WWYK 2.4 - Volume End (Patreon)

Aaaand that's a wrap. I ended up not sleeping for some reason and cranked the rest of this out and then edited it. It'll be up on Amazon hopefully by this weekend.

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Chapter 4 - Success

After their afternoon role-playing session had concluded, Nate and Nicki went downstairs as they said they would, and at Nicki’s behest, he started up one of his favorite anime series to watch with her. Nicki hadn’t seen the phenomenal Mushoku Tensei, and he figured it was an excellent place to start. Nate had his snobbish gripes with it- specifically that the protagonist never takes the pair of gyaru beast girls into his harem, of all things sacred- but it was one of his favorite depictions of a harem in all of anime.

Three wives, no favoritism between them, one happy man.

If a series was good enough to make Nate overlook his tremendous bias against the isekai genre, that really said something about its quality. It helped that Nicki was much more casual than he was, so she ate up all the tropes nearly as hard as... well, Shizuka used to, but that wasn't something he allowed himself to dwell on.

Together, they lounged about in their loveseat and got through the first few episodes, which covered your standard early reincarnation anime tropes albeit better than just about any other show. Made sense, since it was the origin of most of those tropes in the first place. Rewatching the series was great fun for Nate, and he loved seeing Nicki’s reaction to everything little thing in the opening hours, but it became clear to her that Nate was fairly distracted by the time they reached episode five.

Nate’s mind was bustling with ideas and inspiration. The longer he sat still, the worse it got. Nicki eventually pointed it out, and they paused the show for the time being as she gave him permission to head up to his office and do what needed to be done. In the meantime, she’d continue where she left off with Dragon Ball or maybe play a game or something, though Nicki promised him she’d still be wearing the maid costume when he was done.

He rushed upstairs more excitedly than he expected, sitting down and waking up his desktop to work on the outline for the sequel to Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids. If a god of writing existed, Nate reckoned there was a solid case to be made that he’d recently earned their blessing. His fingers battered the keyboard, cruising through idea after idea and emptying his bursting mind onto the word processor.

Nate wrote his outlines in a very dry manner.

If he had to choose between calling himself a plotter or a pantser- the latter being a term that inspired irrational hatred whenever he heard it and was impossible for Nate to take seriously- he was a plotter who gave himself significant wiggle room. His process involved writing a series of headlines for individual chapters such as ‘Beginning’, ‘Butt Plug Scene’, and so on, which served as the foundation he would build from. Under each headline, Nate would make a bullet point list that summed up each beat that would happen in his story very matter of factor until he’d planned out the entire story.

That’s not to say that Nate’s stories were rigid and that he never allowed himself to deviate from his outlines- far from it. His notes for an individual chapter might be anywhere from two to three thousand words, while the chapter itself might turn out two to four times that length. A lot of his work involved improvising on the skeleton he’d prebuilt for himself, paving the way but not limiting him in case an element wasn’t working or he came up with a better idea when actually writing the chapter.

It was an efficient method he’d developed after years of refining and streamlining his process, and it hadn’t let him down yet. It made him consistent, able to churn out short stories rapidly so long as he had the inspiration, which Nate currently had in spades.

He worked for a few hours, testing different ideas and playing with the structure here and there, tweaking this and tweaking that, all while incorporating a lot of his most recent sex session with Nicki into the mix and some of the stuff they’d done since last Friday. Even though he was writing the events of his story in a boring ‘this happens, she says this, this happens’ sort of way, he couldn’t help experiencing excitement for how the final product would turn out.

Confidence in his craft was still a foreign concept to Nate- and he didn’t even figure it was entirely earned since he didn’t have enough feedback on Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids to go off of yet- but confidence was precisely what he felt by the time he was done with his outline. Nate thought it looked good. He really did- and it felt good to feel pride over his writing.

His preproduction process no longer existed in a vacuum, though. Before, Nate only ever shared his outlines on his Patreon with the small pool of nine people who supported him on a monthly basis. Now, he had an editor who could give him early thoughts and help him improve the structure before he started on the product, and he was eager to see what Nicki would think of it.

He called her upstairs, and she went through the outline, giving it a thorough once over. The verdict was favorable, with Nicki approving of the overall flow, character interactions, and the content of the sex scenes. She left him various notes throughout the lengthy text that he could improve on later, but Nate was relieved to find that most of his ideas seemed to vibe well with her.

Nicki's main critique was once again that the sex scenes were mostly literal translations of what he’d actually experienced, and to combat this, she helped think of some ways to remix their escapades and shuffle around events to make them more interesting as a story.

Happy with the feedback and satisfied with getting a good chunk of work done, Nate returned downstairs with his lover and settled back in for the rest of the evening. It was a lazy night, with the couple ordering some takeout while resuming their previous binge-watching as they cuddled together on the couch. As they did, the shadow of Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids loomed overhead despite Nate trying not to think about it.

He promised Nicki not to look at the stats again until tomorrow, but it was there to torture him whenever Nate had a stray thought. His distraction was pretty obvious to Nicki, and she stopped him whenever it got out of hand. She ultimately talked him into having some drinks to celebrate the book launch with her, which ended up greatly helping keep his mind off his worries.

A few wine coolers later, it was hard to think about anything beyond how much he loved Nicki and how awesome Mushoku Tensei was.

They fell asleep together on the couch at some point- it was hard to say when precisely because of all the alcohol- but Nate slept like a rock until he didn’t. He awoke the following morning to a pleasant sensation from his lower half. Nate stirred and stretched out, then pulled the blanket over the large lump bobbing up and down underneath it.

Nicki was there, naked after all the fun they’d gotten up to, and she was in the middle of giving him a sleepy blowjob. Her eyes were awake but glazed over with tiredness. She was going at a slow, delicate pace, but even as she made eye contact, she continued sliding her lips up and down and stroking the bottom half of his shaft with her hand. It was a different variety of pleasure from the no-holds-barred gauntlet Nicki usually put Nate through, but it was equally appreciated.

“Morning,” Nate yawned and picked his phone off the table, checking the time and finding it was 9:23. “I see someone is raring to go.”

Nicki popped off his cock to look up at him, still tired and a little listless. “I woke up with my face in your crotch and an itchy mouth,” she grumbled. “What was I supposed to do?”

Nate tilted his head, a brief memory of the prior evening flashing through his mind. He was pretty sure he’d fallen asleep during one of the night’s many blowjobs, which would certainly explain how she ended up down there.

“I’m not complaining. Carry on.” Since he already had the phone, he hit record and started taking a video of his beautiful girlfriend doing what she did best.

"Planning on it," Nicki said between soft slurps.

She didn’t purposefully drag things out, but she did take her time. Her tongue slowly crept along Nate's length, lapping at his sensitive flesh between sucking down on a few inches of him at a time. Waking up to such love and affection from the girl they loved was a dream any man would strive for, and here Nicki was, giving him everything Nate ever wanted and then some.

Resisting so early in the morning was a futile endeavor. Nicki knew how to get what she wanted, and Nate was more sensitive after waking up, anyway. It wasn't long until she had him moaning and shooting off ropes in her vacuum-tight mouth. He grunted as Nicki's handjob jerked the last shot out of his shaft, watching enraptured as she swallowed the entire load without wasting so much as a drop of cum.

Basking for air and fully satisfied, Nicki wiped her chin clean of saliva with the back of her wrist and sat up. "Ahhh... there we go, that hit the spot! Morning, babe. How's the new blackmail material?"

"Pretty damn hot. Can't wait to squeeze all that delivery girl money out of you when I threaten to show it to all of your friends and family." Nate teased, showing her the video he'd just taken.

Nicki took the phone from his hand, skimmed through the video, smiled wide in approval, and took the liberty of adding it to their shared album. "Not bad, not bad at all. Thanks for breakfast, by the way."

Laughing, Nate asked, "Would you like something to actually eat, or are you seriously cool with subsisting off of my cum?"

"I mean, I should probably scarf something down, yeah, but I'm cool either way." Nicki licked her lips for emphasis, earning a roll of his eyes.

"Well, if you feel like getting off of me sometime in the near future, then I'll figure something out."

"Tempting," Nicki narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin before ultimately sitting up and emerging fully from the blanket. "Too tempting to pass up, in fact. You may proceed, Jeeves."

"Hey," Nate leaned in and teasingly flicked Nicki on the nose- nowhere near enough to actually hurt, but enough to catch her off guard. "You need to get your facts straight. We use 'Alfred' as this house's generic name for butlers."

"Very well," Nicki cleared her throat and put on the deepest voice she could muster. "Proceed, Alfred."

"Of course, Master Wayne."

Nicki snorted as Nate dressed himself in last night’s clothes, then left the living room to go and whip up a staple breakfast for weebs, omurice. It wasn't specifically because they were weebs that he made it. It was just plain easy to make, and preparing enough for two wasn't much more of a hassle than making it for himself.

When Nate returned with breakfast, he found Nicki had changed into a simple black miniskirt and a blue t-shirt with a generic vaporwave anime girl on it from her overnight bag, turned on the smart tv, and was watching something on YouTube.

On the giant screen was a young black woman with shaved red hair and a cold, focused expression tucked away in the corner, with most of the display being taken up by the game the girl was playing- Battlobots. Nate was a casual fan of this recently released game, as he supported any platform fighter that could be taken seriously as an e-sport and give Nintendo a run for their money, but he was surprised to see Nicki watching gameplay of it.

It was... a lot more mechanically complex than Smash, to say the least, and the skill ceiling was so high it practically guaranteed a future of painful wrist complications for its top-level players.

Nate sat down with the tray of breakfast and drinks, saying, "I had no idea you were a Battlobotter."

"Oh, shit. Thanks for the weeb omelet, babe. Anyway, the game is pretty cool, but I've never actually played it. I'm watching it mostly cause this chick is my favorite streamer."

Nicki dug straight into her breakfast after thanking Nate, but Nate took a moment to have a closer look at the streamer in question before starting. The woman seemed to be about his age, maybe a little bit younger? She seemed pretty from what little of her he could see.

The streamer’s gamertag was displayed on the corner of the screen, identifying her as 'KillerK'. The name rang a bell- he was sure he'd read it in passing before when reading some Battlobots-related e-sports article, but he didn't follow the scene closely enough to know the player by sight.

Her gameplay was nothing short of phenomenal, even more so considering she utilized a brutish tank-styled character creatively christened Tankotron Mk3. A terrifying mix of grappler and zoner playstyles, Tankotron baited his enemies into approaching with his cannon and grabbed them when they did for massive damage. He could Zero to death a good portion of the roster if you were playing someone who didn't know what they were doing- and watching this streamer devastate her online adversaries gave Nate horrific flashbacks of his childhood.

His old friend Kel was good at any character he picked up, but he always gravitated toward the heavy-set fighters in any game they played. Nate had lost countless battles against Zangief, Potemkin, Tager, and Ganondorf back in the day- enough to make him reflexively wince as he bore witness to the slaughtering of KillerK's foes.

As skilled as she was, Nate was having trouble wondering why this was Nicki's favorite streamer. The gameplay was more than exciting to someone like himself who knew the game and its mechanics, but KillerK rarely talked, addressed her chat, or even so much as blinked most of the time. Whenever she did say anything, it was either mild, generic trash talk, extremely complicated game jargon, or match analysis that had to have flown over Nicki's head.

He could think of only one explanation as to why she might be such an avid viewer.

"So, what? Do you think she's hot or something?"

"Do you not?" Nicki looked at him funny.

Nate looked back, allowing himself to view the streamer more appraisingly. He didn’t want to outright say it because it might sound a lot worse when spoken aloud, but KillerK radiated that super cool black girl aura that gave off the impression that she didn't take anyone's shit, and Nate was deeply into it.

Only her top was visible, which was a low-cut black tank top with some white kanji characters on it that exposed a hint of cleavage. Nowhere near enough that she could be called a titty streamer, but sufficient that it was probably intentional and to the camera's benefit. KillerK had two nice handfuls by the look of things- definitely smaller than Nicki’s- but Nate had diverse tastes and enjoyed all sizes. She also wore what looked like a red Buddhist prayer bead necklace, similar to the one Akuma from Street Fighter sported. A nice touch.

"Yeah, she's pretty hot. Hard to really say for sure without a better frame of reference, though.”

"Hang on," Nicki sat down her fork and picked up her phone. She opened the accursed bird app, typed something into search, scrolled a bit, and showed him the screen. “How about now?”

Nate tried his best to keep calm and not look like the one wolf with the bulging eyes from that one old-school cartoon. KillerK was shown wearing a black sports bra and matching shorts in the picture. It was after a workout session, and a towel was draped around her neck, and every inch of her dark skin was dripping with delicious sweat. Not only did she have some decent muscle definition on top of killer curves, but the camera was pointed at a mirror over her shoulder, showcasing this streamer’s frankly ridiculous backside.

It was fantastic, glorious, massive- take your pick, no adjective did the God-Ass proper justice.

“Totally unrelated question to the photo of the hot black chick I'm staring at, but how can a guy get himself another one of those early-morning blowjobs around here?”

Nicki snorted and ripped her phone back from him. “I rest my case.”

With KillerK’s stream highlights as background noise, the couple finished their breakfast, and Nicki thanked him after taking their dishes away, putting them in the washer for later. When he returned, the video was paused, and Nicki was waiting for him with a smile. It was now time to figure out what they would do for the day.

“You work tonight, right?” Nate asked as he sat back down by her side.

“Yup, five to ten. Still got plenty of time before that, though. How about we and out of the house for a bit, swing by Gridopolis, and pick up a copy of Rise? I’ll need you to take me back to my bro’s house for a sec to pick up my switch, but we can play together when we get back.”

“Mm, I like the sound of that,” Nate nodded along. He looked forward to the hunts to come, already excited to explain the thirteen weapon types to Nicki and help her narrow down whichever ones she liked best. It wasn’t the only thing on his mind, though. “But when do you think we should check in on how Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids is doing?”

“How about when we get back?” Nicki proposed. “That way, if it’s not doing so hot, you won’t mope about it while we’re out and about being a lovey-dovey couple and all that shit.”

“Yeah, that’s probably fair.” Nate agreed. He wouldn’t exactly ‘mope’ about it, but it’d undoubtedly drag on his mind if the results were less than favorable, so her idea was for the best.

With their plans now set in stone, Nate and Nicki shared a quick shower without any funny business, dressed, and were out of the house in under half an hour.

Much to Nicki’s dismay, they took Nate’s car. It was the first time she’d been inside it since their relationship had started, and it was about as bad as she thought it’d be. The bucket of bolts masquerading as what was once a Ford Escort couldn’t go more than a few seconds without belting out some worrying sound or frightening smog shroud.

“You know you need to eventually do something about…” Nicki gestured with her hands at the entire car. “All of this, right?”

“I’m grappling with it…” Nate sighed. “I’ll figure something out in the near future.”

Nicki didn’t have a real car, only a scooter, and his was undeniably a piece of irredeemable shit. He understood that one of them should probably have a working car, especially if Nicki insisted on getting Nate out of the house more often. It wasn’t money that kept him from doing anything about it. Nate had just gotten by with as little driving as possible for the last few years. His lack of interest in the big hunks of motorized metal only added to his apathy.

At least his driving hadn’t suffered from his lack of practice, and the roads were mostly clear on their way to the local game store.

Nicki was messing with her phone as he drove, but curiosity got the best of her before too long. “Hey, babe? You’re not too worried about your new release, are you?”

“I’m much less worried about it than I would be without you to keep me company.”

“Heh,” Nicki scratched the back of her head and downplayed a smile. “Glad to hear I’m a positive influence.”

“Shocking, right?”

“Rude,” Nicki clicked her tongue. “I just wanted to make sure you’re not just saying everything’s okay while secretly being stressed as fuck about it.”

“Nah, I really mean it. I’m fine.” Nate reassured. “We’ll know for sure in an hour or so, anyway. And hey, even if the book didn’t pick up any steam since yesterday, I have hours upon hours of monster hunting with my girlfriend to look forward to.”

Nicki’s smile got too big to play off, her happiness evident as she beamed. “I’m sure you’ll have even more surprises to look forward to once we get back home, babe. I-”

Nicki paused and suddenly started to blush upon realizing her slip of the tongue. Nate didn’t initially understand the big deal, so he asked her about it.

“Something wrong?”

“No, nothing, it’s just… probably too soon for me to call your place ‘home’, don’t you think?” Nicki laughed awkwardly.

“If the shoe fits. You’ve only stayed at your brother’s once since last Thursday, so I think it’s too late to start worrying about that.”

“To be fair, I warned you ahead of time that this was gonna happen...” Nicki smirked and looked out the window.

“You did. I didn’t care then, and I don’t care now.”

“Good news for me then, I guess.” Nicki chuckled.

Nate casually grinned from the conversation. He liked that they were already so close that she’d think of his place as home, and he only felt it bode well for their relationship. Was she right in that it was a little soon? Sure, but that seemed to be a running theme with them, and he didn’t mind the recklessness of it all.

Not when everything felt so right.

All this home talk had Nate thinking about Nicki’s, though, and he had a question. “So when we drop by your brother’s place, is it expected of me to come in and say hi, or what? You haven’t ever really mentioned what all you told them about me and what’s going on with you being out of the house so much.”

“Oh, did I seriously forget?” Nicki looked over at him and took out her lollipop to give it an idle lick.

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you didn’t forget but were too preoccupied with pressing issues to bother bringing it up.”

“‘Pressing issues’ is a funny way to put dealing with your constant boners, but I’ll take it,” Nicki smirked and sucked back down on her candy. “So, uh, yeah. I did tell my brother and his husband about you, and they know I’ve liked you since high school, but that’s about it.”

“They don’t know I’m an internet filth monger specializing in writing borderline misogynistic fantasies centered around collecting women like they’re Pokémon, do they?”

Nicki snorted. “Not to my knowledge, but you should totally print some ‘Internet Filth Monger’ business cards, babe. Might save you some hassle down the line.”

“Probably.” Nate sighed. His thoughts flashed back to when his parents discovered his intention to skip college and become an erotica writer. Thank god it was after he’d turned eighteen, and Matt was there to take him in, or else things might’ve gone a lot rougher.

“Something on your mind?”

“Just mentally bemoaning the plight of sex workers who have to put up with a hypocritical puritanical culture that hates us. It sucks, and I’m only a writer. Actual sex workers have it a lot worse.”

”Yeah, it’s super gross… everyone loves tits and ass, but the second a girl tries to capitalize on that, she’s a whore, a slut, a thot, or whatever. Granted, maybe some of them are, but who gives a shit? It’s their choice to be a whore, and that choice doesn’t fucking concern you, you stupid bitch!” Nicki's eyebrow twitched at the tail end of her rant, and she chomped down on her lollipop. It broke into dozens of smaller pieces, which she then chewed into even dust.

Nate spared her a concerned sideways glance, causing Nicki to blush over her sudden outburst. “Um, sorry about that…” she coughed, already unwrapping a replacement lollipop. “Just my barely suppressed mommy issues leaking out. Nothing to see here.”

“You’re okay,” Nate laughed softly. “It’s not like I don’t get where you’re coming from.”

Nicki was relieved to hear that and nodded blankly. “Thanks, babe. I got off track for a second there… anyways, I don’t think anyone’ll be home at this hour. If they are, you can say hi, but you can also just hang in the car. No one expects you to introduce yourself so soon if that’s what you’re worried about... and honestly, I'd want more time to prepare you for what to expect.”

“It’s a little nerve-wracking to think about,” Nate admitted. “Especially since my social skills are still pretty damn rusty, but I’ll come in if anyone’s home. I want to make a good impression.” He knew how much her older brother and his husband meant to her, so as a man, Nate couldn’t allow himself to sit around in the car doing nothing when he could be doing his best to potentially charm her family.

“You know, I would kiss you right now if only you weren’t driving.” Nicki sighed wistfully.

“Good news, then,” Nate pulled into the strip mall’s parking lot and then parked at the closest spot to the entrance of Gridopolis. “Kiss away.”

Nicki laughed at him and did exactly that, pulling him by the collar to give her man some unexpected- but very much appreciated- tongue. When she was done, she unbuckled her seatbelt and asked, “You ready to go and make some pasty nerds insanely fucking jealous of you?”

Nate saw the twinkle in her blue eyes, and he didn’t like it. Nicki was plotting a spot of mischief. “No, but I assume you’re going to make it happen, anyway.”

“You are correct, sir.”

Nate rolled his eyes and exited the car, pocketing his keys. Nicki ambushed him before the door. He extended his hand for her to hold, assuming she wanted to act like an obnoxious couple, but she did him one better. She linked her arm around his, pulling him into the side of her boob with a wicked grin.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” Nate playfully sighed and smiled at her.

“I don’t know what you’re getting at. I’m simply showing my affection for the world’s best boyfriend, who has taken it upon himself to spoil me.”

“You could show your affection in a less public venue, perhaps?”

“That part comes later.” Nicki looked up at him and batted her long eyelashes, earning a nod of resignation from Nate as he mentally gave up and stepped inside Gridopolis with his clingy lover in tow.

Wedged between a Subway and a hair salon and located in a small strip mall, Gridopolis was Willowbrook’s only remaining mom-and-pop video game store. It was a rough business to be in during an era where GameStop ruled what little market hadn’t already been devoured by digital marketplaces and Amazon, but Gridopolis held on thanks to the goodwill it’d built with the younger generations who’d grown up with their generous discounts and trade-in rates.

While supporting a local business was reason enough to shop there instead of Willowbrook’s obligatory GameStop, Nate loved the place for refusing to sell Funko Pops. The owner was an older nerd who’d grown up during the Atari days, and he’d once famously declared he’d rather go bankrupt than sell those soulless lumps of plastic in his store after someone asked where they kept their stock. Nate had been there at the time, and if the old man didn’t already have his respect, he’d earned an eternal supply of it from that day onward.

Said owner wasn’t at the shop today, but a gaggle of what Nicki would call ‘pasty nerds’ were. Even worse, Nate was sure he recognized some of them from high school. They all lit up when they saw Nicki, which Nate took to mean she was a regular, but all of the nerds lost all hope for humanity the second they saw how clingy she was with Nate.

Nate had never seen anything quite so sad.

They withered away right before his eyes like someone sucked the soul right out of their bodies until they were nothing more than empty husks- deflated balloons. None of them even had it in them to look at Nate in anger or jealousy. They were so far gone.

It was here that Nate would learn the depths of Nicki’s pettiness.

“Trevor! Justin! Pete!” Nicki smiled brightly and raised the hand not currently hugging Nate for dear life. “How’s it going, guys?”

“Fine…” An empty acapella rang out from the cashier and two guys at the front counter, the ones they both went to school with.

“You guys remember Nate, right? Nate Russell?” Nicki nuzzled her face into his bicep, causing the shameless author to die of shame once he realized what she was doing.

“Yes…” the trio replied in perfect harmony.

“Nicki, please…” Nate whispered, begging her in vain. “They already have so little to live for.”

Nicki continued with her game, beaming as she said, “Well, you’ll never guess what happened! It turns out this big perv here writes naughty books on this site called LewdPages- his pen name is Max Masters, by the way, look it up- and I’ve been a fan of his for years! One thing led to another after he found out I was following him, and now we’re dating. Right, babe?”

Nate looked at her like he was reconsidering the part about them dating. “Yes. That is indeed an overly detailed account of what happened.”

“Congratulations…” the husks exhaled.

“Anyway, this awesome boyfriend of mine is gonna spoil me and get us a fun co-op game we can play! I can’t wait to sit on the same couch as him and game while we talk about all the anime we’re watching together. It’s gonna be so fun, oh my god!!”

The two husks at the counter looked at the cashier’s husk, who rang them up as fast as he could and bagged the random assortment of shit they were buying. The two of them bowed respectfully to Nate and left without a word. One of them was crying.

Unable to escape his post, the cashier’s husk regurgitated a simple, “Let me know if there’s anything I can help you find…”

“Thanks, Justin, but I’m pretty sure we know what we’re looking for!” Nicki smiled and waved cutely at the boys on their way out.

Nate took advantage of their arms being locked together to drag her forcefully into one of the store’s corners, where they were blocked off by a rack of assorted nerd shirts and pressed up against a shelf of retro gaming consoles. His eyes had fire in them as he stared into hers, but Nicki had that catty grin of hers, and her eyes looked much more innocent than they had any right to be.

“Nicki, what the fuck was all of that about?”

“Those perverts always stare at my tits every time I come here, and Justin Wagner over there is the fucking worst!” Nicki dropped the act and scowled over his shoulder at the cashier.

Nate was suddenly feeling a lot less empathetic for the pasty trio. “He did wear a fedora in high school if I remember correctly…”

“Yeah, and he laughed at me when I wanted to buy Dark Souls Remastered for my Switch. That fucking neckbeard said Animal Crossing New Horizons was probably more my speed, if you can believe that. I mean, New Horizons was dope-”

"I actually thought it was the weakest entry yet," Nate mumbled.

"Okay, whatever, but my point is fuck that sexist asshole."

“Fair, what a loser…” Nate cringed at the thought. “You really could’ve told me about the shit you were gonna pull in advance, though.”

“I could have,” Nicki agreed. “But in case you forgot, I still needed to get back at you for being so rough with your maid yesterday.”

Nate blinked in disbelief and then shook his head with a sigh. “God. Just can’t let things go, can you?”

“I wouldn’t count on it.” Nicki grinned and stroked her finger up his chin.

Sighing in defeat but smiling at her consistency, Nate led Nicki over to the Nintendo Switch selection and trawled through the used copies. There were a few spare copies of Rise, including the complete edition, but Nate figured he’d just buy her the expansion later if she got into it. No use in paying extra beforehand.

It helped that she’d apparently played Dark Souls, though. Monster Hunter’s core combat was very similar, and he took it as a good sign that she might vibe with it.

Nicki was going through the nearby merchandise while he picked it out and scanned the shelves for anything he might want to pick up while he was here. Between all the Amiibo and the accessories, she’d picked up a small plushy of a beige-colored cat wearing ninja armor and was in the middle of inspecting it just as he turned to face her.

Nicki held the toy up and played with its paws, a look of childish fascination on her face. “The tag says this cute little bastard is from Monster Hunter. Enlighten me, babe.”

“That’s a Palico. Every player gets their own little customizable NPC cat friend that tags along on hunts, and they’re kind of like the series mascot.”

“No shit?” Nicki turned the plushy over and stared into its adorable eyes. “That’s cute as hell, and I think I remember seeing them in gameplay footage, now that you mention it. Aren’t there supposed to be rideable dogs, too, though?”

“Yeah, those are Palamutes.”

“These fucking puns, dude.” Nicki laughed. “Loving it.”

“Good. Humor like that is a staple of the series. Anyway, how much is it?” Nate extended his hand for the Palico plushy, which Nicki reluctantly handed over.

“Uh, I wasn’t saying I wanted it or anything…” she said, looking off to the side.

It was about as expensive as Nate feared, roughly $24, but he had to pay his editor somehow. She could act humble all she wanted, but Nicki was as easy to read as ever.

“You wanted me to be an awesome boyfriend who spoils you in front of the creepy Discord mod cosplaying as a cashier and his friends, right?” Nate casually juggled the Palico plushy in one hand while giving her his most casual smile. “Can’t keep in character if you don’t let me buy it for you.”

Nicki blushed and smiled awkwardly. She latched onto the excuse and then Nate’s arm with love, squeezing it tight and trying hard not to squeal. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… you might as well keep up pretenses if you really insist… but, uh… you’re absolutely sure about this?”

“I’ve barely touched a penny of my inheritance in the two years I’ve had it, Nicki. I highly doubt Uncle Matt would mind me splurging some of it on my precious girlfriend now and then.”

“Not to sound like a gold digger, but how much did the guy even leave you, anyway?” Nicki raised a brow.

“More than you could likely weasel out of me if you actually were a gold digger.”

“Uh-huh… and he wasn’t a drug dealer to your knowledge?”

Nate shrugged. “Nope.”

“Human trafficker?”

“You’d think he’d have the decency to leave behind a fancy sex dungeon or two for his beloved nephew if he was a human trafficker, but alas.”

“We’ll just have to build our own one of these days,” Nicki leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’ve got the space for in one of the spare rooms in your basement, and going off of the shit I’ve read in your Sex Note, we’ll probably need a proper dungeon eventually.”

“Nicki, stop,” Nate did the thing where he clutched his heart dramatically again. “I already warned you once, but the more crazy shit like that you say, the more tempted I am to jokingly say something stupid like ‘marry me’ in response. When it finally happens, and believe me, it will, it’s gonna be really awkward for the both of us.”

“Uh…” Nicki turned redder than Nate had ever seen her, but her smile was wildly wide. “Okay, then… I’ll try and dial back the world’s best girlfriend shit, I guess…”

“See that you do, less I find myself acting unwise.” Nate teased.

Nicki was flustered for a moment, but she recovered by the time they were at the counter and ready to check out. She grinned from ear to ear and continued nuzzling Nate’s shoulder like an affectionate kitten. Nate was more accepting of it, given that he knew the cashier was a sexist loser, but it still embarrassed him a lot to stand idly there while Justin rang them up.

When the transaction was done, it was done. Another nice thing about Gridopolis is that they didn’t hound you for your membership card, phone number, or any of that other cumbersome shit that GameStop did. Nate did have a membership card for Gridopolis, but he appreciated that it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it would’ve been on the other side.

The cashier’s husk let out an extended sigh as the couple left the building, wondering what Nate had that he didn’t. It certainly wasn’t Nicki’s intention, but her clingy antics ironically inspired the first time in Justin’s life when he paused and took a moment of self-reflection to wonder how he, too, could one day earn a woman's touch. He scratched his neckbeard, somberly pondering if it was time to finally discard it like he’d done with his high school fedora all those years ago…

Nate sat down in the driver’s seat and heaved a heavy sigh. “I hope you understand just how difficult you are sometimes.”

“Yeah? And are you gonna tell me I’m not worth the trouble, or what?” Nicki asked as she licked her lollipop adorably once her seat was buckled. After a few seconds of silence, she smiled and teased, “That’s what I thought. Besides, don’t even try and tell me you didn’t enjoy getting to show off your cute piece of arm candy to those nerds!”

“Maybe, maybe not. I’ll never tell.” Nate remained aloof, though mentally, he conceded the point. It was a little fun to act like an obnoxious couple, even if he didn’t contribute much to the act. It wasn’t something he wanted to make a habit of, but the boost to his ego caused by strutting around with the Nicole Parker was undeniable.

Nicki let him off easy and didn’t pursue the truth, instead giving him her brother’s address so they could pick up her Switch and get straight to gaming. Before any conversation could develop, Nicki’s phone started vibrating, and she started texting back whoever was messaging her. Through the corner of his eye, Nate saw how wrapped up in the conversation she was. She practically lit up with excitement, making him more than curious.

“What’s going on?” He asked, trying not to sound too nosy.

“It’s one of my friends,” Nicki waved a hand at him in dismissal. “Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ll fill you in later.”

“Is this something I need to be filled in about?”

He saw her cracking a hint of a smile as she texted at a blindingly high speed. “Might end up being the case, yeah. Let me handle this, and don’t worry about it for now. Just drive.”

It was damn hard to ‘just drive’ when Nicki's conversation nagged at him. Nicki's friends only came up in one context, which Nate could not ignore. That she became so absorbed in it only drove up his interest. Nicki was smiling wider with every text, making him wonder what exciting new developments awaited him when she finally saw fit to let him in on it. Nate knew better than to expect Nicki to play her hand so early by now, so he quelled the voice in his head and tried to focus on the road.

It was a fifteen-minute drive from Gridopolis to Nicki's brother's house. Willowbrook was a small town of only thirty thousand people, so navigation never posed a challenge if you knew the place. Nate parked on the curb as he looked around. The house was located smack dab in the middle of a friendly, middle-class neighborhood and reflected its surroundings. It was a cute, one-floor house with a small garage, a row of flowers out front, and a pride flag poking out proudly from a patch of green carnations. A wooden sign on the door read 'Dogs Welcome, People Tolerated', getting a cheap smirk from Nate. While smaller than his own house, Nate got a warm and welcoming impression from the place.

Nicki was done texting her friend by the time they got there, and she took one look at the driveway before saying, "Doesn't look like they're here... probably out getting lunch before my bro goes to work later. Give me a sec, and I'll grab the thing, kay?"

"You sure you don't want me to come in just in case?"

Nicki took out the Palico plushy, intending to bring it to her room and keep it somewhere safe. "Yeah, I'm sure. My room is messy as fuck, and there's not much point in you just hanging out in the living room by yourself."

"Damn," Nate clicked his tongue. "Gonna have to deduct a couple of future wife points for having a messy room. How are you supposed to take care of me if you can't take care of yourself? Between that and the fact that you don't cook, well... things are looking pretty grim for you."

"You're definitely flirting with the point where ironic sexism circles back into being actual sexism, babe," Nicki smirked and gave him a condescending pat on his shoulder before opening the car door. "Minus five future husband points for blatant misogyny. I wanted you to teach Justin a lesson, not learn from him."

Nate slumped his shoulders in defeat and hung his head. He tipped an invisible fedora as she left the car and rolled her eyes at him after he teased, "I will aspire to be better, milady."

Now alone with his thoughts, there was little else he could think about besides whatever Nicki talked to her friend about. Conveniently, she left her phone on the dashboard, meaning he could sneak a peek, assuming he was a creep who didn't respect his girlfriend's privacy.

Nate was many things, but he wasn't a creep- at least not in that specific context. Even if he was a creep who would do such a thing, she probably had a lock screen which made the point moot, anyway.

One of Nicki's friends allegedly already agreed to hook up with him whenever she got back in town, and he was curious about whether or not this was about the other friend Nicki kept insisting was close to cracking. It was hard not to be excited about something happening on that front. His hesitations had cleared up since his heart-to-heart with Nicki, and he was desperate to experience other women if it meant it would help his writing. Even if the reception to Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids turned out lukewarm at best, sex inspired him to work at a much greater pace than he was otherwise capable of, which would be good for his career either way, and that was to say nothing about the threesomes his harem-obsessed mind had dreamed of ever since he was first exposed genre in his younger years.

On that note, Nate was tempted to look at his phone and check on how the story was doing, but he promised to share the moment with Nicki, so he resisted with all his willpower. Before he could dwell on the temptation for too long, a sudden rapping on the passenger's seat window to his left startled him.

A young, petite dirty blonde haired girl in her early twenties wearing a pink turtleneck, a blue skirt, black thigh highs, and a smile stood outside his door. Nate's first thought was that of relief. Willowbrook was a relatively safe place to live, but nowhere in the country was completely safe. Thankfully instead of mugging him, the girl gestured for Nate to roll down his window. Still suspicious, yet he complied mostly because he was bewildered and wanted to see what this was all about.

The stranger leaned into the open window, looking Nate straight in the eyes. "Hey, handsome," she said in a more masculine voice than Nate expected. "Suck your dick for a twenty?"

Nate stared at the stranger in total silence. The turtleneck helped obscure them, but he noticed the width of the girl's shoulders on closer inspection. He logicked the situation out. There were only so many explanations for why this might be happening, and his conclusion was swift.

"I don't think your husband would be very happy with you if you did that," Nate said.

The stranger's expression changed from one of innocence to one of amusement. "Boo, she told you about me. Ah, well. At least you passed the bigot test."

"Wouldn't passing it imply I was-"

The feminine man rubbed his chin, revealing a pink dog leash in his hand. "Semantics, but you got a point. Failed, then. Congrats- you've cleared the lowest hurdle toward earning my acceptance and familial love!"

Something about this guy endeared Nate immediately. He stepped out of his car and walked to the sidewalk, where he was suddenly assailed by a light brown ball of fluff. The dog stood on its hind legs, getting on Nate's knee as it radiated sheer enthusiasm over getting to meet someone new. Somewhere underneath all of that fluff appeared to be a Pomeranian named Sissy, going off the name on the pink leather collar barely visible.

Nate loved this little beast already, and he knelt down to scratch behind the adorable dog's ear. Sissy leaned into it, tilting its head and panting, looking rather pleased with itself. "Nicki didn't mention you guys had a dog, let alone one this fucking cute. Boy or girl? 'Sissy' could go either way, so I don't want to assume."

Nikki's brother-in-law made a fist and a tense expression. "Curses- liking dogs means you've cleared the second lowest hurdle toward earning my acceptance and familial love!! This isn't good. If you keep this up, I'm going to have to set up some new hurdles... Sissy's a girl, though, and my literal child whom I birthed from my nonexistent womb. Treat her like you would a queen, and we'll get along fine."

Grabbing the Pomeranian's paw, Nate brought it to his lips, giving it a little kiss. "Your Majesty."

"Okay, fuck it," the man let out a sigh and then laughed. "I like you, kid. The name's Casey."

Nate stood and looked at Casey with as calm a smile as he could manage. His approval meant a lot to Nate, and he didn't want to make any assumptions just because they seemed to get along immediately. Better to play it safe and be respectful than act overly familiar.

"Nate. It's nice to meet you, Casey. Nicki told me a lot about you, and-"

"Sweetie, chill. I'm not actually judging your every move and meticulously calculating whether or not you're worthy of our dear Nicki. She's got a good head on her shoulders, and the fact that she chose you in the first place is more or less enough to get you my stamp of approval."

Nate exhaled heavily, and his posture slumped. He didn't like pretending to be somebody he wasn't, so the relief lifted from his heart was palpable. "Thanks... sorry if I'm a little stiff, I've never had to do the whole meeting the 'girlfriend's family thing' before..."

"Been there, done that," Casey nodded sympathetically. "Sans the girlfriend part, obviously. Would it surprise you to learn it went a lot worse for me than it's going for you?"

"Sadly, no. Nicki told me about some of the shit with her mom, and it didn't sound pretty."

"Christ, don't even get me started on that bitch..." Casey groaned, and Sissy tilted her head while looking up at him. "Not if you don't want me to pop off for an hour! And hey, for what it's worth, I'm just happy someone is taking that troublesome daughter of ours out of our hands. I was so worried for her that I was starting to think we might need to go back to the old ways and start saving up for a dowry, maybe make an offer to a humble corn farmer's son or some shit. I don't know."

Nate laughed. "Probably too early for me to say this, but I'll tell you in advance that I'll take her without a dowry."

"Thank goodness," Casey clasped his hand over his heart. "I knew it was the right decision to hold out for an upstanding author of harem erotica to come around instead of settling for some farmer's son. Pretty interesting job you got, by the way. Guess there's a market for everything. The subject matter is a little out of my wheelhouse, but your prose isn’t half bad aside from the stuff Nicki and you are 'working on' together.”

Just as Nate had fully released his guard, Casey went in for the kill. Nate stood in a daze, the tension making it feel like he was sucking in air through a straw with every breath. Nicki told him they didn't know about his career, but her assumption proved incorrect. This was the absolute worst-case scenario, and all Nate could do about it was freeze.

And then Casey started laughing. "Holy shit, you're cute. No wonder she likes you."

Nate's face flushed, his chest pounding like it was on the verge of a heart attack. "I... um, it's just a fetish and not a reflection of my personal values and-"

Pointing toward the pride flag, Casey eased him and smiled. "We don't judge around here, straight boy. You got your hedonistic breeder thing going on, and we have ours. As long as it's all consensual, it ain't my business as far as I'm concerned. You'd think that'd be common sense for most folks, but sometimes you have to lead by example."

"You're killing me, Casey..." Nate shrugged and bent down to pet Sissy to comfort his emotional distress.

Casey smirked like it was a point of pride. "I have that effect on people."

The front door opened, and Nicki walked out with a small handbag, only to see her boyfriend on the sidewalk and her brother-in-law up to his usual shit. She figured out Casey wasn't home as soon as Sissy didn't run up to greet her, but Nicki was hoping Casey would be out long enough that the two wouldn't meet. Those hopes were misguided, as Casey had a habit of not only showing up where he wasn't wanted but thriving in such environments. Whatever he'd said to Nate so far, it probably wasn't good.

Sighing, Nicki rushed down the pavement to join the crowd.

"Get away from my man, you gay little gremlin! I'm the only one who gets to mess with him!" She hissed, then knelt down to have Nate back and pet Sissy simultaneously, who started wagging, barking, and trying to run and see her as soon as she saw her friend. "Are you hurt, babe? It's okay. I'm here for you, and there's no trauma that slutty twink can give you that I can't fuck out."

"It was awful," Nate played into the act, performing a few fake sobs. "He offered to suck me off for a twenty, then made things awkward by bringing up my job."

Nicki digested that for a second, then looked up at Casey. "How the fuck do you know about that?"

"You were in such a rush last Thursday to get ready for your hookup that you left your phone out," Casey smiled politely. "Don't worry, my brain deleted the image of your selfie like... point zero zero zero two seconds after I saw it. I was more interested in the fun stuff. By the way, Nate, you just have to draw an 'N' on her lock screen to get past it. Feel free to file that freebie away for future reference."

"...Uh-huh." Nate took that in. Now he was doubly glad he didn't go through Nicki's phone.

There was silence for a moment before Nicki turned redder than Nate had ever seen her. She stood up and started slamming her fists into the twink's torso. Terrified, Sissy started barking and pleading for her friend to stop hitting Mommy despite there being no actual strength put behind the punches.

"And you wonder why I'm always staying at his place or hanging out with my friends?!" Nicki said between body blows. "This is why, you nosy fucking gossip goblin!!"

"Oof, thank fuck your punches aren't as powerful as your alliterative abilities..." Casey backed away and brushed off his chest with an unrepentant grin. He then swooped down to pick up Sissy, cradling it and comforting the dog in his arms. "It's okay, little one. Your sister has every right to be made with Mommy. I am many things, but I am not a strong man. My will is weak, and I just had to know... so how's the 'editing' going, anyway?"

Nicki became so frustrated that she short-circuited, taking deep breaths and clenching her fists in rage.

Nate knew he should've been mad on Nikki's behalf but was more amused than anything else. Seeing her so flustered was pretty cute, and he simply assumed this was how their dynamic went. Casey was a difficult, draining person to be around, but he ultimately meant well, and it was hard to fault someone for a little trolling.

“It’s going great. Things have really picked up ever since our partnership started,” Nate comforted Nicki by placing his hand on her shoulder. “She’s keeping me full of inspiration if nothing else.”

Nicki looked back at him to show she was not amused by such a comment, but Casey cut her off before she could get on his case.

“How cute,” Casey smirked and idly played with Sissy’s fur. “Inspiration, huh? Guess that would explain the crab walk...”

Now Nate was blushing as well, but his embarrassment was overshadowed by the fury of his girlfriend. Nicki took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and turned toward the car. “Babe, I’ve had all I can stand, and I can’t stand no more-”

“Careful, sweetie. Sitting might make it worse.” Casey pointed out, only for Nicki to ignore him entirely.

“Car. Now.” She stomped away, trying to walk as normally as possible.

“Lube is your friend!” Casey shouted louder than was appropriate for a nice, suburban neighborhood. Nicki slammed her car door hard enough that Nate was terrified the old thing would break right off.

That left just Nate and Casey standing on the curb as they shared a mutual smile. They both enjoyed teasing Nicki, even if it was for wildly different reasons, making him a kindred spirit.

Casey dropped the act after setting Sissy back down on the ground. “I know you kids are young and having fun and still in the post-virginity fuckathon stage of your relationship, but the two of you should come over again sometime soon, Nate. Tommy wants to meet you, and I’ll even tone myself down a notch next time to sweeten the deal.”

“Will you really?”

“…No, I’m always like this,” Casey sighed in resignation. “But I cared enough to lie. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Nate laughed softly to himself and extended his hand. “I’d say it does. Looking forward to meeting your husband, Casey.”

“A handshake?” Casey raised a brow. “Sweetie, no. I know where those little shits dangling off the edge of your wrist have been, and I’m not about that. Bring it in.”

The eccentric twink pulled Nate closer for a sudden hug, which Nate was initially shocked about but eventually reciprocated in an awkward fashion once he got over it. It had been a long time since Nate experienced any sort of familial love, and even though he’d just met Casey, that was the impression he got from the hug. It was nice.

Nicki leaned out the window, having gotten an entirely different impression. “If you dare grab my man’s ass for so much as a second, I will break your hands in ways you cannot even fucking fathom.”

Casey broke it off immediately. “Don’t even joke about that- I need these to get your brother off!”

Nicki gagged and hid her face in her hands, dying of shame. Taking that as his cue, Nate bid Casey and Sissy fond farewell and entered the car. He then drove off while Nicki was still sulking, letting her have a moment before they discussed what had just happened.

“So…” Nate started. “I see why you’re in such a rush to move in now.”

Nicki withdrew her face from her hands, pulled her seat back, and made a long, protracted groan. “What gave you that impression, babe?”

“The twink, mostly.”

“The fucking twink,” Nicki growled. “I love Casey to death- god help me, I do- but every individual word out of his fucking mouth turns one of my hairs gray, I swear...”

Nate cracked a smile. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“Yeah?” Nicki softened up, returning his sentiment with a slight grin of her own hidden between several layers of stress. “That’s something, at least. I would’ve warned you about what to expect if I knew he was here, but-”

“Nicki, it’s fine. I kind of liked him, honestly.”

“…You promise you’re not just saying that?” Nicki looked at her lover and frowned. “It’s a tall ask, but… I really hoped you would get along, and I was super stressed about introducing you sooner or later.”

“Doesn’t seem like you need to worry about that anymore.”

Nicki pulled her seat back up now that she was done acting out and sighed. “I never had a chance to get to know Casey before he and my brother got married. My mom wouldn’t let them anywhere near me after all that shit went down, so we were practically strangers when I dropped out of college and started crashing at their place. Not to downplay Tom or anything, but Casey took to me immediately like the big sister I never had, and he really helped me work out a lot of my issues, so… I’m happy he likes you, I guess. I don’t know.”

They were currently at a red light, so Nate had the opportunity to look over and smile tenderly at Nicki. He didn’t say anything, which started to unsettle her the longer he stared.

“…Something you wanna say, babe?” She asked, unable to ignore him any longer.

“Nothing that isn’t horribly mushy. I’ll spare you if you want.”

“Might as well get it out of your system.” Nicki shrugged with feigned indifference.

“I just think it’s nice how close you are. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and I’m not close to any of my extended family, so I guess I’m a little jealous you have such nice people who care about you that much.”

Nicki blushed and looked off to the side, then her expression turned tender as she gave in and accepted her feelings. She took the lollipop from her mouth and gazed at its glossy surface, saying, “It’s pretty great, yeah, but there’s nothing for you to be jealous about. Tom and Casey have a thing for strays, and they’ll start treating you like one of their own after you’ve visited a few more times. I guarantee it.”

“I’d like that,” Nate opined as he hit the gas and drove off at the changing light. “I used to think I was fine being on my own, that I didn’t care about my family anymore after they wrote me off, but I guess all the loneliness numbed the memory of how good it feels to have that kind of connection.”

Nicki looked at him and felt down on his behalf. While she had the love and support of her brother and Casey when she needed it most, Nate had been dealing with his problems alone ever since the death of his uncle. That was no way to live, and no man was an island. She didn’t say as much, but at that moment, Nicki felt it was her job to start bringing some light back into Nate’s life- even more than she already had.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Nate. You’re not alone anymore, and you won’t ever be again. I’ll make sure of it.”

Nate spared her a quick side eye to see she was looking at him with a tender expression and gentle eyes. He had to look away immediately, or else he’d be sucked in by her charms. His heart was beating faster and faster, but he choked it down with a contented grin.

“…Yeah? I’ll hold you to it, then.” Nate said, totally unable to express the depths of his feelings for this amazing girl.

Things were quiet on the way back to his house. Emotions were running high for a second there, and Nicki was still recovering from Casey’s antics. Silence enabled them both the chance to reset before settling down and tackling the only thing left for them to do before starting up their game- checking on the reception to Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids.

After making some coffee and situating themselves in the living room, the time had finally arrived. Nicki rested her hand atop Nate’s knee as he booted up the LewdPages report tab on his phone, trying to quell his nerves. Nate knew what to expect by now. If this were anything like his dozens of other releases, today would be another steady day of income roughly equal to the launch day before the inevitable fall-off happened in a week or two.

What he didn’t expect was that he’d made over a hundred dollars, eighty of which came exclusively from Saving a Pair of Bitchy Maids.

“What the fuck…?” Nate questioned, tilting the screen toward Nicki so she could better witness the source of his confusion.

Nicki beamed and almost spilled her coffee, she was so happy for him. “Hah! There it is- boom! What did I say? I fucking told you it would snowball!”

“Yeah, but… how?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Nicki got in close and laughed. “It’s because you had an amazing editor to help you, and you drew from actual life experiences when writing it, simple as that.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but…” Nate kept staring at the sales and LPU pages read for his newest release.

Nicki swiped his phone from him and went to the book’s store page. “Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have to just take my word for it, huh? Let’s have a look at what the reviews are saying… hm… interesting, very, very interesting…”

His curiosity was getting the best of him, thanks to Nicki’s stringing him along, and the second she handed the phone back to him, his eyes lit up like stars. Four point two stars, to be precise. There were only eight reviews at the present moment, but it was still the highest average he’d ever seen on one of his titles.

His success didn’t really sink in until he started reading the reviews- all of which were worded quite similarly and shared a common sentiment between them. Even the single three-star review agreed that this was drastically better than anything Nate had published. The reviews praised the cuteness of his girls, the interesting protagonist, and, most importantly, the eroticism of his sex scenes.

Nate looked at Nicki in silence, finding her smiling back at him with pride. Before she could say a word, he booted up Reddit and saw his post had more comments on it than the day before and had been upvoted to a score of 20, giving it much more visibility than his usual fair. He’d respond to them later and thank them, but the gist of what they were saying was the same as the reviews on his book’s page, and Facebook was the same story.

‘A huge improvement.’

‘Living up to his potential.’

‘I wrote off this author a long time ago, but…’

‘I’m glad Max finally found his voice.’

‘You guys weren’t kidding. This was hot!’

‘I’m looking forward to seeing where this author goes from here. If he can keep up this quality, he’s earned himself a new fan.’

“Babe?” Nicki leaned in after he went quiet for a moment. He returned the phone so she could look at all the comments he’d gotten, and her pride in Nate soared even higher. Just as she was about to tell him as much, she noticed his lip trembling and subtle tears falling down his cheeks.

Her eyes opened wide, and she dropped the phone to wrap her arms around him. “Whoa, Nate? Hey, hey! It’s, um, I know it’s a lot to take in, but-”

Nate drew his arm around Nicki’s waist and completed the hug. He took a deep breath and buried himself in her neck, exhaling against her skin. “Two fucking years of grinding, Nicki. Two years of stumbling around in the darkness and taking steps in every direction but the right one… until you showed up, gave me your hand, and showed me which way was forward. I fucking did it, Nicki. I did it. I… I took my first step, and it’s all because of you.”

“Aw, Christ…” Nicki blushed and hugged him even tighter. She stroked his back. “I gotta admit, I’m kind of two minds over here. I love how much appreciation you’re showering me with, babe, but I can’t take credit for this. Not fully. It’s like you just said- I showed you which way to go. I didn’t lift your foot and make you take the step, babe. That was all you.”

Nate bit down everything he wanted to say. He wanted to keep lavishing the girl of his dreams with all the love and affection she deserved, but it was all he could do to keep himself from blubbering. Ultimately, he allowed himself to mutter, “I love you so much, Nicki...” under his breath.

“I love you too, Nate. I love you too.” Nicki leaned into him and allowed him to have his moment, knowing how difficult it must be to show such a vulnerable side to him. Saying the l-word back never felt as natural as it did right then, and warmth permeated throughout her heart.

Their embrace lasted for several minutes. It was totally understandable, Nate had every right to feel as profoundly emotional as he did over their success, and Nicki wouldn’t take that away from him for the world. When the hug ended, it was on his own terms.

Nate was still crying, but much less than before, and a big smile spread across his face. He stared straight into Nicki’s bright blue eyes and said, “You were right about everything, Nicki.”

“I’m a woman. That’s kind of how it works with us.” She teasingly dismissed his comment, still feeling a little bashful.

“True enough, but I’m being serious right now. I trust your judgment, and I’ll follow anything you say about my writing without a doubt in my mind from this point forward.”

As she stared back at him, Nicki saw an opportunity to make his big moment even bigger. She pounced without hesitation. “You know there’s only one way to go from here, then. Right?”

Nate swallowed and nodded his head. “I write harem stories. To bring out my full potential…”

“You need to sleep with other girls, and then we need to have harem sex. Right now, you can only write characters inspired by me. If you describe a kiss, it’s one I’ve given you. If you describe a blowjob, ditto. There’s only so much variety you can get out of a single partner, and to really sell the fantasy and keep growing an audience from here on out, the more experiences with other types of women you have, the better.”

Her words were ludicrous, but she delivered them with so much conviction that Nate was practically on the verge of reciting, ‘Oh, Captain, my Captain.’ Instead, he nodded his head with equal conviction. He was past worrying about whether or not she was okay with this- she proved to him how valuable having experience actually was.

You can’t write what you don’t know, and Nate only knew Nicki. If his beloved girlfriend insisted on setting up chances for him to broaden his horizons, he’d be a fool not to take them.

“Whenever your friend gets back in town, set me up.” Nate took Nicki’s hands in his, interlocking their fingers. He meant to show her how dedicated he was and how much he would continue to love her no matter what sexual misadventures awaited him in his future.

Nicki took all those passionate feelings and threw Nate back a curveball in response. “Actually, my other friend wants to meet with you on Friday.”

Nate blinked as some of the tension evaporated, replaced by confusion. “Wait. This Friday? As in… two days from now?” Context clues clicked into place, and he added, “Is this what you were texting about earlier?”

“Guilty,” Nicki laughed awkwardly to herself. “Figured I’d save it for after we checked LewdPages in case you needed something to cheer you up, but now it’s a little cherry on top.”

“A literal cherry, if I remember right…”

“Heh. East, tiger. I’m not expecting this meetup to lead straight to sex, but if all goes well, you might be able to cross out one of your biggest fetishes from your Sex Note sooner rather than later.”

“You’re going to need to be a lot more specific.”

Nicki smirked at the depths of her lover’s perversions. “Let’s just say you might feel inspired to pen another tale or ten about a sexy librarian.”

Nate felt the air leave his lungs as Nicki’s words hung in the air. She stared at him, waiting for a response. His mind spiraled with possibilities, but as hyper-fixated on the past as he was, Nate latched on to the girl he couldn’t forget, no matter how hard he tried. He really didn’t see her going to college or even getting a job, but if it was a librarian… that might be possible.

He had to ask.

Maybe it was all in his head or wishful thinking, but Nate’s creeping suspicion refused to leave him alone.

“Nicki, be honest with me. Your friend wouldn’t happen to be Shizuka Hasegawa, would she?”

Nicki stared back at Nate for a long time in silence. Her face didn’t crack, remaining as blank as unsculpted marble.

“It’s not Shizuka.” Nicki finally announced after a suspiciously long time. The delivery sounded genuine, and he had no reason to doubt her other than the weird reaction and the time it took her to respond.

More than that, he didn’t think she had any reason to lie to him… unless, of course, someone just so happened to ask Nicki to lie on their behalf? Nate continued staring her down, and Nicki remained resolute the entire time.

“You’re not covering for her just because things would be super fucking awkward between us, are you?”

“I am not.” Nicki replied just as dead-faced as before.

Again, there was no real reason to doubt Nicki, but he did. It didn’t feel good to doubt his lovely girlfriend after all she’d done for him, but he couldn’t help it. Nate wanted to sigh, but he held it back and nodded his head.

“Alright, well… Friday it is, then.” He said, ultimately resigning himself to whatever lay ahead.

No longer needing to conceal anything, Nicki smiled and leaned in for a kiss that Nate was quick to reciprocate. “Awesome! You’ll thank me later, babe. Trust me.”

Nate could’ve sworn there was just a hint of wavering confidence in her voice as if she weren’t as sure of that fact as she would’ve liked to appear, but he wrote it off for his own mental well-being. Maybe he was being paranoid, and perhaps he wasn’t. It didn’t matter.

Friday Nate would be the one to deal with the mysterious librarian. Meanwhile, Wednesday Nate had a long day of monster hunting to look forward to with his girlfriend, followed by tons of sex as soon as Nicki got home from work. Pushing the memory of Shizuka back into the trauma-riddled pit of his subconscious where she belonged, Nate was ready to celebrate his accomplishments and take another step forward as soon as possible.

Things could only get better from here, right?

------

NEETSPEAK: Hello. How are you doing today? Is this a bad time to chat?

TrickiNicki: ayy babe don't ask if it's cool to chat just talk lol

NEETSPEAK: It is difficult to think of our conversation log as one long continuous thing and not a string of individual chats building off of the ones that came before. Hard to just ask a question without properly greeting you and seeing if now is an ideal time to start a new one.

Is now a good time?

TrickiNicki: ye I have a few mins

in the car with Nate rn he just took me out and bought me a game we gonna play together, love this mannnnn

driving to my brothers place to pick up my switch

NEETSPEAK: How nice. Incidentally, Nate is precisely what I wished to talk to you about.

TrickiNicki: o wow u don't say /s

NEETSPEAK: Haha. I guess that is rather funny, given how often Nate is the primary subject of our discussion these days.

TrickiNicki: love u girl but explaining the joke kills it

NEETSPEAK: My apologies. I didn't mean to kill anything, joke or otherwise. Anyway. You know when I told you I needed to take some time and do some thinking?

TrickiNicki: yessssss?

NEETSPEAK: I wanted to tell you that I did end up taking some time and doing some thinking.

TrickiNicki: I mean, I figured u would?

NEETSPEAK: Indeed.

TrickiNicki: and are u gonna tell me what u figured out or are u gonna keep me waiting???

NEETSPEAK: I am sorry if I am talking in circles even more than I usually do. At this moment, I am very flustered and filled with anxiety due to the decision I have made. It was not an easy one. Rather, it was the hardest decision I've ever made in my life.

TrickiNicki: omg

dw, say what u need to say grl

I'm here for u

NEETSPEAK: I want to meet up with Nate and help him with his writing the way you suggested. The more I watch the video and the more I stare at all the photos you've sent, the more I hate myself for not being the one on camera with him. Or at least with the two of you. Either one.

I made a severe and continual lapse in judgment in senior year and I would like nothing more than to mend my relationship with Nate if you are truly okay with my doing so.

TrickiNicki: babe this was our endgame

we planned on sharing from the start, didn't we?

NEETSPEAK: Yes, but I would not blame you for changing your mind now that you and he are in a committed relationship.

TrickiNicki: I wouldn't betray u or K like that

these last few days with him have been the best days of my life, but I can't be happy with him if u guya aren't a part of it fr

u especially way more than K

NEETSPEAK: I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you. Regardless of how it turns out, thank you for giving me this chance. Not many girls would.

TrickiNicki: life's short and who tf knows if there's a sequel lol

why limit our love and have regrets???

I'd rather share and have lots of fun at his side with u and K than have a boring ass nuclear family like I'm 'supposed' to

fuck that, I'm doing things my way

NEETSPEAK: I respect that about you. Thinking about what you would do gives me courage in any given situation, now more than ever. When I look at what you've accomplished with Nate in such a short time while I'm just sitting alone in my room masturbating to your progress, it inspires me to take the chance you're offering to me on a silver platter.

I'm still not convinced he doesn't hate me, and I don't even think it will work out the way I want it to, but I'm willing to try.

TrickiNicki: babe if I was there with u I'd kiss u

I'm so proud of you

NEETSPEAK: Not right away. I want Nate to by my first kiss and I still don't know how I feel about girl on girl stuff outside of the context of doing it for Nate's arousal. I have researched it heavily through titles such as Citrus, How Do We Relationship, and YuruYuri, but I have yet to reach a conclusion. Given how I did not even know I liked men until Nate confessed to me, though, I don't want to speak for my future feelings.

I'm still flattered you feel that way about me, however.

TrickiNicki: I was only like... half srs u silly girl

but enough about me

how u wanna do this?

w/ Nate I mean

NEETSPEAK: I would prefer to meet up with him somewhere that I am comfortable. That really only leaves my room or the library. I don't think my parents would appreciate a gentleman caller, nor do I really want to deal with any questions that might arise from Nate visiting.

TrickiNicki: kk, so the library then?

when?

and are u sure ur boss won't mind

NEETSPEAK: Yes, Friday, and it's not like I do much actual work there, anyway.

TrickiNicki: tru

now, the big questions

do u want me to be there for u, and do u want me to tell Nate who he's meeting up w/

NEETSPEAK: No to both questions. I owe him an explanation and I want his unfiltered response. If you were present, your charisma would help mediate things and likely steer the outcome.

TrickiNicki: uh yeah that’s why I offered?

I mean if ur sure, but…

u might feel way different when he's standing right there in front of u and I don't want u to slip up or break down or idk

I just want this to go as good as it can

NEETSPEAK: And I don't want a false outcome, I want the truth. If he hates me, I want to hear him say it no matter how I respond. Please respect my preference.

TrickiNicki: okay, okay fine. ur a big girl who can make her own decisions

and that wasn't sarcasm btw

NEETSPEAK: You don't know how much I appreciate you saying that, Nicki. Thank you. Texting you about all of this has left me somewhat emotionally drained, so I'm going to go and reread some One Piece to strengthen my resolve, and then maybe some more of these cultivation novels I've been getting into lately. Enjoy your game.

TrickiNicki: and u enjoy doing ur weeb shit, babe

I know I already said it, but fuck it, proud of u shizuka

remember- things can only get better from here, right??