All the wrong fingers in all the right places.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! NO!"

About half an hour later, Shiroe heard the familiar sound of Niki's involuntary laughter echoing throughout the city. It sounded like it was coming from just a couple of blocks away. All things considered, she'd done better than he had expected her to. And the timing implied that the tickler wasn't Eva or Amara, but one of Niki's usual bullies.

If he came running to her aid every time this happened, it set a bad precedent. He decided to go downstairs, go outside, figure out where she was, and draw close, but then wait for the laughter to stop. That way, he could nonchalantly walk around the corner and subject her to a withering glare, while also making sure that she was--

"NO! I ALMOST MADE IT!" The sounds of laughter were suddenly replaced by the sounds of something striking a wooden surface, and Shiroe jumped out the window.

"FEATHER FALL!"

After hitting the ground, he ran down the street, following the sounds of combat.

The city streets were far from empty at night, especially this early in the evening. Some people people stared at him. Other people hid what they were doing, or even fled when they saw him coming.

"Niki! Who is it!?"

There was a pause, then a downright scary scraping noise.

"Some clawed bitch! Help me!"

"I'm coming! Protect your vitals!"

Shiroe rounded the corner to see Niki at the far end of an alley, brandishing her mace and shield, which had a disturbing new pattern of scratch marks on it. Between them, stood a woman with tiny bat wings on her back. She was facing Niki.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" this strange woman cried, the black claws at the ends of her fingers seeming to lengthen. "You're usually gagging for this!"

"What should I do, Shiroe?"

"Do you want her to tickle you?"

Niki scowled. "No!"

Shiroe drew his spear, pointing it at her assailant. "Then tell her you don't want it."

"I don't want it!"

"Now, give her a chance to apologize. If she claws you again, Parry, then Shield Bash her into my spear."

"Screw this." The bat-winged woman crouched, then streaked into the sky, her body leaving a trail of flickering after-images in its wake. She grabbed the edge of the building, then streaked again, vanishing into the night.

"Form up," Shiroe said. Niki seemed distracted, staring up at where the woman had disappeared to, so he snapped his fingers a few times until she took up her position, ahead of him and to his left. They withdrew from the alley and cautiously made their way back to the inn.

Once they got back to the room, Shiroe shuttered the window, more for privacy than anything else. Then he began swinging his backup sword around the room in a series of wide arcs.

"What are you doing?" Niki asked.

"Being thorough," he said calmly. "Hold still."

When he was satisfied the mysterious magical lady probably wasn't hiding invisibly in the small room with them, he sheathed his sword.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Niki glowered. "I would have made it back if that bitch hadn't tricked me."

"What did she do?"

"Some kind of tricky spell. I saw you in that alley, with Amara and Eva hanging off you. Then, when I got closer, all three of you disappeared. She grabbed me from behind and started tickling me."

"She acted like she's tickled you before. Did you recognize her?"

"I think so. I mean, the wings are a dead giveaway. But the claws are new. And she usually doesn't throw this much magic around, just for one lousy meal."

"Meal?"

"She explained it to me once. I don't remember the exact words she used, but she wanted a sip of my life energy. She said it would make me tired the next day, but in return, she'd give me the best orgasms I'd ever had."

"And did she?"

Niki shrugged. "They were all right. Once she realized I was turned on by being tickled, that was all she would do whenever she came around. I guess it made her meal go quicker." A tired sort of half-smile fell over Niki's face as she relived the bittersweet memories. "Even on the days when I just wasn't feeling it... one touch, and I was clay in her hands. It was just like magic."

"Have you ever told her when you weren't feeling it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Honestly? I didn't think it would make any difference. People think tickling is good, clean fun. Then when they find out it makes me horny, suddenly good, clean fun doesn't matter anymore. They usually stop when I come or piss myself, unless I make them stop sooner." She sighed. "Up until you came along, I'd gotten tired of making them stop. I'd gotten used to just going along with it..." She sighed. "Why did you have to stop when I said 'wait?' Now I don't know what I want!"

Shiroe tried to hold her, but she shoved him away, so he looked away from her until it seemed like she had regained her composure. It didn't take her long.

"I stopped when you said 'wait,' " he said, "because that's what I do."

"But it makes sex so complicated!"

"If you want me to make it simple again, and just take you whenever I want, that can be arranged. If you want to be that bat-woman's meal, I'm sure that could be arranged, as well, once we track her down. If you want Amara and Eva and me to gang up on you... well, I can't speak for them. But they did raise their hands, this evening, same as you did. There's a world of possibilities, Niki. But from now on, if somebody does something that you don't like?"

Shiroe pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I expect you to tell them no. That is an order."

Niki crossed her arms. "I did tell her no."

He tilted his head quizzically.

"I didn't tell her 'I don't want it,' until you showed up in the alley and told me to say that. But one of the first words out of my mouth after I started laughing was 'no.' "

"Yes, I see your point. Almost everybody yells 'no' once somebody starts tickling them." He sighed. "This is why consent is so important to me, and why my rules can seem so stifling at times. I'd rather stop tickling you for a moment when you want me to keep going, than keep going for several minutes you when you actually want me to stop."

"What if I want you to keep going whenever I actually want you to stop?"

He smirked. Did she really think it was that easy to escape from his world of consent? "Anything is possible. We just have to talk about it first."