Winter Date 1, Part 3: Conferences and Copiers

Mona

Mona is still in awe of the Drow District. For a cave, it is so bright and cheery. Little chunks of shiny rocks seem to be embedded in the cave ceiling to give the illusion of a starry night sky. Torches and glowing fungus stuff light up the place. The buildings are cute, too.

She doesn’t initially notice Winter texting as he leads her through the streets. They stop before a store that looks similar to Esme’s Epic Topdecks, Winter asking, “Did you want to teach Caoimhe the art of self-pleasure?”

“What?”

“Kevin is wanting to learn how to pleasure herself as Caoimhe and is texting for permission to learn with Gaia. I’m fine with it, so long as you are.”

Huh? I mean, I guess that Caoimhe would have to do sexy stuff at some point, but I didn’t think... Mona pauses, then makes a decision, “If that is what she wants, then I want her to be happy.”

Winter sends a text, then opens the door. Inside is almost what Mona would picture as a fantasy world tavern. Wood paneling on the walls, with flickering torches in sconces. A roaring fire provides crackling background noise in the fireplace on the far wall.

Of course, not everything exactly fits. Lute music is being piped in from speakers hung from the rafters. Instead of a bar, a long glass counter of cards with a till at the end has a prominent place. And, of course, the shelves towards the front have dice and dice trays and game books and card sleeves and playmats and the like instead of whatever a tavern would have (bottles, she supposes) on the shelves.

Mona does not have a lot of time to think about it. Winter is busy leading her towards a loud table of chatting drow girls. They are dressed in tight dresses with cutouts in very scandalous places. Mona is getting an eyeful of dark purple nipples on lilac breasts and trying her best not to drool.

The table of girls notice the two of them come in. One, sitting behind a small cardboard screen depicting a corporate conference room, greets, “Winter, you slut! You didn’t say that your Mistress was a human! Lucky!!!”

If Winter was offended by being called a slut, he doesn’t show it, “To be fair, Vesperina, my other Mistress was the one I was bragging about on Instant Pigeon-Message. Gang, Mona. Mona, my CnC group. I haven’t gotten to play since the season started and this will probably be the only chance for me to say goodbye to my character properly, so...”

“CnC?”

“Conferences and Copiers. You know, the world’s greatest role playing game?” Vesperina says, eyebrow cocked, exposed cleavage very distracting. The “District Mistress” gives a brief summary of the game’s history. Mary Mymax, a hoppalong diviner, used her magic to espy a different world, one of oil production and electricity instead of magic. She then created game rules based on her observations of that world. Oh, that could be fun! Playing a porn fantasy world’s interpretation of my home world!

Winter chats with his other friends for a bit, then directs Mona to sit. Her subby rogue plops himself in her lap and rests his head on her shoulder. Between Vesperina and some whispered suggestions from Winter, Mona makes a Level One Intern character so she can play in Winter’s final session maybe ever.

Winter pulls out dice and a tower in the shape of a skyscraper out of his inventory, setting it on the table. Ooh, neat! Mona takes a handful of dice and pours them into the opening from the top. The dice tumble down, rolling out of the foyer door and coming to rest on the edge of the tower’s tray.

“Okay, gang,” the District Mistress begins, “We about ready to start? Aranyel, what happened last time?”

“Uhm... we were about to launch our IPO to get funding for our factory and start production, but corporate saboteurs broke into our HQ, trying to steal our patents and prototypes!”

“That’s right! If they got those items, we’ll be ruined! We can’t let Perpetual Prudence Incorporated get away with this!”

Vesperina nods, smiling, “So, this is an all-hands emergency.” The DM gestures towards Winter, “So, Robin McGillicutty comes back from vacation at a very opportune time. Plus, the new summer intern, ahhh, Mona, what’s your character’s name?”

Oh, shoot! I have to come up with a super cool name on the spot! “Ahhh... Elvaera Moonwhisper?”

The whole table cackles. Mona blushes, both sure that she said something super embarrassing and has no idea how. One of the drow girls (the one with the heart shaped birth mark right by her right nipple) waves and says, “Hi!”

Vesperina explains, “Mona, we asked for a fantasy name, like John Smith or McKenna Flueshe, not... that.”

Birthmark girl quips, “I mean, you translate my family name into Common, and...”

Mona puts two and two together. “Hi? Sorry. Different world and all. Uhmmmm... Chad Thundercock?”

That name gets approval from the table. Mona lets out a sigh of relief. The District Mistress continues, “...and Chad Thundercock, the new summer intern, has arrived on his first day at the most prestigious time. So, Natalie, as the HR representative, you need to do an onboarding roll and...”

Thus the game begins.

Andromeda

“Hey, Almach, Ire Bags, over here!”

Andromeda and Tegan both display some disgust at the nicknames. Still, Mattie is standing in the training ground, hand on hip, and winking.

“Ire Bags?” Tegan snarls.

“Well, I’m not calling you Fun Bags. That would require you being... fun. So, Ire Bags it is, at least until you decide to BE fun. So, armor training?” Mattie pauses long enough to toss Tegan a bag, smiling. “For Ire Bags, it’s an easy call. Put on the armor in there. For Almach, it’s a little more complicated. Let’s talk.”

The android arcanist follows Mattie to a collection of different styles of armor. She starts a common-sense lecture, “So, there are essentially three kinds of armor. Light armor is, well, light. Light on protection, but easy to wear, or, in your case, easy on your mechanical muscles when the armor is embedded into your person. The leathers Ire Bags is putting on and my catsuit are examples of light armor.”

Andromeda picks up the leathers to examine them. They feel thick and flexible.

“Heavy armor is,” Mattie continues, “heavy. It provides the best protection, but, if you can’t handle carrying that much weight, you slow down. That can be a big problem. Heavy armor is also very noisy, generally. That makes it hard to be sneaky. Medium armor is in between. Less protection, but lighter and, sometimes, as noiseless as a good set of leathers. So, what are you thinking?”

“Any way I can get the armor as integrated subdermal plates? Something that won’t interfere with me, yet provide maximum protection?”

Mattie smirks, obviously impressed by Andromeda’s lateral thinking, “Not exactly subdermal plates, but something close enough. Max protection with take 150 BP, plus you having a +2 strength modifier. Medium armor equivalent will cost you 75 BP.”

“How soon can I get to a +2 strength modifier?”

“Level 12.”

Andromeda sighs. So, two ASIs or feats. Did I level up too soon? Had I known how bad it hurts to get hit, I might have chosen a different feat. Andromeda decides, “I guess I need to learn proficiency in medium armor. And sell me the lesser of that armor.”

“Very good, Almach.” Mattie tosses Andromeda a set of half-plate. A full set of half-plate, including a breastplate. The astral elf helps Andromeda strap on the shaped metal armor pieces. It is heavy. Andromeda takes a few moments to walk around. Mattie hands her a potion of vicious bronze liquid, with a tag that says, “Pour me all over you!”

Andromeda: -75 BP

Tegan is in the leathers, with is notably NOT covering her torso. She is trying to block everything with her hands and tail.

Mattie twirls her pistol. “Okay, so the arousal field is up, so I’m going to casually shoot at you. Ire Bags, you want to get out of the way. Almach, you want to shift your body to direct the bullet to skate across a plate and away from your body. Ready?”

Wait... THIS is how we are training?

Andromeda: Training Session Full Success (Medium Armor proficiency 7 XP / 5 XP)

Andromeda: +7 XP, Medium Armor proficiency (Training Session)

Tegan: Training Session Full Success (Light Armor proficiency 4 XP / 5 XP)

Tegan: +4 XP (Training Session)

Jenny

Jenny meets up with Tina at Bonnie’s Bonny Burritos on the amenities floor. It is apparently an ice cream shop. After listening to what an “ice cream burrito” entails, the dryad opts for just a small dish of spumoni instead. That sounds like way too much sugar.

When Tina saunters in, her daughter says, in no uncertain terms, “Mommy, Mama Josie told me that you are cut off. You’ve been cheating on your diet too much.”

The elder hoppalong pouts, then flops down on the seat opposite Jenny, drooling over the dryad’s dessert. “What’s that?” she asks jealously.

“Spumoni. Italian ice cream. Supposed to mimic the Italian flag. Stripes of pistachio, vanilla, and cherry ice creams with nuts and candied fruit mixed in. Can I give you a bite, or would that make it awkward with your wolf-girlfriend?”

Tina leans forward, “What Josie doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Bonnie shouts from the counter, “I will text her right now, Mom!”

Pouting again, Tina slouches back, muttering complaints about her stupid diet. Jenny finishes her last few bites quickly to remove the temptation, then hands the dish over to the younger hoppalong. When she returns, she prompts, “Soooo, magic. How’s it work?”

Tina gets out of her funk once she remembers that this is not just a hang out with her friend and former coffee table, but a magic lesson. She beams, “That’s right, you did get magic! So exciting! How’s it work? I dunno. I always kind of cast my magic off of vibes? Don’t ask me how it actually works. That’s for one of the nerds to explain.”

Great. Of course my friend can’t teach me anything. I guess I wasted my BP? Sighing, Jenny leans back, expecting to just get back to hanging out.

Tina goes on with the lesson anyways, “Well, step one to magic, get naked! Shoes and gloves and hats and such are fine, but you gotta free them titties and that badonkadonk if you want magic to work!”

That sounds insane. Wait... “But... but I’ve seen Tyalangan do a bunch of magic while wearing clothes!”

Tina shrugs, replying, “Her exit transformation from our season allows her to ignore the sexy rules of magic from here. We can’t.”

Sighing, Jenny stands up to start stripping out of her clothes. As soon as she has complied with the demands of magic, she feels a little bit different. Energy flowing inside her that was blocked before. Interesting. Annoying, but interesting...

Tina pulls out some candles from her inventory. She says, “Okay, so cantrips are spells you can cast a lot. They don’t take SP. I have a fun cantrip called Prestidigitation, which allows me to pull a bunch of neat little tricks. One of your cantrips, Druidcraft, does some similar things. So, watch, learn, and repeat!”

Jenny watches as Tina uses her magic to light and snuff out the candles. Simple enough. When it’s her turn, she repeats the motions, repeats the words. It takes a few tries, but she makes it her own. Okay. That’s neat.

“Okay. Now the other spells cost SP. Since you are a witch like me, or warlock if you want to use the generic term, you have to cast at the highest level of spell you know, which is second level right now. It is a good idea to pick spells that upcast well,” Tina leans in and whispers, “So, I want you to cast Charm Person on me so you can convince me to follow my diet better.”

This is a BAD idea. I shouldn’t, but I never cast a real spell before... Jenny feels the spell and vibe-casts it. Good news: she feels the magic work. Bad news: The bunny-girl somehow resists despite wanting to fall under the spell’s effect.

Between that being the first time casting (which activates her Experimenting Elderberry transformation) and cutting her SP pool in half, the spike of arousal hits her hard.

“It’s okay, Jenny. It’s not your fault it didn’t work. No need to worry...”

“Like, it’s like totally okay, girlfriend! I’m, like, super sure that I will, like, be able to charm you or whatever...”

So, she tries the spell again. It takes everything she has to grit out the words, “Like, take a chill pill on the desserts, babe!” before the orgasm crashes through her. She slumps back as her world fades to white.

Jenny: Daily Task Complete! Intentional Drain SP to Zero +5 BP

When she comes to, Tina is still there, ears drooping. “Hey, Jen, thanks for trying. Spell doesn’t work that way. You needed to hold on long enough to get me to listen to a complete convincing argument. Still, good job! You did really well!”

Jenny: Training Session Success (5 XP / 5 XP)

Jenny: +5 XP, Arcana (Charisma) proficiency (Training Session)

“You gonna be okay?”

“Sure. Been trying to get out of my diet for decades at this point, but Josie always notices when I start gaining a little bit more curviness. I’ll be fine. Hey, think I can sneak behind the counter? I know Invisibility spells!”

Now that is a bad idea!

Winter

Mona is a little ball of energy as she climbs the stairs. She is still riding the high of her first in-person gaming session.

“Oh, I had that super clutch file collation roll! Did you see that?!”

Winter can’t help but chuckle, “Yeah, I saw that. You found which file was missing so the Security department knew what to look for.”

“That was cool, right? And that cool hacking sequence you did once we found out who the mole was was neat! Oh, and the infiltration we did on PPI was so exciting!”

“We taught them a lesson on not messing with our company, that’s for sure.”

Mona stops at the front door of the Suite. She stares into his eyes. “You seem a little hurt. Did I do...”

Winter wraps Mona up in a hug. He feels a tear threatening to fall, but he refuses it, “You did nothing wrong, Mona. If I feel hurt, it’s because I know that the show is going to keep me busy and, when it’s done, I’m not going to be able to see my friends very often.”

Winter: +1 XP (Hugs for Mistress)

Mona returns the hug, “What do you mean? Tyalangan has magic. She can pop on over to wherever we end up and come bring you here when you want.”

Winter smells Mona’s shampoo as he lifts his chin slightly to rest it on her shoulder. He sighs, “Nobody has explained the concept of time dilation to you yet? That is an unpleasant thing. Time in this world moves, on average, five times faster than in your home dimension. We are currently moving waaay faster than that to ensure we have time to stop the cataclysm. So, if I was to come visit here for a week my perspective...”

Winter feels Mona tense up a little when she puts it together, “Whoever didn’t come with wouldn’t see you for a bit over a month?”

“Actually, closer to two months, by your calendar. Weeks here are ten days long. Even like a weekend trip here may be infeasible, depending on how our exit is designed.”

Mona pulls back to use her emotion reading transformation again. She stares as she asks, “What do you mean?”

Her eyes are quite pretty. “If you get an exit like Queen Mama, we would be required to share your bed regularly to survive. If you get one like Eric or Uncle Andy, we have to stay within your sphere of influence at basically all times. I imagine you’ll get the latter than the former, but I don’t know.”

“So, when she said that you all are bound to me...”

“It is metaphysical, not metaphorical.”

The look Mona gives Winter feels a bit like guilt. She uses Thaumaturgy to open the Suite doors, then beckons Winter in. The rogue follows his Mistress, placing a hopefully calming hand on her lower back, rubbing little circles into it. Ophelia gives them a wide berth. The gamer girl curls up a little on one of the living room couches.

Winter sits beside her, asking, “Did I ruin the mood? If so, I’m sorry.”

“I will be fine in a bit. I just need to process... You lived your whole life in the results of a version of this game and I had a week to learn the ropes.”

Winter squeezes Mona’s hand. “You are doing fine. You want us to be happy and you are working hard to make that happen. That’s better than a lot of Masters the game has had.”

Mona sits and thinks again. Winter gives her the time. Mona being considerate of them is to be encouraged. Her question is a hard one, “I hate to ask, but can we watch a truly awful season? One where the bad guys win? I need to see what to avoid.”

Winter nods, but says, “Not tonight, but I can make arrangements downstairs in the Media Room.”

“Not now?”

With a shake of his head, Winter argues, “Tonight is about us, actual flesh and bone us, not a purely theoretical possibility of a future where you become a monster.”

Mona stares into his eyes again. She must read his absolute certainty that she will stay on the path set before her. “So, what are we doing instead?”

Winter nods towards the bedroom. “If you’ll let me, earning you a statue for the entrance that will bring you joy, not shame.”