Dear Diary,

Y'know, I talk about family a lot. And in case you hadn't noticed, someone hurting my family is one of the things that really sets me off. But, and it's weird, I know, I never really expected any of those folks who I more or less claimed as family, and feel free to insert your own joke about rubbing up against them a lot here, to go to those same lengths for me.

For what it's worth, my ongoing dreams of lounging by the lakeside are pretty fuckin' restful now that all the itching has gone away. Still have tadpoles all over the place. Mostly in the water, but not entirely. A bunch in the spots that used to be itchy. No idea what that's all about. Maybe I'm dreaming about being one of those frogs that carries babies in their backs? Yech. Grossed myself out with that one. Really hope it's not true, because like I said, right now those dreams are super relaxing.

Woke in darkness with Saffron snuggled up next to me. Part of me wanted to know where Marie and the menace were, but the lazy, resting part told me that not only were they probably off carting somewhere or doing Marie things, if something were seriously wrong with either of them, Saffron would wake me up. Or just deal with it. She is the more-than-half competent one of us, after all. Instead of bothering her with that, I shifted from my back to my side so I could just look at her while she slept. Before anybody gives me any shit about that, it's not like I'm a creeper who snuck into her bedroom. She lay down next to me with full knowledge that I was gonna be there. Also, we're married. Also, fuck off, I think she's cute when she sleeps.

Fuck it, it's not like it's the most morally ambiguous thing I've ever done.

So I lay there just watching her until she slowly stirred and woke. I don't think I've ever really gotten to see her wake up at her own pace before; it's always been an emergency, or the menace in the middle of pulling some shit, either adorable or nerve wracking, or something else where she had to go from sleeping to awake in the minimum time possible. It's kind of funny; she used to be the one who woke me up in time to get breakfast, and yet now, watching her, I realized she must have started getting up at like four in the morning to get totally awake and ready to go in time to wake me up. The first thing I noticed was that her breathing went from shallow, light snoring to breathing slowly and evenly. She stirred, snuggling into my arm like she suddenly found it an uncomfortable pillow. She stretched into a huge yawn, working her mouth like she'd just tasted something and couldn't figure out if she liked it or not. Finally her eyes slid open, and she smiled up at me.

"Good morning."

"Is it? I wasn't sure. Something about not leaving the room for," I paused, thinking, then realized I had no idea how long I'd slept for each time I fell asleep. "Okay, what day is it?"

"Tyrsday."

"Oh, shit." Shit, Boss, I'm sorry, I didn't realize what day it was.

Quite all right, Tabitha Diaz. It had been far too long since I spent the day with you rather than the other way around. It gave your Maenad and your High Priestess some much needed time away from watching over you.

Thanks, Boss. You're the best.

I know.

"Did you guys really watch over me the whole time I was out?"

"Watched over you or slept next to you, one or the other. Sometimes both." She shrugged it away, like it hadn't been a whole big thing. I pulled her to me with the arm she'd used as a pillow, just snuggling her tight to me. Her arms went around me, and we lay there like that, her face against my chest. Beloved?

Yeah, Kitten?

Would you indulge me, just for a few moments?

Always, for as long as you like!

She pulled her arms back until her hands rested on the outside of my boobs. Then, before I could react, she straight up motorboated me. I lay there, too stunned to react other than the smile that crept across my face. When she ran out of breath she pulled back and smiled sheepishly up at me. Then she did it again.

"Enjoying yourself?"

She pulled back, grinning from ear to ear. "Mostly I'm enjoying your self right now. What about you?"

"Kind of too surprised to pay attention to that."

"Oh, that certainly won't do." Then she did it again. This time she really got into it, starting to laugh as she did so. It kinda tickled, and even if the diagonal scar between my breasts ached a little at the motion, that grin she'd had on made it all worthwhile. Also, the more she did it the more it tickled. I'd also be a liar if I said I didn't react just a little bit. Okay, more than a little bit, but if she's hot when she's all serious and shit? She's absolutely fucking adorkable when she's silly. I laughed out loud, and when she started to pull back I put my arms around her head and hugged her to me. More motorboating ensued. Things devolved from there. Y'know what? Fuck that, things evolved from there. Not gonna buy into that 'getting physical and sexual is crude' thing any more. Puritans screwed me up enough in my last life, hell if I'm gonna let 'em do it in this one.

Knew I'd made the right call when I went to slide my arms down her back, intending to get a nice grip on her butt, and her head kinda followed my arms, eventually slipping into my hands. The whole world went away for a while after that, because apparently my wife has raised her canoodling skill somehow. I'd Inspect her to check, but in the first place that's rude, and in the second I had everything I could do not grabbing at her hair like handlebars.

I decided right then that I was gonna find a way to get her to wear pigtails at some point. Screw it, I'd do it too. What's good for the goose is good for the other goose too, right?

Afterward, I lay there panting, every one of my scars aching, but in that sore 'we were healing just fine, cut that shit out' way, not the spiky, sharp, 'you done fucked up, moron' way.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Her fingers tracing the pale diagonal line between my breasts, which stood out now more that my skin was flushed, she whispered, "sorry if that got a little bit athletic."

This time I did use her hair to turn her head to face me. "No. I will not have you feeling guilty over something I enjoyed. I could have said 'stop' at any point."

"I seem to recall a few times your mouth was full."

So I could have said stop this way.

"I also remember a few times your brain seemed a little overtaxed."

I pulled her up and kissed her. When we came up for air, I said, "seriously, if I don't start getting some kind of exercise, I'll come out of my recovery a doughy lump."

"Does this count as exercise now?"

"Hmm... elevated heart rate, check. Stretching, check. Endorphin rush, checkity check check, hella check even. Over fifteen minutes, also check. I mean, I guess there wasn't any strength training involved, really."

"Not even when you lifted me up to reposition me?" She put on a mock offended face. "Without even asking! Not even a 'by your leave' or 'do you wanna'. Just yanking me around like a rag doll."

I snickered, sounding surprisingly like the menace to my own ears. "I do not yank. I yoink. And you're way closer to a real doll than a rag doll anyway."

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. After a moment she closed her eyes and said, "do I even want to ask?"

I grinned at her again and said, "probably not, but I'm gonna answer anyhow. So, I know I've told you about movies, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, some movies require visuals that you can't get from a real live person. Like somebody being cut in half, or shot, or beheaded or whatever."

She narrowed her eyes a bit and said, "go on."

"So some people got really good at making lifelike, well, dolls. Mannequins. People sized, people shaped, that look and even feel and can move like people. Like, not 'move of their own volition', but 'when you yoink or yeet them, they move and bounce right', and everything." I smiled at her increasing levels of side-eye. "So eventually computer graphics got better at doing that than, y'know, real world models, so those guys were looking at unemployment when they realized they could make, ah, intimate entertainment dolls. Since they were so lifelike, they called them 'real dolls'."

Her side-eye got a little speculative. "Wouldn't those be kind of passive?"

I shrugged. "Not like I've ever used one, but probably."

"So you're saying I'm passive?"

Inspiration struck to save me from what was no doubt Saffron's terrifying revenge. "Of course not. I'm saying that your body is so nice it must have been hand crafted to be perfect."

She frowned at me, but couldn't quite keep it up. "Not your best save ever, Diaz."

"No, but it was a save, wasn't it?"

"Considering I'm wondering how passive I could get you to be, or how passive I could be without you giving up on me, I suppose so."

I laughed at that, and after a moment she joined me. "Seriously, Kitten, I'm kinda beat. Also a little hungry."

"How many times have you eaten since you passed out?"

"Uh... food?"

She bonked me with a pillow. "Yes, food. Goof."

"Twice? I think?"

Her face got a little pale, and she dropped the pillow. "Did you eat a lot while you were doing all that Curing?"

"Oh, yeah. After the first day they remembered and brought me sandwiches every day at lunch."

She dragged her hand over her face. "One sandwich per day?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you feel up to... never mind. Hold still, Goof." A moment later my one set of 'casual clothes' appeared on my body; a moment later Saffron's civvy outfit showed up on her. She took my hand, hoisted me more or less upright, and then pushed me backward onto a Dining Hall seat. "Marie!"

Wheels squeaked in response to her call, and a moment later the menace glomped my head from behind. "Yes?"

At the same time, Isnomi took a deep breath with her face buried in my hair then yelled, "Momma!" at the top of her lungs.

"I just discovered that our dear Tabitha has eaten maybe five normal meals since Yule. Less than one Tabitha-meal all told, probably."

A pause, then Marie said, "Oops." I could hear the wince in her voice when she said it.

"Oops indeed. I didn't think of it either. Tabitha, are you feeling well enough to feed yourself, or do I need to spoon feed you?"

I looked at her, hoping she wouldn't notice the mischief in my eyes. "What about I'm well enough to feed myself, but I want you to anyway?"

"I don't think I could shovel food into you that fast. Not safely anyhow. Right now, you need to eat."

Before I could say another word, Marie manhandled a tray of sausages in front of me. A little hand grabbed one as it went past, and then the smell of the sausages hit my nose. Some time later, as I gulped down the last sausage on the tray, I looked around to see the other ROTC Cadets staring at me. "Hey, Diaz. Welcome back," said Angel.

"Good to be back. Also, more food please, Marie?" Before I finished the request, a tray of spicy eggs hit the table. Angel pushed the nearest water pitcher at me, careful to keep her hand on the far side of it at all times. "Oh, gawd, these are so good," I groaned out through a mouthful.

Isnomi bounced on my shoulders, chanting, "Eat! Eat! Eat!" while I shoveled spoonful after spoonful into my bottomless maw. Normally I might get a little annoyed at that kind of thing, but she's cute, the food was too good, and I was too hungry to care. A tray of jalapeno scrapple arrived just as I finished off the last of the eggs. Marie kept that up for the rest of the meal, sliding a new tray in every time I emptied one, making sure my water pitcher never stayed empty, and in the moments of down time making sure the rest of the table didn't suffer from my making an absolute oinker of myself.

As the end of the meal approached, Headmaster Miles walked over to our table on the way out and said, "Cadet Diaz. I'm happy to see you up and about. I take it this means you'll be ready to return to classes or other duties some time soon?"

Before I could swallow to answer, Saffron spoke for me. "I'm afraid not, sir. She's still nowhere near fully healed, and Marie and I just realized she'd been starving herself even before she collapsed."

The Headmaster frowned. "That's not good. Was that deliberate, Cadet?"

I shook my head and took a big gulp of water before speaking. "No, Sir. I just didn't think about it. At the start there were just too many people who needed Curing, and after the first day I wasn't in any kind of shape to self-diagnose. I think I sort of forgot about being hungry, what with the constant casting."

He shook his head. "You'll need to work on that in the future, Cadet. In the meanwhile, however, those around you will need to remember that you have a habit of forgetting to care for yourself."

I frowned a little and swallowed another bite. "I'm tough, Sir. I can take it."

"Cadet Aetos, if you would?" Saffron leaned over the table and flicked me on the forehead. "Thank you, Cadet. Just because you can do so does not mean you should. Everyone in the city owes you a debt, and it would be poor repayment if we let you starve while we're supposed to be letting you heal. Do try to keep that in mind from now on?"

I tried to look as contrite as I could while swallowing another bite. "I'll try, Sir."

"See that you do. Cadet Aetos?"

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"See that she's properly taken care of when she inevitably fails to do so. Also do let me know when you think she's ready to resume some form of duties."

"Will do, Headmaster."

With that, he nodded and walked out of the Dining Hall, headed for his office. I looked around the Hall and realized that all the remaining Maids had congregated around our table, their carts loaded up with what looked like leftovers. Marie slid her empty cart aside and hefted the first of the leftover trays in front of me. I realized at that point that the rest of the tables hadn't been getting breakfast, they'd been eating dinner food, like the half-tray of meatloaf in front of me. "Eat."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Hey, it's a jungle out here. Eat or be eaten. Eagles and Tigers and Menaces. Oh, my.