Reaching Nerissa's door, Hercules knocked with some trepidation.
"Hercules?" he heard her ask from inside.
"It's me," he responded.
"Well hurry in then, it feels like I've been waiting forever."
She had barely been waiting five minutes, but Hercules held his tongue. Stepping inside, he quickly shut the door upon seeing Nerissa.
"Uhhh, what are you…wearing?" he questioned, trying to look away but failing as the young woman sauntered up to him.
She smiled as she leaned past him to lock the door from the inside.
"Something comfortable. Do you like it? It looks rather good on me, doesn't it? Like mother like daughter, no?"
Hercules couldn't deny that as Nerissa had changed into an outfit that looked exactly like her mother's usual choice. Despite the sheer, Hercules could clearly see the skimpy signature wear of Aphrodite, only in light blue. Hercules gaped at her.
"You…I…"
Nerissa giggled, amused.
"Aw, you're speechless. That speaks for itself. Come, let's sit."
Hercules reluctantly let her pull him further into the room. He stopped in the middle, though, as it became obvious she was aiming for the bed.
"Maybe here is good," Hercules said, pointing at the sitting table.
The female sighed deeply but let him do as he wished. She sat down on the closest cushion so that she could press herself against his side. She looked up at him expectantly.
"Well, you mentioned something about talking. So, tell me…what would you like to talk about?"
Hercules ran a hand through his hair as he thought.
"Uh, well, what did you think of today's lessons? Pretty interesting, right?"
Nerissa shook her head as she slid one of her hands down his thigh.
"No, not really."
Hercules moved her hand back to her lap.
"What?! But I mean, Fiducius was far more engaging that usual. He-"
"Hercules, you should kiss me."
Stunned by such an abrupt declaration, Hercules didn't know how to respond. His hesitation was enough time for Nerissa to pull him off balance. Not quite sure how it happened, he found himself hovering over the girl as she lay against the rug. Her arms snaked around his neck, attempting to pull him down. Hercules, refusing lean down any further, swiftly rolled off of her as she lifted upwards to kiss him. Unfortunately, this only resulted in her rolling on top of him. The girl smirked and leaned over him, so her breasts took up his vision.
"I don't mind if you want to play hard to get, but if you keep it up I'll start to think you don't want me."
Unsure how to respond to her comment, Hercules just slid himself out from under her. He suddenly struck upon an idea. While not his usual friend, Hercules understood that she was manageable when it came to deals. He could use that to his advantage.
"Nerissa…how…how about we play a game?"
This caught her attention.
"A game? What kind of game?"
Hercules considered how best to explain. He stood up and pulled Nerissa to her feet. Once she was standing, he crossed his arms.
"How about a game of requests? One person makes a request, then the other makes an alternative request in honor of that deal. I'll start! My request is that we do not kiss, no lip contact at all, until after sunrise tomorrow."
Nerissa's lips pursed in annoyance.
"And I should agree to this because…?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Because you get to ask me for anything else in return for keeping that request for me!"
He wasn't sure this tactic would necessarily work. Nerissa's one goal due to this spell was to kiss someone and make them fall in love with her. He was attempting to nix that scenario completely based on the hope that she'd stay honest to her word if there was another deal on the table in her favor. Nerissa hummed to herself in thought as she moved to sit on her bed.
"How many deals are we making?" she asked.
"Er, how about three?"
Nerissa crossed her legs from her seat and stared a hole into Hercules's head.
"And I can make any request?" she mused.
"Within reason. There are a number of things that I might feel highly uncomfortable with."
"An example being…?"
Hercules felt the blood rush to his face. He coughed into his hand.
"I'm sure that you could think of a few."
Nerissa gave a derisive laugh and rolled her eyes.
"Why would I blatantly ask you for those things anyway? It's much more fun when they happen on their own, Hercules. Silly boy."
Once again, he felt like he was somehow in the presence of Aphrodite as she talked like that, not his friend. Nerissa sighed and lay on her side, causing Hercules to look away from her again. She was still trying to tempt him, and it wasn't completely failing to work.
"Oh, fine!" she exclaimed, "I'll play your little game. No kissing or other mouth to mouth contact. But, if you don't agree to this request, I'm ignoring yours. And our rules now include that you cannot undo another individual's request with your own. Not only that, but you must comply immediately. Deal?"
Hercules nodded despite feeling like a rock fell into his stomach. Nerissa's smirk was too mischievous for whatever she had come up with to be good for his friendship with Nerissa living past tomorrow. She beckoned him over with a finger. He slowly made his way to her, stopping a foot away from the bed. She laughed at him softly.
"So shy. I've accepted your terms, now come closer to hear what I want."
With a deep sigh for the hundredth time that day, Hercules stepped up against the bed as she sat up to kneel on the bed. As she looked him in the eyes, Hercules searched for any sign of Nerissa. These were her eyes, but the confidence glowing from them was not her own.
"My first request…" she began slowly," …is that you are shirtless."
His brows furrowed in surprise.
"That's your first request? You've already seen me-"
"Yes, that is my first request," she cut him off, "Now take it off."
Hercules readily complied, as that at least meant he didn't have to worry about her kissing him. At least he hoped. Once he had placed his shirt on the room's center table, she moved back over to her.
"Done."
The young woman looked quite pleased with herself.
"Okay, now what is your second request, Hercules?"
He considered all the things that he'd felt most uncomfortable with all day until he came up with one. His mind went back to all his classes where he needed to keep pushing her hands away from under the tables.
"No touching me below the waist till sunrise tomorrow."
Nerissa rolled her eyes at him.
"Is everything until tomorrow after sunrise with you?"
He grinned at her.
"Maybe."
Shrugging, Nerissa gazed up at him. She'd already planned what she was going to ask.
"I want you to give me a love bite, right here on my neck."
Hercules's jaw dropped in shock.
"You want me to-"
"I wasn't done! You can't just do it just standing here. You must get me into it, so it feels more spontaneous. Like you really want to show the world I'm yours. Bo-dy con-tact!"
She sang that last part, emphasizing each syllable. That was it. Jason was going to kill him tomorrow along with Nerissa. Jason would take one look at a mark like that on her neck and think he'd forced himself on her.
"I-I've never done that…so I don't know-"
"I can show you!"
"NO! No, that is really okay," Hercules quickly responded, holding the girl back," Just…explain it?"
Nerissa crossed her arms in front of her.
"Calm down, Herc. I won't leave a mark, but it is much easier if I show you. You start with finding a nice tender spot on the individual, suck there, and it helps later to use your teeth just a little bit. Hence why it is called a love 'bite.'"
Against his better judgement, Hercules let her put a hand on his shoulder before she lowered her lips to his neck. He inhaled quickly at the new sensation of lips on his neck. It tickled, so he did his best not to squirm out of her grasp. Her lips moved to different spots on his neck until Hercules couldn't help but tilt his head upward with a sigh. She'd found a spot that felt different to him. He felt the change as she began sucking there. It all lasted a minute before she pulled away. She gave him a charming smile.
"That's just a little bit of what you do. I'm sure you'll figure it out. Just try not to draw blood, that means you're doing it wrong."
Hercules made a face at her teasing.
"Ha ha."
Nerissa lay down on her back, tugging Hercules to join her. He kept reminding himself that there were only about three more hours left of this. If he made his last request count, he might make it out of this with fewer issues. He knew he'd be apologizing to Nerissa for the next year if she ever chose to speak to him again. Hercules moved himself to lie on top of Nerissa, his elbows propping him up. He grunted in surprised as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him down a bit.
"Relax," she cooed, rubbing her hands along his shoulders to his back," You're so tense. Just have a little fun with it. I can already feel that you're excited. Did the outfit do it or the proximity?"
Hercules bit his lip and turned away from her.
"Can we not talk about that, huh? Let me focus on your request."
Leaning his head down, the son of Zeus closed his eyes as he pressed his lips against Nerissa's neck. He felt her laugh softly at the sensation. His heart racing, he adjusted to a more comfortable position. As Nerissa allowed him access to her neck, he put his fingers in her hair to keep her head steady. Placing his weight on his right elbow, he began leaving butterfly kisses along her neck. Finding a spot that made her moan out softly, Hercules pressed in, sucking harder. He shivered as he felt her hands run along his torso. He began to nibble lightly every so often, causing her fingers to grip into his back. After a few moments, he pulled back. He stared down at her neck to see a sizeable red mark on her neck. Nerissa's head turns so her eyes met his. She pouted at him.
"Done already?"
He leaned off to the side, so he was no longer hovering over her.
"Yeah," he breathed out, pushing his hair out of his face.
Nerissa gave a quick laugh before turning to face him. She dashed over to the mirror on her bedroom wall to examine her neck.
"Oh, well done, Hercules! So, what is your final request then?"
She leapt back onto her bed and began making designs on his chest with her finger, but at that point he'd given up on pushing her hand away. After all, she'd promised not to go any lower. Hercules hoped that she'd go along with his final request.
"I'm actually rather tired, so I was hoping we'd be able to go to sleep."
Nerissa sighed. She wasn't such a huge fan of this deal.
"Such a kill joy. Fine…but my request is that you stay here with me tonight. In the same bed."
Hercules had expected that to be the case. She wasn't going to let him out of her sight until she was back to normal.
"Fine, but you have to sleep."
The girl let Hercules put out all the candles in the room before coming back to the bed. She snuggled up against his chest.
"I liked your game. We should play it again," she told him.
Hercules didn't respond. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping until after midnight to make sure she didn't sneak a kiss while he was unconscious. Hercules lay in the dark, listening to her breaths slow and become even. He knew it was midnight when Jason knocked on the door three times. Getting up without disturbing Nerissa on such a small bed was difficult, but he managed to do it. Going over to the door, he slipped out into the hallway. Jason's eyebrows raised as he saw that his friend was shirtless.
"Should I just go ahead and punch to the gut right now?" he asked.
Hercules crossed his arms.
"You might as well. Nerissa's going to hate me as of tomorrow."
Jason gave a quiet laugh.
"Well, do you regret it?"
Hercules thought about the day. It had been stressful, troublesome, and problematic. Compared to how the day could have gone, though, Hercules found himself fine.
"She may not see it the way I do, but I don't. She didn't kiss anyone, and she has a full year ahead to worry about her next birthday. Overall…I only regret some of our interactions, but if that is part of the price of helping her, then so be it."
Jason nodded and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Good luck tomorrow. Are you coming back to the dorm?"
"No, I made a promise, even if she wasn't herself. Might as well let her kill me in private instead of in front of you and Iolaus."
The two males parted ways. As Hercules went back into the room and locked the door, he went over to the second bed in the room and lay down on that. He wasn't sure he was going to get much sleep, but he did his best. He'd need all his strength tomorrow to combat Nerissa's wrath.