Moving forward

The three of you sit in a small circle. None of you have bothered putting clothes back on; it's a warm day in the forest, and honestly you're feeling soooo much more comfortable without anything scratching into your hips. The rogue, who identified herself as Huny (rather than the lengthy Hunypop149, the name the universe would use to recognize her), had taken the time to bathe in the river. Imp never seemed to consider that he, too, could use a rinse, so you pushed him in after her. All clean, all calmer now, the three of you are exchanging silent glances.

"So." Huny is the one to finally break the silence. "I don't know what the Hell that was, but I swear I thought I was in love with this midget."

Imp looks a little crestfallen.

"You were. Kinda," you inform her.

"You did it?"

"Yeah. I thought the person was supposed to fall in love with me, but I guess you just fell in love with the first person you saw."

"He counts as a person?"

"Apparently. Good thing you didn't look at your horse, eh? You wouldn't be able to stand up right now."

She frowned, not pleased with the idea even as a joke. "Well, it's gone now. Whatever you did."

"Yeah."

Silence reigns once more. Imp looks depressed. Huny is apprehensive. You...feel a little lusty, actually. You were involved in their love-making just enough that the system reset your timer, but you didn't get any relief at all.

"You know," you say to break the ice again, "you could still choose to-"

"No." Huny cuts you off before you can even finish framing the idea.

"Oh."

Another silence.

"Well?" Huny demands at last. Both of you look at her. "Are you going to kill me or let me go?"

You exchange a glance with Imp. He shakes his head. "We don't want to kill you. And, I mean, I did sort of promise we would help you reach the next city so dickhead couldn't turn you into a fucktoy."

She looks surprised. "You were serious? I thought once your magic wore off you'd just get rid of me."

You can only shrug. "I haven't been alive for very long, but not doing what I said I would do sounds like a bad idea. I promised, so I'll stick to my promise."

"Right!" Imp chimes in eagerly. "We'll definitely help you, Miss Huny!"

She looks back and forth between the two of you briefly, uncertainty written all over her face. "You do realize what that means, right? Helping me means helping me gain levels." You both look at her blankly. "By killing monsters," she adds emphatically. Both of you make the same 'Oh' face at the same time. That hadn't occurred to you.

"Maybe you could help us kill heroes instead?" you suggest.

"Not a chance. Heroes that kill heroes get branded as PK-ers. Then I'd be doomed regardless of which city I went to."

Interesting; she wasn't against heroes dying, just against the personal consequences if she did the killing. "After the number of times I've died to heroes XP farming, I can't say I'm comfortable with subjecting other monsters to that," you tell her honestly.

Imp has been fidgeting for a little while now. Finally he squeaks up. "Mistress, if... If it's about monsters you'd be okay killing... I think I have an idea."

You both turn your attention to him, your curiosity piqued.