The Next Morning

The first thing John noticed as awareness returned to him was an unfamiliar and pleasant warmth draped over him. The second was the sensations of soft skin shifting slightly against his torso, fluffy hair tickling his chin and stiff feathers brushing against some of his fingers. He opened his eyes; his room was illuminated by the early morning light and he saw Aeolia resting on his chest.

‘That... really happened last night?’ he thought, the events in the attic Barrier replaying in his mind. Those thoughts, plus the normal function of his biology after waking, roused his cock. The recently enhanced organ engorged to its new length and brushed against his bedmate’s thigh.

Looks like you’re up, in more ways than one. Got some things for you. Felt I should hold them off until morning. I didn’t want to ruin your moment.

Gaia’s popup faded away, only to be replaced with a few others.

Achievement Unlocked: Peeping Tom
Got an eyeful there, didn’tcha? Didn’t your mother teach you not to stare?
Reward: +1 Libido

Aeolia shifted right as John finished reading the first Achievement, causing her to rub against his morning wood.

‘I guess that’ll be useful later,’ he thought lecherously, a grin creeping onto his face as he imagined a repeat of the prior night. Mentally shaking those pervy thoughts away, John dismissed the first display and began to read the second.

New Achievement: Magic Touch
Brought a woman to her peak only using your hands. Well, mostly, she certainly wasn’t sitting still, but you definitely helped.
Reward: Massaging Fingers

John closed the two displays, mind pondering his new skill as he read the final display.

New Achievement: Virginity, goodbye!
Lost your virginity! Congratulations, now you’re a man.
Reward: +.5 inch penis size, sexual experience now displayed in Observe.

Unlike the increase from the night before, where the flood of neurochemicals and his deflating member distracted from the change to his anatomy, this time he was fully aware as his erection tingled as it grew. Not a wholly unpleasant sensation, but John did squirm a bit at its suddenness.

His movement elicited a groan from Aeolia and she frowned as her consciousness became aware of the growing light level.

“Guess it's morning,” she groaned, shifting slightly away from the light.

“Sorry if I woke you,” John whispered.

“It’s fine,” she yawned, stretching the sleep from her limbs. John twisted his head to avoid one of her wings before she retracted it, a bashful look crossing her face as she did. “Sorry.”

“Now it’s my time to say it’s fine.” John smiled at her as he reached to his bedside table to retrieve his phone. “6:08,” he read out the displayed time. “We’ve got to catch that bus in an hour and a half-ish. We should get up.”

“You don’t sound all that enthused about that,” Aeolia teased. “Feeling rather comfortable, hmm?”

John flushed, suddenly finding it hard to maintain eye contact. “Well, yeah.”

Aeolia let out a giggle before lightly resting her chin on John’s chest. “Can’t say I disagree, but we’ve got to get moving. I don’t think the people we might ask for help would like it if we stumble in smelling like sex.”

John sniffed and blinked as he noticed the ripe scent that permeated the air. “Yeah. That might be a good idea. Hang on a second. I’ll make sure the coast is clear.”

The pair hauled themselves out of John’s bed and its normal occupant slipped on his discarded boxers and shorts. He carefully opened his door and leaned into the hall. The scent of coffee wafted up from the kitchen, clueing John into his mother’s location.

“Okay,” John reported, head still stretched through the door, “Mom’s downstairs. How are we…”

He was interrupted when Aeolia landed on his shoulder, still naked but holding her clothing in her arms.

“Guess we’re going in together,” John finished. “Makes sense. Would be pretty bad if Mom thought I was in there when I wasn’t.”

“Yeah, that could lead to some problems,” Aeolia agreed, smiling.

With one last glance towards the stairs, John crept out towards the bathroom, trying to move as stealthily as he could. However, despite his careful steps, he couldn’t avoid the keen senses of a mother.

“Good morning, sweety.” Brenda’s voice, cheerful but tinged with a spot of fatigue, called from the kitchen.

John stopped for a second, then returned her greeting, “Morning, Mom. Just hopping into the shower.”

“Don’t take too long,” she cautioned. “Don’t want to miss your bus, or skip breakfast.”

“I won’t,” John intoned back, trying to keep his minor annoyance over her preening out of his response.

The conversation didn’t continue by the time John entered the bathroom. He closed and locked the door, letting out a relieved breath.

“Your mother sounds nice,” Aeolia said, breaking the somewhat awkward silence as she glided over to the sink.

“Yeah,” John responded quietly. “She’s always worrying about me.”

Aeolia remained silent for a second, a frown on her face. “You sounded a bit... sad when she called last night.”

John sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not the first time she’s put in extra hours at work. It just makes me feel a bit guilty since I’m going to the super expensive school and the scholarship didn’t cover everything. I don’t want Mom to work herself to pieces so we can afford my uniform and stuff like that.”

Aeolia hummed softly, nodding at John’s words. “I get that. Have you talked to her about that?”

“No,” John sighed as he turned on the shower, extending a hand to monitor the temperature. “And I really don’t know how to. But after seeing how much stuff was going for on the Auction and how much I can get from just farming mobs in Barriers, I think I might make up having a job or something and pay her back. Buy groceries, pay some of the bills, that kind of stuff.”

Aeolia couldn’t keep a smile from gracing her face. “You certainly are a better person than most. Is the shower ready?”

“Just about,” John reported, pulling his hand back. “Nice and hot. You want to go first?”

“Sounds good,” Aeolia replied, hopping from her porcelain perch and growing to her full size. “Don’t think we’ll both fit in there anyway.”

She placed her folded clothing on the counter and stepped into the shower, letting out an appreciative hum as the hot water caressed her skin. As she reached for the soap, John let out a cough.

“Um, aren’t you going to shut the curtain?” he asked, blushing a bit at her display and that she wasn’t adverse to bathing together.

“Don’t see why,” she responded as she began to lather up her arms and chest, taking a bit too much time soaping up her tits. “It’s not like I’ve got anything to hide. Pretty freeing actually. But if you insist…”

“No, it’s fine,” John quickly said, his newly enhanced Libibo very much in agreement with her little display.

Aeolia hummed and continued to wash herself, smiling as she rinsed off the suds.

‘She is so doing that on purpose,’ John thought as he watched her, then averted his eyes before the allure of the exotic naked woman caused all his blood to flow southward. ‘Still, she seems less depressed over the whole thing. Smiling and laughing is better than being sullen.’

Curious, John weighed using Observe on her, a part of him worried how she’d take the high invasive skill being used on her. However, his curiosity won out over caution, and while Aeolia’s eyes were closed as she scrubbed her hair, John cast upon her.

Skill Level Up: Observe Lv. 6. Stats of friendly targets now displayed. Relationship info now displayed.

John studied the display, eyes mainly focused on the stat and relationship portions, the former to know how someone her level had them distributed, and the latter to gauge what she thought about him.

‘100,’ John blinked when he read her Relationship score for him. It was the highest he’d gotten, though he figured his mother’s would be higher. Still, having someone, a girl, be halfway to the maximum number left him feeling pleasantly warm, especially after seeing the negative numbers most of his peers had.

‘Guess being brave has its perks,’ John thought. ‘Never would have figured exhibitionism was her kink, but that does explain her reaction to me popping in last night.’

His eyes drifted from the display to his - partner, lover, term to be determined - as she rinsed her hair.

‘Not that I’m going to complain about it,’ he continued, shifting his erection into a more comfortable position as he worked his brain back into gear. ‘Anyway, stats. Way more balanced than mine, but she doesn’t have any as high as my Intelligence was when I was thirteen levels lower. Was I just overly invested into Intelligence or are there some hidden mechanisms in play?’

Staring at the display didn’t conjure up any answers and John dismissed it as the din of the shower was eclipsed by the sharp rap of Aeolia’s talons hitting the floor. She fully exited the shower and began to towel off.

“All freed up,” she announced as she ran the towel through her hair, the fabric obscuring her view. “Figured keeping the water going was a good idea.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, watching her breasts jiggle as she dried her hair. He wrenched his eyes away from the tantalizing sight and moved to strip off his shorts. He paused just as he pulled on the waistband.

“Inventory, duh,” he muttered as he opened it and unequipped his attire, rendering him fully nude.

“Couldn’t you have done that last night?” Aeolia queried.

John bashfully chuckled, “Kinda had my thoughts on something else.”

Aeolia smirked and rubbed a spot on her neck. “Guess I was a little distracting.”

Working up his courage, John responded, “It was a nice distraction. I mean, it was better than nice, um…”

Aeolia laughed, “I get what you mean. Take your shower.”

John did as she ordered, stepping into the spray of perfectly hot water. After a second of debate, he left the curtain open as he began to wash off the sweat he had accumulated from yesterday’s events. A day ago he had let off a load in this very shower as part of his first quest and now he was bathing himself fully exposed while the winged, size-changing woman he had slept with likely was dressing before they went off in search of some mystery organization in the hopes they could help in avenging her murdered guild.

‘And maybe the weirdest thing is I don’t really feel like jerking off,’ John mused.

A few minutes later, John turned off the shower and dried himself off. Aeolia had indeed dressed, styled her hair and was waiting in her natural size upon the counter. A quick access of his Inventory had John reequip his boxers and shorts and the pair quickly returned to John’s room, Aeolia perched once more on his shoulder.

“Okay,” John said as he went around, willing both his school uniform and a casual outfit into his Inventory. “Mom won’t know that school’s been cancelled so I’ll have to pretend to head out like normal.”

“Which means I’m going to have to hide in the bag again,” Aeolia groused, “while you get to eat. And here I was hoping for some room service.”

“Sorry,” John grimaced, “but unless you want to take the risk and introduce yourself to Mom, we don’t really have a choice.”

Aeolia cursed under her breath, too low for John to catch, before she let out a sigh. “No, we’ll stick with the bag. Just try to pass some food to me.”

“Wasn’t going to forget,” John reassured her. “Any preference for breakfast? We’ve got some apples and bananas, I think. And waffles. Though I’m not sure if food will keep warm and the syrup might be an issue…”

“The fruit’s fine,” Aeolia informed him as she gathered her glaive and flew over to John’s bag. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Give me one minute,” John said, stepping on his bed and vanishing up into the Barrier. He returned in the allotted time. “Alright, let’s go.”

“You forget something up there?” Aeolia questioned, slipping into the bag.

“Just making sure I’m all geared up,” John answered, picking up the bag carefully and zipping it mostly closed. “Alright, let’s go.”

Aeolia let out a resigned hum as John carried the bag downstairs and headed for the kitchen. His mother was seated at the table, a steaming cup of coffee and plate of scrambled eggs and sausage already partially eaten.

“You’re cutting it a bit close this morning, sweety,” she said as he sat down at the spot with his own plate.

“Yeah, time got away from me,” John replied, eyeing his breakfast with a twinge of guilt. “I didn’t know we had the stuff for scrambled eggs.”

“I picked them up on the way home last night,” Brenda commented as she took a hearty sip of her coffee. “Felt I needed something substantial for breakfast today.”

“Another long day today?” John inquired as he quickly began to shovel away his food, less because of his appetite and more so he could finish and procure food for Aeolia.

“Maybe,” Brenda answered wearily before her tone became more concerned. “You’re pretty hungry today. You did eat dinner last night, right? It’s not good to skip meals.”

John swallowed his latest forkful. “No, I ate. Just woke up hungry. Maybe I’m heading for a growth spurt.”

Brenda’s posture relaxed and she took another sip. “Oh, that’s a relief. I was afraid you’d spend all night playing your games and forget to eat.”

“When have I ever not eaten?” John joked, scraping another pile of eggs onto his fork. “Don’t need to worry about me on that front.”

Brenda laughed, a gentle smile on her face. “It’s a mother’s job to worry about her son. It doesn’t just end because you're eighteen now. It won’t end when you leave for college, get a job or a girlfriend.”

John felt a small twinge of guilt cut through his hunger as he recalled the danger he had encountered yesterday and potentially would meet in the near future.

‘It’s not like I can avoid it though,’ he thought, eyes shifting to his bag. Even if I wasn’t a target for some reason, I couldn’t not help Aeolia. Especially after last night.’

He pushed away reminiscing about that, not wanting to deal with getting an erection at the table.

‘I need to get stronger,’ he brought his chain of thought back on track as he resumed eating the last of his meal. ‘So Mom won’t have to worry, and Aeolia can get her justice.’

The last bite eaten, John stood up and brought his plate to the sink. He was about to simply deposit it as he always did, when instead he turned on the water and washed off the debris of the meal. A short application of soap and elbow grease later, he slipped the cleaned plate into the drying rack.

“What brought this on?” Brenda asked, bringing in her own plate. Before she could put it down, John took it and began the cleaning ritual again.

“I just,” John said as he washed away the clinging bits of egg, “figured I could do more around the house. Dishes, my laundry, that sort of thing.”

Brenda let out a motherly coo and playfully ruffled John’s hair. “My little man’s growing up. I’m so proud.”

“Mom!” John whined, painfully aware that Aeolia could hear all of this.

“Not going to hear it,” she countered. “No matter how old you get, it’s a mother’s second job to tease her kids.”

She backed off, likely to finish her coffee and prepare for work. No longer under her watchful eye, John placed her plate alongside his and ventured towards the dangling bunch of bananas hanging from a small hook affixed to the upper cabinet.

He plucked a pair free and willed them into his Inventory as he returned to his bag and the hungry passenger within.

“I’m heading out, Mom,” John called out as he walked to the door.

“See you later honey,” Brenda responded, her voice coming from the side room she used as an office. “In case I’m not home for dinner, I’ll leave a little money in here so you can order something.”

“Alright,” John said, fully intending to use his own money if the situation arose. “See you later, hopefully.”

John walked out into the morning air, but instead of heading for the bus stop, detoured to the side of his house, placing down his bag and swapping into his casual clothes.

“Sorry about the wait,” he said to Aeolia, opening the pack to find her looking more pensive than annoyed.

“No, it’s fine,” she said melancholically. “Your mom really sounds nice.”

John had to fight to prevent a grimace from etching upon his face, a struggle that evidently failed as Aeolia’s expression hardened into a stony façade. John knew enough to not press her, so he withdrew the bananas and presented them.

“So, bananas?” he offered lamely, trying to find some way to alleviate Aeolia’s dampened mood.

Aeolia cracked a small smile, her despondent atmosphere lessening slightly. “Yeah. Bananas are good.”

John slipped the fruit into the bag, and after a moment of thought, withdrew his phone and lowered it in too.

“So you have something to do during the ride,” John supplied as Aeolia shot him a quizzical look.

“Thanks,” she said, her smile growing as she took the phone and set it down carefully beside her.

“Bus should show up in around half an hour,” John recalled as he zipped the bag mostly closed. “We should reach where we’re going by eight.”