Becoming Monsters is the creation and property of Ai Loves, setting used with permission.
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Chapter 25: That Feeling
Todd's group was larger by the time he left the tent. Most of the others in his network had arrived. Even Martin the Weasel, who Todd recognized as probably having a dangerous amount of information the survey was looking for... but who would recognize the ruse even faster than Todd had. The dozen or so there had waited for him to come out, allowing another person in front of them. He spoke in a soft voice. "Alright, can't talk specifics, but if you want to participate then lowball and vague up your estimates. It'll make sense once you get in there."
Corey the Raven crossed his arms. "I'll trust you on that, I guess, got some time before I can get into the booth. Looks like half the test is seeing whether you can be patient enough to get a chance to score at all."
He had a point. With every person taking five minutes in one of the five booths, the crowd of dozens was going nowhere fast. Song looked at the crowd, pulled out her phone, and tapped out some quick math on the calculator. "If there's a time limit, it's probably going to be the main challenge. Only about sixty students can get through these each hour, and there have to be two hundred out here." She closed her eyes and thought. "Todd, I don't see Catherine out here, so she's probably waiting for you at our suite or in hers, number 145. No sense waiting out here."
"Catherine?" Todd was confused for a moment.
"The healer I told you about earlier. I can see bruises and scrapes on you from the last couple of days, you need this."
"Oh. That makes sense. The rest of you need anything before I..."
"No," they all said in unison.
Jem crossed her arms and continued. "You need the healing. Go."
"I see I'm outnumbered. See you all later." With a wave, Todd headed back to the dormitory building. The walk back was fairly clear and peaceful. Most students were either at the League, still eating, or resting from the day. Not too many were out and about without aim. Todd thought he saw one of Bradley's friends, but the Human (or Human-looking, anyway) guy gave him a wide berth. In all, he made it back to the dorms without incident. The first place to check would be his own room, but there wasn't anyone there. Even May wasn't back yet. That meant he'd need to go into unexplored territory: other people's rooms. Back downstairs to the first floor after dropping by the bathroom, off to the left, was Suite 145.
He found himself uncharacteristically nervous. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd had sex with a random woman in this school for a direct benefit, a sentence that would have boggled his mind two weeks ago. Song had felt that this one was worth risking her ritual. He was touched, really, but figuring out how to make it up to her would have to wait. He shook his head. No point standing out here like there was any chance of the exchange not going as expected. Todd knocked.
"Come in!" The voice was a woman's, somewhat high but not severely so. Todd opened the door and went in.
A couple of things struck him. The first was that this place was scrupulously clean, though the walls showed a bit more damage than his own area. The furniture was otherwise the same, or at least close enough that it made no difference. The couch was pushed a bit further back to make room on the ground for a cushioned mat of some kind, and next to that mat stood a Human woman. "Catherine?"
"That's me, and you must be Todd." Catherine was a striking woman. Her hair was platinum blonde, only a shade or two off of white. Her eyes were ice blue, her skin pale and flawlessly smooth. Not a single wrinkle, scar, or zit to be seen anywhere. She was wearing a navy blue tee shirt and knee-length skirt, and the body beneath it seemed well put together. Almost unnaturally so. He'd been around an incredible number of sexy women recently, some who had supernatural assistance, but this seemed a bit different. Maybe it was how she held herself. Like she knew what she had, but none of it was really hers.
"Yep. So, Song tells me you two made a deal?"
"Of course. You think I do this for free? People with my Class are not that common, so I might as well get something out of it." She was smiling, a small and cold kind of thing.
"And what Class is that?"
"I'm a Healer. I do one thing, and I do it well. Now, there are a couple of ways to do this, but I suspect the most efficient one is also the one you want. I'll activate my Healing Aura, so the longer you stay within a few meters of me the more you'll get. The closer the better. Her perfectly-trimmed eyebrows raised a bit when she added that last part.
Todd chuckled. "So the longer I last, the more healing I get, is that it?"
She nodded at him, slowly and deliberately. "Exactly. Right here, right now. My suitemates are all rushing for the Orders, so we have all evening." She started taking off her clothing to reveal a body that was exactly as he thought he'd see: pale, taut, and smooth to the point it seemed artificial.
She has NO IDEA what she just asked for. I can outlast May when I need to.
Todd also began to strip down, but as he did he noticed something. He'd always been a skinny nerd, no apologies, but now he was developing something that almost looked like abs. His arms, too, had what could be mistaken for muscle definition. Was it the boost to his Charisma and Strength scores talking, or was the exercise of thrusting into someone one to TWELVE times a day doing his figure that much good? He tucked the thought away in the back of his head for later. Right now, he had someone to do. "You have a deal."
She began to glow with a soft light, and Todd took it as a cue to get started. One last check of his Status revealed a few things. His Health was doing only half-decently, being around 70%. His Mana was at 72 after the time he had spent recovering, as well. That meant that for maximum effect he should go until her powers brought him back to full, and when he did he'd be able to Invest 53 points to recover. Todd's body was engaged with his task now, regardless of if he was looking, and by the time he brought his eyes back to reality he was pressed up against her body, cool from the dorm air but warming up. He held Catherine around the waist and guided her down onto the mat so that he could get started for real.
Todd's senses were returning odd information. She had no interest in kissing, that was off the table. Certain other areas of her body that he might have expected to be sensitive were also... not quite numb, but barely more receptive than if he'd shaken her hand. Nipples and inner thighs would be a waste of time. Her neck was reading as a decent starting point, so as he pressed their bodies together he started nibbling on it, his hands roaming. She seemed to respond best to pressure on her mid and lower back, on her neck and shoulders. Finally, he got her ready enough to accept him, and worked himself into her bit by bit. This was... definitely more effort than others despite her agreeing to it, but eventually he was in a spot that he could start thrusting smoothly in and out of her.
He could feel Catherine's specialized kind of magic working on him. The bruises, scrapes, and less-visible aches were gradually receding. It didn't need to reflect on a Health bar to hurt, the little things also added up to sap someone's willpower and stamina. As he hurt less, he could move more freely, though she did not seem to want to be moved around to try more positions.
