Hug Your Destiny [NSFW] - Explicit / Kink (Trans Protag)

[NemoMarx]

Well, at the very least, I felt awkward.

"H-How are you d-doing?" I squeaked out.

Some kind of understanding seemed to bloom in his eyes, and the bravado, the showmanship, the sheer presence of him slid right off like he'd shrugged out of a heavy coat.

Click to shrink...

Lyle is much less smooth here. I'm wondering if that's the showmanship overwhelming them, or just the novelty of talking to a guy?

"I.. uh… I'm an Alp." I said. It seemed relevant.

And well… I had to say something.

"Oh." He blinked. "All of… uh" he gestured at the stage out past the glass, "all of that... might have been coming on a little strongly then?"

Click to shrink...

Well, disclosure is always encouraged, although I feel like since this is a... business like deal you probably wouldn't need to. It's interesting that Jacks only reaction is to think he should have dialed it back though. Is that a stereotype with Alps? Less used to these things, moral qualms a little closer to human ones still? Maybe only with fresh alps, as Jack points out a bit later... But it does make me wonder how broader mamano society views Alps? I was thinking about this with how human society seems to see them as basically subtle monsters or quislings. The Mamano angle is less obvious - they're converts? Do alps end up more or less zealous about the lifestyle, I wonder?

"You're not… you know, disappointed?" I asked, only barely meeting his eyes.

"Disappointed? With the chance to perform for Ms. Nightcap herself?" He shook his head. "It's an honor to be here. Besides, my pride as a server couldn't withstand providing service you aren't completely satisfied with. And, well, my wives would have my head."

Click to shrink...

Glad he's happy with his job! But also, he has wives! So Lyle isn't as unusual as I was thinking. I guess there's a few other ways to get a stable Bicorn style set up? The actual arrangement is a little glossed over... It's obvious why he can stand up to a lot of interest, but I wonder how the Cancer handles that? Seems like it would be a little strange. Maybe she just has to do that cleaning really really thoroughly after his work shifts...

He blushed. It was cute. "I really like to cum. I kinda need to."

I snorted. "I get you. I got turned by a Lich, an Automaton, a Bicorn, a Hostaur, a Shoggoth, and Akubra here. Before I... flipped over... I was a mess."

His light blue eyes danced. They were so deep, like they led somewhere far away, like the sky giving way to the infinities of space.

"That's quite the list. You'll have to tell me how that went sometime."

Click to shrink...

Well, a full harem is still rare and notable, then. Also he has pretty eyes!

"...Guys?"

I tapped my foot three times, hesitantly.

I was surrounded by an army of Red Slime bodies. They all leapt at me, and I got a good look at their faces before they subsumed me.

I recognized the expression of someone who thought they were very very funny, and the sense of panic faded as I too was pulled under.

Click to shrink...

This is a cute twist at the end. What a weird way to transport, though?

 

[Radmelon]

Well, disclosure is always encouraged, although I feel like since this is a... business like deal you probably wouldn't need to. It's interesting that Jacks only reaction is to think he should have dialed it back though. Is that a stereotype with Alps? Less used to these things, moral qualms a little closer to human ones still? Maybe only with fresh alps, as Jack points out a bit later... But it does make me wonder how broader mamano society views Alps? I was thinking about this with how human society seems to see them as basically subtle monsters or quislings. The Mamano angle is less obvious - they're converts? Do alps end up more or less zealous about the lifestyle, I wonder?

Click to shrink...

Well my take on it at least is that Alps (especially ones fresh enough to bring it up) are still getting used to thinking of themselves as anything other than a heterosexual male (Order society not having much opportunity for exploring gender and sexuality, as a requirement). Whether or not they were into men before, an Alp is now a mamono, and by necessity has at least some interest in men; getting used to that is an intimidating thing.

 

[The_Letter_K]

The sensation of being pulled under was incredibly strange. I'm not sure there could have been any experience more effective at really showing me how free-flowing that my body had become than being surrounded by essentially the same amorphous stuff. As the Red Slime Queen pushed and pressed at me, pulling me through an ocean of herself, I felt myself distort almost instinctively as her opposite. Like oil and water, unable to truly intermingle, we toyed with each other by asserting our space. It was startlingly intimate. I hadn't really realized the depth of my control and… sense of self-awareness? However, with another person able to interact with me on the same level, I was beginning to understand just what it meant to be a slime, for every piece of myself to be both entirely myself and entirely interchangeable, any minor difference in appearance really down to mere aesthetic.

Maybe I'd avoided really grasping it as a coping mechanism. I'd been able to do slime-like things as I needed, but it wasn't… it hadn't been casual, or when it had it was when I was especially swept up in the energies of revelry now bound into my soul. I'd struggled to form a tub and water, and now I almost couldn't understand how. Rather, I could, but I was in awe of the depths of my fundamental mistake. I hadn't needed to turn into… into anything.

I already was everything.

I didn't need to focus on the individual processes for turning my hair into a towel, for example. The two were both the same. They were me. The process wasn't actually mechanically any different from how I walked or talked. I didn't have muscles to move, I was already transforming myself without thinking about it. I didn't have fingers, I was fingers. I didn't have teeth, have eyes, I was teeth! I was eyes! I didn't have a brain!

I was a brain.

Uh, I probably shouldn't tell Faust my brain is bigger than hers. I'm not sure how she'd take that.

I finally breached her surface after an uncertain amount of time. I'd been lost in the sensation of movement, and hadn't been focused enough to keep track, too disorienting. Luminal spaces, I think Faust had said. It meant like… the inside of a wagon, or a waiting area in a noble's estate. Places that weren't places so much as before-places or after-places. It had been something like that, anyway.

Once a single tendril was free, I spiraled up and out of it, pulling myself into the place where, presumably, I'd find Akubra and Jack. Rebuilding myself was a much more fluid affair, and it was remarkable how grasping a simple idea completely changed the process. Actually, it called to mind the day I'd seen Beeps carving those statues, the way detail rose from my surfaces, almost floating to the top, uncertainty of form flaking away.

I wasn't sure what to expect as I came to be in the room, but, well, even though I expected the unexpected I was still surprised, which was Akubra all the way down to the core, apparently.

The room was just… grey and beige. The furniture was all hard right angles and felt almost unfriendly in its presentation. It was hard for me to argue it wasn't a good match for the environment, but that was more a criticism than any sort of praise.

In one corner, a metal desk with beige fabric accents and a small, uncomfortable looking chair on wheels were nearly hidden underneath a pile of papers stacked primly but imposingly.

The floor was all red, perhaps unavoidably, but whereas in the rest of the building it provided a vibrancy and almost a sense of regality, here it was more akin to… well, when paired with the frankly brutal and alien presentation of the room, it looked like nothing so much as the blood of those trampled underfoot by the bureaucracy the room seemed to represent.

Maybe that was unfair of me, but on the other hand, the only time I'd seen a room like this before was in the local church back in town. There the papers were filled with the names of the dead, and of the slain, so the locals could look out for resurrections or potential infected family members.

Weirdly, I almost appreciated the reminder of where I'd come from. Even with my… discomfort with what I was about to do, on the balance I'd rather be standing here than there every time.

Akubra was behind what I could only assume was her desk, shuffling papers randomly. Anyone else, I might suspect there was some method to it, but with Akubra, it seemed safer to bet on simple madness, especially in a place that felt almost… painfully sane. Or maybe all the pages were blank, or filled with nonsense? Was the desk actually trying to escape, held down only by the weight of administrative duties?

…I was looking for the trick, I realized.

Of course… if it had been me, it might have been funnier to simply devote myself to the aesthetic of banality completely, just the once, to transcend and become truly and utterly unpredictable.

I met Akurba's gaze, and she smiled at me, warmly. Jack, meanwhile, had settled onto a small bench, out of the way at the side of the room. His posture was relaxed, his arms running along the top of the bench, his legs spread wide. Either he'd been down here before or he was just unflappable. I noted he'd left room for one of us on each side of him, and decided it just wasn't possible for me to parse the nuances of that kind of confidence.

"Okay," I said. "So… what now?"

"Well," He said, "That depends on what you want."

I frowned. "Want," I said, "Want doesn't really enter into it, I don't think."

That brought a frown to his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," I shifted a little, fidgeting with my hands, "Even if I don't really want to do this, exactly, what I want even less is to put it off until I can't hold myself together any more, and I just go wild in the street to get fed."

He nodded, slowly, still frowning. "And when you say you don't really want to do 'this', what do you mean?"

"Uh…"

"Well, like," he leaned forward, moving his arms to steeple them together just in front of his face. "There's a lot of different ways to get fed, you know? We don't have to lay down and do it like newlyweds."

Huh.

"I… I guess that's true?" I asked-more-than-said, "But… won't I just get sucked in and go all the way anyway?"

"Hmmm… Maybe?" he said. "But, like, I'm good with things like orgasm denial, bondage, domination, that kind of thing. If you want to set things up so you can't go that far, there's a lot of options. A little trickier, being that you're a slime, but at Nightcaps we're happy to accommodate."

He paused.

"Actually," he said, "If you two wanted, I could feed Akubra first, and then you could-"

My blood ran cold.

"SHE'S MINE."

I could see him from a hundred angles, but the only sign he'd heard me was the slight raising of his brow.

"That's fine," he said, calmly, "we're here to do this how you like."

R-right.

Wow, he was awfully close all the sudden, when did I get over here? I decided I'd best move so I could see the both of them again, for conversation's sake, and I pulled myself back into me over by where I'd been standing before.

"S-sorry."

He nodded, slowly. "I'd do the same for the women I love."

I took a deep breath.

"She does need to eat, though," he continued.

Dammit.

"I know." I said, sighing. "They all do."

I'd really been hoping Faust would be able to pull together some simple trick to help us all cheat the system, and maybe she still would in the end, but it plainly wouldn't come in time to let me dodge the issue. I needed to eat, and I couldn't ignore that my wives were feeling that same gnawing hunger. As hard as it was to work up the nerve to do this myself, how did I address what came next? Could I watch as Amy and Blackberry screamed for someone else, even if I was screaming too? What about Faust? Beeps? I couldn't eat and leave them starving, or eating that Golem crap.

But… it felt fundamentally wrong to even imagine them with someone else. Was that selfish? Maybe it was. Actually, I was sure it was. It would agonize me to know they were with someone else, but it was unconscionable to me to starve them to spare me that.

That didn't change that sick, wrong, writhing feeling inside me at the idea.

I… I don't know what to do.

"Lyle?" Akubra asked, "Would you mind signing this?"

Hmm?

"Signing what?" I asked.

"Mmm." She said, "Paperwork. It says you're my husband and that you can come and go as you please."

"Do… I really need something like that?" I asked.

"Sadly, my assistant insists, and she is the bedrock on which this club is built, so I indulge her from time to time. She apparently finds it a refreshing change from me walking all over her."

Ah.

"Sure, I guess."

I moved over to the desk, and signed the short statement of confusing words. I had some experience with Faust, and from what I could read, there wasn't anything wild in it. Just a paragraph or two.

"It seems pretty simple."

Akubra nodded and said, "If you like, you can think of it as a contract."

Huh.

A…

A contract?

My head whipped around, and I stared at Jack. I could feel a sort of fire in my heart. I suddenly knew exactly what I had to do, and it made me so fucking horny.

"Saaaay. Jack?"

He looked a little unnerved. "Yes?"

I smiled from more mouths than I cared to count.

"How'd you like to make a deal?"

 

[Aranfan]

I love how going eldrich horror on Jack doesn't phase him in the slightest, but as soon as "contracts" come up he looks worried.

 

[NemoMarx]

The sensation of being pulled under was incredibly strange. I'm not sure there could have been any experience more effective at really showing me how free-flowing that my body had become than being surrounded by essentially the same amorphous stuff. As the Red Slime Queen pushed and pressed at me, pulling me through an ocean of herself, I felt myself distort almost instinctively as her opposite. Like oil and water, unable to truly intermingle, we toyed with each other by asserting our space. It was startlingly intimate. I hadn't really realized the depth of my control and… sense of self-awareness? However, with another person able to interact with me on the same level, I was beginning to understand just what it meant to be a slime, for every piece of myself to be both entirely myself and entirely interchangeable, any minor difference in appearance really down to mere aesthetic.

Click to shrink...

Hm. This makes me imagine how two slimes cuddling would work? How much mixing could you get?

Akubra was behind what I could only assume was her desk, shuffling papers randomly. Anyone else, I might suspect there was some method to it, but with Akubra, it seemed safer to bet on simple madness, especially in a place that felt almost… painfully sane. Or maybe all the pages were blank, or filled with nonsense? Was the desk actually trying to escape, held down only by the weight of administrative duties?

…I was looking for the trick, I realized.

Of course… if it had been me, it might have been funnier to simply devote myself to the aesthetic of banality completely, just the once, to transcend and become truly and utterly unpredictable.

Click to shrink...

I really admire her dedication to aesthetic, yeah. Akubra is adorable and great.

"I know." I said, sighing. "They all do."

I'd really been hoping Faust would be able to pull together some simple trick to help us all cheat the system, and maybe she still would in the end, but it plainly wouldn't come in time to let me dodge the issue. I needed to eat, and I couldn't ignore that my wives were feeling that same gnawing hunger. As hard as it was to work up the nerve to do this myself, how did I address what came next? Could I watch as Amy and Blackberry screamed for someone else, even if I was screaming too? What about Faust? Beeps? I couldn't eat and leave them starving, or eating that Golem crap.

But… it felt fundamentally wrong to even imagine them with someone else. Was that selfish? Maybe it was. Actually, I was sure it was. It would agonize me to know they were with someone else, but it was unconscionable to me to starve them to spare me that.

That didn't change that sick, wrong, writhing feeling inside me at the idea.

Click to shrink...

I guess the bicorn thing only goes so far, huh... I wonder if there's something particular to that one mamano that Jack is able to go around much more freely? Obviously you're confronting the heart of one of the setting conceits here, with the enforced monogamy thing, and even stretched a little bit the jealousy is still there and practicalities don't get in the way of it.

I do wonder how this might be fixable... the obvious thing is just to add someone more seriously to the group who can provide, probably?

Akubra nodded and said, "If you like, you can think of it as a contract."

Huh.

A…

A contract?

My head whipped around, and I stared at Jack. I could feel a sort of fire in my heart. I suddenly knew exactly what I had to do, and it made me so fucking horny.

Click to shrink...

She did that on purpose, didn't she?

 

[Simon_Jester]

I love how going eldrich horror on Jack doesn't phase him in the slightest, but as soon as "contracts" come up he looks worried.

Click to shrink...

Which is rarer and more troublesome in mamono society, a monstergirl that looks like an eldritch monstrosity of some kind, or a (part-)demon monstergirl talking about a contract?

I'm guessing the latter.

Hm. This makes me imagine how two slimes cuddling would work? How much mixing could you get?

Click to shrink...

Hypothesis:

Zero mixing, but a contact surface that's as close to truly fractal as the slimes involved can get subject to their own minimum radius of surface curvature.

That's a lot of contact surface.

She did that on purpose, didn't she?

Click to shrink...

I may be misreading Akubra but I'm not seeing her as someone who really... does... 'by accident.' She does a lot of stuff for reasons others don't understand, but I'm not sure she does much of anything for reasons she doesn't understand, or with consequences she doesn't at least begin to grasp.

 

[maybem]

Luminal spaces, I think Faust had said.

Click to shrink...

aldjfhfhskak lyle is cute

 

[Silvrose]

Gotta say, I do love how much Akubra takes care of Lyle, in her serenely insane way.
also, at least Jack can take comfort in the fact that he is not being asked to make a contract and become a magical girl.

 

[The_Letter_K]

Warning: Contains artful descriptions of het sneaking into my lily garden.​

I shivered as the paper burned into being. It felt so much more right to do it with intention. Maybe even moreso because I knew I was using it to cheat something that seemed insurmountable only a minute ago. That same feeling that had assaulted me when I realized my terms had bound Charlotte tightly but left me free to act, but this time, I'd earned it. I could enjoy it without shame.

I wondered what Magenta would think?

Would she be proud that I'd bound a man to terms, or disappointed I'd bound myself even moreso? I still wasn't quite sure what was going on with her. She seemed to have some kind of disdain for Incubi which didn't make sense for a natural born Mamono, and I couldn't help but wonder why, where it came from?

Jack had been reticent at first, but after a quick explanation, he was happy to help. Most Demons bound their husbands to them with a long-term Contract, but I didn't see any reason you couldn't arbitrate each encounter, if you wanted to get granular.

Seems the magic agreed with me.

It had only taken me a moment to set boundaries I could live with. I didn't know much about how Slimes had used to be, before the reign of Lilith, but Faust had told me some, and some I got from my own reading on the types of Mamono I'd had to worry about as a single Sheriff. Before everything went lady-shaped, they'd just kind of been shapeless blobs that kinda rolled around eating things by engulfing them.

If I… un-lady-shaped a part of myself, I could do the same thing to Jack, and without near as much intimacy as any sort of lady-shaped sexy times.

In theory, anyway.

He'd offered to… excite himself, and just have me catch what he managed to produce, but I couldn't dodge this forever. I wanted to take an active role, to take just a little control of how this went.

To prove to myself that I could, I guess.

And so, here we were, sitting on the bench, with an empty space between us. I could have made myself a seat for the two of us, but… Weirdly, I didn't want to? I wasn't meant to be his furniture; he didn't get to use me that way. It felt right, keeping that from him, although I wasn't sure he even knew I was.

"Okay," I said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." He replied. "You're sure I'll be able to breathe once you go in?"

I nodded. "It's actually pretty easy, once you work out how."

I just sort of made my body like those fizzy drinks some of the cafes here served. Except in reverse, I guess, pulling the tiny bubbles into the liquid, rather than the opposite. It struck me that I could use this to make myself even bigger, if I ever needed to, but I wasn't sure if I ever would. I'd gotten pretty big already.

I closed my eyes, and my arm shot over at him. I heard him take a breath, maybe in surprise, maybe because he wasn't sure he trusted me to breathe for him. My fingers and hand lost their shape as my arm grew longer, splashing against him. I fought against the urge to form eyes and mouths on the shapeless mass, I wanted less sensation, not more. I felt that comforting wall in my mind, helping me fend the instincts off. They crashed against it, unable to pass through, and I leaned against it myself, safely on the other side. The contract held. I wouldn't break the terms with anything less than deliberate action. The foreboding sensation of that idea was overwhelming, and I had no worries I'd get sucked in and forget that I'd wanted it this way.

I covered him completely with surprising speed. I seemed to grow faster the more of me there was. It made a weird sort of sense, I wasn't pushing 'out', I was pushing 'here', and the more of me that was already 'here', the more room I had to push through from over 'there'.

I felt his body tense inside my grasp. It was hard to map the feeling to anything else. I'd done this before, with Akurba, but I'd been water then, and this was more… fleshy, I guess? I'd also been completely into it with Akubra, and here I was holding myself back, both by force of will and by powers most vile. Or something like that.

If I had to liken it to something, it would be holding a small rodent. Not that that's how I thought of him but, like… The first time I'd grabbed a squirrel, still alive, I was struck by how not-fluffy it was. I could feel all the muscle and bone squirming around under the skin in a way that was incredibly disconcerting. I guess somewhere inside I'd expected it to feel more like a doll, or stuffed toy. Instead, it had been tense and flailing, fighting for survival as I tried to free it from our snare, and the memory of it as a thing of flesh and blood, so much smaller than myself, alien but still alive, it never really left me.

Holding him was kind of like that.

That makes it sound bad, and it wasn't, it's just… I guess I'd expected something else? He felt almost toy-sized, since my 'hand' was so big, and since I couldn't see him, my eyes were still closed, it was messing with my perception, I think.

He relaxed as I started to massage him in little circles, all around his body, and I slipped inside him from above and below once he went limp. The skin-crawling feeling of holding something fighting for its life fell away, and I felt him start to respond, much like Akubra had.

I was… clinically familiar with the process? I'd gotten aroused before, in a man-shaped kinda way. It already felt so alien to me, I'd adapted to my lady-shapedness really quickly, but I did know the process intimately.

I hadn't realized I looked so goofy, though. Or maybe… it was as though I could tell Jack wasn't… he wasn't mine, I guess. It was sort of like a condescending feeling, fond, but very unequal. The difference between a proper husband, and a random Incubus, maybe?

Hmm.

Maybe like… like the feeling you got when your neighbor brought you a cooked meal as a gift, but it wasn't a meal you particularly liked? They didn't know you well enough to cook you something you'd love, so you ate it with a sort of resigned gratefulness but without the joy of a meal prepared by someone who knew and loved you deeply? That sentiment seemed to fit.

I suppose now I understood why Mamono hunted their husband so desperately. It was patently obvious to me that a real emotional investment here was missing on my end, and on his.

It probably didn't help that I'd done everything I could to put some distance between myself and the actual act in and of itself. If I'd let myself go a little wild tonight, and actually had sex properly, I might have gotten a lot more out of it.

Baby steps.

I wasn't really able to perceive him outside of touch and taste, with my eyes closed, and with him all wrapped up inside my… uh… glob-hand? The flavors were both exactly what I expected, and not at all. For the expected, there was lots of meaty, greasy, saltiness, from the touch of his skin. There were subtle differences in the taste of everyone's skin, maybe from the soaps and such that they used, maybe from where they spent their time, whether outdoors in the forest, or indoors in a lab, or wherever, or maybe just down to like, the individual.

I guess I'd have to eat a lot of people to find out.

That's a weird thought, let's not do that instead.

As for the unexpected flavors, he also felt-tasted very… sweet? Creamy? I couldn't pin the taste to any one thing on him, so I was assuming this was 'male spirit energy'. It was getting more powerful the more aroused he got, so it seemed like a safe bet. It felt super decadent. Was that… chocolate? And peanut butter?

Are… are men just… like… really fancy desserts?

If it's always like this, it might be a little easier to deal with than I was afraid of.

The final sensation that washed over me took me back to when I'd first seen Jack, when I thought for a moment I knew him completely. I guess it hadn't been my imagination. That same sense of him, the sense that he was someone who was kind, confident, patient, soft-spoken and deeply charismatic; an over-competitive athlete; too charming and trusting for his own good, and a bit naïve. Somewhat vain, high-maintenance, and not exactly the scholarly sort.

All of it, all at once, so very insistently and loudly. Almost like a memory of him, but not tied to any experience. I knew that this was Jack Flasher, a sensation very and completely unique to him, nuanced and honest. He was a good man, but not the right fit for me and mine. That was the sense I got.

Was this how Mamono could fall in love so completely and instantly? When you first met your husband, could you really just tell? They yelled things like that a lot when they attacked, from what I'd heard, but was it really real? Or maybe it was the Shoggoth in me, the eldritch maid meant to know the desires of the one she'd keep forever?

It was hard to say. I wasn't sure how I'd even articulate the feeling to someone else to compare with them. I bet Sally would know, though. I'd have a lot of questions for her after tonight.

Jack was starting to buck his hips on a sort of instinct, and he was finally completely hard. It hadn't taken particularly long, but I'd been thinking, and when I stopped to do that these days things seemed to slow down. His penis was bigger than mine had ever been, which surprisingly didn't bother me. He was an incredibly powerful Incubus; it was only natural he sort of physically reflected that. Much more interesting was that his dick was, well… kinda inhuman? It wasn't wildly out of place, but he had a lot of bumps and ribbed ridges along the shaft, I was pretty sure that wasn't normal, though it's not like I'd done a survey of the genitals of folks in town when I'd been Sherriff so I guess I couldn't say for certain.

I was more certain, though, that humans didn't pulse like that. His heart was beating inhumanly fast, and that was translating through his cock in a way that made it sort of aggressively buzz with motion. I wasn't sure if it was some kind of specialized organ, an arrangement of veins, or what, but it was difficult to deny that it was really really nice, even considering how I'd not shaped myself for pleasure, the piece of myself holding him being just a blob of slime.

I wondered if this was something that happened to all Incubi?

Well, I tried to wonder, the taste and sensations were really distracting, even having held myself as far apart from it as I could. I was actually a lttile surprised, when I'd still been changing I'd started to cum pretty soon after sex started and didn't really stop so much as slow and speed up. I hadn't seen anything like that y-

I felt myself slam mentally against the contract when, as if he knew I was waiting, he finally began to cum. Instincts I wasn't even sure I knew how to listen to started screaming in my brain, but thanks to the rigidity of the terms, I held fast.

I'd definitely be fucking him wildly by now if we hadn't contracted, because holy shit.

It was like eating lighting made of sugar and sunshine, like drinking magma of chocolate and adrenaline, and like touching the wind as it whipped by in a hurricane carrying the scents of home and decadence, all at once.

Was this…

Was this real?

Could this be real?

Was anything real?

If it was, it was more real than anything ever had been, like living life louder, larger, and so so much less alone.

I could feel us connect.

I felt another person in a way I'd never felt anyone but myself.

I hadn't realized how unprovable the world beyond my own brain so obviously had been, but now I just as clearly knew that Jack was reality.

Right now, just right now, we were real together.

I was adrift in the sensations of him and this just as plainly as he was adrift in my grasp. I was holding him, but I felt like I was the immovable one.

I almost couldn't understand what my body was doing, I'd reached a place so far beyond it that it felt like a tiny speck, and here we were, he and I.

I marveled in it for what felt like years but could only have been minutes, by the terms we set.

I was simultaneous both glad and utterly furious when I remembered we'd settled on just one go.

On the one hand, I couldn't be tempted with another round.

On the other, I couldn't give in to that temptation, and I knew that in this moment that I'd not hesitate to do it.

When I finally came back down, when all these new senses stopped demanding my attention, and I let go of Jack, I found Akubra there in my arms, waiting for me.

"I told you, Lyle." She said, "Feeding is even better."

I nodded, helplessly. No one could deny it with a straight face.

Oh lord, what would I say when Charlotte asked?

Oh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Did I just mess up? Was I too far gone for her to hear me now? She'd know, wouldn't she, if she asked? That I'd happily do it again?

And she would ask, too.

Shit.

"Lyle," Akubra said, "Lyle, focus on me."

I did, finally opening my eyes.

"Lyle, I'm hungry." She said. "And you're so full."

She was right. I was full. I was still eating. I had so much. I could spare some, surely? Share with one of the women of my dreams?

I could hear Jack panting in the corner but I only had eyes for my wife as I fell upon her to fill her up too.

 

[maybem]

my lily garden

Click to shrink...

hahaha

I really love how lyle hyper-overthinking this encounter establishes a sort of palpable detachment here that I think is particularly unique to this encounter

 

[NemoMarx]

As for the unexpected flavors, he also felt-tasted very… sweet? Creamy? I couldn't pin the taste to any one thing on him, so I was assuming this was 'male spirit energy'. It was getting more powerful the more aroused he got, so it seemed like a safe bet. It felt super decadent. Was that… chocolate? And peanut butter?

Are… are men just… like… really fancy desserts?

Click to shrink...

Hmm. Technically, this is a comforting thought that helps Lyle adjust to this, but it's also very... there's something about seeing people as foods? It's a little depersonalizing the experience in some ways?

I was… clinically familiar with the process? I'd gotten aroused before, in a man-shaped kinda way. It already felt so alien to me, I'd adapted to my lady-shapedness really quickly, but I did know the process intimately.

Click to shrink...

s

I think it's adorable how Lyle talks about gender. Also these are good terms for the setting, really! Just dodging the question of identity entirely really.

Was this how Mamono could fall in love so completely and instantly? When you first met your husband, could you really just tell? They yelled things like that a lot when they attacked, from what I'd heard, but was it really real? Or maybe it was the Shoggoth in me, the eldritch maid meant to know the desires of the one she'd keep forever?

Click to shrink...

This is a really interesting question, because a lot of this goes to... how much you can really blame mamano for things? The hardwiring is pretty strong here. Not just because they need to eat, but in lots of other ways.

I nodded, helplessly. No one could deny it with a straight face.

Oh lord, what would I say when Charlotte asked?

Oh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

Did I just mess up? Was I too far gone for her to hear me now? She'd know, wouldn't she, if she asked? That I'd happily do it again?

And she would ask, too.

Shit.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmm. I wanna see this now! How is Charlotte gonna react!

 

[Aranfan]

Hmm. Technically, this is a comforting thought that helps Lyle adjust to this, but it's also very... there's something about seeing people as foods? It's a little depersonalizing the experience in some ways?

Click to shrink...

I seem to recall Lyle having some words on that topic herself.

 

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
Founder Faust von Frankenstein's Manor
Common Area


Day 13 of Capture
Evening


Lyle had left with the Wonderlander, and in so doing had left the house appreciably safer for me. Lyle was perhaps the most physically dangerous of my current problems, but I was under no circumstances going to engage with… Akubra. The mindset of a Wonderlander was so hazardous that their realm itself can 'convince' you to submit to revelry without an ounce of Demonic Energy invading your body or mind. It's simple infectious madness. Those that actually live there… well, there's reports they unnerve even other Mamono.

No small feat.

Regardless, I still had more time I needed to spend available to everyone. I felt it like a sort of cup, or divot, in the back of sense of self, almost hanging around my neck, still too empty to be comfortable. What I really needed was something I could pour this time into. Something… Something that would help me escape, something that would get me intel. Something that came naturally, something I could control the pace of, while keeping my distance.

Something...

Something…

"Um!"

The Bicorn, Blackberry, interrupted my thoughts.

"What is it?" It wasn't that I had more patience with her than the others, I knew enough to know that the most disarming monsters are among the most effective, but the rest of the residents here seemed to have a soft spot for her, and if I upset her, I upset them all at once.

It wasn't that I wanted to be nice to her.

"I was wondering! Can you… can you tell me some stories?" She asked, settling down onto her ottoman-like seat. I admit that the intricacies of providing for Mamonos' unique body types tickled my inner engineer. Normally I scratched that itch with enchanting, but I couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship required to cradle her barrel while still being easy for her mount in the first place.

"Stories?" I asked, "What kind?"

"Well…" She said, "There weren't very many warhorses in my herd, and they never seemed to wanna talk about their heroics..."

The Holstaur, Amy, by far the least threatening, and therefore the one I couldn't forget I was most likely to underestimate, was walking through the room, and she stopped when she heard Blackberry speak.

"Actually, uh… I wouldn't mind hearing about some of that kind of thing either," she said.

I raised my eyebrow at her. The Bicorn at least I sort of understood. She seemed to have an almost child-like innocence and naiveté.

The Holstaur blushed, looking down at her hooves, only able to see them due to her… unusual stature. Another reason to be wary of her. There was no telling what advantages her mutation afforded her.

"I g-grew up in the human lands," she said, bashfully choking out the words, "Hero-work… was the sort of thing that got spoken of in hushed tones, y-you know? You must have lived a pretty exciting life."

Unbidden, the scent of burnt flesh and hair assailed my nose. I thought for a moment I saw the fires burning even now.

Just stress.

"It's nothing that exciting," I lied. I wasn't sure they really understood what they were asking. In those stories, I was the Hero, but they, those like them, were the Villains, and it was a fight I'd never lost. One I couldn't afford to.

No matter the cost.

Piles of charred skeletons with too many bones; wings, tails, horns, and more amidst the human remains, all gathered to be ground down and scattered. I fingered the femur in my hands. Not certain, but small enough to possibly have been…

…No, a living room, with two dangerous creatures I couldn't afford to ignore. Focus, Charlotte.

"Samael might have better stories than I do," I said instead. "She's been around for a long time."

She'd also have a better sense of what you could handle hearing.

The Holstaur nodded, slowly. I was very good at controlling my expression, so she'd gotten nothing from my face, but there was no telling what she gleaned from her other senses. Could she smell the fear I felt, even now, with one of them on each side?

I was leaning back as much as I could, a forcibly relaxed posture, but one that also kept them both barely in view.

Whether she could tell or not, she moved closer to the Bicorn, and I let myself relax a fraction as I found them both clearly and easily visible without needing my peripherals.

"Can you tell us about Sally and Lyle, then?" she asked.

I took in a deep breath, nodding curtly. "I left the village fairly early in their lives. They were much like any other children, although they never really got along with the group. I kept watch of them, since they preferred to wander off by themselves.

"Sally was such a cute foal, wasn't she!?" The Bicorn again.

I frowned, thoughtfully. "Bashful, shy, quiet… I suppose you could say that." I said, ignoring the misuse of the word 'foal', "She loved to bring me little 'gifts'. Things like smooth stones or flowers in bloom. Well, I say she did, it was always Lyle who did the delivering. Sally never liked to make eye contact."

Amy seemed to be enjoying that little tidbit, while Blackberry was staring openly.

"She must have been really scared of you!" Blackberry said.

Amy, for her part, just snickered, leading into a snort.

"I've been told she… wasn't normally like that," I said, "But that was all I ever really saw of her. I have to be honest, I never understood how it was she had the… grit, or drive, or what-have-you to keep disobeying the rules about staying with the group. I assumed everyone who said she was a troublemaker were just scared of a powerful magical talent in a young girl. It's not an unreasonable fear."

I kept meaning to recommend her for mage training, but I was so wrapped up in my own responsibilities, I would forget, and honestly I think I was glad knowing there was a talent back home, someone who could watch over everyone, and who was suspicious of Beeps.

Even I had a hard time resisting the pragmatic charms of Beeps, after all. She was just too useful. The day she came to town was actually a minor holiday, it marked the last time we ever went a night without food. Hardly a year after she'd arrived, and the farming infrastructure had been completely transformed. We still hunted the surrounding area, but in the months where food was scarce, livestock was tended with frightening efficiency, and could even still be exported.

She'd done that, taught us how, likely to secure Lyle's safety, but she'd still been the one to fix it. She was an amazing sparring partner, too. I'd started our fights just so I'd never forget what she was, but… somewhere along the way she started teaching me too.

She just wormed her way in, made you reliant on her. It was startlingly effective.

I spent ages devoting myself to learning to fight her, to understanding her strengths and weaknesses, it was what had made me Hero material in the end, almost no applicant could claim practical battle experience against Mamono, and none had the breadth I'd started with. It had been long hours, but totally worth it.

It was something that came naturally, something I could control the pace of, while keeping my distance. It was something-

Something…

Something perfect.

 

[maybem]

oh boy she's going to end up sparring with beeps again, isn't she?

id call some of her narration tsun, and it's clearly intended to evoke that, but she really is kind of deeply terrified this whole time, isn't she

 

[NemoMarx]

Lyle had left with the Wonderlander, and in so doing had left the house appreciably safer for me. Lyle was perhaps the most physically dangerous of my current problems, but I was under no circumstances going to engage with… Akubra. The mindset of a Wonderlander was so hazardous that their realm itself can 'convince' you to submit to revelry without an ounce of Demonic Energy invading your body or mind. It's simple infectious madness. Those that actually live there… well, there's reports they unnerve even other Mamono.

No small feat.

Click to shrink...

It's interesting what she views as the largest threats? With this quote, and the one at the end about Beeps, it's more about how subtle they are than how powerful - Faust is probably more of an actual problem with Akubra,but Akubra could corrupt you without you being aware enough to resist, and her instincts are all aligned to avoid that issue.

Unbidden, the scent of burnt flesh and hair assailed my nose. I thought for a moment I saw the fires burning even now.

Just stress.

"It's nothing that exciting," I lied. I wasn't sure they really understood what they were asking. In those stories, I was the Hero, but they, those like them, were the Villains, and it was a fight I'd never lost. One I couldn't afford to.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, there's the trauma. Being a hero isn't.... a good profession for staying unbroken.

Even I had a hard time resisting the pragmatic charms of Beeps, after all. She was just too useful. The day she came to town was actually a minor holiday, it marked the last time we ever went a night without food. Hardly a year after she'd arrived, and the farming infrastructure had been completely transformed. We still hunted the surrounding area, but in the months where food was scarce, livestock was tended with frightening efficiency, and could even still be exported.

Click to shrink...

I wonder how the town is doing without her? The infrastructure will stay the same, and it sounds like Beeps might have actually brought some lost tech with her, in effect. She doesn't seem to be deploying that now but Lyle would be used to her just knowing things, and it's not like it's needed here.

And as above, Charlotte's threat profile is interesting.

She just wormed her way in, made you reliant on her. It was startlingly effective.

I spent ages devoting myself to learning to fight her, to understanding her strengths and weaknesses, it was what had made me Hero material in the end, almost no applicant could claim practical battle experience against Mamono, and none had the breadth I'd started with. It had been long hours, but totally worth it.

Click to shrink...

Beeps is part of her backstory! Like, her Hero's journey seems nicely bookended this way - it fits neatly.

 

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
The Park Ring
Lake of Love


Day 13 of Capture
Evening


If I had to give one of them something, I would give Blackberry this; the girl did not know the meaning of 'quit'. She might be simple, naïve, and seemed generally unprepared for the real world, but even just watching her here, I could see how she'd gotten so far anyway.

She simply wouldn't stay down.

I'd trained my fair share of fighters in my time at the Chaltéan barracks, and while it would have taken me time to prepare a villager like Blackberry for the horrors they might face, that was ultimately my job, and my failure to shoulder if they broke under the pressure. It was their job to do what I told them to, no matter what, and to be frank, I'd never seen drive like this in anyone.

When I'd offered her the chance to see what warhorse training was like, she'd jumped at it, and even learning how grueling it could be, it simply didn't shake her determination. I'd learned to adjust for Mamono endurance ages ago, training against Sammy… against Samael, so that wasn't the issue. It wasn't quite what I meant anyway. I would show her footwork, hoofwork, I suppose, and she'd get it wrong, but that wasn't the end of it. She'd just… keep doing it, getting a little better each time, and eventually I had to accept that her stances were flawless. It didn't take her long, and the mistakes didn't repeat.

More, each genuine success was for her a cause to celebrate, and she was right back to the innocent creature frankly too fragile for what I was putting her through, jubilant and not even remotely subtle about it. She would look to Amy, Beeps, or even myself for support, and with Amy and Beeps she'd find it.

Amy watched our lessons with interest, but she never asked to take part. I imagined that would change, perhaps even before we ran out the contract and I made my escape. There was something in her eyes too, a smolder to Blackberry's blazing passion, but I thought it was catching alight, not burning out.

"Charlotte, look." Amy said, gesturing. I'd seen it too.

We'd attracted the attention of a herd of Centaur doing laps around the park ring, and as they saw Blackberry circle the lake in perfect form, the leader called a halt. She got Blackberry's attention as she passed, and got a cheerful wave, but when Blackberry didn't stop, they ran alongside each other for a lap or so, chatting although Blackberry was breathing hard.

After Blackberry finished her final lap, they trotted over to me together.

"This?" The woman asked, as they approached me, "This is your trainer?"

Blackberry nodded, and the woman continued.

"And your mother?"

Beepatrice just raised her hand from where she was seated on the ground.

The look that crossed the Centaur's face was deeply familiar, and as she turned to face me again and caught my eye, no doubt to question what it was I thought I was doing, I instead felt an involuntary understanding pass between us as we both floated unmoored in the absurdity of the situation.

"Your name, Human?" she asked, almost reluctantly.

My instinctive urge was to deny even such a simple demand, I didn't want to get into the habit of obeying strange Mamono, but I reluctantly quashed the instinct. Centaurs were notoriously prideful, and the last thing I needed was to bring an entire herd down on myself; Sally and her crew of delinquents were more than enough trouble already.

"Charlotte Abernathy, Heroine of Chalté."

She nodded curtly. "I am called Lokai. I am also… not fond of leaving the training of a sister or cousin in the hands of a human, not even a Heroine. You can only take her so far, your bodies and ours are different in too many ways. However, that choice is ultimately her mother's, not my own."

Centaurs it seemed, like many Mamono, were strongly matriarchal. She grimaced as she looked again at Beepatrice.

"You are fine with this, even acknowledging their differences, honored mother?" It looked like it pained her to call Beeps anything of the sort.

Beepatrice was quiet for a moment.

"Offer?" she asked, finally.

"I would challenge this woman for the right to train your daughter."

Amy chose now to speak up. "Um, I'm sorry Ma'am, but…"

The Centaur turned toward her, brow raised.

The Holstaur flushed red but continued to speak, "She's under contract, she's not really allowed to fight right now."

The Centaur turned back to me.

"I'm… under the protection of the Human Founder until the end of the week. In return, I'm not picking fights." I gestured at Beepatrice, "She is actually representing that agreement right now, if we started to fight, she'd have to step in."

Her eyes widened. She may not like that Beeps was playing at being the Bicorn's mother, but she wasn't dumb enough to brawl with an Automaton, at least.

"I… See." She said, haltingly. "I will… not pick a fight with a Mother over the activities of her daughter."

Beepatrice just nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Although…" I said, almost in spite of myself.

The Centaur, Lokai, raised an eyebrow at me.

"After that week has passed, I'm planning to leave town. I'm passing the time here training Blackberry, but she'd be available after that, if you wanted to pick up from there."

Blackberry chimed in, "But you won't really leave, right, Charlotte?"

I gave her a flat look, and a little bit of pep leaked out of her.

"You will abandon her training?" Lokai asked, and I thought I heard anger in her voice. "Humans. What other sort of Heroine would desert her responsibilities?"

A loud snarling sound ripped out of my chest and I was walking towards her before I knew what I was doing.

"I. Am not. A Deserter." I said, my finger in her face. "I will escape this godforsaken place and return to my post and no one will stop me. Not you, not her, not anyone!"

The Centaur blinked. "Ah. It seems… it seems things here are even more complicated than I'd assumed."

A startled laugh rang out, and we all turned to see Amy had lost control of herself.

"Hahaha th-that's so so so… so true you don't even know!"

I felt my face flush in embarrassment, and I took the opportunity to put some space back between me and the fuck horse.

The situation, at least, had been thoroughly defused.

"That was my last lap, um, Charlotte, Ma'am." Blackberry said. She was still breathing heavily from exertion.

"We're heading back, say your goodbyes to Lokai. Get her information if you like," I said, packing up what few possessions I'd brought with me. I was getting hungry, and sadly that meant going back to my gilded cage, the only place in town I could trust the food.

Unfortunately, it would also likely mean dealing with Sally and Sammy, and the break from both had been quite welcome.

 

[NemoMarx]

I'd trained my fair share of fighters in my time at the Chaltéan barracks, and while it would have taken me time to prepare a villager like Blackberry for the horrors they might face, that was ultimately my job, and my failure to shoulder if they broke under the pressure. It was their job to do what I told them to, no matter what, and to be frank, I'd never seen drive like this in anyone.

Click to shrink...

I do find it very interesting how she is treating Blackberry like a villager or student here. She acknowledges that she's only "like" a villager, I think, but her guard is certainly way down compared to most other people.

Amy watched our lessons with interest, but she never asked to take part. I imagined that would change, perhaps even before we ran out the contract and I made my escape. There was something in her eyes too, a smolder to Blackberry's blazing passion, but I thought it was catching alight, not burning out.

Click to shrink...

Amy and Charlotte hanging out more in the future?

"After that week has passed, I'm planning to leave town. I'm passing the time here training Blackberry, but she'd be available after that, if you wanted to pick up from there."

Blackberry chimed in, "But you won't really leave, right, Charlotte?"

I gave her a flat look, and a little bit of pep leaked out of her.

Click to shrink...

Well, let's see how much she can really stick to the plan...

 

[The_Letter_K]

Enemy Territory
Morningwood
Founder Faust von Frankenstein's Manor
Common Area


Day 13 of Capture
Late Evening


Lyle and Akubra had yet to return, even after running most of my remaining time out at the park with Blackberry's impromptu training regimen. Given how late it was, and the purpose of their departure, I expected they'd not be back tonight.

That was somewhat… disappointing. With Blackberry and Amy both getting clean, and Beeps back in her maintenance closet, that left me alone to spend my remaining few minutes of my sentence for today with Faust and Samael.

I didn't resent Beeps taking her time to get herself back up to her own standards, she'd had decades away from any of the tools she might have needed for deep maintenance, so it wasn't surprising she spent so many hours on her own upkeep, and having gotten Blackberry to her physical limit, it made sense she'd want to clean up, and would need help with cleaning herself properly, with Amy as the natural volunteer, but, well…

I am a Hero.

I should not have been feeling this awkward.

"I'm afraid I do not understand the significance." Faust said.

"It's kinda… complicated," Samael said, haltingly. She was looking at me with an arched brow.

I felt a flash of irritation.

"I am allowed by the terms to spend my time here how I want, and that's what I chose."

She just kept her brow arched.

"I don't appreciate your scrutiny," I said. "It's not endearing."

Hurt briefly colored her face at the reminder of where we stood, but she collected herself. I didn't like attacking her emotionally, but… Well. I didn't like a lot of things about this situation.

"It's still weird, though," Samael continued, apparently ultimately undeterred.

I liked hurting her for no real gain even less.

"A few days of military training for one Bicorn won't provide any more advantage to the people here than your own defection did."

But apparently I keep doing it anyway.

That one at least, struck home. She leaned back in her seat, her emotions barely concealed. She looked on the edge of tears. I couldn't let her see that affect me, or she might decide to let go of her emotions.

I wasn't sure I was prepared to watch her weep right now.

The truth was it was a little odd. I didn't like that I agreed with her sentiment. I'd stopped interacting with a lot of the rank and file members of the Chaltéan army for the same reason I didn't try to make friends with other Heroes anymore. The ones that would last weren't any better company than I was, and it hurt to see the earnest ones die or fall.

Aside from solemn drinks with the veterans, I just didn't get out much anymore, and taking on an apprentice had been pushed and pushed by the higher ups, but I'd avoided it with one ploy after another.

I wasn't sure what had made me decide, albiet briefly, that doing anything even approaching apprenticing Blackberry seemed appealing.

I was on par with most of the male Heroes when out behind enemy lines, but that actually meant I wiped the floor with them back home. They generated their own spirit energy, after all, so they didn't lose any effectiveness when the surrounding energies were corrupted, whereas I couldn't draw anything in other than what I already had.

Without Samael to safely spar against, I suppose I'd lost an awful lot.

I had to be careful not to start looking to replace it in the wrong places.

That was a large chunk of why I expected I'd be getting my final rites when I returned to Chalté, why I welcomed it really. I couldn't exactly retire in peace, calling down high class monsters like Faust and Lyle on wherever I settled down, and they'd be just as likely to show up on any strikes or operations I was party to.

In short, I was a liability now.

But at least I'd finally get to see the world I'd been fighting for. Sammy had always-

The angels I'd spoken to had nothing but praise for the palace of the Chief God, and the surrounding heavenly city.

I'd always looked forward to being shown around. ...At least I could still meet up with the ones who had gone before. There should be souls up there from even before the dawn of Monsters, practically pre-history. I might be able to learn from the people who had built Beeps.

I could see my folks again.

"Charlotte?"

I leapt back, and my hand went for my blade before I could even think to remember it wasn't there.

Faust and Samael were staring at me, confused and a little frightened.

I'd forgotten where I was.

Dangerous.

"What?" I snarled, my voice all gravel and spit.

"I-I was merely… that is-" Faust said, obviously unsettled.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm… sorry," I ground out. "I was thinking. You… you startled me."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Perhaps…" She said, delicately, "perhaps whatever thoughts those were, you should let them be for now."

I nodded curtly. My face felt flushed. I hated how awkward this was more than anything. I was meant to slay Mamono, not have cordial conversation with them.

"I was explaining to Samael that I have been putting the finishing touches on a gift for the two of you, to make your time here together easier, however long it may last. It should be ready by morning."

That… that was news.

"A gift?"

Samael watched at me knowingly. She knew where my mind had been. I hated how cleanly she could read me. It used to be it made it so easy to confide in her. Now it was just a reminder of what she wasn't anymore.

"She won't say," Samael said. "I've been pestering her about it since I found out, no luck."

Faust drew herself up in her seat. "A poor surprise indeed would it be if I told you the details before the reveal. Suffice to say I think you shall both be quite impressed."

"That remains to be seen," I said, finally settling back into my seat. "I don't think I want anything you can give me."

"Ah ha ha! That is where you would be incorrect," Faust said. "I have taken your desires into account with this undertaking. The simple acquisition of your gift has already made you much safer here in Morningwood, and miraculously, you shall be safer still upon receiving it. Moreover, I suspect it will be rather useful in lessening tensions between Samael and yourself. In truth, I am delighted with the elegance of it. I look forward to the presentation!"

My eyes met Samael's, and for just a moment I forgot the gulf between us. Whatever our differences, our shared history made it clear we'd reached the same conclusion.

As I got up to head into my room, my time for the day finally spent, I was secure in the knowledge that as bad as today had been, tomorrow would only be worse.

Because, whatever else this 'gift' might be…

It definitely was trouble.

 

[maybem]

oh no its zombie dragon thagolynn oh no oh no oh no this is fine.

 

[NemoMarx]

"I am allowed by the terms to spend my time here how I want, and that's what I chose."

She just kept her brow arched.

"I don't appreciate your scrutiny," I said. "It's not endearing."

Hurt briefly colored her face at the reminder of where we stood, but she collected herself. I didn't like attacking her emotionally, but… Well. I didn't like a lot of things about this situation.

Click to shrink...

Charlotte and Sammy need to... properly talk. Like they really need to.

I wasn't sure what had made me decide, albiet briefly, that doing anything even approaching apprenticing Blackberry seemed appealing.

Click to shrink...

I was wondering about this! She seems to be taken with Blackberry and Amy more easily than she admits.

I'd always looked forward to being shown around. ...At least I could still meet up with the ones who had gone before. There should be souls up there from even before the dawn of Monsters, practically pre-history. I might be able to learn from the people who had built Beeps.

Click to shrink...

Oh, so it's common knowledge that Beeps predates monsters? I wonder how much is known about that civilization?

"Ah ha ha! That is where you would be incorrect," Faust said. "I have taken your desires into account with this undertaking. The simple acquisition of your gift has already made you much safer here in Morningwood, and miraculously, you shall be safer still upon receiving it. Moreover, I suspect it will be rather useful in lessening tensions between Samael and yourself. In truth, I am delighted with the elegance of it. I look forward to the presentation!"

Click to shrink...

Faust....

Oh this is going to end in shouting, isn't it?

 

[Aranfan]

wait, has it really already been almost a week since Lyle and Faust fished charlotte out from the fighting pits? I thought it was only a day or two at most?

 

[The_Letter_K]

wait, has it really already been almost a week since Lyle and Faust fished charlotte out from the fighting pits? I thought it was only a day or two at most?

Click to shrink...

No, that's correct, it's just been a few days. Is there a typo somewhere?


Also, while I'm posting here, there's two more updates till ya'll are caught up, at which point I intend to start doing replies again! I've missed engaging with folks, but at this pace it was exhausting me, especially with everything else going on.

Would you all prefer one extra large update on Saturday, or to be fully caught up on Wednesday?

 

[Aranfan]

That was somewhat… disappointing. With Blackberry and Amy both getting clean, and Beeps back in her maintenance closet, that left me alone to spend my remaining few minutes of my sentence with Faust and Samael.

Click to shrink...

This line. It makes it seem like She'll be free soon.

 

[riaantheunissen]

This line. It makes it seem like She'll be free soon.

Click to shrink...

I read it as the time she has to spent interacting with her hosts. If I recall correctly, she agreed to spend a certain part of each day interacting in exchange for being let free after a week.

 

[The_Letter_K]

I woke up in a bucket, sloshing around, groggily trying to figure out why the sun seemed to be swinging.

"Morning, darling." The world stopped shifting, and I followed the arm holding my swinging body up to find the face of Akubra, cheerily blocking the sun with her hat.

"Urgh. Bright."

She laughed, loud and bright, even brighter than the sun, and I was in the perfect position to check.

"It is, yes."

I stretched, lifting my head up and out, flowing along the handle, and rolling my shoulders as they clarified themselves, clearing the lip of the bucket. As my horns circled my head and connected and my hair flowed out, a freshly formed hand landed on her shoulder, and I used the leverage to pull up faster, more of my body shaping itself as the surface area became available. I felt myself spilling out of the bucket, hitting the ground, and after only a moment, enough of me had pooled to begin forming my legs, and start supporting myself.

My tail flicked and waved as it stretched out from my body, and my wings unfurled, spreading wide, and using the air they caught to expand and fill in faster. I arched my back and stretched my arms high as I finished forming myself and let out a satisfied groan.

"Aaahmmmn~"

I heard several whistles and cheers, and abruptly realized I was naked in public.

My eyes widened across my body, then slowly shifted to glaring at the various gawkers as a quick shimmy had my robes falling out of my mass and settling around me.

Ignoring the mass of disappointed noises and the heated blush on my face, I focused on Akubra.

"Where did the bucket go?" I asked.

She gestured down, and sure enough, as I glanced down past my meager chest, there it was, stuck in my hips.

That's embarrassing.

I reached down and pulled on it, and it slipped out of me with a 'shlorp'ing sound.

I gingerly handed it to her, not really sure what to say, and she took it with her characteristic nonchalance.

"How did you get me in there, anyway?"

I was picturing her shoveling me out of the carpet, ounces at a time. My bed could hold me in place, even if I bled into the mattress in my sleep, but only because the frame was watertight.

The idea was vaguely annoying for a reason I couldn't quite place.

I forcibly imagined the shovel as purple with cute little eyes on it instead.

Much better.

She smiled her mysterious smile at me, and I knew I'd not get an answer. Oh well.

"We're almost home," she said instead.

I recognized the area, now that she mentioned it.

"I didn't think we'd be out all night," I said, although without any heat. We'd spent that night in ways I certainly couldn't complain about. The solution to feeding Akubra had been quite enjoyable, but it wasn't quite practical. If I wanted to feed everyone at home that way, and I thought perhaps that I did, I'd need to be making an awful lot more visits to Nightcap's, and I ached at the idea of spending that much time away from the girls.

We'd only been apart one night, and I missed them terribly.

Not only that, but I'd then have to spend time feeding each of them. I obviously wasn't opposed to that, in concept, but back when I was still feeding them organically, I was beginning to run out of personal time, and this would require roughly double the attention.

Faust was a Monster Princess or something, maybe we could get a live-in lunch guy? That seemed like it might be possible, but who would I let in my house? They'd have to use my furniture.

I growled.

No, actually, they'd have to bring their own.

That seemed pretty impractical.

But totally necessary.

Akubra patted my head possessively, and I preened a little before even considering why she might be doing that.

"So…," I said, putting those thoughts aside for now, "You own a fancy restaurant and a hat shop?"

She nodded.

"How do you manage that?"

"Mmm. I always seem to be at the hat shop when customers arrive, and whenever my assistant needs paperwork done, there I am."

Curiouser and curiouser.

She smiled at me, and I felt a warm feeling deep in my chest. What did I do to get surrounded by such beautiful and interesting women? It was an awfully good thing we were going to live forever; it would take at least that long to puzzle them all out.

Our house had snuck up on me as we chatted, but we walked down the path to our front door in companionable silence. I opened the door, gesturing for her to go first.

"After you."

She nodded, walking ahead, but stopped in the doorway.

"Thank you for walking with me, it's not often I get to see the city."

I nodded, dumbly. Hadn't she just said she traveled all over all the time?

Maybe it would take a lot longer than forever to figure her out.

As we entered the house, I looked towards Amy's room. I thought I might pay her a visit. I hadn't seen the inside of her room yet, and, well… I wanted to talk to someone about what I'd gotten up to last night. She seemed like she'd be most sympathetic. She was really good at that, being a comforting presence, I mean.

Akubra walked to her room's door, disappearing inside; she had her own things to do, no doubt.

Samael and Blackberry were out in the main room, Blackberry excitedly chattering to her about something or other. Samael waved lazily at me, and Blackberry turned to look, an arduous process for a kneeling centaur, a lot of twist in that torso of hers. I could tell the exact moment it registered I was home, her expression, always cheerful, only amplified, and I could have sworn I heard a squeal at the edge of my hearing.

"LYLE!" she shouted, "You're back!"

I am, yes, and now the whole house knows. Saves time, I guess.

She hopped up and trotted over, quick as could be, and swept me up in a hug that lifted me off the ground. I cuddled into her, filling all the space between us as best I could.

"Hey, honey." I whispered, nuzzling into her neck. "How was your sleep?"

"I slept like a rock!" she said, chirpily. "I got to go be a warhorse yesterday, and it was super exhausting!"

"Oh?" I asked, a little surprised. I leaned back some to take in her face. Easier to talk that way. "Did Samael take you out, then? How was that?"

"Uh uh." She said, shaking her head, her braid shifting and the flowers dancing in her hair, "It was Charlotte! We ran laps at the lake until I could hardly lock my legs! And the stuff she weighed my saddle down with, it was soooo heavy!"

Charlotte, huh? That's interesting. I guess Blackberry was a pretty safe way to spend her time, but I was surprised she'd gone out of the house.

"Did you take Beeps with you?"

She nodded excitedly. "Momma and I met some Centaurs! We're gonna meet up again later. They said they'd teach me to shoot a bow!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were interested?"

"Uh huh! I've been thinking…" She shrunk in on herself a little. The effect still left her huge, but it was noticeable, and concerning. "You know how Sally keeps adding bits onto herself?"

"Yeah?"

"And… and Sammy is an Angel, right?"

"Well, a Valkyrie, but yes, I think that counts?" Fallen though. Not worth arguing too much when I was much more interested in where this was going and why she seemed so nervous, or sad, or… something about it.

"I was thinking… Maybe I could be an angel too?"

My brain stopped. I wasn't sure what to say.

"My… old Momma, my herd, none of them would want me now that I'm a Bicorn… but… Cupids are Angels of love! If.. I can prove that I'm still pure, maybe…? Maybe…!"

Oh honey.

"Sweetheart…" I said, delicately. "I'll support you whatever you decide to do, but…"

"But?" She looked almost scared.

"But, you should remember that you're already my angel, heart of my heart. I don't know if chasing the opinions of people like that is a… healthy way to live your life?"

She frowned.

Uh oh, abort! Abort!

"I just mean… any choice you make, that's going to be with you for the rest of your life, sweetie. You should make those choices for you, not for them. Live honestly to yourself. The people who matter will love you no matter who you turn out to be deep inside."

"But…" She said, "If I don't like it, can't Sally just fix it?"

My eyes widened.

"Uh…" Wow. I'm not sure I've really processed what I've gotten myself into here in Morningwood. "Maybe? We can ask, I guess. I just… I don't want to see you let those people hurt you again."

She smiled, wide and bright. "That's sweet. You're sweet, Lyle. But… I'm not the one who's hurting. It's… it's all those girls whose Mommas are filling their heads with mean thoughts. I'm gonna find another way, for them. Then? Then I'm gonna show them what it is! It's the right way. That's what I feel in my heart."

Uh.

Wow.

I uh. I didn't have anything to say to that.

"You're… really brave, baby."

"You think so?" She sounded scandalized. "I'm not sure. It feels a lot more scary than brave."

I kissed her, deeply.

"I know so." I said. " I see you, sweetie. I don't know how you could be braver."

I pulled away, and thought, briefly, that I saw Charlotte's door close silently.

I watched it curiously for a moment, uncertain I'd actually seen it move.

Faust's door flew open, and my attention was drawn away as she entered the room the only way she knew how.

Undeniably.

"It! Is! Finished!" She shouted, and I thought if she could have been any louder the cutlery on our coffee table might have shook. "Once more do I declare unto the world the depth of my genius and cunning, and once more does the world dociley retreat, like unto a tamed beast! No mere natural order can violate a will such as mine!"

She looked wildly around the room, searching for something.

"Charlotte? Charlotte! The hour of gift-giving is at hand!"

By the time I looked to her door, it was already open, her body filling the frame. I couldn't tell if that meant she'd been close to the door already or if she'd simply leapt up at the calling of her name, some kind of instilled training.

I saw her exchange a look with Samael, one old, practiced, nuanced, too complicated for my understanding to grasp.

"Faust," I asked. "What are you shouting about?"

She looked my way.

"Ah! Lyle! Perfection. Welcome home, my love." She grinned at me, her teeth sharp and numerous, her mouth wide enough to do all sorts of interesting things with. "Well, to respond to your query…"

She paused.

Then grinned wider still.

"You will not have to wait long to see."