Console Access Ch 06

"Where is Inia?" Anis asked. Well, more like demanded to know. Anis was understandably upset. It was unusual for the leader of an expedition this large not to be in the camp.

"She left two days ago with the last group inland on a short expedition. We've been here nearly a month; she was getting bored and just wanted to stretch her legs. We'll be leaving soon, there's no harm in a bit of sightseeing, our quotas for this outing have already been fulfilled."

"Is that what she said, or are you making excuses for her, Keih?" Normally Anis wouldn't really care that the expedition leader had gotten cabin fever and wanted to get out of the camp for a few days, even if they were leaving soon anyway, but she had picked a terrible time.

"That is what she said, Anis." The other team leader responded. "She should be back by tomorrow morning, less than a day from now.

"Fine. I will attend to... whatever it is until she returns." Anis turned on her heel and left the command tent. She made her way to where her team had settled in near the tent where they were keeping the creature.

Anis sent one of her team to get a larger cloth so the creature could cover himself better, and another to get him some food.

A few minutes later they both returned with their items and Anis took them. Moving towards the tent entrance, she only made it a few steps before Nene stopped her.

"Uh, the creature and I have built up a bit of a rapport." Said Nene. I think he trusts me. Maybe I should go in with you?"

"Very well, come on then." Anis was pretty sure there was more to it than that. She had been watching the creature out of the corner of her eye the entire way back, as had everyone else, she was sure. And while watching the creature she also noticed the way Nene had been looking at it. It was hard to blame her, the thing was sitting so close to her. Wearing practically nothing. And at one point it even spread its legs. If Anise, or anyone else for that matter, had been in Nene's position, they would have done the same thing. She handed Nene the bowl of food and they entered the tent.

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Jason had only been in the tent for a few minutes when two goblins walked in. One he was pretty sure was the leader, but he hadn't gotten her name, and the other was Nene. They threw a larger cloth at him and Jason wasn't sure what to do until the two goblins started tugging at their clothes. Jason got the hint and wrapped himself in the cloth toga style. Or, as well as he could manage. He wasn't sure how to tie a toga. His hands being bound didn't help. After a minute of struggling he called it good and stopped fidgeting with the toga and looked back at the girls.

When she saw he was done, Nene put a bowl of some kind of soup on the ground and slid it towards Jason. Apparently the leader thought Nene got too close to him, because she said something and Nene skittered back.

Jason reached down and picked up the bowl. The dark stew smelled good, and he was hungry. There wasn't a spoon or any other utensil, so Jason brought the bowl to his mouth and took a sip.

It was a bit bland, but not bad. He tilted his head back and downed the small, goblin sized portion of soup in a few gulps. He put the bowl down and slid it across the ground, then stood up and took a step back.

The two goblins looked at each other, exchanged a few words, and Nene left with the bowl. She was back a minute later with more soup. They repeated the bowl exchange and Jason downed the soup again quickly.

They repeated this several times until Jason had eaten about ten bowls. When he refused the eleventh, they both left and he was alone in the tent.

The tent had no light source and it was dark inside. When they left that final time he realized that it was quite dark outside too. Laying down on the grass interior of the tent Jason closed his eyes.

He didn't let despair overwhelm him, but it certainly came close. He had only gotten one use of his ability, and he used it to make some girl crush on him. Now he was some kind of captive. He wasn't even able to talk to his captors. He had no idea what fate awaited him, but his imagination ran wild with frightening and terrible things. His initial excitement for whatever this adventure was had worn off long ago. Not quite foolish enough to hope that tomorrow would be better, he eventually drifted off to sleep.

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"Gods damn, that one can eat." Anis said as she joined her girls around one of the campfires.

"Have you ever seen a dwarf eat? Or an Orc? Those girls can put food away." Said Lazzi.

"Nah. Never had the pleasure."

"So... what's he like?"

"Well, we can't talk to him, so I can't really tell, can I?"

"Yeah, but you and Nene have spent the most time with him."

"Oh, come on. We've marched him from the cave to our camp, taken him down river, and then put him in a tent. We haven't had any real interactions. He seems nice enough though. He took the food without a fuss, though he did want quite a bit of it. He hasn't made any threatening moves and he seems polite."

"Well, how about you Nene. You got a pretty good look at him. What do you think?"

Nene blushed and looked away. "What do you mean?"

All the girls around the campfire chuckled. "You know what we mean," said Lazzi "He was wearing practically nothing while in the boat with you. Spreading his legs right behind you. He was practically rubbing up against you. I bet you could feel the heat coming off it."

Nene blushed even deeper before looking back at Lazzi. "Yeah, I could actually. You jealous?"

"Damn right I am. You're too young to even know what to do with him. I, on the other hand, would. Hey Anis, you should let me feed him in the morning. Maybe inspect him too, ya know? Wouldn't want to let him suffer from some kind of disease or parasite or something while under our care, yeah?"

Anis thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, Inia will be back early tomorrow. She'll decide what we do with him."

All the girls frowned at that, all except Nene. They all wanted a closer look at the creature. A much closer look at him.

"Alright, I'm hitting the sack. Listen carefully, I want two guards outside his tent at all times, okay? No one in or out. No funny business. No peeking. Come get me if something happens." With that, Anis got up and left for her own tent.

Shifts were assigned and the rest of the girls went to their tents as well. When Nene got to her tent she couldn't keep the creature, couldn't keep him, out of her mind. Lazzi was right though. She had gotten a good look at what he had under that skirt, and she could feel the heat coming off it. Or at least, that's what it felt like. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep.