"Well, I'd call that a warm welcome back. Even if you were only gone a few days."

"It was a long few days."

Maple loosened the arm she had around Sasha and let out a content sigh. They were still naked in bed, but were likely done with that for the evening. Maple really had just been demonstrating her new physiology—and learning that, for some reason, nipple orgasms were more efficient at prana conversion.

Now, it was time to get on with doing one of the things Maple needed to do that wasn't sex. She'd told Sasha just about everything that'd happened, with one big exception she really didn't want to explain fully.

"By the way, do you have like a plant pot that you're not using that I could borrow? To plant something in."

"Hmm, probably not. What for? Gonna try to become a [Gardener]?"

"No, uh, I have this seed that I promised to plant."

Maple avoided looking at Sasha and realized she probably should have lied or made up an excuse. Sasha stared at her a second and then grabbed Maple's nipple between her thumb and index. They were sensitive now, but Maple didn't dislike it.

"Heh, naughty nips. Promised who?"

"Um...the plant."

"Oh yeah? You seducing even plants now?"

Sasha joked, but Maple turned even more abashed. She didn't want to outright lie, but come on. Sasha squeezed her nipple harder, but then let go.

"Wait. Did you really?"

"Uh..."

Maple wasn't good at secrets. This much had been established, and reinforced itself even now. Sasha laughed, her pink hair accenting her redder skin.

"You did! You fucked a plant? And then what, it—it gave you a seed?"

"No..."

Sasha grabbed Maple's nipple again, a devious smile on her face.

"You're not lying, are you? If you are, I'll...[Instantaneous Orgasm]!"

"Nghh—"

Maple came. The sensation was shallow, she realized now that she'd had the nipple orgasm to compare it to. It made her body go through the motions, but it lacked...something. Still enjoyable, not least of all because Sasha watched with interest as she came, but it wasn't a real release and Maple was only left hornier.

"What was that for? Jeez."

"Heh, sorry. You're just so cute when you cum while embarrassed. Well, out with it. What's the full story?"

Maple sighed, but Sasha clearly wasn't going to judge her too much for it.

"Fine, I'll tell you. But then you're getting it, you..."

She told her the story, and Sasha found the whole thing to be somewhere between hilarious and peculiar. And again no, she did not have a pot Maple could borrow. Maple could have just not mentioned it and saved herself the embarrassment. How much could just buying a clay pot cost?

Maple herself still felt it'd been wrong to let happen like she had. She wasn't sure how far along on the scale of wrongness it was—and for her own sanity, she found herself caring less as time went on—but she'd at least take responsibility by planting the damned thing like she promised. Maple looked at Sasha once she finished telling her the story. She lay on her back, propped up by her arms.

"That's absolutely everything that happened now, happy? You made me horny again, so—[Phallic Transformation]."

Maple cast it on herself and rolled on top of Sasha before pinning her hands. Sasha spread her legs open and wrapped her tail around Maple's thigh.

"Oh no, the Horny Tree Girl has wood."

Maple made the mistake of having mentioned the nickname Alas committed to as a result of that event. Undeterred, it was Maple's first time fully getting to use her dick spell since converting it from a Skill. Sasha was irresistible, not to mention the slick warmth that soon squeezed tightly around her.

She gave Sasha a pounding in the rematch, yet ultimately ended it with another tie. After that, it was only fair that Sasha get to show her swordsmanship as well, so she got a turn with the spell while Maple rode her.

---

It was fully dark out by time the two got everything out of their system. Maple was tempted to see if Sasha would just want her there for the night, but she did have things to do. And, had Emma come back yet? She hadn't seen Rachel yet either, though it was safe to assume she was at work.

Sasha stretched after clothing herself again, which was still a sight and a half with how little she wore. She looked at Maple and spoke after a few seconds.

"So, now that you can make free money that you can only really use here...wanna start paying rent?"

"Aw, you can't ask for money right after having sex. But uh, maybe? Like for my own room with Emma? How many of those coins would it be? I don't have unlimited energy."

Yet the prana she'd used to make those four coins earlier had been more than restored by everything that'd followed.

"Say rent were five silver a week for a room like you're sharing with Rachel now, and each token subsidizes it by 2 coppers?"

With 20 coppers in a silver, through the power of quick math Maple knew that'd be 100 coppers a week. If Emma paid half, Maple would owe 50 coppers, or 25 sex tokens per week. Or some mix of both.

Maple could probably make around 20 of those tokens right then and there before being fully depleted. She didn't yet have a very good idea what her average rate of recovery would be, but maybe five tokens' worth a day?

"Sounds reasonable, but I'll need to see what Emma wants to do first."

They'd talk about it more tomorrow. For now, Maple left to clean herself up in the inn's restroom. It sucked not having Emma to naturally clean everything as it happened, but the restroom was at least private. Though only partially-plumbed.

Maple examined herself in the mirror, forming two erogelic eyes on her forehead. Then four. She rotated a few times, just taking it in. She'd changed, and these new eyes were the most obvious proof of that. She tried to imagine how she'd look once her wings grew in.

They'd look cute on her, she dared hope.

Maple looked at the mirror one last time and did the thing where she formed eyes on her palms, raising them next to her face. She smiled as she wiggled her fingers.

"Silly eyes."

More than just physical changes, her personality may have changed. Or her mentality. If not from the erogel transformation, then just because of everything that'd happened. She'd met a sex goddess, accidentally made a soul bond or whatever with Thera, and...had lots of sex.

She felt a lot more open and carefree. Jumping right into welcome back sex with Sasha so quick was the evidence of that—not that that was too out of the norm. She felt fine with all of these changes, maybe even welcomed them.

And it was a kind of training now, if she ever needed an excuse. If she was a bit of a slut—and not merely a [Slut]—then blame her totally cool erogelic physiology. Be envious of her future-wings and...all her eyes.

Or something.

In a literal way, she was an entirely new person. She still felt the same overall, so maybe now she was just being more honest with herself? In another sense, she was even more confused than before. Not only was she in another world, but now she was half of another species.

What was she even supposed to do? That wasn't a unique question; it'd applied to her old life just as much.

Maple stared at herself in the mirror and shrugged, dispelling her eyes. She could do anything she wanted, up to and including having lots of sex. Meeting Lili in person may have emboldened her when it came to her goals in life.

Moment of self-reflection over, she returned to the dining room. There, she ordered some fried pickles, another drink, and a sandwich. The kitchen was closing soon, and she'd worked up quite an appetite.

While waiting for those to appear in front of her, a woman approached her. She'd have guessed human, but she did immediately think of Marielle. This woman's skin wasn't exactly light, but still had a paleness to it. From lack of blood, perhaps.

"Are you Maple?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Boss made me run this down to you."

She handed over a folded sheet of paper with a bit of a frown. Maple took it and unfolded it. It was a letter, obviously, and Maple recognized the handwriting. She began reading, but out of the corner of her eye saw the woman still staring at her.

"I was told to wait until you read it in case you wanted to send a reply, so..."

So hurry up and read it so I can go, she all but said.

"Oh, sure, okay. Thanks, hang on."

The letter made Maple roll her eyes and then smirk as she read it. It was from Emma, of course.

To my beloved Maple,

I am going to stay at Marielle's tonight, if that's okay, and I wanted to inform you ahead of time. It's okay, right? I can come back if you wanted me to. I will return in the morning, otherwise. I love you very much and hope you sleep well!

- Emma <3

"That silly, of course it's okay."

There was more below it, though, this one with a dark purple kiss next to the signature.

You can join us if you want.

- Marielle

Maple folded it back up after reading because the kiss mark was embarrassing. Good for Emma, though. Maple was happy for her. And the offer was tempting, but maybe next time. She blushed a little imagining what they'd be doing, and then remembered the pale woman was still waiting for her.

"Oh, um—shoot, I'd need a pen, and...uh, can you just tell them that that's fine? Or that I said to have fun, or uh...yeah."

How much did she know about what the letter was about? Jeez, that was embarrassing. The woman scoffed a little and turned while flipping her hair.

"I guess."

She waited a second to make sure that was all Maple had for her. Her look, like Marielle's, was a bit gothic. She wasn't unattractive either, and an idea flashed through Maple's mind—she quickly tried to dismiss it. Focus, Maple.

"Thank you. Um, are you one of Marielle's employees? I'm Maple—or, I guess you knew that already, but..."

"I work there part time, like Em. I'm Ivy. Okay, is that all?"

Maple took a gulp of her drink. She wasn't focusing well at all.

"Yeah, just tell them that it's fine and everything. Um, I could buy you a drink if you wanted, since you came all this way just for that..."

Ivy glanced at the door, and then back. She really considered it for a few seconds, and then took a seat next to Maple with a smile.

"Sure, won't say no to a free drink. So you're Emma's girlfriend or something?"

---

Ivy got a free drink as a tip, and Maple learned a few things from the conversation. She hadn't thought it through at all, so nothing more than that happened. Even if she'd wanted to pursue some kind of encounter, she didn't have a room to herself for that kind of thing.

She did get confirmation that Ivy was also a vampire, which was just shocking, there was no way Maple would have guessed. And that was it, really. Ivy didn't stick around long.

But it brought to mind Marielle biting her, and the memory almost made her go and join the two. It just seemed like such a long walk, and it was one of the few times Emma was going to do things without Maple there. She wanted to support that, and she did just fuck Sasha several times already. There'd be other chances for her to join them.

Mostly she stayed because she wanted to catch up with Rachel and read Charlotte's letter. She was guessing Rachel had got back while she was fooling around with Sasha, and that was soon confirmed when she barged into their room and found her. Naked.