Go Home

You don't have time for long consideration. Can you take him home without Tom freaking out? He is a healer, so if you use that pretext you could get away with it. Here's hoping he can't actually heal paralysis; Dwarfy's annoying enough crippled.

"First, what's your name?"

"Douglas Wovank,"

"Alright, Lassie, let's go!' You latch onto his arms and take off.

Although, you have to admit the name doesn't suit such a hairy individual, but with the way he squirms all the way home, you're not inclined to change it.

Great to be home, though. It's even better than you thought it would be. There's glow moss, so at least you won't run into a wall, and Tom is unexpectedly quiet about your new guest. He probably goes to bed right when it gets dark, like a good little boy.

"There, we made it, no thanks to you." You toss Lassie into a corner as you go to inspect the food. It's half-eaten, more specifically, it's been pecked at. Real passive-aggressive there, Tom.

Then a laser shoot from the back of the cave and becomes your top priority. It wasn't aimed at you, but you dive behind your nest all the same. Instead, the beam hits the dwarf and manages to shut him up.

Alright, you're not getting closer to the sniper, so what's on hand for ranged combat? Fuck all, that's what. Okay songs, draw it closer and hope to out-maneuver it in close quarters or give some commands and hope you're dealing with a coward. Considering it's hiding in the back of a cave, you think you can bet on the latter.

"Hey back there, could you please hold off on the shots for a bit?" You wait a beat. No shots, but no response either. "Do you think we could get together and talk this out? I want to help."

"You sound nice." Oh, such a soft, timid voice. Definitely a girl, probably younger, developmentally.

"Thank you, I'm Arke, a harpy. It's always nice to get a compliment for my voice. I'm sure you could get a few too if you speak up a bit."

"No, I'm not a songbird." Okay, bird with lasers. Probably not a thunderbird at this altitude, so a cockatrice? "Oh, and I'm Ulisse, it's nice to meet you."

"But we haven't met yet, Ulisse. How about I come out and we meet by the nest? Do you think you can make it there?"

"I'll try." She must be night-blind too if this is a challenge. You'll need to find a lantern tomorrow.

"Here, find my wing and follow it to me." You extend your wing towards her voice and soon feel fluffy feathers brush against it as the girl gropes her way into your embrace. You can tell from holding her, she's a tiny thing, probably smaller than you were as a runt. She feels soft. More than just her downy feathers, her skin is pliant. It's not as **** as Natalie, but Ulisse makes a better cushion since you wont sink into her completely. Though, judging by the way she nuzzles into your breasts, she'd prefer those roles reversed.

"You're not mad about those guys?"

"Can you restore them?"

"Well, I could." but she'd clearly rather not.

"Is it because they're adventurers? I took their weapons."

"That's not really the problem. Men are so gruff and hairy and they get all oily and gross!" Sounds like someone had a bad run-in with a minotaur. Her tears are getting your boobs moist.

This is her roost, so even if you backstab her now, she'll respawn here once all the adventurers leave. Since the two that are here are still petrified, they don't count. So, it's either Tom or this cave. Or maybe, "What if made Tom a girl? He's already got the body for it, so I could get him there with a little grooming."

"But Tom is such a boy name."

"Lots of girls have boy names. Like Sam or Alex or Kimberly." She's still wavering; she's mostly entertaining the thought out of fondness for you, "Sleep on it?" You settle into the nest with Ulisse. You envelop her in your wings like you did with Tom.

"Oh, okay. I guess we can just sleep."