I don’t know how long I was asleep while my body recovered the stamina lost in my exhausted swim through the pudding, but when I awoke I was back in the central room of you teacher’s lounge and lying on Brandr’s lap. She was still gently stroking my hair, and every few moments a soft drop of warm water would drip off the tips of nipples and softly run down my face. Opening my eyes and looking up, I had a perfect view of her two soft mounds above me, with her still wet hair clinging to her gentle frame.

Apparently, I hadn’t been asleep long enough for her hair to dry, so it hadn’t been very long. Yawning, I stretched and reached up and stroked each of her breasts in my hands. I’d learned previously not to squeeze them unless I wanted milk from them, so I just lightly cupped them in my hands and caressed them gently. With the first brush of warmth from my fingers across her skin, Brandr’s nipples stood up hard and erect and I made certain to rub and stroke them gently a few times as well.

“Feel better?” Brandr’s gentle voice was soothing in my mind, and I leaned up far enough to kiss the underside of her breast.

“I do,” I told her as I settled my head back down into her lap. “How’s Isabella doing? Does she need us to help with the clean-up? I’m fit to help out with something again.”

I slowly started to rise but Brandr’s hands pushed me back down into her lap. “The Lady says you’re to rest for now, and I’m to watch over you. If she needs us, she will let us know. She currently has nearly twenty workers in the halls with the goblins doing as she commands. How much more assistance would you or I offer? She wants us both to rest and heal in case a blade or a shield is needed later; she has plenty of hands working for her at the moment.”

“Well fine.” No need to argue with the girls when they’d made up their minds over something. And, if I was honest, I rather enjoyed the break. Today had been a blur of activity, and I had a lot of things to try and sort out. I couldn’t instantly seem to wrap my head around things like Isabella and Brandr did, so many times, I just didn’t worry about something until I had a little time to sit and mull it over. Thanks to the girls, it looks like I was finally going to get some of that precious free time to think.

Slowly, I stretched and eased up. This time Brandr didn’t stop me, but she did watch me closely. The eagle look in her eyes gave me the feeling that if I started for the door, she might pick me up and spank me, or something! Half chuckling at the image my imagination produced, I took a moment to look around the lounge itself.

Cake and candies were everywhere. The couches were piled high with the stuff, and our already cramped room had even less room in it than before. “Anything of interest in this mess,” I asked Brandr while looking around.

Brandr’s gentle thoughts informed me, “The rat’s tail looks as if it would be suitable as a spiked whip, if anyone would ever wish to use such a thing, and the minotaur’s axe is more durable than it appears at first glance. I believe it would make a rather suitable weapon.” Brandr stretched and bent her body in a most interesting way from side to side, before she finally stood up and walked over to stand beside me.

Taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of her presence, I finally went over to the only truly open area in the room, sat down in my chair, and patted my lap. Brandr walked over, placed one knee on either side of mine and then straddled my lap, sitting down while facing me. She arched her back slightly, and pulled her hair behind her so that the water that dripped from it as it was drying would fall on the floor and not down my legs. She finally placed her hands down on both my knees and remained leaned back in that manner as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Has Isabella been teaching you how to sit to provoke a man, or do such things come naturally for a woman?” I had to ask.

Looking up, Brandr just smiled slightly towards me. “All women wish to know the secrets of how to move their man. Do you find this disfavorable, my Lord?”

She really did need to smile more often. Brandr was a beautiful woman, but all too often she had a stony face that made her seem more like a statue of a woman than actual flesh and blood. I was happy to get to see this side of her. (The smile! The smile is the side I was enjoying seeing! (Not that I didn’t enjoy seeing the rest too! (OH dammit! Women have a way of sneaking deep into our minds! I need to focus!) But over all, it really was a wonderful and inviting view.) But that smile was the best of all, I think!)

Shaking my head to clear my scattered thoughts, I gently reached up, lifted both her breasts, and tenderly stroked the nipples. “Only problem while you’re like this Brand – what are you going to do if my ‘man-blade’ decides to stand up and take action? You’ll be a helpless victim ravaged by it in no time like that!”

“Not a victim, but a joyous accomplice,” came her softly gentle thoughts. “My sheath can hold your sword anytime. That is its purpose for being. After all, of what purpose is any sheath, except to hold the blade it was designed to fit? My ‘sheath’ has been custom designed for your blade, so why would I ever object when it two was joined as they should be?”

I swear, Brandr’s way of thinking was just as embarrassing as Isabella’s! Trying not to blush, I asked, “Aren’t you worried about getting with child? I don’t think this world, or not this school at least, is a place for a woman to be with a babe in her belly.”

“I’m not.” Her thought was certain. “When my Lord wishes it, I will proudly bear his child, and should any beast try to harm it I will destroy them utterly and without mercy. If you wished it, I would do my utmost to conceive your child at this moment and work to convey it proudly to you before the next year passes.”

“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that,” I told her honestly. “I don’t feel confident that we could feed, support, nurture, or protect a child with things the way they are today. We’ve got to get stronger, get out of here, and then find or build a place a safety before we think of having children.”

“Then for now,” Brandr told me, “Isabella may continue to consume the life in my womb if it ever attempts to take root there. I do not mind allowing her to feed upon my life daily, as it allows us to both grow, and it also prevents any chance of a child growing unwanted in me.”

“Let’s you both grow?”

“Aye,” she clarified. “She may restore her energy and thus use it to practice and grow in her skill, and I shall learn to accept and endure the physical pain of the feeding, which will help me ignore it upon the battlefield. It will help remove one of the greatest weaknesses all warriors face – the fear of the pain of an opponent’s blade—and it allows her to practice and grow as well. Both of us benefit when she feeds upon me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh lightly, pull her up, and hug her tightly against my chest. These girls really were damn amazing! I might endure the pain because Isabella needed the energy to learn and grow, but I certainly didn’t look at it as something that I was happy to experience as it could ‘help me grow’. I endured it, as it was needed. Brandr embraced it, as it could help her become a stronger warrior. I don’t think I’ll ever be a truly fitting match for either of these girls.

At first, Brandr kept her arms back awkwardly at her sides, but after a few moments, she finally leaned forward and wrapped them both around my neck herself. It’s somewhat funny how different the two girls are when it comes to showing or wanting affection. Isabella is a snuggler who will root, wiggle, or force herself into your arms. Brandr, on the other hand, was a more aloof and distant beauty that you had to reach out and grasp and pull to you if you wanted her.

I suppose one was the blazing sun, and the other the gentle moon, but they both were a warm and welcome light in the darkness that had become my life since The Crackening.

For several long and peaceful moments, we just sat and held each other. The warmth of her breasts against my chest, her breath against my neck, and her hips across my lap was too much for my ‘man-blade’. It proudly stood up and saluted, and with just a slight shifting of her hips back and forth, Brandr had it sheathed in the warm recesses of her own body. She wasn’t one to indulge herself by rocking up or down, as Isabella would have. Instead, she simply slid it inside her and then relaxed up against me, as if that was how it was meant to be. Gently, I rubbed her back and simply enjoyed the ease of the moment.

“Stats. Skills.”

Name: Bloody HellTitles: The Witness, Health Nut, PolygamistAge: 17Level: 9CP: 0STR: 10SYI: 8WIL: 7DEX: 10MYS: 8PRE: 7CON: 27SPR: -14LUC: 13STA: 165Status: Newlywed, NewlywedHP: 186MP: 80SP: 0PD: 1DR: 0MR: 0SE: 9PE: 48

Charge – Proficiency (1)Club Use – Proficiency (8)Dagger Use – Proficiency (14)Dodge (2) – Ability to attempt to dodge an opponent’s attack.Familiarities (Rat) (11) – Due to prolonged exposure with the rat species, you now have a chance to try and understand their behavior patterns and habits with more accuracy.Harvesting (Animal) (18)—Allows the user to attempt to harvest meat and other goods from an animal. The higher the skill, the higher quality animal products that can be harvested.Physical Amelioration (9) – improved the rate of healing by 1% for each level of this skillHarvesting (Humanoid) (11) -- Allows the user to attempt to harvest meat and other goods from a humanoid being. The higher the skill, the higher quality animal products that can be harvested.Roar (5) – Area of Effect ability that may intimidate, fear, or taunt areas around the character.Spiritual Manipulation – Allows the user to manipulate the energy of the spirit realm when the conditions are right to do so. (12)Stomp – Proficiency (1)Taunt (3) – Ability to taunt one creature to draw or keep its attention focused solely on youWitness Liquidation -- ???Witness Protection -- ????Witness Reconstitution -- ??? (Current death today: 0)

Apparently, my spirituality had fallen considerably.

Dumb ass gods didn’t approve of me having more than one wife, or of marrying Isabella – as far as I was concerned, I didn’t give a damn about how low that stat went anymore. Destroy our world, disapprove of who I marry and share my life with – the gods were my enemies and I considered the negatives in spirituality to be more a badge of honor than a burden. Fuck them!

I still hadn’t leveled up, but I had leveled up several skills, and even gained a few new ones during the fighting. When I’m in the midst of battle, I have too much to do to pay attention to things that pop up in front of me, so I tend just to ignore most of those battle messages. Watching my health, the girl’s health, trying to attack the monsters while trying not to be eaten myself or impaled on the end of a weapon – that was more than enough to keep up with for me! I didn’t need, or want some stupid popup yelling, “You learned a new skill! Let me distract you and get you killed while trying to read what it’s called!”

My skill with a dagger was now better than my skill with the club, due to the rat’s tail-spike falling into that weapon category. I’d also managed to pick up a dodge and stomp skill sometime in the past few battles, and that was nice. Unlocking a skill the first time seemed a lot harder than improving it once it was unlocked, so hopefully I could start improving my chances to dodge the creatures and not get damaged by them so easily in the future.

Several of my other skills had improved a few points as well, from the last time I’d checked them, and except for the lack of leveling, I was actually pretty happy with the way I was growing. I might not be a powerhouse like Brandr, or a magic wielding flametosser like Isabella, but the numbers did prove that I was improving at my own rate, and that was the best I could do.

Reaching up, I tapped the slave interface for Brandr and pulled up her stats.

Name: Zephyr RoseheartTitle: Rubber MaidAge: 16Class: NightbladeLevel: 7CP: 99STR: 16SYI:12WIL: 12DEX: 26MYS: 10PRE: 2CON: 15SPR: -9LUC: 15STA: 155Status: Slave-Wife, NewlywedHP: 170MP: 160SP: 0PD: 4DR: 0MR: 0FR: 0CR: 0AR: 0DR:25WR: 0OR: 0ER: 0LR: -25

Even though I hadn’t managed to level, Brandr had gained two in the last fight! She was quickly catching back up to me, and in fact had almost as much health as I did now! (If I was brutally honest, she was actually just drawing further away from me if we counted her unclassed levels before she swapped over to Nightblade also!) Dammit! Why the hell hadn’t I leveled up?! Wasn’t experience shared equally amongst the group?

All I could do is shake my head and try not to get jealous. Maybe there was just a huge level difference between level nine and ten, and then they’d get stuck in the void here where I currently was also. Or, even more worrisome, what if level nine was the level limit in this new reality? Or a level cap while inside the ‘starter dungeon’? The possibilities were almost endless, and endlessly worrying if I dwelt on them too long. Since there wasn’t anything I could do about the situation, I simply put it out of my mind. I’d level when I leveled, and that’s all I could do about it. No need to worry myself bald over something I had no control over.

A few brief taps of the other options showed me that Brandr hadn’t improved any of her skills or magic from the last time I’d seen them, so in its own way, that was nice. She might be catching up to my level, but I was slooooowly chasing after her skill level. At this rate, all I’d need is about a year of fighting and improving, with her skills stagnating, and I might be close to her fighting level!

No doubt about it, I needed to train longer, harder, and with a lot more intensity than I had been in the past!

“Brand,” I told her, “you’ve gained two more levels. You’re back up to 99 cheat points once again. Is there anything you’d like to spend them in? Know of any thing you’d like to improve?”

She was quiet for a few moments and then asked, “Is there an Advantage: Enamor Lord? I’d spend all my points for that.”

I laughed lightly and hugged her close. “You don’t need to spend your points to armor me. I’ll get better, and if we can find weapons, I’m certain we can find armor sometime soon. What say we raise your strength on up a few more times? We could take it to a twenty for 70 points and then next level we can get you up past the old human limit. We may be able to get you that huge bonus which would take you from 21 to 26 instantly!”

Brandr sighed into my shoulder and then nodded her head. “That sounds good.” Somehow she sounded disappointed. “Just don’t forget, ten percent of those points are yours. If I have close to a hundred now, ten of them are yours. I plan on always tithing ten percent of my growth so that my Lord can help shape me so I can grow to become more as he wishes – as a woman, a wife, and his blade.”

Another ten points to spend however I wanted! I’d have to think on those carefully, but for now I went ahead and spent the points necessary to raise Brandr’s strength up to a twenty.

Name: Zephyr RoseheartTitle: Rubber MaidAge: 16Class: NightbladeLevel: 7CP: 29STR: 20SYI:12WIL: 12DEX: 26MYS: 10PRE: 2CON: 15SPR: -9LUC: 15STA: 155Status: Slave-Wife, NewlywedHP: 170MP: 160SP: 0PD: 4DR: 0MR: 0FR: 0CR: 0AR: 0DR:25WR: 0OR: 0ER: 0LR: -25

It was nice to be able to confirm that we were growing and leveling up ourselves. Once Isabella finally gets in here, we’ll see if there was any decent new gear or loot that could help us improve our chances for survival as well. It’d taken me the better part of a week to deal with the rats on this hall alone, but by slowly growing and getting stronger, and with everyone else’s help, we’d managed to deal with them in the better part of an afternoon.

It might not be obvious all the time, but we really were growing and getting stronger. Grinning in satisfaction, I wrapped my arms around Brandr and started rocking her up and down in my lap. Honestly, it wasn’t just improving our fighting and survival skills that I was happy about. Being able to steal a few moments of bliss like this was wonderful as well. Why the hell had I wanted to wait before? The world had ended, and the old laws had died. This didn’t hurt anymore, both the girls enjoyed the warmth and comfort as much as I did, it seemed, and it brought us both comfort and drew our hearts closer together.

I really had been an idiot before. The world needs more love, and more lovers. Not a bunch of outdated prudish ideas from before. I’m sorry Mother, but for once in my life, I think you were wrong. I didn’t need to wait. There’s nothing wrong with sharing love and comfort with each other. Even if it offends you, or heaven forbid, your spirit if something bad has happened to you so far away, I’m not going to wait anymore to share myself with the girls.

We were going to grow stronger. In body. In fighting. In magic. And in heart. And we’re going to do it together. And let the Gods be damned if they disapprove, and forgive me or hate me – I honestly don’t care if even you disapprove mother. Isabella and Brandr – their lives were joined with mine now, for better or worse. And I’ll fight anyone who argues or disagrees with that.

Anyone.