Disclaimer: I own no part of Love Hina, but me and my other OCs are mine.
Sorry this one took so long, but as you can see, this is a monster of a chapter. Get ready for a marathon; try to keep up.
Chapter IL: Requests and Reconnaissance
"I give up. There's nothing else I can do."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure! I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing's worked!"
"You tried your best, I'm sure, but there has to be some way to--hmm…"
"What are you thinking?"
"I think I may have found the answer."
"What's that look on your face for? Don't tell me you're actually going do to THAT!"
"You have a better plan? This whole thing was your idea to begin with."
"I know that, but--"
"Then let's at least try this. You never know, it might actually work."
"Well, alright, but you do it. I don't want any part of it."
"Suit yourself."
The coming days signaled a return to the regular events that frequented Hinata-Sou. Shinobu and Mutsumi were on more friendly terms than ever before. Naru and Keitaro were as close as ever, making everyone curious as to what was going on behind the scenes. Kitsune, after getting a talking to at the newspaper for pretty much going AWOL, savored what little spare time she could get. Motoko tried to focus her energy on her training, but thoughts of Jimmy would always pop up. Granted, thanks to E-mail and phone calls, they had ways to keep in contact with each other, but Motoko wished to see him face to face. Despite trying not showing her grief, it was obvious to everyone around her. Sean resumed his duties as landlord, each day thankful to have lived through the last, though he would gladly go through physical torture as opposed to the emotional variety.
Suu's activities on the other hand, had everyone wondering. Normally, she would be bounding around the house with hardly any rhyme or reason, but now, she seemed to be focused on a single objective. She never told anyone what that objective was, but the others started to get an idea after noticing the patterns of her activities. Aside from that little glitch, things were pretty normal, but as can be expected, things don't stay that way forever, and for one person, it would be an experience that would never be forgotten.
--- Sunday, 7/27 2:12 PM (A/N: It's been a while since I last started a chapter after breakfast, huh?)
Sean paced around the house; he had already completed his chores and was left with nothing to do. His wanderings led him to the living room; the others were there watching television. "Hey," he said. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Kitsune said. Apparently, they were as bored as Sean was.
"Anyone have any suggestions yet?" Naru asked.
"We could watch some home movies," Kitsune said.
"And which ones did you plan on having us watch?" Motoko asked.
"Like you really have to ask," Shinobu commented.
"What kind of movies are you all talking about?" Mutsumi asked.
"Maybe at another time," Naru quickly said.
"Anyone have any better ideas?" Kitsune asked.
"You know," Sean said. "It's a sad state of affairs when things get boring around here."
"And what do you suggest we do to take care of that?" Keitaro asked.
Sean shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe we could go see what Suu's up to or something."
"She's probably just spying on the neighbors again," Shinobu said.
"I honestly don't know what she finds so interesting about that place," Naru said.
"Well, have any of you ever gone up to the roof and checked it out yourself?" Sean asked. Nobody could say they had. "Well, there you go. Apparently, she knows something we don't."
"Let's leave her to her snooping," Kitsune said. "We'd probably just get in the way."
"Well, that still leaves us with nothing to do," Mutsumi said.
"Don't worry," Sean said. "Knowing this place, something's bound to happen sooner or later." As if on cue, a bright light appeared in the room.
"You should really watch what you say," Kitsune said.
"No kidding," Naru added.
The light would only last a few moments, and when it faded, everyone saw a familiar figure standing before them. "Hey, Linda," Sean said. "Long time no see."
"Good afternoon," Linda said politely.
"To what do we owe this visit?" Motoko asked. It seemed everyone had the same thought in mind.
"I have come to see Sean," Linda said.
"Me?" Sean asked, taken aback by what the goddess said. "What do you need to see me for?"
"I need you to do me a favor."
"A favor? What kind of favor?"
"I'll tell you the details on the way."
"Now hold on just a sec," Kitsune said. "Why should he do you a favor? What can he do that you can't?"
"Kitsune!" Shinobu said.
"My reasons are not your concern!" Linda said, crossing her arms.
"Maybe not," Kitsune said. "But what you do with our friend and landlord is!"
"Kitsune, calm down," Sean said, intending on stopping World War III before it starts. "It's alright. I'm sure she has a good reason for doing this. Besides, I owe her."
"What do you mean, 'you owe her'? What has she done for us besides scare us half to death?!"
"She fixed my eyes, that's what!"
"Sure, but--what?"
"After Shinobu's test, she took me to get my eyes repaired."
"Why didn't you say that before?" Shinobu asked.
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to call attention to it. It's not exactly noticeable, is it?"
"Not really."
"Keep in mind," Linda said. "This favor isn't just for me. You'll be doing this for all my sisters as well. If you're able to do this for us, we'll be eternally grateful. But I'm not forcing you to do anything against your will; you don't have to agree to it if you don't want to."
"Well, considering what you and the other goddesses must be capable of, you'd need to be pretty desperate to come to me for help."
Linda nodded. "You're basically a last resort."
"I don't know how much help I can be, but I'll do what I can."
"We won't think any less of you if you fail."
"I'll hold you to that."
"How long will this take?" Keitaro asked.
"It depends on how determined Sean is," Linda said. "If you never give up, it might take hours, might take days."
"Days?" Sean and Shinobu said in unison.
"Are you kidding?" Kitsune asked.
Linda shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We've been trying for years now without success."
"Then what makes you think I can?" Sean asked.
"Like I said, your our last resort."
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."
"All I ask is that you try."
"Just let me do something real quick first." Sean gave Shinobu a hug and a kiss. "Don't fall apart while I'm gone, okay?"
"I can't believe you're leaving again," Shinobu said. Surprisingly, she didn't need to fight back tears this time around.
"Duty calls," Sean said. "At least you know I'm leaving this time, right? See y'all when I get back!"
"See you, Sean!" Keitaro said.
"Good luck!" Motoko said.
"He's gonna need it," Linda thought as Sean walked up to her.
"Let's go," he said. They would leave the same way Linda had arrived; in a flash of light.
"I wonder," Kitsune said. "What could he do that a bunch of women can't?" A grin appeared on her face. "I can think of one thing."
"Kitsune!" Shinobu yelled. "Will you cut that out already?!"
"What?" Kitsune asked, trying to look innocent. "It's possible, isn't it?"
"You want me to WHAT?!" Sean asked after Linda informed him of the job he had been assigned to.
"You want me to explain it again?" Linda asked.
"No, I heard it just fine the first time." This was true, but he still found the idea very hard to grasp. "But why do you want me to seduce Amy?"
"Well, you don't actually have to seduce her or anything. You just need to somehow convince her to let loose for once in her life. Stephanie's been trying for the last 500 some-odd years."
"So I suppose seduction wouldn't work anyway. If you've been at it for that long and still couldn't do it, what makes you think I can?"
"Well, you may be able to come up with something we haven't considered yet."
"Maybe."
The pair arrived in the living room they went to last time Sean paid a visit, but there was one main difference. Last time around, the living room was devoid of life; this time, there was a crowd there, waiting for them to arrive. "Whoa," Sean said, surprised at the sight of ten women looking right at him. "Uh, hey."
"Hello, Sean," one of the women said, extending an arm out to him. "Welcome to our home."
"Uh, thanks," Sean said, shaking hands. "I wasn't expecting such a welcome. I thought I'd be trying to avoid everyone like last time--oops."
"Don't worry," another goddess said. "Linda already told us about your last visit."
"Oh," Sean said, relieved that he hadn't gotten Linda in trouble. He looked at each woman until his eyes fell on Stephanie. At first he was curious as to why she refused to make eye contact until realization set in, forcing a grin to form on his face. He glanced at another of the deities that he happened to recognize. "Hey, um, Julie, right?"
"Yes?" Julie said, a bit puzzled as to why he addressed her.
Sean's smile grew a bit more sinister. "How did Stephanie's punishment go?"
"Very well," Julie said, starting to grin as well.
"Maybe for you!" Stephanie said. "It was hell for me! And for the record, I was totally against you bringing him here, Linda!"
"We know, Steph," one of the other women said. "You been saying that ever since she brought it up! You're like a broken record."
"Never mind her," another one said to Sean. "She's just PMSing."
As some of the others girls giggled from that last comment, Sean could have sworn he could see Stephanie's eyes start to twitch. He started to wonder if he would regret showing up in the first place…
While Sean was coming to terms with his assignment, Suu was on a mission of her own. Ever since Shinobu notified her of it three weeks before, Suu had focused all her efforts toward learning all she could about her new neighbor. In that span, she had watched moving trucks come and go, but saw no sign of anyone resembling an owner or other occupant. Normally, this wouldn't concern the usually carefree girl, but seeing what was delivered into the building piqued her interest. A truly alarming amount of computers and other electronic paraphernalia had been shipped inside, and she had become determined to find out more. Who could have a need for such things? What could be inside the hard drives of all those computers? And probably the most important question of all: Would he be her friend?
The questions would not stop there, either. Four days ago, the moving trucks were replaced by a construction crew. Much to Suu's surprise, they tore down the existing garage and began building something on the far end of the structure, out of her line of sight. By now, she had finally had enough and decided to get a closer look, but she knew better than to show up herself. Therefore, she had thought ahead and, with a little aid from Sean, created a machine capable of infiltrating any structure with relative ease--or so she thought.
--- 2:40 PM
Suu sat on the roof, binoculars in hand, waiting for her chance to make her move. When the coast was clear, she looked at her latest creation; a model helicopter equipped with a surveillance camera. After donning a headset and visor, she grabbed a remote. "Final systems check," she thought. When she pressed a couple buttons, an image was displayed on the visor. "Visual, check; audio, check; activate propulsion systems!" She flipped a switch and the propeller blades began to spin and within moments, the helicopter was airborne. "Alright, let's go see what our neighbor is up to," she said to nobody in particular.
The copter would take its sweet time in getting to its target. Earlier tests have shown that when moving at running speed or faster, the perspective would be similar to that of being in a roller coaster or some other vehicle which, when sitting still, can be very disorienting. Besides, history has shown that rushing into something headfirst can lead to disaster. The spy copter's first objective was to find out what was being built on the other side of the building. Suu would find that the structure was still under construction, but from what she could tell, it was going to be a garage to replace the one that was torn down a few days before; and it was going to be a very large one at that. From the looks of it, there was even going to be a second floor added, but that section had barely even begun, much less given any clues as to its function.
"Well," Suu said. "That answers that. Now, let's venture inside and see what we find there, shall we?" Suu's perspective moved to the front door, but found it closed; big surprise. Nevertheless, Suu would not be denied, as she was prepared for such obstacles. After another flick of a switch, she steered her machine towards the door. Now, under normal circumstances, such a tactic would result in a ruined helicopter and a slashed-up door, but it just passed through as though the door was never there, leaving it untouched. This was a little feature added by Sean during the creation process, at Suu's request. As soon as it cleared the door, Suu flipped the switch back; as cool as the ability to pass through walls was, it could only be used sparingly because it was a drain on the fuel supply.
The rooms the Suu found made it seem like an ordinary house; there was a living room, dining room, kitchen and so forth, but it was the kitchen where something caught her attention. "Hm," she muttered. "Why is there a doorknob set into the wall?" Aside from the knob itself, there were no obvious signs of a door being there. Curiosity taking over fully, she piloted the camera towards the wall and was about to flip the switch that would allow it to pass through it when she saw something pass by in a blur. "What the--" Before she could do anything, she heard the sound of screeching metal an then everything went black. "What was that?!" she yelled, tossing off the headset and looked down at the building below. After a few moments, a window opened and she saw what was left of her creation get tossed out. "There's something in there he doesn't want me to see," she said. "And I intend to do just that…"
For the first day of Sean's stay at the goddesses' home, he was introduced to each woman and was told some details concerning Amy's behavior and past attempts to get her to participate in their… group activities. By the time he was fully caught up, it had gotten pretty late and so, he decided to get some sleep and get an early start the next day; provided Amy hadn't already found out about his arrival by then.
--- Monday, 7/28 6:31 AM
When Sean woke up that morning, it took him a few moments to recognize where he was. "Well, here we are," he thought, sitting up on the couch in the living room. "Another crazy day in the life of Sean Roberts." The previous night, some offers had been made for him to spend the night in one of the ladies' rooms, but he declined, opting instead to sleep on the couch. Now, he was starting to regret that decision, as he had woken up with a stiff neck. Of course, if he had accepted, a stiff neck might have been the least of his worries.
Sean got up and walked down a hallway lined on both sides with doors; each bearing a symbol of each deity's affiliation. He couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen any of them since he woke up. "I wonder when they get up in the morning," he thought. "For that matter, I wonder if they ever sleep at all." At the end of the hall, he found a door with no symbol on it. "Hmm, I wonder what behind this one." He knew he probably shouldn't be snooping around, but it was a better prospect then going back to the living room and being bored out of his mind.
Opening the door, he found a narrow hallway the extended another 20 feet before turning right. As he walked, he started to hear the voices of some of the goddesses. By this time, his legs had gone on autopilot, so he continued on, despite his brain giving warnings the he really should be there. When he got to the corner, he saw that the hallway quickly opened up into a room, but he could only see a small portion of it; to see more would require another right turn. Poking his head in, his brain gave a quick "I told you so" to his legs.
At one end of the room (the end he was on), was the longest vanity mirror he had ever seen, and the table set against the wall had all manner of makeup, brushes, hair spray and everything else involved in the beautification process. Of course, he didn't pay too much attention to that, as his gaze was drawn to the other end of the room. That end had a shower area like that of a locker room, with eight shower heads lined up in a row; and there was a decent number of woman currently making use of it.
Granted, he liked what he saw, but it only took a moment to duck back out of sight. "Okay," he thought. "If I keep quiet, maybe they won't find out I'm here." He started to back up, but only made it five feet down the hallway before bumping into someone. "Oh no," he thought, his eyes growing wide. "Just my luck." He turned around to see who he had run into. "And it just got worse." Of all the people in the world, he just had to bump into Sandra.
"Well, well," Sandra said, crossing her arms under her chest which, along with everything else, was bare. "Somebody's trying to be sneaky." (Sandra: Grim Reaper / Short black hair / Somewhat of a Goth)
"What are you going to do?" Sean asked. It looked like he was staring death right in the face--well, actually he was.
Sandra smiled. "Hey, girls, come here for a sec!"
Sean didn't know what he was in for, and he wasn't exactly eager to find out. Unfortunately, Sandra blocked the way to the door, so had no other choice. He turned around just in time for the ladies he had just walked in on to round the corner.
"Hey, Sandra," Linda said. "What did you--I see."
"It seems we have ourselves a peeping Tom in our midst," Paula said. (Paula: Goddess of Literature / Short blonde hair / Eloquent)
"Yeah," Brittany said. "If you wanted to see us naked, you could have just said so." (Brittany: G. of Music / Long blonde hair / Ditz)
"If I really wanted to," Sean said, somehow able to regain his composure. "Why did I turn down the offers to sleep in any of your rooms? If I didn't know better, I'd be wondering what your intentions were. Besides, this is as much your fault as it is mine, since none of you ever told me what was behind that door in the first place. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and let you shower in peace." He turned and headed for the door.
"Aw," Brittany said. "Don't be like that."
Springing into action, one goddess ran towards Sean, going into handsprings midway through, the last of which propelling her right over Sean's head, landing right in front of the door about two seconds before he got there. "You think we're going to let you get away now?" Nancy said. (Nancy: G. of Sports / Short red hair / Energetic and competitive)
Sean was caught off guard by Nancy's actions; his hand was already reaching for the doorknob, and he was barely able to retract it before it made contact with flesh. "This wasn't what Linda brought me here for."
"Details, details. Just because you're here to do a certain job doesn't mean you can't do other things while you're here."
"Yeah," Brittany said. "Besides, you won't be seeing Amy for another couple hours anyway, so why don't you join us?"
Sean's mind instinctively turned to keeping their modesty and privacy in consideration. "I think I'll just wait till you're done before--"
"Don't worry," Linda said, taking Sean by the arm. "We don't mind you looking at us. We've been around more than long enough to be comfortable with our bodies--some more so than others." She glanced at Stephanie while saying that last part.
"If they're all okay with it," Sean's mind reasoned as Linda led him by the arm. "I suppose there'd be no harm in it. This'd be just like back home." He was the first one to reenter the bathroom. "You know," he said, looking around. "This really is a nice--WHOA!!" The sudden scream was caused by his clothes being torn to shreds. He turned around to see Stacy there, smiling at him, sword in hand. "Was that really necessary?!"
Stacy giggled a bit as her sword phased out. "What's wrong with having a little fun with you? Besides, I heard this isn't the first time that's happened to you." (Stacy: G. of Martial Arts / Medium-length black hair / Athletic)
"Besides," Irene said. "Most people don't bathe with their clothes on." (Irene: G. of the Outdoors / Long green hair / Usually passive, but can be ruthless)
"I'm well aware of that and I can take off my clothes on my own, thank you very much," Sean said. "Oh yeah," he thought. "This is like back home; but is that a good thing?"
"Hmm," Mary said as she got a good look at Sean. "Not bad, but I've seen better."
"That's because you watch too much television," Julie said. (Mary: G. of all Theater / Medium blue hair / Couch potato) "Not everyone can be a model."
"Obviously," Mary said.
"Alright, enough with the commentary," Sean said. "Let's get this shower over with; I've got a recluse deity to take care of later on, and I want to have a plan of attack thought up by then."
And so, the shower picked up where it left off, with the goddesses making girl talk amongst themselves and Sean on the far end, his brain trying to come up with feasible ways to get Amy more… outgoing. It didn't take long for one woman to notice him keeping his distance, not to mention the ever-present redness on his face. "Are you alright?" Irene asked.
"Yeah," Sean said, barely looking in her direction. "I'm fine."
"I thought you were used to seeing naked women," Nancy said.
"It depends on the woman. Sure, I'm used to seeing the girls back home, but that's because I've known them for over a year; I just met most of you yesterday."
"So, he's uncomfortable around us, is he?" Stephanie thought, a Kitsune-like grin appearing on her face. "That gives me an idea." She started whispering something to Catherine, who started to giggle.
"What are those two up to?" Linda thought.
Sean was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice anything, but he would find out what was going on soon enough. When he finished rinsing himself off, he turned to turn off his showerhead, but much to his surprise, found Stephanie's breast instead. "What the--?" she started as he backed up. After a couple steps, he slipped on a bar of soap, landing on his back.
"Are you alright?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sean muttered.
"What did you do that for, Catherine?" Paula asked.
"Watch," was all the snickering goddess said. (Catherine: G. of Trickery / Medium red hair / Mischievous)
Sean tried to get up, but a couple hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down on the white tile. "Stephanie, what are you--"
"You know how you make me feel," Stephanie said in a sultry voice. "And you staying here's only going to make me want you more."
"Oh no," Sean thought as the horny goddess started rubbing herself against him. "This is Valentine's day all over again!"
Linda knew Sean long enough to recognize the expression on his face; it was clear he was trying his damnedest not to enjoy the treatment Stephanie was giving him. "Steph, stop! You're torturing the poor guy! He didn't want it from Kitsune and he doesn't want it from you!"
"I know," Stephanie said with a smirk.
"Then why--"
"Revenge takes no prisoners, Linda! Ever since I first came into contact with him, he's done nothing but frustrate me! The last thing he had done to me was the last straw!" She turned back to Sean. "Because of that punishment you came up with, it took me a week to get my hormone level back down to normal!"
"Which is saying a lot, considering how horny she is on any given day," Mary said.
"Oh, yeah," Catherine said. "I remember now; the lust potions. I gotta tell ya, Sean, that idea was a stroke of genius."
"Whose side are you on, Cathy?!" Stephanie yelled.
"Hey, I love torture, and I don't care who's the target."
"Stephanie," Sean pleaded. "Will you stop this, please?!"
"And what will you do if I don't?"
"When I get back home, I'll send Julie as much lust potion as I can make!"
Stephanie suddenly stopped. "You'll what?"
"Keep going, Steph!" Catherine cheered.
"Shut up! You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"Try me," Sean said with a growl.
As much as Stephanie wanted to continue, she didn't want to experience Sean's brand of punishment again; and the second time might be worse than the first. Therefore, begrudgingly, she got off Sean, who quickly got up and went for his original target, but adjusted the temperature instead of turning it off. "Oh man," he sighed as the cold water quenched the fire within him. "I really hope every morning's not going to be like this."
"Don't worry," Julie said. "We'll try and keep Steph from doing something like that again while you're here."
"I appreciate it."
"You guys are no fun!" Catherine griped.
"I was turned on enough already without her making her moves on me," Sean muttered to himself as he shut off the water and went to grab a towel. "It's almost like I never left, what with Sarah and Kitsune's clones around. Though that little episode did give me an idea for what to do concerning Amy."
"What did you have in mind?" Sandra asked.
"I'll fill you in after I get dressed. Now, about my clothes."
"Sorry about that," Stacy said. "I'll let you borrow some of my clothes while you're here to make up for what I did."
"No need. I've got that covered; or at least I soon will be…"
Motoko sat in Sean's room, typing out an e-mail to Jimmy when she felt the familiar presence of Sean's energy in the room. "Sean's back?" she thought, but quickly dismissed it when she realized that the energy was coming from both the closet and the dresser. Walking to the closet, she opened it to find one of Sean's shirts glowing, then vanish completely. "Oh, yeah, he didn't bring any clothes with him to… wherever it was he went." She went to the table and sat back down in front of the laptop. "I wonder how long he'll be gone…"
--- 8:11 AM
Amy was reading at her desk when she heard beeping from the direction of the door. Looking over she saw a panel on the wall with a number of lights on it; none of them were lit. Without a word, she got up and headed for the door. The device was a sensor that showed which of the other goddesses--if any--were present, and since there were nobody else around, she took the opportunity to go take a shower herself. Opening the door, she looked up and down the hall just to make sure she was alone before making her way to the bathroom.
Unbeknownst to her, Sean was hiding behind the couch in the living room, using his X-Ray vision to track her movements. As soon as Amy stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, he moved out of his hiding place. "Well," he thought. "So far, so good. Everything's going according to plan." He stalked ever closer to the bathroom door, waiting for Amy to round the corner. When she did, he set his plan into motion.
"Ah," Amy said as she undid her hair. "Without the others around, this place can be very peaceful; just the way I want it." After looking back down the hallway one last time, she stripped off her clothing, set it on the makeup table and made her way to the shower. "I swear, those other girls are crazy; the whole lot of them."
"Oh, come on, are we that bad?"
Amy's eyes grew wide and she quickly turned towards the opening to the hallway. "Stephanie, what are you doing here?!"
"Are you surprised?" Stephanie asked.
"I guess I need to fix that dumb sensor," Amy thought. "Get out! You know I bathe alone; no exceptions!"
"Oh come now, you don't really mean that, do you? I mean, we're all friends here, aren't we?"
"Wait a second," Amy thought. "Something's not right here. Usually, she'd have tried to seduce me by now. Plus, she doesn't normally talk that way." "Who are you?!" she yelled. "Show yourself!"
"So you saw through my ruse," Stephanie's voice said. "Can't say I'm surprised, considering how smart you are."
Amy was barely able to wrap a towel around herself before her surprise guest walked in; and she couldn't have predicted who it would have been if she tried. "Hello, Amy," Sean said, still using Stephanie's voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Amy looked like she had seen a ghost. "How did you get here?! When the others find out about this, they're--"
"The others already know I'm here," Sean said, reverting back to his normal voice. "They were the ones who brought me here in the first place."
"Why would they bring you back?!"
"You," Sean simply said.
Amy looked confused. "What?"
"Do you have any idea how worried the others are about you?"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me."
"Your friends must think differently if they called on me. After what they've told me, I have to agree with them."
"You gotta be--what did they tell you to do, exactly?"
"They just want me to get you to be less of an introvert--they don't care how."
"So Stephanie couldn't seduce me, so they brought you in to do it instead?"
"If you really knew me, you'd know I don't do that. To be honest, I don't approve of that slut's methods, either, and she was opposed to my being here. No, it's obvious that force is not the way to go about this."
"So you're going to try to talk me into it instead?"
"You catch on quick."
"Well, you might as well go home. There's no way I'll be talked into doing anything with… them."
"There's a small problem with that, for you see, I don't exactly know how to get home, so I guess it's going to be just you and me until they get back."
"Oh, they're going to pay for doing this to me," Amy thought. "Try all you want, Sean," she said out loud. "You won't succeed. Now will you go and let me shower in peace?!"
"Just the setup I was waiting for," Sean thought. "Alright, alright, I'll go, but can I ask you something before I do?"
"Make it quick."
"Why do you insist on bathing all by yourself?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
"If I intend to help you, I'll need all the information I can get; I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at. Besides, the quicker you answer my question, the sooner I leave."
"Is it so wrong for someone to want to be modest?"
"No, but from what I've heard, you do it to a fault."
"And your point is…?"
"All I'm saying is, you don't have to be so ashamed of your own body. Well, I'm going to go leave you to your shower. See ya!" With that, he walked off into the hallway.
"Hey, hold on just a second! I'm not--" Amy rushed to the hallway to find it completely empty. "Where'd he go?"
Sean giggled to himself as he lounged on the couch back in the living room. "That should get the ball rolling."
--- 3:22 AM
"Alright," Suu said to herself. "Let's try this again." She sat on the roof, fiddling with her recently rebuilt spy-copter, making some final adjustments before its maiden voyage; one she hoped would last longer than the first one did. "If he destroys this one like he did the last one, I'll have to up the stakes a bit; he's going to regret ever messing with the technical genius that is Koalla Suu!" Beneath that confident exterior, doubt was rearing it's ugly head. She couldn't be sure what information she could get this time around. Without Sean's aid, getting through the front door would be quite a task, but she knew she'd think of something in the clutch.
After donning the appropriate headgear, she deployed the helicopter, trying to come up with ways to get inside along the way; but it would end up being unnecessary, as she would soon see. "Hmm, what do we have here?" Much to her surprise, the front door was wide open. She was confused as to why whoever lived there would do such a careless thing, especially after what happened yesterday, but Suu saw it as a chance of a lifetime; and she wasn't about to let this one slip away.
Quickly, Suu piloted the copter inside, but stopped as it entered the living room. "What was that?" she thought. She could have sworn she heard something, but she couldn't find the source. A few moments went by in an uncomfortable silence before she heard some of the most evil laughter she had ever heard--outside of herself, of course. She turned the camera around and let out a scream as she found glowing yellowish eyes staring her right in the face (you know what I mean). The next thing she knew, the video feed was cut.
While she saw recovering from the shock, the others rushed up to the roof to see what was wrong. "What's the matter, Suu?!" Naru asked frantically. They all knew that when Suu screams like that, it can't be good.
"Our neighbor is a freak of nature!"
"Your kidding, right?" Kitsune asked.
"It's eyes were glowing!!"
"So what? We've seen Sean's eyes glow before."
"That doesn't really help matters," Motoko said. "When his eyes glow, it's hardly ever a good thing."
"Good point," Naru said.
Suu was finally able to calm down. "Alright, as long as we don't go over there any time soon, I think we'll be--what the…?"
"What's wrong?" Keitaro asked upon seeing Suu turn back to the neighbor's house.
"I hear music," Suu said, confusion starting to set in.
"I don't hear anything," Shinobu said.
"It's coming through the headset," Suu explained. "Why would he keep my copter intact this time?" she thought. "Hey, I recognize that song. 'One Vision,' I think it's called." She had heard Sean play the song by Queen a few times before.
"Hey, look over there!" Mutsumi said, pointing to the house. "Model airplanes!"
Suu looked up to see a squad of planes, not unlike her own, fly towards them. "What in the world--?" Her eyes grew wide when she saw one of them fire a missile in her general direction. "You gotta be kidding me." Suu was barely able to back up before the missiles made contact with the rail, blowing away a surprisingly large chuck of it.
As the planes passed by overhead, Suu happened to glance at the others, who were all speechless from the shock of what they had witnessed, and it took a shout by Suu to get them back to their senses. "Everyone, get inside, now!"
"Can all model planes do that?" Mutsumi asked as they all went downstairs like their very lives depended on it.
"So," Suu thought as she ran for her room. "If it's a fight you want, then that's what you'll get!" She rushed back to the roof, another of her remotes in hand. "You're not the only one with firepower!" She pressed a button and her own fleet of planes shot out of her room to join her rival's. Within moments, dogfights ensued, each side trying to shoot down the other. One by one, the planes fell until only two remained; both of them on Suu's side. "Yes! That should teach you not to mess with me!" Unfortunately, her adversary wasn't exactly a quick learner, as two full-size Surface-to-Air missiles shot from the mystery house, blowing her remaining arsenal to pieces. "How did…?" Suu wondered to herself as she went back to the railing, intending to find just where such heavy weaponry came from. As if to answer her, a third missile arrived from among the trees. Suu watched it rise high into the sky. As it reached its apex, it suddenly dawned on her; she was the intended target. In a panic, she dashed for the stairs, hoping to avoid the impending explosion. From her vantage point, she watched the missile imbed itself in the roof, but did not detonate.
After waiting a few moments to catch her breath and get her heart rate back to normal, Suu cautiously approached the apparent dud. It was there that she found a message written on the defective projectile; it read, "You may have won this battle, but you will not win the war."
"That's what you think," Suu muttered to herself as she walked back to her room. What had started has a simple reconnaissance mission had become a declaration of war; one that Suu took very personally, and she refused to be defeated.
After their first encounter in the shower, Amy was all too willing to go into talks with Sean--mostly to try to disprove his allegations regarding her self-image, but would only end up proving him right. After being around for as long as she has, she knew well enough what kind of body she possessed, but had deemed herself unworthy of it over the years. In her opinion, an attractive figure was wasted on someone like her, as she has never wanted to show it off, hence the reason why she always bathed alone.
Sean countered by saying that she should be proud that she has the best of both worlds; a hot body with a brain to match. Most people, man or woman, would give almost anything to have that. Even with her glasses--or perhaps even because of them--Sean said that anyone who wouldn't find her attractive must have some very strange tastes in women.
The day culminated in Sean somehow convincing Amy to spend the rest of their time alone in the nude, his reason being to get her more accustomed to being admired. At first, Amy was so uncomfortable, she could hardly focus on the book she was reading, what with Sean in the room, seeing everything she had to offer, but she soon saw that Sean wasn't exactly having the time of his life either, if the blatant attempts to hide his arousal was any indication. This would distract her as well, but this one caused her to grin and blush uncontrollably; she had never been viewed as a sexual object before, so it was quite a new experience.
The other girls would see the fruits of Sean's labors the following morning, when they found Amy in the shower, apparently waiting for them. Granted, she kept to herself a bit, but it was definitely an improvement. Needless to say, Sean was praised for what was already quite an accomplishment, but he wasn't done yet.
Day two of negotiations would prove to be not as difficult--or as hormonally frustrating--as the first. Simply put, Sean brought Amy's work habits into question. Sure, she was the goddess of knowledge and everything, and that brought with it certain responsibilities, but going at it for two millennia non-stop was a bit much, even for her. Besides (and this was the focal point of Sean's argument), what else was left to look up? After all, she's been around for so long, she must know every aspect of every academic topic known to man and then some. Amy reasoned that the world is continuously evolving, especially in the areas of sociology and the most recent technological advances, but Sean felt that some limits had to be made. Amy's deteriorating eyesight is proof positive that she has been working too hard for too long, and if she hoped to keep from having to perform eye surgery on herself--again--then she had no other option than to take a break every once in a while. Now, Sean could have stopped there and his mission would still have been considered a success by the others, but he decided to go one step further…
--- Wednesday, 7/30 7:12 AM
"GOOD MORNING, SEAN!"
Those words were said as soon as Sean opened his eyes, scaring the pants off of him. With an exasperated sigh, he said, "Good morning to you too, Sarah." Quickly, he remembered where he was. "I mean Cathy. Please, don't do that again."
Catherine giggled. "Sometimes, you make things way too easy for me."
"I'm sorry," Linda said. "She insisted."
"Yeah," Sean muttered. "Insisted on giving me a heart attack." He stretched a bit as he sat up in bed. After the night on the couch, Sean decided to take the girls up on the offer to sleep in one of their rooms, finally settling on Linda's, as he knew her the best and trusted her the most not to try anything; or at least not make too big a deal of it. "I swear," he thought as he got out of bed. "What with Cathy and Stephanie here, it's like I never left Hinata-Sou." After a quick shower, he conjured some breakfast for himself in the living room, where a couple of the deities stopped to chat with him before going off on their daily business.
"I just want to say," Stacy said. "That on behalf of my follow goddesses, I thank you for all that you've done."
"Yeah," Mary said. "It's about time Amy started enjoying herself."
"No sweat," Sean said. "I'm glad I could help, though I've still got one thing left planned."
"And what's that?" Stacy asked.
"I don't want to give it away. I want it to be a surprise for when you all get back tonight. Is Amy in her room?"
"As far as we know, yeah," Mary said.
"Good." Sean had just finished eating, so he got up and started walking toward his target's quarters. "See you tonight."
"See ya!" Stacy said.
"I look forward to seeing what you do with Amy today," Mary said.
"If you only knew," Sean thought as he opened the door to Amy's inner sanctum. "Good morning, Amy."
"Hello, Sean," Amy said, giving her most cheerful greeting in recent history. "What's on the itinerary for today?"
"Before I say, I want you to promise to keep an open mind," Sean said, closing the door.
"I have so far. Do your worst."
"You asked for it." Sean took a deep breath. He knew he had to tread lightly until he could find sure footing. "Alright, let's talk about your sex life."
Amy looked at him like he just started speaking Klingon. "My what?"
"You heard me."
Amy had secretly hoped it wouldn't have come to this. "You can't really expect me to talk about that, can you?"
"Actually, I don't." Amy would have breathed a sigh of relief, but what Sean said next would make the breath catch in her throat. "In order to talk about your sex life, you'd need to actually have one."
Amy instantly recognized Sean's tactics; he had gone all psychological on her from day one. She was determined not to let him get in her head this time around. "So what?"
"Why have you refused to fulfill your desires?"
"Because I've had no desires to fulfill."
"They were right after all," Sean thought, reflecting back to the stories told to him by the other girls his first day there. "At first, I was reluctant to believe that Amy's been frigid for the last 2,000 years, but now… I certainly have my work cut out for me."
"You shouldn't even bother," Amy said. "Stephanie's been trying to seduce me for centuries now, and it hasn't worked yet."
"Maybe she just hasn't tried the right way," Sean muttered; just another example of his mouth working before his brain.
"What what is the right way, if you're so smart?" Amy asked, her arms now crossed.
"Only you can know that for sure, Amy, though I can narrow it down somewhat. For example, it's obvious you don't want to be forced into it. I feel the same way you do; Stephanie can definitely attest to that."
"I know; I've seen it myself."
"And she's not the only one who's made her moves on me, either. Don't think you're the only one who feels pressured to have sex. You seem to be unaffected by Steph's advances; I'm not so lucky."
"And how do you deal with it?"
Sean turned into Alicia. "This is how. As landlord, it is my duty to make sure my tenants are well cared for, even sexually. Despite this, I don't, nor will I ever plan on becoming a single father, and this is the only way I can be completely sure that doesn't happen."
"At least you have your priorities straight. I assume you sate your own desires in that form as well?"
"I do. It seems almost sad that I know more about the female orgasm than you do."
"That's what you think," Amy said, once again, falling for one of Sean's psychological ploys. "I have a higher understanding of bodily functions than you ever will."
"Sure, technically, you may know more about what goes on with something like that, but there are some things you just can't get from a textbook. For years, I've wondered what it would be like to be a woman but, under normal circumstances, I would be stuck to mere speculation, but being the wizard that I am, I can get around such boundaries without having to resort to surgery. At first, my gender switching was solely for the purposes of gathering information, but after a while, I realized my new form came with some fringe benefits I hadn't counted on."
"And what were they?" As if Amy didn't know.
"As a girl among girls, I found it easier to let go of my inhibitions. I've experienced things I never could have as a man; and my life has been that much better because of it."
"Sex is overrated."
"You think that because all Stephanie's done is try to force it upon you." Alicia started walking to where Amy was seated at her desk. "What if she had tried a different approach?"
Amy gave Alicia a suspicious look. "What are you doing?"
"As much as you know about the human body, there are some things you can never understand fully unless you experience it for yourself. Stephanie obviously wasn't any help, so why don't I give it a shot?"
"Why do you think you can succeed where Stephanie has failed?"
"Because unlike Stephanie, I don't have an ulterior motive. I don't crave sex like she does, which allows me to focus more on what you need."
Amy had to admit, Alicia had a good point. The only thing Stephanie was ever after was a good fuck. As Alicia began massaging her shoulder, she could feel her apprehension start to melt away. "That feels nice."
"That's the idea," Alicia whispered into Amy's ear.
This sent shivers up and down Amy's spine. Nobody had ever given her this kind of attention before, and she started to wonder if, all along, this was all it would have taken to get her to feel this way.
"Tell me what you want," Alicia whispered.
"Just keep doing what you're doing," Amy said, slumping a bit in her chair.
"She's becoming putty in my hands," Alicia thought. "Time to up the stakes a bit." She started to kiss Amy lightly on the crook of her neck, causing her to gasp. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Amy merely nodded, unable to say a word. She could feel the heat start to rise within her. She liked this feeling, and she wanted more. Letting her newly discovered womanly instincts take over, she grabbed Alicia's hands and brought them down the front of her body, stopping at her breasts.
Taking the hint, Alicia began to gently squeeze, eliciting some moans from the formerly frigid goddess. "Do you want more?"
"Yes," Amy sighed. "Oh, God, yes!" This was the best Amy has ever felt since… well, ever. At this moment, all she knew was Alicia fondling her and the growing warmth within her. It came to the point where she found it difficult to keep her clothes on, but after a few minutes of bliss, it all came to a crashing halt. "C'mon, don't stop now!" Hearing Alicia snicker only made things more unsettling. "And what's so damn funny?!"
Alicia had that evil grin on her face. "I just got a great idea…"
--- 6:20 PM
Alicia was lounging in the living room when the goddesses started to return home. "Welcome home, ladies," she said as Paula and Brittany arrived.
"Um," Brittany said. "Do we know you?"
"More than you realize, apparently," Alicia said. Another goddess appeared in the room. "Hey, Linda."
"Hello, Sean," Linda greeted.
"That's Sean?!" Paula asked, reluctant to believe that last exchange of words. "How is that possible?!"
"Linda never told you I could turn into this, did she?"
"Did I forget to mention that?" Linda asked, sporting an innocent look.
"Yeah, you did," Brittany said, turning to Alicia. "How come you didn't do that sooner? We could have had some real fun in the shower."
"I have my reasons," Alicia said.
"So," Paula said. "What progress have you made with Amy?"
"You'll find out soon enough. In fact, there's only one thing left to do, but I can't do it just yet."
"Why not?" Brittany asked.
"There's something missing," Alicia said, just as more women arrived in the room. "And there she is now. Hey, Steph!"
"Hey," Stephanie said. "What's up?"
"I'm doing fine, but Amy's another story."
"What's wrong with her?" Nancy asked.
"Well, the talks today kinda struck a nerve." Technically, this was true. "She gave me her account on what you've done to her, Stephanie. Why do you think I'm out here right now? She's not in a good mood, and she told me she wants to speak with you as soon as you got home."
The nature of Alicia's explanation coupled with her serious tone conspired to make the love deity very worried. She could only imagine what could happen when centuries worth of aggression was unleashed. Reluctantly, she made her way to Amy's room. Within moments of entering, they heard a shriek from inside.
"Stephanie!!" Nancy and Stacy said in unison as they went to their friend's aid--or they would have if Alicia hadn't had a tight grip on their arms.
"What are you doing?!" Nancy asked.
"Yeah, who knows what Amy's doing to her in there!"
"I know exactly what she's doing," Alicia said. "I did release the beast within Amy, just not what I originally said it was."
"What are you talking about?" Brittany said.
"Listen closely," Alicia said, pointing to Amy's door. Screaming could be heard from inside, but they weren't exactly ones of pain or anguish.
"Sean," Linda said, a look of disbelief on her face. "Tell me you didn't just--"
"--Give Amy's sex drive a jump start?" A wide grin appeared on Alicia's face. "Yes, I did."
"I don't believe it," Paula said. "You actually did the impossible!"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Alicia said. "If my career in magic is any indication. Well, I guess my work here is done."
"But what about Stephanie?" Irene asked.
"Don't worry, she'll be alright. Frankly, I think it's high time the tables were turned on her." Alicia held out a hand towards Linda. "Shall we?"
Linda nodded. "Let's go."
"We'll see you again sometime," Catherine called out. "You can count on that!"
"Knowing you, should I be looking forward to it or dreading it?"
Shinobu was making dinner, humming to herself when she saw a flash of light coming from the dining room. Rushing to see what was going on, her face lit up when she found Sean and Linda standing before her. "Have room for one more?" Sean asked, a smile on his face.
"SEAN!!" Shinobu squealed as she ran over and hugged Sean as hard as she could.
"I'm glad I'm back, too," Sean said.
"So," Kitsune said as she and Naru entered the room. "How did that whole mission thing go?"
"He exceeded our greatest expectations," Linda said.
"What did you have to do, anyway?" Naru asked.
"I'll explain everything at dinner." He flinched when he heard explosions coming from outside. "Okay, what have I been missing?"
"Suu started a war with the new neighbor," Shinobu said. "It's been like that for a couple days now."
"She on the roof?"
"Most likely."
"Great," Sean said as he made his way to the stairs. "I'd better make sure she doesn't blow this place up."
--- Sunday, 8/2 8:12 AM
All the girls (including Alicia) took a trip to the hot springs after breakfast. Over the last couple days, Sean has told everyone what he had done and was now in the process describing all the goddesses. "…I tell you, it was almost like I never left," Alicia said, glancing in Shinobu's direction. "…Almost."
"After what you told us, I'm not surprised," Motoko said.
"You said it," Kitsune said.
"Even though it was interesting living with them," Alicia said. "Nobody can replace you girls." All of a sudden, Alicia began to glow. "What the--" She then vanished, leaving an astonished group of girls in her wake.
"Oh no, not again," Shinobu said.
"Hey, what's this?" Motoko asked, noticing a slip of paper where Alicia had been. "It says, 'We felt Sean needed to be properly rewarded for his services. Don't worry, we'll have him back by the end of the day. Signed, Linda and Amy.'"
"Gee, I wonder what that reward could be?" Kitsune asked. Everyone knew it was a rhetorical question.
End of Chapter IL
Since school is back in session for me, I don't know when chapter 50 will be up. Until then, please R&R!
Sorry this one took so long, but as you can see, this is a monster of a chapter. Get ready for a marathon; try to keep up.
Chapter IL: Requests and Reconnaissance
"I give up. There's nothing else I can do."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure! I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing's worked!"
"You tried your best, I'm sure, but there has to be some way to--hmm…"
"What are you thinking?"
"I think I may have found the answer."
"What's that look on your face for? Don't tell me you're actually going do to THAT!"
"You have a better plan? This whole thing was your idea to begin with."
"I know that, but--"
"Then let's at least try this. You never know, it might actually work."
"Well, alright, but you do it. I don't want any part of it."
"Suit yourself."
The coming days signaled a return to the regular events that frequented Hinata-Sou. Shinobu and Mutsumi were on more friendly terms than ever before. Naru and Keitaro were as close as ever, making everyone curious as to what was going on behind the scenes. Kitsune, after getting a talking to at the newspaper for pretty much going AWOL, savored what little spare time she could get. Motoko tried to focus her energy on her training, but thoughts of Jimmy would always pop up. Granted, thanks to E-mail and phone calls, they had ways to keep in contact with each other, but Motoko wished to see him face to face. Despite trying not showing her grief, it was obvious to everyone around her. Sean resumed his duties as landlord, each day thankful to have lived through the last, though he would gladly go through physical torture as opposed to the emotional variety.
Suu's activities on the other hand, had everyone wondering. Normally, she would be bounding around the house with hardly any rhyme or reason, but now, she seemed to be focused on a single objective. She never told anyone what that objective was, but the others started to get an idea after noticing the patterns of her activities. Aside from that little glitch, things were pretty normal, but as can be expected, things don't stay that way forever, and for one person, it would be an experience that would never be forgotten.
--- Sunday, 7/27 2:12 PM (A/N: It's been a while since I last started a chapter after breakfast, huh?)
Sean paced around the house; he had already completed his chores and was left with nothing to do. His wanderings led him to the living room; the others were there watching television. "Hey," he said. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Kitsune said. Apparently, they were as bored as Sean was.
"Anyone have any suggestions yet?" Naru asked.
"We could watch some home movies," Kitsune said.
"And which ones did you plan on having us watch?" Motoko asked.
"Like you really have to ask," Shinobu commented.
"What kind of movies are you all talking about?" Mutsumi asked.
"Maybe at another time," Naru quickly said.
"Anyone have any better ideas?" Kitsune asked.
"You know," Sean said. "It's a sad state of affairs when things get boring around here."
"And what do you suggest we do to take care of that?" Keitaro asked.
Sean shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe we could go see what Suu's up to or something."
"She's probably just spying on the neighbors again," Shinobu said.
"I honestly don't know what she finds so interesting about that place," Naru said.
"Well, have any of you ever gone up to the roof and checked it out yourself?" Sean asked. Nobody could say they had. "Well, there you go. Apparently, she knows something we don't."
"Let's leave her to her snooping," Kitsune said. "We'd probably just get in the way."
"Well, that still leaves us with nothing to do," Mutsumi said.
"Don't worry," Sean said. "Knowing this place, something's bound to happen sooner or later." As if on cue, a bright light appeared in the room.
"You should really watch what you say," Kitsune said.
"No kidding," Naru added.
The light would only last a few moments, and when it faded, everyone saw a familiar figure standing before them. "Hey, Linda," Sean said. "Long time no see."
"Good afternoon," Linda said politely.
"To what do we owe this visit?" Motoko asked. It seemed everyone had the same thought in mind.
"I have come to see Sean," Linda said.
"Me?" Sean asked, taken aback by what the goddess said. "What do you need to see me for?"
"I need you to do me a favor."
"A favor? What kind of favor?"
"I'll tell you the details on the way."
"Now hold on just a sec," Kitsune said. "Why should he do you a favor? What can he do that you can't?"
"Kitsune!" Shinobu said.
"My reasons are not your concern!" Linda said, crossing her arms.
"Maybe not," Kitsune said. "But what you do with our friend and landlord is!"
"Kitsune, calm down," Sean said, intending on stopping World War III before it starts. "It's alright. I'm sure she has a good reason for doing this. Besides, I owe her."
"What do you mean, 'you owe her'? What has she done for us besides scare us half to death?!"
"She fixed my eyes, that's what!"
"Sure, but--what?"
"After Shinobu's test, she took me to get my eyes repaired."
"Why didn't you say that before?" Shinobu asked.
"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want to call attention to it. It's not exactly noticeable, is it?"
"Not really."
"Keep in mind," Linda said. "This favor isn't just for me. You'll be doing this for all my sisters as well. If you're able to do this for us, we'll be eternally grateful. But I'm not forcing you to do anything against your will; you don't have to agree to it if you don't want to."
"Well, considering what you and the other goddesses must be capable of, you'd need to be pretty desperate to come to me for help."
Linda nodded. "You're basically a last resort."
"I don't know how much help I can be, but I'll do what I can."
"We won't think any less of you if you fail."
"I'll hold you to that."
"How long will this take?" Keitaro asked.
"It depends on how determined Sean is," Linda said. "If you never give up, it might take hours, might take days."
"Days?" Sean and Shinobu said in unison.
"Are you kidding?" Kitsune asked.
Linda shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We've been trying for years now without success."
"Then what makes you think I can?" Sean asked.
"Like I said, your our last resort."
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."
"All I ask is that you try."
"Just let me do something real quick first." Sean gave Shinobu a hug and a kiss. "Don't fall apart while I'm gone, okay?"
"I can't believe you're leaving again," Shinobu said. Surprisingly, she didn't need to fight back tears this time around.
"Duty calls," Sean said. "At least you know I'm leaving this time, right? See y'all when I get back!"
"See you, Sean!" Keitaro said.
"Good luck!" Motoko said.
"He's gonna need it," Linda thought as Sean walked up to her.
"Let's go," he said. They would leave the same way Linda had arrived; in a flash of light.
"I wonder," Kitsune said. "What could he do that a bunch of women can't?" A grin appeared on her face. "I can think of one thing."
"Kitsune!" Shinobu yelled. "Will you cut that out already?!"
"What?" Kitsune asked, trying to look innocent. "It's possible, isn't it?"
"You want me to WHAT?!" Sean asked after Linda informed him of the job he had been assigned to.
"You want me to explain it again?" Linda asked.
"No, I heard it just fine the first time." This was true, but he still found the idea very hard to grasp. "But why do you want me to seduce Amy?"
"Well, you don't actually have to seduce her or anything. You just need to somehow convince her to let loose for once in her life. Stephanie's been trying for the last 500 some-odd years."
"So I suppose seduction wouldn't work anyway. If you've been at it for that long and still couldn't do it, what makes you think I can?"
"Well, you may be able to come up with something we haven't considered yet."
"Maybe."
The pair arrived in the living room they went to last time Sean paid a visit, but there was one main difference. Last time around, the living room was devoid of life; this time, there was a crowd there, waiting for them to arrive. "Whoa," Sean said, surprised at the sight of ten women looking right at him. "Uh, hey."
"Hello, Sean," one of the women said, extending an arm out to him. "Welcome to our home."
"Uh, thanks," Sean said, shaking hands. "I wasn't expecting such a welcome. I thought I'd be trying to avoid everyone like last time--oops."
"Don't worry," another goddess said. "Linda already told us about your last visit."
"Oh," Sean said, relieved that he hadn't gotten Linda in trouble. He looked at each woman until his eyes fell on Stephanie. At first he was curious as to why she refused to make eye contact until realization set in, forcing a grin to form on his face. He glanced at another of the deities that he happened to recognize. "Hey, um, Julie, right?"
"Yes?" Julie said, a bit puzzled as to why he addressed her.
Sean's smile grew a bit more sinister. "How did Stephanie's punishment go?"
"Very well," Julie said, starting to grin as well.
"Maybe for you!" Stephanie said. "It was hell for me! And for the record, I was totally against you bringing him here, Linda!"
"We know, Steph," one of the other women said. "You been saying that ever since she brought it up! You're like a broken record."
"Never mind her," another one said to Sean. "She's just PMSing."
As some of the others girls giggled from that last comment, Sean could have sworn he could see Stephanie's eyes start to twitch. He started to wonder if he would regret showing up in the first place…
While Sean was coming to terms with his assignment, Suu was on a mission of her own. Ever since Shinobu notified her of it three weeks before, Suu had focused all her efforts toward learning all she could about her new neighbor. In that span, she had watched moving trucks come and go, but saw no sign of anyone resembling an owner or other occupant. Normally, this wouldn't concern the usually carefree girl, but seeing what was delivered into the building piqued her interest. A truly alarming amount of computers and other electronic paraphernalia had been shipped inside, and she had become determined to find out more. Who could have a need for such things? What could be inside the hard drives of all those computers? And probably the most important question of all: Would he be her friend?
The questions would not stop there, either. Four days ago, the moving trucks were replaced by a construction crew. Much to Suu's surprise, they tore down the existing garage and began building something on the far end of the structure, out of her line of sight. By now, she had finally had enough and decided to get a closer look, but she knew better than to show up herself. Therefore, she had thought ahead and, with a little aid from Sean, created a machine capable of infiltrating any structure with relative ease--or so she thought.
--- 2:40 PM
Suu sat on the roof, binoculars in hand, waiting for her chance to make her move. When the coast was clear, she looked at her latest creation; a model helicopter equipped with a surveillance camera. After donning a headset and visor, she grabbed a remote. "Final systems check," she thought. When she pressed a couple buttons, an image was displayed on the visor. "Visual, check; audio, check; activate propulsion systems!" She flipped a switch and the propeller blades began to spin and within moments, the helicopter was airborne. "Alright, let's go see what our neighbor is up to," she said to nobody in particular.
The copter would take its sweet time in getting to its target. Earlier tests have shown that when moving at running speed or faster, the perspective would be similar to that of being in a roller coaster or some other vehicle which, when sitting still, can be very disorienting. Besides, history has shown that rushing into something headfirst can lead to disaster. The spy copter's first objective was to find out what was being built on the other side of the building. Suu would find that the structure was still under construction, but from what she could tell, it was going to be a garage to replace the one that was torn down a few days before; and it was going to be a very large one at that. From the looks of it, there was even going to be a second floor added, but that section had barely even begun, much less given any clues as to its function.
"Well," Suu said. "That answers that. Now, let's venture inside and see what we find there, shall we?" Suu's perspective moved to the front door, but found it closed; big surprise. Nevertheless, Suu would not be denied, as she was prepared for such obstacles. After another flick of a switch, she steered her machine towards the door. Now, under normal circumstances, such a tactic would result in a ruined helicopter and a slashed-up door, but it just passed through as though the door was never there, leaving it untouched. This was a little feature added by Sean during the creation process, at Suu's request. As soon as it cleared the door, Suu flipped the switch back; as cool as the ability to pass through walls was, it could only be used sparingly because it was a drain on the fuel supply.
The rooms the Suu found made it seem like an ordinary house; there was a living room, dining room, kitchen and so forth, but it was the kitchen where something caught her attention. "Hm," she muttered. "Why is there a doorknob set into the wall?" Aside from the knob itself, there were no obvious signs of a door being there. Curiosity taking over fully, she piloted the camera towards the wall and was about to flip the switch that would allow it to pass through it when she saw something pass by in a blur. "What the--" Before she could do anything, she heard the sound of screeching metal an then everything went black. "What was that?!" she yelled, tossing off the headset and looked down at the building below. After a few moments, a window opened and she saw what was left of her creation get tossed out. "There's something in there he doesn't want me to see," she said. "And I intend to do just that…"
For the first day of Sean's stay at the goddesses' home, he was introduced to each woman and was told some details concerning Amy's behavior and past attempts to get her to participate in their… group activities. By the time he was fully caught up, it had gotten pretty late and so, he decided to get some sleep and get an early start the next day; provided Amy hadn't already found out about his arrival by then.
--- Monday, 7/28 6:31 AM
When Sean woke up that morning, it took him a few moments to recognize where he was. "Well, here we are," he thought, sitting up on the couch in the living room. "Another crazy day in the life of Sean Roberts." The previous night, some offers had been made for him to spend the night in one of the ladies' rooms, but he declined, opting instead to sleep on the couch. Now, he was starting to regret that decision, as he had woken up with a stiff neck. Of course, if he had accepted, a stiff neck might have been the least of his worries.
Sean got up and walked down a hallway lined on both sides with doors; each bearing a symbol of each deity's affiliation. He couldn't help but notice that he hadn't seen any of them since he woke up. "I wonder when they get up in the morning," he thought. "For that matter, I wonder if they ever sleep at all." At the end of the hall, he found a door with no symbol on it. "Hmm, I wonder what behind this one." He knew he probably shouldn't be snooping around, but it was a better prospect then going back to the living room and being bored out of his mind.
Opening the door, he found a narrow hallway the extended another 20 feet before turning right. As he walked, he started to hear the voices of some of the goddesses. By this time, his legs had gone on autopilot, so he continued on, despite his brain giving warnings the he really should be there. When he got to the corner, he saw that the hallway quickly opened up into a room, but he could only see a small portion of it; to see more would require another right turn. Poking his head in, his brain gave a quick "I told you so" to his legs.
At one end of the room (the end he was on), was the longest vanity mirror he had ever seen, and the table set against the wall had all manner of makeup, brushes, hair spray and everything else involved in the beautification process. Of course, he didn't pay too much attention to that, as his gaze was drawn to the other end of the room. That end had a shower area like that of a locker room, with eight shower heads lined up in a row; and there was a decent number of woman currently making use of it.
Granted, he liked what he saw, but it only took a moment to duck back out of sight. "Okay," he thought. "If I keep quiet, maybe they won't find out I'm here." He started to back up, but only made it five feet down the hallway before bumping into someone. "Oh no," he thought, his eyes growing wide. "Just my luck." He turned around to see who he had run into. "And it just got worse." Of all the people in the world, he just had to bump into Sandra.
"Well, well," Sandra said, crossing her arms under her chest which, along with everything else, was bare. "Somebody's trying to be sneaky." (Sandra: Grim Reaper / Short black hair / Somewhat of a Goth)
"What are you going to do?" Sean asked. It looked like he was staring death right in the face--well, actually he was.
Sandra smiled. "Hey, girls, come here for a sec!"
Sean didn't know what he was in for, and he wasn't exactly eager to find out. Unfortunately, Sandra blocked the way to the door, so had no other choice. He turned around just in time for the ladies he had just walked in on to round the corner.
"Hey, Sandra," Linda said. "What did you--I see."
"It seems we have ourselves a peeping Tom in our midst," Paula said. (Paula: Goddess of Literature / Short blonde hair / Eloquent)
"Yeah," Brittany said. "If you wanted to see us naked, you could have just said so." (Brittany: G. of Music / Long blonde hair / Ditz)
"If I really wanted to," Sean said, somehow able to regain his composure. "Why did I turn down the offers to sleep in any of your rooms? If I didn't know better, I'd be wondering what your intentions were. Besides, this is as much your fault as it is mine, since none of you ever told me what was behind that door in the first place. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go and let you shower in peace." He turned and headed for the door.
"Aw," Brittany said. "Don't be like that."
Springing into action, one goddess ran towards Sean, going into handsprings midway through, the last of which propelling her right over Sean's head, landing right in front of the door about two seconds before he got there. "You think we're going to let you get away now?" Nancy said. (Nancy: G. of Sports / Short red hair / Energetic and competitive)
Sean was caught off guard by Nancy's actions; his hand was already reaching for the doorknob, and he was barely able to retract it before it made contact with flesh. "This wasn't what Linda brought me here for."
"Details, details. Just because you're here to do a certain job doesn't mean you can't do other things while you're here."
"Yeah," Brittany said. "Besides, you won't be seeing Amy for another couple hours anyway, so why don't you join us?"
Sean's mind instinctively turned to keeping their modesty and privacy in consideration. "I think I'll just wait till you're done before--"
"Don't worry," Linda said, taking Sean by the arm. "We don't mind you looking at us. We've been around more than long enough to be comfortable with our bodies--some more so than others." She glanced at Stephanie while saying that last part.
"If they're all okay with it," Sean's mind reasoned as Linda led him by the arm. "I suppose there'd be no harm in it. This'd be just like back home." He was the first one to reenter the bathroom. "You know," he said, looking around. "This really is a nice--WHOA!!" The sudden scream was caused by his clothes being torn to shreds. He turned around to see Stacy there, smiling at him, sword in hand. "Was that really necessary?!"
Stacy giggled a bit as her sword phased out. "What's wrong with having a little fun with you? Besides, I heard this isn't the first time that's happened to you." (Stacy: G. of Martial Arts / Medium-length black hair / Athletic)
"Besides," Irene said. "Most people don't bathe with their clothes on." (Irene: G. of the Outdoors / Long green hair / Usually passive, but can be ruthless)
"I'm well aware of that and I can take off my clothes on my own, thank you very much," Sean said. "Oh yeah," he thought. "This is like back home; but is that a good thing?"
"Hmm," Mary said as she got a good look at Sean. "Not bad, but I've seen better."
"That's because you watch too much television," Julie said. (Mary: G. of all Theater / Medium blue hair / Couch potato) "Not everyone can be a model."
"Obviously," Mary said.
"Alright, enough with the commentary," Sean said. "Let's get this shower over with; I've got a recluse deity to take care of later on, and I want to have a plan of attack thought up by then."
And so, the shower picked up where it left off, with the goddesses making girl talk amongst themselves and Sean on the far end, his brain trying to come up with feasible ways to get Amy more… outgoing. It didn't take long for one woman to notice him keeping his distance, not to mention the ever-present redness on his face. "Are you alright?" Irene asked.
"Yeah," Sean said, barely looking in her direction. "I'm fine."
"I thought you were used to seeing naked women," Nancy said.
"It depends on the woman. Sure, I'm used to seeing the girls back home, but that's because I've known them for over a year; I just met most of you yesterday."
"So, he's uncomfortable around us, is he?" Stephanie thought, a Kitsune-like grin appearing on her face. "That gives me an idea." She started whispering something to Catherine, who started to giggle.
"What are those two up to?" Linda thought.
Sean was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice anything, but he would find out what was going on soon enough. When he finished rinsing himself off, he turned to turn off his showerhead, but much to his surprise, found Stephanie's breast instead. "What the--?" she started as he backed up. After a couple steps, he slipped on a bar of soap, landing on his back.
"Are you alright?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sean muttered.
"What did you do that for, Catherine?" Paula asked.
"Watch," was all the snickering goddess said. (Catherine: G. of Trickery / Medium red hair / Mischievous)
Sean tried to get up, but a couple hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him back down on the white tile. "Stephanie, what are you--"
"You know how you make me feel," Stephanie said in a sultry voice. "And you staying here's only going to make me want you more."
"Oh no," Sean thought as the horny goddess started rubbing herself against him. "This is Valentine's day all over again!"
Linda knew Sean long enough to recognize the expression on his face; it was clear he was trying his damnedest not to enjoy the treatment Stephanie was giving him. "Steph, stop! You're torturing the poor guy! He didn't want it from Kitsune and he doesn't want it from you!"
"I know," Stephanie said with a smirk.
"Then why--"
"Revenge takes no prisoners, Linda! Ever since I first came into contact with him, he's done nothing but frustrate me! The last thing he had done to me was the last straw!" She turned back to Sean. "Because of that punishment you came up with, it took me a week to get my hormone level back down to normal!"
"Which is saying a lot, considering how horny she is on any given day," Mary said.
"Oh, yeah," Catherine said. "I remember now; the lust potions. I gotta tell ya, Sean, that idea was a stroke of genius."
"Whose side are you on, Cathy?!" Stephanie yelled.
"Hey, I love torture, and I don't care who's the target."
"Stephanie," Sean pleaded. "Will you stop this, please?!"
"And what will you do if I don't?"
"When I get back home, I'll send Julie as much lust potion as I can make!"
Stephanie suddenly stopped. "You'll what?"
"Keep going, Steph!" Catherine cheered.
"Shut up! You wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"Try me," Sean said with a growl.
As much as Stephanie wanted to continue, she didn't want to experience Sean's brand of punishment again; and the second time might be worse than the first. Therefore, begrudgingly, she got off Sean, who quickly got up and went for his original target, but adjusted the temperature instead of turning it off. "Oh man," he sighed as the cold water quenched the fire within him. "I really hope every morning's not going to be like this."
"Don't worry," Julie said. "We'll try and keep Steph from doing something like that again while you're here."
"I appreciate it."
"You guys are no fun!" Catherine griped.
"I was turned on enough already without her making her moves on me," Sean muttered to himself as he shut off the water and went to grab a towel. "It's almost like I never left, what with Sarah and Kitsune's clones around. Though that little episode did give me an idea for what to do concerning Amy."
"What did you have in mind?" Sandra asked.
"I'll fill you in after I get dressed. Now, about my clothes."
"Sorry about that," Stacy said. "I'll let you borrow some of my clothes while you're here to make up for what I did."
"No need. I've got that covered; or at least I soon will be…"
Motoko sat in Sean's room, typing out an e-mail to Jimmy when she felt the familiar presence of Sean's energy in the room. "Sean's back?" she thought, but quickly dismissed it when she realized that the energy was coming from both the closet and the dresser. Walking to the closet, she opened it to find one of Sean's shirts glowing, then vanish completely. "Oh, yeah, he didn't bring any clothes with him to… wherever it was he went." She went to the table and sat back down in front of the laptop. "I wonder how long he'll be gone…"
--- 8:11 AM
Amy was reading at her desk when she heard beeping from the direction of the door. Looking over she saw a panel on the wall with a number of lights on it; none of them were lit. Without a word, she got up and headed for the door. The device was a sensor that showed which of the other goddesses--if any--were present, and since there were nobody else around, she took the opportunity to go take a shower herself. Opening the door, she looked up and down the hall just to make sure she was alone before making her way to the bathroom.
Unbeknownst to her, Sean was hiding behind the couch in the living room, using his X-Ray vision to track her movements. As soon as Amy stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her, he moved out of his hiding place. "Well," he thought. "So far, so good. Everything's going according to plan." He stalked ever closer to the bathroom door, waiting for Amy to round the corner. When she did, he set his plan into motion.
"Ah," Amy said as she undid her hair. "Without the others around, this place can be very peaceful; just the way I want it." After looking back down the hallway one last time, she stripped off her clothing, set it on the makeup table and made her way to the shower. "I swear, those other girls are crazy; the whole lot of them."
"Oh, come on, are we that bad?"
Amy's eyes grew wide and she quickly turned towards the opening to the hallway. "Stephanie, what are you doing here?!"
"Are you surprised?" Stephanie asked.
"I guess I need to fix that dumb sensor," Amy thought. "Get out! You know I bathe alone; no exceptions!"
"Oh come now, you don't really mean that, do you? I mean, we're all friends here, aren't we?"
"Wait a second," Amy thought. "Something's not right here. Usually, she'd have tried to seduce me by now. Plus, she doesn't normally talk that way." "Who are you?!" she yelled. "Show yourself!"
"So you saw through my ruse," Stephanie's voice said. "Can't say I'm surprised, considering how smart you are."
Amy was barely able to wrap a towel around herself before her surprise guest walked in; and she couldn't have predicted who it would have been if she tried. "Hello, Amy," Sean said, still using Stephanie's voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Amy looked like she had seen a ghost. "How did you get here?! When the others find out about this, they're--"
"The others already know I'm here," Sean said, reverting back to his normal voice. "They were the ones who brought me here in the first place."
"Why would they bring you back?!"
"You," Sean simply said.
Amy looked confused. "What?"
"Do you have any idea how worried the others are about you?"
"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with me."
"Your friends must think differently if they called on me. After what they've told me, I have to agree with them."
"You gotta be--what did they tell you to do, exactly?"
"They just want me to get you to be less of an introvert--they don't care how."
"So Stephanie couldn't seduce me, so they brought you in to do it instead?"
"If you really knew me, you'd know I don't do that. To be honest, I don't approve of that slut's methods, either, and she was opposed to my being here. No, it's obvious that force is not the way to go about this."
"So you're going to try to talk me into it instead?"
"You catch on quick."
"Well, you might as well go home. There's no way I'll be talked into doing anything with… them."
"There's a small problem with that, for you see, I don't exactly know how to get home, so I guess it's going to be just you and me until they get back."
"Oh, they're going to pay for doing this to me," Amy thought. "Try all you want, Sean," she said out loud. "You won't succeed. Now will you go and let me shower in peace?!"
"Just the setup I was waiting for," Sean thought. "Alright, alright, I'll go, but can I ask you something before I do?"
"Make it quick."
"Why do you insist on bathing all by yourself?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
"If I intend to help you, I'll need all the information I can get; I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at. Besides, the quicker you answer my question, the sooner I leave."
"Is it so wrong for someone to want to be modest?"
"No, but from what I've heard, you do it to a fault."
"And your point is…?"
"All I'm saying is, you don't have to be so ashamed of your own body. Well, I'm going to go leave you to your shower. See ya!" With that, he walked off into the hallway.
"Hey, hold on just a second! I'm not--" Amy rushed to the hallway to find it completely empty. "Where'd he go?"
Sean giggled to himself as he lounged on the couch back in the living room. "That should get the ball rolling."
--- 3:22 AM
"Alright," Suu said to herself. "Let's try this again." She sat on the roof, fiddling with her recently rebuilt spy-copter, making some final adjustments before its maiden voyage; one she hoped would last longer than the first one did. "If he destroys this one like he did the last one, I'll have to up the stakes a bit; he's going to regret ever messing with the technical genius that is Koalla Suu!" Beneath that confident exterior, doubt was rearing it's ugly head. She couldn't be sure what information she could get this time around. Without Sean's aid, getting through the front door would be quite a task, but she knew she'd think of something in the clutch.
After donning the appropriate headgear, she deployed the helicopter, trying to come up with ways to get inside along the way; but it would end up being unnecessary, as she would soon see. "Hmm, what do we have here?" Much to her surprise, the front door was wide open. She was confused as to why whoever lived there would do such a careless thing, especially after what happened yesterday, but Suu saw it as a chance of a lifetime; and she wasn't about to let this one slip away.
Quickly, Suu piloted the copter inside, but stopped as it entered the living room. "What was that?" she thought. She could have sworn she heard something, but she couldn't find the source. A few moments went by in an uncomfortable silence before she heard some of the most evil laughter she had ever heard--outside of herself, of course. She turned the camera around and let out a scream as she found glowing yellowish eyes staring her right in the face (you know what I mean). The next thing she knew, the video feed was cut.
While she saw recovering from the shock, the others rushed up to the roof to see what was wrong. "What's the matter, Suu?!" Naru asked frantically. They all knew that when Suu screams like that, it can't be good.
"Our neighbor is a freak of nature!"
"Your kidding, right?" Kitsune asked.
"It's eyes were glowing!!"
"So what? We've seen Sean's eyes glow before."
"That doesn't really help matters," Motoko said. "When his eyes glow, it's hardly ever a good thing."
"Good point," Naru said.
Suu was finally able to calm down. "Alright, as long as we don't go over there any time soon, I think we'll be--what the…?"
"What's wrong?" Keitaro asked upon seeing Suu turn back to the neighbor's house.
"I hear music," Suu said, confusion starting to set in.
"I don't hear anything," Shinobu said.
"It's coming through the headset," Suu explained. "Why would he keep my copter intact this time?" she thought. "Hey, I recognize that song. 'One Vision,' I think it's called." She had heard Sean play the song by Queen a few times before.
"Hey, look over there!" Mutsumi said, pointing to the house. "Model airplanes!"
Suu looked up to see a squad of planes, not unlike her own, fly towards them. "What in the world--?" Her eyes grew wide when she saw one of them fire a missile in her general direction. "You gotta be kidding me." Suu was barely able to back up before the missiles made contact with the rail, blowing away a surprisingly large chuck of it.
As the planes passed by overhead, Suu happened to glance at the others, who were all speechless from the shock of what they had witnessed, and it took a shout by Suu to get them back to their senses. "Everyone, get inside, now!"
"Can all model planes do that?" Mutsumi asked as they all went downstairs like their very lives depended on it.
"So," Suu thought as she ran for her room. "If it's a fight you want, then that's what you'll get!" She rushed back to the roof, another of her remotes in hand. "You're not the only one with firepower!" She pressed a button and her own fleet of planes shot out of her room to join her rival's. Within moments, dogfights ensued, each side trying to shoot down the other. One by one, the planes fell until only two remained; both of them on Suu's side. "Yes! That should teach you not to mess with me!" Unfortunately, her adversary wasn't exactly a quick learner, as two full-size Surface-to-Air missiles shot from the mystery house, blowing her remaining arsenal to pieces. "How did…?" Suu wondered to herself as she went back to the railing, intending to find just where such heavy weaponry came from. As if to answer her, a third missile arrived from among the trees. Suu watched it rise high into the sky. As it reached its apex, it suddenly dawned on her; she was the intended target. In a panic, she dashed for the stairs, hoping to avoid the impending explosion. From her vantage point, she watched the missile imbed itself in the roof, but did not detonate.
After waiting a few moments to catch her breath and get her heart rate back to normal, Suu cautiously approached the apparent dud. It was there that she found a message written on the defective projectile; it read, "You may have won this battle, but you will not win the war."
"That's what you think," Suu muttered to herself as she walked back to her room. What had started has a simple reconnaissance mission had become a declaration of war; one that Suu took very personally, and she refused to be defeated.
After their first encounter in the shower, Amy was all too willing to go into talks with Sean--mostly to try to disprove his allegations regarding her self-image, but would only end up proving him right. After being around for as long as she has, she knew well enough what kind of body she possessed, but had deemed herself unworthy of it over the years. In her opinion, an attractive figure was wasted on someone like her, as she has never wanted to show it off, hence the reason why she always bathed alone.
Sean countered by saying that she should be proud that she has the best of both worlds; a hot body with a brain to match. Most people, man or woman, would give almost anything to have that. Even with her glasses--or perhaps even because of them--Sean said that anyone who wouldn't find her attractive must have some very strange tastes in women.
The day culminated in Sean somehow convincing Amy to spend the rest of their time alone in the nude, his reason being to get her more accustomed to being admired. At first, Amy was so uncomfortable, she could hardly focus on the book she was reading, what with Sean in the room, seeing everything she had to offer, but she soon saw that Sean wasn't exactly having the time of his life either, if the blatant attempts to hide his arousal was any indication. This would distract her as well, but this one caused her to grin and blush uncontrollably; she had never been viewed as a sexual object before, so it was quite a new experience.
The other girls would see the fruits of Sean's labors the following morning, when they found Amy in the shower, apparently waiting for them. Granted, she kept to herself a bit, but it was definitely an improvement. Needless to say, Sean was praised for what was already quite an accomplishment, but he wasn't done yet.
Day two of negotiations would prove to be not as difficult--or as hormonally frustrating--as the first. Simply put, Sean brought Amy's work habits into question. Sure, she was the goddess of knowledge and everything, and that brought with it certain responsibilities, but going at it for two millennia non-stop was a bit much, even for her. Besides (and this was the focal point of Sean's argument), what else was left to look up? After all, she's been around for so long, she must know every aspect of every academic topic known to man and then some. Amy reasoned that the world is continuously evolving, especially in the areas of sociology and the most recent technological advances, but Sean felt that some limits had to be made. Amy's deteriorating eyesight is proof positive that she has been working too hard for too long, and if she hoped to keep from having to perform eye surgery on herself--again--then she had no other option than to take a break every once in a while. Now, Sean could have stopped there and his mission would still have been considered a success by the others, but he decided to go one step further…
--- Wednesday, 7/30 7:12 AM
"GOOD MORNING, SEAN!"
Those words were said as soon as Sean opened his eyes, scaring the pants off of him. With an exasperated sigh, he said, "Good morning to you too, Sarah." Quickly, he remembered where he was. "I mean Cathy. Please, don't do that again."
Catherine giggled. "Sometimes, you make things way too easy for me."
"I'm sorry," Linda said. "She insisted."
"Yeah," Sean muttered. "Insisted on giving me a heart attack." He stretched a bit as he sat up in bed. After the night on the couch, Sean decided to take the girls up on the offer to sleep in one of their rooms, finally settling on Linda's, as he knew her the best and trusted her the most not to try anything; or at least not make too big a deal of it. "I swear," he thought as he got out of bed. "What with Cathy and Stephanie here, it's like I never left Hinata-Sou." After a quick shower, he conjured some breakfast for himself in the living room, where a couple of the deities stopped to chat with him before going off on their daily business.
"I just want to say," Stacy said. "That on behalf of my follow goddesses, I thank you for all that you've done."
"Yeah," Mary said. "It's about time Amy started enjoying herself."
"No sweat," Sean said. "I'm glad I could help, though I've still got one thing left planned."
"And what's that?" Stacy asked.
"I don't want to give it away. I want it to be a surprise for when you all get back tonight. Is Amy in her room?"
"As far as we know, yeah," Mary said.
"Good." Sean had just finished eating, so he got up and started walking toward his target's quarters. "See you tonight."
"See ya!" Stacy said.
"I look forward to seeing what you do with Amy today," Mary said.
"If you only knew," Sean thought as he opened the door to Amy's inner sanctum. "Good morning, Amy."
"Hello, Sean," Amy said, giving her most cheerful greeting in recent history. "What's on the itinerary for today?"
"Before I say, I want you to promise to keep an open mind," Sean said, closing the door.
"I have so far. Do your worst."
"You asked for it." Sean took a deep breath. He knew he had to tread lightly until he could find sure footing. "Alright, let's talk about your sex life."
Amy looked at him like he just started speaking Klingon. "My what?"
"You heard me."
Amy had secretly hoped it wouldn't have come to this. "You can't really expect me to talk about that, can you?"
"Actually, I don't." Amy would have breathed a sigh of relief, but what Sean said next would make the breath catch in her throat. "In order to talk about your sex life, you'd need to actually have one."
Amy instantly recognized Sean's tactics; he had gone all psychological on her from day one. She was determined not to let him get in her head this time around. "So what?"
"Why have you refused to fulfill your desires?"
"Because I've had no desires to fulfill."
"They were right after all," Sean thought, reflecting back to the stories told to him by the other girls his first day there. "At first, I was reluctant to believe that Amy's been frigid for the last 2,000 years, but now… I certainly have my work cut out for me."
"You shouldn't even bother," Amy said. "Stephanie's been trying to seduce me for centuries now, and it hasn't worked yet."
"Maybe she just hasn't tried the right way," Sean muttered; just another example of his mouth working before his brain.
"What what is the right way, if you're so smart?" Amy asked, her arms now crossed.
"Only you can know that for sure, Amy, though I can narrow it down somewhat. For example, it's obvious you don't want to be forced into it. I feel the same way you do; Stephanie can definitely attest to that."
"I know; I've seen it myself."
"And she's not the only one who's made her moves on me, either. Don't think you're the only one who feels pressured to have sex. You seem to be unaffected by Steph's advances; I'm not so lucky."
"And how do you deal with it?"
Sean turned into Alicia. "This is how. As landlord, it is my duty to make sure my tenants are well cared for, even sexually. Despite this, I don't, nor will I ever plan on becoming a single father, and this is the only way I can be completely sure that doesn't happen."
"At least you have your priorities straight. I assume you sate your own desires in that form as well?"
"I do. It seems almost sad that I know more about the female orgasm than you do."
"That's what you think," Amy said, once again, falling for one of Sean's psychological ploys. "I have a higher understanding of bodily functions than you ever will."
"Sure, technically, you may know more about what goes on with something like that, but there are some things you just can't get from a textbook. For years, I've wondered what it would be like to be a woman but, under normal circumstances, I would be stuck to mere speculation, but being the wizard that I am, I can get around such boundaries without having to resort to surgery. At first, my gender switching was solely for the purposes of gathering information, but after a while, I realized my new form came with some fringe benefits I hadn't counted on."
"And what were they?" As if Amy didn't know.
"As a girl among girls, I found it easier to let go of my inhibitions. I've experienced things I never could have as a man; and my life has been that much better because of it."
"Sex is overrated."
"You think that because all Stephanie's done is try to force it upon you." Alicia started walking to where Amy was seated at her desk. "What if she had tried a different approach?"
Amy gave Alicia a suspicious look. "What are you doing?"
"As much as you know about the human body, there are some things you can never understand fully unless you experience it for yourself. Stephanie obviously wasn't any help, so why don't I give it a shot?"
"Why do you think you can succeed where Stephanie has failed?"
"Because unlike Stephanie, I don't have an ulterior motive. I don't crave sex like she does, which allows me to focus more on what you need."
Amy had to admit, Alicia had a good point. The only thing Stephanie was ever after was a good fuck. As Alicia began massaging her shoulder, she could feel her apprehension start to melt away. "That feels nice."
"That's the idea," Alicia whispered into Amy's ear.
This sent shivers up and down Amy's spine. Nobody had ever given her this kind of attention before, and she started to wonder if, all along, this was all it would have taken to get her to feel this way.
"Tell me what you want," Alicia whispered.
"Just keep doing what you're doing," Amy said, slumping a bit in her chair.
"She's becoming putty in my hands," Alicia thought. "Time to up the stakes a bit." She started to kiss Amy lightly on the crook of her neck, causing her to gasp. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
Amy merely nodded, unable to say a word. She could feel the heat start to rise within her. She liked this feeling, and she wanted more. Letting her newly discovered womanly instincts take over, she grabbed Alicia's hands and brought them down the front of her body, stopping at her breasts.
Taking the hint, Alicia began to gently squeeze, eliciting some moans from the formerly frigid goddess. "Do you want more?"
"Yes," Amy sighed. "Oh, God, yes!" This was the best Amy has ever felt since… well, ever. At this moment, all she knew was Alicia fondling her and the growing warmth within her. It came to the point where she found it difficult to keep her clothes on, but after a few minutes of bliss, it all came to a crashing halt. "C'mon, don't stop now!" Hearing Alicia snicker only made things more unsettling. "And what's so damn funny?!"
Alicia had that evil grin on her face. "I just got a great idea…"
--- 6:20 PM
Alicia was lounging in the living room when the goddesses started to return home. "Welcome home, ladies," she said as Paula and Brittany arrived.
"Um," Brittany said. "Do we know you?"
"More than you realize, apparently," Alicia said. Another goddess appeared in the room. "Hey, Linda."
"Hello, Sean," Linda greeted.
"That's Sean?!" Paula asked, reluctant to believe that last exchange of words. "How is that possible?!"
"Linda never told you I could turn into this, did she?"
"Did I forget to mention that?" Linda asked, sporting an innocent look.
"Yeah, you did," Brittany said, turning to Alicia. "How come you didn't do that sooner? We could have had some real fun in the shower."
"I have my reasons," Alicia said.
"So," Paula said. "What progress have you made with Amy?"
"You'll find out soon enough. In fact, there's only one thing left to do, but I can't do it just yet."
"Why not?" Brittany asked.
"There's something missing," Alicia said, just as more women arrived in the room. "And there she is now. Hey, Steph!"
"Hey," Stephanie said. "What's up?"
"I'm doing fine, but Amy's another story."
"What's wrong with her?" Nancy asked.
"Well, the talks today kinda struck a nerve." Technically, this was true. "She gave me her account on what you've done to her, Stephanie. Why do you think I'm out here right now? She's not in a good mood, and she told me she wants to speak with you as soon as you got home."
The nature of Alicia's explanation coupled with her serious tone conspired to make the love deity very worried. She could only imagine what could happen when centuries worth of aggression was unleashed. Reluctantly, she made her way to Amy's room. Within moments of entering, they heard a shriek from inside.
"Stephanie!!" Nancy and Stacy said in unison as they went to their friend's aid--or they would have if Alicia hadn't had a tight grip on their arms.
"What are you doing?!" Nancy asked.
"Yeah, who knows what Amy's doing to her in there!"
"I know exactly what she's doing," Alicia said. "I did release the beast within Amy, just not what I originally said it was."
"What are you talking about?" Brittany said.
"Listen closely," Alicia said, pointing to Amy's door. Screaming could be heard from inside, but they weren't exactly ones of pain or anguish.
"Sean," Linda said, a look of disbelief on her face. "Tell me you didn't just--"
"--Give Amy's sex drive a jump start?" A wide grin appeared on Alicia's face. "Yes, I did."
"I don't believe it," Paula said. "You actually did the impossible!"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Alicia said. "If my career in magic is any indication. Well, I guess my work here is done."
"But what about Stephanie?" Irene asked.
"Don't worry, she'll be alright. Frankly, I think it's high time the tables were turned on her." Alicia held out a hand towards Linda. "Shall we?"
Linda nodded. "Let's go."
"We'll see you again sometime," Catherine called out. "You can count on that!"
"Knowing you, should I be looking forward to it or dreading it?"
Shinobu was making dinner, humming to herself when she saw a flash of light coming from the dining room. Rushing to see what was going on, her face lit up when she found Sean and Linda standing before her. "Have room for one more?" Sean asked, a smile on his face.
"SEAN!!" Shinobu squealed as she ran over and hugged Sean as hard as she could.
"I'm glad I'm back, too," Sean said.
"So," Kitsune said as she and Naru entered the room. "How did that whole mission thing go?"
"He exceeded our greatest expectations," Linda said.
"What did you have to do, anyway?" Naru asked.
"I'll explain everything at dinner." He flinched when he heard explosions coming from outside. "Okay, what have I been missing?"
"Suu started a war with the new neighbor," Shinobu said. "It's been like that for a couple days now."
"She on the roof?"
"Most likely."
"Great," Sean said as he made his way to the stairs. "I'd better make sure she doesn't blow this place up."
--- Sunday, 8/2 8:12 AM
All the girls (including Alicia) took a trip to the hot springs after breakfast. Over the last couple days, Sean has told everyone what he had done and was now in the process describing all the goddesses. "…I tell you, it was almost like I never left," Alicia said, glancing in Shinobu's direction. "…Almost."
"After what you told us, I'm not surprised," Motoko said.
"You said it," Kitsune said.
"Even though it was interesting living with them," Alicia said. "Nobody can replace you girls." All of a sudden, Alicia began to glow. "What the--" She then vanished, leaving an astonished group of girls in her wake.
"Oh no, not again," Shinobu said.
"Hey, what's this?" Motoko asked, noticing a slip of paper where Alicia had been. "It says, 'We felt Sean needed to be properly rewarded for his services. Don't worry, we'll have him back by the end of the day. Signed, Linda and Amy.'"
"Gee, I wonder what that reward could be?" Kitsune asked. Everyone knew it was a rhetorical question.
End of Chapter IL
Since school is back in session for me, I don't know when chapter 50 will be up. Until then, please R&R!