# 024

"So, it turns out the girls are empaths." I say out of the blue during breakfast the next morning. "That's why Queenie can give such good massages, and how Rosie can make it seem like she's giving you the puppy-dog eyes even when she doesn't have any."

"What?!?" Jen almost chokes on her food and stares at me and the pink slime sitting in my lap.

"Rosie might be closer to a true psychic." I add with a shrug. "But, humans are too weird for her to get much more than vague feelings from us."

"Oh, your father is going to flip." Mom says with a laugh while Jen sits there stunned.

"It should have been obvious that they had some sort of psychic powers what with how queens are able to order common slimes around." I say. "But, it wasn't until Rose let me know how Madison was feeling last night that I pieced it together."

"How did you not notice before?" Jen accuses me like I was purposefully hiding it from her.

"I wasn't looking for it." I shrug again. "How did you not notice when she gave you the puppy-dog eyes? My only experience with psychic powers is through the bond itself. Maybe if I had met one before, but you know how rare they are. Well, outside of twins, that is." I add with a laugh when Sera and Esra stick their tongues out at me.

"How long until Dad reaches the city?" Jenny asks, nearly frantic. "Oh, why did I put off learning how to teleport? There are so many books I want to check right now."

"They should arrive tonight." Mom says. "But, I wasn't planning to let him know until tomorrow, so he'd have a chance to rest."

"And, you know exactly why you didn't learn to teleport." I laugh and make a fake retching noise. "It's the same reason I never bothered; you didn't want to find out if Dad's teleport sickness was hereditary. The only thing worse than not being able to teleport is knowing that you can, but only if you pay that price."

"Don't remind me." Jen's nose scrunches up. "Still, this is so amazing. You are so amazing, Rose!"

"We already knew that." I pet Rosie as she sits there soaking up the praise. "She's already agreed to run some tests with you, but only if you keep helping her work on a face of her own. She can feel when someone gets uncomfortable seeing their copy, and doesn't like making anyone feel bad."

"Of course, Rosie." She reaches over and rubs the slime on her side. "Just how much can you sense?"

"Cole des-cribe like echo, sim-i-lar to twin bond." Rosie answers. "Less than Sera and Esra, but more than Maddie and Mason. You are happy and... ex-cited?." Her voice lilts up into a question on that last word.

"It doesn't take a mind-reader to see that." Katie jokes. "Still, that's pretty cool, Rosie. Maybe you can let me know the next time the twins sneak into my room and mess with my stuff."

"It might take a while before she can manage that." I chuckle. "Right now Rose is limited to simple and strong emotions like happy and sad, feels good, feels bad, stuff like that. She barely understands our language, let alone the jumble that goes on in our brains."

"Humans weird." She breaks out her favorite description of us. "But, I want to know more, will learn good... no, 'well'. I will learn well."

"She's serious here." I pick Rosie up from my lap and squeeze her in a hug. "How's her vocabulary doing when I'm not around to help?"

"Like the difference between night and day." Jen answers. "But, she's making steady progress, and can usually get her point across. Though, I have to wonder how much of that was thanks to her ability."

"Well, I'll leave her in your hands to find out." Jen lets out a soft grunt when I drop the slime on her lap. "Hefty little thing, isn't she? Alright, you learn well, Rosie; I'll help out some more when I get back. But, I think not having me around to rely on helps a lot too." I add when a flash of sadness comes over the bond.

"I under-stand." She says while sounding somewhat down. "I like it better when you are here, but I know you want what is best for me."

"I know, I know." I grin and give her another pat. "And, I'm sure that you're not just jealous that I'm spending time on useless dummy slimes." I chuckle when she squirms in embarrassment. "You are so cute, Rosie. Almost as cute as this quiet little maid who is taking her role far too seriously." I steal a kiss from my girlfriend before leaving, a chorus of giggles following me out.

...

"Eeek!" Madison squeals when I sneak up on her after getting back and scoop her up into my arms. "Ma..." I stop her from calling me master by pressing my lips to hers.

"Only call me that when you're wearing the other outfit." I breathe into her ear and sit down on the couch with her in my lap. "I know it gets you off, but it's still a little embarrassing when you bring our bedroom games out in front of my family."

"Sorry, Cole." I can feel the heat from her cheeks when she buries her face into the crook of my neck. "It's fun playing the dutiful maid though. Speaking of..." She tries to turn back to check on the twins, but I hold her in place.

"The girls are fine." I kiss her again. "They aren't going to burn the house down if you spend a few minutes with your boyfriend. Right, girls?" I call out, only for them to respond by conjuring a couple of flames above their palms while wearing evil smiles.

"No fire in the house." Mom hits each of them with a spray of water without looking up from her book. "And, Cole's right, Maddie. Sera and Esra may seem like little nightmares, but you are allowed to take your eyes off of them."

"Hey!" - "Mean!" The twins grumble at Mom's entirely accurate description of them.

"See." I stroke her hair until she settles down. "Just relax and let me hold you for a bit. All the easy pickings were already taken by the adventurers we hustled yesterday, so I had to run all over the place, and could use some relaxation myself."

"Mmm." She nods while pressed up against me.

"Good girl." Maddie shivers when I breathe those two words into her ear. "Hey, Rosie. Do you want to snuggle too? Though, we might need to check with Jen to see if it's alright that I cuddle with a near duplicate of her girlfriend." I add after getting a good look at the slime.

"What?!" Jennifer nearly shouts and then covers her face with both hands to hide the blush when she realizes what she did. "Oh, Gods. I didn't..." She trails off when we start laughing.

"Hahahaha!" Katie, especially, is cracking up. "I was -haha- wondering how long -hehehe- it would take before she -hahahah- realized. She -ahh- she's been getting closer and closer all day and it was all I could do not to lose it when I first noticed."

"Oh, that is so cute." Mom can't help but coo over what Jen did. "It's alright, baby. There's no need to be embarrassed."

"Yeah, Jen." I smile up at her. "If anything, I think Selene would be flattered. Well, maybe not with a couple of the adjustments, especially not with how familiar they seem." I say with a pointed look between Rosie's current bust and Madison's.

"I'm... I'm just going to go let the slimes eat me now." Jen hangs her head and starts trudging away.

"Don't tease Jenny, Cole." Rosie wraps her arms around my little sister while glaring at me. "She helped me be very pretty."

"Sorry, Rose. Sorry, Jen." I move Maddie off my lap so I can keep my sister from committing suicide by slime. "You did a great job, Sis, Rosie looks beautiful. And, don't worry about it; they get stuck in my head too." I add for her ears alone.

"Shut up!" She hisses back.

"But, this is why I wanted more than one person to help her pick out a new look." I say while ignoring her outburst and Rosie's mental admonition. "It's only natural for us to be biased one way or another."

"Yeah." Katie nods. "I bet Cole was just afraid that Rose would look like Maria if he helped her on his own. Or, even worse, that she would look just like she does now." The little shit breaks into an impish laugh while both of us glare at her.

"Well, it does seem that, as siblings, we have very similar tastes." I just laugh when Jen punches me. "Now, why don't you go and invite Selene to dinner while we all add our own touches to Rosie? I'm sure she's worn out by processing all those cores, and we could use another perspective on what makes for a pretty girl."

"That's a good idea." Mom says with a smile and then brings out her 'Mom' voice. "I promise no one will tease you about how Rosie turned out."

"With a week under the twins as punishment if they do." Jenny stipulates while looking straight at Kaitlyn. "Including any new hairstyles they choose to give out. And, if you two say anything, I'll feed all your stuff to the slimes, including your hair." She adds with a glance at Sera and Esra that makes them go pale.

"Sounds fair." Mom agrees with an evil smile.

...

"We're back." Jen announces. "And, look who we ran into on the way. You did say we needed more perspectives here, right?" She pulls Maria out from behind her and Selene's backs with a devilish smile.

"The more, the merrier." I reply with a conflicted smile before letting it go with a mental shrug. "Maybe you three can help break this stalemate. Kaitlyn thinks we should add more Chrissie, she's the leggy blonde with the stupid-long hair that went up to her after the match." I add when they look confused. "But, I'm leaning more toward Nicole the receptionist. We already tried a blend, but it does not look right."

"Ooh! Yes to the hair, if she can manage it." Selene jumps right in. "Nicki's alright, she's got a really cute butt, at least. Also, hi, Rosie." She pulls the slime into a hug.

"Hi..." The slime replies shyly.

"Well, go on and ask." I prompt. "The worst she can do is say no."

"..." Rosie still hesitates.

"She's trying to adjust her voice too." I speak up for the silly jelly. "It's proving difficult though, and she was hoping that you would let her... well, do this." I let her demonstrate with me. "It's hardly noticeable, not compared to when she first tried, at least. And, would really help her figure out how different people have different voices."

"I'll do it." Maria offers right away. "And, I agree with Sel, you would look amazing with long hair, Rose."

"Thank you." Rosie grows out the long hair and hugs Maria tightly. "You have a very pretty voice, I want to sound like you. I prom-ise this won't hurt." She brings her fingers up to the corner of the healer's and waits for her to open it. "Cole, why you think 'say ahh'?"

"Snerk." I'm not the only one to snort out a laugh at that. "It's something we say to babies to get them to open their mouths. It just sorta popped into my head, but I didn't mean to send it over the bond."

"No, it's alright." Maria laughs. "I did hesitate for a second there. You can go ahead now, Rose. Ahh." The slime coats her mouth and throat. "Weird, I expected a fruity flavor because of how you look, but you don't taste like anything. You should try too Selene; you can barely even feel her."

"Please?" Rosie begs, and the mix of her psychic puppy-dog eyes combined with the actual look proves too much for the alchemist. "Thank you, thank you. Your voice is almost as pretty as Maria's." She says in Maria's voice. "Now, say ahh."

"Hahahaha." Selene cracks up. "I think Cole might be a bad influence on you. Ahhmp." She playfully bites down on Rose's fingers. "Oh, you're right, that is weird. I expected her to taste like water at least."

"You taste like green things." The slime says while tilting her head. "And, a little like Jen. She is... Cole help." She sends me a pleading look.

"Fizzy, or sparkly maybe, full of power and potential." I say after a moment. "Humans can't taste mana, so it's kinda hard to translate. But, yes, Selene you taste like freshly crushed herbs smell, and Maria is like warm sunlight with a hint of milk and honey." I continue when they seem interested. "Maddie is like a gentle breeze blowing through the dark woods, while Katie is more like a dust-devil on a hot day. Sera and Esra are each like a different handful of spices. Mom, you're like a cool spring and a warm hug at the same time."

"What about you?" Selene asks. "Rosie, what does Cole taste like?"

"Like sex and power." I blush, beet-red, when the slime blurts that out in a mix of Maria's and Selene's voices. "He is like a strong arm gently car-res-ing a lover or strik-ing down a foe." The girls break into nervous giggles when she looks up at me with adoring eyes.

"Yes, well, let's get back to building the perfect girl." Selene swallows audibly. "Well, as perfect as we can get without you looking too much like Jen. Who knows what Cole is going to do with you, after all?" She adds with a laugh that makes me blush even harder.

***