Chapter 1
Flush from the success of her first dungeon, Ariel was ready to celebrate. Her first dungeon for this character at least. Since she had been rolled up a short week ago, Ariel had been slogging through the low level animals and pests in the woods surrounding Berg’s Keep. After hitting level 5, she had joined a group looking to fill out their party for a dungeon crawl.
And now, finally, it was time to celebrate. Getting away from her
fellow adventurers had taken some work: her plans required a
degree of separation and anonymity from her adventuring party. But
finally she had gotten away from the rest. The Roasted Pig
stood before her. Its two-story wooden building was worn and
weathered. Even the placard of the spitted pig smiling around the
apple in his mouth was faded. But the Roasted Pig was sturdy and well
maintained.
Ariel grasped the rough-hewn door handle. She recalled it took a bit of a yank to open. She pulled and stumbled. The door did not budge. A notification filled her vision:
Notification
You are entering an adult area of revelry and lust. If you enter your settings will be adjusted to permit adult themes and content.
She swiped away the notification with a gesture. New character, same old prompts to ignore.
This time, when she tugged, the door popped open, releasing the smell of roasting meat and wood smoke. A common room took up about half of the lower floor. There was a dark wood bar opposite the door. A hearth took up the right wall and a flight of stairs the left.
Rough wooden tables filled the room. The tavern bustled. Ariel made her way through the crowd and slid onto a bench. “Mind if I join?”
“Welcome. I’m Chayos. This is our crew.” Chayos was a level 24 immortal. He gestured encompassing the three nearest tables. “We just got back from Crusher Deep.”
A burly dwarf to Chayos’s right said, “And this time we didn’t wipe!”
“Definitely worth celebrating,” Ariel said. “It will be a few levels before I make that trip with this character.”
A comely lass moved toward them balancing a tray as she playfully dodged the overly familiar attention of the crowd. The barmaid’s name was Hulda; she was Ariel’s reason for being at the Pig.
“What’ll ya have?” Hulda asked as she arrived at their table.
“Stew and a pint of the dark,” Ariel said. Chayos and his team placed orders. Hulda sidled away from the press of Chayos’s team, not quite avoiding a pat from an NPC sitting at the next group of tables.
Hulda wore a leather skirt and top beneath the cheerful smile of her face. Her top displayed her bosom, the skin of her breasts almost but not quite spilling from the half cups that strove to contain them. While her figure was by no means flat-chested, her top’s struggle was more a statement of how she revealed herself than of an over-abundance of her bosom. She strutted across the room, thrusting her sexuality forth with a zeal that had Ariel’s heart racing.
It had been the same way when David first came to the Roasted Pig
playing his level 30 tank.
After defeating a tribe of ogres, David had been looking for something different. They had won, pushing back the horde of ogres that had come to invade and ravage the city David’s party was based out of. And yes, the exhilaration of banding together and finding a strategy to win against those odds was unparalleled. But so was the fear from the close calls. And toward the end, as the population was reduced to ephemeral NPCs the immortals actually knew … deciding which of his friends would end their existence as an ogre meal still haunted his dreams. Phoenix Rising did not pull any punches.
A week ago, a stint as a caravan guard brought David to Berg’s Keep
and the Pig. That night, Hulda captured his imagination. Something
about the way she flaunted herself appealed to him. She had no shame.
She responded to the constant attempts at groping with a combination
of flirtation and dancing away from the wandering hands. Yet she
conducted herself with confidence and pride.
Hulda did have her limits. On that first trip, one of the
immortals made some comment about how she was just a low priced
whore. “You’ll be having none with that talk!” she had said.
“None of me!” She stamped her foot.
“None of your drink.” She tossed the contents of her customer’s
tankard into his face.
“And none of the Pig. Out!” By this point, over half the
ephemerals and some third of the immortals had drawn what steel
they had. The offender made his ignominious departure from the
Pig without resort to a test of his continued immortality.
Hulda shook out her shoulders. “Whoring’s no slouch of a job.
Takes effort and skill. And I’ll have my respect.”
David knew he had to have her. If she were less intimidating in
the moment, he might have paid her price right then. But what if
his friends found out he’d fallen for a character in the game? He
was not sure he could face that down. Although, he was
looking for something different. Surely a feisty wench like Hulda
didn’t face emotional challenges like the ones that haunted him.
So he decided on a new character unknown to his friends—a
character where he could afford to embrace his wildest fantasies.
A character where he could be bold and unapologetic like the whore
Hulda.
He had been there with the character creation interface spread before
him. He had almost selected male without a thought. But this was
going to be his brave character: the character that got to do all
the things he wished he could do. When he thought of Hulda, he
wanted her. But in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, it was more than that: He wanted to be Hulda. He wanted to be sexy like that—slutty and proud. And soon, a voluptuous goddess with sex drive set as high as it would go spun before him in the character creation wizard.
And so Ariel was born. And now he—or rather should that be she—sat trying to find the courage to ask Hulda how to hire her when she brought his food. “I want to fuck. How much?” might well work. Hulda was as direct as they came. But David could not just do that, and apparently even hiding behind Ariel was not enough to be that bold. But he—or at least vivacious, desirable Ariel—would do something.
And here came her food and ale delivered by a plump older woman. As she scanned the room, Ariel could not see Hulda. “Here ya go.”
“Goody?”
“Aye?”
“Has Hulda retired for the night?” she said, a longing note entering her voice.
“Nay. My goodwench’s above making someone mighty happy.”
“Hulda’s your daughter?
“Aye, mine an Goodman Brown.”
“And you don’t mind that she—”
“Is a whore? Nay, couldn’t be prouder. She brings in most as much as the Goodman an I.”
Ariel gulped. Were Hulda’s parents forcing her? “You don’t … she wants to do it?”
Goody Brown laughed. “Immortals and your silly notions. Whores Guild’d have no truck with that. And get Hulda to do something she don’t want?” Goody Brown threw up her hands.
She continued, “She comes by whore right natural. I did my twenty years in the guild. Good at it if I say so myself. Inactive now o’course, but got guild protection for life.”
“Whores Guild protection is a big deal?”
“Aye! Cheat a whore and ye’ll pay tenfold or more. Force a whore an not even immortality’ll save ye.”
“Who does the enforcing?”
Goody Brown looked puzzled. “Whores of course. Lots of magic in what we do. An a high level courtesan can topple countries in their anger.”
Goody Brown broke the ensuing pause. “So you fancy the goodwench when she comes down?”
Ariel nodded mutely.
“I’ll tell her. Ya got good money, she’ll seduce you right quick. Don’t worry none ‘bout your immortal notions. She’ll settle them too.”
Ariel took a deep swig of her ale. Her heart was pounding from excitement and nervousness. Relaxing sounded like a good idea. Although if she had not flipped on adult mode until entering the Pig, perhaps she ought to go check settings and make sure the ale would have an effect.
She picked at her stew and listened to Chayos’s tale of Crusher Deep. It was a challenge for 10 immortals averaging around level 20. Normally Ariel would have been excited by the tale of how the party managed avoiding the final boss, a huge squid with magical regeneration, from dragging them into the deeps and drowning them as it crushed them with its tentacles. Tonight, she was elsewhere.
A warm hand stroked Ariel’s shoulder. “Ma said you want me. Would that be another ale ya’re wanting or somethin’ else?”
Ariel felt her entire body blush in embarrassment. “Not the ale.”
Hulda stepped into view and slid onto the bench next to Ariel. She placed her hand on Ariel’s thigh. “I’d not have guessed. Wouldn’t figure ya for the whoring type.”
Ariel laughed nervously. “And if I am ready to be that type?”
“Are ya?” Hulda’s hand slowly stroked down Ariel’s leg.
“How does this work?”
“Broad like, you pay and I make ya happy.” Hulda’s hand started the return journey. “What ya be wanting?”
“Well, I want to … I mean um—” Ariel stuttered. She (or at least David) was not inexperienced in the bedroom. But that was with his lovers in the immortal world. Hulda was a whore (and if her mother used that word it was probably even the polite term in game). It just seemed so silly, like paying for masturbation. Hulda was not even a real person.
But it was so hot. She would never in a million years hire a
whore in the real world. She wouldn’t be caught dead doing that.
Here it was still embarrassing, but this was just a game. She could always walk away. She had the privacy to indulge her fantasies. Here being embarrassed could just be a reminder that she was being a naughty girl. But she had to get past her nervousness.
Hulda’s hand continued its slow strokes while Ariel tried to find words. “How ’bout this?” Hulda asked. “Ya willing to spend a silver thirty? Forty copper for a room, rest for me.”
“Yes, absolutely!”
Hulda’s hand moved faster. “To be crystal clear,you’re wanting me as your whore in that room?”
Ariel’s voice was soft, just above a whisper. “Yes!”
She felt Hulda’s breath against her ear as the lass leaned in close. “It’s not gonna be much fun with ya playing with sex off.” Hulda continued, “If you’re showing off for someone else, I’ll make it look good. If ya want real fun, fix your settings, girl.”
Ariel laughed. “Oops. I’ll fix the settings for sure. But how does that even work? I mean what would happen if I put my hand under your skirt right now?”
“Rule is ya stay outside clothes til money changes hands. We’re close enough though. Go ahead and try.”
Hulda opened her legs. Ariel gingerly reached out her hand. Her hand traveled up along Hulda’s warm thigh, under the skirt. She reached further and her hand met the dry, featureless skin at the junction of Hulda’s legs. Ariel pulled her hand back startled.
Hulda laughed. “Not much fun that way.”
“That’s freaky. So you’re not even anatomically correct? But if someone with sex enabled touches you, it’s all there?”
Hulda nodded. “Enough though. I’m more fun than pawing around in your interface.”
Ariel pulled up the realism panel in settings and flicked the big toggle next to sexual interactions. She didn’t bother looking at the detailed options that became available when she enabled the toggle. She figured the defaults would be good enough.
Several notifications appeared:
Notification
By default, your character’s hormones and attractions will influence you. Their lusts and desires will become part of your own. Just as their fear and excitement bring realism in battle, their passions bring realism in bed. Your character will influence you not override you. This can be adjusted in sexual realism.
Quest
First Time Quest: The whore Hulda has offered to show you what it’s all about. You can’t even bring yourself to name it, but perhaps that won’t stop you.
Cost: 1 silver 30 copper
Success: Experience and a good time. Perhaps you’ll even work up to admitting the dirty secret of what you’re really after.
Experience for playing with a whore? That was kind of cool. She guessed that aligned with the backstory. Connecting with your own desires and working to accept help to meet them might be the kind of experience that would help break the immortality curse.
Notification
By default, hiring a whore grants broad consent to them for sexual activity. You can adjust the defaults or specific consent for a given interaction on the Sex tag of the Consent and Approvals panel.
Ariel accepted the quest and acknowledged the other notifications. “Sorry about that. I think I’m set on the sex front now.”
Hulda ran a finger up along Ariel’s leg. Ariel felt a tingle of excitement trailing the finger. “O, that’s nice,” she said.
Hulda swung a leg around the front of the bench and straddled Ariel’s leg. Hulda’s chest was pressed into Ariel’s much larger bosom. Hulda grinned.
Her other hand wrapped behind Ariel’s head as her lips darted forward to find Ariel’s mouth. Ariel leaned into the kiss. Hulda’s lips were warm and firm.
“Much better,” Hulda said. “Is this what ya wanted?”
“A start.”
“Shall we continue up stairs?” Ariel nodded.
Hulda extracted her leg and slid off the bench. Ariel followed her up the flight of stairs and into a small room.
The room was warm and cozy. A mattress on a platform filled most of the space. There was a small table next to the mattress with a pitcher of water and two glasses. There was space for a small wardrobe and chair.
“Want I should help ya out of your clothes?” Hulda asked.
Ariel licked her lips. “Mmm, yes.”
Hulda removed her own top. Her perky breasts jutted straight out from her chest.
Ariel longed to cup a hand around one of Hulda’s breasts. She longed to clasp it as her fingers stroked along the outside. Hulda’s right nipple was engorged. She longed to grasp it between two fingers, gently tweaking as her palm supported the breast.
Before she could, Hulda wrapped her arms around Ariel. Ariel felt Hulda’s breath stirring her hair as her hand trailled down Ariel’s cheek, down her neck, and gently teased the bulk of Ariel’s right breast. Hulda’s fingers made quick work of the hook at her cleavage.
Ariel’s insides tingled, and warmth gathered in her belly. Ariel felt the warmth of Hulda’s hand through her blouse as it again skirted her breast and traveled down her ribs, around, and across to the buckle of her belt. That hook too gave way, and Hulda was lifting off her top.
Ariel felt the press of Hulda’s breasts into her back, her skin against the whore.
Hulda’s hands glided along her skin as the other woman circled around front to once again claim a kiss. While their lips tangled, Ariel’s bra succumbed to Hulda’s deft fingers.
Once that impediment was removed, Ariel was at last free to grasp Hulda’s breast. It fit just as she had imagined, warm and firm in her hand. Ariel’s thumb stroked against the pebble of Hulda’s nipple. Their kiss had become impassioned. Tongues tangled. Ariel’s left hand reached to cup the back of Hulda’s head.
Her heart pounded. The warmth in her belly traveled down, igniting an inferno between Ariel’s legs.
Hulda broke the kiss and pulled back. She looked up into Ariel’s eyes. “This good?”
“Oh, yes,” Ariel said, dragging out the word. “Very much.”
“Thought so. Can see your need now.”
Hulda continued, “Bit more and we’ll have ya all unwrapped.”
Hulda sank to her knees as her lips kissed down Ariel’s belly. Ariel reveled in the other woman’s touch.
Now, Hulda was on the ground before Ariel. She began to unlace Ariel’s boots.
“Right foot up.” Ariel placed her hands on Hulda’s shoulders for support as she tugged her foot out of the boot. Hulda removed her stocking. They repeated the maneuver for the other leg.
The pants were easy with the belt already removed. Soon they pooled at Ariel’s feet.
“An that’d be that,” Hulda said. Ariel blushed; the whore had noticed her lack of under garments. Hulda’s breath caressed Ariel’s bush. Ariel didn’t know what she’d been thinking going commando. She had hoped to be undressed by (or truthfully to undress) Hulda. She was bound to be noticed.
Hulda didn’t seem to mind. The embarrassment just ran tingles of naughtiness down Ariel’s spine.
“Back ya go, onto the bed.”
Ariel lay down onto the bed. “This is comfortable! Soft!”
“Course it is. you’re payin good money.”
Hulda stepped up to the foot of the bed and stood between Ariel’s legs.
“So, ya figure out what ya want?”
“You.”
Hulda laughed. “How?”
“You are doing fine.”
“With my hands until ya scream for joy?”
“And your mouth?”
“And mouth.”
Hulda’s hands made circles on Ariel’s belly. They wandered up through her cleavage, just gently brushing her breast.
Then down around the belly again.
Hulda stroked down her left leg, a finger almost but not quite brushing the thatch guarding her treasure. The journey continued up again, across the belly and down the right leg.
The circle repeated. This time, as Hulda’s hands traveled through cleavage, her palm rested briefly against the left breast.
On the next revolution, Hulda crossed from left leg to right just a bit lower. A finger stroked through Ariel’s fur.
“You’re teasing!”
“I should stop?”
“No,” Ariel moaned. “But you could go a bit faster.”
“An why’d I do that?” Hulda spread Ariel’s legs wider and sniffed deeply. “Smells like I’m doin just fine.”
Ariel couldn’t deny the truth of that. She could smell herself and felt drops of liquid running into her ass.
Meanwhile, Hulda’s hands had continued their journey. Each time they covered slightly more ground. Now at the top of the journey, Hulda’s hand lay against the mound of Ariel’s breast, sliding along as the circle continued.
But on the next circle, Hulda’s right hand lost its way in Ariel’s thatch. Without warning it fell into her slit. A finger swept past her pearl and was soon lost in the liquid depths of her core.
Ariel lost herself in her rising excitement. She was really here in a girl’s body. She had boobs that felt so good when Hulda stroked them. And down there, between her legs, Hulda was actually fingering her. It felt dirty to indulge herself like this. She was spending her time enjoying herself, getting off, playing with the virtual lass that had captured her imagination weeks ago.
It was wonderfully naughty!
What was Hulda doing now? She had removed her finger and bent forward. Ariel felt the warmth of her breath on her sex.
Hulda’s tongue reached out and teased at her slit. Tingles ran from the contact down her legs and up her spine.
Hulda’s flat tongue swiped from the opening to her innermost depths all the way up to the top of her slit. Ariel shuddered and moaned.
Hulda continued licking and sucking between Ariel’s legs. Her hands reached and cupped Ariel’s right breast. One hand massaged against the heft of her base. The other teased and circled her areola until her nipple stood to attention.
Ariel panted and moaned. Her feet began to strike a rhythm against the mattress.
Hulda replaced her tongue with two fingers rubbing along the top of Ariel’s slit, teasing near her most sensitive spot. The other hand played with Ariel’s nipple.
Without stopping her ministrations, Hulda clambered up onto the bed. She smiled down at Ariel, her face covered in the immortal’s dew.
“You’re livin your life with sex off. So my hand’s the first one to touch your core?”
“Uh huh,” Ariel panted. It was true. This was the first time she’d been touched as a girl. She loved it, giving herself to a character in a game.
“I’m gonna enjoy this!”
Ariel’s need rose as Hulda continued to play her. Ariel pictured herself in the whore’s position. What would it be like to give someone their first experience? It would be hot to have that power over someone—hot to be given that trust.
The imaginary reversal of roles stoked the inferno raging through Ariel. She moaned incoherently as her feet continued their steady rhythm on the mattress.
“Ya didn’t even play that fine body yourself?” Hulda asked.
“No! I wanted you.” Ariel’s feet were tapping frantically.
“Ya wanted me? Me to bring ya up an give ya your first come?”
Had she actually admitted that Ariel had always wanted Hulda? She had! “O, God, fuck yes!” Ariel whimpered. She was so embarrassed, so excited!
“Will ya wait for me to tell ya to come?”
Ariel mewled her need. “O, fuck, uh huh, fuck! Yeah!”
Hulda was doing something down there, deep inside. Her fingers cupped and teased and moved. “An ya come as hard and as loud as ya can? For a good first time an a good start.”
Ariel yowled and panted, her feet wildly kicking at the mattress.
Hulda grabbed her nipple and did something with her fingers deep inside. “Now!”
Ariel screamed as her body locked in ecstasy. Waves of pleasure washed over her.
Hulda’s fingers continued to stroke inside, coaxing two more waves to roll over her.
Minutes passed, and the waves ebbed. Ariel found Hulda clutched against her.
“That was good!” Ariel said. “Thank you.” It felt deeply inadequate to capture something as big as her first come as a girl with a simple thanks. Yet any more flowery description would be equally inadequate and be burdened with needless pretense.
Hulda beamed. “Ya came good and hard, all over my hand.” Hulda lifted the hand wet with Ariel’s cream for her to see. Ariel brought Hulda’s hand to her mouth and tasted herself for the first time. A thrill ran across her skin as she licked herself off Hulda’s hand. This was sexy!
“Now it’s my turn to thank you!” Ariel said. “Lie back and let me get you out of that skirt.”
“Where’s the shy girl who couldn’t even say she wanted a good come?”
Ariel laughed. “She thought it was safe enough for me to come out to play for a while. This is familiar enough: two lovers in a bedroom.”
Ariel took her time removing Hulda’s shoes and stockings. She ran her hands up the lass’s legs. Hulda was a bit of a mess with her hand and face wet from their time inside Ariel. Ariel loved it.
Her hands wandered over the skirt and up to claim Hulda’s belly and breasts.
Ariel was not about to second guess her choice of prodigious breasts. But she liked Hulda’s breasts too. They were firm and round and fit in her hand. She could play with both of them at once. As she kneaded and gently squeezed, Hulda’s nipples pebbled in her hands.
Ariel bent forward and kissed Hulda. She tasted herself and the warm sweetness of the other woman. Hulda purred into Ariel’s mouth.
“So this hand,” Ariel twisted Hulda’s left nipple to demonstrate,” is going on an adventure.
“Down your belly.
“And look what we find on our adventure. This supple leather skirt. But the hand’s not stopping there.
“No, it’s going down, around and between. Spread your legs, yeah, like that.
“And up. And warm and wet! Much better than down stairs,” Ariel said.
“Mmm, yes.”
“And around the opening and in like this, nice and deep. Do you like this?” Ariel’s hand stroked Hulda’s depths. “Or do you like it more like this?”
“Ah!” Hulda said.
“Is that a good ah, or an ouch ah?”
“Good, yeah like that. Along my clit, not too hard.”
“If you like it that way, then you probably like my mouth on you.”
“Uh huh!”
“Okay, lift a bit and let’s git this skirt off you.
“There you go. Look, everything is all open so I can thank you properly. Spread just a bit wider so I can get my head in there!” Ariel said.
Ariel bent to her task. Hulda smelled and tasted of fresh, excited woman. Her hands returned to breasts now that her mouth had claimed Hulda’s sex.
“You are scrumptious,” Ariel said, “but I would have expected you to be a little … more sloppy down here.” Ariel blushed at her audacity, but Hulda didn’t taste, smell or leak like someone who had several previous lovers in the evening. Ariel had been looking forward to that nastiness.
“No worry on that score. Less ya change your settings, I’ll be fresh and clean for ya.”
O, good, she could fix it for later. There was no way Ariel was going to take a break from eating Hulda to adjust her settings. She would just have to imagine feasting a cream pie out of Hulda.
She had never actually done that. She had licked David’s leavings out of his lover once or twice. Certainly she had experienced the smell (and taste) of a well fucked woman ripened over night. The next morning, fucking with legs spread, the musk was right on the border of being too dirty. Once she got excited though, it was a good kind of dirty: the strong musk of two animals in heat kind of dirty.
Hulda placed her hand on Ariel’s head and held her against her crotch. “This okay?”
“Uh huh,” Ariel mumbled into Hulda. Right now, hidden only by one little setting, a whore was holding Ariel’s head, pushing her face into the delicious cream pie between her legs. In her mind, Ariel was licking and slurping it all up. In her mind, she was the one fucked every which way. She was the one holding her lover to her. She was the one offering her creamy depth. She the one bucking and squealing.
Fuck yes! Hulda was actually bucking and squealing, rubbing Ariel’s head against her crotch. Ariel was going to get a whore to come. She was going to get a professional—someone who spent their life being good at sex—to come for her. Hulda was enjoying what Ariel did enough to approach her own peak. Ariel felt powerful; she Held Hulda’s pleasure.
And she brought that pleasure forth! With a scream, Hulda’s legs clamped Ariel’s head in place. Hulda reached her own climax. Ariel was dripping again, excited by what she had done.
Ariel lay next to Hulda, holding her as she came down from her orgasm. “Thank you for letting me do that.”
“Thank ya much!” Hulda continued, “I liked seeing ya get comfortable. Ain’t no point in being shy.”
“It was hard. I’ve had this character for a week, and today is the first time I worked up the courage to try and find you.”
“Why me?”
“You’re fearless. Seems like you’ll do almost anything for your clients, but no one would mistake you for cowed.”
Hulda scoffed. “There’s lots those fancy whores in the brothel’ll do that I’m not touching. But what I do, I do good.”
Hulda paused for a moment. “And yeah, we got us a good group here. Rowdy and lusty, but respectful like. Even the immortals aren’t so bad, hey?” Hulda slapped Ariel playfully.
Ariel smiled to be included in that group. She couldn’t help wonder why the immortals might be problematic, though.
“So, I was wondering,” Ariel said, “you said that I could adjust settings and get sex with you more realistic, not so fresh and clean?”
“Ah, girl, why ya got to go do that?”
“I’m sorry. If you’re uncomfortable, of course I won’t. But would you tell me why you’re upset?”
“Girl, don’t take no truck with that crap.” Ariel flinched away from the anger in Hulda’s eyes.
Hulda said, “Ya got a curse to fight. And ya fight it with all the tools ya got to hand! Ya been blessed with settings . Use them for you, not someone else!
“Don’t let no one tell ya how to see the world! Not me! Not anyone else! And certainly no fucking immortal!”
During this tirade, Ariel had moved away from Hulda. Now she stood with her back to the door.
“Ah, fuck,” Hulda muttered under her breath. “Now I’ve gone and done it good.”
“Girl, what’s your name?” Hulda asked.
“Ariel.”
“Ariel, sorry ’bout that. Come back over here please. Won’t bite ya.” Hulda patted the bed next to herself.
Reluctantly, Ariel crossed to the bed and sat next to the still prone Hulda. Hulda sat up to face her.
“I sure went and got all worked up,” Hulda said. “The setting ya want is Messy under Sexual Realism.”
“I’m confused. It sounds like you were upset that I wanted to turn on Messy. But then when I said I wouldn’t, you lost it. What did I do wrong?”
“First thing, those settings’re there for you. Set them wrong and ya could get hurt. Only ya knows what right is.”
“I guess I get that for turning something on. Like turning on sex when you’re not ready for that could be really bad.”
“Yeah.”
“But this is just turning something off to make you happy.”
“Nay not just that! Holding yourself back is not just anything. Ariel, ya matter. How ya face the world is yours. Don’t ya go an sell yourself short.”
“Okay, so why did you get upset at first?”
Hulda sighed. “Guess I owe ya that.”
Hulda collected her thoughts. “Ya named me fearless. That’s as much rubbish as me deciding how ya see the world.
“The Land the immortals come from sounds mighty strange. Guess y’all get clean just for wishing it so.”
“It’s not quite that easy, but yes it’s more advanced that way: showers are convenient.”
“Lots of immortals look down on ephemerals. It’s humiliating when ya just want to see me at my worst. When I got no chance to measure up.
“The ephemerals know what its like. But to have ya just look at me dirty after a long night just because ya can …”
“O, Hulda, that’s not it at all.” Ariel wrapped Hulda in an embrace. “It’s just that playing with you after you’ve … well you know … it’s just dirty and nasty in a sexy way. It turns me on.”
Hulda smiled. “Still humiliating.”
“I can see that. I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
“But ya’re gonna turn it on?”
Ariel took a deep breath and let it out. Hulda was right: she was playing Ariel to explore those dark fantasies. She couldn’t do that if she let NPCs in the game stop her from embracing what was on offer. But she would need to find ways to be sensitive to the NPCs. They were very realistic.
Ariel flipped through her menus. Ah, there was Messy. Yes, that’s what she wanted: fluids, smells and taste behaved realistically. And a nice 10% realism bonus to related experience too! There were even bonuses to learning related skills. What about the rest of the options?
Realistic difficulty lubricating and lack of arousal? She was generally horny enough that she could probably get herself wet, at least if Ariel’s sex drive was similar to David’s. But the realism bonus to experience wasn’t that big so she decided against.
Menstruation was followed by pregnancy. Nope, she’d be just fine without. Realistic excretion was next. No thanks; definitely done with this panel.
Sweat glistened on Hulda. Her musk was strong, but Ariel had no doubt she’d get used to her lover’s smell.
“On now. Thank you for setting me straight.”
“And Hulda,” Ariel continued, “you are definitely still fuckable.”
“Hmmph,” Hulda said. “If that’s the price to see ya past shy, I’ll pay it.”
Hulda chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Ya’re hot and bothered thinking of me after a night of whoring?”
Ariel blushed. “Uh huh. When I was down there … no, when I was eating your pussy, I was fantasizing about eating your cream pie.”
“Well,” Hulda said dragging the word out. “Guess I don’t mind that. We might be able to arrange something some evening, ya interested.”
Ariel nodded. She doubted words would come.
“I think I’ll make my price two ways high. First, the money, around three silver.”
“Just for waiting til the end of the night? Sure, I guess I want it bad enough to pay.”
“Nah, not just for that. Second price is to give up on shy. Ya start out the evening with a public performance. Ya do good and at the end of the night, ya’ll eat the biggest pie ya can imagine.” Hulda spread her legs and fingered the source of that pie. She offered a taste to Ariel.
Ariel licked Hulda’s finger. Yes, the flavor was richer, stronger. But would she be able to do what Hulda asked? “Public performance? What do you mean by that?”
“Come by around supper and find out. Worst happens, ya pay too much for another roll on this here bed.”
“I’ll come by!”
Quest
Cream Pie Quest: The whore Hulda has offered to feed you one of her cream pies custom made to your specifications. There’s a catch: it starts out with a public performance.
Reward: Experience and a Good Time
Cost: 3 silver and your pride
Ariel was amused to note that she had learned three new skills: Making Out, Masturbation, and Oral Sex.
Between the dungeon and the night with Hulda, it had been a long day in game.
Ariel triggered her logout and the world of Phoenix Rising faded to flames.
David couldn’t believe how much fun he had as Ariel. There was the sex, but it was more than that. His past game play had focused on defeating mobs and collecting the best gear. It was part strategy and part team work, with a lot of dedication to leveling. Being part of a successful raid was a thrill all its own.
Tonight had been different though. Ariel’s biggest challenge was her own inhibitions. Actually walking in the Pig with the goal of having Hulda was hard. Ariel had enough money two days ago. But she kept getting cold feet when it came time to go celebrate.
David wasn’t sure whether Goody Brown bringing his order made things harder or was the kick in the pants that made the night possible. When she realized that Hulda was nowhere to be seen, Ariel felt the panic of her fantasy slipping away. On the other hand, it meant that she didn’t ever have to express her initial interest to Hulda’s face. Although letting Goody Brown know that Ariel wanted to fuck her daughter had been unbelievably embarrassing.
That set the tone for the night. Rather than focusing on finding the strategy to get past impossible odds, Ariel was fighting her own fears. She fought to ask for what she wanted.
It felt good when Hulda recognized that she was becoming more comfortable. Getting out her desire to revel in Hulda’s dirtiness had been impossible. Really, she hadn’t even done it: it sort of slipped out indirectly. It would have been so easy to just back away when Hulda got upset. But she hadn’t. That had been frightening. If Hulda had laughed at her or been disgusted, she would have … well, it wouldn’t have been good.
But Hulda hadn’t laughed. She had teased an explanation out of Ariel. No, that wasn’t right either: they had both worked to clear up their misunderstanding. Doing that had been kind of tense. Different than the stress of battle but also rewarding. Coming to the end and having Hulda accept her desire? That felt really good.
David didn’t think it had been easy for Hulda to offer the quest. But
she’d done it. She respected Ariel’s attempts to fight past her
embarrassment enough to do something she found humiliating. On top of
that, Hulda was challenging her to go further down the path of … well,
whatever path she was on. The path that started with a girl unable to
directly ask for Hulda. The path that brought her to a place where
she admitted she wanted to eat a cream pie from between Hulda’s legs,
as dirty as the whore could make it.
This was a different kind of gaming, but hard and fun in its own way.