This is a short tale of the Becoming Monsters Universe by AiLoves, and the start of a new series of them. Whether one-shot commissions, short ideas, things that are a hair niche for other tales, or possible seeds for ter series, I hope you enjoy them.

  The ideas for this chapter came from discussions with a couple of my co-writers in the Becoming Monsters Universe, TheNyxianLily and Lokisluck. Most of the Attributes have pretty easy examples of what they look like as a Css focus… but what about Luck?

  —

  Story 1: Make Your Own Luck

  The club, despite the uninhibited atmosphere and red-tinged lighting, was on the quiet side. The proprietor always said he wanted people there to make connections, temporary or permanent, and pying music at a million decibels wouldn’t help that. Also drove away the people with really good hearing, and that would not be acceptable. It was, therefore, clearly audible to the club when the dy I had been chatting up dumped her cup of ice water over my head and strode off, cws ticking on the empty dance floor.

  The derisive ughs from her table-mates told me I’d have no chance here the rest of the night, either.

  I made sure to head back to my table by going directly to the carpet, then going around. Easier on the staff. One of them saw me on the way, sighed, and went to get a mop. Again. I was a fairly frequent patron of this establishment, I was nice to the staff, and tipped well. Probably the only reason they hadn’t asked me, politely but firmly, to leave and not come back.

  I wasn’t alone at my table, and a couple of buddies of mine were already there. One, a moderately burly Bear Beastfolk who moonlighted as a really good GM for game nights, chuckled as he held out a towel. “Come on, Felix, get yourself dried off. You might look good with the shirt clinging to you, but I saw the ice cubes. Thought I told you to compliment her tail?”

  I took the towel, gratefully, gd that he’d seen what happened and had the insight to ask a waiter for one. “I did, Rex! Started off with the normal small talk, said that, got iced. Would have brought my soap if I’d known I was gonna get a free shower out here.”

  Rex’s boyfriend, a Deer who did distance running as a hobby, shook his head as he joined us in ughter. “Only you could strike out like that, man. Six foot tall, handsome, blonde, athletic former Delver? Going after a Ferret who, if I’m not mistaken, was entering her Heat cycle? Come on! What are the chances?”

  What were the chances, indeed. You’d think I would know, since my Karmic css was entirely based around my Luck. “Apparently not 0%, so I’m guessing I’m not getting lucky tonight.”

  The big Bear ughed again. “Get lucky? You haven’t gotten id in six months, and the st time you did she called you to tell you she had an STD the next day.”

  “Couple courses of antibiotics cleared that one up. Definitely said no to going for round two the next weekend, I’m not that desperate. There are other women in California.”

  “Come on, let’s get you back to the apartment. You know, before the next one cws you, Delver boy.”

  “My luck is gonna change soon enough. Just you wait and see!” I should know. I could see the charge meter at 98% when I pulled up my Status screen. After a year and a half of pain, I was a week away from changing my fortune. As we stepped into the chill winter air, I finally knew I could make it.

  ***

  Eighteen months earlier

  In the sweltering summer Vegas heat, my Guild Leader looked at me incredulously. We were both Humans, though he was an Ice Magus and main striker for the Delve teams. “Please tell me you’re joking. Please tell me you didn’t take the option that makes you only able to delve half as often.”

  “Sir, that’s not it at all. I’m cashing out. One too many close calls underground, and I know my Luck’s going to run out one day. I chose Inefficient Storage because it multiplies my Karma tank by a factor of ten, even if it halves my storage rate. I have enough cash saved up and you owe me enough in treasure to st me a while, so I’m retiring from the Dungeon life. Gonna keep my chain shirt, dagger, and pistol in case I find trouble, but the rest is the Guild’s to buy out. Can’t let go of stuff I helped make, you know?”

  He breathed in deeply, using a tiny scrap of his power to cool the area we were talking in. One of those little conveniences I had not been able to invoke since I’d started Delving, every spare iota of my Luck had been going to the Guild to maximize loot and minimize casualties. Considering that the Change had objectively shown me that if being lucky were an Olympic event, I’d be a medal contender, that was a lot of sacrifice. “Are you absolutely sure about this? You know once you leave, it will come out that you’re a Karmic. Every casino in town will bcklist you, every job will think you’re cheating to be there.”

  “I have a pn for that. I’m staying here for as long as the getting’s good to get ready, then I’m headed to California. If my math’s right, the curse will st for eleven months before I can use the benefits properly. The same Uncapped Bst that let me rescue the situation yesterday will let me use it all and secure my life. After that, who knows, but I can’t stay here for it. Too much can go wrong if you’re that unlucky in the City of Sin. I can’t avoid all chance, but I can make sure it doesn’t kill me.”

  In the end, when I went into Karmic Storage mode, I ended up getting robbed twice and chased out of three casinos in a month. Thankfully, my car only broke down twice on the trip to Palm Springs, a trip which should have only taken four and a half hours. Once I got there, settling into the cheap apartment home I had carefully pnned out, I found out two major drawbacks to what I was doing.

  The first, I should have seen coming. With arming frequency, I had to use some of my charge (or at least exit Karmic Storage to use my real Luck) just to survive. Getting a job, dodging accidents, praying for authorities to arrive in time. It doesn’t matter how good you are, skill only brings you close enough for luck to finish it. Now, luck wasn’t doing its part. Even if I was good enough to do something 99% of the time, the 1% would always creep in every time it mattered.

  The second was way worse. I had to engage with my Luck every day or it wouldn’t gather more than a trickle of charge. The more the better, but a guy has to be able to live. My luck wasn’t just 90% worse, I had to let it smack me around.

  So, I got myself a customer service job (and got ALL the worst customers, much to my coworkers’ appreciation). I joined a regur game night and stuck to affordable stakes (which I lost nearly every time). I went to the clubs (and struck out with extreme regurity). I registered my Delver and Firearm skills (despite the registration process for both going awry four times apiece and having to be restarted). I kept up with my hobby of armor crafting (along with fighting supply issues). Most of all, I never, never, NEVER used the tiniest iota of my power for anything short of survival. For a year and a half.

  ***

  My boss paused incredulously. “You never call in sick, Felix! I usually have to tell you to get out of here when you’re running out of tissues.”

  “It’s a Status thing, sir. I’m Human, but my Css is an oddball and today’s going to be really bad to be at work.”

  “If you say so. You got two sick days left, so I’ll mark one for you to get over this bout of whatever it is.”

  “Thank you, sir.” I hung up. Some things don’t depend on Luck. Working hard and being a dependable juggernaut at the job means that, in turn, the boss knows you wouldn’t call in unless it was a big deal. And a big deal it was. This week had passed with only minor or recoverable misfortunes, and my Karma meter had finally maxed out. I had exited Gathering mode before calling in, just in case. This was it. I had carefully pnned out what I was going to try under the power of the stored force of eighteen months as one of the unluckiest people on Earth.

  Newton’s Third Law worked with forces. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. As a Karmic, my Luck was a force as real as gravity, and the action had been downward for a long time.

  Rex the Bear was sitting on the couch with an interested look on his face. “You know, you telling me this morning that your luck was under your control wasn’t believable, but given how smoothly that call went you may have a point. So, you got my attention. Gonna hit the Riverboat Casino? Buy a lotto ticket or three?”

  I shook my head. “Nah. That’s against the w, and they check. No use winning a couple million dolrs then going to jail for it. No, I want this to be meaningful.”

  “Hah, okay. So what’s on your mind?”

  I was fiddling with my phone, getting things ready and making sure I could take maximum advantage of what I had coming. “You know the idea of a soul mate? That there is someone out there who is absolutely and utterly perfect for you, and you for them?”

  He shrugged. “Eh, I say that your soulmate is who you’re willing to put the effort in for, but sure.”

  Uncapped Burst couldn’t quite use all of the massive forces I’d built up at once. At maximum flow rate, though, I’d expend eighteen months of suffering in three hours. Best make them count. For the first time in so long that I’d almost forgotten how to do it, I entered Burst Mode. “Well, I agree with you, but I want to find the one person on Earth I’m best suited for, and I’m willing to bet she’s around here. And that she is on dating apps.” I hit the button to open Ember, the most popur such program in use in this area.

  With a couple of quick swipes and taps, I went to check and make sure all my settings were right. I wanted to be looking for generally the people who would appeal to me. Women, around my age, looking for long term retionships, humanoid body configuration. A hundred miles was about the most I could hope to get to in time, so I set my radius there. My bio was up, a couple of fttering pictures, my tags good to go.

  I wasn’t at all joking when I told Rex that I did not care about ill-gotten riches. But love? A good woman had worth beyond rubies, as my old pastor liked to say. Somewhere in Proverbs, but that wasn’t important. I wanted someone to share my life with. Everything else could work itself out. Anything else wasn’t worth the suffering I had to put into this.

  By now my ability had enough time to get good and soaked in. I could probably walk casually across the middle of an active battlefield and not get hit. I hit the button to bring up the first potential candidate. A whistle escaped my lips. The woman I was looking at was hot enough to melt the screen of the phone. Looked familiar, too, like I’d seen her somewhere before. With interest, I pulled up her bio.

  ***

  “Hey there! My name’s Simha, but you probably know me by my streamer handle TheSexiestSyer! I’m a Greater Succubus, guaranteed to give you the time of your life. Normally on here for a quick meal, but now I’m ready to pick a special someone and settle down. 26 years old, She/Her, Pan/Poly, down for anything and I come with a bevy of hot bed buddies I’m willing to share (they’ve been helping keep me Fed). I’ve got a trust fund, so no I don’t care about your money.

  Level 9 Caretaker, Domestic Goddess build!

  My Ten: STR 15, END 22, DEX 18, AGI 12, INT 14, WIS 25, CHA 45, LCK 8, PER 10, HLT 10. Hope you aren’t easily intimidated.

  Looking for someone with super high Endurance to keep up with me, or else a Human with Deep Feeding. Must be funny and more than a bit nerdy.”

  ***

  “Oh, pull the other one, it’s got bells on it.”

  I’d almost forgotten Rex was standing there, looking at my screen. I’d gotten lost in her ebony-bck skin and faintly glowing amber eyes. I pulled up my Status screen, and checked my traits. Sure enough, Deep Feeding was what I had other than Human Potential, I never had managed to figure out what it did. I shook my head, clearing the screen and bringing myself to the present. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s no WAY that’s real! Come on, she’s way too perfect. A rich Domestic Goddess with FORTY-FIVE Charisma? What’s someone like that doing where you could find her?”

  I thought for a second. Humans at the Change who were international supermodels and industry-dominating porn stars found themselves at 20 Charisma. To hit 45 by Level 9, it would require that, plus putting every point you got into Charisma, plus a high roll on Racial bonuses even for an infamously high-Charisma Race like the incredibly rare Greater Succubi. Not even counting the rest. That’s the name hit me. “Wait, I know who she is, too! TheSexiestSyer is a pretty prominent game streamer and cospyer. Really good at fighting games, I watched her win a competition in Vegas before I came here. Had to py from an opaque box so that her boobs weren’t distracting her opponents. Seriously, her control using zoners is almost as sexy as she is. The picture definitely looks like it could be her”

  “Are you even listening to yourself? All of that AND she’s a minor celebrity? That’s a catfish, and a stinky one at that. Don’t get caught, man!”

  I grinned. “You know what? I’m feeling lucky.” Reaching down to the screen, I swiped to indicate extreme interest, and sent a message saying I had Deep Feeding and would love to meet her. Followed by another one complimenting her on her choice of cospy for the third photo, because seriously. She was hot, the character was hot, and the outfit was about a quarter inch in every direction from not being allowed on the website.

  I’d swiped through rejecting three or four more profiles, maybe thirty seconds, before I got a ping. Simha the Greater Succubus sent a heart. The next text she sent was simple. “Oh, you look like an absolute treat! You think you can handle me? Well, then I’ll meet you in an hour~” followed by an address. I looked up the location, it was a fairly nice hotel which I knew had a good restaurant attached. I checked her streaming profile, and the pictures definitely could be the same person. I wasn’t stupid, though, the next step was to make sure the pictures from the dating site were different from the ones on the streaming one. They were, so catfish risk was slightly reduced. Status screen up, and my Luck buff was showing active, the Karma meter slowly ticking down. The hotel was about 30 minutes away by car. Talk about some motivation, I was showered and dressed inside of ten minutes despite Rex’s objections.

  I almost wore the same button-down colred shirt as my profile pic to make myself easier to identify, but got a hunch that something a bit different would be better. Why my hunches were telling me my enchanted mail shirt with a hoodie depicting an anime power up scene over it would work, but at least it was cool enough for it. The knife and gun wouldn’t be appreciated, so I left them. As I began to head out, Rex looked approvingly. “Wearing armor? Alright, guess you’re not completely an idiot.”

  “I’ll either be back in an hour, in three hours, or I’ll let you know where I am. You know, in case I get swallowed by a catfish.” I really didn’t think I would, but it would reassure him.

  “Alright. Be safe, Felix.”

  I’d budgeted 40 minutes for the 30 minute trip, forgetting that I wasn’t cursed anymore. Just the opposite, every car and every light seemed to be going out of its way to help me move faster than I ever had through the city streets. In 20 minutes, I was at the hotel. That put me nearly a half hour early for the date. The best table in the pce was open, so I got the table for two and told the staff to expect a pretty woman named Simha and send her my way. Also sent her a message that traffic treated me right and I’d gotten there early. Her response was simple: “be right down!”

  I signaled the waitress that she was coming, and just as bread sticks came out I noticed a woman walk in. She was tall, for a woman. Almost as tall as my own six feet, and wearing a baggy gray hoodie (with the logo of a fighting game tournament on it) with the hood pulled up. She had on a thin medical mask obscuring her face from the nose down, but the glow of her amber eyes was alluring and I could see the ridges of her horns under the hood. It was obvious that she was trying to conceal her nature, or at least limit its effect on the people around her, but it was equally obvious that the attempt was in vain. Even under the baggy sweater it was pretty obvious that the figure it hid was luscious. Every step she took set her entire body moving in ways that drew the eye like gravity,

  The staff pointed in my direction, I waved in a way I hoped was friendly and not overly eager or urgent. I couldn’t help thinking that I had already expended forty-five precious minutes of power, and once it ran out I had no idea how this would go. She nodded at me and stepped around the counter. Her sweat pants were simirly gray and baggy… and simirly they failed to conceal the sway of her bountiful hips or the fact that she reflexively strode down the aisle like it was a catwalk.

  She sat at the table, eyeing the breadsticks. “Felix?” Even the single word was a sound that bypassed my brain and went straight for my soul, warm and dripping with honey.

  I nodded. “Simha?”

  “That’s me. Nice hoodie, by the way, loved that show.” She lowered her mask, and it was an effort just to breathe. Her nose was delicate, her lips a perfect Cupid’s bow. She snagged one of the bread sticks from the table, and the act of her putting it in her mouth carried images of all kinds of things we couldn’t do in public. “Thanks for getting these going, the bread sticks here are the best in town.”

  With a superheroic effort of will I managed to hold myself in control and grab a bread stick of my own. She wasn’t wrong, they were amazing, but they paled in comparison to just being in her presence. “Thanks for recommending the pce. Got any recommendations? Sounds like you’ve been here a few times and this is my first.”

  She sniffed the air delicately, then looked at me with curiosity on her face. “This is going to sound direct, but humor me. Succubi can smell and taste lust directly, and it comes in a thousand kinds. Especially around me. You are almost out of your mind with lust right now, but staying controlled. Point in your favor, you haven’t even made a sexual innuendo in my direction yet. It does get easier over time if you get that far, but what gets me is the fvor combination.”

  “I have a fvor? Color me curious.” And let’s face it, I wanted her tongue on me, too.

  “On the one hand, you are no virgin, and seem open to casual things. On the other, the smell is unusually intense, which tells me you’re on a dry spell, but that in turn tells me you aren’t pushy and you aren’t trying the desperation tactics. I’ve seen those, you wouldn’t have gotten the date. You might just be actually looking for a connection.”

  Definitely not just a pretty face. “Got it in one, including the dry spell. Been about six months.”

  “For someone with that profile? That’s a shock. Tell you what. I had a really busy morning and I’m Hungrier than I’m hungry.” I could hear the subtle emphasis on the words. She needed to Feed her supernatural Hunger more than she needed food in her belly. “Leave a tip, follow me to my room, and I’ll make it easier for both of us to focus”

  My erection nodded its agreement at her words. Still keeping an iron control on myself, I reached into my pocket for a Silver Coin and put it on the table as we stood.

  Her eyebrow quirked up when she saw it. “Triple-7 stamp? You did mention that you were a Vegas Delver in your bio, didn’t you?”

  “Yep, I wasn't lying. Got to Level 6 and decided to get out while I still could. Had one close call too many, and I’m in a support Css that doesn’t directly help with the fighting. I just didn’t want to find out when my Luck would run out.”

  She was leading the way, headed for the elevators nearby. I was following her, mesmerized by the sway of her hips and the swish of her tail like she was the Pied Piper. “You definitely need to tell me more about that, ter.” We were in the elevator, her hand brushed mine and I could feel the sensation lingering. “You brought the clean bill of health, right?”

  I nodded and pulled it out of my back pocket. “Renewed it st week, and like you noticed earlier I haven’t done anything since then to change it.”

  She smiled. “I like a guy who comes prepared.” The way she pronounced “comes” definitely sounded like she meant something else along with it. “I need to ask you this one since I can’t Scan you to find out directly: you said you have Deep Feeding. This one’s important, it’ll determine how the next hour or so goes.”

  I’d put the paper back in my pocket by the time my brain caught up to what she’d said. An hour? With this absolute goddess of a woman? I definitely liked the sound of that. “I do. Not sure what it means, though. I’ve never found an expnation online.”

  She smiled more broadly. “I’ll be happy to teach you in about three minutes. It’s something that goes better with a… practical demonstration, shall we say.” The elevator pinged that we had reached the third floor. The doors opened, Simha pulled a key card out of her pocket, and swiped it to unlock a door only a few steps down the hall. It opened into a small but comfortable space, but my eyes were not on the decor. Once the door closed behind me, she turned and pulled the hood down. Her backswept horns were uncovered, her long bck hair flowing down her back in hypnotic waves. The smile on her face faded to a serious look. “This is your st chance, Felix. There’s no going back once I take this off. If you lied about anything in your bio, you had best turn around and leave. No hard feelings if you do, I get it a lot.”

  My heart was beating faster than the st close call I’d had in the Vegas Dungeon. I gulped, not just feeling but KNOWING that if I had gotten the slightest thing wrong this would not end well. “I have not lied to you, Simha. It’s not something I do.”

  “Good. Then take off those clothes.” She removed her hoodie and sweatpants in one smooth motion, and my heart nearly stopped at the sight of what emerged. Her body was fit and tight like a world-css athlete, but her curves were as lush as an idol of a fertility goddess. The onyx-bck skin was set off by lingerie in bright gold, catching the eye and keeping it there.

  “You’re beautiful…” I couldn’t have stopped the words from coming out of my mouth if I tried. If I lived to be a thousand and saw her every minute of it, I felt that I’d never get enough of looking at her.

  Her smile returned to her face. “You mean it, too. I get called sexy a lot, and it’s understandable. I didn’t ask for this body, but you seem to enjoy it. Now it’s your turn.”

  By reflex I took off my own hoodie and kept the mail shirt inside of it. The interruption of my line of sight helped me get my head back together. “It’s not just your face and body. You’re observant and careful, you advised me every step, and gave me every chance to back away if I wasn’t willing and on the level.” My clothes were off, but I kept my eyes closed. “You even made sure that you concealed as much of your sexiness and presence as you could until we got here, so that I could keep my own head. That is way beyond superficial sex appeal and into true beauty.”

  “And you were smart enough to keep your eyes closed for that, too.” Her voice was coming from inches away from my left ear, but somehow she was not touching me while she did so. “Alright, big guy, I like what I see. Has anyone ever told you that you’re well-hung? I know I’m gd I’m equipped to take it.”

  My heart rate stayed high for that one. “Once or twice, but I don’t like to make assumptions and I don’t exactly look at many penises to compare it to.”

  Her ughter was like the chiming of silver bells, beautiful and clear. I wanted to hear the sound forever. “Oh, you are a treat. Tell you what. Normally I’d be mad that someone was ignoring this lingerie set, but you’re doing it so that we can keep talking. I like that. If you can get to the bed without opening your eyes and y down, I’ll go ahead and get started.” her voice dropped to a husky growl. “I’ve already taken them off.”

  Here I didn’t realize I was able to get any harder. Somehow I managed to stumble forward, towards a half-remembered spot in the yout of the room, through where I had st seen her standing. Thankfully, a bed is a big target, and I found it easily enough. With a few more giggles from Simha, I got onto it and id down face-up.

  The bed shifted slightly, and I felt the brush of her skin. The sudden feel of her hand on my cock told me she was getting me ready and into position, and it was all I could do not to moan with need. I felt her legs straddling mine, the tip of me nestled up between her thighs, and in one smooth motion I was buried in her. She was smooth as silk, warm like the sun of te spring, and perfectly wet. The dextrous coils of her internal muscles worked at me, drawing me up perfectly within her, and it was a sudden test of my willpower to not just explode within her. “You’re so close already, Felix. Your body is begging for relief, am I right?”

  I nodded, unable to form the words.

  “Then let me tell you something now. Deep Feeding is very rare. You’re only the second person I’ve ever met with it.” She was moving, slowly up and down on me, the sensations seemingly specifically designed to give me the absolute maximum pleasure it was possible for my body to experience. “Everyone has a well of power within them, the kind that feeds the Hungers of demons like me. People like you have a well that is many, many times deeper than those around you. It will let me finally Feed until I’m full. That is going to be very good for you, too.”

  My brain was badly malfunctioning, consumed in the ocean of bliss it was experiencing. Words were long gone, and so was any thought of anything but the amazing woman who was riding me. Somehow I managed to gather a few of them up. “What… what does that mean?”

  "If you were being honest with me, if you weren't lying just to get into my pants? What you are about to experience is going to be the most powerful and long-sting orgasm of your life... and it'll come with the promise of hundreds or thousands more just like it."

  "And if I lied?" I was panting, my body hers to command rather than my own.

  "It still will be, but you'll die before you get to finish the first one. Now, open your eyes. Look at me, and cum for me."

  My eyes opened almost of their own accord, unable to resist the instruction. I gazed upon sex and beauty in its purest form, one of the most powerful Succubi on Earth bending her efforts to give me, personally, the most intense experience I’d likely ever get. My eyes were glued to every bountiful curve, every pne, the spread of her wings and the points of her horns as she drove down onto me. With a shout that I only vaguely recognized as my own, I began to orgasm. It started from my groin as expected, but rapidly coursed through the entirety of my being. It was like my heart wasn’t beating to pump blood, but to help me cum that much more. My toes curled, my hands gripped the sheets, and I let loose a torrent of cum the likes of which made every sexual experience of my life pale in comparison.

  And then I kept cumming. It went on and on and on, as I felt her soul touch mine, drawing deeply upon my essence. Something deeper than skin contact, more profound than mere semen. She Fed upon me, suffusing herself with my essence, and dimly in the back of my head I realized that she was cumming, too. And still it didn’t stop. Eventually my body could produce no more, the pulses tapering off as I hit the limits of my Stamina, and the edges of my vision closed in. The st thing I heard before passing out was a quiet “oh, I think I’m gonna keep this one.”

  My eyes closed, I was not able to keep them open. There was a light tingling in the tips of my fingers and toes, but as I floated in the bck void of exhausted bliss I couldn’t find it in me to care. Some indeterminate time ter, the bck void began to lighten. Consciousness was returning.

  And then several things snapped into pce. I was definitely feeling remarkably mellow and chill, but that was understandable since I’d just had the best sex of my life by far. A ping went off in the back of my head, signaling that my Uncapped Burst had run its course. That would also expin the slight chill over the fact that I was still naked and spread-eagled on the bed… but my arms and legs were tied to the four bedposts. Huh, not at all what I was expecting. Was Simha into bondage? If so I’d have thought she would wait for me to wake up for it.

  “So, you’re awake.” It was Simha, though I couldn’t see her. This time, the voice wasn’t sexy. She wasn’t purring an impatient desire for round two. “Care to expin?”

  I had no idea what she was talking about. “Expin what?”

  She came back into view, her hoodie and sweats were back on, but her eyes were angry. “I thought we had a good thing going, you had potential. Then I find out you’re a KARMIC? A Luck maniputor? And you came here wearing magic armor under your hoodie? What did you cast on me to get at me?”

  I shook my head. “It’s not like that! I’m not built to cast bad luck at anyone but myself.”

  She walked over to me and grabbed me by the balls. Certainly direct. Much to my shock, she leaned over and sucked my cock a few times until it was back to being painfully hard, then slowly stroked it with one hand while gring at me. “Expin yourself, and quickly. If you orgasm before I’m satisfied with your answer I’m going to suck your soul dry and leave your desiccated corpse here for room service.”

  Given how good her lips and hand felt, that was going to be a brutally short timer. I’d best hurry. “Yes, that’s my Css. How did you find out?”

  She kept stroking me smoothly. “I did a search for you under public Vegas Delver records, then when it popped up I searched your wallet for your Delver Card to make sure it was you. Then I told my friends where I was and what I was doing. Girl’s gotta be safe.”

  “Okay, then listen. Ever since I left there I’ve been under a curse of bad luck, one I went under voluntarily. I saved everything I could to max out my tank and let it loose in one bst. That just finished, it ran out while I was unconscious.”

  “All that JUST to have sex with me? Impressive, but creepy. Hope it was worth it.” She sounded almost regretful at that one.

  “No! I mean, that was awesome, but I wasn’t looking for just sex. I was looking for love. A soulmate. I could get sex and money as a Delver, but that’s not worth it. I just let it loose, opened up the dating service, and prayed. You came up first. You’re… perfect. It’s not just the sex. You’re smart, observant, kind, independent. Heck, you kick butt with every fighting game you y your hands on, I watched you win when you went to Vegas two years back, but I didn’t know you lived here. I just begged the universe for a soul mate, and it sent me to your profile.”

  “Tell me what your powers did! Are you controlling my mind?” Her voice was powerful, a demand focused on me that brooked neither evasion nor lie. I’m not sure I could have stopped myself from spilling every dark secret I’d ever had at her request.

  “I can’t control minds. Luck can make sure our paths cross, through coincidence or by me riding the flow. It can make sure random choices I make are the ones that put my best foot forward to make a good impression to the one who has the best shot at being the one I’m looking for, or it can make sure some twist keeps me from being stuck to someone who will make me miserable. I was looking for a soul mate when I opened Ember, something mutual and long term, so that is what it pushed me towards. You could always decide the answer is no, but I got the best chances possible.”

  “Fine then. Prove you’re nerd enough for my standards, not just a fan of my tits who got lucky. Tell me a controversial opinion about the show on your hoodie.”

  To be honest, I was having trouble remembering the NAME of the show with what she was doing to me, something about dragons, but I’d had this discussion st week. “The seventh season didn’t need the training montage and could have used a beach episode to introduce the new characters better.”

  She carefully kept stroking for a few moments more. I could feel the tides of pleasure starting to creep up the sides of the walls of my willpower, and prayed I hadn’t said anything too bad. Her voice dispelled my ability to keep worrying about it. “Be gd I asked for something controversial, but at least now I know you’re not just brown nosing me. Last question. If you’re done with Delving, why do you still have the armor? And why wear it to a date?”

  My breath was starting to get harsh. If I didn’t end this soon I’d be expining the cum stains to Saint Peter. Heck of a way to go, if it came to that, but I’d still rather not. “I kept it because I helped make it! I carved about half of the runes for the Enchanter and did a lot of the ring interweaving. Wasn’t going to just give that up. And as for why I wore it?” I had to pause to refocus. “My friend thought you were a catfish. The profile was too amazing, too awesome to be real. I wore it just in case someone was looking for kidneys to harvest instead of a date. It’s light enough to not bug me too much for a few hours, and I’m used to it. Actually, speaking of, if you’re not going to kill me, mind if I send him a text? Dude might be getting worried about now.”

  “What, YOU helped make that? You’re a crafter, too?” She looked over her shoulder at the armor ying on the ground, the various scars and repairs it had taken over its time defending me, the hundreds of tiny sigils carved into the fine links. She smiled again. “You know what, I think I’ll let you live. Now cum for me, baby. Let it go again.” With that, her lips and tongue joined her hand, and I sted about four more seconds before firing off again into her waiting mouth.

  The orgasm didn’t st forever this time, but I still felt the connection. Her soul was gently sipping on mine like she was on my dick. When I finished, and I realized I was still breathing, the relief was extreme. “Okay. Um. Thank you for letting me live. Really. I’ve still got lots to do on Earth. But… uh, mind untying me? In addition to your many other admirable qualities, you’re really good at tying knots and I can’t get out.”

  She ughed again, but as she did so she started untying me. The ties were really well done, but even the slight blood flow restriction meant that my feet and hands felt like they’d been dipped in TV static for a few moments once they were freed. “Thanks for the compliment. Now, get your shirt and pants on so you can talk about actual dungeon crawling with me, that penis is distracting. Leave the mail out, I wanna take a closer look at it. What else did you use?”

  She’s saying my PENIS is distracting? Pot calling the kettle bck, there. “Usually a gun and an enchanted dagger I have at home, kind of made to stabilize the gun for accuracy. Needed to save my Luck for when it was really needed, so I made do.”

  She sat down on the ground to look at my chain mail shirt, looking at it closely. “What did you say this was enchanted with, again?” She gestured at me to come over.

  “Uh, just toughness. Kind of a dispersal thing, I get punched in the chest and it turns into a big hug.”

  She pulled out her phone to pull up a picture of her in some SERIOUSLY sexy cospy armor. “So if you saw this underground, what would you say?”

  We sat there for hours. I went over some of her more recent projects, how she’d made them, tricks I knew, and parts of the designs that really wouldn’t work in a Delve. I mean, chainmail bikinis are sexy, but they’re not stopping anything and would distract her teammates. At some point, Rex called me to make sure I was alright, since I’d entirely forgotten to let him know. Bme the company. A bit ter and we both realized that we’d forgotten lunch, but it was about time for dinner. Thankfully, I’d tipped well earlier and they didn’t hold a grudge for the abandoned table. We even made it past the breadsticks this time.

  Turns out the spaghetti carbonara was just as good, and Simha agreed when she snagged some from my pte. I got a giggle before going on the offensive with my own questions. “So, you seem to know about my Css, but I can’t say I’ve met any Caretakers. What’s your own deal when you’re using that? You said you’re Level nine, too, so I know you have to have some seriously juicy details.”

  She cut into her own chicken cutlet. “So, you know how Bards give buffs to people to make them fight better? Caretakers are kind of like that… but WAY lower power over WAY longer terms. Like… if you’re eating the food I make, living in a house I maintain, and having sex with me at least three times a week, you get to keep all kinds of beneficial effects on you 24/7. Others do yoga, massage, incense, reading stories, or even feng shui, but those aren’t my things. And bonus, I get to share in a copy of what I give out, though it doesn’t stack. They all tend to be healing and maintenance things, too. Like… my sex buff keeps you effectively on a workout routine, the house gives disease and poison resistance, and the food helps you recover your health and stamina bit by bit.”

  “That’s actually really cool. I’d have given my left arm for a Caretaker when I was Delving. Color me extremely curious. What exactly is the whole Domestic Goddess thing you advertised?” Also color me aroused like you wouldn’t believe. Or… maybe you would, all things considered.

  “Still figuring that out. Just got it when I hit Level nine. Maybe…” She actually had to compose herself. “Maybe you can help me do that?”

  “I’d love to, Simha. Actually, one st question before we order dessert?”

  “Go ahead, you’ve answered plenty of mine.”

  “I know why I came on the date, but why did you? You’re so far out of my league it boggles my mind, and Luck can only take over where skill stops.” I took a sip of my water, taking the chance to drink in her beauty as she considered the answer.

  “Well, on that part, it was a couple of things. I put that bio up hours before you responded and got no bites at all. You said your standing Luck score is a 26 before your buff? That’s absolutely no joke for you to be able to get to me first.”

  “Wait, YOU got zero interactions? That’s beyond luck and into impossibility!”

  She sighed a bit. Even now, getting used to her overwhelming presence, that little thing made me want to take up a sword and shield to defend her from the world. Then again, it might not just be her Charisma doing that. “You mentioned your friend thought it was a fake, meant to lure unsuspecting victims in and steal some kidneys. I… get that a lot. Even the other people who Feed me tend to just be there for the sex, or because they just can’t resist obeying when I ask for something. It gets lonely.”

  I nodded. “The sex is nice, not going to lie, but if that’s all they are here for then they’re missing out. Their loss. I liked talking with you a lot more when you weren’t talking about siphoning me dry.”

  “Actually not sure if I could have done it in one sitting. You have a ton of energy in the tank, and I’m feeling full for the first time in a couple of years. Kind of a new experience to not be horny.”

  I felt a flicker of pride at that one. Okay, more than a flicker. Even besides the fact that I’d completely sexually satiated a Greater Succubus, it was helping her. She was calmer in a way she hadn’t been when we first sat at this table, the smile on her lips more gentle and genuine. I felt that I wanted to make sure it could stay there. “I’m really gd about that, Simha. Thing is, that doesn’t answer the question. Why did you even make a profile on that site trying to look for a long-term connection?”

  “I decided to take a chance.”

  ***

  A month ter

  “Good afternoon, and welcome to my stream! In case you don’t know me yet, I’m TheSexiestSyer, and today I’ll be streaming Iron Fist 5 speedrun attempts on the Luck Assisted leaderboard. If you were watching me yesterday, you know that Robo runs have a one in 256 chance of avoiding their bad matchups. My boyfriend says he can make it happen three out of five attempts today, and if he does I’m keeping the cospy on when we have some fun ter. So, chat, you can pce your bets now for what I’ll be wearing when I switch to my red light site in a couple of hours. You can get that link by typing !SheSys in the chat box…”