You look at the tablet...

The tablet was in your hand before you could even consider rejecting it. On it showed a few options: +1, -1 and ‘Random’. Not that it made much sense to you.

You must have looked thoroughly confused as Dennis swiftly broke the silence with an explanation.

“Clara, the clever Mistress that she is, puts my chastity on a timer that other folks of EF can vote on. Some folks will pick +1 which adds a day, some kind people will pick -1 which removes a day, and then others will pick random which leaves it up to chance whether a day is added or removed.”

Now curious about the whole thing, and with Meer having popped off to freshen up after your duel, you had a couple of questions to ask Dennis.

“So...what’s the longest you’ve been locked up for? And, uh, this might sound daft, but what happens when the timer hits 0? Surely, you’re free?”

“Clara is merciful, and has set the highest time at 14 days, and people are mostly kind enough that it doesn’t last much longer than that upper limit. The longest was 18 days, I believe. And yeah, when it hits zero, the cage comes extremely loose and falls off. I try to be in private when it’s around about that time, even with most folks knowing about the whole deal. Would be a bit rude to, uh, sort everything when in public, ya know?” he chuckled, before continuing. “The freedom is only ever temporary however, Mistress makes sure that the Monday after I am freed I have locked back up again...I may have been a little too excited when I agreed to the terms of a match with her, and she has ownership of my chastity in perpetuity”, Dennis’ laugh a touch more nervous this time.

“And you’re okay with that?” you blurted out.

“I mean, I agreed to her terms, didn’t I?”, he sighed, before taking the time to choose his next words carefully. “But yes, I am...content with the situation, even if I do crave freedom.”

It was at that point that Meer re-appeared, and the three of you talked about all manner of other things for quite a while. Eventually, you departed, to allow the two old friends to have some time to catch up by themselves, but not before a warm handshake from Dennis, and an approval-cum-request-cum-promise from Meer to do this again sometime, a wide grin on your face as you left the pair and went back to your place to rest...