Who's a Good Girl?

Task: Eradicate the Giant Rat infestation

• Risk: Low
• Reward: 500 XP and 5 CP split based upon contribution, 60 Empire Merit.
• There is a giant rat infestation in the capital. Deal with the menace.

After heading the the section of the city where it was reported the rats were densest, Sadie asked the smaller rodents if they knew where these giant rats were making their home. With the Order of the Big Cheese in tow, it didn’t take much convincing to get the local rodents to tell them where to go; in fact, Sadie was pretty sure the swarm grew larger after negotiations.

There were apparently six warrens that had been made. Isabella wasn’t pleased that she was the one to have to deal with the rats, but she was the lowest combatant in terms of levels. The rest of the party followed ten paces behind her, just in case, as she entered the first warren. She found a half dozen rats in the tunnel. “Holy shit. Those are bigger than Bruno.” Isabella tried fighting them, and she was doing fairly well at first, even taking one out, until one managed to land a hit on her ankle, causing her to stumble. She was almost overwhelmed, but Sam dashed in to cover her, letting out a roar, causing all the rats to focus on her. Sam didn’t back off after Isabella got back to her feet and resumed fighting. Instead, the two worked together to quickly dispatch the remaining five rats. Isabella turned to the group. “Okay, so, definitely dangerous solo. We aren’t even done with this warren yet, and I was almost defeated. I think Sam helps the rest of the way, agreed?”

Sadie nodded, “For sure, we thought it might be a two-person task, so go ahead.”

Sam and Isabella pushed forward and cleared out the rest of the warren, with Sam only taking a few scratches. Sam and Isabella continued their efforts, five more warrens later, and a lot of dead giant rats, they had finished the quest. Sam said, “Okay, this is about what I thought. I’m at about fifty percent health. What about you, Isabella?”

“Sixty percent.”

“Meaning a few more missteps and we could have been in significant danger. We’ll have to see if we are right about how it scales, but I think we are on to something here. Mark mind topping us up?”

“Hold on a second,” Allie said. It looked like Allie was examining something before she continued. “Okay, it’s fine. I wanted to make sure this wouldn’t be a problem for you, Sam.”

“Thanks, Allie.”

Mark walked over, cupped Samantha’s chin, “Your eyes are glittering topaz, and scales dazzling sapphires. You’re a treasured part of my hoard.” Mark kissed her, and Sam pressed into Mark. When they broke the kiss, Sam was rubbing her face on his chest.

Allie pulled Sam away. “Try to control yourself, Sam.”

“Heh, sorry. Wait… Mark, what did you just say? Oh shit!”

Allie asked, “What’s wrong?” But Laura realized what the issue was.

“Mark just added Sam to his hoard,” Laura explained.

“No, I didn't,” Mark said, shaking his head.

“Uh huh. You’re telling us that Sam isn’t part of your hoard?”

“No. I’m saying I didn’t just add her. That happened shortly after I became a dragon.”

Allie glared at Mark and asked accusatorially, “Who else is part of your hoard?”

“You, Laura, Merida, and Chloe.” Allie’s displeasure lessened substantially to learn she was included, but was then annoyed when she learned Laura and Chloe were included. “Also, Sam, I don’t feel like you have any place to complain, considering you’ve added me to your hoard.”

Laura asked, “What exactly are we a hoard of?”

Mark deliberately did not answer the question and stepped over to Isabella. He wrapped his arm around her waist and took her hand in his as he twirled her around, dipped her, and kissed her. When he finished kissing her. “You make a man want to speak Spanish.”

(Take me back to your room right now!) Isabella was breathing fairly heavily. She reached up to Mark’s face and pulled him back into another kiss. As Mark brought her out of the dip, she wrapped one leg around him.

Talia coughed, breaking Isabella out of her lustful stupor. “I believe we have another task to get to.”

Sadie nodded, “Yeah, Talia, Laura, Allie, if you could hang back, I would appreciate it.”

Laura nodded, “Sure. Is Bertha able to do anything?”

“Yes, actually. Even though she was incapacitated yesterday, one of my class abilities allows my bonded companions to recover from incapacitation after a night’s rest instead of needing the standard day afterwards to recover. So let’s get moving. I’m hoping that we can finish the forest mission before lunch.” The party exited the final warren.

As they were leaving, Laura put her hand on Mark’s shoulder. He hung back slightly, and she whispered in his ear. “I’m waiting for an answer to my question, Mark. You can either answer me or all of us, your call.”

Mark muttered, “Lovers.”

“What was that?”

“I know full well you heard me clearly.”

“I just didn’t think you thought of Chloe that way.”

“In what way?”

“That you love her.”

“I’m not in love with her. I’ve had sex with her.”

“Hmm…” Laura searched Mark’s face for a clue. “Then why lovers? You haven’t had sex with Sam. You’ve been reticent to call some of us lovers or say you love us. But you just said it was a hoard of lovers. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are various types of lovers. For you, though, that seems to have a more particular meaning. Just something to think about.” Laura picked up her pace to catch up with the others. Leaving Mark trailing behind, pondering her words.

Task: Clear the Eastern Forest of Monsters

• Risk: High
• Reward: 2000 XP and 20 CP divided based on contribution. 150 Empire merit
• Clear the eastern forest of monsters, so that a barricade can be established to the east to prevent the mad cow-girl plague from spreading west.

Traveling to the eastern forest didn’t take too long on horseback. Sadie gave the horses carrots to get them to simply follow behind the party, so they wouldn’t be attacked like last time. Sadie had the Order of the Big Cheese survey the forest and locate any monsters. Unlike before, the mice didn’t return when they found something, but instead just sent the information mentally to Sadie.

“Okay, looks like we have a few dozen targets already found. Most seem fairly weak, but there are three that concern me so far.”

Sam said, “Can we take out the weak ones first?”

“Yeah, this way.” Sadie led the way on Bertha, heading towards a group of three goblins. Isabella, Sam, and Bertha dealt with them swiftly. They spent the next thirty minutes eliminating all the rabble, leaving seven targets that they thought were actually dangerous. Sadie brought them to a massive ten-foot-tall boar that seemed to have steel plating on its back, and its tusks were made of a similar metal. “Talia, Laura, Allie, just hang back, unless you think one of us is going to get incapacitated, don’t intervene. Mark, can you pass out some buffs?”

Mark walked over to Isabella. He stroked her hair and said, “Who’s my good agile girl? Who is it? That’s right, it is Isabella. Yes, it is.”

“Mark, I'm SO going to make you pay for this.” Isabella crossed her arms and pouted. (That’s right, I AM a good girl!)

Mark chuckled. I didn’t realize Isabella was such a tsundere.

“What’s funny?”

Mark just scratched her ears. “Oh, nothing important. I’m not sure you three need anything more than that. Unless you disagree. I’ll make sure to monitor your HP and keep you up during the fight, though.”

With that, Sam and Bertha charged while Isabella circled to flank the boar. Bertha locked her antlers with the boar's tusks and found herself pushed back. It provided Isabella a chance to strike at the creature's backside as she flipped and landed on top of the beast and started to attack it viciously.

The creature flung Bertha away and started to buck to get Isabella off of it. Isabella landed gracefully to one side while Sam took the opportunity to get in some stabs between the steel plating on this monster. She quickly sheathed her sword as the beast charged her, and she caught the tusks in her claws. Unlike Bertha, Sam did not budge. Mark moved and slapped Bertha on the rear, “Hiho Silver!” Bertha snorted in annoyance but felt her legs strengthen. She circled, letting Sam hold the creature in place, and rammed its side, causing it to topple over. With its soft underbelly exposed, Isabella whirled in and was able to quickly finish the beast.

Sam let out a tired breath. “Woo, I sort of expected that to be harder.”

Mark walked up, “I think that might have something to do with you being a dragon and just grappling this beast.”

“Fair enough. We got what, another six monsters?” Sam asked Sadie, who nodded in confirmation.

They hunted down the next three in much the same way Sam and Bertha would pin the creature down, and Isabella would be the one to deal the majority of the damage. Mark mostly just made sure to give short-duration buffs and top off their HP where he could. When they came to the fifth and sixth targets, Mark said, “Hold on a second, I want to try something.” Mark shifted into his dragon form. Mark crested the hill they were hiding behind and took aim at the pair of trolls and launched his breath weapon. A jet of green slime came forward from his mouth. The slime coated the trolls, and as the jet hit each of them, they both fell prone. “Hmm, that’s more intuitive than I thought it would be to use the breath weapon.” The trolls were having trouble standing, with all the slime, but it was also clear they were taking damage. Before the trolls could get out of the slime field Mark had made, they were both incapacitated. They watched as the slime seemed to be acidic and dissolved much of the plant matter it touched.

“Okay, how the hell is that fair?” Laura asked. “I thought Mark was supposed to be a healer. What healer is supposed to be able to take out two trolls single-handedly?”

Mark reverted to being human. “It seems more impressive than it is. I’m not going to be able to do that again for several hours. Sam, I assume it is similar for you?”

“Yes, but my two breath weapons have separate cooldowns. I can also restore my water jet cooldown by consuming a large quantity of water. Like if I flew over to one of the nearby lakes.”

“I will say that was a good chunk of XP I got for slaying them solo. Which was what I was hoping for since I was so much further behind all of you.”

Sam turned to Sadie, “Okay, where’s the last monster?”

“About ten minutes that way.” Sadie pointed southeast. The group moved towards the last monster and came to a cave entrance. “There it is.” Sadie pointed to the clearing in front of the cave. “Yes, Mark, I am aware of how stupid this seems.”

“I’m confused,” Sam said. “What’s the monster?”

Sadie pointed again to a little white rabbit in the clearing. “Look closely and you’ll notice multiple mice are incapacitated in the area.”

Talia said, “Well, this isn’t really a surprise. We know that Cassandra shamelessly steals things to use as her own. Why not this? If this is like in the movie, I highly suggest we all participate in this fight.”

Sadie said, “Oh, for sure. Though I actually was thinking we could leave this mostly to you and Laura. With the rest of us only getting involved if it manages to reach us.”

“That means I’m the only one who won’t get XP for this quest,” Allie complained.

“Take the vanguard, then, Allie. Sam, you and Bertha will protect Mark. We don’t want to lose our healer. Isabella, just stay safe.”

“You really think Talia and I can handle this alone?” Laura asked.

Talia responded before Sadie. “Yeah, easily.” Talia pointed her staff at Laura, “Celerity.” Laura felt her body and mind seem to be quicker. Then she saw the familiar time bubble form around her and saw Talia in slow motion turn towards the rabbit and watched the time bubble begin to form around it. The Rabbit was fast, though, and looked like it was moving in super slow-mo to Laura. Laura started to launch empowered lust bolts, and she decided to throw in a few castings of a newly acquired class spell, which was called frustration. It would increase damage taken for a time. Laura kept launching bolt after bolt and was confused by how long this bubble seemed to be lasting. When both bubbles finally popped, hundreds of lust bolts rained down on the little rabbit. It fell to the forest floor defeated. Allie pouted, disappointed she wouldn’t be getting any XP for this quest either.

Sadie said, “Okay, good job. I think we probably confirmed that you’re right, Sam, at least up to high-risk tasks. Though I think there is also some amount of sending the right people to the right tasks.”

“Agreed,” Sam said with a nod. “Honestly, I think Laura and Talia might have been able to handle this on their own. It just would have taken a lot longer. You two are seriously scary.”

Talia shook her head. “I disagree. I think we would have had real issues with that pack of wolves you guys defeated. I can only have so many time bubbles going at once. The fact that Laura has to be stationary leaves her somewhat ****. I do think with either you or Allie coming with us, though, we could have handled it.”

“Alright, let’s head back.” Sadie said, “We can get a few more upgrades and then head to that dungeon I want us to tackle.”

As they were headed back, Isabella pulled up alongside Mark’s horse. She gestured to him. (Hang back a little, I’d like to talk.) Mark nodded and slowed his horse a little to give them space. Isabella seemed nervous “So… I was thinking…” (God, this is embarrassing.) “When we get back, would you like to… you know?” Isabella’s cheeks flushed as she looked down. (Please take me to your room and let me suck you off!)

“Sure, we should have time,” Mark replied, and he noticed Isabella’s tail immediately wagging vigorously.

(Hell yes! Isabella is getting a treat!) Isabella smiled at Mark.

Mark turned his gaze back forward and noticed Laura looking back at him and Isabella with a frown, but noticed Talia and Allie move to either side of Laura and start talking to her. Mark wondered what Laura was upset about, but quickly put it out of his mind and glanced at Isabella’s wagging tail. I am going to enjoy this.

Laura saw Mark and Isabella start to fall behind the group intentionally. Isabella was clearly flirting with Mark. She was just about to fall back herself when Allie and Talia came up on either side of her. Allie said, “Don’t even think about it.”

“Laura, you need to let this go.” Talia said.

“Seriously? You are both okay with her doing this while she’s been ****? Because that is what Isabella has been.”

“Laura, I have a question for you.” Allie began. “If Isabella wanted to have sex with Mark right now, for what reason would you stop that? Let me answer that for you. You don’t have a compelling reason to stop it. The eclair Isabella had doesn’t increase her desire to have sex. Mark has made it clear that he is more than willing to have sex with all of us when we are ready to have sex with him.” Allie then muttered. “Much to my annoyance.” Allie continued. “So, you can’t say, ‘oh, his inhibitions were lowered’ either. Mark is perfectly capable of reasoning and knows he is impaired. He followed my instructions not to fool around with Sam while they were impaired earlier.”

“That might be true, but are you telling me Isabella is planning on screwing Mark, or blowing him? Because I’m willing to bet it’s blowing him.”

“I’m telling you it doesn’t matter,” Allie replied. “Isabella and I have already talked about this. Isabella had considered having sex with Mark before the last challenge.”

“You said ‘considered’ meaning that she didn’t actually take that step.”

“Only because Mark had a panic attack on our date with him. We had planned to have a three-way with him. I’m telling you, Laura, back the fuck off. You are overstepping by trying to stop Mark and Isabella from doing stuff together.”

“How is this any different than what you did with Sam?”

“One, I KNOW that things would have end poorly with Sam. Not might, they would end poorly. Two, while Sam might want to be with Mark like that, she hasn’t been ready before. Whereas Isabella might not have taken that step, but she has wanted to and was willing to.”

“So you are going to let her take that step while impaired?” Laura scowled at Allie.

“Laura, you don’t have the moral high ground here. Nor is it your place to tell my best friend and girlfriend what she can do with my husband. You aren’t either of their girlfriends. You aren’t interested in marrying Mark either. You say you love him, but you aren’t willing to actually commit to that.”

“Answer me this, is Isabella interested in marrying Mark? Is that why you are so insistent about helping her here?”

“No, she doesn’t qualify for that TF yet. Are we going to have a problem, Laura, or are you going to back off?”

Talia cut in, “Laura, sweetheart, I know you care, but please let this go.”

Laura was about to snap at Talia, but held her tongue. Shit, that would have been mean to say. “Fine. I don’t like this one bit, but fine. On one condition, though.”

Allie narrowed her eyes and frowned, but said, “I’m listening.”

“I have your permission to cast my Fateful Encounter spell on Isabella. It should make sure things end up being positive.”

“Show me the description of the spell,” Allie replied. Laura pulled out her phone and showed Allie the text of the spell. After reading it, “That’s fine with me. It doesn’t **** anything from what I can tell.”

Laura sighed. At least this might mitigate any damage. Laura cast the spell, dumping as much mana as the spell would take. Maybe I should do the same thing for Sam later.

Mark was surprised by Isabella’s eagerness when they got back to the palace. She was pulling on his arm as they went to his room. When they finally got there, though, Isabella sort of froze up.

“So… how exactly…” Isabella fiddled with the little bit of fabric her outfit had and crossed her legs slightly in embarrassment. (Why is this so hard? Why can’t I just ask to blow him? I was willing to have sex, but for some reason, this is more embarrassing.)

Mark put a hand on her head and wrapped an arm around her as he began petting her. “Isabella, you don’t need to be nervous.”

“Who says I’m nervous? I’m not nervous.” Isabella pulled back slightly, but found Mark’s arm was holding her tight. She did swat Mark’s hand away to stop him from petting her. “I also thought I told you not to do that.” (It did feel really nice and helped calm my nerves. I guess I wouldn’t mind some more.)

“Isabella, I think you need to be more honest about what you want. Especially considering I can literally hear your body in your voice saying something different.”

“So what!? Are you saying I was asking for it!?” Isabella pushed on Mark’s chest to separate herself from him, but again found his arm firmly keeping her waist pressed against his. She found herself leaving her hands on his bare chest. (Damn, he is really sexy and strong. I so want a piece of this.)

“I mean, sort of? Yes. Isabella, I literally just heard from you that you want a piece of me. But fine.” Mark removed his hand from the back of Isabella.

Isabella seemed confused, and her tail and ears drooped a little. “What do you mean, fine?” (Wait, why did you stop holding me? I was enjoying that.)

Mark sat down on the bed. “Just that, fine. What do you want to do with me?”

“I… uh… I mean…” Isabella played with her cloak. (What just happened? God, I’m so stupid.)

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to tell me what you want. I wouldn’t want to misinterpret the messages I’m getting.”

Isabella scrunched up her face in annoyance. Oh, you fucking pendejo! You’re going to actually **** me to say it? (Why can’t you just take me?)

Mark leaned back and simply blinked at her. Wait for her to say something.

Eventually, Isabella blurted out, “FINE! I WANT TO BLOW YOU! There! Happy!?” Isabella’s face was bright red, and she wouldn’t look directly at Mark. (I like this a lot.)

Mark smirked. “Oh, well… I suppose I could accommodate you.”

Isabella glared at Mark and crossed her arms. (Why do I have to find this such a turn on?) “Mark, if you’re going to just mess with me, I can leave.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Mark teased. “You say you want to blow me, and now you are talking about leaving? I’m getting real mixed signals here. How about this, so I know for sure you really want it, why don’t you give me a lap dance?”

Isabella squirmed, feeling herself getting wet at the idea. (God, he’s attractive.) “I… I don’t know.”

Mark gestured with a finger for her to come closer, and she humored him. Mark slid his finger through the ring on Isabella’s collar, where one would attach a leash, and pulled her face down to his. “Then stop thinking and do what I tell you. I know what you want, so dance for me. Dance or I’m leaving.”

(God, yes, finally! More!) Isabella’s eyes went wide with indignation and arousal. She felt her breathing quicken. Mark let go of her collar and made a circle with her finger. God, he’s really going to make me do this so I can blow him? Shouldn’t he be happy that I want to blow him?” (This is embarrassing, but I’m really pleased he wants to look at me.) Isabella reluctantly let her cloak fall to the floor and began dancing in front of Mark.

While salsa dancing was her primary form of dance, she had learned many others. With what she was currently wearing, she began to do a belly dance. As she danced, Mark couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was especially pleased with what he was hearing. (Yeah, that’s right, look at me. You better not take your eyes off me, and you better give me my reward for this.) Isabella moved over and started to grind her butt against Mark’s crotch. She turned around, letting her breast dangle in front of Mark, and raised an eyebrow. (Did that satisfy you?)

Mark grabbed her by the collar again. “Yes, it did. You’re such a good girl, Isabella. Go ahead and undo my pants.” Isabella pouted at the use of the term ‘good girl’ but her tail was betraying her and was wagging. She still unzipped Mark’s pants. “Now heel.”

Isabella scrunched her face and tried to slightly back up, but couldn’t as Mark was still holding her by the collar. “Mark, I'm NOT your pet.” (But I could be…)

Mark leaned forward slightly and pulled Isabella an inch from his face. “Maybe not yet. I’ve got some training to do. Now, I said heel.” Mark gently pushed her back and down, indicating she should kneel.

Isabella reluctantly knelt. He is so lucky that I really want to blow him right now, that I’m willing to put up with this. Isabella’s tail was wagging furiously. (See? Isa is a good girl. I want my treat.)

Isabella pulled down Mark’s pants and reached for his dick, but just as she touched it, Mark reached out and grabbed her by the collar again, tilting her head up. “If you want your treat, then beg.”

OH FUCK NO! No way. I am not his pet. But I do want his cock… Isabella looked up at Mark and let out a pleading whimper. (I love this. I want your dick.) Mark didn’t release the collar. Fuck he is going to make me say it again. Fine, I am SO going to get him back for this. “Arf!” WHAT THE FUCK! I did not mean to do that. “Arf, Arf?”

Mark smirked and pulled Isabella towards his dick and released her collar with her lips, less than an inch from the tip of his cock. He placed a hand on her head and said, “Such a good girl. That wasn’t so hard, now was it? Unlike my massive bone-er. Go on, you've earned your treat.”

Isabella looked up at Mark, furious. Her tail was also wagging furiously. “WOOF!” WHY CAN’T I TALK! (This is the best. Fuck Mark, you know just how to get a girl going.) Damnit. Whatever. Isabella licked the side of Mark’s cock and gently stroked it. After a few moments of licking, she took it into her mouth, swirling her tongue around as she bobbed her head. Mark placed his hands on her wolf ears and gently massaged them. Her tail started thumping against the floor loudly. Fucking traitor of a tail. (Yes, oh god, right there, that’s the spot! Isa is such a good girl. Isa loves pets.) She sped up, taking Mark’s cock deeper into her mouth each time. Mark noticed that his penis was growing each time Isabella went down on him. It wasn’t long before his cock was going down her throat. He pulled his hips back slightly as he came inside her mouth. Isabella looked conflicted as to what to do with his load. (Isa earned her treat.) God, why do you have to stare at me, Mark? Also, why does it taste this good? I don’t want to swallow while he watches.

Mark continued to look at her. Then he gave a teasing smile. “You know, I was told it tastes really great, but I didn’t realize you wanted to savor it that much. You can always have more.”

Isabella looked mortified and swallowed his load on reflex. “MARK!” She lightly slapped the side of his thigh.

“Oh, you don’t want more?”

“You know darn well that isn’t the case.” As she stood up, Mark sat up, put an arm around her waist, and pulled Isabella down onto the bed beneath him. “Mark! What are you doing?” (Whatever it is, I like it!) Goodness, he’s huge and ripped.

“I can smell you, you know?” Mark’s tail swished behind him.

Isabella’s face flushed. Right, he’s a dragon right now. Oh God, that's so embarrassing! Isabella looked down at Mark’s erect penis mere inches from her crotch. (Please tell me you are going to take me!)

Mark ran a hand along the side of Isabella, causing her to quiver at the touch. He leaned forward and nipped at her ears a few times, causing her to let out a delighted whimper. Mark let his hand roam down. “Tell me, pet. Do you want me to return the favor?”

“ARF!” Isabella covered her mouth in embarrassment but nodded.

“Glad you are finally being honest, my pet.” Mark thrust his fingers into Isabella’s drenched pussy. As Mark thrust his fingers into Isabella, “I want you to know I’ve changed my mind. I said I wouldn’t mind if you rerolled your wolf-girl TF. That’s not true anymore. You’re now mine, understand pet?”

Isabella howled in pleasure, “ARWWWOOOO!” Isabella reached down and grabbed Mark’s cock and tried to lower him to her.

Mark ran his fingers through Isabella’s hair and firmly gripped the back of her head. “No. Sorry, pet, but we aren’t having sex right now. Don’t worry, though, I won’t leave my darling pup wanting.” Mark pleasured her until she came and released another howl of pleasure.

Mark rolled to the side and lay next to her, gently brushing her hair out of her face. After a few minutes to recover, Isabella rolled on her side and booped Mark’s nose playfully. “Arf.” She crinkled her nose in annoyance. “So… why didn’t we just have sex? We both definitely wanted it.”

“Because I promised Allie that she would be involved the first time we had sex. Unless I’m mistaken, you two haven’t done it either.”

“No, we haven’t, well… unless you count the time in the shower in front of you.”

“Hmm… I guess that does beg the question of what counts. I’m going with no since that was only fingering and fondling.”

“Now what was with treating me like a pet?”

“Isabella, your body was practically shouting at me to continue doing that. You clearly enjoyed it and wanted it.”

“I told you not to.”

“Isabella, your TF isn’t to make you more suggestive. It makes it so that what you want isn’t something you can hide from me. Even if you don’t consciously know you want it. I would also point out that you were the one to literally bark like a dog. I didn’t tell you to do that.”

“You told me to beg,” Isabella said in annoyance.

“Yes, but not like a dog. I never told you not to speak or bark. You could simply have said something like,” Mark raised his voice in an intentionally poor imitation of Isabella, “‘Mark, please let me suck on your massive cock. I simply must suck on it.’” Mark returned his voice to normal. “I would have been fine with something like that. You were the one to bark.”

“I don’t know why I did that. It was like I couldn’t speak. Is it possible I’m still under the effects of Laura’s suggestion?”

“Eh… yes and no. Her suggestion isn’t actively there anymore. It doesn’t last that long. It is possible, however, that you took that suggestion and willingly internalized it. I will say part of the reason I pursued the pet play is because yesterday you told me that while you were mad at Laura for making you bark, it was also turning you on.”

“¡Mentiras!” Isabella reached out and shoved Mark’s shoulder.

“What does that one mean again?”

“Lies, or bullshit,” Isabella said. “Thank you for actually trying to learn some Spanish. I’ve always appreciated that about you. It made me feel accepted.”

“You’re welcome. I want to make it clear, though, I was serious. I’m not lying to you. I really did hear that from your body yesterday. Also, a few other things today that implied you definitely enjoyed being treated that way.”

“Like what?”

“Well beyond general enthusiasm, you called yourself a good girl, and mentioned earning a treat, and when you said you weren’t my pet, your body said that you could be. Also, and I know this is a touchy subject, but you also referred to yourself with a pet name.”

“What name…” Isabella looked pissed. (Tread very carefully.)

“Well… you just dropped Bella from your name.”

“Mark, I want to reiterate, my name is Isabella, and you best not try to shorten it.” Isabella gave him an unamused stare. (Call me Isa at your own peril.)

“I know full well how you feel about that. You might notice I didn’t use that name, I just called you my pet.”

“I’m still slightly annoyed by that, but thank you.”

“So, Isabella… I never asked before because it really wasn’t my business, but I feel like if we are going to be together, I am at least justified in asking. Why don’t you like people shortening your name? You’ve been very adamant about that the entire time I’ve known you.”

“Wait, you don’t know?” Isabella blinked in surprise.

“No, I don’t.”

“I… I swore you knew. I really never told you? Allie never told you?”

“Allie explicitly refused to tell me when I asked her about it. I simply dropped the questioning after she told me that. Her tone made it clear not to ask you.”

“Huh… wow. Well, as you know, I’m a second-generation American. My parents moved to Texas before I was born and then eventually moved again right before I started high school. Growing up in a primarily Spanish-speaking household made me otra, and…”

“Children can sometimes be cruel to those who are different.”

“Yeah… It got worse as time went on. My parents were planning on moving anyway before my dad got offered a job with a substantial pay bump, just so I wouldn’t have to deal with the same students. After hearing my name shortened derogatorily every which way, I had had enough, and I simply don’t tolerate it anymore.”

“Well, I hate that that happened to you. Just checking you wouldn’t have a problem if I called you things like honey or dear eventually, right?”

“Not really. If I do, I'll let you know, but you should be fine.”

Mark reached out and gently brushed her cheek. She responded by nuzzling his hand. “Good, because I really like you… my pet.” Isabella glared at Mark and then playfully bit the hand touching her cheek and held it between her teeth. Mark flicked her forehead while chuckling. “Bad girl. No teeth.” Isabella released his hand but let out a growl of annoyance. Mark heard her tail thumping against the bed, though. “You know, even without your TF letting me know how you feel, I’m pretty sure your tail would give you away a lot.”

“I’m painfully aware. It is really obvious with Allie. I assumed it was the same for me. Do you really not want me to reroll this TF?”

“No, I don’t. I think you are an adorable wolf-girl. I will say this, though: if you really want to reroll it, I will give you permission. I would like to reiterate that if you do reroll it, expect to become a different animal girl. Or something else non-human.”

“What else do you think is on the table, considering my paths?”

“Well, assuming Pack Mate is also swapped out. For your other two paths, I could see either cow, plant, swan, or some sort of doll.”

“Okay, I can sort of see doll with dancer, but plant, cow, and swan?”

“Plant because of the sister in Encanto, she had plant powers. Cow, for similar reasons. I could see Cassandra saying she was ‘as strong as an ox’ and rolling with that. Swan is for the same reason as doll. Cassandra labeled it dancer, which Swan Lake is a famous ballet, and I might remind you that one of the rooms is literally called the Ballerina’s Boudoir. So swan. Then, of course, there is whatever replaces Pack Mate. Do you really dislike it that much?”

“I mean, not more so than any of the other TFs, I just would prefer to be a normal human. But that won’t happen, will it, for any of us?”

“Maybe, Ellen, I still think Talia is going to get one. Honestly, Talia might buy one if she doesn’t get one. But everyone else already has one. With Laura being the most normal looking, and Sadie can probably eventually hide her wings, if she upgrades the TF.”

There was a knock at the door.

Mark sighed, “Guess it’s time to rejoin the others.” Mark pulled up his pants, then said, “Come in.”

Sadie floated into the room. “Hey, Mark.”

“Hi. Sadie. I take it you would like us to gather so we can get going on the quest?”

Sadie turned scarlet in the face, “Not… exactly. I…” She glanced at Isabella. “I was hoping we might… might do something, but I see you already have company.”

Isabella stood up and grabbed her cloak. “You can have at him. I’m good for the moment.”

“Well… you… you could stay if you wanted. I mean… oh goodness. Just you’re very pretty and…” Isabella walked over to Sadie and put a finger on her lips.

“Thank you for the compliment and the interest. I’m not interested in more partners at the moment.” Sadie nodded her understanding as Isabella walked out, with her tail swishing happily behind her.

As the door shut behind Isabella, Mark asked. “Not that I’m opposed to doing stuff with you, Sadie, but are you okay?”

“My lust is back. Hilde fiddled with the TF a little bit more the morning the LARP started, meaning the alterations ended this morning.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It also doesn’t help that I realize that Isabella just gave you a better blowjob than I did.”

“She was magically enhanced with no gag reflex. I did tell you the competition for the best would be fierce.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sadie floated over to Mark and flopped down on the bed. “It’s odd knowing when someone does something with you for the first time, by the way. I become keenly aware of that act. Like, I know that apparently you let two people on the other team penetrate you as Mary.”

“Odd topic shift. I thought you wanted to do something with me.” Mark lay down, leaning on one arm, facing Sadie.

“I do, but I also don’t.” Sadie seemed exhausted.

“Why not?”

“Because I have some level of pride.”

“And doing something with me would be shameful?”

“No, giving in to my base desires would be. Not having control of myself and acting like an animal in heat would be. I’ve had to swallow my pride before and do things I’m not particularly proud of. I’m sorry if this offends you, but I am embarrassed that I practically threw myself at you on my first day here.”

“Sadie, it’s fine. Can you tell me, is it as overwhelming as before?”

“The lust? Or everything? In either case, no. The lust is intense, but I don’t feel like I’m going to go crazy. I think I’ve also had a bit more time to process things, and I feel like I’ve made some friends here.”

“You mean Ethel?”

“Her, but also Hilde, Sam, and I think even Laura.”

“Hilde, really?”

“Yeah, I think at least. Like I mentioned, the morning of the LARP, Hilde continued working on my Fairy Lust. I asked if she would, but told her I would understand if she wouldn’t because it would help our team. She told me that helping me with my TF and her kicking my ass in the challenge were two separate matters. She even joked that if I was captured by the enemy team, she would continue to work on the TF, this round.”

“Huh, I wouldn’t have expected that from Hilde. I sort of thought she would have been pushing to place first.”

“Oh, she said we should prepare to have our asses handed to us on a silver platter and that she didn’t need to screw with our TFs to beat us.”

“HA! That’s more in line with what I expected from Hilde.”

“Do you think she was right? I was really worried until I found out you and Sam were able to do things today.”

“I don’t know. They have strong stealth capabilities, and between Hilde and Ellen have a speed advantage over us. But Talia, Laura, and Sam are also scary. Heck, you saw my own breath weapon. I have claws as a dragon, too. I’m fairly sure I have more brute strength than Sam does as a dragon, at least while I’m male. My advice is that we need better detection methods for the opposing team. Hilde’s fast, but the faster she goes, the less maneuverable she is. Unless she has a long open road, if Talia is aware she’s around, I think Talia can deal with her. Flora is a problem, but Cassandra did say she would be balancing her boon. Which we saw when Ellen attacked us; Sam was able to notice her. So if you can get something that could let us detect when the other team is nearby, that would be a huge help.”

“I’ll have to check. Thanks. Huh… Talking seems to have helped.” Sadie stood up. “I appreciate this, and thank you for not taking advantage of me.”

Mark stood up. “Any time.”

Sadie floated up to give Mark a kiss on the cheek. “Walk with me?” Sadie held out a hand to Mark.

“Sure.” Mark looked down. “But I think I’m the only one who’s going to be walking.”

Sadie giggled as she rested her head on Mark’s shoulder, as the two went to rejoin the others.