After a very, very satisfying morning with his girls, Mason decided he should probably get a few things sorted.

Haley ruined all that. She caught him outside the bedroom, dragging him into a spare while the other girls were probably both still sweat-soaked and comatose.

"Let’s talk about those elves,” she said, closing her robe when Mason’s eyes drifted, and slightly raising an eyebrow. “Besides the obvious game advantages we should also discuss—and well done by the way—I couldn't help but notice they were…mostly women. And very beautiful."

Mason winced, knowing he wasn't much good at hiding anything, especially from Haley. It didn't help that he didn't really want to. But he still had no idea how to tell her about his upcoming 'marriage'.

"I...also noticed that."

"Hmm.” She straightened his shirt and grinned. “So…when do I get to play with one?"

Mason held back a cough and just sort of shrugged.

"Not that there's any rush,” Haley went on. “I love having Rosa and Becky here. And now Lexi. She's very cute and bubbly and you should really get to know her better. Much better."

"Haley..."

Mason closed his eyes and put his hands on his lover's arms. He had no idea what he'd been planning to do or say but he gave up trying to be clever. This was Haley. His best bet was to tell her everything and ask for her help, secure in the knowledge that whatever it was she was on his team. He met her eyes.

"I have to marry an elven princess."

His beautiful blonde looked back and forth between his pupils, temporarily and uncharacteristically speechless.

"OK," she said finally, still not moving. He felt her body go slightly rigid. "Does that…change things? Does it mean we can't...be together, like this...anymore?"

"No," Mason said, shaking his head. "I mean yes we can be together. It doesn't change anything, at least for me. It just means there's some elf woman calling herself my wife. Actually I don't even know what that means, she was talking noble houses and all kinds of crazy. I actually have to go make a contract with..."

"I'm coming." Haley said, and Mason's mouth snapped shut. She'd at least relaxed slightly in his arms after he explained. Before he could answer she put a finger to his lips. "As your assistant. I can help with the contract. It's part of my class. But I wish Blake were here. We could bring Susan—one of the Sanctuary girls—she's sort of like a post-apocalyptic lawyer."

Mason snorted. Of course lawyers would survive the apocalypse. "Jesus, they really are like cockroaches," he muttered. Haley raised an eyebrow and he hunched slightly to look her right in the eyes.

"You're OK? I mean. I know we haven't talked about this sort of thing. But you're pregnant, and I guess I just figured...ah hell I don't know what I figured. There's been no time, and..."

Haley leaned forward and kissed him, getting increasingly more passionate until he wrapped his arms around her and lost himself for several moments in her scent and softness, her lips and quiet moan.

"I'm yours," she whispered, "whatever you need me to be. I don't care what anyone calls it. I know what I am."

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Mason put his forehead against hers, the anxiety draining away. He wasn't exactly comfortable articulating affection. He wasn't much with words at all, and had always thought a man's actions showed how he felt.

But he searched through his mind and pushed through his nature, looking for something to say, to show how he felt. It probably wasn't right, but all he could think of was Haley back in the dungeon next to a now broken bow, having to decide which to take.

"I'll never leave you behind," he said. "You come with me. No matter what."

Haley smiled and clearly fought a few tears, so he figured it must have been close to right. He kissed her again and very seriously considered stripping her clothes off before heading out to meet with the oracle.

But as he looked into her eyes he knew it wasn't a quickie kind of moment. If they got started they'd need most of the day and probably night to hammer those emotions with a filthy amount of sex. And Dariya was waiting.

"We should probably look formal,” he said. “Like we sort of know what we're doing. And I'm pretty sure we need to make a noble house out of nothing, with a name, and a crest. Or something."

Haley grinned. "Not a problem. The game has a system, and technically you're already using it. I've been meaning to bring it up but figured it could wait until we were a bit… safer. Apparently now is the time."

Mason pulled back slightly in surprise. "I'm not using anything. What do you mean? I'm patron of Nassau but so was Blake, so was Sebastian, so I didn't..."

"You're a baron now," Haley said. "I can see it in your titles when I inspect you. That's an official noble rank. You're already a nobleman, as far as the game is concerned, with a ‘fief' of two settlements. We just haven't implemented it."

Mason blinked. He pulled up his profile and looked at the title, which frankly he'd forgotten about and never really thought much of. He kind of figured the title names were all arbitrary. Haley's eyes glazed for a moment, and Mason saw a link pop up in the corner of his vision. Then a voice intoned in his mind:

[Noble House Formation Request: Accessed. Scanning for eligibility. Granted. Generating House. Scanning for available options. Analyzed. Congratulations, Baron Mason Nimitz. Please select an initial Familial Tradition.]

The image of a crest or maybe flag formed in Mason's mind. It was dark green, covered in leaves, with a crown made of bloody vines hanging from a wolf head. The wolf's eyes glowed bright green, and it stared out with a proud challenge that made Mason shiver. Beneath the crest in flowing text formed the words: House of Mason, and beneath in italics: Are you friend, or prey?

Beside the crest was a long list of 'Familial Traditions' that scrolled before Mason's eyes. Next to them he saw several other categories, currently blocked off, that included 'Edicts', 'House Titles', 'Royal Court', 'House Retinue', and 'Legacies'. But as usual, first things were first. He looked through some of the traditions.

And couldn't stop his eyes from widening.

The text said 'any member of the House gains the benefits of basic traditions, regardless of rank'. And the available bonuses included incredible things, including an option called ‘Fast Learners’: continual bonus to all experience gained. Or ‘Stalwart’: 10% additional impact from the Vitality statistic.

In fact there were several 10% boosts to various stats, or mana, or the affect of certain kinds of powers. Mason's head was spinning as he went through them all.

"Can I take it you're impressed by the noble house rules?" Haley said with a grin, and Mason just nodded as he scrolled. He certainly should have done it sooner but he was guessing Haley didn't know how it worked either. And he still had a lot of questions.

Would everyone in the settlement become members of his 'House'? And if not, what exactly was the difference between being part of his 'house' and being part of Nassau?

It seemed already that he ruled Nassau as something like a king—with the power to make rules and change whatever he wanted. But as he looked back at 'Edicts' he realized this was a lot more formal. If he made a 'House edict', would the system automatically enforce it if broken, rather than making him decide what to do himself?

"I'm a bit overwhelmed," he said. "But it doesn't look like I have to do anything yet. Maybe we can just…go deal with the elves. Leave things until I learn more. Then I can start picking."

Haley smiled, then her eyes glazed. A dark colored suit materialized in one hand, and what looked more like…a medieval king's robe appeared and sagged in the other.

"Modern, or classic?"

Haley's blue eyes twinkled, her infectious smile creeping across her lips. Mason groaned, but couldn't help but smile back.