1.46 – Enhance

None needed, probably? Sex addiction/addiction in general-ish maybe. It's lewd but doesn't go into much detail.

I really don't know what these spoilers are for, and I'm stretching their purpose, but they're necessary to include on every chapter so that not-including it isn't a spoiler in itself.

Maple and Emma headed back to the inn. As usual, randos filled out the dining room and other common areas. Some were long-term residents who she could vaguely recognize by now, others, strangers and regulars who stayed a night, or only a few hours to eat and mingle. Maple filtered them all out regardless.

This was as 'home' as she could get, so she headed for the spot more or less claimed as her own; the far corner of the bar most people skipped in lieu of somewhere more central. Emma trailed behind her, greeting people she had formed a connection with. Sasha saw them coming and waved from behind the bar.

"Well, if it isn't the dynamic duo."

Maple raised an eyebrow, but collapsed into her seat and rested face down against the bartop. Cum Race, everything else, had drained her. It was how she'd feel if she had to do a presentation, go to a job interview, and then sing karaoke to a bunch of people all in one day. She mumbled something about dinner, and hoped Emma would translate for her if needed.

She couldn't understand why she was the exhausted one—she'd barely participated, compared to Emma, who still had an excited bounce to her step and had practiced her humming the entire walk back. Yet for Maple, it'd almost been too much.

It should be the other way around, and it was jarring to think they were so different.

Maple was proud of her, though. She could almost hold a single tone for a few seconds. Neither had a clue if that would lead to speaking, but she was trying. And yes, proud of her for winning Cum Race, too.

Likewise, Emma was proud of Maple. You did the thing with me. I'm so proud of you. You're okay, right? she wrote verbatim.

Maple wasn't not-okay. Luckily, sheer exhaustion kept her from dwelling on anything too negatively. It was the next day, or the day after that, that would get her.

Even recharging in time for next week's might take a miracle. If they went. Emma wanted to, and they could make some serious coin without much risk besides the entrance fee if they participated. Maple solidly felt it was one of those things she should do—and again, she found her new life bizarre.

Sasha replied after a second's pause to parse Maple's mumbling.

"Dinner? Sure. I bet you are hungry after that performance, huh? Aren't ya?"

Maple nearly groaned. It sounded like Sasha was teasing her—and she did like to do that, and always escalated quick—but why now? Sasha couldn't have been there, right? Even if she had been, it wouldn't matter to Maple if she'd seen her. It wasn't tease-worthy. So...what else was there? Maple forced herself upright.

"What do you mean?"

"Yep. I guess you didn't know, but those Cum Races are broadcast all over. I had it up on the scrying mirror, most of it. Guests like to bet on it. Em did pretty well, eh?"

Sasha gestured to the television-sized mirror mounted on the wall behind the bar—the one Maple had always thought was just a normal oddly-placed mirror—and the [Innkeeper]'s smirk finally made sense. Maple turned toward the one regular she did know, because he had claimed similar territory to her own, Pops.

"Oof, really?"

Pops nodded without meeting her eye, and Maple felt a bit more of her energy leave. Emma's mouth hung open in silent laughter as she wrote and then cheered.

We're famous!

Sasha explained apologetically during dinner that she had tried to shut it off once Maple appeared on stage, but there were guests who came specifically to watch the event while spending money on food and drink.

Maple couldn't fault her for needing to run her business, but it was more than just Sasha's inn. How many had seen her get sucked off on stage, exactly? How many? Would a number help?

In the end, she was too tired to dwell on it, or even remember why she cared in the first place. No one else in this city did, so why should she? It was just sex—and the focus hadn't even been on her. She could be mortified tomorrow.

The larger disturbance was the usual voice waking her mid-sleep.

[Slut Level 8!]

[Slut Level 9!]

[Skill Upgrade: Lesser Enhanced Pleasure -> Enhanced Pleasure, You and Me]

Maple whispered a groan, and thanked any god there was that [Lesser Enhanced Libido] hadn't upgraded with it. But she still wished it would just give her normal Skills. She'd be able to do so much.

Maple snuggled deeper into Emma and got a satisfied purr before drifting back to sleep.

When she woke fully, she noticed the difference immediately. [Lesser Enhanced Pleasure] had always been active, and made even the normal brushing of fabric against her skin feel much better than it had any right to—which hadn't helped her libido issues.

She'd grown used to that effect, and now it was gone. Like waking up with a missing limb. Or with the color saturation suddenly turned way down. Even cuddling up half-inside of Emma didn't feel as good as it had just hours ago.

Maybe she wouldn't need to fight against her own body's sex drive as much now. Speaking of which, today she planned to go check on those potions she'd commissioned. With any luck, Shari was done making them and Maple would have the equivalent of an emergency eject.

The new skill was an upgrade, though. Intuitively, she felt she could choose whether to activate it on only herself, or on a number of people. Discovering the exact limits would require testing, but Rachel was asleep in the room with them, so she wouldn't be doing much of that now.

Call it intuition, too, but somehow she thought there would be plenty of testing opportunities in the future. Or maybe she'd just resigned to her fate as a [Slut].

She wouldn't readily admit it, but it was kind of exciting. How much better would it feel? How far away could it work? How many people? And most of all: how would Emma react to it? She finally had something she could share and wouldn't be as intense as [Telepathic Orgasms].

Her girlfriend was passed out at the moment, though, partly squished between her legs while Maple lay on her side. One of her arms rested under Emma's neck, partially submerged inside her body, while Maple's other arm was free to feel about.

Early dawn light poked through the window, and Maple debated getting up. Sasha should be up already, they could be borrowing her room right about now. For Skill testing purposes, of course.

Asking to do that was always awkward, no matter how she justified it, but...that didn't seem to concern her today as much as it used to. Being broadcast to an unknown number of people also hadn't hit her like she thought it would yet.

Between Marielle, and the event as a whole, maybe something within her finally broke. Fine. I will become lewd. She felt like cackling, and then, like she might be losing her mind.

Maybe she just needed to wake up. Literally. Maybe everything that'd happened since arriving in this world had just been a bad dream, or she was in a—no. That'd be awful if it were actually true.

She cut the thought off, and scrubbed it away by rubbing her face against Emma. She'd embrace no longer caring, for as long as it lasted. Let her be mortified tomorrow in perpetuity. It was almost refreshing.

While waiting for Emma to wake up on her own, her own curiosity won out. She activated the Skill on herself—just to see what normal sensations would be like.

Her desaturated, bland senses returned to full-color. Her nipples stiffened against her shirt, and just the sensation of Emma pressing between her legs sent jolts of pleasure up her body. She held carefully still, knowing she could deactivate it at any time if she needed to.

It was more than erotic pleasure—it was everything. The bedding wrapping loosely around her, Emma's scent like fresh laundry—just breathing felt...euphoric. A reminder that she was alive, healthy, each inhale and exhale a blessing. Had she taken it for granted?

No, but...None of that described it properly. It just felt good. Every sensation, if it had any pleasurable quality at all, was amplified. Emma's warm, silky body made her skin feel like it was being nurtured by the source of life itself.

And it was sexual. Maple couldn't stop herself from, gently, humping Emma. Tiny micro-movements and contractions of her thighs. Any sudden movement would be too much, and might even send her over that edge. The idea of an orgasm with this level of sensation scared her. But the slow, deep rubbing against her beloved, the kind that let her savor every sensation—

She'd found heaven, and she stayed there, using her girlfriend's body, in part. Emma wouldn't mind. She had once explicitly stated Sex is the best way to wake me. Do that sometime. and Maple had just never had the chance to. This also wasn't the chance, but it felt so good.

When Emma finally stirred from the motion, she scratched Maple's head with a half-formed hand. Maple leaned into it, letting blissful head tingles shiver down her spine on top of the other pleasure.

Screw normal Skills. She wanted to stay like this forever.

The scratches suddenly stopped, and Maple looked up longingly. Pleadingly. She panted, and couldn't stop involuntary spasms from making her body rub against Emma.

Emma yawned and tilted her head questioningly. Now just why is my Human acting so strange, on this morning? was how Maple interpreted it.

She slid a hand slid down the back of Maple's neck, and then Maple did have to cancel the Skill, before she—she shuddered. Just that would have been enough. Amazing. She was soaked. She needed more.

Maple whispered, finding it difficult to keep her voice level.

"Level up. Wanna borrow Sasha's room?"

Emma knew what that meant, but pretended she needed to consider it. Ordinarily it was her suggesting it, but now that the pillow was on the other side, she sadistically prolonged the moment.

Hmmmmm. We did have a lot of sex yesterday... I might be tapped—

Maple nearly had to drag her out of the room, but Emma followed, silently giggling. She would see. Sasha might have saw as well, if she hadn't immediately released her room to them.

By time Sasha finally thought check in on them, the sun was on the opposite end of the sky. Maple had left the room only twice, for a quick bathroom break. Sasha entered and stood there stunned for a moment, taking the scene in.

"Wow, that's a lot of...I'm not one to tell you how to live your life or anything, but are you two okay? By all means, keep it up, but...Damn, at this rate, I might get a new wing within the year."

The last sentence was barely audible, but Maple returned the [Innkeeper]'s concerned look with a guilty one. The entire day had disappeared, stuck in a just one more time, after this we're done for good loop. So much for getting her potions, or a job, or anything productive done. What is wrong with me?

She finally turned the Skill off again. Already, the urge was there to turn it back on. It's how life was meant to be lived. In total bliss. Bliss was life.

She'd been lukewarm on the whole being alive thing before, but she understood now. It was so obvious. Why am I here? She could feel why! With every single breath; it was the nature of everything. Bliss.

"Yeahhhh, we're uh...good. I leveled up again."

She was aware that her own mental rationale sounded kind of...concerning. But she was nearly finished. She was learning, and this would help her be more satisfied in normal life. The Skill only enhanced pleasure that was already there, so it really was just the nature of things, and if she just looked closely enough, she could have it without the Skill.

It was kind of debilitating; she'd wasted an entire day, her thoughts reminded her. But—but, she was learning so much. All kinds of sensations had so much more to them than she ever could have imagined. Every part of her body had the potential to be an erogenous zone. You just had to let it.

Emma didn't even look up from the vibrating puddle she currently existed as. Every so often, a particularly strong spasm shook through her. Maple was in her own puddle on the bed...of her own uncontrolled making. She felt kind of dehydrated, and thought she might look a little...disheveled.

Sasha stared at them and looked—interested?

"Oh yeah? Not holding out on your generous host, are you?"

Maple considered it for a moment. A tiny part of her screamed, with its tiny voice, that the Skill might actually be dangerous, or addictive, or whatever nonsense. She had no evidence of that, really. Get out now, while you still can. it tried to say..

The rest of her still remembered Sasha making her cum in the middle of the dining area without warning. It'd 'solved' the issue, but still. And her new Skill was great. She wanted to show it off. Finally, something...she couldn't quite say was useful—but, good?

It was nice. Being alive was ecstatic. There were only two things in this world: her, and the sheer euphoria of existing. Her friends should get to experience that, too.

"Yeah, check it out! [Enhanced Pleasure, You and Me]."

The Skill could handle at least the three of them, and it felt like she could add another. Yay, knowledge. She wasn't in the mood for another group, uh, session, to get a hard number. But knowing the cap was >=3 was something.

Sasha grimaced, but joined them on the bed and started exploring the effects.

"Hmm, nope. Never mind. Cancel it—wait. Not yet. Just for a bit should be fine."

The mixed signals were confusing. She would cancel it, if that's what Sasha really wanted. They hadn't seen how it affected Sasha yet, though. Knowledge was power, and daytime was long gone. They had nothing better to do. What harm was there in staying for one more round, but with Sasha?

She really did want to just activate it again already, so she was glad Sasha hadn't kicked them out.

"Okay, okay, just a little longer so you can check it out, and then we'll give you your room back."

Maple 'eased' Sasha into it by starting with a massage, though the pleasure from any physical touch was near-orgasmic. For Maple, too, even as she was careful to use only her hands. Pleasure shot up her arms, and she couldn't resist rubbing her entire body against Sasha's.

She was skilled at it, though, practically a pro at this point. If you pressed hard enough, and rubbed slowly enough, you saw the full depth and nuance of the pleasure without immediately cumming—though that was good, too.

"Mmh. This takes me back to my school days. People can become actual junkies for this kind of thing, and sometimes the spells are used in traps, as a kind of curse magic. It can be dangerous. You've been using it all day?"

Sasha said that, mild concern showing in her voice again, but she stated as if reciting a fact and showed no sign of stopping, nor wanting to stop. Maple could agree it made sense. She'd wasted an entire day, after all. But...

They each had a thigh to grind on, and massaged the other in that pleasure-maximizing, deep and slow way—Sasha clearly did have some experience with this.

Yet just resting a hand on her lone wing, a known weak spot, was enough for her to cum. Maple was wise enough remove her hands at that point—pleasure easily becoming painful at this level—and held still so she could answer, panting.

"Yeah...Should we stop?"

Maple had deactivated it a few times earlier in the day, mainly to use the restroom, and to make sure Emma was still okay. She was, and each time, demanded the delightful Skill be returned to her. And it couldn't be that bad if the system had given it to her, right?

Sasha glanced at the bedroom door, deciding between work and fooling around. Even though the answer was obvious.

"We should stop, but..."

Precisely, Maple nodded, and they continued. Emma would join in, once she wasn't so enraptured by her own pleasure.