"That's…" Verve says. He swallows, and squeezes his eyes shut. He could just log off. And never talk to them again. But Bel looked so kind when he asked.
Bel's hand squeezes his.
Verve thought he'd been doing so well. Bel didn't notice anything when he bought him all those clothes! He just piled him up with things that made Verve look actually good. He should have told him "she/her" and not even tried.
"If you don't know, that's fine," Lily says. "You've at least got your shit together more than Bell."
Verve cracks one eye open. Bel pokes his tongue out at Lily.
"You're trans?" he asks Bel, his voice barely above a whisper.
Bel wrinkles his nose at the same time as Lily says, "She is."
"You shouldn't out people without their permission," Verve says, softly. His heart thumps in his ears. It races. He might puke.
"I have her permission," Lily says, then snorts. "Watch this." He moves his attention to focus on Bel. "Tell me you're a guy."
Bel pouts, and gres back at Lily.
Lily smiles, lopsided and full of fondness. "Then, tell Verve you're a guy. Or you don't want him to call you 'she'."
Bel sinks down lower in… her seat.
"You're a woman?" Verve asks her.
"She is," Lily confirms.
Bel looks away, but keeps her mouth firmly shut.
"I don't…" Verve says. "You should be the one telling me that," he says to Bel.
"She won't," Lily says. "And it gets even stupider. Hang on." He gets up and opens the door, sticking his head through, he calls out. "We'd like some drinks in here, can someone grab our order?" He sits back down and says to Verve, "Did you know that NPCs can't misgender you?"
Verve shakes his head.
"Yep," Lily says. "They'll call you whatever you say you want them to. And if you say you want to be called something somewhere else, the algorithm will work out whether it's likely you want everyone to call you that, or just who you said it to, and shove it in the NPC's brains."
An orc-ish boy appears at the door, a stubby pencil and notepad in his hand.
"Just before we order, how would you refer to her?" Lily says with a nod to Bel.
The boy tilts his head. "Your elf friend, Sir?"
Lily nods. "Yeah. Would you call her 'Sir' or 'Ma'am' or something neutral or what? He, she, they…?" He leaves the question dangling.
"I-I…" the boy stammers. "Your elf friend is a welcome guest. That is the address I would use?"
"You wouldn't use 'he'?" Verve asks, looking between Bel, shrinking down into her seat, and the boy, who is clearly baffled by the question.
"Should I?" the boy asks.
"Nah," Lily says. "But if I tell you to call her 'she', you won't use that, either, right?" The boy's agitation grows, his hand shaking. "It's okay, I won't make you," Lily says, soothing. "I'm just demonstrating something. No wrong answers."
"I couldn't," the boy says. "It would be wrong. I… Your elf friend is not someone to be referred to as 'she'. M-maybe, if you told me your friend wished to be called 'he', then..." He trails off.
Lily nods. "Thanks. That was very useful. Can you get us some ginger beer?" he says, and flips the boy a gold coin.
The boy squeaks, "Thank you, Sir!" and flees.
Bel thuds to the floor. She fell off her seat. "Lily is so mean," she mumbles from below the table.
"I think he loves you a lot," Verve says, fighting back a smile. "And he proved his point." Verve braces himself on the table so he can stick his head down and grin at her. "If you don't want me to call you a woman or she, just say."
Bel huffs and rearranges herself. She nudges Verve back upright with a light shove, then rests her head against his knee. She wraps her arms around his legs, like a three year old. Verve strokes her hair.
"Um," Verve says, finding himself blushing again as he looks at Lily. "I am, by the way. Trans." Then, quietly, "Probably."
The corner of Lily's mouth twitches up. "Just trying it out?"
Verve nods. "I still hadn't decided but then Bel introduced herself with pronouns and I just… Yeah," he finishes, mely.
"We worked out Bells is trans because someone bet her she couldn't rank with a female avatar. Some crap about women being 'scientifically weaker.' As if science matters in VR."
"Wait, she did that in Necroshock?" he asks, hand stilling on top of Bel's head. "What about the—"
"Lag?" Lily finishes. "Yeah, that kicked her ass for a bit, but the idiot 'solved' that by transitioning irl."
A ugh bursts from Verve. "Seriously?"
Lily says 'idiot' with the same affection he uses when he says 'Bells'.
Lily nods. "She went back to pying her main once she got her alt to top five K and kicked the guy's ass with it in PVP, but never stopped taking the hormones. This is basically what she looks like irl."
"She's hot," Verve says, before he can remember that's a stupid thing to say.
"Right?" Lily agrees.
The orc boy returns with a tray of gsses. He shoves them onto the table and is already down the hall when Verve calls, "Thanks!" after him.
Verve takes his drink, and passes another gss down to Bel, who seems intent on remaining below the table. He kind of retes. He keeps absently stroking her hair as he talks with Lily.
"How long have you been married?" Verve asks.
"Five years. I bought us World Vector for our anniversary," Lily says. "Her getting to fuck with my character was part of the present."
"It doesn't give you dysphoria at all?" Verve asks, finally getting out the question he'd danced around before.
Lily shakes his head. "Just not wired that way. If I py too long like this it might mess with my hormones irl but…" He shrugs. "If that happens I'll just swap my junk back and it'll be fine. And anyway, Bells would be into me being her wife irl."
"Wait," Verve says, eyes wide. "It can affect you irl?"
"Interested?" Lily asks, his eyes dancing.
Verve swallows. "I feel… comfortable, like this," he admits, looking down at himself. His eyes meet Bel's. She fshes a grin then kisses his knee. He smiles back. Not a big smile, but a smile nonetheless.
"It can," Lily says. "Takes a while, but I've seen it happen. A friend of mine who was up there with Bells in Necroshock, took part in the World Vector testing and came out looking really different." Lily gestures to his chest, holding his hands out several inches from his own breasts. "But then they picked up a new character and went the other way. Got themself a dick and pyed enough their voice broke." He shakes his head. "They couldn't be happier."
"What about the fantasy stuff?" Verve asks.
"Nah, those mods don't change anything. It has to be hormones your body can make." He pauses to drink, then continues, "Careful with rolepying though, habits can stick. But that was the same in Necroshock."
Verve nods. That makes sense. "You py a tank?" Verve asks.
"Yep," Lily says. "Got some party buffs and heals in my kit for now, but that's just till we get a regur healer. She's a void mage, but pys anything stupid well," he says with a nod to Bel. "You sticking with a spear attack build?"
"I'm not married to it but… yeah, probably," Verve says. "Bel bought me a new spear and it's got some nice bonuses."
"Once we can farm Mega Knight efficiently, we'll make you one that makes that one look like a toothpick," Bel says from under the table.
Verve swallows. "Before…" he says, slowly, down to her. "It seemed like you were going to…" he trails off, then busies himself with his drink.
"You found a cute one," Lily says to Bel. "Don't fuck him around."
Bel makes a small huffing sound. "But what if he likes being fucked around?"
Verve's ears burn red. "I wouldn't mind," he says to his drink.
Bel cmbers out of her hiding spot. She leans against him, tilts his head towards her and his chin up with her index finger. Her eyes are so dark they're almost bck. "And do you mind Lils watching?"
Verve fights the urge to look away. He shakes his head, not trusting himself to speak. With Bel's eyes on him, and her body pressed against his, thinking is rapidly becoming harder than facing the Mega Knight.
Bel presses her lips to Verve's, the kind of soft kiss that promises more to follow. "And if she wanted to join?" Bel asks.
"I don't know," Verve finds himself saying. "I'm not usually into guys."
Bel smiles, prettily. She is so hot. "Then don't think of her as one. Think of her as my cutie patootie wife."
Verve gnces at Lily.
Lily chuckles. "Still don't care," he says. "Perfectly okay being her wife."
"Then…" Verve says. "Okay." He swallows, and shifts in his seat. "Yes."
Bel squeals and throws her arms around him. She rubs her cheek against his as she squeezes. "I'm going to show you the best time!"
"Looking forward to it," Verve says. It might just be the truth.
*
Sage never thought of being watched as one of their kinks. Py involving multiple parties? Absolutely. But then it was usually Sage in control. Titilting and tormenting one person is good, titilting and tormenting more is fun. Simply having someone observing without taking part didn't seem fulfilling.
And, yet…
The way Northly watches them work Lex… She watches like she's never seen something so beautiful as Lex's composure unravelling. This time, not from the goddess or the game fucking with his brain, but from Sage, slowly building his yers of pleasure until he begs.
"Sage, please," Lex says, desperation in his voice and every inch of his body.
Northly leans forward, eager to catch even one more detail.
Sage already freed Lex from the remains of his clothing, letting his breasts meet the air and press against Sage as he squirms. They rub their thumb in a circle around his nipple, hard around his piercing.
"Not yet," they tell him. "I want you to hold on. Give Northly a proper show, pretty girl."
He whines, but obeys, visibly restraining himself from bucking his hips against Sage's hand. His dick has shrunk enough that their grip on it is comfortable and their fingers just meet around it. His skin is so soft.
While meeting Northly's gaze, Sage spits into their free hand, which they then use to coat Lex's dick.
Northly whimpers. She sounds like Lex.
After a moment, she has a realisation and stands, hustling out of the room and through a door to the side Sage hadn't noticed. A second ter, she returns, a small leather bag in hand. She tips sparkling blue powder from it onto her palm, and wets it with her magic.
"To ease things," she says, cheeks burning. "It will also help progress her changes."
Sage hesitates. Lex keens. "Hey, Lex," they whisper to him. "Did you catch that?"
"'M only listening to you," Lex says, rutting against Sage's leg.
"Northly has some lube. It'll probably make your dick shrink more." Northly confirms with a nod. She must have the hearing of a bat. "That okay?"
"You'll still think I'm hot?" Lex asks, breathless and distracted.
Sage grabs him by the back of the neck and kisses him. They lick deep into his mouth as he moans against their lips.
They break for air. "Always," they say. Maybe it's the game, fucking with their head, but they can't imagine any change to Lex that would make Lex saying their name anything less than the hottest thing in existence.
Sage nods to Northly, who hesitates, then wipes the lube onto Sage's hand. They smirk, pleased she knows how this works. Sage gets to touch.
Sage slicks his dick up, then rolls his balls between their fingers to coat them, too. Lex whimpers from the cool temperature. They shush him, saying, "Good girl," into his ear and stroking him from base to head.
"Tingles," he mumbles, rocking into Sage's touch. They can just about feel him shrink under their fingers.
They increase their pace, the lube making the motion almost too easy, but adding a lewd squelch that reminds them all too well of how expertly Lex worked between their legs, not long before.
Lex gasps, "Sage, please!" with tears in his eyes.
They count their strokes. One. Two. Three.
On four they say, "Good girl, you can come."
Lex erupts in their hand.
This time, the change to his dick is impossible to miss. It loses a full inch in length as they stroke him through his orgasm. It doesn't have many inches left.
Northly whimpers, bringing Sage back to the present. Her face is a picture. Cheeks flushed, lower lip red from where she's been biting it and pupils wide with arousal. Her status flicks on.
"Thank you," Sage says.
She's level forty-two. Health and magic are both full.
"Can we see your details, too?" they ask her. "If it helps, I can show you mine."
She swallows. "Unnecessary," she says, blushing furiously, and brings up her full details.
[STATUS
■■■■■■: Northly | Lvl: 42 | Exp: 40,112,001/77,792,400
HP: 4,012/4,012 | MP: 812/800
Alignment: Matter (101.5%)
Str: 12 | Def: 37 | Agi: 23 | Dex: 42
Mag (vd): 3 | Mag (mt): 81 | Mag Def (vd): 40 | Mag Def (mt): 52
Condition(s): Bound by the world | ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ | Increased libido (situational)
Transformation(s): —
Skills: […]
]
Sage stares.
"Northly…. are you… important?"
Bound by the world.
She did say she couldn't die without the goddess.
"That's…" Northly trails off. "I am one of the most elevated priestesses who serve Nateria. In that sense, I am important. However, it would be arrogance to call myself such."
"Are other priestesses 'bound by the world'?" Sage asks. "And do you know what that bcked out condition is?"
Northly tilts her head, and looks at her own status.
Her eyes widen.
"I have never seen that before," she whispers.
Fuck.
"How often do you check your full details?"
Northly shrugs, eyes still fixed on the dispy. "Occasionally." She sounds like Lex had, when he learned that he's trapped. Hollow. Scared.
"In the st day, week, month…?" Sage ventures.
She shakes her head. "Last month. The church wanted to update all members' information. To ensure we are faithful."
"How do you show that?" Lex asks, returning to the conversation. Somewhere in Sage's discussion with Northly, he cleaned himself up.
Sage presses a kiss to his cheek.
A flicker of a frown crosses Northly's face. "Our alignment. If we are loyal, our alignment stays true to Matter. But why would they… how could they…"
And then, before their eyes, Northly's alignment drops.
Alignment: Matter (101.4%)
Alignment: Matter (101.3%)
Alignment: Matter (101.1%)
"I am loyal," she whispers.
Alignment: Matter (100.8%)
Alignment: Matter (100.1%)
Alignment: Matter (99%)
"Northl—" Lex says, reaching a hand out to her.
"I am loyal."
Alignment: Matter (97.5%)
Sage pulls Lex's hand back in.
Alignment: Matter (95%)
Alignment: Matter (90%)
Northly staggers to her feet.
"I am loyal. I am loyal! I am loyal!"
Alignment: Matter (83.7%)
Alignment: Matter (75%)
Alignment: Matter (62%)
"I am loyal!" she yells. "I love you!"
Alignment: Matter (50.5%)
Alignment: Matter (50.43%)
Alignment: Matter (50.3%)
"I love you so much!" she screams. Tears run down her cheeks. Snot drips from her nose. "You created my life. I am blessed by you! You love me as I love you!"
Her eyes are fixed on something Sage can't see.
Her breaths come in splutters and hiccups. From her cheeks, her tears rise. They hover in the air around her like tiny jewels.
Alignment: Matter (50.21%)
Sage doesn't know if they've ever seen someone in so much pain.
Alignment: Matter (50.01%)
A crack sounds.
Northly falls. Her tears spsh on the floor.
Alignment: Matter (50%)
Lex catches her. Sage yanks him back. "You're blessed by Vuide," they say to the hurt in his face, and take his pce. "I'll stay with her. Can you try to find someone else?"
"We can't," he says. He keeps reaching for her, then drawing his hands back. He's so much better than them at this. "She's a priestess. We can't tell the church without her permission. With what Nateria did to Miriam."
"Shit," they say. "You're right. Fuck."
"Did I do this?"
For a moment, Sage can't pce who said the words. But then it sinks in. They scramble to hoist Northly up with one hand so they can grab Lex with the other. "No," they say, putting all the emphasis they can muster into the word. They pull him close. "No fucking way."
"It has to be reted," he says. He shakes.
"It's a game," Sage says. "She's not a person."
KILL ME.
Sage freezes. Lex stills.
Northly breathes.
The… thought? … Words? … Will permeates the room.
"Fuck off," Sage snarls.
YOU MUST.
"Sage…" Lex says. "I think that's…"
"Don't say it," Sage orders. "I know." They take a breath. "But don't say it."
FREE ME.
"No!" Sage snaps.
FREE YOURSELF.
That jerks their head up. "… What," they say, "the fuck?"
Under Sage's arm, Lex gags and his stomach heaves.
FREE YOURSELF.
"Fuck off," they say again, but they can't muster the conviction they used before.
KILL. ME.
FREE. YOURSELF.
Lex vomits. The will dissipates.
Northly raises her head.
She smiles, just like an NPC. "Sage! Lex! How nice to see you."
[STATUS
Northly | Lvl: 42 | Exp: 40,112,001/77,792,400
HP: 4,012/4,012 | MP: 800/800
Alignment: Matter (53%)
Str: 12 | Def: 37 | Agi: 23 | Dex: 42
Mag (vd): 3 | Mag (mt): 81 | Mag Def (vd): 40 | Mag Def (mt): 52
Condition(s): Blessing of matter
Transformation(s): —
Skills: […]
]
