Washing Up

Hearing that there was an Abyssal mall set up not more than an hour away had been a surprise to John. And everyone else it seemed once they had been roused.

“How did we not hear about this?” Vivian wondered as they translated back home through Pruzonia.

“We have been busy,” Aeolia answered from her perch on John’s shoulder. “And if there was talk about it before, I wouldn’t have paid attention to it.”

“Being close to sixty miles away probably didn’t help with being in the loop,” Beth added.

Vivian pouted slightly. “I did my research before coming here. I should have caught some hints. I was able to make contact with local guilds, even ones a bit further from the city proper, so why not this?”

“They could have been playing things very close to the chest,” John postulated. “I mean, they set up about an hour away from Order HQ. They might be trying to avoid getting noticed by them.”

“Then how did Nephele know about it?” Brenda asked as she steadied herself against Senka, who took the opportunity to keep his mother in a close embrace, one Brenda did not seem bothered by.

John shrugged. “She’s a witch, so who knows what contacts she has. She might have a supplier in that area or who’s connected with the project.”

“She could have at least told us how she knew about it before sending us on our way,” Brenda complained as they made their way into the house.

“Um, she did s-say they weren’t going to be open all day and, um, we do need to clean up,” Kiera softly offered. John looked back at her with a small smile. He had been slightly afraid that she would be too embarrassed to even look at any of them.

‘I really need to do something for each of them,’ John privately thought, keeping his declaration from Senka. ‘Something unique for everyone. Maybe I can look for things on the sly at the mall.’

Once everyone was inside, they began the time-consuming task of washing away the smell of sex that clung to all of them. John, of course, elected to take the final shower, though the temptation to try and squeeze in while Vivian, Beth and Aeolia took one at the same time was great.

Besides, he figured now was the best time to address the biggest issue going forward, his relationship with his mother.

“Mom? Can I talk with you?” he asked her before she headed up to her room.

Brenda blinked before an expression of understanding settled on her face. “I suppose we should address things now that we’re not all lusted up.”

John rubbed the back of his head., “Yeah.”

Kiera scurried up the stairs, giving them privacy as Senka likewise retreated back into John’s aura to freshen up, a thick wall coming up around her to show she wasn’t listening.

“I wasn’t lying back in the lab,” Brenda said, looking straight at John.

“I know you weren’t, Mom,” John replied in a soft voice. “It’s just going to take some time to get used to this. Hell, do I keep calling you Mom, or do I use Brenda now?”

“I won’t lie, both have their appeal,” Brenda admitted, her face growing a bit red. In that, John had to agree. On one hand, using her name spoke of a new level of intimacy but calling her Mom while fucking her tickled a particular taboo bone, one he seemed to have inherited from her.

“Suppose it’ll depend on the situation,” John finally declared. “Might get some weird looks if I start using your name out in mundane public.”

A sly smile made its way to Brenda’s lips. “So you want to take me out on dates, then?”

“Of course I do,” John answered with complete honesty before sighing. “You and everyone else. Which is a bit hard to do when the stuff I figured I could do when I eventually got a girlfriend aren’t things I can do easily with Aeolia, or Teri, or you.”

“Sweetie, you don’t need to beat yourself over that sort of thing,” Brenda consoled, stepping up to him and wrapping him in a hug, one that mixed motherly comfort and the assurance of a lover. “Things aren’t simple in relationships when they’re between just two ordinary people. You, and the rest of the girls, are anything but ‘ordinary’.”

John held Brenda tightly. “Don’t count yourself out of that club, Mom. You’re great, and only going to get greater once we figure out how to give you magic.”

Brenda let out a quick laugh then brought her hand to John’s face. The soft caress of his cheek was the prelude to her moving his head just enough for her to bring her lips to his. There wasn’t the burning passion that had previously defined their kiss, but something far more wholesome shot through the both of them: the promise of something more, a future of happiness.

They broke the kiss but remained close, savoring the close contact.

“I don’t think we need to worry too much about what’s going to come later,” Brenda said quietly, as if her words were some secret between them. “We’ll tackle it together.”

“Not just us, Mom,” John corrected. “With everyone.”

At that, Brenda’s expression dimmed slightly. “Are you sure they’re okay with me getting involved? I know you all were talking about approaching Kiera and Teri but I feel like I’m overstepping a bit.”

John couldn’t help but laugh. “You want to know what one of Aeolia’s first comments about you was? ‘She’s got a great ass.’ I don’t think there’s going to be any friction.”

“Oh my,” Brenda pretended to be scandalized by John’s first girlfriend’s remarks, a smile just barely held back. Feeling a bit bold, John let his hand fall to the curve of her booty.

“Can’t say I thought she was wrong at the time,” he revealed, giving Brenda’s butt a good squeeze.

“Oh, you tease,” Brenda exclaimed, lightly punching John’s chest. “We can’t be starting anything right now.”

“Right,” John sighed over-dramatically and pulled away from Brenda. He strained his hearing and couldn’t hear the running of the shower. “Think they’re done with the shower.”

“I suppose many hands make light work,” Brenda said in a sly voice before she turned to the stairs. “Since we’re a bit hurried, I’m going to see if Kiera needs a hand.”

The sultry look she shot John made clear her wants and John followed her up the stairs, her swaying rear a mighty tempting sight.

‘I see you’ve loosened up a bit,’ Senka remarked, having sensed the private moment was over.

‘I’ve fucked my mom along with three other girls while my four established girlfriends had sex with a mushroom girl a room away a few hours ago. I think I’ve hit some kind of lewd overload and crossed some threshold,’ John remarked. ‘If this is going to be my life now, might as well embrace things.’

‘Now you’re seeing things from my perspective,’ Senka smugly said. ‘Which in a way are your hidden desires.’

‘Guess I was still too caught up in my old way of thinking,’ John admitted. ‘You want to join us?’

‘My, how bold!’ Senka exclaimed playfully. ‘I may take you up on that offer, if there’s enough room. Brenda’s already a lot of woman and Kiera isn’t exactly petite.’

‘What, you’re going to walk away from a chance to get all up close and personal?’ John teased.

‘Oh, now I’m going to get in there,’ Senka playfully growled. ‘Even if there won’t be much room to move.’

‘Good thing there’s going to be a lot of arms to clean those hard-to-reach spots,’ John shot back.

‘Gaia, you unleashed is so hot,’ Senka said with a needy sigh. ‘If we weren’t on a schedule, I’d pop out and drag you, Brenda and Kiera to bed.’

‘Rain check for that,’ John laughed before his thoughts turned more serious. ‘We’re going to need to really work out how all this is going to work.’

‘Don’t let the logistics clog your head,’ Senka said. ‘Getting tangled up in that might keep you from living in the moment. We can take things one at a time.’

‘Right. Live in the moment. I think I can do that now,’ John thought. ‘Thanks, Senka.’

‘No need to thank me,’ the spirit replied. ‘Just make sure you use a good amount of soap. I want to feel squeaky clean.’

John laughed aloud, drawing Brenda’s attention. His conversation with Senka had taken mere seconds meaning they hadn’t even reached the top of the stairs.

“Sweetie?” Brenda asked.

“Just a little conversion with Senka,” John answered. “If there’s enough room, she might join us.”

“It’ll be a tight squeeze,” Brenda said after a moment of thought, clearly envisioning them all in the shower. “Might have to get creative, to clean everything.”

“That’s just about what she thought too,” John relayed. The door to the shower opened and Aeolai, Beth and Vivian stepped out. Given the recent events, none of them elected to dress.

“Looks like we’ve got a post-shower audience,” Aeolia laughed, striking her leg out in a pose that highlighted her toned thigh. Beth and Vivian shifted slightly, clearly not as comfortable with the casual nudity.

“No need to feel embarrassed, girls,” Brenda said, and after a moment of hesitation of her own, began to peel off her sweater in a show of solidarity. Senka let out a whistle in John’s head as Brenda’s smooth skin was revealed. “We are going to be seeing more of each other, right?”

As Brenda undid her bra to fully bare herself, Aeolia clapped Beth and Vivian on their shoulders. “See, I told you things wouldn’t be weird.”

“Not sure if walking around the house all naked is supposed to be normal,” Vivian groused slightly, but her posture relaxed slightly.

“Not like what we’ve been through can be considered normal anyway,” Beth remarked. “Might as well try a bit of everything to see what feels good to do. I think I could get used to this, as long as it’s not too cold.”

“I’ll be sure to keep the heat going then,” Brenda purred and Beth shuddered a bit at the implication of her promise. “As much as I’d like to chat about how things are going to be now, we do have a schedule to keep. So, go get dressed; John, Kiera and I will be down shortly.”

Brenda strode towards her room, her hips swaying.

“She’s certainly embracing the change in things,” Aeolia said in a somewhat dumbfounded tone.

“I’m scared and horny,” Beth quietly admitted. “Like, she’s going to fucking devour me.”

“I think Mom’s been out of the game for a bit too long and has a lot of pent-up desire,” John said.

“I pray for your pelvis,” Aeolia half-joked. “And our tongues. At least we have some time to rest before tonight.”

Even Vivian looked a bit excited about the prospect of later lewd liaisons before she shook her head.

“Come on,” the redhead insisted. “Let’s get dressed before temptation makes us late.”

As she dragged Beth and Aeolia to his room to put their clothes back on, John followed after Brenda. He found her in her room, the rest of her clothing discarded, and was halfway through undressing Kiera, the bluenette down to her underwear.

“John, sweetie, be a dear and grab the towels,” Brenda said casually as she was yanking down Kiera’s panties.

“W-wait, w-what’s going on?” Kiera asked, her face closing in on neon red.

“We don’t have all the time in the world, so you, me and John are going to shower at the same time,” Brenda revealed. “And Senka might help if there’s room. It feels rude to ignore her just because she can just refresh herself in John’s head.”

‘I’m going to give her a big damn kiss when I manifest,’ Senka declared.

“A-at the same t-time?” Kiera repeated, now fully nude.

“Why not?” Brenda retorted, tossing Kiera’s clothing on her bed. “We need to get a move on if we’re going to have enough time to shop.”

Kiera didn’t have a clear response for that logic, and before she could try to make one, Brenda led her to the bathroom, John following with the towels. A quick tap of his inventory stored his clothes before they reached the door, a fact that caused Kiera to blush slightly harder once she noticed. To her credit, she didn’t try to hide away or purposely try to look away from him.

“My, someone’s being bold,” Senka’s voice came out in a purr as she manifested nude, causing Kiera to jump slightly. The handsy spirit sauntered over and cupped the bluenette’s chin with one hand and petted her hair with the other. “Did jumping right into the deep end affect our shy bluenette so much?”

Senka’s direct attention caused Kiera to blush harder and let out a few nervous noises. But she didn’t fold or try to move away from Senka.

“Now, now, don’t tease her, Senka,” Brenda stepped in, her ‘mother voice’ in full effect. “We don’t have the time for that. Let’s just hurry into the shower and get clean.”

Senka smirked, her attention shifting to Brenda. “I suppose we’ll have to postpone any alternative use of the shower for now.”

She let go of Kiera and sashayed over to the shower and turned it on. The hiss of the water filled the room as steam began to curl up from the floor, the water’s heat not lost from the earlier shower.

“Glad I got the water heater upgraded last year,” Brenda said with a chuckle. “Maybe Estelle was on to something with me being close to having magic already if that was a bit of foresight.”

She stuck her hand in the spray and let out a pleased hum. “Perfect. Now, let’s all pile in.”

John couldn’t help but smile at how at ease Brenda seemed with everything. For a moment, he was content with just watching her step into the shower, the hot water leaving her skin glistening. A glance at the other two occupants of the room showed they were just as entranced.

Senka was the first to shake the spell and sauntered over, stepping into the shower with a sensual grace, her arms quickly circling around Brenda’s waist.

“What are you two waiting for? A proper invitation?” Senka teased as she grabbed some soap from the shelf, lathering up her hands with it quickly before running her soapy hands along Brenda’s soft midriff, then up to the top of her breasts. Brenda let out a happy hum and leaned back into Senka’s breasts.

John and Kiera both hurried forward, any shyness on the bluenette’s part overwhelmed by both the sight before them and the actual want to clean up after their earlier activities. It took some effort, but the four of them managed to squeeze in. John found himself face to face with Kiera, her breasts pressed into his chest, while his back was smothered by Brenda’s generous chest, the suds from Senka’s earlier work dripping down his shoulder blades.

John’s hands found themselves on Kiera’s shoulders and he smiled down at her, a silent plea for permission to move further in his gaze. Kiera blushed, but just managed to maintain eye contact with John as she nodded. With a quick mental conversation with Senka, the spirit handed John some soap.

Once his hands were lathered up, John passed Kiera the soap and began to run his hands down her back. Kiera shivered as he worked the soap into her skin, her eyes closing as she basked in his massage.

Skill Level Up: Massaging Fingers Lv. 3.

‘Wonderful,’ John thought as he continued his work. Kiera didn’t remain idle for long and soon her soft hands were working the lather across his chest. At the same time, Brenda began to clean his back. The hiss of the shower made trying to talk a moot point and John focused on his work, dropping his hands to Kiera’s lower back before reaching for her butt.

Kiera jumped slightly at that, her gaze firmly focused on John’s lightly defined pecs, then let out a low moan as John began to knead her cheeks.

‘I think I could get used to this being a usual thing,’ he thought. ‘No, we could get used to this. That sounds much better’

---

Teri let out a low moan as the hot water soaked into her skin, her eyes closed as the warmth worked away the slight soreness the marathon of sex had as a consequence. The large bath the witches had was something right out of her stories; it was at least as big as Estelle’s room was, making it more like a pool than a tub, and filled with bubbles.

Her mind drifted back to the events a few hours past and giddiness bubbled up in her chest. It was an entirely unorthodox method, but the threshold was crossed. Even if it did come with some complications. Complications that were about to join her.

The loud splash was only outdone by the deafening roar of joy that rang out of Anita as she jumped into the bath, ripples of water and bubbles going everywhere. The mushroom girl popped out of the water, her eyes practically sparkling with mirth as she pushed her hair out of them.

The somewhat worried chorus coming from Estelle wasn’t much better to listen to either, a far cry from the lust-fueled orchestra that had played out before. Teri did her best to ignore both the physical and empathic noise and try to sort her thoughts.

She was happy, extremely happy, that John and the girls wanted her. And had been looking for a way to broach the topic with her before fate intervened via gnoshroom. That was where things started to get murky. She wasn’t selfish or blind; she knew that there was a good chance that other girls would catch their attention. Hell, she knew Kiera was in the same boat as she was and she would have had no issue if they had approached the bluenette first.

But she had hoped that it would have just been them added to the relationship for a bit, and that any later lovers would only join after getting to know them all. Having three others join them, as it seemed a foregone conclusion after what had transpired, was a bit more to swallow, even before the subject of who they were came into the picture.

Brenda was one thing. Even if including John’s mother was something a bit taboo, at least from John’s mundane perspective, she was someone with a deep connection with John and had shown Teri nothing but kindness and understanding and the shaman had no issue with her.

Estelle and Anita were another matter entirely. Teri didn’t know them well at all, and neither did the others really. Going from ‘acquaintance at best’ to lover was a jump too far for Teri to just accept. She knew neither were bad people, but just because they were nice didn’t mean they were going to mesh with everyone.

Teri was dragged out of her thoughts by ripples of water lapping against her and the dulled sensation of Anita’s curiosity beating next to her. She opened her eyes to find the gnoshroom staring at her, her head tilted to one side, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Can I help you with something?” Teri asked, making sure to keep her tone friendly. Taking an adversarial stance would just cause drama. She didn’t want to be the cause of any souring of things, just that she was willing to entertain the possibility of it happening due to lack of compatibility.

“P- pretty,” Anita struggled to say, her expression darkening as discordant frustration overtook curiosity and admiration.

“Don’t strain yourself, Anita,” Estelle quickly chimed in, swimming closer. The sight of the witch brought Teri back to the bedroom and the feel of Estelle’s lips on her skin. It made her pessimism burn with guilt, but she wasn’t going to let that go. Better to hold the worst case in mind than be blindsided by it.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t help bring about the good ending.

“I think I might be able to help,” Teri spoke carefully. “I might be able to draw out some of Pruzonia’s power to help her grow past it.”

Estelle tilted her head just like Anita had before, making Teri wonder if the gnoshroom had copied her. “I thought your shamanistic magic drew from Verida?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than just that,” Teri said, a spike of interest ringing out from Estelle. “Verida is intricately linked to Pruzonia. So when I draw upon power from my staff, I’m in effect calling power from both. I figure it makes more sense to use the Kingdom’s name.”

“I see,” Estelle nodded. “And you can do a little of this without your staff?”

“Just a bit,” Teri answered. “Even if I’ve only had it a short time, I’ve formed a bond with it, so my invocation can reach it even while I’m here and it’s back home. Plus, since Anita is from Pruzonia, I can likely reach the power through her connection too, so there’s no risk in not having enough.”

“P-please,” Anita pleaded, her eyes reflecting the desperation singing out from her.

Teri smiled at her and brought her hands up, her fingers lightly touching the sides of her neck. She could feel Anita’s pulse, rapid with anticipation, and closed her eyes. Teri reached for the power her staff connected her to, the power of her new home, the one given to her and her people by those she had come to feel so much for.

Twin sparks of vibrant power became apparent to her, one flowing into her heart from a great distance, the other flowing into her fingers and traveling up her arms to meet the first. They combined into a small blaze within her chest, the warmth of a late spring day filling her. Teri directed that energy back down her arms into Anita, bidding the invoked power to strengthen her voice and hasten any healing that needed to be done.

Once the power was spent, Teri let her arms fall back into the water and opened her eyes.

“I’ve done all I can from here. Why don’t you see if it helped,” Teri said, a soft smile on her lips.

Anita brought a hand to her throat and said, “Like this? I can talk! I can talk! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Anita hurled herself at Teri, capturing her in a hug that pressed her into Anita’s large and soft breasts. As the gnoshroom kept saying her thanks, Teri felt some more of her fear dissipate.

Maybe things would work out after all.