The masquerade of the date carried over into bed, as Rosalind suggested they forego any use of shadow or magic. The result was less intense, but tenderer, and no less exhausting. As usual, the Countess is already gone by the time Alptraum stirs, woken by the sound of running water coming from the main bathroom. There's light outside, so it must be at least mid-morning.

"Curse you, sunlight, you invade my peaceful world," Alptraum mutters from his sprawled out position. A few minutes pass, then he actually asks himself, "Am I up yet?" The answer, alas, was not to his liking … so with a tired groan he sits upright.

Clothes from last night are piled on a nearby chair, and there's an open bottle of wine on a side table that Alptraum doesn't even remember at all. The running water is making him mindful of his bladder, though.

"Eee, nature calls. Bursting bladder," Alptraum mumbles as he slides out of the bed and heads towards the bathroom. "Hello in there," he calls out, "I hope you don't mind … but, ah, Eeee with a need to go is coming in!"

"Alptraum?" A slightly started, brown furred Eeee girl blinks up at him from where she's kneeling on the floor, one hand hovering over the bathtub as if intent on testing the water temperature. Phlagaea's starting to show a little, in that her hips and bust are actually noticeable now, along with a bit of belly. "Oh… you have to pee?"

"Intensely," Alptraum admits as he heads towards where the chamber pots and other such luxuries are kept. Once there he blinks a few times and pushes back his hair as awareness to the waking world settles in. "How have you been doing?" he asks and then draws one of the privacy curtains around himself to spare her some of the details.

"Oh, I've been vomiting a lot," Phlagaea says proudly. "Unbelievable amounts! And peeing too. Although now that I changed snacks I'm not barfing quite as much."

"What did you change snacks to?" Alptraum asks absently as he finds relief from the tormenting pressure.

"Frogs," Phlagaea notes casually, as she swishes her hand through the bathwater. "The purple ones with yellow spots are best. They don't struggle as much either."

"You eat them alive?" Alptraum asks. In short order he's leaving the privacy curtain and stretching. He even tilts his head a bit, then grins goofily as he says, "And you know you're looking a bit … pudgy there."

"Hey, it's not like I'm scarfing them down by the bucket," the girl protests, then realizes what Alptraum means. "Oh, yeah, I guess I'm starting to show a little now," she admits. "Think I'll end up like Mave by the end?" she asks with a wink.

"I sincerely hope not," Alptraum says as he saunters over to the tub. As he sits upon the rim, he notes, "I've always thought you were better looking than her. If you ended up like her, why … it would be disappointing!"

"You say the sweetest things when you're afraid I'll bite you," Phlagaea notes, standing up now and stretching. "I don't know if feeling sore in the joints is part of all this, or just because I don't get enough exercise."

"Bah, you know I like it when you bite me," Alptraum remarks as he lets his own hands wander, taking the moment to feel over Phlagaea's new hips and stomach. "You do know that it's likely your hips will never quite go back to the same narrowness, yes?"

"That'll make the next pregnancy even easier then," Phlagaea says with a smirk. "But yeah, I know I'll be curvy forever. That's not bad though."

"Planning another child already?" Alptraum teases, "And the curviness has a nice benefit … more to hold onto." He even waggles his eyebrows. "And it'll be more difficult for you to escape if you're … oh, tied down. Not that it would ever happen."

"Riiight," the woman says with a raised eyebrow, and then steps into the bathwater. "Ahh! Just right for sore muscles."

"I would prefer to hold you down with shadow, you see. That way I can torment you too… " Alptraum continues on as if it were the most perfectly normal thing in the world.

"What would your Mother say though?" Phlagaea teases in mock-surprise. "And can you hand me the soap?"

"She would claim I was hopelessly corrupted," Alptraum admits as he grabs the soap … only instead of handing it to her, he slides into the bath to join her. "Which is entirely your fault, you know," he teases as he lathers up his hands.

Phlagaea leans back against the Eeee, and smiles. "So, I get some doting-time too? How was your 'date' with the Countess last night? I could hear the aftermath from my room."

Alptraum goes about lazily soaping up Phlagaea, though he seels to linger a lot on those new curves. "You do know you can just ask me to spend nights with you too," the Eee teases, "I said I would serve you and I meant it. As for the date, it went well; Nyneve didn't get any information about Rosalind I didn't want her to get."

"Oh, so she's going to report back to your gypsy family?" Phlagaea asks, doing nothing to dissuade the lingering. "And… well, how about tonight then?"

"I'm sure she is, she's a gossip and so are her nine daughters," Alptraum quips as his scaly right hand, ahem, explores certain tender areas. She, he may not be able to feel much with it … but he's quite sure she does. "As for tonight, sure. Is there anything … special that you want that is within my abilities?" he murmurs in her left ear.

The water jostles as Phlagaea squirms and giggles. "Surprise me? I just want to be able to wake up with you in the morning, really," the pregnant Eeee admits. "You're always running off on some errand it seems, so I hardly get to see you."

"Well, I could be all green, a monster, look like Mave… " Alptraum teases as he continues to ever so slightly tickle for a bit. Alas it has to come to an end, though, as he starts using his hands to rinse the soap off her.

"I prefer just you, without any illusions," Phlagaea notes, her ears drooping down and hair matted from the rinsing now. "The boy I saw on Mt. Sunala. Well… you'll never be that innocent again, but still, there wasn't anything really hidden about you it seemed."

"I was too confused to hide anything," Alptraum notes. "What you ask for is easy … I've always thought you deserved more … effort than just, well, me."

"You're the only man I've ever known… who wasn't repulsed by me at first sight," Phlagaea notes, turning a little in Alptraum's lap. "That's more than special. Even if you didn't think it involved any effort, to me it felt… Well, really flattering."

"I … there wasn't anything special in that. At least I don't think there was. I grew up in a harsh land, I learned to appreciate not everything is quite as it appears. I could tell in your eyes you were lonely," Alptraum says and shrugs a bit as he smiles. "So I extended my hand. You didn't have to be physically beautiful, since that never lasts. It was the person inside those trappings I wanted to know. When they came off, what I found was beautiful. I enjoyed the times we spent together; even the trek though the old traps and dangers of your temple."

"Oh wow, I'm surprised you didn't really run off after that," Phlagaea recalls. "My Sisters were not the most hospitable of people, after all. They made me feel out of place for being so… active. They even made me lob the most fireballs during the Cleansings of the Undercity… "

"I don't abandon people who mattered to me," Alptraum notes and then taps her nose lightly. "Dealing with your Sisters was a risk worth taking since it meant I could see you. I saw a lot of hope in you, you know. I thought if I showed you that things and people could be different, that it would somehow help you." He then cups his hand under her chin and adds, "And I know it did, because Lucy told me about what happened after I left. About what you did."

"Yeah, I tried to be nice and all," Phlagaea says, a bit… sadly. "It didn't work. If I'd thrown some curses around, I'd have had a new temple and everything in no time."

"Would you have been happy?" Alptraum asks.

"I don't know," she admits. "I was always happy as a Yodhgorphat before. Even the nasty parts. I guess… well, right up to the night everyone was killed and you saved me, I never thought about changing."

"If I were in danger instead of you, would you have tried to save me?" Alptraum asks.

The girl goes quiet, and rubs at her knees with her hands for a moment. "Honestly? I don't know. You were the Barsunala. And… the Kindly Ones never help one another out of trouble… "

"Until that battle at the warped castle, I can't say that I ever effectively helped anyone in my life," she admits.

"And that is why nothing ever changed. To make any real difference in the world, you have to be willing to take a risk, to … go against tradition," Alptraum points out, "Isn't that what the Sisters did in their beginnings?" There's a pause again and he taps Phlagaea's nose. "No, there you are wrong."

The girl blinks at the nose-tap and looks back to Alptraum. "You're going to tell me I helped you somehow, but… I wasn't trying to."

"You kept me sane when I was in Babel. You gave me something to look forward. You gave me a friend. You gave me hope. That helped me in ways I can never completely repay," Alptraum says. "I had no one I could just talk to, laugh with, or just spend time with there. Not until I met you. You showed me that not everything was terrible there and that there were good people there … they were just lost. I never cared that there was risk that I was your friend, that you could have cursed me. Your company was worth it all."

At that, Phlagaea kisses Alptraum – frog breath and all.

And … Alptraum doesn't mind. He returns it and adds to it a gentle hug. "You discovered the secret of being someone's hero without even knowing it," he whispers when he lets go, "You didn't try, you did."

"That's all?" Phlagaea asks. "It's no different from being bad then, if you don't realize you're doing bad things?"

"I cannot blame you for things you honestly didn't know there were other ways," Alptraum notes, "And it doesn't really matter now. You're still with me and you will soon have a child to teach and also to learn from. And I'll always be there to help you, since I will not abandon a child I sired, not the woman I sired it with. I may be the Countess' kept toy, but I am also still your friend. I will always be your friend."

"Oh, thank Gorphat you'll help," Phlagaea says with relief. "I don't know how to discipline children! When I was little I would set fire to things and the Sisters would all praise me."

"Were you worried I would abandon you? I expect that the Countess' children and yours will likely grow up and even play together, you know," Alptraum notes with a grin.

"I just hope they don't bite each other," Phlagaea notes. "Looking back with what I know now, I was a real terror. Were you a well-behaved child, Alptraum? And… uh… if he or she comes out a vampire, do I have to worry about being bit while nursing?"

"I was a terror," Alptraum admits, "All sorts of pranks, to even stealing from townsfolk when we stopped near a town. I didn't learn sleight of hand tricks just for show, you know. And … yes, you might get nipped now and then."

"Will I have to learn how to cook?" Phlagaea asks next, her voice full of dread. "I've only ever made… well, poisons and sickness. Lucy knows how to cook though. Do you think she'd be a good babysitter?"

"As long as she doesn't sit on the child, she will be fine. She had her own child once, remember," Alptraum points out, "And if the child is a vampire, you won't have to learn to cook. I hear it isn't too hard to learn the basics of cooking, though." And there's this terribly mischievous grin on Alptraum's face now.

"What… what's that grin for?" Phlagaea asks suspiciously. "Do you know how to cook, Alptraum, even though you can't swallow anything?"

"No, but I could give you a precursor to how it feels to be nipped while being nursed on," Alptraum threatens and waggles his brow.

"Oh, you… really?" the woman asks. "They've been kinda sensitive, and… you know… getting bigger… "

"Well, as long as you don't mind too small puncture wounds," Alptraum teases, "We could even hang decorations from them… "

"Without bandages?" Phlagaea asks. "And who gave you the idea for biting there, anyway? Mave I bet!"

"No, a monster hunter who used her magic to control me," Alptraum claims.

"Okay… " Phlagaea says, sounding curious. "A kinky monster hunter. Not Mortimer though, right?"

"No, a woman," Alptraum says, "I've not been with men. Why does everyone assume I would?"

"I didn't assume," Phlagaea claims. "That's why I asked first. And… uh… well, maybe just prick me a little? I don't know if I'm up to being bitten like that just yet."

"Okay, I'll save a full bite for your ear and the jewelry placement I intend," Alptraum says. And before Phlagaea can directly reply to that, Alptraum's head has dipped down and she discovers just how sensitive she has become … and what a slight fang prick feels like there!

The bat-girl squeaks in surprise and possibly in pleasure. She is from Babel, after all! "Wait, earring? Do that tongue bit again before you answer… "

Alptraum doesn't answer for a good while. The Eeee lingers and torments Phlagaea. He even doesn't let go for a bit as he pulls back, stretching tenderness. At long last he releases and says, "Oh, a particular kind. Something Nyneve explained to me."

Phlagaea resists the urge to rub. "Nyneve? That's the gypsy woman from last night, isn't it? And… what kind, in particular?"

"The khatta gypsy woman," Alptraum says with a grin, "It's called a harem cuff… "

"A… harem cuff?" the girl asks, looking confused. "What is that?"

"A two-part earring. A small stud that goes in at the base … connected by a chain to a cuff that affixes higher up on your ear," Alptraum explains as he traces his finger along Phlagaea's ear-ridge. "Not uncommon for the women who, ah, serve powerful men to wear." Again he grins widely.

"Ummm, is it permanent?" Phlagaea asks. "It sounds lovely, but if I become a Yodhgorphat again it might be… out of place. I mean, if everyone is going to know what it means that is… "

"You can remove it," Alptraum notes. "The holes will likely remain, though."

"Oh, I can always put something else in them when in public," Phlagaea notes, sounding happy again.

"Really, like?" Alptraum has to ask.

"Oh… I'm sure I can find a regular earring, or have something made from my own gems," she says, probably referring to all of the baubles that attach to her bandages.

"Dangle worms from them … " Alptraum suggests.

This… actually makes Phlagaea look contemplative. "Do they have green worms in Sylvania?" she asks. "I've heard of big ones that lurk in graveyards… "

"Those are pink … and they like to molest certain women," Alptraum laughs, "Do you want a pet?"

"I've got Lucy and by then a child," Phlagaea points out. "I don't think I could handle a pet. I've never had one before."

"And then you would have something squirming around in your ear-ridge," Alptraum continues, "It feels really odd to have squirming sensations inside a part of you."

"Though you will have that soon anyway," Alptraum teases and pats Phlagaea's stomach…

After giggling and rubbing the back of Alptraum's hand, Phlagaea asks, "What have you had squirming inside you then?"

"Some of Muriavan's flesh," Alptraum notes and waggles his right hand.

"That's it?" Phlagaea says. "Do you want some parasites? I probably can't summon them up anymore, but there's this one that lives in your colon that… uh… I'm thinking now that you don't miss the squirming, right?"

"I'll pass for now. Who knows what this Azrael will want me to get for him after all," Alptraum jokes. "What, do you think I need a few?"

"Well… a few of the Sisters liked them," Phlagaea notes with a slight blush. "They were lonely."

"Did you have any?" Alptraum has to ask.

"And they liked the ones in their colons? They liked squirming there?" Alptraum clarifies.

"I was immune to parasites, remember?" Phlagaea points out. "And I never asked them why they enjoyed it. Maybe it was like having a pet?"

"I haven't had any I'm aware of," Alptraum notes. "Anyway … before this gets any odder. You mentioned spending time together tonight, yes?"

"Yeah, you aren't to busy are you?" Phlagaea asks, just as her stomach rumbles loudly.

"Not today. I was actually going to suggest that we spend the day together as well. I'll take you to lunch," Alptraum offers as he stands up and offers Phlagaea his hand.

Phlagaea takes the hand and stands up, dripping wet. "Lucy is out gathering frogs," she notes. "But I can eat regular food with them."

"Only if I get to feed you the frogs," Alptraum asserts. He fetches a towel and starts drying Phlagaea off. He's very thorough.

The brown Eeee tries her best, but can't help but pass a little gas. "Oooo, the novelty of that is starting to wear off," she says.

"Welcome to being normal," Alptraum quips. "So, you want to go back to being Yodhgorphat, then?"

"Depends on if Gorphat's trial of motherhood kills me or not," Phlagaea says, with an authoritative air.

"Come on, I'll dress you and we'll go out for a bit. And tonight … well, I'll bite your ear and fit you with the proper symbol of being part of my harem," Alptraum jokes. "And then we'll see how many people we can wake up in the tower… "