One Of My Favorites

Mark let Kitty lead him to the bed and push him down onto his back. Kitty unbuttoned his pants slowly, while Merida and Hilde lay to one side, cuddling each other and just watching. She slid down his pants, making sure to run her hands along his legs as she peeled them off. She wasn’t so gentle with his underwear and ripped it to shreds using her claws. “If we don’t get underwear, I don’t see why you should either,” Kitty purred.

Mark smirked at the joke as his dick stiffened.

Hilde was whispering something to Merida, causing Merida to smirk. Merida then said, “Horny Kitty.” Kitty immediately fell to the side as the sensations from the vibrators returned, and she felt everything from overnight as well. She immediately started mewling in pleasure as she climaxed.

Mark asked, “Merida, what the hell was that for?”

Hilde was the one to answer. “I thought it would be unfair. Both for her not to feel pleasure while she served you, Master, but also that she got to go first when I’m so hungry.” Hilde crawled over and was about to lick his cock when Mark stopped her.

“Stop,” Mark said firmly. Mark first held Kitty while she orgasmed, making sure she was okay. Once she stopped spasming, he moved her a bit and laid her head down on a pillow. Kitty was letting out a low growl of pleasure from the continued stimulation, though.

Mark then turned to Hilde and Merida. “What are the other triggers for her?”

Merida said, “Either ye or I can order her tae climax, and focus followed by her pet name will stop the pleasure she feels. I wid mention she wasna particularly pleased wi' me cuttin' aff the afterglow when I used it afore.”

Mark nodded, “Noted. Now… Merida… I thought I was pretty clear about you hypnotizing anyone without my permission.”

“I didnae! I just used a trigger she already had. It doesnae put her in a trance either!” Merida huffed out. “Ye arenae tellin' me, I cannae tak' care o' Kitty withoot yer permission, are ye? Frankly, if ye are, get fucked, Mark. I’ll keep my promise, even if I really dinnae want tae. But Kitty is my girlfriend. I love her. Neither o' those twa things is true for ye richt noo. At least no' that I’ve heard, and I feel like I wid hae heard. I’m gaun tae tak' care o' her. Are we clear?”

Mark conceded the point as he nodded his head to the side. “Fine. That still doesn’t change that who gets access to my dick and when is up to me and not you. Hilde, you will be waiting for your turn. Kitty is going first.” Kitty’s purring grew louder hearing Mark’s words.

Hilde complained, “That isn’t fair, Master. I’m hungry. Kitty isn’t using your dick right now. Why can’t I?”

“I already made that clear,” Mark said, crossing his arms. “You can wait, be glad I’m not telling you both to leave, for interfering in something I was enjoying.”

Hilde pouted and buried her face in Merida’s boobs for solace. Mark started gently stroking Kitty’s hair as she continued to purr.

Merida looked away awkwardly for a bit. Eventually, she said, “Mark, ye dae realize we’re gaun tae be keepin' Chloe and Aubrey waitin', as it could be several minutes afore Kitty is back up.”

Mark shrugged, “That’s your fault. This entire thing was about testing Kitty’s mental abilities after getting my load. Hilde getting a meal was secondary. I know she ate a good portion of food at breakfast. I meant it. Be glad I’m not simply telling her no for that stunt.”

Merida said, “Look… Mark, it really was partially for Kitty’s benefit, tae. She cannae feel ony erotic stimulation wi' the other trigger in place. I didnae just negate the vibrators because I was worried aboot other traps in the dungeon bein' a problem.”

Mark sighed, half in frustration and half disappointment. “You still should have asked. You do realize she had her claws out and near my dick when you triggered her, right? What if she had swiped me?”

Merida looked ashamed and refused to meet Mark’s gaze.

Hilde pulled her face out of her favorite pillows. “Master, that wouldn’t matter. Kitty’s claws can’t injure people anymore.”

Mark and Merida both looked at Hilde, confused. Kitty languidly stretched as she sat up and asked, “What do you mean by that?” Kitty started to rub her face up against Mark.

“I’ve mentioned before that I keep my boon active at all times. Kitty, your transformation has been upgraded. I would guess Cassandra did it, with Mark’s BP when the shop opened.”

Mark pulled up Kitty's status page, and sure enough, Hilde was correct.

Hear me Roar: Flora will gain many features of a lioness, such as the tufted ears, tail, and retractable claws. In addition, she will purr when content, and she will roar during sex. [Nala] Upgrade: Flora will now randomly go into heat seeking sexual satisfaction, preferably from Mark/Mary, otherwise any other Harem member will suffice. Flora’s roar of climax will also spread this heat for a time to women who hear it, besides Mary.

Upgrade: This Kitty has claws but is afraid she might hurt others. Now she need not worry. Her claws will produce a variety of sensations and feelings depending on her intent, current mental state, and the pressure she exerts with them on whoever she uses them on, with arousal being the most intense. Physical injury to living creatures is no longer possible.

Mark read the upgrade aloud for Kitty’s and Merida’s benefit. Then he said, “That… huh. I really didn’t expect Cassandra to do something so helpful.”

Kitty got a mischievous grin on her face as she extended her claws and started wiggling her fingers menacingly towards Merida and Hilde. “Meowster, can I test these out on these two as punishment for interrupting us?”

Mark shrugged, “Seems fair to me.” Merida didn’t have time to object. Hilde could have gotten out of the way, but refused to let go of Merida, so Kitty got her, too, as she pounced on them. Kitty began to knead Merida’s breast, causing a heat to spread throughout her body, while leaving thin red lines where Kitty’s claws touched her. Kitty ran her claws gently over Hilde’s skin, causing her to burst out into intense laughter.

Hilde exclaimed, “Mercy! HAHAAHAHAAHA! Mercy please! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I’m sorry!”

Kitty stopped tormenting both of them. “That will teach you both to play mean tricks on others. Now Kitty wants her cream!” Kitty pounced on Mark. With a thud, he was pushed onto his back on the bed with Kitty on top of him. She turned around and started to lick Mark’s cock. She decided to continue testing her claws, gripping both of his thighs and thinking about intense pleasure she squeezed down.

Mark's legs lurched up slightly before Kitty pushed them back down. “Holy crap! Kitty—” Mark didn’t get to finish his thought as he let out a moan of intense pleasure as Kitty took his shaft into her mouth and then throat.

Hilde bit her lips as she jealously watched Kitty take what she wanted. Merida noticed Hilde’s squirming and reached around and began to massage Hilde’s supple breasts.

It took very little time for Kitty to get what she wanted. She pulled back slightly so Mark would cum in her mouth and not her throat, as she wanted to savor his cream.

She sat up and enjoyed the taste in her mouth, her tail accidentally swatting Mark in the face as it moved back and forth. Then she smirked at Hilde, licked her lips to taunt the woman, swallowed, and then went back down on Mark’s cock.

Kitty wanted to keep Hilde waiting for a while. So despite vigorously sucking on Mark’s cock, he couldn’t cum a second time for a while. Mark actually intervened before she decided she was done edging him.

Mark gently patted her ass and said, “Kitty, stop being mean.” Mark let out a few ragged breaths. “Either finish me off, then give Hilde a turn, or simply let her go now.”

Kitty growled in annoyance with her lips around his cock, but she complied. She finished him off and took another hot, sticky load in her mouth. She swirled it around with her tongue, savouring the flavor of vanilla cream, finally swallowing.

Kitty definitely noticed the difference in her thinking. Holy crap! I wonder if this is what Talia feels like all the time now. She felt like her body couldn’t keep up with her thoughts anymore. She saw Hilde rush out of Merida’s arms and over to Mark’s cock the moment that it was free of Kitty’s lips and began getting her own meal.

Kitty watched as it seemed Hilde was treating Mark’s penis like a flavoured syrup pump at a coffee shop. Where each time Hilde went down, she got another squirt of his spunk. Mark’s head had rolled to one side, having clearly been overwhelmed by the repeated pleasure of climaxing so close together. Kitty backed off and went to lie her head down on her favorite pillow.

Merida just smiled as Kitty curled up between her thighs, placing her head on her breasts. Merida started to gently stroke Kitty’s ears, causing Kitty to begin to purr.

Kitty was relaxing and thinking about what had happened over the last couple of days. God, I can’t believe how reckless some of my choices really were. She started reviewing the plan they had made earlier and wasn’t sure it was the best choice anymore.

It was several more minutes before Hilde’s hunger had been sated, and she stopped blowing Mark and rolled onto her back, holding her stomach with a content look on her face.

Kitty let Hilde and Mark recover a bit before saying, “I think we might need to alter the upcoming plans. Meowster, I would also like your opinion on something when we go to the BP store.”

Merida asked, “Whit’s wrang wi' our previous plans?”

“They’re inefficient. I think more of us should stay here at the base and work on improving it, besides Chloe.” Kitty replied, slightly annoyed that she hadn’t realized that before.

Hilde sat up, “Isn’t that going against the idea of pushing for as much CP as possible?”

Kitty shook her head. Kitty leaned forward on her knees, placing her hands right next to her knees. “No. At least it shouldn’t be. Now, could one of you help me focus?” Kitty looked between Merida and Mark.

Mark obliged, “Focus, Kitty.” Just like that, the vibrations seemed to mostly fade into the background of Kitty’s thoughts.

Kitty smiled gratefully. “Thanks.” She hopped out of bed, brushed off her tight leather pants, and said, “To the BP store.” Kitty strode off. It took a few minutes for the others to follow through, as Mark wasn’t actually going to go commando himself, Merida wasn’t going to give Mark an article of clothing, and Hilde was still rather clingy to both Mark and Merida. They did catch up with her at the store, where Kitty was in an intense discussion with Slevia.

This time, Slevia was seated cross-legged on a cloth mat spread on the cave floor. She had cat ears and tail, and a cowl on. When Mark, Hilde, and Merida approached, she abruptly stopped talking to Kitty, and said, “Khajit has wears if you have coin.”

Mark just facepalmed. Merida laughed. Hilde looked confused. Hilde asked, “Um… what’s a Khajit?”

Mark took in a deep breath, sighed, and said, “They are catfolk from a famous video game. They also tend to be wandering traders and obsessed with money.”

“Ah.” Hilde shook her head. “Well, it could be worse.”

Everyone but Slevia present looked at Hilde curiously.

Hilde said, “Master, you seriously don’t want to know. Now, Kitty, what were you and my sister talking about?”

“We were discussing the various Boons I could copy. Also, whether I should have the copy re-flavoured to be in line with one of my paths.”

Mark said, “I hope you aren’t considering Merida’s Kitsune boon. Going to be honest, I don’t know that I will be able to handle that.”

Kitty pouted, “You don’t want eight more Kittys?”

Mark walked over and gently placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “I like you plenty, I don’t think I really understood the implications of Merida’s TF when we made it, though. Merigold is now a part of my harem. Assuming Merida fills out the whole set, I’ll have twenty-one women in my harem. I’m not sure I need or want another eight on top of that.”

Kitty bobbed her head from side to side, “I suppose that’s fair. I wasn’t really considering that angle. More just having a massive orgy between myselves and the Meridas.”

Mira appeared next to Merida. “Well fucking don’t you damn pussycat. Merigold, Meribelle, and I aren’t your fucking sex toys, nor would the other copies of you be either. Merida has my god damned respect because, while yes, she thought it likely to happen, it wasn’t an expectation that any of us would have sex with anyone here.” Mira reached out and grabbed Kitty’s collar and yanked on in pulling Kitty onto her tiptoes. “You try anything with me, Kitty, and I’ll turn you into a tame little housecat.” Mira then released the collar and disappeared back to being one of Merida’s tails.

Merida furrowed her brow and seemed to be having a conversation in her head. A conversation that left her displeased when it was over. “Sorry, Kitty. She shouldnae hae yelt at ye like that.”

Kitty shook her head. “It’s fine. Her point is valid. She also can’t help but be crass, vulgar, and rude. Mira also has that fiery determination to protect those she cares about, just like you do. Now back on topic. Do any of you have suggestions on which boon to copy? Originally, I had wanted Sam’s knot-tying boon, because I could tie someone up and they wouldn’t know it was me. I figured it would let me cause a whole lot of fun. Now though… I’m not sure.”

Mark pulled out his phone and filtered all the TFs the girls had to just the boons. After a moment, Mark said, “Kitty, are you sure you want to copy one of their boons? I’m not telling you not to, as they are rather useful, it’s just, why do you want to?”

Kitty put her hands on her hips and craned her neck up at Mark, “You can’t be serious, right Meowster?”

Mark sighed, “Yeah, I am. There is so much that BP can be used for that could help you. I just want you to consider if it's the best use of it to copy a Boon.”

Kitty was about to retort, but thanks to her mind working faster than her mouth, she actually stopped to think about this. Kitty turned to Slevia, “Is there anything else you would recommend besides copying a boon?”

Slevia nodded, “Plenty. I’ll ask the same as Mark. What are you trying to do? Laura’s youth or goddess boon are solid. Your original plan… was to help in challenges. Those don’t really do that. You weren’t happy with your paths. Could change one. Upgrades to your TFs. The question is, what do you want?”

Kitty seemed contemplative. A look that Mark hadn’t really seen on her much. He thought it was really cute with her nose scrunched up and her lips pursed. Eventually, Kitty said, “I want something that will be useful in challenges but also later, and can be fun.”

Hilde walked over to Kitty and Slevia and looked at the options for copying a boon. Then selected one, saying, “If that’s the case, I would go with this one. It will definitely help with the physical challenges. I’m sure it will let you have some fun, too.”

Mark and Merida moved over to see what Hilde was talking about as well. The screen showed Brooke’s Law of the Jungle TF. Mark thought about the TF and realized he remembered Cassandra’s words about it. Mark nodded his approval. “I think that’s a great choice. Two questions, though. First, Slevia, how will that work? Will it have a strange interaction with itself?”

Slevia shook her head, “No. Reference is non-magical human. TF is magic.”

Mark was glad to hear that was the case. “Great. Now second question: Kitty, is there a reason you don’t want Goddess, or maybe Fairy Godmother? I ask as while this will improve you physically, you’ll still be behind Brooke, Sam, and Laura at a minimum, in the harem in terms of physical capabilities.”

Hilde interjected, “Me too.”

Kitty looked at Hilde and asked, “Really?”

Hilde nodded again, “At least in a lot of areas. You might beat me in strength, but not much else.”

Kitty turned to Mark, “As for your question, Meowster. I looked at Goddess, and it gave me a warning that it wouldn’t be an identical copy, but it couldn’t give me what the result would be, just that it would be in line with a path of my choice. I don’t want to risk it being essentially a dud. Fairy Godmother would be fine, I guess. It’s versatile if limited in uses. I was hoping for something that isn’t limited like that.”

Kitty pondered her choices for a moment and said, “I like it, plus it might let me actually keep up with you, Meowster. After all, you’ve gotten rather swole.”

Mark replied, “Please never call me that again.”

Merida teased him, “Dae ye even lift, laddie?”

Mark rubbed his eyes, “I’ve created monsters.”

Kitty selected the boon and tapped buy on the screen. The next moment, she felt different, more aware of her surroundings. She noticed the change in her senses first, her sense of smell, which had seemed to be heightened further, as was her hearing. What really surprised her was how acute her vision had become.

She could feel her skintight leather pants tighten just a little bit more as her thighs and calves grew slightly in size. Kitty felt all over the changes to her body. She felt lighter, breathed easier, and her aches and pains faded. “Huh, I’m surprised I didn’t get more muscle elsewhere. I don’t feel like I physically look all that different, but I definitely feel more energetic.”

Merida, and Mark both looked on intrigued by the tightening of her pants.

Slevia explained, “Physical change is minimal. Different body types, good at different things. You’re good at all things now. Can’t have a swimmer’s body, weightlifter’s body, and gymnast's body all at once.”

“Huh,” Kitty grunted out. Then Kitty decided to test out her new physique. She moved behind Mark and jumped straight up and landed on Mark’s shoulders, wrapping her legs around his arms. Mark nearly stumbled forward from the sudden added weight, but managed to brace himself against the wall.

Mark exclaimed, “Kitty! What the hell?”

Kitty looked down at Mark, “Meowster?” She seemed confused as to why Mark was upset.

“A little warning would have been nice,” Mark replied.

Kitty tilted her head to the side, “But I’m a cat, isn’t this normal for a cat?”

Mark was about to say no, but realized that climbing on people was definitely a cat thing. Mark also remembered hearing that cats climbing on you and perching like this was a sign of trust. At least he was pretty sure that was cats. I guess that makes sense. Mark looked up at Kitty, “Well, would you mind getting down?”

“Yes, I would.” Kitty placed her hands on top of his head. Then she pointed towards the lounge, “Forward my noble steed!”

Mark said, “Kitty, get down.” The vibration from Kitty’s clit piercing was getting rather annoying pressed up against the back of his head.

“I don’t wanna,” Kitty said, while tightening her legs around him and wrapping her arms around his head.

“Kitty, you have until the count of three.” Mark then started counting, “One…” Kitty gripped him tighter. “Two…” Kitty did not let go. “Th—”

Kitty exclaimed, “FINE!” Then she somersaulted backwards off his shoulders, landing on the ground, pouting.

Mark saw her disappointment. It’s probably those tags. He sighed and reached out to ruffle her hair, but she batted his hand away with a paw. Then she started to walk off without saying anything. Not sure I’m a fan of these tags. Mark turned to see that Merida had a hand clapped over her mouth and was holding her stomach, trying not to audibly laugh. When their eyes met, she lost it and started laughing. She pulled down her panties, tossed them to Mark, and hurried off after Kitty, still laughing.

Hilde just patted Mark’s leg. “It’s okay, Master. I’ll be with you always.” Hilde leaned into him while wrapping both arms around him.

Mark saw Sleiva give him a strange look as she swapped between him and Hilde. She mouthed, ‘What. The. Fuck?’

Mark gave her a shrug, trying to indicate, ‘What can I say? Shit happened.’ Mark then bent down and scooped Hilde up in his arms, much to her giggling delight, and they went to join the others.

Mark re-entered the lounge to find Kitty poring over the quest board and explaining the new plan to Chloe and Aubrey.

Kitty was mid-conversation when Mark entered. “Mrow, see, we should all spend some time crafting.” Kitty saw Mark and Hilde had joined them, “Though Hilde, Merida, I do have another mission for the two of you.”

Hilde looked at Kitty. “I’d love some alone time with Merida. What did you have in mind?”

Kitty felt a twinge of annoyance at Hilde’s words. Despite what she had thought, apparently, the compersion bond didn’t mean no jealousy at all. Kitty replied, “Well, we got a report that the orcs are getting hammered fairly hard by the other team. We also got a report that they are working on cleansing Hardrock of the infected.”

Mark put Hilde down at her request. Hilde said, “Okay, so, again, what’s the job?”

“Two things: First, place these two idols. I would like Mira and Merigold to stand watch over each one. Merida’s staff of relocation allows her to teleport to where she’s been before with others. If Mira and Merigold watch the idol locations, Merida can come back here and teleport us all to whichever one the others go to if we think we can stop them. Though based on where the locations are, they might not try. After placing the idols, though, I was hoping you two could retrieve Ellen for us.”

“You know where Ellen is?” Mark said, hopefully.

Kitty shook her head. “No, but I was thinking we could use the last favor to get something that would let us locate her.”

Chloe and Aubrey both frowned. Chloe replied, “That makes fighting problematic for Aubrey. What if—”

As if on cue, Aubrey’s hair decided to tie her up again, and she fell forward, landing hard on her breasts. Aubrey let out several bleats. “BAAAAA! Baaaa baaaa baaaa.”

Chloe sighed, kneeling to help Aubrey. “That happens mid-fight?” Chloe began to untangle Aubrey’s hair.

Kitty replied, “We need Ellen back, and we need her back today, or we’re screwed. Aubrey’s hair is a problem, but being down a teammate is a bigger one.”

Chloe didn’t reply but just shook her head.

Mark asked, “Are you sure, Kitty?”

She nodded, “Yes, I am.”

Mark sent a message off to Cassandra.

Mark: So what can you provide here?

Cassandra: Not how this works, Mark. You ask for something.

Mark: I’d like an item, preferably worth CP, that would allow me to find my teammates, specifically Ellen, right now.

Cassandra: Doable. Are you sure?

Mark: Yes.

An ornate jewelry box appeared on the table. Mark opened it to find a ring bound to him alone. It allowed him to know where everyone else on his team was. Specifically, it gave him the direction and distance for each person.

Mark looked at the map and frowned when he estimated Ellen's location. “Shit. Looks like the other team got Ellen. Based on the distance, the ring is showing she’s somewhere in the capital.”

Kitty nodded, “Makes sense why the sending ring won’t deliver the message then. She’s incapacitated.”

Hilde asked, “Um… you want Merida and me to get Ellen out of the Capital by ourselves?”

Kitty replied, “You’re fast, and she’s sneaky. If you can’t do it, then teleport back here, and I’ll try with Mark.”

Chloe seemed to be considering something while getting Aubrey free. Then she suddenly said, “DAMNIT!” Everyone turned to her as she shouted.

Mark asked, “What’s wrong?”

Chloe replied, “These stupid fucking rules. I thought up several things, and I hate them. I hate them so so so much, but if I don’t share them…” Chloe trailed off, deciding if it was worth it to break the rules or not.

Mark said, “Chloe, I’m not the one enforcing the new rules.”

“I know. I know. Damnit. Well, the first one is actually Mark’s plan from a few days ago. Hilde, the orcs are essentially feeding people to the infected and keeping them locked up to bolster our defenses. What if you put a few of them in your storage space and dumped them in the towns with the idols and the capital? Maybe even take the former Captain from Asherland as she seems to have transformed into an elite Moobrey.”

“Baa ba baa baaa baaa baaa?” Aubrey replied, annoyed.

Chloe replied, “Sorry, dear, but it’s the most apt term for them.”

Hilde asked, “You understood her? I could because of my boon, but how did you get that?”

Chloe shook her head, “Not exactly. The length of the baas corresponds to the words, and she does have a different tone at times. I just intuited what she likely said. I have known her for a really long time.”

Hilde said, “Huh. Well, I can definitely do that. I almost feel like I have to now. Should I drop the Elite at one of the idols or the capital?”

Kitty said, “Don’t take her. She’s one of the most valuable assets for the defense.”

Hilde gave a thumbs up and then zipped out of the room to go collect her bioweapons.

Kitty turned to Chloe, “You said you had multiple ideas?”

Chloe nodded, annoyed, “Yes, most of them are things I can make with the right resources.”

Mark frowned and, in a rather harsh voice, said, “I hope you aren’t talking about what could be described as the war crimes section of your recipe book.”

Chloe nodded, “I am.”

Mark nearly growled out, “Chloe, so help me I’ll, —”

Chloe got up in Mark’s face, cutting him off, “Do nothing! Mark, first of all, this is a challenge. You said before that pretty much anything that wasn’t an attempted elimination that happened in a challenge wouldn’t be held against us. SECOND!” Chloe raised her voice for a moment as she saw Mark about to retort. “I WASN’T planning to use those things before Cassandra’s rules. I now have to pick between letting Cassandra punish me or at least consider them as viable options. So don’t even start.”

Mark took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Chole, you’re right.” Mark took another deep breath.

Hilde returned and said to Merida, “I got my storage loaded up with infected. Ready to go when you are, love.” Hilde noticed that the room was a little tense at the moment.

Merida brought up something. “Mark… I ken ye’re tense and unhappy aboot whit that rule is gaun tae likely cause…” Merida was clearly choosing her words with care. “I’m gey shair if I hae tae keep that promise I made earlier, Cassandra will be able tae punish me.” A moment later, Merida felt the promise disappear. “Thanks, Mark.”

Chloe said, “Don’t thank Mark. You promised me, and I cleared it. Not that I had that much of a choice, either. You should get going. Now.” Merida nodded, took Hilde’s hand, and left the room before Mark could go off about Merida hypnotizing the other team. Chloe looked Mark in the eyes. “Mark, could I have a word in private?”

Mark closed his eyes for a moment and nodded. He gestured towards his room. Chloe led the way.

Once she was in the room, she gestured to close the door.

Mark obliged her, tapping the button, causing the large stone to roll closed, sealing them in. Mark let Chloe set the pace and remained quiet.

Chloe took a minute to compose herself. Mark could see her fidgeting with her outfit, clearly worried about whatever she wanted to talk about.

Eventually, she said, “Mark, I’m scared.”

Concern crossed Mark’s face, and he reached out a hand, placing it on Chloe’s shoulder. “About what?”

“I’m in last, and even middle of the pack is like twenty points ahead of me. I’m afraid of what happens if I’m in last, hell, even the bottom three, and our team loses.”

“Reasonable.”

Chloe let out a weak chuckle. “Not going to tell me there is nothing to worry about?”

“I’m not. That is a very reasonable worry.”

“I was wondering if I could… could convince you to do something for me. It helps me a lot, but also helps the team.” Mark gestured for her to continue. “Could you boost Fairy Godmother several times? I was considering upgrading it with my BP, as well.”

“Weren’t you saving to copy a boon, like Kitty did?” Mark asked.

“I am. I still want to do that. I… I don’t want our team to lose. I don’t want to be last… again. What will it take, Mark?”

Mark raised an eyebrow reproachfully, “You seriously want to barter for a permanent upgrade to Fairy Godmother?”

Chloe held out her hand, “Give me your phone.” Mark complied, Chloe tapped the screen a few times, and then handed it back to Mark. Mark saw it was on her contraceptive, and she had slid it up to a thirty-three percent chance of getting pregnant. “That’s my offer. Not a permanent increase, mind you, just once.”

Mark backed out of the app without applying the change from five percent. Mark pulled Chloe into an embrace, “Come here.” Chloe leaned into the hug while pressing her face into Mark’s shoulder. Mark just held her for a while. Chloe wrapped her arms around him, and slowly some of the tension left her shoulders.

Chloe looked up at Mark, “Thanks. I’m serious, though. I would really appreciate this. Please. If you want something else, just tell me.”

Mark let go of her, taking a step back. He stroked his chin as he considered her request. Mark asked, “What is your plan here exactly?”

“Well… it depends slightly on what upgrades I get as options. You know how it seemed planned for the other team to be nearby where we needed to put the last two idols?”

Mark nodded, “Sure, they might even have gotten a priority quest after we placed them as we did right now for their raids.”

“I was thinking that if I got more favors to ask, that they either don’t get those warnings or that those warnings are delivered at the latest possible time. I… I was also thinking about asking Cassandra to give you copies of TFs from the other team so you could maybe outdo the other version of you.”

Mark put his hands on his hips. “Chloe, I have fewer points than you do. There is essentially no way, barring a major upset, that I overtake Mary at this point, even with those TFs.” Mark let out a sigh, “Besides… on that front, I think I would prefer it if the other version of me got more points.”

Chloe’s head shot up, and she scowled at Mark, “So you are sandbagging,” she said accusingly.

Mark shook his head, “No. Chloe, I promise you that I’m telling the truth about that. I’m doing my best here. If I get the chance to get ahead of Mary, I’ll do it.”

“But you’re hoping that you don’t get the chance…” Chloe was still scowling.

Mark nodded, “Chloe, think about it for a moment. Think about the various TFs and what I would upgrade for everyone if the me on their team has fewer points.”

Chloe stopped for a moment and actually thought about what she would pick for each person. Chloe frowned, shook her head, then said, “Doesn’t matter. I also notice that all your favorites seem to be on the other team.”

Mark reached out, forcefully tilted Chloe’s chin up, and kissed her. He put his passion and frustration into the kiss. Chloe was **** to her tiptoes as Mark pressed her against the wall. When he broke the kiss, Mark said, “Chloe, you idiot. You, are one of my favorites. Chloe, I have a hoard of lovers. It doesn’t include everyone in the harem, and having sex or not wasn’t a prerequisite. You are part of that hoard.”

Chloe looked away from him, “That’s not true. I’m just your toy…”

Mark gently cupped Chloe’s cheek. “What you are is a dummy. Chloe, are you bothered by me treating you like that? I thought you enjoyed it.”

“I do enjoy it.”

Mark continued, “After our date last round, I thought we were in a pretty good place, and that it’s gotten better since then.”

“We were… we are, and it has.”

Mark smiled, “I’m glad to hear you think so, too. Then why are you thinking that I don’t care about you?”

“Because… well… because why… why would you?”

Mark stepped back and leaned against the wall next to her. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Chloe, I apologize.” Chloe looked utterly baffled by Mark’s words. “I’m not always the best at expressing my feelings about a person. I care about you a lot. You’re confident, principled, and smart. You’re also smoking hot and definitely my kind of kinky.” Mark took a deep breath before continuing. “When Sadie joined the harem, don’t you remember how I responded?”

Chloe pursed her lips into a frown. Why is he mentioning her? “Yeah… you got all cozy with her. Clearly happy to have another toy to play with.”

Mark was the one to frown this time. “If by cozy you mean forcibly grabbing her by the face and essentially threatening her for calling you a slut? Then yes.”

Chloe once again looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“At the beginning of her TFs. Don’t you remember?”

Chloe frowned, “I remember you telling us to be civil with each other or else.”

“Right before that. When she started talking about how, if you had left her alone, she would have forgotten all about you, because you didn’t matter to her. Then she mouthed off about the way you look, and I cut her off by grabbing her face and telling her to keep her mouth shut. I consider that to be one of the fuck ups I’ve made while here. I shouldn’t have gotten physical with her like that, but I messed up because I got angry that Sadie was insulting you.”

Chloe mulled that over. Huh, I guess I didn’t really focus on that part.

After letting Chloe process that for a bit, Mark continued, “Chloe… I…”

Chloe turned towards Mark and placed a hand on his chest. “Don’t go saying something stupid that you don’t mean in an effort to cheer me up.”

Mark looked away from her, slightly embarrassed. “I don’t know what I was trying to say.”

“Yes, you do,” Chloe said firmly. “You were going to tell me three little words, but they wouldn’t be true, would they?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Wait, he’s being serious right now. This… this has to be a trick. There is absolutely no way he’s in love with me. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I haven’t felt like this towards someone else before. Not Allie, Sam, Laura, or any of the others. But… it feels similar, if… well… if more possessive.”

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Nope, not ready for this. “Mark, keep your mouth shut. I don’t want to hear it. Especially right now. I’m going to go. I want you to think about what it would take for you to boost my boon as requested.” Chloe then walked to the door and pressed the button to roll the stone door away. She then practically sprinted out the door to get away from Mark.

Chloe was debating whether to go to the BP shop or just go to the workshop when several things happened in quick succession. Chloe heard a notification sound from her phone, and at the same time, felt a massive debt towards Mark appear. The next second, the debt vanished, forgiven, not paid.

Chloe smiled when she saw the notification was to let her know that Mark had boosted her Fairy Godmother TF three times. While she was happy Mark had boosted her TF, she was absolutely giddy that he had simply balanced the scales without payment from her. Then she felt slightly afraid. What is he trying to pull here? Why did he forgive the debt? He… he can’t really be in love, can he? Chloe shook her head. No. He’s just toying with me. Chloe laughed internally. Me, one of his favorites? Yeah right.

Chloe went ahead and looked at what the boosts were.

Fairy Godmother Boosts:

Boost 1: Whenever Chloe has a date or other event scheduled, Cassandra's magic kicks in to magically take care of chores, preparation, transportation, clothing, and other miscellaneous tasks.

Boost 2: Chloe gets one large favor per round.

Boost 3: A godmother is meant to ensure the wellbeing and spiritual growth of their godchild. Cassandra will award extra favors to Chloe when she completes various tasks that show she lives up to Cassandra’s expectations of what a proper lady should be.

“Huh…” Chloe grunted out. Chloe was curious how the last one worked when she got a pop-up on her phone. A new app opened up called QuestBunny (Demo). She found a list of things she could do that would earn credit towards another favor. A lot of these are locked behind the ‘Full Version’. Guess that means making this one permanent. I wonder what is worth the most that I can do right now. Chloe sorted the options by rewards and went scarlet when she saw the top-most option: Intentionally Get Knocked-Up by Mark; Reward: Three Large Favors.

Chloe backed out of the app. Not sure that I want to keep this. Then again… some of the greyed-out options were the kind of thing I’ll eventually do even if they take some time. Chloe bit down on her thumb. I’ll deal with it later. Chloe thought about purchasing an upgrade right now, but decided against it. She did find somewhere private to talk with Cassandra, though.

A moment after sending Cassandra a message, she appeared in front of Chloe and wrapped Chloe in a tight hug. “OH, my darling goddaughter. How good it is to see you. You really should value yourself more. Now, how can I help?”

Chloe was a little startled by Cassandra’s actions and more so by her words. “With the large favor, can I call it in so the other team doesn’t get alerted to our actions with priority quests?”

Cassandra shook her head, “No can do. That’s an intrinsic part of the challenge. The idols, in particular, are meant to be something they have a chance to stop.”

Chloe frowned, “Could I ask you to tilt that in our favor as much as possible? If they don’t essentially drop everything immediately, they won’t make it in time?”

“Pretty close to that. Is that what you really want, though?”

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked skeptically.

Cassandra just looked away and whistled out the side of her mouth while making a circle with one foot on the ground.

Chloe frowned. She realized she had been doing that a lot in the past hour and relaxed her face. What is she playing at? She clearly wants me to ask for something else, but won’t tell me what. “Cassandra, I really don’t have a clue what you are talking about. So, unless you want to at least give me a hint, stop acting all aloof.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, “Fine. Right now, what is your biggest immediate problem?”

“I’m in last place, and Mark is behind Mary in points,” Chloe said. “It’s not like I can just ask for fifty challenge points, right?”

Cassandra nodded, “You are correct. I couldn’t give you fifty, even with a large favor.”

“You’re saying you could give me points though?”

Cassandra nodded again.

Chloe shook her head, “No. The team victory is too important. Is the entire budget of the favor used if you fulfill it as I asked?”

“It isn’t, but I’m not going to assist you by constantly altering it to fill it either. Especially since you’re using it to affect a challenge. So choose your words carefully, and consider what matters to you.”

Chloe took a minute with Cassandra staring at her intently. Hmmm… she’s still being obtuse… Does she think something else is a bigger problem? “Okay, Cassandra, I’d like you to aid our team as much as you can in this challenge, with a focus on the things I care about.”

Cassandra smiled at the open-ended request. “Done,” Cassandra replied as she clapped her hands together. In Cassandra’s hands appeared a hammer. She held it out to Chloe. Chloe took it, and Cassandra said, “That will help with crafting. I also dealt with the warning on priority quests as you requested and removed Aubrey’s bondage hair TF.” Then Cassandra disappeared.

“Guess I got some work to do to catch up,” Chloe said, smiling as she stared at the hammer giving off a faint magical glow.