"Are you still up to go shopping for a new bed today?" I asked, in a lazy relaxed tone.

I felt Amber's head shift against my shoulder as she nodded, "Yep. I don't think stores will be open for another hour though, so plenty more time for cuddles."

That made me grin. And to make the point she managed to snuggle up even tighter against my chest.

I had an arm around her, she was practically on my lap, and we'd been enjoying naked cuddles on the love-seat in the living-room most of the morning. It was about half past ten, I'd had some toast and a couple glasses of juice while she had a couple cans of root beer. And neither of us were in any great rush to get up or get dressed or do anything else with ourselves today.

We weren't above making plans though. We might even get up at some point and put those plans into motion, eventually. Maybe. No promises.

Susan and Melissa both went back to bed after their morning coffee, but the noises coming from the master bedroom told me and Amber that our other two girlfriends definitely weren't asleep. In fact they were a lot more active than we were.

"There's that furniture superstore by the highway," my small brunette girlfriend commented quietly. "I'm sure we can get everything there, and they'll do the delivery. I think they'll haul the old one away too? Or if they don't have nice bedding there, then we'll just get the bed and frame from them then we can go to that other place at the big-box plaza and get bedding there? Sheets and a duvet and all that stuff. And more pillows."

I nodded slightly, "Sounds good. Maybe we can grab lunch afterwards too, that toast wasn't very filling."

"Ok," she smiled.

With our plans made, the two of us proceeded to do absolutely nothing at all. Neither of us even moved much until about a half hour later, when I finally sensed Lily's presence grow stronger in my mind.

I shifted slightly so I was sitting upright in a relaxed position, then told Amber "Lily just woke. I'm going to step inside and talk to her."

"I might be a few minutes," I added, since I had a few things I wanted to discuss with my demon mom.

"Ok Mara," Amber replied. She gave me a brief squeeze then straightened up as well, so she wasn't leaning against me anymore.

My eyes closed as I pulled myself back and into the posh apartment in our head.

As soon as I was inside I gave my demon mom a hug and greeted her, "Hi Lily. Four more of those runes were cleared last night. So it was another success, right?"

She gently returned the hug, then sat down on her big leather sofa and motioned for me to join her.

"Yes Mara, it was another success. Now why don't you tell me what's troubling you? I know there's something on your mind."

I was blushing as I sat down beside her. I didn't realize I was that obvious.

"Actually there's a few things," I sighed. "The smaller thing is about last night? I kind of felt left out, like with Melissa and Susan and Amber and you all getting more of that energy but not me? It felt like I was just there to drive everyone home and stuff, like I felt kind of forgotten. Though afterwards Amber made up for it. But yeah, it left me feeling left out."

Lily gave me an apologetic look, "I'm sorry Mara. I understand, and I'm glad Amber helped you feel better afterwards. If it's any consolation, that might be the last time your girlfriends will share in that energy. So you might not have to worry about being left out again in the future."

I nodded, "Yeah. I figured. They all got what they wanted last night, huh?"

"Yes Mara," she replied. "I know the four of you have already discussed that this morning, so you're aware of their status."

After a pause she asked, "You said that was the smaller concern? Do you want to talk about the larger issue?"

That was a lot harder, and I hesitated and grimaced as I tried to figure out how to say it. Eventually I decided to just dive in and hope for the best.

"So like I really want you to be free, I want you to be able to fly and do everything you want and all that? But now that it looks like it might happen in a month or two, I'm suddenly scared. I guess I didn't think about it before, but if you're free then you won't be here anymore, right? I mean, you won't be here in our head. We won't be sharing our body anymore. You'll probably go back home to Neapolis or maybe to England since you got all Verothilas's properties and stuff? And I won't be able to talk to you, or come in here to visit you for hugs and cuddles, or any of that stuff. And I'll really miss you a lot. Like I can't actually imagine what it'd be like not having you with me?"

I tried not to get too emotional but by the time I got to the end of that I had tears in my eyes. I felt silly and embarrassed as I sighed "I'm sorry Lily, I don't mean to be so upset about this? I just..."

My demon mom wrapped one of her big arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug against her side.

"It's ok Mara," she said in a soft, almost motherly voice. "I'm not going anywhere just yet. This is why I keep telling you not to get too far ahead of yourself, why I've been trying to tell you not to get too excited about clearing all those runes."

She gave me a gentle squeeze and continued, "Remember, we can't separate until I figure out a solution that won't result in your death. I'm still working on that, and I won't do anything without explaining first what it is. Ok?"

I blushed but nodded slowly, then sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Thanks Lily. But there's only five more runes left now, right? You did six last month, and four last night..."

She shook her head again, "And every time we do this I learn to control it better. Look at the tattoo on your ankle."

"Ok?"

It looked the same as it did an hour or so ago, there were only five runes left surrounding the glyph that was her name.

"See that rune on top," Lily asked quietly as she gently touched it with a long black fingernail. "It looks like an upside-down triangle with a line across it and a dot inside."

"Yeah?" I nodded. "What about it?"

My demon mom explained, "That's a grounding rune. It's the one which binds the two of us together, it didn't appear on my amulet. The other runes were all part of the imprisonment curse, but that one at the top is what keeps you and I united."

She paused to make sure I was following her, and I nodded again quietly.

"If I remove the other four runes but leave that one, then I will be ninety-nine percent free while the two of us remain together," she continued. "I won't be completely free, and my demonic body won't be restored, but I'll be able to access more of my power while at the same time I'll still be here with you, sharing your body. And there'll be no rush to remove that final glyph. We can take all the time in the world to come up with a solution to our remaining problems."

Lily added, "Remember, demons don't age once they've reached maturity. And you are more than half-demon now."

I was still staring at the tattoo on my ankle, but I nodded slowly. "So I won't age anymore, same as you?"

My demon mom smirked slightly, "That depends on whether or not you're mature yet Mara. And that remains to be seen."

"Hey!" I pouted at her, but she just smiled back.

"Anyways," Lily said after a few moments, "My point is that as much as we've both been working towards my freedom, there is no urgency and no need to rush. I think I would like to clear those other four runes at the next new moon, as that will remove the last remnants of my prison. But beyond that, the two of us may remain together as long as we wish."

She was still hugging me against her side and she gave me another gentle squeeze at that point, then added softly "And I am in no hurry to leave you."

There was a little flutter in my heart at her words. Like she was always saying human emotions didn't apply to her and demons didn't have friends and stuff like that, but I was positive she was saying she'd miss me too if she left.

I looked up at her, my eyes met hers for a moment before she pulled me closer against her, so my head was resting on her shoulder. In just that brief look though, I could swear she looked as emotional as I felt.

"Thanks Lily," I half-whispered.

We continued hugging for a bit longer before she finally suggested, "While I'm not in a hurry for you and I to part ways Mara, I do think I could use some more rest now. And on the subject of feeling left out, you should probably get back to Amber? She's been waiting patiently while you're in here with me."

"Yeah, you're right."

I slowly let go of her and got to my feet.

"Thanks again Lily," I added quietly. "For everything. I hope you have a good rest, maybe we can talk more later."

She gave me a caring smile then sort of shooed me away towards the big window.

I smiled back at her, then turned and stepped out into the body. I still felt emotional, but the feelings had turned around from sad and scared to warm and happy. And I went from hugging my demon mom to hugging my succubus girlfriend, which was pretty good too.

"Everything ok with Lily?" Amber asked. "You looked kind of sad for a bit there."

I smiled as I held her, "I'm ok now. Everything's fine with Lily."

She smiled as well, "Good. I'm glad to hear it."

The two of us cuddled a while more, before we both finally worked up the energy to get up and get dressed. It was somewhere around noon when we finally left the house, to go look at beds and stuff.

I still had Melissa's car keys, so me and Amber drove over to the furniture superstore and spent an hour or so picking out a new queen-size bed for her room. She also picked a frame and headboard and all that sort of stuff, then ended up getting a matching dresser and a bed-side table and bookcase too. It meant we didn't have to worry about moving her old ones.

I thought that was a good idea and suggested she could order a new desk as well, but she figured that was a little excessive since the desk wasn't going in her room and didn't need to match anything else.

We got all that taken care of and the delivery was set for some time during the day on Thursday, which was perfect.

Then we went to the other place and she picked out matching sheets and a duvet cover and pillowcases and all that stuff, and got herself a couple more pillows and a queen-size duvet. After that was all loaded into the car, we picked a nearby restaurant and went to get some lunch.

Amber still wasn't hungry, so instead of a meal she ordered herself an ice cream sundae which was kind of cute. The place didn't have my usual go-to, but instead of nugs they had chicken strips which was close enough.

As we ate, I looked across the little table at my freshly-minted fully-succubus girlfriend.

She didn't look any different from usual. She was still tiny, and she dressed like she usually did outside of work. She wore an oversized top, leggings, and sneakers. Her hair was a bit messy and she didn't bother with make-up, just a bit of lipstick. She was cute and adorable, and she wore a happy grin as she enjoyed her sundae. The only thing missing was the blush.

After a few minutes she commented with a smile, "You're staring at me Mara. I don't look any different, do I?"

"No," I shook my head. "And sorry for staring. I guess I'm still curious? Like I guess I'm wondering if this will change you in other ways too?"

Amber shrugged, "Lily said she didn't know. She's never done that before, and she's never known an ace succubus before. And like we discussed this morning, it'll probably take a few days or a week to find out for sure."

She added, "I'll be spending most of the week either working or packing, but I'll come over on Thursday? So I'm there when the new bed arrives. Maybe we can all compare notes at that point."

"Ok Amber," I nodded. "I'm curious, but I'm not worried."

She smiled, "Good. I'm not worried or scared either. I feel good, and I'm happy."

"And that's the most important thing," I stated with a smile.

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