Lunch was uncomplicated. We ate some gravy and bread with some vegetable stew piled in. It was hot and filling and I couldn't believe how much better it tasted than all the Red Bull and Hot Pockets that modern science could make to perfectly match the ideal flavor profile.

It wasn't the first time I wondered how high a level Jules was in Barmaid. Mopping up the gravy with the last of the bread, I reflected on how filling the meals were. If I'd eaten like this back on Earth, I'd be huge.

"Are you ready for more shopping?" Taffy asked.

I nodded as I shoved the last of the bread in my mouth. Standing, I picked up both our plates and headed for the kitchen. "Gimme a sec to wash these."

The moment I was done scrubbing the plates, however, a box flickered a few times and appeared before me.

> Congratulations on reaching level 4 Barmaid!

"Huh. About time I got that." Setting the plates aside to dry, I turned around and made my way back out into the taproom. "Well, are you ready to go?" I asked Taffy.

In answer, she jumped to her feet with some clanking and beat her fist against her chest. "You bet! What amazing things are we getting again?"

Walking with her to the door, I gestured at what I was wearing. "Well, like I said, I need some dresses for wearing around the tavern. I'd like some leather gear too. Some pants, a corset, and maybe a few shirts. Underthings."

Taffy held up her hands toward me in surrender. "Hold up. Okay, we can get the dresses, the shirts, and underthings at one place. The leather gear will need us to go somewhere else."

"Let's get the dresses and stuff first." Yup, that's me. Rip the plaster off and scream. Now that I looked back on it, wailing in pain because I lost a few hairs like that was probably the most serious pain I'd ever been in before coming here.

Irony, I guess, was that until I became a woman, I never really learned to deal with pain. Okay, moving on from that since it's literally something I don't want to even think about right now.

"When I was growing up, Dad wanted me to wear girl clothes. He took me to this tailor to get dresses and stuff, but he hated it and always left. I kept asking her to change the dresses to pants and shirts. Sometimes she would—the first few times anyway. Then Dad got wise to it. We had this big talk about being an adult and doing the right thing." Hearing her talk of having to wear dresses and being a little girl was really strange given the fact she was wearing tons of heavy armor.

"And did you?"

Taffy shook her head. "What? Nah. Well, kinda. I don't have any actual skill in it, but I talked to the seamstress about how to modify dresses into pants. Dad stopped buying me dresses after that."

A million things ran through my head, mostly to do with her being a tomboy and it being completely normal, but all I could get out was, "I think you'd look good in a dress."

"You're worse than my dad!" She punched me in the shoulder, and while it hurt, it didn't stun me like a mailed fist would have before. Progress!

"Maybe. You should wear whatever you want—and I think I know what you want to wear." Lacking the protection on my fists that she had, I instead just gave her a smack on the back, and she didn't even flinch from it. "But that doesn't change what I think."

"How about a deal?"

"What kind of deal?" I asked.

I looked up and noticed Taffy was blushing a little. "You can pick out a dress for me if I can pick out a dress for you."

That put me in a spot. What kind of dress did I want to see Taffy wearing? Great, so now I was probably blushing too. "Okay, you're on. We can—Hey." What had caught my attention was a special NPC I remembered from my time playing on Espy. Okay, so they probably weren't going to be an NPC after this, but that didn't stop me from wanting to do a quest to get a flying mount! "Come with me, this'll be awesome."

She might have groaned, but Taffy let me lead her after the young woman I'd recognized. As soon as I reached her I said, "Hi, do you need help with anything?"

It was the easiest way I could think of to ask for the quest. The woman let out a sigh and shook her head. "I couldn't possibly burden you with this." She was tall, taller even than Taffy was, and though you couldn't really see it easily with the winter gear she was wearing in this climate, if you found her in the warmer areas you could see the red scales around her neck and shoulders.

Her skin seemed just a little tanned at first, but I knew where all this was going. She's a weredragon, and was born one. She has a claw around her neck that belonged to her mother. Her mother went missing and is presumed to have had a clutch of eggs. Blah blah, gotta find out what happened to her (she got killed by adventurers), but the important bit is saving her two children. One is completely a dragon, the other a weredragon like Data Talons here. Quest reward for bringing her little brother back is a pile of XP and her little sister will act as your flying mount.

"Of course you can. Tell us what you need and we can help." The moment I finished talking I had a quest window pop up with the mount quest. Of course I accepted it.

"It's my mom. She's—she's gone wild and is living out in the forest. We are weredragons, please, don't run." Ugh. Somehow the scripted quest stuff was worse hearing it from people you knew weren't just NPCs. She talked on and on and finally got to the point. "… need to scratch you with this or she won't allow you near her."

"Okay, okay. Hit me with it. Then I have to wait until the next full moon to find her, right?" I held out my hand, knowing there would be pain.

After having my arms slashed with knives and my bones broken by fists, I thought I was ready for anything. The black talon made a thin line of red across my palm, but that was just the start of things. Around the cut bloody red lines started to darken into being, and I felt like my hand was stuck in a fire.

The fire poured up my arm and, when it reached my heart—the heat was gone. Blinking, I looked down at my hand and only saw the thin line from the claw. "Wow."

"Uh, Dusky, your eyes are glowing red." Taffy sounded a little worried. "Are you sure you should have—?"

"Yeah, this is part of the ques—the mission she needs me for. Uh, are you going to join in on this?" I asked her.

Taffy held both hands up and took a step back. "Nooo. This seems a bit much for me. I'll help you, if I can, but I think my dad would kill me if he found out I'd just walked into something like this. How do you know it's safe?"

"I—uh…" Looking at the weredragon woman, I noticed that the longer she'd been standing there, the more she seemed to look like she was fidgety and needed to go somewhere. "I'll find her, I promise."

She spared a smile at me before turning and running off. Okay, the smile was new, but the running away wasn't.

"Basically," I said, "I have to wait until the next full moon, then go and get this quest done when I turn into a dragon. It's just a really cool quest and it gets a young dragon you can ride around."

"All this to look good?" Taffy reached out and took my hand to look at it. "Blast of Life. Huh, that didn't heal the line. What was with all that nasty veins and stuff you had going on?"

"No idea. I know about this quest, but not what it's like doing it from this side." The mark made by the talon not healing was a surprise, not that it hurt, but it was the first thing I'd seen heal spells not work on.

Taffy poked my hand with one steel-clad finger. "Right, but I heard lycanthropy is kinda permanent after the first full moon."

"That's the cool thing with this quest. The status that causes you to change is removed when you complete the quest. I'll admit, if I don't get it on the first full moon, I might get some side effects, but I'll totally wreck this so don't worry."

"Can we stop talking to strange people and do this shopping now?" Taffy turned toward the market and we started walking there together.

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By the time we got back to the tavern, I'd almost forgotten about the quest. For some reason the shirts and underthings I'd gotten didn't fit in my game-inventory, so I had to carry those along. Even as we stepped inside, I still wasn't sure if it was the most affirming or disorienting thing ever to be measured so much.

I'd had to stand there naked and let her measure every part of me. There had been a little curtain that stopped Taffy from seeing me, at least, but then she'd needed to be measured because like hell I was going to miss the chance of seeing her in a dress.

"Dusky and Taffy back?" Caprice's voice was all I recognized as we stepped from the bright afternoon day into the dim tavern.

"We're back! Don't tackle me, Caprice, I'm carrying lots of stuff." I still couldn't see her, but I was getting better at sensing when a kobold was going to tackle-hug me.

Now she came up on one side, I could see Caprice looking at the linen sack I was carrying. "Did you get the things Caprice asked for?"

"I've got those, Caprice." Taffy produced the items Caprice had asked for, as well as several long ribbons that I had grumbled about getting. I knew they'd wind up braided into my hair.

Caprice made what I could only possibly describe as a happy kobold noise that felt like something between a squeal with a thrumming bass note. "Dusky! Unload everything and we must explore!"

"Hold up. Why don't we go up to my bedroom and we can look through them. There's—uh—underthings in there." Was this what I was reduced to? Buying my first selection of women's underwear, and I couldn't even open the bag in public.

What I didn't expect was Caprice's expression to turn from pure excitement to giggles. "Taffy! Dusky wants us to watch her model her new underthings."

I swear I could feel my heart just stop. It didn't really, but death might just be better than this. Turning for the stairs, I marched away from the laughing pair and up the stairs. This was not happening and I was so not going to model underwear for them.

Opening my door, I hefted the bag of things inside and onto the bed, then turned around to see Caprice standing behind me. How she'd moved so quietly I don't know. "Nope."

"Caprice was only joking about modeling. Just want to see what things Dusky got." She looked sorry, too.

I sighed and leaned backward, opened the door, and let her in. "It's just some simple stuff. I have more on order—pants, two corsets, and some dresses."

She put her hands on her hips and looked at me sternly for a few seconds before giggling. "Dusky is comfortable now?"

"Yes and no." I walked over and sat on the bed. "I think I'm getting there, but there's still a lot to unpack with all this. You're all so understanding, though."

Jumping up and around, Caprice sat on the bed beside me. "Was anyone not?"

"That Dwarf, Fagin wasn't it, he thought I was"—I didn't realize how much I'd bottled this away—"he thought I was a whore here."

"Some men are going to think that no matter what Dusky do." Caprice leaned against my side, and when I stretched my arm around her shoulders, she let out a soft sort of chirp sound.

I gave her a little squeeze. "I know, and that kinda sucks just a bit." It was a topic I didn't want to talk about, mostly because if it had been just a little ago I'd have been part of the problem. "One of the corsets I'm getting made has stiffer leather so it'll act a bit like leather armor."

"Dusky doesn't want to talk about it." Caprice jumped up and held out her hand to me. When I took it, she pulled me to my feet. "Come on. Work always lets me stop thinking about things."

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Caprice was right. She was always right, or so it seemed. Working in the bar and selling drinks was a nice way to not have to think about anything serious, and it was still actually enjoyable. The regulars had accepted me as a common figure behind the bar, so we got to chatting about them and things going on in their world.

I found out that the blacksmith was behind making nails (from a carpenter), that the guards were having an easier time of it keeping monsters away from town (from one of the guards themselves), and dozens of other little details about Northwind. I could ignore the problems of Harper Davis dealing with being turned into a half-Elf woman and just work and talk with customers.

Eventually customers started leaving. When the last was either gone home or upstairs to their room, I let out a happy sigh and started plugging up the kegs and cleaning the bar.

"Wow, already done with everything, Dusky?" Jules asked from behind me. When I turned, she had a relieved smile on her face—relieved and tired.

"Yeah. You look done-in. What's up?"

"Had to get all the stuff you ordered put away. They started delivering it at the kitchen door and it was a rush to get it put away and cook the evening meal." She slumped at the bar and sat on a stool. "And now I come out here to help you clean up and it's already done. Thanks, Dusky I—" Right on time, a yawn interrupted Jules.

"You're going to bed. We can finish up down here." I walked around the bar and reached an arm under her shoulders and straightened her up. "Come on, princess, off to sleep."

"You don't have to—" Jules was defeated by another yawn, and didn't fight me as I walked her up the stairs and to her room. "I can get undressed myself."

"Good, but I'll send Caprice in later to check."

The look of shock on her face broke into a grin quickly enough. I left her there to get into bed on her own terms. Just outside the door, however, was Caprice. Letting it close behind me, I raised an eyebrow at her.

She looked really excited about something—her whole butt wagging (instead of just her short tail) was a dead give away. "Dusky! Dusky! Do we pray tonight?"

Right. Molly. "Yeah. I wonder if she'll be excited about having two followers?"

"Has Dusky's friend seen a Kobold before? Is she nice? What's it like being a goddess? Can Caprice become a goddess one day?" Her questions flowed like water. When we reached the steps down, she tapped my shoulder. "Downstairs all tidy and clean, Dusky no need to go back down."

I looked at her, then shrugged. "If you say so. Can you double-check Jules made it to her bed while I go to the gong."

Walking back to my room after relieving myself, I saw Caprice step out of Jules' room and turn toward me. Opening my door, I waited for Caprice to catch up. "She'd passed out on her bed, right?"

"With Jules' dress half off. Didn't even wake up when Caprice got her undressed and tucked in." She walked past me into my room and paused when she hadn't seen me walk in behind her. "Dusky?"

"Caprice, why are you going to bed in my room?"

Grinning wide enough to show off her teeth, Caprice started unzipping the dress she'd been wearing. "Caprice wants to make sure Dusky's friend finds her, so snuggle Dusky tonight."

Slipping out of my robes, I tried to think of a way to explain that it wouldn't matter, but by the time I was slipping into bed nothing had come to me. When Caprice slipped in beside me, I closed my eyes. "Molly, I don't know where you are, but it'd be really awesome if Caprice and I could come chat tonight."

"Is that it?" Caprice asked. "Caprice thought it would be lon—"

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I was getting used to getting hugged by strong people in armor. Molly was something else, though, and squeezed me for all she was worth. "Dusky!"

Despite almost being crushed by her, I hugged Molly back. "Hey, Molls, fancy seeing you here. I brought a friend."

Molly let go of me and stepped to the side. She was looking over my shoulder and behind me. "You must be Caprice."

When I looked back at her, Caprice looked terrified and confused. She trembled in place and stared down at her feet. "Hey, Caprice?" I turned to block her view of Molly and walked up to her. "Caprice?"

Caprice made a shocked little sound and jerked her head up to look me in the eyes.

Reaching up to boop her nose, I leaned closer. "Molly loves getting hugs."

"Caprice couldn't!" She stared at me in the eyes.

"Caprice, she's a goddess. If she didn't want a hug, you wouldn't be able to hug her." I held her eyes a moment, then stepped to the side. When I looked at Molly, she had her arms held out, ready to get hugged.

It probably took a lot of Caprice's willpower not to just run at Molly right then and there. She was smart, though, and with Molly's obvious welcoming pose, she let out a squeal and took off at a run.

The crash of Kobold against armor didn't come. Instead, Molly caught Caprice in her hug and twirled around in a circle to ease the impact. I was so caught up in just watching how excited Caprice was, that I almost missed Molly looking over toward me and grinning.

"Hey, Molls, can we get some comfy couches to sit on?" I asked, and saw couches popping into being around us. "Thanks."

"Hrmm." Molly sat down opposite me with Caprice settled on her lap. "You know, now I have followers—plural—I might be able to do more within the system as a god." She sounded weirdly more confident, but I guess being a god means you can have a bit of a god complex.

"Like—Like what could Caprice have?"

Studying her, I realized Molly looked super chill. Gone was the air of panic and worry. "I don't think I can change any class stuff, or trade class stuff, but I could do some physical changes. Tail size, height, eye colors, wings, crest—"

"Wings!" Caprice jumped off Molly's lap and bounced excitedly. "Wings, wings, wings!"

"I think she wants wings, Molls. Can you really do this stuff?" I asked.

"Close your eyes, Caprice—" It was the last words I heard as my mind drifted away from the little slice of what was probably literal heaven back to my own self.

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There was no light coming in the window, which I hoped meant it was just before dawn. Yawning, I tried to slip from the bed but was too tangled up to manage it. My brain had trouble processing the fact I had a Kobold-limpet attached, but it quickly became obvious that Caprice wasn't giving me up without a struggle.

How was she so good at wrestling while still asleep?

"Caprice, can you wake up and let go of me? I need to get to the gong," I said.

My words did several things.

The first was they woke her up. Caprice's eyes opened and she looked up at me with the usual mild confusion that morning brings.

The second was she let go of me, gasping in surprise at something.

The third could only be described as using her new wings to catapult all the bedding off and to the floor.

I moved as quickly as I could to put my hand over her snout. It didn't stop the squeal of excitement she let out, but it did muffle it a lot. "Caprice, it's not dawn yet. Keep it down."

Telling Caprice to keep it down worked in some ways, but not in others. Rather than squealing again, she started flapping her wings as if she'd literally swallowed her glee and was expelling it through her new muscles. When I carefully removed my hand from her snout, she grabbed me into a hug and wrapped her wings around me too.

Great. I'd made the most huggy Kobold in the world twice as powerful.

"This is the best day ever. Molly is a wonderful goddess, and Caprice will tell everyone she knows." She stayed squeezing me, not letting go until she finally let loose a giggle. "Come on, Dusky, we need to get ready for the day."

Caprice let go of me and grabbed the bathrobe from the back of the door to fling at me. Leaving the room, I realized she seemed to have more presence now. The place felt bigger without her in it.

Shaking off my daze, I grabbed the robe and pulled it on, then headed for the gong. Dealing with that, I headed to the bathroom to find Caprice rubbing sand on her new leathery wings. "Guess Molly really came through for you?"

Jumping up and down in the water, Caprice seemed to be trying to flap her wings—which just sloshed the water around. "She's the best!"

Slipping from my bathrobe and hanging it by the door, I climbed into the tub and let the hot water start soaking into me. "Gimme a sec and I can start on your back. I swear, you should pay me double now you have so much more to scrub."

"Caprice will pay Dusky triple," she said.

I groaned at that, but kept rubbing the sand into her new wings. "Do you—" The door opened behind me, and when I turned my head to see who it was, Jules was walking in with a bathrobe around her. "Good morning."

Truth was, I'd never run into Jules (or Chloe for that matter) in the bath before. Thinking of Chloe especially made me question if daily baths would be possible for her with that much fluff.

Jules' gasp pulled me back to reality (away from thoughts of fluffy cat people). "Caprice, by the northern lights, what have you done to yourself?"

"Goddess Molly gave them to Caprice! She is sooo amazing! She likes hugs, too!" In her excitement, Caprice started flapping her wings—which made it hard for me to scrub them. When one particularly energetic flap thumped me in the face, Caprice squeaked in shock. "Sorry, Dusky!"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Despite my days training, taking hit after hit, getting whapped in the face by an excited Kobold's wing still stunned me for a moment. In the time it took me to shake it off, Jules had climbed into the tub and was sitting in front of Caprice getting her back washed.

Has this become my life now? Grabbing a handful of sand, I started on Caprice's wing again. "You need to be more careful with these."

"So your friend really is a god, Dusky? I would say I'm surprised, but after the whirlwind you created when you arrived here, I'm honestly not. Got any plans for the day?" Jules asked.

I thought about it, though not too much. "Going to try to get some experience solo—well, with Taffy along in case things go south. I want to get in shape so I trust myself to be able to keep going even when I get hit."

"You're really committed to that?"

"Yeah. I want to be the best I can. Taking a few hits should be something that doesn't completely cause me to bug out." I swapped to Caprice's back and started working the sand against her scales.

Jules stood up in the bath, giving me a good look at her as she turned and walked behind me. I tried my best not to stare, I really did, but her wink as she passed me gave away that I was terrible at not staring. "Turn a bit more."

Shifting my position, I tried to focus on sanding down Caprice's back more. "S-Sorry."

"For what?" Jules asked as she started to lather up my back.

"For—uh—For staring." When Caprice and Jules both laughed, I felt a bit annoyed. "What?"

"Does Dusky think Jules don't like girls?" Caprice's words hit me like a hammer.

"It's not that I like girls, Caprice, I just don't have a preference." Jules' hands began rubbing at my shoulders, and I literally couldn't remain tense with the work she put in. "You're easy on the eyes, Dusky, but I don't think you're my type—not where it matters. I like someone who takes charge."

Did I? Gloria had kinda taken charge, but it was more teaching than taking over. She guided me, and when I figured things out, she became an equal. Okay, so maybe I wasn't a terrible fit, but I don't think I'd be what Jules would want. "Oh."

"If I was into you, Dusky, you'd know about it. Besides, it's free to look and it's nice to look." When she started working on my hair, I almost melted on the spot. "Caprice, does Dusky always go limp when you rinse her hair?"

"Every time. It's like Dusky's relaxation-spot."

I'd have complained, but it really did just melt me. Full-on ASMR—though I could at least keep my hands moving.

"Good to know. You girls come in early then? I normally wash at night, but last night I—Oh yeah. Thanks, both of you." Jules stopped rinsing my hair. "Sometimes the work just gets too much and my bed is too far away."

Shaking off the brain-melt she'd given me, I moved on to Caprice's other wing. "Hey, that's why we're here, right? Helping each other."

"Maybe Jules should come and train with us next time we're out?" Caprice asked.

"Then no one would be here to run The Hog." Jules had turned behind me, and I could gather that she was now washing the rest of herself. "It got more popular lately for having a healer here. Even if you don't charge, people will come here just to get something healed and have a few drinks."

"I didn't think I was even doing that many. How much do they normally charge for that kind of thing?" I was just getting done with Caprice's wing and grabbed a fresh handful to start on her tail. The moment I touched her at the base of her spine, she stiffened for a moment and then it was Caprice's turn to melt.

Leaning forward, Caprice let out a little sigh as she lowered herself into the water—just keeping her nostrils above the surface.

"They are mostly there for the adventuring sorts, but not many of those around town—and the nicest one is already a healer. If I remember rightly, it's about twenty gold for a heal, a hundred for a cure, and a bunch more for—for serious things." Jules put a hand on my shoulder again and peeked past me. "You're scrubbing her tail?"

"Remember how my hair is my off-switch—err, relaxation-spot?"

"Yeah."

"This is Caprice's. I think, if I kept going, I could actually get her to sleep."

Jules snorted in obvious amusement. "Doesn't she only need a sand bath every month or so?"

"Reaaaly?" I gave a few light pats to her tail rather than working the sand into it. "Caprice?"

"Mmmm…" The sound carried more through her body than the air, though she had lifted her snout above the water. "What?"

"How often do you need your scales scoured with sand?" I asked.

Her answer was to dip her snout back into the water and blow bubbles.

"Caprice?"

"Mmm-monthly."

It was obvious how much she enjoyed it, though. Instead of pushing further, I grabbed more sand and started over on her tail—only for her wings to flap weakly against the water.

"You're going to spoil her." Jules stood up and climbed out of the water. I didn't turn to check her out more—it lost some of its fun if she was okay with it. Besides, she was my boss.

When I heard Jules reach the door, I said, "Yeah, but she's worth spoiling."

"Dusky don't have to if Dusky don't want to." Caprice's voice was soft, her snout just above the water again.

"Caprice, you said I was your nest-sister, right?"

"Y-Yeah."

I lifted her tail a little and, being careful not to lift too far, started sanding the softer scales under it. "I'm still not a hundred percent on what that entails, but I know it means if I can do something for you that makes you feel happy, I'll do it."

"D-Dusky knows a lot about being nest-sister, then."

Letting my actions speak for me, I finished gently sanding down her tail and left her be to relax a little more while I started washing the parts of myself that Jules hadn't.

When Caprice eventually sat up again, she let out the happiest little hissing sound I'd heard from her.

Morning had become routine. I woke up, bathed, helped Caprice with the rooms, and it was easy work that was surprisingly pleasant to do with a friend. I spent a little time tying my hair up like Taffy had shown me, changing from my work dress into my robes, and heading out.

The walk from the tavern to where Taffy's father's shop was didn't take long, but it was surprising how good it felt to be out and about, even if it was cold. The biggest morale boost was from knowing the underwear I was wearing wasn't the same that I'd worn yesterday.

I reached for the door of the candy shop, only to see Taffy inside notice me. The shriek of excitement as she ran out of the shop area (presumably to put her armor on) only got louder when I actually opened the door.

What I didn't expect was to see her father smiling so much. I expected him to be at least a little grumpy about me stealing her time or dragging her off to danger, but he looked happy. "She's been watching the window like a hawk, and the only reason she wasn't already wearing her armor was I told her she can't wear it and work at the same time."

"Does she even take it off to sleep?" I couldn't help it, the joke was too good, and seeing him break into laughter got me laughing too.

"What's so funny?" Taffy was standing in the doorway, still buckling up her armor. The problem was that when we looked at her, we started laughing harder. "Hey!"

I walked over to her, still giggling, and started helping with the hard-to-reach straps. "Just wondering if you'd ever take your armor off if you didn't have to."

She turned her head to look at me, then looked at her dad. "Well, I mean, I don't think I could wear it while I sleep."

It was too much. I fell back from her, laughing for all I was worth, while her father almost collapsed on the spot. We laughed and laughed, calmed down a bit, and then he said, "Sleeping!" and I nearly choked on my laughter again.

By the time we managed to finally stop, Taffy had loaded a bunch of things into a canvas bag and slung it on her shoulder. She also grabbed two slices of something and started eating one.

"Go on! Both of you!" Her father ended up chasing us both out of the store and into the cool morning air.

"So, Dusky, what're you going to hunt?" Taffy reached over my shoulder and rested her mailed arm there. I had no idea how she could even move in all that stuff, given how much it weighed when she just did this.

"No idea. Any thoughts?"

"Well, I don't think we want to go as low as rabbits, so maybe stir up those low level goblins?" Taffy gestured in the direction we'd gone after the first goblin cave. "Wolves would be fine too, though there's the danger with them of running into too many."

Walking through the areas that had been infested with the aggressive rabbits, it was odd to see them ignore me but agro on Taffy. Of course, Taffy had her sword with her and killed them without issue.

"Okay, you're up." Taffy gestured forward to where the cave was we'd attacked. Around the entrance were a few goblins that all seemed to have missed the fact we were standing there.

"Right. So, I wonder if I can even use a knife on them, guess I'll find out. First trick will be to try knife fighting and see how that works." Given I didn't actually need my staff for casting, I just drew the knife that Fagin had given me and advanced on the cave.

One of the goblins spotted me, drew a rusty old knife, and came running. A second one grabbed a spear and threw it at me.

The spear missed, but it gave me time to cast my buffs. "Bless! Enhance Constitution!" Which is as far as I got when the first Goblin reached me. It poked with its blade, and though I tried to stop it as Fagin had shown me, and while I did deflect the blade away from my body, it still sliced into my arm.

It hurt. It hurt a lot. There was blood leaking and staining my robe, but I didn't freeze up. Swinging my knife back, I slashed the goblin across the neck, and then managed to, "Weak Heal!"

The pain, blood, and rip in my clothes was immediately gone—until the second goblin arrived and stuck its knife into my thigh. On the plus side the first goblin had dropped his knife and had fallen over.

Trying to ignore my leg, I lashed out with my knife in two wide arcs that forced the goblin back and got me the time I needed to, "Weak Heal!"

It didn't heal everything. I guess getting a dirty blade shoved in your leg is worse than a cut on the arm. The remaining pain gave me a new focus as the goblin advanced on me again and swung.

Parrying its blade aside, I kicked at its weapon-arm and heard a rewarding crack. Moving a little closer, I caught it in the chest, driving my knife deep.

The goblin died, letting me pull my knife out and sighing. "These are just trash."

"Blast Of Life! Yeah, but you need to be fighting trash. How do you feel?" Taffy's clanking self came up beside me. It was deeply reassuring to know that I had her there if things went bad.

"Well, that last one in my leg was painful, and my Weak Heal didn't catch it all, but I didn't freeze up." Her heal was really powerful compared to my weak one, but then she didn't rely on a staff's stats. "Okay, I guess I'll go in."

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Three days in total we spent clearing out those annoying goblins. I'm not sure I got any better at killing them, but I sure got beaten up a lot. But heal spells became something I could rely on not just to help my friends, but to help me.

Also, it became much easier to understand how much hurt and wounds could be taken and what each heal did to them. The one lesson it drove home again and again was how useless my skills with a knife or my fists were. I could cut and swing at them all I wanted, and it barely hurt them. Do it enough, of course, and I could eventually beat them down—and I did.

When we opened the door at the Lame Hog, it was to find madness. Madness was about three times the normal amount of people. Chloe and Caprice were at the bar, Jules was serving tables, and all three looked at me the moment I stepped inside. "I'll get changed!"

Rushing upstairs, I changed out of my robes and into my serving dress. It reminded me that I still had to pick up the clothes I'd ordered. The seamstress had said they would take a few days. Staring at myself in the mirror, I shook my head and tied my hair back up before rushing downstairs again.

Somehow the place had become even more packed. I had to squeeze and shove my way through the crowd to reach the bar, and was nearly pounce-hugged by Caprice.

"Help! Dusky so much better at this!" Caprice squeezed me just once before slipping past and into the kitchen.

"Got it!" Wait, why was I better than she was? We were the same Tradeclass, and I was sure she had some levels on me. My hands were already moving, though. Caprice had left beer mugs in front of the tap, and it just came naturally to start working on filling them. "Whose are these?"

When someone raised a hand, I slid the mugs to them and took their money. Taking the edge off the rush, I noticed that people seemed to have mugs in various states of fullness, which meant Chloe beside me could finally wilt.

"How do you do that?" Chloe asked.

I spotted someone else approaching with an empty jug of ale, probably from one of the tables. I reached under the bar and fetched a clean one and started filling it. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"That!" Chloe pointed a clawed finger at me. "It's like you're psychically connected to everyone who's thirsty."

"I mean, I just keep listening and watching people coming to the bar. There you go!" I passed the fresh jug over and took their money and the old one.

She just shook her head. "I'll go help Jules and Caprice. You've got things covered out here?"

I nodded, pouring four glasses of whiskey for some guards who'd waved me down. "I've got this."

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By the time our last patrons had either left, passed out at the fireplace, or gone upstairs to a room, I was pretty wiped out. I sat behind the bar on a stool as Caprice, Chloe, and Jules staggered out of the kitchen. Only two patrons still sat at the bar—Taffy and Yaff.

"You kids all know how to clean up. I'm going to bed." Jules walked past the bar, looking like she was almost out on her feet, then toward the stairs.

Taffy, Chloe, Yaff, and Caprice all looked at me, though Taffy had a big grin on her face. "Tell 'em, Dusky."

Taking a deep breath, I reached to pick up my glass of water and took a sip. "I think I'm ready to handle this again. Us, again."

"Really?" Caprice asked. She started bouncing on her stool.

Yaff reached across the bar to high-five me. "Alright!"

I met her paw with my palm. "You wouldn't believe how crazy it got. I tried going all day today without dodging."

"You should have seen her!" Taffy was still wearing her armor, despite being in such a relaxed setting. I think she just liked wearing it. "A goblin threw his spear at her, she took it in the stomach and kept fighting! Every time she tried to reach down and pull it out, the goblin would interrupt her. I almost stepped in, but she was getting a bit wild by then. Ripped the spear out, healed herself, and then punched him 'till he was down."

"Hey, it hurt and I was angry. I remembered to heal first. Didn't want to have bits of my guts hanging out or anything." Was being stabbed in my stomach really that normal? I guess it was so long as it heals back up quickly. "I think I also got a better appreciation for how much damage needs how much healing."

Looking a little annoyed, Chloe sighed. "Well, it'd be good to get back into things tomorrow, but I think we're going to have another busy day with all these people still here. Upstairs is booked out, too. There's some kind of festival in town today and tomorrow."

"So, get a good night's sleep, get up early and help Caprice with morning chores, run into the market and see if my clothes are ready, then come back and spend the afternoon and night working." The prospect of it didn't seem bad to me. Spending my day with friends and meeting new people. At least, during afternoon shifts, I got to meet and chat with people. Crazy rushes meant no one was looking to just chat.

"Well, the sooner we sleep, the sooner tomorrow comes and is over, and the sooner we all go out again." Caprice slipped off her stool and walked around the bar. "Come on, Dusky, time for sleep."

I knew there was a flaw in her logic, but tired as I was it just didn't come to me. "Yeah, I think it might be time to turn in." Dropping off my own stool, I followed Caprice through the barroom and up the stairs. On autopilot, I took my dress and underthings off, slipped on a clean pair of shorts, and climbed into bed.

For a few moments I could reflect on how nice it was to have some measure of civilization again—multiple changes of underwear. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have more other clothes too.

I felt when Caprice climbed into bed with me and snuggled up. She was so warm that I couldn't resist hugging her back. "Molly, I hope you're—"

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She was always doing this. The moment I prayed to her, she was there. "Hey, Molls, how's the god life?"

"Don't get me started on that. They've been all up in each other's faces about even the most minor thing. I swear, the stupid inter-religious fights that were in the game were nothing compared to this." Molly walked over to me and hugged me tight. She wasn't wearing her armor, just a simple dress that defied all physics when it came to hanging on her. It showed the most skin possible without flashing anything naughty.

"And they're listening to you still?" I asked.

"They think, since I'm an outsider, that I'm fair and balanced. I don't think I am. I prefer things working, though, so I listen to all of them and tell them what I think they should do to be able to work together." She was hugging me like she needed to hug me to survive.

So, I hugged her back and listened to everything. She started talking about the harder choices—when one evil god got angry with another—and the compromises she'd suggested. I held her even tighter then.

Finally, she seemed to run out of worries to put to me and settled on just hugging. "Dusky, they've been asking who my follower is."

"You think they'd try to get an unfair edge by using me or Caprice against you?" I asked.

"If this world's history is the same as the game's, they've both killed and done far worse to many people for far less reason. Dusky—Or would you rather I use your old name, Harper?"

I thought about it for what might have been seconds or thousands of years (it was hard to tell time here). "I don't know if I'd use Harper even if I went back. Dusky is—Dusky is me."

"Well, Dusky, I want you to get as strong as you can, you and the people around you, because I don't want you to ever fall to them. Keep my feather close." Molly leaned forward a little more and pressed her lips to my forehead in a soft kiss. "Go safely."

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I woke up, as usual, before dawn. How had this become normal for me? In my old life, I was lucky if I was up before noon. Reaching a hand to the covers that were wrapped around me, I realized (after a moment of holding them) that it was actually Caprice behind me—one wing holding on.

Clingy Kobolds were one thing, but with wings she was impossible to get away from without waking her. Closing my eyes against the dark I couldn't see in anyway, I felt an odd tingle run through me.

Flying. I dreamed of flying. Zooming through the sky with huge wings and no care for anything that might want to attack me. Apart from my dreams with Molly, this was probably the least fucked-up dream yet, and I found myself enjoying it.

There was something more than just flying. There was confidence and strength, a sense of being invulnerable. I soared on huge wings not just for the fun of it, but to show the world that it couldn't beat me down.

"Wake up, sleepy head."

It was still dark, and I could still feel Caprice's wing around me, but her voice was a new part of the equation. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Caprice not know. The only clock we have is in the taproom." On the whole, being spooned by a warm and snuggly Kobold was probably one of the more comfortable ways to sleep, though I admit that Gloria had been a little better to wake up to.

Right. Downsides to living in a literal fantasy world. I yawned and squirmed a little in her grip, which she tightened for just a moment before she giggled and let go. Sliding from bed, I was about to take a step before Caprice mumbled something and her hands started to glow. "Thanks, Caprice."

I grabbed my bathrobe and slipped out first to the gong, then to the bathroom. It was our normal routine, getting ourselves clean for the day ahead. Only, when we came out of the bathroom, Caprice followed me back into my bedroom instead of heading for her own.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Can't clean rooms yet. People are still in them." Caprice slipped up behind me and gripped my bathrobe at the shoulders. I complied with her unsaid request and pulled the belt undone and stepped out of it. "Dusky going to get new clothes today?"

"Yeah." I reached for my robes instead of my work dress. "Then I'll be back for lunch to help out with the afternoon rush."

"First, Caprice wants to braid all this." She jumped up on the bed and looked at me expectantly.

I had no chance of leaving the room alive without letting her do this, so I turned and sat before her. "You really like messing with my hair, don't you?"

As if to prove my point, she started working on the braid right away. "Mmhmm!"

I closed my eyes to the candlelight in the room, relaxing utterly at the touch of her hands in my hair. There was just something so ASMR about this that I almost couldn't move while she braided away. If it wasn't for how much the bath woke me up, I'd be asleep again.

"Dusky? Dusky?" Caprice's voice shook me from the trance her hands had put me in. "Dusky likes having her hair braided?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. It makes me just relax and zone out." Without her hands combing through and gently tugging at my hair, the world slowly started to filter back in and make sense again. "I'd return the favor, but—"

"Dusky already does return the favor. Caprice loves having her scales sanded." When I looked back over my shoulder, Caprice was blushing.

I turned and reached out to pull her to my side and into a hug. "Caprice, you already return that favor by helping me wash."

Shaking her head, Caprice giggled. "It's not the same, Dusky. But, that's okay. Caprice is just happy she can make Dusky happy."

And making Caprice happy was usually the highest point of every day. I squeezed her in a tighter hug before I realized I was getting entirely too used to being naked in this body—and having Caprice in my room. I let go and stood up, hopefully before she could see my blush, and walked over to get some clean underthings.

"Is Dusky blushing?"

"No. It must be the candle light or some—"

"Light." Caprice jumped off the bed behind me and circled around, but by the time she reached me I had things under control. "Aww."

"You did make me blush, Caprice. It's just how casual it feels sometimes to be like this." I gestured at myself. "And then all it takes is the realization of how comfortable it is, and I blush like a teen boy again."

I reached into the dresser and pulled out a fresh top and shorts and pulled them on while Caprice was quiet. When I finally turned back to look at her, she had a fiendish grin. "What?"

"Is Dusky suitably dressed to get hugged now?"

"I might blush a bit, Caprice, but I'm always ready for your hugs." Raising my arms and holding them out, I caught her when she rushed against me.

Caprice, though, had her new ace-in-the-hole. Not only did she hug me with her arms, but she also wrapped her wings around me and squeezed. It was cozy beyond anything I'd ever felt before, and far from blushing I just squeezed back for all I was worth.

After a while she shimmied her wings and pulled them back, then slowly started letting me go. "Caprice needed that."

When I was free enough to, I booped her on the nose with a finger. "When do you think we can get stuck into the morning chores?"

"If you get dressed now and we go and grab some breakfast, people should be getting up by the time we're done."

So, that's what we did. I got dressed in my usual cleaning dress, headed downstairs and helped Caprice lift down the porridge that Jules had set to warm over the stove through the night, and we ate together in the taproom.

When guests started coming down—and neither Jules nor Chloe were around, I took over serving breakfast and drinks to them while Caprice slipped upstairs to clean.

It was a little different than my normal work, but pouring out a bowl of porridge for each guest wasn't exactly taxing.

Soon enough Jules came down the stairs, smiling, and walked over to where I was pouring water and tea for people. "Caprice and Chloe are almost done. You might want to go and collect your things from the market now?"

"Thanks, Jules. I'll be quick to get back for lunch." Washing my hands in the kitchen, I headed out the back door of the tavern and froze.

There was a weird tingling sensation all over me, like fingers stroking my skin—but from the inside. The sensation started and ended so quickly I couldn't really get a good sense for what might be causing it before it was gone again.

I also realized I was wearing my work dress instead of my healer's robes. Well, it didn't really matter, except my chest was a little cooler given the temperature and lack of covering. Yup, girl problems.

My first target was the dressmaker. She had completed my whole order and even sold me a small pack to store them all in. Then, after a quick goodbye, I was off to the leather workers. The town around me smelled far more alive and vigorous today.

On my way to the leather-workers, I spotted the church's people in the market offering their own (overpriced) healing. They didn't glare at me this time, and I realized it was because I had my work clothes on and not my robes.

It was interesting how different perceptions were when I was just dressed a little different.

The leather workers' shop had a heavy wooden door at the front that I unlatched and pulled open. Stepping inside, the room was warm and smelled a lot of the leather they traded. "Hello?" I asked, not seeing anyone.

"Hello?" I recognized the voice from when we'd ordered my gear. A woman looking like she was in her late 20s came out and smiled at me. "Dusky, right? Corsets, belt, pants, and a leather jacket?"

"Yup! I was here with my friend Taffy Sugarborne a few days ago. I just wanted to know if it was—" She was already reaching under her bench and lifting something up, so I waited to see what she had.

Two pairs of leather pants were set on the bench along with a belt. "Oh, and you had some boots, too?"

I'd forgotten half of what we'd ordered, apparently. "Yeah. Some corsets and a jacket, too," I said.

Producing a slate, she looked at it. "Right, here we are. We had the corsets on display, since Beater only finished them yesterday. The jacket is over here too—Oh, and the boots." She circled around the bench and walked over to one of the displayed racks of leather goods. "Do you want something to carry all this, or do you want a canvas sack?"

That's when it hit me—none of this went into my inventory. "I'll take a sack. I just got this bag, and I don't think it'll carry all this and live another day."

"No problem at all. We keep some sacks on hand for that reason. Say, you work at The Hog, right?" When I nodded, she brightened. "Well, no charge on the sack if you bring it back before the end of the day." As she spoke, she fetched said sack from a wooden box in the corner of the room and started putting my things into it.

That seemed easy enough. "I can do that."

When she had everything in the sack and pulled the strap on the top to close it, I felt a thrill of excitement. It might be making a statement about what kind of woman I am, but I liked the look of this sort of thing, and wearing pants was its own reward.

"You'll need some oil for all this. The corsets and boots will need this, and the jacket and pants will need this." She put two jars with paper labels tied to them into the bag. "Remember, if you need any help with this stuff, just drop in, and we can see what we can do."

"Thanks! I definitely will!" Hefting the bag up and onto my shoulder, I found it surprisingly comfortable to carry. That's when it hit me—I'd been leveling up Barmaid and that had physical stat boosts built in.

Leaving the shop, I started back toward the tavern when I realized there was a pair of the church people following me. As soon as I was away from the market, they approached.

"Excuse us a moment, but we were wondering if you would be interested in following the footsteps of the Exultant Father?" a woman in gold robes asked. They weren't healer-style robes, but the whole religious type. Big cowls, wrap around like a cloak, and decorated with holy symbols.

"You are the one from the tavern, are you not?" asked the other, similarly clothed guy. "You were healing people."

"Yeah, I learned my lesson, though. I don't charge anyone for heals." I wanted to keep walking, but the woman had circled around and stopped in front of me—which meant I stopped. "Uh, can you please get out of my way?"

"You have nothing to fear from us. The Father and his followers are pure and good, and we wish you no harm." Since they weren't giving me their names, I figured that meant I got to make some up. Jill and Jack would do. Jill was the more annoying of the two with how she just stood there.

"Right now I am afraid, though. I'm afraid I'll be late getting back to work." I started to step to the side, but she moved too. "What? You want me to fight you?"

Jack moved around to stand at Jill's side. "We are unarmed. We do not seek combat." They were speaking a little funny, both of them. It was all posh and jerky, or so it seemed. "Do your healing powers come from another god perhaps? Is that why you resist the Exultant Father's invitation?"

"Well, I mean, I've been able to heal since before I followed a god." I was about to say more—say anything but Molly's name—when I spotted Taffy approaching. "You don't have to follow a god to be able to heal, you know."

"Hey, Dusky! Who are your new friends? I didn't think you were into all this religious stuff?" Taffy was wearing her armor and looked just as ready to talk or start swinging her sword. When she reached my side, the two priests seemed a little worried.

"We were having a little chat, but I think they're done," I said, leaning against Taffy's side a little. "Jack, Jill, excuse us?"

It seemed like the priests were ignoring me and looking at Taffy's armor and weapon.

"Well, then, let's head back shall we?" Putting her arm around my shoulders—something that made me want to snuggle up to the cool steel she was wearing way more than I should—Taffy aimed us right between the two priests and seemed content to walk over them as much as she was to walk between them.

They parted, but only barely enough to let us through. Neither Jack nor Jill said anything as we walked away, but Taffy tilted her head down a little. "What was that about?"

"They were trying to recruit me or find out what god I follow. Wouldn't get out of my way and I don't have the—I don't have the physical size to just make them move like you can. I could have cut them with my knife, but—"

"… but then you would have been tried for attacking an unarmed priest," Taffy said.

"Right, and I'm sure they would have been perfectly fine dropping all complaints if I agree to join their order." It seemed right. Okay, so they might be one of the good factions, but if they figured me being in their gang was a good thing, they would probably go for it.

"Guess it's a good idea I don't let them know about my healing." Taffy didn't let me leave her side all the way to the tavern—something I was thankful for.

Except for the game, I hadn't exactly been the confrontational sort, and like with the hobgoblins shooting arrows at me, the tactics that the church people had taken had seemed alien and impossible to think past.

And it wasn't like I could blame it on me being an emotional girl now. If anything, I felt more confident now because of the training I'd had from Taffy and Fagin. I didn't need to steel myself to step into the tavern—this was home.