Test vs Cupidity

Adella took her seat with a huff. "Spoilsport."

"So, she didn't se-seduce you?" Reisen asked as Ms. Miranda left to go get something for the siren.

"No, although not for lack of trying. But thanks to your rigorous training I am more then capable of defending myself." Test proudly declared. Immediately after saying this he realized his face was still covered in the sweat of the fight, and more importantly still covered in Adella's juices. He made to quickly grab a napkin and wipe his face clean feeling silly for not having done so sooner. "So Adella, what do people do for fun around here, besides toying with any human foolish enough to ignore all the warning signs?" Test asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Toy with the humans who were here when we took over." Adella answered as Ms. Miranda place a large mug filled with something white. "It's not like midara ever get tired of that sort of thing. Bit when I'm not doing that, I'm either teasing the others or gathering fish from the river."

The siren then proceeded to chug her "drink".

"The humans who were here when you took over?" Test stomach dropped, this was exactly the kind of thing he'd been worried about. But he was going to let her talk first, jumping to conclusions with midara had gotten him into trouble before.

"Yeah." Adella said after she finished her "drink". "You think we built all of these buildings by ourselves?"

"We may have over done it, honestly" Ms. Miranda admitted sheepishly.

"Over done it?" Reisen asked with morbid curiosity.

"We may have drove the residents to develop something similar to your condition." the innkeeper explained. "Poe runs her self ragged taking care of them all."

"The adults, anyway." the siren added. "For some reason, Marisa was really adamant about us not keeping anyone under eighteen."

"Well I'd optimistically assumed that you found an abandoned town."
Test made a mental note of "your condition" it seemed that Reisen had been a lot more open with Mrs. Miranda then he'd expected. And, if he was reading Mrs. Miranda's cryptic statement correctly, his quest to find a cure for Reisen's condition might have just become a lot more urgent.
"Why? What's wrong with the humans?" He asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"They kind of sometimes forget to eat." Adella told him with a shrug. "Like, there minds get so lost in pleasure that they forget to take care of themselves every now and then."

"That's..." Reisen trailed off with a mix of emotions in her voice.

"You shouldn't get that bad, hun." Ms. Miranda said as she laid of comforting hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "Midara are bit more suited to handling vast amounts of pleasure, after all."

"Right, Midara..." Reisen replied with an awkward chuckle.

This wasn't good. Test's first instinct in such a situation would be to do everything in his power to rescue the captured humans, but if they suffered from an even worse form of Reisen's condition then freeing them might do far more harm then good.
"Do you know what causes this... condition?" He asked Ms. Miranda.

"We're not entirely sure." Ms. Miranda admitted. "Our best guess is a bit too much fun with too many types of midara too fast."


"Charlie, our local human turned bunny girl if you didn't know, is only allowed one encounter a day just to be safe." Adella added.

"Well if it's caused by exposure to too much midara magic we might be able to help each other. You see I myself am searching for a cure to a similar condition which afflicts someone near and dear to me. And if I find it I can return and share it with you all. I only ask one thing in return. If I do find a cure, and we do manage to return the unfortunate locals to their right minds, at least give them the option to leave."
This was a little bit of a leap on Test's part, he had no way of actually knowing if the local humans affliction was anythingike Reisen's, but at least trying was preferable to leaving them to their fate.

"That might not be our call to make, hun." Ms. Miranda told him. "You'd have to take that deal up with Marisa."

"Besides, I wouldn't really call them unfortunate." Adella added. "Maybe to a prude like you they are, but they're people who have stopped holding back and are enjoying themselves."

"I don't care how much someone is enjoying themselves. If they can't take care of themselves then something is clearly wrong. Look at it this way, if they really are enjoying themselves they'll choose to stay and then you all can have your fun and your Poe won't have to work herself to the bone taking care of them all."
He really did mean this, whether the afflicted humans chose to leave or stay was irrelevant, what mattered is that they chose for themselves.
Mrs. Miranda was right about it now being their call. He'd have to talk to Marisa about this of he hoped to get anything done.

"S-So, what do we do now, Test?" Reisen asked as her foot caressed his leg under the table.

"I can give you both a room if you want to stay for the night." Ms. Miranda offered.

Test shivered slightly from Reisen's caress, despite the seriousness of the situation.
A room sounded nice, especially if negotiations with Marisa took longer then expected.
"What do you think? Think I have any chance of convincing Marisa?"

The two locals shared a glance before they answered in unison. "No clue."

"I've know Marisa a long time, hun." Mr. Miranda added. "Her view on humans isn't... the best."

"Especially after that one guy willingly surrendered to her, but, when she brought him back here, as soon as she turned her back he tried to kill some of us." Adella chimed in.

"Yes, there's that," the innkeeper admitted, "but recent events of midara causing trouble for other midara has shaken her worldview a bit."

A betrayal like that would help explain Marisa's bad attitude towards humans.
"I think we'll take you up on that offer of a room then as long as Reisen doesn't mind."
Test looked at Reisen to try and fully gauge her reaction. She had been initially against coming here but her attitude had seemed to improve once she's gotten to see the place, especially when the locals weren't trying to seduce him.

"Oh! Um, yes!" Reisen answered as her face turned a bit redder and her eyes flickered.

"Then I'll show you to your room after you've finished eating, okay." Ms. Miranda replied.

With that Test was able to enjoy his meal, it had been a long and eventful day and he was hungry. As he finished he realized how he hadn't thought about how he was going to pay for the room and meal. It wasn't like he had a lot of money on him having spent most of it at Anna's shop.
"Eh, how much for the room and the food?" He asked Mrs. Miranda, dreading what he might hear.

(Self Control -roll 100- Success!)

Ms. Miranda briefly glance at Reisen. "For you two? On the house this time." she told them before she led the pair to their room.

"I-I'm okay with sleeping on the floor." Reisen offered as soon as the door closed behind them and she realized there was just one bed for the two of them.

"Nonsense, the bed is all yours. I'm more than comfortable with the floor."
Test took out his bed roll and prepared to unfurl it, it wasn't as good as a bed but having a roof over his head was at least preferable to sleeping under the stars.
Test felt a bit bad about not paying. He didn't want to take advantage of Mrs. Miranda's hospitality but it wasn't like he had the means to pay anyway. Maybe he could settle his debts if he ever came back here.

"No, really! I insist." Reisen pushed. "I-I'm used to not sleeping in a bed."

"Well then nows the perfect time to start."
It seemed like a really nice bed, Test would hate to rob Reisen of the experience of a soft bed after a long day, especially if she was unfamiliar with it.

"Ar-are you sure? We co-" Reisen said before she cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Thanks."


The moon rabbit then slipped off her shoes and climbed into the open bed.

"Enjoy" Test said with a smile before slipping off his own shoes and overshirt and laying down on his bed roll. Doing his best not to think about what he'd give to be sharing that bed with her.

The two had a restful night, even if they spent it longing to be with the other.

--

The next morning, the pair awoke to the most delightful scent tickling their noses.


"Morning?" Reisen said groggily as she sat up and sniffed the air.