1.38 – Business

No content warning needed, probably.

Even the streets were more crowded than usual. Those who had the day off hung around the food stands and outdoor eating areas. The two had just ate breakfast, but Emma couldn't resist stopping at a stand selling meat inside of folded bread.

"I can't believe you're still hungry. You'll get fat."

Emma grinned and grew out her belly, slapping it a couple times before sucking it back in. Much to Maple's envy, it probably wasn't possible for her to become fat.

"Wish I could do that."

Get fat. I won't mind.

She pinched Maple's cheek and offered her a bite. Maple declined, still full, though she would have been too anxious to eat either way.

The drawings were stored safely inside Emma—she'd said she could do it without getting them wet. If Maple carried them herself, she could just imagine dropping them at some inopportune moment and inadvertently exposing herself.

She also didn't want SuQ staff asking about them. Or anyone else. She could still decide not to sell them. The plan was to start with the milk, have Emma help with her arousal, and then go from there.

SuQ Dairy was jam packed when they arrived. Multiple receptionists processed the line, collecting the entrance fee from guests and registering the affiliates who would be selling milk or other services.

The customers were a variety of species and mostly male, though Maple did spot several females. The door to the rest of the facility now had a 'clothing optional beyond this point' warning sign on it.

A ton of people gave Maple at least a glance, and at least six gazes were on her at any given moment. Actually feeling them made her heart race faster and faster until she ended up disabling the Skill.

Emma was getting her own stares, and she held tight to Maple's arm. As a Human and a humanoid Slime, both were rare finds in Syber. They looked like a couple, but a Human woman in a lesbian relationship with a Slime of all species? Unheard of. Were they guests, or there to put on a show?

The pair turned heads and some found that if you stared at the Slime for long enough, the Slime glared back. She didn't mind much, though, and looked around the room with more curiosity than Maple. There was even an Arachnid man taking up a lot of space in line.

Maple tried to avoid looking around, and just hoped nobody talked to her. Being there at all was embarrassing enough. Fortunately, Maztaran was one of the ones manning the counter again, and he ended up being the one assisting them.

"Miss Maple? I'm surprised to see you here. You do know what today is, right?"

"Y-yeah, I know. I wanted to...um."

She clammed up. Maztaran turned to the Succubus attendant beside him.

"Alex, I'm gonna step away to help our Human for a bit. She's new here."

"Of course, go ahead. Next!"

He led them to an empty back room. There were desks in an open office arrangement, and a cork board with sales goals and the like pinned to it. He gave Emma a courteous smile.

"And this would be, a friend of yours?"

"Um, yeah. This is Emma. She's my girlfriend."

"Oh. You continue to surprise me. It's lovely to meet you, Miss Emma. You may call me Maztaran, or just Maz. I'm afraid our milking potions wouldn't work on a Slime, but you're welcome to accompany Maple. Or, do feel free to inquire about our employee positions."

He bowed, much to Emma's amusement. She grinned at him and waved.

"So, what brings you here today? I could get you a private room again like last time if you wanted."

"Actually, I wanted to, um—how does the other thing today work exactly?"

Maztaran's eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

"A public room? Ah, well, we do have enough rooms to spare if you wanted to try it. But if you're just trying to sell milk and nothing else, you should know that it has to be, ah—on-tap, if you will. The pump is different, and costlier as it has to process the milk for consumption immediately. So it's only viable for on-demand use, after someone has already paid for it."

Maple's face dropped as she processed this.

"So I'd have to let them watch me be milked?"

"Correct. You could be clothed, but you should also know that your silver per liter rate is already higher than most. The fee we take is 50% of your normal rate, so 10 coppers in your case. A lot of our affiliates price their milk at less than that, some even taking a small loss in order to incentivize their other services. You might have trouble finding customers, is my point, Miss Maple."

She frowned, and Maztaran gave her a professional smile.

"Why's my rate so high?"

"Ah, that would be because you're a Human. We often get special orders for dairy from a specific species, for various reasons, so we adjust rates based on our supply. Human affiliates are rare. They don't tend to enjoy the process, at least on this continent. Overseas is different, with the smaller Church presence and all, but the shipping costs make up for that."

Was that kind of racist, or something? And she didn't know what the Church thing was about, but made a mental note to ask sometime.

"It almost sounds like I'd make less by doing it this way. Would anyone even pay a silver? Or a silver and a half so that I at least get the same as I normally would?"

"Clothed, and with nothing else to offer? Unlikely, to be blunt. Were you planning on doing anything else? If you were, do know there's a 30% fee on all revenue made through use of our facility."

Maple's spirit was taking a beating. She hadn't known about either fee. Emma squeezed her hand in support.

"Oof. Um, I was going to try to sell something. Can you keep it a secret, though?"

They'd likely find out about it as soon as she sold one anyway. He nodded and Maple gestured for Emma. She passed the drawings to the Incubus.

"I was going to try selling these..."

"Hmm. Not bad. A little amateurish, as far as artwork goes, but...what price were you thinking?"

"A silver each?"

He winced at that. Maple's neck was red when he handed the stack of drawings back after flipping through them all.

"If I may be blunt? I don't know how well your art would sell, but it has the same issue of being rather expensive. Were it nude, it may be reasonable. Otherwise, I'd estimate you get maybe half that. You're plenty attractive. If you were willing to go topless, then you might find enough interest for your milk. Or maybe if you put on a show with your girlfriend here, and charged people for that? Not that you couldn't try it your way. This is just my professional opinion, and you can't always guess at what will be popular or in demand."

Maple was burning up and her eyes were glossy from embarrassment. He was right. It wasn't going to work, and she was an idiot for even coming here.

Maztaran looked away awkwardly while Maple tried to decide what to do and calm down. Emma patted her head.

"Perhaps I was too blunt. My apologies, Miss Maple. It probably won't help your situation, but there are also games and contests that affiliates and customers alike are encouraged to participate in. Most have prizes, and the main one at the end of the day has a prize pool starting at one gold."

"What's the contest?"

"We call it Cum Race. As you might guess, the basic premise is a competitive race to orgasm. Before each round, spectators are allowed to place bets on anyone, and participants are allowed to bet on themselves. The slowest of each round gets eliminated until only one remains. It's a trial of both speed and endurance, you see. Pretty much anything goes, from partners and inviting members of the audience, to artifacts and tools. At the end, the top 3 get a prize along with a share of the betting fees. I think last week's first place prize ended up at 10 gold."

Maple paled. No way she could do that. She felt dizzy. Emma nudged her with a smirk.

We could win that.

"Hah—I don't think so."

Laughing pulled Maple out of her spiral. She had about decided, but Emma was writing something.

Could I be the sexy naked one in her room?

"Of course. You could offer any services you wanted without Miss Maple needing to do anything. We'd just need to register and see your work permit."

Emma nodded and nudged Maple again.

"I guess that could work. But wait..."

Wasn't that getting a little close to what she'd been made to do at the bathhouse? Maple didn't want to bring that up in front of Maz though, and she was—she was chickening out either way.

"Sorry, um, actually can we just have a private room like last time please."

"Certainly. It'd be best not to push yourself too hard, Miss Maple. There's always next weekend."

She agreed and Emma gave her a confused frown. What was wrong with her idea? She wanted to see the funny games.

Maztaran led them to a room like last time, and once they were alone, Maple let out a long breath. She felt like a failure. Yet after hearing about the kind of thing going on in there—she only felt relief.

"Sorry. Did you actually want to go to that? I don't think I can handle it yet."

Emma shook her head.

I did, but it's fine if you're not ready.

"I also worried it might be um, triggering for you? Because of the, you know...And we should talk about it beforehand. I don't want you to feel pressured in the moment, or something."

It took Emma a second to realize what Maple was even talking about, and then she frowned and shook her head.

That was different. Slavery. Sex isn't bad. Don't use me as an excuse.

Her squishy finger tapped if you're not ready again, emphasizing her point.

"Sorry. So that kind of thing doesn't bother you at all?"

She shook her head nope, why would it? It was weird to Maple. She'd be bothered, if it were her. But Emma seemed genuine, and even a little upset at the misunderstanding.

"Okay, I understand. Maybe next weekend, then? Come here, cutie."

Emma nodded happily and pulled herself on top of Maple for a hug. Her heart was still racing. She'd failed to do what they came there for. She was a failure, too scared to even try it. Emma didn't mind that. She just stroked Maple's head and kissed her until she calmed down.

Once she did, they finally got around to milking her. Emma pulled back and pointed to another line from earlier with a smirk, causing Maple to laugh again.

We could win that.

"You really think that, huh?"

Oh, but she did. The competition wouldn't stand a chance.

Know. We could be rich.