Have you worked it out yet?"

  *

  "Sasd thought they might be cursed," Verve says as Bel equips the Mega Knight's gauntlets.

  "Mm," she says. "Sorta are, sorta aren't." The gauntlets appear on her hands. "Like…" The gauntlets vanish. So do her hands.

  Verve yelps, and lunges forward to csp her forearms. His hands pass through where hers should be with no resistance.

  "Bel," he begins, voice strangled. "What the fu—"

  The gauntlets reappear. "Don't worry so much, Vervie," she says, and strokes his hair with one gauntlet'd hand.

  "Bel…" he says.

  She bumps their foreheads together, gently. "It's just a game, Vervie. I'm fine."

  He kisses her. It feels like the right thing to do.

  She ughs as she breaks away with a grin. "What will my wife think?" she says.

  "He'll think 'good', and you know it," Verve says, grinning back at her.

  She kisses him. "So confident! Where has it all come from?" she asks.

  He ducks his gaze as he blushes. "Did you see Sasd's video?"

  "Nope!" she says.

  She's lying, but he ughs and expins anyway. "They sorta promoed the hellout of me. A couple of people have asked if I'm looking for a 'cameraguy.'" He's barely stopped smiling since.

  "So I'm dealing with hot shit right now?" she teases.

  He shakes his head, but says, "Maybe. Um. Can you tell me about being a pro?"

  "What makes you think I'm a pro?" she asks, eyes sparkling.

  He snorts.

  She keeps smiling.

  Oh, she actually wants his answer. So, he takes a moment to think about it. Lily did tell him Bel ranked in Necroshock, but now he's seen more of her in action, he knows he would have put it together himself. It boils down to: "You're freakishly good," he says and nudges her.

  She nudges him back. "Why does that equal pro?" she asks.

  "You're better than Sasd, and they're up there," he says, turning over whathe knows in his mind. "And not by a little, either. You're a lot better. And you get how the game works. So you don't really…" He triesto find the way to say it. "You don't do what everyone else does. Like,anyone could have found the information you did from the NPCs — all the little bits of lore and the stuff about statuses — but itdoesn't seem like anyone has. And how you taught me in the training ground… The stuff you were showing me, it's not normal pyer content, is it?"

  She beams. "Nope."

  He nods. "That was that disconnect thing some of the pros talk about —where you stop using the game system and use your own thinking totrigger skills."

  "Yup," she confirms. "Most people can't manage it. Only about a quarter of pros can! So, it's not totally necessary, but it super helps."

  "Do you think I could be a pro?" he asks, voice suddenly quiet.

  "Easily, Vervie," she says, and brushes the back of her gauntlet's fingersagainst his cheek. "You have the things no one can teach. If you want it — it's yours."

  He hugs her, and squeezes her tight. She squeaks, but that's her only protest.

  "Thank you," he says, voice thick. "Can we keep pying together?"

  "'Course," she says, giving him a squeeze back. "Like I told Lily: I'm keeping you."

  *

  "So," Sage begins. "Triceratops?"

  Lex flushes. "The guild receptionist gave her a quest to level me up. Theythought I was an NPC because I had my status off and they wanted her out of their hair."

  "Crafty," they say. "Cunning cis-boy." They sound proud.

  "Just wanted a distraction," he says. "Missed you." The words slip past his lips before he can hold them back.

  Sage's face crumples. "Let me call in sick."

  He shakes his head, snuggling closer to them. "It's fine. I made a new friend."

  "A new hot friend," they say.

  "You're hotter," he returns.

  They chuckle and slip their leg between his thighs. "Good boy," they say and kiss him. "You sure about this?" they ask, nudging their thigh uptowards his crotch.

  "Gonna be a girl for you," he says, just to see them groan.

  They do. But they kiss him again, too.

  "Wouldn't be okay with this if it wasn't for you," he adds. "Thank you."

  "Do you still want to be a guy with just me?" they ask, studying him intently.

  His face flushes even harder. "Yeah," he says. Then asks, "That's weird, isn't it?"

  They ugh. "Totally bizarre," they say. "But," they continue, moving closeenough that their breath brushes his lips, "also," they say, "sortahot." They kiss him.

  He leans into it, enjoying the feel of Sage's lips against his own, their body against his. He might love them.

  "Once I get a cunt, are you going to get boobs?" he asks.

  They groan again. "I guess I have to, huh?"

  "Just little ones," he crifies.

  "I dunno," they say. "You wear these so well." They squeeze one of his breasts, which now more than fills Sage's hand. "Makes me want to try matching."

  "They do look good, don't they?" In a weird way, he's proud of them, the tits he grew, all on his own.

  "Lex," Sage says. "You are insanely hot."

  "I'm ordinary in real life," he reminds them.

  They tweak his nipple. "Bullshit," they say. "And…" they switch back tocupping his breast, and begin kneading it, firmly, so his breath beginsto hitch on the exhale. "You might finally log out and look a lot morelike this than you thought."

  His heart leaps to his throat.

  "The game…" Sage says. "Some people are finding it can mess with your hormones pretty bad."

  "What?" he asks, stupidly.

  "You won't wake up wi—"

  He cuts them off. "I can keep them?" His mind races. Being stuck is terrifying. He wants the freedom to log off. But he likes looking like this.

  He can keep his boobs.

  He can keep his boobs.

  "Lex, babe," Sage says. "Come back to me?"

  He kisses them. He grins so hard his face might break.

  Sage lets out a nervous chuckle. "You sure you don't want to be a girl?" they ask.

  Lex shakes his head. "Yeah. And I want to keep my dick and stuff. Y'know, out of here. But. The boobs are nice."

  "They won't be as big," Sage says, gently.

  "I really like having boobs," he says. "Small ones will be cool, too."

  "Babe," Sage says. "You are so not cis."

  He pauses. "I can't be a guy with boobs?"

  "You can," they say. "I just don't think you can be a cis guy with boobs."

  He schools his face into an approximation of seriousness. He manages asingle moment before the facade breaks and he grins again. "You need torespect my gender," he tells them. "And that's a cis guy with boobs."

  Sage presses their forehead against his cleavage and groans. "Let's get you a cunt, you absolute maniac."

  "Yes, Sage," he says.

  And Sage begins working his dick up to its final orgasm.

  *

  Lying with his head on Sage's p, Lex pys with his newest piercing. It'ssimple — silver metal, a stud at the top of the hood of his clit linkedthrough to the bottom.

  It came fully healed, which is a plus, andhe was right to think not having a dick wouldn't bother him. Sage knowshe's a guy, whether he has a dick between his legs or not. That makes it okay. And they definitely enjoyed teasing what felt like twenty orgasms out of him.

  He really might love Sage. Which could maybe be a problem. But, for now, it just makes him feel warm and happy. Hecan't tell if they feel the same way, but that doesn't seem to mattereither. He gets to be theirs. That is what matters.

  Sage gazes down at him, past the book they've been reading, with a soft look that makes his stomach flip. "Do you want to let Trice fuck you withher cock?" He blinks. "Pretty sure she has or is growing one."

  "How," he begins slowly, "could you tell?"

  "Lex," they say, "we literally watched her get herself off."

  He flushes. "I didn't. I was preoccupied with this really hot elf I know. Who I was inside."

  Sage dissolves into ughter. "Was I that good?" they ask once they have them selfback under control.

  Lex turns his face so he can nuzzle their crotch, which earns him a soft swat to the cheek. He kisses the fold of their robe.

  "Nearly makes me sad I don't still have a dick," he says. "Definitely made me miss details about hot cat girls."

  "So, you do want to fuck her?" they ask.

  He yawns. Their experimentation, plus his night of restless, horny sleep,has left him exhausted. "Only with permission," he says. "'M yours," hereminds them.

  He can feel their grin as they reply. "Yeah, you are. And I want my slutty cis-boy to get fucked by Triceratops."

  *

  "Trice?" Lex calls out to her. He tries to keep his voice forward and to the top of his mouth, out of his chest. He's useless at it, but Sage rubs thesmall of his back. They appreciate his effort, and that's enough to keep him trying. "Do you have a minute?"

  She has blood on her faceagain, taking care of one of the giant boar carcasses, strung up on agiant frame. It hangs inches from the ground and its hind legs point tothe sky.

  "You hunted those?" Sage asks Lex.

  "Trice did," he says. "I tried not to get in her way."

  "You didn't," Trice says. "You were good. Helpful," she adds as she hops down from the dder.

  "Good girl," Sage says under their breath. With her feline hearing, Trice can probably hear even that, but the message is clear: Sage was saying itfor Lex, and not for Trice.

  He preens, just a little.

  Trice waits.

  Lex lets her.

  After a moment, she tilts her head. "You smell different," she says. "To yesterday."

  "I don't have a dick anymore," he blurts.

  Her expression doesn't change, but her ears perk up.

  "And since you have one…" Lex trails off.

  "She wants your cock in her," Sage expins.

  Lex's face burns. Heat pools between his legs. He nods.

  Trice's eyes flick between the two of them. Another moment passes as she thinks about it, and, eventually, she says, "Okay."

  *

  Trice leads the two of them through the back rooms of the guild, into thestaff living quarters. Lex blinks at what appears to be a mini-portraitof Jade from the reception desk along with a family of other hornedbeastfolk.

  "Is this Jade's room?" he asks, falling out of his head voice in surprise.

  Trice nods. "They like me," she says.

  "Do they?" he asks, trying to wrestle his sylbles back to how he wants to sound. "They seemed kind of… irritated with you." He doesn't manage the best tone, but it's not the worst, either.

  "Mm," she says. "We have sex sometimes."

  A stifled snort errupts from Sage.

  "Okay," Lex says, weakly. "And they won't mind if we fuck in here?"

  With what Lex thinks is a glimmer of a smile, Trice says, "They will." And pulls her shirt over her head.

  *

  "Worked what out?"

  *

  "The fuck have you done?" Lily snarls, and for a moment, Verve thinks Lily knows about the cursed gauntlets. Butthen he's in front of them and he's pointing to his underwear.

  "A present," Bel chirps.

  "It says I can't take them off!"

  Bel grins. "You can't," she confirms.

  "Why?!" Lily yells, voice strangled. Something about his mannerisms seems…

  "It's turning her on?" Verve says in wonder. He knows Lily is a guy, but the way he always blushes harder and never really asks for Verve to stop switching pronouns when sex comes up, makes him think he's just as into it as Verve and Bel are.

  "At my command," Bel says, wiggling her gauntlet'd fingers.

  "Wow," Verve says. "Are you okay with that?" he asks Lily. This is prettyclearly the sort of thing the consent filter would stop if he wasn't.But watching Lily, face fming red, one arm pressing his boobs —bigger, again — to himself, the other protecting his crotch where Verve thought he saw slick turning the blue fabric dark, makes him want to check.

  "That's—!" Lily gets out before he cuts himself off with a strangled grunt andsinks to his knees. He catches his lip between his teeth for a moment,breathing hard. "That's not the fucking point."

  Except it is.

  "You're really fucking hot right now," Verve says.

  "Fuck you," Lily spits.

  "Hmmm…!" Bel says. "I like that idea. Thanks, babe!" To Verve she says, "If she makes you come, I'll turn it down."

  Verve's pants hit the floor before Bel finishes the sentence.

  He hasn't changed his junk much. He's made his clit bigger, but that'sall. Bel expined that limiting changes to that level is provingpretty normal for people like the two of them. Sticking to what they can realistically achieve in real life just makes sense. So they can avoiddisappointment. Besides, Bel and Lily have had no problems with hisjunk the way it is. And he might not be sure where things stand in reallife, but Verve is a guy, regardless of what's in his pants.

  "Suck," he orders.

  "She's rubbing off on you," Lily grumbles.

  Bel presses up behind Verve. "Sure am," she purrs, cing her fingers intoLily's hair and pushing his head in for his first taste of Verve.

  *

  "Hey, Lily," Verve begins, smoothing Lily's long blonde hair through hisfingers. "Have you considered you might be a woman?" He tries to keephis voice light, but he wants to know.

  Lily gres and avoids his gaze.

  Bel kisses the back of Lily's shoulder. "She has," Bel tells him in pce of Lily.

  Lily gres harder, but continues avoiding eye contact. It reminds Verve of Lily demonstrating that Bel isn't a guy.

  "We don't think she is. But…" Bel says, lowering her voice, conspiratorially, "I don't think she's totally a guy, either."

  "Shut up," Lily says. He sounds disgruntled, and a touch embarrassed, but not like he wants his wife to actually back down.

  "She's probably fluid," Bel continues, as if Lily didn't speak. "And these," she snaps the waistband of Lily's panties, "are the first step intraining her."

  "What?" Lily snarls.

  "You gave me free rein with everything but your voice, babe," Bel reminds him. "So, today we start girl training."

  "What. The. Fuck?" Lily asks. He sounds surprised, and definitely embarrassed, but…

  "You're into that," Verve says in wonder. "You know mannerisms can stick," he says. "But you're so into it."

  "Shut up," Lily says.

  "Behave, darling," Bel says. "Or I'll turn them up again."

  Lily gres. Verve sees a struggle pass over… her face, before she says, "Make me."

  Bel is only too happy to.

  *

  "Don't worry about it! When you know, you'll know~"