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The first group that managed to ascend the steps to meet us was the one composed of family, friends, and all of their attendant Tiaileng. They seemed about as collectively befuddled as the rest of us, my mom glancing between me and the slowly approaching official entourage with a certain amount of confusion.

“Damian? I’m… I’m very glad to see you, of course, but I thought it was just going to be you, and us, and all of your companions, of course, but… no one told us there was anyone else coming, much less an entire Tiaileng procession, and that uniform…”

“Yeah, um… I don’t know? I don’t think they told any of us they were coming, not me, not…” I trailed off, inclining my head over towards Daledonne, who thankfully picked up on the gesture.

“Yes, I can assure you that we’re all quite… taken off guard by current events,” he said in an oddly impassive tone, not even looking over towards us in response, his gaze fixed on where the council member and her entourage were still getting themselves together. “I can assure you, had I known that such a response was coming, I would be far more professional and composed at the moment, instead of standing here trying desperately to figure out how to address someone with both paramount stature and motives that have not as yet been stated…”

“Wait, so some random super-important Tiaileng shows up out of the blue, and you don’t know anything about it?” Zalman was blunt, as usual. “I thought you were supposed to be in charge or something…”

“I’m afraid that’s… a bit of a misconception. I’m here to keep things organized, make observations, and make sure that nothing gets out of hand. Ultimately, though, sometimes there are special cases like these, and when there are, sometimes a Tiaileng with a slightly elevated level of authority, such as myself, is assigned to check up on them. Then they, in turn, report to someone in charge of coordinating things at a higher level of abstraction. That person reports to someone above them, and so on. And then, if something in this area is especially interesting, it’s reported to her.” He inclined his head forward, towards the slowly-approaching entourage. “Although… I suppose it might have to do with the fact that the requisitioning of some additional Tiaileng, above and beyond the original assigned amount, might have been enough of an anomaly to attract more specific interest…”

“Huh? You’re really giving him even more Tiaileng?” Will’s expression was hovering somewhere between awe and incredulity as he turned towards me. “Dude, I still don’t know how you’re keeping it together. Knowing you, I thought for sure you’d be passing out constantly from perpetual nosebleeds just from being around all of them…”

Daledonne finally broke his gaze and glanced back over, seeming momentarily concerned. “Really? I wasn’t aware of any such condition, and I’m sure we were thorough in our analysis of his medical records…”

“Huh? Oh, no, it’s just a… not exactly an inside joke, you know? Yeah, guessing you don’t watch anime much…”

Daledonne seemed to consider for a moment. “Hmm… ah, yes, I think I recall what you’re referring to. No, in fact, it is actually due to his remarkable progress that some additional Tiaileng were brought in. It turns out that in terms of overall capacity, fifty was probably too… conservative an estimate.”

“Damn, seriously? I have got to know what kinda stuff you’ve been getting up to. Man, if I had fifty-plus Tiaileng, that would be something else…” After a moment, he seemed to think of something, glancing quickly to his side, where Ingotheen was snuggled up against him in typical Tiaileng fashion. “Um, not that I’m implying that you’re not enough, of course…”

“You really are too cute when you’re flustered,” she replied, leaning in to nuzzle against his shoulder. “If you’re really interested in something like that, though… maybe when everything’s sorted out here, we can have some fun together, all of us…”

I glanced back at her, trying not to blush, and hoping that her comment was actually more innocent than it seemed. Before things got even more awkward, though, the conversation quickly derailed as a strange, lilting music began to play from unseen speakers. Our heads all snapped back over to look towards the stairs, which the entourage was finally ascending, the council member in the center of a phalanx of hangers-on, with the three other Tiaileng apparently assigned to me trailing confusedly along a few steps behind them.

Within moments, they were all on the top step, the metal fixtures on their uniforms glinting in the fading sunlight. I had expected the council member to perhaps address Daledonne, or do some sort of formal introduction. Instead, though, she seemed to ignore everyone else there, stepping onto the patio and walking directly towards me, stopping only when we were barely a pace apart and looking directly into my eyes.

Her gaze seemed somehow both calm and determined, and her entire posture and expression really did seem different than the other Tiaileng I’d encountered: for that moment, at least, showing the sort of gravitas you’d expect from someone of her position. Which is why, I suppose, it was even more of a contrast to see her go from such an expression straight into the sort of wide, overenthusiastic smile that I was far more used to seeing. It certainly led to my momentary befuddlement, so much so that I didn’t even really react when she suddenly leaned forward towards me, arms outstretched.

I’d assumed that, like most Tiaileng, she was going to envelop me in some sort of surprise hug, but instead her arms came down to rest on my shoulders, holding me at arm’s length as she regarded me eagerly.

“So, you’re the young gentleman that has everyone so intrigued! And I don’t blame them - standing here like this, even though I’m not familiar with you, the sense of energy I’m getting is quite remarkable. Without any attunement or accommodation at all, I can still… comprehend its presence clearly enough. I might be an expert in such things, true, but I’m actually surprised that the Tiaileng attached to your friends, or even those in your own family, never fully picked up on its magnitude. Quite fascinating, though, regardless, and the data I’ve reviewed so far absolutely backs it up.”

She paused, seeming to give me another once-over. “Yes, it’s decided then - I’ll definitely have to investigate this with you personally. If you could show me the way to the nearest bedroom, I’d like to begin as soon as possible…”

“Wait, what?” I replied, blushing just abut instantaneously, suddenly becoming acutely aware of her touch. It was no surprise that Tiaileng could be, well, forward, but was a member of their most important council proposing that we… she couldn’t be, could she?”

She seemed puzzled for a moment by my confusion, but quickly seemed to have a flash of recognition. “Oh, I’m sorry! Perhaps I wasn’t specific enough. I have tried to perfect my English as much as possible, as it isn’t my first language, but I do have a tendency to occasionally lack the clarity of details. I want to feel the full range of what you have to offer, and sharing the intimacy of sexual contact is the most direct way to do so. Plus, it’s been a long drive, and I can’t think of a better way to relax and become acquainted with each other than that. So, now that everything’s clarified… care to lead the way?”

“Um, uh, I…” It wasn’t exactly a surprise that I was lost for words. While it was true that I’d gotten more comfortable with some of my assigned Tiaileng over the time we’d been together, even enough to somehow manage intimate contact with them, it had taken weeks to attain that comfort level. Having sex with a new Tiaileng off the bat, even a normal one, probably would have been far too daunting a challenge, and with someone apparently so important, if I screwed up and managed to offend them… to say that I was just about paralyzed by the situation would have been putting it mildly.

Her hands retreated, though, seemingly in surprise, and I glanced up from where I’d been abruptly staring nervously at my own shoes to see that Daledonne was suddenly standing between us.

“Honored Councilmember, I apologize for the abruptness of my interjection, but… would it be possible for us to talk in private? I’m afraid there’s an extremely urgent matter regarding this situation that simply must be immediately discussed…”

“Really? I don’t see why…” She trailed off, something in her expression changing subtly. “Hmmm. Yes, of course. Not for too long, though. I respect the information you’ve managed to compile, of course, but you’re not the person I traveled all this way to see…”

She appeared to let Daledonne walk her through the main entrance doors and out of sight, her security detail following and looking slightly appalled by Daledonne’s forwardness with her. For my part, it was all I could do just to catch my breath and try to calm down from the spike of anxiety that the councilwoman had managed to instantaneously inspire in me.

It only took a moment for another hand to settle gently on my shoulder - this time, though, it was Envelie, and her touch was far more reassuring.

“Fear not - I’m sure that no offense was generated by your reaction. I realize that it… may not have been our place to intervene, but we know far better than our visitors do about the adverse effects of you becoming overly agitated. I’m sure that this will be cleared up expediently, and then we can all have a proper introduction.”

I glanced around, feeling a little calmer, and thankful that my family and friends, at least, weren’t actively doing anything to make the situation more awkward. My parents seemed to be looking on encouragingly, talking softly amongst themselves, while my friends stared in wide-eyed amazement at the massive assembly of Tiaileng standing behind me.

Will, characteristically, was the first to speak, a certain hushed tone of awe in his voice. “Seriously, dude, are you like the Tiaileng whisperer or something? I mean, yeah I knew about it, saw some of them on the video calls and stuff, but seeing them all just lined up here is really something else. Not to mention, some super-important Tiaileng shows up, and just like that, she’s all over you… I don’t know how that all works, but that’s one heck of an ability for sure…”

He paused for a moment, though, glancing quickly over at Ingotheen and then back again, looking uncharacteristically nervous. “Um, not that… I know you’d never do anything like that on purpose, of course, but that power you have, it’s not gonna, er, draw someone else’s Tiaileng to you, or anything like that?”

“Er, I don’t think… so…” I replied, trailing off and at least a little surprised when Ingotheen, already at Will’s side, spun him rapidly around partway and pressed her short muzzle in against his lips in the closest Tiaileng equivalent of a kiss, her lithe arms wrapping around him and pulling him in close. They stayed that way for a few moments with everyone looking on, my other friends looking slightly confused, my human parents looking somewhat more uncomfortable than my Tiaileng ones at the spontaneous display, and a few of the Tiaileng in my entourage actually, audibly cheering. When Ingotheen relaxed the embrace, Will was blushing slightly, and his face had the sort of befuddled look of someone who still wasn’t quite used to that kind of experience - an expression I surely was all too familiar with.

Ingotheen grinned back at him. “So… convinced that’s not a problem now?”

“Y-yeah, I think so…”

“Good! Plus, it’s like I told you before - when we’re assigned, there’s a Rule, and that’s the way it always works. You had to have known when the assignment happened, anyway, as it’s always spelled out beforehand.”

“Er… what rule?” I interjected.

“You know… the rule! Actually, the way things are here, don’t you kind of have to know it by now?”

“Maybe, but I can’t know if I’ve heard it before or not until someone tells me what it is…”

“Hmm, it’s possible we didn’t mention it,” Envelie said from beside me. “There was a lot of confusion when the assignment first happened, and a lot of people to organize, so we never really went over the formalities of it. You’re right, though - in this case, it probably is self-obvious.”

“Um, still not following here…”

“Well, as far as rules go, it’s pretty simple,” Ingotheen continued. “When a Tiaileng’s assigned to a person, to a human, I mean, they’re committed to that person, totally, in exclusion to all other humans. After all, that’s how it usually works in your society, right? What it means is that an assigned Tiaileng can still be, y’know, intimate with other Tiaileng when it’s called for, since that’s kind of how our culture works, but in terms of you guys, once we’re assigned to you, we’re never letting go. Plus, once we’re with someone a while, we get better at taking in and experiencing their energy, but when we do that, we don’t pick it up from others as much. So I can feel your energy a little, but it’s not like its overwhelming or something to me, just… a little more pronounced, but still in the background like everyone else. The energy that I need and want, though, is right here.”

She paused, snuggling in a little closer to Will again, turning back to meet his gaze unwaveringly. “I know the situation here’s… unusual, unprecedented even. But whatever is going on, it’s not about us. I’m here for you, no matter what, and the only way I’d be with another human is if we came to an arrangement that it was okay, like… well, you know from before. And since I feel well aware that it’s not gonna happen here, there’s nothing to worry about, okay?”

“Yeah… okay. I get it - nothing’s gonna happen. I guess I’m still just not used to how some of this stuff works, and I’m not gonna lie, it’s kinda intimidating that there’s some super-powerful Tiaileng here, and this gigantic mansion, and a wall of Tiaileng just standing in front of me… come on, I can’t be the only one who thinks this situation is pretty damn weird…”

I couldn’t help but nod. “Trust me, this is the last thing I expected - I just wanted to finally have a chance to see you guys again. I mean, yeah, I saw you on the teleconference thing, but it’s been well over a month in this one single building, big as it is, with a lot of very enthusiastic Tiaileng for company, and while I can’t complain about that, it did kinda remind me how much I missed actually seeing you guys. I still want to do that, catch up and everything, but with this… council person here, I don’t even know what’s going on…” I paused for a moment, realizing something. “You know, she didn’t even tell me her name, didn’t even introduce herself, just walked up and asked me to… sleep with her…”

“Like I was saying - you seriously have some crazy Tiaileng mojo going on. Although… maybe the rule doesn’t apply to her? Or maybe she’s just not assigned to anyone, somehow, since there isn’t a human guy with her. Although I still don’t get how you just found out about the rule spontaneously…”

“Um, well…” I looked over at my parents, not feeling particularly sanguine about going into that in too much detail. “The thing is, there are like fifty Tiaileng and only one of me, and I can only handle one at a time in that… way, so the rest take care of things, which I guess just made sense considering the situation. I didn’t realize it applied to all Tiaileng, though. I mean, I’ve never seen it…” Although, come to think of it, my parents, both sets of them, had a habit of going to dinner parties at other people’s houses, and coming back several hours later than I would have though normal for just having a meal…

“I didn’t either, so it surprised me a little at first. I mean, this one time, when you were tied up with some school project, the rest of us, Tiaileng and all, were hanging out at Emma’s house, when…” Will, seeming to suddenly remember that my parents were standing right there, brought the sentence to a nervous, awkward halt. “You know what? I’ll definitely tell you the rest of that story sometime. Sometime later. In private, or at least as private as it can get around here…”

“Yeah, it’s an… interesting one for sure,” Emma replied with a certain sort of knowing grin, leaving Will looking even more flustered. “Anyway, though, that’s not important right now. Think about it - there’s a Tiaileng high-ranking something-or-other in the next room, and absolutely no one knows exactly why she’s here! I mean, you barely even see them on TV very much, and there’s an actual one, right here, right now! I don’t know about you, but I sure want to know what’s going on, especially since no one seems ready to admit what’s up…” She finished, looking pointedly at one of the other Tiaileng from the official entourage that hadn’t followed after the council member. If he knew something, though, he didn’t betray it, staring back with the default Tiaileng grin while somehow managing to make it look far more like a poker face than usual.

“You know, we could give them the benefit of the doubt,” Mirracai interjected, drawing close and wrapping his arm gently around Emma’s waist. Her expression still seemed annoyed, but I could see the tension in her posture relaxing noticeably.

“Kinda hard to do, that, though, when they won’t even say a word about what’s going on…”

“True, but… you probably know that we don’t pick our leaders for no reason, or through some spectacle of politics. Tiaileng become leaders because they are the best for their particular job, with a level of competence and judgment that can be trusted implicitly. Regardless of their… personalities, or how they get their message across, they only act with the best of intentions, in ways designed to help people, not just Tiaileng but everyone, in the best way possible. Whether or not she’s ready to reveal her ultimate reason for being here, there’s no way it would be to cause harm or disruption.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get that, but… that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I know Damian’s super-interesting to the Tiaileng for some reason, but even so, what would a super-important Tiaileng want from a high-schooler? Pretty sure she didn’t just show up for a roll in the hay…”

I was fairly sure that Zalman jumped in with some counterpoint, but for a moment I found my focus unexpectedly shifting elsewhere. More specifically, it seemed drawn to Mirracai, Emma’s companion. Something about him was suddenly… intriguing, somehow, in a slightly disconcerting way, and all of a sudden it was driving me crazy not to know why.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything really surprising about him. He had the usual sort of bear-cat Tiaileng features, with ears that were slightly more rounded on top than the slight point that most had, but not that different from several in my entourage. Also like most Tiaileng, his frame was fairly true to the slightly-varying norm, maybe ever so slightly shorter and thinner than most. Even his face was fairly typically Tiaileng, in that it was unreasonably cute, with wide, bright eyes and the foreshortened not-quite-muzzle angled in such a way that it seemed like he was smiling by default. I supposed, in an abstract way, I was probably as attracted to him as I was to most other male Tiaileng, and considering I was surrounded by more than enough of my own, it seemed beyond reason that I was truly feeling anything especially for him. If it wasn’t that, though, then why was I focusing on him? What was it that was different, that was making me so curious?

It took me a few more moments, long enough for him to notice and start looking back at me with a confused expression, before I realized what it was. It wasn’t his build, or looks, or how long or fluffy his exposed fur was around his reasonably abbreviated polo shirt and linen shorts. Rather, it was the fur color that I realized was standing out - subtle enough, to be true, but a difference that was nonetheless quite noticeable against the virtual wall of Tiaileng around me.

They were all basically blue-green, to be sure, but somehow I’d never really noticed that there was much of a variation in shade. While Envelie’s fur, for instance, was more towards a deeper sort of turquoise blue, Mirracai’s fur had a balance that was clearly more towards the green.

For comparison, I glanced over at Ingotheen - and realized that her fur, while similar, was a unique shade in its own right, somewhere in between the two. Tesekorri, though, was slightly greener still, and my Tiaileng parents were subtly different shades as well. On their own, I hadn’t really put it together before, but all of a sudden it stood out against the others assembled. Strangely enough, I realized the guards who’d arrived were the greenest of all, with that shade clearly dominating in slightly different combinations.

Although… the more I looked, back and forth, the more I suddenly wondered if I was wrong about the anomaly. While all of them were slightly different, they stood out because of the uniform, dominating background that I’d never really noticed. I’d assumed it was normal, just how the Tiaileng were, but now… now I had to wonder, if all of these other random Tiaileng were all slightly different colors, why every single Tiaileng assigned to me now seemed to be the exact same shade of deep, oceanic turquoise blue.

“Hey, man, you okay?” I glanced over to see that Will was looking back, seemingly concerned - actually, all of my friends were. “Generally you respond when I ask a question, so… I mean, if you’re overwhelmed, just say so - honestly, if I was in your position, I’d kinda be freaking out in my own head too.”

“Huh? No, it’s not that, I just… noticed something I hadn’t before and was thinking it through…”

Will glanced around for a moment. “Um… you mean, besides the fact we’re on the steps of a weird-ass mansion with a gazillion Tiaileng everywhere? Although I guess that’s not all that out of the ordinary for you now…”

“No, just… a random observation, I guess. I mean, people have different skin colors, so it only makes sense that Tiaileng have different fur colors too. It’s just weird that I can’t remember ever really noticing until now.”

Will looked at me weirdly. “Um, you sure? Because, just looking around, they all look pretty much the same color to me. Maybe if you squint, there’s like the teeniest difference, but… what, you’re saying they’re all actually distinctly different colors to you?”

“More like shades than really different colors, but… yeah?”

“Huh… pretty sure I’m not colorblind, but… help me out, here?”

“Looks the same to me,” Zalman replied, and Emma nodded in agreement, as did their respective Tiaileng.

“Huh…” Will glanced over at one of the Tiaileng from the entourage. “You guys ever hear of anything like that?”

The Tiaileng shook his head. “I am not qualified to comment on such matters. Perhaps it is something you should mention to the Councilmember upon her return…”

“O… kay then…” Will replied, looking askance at him. “I know it’s a rare thing indeed, but I think I’m gonna have to agree with Emma. No offense, dude, but the reticence you guys have, for a Tiaileng, it’s not… normal.” Which, I realized, was actually sort of true - while most of my entourage seemed content to be quiet for the moment, you could tell from their restless body language that they were following everything eagerly. The other Tiaileng, by contrast, despite its naturally smiling demeanor, was the picture of uncharacteristic equanimity.

“It is a product of my role, not my personality,” the Tiaileng replied, his hands remaining resolutely at his sides. “As is the fact that I am unassigned. However, as I am unassigned, when these introductions are completed, perhaps I could get to know you and your partner in a more… appropriately informal setting.”

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re-“ Will trailed off, looking over at Ingotheen, but before he settled on how he wanted to respond, the doors swung back open, and Daledonne, the councilmember, and the remainder of her entourage reemerged.

It took but a moment for her to casually insinuate her way past my friends, and once more we were standing face to face - still closer than what I was used to, at least for anyone outside of… well, outside of my very own entourage. This time, though, her hands remained at her sides, and while her expression wasn’t really at all contrite, it was certainly earnest.

“So!” she began, her wide Tiaileng eyes staring directly at me with a surprising intensity. “I have now learned a lot of additional information about you, most of it even pertinent. And while such information could have been appropriately included in a far more detailed report…”

She paused, turning her head rapidly to fix Daledonne with the same intense stare before returning to me. “In any case, I am now appropriately informed as to your particular patterns of behavior and stress. It appears that had I continued on my original course of action, a dangerous situation could have emerged, and while it was admittedly abrupt, I can only commend Daledonne for taking the prompt action that he did to properly manage the situation. However, it does mean that we’ll have to take a different approach here - one that will certainly be more comfortably done without us all milling around on these steps in such a disorderly fashion. You… will invite us all inside to continue this important conversation, of course?”

I nodded, and with that small gesture of acknowledgement, she was suddenly beside me, arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulling me steadily forward, as the weight of our respective groups of Tiaileng helped to bear us both inside: past the ostentatious sweeping-staircase entryway and down a a short hallway that I could have sworn led to a bizarrely-proportioned bathroom, but instead took a strange, short dogleg before opening out into a rather different sort of drawing room.

I realized, when I saw it, that it was a room that I had at least a passing familiarity with, having stumbled across it a couple of times while getting lost in the mansion’s various passageways. It sort of had the ambience of one of those aristocratic lounges, the kind rich gentlemen on television would retire to after a meal to puff on cigars and swirl brandy in oversized glasses. True, there were some idiosyncrasies, as seemed to be the case with just about every room in the mansion: the velvet upholstering the drapes and overstuffed chairs was a vivid blue instead of the usual crimson, and each chair-back was emblazoned with a different, mysteriously abstract symbol, some made up of swirling, interlocking curves, while others were starkly boxy with an almost digitally precise motif. Beyond that, though, what stood out most about the room was its scope: if it were a lounge, it was big enough to accommodate even the entire assembled group comfortably, with seats left over. Well, that and the absurd fountain that sat in the center of the room, dispensing water (and presumably other liquids) out from the top of a buzzcut bust of the tech gazillionaire himself, the individual streams apparently representing strands of his own hair.

Still, as slightly odd as the room was, it was even more surreal to see it so fully occupied, the variously-shaded turquoise fur of the Tiaileng a strange counterpoint to the intensely blue upholstery as each of them found their own unique way to curl up comfortably in the ostentatious armchairs. I ended up in one of them sitting directly across from the councilmember, with Daledonne and Envelie nudging their chairs over to either side, and my family and friends scattered in a loose circle around us, in turn surrounded by the jumble of our combined entourages, with the surreal fountain trickling on in my peripheral vision.

Even while everyone was settling in, there wasn’t a lot of peripheral conversation - everyone, it seemed, was eager to hear what the councilmember had to say - though, I assumed, for a variety of different reasons. She didn’t seem fazed about the number of eyes upon her, though, or perhaps didn’t particularly notice them; even though her posture in the chair seemed relaxed and at ease, her eyes still seemed to focus on me with a singular intensity of purpose. On a… human, I suppose, it would have been the sort of look that would have made me felt instantly intimidated and on edge, but in conjunction with the cute face and wide, eager smile that were both so characteristically Tiaileng, the expression seemed less intentional intimidation and more unashamed, unwavering focus.

“So… in the interests of expedience, I propose we simply ignore those brief prior… miscommunications and start our introductions anew. Fair enough?”

“Um, sure, I mean… yeah, okay.” Specifically intimidating or not, the fact that her gaze wasn’t leaving mine, even for a moment, was still more than a little unnerving. “Anyway, um, I’m-“

“Damian Barrett. Yes, I don’t think we need to rehash that part of the introduction. Although… I suppose I never did tell you my name, though. Which is Jesollae, of course! I’d rather if you just called me Jes, though, despite the fact that due to my station, everyone always seems of the opinion that such a contraction is inappropriate. Personally, I think that’s ridiculous, especially considering these names aren’t even meant for Tiaileng consumption, so they might as well be convenient for the people who are intended to use them.

“Enough about names, though - I’m aware of all the rest, even if for some of them it is only through reference to their Tiaileng companions. I imagine, being related in certain ways, you all have questions, but soliciting them from so many people is likely to be an exercise in inefficiency. So, I shall simply try to anticipate the questions hovering unasked between us, and address them before they need to be asked in the first place.”

She gestured over to a member of her entourage curled up against the cushions of a nearby chair, and he uncurled enough to reach down towards a small satchel propped in front of it, extracting a clear bottle with Tiaileng writing on it and tossing it over to her. She flicked a hand out and caught it effortlessly, a display made even more uncanny by the fact that her eyes didn’t flick over in that direction at all as she did so. She spun the top off of it and took a swig of the clear liquid inside, flashing a brief glimpse of the glittering, crystalline points of Tiaileng teeth before setting the bottle down beside her and continuing.

“Yes, much better… forgot about that on the ride, for some reason. Anyway, on to questions. Most to the point: why am I here? While I suppose there are a few additional details to fill in, I think the reason really is quite obvious.”

She paused, moving her hand out in a sweeping, pointing gesture across the swath of Tiaileng encompassing my section of the room. “It’s hardly a surprise that the amount of Tiaileng assigned to you is… comparatively enormous, considering the usual arrangement. In fact… while it’s not exactly a secret, I should point out that the next part of what I’m about to say isn’t meant for wide dissemination. Specifically, you are, in fact, the person with the… third largest Tiaileng assignment, actually, if you take into account the trio that has been newly assigned to you. There is one other with sixty, and one with a current total assignment of seventy-five. I have, of course, met with both of them, and with several others who have shown lesser degrees of promise, but all of them were unique largely in terms of their total capacity and energy levels. For that reason alone, they were all intriguing, but you, Damian… your scans propose at least a few additional areas of surprising uniqueness. Which is why, instead of simply summoning you to a meeting and interview, I wanted to interact with you directly, firsthand, within your own particular environment. And I must say, thus far, the reputation that your scans belied has not disappointed, and hardly seems likely to - the more I learn about you, the more intensely your situation intrigues me.”

Jesollae leaned forward, her expression seeming even more focused than before. “Especially… certain aspects of it. Tell me, is it really true that you can observe the stream? The one that flows between you, and us?”

“Yeah… I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s what I have to be seeing. It’s not all the time, though, it’s not visible really in a place like this, but when the lights are turned off, or when they’re really low, then… then I can see it, yeah.”

“Fascinating. It’s a rare Tiaileng indeed who can even begin to sense that, and even then, for us it’s more like… peripheral vision, almost, something that seems like it’s viewed from the corner of your eye, never all that clearly. True, there are scientific devices that can render it more specifically on a screen, or even display it as a hologram of sorts, but to actually see it in its natural form, with your own eyes… I can only imagine. You… wouldn’t mind describing how it looks from your perception, would you?”

I tried to do so, as best as I could, especially considering I didn’t really even understand what it was that I was seeing, or why it was even important. To me, it was just another interesting byproduct of interacting with Tiaileng, albeit a very beautiful one, but to actually describe the shimmering tendrils in more granular detail than that seemed to defy me. The closest comparison I could think of in the world were those bioluminescent anemones, tentacles waving gently in an aquarium I’d visited years before, but that description obviously wasn’t very satisfying. How else could I describe it, though? It was literally the kind of thing you’d see in some sci-fi television show - although, considering the fact that Tiaileng and their advanced technology were living alongside us now, it was hard to even call such things fiction anymore.

From the looks on the faces of my friends and family, the description was at least fascinating to them - while I’d mentioned the phenomenon offhand before, it was probably the first time they’d heard me talk about it in any real detail. For Jesollae, though, the description seemed to have been as inadequate for her as I’d feared - I could see the disappointment for a moment on Jesollae’s face, although she seemed to quickly move past it.

“I… see. Well, I’m sure there will be more time to delve more deeply into that topic later on. After all, that part of it isn’t really so much my mission here overall, as it is my own personal curiosity, although it certainly is a unique aspect. No, I suppose I should probably get to the point of why I’m actually here.”

She leaned back, making a point to scan her gaze across all of the assembled Tiaileng, seeming to linger for a second on the trio of new arrivals.

“You see, when I mentioned that statistic before, about the others with various groups of Tiaileng, there was one specific part that I have yet to mention. For those others, once their proper amount of Tiaileng was calculated and assigned, that was it - they adapted to their presence, and their number remained static from then on. As far as we can tell, you’re the first person whose potential capacity has actually grown over time. With that, and the fascinating transference of sensation that you seem to make possible during your sexual encounters, it became clear to me that there is truly something unique and important going on with your development. While Daledonne is quite skilled at what he does, I felt that it was imperative that you were evaluated by the foremost expert in this field - namely, me. Especially considering that if you’re truly ready for your assignment to be increased in a meaningful way, the next phase of this experiment might proceed even faster than anticipated…”

“Wait… phase? Experiment? Daledonne told me that this was just an assignment, and that-“

“Ah, yes. Well, that’s because Daledonne could only tell you what he himself knew about the situation. Which was that this happened to be an unusual assignment, one which he should observe and report on carefully, which he did. And, truth be told, that’s what it has been up until this point - an unconventional assignment. However, like I said, there has never been a case with this species of an assignment actually being increased, or what the reactions of all involved would be. So, the addition of this trio is where the experiment begins, and I intend to be on hand to see this development play out. That’s… phase one, basically. And if it goes as successfully as anticipated, then… Ah, but I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself. All of that is for a future that’s probably a ways off at this point. No, I’m here to focus on the situation as it is now, and to see it unfold in the near-term, before we talk about any future… opportunities. Although, speaking of opportunities…”

Jesollae leaned forward, resting a hand gently on my knee. As overwhelmed as I was, even that slight contact made me a little jittery, but it was at least less intense than before.

“What I said earlier, about wanting to gather data on you firsthand… my intentions in that regard haven’t changed. I realize, now, that for you such things require a slightly more gradual process. I think that I will observe and facilitate things for the present time, and give you a chance to catch up with your friends, family, and those assigned to you. Plus, now that I have at least an initial assessment of the situation, there are… certain things I must discuss with my retinue. Later on, though, I would like to have some more time with you, one on one. For now, just to talk, but soon enough I intend to introduce myself to you, once you’re prepared, in the true Tiaileng fashion…”

She stood up, the other Tiaileng in her ensemble doing so as well and falling into formation around her. “In any case, I suggest that the first thing you do is introduce yourself to your newly assigned Tiaileng. Getting comfortable with them, and them with you, is surely in everyone’s best interests. As this point, I can only assume that you have more than enough experience with such things…”

Jesollae and her entourage didn’t leave, exactly, so much as come together in a huddle in a distant corner of the large room, talking amongst themselves in quiet, intense, rapid-fire Tiaileng.

That left the rest of us still sitting there, trying to sort through it all. It hadn’t really been a conversation as much as a not particularly illuminating monologue, without much of a chance to get a word in edgewise, let alone mention my unusual observation. Strangely enough, though, out of everyone else there, I realized that Jesollae actually had a shade of fur that was the closest to my assigned Tiaileng. For a moment, I wondered if it had anything to do with her earlier comments about… accommodation, but with her engaged in her own conversation, it was a discussion that would have to wait until later.

Will, unsurprisingly, was the first to speak out about it. “Is it just me, or did her explanation actually make things more confusing rather than less? And some of that other stuff she was referring to… transferring sensation during your-“

“I’ll, ah… talk about that later, okay? You know, in private…” I glanced meaningfully towards my parents. My human ones actually had the good tact to at least seem a little embarrassed, although my Tiaileng ones still seemed uncomfortably fascinated by it.

“Yeah, sure… it’s just weird, you know? I knew it was gonna be a little strange, visiting you with like a metric ton of Tiaileng everywhere, but this is… I don’t even know what. The thing that’s really weirding me out, though, is that every Tiaileng in here seems to be taking it in stride. This isn’t the kind of thing that happens every day, so…”

“Well, it’s just the way that the Council operates,” Ingotheen replied, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes their motives are a little… circumspect, even eccentric maybe, but everything they do is done with a specific purpose in mind. It just might take a little while for that purpose to become fully known. Those on the council give up on being assigned in order to fully devote themselves to the best outcomes for all Tiaileng, so they see things from a different perspective. For one of them to actually contemplate contact with someone like this… the only way that they would is if there was a very compelling reason to do so. And since there obviously is something that compelling, that’s good enough for me - and likely for everyone else here.”

I looked around, seeing most of them nod, as Will replied.

“I guess… it’s still damn weird, if you ask me, but I guess no one else seems to feel that way, so…” He slumped back in his armchair, sighing. “What can I say… I just wanted to be here, hang out like we used to, not get into some Super Important Discussion with some Tiaileng high-mucky-muck. Especially when it’s a discussion about nothing at all…”

He tilted his head to look back over at me directly. “You know, I kinda take back what I said earlier. I’m pretty happy with what I have, considering the alternative. Sure, I wouldn’t mind being important, getting some attention and respect and all, but I think I’m beginning to understand that maybe there’s such a thing as too much attention…”

“Yeah, no kidding…” Which was probably true, although I had to admit, I’d somehow adapted to handling far more Tiaileng attention than I’d ever imagined being able to. That being said, now there was going to be quite a bit more: three more, at least, for the moment, and probably four if you counted Jesollae’s clearly stated intentions…

“Say… are you actually doing okay with all of this? I mean, you’re still here, you haven’t run out of the room screaming or anything, but you’ve kinda got that look on your face that means you’re…”

Overwhelmed? Not that I exactly wanted to admit that in front of my friends, whether or not they basically knew how I was. If Will was able to notice it, though, than it meant the Tiaileng could almost certainly feel it, so it wasn’t exactly surprising when Daledonne got up and walked over to place a hand gently on my shoulder.

“Yes, I think a… quieter situation is probably in order for now. We’ll all meet up together in the… banquet hall, I suppose, for dinner in a little while, but for the moment… perhaps the adults would like a concise tour of the house and grounds?”

My parents were still glancing at me with concern, but luckily they nodded, and Serrivanne happily led them off, talking animatedly. The others dispersed as well to their own pursuits, and quickly enough a much smaller group ended up lounging around casually on a large, plush canopy bed in one of the myriad bedrooms: me, Daledonne, Envelie, my friends and their companions… and the three unknown Tiaileng women that had just arrived. Still a little bit of a crowd, for me at least, but considerably less overwhelming than before.

“Hmm… I think that’s a bit better, yes?” Daledonne continued once we’d all settled in. “Telanelei is going to get some light refreshments together for your friends, and some drinks for the rest of us, which should be up in a few minutes. In the meantime…” He paused, glancing over at the trio of new faces. “I know it’s not, perhaps, the sort of… close setting you might have had in mind for introductions, but considering the situation, this is likely as comfortable as it will get for now. Considering Damian’s current emotional state, I think the more traditional types of introduction will have to wait for later, but a quick verbal one, and maybe ever so slightly more than that… assuming your friends don’t mind, of course?”

They all, predictably enough, shook their heads. “Nah, no problem at all,” Will replied. “I think I’m more than happy to just lay back and try to wrap my head around all of this. The mansion, the council, all the Tiaileng… it does kinda make all the stuff we’ve been up to in the interim seem downright mundane in comparison. Er, I mean… you know, if you want some privacy or something, we can just as easily take that break by taking a walk, too. I mean, even if it’s just talking, getting to know your assigned Tiaileng is something that you kind of want to be intimate, right? Of course, considering there are already dozens here with you, I guess the excitement’s probably worn off by now…”

“Oh, I think we’ll all be just fine here,” Ingotheen said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. “Really, the whole privacy thing is more for your sake then it is for ours. As I’m sure you know by now…”

Will managed to blush a nice shade of red, but didn’t exactly try to pull away from Ingotheen, either. “Y-yeah, point taken. I guess we really will have to tell you about that later on, but… still not super comfortable talking about it. Actually, though… if you don’t mind us hanging around for the introductions, it might be kinda interesting. I mean, we’ve talked to you a bunch since then, and there have been all these different Tiaileng sitting around you, but the only one we ever really got a chance to talk to was Daledonne, and no offense, but you seem more like a, a manager or something rather than a normal assignment. So I think we’re all a little curious about what the Tiaileng you’re getting assigned to you are actually like…”

The rest of them seemed to agree, and as I was still feeling a little too flustered and overwhelmed to put up much of an argument against it, we were all content enough to just sit there and watch as the trio introduced themselves.

To be honest, now that I finally had a chance to really look them over, they kind of looked a whole lot like the couple dozen or so Tiaileng who had only rotated through once, the ones, I was still trying to get to know, whose names I kept mixing up. Once I got to know one of them well enough, like Daledonne or Miruvona, I could begin to match a name to the subtle physical differences that set them apart, but it was still a challenge with the ones I’d had less interaction with. There was a part of me that had almost wished they’d kept to their unique, if rather fetishistic costumes, as it made telling them apart easier - although I couldn’t imagine what the reactions of my friends and parents would have been if they’d walked in on that particular costume party.

It did mean, though, that the three in front of me weren’t dressed particularly differently than what the rest of my entourage had taken to wearing. Being Tiaileng, and covered in fur, that meant reasonable coverage, but not a whole lot of it: shirts that were generally like T-shirts, but stopped short of covering their whole abdomen, and shorts that rarely came down past mid-thigh, the female versions differing mainly by being just a little bit more snug and form-fitting in that particular way that tended to highlight certain feminine attributes. The only immediate distinction between their clothing was that their shirts were colored yellow, green, and a light shade of pink, paired with denim shorts that looked virtually identical.

As for the rest of them, there wasn’t much to differentiate even there: aside from some slight differences in muzzle and ear shape, I could almost have sworn they were triplets, their overall figures and fur color seeming nearly the same. Which meant, of course, that they were all uniformly cute in that Tiaileng, and especially female Tiaileng way, and it was hard not to feel immediately attracted to them, even if it was mixed with the embarrassed feeling of barely being able to tell them apart.

Still, I knew I had to try, so I focused as hard as I could as each of them completed their introduction. Leassah was the one in the yellow shirt, with ears that were slightly rounder than the others, more bear than cat, and a muzzle tilted ever so slightly in a way that gave her a default grin that was even brighter than the ones most Tiaileng naturally had. Like the other Tiaileng, she was a high school senior, like me, with a penchant for mathematical analysis and an interest in creative writing - one which she hoped would be greatly enhanced in my presence. Teileren, in the green shirt, had ears that were ever so slightly pointier and wider apart, with a slightly smaller muzzle and gentle facial lines that made her look especially cute. She revealed that her main interest was science, and she was apparently a standout track-and-field athlete - despite her athleticism, her body definition seemed identical to the others, although with the way their fur tended to fuzz out certain details like muscle definition, it was hard to know for sure. Savinnae, in pink, had ears that were the most closely-spaced of any of them, and had slightly wider eyes that seemed especially bright. She didn’t seem interested in mentioning a particular field of study she was interested in, but was apparently passionate about debate, and had been on the team which had finished in the top three in the regional competition several years running.

In truth, the introductions were enough for me, and not all that different than the ones I’d had with most of my other Tiaileng - truth be told, I’d only still scratched the surface with many of them. Due to the communal nature of it, I’d seen most of them engaged in some form of intimacy or another, and while I’d been intimate in some way with a small but growing number of them, as far as the most traditionally intimate sorts of introductions went… well, apart from Meccione and Laraley, there were still only a handful of others I’d gotten comfortable enough with to go all the way. Not that I would have done anything like that in front of my friends, in any case, so I was more than happy with the light and inconsequential conversation. Daledonne and Envelie also seemed fine, and for the most part so did my friends - weirdly, it was actually their Tiaileng companions who looked a little disappointed.

“That’s it? That’s all your going to talk about?” Ingotheen asked, once Savinnae had finished up her intro. “You do know we’re all friends here, right? Or, we’re going to be, at least. So if you want to talk about more interesting things…”

“Er, um, actually, I’m totally happy with those introductions,” I replied, but Ingotheen wasn’t having any of it, pouting slightly as she continued.

“But they didn’t tell you anything useful, though! Seriously, the least you three could do is fill us in on your favorite position…”

Zalman, apparently still not quite as casual about all that, did a bit of a double-take. “That’s, ah, not really something it’s polite to ask even your friends about…”

“Well, it’s a lot more useful than asking what topics they liked to study in school, isn’t it? What I’m asking is really the kind of thing I’d think you’d want to know first when meeting someone, especially someone who you’re assigned to. Since you’ve just been assigned, I can only imagine that the four of you are going to be spending a lot of time together tonight, so it’s good to at least know where to start…”

“Wait, you think that I’m going to…”

“Well, aren’t you?” Ingotheen replied, looking at me pointedly, and when I glanced back to look at the three newly assigned Tiaileng, they were doing the same, staring at me unwaveringly with a certain look on their faces that I was beginning to recognize…

“Um, ah, I…” was about all I managed to stammer, probably blushing all over again, but before I could say anything more, Daledonne stepped in.

“And that, of course, Tiaileng ways or not, is something that will be negotiated between all four of them. However… you do make a point that a traditional Tiaileng introduction of any sort isn’t usually conducted at arm’s length. And while I am of course cognizant of your anxieties…” he said, glancing in my direction while rising up onto his knees from where he’d been curled up on the bed, “as a matter of fact, you have been getting along quite decently lately. With Jesollae here, though, and with the sort of… experiments I have a feeling she’d like to conduct, I do think enhancing your comfort level just a little more would be a reasonable precaution. So, assuming there’s no reason for you to object…” He reached down, proffering his hand, and when I took it out of curiosity, he pulled me up onto my knees, spun me around by my shoulders, and, after checking my somewhat surprised expression once more, gave me a gentle shove in a particular direction. Not quite prepared for it, I kind of fell over, but three pairs of outstretched arms were already waiting to catch me.

For a moment, it seemed like hands were all over me, turning me this way and that… and by the time I could figure out again which way was up, I found myself sort of halfway reclining in the midst of the trio, each one of them snuggled up to as much of me as they could manage between them.

That, of course, managed to leave me a little flustered, especially considering that my friends were watching it all - but when I glanced back at them, and noticed that they were effectively just as entangled with their Tiaileng, my comfort level improved a little. Admittedly, it was a feeling that I was still not quite all the way used to, but I was definitely a lot more used to it than I was before, and as I felt the Tiaileng around me relaxing naturally as they snuggled up against me, I couldn’t help but do the same.

“Huh, Damian snuggled up with a whole bunch of Tiaileng and not freaking the heck out… I mean, I can see it, but I can still hardly believe it, you know?” Emma said, looking slightly bemused at my situation. “I still remember the first time that Tesekorri decided to be friendly and just give you a normal hug, but as soon as you noticed her advancing with her arms outstretched, you were on the other side of the hallway practically before I could blink! And now… it’s a little unexpected, knowing you, but I guess it’s a good thing…”

“Yeah… energy potential or not, I thought it was crazy that they’d assign fifty Tiaileng to a guy who didn’t really like being touched, like, at all. But… I guess that’s the thing about Tiaileng, isn’t it? No matter how you feel, once you’re assigned…” Will leaned back further on the bed, letting Ingotheen follow his motion and snuggle up closer to him. “I mean, sure, I didn’t exactly have a problem with it. Me and Ingi hit it off right from the start, and I don’t think it was even an hour after we got home that we were going at it. Never really even thought about the possibility there might be issues, because for me, there really weren’t any. Even with you, though… I really didn’t know how you were gonna handle just one of them, let alone fifty, but about a month later and you actually look… happy, even right now, basically being surrounded by them. That’s really something, for sure… but hey, if you’re happy, then it’s all good, right?”

“Well… I’m not gonna say it’s easy yet, and I still have to work at it to get comfortable, but… it is working, somehow. I mean, I think it is…” I glanced over Teileren, who was snuggled up against my side, and was about the only one of the trio I could clearly see from my position. “Er, I know this is all kind of abrupt, but… you all seem happy, at least?”

“Mmm, happy enough for now,” she replied, reaching a hand over and brushing it gently through my hair. “Although… it probably would be fun to answer that question, now that we’re all together…”

“Er… what question?”

“Oh, you know… the one about what our favorite sexual positions are…”

“Wait… you really want to talk about that?”

“Well, Ingotheen does have a point, since it is the traditional Tiaileng way to get properly acquainted to the one you’re assigned to. And if you know what works for them, you can figure out something that both of you like, and then it makes the next part really easy…” She paused, looking behind her. “Well, easy if it’s one-on-one, although if you’re flexible enough, I can think of a few different scenarios where we could all simultaneously be involved…”

“Um… do we really have to talk about this right now?”

“Like I said, I think it… hmm, you’re getting kind of tense, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, for kind of an obvious reason…”

“Oh?”

“I mean, you’re talking about all this stuff, talking about doing it, at the same time you’re in actual, physical contact with me…”

“And… still not seeing the problem, really. Sure, you’re a little nervous maybe, but your file said you were doing a lot better now, and your arousal is coming through a lot stronger, but… ah, I think I’m beginning to understand,” she continued, turning her head to look over at my friends. “Still not quite comfortable discussing that kind of thing with them, huh? I’d have thought that you would have all been assigned long enough to be okay with discussing it, although I guess you were kind of out here by yourself with a bunch of Tiaileng for a good chunk of that. From what I heard earlier, though, it seems like your friends are starting to come to terms with it, though, at least amongst themselves…”

Will blushed slightly at that for a second, before shrugging a little. “Yeah, guess you guys did overhear that, didn’t you? Although… I guess there’s not much point to be embarrassed about it, I mean not any more. It’s still a little crazy, getting my head around the stuff we got up to, but we’re kinda used to it by now, and I can only imagine that you are, too…” He looked back over, giving me a sort of knowing look. “After all, I have to assume that you get to see Tiaileng-style orgies just about every day, right?”

I couldn’t help but feel a little weird about how easy that assumption was, but there wasn’t much point trying to deny it. “If you mean being in the same room as about a dozen naked Tiaileng with zero inhibitions whatsoever… then yeah.”

“So, it’s not like this story’s gonna surprise you a whole lot, right? I mean, if you even want to hear-“

“Of course we want to hear it!” was Teileren’s reply, although Leassah and Savinnae chimed in a second later with equally enthusiastic responses. I wasn’t quite sure I shared their enthusiasm, but at the same time, all but curled up in their arms, there wasn’t a whole lot of incentive to go against them. Daledonne and Envelie, for their parts, just seemed to be looking on with interest, so Will just shrugged again and continued.

“I dunno how interesting it is, really, I mean it’s just sex and stuff, but… here goes. There really wasn’t anything in particular that set it off, you know? School let out, and we all went to hang out at Emma’s house. You know, just chilling in the living room, a bunch of us on the pair of couches in there, playing some video game - I can’t even remember what it was. There were six of us, though, and four controllers, so Ingi and Tessy sat out the first round, just hanging out on the other couch and kind of snuggling with each other. But then I guess the first round went kind of long, and they got bored, and… I was wrapped up enough in the game that I didn’t even notice at first, but once the game was done, I looked over and they… well, all of a sudden they weren’t wearing much more than their underwear, Ingi was lying down on the couch with Tessy on top of her, and they were… I guess you’d say they were making out, although Tiaileng don’t quite do it the same, since they don’t usually try and kiss like they do with humans. They were doing that thing they do with their tongues, though, like french-kissing but outside of their mouths in the space between them, all that intricate intertwining… I kind of didn’t even know what to think about it. I think I was just dumbstruck seeing it happen out of the blue like that, standing there with my own jaw just about to the floor, and I think the rest of us were kinda stunned too. They didn’t even seem to notice us staring, or maybe didn’t care, just wriggled out of their panties and started, y’know… petting each other between their legs, like it was the most natural thing in the world. At that point, I didn’t even know that Tiaileng just did that, with each other, and if it had started out with Mirr or something I don’t know how I would have reacted, but seeing them together, doing that… well, as a guy, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you just how freakin’ hot that was. Still, though, at the time I’m just sitting there, watching, don’t even know what to do, but Mirracai, shit, he just got up, slid his pants off like it was nothing, got up on the couch behind them. And Ingi and Tessy just smiled, Ingi just reached her hand up and casually spread Tessy open enough so that you could see the barrier had long since retreated, and Mirr just… I’m still not sure how, but somehow all three of them managed to do… something, together. And from there… oh, jeez, that’s when we all started to do stuff, and… and… I totally thought I was okay with all that, but sitting here, talking about it with everyone staring at me, I kinda want to die of embarrassment…”

“Aw, c’mon, you can’t just stop there!” Teileren pleaded, but Will seemed seized by hesitation, blushing properly this time.

“Well, I know it’s no big deal to Tiaileng, but…” he couldn’t quite manage to continue, his voice kind of just cutting off abruptly midway through the syllable. Ingotheen, though, seemed totally fine with it, nuzzling encouragingly against Will’s chest - and then picking up where he left off when even that didn’t seem to elicit more from him.

“Hmm… maybe I’d better tell that part, then? Not that anything bad happened, or anything that anyone should be embarrassed about, at least from a Tiaileng perspective. After all, what’s wrong with a group of close friends having fun together? Although… once the three of us Tiaileng had our fun, we saw that everyone else was still kind of frozen up and awkward about it, so we… cajoled them to join in the fun. It was entirely our idea, to be sure, but we’d all been so close, for so long, it just seemed like a natural evolution of things, if we could get everyone interested in it. Happily, though, everyone was aroused by what they’d seen. That being said, people seeming a little… self-conscious about seeing the others with their clothes coming off. So the Tiaileng decided to start it off easy: we each went back over to our partners, gave them a little… encouragement, convinced them to shed their clothing, and did what we usually did with them, albeit in the same room together. Then Tessy and I asked if we could switch it up, her with Will and Zalman with me, just to… try something different, right? At that point, now that everyone was more relaxed and into it enough we actually decided to do it, and it was a nice change of pace, and it felt absolutely fascinating - while I was with Zalman, while I was feeling his embrace and that nice closeness you get when someone is inside you, I could also feel Will having a good time with Tessy, and in a way it almost felt like having sex with all three of them at once! I know, probably something only a Tiaileng can experience, but… it was really good, especially getting to look over and see how sexy Will and Tessy looked together. Plus, I’m not sure why, but for some reason Will and Zalman almost got… competitive over it partway through, and experiencing their enthusiasm together… mmm, even now, I have to say it thrills me in a certain way, just thinking about it.

“Oh, but anyway… once we did that, and Emma was still just with Mirracai, we felt a little bad that she hadn’t gotten to experience the same thing, and since at that point the guys were totally intrigued by it, Tessy and I went over to Emma and played with her the way that we had with each other earlier. That was nice too - it really is amazing how with human women, you don’t even need to have something go inside them to bring them all the way to the peak, just the right kind of petting in the right spot…”

“Wow… I, er, I had no idea that Emma was into that…”

Emma looked a little indignant, but not particularly embarrassed. “Oh, like you’re one to talk, mister I’m-bi-for-Tiaileng! I mean, yeah, sure I’m pretty much attracted to guys, but when there are a couple of people who are very cute, very fuzzy, very attentive and especially good with their hands… yeah, wow, this is super embarrassing to talk about, isn’t it? Let’s just say it was good, and leave it at that…” She paused, smirking for a moment. “Actually, maybe we’d better not. No sense in stopping now, considering we’re just getting to the really fun part…” She looked knowingly over at Zalman and Will, and while Zalman gulped noticeably, and both looked more than a little uncomfortable, neither one spoke up as Ingotheen continued.

“I’m not sure I’d quite put it that way - although I guess it was fun for them, if that’s your point. Of course, it made sense that seeing what we’d been doing got the guys really interested in what was happening again, although if you ask me, it’s fun watching people having fun, regardless of what sexes are involved. Anyway, though, that was about the point when Emma sat up and accused them of being hypocrites for enjoying watching her with us, but not being willing to even touch Mirr, with all of them sitting apart while they watched. She got Mirr on board with it easily enough, and managed to guilt the rest of them to the point that they kinda started trying to make out with him, at least a little. Only Mirr wasn’t really hesitant about it, even if they were at first. Emma was cheering them on, though, and about midway through Zalman kind of shrugged and started reciprocating. Eventually they kind of ended up face to face, sort of kneeling on the couch while rubbing against each other, like making out but a lot more intense. Zalman just got into it, like he didn’t care any more, as long as it felt good… I guess you had to be there, but it was really hot, although soon after that he just started moving and rubbing as quickly as his hips could move and I think he came after about a minute, all over Mirr’s belly. Will was kinda watching, and as it happened I think he realized he’d wrapped both fists around himself and was double-pumping at the sight… I thought he was maybe going to freak out for a moment, but then Mirr noticed, just kinda shifted over a little and nudged Will’s hands aside, then took over with his own, settling in between them like it was the most natural thing ever. Will fired off pretty quick too, I guess because he’d never done anything like that with a guy before and got too into it to hold back. Although, maybe it was still a little too new, and everyone seemed really awkward and worked up about it afterward, so we all went back to our respective partners and made sure that we got the rest of their tension released in a way that was nice and slow, gentle, and very reassuring. And that’s about it! Assuming I went into enough detail, that is…”

She looked over at me, probably noticing that I was blushing hard enough to likely be nearly purple. “Okay, yeah, obviously enough detail. Anyway, I guess it was a lot for everyone to take in, and people still seemed really… conflicted about what had happened even if the Tiaileng weren’t. So we got everyone cleaned up, got dressed, and then we sat around the kitchen table and just talked about everything that happened between us for a couple of hours until Emma’s parents came home, going over what we did and how everyone felt to make sure that no one was having a problem with what had happened. And once we got into that, we all realized that even if we weren’t used to it yet, overall we were basically okay with it all - once people, with some help and reassurance from us, got past the inhibitions they’d spontaneously pushed past, there was no denying that everything we did was really fun, and that we were all really a lot closer for it. I guess it’s true that the guys didn’t do a whole lot together after that, but Emma was game for all of it, and we’ve all been together in various combinations several more times since then. At least enough times to get comfortable with it, and with at least some… heteroflexibility…”

“Yeah, I… still not quite used to that, I have to say,” Will said, reaching a hand behind his head to prop himself up a bit - now that the whole story had come out, and seeing that everyone else was more fascinated than derisive, his embarrassment seemed to be rapidly fading. “I mean, jeez, it’s not the kind of thing I ever thought I’d be doing, you know? I can honestly say that I never thought about you, or Zalman, or really any other guy in that way, but Mirracai… what can I say, man? Tiaileng just have that way about them sometimes, and even if you never thought you’d be interested, somehow they find a way, it all clicks, and there you are. Although, to be fair, not everything we tried worked, but a couple of things that Mirracai figured out… it’s totally different from being with a girl, but there’s definitely something to be said for it. I mean… you’ve tried it, right, Damian? Out of all of us, you’re the only one who kind of admitted that he was bi from the get-go, even if only for Tiaileng…”

“I… tried it, yeah. A couple of times, although we didn’t really figure out what we needed to. We couldn’t really get the… positioning right, I guess? It’s nice, being snuggly with them and all, but with women it’s just been a lot easier getting it to work naturally…” Not exactly a really illuminating answer, but it was the best I could come up, considering I was still trying to process everything that Will and Ingotheen had just said. I did know what he meant, though - while I had a certain aversion to even trying to imagine Will with his clothes off, never mind what he might get up to in bed, when it came to Tiaileng it was a completely different story. While it hadn’t really gone the same at all, the couple of times I’d been with Serrivanne had been really, really nice, in a a way that had been completely different, and yet just as compelling, as the times I’d been with Meccione - a kind of experience that, at least somewhat to my surprise, Will and Zalman had discovered on their own.

“Heh… yeah, not sure I’m quite ready to demonstrate what we do, but maybe I could try explaining it at some point. Anyway… really, I’m just kinda amazed that you listened to all that with a straight face and didn’t… lose it, or pass out or something. Although, I’m guessing that it probably has to do with why you’ve got both your hands conspicuously covering your crotch right about now…”

Actually, I was a little surprised by it myself - usually, in situations where I felt that mortified, getting it up seemed to be about the last thing my body was interested in. But when Ingotheen had started talking about what happened, or maybe because it was Ingotheen who’d been describing it, or because I’d had several pairs of Tiaileng hands on me at the time, I’d gotten into the story far more intensely than I thought that I would. “Um… yeah, I guess it is kinda obvious…”

“Hmm…” Leassah said, close enough that I could feel her cool breath on my face - apparently, during the retelling, she’d snuggled up a bit closer to me than I’d thought. “We could take care of that, if you wanted…”

“Er… yeah, I don’t think that I… I know what we’ve just been talking about, and after hearing that, I’m pretty sure that no one would be weirded out by just about anything that could happen right now… I mean, except for the fact that I definitely will be…”

“Aw… I get it, sure, but if you don’t do something about it, you’ll probably get blue-balled, and I doubt you want to feel that! If you just want to sit here aroused, though, I’m not gonna complain - just feeling the energy coming from that, it’s still more than enough for an attunement and plenty beyond, at least coming from you. But if you do want to go a little further, get just a little relief…” She paused for a moment, looking back towards everyone else. “I know it might seem a little rude to ask this, but… perhaps you could give the four of us some time in private? I think we could really use to get just a little more closely acquainted before we rejoin everyone else…”

“Yes… I think that would be a completely reasonable idea.” And just like that, Daledonne got up and herded my friends out into the hallway - although, from the muffled sound coming from the side wall a moment later, it seemed like he only took them over to the next bedroom down. The walls muffled a good portion of the sound, but it was scarcely a minute later when there were some indistinct noises that nonetheless sounded very much like moaning - apparently, the story had gotten them in the mood for something immediately intimate, which left me feeling more than a bit awkward: listening to my friends making what were unmistakable sex noises, sitting there with a hard-on uncomfortably tenting the pouch of my boxer briefs, surrounded by three Tiaileng women whose hands were drifting steadily lower, and through it all feeling somehow beyond embarrassed.

Abruptly, though, the hands on me stopped moving, and a moment later Leassah spoke directly into my ear.

“Hey, are you doing all right? You’re kind of… tensing up, some. We all read your file, and I know you’re doing better, but if you need us to give you some space…”

“No, it’s… not that, really. It’s this whole day, more than anything else, with someone from the Council being here, and all this other stuff happening… I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I guess I should probably be apologizing, for somehow getting you into this complicated mess of a situation. I know it’s not what you were probably expecting, although to be honest, I don’t think the introduction to any of the Tiaileng I’ve had has been… proper, in that way. I know that’s probably what you want, but I… I really don’t think I’m up for that right now. On top of everything else, I don’t think I have the energy to even want to… get off, especially considering what that entails when there are Tiaileng around…”

I wasn’t quite sure why, but for some reason, that actually made Leassah and the others hug me a little more closely.

“Yeah, we read about that, too. It actually sounds really fascinating, and I’d love to experience that, but obviously we’re not going to push you. We also don’t want to see you suffer, though, and since at least certain aspects of male physiology are similar between you and Tiaileng guys, we are aware of the discomfort that can happen if you’re aroused for a while and don’t take care of it at all. So if we can do something about that, of course we want to…”

“And I know that too, but that doesn’t change the fact that… I’m just not sure what I can handle right now. I feel really confused about a lot of things, the council and everything, and all of a sudden, after that story, I have to start looking at my friends in a totally different light. Not that it’s really any surprise, considering what I’m beginning to understand about the way that Tiaileng and humans tend to end up interacting, but even so, it’s all just a lot to take in, and trying to add sex to the mix, right now…”

“Yeah, I see your point, but…” Leassah seemed to be trying to think of… a solution, I guessed, but it was actually Teileren who chimed in from my other side.

“Hmm… if you’re willing to let us try something, maybe there’s a way to make it all work. A way to… stave off any potential suffering, but without going all the way, and at the same time giving us all something we could definitely use.”

“I’m… not quite sure what you’re talking about…”

“Oh! Yeah, I suppose I should explain what I mean. So… you know about the four stages of the sexual response cycle, right?”

“Er… sort of?”

“Okay, let me try and explain, then. For guys, there are basically four stages, right? Arousal, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. For women, true, it’s a little more complicated than that, but there’s plenty of time to talk about that when we actually do something more direct. Anyway, though, the reason you get… blue balls, if you want to call it that, is because when you get aroused, certain things tense up - that’s kind of one of the key points to it. If you actually have an orgasm, of course all that tension dissipates, and everything relaxes back down without a problem. If you just leave things in the aroused state, though, that tension just… stays there, and like any other exertion, things tend to get strained after a while - even if things seem to go back down, you get a really uncomfortable ache. But… if Tiaileng guys are any guide, there’s actually a way to take care of it that doesn’t require a climax.”

“Really? Er, I mean, I’m not usually in this situation, and these days, I’m getting used enough to contact that I only tend to get this aroused is when I’m scheduled to be with Tiaileng like that…”

“Wait… you actually schedule when you’re going to have sex with someone?” Savinnae chimed in, sounding slightly incredulous. “Not big on spontaneity, are you?”

“Actually, it was Daledonne’s idea, I think… we did it like that so I would feel comfortable with it, and that instead of having people constantly propositioning me throughout the day, making me nervous, instead there would just be a set time for that, and that way I wouldn’t be surprised by it and we would all be on the same page. And it… worked…”

“Okay… I’m not trying to be critical, it’s just… a little surprising, is all. Most guys who are assigned, if someone’s encouraging them, they’re happy to get into it at any time. Then again, if there were fifty people all trying to clamor for my attention… yeah, I can see your point.”

“Anyway,” Teileren interjected, “that’s really neither here nor there. What matters, right now, is that we’re all here together, and I think we all need to be like that just a little longer.” I craned my neck back around from where I’d been trying to look back at Savinnae, to see her looking right at me again. “I know that the three of us are definitely appreciating this, and as for you… I can tell you’re a little on edge, but at the same time, you’re not trying to pull away, not even a little. And I think… if we can get even more comfortable, if we can get you some relief, maybe it won’t be quite a traditional introduction, but it will give us what we need to really get into our assignment.”

“Well… how do you mean, though?”

“Oh, right! So, back to the thing I was talking about. Believe it or not, sometimes Tiaileng get into a sort of similar situation, where we’re kind of too tired to go all the way, but we still want to do something. And that’s where all that stuff I was talking about earlier comes in. If all you do is just get aroused and then leave it, there are problems. But here’s the thing I figured out: for a guy, if you know what you’re doing, you can get them fully aroused, and kind of in the middle of that plateau thing. Not approaching orgasm, not really even close to the edge, but in that comfortable middle ground where everything’s just feeling really good. And if you’re careful and relaxed, if you take it slow and don’t try to push any further than that… if you do it long enough, and then back off really gradually, everything starts to relax back on its own. It’s not as sudden as an orgasm, and doesn’t provide that same sense of total relief, but if you do it right you can still feel pretty satisfied, and you don’t end up with any lingering pain at all. Or, at least that’s what I’ve heard from the guys I’ve tried it with. Admittedly, the way we did it involved me using my own muscles to massage them while they were inside me… although, if you’re not quite comfortable with doing that just yet, I would bet that we could do the same thing with a more directly ‘hands-on’ approach. I don’t know, actually, whether it works quite the same way on people as it does on Tiaileng, but it’s worth a shot, right?”

“Um, I… guess…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, really! If it feels too weird or uncomfortable for you, in any way, just tell me and I won’t go any further. Or if you can’t handle it at all, just let me know. But really, all I’m going to do is get just a little… closer…”

As she said that, I felt her hand nudge the lower hem of my shirt up just a little, before sliding in underneath the waistband of my pants. The movement certainly got my attention, although I didn’t tense up the way that I was expecting. In a way, the touch wasn’t immediately, dramatically different to what I was already feeling - the way that I was sitting, almost reclining against the trio of them, just about every part of me from my waist to my head was in contact with at least one of them. It was true that being fully clothed provided enough of a buffer for me to handle that much contact - while I’d somehow managed to get basically used to it, having that much soft Tiaileng fur in contact with my skin was still more than I could usually handle, and why, despite the ample opportunities, all the full-contact encounters I’d experienced had been one-on-one. Even just feeling Leassah and Teileren snuggling up against my exposed forearms had already been generating a complicated mix of anxiety, comfort, and low-level arousal, and while it hadn’t gotten me to my current state, it was managing to maintain it in a position that was already heading towards discomfort.

I was expecting to feel her hand directly, but instead of nudging her fingers beneath the elastic of my underwear, I felt them instead sliding along its surface, finding my tip as it pushed out against the fabric - but instead of rubbing against it, she pushed one of her fingers in just underneath, sliding my shaft against the fabric while angling it upward until my tip was pointing up towards the waistband. It was an unusual angle, different from what I was used to, but the pouch held it in place, straining up far enough that I could feel the waistband tugging out ever so slightly from the nearby pressure.

I still wasn’t quite sure how to respond to what she’d just done, but at the same time, it actually felt kind of comfortable, and even more so when her hand came back down to gently cup the lower part of the pouch before running her fingers upward until she found the base of my shaft, then pressing in gently and rubbing through the fabric along its length, all the way to the tip with an unexpected sort of petting, massaging motion. It was powerful enough to send a little thrill running up my spine, but subtle enough, and muted just enough by the fabric between us, that it didn’t send my arousal into high gear in the same way it would have if she’d made direct contact with my skin.

She let one of her fingers linger for a moment on the very edge of the tip, caressing it through the fabric, before drawing her fingers back and returning them to the base, where she repeated the motion with the same careful and deliberate pace. It was just stimulating enough that there was a part of me that wanted to start bucking my hips back against her touch, getting the pace and arousal to speed up… but at the same time, there was that part of me that had become more acclimated to the leisurely Tiaileng pattern of stimulation, and wanted to keep feeling it exactly as it was. Ultimately, I simply sighed happily, letting myself sink into the warm embrace of my newly-assigned Tiaileng, letting the deep, massaging touch of her fingers continue.

Teileren was true to her word - under the calm, steady ministration of her fingers, the arousal I had been feeling grew to a nice, comfortable thrum, and then seemed to somehow stay there indefinitely, neither wanting to recede or to progress all the way to climax. Instead, I felt almost like I was emerging into some sort of trance: calm, comfortable energy flowing through me with just the right sort of pleasantly erotic edge.

I could tell that the Tiaileng around me were getting into it as well - even through I was the one being stimulated, I knew that they were feeling every beat of it from the emotions that were surely flowing directly to them from each point of contact. While it was bright enough in the bedroom that I couldn’t actually see the energy flowing into the turquoise fur, the places where their arms wrapped around mine seemed to be glowing ever so slightly. Even without that, though, I could hear their breath coming faster, feel them engaging with me more - while Teileren’s hand kept working on me, the other pressed gently against my thigh, both Leassah and Savinnae seemed to alternate between caressing my arms, and running their fingers through my hair, along my cheeks, down my neck… just about anywhere that wasn’t covered by my clothing. I really wasn’t sure if I was making much of a sound or not, but I was sure that the three of them were almost… purring somehow. In that warm, trancelike state, though, it was hard to tell, as sounds seemed to fade into the background, and the noises from the other room that had been disturbing me seemed to fade away entirely. In fact, it was easy to forget about my surroundings, and I was more than happy to just close my eyes, and let the gentle sensations surround me.

There was a part of me that thought I should find a way to reciprocate, somehow, but by that point I was so deep into it, so relaxed, that I hardly wanted to move. In fact, all I wanted to do was let the last little bit of trepidation fade away, and give myself over entirely to the gentle touch being applied to so many different parts of me.

As Teileren’s fingers massaged just intensely enough against me, I felt the three of them gently lowering me down to recline further, and when I opened my eyes I found myself looking up at Savinnae’s face from below, my head nestling comfortably in against warm fur, and I realized that I was actually resting in her lap. Somehow, though, I just couldn’t feel nervous or awkward about it, giving her a contented smile and watching her return it, her hands playing through my hair as each gentle stroke of Teileren’s touch held me in that state of perfectly balanced stimulation.

In that happy, almost dreamlike state, I completely lost track of time, but eventually the feeling of fingers running along my shaft felt softer and softer, fainter and fainter, until eventually the motion stopped entirely - replaced by the feeling of the palm of her hand lying along the lower length of my shaft, nudging the soft fabric of my underwear around it and keeping it comfortably in place. In the absence of additional stimulation, I could feel my erection receding gently beneath her hand, but far more gradually than it usually did - and when it had subsided entirely, which was usually the point where on rare occasion that deep, gnawing ache would usually set in, instead I felt… strangely relieved, not quite in the same way that I usually did after I came, relaxed but tinged with just enough of a lingering sense of excitement. Somehow, I had little doubt that when the normal time for sex arrived, despite my earlier trepidation, I might actually be ready - and considering how spontaneously well things had just worked, while I usually needed to get to know someone a lot better before engaging with them like that, I was actually starting to imagine what it would be like to be with Teileren, or really any of them, in that way…

Of course, about twenty seconds into that fantasy, my mind managed to insert a far more troubling, if perhaps likelier, prospect: that if something was going to happen, Jesollae would probably be in the room, or might even try to arrange it so that she was my partner. I knew what she had said about that, but words were one thing and actions another, and considering that look she’d had in her eyes, that focused determination that seemed uniquely hers, no possibility seemed entirely off the table.

While it was true that she might have been just as pleasant to be with as any other Tiaileng, just the notion of trying to face that level of intensity quickly edged my anxiety enough to extinguish the remaining bits of pleasure, and I sat back up on the bed a moment later, the trio of Tiaileng letting me go reluctantly enough that Teileren and Leassah actually trailed their hands along my arms as I got up - our fingers intertwined for a moment, then their fingertips brushed against mine before letting go. When I turned back around on the bed to look at them, though, all of them were smiling back at me, and even though we’d only been intimate in the most general sense, each one of them had that sort of deeply contented look that Tiaileng seemed to get after my climax, and the automatic group cuddle that occurred immediately afterwards. Even though I hadn’t actually provided them with much of any stimulation directly, there was no question that they’d managed to experience enough of what I’d been feeling to be just about as satisfied as I was.

As we hadn’t gone all the way, there wasn’t much to clean up afterwards, at least not immediately - although Savinnae, upon getting up from the bed, opened a nearby chest of drawers that, interestingly enough, had been pre-populated with Tiaileng clothing that appeared to be in their size. One row had pairs of shorts in various, abbreviated feminine styles, and another contained neatly folded rows of panties. Obviously, when Daledonne had brought us here, he’d anticipated that at least something would happen between us, and had planned accordingly. While Teileren had insisted that they had no problem with me watching as they changed out of shorts that had been dampened with their own unspoken arousal, and while I was sure that her Tiaileng lack of modesty was genuine, I nevertheless excused myself for a moment, wandering back out into the hallway - where Daledonne had apparently been waiting.

“Ah… I take it things went well, yes? Okay, true, I don’t actually need an answer to that - most anywhere in the mansion would be close enough for me to sense the feelings you were giving off. Admittedly, not quite the approach I was expecting to feel from you, but it seems to have worked quite nicely - your pace of relaxation, even with that much close contact with previously unknown Tiaileng, was quite impressive, considering. I know it may be restating the obvious, but compared to the state you were in when you first had to deal with such an extraordinary assignment, you’ve come a tremendous way in finding your comfort level in a relatively short span of time. Which is something that I think is quite important to see, as I can only imagine that there will be situations approaching that may present a… certain level of challenge, both for you, and for all of us that are part of your assignment. Rest assured, though, that we are all here to support you, and that whatever Jesollae has in mind, we’ll make sure you can get through it with a minimum of hassle or anxiety.”

He gestured back down the hallway. “Your friends have… resolved their own tension, and have already headed down towards the main banquet hall, where we’re getting set up for a slightly belated dinner. Once your newly-assigned partners have joined us, we’ll proceed there as well, and I suppose once we’ve had something to eat, we’ll see what more Jesollae has to say now that she’s completed her consultations…”

As he was finishing up, the door opened to reveal Leassah, Teileren, and Savinnae, still wearing the same shirts, but all in shorts that were a slightly different shade of denim blue. Leassah and Savinnae wasted no time, each one of them clasping one of my hands in theirs, and while Teileren seemed perturbed for a moment, she quickly found a way to make up for it: by walking up to me, flicking her tongue out, and giving my cheek a lingering lick, grinning widely at the way it caused me to suddenly blush. Except, a second later, her face took on a softer, strangely emotional expression, and before I could figure out what was behind it, she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around my neck, and brought her short muzzle up against my lips in the closest Tiaileng equivalent of a kiss.

Unlike the sudden, crazy intensity of what Erilanna had done before, her kiss was gentle and quick, just long enough to celebrate the connection between us without feeling too uncomfortable. Then she pulled back, and her smile was unquestionably genuine, although it swapped out quickly for a look of mock innocence as she looked between Leassah and Savinnae, who I could only guess were glaring at her a little.

“Hey, c’mon! You get to hold hands with him the entire way in, so it’s only fair…”

And then she was off, walking in front of us with a swing in her step, leaving me to follow along somehow, although my mind was suddenly being tugged in different directions nearly as much as my arms were: between the feeling of Leassah and Savinnae keeping their fingers tightly intertwined with mine, their fur rubbing against my forearms as they made clear enough the nature of their own developing connection to me, to the still-troubling enigma that was Jesollae and her intentions… to Teileren’s posterior, well-defined by the snug shorts, cute little nub of a tail twitching just above, bouncing just enough with each of her enthusiastic steps that it was suddenly hard to focus my gaze anywhere else.

That, however, cleared up as soon as we entered the banquet hall, and my parents came into view, causing that particular train of thought to slip rapidly away, and causing me to glance guiltily downward for a moment as Teileren turned around. If she’d noticed where I was staring, though, she didn’t seem to mind - of course, that was probably a given - and sat down without further comment. Leassah and Savinnae reluctantly detached themselves, and soon I was in my usual place, seated at the head of the table - for some reason, with Teileren sitting directly to one side of me, and a troublingly eager-looking Jesollae on the other.

The current rotation of Tiaileng chefs had tried their hand at doing steaks, and while the seasoning was ever so slightly unusual, which was hardly a surprise considering they couldn’t actually taste the food they prepared, the steaks themselves were cooked perfectly. Both my human friends and family dug in with gusto, like they’d worked up quite an appetite, and I really didn’t have to work very hard to imagine what they’d all managed to get up to.

I was hungry enough too, but I have to admit I ate with a certain deliberation. It didn’t take much of a glance at Jesollae to realize that she was more than ready to get into what her team had discussed, and there was a part of me, for sure, that wanted to take as much time as it possibly could to brace itself before discovering what she wanted to do next…