I do not own Chaotic nor anything related to it. It belongs to TCDigital.

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THe CeLeBRaToRy NiGHT

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It's not exactly a party, but there's certainly a celebratory feeling in the air at Sarah's home. Along with my company, there are many Danians, mandiblor and otherwise, in Sarah's home. Somebody has broken open a bottle of... well, it's not exactly wine, but some of my normally composed soldiers have been reduced to uncoordinated klutzes by the stuff, so it's definitely close enough.

Sarah, who hasn't yet touched the stuff, is listing the potential repercussions of recent events. "It's unlikely that the slave trade will completely stop with this bust," she sighs, "but we've definitely dealt a blow to the practice. All we need to do for now is track down the poor people who were victims of this particular group and return them to their normal lives."

I lean back into my chair. "That's wonderful," I say, meaning every word. I'm just too worn out to show my excitement.

Isis reaches over and holds my hand. "You must be exhausted," she guesses.

"Just coming off an adrenaline high." I sit back up and give Isis's hand a little squeeze. "Thanks for your concern, though."

Sarah clears her throat. "Anyways, it won't be long until the Underworld and Overworld tribes hear about this. We may need to brace ourselves for some scrutiny."

Phelphor steps between us, somehow managing to hold four large mugs in his two hands. "They're preparing a toast," he says. "Everyone grab a mug."

"Thanks," I say as I take one and look inside. The liquid inside is colored gold and quite thick, almost like a smoothie.

Everyone has a mug now, and everyone's eyes turn to Sarah. Sarah raises her mug and loudly says, "First, to Illexia, Queen and Mother of the Hive!"

"To Illexia!" everyone shouts before taking a drink. Well, that's an interesting flavor. Almost like honey and alcohol mixed together.

A mandiblor raises his mug after finishing his swig. "To Lady Sarah, who takes care of all the Human stuff so Illexia doesn't go crazy trying to do it!"

There's a laugh, then a call of, "To Sarah!" Another swig. This stuff is almost sickeningly sweet.

Sarah raises her hug again. "And to Prince Osiris, who made my job just a little bit less of a headache!"

I feel my face go bright red as a call of "To Osiris!" ripples through the crowd. Then everything returns to pretty much normal.

I lean towards Sarah and ask, "What exactly is this?"

"What it tastes like, honey and alcohol." Sarah takes another swig.

"It could use a little watering down," I mutter, turning my mug upside-down to illustrate exactly how thick it is. It takes two seconds before the fluid starts to pour out, and I quickly turn my mug back around and catch the drips on its side.

Isis laughs, "Michael, you don't ever tell someone to water down their beer."

I will now call this drink "honeybeer" in my head. I don't care what it's really called.

A mandiblor approaches with a package. "A gift from our Queen, in return for the service you have done for us."

A gift? Wait, I need to reject it twice first. "It isn't necessary," I say with a wave of my hand.

The mandiblor presents it again, "She insists you take it."

I nod and say, "The thought is appreciated, but I must refuse."

The mandiblor lifts it to me a third time. "Her Majesty would feel insulted if you didn't take this gift."

"If she so insists," I say. "My thanks to her."

"Well done," Isis whispers as the mandiblor places the package in my hand.

"Weirdest tradition ever," I whisper back. I open the bundle of cloth.

It's a magenta crystal the size of a dinner plate, framed with gold. I recognize what it is after a moment. It looks a lot like a larger version of one of those "radio crystals" I've seen Overworlders use.

The mandiblor bows and says, "This crystal is linked with one in the possession of our Queen. If the need is great, you may speak directly with her through it."

I blink. This is... big. Very big. "Wow!" I can't even speak properly. A tribe leader giving another tribe leader, which I technically am, a direct speaking line is a very big deal. "This is... This is very generous of Her Majesty! Many thanks!"

"I will send your words to her," the mandiblor bows again.

As the mandiblor leaves, I pick up my mug again. Bottoms up, I guess, everything's already crazy as heck.

-\/\/\/-

Heh heh, did I really think this wasn't a party earlier? Well, several Danians have brought out drums and other instruments. I think it qualifies as a party now.

"Why aren't you having any?" I ask Maliph, who so far has refused every mug of honeybeer offered to him.

"You know what's in that stuff?" Maliph asks.

Well, that's a bizarre question. "Honey and alcohol, right?"

Maliph gives me a steady glare. "Humans have this insect called a bee, right? Well, it's not that kind of honey."

I stop raising my mug to my lips and slowly lower it. "...What kind is it?"

Maliph leans forward and speaks as if he was giving a lecture to a class. "Danians have a second stomach they call a crop. To make honey, they-"

I stand up and approach a dancing Danian warrior. "Here, have the rest of this," I offer. "I just learned how it's made and I've lost my appetite."

The Danian laughs and grabs the mug from my hand. "Your loss!" he practically shouts before tipping in over his head and letting it drain into his mouth. He sets the empty mug down on a table and continues dancing. It's like a war dance or something like that, with lots of stomping and shouting. Every once in a while he beats his chest with all four fists before posing.

I sit back down next to Maliph, who asks, "How much did you already drink?"

"Four and a half mugs," I mutter. "I'm surprised I don't feel like vomiting."

A few minutes pass, during which I listen to the beat of the music and watch the Danians dance. After a while, though, the music changes, the drums being replaced with flutes. I look around, and I see that several Mipedian soldiers have brought out instruments.

I feel something touch my hand, and I turn to see Isis. "Shall we dance?" she asks. Her face looks quite relaxed, and there's a silly smile on her face.

"Are you sober enough to stay on your feet?" I joke as I stand up.

"I only had two mugs, sir," Isis grins. I pulls me to the center of the room and takes a hold of my hands. "I should be asking you how sober you are."

There's a rising trill of notes, and I take my first step to the music as it reaches its peak. "Sober enough to dance and drunk enough not to care who's watching," I tease.

Isis follows my steps as we twirl around in the middle of the room. "Watching? Watching us dance? You've never had a problem before."

"Oh, I care," I breathe as I lower Isis slowly to the ground in time with a dive in the music. I press my hand into the small of her back, pressing her hips against mine. "I usually just ignore my cares when we dance."

Isis giggles as I lift her back to a standing position. "Ah, I see..." We do another turn around each other, then Isis lets go of my hands and wraps her arms around my waist. "Something tells me you're looking forward to going to bed later."

I place my hands on her shoulders, and we glide sideways while the music trills. "Only if you're ready for some fun tonight," I grin.

Isis laughs, then presses her lips against mine. We slowly turn in place while we kiss, my hands traveling up to the back of Isis's head and pressing our mouths tighter against each other. Eventually we have to breathe, though, but by the time we decide to my head feels light.

Isis rests her chin on my shoulder and hugs my chest. "...I want to start trying for our second child tonight."

Well, there's a surprise. "I thought you didn't want anyone currently with us to be the father."

Isis takes the lead with our dancing, leading us away from the center of the room. "Recent events have changed my mind."

I can see where this is going. "So who's the father going to be?"

Isis glances to the side and times her response perfectly. "Oh, you know, I was just thinking that Maliph could join us in bed tonight."

Maliph had been taking a slow drink of pure water. The spray of liquid from his reaction was quite impressive. "E-excuse me?" he stammers.

"You did save Osiris from being infected," Isis notes. "If it weren't for you, we'd be having to have that reversed tonight instead."

"Plus the idea of getting infected by a parasite is terrifying," I mutter.

Isis and I wait while Maliph's brain puts itself back together. Finally, he says, "Is... Is that even allowed?"

"Is that a yes or a no?" I ask. "Quick, before the weirdness of sharing Isis makes me change my mind." Seriously, it might be normal for Mipedians, but I'm still a little uptight about the whole thing.

Maliph stands. "Right, yes, sorry for making you wait." He's stumbling over his words. "I'd be honored to assist you."

-\/\/\/-

This is incredibly bizarre. Arousing, but bizarre. Isis is showering me with affection and making sure I'm well taken care off, all while completely ignoring the Mipedian that's actually having sex with her. It's... disconcerting is the word I think I'm looking for... to see the much larger Maliph breeding with my wife.

...I feel like a participant in a very poorly written erotic film. Yes, my participating with the attempt at conception was my idea. I obviously hadn't thought it out very well.

I hear the bedroom door open, and my heart skips a beat. "Occupied!" I shout.

Someone walks in anyway. Two people actually, Sarah and Phelphor. The M'arrillian is talking, saying, "...and I've been quite interested in seeing the Doors of the Deepmines."

"We can discuss that in the morning," Sarah says. She places her hands on Phelphor's chest and shoves him against the wall. Sarah grins and strokes her hands across Phelphor's body as she says, "Right now, you have maybe two thousand solans with no companionship to make up for."

Phelphor's eyes close halfway, and his hands clench into fists. "Ah... I like that..."

"You mind?" I say loudly. "We're kind of in the middle of something here." It's kind of difficult to speak now, Isis is really getting into what she's doing for me. Those teeth of her still make me nervous, though. Wait, did she and Maliph really not hear two people come in?

Sarah seems to completely ignore me, as one of her hands fiddles with the clasp of Phelphor's belt. It clicks open, and the M'arrillian's kilt slides to the floor, revealing all.

Oh God, I didn't need to see that much of Phelphor right now. "Seriously!" I call out. "Find another room or something!"

Phelphor's eyes slide over to meet mine as Sarah kneels down in front of him. "I needed to speak privately with you, actually."

I look in turn at Isis, Maliph, and Sarah. "This is probably the furthest thing from private ever," I say humorlessly.

"They can't hear us," Phelphor sighs. Then his breath catches in his throat as Sarah starts her mouth on him. "Holy Cothica..."

"Hurry up so you can do that mind-blank thing on me if the two of you are going to stay," I mutter. "What do you need to talk to me about?" Good heck, Phelphor, why hold a conversation at a time like this?

{you HaVe a DiSLiKe FoR BeiNG oBSeRVeD WhiLe HaViNG SeXuaL iNTeRCouRSe. you SHouLD Be Too CoNCeRNeD aBouT My BeiNG HeRe To aRGue WiTH Me.}

Phelphor's chest heaves, and the muscles of his stomach tightens. "Dear Gods it's been too long..." He grits his teeth and groans loudly, then catches his breath and says, "A-anyway, Osiris, I was wondering if I could convince you to see the Doors of the Deepmines with me-"

"Hell no!" I interrupt. "We're heading home in the morning!" You are being seriously creepy right now!

{i THouGHT you WouLD Say No. No MaTTer. THe DeePMiNeS WiLL Be iNCReDiBLy iNTeReSTiNG To See.}

I continue, "As fascinating as they probably are, we've been away from Al Mipedim for too long."

{you... WHaT? aL MiPeDiM WiLL Do FiNe WiTHouT you FoR a WhiLe LoNGeR.}

I set my jaw and turn away from Phelphor. "Now if you'll excuse us, we were here first."

"This is the only room with double beds," Phelphor says. He suddenly shudders and holds the top of Sarah's head. "Ah! Right there, yes..." His hips thrust forward a little, and he moans loudly.

{aND iF you THiNK i Will LeT you HaVe youR aSSuMeD PRiVaCy, GueSS aGaiN.}

I can still see Phelphor and Sarah. I guess he's making me watch, none of that mind-blanking I was hoping for.

Isis pauses, noting my waning arousal with concern. "Are you-?" She gasps as Maliph thrusts, then starts over, "A-are you not enjoying this?"

"You're doing good," I mutter, "It's just a little distracting with Maliph right there."

Phelphor suddenly says, "Mine's bigger, by the way."

"Screw you," I reply. Ack! Did Isis hear that? No, she didn't. Whew.

Phelphor grins. "Sarah's already got that covered."

-\/\/\/

"Aren't we going to wait and say goodbye to them?" Isis asks. It's morning, and I had everyone up early to pack up and leave.

"Nope," I answer. "I want this place behind me as quickly as possible."

"What happened?" Isis persists. "You were behaving very oddly last night."

"Don't worry about it," I say. "We'll try again." And next time we won't have a freaking audience.

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uP NeXT: THe aRRiVaL HoMe

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Like I said before, Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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