Warm arms around her made Jackie let out a heavy sigh. That 'thing' with Fiore must have happened again. She only remembered the testing and that was about it. She pretty much was out cold for the rest of it. Not wanting to get out of bed just yet Jackie cuddled closer to the warm body with a faint blush. Waking up next to someone was actually a somewhat nice feeling. Her blush deepened, thinking about all the things she and Fiore had been doing lately. It was like they were in an actual relationship and that was starting to bother her. She was actually starting to like waking up next to him. She really needed to start setting some boundaries to make this stop happening. "We really need to stop waking up like this, not remembering anything." Jackie heavily sighed, not wanting to open her eyes just yet.

"We do remember but it would be nice if next time we make it memorable for you." Giorgio sleepily said, hugging her tighter.

Jackie's eyes burst open as she jolted awake and away from the sound of the unfamiliar voice before setting her eyes on a faceless that wasn't Fiore. Her jaw dropped in horror as she tightly gripped the sheets and felt her heart begin racing in fright. D-Did she just sleep with another man-?! H-how, how-?! She felt a warm body against her back as she looked back and saw Fiore, and behind him spotted another man who was leaning over slightly and looking at her. "W-Wha-Wha-Wha," Jackie stammered, unable to form any other words as her imagination began to race in trying to come up with an innocent explanation as to why there were three men in bed with her. She couldn't remember anything but how did this happen?! Fiore's apartment was secure! And who were these other faceless-?!

"Good morning." Fabio yawned, stretching out and and showing his firm pectorals. "It was quite the night, wasn't it?"

" … I-I, uh," Jackie stammered with her face glowing a bright red. "W-Who are you?" She managed to squeak out, lightly kicking Fiore's leg and trying to wake him up.

"Oh yes, sorry. I am Giorgio, and this is Fabio. We are Fiore's companions. He called us last night to help with the effects of different flavors you were tasting." Giorgio politely smiled to Jackie, ignoring adding their last names but showing her his lullaby's tattoo; a musical note on his wrist.

Well, at least they weren't some random faceless of the street. "O-Ok." Jackie stiffly spoke, hesitating, "w-what uh, c-can you tell me what happened? Th-the drug we took makes it so we don't remember much," Jackie asked, feeling quite honestly on the verge of a panic attack. She couldn't have slept with three men, th-there was no way!

"Well, Fiore needed to test the flavors too so we came and then you two got quite eager and we took you to two bed." Fabio stood up from the bed, beautiful mocha skin and utterly naked and Jackie could perfectly see his ridiculously sized endowment and the fact that one: his musical note tattoo was right by his groin area and two: that he has some suspicious smudge over his skin.

" … I-I'm so-sorry for any trouble I p-probably caused last night." Jackie apologized, not feeling entirely sore but was a bit too panicked at the moment to concentrate on how her body felt. If they had helped last night then that meant they must have seen quite a few different terrifying responses to the flavors she took.

"It wasn't any trouble. On the contrary, I'd say. It was a pleasure being in your presence." Giorgio smiled quite politely, also getting out of bed and showing off his tight body as well. Jackie slowly blinked as she quickly glanced between them. They were extremely … well, built, like everyone else in freaking Wonderland.

"We of course wouldn't mind if you'd allow us to make this morning memorable. I can say that at the very least I'm a very good kisser. I know tested it last night but it seems you do not remember." Fabio grinned, giving a light bow. "If you wanted, I could kiss you right now wherever you'd like."

"Fabio, no." Giorgio frowned before dressing up and tossing Fabio his clothes. "We need to get going and I'm sure the lady would like some alone time with Fiore."

"O-Oh, uh, yes, thank you." Jackie stiffly said, not sure what to do in this very awkward situation.

They quickly finished dressing up and then, after a brief goodbye, went away, leaving Jackie Alone with a completely passed out Fiore.

Jackie sat very still in bed, trying to calm down her horror before seeing it was still Night out. Unable to go to sleep due to her worries of what had happened that night, she got up and began to bust herself with cleaning the apartment instead of thinking about what happened.

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Jackie let out a very heavy sigh, peeking back into the room and seeing Fiore was still blissfully asleep on the bed. Having woken up early and not wanting to think about the two other men that were in bed with them, Jackie went ahead and cleaned up the apartment from last night including the sheets and everything in the room. She could hardly believe how messy it was but she was able to clean it in a few hours.

Jackie stretched herself out, having already showered and everything as well while Fiore was still sleeping. She went ahead and whipped up some simple scrambled eggs along with some toast and butter, covering the left over eggs on the stove with a lid to keep them warm while she prepared a plate. Just before she sat down, she heard movement in the bedroom. She perked up, heading over to the room and opening the door to find Fiore tossing and turning a little bit, as if looking for something before he sleepily sat up.

"Morning, Fiore. Come on out and eat or your breakfast will get cold." Jackie said.

Fiore rolled face down on the bed, his arms stretching to hug someone but no beautiful woman was by his side, so he merely growled and ignored everything.

" … Fiore, come on. You've been asleep for hours." Jackie said, trotting inside and looking down at him, seeing his ears pulled back and lips pressed together, seeming annoyed. "Fiore?" Jackie called, reaching down and gently tugging on his soft triangular and fluffy ear. She really wondered what kind of species he was. He looked like a wolf of some kind but she really wasn't sure, more so due to the reddish color. Maybe some sort of fox?

A small growl escaped Fiore's throat as he pulled down whomever was bothering him, rolling and getting on top while letting out some snarl and showing his fangs. Then he stopped for a moment, noticing who was under him. "Hey," he casually yawned, looking groggy and annoyed.

Jackie was looking up at him with wide eyes, nervous at the sight of his fangs. She awkwardly glanced away, trying to think of what to say before looking back up at him. "Uh, breakfast is ready." She said, pointing towards the door. "Whenever you're ready, but the eggs will get cold soon."

Fiore yawned again and got off her, moving towards the kitchen without saying more or apparently not noticing he was naked either.

"H-Hey, Fiore, put on clothes first!" Jackie shouted, stumbling out of bed before grabbing a pair of briefs for him and catching up before taking his arm. "Fiore, put these on." She said, holding up the briefs and looking at his face. Even without eyes he seemed exhausted. Maybe he was just not a morning person?

"Waht … ," he looked at the piece of clothing and took it up from her hands, slipping them on, grumbling. "Don't wake me up if you don't plan to be in my arms when I wake up, donut." He growled. "I don't have good mornings unless I have a beautiful woman by my side."

"Oh … right." Jackie said with a frown, bothered by his sour attitude. "I tried waking you up earlier but you were completely out." She said as Fiore sat down at the plate of her food. She let him take it as she checked on the other eggs, finding them burnt. "Ah crap, I left the heat on." Jackie frowned, scraping the burnt egg remains into the trash before she began scrubbing the burnt edges of the eggs off, listening to Fiore slowly eating.

"From now on I'm cooking, ALWAYS." He growled again, setting his plate aside. "And I need my d*** morning coffee."

"It's that bad?" Jackie asked, a little uncomfortable with Fiore's rudeness. He's really not a morning person.

"Bad? It's simple and bleak. There is no combination of complementing flavors, it's messily scrambled and not a quiché or even an omelet, it has no raiton of other ingredients like some mushroom sauce or even melted cheese and some vegetables … oh, and it's burned." He huffed, his ears perking. "Look Pretzel, I'm a professional chef and food expert, I may specialize in desserts and confitery but I cook for a living besides whatever the lady requires, so let me do my job. I'll show you what an egg breakfast is, and you will like then, then we can go back to the bed."

"Well yeah." Jackie said with a frown. "I didn't want to raid your fridge, Mr. perfect." She sarcastically retorted. "I thought it would be nice to make you breakfast." She pouted a bit, glancing off to the side. Wow, he was really digging into her right now. Well screw him! He could just make something for himself then. Sometimes having a simple bunch of eggs with salt and pepper is good. She frowned, thinking about their taste testing. How did that end up? There was a lot of food all over the kitchen this morning that she cleaned up but she didn't remember taste testing anything.

"And how am I supposed to be wonderful to you and shower you with affection then, marshmallow?" Fiore began preparing coffee and then served himself a big mug of it.

Jackie frowned, staring at him in annoyance. He's being really rude right now. Jackie heavily sighed, about to turn away before freezing. "No, wait!" Jackie cried, rushing over to Fiore. "Don't drink the coffee! It's a trigger, remember?" Jackie said, quickly unplugging the machine. "Absolutely no coffee and no alcohol. Hell, do you remember if we taste tested anything last night?" Jackie asked, looking up to him but freezing at his furious expression.

Fiore snarled and then bit the air in Jackie's direction.

"Fiore, what the hell has gotten into you?!" Jackie demanded before noticing a piece of paper that fell to the floor with a note on it signed by Aria. She picked it up, reading it over

From A.H.S.

Refrain from consumption of anything that may have a defined taste…. Or from eating much in any case. Simple water is advised, and meals should be consumed in alternated times so whom is not feeding can record observations of any and all effects, and deal with them.

I'm also setting you to work on one of our terminals so you don't get exposed or bored. That is top secret.

P.S. Hugs calm him down. Try petting him behind the ears or right off hump him.

Jackie's eyes bugged out of her head before looking back to Fiore. "Aria, you have got to be kidding me!" Jackie hissed, reading the note over again. "Fiore, we're not supposed to eat anything for a while. Aria's orders." Jackie added, showing him the note. "Or at least we can but just not at the same time." She said, looking the note over again.

"If lady A says so then that's what we'll do." Upon hearing it was Aria's order he calmed down but still looked abnormally annoyed.

Jackie stared at the irritating dog, frowning in annoyance. She was getting real pissed off that he was being such a prick to her. Just because she got out of bed so he didn't wake up to her being there is a pretty s*** excuse for being an a**hole.

Fiore grabbed the paper and read it, it was written in spanish and in code. "My orders are to escort you and make sure you don't mess stuff or get in even more trouble." He yawned, his ears flattened. "So let's get ready and go there."

"I'm already good to go. It's you who needs to clean yourself up. You stink." Jackie's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Fiore growled, his tail puffing but he turned around and went to get a quick shower, after which he got got out naked from the shower and dried up, not minding if Jackie saw him naked and dressed, but he didn't mention anything inviting either.

Jackie's cheeks lightly flushed. She'd never get over how good his body looked. He was fit like most every other person in Wonderland but it didnt seem as magically perfect as role holders but he had a good attractive build none the less- which only pissed her off more considering his awful behavior.

Without another word she grabbed her things and left, letting him catch up to her and lead the way to wherever they were going.

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Jackie stood at the control board for one of the underground subterranean train stations near the Lullaby's supply center in the middle of clover's market's district. The Lullaby had been excavating tunnels all around wonderland, setting out underground or secret facilities and connecting everything with electric trains for transportation of goods and persons, all silently and efficiently.

This new terminal was going to be a big one that would connect various areas and different tunnel lines and would provide a better and faster way to distribute goods to the central and control the food markets in clover. They already had bought as much as they could of the production methods but now were concentrating in controlling the distribution chains of everything.

"Welcome to one of my newest terminals." Aria proclaimed, personally having come to greet them to a huge, almost massive, underground train terminal that could have looked more like a fancy mall or hotel. "I'm going to put those engineer skills to use, Jackie." She smiled. "I want you to check the control panels and revise the general installations for any safety or connectivity issues on the transport and supply lines. Also write down any ideas you may get. This place can still be modified and we have set it so if needed it can be expanded in the future, but for now it's yours to check today."

"Yeah, sounds good." Jackie said with a frown, wanting to just work away her stress. "But I do want to request that while I'm here I have a different bodyguard so I can work in peace."

"Denied." Aria immediately said with a commanding voice before making her tone more afable. "Fiore is a top and highly skilled operative. He is here to protect you, not assist you or work in your job." She looked at Fiore, he had been very quiet instead of his happy flirty self and right now he had his ears moving around all unsure. "And he cna do the job all too well."

"Oh come on, Aria! Fiore has been a prick all morning and it will be a distraction to my work." Jackie huffed.

Fiore didn't bother speaking to her, he was instead looking at Aria, his tail wagging a couple times timidly as he ignored Jackie. He desperately wanted his leader to pet his ears, but there was no way he could ask for something like that, so he contented with the praise of her words.

Jackie glared over at Fiore in annoyance, noticing his attentive stare towards his precious Aria. Jackie's expression further soured before looking back to Aria. "I want a different bodyguard; seriously, anyone would do."

"Well, I did told you to not eat anything that trigger the side effects." Aria shrugged before giving Jackie's shoulder's a playful smack as she walked pass. "See ya later. Enjoy."

"Well, don't you want to experiment on him or something while he's under the influence of the drug?" Jackie suggested, desperate to get rid of Fiore for a few hours so she could calm down.

"I'm doing it already." Aria waved, walking away. "Just focus on your work and he'll focus on his."

Fiore turned around looking Aria walk away, half raising his hand as if he had wanted to wave but lost the courage for it, his ears were down, his tail still stiff.

Jackie could feel a vein of anger pop in her head as she began heading to the panels Aria wanted her to check out.

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Fiore silently stood outside the room where Jackie was working with his ears pulled back in annoyance. That breakfast Pretzel attempted to make him really was horrendous. He didn't think she was such an awful cook; which he supposed was fine. She had other redeeming qualities - though few in number - which made up for her lack in cooking ability. He huffed, still feeling annoyed he could not have any of his precious coffee in the morning and that Donut left him alone to wake up by himself that morning. She was being impossibly rude.

"May you come with me for a moment?" from the shadows raised a black long legged feline that barely resembled a cheetah.

Fiore was surprised by the meeting. Not only had the lady ahd come in person to greet them but he was being addressed personally by Lady's A … assistant creature and her own shadow. Many rumors ran around about it but everyone was just sure that this was called 'Aegis' and that it was far more than Lady Aria's avatar. He immediately nodded and followed it outside of the room, shutting the door behind himself and prepared to hear orders from Lady Aria herself.

"May I ask what is the matter between you and the third foreigner?" Aegis questioned, tilting its head. "Is this a new side effect of the drug? I assume that if that is the case you would have eaten some food. Do you remember what it was or the ingredients?"

Fiore paused, a bit surprised. "That can cause a side effect?" He asked, "the only thing I had was some very bland eggs this morning. I believe it had only salt and pepper on it." He explained, feeling his stomach hungrily twisting but he kept it quiet - he was not to eat without Lady Aria's say so.

"I see." The creature nodded, twisting its tail in impossibly geometric ways. "Then I assume the salt and peppers could have trigger it. I assume the side effects also had the unfortunate characteristic of not only forcing a different humor, but to change your focus and attention." Aegis looked up. "It seems you didn't notice how you upset the third foreigner."

"Upset her? I would never do something like that." Fiore frowned. "Donut was in a rather sour mood this morning, though."

"Was she? Jackeline Penske would not right up ask Aria to change her scort that blatantly if she wasn't greatly upsetted. I will have to go ask her about other side effects, so please wait here for at least 10 minutes while I interrogate her." Aegis then melted into inky darkness that flopped to the ground and scurried away back in the room, leaving Fiore alone.

Fiore stood frozen on the spot, speechless. He had upset his licorice this morning? It was very possible the salt or pepper affected him negatively. His eyes grew wide as his ears pulled back in horror, recalling her being so upset. Was he rude to her? He must have been. Even after she had cleaned up his apartment and even cooked him breakfast as well! Fiore's jaw dropped, stunned that he had been so rude to a beautiful woman he had spent the night making love to. He stood frozen in place, not daring to move a muscle while stewing in his own thoughts over his horrendous behavior.

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"Greetings." Aegis popped out of the floor in front of Jackie taking the form of a deer, giving the third foreigner a small heart attack.

"Aegis." Jackie shakily exhaled, setting a hand over her chest. "Please don't pop up out of nowhere like that, you'll give me a heart attack one of these days." Jackie huffed.

Aegis tilted his head forward. "I didn't pop out of nowhere. I meshed this form from the ground up." He then became a monkey and jumped on her shoulders. "I thought that form would be more affable looking for you."

Jackie heavily sighed, rubbing her head in annoyance. All that blood rushing to her head from the near uncontrollable rage she felt towards Fiore had given her a headache. Aegis was the last person she wanted to talk to. "What does Aria want?" Jackie asked, looking around for the panels.

"My owner wants to salvage whatever she can from her world, she wants to improve this world and currently she probably wants a coffee and a foot massage accompanied by a back rub." The monkey began massaging Jackie's head in an attempt to be 'friendly'. "She wants mildly other many things too, but it would take a long time to name them."

"Aegis, why are you coming to visit me? I have a headache so please be curt." Jackie tried to politely ask while continuing to walk around and look for the various panels.

"Oh, I wanted to ask you if you or Fiore ate anything that could trigger the side effects. It seems salt and pepper cause grumpiness at least." He grew more arms and massaged her head in more spots with all the tiny monkey hands.

Jackie paused. That might explain why he was so awful that morning; not having coffee and … the eggs? She frowned. She was hoping the bland taste wouldn't do anything to him but maybe that was what was wrong with him. "Yeah, it was probably the eggs I made him. The awful, horrible eggs." Jackie growled in annoyance.

"Were they that awful?"Aegis asked, continuing his massage and extending it to her shoulders.

"I don't know, ask Fiore; I made him breakfast this morning and he decided to act all pissed off. It's not like we could have had much at all, that prick! I mean for hell's sake, I made it bland in the hopes it wouldn't trigger a side effect but then Mr. grumpy ass needed to get all pissed off!" Jackie angrily shouted, smacking the wall in her anger.

"Mhh … according to my files you two had a rough night. He is also known to be in a bad mood if he wakes up alone after having spend the night with someone. Coffee could be a factor too. Or perhaps he was bothered you tried to cook something when you are a highly praised guest in his house. As a professional chef he probably feels obligues to cook for you, but of course the situation is quite frustrating for him. Was there anything else? I need to know for the general analysis."

"Just the eggs with the salt and pepper on them. He only mentioned how awful the eggs were. I doubt he even noticed I did some cleaning and washed the sheets either, the prick." Jackie growled.

"Did he said the word 'awful'?" Aegis asked. "He isn't known to ever even speak nastily to any female, so if he did then there might be something else to worry about. If you think that is the case then I can take him to the lab and vivisect him to revise if there are other changes."

"No no, there's no need for that." She heavily sighed in annoyance. She really wasn't in the mood to deal with Aegis.

"Then may I ask if you recently changed gender? Fiore never speaks rudely to females, but he can be taunting to other males. Some bravado thing." He inherited from Aria's … family I suppose."

"No, no change in gender, obviously. You know that." Jackie growled.

"Just let me check." He said, making a few inky tentacles slide down under her clothes to revise, making her jolt and squirm. "It seems you are still female indeed."

"UGH! Aegis, stop. You're being annoying." Jackie growled, pulling out the crap he slipped under her shirt and tossing them back at him.

"How am I annoying? That's a strange concept and I have been unable to define it properly given that descriptions of it are based on self impressions from different subjects." He jumped away, becoming a crane. "Well, this confirms that some external factor affected him. But I assume he'll be back to his normal self as soon as the effects pass."

"I hope so. He's been an asshole today."

"And have your own behavior changed? Would you consider yourself to have been an asshole today too? Or was it only on his part." Aegis asked, taking notes on this data.

"I was being a jerk back to him in response to him being a complete jerk," Jackie explained, "not that it helped but I wasn't about to take him being so rude to me without snapping back at him."

"Oh, it seems the effects have passed on him and he'll be coming back in." Aegis looked at the door. "I'll go report this data to the researchers. Have a good day." And with that he disappeared in the shadows again.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jackie asked but met no response.

The door suddenly burst open as Fiore stood there in a flustered mess before leaping over to Jackie and immediately pulling her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, my adorable Muffin! I never meant to be mean!" He cried, pulling his ears back and kissing her on the forehead.

"Drugged or not, you were an asshole." Jackie growled in annoyance.

"I know, I know my Dumpling and I'm so sorry! I would never be that rude to a lover!" Fiore cried, trying to cuddle up to her but she kept pushing his face away. Unrelenting, he still held her close, "please forgive me!"

"Off!" Jackie snapped in annoyance, staring at his eyeless face. If he had eyes she was sure he'd be giving her the puppy eyes to try and plead for her forgiveness. It was a good thing he didn't or else she might have relented. "I'm still pissed!"

"What can I do to make you not pissed? I promise I'll prepare you the most delicious of treats once the effects pass. And your eggs were bland but edible and not terrible, but you are guest. I can't have you working. Let me smooch you! And thank you for the sheets too, you really didn't have to." He cried desperately.

"They were bland for a reason! I thought salt and pepper might be ok since those were the most bland things I could think of!" She snapped at him, "and did you even notice that I cleaned up the apartment too?!" She growled, glaring at him, "and yeah, of course I washed the sheets, they were filthy! I didn't want you waking up to filthy sheets!" She angrily ranted, her face turning a bright red in embarrassment.

"Of course I noticed. The entire apartment smelled wonderfully like you! Tomorrow let's wake up in a hug, dirty blankets or not, then we can take a bath together and then I'll prepare some bland but not tasteless breakfast, maybe a mix of mushrooms broiled with vapor. Not salted or with pepper." He rubbed his cheek on hers.

Jackie stopped trying to push him away, instead somewhat enjoying the embrace of the hug as she glanced away from him. All of that actually did not sound too bad. "That … s-sounds nice." Jackie admitted before stiffening up and realizing she said that out loud.

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, his tail wagging a lot.

"B-Bu-but first I need to finish my work here," Jackie mumbled before, after glancing around to make sure Aegis wasn't there, she hugged him back and enjoyed the warmth of his arms. She had to admit she was starting to get addicted to his hugs - something she was greatly deprived of when she was little.

"Ok." He kissed her other cheek. "I'll be around while you work."

"Yeah," Jackie said, hesitating. She wanted to kiss him back but chickened out, lightly tightening the hug before letting him go.

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First day working in one of Aria's secret bases, Jackie felt almost … dirty. As if she was doing something super secretive which made Jackie a little uneasy. Normally she was out in the open walking around and fixing stuff but now she was tucked away underground working in a secret facility, working on the subway system in a place that was somehow as big as a grand central station and that was only for this base. Yup … definitely weirdly dirty and sketchy.

Jackie took a look inside some of the panels seeing that the wiring was looking pretty good but organized in a bit of a weird way. She let it go, continuing to work as she found herself thinking about Fiore. That dumb dog ... he was so rude earlier but after a hug and some kisses Jackie had to admit she felt a little better. She nervously frowned, trying not to think about the situation she was in regarding that adorable faceless. With a frown she shook her head to try and clear her thoughts as she tried to think of something else.

The underground part of the Amusement Park had been definitely something to get excited about, but this place was pretty amazing. She was fascinated that there was a whole other park just under her feet in Clover Country and she was determined to make the most of it while she was there. Aria had mentioned she had been the one to expand all the service corridors and worked on the general designs of that park, which probably gave her far more experience to develop her bases. Jackie was really curious of course but at the very least once the stupid effects of that drug ended and she returned to the Amusement Park, she planned on burying herself in the work there and forgetting all of her troubles.

While checking the boards and circuits under the main panel, a flurry of wings made her head snap up and spot a pigeon that flew into the room flying in a frantic circle before perching on one of the upper bars. The young engineer stared at it, watching it walk around while bobbing its head in confusion.

"Well good job, now you're stuck." Jackie sighed, glancing over at the door in annoyance. Well that's just great, a pigeon was now in here. She crouched down before leaping up, slapping her hands together and startling the bird into taking flight, landing on another nearby set of metal beams on the ceiling; deeper into the room. "No, go the other way!" Jackie shouted, running to the other side and repeating the same motion. This time, however, the stupid bird merely hopped away, continuing to walk around while turning around in circles, looking for a way out. Well great, now it's figured out that she can't reach it.

She contemplated on what to do, thinking of asking someone for help but knowing that any of the other workers would just shoot the bird and call it good. With a frown she stared up at it, her eyes softening. With all the death that's so common around here the least she could do was spare the life of a stupid bird that flew in here. Jackie heavily sighed, thinking of the utility closet not far from here before turning to leave, finding Fiore walking in with a smile.

"Hello, sugar bun!" Fiore happily greeted her while wagging his tail at her sight. "What's your verdict so far?" He asked, glancing up at the pigeon inside the room. "I wonder how that bird came in here."

"Well, uh, everything is working fine but I need to finish checking the wires to make sure everything is connected where it's supposed to be before you do guys anything with the software. But first I need to go and find a broom or some kind of long pole." Jackie said, looking up at the pigeon with an annoyed grimace.

"I can kill it. That will be faster and then we can go have a nice break in private." Fiore smiled as he took out a pistol from his jacket pocket.

"No, don't." Jackie said, gently grabbing the nozzle and pointing it down. "With all the common death in Wonderland the least I can do is spare a little pigeon, even if it is stupid. I want to go ahead and put it outside." Jackie said, turning to leave, "I'll be right back; do not kill it." Jackie growled, glancing up at the colorful pigeon before leaving.

Fiore watched her leave before looking up at the pigeon in thought. The faster it was caught the sooner they could spend some more time together. "Alright … I guess I can catch it." He looked at the place. It would be easier to catch it in his other form, plus it would be nice practice. Figuring he'd catch the bird before anyone came in, he closed the door and then in a puff of smoke he shifted into a maned wolf as his clothes too changed with him. Now he looked like what he was, a canine standing 1.5 meters tall from the floor to the tip of the long reddish ears that had a gray outline and a white inside. It looked sort of like a long-legged fox, with a reddish-brown coat and a blackmane along its back. His throat and tip of his tail were white and his legs were mostly dark.

His ears twitched and moved as he located the pigeon. Once the bird was in his sight, he pounced. The bird tried to fly away in another direction but Fiore's long neck turned and his snout closed on the bird with enough force to keep it trapped and although it was struggling, it was perfectly alive.

"Hey, I got some brooms," Jackie said, opening the door and freezing part way in, spotting a medium animal in clothes in the center of the room. The canine's long ears perked in her direction as he whipped around, startled as his jaw opened in shock. The pigeon immediately leapt for freedom, taking off in flight and out the door past Jackie as she stared at him, knowing it had to be Fiore.

The canine's ears dropped over his skull and his fluffy but short tail tucked between his legs, he then stood still an entire second in shock before changing back to a human form with a light blush. "Mmmhhh, oohh … Jackie … you should have knocked before coming in." His ears were still casted down and his tail was still between his legs, making him look startled and embarrassed as few had ever seen him.

"Fiore, I didn't know you had an animal form." Jackie said, her eyes shining with excitement as she did her best to mute it, "can you change back?" She asked, setting the brooms aside.

"Yeah, I have one and no." He actually looked insecure. Surely she wanted to check out how weird his animal form was and then she would compare him to other canines and then make fun of him, which would blow up all their progress so far.

"Please?" Jackie asked, struggling to contain herself.

"Promise not to laugh or anything like that?" He asked cautiously and out of character.

"I promise." She said, standing in front of him and eagerly looking up at him.

He sighed "Alright, but remember you promised. And you owe me a date afterwards." A new puff of smoke and next, standing in the same place, was a maned wolf.

Jackie walked over to him, cupping his face as she immediately began to pet him. "You're so cute! What kind of dog are you? Or are you some kind of fox? I don't think you've ever specified what you are." Jackie said, her eyes glittering brightly in excitement as her roaming hands scratched and pet down and around his neck, stopping around the rim of his collar before she hugged him. Her hands never stopped for an instant, moving over his back and slipping under is shirt to pet his fluffy back while her other hand worked on his ears. "If I knew you had an animal form I would have asked to pet you before," Jackie eagerly grinned while trying to unbutton his shirt to pet his belly.

"Mmh ... you don't think I look weird?" The reddish canine asked, not really resisting the petting but was startled by the sudden invasion of privacy; not that he minded.

"Are you kidding? You look adorable! So cute!" Jackie gushed, opening up his shirt and unbuckling his pants a bit before rubbing at his belly and ear at the same time.

"You think I'm adorable?" Fiore gave her a lick on the cheek and winked before laying on his side and letting her have her way with him. "Ever seen something like me?"

"Yes, you are very cute. And no I can't say that I have." Jackie grinned and slipped his pants off, making Fiore jump a bit as she reached around him and scratched at the base of his spine and hips before grabbing the base of his shirt and pulling it off and over his head, "your clothes are in the way; now let me pet you." Jackie said, rubbing her hands up and down his body.

Fiore panted, his tail wagging wildly as her hands combed through his fluffy fur and vigorously and thoroughly pet him. His head spun as he leaned against her, whining for more. He could hardly believe that she was actually petting him. Most people did not like his animal form at all. No matter what form he was in he was still called strange looking, but in his animal form he was considered almost a nuisance for his strangely long legs, short tail and big ears. Everyone called him a fox instead of a wolf but Lady A taught him what he really was and how rare he was. She had even pet him and help him get trained, the Berceuse liking him quite a bit. However it did not change how people looked at him outside of the Lullaby, so he was still self conscious of his animal form. B-But now … his head was growing dizzy as he laid on his back, letting her thoroughly drag her fingers through his fur in a massaging manner.

"I'm surprised your legs are so long; I've never seen a wolf looking like you before." Jackie mentioned, sliding her hands up his black forelegs, making him stretch out his legs for her to compare sizes before she returned to his head, petting his neck and chest while pulling and squishing his paws.

"I'm quite unique." That of course wasn't necessarily good but at the moment he didn't care; she was grabbing his paws and playing with them, making him roll around on his back while his tail swept the floor.

"And very, very cute." Jackie grinned, rubbing his chest and neck while he partially laid on her lap, his tongue lolling out before she kissed his snout, surprising him as she pet his shoulders little harder in a very pleasurable way.

Trapped in his pleasure, he did not even notice the taps of feet heading towards the control room.

"Fiore, I need you to check over the programming for the," the faceless worker started she stopped at the open doorway, looking quite surprised, "oh! Jackie, what is that?!" The woman cried, taking a retreating step back in surprise.

Fiore's dreamland was over and with a puff of smoke he changed back into his human form, naked and blushing, tail between his legs and ears down as he laid on Jackie's lap. Jackie immediately looked away, having a very sudden remembrance that the wolf she was petting was the same guy she slept with. "We are having a moment here if you don't mind and even if you do," he growled, "just check the setting of the circuits orders for the light programming. It's all present already." Trying to salvage things, Fiore said as if nothing was weird.

"O-Oh, ah, alright." The woman said as she quickly looked away, looking more troubled than embarrassed. "I didn't know your other form looked like that." She said but didn't comment further before turning around to go check stuff somewhere else.

"Why don't you continue petting me, I'm still cute." He winked at Jackie, trying to get his sexy on even though the moment was dead and gone.

"No, she's right. We should get back to work." Jackie teased, pulling on his ear before getting up and looking away. In her excitement of petting an adorable and fluffy animal she 'forgot' that taking off his clothes was like taking his clothes off as if he were human too, "uh … sorry for taking off your clothes. Animals with clothes on bug me and I think they're cuter without and easier to pet." Jackie admitted, feeling sheepish now as she blushed in embarrassment.

He tilted his head, looking quite happy still, "I am me no matter the form. And yeah, it bugs you so much that you forcibly undress me quite often to get action." However he stood up and got dressed, lightly blushing as his tail wagged. "You really think I'm cute in that form?"

"Well, sorry for taking off your clothes like that; I'll try to restrain myself next time." Jackie said, looking off in embarrassment at her own actions, "and yes, you are very, very cute as a dog. Could I pet you again sometime?" Jackie asked, if not almost begged. She was very eager to pet him again, so much so she ignored her embarrassment for ripping off his clothes … again.

"I like a cute girl all over me. And of course you can pet me, in any form … in fact, in both." He winked at her. "But really. Don't you think I'm a bit weird?"

"Why do you keep asking? I already told you that your dog form is adorable." Jackie grinned, wanting to pet him some more but knowing she really did have to get back to work.

He didn't exactly like that she called him a dog but he very much liked that for once someone liked his other form right away. "Alright, let's get back to work. You owe me a date for rap-making love to me, and then we can go home and you can pet me all you want there and ra-make love to me again."

"Whoa, wait, a date?" Jackie asked, putting on the breaks in surprise. She was a little taken aback at the thought of a date, lightly blushing.

Fiore smiled and found her blushing reacting cute on itself for her. "Of course. You promised a date if I changed for you, I did and we are going out after work today." He got close and leaned forward to gave her a small lick kiss on the cheek.

" … yeah, sure." Jackie said, looking a little unsure of what to do with herself.

"Well, I better go check that about the programs. See you when the time change ends." He leaned forward again, giving her a small, normal kiss on the cheek before walking away.

Jackie lightly blushed, seeing him leaving and watching his tail wildly wagging in excitement before she lightly smiled. Well, going on a date should be fun.

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In a dark meeting room Aria was at the head and center of a long round table surrounded by finely dressed men and women. All of them looked serious as they looked to the foreigner to lead this important meeting that could alter the fate of the Lullaby.

"As you know, the third foreigner has been afflicted by a drug which has no name yet but the effects are as follows; when the affected drinks alcohol or coffee it acts as a potent aphrodisiac and for the next few days the effects of any of the spices, such as sweet, sour or salty, provide different effects on the body. Currently she is residing with one of our own members," Aria smiled. "All circumstances are in our favor for her to choose Fiore Rico Barone Cerqueira as the winner of her game."

The secretary nodded before standing up. "We are now going to list the pros and cons of whether or not we the Lullaby will endorse this arrangement with the pros presented by Tania and the cons by Jude." She spoke up.

"I'll start with the positive outcomes of this situation." A tan skinned woman stood up, turning on her pointer the board on the wall across the table. "For starters, a foreigner choosing one of our members would secure a constant mana supply to complement Lady A's efforts, and that is energy we can use to increase our power, strengthen our soldiers, enhance our weapons, and further our researches and projects. Which also means that such added power will be unavailable to the holder's territories, furthering our expansion goals. On a second note, I would like to point out that her presence in our mists, as a friend of Lady A, would provide a high morale boost for all our members." She said, directing a discrete gaze towards Aria herself. "And it would allow us to record the effects of her proximity to a faceless and compare the data to what we've seen so far." She looked at everyone. "There is also the future potential of adding members to our ranks that do not depend on recruiting or on clock's repaired." Then she changed the topic somewhat. "Her skills as an engineer are also of use to us." She then sat down.

The secretary stood up. "Your turn Jude." she then sat down and the presentation on the background added the list of the cons.

A man young stood, "I won't deny that the extra mana is quite tempting, more so if it's denied to our adversaries, but that is part of the problem. They are already on our Lady's hunt and probably looking for the third foreigner. By taking her we would be drawing their attention to us even more , and were she captured… she already knows too much about our bases and systems. If she were to get involved with one of our own then she or Fiore could be coerced. The third foreigner is not a safe asset either and would require us to divert more resources towards her security and handling expenses." He then crossed his arms. "And although I don't doubt Fiore's loyalty to our Lady, I can't predict the outcome if he were put into a position to chose. Fiore isn't exactly the best operative for a planned seduction. He lacks the manipulative nature needed to conduct such." He then sat down.

After those declarations the members on the board began discussing each point until they decided it was time to vote. Each one casting their opinion and their vote until all the faceless had spoken.

"The votes of those here have been taken into account. What do you vote, my lady?" A young woman asked as everyone in the room turned to Aria for her answer.

Arai remained quiet for a moment before she looked up and spoke. "I just want to remind everyone that regardless of what we vote, if Jackie chooses Fiore her decision will settle the games." She made a pause. "As her friend, my vote should not count, but as the Berceuse, I vote in favor. We can manage the risks and the rewards are too useful to ignore and align perfectly with our plans."

"Then it is settled." The secretary clapped and everyone nodded. "Is there any suggestion as to how we should proceed?"

Aria tapped her pen on the table and everyone remained silent.

"We need to start by conquer a territory in order to get the legislation power to give legal reassurance to Jackie's marriage and the easiest territory would be the clock tower. We have already taken unofficial control of the majority of the area but I say it's time we fully make it ours. The time master won't even notice. He rarely ever gets out of his tower or his duties, and we can just kill him if needed, in which case the knight can be mislead to think it was the hatters." She said with some distaste.

"They are aware of Lady Aria's presence but as long as they don't remember anything, things should progress smoothly. It's better to keep them alive because the Lullaby has a knowledge advantage over them." Tania, the woman that had given the pro's spoke and most everyone nodded again while only so few voiced their desires to kill the holders.

"And what should we do about the Amusement Park? The third foreigner had previously chosen it as residence." Someone said.

Aria shrugged. "We will destabilize the place in order to distract Gowland for long enough and I'll make sure Jackie moves to our domains. She isn't the star or the game so they will easily forget about her presence."

"I propose that once we have legal control of Clock tower as an independent autonomous territory we can move to a phase 2: getting the 3rd foreigner and Fiore closer together through various activities." A younger woman said eagerly. "Walks in the parks, shopping, swimming … we could come up with many activities and integrate them in our vacations portfolios."

"The 3d foreigner is a real glutton so whatever activity they do, good food is an absolute must, specially sweets." Aria said. "But that might be planning to much. I say we first see how the situation develops and intervene only when needed."

"I'll make sure to create a Jackie-fund for events." Jude said, mentally planning how to accommodate this in their general budgets.

"I'll make sure she and Fiore are included into our communities activities." Tania called out.

"And let's consider I'll be hiring her officially as engineer." Aria approved. "Also let's plan general attacks on all territories to distract the holders. Maybe we can use the Jeralds for this. I'm sure they wouldn't mind attack holder's businesses or creating general mayhem for them and even more indiscriminate attacks."

"And we will also assign more guards to follow both Jackie and Fiore around to make sure Role Holders don't interrupt them." The secretary accomodated her papers, getting to planning.

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With a tired sigh the Warden proceeded to walk his usual rounds, not finding anything too out of the ordinary as per usual.

Not long he began noticing some bars cut to pieces, likely with a big blade. "That damn knight, what the fuck," Black hissed under his breath, following the trail of cut up bars to find a big mess of bloody clocks all down a hallway. "Oh for fuck's sake." Black heavily sighed in annoyance, following the bloody trail.

Black followed the trail all the way into the medical room, finding Ace sitting in the room and staring rather blankly at a wall. The Warden stepped inside with a pissed off snarl, "get your ass back to work, Ace. Stop slacking off."

"But I already finished my job for today, boss." Ace replied, not moving his gaze from the wall.

"By killing everything in the East hall? Bullshit, that was a fucking slaughter, not doing your job." Black growled at the psychotic knight.

"Isn't it the same?" The executioner retorted. "I also did the ones from the West wing too, so the job is done."

Black heavily sighed in annoyance, "go clean up your fucking mess, knight. Don't leave a job half assed! And why the fuck are you in the medical bay?" He demanded in annoyance.

"It'll clean itself anyways. And then I'll just get the clocks." Ace shrugged, stretching himself while holding a pink booklet in his right hand. "However … I was exploring around and found a nice supply of little pink books that turned out to be some very romantic novels. And you wouldn't believe it, but this one is about some knight that always gets lost and a mysterious second foreigner." He grinned. "I was looking for a nice place to sit down and read and I wandered into the medical ward and I then wondered, why does the prison have a medical ward? I don't remember it being here when Alice came around."

"I like to fuck with cretin's minds, you fucking cretin," Black sadistically smirked, "besides, I don't want some of the trash dying so quickly. And put that shit down, those are my novels!" Black stared at the knight, annoyed that the moron was beginning to ask questions.

"Is that it? I was pretty sure you were quite capable of keeping prisoners alive." Ace pondered, looking around. He then scratched his chin, agitating the glaringly pink fantasy romance novel. "Who would have thought Mr. Joker liked this?"

"Fuck you for judging my hobbies, knight." Black snapped at him. "What I do on my own time is my own fucking business."

"So maybe Mr. joker fantasizes with me?" Ace grinned. "You could have told me and we could have some extras hours fun, boss. I know I look really good in this uniform, don't I?"

"Stop fucking around, Ace." Black angrily snapped at him.

"Could it be that you'd prefer if I fuck with you, boss?" Ace laughed, fanning himself with the glaringly pink book.

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Ace. Get the FUCK out of my prison!" Black loudly barked at the knight with a vein popping in his head. A vein popped in Black's eye, making the beginning of a red mark in his eye out of sheer anger.

"Awe, don't be shy, boss." Ace dramatically sighed. "I'm genuinely flattered but sorry, at the moment I would be more interested in a woman, preferently with big boobs and maybe some sexy tattoo, perhaps in her back, hmmm?" The executioner chuckled. "Maybe this novel is making remember me some fantasy. Or maybe it's just some memory loss. I'm sure it will improve, right?"

"Give me that, you moron!" Black angrily snapped at the knight and snatched the novel back from the idiot knight. "And since you want to fantasize so fucking much, why not fantasize about your fate, huh, Ace, you fucking FUCK!" Black murderously shouted at him.

"Can't remember that being a problem before either." Ace pawed at the novel, grinning.

"Youa rent only lost, you are also losing brain cells. Get the fuck out of my Prison if you're done here." Black growled. "And don't fuck around in this part of the Prison!"

"Fine, fine, boss." Ace yawned. "But this time is not that simple, is it? Maybe I'm looking for something … , or perhaps I should wait for that fantasy woman to appear. I think she'd liked to hang around this place." the knight said before he stood up and left the medical room.

Black's eyes narrowed after him, disliking how he was hanging out in the medical ward. He was acting more creepy than usual. Black angrily gnashed his teeth, glancing into a nearby mirror and seeing that a vein in his eye had popped, leaving a red spot on his eye. "Fucking dammit." He hissed, rubbing his aching eye.

"You screamed so loud you popped a vein in your eye!" White laughed, coming in and checking out the eye.

"Fuck off, asshole!" Black angrily shouted at the idiot Jester.

"You need to calm down or else you might pop another one. Maybe you should cuddle with Aria to help calm down. All that delicious mana might even make your popped vein heal faster." White laughed.

"Go fucking kill yourself." Black sneered as he left the room, locking up the room and continuing his rounds while trying to cool off his temper.

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Someone needed a break from Musume XD enjoy the chapter, and the updated 1-3 chapters too! We made some minor changes ;3 5 REVIEWS for the next chapter!

Chaos: Yeah. No real note from me this this, I think I have some burnout.