《Slime Breeder》


 # 001

    "No!?!" My voice cracks when Mom tells us that we''re moving out of the city to some little village in the middle of nowhere. "I don''t want to move; I have a life here, I have friends..." ''And, an almost girlfriend.'' I can''t quite say that last bit out loud.


    I''m seventeen, which I know is a bit late not to have a real girlfriend yet, but Jessa and I have been dancing around each other for years. It''s just that between her apprenticeship and me spending most of my time hunting slimes for the family business, we haven''t had the chance to hook up for real.


    "I know it''s a big change, Cole." Mom pulls me into a hug despite my attempts to squirm away. "But, our business is growing by the day, and we need more and more slimes to fulfill demand; it only makes sense to move to the Slime Forest."


    "I''ll be traveling back and forth a lot to keep an eye on things." Dad offers. "You can come with me to see your friends."


    "Really? Then who is going to catch all the slimes?" I look pointedly at the twins and the small bump that I felt on Mom''s belly that means yet another sibling will be coming along in another five or six months. "I''m upset, not stupid." I shout before fleeing to my room.


    I''m the oldest and only male of five siblings, soon to be six. Maybe seven, if Mom has twins again. And, I''ve been responsible for collecting the majority of the slimes for the family business basically since the twins were born.


    Tamers like Mom and me are rare enough to begin with. But, even if they did find someone to hire, there''s no way that they wouldn''t just steal dad''s spell and set up a competing business.


    Dad is a Magical Researcher, they''re like a mix between Wizards and Scribes. Only with a good deal more brains, if he''s to be believed, that is. He found a way to alter the basic taming spell so that the slimes will accept simple commands from a special wand that he built and then started selling.


    Why would anyone outside of a beginner tamer want a slime as a pet you ask? Well, you can thank my Mom for that. See, one day she got the oh-so-brilliant idea to try using her tamed monsters to clean the house. It went about as well as you could expect, all except for her slime; turns out that the stupid little blobs of jelly are the perfect cleaners.


    Dad immediately saw the potential market and dove into his research. And, while their business was slow at first, it built steadily and recently started to really take off. Which means that I have to abandon everything I know and move to the middle of fucking nowhere. All so that people don''t have to clean out their own privies anymore.


    "Get out!" I order the ever-present slimes out of my room and flop face down onto my bed. "You too." I add when I hear the door creak open and Jenny''s footsteps entering the room.


    Jenny is the oldest of the girls at sixteen, and usually the least annoying. That''s easily a tie between the twins, Sera and Esra, who just turned seven. Though Kaitlyn, the middle girl at twelve years old, can give them a run for their money sometimes.


    "Shut up." I turn my head to see Jenny sit down on the bed. "You''re not the only one who''s upset about this. The twins are too young, and Katie just thinks it''s all a big adventure, but I have friends too, you know."


    "And, I''m sure you''re not at all mad about losing access to the library at the college." Her best friends have always been books. Just like I followed in Mom''s footsteps, Jenny is following in dad''s.


    "Ass." She smacks me with a pillow. "And, yes! Dammit." She flops down on her back next to me with a sigh.


    "I''ve seen the finances, you can build your own library in no time." I may prefer running around the woods like Mom, but I''ve gotten enough of dad''s brains that he''s taught me how the rest of the business works. I can even enchant the wands on my own, and do a fair bit more magic than the average tamer bothers to learn.


    "Knock, knock." Mom says from the door instead of actually knocking. "I''m sorry we didn''t discuss this with you... both of you earlier. It was supposed to be a nice surprise."


    "Forget about that." Jenny hops up off the bed to glare at Mom. "Why didn''t you say that you were pregnant again?" As the oldest girl, she usually gets stuck helping Mom with the twins and Katie.


    "I was waiting until I started showing, which I guess is now." Mom says with a soft chuckle. "It''s also part of the reason for this move; all of us will have a much, much larger house after the move. That means no more sharing with Katie, and the twins can finally get their own rooms too."


    "Any chance it''s going to be a boy this time?" I ask, still somewhat disappointed that I never had a little brother to boss around like my friends do. "And, please tell me that it''s not twins again."


    "Not twins." Mom laughs again. "Thankfully. And, sorry. But, according to the healer, it''s another girl."


    "Yay." I deadpan.


    ...


    "I can''t believe you''re leaving tomorrow." Jessa, my almost-was, and now, never-will-be girlfriend, says with a dejected look about her.


    Mom and Dad didn''t waste any time with the move and before I knew it, it was time to leave. All of my friends took me out one last time as a big send-off and, not long ago, they all peeled away to leave just me and Jessa alone.


    "I wish I wasn''t." I thought about asking her to spend the night with me, but I just can''t. Not when I know it will probably be months, maybe even years before we see each other again.


    "I wish you weren''t either" She stands right in front of me, just inches apart, while staring me in the eyes. "I''ll miss you, Cole. I love you." Her eyes close and she bridges that small gap to kiss me.


    "..." I open my mouth to say the same when our lips part, but she''s already running away.


    ...


    "Oh, Jessa, Jessa, Jessa!" I pant her name out as softly as I can while thrusting my rock hard cock between two squished together slimes.


    I''ve been using them to help me out basically since I discovered masturbation. It started as just using them to clean up my mess, but it wasn''t long before I was having them help me make it. I still remember that first time I pressed two slimes together and slid myself in between them. It was like fucking the softest, fluffiest breasts ever, and they had built-in lube too.


    Now, I''m fucking two more of them as hard as I can without making any noise, so my family doesn''t hear. All while Jessa''s last kiss and those three words replay over and over in my mind. Her warm, moist lips pressing against mine, her delicate tongue slipping into my mouth. We we''re both clumsy and inexperienced, not having done more than sneak a few quick pecks before now. But, that short, fumbling kiss was the single hottest thing I have ever experienced in my short life.


    "Nng!" I bite down on my fist to keep from groaning out loud as a torrent of cum is blasted out of my dick. "Oh, Jessa..." I sag into bed, only just bothering to cover up before passing out.


    ...


    "Is this it?" More than a little disdain coats my words when our wagons finally reach Springwood town on the edge of the Slime Forest.


    Oh, sure the forest has some fancy name in Elfish that I can''t pronounce. But, I asked an old schoolmate that is a quarter elf and they said that it just translates to Slime Forest. Good to know that humans aren''t the only ones that are shit at naming stuff.


    "Don''t be like that." Mom swats the back of my head. "It''s not that bad, and just wait until you see the new place."


    ''I suppose it could be worse.'' I admit only to myself, wary of getting smacked again. Springwood is more small, bustling, town than the village I had feared. But, it''s hard to be impressed after coming from the city.


    The town itself named after the springy nature of the local lumber rather than any actual spring in the woods. That lumber makes up a good chunk of the economy, with the rest mostly catering towards beginning adventurers here to gain some fighting experience and maybe make a little pocket change by selling slime cores to the alchemist guild.


    "Yes, we have a couple of surprises especially for you and Jenny." Dad adds. "We know this move has been the hardest on you two, so we added a little something to make up for it. And, yes, we got you girls some presents too." He adds before Katie and the twins can complain.


    ...


    "He gets his own house!?!" It''s a small one, set just a little bit away from the main house. But, that''s enough to cause Jenny to have a fit when she sees it.


    "He''s almost eighteen now." Mom says soothingly. "And, like he said when we first mentioned the move, he does all of the fieldwork. Cole deserves a place of his own."


    "And, don''t start complaining until you see your present." Dad adds with a wide smile. "Though, I will admit that it is at least half for me. The selection is somewhat limited right now, but I plan to expand the library soon."


    "A library?" Jenny''s eyes light up. "A proper library?"


    I laugh when she forgets all about me getting my own house and runs inside to checks out the books.


    My new place is set behind and to one side of the main house, and both of them are inside a large, walled-in courtyard. We''re well outside of town, almost in the woods themselves. And, while the town wards should extend beyond our property, there''s no reason not to be safe. Even if the worst monsters around here are just slimes.


    Speaking of slimes, the holding pens for them are nearly as large as the courtyard around our house. Mom and Dad are expecting the business to grow by leaps and bounds and have prepared for it to do so.


    "I know that you want to explore too, but can you help us get the luggage inside first?" Mom asks sweetly. "I''d rather not have a repeat of what happened when your father tried to magic everything into the wagons." Dad turns bright red when Mom reminds him of how he put a large hole through the walls of our old house with a telekinetically propelled suitcase.


    ...


    "Ugh. That was even worse than loading up the wagons in the first place." Riding around on the hardest wooden seats in existence for over a week was no picnic, and I honestly have no idea how Mom managed it with her growing belly. "Can you guys handle things from here? I want to check out my place, and get some of my own stuff unpacked."


    "Go ahead, Cole. And, thank you." Mom pulls me in for a tight hug, her belly pressing against me as she tries to squeeze the life out of me again. "Oh, my little baby is all grown up and moving out already."


    "Yeah, all of ten feet." I laugh, knowing that this is probably just her hormones acting up; Mom always gets a little weird when she is pregnant. "Don''t worry, I''ll be back for dinner."


    "Oh, fine. Abandon your mother." She says with a melodramatic sniff before shooing me out of the house.


    ...


    "Oh, gods, Jessa." I haven''t been able to get that damned girl out of my head, and being stuck in close confines with my entire family has left me with exactly zero opportunities to deal with it. So, I am making full use of having my own space to fuck the hell out of a couple slimes.


    "Mnh. Why couldn''t we have had more than just a kiss? Ahhhhhhhhhhhnnnnn!" A week''s worth of pent-up frustration pours out of me with a loud moan.


    ...

 # 002

    "Nng, get off, stupid slimes." I grumble and try to ignore my morning wood and the monsters playing with it like they have been trained to do, but I''m already awake by now, and it looks like the sun will be up soon. "Fuck, I wish you guys could shapeshift more."


    About all the common slime can do is change the texture of their membrane, that''s why I need two of them to jerk off with. Still, the ridged, knobbly texture that I''ve trained these two to adopt does the job nicely.


    Grabbing the grapefruit-sized beasts, I smush them together around my dick and start pistoning my way towards bliss.


    "Nng! Fuck, Yes! Jessa!" I cry out her name and release into the slimes just a Moment later. "One good thing about this fucking move; I can jerk off in peace now."


    ...


    "Sorry, Katie, I have a lot of ground to cover today, and likely for the rest of the week too." I apologize to my middle sister when she asks to join me in exploring the forest after breakfast. "Don''t give me that look; the Guild''s maps aren''t worth crap and I need to get a proper understanding of the woods before I can take you out."


    "He''s right Kaitlyn." Dad backs me up. "How about your Mom and I take all of you girls out to explore the woods around the house? Yes, that includes you too, Jen. It''s a good idea for all of us to be familiar with the area."


    ""Yay!"" - "Nooo!" The younger girls all shout with joy while Jen moans.


    "Alright, I''m off." I drop a slime onto my plate to clean it and pick up my already packed bag from the floor next to my chair. "Don''t expect me back until dark at the earliest."


    "Stay safe out there." Mom grabs my sleeve when I walk past her.


    "Always, Mom." I bend over to kiss her on top of the head and rub her barely visible baby bump before departing.


    The rest of the day was spent running; I first started going out into the field with Mom when I was younger than the twins are now. And, even back then she had trouble keeping up with me, so running through the woods all day at a speed most adventurers my age couldn''t keep up for even an hour is child''s play.


    I need to not only get a good feel for the new environment but trace out the mana flows in order to know where slimes are more likely to spawn and congregate at. Most mages can''t even do this, not so well at least, but having a magical researcher as a Dad has let me pick up more than a few tricks.


    ...


    "Behind you!" I warn a lone adventurer when I see that she''s too focused on the slimes in front of her to spot the one about to jump at her from behind.


    "Ahh!" She screams and starts to panic when it smacks into the small of her back and instantly starts to dissolve her shirt.


    "Oh, for fucks sake. Barrier!" A wave of mana emanates from her skin blowing back not only the slime that hit her, but the ones that were just about to take advantage of her clumsiness. "You''re fine, quit screaming." I order when she shrieks at the slimes bouncing harmlessly off of her. "I''ll be taking these, by the way. You owe me for the save."


    Pulling a handful of taming wands out, I cast Dad''s specially modified spell through them. This binds the monsters to the wand itself rather than me since a tamer''s soul can only handle so many connections. I only have two actual bonds at the Moment, Lefty and Righty, my sex toys.


    Dad''s spell doesn''t stop there, either. Since I was the one to cast the taming spell, I can control them even without the wand. Maybe not as well as if I had bonded them properly, but better than even someone using the wand can.


    Too bad the spell and wands only work on slimes because they''re so stupid. But, if I wanted to, I could have an army of them at my side. Sure, slimes might be the weakest monsters in the world, but an army is an army. Quantity has a quality all its own, after all.


    "What?" The idiot girl that I just saved just blinks when the slimes quit attacking her and join the small pack behind me. I haven''t been focused on catching them today, but I''m happy to grab any low-hanging fruit I come across. "What did you do?"


    "I tamed them." I try not to roll my eyes at her. "Now, turn around and let me see your back." I spin her around before she can object, and crouch down the check out the damage. "You''re probably going to need to sleep on your belly for a few days, but you''ll be fine. I recommend you put some salve on that soon though."


    "Wait!" She whirls around and grabs onto my arm when I move to leave; it''s barely afternoon and I still have a lot of ground to cover. "I-I don''t have any, and it hurts." A tiny tear wells up in the corner of her eye.


    "Too bad, town''s that way, you should be able to make it in an hour if you don''t dawdle." I shake her off.


    Despite, technically belonging to the Guild, I have never been a fan of adventurers. Least of all the stupid ones, even if they are kinda cute. They''ve been giving me shit for years for being the slime kid, and I''ve hated the lot ever since one killed my first tamed slime. Not enough to let one die because of their own stupidity, but enough to not go out of my way to save them either.


    "Please!" She cries out and follows after me when I start away again. "I''ll pay for it. I''m sorry, my brother has the salve; he was supposed to come out with me today, but was too busy chasing around some girls that he''s too dense to realize can''t stand him."


    "Did I ask for your life story?" I turn around after deciding that she''s just going to keep following me if I don''t do something. "Turn around and lift your shirt." I shrug off my bag and dig out some top-quality healing salve and a premade bandage with sticky edges. "Do it or I''m leaving." I add when she turns shy all of the sudden.


    "..." She gulps but follows my orders. "Ah, ah! Ohhh." Her gasps of pain turns into a soft moan of relief as the salve does its job.


    "Three silver." I demand after pressing the bandage in place.


    "What?!" She spins around and goes pale when I hold up the jar I used. "..."


    "It''s all I had on me." I say with a shrug. "You said you''d pay and a dollop of this is worth three silver, so pay up. At least you''ll be able to sleep on your back tonight." The little pervert actually flushes when I say that.


    "I... I don''t even have half that." She ducks her head.


    "Then give me what you do have." I stick my hand out. "I''m busy and you''re costing me even more coin by wasting my time. Thank you. And, please... Stay the fuck out of the woods until you know what the hell you''re doing, at least."


    ...


    "How''d it go?" Mom asks when I get home and drop into a kitchen chair to eat the food she kept warm just for me.


    "Fine, except for running into an idiot newbie that almost got herself eaten." I huff between bites. "I''m going to need some more salve too, we did stock up before the move right?"


    "Yes, but what''s that smile for?" She asks when my amusement for earlier shines through.


    "Nothing..." I just grin until she glares at me. "Okay, I may have made her pay for the salve I used on her... at the local price. She didn''t even have half and that''s still more than what it''s worth."


    "You little shit." Mom laughs and swats me lightly on the arm. "I know why you hate adventurers, but you really need to start treating them nicer. Especially a girl who must be around your age."


    "Closer to Jen''s, and kinda cute too." I counter just to tease her back. "But, do you really want me dating someone stupid enough to enter a place called the Slime Forest without even any salve?"


    "Mhm... fine, I''ll give you that." She shakes her head with a sigh. "I made sure the bath was kept warm for you, try not to fall asleep in it. I''m going to go get changed for bed myself, Katie ran us ragged earlier."


    "Thanks, Mom." I give her a one-armed hug and bend over to kiss her baby bump. "You''re the best."


    ...


    "Off and running again?" Dad asks when I finish scarfing down breakfast.


    "Should only take me a couple more days to scout out the near woods." I reply after washing the food down with some juice. "That should be enough to let me keep up with demand while I slowly explore deeper. Are you really going to teleport the first few batches?"


    "Mhm. I have to." Dad goes a little green just thinking about it; he''s always had really bad teleport sickness and taking along that many slimes is only going to make it worse. "Demand spiked again right after we left, and the shop is going to run out if I don''t. I know it might slow you down, but try to bring back a few extra today."


    "No problem." I nod and slip the backpack onto my shoulders before heading out. "And, hey." I call back over my shoulder. "At least the slimes will be there to clean up all the barf." Mom and the girls laugh at the face he pulls when I say that.


    ...


    Thanks to the need for more slimes, it took a day longer than I anticipated to map out the near woods. But, the shop in the city should be good until dad can get the first wagon load there, so I made the executive decision to take a fucking day off.


    "Mind if I borrow a horse today?" I ask after taking my time to eat for once. "We''ve got enough slimes for now, so I''m taking a day to explore what, if anything, this town has to offer."


    "You can have the wagon if you take the girls with you." Mom says, the pleading clear in her eyes.


    "Fine." I relent with a sigh. "You coming too, Jen?"


    "I might as well." She shrugs. "But, you have to deal with the twins when they go nuts." When, not if.


    "No worries there." Sera and Esra shiver a bit when I grin at them. "You''re not the only one who knows a bit of magic, and I''ve been slacking on my practice lately. I think I should work on my ice spells today."


    ""Mom!"" They cry in unison.


    "No frostbite, Cole, or... no dessert for you tonight." The twins pale at the almost non-punishment that she threatens me with.


    "Mhm. I''ll try."


    ...

 # 003

    "You!" A boy who looks a couple of years younger than me shouts and points in my direction making me look around to see who''s he''s upset with. "Don''t play dumb, I know you''re the asshole the ripped off my sister." He pulls a familiar looking girl out from where she''s hiding behind his back.


    "Oh, it''s you." I nod when I recognize the girl from my first day in the woods. "You still owe me one-hundred-sixty-five copper." Jen laughs when I hold my palm out, Mom must have told her about my run-in with the girl.


    "Fuck you, you bastard!" He shouts and starts charging me. I just laugh and snap my fingers, summoning an ice wall in his path just tall enough to trip him up. "Ahh!" He screams and goes ass over tea-kettle.


    "Gods dammit, Mason!" The girl shouts and rushes up to him. I thought she was going to help him up, but she started smacking him around instead. "I told you that he saved my life by casting a magic barrier and you think it''s a good idea to just charge him. We''re only having money problems because you spent all of it on presents for girls that don''t even like you."


    "Ack! Lay off, dammit." He cringes under her blows making me snort out another laugh. "Fucking stop already. Gods, Maddie, what did I ever do to get stuck with a twin like you? And, those girls like me plenty." He adds with a bitter tone.


    "You''re twins too?" Sera steps forward to address the girl, Maddie, while completely ignoring the thrashing she''s giving her brother. "I''m Sera, me and Esra are twins, we never met others like us. Too bad your twin is a boy, he looks stupid." Jen, Kaitlyn, and I all crack up laughing at our little sister''s unvarnished words.


    "He is stupid." Maddie agrees. "And, aren''t you two just the cutest?" She melts just like most people do when meeting the girls for the first time. "Oh, I wish I could have had a little sister instead of him."


    "I''m the big sister too." Sera gleams.


    "We''re both going to be big sisters when Mom has the new baby." Esra adds. I think she''s happy to finally not be the youngest, even if it is only by a few minutes.


    "And, weren''t we going to look for something nice to buy for her?" I prompt, not wanting to deal with the idiot girl or her idiot brother anymore. Not that our shopping trip is actually for the baby that is still months away from being born, but I don''t mind buying the girls something every now and then.


    ""Yay, toys."" The twins forget all about the new girl and start pulling on my clothes to drag me forward.


    "I-I''m sorry about my brother." The idiot girl speaks up as we walk past. "I promise to repay what I owe you."


    "Don''t worry about it." I wave the matter away, the show the two of them just put on more than worth whatever coppers I could squeeze her for. "We stocked up in the city before moving here so that dab won''t even be missed."


    "..." Her brother opens his mouth, likely to spout some more bullshit, but she pops him one right in the breadbasket.


    "Th-thank you." She ducks her head and forces her gasping brother to do the same.


    "I think she likes you." Jen says once we''re away from the idiot twins.


    "Who cares? She''s just some dumb adventurer." I wave it off and put the girl out of my mind.


    ...


    "Not you again." I groan out when I stumble across the idiot girl the very next day. "Did your brother ditch you to chase girls again?"


    "N-no." A slight blush creeps onto her cheeks after my words make her jump. "We split up to try and get more cores."


    "Because going solo worked so well for you last time." I mock the stupid adventurer and continue on my way. "Try not to die, I won''t be around to save you again."


    "Do you have to be such a jerk?" She clamps her hands over her mouth and blushes all over after those words escape without her meaning to say them.


    "Only to idiot adventurers." I reply with a laugh. "And, look out behind you. Wouldn''t want you to get into any more debt, now would we." I laugh again when she swirls around just in time to block the slime that was about to attack.


    ...


    "W-wait." She runs up to me out of breath a few minutes later. The only reason she was even able to catch up was because I found several slimes stuck in a dried-out creek and stopped to tame them all. "How... how do you run so fast?"


    "You chased after me just to ask that?" I raise an eyebrow at her while taming the last slime. "Don''t you have better things to do?"


    "Please." She begs when I turn away again. "I thought I saw something bigger than a slime in the bushes back there."


    "Just because it''s called the Slime Forest doesn''t mean that they are all that will spawn here." I explain with a roll of my eyes. "It''s rare, but it does happen. Go find your brother, you should be fine as long as you''re together. Honestly, you two are so new at this that if you went solo anywhere else you''d be dead a dozen times over by now."


    "I don''t know where he is, we each took different paths into the forest." I pinch the bridge of my nose at the frightened little kitten vibe she''s sending out right now.


    "Fine!" I huff. "You can stick with me, but try not to slow me down too much. You''re just lucky I found all of these slimes stuck here, so I can afford to take it easy for a bit."


    "Thank you." Tears of relief well up in her eyes. This girl is just not meant to be an adventurer, but that''s none of my business. So, I just keep moving, at a much-reduced pace, deeper into the woods.


    ...


    "Stop." I hiss and reach behind me to clamp a hand on the idiot girl''s mouth before she can scare away the prize I just spotted. "Just stand here, and don''t make a noise." She nods with a gulp.


    Taking the sling from my belt, I take a couple of careful steps away from the girl. Both, so she won''t be in the way, and to get a better angle on my prey. One swing, two, and loose.


    "Yes! Rabbit for dinner." I dash forward to wring its neck, just in case the stone that smashed into its temple didn''t finish it off. "Dress!" A pain in the butt spell, but beyond worth it to not have to deal with the blood or guts myself.


    "Bunny!" The girl cries out when she sees the snow-white, horned rabbit that I just killed.


    "Seriously?" I can''t help but scoff at her. "What the fuck are you doing as an adventurer? I''ve tried not to say anything because... well, I mostly don''t care. But, seriously? It is a monster; that cute little thing would have been happy to gut you while you were cooing over it."


    "I-I know that." Oh, gods, she looks like she''s going to cry again. "I was just surprised, is all."


    "I mean it, what are you doing as an adventurer? And, you might as well sit down; this spell is going to take a Moment to finish." I lean up against a tree and wait for the spell to finish. "You''re going to get yourself killed out here, you''d be a lot better off just getting a safe job in the city somewhere."


    "I can''t." She plops her butt down on the soft, forest floor. "Mason wants to be an adventurer just like our parents were before... Anyways, they asked me to take care of him."


    "Because he''s so stupid?" I interject.


    "No! ...yes." She sighs and then starts laughing. "Gods, he''s even worse at this than I am. I never should have let him out of my sight today, but he keeps spending all of our damned coin. What''s your name, by the way? You never told me. I''m Madison." She adds her own as an afterthought.


    "Cole and I didn''t see the need. In case, you hadn''t guessed, I''m not overly fond of adventurers."


    "So, it''s not just me?" She speaks without thinking and starts blushing again.


    "You''re cute, but I''m not interested." Maybe if she quit being stupid, but I don''t see that happening anytime soon.


    "Why not?" She asks, indignant, and then slaps her hands over her mouth to keep any more stray thoughts from escaping.


    "Heh." I chuckle as her face heats up even more. "You''re an adventurer, however reluctantly, and that''s more than enough to put me off."


    "Aren''t you one too?" She ventures after a moment.


    "I am a member of the guild, but only because I have to be to work with monsters." I explain. "My family tames and sells slimes as cleaners. Alright, rest time is over, let''s get moving." I wrap the now cleanly dressed rabbit in its hide before stuffing it in a pouch on my bag meant for just such occasions.


    ...


    "Just how far do you plan to go?" Madison asks wearily, about an hour later.


    "Not much further." I pass her my canteen. "The mana flows are stronger in the area we''re about to reach. That means more slimes." I add when she looks confused. "I had planned to explore deeper into the woods today, but as long as I get my quota I''m good. I''ll even let you take the extras."


    "...thanks." Her voice is so soft that I barely even hear it.


    "Just keep on your toes." I point a wand towards the bush she''s about to plow through and tame the slime hiding in it before it attacks. "And, please consider getting a different job. I think your parents would rather you live, even if it means abandoning your brother to his fate."


    "..." She just ducks her head to hide behind her hair.


    ...


    "You''re over-extending." I critique Madison''s lousy sword form about half an hour later. The place was crawling with slimes, so I was able to capture all I needed easily. "Use tight attacks that keep the blade closer to your body. Those wild swings just leave you open to counterattacks." A barrier pops into existence just long enough to prevent the slime from hitting her.


    "Distracting me mid-fight is not helping." She''s only facing three slimes, so I don''t know what she''s complaining about.


    "I can fuck off and take my barrier with me if you prefer." I counter with a smirk. "And, you''d better hurry. More are coming."


    "Nnh." She whimpers and blocks a jumping slime with her shield before giving it a short but brutal chop with her sword. "Help!" She cries when she sees the other four hopping madly in her direction.


    "Promise you''ll quit this adventurer nonsense?" I ask as she slowly backs up towards me. "My twelve-year-old sister can handle twice this many without breaking a sweat. You''re not meant for this life and the sooner you realize that the longer you''ll live."


    "I have to!" She shouts back. "Ahh!" She screams as she once again gets attacked from behind by a slime she wasn''t looking out for. "Help!" She starts panicking again and turns to run at me.


    "Give me your sword." I don''t give her the option and just snatch it out of her hand. "Now, watch." Stalking forward, I wait for each slime to jump at me before side-stepping and cutting them in half with a single quick blow. "They can''t change their trajectory once they''re in the air, so all you need to do is dodge and cut, dodge and cut." It takes only seconds to wipe out all the monsters she was running scared from.


    "..." Her mouth just hangs open when I flick her sword clean and return it hilt first.


    "That should be enough cores to keep you and your brother from starving for another day or two." I say, still waiting for her to take the sword back. "Well, go collect them, I want to head home."


    "Th-thank you?" She sounds unsure of herself and nearly drops the sword after finally taking it from me.


    "Yeah, yeah." I wave her over to the cores shining in the forest litter. "Hurry up, and I''ll even take the easy path back to town."


    "You-you jerk!" She twirls on me. "There was an easy path?"


    "Easy, but longer." I reply with a smirk. "You were slowing me down enough as it is."


    "...hate you." She mutters the words just loudly enough for me to hear.


    "Hate me all you want." I send her my most winning smile. "You''d still better collect those cores before the next wave gets here." I point into the distance and she pales to see another half-dozen slimes rolling closer.


    ...

 # 004

    "What was that?" Madison stops dead in the middle of the road when a noise that should not be heard in the Slime Forest gets carried to us on the wind.


    "That was trouble. Stay behind me and watch our backs." I order and grab the communication crystal from my bag. "Dad! I think we might have a dungeon break! I just heard a wolf howl on the wind."


    "What? What''s happening?" Madison is freaking out and looking around at every sound while I wait for dad to get my message and send a reply. "What''s going on, Cole?"


    "Shit! You''re right." Dad''s voice issues from the crystal before I can tell her to calm down. "It looks to be between you and town, just turtle up and wait for me to get out there. I just need to inform the guild head first." A scream travels to us on the wind just then.


    "Mason!" Madison charges forward blindly when she hears her twin''s scream.


    "Fuck! No can do, Dad. Gotta rescue some idiots." I stuff the crystal back into my bag and start casting all the defensive spells and buffs I can on Madison and myself as I chase after her. "Fucking idiot girl, now you can run?"


    "You have to save him." She pleads while running pell-mell towards danger.


    "Give me your sword." I steal it from her again before she trips and stabs herself with it. "Do exactly what I tell you to, and you might live. And, just pray that it''s only wolves."


    "..." She blanches and opens her mouth before closing it with a nod and saving her energy for the run.


    "Down!" I push her out of the way with one hand and use the sword in my other to hack at the neck of the wolf that was leaping for hers. "Grasp!" The beast is already dead, but it can still hurt us before it bleeds out, so I make the earth snag its hind paw. "Get up! Move!" Lifting Madison from where she sprawled on the ground, I drag her forward towards where her brother''s screams are coming from.


    I have to hope that he doesn''t die before we get there, but the fact that his screams haven''t already been cut off fills me with dread.


    "Fuck!" It just had to be wargs, didn''t it? Wolves, even dire wolves, are easy enough to handle, but these fucks are smart, tough, and vicious. "Mother-fucking Lightning!" I hurl my strongest attack spell at the pair that are toying with Madison''s brother.


    "Mason!" She dives for him, not heeding the fact that my spell only killed one of them.


    "Idiot girl!" I shout and draw the surviving beast''s attention away from her just in time to save her life. "Sleet! Ice-Chains! Fucking Freeze!" My spells slow it just enough for me to get in range. Feinting with the sword, I stab my belt knife into its eye with a surprise lunge when it dodges to one side.


    "Cole, help." Mason passed out as soon as his sister got there, but he''s still breathing, so he can wait.


    "We''re safe, turtling now. Watch out for the wargs." I send a message off to Dad and then stab a very expensive piece of enchantment into the ground; the earth itself forms a dome around the three of us, swiftly transmuting itself into steel as soon as the device activates. "Let me see him. Scan! He''s just passed out." I drop to my knees a second later, the mana drain and adrenaline crash of the fight finally hitting me.


    "Cole!" I wince when her shout echoes off the dome.


    "I''m fine. Quit shouting." I hiss back at her. "Gods, did you think that anyone can just throw lightning around with impunity? That shit costs and that''s not even counting all the other spells I was tossing about." I shrug off my pack and lie down on my back, wishing that I kept some mana potions in there.


    "I''m sorry." She sniffs and starts blubbering. "I''m so sorry. Thank you for saving him, for saving me." I just nod and let her get it out of her system.


    "Just settle in, Madison." I hand her a handkerchief with a tired smile. "Dad and the Guild master will close the dungeon, but it''s going to take them a while."


    ...


    "Are you alright over there?" The idiot girl''s squirming woke me up from the light daze I was in about an hour later.


    "..." Her face flushes the deepest I''ve seen it yet.


    "You''re doing the pee-pee dance, aren''t you?" I sigh when she hides her face. "Just go over there, the slimes will take care of it." I roll away to give her as much privacy as I can in this tiny space. Only a few of the slimes I collected earlier got in here with us, but even a single one is enough to deal with that.


    "No peeking!" She hisses at me, making my eyes roll involuntarily. "And, cover your ears or something; I can''t go knowing that you''re listening."


    "For fucks sake." I huff, but plug my ears as she asked. "...are you done yet?" I ask a minute later.


    "Just wait until the slimes are done." I can hear the embarrassment in her voice even with my ears plugged.


    "It''s just pee." I shake my head, but wait until she gives the all-clear.


    "How much longer do you think it will be?" Maddie says in a quiet voice. "And, how did you know it was a dungeon?"


    "The mana around here is the wrong type and nowhere near dense enough to support wolf spawns." I sit up and face her. "A dungeon was just the most logical option. It must be a baby not to have been discovered by all the newbie adventurers that trample through the woods here. Too bad it went rogue already; that might have brought some real life to the town, maybe even get it a Gate installed."


    "How do you know all this?" She looks at me wonderingly. "I thought you were just a tamer, but you can throw around magic like a mage. And, you seem to know everything there is about adventuring. I mean, you''re not much older than me and mason, but you might as well be a full-blown adventurer."


    "I''ve been out in the field almost since I was old enough to walk." I explain. "Hells, I''ve been solo hunting since I was ten. And, Dad is a Magical Researcher. Think really brainy Wizard. I''d have to be almost as stupid as your brother not to have picked up a bit of magic by now."


    "I heard that." He grumbles and blinks the sleep out of his eyes.


    "Shut up Mason." She pulls him up into a bear hug. "Cole took on two wargs, single-handedly, to save your ass. If he wants to call you an idiot, then you''re an idiot, you idiot."


    "Alright, alright. Just let me go." He tries to push her off. "And, uh, thanks." He ducks his head just like his sister does when she''s embarrassed.


    "Thank your idiot sister, she''s the one who ran towards your scream." I sigh and lie back down to wait, using one of the slimes not on latrine duty as a pillow. "I''ve been telling her since she started following me earlier that you two were going to get yourselves killed, but that doesn''t mean that I could just stand by and watch it happen."


    "No more adventuring!" Madison smacks him over the head with each word. "We can''t even handle a few slimes, let alone real monsters. We''re done! Period!"


    "Y-yeah." He nods shakily. "I don''t even want to face a slime after that. Have you really been doing this on your own since you were ten?"


    "Yeah." I smile. "Mom and Dad weren''t happy about it, but Dad, for all his strengths, is a really shit tamer. So, when Mom had the twins, he tried taking me out to collect slimes, but I''d get frustrated at how slow he was and give him the slip."


    "Hehehe." Maddie giggles at that.


    "Eventually they decided I''d be fine, as long as I had a few trinkets like this, that is." I gesture to the dome around us. "He''s been working on this since then and the damned thing could probably stand up to a dragon by now, let alone a few wargs. Just wish he could get the communication crystal to work through it, I''d love to know how much longer we have to sit in here."


    "Uh, you''re not the only one." even his pee-pee dance is just like his sister''s.


    "Go over there; the slimes will take care of it." I point to where his sister went and then close my eyes.


    "No peeking." I crack up laughing then.


    ...


    *tap tap tap*


    "About fucking time!" I reach for the enchantment and switch it off. "What took you so damned long? It was just a few wargs." I start bitching at dad as soon as the dome sinks back into the earth, normal soil once again.


    "Hahahaha." The local Guild leader busts up laughing at that. "That''s what I tried to tell him, but he wanted to do it by the numbers, and then spent half an age examining the rogue''s core."


    "Should''ve fucking known." I huff and shrug into my bag. "You''re lucky I caught that rabbit earlier; these two didn''t have any rations on them, and listening to their stomachs rumble almost had me dropping the damned shield."


    "Oh?" He perks up. "How''d the air filter work? I didn''t smell anything when it opened."


    "It''s fine." I roll my eyes and pull out the crystal to contact Mom. "Hey, Dad finally got off his ass to let me out of the bubble. I''m fine and we''ll be home in a bit."


    "Uh... knew I was forgetting something." He gets a sheepish look and then starts blushing when Mom''s reply comes in.


    "I''m glad you''re okay, sweetie. And, Gerald, I''m going to kick your ass for taking so long when you get home. I just know you were screwing around with the damned dungeon core instead of letting Cole know it was safe."


    "I''m going home." I announce. "You two, stay out of the fucking woods." I start for home without waiting for a reply. I know they already said they would, but they''re both idiots.


    "Eeek!" Mason squeaks when a few dozen slimes crawl out of their hidey-holes to follow me.


    "Seriously, boy?" The Guild master starts laughing. "I think he''s right about you two finding a safer way to spend your time."


    ...

 # 005

    "Cole!" Mom tackles me as soon as I get home. "Are you alright? You didn''t get hurt did you?"


    "I''m fine, Mom." I try not to sigh, and just let her have her way. I know she will anyway. "Annoyed at spending half the day in bubble with a couple of idiots, even more so at having to waste a perfectly good rabbit on them."


    "Ooh, did you keep the fur?" Katie gets excited, she loves rabbit fur.


    "Yeah, it''s in my bag." I hand the whole thing to her. "Now, I''m going to go soak in the tub until dinner. I haven''t thrown that much magic around in... ever."


    "What did you use?" Jen starts following me to the bath, the others following in her wake. "Mom and Dad didn''t tell us anything except that there was a rogue dungeon and you had to save some people."


    "It was fucking wargs." They all gasp at that, though Mom only because of my language. "Sorry for the language, Mom. Blame the mana drain, or the idiot twins. I''m not sure which one gave me the bigger headache."


    "It was that girl again?" Jen''s eyes widen.


    "Dish about the girl later." Kaitlyn cuts in. "I want to hear about the fight, there was a fight, yeah?"


    "Yeah." I nod and start heating up the bath. "Two wargs and a wolf on the way there. The wolf was easy enough; slash to the throat and earth grasp until it bled out. But, I had to go all out for the wargs who were toying with idiot boy, aka Mason."


    "Just tell us how it went down." My middle sister demands.


    "Heh, fine." I chuckle at my impatient little sister. "Like I said, I hit them with everything I had. A lightning bolt took out the first, but the second dodged in time, so I had to get up close and personal. I''d already stack on all the buffs and defensive spells I could, but it was still faster than me. It took a trio of ice spells just to slow it down enough for a fair fight. Not that I fought fair. I feinted with my sword and caught it right in the eye with my belt knife when it jumped to the side. Two wargs down in just a few seconds."


    "No way!" Katie cries foul. "You didn''t even take your swords."


    "No, but idiot girl, aka Madison, did. I just borrowed hers." I say with a laugh. "She''s the reason I was even there instead of exploring the backwoods like I wanted to. I ran into her earlier in the day and she latched onto me after getting spooked by her own shadow. The girl may be stupid, but she cares about her brother. She took off running for him as soon as she heard him scream."


    "I still don''t believe you." She sticks her tongue out at me. "I bet you just hid in the bubble."


    "No, but I should have." I state and bop her on the nose. "I can only blame contact stupidity for rushing in like that. But, why don''t you ask Dad, he saw the dead wargs outside the bubble."


    "Brought them home too." He announces, making the girls jump. "Your knife is still stuck in the one too, but you can get it yourself if you want it back."


    "No way!" Katie rushes past him to go check out my kills.


    "Did you really drag it all the way home, just so you wouldn''t have to pull my knife out yourself?" I scoff, and then start laughing when he gets a sheepish look on his face. "Oh, Dad. Alright, you guys had your story. Now can everyone get out and let me take a bath now?"


    "Oh, sorry." Jen blushes after realizing that I''ve been waiting for them to leave so I can strip.


    "Come on girls, you can listen to me yell at your father for taking so long." The twins and Jen laugh at the face he pulls. "And, Cole... Good job today. But, if you ever pull another stunt like that, you''ll wish you only had to deal with what your father is about to."


    "Yes, Mom." I smile and sink into the bath after they all leave, only getting out when she comes back to tell me dinner is ready.


    ...


    "Damn it." I mutter to myself later that night. "Why can''t I get that idiot girl out of my head."


    I keep thinking about her pulling down her pants just feet from me. And, even though I still don''t like her, my damned dick doesn''t seem to care about that.


    "Dammit, you idiot girl." I groan and grab Lefty and Righty. "I should make you pay for all the trouble you put me through today."


    Sliding my dick in between the slimes, I keep thinking about her today. The way she looked when out of breath from chasing after me. Her ass in those tight pants. The way her breasts would still jiggle despite the banding she was wearing.


    "Oh, fuck yes, Madison!" That look of supreme gratitude on her cute face after I saved her and her brother fills my mind as the climax blasts out of me. "Oh, why does such an idiot have to be so cute." I sigh out and lay my head back to rest.


    I even dreamt about the idiot that night, that she snuck into my room to have her way with me. I woke up feeling drained the next morning, but if I came during the night my slimes must have taken care of it.


    ...


    "You''re taking Jen and Katie with you today." Mom states as soon as I sit down for breakfast. "I know that you''re still drained from using that much mana in one go yesterday, and I want you to take it easy."


    "You actually got Jennifer to agree to this?" My sister smacks me for that. "Oh, fine. I guess I don''t mind the runt." Another smack, this time from Kaitlyn. "But, I don''t know what I need a bodyguard for, we both know that dad scoured the woods for any more wolves. There''s nothing more dangerous than a slime out there now."


    "Just humor your poor mother, please." She gives me ''the'' look. That one that all mothers know how to use. "Good boy." She smiles when I give in to the inevitable and just nod.


    "Katie, you''re in charge of Jen today, try to keep her from slowing us down too much." Kaitlyn grins at my words.


    "Mom!" Jen whines.


    "Listen to your little sister today, Jen." Mom backs me up. "She''s been in the field more often than you have, and you only have yourself to blame for that. And, Katie." Mom brings out her warning tone of voice. "Don''t push it, or you''ll have to face a day of having to listen to the twins."


    "..." Katie gulps at the thought of that.


    ...


    "No way! No fucking way!" I breathe out, barely audible, but my words are enough to alert Jenny and Kaitlyn. "Oh... no, nonono. We have to back off. Dammit!"


    "What? What is it?" Katie tries to peek around me, but I give her the hand sign to stop. She knows that if I''m using the adventurers'' signals that I mean business.


    "It''s a queen." They both give out the tiniest of gasps at that. "We are going to back the fuck away and then message Dad, so he can warn the idiots at the guild that one is this close to town."


    "What?! No, we can take it!" Katie hisses emphatically. "You know how rare queens are, if we let this one go, we''ll never see another."


    "No!" I state emphatically. "Not with you here, not with me at half strength. Not going to happen. Period!"


    "He''s right, Katie." Jen backs me up. "Cole and I might be fine, but you''re as bad at magic as Mom and nowhere near tough enough take a queen in melee."


    "No! That''s bullshit. Don''t put this on me." Katie starts raising her voice until I clamp my hand over her mouth.


    "Enough! We''re leaving." I don''t give her any option, and pick her up under one arm to carry away before the Slime notices us.


    *Snap* My face pales when Jen steps on a dry branch.


    "Fuck! Katie, run! Jen hit it with every stun spell you''ve got!"


    "STUN!" The very air reverberates with the power of my sister''s, and even then it''s barely enough to make the slime flinch. "Slow! Bind! Grasp! Gods damn, what is this thing made of? Fucking STOP!!!"


    "Oh, this is going to fucking suck!" Jennifer''s overcast Stop spell gave me the opening I needed, and I take it.


    I''ve been sprinting towards the slime since Jenny cast her first spell. So, now I''m close enough to dive for the slime and shove my arm in up to the elbow. Ignoring the burn as it tries to digest me; I close my hand around its core.


    "Fight all you want, Girl. You are MINE!" All slime have the same weakness, if you can get to their core, they don''t stand a chance.


    Magic flows out of me and into the monster, binding it to me. This is the highest tier taming spell I know, and even with its core in my palm, it is just barely enough to bring the beast under my control.


    "Yes! Hahahahah." My triumphant laughter rings out through the woods. "I fucking got you. Also, fucking Ow!"


    "Oh, gods!" Jenny cries out when she sees my raw, bleeding arm when I pull it out of the now docile slime. "Cole, your arm."


    "I''ll be fine." I wave her off with my good arm. "But, we are having a serious talk about your gods damned bushcraft... right after you help me put the healing salve on. And, Katie!" She jumps in place when I direct my fury at her. "When I tell you to fucking run. You fucking RUN!!!"


    "Eeek!" She runs behind a tree. "I''m sorry, Cole!"


    "No! You''re fucking lucky is what you are." I hiss when Jen starts applying the salve. "If Jen hadn''t been able to stun it my only option was to hit it with lightning point-blank, so it couldn''t dodge. Easy, Queenie, I''m not going to hurt you; I''m just mad at my idiot sister." I soothe my new pet when it starts quivering at the anger leaking over the bond.


    Where the average slime is no bigger than a grapefruit, my new queen is the size of a large pumpkin. She like all slimes are resistant to magic because that''s what they eat; everything that they absorb gets turned directly into mana to feed them. It''s just that the small ones have so little mass that it''s easy enough to overpower them.


    "I''m sorry, Cole." My little sister walks out from behind the tree, her features painted with utter dejection. "I swear I''ll listen to you from now on."


    "No, you''ll be listening to the twins, for a week straight." I think Mom''s threat from this morning the perfect punishment. "You will do everything they say, without complaint, or I will never take you out with me again."


    "Cole?!?" She looks at me with shock in her eyes. "...okay. Just please don''t be mad anymore."


    "Oh, I''m not really mad, you dummy." I motion her over and pull her into a hug with my good arm. "I''m scared for you, and for me. If I had to go with my plan b and it failed, then I would have been lucky not to collapse on the spot. Jen would likely be able to drive it away, but I''d have been lucky to get off this lightly."


    My right arm, up to the elbow is missing several layers of skin right now. Only the palm was spared somewhat because it was wrapped around the core, but even it looks raw and pink.


    "I''m sorry." She sniffles while staring at the red mess of my arm.


    "You can make it up to me by teaching Jen how to walk in the damned woods on our way home." A snort of a laugh escapes from her nose just then, along with a bubble of snot.


    "..." Jen just pouts, knowing that this whole ordeal was her fault.


    ...

 # 006

    "Hey, Mom. We''ve got a surprise for you." I say while hiding my damaged limb as much as possible. She''s going to freak when she sees it, either way, but this way she''ll have something to be excited about while worrying over me.


    "Oh? Did you find another rabbit in the woods?" She looks up at me from the couch where she''s reading to the twins. "I''ve been craving it since you mentioned that one you caught yesterday."


    "Sorry, no." I shake my head, but my smile grow. "I''ll keep an eye out next time. I''ve got something much better than some rabbit though. Queenie, come." The slime bounces forward and Mom''s eyes go wide when she realizes what it is.


    "No!!!" Mom looks like she wants to jump forward and examine the slime, but between the twins and her belly, she has trouble just sitting up. "How did you catch her? I swear the damned things can smell tamers. I''d only ever seen a couple and they each bolted as soon as I got close."


    "That''s all thanks to my magical prodigy of a sister." I pull Jen forward and put my good arm around her shoulders. "And, it was not easy." I sigh out and turn so that Mom can see my raw arm. "Had to use that old trick you showed me, and even then she almost slipped free of my strongest spell."


    Back when she first started taking me out into the field, I just could not get the damned taming spell to work. So, she told me to just shove my hand in there and pump it directly into the core. That was how I caught my first slime, and now Queenie.


    "Cole!" Mom shouts and forgets all about the slime.


    "I''m fine." I try to reassure her. "But, we might need some more salve soon. And, that kinda hurts." I add when she gets a bit rough while checking my arm over.


    "..." Mom just glares at me, but I can hear the oaths she''d be shouting if Katie and the twins weren''t here.


    "It''s not his fault." Jenny speaks up for me. "I... I stepped on a branch when he tried to get us away from her."


    "He was so cool, Mom." Katie tries kissing up. "Cole told me and Jen just what to do and then charged straight at it ready to fry it with lightning."


    "And?" I say while staring directly at her.


    "And..." She gulps. "I didn''t listen. He told me to run but I just stood there and watched."


    "And, as punishment, she''s going to listen to everything Esra and Sera have to say for the next week." Mom''s glare turns into a smirk upon hearing that.


    "Yes, that should just about do it." Mom smiles at the twins and the identical looks of glee coating their faces right now. "But, right now you can help Jen hitch up a wagon; I want a healer to look at Coles arm."


    "Oh, Mom." I sigh, but go along with her overprotectiveness. "So, where''s Dad? I know he''s going to flip when he sees Queenie."


    "Is that really what you''re calling her?" Mom shakes her head at my abysmal naming sense. "We have a whole book on names in the library, it even has a section devoted to names connected with royalty."


    "I almost went with Princess because I can tell through the bond that she just spawned." I tease back.


    Whatever." She sighs at my stupid grin. "And, your father is in town hiring a wagon driver since we''re going to need one sooner or later. And, he wants to take them along when he leaves tomorrow in order to make sure they''ll work out. I''ll have him meet us at the healer."


    ...


    "Oh, she''s beautiful." Dad was waiting outside the healer''s and went straight to Queenie. "I''ve never seen one before, what can you tell me about her?"


    "She''s smart, smarter than a wolf at least. She likes praise." I chuckle when the slime wiggles in joy when I compliment her. "And, I think she just spawned a couple of days ago. I haven''t really had the chance to get more in-depth than that."


    "Oh, why do I have to leave tomorrow?" Dad laments the fact that it will be weeks before he can sit down and research her properly.


    "You can look her over tonight." Mom says and starts dragging me into the healer''s. "In case you forgot, Cole is missing a layer of skin right now."


    Dad and I roll our eyes in sync and the lot of us head inside.


    "Hello, how can... Oh, my goodness, what a cute slime." The healer''s apprentice, a blonde girl who looks maybe a year younger than me, starts cooing at Queenie as soon as she sees her. "Where did you get it? I''ve never seen one so big."


    "Maria!" The healer herself snaps from behind the girl. "If you would use your eyes, I think it would be clear where he got it from." The girl, Maria, blushes when I wave at her with my red arm.


    "I needed to protect my sisters, so I had to get a little creative with the taming." I explain with a smile for the blushing girl before turning to the healer. "I''m fine, and we already put on a healthy dose of some high-end healing salve."


    "I''ll be the judge of that." She purses her lips and motions me into the back.


    ...


    "Oh, man." I sigh in relief after getting out of there. "It''s like the girl had never seen someone with a slime burn before. And, why is it every time I go to a healer I always end up getting stuck as a practice patient for their apprentices?"


    "I''m just glad we stocked up on salve before the move." Dad replies with a laugh. "Did you see what she was charging? I hadn''t thought about shipping stuff back into town, but with those kinds of mark-ups, it might just be worth the extra few days it''ll add to the trip."


    "I''m pretty sure she raised the price just for us." Mom says. "But, you''re right, that''s not a bad idea. I''ll ask around town while you''re away to see what''s in demand, maybe make a deal with the general store."


    ...


    "Can I sleep with you tonight, Cole?" Katie asks for the first time in years; today really must have messed her up.


    "If you promise not to fidget all night." I relent with a smile. "And, if you bump my arm in the middle of the night, I swear I''ll toss you on the floor." The thing is all bandaged up and, thanks to the salve''s numbing properties, I don''t feel anything, but I''m sure that will change if it gets smacked.


    "I promise." She replies meekly.


    ...


    I blink my eyes open the next morning to find Katie sprawled all over my left side. She was woken up by nightmares a few times last night, and each time she could only get back to sleep by clinging to me as I stroked her hair.


    "Come on, runt, it''s time for breakfast." That word snaps her awake. "There you are. Come on, let''s go eat." She clings to my side the whole way to the kitchen.


    "About time you two got up." Mom says when we enter the kitchen. "The food was going to get cold if you took any longer."


    "Sorry, Mom." I sit down with Katie right next to me. "This one had a few nightmares that woke us both up last night." I tousle her hair with my left hand.


    "She''s not the only one." A raccoon-eyed Jen yawns. "I almost snuck down to join you two last night just so I could see that your arm was okay."


    "You can tonight if you need to." I can''t help but offer because of how pitiful she looks right now. "Now, why didn''t I use my left hand on Queenie?" I ask while trying to eat with just my off hand.


    "Hah." Mom barks out a laugh. "You can dual wield swords, but you can''t use a spoon with your left hand?"


    "Those are two entirely different skills." I huff back and then snap my head to the side when someone knocks at the front door.


    "That must be the driver I hired." Dad says and stands up. "They''re early, that''s a good sign." He walks out front to answer the door, only to return a Moment later. "Looks like I was wrong, it''s for you, Cole." He stands aside to reveal the healer''s apprentice from yesterday along with another girl her age, this one with long, wavy, dark hair.


    "Hi, I thought you''d need help with the bandage, and my friend Selene and I both have the day off." She says that, but her eyes are locked onto Queenie.


    "Where have you been hiding?" Her friend locks onto Jen instead. "There are so few girls our age around here, why haven''t I seen you in town?"


    "We''ve made a couple of trips in." I offer when Jenny clams up. "But, Jen prefers to spend most of her time in the library."


    "You have your own library?" The girl''s eyes light up even more. "And, your name is Jen? Is that short for Jennifer? That''s such a cute name." Mom and I smile at Jenny''s reaction to the exuberant girl.


    "Oh, that must be him." Dad says when another knock comes from the door. "Cole, don''t forget that list of tests I want run on Queenie. Maybe Maria here can help you with some of them." He adds with a smirk, having obviously noticed her interest in the slime.


    "Can I finish breakfast first?" I heave out an exasperated sigh. His list is about a mile long, and mostly just the same thing with minor variations. He just waves and head out front again.


    "Oh, not that guy again." Maria grumbles when she hears idiot boy''s voice filtering back from the front. "Don''t tell me he followed us here."


    "You girls know Mason?" I ask and then laugh when I realize how they must know him. "You must be the ones his sister said he was chasing after. What is he doing here?"


    "Your father felt bad for him." Mom answers. "He got the whole story from those two and decided to give him a job before the poor boy got himself killed."


    "Well, you girls are in luck then." I laugh again. "He''s going to be gone for weeks, driving the slimes to the city. Alright, let me go get changed, then you can change my bandage and play with Queenie all you want. Jen, why don''t you show them the Library, I''ll meet you there in a bit." She glares at me for an instant, but nods anyway.


    "Can I come too?" Katie asks.


    "I suppose that''s up to the twins." I grin when she remembers her punishment.


    ...

 # 007

    "Hey, Jen, can you help me with these buttons?" I walk into the library with my shirt undone and the replacement bandages in one hand. "I forgot I needed Katie''s help just to get my pajamas buttoned last night." All three girls stare at my bare front and start blushing.


    "Seriously, Cole?" Jen huffs and rushes over to help me cover up, spinning me away from our guests in the process.


    "Blame Mom." I roll my eyes. "She was too busy laughing at the twins tormenting Kaitlyn to help."


    "I think she knew exactly what she was doing sending you in here like that." Jen breathes back. "That woman is pregnant herself but I swear she already wants grandchildren." I start laughing at that.


    "Now that I''m decent." I turn around to face our guests only see them blush again at my words. "Shall we get this bandage replaced so we can focus on Queenie?" The slime bobs up and down when I say her name.


    "Oh, yes." Maria jumps when I bring up her purported reason for the visit. "Sit here and I''ll take care of it." She blushes again when I raise an eyebrow at her ambiguous phrasing. "The bandages." I just smirk when she sees the need to add that, but her friend starts cracking up.


    "Yes, the bandages." I nod and sit down, placing the salve and replacement wrapping in front of her. "What else is there for you to take care of?" Maria looks like she''s about to burst into flames and Selene is now laughing so hard that she can''t breathe.


    "Would you just let her treat your arm already?" Jen huffs. "I want to play with Queenie."


    The healer finally gets herself under enough control to work on my arm. It''s still red, but looks a lot better than before, that salve is worth every silver.


    "Uhm." Maria sounds afraid to even speak now. "We need to wash this off before applying fresh ointment."


    "No problem." I hold my towards the slime. "Queenie, Clean." All three of them pale when engulfs my arm with a slurping sound. "Thanks, girl." She wiggles in pleasure at the praise I sent over the bond.


    "I hate you, Cole." Jenny''s voice comes out a little shaky.


    "Sorry, Jen." I duck my head. "But, you know that she can''t hurt me now. And, I know the arm still looks bad, but the salve is doing its job."


    "It really is." Maria nods but then frowns. "It''s doing better than what it should be, actually. We use the same stuff, or at least I thought we did, but now I''m wondering if it''s not being swapped for something else before it reaches us."


    "Dad was thinking about importing some stuff from the city." I state. "You may want to bring this matter up with your master and have her talk to Mom. I can guarantee that she''ll get better prices and undoctored goods through him." She just nods and finishes wrapping up my arm with a fierce look on her face.


    "Jenny, Cole!" Mom shouts from downstairs. "Your father is about to leave, come see him off."


    "Coming!" I call back. "You girls can stay here to hide from Mason; we''ll be back in a Moment."


    ...


    Is the pest really gone? Selene asks when we return a few minutes later.


    "Yes, idiot boy went bye-bye." I reply with a laugh. "And, if he doesn''t fuck up too badly, he''ll be on the road more often than not from here on."


    "Not as good as him leaving for good." She sighs. "But, it''s better than nothing."


    "Oh, forget about him." Maria waves all though of the pest away. "I want to play with this cutie." She places her hands on either side of Queenie and makes her jiggle. "What kind of training or tests do you have to do with her."


    "Oh, dad gave me a huge list." I can''t help but roll my eyes at all the stuff he wants me to do. "But, I''m going to focus on her shapeshifting and spoken commands today. She can already recognize her name, so I''m hoping I can get her to follow simple commands. Maybe even commands from other people." Her eyes light up at that.


    "Really? Oh, I always wanted to be a tamer." She leans forward and hugs the slime. "I didn''t want to fight or anything, just collect all the cutest monsters as pets. But, all my aptitude is for healing magic instead."


    "Well, the world always needs more healers." I smile at her and get up to go collect one of the loose wands sitting near the door. "Why is it in my room? Why do they always find their way in there?" I ask the air while calling the slime connected to the wand over.


    "They like you." Jenny laughs. "And, get one for Selene too; no fair to only give one of them a present."


    "Really?" Their eyes go wide. "You''re giving them to us?"


    "Yeah, the wands don''t cost much to make." I set them in front of the girls. "No one will notice if two go missing and if they do, I''ll just say that the twins broke them. Wouldn''t be the first time."


    "What does happen when a wand breaks?" Maria asks while marveling over the trinket.


    "Same thing as when a tamer dies." No one wants a bunch of monsters to go out of control when their owner dies, so all of them die with him. "Can''t have people getting hurt just because they sat on their wand. And, yes, that happens more often than you''d think."


    "Hehehehe." She starts giggling until the slimes hop into the room, then her entire focus is devoted to them.


    "Up on the table, guys." I order and they hop up next to their new owners.


    "But, you weren''t touching the wand." Selene says while Maria is already squishing her new pet to her chest.


    "You don''t need to." Jenny answers and points her finger at Selene''s slime, making it follow the motion of her finger around the table. "All you have to do to use any magical focus is encompass it with your aura, and we''ve both trained in aura control since forever ago.


    "I could''ve controlled the wands from where they were." I add. "I only got up so I could give them to you. Though, I suppose that one rightfully comes from Jenny." Both Selene and Jen blush when I say that last bit.


    "How do I make it do stuff?" Maria tries waving her wand about to no effect.


    "Just send your magic into the wand." I instruct. "Now, close your eyes and you should have a vague feeling of connection." I pick up her slime and move it about, smiling as her head tracks it. "That''s it. Now open your eyes and send a clear thought through that connection. a clear thought that isn''t to jump on my head." They start giggling as I sit there with a new hat.


    "It''s best to stick with simple stuff like go here, clean this, stuff like that." Jenny adds. "And, don''t worry about them hurting anyone, either. Dad built a section into his spell that prevents them from harming anything with an aura."


    "But, we recommend that you practice their cleaning on stuff you don''t care about." I say before they accidentally melt something. "The store has a little training area just for this, but you''ll have to improvise. Just focus on getting rid of the grime while leaving everything else and you should be fine."


    "Yeah." Jen nods. "These guys should already know what stuff not to eat, so it should be pretty easy for you."


    "Thank you so much." Maria pulls me into a quick hug before blushing furiously.


    "You''re welcome." I grin back at her. "Now, how about we get started on Queenie''s training? Queenie, sphere." I start with the simplest shape she could take, and find that I have a little work ahead of me.


    "Well, she''s almost round." Maria offers encouragingly.


    "Queenie, Sphere!" I push the very concept of roundness down the bond to her, and it works. for a Moment. "Alright, you can do it, you just need to practice. Queenie, Sphere! Good Girl." She lasted that much longer this time and quivers in joy at the praise sent her way.


    ...


    "Queenie, tree... that is not what a tree looks like." Maria says with a funny smile a bit later.


    Queenie''s transformation skills proved to be damned impressive, within limits. Hard edges are nearly impossible, and the more she has to stretch out the worse her control gets. And, anything with a lot of small details tends to turn out poorly, but the biggest problem is with my visualizations.


    "That''s my fault." I admit. "When you said tree I couldn''t pick just one and the image got muddled. We should probably take a break though; both Queenie and I are starting to get tired. And, from the smell coming up the stairs, it''s almost lunchtime anyways."


    "Yeah, now we just need to peel those two away from their book." Maria smiles at the cute couple of bookworms.


    Selene picked out one of Jen''s favorite books, so she decided to read it with her. Right now, they''re sitting pressed against each other, while sharing the same book.


    "Easy enough." I smirk and then speak up for my sister''s benefit. "Is that paper tearing? I hope the twins didn''t get in here again."


    "No!" She slams the book closed and jumps up off the couch.


    ""Heheheheh."" Maria and I break into giggles at the looks on their faces right now.


    "Dammit, Cole!" Jen almost hit me with the book before thinking better of it and just using her fist. "That is not funny!"


    "Cole, quit tormenting your sister and come down for lunch!" Mom shouts up the stairs.


    ...


    "Hey, Mom." I speak up as soon as we reach the kitchen. "Maria thinks that the salve they''ve been buying might not be the real thing."


    "No? Damned shady merchants." Mom shakes her head. "I''m guessing you already told her about our idea for a side business." I nod.


    "Uh." Selene interjects. "If we could borrow some of yours then my master should be able to compare the two."


    "You''re an alchemist?" Jen perks up, she loves all that nerdy stuff.


    "Yeah, I was actually really lucky that my master took me on." She admits. "This was supposed to be something of a retirement posting for her. She mostly just collects the slime cores from the adventurers and passes them on to the guild. And, I can say that they will not be happy if someone has been messing with their product."


    "Of course." Mom nods right away. "You can take what is left of the jar Cole has been using, we still have plenty more."


    ...


    After lunch, the two bookworms went back to their book while Maria and I played with Queenie. No strenuous tests this time, just goofing around while chatting about nothing to get to know each other.


    "Are you girls staying for dinner?" Mom walks into the library just when the sky starts to change colors. "I''m used to cooking for a horde, so two more mouths is no trouble."


    "It''s that late already?" Selene comes out of the book with a start. "Oh, thank you for the offer, but my Master will be waiting for me."


    "Yeah, mine too." Maria nods.


    "Alright." Mom smiles at them. "You''re welcome to come back again any time. Oh, and don''t forget that salve or the slimes that Cole and Jenny gave you." She laughs at the guilty looks that cross all of our faces.


    "Mom. You could at least pretend not to notice." I grump.


    "Hard not to when they made a bee-line right past me earlier." She laughs again. "Don''t worry, I don''t mind. And, it''s not like we''re going to run out of them."


    "Th-thank you, Ma''am." - "Thanks." The girls bob their heads at Mom.


    ...

 # 008

    "So, you four seemed to get along pretty well today." Mom waited until we were eating to broach this subject, likely so we wouldn''t just walk away.


    "Yeah, Maria seems nice enough." I shrug. The two of us only just met, so it''s hard to say whether I really like her or if I''m just interested because she''s a reasonably attractive girl. "But, Jen and Selene seemed to hit it off; all snuggled up together with the same book all day."


    "Quit teasing your sister, Cole." Mom rolls her eyes at me but has a smile for the blush on Jen''s cheeks.


    "Sorry, Jen." I respond perfunctorily. "I''m just a little surprised that you like girls, and maybe a little jealous that you got the cute one." She blushes even deeper at that.


    "Cole!" Mom warns. "And, you can like or not like whomever you want to, Jennifer."


    "So, are you spending the night with me again, Runt?" I say to change the subject, and because Kaitlyn still looks pretty down.


    "No!" Sera cries. "We were going to stay in her room tonight."


    "Yeah." Esra huffs. "She still has to do everything we say."


    "Well, sorry, girls." I reach across the table to ruffle their hair. "But, I''m invoking my big brother powers to steal her away." They shoot me identical glares while Katie looks at me like I''m her savior.


    "C-can I come too?" Jen asks in a quiet voice.


    "I already said that you could this morning." I lean over to give her a side-hug.


    "Well, I''m stealing these two for myself." Mom laughs and puts her arms around the twins.


    ""Yay!"" They both shout in joy for getting to have a sleepover with Mom.


    ...


    "You have another nightmare, Katie?" I ask the next morning when her groans drag me from my slumber.


    "Nnh, no." She sounds miserable. "Don''t look." She puts a hand over my eyes when I try to lean up and get a look at her. "Just call the slimes in to clean up the bed, alright."


    "Uh? Oh! Alright." I nod even though she''s pressing my head down with her whole body weight. "Queenie, clean please."


    "I''m -nng- so sorry, Cole." I can hear the embarrassment in her voice. "I thought I was just -ow, damned cramps- feeling bad because of what happened."


    "Don''t worry about it, Kaitlyn." The noise or Queenie crawling all over us must have woken Jen. "It took me forever to get used to them too. And, here. Warmth! Sooth!" Katie moans when Jen attacks the cramps directly with magic.


    "Gods, I should practice magic some more." Kaitlyn finally takes her hands from my eyes. "Thank you, and I''m sorry again."


    "It''s just a little blood, no big deal." I ruffle her hair. "Queenie didn''t get too intrusive, did she? I haven''t trained her on how to give baths yet."


    "Hah!" She barks out a laugh. "No, but I wouldn''t have minded if she had, I''d shove a damned slime in there for the next few days if I could."


    "Kaitlyn!" Jen sounds shocked.


    "Oh, like you haven''t thought of it." Our younger sister just rolls her eyes making me laugh. "Even if the slimes can clean the pads up, they''re still gross."


    "Sorry, little sister." I choke out a laugh for the look on Jen''s face right now. "But, you''re going to have to catch your own queen if you want that level of cleaning."


    "Whatever." She pushes me back down and climbs over me to get out of bed. "Just wait and I''ll find a way to catch one without melting half my arm off." She stomps off towards the main house.


    "That girl." Jen sighs and flops back down. "Ugh. The sky is just barely starting to lighten up too. How''s your arm feeling?"


    "It''s better." I reply. "But, how are you? I know I heard some groans from your end of the bed last night. Did you have more nightmares too?" I roll over and stretch out to lay my hand on her belly. "See, my arm is fine."


    "Mhm." She covers my hand with hers.


    "Silly sister." I start tickling her stomach. "Come on, how about we make breakfast for Mom, for once?"


    "Nnh. Can you just hold me for a bit instead?" Her cheeks flame at that.


    "Of course." She''s always been bad at asking for help when she needs it, so I''m not going to turn her down when she''s feeling bad.


    "Thank you." I swear she''s about to tear up when I make her my little spoon, and I can feel her heart racing as she holds my injured hand gently to her chest. "I''m sorry for being such a horrible sister."


    "Don''t say stuff like that." I hug her as tightly as I can without hurting myself. "I only went for such a crazy plan because I knew I had the bestest sister in the world keeping me safe." Leaning over her, I kiss her on the cheek when she does start crying. "It''s alright, Jenny, just let it all out."


    "I love you, Cole." She clutches my hand tightly enough to hurt but I just let her cry herself out without saying anything. "I''m sorry you got hurt because of me."


    ...


    "Took you two long enough." Mom says when we finally drag our butts in for breakfast.


    "Jen decided to be lazy and hold my hand hostage." She''s still holding onto it now, as if to reassure herself that it''s still there. "Any chance I could have that back now? I think I can manage some cutlery with it now."


    "Nnh." She grumbles and sits down without letting go.


    "Well, I think that answers that." Mom laughs.


    "Whatever." I roll my eyes. "Is it alright if we head into the forest today? I want to see if Queenie really can control wild slimes like the books say."


    "If it''s just for that, then we can all go." She says after thinking about it for a second. "I have to say I''m interested in seeing what she can do myself. Even if it means shepherding the twins around."


    ""Yay!"" Their identical shouts of joy make me smile.


    "You''re just hoping that we''ll spot another one, aren''t you." I tease, and the look Mom gets tells me that I''m right on the mark. "Well, you can stick your arm in that one. Just make sure to be smarter than me and use your off hand."


    ...


    "I can get dressed on my own, Jen." I laugh when she blushes after trying to follow me back to my room. "I promise you can hold your big brother''s hand all day after that."


    "Shut up." She grumbles. "I''m still tired."


    "Uh-huh." I pull her into a hug and kiss her on the forehead. "It''s not your fault, Jennifer. I''m the one who chose to do what I did, and I likely would have done the same if you two weren''t there. I''ve wanted a Queen for as long as I''ve known about them."


    "Nng." She just grumbles, so I kiss her again and escape before she can take my hand once more. "Butthead brother." Her words trail me out of the house.


    ...


    "What are you doing here?" I''m surprised to see idiot girl waiting outside the gate and it shows in my voice. "And, why are you still dressed like an adventurer?"


    "What happened to your arm?" Her eyes fill with worry at the sight of the bright, freshly-reapplied wrappings.


    "Stuck my arm in a slime." I reply like it''s an everyday occurrence. "Now, answer my question. I thought you actually listened to me when I told you that you weren''t suited for that life."


    "Maybe you should introduce your friend before interrogating her, Cole." Mom says from right next to me.


    "Sorry. Mom, this is... Madison, the one I was stuck in the bubble with." I catch myself just before calling her idiot girl. "Maddie, you already met the girls, but this is my Mom, Caroline, and my sisters, Jennifer, Kaitlyn, Sera, and Esra. Now, talk."


    "Nice to meet you, Ma''am." She bobs her head at Mom. "And, it''s not like I want to." A tired sigh escapes from Madison''s lips. "I''ve looked all around town these past two days and absolutely no one is hiring. Mason left me what money we have, but it won''t last until he gets back."


    "And, you were hoping I''d help you out again." I look to the heavens with a sigh, only to get smacked on the head by Mom.


    "We''d be happy to help you get a few cores, dear." Mom says with a smile. I think Jen was right, and she really does want those grandbabies. "We were all just going to head in and test out Cole''s new pet."


    "This is Queenie, the one I stuck my arm in." Madison blanches when the over-sized slime hops out from behind us. "Don''t worry, she''s perfectly safe now. We''re all going to see if the stories about queens controlling normal slimes are true."


    "I didn''t even know there were queen slimes." Her face falls at realizing yet again just how ill-suited she is to being an adventurer.


    "What about kings?" Katie asks. "You''ve heard of them, at least?" My little sister and I share a look when idiot girl just gives a tiny shake of her head.


    "You know, with the new baby on the way..." Mom is not doing what I think she''s doing. "...I could probably use a little help around the house." She is, she''s taking pity on this poor, useless, idiot girl and offering her a job. "The slimes keep everything clean, but that doesn''t do anything for the messes, and tidying up after these monsters is enough hassle when I''m not pregnant."


    "Th-thank you." Madison looks like she''s going to break down right then and there.


    "No good deed goes unpunished." Mom glares at me and Jen when she starts giggling at my breathed words. "Well, come on. You''re already dressed for it; you might as well join us." I doubt she''ll slow us down much more than the twins will.


    ...


    "Eek!" Idiot girl screams when I use her to practice Queenie''s control of the lesser slimes.


    "Hmm, it looks like she can tell them where to go and what to attack." I comment while Madison is fighting like her life is on the line against a lone slime while several others bounce around her in a wide circle. "Just keeping them all from attacking at once is about the limit to what she can do though. But, they can be drawn them in from a fair distance which will make my job a lot easier."


    "Gods, she''s even worse than I thought." Mom sighs when the girl nearly drops her sword after hitting the ground instead of the slime.


    "Her brother is even worse." I reply. "I can''t wait to see what kind of face she makes when she sees the twins." An evil smile creeps onto my face as I watch them each toy with a different slime, batting the poor things around with sticks.


    "You should''ve just let the wargs eat her, bro." Katie can''t even stand to watch Madison''s fumbling.


    "Kaitlyn!" Mom swats the back of her head. "Just because she''s not suited to be an adventurer doesn''t mean she deserves that."


    "Sorry, Mom." She rubs the spot where she just got smacked.


    "Mhm." Mom shakes her head before turning to me. "You might as well just tame the rest, Cole, we''re going to be here all day otherwise. I''ll just give her an advance on her salary."


    Madison sinks to her knees in relief when the slimes all hop away from her. I''m so tempted to send one back to teach her a lesson, but Mom glares at me as soon as the idea pops into my head. Just watching her face fall when she sees Sera and Esra was more than enough to make up for it through.


    ...


    "I think we should get a maid outfit for her." I say with a smirk to Jen while Mom shows the idiot girl what her duties will be.


    "Pig." Jen elbows me in the ribs.


    "I''m just saying." I defend myself. "I''m not talking about one of those skimpy ones like on the covers of Mom''s hidden books. Though that might be nice." I add when the girl bends over to pick up one of the twins'' toys. "We''re the richest family in town -for what that''s worth- we might as well show it off a little."


    "Double pig!" She hits me again. "And, what books are you talking about?"


    "You haven''t found Mom''s dirty book stash yet?" I ask, honestly surprised that the booklover hasn''t sniffed them out before now. "She''s got some good ones in there too."


    "No!" She breathes out the word as shock fills her face.


    "Yeah, and she moved them to the library when we came here, so it''s even easier to get at them than before." I try not to laugh at the light in her eyes. "Check in the back behind the regular books. I forget the title, but the one with all the flowers on the cover might interest you and Selene."


    "Shut up!" She hisses and hits me for a third time.


    ...

 # 009

    Jen''s cheeks flame crimson the next time I see her, letting me know right away that she''s been in Mom''s books.


    "You want to head into town with me?" I ask, not really in the mood to tease her.


    "Alright, but what''s up?" My mood must be leaking through. "You don''t look happy, and what do you need in town?"


    "I''m not happy." I grumble and head for the stables with Jen in tow. "Mom''s giving idiot girl my room; at least, until we get a bed so she can stay in the one set aside for the baby. But, that''s not all, Mom wants to commission some proper servants quarters to be built."


    "No!" Jen sounds nearly as shocked as I was. "She can''t. That''s not fair."


    "No, it isn''t." I agree. "But, you know Mom, especially when she''s pregnant. Apparently, the fool wouldn''t accept Mom''s advance and was even more broke than she let on. So, now, I have to go order a bed and buy whatever other crap she might need. You''d think, as a tamer, that Mom would know better than to bring home strays. Help me with the straps here, my arm is still not back to full yet."


    "I can''t believe this." Jen shoos me away from the wagon and takes care of it herself.


    "Me either, but it should just be for a few days until a bed can be built." I sigh. "And, luckily, the earth mage who built everything else lives in town. All he has to do is copy my place, so that shouldn''t take too long, either."


    "Katie was right, you should have let the wargs eat her." Jen huffs.


    "Hey! None of that shit." I rebuke her outburst. "I''m pissed, but I''m not that pissed. I''m mostly just annoyed that I''ll have to sleep on the couch until the bed is ready. Still, I think I''m going to buy the ugliest maid outfit I can find for her."


    "Snerk!" She snorts. "You can stay in my room if you want."


    "You''re not going to cling to my arm all night, are you?" I tease.


    ...


    She did. I wake up the next morning sandwiched in between my sisters, both of them clinging to me in their sleep.


    "Jenny, Katie." They grumble when I say their names. "Time to wake up, girls. I need you to let me go or I''m going to wet the bed. Alright then, you brought this on yourselves. Queenie, tickle."


    ""Ahh!"" They both jump when the slime attacks their feet and I take my chance to escape from their clutches.


    "I should leave her there." I grouse at the two of them. "I almost wet myself because you two wouldn''t wake up." Grabbing my clothes, I head off to the privy.


    ...


    "Eek!" Idiot girl squeaks when I walk into the kitchen a few minutes later. Mom is trying to teach her how to cook and it looks like she''s about as good at that as she was adventuring.


    "Morning." I kiss Mom on the cheek and rub her belly before getting myself a mug of tea. "Good thing I still have some rations in my pack."


    "Hush! She''s doing great for her first time." Mom bops me on the head with a wooden spoon. "And why are your sisters glaring at you?"


    "No reason." I say as innocently as I can. "Certainly not because I sicced Queenie on them when they wouldn''t wake up to let me go to the privy."


    "Hah!" She snorts. "Well, I guess it''s alright then, as long as you didn''t do that."


    "So..." I draw the word out, know that she isn''t going to like what I have to say next. "My arm is feeling well enough that I should get back to work today. I have Queenie, so I''ll be able to take it easy, but I really don''t want to sit around the house again all day."


    "Let me see." She orders, so I unwrap my arm to reveal tender pink skin rather than the raw red it once was. "Nnh... Take your sister just in case, and I want you to start wearing your swords again."


    "Jen doesn''t want to follow me out into the woods." I already know she won''t budge on the swords, so I don''t even bother with that tack. I have been slacking off with them anyway, I haven''t even touched them since before the move.


    "I''ll go with him instead." Katie offers, hoping to get away from the twins.


    "It''s alright." Jen cuts in. "I don''t mind, and I need the practice too."


    "That''s settled then." Mom says with a curt nod. "Now... let''s eat." She may have gotten a little distracted by our conversation and let Madison mess up breakfast even worse.


    "You know, I should probably run through a few practice drills with the swords." I stand back up. "Bad idea to do that on a full stomach, I''ll just munch on some jerky later."


    "Sit. your. butts. back. down." I wasn''t the only one to attempt to flee when presented with the food. Jen and Kaitlyn both tried to sneak away while I was talking. The twins don''t seem to care though and are scarfing it down happily, but they''ll eat anything.


    "I''m so sorry." Idiot girl hangs her head. "My brother always did the cooking. It''s about all he is good for."


    "You''ll get there, dear." Mom pats her on the shoulder. "You just need some more practice." ''Please, gods, no!'' I cry in my head when she says that.


    Getting a bright idea, I send her a mental command to Queenie and have her extend a tendril up on the table next to my plate where Mom can''t see it. Jenny glares at me when she spots how I''m spilling ''food'' for the slime to eat with every forkful, so I have Queenie do the same for her.


    "Hey, Jen, can you help wrap my arm back up." The two of us are the first to finish ''eating''. Mom knows something must be up, but she too busy trying to comfort Madison. "I really don''t want to brush up against a tree like this. And, don''t worry about your cooking too much, Madison; at least, it wasn''t as bad as our dads." Not even the twins will eat that.


    "R-really." She raises her head to look at me with a sniff.


    "Now there''s the truth." Mom laughs. "And, look, Cole and Jen liked it so much they already cleared their plates. I''m sure they''ll be happy to have you practice your cooking for them."


    ''Damn you, woman!'' I shout at her in my head, and poor Jen looks like she''s about to cry.


    "Uh, sure." With the way Mom is staring at me, I have no choice but to agree. "Is it alright if I go and get some stuff out of the room?"


    "O-of course." This stupid, useless thing just went from sad, to happy, and back to sad again in the space of a breath. "I''m so sorry for putting you out. I tried to tell your Mom that it wasn''t necessary, but..."


    "Yeah, she can be like that sometimes." I say and escape before Mom can react to my comment.


    ...


    "This is all your fault." Jen growls at me right after her stomach growls at her. "You thought you were being so clever, and now we''re going to starve to death. Or worse, be forced to eat more of that-that... I can''t even call it cooking."


    "Jerky?" She snatches it out of my hands before I can even finish saying the word.


    "And, I''m still mad at you for tickling me this morning." She adds after tearing a big hunk of the meat off with her teeth. "You know I hate being tickled."


    "Yeah, well, I hate peeing the bed." I counter. "You two had me pinned down and I was about to burst."


    "Whatever." She huffs around a mouthful of dried meat. "Queenie, copy." This is a new game she thought up.


    Since my visualization skills were a bottleneck for training Queenie''s transformations, Jen thought to remove me from the equation. Now, the slime is given something to copy, in this case, a tree branch, and will do her best to duplicate its appearance.


    "Good, girl. Good, Queenie." I praise the slime verbally and through the bond when she extrudes a mostly perfect copy of the branch from her top. "Who''s the best slime ever? You are. Yes, you are."


    "She really is." Jen agrees. "She''s doing so much better too. We should try having you close your eyes though, just to make sure that you aren''t influencing her. And, if that works, we can try working her way up to larger and more complex shapes."


    "Sounds good." I see a promising branch just up ahead, so I draw a sword in my left hand and cut it down with a single slice. "Okay, my eyes are closed."


    "Ugh, idiot brother." She says under her voice, but loud enough for me to hear. "Ideally it would be something that you haven''t seen before. But, I suppose this is as a good a start as any. Queenie, copy."


    "How is it?" I ask after giving her enough time to copy the branch.


    "Hard to say." I open my eyes to see that Queenie copied the branch well enough, but she didn''t give it any rigidity, meaning that it just flopped down on the ground. "You must be subconsciously sending her the concept of stiffness. Well, as stiff as she normally gets."


    "Good try, Queenie." I crouch down to pet the ''branch'' she grew. "You got the shape just right, but you need to mimic its behavior too." I pick up the real branch and hers while sending her thoughts of how hers should act the same way it does.


    "Close your eyes, and we''ll try again." Jen orders while holding something behind her back. "Queenie, copy. That''s better, good girl." I open my eyes to see her holding a piece of deadwood and Queenie extruding a somewhat floppy duplicate.


    "That was so much better." I coo at my genius pet. "You are so good at this, Queenie."


    "She really eats up the attention, doesn''t she?" Jen laughs.


    ...


    "I know it was Mom''s idea, but thanks for coming out with me today." I give Jen a side-hug when we get back home. "I wouldn''t be able to train Queenie half this well without you."


    "Get off." She pushes me away and then peels her sweaty outfit away from her skin. "And, you''re welcome. But, I just remembered why I spend all my time reading and not wandering in the forest. I need a bath."


    "Heh. Keep it warm for me when you get out." I ruffle her hair. "I wasn''t lying about needing to practice my swords, and I''ll be almost as sweaty as you afterward."


    "I hate you." She grumps and heads for the bathhouse.


    "Love you too, Jen." I blow a raspberry at her retreating form.


    Shrugging out of my bag, I move to the center of the courtyard and draw my swords. My right arm still stings a bit, and it really has been a while since I practiced. So, I run through all of the forms at half speed for the first round.


    I notice that Madison is watching me around the time I finish my first set, but I just ignore her and focus on the weapons in my hands. Shifting up to full speed, any discomfort from my arm is long gone as I lose myself to the long since ingrained movements.


    Full speed becomes time and a half and then double-time as I push my body to its peak and beyond. Normally I take the blades out for this little dance at least once a week, but between the rush to get enough stock before the move, the move itself, and then getting settled in here, it''s been a whole month since I''ve touched them.


    "Haah." Sweat flies from my body as I move from one stance to the next as fast as I can. "Haah!" The wind whistles constantly as my swords flow in a never-ending pattern. "HAAH!" I know that I''ve reached my limit, but I still push myself harder. To move that much faster, to strike that much harder. "HAAAAHHHHHH!!!"


    The wind stops whistling and starts screaming as I cut through all resistance. But, try as I might, I can''t hold this pace for more than a few seconds. Still, that''s enough time for over a dozen strikes before I have to stop.


    I run through the forms one last time at half speed to give my body time to cool down before sheathing my swords.


    "You have to teach me how you do that." Katie says with the same look of awe on her face that she gets every time she watches me practice. It looks like everyone in the house came out to watch, and Mom has a smirk on her face for Madison who seems to be more out of breath than I am right now.


    "You''ll get there in time." I ruffle her hair on my way to the bathhouse.


    ...


    "You are so good at this, Queenie." I praise the slime as she plays with my dick.


    This is the first chance I''ve had in days to get myself off and I''m taking it. I''m supposed to be getting clean right now, but I need to cum. And, I''ve been dying to see what Queenie can do for me.


    "That''s it, Queenie, squeeze down on me." I breathe out as she does just that. It is so damned nice not to have to smush lefty and righty together anymore. "Yeah, girl. I''m so close. Oh yes, keep jiggling like that. Nnh, nnh!" I nut inside the slime with a soft grunt.


    I hate having to be quiet again, having to cum as quickly as I can so no one discovers me. I hate that stupid idiot girl for stealing my fucking place. I didn''t even have enough time to make Queenie look like a girl. That is obviously the real reason I''ve been so focused on training her shapeshifting abilities. But, no, I just needed to cum before anyone realized what I was doing. So, I just had her open up a hole and stuck my dick in it.


    "Maybe I should have you sneak in and copy that idiot girl while she''s sleeping." I pat the slime and watch as my white cum dissolves into her clear jelly. "Go ahead and clean the rest of me up too, girl." She shlorps all over me and just a few seconds later, I''m all clean.


    Clean and finally relieved, I let myself sink into the hot bath and let my well-used muscles soak up the heat.


    "Oh, I bet you''d be great for massages." I say and call the slime over to work on my shoulders. "Ohh, that''s nice."


    ...

 # 010

    "Hey, Mom, sit up." I went to find her after getting out of the bath and rewrapping my arm. "You have to try this." She looks up from her book with a sigh, but does as I ask.


    "Oh! Oh, yeah." She''s surprised at first when Queenie covers her whole back but soon sinks into the feeling of being massaged all over at once. "Oh, gods, why didn''t I put more effort into catching on one these when I was younger? Cole, I might just be stealing Queenie from you."


    "I know, right?" I laugh at the blissful look that fills her face. "I tried her on my shoulders in the bath and almost drowned." I don''t think she''s hearing me anymore, so I just leave the slime to do her work and go grab a book to read myself.


    ...


    "What happened to Mom?" Jen asks after wandering in a while later. "I''ve never seen her fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon."


    "Queenie happened." I point to the slime who is now massaging my feet. I stole her back after Mom started snoring a few minutes ago. "If you go get me some juice, I''ll let you try out the best massage you''ll ever experience."


    "Get your own juice." She grumps and stalks off, but not without one last look at the smile on Mom''s sleeping face.


    ...


    "Took you long enough." I say with a smirk when she returns a good fifteen minutes later with my juice.


    "Shut up." She snaps back. "And, have her work on my feet too, I been doing way too much walking lately. And, no tickling!" She adds with a hiss as the slime engulfs her feet and calves.


    "Yeah, yeah." I roll my eyes.


    "Mmm, that''s nice. Can she do the rest of my legs too?" Jen''s face goes slack when Queenie swarms up to her thighs. "Wake me in time for dinner, okay." She adds in a mumble before closing her eyes and luxuriating in the massage.


    "Maybe, I shouldn''t have shown this skill off." I mutter to myself, foreseeing this happening a lot in the future.


    ...


    "Keep it down, girls." I hush the twins when they chase Katie into the living room. "Mom''s sleeping."


    "No, I''m up." She says in a dreamy voice while blinking the sleep from her eye. "Oh, that slime is dangerous; I haven''t fallen asleep during the day since the twins were born. I see she got Jen too." She adds with a laugh.


    "I''m sorry, Ma''am." Maddie ducks her head. "They got away from me, and they''re faster than they look."


    "That''s alright, I should probably get started on dinner soon anyway." Mom reassures her with a smile. "Cole, I''m going to make your favorite tonight just for discovering that trick. My back hasn''t felt this relaxed since before that damned wagon ride."


    "Ugh, don''t remind me." I groan just thinking back to those days.


    "Maddie." Mom turns to the girl. "We''ll continue your cooking lessons later, just keep the kids out of my hair for now."


    "Yes, Ma''am." She''s really falling into this maid role.


    "Can we play with Queenie, Cole?" Kaitlyn asks, hoping to distract the twins from tormenting her.


    "Yeah!" - "Can we? Can we?" They latch onto the idea and I lose my foot massage once again.


    "Go get em, Queenie." The slime hops over to them and they start having her copy their toys. "You''re doing pretty well with them." I say to Madison when she sits down with a sigh of relief.


    "I used to babysit for my neighbors all the time." She admits before looking over at me with a hint of pink tinting her cheeks. "You''re really good with the swords."


    "Eh, remnants of a phase I went through when I was younger." I shrug. "And, the sword dance is mostly just for show. For real fighting, you want to focus on simple movements like I showed you against the slime. But, I suppose you don''t have to worry about that now." I smile over at our new maid.


    "Thank goodness for that." She nods emphatically. "I can''t thank you and your family enough for everything that you''ve done for me and my brother. And, I am so sorry for putting you out of your room."


    "I told you not to worry about that." I wave her concern away. "And, it''s just for a few days; I think I can survive my sisters for that long."


    "Cole, look!" My middle sister interrupts just then.


    "Oh, gods." Madison breathes. "There''s three of them now."


    "Good idea girls, I haven''t tried that." I grin over at Katie and the twins that are now triplets thanks to Queenie''s transformation abilities. "Queenie, copy." I point to Kaitlyn and give her a twin. "Better?" I ask Maddie with a smirk.


    "Eww, so weird." Katie pokes her translucent copy in the face. "Make her do Jen next."


    "Okay. Hah!" The bark of laughter erupts out of me when I mentally call the slime over only for her to deform Kaitlyn''s features into a ball and rolls over. "I think we might need to work on those locomotion skills next."


    "That was the worst thing I''ve ever seen." Katie says with a wide grin. "Make her do it again."


    "Please don''t." Maddie begs while looking more than a little pale.


    "Heheh." I chuckle at her and shake my head. "Queenie, copy." The slime turns into Jen this time.


    ""Do Maddie, do Maddie."" The twins chant in unison.


    "Nnh." The girl whimpers but I don''t let that stop me. "So wrong." She shakes her head at the sight of her slime duplicate.


    ''Remember this form, Queenie.'' I command silently. We haven''t worked on reproducing her copies before, but I think now is a really good time to start.


    "I''d rather deal with triplets." Maddie whines while staring at her water-like features.


    "How about quads?" The slime morphs into a copy of the twins connected along one side. "Wait! Which ones are my real sisters?" I break into a giggle when the twins glare at me. "Oh, it must be these two. There''s no way my real sisters would look at me like that."


    "Why are you guys so noisy?" Jen grumps from her couch. She lifts her head and her eyes instantly go to Queenie. "Well, that''s different. I don''t think my little sisters have ever been so quiet and well behaved." The rest of us crack up laughing when the real twins start pelting her with their toys.


    "What on earth is..." Mom trails off when she enters the room to see the twin sets of twins. "You know what? Never mind, I''m just gonna go back to cooking." She does an about-face and just walks away while shaking her head slowly.


    "Wow, even Mom can''t handle twin twins." I laugh and swat away the toys they send in my direction. "Queenie, copy Jen. You''re the only one who hasn''t seen yourself yet. Just don''t ask her to move around, if you know what''s good for yourself."


    "Do you think we could teach her to move like a person?" Jen asks curiously.


    "She already is a person." I counter and pull Slime Jen onto my lap to hug. "Isn''t that right, Queenie?" The slime nods her head at my command.


    "This is one weird house." Maddie laughs. "And, you girls had better gather those toys back up or I''m going to feed them to Queenie."


    ...


    "Hey, runt, hiding from the twins again?" I ask when she joins me and Jen in her room before bed.


    "Noooo..." She draws the word out. "Please? They''re more of a nightmare than the ones I had after what happened."


    "It''s your bed, Jen." She nods. "Alright, but don''t make me sic Queenie on you two again in the morning."


    "Hey, I''m letting you sleep in here." Jen growls. "If anything, you should be paying me back. With... oh, another massage from Queenie?"


    "You''re as bad as Mom." I huff. "''Cole, could I borrow Queenie again?''" I imitate her voice from just after dinner.


    "Can I have a try?" Kaitlyn pleads. "I''ve never seen Mom look so relaxed. The cramps have mostly settled down, but after the twins, I could really use some relaxation."


    "No fair." Jen whines. "I asked first."


    "Just lie down next to each other; she should be able to handle the both of you." Anything to make them shut up and let me get some sleep.


    "Yay!" Katie acts her age and dives into bed, she''s on the outside with Jen getting stuck in the middle this time.


    "Go to work Queenie. Just..." A yawn slips out of me. "...until they fall asleep though." I order in case I fall asleep first and leave her massaging them all night. "Then you can do whatever it is slimes do at night."


    "Cole." Kaitlyn says with a moan. "You have to take me out with you from now on. I''m not going to be happy until I tame a queen for myself."


    "Maybe after your punishment with the twins is over." I reach across Jen to mess up her hair. "Though we should have dad look into some enchanted gloves or something when he gets back."


    "Yeah. Mmm. Good idea." She and Jen both have the same dopey smiles on their faces as Mom did just a while ago.


    ...


    "Mnh." I wake up with a whimper early the next morning, about to burst again. Not my bladder this time though, but my balls.


    I must have gotten morning wood, and normally I''d love the fact that Queenie took the initiative to play with it. But, not when I''m in bed with two of my sisters. Especially not when Jen is wrapped around me like she is right now.


    She''s clinging to my arm for dear life again and her soft breasts are pressed up against me. The top of her pajamas has also ridden up revealing the pale skin of her slender waist. But, the worst part is that she has one of her legs wrapped around mine, meaning that she''s mere inches away from my throbbing cock.


    "...nng..." I try to hold back the noise as just the thought of that gives me the biggest and most shame-filled orgasm of my entire life.


    Filled with disgust for what just happened, I carefully extricate myself before slinking off. Luckily neither she nor Kaitlyn woke up.


    ...


    "You''re up early." Mom comments a few minutes later when she finds me in the kitchen making some tea.


    "Mhm." I grunt in response. "I need my own bed." There''s a fucking understatement.


    "Heh. Try sleeping with the twins." She counters with a snort and starts getting breakfast ready. "I''m sorry for just giving your room away like that. I can ask Madison to sleep on the couch if it''s that much of a hassle."


    "No, I''ll take the couch." I wave her concern away and pour myself a mug. "But, I''m hoping I won''t have to. I told the carpenter to focus on the bed first when I gave him the order, and I''m going to check later to see if they''ve finished it."


    "Okay." She nods. "How''s your arm doing?"


    "Feels fine." I remove the wrappings to reveal that the skin is mostly back to normal with only the back of my hand looking a little pink in places. "Looks funny without the hair, but there''s not much I can do about that. Still, it works fine, as you saw yourself yesterday."


    "I''m not the only one who saw." She replies just loud enough for me to hear as a bleary-eyed Madison enters the kitchen. "Put on another coat of ointment just to be safe, and promise me you won''t try anything that stupid again."


    "I promise." I say while rolling my eyes. "Morning, Maddie." I pass her a steaming mug of tea; she looks like she needs it.


    "Thank you." She clings to it, absorbing the warmth.


    "Didn''t sleep well again, dear?" Mom asks full of concern.


    "I''m alright." She smiles back after taking a sip. "It''s just weird not having Mason around. I never noticed it until he left, but I could always just sorta tell when he was around."


    "The girls are like that." Mom nods. "They always seem to know where the other is."


    "Means they can never be ''it'' for hide and seek." I add with a laugh. "They always just go straight for each other."


    ...

 # 011

    "I''m not taking a bodyguard today." I state after breakfast. I''m just not ready to be alone with Jen, just getting through the meal without blushing was bad enough. "I want to get back to exploring the backwoods, make up for lost time."


    Mom exhales a stream of air through her nose before nodding once. That''s all the permission I need before I dash off to get dressed and escape before she changes her mind.


    ...


    "You heading into town?" I nearly jump out of my skin when Jen sneaks up behind me while I''m hitching up the wagon later that day. "I''m coming along."


    "Want to go see Selene?" I tease. I think it''s for the best if I just ignore that this morning ever happened, so I''m trying to act how I normally would.


    "Shut up." She growls the words, but I can see the pink flush on her cheeks.


    ...


    "Young Mister and Miss Ryder." Selene''s master, a gentle-looking grandmotherly type greets us when we enter her shop. "I''m sorry that you were injured, but I''m glad that it was able to bring light to this matter. That merchant was indeed doctoring the salve; I discovered that they were skimming a bit off of every jar and mixing in a lower quality salve to make up the volume."


    "Oh, don''t worry about me; my arm is almost back to how it was before. I''m just glad that you discovered it when you did." This is why I followed Jen inside instead of just dropping her off. "Though if you could let Jenny steal your apprentice for the afternoon, that would be great."


    "Cole!" She turns bright pink and slaps me on the arm.


    "Hehehehe." The alchemist giggles. "I think I can manage that, just this once."


    "Thank you, master." Selene gives her a quick hug before dragging the two of us outside. "And, thank you two too." She hops up to give me a peck on the cheek before wrapping Jen in a hug.


    ...


    "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Maria smiles up at us when we enter the healer''s


    "We''re hoping to steal you from your master." I reply with a smile of my own. "Selene''s been all over Jen since we freed her, and I''m starting to get a little jealous." I laugh when my sister blushes.


    "Ah, Cole. How''s the arm doing?" The healer herself walks out of the back. "And, yes, you can go with them." She laughs at the pleading look Maria was sending her. "It''s the least I can do for you after you spotted that issue with the salve."


    "Thank you, Master." Maria bounces over to join us with a wide smile on her face.


    "Yes, thank you." I offer the woman a bow. "And, my arm is fine. There was a still little pink on the back of my hand earlier." I quickly undo the bindings. "But, it looks fine now. Though, I don''t suppose you know any hair growth spells." I add with a laugh.


    "Heh. Sorry no." She shakes her head with a smile. "But, speaking of business. Would it be alright if I stopped by later to speak with your mother about those shipments? And maybe buying a few of those slimes; that one you gave to Maria is dead useful... now that it''s not eating the bandages, that is." Her apprentice blushes at that.


    "Of course." I nod. "I''ll tell her to expect you. And, it looks like we need to recreate the shop''s training area."


    "Thank you. I''ll see you later then." She takes the seat her apprentice was using and shoos us out the door. "Have fun but don''t forget your spells, Maria." Maria does her best impression of a beet at that and ducks outside as quickly as possible.


    The healer was talking about the contraception spells. Even if Maria wasn''t able to cast them, not likely for an apprentice healer, Dad still made sure that we learned them as soon as we hit puberty. He even spent a grueling week tutoring Kaitlyn until she could cast it seamlessly.


    "I really hate working for a healer sometimes." The poor girl sags in place until I wrap my arms around her. "Mmm, nice."


    "Very." I agree. "Now what do you girls want to do today? Let me guess, read and play with Queenie some more."


    "Yeah, that sounds good to me." Maria nods against my chest before separating to climb into the wagon. "There''s nothing to do in town anyway."


    "Alright. We just need to swing by the carpenter to see if the bed we ordered is finished." I climb into the driver''s seat. "You know that pest my dad hired as a driver? Well, Mom took pity on his sister and hired her as a maid and nanny for the twins."


    "Maddie?" Her eyebrow goes up. "She seemed alright, but we didn''t really get a chance to talk since her brother was always around. She''s staying with you guys now?" I see a hint of jealousy in her eyes.


    "Yeah, Mom even gave her my room." I grumble. "I''m hoping that the bed is done so she can move into the main house until the new servant''s quarters are built."


    "Good news there." Jen interjects. "The earth mage insists on doing the foundation himself, but he said that he''ll let me help on the walls after seeing me draw stone up from the ground today. That should let us shave a day or two off the construction time."


    "That is good to hear." My head bobs up and down. "I just want that bed to be done though. I''d rather sleep on that lumpy couch that Dad insisted we bring from the city than share a bed with you and Katie again."


    "Aww, sleeping with your little sisters. How cute." Maria messes up my hair.


    "That''s one word for it." I scoff and focus on the road, not willing to even think about what happened this morning.


    "We actually started a few nights ago because we were having nightmares." Jen adds. "Poor Katie even missed the start of her period the other night." The girls both wince at that.


    "Queenie dealt with that." I wave it off as inconsequential. "But, them pinning me down and almost making me wet myself because they''re too lazy to wake up. That was annoying."


    "You didn''t need to have Queenie tickle us though." She pouts at me. "Oh, but you girls have to try her massages, and wait until you see how good her copies are now."


    ...


    "Give me a hand here, Jen." Gravity spells always give me a headache, so I leave it up to her to lighten the new bed enough for me to move it inside.


    "Ugh, you know I hate this spell as much as you do." She grumbles but weaves the magic together to let the bed mostly ignore the earth''s pull.


    "Whoa!" Selene breathes out the word when Jen shoves the bed at me with her foot.


    "Hey!" I shout and carefully grab the bed to slow it down so it doesn''t hurt anyone. Like me. "Careful there, you know it still has the same mass as before."


    "Whatever." She rolls her eyes at me. "Just get it upstairs before I get a headache."


    "You''re really gifted." Selene sidles up next to Jen with stars in her eyes.


    "And, you''re really strong." Maria says to me with a giggle.


    "Oh, hush and go hold the door for me." I shoo her away when she grabs my biceps.


    "I got it." Madison says from the doorway. "You girls get out of the way, or no more playing with Katie."


    "Girls, go get in the way." Kaitlyn says right away, trying to get out of her punishment. Her hair is done up in a dozen different pigtails right now and she looks like she''s about one more away from snapping.


    "Hahaha." I laugh the whole way upstairs as the twins don''t just get out of the way, but tow their favorite new doll off to play with some more.


    "Thank you again for this." Madison ducks her head at me. "And, sorry again for putting you out of your room. And, sorry to you girls too, for... you know, my brother."


    "Heh!" Selene snorts. "Don''t worry about that, he''s not the first annoying adventurer we''ve had to deal with."


    "Yeah, he''s not your fault." Maria waves it off. "We were just going to go play with Queenie, do you want to join us?"


    "Go ahead." Mom says from the door of the nursery turned guest room. "Katie can survive the twins on her own for a while." And... there goes my chance of kissing Maria in the back of the library


    "I''ll meet you girls there after I bring up that small table." I only needed help with the bed because of its bulk. "Oh, and Mom. Maria''s master is going to stop by in a bit to talk business."


    ...


    "Did you miss me?" I pull slime-Maria into a hug from behind.


    "Oh, shut up, you dork." The real thing drags me away from the slime. "We''re trying to get her to follow my movements."


    "She hasn''t been trained for that yet." I say and then move Maria so she''s standing in from of the slime. "Queenie, repeat." I lift Maria''s arm while willing the slime to follow the movement. "Good girl. That''s it."


    "..." I put my hand over Maria''s mouth when she opens it to complain about the boneless nature of Queenie''s duplication.


    "She learns quickly, but need lots of positive reinforcement to help her along." I explain while she licks my fingers. "Now, you do it. Just give her the command and be sure to praise her afterward." I sit down next to Maddie to watch my girlfriend play mirror with a queen slime. "Are those two already lost in their book?"


    "Yeah, Selene asked her about it and towed her over to the couch as soon as we got in here." She smiles over at them. "They make a cute couple."


    "Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise." I send a smile their way too. "I''m still not sure if Jen likes her because she''s a girl, or just because they have the same taste in books."


    "Heheh." She chuckles softly. "What about you and Maria?" She asks just a smidge too nonchalantly to be taken for a truly innocent question.


    "Oh, I always wanted to be a tamer. Queenie, stop. Good girl, you can relax now." Maria answers and sits down right next to me, our legs touching in a subtle marking of her territory in front of the new girl. "And, I just had to get to know the person who could tame such an amazing pet. What about you, did you two meet when your brother got hired?"


    "No." Idiot girl ducks her head in embarrassment. "He saved my life... twice. Once from slimes and then again during the dungeon break."


    "You were there?" She looks to each of us with wide eyes. "That''s all anyone has been talking about. Usually a bunch of idiots moaning that they didn''t get a chance to fight some wargs because it was cleaned up so quickly."


    "Cole was the one who reported it." Maddie says, awe for me clear in her voice. "He heard one howl on the wind and called it in right there. And, then he had to chase after me when I ran off after hearing my brother scream in the distance. He barely slowed down to kill a wolf that would have ripped my throat out, and then took down two wargs in just seconds."


    "Cole?" Maria looks at me with disbelieving eyes.


    "Yeah, that''s pretty much what happened." I offer an embarrassed shrug. "But, I was lucky, very lucky. First, that they were distracted toying with her brother which let me even the playing field. And, then that the other one fell for a simple feint. If I wasn''t trying to save a couple of idiots who never should have become adventurers in the first place, I would''ve done the smart thing and hidden until the woods were clear."


    "You''re not the lucky one." Madison shakes her head. "My brother and I are; if you hadn''t taken pity on me and helped me get those cores the both of us would be dead right now."


    "Weren''t we supposed to be training Queenie?" I change the subject, or at least I try to.


    "Cole, I don''t know much about adventuring." Maria says seriously. "But, I''ve learned enough about wargs in the past week to know that you don''t solo them, ever. Even an experienced team can have trouble with a single one."


    "There''s never just a single warg, they''re pack animals and, like I said, I got lucky." I huff in annoyance. "It''s not like I was in any real danger though. Dad''s a magical researcher, so I have more than one life-saving enchantment on my person whenever I go in the field." I lift my necklace out from under my shirt. "Emergency teleport straight to the best healing house in the Capital."


    "Y-you could buy the town for that, several times over." She blanches.


    "Dad built it himself." I shrug one shoulder. "The only cost was the materials which he and Mom collected themselves. As long as I had this I knew I would be fine. Now, can we focus on Queenie?"


    ...

 # 012

    "You know she wants you, right?" Maria says a while later when Mom calls Madison down to help with dinner.


    "It wasn''t my idea to hire her." I say with a sigh.


    "I know, and I know I have no right to be jealous... but I am." She sinks in on herself a little. "Why aren''t you with her?"


    "Because she was an adventurer, and a dumb one at that." I put my arm around her shoulders. "I have issues with adventurers. Sure, I might have made a move after Mom hired her. -I''m sure Mom was hoping for just that when she did; even pregnant herself, that woman still wants grandkids.- But, this cute healer girl followed me home the other day."


    I pull the cute healer girl onto my lap and smooth her hair back so I can look her in the eyes.


    "I find myself starting to like this cute healer girl." I kiss the corner of her mouth. "Liking her enough to ignore a certain foolish ex-adventurer turned maid." Another quick kiss on the other side of her lips. "Now, I''m just left wondering if that cute healer girl likes me back." I move my lips closer to her for a proper kiss, but leave a few centimeters gap.


    "Mnh." She licks her lips with a whimper before pressing them to mine.


    The kiss is as clumsy as that one I shared with Jessa back in the city, but we find something that works soon enough. Her lips are so sweet on mine, and her body so warm and soft in my arms that I find myself losing track of everything else. Right up until Jennifer and Selene start giggling that is.


    Glaring at them, I catch sight of what set them off, and start cracking up myself. Maria starts to get mad until I point to Queenie who is still mimicking her, and must have been throughout the whole kiss.


    "Oh, gods." She covers her beet-red face with her hands. "Queenie, stop!" The slime morphs back into her natural shape at the command. "Selene, I will give you everything I own if you just please forget that this ever happened."


    "Not on your life." The alchemist grins evilly at her blushing friend.


    "Mnh." Maria whimpers and climbs off my lap and starts stalking towards Selene. "Then there''s only one thing to do." Her hands reach out and wrap around her friend''s neck. "You were a good friend, I''ll miss you." The three of us crack up laughing again as she fake strangles Selene.


    "You can murder her later." I peel Maria''s hands away from Selene''s neck. "It smells like dinner is just about ready, we should head on down. And, don''t worry, I''m sure we''ll do much more embarrassing things in the future, my cute little healer girl." She blushes again at my words.


    ...


    "Thank you for dinner, Ma''am." Selene bobs her head in Mom''s direction.


    "Yeah, you''re getting better too, Maddie." There was a clear difference in the stuff she worked on compared to what Mom made, but it was still leagues ahead of that first disastrous meal. "Shall we walk you girls back into town?" I offer that instead of a wagon ride just because it will give us that much more time together.


    "Alright." Maria nods. She''s been a bit shy all throughout the meal.


    "Just don''t stay out all night." Mom says with a twinkle in her eye.


    ...


    "So, my money is on Jen being too shy to make the first move." I say in a low whisper to Maria; the two of us spread out a bit away from Jen and Selene on our way into town, but it is a still night and the sound might carry. "But, I don''t know Selene that well, and Jenny has already surprised me once when it comes to her."


    "Oh, easy money on Sel taking that first step." My cute healer replies with a gentle laugh. "She even tried to kiss me back when we first met."


    "Oh? I thought you both grew up around here." I ignore how hot I find the image that she just put in my head. "How''d you wind up out here?"


    "Eh, home was kinda shit." A complicated expression flashes across her face. "So, when I found out I had an aptitude for healing, I joined the Guild and requested a master as far from home as possible."


    "I''m sorry." I put my arm over her shoulder and pull her close to me.


    "It is what it is." She shrugs under my arm and I can tell that she doesn''t want to talk about it, so I let the matter drop.


    "So, I''m not sure I ever got an answer about whether that cute healer girl likes me or not." I can feel her flush, even if I can''t see it.


    "I may have heard a rumor that she''s after this crazy warg slayer." She says with a giggle.


    "Oh, no." I cry in mock-dismay. "Whatever shall I do against someone like that?"


    "You can tell him to shut up and kiss me before we reach the light of the walls." She grabs my collar and pulls me down to her level for a brief but passionate, and only slightly clumsy, kiss. "I really want you to follow me all the way home, but I know what''s going to happen if you do. Just promise me that you won''t go straight to that foolish ex-adventurer."


    "I swear." I lean down for another all-too-brief kiss. "Just promise me that you won''t go chasing down any crazy warg slayers."


    "I''ll try." She smirks up at me. "And, it looks like one of them took the initiative." She points with her chin over to where Jen and Selene are kissing.


    "And, we were too distracted to see which one started it too." I chuckle and then steal one last quick kiss after my sister and her girlfriend separate. "Come on, Jenny, I think they can make their way in from here."


    "Nnh." She lets out a little whimper at that.


    ...


    "Finally my own gods damned bed." I cry out and flop down on it only to be inundated with Madison''s smell. "Fuck me! You are very lucky I have Queenie, you cute little healer girl." I growl while breathing in the scent of idiot girl. "Queenie, copy Maria."


    While Maria and Madison were taking turns playing with the slime earlier, I was having her memorize their forms. Each time they would have Queenie copy them, I was secretly making the slime do it from memory and then fix any mistakes. It didn''t take her long before she was able to copy them perfectly.


    "Oh, Maria." I lean over the transparent copy of the healer laying on the bed. She''s not nude, but it''s good enough for now, more than good enough.


    Slipping out of my clothes as quickly as I can, I command the slime to spread her legs wide and create an opening for me. Lowering myself down, I''m just a hair''s breadth away from her pussy when I freeze.


    Just the thought of putting my dick in Queenie again reminds me of this morning. The image of Jen''s body pressed up against mine as I get milked by the slime is so strong that it makes my cock twitch.


    "Noooo. No no no." I whine as all thoughts of Maria leave my head to be replaced by Jen.


    Her lips parted in sleep. The hint of cleavage I saw as she pressed her breasts onto my arm and chest. The curve of her small, round ass. Somehow all of these get sent down the bond to Queenie causing her to shift into a mirror image of my little sister.


    "Oh, this is so fucking wrong." I whimper as I find myself a fraction of an inch away from penetrating Jennifer. "Just think of Maria. Think of how hot that kiss was." I close my eyes, but all I can see if Jen kissing Selene, and the way she licked her lips afterward. "Oh, you stupid slime, why did you have to attack me right next to her this morning?"


    I can''t hold out any more and lower myself into my sister. Her warm, slick folds suck me in and grip onto my shaft as I start fucking her. Slowly at first, but rapidly gaining speed.


    "It''s just Queenie. It''s just Queenie. It''s just Queenie..." I repeat that over and over again while thrusting into my little sister. "Nng. Gods, yes! Jen!!!" I cum inside her even harder than I did this morning. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" I ask the ceiling after rolling off of the slime disgusted with myself.


    Silently commanding the slime to return to normal, I curl up in a ball under the covers to cry myself to sleep.


    ...


    I wake with the sun the next morning, and as much as I wish last night was just a bad dream, I know that it wasn''t.


    "Queenie, clean." I don''t feel dirty, but I need to be clean anyway. "Good girl. None of this was your fault. You''re a good slime." I send her reassuring thoughts and praise over the bond until she starts wiggling. "I''m just a really fucked up person."


    I get dressed mechanically, walk mechanically into the kitchen, and eat breakfast mechanically. Jen is there, but I don''t react to her.


    "I''m going to explore deeper into the forest today." I announce to Mom while shrugging into my bag. "I might be back a bit later than usual."


    "Alright, just stay safe out there." She replies distractedly while wiping up some juice that Esra spilled.


    ...


    Running. All I know is running. The wind on my face, the soft forest floor underfoot. I dance around and jump over any and all obstacles in my way. I have long since left the woods I know behind.


    I''ve been following my mana sense and little else, just looking for a stronger spawn than a slime. I need something to fight. Something to kill. Something to kill me... maybe. I still haven''t decided on that part yet.


    Disturbance in the mana up ahead, I angle towards it, not caring what it might be. It''s just a king slime though, no real threat. Running straight for the giant slime, I draw my swords at the last second.


    Coating one with wind, I slash twice, blasting open a deep cross-shaped rent into its jelly and exposing the core which is almost half as large as Queenie herself. The second sword stabs straight in, delivering the killing blow.


    I end up coated in a deluge of slime a second later. But, with the beast dead, it''s flesh is no more dangerous than water. Scooping up the core, I stuff it in my bag and continue my run.


    ...

 # 013

    "And, what are you?" I quietly ask the anomaly that I just spotted up ahead of me.


    Run as much as I want. Head for the densest mana I can find. Wish, hope, and pray to find something, anything. But, it''s all for naught. Nothing but slimes. I passed a handful of other kings, but let them go because my bag was already full with just the one core. I even spotted another queen but left her in peace out of respect for my pet.


    And, then I found something strange. It''s a slime, but not one I''ve ever heard of, and I''ve heard of them all. It''s pink for one; all slimes are clear with a hint of blue. The larger they are, the more apparent that blue becomes. Her size is odd too. She''s larger than the common grapefruit-sized monsters, almost half the size of Queenie.


    But, her mana signature is the real wild part; this melon-sized ball of jelly feels at least ten times stronger than Queenie herself. Mana signatures aren''t a perfect way to grade monsters, but they do give you a general idea of whether you should fuck with something or not.


    "What do you think, Queenie?" She''s afraid. Not of the slime, but for me. "Unfortunately, that was a rhetorical question, sweetie. I am going to fight her, and I am going to make her mine. I hope you don''t mind having a little sister."


    Masking my magic from the monster, I start layering protection upon protection on myself. Even more so than when I had to face the wargs, I was in a rush then and had to settle for what I could cast on the run. Now, I get to take my time and do them right, turning myself into an unstoppable killing machine. Hopefully.


    I''m just sneaking up on the beast when Jen chooses the worst fucking time to scry me. She''s been doing so off and on all day but, with my mana sense wide open, I''ve detected them each time and shut them down with a spike of mana. After last night, I just do not want to be reminded of her.


    "Great fucking timing Jen!" I shout and charge the now alerted monster. "You don''t have a core! What in all the hells are you?" The answer is gods damned fast.


    If I hadn''t taken my time to buff up properly, it might have killed me in a single lunge, as it is, my hair is now shorter on one side of my head.


    "Yes! Fight me! Fight me all you want, but I will still make you mine!" I''m ready for her speed now and can counter-attack as she flies past, but trying to cut her is like trying to cut steel. "What are you? Hahaha!" I break into wild laughter and start lacing my blades with every element I can, looking for something, anything, that can damage the beautiful little thing.


    Lightning seems to work best, but that''s not saying much. So, it looks like I''m in for a battle of attrition. Good! I needed a real fight, and it looks like this strange pink slime is going to give it to me.


    ...


    "Ready to give up yet?" I pant out at the tough little beast. "You know it''s just a matter of time until you''re mine. I can feel you weakening, but I was smart enough to add a couple of mana potions to my bag after running into those fucking mutts. Oh, you don''t like that, do you?"


    She lunges for the bottle as I dangle it out to tease her with it. But it was all a ploy to get her to leap again, she''s been playing it smart after seeing that I''m a match for her speed. I needed the second that she''ll be airborne to down the potion though, I don''t miss the opportunity to hit her again as she flies past though.


    "Just fucking SUBMIT!" I hit her with... well, it''s less taming spell and more pure will aimed to bind her soul to mine. "You will not fight me!" I shout and launch a lightning bolt from the tip of my sword straight at the slime while it''s dazed by the attack on its soul. "You. Are. MINE!!!"


    The beast screams in my mind as I overwhelm the last of its resistance. Feeling it fall under my complete control, I drop to all fours, unable to stay upright for a second longer.


    "Queenie, Guard!" I breathe the order before passing the fuck out.


    ***


    "Cole! Wake up, Cole! This is your Mother and you will get your ass up!" Mom''s amplified voice coming from the communication crystal jars me from my slumber. "You have to move, Cole. A king slime is headed right for you, Queenie won''t be able to stop it."


    "Gods dammit!" I roar and drag my tired ass up off the ground. "Can''t a man just pass out in the middle of the fucking woods for a few minutes?"


    "You''ve been out for over an hour." She laughs. "Jen says she''s sorry by the way."


    "Jen can bite my ass." I snap back and start walking for the king. "Come here, you little fucker! Disturb my nap will you?" Cross-slash, stab. Another dead king. "Queenie, carry this thing. Which way is home? I got all twisted around during the fight."


    "About sixty degrees to your right." Mom replies after a second. "Now, get your ass and that new slime home. Jen can''t keep the scry up much longer, so I want you to check in every ten minutes until you get here."


    "Yeah, yeah." I wave dismissively at the scry. "Come on... what should I call you? Empress more than fits, but Queenie is the only royalty in my life. So, how about Rose? That''s just on the nose enough to annoy Mom."


    "I''m still listening you know." I just laugh at her aggrieved tone and start for home at a jog until my muscles loosen up enough to run.


    ...


    "You crazy little bastard!" Mom crushes me into a hug as soon as I get home.


    "Hey, watch who you''re insulting there." I tease and let her get it out of her system, even though all I want is to collapse into the tub and just soak my sore muscles for a month.


    "Shut up." She snorts out a laugh.


    "I am so sorry, Cole." Jenny starts, But, I just hold up my hand to silence her.


    "Shut up. I am still pissed at you." She takes a step back from the coldness in my voice. "Brand new fucking monster that I''m trying get a good look at and you choose the second worse time to spy on me. Two minutes earlier when I was in the middle of buffing up and I would be dead right now!"


    "That''s enough, Cole." Mom warns.


    "Whatever." I exhale loudly. "I''m going to take a bath, I feel like shit. Queenie, spit that out and come work on my muscles. There''s another one in my bag too." I slip out of the backpack and hold it out to her.


    "Thanks." She takes the bag from me. "But, when did you start dealing with kings like most people deal with commons?"


    "Today." I say over my shoulder. "One got in my way when I was running, it lasted about as long as the one you saw. Saw a handful more of them out there, even spotted another Queen." She perks up at that.


    "Alright, go take your bath." She waves me off. "Jen, start breaking these down for use in the wands. And, Maddie... quit drooling." I have to laugh when I hear that.


    ...


    "Feel better now?" Mom sets a sandwich in front of me when I sit down at the table an hour later.


    "A little." I mumble around a mouthful of cold cuts. "Sorry for snapping earlier. Rosie decided to get a little revenge in with a psychic scream right before the bond snapped into place. I''ve still got a bear of a headache from it."


    "Seriously?" She looks at the slime sitting by my chair with renewed wonder. "Just what in the hell is she?"


    "No idea." I shrug. "Other than tough and fast, that is. How much of the fight did you see?"


    "We all saw most of it." She confesses. "Jen came running to find me right after it started, Maddie and the girls were with me at the time."


    "Then you know that my swords didn''t do crap, it was like trying to cut metal." I sigh and reach down to pet the odd little thing. "Even lightning was only marginally effective, and I tried everything. She''s smart too, like people smart. If she hadn''t fallen for that taunt at the end there, the fight would have lasted even longer than it already had."


    "I saw how she kept adapting to your tactics, but is she really that smart?" Mom stares down at Rose with a raised eyebrow.


    "She says yes." I answer for the slime. "I''ve been translating while we talk, hoping that she''ll pick up the language. Queenie''s no slouch in the language department herself, but it still takes hours of reinforcement just for her to learn a single command. But, I get the feeling that Rose will be able to communicate with us."


    "Well, shit." Mom curses. "You just joined a very elite club of tamers, then. Truly sapient monsters are damned rare, and even harder to tame."


    "Yeah, she''s a little spitfire, alright." I lift her onto my lap, she''s heavier than she looks, a bit more than Queenie even, but not nearly enough to match her toughness. "I would apologize for taming you, girl, but you were so beautiful that I knew I had to have you as soon as I saw you. Heheh. You egotistic little thing." I laugh when she responds with ''Of course you did, just look at me.'' Or, something along those lines, that''s the feeling she gave, at least.


    "You''re getting along alright then? That''s good." Mom reaches out to stroke the slime. Rosie can''t hurt us now, that is branded into her very soul. But, as a thinking reasoning being she could cause all sorts of trouble if she wanted.


    "Now that we aren''t trying to kill each other, she''s calmed down a lot." I chuckle. "She''s still a bit grumpy about the whole thing, but I get the feeling that she was really, really bored out in those woods."


    "Must be pretty boring to live in the woods with nothing but lesser slimes around." Mom nods. "Queenie is pretty bright, but I can''t imagine her being my only form of companionship."


    "I sense little more than annoyance for the regular and king slimes." I say after probing Rosie through our bond. "And, I don''t know... disappointment for queens. She sorta gave up on them -wow, that''s a lot of winters- a long time ago. It''s hard to say for sure, but she''s at least as old as you."


    "So, she''s still young then." Mom laughs. "Alright, you still look tired. Why don''t you go lie down on the couch while I get dinner ready? And, girls..." She turns to the doorway where everyone is gathered. "I know you have questions and want to meet Rose, but just let them be for now."


    ...


    "Thanks for dinner, Mom. Rosie liked it too." The slime got curious about what we were eating so I gave her some of mine. "Is it alright if I let her explore while I make an early night of it? Apparently, she doesn''t need to sleep; lucky girl."


    "That''s fine, just have her stay inside the courtyard, and out of my pantry." She adds with a laugh. "And, you girls try not to annoy her too much. She''s a person, not a pet, and will be treated as such. Understood?"


    ""Yes, Mom."" All four of my sisters answer in unison.


    Getting up from the table, I leave Rose to her fun, and head to the privy and then bed.


    ...

 # 014

    "Maddie?" I stare in surprise at finding her in my room when I got there. "Did you leave something in here, can you just look for it tomorrow? I really need to get some sleep."


    "Can we talk, please?" She swallows as a blush coats her cheeks.


    "Look, Madison, I have a girlfriend." I say with a sigh. This idiot girl in front of me is so damned cute that if I was in the mood for anything more than oblivion right now, I might answer differently. But, after last night, which I still don''t know what to think about, and today''s fight. I just want to turn my brain off for a while. "A girlfriend who happens to be rather jealous of you."


    "I know, I know." She pouts. "And, I feel like shit for this, but I just cannot get you out of my head. I haven''t been able to since we first met. And, after watching that fight..." She snakes a hand down to her crotch while the other one opens up her top, which only seemed to be buttoned, and starts playing with her breasts.


    "Please stop." I whimper. "Please Madison, I don''t want this."


    "Nnh. Dammit!" She stamps her foot in annoyance making her breasts jiggle in a very eye-catching way. "I wanted to make this easy, damn you. But, fine, if this is how it has to be, then... I was here last night, I saw everything. Don''t panic! Please, I won''t tell anyone."


    "..." I just glare at her.


    "Look, it''s alright." She walks closer, her exposed breasts bouncing slightly with each step while I just stand there, unable to move. "It was just a random fantasy, it doesn''t mean anything; I''ve even thought about Mason that way before."


    "I''ve never... I didn''t want..." I move away from her and drop on the bed, a cloud of her scent rising from the sheets again as I do. "She was just wrapped around me yesterday morning when Queenie went after my morning wood. I don''t want my little sister like that."


    "I know, I know." She sits down next to me and starts stroking my back. "I was here, I saw everything. I... I kinda set a trap for you. I sweat all over your sheets hoping that when you smelled me that you would... you know, while thinking about me."


    "And then you''d step out and surprise me?" I sigh and flop back onto the bed. "I wish you had, maybe then I would only have to worry about cheating on my new girlfriend instead of being the worst of the worst type of person."


    "You''re not a bad person." She leans over me, one hand on my chest. "All sorts of stupid shit goes through our heads when we do that, it doesn''t mean anything. And I swear I will never tell a soul."


    "As long as I give you what you want." I''m too tired to even glare at her.


    "Please?" She bites her lower lip. "You can even keep Maria as your girlfriend; everything can stay how it is now. You just won''t have to rely on Queenie to feel good anymore."


    You might as well go ahead, it''s not like I''m going to say no." Even as worn out as I am, she''s still beautiful and literally begging me for it. "But, you''re doing all the work; I am too damned tired to do anything but lie here."


    "Good enough." She smiles a cute little smile and leans down to kiss me. She''s as inexperienced as every other girl I''ve kissed so far. All two of them. But, her enthusiasm soon stirs a certain part of me to life, even if the rest of me feels half dead. "Mnh. This is my first time. Here I am practically forcing myself on you, and I still feel nervous."


    "The healing salve is in my bag if you want it." It has a strong numbing effect to go with the other properties. "Also..." I place my hand on her belly and chant the contraception spell. I do the same to myself after cupping my balls, better safe than sorry. "You''re supposed to be helping Mom while she''s pregnant not getting pregnant yourself."


    "Shut up." She blushes. "And, save the salve for after. I know it''s going to hurt, but I want to feel everything." Madison, my idiot girl, begins to undress me with fingers made clumsy from nerves.


    "Why don''t you let me handle the shirt?" I smile up at her and move her hands down to my waist. "I can''t believe I''m doing this; you''re not the only virgin in the room you know." I tease and lift up my hips so she can pull my pants down, revealing my erect shaft.


    "You are so beautiful." Her eyes travel all over my toned body, but keep returning to my hardness. "How are you still a virgin?"


    "I had a girl back in the city." I explain. "But, she was in an apprenticeship and her master was a total hardass. Between that and the long hours I had to spend in the field, it just never happened. And, speaking of beautiful." She strips out of her clothes and I finally let myself recognize just how attracted to her I really am. "You know, I''ve been trying not to like you just because you were an adventurer. But, damn!"


    "Heheheh." She giggles before straddling my waist. "Can we kiss some more? Just until I work up my nerve?" In response, I lever myself up and press my lips to hers.


    Kissing is one thing. Kissing when both of you are naked is something entirely else. Especially when she''s lying on top of you, her soft curves pressed into you.


    The exhaustion I felt previously is forgotten as we explore each other''s bodies with our hands while our tongues dance together in a still clumsy, but gradually improving dance.


    "Please tell me that you''ve worked up your nerve." I pant when she pulls back to breathe a moment later. "I need to be inside of you." She smiles in answer and sits up on my lap.


    The heat of her center pressing down onto my shaft is nearly unbearable, but it''s her first time, so I hold myself back. Madison raises herself up on her knees enough to guide my tip to her opening.


    "Oh, Cole." She stares me straight in the eyes while lowering herself down onto me. "Nnh." She whimpers a little when my progress into her is met with resistance. But, steeling herself, she pushes past it with a hiss of pain.


    "Come here." I lever myself up and wrap my arms around her as she adapts to the intrusion. "Kiss me again."


    "Mnh." She cries into my mouth and starts rocking her hips against mine.


    Her soft gasps and cries of pain slowly morph into moans of pleasure. It takes everything I have, and then some, to just let her move at her own pace. That, and to not just explode inside of her right away; luckily, my exhaustion might be forgotten, but its effects are still here.


    "I need you to cum for me Madison." I pull back from our kiss just enough to look her in the eyes. "I won''t let myself cum until you do, but I need you to quit torturing me like this."


    "Oh, Cole!" My desperate plead sends her over the edge. "Gods, yes! COLE!!!" She screams my name and her already tight walls clamp down on me like a vice.


    "Maddie!" I grunt her name out and, no longer able to hold myself back, I piston into her. Filling this foolish adventurer, turned maid, turned blackmailer with my seed.


    ...


    "Thank you." Madison, lying on my chest, breathes out afterward.


    "No, thank you." Her whole body moves when I laugh. "That was a lot better than any slime. But, ugh, tomorrow is going to suck. I''ll go into town to tell Maria after breakfast, but Mom is going to know as soon as she sees us. Don''t worry; she''s been pushing me at you since I first told her about how we met."


    "You don''t have to tell Maria, I meant what I said." She has her face pressed against my chest so I can''t see her expression right now.


    "No." My voice comes out harsher than I intended it to. "You both deserve better than that. Even if your means of getting here were a little underhanded."


    "I''m sorry." She almost whimpers.


    "Don''t be." I stroke her hair. "But, we should get that ointment in you before we forget."


    "Mhm. I was fine during, but yeah." I can see her wince when she moves off of me. "Can you?"


    "Alright, but don''t think this is the start of round two, I really do need sleep." She giggles when I grab the salve and move between her legs. "Uh, is it alright if I have Queenie clean you up?" I make the slime pass over me and the sheets.


    "Mhm. Just have her be gentle." The queen slime sends a small tendril inside of her to take care of our mess and her blood. "Hehe, that tickles."


    "All done, I''m putting the salve on now." I''m not nearly as gentle as Queenie was able to be, but the numbing agent takes effect quickly making her sigh in relief. "All good." I give her a little kiss down there which sends shivers up her body. "Now, let''s get some sleep."


    "Alright, but you have to do more of that kind of kissing tomorrow." She purrs as I lie down next to her.


    ...


    Mom didn''t say anything when we went in for breakfast the next morning, but she had a knowing smirk on her lips the whole time. I just ate my meal as quickly as possible and got the hell out of there.


    ...


    "Can you stay here for a moment?" I ask Rosie when we get to the healer''s. "I need to have an important talk with someone and she is only going to get distracted when she sees you. I promise we can explore the town in just a bit."


    Leaving the slimes outside, I take a deep breath to steel myself and walk in the door ready to crush this poor girl''s heart. Maria smiles when she sees me, only for her face to fall a second later when she recognizes the expression on my face.


    "You fucked her, didn''t you?" The cute little healer girl snarls at me.


    "She was waiting in my room last night." I admit, my voice flat. "I''ll leave you alone from now on. I''m sorry."


    "Just get out! You bastard!" She spits, but I''m already leaving.


    ...

 # 015

    "I''m fine, Rose, really." The slime is connected to my soul and can feel my mood as well as I can feel hers. "It''s just complicated human stuff. ... Yes, I know, humans are weird. Now, how about we explore the town, so you can get to know us a little better?" And, I can take my mind off of it.


    The three of us spent the rest of the morning doing just that. Everyone seemed to love the two odd slimes, especially Rose who ate up the attention. Finding ourselves outside the local guild house a while later, I figure that it''s a good idea to introduce her since she''ll probably be wandering around a lot.


    "Hey, is the head in?" I lean close to ask the receptionist so she can hear me over the noise. The whole place is filled with a bunch of loud idiots who would probably be laughed out of any other guildhall. But, the country needs adventurers, even bad ones. "I have a couple of new pets and want to make sure that people know not to mess with them. Queenie isn''t likely to wander, but Rosie might get bored and explore the town."


    "Aww." The receptionist coos down at them. "I didn''t know they came that big, let alone in pink."


    "What''s the matter?" One of the loud idiots decides to show off just how stupid he is. "Afraid that somebody is going to pop your little pet?"


    "No..." I send the receptionist an apologetic look, both for the fact that she has to deal with idiots like this all day, and for what I''m about to do next. "I''m afraid of having to buy a gravestone for whatever moron decides to mess with them. Queenie, Engulf!"


    "..." He doesn''t even have time to scream before being completely encased in slime.


    "This is a queen slime." I announce to the stunned room. "I see only a couple of you know what that is, so I''ll let them explain later. But, if you ever see one in the wild, run! Rosie is unique as far as I can tell, but if you see one like her... well, it''s probably too late to run." She bounces off of one of the thick beams holding the wall up and back to me faster than the eye can follow. "Queenie, Release!"


    ""..."" The crowd just stares as the slimes cuddle up against my legs begging to be petted.


    "Thank you for the impromptu lesson, Mister Ryder." The guild head says with a smirk on her face for the room. "All too many of my guild members fail to even bother learning about the forest, thinking that all it contains are common slimes. But, there are queens and kings out there, and you never know when a dungeon is going to pop up out of the blue." She chuckles. "Thank you for the warning about that, by the way. And, for saving my people by killing those wargs when you did."


    "You''re welcome." I bow my head to her. "And, you might be glad to hear that those two quit the adventuring life. My parents took pity on them and gave them jobs where they aren''t likely to get killed."


    "Oh, if only everyone who wasn''t cut out for adventuring would learn the same lesson." She says while staring pointedly at the fool that I sicced Queenie on. "I''ll make sure that word gets around not to mess with your slimes. But, could I get a good look at them?"


    "Of course." I grin back at her. "They both love attention. Isn''t that right, girls?" They jiggle happily when I bend down to pet them. "Rosie here is sapient, by the way." I add, earning a stunned look from the guild master. "That''s why I came in today since I''ll be letting her wander as she pleases. Within reason, of course."


    "Truly?" She forgets all decorum to rush forward and examine the slime. "Where did you find her? When?"


    "Deep, deep in the woods, just yesterday." I reply and lift my little pink beauty up in my arms. "Ran until kings started to be a common sight and then ran some more. She''s been all alone out there for who knows how long. Gave me the toughest fight of my life, but I knew that I couldn''t just leave her out there."


    "Worse than wargs?" She raises an eyebrow.


    "Wargs you can cut, my swords just bounced off of Rose." Her eyes go wide at that. "Had to wear her down by coating my blades with lightning, and even that barely worked."


    "You know you''re wasted just collecting toilet cleaners, right?" She shakes her head at me.


    "I''m no adventurer." I smile at her. "And, the slimes we sell are good for more than just the privy. They can get even the toughest of stains out of laundry, do the dishes, scrub the floors, and make it so you never have to dust again." I run through the spiel. "And, best of all, they never need to be fed, they can survive off of nothing but ambient mana."


    "Hahaha!" She cracks up at my sales pitch. "Almost word for word the speech your father gave me. Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."


    "Oh, sorry. I already have a girlfriend, but I''ll be sure to keep you in mind." I tease and actually draw a blush from a woman older than my mother. "Ow!" I laugh while rubbing my shoulder; she was able to push me back half a step with just a casual swat.


    "Damned teenagers." The woman shakes her head at me before turning around to glare at the snickering crowd. "I''ll be in my office if anyone needs me." She says in a tone that means trouble for anyone who dares bother her.


    "Oh, gods." The receptionist breaks into nervous giggles once the guild master leaves. "You must be insane. I''ve never seen anyone tease her before, let alone flirt with her. You''re lucky she didn''t smack you into the wall."


    "Hey, I was serious." I smile down at the girl manning the front desk. "She''s pretty cute for an older woman, and that blush was just adorable." We both start giggling then.


    "Mad man." She shakes her head at me. "Did you really kill some wargs all on your own?" Every ear in the place perks up at that, I know they all must be dying to ask the same question.


    "I got lucky." I shrug. "Do you know the twins Maddie and Mason? Well, Madison was following me around after I took pity on her and let her get some easy cores when a howl came to us on the wind. Her brother''s scream following it just a moment later..."


    I break into full story-teller mode for the receptionist alone, doing my best to ignore the gathered crowd. Detailing my idiot girl''s frantic flight towards her brother, the brief encounter with the wolf and how I took down the wargs in a few simple moves.


    "...After that, we just turtled up and waited for my Dad and the guild master to clear the woods." I finish up. "It wasn''t much of a fight, I know, just a couple of lucky shots. But, if you want to hear a real fight? Let me tell you about how I met Rosie yesterday..."


    I''m not sure why I''m chatting her up, why I even went so far as to flirt with the guild leader. Not when I normally can''t stand anything to do with the guild. But, I guess having a girl throw herself at me has changed me a little.


    ...


    After leaving the guild, with a promise to bring the slimes back to see the receptionist again, the three of us continue our tour of the town. Everyone we meet is curious about them, Rosie especially, no one has ever heard of a pink slime before. And, she really is cute, surprisingly so for a melon-sized blob of jelly.


    "Ah, young Mister Ryder, I was hoping that you would make your way around here." The mayor himself greets me when we stop in at town hall. "Karla informed me that you found a smart monster in the woods and were showing her? around town."


    "Yes." I return his greeting with a smile. "And, I suppose they''re technically sexless, but both Rose and Queenie feel like girls to me. She doesn''t mind me seeing her that way either, so it all works out."


    "Fascinating." He strokes his chin while peering at my girls. "And, she was just out in the woods for years, no others like her?" He''s probably worried about his town being overrun by intelligent monsters.


    "As far back as she can remember, yes." I pick her up to cradle her in my arms. "That''s why she''s so curious about the town and the people in it. Rosie didn''t even know there were other people until after the bond formed. That and she loves all the attention everyone is giving her. I think that might be a slime trait though, as Queenie eats it up too."


    "Hah!" He laughs and then offers a courtly bow to the slime in my arms. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Rose and you are welcome to visit the town any time you like."


    "She says thank you." Not really, but she does like the chance to explore some more. "I''ll make sure that she behaves, but please let me know if her presence causes any disturbances. Since she is her own person, I''m trying to give her as much freedom as possible. But, I know that not everyone will be comfortable with a monster wandering around town, especially if she decides to come here on her own."


    "Honestly, I can''t see anyone having a problem with such a cutie." Rosie wiggles at the praise the mayor gives her. "But, I''ll be sure to inform you if any issues crop up. It''s amazing though. To think that a unique intelligent creature was just out there and we had no idea."


    "She is amazing, isn''t she?" I chuckle and give the slime a squeeze before setting her on the ground again. "I think we''re going to head home now, I''m still suffering mana drain from the fight yesterday, and she needs a while to consolidate all this new stuff she''s experienced."


    "Of course, of course." He smiles. "But, do feel free to stop by again any time."


    "Will do, Sir." I nod my head to him before leaving.


    ...

 # 016

    "Can we play with Rosie?" - "Can we, can we?" The twins waylay us as soon as we get back home. Katie is hanging back, but she seems just as interested.


    "Rose is her own person; you can''t just order her around like Queenie." I say patiently as they look up at me with puppy dog eyes. "She wants to learn more about us, so she''s willing to play with you, but you have to treat her like a guest, not a pet."


    "Can you copy us like Queenie does?" Kaitlyn asks.


    "Queenie, copy." I have Queenie demonstrate when Rose asks what she means. "Hmm? She''s never tried shapeshifting before. It looks like it doesn''t come quite as easily to her as it does Queenie, but she likes the idea of a new game. Why don''t you girls get the baby toys from the nursery, you know all those differently shaped blocks."


    "Good idea, I''ll get them." Katie runs off to bring the toys. I''m sure she''s just glad that Sera and Esra have something else to take up their attention.


    "I''m trying to teach her our language, it''s a bit slow going but she''s starting to pick up the basics." I tell the girls while they stare at the contorting Rosie. "So, feel free to talk to her as much as you can, even just describing and naming stuff will help a lot. You can think of it as practice for when the new baby starts learning to talk."


    "I got them." Katie comes running back with a box of building blocks, Jen trailing along behind her.


    "Hey." Jen says and she doesn''t look too happy to see me. "Did you tell Maria?"


    "You know?" I still hadn''t figured out how to tell Jen about Maddie. "I''m so sorry if this makes things difficult with you and Selene."


    "Mom cornered her after you left." My little sister sighs. "And... I''ll figure out something with Selene. I''ll go see her tomorrow, I''m sure she''s with Maria right now, and the last thing she needs is to be reminded of you right now." Her piece said, she leaves after giving Queenie a quick pat.


    "Cole, look!" Kaitlyn''s cry calls my attention a moment later to Rosie who is now copying a ball.


    "Wow." I get down on my hands and knees to examine her; she''s the exact same size as the ball, if not quite as round. Picking her up, I find that while still heavy, she''s not nearly as heavy as she should be. "You can control your mass and density, no wonder you were so damned hard to cut. This is amazing, Rosie."


    "Hey, we were playing with her." - "Yeah, you had her all day." The twins complain when I butt into their playtime.


    "She''s not a toy, girls." Mom says as she enters the room with Maddie in tow, she must have been drawn by their cries. "And... wow!" She breathes out the word just like I did when she spots Rosie''s size-changing ability.


    "Yeah, Dad is going to go wild when he sees this." I smile up at her. "Yes, you can go back to copying the toys now." I set Rosie back down with a laugh. "She likes her new game." I explain and get back to my feet, careful not to look at Madison which just makes my mother start smirking. "Not one word!" I glare at her.


    "I wasn''t going to say a thing." Her eyes are saying enough though. "I was just wondering if we will still be needing the servant''s quarters?" She just had to go there.


    "How should I know? It was just one night." I grump at her.


    "I''d like for there to be more." My idiot girl squeaks out, flushing crimson.


    "That''s fine, dear." Mom smiles at the girl who blackmailed me into sex. "Just be careful. I want grandchildren, but maybe wait until this one is out of diapers first." She pats her belly and the two of us look like we''re trying to do an impression of Rose. "Even when you think you''re safe too, that''s how this one got here."


    "Mom." I throw my head back with a sigh. "You know how you get kinda crazy when you''re pregnant. This is one of those times. And, don''t call off construction just yet. If you give it to Jen and say it was my idea, then she might forgive me for messing things up with her girlfriend''s best friend."


    "Oh, hush." She dismisses me with a wave. "Jennifer and Selene will be fine. You and Maddie make a much cuter couple anyways; you two are going to have the most adorable babies."


    "If I have Queenie give you a massage, will you please quit talking about babies?" There''s more than a little pleading in my voice.


    "Oh, fine, you little spoil-sport." She ruffles my hair before walking over to her chair. "And, save Queenie for later, I want to watch Rosie play right now."


    The slime''s control over her shape has been slowly getting better. I get the sense from her that it''s like using a muscle that she didn''t know she had, and the more she practices the better she gets.


    ...


    "Hey." I tap softly on the open door to Jen''s room. She is lying on her bed, reading. No surprise there. "I know you''re pissed at me, but you''re missing out on an exciting research opportunity."


    "Just leave me alone, Cole." She doesn''t even look up from her book.


    "If you want." I sigh. "But, I know you''ll be even more mad at me later if I didn''t tell you that Rosie can control her mass and density. Size and weight change with no more drain to her than flexing a muscle is to me."


    "..." She closes her book to glare at me. "I hate you." She gets up and pushes me out of the way to go see the slime.


    "I know." I say to her back. "And, I deserve it."


    ...


    "I have no idea how she''s doing it?" My little sister huffs out almost an hour, and countless diagnostic spells later. "How did you even fight her? She eats every spell I send her way. Even overcharged spells barely give me anything back."


    "Sorry, but she can''t really control it." I apologize. "Not that I think she''s trying very hard, I get the feeling that she likes the way your mana tastes."


    "Can''t you just order her not to?" My little sister whines.


    "Can I order you not to breathe?" I shoot her an annoyed look. "And, Rosie is a person. I will not be giving her any more orders than strictly necessary."


    "Mhm." She hangs her head. "Sorry, I wasn''t thinking. It''s just so frustrating, you know."


    "Little miss magic can''t get it to do what she wants?" I tease. "Well, if you''re frustrated, just imagine how dad must feel right now. First I catch a rare monster like Queenie right before he has to leave, and then I find an absolutely unique sapient slime just days later."


    "Uh... actually, I haven''t told your father yet." Mom admits. "I was afraid that he''d teleport back right away, leaving Madison''s brother all on his own."


    "Hah! I vote we don''t tell him until he gets back." I break into a snickering laugh. "''Huh? New slime? What new slime? Oh, Rosie. Yeah, yeah, I picked her up in the woods right after you left.'' Hahahaha."


    "I''m just waiting until they reach the city." Mom rolls her eyes at me.


    "Thank you for that." Maddie says to mom, her voice full of gratitude. "Knowing Mason he''d... I don''t even know what he''d do if left alone, but it would be something stupid." I smile over at her at that, but then stop when I notice Jen looking at me.


    "..." My sister exhales a long breath through her nose. "You''re still a jerk for what you did to Maria, but you don''t have to pretend that Madison doesn''t exist just because I''m around."


    "Will I still be a jerk if I tell you that Mom is going to give you the place we were building for her?" Her eyes light up for a moment before she hides her excitement with an angry look.


    "Yes, you jerk." She sticks her tongue out at me. "I still can''t believe you went from hating her to sleeping with her."


    "Blame Madison for that, she seduced me." Both Jen and Maddie blush at that. "And, blame Mom''s baby crazy pregnancy hormones for bringing her into the house in the first place. Just be lucky you''re into girls, otherwise, I''m sure she would be pushing random boys at you."


    "I am sitting right here, you know." Mom glares at me.


    "Is anything that I just said not true?" I smirk at her and then catch the pillow that she lobs at me. "That''s what I thought."


    "Shut up and give me my pillow back." I get up and drop it on her lap on my way to sit next to Maddie.


    "And, I''m not just with you because you threw yourself at me." Blackmail aside, I have to admit that I do kinda like her. "As much as it galls me to admit this about an adventurer, I did find you cute ever since that first time we met." Cute like a kitten tangled up in a ball of yarn and too stupid to find its way free. "I never really hated you; I was mostly just annoyed at myself for being attracted to you."


    "Ugh." Jenny groans. "Can I take it back and have you pretend that she doesn''t exist again?"


    ...


    "So, any chance I could get some of those kisses now?" Madison begs when we get back to my room, already stripping out of her clothes.


    "How are you feeling?" I lay her on the edge of the bed and sink to my knees. "It''s not still tender is it?" I ask while kissing my way up her thighs like how I read in that one book I recommended to Jen. I figure that a book about lesbians is going to know a thing or two about how to do this. "Just how many kisses do you think it''s going to take until you feel better?"


    "Is all of them an acceptable answer?" She whimpers when the breath of my words blows over her sex. "Mnh, quit teasing me." I keep kissing all around her but not where she wants it the most.


    "You said you wanted all the kisses though." I tease some more and start working my way back down her legs. "That means I have to kiss all of you. You do want me to kiss all of you, don''t you Maddie?"


    "Yes." She moans. "But, can''t you start here first? Please?" Her delicate fingers reach down to caress her slick folds.


    "Kiss here?" I take her hand in mine and start sucking the juices from her fingers. "Oh, Madison. You taste so sweet." I place her hand back on her opening and wait for her to slick her fingers for me again.


    "Nng. This is revenge for blackmailing you, isn''t it?" She whines as I refuse to give her what she wants. "I''m sorry, I never should have gone that far. Please forgive me." Why did she have to bring it up again? Things were going fine, but she just had to ruin it.


    "Forgive you? But when will Maria forgive me?" I bite her thigh. Not hard, just enough that she knows I''m annoyed. "The worst part wasn''t the way her face fell." Another bite on her other leg. "Not even the hurt, or hatred in her eyes." One more bite, closer to her pussy. "No, it was the defeat, like the poor girl expected it to happen." Back to the first leg and even closer this time. "I don''t think I''ll ever get that look out of my head. But, at least you got what you wanted."


    She flinches when I move my mouth directly over her pussy, but instead of yet another bite. I kiss her. Gentle and loving, I explore her center with my lips and tongue, making out with her sex like I would her mouth.


    It takes a surprisingly short amount of time to find out what she likes. This little blackmailer of mine has a very responsive body, all I had to do was listen to it. A kiss here, a lick there, nibble on this spot, suck on that, change it up a little, go faster until she can''t take it anymore, only to back off to gentle kisses again.


    "Ahh, Cole! Oh, yes!" Madison pants out my name. "Please, Cole, I''m so close. Just make me cum, Cole, please."


    I do as she asks, and bring her up to the edge and send her careening over it. And then, just when she''s at the peak of her orgasm, I turn my head and bite. Hard enough to leave teeth marks this time.


    "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" She screams as pain and pleasure mix in her body in equal parts.


    This idiot girl adventurer, turned maid, turned blackmailer, turned girlfriend, she bucks and thrashes and tries to peel me away by the hair. But, I just keep my teeth clamped in place, licking and sucking on her most sensitive part until she''s left nothing but a quivering mess.


    Finally releasing her, I start kissing my way up her body. Little shivers erupt from her every time my lips meet her soft flesh.


    "Don''t bring it up again, Maddie." I whisper into her ear around teeth lightly clamped onto her earlobe. "I really do like you, but I won''t be so nice next time." Her whole body starts shaking once more as just the threat alone is enough to make her cum again.


    ...

 # 017

    "Mmm, Maddie. It''s good to see that you''re not mad about last night." I moan out without opening my eyes after being woken up in a most delightful manner.


    "No, I understood that, and... I''m sorry again." I get confused when Madison''s voice comes from beside me instead of over top. "But, I''m not sure how to feel about this."


    Finally opening my eyes, I find Madison lying next to me while a somewhat featureless pink copy of her rides my dick.


    "Oh, good morning, Rosie." I greet my pet. "Did Queenie teach you how to do this? ... Heheh, she snuck in and was watching when we did it that first time." I explain to Maddie. "I under-ah-stand that you feel good when I feel good. Mnh. But, you don''t -oh fuck- need to do this. Ah, Ahn... Nng!"


    "Okay." Maddie giggles. "I''m still a little jealous, but that was really fucking hot."


    "Yes, it was." I chuckle as the slime milks the last drops of cum from my dick. "Thank you for that, Rosie. Your shapeshifting is getting really good too. We''re you practicing all night?"


    "Do you think she''ll be able to learn how to talk?" Maddie sits up to examine the slime closer, mostly where my now flagging cock rests inside of her. "It''s weird watching you have these one-sided conversations with her."


    "Oh, I''m teaching her to understand the language." I hedge, giving myself some time to think about it. "She''s picking it up pretty well so far, so that shouldn''t be a problem. I suppose it all depends on whether Rose can copy a working set of vocal cords."


    "Well, if this is how well she can shapeshift after just one night, then I think it''s pretty likely." Maddie says and I find myself agreeing with her.


    "Yes, we''ll work on it in the future." I nod. "But, for now, it''s time to get dressed and go get breakfast. And, Rosie, in the future, you should ask if it''s alright before you copy someone''s appearance, okay?" She shrinks back down to her normal shape. "Hey, it''s alright, girl. Maddie doesn''t mind."


    "Yeah, its okay, Rosie." Madison reassures the slime. "Just make sure you copy my clothes too, unless we''re alone together."


    "Heh. Yes, I know humans are weird." I laugh at Rosie''s comment about clothing. "You''ll get used to us in time. Now, where''s Righty? I need a shave."


    ...


    "Morning." I greet Mom and the girls when Maddie and I sit down at the table for breakfast.


    "Morning." Mom replies with a laugh. "What''s up with Madison?" The girl keeps stroking my cheek.


    "She''s been like this ever since I shaved." I roll my eyes. "Should have seen her eyes bug out when I dropped the slime on my chin. So, how''d Queenie treat you last night?" I sent Queenie with Mom when Maddie and I retired to bed.


    "She was fantastic." Mom smiles down at the slime and sets our plates in front of us. "I woke up feeling more refreshed than I have in years. And, yes, he startled us with that trick the first time too. But, you have to admit that the slimes do a good job. And, even better, they finally got Gerald to give up on that scraggly beard he kept trying to grow."


    "Oh, gods. I''d almost forgotten about that." I start laughing, but only for a moment before changing the subject "So, I need to go collect slimes today, and no, I will not be taking a baby sitter. Jen wants to go see Selene, and Kaitlyn still owes the twins a couple more days."


    "How are you feeling?" Mom doesn''t look happy about it, but she doesn''t say no either. "I know you had the mana potions this time, but a second bout of mana drain so soon after the last isn''t good for you."


    "I''m fine, Mom." I try not to roll my eyes at her. "Fine enough to capture a few dozen slimes, at least. And, I''ll have Queenie with me just in case another dungeon pops up out of the blue."


    "Not taking Rosie?" She frowns a little more but the girls all perk up.


    "Maddie mentioned wanting to talk to her, so now she''s obsessed with improving her shapeshifting enough to copy vocal cords." I explain while smiling down at the slime that hasn''t stopped changing her shape since we got inside.


    "Really?" Jennifer lights up the way only a magical researcher can when presented with a new puzzle. "Do you think she''ll be able to do it?"


    "Rosie, please copy Jen." I have to laugh when the slime checks to make sure it''s okay first. "Jen, please say that it''s alright for her to copy you; I told her earlier that she needed to ask permission first. It wasn''t an order or anything, but she''s taking it seriously."


    "Aww." She bends over and hugs Rosie when she reverts from her latest shift. "Of course you can copy me, and thank you for asking."


    ""Us too. Us too."" Sera and Esra chant with Katie and Mom adding their permission right afterward.


    "Wow, she got that good overnight, all on her own?" Jen stares at the copy that is clearly her even if it still lacks some definition. "You are a genius, Rosie; we''ll all help you practice. I''d like very much to be able to talk to you too."


    "Alright, Rosie, I''m not going to be here to translate for you, so let''s work out some non-verbal signals for you to use while I''m away." Her grasp of the language still needs a lot of work, but she can understand some simple words on her own now but needs some way to ''speak'' to people.


    "That''s a good idea." Jen nods, but I can tell by the look on her face that she''s annoyed that she didn''t think of it first. "Alright, Rosie, a nod like this means yes..."


    ...


    "Hey, how''d the training go..." I trail off after finding Selene in the living room with my sisters and Rosie.


    "You jerk!" She stalks up to me. And, even though I see the slap coming a mile away, I just stand there and let her hit me. "Ow! Why is your face so damned hard?" She cradles her hand which seems to have taken more damage than my face did.


    "It''s alright, Rose, she''s just mad that I hurt her friend and wanted to hurt me back." I explain to the slime who did not like seeing me get attacked. "You didn''t break anything, did you?" Selene just glares at me. "I''ll leave you girls alone then. I''ll be working on wands in my room if anyone needs me."


    ""No!"" The twins whine when Rosie follows me.


    "Queenie, go play with the girls." Rosie wants to understand what just happened and isn''t going to leave me alone until I explain. "Oh boy, how do I explain sex and relationships to a slime?" I sigh after getting safely inside my place.


    "I see you met Selene." Madison peeks out from where she''s hiding in the bedroom. "Oof, are you alright?" She rushes up and strokes the red handprint on my cheek.


    "Her hand got the worst of it." I take Maddie''s hands in mine. "She didn''t go after you too, did she?"


    "Nothing worse than a glare, but I ran off to hide in here right after she showed up." She admits with an embarrassed laugh.


    "Well, since you''re here you can help me explain this mess to Rosie." I scoop up the slime and carry her into the bedroom. "This is all complicated human stuff, but do you remember when I asked you to stay outside so I could talk to someone yesterday? Well, Maria, the girl I spoke to, she wanted to be with me, but I chose Maddie instead."


    "..." I put my finger over Maddie''s lips when she opens her mouth to say something stupid.


    "Look, in the simplest terms." I sigh when Rose still seems confused. "She and her friend, Selene, are mad that I broke a promise. Humans take promises very seriously, especially when they''re about sex. ... Yes, the good feeling thing we did earlier."


    "Does she understand?" Madison asks. "And, what is she doing to your lap?" She adds that bit with a sly smile.


    "She understands as best she can right now." I answer while trying to keep a straight face. "Even with me sending her the concepts directly over the bond... well, humans are just kinda alien to her. And, I think you know what she''s doing. She wants to feel good again, but can''t seem to figure out how my pants work."


    "Mnh. I wanna feel good too." She whimpers. "Please? I don''t mind sharing, but I''ve been craving you since that show you put on this morning."


    "Rosie, do you want to help me make Madison feel good too?" The slime agree readily, though it''s a little hard to say whether she did so because she''s just curious, or because she can tell that it''s what I want. "Thank you, now let''s get these clothes out of the way."


    "Is this going to be a thing from now on?" Maddie asks and then gulps after I peel her out of her dress and ask Rosie to wrap around her body, encasing her in slime except for her head and her pussy.


    "Do you not want it to be?" I ask seriously, but don''t call the slime back just yet. "You seemed interested this morning, and I know from personal experience that she feels just as good as Queenie''s."


    "Oh, why did you not tell me that Queenie could do this?" She moans out as Rosie gives her a full body massage. "No wonder your Mom is always borrowing her."


    "Not funny." I lean in to nibble on her earlobe in warning. "Now, do you want her inside you, or me?"


    "Oh, gods!" She gasps when I press my hardness against her opening and tell Rosie that she can finally cover that area.


    "Or, maybe you want both?" The slime and I slide into her at the same time. "Oh, she likes the way you taste. What does it feel like to have her massage your deepest parts while I fuck you?"


    "Good! Gods, this is so good." Her hips start moving in time with mine, lifting to meet me every time I thrust into her. "Mnh, fuck me, Cole. Fuck me hard. She squirms every time you pump into me."


    "She can''t help it." I groan and pick up my pace. "She''s feeling everything I feel right now. And, you feel so good." Madison starts to tighten up on me, and I start pumping even harder. "Oh, fuck! I can''t hold on much longer. Cum for me, Maddie. Cum for us."


    "Nng, Cole, Rose." She grunts out our names. "Fuck! Yes! YES! YES!!! YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!"


    "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" I bury myself as deep inside her as I can go and fill her with my cum, all three of us losing ourselves in the same instant.


    ...

 # 018

    "This is going to be a thing from now on, right?" Maddie went from not sure about the slime to already craving her after just one session of lovemaking.


    "I suppose that depends on Rosie." I chuckle while lying on my back next to her, petting the slime as she rests on my chest, feeling even more liquid than usual. "But, there''s always Queenie if she''s not in the mood. Though, I don''t think that will be necessary, not with how good Rosie feels right now."


    "She''s not the only one." Maddie giggles and rolls, limply, over to snuggle my side and pet the slime. "She feels so weird -good weird- she''s slick, but there''s no residue."


    "Yeah, she''s amazing in every way." I laugh again when the slime wiggles languidly at the praise. "Now, I really should be enchanting wands right now, but I think I''m just going to lie here and enjoy being cuddled by my girls."


    "I like that plan." She snuggles up even closer.


    "Mhm, but before I forget." I place my hand on Maddie''s belly and cast the contraceptive spell. "I''m sure that Rosie ate everything, but better safe than sorry. We don''t want you getting pregnant. Not yet, at least." She giggles nervously at my words.


    ...


    "Hey." I greet Jen when we go in for dinner. I never did get around to making more wands, but even so, it was definitely time well spent. "Was Selene alright?"


    "I had to take her back into town." Jennifer growls in reply. "Because she sprained her wrist hitting you, you jerk."


    "Snerk." I try not to laugh, but the snort escapes from me anyway. "Sorry, sorry. But... hahahaha." I just can''t hold back the laughter anymore.


    "Don''t fucking laugh." Jen punches me and then starts shaking her fist which only makes me laugh harder. "Dammit! This isn''t funny. Selene told me a little about Maria''s life before she came to town."


    "Sorry." I say and mean it this time. The somber look on Jen''s face washing away my humor.


    "You should be." She huffs. "Apparently, amongst her father''s many stellar qualities." Jen''s voice oozes with sarcasm. "He used to sleep around on Maria''s mom, treated her like shit, and would flaunt the affairs in her face."


    "..." There''s nothing I can say to that.


    "Then it''s a good thing that Cole isn''t like that." Maddie speaks up for me. "He went straight to Maria afterward, told her what happened, and broke it off. Even though I told him that it was alright if he kept seeing her." Jen gasps at that. "Maria might be hurt right now, but they barely knew each other. She''ll get over it!"


    "Ease down, girl." I stroke Maddie''s back to soothe her ruffled feathers. "Look, Jen, I''m far from blameless here, but Maddie is right. Maria and I had two dates -if you can call hanging out in the library a date- it''s not like we were promised to each other. I feel like shit for hurting her, but it is what it is."


    "Alright!" Mom claps her hands together. "That''s enough of that for now; the food is going to get cold."


    ...


    After dinner, I sat in the living room to actually work on the taming wands. That, and to watch Rosie practice her shapeshifting. Jen might still be mad at me, but she wants to help Rosie out as much as I do. Right now she''s using her earth magic to make complex shapes for the slime to duplicate.


    "I thought you were going to work on those earlier." Jenny comments when she sees what I''m up to.


    "I did say that, didn''t I?" I reply with a smirk that earns me a glare from her and a knowing smile from Mom.


    "Pig." My little sister huffs, but she seems to have mostly gotten over her pique from earlier.


    "Are you saying that if Selene was waiting for you when you went to do the same that you wouldn''t... get distracted too?" I counter and then smile at the blush that creeps onto her cheeks. "And, you should probably be helping with these too; I doubt Dad has been making a lot while on the road."


    "True." She agrees but doesn''t sound too happy about the idea. "At least we don''t have to worry about king cores anymore." The alchemist guild would always bid against us whenever one went up for auction, so Dad would usually have to go hunt one himself.


    You''d think a magic-user would be a bad match-up for a giant blob of magic eating jelly, but all you have to do is use magic to attack indirectly. Like my sword attacks, I used the blades to cut through and then a trailing blast of compressed air to blow the jelly out of the way, exposing the core. While Dad would just lob an iron spike straight through with enough force to penetrate it.


    "So, are you going to help?" I prompt when she goes back to playing with Rose.


    "Nope." She looks over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at me. "I''ll think about doing some tomorrow. If I don''t get distracted, that is."


    "Whatever." I shake my head at the little shit and get back to work.


    ...


    *Knock knock knock*


    "Are we expecting anyone?" I ask when someone knocks at the front door during breakfast the next morning. "No? I''ll go see who it is then."


    "Thanks, sweetie." Mom sends me a look of gratitude while she and Maddie deal with the twins being pests. I grin back and walk out front.


    "..." My mouth opens, but no words come out when I see who is at the door.


    "I''m sorry." Maria is there, and she''s apologizing to me for some reason. "Selene was completely out of line when she hit you."


    "Please, don''t apologize to me." I finally find my voice. "I deserved that slap for hurting her best friend. I''m sorry for betraying you... and that Selene hurt her wrist." I add as an afterthought


    "I need to get back before we open for the day." With that, she just walks away.


    I stand there and watch her leave, not knowing what to think about this encounter. I only snap out of it after she turns the corner around the gate. Shaking my head to clear it, I head back into the kitchen.


    "Who was it?" Jen asks. The girls are making enough of a racket that she wouldn''t have been able to hear our conversation.


    "Maria." Everyone stares at me, even the twins settle down, even if just for a second. "She came to apologize for Selene hitting me."


    "What?" Jen''s eyes go wide.


    "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction." I start moving the food around on my plate, not really in the mood to eat anymore. "I told her I deserved it, and apologized again. But, she just said that she had to get back to work and left. I''m gonna go get ready." Setting my utensils down, I leave before anyone else comments.


    ...


    "Hey." Madison comes in while I''m changing. "Are you alright?"


    "Just a little thrown, I guess." I shrug and finish tucking in my shirt. "I wasn''t expecting to see her again, certainly not like that. And, if you''re worried that I''m going to go chase after her, don''t."


    "I told you that it''s alright if you want to keep seeing her." I stop buckling my swords on and got wrap my idiot girl in my arms when she brings up that nonsense again.


    "And, I told you that you deserve better than that." I press my lips to hers. "I''m never going to cheat again, not after seeing that look in her eyes. I can''t do that to someone again, least of all you."


    "Mhm. Why are you so good to me after what I did?" Maddie asks after hiding her face against my chest.


    "I like you Madison." I stroke her hair and pretend not to feel the tears wetting my shirt. "And, truthfully, I thought about you a lot more than I ever did Maria. She''s nice, and I do like her, but I like you more. So, let''s just forget about how we got together, okay?"


    "Okay." She nods her head against me and just stays there clinging to me. I don''t mind though, and just keep holding her until she recovers.


    ...


    "About time." Katie huffs when Madison and I finally go back outside. "I know you''re dating or whatever, but do you really need to do it every chance you get?"


    "We weren''t having sex." I bop my middle sister on the head. "We were talking about Maria. Not that it''s any of your business. Now, what are you doing out here, shouldn''t you be slaving away for the twins?"


    "Didn''t you listen to what they were screaming about during breakfast?" She glares at me.


    "Gods, no!" I laugh. "I learned to tune you girls out years ago."


    "Grr." She actually growls at me. "They tried to make me cut my hair off, so Mom said I don''t have to listen to them anymore."


    "How was I supposed to know? They have a fit like that at least once a week." I laugh again for the expression on Maddie''s face right now. "So, judging from your outfit, you want me to take you with me today."


    "Yes!" She nearly shouts. "Please?"


    "Alright." I ruffle her hair. "You can beat on some slimes and pretend they''re Sera and Esra."


    ...


    "You do know that I need to tame at least some of these, right?" I comment with a laugh as Kaitlyn goes all out for the third time in a row on the wave of slimes drawn in by Queenie.


    "And, I need to hit something." She barks back. "Now, shut up and let me fight."


    ...


    "Are you done?" I ask Katie several dozen slimes later when she drops to the ground panting. "You know stuff like this is why Mom and Dad won''t let you go out on your own yet."


    "Shut up. Eek!" She screams when a slime bounces off of a barrier that I conjured to keep it from eating her face.


    "It''s alright to take out your frustrations in the field." I walk up and bop her on the head again before taming the slime. "But don''t ever take it so far as to leave yourself helpless. Just because you saw your idiot big brother take a nap in the middle of the woods, doesn''t mean that you should."


    "Sorry." She hangs her head.


    "Don''t worry about it." I lift her off the ground and carry her under my arm like a sack of potatoes. "Now, come on. You cleared out -almost- every slime around here; we need to go deeper if I''m going to be able to tame any."


    "Do you have to carry me like this?" Katie doesn''t even bother squirming; she knows from past experience that it won''t make any difference to my strength.


    "Backpack means no piggy-back rides, and trees mean no shoulders." I explain with a laugh. "It''s this or I carry you on my hip like a baby. Or, would you prefer a princess carry from your big brother?"


    "Grrr!" She growls at me again before going quiet for several minutes. "...maybe the hip? Any more of this and I''m going to barf."


    "Did you inherit Dad''s weak stomach?" I tease while gently shifting her upright before setting her on the ground so I can adjust my swords. "You''re lucky my sheaths can slide around, otherwise it would be princess carry or nothing for you."


    "Shut up." My well-tempered middle sister kicks a clump of forest litter at me, but her legs are still so tired from the fight just a few minutes ago that it doesn''t even reach me.


    "Oh, is my little Katie-girl being a fussy baby?" I imitate Mom almost perfectly, and she blushes a deep crimson when I set her on my hip. "Hold on tight, baby, we''re going to run now. Isn''t that exciting?"


    "I will stab you in your sleep if you do not stop with the baby talk." Her vow of violence just makes me laugh.


    "No, seriously, hold on." I break into a run, finally happy for the chance to stretch my legs, even if she is throwing off my balance a little bit. "You''re better than Jen, but you just run too slowly for me."


    ...


    "You doing alright, runt?" I laugh again when Katie sinks straight to the ground after I set her down once we reach another good spot for slimes. "Did I run too fast for you?"


    "Hate you." She glares at me, her cheeks burning red.


    "What''s that?" I cup a hand to my ear. "You want a princess carry on the way back? I might actually be able to put on some decent speed that way; you kept throwing off my balance."


    "Shut up and go catch your stupid slimes." She grumbles while sitting there in the dirt. "And, gimme your canteen, I need some water."


    "Yeah, yeah." I toss it down next to her and go to collect all the slimes Queenie is calling over. "Try not to get your face melted off while I''m distracted."


    ***

 # 019

    "A bit light today." I grumble a few minutes later. "Some adventurers must have come through here recently. You up to moving on your own yet, Katie? There''s another decent spot nearby that I haven''t hit in a while."


    "I''m good." She tosses back my almost empty canteen.


    "Gee, thanks for saving me some." I take a swig before clipping it to my bag. "Alright, set the pace." I point my chin in the direction we need to go and fall into step beside her when she starts out.


    ...


    "...help..." A faint cry gets carried to us on the wind.


    "Where are you going?" I throw my head back in annoyance when she changes course. "You know better than to help the adventurers, it just encourages them. Ugh, fine!" I grumble and scoop her into a princess carry so that we''ll be able to get there in time to help whatever idiot can''t even handle a few slimes.


    "I hate you." Katie blushes red at being carried again, but knows that speed trumps embarrassment right now.


    ...


    "Fucking seriously?" My left eye starts twitching at the sight before me. "This one''s on you, Katie. You can help him if you want, but I say we just leave him stuck in the tree. Someone else will be by sooner or later."


    "Oh, would you just tame the slimes already so he can get down?" She smacks me on the chest. "And, you, quit shouting already!" She snaps at the moron who somehow got himself chased up a tree by a dozen slimes. "We''re standing right here."


    "Save me, please." He doesn''t quit shouting.


    "I''d rather not, but I need the slimes anyways." I retort and pull out enough wands to catch all of them. "You do know if you weren''t leaking mana like a sieve they wouldn''t be trying to get at you right now."


    "I-I can''t help it." He stutters in response. "I always get like this when I''m nervous."


    "And, yet you still thought it a good idea to enter a forest filled with creatures that eat magic?" I scoff before sending the newly tamed slimes to join the pack behind us. "I suggest that you find a different place to play adventurer from now on."


    "Ahh!" He screams and would have collapsed after stupidly putting his whole weight on a very swollen ankle, but the tree was there for him to grab on to.


    "See, this is what happens when you help the idiots." I bop Kaitlyn on the head again to take out some of my frustrations. "They always want more help. And, I am certainly not going to carry him in my arms all the way back to town."


    "Well, I can''t carry him." She whines and rubs her head. "Queenie?"


    "Hah. He wishes he was worthy enough to be carried by my pet." That and I haven''t trained her to carry anyone yet. "Nope, I''m going to build him a travois and you''re going to drag his ass back to town."


    ""Noo!"" They both cry out in unison.


    "That or we leave him here." I turn around and start for home; I''ll just get the rest of the slimes tomorrow. "You wanted to play hero, this is what heroes do. And, you." I point at the adventurer. "You had to be rescued by a twelve-year-old girl; it''s hardly any more shameful to be dragged back into town by her."


    "I''d beg to differ." He glares at me. Right now, only the aid of the tree he was hiding in is keeping him upright, and with the way his ankle looks, I doubt he''ll even be able to climb back up.


    "Don''t care." I roll my eyes at him and turn to Katie. "You know the rule; you have to do everything I say when we''re in the field. So, choose. Leave him to get eaten by the next slime that comes by, or pull him back into town."


    "Just make the damned sled already." She grumps out and flops down next to a tree. "I know you wouldn''t just leave him out here, you just want me to do all the work."


    "Yep." I smile down at her before drawing one of my swords. "But, just think. This might be the start of your romance, just like what happened with me and Maddie." I start cackling as each of them duel to make the most disgusted face. "That was a joke, by the way. If you touch my sister, you''ll wish you were eaten by slimes."


    The guy, who looks to be around my age, gulps when my sword blurs out and cleanly slices off a branch as thick around as his arm. He then pales when I slice it lengthwise down the center before it can even touch the ground.


    "When are you going to teach how to do that?" Katie whines, she has something of a love/hate relationship with my sword skills. She loves how cool they look, but hates that she can''t do them.


    "How''s your progress coming on the sword dance?" I ask while stripping the smaller branches and weaving them into a platform to carry the adventurer. "Because if you mastered the transition between the seventh and ninth stances of the third form, you would be able to do that yourself."


    "But, they don''t even look anything like what you just did." She hops to her feet and tries to practice the moves I just mentioned.


    "Start with stance one and work through just the odd moves." I shake my head when she nearly trips over her own feet. "I''ve told you before that there is more than just one pattern to the dance; this is one of the easier ones to find."


    "Meaning I should have found it by now." She hangs her head with a sigh. She only gets three moves in before fumbling.


    "Practice when we get back home." I ruffle her hair for the good attempt. "You have an adventurer to rescue right now."


    "Nng." She grunts but drags the sled over the wounded idiot. "Get on already, I can''t wait to try this out."


    "You''re not really going to make your little sister carry me all the way to town." He pleads with me.


    "She''s stronger than you are." I laugh in his face. "Now, get on the sled or we''re leaving without you."


    ...


    "Please just leave me here." Mister twisted ankle pleads to be dropped off just inside the woods. "I can just hobble into town from here."


    "Are you trying to cheat my sister out of the recognition she deserves for saving your life?" I ask, shocked. "And, after all the hard work she put into hauling you all this way." This might go over better if she were even breathing hard right now, but I''ve been cheating a bit with magic to lighten the load she had to carry. I''m not that mean, after all.


    "Please, I''ll give you anything." Now, that''s what I was waiting to hear.


    "What could you have that she might want?" I sigh and pull out a sack filled with the cores of the slimes she killed earlier. "She collected all of these on her own, just this morning. No, I don''t see you having anything she might need. Come on, Katie; let''s get this over with so you can practice your swords."


    "Wait!" He fishes around in his shirt and pulls out a pendant.


    "A low-grade mana focus?" I identify it after just a second, and find myself less than impressed. From the quality of his clothes, I thought he might actually have something worth taking. "How many of those did you break before Dad quit making them for you?"


    "I lost track." She shakes her head and continues on the way into town. "And, he never stopped; he keeps trying out different formations looking for one that I won''t manage to fry."


    "Nng. I-I have a wand too." The poor guy looks crestfallen when his prized possession is nothing more than trash to her.


    "Decently made, but..." I pull a much better one from a slot in her bracer. "She''s not really the magic type anyway, mostly just uses this to make ice cubes to cool down her drinks." I use it to shoot a foot-long, hardened icicle into the ground before returning it to Kaitlyn''s bracer.


    "What do you want from me?" He begs.


    "Nothing." I tell him honestly. "Just relax and we''ll get you to the guildhall in no time. I''d have her take you directly to the healer, but the guild is closer. You don''t want her to have to carry you any further than necessary, right?" I definitely don''t just want to see everyone''s faces when she hauls him up to the guildhall.


    "Please, there must be something." He''s past begging and just whining now. "I''ll never live this down."


    "Set him down for a minute, Katie." I crouch down next to him and conjure a ball of raw mana. "Make your own and hold it for a minute without leaking. Do that and I''ll take over the sled. As much as I dislike them, the world always needs more adventurers. And, you have more than enough mana to make a decent mage, if you could control it that is."


    "Th-that''s all?" He swallows and tries to do as I asked. Failing straight away.


    "Let''s go." I just shake my head. The first real monster he meets will kill him if he continues down this path. Hopefully, the humiliation of being rescued by a little girl will change his mind about being an adventurer.


    "Wait, please. I can do this." He tries and fails again.


    "Even Kaitlyn here can do this and she''s worse at magic than our Mom." At my words, she condenses not one but three balls of mana with no issue.


    "You''re not cut out to be an adventurer." I tell him plainly. "Go back to whatever small barony you came from and live comfortably as third son while the real adventurers keep the world safe from monsters." He stares at me like I''m a mind reader, but I saw the signet ring on a cord around his neck when he fished out the pendant.


    "Fourth son, and my father''s a count. And, fuck you!" His mana finally comes under control, and a dozen orbs appear and hold steady.


    "Sorry, I already have a girlfriend." I snark back, just to be an asshole. "And, very impressive. But, can you hold it for the whole minute?" He starts sweating well before the time is up, but manages to make it. "Well, thank fuck for that. Holding this damned gravity spell was giving me a headache."


    ""What?!"" Both he and Katie shout the question at me when his weight returns to normal.


    "You didn''t really think I was going to make you drag someone twice your size into town on your own, did you?" I tousle her hair and take over the poles of the travois. "And, you''re welcome for the lesson, by the way; you''re lucky that Mom told me to be nicer to adventurers."


    "That was you being nice?" I can feel him shaking through the poles I''m holding. "You tried to extort me!"


    "Only until I saw the signet ring." I roll my eyes even though he can''t them. "Well, that and, for a count''s son, you don''t have anything worth taking." I add with a laugh.


    "Shut up! It''s not like I just walk around to woods with a pouch full of gold." He tries to defend himself, but it only makes me laugh harder.


    ...


    "Did someone order an adventurer with a side of twisted ankle?" It''s less loud in the guild than last time, so I don''t bother going up to the counter before speaking. "If this becomes a regular thing, I''m going to have to start charging for each rescue."


    "What happened?" The receptionist and several others walk up next to me at the door to gawk out at the poor guy stuck in the sled.


    "He let his mana leak." I explain and then roll my eyes at the looks of confusion on everyone but the receptionist''s face. "Slimes eat magic." I refuse to spell it out any more than that. "Now, does someone want to haul him off to the healer for me, I have stuff to do."


    "Are you sure this doesn''t have anything to do with the rumor I heard about you and her apprentice?" The receptionist teases.


    "Mhm." I just grunt, earning a smirk from her. "Freakin'' small-town gossip." I shake my head in annoyance and take off back home to see if Katie has made any progress with the sword dance. I gave her my bag and told her to get the new slimes settled in when we passed by home.


    ***

 # 020

    "Looking good, Runt." My unexpected compliment makes Kaitlyn trip over her own feet. "Well you were; I''m not sure I''ve seen that move in the sword dance before."


    "Shut up!" She growls at me and hops back to her feet to begin again, but I''ve already switched my attention to the slime that is mimicking her almost perfectly.


    "Rosie, you are amazing." I scoop up the copy of my middle sister and spin her around in glee. "Remind me to do something special for Jen as thanks for all the help she''s been giving you."


    "No need." Jennifer shakes her head, but I can see the hint of pride she''s trying to hide in her expression. "Working with Rose is a reward in itself."


    "Okay." I shrug and try to hide my smirk. "Then I won''t tell Dad to pick up a box of that chocolate you like when he gets to the city."


    "Well, now. I have been putting in a lot of effort with her." I have to laugh at her instant reversal.


    "No, no. Like you said, working with Rosie is its own reward." My smirk turns into a smug grin. "I''ll just give the chocolate to Maddie instead. ... Hahaha. Yes, yes. I''m just teasing her Rosie; I''ll still get her the chocolates. You''re lucky she likes you, Jen."


    "Oh, shut up." She rolls her eyes at me with a huff. "And, maybe now that you''re here, you can tell Rose why I don''t want her shoving her fingers down my throat."


    "Hah!" The laugh erupts from me. "Well, how else is she supposed to learn how we talk. Come on, Sis, this is for research." She just glares at me. "Oh, fine. I''ll do it. You big baby." At least I try to, but I just can''t handle it. "I''m sorry, sweetie but you need to thin out some more."


    I held out for longer than last time, but as soon as she touched the inside of my throat I started to gag. Rosie pulled out right away, but I still almost barfed.


    "It''s alright, it''s alright." I pick up the slime and hug her after she reverts to her original form. "We''ll get there, Rosie. Why don''t you try mimicking water? That way you could just coat the inside of my mouth and throat, hopefully without making me gag."


    Rose squirms out of my grip and bounces excitedly for the kitchen.


    "You''re insane, you know that, right?" My little sister looks at me like I just grew a second head.


    "What?" I scoff at her. "She needs to ''see'' how our voice boxes work somehow. I suppose I could feed her a goblin or something, but they aren''t likely to spawn around here. I''ll have to tell Dad to keep an eye out for one while he''s on the road. You know, once Mom actually tells him about Rosie."


    "Insane." She shakes her head at me.


    "Since when is that new?" Katie joins in with a laugh before glaring at me. "So, I got past the ninth stance, but I still can''t copy what you did earlier."


    "I said to master that transition, you''re still moving through it like you''re underwater." I walk a few paces away to show her how she should be doing it. "See, this whole pattern needs to be done at speed. The whole point of it is to teach your body how to do those rapid shifts."


    "Nnh, hate you." She growls and goes back to her practice, this time somewhat faster. I offer a few pointers here and there, and her progress is slow but steady. "Just wait until I master this. Then you''ll have to watch out the next time we duel."


    "Oh, no." I start shaking in mock-fear. "Is my middle sister going to beat me up?" I get another glare from her for that, but it motivates her to put that much more effort into the forms.


    ...


    "Oh my!" Madison says and starts laughing later that night when she walks in on Rosie and me trying again to let her get a peek at my vocal cords. "I didn''t know you walked that path."


    "Shut up!" I blush bright red after realizing that it looks like I''m fellating Rosie''s tentacle. "Ack! Enough, enough. Sorry, Rose, that was a lot better than earlier. We can try again later, but I think Maddie just signed up to give me my first blowjob."


    "Well, somebody has to show you how it''s done." Her laughter grows with my blush. "Oh, that is so cute. I think this is the first time that I''ve ever seen you embarrassed. Now, take off your pants, I''ve been wanting to try this for a while now."


    "Have you now?" Seeing the look of desire on her face has given me a little control back. "You do seem to like watching from up close when I fuck Rosie. Were you just waiting for me to pull out and give you a taste?"


    "Nnh." She whimpers when I finish unbuttoning my pants but don''t pull them down. I tease her some more instead by slowly removing my shirt, one button at a time. "Please, Cole."


    "Just wait." I dance out of the way of her grasping hands. "I don''t mind a little teasing, but I much prefer to be on this side of it. Now, get down on your knees like a good little girl and beg for your treat."


    "Oh, yes, Cole." She drops to her knees and licks her lips in anticipation. "Please give me your cock, let me take you in my mouth." She starts walking towards me on her knees until I wag my finger at her.


    "Uh-uh-uh." I chastise her with a grin. "You have to be patient if you want this treat." I grab my hardness where it''s bulging down my pants leg, all I have to do is pull them down a bit and it will pop free.


    "Please give it to me, Cole." Her entire being is locked onto my crotch right now. "I need you, I need to touch you, to taste you. I need to kiss and lick and suck on that glorious manhood of yours."


    "Well, why didn''t you say so earlier?" I smile and pull my pants down just enough to reveal the shaft before pulling them back up again. "Heheheh. Don''t worry, baby, you''ll get it soon enough. I just want you to take off that dress of yours first; you''re not the only one with cravings here, after all."


    I wag my finger again when Maddie moves to shuck it off in one go. She whimpers and shakes all over at my unspoken order to slow down and undress properly.


    "Good girl." I reward her restraint by finally revealing what she''s been craving. "Look up at me." I tilt her chin up and bend down to kiss her. "You are so beautiful, Madison. I know you want nothing more than to make this your whole existence." I place her hand on my erect cock. "But, I want you to look me in the eyes while you suck my dick."


    "Yes, Cole." She gulps with a minute node, her eyes never leaving mine. "Anything you want."


    "All I want is you." One more kiss before I straighten up and bring my shaft close enough for her to begin kissing it.


    "Thank you, Cole." Her small pink tongue darts out, almost shyly, to lick at my tip. "Mmm." I think she wanted to kiss and lick some more, but that one taste was enough for her to take me into her mouth.


    "Oh, Maddie." I smile lovingly down at her while she explores my dick with her mouth. "Let''s move to the bed; I''m going to go weak in the knees if you keep doing that." The way she smiles at my words with the tip of my dick in her mouth nearly makes me nut right then and there.


    "Mhm-hmm." She nods and starts pushing me towards the bed all without releasing me from her suction.


    I sit down on the edge of the bed with my legs spread, stroking her hair while she sucks me off. And, just as I commanded earlier, her eyes never leave mine. We''ve looked each other in the eyes during sex before, but nothing like this.


    "I''m going to cum soon." I warn, but she just smiles again and starts sucking and stroking me even harder. "Oh, gods, Maddie. Oh, fuck! I''m going to cum in your mouth, Maddie. Ah-ah-ahn. Nng! Take it, Madison, take it all."


    Then, just as the first spurt of semen shoots out of me. She pushes her head forward, burying me in her throat. The sensation of her trying to swallow me down is mind-blowing and sends my orgasm into overdrive. But, somehow, she keeps me down there until I stop twitching; every last drop of my cum sent straight into her stomach.


    "Thank you." She says with a sloppy smile and tears in the corners of her eyes.


    "No, thank you." I wipe away the slobber from her lips and press mine to them. "Now, I feel bad for being so rough that first time. Let me make it up to you."


    "Oh, Cole." She giggles when I quickly swap positions with her. "You have nothing to apologize for, I don''t think I''ve ever cum that hard before."


    "Well, let''s see if we can''t break that record then." I start licking up the juices that flowed down her thighs while she was sucking me off. I don''t quite manage to make her cum that hard with my mouth, but my cock is ready to go again by the time she does, and I use it to make up with quantity what I may have lacked in quality.


    ...


    "Heh. I''ll ask, but don''t expect her to say yes." I kinda forgot that Rosie was there during the middle of things, but now that we''ve finished she just asked if she could shove something down Maddie''s throat like I did. "It looks like our little slime here is already tired of the sorry excuse for fellatio that she was getting from me and wants a blowjob from the master."


    "Snerk!" A snort of a laugh escapes from Madison''s nose. "Uh, Rosie. I''m still a little sore from that." The slime wiggles cutely. "Nnh, she doesn''t even have eyes right now, why does it feel like she''s giving me the puppy-dog look? Oh, fine, you pest. But, just for a moment, and you have to be thinner than Cole, he was right at my limit."


    Joy floods into me from the bond and Rosie extends a tentacle up to Maddie''s mouth, waiting for her to open it.


    "I can''t believe I''m doing this." She shakes her head, but opens up for the slime.


    "Be gentle, Rosie. Humans are very sensitive on the inside." I pet the slime with one hand, and my girlfriend''s hair with the other. "Just give a little tap when you''ve had enough." Maddie just shoots me a thumbs up.


    "She -ahem- was a lot easier to handle than you were." My crazy, cock-sucking girlfriend grins at me almost a full minute later. "Not nearly as tasty though." She adds with a wicked glint in her eyes.


    "Damn woman." I growl and roll over to straddle her, my hard-on back to full mast and pressing into her belly. "Your throat may be sore, but this had better be ready for round two." I stroke my hand along her breast, down her side, and over her waist. By the time my fingers reach her opening, she''s already panting in anticipation.


    "Yes, Cole." She bites her lower lip. "I''m always ready for you."


    ***

 # 021

    "..." A strange raspy sound wakes me early the next morning.


    "Oh. Good morning, Rose." I can sense her frustration and annoyance over the bond. "I know, girl. I know. But, you''ll get there. It takes humans years to learn how to talk, after all."


    "..." Now, she feels worried.


    "Do you want another look?" I offer. "You did keep working on thinning yourself out, right." She nods eagerly and demonstrates by coating my hand in what looks and feels like a thick layer of pink water. "Alright, try coating the inside of my mouth. Maybe if you just flow over everything it won''t be so bad."


    "..." She tries to say thank you, but nothing but breathing noises come out.


    "You''re welcome." I smile up at her and part my lips. "Oh, this is so strange. Just let me get used to this much first before you move any further back." It''s a little hard to talk with her coating the inside of my mouth with what amounts to a thick layer of mucus, but I know she needs to see this to understand how we talk. "Okay, just take it slow and don''t block my airway."


    I just lie there and breathe for a moment while trying not to cough; I know that if that happens I''m going to choke and probably barf. But, at least I don''t look like I''m sucking on a tentacle again. Her finger is just pressed to the corner of my mouth this time, with her slime flowing out to coat my mouth and down my throat.


    "I''m okay." Speaking is difficult, but possible, even if I do sound like I have a cold. "You will have to thin out a lot more if you want anyone else to do this for you though. This is only working for us because you can feel exactly what I''m feeling."


    I have to smile as she tries copying my words, she even sounds a bit like me. Everything comes out a bit muddled at first, but she already proved yesterday that she''s good at copying movement, and soon improves.


    "I''ve been meaning to bring this up." I say after she finishes. "We''re fine with you copying us, but you should probably start thinking about creating a look of your own. This goes for your voice as well; hearing my own words coming from a copy of Maddie''s lips is more than a little weird."


    She transmits her understanding while repeating my sentences with ever-growing proficiency.


    "Maybe we can go into town again later." She perks up at that. "That way you can see and hear more people to help you get an idea of how you want to look and sound. Alright, I''m sorry but I''ve just about reached my limit." She slowly pulls back out of my mouth and throat. "Ah! Thank you." I finally give way to the coughing fit that I''ve been holding back.


    "Nnh. You alright?" Maddie mumbles when my coughing wakes her.


    "I''m fine Mads, just had something stuck in my throat. You go back to sleep." I stroke her hair until she does just that.


    "Suh-leee-puh wuh-eeiir-duh." Rosie just said her first words, and brought a huge grin to my face.


    "Yes, sleep is weird." I agree with her and slip out of bed so we don''t disturb Madison anymore. "But, humans need it or we feel bad. And, it''s not all that bad; I know you don''t need to, but maybe you should try. Just lie there one night and let your mind drift off, not thinking about anything."


    "Mhm." She sends me an ''I don''t know about that'' kind of feeling over the bond.


    "It can''t hurt to try." I smile at her and tow her into the main house to get an early start on breakfast. "And, speaking of trying. Let me get a cup of tea, and then we can try again. Just work on thinning yourself out as much as possible in the meantime."


    ...


    "Cole, Maddie? Is that you?" Mom enters the kitchen, rubbing sleep from her eyes a while later. "Why do your voices... Oh, I guess that explains that weird echo I thought I was hearing." She laughs. "Good to see that Rose is picking it up quickly though."


    Rosie is back down my throat and copying everything I say while I describe the process of making breakfast and just ramble on about nothing. She sounds like Maddie doing an impression of me now, which is a little better than hearing my voice issue from Maddie''s lips.


    "Yeah." I nod, almost used to the strange sensation by now. "Someone was impatient and woke me up early to practice. I don''t suppose you want to give it a go? As long as you don''t think about coughing it''s not that bad."


    "I think I will pass on that." She shakes her head with a smile and fills a mug with tea. "You look very cute in pink lipstick though."


    "Mhm. Where''s the tea?" Jen stumbles in looking like she was up late reading again. "Oh, that''s you Rosie? I thought you were Madison for a second there. You should probably think about getting your own look soon."


    "We already talked about that earlier." I say and Rosie repeats after me. "We''re going to go into town later to let her get another look at all the people."


    "..." Jen''s mouth flies open, and she nearly drops the mug of tea in her hands. "Rosie you can speak!"


    "She''s copying right now, but she did manage a couple of words on her own earlier." I reply with a proud smile for my slime. "Namely ''sleep weird''."


    "Not your typical first words." Mom chortles. "But, they fit someone who doesn''t need to sleep perfectly."


    "Yeah." I smile and then pat the slime on the arm. "I need another break, Rosie. Why don''t you go give Jen the puppy dog eyes until she lets you try with her?" Mom cracks up when Jenny pales at my words and then even more so at the expression that Rosie sends her.


    "Pa-lease?" That single word from Rosie is enough to make my little sister cave.


    "Argh! Fine." Jen drops into a chair. "You owe me for this, Cole."


    "Yeah, yeah." I wave at her over my shoulder while focused on cooking breakfast. "She''s getting better all the time, but it''s still going to feel weird at first. You''ll get used to it pretty quick though."


    "Uh-huh. Just do it already, Rose... Wait; copy me first, its too weird having you look like Madison." The slime does as Jen asks and then places a finger next to her mouth. "That feels so weird -ahem- no, it''s alright, Rosie." The slime pulled back when she coughed. "You can continue."


    "What the?" Katie walks into the kitchen with the twins in tow. "What are you doing?"


    "We''re..." Jen takes a second to adjust. "We''re teaching Rose how to talk. This is definitely not how it''s usually done, but it does seem effective."


    "No way!" Katie rushes forward and peers into Jen''s mouth. "That is so cool. Can I go next?"


    "Sure. Rosie, Kaitlyn wants to try." Jennifer looks relieved when the slime pulls back to switch targets. "It''s not unbearable, but it is very weird."


    "This ain''t that bad." She just shrugs it off in typical Katie fashion. "Weird, it''s like you''re repeating everything I say, Jen. Kaitlyn is the best. Books are stupid. Magic is for dweebs. Real girls swing a sword around."


    "Ha-ha." Jennifer rolls her eyes but the rest of us are laughing our asses off, especially the twins.


    "Sera and Esra are the best; I want to do everything they say for the next week. Noo!" Katie shouts. I had a feeling what she was about to say and asked Rosie to become her duplicate in the middle of the sentence. "No! Jen said that, not me."


    "Nice one." Jenny sends me a thumbs-up.


    "She brought it on herself." I chuckle at Katie trying to fight off the twins. "You mind getting this plated up while I go wake Maddie?"


    "I''ve got it." Mom takes over.


    "Thanks." I give her a quick hug and pat her baby bump before going to wake up my girlfriend.


    ...


    "So, who wants to come into town with us?" I ask after we finish eating. "Rosie wants to socialize a bit."


    "Why don''t you take everyone?" Mom says with just a hint of pleading in her eyes. The twins have been extra annoying since finding out they weren''t getting their sister back as a slave. "And, maybe leave me Queenie when you go. I could use another massage."


    "Heh. You really need to tame one for yourself." I shake my head but send the slime over to Mom''s side. "Do whatever she says, Queenie. Be good and we''ll go running later." I still have to collect slimes today, after all.


    ...


    "Can we stop in at the seamstress?" Madison asks after Mom sees us off. "I ordered something the other day, and it should be ready by now."


    "That''s fine." I nod. "I was just planning to wander around anyways, maybe look to see if anyone wants to buy a couple of annoying pests."


    ""Hey!"" The twins both give me the same indignant response. "Katie said she was going to do what we say for another week." Sera starts. "We just want her to keep her word." And, Esra finishes.


    "She was fooling around and you know it." I reach back to bop them both lightly on the head. "Now, be good or I won''t buy you any treats. What about you two, do you want to go anywhere in particular?" I ask Jenny and Kaitlyn.


    "The Guild." Katie answers right away. "I need to practice for our next duel. And, I want to cash in those cores I got yesterday, so we''ll need to go see Jen''s girlfriend. Hey, do you think that she can give me a better rate since they''re dating?"


    "So, you''re going to pick on some poor defenseless adventurers?" I shake my head in mock disappointment. "And, probably not; those prices are set by the alchemy guild itself." I add while ignoring Jen''s embarrassed blush.


    "I know you said she was better than me, but did she really kill that many slimes?" Maddie is staring at the bag full of cores, her eyes filled with shock and self-pity.


    "Oh, Maddie." I pat my poor girl consolingly on the back. "Not everyone is suited for the adventurer life. You make a great nanny, and I know Mom is thankful for all the help around the house." She just slumps lower in her seat. "Look, we''re at the seamstress."


    "Mhm-hmm." She just nods and moves woodenly off the cart once I rein the horse to a stop.


    "Hey." I wrap my arms around her from behind and whisper in her ear. "You''re forgetting that I don''t like adventurers. I wouldn''t be with you if you were still one, no matter what you tried."


    "Uh, Cole!" Jenny hisses from behind us. I''m about to tell her off, but when I pull back from Maddie I catch sight of someone frozen in the door of the seamstress shop.


    "Shit." I curse under my breath.


    "Is that her?" At first, I think Maria is asking about Madison, but her gaze is locked onto the pink slime near our feet. "She''s so cute."


    "Thank you." Rosie creates a mouth to reply and carefully enunciates those two words in Jennifer''s voice.


    "You can speak!" The slime obsessed healer nearly loses it.


    "Maria..." I take a deep breath. "This is Rosie. Rose, this is Maria."


    "Hi, Mah-ree-ahh." The slime jiggles over to the apprentice healer. "Why you make Cole feel weir-duh?" Jen, Katie, and even Madison snort at that innocent question.


    "It''s complicated, Rose." I bend down and pick the slime up in my arms. "She''s the one I broke that important promise to." ''Please don''t talk about sex.'' I add silently over the bond after explaining. "I just wasn''t prepared to run into her here."


    "Hu-mans weir-duh." The slime laughs then, something I didn''t know she could do. "You Mag-ic nice. I like you, Mah-ree-ahh."


    "I like you too, Rosie." Maria has a very complicated expression on her face before she looks up at me. "You told her about..." She trails off.


    "She asked." I shrug. "Rosie''s intelligence and curiosity need to be nurtured... even if it is awkward and embarrassing sometimes."


    "Then why you no want me talk sex?" The slime blurts out, making me blush and all the girls, even Maria, laugh.


    "Because there are some things you don''t talk about in public." I reply through clenched teeth, my face burning while the girls all giggle.


    "Hu-mans weir-duh." Rosie grows a head just so she can shake it. The causes everyone''s giggles to erupt into full-blown laughter.


    "Yes, we are." Maria smiles at the slime in my arms before looking to me again. "C-can I talk to her again later? I have to get these bandages back to my master."


    "Rosie is her own person." I reply somewhat noncommittally. "She''s free to speak with whomever she chooses to. She is relying on me for vocabulary pretty heavily right now though, so it might be a while before she can carry on a conversation on her own." I say, meaning ''please don''t drag me in to be a translator.''


    "Okay. Bye, Rosie. It was nice meeting you." She waves good-bye to the slime.


    "Bye-bye." The slime waggles a tendril back and forth in parting.


    ***

 # 022

    "Then why you no want me talk sex?" Kaitlyn repeats Rosie''s earlier words with a loud laugh. "Oh, gods. I thought I was going to die. And, the fact that she was using Jen''s voice made it that much better."


    "..." I just glare at my middle sister, waiting for her and everyone else to get it out of their systems. "Weren''t we here to pick up an outfit?" I say after a minute when they''re all still laughing about it.


    "Oh, yeah." Maddie snaps out of it. "You wait here; I''ll be back in a minute." It took longer than a minute, but I''ve been kept waiting outside clothes shops by Mom and the girls before, and this was nothing near as bad as that.


    "All done?" I ask once she returns with a wrapped bundle in her arms. "Let''s get to the guild then. The twins look like they''re about to go on another rampage, and I can''t think of a better place for them to do so."


    One glance at them is all it takes for her to agree, and soon we all find ourselves at the doors of the adventurer''s guild.


    "Alright, girls, go nuts." I set them loose on the poor unsuspecting fools. "Try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum though." I call after them when they charge into the boisterous crowd.


    "Katie." Jen holds her back before she runs off too. "Give me your cores and I''ll go exchange them for you."


    "Thanks, Jen. Try to get me a good rate." Katie hands over the large pouch with a smirk. "Now, whose ass should I kick first?" She looks over the crowd with a wicked smile playing on her lips.


    "I don''t even know why you''d want to bother with this lot?" I speak just a little too loudly while repeatedly flipping a gold coin in the air. "At least back in the city, you could find a decent match up. Why, I bet that no one here can last more than a couple of rounds against you, let alone win."


    This isn''t our first hustle and normally, I''d put a little more effort into it. But, it''s just not worth it for this crowd. The only ones that might pose a problem for her are the handful of chaperone types and they''ve already got wide grins on their faces, knowing what''s about to happen to their charges.


    "Aww, don''t scare them off, Cole." Kaitlyn looks down her nose at the crowd who is now staring at us with building anger. "Sure, they probably can''t even handle the twins, but they can at least let me practice my legwork as I dance around them."


    "Yeah, you lot couldn''t even beat us." Sera shouts. "Yeah, if you''re too scared to get beaten up by Katie, then we''ll fight you." Esra walks right up to the biggest, burliest guy there, and punches him in the gut with all the force a seven-year-old girl can muster. Which is a lot more than he was expecting, and it shows.


    "Look at that." Katie shakes her head in disappointment. "I''m gonna have to take them on two or three at a time just to break a sweat."


    "Alright, you little brat!" A haughty, princess type is the first to break. "You want a duel, you''ve got one."


    "A bit scrawny, but you''ll do as a warm-up." The girl turns red as Katie mocks her. "What do you think, Cole, two minutes?"


    "You heard her everyone!" I call out with a wide grin. "Three to one odds that princess there doesn''t last two minutes. Five to one if, by some miracle, she makes it to three. Hells, I''ll give you ten to one if she can knock my twelve-year-old sister down even once. Don''t bother asking for odds on her winning, that''s just not gonna happen."


    The crowd erupts into noise as we all file back into the dueling arena. Dozens of the fools hand me their money, too stupid to know better.


    "Do you do this often?" Maddie says into my ear, so I can hear her over the roar of the crowd.


    "Every now and then." I grin back at her and pick Rosie up to set her on my shoulders so she can see.


    "Well, this looks to be an interesting match-up." The guild head came down herself to officiate. Watching stupid duels like this is probably the only fun she gets to have around here. "Kaitlyn Ryder: dual swords versus Leeanne Beaumarch: sword and shield. Do you both agree to this duel?" They nod. "Then, fight!"


    Kaitlyn''s already in motion before the other girl can even take a ready stance. Once up close, my sister moves like she''s going to circle around the girl''s shield only to juke the other way with a spin. The abrupt move ends with one Katie''s swords knocking the girl''s sword away and the other at the nape of her neck, only stopped by a powerful magic barrier.


    "I think you might have over-estimated her by just a smidge, Katie." I say into the now silent room, the crowd too stunned to say a peep. "Maybe you were right about having to fight multiple opponents."


    "That was a fluke!" The girl, Leeanne shouts. "I wasn''t going to go all out against a kid."


    "Sure, you weren''t. Sure, you weren''t." I nod, sagely. "Whatever you have to tell yourself."


    "Fuck you!" She spits up at me. "And, bring it on, you little brat, your trick isn''t going to work twice."


    "You call that a trick?" My little sister laughs right in her face. "Go home princess, you aren''t even worth my time."


    "I demand a rematch!" The girl is red in the face by now.


    "Fine." Katie rolls her eyes and returns to her side of the arena. "I suppose I can give you another thirty seconds of my time. Even if you actually try to fight this time, it''s not going take me any longer than that."


    "Should I even bother to open up the bets again?" I say with a dramatic sigh. "You''re all just throwing your coin away at this point. Fine, fine. Five to one she lasts more than half a minute, ten to one that she makes it through a whole one. And, we all know princess there won''t be able to knock her down, so say twenty to one she even lands a blow."


    I don''t even bother hiding my grin as the idiots hand over their silver.


    "Do remember that the guild taxes all winnings at ten percent." The guild master says for the crowd, but she''s looking straight at me with a shit-eating grin on her face. "You two ready? Then, fight!"


    The princess thinks she''s ready this time, but she couldn''t be more wrong. Kaitlyn dances forward, her moves deceptively fast, even faster than her mad rush from the first match. Leeanne might be angry, but she''s smart enough to not underestimate my sister twice. Too bad for the poor girl she never stood a chance. Not against a sword dancer, even a beginner like Katie.


    In a move similar to, if somewhat clumsier than, the cross slash I used to take out the king slimes, my little sister knocks Leeanne''s sword and shield away with one sword. The opening this makes is then filled by her other blade that is once again stopped by a magic barrier before it can take the fighter''s life.


    "Now, there''s a trick for you." Kaitlyn says with a pitying gaze before spinning away to address the crowd. "Next! Someone who actually knows how to fight this time, please."


    "You fucking bitch!" Princess loses it and tries to take a swing at Kaitlyn, only to end up flat on her back with a sword pressing through the barrier at her neck to draw a drop of blood.


    "What did you call me?" My sister glares down at the sore loser with death in her eyes. "Eww!" She then screams like only a twelve-year-old girl can and jumps away when the girl pees herself.


    "Leeanne Beaumarch." The guild master''s voice roars out to fill the room despite her not raising it beyond a conversational level. "For attacking an opponent after the duel had ended, you are hereby banned from the Guild for a period of one year, and this location for life!"


    As though lifted by invisible hands, the girl floats over the crowd and out the door. Everyone stands locked in place, even those who had her urine rain down on them are unable to move.


    "Fucking idiot children!" The head''s muttered oath breaks the spell on the crowd. "Good moves, kiddo. But, if I catch you cutting a barrier like that again, the same will happen to you." She pats Katie on the head before returning to her seat at the side of the arena.


    "Geez, Katie." I say with an exasperated sigh. "Did you have to make her pee herself? Now nobody is gonna want to fight you." The laughter starts small, but soon every person in the room is laughing their heads off.


    "Oh my god, that was amazing." A tall blonde with hair too long to be practical in the field bounces over to Kaitlyn with a group of friends in tow. "How did you learn to fight like that, are you really only twelve?"


    "Fucking hell." I breathe out a relieved sigh while my middle sister is making new friends. "That hasn''t happened in a while."


    "Wait, that''s happened before?" Madison stares at me wide-eyed.


    "A couple of times before, yeah." I chuckle. "Some people just can''t handle being beaten by someone half their age. The mocking doesn''t help much either, but that''s at least partly my fault; she''s picked up on my general dislike towards adventurers over the years."


    "I''m really glad I quit then." She laughs nervously.


    "Me too." I put my arm around her with a smile. "Girls! Put those weapons back where you found them." Just as I was getting cozy with Madison, the twins decided to liberate a few pointy objects from the gathered crowd.


    "Aww!" - "No fair, we never get to have any fun." They pout, drawing another round of laughter from the crowd. Well, all except the ones who just got pick-pocketed by seven-year-olds.


    ...


    "So, how''d we make out?" Katie runs up to me a while later; she''s all sweaty and dirty from a few friendly spars, but still full of energy. "Not bad." She grins when I bounce the pouch in my hand. "Gimme, gimme."


    Jen and Selene showed up during the spars and, surprisingly, so did Maria. The three of them were keeping their distance from me and Madison though, so I sent Rosie over to play with them as a little thank you.


    "Hah!" I bark out a laugh and toss a coin pouch to her. "Here you go, you little pest. And, of course, here''s the guild''s cut." I toss a much smaller pouch over my shoulder to where the guild master was stalking towards us.


    "Thank you very much." She catches the bag with a grin. "And, I don''t suppose you''d be up for a little sparring yourself? It''s been ages since I went up against a sword dancer."


    "B-but, Karla. My girlfriend and half my family are watching." I start snickering when she blushes again.


    "Alright, that''s it, you little shit." She grabs me by the arm and drags me down to the floor of the arena. "Grab some swords; it''s high time someone taught you the risks of teasing a guild master."


    "Maddie, please forgive me, she''s making me do this." I laugh as my girl''s face turns a deep crimson. "Girls, don''t watch. This isn''t going to be pretty. And, you! Yes, you, the one taking bets. You can at least give me better odds than that."


    "Would you quit fooling around already and pick some weapons?" The guild master says with a sigh.


    "Where''s the fun in that?" I smile at her before dismissing the training blades with a glance. "Those won''t do, not if you want me to be able to put up a fight." Placing my hands at my waist like I''m going to draw, I close my eyes and will my mage blades into existence. "Willing to give me better odds now, you little shit?" I say over my shoulder with a smirk.


    "Hahaha!" Karla''s laughter rings out over the silent crowd. "I knew you wouldn''t disappoint."


    "I''ll try not to, Ma''am." I reply while ducking my head shyly. "But, I''m still a teenager, and well... just look at you." She rolls her eyes, and I take my opening to dash forward.


    My right blade flies forward, aimed straight at those eyes she foolishly took off of me, but it''s intercepted by a hand-and-a-half sword that seemed to teleport into her hand. It was a long shot that she''d fall for such a cheap trick, but I had to try it.


    We wear matching grins as I use the recoil of her block to dance away, only to slip back in to test her once more. Her defense is impenetrable though, even when my blades stab in from entirely different directions.


    "You warmed up yet, boy?" She cocks a mocking eyebrow at me.


    "What?" I shoot back all innocent. "Is my foreplay not good enough for you? On to the main course then." My speed doubles and doubles again, but that damned sword of hers blocks every attack with contemptuous ease.


    "Oh. I suppose you were right." The woman sends me a pitying look. "You really are just a teenager."


    "Hahahaha!" I just laugh at that, but mostly at the single droplet of sweat beading up on her forehead. "At least, I can make you sweat a little. For an inexperienced lad such as I, that truly is the highest of compliments."


    She grins at me and finally goes on the offensive. But, just as she could block my every attack, I can dodge all of hers. Though, by ever-decreasing margins.


    "You''re not running out of stamina already, are you, dear?" Her blade flashes faster and faster with each word.


    "Did you really expect anything less?" I return sadly. "I''m trying everything I can think of, but I''m barely holding on here. Any more of your skillful moves and I''m likely to lose it."


    "Heh! Barely holding on, my ass." She snorts.


    "I told you, not in front of my girlfriend." I say while tilting my head to one side to stare at her butt, only to then have to make several quick moves to avoid getting impaled.


    "Slippery little shit." She chuckles.


    "What can I say?" I shrug one shoulder. "That guy should have given me better odds." She laughs after looking up to the crowd to see that poor bet taker standing there with his face fallen while surrounded by a bunch of grinning chaperones.


    "You''ve been drawing this out? Hah! Well, I think it''s time to end things." I don''t even see her move after that; she just appears in front of me, her sword ready to cleave me in two if not for the barrier and her own restraint.


    "Thanks for the dance, love." I let my swords dissipate and bow to the woman who was toying with me the whole time. "I hope to one day be worthy of you."


    ***

 # 023

    "Mom, we''re back!" We spent the rest of the morning walking around much like the first time I brought Rosie into town. "Sorry, but I need to steal Queenie back." I walk into her room to find her asleep and snuggling up to the slime with a rosy expression on her face.


    After swapping my pet for a pillow, I leave Mom with a kiss on her sleeping brow and warn the girls not to wake her before heading into my room to get my field gear. Once there, I''m greeted by the sight of Madison waiting for me in the clothing she picked up earlier.


    "I knew showing you those books was a good idea." I say with a smile for the skimpy maid outfit she''s wearing. "Nnh. But, you know I have a job to do, right?"


    "Yes, but Master can hardly run around the woods with that uncomfortable bulge in his pants, now can he?" The bulge damn near rips its way free when she calls me master. "Please allow this lowly one to help you with it."


    "Hmm? Something tells me that I''m just being taken advantage of here." I leer down at her and free my erection. "That maybe my slutty little servant has been dripping wet since watching her master dance earlier. And, that I should just use Queenie to take care of my needs and leave such a conniving little girl frustrated."


    The slime morphs into a perfect copy of Madison, outfit and all, before sinking to her knees. Her mouth just inches away from my hardness. The real thing starts whimpering when her duplicate reaches up to stroke my shaft.


    "I''m sorry, Master." Madison cracks when Queenie starts sucking on the tip of my cock. "You''re right, I am just a slut. It was all I could do not to just jump you earlier, to ride you right there with everyone watching. Please forgive this miserable wretch; punish her some other way, any other way."


    "You are lucky that you have such a gracious master." I pull away from one pet and stalk to the other. "You wish to be punished?" I squeeze her ass hard enough to make her yelp. "Lift up your skirt for me and spread your legs. And, if you take your punishment like a good girl, Master might just reward you."


    The little minx whimpers and presents her bare ass to me. There are no panties to catch her fluids this time, so they''ve started running down her legs. I scoop her juices up with a couple of fingers and then bring them to her mouth. She doesn''t even hesitate before taking my digits into her mouth and sucking them clean.


    "Good girl." I punctuate the praise with a slap to her ass. "What''s this? One little spank and you''re already overflowing again." I scoop it up and give myself a taste this time. "How could such a sweet girl turn so rotten?" Another smack on the other cheek this time, and then a much lighter one right on her sex.


    "Ahh!" My perverted maid gasps involuntarily.


    "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that how a good girl takes her punishment?" Two more smacks to her ass and then, when she thinks I''m going to spank her pussy again, I gently brush my fingers over it instead. "How much can you take without making a sound?"


    I start gently, more drumming my fingers against her heat than anything. But, these turn into taps, and pats, and then light smacks. And, Madison has to pull the blanket from the bed and bite into it to keep from making any noise.


    "Is that it?" I say pityingly and start spanking her ass again. "Foolish maid, you can''t even take your punishment. What am I to do with you?" Two more smacks and then I thrust all the way into her in one smooth movement. "Oh, you weren''t expecting that." I chuckle when she squeezes down on me; the unexpected pleasure when she was expecting pain is more than enough to send her over the edge.


    Madison''s knees start to go weak, so I grab her by the hips and start using her just like I used to use my pair of slimes, Lefty and Righty. She cums again from being manhandled before I shoot my load deep inside of her.


    "Thank you, Master." Maddie breathes out when I lay her limp form on the bed. "I swear to serve you faithfully from now on."


    "Good girl." She winces expecting another spanking, but I lean down and kiss her instead. "You rest up now, and let Master take care of you." I have Queenie clean us both up and then apply a thin coating of salve to her red bottom, but not to her sex. I want her to feel everything I did to her there. "I need to go now, but I promise to take much better care of you tonight."


    ...


    When I get back from my hunt, Maddie is wearing a proper maid uniform and helping Mom make dinner.


    "Hey, Cutie, nice outfit." They both spin around at my words. So, feeling impish, I pull Mom into a hug and kiss her on the cheek.


    "Not in front of the help, Dear." Mom''s comment sets all three of us to giggling.


    "Did you sleep well?" I ask and rub her belly. "Sorry for stealing your snuggle buddy earlier." I send Queenie to cozy up against Mom''s leg and move to give my real cutie a hug and quick kiss.


    "I slept fantastically." Mom reaches down to rub the slime. "Thank you for leaving her here this morning. I don''t want to go out while I''m pregnant, but I swear the minute I recover from the birth, you and your girls are going to help me catch one of my own."


    "The very minute." I nod sharply before breaking into a grin. "But, until then you''re welcome to borrow Queenie whenever you want."


    "So, every night until I get my own queen then." She grins back.


    "Mhm." I roll my eyes and give Maddie another quick kiss. "I''m gonna go check up on Rosie. Thanks for putting in so much effort on your cooking, Maddie; it''s really starting to show." She blushes and ducks her head.


    ...


    "Well, that''s different." I chuckle when I see Rosie sitting with Jennifer and the girls while trying out a bunch of different facial features.


    "New game." Rosie says in Jen''s voice. "Make fun-ny face."


    "I was trying to help her blend together a cute new face from those we saw earlier." Jen sounds a little aggrieved. "But, Katie and the twins turned it into a game trying to get the silliest combination."


    "Oh, you poor baby." I pat Jen on the head. "You had your toy stolen away from you by your younger sisters."


    "Shut up." She smacks my hand away, but I can tell by the look on her face that I''m right on the money.


    "Heh." I smirk at her. "Well, you can all play with her later, dinner is almost ready."


    ...


    "How are you feeling?" I ask Madison when we retire for bed later that night. She didn''t seem to have any problem sitting earlier, but I want to make sure I didn''t hurt her. And, it''s not like I could have asked in front of Mom.


    "Just happy to be yours, Master." She snuggles up to me.


    "Heheh." I chuckle and stroke her hair. "I know we were having fun earlier, but you don''t have to keep calling me master."


    "I want to." She looks up at me with puppy-dog eyes. "At least when we''re alone, please? I know you like it too."


    "As a sometimes thing, maybe." I admit. "But, I want a girlfriend more than I want a servant."


    "Then is it alright if your girlfriend asks you to spank her again?" She purrs. "I didn''t think I was into that stuff, but ever since you got angry at me that one time..." She licks her lips. "Well, it''s been a struggle not to say something else just to get you mad again." She hides her head against my chest.


    "We can get a little rough if you want." I lift her chin until she looks me in the eyes. "Mom''s books have a few scenes that I''ve been more than a little curious about. Which is why I tried the spanking earlier. But, I don''t want to hurt you."


    "You won''t." A silly smile fills her face. "Even when you had every reason to do me harm, you still held back. More than that, you made sure that I felt good."


    "Alright." I give in. "But, you have to let me know right away if I ever do anything that does hurt, or that you just plain don''t want. We have to set a good example for Rosie after all." I laugh at the slime who is sitting there eager for us to have sex again.


    "I felt her before. She liked." Rosie''s speech is getting more and more fluid, but I''m unsure of what she means. "Maddie small hurt make big plea-sure." She stumbles over the word, but I''m nearly blown away by the impression she sends me.


    "You can feel what Madison does?" I''m stunned by the implications of this.


    "Strong feels, yes." The slime explains. "Feel humans almost like how I feel slimes, but humans much more to feel than slimes. Hard to un-der-stand all, but good and bad feels easy."


    "This explains so much." I peer at the slime in fascination. "That scream in my head right before the bond clicked into place. The way Jen sensed you were giving her the puppy-dog eyes. You must have some sort of psychic ability; it''s likely an advanced form of how queens order lesser slimes around.


    "Queens dumb." Rosie pouts the lips she formed to speak with. "They talk, but don''t say any-thing."


    "You''ve been so lonely for so long, haven''t you?" I pull her into a hug and pour feelings of friendship and family down the bond to her. "You have us now, and we''re going to take that loneliness away."


    "Yes, we will." Maddie strokes the slime while I hug her. "You are an amazing person, and you will never have to be alone again. This is just... wow! Oh, and no wonder yours and Queenie''s massages feel so nice; you can tell sense what we''re feeling. How much do you get? Do you feel good when I feel good too?" She asks excitedly.


    "Some." The ball of jelly in my arms sends the impression of a shrug. "Not like I feel Cole."


    "It''s more like an echo of your feelings." I explain for her. "It''s more than you''d get just reading the body language of someone you''re very connected to but much less than what she gets from me through our bond."


    "So, a bit like the twin-bond I have with Mason; we could always influence each other''s moods a bit." Maddie nods. "Still, I like that I can make you feel good, even just a little."


    "You make Cole feel very good." Rosie smiles. "That makes me feel very good too."


    "Well, then how about I make the both of you feel very good right now?" Maddie slips out of her dress and proceeds to do just that.


    ***


    SimonSaysWrite

 # 024

    "So, it turns out the girls are empaths." I say out of the blue during breakfast the next morning. "That''s why Queenie can give such good massages, and how Rosie can make it seem like she''s giving you the puppy-dog eyes even when she doesn''t have any."


    "What?!?" Jen almost chokes on her food and stares at me and the pink slime sitting in my lap.


    "Rosie might be closer to a true psychic." I add with a shrug. "But, humans are too weird for her to get much more than vague feelings from us."


    "Oh, your father is going to flip." Mom says with a laugh while Jen sits there stunned.


    "It should have been obvious that they had some sort of psychic powers what with how queens are able to order common slimes around." I say. "But, it wasn''t until Rose let me know how Madison was feeling last night that I pieced it together."


    "How did you not notice before?" Jen accuses me like I was purposefully hiding it from her.


    "I wasn''t looking for it." I shrug again. "How did you not notice when she gave you the puppy-dog eyes? My only experience with psychic powers is through the bond itself. Maybe if I had met one before, but you know how rare they are. Well, outside of twins, that is." I add with a laugh when Sera and Esra stick their tongues out at me.


    "How long until Dad reaches the city?" Jenny asks, nearly frantic. "Oh, why did I put off learning how to teleport? There are so many books I want to check right now."


    "They should arrive tonight." Mom says. "But, I wasn''t planning to let him know until tomorrow, so he''d have a chance to rest."


    "And, you know exactly why you didn''t learn to teleport." I laugh and make a fake retching noise. "It''s the same reason I never bothered; you didn''t want to find out if Dad''s teleport sickness was hereditary. The only thing worse than not being able to teleport is knowing that you can, but only if you pay that price."


    "Don''t remind me." Jen''s nose scrunches up. "Still, this is so amazing. You are so amazing, Rose!"


    "We already knew that." I pet Rosie as she sits there soaking up the praise. "She''s already agreed to run some tests with you, but only if you keep helping her work on a face of her own. She can feel when someone gets uncomfortable seeing their copy, and doesn''t like making anyone feel bad."


    "Of course, Rosie." She reaches over and rubs the slime on her side. "Just how much can you sense?"


    "Cole des-cribe like echo, sim-i-lar to twin bond." Rosie answers. "Less than Sera and Esra, but more than Maddie and Mason. You are happy and... ex-cited?." Her voice lilts up into a question on that last word.


    "It doesn''t take a mind-reader to see that." Katie jokes. "Still, that''s pretty cool, Rosie. Maybe you can let me know the next time the twins sneak into my room and mess with my stuff."


    "It might take a while before she can manage that." I chuckle. "Right now Rose is limited to simple and strong emotions like happy and sad, feels good, feels bad, stuff like that. She barely understands our language, let alone the jumble that goes on in our brains."


    "Humans weird." She breaks out her favorite description of us. "But, I want to know more, will learn good... no, ''well''. I will learn well."


    "She''s serious here." I pick Rosie up from my lap and squeeze her in a hug. "How''s her vocabulary doing when I''m not around to help?"


    "Like the difference between night and day." Jen answers. "But, she''s making steady progress, and can usually get her point across. Though, I have to wonder how much of that was thanks to her ability."


    "Well, I''ll leave her in your hands to find out." Jen lets out a soft grunt when I drop the slime on her lap. "Hefty little thing, isn''t she? Alright, you learn well, Rosie; I''ll help out some more when I get back. But, I think not having me around to rely on helps a lot too." I add when a flash of sadness comes over the bond.


    "I under-stand." She says while sounding somewhat down. "I like it better when you are here, but I know you want what is best for me."


    "I know, I know." I grin and give her another pat. "And, I''m sure that you''re not just jealous that I''m spending time on useless dummy slimes." I chuckle when she squirms in embarrassment. "You are so cute, Rosie. Almost as cute as this quiet little maid who is taking her role far too seriously." I steal a kiss from my girlfriend before leaving, a chorus of giggles following me out.


    ...


    "Eeek!" Madison squeals when I sneak up on her after getting back and scoop her up into my arms. "Ma..." I stop her from calling me master by pressing my lips to hers.


    "Only call me that when you''re wearing the other outfit." I breathe into her ear and sit down on the couch with her in my lap. "I know it gets you off, but it''s still a little embarrassing when you bring our bedroom games out in front of my family."


    "Sorry, Cole." I can feel the heat from her cheeks when she buries her face into the crook of my neck. "It''s fun playing the dutiful maid though. Speaking of..." She tries to turn back to check on the twins, but I hold her in place.


    "The girls are fine." I kiss her again. "They aren''t going to burn the house down if you spend a few minutes with your boyfriend. Right, girls?" I call out, only for them to respond by conjuring a couple of flames above their palms while wearing evil smiles.


    "No fire in the house." Mom hits each of them with a spray of water without looking up from her book. "And, Cole''s right, Maddie. Sera and Esra may seem like little nightmares, but you are allowed to take your eyes off of them."


    "Hey!" - "Mean!" The twins grumble at Mom''s entirely accurate description of them.


    "See." I stroke her hair until she settles down. "Just relax and let me hold you for a bit. All the easy pickings were already taken by the adventurers we hustled yesterday, so I had to run all over the place, and could use some relaxation myself."


    "Mmm." She nods while pressed up against me.


    "Good girl." Maddie shivers when I breathe those two words into her ear. "Hey, Rosie. Do you want to snuggle too? Though, we might need to check with Jen to see if it''s alright that I cuddle with a near duplicate of her girlfriend." I add after getting a good look at the slime.


    "What?!" Jennifer nearly shouts and then covers her face with both hands to hide the blush when she realizes what she did. "Oh, Gods. I didn''t..." She trails off when we start laughing.


    "Hahahaha!" Katie, especially, is cracking up. "I was -haha- wondering how long -hehehe- it would take before she -hahahah- realized. She -ahh- she''s been getting closer and closer all day and it was all I could do not to lose it when I first noticed."


    "Oh, that is so cute." Mom can''t help but coo over what Jen did. "It''s alright, baby. There''s no need to be embarrassed."


    "Yeah, Jen." I smile up at her. "If anything, I think Selene would be flattered. Well, maybe not with a couple of the adjustments, especially not with how familiar they seem." I say with a pointed look between Rosie''s current bust and Madison''s.


    "I''m... I''m just going to go let the slimes eat me now." Jen hangs her head and starts trudging away.


    "Don''t tease Jenny, Cole." Rosie wraps her arms around my little sister while glaring at me. "She helped me be very pretty."


    "Sorry, Rose. Sorry, Jen." I move Maddie off my lap so I can keep my sister from committing suicide by slime. "You did a great job, Sis, Rosie looks beautiful. And, don''t worry about it; they get stuck in my head too." I add for her ears alone.


    "Shut up!" She hisses back.


    "But, this is why I wanted more than one person to help her pick out a new look." I say while ignoring her outburst and Rosie''s mental admonition. "It''s only natural for us to be biased one way or another."


    "Yeah." Katie nods. "I bet Cole was just afraid that Rose would look like Maria if he helped her on his own. Or, even worse, that she would look just like she does now." The little shit breaks into an impish laugh while both of us glare at her.


    "Well, it does seem that, as siblings, we have very similar tastes." I just laugh when Jen punches me. "Now, why don''t you go and invite Selene to dinner while we all add our own touches to Rosie? I''m sure she''s worn out by processing all those cores, and we could use another perspective on what makes for a pretty girl."


    "That''s a good idea." Mom says with a smile and then brings out her ''Mom'' voice. "I promise no one will tease you about how Rosie turned out."


    "With a week under the twins as punishment if they do." Jenny stipulates while looking straight at Kaitlyn. "Including any new hairstyles they choose to give out. And, if you two say anything, I''ll feed all your stuff to the slimes, including your hair." She adds with a glance at Sera and Esra that makes them go pale.


    "Sounds fair." Mom agrees with an evil smile.


    ...


    "We''re back." Jen announces. "And, look who we ran into on the way. You did say we needed more perspectives here, right?" She pulls Maria out from behind her and Selene''s backs with a devilish smile.


    "The more, the merrier." I reply with a conflicted smile before letting it go with a mental shrug. "Maybe you three can help break this stalemate. Kaitlyn thinks we should add more Chrissie, she''s the leggy blonde with the stupid-long hair that went up to her after the match." I add when they look confused. "But, I''m leaning more toward Nicole the receptionist. We already tried a blend, but it does not look right."


    "Ooh! Yes to the hair, if she can manage it." Selene jumps right in. "Nicki''s alright, she''s got a really cute butt, at least. Also, hi, Rosie." She pulls the slime into a hug.


    "Hi..." The slime replies shyly.


    "Well, go on and ask." I prompt. "The worst she can do is say no."


    "..." Rosie still hesitates.


    "She''s trying to adjust her voice too." I speak up for the silly jelly. "It''s proving difficult though, and she was hoping that you would let her... well, do this." I let her demonstrate with me. "It''s hardly noticeable, not compared to when she first tried, at least. And, would really help her figure out how different people have different voices."


    "I''ll do it." Maria offers right away. "And, I agree with Sel, you would look amazing with long hair, Rose."


    "Thank you." Rosie grows out the long hair and hugs Maria tightly. "You have a very pretty voice, I want to sound like you. I prom-ise this won''t hurt." She brings her fingers up to the corner of the healer''s and waits for her to open it. "Cole, why you think ''say ahh''?"


    "Snerk." I''m not the only one to snort out a laugh at that. "It''s something we say to babies to get them to open their mouths. It just sorta popped into my head, but I didn''t mean to send it over the bond."


    "No, it''s alright." Maria laughs. "I did hesitate for a second there. You can go ahead now, Rose. Ahh." The slime coats her mouth and throat. "Weird, I expected a fruity flavor because of how you look, but you don''t taste like anything. You should try too Selene; you can barely even feel her."


    "Please?" Rosie begs, and the mix of her psychic puppy-dog eyes combined with the actual look proves too much for the alchemist. "Thank you, thank you. Your voice is almost as pretty as Maria''s." She says in Maria''s voice. "Now, say ahh."


    "Hahahaha." Selene cracks up. "I think Cole might be a bad influence on you. Ahhmp." She playfully bites down on Rose''s fingers. "Oh, you''re right, that is weird. I expected her to taste like water at least."


    "You taste like green things." The slime says while tilting her head. "And, a little like Jen. She is... Cole help." She sends me a pleading look.


    "Fizzy, or sparkly maybe, full of power and potential." I say after a moment. "Humans can''t taste mana, so it''s kinda hard to translate. But, yes, Selene you taste like freshly crushed herbs smell, and Maria is like warm sunlight with a hint of milk and honey." I continue when they seem interested. "Maddie is like a gentle breeze blowing through the dark woods, while Katie is more like a dust-devil on a hot day. Sera and Esra are each like a different handful of spices. Mom, you''re like a cool spring and a warm hug at the same time."


    "What about you?" Selene asks. "Rosie, what does Cole taste like?"


    "Like sex and power." I blush, beet-red, when the slime blurts that out in a mix of Maria''s and Selene''s voices. "He is like a strong arm gently car-res-ing a lover or strik-ing down a foe." The girls break into nervous giggles when she looks up at me with adoring eyes.


    "Yes, well, let''s get back to building the perfect girl." Selene swallows audibly. "Well, as perfect as we can get without you looking too much like Jen. Who knows what Cole is going to do with you, after all?" She adds with a laugh that makes me blush even harder.


    ***

 I’m not dropping the book

    But, (and there is always a but) I am just not in the right head space to continue it at the moment.  I just lost the second cat in less than a year; I found out they were sick shortly after the first one died suddenly.  And, even though I knew this day was coming, it still fucked me up.  A lot.


    I''m still writing, but everything is coming out much darker than I prefer.  So, I''ve just been writing random stuff and one-offs while waiting for my mood to settle.  I''ll let you all know once that happens.