Pain Doré

Breakfast had continued as a tense affair; Mira’s presence at the far corner of the room had put a weight on all conversation. The only two seemingly unaffected were Stella and Eliza, who were chatting and engaging the table like nothing was wrong. Eventually, though, Mira had finished her meal and left as quickly and as quietly as possible, scuttling out while keeping her head down and avoiding eye contact with anybody.

Even after she left, people still seemed uneasy, so like a knife through Play-Doh, Eliza’s voice cut through the miasma, “So, who’s joining me for a day of drinks, games, and fun?”

The sound of the word games broke Maya from the depressive stupor she was in, and light rapidly filled her eyes, “Oh me! I want to play.”

Maddy’s eyes glanced toward the exit of the room, and then the blonde quickly looked down, “It sounds like fun, but I think I’m going to sit this one out. I have a meal I'm prepping for tomorrow that needs some work still.”

Eliza leaned in, “You sure? No one is gonna mind if there's a few less side dishes, we’d love to have you.”

Keeping her head down, Maddy’s eyes glanced over, and she gave a small half smile, “I’ll feel bad for not completing something I started, so yeah, I’m sure.”

Caleb looked to Maddy, unable to read her expression, but couldn’t help but feel like something more was going on.

Noemi piped up, “Well, I’ll come, it sounds like fun, and I can’t remember the last time we all did something just because it was fun. Plus, it will give us harem mates a chance to bond!”

Drumming her fingers against the table, Amy bit her lip lightly. “I mean, I suppose you’re right about that. Might not hurt to relax before the coming challenge.”

“Oh, right, the challenge…” Lily sighed, “I had completely let it slip my mind. I definitely could use the distraction to keep it that way.”

Stella threw her arms behind her head and leaned back, “Still, so lame you’re all doing this when I can’t join in.”

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Maya locked eyes with Stella, “Don’t worry, we’re having a board game night on our free day! So you won't completely miss out.”

The imp snorted, “The games weren’t exactly what I was referring to, but sure. Thanks, Maya.” Stella kicked her feet and swung her body out of her seat, “Well, I best be getting ready for my ‘date’” She looked over at Caleb and shot him a wink, “You best be ready when I come to fetch you.”

As the imp made her way out of the room, Maddy got up, “Sounds like we all have our plans for the day. You all have fun, I’m gonna go ahead and get started.” She began to make her way to the kitchen.

Lily waved after her, “Have fun, Maddy! We’ll miss you.”

Eliza pumped her fist in the air, “The rest of you ready to party? Sounds like we have some catching up to do from what we heard about last night.”

Caleb reached over to touch Eliza’s shoulder and leaned in to whisper out of earshot, “You don’t have to push yourself, y’know. I hope you have fun, but it’s ok to not be ok right now.”

The professor shrugged off his hand, her expression turning sour. “You worry too much, babe. I’m fine,” The emphasis she put on the last word made Caleb want to push, but the look in her eyes made him back off. If she wasn’t willing to talk about it, pushing might only make it worse.

The Master drew himself back and got up from his seat. “Well, you girls have fun, I guess I should go wait for Stella. Sounds like she’s got something planned, and if it’s anything like last time, I need to prepare mentally.” he waved to everyone, “Have fun, I’ll see you later.”

As the master began to leave the dining hall, a smile returned to Eliza’s face, “Well? Shall we?”

When Caleb arrived back in the Master’s suite, he felt a wave of relief as he stumbled to the armchair and collapsed back into it, closing his eyes as his face looked to the ceiling. Even before Mira entered the room, the master could feel the silent pressure on him as all the girls' attentions shifted slightly towards him. Maybe they weren’t all as intense as Noemi about it, but between affection and expectation, Caleb could feel the weight on his shoulders. Now more than ever, with a challenge on the horizon.

That was without even beginning to broach the topic of today’s date. He and Stella had seemingly patched things up after a rough first round, but that didn’t change that she was the most unpredictable member of the Harem by far. Even if it weighed on him, the others he kind of felt like he understood what the other women wanted from him. Even Mira, in her twisted way, had made it clear that she expected him to step up and act as a leader.

What did Stella want from all this? Who even was she? God, the days of seeing her as this aloof, intelligent ingenue were so far gone. She was brash, abrasive, and intensely provocative. But one thing was accurate: despite how she insisted on presenting herself, she was horribly intelligent, in ways that even Amy wasn’t. This made her chaotic behaviour even more confusing, as it was all driven by some thought, even if he couldn’t understand or respect the motivations.

He knew next to nothing about her. Besides an offhand comment about her dad, indicating a bad relationship with her parents, and knowing she dropped out of college, who was she? Caleb sat up and pressed his hands together, now feeling the apprehension that came from not knowing what was to come.

He didn’t have to wait long, as there was a sharp rapping on his door, followed by a familiar voice calling through, “Come on, Master, wouldn’t do to keep a lady waiting!”

Caleb smiled and decided to play into it as he approached the door, “Well, let me know when a lady arrives so I can be on my best behav-ohooowoah!” As he opened the door, he was greeted by Stella leaning in and looking at him smugly, and it had only taken a moment to see why she looked so smug.

She was wearing the same outfit that she had had on in the dining hall, a red button-up shirt and grey vest, left so the top half was mostly unbuttoned, a tight black pencil skirt, leggings, and some black flats. The difference was that while at breakfast, her unbuttoned shirt had shown off the flat contours of her chest, now two massive breasts hung plentifully from her chest, straining the fabric of her top.

Seeing his expression, the Imp held a hand to her mouth and cackled, “Oh my god, your face! Mmm, I take it, you don’t have any complaints?” She reached down and squeezed her chest through her top, hefting them up for Caleb to inspect.

Gathering up his self-respect, Caleb tried to pull his eyes away from the breasts being pushed towards his face to look Stella in the eyes and ask the most pertinent question, “How? What did you do? Is this a sabotage?”

“Jeeze, Caleb, a girl shoves her big boobs in your face, and you have the gall to ask if she’s had work done?” The imp smirked and stuck out her tongue, letting her breasts fall where they stood high and mighty on her chest. She gave a performative shrug, “No, it's from when we were exploring the catacombs. Remember how Maddy came back with them tig ol bitties? Its from some water that was there. I bottled it up, and then today I gave myself a drink. Instant double D action.” She stuck out her chest proudly.

“So you drank some magic water, without worrying that it might have effects other than boob growth or be completely random?” Caleb stared at Stella in disbelief, though admittedly, his gaze was being dragged down into the cavernous cleavage on prominent display.

“My biggest worry was that the magic might be time sensitive and that it might just be normal water now. Otherwise what? I get big tits or something else exciting happens. Sounds like a win-win to me.” She shrugged, “Caleb, this is a sex show, they weren’t going to poison me, even if the effects were random, it would be more likely to turn me into a dommy mommy witch or horny cat girl.” She paused, “How would a cat girl work with the horns and tail…”

Caleb sighed. This is what he was talking about! He could not even begin to imagine operating like this. He cocked his hip to the side and looked down at Stella, “I really hope that this wasn’t the extent of your plans for whatever our date is. Because I gotta tell you, showing up with big breasts is not a date, it’s a novelty.”

“Oh, and here I was thinking you’d lose all sense and ravish me for the rest of the day.” Stella rolled her eyes and faked a swoon, “No, you dum dum, this is just some eye candy, an apology.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, “An apology?”

Suddenly, Stella looked uncomfortable, wringing her hands. “Listen, idiot, I know I already apologized for the last date, but like…I didn’t mean it so…this time I’m apologizing for real.” She avoided any and all eye contact while saying this, “Fucking don’t let it go to your head, ok? I just- listen- in round one, I wanted attention and to do well, and I didn’t care about you all. Like that’s just the facts. I didn’t know you, and I was pissed I was here because you had some little crush.”

Caleb opened his mouth, “Stella, I’m really sorry for landing you here.”

“No, idiot, shut up. God, you’re making this hard.” A bright red blush spread across her cheeks as she pouted angrily as Caleb backed off, “I didn’t care about any of you, and so I did selfish things, and while I don’t mind being selfish because I rock, I don’t…I didn’t-fuck!” She stamped her foot, “I don’t want to be hurting people, ok? I don’t buy into the whole harem family kumbayah bullshit or whatever, but that’s not what I’m about. I’m selfish, but I’m not fucking evil, ok?” her face was bright crimson, and she stamped her foot again, “ok?!”

Flinching backward slightly, Caleb looked down at Stella. He had never been insulted more during an apology, and oddly, was not angry about it. If the heat spreading from his core was any indication, quite the opposite in fact, he found himself eyeing her tail, which was swishing back and forth, and without thinking, reached out and grabbed it.

The response was immediate, Stella’s face flushed, and her back and neck arched as she let out a high-pitched yelp that turned into a mewing sound as Caleb ran his thumb over the surprisingly soft trail of her tail. She was pushing her chest against his, staring up with watery eyes, “What are you doing, jerk?!” She lightly hammered her fists against him, but there was no ****, and Caleb could swear, despite her protest, that he saw the flicker of a smile on her face.

He gave her tail a little tug, which resulted in her face screwing up as she let out another high-pitched whine, “I just thought, if you were going to apologize, you should do it properly. Maybe without all the excuses and cursing.”

“You jerk, I was doing it properlylylyly-” Her voice was dragged out as Caleb reached out and began to rub the surface of her horns, and she pushed her body against him, and the Master could feel from the sharp nubs pressing against him that she had no bra on.

“Come on, I believe you can do it if you try.” He began to stroke her tail down towards her ass, causing her to shudder in his grip. He had no idea where this sudden desire had come from, and then suddenly remembered one of Stella’s new transformations, which he had nearly forgotten, as the imp one had a much more visual reminder:

Get a Rise: Stella enjoys resisting doing what she is told and getting a rise out of people, Stella will receive arousal when defiant, but the feeling won’t go away until she complies. She will also receive a provocative wardrobe to match her personality. (Brat)

Whatcha Gonna Do About It?: Stella's bratty attitude becomes more effective at provoking a reaction. The person she's provoking will find an increased urge to "put her in her place", and both they and Stella will receive increased pleasure from doing so. (Brat)

And judged by how hard he was, the pleasure induced was no joke, and he had to wonder how intense the sensation that Stella must be dealing with was. Her mouth was open, and spittle was dribbling out, her eyes clenched tight, and as she didn’t respond, he clenched his grip and gave her tail another sharp tug.

This caused her body to jerk against him as he spoke into her ear, “Come on, you can do it. Say sorry properly for me.”

Stella shook her head vehemently, and then gasped as Caleb gripped her horn and turned her head up to face him and look him in the eye, and then, with a shuddering breath, Caleb whispered, “Say sorry.”

Stella swallowed and then her lips pinched together as she stared into his eyes, “I’m sorry…sir,” And it was like a dam burst as her body shuddered in his arms. There was a long pause as the silence was only broken by her haggard breaths, and then suddenly she patted him twice on the shoulder, “Well, that’s a way to get a start to a date. Who knew you had it in you?” She pulled away and began to straighten her clothes, “Damn though, the feedback loop on those transformations is a bitch.”

Caleb blinked, “You-you did that on purpose?”

“Well, yeah, wanted to test it out, also thought the endorphins might loosen you up. God, you’ve been tense since breakfast. Did it help at all? Pull the stick slightly from your ass?” She winked

Caleb was still dumbfounded as his gaze stayed centered on the imp who had already straightened herself out, “You were trying to help me?”

“I mean, yeah, sure, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t a downer all day.” She brushed her hair back with her hand. “Speaking of, you’re gonna want to grab your umbrella. We’re going outside and probably gonna be there for a while. Don’t want you collapsing on me.” She turned towards the elevator, leaving Caleb just as confused as when he first got back to the suite. He quickly ran to grab his umbrella from its stand before chasing after the imp.

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