“I honestly don’t know,” Red replied, “I guess I figured it’d be good for a laugh.”
“Doesn’t matter though, does it?” Jesse asked with a smile, “Things all turned out for the best, right?”
“Yeah, I s’pose,” I sighed, “still though, could’ve done without that initial roughness.”
“Fair enough,” Red said before turning her attention out to the sea, “I still think it was kind of funny.”
I went ahead and decided to leave it at that, not least because I could kind of see the humor in it for her, but also because I wanted some time to sort of clear my head, decide what I wanted to do next and all that.
“So, working out?” Jesse asked, pulling me from my daydreaming.
“Aw, no, I don’t want to do that again.” I groaned, “Can I at least have a day?”
“Why?” Jesse scoffed, “Ain’t like it’s goin’ to get any easier.”
“He has a point,” Red added, “and besides, once you get properly fit it’s going to be as good as impossible to get you back to the way you were what with that Creator’s naturally good genetic code.”
For a second there I panicked when Red said the word ‘code’, figuring that it meant a world-collapsing catastrophe was right around the corner, but then I collected myself and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Okay, okay,” I grumbled as I got into a pushup position, “guess I’ll have to get in shape then…”
“Hey look,” Red chuckled right as I was about to do my first rep, “there’s a ship out there.”
“Where?” I asked, looking out at the ocean without having to leave my position.
“Out there a ways,” Red replied, “about an hour or so from here.”
I went to question how she could see that far, but went ahead and let incredible eyesight get chalked up as just one of those things that succubi had.
“That’s an hour’s worth of crunches,” Jesse said after a few seconds of waiting, “c’mon, get to it.”
“I’m actually having second thoughts about that,” Red dismissively argued, “it might be time for me to join the harem…”
“Fantastic,” I let out with a grunt as I popped up onto my feet with ease, “welcome to the club.”
“It’s not that simple,” Red replied before turning around and smiling at me, “I mean, you still haven’t completed the tasks I set for you.”
“Yeah, but you clearly want to join,” I said, “so why don’t you just do it?”
“Because she has to follow the rules,” Jesse interjected before Red could say anything, “you know, like a game?”
I kind of felt like Jesse was playing a bit fast and loose with his dangerous comparison, although I also felt like if I pointed it out I’d only be increasing the chances of the game-breaking, reality-smashing event happening.
Or, you know, whatever would happen if Red knew the truth about her existence.
“Alright, so you basically have no choice?” I asked Red with a sigh.
“I wouldn’t put it like that,” Red replied before nodding, “but yeah, pretty much. Don’t know why though…”
“Probably best not to fixate on it.” I said a little too quickly, causing Red to look at me confusedly and Jesse to look at me with an expression that can only be described as ‘Really, dude?’
“So, you’ve done four out of five,” Red said after getting past her confusion, “are you ready to do the final one?”
“As I’ll ever be.” I replied as Red started towards the jungle with Jesse and I in close tow, remembering only then just how much the elves didn’t like me.
It’s actually kind of funny to look back on it now.
I mean, before that point I wasn’t exactly what you’d call picky, and sleeping with someone hot who didn’t like me all that much was a pretty solid win, but after a few days on the island and getting more confident and used to the idea of sleeping with multiple people, I… I don’t know, I guess I just sort of hit a point where I could really see that there was a lot outside of sex.
Okay, so maybe banging the reverse mermaid helped in making me realize that sometimes sex isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, but come on, the personality improvement would’ve had something to do with it, right?
Right?
CHAPTER 24
With a forced nonchalance, I walked into the jungle and followed the sounds of axes chopping at trees.
“I only have to sleep with one of them, right?” I quietly asked as we moved through the jungle.
“Well, yeah, but it wouldn’t hurt to get some more in there,” Red laughed, “more company equals more fun, and I’m sure they’d be up for it based on the wrestling I saw this morning.”
“I know, I know, it’s just that…” I trailed off as I tried to think of a way to word what I was saying without coming across as an ancient old man before finally giving in with a sigh, “Honestly, it’s just that I don’t want to fall asleep again.”
Both Red and Jesse laughed at that, which was embarrassing enough without the added fact that they’d been loud enough to alert the elves to our presence.
“Look who’s decided to come and do some work,” the leader elf said sardonically after we’d reached where they were getting the majority of their work done, “have fun while we were slaving away? Oh, and if you’re looking for Cassie and Fern, they’re busy trying to get the settlement down and cleared.”
“I’m not here to chop down trees or do any sort of demolition work,” I replied with a smile, “I was actually hoping one of you girls would be able to help me with… another task.”
Unsurprisingly, they all caught my meaning instantly, but, surprisingly, before any of them could say anything remotely sassy, Red pointed at the cute one.
“Her,” she said assuredly, “she’s interested.”
And, with that, the cute elf’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorr-”
“Come on, honey, there’s no point in denying it.” Red interjected with a smirk, “If it weren’t painted all over your mind I’d still be able to tell based on your dumbfounded expression.”
Not going to lie, I was stuck between feeling grateful that Red had helped me with an annoying and awkward social experience and feeling straight up uncomfortable that she could just pick out the people that wanted to bang me in a crowd.
“Alright, fine, maybe I’m curious as to what the Creator’s packing,” the cute elf said, trying her best to hide the fact that she was very clearly shocked by Red’s ability, “but that’s all.”
“Sure,” Red replied with a proud grin, “that’s what it is.”
The elf clearly wasn’t happy with what Red was saying, but at the same time she didn’t appear to be in a position to refute it in any credible way.
“I’ll meet you on the beach in a few minutes,” the elf finally sighed, “I’ve got to go… freshen up.”
“Sounds good,” I said, still feeling somewhat weird with how things had progressed, “see you then.”
And, with that, Jesse, Red, and I made our way back to the beach.
“What was all that about?” I whispered once we were out of earshot.
“What do you mean?” Red replied innocently.
“You know what he means,” Jesse murmured back, “seriously, why’d you have to go and ruin my fun like that? I was lookin’ forward to seein’ how he got out of that one.”
I didn’t wholly appreciate that Jesse just wanted to see me squirm, but at the same time I’d started to get to the point where I saw that as the dynamic of our relationship.
“Alright, fine,” Red sighed once we were back on the sand, “the truth is that I want to be in the harem so that I can start getting Dax here ready for company. In order to do that, I need this whole thing to hurry on a bit.”
Again, I was still kind of confused as to why an AI so complex as to have apparently very real wants would be stuck with the constraints of a run-of-the-mill NPC, though I’d already decided I was going to
do my best to ignore that little voice pleading with me to find out what happened if I pursued that path with her.
“Okay, guess that makes sense,” I said after it became clear Jesse wasn’t going to add anything else to the conversation, “but you couldn’t have been more discreet?”
“Not without taking more time, no.” Red replied matter-of-factly, “Besides, I don’t understand why you’re getting so huffy about it. I mean, that is the one you like the most out of the three, isn’t it?”
I went to lie then let out a groan when I realized how futile that would be, “Yes, I guess, but it might’ve been nice to pursue something a bit more… I don’t know, organic.”
“Trust me,” Red scoffed before leading Jesse and me to the water, “you’re not going to get much better than that with dark wood elves.”
“Have to agree with the demon there,” Jesse said with a nod, “they ain’t exactly known for mixin’ outside their genepool.”
“What? Like incest?” I asked.
That’s when Jesse went ahead and made just about the most disgusted face I’d ever seen, “No! I mean within their race. God, why did your mind immediately go there?”
“You’re talking to a guy whose most recent sexual encounter was with a fish,” Red practically giggled, “sister-loving probably isn’t even the middle of the scale of ‘ew’ in his head.”
“Ha-ha-ha,” I said, trying my best to re-forget the previous night, “you two are absolutely hilarious.”
“Yeah, well, we try.” Jesse chuckled, “How long do you think we’ll have to wait for your elf friend shows up?”
“I don’t know,” I replied as I turned my attention to the jungle, “shouldn’t be too long. Hey, is there anything I should know going in?”
“Yes, don’t try anything funny,” Red said sternly, “seriously, they won’t go for it. If she wants to do a thing, she’ll do the thing. Otherwise, just ride the wave and hope to God you don’t drown.”
I forced a few blinks at that and then smiled, “Really startin’ to wish I knew that before going in.”
“Better late than never,” Jesse said with a grin, “c’mon, Red, let’s give the kid some time to get ready.”
“What do you mean ‘get ready’?” I asked as the two started walking away.
They didn’t respond though, instead simply leaving me to panic about what it was I was supposed to be getting ready for the elf.
Was it something that would make her happy?
Was it something that made her less murdery?
Was it something in my teeth?
And that’s when I realized that they were just screwing with me.
Well, I say ‘realized’, more forcibly convinced myself because the alternative was too unpleasant to think about.
Anyway, I have to say I kind of enjoyed those few minutes on my own, the waves splashing around my ankles as the tide inched its way up the beach.
Thinking back on it, I probably should’ve tried to enjoy moments like that a whole lot more seeing as my life was about to get way more crowded, and kind of concerning come to think of it.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
The point is that I was on the beach, idly kicking the water and quietly practicing what I was hoping would be lines that at least got the elf to smile a little.
What? Like you’ve never mentally gone over what you’re going to say before to a point where you’re just repeating yourself and having to actually focus a lot on not opening your mouth and blabbering away.
Everybody’s done that.
“Oh, Creator?” the elf called out mockingly, drawing my gaze to her as she made her way down the sand towards me.
She’d cleaned herself up a lot and apparently gone to the effort of borrowing a slightly dirty shirt from one of the girls before coming down, something which clearly made her uncomfortable based on how much she was pulling at the fabric.
“Nice shirt,” I said once she was within a few feet of me, my brain deleting the folder where I kept all my top-of-the-line pickup lines, “you want one that wasn’t wrestled in?”
“You think Cassie wrestled with her shirt on?” the elf chuckled, “Yeah, no, it’s hard enough to keep clothes on her as it is.”
I wanted to agree, but for the most part both Cassie and Fern had done a pretty good job of keeping mostly clothed throughout the general day-to-day, so I just went ahead and smiled.
“But yeah,” the elf said after apparently getting concerned with my random grin, “a new shirt would be great, thanks.”
“My pleasure.” I replied before swapping out the muddy shirt for a clean one with hardly a flick of my wrist, making the elf stumble slightly under the small amount of force, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the elf giggled with a nod, “that was just… an interesting experience.”
I wasn’t sure why she’d gotten such a kick out of me swapping her shirt around, but I certainly wasn’t about to let the one mildly friendly interaction we’d had go sour because I bombarded her with questions and made her self-conscious.
So I just went ahead and did it again, eliciting a little squeak from her.
Have to say that it was pretty cool to discover that the best way for me to get less-than-impressed girls to like me was to make them laugh.
Granted, it was easier in the game than in real life, but it was one of my old strategies back in the real world.
Fun fact, I got a lot of drinks thrown in my face.
Anyway, a few minutes and a whole lot of clothes swapping later and the elf had reached the point where it was starting to get kind of boring, so I decided to throw in some conversation.
“So… I’m Dax.” I said as the elf readjusted her fiftieth new shirt.
“I’m K’ryea.”
“Cree-ah?” I asked, sounding more like a tourist than I would’ve liked.
“Pretty much,” K’ryea giggled, cementing in my mind that my pronunciation was way off, “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
“Well, I am a pretty fast learner,” I joked before realizing with a little smile that I actually kind of was, “sorry about Red before, she can be sort of… direct.”
“That’s one way of phrasing it,” K’ryea replied, reflecting my smile, “but yeah, I don’t blame you. Besides, it’s not like she was lying.”
“Is that a fact?” I chuckled as I started walking along the beach.
“Mmhm,” K’ryea said, following me without coming near the water, “don’t get me wrong, it was kind of awkward at first, but at the same time I’m kind of happy it’s out there. Assertiveness isn’t exactly one of my biggest traits.”
“Figured as much,” I let out before noticing that K’ryea was actually kind of embarrassed with that admission, “you’re doing better than me though. I would’ve just denied it.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded and smiled, “Oh yeah, totally. That’s one of my many, many flaws. I can be too argumentative, even when I know I’m wrong.”
“Heh, good to know,” K’ryea murmured amusedly, “at least you’re honest about it.”
“Didn’t used to be,” I chuckled, “I’ve just been working on this whole ‘self-improvement’ thing for… what, day, day and a half now? Point is I figure that admitting I have a problem is the first step to fixing it.”
“Couldn’t agree more…” K’ryea trailed off before speeding past and coming to a stop in front of me, “so, are we going to do this thing or not?”
“Sorry?” I asked, having genuinely forgotten why we were out there.
“Uh, what do you think?” K’ryea chuckled, trying to hide the fact that she was clearly somewhat anxious.
For a few seconds I was still just confused, staring at her blankly and hoping that that would magically cause the realization I needed to spring forward.
And then it did.
“Oh, shit, yeah.” I huffed out amusedly, “Sorry, I totally spaced on all that. Um, yeah, if you want to
.”
And that was K’ryea’s cue to be confused.
“Do you not want to?” she asked, “It’s totally fine if you don’t, but I’d kind of like it if I didn’t have to go back to chopping down tre-”
“No, no, I want to,” I interjected, my brain apparently finally having decided to pull its head out of its ass, “I just forgot a bit is all. But yes, definitely.”
“Good, good.” K’ryea replied, failing to hide a little smile and a sigh with a yawn, “Well, we can do it here if you like, but I know a place that’s going to end with less sand in our… everythings.”
“Okay, sounds goo-”
I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before K’ryea had grabbed my hand and started dragging me towards the jungle.
Now, naturally I was somewhat concerned about going back into the land of giant bees, though with that being said I was confident in K’ryea’s ability to guide me through the trees without running into them or the dreaded dire boar.
Yes, I was still scared of the dire boar.
“Where are you taking me?” I laughed as we bounded through the jungle.
“Trust me, you’ll like this place.”
I did trust her, weirdly, and for some reason that didn’t send up any sort of red flags in my head which, again, was weird considering the fact that the last person I’d trusted and listened to blindly was Red.
Don’t get me wrong, I was glad for how things eventually turned out with her, but there was still the whole ‘getting knocked out and having her try to kill me’ thing that should’ve set me on edge about K’ryea, the operative word being ‘should’ve’.
I really wasn’t in the least concerned about the dark wood elf though, and I honestly think that it was just because she exuded trustworthiness and, if I can be doubly honest, was really, really cute.
Anyway, after about thirty seconds of bounding through the jungle and totally not at any point ever tripping on my face, we reached the place she was talking about.
Let me just say it was dope.
“Wow…” I trailed off as I looked at the violet-colored flowerbed before me, “Just… wow.”
Build-A-Harem- The Island Collection Page 25
