Theodoren hurried up behind Cedric and Daisy, watching them walk down the street. The mouse woman's large hips swayed with every step, a thick tail waving back and forth as well. He swatted the tail as it came close, prompting Daisy to look over her shoulder. "Hey. You two were slow, so I caught up." Theo looked from one to the other, Cedric with his hand on Daisy's shoulder, and Daisy with a gentle smile. "You look happy." He brushed that tail. "And, um. I'm not used to being this sappy, but I'm glad. I'm glad you're with us, and safe. I know you have some stuff to figure out, but we're with you for that."
Cedric leaned into her more firmly and nuzzled her neck. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
Daisy stood stock still, stunned entirely. "Oh. Um. Yes." It took her a moment to process that wasn't a strong enough acceptance. "I mean, thank you. Thank you both." She offered her arms and gathered them up against herself. "I'm not that good at expressing myself sometimes. But I mean it. I'm so glad I have you two, and that isn't the brood mouse talking."
Theo laughed nervously at that. "I was thinking that very thing, but I was too nervous to ask. It's nice that we're all on the same page about this. You don't have any plans to run off on your own, do you?"
"No!" She nuzzled the top of each of their heads. "Any running I do, you'll be with me. We're in this together."
They made their way to a local eatery. The trio ordered their meals. Daisy ordered a simple steak meal for herself.
Cedric looked over the menu. "Oh, they have a rabbit steak meal?" He set the menu down. "I know what I want."
Theodoren gaped at Cedric. "Cold. I can't eat what I am, feels so strange. I know, they're an animal, and I'm not. Still..." He shook his head and looked back to the menu. "Mmm... chicken steak meal." He set his own aside.
Daisy folded her menu and set it down, arms crossing over it. "I just want you all to order what you like. It's on me. Now, one thing. They said otherworlders, usually, show up with strange powers and purposes. I just figured out mine. Does it bother either of you?"
"I think you've earned a nice dinner, after all you've been through." Theo smirked. "You don't have to pay for me, but I'm not stopping you either."
Cedric nodded along. "And no, neither of us are upset. We knew you were a brood mouse already, even if we didn't know all about what that entailed. You're still the same Daisy."
She folded an ear back. "Yes and no." She leaned forward, eyes twinkling. "I have, what, a new ability." She tapped at her chest, sign floating over it. "Maybe I deserve this sign. These are dangerous. But maybe it's good that I'm aware of this. It means I can take care of myself, and the two of you. Besides..." She rubbed over one breast with a smile. "They do make things interesting. The dungeon was amazing, if strange. I'm not going to be doing that on a regular basis."
Cedric nodded quickly. "No more dungeon 'conquests'. Just regular fights. Oh! Daisy, I meant to ask. Can you turn off your pheromones?"
Daisy sat up straight, looking down her nose at the bunny man. "Well, I never tried, to be honest. I'm going to zone out a bit. Shake me if food arrives." She turned her attention towards her sheet, navigating silently around.
Cedric watched her curiously. "Is she...? Yes, she is." He laughed softly. "How long do you think this'll take, Theo?"
Theo shrugged gently. "I don't know anything about what she's doing." He reached as if to poke her, just to hesitate at the last moment. "She sees the world in a way we don't. Numbers, to start. It's like she has a spirit appraiser all the time."
Daisy looked through each of the options on her page. She had gained some achievements, though they didn't seem to have any listed effect? She was a Dungeon Conqueror, apparently. Daisy smiled as she found the right page, with her passive powers. Some had toggles, and some did not. She turned her scent ability off and let out a soft sigh. "There. That should do it. I turned it off."
Cedric blinked at her for a long moment. "You look... you look the same."
She shrugged lightly. "Do I smell different?"
Theo sniffed her, but shook his head. "Then again, I'm not a monster. Then again again, I thought you were hot already, so what would the difference be?"
Daisy smirked softly. "Well, if you ever wanted me to turn it on, I can. Not that I have to, anymore."
Cedric shook his head slowly. "It didn't work on me, I think? I just thought you were a nice person. But, uh, if we go into a dungeon again, maybe keep that off?"
Theo chuckled. "Unless we're trying to make a harem, I agree with the bunny boy."
Daisy rolled her ears forward at that. "I'm not going to run a dungeon harem. I'm not looking for more mates." She tapped the table. "One thing. A lot of this world, and its economy, orbits mutagens. Gaining them, selling and buying them, and using them." She brushed her heavy front. "And I'm a source of whatever one you could want. That has implications. I don't know what they are, but I know enough about economics to know I have the ability to cause trouble. Maybe that'll be the new focus for me? Mutagens can be expensive, and I can just..." She rolled a hand with the trailing thought.
Cedric shuffled nervously. "I wouldn't show off that too much. You're already making decent coins being a test subject, and you're not paying for your room."
Theo tapped his cheek. "That's true. I think we're pretty well situated, as is. We could do better, sure. But we don't need more. You can make your mark, if you want.
Daisy ruffled the top of Theo's head. "Now that I know I can, I'm thinking about it. Part of me wants to experiment, but the only person here I could do it with would be you, Theo."
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Theo's ears perked up. "You mean, I could get even cuter?"
Daisy rubbed one ear gently. "Mm, maybe." She scooted her chair over and gestured to Theo with a curled finger. "If I have fine control, I could modify you in all sorts of interesting ways. As fun as 'fox' or 'mouse' or 'dinosaur' are as targets, what if I went more specific? Tail only. Claws only. Horns only. Wings." She wiggled her eyebrows at Theo.
The fox man was clearly nervous, but he leaned closer to Daisy. He smiled faintly, tail curling behind him. "You could maybe make parts of me bigger or smaller." He pat at his chest. "Give me just as large as yours, just so you can watch me fall over. Don't do that."
Daisy laughed, then leaned forward, pulling him in. She nuzzled the side of his head with her nose, brushing along one of his soft ears. She breathed in slowly, then out. "I would never hurt you, not on purpose." She chewed along that captive ear. "If I made a mistake, I'd switch back to basic fox and get you back to normal."
He twitched and shivered against her. His tail was wagging as he leaned in. "That's right." He reached down to rest a hand on her breast. "You know how to turn me back to a fox, so all you're asking for is permission for me to maybe feel odd a moment or three." He licked over his pointed snout. "If that helps you get better at it, I could put up with that. And you'll sit still when I need a target for my magic. Fair's fair."
Daisy smiled, but Cedric leaned forward and raised a hand. "Hold on! That is not fair, or at least it isn't equal!" The bunny man held his other hand up. "You two are getting some fun, I should be part of this too." He crossed his arms.
Daisy considered Cedric a long moment. "That's hard, as you can't be mutated. That makes you very safe, no accidents can happen, but also no experiments." She rubbed her chin, a finger brushing over a small nose. "But we can talk about some kind of arrangement."
Cedric grinned. "I want to get in on this too! You can't leave me out." He bounced restlessly in his chair. "There has to be some way I can help."
Theo grabbed Cedric by the collar and forced him to sit still. "Calm down. You and I can help each other with our magic. She and I can get into mutagen antics. If there's anything you want to try with her, you can ask."
Daisy leaned forward, elbows on the table, breasts squishing out against it. "I know Cedric wants to do something with me." She hummed with thoughts on her magical construct of a boyfriend. "Which reminds me of a related topic. What are we? I mean, we're a unit, for sure, but are we boyfriends and girlfriends? Are we married? What are we?"
Cedric sat back, arms behind his head. "I know what you are to me." He reached out to pat her hand. "You're my girlfriend, but I also consider you my wife."
Theo ribbed him with a laugh. "You just answered none of her questions. There's a difference between a girlfriend and a wife."
Daisy smiled, though it was bittersweet. She kept her voice soft and low. "We can be all official if you want to be. What is that process like, here?"
Cedric's eyes widened, then he coughed gently and looked away. "Oh. Well..." He rubbed behind one ear.
Theo smirked as he leaned forward. "There's a government office that deals with marriages. You walk in with your +1s, tell a clerk, pay the fees, and it's all made official. Some people have a big ceremony about it, and some just walk in, announce it, and done."
Daisy nodded at his words. "I see. That doesn't sound complicated. What do you think about that, Cedric?"
The bunny-man shrugged. "I'm sure we could go get married, if you really want to, but I'm not sure we need the paperwork." He spread his hands towards either of them. "We already know the truth."
Daisy reached over to brush her hand along Cedric's cheek. "I love you, you big goof."
Theo rolled a hand, just to lean back as plates arrived with steaming food. "Ooo, pause on those thoughts. Time to eat."
Cedric nodded slowly, picking up his knife and fork, though he didn't start cutting yet. "This looks very good." He glanced to Daisy, then to Theo. "We have time to think about what comes next, so..."
Daisy waved a fork at him. "So, now, we eat." She sliced into her steak first and with the motion, she gave approval for the others to start in on their own meals.
Cedric and Theodoren dug into their food. The chatter was largely set aside for filling their bellies, aside from the happy noises of good food. Daisy sat back, nursing from a drink with a pleased smile at the end of it. "The little pleasures in life, right? Alright, so, I can't go bust dungeons every day, but you two have school almost every day. I don't want to be idle."
Cedric waved his fork as he chewed a mouthful of meat and swallowed. "Maybe you should take up a trade or a hobby? Lots of people take classes on stuff like that."
Visions of knitting drifted through Daisy's head. "No... I could try writing, but computers don't exist." The two looked at her confusedly. "Something from my old world. Ignore that. I don't like manual writing." She clicked her tongue on her teeth. "I don't think I want to do that. I want to be me, this me." She waved over herself.
Theo raised a hand, holding a piece of food. "I'd read a book written by you." He popped the bite into his mouth.
She giggled and waved a hand to brush that thought off. "I'd gladly share it with you, if I could type it." Another blank look from them both. "Which isn't happening. I'm not a writer, not in this world. I'm a fighter, and a brood mouse." She lashed her tail behind her, threaded through her seat. "I think I want to talk to Elina."
Cedric leaned forward, gesturing for Theo to speak.
Theo cleared his throat, leaning on the table, eyes intent. "What are you thinking?"
Daisy's ears rolled forward. "That my new ability is a resource that could do some good." She rested a hand at her chest. "If this world wants me to shape people into whatever I want, I'll lean into it. Maybe I can do some good." She rubbed the back of her neck with her other hand. "Or I might be getting too full of myself."
Theo rested his hand on her arm. "I think you've earned it."
Cedric hummed gently. "Well, that's a thought. It can't hurt to check. You'd have to feed anyone you were changing, directly." He angled his head towards her chest. "You know, right from the tap?"
She shrugged. "That doesn't bother me. Not in a medical context. And I can turn off my scent so they don't feel attracted to me." She gave a soft frown at that. "Some would be anyway." She burst into sudden laughter. "I would, for sure, as my old self, be pretty turned on if a big titted mouse lady just waved me up and offered a nipple to enjoy."
Cedric rolled his ears back with an embarrassed smile. "Well, yeah. But maybe you could make it more of a formal setting?" He gestured around. "I think this town has a blood bank. Maybe there could be a mutagen bank?"
Daisy's ears rose at that. "Interesting idea, but my milk stops being a working mutagen pretty quickly once it's outside of me." She layed her hands flat on the table. "I vote we stand up. That was a nice dinner, but let's move. I don't have to do anything right now." She stood, and the others joined her. She reached out and pulled both Cedric and Theo against her. She was a tall woman, so she could easily wrap an arm over either of them. "To be clear, no matter what I do, you two are my number ones."
Cedric smiled at that and hugged her back. "I'm glad you think so." He nuzzled her neck gently. "I love you."
She kissed the top of his head, then turned to Theo. He looked away from Cedric, then back up to her, his ears perking with curiosity. "Well? What about you?"
"Hmmph." He touched his nose to hers. "I'll save it for when we're not in the middle of everyone. You know how I feel."
Cedric swatted at him from around Daisy. "Don't be shy."
Daisy reached in and grabbed Theo's hand before he could smack back, pulling him in tighter as she made her way towards the door. "It's fine. I know who he is." She walked them outside and breathed in the night air. She had much to consider.