125: Snuggles And Sweethearts

“Alright everyone, pile in.”

“Shouldn’t we try and figure out the positioning first?”

“The positioning is ‘get comfortable and don’t kick anyone’,” Rachel chuckled. “I say that we all just climb in, grab the nearest body, then snuggle up nice and tight.”

“We need to try and be intimate with Eris, though. As in, her specifically.” Addison frowned.

Rachel huffed, dragging a comb through her hair in a way that almost looked painful. “Well, I guess we can all try holding onto some part of her, but that might get complicated. I call dibs on one of her tits.”

“I’ll take her dick!” Rocky and Meghan both exclaimed simultaneously. Tatum sighed, rubbing her temples.

“I doubt it has much to do with just maintaining contact. After all, the only way we’ve even tried using the necklace has been naked cuddling. That might be the bare minimum, so anything else wouldn’t work.”

“Or the bare minimum might be as simple as proximity, so sleeping in the same bed may trigger it regardless of cuddling or clothing,” Hima offered.

Grace narrowed her eyes, face holding a pink shade as she sat nude on the edge of the bed. “The minimum wouldn’t be as low as proximity, because that’s coincidentally been tested already. Eris hasn’t replicated one of Carmine’s skills, yet.”

Charlotte nodded while she unbuckled her belt- cheeks turning a teeny bit darker. “That’s true. If it’s prolonged proximity, then it has to be a very, very short range or else I’d have triggered it naturally.”

“So does that mean we’re doing some testing tonight?” Claire asked, idly covering her breasts with one arm. Ophelia smiled with a nod, leaving her soft-looking body on open display for the room.

“I think so, and we can do a couple different tests all at once.”

“What, different distances, some with clothes and some without, that kind of thing?” Bailey raised an eyebrow. Ophelia shrugged.

“That’s what I was figuring. Alex and Carmine are both naked and cuddled right up into Eris, to test and see if the necklace is even capable of replicating more than one skill at a time, because they have the skills that the Syndicate wants Eris to copy the most.”

“Which ones?” Eris raised an eyebrow. At that question, a naked Jaxie reached down to grab a sheet of paper set on the nightstand and peered it over.

“Uhh… looks like Bulwark and- oooh, that sounds cool! What’s Invulnerable?”

Jaxie, and everyone else for that matter, looked over at the older woman. Charlotte cleared her throat.

“It has a long cooldown, but when I activate it, I can’t lose Vitality for three seconds. Additionally, during that time, no negative effects, like curses, enemy magic, poisons, injuries or even exhaustion can hinder me in any way whatsoever.”

“What do you mean, your injuries can’t hinder you?” Bailey asked. “Like Tenacity?”

Charlotte shook her head. “Someone with high Tenacity can still fight with a broken arm by ignoring the pain and keeping their focus while Tenacity helps to keep their arm in the right place, but their arm’s still broken. If they use a sword, their attacks are going to be weaker, and every hit’s gonna make the injury worse, no matter how sturdy they are.”

The Knight shimmied out of her pants, leaving her in just a shirt and plain panties. “I’ve been on the ground, paralyzed from a Tallarus’s poison with half the bones in my body shattered. When I used the skill, I stood right back up, ripped off a horn, gouged out one of its eyes with it, and it shattered its own tail blade on my neck when it tried to attack me. Then I collapsed again when the three seconds were up.”

Alex’s eyes widened. “That’s a crazy good skill.”

“Which is why it’s important for Eris to have,” Charlotte added. “She should never be in a bad situation anyway, but if she ever finds herself in one, it can save her life. It’s the same reason why they also want her to have your Bulwark skill. I don’t think I need to explain why halving the damage of anything that would hurt her on a three second cooldown is good for her to have.”

“So Eris is to gain the crafting skills from other crafters, and defensive skills from any combatants in order to keep herself alive,” Nima nodded. “There’s no need for any offensive skills, since she’d be unable to use them due to Pacifist.”

“-Until Eris cleanses her first Hollow tree,” Meghan grinned. “After all, if doing it needs her to sacrifice a skill, why not start with the skill that only holds her back?”

“That… is a good point,” Charlotte furrowed her brow. “Though, even if you were capable of bringing harm, Eris, the Syndicate wouldn’t want you in battle. It’s too much of a risk.”

“I wouldn’t wanna be trying to fight anyway, so it works out,” Eris shrugged. “So, I’m cuddling two Knights- presumably one on either side. What about everyone else?”

“Addison can be naked, cuddling Alex,” Bailey pointed. “That way, she’d be about as close to you as she can get without being directly able to cuddle you since Borrowed Material is also a key skill. Then, Hima can be cuddling Carmine.”

“What, are we making an onion with layers of people?” Rocky snorted. Bailey shrugged.

“Not too far off, actually. I guess Ophelia and Grace can be the next layer, and maybe Ophelia can try wearing pajamas or something.” She looked over at the baker. “Since your skills are good, but not an immediate priority for Eris to get. That way, if Eris can copy from Grace but not you, then we know that clothes are an interference and she can just copy from you tomorrow.”

“Then I’ll get dressed again,” Ophelia smiled and stood from the bed. Eris was briefly disappointed by the thought of her lovely nude body being covered once more, until Bailey continued.

“I think that’s about as much as’ll fit on the bed, so everyone else is gonna have to be on the floor around it. Let’s have Meghan and Rocky closest, then Nima and Claire. Then it’ll be me, just in case you’re able to copy something I don’t have anymore. Rachel and Tatum can be the furthest ones, since they shouldn’t even be eligible because they’ve done this before but they wanted to join anyway.”

“If you think I’d ignore the opportunity to join a big ol’ cuddle puddle, then you’re mistaken,” Rachel grinned.

Claire narrowed her eyes. “At this point, I think it’s more of a cuddle sandwich…”

“What about Jaxie?” Eris asked. Charlotte pursed her lips.

“Jaxie will be sleeping in my room, next door.”

“...What?”

Only after Eris spoke did she hear how heartbroken she sounded. Jaxie reached over and gently took Eris’s hand with a smile.

“I have four skills, and three are directly tied to Rage, so you wouldn’t be able to copy them anyways. As for Rage itself, it does absolutely nothing on its own except make it easier to get angry, and when you do get angry, you get so angry that you can’t even think straight.”

“Can’t I just not take Rage?” Eris asked.

“We don’t know if you’re able to refuse taking a skill when the necklace has already activated,” Grace said, shaking her head. “If it activates on Jaxie, you may be forced to take a skill, and the only one that would be available would be Rage.”

Rocky raised her hand.

“Yeah, that’s actually why I’m here. If it works on me, I’m the test to see if you can cancel the attack order and retreat. If you can’t, then you can just take some extra Crafting Points or something. If you can back off, great. If you can, but then you can’t even attempt to copy a skill from me ever again- well… I’ve got shit skills anyway so you aren’t losing out on anything important.”

“It’s fine,” Jaxie smiled, squeezing Eris’s hand and even taking Alex’s as well. “The only place I’d want to be in the puddle anyway is in the first layer with you and Alex, but Carmine’s got that spot. Besides-”

Jaxie’s smile turned into a mischievous grin.

“This just means that our date in the morning’s more likely to end in a threesome, because both of you will miss me.”

Eris and Alex blushed. Multiple other girls- namely Rocky and Meghan, laughed loudly. Eventually, Jaxie filed out of the room and Ophelia clapped her hands loudly almost like a teacher trying to get the attention of a rowdy classroom. She was dressed now, wearing pajama pants covered in little cookie patterns. Her shirt was oversized with long sleeves and a big puppy on the front wearing an apron and a chef’s hat.

“Alright, is everyone naked and ready to snuggle?”

“Yep. Also, cute jammies,” Meghan chuckled. Ophelia smiled wide.

“Thanks! Now let’s get comfy.”

“So Vojemala didn’t talk to you last night?” Jaxie asked. Eris shook her head, then quickly swallowed her bite of the M-Tep held in her grip. At least now she understood why half of Marrix went to Gary’s for breakfast. The Maple-Turkey-Egg Panini was damned near making Eris’s eyes roll back in her head, and it was hard to try and focus on the conversation.

“Nope. Didn’t possess her or anything. Just went to sleep and woke up in the morning with Alex’s dick pressed against my butt.”

The Knight blushed- visible even in the dim light of early morning, quickly glancing around to see if anyone heard the comment. After all, they weren’t in private. All three girls were sitting on one of the benches just outside the CDF, enjoying their breakfast under a runic streetlamp while pressed into each other’s sides to help keep the chill away- Jaxie in the middle. Since their company included the sole Echo in the Syndicate and the hope of saving the world itself, while sitting just outside the building most inhabited by individuals who often got up incredibly early to get more work done, people were obviously staring at them. However, none approached. Eris was clearly still in that grace period that Kull administered, where nobody was to hound her with questions or comments or anything- merely respect from a distance since Eris was a very busy girl.

“It’s morning wood,” Alex murmured through her blush. Eris laughed, then waggled her eyebrows.

“I’ve got one too, now, remember? Trust me, I know.” Then, after a moment, Eris gave a giggle. “Charlotte definitely knows, too.”

The Knight in the dark blue Syndicate uniform standing just a few feet away turned a slightly darker shade. After all, Alex had been spooning Eris during the night, but Eris had been spooning Charlotte. That meant while Alex’s morning wood had slid up into Eris’s asscrack, Eris’s own had grown, swelled, and situated firmly between Charlotte’s thighs to peek out the front and consequently drool precum.

Needless to say, Charlotte didn’t wake up as clean as she went to bed.

“But back to Vojemala,” Eris said. “Last time, she seemed pretty insistent on talking to me in person- or at least using the Key. The way she’d been talking to me was exhausting for her and the language barrier was making it hard for any meaningful conversation. If we’re gonna have a real talk, then we need to be able to do it without Vojemala straining so hard and with someone like Dzhemehal to be the interpreter.”

“Still, though…” Alex murmured. “She didn’t show up at all? Not even to remind you to use the Key?”

“Well, when we talked previously, we went so long that I’m pretty sure Vojemala passed out. Gods, for all we know, she might still be recovering from it.”

“And what about the skills?” Jaxie raised an eyebrow. “Did it work?”

“Yes and no,” Eris paused to take another bite. Fuck, this sandwich was good. What was she saying again? Oh, yeah. Skills.

“I could copy from Alex and Charlotte, but none of the others. It seems the cutoff for intimacy is anything less than direct cuddling. On the bright side, I tested with Alex since Rocky hadn’t been included, and I can choose to not copy a skill from someone.”

Eris glanced at both girls. “That means tonight, the three of us are falling asleep in each other’s arms- the way it’s meant to be.”

Jaxie smiled. “What about the other skills you need to copy?”

“The Syndicate’s just gonna need to find a different way to make it happen,” Eris said. “You two are gonna be deployed in a few days. I can gather whatever skills they want me to have when you’re gone, but as long as you two are here, I’m not falling asleep in the arms of anyone but you.”

Eris nibbled another section of her panini. Fuck, the turkey was practically melting in her mouth and the maple was delightfully sweet but not overpowering in the slightest. With the egg making a creamy foundation, the sandwich really was a masterpiece.

“Plus, I’ve already got the important skills to make the equipment for your party. Since the Syndicate decided on having me copy Hima’s flag skill instead of the sacrificial clothes one, that means the only other skill that would give me a notable boost right now would be Addison’s material borrowing one, where she weakens one item and puts part of the effects on a different one. However, that would then require me to make ten full sets of equipment instead of five, and we don’t have that kind of time before you ship out.”

“Six sets,” Charlotte corrected from the side. Eris blinked.

“Right, I gotta remake yours, too. Anyway, it’s too much stuff to be making two of everything. Therefore, unless the Syndicate wants to round up some random crafter somewhere in the school with a specific skill that is immediately and majorly beneficial right at this very moment, then I don’t need to sleep with anyone else but you two.”

Eris leaned against Jaxie, resting her head on the taller girl’s shoulder. She also reached across Jaxie’s lap to gently grab hold of Alex’s hand and let it rest in her grip. A content sigh passed her lips.

“Thanks for taking us on a date, Jaxie.”

At that, Jaxie snorted. “You think that was the whole date? A couple of free sandwiches and a conversation about work?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You got these for free?”

Jaxie gave a little nod. “He was happy to serve ‘The Artificer’. Plus, getting to say that Eris ate his breakfast specifically is pretty much free advertising. Plus-plus, I may have kinda-sorta-maybe promised him that I’d see about sending Bailey his way so she can… settle the tab.”

Eris blinked. “You whored out Bailey for some sandwiches?”

“Okay- first off, she was the one that told me to do it.”

“What?” Alex narrowed her eyes.

Jaxie chuckled. “When I asked where I should go for the date, she said to go to Gary and tell him that Bailey would stop by and help him with his ‘special panini press’ at lunchtime if he served us nicely.”

“Of course she did,” Eris sighed.

“And second, that’s not important right now. What is important is the fact that the three of us are going to continue our date by going to one of the many lovely parks in Sector Saez, sitting down in the grass to watch the sunrise, then spend about forty-five minutes cuddling up with each other while talking about anything that doesn’t involve the Hollow, Vojemala, being an Artificer, or the end of the world. Got it?”

Eris and Alex both looked at each other, then up to the tall girl between them. Both nodded, and Alex broke open a little smile. “That sounds nice.”

Both girls came to rest on Jaxie’s shoulders, with the Berserker wrapping her arms around both their waists. They sat like that for multiple moments before Jaxie eventually gave out a little murmur.

“After that, we’ll go back to the house and fuck each other’s brains out until Elmas barges in to drag Alex and I off to training and send you to your workshop.”

Alex groaned. “You had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?”

“What did you say last night about us being the ones to miss you?” Eris asked with a raised eyebrow. Jaxie chuckled.

“Who cares about the semantics? The point is that I didn’t get the chance to suck either of your dicks last night, and that’s a tragedy that needs to be resolved.”