A Complex Apology

Unsurprisingly, it was Terrence. The schedule was right on time, mostly. He opened the door, standing there awkwardly yet with that same guilt I had seen earlier. It was clear even if he had planned it, he wasn't entirely sure what to say.

"… Hey, Casey..".

Well, it was something.

"Hey.." I said back, just as awkwardly. This was already not off to a good start.

Thankfully he seemed to realize that as he sighed, going over to sit on my bed. Normally I'd tease him and tell him to get off the furniture, but now wasn't the time.

"I'm sorry about earlier." He finally got out, scratching the back of his neck. "I should've realized that was pushing it.".

"You're not a mind reader… I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have snapped like that." A bitter laugh **** its way out of me, "So much for therapy, huh..?".

He chuckled too, leaning forward. "Hey come on, it's done a lot of good for you." A pause came with a tender smile, like I was in a romance movie. Terrence finished by pointing out "You smile more.".

"I do?" As if to prove him right, I felt myself beginning to smile. "I never noticed.".

"I see it all the time. I'll just look over and see you smiling, sometimes just because. I never saw that before.".

God he was so sweet. I really hit the big brother lottery, didn't I?

That's why it hurt me as bad as it did that I couldn't truly be happy with this. I didn't think it was the app making him say these things. Terrence always loved me, but that was the thing. What was his normal love, and what was his kink shining through? Sure he got a whole bunch of stress from actions based on it, but the fact of the matter was my brother now had an **** kink and this app could make it more than just fantasies. Whether he meant for it or not, everything had this bit of subtext to it that made my skin want to crawl.

I kept a smile, chuckling softly, trying to act like nothing was wrong. That not only was my mind warped but I was warping his mind too.

"Oh- You haven't gotten the rest of your dolls out?".

A merciful subject change pulled me out, and I looked to the still mostly full box, topped with Ms. Foli, only one dressed and camera ready.

"Oh! Right, yeah. I meant to, but I got caught up with something..".

"Well… How about I help?".

"You don't like dolls, though?" I couldn't help laughing a bit. Terrence wouldn't normally offer something like that. Could that be… Ah, screw it, I need to just enjoy this. C'est la vie, or whatever Willis always says.

"I don't, really, but they're important to you." He got on his knees, taking the box. "Come on, I'll take one half, you take the other.".

I just nodded, taking out 3 more of the boxes while he did the same. From there conversation slowed to casual chats about things like weekend plans and me having to explain how you're supposed to properly dress and accessorize a BJD, which you'd think I wouldn't have to yet there I was. It might have been my imagination but… It almost felt like he was getting interested? The guy who looked at me weird when I got my first ever doll, who always thought it was odd that I wanted to look in the toy aisles at stores, who I could definitely tell always thought "Grow up already."… Was looking sincerely interested in the dolls.

"What's up?" I ask, playing dumb, "You've been staring at Plumetail Moth a lot. Something up?".

He snapped out of it with a "Hm?" before he realized what I said. "Oh- Uh, it's nothing… I was wondering though, what're you gonna do with all that?". He pointed to various freebies I had gotten, namely the extra doll body, unpainted head and hair pieces, eye styles, everything meant for customization, making your own doll, or to have some spares around just in case.

"Oh, those? I'm not sure honestly. I'm not much of an artist outside of sketch work. I guess I could design doll clothes using the body as a mannequin, but that's it basically..".

"Huh.." He responded, his tone conveying intrigue. Only a few seconds later did he finally say what I had already guessed. "Could I take them?".

"Why? You don't like dolls.".

"This is me trying to. You actually may be onto something about these things being cute." He said, picking up Skeletal Wing to emphasize his point. "I already paint, I could probably make something nice with these parts.".

I don't know why I hesitated, I guess my brain was still catching up to what was happening, but I did nod and push everything his way. The body, the heads, even the extra outfits. He placed the dolls down, picking them up with a smile as he rubbed his fingers against the PVC made bodies, getting a feel for them and how it might go trying to make them more than blank canvases.

"Thanks. I'll take care of them, promise.".

"You better. Don't forget the price it took to get them!".

"How could I…" He said, making himself shudder to sell that yeah, I was kinda horrible with money. Can't argue that one.

Terrence stood up, walking to the door with his newly acquired materials. "I'll be careful with them. Better yet, I'll try making something cuter than the ones you already have." He looked smug, like he just declared something awe inspiring. It… Honestly kind of was, but he was so goofy about it I had to keep from laughing.

"We'll see…" I say doubtfully, watching him leave. I look at my newly dressed dolls, glad I already had a shelf cleared for them.

BZZZT!

That's gonna get really fucking tiring isn't it-

I pulled my phone out and looked at the notification. What else would it be? The Idle Harem. Tapping it open though, I was greeted by something I hadn't even considered as possible, much less thought about.

Congratulations, you have had your first event with a subject! Usually you only get these when filling up their bars, but occasionally you'll be able to unlock special events based on how you interact with your harem. Try to see how many you can get before your relationship concludes!

Ohhhhh fuck me, I got a mind control device. While I doubted anything bad would happen, something about the way it mentions relationships "concluding" didn't sit the best with me. I guess with every game there had to be some kind of end point, but not every game dealt with real people. Hesitantly, I tapped "OK" and had it pull up the next pop-up.

Terrence is starting to see the allure of cuteness. He'll start to appreciate you and your aesthetic more, decreasing the amount of STRESS given in options that also give LOVE.

… That.. Wasn't too bad actually. For a mind controlling porn app I expected something more lewd.

Terrence will appreciate me more… He already does though, at least I'm pretty sure. It must be a more romantic type of appreciation, going off how it decreases stress for love stuff. A warmth pooled in my gut at the same time a chill ran up my spine. Fuck, this is terrifying shit. And I'm just as scary for using it.

…

Why did I want to keep using it?

I really prayed it was the app messing with me too at this point. Something about the fact I could trigger events, not just by raising stats but also just doing things… It was tempting me. What could I find, what would it do, how far could my family be altered, things like that.

… It wouldn't hurt to test right? Just.. Get a feel for how it works. This is one of those once in a lifetime deals, for better or worse. It'd be wrong to abandon it. Plus I'm pretty sure a magic app wouldn't be easy to delete off my phone. Only one question- Well, one in a sea of one million- remained.

A/N: This will be the first of many parts where you can choose what happens next! In this case, whether Peter or Terrence is the one focused on. I've never made a strawpoll before so I really hope this works ;^^ Voting ends in a week.

https://strawpoll.com/GPgVYwzxkna