Lena:

An hour before tea time, Lena made a move to start preparing for their meal. Aragon, having just returned from training, was helping her. Without speaking much, they split up their efforts. Lena prepared food while Aragon started the stove fire, sorted the plates and cups, and laid out the cutlery.

"Say, there's only eleven cups; where did the twelfth one go?" said Aragon.

"Oh, ahh, well, it got broken..." said Lena.

"OK. I suppose it must have been already cracked, and now was the time it decided to fail."

"Y-yes, I'm sure that's why it broke..." said Lena.

Just then, the Misfits and the slaves burst through the door to the kitchen/dining area, where Lena and Aragon were currently.

"Lena! Lena! Look, we got some dolls!" said Mason.

He rushed over to Lena, proudly showing off his doll. Behind him, in close proximity, was Becky, also waving her doll around to show it off.

Lena admired their acquisitions. She tried to get the kids to put them into their room, but they were having none of it. They wanted to keep on holding their dolls.

"OK, OK, then put the dolls onto your chairs, and can we go and wash our hands?" said Lena.

I'm not jealous, not jealous at all. But how did the Misfits get these kids out of their shells so quickly?

And, I guess they do regard me as their mother figure.

She was pleased that she had succeeded in getting their trust.

She was also terrified at the implications; she would have to keep their trust. In other words, there was no escape from looking after them.

This is all such a pain.

Maybe I can rope in that Eleanor woman to also share the child caring.

Make that annoying woman do something constructive; after all, she doesn't appear to have a steady job.

After the meal, and after Aragon and the Misfits had cleaned up, Lena disappeared with her charges.

Evereena also went to bed. The Misfits retreated to their rooms, leaving behind Aragon and Esther.

Aragon:

Aragon flopped down on the chair closest to the stove. It was only slightly cool outside, but the small amount of heat from the stove felt comfortable. Esther stayed where she was, standing next to the cupboards.

Why isn't she sitting down...

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He shook his head.

I'm too stupid. She's spent more than a decade as a slave.

"Esther. You're no longer a slave now. You can make up your own mind about what you do. If you like, you can sit down next to me, and we can talk. Or you can go to your room and be with Evereena."

"Oh. Sorry. I, err..."

She looked at him, then at the door. She finally decided to move one of the chairs away from the table and set it next to Aragon. She nervously adjusted its position to be precisely aligned with Aragon's but a metre away. Finally, she sat down, legs and body aligned with the chair, hands in her lap, head looking straight forward, tail going straight down, and then curled up around the leg chair.

I might have underestimated how much she needs to learn to adapt to being a free person.

Esther didn't move further, so Aragon eventually asked, "Did you and Evereena enjoy your outing?"

"Yes."

"Ah, that's good. I saw that Evereena had a soft toy - did one of the Misfits buy it for her?"

"Yes."

This is painful. But she is capable of joining in a conversation, at least somewhat. What can I ask her? Ah - I know.

"Those Misfits are unusual, aren't they? What do you think of them?"

"Yes... They are... strange."

There was a gap in her speaking as she worked out what she wanted to say next.

"I don't understand how they fit together. There's Alice and Bronsen and then Cassy and Drayden. But most of the time, Alice was with Drayden, and Bronsen was with Cassy."

Aragon scratched his head again. "Well, obviously, it's mostly their business, but it appears that they all like each other. Both as friends and, in their boy-girl pairs, as lovers. Although, I do get the impression that when it comes to the sex part, they remain in their original couples."

"I see. I think. But, still, aren't Cassy and Alice exactly as strong as the two boys?"

"Yeah, they are. It's another way in which they are so weird."

Aragon knew about their shared status screens from Jane and from listening to their conversations. But he didn't think that Esther had worked out that yet. So, he didn't expand upon that topic any further.

"So, the girls don't have to put up with the sex part, do they? They are strong enough to push them off. So why do they put up with it?"

Huh? Wait, work this out. She was a slave - so she has only ever been raped - in fact, all of the female slaves she might have met have only ever been raped. So, so, perhaps she doesn't know?

"Esther, this could be an embarrassing topic, but, ahh, women can also enjoy sex, you know."

"I know those girls have already said that at one stage, but, but, really? In fact, why do the men want it so much? It never seems to do them much good. They have to make so much effort to do it, and at the end, they have these weird facial expressions and make unpleasant sounds, almost as if they were in pain."

Oh. This is getting into dangerous territory. If I start talking about the pleasures of sex, The Voice of the World might think I'm treating her inappropriately, trying to take advantage of her. Bloody hell. But she does deserve some explanation.

"When they act like that, it's called an orgasm. And, in the right circumstances, women can also have an orgasm. Which is what the Misfit girls have when they have sex with their partners."

"What's an orgasm?"

Ha-ha. I think I'm now out of my depth.

"Ah, err, well, maybe I'm not the person you should be asking? What say you wait until you're alone with Eleanor and Lena and ask them? Yes, I think that would be a good idea."

"OK, I will."

Is she taking that as an order?

Maybe it will be all to the good, anyway.

So, I think I'll wrap up this conversation and retire for the night.

"Anyway, you need to have no concerns for the Misfit girls. I'm confident that when it comes to the tail twisting, they are as enthusiastic for it as the boys."

Esther looked blank.

"Tail twisting? Is that something else I don't know about?"

Aragon's face also went blank. Even more so than Esther's.

"You don't know what that is referring to?"

"No?"

I think I have to give up here.

"It's not important for the time being. And, anyway, I think I need to retire for the night. Captain Jane has claimed my time tomorrow morning, something about strategy planning..."

Aragon cordially said good night to Esther, and they left the kitchen for their respective rooms.