It hadn't been that long since the group split up, maybe a day or two, but Marionette couldn't help but feel like she missed out by staying. She felt nervous and anxious about the idea of leaving Racknar alone with Ariagoria. Just the two of them. She knew Ariagoria wouldn't try anything because she was a nun but could the same be said of Racknar? She decided to check the guild hall only to find Davy and Krys'tal already there with Davy having a drink.

  Marionette walked over to them. “You guys planning to take a quest while the others are out?” Krys'tal shakes their head. “Although we might, that wasn't why we originally came here.” Davy nods. “I invited Krys for coffee. I uhh… might have forgotten they don't eat or drink.” Marionette tilts her head. “Is this… a date?” Krys'tal dies a so-so gesture. “Ehh… we are still trying to figure stuff out. I mean I thought I was ace but I did enjoy the closeness we shared that night we cuddled. I may not be into the more sexual stuff but there's something. So we are pitching hypotheticals if we decide to pursue a relationship.”

  Marionette lets out a sigh as she sits. “Are you not at all worried about the others?” Krys'tal chuckles. “No, they are both capable warriors who understand their limits. I highly doubt they'll get into any trouble they can't handle.” Marionette eyeballs the floor. Davy chuckles. “I don't think that's what she's worried about. Racknar and Charity are traveling alone through this worlds equivalent to France.” Krys'tal tilts their head. “I don't see why that would worry her.” There is then a moment of silence. “Oh! Oh. You are suggesting something romantic might happen and that Mari has a crush on Racknar. I wouldn't worry. Charity is a nun after all. And unlike you, Racknar respects that.”

  Marionette sighs. “I know that but I just… I feel like I'm invisible to him in that regard. When he does see me it's as a child.” Davy then bluntly states “Well you are twelve mentally. And although Racknar is only three years older physically he's much older mentally.” Marionette lets out a sarcastic “Thanks Davy, that makes me feel better.” Krys'tal sighs. “In all seriousness you have some strong competition in Elizabeth. She may say she has no romantic feelings for Racknar, and he may take that at face value, but even I can tell she has feelings for him. She just has misgivings about those feelings. But I'd bet money if he went in for a proper kiss she wouldn't stop him.”

  Marionette lets out another sigh. “Well it's not like there's a way for me to figure out who or what he's into.” Just after saying that a woman comes into the guild house with a bouquet of flowers. “I've got a delivery for…” the delivery man checks the tag. “Marionette Abstergo.” Marionette looked over confused, then raised her hand. “Over here “ the guy brings over and drops off the flowers before leaving. Marionette lifts the flowers and smells them. They smell normal and sweet. She then checks the note on the flower.

  “With a pining heart and future uncertain, you seek to know another’s thoughts. My services are offered to one so humble, any information can be bought. If you are willing to pay the price, come see me.” There is then a map with a marked location. Marionette shows the other two the note. Davy immediately says “Sus”. After looking at it. Krys'tal nods. “Yeah that's suspicious as hell. Especially considering we were just conveniently talking about it. So they were either listening or having been stalking you.”

  Marionette thinks for a moment. “Well then we should check it out. If this person is trying to scam me or something then we should at least make sure they don't get someone else.” The other two nod in agreement and they start heading to the location on the map. The map leads them to a shady looking part of the city with more poorly built buildings. The one they were looking for had a red lantern hanging outside and a sign that read “The Pink Lily” Davy got really excited upon seeing it. “Yes, I knew there had to be one around here someplace.”

  Krys'tal was a bit confused. “What do you mean?” Davy cleared his throat “This” he gestured to the building “Is a brothel.” Krys'tal let out an exasperated sigh as they facepalmed. “Let's just get this over with. The inside of the building was more like a nightclub or stripclub than a brothel. There were groups gathered around dancers of various races in various states of undress, some male some female, as the group tossed coins into a bucket. Krys'tal saw several dancers taking patrons into rooms for private dances and possibly more.

  The thing that took Krys'tal the most off guard was the sight of a feminine looking Shaterkin as one of the dancers, wearing what looked like underwear over its body like a dancer of another race would. Davy lets out a whistle when he sees it. Krys'tal would roll their eyes if they could. Marionette shows the note to a bouncer who looks at it. “Ah, you were invited by the boss. I'll take you to her.” The bouncer leads the group to an office. Inside is the owner of the nightclub slash strip club slash brothel. Somewhat of a shock but not really was the fact this boss was a Succubus.

  She looks up from some paperwork. “Ah, that was quick. Come in come in. Have a seat.” Davy sits in a chair. “Although it doesn't surprise me to see a succubus in or running an adult entertainment center, what does is the fact the church hasn't done anything about it.” The succubus giggles “Gotta have sin in order for there to be redemption. You'd be surprised how many men of the cloth use my establishment. Anyway, onto business.” The succubus stacks some papers.

  She sets the now organized papers down before standing. “As a succubus I can sense lustful thoughts and figure out what someone is into fairly easily. You, my young petite, are pining for another but don't know if he sees you in a similar way. I'm offering to figure out who and what he's into.” Davy shakes his head lightly. “This would help you find out how to get Racknar to lust after you. Nothing to do with love. Also, she is a demon from the nine hells. Everything comes at a piece for them.”

  Marionette nods. “Yeah but if I can get him to take me seriously as a woman then I will have a chance. Just tell me the drawback. What do you want in exchange?” The succubus lets out a long sigh. “There is a lot of boring and tedious paperwork involved in running a business. Not just to give to the city but to my real boss the Lord of the second hell.” Krys'tal puts out a hand “So you want her to… do your paperwork for you? Like an internship or something?”

  The succubus nods and pulls out a contract. “In exchange for doing paperwork for a period of two days Mortalus time, I'll tell you all the things this Racknar guy is into. Everything that gets his heart pumping and his rod ready. You'll then be returned home unharmed physically mentally and spiritually.” Davy grabbed and looked at the contract extremely closely. “I don't see anything strange or other catches on here. This has got to be the tameist Infernal Contract I've ever seen.”

  Marionette takes a look at the contract as well. “I… okay. Two days is nothing. I can do that.” The succubus claps and hands Marionette something to write with. “Splendid. Just sign here and I'll take you to your temporary office little intern.” Marionette signs, the contract is then taken by the succubus. “You two are free to use my establishment as you please. Here's two vouchers for a free lap dance. You can also borrow a room if you prefer each other’s company. If your Shaterkin friend isn't sure how to accommodate an organic then they can ask Jade, my Shaterkin dancer. She's taken in a few customers over the years.”

  She puts her hand on Marionette’s shoulder and they both vanish in a tornado of purple wind and lightning. Davy looked at Krys’tal. “Did you… want to talk to Jade? If for no other reason than because she's a Shatterkin like you. I don't expect you to ask how to.. you know… for my sake. I’d actually be content with just cuddles.” Krys'tal’s glow shifts through a few colors. “You say that now but what if you decide you want more?” Davy gently put a hand on Krys'tal’s shoulder. “I may be a pervert, but I'd never do anything to you without your express consent.”

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  Krys'tal nods and considers their options. “If you want to use both lapdance vouchers while I think you can. I'm going to forbid you get one from Jade though. That would be…” Davy chuckled “Disrespectful? Yeah, don't worry.” Davy then goes to enjoy himself for a bit while Krys'tal thinks about what they want. Davy spends the next several minutes getting lap dances. First from a female fish person, second from a dark elf. He then returned to Krys'tal.

  “As fun as that was, it just isn't enough. It feels empty and meaningless to get a lapdance from a stranger you have no feelings for. Sure they are sexy and it can get the blood pumping to the right areas but it's just… not as good as having a proper partner. You know?” Krys'tal shakes their head. “Nope, not really. Are you ready to go?” Davy nods. Then suddenly he goes a bit pale. “Oh god.” Krys'tal tilts their head. “Something wrong?” Davy nods. “I just remembered that time flows differently on different planes of reality. That's why the contract specified two days passing here on this one.” Krys'tal’s glow changed to her shocked color and shape, a spiky yellow. “Okay, so how long is she going to be gone for, relatively speaking.”

  Davy rubs his head. “I think Racknar said that for every day in Mortalus a year passed in The Nine Hells.” Krys'tal’s light goes a pale blue. “O-oh. Well I guess it's a good thing her body doesn't age like ours. The contract did state she’d come home unharmed so maybe we shouldn't worry too much.” Davy sighs “Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Come on, let's find something to do for those two days.” Krys'tal nods and the two start heading out but Krys'tal paused at the door. “You go ahead and I'll meet back up with you. I'll have a chat with Jade after all.”

  Davy nodded and left without protesting while Krys'tal approached Jade. “Hello there fellow Shatterkin. I was wondering if you had a moment to talk.” Jade was taking a break from dancing and looked up at Krys'tal. “If you are wondering if I have some special way of accommodating squishies, I've got bad news for you. I don't have anything you don't when it comes to ability to accommodate. My patrons are just weirdly into going at it as is. You'd think it would be painful but it doesn't stop me from having to clean up after they finish.”

  Krys'tal blushed, indicated by lights glowing pink in her cheeks. “That… wasn't what I was going to ask. Well it wasn't the only thing. Do you… enjoy it? Being with another in that way? Do you get anything from it considering our bodies and minds were not made for it?” Jade sighs “Honestly? No, not with most of them. I did have a boyfriend for a while and with him it… was different. Hard to describe. It's not like I gained sensitive areas, it's just the knowledge that I gave someone I care about pleasure.”

  Krys'tal nodded. “Good to know. I'm still not sure if I'll do anything like that yet but I did enjoy sharing body heat in bed with him. He's not even bothered by the fact I'm a typical Shatterkin when it comes to gender and don't identify as having one.” Jade hums. “Well if that's all, my break ends soon and I'll have to get back to work.” Krys'tal nods. “I'll leave you to it.” She then leaves the building and goes to find Davy.

  They find Davy back in the guild hall looking at the quest board. “Something catch your eye Davy?’ Davy shows her a job posting with a drawing of what looked like an Illithid. “Adventurers wanted. Illithid spotted near the city of Clover. Monster described as having bone white skin and wearing purple robes with a white sash.” Krys'tal hummed. “A survivor from your old pod?” Davy shakes his head. “Unlikely, discolored Illithids are usually disposed of. I'd still like to investigate.” Krys'tal takes and accepts the job for their party. “We'll wait for at least Mari to get back since I doubt the two of us can handle it if it goes south.”

  Marionette was led to what looked like an ordinary office in the depths of the nine hells. Outside the window she could see an absolutely massive tornado with purple lightning constantly going through it. She could hear the strong winds rocketing the building. “How long do these tornadoes usually last?” The succubus laughed. “That one has been there forever. It's just the one storm that never ends. It's why this circle is called Tempest. You'll be doing all your paperwork here. Since you don't need sleep or food I expect you to be hard at work. You are allowed breaks if you need them.”

  Marionette nods and sits at the desk and starts looking at papers. “It's just two days so how bad could it be?” The succubus lets silence sit in the room for a moment. “Yeah… about that. Time in realms move differently. So although two days will pass in Mortalus, you'll be here for a bit longer than that.” Marionette perks up. “How much longer?” The succubus then quickly rambles out “You'llbeherefortwoyears okaythankyoubye.” She quickly exits the room shutting the door. Marionette sat there in silence for a moment. “Son of a biscuit.” She lets out a big sigh and starts getting to work. With no clock and no real need to sleep or eat Marionette has no way to track the passage of time. There doesn't seem to be a day night cycle in the Nine Hells.

  Davy sat with Krys’tal awkwardly. “So uhhh… about… this.” he uses both hands to point to them both swapping who each hand is pointing at. “I'm not going to try and rush anything. I know even if we try for some form of relationship with romantic subtext it'll be far from normal. I'm fine with that, I really am. I just think I should let you know I didn't even have a girlfriend in my past life so I have zero prior experience to reference what a normal relationship should be like. I guess that might be a good thing in this case. No expectations or bias.” Krys'tal hummed. “I never even tried to date before so I'm just as clueless as you. Especially since I don't exactly have sexual interests and that might extend to romantic interests. I do enjoy the physical closeness but…”

  Davy nods “You don't know if you can be emotionally or physically available in a way that would be satisfying enough to me for us to work as a couple. My grandad used to have this saying. Sometimes the only way to learn something is to fuck around and find out.” Krys'tal nods “Play it by ear then? One step at a time and figure out stuff as we go, trial and error. I suppose it's really the only way at this point. I'm willing to give it a trial run but I feel we should both go in understanding this might not work and if either of us want an out we should let the other know. You can consider us dating but not “going steady” as it were. I'm not going to force you to be monogamous this early on.”

  Davy nods and hums. “If things get serious then we can reevaluate. As long as we keep open communication this should work out fine and not mess with the group dynamic. Now to figure out a way to kill time for two days.” Krys'tal thought for a moment. They could take a lower level quest or go shopping. With two days to kill they could easily do both. “Let's see about getting bags of holding for the two of us. Racknar said that was our next major magic item purchase. He also suggested a decanter of endless water for those that need it.”

  Davy nods. “That should kill an hour or two.” The two then make their way to the closest magic item shop rather than go straight to Da Vinci's. Their party bothered the Da Vincis more than enough. Once inside the two look around the store looking for what they were after and spot the items. “That's ten thousand argentum or one hundred aurum for each bag of holding. And two thousand five hundred argentum for the decanter.” The two of them pay the shopkeeper and take their items before leaving.

  Davy and Krys'tal make their way back to the guildhall. “So that killed about an hour, maybe a light quest is in order. Let's see…clear a horde of goblins? Definitely not. Looks like there's an outbreak of undead not far south of here. Includes zombies, skeletons, undead wolves and undead dire wolves. Dire wolf is challenge rank two meaning even the strongest thing should be easily killed. Spam AOE until we are out of slots and collect what loot we can before bolting.” Krys'tal nods and hums. “Sounds good. A light quest for where we are at. The numbers might be a problem once we run out of AOE so we should still take precautions.”

  They exit the guildhall to see the magic shop owner from the shop out of breath having run to the guildhall. “Oh, good, you haven't left yet. Your outfits, are they dragon bones and scales over black iron spider silk?” Davy gives the man a curious look. “Yes. Why do you want to know?” He huffs a few times before standing. “I've always” huff “wanted” wheeze “to enchant black iron spider's silk and dragon armor. I'll offer a discount if you allow this foolish old man a chance to knock something off his bucket list.” Davy and Krys'tal take one look at one another before nodding. “We know exactly what to ask for.”

  Davy nods “I want to place charges of the spell shield or mage armor on my robes.” Krys'tal then adds “I want some sort of retaliation similar to how Hellish Retribution works.” The man catches his breath. “I can do something like that but it would trigger on taking a melee attack. How does force damage pushing them five feet back sound?” Krys'tal nods. “Sounds good. How long will it take?” The man hums. “Uhh… two days. I can give you loaner outfits while I work.”

  The two agree and swap outfits before handing over the armor and money. They then start heading out on their quest making way to the undead infestation that is plaguing the city to the south. It took a while to walk there but the improvised wall and other quickly built defenses were in plain sight right away. However, there were currently no undead attacking. “So where is this undead outbreak?” One of the adventures looked at the two. “They come in waves at night, but once the sun starts to rise they retreat. There's a party looking for the source but while they do that we hold the line.”

  Davy hummed. “Well, the two of us aren't exactly equipped to help find and get rid of the source right now, so I guess we'll help hold the line at night.” The man nods. “We'll take any help we can get. Rest up, you'll need to be at your best for when night falls.” Davy and Krys'tal set up camp to relax for the day until night arrived. Sharing a tent the two get into separate bed rolls.