Honesty

The crisp autumn air nipped at their noses as Alice and Ethan walked through the park, carrying warm wrapped sandwiches and hot cider from a nearby cafe. They found an empty bench near a quiet pond, where they could sit and talk privately.

"Thanks for buying lunch," Alice said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I'm starving."

Ethan nodded, unwrapping his own sandwich. "Me too. Strategist Lee really worked us hard today. I didn’t expect that using our abilities would work up such an appetite. This morning went really well, though"

Alice nodded, taking a second to finish her bite to reply. “Our essence didn’t last as long as I had hoped. Strategist Lee is right about having to learn to toggle the boost at the right time. It’s going to take a lot of practice to learn how and when you decide to apply the boost. We’re going to have to learn how you think so all of us can be on the same page.”

They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments before Ethan spoke up. "So, we should probably talk about us."

Alice looked at him, her expression serious. "Yea. I’m not really sure how to start."

Ethan took a deep breath. "I know I’ve asked this over and over, but it’s important. I want to make sure that both of us are still comfortable with everything that's happened and where it might lead."

Alice nodded in agreement. "I’m okay with what’s happened, but I think we need to be honest with each other. We can't lie to ourselves about where something like this leads."

Ethan met her eyes. "You're talking about us having sex?"

Alice met his gaze, her cheeks flushing slightly. "Yes. I mean, we've already done a lot together, and I think it's only natural that things might escalate. We’ve kissed, I came on you, that’s not something to just brush off.” She gave a nervous laugh at her frankness. “It’s sex but it’s not ‘sex’ you know? I want to make sure that we’re both okay with it, the idea that more is going to happen."

Ethan thought for a moment before speaking. "I'm not going to lie, the idea of having sex with you is weird. But it doesn't scare me the way I think it should. I mean, we've already done so much together, and it's been... intense. But in a good way."

Alice nodded in agreement. "I feel the same way. It's like, we've crossed so many lines already, and none of them have felt wrong. Just different. We don’t have to rush things just because we’ve talked about it leading there, but I’m glad we’re able to just speak frankly about it."

“So we keep seeing where this goes, then?” Ethan asked. “To the end, that is. And if either of us get uncomfortable or feel we’re moving too fast, we say something.”

“Yea. Now I kinda think this conversation might end up with us going faster, you know?” Alice paused to take a sip of her cider. “We kind of just agreed to fuck, right? That’s what we’re talking about. Hard to imagine going slower when we’ve already agreed to the end.”

Ethan took another bite of his sandwich before continuing, nearly coughing as Alice put it so bluntly. "I agree and the idea of it excites me, but I think we need to talk about Penny too. She’s as much a part of this as either of us."

Alice looked down at her food, her expression thoughtful. "I've been thinking about that too. I mean, Penny and I have always been close, but lately, I've been discovering that some of my feelings for her go beyond just friendship."

Ethan reached out, taking her hand in his. "It's okay to feel that way. And it's okay to act on those feelings, as long as we're all comfortable with it. I didn’t miss what happened last night between you two."

Alice looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I kissed Penny this morning while you were sleeping. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it just felt right in the moment." She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand to banish the tears. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have gone behind your back. It was wrong of me and I’m so sorry.”

Ethan smiled softly at her and squeezed her hand. "Hey, hey hey. I know. I overheard your conversation this morning, but I didn't want to interrupt your moment together."

Alice looked surprised. "You did? Why didn't you say anything?"

Ethan shrugged. "I didn't want to make things awkward. And honestly, when it happened all I could do was smile. I love both of you, I mean that. Besides, it would feel selfish of me to demand that everything be focused on me and only me.. and I did see the two of you kiss last night. I didn’t feel upset then and I didn’t feel upset this morning, okay?"

Alice put her head down. "I don't want to make you feel like Penny is cheating on you with me."

Ethan smiled at her. "I trust both of you. There’s nobody else I love and trust more, but I think we need to have the conversation we’re having now with Penny. I think we’ve all talked separately but there’s no replacing getting together to make sure we’re all together on this. If we talk things out we can avoid the hurt feelings, yea?"

Ethan stood up, moving to the other side of the picnic table to sit next to Alice. He put an arm around her and pulled her close, putting his head down against hers. “I’m serious, okay? I love you and nobody has done anything wrong yet. We’re all feeling this out together.”

Alice nodded her head against Ethan’s chest, sniffling as she cried. “I love you, too”

Ethan put his other arm around her, pulling her into a tight hug. They remained like that, content to be close to each other.

As the hug ended, Alice wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You made me cry, you big jerk.” Alice gave him a playful tap on the shoulder before leaning back in against him.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Alice spoke up again. "So, what do you think about Mei? Practice went really well this morning. You could tell she has a lot of experience and knows her class well. Even Strategist Lee seemed impressed. That and she's definitely got a nice ass."

Ethan laughed, shaking his head at how quickly her sense of humor came back to her. "I can't believe you just said that. I’m starting to think you might be an ass woman. The comment at dinner, the way Penny teased you, right now again with her admittedly very nice ass.." Ethan teased Alice.

Alice grinned at him. "What? Maybe I do. You’re no slouch in the nice ass department either, you know. ‘Great Asses’ could be our team name.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “I think she'd be a great addition to the team. Not that any of this matters if her talk with Penny doesn’t go well."

More seriously, Ethan responded. “I did feel good leaving practice this morning, though. If Penny doesn’t scare her away I think some time in the arena will let us know for sure if she’ll be a good fit.”

Ethan pulled out his phone to check the time. “It’s been about an hour and a half, should I call Penny and see how it went?”

“Text her, they might still be together.” Alice replied, gathering up the trash from their meal and standing.

As Alice cleaned up their lunch, Ethan asked Penny how lunch with Mei had gone.

Ethan: Hey, how’d it go?

Penny: We’re still talking. Not bad so far.

Ethan: Not bad?

Penny: She has some questions. She’s asking if you wanna meet back up? She says she’d rather just talk about it in person.

Ethan: Sure. Where at?

Penny: She has an apartment just off campus, says we can meet up there. I’ll send the address.

Ethan: Ok, We’ll head over.

Penny and Mei walked into the bustling dining hall, the aroma of today's special filling the air. They grabbed trays and began to fill them with food, chatting casually as they moved through the line.

"Morning training went well," Penny commented as they found a table by the window.

Mei nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it did. Ethan's combat boost is impressive."

Penny took a bite of her meal before responding. "It really is. I've never heard of anything like it. We’ve done some testing and the boost is basically doubling our power."

Mei leaned in slightly, speaking excitedly. "Alice's lightning strike was insane. I've worked with another Shock Blade recently, and Alice was far beyond his strength. Their ranged bolt is good for some damage and drawing attention, but Alice looked like she could kill most common enemies I’ve encountered."

Penny smiled, proud of her teammates. "Ethan has a very powerful class, but the drawbacks can make it difficult."

Mei raised an eyebrow. "Drawbacks? The duration Strategist Lee was talking about? I can only imagine how difficult it’s going to be to coordinate that on the fly in a fight. Combat is already hectic enough without having to call out for buffs while you fight."

Penny hesitated for a moment before answering. "It's.. more about how to refill essence that makes it difficult."

Mei had a confused look on her face. “Is it not like mana? I heard you use the term today but I just assumed it worked similarly.”

Penny took a deep breath, preparing herself for the conversation ahead. "Ethan's class is... well, this is why recruiting is a delicate matter for us. It’s part of why I wanted to get lunch with just the two of us."

Mei gestured for Penny to continue.

“Okay, just go with me on this one. I know you’re not going to believe me, but I swear I’m telling the truth. Penny took a deep breath. “Ethan’s class is sexual.”

Mei stared at her, disbelief written all over her face. "Very funny. Good joke.”

“I’m not joking, I told you that you wouldn’t believe it.” Penny replied with a serious expression.

Mei took a moment to stare at Penny, expecting her to laugh any moment. “Like, he has to have sex to use his powers?"

Penny nodded. "Yea. It sounds like a made-up joke just to get women to sleep with him, but it's true. You saw the results of his class this morning. Alice and I were hitting almost like we’ve had our classes for years, right? That sort of combat boost doesn’t come for free. Combine that with his healing and you’ve got an S rank class."

Mei's eyes widened in shock. "That's... that's insane. So, you're saying that Ethan has to have sex to generate essence and that he’s actually S rank?" Mei shook her head. “Let me say that again because it sounds so crazy. Your boyfriend has an S rank class that turns sex into a resource for his class.”

Penny nodded again. "Yes. Different actions and even how hesitant you are can change how much essence is generated. We’ve been experimenting with how to generate essence. A kiss generates some. A deeper kiss more, and even more if you’re touching while you do, cuddling or holding each other tightly.”

Mei still couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She leaned back her seat, crossing her arms. “You really expect me to believe his class assigns different values to the way you kiss?

“Yea, I know it’s hard to take in. This is why we haven’t gone through the normal recruitment process.” Penny explained. “His class requires that you bond with him, which requires a baseline amount of essence.. So far the minimum we’ve found that works to trigger the bond is a kiss while pressing against each other.”

Penny took a breath before continuing. “Here’s the real kicker. The single largest source of essence to the point of making everything else essentially pointless was Ethan being involved in making me cum."

Mei's jaw dropped. "Wow. That's... that's a lot to take in."

Penny smiled softly. "I know. It took me some time to wrap my head around it too. But the feeling of the essence can almost be overwhelming. It's the best sex I've ever had as a result. The essence generates as you’re intimate and multiplies the feeling of everything a hundred times. I nearly came from foreplay alone."

Mei looked thoughtful, processing everything Penny had said. "So, you're saying that Ethan and Alice have been... together?"

Penny nodded. "Yes. The implications of Ethan's class and Alice having essence mean that they've been intimate in some way."

Mei took a deep breath, her mind racing with questions. "I want to hear all of this from Ethan and Alice. Can we talk to them about this?"

Penny checked her phone and saw a text from Ethan. “That’s actually them. They’re asking how our conversation is going.”

“I haven’t decided yet.” Mei replied.

“That you’re not running me off is a good sign?” Penny asked.

Mei looked at her, thinking. “Ask them if they want to meet up. We can use my apartment, it’s just off campus.”

Mei and Penny arrived at Mei's apartment to find Ethan and Alice waiting outside, the wind whipping around them. The day had turned colder, and it was clear that they had been standing there for a while.

"Come on, let's get inside," Mei urged, rushing everyone into the warmth of her apartment. "It's freezing out there."

Once inside, Mei offered to make something warm to drink. "Does anyone want something warm to drink? Hot tea?."

The group nodded in agreement, grateful for the offer. They waited quietly in the living room while Mei worked in the kitchen.

Mei returned a few minutes later with a tray of steaming mugs. As she set them down, she cracked a joke to lighten the mood. "Well, this is awkward. The tension in here is so thick you’d think we were here to talk about someone’s weird sex class."

Ethan chuckled softly, appreciating the attempt to break the ice. He blew on the steaming tea before starting the conversation. "Mei, this is the first time we've explained my class to anyone outside our immediate circle. We're not sure how to go about it, but we want to be honest with you. We’re aware of how odd it is and we’ve decided that we need to be totally up front with you before you can decide whether or not to join us."

Mei nodded, her expression serious. "I appreciate your honesty. Just lay out the mechanics of the class for me. I want to know exactly what the requirements are. Don’t spare any of the details just because you think it might weird me out."

Ethan took a deep breath and began to explain. "My class is titled Bond Enchanter. It's an S-ranked support class that focuses on bonding with others to provide boosts and enhancements. The essence system is crucial to my abilities."

Penny chimed in, assisting Ethan. "Essence can be generated slowly over time, but the fastest way to generate large amounts of essence is through sexual acts. Like I said earlier, the more intimate and intense the act, the more essence is generated."

Alice added her input as well. "The essence powers pretty much every aspect of his abilities. Everything you saw this morning was because we had created essence beforehand."

Mei leaned forward, listening intently. "So, you're saying that the essence is generated through sex? And the more intense the sex, the more essence is generated?"

Ethan nodded. "Yea, that's right. It doesn’t have to be actual sex, but different actions and even how into it you are can change how much essence is generated."

Mei's cheeks flushed slightly at the bluntness of the explanation. "And what about the drawbacks? You mentioned there were some."

Penny answered, "The main drawback is managing the essence. It's a finite resource, and we need to learn to conserve it and use it wisely. The duration of the buffs leaves much to be desired, so timing is crucial. The potential upside is that you could potentially recharge mid raid."

“You mean dungeon sex.” Said Mei.

“I mean dungeon sex.” Penny affirmed.

Alice added, "There's the ethical and emotional aspect of it as well."

Mei turned to Alice. “The implication being that you and Ethan would have to be together?”

Alice blushed heavily. “Yea. It’s been a mess, but we’ve found a way to make it work so far. It was that, or years of planning to build a team together go out the window.”

Mei took a moment to process everything before speaking. "I see. It sounds like a lot to take in, but I appreciate your honesty. I think I need some time to think about all of this."

Ethan set his cup down and turned in his seat to glance at Penny and Alice. "We understand. This is a lot to take in, and we want you to feel comfortable with everything. There is one last aspect of the class to talk about, though."

Mei raised her eyebrows questioningly in response, waiting for Ethan to continue.

“I can provide permanent growth to your abilities.” Ethan got out. “Rough testing says in about a year, you could be on par with a C rank.”

Mei sat silently, staring at Ethan as she processed what he had said. “That’s not possible. Class ranks are set.”

“We thought so as well.” Ethan responded. “Penny and I did some testing on her shadow minion. It grew in height after I used my ability to grant a permanent enhancement. If that growth stays steady, it’ll be as tall as a C rank shadow minion in around a year.”

“What’s the catch?” Mei asked. “The rest of your class uses essence, this does too, right?”

Penny nodded. “It does. You have to be completely topped off on your essence limit for the permanent growth, and the ability consumes every bit of essence you have. As far as we can tell so far, it works the same way you saw this morning, but permanently.”

Mei stood and started to pace, thinking. The group sat quietly, not wanting to rush her.

“Full of essence. You’re saying that your class can get me as strong as a C rank in a year?” Mei turned to the group, questioning them.

“If the rate of growth holds steady, we think so.” Ethan replied, nodding. “The difficulty is with the amount of essence generated from the different.. acts..”

“You have to cum every day” Penny filled in for Ethan as he hesitated. “The amount of essence generated by kissing or groping just isn’t enough to reasonably apply the growth to everyone daily. The only way to do it without spending the entire day cuddling is to cum.”

Everyone sat in silence at Penny’s explanation. Mei turned and walked to the window behind her, looking out. “I’m going to have to think about this.”

The group stood up, taking the hint that Mei needed some time to think everything over on her own. As they made to leave, Mei called out to them.

“Wait.” She said, the group turning back to her. “I feel I need to be honest with you or this wouldn’t be fair.” She sat down, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees and rubbing her eyes.

“It was my fault Jax died and Cal got hurt.” Mei finally got out, looking up. “I was responsible for covering them and I failed. If I had been better, they’d still be here. It’s only fair that you know that if you’re offering me a spot on your team.”

Penny took a few steps towards her. “Mei, I..”

“It’s okay, I’m not looking for sympathy. I just feel that you need to know that about me. Even if what you’ve told me today is absolutely insane, you still trusted me enough to be honest. I have to do the same.” Mei finished.

“So the working as a ringer, all the training you mentioned. This is why?” Penny asked her.

“I know that if I was better, they’d still be fine. So I practice. I’ll be honest and say that until you told me about the permanent growth I was ready to tell all of you that I had no interest in joining you.” Mei paused. “If I decide to say yes, if you’ll still have me, it’s going to be because of that. I just want you to know that. You were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you.”

“Thank you.” Alice said, handing Ethan his jacket. “I’m already sold on you joining, for what it’s worth.” She looked to Penny and Ethan. “I think we should go.”

Ethan nodded. “We’ll let you think things over. No need to rush to a decision.”

Mei smiled softly at him, standing up to walk the group to the door. "Thank you. I'll let you know my decision soon."

As they left Mei’s apartment to start the chilly walk back to campus, Alice asked. “Did we fuck that up?”

“I don’t think so.” Penny responded, pulling her jacket tight against the wind. “We explained things as well as we could have. I’ve known Mei for a few years now, if we had offended her she’d have let us know.”

“That makes three difficult conversations down today.” Ethan said as they began to walk. “Let’s make it an even four. We’ve all talked separately, we should get everything out tonight. Total honesty.”

Penny and Alice nodded. “Total honesty.”