Ties of The Heart

Mary, Chloe, and Meribelle were riding south. As they rode, Chloe would occasionally have them stop when she detected a rare ingredient nearby.

Meribelle was all too happy to help search for the ingredients, as it involved bending over and showing off her butt to Mary. Meribelle had just found a very odd-looking set of mushrooms and said, “Maîtresse, Mademoiselle Chloe, I believe I 'ave found ze ingredients.”

Chloe and Mary came over and looked at the mushrooms that Meribelle was bending over. Chloe said, “Yeah, good job.” While Mary smacked Meribelle’s ass. “Mary, what the heck was that for?”

Meribelle quivered in pleasure, though.

“I… I don’t know, I just felt like I needed to smack her ass. I’m going to guess it is one of her TFs. She does have a killer ass.”

Meribelle stood up, “Oui, Maîtresse, you are correct. It is one of my TFs. Zank you for ze little reward.”

Mary looked at Chloe. “Why are you surprised, my slutty bunny? Or is that not surprise, and is disappointment that I didn’t slap your ass instead.”

Chloe squatted down and harvested the mushrooms. Her cheeks slightly flush in embarrassment.

Mary turned to Meribelle, “Do you actually enjoy having your but smacked?”

“Oh yes, très much, Maîtresse. Even before my TF, I find it enjoyable, but now it is excéllent, mon Dieu!”

“Is there anything about your TFs that particularly bothers you that I should know about?”

“I cannot complain, Maîtresse.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Maîtresse, I mean zat I cannot complain, at least not to vous.”

“Oh, OH! That sucks. Is it just to me?”

“Oui.”

“That’s something at least. Could you tell Merida that, please, so she knows that she needs to bring your complaints to my attention.”

“Alas, non, I cannot simply tell 'er zat”

“Fine, Meribelle, I’m ordering you to tell her that now.”

“As you command, Maîtresse.” Meribelle sent Merida a mental message. “Maîtresse, our Maîtresse told moi to tell vous zat I am not capable of complaining to 'er, and it is your duty to bring my complaints to 'er.”

“Um… okay. I’m going to assume this is TF related and will ask more later.”

Meribelle bent over and wiggled her butt at Mary, who felt the urge to slap it. Mary was about to, but stopped herself. Well, good to know I can stop myself. Then Mary smacked her butt, causing Meribelle to release a moan of pleasure. “Meribelle, I think I will quite enjoy having you around.”

“I look forward to serving vous, Maîtresse.” Meribelle said with a smile.

Chloe stood up, “Okay, I’m done here. We can go.”

Mary gave Chloe a teasing smirk. “You sure you don’t want to bend over for your own reward, for a job well done?”

Chloe glared at Mary and hesitated before walking back to her horse and mounting it. The three continued south back towards their lair.

A while later, with a few more stops along the way, Mary, Chloe, and Meribelle arrived back at their base. The three of them walked into the lounge and found Ellen reclining on a sofa with a drink next to her, reading a book. Ellen put down her book and sat up. “Oh, you’re back early. I took lunch to Ethel a little bit ago. She asked about when you would be visiting again, Mary. She seemed… eager.”

“That’s good to hear. So what have you been up to?”

“Just reading and resting. I can’t even practice my shape-changing, really. Honestly, I’m exhausted from all the running I did yesterday as Hilde. I’ve been reading my class guidebook as Chloe suggested, though. Thought I might as well try to do something mildly productive. I’ve also glanced at a book that I’m pretty sure is similar to Sam’s class guidebook.” Ellen pointed to a second book on the table. “I swiped that yesterday when I snuck into the palace library.”

“Hmm, that could be useful,” Mary replied. Mary felt like there was something important nagging at her, that she was forgetting. “I guess I’ll go check on Ethel. Chloe, I’ll come by the workshop after to see if there is anything I can make afterwards. Meribelle… why did you come with us again, Meribelle?”

“I came... I must 'ave come to serve vous, Maîtresse.”

“That… that doesn’t sound right. Could you ask Merida? I feel like it was something really important.”

Meribelle gave a slight bow of her head. “Maîtresse, why did I return to ze base wiz our Maîtresse and Mademoiselle Chloe, s'il vous plaît?”

“Whit?”

“Why was moi sent 'ere?”

“Ye were supposed tae identify the collar Ellen is wearin' an' then return. How did ye forget that?”

“Ah, 'ow bizarre. I seem to 'ave forgotten,” Meribelle looked at Ellen, “Could you remind moi again, Maîtresse, why I was sent back 'ere?”

“Meribelle, are ye messin' wi' me, I juist tauld ye?”

“I would NEVAIR! Maîtresse, Je suis très désolée! I just cannot seem to remember what I am supposed to be doing, mon Dieu!”

Mira joined the conversation, “Merida, it is likely that fucking collar Ellen is wearing. It would explain why Mary didn’t help the cunt earlier. Mary kept ‘forgetting’ about fixing this shit. Meribelle, close your fucking eyes.”

“I do not listen to ze orders of a delinquent like you, non!”

“Meribelle, close yer een richt noo!” Merida exclaimed in her mind. Meribelle complied. “Noo ye are tae identify the collar Ellen is wearin'. I want ye tae tell me whit ye are supposed tae be daein'.”

“Ah, oui! I must go and identify ze collar Ellen is wearing, n'est-ce pas?”

“Dae that, but keep yer een closed the entire time.”

Meribelle thought it odd, but followed the command. “Mademoiselle Ellen, would vous come 'ere? I would like to identify your collar, s'il vous plaît.”

Mary smacked her forehead. OF COURSE! That is why she came with us.

Ellen walked over to the group. “Sure, I guess. I don’t see what the big deal is. It isn’t like the collar really does anything.”

Meribelle identified the collar. “Maîtresse, could vous remove ze curse on ze collar, s'il vous plaît?”

Mary got out the staff and turned to Ellen, then she turned back to Meribelle. “What did you ask of me, Meribelle?”

“Ah, Maîtresse, you must close your eyes! Ze curse on Ellen's collar, it makes you forget about it.”

Mary shut her eyes. That is insidious. “Ellen, lean down. Without seeing the collar, I need to touch it.” Ellen bent over slightly and brought Mary’s hand to the collar. Mary removed the curse from Ellen and quickly removed the collar. “Okay, so what exactly did this do to her, Meribelle?”

“The collar causes you to forget about it and deprioritize the wearer’s wants. While also making the wearer more impulsive and accepting of things.”

Chloe said, “Wait! Ellen, look, I’m sorry about yesterday, about milking Aubrey without leaving. I remember now that I had considered leaving, but then, after looking at you thought it wasn’t that important to do so.”

“So you’re saying that it was the collar?” Ellen said skeptically.

“At least partially yes.”

“I guess I can’t be that mad at you then.”

Merida sent another message to Meribelle, “Did you get the collar off of her? Flora would like to know what it did to her.”

“Oui, it makes others deprioritize her wants and forget about the collar while making her more impulsive and accepting.”

“Okay, thanks, you can come to us as soon as you are ready.”

Meribelle turned to Mary, “Mistress, is there anything you need of me before I rejoin the others?”

“Yes, actually, I want to try something. Give me a moment, I’ll be right back.” Mary walked off into the sanctum where they had originally been summoned.

“I wonder what she’s up to?” Chloe mused, watching Mary’s tails swish behind her.

Mary walked down the tunnel to the sanctum until she reached the original room they had been summoned in. The room was just like before, with the pitch black void extending off into the distance. Mary walked up onto the dais and said, “Smug! I want to talk.” From the darkness came a pair of glowing yellow eyes. “First, I want our items for completing the razing of Asherland. Second, I want to complain, ‘Asherland’, really?” Mary heard an amused chuckle from the dragon.

“I have sent the items to the table outside. I was wondering if any of you were actually going to come see me this time or simply wait for the morning to receive your rewards.” Smug’s tone changed from imposing to her more normal tone. “As for the naming, blame Cassandra. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

“No, I wanted to know two other things: first, is there any way to accelerate the timetable for the ritual, and the second thing is about Ethel.”

Smug returned to her imposing Dragon Empress’s voice. “Alas, there is no way to accelerate the ritual. It requires all of the moons to be full in the sky. What is it you wish to know about Cassandra’s priestess?”

“Smug, this isn’t a matter for the LARP. I want to know who she is and what Cassandra’s plan is for her.”

Mary saw Smug roll her eyes and appear in front of her in her humanoid form with her arms crossed. “Why?”

“I need to know.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Well then, you can’t touch my hoard.” Why did I call them that? That was weird.

“That isn’t fair.”

“Tough shit. Figure out a way to give me the info I want, or I am banning you from touching my hoard…” Okay, why am I calling them that? Why am I thinking of them like that?

Smug was glaring at Mary, but she ignored the intense stare.

Mary reached out to her other half, “Hey Mark, why do we have a hoard?”

“Can’t tell you that, but I’m sure you can figure it out.”

Hmm… Mark might have copied Sam’s dragon TF. That would be concerning, though, if Sam is building up a hoard like I am apparently. Shit, she called me her treasure. I bet I’m part of her hoard. Crap, crap, crap.

Smug snarled, “Done talking to yourself? You told me that if I joined your staff, I could do stuff with your harem if they were willing. I don’t take kindly to being lied to, Mary.” Smug was baring her teeth towards Mary.

“I didn’t lie to you. I’m not prohibiting you from my harem. I’m prohibiting you from my hoard. That still feels odd to say. I’m pretty sure Mark is currently a dragon, and some of my women are now part of my hoard. I’m telling you that I’m not sharing them if I don’t get the information I want.”

Smug slammed the ground with her tail. “Ah… I’m not surprised you have a strong dragon’s lust. Hmm… that could be an issue.”

“Smug, I want to know if Ethel is someone who was made out of magic for this LARP or if she was a former contestant. I also want to know if she is going to be sticking around or not. Whether as a member of my staff or a member of my Harem. I can’t proceed without knowing.”

Cassandra appeared, glaring at Mary with genuine anger. Cassandra growled, “Stop trying to coerce my daughter into breaking the rules, Mary. I thought I was pretty clear in the first round that there isn’t much that will truly piss me off, but messing with my girls is one of them.”

Mary stared at Cassandra defiantly. “Cassandra, you’re the one messing with me AGAIN! If this is supposed to be a LARP, then it should be fictional. So answer the questions I asked Smug. Because if Ethel is a former contestant and going to be staying on the show, I need to know that.”

“I’m not answering you, Mary. Make whatever assumptions you want, if I find you threatening my daughters—”

Mary cut Cassandra off, “You’ll do nothing. Because if I were threatening them, you wouldn’t have any recourse. I’d just have to upgrade A Princely Staff enough times to make them contestants, because I’m willing to bet that’s what the upgrade will continue to be. At which point, if I wanted to do something to them, there is nothing you could do about it because of the rules. I’m not threatening or coercing Smug. She wants something precious to me, and I need to know she can be trusted with my precious. That is sometimes going to mean she needs to answer some questions that I know she has the answers to. I’m also annoyed with you, Cassandra, considering I’m certain you tried to slip past me intentionally, the fact that you duplicated instead of dividing my BP and Boosts. Isn’t that right?”

“I did no such thing. I made it patently obvious that they were duplicated on your phone. You'd best tread carefully, Mary. You might be able to do stuff to make me angry, but I have far more power to make you miserable.”

Mary took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders, “Cassandra, that simply isn’t true. I realized that a few days ago. I like you and don’t want to fight with you. Could you please just answer my questions?”

“No.” Cassandra replied firmly. Though her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Fine, I’ll take my leave. I was serious about what I said, Smug. Don’t touch my hoard.” As Mary left, Smug frowned in frustration.

Once Mary was out of the room, Cassandra turned to her daughter. “What do you think she meant by that?”

“She’s apparently started some sort of hoard that —”

“Not that. I already know what that’s about. I mean that she truly believes she has more power over me than I do over her. She said she realized it a few days ago… I might need to review the footage of what Mary did on the day of the wedding a bit closer. Also, Smug, any idea why the Mistress Harper would have sent me this to give to Mark?” She held out an Identify scroll.

“I would guess it is to identify a magic item, Mark received, believing that something is suspicious about it. Perhaps the prick sent something to Mark secretly. There was that oddity with Allie’s most recent TF vote.”

“Hmm, that does seem like something he might do.”

Smug nodded, then she pouted, “Will I get in trouble if I sleep with the girls without Mary’s permission?”

“Yes, dear, I’ve already been over that with you.”

“This is so unfair.”

Cassandra patted Smug on the back. “There, there, sweetie. I’m sure Mary will change her mind. It isn’t like you were going to be able to sleep with them this round anyway.”

“Also, what was with her aura. I thought you had separated Mark and Mary thoroughly. Why did she leak a dragon’s aura despite that?”

“I can’t separate them completely without creating a new person; you know that. Some things are going to leak through. I am surprised by her subconscious control of her aura, though. Mark has had it locked down on his end since he transformed.”

“It was disturbing looking at her; she felt like a dragon despite having the appearance of a kitsune. I don’t think she even noticed my dragon’s aura.”

“SMUG! You know you aren’t supposed to use that actively on anyone!”

“I’m sorry, I slipped. I just got so angry when she said I couldn’t do anything with those in her hoard. She didn’t even notice that I hit her with it, though.”

“That’s besides the point. You know I’m going to have to punish you. I’m confiscating all of your Shar plushies.”

“WHAT! BUT MOM! It was a mistake, please! I’m sorry!”

“Sorry, dear, you know the rules. You can have them back at the end of the round.” With that, Cassandra vanished. Leaving a pouting Smug.

The chamber lit up beyond the blackness. Smug looked at her hoard of plushies and could already tell all of her Shar plushies were missing from the massive pile. She frowned as she transformed back into a dragon, and flew out to her hoard and slowly started to rearrange the pile to make up for the missing plushies, before she curled up and turned off the lights.

Mary returned to the lounge to find Meribelle, Chloe, and Ellen all with concerned looks on their faces. Chloe immediately asked, “Mary, are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Smug… Smug seemed pissed. It wasn’t for long, but we all felt like it was when we first saw her, before Cassandra suppressed the dragon fear. I felt like my heart would stop.”

“What?” Mary glared down the hall, upset that Smug had terrified part of her hoard. Damnit! Stop thinking of Chloe like that. Wait… I’m upset that she terrified Ellen and Meribelle, too, but I’m actually pissed off that she did that to Chloe.

“Did you really not feel anything?”

“No, I have a suspicion as to why, too. I think Mark copied the dragon TF from Sam. I think part of that is leaking over to me, since I keep thinking about ‘my hoard’.” Mary finished with air quotes.

“Wait… I thought only you would become a dragon from You Are Who You Eat?” Ellen said.

Mary sighed, Why does it feel annoying to explain this? “Yes, that would be true, unless Mark copied the TF that turned her into a dragon. Which, to be honest, makes the most sense to copy off her TFs. Maybe her bondage or ghost TFs, but the rest all have issues.”

“So, if we wanted you to be a wolf as Mark, we could get that?” Chloe asked.

“Oh? Want the big bad wolf to gobble up some rabbit stew? I’ll have you know foxes hunt rabbits, too.” Mary then bared her teeth and let out a low sexual growl at Chloe.

“Maîtresse, not zat I do not find it incredibly satisfying to watch vous put zees rebellious Mademoiselle in 'er place, but you said zere was somezhing you wanted to check on before I return to ze ozers, non?”

“Yes.” Mary nodded and looked at the table behind the girls. She noticed six boxes on the table. She went and opened each one. The first box contained a Corset of Seduction that was labeled as class gear for Mary. The next was a small pendant that was clearly meant for either Flora or Chloe, as it apparently provided a chance to preserve a piece of ammo or a thrown weapon and return it to a quiver or pouch to be used again. Then there was a hairband of BAA-Vine Strength. It was pink, fluffy wool that would apparently provide a strength buff to Aubrey that would increase the more filled her breasts were with milk. Oh, Aubrey is going to hate that. An enchanted reagent pouch that both provided more per day and could duplicate rare ingredients a number of times per day. Guess the pendant is meant for Flora, then. There was a pair of pants that looked like they would fit Hilde, labeled Fancy Pants, with no further description. Finally, there was a ring of mana regeneration. “Meribelle, could you try identifying these pants. It doesn’t say what they do.”

“Certainly, Maîtresse.” Meribelle cast identify on the pants, and looked confused. “Terriblement désolée, Maîtresse, but zey appear to just be fancy pants, wiz no special abilities I can detect.”

“Hmm, maybe Hilde will be able to figure them out. Anyway here take everything but the corset and this pouch with you.” Mary tossed the pouch to Chloe. “I assume that is for you, even if it isn’t class-locked. I’m hoping you will be able to take the rewards directly to the others. Don’t forget the cards with the item descriptions on them either.” Meribelle gathered all the items up and put them in her bag. “Okay, Meribelle, wish the others luck for me.” Mary smacked Meribelle’s ass.

“Goodbye, Maîtresse. I look forward to being able to spend more time wiz vous in ze future.” With a bow, Meribelle vanished from the cavern, as red dust blew out the tunnel.

Chloe asked Mary, “So are you going to go try and seduce Ethel now?” Chloe did not seem pleased by the idea.

“I don’t know,” Mary said with a sigh, flopping down on the couch. “That had been the plan, but I didn’t really plan to let it go particularly far. Part of why I went to talk to Smug was to get more info about who she really is. Cassandra showed up and said they weren’t answering those questions.”

“You think she’s a former contestant, then?”

“That or a person created purely from magic specifically for this LARP. Cassandra wouldn’t be the first host to create a being from pure magic that was functionally human. Either way, I’m concerned with what happens to her at the end of the round.”

Chloe plopped down on the couch next to Mary and put an arm around her. Ellen sat across from the two of them. Chloe said, “That’s because you care a bit too much about strangers. Mary, why is Ethel your responsibility? No matter what her situation is, you didn’t put her in it.”

“Sure, and I’m not going to jeopardize any of you to help her. But how I treat her now could affect her future. I might not be responsible for her, but I am responsible for my own actions. If I try seducing her to our side, she could easily wind up in my harem.”

“Mary, Cassandra is going to do what she wants regarding that. Also, I saw how you looked at Ethel last night. You have a type, Mary. Only Laura and I really deviate from that type. You like short women. You also like feisty women, which, from what the others told me about her, she has some spirit and determination.” Chloe sighed, “I’m not happy that more women will be added to your harem, but I figure that Cassandra is going to keep adding more women to your harem each round for a few more rounds, or at least put it up to a vote. Might as well be her instead of someone close to one of us.”

“Chloe, you do know I really don’t want my harem to grow, right?”

“You say that…” Chloe removed her arm from around Mary’s shoulders and looked away from her.

Ellen continued, “Mary, are you telling me that you would really be displeased if Freya, or Slevia, joined your harem? Or your former girlfriend who apparently still has feelings for you and now finds you sexually attractive. We’ve all seen the way you look at Freya.”

Mary looked directly at Ellen, “I would be, yes. Do I think I would ultimately end up having a happy life with any of them if they were added? Yeah probably. I would still be happier if we could all just go home and figure out what we all wanted on our own.” Mary put her arm around Chloe and pulled her close, clearly annoyed that Chloe had pulled away.

Ellen replied, “Meaning you aren’t particularly interested in some of us… Like me… in your hypothetical, you wouldn’t want to continue being with me. Would you?” Ellen looked disappointed.

Mary looked uncomfortable at Ellen’s response.

Chloe looked at Ellen and said, “Ellen, don’t let that get you down. It isn’t like Mary would be with most of us in her hypothetical; probably just Allie, Isabella, Laura, Sam, maybe Merida.”

“Chloe, you’re on that list, too, you know?”

Chloe whipped her head around to Mary, “What!?”

Mary pulled Chloe even closer. “I thought that I’d made things clear. You. Are. My. Slutty. Bunny. I’m not letting you go.” Chloe’s face turned scarlet. Mary turned back to Ellen. “Ellen… I…” Mary removed her hand from Chloe’s waist. “Chloe, could you give me and Ellen some time alone together?”

Chloe stood up, “Sure thing, Mary.” Chloe kissed Mary and hopped off towards the workshop.

“Mary, I don't want to be an afterthought to you.”

“I’m trying, Ellen. I realized things went poorly on your date night last round with me. I sort of ignored you. I’m glad I had an opportunity to make that up to you at least somewhat with you and Laura sharing both nights.”

Ellen sighed, then her hair turned blonde. Lucia said, “Mary, I enjoyed it immensely. Ellen did too, though she’s a bit more conflicted about some of it. I will say I get what she’s going through. I’ve always felt like second fiddle to Laura, and it isn’t a great feeling.” Her features slightly shifted, and her hair returned to being brown. Ellen said, “It doesn’t help that you’ve never really had a chance to get to know me for me.”

“Are you saying our first date night wasn’t really you? That was more your costume than anything?”

“Uh… well, not exactly. I guess it was sort of me, but… I’ve figured out about how often I can be in a particular costume before I start permanently gaining traits from it. It’s about twenty-four hours. I’m still figuring out how long it takes to fully reset, and I can wear the costume again, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to end up picking up some traits from Hilde and Aubrey this round. It’s why I’m defaulting to Lucia’s body. Because of any traits I pick up from being Lucia, I can shove them to her, reinforcing them. Though that comes with its own problems.”

“Like what?”

“The biggest trait I pick up from her is her submissive tendencies. I get some other things occasionally, but I’m reinforcing her submissiveness.”

“Oh, I could see how that could end up being a problem.”

“Yeah.” Ellen rubbed her arm in awkwardness. “My point is that I had been wearing the **** Leia costume for several days before our date night. Mary, please don’t ask me to wear that outfit again while we are on the show.” Ellen rolled her eyes. “Lucia isn’t happy about that. Please don’t let me wear it or let Lucia wear it either. It’s dangerous to me. I want you to get to know me for me, not Lucia, not Symbietta. Not Ellen, the schoolgirl or whatever other costume I’m wearing.”

“I’d like that too. But how do we go about that? You’ll be affected by your costumes, or you’ll be affected by Ties of The Heart. Lucia isn’t going away either.”

“I wish I knew.”

“Give me a second.” “Hey Mark, I have a question for you. Did you find anything in the BP store that might help us be able to let us interact with Ellen without her being affected by her costumes?”

“Maybe eventually. Not how things stand now, though. Here’s the details on the TF.”

“Hmm… okay, thanks. Also, if I buy something that helps both teams.”

“Yes, Mary. I’ll buy something that will help both teams in return.”

“Good. I was concerned that we might have diverged a bit given different information over the last few days. Would you be willing to buy that, Mark? I have something I want to buy that will benefit your team later in the round when we swap.”

“Sure. Give me a second… Okay, done, bought True Love’s Kiss. Good luck with whatever you have planned.”

“Thanks. Also Mark… Seriously? That’s prohibited. Whatever, good luck to you too.” I wish I could have told Mark about the leak across the connection. Whatever, he’ll figure it out eventually, I’m sure.

-4000 BP Mark -> 4625 BP

Ellen was staring at Mary curiously. Mary said, “Sorry, Ellen, I was talking with myself.”

“I could tell, Merida does it too when she’s talking to someone mentally.”

“Well, I have good news and bad news. Mark just bought a TF for me, which could potentially allow us to get to know one another without the baggage of your TFs.”

“What’s the bad news?”

Mary sighed, “I can only use the TF on someone I love and loves me in return.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah, I kno—”

“Is that all?”

Mary blinked, “What? What do you mean is that all?”

“I mean…” Ellen bit her lips. “Mary, I don’t know if it is love yet, but… I like you. That’s… that’s part of the reason I was disappointed when you talked about wanting to go back and…”

“Ah. Ellen, just so we’re clear here. In that hypothetical, I wouldn’t be opposed to continuing a relationship with any or all of you. I just wish we weren’t being ****.”

“But you would prioritize some relationships over others.”

“Kind of, but less than you might think. At least at the moment.”

“You’re telling me that you wouldn’t prioritize your wife over the rest of us?”

“No, I’m not telling you that. But it would be less than you might believe. Ellen, Allie had me buy a TF on the first day for her. Partially because she was insecure and thought I might start to prioritize the others over her.”

“Shared Vows, Allie told me about it.”

“Right. Here’s the thing, Ellen. While I bought it to reassure her, I didn’t really buy it for her. I bought it for all of us, really. I think that if Allie didn’t have that TF, I would have sabotaged this team already.”

“What, why?”

“Because she’s my wife, Ellen. Don’t get me wrong here, I would still try and get everyone through the show the best I can, but Allie would likely be the harem’s queen. Merigold even said in her reality, I was married to Chloe, and wasn’t shy at telling everyone that if they messed with her or Aubrey, I would retaliate. I could see that being the case with Allie, if not for that TF. But Allie has been helping most, if not all of you, which, while it doesn’t equal things out between all of you, it helps a lot. Sam’s the closest, but Allie helped you out quite a bit, too. I’m glad I bought that TF because, honestly, I think treating you all as fairly as I can will make us all happier in the long run.”

“So if Allie places last this round, you would be okay with that?”

“Okay would be a strong word to use there. I certainly wouldn’t take it out on any of you unless you specifically singled her out in an egregious manner. At this point, though, if anyone got singled out that way, I would be upset.”

Ellen smiled at Mary, as contentment flowed through her, “You really do care, then. I guess I was worrying over nothing.” Ellen’s hair turned blonde again. Lucia said, “Mary, oh wow, that messes with the head. Something There just activated. You and Ellen need to talk about it.” Lucia returned control to Ellen. Ellen furrowed her brow as her hair returned to its natural brown. “Lucia, you could have asked before taking control!”

“Would you have given me control?”

“No…”

“That’s why I didn’t ask, because it needed to be said.”

Mary said, “What is Lucia talking about?”

Ellen sighed, “Mary, remember when I said you were a decent approximation of what I was looking for in a partner physically?”

“Yeah, then you savagely critiqued my appearance.”

“Hey, you asked for brutal honesty.” Mary held her hands up in surrender. “The point is, I have a hard time focusing on what I found fault with regarding your appearance. I can do it if I really concentrate and Lucia helps me, but I really do focus on all the little things you’ve done for me, and anything problematic that is minor gets overlooked. Which is part of the reason I think I’m falling for you.”

“So… I’m flawless, is what you’re saying? At least in your eyes?”

“Not quite, it is only minor stuff that gets overlooked. Though I can only think of a few things that I would count as flaws.”

Mary looked at her expectantly, but not hearing an answer forthcoming, asked, “If they aren’t minor, I really would like you to tell me about them.”

“Right… like I said this morning, I feel left out. I want you to pay more attention to me, and I know you have to juggle things with all of us, but you are going to have to take the lead more on this, at least with me. Honestly, thank you so much for taking me into the showers with you last round. It means a lot that you **** me to accept time together for myself.”

“You’re welcome, and I’ll try.”

“Then there is the fact that you are too timid to order me around more often. Finally, I know I’ve said I don’t want to be a full-time submissive, but I do want to submit. I want you to tie me up and use me. I don’t feel like you are really willing to do that. To make me yours.” Mary started to giggle, and it quickly turned into a full belly laugh. Ellen frowned, “Mary, I don't appreciate you laughing about this.”

“I’m sorry… He he he he… really I am… he he… but… HA HA HA HA.” Mary took a few deep breaths. “When you hear what I was trying to figure out how to suggest, you might see the humor.”

“What were you going to suggest?”

“Well, you might notice that I’m currently a Kitsune.” Ellen nodded. It was Mary’s turn to blush and be slightly embarrassed. “I… well… I was thinking I could use Merida’s boon. That way I could use the TF Mark just bought on you.”

“Wait, you mean that you would willingly do that? To cause yourself to fall in love with me?”

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if it would work or not to use the TF right now, but eventually I would like to fall in love with all of you. I’m not opposed to using a little magic to speed things along. I do care about you already. I can also tell you that there are already some decently strong bonds between us. If you’re okay with it, I can form a thread of love between us, though it won’t start very strong. But despite the TF’s name being True Love’s Kiss, it doesn’t actually say what the intensity of the love needs to be. See how it was funny? I was trying to figure out how to metaphorically bind you to me when you were complaining that I wouldn’t do that.”

“Okay, that is slightly situationally funny. Hmm… Lucia, would you please shut up! Sorry, Lucia is once again shouting in my head for me to accept. I’m tempted to, but I have a concern. You said it yourself. Binding me to you. If this counts as being bound by you, then it will trigger Ties of the Heart. Meaning the effect would be greater than you intended, and it’s permanent.”

“That’s true. I want to make something clear: I’m not simply going to use it on you and not myself. The choice is yours.”

“Can you try with something else? Besides love, I mean. It affects multiple positive emotions now, right? Can you try with something less substantial? Like friendship, or attraction?”

“If you want, sure. That’s actually a real smart idea.”

“How about friendship, unless you think that would be too strong?”

“No clue. You sure?” After a moment of consideration, Ellen nodded. “Ellen, I want to hear you say it. You’re sure you want me to do this?”

After a sharp inhale of air, Ellen said, “Yes.”

Mary activated the TF she cleared out all the extraneous threads from her vision, leaving only those between her and Ellen. Then she thought about friendship, and it was narrowed down to two. The one originating from Ellen to Mary seemed stronger than the one from Mary to Ellen, though the two were interwoven together. I guess she considers me a better friend than I do her. Mary reached out and was about to enhance the connection when she realized she had almost made a mistake. Mary got out her phone and looked at Ellen’s TF carefully. Okay, I need the threads for trust, loyalty, and affection. Another six threads appeared in front of Mary; only the affection threads were interwoven with one another. Mary then reached out and strengthened the threads of friendship. Mary noticed that the growth in the thickness of the threads wasn’t equal. Mary’s grew more than Ellen’s. She also noticed that all three of the other types of threads from Ellen to Mary grew as well. Mary reached out and touched the affection thread, trying to feel the emotion. She was slightly overwhelmed by how Ellen felt about her. She noticed her own affection for Ellen increased. “Whoa! That was a rush. Using Merida’s boon counts and triggers Ties of the Heart.”

“Hmm… that. What do you think, Mary? Is it worth doing?”

Mary looked at Ellen and then at the threads between them. I wonder, do we have any threads of love already? Mary was surprised when several threads formed, but they weren’t all matching shades. Odd… Mary reached out to her threads, going to Ellen to feel the exact emotion attached to each. Okay, so the love one has for a friend, love towards other people in general. Mary touched a thread that was forming but not connected to Ellen and hanging down between them. Okay, so this is the start of romantic love for her. Mary looked to see if Ellen had a similar shade. She did and found it was connected by the thinnest piece of thread Mary had seen. She loves me? Or is almost there, already? This boon might be better than the mirror.

“Ellen, it’s up to you. Let me describe what I see right now. There are a bunch of threads. Right now, you are far more invested than I am. I can tell because all of the threads from you to me are thicker. When I increased our friendship, though, my thread grew more than yours did. I think strengthening a thread is harder the stronger it already is. For our threads of romantic love… Yours to mine is connected between us, but while most of the thread itself isn’t super thin, it is connected by the thinnest thread I’ve seen. You said you weren’t sure if it was love, and it might not be there yet, but it’s already close.” Mary got up and sat in the chair next to Ellen. “I thought that would be the case. All the threads between us shortened their relative length. My thread of romantic love for you is weirdly thicker, but it only extends halfway between us. It doesn’t connect to you. I have two ideas about why that’s the case. One, as it grows longer, the thread will get thinner until it connects. Two, it might take me longer to get there, but once I’m connected, it would be stronger.”

“But you’re saying that there is a thread forming between us. That you are growing to love me?”

“Yes.” Mary thought she noticed her thread grow ever so slightly as she said that. “I don’t know if it is worth doing or not. It could rob us of falling in love normally. I can tell that how I felt about you changed noticeably when I increased our friendship.”

“Would you be willing to look at the threads of the women you know you love and compare the thickness of those to the one forming between us?”

“Sure, but I’m not going to describe anyone in particular.” Mary brought up Allie's, Merida’s, Sam’s, and Laura’s threads. They were each different but very similar. Merida’s seemed to be made of fire. Allie’s was outlined in a golden sheen and felt the strongest. Laura’s and Sam’s were strong and interwoven with trust. Mary compared the thickness of the threads and found that while they varied in size, they were all thinner than the one forming between her and Ellen. Allie’s wasn’t the thickest but felt the strongest, like a metal cable pulled taught. “The thickness is smaller on all of them, by a noticeable amount. The quality of them feels different, though. I don’t think thickness is the only measure, just the clearest one.”

“I want you to fall in love with me, for me. I don’t feel like that will happen without this. I feel like you will fall in love with a version of me altered by the costumes. I’m okay with this. Please go ahead, Mary.”

Mary nodded and grabbed both threads of romantic love. She wrapped her thread around Ellen’s as much as she could, not sure if it would do anything. Holding both in her hands, she thought about strengthening and forming the bond. Mary saw the thread from Ellen to her instantly connect to herself firmly as her own thread elongated as it wrapped around Ellen’s. It lost some thickness as it did so and then attached to Ellen. Ellen became slightly woozy. Mary nearly fell out of her chair from the sudden new emotions, but Ellen caught her. “That was more intense than I thought it would be.” Ellen said.

Mary grabbed Ellen’s face and kissed her. She moved to sit on Ellen’s lap, facing her with her knees on either side of her hips. Ellen wrapped her arms around Mary and returned the passionate kiss. After making out for a few minutes, Mary stopped to catch her breath.

Ellen let out a light chuckle. “I guess it wasn’t intense for just me?”

“Yeah. I now understand Flora’s and Merida’s relationship a lot better. Oh… Oh shit!” Mary’s eyes went wide.

“Mary, what's wrong?” Ellen was really concerned and didn’t even seem to care that Mary swore.

“Hilde. Merida did this to Hilde. I knew that. But knowing that, and understanding this… and Merida didn’t do it equally.”

“Oh, oh shit, indeed.” They sat there just thinking about things when Ellen said, “Mary, don’t rush to get involved in that.” Mary looked at Ellen, confused. “I’m not saying: don’t get involved. I’m saying: let things play out and only get involved if you really need to. It isn’t on you to fix every problem in the harem. Especially problems between your women. In fact, I generally think you should let us solve our own interpersonal problems unless it starts impacting more people. This might be a situation to talk to Flora specifically, as while she has experienced this herself, maybe it wasn’t as intense. It certainly seemed more intense for you than for me.”

“Flora already trusted Merida a lot, so it likely helped. It was definitely intense for me. If Hilde feels like this, I would really like to help her.”

“Like I said, don’t try to put yourself in the middle of this; talk to Flora and give your perspective about things. Then let her resolve it. Also, Mary, DON’T hypnotize her into accepting this.”

“I would never.”

“Mary, you told us earlier that Mark having Sam’s dragon TF has likely affected you, since you feel like you have a hoard. That's right?”

“Yeeess…” Mary replied in a tone that asked for further elaboration.

“Mary, if you are being affected by a TF Mark has, even a little, then please be careful about your actions. Mark had more than one of the brownies from Sally. They lower inhibitions.”

Mary rubbed her eyes in frustration. “Why would you use those? Of all of them, why those?”

“I didn’t want to use physical ones since those would be obvious.”

“That’s fair, I guess. That at least explains some of the stuff I’ve noticed on the status pages.” Mary stood up. “Ellen, while I would love to just go to our room for the night, I feel like I would be doing the team a disservice not to try and do something to at least gain a bit of XP or craft something. If you want to come hang out with me, though, you are more than welcome to.”

“No, I’m good. I’m thinking about plans for this evening now.” Ellen stood and kissed Mary’s cheek. “I’ll see you this evening.” Ellen smiled, grabbed her books, and walked down the hall towards the rooms. Mary went to find the workshop, wondering when Ellen would notice which TFs she suppressed for a day.