Day 4: Morning

For the second morning in a row, Kevin woke up with a woman snuggled up against his chest.

Unlike Elsie, Stheno was fully naked and he could feel the tight peach of her backside nestled up against his morning wood as he stirred.

She was awake, as evidenced by the fact that as soon as she stirred, her hips began to wiggle sinuously as she ground herself against his length. “Good morning, sire.”

Stheno sounded—happy. Playful, even, and far less intense than she had the evening before. Her slender body tempted Kevin as she sought to stir him to more of the indulgences they had shared the night before.

Three times, counting the temple of Athena. I wouldn’t have thought my dick could even get hard this morning, after that, but–

A quiet groan escaped Kevin’s lips as he felt the heat of Stheno’s sex against his dick, but he shook his head. “We should—get up. See how the others are faring. Yesterday was a busy day.”

“As you wish, sire.” Despite her words, Stheno made no move to withdraw from Kevin, which **** him to muster up the willpower to pull his body away from hers so he could crawl off of the massive bed.

“But–” He glanced over at the bathroom. “–maybe a morning shower?”

Despite having to walk out of the castle courtyard and across the street to get there, Kevin and Stheno were not the last ones to make it to the dining room of The Long Rest. That privilege belonged to Tess, who dragged herself into the common room as most of the rest of the party were breaking their fast.

For the first time since they were assigned their classes by Lily, the entire party was in the same room at the same time. The fact that it happened in a tavern was noticed by both Kevin and Elsie, and while they shared a quick glance, neither mentioned the all too common trope of parties starting with a meeting in surroundings similar to theirs.

“Come sit with us!” Elsie waved over the selkie as the white-haired woman panned her head to take in the room. The Long Rest was never empty, even in the wee hours of the night, but in the morning the crowd was quieter and more subdued than at night. The gathering of seven people at one of the larger tables stood out as a result, which made it easy for Tess to spot the party from across the room. She was in her fully human form, but Kevin couldn’t help but think back to the exaggerated figure he’d seen checking herself out in the mirror when he Scried on her the night before.

When she arrived, Tess indicated the empty chair, then gestured at the food laid out on the table. While about half of it was already gone, there were still plenty of servings of eggs, pastries, coffee, and a large steaming bowl of oatmeal for the taking. “I got food for everyone so we didn’t have to wait. Help yourself!”

The selkie grabbed a plate and began to load it with food at Elsie’s prompting, while Kevin explained, “We were just talking about what happened yesterday. Blue–” The harpy had already finished her breakfast, and had tilted her chair back until it balanced on two legs. For all that it looked like it should have been unsteady, she had remained there since Tess came in and showed no sign of tipping.

“–may not have intended to do so, but she succeeded at getting us to work together on a goal. I don’t think any of us want to have to scramble like that in the future, if we can avoid it, but it’s pretty clear that Lily doesn’t intend to let us just sit around idle either.”

“Very perceptive.” Once more, Lily’s voice came from far closer than anyone expected. She hadn’t disguised herself as a barmaid, this time, but was back in the same chain mail bikini she had worn when she first summoned Kevin. The metal did a poor job of concealing her lush body, but it was no less modest than Elsie’s Stouthearted Salvager outfit, and almost prudish next to Hazel’s vines.

The hostess was seated at the table between Penny and Hazel, in a chair that most certainly hadn’t been there a moment before, with a bright smile on her lips and a steaming mug of coffee held between her hands as she looked over the assembled party members.

“How did you do that?” Penny was the first one to respond. The blonde siren was in her new vaguely pirate-themed outfit, though she’d left the hat to hang off the back of her chair.

“Magic, of course. Bards, of all people, should be able to appreciate the magic of a good dramatic entrance, right?”

“Ha ha. Sure. What are you doing here, Lily? Here to tell us what else we need to be doing?”

“Not at all! In fact, I came to tell you that I’m extremely pleased with how you’ve all been doing. It was extremely heartening to see the way you banded together to help your party member. Even Hwa, which I’ll be honest I didn’t expect at all this week. I thought it would take until the second round of class abilities before she got her hands dirty, but she jumped right in.”

The kumiho hadn’t exactly been talkative that morning. She’d arrived shortly before Stheno and Kevin, and while she’d accepted Elsie’s invitation for breakfast, her mind had clearly been elsewhere the entire time. She glared at Lily when the succubus mentioned her, but it was a pale imitation of the heat she’d shown when she first arrived.

Kevin was of two minds on the topic. On the one hand, he’d been concerned that Hwa would attempt to sabotage, or even outright attack the party somehow when Lily had first summoned her. The fact that she’d withdrawn a little had made her easier to work with, but it also meant he had a much harder time getting a feel for her emotional state. Her expression gave away little, and when she refused to rise to Lily’s bait the succubus moved on easily.

“Now, I’m sure you’ve all already noticed the results of your efforts, but just in case–”

Stheno’s GP hadn’t risen, as she and Kevin hadn’t actually turned in the missives they had collected from the three temples—in fact, as he thought back to their actions in front of the status of Athena, he realized they hadn’t actually stopped to even pick that one up. They’d been so caught up in the moment that–

“–as you can see, there are some big changes here. Now, before you worry too much about your HP, I’d like to remind you of two things. First, unlike some previous seasons of Harem Hotel, there is no automatic win threshold of HP. When you reach one hundred, you’ve got a nice healthy margin of padding in case something goes wrong, but ultimately HP only matters in two ways. If you run out, there’s the possibility of being eliminated in the dungeon—permanently. And, of course, when you beat the dungeon, only the party member with the highest HP total is eligible to collect the scroll of wish.”

Elsie and Kevin nodded along at the succubus’ explanation in understanding. While neither Hwa nor Tess appeared to be paying full attention, Penny and Hazel were willing to hear her out, and Stheno seemed to hang on her every word.

Blue’s eyes were focused on the ceiling, though she was still balancing her chair on two feet so she at least hadn’t actually wandered off.

“The second is that for your required weekly quest, your results are judged by the audience. You won’t find out how you did until the end of the week, after you emerge from the dungeon. If you’re worried that you didn’t do enough to satisfy them, you’re always welcome to try to do more, but I also want to make sure you have some downtime.”

Lily used her mug of coffee to gesture around the table. For a moment it appeared as though the black liquid it contained was going to slosh out and spill over everything, but no matter how she moved her hand, the contents somehow remained fully contained in the cup. “The week is time that you can work on yourselves. Improve your teamwork, buy equipment—do some crafting, like Elsie, find a job, like Penny–”

A few sets of eyes turned towards the siren in curiosity at that revelation. The siren hadn’t had the chance to talk about the day with everyone at the table, but didn’t seem overly disconcerted by having the information shared.

“–or just relax. Get in touch with your abilities, have fun. You know–” Lily glanced at Kevin meaningfully, “–downtime activities.”

Kevin nodded. He had always done his best to ensure that his players had the chance to explore their own pursuits, and downtime was his favorite way of keeping it fair. Most parties had a few players who were more talkative than others, so adventuring sessions tended to feature their voices more often. Downtime let him focus one on one with a player who might otherwise have deferred to someone louder.

If Lily intended to do the same thing here, it was likely they would need to balance their time outside of the dungeon between activities that would help them inside it and their personal projects.

Whatever those happened to be.

“Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and tell you all how pleased I am with how everything is going. I had high hopes for all of you, and you’re well on your way to exceeding them.”

“It’s not as though you’ve given us a lot of choice.” Tess seemed as shocked as anyone when her muttered comment was loud enough for the entire table to hear. She was halfway through a bowl of oatmeal and already on her second cup of coffee as she tried to fend off the fatigue of her somewhat restless night.

Still, she didn’t backpedal the words either. Neither did Lily’s smile fade as she responded, “You all have choices to make, Tess. I’m very glad that you have all chosen to embrace your presence here, and the adventures you can experience, rather than choosing to remain locked in your room—for example. I prefer to spend my time rewarding good behavior rather than punishing bad.”

The dark look that flashed across Hwa’s face as she shot a glare at Lily said that she didn’t believe the hostess in the slightest, but she didn’t bother to actually challenge the point out loud.

“I like to think of this as a great opportunity for all of you. I’ll leave you to your planning now, I don’t want to take up any more of your morning than I already have. Just know that I’m proud of what you’ve accomplished so far.”

Quest: The Entertainer (Part 1)(Weekly Quest)

Objective: Demonstrate your performance skills to the Dungeon Master so that he can determine where and how to fit you into the party. (0/1)

Penny held up her character sheet so that Kevin could read through the quest she’d been given that morning as the two of them walked towards the RoundHard building. After Lily had sauntered her way out of The Long Rest—giving the entire party a fantastic view of her well-rounded backside in the process—the group had begun to split up.

While they’d agreed that they didn’t want another repeat of Blue’s headfirst dive into the adventures of the city, that didn’t mean that they could afford to all sit around the tavern all day either. A few party members had been assigned minor quests that they would need to work on throughout the day, and Elsie had volunteered to pick up the last missive from the temple of Athena when Kevin mentioned that it needed to be done, but otherwise the party seemed to generally agree to take it easy.

Penny was the exception, both because she had agreed to the obligation of returning to RH the day before, and because it seemed like a decent way to make progress on the demonstration that her quest required. “It’s funny, for all the time I’ve spent singing into a microphone, the idea that I could record myself just talking never really occurred to me. Much less getting paid for it.”

“And you’re okay with what they’re asking you to record? Elsie mentioned that some of their games were pretty… explicit.”

While Kevin hadn’t had the chance to spend much time with the siren, she was the first one that he met after being summoned by Lily. She was also the closest to him in age, and seemed far more human than Stheno or Hwa, or even Hazel. It made it much easier for him to relate to her than most of the others, which was both good and bad.

On the one hand, he felt like Penny was a little easier to quantify than the more exotic members of his party. He felt comfortable around her, more relaxed than he was around anyone else except maybe Elsie.

On the other hand, that made him feel all the more guilty about the fact that she’d been dragged into this whole mess. Stheno had made it extremely clear the night before that she enthusiastically appreciated her change in circumstances. Penny actually had a life that she’d been plucked from unwillingly, and Kevin couldn’t help but feel at least partially responsible.

“Honestly, I don’t mind that. It’s actually kinda fun to imagine some of the characters getting up to the adventures that I’m voicing. I didn’t get a lot of actual recording time in yesterday, though, because the writing was—it was bad. I’ll just say it. Hopefully the new versions they have today sound a little more natural.”

The siren glanced over at Kevin. She had her hat back on, and her long blonde hair was gathered up in a single braid that hung over her shoulder. Compared to the dress that Lily had put the woman in when she was first given her class, it made her look more like a real adventurer. Still fantastic—in every sense of the word—but also like she was ready to tackle the world.

“And you’re sure you’re okay with me, you know, being there?” Kevin stepped to the side so they didn’t block traffic on the street while they talked, and Penny moved to follow.

“While I say corny lines and make sex noises at a magic microphone?”

Kevin nodded, and Penny thought for a few moments. “I can’t say it’s my favorite idea, to be honest. I know that you’re doing your best to be, well, a good guy about the whole thing. Elsie told me yesterday what you and she got up to, on her night in your room. I saw Stheno’s score this morning, and while you don’t have to tell me any details, I can only guess that was the result of something similar.”

“Yeah.” Kevin didn’t see any point in denying it. It wasn’t like Stheno hadn’t been hanging off of him on their way in towards breakfast. “But you know I don’t want to **** any of you into doing anything, right?”

“I know. I also know that Lily is probably going to make sure we get plenty of reason to do it even if she doesn’t **** our hands, but that’s not your fault. You aren’t twisting my arm, or anything, so I don’t want you to feel bad about it. I got this class that’s based around performing, so the way I look at it, the sooner I get used to having an audience for everything I do, the better.”

She gave him a halfhearted smile. “Might as well start now, right?”

“If it helps, I really would love to hear you sing. Your voice, when Lily made you do your little introduction—it’s incredible.” Kevin couldn’t keep the dreamy smile off of his lips as he thought back to the bard’s initial introduction. Granted, the fact that she’d been in her underwear at the time had helped hold his eye, but the siren’s voice was literally the stuff of legends.

“It—yes, it does help. I’ve worked hard for my whole life to be more than just my body. My mom and sisters—most of them are trophy wives by now, with husbands they hate. Not that they actually spend any time with their spouses, mind you. There’s advantages to having some magic in your blood, but I wanted more than that.”

“Is there any way that I can help you with that?”

Kevin looked hopeful, but after a moment, Penny shrugged. “Maybe? Honestly, I don’t know enough about this place to know the right kinds of questions to ask. Being patient is probably the most helpful thing, for now. I’m not sure if I want to keep pursuing this voice thing, but I had more fun than I expected yesterday and hopefully it will count towards my quest.”

“If you think of anything, please just—come talk to me. I know we only just met, but—we have to stick together right?”

“Yeah. Now c’mon, let’s get going. I—actually I don’t think they told me when they expected me to show up, for all I know I’m hours late to the first real day of my job and I’ve already been fired. Wanna find out?”

Kevin laughed. “Sure. Weirdest first date I’ve ever been on, but I’m happy to come along.”

“Oh, man, not me. Worst first date would hard to narrow down, but weirdest? Definitely Silas. That guy had issues.”