Elsie and Evenings (1/3)

“Um, hey.”

Kevin nearly fell out of his chair as he jumped at the sound of the voice behind him. “Wha–”

“You alright, mate? You don’t look so good. Did you–” Walking slowly across the thick carpet that covered the floor of the master’s suite was Elsie. The brownie’s expression was more resolute and certain than it had been the last time he saw her, when she’d just been overloaded with classes by Lily, but as she focused on him there was also something intense about her gaze that hadn’t been there before. “–did you sleep at all?”

“I, uh.” He shook his head, though the intent was more to get some blood flowing where it needed to be than to answer in the negative—no matter how accurate the response would have been. “I’m fine. I’ve just been–“ Kevin’s hand gestured at the stacks of books piled up on the desk in front of him. Most of them were bound in leather, with the words ‘Harem Hotel’ embossed along the spines and a variety of subtitles. “–reading. Preparing, or trying to. Sorry, lost track of time. You’re, um.”

“Elsie. Elsie Jones.”

“No, no, I remember your name. I meant- you’re here. That means you’re supposed to spend the night with me?”

She gave a slight smile. “I’m the first. I don’t think most of the others have realized, but if you check your character sheet, there’s a section for schedule.” Elsie demonstrated by lifting her wrist and tapping it. She walked up to the desk and held her hand out as she tapped into a separate tab at the bottom and showed it to him.

Week 1 Evening Schedule:

Day 1 - Elsie

Day 2 - Stheno

Day 3 - Penny

Day 4 - Tess

Day 5 - Hwa

Day 6 - Hazel

Day 7 - Blue

“I should have been paying closer attention, I’m sorry, it’s just–” Kevin started to speak, only for Elsie to step forward and gently lay a slender hand on his shoulder.

“Shh, it’s okay. You’re exhausted, hungry, and—to be perfectly frank—a little ripe. I have something that I want to say to you, but let’s get you taken care of first, yeah?” Elsie did her best to be reassuring, but a quiver in her voice spoke of the nerves she was fighting to suppress.

Kevin froze at the woman’s touch, but then drew in a breath and sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m a mess. You’re right. I’ll call the servants and have them bring up food. Do you want anything?”

“Servants?” Elsie laughed. “We have to go get our food from the common room. I mean, it’s good food, don’t get me wrong, but look at mister high and mighty DM with servants to do his bidding.”

A wince flashed across Kevin’s face. Elsie’s hand withdrew from his shoulder and he pushed himself slowly to his feet as she stepped back. “I didn’t–“

“I know you didn’t ask for any of this. Look, we’ll talk after you’ve gotten at least some food in you and wash up. Call your servants, I’ll go start getting a bath run. Through there, aye?” Elsie indicated the door to the substantial bathroom with a gesture, but didn’t wait for a response before she turned and began to walk towards it. She called back over her shoulder a moment later, “To answer your question, though, yes. Food. Maybe wine. I tried beer downstairs, I know it’s more fitting, but… I’ve always been more of a wine girl.”

Kevin actually managed a laugh at that. “Don’t feel like you have to put on any airs on my account. I’ll get food set up.”

“Ta!” The brownie waved her hand without looking as she stepped into the massive bathing chambers and looked around. “Well fuck me. Nice to be the DM.”

* * *

Penny was still in the main room of The Long Rest when her roommate stalked through the front door. The music that had been a constant accompaniment to the chatter which filled the room—which was usually some kind of merry instrumental that at least sounded vaguely medieval—changed suddenly to a set of hushed violins.

Hwa was not in good shape, and she was very clearly not happy about it. The black silk dress that she’d been granted by the season’s succubus host was balled up and held in her left hand—a hand that Penny noticed was covered in thin scratches which made it look as though she’d lost a fight with a house cat—while in its place she wore a new ensemble that was only marginally more dignified.

Where before her pale legs had been visible through the long slits that ran up either side of her floor length skirts, they were now wrapped in sheer black stockings which emerged from surprisingly normal looking knee-high boots. From her waist hung several layers of gauzy skirts, and while hints of pale thigh were visible through the cloth as she walked, they at least covered her hips more securely.

The more likely source of the kumiho’s obvious frustration was the corset which wrapped around her torso. It was drawn so tightly around her ribs that Penny was surprised Hwa wasn’t panting for breath. The top was placed so that the upper slopes of her full breasts were not only visible, but pushed up and together to create deep cleavage while leaving her shoulders and neck bare.

And to—literally—top the entire outfit off, atop Hwa’s head was perched a tall pointy hat with a broad brim.

Penny burst out laughing. She couldn’t help herself—the kumiho was dressed up like a co-ed attending a Halloween costume party while looking to get lucky. It covered more than the previous outfit she’d worn, but at the cost of changing her presentation from ‘alluring older woman’ to ‘**** slut’. Only the expression on her face spoiled the effect, as rather than seductive she was obviously furious.

Despite that, the siren couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her for several moments. Even when Hwa turned her eerie black glare on her from across the room, the way the woman’s tits bounced in her corset as she stalked towards her pulled a fresh peel of laughter from her. Penny only managed to get herself under control when her roommate arrived at her table, drew herself up, inhaled sharply, and said, “Penny, I’m so very sorry for how I treated you yesterday. You were only attempting to help, and I was imperious and aloof. Please, forgive me.”

“Sorry, didn’t catch any of that.”

Hwa glared. The translation magic had worn off, and unlike Hazel, her roommate did not appear to have done anything to renew it. She glanced about the room once, then suddenly surged forward. Penny found herself in the grip of the kumiho’s surprisingly strong hands as the Korean woman’s mouth found hers.

At first, she tried to struggle her way free, but as Hwa’s tongue invaded her mouth, she finally realized what was going on. Penny began to relax and let her tongue rest against her roommate’s.

Across the room, someone whistled as the kiss dragged on for a full minute, before Hwa broke free with a gasp and whirled in the direction of the sound. The lizardman who had been staring straight at her shrank away from the fox spirit’s black-eyed glare, and the reaction actually seemed to calm the still irate woman a bit.

She pulled herself upright, turned back towards Penny, and repeated, “Penny, I’m so very sorry for how I treated you yesterday. You were only attempting to help, and I was imperious and aloof. Please, forgive me.”

The siren blinked in surprise. The music in the room suddenly picked the merry tavern theme up once more, and sound rushed in as all of the other patrons began speaking at once.

“That—Hwa, are you feeling okay?”

The kumiho hissed. “Those words are not mine. It was that woman. That damnable pie vendor. I will eat her liver!”

Penny’s eyebrow arched and she gestured at the seat across from her. Until about ten minutes before, it had been occupied by a handful of the ‘NPCs’—as Elsie referred to them, at least—that she’d managed to talk into sitting with her and sharing some rumors. Most of them seemed useless on the surface—she didn’t really care which noble’s wife was seen going into which shop, nor that the Elven trade delegation was late this month—but it was better to spend her time talking to someone than just sitting around moping.

“You’ll have to start from the beginning. C’mon, pull up a chair and I’ll get you a drink. I found out that while they have booze for free, if you’re willing to spend a couple GP they’ve got some good stuff.”

Without waiting for Hwa’s assent, Penny raised her hand and flagged down one of the barmaids. The elf who had served them the first day was gone, replaced by a diminutive woman no more than three and a half feet tall. She was clearly a fully developed adult—abundantly developed, in fact, given the proportionally expansive assets her low-cut peasant shirt revealed—but Penny hadn’t been willing to muster up the courage and ask what she actually was.

It seemed somehow racist, even if Penny was pretty sure the woman was an entirely different species rather than merely a separate race.

When the woman arrived, she leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, “My friend has had a rough day. Can I buy her a couple TLs?”

The barmaid flashed her a toothy grin. “Of course, adventurer. They’ll be right out!”

* * *

“I have to admit, I feel a lot better.”

Kevin walked out of the massive bathroom feeling like a new man. While he was still lacking about four hours of sleep after he’d done his best to absorb the entire library Lily left him the night before, having eaten with Elsie went a long way towards restoring his sense of normalcy.

The servants that he summoned had brought out a repast fit for a king with roast quail in some kind of deep red berry sauce as the centerpiece. A parade of women laid out a table, covered it with a rich red tablecloth, then set out dish after dish.

Food was one area in which the world Lily had crafted to host the season differed substantially from Kevin’s homebrewed campaign setting. When crafting the setting, he had done his best to keep things reasonably grounded—at least until the players reached a high enough level to have ready access to powerful magic.

The food the servants delivered might as well have been magic itself—though when he spotted the same dark elf woman who had brought him his evening’s meal the night before and asked, she insisted that it was the product of nothing more than good kitchens and hard work.

Then she’d uncorked a bottle of some kind of red wine that had turned out to be both fizzy and surprisingly sharp. Both Elsie and Kevin had gone back for a second glass before the meal was over, and when that left them with a mostly empty bottle he considered summoning the servants back to fetch another.

More important than the food, though, had been the company. When the pair had first sat down, Kevin had been at something of a loss. He knew nothing about the English woman apart from her name, and had apparently learned that she held a supernatural heritage at the same time that she did.

And, of course, she’d been summoned to play a part in some kind of sick and twisted version of the games that he’d so loved, without either of them having chosen it. While Lily hadn’t said it outright, everything that Kevin had learned in his reading the night before led him to one inescapable conclusion: the only way any of these women, Elsie included, were going to get out of this adventure without being turned into some kind of oversexed slut was through him.

He had been given authority over them that he hadn’t asked for, and it was up to him to wield it responsibly. Unfortunately, while he had some goals and plans towards those ends, what he hadn’t had any time to do was figure out how to actually get Elsie—or any of the other women in the party—on board.

And then she’d asked a question that broke through all of Kevin’s overly self-indulgent worrying. “So, what’s your favorite rules system?”

Just like that, the two of them were chatting like old friends. Dinner passed in a blur of good food, good conversation, and fantastic wine, and by the time he was calling for the servants to collect the empty plates he and Elsie wore smiles.

“C’mon. You need a bath, Mister Dungeon Master. I poked around in there while you were getting food, there’s a whole hot tub thing that’ll fit eight easily, but there’s also some kind of magic water crystal shower thing. Pick one or the other, we’ll talk more when you’re out.”

That had been thirty minutes before, and when he emerged from the bathroom he found the brownie seated at his desk reading through some of the write-ups Lily provided for the previous editions of Harem Hotel.

[author's note: original chapter published out of order, this is the correct 1/3 section of Elsie and Evenings]