrugged. It isn’t like he’s going to do anything harmful to me. She took a deep whiff of the tea and noticed that there were flower petals mixed in with the remnants of the tea leaves. She noticed Mark watching intently, so she went ahead and drank the tea. Her breasts quickly started to shrink in size; they were still enhanced by her boon but now were just huge instead of cartoonishly big. Ellen stretched her back and moaned in relief. “Oh, Goddess, does that feel good.” Mark heard several pops come from her back.

Mark said with a bit of mirth, “Well, don’t get too comfortable; your size is going to go back up shortly.”

“No,” Ellen said firmly.

“No?” Mark added just a touch of annoyance to his voice. “I’m pretty sure I explained what was going to happen, so we can reroll your TFs.”

Ellen looked Mark in the eyes. “And I’m telling you no.”

Mark narrowed his eyes at Ellen. “Ellen… I just want to remind you of the conversation we had the morning after you were in here last. That is happening unless you use the safeword, or I decide otherwise.”

Ellen picked at the sandwiches and huffed dismissively at Mark.

Mark mulled over what Ellen was trying to do here as they ate. Is she trying to get me to discipline her? That doesn’t make sense; she wanted tonight to be a break for me. But she also isn’t using the safeword…

After finishing the sandwiches, Ellen asked, “You aren’t mad at me, are you? For telling you no?”

Mark shook his head. “You’re always free to tell me no, Ellen. You’ve simply made clear that you’d like me to ignore that when I want to. Of course, if you use the safeword, I’ll always respect it. If we need to alter the dynamic between us, that’s fine too, but until you ask for that, I’m going to act accordingly.” Mark reached out across the table and gently cupped Ellen’s face. “Right now, you’re my girlfriend, and it isn’t the time to discipline you for your defiance.”

“Hmmm… I suppose I can look forward to your attempt then, because you can’t enlarge me without my affirmative consent.”

Mark grinned and smugly asked. “Can’t I?”

Ellen cocked her head to the side while raising an eyebrow. “Ummm… No. My boon clearly states as such.”

Mark took on a sarcastic tone and snapped his fingers in mock defeat. “Oh, drat. If only there were some way for me to alter such a requirement. To change it so I could just use it on whoever I wanted.”

Ellen opened her mouth to say something but shut it. I hadn’t considered that… “Mark, you shouldn’t do that. Honestly, you shouldn’t use Hilde’s boon at all, ever again except for repairs.”

“I’ve learned my lesson about the glitches. You’ve used her boon, and I’m sure you can tell when you’ve crossed the point where you’re exposing yourself to risk. I’m not going to go past that again, because you’re right; it is too risky. That doesn’t mean I can’t use it before that point.”

“Mark, we don’t know that glitches can’t occur before then if used too often. You do realize that your Princely Staff could have glitched and added all of your staff to your harem at once, right? Or added someone completely different to the harem. I don’t know for certain that that is treated the same as alterations.”

Mark frowned as Ellen was raising several good points. “Alright. I won’t use it at least until Hilde has tested it far more thoroughly.”

Ellen said, “Thank you. Now I’m thinking we could listen to a book and cuddle. If you want to, of course.”

Mark happily joined her and set up the third book in the series he recommended to Ellen previously to listen to. Mark noticed that Symbietta had morphed to form a corset around Ellen’s waist.

Mark said, “I didn’t realize Symbietta could change her size and form so fluidly.”

Ellen touched the choker and corset affectionately. “She’s very adaptable, and has really grown on me this round.”

Mark snorted out a laugh.

Ellen asked, “What’s funny?”

“Grown on you.”

Ellen rolled her eyes but smiled. She pulled Mark into bed and snuggled up against him. “I’ve missed my own body.”

“Me too,” Mark said. “You’re absolutely gorgeous as yourself.”

Ellen turned in Mark’s arms and reached up, pulling his face down so she could kiss him. The two made out for several minutes before Ellen said, “Maybe we could do something more than cuddle and listen to a book.”

Mark replied. “You were right earlier. I could use a break.” Mark gently turned Ellen around and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Play book.” At Mark’s command to the room, the prologue to the book he had queued began to play. Ellen contented herself with simply being held close as the two relaxed and enjoyed one another’s company. They just cuddled and listened to their book together until they fell asleep in each other’s arms, whispering to one another, “Goodnight, love.”

End of Day Standings:
Empire Merit Remaining: 300