I'd Kill For A Goodnight's Sleep

Mary awoke to a vibrator being pressed against her breasts. Mary moaned first in pleasure, then in frustration. Mary got out of bed. That is the fifth time that Flora has started cuddling me, even after I used hypnosis to get her to stop doing that for the evening… Gods, I’m SO TIRED! Mary trudged over to the stairs leading to the pool of water and stripped as she made her way down to the pool. At least it looks like the water was cleaned. Mary took a nice, relaxing dip in the pool. So relaxing that in her weary state, she nodded off to sleep in the water.

A few hours later, Mary was awoken by a kiss. Flora was in the water next to her and said, “You know you really shouldn’t sleep in a bath.”

“I… I didn’t mean to, I just didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“I take it that was my fault?”

“A little, yeah. You kept cuddling and pressing up against me. Even climbing over the pillow wall I made. With your vibrators still on and pressed against me, it was rather hard to sleep.”

“I’m sorry about that. I don’t think I would have gotten much sleep if you hadn’t hypnotized me to sleep. I am a little surprised and worried that I was moving around while asleep again, though.”

“Probably the stimulation. Hopefully, we can get some of the stuff removed today.”

“Eh, I don’t really mind. I think we should get some of the other cursed items identified and off this morning. Also, actually confirm what all the equipment we got does, before anyone uses it. But enough about later.” Flora leaned in and kissed Mary again. “Kitty wants some kisses.” The two proceeded to make out for the better part of ten minutes. Afterward, the two got out of the bath and dried off. Flora looked over Mary’s naked form as the water dripped from her hair. “Guess you were right, it was the slime. I like the look of your glistening body, though.” The two walked up the stairs together. Flora glanced at the bed, “Too bad we really need to get ready and go.”

Mary smirked and rolled her eyes. She then pushed Flora onto the bed. “Oh, no. If you think you can tease me like you did in the water for so long and not finish the job, you'd best think again.” Mary climbed on top of Flora and started making out with her again.

Flora weakly protested, between kisses. “But… I mean… okay fine… let's be quick though.” Flora rolled with Mary to the side so that she was on top. Flora let one hand roam down to caress Mary’s breast while the other went even further down and started to caress Mary’s wet slit. Mary moaned through the kisses as Flora inserted a pair of fingers and pressed against the top of Mary’s interior and stroked her softly. Mary arched her back as she ran her fingers through Flora’s hair and bit Flora’s lower lip as she came.

“FUCK! That feels good.” Mary Exclaimed. Then Flora was rocked by her own orgasm.

A minute later, Flora said, “I think you need to remove the suggestion from last night this time when you put back in the sensation dampening.”

“I thought I made it for just last night.”

“Guess not, or maybe it just didn’t click for me that it was the morning? Either way, could you please handle that I’m already getting riled up.” Mary nodded and obliged Flora’s request. Then she got up and got dressed. Flora followed suit shortly after. “Mary, thank you so much.”

Mary looked at Flora curiously as she finished putting her hair up in a ponytail. “For what exactly? Regardless, you are welcome, and I was likely happy to help.”

“For last night. For this morning. For trusting me. I… I think I really needed that. For someone to trust me and be with me. I wasn’t in a great place last night.”

Mary nodded, “I can imagine. Flora, do you think you will be able to forgive her?”

“I already have. I’m not upset with her. I’m a little upset with Hilde, but I understand what having those bonds messed with feels like, so I’m not really going to hold it against her.”

“I feel like there is a ‘but’.”

“But, it still hurts that she was with someone else.”

Mary looked at Flora, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you fooled around with Merigold, right?

“Yes. Why?”

“Well, you were with someone else then, too.”

Flora rocked her hand side-to-side, “Sort of, I guess. First of all, Merida gave permission, then there is the fact that Merigold is still Merida, and they were sharing senses and were both involved.”

Mary shook her head. “She’s A Merida, she isn’t Merida. Her TF is very clear on that point; they are different people. The permission, Merida’s involvement, and sharing senses are somewhat valid points; the permission and her involvement more so than the senses, at least in my opinion. If you haven’t established with Merida that it is okay to do stuff independently with Merigold, I wouldn’t. In her position, I would consider that cheating. Not that I would have a problem with you doing it, but if you hadn’t asked, I would. A one-time three-way doesn’t permit you to fool around with the third without her.”

Flora nodded, “You’re right. Am I just being selfish, not wanting to share her?”

“No.” Mary said firmly. “Look, you have to share me. That wasn’t your choice. Wanting an exclusive relationship isn’t odd. I do want to mention something to you, though. When I watched my alternate histories with Isabella. Well, you were in a couple.”

“Wait… that would mean…” Flora trailed off in thought.

“That those versions of you found a way to be okay with sharing me without the show. I would point out I’m pretty sure you were involved with one or more of the other women in some of those, too.”

“Or more? Did you somehow create a harem without the show?”

“At least one version of me did.” Mary nodded. “The point is, I think you and Merida will be okay eventually, give it a day or two to let your feelings settle some, and then talk it out.”

“Thanks. I will.” Flora and Mary then walked out to the lounge to meet up with everyone else.

Ellen was livid. Seriously! WHY DO I HAVE TO SHARE A ROOM WITH THESE TWO! They have absolutely no decency to go elsewhere. They are SO lucky that **** is against the rules. I wonder if I can get away with some ‘friendly fire’... No… I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on these two on the rest of the team. Even if it would be satisfying. Seriously, there is a bathroom right over there. There are dozens of spare rooms in this mountain. You don’t need to milk her here. The ONE place I am allowed to sleep without you two literally in bed with me, since it is ‘our room’. Thank Laura, that those two won’t both be rooming with me after tonight until the end of the round. Not to mention this GOD DAMN MOTHER FUCKING PERVERTED PIECE OF SHIT SLIME KEPT ME UP ALL NIGHT! The slime continued to massage her breasts with tiny tentacles, as it had done most of the night.

Ellen looked over at Aubrey as she baaed in ecstasy as Chloe milked her repeatedly. Ellen admitted defeat and got up and left the room, making a point to slam the door as loudly as absolutely possible. As she was currently in Lucia’s form, she had a significant amount of Laura’s strength and was fairly sure she heard the door make a creaking sound as the slam echoed down the hallway.

Back inside the room, Aubrey and Chloe remain motionless for a moment. Chloe said, “I think she might be pissed at us.”

“Baaa, baaaaaaa.” Aubrey nodded. “Baa baaa baa ba baaaaaaa ba ba?” Aubrey gestured to her breast and made a motion with her hands to say they keep filling so fast. Chloe resumed draining Aubrey. But after another minute, Aubrey just shook her head and pushed away Chloe’s hands. “Baaaa, baaa’a baaaaa.”

Chloe looked at Aubrey, “Sorry, I guess the production is too high for me to handle.” The production was so high, in fact, that Aubrey’s breasts had expanded four cup sizes overnight due to the milk filling them. Chloe had only managed to reduce the size of her breasts by a cup size this morning. “I’ll look through my recipe book to see if there might be something to help. But it could be a while.”

“Baaaaa.” Aubrey said appreciatively.

Chloe got up and put on her gear, as did Aubrey. Chloe said, “We should probably go apologize to Ellen.”

Aubrey sighed and nodded her agreement.

Merida got up and brushed her teeth. She felt like shit. Looking in the mirror, she looked like it, too. She went and took a dip in the bath that the room had. Merigold came out and joined her, starting to massage Merida’s shoulders. The two remained silent for a while, save for occasional grunts of relief from Merida because of the massage. When Merigold finished massaging Merida, she wrapped her arms around Merida's waist, and she put her head against Merida’s back. Then Merigold muttered, “Thank ye. Thank ye sae much. I dinnae ken why ye did that yisterday, but thank ye. I didnae really think ye wad pick me. Honestly, I wis terrified ye micht send me back while ye were wearin' the collar.”

“But ye still tried tae stop me.” Merida said gloomily, but also gratefully.

“I’m sorry aboot that, too. In the heat o' the moment, I forgot aboot yer Fiery Lassie TF.”

Unbeknownst to Merida and Merigold, Hilde had sat down at the top of the stairs. Hilde added to Merigold’s statement, “Same, I can’t believe I screwed that up.”

“It isnae either o' yer fau'ts. It’s that stupid collar’s fau't. I simply didnae care aboot consequences, wi' it on. I’m juist glad I didnae dae even mair damage.”

Hilde said with a little heat in her voice. “You did plenty of damage as is. Even if it wasn’t really your fault.”

“I ken that, Hilde, but it could hae been a lot worse. I could hae hypnotized ye. I could hae…”

“Just stop.” Hilde said, “Don’t go down that road. Trust me, it leads nowhere healthy.”

Merida heard a bitterness in Hilde’s voice that she recognized all too well. Dae she blame hersel' for Astrid? Merida tried to put the thought out of her mind for now. “I ken ye said last nicht no' tae dae a lot o' things. Is there onythin' ye can suggest that I actually dae tae help Flora?”

“Nothing,” Hilde said matter-of-factly. “To be clear, I’m recommending you actively do nothing. Which is a lot harder than you might think.”

Merigold said, “I dinnae agree. Daen' nothin' will mak' ye seem like ye dinnae care. I dae agree aboot no' tryin' tae smother her. Mak' sure ye are available if she needs ye an' support her, but no' mair than normal. Aye, whit happened hurt her, but ye arenae at fau't. The one thing I wid say is mak' sure that ye keep in mind that yer first priority should be lettin' Flora heal an' no' tryin' tae fix yer relationship. Even if that means Flora needs a brek.”

Merida nodded in silence and spent a few more minutes washing her hair. The three of them got dressed and went to join the others.

Mary was behind the counter of the bar, preparing coffee for everyone. Flora was digging into a hearty breakfast. Mary heard an extremely loud slam echo through the cavern from the tunnel where the spare rooms were. Mary and Flora exchanged worried glances. Ellen came out into the lounge with an expression that said talk to me, and I’ll end you. It perturbed Mary to see that expression on Laura’s face. Ellen came over and took a seat at the bar. Mary noticed her eye twitching. She slid Ellen a large mug of coffee, which Ellen tossed back in seconds and looked noticeably less homicidal. Mary decided to simply put a pot of coffee next to Ellen, along with cream and sugar. After Ellen started on her second cup of coffee, Mary asked, “You’re clearly upset. Want to talk about it?”

Ellen bit back a scathing remark. Mary didn’t do anything wrong here. She took a few deep breaths. “I got around two hours of sleep total because of this fucking perverted slime suit.” Flora raised an eyebrow in alarm at hearing Ellen swear with such vitriol in her voice. “None of it longer than maybe twenty minutes at once. THEN, when I FINALLY got to sleep, five minutes later, I woke up to ‘BAA BAAA BAAA!’ Over and OVER again! The two of them didn’t even have the decency to go literally ANYWHERE ELSE! I swear, if they do that again, I might just try turning into Sam and tie them both up to teach them a lesson.”

“Hmmm,” Flora grunted out. “Well, hopefully we can get rid of some of the stuff from the dungeon that is still affecting us today. If we can’t get rid of the slime, maybe…” Flora had a pained expression on her face. “Maybe we can use the same trick Mary did with me. I slept soundly even with these vibrators going all night.”

Ellen thought about that. Hmmm, that would be a new form of submission to try out… I’m getting wet just thinking about it… Actually, that could be these perverted tentacles teasing me.

Merida, Merigold, and Hilde joined them next. Mary passed each of them a coffee. Then asked Merigold, “This might be weird, but Merigold, do you need to eat?”

“I dinnae. I still enjoy it, though.”

Merida turned to Merigold, “Really, I didnae ken that.”

“I’m no' human ony mair. I’m literally livin' metal. Even if that wisnae the case, I wadnae need food or drink. Nane o' the Meridas ye rescue will. It wid be a wee bit awkward if we did, considerin' only twa o' us can be physically ootside ye at ance. Noo I’m guessin' Ellen didnae sleep weel, judgin' by hoo she wants tae swat onything that enters her sicht except for ye, Mary.” Merigold stood up and pulled out the staff of debuff removal. She went over to Ellen. After a moment of examining Ellen, she shook her head. “Sorry, Ellen, gettin' rid o' the slime is ootside the staff’s capabilities.” Ellen grumbled, but didn’t say anything. Merigold then went over to the table where they had placed all the loot from the day before. No one had wanted to equip anything without having it identified first. Merigold started identifying each piece, knowing that it would take some time to use the ritual version of the spell since she and Merida didn’t have enough mana to simply cast the fast version on everything.

Right as Merigold finished identifying the first item, Chloe and Aubrey joined the group. The two approached Ellen, but Ellen said hostilely “Keep walking.”

Chloe, seeing that it wasn’t the time, moved past Ellen wordlessly and sat down on the farthest stool from Ellen. Chloe then asked Flora, “So what’s the plan for the day, oh fearless leader?”

Flora finished chewing on a sausage and said. “First item identification. I don’t think any of us wants to deal with more cursed equipment. While that is happening, Chloe, if you could look into antidotes for Ellen, Aubrey, and me, I would appreciate it.”

Mary chimed in, “What do I not warrant an antidote?”

Flora glanced at Mary, “I suppose if you have enough ingredients and figure out a way to get rid of the cake effects, you can include Mary as well.” Mary pouted at Flora’s response. “Mary, if you could use the staff to remove some debuffs, especially the cursed equipment. Hilde, Ellen, and I will scout the surrounding area. Aubrey, Mary, assist around here how you can and practice with your abilities if you have nothing better to do. Maybe look over the task board too. I’m thinking that we meet back here around lunch time to take on a task or two. Any objections?”

Everyone shook their heads. People dug into the breakfast that Mary was serving everyone, and felt strangely invigorated. Flora asked, “Mary, your class has to do with making food, right?”

“Yeah… among other things. You are experiencing the well-fed buff. You personally also have the well-rested buff from sleeping with me. That’s why you are so chipper this morning.”

“So, you really are a barmaid?”

“Yeah, I actually got a CP and enough XP to level from this.”

+1 CP Work your bar and serve your party

“Hmm… I was wondering why we all had different XP values. Hilde, you should try to limit your use of your talent when you can. I think it’s why you are lagging in terms of XP. I doubt we don’t get anything if we use our non-class abilities, but I’m willing to bet at least non-synergistic TFs have an XP penalty applied. That would explain why Chloe and Ellen are the highest in terms of XP.”

“If that’s the case, I’m not really the scout type.” Hilde replied. “I’m the one who’s supposed to punch things.”

Flora shrugged, “Sure, I still think you should help us canvas the area. The main thing I would like is an idea of where the other team could set up a base near us. Just be careful about using any of your TFs out in plain view. Our appearances might be disguised, but that doesn’t mean the other team won’t recognize our TFs.”

As Flora finished speaking, a singular note rang out through the lounge, and a glowing gold poster appeared on the task board. At the same time, two boxes appeared on the table with the gear Merigold was identifying. Flora got up and went to the task board, and read the glowing piece of paper.

Priority Task: Take the idol to Lakeview Village

• Risk: Medium
• Reward: 700 xp to be split amongst the participants. Sanctum upgrade. 14 CP
• Take the idol looted from the Eros Trap Dungeon to Lakeview Village near the empire’s capital. Place it on the local altar in the church of Cassandra to desecrate the church. Then flee before the idol warps the town's residents via a magical virus. Do not let anyone prevent the desecration’s completion. Do not let the town be evacuated.
• Time Limit: Before sundown today.

“Well, I guess there’s a slight change of plans. Hilde, you said you didn’t want to scout. I think this is for you.” Flora handed Hilde the task and grabbed the idol off the table. “Unless you would rather someone else take it?”

Hilde looked over the map table they had in the lounge. It was rather scant in details, with only a few places actually marked on the map. “The capital is listed here, but no Lakeview Village. There are also four lakes near the capital. I guess I can do it, but wouldn’t this be better for you? You are our stealth character.”

Flora shook her head. “No, without some mode of transportation, it would take me most of the day just to get over there. I suppose I could go to a nearby town and steal a horse or something, but that might draw suspicion towards us. It should either be you or Ellen. Also, not sure how many of you checked your notifications, but Cassandra made a note of a change to the rules. Even if you don’t make it back, that will be okay. The only people who have to do their best to be here are Mary and whoever is supposed to spend the night with her. The rest of us are apparently given a bit more leeway as long as we are doing something for the challenge, and not just avoiding each other. Even Mary and whoever is supposed to be with her are given some latitude if something forcibly keeps them apart. Like if you get stuck in a dungeon longer than planned and can’t make it back.”

Hearing Flora’s explanation of the rules change, Ellen leaped to her feet and began to swap to Hilde’s form, grabbed the piece of paper for the task and the idol, quickly checked the map, and was out the door before anyone could say a word.

Flora just stood their mouth agape. Chloe said, “I have a feeling she’s going to find a way to be busy all night, so she doesn’t need to come back here. I think she’s rather pissed at Aubrey and me.”

Mary turned to Chloe, “Well, that’s understandable. She got almost no sleep, and the little she did get was interrupted by you milking Aubrey. Did you really not bother to leave the room? Not even going into the bathroom?”

Chloe winced. “Yeah… Aubrey was just so swollen and needed some help fast.”

Mary just shook her head. “Whatever, please try and be mindful in the future.” Both Chloe and Aubrey nodded. “I see Ellen took her gear off the table, too.”

Merigold nodded. “She’s lucky I had juist finished writin' doon whit her equipment said. If I had stairted wi' someone else’s, I dinnae ken if she wad hae kent whit it did.”

Hilde said, “Speaking of not knowing what things do. What does that collar Ellen is wearing do?”

“Oh shit,” Mary muttered. “Well, it doesn’t seem to be too bad as far as I’ve been able to tell; she was acting mostly normally. Maybe a bit more irritable, but I assumed that was lack of sleep and the slime suit.”

Hilde asked, “Should I go after her? I can catch her if you want me to. She isn’t as fast as I am, like that.”

Flora shook her head. “No, give her some space. If she wants to do something productive with her anger, that’s fine with me. Merida, Merigold, do you think you could speed up the identification of Hilde’s and my gear? So we can take it with us while scouting.”

Merida replied, “We can, but if we dae ony mair than that, we willnae hae full mana when we begin a task this afternoon.” Merida went over to the table, and before joining Merigold in identifying stuff, she opened the two new boxes. The first contained a thin, elegant wand. Inside the box was a note card signed by Smug explaining it was a Wand of Charming. The second box was much smaller and contained a singular ring. The note card read, Ring of Harmlessness. Merida passed the note cards to Flora and said, “As pairty leader, ye get tae decide wha gets whit, but I think the ring should go tae Mary. It will mak' it so she will be the last tae be targeted as lang as she dinnae actually harm onyone else.”

“Well, that will be easy.” Mary said, walking over to inspect the ring. “I don’t have much that actually deals damage. I have a few debuffs, but those aren’t really harmful, rather meant to distract.”

Merida nodded. “Thocht that wis likely the case. The wand is a harder choice. I think onyone but Aubrey has a guid case for it tae go tae.”

Aubrey complained, “Baa, baa ba?”

Merida just looked at Aubrey in confusion. “I didnae unnerstaun' ony o' that. I’m gaun tae assume ye want tae ken why no' ye, though. Simple, ye are the frontliner. Ye need tae hit folk. The wand is a wand o' charmin'. If ye hit the person ye used it on, the effect breaks. Ye are also nae sneaky like some o' us, so ye cannae sneak in an' charm someone tae oor advantage.”

Aubrey made a gesture with her head, indicating something along the lines of ‘Okay, that makes sense.’

Flora looked at the wand. Who should get this? It would be useful for most of us… “Merida, I want you to take the wand.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m willing to bet it will synergize with your magic and illusions. You aren’t a big damage dealer like Hilde or me; you’re a support. If we get in a fight, you can charm some stuff to leave you alone, decreasing the aggro on yourself. One thing, could you take the wand and have Merigold recombine with you, and then come out again? I want to know how it works between the two of you.”

Merida and Merigold obliged. Merigold reemerged with an identical wand in hand. Merigold said, “Weel, the wand juist uses mana, no' limited by charges or onythin'. So we could use it tae charm folk twice as quickly. Mary, mind bein' oor test subject?”

Hilde groaned as she moved in front of Mary. “Use me instead. Mistress needed an alternative guinea pig to offer you.” Hilde just realized what she said and the implications of it given last night. “I um… actually please don’t.”

Merigold looked at Hilde. “Aye, that’s probably nae the best idea at the moment.”

Mary sighed, “Fine, go ahead.”

Merigold used the wand on Mary. Mary thought Merigold was the most beautifully shiny individual she had ever seen. Next to her stood Merida; Mary’s eyes lustfully wandered over Merida’s body, her plump breasts, her fluffy tail. Mary licked her lips. Mary thought, Why is Flora surprised that other people want a piece of Merida. When Merida is this hot, I can’t fault Hilde for wanting to play with her either. Merigold canceled the spell.

Merigold said, “Weel, it seems like we coont as ane person for the purposes o' bein' the caster. Mary wis definitely lustin' ower Merida pretty badly.” Merigold then offered the wand to Flora, who took it. The wand immediately vanished from Flora’s hand. Merigold had a new copy of it in her hand. Merida repeated the action, and the wand this time vanished from Merigold’s hand instead of Flora’s. “I thocht that micht be the case. I’m no' really a copy, mair like a projection. If Merida loses the item, I will too, but if I lose the item, I’ll get it back. That poses an interestin' question if we come across any consumables. We’ll hae tae try it oot later.” Merida took the wand back, and she and Merigold quickly identified Flora’s and Hilde’s gear set from the halls of glory, as well as the hand wraps and quiver they found. They wrote down the description of each item and gave it to Flora and Hilde.

Chloe said, “Wait a second, you two. While you are out scouting…” Chloe pulled out a book and flipped it open. “There are a couple of ingredients I would like you to look for. They are used in quite a few different recipes for some of my more advanced concoctions. My starter pouch gives me a limited set of reagents that replenish each day, but that’s it. If you come across any weird-looking plants or fungi, bring those back, too. I can probably make use of them.”

Flora and Hilde nodded, looking at the pictures Chloe showed them of the various plants she wanted. Hilde set out immediately, but Flora waited for Mary to remove the vibrators. Mary was unfortunately unable to remove them completely. She got rid of the vibrations on the piercings and the vibrating dildo completely. She was unable to actually remove the piercings, though. Also, the buttplug remained inside Flora as well, but wasn’t vibrating at least. Unfortunately, it appeared that used up all the curse removal of the staff for the day. Flora then left to go explore as well. Merida and Merigold continued to slowly identify items. Chloe read her recipe book, trying to find something that might help with Aubrey’s lactation issue and Ellen’s currently massive breasts. Mary worked on making various drinks and food items, which were sampled by those still in the lounge. Aubrey made space to practice with her sword and even tried to incorporate her hair into her fighting, while waiting for Flora and Hilde to return.