Shopping and conflict

(Anne's POV)

I head to 'The Wonderous World of Pleasure' where I am greeted by Roos waiting patiently. "Hey Roos, just to be sure you get from the sign outside that this is a Erotic Store?" She nods. "Okay, Pieter has given me some guidelines as to how I am allowed to spend money. I have bought a custom chastity belt from here. Pieter suggested getting one for you, too, with a similar budget." Her eyes go wide. I decide to meditate. "You don't need to wear it immediately. But it would be nice if you had one made in case you want to join me. They reserve a month sooo... it isn't something you need to worry about immediately." She calms down and gives the okay.

We head in, but instead of Emily, a dude is behind the desk. "Is Emily out? I wanted to talk to her about something."

"She is working on something. A client came in, bought a lot, and did a custom order of something. So she is busy working on that." He says mildly annoyed.

"Tell her Anne is back with a subby friend into puppy play. She also needs a chastity belt." I say a bit shocked at my directness, but this felt like the best way to move forward. Robin and the dude are more shocked. But he scrambles up as he realises I am the woman from the order.

Whilst waiting for Emily, I decide to go browse the ground floor with Roos. I take pictures of a strap-on for me or for Roos to use on me. Send it, but say that I might ask for tips from Emily, so the price might change. A butplug with a fluffy dog tail also gets sent by Roos, as well as a collar, leash, some massagers, and a gag the shape of a dogbone. She is having more fun than I expected.

Emily approaches me. "John said you needed a belt for a new girl. You guys escalated quickly. Next, I see you in here with another. Not that I am complaining, I love doing this. Bigger margin for me as well."

I nod and point to Roos. "Roos, she is here to get your measurements and discuss things. Same budget as last time. But I can stretch it a bit more if we want to. Tell her the budget and try to keep it inside. Can you help us afterwards with some stuff for her puppy play?"

She nods. "Better I help you than that lug," she says loud enough for him to hear. "Girls amongst girls, right?"

I nod as I get a call. It is Pieter. "You guys go down there in a minute."

I head out to have my call with Pieter. It has to be urgent if he calls. "Hey Pieter, what's up?"

"I didn't want to be a damper on your shopping trip. But one of our colleagues assaulted Maria. She got burns as a result of his bad timing." I gasp in shock. "Some of the doctors had to do grafts of her own skin for. So, all in all, pretty severe. She is kind of in shock and doesn't want to be alone at the moment. Are you okay with me bringing her over for dinner? And I was thinking about editing your character a bit. I have plenty. Buywhat you need, no need to text. If you stay under 1500, it should be fine." I don't fully get what he means.

"Eating is fine, staying after is also fine. I don't know what you mean with edditing my character. We can talk about it later. I will let Roos know. I will keep the budget in mind, no worries, Pieter, take care of her. But don't add her to your harem before we can talk about it." I hang up, knowing we need to talk about it in person. I head back.

Going down the stairs, I see Roos with doggy ears. A tail that can hook to the belt and a few ankle cuffs that can hook to things. I get pitched their idea, and since they aren't things per say for it only I can manage. Not that Pieter is likely to check as long as the bottom number is under the budget. We find a few human-sized doggy beds here as well. Roos picks one she loves. All in all, we might have fewer items, but what we have is pricier on average. The total is 1634.76 before any discounts. Luckily, Emily is the owner and knows that when I come, I spend well and will keep coming back. 1471.25 I pay and ask if we can see what she has for mine.

"Sure, I was working on the belts. Your pups will be wider, sturdier, and more rigid since they need to support their lower legs whilst walking. None of the hardware was ordered as I need time to double-check the distances. Now I get to save on shipping due to your pup. It won't interfere with your first order. I give myself plenty of time." I had noticed comparing the hours and the timeframe. She has a shop to run anyway. I smile, nod, and thank her. Completing her on her skill.

We leave before Roos goes home. I mentionedwe are going to have a guest when we get home. She nods, understanding.

I arrive first with our shopping haul in the car. I leave it for now. Maria is not informed fully, I assume. At most, I assume he mentioned Roos also as his girlfriend. If he is smart, at least.

I head in. And find Maria cuddled up against My Master, without permission, but asleep, on our couch. I look at him with more glare as he waves me over. "Sorry, she was still jittery when we got here. I think she needed something comfortable to relax and let some of the tension go." He whispers in my ear, only then do I see the large amount of bandages covering her upper body, her legs, even the side of he face closest to Pieter. He opens the app, holds it up to me, and points to a perk... the character editor I perk. Ohhh, he was being vague because she was next to him. He was asking for permission to do that. I gesture to wait a bit and see what happens in the long run. "How long would you wait? Until the bandages come off? A month after? What is reasonable? What would you find reasonable if you were in her position?" Those questions. Damm he was always empathetic, but he pushed it to the side. If you were in his in-group, he stopped that for a part. Was she part of his in-group? I was quietly asked how long she has been his colleague. He holds up 3 and a half fingers. Oof, that is a lot. Either she is at the end of her second contract and leaves soon, or gets or has a long-term employment contract. If she does, he will beat himself up each day he doesn't deal with it. I make it a point I need to think about it. But wait until the bandages come off at least. He smiles and nods.

I wish this weren't something we had to deal with. He must think so as well. Roos barges in, not loud at first. But the moment she sees Maria lying in Pieter's lap, a large bark comes out of her. "Who is screaming? Why is she screaming?" A sleepy Maria says, getting out of Pieter.

"Simply the more jealous of my two girlfriends. Both wanted to use my lap as a pillow, but you beat them to it." Pieter teases. She chuckles and introduces herself, and explains why she is here. "Roos, do you want to sit on my lap? Whilst we wait for the kitchen princess Anne cooks our meal." She sits on it immediately. Did he see the perks I got or... wait, he has perk share, he noticed he has them. Well, at least it is a nice compliment.

The three of them talk and laugh about various things, but why do I feel left out? I am here, they are there. I feel like I'm missing something. But before my worries get too bad. Pieter asks: "Anything you need help with?" In a whispered tone in my ear. I jump a little. "Ho I don't want another trip to the ER. I thought you had noticed me lumbering over. Didn't mean to scare you." I shyly shake my head. He didn't mean harm. He was being fun, kind, and playful. He closes the door and says, "Apparently, there are special QuestMaster-only perks derived from duplicate skills. I have a unique version of the golden touch upgrade. Ohh man, I will likely be a billionaire in no time. So that house is the least of our worries. But first, I will invest in the catering company."

I am flabbergasted by the double perks merge. How does he have... perk share and the auto share because of the maid? "Do you want me to encourage Roos to get the same perks? Or not?"

He shakes his head. "Let people pick what they need, but if a perk you have is valuable to another, be vocal about it. Pushing her to duplicate your skills is not necessarily going to help. Especially with how high-level yours are. I also didn't get a message from Smell obsession. I'm merging with Smell obsession II, so they need to be the same. I also have 7 perk points I haven't used yet. I have earmarked 3 for quests of service. I could increase the daily quests by spending 2 more. Using them both to make Roos do the things from the quest. Leaving 2 to use where we want or for a rainy day?"

I react, thinking aloud. "That is a smart plan. What about Heat Cycle I? Have her pretend to be a horny bitch?" He nods, "We can only gamble unless I push her into it. We both don't know what it does. I will talk about it. You gamble." He shoves his phone towards me with diamond hands open. "You always get the outcome most favourable to you? You are straight-up cheating, and the app is lying. Else you wouldn't be here with a wounded Maria.... would you?" The thought lingers in my head. As Roos comes in looking for Pieter to pet her.

He leaves with a stack of plates and cutlery, and Roos with a few glasses. They return for the rest of the tableware a few times. And later to help me with the pans as we start our dinner. In the end, we are still eating around eight because of my ambitious plan.

I feed Pieter a few bites, kiss him, and do cutesy with him like the daily quest demands. Maria starts to look at the three of us, and as we come to the desert, she says, "Why do you guys choose this? Why not one girl or one guy? Roos and Anne hardly flirt; instead, they compete more for Pieter's attention. Why do it? And I don't want input from you, Pieter, for you it is obvious."

"For me, part of it is guilt. Roos and I had always agreed to share Pieter. Now that I had him, I felt obligated... But she has been getting better at licking pussy. Also, we had just spent an hour or so shopping together before coming here. We never were into eachother. But we have been having fun exploring this new type of relationship." I say in response. Roos confirms it. And looks like she wants to add something, but thinks the better of it. "Also, our relationship is kind of kinky, so we have been holding back due to a guest." Roos ' eyes light up as I pet her. "I haven't brought in what we bought because you were here. Roos hasn't figured out how to act romantically with me yet, outside of kink play. Neither have I figured out appropriate boundaries because we rarely have guests."

Maria's jaw drops. Roos closes it. Maria thinks about questions and decides to ask.