A Change In Leadership

Hilde returned to the lair, finding the orcs engaging what seemed to be a near endless supply of ghosts. Hilde saw Petra as she ground her sprint to a stop. “Petra, what the hell is going on?”

Petra rolled her eyes, annoyed, “Ghosts. They’re Sam’s doing. They keep trying to drag people to her. Chloe and Merida are working on a way to get rid of her, but haven’t come up with a solution that doesn't get them infected, too.”

Hilde replied, “Is there somewhere I can drop off some injured orcs safely? I’ll help with the problem.”

“You can leave them here, with me; I can protect them.” Petra watched as Hilde started to unload her storage space, and Kitty stepped out and started to help unload the injured. Petra couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you have so many injured of my tribe?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, I have to deal with the ghosts. Kitty with me.” Hilde started running down the hall quickly, but made sure that Kitty could keep up. Hilde tossed Kitty back her bow. “Don’t make me regret giving you that back.”

Hilde found Chloe and Merida near the chamber Sam was quarantined in. Chloe saw them and said, “Oh, thank God. We could use your help.”

Kitty replied, “How is she doing this?”

Chloe said, “Apparently, if we get infected, it doesn’t prevent us from using our transformations. Sam recently got spectral servants. I’m glad we stuck her in the room we did, or we would be SO SCREWED right now. She’s in her dragon form, sort of. It’s part cow and has a long golden mane, thanks to the Moobrey plague. When Merida peered over the edge of the large pit Sam is in, Sam launched a milk breath attack up at us.”

“Aye, even when I activated my cloakin', it took Sam only a moment tae detect me. She’s been tryin' tae get oot, tae, but luckily, the ghosts cannae move upwards while in the pit, thanks tae the anti-flyin' enchantment on the hale room.” Merida said, “Otherwise, we think Sam wuid be free. We also hae a problem. If we dinnae deal wi' Sam soon, she’ll fill up the pit wi' milk frae her breath weapon an' just swim oot o' it eventually.”

Hilde frowned, “How deep is the milk right now?”

“Noo very, maybe an inch or twa. But considerin' that she’s noo had lang tae start fillin' it that’s noo guid for us.” Merida said, “I cannae teleport her far enough awa' either. Noo even jist tae the ootside o' the lair. I also cannae get close enough tae hypnotize her tae sleep.”

Hilde grimaced, “Okay, where do we want to get rid of her? Because incapacitating her isn’t an option. I figure we either drop her where the last idol went off, the capital, or where the first or second idols went off. Essentially undoing Laura’s work purifying things yesterday.”

Chloe thought about it and said, “Not the capital. I think that won’t go as well as you do. I think she’ll infect some people but get taken down in short order. I think we should go with the most recent idol location, so they have to go through Sam to cleanse the idol.”

“Fine.” Hilde said, “Here is the plan, then. I’m going in there; I’m going to trick her into willingly entering my storage space. At which point, Merida, you’ll have about five, maybe six seconds to teleport us near where the most recent idol went off. I can put living things in my storage, but trapping them in there is another story. She’ll be able to break out. After the teleport, I’ll let her out, and you bring us back here before we get incapacitated.”

One of Merida’s tails turned into Mira. “Hold up. I’ll do it instead of Merida.”

Hilde quirked an eyebrow, “No offense, but I trust Merida a lot more to have my back on this.”

“Tough shit. Merida isn’t immune to crap like this. I can’t get fucked up by shit. So I’ll do it.”

Hilde nodded her agreement, “Fair enough. Honestly, after this, I think everyone getting an idea of what your, Meribelle’s, and Merigold’s TFs are might be a good idea.”

“Fuck off, pipsqueak! I’m not telling you jack shit. And don’t you dare go examining them in depth either. I know you have an idea of mine, but you can go fuck yourself if you start spreading what they are.”

Merida looked between Mira and Hilde, remembering how Mira felt about her now girlfriend. And how Mira felt when Hilde had threatened her. She felt a similar trepidation from Mira, but also a determination not to cower in fear either. Merida said, “Hilde, we winnae be sharin' that info wi' onyone. Noo withoot yer explicit permission, Mira.” Merida stared Hilde in the eyes to make sure Hilde understood. Hilde gave a **** nod of agreement. “Also, thank ye, Mira, for lookin' oot for me. Noo, before I’m covered in even mair goo, could ye twa please handle Sam?”

Which was when Chloe threw a flask at a ghost directly above Merida, completely drenching her in ectoplasmic goo. Chloe winced and said, “Sorry, but it was about to push you into the room with Sam.”

Merida wiped the slime off her face. “Thanks,” Merida said, extremely annoyed.

Mira and Hilde got ready to enter the room. Hilde asked, “How are you getting down into the pit?”

Mira replied, “We get a portion of Merida’s magic as a kitsune. I can fly, not as fast or as well as she can, but enough that I can easily jump down and not get hurt.”

Hilde nodded, “Okay, here I go.” Chloe pulled the door to the chamber open, and Hilde rushed in using her cloud-steps to get down into the pit with Sam quickly. Sam immediately tried blasting Hilde with a torrent of milk. While letting out a loud, “MOOOOOOOOOO!” Hilde managed to circle the outside of the pit fast enough to dodge the spray. She touched down and found that Merida had underestimated how deep the milk was already.

Sam charged Hilde like an enraged beast, with her horns lowered, ready to gore her on them. Hilde smirked, “That’s right, come to Hilde.” Hilde took a fighting stance as if prepared to counter the charge at the last minute, but instead simply opened her storage and let Sam charge directly into it. The second Sam was completely inside, Hilde snapped it closed and yelled, “NOW! TELEPORT US NOW!” Hilde started to step up through the air to get closer to Mira faster.

Mira was falling towards her, and a moment later, they were far away in the countryside. There was a crack in space as Hilde’s storage broke open and Sam came hurling out of the crack. “MOOOOOOOO!” Sam roared, covering the entire countryside for miles. An echoing response came a second later from several different directions. Mira realized there were other infected that would be closing in on them.

Mira saw Hilde collapsed on one knee, panting heavily, and grabbed onto her and teleported back to base. They landed with a splash back in the chamber they had just left, but Hilde was having trouble standing. Mira went over to help Hilde to her feet and found that Hilde really couldn’t stand. Mira asked, “What’s wrong?”

Hilde was gasping for air, “OW! That hurt.... That hurt a lot... Everything is spinning... I need you... to carry me... We... need to... make sure... not to get any... milk on the others... It’s almost certainly infectious.” Hilde clutched her chest tightly in pain.

Mira asked, “Are you losing HP?”

Hilde wasn’t sure and quickly checked, “No... thank the gods... but I have... a massively reduced... HP pool... at the moment.”

Mira gently scooped Hilde up in her arms and started to float upwards. When she reached the top of the pit, Mira said, “Everyone, get the fuck back. We need to get this damn milk off of us, and Hilde needs space.”

Mira laid Hilde down on the ground. Chloe ran off and returned with plenty of water and soap, along with protective gear. Chloe approached and started carefully scrubbing Hilde down. Mira simply returned to being one of Merida’s tails, leaving all the milk behind as she did so.

Merida came over but made sure to stay far enough away that she wouldn’t risk getting infected. “Hilde, what’s wrang?”

“Storage broke.” Hilde wheezed out. “Not meant for that... Never doing it again.”

Kitty frowned towards Hilde. Their eyes met, and Hilde could tell that Kitty was seriously considering whether she should let Hilde recover.

Kitty thought, It would be so easy to put her in her place. Such tiny tits, and she thinks she should be in charge? Ridiculous.

Hilde then broke the stare, flicking her eyes towards Merida.

Kitty followed Hilde’s gaze. Merida does have bigger breasts than me; she probably wouldn’t be happy if I did that, though… Kitty asked, “Will you be okay, Hilde?”

Hilde’s breathing eased a little as she sat up. “Eventually. I’ll need a few hours to fix the damage. You can think of this like a glitch, except instead of it being a bug, it’s more like someone deleted a large chunk of code that was critical.”

Merida said, “We should let Mark ken aboot this an' that we resolved the problem wi' the ghosts.”

Hilde grunted out, “No. At least about me. He’ll just worry. Master will also feel bad because he can’t help me right now.”

Chloe said, “Fine. I’ll go tell Mark about us getting rid of Sam. You recover.” Chloe hurried away, as she could tell that there was some sort of tension between Hilde and Kitty, and did not want to be involved in this relationship drama. Merida and Kitty both helped Hilde move to another room where she could lie down.

Merida finally asked, “Whit’s gaun on between ye twa?” Kitty and Hilde both played dumb to Merida’s question. “Quit it, baith o' ye. I can tell somethin's up. Sae spill.”

Kitty replied, “We had a… discussion over my leadership. Hilde is of the opinion that I can’t be allowed to continue as the team leader.”

Merida looked back at Hilde for confirmation. “Pretty much,” Hilde replied weakly.

Merida said skeptically, “Uh-huh… because this feels like mair than that. Also, Hilde, it seemed like ye were fine wi' her plan this morn.”

Hilde winced in pain, “Went along with it. Figured it would be better to discuss my issues one-on-one.”

Merida said, “Okay, fine. Mind tellin' me why ye twa are back, though? We were tryin' tae figure oot if we could get word tae ye.”

Kitty replied, “Hilde has a plan that requires your help. That’s also why we brought so many injured orcs.”

Merida looked at Kitty. “Sae, ye twa jist went tae the orc encampment, picked up some injured orcs, an' came back here?”

Hilde and Kitty nodded.

Merida’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’d like tae ken ane mair thing, an' I want baith o' ye tae think very carefully before respondin' tae me, an' if ye want tae lee tae me. If a' ye did wis gae pick up injured orcs, why has Kitty taken aboot fifteen percent o' her HP in damage?”

After a moment of tense silence, Hilde let out a sigh, “I attacked her.”

Merida whipped her head around and glared at Hilde. Then she turned back to Kitty, “An' ye were coverin' that up? Why?”

Kitty seemed to shrink back at Merida’s harsh tone. “Because I figured you wouldn’t be happy that we fought, but it also didn’t have anything to do with our relationship. It was about the challenge. I didn’t want to screw things up between you and Hilde.”

Merida wasn’t happy with Kitty’s response, but at least satisfied that Kitty wasn’t hiding anything more from her. Merida turned to Hilde, “An' ye figured attackin' Kitty wis a guid idea?”

“Tried talking her down. That failed. At which point I had to act or break Cassandra’s rule.”

Merida frowned, “Yet ye stopped, meanin' ye didnae hae tae dae it.”

Hilde shook her head, wincing from the movement. “Not exactly. Kitty gave up.”

Kitty decided to help Hilde by explaining what happened, retelling events as accurately as she could. A few minutes later, Kitty had finished.

Merida was taking some deep breaths, with low growls of frustration coming out on the exhale. “Ye’re baith idiots.” Merida stood. “Hilde, stay here an' recover. Come get me when yer storage space is fixed. Kitty, ye are stayin' wi' her an' will help her however she needs ye tae. The twa o' ye will resolve this thing between the twa o' ye before ye come find me. Dae I mak' mysel' clear?” They both nodded. “Guid, I’m gaun tae gae discuss wi' Chloe aboot the change in leadership.” With that, Merida strode out of the room, leaving the two of them alone together.

Hilde broke the tense silence that had formed, “Surprised you didn’t throw me under the bus, so to speak. You had the chance. Why didn’t you?”

Kitty remained quiet for a bit. “I wish it were that simple. I’m also not too upset about the coup attempt. I am upset with your intention of infecting me and turning me loose as we did with Sam.”

“Didn’t really answer my question,” Hilde replied.

“Because I care about Merida. And even if I’m a bit jealous, I’m not going to let that control me and wind up hurting Merida because of it. Honestly, I’m surprised you would want to take over, considering how you think things will go.”

Hilde grunted, “I don’t care about the VP. I care about placing higher in the challenge.”

Kitty moved over and sat down next to Hilde and slowly started to knead Hilde’s chest with one claw. Hilde felt a soothing sensation spread through her as Kitty continued. Hilde said, “Thanks, I didn’t realize you could use it like this. It’s super helpful.”

“Sure. Now get to work on fixing your shit.”

Hilde nodded and started examining and then repairing the damage.

Merida was pissed. She really wanted to yell at both Kitty and Hilde. Whit the hell wis Hilde thinkin'?! WHY did Kitty noo tell me?!

Mira was annoyed by the mental yelling, “Bitch, please tell me you aren’t that fucking dense.” Merida was not amused or in the mood to put up with Mira’s crap at the moment.

“Mira, noo noo. I’m noo happy wi' how ye acted towards Hilde. Me bein' mad at her doesnae change that.”

Mira mentally rolled her eyes. “Right, because I’m the one in the fucking wrong for telling her to keep her damn mouth closed about things that aren’t her god damn business. But I was actually trying to fucking help you.”

“How?”

“Seriously? You’re really that damn dense? Kitty didn’t tell you because it would make her look like a petty and vindictive cunt. Would you like to know what I’d do in your position?”

Merida reluctantly nodded.

“Get the fuck over it. Kitty and Hilde are in the right here. When they have a fucking problem with each other, it isn’t your fucking place to be a mediator. Not unless the problem involves something like fucking you.”

Merida frowned and had Mira appear in front of her, preferring to actually have someone to speak to. “Sae I’m jist supposed tae let them fecht?”

“Ding ding ding. We have a fucking winner here. Merida, they both knew that bringing you into it would be a fucking stupid idea. It would piss you off like you are now. Then there is the fact that you would need to take a side, which would make whoever you didn’t side with a bit resentful.”

Merigold appeared in the room so she could join the conversation. “I actually agree wi' Mira on this, Merida. Frankly, ye should be pleased wi' their actions. Baith o' them decided that whatever disagreements they had were between them an' they werenae gaun tae drag ye into the middle because they care aboot ye.”

Merida asked, “An' that maks it okay tae lee tae me?”

Merigold shook her head, “But they didnae lee tae ye. They jist didnae disclose everything, ane dinnae even get me started on lees of omission. Welcome tae dealin' wi' multiple partners; they arenae gaun tae tell ye everything. Jist like ye dinnae tell Mark everything aboot yer relationship wi' Kitty an' Hilde.”

Merida scratched her head in frustration. “Fine. I’ll let it bide. What are yer thochts aboot the team leader?”

Mira immediately replied, “Don’t even fucking think of taking it yourself. Hilde isn’t wrong about Kitty being reckless, though.”

Merigold was more hesitant to reply. “Hilde has a point, but I dinnae think there is onybody else I’d suner hae tak' the role.”

Mira just snorted at Merigold’s response and said, “Don’t pussyfoot around it. You think all the options suck ass.” Merigold reluctantly nodded. “If you can, get Chloe or Aubrey to take it, but I don’t think they will. Same with Ellen. Just don’t fucking take it yourself.”

Merida frowned, “Why noo? I’m currently in second place; it isnae like I’m screwed if I tak' the loss o' victory points.”

Mira said very bluntly, “What about your dad? Or have you changed your mind about bringing him back?”

Merida couldn’t answer that. “I… I winnae let that possibility hinder me frae helpin' onyane else. I’m noo gaun tae simply sacrifice mysel' tae help them either, but this isnae that.” Merida continued down the hallway to find Chloe. She ended up finding her waiting in the lounge with some sort of cocktail in hand at the bar. Merida sat down on one side, and Mira and Merigold sat down on Chloe’s other side.

In front of each of them, a cocktail appeared without them having to order. Merida got a Penicillin, Mira got a Riot Punch, and Merigold got liquid gold. Mira just slammed her cocktail and was pleased to find a new one immediately appeared. Merida followed suit, but a bit slower.

Chloe asked, “So, I take it you asked those two about whatever was causing the tension between them and didn’t care for the response.”

Merida sipped on her second cocktail and said, “Hilde set aboot Kitty tae remove her as team leader.”

“About time,” Chloe said, getting a glare back from Merida. “Mark wasn’t wrong that someone else should take over decision-making from her. I just don’t want it to be me.”

Merida asked, “Because ye dinnae want tae risk the VP?”

Chloe nodded, “Exactly. I don’t think that’s unreasonable either. Except for Hilde and Sadie, I’m in last place, and they’re new. I’ve also done a bunch of the big-ticket things already to earn points.” Mira let out a grunt of acknowledgement as she slammed her fifth cocktail. “Um… Mira, what’s up with this?” Chloe said, gesturing to the five empty glasses.

“I already fucking told you, you dumb bitch. I can’t really get fucked up anymore. I technically can get drunk, but I need shit like this and a lot of it. That or the fucking hard shit.”

Merigold asked, “Doesnae that hae quite a bit o' Everclear?”

“Yeah, because I’m not a pussy.”

Everyone could see Mira was getting worked up more and more. Merida mentally asked, “Mira, does yer transformation that prevents negatives frae stuff like this hae a side effect? Like makin' ye horny?”

“Fucking hell! Are you going to be a bitch about this and pry too?”

“Na. I’m noo. If ye dinnae want tae tell me, that’s fine. I’m noo gaun tae gae diggin' roond yer memories either. It’s jist ye’re seemin' tae get angrier an' flusher. I’m jist wondering why.”

“Fuuuuuuck! Fine, you deserve to know. You’ve been fucking awesome to me. Yeah, makes me a bit horny, prone to mood swings, and rash decisions.”

Merida asked, “Isnae that jist bein' drunk?”

“Pretty much, except I don’t black out, get the hangovers, or become unable to string two thoughts together.”

Chloe finally cut in, “Look, I figure that you two are having a conversation, but it’s sort of rude to simply cut me out of it while I’m sitting right here.”

Mira said, “Bitch.” Mira then leaned over and grabbed the front of Chloe’s shirt. “Fuck off, unless you want me to find a strapon and screw your ass six ways to Sunday.”

Chloe didn’t back down or seem intimidated by the threat.

Merigold said over Mira’s shoulder, “Mira, if ye want tae threaten someone, dinnae dae it wi' a guid time for them.”

Mira sighed, “Fuck, right… fucking masochistic slut.” Mira pushed Chloe away from her, causing Chloe to nearly stumble off her stool and into Merida. “Guess it’s an improvement from sadist.” Mira slammed another drink, “Then again…” Mira eyed Chloe up and down. “A good time is a good time.”

Chloe said, “Keep your hands to yourself. I’ve got a girlfriend, and it isn’t you.”

“Speaking of Aubrey,” Mira began, only to be cut off by Chloe.

“You even think of messing with her, you fucking bitch, and I’ll make your life a living hell.”

Mira let out a snort of laughter. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to. She’s not my damn type. I was just wondering if there was any chance she might give me some time with the gigantic dick.”

Chloe blinked in surprise, “Oh… sorry about that. I guess I could ask if she’d be willing.”

“Don’t be sorry.” Mira retorted, “You should be a stone-cold bitch towards anyone who fucks with the people you care about. Shame you don’t want to go for a tumble because this overprotective version of you is a damn bit more appealing than the one I’ve dealt with. If you wouldn’t mind asking her, though, I’d fucking appreciate it.”

“Sure…” Chloe replied, unsure what to make of Mira, and walked back towards Mark’s room.

Merida finally said, “Richt, what’s gaun on? I thocht ye werenae keen on sleepin' wi' Mark?”

“What? Where’d you get that dumb fucking idea from?” Mira tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Merida exasperatedly said, “How aboot how ye left whenever I’ve been daein' stuff wi' him. Or walled aff in ma mind when ye couldnae leave, durin' onything sexual.”

“Oh. I guess I can see how you’d get to that.” Mira replied, “But no. I’m more than willing to fuck his brains out and have mine screwed in return. I just don’t want to be used like a god damn sex doll. Or did you forget that you specifically included the fact I would be into him as part of your criteria?”

Merigold asked, “So, you drank all this on purpose with the intent of screwing him? Because it would get you all worked up?”

“Sort of…” Mira replied, “I’ll tell you about it more later.”

Chloe walked back into the lounge. “Aubrey is willing to give you an hour with Mark.” Mira immediately perked up hearing that. “On one condition. A condition Mark has already agreed to.” Mira narrowed her eyes at Chloe. “Merida, we want you to take over the team leader position.”

“Fuck no!” Mira replied. “Not interested.” Mira turned around and slammed another drink angrily.

Merida said, “Fine. I was considerin' it already. Mira, jist gae. I ken Mark wants tae talk wi' ye onyway.”

Mira was about to complain, but saw the scoreboard change. Where Team Lioness’s Pride was a moment ago, now read Team Villainess Vixens. Mira said, “You shouldn’t have done that for me.”

“Tae bad, I’m allowed tae look efter thae I care aboot, tae, Mira. That includes ye noo. Noo gae.” Merida pulled Mira off her stool and pushed her towards the hall. “Dinnae actually mak' me tak' ye there by ****.”

Mira growled but stomped off wordlessly towards Mark’s room.

Chloe asked, “What’s gotten her so ticked off?”

Merigold replied, “Probably a combination o' her transformations activatin', mair than onything else.”

“Fine, whatever.” Chloe then turned towards Merida, “So, oh fearless leader, what are we going to do today?”

“Same thing we dae every day, bunny.” Chloe gave her a skeptical look, especially at the nickname. Merida then continued, in a slightly menacing voice, “Try tae tak' ower the warld.”

Mira knocked on the stone door to Mark’s room, and as it rolled to the side, Aubrey was on the other side. Aubrey stepped out of the room. “One hour. I’m coming back after that.” Aubrey strode away, not waiting for a response from Mira.

Mira stepped into the room, a bit nervous, and pressed the buttons to shut and lock the door behind her.

Mark sat at the table and gestured for her to sit across from him. “Chloe said you wanted to talk.”

Mira just shook her head in frustration, “That bitch. She did that on purpose.” Mira walked over to the table but didn’t sit. Instead, she leaned over, putting a hand on the back of Mark’s chair for support. “I asked for some time with you. I would much prefer it if it didn’t involve talking at all.”

Mark pursed his lips while raising an eyebrow. “What’s changed? Thought you didn’t want that with me.”

“Fucking hell, can the damn pillow talk wait until after you fuck me senseless?”

Mark crossed his arms. “No, I want an answer. What’s up with you?”

“Right now? I need some god damn release. Release, I can only get from you.”

Mark shook his head, “Not good enough.”

Mira stood up and stomped away from Mark while growling in frustration. “GOD FUCKING DAMNIT! FINE! You want to know my issues? For the past several months, I’ve been **** to do things. Humiliating things. Just to survive being eliminated. My version of you didn’t take no for an answer. He tried to get us to say it too. Then he would punish us for refusing him and do it anyway. So pardon me for fucking exercising some god damn autonomy when I realize it was actually safe to do so.” Mira was panting from anger. After a momentary pause, she continued. “Mark, I’ve already talked with Meribelle, and assuming Merida doesn’t find me to be too much of a bitch, Meribelle has already agreed to advocate that I’m made permanent before her. But I need to know something before I agree to that. I need to know you aren’t going to fucking **** me.”

“How am I blackmailing you?”

“You aren’t. At least for right now. I need you to fuck me. It has to be you, too. I need to know you will be willing to satisfy that need without extorting me.”

“I assume this is caused by a transformation?”

Mira nodded, “A combination of them, but yes. If you’re fucking worried that I just see you as the only dildo I can get my fucking rocks off on, don’t be, because that’s not how I see you. Now, PLEASE, get up, toss me on the bed, and fuck my god damn brains into mush. If you do that, then this one time and this one time only, I’ll make a trade with you. I’ll answer all your stupid fucking questions afterwards.”

Mark rapped his fingers on the table top in consideration. “Two questions first, or not happening.”

Mira growled and, through gritted teeth, said, “What are they, and for your sake, they better not be fucking invasive.”

“First, what about contraceptives?”

Mira blinked a few times, surprised by the question actually being reasonable. “Okay, fair. I have the same crap that Merida does regarding that. Last I checked, you had it set to zero chance.”

“I do, and that’s not changing for you. Second question: What are your boundaries or safeword?”

“My fucking what?” Mira looked genuinely confused.

Mark replied, “From the sound of it, you want a good dicking. I’ll oblige, but especially with your speech being forcefully messed with, I want something specific to know when you want or need me to stop. Red has been the go-to for most of the others, but if you want something different.”

Mira’s angry and frustrated expression cracked for a moment, and she looked away as Mark’s concern for her was something she had forgotten. “Red will be fine. Now will you fuck me or what?” Mira turned back towards Mark as she spoke. He crooked his finger towards her.

She obliged him and moved to stand in front of him. Mark reached out and pulled Mira’s jacket off her shoulders forcefully while standing. Then he shoved her down face-first against the table. Mark practically purred into her ear, “I hope you’ve realized just what you’ve asked for here.” Mark held her against the table by the back of her neck as he tore off her panties and lowered his own pants.

He lifted her hips slightly and thrust deep and hard into Mira. He wasn’t gentle as he pounded her against the table repeatedly. Mira extended her arms out and gripped the table’s edge as she let out a mewling sound of pleasure, followed by “FUUUUUUUUUUUCK! YEEESS!” Mira eagerly found her hips moving practically on their own in time with Mark’s thrusts.

Mark reached out and grabbed a fistful of her purple hair and yanked on it hard enough to pull Mira into an upright position. Her back arched out as her shoulders pressed against Mark’s chest, and she was **** onto her tiptoes. Mark **** her face upwards and leaned down and thrust his tongue between her lips and down her throat. Mark felt Mira spasm as her eyes fluttered as he came inside her.

Mira said, “Damn, I heard your dick was magic, but fucking hell.”

Mark scoffed, pulled his dick out of her, threw her by the hair onto the bed, and climbed on top of her, pinning her wrists together above her head with one hand. “Apparently, it wasn’t good enough. I’m a man of my word, and I believe you requested I make your brain mush. That was most definitely a coherent sentence out of you, so not yet mush.” Mark leaned over Mira and nibbled at her ear gently, “Assuming a fucking is what you still want.”

“Yes! PLEASE! Fuck me stupid!” Mira wrapped her legs loosely around Mark’s waist.

Mark didn’t waste more time and thrust into her once again, while at the same time biting down on one of her fox ears and groping her ass with his free hand. Mira let out feral growls of pleasure as she squirmed in his grasp and tried to free her hands from his grip. She couldn’t break free, though. Mark’s size and strength made it quite impossible for her to break his grip. Mark moved on from biting her ears down to her neck, leaving massive hickies in his wake.

Mira’s moans were nearly constant as Mark ravaged her. Mira had lost count of how many times either of them had climaxed when Mark, without warning, flipped her over onto her stomach and knees and took her from behind again. This time, Mark grabbed her wrists and pulled back, causing her breasts to dangle and sway back and forth with each thrust.

Mira cried out in both pleasure and pain as she lurched back as she came. A moment later, she went limp in Mark’s grasp. Mark lay her down gently as he saw a dazed expression on her face. Mark smiled, “There, pretty sure it’s mush now.”

Mira just responded, “Huh? Wah’s waht now?”

Mark shook his head in amusement. He pulled Mira close to him, resting her head on his chest, and reached over and took a fur brush from the nightstand drawer. He started to slowly brush her tail, finding it quite relaxing.

Several minutes passed before Mira was coherent again. She bolted upright, accidentally knocking the brush out of Mark’s hand, and it clattered to the floor. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“I believe the term is cuddling. I was also brushing out your tail. It was rather soothing. Was I too rough during the sex?”

Mira barked out a laugh, “Rough? Ha ha ha ha ha. Mark, that was damn gentle.” Mira looked at Mark’s expression and how serious he was being. “Oh lord, you really thought you were being fucking rough. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. That’s fucking hilarious. First of all, I wanted a fucking, and that’s what I got. But seriously? Rough? Yeah, I guess my arms hurt a bit with you yanking on them, but the stuff with the hair? You apparently know how to yank on hair so it doesn’t hurt like a motherfucking bitch, and did it that way on purpose.”

“Glad to hear you enjoyed it.”

“Damn straight!”

“So, are you actually going to answer my questions or just bail?”

“Fuck off. I’ll answer your damn mansy pansy questions. I’m not a god damn liar or cheat. I do want to make two fucking things clear, though. One, I’m not answering these questions with anyone else here. So if Aubrey comes back, you either tell her to wait or we’re done then. Second, this isn’t going to be a repeated thing. If I need fucking and come to you, I’m not negotiating for access.”

Mark said, “You do realize I’m not going to simply fuck you whenever and however you want, right?”

“I don’t have an issue with you telling me not this damn second. Especially if you’re with someone else. But I do expect no bullshit where you try to extort something out of me, in exchange for sex.”

Mark flicked one of Mira’s nipples and noticed that they were both pierced with small barbells. “Okay. I take it the other me did that to you?”

“All the time. It’s why my nipples are pierced. He had a thing where if we promised him something, it was binding on us. So he would **** promises out of me before fucking me.”

“Can you tell me why you reacted like you did with Aubrey?”

Mira got a little cagey. “Do you mean biting my damn tongue or shoving her?”

“Both actually.”

Mira took a minute before replying while taking deep breaths. “Aubrey, this Aubrey at least, is a decent person. What I was going to say would have genuinely upset her. As for shoving her…” Mira went silent again for a good long while.

Mark filled in the gap and replied, “You shoved her because intimacy, genuine closeness, and affection make you uncomfortable, right?”

“I don’t do crap like that! I’m no god damn pussy.” Mira retorted.

“Sure, which is why your eyes were watery earlier.” Mark put up his hands placatingly, seeing her **** glare towards him. “Fine, you don’t go in for that stuff. I do want to know why you needed me to fuck you, though.”

Mira growled, but said, “Fine, not like you won’t learn this if I’m here permanently. I have several transformations that essentially compound and result in me needing your dick. Only one of them specifically requires it, but the others end up leading to that one triggering.”

“What are all your transformations?”

“Seriously? Fuck, whatever. Just… please don’t go sharing this info… even with Merida, she doesn’t know either.” Mira reached between her breasts and pulled out her phone, “I’ve got to say this breast pocket crap is sort of neat. We didn’t have that on my shitshow.” Mira tapped through a few menus while mumbling. “Yes… Yes, fucking user agreements. Yes… yes… yes… There, I gave you permission to see my TFs. That will be easier than explaining shit to you.”

Mark pulled out his phone and clicked the notification. Which read: ‘Mira’s TFs have been edited to use her new name to avoid confusion and will list which ones are partially suppressed or adjusted and how, by Merida’s Boon. If Mira becomes a permanent member of the Harem, the transformations and their text will be fully altered to reflect the changes.’

Taking the Hard Stuff: Mira has done a lot of crap over the years, and things have taken their toll on her body. Previous harms from substance use and health issues will be undone, and she’ll no longer suffer from either. Not without a cost, of course. Mira, instead of getting sick or having many of the negative side effects of substance use, will just get horny instead. This will not fix her addictions, and she’ll find quitting to be nearly impossible, as she’ll never refuse trying something offered by her Master and will have an increased temptation from her fellow harem sluts’ offers. (Ratio of use to horniness reduced. Mira can refuse things offered by Mark, but she will be more tempted than if someone else offered. Temptation from others drastically reduced.) [Delinquent]

Mouthing Off: Mira’s mouth has gotten her in trouble with authority before and ruined friendships. Now she’ll find respecting any authority except her Master’s quite impossible. She’ll constantly mouth off, be vulgar, and rude to everyone as well. But that’s fine, as Mark loves a bad girl. (Inability to respect authority completely suppressed, but will find herself respecting her Master’s authority more than others still. Restrictions on speech and mannerisms slightly reduced.) [Delinquent]

No Pain, No Gain: Mira will not be able to find satisfaction from her arousal without a bit of pain. The greater the pain, the greater her gains. This will also make painful things more pleasurable up to a limit and prevent long-term harm. (Adjusted so Mira can find sexual satisfaction without pain, but pain still enhances the satisfaction.) [Masochist]

Burning Emotions: Mira has dabbled in lighting things ablaze to deal with her undesired emotions; Now her loins will gain an aching heat from unwanted emotions. If Mira indulges in the heat, she’ll burn away some of her unwanted emotions in the process, giving hate fucking a quite literal meaning. (Mira’s emotions will no longer disappear if she quenches the heat, and the intensity of the heat is reduced.) [Fire Bug]

The Breaking Point: Mira’s a bit of a bitch and needs to learn her god damn place, or so her fellow harem sluts believe. She’ll need to exercise control or be ready to beg, because if someone pushes her past this breaking point, her only relief from arousal will be a good dicking. Raising her voice or lashing out at someone in anger or frustration will be enough to trigger this, also if she bottles things up and just gets too horny, too. (Adjusted so the breakpoint is substantially higher than stated.) [Masochist]

Fan the Flames: Mira will be able to see the fire, as well as possible kindling, inside others. She’ll find herself wanting to fan the flames and set others ablaze with lust for her Master. To aid this, she’ll be able to spark the kindling or fan things to greater heights with a touch, but whenever she does, she’ll find that some of that heat splashes onto her. (Adjusted so the desire to use this non-consensually is lessened drastically) [Fire Bug]

Mark read over the transformations, a growing scowl forming as he went down further. When he finished reading through and thinking them all over, he gently put down his phone and pulled Mira into a hug. Mira blinked in confusion at the unexpected gesture and its tenderness.

Once Mira’s brain caught up with the reality of the situation, she pushed Mark away firmly, exclaiming, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing!”

Mark pulled her back into the hug firmly but tenderly. Once she was pressed against his chest despite her squirming, Mark said, “Mira, it’s okay, I won’t hurt you unless you ask for it.” Mira started to breathe heavily. Mark, recognizing the symptoms of a panic attack starting, let go of her. Mark continued, “Breathe, Mira. Just breathe nice and slow.”

Mira looked at Mark for a moment, her eyes tearing up, and then she turned away, “Fuck you, Mark.”

Mark said, “I'm so sorry. That combination is brutal.”

“Heh, you don’t fucking know that half of it,” Mira said, trying to be discreet as she wiped her eyes but failing. “Tell me which of them you think is the worst?”

“Hmm… that’s hard to say, but… Mira, you very clearly hate your version of me, at least who he’s become, and considering Breaking Point requires you to quench your heat… that means you want to hate him.”

“Of course I fucking do. He is a god damn monster.”

“So what emotions were burning then? Because I have a feeling which ones were considered unwanted.”

Mira nodded and trembled, “My enjoyment. The small things that you still did that made me have hope. Make me like you. Those burned up.”

“Because you wanted to be in pain, right?”

Mira nodded again, “Maybe you aren’t such a god damn moron as you look like.”

Mark reached out slowly this time and invited her into a gentle hug. It took Mira a minute to relax into him, but she did. Mark quietly said, “I hope that wasn’t the case here.” After a few minutes, with Mira resting her face on Mark’s chest, where Mark was definitely ignoring the increasing dampness of his shirt, he said, “So, I want you to know if you need a good fucking I’ll help with that.”

“Thanks. Not that you’re a bad option, but I sort of wish I had a choice of who to fuck.”

Mark considered that and chuckled to himself, “You know, I might not be your only choice.”

“There’s not really another dick hanging around here,” Mira said, confused.

“Not totally true.” Mark narrowed his eyes, not thrilled at his next words. “There’s Smug.” He then relaxed a bit. “But it’s possible that Aubrey might be able to help you, too. Assuming you can get past Chloe.”

Mira narrowed her eyes at Mark in confusion. “Mark, it clearly states a dicking. Aubrey doesn’t have one.”

“It’s been brought to my attention that pink dildos seem to function like one for her. I mean that for her, she can feel it like part of her body and can even ejaculate.”

Mira frowned, “Well, it’s a damn shame that she is not my type.”

There was a knock at the door.

Mira replied, “Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.”

Mark retorted, “Aubrey isn’t the devil.”

“She’s got the damn horns and is currently a fucking goth bitch. Close enough for me.” Mira got up and went to the door, unlocking and opening it to let Aubrey in. “Pretty sure he isn’t all worn out. If anything, I think I might have gotten him fucking warmed up for you. Enjoy.” Mira waved a dismissive hand over her shoulder as she left.

Mark smiled as Aubrey entered, shutting the door behind her. Mark said, “Thank you. I’m pretty sure Mira is grateful, too. Now what would you like to do?”

Aubrey frowned, “I’d really like to do the exact same thing as Mira just did with you.” Aubrey let out a huff of annoyance. “But that isn’t going to happen, is it?”

“Not today. If you want that tomorrow, I’ll run you through everything I did with her.”

“Why **** me to wait? Why did you agree to sleep with her but not me?”

“Aubrey, how do you feel about casual sex?”

Aubrey scowled, “You’re deflecting with a question. I’ve noticed you do that a lot.”

“I’m trying to answer your question, assuming Chloe was open to it, how would you feel about a no strings attached just having sex to feel good situation?”

“I think the fact that Chloe is the first person I’ve ever had sex with should answer that.”

Mark nodded, “I agree. Sex isn’t just a recreational activity for you to feel good and blow off some steam. That’s why I’m refusing. Even more so because you are most definitely hoping we are going to be making a child together tomorrow night. So would you like to continue watching movies together or do something else?” Mark patted the bed next to him.

Aubrey walked over to the bed, sniffed once, and then pointed towards the bathing pool. “Go wash. You smell of sex. Afterwards, we can figure out what we’re doing, but it’s probably going to just be a movie as Hilde will be stopping by after she’s done fixing her problem.”

“Her problem?”

Aubrey pointed to the pool again, “Not now. Ask her about it yourself.”

Mark said, “Aubrey, you do realize that I’m not what smells of sex, right? It’s the sheets.”

“You still have her all over you.”

Mark stood up and closed the distance with Aubrey. “You sure about that? Take a whiff.”

Aubrey pouted but hesitantly sniffed Mark. Roses… and… petrichor? Aubrey moved around him, not wanting to admit that she could spend a long time just smelling him and be happy. Then she sniffed near the bed. Oh yeah, that’s what reeks of sex. “Okay, fine, help me change the sheets because I’m not dealing with this for the next two hours.” So Mark started pulling off the sheets and tossing them in a pile. The two of them moved quickly and in sync with one another, wordlessly helping each other to make the bed. Aubrey smiled at the sort of simple, everyday routine the two had fallen into. Then smiled at the thought that the sheets would definitely need changing again after tomorrow night, and that she might just hold Mark to repeating everything he just did with Mira with her.