By the time all of the crates were moved out and I had done all of the micromanaging I could think of, it was already getting dark. I had just finished feeding Lilith and then I ended up in my familiar room. I turned to Kiera who had both remained close at hand and distant at the same time for the last few hours.

“Master may call me if he needs me.” Kiera gave a curtsy and then turned to leave.

“Ah! Wait…” Kiera had turned away, but she did stop. “I… um… I want to apologize?”

“Master has nothing to apologize for,” Kiera responded. “I am Master’s property. Master may use me however he sees fit.”

The way she said that bothered me immediately. “I don’t see it that way.”

“It is that way, Master.” She continued to walk.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I didn’t know what I had done wrong, and I didn’t know how to make it better. When I had first done it, I didn’t expect things to end up so complicated. I decided to retreat into the room. From the time I was there a week before, it had been cleaned up a bit, but until I brought more comforts from my world, it would never look better than some derelict apartment someone might rent on the bad side of town, the kind with roaches the size of cats. Actually, in this world, I could say roaches were much bigger than cats.

I could transfer back to my world and sleep in the comfort of my own bed. I decided not to do that this weekend. There was the possibility that someone would need me in the middle of the night. However, that wasn’t the real reason that I decided to stay. I wanted to get used to the Apocalypse. I wanted to tone those skills.

Earlier that week I had nearly died on Earth. Whether it was those kidnappers trying to do something with Mizuki, the sex traffickers after my mother, or the loan shark after my whole family, I had come to realize there were too many dangers regardless of what world you lived in. I wanted to get used to sleeping with one eye open, or the next time I slept I might not wake up.

Of course, the second reason I stayed was that I was hoping for a visit from Katarina. Last week, she had come to my room for the first time. Today, she had been a little upset, and we hadn’t had a chance to talk, but I was betting she’d stop by again. Just because I was worried about Kiera didn’t mean my relationship with Katarina was going to stop. I made sure to clean myself, checking my breath, and putting on something comfortable.

I made sure the half-rotting mattress was covered in blankets and was as comfortable as possible. I reminded myself that as soon as I got some money, I’d get more mattresses for everyone, just as I had before. The mattresses we originally had were taken by raiders, and either they were destroyed or still being used by some raider out there. I could already guess it was Cock and Balls who had stolen it all.

I finally turned out the lights and then waited for Katarina to come to me. Then, I kept on waiting. An hour passed, and then another. At first, I had just considered that maybe she had a lot to do and it’d take her some time to make it here. Slowly, I began to worry that she wasn’t coming at all. I thought about going to find her, but not only was I too knew at this kind of thing to just seek her out to ask for such a thing, but I was pretty sure if I did so I would make her angry.

After it was already late in the night, and I was certain everyone was starting to go off to sleep, I finally accepted that Katarina wasn’t coming. Maybe I should have pushed things farther with Lily. She had at least shown interest in me. Besides, it was another world, and Katarina had already given me permission to do such a thing. Well, she had kind of given me permission.

Actually, if I recalled what she really said, she said she’d be jealous but she just wanted me to be open about it. That could have been a trap from the beginning. She will say ‘sure, I’m okay with an open relationship’, but what she means is that she’s hoping I tell her as soon as I’m less than loyal, so she can kick me to the curb even faster. Why did I just hear what I wanted to hear?

As my mood started to sink quickly, I heard an unexpected click to my door as it opened from the hallway. There was just a bit of light that came in from the hallways, and I could see a form walk into my room. She closed the door behind her. I didn’t call out to her. Instead, I waited to see what she was doing. Well, I was hoping she didn’t pull out a knife. Knowing the wasteland, such a thing was possible. She didn’t move for a bit and seemed to stand there watching me. I started to get a little worried, but I calmed down once I heard her walking over.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

In the relative silence of the room, I could hear gulping, and squinting from just above my covers, I could see that she was swallowing down a bottle of alcohol. Was Katarina drinking? I mean, she had every right to drink. I was too young to drink in my world, but this was another world, and Katarina was a bit older than me besides. Katarina burped and then got onto my bed. It wasn’t the sexiest approach, but seeing as I had spent the last three hours waiting for this moment, I was pretty ready to go.

She crawled up on top of me, moving up my body like a cat slowly marking its territory. I kept my eyes closed, pretending I was asleep. I could finally feel her on top of me. Her breath was… well actually it was pretty pungent with the smell of alcohol. However, at that point, there was very little that would turn me off.

I waited in anticipation as I felt her face just a few inches above mine. Ever so slowly, I felt a pair of lips press against mine. As her soft lips touched mine, I lost all patience. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her. I was going in. My tongue launched into her mouth, and I grabbed her body, pulling her to me.

“Mm!” I heard her let out a moan as I began to kiss her thoroughly.

Grabbing her, I rolled over in bed, getting on top of her. She flayed awkwardly for a second, her hands ending up on my shoulders. They tightened for a second but then relaxed. She started to kiss me back. I was getting excited, and she probably could feel my excitement as I pressed against her. My hands went up to her head and ran through her hair, which ran out halfway, and I found myself touching a mostly bald, but slightly fuzzy head that was completely unlike Katarina.

I pulled out away in a rush, a wet sound smacking as I pushed up. “Ahhn!’

“What the…” I looked down, and to my horror, it was Raven lying under me.

He was panting hard, looking up at me red-faced. My hand ended up landing on his chest. After a second, his eyes looked away.

“Please… be gentle.”

The door burst open and light streamed in, and I looked up to see Katarina standing there with the rest of the Fire Ravens. I tried to roll off of Raven, but he tightened his hand son my should and held me on top of him, then shot the people who barged in an angry look.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Katarina went to me. “That’s what I want to know here.”

“Raven’s drunk again.” Hunter sighed.

“I’m sorry,” Husk bowed to me. “Raven used to do this with Payne too.”

“Th-this isn’t about Payne… she…” A flash of pain appeared on Raven’s eyes. “This is between me and Daniel.”

“Daniel’s off-limits,” Katarina growled.

“Why? Because of you?” Raven narrowed his eyes. “While you’re busy teaching him a lesson, maybe he’ll slip into Red’s bed, huh?”

“Look, this is all just a misunderstanding,” I interjected. “I don’t like guys. I only like girls.”

My words were met with dead silence. I glanced from Katarina who was giving me a scathing look, to the guys who were giving me incredulous looks, and Feather who seemed surprised. I finally looked back down at Raven, who had the strangest look of anyone.

“What do you think you’re touching?” he demanded, looking down at my hand.

“A… guy’s chest?” As soon as I said, I felt that something was a bit off.

It was a flat chest, true… but there was just the barest lair of plumpness that felt less like muscle and more like fat. As I came to that realization, I heard of the guy’s hiss in his breath. My eyes went back to Raven, who was staring at me with tear-filled eyes. They were surprisingly large, and the hair running down his neck over his body… and… wait, my pelvis was pushed into his pelvis… and there was distinctly something missing! It wasn’t a he… Raven was a…

“Oh… shi-“

“Jerk!”

Slap!

Girl or boy, Raven was a raider, and her hit was strong enough I flew off of her and the bed. I rolled a few times for good measure before finally sitting up. While rubbing my cheek, I looked up at the girl who was getting out of my bed.

“You were into Payne.”

“I’m bisexual!”

“They all called you a guy…”

“It’s safer to be treated like a guy. You saw what happened to Feath… ah…”

Feather shook her head. “No… it’s okay.”

“Well, you didn’t tell me!” I protested.

“I didn’t think I had to while you were groping me!”

“You came onto me first! Besides, I thought you were Katarina!”

That was the wrong thing to say. I dodged a boot that flew my way.

“Idiot! Moron! Stupid face! Fucker!” She spun and stormed out of the room.

The two guys shrugged and followed her. Feather stuck out her tongue and joined them. I grabbed the shoe, trying to get back up when I realized Katarina had walked up to me. She reached down and grabbed my chin, lifting my head.

“You really are an idiot.” She smiled, and then moved down and kissed my lips roughly, and as she pulled away she bit and pulled my lower lip before letting it snap back. “But you’re my idiot.”

She licked her lips, smiled to herself, and then stood up and left, the door clicking behind her and throwing me back into darkness. I had learned some things, but now I understand women even less.