Something To Get Used To

Merida couldn’t believe how effective Aubrey’s hymn was. It hadn’t removed incapacitation before, but in its supercharged state, it removed the condition from all the infected. They didn’t wait around, as the infected seemed to have gone into a frenzy, with some even heading straight for the tent they had set up. Merida had teleported everyone back to the lair, leaving only Ellen, Hilde, near the empire forces, and Merigold, where the idol was.

Merida asked Aubrey, “Are ye aw richt? Ye look knackered.”

“Ba, baa baaaa.” Aubrey panted.

Mark looked at Aubrey and was a bit surprised to hear her baaing, since he and Chloe had made sure to keep her milked. Mark moved behind Aubrey and started massaging her shoulders to give her some relief. Aubrey continued to baa out at Mark’s touch.

Realizing Aubrey was horny, Merida said, “Tak' some time tae rest up. Ye did braw. I’m hopin' that ploy’ll buy us at least half o' today.” Merida jerked her head towards the hallway to the bedrooms while looking at Mark.

Getting the message, Mark helped the tired Aubrey to her feet and led her back to his room. Merida sighed, wishing she was the one Mark was taking to his room, but she could wait until this evening. Instead, she dragged Kitty back to the workshop to have her help with the ace in the hole she was cooking up.

---

Back on the battlefield, Samantha, Laura, and Talia were devastatingly effective. Talia and Laura found out the buff they had gotten had cranked up their mana regen really high. Samantha found her dragon breath’s cooldown had been lowered. They were making great progress towards the idol location, while Samantha made sure they didn’t leave any stragglers behind to pose a problem for the army.

Their efforts allowed the empire’s forces to reorganize and focus on advancing towards Smug’s lair. This was fortunate, as there was one other person who had received the buff from being a worshiper of Laura’s, and she was now wreaking havoc on the empire forces. It would have been even worse if Allie, Isa, Brooke, and Sadie were doing everything they could to counter Ellen, but Ellen was just so fast and adaptable that the moment they showed up where Ellen was, she was somewhere else.

Hilde was a problem too, but between the two, they knew if they left Ellen to her own devices, she might just stop their advance completely. Hilde was simply a small nuisance in comparison, one that some of the elites in the army could still pose a threat to.

Allie in particular was growing frustrated as it was clear that Hilde and Ellen weren’t taking any significant risks, but were just trying to disrupt their advance as much as possible. Luckily, Brooke was able to fix a lot of the damage Ellen left in her wake, but not fast enough to keep up with her.

This continued for several hours until it suddenly stopped. Sadie figured Ellen and Hilde retreated as the buff had expired, or possibly they were preparing something specific, but most likely she thought that Laura, Samantha, and Talia had reached the idol and the other team was making an effort to stop them.

Sadie was partially right. Her teammates were just outside the town where the church with the idol was located. Samantha wasn’t taking any chances with an ambush this time, and the three of them were systematically eliminating all the infected as they closed in on the church.

As Laura unleashed another torrent of lust bolts, finishing off the last of the infected, the buff faded. Samantha said, “I’ve got one more hostile showing up on the amulet. They're inside the church.”

The three cautiously approached the destroyed doors to the church. Peering inside, they found a golden fox-girl twirling a staff in boredom, sitting right next to the idol. Merigold noticed the three and said, “Och, I wis wonnerin' whan ye'd get here.” The three of them slowly entered the church, waiting for a trap, but it really did seem to be just Merigold inside. Merigold picked up the idol. “Here, tak' it.” She tossed it towards Laura. The idol did not reach Laura as Talia froze it midair.

Talia asked, “What are you doing here, alone?”

“I wis sent here tae talk an' confirm whan ye actually got the idol, but maistly tae talk.”

Talia’s time bubble popped, and the idol crashed against the ground near their feet. Sam bent down to pick up the idol, but Talia stopped her, swatting her hand away with the butt of her staff. “They might have trapped it.” Talia used the end of her staff to pick up the idol without touching it and dumped it into her bag.

Laura asked Merigold, “What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“How the challenge is progressin.”

Samantha said, “Sounds like you’re worried your team is going to lose.”

Merigold nodded. “That’s true, actually. Unless, o' course, ye hae a traitor in yer midst.”

Talia retorted, “You aren’t going to divide us with speculation like that.”

Merigold shrugged, “I juist ken whit the spirits tell me. They said Smug reached oot tae ane o' yer ain tae betray ye.”

Talia rolled her eyes. “Old news. Sadie already told us as much and refused the offer, even under hypnosis.”

Merigold raised an eyebrow at that. “Interestin'. But tryin' tae get ye tae suspect yer teammates isnae why I’m really here.”

Samantha said, “Out with it then; stop wasting our time.”

Merigold stopped twirling her staff and got contemplative. “So… ye ken how oor placement in challenges determines how favourable oor transformation options are?” The three of them nodded but didn’t see how it was relevant. “Hae ye considered whit a doongrade in quality wad mean for last place? Or even bottom three? As someane wha’s seen something like this afore, let me tell ye whit it means. A punishment transformation.”

“You can’t know that.” Samantha retorted.

Merigold shrugged. “Ye’re richt; this Cassandra michtnae dae things the same way as mine, but it’s a distinct possibility. But let me ask ye, especially ye, Talia, why did Cassandra implement the rule forcin' us tae dae oor best in challenges? It’s gane noo, but why pit it in place at aw?”

Talia frowned as she had a very good idea as to why. She just didn’t want to tell Laura the reason.

Samantha and Laura could both see Talia was slightly uncomfortable with the question. Laura poked Talia. “Do you have a theory?” Talia’s frown deepened as she nodded, not wanting to lie to her girlfriend and Goddess. “What is it?”

Talia said, “I don’t want to tell you.”

Merigold chuckled. “I see ye’ve come tae the same conclusion that Aubrey did. Aubrey telt her theory tae Merida last nicht in private. Merida asked her tae keep quiet until we cud talk wi' ye.”

Samantha said, “And what exactly is this theory?”

“Aubrey wants tae rig the challenge tae minimise the damage ony ane person takes. Aubrey wis gaun tae bring it up tae oor team a few days ago, but she wasn’t in a state tae talk aboot it, and then the rules were pit in place. She thinks that the rule wis specifically pit in place tae stop us frae collaboratin' atween teams.”

Laura asked, “What do you mean by minimize the damage?”

Talia said, “Sorry, but we’re not interested, Merigold.”

Laura frowned, as she was actually curious. “Talia, I want to know what she means.”

Talia groaned, “She means having a few people on the winning team deliberately tanking their scores so that no one who only has bad TF options gets a downgrade. That way everyone has at least one TF option that is of neutral quality or better.”

Laura mulled that over, “That… does seem like—”

“NO!” Talia shouted at Laura. “We aren’t doing that. You aren’t doing that!” Talia turned to Merigold. “I can already tell you, Allie and Isa aren’t going to be willing to volunteer for that. Sadie’s low and might wind up doing it by chance, but no, we aren’t sacrificing ourselves. Yes, it sucks. But have you considered that the Audience might decide to retaliate and give everyone a lower-quality transformation for trying to game the system?”

Laura said, “Talia, you—”

“I’ve been protecting you from sacrificing yourself!” Talia was upset and on the verge of tears. “Of course you’d do it. I knew that. It’s why I didn’t bring it up before. I’m not letting you sabotage yourself. I can’t take that.”

Samantha frowned but understood where Talia was coming from. Samantha held up a hand to stop Laura for a moment. Then she said, “I get it. I actually agree with you too. Mostly anyway. I would be hard-pressed to let that happen to anyone in my hoards. It’s still her choice, though.” Samantha then turned to Laura. “I get you want to try and help everyone, Laura, but realize in this case helping the others could result in you getting hurt, and that would hurt the people who deeply care about you.” Samantha turned toward Merigold. “Nothing personal, but no. We aren’t going to rig the challenge.”

Merigold nodded. “Unnerstood. Merida juist thocht she’d check. Weel, I’ll be aff then.”

Samantha said, “You think we’re just going to let you go?”

Merigold replied, “I can juist return tae bein' Merida’s tail at ony time. Ye canna capture me.” Merigold waved as she swapped places with Meribelle.

The three of them looked confusedly at the version of Merida dressed in a maid outfit. Meribelle curtsied. “I do not beleeve ve have been formally introdooced. Je m'appelle Meribelle. Eet ees a pleasoore to make your acquaintance.” Meribelle stood up straight and proper. She smiled warmly at the three of them. She tossed her rucksack towards them, and it froze in midair, with Talia taking no chances. Meribelle said, “Au revoir,” as her pack exploded.

---

Laura’s head was ringing. She coughed and was covered in dust. She looked around in confusion, not sure what had happened. We were talking with Merigold… she left… then… Laura looked around and just saw rubble. Then she panicked as she realized Sam and Talia weren’t next to her.

Laura stood and felt a bit sore, but mostly fine. She saw the church was in ruins. She frantically looked around. She moved towards the church. She paused for a moment, realizing that Sam and Talia would be fine. Chloe has explosives as part of her class, and we were fine after the explosions in Harper’s Haven. Laura took a few more breaths to calm herself, knowing it wouldn’t do to panic. Laura took a moment and searched for her connection to Talia, and quickly found it.

Laura rushed to her girlfriend’s location. She found Sam in her dragon form coiled around Talia. Laura started shaking both of them but didn’t get an immediate response. Laura tried a few more times, seriously hoping that they hadn’t been incapacitated. Sam said, “Ow. Could—” Sam started coughing. “Could you stop shaking me? Everything is sore.”

Laura pulled Sam into a bone-crushing hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Ow, ow, ow, pretty sure I’m losing HP”

Laura pulled away from her. “Sorry, sorry. Is Talia okay?”

Sam shifted into her humanoid form and shrugged. “Not sure. She saved us, though. Bought me enough time to knock you away with my tail. I tried to shield her, but she doesn’t have the same HP pool I do. She’s so much squishier than anyone else on our team”

Talia coughed, “I live…” Laura nearly finished Talia off as she went to pull her into a hug. Talia stopped Laura from hugging her, pushing her staff against her chest. “Sorry, but I wish to continue living. Thanks, Sam. That would have gotten me without your help.”

Laura breathed a sigh of relief. “How did that even happen? Her bag was in a time bubble.”

Talia used her staff to stand. “I think It’s because I time-bubbled it. Meribelle… that was her name, right?” Talia got a nod from Sam. “Meribelle had something in one of her hands. I think it was a detonator, and I interrupted the signal, causing the bomb to go off. Sam, are you good to fly us back?”

Sam cracked her neck. “Give me a few minutes, and sure.” Sam looked at Talia, expecting her to put her in a time bubble, but Talia just sat on a piece of rubble. Sam asked, “Are you not going to bubble me?”

Talia said, “Oh, that’s what you meant. No.” Talia let out a sigh. “I’m super low on mana.”

Sam asked, “How? I’ve seen you using the time bubbles all the time.”

Talia looked a little ashamed. “I… I’m out of my reserves. I’ve been trying to restore them, but saving us here tapped me out.”

Laura said, “How bad is it?”

“If I skip the rest of the day, I’ll have a decent reserve.”

Sam asked, “What do you mean by skip the day?”

Talia sighed, “So… you know how my boon lets me alter my perception of time?” Sam nodded. “Well, I’ve had it so every second I experience is actually between 1.25 and 2.0 seconds. At least before this round. So I had a really large stockpile of time. There isn’t really a limit to the dilation in either direction. I’m essentially going to set it so every hour feels like one second to me. I should be somewhere safe before I do that, though. That will give me a bit of a buffer for the assault tomorrow.”

Sam asked incredulously, “Wait… you’ve just been living your life on fast-forward for weeks?” Sam then turned to Laura. “And you knew about it?” Laura nodded. Sam was flabbergasted and turned back to Talia. “Why?”

Talia frowned. “Sam… have you ever dealt with someone who wasn’t stupid; they were just slow?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, you could give them a problem, and they would be able to solve it, but it would take so much longer than it would for you. That’s sort of what it’s like for me now about a lot of things. So as not to seem like an obnoxious know-it-all who gets impatient with everyone else because they aren’t the smartest woman alive, I’ve just sort of sped all of you up. Which allows me to have extra time when I really need it or want it.” Talia quietly muttered, “Like for cuddles in the morning.”

Sam shook her head in disbelief as she sat down. “But… you’re skipping so much of your life like that. It just seems… wrong.”

Talia said, “Sam, I’ve got twelve years to spare before I’d have really lost years, thanks to Mark making me younger. Plus, I can skip the boring parts and prolong those moments that you wish could last forever, at least a bit longer than normal. I’ll take that trade.”

Sam transformed into a dragon. “In that case, both of you get on. I don’t want to hang around here in case they send someone to try and finish us off.”

Laura asked, “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes, now get on. I’m sore, not injured.”

With that, Laura and Talia mounted Sam and flew back towards the encampment.

---

As the trio returned to the encampment, they found it had advanced considerably. The mountain loomed over the camp, and dark clouds were forming at the peak. As they landed in the encampment, where the rest of the team was waiting for them, Samantha felt the fact that she was inside another dragon’s dominion immediately. It was just like the mountain back on the island. She could tell it had a metaphorical big ass do not enter sign for all other dragons. The feeling passed as soon as she shifted into her humanoid form.

Sam involuntarily shuddered from the feeling, though, and everyone noticed the action. Allie asked, “Sam, is something wrong?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, I think if I were to get any closer in my dragon form to the mountain, I wouldn’t enjoy it.”

Laura asked, “Could you explain a bit more?”

Sam nodded, “Yeah… so before this round I’ve gone flying around the island some. When I did that and got too close to the mountain itself, I got this threatening feeling. Essentially, I was trespassing on Smug’s territory. I get the same feeling here.”

Isa said, “So what? I mean, we’re supposed to invade the mountain; who cares if you’re trespassing?”

Sam said, “You know how I’ve acted sometimes about my hoards and lashed out? I think Smug can and would do the same. It isn’t exactly an attack, as I felt it right before landing, and it got a bit stronger as I got closer. It’s more like suppression.”

Sadie said, “Sounds to me like Smug is using her aura on you. If that’s the case, I definitely think you should fly in as a dragon tomorrow. Maybe Mary should too.”

Laura scowled at Sadie, “Didn’t you just hear her?”

Before Laura could continue her tirade, Sadie said, “Yes, that’s why I think she should do it. Laura, I practically pissed myself when Sam used her aura on me. Sam should feel what that’s like herself, since she’s been using it so liberally.” Sadie took a step away from Sam as she spoke, clearly a bit unnerved.

Sam sighed, “Sadie, I’m sorry. I know I apologized before, but I shouldn’t have used it on you like that. I don’t need to fly in there to know how terrifying it can be. We all experienced Smug’s aura firsthand when we were brought onto the show.”

Sadie pursed her lips. “Okay… so long as you realize you’re terrifying.”

Sam sighed as she really didn’t like being a terror, at least not to her friends. I’ll have to find a way to make it up to Sadie… and probably everyone on the other team too… especially Kitty.

Brooke moved to smack both Sam and Talia on the ass, as they clearly were in rough shape, and their conditions improved. Brooke said, “Well, how about we stop ragging on Sam here and get back to the capital unless we’re camping here instead?”

Laura said, “I for sure am not staying here. I also don’t think anyone should, even if it means we can’t attack as early. If we’re here, there’s a chance that Kitty or Ellen might try to come down and assassinate someone in the middle of the night.”

Getting no further objections, Sam transformed back into a dragon and felt the light suppression of Smug’s aura. Everyone climbed on top of her, and she flew north to the capital. Brooke made sure that everyone was topped up on the way back. Laura even let Brooke top her up once she realized that a vigorous massage from Brooke would work. Laura, Sam, and Talia were a little surprised that the bomb Meribelle had used on them didn’t contain the infections, but figured that making a dirty bomb was somehow more expensive or limited in some manner for Chloe.

The group stopped by the cathedral before the palace so they could drop off the idol for it to be cleansed. Ethel said she’d take care of it, but to make sure it was done even faster, they decided to spend some empire merit to get more people working on it. With the extra people, Ethel was certain it would be cleansed before they woke up the next day.

Arriving back in the castle courtyard. The group said their goodnights to one another. Sadie was the first to leave as she wasn’t dating anyone else here, and headed straight to her room. Allie gave Sam a hug and kiss before heading off with Isa. Talia did the same with Laura and quickly followed after the two wolves, wondering if maybe just maybe she could get a repeat performance from the temple of diligence with the two of them.

Brooke could tell Sam wanted a moment with her girlfriend and said, “I’ll just go ahead and join Sadie…” Brooke waved bye to Laura, heading off to bed.

Sam said, “Guess this is goodnight. Have fun with Mary.” She floated up and wrapped her arms around Laura’s shoulders and pulled her into a kiss.

Laura had considered what she was about to ask for a while, and decided she would just go for it. “You can join me if you want.”

Sam blinked in surprise. “I… You sure? What about Talia? Won’t she be upset you didn’t invite her?”

“I already talked to her about this. She would love to come but isn’t quite ready. I even told her I planned on asking you to come too, so no, she should be fine.”

“I see…” Sam said, intrigued. “And what exactly would tonight entail if I accepted?”

“Mind-blowing sex,” Laura said, not jesting at all.

“Hmmm…” Sam coyly pondered her response.

Laura stammered out, “I mean… if you aren’t up for that… I just thought… you know… we’ve done stuff together before… and we both love Mary… and then we’re also dating…”

Sam started laughing. “You’re really anxious about this, aren’t you?”

Larua blushed, “I… yeah, okay. Don’t laugh.”

“I’m sorry. I really am, but this is rather funny, and I think Mary would find it equally amusing. A goddess of sex and desire, and you’re nervous about asking your girlfriend to a threesome with your other girlfriend, even though both of your girlfriends are engaged to one another. It is at least a little funny.”

Laura blushed further and asked, “So? Would you like to join me?”

Sam wrapped her arms around Laura’s neck and kissed her. Sam’s tail wrapped around Laura’s waist. Laura materialized her wings and folded them around Sam. As they broke their long kiss, Sam reached up affectionately and held Laura’s face in her hand. “I think not tonight.”

Laura looked disappointed. “Can I ask why?”

Sam nodded. “A few reasons. First, I already intruded on your first night this round, and I’ve gotten a lot of extra time this round with Mary. Second, I worry the three of us together might wind up with the palace being destroyed by the time we’re done. Third… I’m not ready for my mind to be that blown just yet.”

Laura gave Sam a sad smile. “Okay, I understand.”

Sam pulled Laura into another fierce kiss, then said, “Don’t go thinking for a second it’s because I’m not interested.” Sam then got serious. “So I know you’re worried about me becoming your worshiper. You don’t need to be.”

Laura asked, “What do you mean?”

Sam smirked. “I’m a greedy dragon now, and you’re part of my hoard. Even if I do worship you at some point, that isn’t going to change.”

Laura did not seem to understand. “Uh-huh… how does that resolve the problem?”

Sam pursed her lips, trying to figure out how to explain things. “So… damn… this is awkward…”

Laura gave Sam an amused look, seeing that her girlfriend was now on the back foot.

“Look, I just don’t think it will be a problem. Can we just go with that?”

“Because as your possession, even if you worship me, I’ll still be yours, and you can’t really think of your hoards as something greater than or above you?”

Sam’s tail had uncoiled from Laura’s waist and was twitching in annoyance behind her. Sam scrunched up her face as Laura had hit the nail on the head.

Laura kissed Sam between her horns. “Well, good. I’m glad. So long as you realize the only way I’m ever going to tolerate being beneath you is physically.”

Sam chuckled, glad that Laura was so understanding. “Well, you'd best get used to that. Also be prepared for Mary to want to sleep on top of you too. Dragons love to sleep atop their hoards.”

Laura sarcastically said, “However, will I survive?” Laura kissed Sam. “Well, sweet dreams. Also, Mary is right; you really shouldn’t call out to me while she’s going down on you.”

Sam went scarlet as Laura started to head off to Mary’s room.

---

Laura walked into Mary’s suite and heard the sound of explosions. Looking around, she saw the back of a projector screen at the foot of the bed. She saw that Mary was playing some first-person shooter and had just taken out two opponents.

Mary shouted, “HA, take that, you camping bitches, didn’t see that coming, now did you!”

Laura watched as she saw Mary teabag the corpses of her defeated foes.

Laura chuckled to herself. Laura then decided to sneak over to Mary and used her newfound flight to float up to the rafters so she could come down behind Mary and surprise her. Laura was confused by what she saw when she could see past the projector screen showing the game. There was a mound of blankets that occasionally moved ever so slightly, but the mound was large and looked like it could fit three or four Marys inside.

Laura decided to simply sit up on the rafters and observe her girlfriend for a while. So this is what she’s like when she’s simply left to her own devices. Laura watched for the better part of an hour. Damn, I thought Sam was the sailor, but with a mouth like that… Laura shook her head. Well, shit, Mary is rubbing off on me because that was a bad joke.

Laura thought about just plopping down onto the bed from the rafters and wrapping Mary in a hug, but figured that might actually scare Mary. Instead, she waited for Mary’s current game to finish. She floated down and landed softly next to the bed and then lightly rapped her knuckles on a bedpost. “Hey, Mary. I see you’ve been having some fun.”

The game went to the main menu screen, and the mound rustled a little. Mary then stuck her head out of the front of the mound with a headset on, and Laura realized that the mound looked so big because it was actually a pillow fort. “Oh! Hi Laura. I didn’t hear you come in. Is it that late already?” Mary took the headset off and put it to the side.

Laura jerked her head towards the window, and it was clearly dusk.

Mary rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment and crawled out of the pillow fort. “Sorry, guess I lost track of time.”

Laura waved her off. “It’s fine. I’ve actually been here for a while, just watching you.”

Mary cringed. “When you say a while…”

“I’ve been here since you teabagged that pair of campers.”

Mary thought about how long that was. When she realized just how long ago that was, she cringed even further. Then asked, “Why didn’t you say anything? I would have stopped.”

Laura shrugged and went towards the kitchen area and started pulling stuff out. “I wanted to see what you were like when you thought no one was watching or requiring something of you.” Laura shifted her outfit to include an apron in front, as she tied her hair up into a tight bun.

“I see…” Mary realized that the stuff Laura had pulled out was to properly cook a meal. “What are you making? And can I help with anything?” Mary came over to join her.

Laura gestured to the table. “Dinner, and it’s a surprise, so no. Sit your butt down and wait.”

Mary begrudgingly followed Laura’s instructions. After a couple of moments of silence, Mary asked, “So… what did you think?”

Laura paused her work, then turned around and looked at Mary. “About what?”

“Me. You know… what you observed, what did you think?”

“You’re a dork,” Laura said affectionately. “Were you playing against actual people?”

“Yeah, apparently it connects back to our world, or at least it seems like that is the case.” Mary got nervous. “You… you didn’t think I was weird?”

“No weirder than I already thought you were. You are weird, but that’s not a bad thing.” Laura said, stirring some spices into the sauce she was simmering. “Didn’t expect you to swear so much. I don’t care, but Ellen most certainly will.”

Mary awkwardly said, “I know it’s a bad habit. I stopped playing games like this because I got too competitive and lost in the game.”

“Mhmm…” Laura hummed as she stirred the sauce and then moved on to laying out some tortillas and heating a pan, tossing in a bit of oil, garlic, and onion. After the garlic had gotten fragrant, she added shredded chicken to the pan. “You mean like ignoring a naked woman standing next to your screen?”

Mary rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe Allie told you all that…” Mary sighed. “But yes.”

Laura started the oven and got out a baking pan, then turned to Mary. “I want you to know something, just so we’re clear. If I’m naked in front of you and you ever ignore me, we’re going to have a problem. Like a serious problem.”

Mary asked, “What if some of the others were already naked first and I was paying attention to them?”

Laura did not seem amused. “Fine, I’ll grant you that as an exception, simply because I can’t expect you to ignore the others for me instead, but I’m being serious.” Laura caused her clothes to vanish into motes of light that entered her laurels. Laura put a hand on her hip and was pleased to see Mary’s enchanted reaction. “Good, that’s the proper response, but sweetie, you might want to close your mouth before you drool on the table.”

Mary blushed and closed and wiped her mouth, a bit embarrassed.

Laura caused her previous outfit to reappear, including the apron. She started filling the tortillas with the filling she had prepared and cheese, and rolled them, putting them in the pan. She covered them in the sauce and covered them with extra cheese, putting the pan in the oven.

Laura set a timer, caused her apron to disappear, and then joined Mary at the table. “Mary, I really do want to hear you tell me you understand; this is important to me.”

“I do, Laura. The incident Allie mentioned was before I started meds or therapy, not just couples therapy. Frankly, if I were to ignore you like that, I would agree something is wrong. As I said, I haven’t played a bunch of games like this in a while.”

Laura leaned across the table. “Yes, but you are playing them now. Hence my concern. If there was a reason you stopped, why are you doing it now?”

“I’m stressed, and it's a nondestructive outlet for that stress.”

“It’s only nondestructive if you don’t fall back into bad habits.”

Mary frowned. “That’s… that’s fair.”

Laura said, “You seem more stressed than before. Did something happen?”

Mary nodded. “Is it that obvious?”

“I think Allie and Sam would notice, but I don’t know if anyone else would. I’m practically cheating as I can get a sense of your desires right now, and relaxing is at the top of them. So what happened?”

“Ethel told me she’s likely going to choose to join my harem.”

“And you don’t want her to?” Laura asked.

“I’d prefer she didn’t, yeah.” Laura gestured for Mary to continue, so she did. “Laura, I already have fourteen members of my harem.”

Laura held out a hand, interrupting Mary. “Fourteen? Who else was added?” Laura was clearly concerned.

“Merigold is the one you’re probably not counting, but she is officially a part of it now. Merida is probably adding Mira as soon as the new round starts, and she can.”

“Mira? I guess that is the purple-haired one?”

Mary nodded, “Yeah. Her transformation even says they are bound to both her and me, so counting Mira, that is twenty-one people when Merida completes her set. I don’t know what it means for any of you to be bound to me exactly, but it isn’t going to be nothing. Cassandra has already told me there are more women coming. Then I plan on trying to add Astrid or Freya once I get a new set of boosts. So Ethel is an unneeded complication.”

Laura said, “I’ll talk with her, see if I can persuade her to hold off. Nothing says you can’t add her later if she really wants that.”

“You think she’d go for that?”

Laura bobbed her head from side to side. “That depends. Would you actually agree to that? I mean, if she truly wanted to join later, would you add her?”

Mary considered that as the oven timer started beeping, and Laura went to pull out the enchiladas she had made. Laura came back with the food on plates and put one in front of Mary, and dug in on her dinner, letting Mary think things over. Mary took the time. When Mary took a bite of the food, she got distracted and said, “Holy cow! This is fantastic!”

Laura snorted, “I’m not a cow.”

Mary started coughing as food hit the back of her throat wrong.

Laura said, “That was a joke. Thank you for the compliment.”

Mary beat her chest a few times to clear her throat. “I didn’t mean you, and you know it.”

“I know, but your reaction was a bit funny.”

Mary shook her head, exasperated, as she dug into the food, not realizing how hungry she had let herself get. Halfway through her plate, Mary said, “If it makes a difference, and we could do it without risking anyone else, then yes. I’d add Ethel if that’s what she really wanted later, if she would hold off for now.”

Laura nodded, “Then I’m pretty sure I can get her to hold off, give her some more time to think, and let you adapt to your growing responsibilities.”

Mary asked, “What makes you so confident?”

“She likes you, Mary. Her joining now or two rounds from now won’t make a significant difference. In fact, it might be better for her since she has shown she can put you before herself. It also gives you both more time to truly get to know each other. Honestly, there isn’t much of an actual reason for her to join right now if you aren’t taking the option away from her.”

“Well, thank you. If you can stop her, that would really take a weight off my shoulders.”

“Anything I can do to help.” Laura looked down at Mary’s plate and smirked at how quickly she cleared it.

A smirk that grew into a genuine smile when Mary asked, “Are there any more enchiladas?”

“Sorry, sweetie, but no.” The oven, which Laura had most certainly turned off, dinged just like a microwave. Curious, Laura got up and checked inside and found a second pan of identical enchiladas. “I guess Cassandra, Freya, or Astrid decided to resolve the problem.” Laura grabbed both plates and got them both seconds.

“Thank you,” Mary said, as Laura put the plate back down in front of her.

Laura said, “Soooo, about tonight… What are you up for?”

“I’m not sure. We can do whatever you’d like, really.” Laura could tell Mary was mostly trying to spare her feelings.

“Mary, if you aren’t up for much, that’s okay. I’ve told you that before.” Laura saw Mary frown. “Look, I know this isn’t an issue about me, so it’s fine.”

“I still want to do stuff with you though,” Mary said, disappointed.

“While I’m glad to hear that, I can also feel coming off of you that you would love to just cuddle up next to me and fall asleep in my arms. While I had planned for some mind-blowing sex tonight, I can live with all three of my girlfriends turning me down.”

“All three?” Mary asked. “Sam and Talia turned you down?”

“I invited both to join me tonight. They said no for various reasons.”

“Laura, are you really okay? I want to take care of your needs just as much as you want to take care of me.”

“Mary, thanks to you, Talia is a little sex gremlin. I’ve had no issues getting my sexual needs satisfied thanks to her. Sam and you have helped too, but she’s eager to pick up any slack.”

Mary finished woofing down her second helping of food. “Well, in that case, I think I’ll take you up on a relaxing night if it’s all the same to you.”

“It’s not, but it’s fine with me,” Laura said teasingly. Mary walked around the table and hopped into Laura’s lap, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and kissed her. Laura slid her arms under and behind Mary as she stood up, and carried her to the bathroom. There Laura found a hot bath for two already waiting for them. She helped Mary out of her clothes and caused her own to disappear as she sat down with Mary still in her arms and wrapped around her shoulders.

Laura started massaging Mary’s shoulders as she sat in her lap and pressed back into her. Laura moved to massaging Mary’s scalp as she grabbed some shampoo and conditioner and started to wash Mary’s hair. Mary shortened it to just around her ears and asked. “What do you think?”

“It’s cute, but as I said before, I like my women girly. So it was better long.”

Mary happily obliged Laura and lengthened her hair back to her shoulders.

“That’s honestly really cool and a bit bizarre to watch happen.” Laura grabbed the shower hose to rinse out Mary’s hair and was shocked at how quickly the water ran clear. “Oh right, I guess the soap wouldn’t stay in your hair, would it?”

Mary said, “Nope. The conditioner does because it benefits my hair. I was wondering, did you all figure out if you wanted me to reach out to Ellen?”

“Yeah, and we have an offer.”

“Will we have time in the morning for me to eat you out, or should we take care of that tonight?”

“We can handle it in the morning.” Laura got quiet for a time as she continued to pamper Mary. “I know I said I wouldn’t prevent you from doing this, and I won’t, but I wanted to tell you I’m against you trying to get Ellen to betray her team, and I don’t think she should do it.”

Mary turned around in the tub and looked up at Laura. “Why not?”

“I know you said you’d be neutral in making the offer, but I don’t know if that’s truly possible.”

“Did you all discuss the matter?”

Laura nodded. “Yeah… Sadie abstained; I was against, everyone else was for it, though Sam took a bit of convincing to actually go for it.”

The two continued soaking in the water for a while, until Laura realized that Mary had fallen asleep in her arms, using one of her boobs as a pillow. Laura shook her head. I can’t believe you fell asleep in the bath. Laura brushed a strand of hair out of Mary’s face. Laura gently lifted Mary up in her arms and cast her instant clean spell to dry them off once out of the bath. She carried Mary to bed and decided to just take the top off Mary’s pillow fort and snuggle in with her, wrapping Mary up in her wings. Tossing a blanket over their legs, Laura smiled as she fell asleep with Mary atop her. I hope Sam is right, because I’d love to get used to this.