James' world flashed white as soon as he pressed the button, and black spots covered his vision, expanding until he was blinded. Then he lost all sense of balance. The next thing he felt before he passed out was the impact of the floor.

"Ughhh. Shit, the fuck was that about?"

James' eyes snapped open as soon as he heard the agonized voice. It was Dom.

A small chorus of similar groans and complaints flooded his ears, and he recognised more voices. But..., not Danas.

James stood quickly as soon as his eyes had adjusted, triggering a bad headache.

He looked around and found four slightly unfocused pairs of eyes staring at him.

"Where's Dana? Is she here?"

James demanded with a serious tone. They were useless like this, so was he. He felt like he had just woken up after getting blackout drunk. He even smelt like it. The champagne they were all about to drink just minutes... No, a moment ago was splashed on the ground.

"James. I'm... I'm here."

James spun around and there was Dana, lying spread eagle on the ground, looking up at him with a dreamy smile.

She lifted her hand, and he grabbed it, pulling her up into a desperate embrace made more than a little uncomfortable by their armour. She was surprised by his sudden need for contact and barely managed to voice her thoughts before he held her face to his, and she felt him trembling slightly.

Instantly, knowing something was wrong, she wrapped her arm as around him and gave a look the others suggesting they leave.

Annie was the one that got the message the best and ushered the other three out with some firm pushes. Annie knew the area outside was safe.

James had barely kept it together when he realised Dana had stayed. But now that the two of them were alone, he let out all his fear, and the two of them held each other close, both silently letting their tears run freely. Just appreciating the fact that the other was there.

Once James had calmed down, and they had spent a frantic, but happy moment with their faces essentially glued together, they started to talk.

"I... I thought you would have left."

"I couldn't. I didn't know if you were going to leave, but, I couldn't leave my family."

She paused for a moment, steeling herself to confront an unfortunate truth.

"I don't know if they'd even all still alive, I don't know if any of them are alive. I mean, you saw the death statistics right?"

"I did. A lot of people died. Too many."

"Exactly. There's no guarantee that my brothers are ok, or that my parents are. But if there's even a chance that they're still here, I need to find them."

She went silent, and James knew he had to comfort her, assure her of something. But he saw a flaw.

"What if they chose to go back to earth?"

"Then I don't know. If any of them went, then someone must have known they were here to start with. Or, there's always their... bodies."

James was shocked at all the thought she had out in, and how open she was being at the prospective death of her family. If there was ever a time to assure her of their safety, it was now.

"So we go find them, we rescue them if they need it. And we all find somewhere safe. We'll need to go get everyone else's families too. But I have this master crafter skill. I can make barricades and reinforcements. I'll make us a safe place. I promise."

Dana responded well to this, and James activated comforting to help her. She visibly relaxed and smiled. A grim smile filled with worry and fear, but also hope.

"Thanks, James, that helps."

She relaxed and leant on him. He was surprisingly happy at this moment. To have Dana rely on him in this way, to have something that people would rely on him for. That was nice.

A piece of paper slid under the door, folded and addressed to them.

Dear James and Dana,

The four of us will be testing out the new armour in an expedition to find a better food source. As such, we will be away from the workshop for at least the next hour.

James looked around briefly and saw that they had taken the other two sets of armour for Callum and Annie at some point. Somehow not surprised, he kept reading.

May says she saw some birth control in the teacher's wallet in the bottom drawer of the desk. Also, she says to have fun.

Regardless, I do understand this has been harder on the two of you than the rest of us, so do take this chance to relax.

Dom.

James was more than a little embarrassed at what they were hinting at, but he had to admit, it had entered his mind as soon as they left the room.

"What's it say?"

Dana asks innocently, so James handed her the letter wordlessly as he went to investigate the teacher's desk. It took a few minutes of fumbling, but he did find a couple of condoms in the wallet at the back of the drawer. Luckily enough for him, they were well within date.

As he was searching, Dana let out a soft gasp as he assumed she caught on to what he was doing in the context of the letter.

And this was confirmed as she ran towards him, pulling off as many of the buckles of her armour as she could, colliding with him and knocking him back.

James was pushed against the wall, hard.

Dana's lips hit him, and again, he felt the hunger radiating off her.

Her tongue pushed into his mouth, and James took this as an invitation to go further. He worked on pulling off her armour as she fumbled with his, both of them trying to divide focus.

He winced as he felt something tear in his hands, he was still not used to the more delicate movements.

But Dana paid him no mind and began to rip away at his shirt, revealing a way more toned chest than he remembered having.

For a moment, as they backed away from each other, James was almost hypnotized by the powerful muscles that rolled beneath the skin of his torso.

Dana literally growled at the sight, and James grinned. He shrugged off the remains of his shirt, and tore off the rest of Dana's armour, taking her blazer with it.

Without the slightly baggy layer, her boobs were even more pronounced, and James could almost make out the lacy design of her bra as it pushed against the white cloth.

Not bothering to try and keep their clothes in one piece, he tore open the front of her shirt, buttons flying everywhere. And stared.

For lack of a better word, James could only say one thing.

"Wow."

Dana hadn't lost any of her skinny physique and well-toned belly, but she had definitely gained.

With a cup size that might be approaching E, her relatively simple bra perfectly highlighted the shape, size and near perfection.

Dana could only squirm bashfully as she remained the target of his gaze, so took the lead again, and jumped on James. She wrapper her legs around his waist and threw her shirt behind her, unwanted before pushing their lips together again.

James stepped uncertainly around the room, towards the large pile of cloths and... animal furs? Callum and Annie must have brought them back from wherever they were scouting. But this was good. Having sex on top of animal furs was on James' bucket list.

So he laid her down on the pile and saw that she had kicked off her shoes as he had carried her. He laughed and did the same then got down on his hands and knees, and pulled off the lower half of her armour along with her skirt, leaving her only in her lingerie.

She breather heavily, through half-shut eyes. She wanted this, and James did too. He had to take a moment to appreciate this. But only a moment. He grabbed the condom out of his pocket and bit the corner, then shimmied off the rest of his armour and trousers.

Dana looked expectantly at the bulge in his pants and got even more excited. James felt ready for what he expected to be the best sex he had had in his life, so as a final measure, he deactivated comforting and saw Dana squirm a little. So this skill suppressed sexual uneasiness too? Good to know.

James put his hands on either side of Dana and lowered himself down to her face. She took the condom from his mouth and kissed him lightly, placing her hand on his cheek.

"What are you waiting for?"

She asked softly, and that sentence alone almost drove James mad.

He reached behind Dana's back, and unclasped her bra in one fluid, practised motion. Pulling away the bra, Dana tensed up a little until he traced one hand down the curves of her body until he reached her hips.

While keeping his lips locked on hers, exploring the new but familiar shape of her mouth, James pulled her panties down to her knees and softly pushed his hand between her legs. Gently at first, he traced the lips of her pussy with his finger tips, before pushing deeper, feeling how wet she was.

Dana gasped into his mouth, and one of her hands that had been wandering over his body massaged one of her huge boobs. Surely a new experience for her too.

James couldn't hold back anymore. He pulled down his own boxers, his erection in full swing. He eagerly grabbed the condom from the cloth pile and ripped it open with his teeth before putting it on. He was ready.

Though he knew he had to take it slow at first, he was excited. So he pulled back his head a little to bite softly on her earlier and pushed deep into her at the same time.

Dana gasped and even moaned, louder this time, and James joined her.

He felt her warmth wrapped around his entire length, and he shivered a little in pleasure.

Dana was feeling it too, because she shifted underneath him, pulling him deeper. James' mind had gone blank. All he knew was this beautiful girl that he loved as close to him as physically possible, feeling the same amazing pleasure he did.

He began to thrust into her, a slow but regular tempo, which gave him an idea. He activated his skill, Rhythmic Temper, and could immediately feel each of his thrusts increase in power until he was pulling his full length in and out of her quickly but hard, gasps and squeals of pleasure escaping her blissful face.

But James quickly ran out of stamina, especially while using his skill. He laid down on Dana, feeling her soft body slick with sweat against his.

He was breathing heavily from effort and sensation. But she understood what was going on, so have him some time to regain some stamina she took charge.

Dana rolled the two of them over so that she was the one riding him, and while he was still deep inside her, began to curate her hips slowly. This worked out well for them both, and James was coming close to the edge.

"I'm..." He started but seemed unable to finish as she upped the pace.

"Me... too," Dana spoke through gritted teeth, trying to focus on James instead of the hypnotic swaying of her own boobs.

James saw her staring down at herself and forgot his approaching climax to laugh and laugh hard. Dana joined in and laughed at herself. The quick jolting movement the two of them made proved enough to tip them both over the edge, and they came almost at the same time, cries of desperate pleasure echoing through the room.

Dana lifted herself off of him after a moment to catch her breath, and laid next to him, turned slightly towards him.

They spent a few minutes in blissful silence, regaining enough stamina to clear their heads.

Skill unlocked: Satisfactory Gains (D)

They both made a nervous laugh at the fact that the system had registered their activities enough to designate them both a skill.

Dana was the one that eventually broke down and hit It, while James forced himself to get up and dispose of the used condom.

Satisfactory Gains [2] (skill):

Cases of extreme satisfaction, be it through achievement, or physical or mental fulfilment, will reap rewards. Greater satisfaction will yield greater rewards.

Current rewards:

• Stamina regen +2%

• VIT +1

"Sounds useful. I guess it's an excuse to do this more often."

James spoke aloud after scanning his new skill. But instead of disapproving, Dana seemed up for it. Apparently, the sex was great for her too.

James checked the clock. It had only been 15 minutes since the others had left, so they had plenty of time to relax, and maybe have some more fun before the others returned. There were certainly more condoms in the drawer.

But for now, James was more than content to just lie next to Dana, and be close to her.

As soon as he made eye contact with her though, she looked nervous and averted her gaze.

"Babe, what's wrong?"

Despite him calling her Babe, which was her usual keyword, she didn't tell him outright, just started mumbling under her breath.

So he kissed her, gently, lovingly. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them with tears.

James placed a hand on her back and pulled the two of them together until their foreheads were just touching.

"Dana, I know I've never said this before, but... especially now. I... Love you."

James scrunched his eyes shut. He felt his face burning red and only opened them again when he felt Dana shaking.

But instead of more tears, she was shaking with suppressed laughter.

James didn't understand, but before he could say anything, Dana pounced on him, wrapped her arms around his chest and held on.

They rolled off the pile onto the cool floor, cooling down Dana enough for her to start talking.

"You big idiot, I was supposed to say that. I couldn't because I didn't know how you would respond."

James' doubts were immediately washed away and he hugged her close.

Maybe. Just maybe, the two of them would be ok