Battler pays Shannon to go to round two. (Pink Trigger, Stacks -1)

Battler grabbed a second stack of cash with a swaggering smile on his face, but when Shannon reached out to take it in the formal way she had before, he drew it back. "Uh-uh. I wanna be clear on something first. When you say 'hands-on,' what do you mean exactly?"

"That's..." Shannon stood straight again, clutching her hands at her chest. "Um, if it's all right with you... I'll give you, um... The best attempt at a lap dance I can... I-it would mean a lot to me if you would kindly restrain yourself... That is, um... I'd prefer for my husband to be the first one to touch me as he pleases... My apologies-"

"N-no! Forgive me, Shannon." Battler gave his head a quick bow. "Yeah, I'm the one who should be apologizing for making you spell it out like that... B-but still! Until that husband comes along, I intend to have enough fun to justify the amount of money I'm paying. That okay...?"

"A-ah, um... I wonder how much fun could be worth that amount of money..." Obviously, quite a lot, and the color in Shannon's face suggested she knew it. "But, yes... Please, enjoy yourself..."

"Ihihi, oookay! Open wide, please!"

"... Um... Mm..." Obviously flummoxed, Shannon parted her lips as requested, forming an "O" with her mouth... When she saw what Battler was going for, however, she opened it much wider, showing her teeth. She had to open wide enough for Battler to place a stack of bills horizontally in her mouth. After biting onto it as Battler seemed to want, she finally gave him a look that suggested she was upset. "Ba' wuh!"

"Ah, that's pretty good...! I always wanted to try doing this with a girl I was sure wouldn't slap me, ihihihi! I wasn't sure even the girls at clubs would go along with it. Okay, Shannon, that's enough for you to get started, right? I'll give you the rest, sure, but you can go ahead and start, can't you...?"

Shannon had clearly prepared for a lot, but this seemed to be outside of her expectations. Nonetheless, she rose to the challenge. With a troubled expression and a wad of cash spoiling her otherwise cute face, she climbed onto Battler's lap and quickly unhooked her apron, slinging it to the side. Her legs were on either side of his hips, and although her wide skirt hid it from my view, I knew he'd feel his own clothes were the only thing protecting her underwear from the touch of his lower body. With an undignified bit of drool forming at the corner of her mouth from how she'd been **** to keep it open, she nonetheless undid her tie, then unbuttoned her white blouse down to the top of the dark corset that formed part of her maid's shirt. Her neck, shoulder blades, and a valley of cleavage became visible immediately. "Mm muhmm mm...!"

Evidently happy enough with his joke, Battler took the bills from Shannon's mouth, watching her awkwardly fix her expression once they were out and dab at the corners of her mouth with her gloves. "What was that?"

"Nothing..." Shannon gave him a frown, as if that much playing around was really taking it too far. She began peeling off her white gloves, slowly shifting one of her fishnet clad legs against his. As she set aside the gloves, she asked him. "Battler, did you intend to give me-"

"Oh, the rest of this? Yeah, of course... Ihihihi... You can take it here, right...?" With a teasing smile that suggested he was far from done, Battler slid more bills into the high rims of her stockings, hid some where the headband she wore met her ears, and even stuffed some down her cleavage. He at least had the decency not to decorate her with the money that had been in her mouth. "Now, try a pose like this, okay? But first... you can get rid of that, right?"

With shyness unbecoming of how far things had come, Shannon rose from sitting and undid the clasp at the bottom of her knee-length outer skirt, allowing it to part. Then, she slid it down her waist, allowing it to pool in the young man's lap.

"You'll give me the dance like that, Shannon...?"

"If it's your wish, Battler... H-honestly, I never imagined anything like this..." Even if she had never imagined it, she brought his fantasy into reality nonetheless. With her blouse open and the incredibly short matching miniskirt she wore below her maid's uniform the only defense between his eyes and her undergarments, she held her hands above her head, palm out, in imitation of the bunny ears she was wearing. Using only her lower body, she stirred her hips with a beet-red face, gently grinding her ass against his erection through his pants. "If my future husband saw this, I... d-don't know how I would face him... I probably couldn't get married..."

"Ah, what a lucky guy!" Battler said it again, grinning and holding his head back. "What a really, really lucky guy! That's great, Shannon... But I'm not the kind of guy who'll be satisfied with that! I'm a real delinquent, Shannon, and I won't pass up this chance!" Without any hesitation, the self-proclaimed delinquent brought his face towards Shannon's face.

"A-Ah! Um! B-but, you aren't touching me, right?! I-if you're not... That must mean you intend for me to... U-um! I see...!" With a tortured expression, still holding her hands over her head in redundant bunny ears, she thrust her chest forward the small amount necessary to bury Battler's face in it. "A-ah, ooh! Th-th-this is...!"

Battler's muffled voice came from between her breasts as he gave a thumbs up with his right hand.

Shannon drew her arms up and shook her overqualified chest in his face. Her eyes seemed to be spinning as she did so, her lip trembling. Finally realizing that, obviously, Battler wasn't going to remove himself from this forbidden paradise until he was made to do so, she pushed him gently back, panting erotically. "B-Battler! Even if you say you're not satisfied, I can, um... I can feel that you certainly are...!" From where she'd drawn back, it was clear she'd displaced her blouse a bit, and cups of a deep red bra were slightly visible. Even if they weren't directly visible, sweat was beginning to stain her blouse, and soon they wouldn't be possible to hide, regardless.

"Yeah... Yeah, that's definitely far enough..." Battler said that, his hair slightly disheveled, but I thought his expression didn't look satisfied at all. In spite of his earlier promise, he gently set a hand at the back of the young lady's waist to hold her. "Shannon... This is going to sound weird, but... You really did change a lot since the last time I met you, didn't you?"

Still breathing hard, Shannon nodded. "Yes... Love will make a woman change, Battler, and that happened for me. Now... I was asked to attempt to coerce you into spending the last of your money on me. That isn't something I want to do, or that I want to make you do, but... it is something I was asked to accomplish. I believe, however, I have done all the work I reasonably can.... If you can be satisfied and leave me alone, I'll do my best to make sure that person who asked me is content with it. If you feel inclined to pay for another dance, you may... However, Battler, I will warn you that I cannot give you love. Whatever happens, I will simply be fulfilling my role as furniture..."

... In Battler's situation, I would definitely turn my brain off and hand over the last of my money. That said, from my position, I was able to think a bit more clearly...

Shannon was implying she was acting on someone's orders, and, yes, Eva had probably asked Shannon to warm Battler up for her second game to come. However, if Battler paid Shannon the final time, he'd be out. He'd have nothing left to pay for the second game. I had explained that clearly to Eva beforehand, so I was sure she would pressure Shannon that way. That is, she'd tell Shannon: "Don't let Battler go to the last round, by any means."

Although he didn't have the perspective to understand this entire game, I wondered if Battler realized how strange this act was? I wondered if he was still thinking about anything at all...