FamishedPants

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

E m i l y

"Oh no! I'm under her control, control, control!"

— Emily

Although she was at fault for the collision, Emily had to admit being sniffed out of nowhere (or at all, really) was kinda strange. But she did not want to risk offending the girl as maybe it was their way of greeting people.

"Um," Emily shook her head. "Sorry about your toast..." she was about to reach for the piece when Oros decided to spare her the effort. Emily tilted her head to the side in her confusion and took a small step back from the girl. How would she make it up to this girl for the lost toast? The thought flew from her mind once she realized the other girl had put her hand in Emily's bag, which she then pulled away instinctively. "I-I would prefer you didn't suddenly try to take thi-" Emily's eyes locked onto the manga and then went wide. "O-oh, that's just... it's nothing! So if you could just return it to me..." she extended her hand but Oros seemed too intent on reading to comply, instead becoming more fascinated with the manga. "N...T...R?" the girl repeated with a clear lack of understanding but she had the feeling it wasn't good. She tried and failed to say things once or twice. It was clear things were happening at a pace much faster than she was comfortable reacting to, but she was trying her best despite this. Eventually, she came to the understanding she needed to mentally regroup.

Clearing her throat, Emily attempted to regain control over the discussion. Yes, the first step back to sanity. She could do this. "It's just something I randomly bought and..." Emily stopped suddenly. "Wait, how do you know my na---" before she could finish asking Oros this, the fiction taker blurted out something lewd, vulgar, and quite honestly, indecent! "D-d-do aah like boys!?" this completely demolished any chance she had at regaining her composure. "U-um, w-what!?"

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

E m i l y

"I'm older, I swear!"

— Emily

Having just left a convenience store, Emily strolled down the sidewalk at a relaxed pace as she held her new manga up to her face and ate up the story on the pages. She had not gotten especially far in the series but she found the premise to be quite enthralling. It was science vs magic! And the main character was some girl with electrical abilities and over a thousand sisters! There were a lot of cool fights and stuff, but there were also a lot of slow, funny, and cute moments.

But, most importantly, there was...

...lewd.

She had something to prove, and she had to become an adult. Yeah! Otherwise, this morning would be stuck with her forever! What happened to her earlier, you might ask? Well...

...

...

...

"Hey you, you're finally awake~" The first thing Emily heard when she woke up was Hilaria's voice coming from the edge of the bed she was laying on. The ravenous magical girl was simply patting her head almost like a mother trying to soothe a child, prompting Emily to look around. The place was quite familiar as it was still her own room and bed. Emily found her memory fogged up at least a bit, so she cast a look to Hilaria as if to wordlessly asked what the deal was.

Smiling in understanding, she giggled. "Hilaria apologizes~!" she told Emily. "Hilaria is so very old, you see~ Very, very, very, very old~! But you're not~! And there's no good way of telling how old someone else is just by appearances~ So that's why maybe sometimes she forgets to apply a proper filter~! You poor child, Hilaria did not mean to overstimulate you so~"

"O-over stimulate...?" Emily repeated, confused, but then realized something else. "O-oh, I'm most certainly not a child!" she declared, although considering how she had done nothing to stop Hilaria from patting her head this entire time, the claim was difficult to take seriously.

"Is that so~?"

"Y-yes, that's so!"

Hilaria's eyes subtly shifted to the hand she had resting on Emily's head and, after a brief moment of awkward silence, Emily picked up on it too. "O-oh, please if you would kindly move your hand..." she asked of Hilaria in a tone that seemed to suggest she didn't really want to. Hilaria, however, obliged, taking her hand off the girl's head and standing up.

"Such childish innocence... it is to be cherished while you still retain it, Hilaria thinks~"

Emily finally sat up in her bed. "L-like I'm saying, I'm not a child though!" she protested again. Hilaria did not seem to mind, making her way to the door yet again.

"Then why are you in bed right now~?" Hilaria asked.

"That's cus'" she began to say but realized she did not know why. Her memory was a little foggy. She did her best to recall what had led up to this point and, suddenly, she remembered! Earlier she was playing a game and had a difficult time with a boss that Hilaria helped her beat -- to Emily's surprise. And then after that happened... they started talking about boys for some reason... and then Hilaria mentioned how her first time was a pain and... then... there... was...

Hilaria was not gifted with the ability to read minds but she found it remarkably easy to tell exactly which stage of remembering Emily was on by the shade of her cheeks. She was sure Emily had gotten back up to speed when her face looked like a tomato and she did not seem capable of speaking anymore. "Eh, so you remembered, then~?" she let loose a rather mischievous giggle. "Such adorable reactions you make~ But those only prove that Hilaria is correct~!" she explained. "When you can talk about adult things with a straight face, then maybe Hilaria'll believe you~ But, until then~!" Hilaria gave Emily a wave and then simply left to go do her own thing.

...

...

...

Oh, how embarrassing that was! Emily did not desire to be seen as a child but she would certainly admit certain things did give her pause. Of consciousness. B-b-but she was not a child! She just needed to work on some things. So this manga would definitely help! She caught a glimpse of u-u-underwear a-and boys in it, s-so then it had to be something adults read!

As she turned the next page to the manga she read about one of the sisters' attempts to pretend to be the main character to get closer to a boy they all liked. To swap places like that... something didn't sit well in Emily's stomach. Wasn't that cheating? And... wouldn't the boy just think it was the main heroine anyways? How was that supposed to work in their favor? Her inability to think of nefarious schemes caused the sister's rude actions to baffle her for longer than they should have. But then it became clear that making the main character look bad was the point!

Oh, that bugger!

She would continue to read as the situation escalated. What could be described as a date was taking place and the end was beginning to near. The sun was setting, the mood was right, and despite the boy's obliviousness, the main character (false) was about to seal the deal. Her hand slowly reached for something unspeakable. The last few frames of the page showed the hand approach it's target -- the boy's. The endgame was here! Now, all she had to do was turn the page and then she'd certainly become one step closer to being an adult!

The page was turned... and then a loud crash caused both Emily and the manga to fall onto the floor. In an instant, she gathered up all her things and shoved the manga into the grocery bag she had. Then, in the very next, she was to her feet and eyeing the person she had run into. "Oh my, I'm so terribly sorry!" she explained to the person whom she hadn't even gotten a good look at yet. If they had yet to stand up, she would offer her hand in assistance. Otherwise, she would simply ask, "Are you okay? I should have been paying attention, sorry!" She did, however, wonder why there was a buttered piece of toast stuck on her shirt, but removing it could wait until after she made sure this girl was okay.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

S a m a n t h a

"Most of this post was edited out and refitted to be a solo post for later on. So here's this turd."

— Sam

Samantha was, quite conveniently, leaving her room as Su approached. She gave the girl a weird look. "Hello...?" she was on guard. It made sense to assume that someone in a hurry had something of importance to talk about, and out of the possibilities she knew of, Su could only be here for one reason. "Look, I've never even been in your room how would I have left a present in your toilet." Sam listened to Su's request and knew she had been right.

"I dunno," she replied. "Why would you even want to..." as if realizing something, she interrupted herself by clearing her throat. "I suppose that it would not be a problem to take someone else along..." Sam didn't sound especially confident when she said this but continued. "As long as you know what you're about to get into, then fine. It's just you, anyway."

Su's interjection after Sam made that assumption was followed by a couple of minutes of the two arguing. Sam was fine with Su but even taking one other was iffy. She didn't even personally know Helga, either. But considering the girl's position at the hotel and how Su insisted, Samantha eventually caved in and gave her the okay as well.

Now that the teams had been set, there wasn't much to do but prepare. Activating her key, the three of them would now be in the position to join the festivities once they began.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

E m i l y

"S-so lewd!"

— Emily

In an extravagant throne muddled by countless bodies of slain soldiers and unconscious adventurers, there stood two men.

"...They still yet perpetuate the strife and unbalance that tears Allyia apart for naught but their own amusement. Our world, our towns, our fortunes, and even our existence... they mean nothing to them. That the very subjects of this ruination revere them is the height of irony and I shall not suffer it any longer. We must needs purge this world from their wretched influence."

Tirius, Usurper of the Hallowed Throne, Slayer of Celestials, and formerly, The Light of Allyia, descended the steps of the elevated throne he had sat on moments prior. His was a presence most intimidating by the hostile air around him, the titles he had earned through unimaginable feats, and his signature panoply that inspired dread to all who opposed him. The once obsidian-black armor had been forever stained by the pure-white blood of the gods he had slain, and little needed to be said about Revolution, the god-absorbing sword that had once been thought of to be mere myth.

Despite this commanding presence, a lone man stood before him, positioned to protect his allies, who succumbed to the overwhelming pressure. That a single wave of Tirius' hand could incapacitate the people he'd fought with up to this point was a testament to the absurd strength he called his own. Without a shred of doubt, the young man knew that should he so desire it, Tirius could single-handedly bring the world to his knees. What would the world's armies be to a man challenging the gods themselves?

But that is why the young man could not back down. No matter how much he wanted to. Despite the fear gripping his heart and the lingering admiration, he felt for Tirius, who had once been like a father to him long ago.

It was true that the destruction of the Heart of Light would render the Celestials powerless to shape the course of fate as they saw fit, but it would likewise spell the end for life on the planet, as it kept in balance the flow of aether within all of creation. Yet with this revelation coming from Liliana, a Celestial who had sided with humanity, there could be no understanding. His determination to save humanity was unyielding and he would not give in to what he believed to be yet another one of the Celestials lies, not anymore.

This left only confrontation.

The young hero could not help but to recall his past experiences with Tirius, back when they were like family. Not once did he ever land a single blow on the man when they sparred. No, he was never even close, and Tirius had only become stronger with time.

But so had he. That he was standing here proved as much.

Tirius leveled his sizable sword towards the young hero. "I shall allow no obstacles to bar my path. If that means I must get rid of you, then so be it! But make your last moments worthwhile, oh student of mine!"

The world seemed to blur before turning black.

....

....

....

"Oh, jeez, finally!"

Sitting on her bed and facing a small tv nestled into the corner of her room on her nightstand was Emily, who had had about enough already. This cutscene had been the definition of hype the first couple of times, but now it was just frustrating. The game did not allow her to skip it and she had failed on the boss fight multiple times. She had adored this game so far but given the current year, what sort of poor design was that? Unskippable cutscenes right before a difficult fight? There was still one difficulty tier higher!

This run lasted even less time than last before she found the hero of the story succumbing to his wounds. The fatal blow inflicted by a move that had a misleading visual that made you think you weren't in the hitzone. She hoped maybe they might fix this later, but she wasn't going to count on it. She sighed in frustration as she would now have to watch the scene yet again.

"Horse Pucky!" Emily growled, then covered her lips in embarrassment. The fight was hard and she was beginning to blame her failures on the game rather than herself and she had just said something bad.

Seconds later, a buxom figure appeared at the doorway, brandishing a lollipop which she put into her mouth. "Oh, is something the matter~? Hilaria thinks you sound upset~" the ancient asked, evoking what was perhaps a routine startle from Emily. Her bed might've caught aflame had she been transformed.

Regaining composure, Emily worried that Hilaria might not want to be in her presence anymore what with the strong language she was using. To blurt something terrible like that out while she had company over simply was rude beyond all imagining. Beet red in the face, she waved her hands. "Oh, please forgive me! I accidentally got frustrated and let that out. I know, it's very poor manners."

Hilaria paused. "...What." she didn't seem to know what Emily was talking about immediately, but then picked up on it. "Oh, yes, poor indeed~ Hilaria might have to reconsider letting you feed her~" she crossed her arms and shook her head in mock disapproval, which Emily took seriously (and apparently as a bad thing) and her expression pleaded for forgiveness.

Naturally, Hilaria would die a thousand times before she willingly removed a source of food over... whatever it was Emily did, so she pretended to reluctantly accept her apology. "Since it's the first time, Hilaria can look past this transgression~"

Thankful for this second chance, she nearly leaped out of her bed to hug Hilaria. "Oh, thank you so very much!" she spoke as they parted.

Maybe someone else might feel a bit shameful for messing with a girl so innocent, but such piddling worries would never impede her unceasing quest for cuisine. Hilaria would, however, have to admit to herself that she was curious as to what would drive a girl like Emily to do something she thought was unacceptable. "Whatever might have caused you to... spew something so... vile~?" she asked.

Emily turned and faced her meager television connected to a console that was a generation behind the standard. Inserted into it was a copy of Chronicles of Allyia and it was currently displaying a "Game Over" screen, evidence of her recent defeat. "I, um, think I got a little too carried away playing my game..." she sheepishly admitted, which prompted Hilaria to walk over and observe the thing.

"Can Hilaria play~?"

"Oh, uh..." Emily clearly didn't expect Hilaria to be interested in the console, but she had no reason to deny her request. "S-sure!" she went over to the edge of her bed and sat down, with Hilaria plopping down right beside her. Emily handed her busty guest the controller and then proceeded to explain the general control scheme. Hilaria listened intently until Emily asked if she wanted to start from a place much earlier and easier, considering it was, as far as she was aware, Hilaria's first time playing. To that, Hilaria shook her head.

"No need~ Hilaria doesn't mind figuring things out here~" she told Emily, beginning the cutscene once again.

...
...
...

"If that means I must get rid of you, then so be it! But make your last moments worthwhile, oh student of mine!"

As Tirius' speech (and the cutscene) ended, Hilaria was given control of the hero. She began moving and jumping erratically, clearly trying to get a feel for how the game worked. While she did press attack buttons at one point, she never actually hit the boss at any point and only managed to avoid attacks with rather blatant tells. Tirius eventually whittled her health down to nothing and the hero fell once more.

"Mmm~" Hilaria didn't seem perturbed by this, though.

But perhaps fearing repeated deaths would frustrate her guest like it did her, Emily once again made her offer to have her start at an earlier point in the game. And again, Hilaria declined.

As yet another instance of the cutscene had finished, Hilaria entered the ring with Tirius for a second time. Her movements were far less clunky and this try was more focused upon attacking. She hit Tirius a few times, mostly on accident as she was learning her moves, but did about ten percent of his health before losing again.

"Ok~" Hilaria said suddenly, starting up the cutscene once more. "He's finished~!"

Emily merely gave a tilted head and a confused expression in response. She wondered if Hilaria was frustrated and just saying that. Considering she barely scratched him last playthrough, it was hard to believe she'd pull it off this time.

Hilaria avoided the attack Tirius opened the fight with each time, and laid on a few hits of her own as he was recovering from the animation. And when he then wound up a big AOE attack, Hilaria jumped just in time to avoid the slice. In a flurry of button presses and stick movements, Hilaria blew past her former record of ten percent and managed to her forty before Tirius managed to land any attacks. Emily nearly went slackjawed as the fight continued, with Hilaria reaching the ninety-five percent mark. Tirius was nearly finished, but that merely meant he was more likely to throw out the attack that caught Emily unawares on more than one occasion.

And then he did just that, as Hilaria was far too close to think about avoiding the attack. Tirius plunged Revolution into the ground and the ground trembled and then erupted as Hilaria was mid-animation for a heavy swing of her own weapon. It was certain doom for her, as it was a two-part move that did massive damage. It would knock the hero down, and then Tirius would do a leaping plunge for added damage. Looking at her remaining health, this move would surely spell her end. It had last time, after all.

Hilaria, of course, was not able to avoid the hit. Emily looked away right as she saw the strike reach her and her health rapidly dropped. It was a terrific run but what was to be done. She heard a death cry and then sighed and turned to the screen as it faded to black another time. She turned back to Hilaria and offered a smile. "Oh, that was such a good attem---" just as she began to say that, a cutscene began playing out with Tirius reeling back and falling to his knees in defeat.

"Is he the final boss~? Hilaria doesn't think he was that hard after she learned the controls, though I guess using that hyper armor move was needlessly risky~" she stated, crushing any notion of self-confidence Emily had as a gamer. She was so flabbergasted it took her some seconds to catch up with what had happened and pick her jaw up.

"I-I think he is the penultimate boss, since there's still some loose ends in the story..." she answered shakily. "Um, Hilaria, do you play games very often?" her impression of the girl certainly led her to believe that was not the case but then what the hamster was this?

Placing the controller down on the bed, she nodded. "Hilaria has played her fair share of video games~ A lot of boys really like them so when she hangs out with them they ask her to try~" she elucidated.

"B-boys!?" Emily almost yelled, then she cleared her throat. Her experiences with them thus-far left a lot to be desired. And it would be disingenuous to say she knew how to interact with them. But she was curious. "U-um, I mean, so do ya hang out with b-boys often?"

"Yup~"

"O-oh, how is it like...?"

Hilaria shrugged and though she wasn't entirely sure how to answer the question, gave it her best shot. "Okay, Hilaria guesses~ She remembers her first time and it was painful, but then it wasn't so bad after~"

"W-w-w-w-w-waah?!" Emily flared red, not expecting such a... bold answer from Hilaria. If there was one thing she did not want to do, it was judge people for being different from her. But to be so open was still a little unnerving and caught her off guard.

Hilaria looked at Emily weird after her outburst. "Is something wrong~?" she asked as though she hadn't just blurted out something like that.

"O-o-o-oh, it's j-just that... well, those things with boys... i-is it normal to just.... um, say that...?" she stuttered out.

Hilaria narrowed her eyes at Emily but then continued. "Hilaria thinks so~?" she answered in a way that sounded more like a question than a statement. "Does it really surprise you that much~?" she eyed the blushing Emily who briefly looked away. "Well, Hilaria will say that there's usually only a few things boys nowadays want to do and it's usually playing video games~"

Emily suddenly snapped back. "D-doing what?"

"Video games~ But she supposes that sports aren't too uncommon either~ Not to the point where it should be surprising, she thinks~"

"O-oh, you meant games! Games! Oh, yes, that's what ya meant!" she nervously chuckled.

Tilting her head, Hilaria questioned Emily. "Hilaria wonders what you thought she meant~?"

"...oh, um, well..." still tinted red, she answered in a low voice what she really thought Hilaria was talking about. "Well, since you were with boys and you said it hurt at first... I thought that, um, maybe that you might sorta possibly be... well, h-h-holding hands or something. Sorrysorrysorry!" she frantically began apologizing.

"...what~"

Unlike what Emily probably thought, Hilaria was far from being offended. The mistake did not bother her. Or, at least it did not bother her in the way her nervous host feared. "...how does pain factor into holding hands, Hilaria wonders~?"

As if describing it was another 'bold' act, Emily reddened further. But since she had offended, at least in her mind, her very own guest even after she was so kind to forgive her for the earlier slight, Emily knew she could only go ahead and resign herself to such a fate. "W-well, 'cus, um, when ya get so nervous and your heart feels l-like it might explode..."

Hilaria began to wonder if Emily was even real at this point or just some fictional character she made up. "...sure~ Totally~" she tried to make sure her brain didn't go entirely on autopilot to cope with the type-2 diabetes she was probably contracting from the sweet cinnamon roll whatever it was Emily was doing. "...well, Hilaria was talking about games~ At first it was really hard and annoying but Hilaria eventually adjusted to them~"

"I see! Y-yeah, s-sorry bout that..."

"It's okay~" Hilaria assured her, standing up. "Hilaria will get out of your hair, for now~ Thanks for the breakfast~" she told Emily as she went to exit the room, stopping at the door. "But jeez, Hilaria thinks that is quite the reaction~ It would have made more sense if you thought we were having sex or something lewd~"

"S-s-e!...."

Things blurred before fading into complete darkness, only this time it wasn't the game that blacked out.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Su & Samantha

“Spit out that pacifier, Karen!”

— Su Fang

“You're not my REAL mom.”

— Samantha Howard

It was nice to have so many people willing to work at the Golden Trove. Among the corrupt girls looking for a place to stay, some of them wanted work. Extra hands were always a good thing. But a lot of the corrupt girls lacked the mental facilities and charisma to cater to a guest’s every need. Though perhaps that was less a reflection of their ability to service guests, and more a problem with guests themselves.

Being a hotel manager was more than just managing employees. Sometimes it meant managing the guests directly. If the trash was taken out late, if the trash was taken out early, if a breakfast item wasn’t being served, if a guest was making too much noise, if staff needed assistance with anything, if a guest was arguing with someone, or if a maid forgot to leave a complementary chocolate on your pillow, a manager was likely going to be summoned to deal with it.

”She was so mean!” Standing before Su was one of the newer maids. An alien girl with white hair, white skin, and four red eyes. She also had a tail as thick as a tree, and it wagged a lot when she was excited. ”She wouldn’t come out of her room to let me clean! She said it was because she hadn’t had breakfast yet. ‘So she just needs breakfast?’ I thought. So I went and got her a little bit of everything.”

Su was leaning against the front counter. “You ate half of it on your way up the stairs.”

”Yea, but there was a lot of food!” She stammered. ”Anyway, I get her feast to the door, and she complains that I ate everything that she wanted and slammed the door in my face! Like maybe get it yourself next time?”

“You could have handled it better, but I agree that her behavior is unreasonable.” Su walked around the counter and sat at her desk. “She’s renting a luxury room though, Boteg wouldn’t forgive me if I just threw her out.” She brought up the room and it’s occupant on her computer screen. “I’m sorry, room 1408?”

”Yea!”

“Samantha’s room?” Su stood up. “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Focus on the other rooms.”

Usually Su had Mika attend her room. She wasn’t a horrible maid by any stretch of the imagination, but Samantha was probably used to things like her meals appearing with a bite or two taken out of them. Maybe it was because she was one of Samantha’s objectives? But she had never seen her angry. Regardless, there must be some misunderstanding.

Su knocked on her door. “Samantha? Are you alright?”

Su could hear shuffling on the other side of the door before it was unlocked and cracked open. Through the slim opening stood a disheveled Samantha. She rarely paid much attention to how she presented herself to others in the hotel but this was even worse than that. "What?" came her terse reply.

“Are you alright?” The hotel manager found herself repeating the question, if with more feeling.

Samantha hesitated before answering. “I’m fine,” but everything in her tone indicated that this was not the case.

She wasn’t especially familiar with Samantha, but it didn’t feel right to leave her like this. She wanted to apologize for using her as a projectile against Justine, and thank her for taking out Janet. But that was an odd thing to talk about in the hallway. “You don’t seem like yourself.” She placed a hand on her hip. “Did something happen?”

“No, nothing has happened,” she snapped, her mood souring when Su brought this up. “Just that I normally get to eat my food instead of someone else doing it for me,” she complained, although as stated earlier, given Mika’s tendencies, this was not entirely factual. Sam seemed to be aware of this as she found herself glaring a hole in the floor instead of the person she was talking to. She then continued. “Shouldn’t there be some sort of code in place here? Ever since Mika abando--er, left, things have…” she sighed. “Things have been worse.”

“Things had been getting worse since we all returned from the beach dimension.” Su leaned against the door frame and folded her arms. Her eyes were pointed down the hall instead of at Samantha. “But yes, Mika’s departure does make Penrose feel a bit more gloomy.” It was hard not to smile. Su wondered how Mika would feel if she knew how Samantha felt right now. “If she knew you were like this, I’m sure she would give you a hug, even knowing you’d pinch her cheek afterwards. She hated it, but I think part of her enjoyed the attention.” She shrugged. “I can’t bring her back, but I can try to serve you as well as she could.” Su turned to her guest. “Would you like some coffee?”

Samantha did not deny anything Su had said even though she normally would have. The scowl she had been wearing faded and turned into a frown, before she composed herself and gave a silent nod in affirmation.

---

It didn’t take Su long to return with a catering cart. It had an electric coffee brewer on it, a few pastries, as well as anything one would want to put in their coffee. It was probably on the excessive side, but Samantha was renting a luxury suite, so words like “excessive” didn’t apply.

“Do you like the coffee? It wasn’t something I focused on before your arrival, but I’ve been trying to improve it ever since.”

“Yeah, something like that…”

Drinking coffee with a guest, on the other hand, was not standard protocol at all. But Su was doing this less as a manager and more as a concerned friend. She knew Samantha and Mika were close, but not this close. There had to be more to it.

“How’s Trixy? Are you two still dating?”

Samantha ignored the question as she took her time slowly pouring a cup of joe. She took in the aroma and then blew on the hot liquid before taking a small sip which burned her tongue a little bit, but she didn’t seem to mind so much. “It’s… not that good,” she mentioned quietly, having not expected greatness to begin with. She, however, enjoyed it nonetheless and repeated herself before finally turning up to Su. “We haven’t talked much recently… but yeah, as far as I’m aware.”

“I’m glad. She seems fun.”

“She’s… interesting, yeah,” Samantha said between sips.

Su hadn’t taken a sip from her cup yet. It was still quite warm, and she didn’t have the love of coffee or tolerance for hot drinks that Samantha had. Moreover, she was mulling over how to best proceed. Part of her wanted to just ask Samantha what was bothering her, but she knew that wouldn’t end well. It was probably best not to pry into Samantha’s affairs, but it was hard to help fix someone when you didn’t know what was broken. “So the maid that brought you your breakfast this morning. Well, half of your breakfast. Aside from eating part of it, how did she do? She’s new, so I’m just trying to get a feel for where she needs work.”

"Aside from the plate? I guess she brought what remained of the food. And it was not as though her attitude was poor," she pondered for another second yet she found nothing unsatisfactory about the employee. "...she's just a chubbier Mika in that sense," Samantha shook her head. "Erm. Uh. How about you? Are you well, considering..."

“Firing her? No.” Su almost laughed. “Liara’s done well so far. I’ve had little opportunity to work with her, but everyone enjoys her company and she’s really good with directions. Her appetite is just, well, monstrous. She also gets flustered easily, but I think that’s just because she’s new.” Su lifted her cup to her lips, still too hot. “We don’t have many people who use the luxury rooms. Not anymore anyway. The fact that she’s being allowed anywhere near your room is a sign of how well regarded she is. But if she’s less than adequate, she may not be ready yet.”

Samantha shook her head. "Firing? No, I was talking about how you're doing," she elucidated. "I admit my reaction to her blunder could, in some cases, be considered excessive, but I wouldn't go that far." Samantha looked down at her coffee and, though she certainly looked like she had something to say, she hesitated and instead brought the mug to her lips.

Su chuckled. “Oh! Me? Haha!” She looked at her cup. “…It doesn’t seem real yet.” the corner of her mouth twitched. “In my mind, she’s still in that special employee room on the top floor. Like if I call her, she’ll come like she always does.” Su pursed her lips and set her cup aside. She waited before speaking again. “It’s so strange. She came into my life at an odd time. It felt like she was trying to replace Amber, so I ignored her at first. Boteg and Helga wanted to keep her around for some reason. I guess it was like taking care of a small animal to them. They both warmed right up to her, but I was sceptical. I just wanted to be alone with the pain. She wouldn’t let me though.” Su bit her lower lip. “It’s been a few months since then. Maybe half a year. I know her favorite color, her favorite toy, all of her friends, her favorite video on youtube, her favorite food, and I still want to know more about her.” She folded her arms. “Any time she woke up, I wanted to know what she was dreaming about. After she had breakfast, I wanted to know where she was going. I didn’t always ask because I know she enjoys her privacy, but I’m still curious.” Su’s tone became somber. “Of course it’s now when she decides to leave. Once we feel like a family, once I actually want her to stay. And her reason for leaving? She’d rather spend her time with some girl she encountered at the Pit Stop. ” She picked up her cup again. She produced a small bottle of vodka from her hammer space handbag and poured some into her cup before drinking. “Helga looks tired all the time. Bringing up Mika’s name is enough to make her cry. It’s impossible to talk about it with her, and throwing spells into the sky only blows off so much steam.” She set down her cup. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble. ‘Not well’ is what I was going for.”

"Ah, I see...well, it's okay."

Samantha took a long and awkward sip from her mug as she attempted to process the information given. Mika's departure was unwanted by Samantha, but she was not constantly on her mind day in and day out. The person who introduced her to Mika, however, was.

When Sam could finally respond to the stressed Su she was already done with her coffee. "You really do sound like what I imagine a mother to be like," she commented with a wistful look.

Su’s entire body froze when she heard those words. It caused a small pain in her chest. Nothing she couldn’t shrug off, but it took her breath away, and made her eyes wet. With a sniff, she rubbed her eyes and set aside the coffee. She probably wasn’t going to finish it.

“I haven’t done anything fun in a while, Samantha. How about you?” She turned to look at her. “I’ve recently renovated the indoor tennis court. Would you like to see it?”

“I was always more of a golf person,” she said. “But I suppose it could be interesting. Yeah, lets see how it looks,” she agreed with a nod.

---

The tennis court had the same flair as the rest of the establishment. The red and yellow colors on the wall were likely chosen to match the rest of the golden trove, but they made the space feel like it was under a perceptually setting sun. There were depictions of dragons and clouds flying along the ceiling, but the tennis court itself had little frills. There were a few rackets neatly stored on a caddy, but that was it. The play area was a slate gray, with white lines denoting all the special areas.

“I tend to get carried away with the hotel’s theme, but it’s important that there’s nothing to distract the players.” Su had changed into something fitting for a tennis match. She was wearing shorts and a tank with an open vest. “You mentioned you liked golf, I do have a miniature golf course I’m working on. That won’t be ready for a while though.” She spun the racket in her hand. “I think badminton is as close as I’ve gotten to playing tennis.”

Samantha admired the ability of Su’s to keep a theme going. She thought it must have taken a fair bit of dedication and time for something a lot of people might not appreciate enough. But hard work in general was something to be commended. Sam knew that more than anyone. “It looks pleasing,” she complimented, walking over and picking up her own racket. Su mentioning a mini golf course being the works was something to look forward to. “I’m only vaguely familiar with Tennis myself,” she gave the racket a few mock swings in order to get a feel for it. “It’s not something you can do by yourself,” she added.

“Not a proper game, at least. But people do practice by playing against a concrete wall.” Su walked over to the other side of the net. ”So from my understanding, you score by having the ball bounce in your opponent’s zone twice? And you can’t touch the net.” She pulled a tennis ball out of her pocket. ”We can also just hit the ball back and forth if that’s what you’re in the mood for.” Regardless of what they ended up doing, Su would be keeping score anyway. Even if it was just in her head.

Samantha shook her head, denying such an outrageous thing. “Wouldn’t we be doing this court a disservice by not utilizing it for its purpose? If we are both at least vaguely aware of the rules, then I see no reason not to play.” Su would likely come to understand that Samantha was a competitive person by heart despite her lone wolf lifestyle. Although she might have learned this earlier had she spoken to Trixy.

Thankfully for Su, they were playing Tennis and not sparring.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but...On serve or return, the ball must bounce once within the boundary of the court or be counted against the offender, a second bounce in the opponent’s side scores a point, I would say the losing party should serve on game point or take turns if tied. I… believe there was something akin to a shot clock added at some point but that seems excessive even if I could keep track rather easily.” It took a few moments, but then Sam shook her head again. “Sorry, I get carried away when it comes to competitions. We should probably keep it simple…I guess just serve,”

”Yes, that sounds about right.” Su couldn’t hold back her smile. She knew there was something special about Samantha. Even if neither of them were experts at tennis, wanting to be competitive in all things regardless of skill level was an admirable trait. ”I think usually a coin flip is involved, but since I’m already holding a ball, I’ll serve.” She tossed the ball into the air and hit it with her racket.

If there was one thing Samantha really hated, it was losing. Though this may be surprising given her affable demeanor when it came towards Justine and a certain inquisitor, she absolutely couldn’t stand it. She had to be perfect and the best at the things she did if the possibility was there. So, naturally, she was going to play for keeps. No screwing around. No going easy. This game may as well been a duel to the death, and Sam was leaving here alive.

“Hyah!” Samantha saw the approaching tennis ball that was her target and predicted its course after the first bounce. Catching a ball going slower than a bullet would be child’s play compared to evading fire from magical girls or even bullets. It would be too easy, in fact. With a mighty swing, Samantha’s racket collided with the ball and sent it flying... straight backwards, gifting Su a point.

...maybe this is where she would die.

“O-oh, that’s…” she felt a bit embarrassed. “I suppose that might’ve been instinct…” The problem here was that she had used the racket horizontally, instead of utilizing the net like she was supposed to. As though she were trying to slice the ball in half.

”What’s with that stance?”

Su understood that Silhouette was one of Veronica’s most capable agents. But it seemed she was lost on the tennis court. Someone else might have felt compelled to play it easy on their opponent after such a display. But that would be doing Samantha a disservice. It wasn’t like Su was an expert player herself. The only way you could get better was by playing against opponents that were better than you, and only if they did their best.

”It does take a bit to adjust to.” Su extended her hand, and the ball was blown towards Samantha’s heel. She hadn’t transformed yet. Su was just using what little magical power she had out of costume to get the ball to roll back to her. ”So that’s 15-0, and it’s your turn to serve.” Su slid one of her feet behind herself. Perhaps this was a ruse to make her drop her guard.

Samantha picked up the ball. Taking a deep breath, she turned her racket in her hand and held it properly. Slicing at a tennis ball was obviously not the way to go about things. “I shouldn’t be in love over something so stupid…” Sam muttered under her breath, but Su might’ve picked this up. Either way, she managed to throw the ball into the air and serve it properly.

Su did, in fact, hear that. ”Samantha?” Su hesitated, and the ball bounced past her without a single swing. ”Is something bothering you?” She ran the discussion she had with Samantha in her room through her head and tried to find ways to link it up to what Samantha was saying now. ”You weren’t in love with Mika, were you?”

That statement caused Samantha’s features to redden but she held an expression that seemed to suggest she didn’t even realize this. “W-where’d this come from?” she asked. She looked away and tried to think about it, but honestly she was not sure. “...I don’t… really have the experience to say,” she admitted. “We talked about this a while back, didn’t we?”

“I recall you saying you felt that way about your boss.” Su blinked. Her initial hunch was correct, Mika had nothing to do with this. “I’m sorry, it’s hard to get Mika off my mind. What I wanted to ask was how Veronica was doing.”

The assassin’s expression soured when Veronica was brought up, confirming that this was indeed what irked her. “Fine,” she replied. “She’s gone now, though.” There was a bitterness to her tone.

”She’s gone?” Su turned her head. ”Like, dead or, did she leave?”

“Left,” she clarified. “Veronica can’t die,” Samantha said this with absolute confidence. It was almost as though she thought the notion was laughable. “In her place is some… woman nobody recognizes, too,” Su could probably tell this particular part was what irked Sam the most given the sheer reluctance of hers to even give her the decency of calling her a woman. “I don’t think it’s going to go well for us as an organization, but since she was chosen…”

“Do you wish she picked you instead?”

Sam shook her head. “No. I’m not the sort of person who can lead others. I was a soldier, so I am better at following orders,” she told Su..

Su nodded once and lowered her racket. ”Is it something you feel like talking about?” She jogged over to the net. ”Talking about Mika made me feel better. It might do the same for you.”

"Mmm..." Samantha seemed to stew on the thought for a while before hesitantly nodding. "I'm not good at explaining how I feel, but..." she placed a hand on her chest. "...it's like I'm mad, irritated, and sad simultaneously. I don't like it at all. Not Veronica leaving, not that woman taking her place, and not me being left here.”

”I feel similarly about Mika.” Su stepped around the net. ”I don’t think there’s anything anyone could say to us to make you or I feel better though. It’s just not a pleasant situation.” She tapped her foot.

“Yeah, I think that you are probably right…”

”The woman who’s taking Veronica’s place, have you spoken with her much?”

"I didn't want to," she said. "Aside from when she introduced herself, we have not spoken."

”If she’s acting as your boss, you should probably get to know her a little better.” Su wasn’t Silhouette’s mother. Still, there was no harm in trying to give Samantha advice. Maybe? ”I’ve never spoken to her, so I don’t know how she is. By all means avoid her if she’s mean or doesn’t act in Veronica’s best interests, but you’re probably going to have to talk to her sooner or later. It’s what she’d want, right?”

Samantha rubbed the back of her neck. “I know that, it’s just…” she seemed almost unable to complete the thought. “...I don’t know. Or I do... I know that it would be ideal for us to cooperate and that Veronica would want that, but…” Sam sighed as her mind ran in many different directions. “I just must be sick or something, I can’t make sense of my own thoughts and it’s frustrating me.”

”If you were in love with her, then that’s normal.” Su hugged herself and looked away from Samantha. ”Some people might say no one could love someone like that but, well, I was in love with Veronica once.”

That roused Sam from her confusion. “Huh?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

”Um.” Su blinked. ”I mean, we dated?” She needed a moment to think. ”She snuck me into a movie theater once. That was back when I could only be a human for a half an hour at a time. I remember poking my head out of her coat so that I could eat her popcorn.” The corners of her lips twitched. ”We were an item.”

I was never told of this!

Samantha understood Veronica had her flings with other magical girls, but she wasn’t exactly briefed on them, so she hadn’t known that Su was involved. It… well, much like the rest of her thoughts, Sam couldn’t think of a proper word about how to describe them. She wasn’t mad but she wasn’t happy about this, either.

“What happened?” Sam let her curiosity lead her.

”I don’t fully understand it myself.” Su hadn’t meant for her relationship with Veronica to become but it had been about a year since it was hinted at was probably something Samantha had ought to hear. ”We had been dating for-” Su closed her mouth. She took Samantha aside and spoke to her in a hushed tone, confident that no one could hear them. ”We had been dating for a while. That was when the former ‘Vermillion Veronica’ found her. To keep things from getting confusing, I’m going to call the Veronica you know ‘Fritzi.’” It was like uncorking champagne. As soon as Su mentioned her name, the rest came out easy. ”Fritzi needed help, so she was given a black coin, a debt, and sent on her way. I wasn’t allowed to listen to their conversations together, but Fritzi always told me what Veronica had told her. Or at least I assume she did. Fritzi was always to type to withhold information rather than flat out lie.” Su found herself standing up straight. ”It was normal Mint fanfare with her. I’m sure you know the types of things Fritzi was asked to do better than anyone. First it was just odd jobs, then it was assassinations. All while feeding the Mint information on Boteg. I didn’t like it. I couldn’t believe she would sell out Boteg, but I also loved her. Her missions kept getting tougher. At one point they told her to slay Veronica. They were trying to get her to use the coin, or ask for more help. We knew it.” Su rubbed the back of her neck. ”One night she said she was going to save Boteg and myself, but that I had to remain behind. We had our last kiss and then I went back to sleep. Well, I tried. The following day Boteg’s entire hoard was gone.” Su closed her eyes and folded her hands together. ”She must have been successful. You can tell her power isn’t normal, and she was respected enough to be a coin broker. We encountered each other on and off over the past few years, then she called me out to bring Amber to Boteg.” Su looked away. ”We haven’t spoken much since then.”

“...I see,” Samantha ruminated on the odd history Su shared with Veronica. It wasn’t something she was privy to, as Veronica rarely spoke about her past in detail, though this was par for the course with a Mint broker and any smart agent. “The Mint, from my experience, works with profit in mind exclusively. To this end, anything might be demanded of an agent and they will use whatever means necessary to achieve their goals, be it menial labor or contracted killing,” Samantha explained, her chin resting on her hand. “That they would ask ‘Fritzy’ to take out her own superior… it doesn’t surprise me in the least,” Sam realized something, then shook her head. “Oh, yeah, I’m sure you already know this. But the reason I was bringing it up was because I had a stray thought about something, but since it involves… ‘Fritzy’, I can’t see it being a problem.” Samantha sighed. “I imagine she used Boteg’s hoard as a bribe to protect the two of you, but that would normally just give the Mint leverage considering it would make obvious the significance of the two of you to ‘Fritzy’.”

Samantha was thankful that her lone-wolf approach to life had made it impossible for them to have such a hold over her. Since she joined the Cradle with Veronica, they had nothing to use against her. No family. No friends.

“But… she’s smart,” Samantha declared. “And you aren’t dead or worse. So it’s nothing, I guess.”

”I would like to think that she did it to protect us.” Su couldn’t, of course, think that was the only reason. There was too much secrecy. ”She doesn’t have many reasons to keep me alive, I don’t imagine. I’m just a liability at this point.”

“Yes, that’s exactly why it would be leverage. They would know that you were someone of importance to her. And do you think they have standards? Only when it benefits them,” Samantha told her. She was no different when she joined, so the spite seeping into her words was not entirely directed at them.

She examined Samantha’s features. ”How do you feel now?”

“Frus…” Samantha then realized that such feelings had become less pronounced. “...well, maybe not as much anymore,” she changed her answer. Sam scratched her head. “I do not feel as strongly as I did earlier, at the very least.”

”That’s good.” Su walked back over to her side of the net. ”That was your point, so we’re 15-15.” She spun the ball in her hand before preparing to serve. ”Oh.” She looked Samantha in the eyes. ”I’m glad we talked. I feel a little better too.” She fired the ball over the net and Samantha returned to focusing on the game.

In the end, neither of the girls could pull off a win and thus the match was eventually concluded with the only reward being the promise of a rematch with a more satisfying conclusion. But Samantha might be looking forward to more than just the game.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

The Great Penrose Movie Marathon

E m i l y

"Uwawawa...! Hilaria, why?"

— Emily

As the host of the event, Emily had felt that she needed to be as inclusive and accommodating to everyone's needs as she could be but the reality of the situation was that she neither had expected bottles to be spun nor was she experienced with this.

Some individuals seemed to dislike it, while some enjoyed it. And with the movies they were originally going to watch being... well, removed from the equation, she wasn't sure what to do. Things were moving so fast that the overstimulated girl couldn't keep track of everything. Were they going to obtain new copies? Were they going to do something else? She wanted to cry.

"Oh my, isn't this just wonderful~?" Emily wasn't sure when it had happened, but somehow Hilaria had gotten behind her and placed a kind hand on her shoulder without her even realizing. "Everyone seems to be having fun, in their own way~" the ancient said as she munched some something Emily assumed she grabbed from the kitchen.

Emily couldn't give a response, but just that casual statement caused her to regain her composure. People did seem to be enjoying themselves, somehow or another. That was the important part, yeah? The realization allowed the magical girl to exhale the stress away.

...only for it to be replaced by more when she noticed Shoggy sucking the life out of someone through their lips. The sight was absurd! The sight was lewd! The sight was shameless! The sight was... hard to tear her eyes away from.

"Eh, ah..."

It was only a game, right? Yeah, that's it. Nothing serious. Nope. Just people smacking lips in the middle of her home all willy nilly. As long as things didn't escalate and her mother in heaven was busy washing dishes or watching dramas right now, then things would be fine. Yes, very.

Mia would be met with a young girl trying her best not to let her emotions show. Her best wasn't exactly good, so Emily made a stiff turn to face the girl with a blush. "O-oh, I suppose not!" she replied. She gave an awkward look around the room again. Her definition of a 'movie night' was clearly outdated. "But as l-long as people are having fun, then it's okay!" she told Mia with the straightest smile she could muster.

With the copious amount of lip-to-lip, Emily was thankful that the movies had arrived. She could certainly see herself enjoying those a fair bit more than she would if she were to sp--

Suddenly, the girl was pulled down to the floor before the bottle. "Spin, spin~!" a familiar voice encouraged. Well, more like demanded in a very unique way. As Oros asked for more victims players, Hilaria had taken it upon herself to nominate the confused Emily.

"W-what, me? O-oh, no, that's probably not..." Hilaria was not daunted by the weak resistance Emily put up, and took the young girl's hand and forced her to spin it. It spun until it slowly landed upon a person in particular.

"Oh, my~ Someone seems attached~ Maybe you should spin again~?"

Emily eyed Shane, who had just finished being assaulted by the tentacle girl. She didn't say anything. Her experience with boys was always a rough one and she wasn't sure what to do. If the options were a kiss or a dare, then which would be better? Kissing was... well, kissing. But if she went for a dare, what if she was asked to do something crazy, like reveal a secret or even hold hands!?

New Rivière City: The End of an Era

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

The Great Penrose Movie Marathon

E m i l y

"So many people~!"

— Emily

The school's field was alive with a cacophony of yelling, screaming, insulting, and reprimanding on this hot day some years ago. At the center of it were two figures, a boy and a girl, one standing triumphant and the other, defeated and on the ground, rubbing their check as they sobbed. It was clear as day that the two had gotten into a fight.

The girl had was riddled with small bruises both on her face and, as she would later discover in the nurse's office, her arms. She had tried her best to block the boy's wild throws but she could have done a lot better.

But she stood victorious. "Idiot!" she spat at the boy who on the ground. "Ain't no reason to be acting like a jackass!" she raised her fist in a threatening manner but all she was met with was a teacher seizing her hand and yelling about the possibility of detention versus expulsion.

.........

She had to walk home with the knowledge she would be dealing with one angry mother, a thought that scared her more than anything else. Beside her was sister. She was the miniboss. "Oh, I was so scared you got seriously hurt," her sister said. "Thank God!" the girl was pulled into a deep hug for a few seconds.

This somewhat touching moment was ruined by her sister seizing her ear and giving it a firm tug, which hurt more than anything that boy threw at her. "Yeow! Yeow! What gives, huh!?" she was at the mercy of her sister, who merely shook her head in anger and disappointment.

"How could you get into a fight at school? We talked about violence before!" she scolded.

The young girl pouted. "That's cus they were being dumb idiots! And mean!"

"That's no excuse for violence." her sister snapped. Fighting was something she had long ago made known that she loathed.

"Yeah it is! Cus they..." the girl suddenly went quiet and pouted.

Her sister glanced down at the girl only to realize she was still holding her by the ear. Letting go, she apologized. "Sorry," she told the girl, only to then asked, "Cus they what? You know there's no point in hiding it. The warden will get it out of you soon enough when you get home." The warden was, of course, a playful name they called their mom when she was upset. And she was certainly going to be.

If there was one constant in this world that the girl believed in, it was that her sister would forgive her. She wished she had this kind of strength herself. But... not having that sort of strength was why she got into the fight in the first place. "They... said mean things about me... and ya," the girl finally admitted.

"Oh? What mean things did they say?" her sister inquired.

"They were talkin' bout families and stuff," she began. From the subtle shift in her sister's features, the girl could tell her sister knew where this was going but she continued anyway. "and then they started saying stuff bout me and ya, so I got upset."

"And so you started a fight, just like that? I'm ash--"

The girl cut her sister off. "No! I told 'em to shut up, first! I tried being reasonable like ya said to and all but that didn't work!" the girl got worked up the more she went on. "One of 'em kept goin' on and on and he wouldn't shut up! He said that just cus' ya ain't born from the same ma as me that ya aren't my real sister, so that's why I gave him a whoopin'!"

The girl caught a brief but significant twist in her sister's features. Her sister smiled in a clear attempt to hide the effect it had on her. "Don't let it get to you," she calmly said, patting the girl's back. "Being a sister is more than just having the same blood in your veins," she affirmed. "Love and wanting the best for one another is all that is needed."

The girl shook her head. "Yeah, maybe. But that numbskull didn't know nothin' bout that! And! He made me madder than a short guy witha yoyo! He got his just deserts!"

Her sister then flicked her forehead, knelt down in front of her, then smiled. "You can be better than that, you know,"

The girl looked away. "...Yeah, but I wanted him to feel like me and ya felt."

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." she quoted.

The girl scratched her head. "Um, but don't we got two? We'd still be able to see with one..."

Her sister laughed. "It's a saying that means you shouldn't solve violence with violence. But I think it applies to anything negative. Pain in any form will likely spread," she explained. "So wouldn't it be better to instead spread kindness and love?"

"Huh?"

"I know it'll be hard but I want you to take any frustrations you have and turn them into benevolent actions. Spread joy instead of more anger and I'm sure the world will be a lot better off. I think there's enough violence already,"

The girl went quiet for a minute. She thought about how upset that boy had made her and how bad she felt she had to give him a beating. How was she supposed to do something positive with those emotions? That made no sense! But, if her sister was telling her to try, then there had to be something. "I-I guess I can give it a shot..." she told her sister, who beamed a bright smile in response.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed as they drew near to their house. "I want that to go for any negative emotion, okay?" as she asked this of the girl, the sister opened the door to their home. "Even despair. I know you can do it."

What waited for them on the other side was a look that could kill, and it was being directed at the girl. Her ear was going to be red for the next few days, she knew it.

"M-maybe it's not possible after all..."

-------

Emily snapped herself out of the daydream as things began to pick up. She tried not to remember the embarrassing things she said to her sister back then, but since those memories were all she had left of the girl, they weren't entirely unwelcome.

Having returned to the real world, she realized she was standing in front of Sakura's 'rules' and remembered what she had been doing. With pen in hand, she crossed out the last rule on the list and replaced it with "Make friends!" instead of the more vulgar one. As much as she appreciated Sakura looking out for her, she would prefer not to have something like that just hanging around her place, if possible.

Her task was finished just as more people began coming in. When Sakura said she had invited people over, she was not expecting this many at first. It made her upset that her place wasn't exactly the most accommodating for a party as big as it was looking to be, but she had moved anything that cluttered the place out of sight beforehand.

"Hello!" Emily greeted the group of guests who had suddenly appeared, consisting of Alex, Lily, Shane, Connie, and Mia. She felt so excited! "I'm glad you all could make it! As far as edible things go, you can place them anywhere there's space in the kitchen for now while we wait for everyone to show!" she directed them to the kitchen with a finger, even though it wasn't really necessary.

She went ahead and addressed the direct introduction to herself after she ensured the others knew where to go. "Shannon?" the name was vaguely familiar to her. But... wait, wasn't Shannon more of a girl's name? What was the deal with Shane, then? "Um..." she wasn't sure how she should react. "Oh, well, it's good to see you again! Forgive me if I'm wrong, but were you at the beach?" she asked to make sure.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

H i l a r i a

"Sometimes, being a JRPG protagonist isn't so bad."

— Hilaria

What entered Hilaria's vision when she woke up the next morning was an unfamiliar and dirtied white ceiling. Without looking anywhere else, she could already tell she was not in a luxurious place, but somewhere 'economical'. She wondered what that meant.

As she sat up, she noticed she was in a bed and threw the covers off of herself, glancing around yet seeing nobody else in the small room. There were quite a few posters of some cartoonish characters on the wall, all striking eccentric, yet flamboyant poses and there were even some figurines of those same characters lining a dresser that sat along the wall. A child? While waking up in a strange environment with no recollection of the actions that led up to the moment was not exactly a unique situation for her, she had to admit she'd never woken up in a child's bed before.

Hilaria got out of the bed and stood up, stretching her arms and realizing that she felt incredible and refreshed. It had to have been the most amazing sleep she'd gotten in centuries, at least. "~!" she could almost sing if it weren't for the fact she still wasn't sure where she was or why she was here. But standing in a kid's room wasn't going to answer that question, was it? She began to leave only to pick up on the faint sound of humming in the next room as well as the wonderful smell of bacon.

"MmmMmmMmm~" the voice, oblivious to Hilaria's presence, continued to hum as she entered the room. There was no real divide between the living room and the kitchen, which made it rather obvious that this was some dinky apartment. "You won't get faaaaaaaar~ Cannnn't escape~ If you get lost oh, black swallowtail~" she sung while oblivious to the approaching Hilaria. She was wearing some rather revealing clothing and Hilaria could tell there was a fire spec being used in some capacity, so this girl was certainly not human. Hilaria hadn't woken up restrained so she couldn't imagine the girl intending to harm her since she had ample opportunity to do so while Hilaria was out. Thus, she did not see any reason to transform.

"Eh~? Is that bacon~?" Hilaria asked merely a foot or so away from the distracted girl. She hadn't put much effort into being quiet, but the girl was basically in her own world and had remained blissfully unaware of the approaching ancient up until that point.

What happened next managed to surprise Hilaria. In response to being startled, the girl left an outline of herself out of flames and also suddenly launched upwards, her head hitting the ceiling with a thud. "S-s-sakura, when'd you...?" temporarily mistaking her for someone else, the girl stopped mid-sentence when she realized she wasn't staring at the person she expected.

The girl seemed a bit cautious as she inspected Hilaria but apparently satisfied with some aspect of her after a glance, shifted gears. "O-Oh! You're alright!" as if she hadn't nearly flown through the roof, she reached up to place the back of her hand on Hilaria's forehead. "You don't feel warm... are you okay?" she asked.

Hilaria tilted her head. "Hilaria is more than fine~! Hilaria feels amazing~!" she told the girl, eyeing the bacon in the pan that had managed not to follow the girl into the roof. For that, she was thankful. "Hilaria is kinda hungry though~"

"Hilaria?" she repeated. "Oh, is that your name, then?" she asked. Hilaria gave a nod before the girl decided to introduce herself. "Sorry for asking that first, but I'm Emily! It's good to see you're awake!" Emily turned her eyes towards the breakfast she was making that consisted of both eggs and bacon, and then continued. "And of course you're welcome to eat here! I made quite a bit, actually. Erm, do you like bac--" having noticed that Hilaria's attention was entirely on the food, she knew the answer. "Um, please, take a seat over there and I'll make you a plate!" Emily motioned over to a table tucked in the corner of the living room.

Having done as asked, Hilaria found a plate with eggs and bacon before her, as well as a tall glass of milk and a piece of toast. "Eheh~ Hilaria is thankful for the meal~" she managed to say before diving into the breakfast and finishing it in what was probably record time. Emily had barely managed to get a single bite in before Hilaria's plate had been cleaned.

"..."

Strangely, Hilaria felt satisfied with just that, so she glanced around the room while Emily ate. But it became increasingly harder to do so when she felt the girl stealing glances at her, only to avoid eye contact. It was clear she wanted to say something but was perhaps not sure how to. "Hmm~?" she finally decided to break the awkward silence. "Do you fancy Hilaria~?" she asked, giving a coquettish grin.

Emily seemed taken aback by the question, but quickly regained her composure when she realized Hilaria was maybe joking. Or at least she thought she was. "No, it's..." she hesitated momentarily, but finally relented. "Do you... not remember last night?" she waited for Hilaria's answer.

Hilaria paused to think, but couldn't retrieve any of those memories. It all seemed quite fuzzy. She remembered being on her way to the rave, but didn't even recall the bunny she scared or meeting that magical boy. "Nope~!" she denied innocently. "Hilaria isn't sure why she's here or what happened last night, but it must have been... fun...?" she had started a lot stronger than she finished, but that was because Emily's darkening expression told her that her assumption was completely wrong.

She thought that because she felt good waking up that nothing bad happened, but that was not looking like the case. Both the air and the tense expression Emily had on were making it difficult to deny that something bad happened. "Hilaria wants to know what happened, then~"

Emily opened and closed her mouth more than one time. "Umm, well..." she rubbed the back of her neck as she thought about how best to answer. "A lot of stuff happened. There was a big attack on the Rave that left lots of people injured or..." Emily trailed off. "...There was also a big problem with horrors at a nearby park. They were really strong, too! Um, that's where you were. You wer--" Emily began to say something else, but Hilaria held a hand up.

"Nope~! Hilaria doesn't want to hear that part," she stated abruptly. "It's not important." she wiggled her finger. Given the mention of strong horrors, Hilaria figured she must have lost consciousness fighting them, which was honestly quite embarrassing for her. Slipping up like that even given her age was terrible and she did not want to think about it, at least not yet. It was kinda strange that she woke up feeling refreshed but she would pass that off as someone being good at mending wounds or something similar.

"Oh... well, okay..." Emily appeared confused but agreed anyways and then another silence took over as she finished her own meal. When it was done, Hilaria spoke up.

"Hilaria thinks you've got a good voice~ What were you singing~? She wants to know~ Is it a song for your child~?" the question made caught Emily off guard and she nearly choked on the food she was chewing.

"My w-what!?"

The ancient put a finger to her lips. "Mmm, Hilaria saw posters and toys in the room she was in, so she thought that might be a kid's room~ Isn't it~?"

"Well that's..." Emily wasn't able to look at Hilaria directly when she answered. "I-I do have someone of childlike stature here, I guess..." Hilaria was unsure why the subject seemed to cause the girl distress but decided against pressing on it for the time being. She stood up from the table and pushed her chair in.

"Hilaria is grateful for the food but she should go~" she declared. Emily stood up in response.

"O-oh, so soon? Are you sure you're feeling well?" she was paying particular attention to the bandages that covered parts of Hilaria's limbs.

To alleviate Emily's concerns, Hilaria removed some of the bandages on her arm, revealing that there were no wounds on it. "Hilaria forgets to remove them sometimes, that's all," she explained, throwing the bandage away as she moved towards the door.

Emily followed right behind. "Um, well, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come back. A sister in need is always welcome here!" she assured Hilaria as the woman started out the door, only to follow her out. "O-oh, if you don't mind... could we exchange numbers?"

"Mmm~?" Hilaria didn't have any particular desire to see this girl again, but since she seemingly saved her, having a way to repay the favor someday was good. "Hilaria supposes~" she reached into her cleavage and retrieve a model of phone that was relatively new. She preferred food, but sometimes guys would buy her material items. This was one of them.

After the two swapped their cell numbers, Hilaria made sure to make a note in the contact info that this girl had helped her, as she knew she was probably going to forget. Emily, seeming quite pleased that Hilaria agreed, waved as the ancient set back off into Penrose, quite oblivious to the trouble she had caused the night before.

Hopefully, that wouldn't cause problems down the line.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

S i l h o u e t t e & T r i x y

”I don’t even know what to put here..”

— Trixy

Samantha laid on her bed as she waited for Trixy. In trying to understand her feelings a bit better, she had become a bit more distant than normal these past few days. To both Trixy and Veronica, but only one of them was likely to be unaware as to why. To make it up to her, Sam thought they could go on that second date since the Rave turned out to be a clusterfuck.

It really had been, hadn't it?

They barely got to enjoy themselves before everyone in the club started killing each other, and Justine showed her face. They fought and defeated the Monster Queen, and then the Ascendency yet again decided to remind people that they get their name from the ever-increasing number of shitty things they've done.

And, of course, Rachel.

Samantha couldn't remember the last time she felt so pissed off. She didn't remember feeling so strongly about the conflict between DMGs and them, but apparently, that was the case. She couldn't think of any other reason why she'd go out of her way to attack someone she wasn't ordered to. Veronica was right about her actions being driven by emotions. How foolish of her.

Anyway, if there was one thing she could compliment the Ascendancy on, it was that at least some of them proved to be as strong as their fervor for their misguided beliefs. The inquisitor had reacted far quicker than Sam thought she could, and it was only a mixture of instinct and luck that she didn't end up losing her life or being captured. Samantha wouldn't let that happen a second time. The next time they clashed, she wouldn't underestimate her opponent.

"Oh..."

Samantha shook her head as she sat up in her bed. She was thinking too hard on these things, even after inviting Trixy over. The events preceding today weren't important. What was? Making up for them.

But Sam was wholly incompetent when it came to dates. What form would it take today? All she had to go off of was what it wouldn't look like, which Trixy generously pointed out a bit ago.

Was training really that bad?

Thankfully, Trixy was probably not aware that Sam was starting to think she was ready to take the training wheels off. But that torture was for another time, because Trixy stepped through the door.

“You showed up.”

"Did I knock?"

Trixy was looking pretty average today. Just a yellow sweater and jeans, and she wasn’t even wearing an eyepatch. The corners of her lips were arched downward slightly, and she avoided making eye contact with Sam until she got in the center of the room. "You’ve been kind of distant." she sat down in a chair across from Samantha. "Is it because of the Mariette thing?"

Samantha looked confused for a second but then shook her head. "No. I'm not happy about that, though." she slid herself to the end of her bed and sat up properly. "I needed time to think over things for a bit, but I suppose I could've mentioned as much." she rubbed the back of her neck as though embarrassed by the fact.

She remained silent just too long for it to feel natural. "Anyway, we did promise to do something if things didn't pan out at the Rave, didn't we?"

"Yea, but I dunno." Trixy looked at her hands and twiddled her thumbs. "I can’t believe Betty’s gone. I keep checking Glimr expecting her to respond to my messages." she folded her hands in her lap. "I don’t really feel like going anywhere. All I wanna do is eat."

"Oh, I see..." Samantha seemed disappointed. "...well, that's understandable." It appeared as though Samantha wasn't sure what to say, so she started looking around her room in an attempt to find inspiration for what they could do here. Unfortunately, much like herself, she found her room quite bland and uninteresting.

Oh!

Samantha got an idea. If Trixy was hungry, then why not feed her? "Do you like pizza?" she asked, even though she was relatively sure that it was a dumb question. Samantha wasn't sure exactly how her pizza compared to, say, Su's, but that was because Boteg never gave his opinion and Su and Mika suddenly disappeared.

"Do I?" Trixy placed her hands on her hips. "Wait, that was a rhetorical question wasn’t it? You remembered I wanted a slice of pizza at the rave!" She smiled. Even untransformed, her teeth were pointy like a sharks. "I’ll never say no to a pizza! But where do we order something like that? A lot of Penrose’s food joints are closing down because they can’t all compete with the lower population. The good ones are closing at least, are you in the mood for little caesars?."

Samantha couldn't help but puff out her chest with pride. "I have recently obtained the knowledge required to make pizzas by hand. We don't have to worry about ordering out." she declared.

But Little Caesar's did sound good. Oh well, this was a chance to show off skills not related to violence or murder, so she was gonna take it!

"Well, it would be a shame if you made the pizzas and I just watched you." Trixy tapped her foot. "I’ve got an idea! If you’re going to make Pizza, I can help too!" She hugged herself. "We’ll make twice as much pizza and load them up with toppings!" She hugged Samantha and rested her head on her shoulder. "We should have done this yesterday!" With a sigh, she let go of Sil. "I can’t wait to eat! I feel like I’ve gone to heaven!" She swooned and turned to the door. "How long does that take, an hour or so? Just point me to the kitchen!" Trixy hummed while bouncing in place.

"Just about that long. But if I...well, nevermind," Sam stopped herself before she mentioned using her power over time to speed things up, deciding it best to just stick to how she remembered it. She wanted to see Trixy enjoy her pizza, not being attacked by it.

Sam would then lead Trixy to the kitchen, where she would begin teaching her what Su had told her. Given how she recited things almost word for word, Sam must have considered the lesson important.

"Do you have any preference for toppings? Even if we don't have them, I can make a trip to the store to grab them," she said. Samantha preferred when a pizza had at least pepperoni but didn't mind adding just about anything a human could put on a pizza. So as long as it wasn't pineapple, she would have no reservations about it.

"I like just about everything. I would say the more the merrier!" Trixy leaned her head against Samantha’s shoulder. "You can probably skip the anchovies, they have a powerful taste. But I don’t mind pepperoni, sausage, ham, mushrooms, bacon, peppers, olives, chicken, onions, tomatoes, spinach, or pineapple on my pizza." She looked to Samantha. "But if anyone’s going to go shopping, it should be me. You know what you’re doing here."

Samantha almost reeled back in disgust but was able to hold on to her composure. “Then let's add as much as we can.” she took the initiative and scouted out the ingredients, finding a fair amount of the ones named. She did not, however, find pineapple. Or at least that’s what she told Trixy after she subtly had disposed of it when the girl wasn’t looking. Things proceeded smoothly from then on, with nothing going wrong by the looks of it.

As they waited for the oven to finish with the dough, Sam recalled her blunder at the Rave. “Before I forget, I suppose I should both thank you and apologize,” she spoke up. “Rushing in blind like that is… quite foolish, but I’m glad you were there to bail me out.”

Trixy pointed at herself with her thumb. "I’m not letting Veronica’s top agent die on my watch. Not that things seemed quite that dire. Besides, The ascendancy are a bunch of cartoon villains who are constantly barking their intent." Trixy reached into her hammer space wardrobe and placed a pair of glasses on her nose. She also grabbed a tiny crown, and then picked up a push broom that was resting in the corner of the room. Trixy then gave Samantha the sternest look she could muster. "Heretic Mint witch! I will see you repent! But only because I just got these glasses!" Trixy swapped out her glasses and crown for a gas mask, the type you’d wear to a goth rave. "Trixy’s here! We need to skiddadle!" She swapped back to her “Rachel look” "Very well. It seems the rat had caught a lucky break. Were Trixy not here I might have considered continuing our duel." She looked at Samantha with a big toothy smile.

Samantha quietly took in the goofy sight of Trixy acting out a heavily romanticized version of the events that transpired. She nodded, attempting to hide a smile at the silliness of it, before concluding something. "I would advise against seeking a career in acting," she commented, but then added something that made it clear she wasn't being serious. "I mean, you only said heretic once. Really, how would anyone know you're Ascendancy?"

"Hah!" Trixy placed a hand on her hip. "We can improve my act, watch this." She scratched her chin. "Actually, I don’t know where you’d find a bow saw in a hotel. Just hold onto this. It’s sort of a good prop." She handed Samantha a ladle. "Ahem!" “Rachel” cleared her throat. "Paladin Seraph! Where did the mint-witch-heretics go?"

Samantha was staring at the ladle with apparent confusion until Trixy got into character, and then she even giggled when she realized what it was supposed to be. "Reporting!" Samantha gave a salute with enthusiasm that put many to shame. "The Mint-Witch-Heretic-Blasphemers have vanished without a trace, Ma'am!" she even held her 'bow saw' in an appropriate fashion.

"Blast and damn those cute Cradle agents, with their wit and ability to use modern English!" Trixy looked at Samantha and squinted her eyes. She was trying to frown, but the corners of her lips kept curling into a smile. "Speaking of which, paladin, you’re looking quite fetching today." She inhaled. "You’re almost cute enough to be one of those Cradle agents. Have you been trying to copy agent Silhouette? Your hair it’s just… Blasphemously wavey. You didn’t use shampoo did you?"

“O-of course that is not the truth, ma’am!” she straightened her back even further. “I do not take my position lightly! Passe’ is my dialogue and hygienic standards! I dare not steal a glance at a paragon such as yourself if the vivid scent of monster blood and my zeal aren’t apparent enough to prove my loyalty!”

"Verily!" “Rachel” reached for “Alicia’s” shoulder. "Mayhaps those blasphemous-heretic-heathen-mint-wiches escaping just made me so-" Trixy sniffed the air. "Are you making a pizza too? That does it paladin! I’m so frustrated and turned on that I’ll need to resort to a special type of justice for you." Trixy hoisted her “hammer” behind herself. "I’m gunna smash you!" Instead of swinging the broom at Sam, she dropped it on the floor and placed her other hand on Samantha’s hip. Their faces were just inches apart, and Samantha could feel Trixy’s breath on her face. "I’m gunna smash you real good, heh!"

Samantha tilted her head suddenly. “Smash?” she asked, in the most genuine way. “And how would you do that without your broo--er, weapon?” the coquettish aspect of the roleplay seemed to have gone over her head.

"Uh." Trixy just stared at Sil. "By smash, I mean, um." Trixy snorted. "Smash our, um, lips, together. But gently. As to not really cause harm." Trixy started to close in on Samantha. "Liiiiiiiiiiiike, Thissssssssssss."

Before Samantha could taste the sweet sweet fruit of her erotic fanfiction, Boteg stuck his head into the room.

"Mmmmm, Doth me smell the yellow melt?" There was such glee in his voice, such joy. He turned to look at Trixy. "Thou art not a scare me knows about. Art thou the bearer of the yellow melt?"

Trixy turned away from Samantha. "Actually! Sam here is making a pizza with me! " She stepped off to the side so that Silhouette could see Boteg.

But this did not please the Golden dragon His pupils shrank, and his head quivered. After Sam had revealed herself, the dragon withdrew its head from the doorway. "Surely sour-faced flax-wench." The door closed so slowly that it didn’t make a latching sound.

"...?"

Samantha didn't appear as though she knew how to take such a reaction. Boteg's way of speaking was difficult to comprehend for her as she didn't have much experience with it. But given his hasty departure, she imagined he had some problem with her. A shame, she didn't even get to ask him about his opinion on her pizza----

"Oh, damnit!" she zipped over to the over and pulled out the pizza and set it on the counter, a bit of smoke rising off of it. "I'm sorry," she told Trixy. "I messed up."

Trixy pulled off her glasses and cap. "It wasn’t your fault, I blame the ascendancy for this." she waved her hand at the pizza. Or at least, it might have been a pizza at a time. Was that a sentient blob? "Well, it would be a shame not to eat it though, you put so much work into it." Trixy wiped some sweat off of her head. "Got some napkins?"

“Do paper towels work?” she asked, keeping the ‘pizza’ under surveillance as she retrieved them. It had yet to jump at someone which was nice, but it still probably desired the end of all life on this planet. “...It’s fine. There’s no reason to eat something that might try to eat you back. It probably doesn’t taste good.”

"Sam." Trixy was balancing Samantha’s creation on a paper towel in her hand, "You worked hard on this." She lifted the conglomeration off of her palm. "And maybe you messed up the last few steps, but I can’t just not eat it." She tipped her head away from it. It had a bit of an odor. But Trixy steeled herself, and her features hardened with an iron resolve. "Consider this my penance for failing you earlier!" The wicked thing opened its mouth, but trixy just opened her mouth wider. Then with all the fervor of a gluttonous wolverine, Trixy bit down on the black creature and tore a chunk of it off. She squinted her eyes as she chewed, fast at first, but she started to slow down. Eventually she stopped chewing. Her eyes shot open, and her eyes dilated. Then she turned her head to Samantha.

And smiled.

Trixy took another bite, and a second, and a third. She was holding onto the black mass with both hands and biting it apart a chunk at a time. The demon in her hands howled, but the only sound Trixy made were sensual moans with every bite. The corners of her lips were turned up into a smile, and she couldn’t even keep her eyes open.

"Samantha!" Trixy placed her hands together. "I don’t know if I would call that a pizza, but it surpassed any pizza I ever had!" She nuzzled her clasped hands against her cheek. "We made two, right? Or did you want to eat the second one?" she giggled. "I’m such a pig, I can’t believe I ate the first one without sharing as much as a slice."

Samanatha shook her head slowly, looking more interested in Trixy than what she was speaking about. She inspected the girl as she circled around her, a look of mild concern on her features. “Are you okay?” she placed a hand on Trixy’s chin and then tilted the girl’s head in different directions before holding up four digits. “How many fingers do you see?” she leaned in extremely close. “Are you feeling hot?”

Trixy placed her head on Samantha’s shoulder "I feel great! But if you wanna monitor me for a while, I don’t mind." With a sigh, she closed her eyes. "I mean, I can eat things that most people consider unpalatable, but they never taste that good. I’ve never taken a bite out of a telephone pole and went ‘yea! This is good supper!’ Heh." She wrapped her arms around Samantha in a hug. "I knew there was a cute girl slumbering inside you, Sam. But I could never imagine she was a chief on top of it."

“I don’t know about that…” she sighed. She seemed happy Trixy could eat her food and even seemed to like it, but if she could eat anything, then didn’t that mean she was still a bad cook? “Well, as long as you’re okay. Tell me if you start feeling ill. But you can definitely have the other one.” she moved away from Trixy and began cleaning up the mess that was made, as well as putting everything left back where it belonged.

Trixy looked in the oven and placed her hand over the remaining “pizza.” She hesitated. "Eh." It disappeared into her hammerspace handbag before she closed the over. "You know I’ve been thinking, am I kinda gross?" Trixy pressed the tips of her fingers together. "I don’t know how I’d go about doing it, but I’ve been thinking about getting purified." She groaned to herself as she pushed her fingers together faster. "The music at the rave was set up to only effect corrupted people, and the monster queen has the same kind of mutation I do. Far more severe, but still! Seeing her attempt to eat my friends. I mean I ate the corpses of six wheretigers, and if that’s how I looked doing it…" Trixy placed her hands on her hips. "I need your input Sam, as a fellow agent, girlfriend, and chef. "

Samantha had finished putting the rest of the stuff away by the time she stood up and looked at Trixy, wearing no expression in general. "I have also thought about this," she admitted. "In the end, I decided against trying to get purified because I couldn't see any reason to. The way it manifests in me is... well, an obvious desire for conflict. I admittedly had a difficult time trying to keep it from consuming me when that wicked music was playing." she closed her eyes. "But it used to be worse, so I was able to contain it. Still, despite the disadvantages corruption can bring, it does not do so without benefits. I couldn't tell you how many times these eyes of mine have saved me, and I have the corruption to thank for that," she slowly opened her eyes as they almost seemed to glow. "But that is just me. I have become confident, at least recently, that I will not succumb to it. Is that what you fear may happen to you?" she asked honestly. "Because there are far worse things out there, aesthetically, that I can't imagine that being your real concern. You are someone I consider attractive, and eating won't change that."

"Hnggggggggg!" Trixy tucked her arms against her chest. She took a few steps towards Samantha and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Thanks Sam. you’re right. It may have its downsides, but it’s gotten me out of some bad spots too." She kissed Samatha on the cheek before hugging her tight.

The two had spent a few minutes holding each other in an embrace, something Samantha seemed unused to if her inability to choose where to place her hands was any sort of indicator. But when it seemed like the hug had gone on long enough, Samantha pulled away, yet tugged on Trixy’s arm. “Actually, there’s something I want to do,” she told Trixy. “I’m… well, not exactly experienced but… well, just follow me to my room.”

"Yes ma’am!" Trixy’s mouth hung open the entire time she followed Samantha. Not like she had much choice in the matter, but she wasn’t resisting regardless. She had hearts in her eyes, and her tongue slid out of her mouth while she was panting like a dog. When Samantha entered her room, Trixy hopped into the air and fell onto the mattress. "What are we gunna do on the bed?" She giggled.

Samantha sat on the edge of her bed and motioned for Trixy to do the same. When she did, she sighed and looked her girlfriend in the eyes. “...well, I wanted to be somewhere private, with just the two of us. It’s not, erm, something we should be seen doing…” Trixy could tell that Samantha was trying to work up the courage or will to do what it was she was going to do -- that they were going to do, together. Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. “Could I ask you to lay across my lap?” she coughed into her hand and looked away. “Preliminary steps and all…”

"Aaaahhhh~<3" Trixy looped her arms around Samantha’s neck and lowered her back onto Samantha’s lap. She raised one of her legs straight up into the air, and hooked the other one over Samantha’s shoulder. There was a giant grin on her face, and her cheeks were turning red. "Sam, I feel so happy right now!" She chirped. "I’ve gotta admit, I’ve never seen anyone start in this position before. What are you gunna do to me?"

If anything, Sam looked perplexed at Trixy’s reaction. “Oh, uh, so you’ve got experience in this field…?” she asked the girl before reflecting on the situation. Given Trixy’s… ‘uniqueness’, it only made sense she had experience in this sort of thing. “Well, I’m loath to admit it but I don’t expect this to be perfect. I’ve only really seen it done online...” she closed her eyes and took a breath in. “I guess it doesn’t matter as long as I can make you feel a certain way, though.”

Samantha placed a soft hand on Trixy’s buttock, but then realized something. “Er, this would be easier if you could lower your jeans just a bit…”

Trixy’s body was getting warm. "W-well. W-well!" The hearts in her eyes only became larger and more pink as time went on. "I-I think it would be better I-if we undressed each other!" She slid her thumbs under Samantha’s shirt. "But if you need some help-" She retracted a hand to unbutton her pants. "Now we’re persona 4 golden!" She resumed lifting Samantha’s shirt.

“?” Sam’s expression betrayed an increasing confusion arising from Trixy’s actions. “Um…?” she began to speak but stopped herself, then deciding to focus upon the removal of Trixy’s bottoms, only stopping to allow Trixy to even lift her shirt off, exposing a small black bra. Likewise, Samantha pulled Trixy’s jeans down, exposing panties with a tiger stripe pattern.

While it would be false to say Samantha had never seen another person naked before, it had never been in this context. Likewise, she tended not to undress in front of another person. Even she found herself feeling a bit embarrassed, but she did her best to hide the red on her cheeks by focusing on the important act that was to take place. “...If you’re ready, then do you mind if I begin?” she asked, hesitant to start too early.

Trixy held Samatha’s shirt up to her nose and inhaled deeply, before casting the garment aside. "Do it!"

“Alright.”

Trixy’s confirmation meant there was little reason for hesitation. Samantha yet again placed a hand upon Trixy’s plump rear and caressed it. Gazing into her girlfriend’s eyes, she nodded as though the task at hand was a mission that she could not fail. And, to her, it certainly was. There was a woman that needed pleasing and it was by her hand, quite literally, that she could do it.

Unfortunately for Trixy, that woman was not her.

*SMACK*

"Gah!"

The soft touch on Trixy’s rear became a hard slap without notice. A painful sensation as well as redness would spread across Trixy’s cheeks, only this time it was not the ones on her face. But before she could even properly react to the first attack on her bottom, Samantha launched yet another, and another, and another, and they were all of the same intensity.

"Samantha!" Trixy had bee fully brought out of her trance by the time the third or fourth strike came around. "What ar you- Gah! Doing- Gneh! This- Nggg! Isn’t- Errrp! Kinky!"

Suddenly, Samantha’s hand stopped. She tilted her head. “But it isn’t supposed to be,” she stated nonchalantly. “In fact, punishment is supposed to be unpleasant. The blunder with Mariette was a severe one and Veronica left the punishment to me. We’ll stop once I’m confident you’ll never make such a mistake again.” she explained before continuing, almost with gusto. Despite any attempts at fleeing or reasoning from Trixy, Samantha’s assault would not cease for some time.

She couldn’t stop until a woman was satisfied, after all.