Bac in the Game

"Yeah, we did have fun," said Kya, her cheeks a little red. "But I will admit to feeling a little guilty with some of the things we got up to. Sneaking out and stuff."

"You shouldn't," replied Susan Donaldson, cutting a piece off her omelet. "What was most important to me, was that she was happy. And, thanks mostly to you two, I think she was as happy as she could be, or have been, under these circumstances." She took a bite of egg and chewed for a moment. "And besides, you didn't 'get away with' as much as you think," she added smirking a bit.

"Ah," said Kya. "So Maise did tell you about our adventures."

"She didn't." Said Mrs. D with an eye roll. "I tell myself it's because she didn't want me to worry. But I knew a lot." At the skeptical look on Kya's face, she went on. "The fireworks. The fair. The music festival. Caitlyn's cemetery ghost hunt. I could go on, but I've made my point."

"You have." said Kya with a weak grin. "And here I thought we were being sneaky."

"Maybe you were." Mrs. D smirked. "But it didn't matter. I had a mole."

"A... mole?" Kya's eyebrows rose. "but who..?" The light coming on in her head was visible in the dawning expression on her face. She had said it wasn't Maisey. And it wasn't her! Kya's gaze snapped to Jason, sipping his orange juice and staring innocently off into an empty corner of the restaurant. "You!? You were a mole?!"

"I prefer to say that I 'had someone on the inside'." replied Jason, finally meeting her stare.

"Someone on..!" Kya fumed. "I can't believe you! We planned everything so carefully, and you just rolled over?" The impact of her fury was blunted somewhat by her visibly fighting a grin.

"I did." replied Jason. "Because, one, we were sneaking our extremely sick friend out her house late at night, and it would have been awful for her mother to find her missing. And don't tell me that didn't cross you mind. Two, she knew our plans and where to be to catch us. Or not catch us. And we were never caught. And three, if there would have been something... serious, I would not have hesitated to call for back up." He gestured toward Susan who nodded in reply.

"I think... it pisses me off more that you're right." grumbled Kya. "But then, why did we have to be so sneaky?"

"Well, the cloak and dagger was part of the fun." grinned Jason. "I know you both liked it."

"I would have kept her home if I could have." added Mrs. D. "But with Jason keeping me apprised, it was an acceptable compromise. At the end of the day, I was glad she could enjoy... the time she had left."

There was silence for a moment before Kya broke it. "I understand." She said quietly. She shifted a glare to Jason. "You will, however, pay for a the stress I went though eventually."

"Oh, why wait?" put in Mrs. D. with a grin. "We could stress him out right now."

"Oh?" Kya grinned back.

"Oh yes." Mrs D. said. "I've been putting this off... for a while now. Afraid to ask, maybe. But now seems a good time. How... intimate were you and Maisey?"

"Ah." replied Jason, suddenly very interested in the tabletop.

"Yeah, mole." Teased Kya with a smug expression. "How intimate were you?"

Jason gave her some side eye before answering. "Ahem, well... First, I guess, we never actually had... sex." He ignored Kya's eye roll and pressed on. "When we first got together, well, she was a year older, and I wasn't eighteen yet, so we didn't rush it. And by the time I was, well, she had gotten sick and... between her health and all the.. drugs and stuff in her system, it was a risk neither of us were willing to take.

Kya kept silent but her smirk spoke volumes.

"That said," he continued, "She... we... were not... neglected." He paused. "There was quite a bit of... we'll say fooling around. It was on her mind a lot and I did my best to keep her... entertained. Without going into too much detail."

"Oh, she was entertained." said Kya. "I got to hear about their escapades. Even... caught them a few time. Maise wasn't shy."

"No she was not." agreed Jason. "Her libido dipped as things went on, which was just as well. I worried about her blood pressure. But she still thought about it a lot. So we talked about it, slipped it into rpgs, made up stories, it kind of directed our movie choices. Kya can attest."

"Yeah I can." Kya sighed. "I mean the games were fun, and her taste in porn wasn't the worst." She rolled her eyes. "And, oh god, remember her birthday?" Her grin suddenly vanished as she remembered who they were talking to and panic washed over her face. She suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes flicking to Jason.

"What happened on her birthday?" Asked Mrs. D.

"I, ahem, wasn't going to bring that up." Said Jason, looking to Kya. His expression was sill amused, though his cheek were quite red.

Kya, looking mollified, mumbled something through her hand which might have been 'Sorry.'

"Well, now you have to tell me." Pressed Mrs. D.

"Yeah." agreed Jason with a sigh. "Ahem, so it was her Birthday, her twentieth, and she was pretty weak by then. You were working evenings at the time, so it was just the three of us." He gestured to Kya. "And we told her, it was her birthday, we'd do what she wanted. She could pick a game, movie, go for ice cream, and we'd do our best to make it happen." He glanced to Kya who was doing her best to sink into her chair. "And Maisey said... she wanted to watch..." he took a breath, "me... go down... on her." He gestured to Kya again.

It took a moment for the shock to wash over Mrs. D's face. She blanched and covered her own mouth with a hand, though not as forcefully as Kya had. "She... didn't! That little..!" She stammered. "I hope you didn't..."

"We did say she got to pick." said Jason slowly. "It was her birthday. We kind of painted ourselves into a corner. Apparently she enjoyed the... show. I have no complaints but I was a little concerned about my, um, partner." His eyes flicked to Kya.

Kya unclamped her mouth. "I was... satisfied with the arrangement." She slumped and added with a squeak, "Twice."

* * *

Kya quickly crossed the town square and elbowed her way into the small crowd of people at the edge. "All right! That's enough! Nothing to see here." She announced. "Move along!" She shooed people away and placed herself between the mass of people and the figure in the center, secured in a sturdy wooden pillory.

"There you are!" hissed Maisey. "Where have you been?" She rocked in her bonds, really only able to wiggle her hips. "It was starting to get crowded, and I can't fuckin' move!"

"I was coordinating with Caity." grumbled Kya. "We got your stuff secured. I'll hang out here til midnight, she'll take the late shift. She can see better in the dark."

"The late shift!" fumed Maisey. ""You assholes are gonna leave me stuck here all night?" She thrashed again ineffectually. The pillory didn't even creek.

"You were sentenced to twenty four hours." replied Kya, intercepting a grimy man trying to get past her. "I told you not to mess with those guards."

"They were messing with that dancer!" growled Maisey. "What was I supposed to do? Would have gone different if I'd have had my gear on."

"Oh yeah." agreed Kya sarcastically. "You'd be in prison now instead of out here with your ass in the air." She looked over her imprisoned companion briefly. Maisey was bent over a heavy rail with her head and hands locked into a thick wooden frame. Her ankles were embedded in a similar perpendicular frame below the rail. She wore a ragged shift that barely covered her bum, and hung very low and open at the neck. "Did they give you underwear?"

"Yes." hissed Maisey. "And if you're really going to leave me all night, I'll need some help with them at some point to pee. You're not really going to leave me all night, are you?"

"Yep." Kya replied.

"What?! Come on!" Maisey twisted her wrists, knowing full well that she was stuck. Glancing around at the dispersing crowd, she lowered her voice. "I got a look at the locks when they were sticking me in this thing. They don't look like much. I've seen you pick better. You could have me out of this thing in a second, once the witnesses are gone."

Kya glanced at the heavy lock to Maisey's right. "Oh, yeah. Big Rickman model like that wouldn't be a problem. But no."

"Come on Kya!" Maisey gave up on subtlety. "Why not?"

"Because we need to work out of this town for a little while! That's why not!" countered Kya. "And you would be a fugitive! They know your accomplices, me and Cait, so who do you think they'd ask where you were first? Then we both could end up right next to you! And who would protect my ass if we were all locked up?"

"Aw..." Maisey whined. "Kya..."

"Maisey..." Kya mocked. "Look, you're just gonna have to suck it up for tonight. We'll watch your back and you'll get out tomorrow. We'll get you cleaned up. And we'll go check out that ruin. Maybe you can just camp there to keep you out of trouble, if it's not to overrun."

Maisey pushed a long breath out through her nose. She wasn't getting out of this without Kya's help and that was apparently not forthcoming. "Fine then." she sighed. "So. I can't move. My tits are very nearly out. Wanna fool around?"

Kya rolled her eyes at her incorrigible friend. "Wait until it gets dark." She conceded with a grin. "Once the witnesses are gone."

* * *

Jason recognized the car parked in front of his grandmother's house. Just as her recognized the girl parked on his Grandma's front step. "Hey Cait." He greeted as he walked up. "Had to pick book club night. Grandma would have loved to see you."

"Tuesday. I'll keep that in mind for next time." Caitlyn rose and made her way over to him. "How was work?"

"Not miserable." he replied. "To what do I owe the honor.?"

"Game stuff." She responded. "We got plotting and planning to do."

"Oh, so soon."He hopped up the steps and opened the front entrance. "I haven't even gotten your views on the first session yet."He unlocked the door. "Step into my parlor,,,"

"Yeah, the spiders were great." Agreed Caitlyn. "I'd have rather you caught Sasha, but Farrah was pretty funny."

"And I appreciate your discrete handling of her vulnerable butt." Replied Jason. "Just the mention was a good way to handle that, in my opinion."

"I know a few people I would absolutely not want touching my ass." said Caitlyn. "Good to get a feel, uh, so to speak, for her. Surprised we had a wild magic thing so early too, but if that's the kind of thing you have on the list, I Love it."

"There are a few bad ones." said Jason. "You're going to want to not roll a ninety six/ninety seven. Among one or two others."

"Sexy bad, right." grinned Caitlyn.

"Matter of opinion, but knowing you?" He led her to the kitchen table and glanced back at her. "I think so. So what are we talking about?"

"I was looking over my available spell list and..." Caitlyn sat down and patted a seat next to her. "I can't do much yet."

"You're level one, though level two will come quickly enough. I get your point though." Jason sat. "The 'teleport people out of their clothes' and 'web them to a wall' spells come later. You're kind of in the same boat as Farrah and her pet."

"Yeah." conceded Caitlyn. "Gotta work our way up. I get it too." She leaned into him, bumping his shoulder with her own. "But you gave her something to hold her over."

"I did." agreed Jason. "What did you have in mind?

"Well... I don't know... Something." replied Caitlyn. "A magic items I can play with. A wand or a..." She turned to face him and caught his lips twitching ever so slightly at the corners. "You have an idea already."

"Of course I do." Jason said. "You're a more experienced player than Farrah though so you're going to have to work a little. Both to get it and to use it. But that will play into the kind of things you want to do. I think."

"Ooo, details please?"

"Remember the book you had for the concept scene?" said Jason. "I figured you'd get hold of something like that. Full of rituals that you can attempt out of combat. I got a few worked out. Plan is, you're going to have to roll to basically translate them, so I'll trickle them to you. Roll to get them to activate, then roll to get them to work correctly. Like how both arms fell off instead of the intended one. We'll hand wave a little for expediency sometimes, so it doesn't get tedious. But sometimes it might be a little work to undo something if the vibe is good."

"I'm liking the sound of that." Caitlyn grinned. "How hard is it going to be?"

"Translating will be a flat 5 Arcana check per page." explained Jason. "The big draw there will be spending in game time to do it. Casting will be a charisma check and will also take time. Minutes plus. But that's your casting stat. Shouldn't be a problem to push them through. The last check, to get the intend effect and target, that will be an intelligence check."

"Man, but my intell sucks!" griped Caitlyn. "I'll be goofing things up all... Oh, you're a sneaky bastard. That's why you didn't want me to take a wizard" She grinned as she finished.

"That was a happy accident." he replied. "The wild magic did seem to suit you."

"Agreed." Caitlyn conceded. "So how many rituals will I start with?"

Jason produced a d20 from somewhere and set on the table in front of her.

She grinned, snatched it up, and gave it a roll. "Ugh." She wrinkled her nose at the result. "My Arcana's zero, so thats an eight."

"Two then." He said, pulling out some sheets of paper and handing them to her. "Your 'Arm Fall Off' spell was heavily notated and one other."

She began reading over her new rituals. "Cool. So I just have to find it. How hard is that gonna be?"

"Just a shopping trip." repined Jason. "And for that, I figured I'd remodel your old party's favorite club."

* * *

"You sure this is a shop?" Sasha seemed to be sure it wasn't. There were probably transactions going on, but it wasn't items for sale.

"It's not a shop." confirmed Caitlyn, glancing around the dungeon floor. "It's a club. But the lady I want to talk to wanted to meet here. So hang out while I find her and take care of business."

"Take your time." grinned Kya. "We'll have a look around." She carefully guided Farrah off toward some of the dungeon's patrons. The elf eyes were wide, taking in the activities around her.

Caitlyn turned, focusing on a burly dwarf in leather briefs that seemed to have an air of authority. "Excuse me, Sir. I'm supposed to meet Lady Dark."

"Are ya now." The dwarf gave a slight nod at the honorific. "Lucky you. Follow me, Lass." He lead Caitlyn to a sturdy door in the back, and pounded on it three times. "Dark expectin' someone?" he barked. As if in reply, the door swung open. "Best behave yurself." Her gestured for Caitlyn to go through the portal. "Or don't. Yur tail."

On the other side was a very large, muscular man in a full leather mask. Just the mask. Caitlyn had to check herself from staring at his impressive 'equipment'. She guessed he was a half-orc by the greenish tint to his skin, but she didn't ask. The mask looked tight enough that answering might be difficult. He turned wordlessly an started down the passage beyond.

The public dungeon and club had been crowded, bright, and well appointed. A contrast to this plain, shadowy tunnel. The noise of the festivities quickly faded behind her. They descended a flight of stairs until Caitlyn was fairly sure they were underground before coming to another sturdy door. The half-orc knocked twice and pushed it open.

Beyond was an office, of a sort. The desk was quite low to the floor and the chair was several large pillows. There were several ornate rugs and a few stuffed bookcases. Caitlyn's eye, however, was drawn to the room's occupant: a Drow reclined on the pillow/chair at the desk. And aside from a heavy metal collar, she was entirely nude. Her blueish black skin might have obscured her, if not for her fall of alabaster hair almost luminescent despite the dim light.

"Ah, my guest." She said in a low, silky voice with a fairly thick accent. "Thank you, Drom. That will be all." She gracefully rose to her feet, provoking a rattle of chain that Caitlyn realized was anchoring her collar to the wall behind the pillow, limiting her movement. She took one step forward, leaving slack in her tether. "Welcome to my club. You may call me Lady Dark, though for convenience, I will also accept Ma'am. I apologize for my... apparel, but my clothing is currently out of my reach." She gestured to a set of additional pillows across from her desk.

"I take no offense." replied Caitlyn, attempting to gracefully deposit herself into the seat. "My name is Caitlyn. But if I may ask, why are you chained to the wall of your own club?"

"Ah." The Lady resumed her seat, rolling her eyes. "A temporary arrangement with Drom. An amusement between us." She gestured to the hall, presumably indicating the half-orc guide. "He wears his mask as long as I wear this collar. It is inconvenient but I do love the effect such a specimen in a mask has on a visitor. And as for my situation, well, we are not really negotiating. I already have something you want. Chained or not, I have the upper hand."

"Yes." agreed Caitlyn. "I was told you have a grimoire."

"I am in possession of something better." Lady Dark smiled, a touch wolfishly. "I possess copies of a grimoire. The book itself is a powerful artifact I could not part with for anything less than a fortune. A copy, however, still contains the knowledge you seek, though none of the actual power."

"The price did concern me." admitted Caitlyn. "Still does, if I'm honest, but I feel better. How much are we talking?"

"In coin?" said the Lady. "One hundred and fifty gold pieces."

Caitlyn's right eye twitched slightly at the amount. Not impossible, but she would have to borrow from the group and eat only what Farrah could forage for a while.

Lady Dark picked up on her discomfort. "Indeed. A good scribe is expensive." She traced her figure along her tether idly. "But as I said, that would be in coin. Other arrangements might be made."

"I would be anxious to hear those." murmured Caitlyn.

"Of course, but first a demonstration." Lady Dark reached to a convenient shelf an pulled free a thin book. She lay it on the desk between them. "This is such a copy. Not to impinge upon your honesty, but if you think to grab it and run, I cannot give chase, but Drom is right outside the door."

"I have more respect for your security, if not your person. Uh, Ma'am." said Caitlyn. "Now what were you going to demonstrate."

"You misunderstand, My Kitten." Lady Dark slid the book across the desk. "It is you who will demonstrate to me. Perform a ritual from the book. If you are able, we will discuss further."

Kitten? Not sure if the Lady's accent had mangled her name or it was a deliberate inclusion, Caitlyn let the word slide. She picked up the book and opened it, taking in the complex script inside. She recognized... some of it immediately. This was not going to be impossible. Or easy. She flipped a few pages. Yes, several of the early pages were not... as complex as some of the others. She chose a page and studied it. Yes, she could do this one. It would allow her to sculpt objects out of pure force for a short time. The context of the grimoire were restraints and shackles. "Yes." Caitlyn confirmed. "I believe I can." She glanced up to the Lady. "It will take a few minutes."

The Lady smiled coolly and tugged once on her chain. "I do not appear to be going anywhere."

"Right. Uh, Ma'am." Caitlyn turned her attention toward the page. This was going to be made slightly more tricky be her distractingly not dressed companion. Caitlyn would have to focus.

The first part of the page was the actual ritual itself. What Caitlyn would need to do for activation. The second half focused on use which the tiefling would concern herself with if she actually succeeded. She read through the instructions twice, was relieved that she would not need any materials, and began.