An awkward conversation

Cyanis tilted her head a bit. "Is one of them your girlfriend?" Skyler's eyebrow raised ever so slightly. He almost felt like laughing at the absurdity. 'Girlfriend? Someone would have to be interested first.' He shook his head slightly. "No. I barely know them." Shady's and Emily's score ticked down to 70 where as Cyanis's score ticked up to 50. Cyanis smiled playfully. "Hmm, that's rather interesting. So, why did you come to rescue people you barely know?" She gently pressed her body against his.

Skyler's right hand began to shake from the feel of Cyanis's breasts pressing against his stomach. Not that it didn't feel nice, but it was rather confusing and nerve wracking. Sure, she was quite attractive, but this was too much too soon. He took a step back. "They have been very kind to me." He looked in Shady's and Emily's direction. "I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them." Their scores ticked up to 75. Nepeta's score ticked up to 30. Cyanis's score ticked up to 55. Cyanis pressed her body gently against his again. "Loyalty is a good trait to have."

Skyler scratched the back of his head with his left hand while his right hand began to shake once again. This was very strange. Why was Cyanis so close? Could it be that he had something on him that she wanted? He tilted his head slightly. "Yeah, loyalty is an important trait to have. But what does that have to do with anything?" She smiled coyly while leaning in closer. "Th.." However, she paused. Turning her head to the left as if she heard something. When she did, her expression changed to excitement. "Oo, bunny."

Cyanis ran off to play with the bunny. "I just want to pet you." Skyler watched her run off before looking over to Nepeta. "Should we go after her?" Nepeta shook her head. "She will be back soon. She just gets distracted easily." He turned his attention back to Shady and Emily. "I see. Um, do you know when they will recover?" She smiled softly. "Your acquaintances should be fine in about thirty minutes or so." He nodded slightly while turning to face her. "That's a relief." He walked over to Emily and gently lifted her from Shady's back to lay her gently upon the grass.

Skyler knew from experience just how painful laying in a bad position while under paralysis could be. He was careful with how he laid her down, making sure she was as comfortable as possible. Once he was done, he did what he could for Shady too. "Hopefully they won't be too sore once they are able to move again." Shady's and Emily's scores ticked up to 80. He felt slightly pleased with himself, realizing that their scores going up meant that they felt cared for. He felt a soft hand on his right shoulder.

Nepeta's hand gently squeezed Skyler's shoulder. When he turned to look at her, she had a sympathetic smile upon her face. He nodded slightly while reaching a hand to gently squeezed hers. "I'm okay. I just wish I could do more." Her score ticked up to 40. He sat down near Emily and Shady before looking to Nepeta once more. "What will you do now that Cux is gone?" Nepeta looked down slightly before looking around the forest they were in, a soft smile appeared across her slender crimson red lips. "Find a new home."

Skyler's eyes gazed upon Nepeta for a while longer. It was nice getting to gaze upon such a pretty young lady. When her pink and grey hazel eyes looked in his direction, he quickly turned away. He felt slightly embarrassed for staring. He knew his actions would have come off as creepy if he had been caught. He let out a soft sigh while closing his eyes. 'You're making a nuisance of yourself again.' A few seconds later, he reopened his eyes, but found something rather startling. Nepeta's face was a mere two inches from his. Her eyes were slowly inspecting his features.

Skyler's head moved back slightly. "Is there something on my face?" Nepeta looked down to his lips as her score ticked up to 45 then again to 50. She slowly sat down. "Just making sure you were okay. I could sense a chemical change in you that wasn't good." He blinked, but when he tried to move. He realized his arms and legs were both unable to move. That was when a new notification appeared in the center of his view.

Afflicted by HKPP's Limb Paralysis.

This effect reduces Strength, Endurance, and Agility movement, saves, and combat checks by 75%.

This does not change your actual stats or regen rate.

Your Libido is functional, but your ability to thrust has been eliminated.

Current Duration: 30 minutes.

Skyler's eyes closed for a moment. "It would appear that I am unable to move my limbs anymore." Nepeta's eyes widened. "Why? What's wrong? Did Cux injure you? I don't see or smell any blood." He looked down slightly. "No, nothing like that. It's just a health condition of mine. If you have some orange juice or something with a lot of potassium for me to ingest. I will recover faster." She moved a hand to the ground, pressing it into the soil as her other hand moved to stick a finger into his mouth. "Suck on my finger."

Skyler looked toward the finger in his mouth then to Nepeta. He wasn't sure what she was planning to do, but if she wanted to hurt him she could have done so already. He gently started to suck on her finger. Her body quivered as a weak green light emanated from her hands. Her score ticked up to 55. A sweet yet salty liquid started to excrete from her finger tip. Every few seconds of suckling reduced the current duration of his debuff by one minute. His tongue slowly encircled and caressed her finger tip, doing his best to obtain every drop she would allow him to drink.

After a minute and a half or so of suckling on Nepeta's finger tip, Skyler's attack was over. He slowly pulled back his lips from around her finger. His right hand lifted to hers. Her eyes watched him carefully as he gently kissed the back of her hand. His eyes gazed gently into hers. "I don't know what exactly you did, but it was very helpful and tasty. Thank you." Her cheeks turned slightly green. "Don't mention it." Her score ticked up to 60. At that moment, Cyanis came back with a small brown bunny in her right hand. "Hey, who said you two could get so close?"

Cyanis put her bunny down, allowing it to scamper off, before continuing to walk towards them. "I wasn't gone that long. What did I miss?" Skyler gently squeezed Nepeta's hand before slowly letting it go. "Nepeta was helping me recover from an attack. It was very kind of her." Cyanis glared at Nepeta for a moment before doing the same to him. She sighed softly. "What does that even mean? Did you two kiss or something?" Nepeta's cheeks turned slightly green again. "No." He shook his head as well. "No. I was suckling on her finger."

Cyanis's jaw dropped. "What!? Why? Are you a pervert?" Skyler let out a soft breath before explaining about his hypokalemic paralysis attacks. She started to pout while glaring at Nepeta. Nepeta's eyes closed slightly. "I didn't want him to suffer." Cyanis let out a soft sigh. "Yeah yeah.." She knelt down beside him before laying her head down upon his lap. "I'll forgive you if you give me some time to relax on your lap. Mm, comfy." Nepeta's eyes widened. "Y-you shouldn't do that."

Cyanis smirked. "Oh? Jealous?" Nepeta looked slightly away, but didn't say anything. Skyler tilted his head slightly while wondering what was going on. Oh well, at least Cyanis wasn't upset with him anymore. After a few minutes of staying like this, a new yellow exclamation flashed that he allowed to pop up.

New Quest!

Resilience Training!

- Gain at least 5 levels while training in illusion barriers of your own making

- Defeat each type of illusion barrier enemy at least once

Reward: 50 xp, 2 Strength, 2 Endurance, and - 10 pounds of weight

Optional: Do this without help.

Reward: 200 xp, 2 Wisdom, 2 Agility, and - 10 pounds of weight

Accept or Decline?

Skyler's eyes widened after reading that. He mentally hit, 'Accept' without a thought. He was definitely going to do this by himself. Those additional rewards were simply too good to pass up. However, gaining five levels would not be easy. Speaking of which, he didn't remember how many enemies were available currently with his Create Illusion Barrier spell. He opened his skill menu to find out. 'There are a total of six enemies. Boars, imp, kobold, goblin, elemental, and undead. This'll eat up a lot of time for sure.'

During this time, Skyler absentmindedly started to stroke Cyanis's head. When he looked down, her cheeks were a deeper green than usual. He quickly pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to start petting you without your permission." She closed her eyes. "I didn't say you could stop." He chuckled softly. "I see." He started to stroke her head once again before looking to Nepeta who looked slightly dejected. "Is something wrong." Nepeta shook her head gently. "It's nothing."

Skyler looked down to Cyanis then back to Nepeta. He reached out a hand and gently stroked her head as well. "You're both good girls." Nepeta smiled. Her cheeks turned slightly green once again. Her score ticked up to 65. Cyanis's score ticked up to 60. Shady's and Emily's scores dropped to 70. At this point he knew it wouldn't be long until Shady and Emily were able to move again. What should he do when they do? Escort them all to Shady's log cabin and finish his cooking quest with Emily? Or abandon his cooking quest with Emily after escorting them all to Shady's log cabin?