The other important talk.

The rings sit on my palm, glinting in the morning light. The bands appear layered on their outer face. The silver metal of the rings are inlaid with an unbroken ring of some sort of pale white crystal, which seemed to give off its own subtle glow. On the inside of the band, intricate designs which I instantly recognised to be runes are expertly etched into the metal.

The girls are wide-eyed, their gazes flicking between the rings and I. I chuckle at their dumbstruck expressions, then start to explain, only choosing to embellish a teeny-tiny bit whilst leaving certain details out. “You guys have probably received achievements and rewards from the system commemorating something you’ve done. Well, the System deemed the start of our relationship such a momentous occasion that they rewarded us with these rings.”

“Now, whilst we don’t have an identify spell yet, I have been told that these rings are enchanted with a scaling protective enchantment, which, if it means what it meant from the games back home, will grow with us as we grow more powerful together. The prompt labelled these as promise rings, and I must say I’m rather taken with the idea, even if the promise I want to make probably isn’t what the System is expecting.”

“If you all are willing, I would love for all of us to wear these rings, not as a promise about the new side to our relationship, but as I promise that whatever happens going forwards, and wherever the new side of our relationship may lead, we will always love and cherish each other as family.”

‘Now for the big guns.’ I focus for a moment, feeling a tingly rush as Words of Power activates for the first time. “Recently, I’ve been rewarded with a power that lets any who hear me know the truth of my words. It is literally impossible for me to lie with this power on. I could have turned this on when we talked about our relationship to show you all the depth of my feelings in an attempt to sway things, but I didn’t for the simple fact that I believed we would work through it together, and would come out the other side stronger for it.”

“But now, with the addition of these rings? Now I get to show you all how much I care. I love you all, you all mean the world to me, and there is nothing I want more than to explore this new world with you and grow stronger together, grow old together, all the while exploring the depths of these new feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible to admit on our old world. Would each of you be willing to wear one of these rings as a symbol of mutual love and trust, and a promise that whatever our new lives throw at us, we’ll weather it together, as a family?”

Speech finished (and out of time with my Ability) I hold my hand forwards, presenting the rings again. The girls step forward, more than one holding back unshed tears as each wrapped me in a fierce hug, before taking one of the proffered rings. We all stand in a circle, each with a ring in hand, all eyes back on me. I meet the eyes of each member in the circle, then, turning to Mum, I stage whisper, “I didn’t actually plan this far ahead. What do we do next?”

There’s a moment of silence, before the group bursts into laughter. Em grins impishly at me, before saying, “And here we were all thinking that our lovable doofus had been replaced by some suave talking gentleman.” I grin back, before replying, “Nope, just the same old idiot I’m afraid.” Ash, Em and Lisa all roll their eyes at me (rude), whilst mum just sighs, shaking her head at my antics (also rude). Still, I see that the sombre expressions are gone, all replaced by smiles.

Turning to mum, I ask, “seriously though, Mum, is there any symbolism besides the obvious that we need to be aware of? I’ve never had reason to wear a ring before.” Mum looks thoughtful for a moment before hesitantly saying, “Well… it depends. The only etiquette I know about rings is the tradition of wearing engagement rings and wedding bands on the left ring finger. There might be more, but I’m afraid I don’t know any.”

Coming up with an idea, I smile, then say, “Well, lets use the right ring finger then. If, in the future, we decide to… take things another step, then we can always use a different ring. Things are already moving super fast as they are, so we should take the time to explore the new side of our relationship before deciding on any further steps. Is that ok with everyone?”

Everyone agrees, but I notice Emily pouting slightly. Ash notices too, as she reaches out to squeeze Em’s hand. Ash then holds her hand out flat, and with a small, loving smile on her face, says “May I do the honours?” Instantly brightening, Em offers her right hand and her ring, smiling brightly as Ash slips the ring onto her finger.

As the ring settles into place, the band of crystal lets off a pulse of light. When the light finally clears, we can see that the ring has resized itself to fit Emily's finger perfectly. Not only that, but the band of crystal has changed. What had once been pale crystal was now a band of blazing orange. Interspersed through the vibrantly glowing crystal were lines of brightly glowing yellow, as well as the occasional dark spots which seemed to shift within the confines of the crystal.

We examine the transformed ring, mouths agape. Our first thoughts (well, our second thoughts after ‘what the fuuuuck?’) were entirely pragmatic. “If it glows like that the whole time, any form of stealth is out the window.” Conceding Ash’s point, Em focuses on the ring for a second, then smiles as the glow dims, then shuts off entirely. Entirely stumped about the reason for the change, we decide to try the next ring and see what happens.

Ash is up next. Her ring also changes, but unlike the blazing orange of Em’s, the crystal of Ash’s turns black as pitch. A closer inspection reveals swilling eddies within the darkness, as if the tide of black is being pushed around by an invisible current. “I thought so!” Em smiles triumphantly, her expression only falling slightly as she sees the rest of our blank faces looking back at her.

“It’s our top affinities for magic. Ash’s ring is some sort of dark cloud, from her Air and Dark magic, see?” A closer inspection does in fact reveal that the darkness is more gas than liquid. “Huh, Neat.” We turn back to Em, who is grinning proudly. “I was wondering where I’d seen that sort of pattern on my ring, but for Fire and Light, it makes perfect sense!” she continues to look triumphantly at us, waiting for one of us to get it. When we continue to stare back at her blankly, she sighs, then says, “have any of you ever seen a picture of the surface of the sun?” “Ooooooooooooh.”

The next few minutes are spent examining the rest of the rings. Lisa’s is the roiling grey of storm clouds, the occasional flash of lightning visible within the crystal, whereas Mums held the appearance of flowing magma, the occasion bubble popping and disturbing the otherwise placid surface. Then it's my turn. A sudden silence takes over as the girls look at each other. They'd exchanged rings in their pairs, but I could now see the unspoken question between them. Who was going to put the ring on my finger?

Feeling a little bit cocky, I smirk, before saying, “To keep things fair, I’ll be sharing a tent with the two don’t get to put the ring on.” After a few seconds of deliberation, Ash and Em volunteer to let Mum and Lisa choose, seeing as I’d spent last night with them. Lisa and Mum talk it over, Lisa’s crimson blush giving away the pair’s choice before Mum turns, winks at me, then proffers the last ring to Em and Ash. ‘Well, tonight’s going to be fun.’

When the ring is placed on my finger and undergoes its transformation, I have to admit to a little disappointment. The crystal merely turns a rippling blue, its admittedly a very nice blue, but still? Then the first school of fish appears, swimming along the length of the band for a moment, before disappearing out of view. Soon all kinds of sea life appear, displaying a tableau of an ocean teeming with life. "Neat."

With the excitement out of the way, normal morning activity in the camp resumes. Not long later I am sitting in a camp-chair, smiling like an idiot as I watch everyone getting on with the morning jobs around camp whilst I supervise (read: slack off). ‘Thing aren’t quite back to normal, but it’s a good first step!’ My train of thought is interrupted as a heavily blushing Em says, “Adam, I never got to ask that question I wanted to ask...”

I look up at her, eyebrows raised in surprise as I say, “Oh? I thought you did?” Em shuffles nervously, suddenly the centre of attention again. She swallows past the lump in her throat, then replies, “no, that was just making sure. What I wanted to ask was…” Em looks at Mum, practically crimson now, before blurting, “w-w-w-w-what about kids?”

The bottom drops out of my stomach as all activity around the camp halts, my now very attentive audience dropping whatever they had been doing to hear my response. Choosing my words extremely carefully, I say, “I will say now that… I’m not ready for that yet. But… once we’ve settled down…” I pause a moment to sigh, before continuing, “If we did, we’d have to adopt, otherwise we’d risk… problems.”

I was looking directly at Em, so I saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes before she hid it, merely sighing and nodding. Her disappointment is so unexpected that I can't help the massive spike of lust I feel, a mental image forming in my head. I see Emily, moaning in pleasure underneath me, her pussy tight around my cock as I pump rope after rope of thick, potent cum deep inside her hot, fertile cunt…

I shake my head, clearing the intrusive thought, a blush suffusing my features. ‘No. I… we can’t… We shouldn’t’ “Unless…” my mind flashes back to a certain Quest, one that I had received from a god of lust. ‘What’s a hedonist, after all, other than someone who pursues pleasure? But would it really stretch that far?’ I don’t realise I’ve spoken aloud until I hear a shaky voice ask, “unless what?”

I look up to see four sets of eyes boring into me. Blushing heavily, I reply. “There may be a way for us to… you know…” I look down at my feet, suddenly exceedingly uncomfortable, before I add, “errrrrr, just… give me a moment, let me share the Quest.” Pulling up my Quest log, I am surprised when I see that two of the hidden objectives are marked as completed.

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Active Quest: In the pursuit of pleasure!

Description: Due to your questionable actions in a pervious Quest, you have gained the interest of a lust god (or goddess). They found your antics amusing, but can also see a great potential in you. They are offering the chance for you to gain a Profession based on their domain, or at the very least, a useful Perk and Ability. Most of the objectives are hidden, but simple. All you need to do is follow the desires of your horny little heart. There isn’t even a time limit!

Objectives:

• Lose your virginity. (0/1 V-card punched).
• Indulge in one major and one minor fetish during a sexual encounter. (Status: complete. Major fetish indulged: ****. Minor fetish indulged: Cunnilingus).
• Start a polyamorous relationship. (Status: complete)
• Hidden objective.

Rewards:

• +20000Exp.
• Access to the Hedonist ‘Profession’. (You may turn this Profession down with no hard feelings).

If you complete this Quest but turn down the Profession, you will also receive:

• X1 Perk.
• X1 Ability.

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‘Fuuuuuuuck, If I share this, I’m really outing myself here! Not just myself, either!’ I look back up and see the expectant faces of my family before meeting Em’s eyes. Blushing, I wave her over as I say, “Can you guys give me and Em a moment?” After we get the go-ahead (Lisa eyeing us with confusion, Ash and Mum, who must’ve worked out what’s up, eyeing us knowingly) I explain the problem to her in a whisper, before sharing my Quest with Em. Now blushing as hard as I am, she looks deep into my eyes as she asks, "Are you really sure this'll help?" I nod in response, before saying, "I am." She sighs, then waves her assent.

Looking at the other three, I say, “this… is going to be deeply uncomfortable for all of us, but if kids are something any of you want… this might be the answer.” With a thought, I share the Quest with the rest of the family, then silently pray for the ground to rise up and swallow me before I can suffer any further embarrassment. The ground, as the ground is wont to do, remains silent, ignoring my plea. I glance up, wanting to gauge the reaction of the others, only for my view to be blocked by a notification. ‘No, not a notification… a message.’

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Interestiiiiiiiiiing. I have to say, you’ve been thoroughly entertaining so far. I wasn’t expecting for you to come clean! I can see that you’re the type of person who isn’t having fun unless everyone is included, right? So let’s do just that! Are they going to be as fun as you are, I wonder? We can only hope, right? ;)

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‘Oh. That’s not good.’