Frank Conversations (2/?)

“I would like to propose an alliance.” Hwa’s words were met with a silence that was as skeptical as it was contemplative.

The expressions of other two women at the table both involved doubt, but from the way Stheno’s studied Hwa’s face, it was directed specifically at the pale skinned witch. The look Blue wore suggested that she had fewer concerns about the origin of the proposal than she did about the base concept itself.

“What, exactly, would this alliance entail?” The gorgon’s question was asked in a carefully neutral tone that was only slightly spoiled by the aggressive bite of lobster roll that followed. he decadence of the appetizers might have been suspicious, since the restaurant—barely more than a bar—was in one of the worse neighborhoods of Adventuria but it was obvious Stheno had no intention of questioning it since the plate in the middle of the table was already half-empty.

None of the three women looked as though they belonged there, or with each other. The interior of the establishment exposed it as barely above a dive, thanks to wooden tables scarred by years of service, dim lighting, and an atmosphere filled with smoke, that made the three party members stand out all the more blatantly.

The white gossamer gown Stheno wore was new, and might have been taken for a priestess' raiment were it not both low cut enough to expose the upper slopes of her breasts and sheer enough for her nipples to be visible as dark patches through the cloth. The black corset and ruffled skirt Hwa wore made her curves look all the more exaggerated, such that even Blue’s porn-starlet build looked modest by comparison. That the latter was in an outfit which could have plausibly appeared in a modern fitness influencer’s Instagram reel only emphasized the trio’s collective clash with their surroundings.

Hwa was silent for a moment, then leaned forward conspiratorially. The motion put a vast amount of pale cleavage on display, even as a small forest of white tails rose up behind her. “Nothing complex.” She glanced back and forth between Stheno and Blue, then focused on the former as she said, “I believe that the others lack either the resolve or the drive required to lead. We three are the exception.”

Even as an amused smirk alighted on Blue’s lips, Stheno sent a pointedly suspicious look Hwa’s way and stated, “I will not betray the one responsible for my salvation.”

Hwa shook her head immediately. When she spoke, not only her conviction, but the magic of Binding Bargains ensured that her words rang true. “I am not so foolish as to ask you to do so; you have made no secret of your allegiance. However, I believe even you will admit that your master is not the most decisive, yes?”

The gorgon immediately grimaced in response and Blue let out a shrill laugh. “He has to be convinced to have a good time when everyone involved says yes.”

“Fair,” Stheno admitted, before adding, “but I will not cooperate if I believe the path you choose is against the interests of either my master, or my mistress.”

Hwa’s plump lips glistened in the dim light of the restaurant as they curved into a smile.

By noon, Tess, Abby, and Kevin had moved to sit around a small table. A variety of snacks and finger foods were scattered on it alongside a few glass pitchers of ice cold blends of juice, each now beaded with condensation.

The assortment had been delivered at the request of the season’s master when he realized that neither he, nor the two young women with him, had actually eaten anything that morning. The sisters’ morning had been spent in conversation with Hazel and Elsie, Kevin’s with Penny, and Lily’s unexpected arrival had thrown off any plans to get breakfast.

“Before we start, I have a confession to make.” Kevin paused to make sure both Tess and Abby were paying attention, then gestured at the crystal ball by the far wall. “I—look, there’s no easy way to say this, but the first night I was here, Lily showed me how to use the crystal over there to spy on all of you.”

The reactions of the sisters were polar opposites, as Abby perked up immediately while Tess’ already pale skin went almost parchment white. Kevin quickly rushed to add, “I haven’t used it a lot. A few times the first week, because I was worried and felt like I had to check on everyone. I should have spoken up to the whole party about it before, but at first I was worried that everyone would get paranoid about being watched and after that—honestly I just lost track of it.”

Kevin grimaced at the admission, and a few moments passed in silence. To his surprise, after a quick glance at her sister, Tess sighed and waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not like there isn’t a lot going on. You’re right, you should have spoken up earlier, but I don’t blame you for keeping quiet. It hasn’t even been two weeks.”

Abby, as soon as her sister finished speaking, followed up by asking, “What did you see?”

The way Kevin’s eyes immediately flicked to Tess was enough of a dead giveaway that he realized he couldn’t simply deny anything. Instead, he lifted a cup and took a sip of juice to buy time, then explained as diplomatically as he could, “I saw your sister admiring the effects Lily’s magic had on her.”

As Tess realized the implications of the DM’s words, her own face turned pink once more. Kevin cleared his throat and added, “Not just her, but I don’t think I want to share what I saw of anyone else without talking to them first.”

“Can we try it? The crystal ball, I mean?”

Abby’s questions were met with another grimace from Kevin. “I—in principle, yes, but let me talk to everyone else first. I don’t think most of them would mind, but I want to make sure I get consent for as much as I can.” He sighed, and added, “I know this whole situation makes even the idea of consent really murky, but I have to try.” Tess nodded emphatically, and while Abby was clearly disappointed, she didn’t put a voice to her complaint.

Rather than dwelling on the topic, Kevin glanced back and forth between the two and said, “I’m not sure there’s any way to make this not feel awkward. I’m not a therapist, and I don’t have any training in this kind of thing. Some of the memories Lily implanted in me involved long conversations with women where we worked out the details of our relationship, but none of those were sisters and most of them were much closer to my age.” He fixed his eyes on Tess, and asked, “It seems like Abby has some… strong opinions on what she wants. Do you want me to talk to her first, or to you? Do you want to both be in the room while we have both conversations?”

The white-haired woman sighed, and shook her head. “I am—there’s no point in keeping things separate. My little sister is here, and anything you do with her, I’m going to feel. We might as well keep everything open.” She raised a hand to cover her face for a moment, then reached out and snatched a slice of mango off the table. “Talk to her first. I don’t know what I want. Maybe by the time she’s done, I’ll have figured it out.”

As Tess chewed contemplatively on her fruit, Kevin turned his attention back to Abby. The eighteen year old practically vibrated with an eager energy that only drew attention to her obvious youth, which was then driven home by the fact that she actually waited to be called on to speak. “Alright, Abby. You made it pretty obvious yesterday that you have something in mind. I’m still struggling to come to grips with the idea of being in a relationship with you, given how much younger than me you are, but Penny made a very good point to me this morning. If I just shut you down, I’m still taking away your autonomy in a way that hurts you. So, I can’t promise I’m going to be comfortable with everything, but I also won’t dismiss anything out of hand.” He paused there, briefly, reached out to grab a tiny triangular sandwich, and then gestured at the silver-haired girl with his other hand. “So, tell me—what do you want from me, Abby?”

The bite of sandwich Kevin took immediately after he finished speaking proved to be a mistake, because when Abby unhesitatingly answered, “I want you to help me have all the sex I can imagine,” he almost choked on it.

His hand flew up to cover his mouth as he coughed, then very carefully chewed the bite enough to swallow it. He washed it down with a quick swallow of juice, then looked into the younger selkie’s earnest, ice blue eyes as he asked, “Can you expand on that at all? Give me a little context?”

She nodded and words began to spill out of her in a rush, “I’ve been stuck in a tiny town on the coast of a tiny island my whole life. My mom always talks about how we can’t reveal ourselves to the humans, because of what they’ll do to us if they find out. She lets Tess do whatever she wants because she’s the big responsible one, but the one time I finally got a boyfriend I couldn’t get more than a few minutes with him alone. Then, as soon as I made it out of our village and into somewhere bigger, I got scooped up and brought here.”

As she spoke, Abby’s outfit began to flow like liquid across her body as it shifted. “I was terrified, at first. I didn’t know what was happening, and from what Tess was saying it looked like I’d lost the only chance I’d ever have to get out in the world and live.” Kevin set the half of the sandwich that remained down and opened his mouth to reassure the silver haired girl, but before he could get a word out she gushed, “As soon as we really got to explore anything here and I got to see what was going on I realized how wrong that was. I’d been looking forward to living in Tórshavn for years, but do you know how big Tórshavn is?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Twenty two thousand people.”

By this time, Abby’s outfit had stabilized again. While the table blocked the view of its lower half, the upper half had become a tiny halter top vest. Held together in the front by three buttons, it left her shoulders bare and exposed more of her small breasts than it hid thanks to the deep V of its neck. “That’s no one. There are individual districts of Paris with twice that many people, and Tórshavn is the biggest city I’ve ever seen. Do you know how many people there are in Adventuria?”

“About half a million.” Kevin’s answer was a reflex born of years of giving that exact figure to countless players.

“Twenty times the population of the biggest city I’d ever seen!” Abby’s exclamation was followed by her leaning forward over the table and hissing, “And not one of them gives a fuck if I can turn into a seal.”

The smile Kevin managed in response looked both warm and genuinely pleased. “I’m still sorry that you were brought here against your will, but I am very glad you’re able to see some good in it.” He paused there, mouth moving as tried to find the right words. When that didn’t bear fruit, he instead gave up and asked, “I’m sorry, though, I’m not seeing how that connects to what you said before. Would you mind explaining?”

A hint of color crept into Abby’s cheeks, but she hesitated for only a moment before responding, “Before I was brought here, do you know what I spent most of my time doing?” She answered her own question before Kevin or her sister could even try, “If I wasn’t chasing after Tess to try to keep up with her, I was locked in my room. I spent half that time studying to give myself the best shot at escaping the hell that was living in a tiny village and the other half reading every romantasy story I could find.”

The silver-haired selkie’s shoulders pushed forward as she addressed Kevin, her hands beneath the table as she continued, “I dreamed up a thousand fantasies where a hundred different haughty elf lords, tortured vampire queens and half-feral werewolf alphas married, romanced, or kidnapped me, and then it finally happened.”

Tess cut off the soft whimper that escaped her by biting her lower lip, but despite her best efforts Kevin could tell exactly what was going on beneath the table. Even without House Rule to let him feel the tendrils of magic that connected them to each other, the less than subtle way Abby rocked back and forth while she talked made it obvious she was playing with herself and her older sister was—depending on your perspective—either suffering or benefiting as a result.

Somewhat surprisingly, though, Abby didn’t stumble over her words as she continued. She locked her pale eyes on Kevin’s face and informed him, “Tess and I watched enough other seasons of Harem Hotel to know that the magic here can make impossible things happen. I also know that we’re stuck with you, probably forever.”

The rocking of the eighteen year old selkie’s shoulders and her voice—normally high and sweet—grew slightly breathy, “So, you want to know what I want from you? Make my fantasies happen. All of them—or as many as you can. Let me be forced into a marriage with an elf king. Or, no, my sister is and you’re forcing me to serve you in bed or else she’ll suffer your cruel lusts. Or, or, or a witch cursed you so you lose control of your power if you don’t share it, but the only way to do that is through your seed.”

This time, the moan that escaped Tess was less subtle, and the older selkie’s expression was torn between obvious pleasure and rising panic. Abby, meanwhile, apparently felt no such conflict, her covert masturbation becoming even less subtle as she built up momentum. “Or let me be the girl who wanders into your pack’s territory and you have to claim me so the young upstarts don’t, but no matter how tender you are when we make love in the day, you can’t stop yourself from ravaging me over and over again during the full moon. Then—then when my sister comes looking for me, you have to claim her too. You chain yourself down to keep us safe, but it turns out she’s affected by your aura of madness, so that night she brings me to you anyway. Then you both use me the whole night, but it turns out that’s exactly what you needed to become a true alpha and gain control!”

“Abby,” Kevin’s attempt to interject fell on deaf ears.

“Or it turns out my father was actually a dragon and whoever wins my heart can awaken my power and share it with me. But, but then Hwa realizes it and decides to kidnap me and keep her in her dungeon—with, with Elsie and maybe Blue. We comfort each other and one day one of us escapes and learns that you’re held captive in her tower, half mad while she harvests your power, so I have to sneak up and soothe you until we fall in love and awaken my true form and imprison her as our slave forever!”

“Abby. Abby!” Abby’s—and most likely by extension, Tess’—incipient orgasm was cut short when Kevin’s third repetition of her name came out as a shout. Both sisters froze in place, the older wearing a look close to panic, while the younger’s expression was harder to read. Like her sister, her cheeks were flushed a pale pink, but while the slender silver haired youth showed signs of embarrassment and arousal, the way her eyes locked onto his own seemed more optimistic than contrite.

A few moments passed in silence as the trio examined each other, before Kevin said, soft but firm, “I think I understand. I’m pretty sure I can use some of my influence to help you live out at least a little of what you’re looking for, and while I can’t promise any specific details, I’m willing to try.”

He took a deep breath, glanced back and forth between the sisters once more, then added, “From what you said, it doesn’t sound like you have a whole lot of real-world experience. The smart thing to do might be to start small. Maybe you can tell me about a basic scenario you like, we can talk through all of the details, and then we can just roleplay. That way there’s no magic that might go wrong and if it turns out you don’t like something as much as you thought, we can just stop.”

For a moment, it looked like Abby might protest. Her breathing was still rapid, her cheeks still flushed, but when she eventually responded she started with a nod. “Okay. I can—we can do that.” The greed—or perhaps hunger—in her expression was undeniable when she then asked, “Soon, though? Tonight?”

Kevin considered, then gave a tentative nod. “Maybe. Only after we—all three of us—talk through exactly what we’re doing.”