Let it slide

You forcefully shook your head when you found yourself on a tangent again and tried to focus back on the original topic, what had changed in your life and not the app which might be changing it.

All your subjects were at level 3, past the halfway mark to level 5 but with the ten times multiplier for the next levels, you didn’t think it would be easy to get anyone up to that level any time soon. Emma was the easiest and that jump from level 4 to level 5 would be 90,000 seconds until she reached that threshold. That was 25 hours of solid contact.

Putting it like that actually made it sound reasonable to be honest, but that was only with Emma. She was aware of the app and wouldn’t mind the skin to skin contact if you gave her a valid explanation. Sarah would then be easiest after that and her jump was 180,000 seconds or 50 hours which started to sound less doable in the short term. Every subject after that would be harder and harder to level up.

Your brain had once again immediately jumped to stats and the KDK again, the app now being such a big part of your life in such a short space of time. You focused once again and tried to simplify your thoughts.

Higher levels meant you needed more casual skin contact with your subjects, something you had been neglectful about when not doing anything sexual. Plus, inviting Sarah and Mom to sleep in your bed should be something you aimed to do every night if possible. Lucy, Grace, and Rebecca were the harder ones to work on but you had a weekend to scheme and plan with Emma at your side so you were sure to figure something out even if you couldn’t right now.

You loved all of them and had no intention of seeing them as just numbers to level up. Your relationship with Lucy still felt as rocky as ever even with the KDK so finding a way to make her happy was what you wanted to focus on for her. Rebecca seemed to enjoy the time you spent together but her mother always seemed to interrupt and put a damper on things. Grace was… unknown at the moment. All you could do was wait and see, not knowing how she would react to you and Emma tomorrow when she had you both in the car.

You had bonuses and effects to work in your favour but you didn’t like to rely on them if you could help it.

“Why are you sitting out here?” Sarah’s voice rang out, turning to the door to see her head peeking out.

“Just thinking” you replied, your introspective mood disappearing when you saw her pyjamas did little to protect her from the cold, getting up from where you sat and getting both of you back inside before she felt the weather's effects.

You reached for her hand as you got close and she gladly interlinked her fingers with yours. She looked curious as to why you had made the effort but a smile still made its way onto her lips regardless of her thoughts. You wanted to invite her to sleep in your bed tonight but you still hadn’t discussed Sarah’s level 4 with Emma, not expecting it to be that important enough to rush until right this moment.

“Are you still hanging out with Lucy? Why did you check and see me outside by the way?” you asked, deciding to just spend some time with either Sarah or both your sisters before another question popped into your mind.

“Oh we just finished an episode so I went to get us some drinks again. I was about to turn the kitchen light on when I saw you in the backyard through the window. I didn’t know it was you at first, nearly freaked me out before I realised” she replied, giving you a jab in the ribs at almost scaring her.

You paused in your steps and Sarah looked confused until she realised the only thing she was holding was your hand in hers, no drinks to share with her sister.

“Ah shit” she said as she rushed back to the kitchen, the light flicking on after she rounded the corner.

You followed after her at a more leisurely pace and picked up some snacks for yourself given that you still hadn’t had a proper meal, feeling even hungrier after the trip next door. You made sure to grab enough to share and then slowly trailed behind Sarah as she tried not to spill what she was carrying.

Slowly but surely, you made your way upstairs and Sarah headed in the direction of Lucy’s room. You did give Mom’s room a glance as you passed but the light was off and the door shut tight, no doubt Grace’s doing as she made sure Mom stayed in and you stayed out.

“Ughh when did you get back” Lucy commented when she saw you enter the room, only the brief glimpse of a smile telling you that she wasn’t being serious.

“It’s nice to see you too” you replied, reading between the lines and putting the snacks you were still carrying on the bedside table.

Even with her comment, Lucy made an effort to move over on her bed to make room for you and then Sarah tried to join the fray, pushing Lucy even further to one side and now sandwiching you between your two sisters.

Luckily the show they had been binging together was something you had already seen before and the plot wasn’t something you needed to catch up on. Still you didn’t want to burst Sarah’s bubble when she started running through what had happened so you let her narrate the events with Lucy occasionally commenting when she disagreed.

The episode played and the last episode preview had Sarah talking over the character introductions but again you let her carry on just to watch how happy she looked when she gave her descriptions. Lucy started to grumble when the show actually started and Sarah was still talking but instead of stopping, Sarah leaned her head on your shoulder and spoke in a quiet voice so she could carry on without drawing Lucy’s attention.

Eventually, Sarah finished and you settled in to watch the show. Sarah still rested against you but she moved slightly further down, now placing her head on your chest to get more comfortable. Other than making sure Sarah wasn’t actually touching any for too long, time passed and the three of you managed to watch an episode or two before you noticed Sarah had started to drift off, her eyes closed and her breathing steady.

The episode ended and Sarah had no reaction to the silence that came after, now finding yourself trapped with her asleep on top of you.