Daphne Date 2, Part 1: Welcome Home

Daphne

Daphne and Aelene are waiting in the Green Room for Harper to change in some requested “super cas” clothes and get Honey something to cover her not-cloaca. Daphne doesn’t get the big deal; she shows off her not-cloaca all the time. She’s doing it right now, with her oversized DoD T-shirt bunched up to her hips as she sits on this green couch. Aelene looks a little more nervous, still in her metal bikini. She looks good with her expanded egg sacs.

Soon enough, her Beloved is back and she has a wasp-girl with a breech-cloth cinched around her waist. It has a long flap up front that covers a decentish amount of her abdomen. Nothing on the back and nothing covering her also pretty big egg sacs. Her beloved also has pretty big egg sacs. They are covered with a midriff exposing T-shirt. Harper also has on her knight boots and a fun li’l swishy skirt that goes down to mid-thigh. “Ah, did I overdress, Daph?”

Scarlet: -40 BP (Full Mana Restoration Potion [Apology for Harper])

“No, Beloved, you look super cute! How you feeling, Honey?”

“Um, Ms. Daphne, I’m adjusting.”

“Oh, just call me Daphne, Honey. Or Daph. Just don’t call me late for dinner, unless my Beloved made an all vegetable dinner. Then just let me forage for fish!”

Aelene at least giggles a little. My beloved shakes her head slightly and smiles. Honey looks confused? She’s hard to read most of the time.

Suddenly, Daphne’s stomach turns inside out, then back again. She’s now on the seashore, just where she expected to be. A small fishing village with a very large stone tower at the most landward point, it’s wooden palisade before them, a gate, open and inviting, up a little path. Prudence, in all of her bound glory, hovers over them. “Alright, you kids, no leaving the village border. You can go as far out in the ocean as the village’s fishing boats. With that, here are your quests. Enjoy.” Handing out the slips of paper, Prudence then disappears.

Hey, the quest was super fun last time. Let’s see what I got! Daphne’s Orphanage Date Quest: Help your Beloved find her place in her new world. Reward: Free Metamagic Adept Feat (with pre-selected Metamagic options) and 50 XP for Daphne to distribute how she likes. Ooooh. Neat!

“So, good mermaid Daphne, where pray tell are we?”

Harper looks contemplative, “If I am remembering a life I haven’t yet lived, this looks like Singembotto. That right?”

Daphne gives her Beloved a big, toothy grin. “That’s right, Beloved.”

“Singembotto, good mermaid Daphne? Truly? Lady Harper, you’re...”

“Home. Huh. Interesting choice, Daphne.”

Scarlet

Scarlet is preparing some tea for this impromptu “group therapy” session, somewhat dreading what is about to occur. While Mattie has grown on her, she seems stubbornly clinging to some coping mechanisms that she really needs to replace with something better. And, given how last night went with Glitterdust, she isn’t expecting much from her in such a short amount of time. Still, the tea is ready and the oread carries the tray towards the table she picked out at the Cat Cafe.

Mattie, in her catsuit, is slouching in a chair, lightly teasing a kitten with a cat toy. Glitter, naked save her collar, as is right and natural, is being held back from eating a kitten by Mattie’s protector cannon. Sighing, Scarlet sets down the tea tray and picks up the threatened kitten. She sits and strokes her little bundle of fur and nerves. Mattie pours the tea and holds up her cup, little pinky held out ever so daintily. She sips, sampling it, “My southern etiquette teacher would rate this a solid ‘C’, Red. Good job, for a Yankee.”

Scarlet takes her teacup and sips, considering if she should just walk out. Then, Mattie starts to act a little more seriously. “So, what would you like to address first? The horrors I saw out in the field or the horrors I saw on the old set? Or, should we start with Sparkles over there? She may decide to go eat a cat if she gets bored enough.”

Scarlet stares down the soldier and the soldier stares back. With a nod, Scarlet says, “Whatever you want to share about that’ll help me help you.”

So, Mattie talks. Scarlet listens while leaning into her diagnosis transformation. The more Mattie unloads, the more **** acts a complete treatment would require. So much ****, so many quite gruesome. Scarlet almost loses her breakfast when Mattie describes watching a patrol tear each other apart as they get possessed by cannibal chicken ghosts. Scarlet actually does hurl as Mattie talks about a magical virus causing someone infected by it to turn literally inside-out. The private that had that happen lived for 3 hours in constant agony until the damage killed him, Mattie spending most of that time freaking out about potential tears in her hazmat suit and applying pressure to keep his femoral vein from bleeding out.

Wiping the burnt sludge of her vomit off of her face, Scarlet begs, “Okay, okay, Mattie, enough. So, survivor’s guilt, combined with a pretty intense level of PTSD. How far as you wanting to go for treatment?”

“I cope with the whole nickname thing that annoys you so I don’t get too close to anyone, plus very heavy drinkin’ when I can get away with it. Honestly, it’s a good thing the show keeps me so busy, cause, otherwise, I’d be in the bar downin’ booze every waking moment outside of PT and shootin’ time. So, enough treatment to keep me from doing that. Harper loves me, so I should try to take better care of myself for her sake. Plus, I got a sex bud right now, right?”

Glitterdust looks uneasy. “So,” Scarlet begins, “just to clear the air here, what I prescribe are sex acts, as per the transformation I got. This is a quick fix kind of thing. I literally can’t help you the slow, steady, proper way. When we get out of here, I would highly encourage you to...” Scarlet’s voice catches. She can’t say that Mattie should find an actual therapist. Frustrating. “Sorry. Anyways, this’ll be a band-aid, as what I would have to prescribe to actually cure you will be too **** even for you. Are you okay with that?”

At least Mattie can anticipate what Scarlet would have said, “I tried therapy, Red, a lot. Never stuck. The shrink has never been in the shit like me, could never understand it, could never even imagine it. Think I can find someone like that in our new world? Nah. Band-aid is good enough for me. Some treatment is better than none. Plus, what you can prescribe should be... fun.”

“Ok, Mattie, if you understand. Anytime you feel the urge to drink in order to quiet those thoughts, I want you to bring yourself to orgasm instead.”

Mattie’s hand is already unzipping the crotch of her catsuit. “So, all the time?”

“You don’t think about those thoughts all the time. Maybe too often when the world is quiet, but not literally all the time.”

Mattie’s finger squelch into her wormhole, but she still holds out a fist, waiting to be bumped. “Respect, Red. Thanks. I feel better already. Sparkles, wanna share?”

Glitterdust looks even more uneasy, but finally speaks, “Um, the last time I tried to care about what other’s think about something, Mindtaker left ME alone to be with Sunshine. And they only send ME a gift card to Lunacoin on our hatching day. And it’s not even a good gift card, just the bog standard 20 silver ones you’d get straight from the grocers. I just thought, if I don’t matter to anyone, why should I care about what others think about ME? I mean, I’m a big, sexy dragon, so, of course I should get MY way concerning MY MtF goddess. Right?”

Scarlet doesn’t know what to say. She’s really focusing on how to treat Glitterdust’s issues, but that doesn’t matter if the dragon won’t go through with what Scarlet prescribes. Mattie, surprisingly, does have something to say, “Sparkles, you watch a lot of Harem Hotel, right? Tell me, what happens to contestants that somehow survive elimination, even maintain personhood, but don’t get with the fucking program? Share with dear old Red and me.”

“It depends on the nature of the bond, but, in general, if the Master is unhappy with a particular ****, the **** suffers. A withdrawal of the empowering effect of the harem bond. Sometimes it results in a loss of sensation, sometimes loss of energy, sometimes loss of drive, rarely ****. Why?”

Mattie’s fist is still hovering, waiting for that fist bump. She throws a rhetorical jab, “What do you think is going to happen to you if Harper doesn’t love you by the end of the show? ‘Cause that seems to be a big part of the program with this harem, Sparkles.”

Scarlet watches as Glitterdust figures out what Mattie is hinting at. “So, if I ignore what MY MtF goddess wants, she could withdraw her blessing of our bond from ME? That’s super, duper bad. She wouldn’t do that to ME!”

Mattie goes for the rhetorical kill, “Well, if she thinks like you’re suggestin’, why wouldn’t she? I mean, SHE’S a big, sexy Mistress, so, of course SHE should get HER way concerning HER pet dragon. And, if the dragon is annoying, if not actively dangerous, to people SHE cares about, the responsible thing to do may just be to put the troublesome pet down.”

The fear in Glitterdust’s eyes are palpable. She turns to Scarlet. “Please, make ME less selfish! I want MY MtF goddess’s love and affection! I don’t want to die!”

Scarlet bumps Mattie’s fist at that. The soldier smirks, then goes cross-eyed from her fingering. Scarlet looks at the dragon. “Okay, Glitterdust, you heard my explanation to Mattie, right? Same deal. You understand?”

Glitterdust shakes her head so rapidly Scarlet would almost worry about it snapping off.

“So, here is what I want you to do. First thing. Every morning, I want you to edge yourself, thinking about 3 nice things you can do for other people that day. You can stop when you have your three things. No super generic things. No repeating the same things over and over again. Then, you can have an orgasm as a treat if you get them done. That make sense?”

Seeing Glitter nod vigorously, Scarlet continues, “Second thing. Every time you are about to decide to do something potentially consequential, I want you to edge yourself for 5 minutes and think about what your decision could do. Then, after 5 minutes of thinking and edging, if you decide the thing will result in bad consequences, don’t do it. Simple enough?”

“Well, this was enlightening, Red. We should do this again sometime. For now, I got some research to do. What are you two gonna do?”

“Check on Tina and Josie, then maybe we’ll all hit the dungeon.”

“Uh, Mattie, would you like ME to help you? I am from our new home dimension, you know!”

With that, Mattie and Glitter head out, towards the library to dig up information that will be helpful to everyone in a couple of days. Scarlet cleans up the mess and heads to the gym. Huh. I vastly underestimated Mattie. She might be a sledgehammer, but she is a very effective one. And, sometimes, a sledgehammer is what you need.

Harper

Home. Daphne brought me home, a place I have never been before. Harper mulls the concept as the four of them approach the gate. Two hoppalongs, both male and publicly masturbating, their weapons resting by the wall, stand on either side of the gate. The foursome get way too close to the gate before one of the guards notices. And, they they finally do, panic sets in.

“<M... M... M... Monsters! Help! Alarm! Alarm!>”

The other one, a little braver, drops his lady spear and picks up his real one. “<Back, back, you monsters. Civilians, please get behind me. I’m quite competent.>”

Ok. Obviously don’t want to hurt these guys, so I need to figure this out. Honey’s species does not exist in this world, so a giant wasp lady could be interpreted as a monster. Daphne as the other, maybe? This is wrong. How do I...

Aelene interrupts Harper’s thoughts with a command, “<I am Arbancano Aelenetheria of Nimlith Grove. This is Aranel Tyalangan, also of Nimlith Grove. Daphne and Honey are not monsters. Fetch the captain of your guard. I will have this cleared up.>”

The shouting is already drawing a small crowd, mostly of fishermen, with the occasional guard slowly forming a wall of spear points and flesh behind the gate. The variety of people on display is staggering: hoppalongs, luchtoni, hu-cows, elves of various types, species Harper can only remember seeing from a life yet lived. Not a human in sight. Looks like the captain of the guard, a female hoppalong looking well into a pregnancy, is among the last to arrive, accompanied by a priest of Azuth and a wizard in the robes of the Singembotto Academy of Magic.

“<What’s all this, then?>” the bunny girl declares.

Aelene repeats herself for the benefit of those with authority. The bunny girl nods to the Azuth priest, asking him to “<Zone them.>” The priest, a hu-cow male, his cock dribbling enough pre-cum to make that part of his vestments translucent, starts to cast the spell. It looks like the spell takes a lot out of him. Maybe Level 3? Harper does not attempt to resist the spell. Looking at the priest’s reaction, it appears none of her companions were foolish enough to try that. The priest nods to the captain. The captain starts her interrogation.

“<Alright, names. Go.>”

“<Daphne, dungeon mermaid extraordinaire, at your service. I like your egg sacs. Very full.>”

“<Honey, no legal last name, esquire. Junior entertainment associate of Cyrene & Hodges: Chanters at Law.>”

“<Aelenetheria, Knight-Commander of Nimlith Grove, daughter of Kaelisterie, Queen of Nimlith Grove.>”

“<Harper. Hi.>” Aelene stares daggers at Harper. Oh, right. Being interrogated by the local police equivalent is a formal thing. “<Sorry. I have poor manners sometimes. Tyalangan, Crown Princess of Nimlith Grove, adopted daughter of Kaelisterie, Queen of Nimlith Grove.>”

“<No lies detected so far.>” the priest notes. The wizard, a turtle girl of some sort, giggles, “<Oh, I thought I recognized you. Little Tanta, all grown up. You filled out nicely. Surely you remember your old classmate Jappa?>”

Memories from a life yet lived wash over Harper. Jappa was one of the popular kids at the Academy. Abjurer. Rich. Beautiful. A bit of a bully. The turtle-girl approaches. She holds out a thumb, “<May I check your progress? I assume you’ve gotten a little stronger since graduation?>”

The girl that lived her childhood in this town would have been quite amused at the sight of Jappa turning white as a sheet when she examines Harper’s statistics. “<Ah, sorry, Aranel, I should not have teased.>” Then, to the captain, “<They mean no harm, Captain Snuggles.>” Then, a barely audible mumble in Aquan, “<At least, I hope so.>”

“<All is forgiven.>”

The captain, apparently named Snuggles, asks, “<And the nature of your visit?>”

Daphne answers, “<Oh, my beloved Tyalangan was born and raised here. She wishes to see her home one time before her duties would make that more difficult. We mean no harm.>”

“<If that is the case, who among your relations are you staying with?>”

Switching to Aquan, Harper whispers “<Ah, Daph? Where did you schedule us to sleep tonight?>”

Jappa scrunches her face in a manner akin to raising an eyebrow. Daphne shrugs, “<I dunno.>”

Back to Elvish, Harper answers, “<I was orphaned at a young age. No living kin in town, as far as I am aware. We will find lodgings somewhere.>”

Captain Snuggles barks some orders and the spear wall recedes. “<We will be keeping an eye on you, Princess, but welcome home.>”