The mimic chest ate his pillow and belched out a feather.

Now panicking, John jumped back and threw his alarm clock at the box, simultaneously casting Observe.

The mimic, apparently named Chester, caught his alarm clock in its hinged maw, eating the plastic device in one gulp. A long red tongue joined the protruding, jagged teeth and the loot box seemed to lick its lips. ’How the fuck am I supposed to fight this thing?’ Self-preservation had him climbing backwards onto his bed as John scoured the observe sheet for hints. ’Hungry? No shit!’ Still reading, he scrambled to the other side of the bed to get away from it. ’Wait… my rep is 200? Positive 200?’

Chester’s tongue lolled out the side of his mouth like a manically hyperventilating dog, and the gamer relaxed as the threatening surprise of the mimic chest wore off. ’It’s… friendly?’ The two stared at each other for a moment before, tentatively, the nerd shifted to his hands and knees on the duvet, reaching across the carpet towards the creature. Just out of his reach, John strained as the metallic fittings on Chester’s corners extended to thin, wobbly appendages for the mimic to walk on. It took some time, but it managed to stand before launching itself at John’s hand. Again using the element of surprise, Chester licked his outstretched digits before he managed to pull his arm back.

“Woah!” he cried, the sudden flinch making him fall back onto the covers. The pounding heart in his ears wasn’t enough to cover a mocking, creaking hiss from the side of the mattress, sounding too friendly to be threatening. ’Is it...’ The gamer leaned up to look, trying to figure out what the sound was. ’It’s laughing!’ Chester’s eyes were closed and the lid opened wide, his whole body shaking as he snickered at John.

The laughing box went back to goofily smiling up at the teenager, and John tried to cast Observe a second time, only to get the same window with nonsensical answers. Again, the sound of heavy, hurried steps came from the hall, and the gamer realized his time was short. He reached back towards the ‘surprise mechanic’ and, with nothing more than a thin hope it would work, the moment his hand was on it, shoved the living thing back into his inventory.

With the inventory window still open, his bedroom door flew open. “John!” Brenda was panting, wearing jeans and a low-cut purple blouse that hugged her every curve. Her large breasts moved hypnotically with each heavy breath and John had to **** his eyes to her face. “What the hell is all the noise?”

“I, uh,” he fumbled for an answer. The feather Chester burped from his pillow drifted lazily across the floor in the corner of his eye. “I was watching a video online.” ’Riiight, that’s not the lamest excuse...’

“I told you to rest,” she scolded. “No computer.” A gentle smile smoothed the lines of worry on her face, the tension left her shoulders and her breathing returned to normal with one deep breath. “Even sick you can’t stay off that thing, can you?”

The gamer, true to his title, felt a little called out at that and his hackles raised. ’I’m not always on my computer…’ His tone was a little unintentionally defensive when he responded. “It was actually on my phone.”

Brenda snorted, her smile was radiant as she quoted something he said to her just last week. “Aren’t phones basically computers nowadays?”

Even with his heart still pounding from the panicked encounter with Chester, John had to laugh at her gentle teasing, a slight smell of milk, lavender and honey drifting into the room. “Yeah. Yeah, they are.”

Her soft giggle died down as he climbed back off his bed. “Well, you’re up and dressed so you might as well come downstairs with me. Maybe watching some tv will be calmer than whatever you were watching a few minutes ago.”

With a nod, John glanced back at his inventory screen. ’Yeah. I can deal with him later.’ For some reason, the pillow and alarm clock Chester had eaten were added to his inventory. ’Guess that’s good news. I’ve got too much to explain as is.’ He closed the window and let his mother lead him down to the first floor, all too happy to watch her round ass sway in those tight jeans. The scent of fresh milk and light honey was stronger in such close proximity to her, the smell homey and welcoming as the lavender of her perfume seemed to fade to the background.

At the bottom of the stairs, she just pointed at the couch, giving her son a stern look. He chuckled and ducked his head. “Yes, ma’am.” His voice took on a slightly mocking tone when he called her ‘ma’am’. He couldn’t help it. It pissed her off every time she was called ma’am because it supposedly made her feel old. The blush on her cheeks when he said it, though, told another story, and that caught John off guard. ’Wait, does she… no, that can’t be right, can it?’ He looked over her curvy body, her nipples firm enough to show through her thin shirt. ’Does she actually like being called that?’ Her skin had a slight shimmer to it he’d never seen before, and John licked his lips, idly wondering if the scent coming from her was any indication of taste. In a hurry, Brenda spun around to return to fiddling about in the kitchen. ’Ooookay, how have I never noticed that before?’

He watched her, still standing at the foot of the stairs in shock, as she stretched to reach a high shelf, the band of her underwear showed in the gap of her low-ride jeans and the bottom of her shirt. ’A thong? What else don’t I know about her?’ He shifted his pants slightly, and a quick cast of Observe produced a window he read on his way to the couch.

’No surprises there. I already knew she was tired…’ He closed the window and flopped into the deep couch cushions. ’Thanks for reminding me,’ he thought sarcastically at the goddess that was watching him while he clicked on the tv.

You’re welcome.

“Ugh,” John groaned out, dismissing the message.

“What’s wrong, Honey?” Brenda was suddenly next to him with a damp cloth in her hand.

He jumped, throwing the remote to the other end of the couch. “Nothing!” She blinked at his outburst, taken aback. “I, uh, just forgot how awful daytime tv is,” he mumbled.

“You haven’t even given it a chance yet,” she half giggled. “Here,” offering him the cloth as she bent forward, her cleavage in full view and milky scent overpowering, “we need to get your fever down a little.”

John took the rag from her and put it across the back of his neck. “Thanks, Mom.”

She smiled warmly. “Gotta take care of my boy. Watching something calm, no action movies.”

He feigned a pout as he reached for the controller. “Yes, ma’am.”

Her blush returned and the MILF scurried back to the kitchen.

’We can really have fun with that later.’ John smirked, watching her ass as she bustled about before turning back to the tv, absent-mindedly flicking through channels as he thought about what to do with Chester. ’Good to know a living thing like him could be put in my inventory, though I guess I already knew that with the bottled fairy.’ Settling on a nature show that would normally put him to sleep, the gamer glanced back at his mother. ’I need to find out more about my powers.’