Seems like the right time

Patrick looks over the short list of hamlets, villages and the girls of interest they contain. "A lot fewer this time," he muses.

"This is the first batch. We have to pick few enough women that you won't have problems keeping them **** for too long. When you strike out again you'll hit a different group of villages. We also don't want everyone's lost sister to appear all at once. We have the excuse that they overwintered in different ways, but even so that would smell fishy."

"You haven't even transformed all the girls from the last batch I collected," laughs Patrick.

"Sure," says Sandra, "but this time you're picking up smaller women, a lot less muscle mass. Besides, this is a shorter trip and you won't have to fight them unless you screw up."

"Yeah, yeah."

"We have Sendrey and Harmony to help with delivering food, we have a few of the rooms fixed up..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm not going to be able to talk you out of it," he says, stretching and rolling his shoulder.

"All the 'friends' you made here will be nice and horny by the time you get back," Sandra tells him. She also nudges Sendrey, who's pretending she didn't hear that. "Don't you want to see what kind of progress your lithe love can make with your horny, pregnant 'niece'?"

Despite himself, Patrick's lips curl up into a grin. Just a little bit of his canine pokes out, making his expression seem a little hungry and horny.

You hand him the fine, silver trimmed leather bracelet that allows Patrick to appear as a normal human and levitate the boxes of food Sandra and Sendrey have picked out for Emilie. You decided to make it look like bunking Sendrey with Emilie is a last minute addition so Patrick doesn't get blamed for failing to tell her.

In no time you're standing in front of the door to Emilie's room. Sandra is just around the corner, tail whipping around in excitement. A quick knock on the door and Patrick greets her. It's around lunchtime, so his arrival isn't unexpected. Emilie waits for Patrick to unlock the door - she nearly jumps into his arms for a hug, but your presence causes her to backpedal.

"He's got another job for me," Patrick explains, his voice sounding a little bit leaden.

"How long?" she asks. "Can we still have lunch together?"

You play the part of the detached and uncaring archmage, rolling your eyes and sighing at the inconvenience. To throw a wrench in the works you look over at Sendrey and say, "Fine. You can eat with them, then. I have some things to attend to." Then you walk off.

As expected, Emilie is less than pleased that her last lunch with Patrick is getting interrupted by Sendrey. A little flash of guilt crosses her face when Sendrey comes forward, a little bit meekly. As if she's still very unsure of her place. Emilie probably thinks this is the poor maid that Patrick helped you find, the one who got transformed instead of her.

"Can I come in?" Sendrey asks, tail down and ears slightly flattened. Damn she's a good liar. Not as good as Sandra, but still...

Emilie invites her in and soon the three of them are eating some bread with thick gravy, some crackers and some veggies. Sendrey plays the part of the meek but curious catgirl with ease. You and Sandra listen in from a safe distance, your red furred lover giggling at how awkward Emilie looks. "She's **** to have one last good fuck," Sandra whispers, "but there's no way she can get it. When he gets back she's gonna ride him till his thighs catch fire."

"Lucky guy," you laugh.

"Yeah. Mmmm, good technique there from Sendrey. You see how she messed up and spilled some gravy on her hand? Now Patrick's giving her some help cleaning it off - like he's had to help take care of her after you changed her. Like she's still not comfortable in her own skin. I bet Emilie is feeling so guilty right now. Like she owes Sendrey big time."

"Oh yeah, she's great at this. I was worried a dancer wouldn't be quite as good at manipulating people and lying, but Sendrey could have been a con artist."

Lunch ends up being relatively short, the conversation a little stilted, but it's sure fun to watch. When it looks like the three of them are finished you return, rapping on the door and then magically unlocking and opening it. "Alright, time to go," you say to Patrick. As he gets up you cock your head as if you just thought of something. "Hmmm, I haven't had a chance too..."

Patrick approaches, taking the cue.

You smile and extend your hand, "Give me your key."

He does, without question. A confused look, but no questions. Perfect. Emilie can read whatever she wants into that interaction. She'll probably assume you beat him or are otherwise harsh and unforgiving during the time he's away from her. All the more reason for her to take care of him when he's 'at home'.

You toss the key to Sendrey, who catches it. Then she opens her hand and looks at it, surprised.

"You know your duties while Patrick is away. I still haven't had the chance to deal with the damage to that old room I intended for you. This works out even better - you, um..."

Patrick clears his throat and says, "Emilie," quietly.

"Yes. Emilie, you will cook for Sendrey. She's your roommate until Patrick returns." Almost to yourself you mumble," More efficient this way," and then walk off.

Patrick looks back and forth, gives Emilie a pained grin, then says, "Um, take care of each other. I know you'll get along great together," before making a quick escape.

Around the corner you return to the scrying portal and a giddy Sandra. Patrick catches up quickly, also eager to see how things are going.

Through the portal you see Sendrey apologizing while staring at her feet. Emilie looks at the key, the room and Sendrey.

Sendrey flattens her ears even more and says, "I can take the couch... that is, I mean I assume you have the bed. And the couch looks comfy - better than the crates and hay I've been sleeping on. Um... sorry."

Emilie looks like she's torn. After a few long moments she gives Sendrey a big hug and says, "Don't be silly. We can split the blankets. It can get cold at night." With the conversational tap opened up the words pour from Emilie's lips. "I've got used to sharing a bed with Patrick and we're both girls, so what's wrong with that. I know this isn't something you wanted, but I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone else, so I'm kind of looking forward to it."

"Wow, thanks," says Sendrey, ears perking up and tail starting to wriggle back and forth. "I was worried you'd be really put out. Patrick mentioned he got sent off a while ago and worried about you being alone."

"You have really soft fur," says Emilie, "it's softer than Patrick's."

"Yeah, I guess I kind of got lucky. His fur is shinier though..."

You, Sandra and Patrick head back to the study. It's clear that the plan to 'introduce' those two has gone off without a hitch. Especially with Emilie feeling that guilty it's probably only a matter of time before they're doing more than just sleeping in the same bed. You wonder aloud how long it will take to go from compliments to girl talk to cuddling for warmth to something a little more interesting. You'll just have to see - it's all down to Sendrey's skills.