Chapter 190 - Truth or Dare (attempt)
Opening his eyes, Nico initially blinked owlishly a couple of times when he found himself surrounded by nothing but blackness. However, this didn't last very long since previous instances of this happening informed him of just what was going on, causing him to heave a sigh of content.
The only reason he would be here was if a certain Tome wanted to speak with him, and he found that to be a pleasant thought.
"Yo, Histoire. Been a while, you been holding out ok?" He questioned, already knowing that she would be able to hear and answer him.
To which, she did indeed answer moments later.
'Ah, Nico. It is good to hear from you, and yes I am indeed faring well thank you for asking.'
Nico did not expect to feel the sense of comfort he did when hearing Histoire's voice echo throughout his mind like some kind of psychic wave coursing through his brain. Now that he thought about it, it had been a fair bit of time (and chapters) since he had last been contacted by Histoire about anything, to the point where one would have worried if the Tome had been doing ok or something.
Of course, Nico didn't believe that she would have been harmed due to her value and is currently sealed, but fear was always an illogical thing.
Not only that, but her response came with an audible exhale of her own even though he couldn't see her, in addition to the fact that with his emotion-sensing abilities Nico managed to pick up audible signs of tension coming from her. A tension that had been flowing out of her words the more she spoke.
He initially wondered why… for a couple of seconds, before a theory dawned on him which he then made to confirm. "Lemme guess, you've been trying to contact me and the others for updates, but couldn't connect like some kind of faulty phone line?" He queried, also wondering why Histoire chose to talk to him instead of Neptune or the others. He figured she would be able to break into their Dreams similar to him since when they'd first met she had contacted them without the need for a Key Fragment.
'Once again, you are correct. I have been trying to connect to you for weeks now through those Key Fragments, as well as through your energy, specifically, Nico. However something had been blocking me from doing so, do you have any idea what that might have been?'
'So, my hunch was right on the money…' Nico thought in confirmation, nodding to himself while adjusting his form so that he sat in the lotus position. Her words did indeed provide proof that his previous idea was correct, so he decided to relay it to her. "Well, to be frank, Lowee was previously contained within a Barrier made from DPU wards, set up when a bunch of Demons and Abnormals called Youma took the majority of the landmass for themselves and left scattered remnants to form the resistance led by Lady White Heart." he explained, before something clicked in his mind and his eyes shone with confusion. "Shouldn't you have been aware of that Histoire? I mean, you are this world's [World Tome] from what mom said back then, you should have recorded that barrier's existence."
'Ah, I see… so that's what it was… in regards to your question Nico, there are many things of which I am unaware of for several reasons. One is that accessing an entire world's knowledge takes much processing power that I simply lack, alongside a specific limitation installed within me that limits said processing capability. The other reason is that… it appears that Arfoire and her companion have found means to hide things from me.'
… That was not good, not good at all. If he could right now, Nico would have started sweating while he cupped his chin and glanced down at his lap, his brain running calculations by the millisecond to process this information.
Even outside of battle, those two were proving themselves to be a damn nuisance. Histoire's apparent limitations aside which he did want to question her about later, the fact that Arfoire and Mundus were able to hide their activities from Histoire did not bode well, they could be up to anything and they would not have any means of properly preparing themselves for it. Knowing one's enemy was half the battle, but how could they know Arfoire and Mundus if they couldn't get any updates on their activities? Sure, Histoire likely couldn't do much on that field with both her limitations and these short dream sequences, but still.
They needed to prepare, they needed to build…
Shaking his head, Nico mentally noted to have some measures put in place for the future that can hopefully spare innocent lives from the chaos that will likely be draped over them all. "I see…"
'There's also the chaotic instability of Gamindustri to consider. The arrival of so many external forces such as Chaos, Khorne, Slaanesh and Tzeentch for example, has made documenting Gamindustri's history, the one thing I am still capable of doing despite my seal, incredibly difficult. I suspect that Arfoire intended for this to be so on purpose, likely to limit my means of recording and passing on information to you.'
Yeah, that sounded like something Arfoire would have done. Last time he checked, she had become what amounted to Mundus's lapdog of which he didn't doubt she was getting nailed into the bedsheets by that DPU as well. One man, and one woman alone for so long? Things like that were highly likely, not to mention just how hormonal the past DPUs were.
Thinking about her words prompted another question to appear within his mind. "By any chance, do you know where Arfoire is?" he queried with the Tome.
'Unfortunately, I do not. She has managed to hide from me so that I cannot document her activities like I previously mentioned.'
"I see…" Nico muttered to himself as he pondered on what this meant. He initially wondered how Arfoire could have achieved such a thing, considering Histoire was a tome that recorded Gamindustri's history. There should be ZERO places where Arfoire could have hidden from her notice… unless… slowly a thought dawned on him which made Nico internally anxious, especially when he considered the evidence such as what he knew of Mundus and the DPUs race from their era so long ago.
Part of him hoped he would be wrong about this, but he still queried with Histoire regardless. "...May I ask you if you have had the same difficulties with locating myself at any point?"
'...I have, such cases being before you vanished from that Hell verse dungeon the second visit, when you went off with that young Magician, whenever you go to those demonic constructs in Leanbox…'
"I see, that's enough Histoire…" Nico firmly stated, holding up the same hand he'd used to cup his chin in the 'stop' gesture. This silenced the Tome who awaited whatever her words had helped Him confirm, to which the said confirmation came moments later after he collected himself. "...Looks like you being called the [World Tome] has a bit more to it. You can only record things IN Gamindustri itself, NOT things on other worlds or isolated spaces. Dunno if your specifications were made that way or not, but maybe Arfoire DID know this, hence why she may have places she can go and do shit without you snooping around. If she knows this, then it's a good chance Mundus does too."
To him, that made a lot of sense. He figured that Histoire's title and functions applied to Gamindustri as a whole, but it never occurred to him till now that this meant that anything OUTSIDE of Gamindustri would be outside her jurisdiction. In those spaces, Arfoire would be free to do whatever she damn well pleased without the threat of being exposed to her enemies which made her all the more dangerous a foe.
Examples of such places according to Histoire's testimony included other worlds which the Demon Worlds perfectly fit the bill, as those Hellgates were simply pathways to those said worlds. If there were any on Lowee, one might think that they would be considered a 'part' of Gamindustri but then again he bet that Tzeentch may have ways of preventing that if it wanted.
Another could be isolated spaces such as pocket dimensions or the like. Places such as the Inferno Hell which may have been created IN Gamindustri by Sparda back in the DPU Era, but considering how long it had been inactive for and how much of the DPU Era's remnants had been pushed out it could count as a separate world altogether, putting it outside of Histoire's documenting abilities. Furthermore, if Sparda could create such a world it would make sense to assume Mundus could do the same and in a similar manner to the original DPU of Destruction.
As for Nico's inner world, he wasn't so sure about it being an example but there was a strong case for it not being so, due to him being a natural resident within Gamindustri. Then there's Histoire already showing she can record his actions by way of her noting his absences from Gamindustri.
'...That is indeed worrying... Arfoire alone is a threat to the world, but Mundus is much worse than her. The two of them vanishing out of sight together does not bode well for us.'
As worried as Histoire was, Nico highly doubted that she comprehended that it was worse on his end. This was because, as he previously mentioned, Nico suspected Mundus had something similar to the Inferno Hell that he had trained in.
He had several reasons for this, one of them being that it would make sense for Sparda's rival to try to have a better version of what he had, and then there was the fact that Arfoire had only been seen during the whole invasion of Lowee's remaining resistance.
Those many other worlds would have copious amounts of Demons and other horrific entities in them, so he believed that Arfoire and Mundus would go to a place where he could offer a reasonable measure of protection.
Thirdly, Arfoire wanted to rip them to bits but her current power level was inefficient, something he KNEW Mundus would rectify.
'...I would suggest you do what you can, Nico. By your next encounter with him, Mundus and Arfoire will likely be stronger than ever. I would advise you to consider as many training options as possible to further solidify everyone's strength, just in case.'
"You had me at the 'training' part…" Nico remarked, bitterly smirking when he said this since it reminded him of just how much time he spent training and fighting these days. Sure they were an integral part of his life now, but recent times made doing it even more a mandatory action. "Good thing I've already been doing that actually, one such method is a long-term one called looking into something I heard about once before."
'What is that, may I ask?'
"The 'Dao'"
'Dao?'
Nico nodded, remembering hearing that word in the Inferno Hell from Biko himself, although it had been in passing and Nico had decided to look into it at a later point himself.
According to his research in the Lexicanum, a 'Dao' was another saying for 'the way' in a certain language that was lost to time, and it consisted of understanding a bunch of unwritten rules for how to wield certain abilities. These 'Dao' were just as old as the Four Edicts as they had been around during the dawn of creation itself, but the four Edicts surpassed them in power by leaps and bounds. One could say that the Dao's were secondary to the Edicts in terms of power scaling, something Nico and any resident of Gamindustri had plenty of experience with.
Furthermore, learning these rules wasn't so simple or the same as what one would expect since there were no tomes or the like to help one do so. Learning a 'Dao' or perhaps comprehending one would be a better way to describe it, which was considered more of a spiritual process with meditation being a great factor alongside the environment. For example, Nico himself had been unintentionally getting closer to understanding a Dao connected to flames due to his use of Hellfire and journey to integrate the Golden Crow ones into his system.
Like many things in this world, the Daos had different levels to them: Lesser Daos which were the easiest to master, then the Grand Daos and finally the Heavenly Daos. Though the amount and nature of different Daos depended on which world one was on since each world had its own sets, with Demonworlds having their Daos for example while Gamindustri had a different set so it was impossible to name them all off the top of one's head.
As for the Dao, Nico was unintentionally close to comprehending, that was the lesser Dao of the Inferno. A pretty sweet-sounding name he had to admit, although his admiration had to be doused by the fact that it was one of the weaker Daos throughout Gamindustri.
Though if he were honest, this Dao stuff sounded like another version of Magic to him and he never really did have a high opinion on Mages. Bunch of damn wimps who stay isolated and read books all the damn time, a lot of them… that is until he met a certain exception to the rule a while ago who broke that stereotype for him. Still, that person was an exception to the rule, an anomaly, he couldn't expect every Mage to be like that… Back to the current topic, this Dao stuff heavily reminded him of Magic in the sense that both powers relied a lot more on spiritual and mental concepts compared to pure physical combat that Nico himself was more used to.
"Despite some recent changes to my opinions, I'm still someone who sees the value in versatility. That said, I've got some other ideas with some being more short-term. So no need to worry about growth there Histoire, I've got that handled." He mused, and before Histoire could form a response another quickly entered his mind after a few flashes of images about the first battle with Mundus went through his noggin. "Oh, and just for the record, looking at comprehending Dao's a mental and emotional thing, things which help in refining the soul. Refining the soul will work wonders in helping us repel Mundus's soul attacks… don't wanna have to go through that again." In the end, a shudder travelled down his back when he recalled what had happened in that battle's aftermath.
What he did NOT mention was the curse power that flowed through him, refining his Soul would also help him in coping with the strain it put on him.
'I see… that does sound like an admirable training plan. From my limited knowledge, I can only believe that you will be the authority figure on dealing with the DPUs due to you having the most access to knowledge relating to them. Therefore, I will not argue with those claims… but do you have any means of refining souls?'
"..."
At that Nico didn't respond right away as he glanced down to the side, his eyes intense. Truth be told, he hadn't gotten anything as of yet mostly due to lacking the time necessary to go out and search for such a solution. He'd been so busy making sure things with the Tekkadan were alright both politically, practically and economically that he hadn't done much of his training for a while. Not only that, but he didn't feel like taking time away from the girls was the smartest move either since they had waited for as long as they'd had just to spend time with him so it felt like a dick move to just leave them to go pursue something that could potentially not even be within his grasp yet.
Hence the silence that he offered as an answer to the Tome.
'I see… in that case, may I make a suggestion?'
"Hm? You got something for me?"
'Sort of. As you know, I am known as the [World Tome] as I am the Guardian of Gamindustri's history, and as such, I know things that have transpired. One such thing that comes to memory is something you and your companions did during your stay in Lastation, I believe it was when you were helping Avenir with their work… ah yes, Chaining Skills.'
A couple of owl-like blinks got punctuated by Nico's eyes as several flashes of fighting that Slash Dog after initially meeting MAGES. back in Lastation filled his mind. "Huh? Chaining Skills?" He questioned, surprise written clearly over his face. Now THAT was something that he hadn't thought of in a long time. Nico honestly couldn't recall the last time he had thought about that tactic, not to mention it had been way too long since that topic had been conceived so it was reasonable to assume he'd forgotten about it… those who did would have been right on that one.
The ability to chain skills together… At the time of conception, it had been an attempt to maximise the time between Skill activations to deliver a long barrage of blows to the enemy, reminiscent of the links making a chain. For example, if one had a Skill that covered an enemy inflammable gas then someone else could quickly activate a Fire-Based skill to detonate it and deal massive damage, exposing an opening which someone with either an instant kill or a multi-hit type skill could deliver crushing punishment.
Noir and Neptune had done it first but afterwards… Nico honestly couldn't think of a time when the tactic had been utilized again.
Though the more he thought about it, the more he began to see the flaws in such a tactic. For one, it'd require those involved to have an intimate knowledge of their companions' skills which, while not a problem for their group, their arsenals had changed so much that it likely wouldn't be very effective. Especially with the whole free for all style that the battles have taken these days. Furthermore, it likely wouldn't work with skills that didn't expose their victims and make openings for others to exploit, limiting the scenarios one could reasonably envision with it. Maybe someone with an above-average intelligence stat could have done it, but not many of them would go out onto the battlefield.
Essentially, that tactic's uses were rather limited depending on the ingenuity of those involved.
But… Why would Histoire bring this up? Especially now of all times? She did strike him as someone who wouldn't do things for no reason or they were part of some bigger picture. She WAS a Tome after all…
'Perhaps you and the girls could backtrack a bit, fast travel to our roots and develop your own 'assist attacks' as it were. What I mean is, you and the girls pair up with one another and develop your combination moves which combine your combat traits into stronger attacks than they would be separate. What was it that a military woman said from that movie about returning a crystal skull? Oh yes, more powerful together than they ever were apart.'
Soon enough Nico received his answer from Histoire… and like any shounen protagonist, he wasn't so keen on the idea. "Um, you DO know me right Histoire? I'm not about all that power of love and friendship malarkey, that shit can go burn in my Hellfire for the fucks I do not give about it." He remarked with irritation seeping into his words the more he spoke them. "Plus, there's the fact that my techniques are probably incompatible with Neptune and the others unless they have some kind of Demonic alignment."
'That may be true Nico… but the CPUs have slowly started drifting towards demonic power instead of their original Goddess powers. Their demonic sides, which they have obtained despite it normally being poisonous to their kind, have grown considerably since their inception. Just look at Noire with the power she unleashed during that Temen-Ni-Gru tower incident, she showed that demonic power can co-exist with other foreign forces as long as there is a controller at the helm. Might makes right applies here… additionally, you may believe that you are using your strength, but most of your arsenal now stems from your copious Devil Arm count, foreign objects.'
"?!"
Nico gasped lightly, his eyes widening as a result when Histoire said that last bit. Now that she mentioned it, she was right he couldn't refute that. Nico may not preach it much due to his upbringing teaching him to be silent about them, but he didn't view things like relying on others too highly and that had been largely due to the nature of the work he was involved with. Relying too much on others could bite one in the ass when it counted, and on the battlefield where everything was unpredictable was a surefire way to end one's life rather quickly.
But what Histoire had told him exposed a bit of a hypocritical flaw in his viewpoint… Well, to be fair he sort of already knew this but having someone say it to his face further cemented the fact. As much as he'd like to think otherwise, Nico did rely a lot on external objects like his Devil Arms to add versatility to his arsenal. It had been pointed out to him before actually, but considering the one who said it and the circumstances around it he probably didn't pick up on it too much. Not to mention nobody seemed to notice or care since he didn't preach his views onto others…
Ok, so the bottom line's that he can't come at this from an individuality angle then.
Whelp, he could work with that.
"In my defence, my Devil Arms and Archdevil Arms have only been usable by me because I proved myself strong enough mentally and physically Histoire. I had to work my ass off to get their approval despite the majority of Demonkind believing in the whole 'might-makes-right' concept. Oh, and before you mention them my Ghoul and Demon powers are pretty much a part of me now, so deeply ingrained into me that they have such classifications. Relying on others like some kind of pack mentality is fitting more for humans, and I am a Monster alongside a Demon." he replied defiantly, staring out into the void with a hard gaze while having recovered from Histoire's pointed words on his views.
For a moment, silence dominated the void surrounding the male who just floated there, waiting for the Tome's counter to his statement. However, his eyes slightly widened when he heard her next set of words since they were NOT what he had anticipated from her.
'...That is a disappointing yet saddening stance you have taken for yourself, Nico. Yet, from what I've seen of your life I cannot see that you will be able to completely escape such a fate… so I cannot argue against that point of yours. Your life has been filled with chaos and bloodshed, yet I fear that will never end nor change.'
Nico shrugged his shoulders in response, eyes turning blank as he gazed out into the void. "You're right on that one, though like you once told me I may be a monster out there there are monsters FAR worse than I. Monsters I intend to rip to shreds before they threaten my companions. Part of me even understands somewhat why my mother helped those bastards in power make me the way I am now."
'Huh?'
Looked like he had caught Histoire off guard with that last comment. He'll admit, it slightly caught him by surprise too, but thinking about it there had been times when Nico had noticed Helen trying to keep official documents out of his gaze. He hadn't bothered to ponder it though, but thanks to this topic bringing it up he decided to just roll with it. "Think about it, Mom likely didn't want me to be sent to the battlefield after I… was found… but the thing is, Moms in a position where she has to obey the higher-ups and the situation with the Abnormals was bleak. She had no other option, and to force someone to turn their child into… Well, this." Nico briefly paused to pat himself down to gesture to his current self. "Just proves yours and my points. I'm simply a monster in a world of monsters… and Demons."
For a moment, silence reigned supreme as Histoire took his words in, contemplating them while whatever expressions and emotions she had remained concealed from Nico's view. However, he had enough of an idea as to Histoire's personality to guess that she didn't like the things he had said, but couldn't refute them either due to most of them being true.
He loved his mom, he loved her to bits, but thanks to everything that he'd gone through Nico thought of things from a slightly different perspective. His mom made him this way out of necessity and unwillingly but it still happened, so those who forced this upon him were the bigger monsters in Nico's eyes.
'...Then how about seeing the Assist Attacks as more of a bonding exercise?"
"Huh? What are you saying?"
'Initially, the Assist Attacks came from a high lily rank between the characters, which showed itself as their levels of affections for one another. Love does make wonders, including miracles you know.'
If he could see her body, Nico bet Histoire would have been winking at him when she said that last bit or perhaps offer a motherly smile… yeah, that last one sounded more likely.
She wasn't done yet though, as Histoire continued after that small lull between her response to his criticisms.
'As I said before, these attacks stem from strong connections between those involved and considering you're just about romantically entangled with them you and the girls could develop some good Assist Attacks to fall back on in case of an emergency. As well as bond better with them alongside one another, I do recall you wanting to get closer to them than you were previously. This just kills two birds with one stone, as it is fortunate for you that Neptune and the others are just as battle-ready as you are.'
Hearing those words caused Nico to pause his response that he'd been formulating within his mind to counter Histoire's proposal, as he began to ponder on its implications.
Since she had brought it up, it was indeed true that Nico wanted to get closer to the girls especially considering their uncertain relationship status. He could see the points she was trying to make as he could participate in events related to the girls and help develop certain Assist Attacks they could use in case they were fighting together against a common enemy.
He wasn't sure how spending time with them would automatically develop these attacks though which was what made him wary about taking this idea on board for consideration. Plus, he didn't trust this whole 'kindness being powerful' thing, since to him kindness couldn't protect his companions, it couldn't provide a stable livelihood for them to thrive from, it couldn't stop enemies from trying to take from them.
Furthermore, kindness alone can't protect one's family or loved ones from outside forces, leaders can't be just 'kind' otherwise their subordinates would see them as incompetent. Even more so for leaders of Nations, cities and countries like Noire who are looked up to by entire populations.
Such thoughts remind him of his situation in a way, as small-time leaders like himself also walked on a very thin tightrope with the threat of being pulled under constantly hanging over him like an unwelcome shroud. Those like Noire and Blanc just walked on even thinner ones.
Yet even with this in mind, Nico couldn't quite let go of what Histoire wanted from him for some reason. "...I dunno, Histoire…"
'Please at least consider pondering on this for a bit, Nico. These attacks rely strongly on the connection between those involved, their 'Lilly Ranks' as it were, but if the relationship is at its peak then these attacks may create a powerful resonance through the combined power of faith and devotion. The way things are going, such things are in short supply which needs to change.'
Love, kindness, friendship… If things were different then Nico honestly would have agreed with her on those points in that they would be helpful in the times ahead. But when he thought of the Nature Elves and how despite their pacifistic lifestyle they still met the end they did, it put a damper on such illusions. "I cannot make any promises Histoire… we need more than just love and kindness to win the wars ahead of us," he told her in the end, deciding to save this talk for another time when he'd thought about it some more, maybe he'd talk with Neptune and the girls about it at some point.
'Please don't write off connections so easily, Nico. Aside from their use in the world of politics, even Monsters band together to cause more damage to a target when necessary. That too is a form of connection. Kindness, camaraderie, cooperation, common goals, all bring about connections. You could say that forming a connection with someone is almost a primal thing, something even a monster can understand.'
Instead of answering right away, Nico filed those words for later pondering. He didn't feel much of a need to change his current views with just those words alone, Nico was more of a guy who needed physical evidence to get convinced by something, he always had been.
Before the conversation could continue, of which Histoire likely would have tried to further convince the redhead male of the power of kindness, love and connections as a whole…
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!
The sounds of crackling could be heard as white cracks started spreading throughout the void. This didn't bother Nico any, for it simply told him he was about to be roused from his nightly slumber. Turning on his feet, Nico grunted while speaking the following words. "Well, conversation topic aside, it was good to hear from you again, Histoire. I gotta wake up now though, so I'll see you in the future."
'Yes, I hope we meet again soon.'
"... Heh, same here. Looking forward to shaking your hand for real."
Once he was able to open his eyes again, Nico saw a pure white ceiling as his first sight in the morning. The Ceiling of the room in which he currently resided in, covered in pale bluish blankets. Despite just waking up, Nico idly glanced around, noting the cube shape the room took alongside the exit to the corridor outside on the opposite wall, as well as the wardrobe to its right. To its left was a Mirror as tall as he was, while off to the exit's right wall was a large desk with a smaller mirror on top of it. To the left of the exit was a large TV stand with a 70-inch plasma widescreen TV placed atop it, with Netflix (he had checked), though no 3D yet since everyone knew that was a pointless fucking gimmick. The TV stand also had a bunch of Lowee Consoles stacked beneath it for a person's use, as long as a single line of games beneath it sorted into what Console they were meant for.
'Ah, this must be our residence for our stay here…' the redhead thought to himself, leaning his head back while gazing up to the ceiling, allowing the pale blue pillow's warmth to envelop the back of his neck. 'IF said that we had this place to ourselves thanks to Lady White Heart…'
The male was currently located within the Party's residence, a small hotel reserved for them alone by Lady White Heart as a form of gratitude for their timely intervention and contributions to the Lowee resistance. Aside from them, there were no other residents inside the hotel which meant that this was essentially similar to a VIP suite. This seemed a bit excessive if one were to ask a fully awake Nico but he hadn't pressed the issue since Vert had once remarked how stubborn the Lowee CPU could be.
He'd agree on that one, remembering Vert telling him how Neptune had to body her.
'Ugh…' Nico groaned in his mind as he placed a hand over his forehead, a sharp ache shooting through his brain which caused an irritated grunt to escape from his lips. All of a sudden he had this headache in his system yet he soon found a rational explanation for it. 'Argh, my head… guess I spent a bit too long talking to Histoire in my dreams…' he internally mused, thinking about the [World Tome]. Maybe this had to do with the extensive mental conversation they had, it wasn't something which Neptune enjoyed on as regular a basis as he did apparently. Though he didn't think that this side effect had happened previously, or if it did it hadn't been as noticeable as it was now.
Speaking of mental conversations…
'Ah, you're back from your dream-like state.'
'Oh, hey Biko. G'morning…' Nico thought to his Demon Persona, ignoring the ache that came from doing so in favour of greeting his longtime companion. The headache would fade with time, he believed, so he didn't pay much more attention than that. 'Yeah, Histoire called me for a chat since we weren't able to speak with one another thanks to the Barrier.'
'Indeed, also I sense you are concerned with your training progress. Do not be too concerned, the training and fighting we've done so far have done wonders for our Demonic Power. I can sense it is growing at a steady pace within our being, and I've been helping Soul Edge regulate the Souls sent to it and the Demon King Seed too as to prevent any side effects.'
Nico nodded his head mentally, allowing a slow exhale to leave his nose. 'I see… but Biko, are we doing enough? It feels like the next power level, the Chaos Class, is still worlds away from our grasp. We need that strength as soon as we can without taking too many shortcuts, otherwise, we likely will lose the next fight against Mundus once we meet again…' Nico questioned, raising a hand to the ceiling and moving his fingers to form a claw. In his mind, Mundus would be growing in power daily and it would likely not be long before he made his next move, and considering that his disciples had been holding back a lot in their prior engagements, Nico found himself suspicious of what their true motives were.
He wasn't an idiot, they could have ripped him apart at any moment when they last fought yet they hadn't yet. No way would he allow whatever they planned to come to fruition, not while his fangs were still in his maw.
'...Unfortunately, I am unsure. Compared to the previous two classes, the Chaos and Primus classes are unique in their specific ways, unique in that they require certain conditions to be met before one can ascend to them. I have been looking through the Lexicanum about what these could be but so far there wasn't anything of worthwhile note to be found. I'll keep looking, but it would probably go faster if you convinced that dumb ape to help out.'
Byakko help Biko out? Pft, Nico had to mentally scoff at the thought. Despite being in a better relationship compared to previously, the two still had to have some kind of rivalry between them with Biko and Byakko trying to one-up one another in his mind. Nico doubted that anything less than a near-death experience would be enough to get those two to cooperate.
'What I HAVE discovered, is that the variety of Soul attacks is quite deep with such skills being capable of stripping enemies of certain powers they possess and rendering them useless as a result. Shaving off parts of one's soul is a painful experience and not something to be done lightly. For comparison, it'd be like peeling off one's flesh by their hand or scraping away at it with a cheese grater.'
Ugh, Nico had to shudder at the mental image those words from his Demon Persona conjured in his mind. He did NOT like the thought of shaving off parts of his Soul thanks to the way that Biko had described it, it sounded like a damn nightmare to have not to mention absurdly difficult. It also brought some more philosophical questions to the redhead's brain, like what the DPU's saw as a 'Soul' and how did they view it as a physical object one can interact with or something else entirely?
'Just as there's a difference between Continent and Multi-Continent Class DPUs, Chaos Class ones can easily blow up entire planets if their powers were to spiral out of control. The greater the class, the greater level of destruction they are capable of unleashing. Fortunately, it seems that our Archdevil Arm companions have been pitching in, their influence is increasing the process's speed significantly. I would suggest continuing to convert your weapons to their Archdevil Arm forms, that way we'll be making good progress.
'Maybe… but is there a way for ME to do anything? I can't just rely on my weapons for every little thing…' Nico questioned Biko, letting out an exhale from his nostrils again to vent the surge of frustration within his chest.
The words Histoire had mentioned to him still resonated within the back of his now headache-free mind, the words about him being hypocritical about believing in individual strength while relying a lot on demonic weaponry struck him harder than he had anticipated. Guess there was a difference between knowing something and having it shoved in one's face after all.
Worse, judging from Biko's words there could very well be something out there that could separate him from his arsenal, something worse than that Soul Attack he'd barely dodged. There were already things like the Death Parade to trap enemies and force them into single combat, and even that had factors that needed to be considered before its use like the duel needing to be fought before it can be dispelled or how it locked the user within it as well. He recalled how it was able to sever the link between Okada Izou and Mundus too, rendering that guy slowly unable to fight on in their bout.
Now that he was thinking about concerning factors, part of his mind wandered off-topic towards a certain Reaper… and no, it wasn't Rory he wasn't an idiot. No, he began thinking about Arima, having noticed it briefly but the man had seemed somewhat unsettled when they were journeying back home. Whether or not the others had noticed too Nico wasn't sure of, as it would have been nigh impossible to notice without experience in reading poker faces, but thanks to him sensing Arima's emotional state plunging into the negative zone the male had sensed something had been bothering him.
As if they didn't have enough troubles already.
'Getting back on topic, perhaps we could commence our search for some Soul Refining techniques. Some of our training plans will be rather time-consuming which we do not have very much of at the moment, but we should have something soon enough. Training within the Inner World can only do so much, I'm afraid, even something like that has its' limits.'
Nico got the suspicion that when Biko mentioned that last bit, he was referring to a more specific subject matter. Unaware of what that could be, he decided to try and make a guess regarding his Demon Persona's meaning. 'You're talking about those Dao things, right?' he questioned, hoping he'd gotten it right.
'Indeed, that Tome may have asked you about it judging from how you briefly thought about it this morning, but the problem is that comprehending them is only possible outside the Inner World at the beginning. Further refining once comprehended into stronger Daos however, that will be possible inside the Inner World.
Turned out that he was, much to the male's relief.
However, that just raised another issue for them, and that was the means of acquiring the techniques necessary to start refining his Soul. 'Sooo… how the fuck are we supposed to go about this? It's not like such things will fall out of the damn skies or anything like that...' Nico questioned, frowning while his eyes darkened slightly.
'Ah, glad you asked. I recently got a notification from our primal twin who's been out causing chaos-pun intended- throughout countless Demonworlds. It's already ascended to multi-continent Class by this point and has started amassing a reputation of its own it appears.'
Nico blinked owlishly in surprise at that, to hear that his Primal Twin was doing so well at the task he had assigned to it filled him with a sense of pride and confidence, making him feel glad for it. 'Huh, that's pretty good… think it's ready to start taking more direct attacks on Tzeentch's forces here?' He questioned with ideas in his head about having his Primal Twin start providing aerial support for his troops across battlefields just like Urthemiel, and if the two worked together he could very well imagine the very skies themselves becoming scorched infernos.
'No, not yet. Currently, our Primal Twin is still refining its flame usage as its primary means of attack. Instead, what I'm suggesting is we recall it back here to present a Technique it had found after blowing out a Demon Prince's castle on one such world. According to it, this technique's a high-level one with a distinct difficulty to it it found documentation detailing that some practised it but got their souls destroyed during the process. However, if we can properly utilize it, the technique can be sure to fortify a Soul's strength… which we both know would benefit several people involved.'
Nico hummed to himself, already having an idea who Biko had meant when he mentioned that last part. Although he doubted that she would trust him enough with her initial stance against him being in the negative zones. Still, thinking over what Biko had told him made Nico notice a certain possible side effect regarding this technique. 'This technique… can't be practised in the Inner World, can it? If it's refining my soul, then using it in there just wouldn't make sense.'
'Indeed, you cannot practice this inside the Inner World as it resides within your very soul. Refining your Soul COULD have some effects on the Inner World though, but I am unsure. Regardless, this is the only lead we have on soul refining so far, and I doubt we will have much more than this shortly. Thus, what's say you?'
For a moment, the redhead thought about it after initially stopping himself from responding straight away. He needed to think about this, the technique sounded a bit convenient albeit it did seem to have its dangers to learning it, though pretty much everything had a price to it that needed to be paid. The thing was, however, that since the Primal Twin had reported this to Biko there could be a possibility that there may be other things that it had found out as well, things which it hadn't reported on due to them not satisfying Nico's initial parameters.
In the end, he decided to give the following response. 'Summon the Primal Twin here with the Technique, but also tell it to bring anything else it has found like other scrolls or objects of interest. We may be looking at more spoils of war than we've initially assumed.'
'Very well.'
With that done, Biko cut the link to go do this business leaving Nico alone with his thoughts once again. The male heaved a sigh moments after this, closing his eyes and smiling to himself. Now, he could start getting some more rest before getting up to start the day…
"...Huff...huff...huff...:"
… Why did he not seem surprised that someone was sleeping next to him?
Nico stared blankly up at the ceiling for a moment while contemplating his lack of reaction to this development, not even caring that he should have felt it the moment he'd awoken. Instead, he stayed like this for a couple of seconds before glancing at the source of the breathing with a good idea as to who it was based on the voice itself.
Just as he had predicted, it turned out to be a slumbering Neptune who wore only her PJ's, sleeping next to him beneath the covers in a position that once he turned his head Nico saw that their lips would be inches apart from one another. Not only that, but some warmth on his lower legs that didn't come from the blanket covers informed him that their legs were likely entangled together in a mess, making escaping the bed more difficult…
That is if he had been intending to do that in the first place.
But the thing he noticed about her the quickest was the fact that her right arm was looped around his torso, holding him in place yet not enough to deny his ability to turn onto his side. The way it held him implied that she didn't want him to leave her side during her slumber, something which softened Nico's gaze as he stared at her sleeping form with a small smile on his lips, his previous annoyance melting away seeing her like this.
He just couldn't be mad at the mass of adorableness before him, nope no sir.
His small reverie at her sleeping face got interrupted, however, by memories of what had happened when he'd returned to the Party's hotel under IF's guidance, Cecil having left for her residence elsewhere in the small town. The male shuddered at the memories, a mild bead of sweat forming over his brow when he thought of the sickly sweet smile Neptune had… while in DT Form with her sword poised to cut off his balls in one swift movement.
When I had told him about Neptune's state she had NOT been exaggerating, especially when she sped off faster than a certain blue hedgehog when the demonic Goddess had told her to skedaddle after thanking her for bringing their womanizer of a man back to them. What had followed was a multi-hour long interrogation… which turned out to be one of the scariest things he had ever experienced, with Neptune tying him to a chair and grilling him about every second he'd spent on that mission.
It got even worse when COMPA joined in...
He'd known that women were scary, but sometimes they're downright traumatizing.
Just thinking about the duo double-teaming him left Nico shuddering.
But as for the current situation, Nico gazing at Neptune's sleeping face also made him think back to what Histoire had told him about developing Assist Attacks with the girls. As stated previously, Nico quite frankly wasn't down for the idea, the individual ability was the most important thing to survive in the Spec Ops World so investing into something like this which relied more on the power of friendship bullshit didn't sit well with him at the very least. It practically spat in the face of everything Nico strove to prove, his ability to handle situations of all sorts as well as his confidence in his ability to move forwards with his head held high.
However, the more he thought about it, the more Nico began to wonder if this could be something the girls could use to strengthen their coordination skills? 'I remember once reading that girls are more social than guys are, they use more social media applications than guys do. Thinking about how they handled falling for me also supports this, so maybe they'd have an easy time forming these Assist Attacks with one another.' The male wondered, humming to himself at a low enough volume that his companion didn't stir.
There was also the fact that Neptune and Compa were fans of magical girl anime, and those shows tended to have a lot of that stuff anyway. Nico knew this thanks to have accidentally seen them watching such shows together a few times in the past.
Sounds of stirring reached his ears, causing Nico to break from his thoughts just in time to see Neptune starting to awaken. Her eyes closed tighter, trembling as she slowly lifted herself into a sitting position, a yawn escaping her lips while she stretched her arms above her head.
'HAAAH, AS USUAL, THIS BRAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY DEFENCE MECHANISMS FOR AMBUSH ATTACKS. AND WE CALL HER THE PARTY LEADER? KING, YOU…'
'I have to stop you RIIIGHT there, Byakko. Neptune's the leader because this was primarily her goal, in the beginning, I and Compa just tagged along cause we wanted to help her.' Nico responded in an admonishing tone to his Ghoul Persona, cutting him off from insulting the preteen further.
All the while, Neptune herself lowered her arms to her sides and opened her eyes, licking her lips when she noticed Nico looking up at her. Her eyes perked up at the sight of him, and a coy grin spread across her lips. "Why, rise and shine Mr edgy. You couldn't resist ma Nep bod and wanted to sleep with me?" she questioned and greeted at the same time, a sharp teasing undertone in her voice.
One which made Nico roll his eyes in exasperation. "This is MY room, Neptune so that question should be aimed at yourself."
"Oh, I can already answer that for you, wanna hear it?"
"...Something tells me you'll trap me here in this room if I go along with this, so I think I'll pass."
"Ufufufu, you little tease…"
"That's also my line, Neptune."
Before Neptune could think of potentially molesting him Nico had shot the conversation in the foot with as blank a gaze as ever. He could very well see her doing that given her previous incidents with him, and they were mostly done in her HUMAN form.
Unbeknownst to Nico however, Neptune remained aware of how he kept an arm around her waist, much to her delight. She didn't dare remove it or untangle their legs from one another either, it was better like this in her opinion.
But regardless, there was something she had in mind for the day but she needed to know what her hubby's plans were before she could commence hers. If all went well, they could have a rare moment of fun old times together. Thus, after sharing a brief chuckle with the male target of her affections Neptune went and brokered her starting question. "Soooo… watchya thinking of doing today, Nicky? Ya got an open schedule or anything?"
On his side, Nico arched a brow as he pondered her question, as well as why she would ask him it and scrutinized the hidden bodily tells across her form to try and suss her out. He didn't sense any intentions for a prank on him, something which had happened multiple times since their stay in Lastation (their little prank war had been stalled ever since their arrival on Lowee), so he decided to give his response to her. "Well, I've been thinking about getting some training in, maybe going out and helping my remaining Devil Arms evolve to their Archdevil forms."
Briefly pausing, Nico debated on whether or not to speak about Histoire's suggestion. Inside, his past hesitation grappled with his strong desire to be more open and transparent with the girls, something which he had vowed to do previously.
In the end, the latter won with him deciding to try and be more transparent with Neptune, even as he felt his gut twist inward in nervousness about revealing his secrets. "There's also the thing Histoire just sent me during my dreams last night, she suggested we go develop some Assist Attacks together since our 'Lilly Rank' should be high enough."
"Eh? Histy said that?" Neptune quipped, blinking in confusion before she cupped her chin with her index finger and thumb, looking up to the ceiling thoughtfully. "I see. Hmmm… I see what she means, our Lilly ranks are definitely above the threshold. Just look at the battles we fought together in." She mused, thinking about the past battles they'd fought both on and off-screen.
Plus, considering their current relationship status making some Assist Attacks would be quite good.
Nico nodded his head but then tensed when he saw her pout in disapproval at him. "But that's neither here nor there, for now, buster! This is the time for resting, you did just come back from a hectic mission across the continent ya know! Spend it with your girls, the rest will do you some good!" she proclaimed.
"What, you think I'll get any rest spending time with…" Nico tried to say in a teasing manner, but the look in her eyes made him stop before he could finish. Seeing such a strong desire to spend the day with him, how could he refuse her? Nico would be an asshole if he did. "...Right. Spending time with you and the girls it is, then." he finally admitted, seeing that there was no way convincing the Planeptune CPU would be possible currently.
Upon successfully convincing him, Neptune's facial expression immediately morphed into a joyful one as her eyes perked up, a beaming smile forming on her face. "Yippee! We get to have fun together!" She gleefully cheered, throwing her arms up into the air before barrelling into his chest and knocking a surprised Nico down to the bed once more.
"Oof! Hehehe…" Nico grunted while chuckling at these actions, looking down at the preteen as she rubbed her cheek against his bare chest. Seeing this melted away the previous dismay he'd felt at not being able to train for likely the rest of the day, something which Neptune probably didn't realize she could do with the effect she had on him. Or perhaps she did and was fully utilizing that ability to disarm him so she could have her way with him.
Either way, he's likely at her mercy now… surprisingly, he wasn't unnerved by that.
Wrapping his arms around her, Nico smiled to himself while hugging the girl close to his body and enjoying the warmth she provided. Thus, the two remained this way for some time while letting the day pass them by, leading to a rather comfortable atmosphere filled with domestic bliss. The sight of a young man and woman sharing a bed beneath the blankets, holding one another like they were conjoined together with the way they were… one would not be too silly if they assumed them to be a married couple already.
After a short while, Neptune placed her arms on either side of Nico's shoulders, using them to push her upper body upwards so she could look into his eyes again. "Alrighty then, as much as I'd like to stay in bed with you all day and feel those rock hard abs…" she began, a small yet mischievous smirk on her lips. "We've got some things to do, so get ready and come downstairs. I'll make sure the others will be around too, so don't keep us waiting. Otherwise…" in that moment of trailing off, she gave him a rather saucy look and a sexy smile, coupled with a pair of bedroom eyes which successfully elevated Nico's heart rate. "Let's just say you won't be moving for a while."
Nico had never responded so fast in his life. "Yes, mistress." He replied, nodding his head with a strong blush on his cheeks at the images the sight had invoked in him… images of a massive group hug on the bed that would last throughout the night that is.
As for Neptune herself, suddenly being called a 'mistress' in the way Nico had phrased it sent shivers of… something, down her spine, all sorts of thoughts racing through her mind that excited her down to a raw, primal level. Nevertheless, she had a plan in mind and she needed to stick to her guns so those thoughts would have to wait… though if she were in her DT form…
Shaking off those thoughts and stopping herself from going down a dangerous thought process (not to mention a distracting one for multiple reasons), Neptune reluctantly untangled their legs while idly memorizing the disappointed look on her hubby's face at the lack of contact. She then gave him a playful peck on the cheek, winked at him afterwards, before quickly leaving the room to get changed back in her own.
After she left, Nico spent a few moments reflecting on what had happened this morning, before slapping himself on his cheeks in a bit of self-motivation, throwing off the blankets so he could get up and start prepping for the day. As WELL as for whatever Neptune had in mind… something which he suspected would be quite an eventful scene.
Moments later, a 'mostly' clothed Nico and Neptune were in the hotel's living room, the former having excluded his Trench Coat for the time being while the latter had excluded her footwear and white coat. There wasn't any need for them since they didn't intend on going outside for the moment.
They weren't alone though, for they were joined by several others: IF and Compa, the group sitting on their chairs with there being a circle of them having been arranged by the spunky preteen previously. Like the previous two, they also weren't fully clothed with the former having discarded her coat and boots, exposing her shoulders and slender stocking-clad legs. As for the latter, she too had discarded her armoured knightly boots leaving only her white stockings to cover her legs.
Each of them had just taken their seats at Neptune's behest, and as such the sole male of the group decided to start a small convo before the inevitable main course arrived. "Hey everyone, good morning." Nico greeted them all, smirking with one leg crossed onto the other's thigh like some kind of 'P' position. His gaze got cast over the girls individually, ignoring the snarky remarks Byakko made in his head about him being a bit of a simp. "How's everyone been doing?"
"G'morning Nico, been doing well on our fronts. Aside from training Cecil on Spec Ops stuff I've been keeping up with the daily news." IF responded, waving a hand dismissively. Beside her, some Tendrils came out of her side which was currently holding and operating one of her Phones, whatever they were doing Nico wasn't sure since the way they held it prevented anyone but her from seeing the screen. But judging from her words he guessed she might be looking at news articles. "Though I should be the one asking YOU that. You DID get… the talk, from Nep and Compa. Would have thought you'd need a psychiatrist after that onslaught."
Off to the side, Neptune and Compa pretended to not be listening to the conversation, trying their best to act all innocent when the brunette levelled an accusing glare at them. In hindsight, the two girls did think to themselves that they may have gone a bit far in their tor-I mean, interrogation of their man. It was a good thing they only pinned him to his bed and stripped him to his boxers so he couldn't escape, the torture room and the tools necessary for such a session had been almost considered but they'd decided against that one.
It could have gone way worse, though.
Unbeknownst to their thoughts, a scoff escaped Nico's lips when he heard IF's comment, waving a hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm pretty swell. I just gave them my testimony and supplied evidence to prove my claim, getting acquitted as a result," he answered like a defendant in a courtroom, Neptune and Compa providing a unified thumbs up like conspiring little gremlins… only the latter was smiling brightly and the former grinned impishly.
IF sweatdropped at the sight before her. 'Looks like they did more of a number on him than they dared to admit…' She thought to herself in exasperation. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, indeed… which she found ironic considering the alignment Nico leaned towards.
Just then, the trio heard the sound of a doorbell ringing nearby, with the redhead of the group quickly identifying it as the doorbell to their Hotel. Using his various sensing abilities, Nico quickly figured out the person's identity and promptly calmed from his brief tensing.
Sounds of a kettle boiling filled the air prompting the Nurse-In-Training to stand up with a smile. "Ah, the tea's ready…" she proclaimed, going over to the small kitchen the living room had. Moments later, she came back with a bunch of mugs put on a small circular tray, a beaming smile on her face. "These should work wonders in-ah!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Compa didn't see where she was going as she accidentally caught her right foot (the girl only wearing her stockings with her wool boots by the hotel's main entrance) on one of the back legs of the chairs, causing her to gasp.
When she was about to fall over and probably spill the coffee in the mugs, possibly shattering them…
WHOOSH!
Instantly, she felt a case of whiplash when several forms blurred forth and performed several actions involving her. The first action was to catch her by wrapping around her shoulders, followed by stabilizing the mugs on the tray then ending with her being set back onto her own feet. All without spilling a single drop of liquid within those cups too, and as a result Compa glanced down to see what had helped her.
This allowed her to see a bunch of black Tentacles wrapping around her in various places to aid in their objective of preventing an accident. She looked down them to their source, finding them to be coming from Nico himself, a couple of them even holding one of the cups that had once been on Compa's tray. One gently cradled the plate the cup stood on, another lifting the cup by its handle by forming a couple of humanoid fingers.
The cup got brought to his lips, resulting in Nico sipping his drink with the elegance of someone from Leanbox nobility, his eyes closed in bliss. "Hmmm... " a pleased groan escaped him as the warm liquid ran down his throat, soothing the thirst that had been building within him. He didn't need to 'eat' yet, but he could tell that his inner Ghoul would need to be sated later on in the day, but that would be easier to achieve than ever before now.
"Huh, nice save Nicky!" Neptune chirped happily, kneeling on her seat while offering a thumbs up to the male. It hadn't taken long for her and the rest of the group to realize what had just gone down, but she had been the one to react to it first. Hey, maybe that proved she was the one who could stand by his side the most here! "Guess those Tentacle things aren't just good for fighting and perving on girls."
This garnered an accusing glare from the redhead, the Tendrils holding Compa releasing her before returning to his side. Not only that but each of them formed heads reminiscent of those serpent heads Erebus would form when he was using her power… which hadn't been since the Zelretch Trials now that he thought about it. "Hey! These bad boys have earned their proud reputation for being silent killers, Neptune! They're not for pleasure, so keep that pervy mind of yours out the gutter!" he proudly proclaimed, the 'heads' almost snarling at the accusations against them.
"Nepu! Nicky's mad!"
"Of course he'd be mad about that, Nep." IF remarked, narrowing her eyes at the preteen CPU. While Nico and Neptune had clashed on this issue, Compa had already provided them with the cups of tea so hers was resting on her lap currently, the woman in question paying more attention to the sheepish Neptune. "You think he'd be using them for such things? C'mon, he's not that type of guy." She admonished, though internally she wondered if the way she reacted to such a statement was similar to Nico's since she too used Tendrils as weapons, so Neptune's words could have also applied to her. She didn't like that thought process, not one bit.
Neptune meanwhile, pouted at the two who were double-teaming her with their glares. "C'mon guys, it was meant to be a joke, no need to get your knickers in a wad…"
"Well, um…" To sate all sides of this argument Compa decided to speak up, holding her cup in her hand after having sat down with the tray on her lap. She didn't find it wise for this argument to escalate, knowing that if that happened and a fight broke out (which she doubted would happen given the relationship all of them had but it was still a worry) then a LOT of consequences would befall them. "What was it that you called us down here for, Nep-Nep? You looked like you had something in mind like eating a bunch of pudding the whole day."
Upon hearing the word Pudding, Neptune's form shook while her eyes briefly widened. "A-Ah… sweet, delicious pudding… ahhh, how I'd love to eat your delight all day long Compa…" She began, swooning like a drunkard in the morning after having way too many at the bar.
Cue sweat drops from IF and Nico who decided to put aside the previous insinuation, having lost their previous drive.
However, this state Neptune found herself in didn't last long for she quickly snapped out of it by slapping her cheeks with her hands, her cup/plate combo on her lap. "A-Anyways, there IS something I wanna do with all of us together! It's something I've been thinking about since we got word that Nicky was coming home!" She proclaimed eagerly, though she didn't mention what it was that she wanted to do exactly.
Just when Nico and IF were about to tell her to just spit it out…
"Ah, it appears that quite the audience has gathered."
All eyes turned towards the living room's entrance, where they caught sight of a certain blonde CPU standing with an interesting expression on her face. Her hair just finished settling down Nico noticed, meaning that she had just stopped moving hence implying she had just arrived to make that statement.
"Hey there, Vert! Long time no see!" Neptune chirped, ignoring the remark Vert made about them just meeting the previous day as she bounded up to the Leanbox CPU, skidding to a halt to be just before her. "You got back from that boring stuff? Is anyone else with you?" she questioned excitedly, eyes glistening to match her expressed emotions.
In response, a small giggle escaped the blonde woman which she suppressed by hiding her lips behind her fingertips elegantly. "Ufufufufu, my apologies, but it appears that Noire is still sorting things out with Blanc and is likely going to be back tonight at the latest," Vert replied, causing the preteen to pout while booing like a disappointed fan at a football game when they saw a certain team taking a certain stance before the game's beginning.
"Aw man, Nowa-chan's too much of a stick-in-the-mud, seriously…" the said preteen whined, crossing her arms and huffing while turning her head to the side. She wasn't too thrilled about hearing such news from Leanbox's CPU. Looking over to the rest of the group as she stepped to the side, gesturing to the blonde woman to take a seat. "See, this is why her friend count is so below standards."
Compa rolled her eyes at this, even as she let one of Nico's Rinkaku Tentacles grasp the remaining cup of tea she had prepared beforehand and hand it over to Vert. Said woman smiled thankfully at both her and Nico for these acts, the male nodding in acknowledgement as the blonde woman crossed her legs over one another. "Nep-Nep, Noire's just a busybody, it doesn't mean she doesn't have any friends." She chided the preteen, though internally she did have to wonder if Noire did have any close confidants for her to rely on.
She believed that Nico fit the bill for one ever since they had met back in Lastation, but other than him Compa wasn't sure if Noire had anyone. She could understand why though, given Noire's circumstances she could comprehend her reluctance to be too trustworthy towards people since they could potentially be her enemies. Being the head of one of the groups gripping Lastation in a civil war was not easy.
Nonetheless, she did hope Noire did have some reliable allies to her name. Compa may not be too much of a fan about those who she didn't know now, after having acknowledged her imperfections during her ascension into a Spirit, but Noire had more than proved herself someone who could be trustworthy to her and as such Compa wished her well.
"Well, I must admit I do admire her for her work ethic," Vert admitted with a slightly bittersweet tone to her voice, looking off to the side while she remembered how Noire was currently acting. "If I'm honest, it's kind of worrying how much she's going along with all this." Last she heard, it had only been last night when the blackette CPU had allowed herself some small manner of rest when a lull in the business talks had been opened up due to there being few topics that needed her attention. But before then she hadn't slept very much, if at all, in favour of getting as much work done for both this relationship with White Heart as well as her own faction's work in defeating the Avenir faction.
As much as Vert felt perturbed about such a work ethic, she couldn't help but admire it as well. She could very well see why people would follow her.
"She needs a break, otherwise she may become friendless in the future," Neptune muttered, pouting further.
"Speaking of breaks…"
"?!"
Everyone became wide-eyed, alertness spreading throughout the room when all of a sudden Vert made her move by striding over towards the redhead. Before any of them could react, the woman smirked to herself while she turned so her backside faced him before she planted her said backside on top of his. One leg got crossed over the other while she planted her hands atop her lap… where her tea rested. How she had managed to retrieve it under their noses was anyone's guess, though Neptune and the others didn't pay too much attention to that.
Instead, IF blushed madly at the sight while stammering out the following question with a fierce glare on her face… though whether or not this was out of anger or jealousy would be as debatable as the waifu wars in internet forums. "H-H-Hey, Lady Vert! Wh-What are you…?!" she stammered out, throwing her right hand to point at the woman. "Wh-Why are you on N-Nico's lap?!"
'That is what I'd like to know…' Nico thought while sporting some pink cheeks… not the usual red-faced stammering that he would have had before though. Instead, he couldn't help but look at the blonde woman from behind her back, her blonde hair obscuring his face somewhat so his cheeks remained hidden from view. As prudish he felt about things like this beforehand, the redhead didn't feel it as much now and instead, he grappled with the urge to wrap his arms around her waist.
Before he could lose such a battle (without too much regret though), the said CPU offered a small giggle aimed at the others. "Oh, why my dear Iffy…" Vert began, glancing behind her at the male with a knowing slight upturning smirk. Something which gave the male in question the impression that she had an idea as to what was running through his mind which was supported when she reached down and grasped his arms, putting them around her waist and onto her lap. "I've just had a hard, stressful day working with officials from multiple nations, not just my own, on this alliance with Lowee's resistance. We've just scraped together a truce between us with promises of help providing supplies being up for discussion shortly. Such things exhaust the brain, so now I'm simply recharging my batteries." she explained casually like she was talking about the weather.
Upon hearing that, the Party blinked several times while the smarter of the lot briefly pondered this information. It seemed that there was indeed going to be some cooperation with Lowee's resistance in the future, but it sounded like it was still being ironed out. Odds were that Noire was the one spearheading the details at least from her side of things, with Vert probably being next, which would make sense considering her… dislike of the Leanbox CPU.
As stated previously, however, these thoughts were briefly focused on this before sliding back onto Vert herself. Before the woman could continue to enjoy her time on Nico's lap with the said male internally liking every second of it, the blonde woman released a faint 'eep' sound when a bunch of crystalline arms burst out the ground beside her, grabbing onto her before she could react and lifted her off the air. "Wh-"
"Ya might wanna take a chill pill there, Vert." Neptune dully stated, giving her an almost dead fish-like gaze while planting her on one of the chairs… but more importantly, somewhere that wasn't Nico's lap. "Ya really wanna sit on that throne, try coming up with a way during our game of truth or dare," she stated further, quickly shutting Vert up in exchange for piquing her alongside everyone else's interest.
"Truth or dare?"
Glancing over to Compa after hearing her ask what the rest had been, Neptune nodded with her previously being expression back on like the previous one hadn't ever existed. "Yup! We've always grown closer through fighting and that's good and all, but there have been so many fights in this story so far so why not mix it up a bit. The author wants some downtime, so let's have some!" she proclaimed, throwing her fists up in excitement.
The excitement also translated into interest when concerning the others, each of them giving one another interesting looks. "That sounds… quite fun." IF remarked, thoughtfully with a slight smile on her lips as her mind ran wonders with possibilities for different truths and dares that could be done. "Though I've heard of it, this'll be my first time playing something like this," she admitted, thinking back to the more professional relations she had with previous Agents before meeting Nico, Neptune and the gang. The only other kind of relationship she had with others back then had been the sexual kind ever since her father passed away, and considering her nomadic lifestyle chances to play games like this were nigh impossible to come by.
"Then this should be quite fun for you, Iffy." Compa quipped, the Nurse-In-Training smiling fondly at the memories that the words truth or dare brought back to her mind. "I remember some times when I and Ni-Ni used to play that game together with Grandpa whenever there was an opportunity. Hehehe, there were some great moments back then…" she remarked.
As for the male in question, Nico himself blushed a bit while thinking of those memories, especially the ones where he had been dared to do embarrassing things like perform 100 pushups naked atop their house's roof. Or hang from a tall area for a game's duration. Of course, a lot of those were devised by Compa back then, and he'd made sure to get back at her by invoking some equally embarrassing dares back at her.
Not only that, but another element that invoked his reaction was Neptune's intentions for suggesting something like this. He doubted very much that they were good and predicted some embarrassing suggestions from her at his expense. The preteen prankster wouldn't waste an opportunity to make him blush, heck it was happening already!
Plus, the way that she smirked knowingly at him made his theories more concrete as a nervous chill crawled down his spine like a spider on a spiderweb.
"You up for it Nicky? Ready to be a human tomato?" Speaking of the said preteen, Neptune aimed this question at him with an arched brow and a challenging smirk, her gaze one of challenge and competition.
That look he knew all too well, and as hard as he struggled to suppress the image of that smirk on her DT form, Nico couldn't help but bristle internally at the challenge she was presented before him. He knew he probably shouldn't bite the bait, that Neptune would do all she could to destroy every bit of dignity that he had with this game, but…
Screw it, he wanted to get closer to the girls goddamnit, so he'll play this damn game! "Hmph, you're on Nep," he replied casually, looking unbothered by the idea though his eyes spoke a different story. His gaze just literally screamed 'challenge accepted!' to her, much to the preteen's delight.
This would be fun.
Nico wasn't the only one who agreed to the idea either as after IF simply said that she was down for it, followed by a happy nod from Compa, Vert finalized the decision with a beaming grin and a firm nod. "My, how wonderful!" she cheered, clapping her hands together. Any kind of game would be fun for her as an avid gaming otaku, probably more so than any person in this room. "This sounds like a fun time, so count me in! It's only a shame that we don't have a full party to join in."
Everyone knew what she meant by that, the fact that it was only them and not the members of Team RAIL, Noire or Cecil was not lost on them. Apparently, from the grapevine of gossip, the girls had heard that the former was still sorting things out in RABONA, but they'd be returning soon enough once they'd settled everything there.
And of course, Noire was busy being Noire, so nothing much needed to be explained there.
At the mention of their other friends who couldn't be here for varying reasons, a brief flash of something passed through Neptune's eyes but it vanished as soon as it had appeared. "There there Vert…" Neptune gently spoke in a soothing voice, looking slightly more serious than usual but not too much. "We'll see them soon, so in the meantime let's have some fun, shall we?"
Eventually, the stage was set with the group of girls plus one male each seated in a circular formation in the living room's centre. There turned out to be a reason for this, Neptune revealed when she had been asked by Compa how this would work, and that was she intended for the turning to be clockwise. As such, the order of turns would be Vert, Nico, Neptune, Compa and finally IF.
Of course, the blonde CPU had been ecstatic at being able to go first since it woke up her gaming instincts. Even as Neptune, who would also be the caller for this game, hummed in thought the blonde woman looked to practically be restraining herself from bouncing in her seat like an excited child.
Finally, the wait ended after an eternity in Vert's eyes when Neptune popped the question to her… no, not in that way either. "Alrighty, Very. Truth or dare?" She questioned, although in the back of her mind the preteen fourth wall breaker had an idea for what she would respond with.
Vert's reply was instant. "Dare!"
"Okie-Dokie, then I dare you to grab Iffy and hug her like a teddy bear!"
A shocked cry escaped the aforementioned brunette's lips when she heard the dare being mentioned. "Wait, what the duce Nep?!" she exclaimed, looking like a flustered little schoolgirl. "I thought this was a dare for Vert, but this sounds more like a dare for me!" she proclaimed, standing up from her seat while glaring at Neptune despite the redness on her face… which didn't help her case much given how the preteen could see the hidden excitement brimming behind her indignation.
Instead of answering, Neptune simply allowed Vert to seemingly appear behind the brunette and grab her by wrapping her arms around her chest and pulling the back of her head into her bosom. "Hush now Iffy, and come to your big sister!" she proclaimed, practical love hearts floating off her forehead before she pulled IF back onto her seat and sat her on her lap. All the while, she kept hugging the brunette close, moving her head so that she could rub her cheeks against hers, much to the Bioweapon's secret delight, her flustered yet rapidly growing blissful expression saying it all.
'...Damnit, IF's got a good position there…' a treacherous part of Nico's brain suddenly remarked when he saw this, his brows twitching slightly before his eyes widened briefly as he caught himself. 'Wait, what?' the male wondered, confused about where such thoughts had originated from. He'd been the one who had helped IF meet her idolized CPU in the first place. He internally swore to investigate those thoughts once this game ended, but he hoped nobody saw his brief spat of jealousy there otherwise he'd never live this down.
Strangely enough, Compa looked down right as he thought that while comparing her boob size to a certain woman's pouting a bit at the result.
"Ehehehehehe, Iffy looks so cosy being a literal hugging pillow…" Neptune remarked slyly, a Cheshire grin on her face as she tilted her head at the spectacle she had helped generate. She honestly preferred this to Vert sitting on Nico's lap, that lap which fitted herself much better. "Even if she's a living changing bioweapon, Iffy's still got that cute side to her…"
Flustered by such comments and remembering she had an audience IF promptly glared back at the grinning preteen. "Uhhh, no I don't Nep! Stop slandering people!" she yelled at her, although everyone looking at this from an outsider's perspective believed it was also aimed at them as well.
Not like they cared though, cause the way IF had already settled into a comfortable position (plus the picture of two grown women holding one another like this looked rather appealing from a certain ecchi perspective)
Speaking of ecchi…
"Hey, Nicky, do you know any water abilities or anything?" Neptune suddenly asked the male, who blinked owlishly.
Not knowing why she had asked that he queried with her as to her intentions. "Uhhhh, no why?"
"Poo…" Neptune pouted, some disappointment evident on her face although to the onlookers it seemed rather fake. "Was hoping to douse the two and make a fanservice scene for the readers. Kind of like that manga about that chad protagonist who gets 100 girls, when they had that maid battle."
… Suddenly, Nico found himself glad that he didn't know any abilities to make such scenes a reality. He bet he would have gotten smacked silly for such things by a certain brunette… though part of him wondered if Vert would have liked that scenario since it kept her close with IF.
The fact that said brunette was looking like she was about to explode like an atomic bomb added to this.
"My, that sounds like a fun future idea if you ask me," Vert commented when she heard about the whole maid battle thing. Images of everyone clad in maid outfits (and a butler one for Nico of which she had some 'copies' available) circulated through her mind which made her blush at the images they provided. "I do believe we could work something out should we ever want to try that out."
For a moment, silence reigned as the girls and Nico each blushed (even Neptune if only slightly) at those images as well.
"...Mrs Vert's a bit pervy…" Compa commented with an awkward smile and a sweatdrop.
Nico nodded his head in agreement, a similar look on his face. "Pervy-Very, indeed," he remarked, getting a nod from the Spirit girl.
His nickname DID strike a chord with Neptune whose gaze brightened at its mention. "Ooooh, I like that name! Pervy-Verty, that one sounds like it could stick!" she proclaimed, much to the Leanbox CPU's dismay.
"How rude! I vehemently disagree with such slander! I am no pervert, I just like… what I like! Which are Nicky and Iffy!" Vert protested, holding IF tightly who had to manipulate her lungs to be able to function with the limited oxygen she was able to provide thanks to her face being covered by the woman's ample bosom.
'Teasing aside, it looks like IF and Vert are getting along quite well… fortunately, her worries about being a Bioweapon were rather unfounded.' Nico remarked in his head, smirking at the way the latter tried to defend herself against the onslaught started by him and continued by their resident prankster. He wasn't sure what kind of relationship they had, but none of the signs was negative in any way so he wasn't too bothered, plus as long as it was a happy one he didn't mind. Made things easier for all parties involved in the long run.
He DID have to ignore the gagging sounds that his Ghoul Persona made through… as well as the terrified screams and rams about a 'crazy darkness lady'.
Fortunately, the torment of Vert ended just before she could go nuclear and slam her DT form's weapons on their asses. Turning away from the lean box CPU who managed to combine an elegant posture with a fuming facial expression somehow, Neptune proclaimed the following like some announcer at a fighting ring. "Anyways, let's jump to the next vict- I mean player, Nicky!" she exclaimed, grinning widely.
'Oh shit… whelp, time to face the music.' Nico thought, making sure to suppress the nervousness he felt with all eyes being directed at him. After suppressing those feelings born from being put in the spotlight, Nico spent a moment deliberating which option he should go with, and after a few minutes of pondering like a detective solving a murder case he clicked his fingers with an answer in mind. "Truth." As embarrassing as these next moments would be, and he had no doubt they would be given this being Neptune, truth seemed to be the lesser of two evils.
Upon hearing his selected choice, Neptune pondered for a moment on what she could have the redhead admit. "Alrighty then…" She muttered, cycling through some of the most embarrassing (for him) ideas she could think of. Soon one came to mind which made her giddy inside at the thought of, so she selected it and formed a Cheshire cat grin. The sight of it rung countless warning bells in Nico's mind, although it became too late to stop her "Alright Nicky, what… are your feminine preferences."
TYRE SCREECH NOISES.
All thoughts ground to a halt inside the redhead's mind, even his various weapon spirits pausing whatever they were doing to direct their attention to the situation their wielder found himself in. Silence filled the living room after this proclamation from the preteen which had rendered everyone speechless.
As for Nico himself, his face could be seen making the 'what the fuck?' expression right now. To be frank, the shock could barely describe what the male felt inside at the moment, perhaps it'd be better expressed as a mix of shock, confusion and absolute befuddlement. He had been so stunned, that he couldn't even feel embarrassed like his previous self would. Did she…? Did she just suggest what he thought she did? Feminine preferences? 'What the hell is that even…? Is she talking about favourite body types or something?' he wondered, soon getting over the shock flooding his being and wondering what Neptune's angle was.
Turned out that his previous guesses were closer to the target than he realized because her question prompted a full-on discussion between the girls with the same intensity as a bunch of weebs discussing the best Hentai series out there. One could FEEL the tension permeating throughout the living room.
The first to speak was IF who leaned forwards on her goddess's lap. "Huh, that's something interesting to ask, Nep," she remarked thoughtfully with her interest shining behind her inquisitive eyes. "Here I thought you were gonna ask something dumb again."
On her end, Compa hummed to herself as she gazed down at her lap, her curiosity piqued at this question. "Thinking about it, even nurse Compa doesn't know Ni-Ni's preferences in girls." Part of her admonished herself for not asking such a question herself whenever they were alone, if she had then maybe she could have progressed further in making him hers. The fact that someone else had beaten her to it stung, even if that someone was a person whom Compa was fond of. "There hasn't been many times for anyone to ask, either."
"Well, to be fair things have been getting rather hectic, so some leeway should be allowed on that one," Vert admitted though the smirk on her lips spoke of another matter altogether. "Be that as it may, better late than never with such crucial information such as this," she added, seeing the possible preferences Nico had regarding women as information all of them needed to know. Heck, she could see it being used as either blackmail material or a way to tease/tempt him in the future like in those movies where the women characters seduce the male ones into debauchery.
'Why the hell would Neptune ask me something like this?!'
While Nico mentally freaked out about this predicament during his efforts to maintain a decent poker face, Neptune herself wanted to laugh like a hyena at things coming together in her mind. This was great, things were going just as planned for her agenda, judging by the situation playing itself out. As for what that agenda was, well, let's just say it had been something she'd been cooking up for a while and this had been one of the openings she had considered attacking from. Just like in battle, one had to wait for these kinds of opportunities before pouncing on them when they did.
This opportunity came to her mind shortly after the confession at the hot springs. Their man had given them one of the most heartfelt confessions they'd ever expected a man to make, but there had been something missing to it in her opinion, something which felt a little neglected across this entire story:
physical appreciation.
Not once did Nico admit that he found any of them physically attractive, focusing entirely on feelings and emotions. She loved that about him honestly, though she hoped that she could get him comfortable about the physical elements a relationship would have, elements which were going to be even more crucial with the way their dynamic was evolving into a 'true' harem. Neptune had her suspicions as to why he hadn't gone into this territory, but she didn't want to walk down that lane at the moment and instead relished in Nico's silent suffering like the gremlin she was.
As for Nico himself, the male's brain worked overtime at practically supersonic speeds towards the goal of trying to figure a way out of this mess. If there was any situation that could be classed as a code red, this would be it in his opinion, as the male cycled through multiple options and rejected each one after finding their outcomes not preferable. It didn't help that he wanted to try and be more open with the girls, which would mean he needed to find an answer he could agree with alongside the rest of the girls too.
His previous self would have wanted to never be even ASSOCIATED with anything that could potentially label him like all those criminals he dealt with on the order of the Guild, but right now only a part of him still thought that way and it remained close to the backburner with honesty and confidence higher on the priority list.
Just as his mind teetered on the edge of a meltdown about all this…
'We can't escape this scenario, Nico, so why not just be honest? I cannot believe I am admitting this, but trusting your instincts and your Ghoul Persona by extension may help here. Even if you defied your code by trying to escape, harming their confidence and trust in you the whole way, Neptune will likely push you into an even more embarrassing scenario.'
In came an opinion from Biko, who chimed into the conversation seeing the main persona being forced into a corner by both his loved ones and his mental code. He thus knew he had to do something to help them gain a way to proceed through this mess satisfyingly since he knew very well how Nico would never want to do anything that would betray the trust the girls had in him. It was just a shame to him that he had to approach this from an instinctual point of view, instead of the logical one that he preferred.
If Byakko (who was still hiding from that horn dog Erebus) were still here he'd be laughing his ass off.
'So essentially I have to 'be a king for fucks sake' in Byakko's words, is that what you're telling me?'
'...Indeed.'
...Whelp, that did seem to be the only way out of this, didn't mean it would be easy to admit. Nico reluctantly conceded to his Demon Persona's logic in which he felt some form of irony about before he began pondering on what his… preferences were when it came to women. All the while, he tried to ignore the pressure he felt under thanks to the intense looks given to him by the girls who eagerly awaited his response.
To his surprise, it turned out to be rather easy for him to admit the following as he opened his eyes to gaze back at the girls with as firm a gaze as possible… which got affected by how red his face was. "Well, I've never really given those preferences much thought, to be honest. I can say for certain that breast size isn't one of my interests though." he began to say, much to the shock of everyone present.
"Eh?!" Neptune exclaimed, the most surprised out of all of them. "Nepu! You mean to tell me you don't like looking at Vertie's bazongas every chance you get?!" While yelling this, Neptune made a point to appear behind the said woman and planted both her hands onto said woman's bountiful cleavage.
Vert meanwhile, moaned slightly at the contact despite the hue on her cheeks, though it got mollified by her shock at Nico's confession. 'Nicky… doesn't like big breasts…?' Hearing those words echo in her mind like some sort of vengeful wraith made her feel… like she was slowly losing relevance to the world. Her boob size was meant to be her thing, after all.
Seeing their reactions and being partially amused by it, especially the Leanbox CPU's, Nico went and clarified what he meant. "Yeah, they're alright, just not that high on my list of things I'd enjoy about a woman's body." The male then glanced at those boobs and winced, sympathetically. "Honestly when I see them I just think about the back problems you girls must-have. Those things can't be that good for your posture, it's like your backs are one moment away from snapping in two, sheesh."
Seriously, it's been a point that bugged him for a long-ass time. What the hell was it and women who wanted big boobs? Was it something that linked with their confidence or body positivity or something like that? He wasn't sure, but it seemed like women wanted to enlarge the sacks of flesh on their chests for whatever reason, and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
Was it so that they could suffocate their enemies to death by holding them there and cutting off their air supply? He could see that as a viable assassination technique if he were honest, and Nico knew for a FACT that many would love to die in such a manner since well, truthfully it wasn't that bad of a way to go. He could think of way worse ways to die, a lot of them coming from Slaanesh and her followers.
Thus, the answer he had concluded was that he didn't give a shit, breasts didn't matter to him as long as he got the chance to cuddle with them like he would his bros.
People may be temporary, but hugs are eternal.
"As for what I WOULD like about the female body…" Taking a pause and humming thoughtfully, Nico came to an answer in a couple of moments while looking the girls up and down, not even trying to hide it since he didn't do it out of any perverse intent. "I'd say the legs."
Each of the girls blinked in unison at his answer.
"Legs?" Compa questioned, getting a nod from the male.
Neptune hummed at that before something clicked in her mind and a teasing smile formed on her lips. "Ah, so you're on the side of thick thighs, eh? Thick thighs save lives?" she questioned while proceeding to start groping Vert's thighs this time… only for the said woman to wave her hand and form a vortex of wind that sent the preteen back onto her seat, nearly toppling her over.
Turned out being groped by anyone other than Nico wasn't on Vert's list of priorities.
"I'd say that's more of a misnomer honestly," Nico replied, frowning as he entered a period of pondering while proceeding to say his thoughts out loud. "I mean, with enough strength, a woman could crush a man's head into a paste with her thighs once getting him into a certain wrestling chokehold. Even if she didn't have that strength, cutting off his airflow could be just as possible…" he mused, unaware of the way each girl started either wincing (Neptune) or looking down at their thighs in intrigue (everyone else) at such an idea.
Morbid implications aside of course...
On her side of things, Compa blinked when she realized something that she hadn't previously. 'Ah, that's right… Ni-Ni's never really looked at my boobies much even when we slept together… so it's true that he doesn't take them into account…' She thought to herself, surprisingly being okay with something like this. She'd got a sizable pair herself, true enough, but she'd seen quite a few boys ogle them when they thought she wouldn't notice or even while straight up talking to her. Some girls even looked envious at them in just as shady a manner, so having her object of affections claim to like something else she had more felt rather relieving. Maybe she could forge a small appreciation for her pair in him, but that'd be it.
As for IF, she had her thoughts about that admission Nico just made. 'Now that I think about it, Nico may have been forced to acknowledge such things about himself he didn't think about previously…' she thought, remembering the time when he had tried assuring her she didn't need to feel down about her appearance after the Hell verse incident. He never really showed signs of perverse intent towards women sure, but it had indeed gotten worrying for her as she did like the thought of using her body to appeal to his inner nature. Knowing that he DID have some form of thing for a woman's legs made her think back to the times they spent together, and while the majority of those times was dominated by other things, she did recall briefly noticing him glance at her legs for a split second before focusing back on whatever was on his mind.
Maybe that meant that his preferences were always there, he just didn't acknowledge them? That made sense to her, since she already knew Nico's mental state… wasn't 100%, the whole remaking his memories to reject any kind of physical affection induced by himself a key indicator.
Unaware of these thoughts circulating throughout the girls' minds, the redhead male struggled to contain the urge to curl up into a ball and Warp into his bedroom while wishing he had never been born. He may not be able to look at himself right now, but he could definitely FEEL how hot his face was and it almost seemed as though Nico's face was red enough to rival a tomato with steam rising from his forehead.
Even though he'd tried to prepare himself for this, actually talking about his preferences was much more embarrassing than he could have ever anticipated.
Worse, he's talking about it with girls, too, girls that he cared for too!
"Awwww, Nicky looks so cute when he's flustered…" An amused remark left Vert's lips with the woman giggling behind some of her fingertips. Her giggle only served to redden the male's face even more to the point where if he tried to speak, he would discover that he had lost the ability to do that. Seeing the male's state, eventually, Vert decided to take pity on the poor guy, and stated the following with a comforting smile. "Anyways, it's ok to be embarrassed about these things, Nicky. You'll be able to get used to it in time, it's just one of those things people like to talk about."
Oh, how he hoped that would be the case. Nico did NOT want to feel as humiliated as he felt EVERY time he talked about such things. He could see how it'd get annoying real fast for anyone, just look at the average MC's in harem anime.
Vert's words did however give IF room to think on something that caught her attention, her eyes perking up when the idea she had popped into her mind. "You know, thinking about it Nico usually relies on his Inner World to get things done quickly, so I bet he might struggle with things that he can't rely on that for…" she mused, generating a pondering moment of silence between the girls.
She wasn't wrong, they could hardly think off the top of their heads many examples of things Nico had learned that didn't involve his Inner World in the path to obtaining them. It mostly had to do with necessity and the need to maximise a limited amount of time, a Spec Ops Agent's life was not a long one after all. Therefore, if one had the option of increasing their skillset or obtaining things quickly in a general sense many among them would take it without a doubt. Whether that was good or bad depended on the circumstances, which made such a subjective situation rather difficult to define.
Combine that with Nico's natural impatience when he'd been getting increasingly better with handling, and one can see why working towards things without it would be a huge deal.
"Meh, it's not that much of a biggie IMO." A sudden chirp from Neptune broke the contemplative silence and drew everyone's gazes to the said CPU. The said girl sat on her knees atop her seat, lightly bouncing as she rocked from side to side. "I mean, life hacks are pretty rad and all especially to the lazy bums who just wanna clear games with no challenges, or make memes, but getting Nicky off it shouldn't be that hard."
At this, Nico did not show much enthusiasm for the idea nor did he share Neptune's optimistic viewpoint. "Not so sure about that, Neptune." he began to rebuke, retracting his Rinkaku back into him while leaning back on his seat, having returned to a normal seating position during the prior silence. "Considering Lowee's situation, my Inner World may be needed more than ever. Honestly, I looked around the places me and my subordinates visited before and after my barrier mission, and from what I saw it seemed most people lost their usual activities in favour of supplying the resistance. That just shows how bad things have gotten."
"Awww, don't be a party pooper, Nicky! Nobody has to be edgy and broody all the time!" nonetheless, Neptune did not look disheartened in the slightest. If anything, she looked to be getting even more excited than usual at the possibility of 'helping him'... although now that he thought about it, Nico realized that meant he would be with the girls more. That… he was not against it. "Be more like mwah! I mean, I'm the franchise's focus after all, and that poll the author made so long ago still has me up at the top!"
When he noticed the purple start making to pounce on him from across the living room with nobody attempting to stop her, Nico decided to do that himself by unleashing his Rinkaku in its default yet still uncloaked form, each Tentacle wrapping around her just as Neptune leapt at him. The girl pouted at this even as her arms, legs and waist were restrained, bemoaning the 'anti fanservice' Tentacles that Nico was now using, much to the male's chagrin… and ever so slight amusement.
"Nep, let's get back to the game. It's your turn to make the choice, you know." Fortunately IF managed to bring the purplette back to the current topic at hand by reminding her of the game, of which she didn't resist Nico's Kagune which allowed him to plop her back on her seat and recall it back to him.
Neptune pointedly ignored the way he delivered a grateful nod to the brunette, who responded with a small smirk and a wink. "Aaaaaaaalrightie theeeeeeeeeeen, lemme have that dare o'mine!" she proclaimed while placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest. One might think she was trying to look brave in the eyes of her peers…
"Then I dare you Neptune… hmmm…"
"Oooooh?" Neptune's sly smile widened into a grin whilst she leaned forwards, hands grasping her kneecaps. She did this while gazing intently with sly amusement at the male in question. Her gaze practically screamed her intent to milk his indecision for all that it was worth unless he came up with something. "C'mon, Nickyyyyy, the clock's a ticking…!" she said in a sing-song manner.
Oh, how the sight before her tickled her inner gremlin the way it did. Looked like she had found something that she could use on her hubby as teasing material, Neptune figured while watching Nico's increasing discomfort in no small amount of glee. For so long, their little prank war had been on a bit of a hiatus since the whole lean debacle to the point where one wouldn't be wrong to assume
'Damnit, she's milking this for all that it's worth…!' The redhead cursed inside his mind while drawing a blank revolving around forming a dare he could have Neptune do. He regretted not trying to brush up on the game's rules in the past as due to his work ethic and circumstances Nico had only heard of this game. He never actually played it himself, nor did he play it with anybody else which contributed to his unease and the feeling of walking through a minefield churning in his gut. So combine that with his admittingly cringe humour and one could see why he was having difficulty here.
It didn't help that conveniently Biko and Byakko were a bit too busy dealing with their stuff in his Inner World.
Before the male could try mounting any kind of defence…
"Then how about I dare you, Neptune, to restrain yourself from saying your catchphrase 'Nepu'?"
Vert suddenly swooped in and swept him off his feet metaphorically speaking, like some shining knight in armour. The image of the blonde woman dressed in medieval knight armour carrying him in a dress then suddenly appeared in his mind of which Nico quickly tried dousing his brain with bleach to try and extinguish it.
Note to self: never let anybody bridal carry him.
Nevertheless, Nico remained a good sport by offering a look of gratitude to Leanbox's CPU who returned it with a warm smile. Alongside a gaze that said 'you owe me for this.
"Huh? Say wha?"
Neptune glanced over to Vert after hearing her dare, looking like someone had punched her in the gut while giving her a valentine's day gift. "My catchphrase? Why would you dare me to not say it? Are you infringing on my rights here, Vert?" she accused, pointing an index finger at the blonde woman.
However, Vert casually dismissed such accusations with a wave of her hand while slightly turning her head to the side. "Nonsense, Neptune. I am simply warming us all up with light dares before we get to the FUN stuff later on." She replied, lightly huffing elegantly. Oh yeah, this was going to be a light dare but she had decided on doing this so that everyone could have some experience on how to play this game. The more embarrassing dares would likely be coming later. "Also, you DID say this is a game so you can't use that as an excuse, double standards and all."
"Grk! Oh, a punch of logic…! How insidious, Mrs Melons…"
Off to the side, Compa hummed thoughtfully when something about Vert's words struck a chord in her. A few moments later she soon figured out why when a certain detail came back to the forefront of her mind with the Nurse-In-Training palming her right open palm with her left closed fist. "That's right! I kind of noticed, but Nep-Nep doesn't say her usual catchphrase very much nowadays. Then when she does say it, everybody looks at her weirdly." she remarked.
"Hey! C'mon Compa-Pompa! The author's just a dummy for not remembering it half the time! Part of me thinks they're purposefully ignoring it!"
"Oooooh, moving on before Nep steps on a bomb there…" IF quickly interrupted Neptune, not wanting her to say something stupid… at least in this case. She then leaned back on her porch atop Vert's lap, internally crooning when the said blonde woman began rubbing her scalp like she were a pet or something. She pointedly ignored some of the looks directed at her while bringing the subject back from such dangerous territory. "I'd say we've all grown out of some things, not just Nep. Seeing so much dark and edgy stuff would do that to anyone… though it's kinda ironic."
Neptune blinked several times when she heard that last bit from the brunette. "What, Iffy? That I have such a sexy ass bod now?" She questioned with a small grin, hugging herself and wriggling on her seat. "Daaaw, I never knew you cared so much, cute little Iffy…"
BONK!
"Ouchies!"
After forming a Tendril that smacked her upside the head, IF's brow twitched while she responded evenly, a small flush on her cheeks while the Tendril retracted back into her. "What I 'mean' is that it's ironic that Nep's a Goddess whose body treats demonic power like poison, yet managed to learn how to use it like it had been hers since the beginning."
At this, Nico's interest in the conversation experienced a level up event from 'casual' to 'intermediate' states. The referral to their demonic forms which while Nico internally admitted were freaking badass as fuck (as well as damn attractive), he didn't know as much about them as he should. Heck, even Biko and Byakko had a few times in the time skip previously expressed interest in learning about them… Well, the latter just wanted to test their evolved Kagune on them to see how they measured up. "Huh… that reminds me, what are those forms anyways? I know they're demonic and you named them your DT's as short for Devil Triggers, but other than that I'm kinda clueless. They honestly seem like another HDD save for the… differences."
What he meant by differences didn't need to be asked, since it was an obvious one with an obvious answer.
Nonetheless Vert decided to answer his query with a nod of agreement. "Yes indeed, they are similar to our HDD selves, especially when they alter our personalities when we activate them. As well as provide their powers and perks which differ depending on who's using them. The various armour pieces seem to also function like our armour pieces…" she remarked, pulling out from her boobs a small book as well as a pair of reading glasses.
'Uhhhhh, where did she get those?'
While the redhead male wondered that, Vert continued with more of a lecturer's tone while internally shuddering at the image of her in a teacher outfit giving Nico some 'private lessons' if one knows what she meant. "This is where the similarities end, I'm afraid. Our Devil Triggers focus more on the 'darker aspects of our personalities I've noticed, for example, mine focuses more on my warrior self the one which fought often in the Console Wars. Noire's seems to take away her 'tsundere' nature and make her as blunt and ruthless as a tyrant… in exchange for making her more honest with things."
Neptune and Compa chuckled together when they thought of some dares they'd like to give the demonic form of Noire. It would be interesting to test their limits there, but sadly she wasn't here to test them out… though to be fair the Lastation CPU would probably vehemently refuse due to knowing what the two would be thinking.
Leaning back on his seat, the redhead cupped his chin whilst his brain worked overdrive. "...You could say that these forms kind of put some 'edge' into your personality." Nico bluntly commented, pondering on this information with intrigue and a desire to learn more.
"Or they just make us not give a damn about perceptions," Neptune interjected, joining in the conversation. To her, these forms weren't necessarily edgy per se but more in that they removed the 'shackles' or inhibitions that they had like alcohol. The possibility of them getting drunk on such power was there, but that wasn't important at the moment. "Though I guess I don't know how much… I mean, I kinda dunno how pervy I am in that state," she admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.
Such sheepishness soon escalated when everyone gave her dead fish-like expressions, each of them thinking of her usual antics and then comparing them to when Neptune in her DT form made out with Nico in broad daylight. The redhead in question even bet that she would have tried to jump him right then and there at the slighted opportunity.
If NORMAL Neptune was that bad and her HDD self made her more serious…
Still, the concept of their DT forms and their effects on them made the group slip into contemplative silence. The CPUs were especially so since those forms showed them aspects of themselves that they didn't know were even there, or in some cases either amplified them or removed certain limitations on their mental faculties. They also found it interesting to compare them to Nico's DPU Form with its influence on his mind being a specific point of interest. Nico had told them how it kept all emotions that weren't to do with the battle in check which allowed him to think clearer on the battlefield.
Eventually, one of them stiffened when an idea popped into her head like a needle puncturing a balloon. That person turned out to be Compa, and what she soon suggested to the rest of them after comparing their transformation to her own Spirit Powers (though there wasn't much to compare since they didn't influence her NEARLY as much compared to the Angels themselves). "Um… on that topic, this Nurse-in-training wants to know how you guys feel about continuing this but in those dark forms of yours."
Internally, Compa hoped that they would agree with this suggestion of hers. She found herself particularly drawn to the idea of exploring the 'darker' sides to the CPUs due to her own experiences in Leanbox alerting her to the darkness within herself. She'd like to compare what they were each like in such states, although Compa remained aware of how different those things were compared to her powers.
Though she could sense that her Angels now paid EXTRA attention to this deliberation than before.
This question prompted each of the groups to briefly look at her in surprise before switching to one another which prompted the topic to switch back to their game… somewhat.
"Hmmm...a good idea, Compy!" On one side, it seemed that Neptune was all for the idea of using her DT form, hopping off her seat and landing in an upright position. She placed one hand on her hip and the other across her nose, a wry grin spreading across her lips. "That sounds like a blast of a time! Plus, it'd give screen time to our alter egos, something that didn't happen much in the original games," she explained, thinking beyond the fourth wall again.
Initially about to agree with the idea himself as well, Nico made to open his mouth before a thought occurred which made him shut it again. If this was to happen, wouldn't that mean that he would be close to her demonic form, Blood Heart? 'Sure enough, that's what'll happen…' the male realized, blinking when he began to comprehend the fact that he would be close to someone who would not care about any witnesses and try to jump his bones without hesitation. Even LUCY had a bit more subtlety than Blood Heart who just didn't care about such things. Such thoughts did sprout a few flowers of nervousness in his gut…
But what unnerved him more was that Nico didn't feel any kind of distaste for it.
'HAH, SO YOU'RE FINALLY STARTING TO MAN UP, EH KING? LETTING GO OF THOSE STUPID 'RESTRAINTS' ON YOUR TRUE INSTINCTS, GOOD! KEEP IT GOING!'
Byakko's words, irrefutable as they were since he represented them, didn't help.
"I am not so sure that it would be a good idea Neptune, Compa." Fortunately, a member of the opposing view came into the argument, and that turned out to be Vert. Said woman did not look too comfortable with the idea of letting her DT take over, given how she acted in that form. Her gaze shimmered with uncertainty as memories of her times in that form returned to the forefront of her mind, the woman's hands clasping together over a concerned IF's lap. "My DT self is too much like a warrior to add much joy into this gathering, if at all. If you think normal Noire is bad, my DT is worse in that field."
The woman could see why those two would be so for the idea of their DT's coming out in a more informal setting like this since Neptune's wasn't all that bad if one didn't factor her raging perversions. Perverts could still be lovable and humorous in the right context, even if some took it too far… though Vert herself believed that Blood Heart fell into the extreme category.
However, she didn't have that same experience with her own DT and how it influenced her. Hers was nigh emotionless and cold, rational and deadly, one could say it was near heartless but not brainless. A complete contrast to Neptune's, hence not something she felt would be very practical in a setting like this. If anything their DT's were focused more on battle ability rather than simply making them behave differently.
After a while of discussion, it was decided by a vote with those voting against the inclusion of their DT's (Vert, Nico and IF) coming out on top. While Neptune pouted in dismay and a silent whine of disappointment came from Compa, not much else came of it and they thus continued the truth or dare game.
Once she'd gotten her dismay out of her system, Neptune gestured towards their resident Spirit. "Alright then, Compa it's your turn! Time to strut your stuff!" The planeptune CPU declared.
A sharp pang of determination exploded within her chest, causing Compa to nod with resolution. "Yup-yup, I'll do my best Nep-Nep!" she declared with equal enthusiasm. This was a point where she didn't want to shy away from whatever thing her friend had in mind, if she folded here then the work she had done since becoming a Spirit to change herself would have been for nothing. "Truth!"
"What's your favourite underwear colour?"
"Black lace!"
...Immediately, Neptune blinked in shock and surprise when she heard Compa answer her question with so much resolution. She didn't look all that fazed at all by her admission even though Nico and the rest of them looked mildly uncomfortable. "Whoa, that was a quick one, Compa-poo…" She couldn't help but comment in an impressed manner.
Neptune wasn't the only one surprised by Compa's quick yet immediate response though. Everyone else in the room looked at her with white circles for eyes, disbelief written all over their faces.
'Holy…'
'...Shit did Compa just…'
'My goodness… I didn't anticipate this…'
IF, Nico and Vert thought these thoughts while still struggling to process what they had heard from Compa's mouth, though this would probably take a fair bit of time anyways.
Soon enough, the silence that ensued post-admission got broken when Neptune took the first spot in the race to recover their mental faculties. "Didn't think you had it in you, good job!" she then later complemented with a bright grin and a thumbs up.
Again, Compa nodded her head with the determined look persisting on her features. "They've been the cosiest of my undies, so they're my favourite!" she proclaimed, once again stunning the others (and causing a certain redhead to get flustered at the mental images conjured by it).
What nobody seemed to have noticed was that behind her, the Spirit Girl had discreetly summoned her Angel Haniel in its default broom form and had it positioned so that they didn't have the slightest chance of seeing it. This done, she then had it make her look as determined as she did, hiding what she felt about such a question.
Essentially, Neptune's question had thrown her off and nearly reduced her resolve to level 0. That is until she got the idea of using Haniel as a confidence booster which resulted in her current predicament. Plus considering their layout it wouldn't be easy for anyone to suss her out making this a decent scheme to keep her true emotions hidden. She did not doubt that this could be seen as a literal cop out on her part, but she had to make this decision in a split second so she couldn't afford to waste any precious time.
Soon enough the rest finally snapped out of their shocked stupor while Nico shook his head to try and return his heartbeat (and flustered face) to normal. "Looks like your little teasing backfired Nep…" IF nonetheless remarked with a small smirk, one which was mirrored by her idolized Goddess who had to stifle some amused giggles. "You sure you're not losing your edge? Is all this edginess dulling you like a blade worn from continuous use?" she further teased, wanting to provoke the purplette into action…
As well as get a bit of payback for the times when Neptune pulled similar stunts on her.
Her smirk widened into a full-blown grin when Neptune playfully glared back at her, huffing indignantly. "Oh please, you know I can get a rise outta anybody, Iffy." she boasted, grinning broadly at the possibilities for pranks and teases for the Nurse-In-Training in her mind. "They don't call me the queen of pranks back in that hidden village."
Off to the side, Compa pouted in slight annoyance as she watched Neptune try to get a rise out of the brunette as her Angel's effects left her with a mild flush still present on her features. "Mou, Nep-Nep's being rude… ah, I know!" she mused, an idea popping into her head. 'I haven't had the chance to test this out, but not to worry. I think I found a willing test subject…' She thought, her tone growing slightly… disturbing at the end which resembled whenever she pulled out her massive syringe.
"Haniel!"
SHINE!
Flexing her hand, Compa felt her Angel flash into its grasp from behind her before it activated its powers, releasing a bright light from its golden brush tip. Such a light quickly coerced the rest of the group to cover their eyes… and when the flashed died town to allow them to lower those arms…
"Nepwha?!"
"EEEEEEEHHHHHHHH?!"
...Where once had been a former loli-like girl who made memes and fourth wall breaks… was now what looked like a purplish coloured gelatinous creature. Essentially, a Dogoo… only with D-Pad hair clips on top of its head. Not to mention a large bunch of purple hair growing out of where a scalp would have been.
"Whoa, dude! What the Nep?! Nepgoo! I'm a Dogoo, yo!" The said Planeptune CPU exclaimed in bafflement, blinking several times as the rest of the group looked at her in a dumbstruck manner, unable to process what had happened.
Meanwhile, internally celebrating that the ability to transform others with her Angel was indeed a success (she may have been training it via transforming objects first following Lucy and her Angels' instructions), Compa puffed out her cheeks to stifle the giggles her body wanted to release at the sight. "Nep-Nep, no need to tease iffy too much when we are playing a game of truth or dare. It's not her turn yet, so save it for then would you?" she requested with a smile.
'...Note to self: remind me not to anger Compa in any way.'
'DOUBLE FOR ME, NEVER THOUGHT THE BROAD HAD IT IN HER.'
Nico's alter egos both officially agreed on the fact that should they ever come into contact with the Nurse-In-Training, which didn't seem very likely in their opinions but the realm of impossibility was quite often visited by them and many others, they should do their best not to antagonize her. The redhead male didn't disagree with them either, as much as he hated Dogoos and found the whole scenario amusing (part of him even wondered if Neptune was descended from such a species somehow given her personality), Nico honestly didn't want to imagine that kind of thing being used on him.
If people loved his current self, what would happen if he were to let's say, be aged up or down? Sounded like nightmare fuel in his opinion.
"C'mon Compa, what's the dealio, we're just having a bit of fun here taking a load off and all…!" Nonetheless, while mildly annoyed at her current lack of mobility compared to her usual form, Neptune simply accepted her current circumstances and… hopped towards Compa's feet to look up and pout in a whiny manner. It… honestly shouldn't have looked as cute as it did. "Now I can't seduce Nicky with ma sexy bod…"
"...I have no words."
"Well, at least Neptune doesn't seem to mind… my goodness, it's kind of scary how fitting she is as a Dogoo."
Nico and Vert remarked together while observing the situation, the two sweat dropping at it. Both could admit to being rather speechless as they watched Neptune try to hop onto Compa's lap to try and get her pout closer to her in an attempt to make herself more adorable, only for the Spirit Girl to smack her upside the head with her Angel's back end.
Not only that but when Neptune tried to leap onto her again Nico simply restrained her via his Rinkaku Kagune. He had it wrap a couple of Tentacles around her form which proved to be a rather annoying task, mostly due to the dogoo body being rather slimy making gripping it rather difficult. Nonetheless, Nico's Kagune dug into it by puncturing the flesh with some spikes to Neptune's dismay.
After depositing her back to her previous position and restraining her for good measure, Nico directed his attention to Compa with an arched brow, about to request she revert the process… that is, before he closed his partially open mouth upon seeing Compa's dazed expression. '...Judging from that look, I can assume she's talking with her Angels.' He internally remarked.
It felt kind of strange looking at this from this side of things. It somewhat resembled what some associates of his described him looked like when talking to his alternate personas. Did he look that dopey or something?
Note to self, figure out a way to solve that issue.
'I do agree with you, for I sense an increase in neurological activity coming from her.'
Suppressing his surprise from forming on his features, Nico proceeded to engage his demon persona in conversation. The topic, what he had just mentioned about Compa. 'Huh? We can sense stuff like that…?' he questioned in confusion.
'While there's no proper definition scientifically, emotions are merely biologically-based psychological states influenced by neurophysiological changes. Us DPUs are more attuned to sensing the more negative neurons meaning we sense negative emotions, so it's not a stretch for me to detect such things.'
Huh, so that was how it worked… he guessed that made sense, though Nico wanted to set some time aside to look into the concept of emotions in greater detail. It sounded like a good project to invest his downtime in among other things that were coming to mind. 'In any case, what do you think she's talking to those Angels about? Though I find it kinda weird describing her weapons as Angels when Compa and the girls are worthy of that title IMO…'
'I'm suspecting that they're conversing about Compa's recent actions although I cannot be certain. It's the only thing I can think of at the moment.'
'HAH, GUESS EVEN THAT PEABRAIN OF YOURS AIN'T THE SHIT AT TIMES EH YA NERD?'
Unbeknownst to the males in question, they weren't that far from the truth about the Spirit as said girl internally felt like digging herself a hole and burying herself in it to escape the embarrassment flooding her system. 'Uweeeehhhh… growing confident is a toughie thing to do…' She bemoaned mentally, reflecting on her hasty and reckless actions. She bet that if Neptune were any other person they'd be giving her a tongue lashing right now because what she did seemed rather rude and uncalled for. Something she neglected to think about previously.
Not to worry, my dear. You've been making slow progress since accepting us, do not diminish your previous baby steps.
Briefly, Compa tensed up when she heard a soft, velvety yet familiar voice echo from behind her before she calmed down, after having recognized said a familiar voice to be the spirit of the Angel she had just used. The spiritual manifestation had appeared behind her, wrapping her arms around her neck from behind and pressing her boobs into the back of her head.
The Spirit girl mentally sighed meanwhile, having gotten used to the behaviour of this specific manifestation in particular. Out of the Angels, she possessed, Haniel was one of the more mischievous ones. She'd learned that many of them had such qualities as Camael (although she had a short temper and would often run her to the ground during training) or Gabriel (who liked to cop a feel of her boobies every chance she got). but some had it more than others with Haniel being one of the latter.
Nevertheless, Haniel wasn't a bad person by a long shot. She could still be the supportive big sister she presented herself to be, and right now the Spirit girl could sense that was her intention this time. 'But still… I should be running by now. It's annoying, my lack of growth…' she whined, thinking back to that date she and Nico had.
Back then, she'd declared to him that she wanted to be her person, to be the main character… but she hadn't exactly done much about that since then and it annoyed her. The best way she'd come up with for achieving that goal had been to delve into and develop her Spirit Powers of which she'd made sufficient progress already, but in other areas… seemed like she had more work to do. But she didn't know how to do that, and it irked her immensely inside.
Like I said before, Compa dear, don't belittle the progress you've made. Your past self wouldn't have come up with that scheme you accomplished nor had the resolve to strike down your enemies during that invasion a month ago. You've made progress, and as for how to grow here from problems that have persisted for YEARS… only you can find that answer.
Having known what Compa had been thinking during her silence, Haniel provided her insight into the problem with a possible solution for solving it. She wouldn't lie and say it was going to be easy though, repairing her 'true self' after suppressing it for years for some silly external validation would be a long, arduous process. Nevertheless, it'll be a necessary and rewarding one, one which would improve her way of life in the future.
'I guess…'
Still, looking at this situation I can't help but find it remarkable. This form fits that girl rather well, both that species and she have a few similarities in that they're perverted, are hard to keep a grip on and have a thing for one's private areas.
Now this Compa couldn't refute since she agreed with her Angel on those observations. The Nurse-In-Training wouldn't admit it out loud though, she didn't see the need to as she bet everyone else had similar thoughts looking at the purple Dogoo.
Although, this deed did give her some ideas regarding keeping Neptune in line in case she were to overstep the boundaries between her and Nico.
"Well, I'd like to have my sexy bod back at some point, but let's save that for the end. For now, the show must go on!" Getting over her new situation pretty quickly like she had been through this before (well, a certain incarnation of her got turned into a bike, so this shouldn't be too big a deal).
'Huh, Neptune's got more adaptability than I gave her credit for…'
Unaware of the redhead male's thoughts on the matter, Neptune turned her gaze towards the brunette by shifting her dogoo body around like she were on a rotating plate in a microwave. "You're next Iffy, so what are ya ordering? Truth or Dare?"
For a couple of seconds, IF thought on what she wanted to do before coming to a conclusion and nodding in resolution to herself. "Probably gonna regret this but I'm no wussy bitch so truth." she declared with a confident smirk spreading across her face, having prepared herself for what may happen.
Before Neptune could proceed any further, however, Vert interjected at the last second. "May I go for this one, Neptune?" She requested with a small smile. One which got the dignified Neptune's attention as she stared intently at the woman. Seeing that stare as an unasked question to elaborate, Vert decided to humour her while wrapping her hands around IF's abdomen, REALLY liking holding the smaller lady to her like some kind of teddy bear. "There's something I've been meaning to ask her, now just seems to be a good opportunity."
"Hmmm…. Okie dokie, shoot."
"Thank you, now Iffy… tell us: are you into anal?"
…
…
…
…
…
…
"...HUH?!"
Yeah, it was safe to say that IF had not been expecting such a question from her idolized goddess judging by the utterly flabbergasted look on her cherry-red face, one which Vert had witnessed thanks to the brunette looking backwards into the Leanbox CPU's eyes.
She wasn't the only one either, everyone else in the group gave Vert looks that would be more applicable if she had suddenly grown a second head. Not to mention the majority of them had flushed red faces of differing levels of embarrassment… or intrigue depending on whose perspective was considered here. One guess as to who that might concern.
Instead of acknowledging them, however, Vert grinned down at the Spec Ops Agent on her lap with her pearly white teeth full-on display. "My, such a cute reaction. Oh, how I knew I was right to ask you that, my precious iffy!" she proclaimed, squeezing the woman close to her boobs and thanks to IF not needing to breathe anymore, this wasn't something that could be fatal towards her. "That look of yours, it's so good!"
"Wha-Wha-Wha-Why'd you ask me something like THAT, Lady Vert?!" IF shrieked after regaining control of her voice. She tried to close her mouth afterwards, but her shock didn't allow it, thus her mouth remained open so that flies could simply swoop right in… and likely get assimilated into her BOW body but that's beside the point. Such was the shock and embarrassment which dominated her system.
Once she had regained enough control over her faculties after that bout of laughter, Vert wiped a few tears from her eyes with her hand before looking towards the brunette. She had a Cheshire cat grin on her lips while providing the answer to that one. "Why, I'm just curious. Considering how you used to have a stick up your butt all the time I just wanted to be certain," she explained which only confused the BOW even more.
"Huh?! What are-Lady Vert, I never had a…" she began to say in protest, before something clicked in her mind. Following that moment as well as hearing the snickering coming from her side, IF narrowed her eyes with a surge of fury entering her system with her glare focusing on a certain Planeptune CPU who was too busy stifling her amusement at the sight of her being flustered. "Neeeeeep… what did you say to Lady Vert?" she questioned slowly, despite not appearing to threaten Vert hugging her teddy bear style.
Not something that Neptune paid much attention to, preferring to. "Geez, rude much Iffy? Why the heck do ya automatically just target little ol' Nep?!" she whined whilst slouching her shoulders in dismay. She even added slight teardrops from her eyes for added effect to make her less of a potential suspect.
This wasn't fooling the Spec Ops Agent however, nope no sir. Not when she could sense the lack of sincerity behind those words. "Out of all of us YOU are the MOST likely suspect, Nep!" the brunette stated, shooting down Neptune's 'pleas' for victimhood.
"..."
"..."
"...Pah, fiiiinnneeeee!"
It didn't take long for the facade to crumble and for Neptune to let out a mix between a sigh and a groan of frustration… alongside an impish grin while Vert looked to the side and chuckled to herself. As for why that was the case, it soon got revealed with Neptune's following words. "I and the CPUs were having some girl talk one day and it just came up, y'know? It's not my fault that you had more of a stick up your butt than the rest of us."
"Nep, I swear to Goddess I will go over and smack you when this is over…!" IF mumbled, growling under her breath while restraining herself from summoning one of her Tendrils to smack a bitch again. Though she tried to sound threatening, the flushed look on her face told a different story. "Besides, if anything Nico was even more of that than I remember?!" she counters claimed, gesturing to the male in question.
Said male simply raised his hands in a surrendering motion, already knowing that getting involved in this argument to be a bad idea. His instincts combined with past experiences with these girls were perfect indicators. "Don't look at me, I'm not touching this one." He stated, officially washing his hands of the subject…
Though internally when he thought back to their starting days as a party Nico had to admit that I had a bit of a point. As much as it irked him, he'd been a damn brat back then if one asked him.
It was one of the reasons why he wasn't so mad with Compa when she had revealed most of the story up till the Gala invasion was an act… she hadn't been the only one who wore masks over her true self.
Before the BOW could do anything more to the giggling Planeptune CPU like for example shred every hair strand from her skull, a sing-song tune got released from Vert's throat as she tilted her head from side to side. "Now-now Iffy, you can punish Neptune later. Perhaps even record it for our viewing pleasure…" she began to say, her smirk wide while IF looked at her with a mix of flustered disgust. Considering how perverted the CPUs could be (save for Noire the prude and perhaps Lady White Heart) they'd surely enjoy something like that. "But for now, I suggest we continue with this little game of ours. These constant interruptions are rather tiresome, as I'm sure the author would agree…"
"Tch, whatever…" More than a little annoyed at this treatment IF nonetheless complied with her idolized CPUs' wishes since she didn't want her to hate her. Her fangirl heart wouldn't have been able to take it if that happened. But since she still had to do the truth that had been asked of her, the brunette took a moment to compose herself while wrestling with the embarrassment and humiliation this would bring her. "...fuck it, I don't mind anal. As long as the situation's got everything cleared then I'd probably rock that guy's world." she finally admitted, her gaze cast downwards as she refused to look at anybody right now. She didn't want to show them whatever expression dominated her face for fear of being teased again.
Her admission sent the group into silence… save for the chuckling CPUs who looked at one another in silent celebration. Nevertheless, nobody said anything else about that admission of which made IF feel even worse inside to the point where her gaze got raised to meet them with her eyes practically PLEADING for something to be said.
Anything, at this point.
'This is just a hunch, but I suspect that the majority of the truths and dares that escape the CPUs are going to be sexual in nature… you'd be wise to watch out for that.'
Biko unknowingly answered IF's call but didn't at the same time… well, that would have been what should've happened but Nico had sensed the link forming which had snapped him out of his stupor. Then, when he had begun to speak Biko had noted how Nico managed to activate his SHINGAN ring to project those words into IF's mind.
Judging from the grateful and understanding glance she discreetly sent Nico, his efforts went appreciated by her.
'Yeah, I got you there… Neptune alone has the horniness of an old man but combine that with Vert's thirst and well, we'll get one sexually charged morning…' Nico responded to Biko after cutting the SHINGAN's power. This whole morning's going to be one big test of his mental fortitude, he believed and judging from this first round of truth or dare he had every reason to think this way. Now the question was if he could last through this…
Without anything awkward rising when it shouldn't.
Chapter end!
Hey guys, welcome to a new chapter!
Not much is happening plot-wise as you can see, it's just the group taking a break and goofing around. Bits of serious stuff was thrown in here and there to keep the chapter somewhat non-filler. These things will likely be expanded upon later in the arc, so keep an eye out.
Also, sorry if the truth or dare scene isn't up to snuff with those comedy authors. Bad and non-existent humour aside, this was my first time doing something like this and I've never had friends who I could play this with, so writing this was kinda why I took so long to finish... that, and other IRL things. Still, I wanted to give it a shot just to practice writing more slice of life stuff to offset all the tragedy and grim darkness. If anyone has some advice or recommendations for creating stuff like this I'd happily listen or read it in the reviews/PMs.
Anyways, this'll be a short AN since its late at night by the time I finished this chapter. Hope you all liked it and look forward to the next one.
PEACE OUT!
