A Brief Respite
It’s been a while since I've had time to myself. Keeping up with 2 women who have radically different schedules and needs has taken a lot out of me, so having some free time is a welcome reprieve.
I’m lying comfortably on a couch in my living room, idly playing an RPG I’d been working on before I was suddenly thrust into my current situation. Although I’m playing, my mind is running back through everything that's happened recently.
Invisibility leveled up. I’d been religiously using it every day trying to get it to level up and it finally happened. The amount of time between levels 4 and 5 was substantially longer than any level before it, and for good reason. The moment that it leveled up, a game window popped up, saying:
Congratulations!
Invisibility is ready to rank up!
Rank Offering: Invisibility’s usage time is halved, but no longer needs to be used all at once.
This is a one-time offer, and if rejected will not be extended again.
Along with 2 buttons saying either “reject” or “accept.” One of the biggest weaknesses of Invisibility was its need to be used all at once, but was trading half of its duration away worth it? The answer I arrived at was yes, it was in fact worth it.
I accepted the offer, and sure enough, Invisibility changed. Its name is now “Invisibility+” and lasts half as long, but no longer exhausts its usage when canceled. It’s still level 5, and I imagine successive levels will be extremely hard to obtain.
I also had the opportunity to test out Pleasure Control on Carolyn. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of me testing magic on her body, but I convinced her that the upside would be more than worth it.
I made the decision to double her pleasure, and that was a huge mistake. By the time the foreplay was done, she could barely move, and I was treated to some of the least interactive sex I’ve ever had. Needless to say, Pleasure Control needs a more careful application than “just set it to 2X and forget about it.”
As for the 10 stat points I had… I still have them. There’s no expiration date on when to use them, so I might as well hold on to them until I need them for something. I kind of wish I did the same thing with the first 5 I got, but it’s too late for that.
Suddenly, a familiar figure enters the room.
“I haven’t seen you playing video games in a while, which one’s this?”
“Uh...” I pick up the case at the base of the couch, next to my half-eaten bag of chips, “Skyrivion,”
My mother has entered the room. Today’s Sunday, and her only consistent day off of work.
“We should go out and do something. You’ve seemed so busy lately.”
“I have been, y’know, with school and stuff.”
“So you want to go out and do something?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I think my mom needs to get a boyfriend or something. Ever since my dad died she hasn’t bothered with finding another partner, so I’ve gotten to be her surrogate. Whenever she’s bored she expects me to come to the rescue.
“C’mon, this looks super boring”
“What do you mean? This is riveting stuff.” Actually, I agree with her, I’m kinda bored but I don’t want to leave the house. I haven’t had the opportunity to be lazy in a while, and hell if I’m gonna give it up.
I walk past the same NPC several times, and each time I do, he repeats the same line, “Have you heard of the high elves?”
“He just keeps saying that. Is he broken?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
After that, she doesn’t ask any more questions and just stands behind the couch watching me play.
The only sound for several minutes is that same voice line punctuated by the loud crinkling of a chip bag and the ensuing crunching.
Finally, she can’t take it anymore. She rolls over the back of the couch and splays herself over my lying figure.
“Pay attention to me~~~!” she says, flailing her hands around like a toddler. She's throwing a faux tantrum to get what she wants, and it's working.
“God, mom, fine! Just… get off me, please!”
And so, she once again gets her way. She wants to go get smoothies, so that’s what we’re going to do. We hop into her car and start on our way to the nearest smoothie place with decent reviews. I glance at her as she focuses on driving. My mom is a beautiful woman, objectively speaking. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin that belies her age, and a well-endowed frame. She could pick nearly any man alive, and they’d be happy to have her… so why hasn’t she?
My dad was a decent enough person. To everyone but me, at least. She seemed to like him from what I can remember, but it’s not like they were madly in love. I don’t think she swore off having another partner just for his sake. I don’t mind her having another partner. Maybe I would have if I were a bit younger, but I’m in my last year of high school. I think it’s the natural next step, considering how lonely she gets when I’m not around, yet for some reason, she seems deeply opposed to it.
I love my mom and want her to be happy, but I can’t be at her side all the time anymore. I have school, several girlfriends, and a whole bunch of other stuff to worry about, but whenever I’m not around for a while she gets really clingy. If I blow her off after that she gets really mopey until I suggest we do something together.
She’s a standard mom in most regards, but I think that she relies on me a little too much. When she’s not working it’s like I’m her only source of entertainment, and when I’m not around she just stares at the ceiling waiting for me to get back.
I didn’t mind it when I had nothing going on but school and a suspiciously low maintenance girlfriend, but now my time is a precious commodity I have to use wisely.
Suddenly a game window pops up in front of me, reading:
New Target
Sofia Sullivan
You have 2 weeks upon receiving this to capture this target. Other players have also received this target.
… who?