I was in my kitchen and laboratory. Or simply put, I was in my secondary laboratory. I’d calmed down enough to admit that the cook at that bar had outdone me thoroughly. Even now when I was no longer a villain, I was still the kind of smug so-and-so who liked rambling off about there always being a sky above the sky. However, I’d usually be talking about me, when I mentioned that second sky. So, this was kind of a shock to my system.

Now my competitiveness was showing up in spades. I couldn't stand being outdone. For the longest time, being the apex of whatever field I was in, was all I had, so I wasn’t too great when it came to being outshone.

Now, I’d spent the last few days to a few decades,...to a few centuries… depending on whether you count the lab’s distorted time-flow, working on my cooking craft. I refused to be outdone. Pride was never my short-coming as a villain, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have any.

“Mhm, somebody smells like barbecue and liquor…is it our anniversary already?” said Jo. Coming up behind me, wrapping me in arms that were both strong yet tender, and pulling me into the soft warmth of her embrace. Her lips and tongue grazing my neck and jawline.

“Pft, that's a few months away, Jo-Jo bean…How was the hunt?” I said. Unable to resist smiling despite my stormy mood.

“The hunt was fine…though I think I might have ended up totally wrecking the planet I was hunting on…” said Jo.

I shrugged.

“Eh…Gwiazda-Zakret-Morze is pretty sparse to begin with... Most of it is empty, and only a few of its planets and moons host intelligent life…The rest is just wilderness…If you didn’t destroy that planet, odds are one of the massive star-beasts in that server would have eaten it instead,” I said.

“Ah…Well, I guess I feel a bit better then…” said Jo. Making me believe it, as the gloomy and prickly edge that she'd been carrying melted away almost instantly. Almost making me wonder if she'd only been pretending to feel bad about the whole thing.

“In other news, or rather, it's the same news but I was feeling too guilty about the whole destroying-a-world thing to properly be happy about it before…But, I’m apparently strong enough to destroy a world now…How wild is that?!” said Jo. Hugging me. A happy growl rumbling through her full bosom and into my back.

“I could have sworn you were ‘that’ strong already?” I said. One brow raised.

“Yeah…Well…Maybe. But like, most of the time, when people say so-and-so, or such-and-such, could destroy the world…They don’t really mean the world. They’re either exaggerating, or they’re just referring to the small part of the world that they live in, or can live in…It’s like how civilizations without planet-busters still call nuclear wars world-ending wars, even though technically speaking, it’d only wipe out their civilization, leaving the world itself relatively intact…” said Jo.

“True…Well, uh…congrats on destroying your first world, babe,” I said. Trying to be happy for my battle-loving wife, even though my own experience totally destroying my first world had been far less positive.

“Thanks, sweetie…Now back to that delicious scent I’ve been smelling since I got home,” said Jo.

I laughed.

“Yes. The barbecue’s already done if you want some…I was mostly messing around with poultry, but I made some beef, pork, and venison while I was at it…” I said.

“And the liquor?” said Jo. Her voice filled with an almost child-like anticipation.

“Most of the spirits are still decanting but there’s a cask or two that should be ready…” I said.

“Yay! Liquor, meat, and sex…The perfect way to end a kick-ass hunt…He-ho, he-ho!” said Jo.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t disagree.

“Indeed…”

While my mood wasn’t quite as celebratory because I’d merely one-upped my unknown opponent instead of leaving them far behind, that didn’t mean I wasn’t pleased with the progress I’d made. In fact, if I looked past the irritation over having been outdone as a professional cook, there was a pleasure at knowing that somewhere out there existed a worthy foe for me to measure my skills against.

Plus, as mushy as it was to say, I was very in love with, and was very attracted to, my wife, so the idea of a roll in the sheets with my Josephine had a definite appeal.

*************************************************************************************************************

Josephine, Ellis, and Brandy enjoyed a quiet evening watching movies in the mansion’s home theater. As she watched the characters move from scene to scene on the massive, immersive, ultra-high-definition projected screen, Brandy couldn’t help awkwardly remembering how, with her not originating from a server with advanced tech, it was only once she’d visited her friend’s homes that she learned the words home-theater generally didn’t mean having a literal theater inside your home.

Brandy twined a lock of her red hair around her finger, as she watched the hero of the film get kicked down twelve flights of stairs only to jump back up again and growl something impressive but incomprehensible at the villain. Brandy’s brow furrowed as she heard soft noises at her back. She tried not to look, but ultimately, she ended up throwing a glance over her shoulder. Spotting the two Holsts necking.

Ellis and Josephine were making out on the couch at the far end of the living room. They were trying to be quiet about it, and the sound from the theatre’s sound system should have covered up the noises, but Brandy’s cultivation had reached a point where it was hard not to hear a thing, unless someone was using sound-dampening tech or magics to hide the noise.

Lately, Brandy couldn’t help a confusing sense of irritation whenever this happened. It hadn’t always made her feel uncomfortable. This was a recent thing that Brandy found hard to explain or parse. The first time Brandy saw the Holst’s kissing, they’d apologized and asked if she’d prefer they didn’t do that around her. Not wanting to make the pair feel uncomfortable in their own home, when they were already doing everything they could to make her feel comfortable she’d said it was fine.

It wasn’t like Brandy was completely clueless about that sort of thing. There were certain books she used to borrow from her home’s staff, and she’d had certain teachers who’d brusquely explained the mechanics of certain things shortly after her first estrus.

Ultimately though, she’d never really given that stuff any serious thought. It was simply just the case, that for the younger Brandy, sex was a thing that would just eventually happen “to” her, once her father found someone willing to pay the right price for her maidenhood.

The Holst weren’t “gross” about their affection. As far as Brandy knew, the two kept the explicit activities of their relationship to their bedroom. Still, they weren’t shy about their other displays of affection towards one another inside their home. Especially Jo, who was equally, albeit platonically, affectionate towards Brandy.

Giving Brandy more hugs, comforting touches, than the girl, who’d grown up in a cold and sterile home, had really known what to do with it. This deluge of affection was given, while also still somehow perfectly respecting Brandy’s boundaries. The beast-kin woman, somehow never overstepped, or intruded on Brandy’s personal space, but instead often allowed Brandy to clumsily stumble into Jo’s space of boundless warmth.

Now though, now that Brandy was older, and had seen and experienced more, now it chaffed a bit. It chaffed and Brandy wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t that seeing the two Holsts was somehow repellant or repulsive. It actually seemed quite lovely actually, and the imagery occasionally popped up in her head during the occasional evenings when she elected to have a little…Brandy-time.

Thinking about it now, Brandy wondered if what she felt wasn’t envy. She wanted what they had. The only problem is that she had no clue exactly what it was she wanted of what the two Holsts had. Was it simply physical intimacy she wanted? Was she looking for something more? In fact, lately, she’d found herself growing unsure of what it was she was even attracted to.

Until now, she’d been pretty sure she was straight, but she’d recently come to the bizarre realization that at least part of the awkward energy between her and her friend Nala might have been sexual tension. Though thankfully, she’d moved past the thing with Nala, since Nala was a bit much even as a friend, and back then she Brandy, hadn’t been ready for any kind of relationship. Brandy was pretty sure there’d have been no future for that particular crush, even if she’d been consciously aware of it.

Ultimately, Brandy had decided that she might maybe try dating. She was an adult. She was a woman of means. She’d managed to get numerous degrees thanks to the shop’s expansive library. She’d even recently attained licensure, and the requisite skills, with a number of vehicles for land, air, sea, and the endless void of space. She had mastery over both magic and the psychic realm. She was also pretty sure she qualified as pretty, maybe even beautiful...on a nice day. Maybe.

There was absolutely no reason for her not to be confident in herself. Surely, she’d be able to deal with this sense of bewildering, and befuddling yearning, and loneliness, that had suddenly and inexplicably been awakened within her.

“Oh, bother…” mumbled a flustered and anxious Brandy. Hiding her face within the extended collar of her turtleneck sweater.