The Sweet-Dreamers’ Sleepover – Chapter 8

Preface: Greetings, all!  What follows is the eighth chapter of a multi-chapter story that began with Chapter 1 here. The primary monstergirls are a nightmare, a weresheep, a dormouse, and a bogey.  This story features only a little lewdness, so savor the fluff and feels!

     And, to conclude with a standard disclaimer: The monster girls featured in this tale, and many elements of the setting, are based off of the works of Kenkou Cross, and as such this work is intended to be a tribute to his creativity. The characters, however, are my own. Pray neither sue nor steal; I have very little to take, but I love that which is mine.

The Sweet-Dreamers’ Sleepover

 Chapter 8: Blessed

     The air was cold and gusting as the procession emerged from the treehouse.  Ethan glanced up at the occluded moon above, seeing that it was fighting to keep shining through the surging clouds that were drifting through the charcoal heavens.  The weather was turning, it seemed, from the unseasonable warmth – a chill wind slipped through his nightclothes like water through a net, and there was a hint of something different in the air, like the emptiness before a storm.  Winter was on its way, and change had arrived first, heralding its coming with a skyhigh rumble.

Shivering, he brushed against the nearest source of warmth – and glanced down to see Melanie smiling up at him.  He returned the expression, even as the berating tormentor of his conscience warned him that all of this was fated to end poorly.  He had spent so long running from these girls, and stopping now seemed like ignoring the problems he could see in the distance, but… when the dormouse reached out and claimed his hand, he tangled his fingers with hers, and warmed the cool skin of the back of her hand with his thumb in a reflexive caress.  Trouble had captured him, he knew, as he felt Nellie’s hand touch his shoulder from behind, noticed Anne glancing back to him, knew Candy was close by the scent of her perfume.  All that was left was to see what they would do with him – and to deal with the consequences of their disappointment.

Like a march to the gallows, the procession stepped off the ramp and walked towards the empty Yates home, the four girls standing close by to Ethan as if to prevent his escape, even if they smiled and brushed against him softly.  Tonight had opened doors that he had forced shut long ago, for them and most certainly for him, and Ethan didn’t know how he would manage to ever close them again.  He smiled back, but underneath the mask he was panicking, certain that this was going to end poorly for everyone involved, but all he could do was walk the path ahead of him, powerless to save them.

The door to the house opened, and the procession continued.  As they walked past the couch, eyebrows quirked as silent, judging glances slid towards one ovine member of the group, who blushed and tried not to meet any other gazes.  Instead, they climbed the shadowed, wide-bodied stairs to the second floor, and proceeded along the mezzanine to the hall that separated Nellie and Ethan’s rooms.  As they walked, Ethan remembered earlier moments in the night – when Nellie had spoken to him, and confessed to him (he now understood what she had meant, how brave she had been then), as well as his first attempt at sleeping, interrupted by Melanie’s presence in his bed (it had been so tempting to stay there, to just sleep and hold her…).  And, below, his parents’ room, where Anne had come to him (needy in her own way, but just as self-conscious as the day he had met her at the soccer field).  And, Chrissie’s pouncing hunger in the living room, where he had almost succumbed (or, rather, where he had surrendered, but where her conscience had been the one to interrupt them).  And now, they entered the final room of the house that he had not been in this evening, and he could only grimly wonder what memories would come from it.

Nellie’s bedroom was still brightly-lit, and the girls filed in, taking their favored places as Ethan lingered by the door.  He watched as Chrissie leaned against the dresser with the mirror along the left side, while Mel and Anne flopped onto the bed.  Nellie stood in the center, completing the semi-circle aimed at him, and she turned to face him directly, her expression striking him – in a way he wasn’t used to – as almost completely unreadable.  She seemed… confident, happy even, but driven and authoritative, as if she were getting ready to go into battle.  He wondered who she was intending to fight, if that was the case.  He was afraid that ‘he’ was the answer to that, and he didn’t know if he would be anywhere near as ready for what was to come.

Despite the gravity of his situation, one small detail of his surroundings brought a slight grin to Ethan’s face.  As he looked around the familiar room – Nellie hadn’t changed a thing while he had been at college, aside from maybe adding a few photos to the board above her bed – he noticed a familiar poster above her pillows, emblazoned with the name of the band ‘LittleDeath.’  The human woman it depicted was instantly familiar, but moreso now than ever before; the green-eyed gothic sexpot made him remember Nellie’s attempt at seducing him in the dreamworld.  His eyebrow arched, and he turned to ask a question of his nightmare housemate, but the flat stare she was directing at him made him close his mouth without a sound.

“Once again,” Nellie said, her voice faux-ceremonial, “I hereby call this meeting of the Sweet-Dreamers’ Society to order.”

Ethan blinked and then, despite himself, grinned further. “That sounds kind of awesome.  Do you have, like, titles or secret names or something-?”

“I know, right?!” Anne exploded, leaning forward to point to him. “It sounds like we-”

“A-hem,” President Nellie cleared her throat pointedly, diplomatically ignoring the way that the bogey was raising her thumb at Ethan, who was nodding back with a smile. “As I was saying, I call this meeting to order once more.  Since we have already had one meeting this evening, we can forego the usual sharing of tribute or-”

“Now that she says it, I could really go for a snack…”

“Not now, obviously, but… after?”

The nightmare’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and her hoof stamped the floor with a percussive threat.  The chatterers fell silent, leaning back onto her bed.  At her side, the Marshal of the Society rolled her eyes in exasperation – Candy had traded roles with Nellie from their earlier meeting, and now was content to observe and judge.  Her blue eyes wandered from Nellie to Ethan, and it was clear that her mood, out of all the girls, was the closest to Ethan’s own.  She wasn’t despondent, but she was deeply aware of the dangers ahead, and she didn’t see a way to steer things to avoid catastrophe.

“Tonight, we meet for a specific reason.” Nellie paused, making sure she had everyone’s attention, and after a moment she accepted that she did.  Once she was sure, she let her magenta gaze fall onto Ethan like an axe. “The Trial of Ethan Yates.”

There was something in the sepulchral tone of her words that made the other girls shiver, and Ethan met her eyes with a glum acceptance, nodding and leaning back against the door.  He wanted to cross his arms before him, a defensive stance rooted in instinct, but instead he let himself slide down the door, until he plopped onto the floor at its base, looking up at Nellie with a resigned submission to her decision.  If this was what his actions had led to, then so be it.

A wary voice spoke up in his defense. “Nell…” Melanie offered, her tone placating, “it’s been a long night – for him, especially.  Maybe we should-” The dormouse’s hands were spread in front of her, a gesture of quiet peacekeeping, but they fell when the nightmare shook her head.

“There won’t ever be a better time than now,” Nellie insisted, her face set.  Melanie glanced over to Anne, who also wore a conflicted mask that hid most of her usual smile.

“Is he the one that should be on trial?” Candy asked, quietly.  Nellie didn’t immediately answer that, but her eyes fell to the floor for a moment. Her body shifted back and forth restlessly, and finally she looked up to the weresheep, her expression unyielding.

“This is just as much about us as it is about him,” Nellie agreed, sighing. “But we all have to take responsibility, and that means facing things… we all want to run from.”  She paused, and looked over all the others in the room.  They all wore the same pain on their faces, doubts and anguish they routinely hid from each other – from themselves.- and she hesitated, because she knew that this would require even more of that hurting, from each of the people that she loved the most.  But, that was the point, the one hope in all of this…

“So, let’s start with…” Nellie paused, and, gathering her strength, nodded. “Two paths that we can take from here.” She raised her hands, one to each side of her body. “Two gates.” She looked to each of her friends, making sure they knew these words were for them. “For the first… imagine that our plans tonight had… worked.” She shrugged, letting her hands fall. “One of us ‘won.’  Say it was you.” She looked to each of the other girls in turn.

Ethan looked up at her, his frown gentle. “You all planned this, and way in advance, didn’t you?”

“Oh yeah,” Anne chuckled, leaning back on the mat that was Nellie’s bed. “Like, months ago.  We’d spend whole lunches talking about this.”

“We hadn’t worked out all the details…” Melanie admitted, drumming her feet on the mat beside the bogey.

“But we knew what we wanted to do,” Candy admitted, and she let her eyes flick to him, cautiously testing how upset he would be at this.  Instead, his gaze fell to the floor, and the self-incrimination was obvious on his face.

“We did,” Nellie said, reclaiming everyone’s attention, “but we never thought enough about how it would end.  Even if one of us had won.  Just… think about the future.” Her eyes wandered over her friends as they paled. “If you won, you would have…” She gestured mutely to Ethan, who didn’t even seem to notice. “But what would it cost?  You would be happy, for the rest of your life,” she pointedly ignored Ethan’s bitter laugh, “but… imagine coming home at Christmas like this, and visiting the rest of us.  How would it have felt, seeing the pain the rest of us carried, even with him at your side?  Would our friendships have been the same?”

“You could have moved on,” Ethan suggested, meekly.

Nellie’s eyebrow rose. “Tell me,” she requested, glancing to the others, “do any of you think you would have?” Their negative responses, quick and certain and emphatic, made Ethan’s head slump further between his shoulders. “We’ve all had plenty of chances to do that, Ethan,” Nellie explained, facing him directly. “We… can’t.  Or don’t want to.  Won’t.”

“But…!” He looked up at her, and she could see the agony there, but she could only shake her head in response.

“Is that what you really want?” she asked him, driving the fatal point home before he could guard himself.  He stared at her, his mouth feebly opening and closing for several moments, as he tried and fought and wrestled with a dozen replies – none of them honest. “Tell me, Ethan,” she pressed, gesturing with the opposite hand than the one she had started her hypothetical situation with. “Let’s look at the other gate – the path where none of us win.  Where you go on, and someday… settle down with someone else.  And so do we.” The grumbles from the other girls threatened to interrupt her, but she ignored them, walking closer to Ethan, snaring him with her eyes. “And when you come home, and see us with other guys… the girls you let get away, because you were afraid… wrapped in other men’s arms, being kissed…” He looked up at her, and there was something ugly and angry on his face before he could hide it away – she saw it, they all did, and deep down they enjoyed it – “Tell me, would that make you happy, Ethan?”

Finally, his inward-turned anger searing at him, he surrendered. “No,” he admitted, damning himself with the syllable, confessing to his grievously-sinful greed. “I would hate it, no matter how many times I saw it.”

And Nellie took a moment, even as the love of her life crumpled in his internal pain and self-admonishment, to look at her friends.  To see on their faces… a spark of hope.  Her words were bitter and hateful in effect, but at the same time – Ethan had admitted that he didn’t want them to go.  That he wanted them… to want him.  That he wouldn’t be happier if they moved on.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Nellie to think that she might be able to win.

“I know,” Nellie said, her voice suddenly soothing, but even then Ethan couldn’t look up at her, too ashamed of the secret he had hidden for so long.  He knew, deep down, how he felt about each of the girls, but there wasn’t a future in that.  If it was with him, there wasn’t a future good enough for any of them.  And now, even if he felt like he could make any single one of them happy, he knew it would only hurt the others, three of the people he loved the most.  How could he ever hope to even the scales like that, when making one of them happy only hurt the rest, and choosing none of them… hurt them, and him as well. “We would feel the same, if you chose another one of us.” She looked at the others – it was a harsh truth, and just like Ethan, none of them dared to meet her eyes. “And even if you chose us… there would be a part of us that doubted if you made the right decision.  If another one of us might have made you happier.” Her eyes turned to Candy, who was staring intensely at the floor, her mask threatening to slide off.  Nellie could see the anguish there in particular, since Candy had been the other one who had chosen to try to let others take what she wanted for herself, and so she knew how badly that self-sacrifice hurt. “That’s the problem,” the nightmare continued, sighing slowly. “Neither of these paths work.  No matter which we pick – most of us end up hurting.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Ethan exploded.  The tension was clear in his voice, but it wasn’t anger – only desperation, a heart-torn plea.  He stared up at Nellie, hands spread, throwing himself at her mercy. “I only want you all to be happy-!”

Nellie came even closer, kneeling down on her forelegs to draw nearer to the boy she had loved since she was a child.  She reached out to stroke his face softly, seeing the pain in his eyes.  She felt guilty, but she knew it would take one more push for her to reach her goal, and it would hurt them all.  Still… “And we want you to be happy, too.  I don’t think we’ll truly be happy unless you are.”

Ethan’s response was quiet, but still Nellie heard it, and she scowled at his words. “‘One more thing you don’t deserve?’” she quoted, outraged, and he looked away from her, unwilling to meet the fire in her eyes.  She straightened, and he could feel the air chilling around him.  Nellie’s weren’t the only eyes staring at him with incensed intensity.  Through the gleam of her glasses, Melanie was frowning at him, and Anne crossed her claws in front of her chest as her grin faded.  And, to the side, Chrissie’s blue eyes all but gleamed as her brow furrowed, and he could see anger building there like stormclouds.

“Deserve?” The weresheep was incredulous. “I swear, if this is some nonsense that came out of Ritchie-” Her eyes widened as she saw him flinch, and he could almost hear her grinding her teeth.  Truthfully, it had begun long before Ritchie’s taunts, but those certainly hadn’t helped. “You deserve to be happy.  You deserve to be with whoever you love.  You deserve a future with one of us, or…” She stumbled on the next words, but Nellie stepped to her rescue.

“Tell me, Ethan,” Nellie said, her voice allowing no escape, no side-stepping this time, just as she stepped forward again to dominate his field of vision, “why is it that you don’t think you deserve someone like us?” When he didn’t answer, looking away with a piteous scowl, she pressed. “None of us would agree with that.  That’s not what we see when we look at you.  Then why?”

Ethan closed his eyes and forced himself to try to put his feelings into words.  He knew just how futile it would be; he could never find the right way of digging these feelings out to show them, especially since they ran so deep – and failing would mean that the girls might underestimate how hard it would be for him to deal with them.  He thought and fought to drag meaningful words out to begin, but discarded each mental draft vehemently.  Finally, he just let the words burst from him, like pus from a wound. “Because… I’m not who you think I am.  Who I’m supposed to be.” He paused, gritting his teeth. “I’m not… smart, like my mom was.  I make decent grades, but I practically live in the library, and spend twice as much time working just to do as good as I do – and I can’t keep that up forever.” His eyes fell to his lap. “And sports… South-East Kentucky State is just Division II, and we’re not outstanding even there.  There’s no way I’m going pro, no matter how hard I work.” Sighing, he motioned to the walls around them.  “And that leaves… Dad’s company.  It’s just like this house: my grandfather made it, and Dad made it even better.  But I’m not either of them.  Dad is…” He paused, waving his hand indistinctly. “He knows how to handle people.  He treats his workers like friends, but he still knows how to get them to work their hardest.  I could never be like that… I never know what to say.  I don’t want to be the reason that the company they built falls apart.”  The room was silent as the girls let him chew on his next words. “And so… I don’t know what I have to offer.  I’m not enough, no matter how hard I work to be, and I know that once monsters commit, it’s for life.  I can’t have any of you stuck with me, because I know I can’t live up to what I am supposed to.  I don’t know what you see when you look at me… but it’s better than who I really am.” Eyes closed, he slumped back against the wall, hollowed out by this outpouring of doubt and self-recrimination.

“Ethan…” came Melanie’s soft voice.  The dormouse’s face was wracked with sympathy, which was mirrored by the bogey next to her, who was half-rising from the bed as if to rush to hug Ethan.  Across the room, Candy’s fury had abated, but her fists were balled as she stared at the ground, desperate to think of a way to put to lie everything Ethan had just said.  Only one of the girls remained still and stoic; Nellie still stood before Ethan, her face unreadable.  What she would do next would be the hardest part of this – the greatest risk – but it all came down to this moment.

“Maybe you’re right.”

Three pairs of eyes, widened by shock, turned to Nellie.  None of them could believe the casual cruelty in those words, coming from the one of them who knew Ethan best.  She didn’t face them – couldn’t afford to doubt herself for a moment. “What if you aren’t enough?  What if you are destined to fail, because you couldn’t do what you wanted, be who you wanted to be?” Fury surged on the weresheep’s face, and even Anne scowled as Melanie gaped at the nightmare. “What if you are just going to be mediocre, instead of what we deserve?”

On the floor before her, Ethan’s head raised.  There was obvious pain in his eyes, but he smiled up at her, glad that she could see what he saw.  Nellie met that gaze, her face blank, her magenta eyes locking his in place, and he nodded slowly, accepting her judgment.

“But I know how you could change that.”

Instantly, confusion bloomed in Ethan’s gaze.  She knelt down, her face drawing closer to his, and she reached out to touch his cheek, forbidding him from looking away.  She could tell how vulnerable he was, and knew that he would finally hear her.

“You worry that you aren’t smart enough… but I remember one time that you did incredibly well, and brought all your grades up – and had fun doing it.” She glanced to the side, and as if tugged by her own gaze, he followed, looking over to Melanie on the bed nearby.  The dormouse blinked, surprised to be brought into this. “If you had help you could rely on, I know you would do better, because I’ve seen it happen.” Nellie’s hand raised to gesture towards the girl next to Melanie. “And, when it comes to sports, you always do better when you have someone to impress, someone to work with.  I remember two winters ago, how much fun you had working out – you pushed yourself for someone else, and enjoyed it.” Anne stared at Nellie with a blush, before looking to Ethan with wide eyes. “And, when it comes to your dad’s company, there is no person I know who works harder than you, but if charisma is what you worry about, then I know someone who has enough for two people, and would make a great leader at your side.” Blue eyes gleaming, Candy stared at Nellie with a swirling mixture of gratitude and confusion. “Ethan…” Nellie leaned closer, recapturing Ethan’s gaze, consuming his whole world in this crucial moment. “If you ever aren’t enough, it’s only because you’re alone.  And that is just as true for us, too.”

Ethan stared up at Nellie – and listened.  For a moment, hope began to swell on his face, only for the clouds of doubt to overshadow it once more. “But…”

“But making one of us whole isn’t enough, because you lose everyone else.” He stared at her, the pain in his eyes naked and open, but she only smiled. “And so do we.”  The air shimmered with tension, pulled taut to the point of snapping, but a gentle smile spread across Nellie’s face. “So… if neither way we’ve thought of works, then let’s tear down the walls and make a third gate.  Let’s make everyone happy.”

And thus, it had been said.  Each of the others in the room took their time in deciphering her meaning, but each eventually arrived at the same conclusion.  Candy was the first to get there, gaping at her friend. “You… do you mean…?” Her expression was scandalized, but the edges of her lips curled upward. “Nellie!” Her laughter was shocked but eager, as if she had just been told a naughty joke by a nun.

Melanie blinked from her place on the mat. “Isn’t that… illegal?”

“Hunh?” Anne looked between the others, blinking. “What are you- ohhh…” Her cheeks reddened to the hue of her hair as her eyes widened.

Ethan was the one who remained confused, looking all around the room for answers.  The girls, however, had no time to clue him in, as they were busy inspecting this idea with all of their attention.  Even Nellie turned her attention to the others, meeting their gazes, leaving Ethan to try to catch up without any aid.

“It’s illegal, sure,” Nellie admitted. “And, I know that we monsters are bound to follow humanity’s laws by the treaty the Seven signed when we came to this world…”

“Hunh?” Ethan asked, really wishing he had been able to take the ‘Monster History and Culture’ elective his senior year, even though it had conflicted with his math class.

Nellie turned back to him. “We monsters have to follow human laws, or we face consequences from both the legal system, and our own kind.  That was the deal monsters made when we first came to this world, and people can be really strict about it.  But…”

“But there are exceptions,” Candy mused, one hand raised to her face as she chewed lightly on her thumb. “People can be pretty practical about things dealing with love, when it comes down to it…”

“But what law-?” Ethan tried to ask.

“I’ve heard of it happening,” Melanie burst out. “My younger sister Allie, on the basketball team, told me that two of the players are, you know…”

Anne’s eyebrow raised precipitously at the hearsay. “Which two?”

“Umm… Angie and Nikki,” Mel continued. “The werecat and the holstaur.”

“You mean with… oh, that big guy in the leather jacket?  David or something,” Anne laughed, shaking her head. “Man, that’s crazy.  I’d love to see how that works-”

“Ahem,” Candy coughed, and the gossiping duo turned to face her.  There was a sparkle in the weresheep’s eyes as she nodded towards Nellie. “We should hear what she has to say, right?”

Nellie nodded to her oldest friend. “I know this isn’t perfect.  This isn’t what we all want, deep down…” Her hand pointed over to Ethan. “We want him, all to ourselves.  But we also want to keep each other.” She turned to face the other girls more directly. “Let’s be honest with ourselves.  We have all held back, because we were afraid of what we would lose if we won.” She favored Candy with a solemn nod. “Tonight, maybe more than ever.”

“Umm, brief interruption here,” Anne broke in, her grin more fangs than fun. “Can we have a little inquiry on what happened down there on the couch?” Candy blanched as all other eyes, save Ethan’s down-turned, blushing expression, locked onto her.

“I don’t think now is the time-” the cheerleader attempted, but the defense was far too feeble for the outrage on the faces of two of the girls.

“Candy,” Melanie all but growled, her voice uncharacteristically low, “I was asleep.  Upstairs.  With the door closed.  And you woke me up moaning.”

“Try being next door!” Anne snorted, glaring daggers at the weresheep.

“Come on, I stopped, didn’t I?” Candy asked, spreading her hands in a bargaining plea. “I was afraid that might happen, and I couldn’t bear the thought of you having to listen, so-”

“What was happening to make you moan like that?” Melanie asked, her eyes aflame behind her glasses.

“I could smell a bit of your mana on him,” Anne grumbled. “But I couldn’t smell where it was coming from.  So-”

“We should get back on topic,” Nellie attempted, utterly unheeded by the wrathful duo.

“It’s not enough she snores-”

“I do not!” Candy insisted, deeply affronted.  She looked over to Nellie for support, only for the nightmare to diplomatically look away. “And, it was being afraid that you might hear that made me decide to stop.  If I hadn’t-”

“Then you would have gone further?  Further than what?” Anne insisted, rising up on the mat.

“Tell us, or we’ll find out another way,” Melanie declared. “We just have to find out where the scent is coming from…”

Ethan listened to the conversation in horror, but part of him wanted to hold his breath.  He still didn’t know what Nellie’s idea had been – only that the mood in the room had changed.  Somehow, even as they ranted, the girls seemed…

Healed.  Happy.  Normal.

“Look,” Nellie interrupted, physically planting herself between the warring factions. “We can figure this out later.” She looked from one side to the other, frowning them into silence. “Because we will have to figure out a lot, if this is what we want to do.”

“But what is it that-?” Ethan tried again.

“Are you kidding me?” Anne asked, and all the other girls looked at her.  Slowly, a broad grin spread across her face, almost threatening to split her face in half. “Best of both worlds, far as I’m concerned.  I’m in.”  Her grin sharpened slightly as her eyes flicked over to Candy. “Plus, whatever she got on the couch, I definitely want some for myself…”

Melanie was silent for a second, but then glanced to Ethan. “I was alone before him.  And then I had you all.  To have both…” Her smile was only slightly sad, but there was a deeper joy in it. “I can give up being his one and only, if the others are my best friends.” She reached out to grab one of Anne’s claws, and her grin grew.

Nellie glanced over to the weresheep, the last of them.  Candy met her gaze for a long while, lowering her crossed arms. “I want Ethan,” she finally said. “But I want you, too.” Nellie blushed a bit at her friend’s intensity. “Maybe that’s greedy, but…” She shrugged. “If I have to fight to have it all, then it’s a fight worth throwing myself into.” Candy nodded, and then looked over to the boy that had captured all of their hearts. “Hope you’re ready for this, Ethan.” Her smile grew, and her blue eyes shined like the cloudless heavens stretching on forever. “Tonight was only a taste of what’s to come.”

Ethan blinked, and in his chest, his heart paused.  Every muscle in his body froze, and his brain thudded to a graceless stop.  He knew now what they meant.  But they couldn’t- were they serious?  Four sets of eyes turned to him, the final person left to agree to this madness, and he froze in those headlights.  They were serious.

“Ethan,” Nellie said softly. “This only works if you want it.  We are willing to give up our desire to have you to ourselves – can you give up your fear?”

A part of him screamed to flee, to rip open the door and sprint down the stairs, out the door and into the hills and forests beyond.  But he was done running.  Still, he had to offer what reason remained to him. “If I don’t deserve one of you…”

“Then we’ll all help you to deserve all of us,” Melanie offered quietly, and she stepped closer to him.

“I still think you’re pretty good whatever you think,” Anne commented offhandedly, and she, too, drew closer. “But if anyone would work hard enough to make us all happy, it would be you.”

His eyes flicked to the side. “Chrissie, after all that happened with your mom…”

She laughed, crude defiance laced within the joy. “Yeah, the elders hated her marrying a common man.  They’ll crap gold bricks at me going into a relationship like this.” She noticed everyone looking at her, and offered a toothy grin in reply. “All the better, if you ask me.  I couldn’t care less what they think.” She stepped closer as Ethan began to rise from his place on the floor. “Mom chose love over everything, and has never regretted it.  Neither will I.”

“Ethan,” Nellie said, “if there is any part of this you aren’t sure about, or anyone…” The question was too painful to say, but her eyes spoke to him.

“No,” he admitted, swallowing his sanity along with his pride. “You’re right.  I do need you… all of you.” He chuckled. “I don’t think I could do this without someone who understands us all so well…” Nellie blushed crimson, and nodded, stepping closer, leaving him entirely encircled.

Ethan looked at the four girls that he loved.  He knew that this was the moment he had run away from for so long, only multiplied by four.  He knew that this was a commitment to forever, and a risk of making the four people that he loved the most very, very unhappy.  He knew that it meant more pressure, more chaos, more doubts.

But they were worth it.  They were worth the world to him.  And they were worth the life he would spend making them happy.

“I love you, Nellie.” His eyes were locked on Nellie’s, and he could see the magenta gleam dim from moisture gathering there.  She knew what he was saying this time, and what it meant, but he said it anyways. “You’re the one who always sees through me.  You’re the one who has looked out for me – for all of us – for as long as I can remember.  It’s my turn to take better care of you, Nell.  I want to be with you forever.”

He glanced over to Melanie. “I’m sorry I ran from you,” he told her, and she shivered under his gaze, fighting her nerves as much as her desire to tackle him with an embrace. “I was afraid, because I didn’t stand up for you when I should have.” Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn’t interrupt him. “And I kept running, because I loved you, and I wanted to protect you from my own weakness.” She swallowed visibly, her own eyes moistening. “I love you, Melanie, and I want to be with you from now on.” She trembled from her need to launch herself at him, but she waited her turn, waited for the others to have their moment.

“Anne,” he said, turning to the bogey, whose smile had disappeared from the wash of nervousness. “I’ve missed you, and I never should have broken things off.  I scared myself by how bad I wanted you, and that made me hold back.” Her smile, like the sun emerging from behind dark clouds, had a teasing edge that told him he would have chances to make up for that mistake. “I can relax around you, drop my guard… and now, I am ready for that, because I don’t have to hide anymore.” He let his grin match hers. “I love you, and I want you to stay with me.”  It was the bogey’s turn to hold herself back, and she barely managed to do so, with a little help from the dormouse clutching her claw.

“Chrissie,” he said, and just the name made her shiver, step even closer, her tongue wetting her lips. “You were right – I did want you, badly, and I still do.  I listened to someone I never should have, and that made me doubt myself even more.  But you excite me, drive me crazy, and I want to keep that forever – if you’ll have me.”

“Yes,” she said huskily, drawing closer, a happy tear rolling down her cheek.  The other girls followed that cue, pressing him against the door, and he laughed.

“One at a time?” he suggested meekly, and they agreed – much less meekly.

The next moments were a paradox – a swimming unreality that left him barely able to feel the ground under his feet, and yet composed of snapshots that he would carry with him for the rest of his life.  They were the moments where he sealed his fate to theirs, where he embraced everything he had been running from and engraved it into his future.  It was a marriage oath, without the fanfare and ceremony and onlookers and setting – but no less sacred, no less breathless.

He pressed his lips to Nellie’s, wrapping his arms around her, her chest pressed against his, and breathed in her scent, and felt complete.  The kiss spoke of years of wanting, years of waiting and doubting, and now – now they had each other, forever, and they could explore dreams they had never even dared to imagine.  Even awake, the world felt like it obeyed their unspoken commands, time standing still as they tasted, touched, connected – they were the only things that were real.

Then, laughing, he scooped Melanie up, lifting her so that she lowered her lips to his, and she clutched to him like a lifeline, kissing him with a passion far beyond anything they had shared in the innocence of middle school years ago.  Eventually when he lowered her she looked ready to collapse onto the floor, her smile kiss-drunk.  Still, she reached up to softly caress his face, and he returned the gesture by brushing a strand of hair away from her glasses.

Next he wrapped Anne in a tight embrace, and she let him see the toe-curling bliss on her face as he squeezed – and then he leaned into to taste that grin, to let his tongue dance with hers as her claws gripped him tightly, refusing to let him escape again, squeezing until they were both breathless and panting and smiling into each other’s faces.

Finally, Candy gripped his shirt and stared into his eyes, letting him see the hunger in her gaze.  She had held back for so, so long – and that was done now.  She was never going to let him go, and he knew it.  He smiled back at her, lowering his face towards hers, and she froze, shocked as she saw something in those warm brown eyes she had never seen before: the lust he had kept locked away, a desire strong enough to rival her own… the heart of a monster beating in his chest, just as needy and eager as she was.  The only sound she made was a quiet moan as she let him take her lips, and then she pressed her body hard against his, letting every inch of her rejoice at what she would savor for the rest of her life.

Finally Ethan staggered back, the world dancing and swaying around him, and he leaned up against the door with a sloppy smile. “Round two?” suggested Anne, her hand reaching out to stroke his arm impatiently.

“I was thinking that we could take things a bit further,” Chrissie purred.

“Us first,” Melanie declared, taking Ethan’s hand in her own.  Before he realized what she was doing, she lifted it to her face and sniffed. “AH HA!”

“We do have a few things to figure out,” Nellie pointed out dutifully, even as the dormouse pointed accusingly to Ethan’s fingers, the bogey leaning in to sniff as well as Chrissie turned away, aghast and with scarlet cheeks. “That’s part of it, but… Ethan’s had a hard night, right?” Turning away from the controversy, three pairs of eyes regarded her dubiously, before looking back to the boy slumped against the door.  They next turned to each other, reluctant to yield to this good sense.

“I suppose there’s some things we should discuss first,” Melanie surrendered, and the remaining two sighed.

“Like how public we can make this, and how we tell our parents…” Nellie suggested.

“Do we have to worry about that?” Anne asked, shrugging. “We have time to sort that out.”

“I don’t think so,” Candy disagreed. “Our moms, at least, will figure things out pretty quick.  Especially after we, ah…” Her blue eyes gleamed with ill intent as she bared her teeth in a smile.

“Meh,” Anne rebutted eloquently. “My folks’ll be fine with it.”

“Your dad will?” Ethan asked, his voice breaking a little as he thought of the scarred, burly redhead with the face of a villain.

“Sure!” Anne reassured him unsuccessfully. “He loves you!  The only time he was ever mad at you was when we broke up, and he only threatened to break your knees, like, three times.” Ethan stared at her, horror evident on his face.

“My dad will just be happy that I’m going to be able to settle down with someone,” Melanie giggled without reproach. “I have too many sisters for him to worry about it too much.”

“You know, side perk of all of this business: we’ll each have people to help take care of our babies when we have them,” Candy pointed out.

“Babies?” Ethan asked, to no consequence, as the other girls nodded contemplatively.

“You said you don’t care about the family elders, but your parents-?” Nellie asked the weresheep.

“Will be happy for me,” Candy said, shrugging. “And they adore Ethan, too.”  She blinked, and then looked more closely at Nellie. “What about Marley and his dad?”

Nellie cast an appraising glance at Ethan, only to notice him returning the inspection. “I think they’ll be fine with it…” she mused, and Ethan chuckled, confirming he knew more than he was supposed to.

“Why do you say that?” Melanie asked, curious.

Again, Ethan and Nellie exchanged contemplative stares.  The communication was silent, and they both reacted with surprise as they realized how much they both had discovered. “Ah, well,” Ethan supplied, “even before Mom passed, Marley was kind of…”

“Oh…” said Candy, but then her eyes widened. “Oh!”

“A little more than that,” Nellie confirmed. “She tended to come back from visiting smelling like mana…” A blush spread across the cheeks of the other girls, but the nightmare’s next words made those buds blossom into roses. “And, ah, Sabrina usually smelled like… monster mana…”

Ethan coughed. “I found a letter once in Mom’s things.  I think it was a bit of them sharing dad… and a little more my parents sharing her.” Each of the monster girls burned brilliantly at the thought, an idea come far too soon for their relative innocence. “But, since they never talked about it, I thought it was pretty taboo…”

“These things are,” Candy admitted. “Human law frowns on polygamy.  And we monsters are supposed to follow that, but…”

“But you hear about people who ignore that particular rule pretty often,” Anne said. “I could name a handful of people.”

“And there’s always stuff in the news about them trying to change the laws,” Melanie chipped in. “They’re debating it in Congress.”

“So, who knows… maybe it’ll be legal here once we get out of school,” Nellie suggested, and glanced at the others with a shy smile.

“So…” Candy started. “Add that to the list of things to discuss: group ceremony, or individual ones?”

“I think that’s getting ahead of ourselves,” Melanie laughed, but her grin was eager. “So… let’s table that one until tomorrow.”

The sound of Ethan thudding to the floor underscored that decision.  He had merely slid down the door, but his exhaustion was obvious as the girls crowded around to check him.  Even as he tried to wave them off, they hauled him back to his feet, and he only wobbled a little once he was up. “Sorry, it’s, ah, been a long night…” he said sheepishly.  He looked at the girls, and they all exchanged smiles. “But a good one.”

“The best,” said Candy, with a hand on her hip.

“I wish it didn’t have to end…” mourned Anne, one of her claws running down his side softly.

“But, hey, we have tomorrow!” cheered Melanie, and at those words an ominous light flared in the eyes of the four girls.

“Let’s get some rest, then,” Nellie suggested, and even in her voice there was a rumble of anticipation, a predatory hunger that made Ethan’s exhausted heart race.

“Should we take him back to his bed?” asked Melanie, wondering if she would be able to sneak in there with him later.

Nellie paused as Anne threw an arm around Ethan’s shoulders, and the nightmare let a smile spread slowly across her face. “I think I have a better idea,” she mused, and her gaze fell on the wide mat that she used as a bed – one big enough for all of them.

Even as Ethan felt himself being lowered to the bed that smelled of Nellie, as he felt the world grow dim but saw Anne’s wide grin, felt Melanie nuzzling up against him as he settled into a pillow, smiled as he felt Chrissie’s lips brush his cheek – he knew this was only the beginning.  He may have stopped running away, but these girls would keep him running from now on, and this would only be the first of many times that he passed out from exhaustion stemming from their chaos.  He had committed himself to each of them, and would climb mountains for their happiness if that was what it took.  His life would be delicious mayhem from now on, and they would be at the center of it each and every day.

He couldn’t imagine anything in the world that would make him happier than this.

 

******

 

“Hey, honey…” came Jason’s gravelly voice as the hotel door clicked unlocked and swung partially open. “Sorry I’m late, but the guys are going to play a few rounds of pool before we turn in for the night, and I wanted to check in before I joined them.” The broad-shouldered construction chief stepped into the room, still wearing his button-up, though his jacket had been long ago discarded and brought back to the room by his wife.

“That’s fine, darling,” Marley said, idly turning a page in the book she was reading as she glanced at the clock and noted how many hours it was past midnight. “I’d figured you would be out for a while tonight.” She had already settled into the bed, the sheets and comforter pulled up over her equine lower half as she leaned against the padded wall.  This room was on a floor dedicated to monsters who needed special accommodations, proof of the resort’s expensive pedigree. “All going well with the boys?” she asked, mischief in her eyes as she looked up at her mate.

“Ah, you know how it is,” Jason laughed. “Davis wants a partner – he thinks he’s found a couple of easy marks.  Plus, I figure it’s a good chance to get gossip out of him about his daughter and the Carroll’s younger boy.” He chuckled self-consciously, amused to be living vicariously through the love lives of the younger generation. “Speaking of… how do you think it’s going, back at the house?”

Marley laughed, shaking her head. “It’s going to go fine, I trust them.  Those girls just have to figure out how to corner him, and then they might just figure themselves out in the process.  They’ll sort it out long before we get home, you wait and see.”

“I really hope so,” Jason barked a laugh. “I love Ethan to death, but that boy can be thick when it comes to his heart.  He won’t settle till happiness runs him down.”

“It happens,” Marley’s soft smile was self-deprecating. “But it’s all the more special for the struggles you go through to get there.” He nodded, sharing those silent memories of how long it had taken the three of them to realize what they each had wanted, and how beautiful it had been for those years that they had been together with Sabrina. “Go play your games, con some poor fool out of his lunch money.  Just… don’t stay out too late.” She smiled sweetly at him, and nodded over to the side.  He followed her gaze to the open closet, discovering the single article of clothing hanging there: a lacy nightgown that promised to show far more than it hid, and suggested it would clutch to soft skin like shrink wrap.

“A-ah,” he said, color rising into his cheeks.  His eyes slid from the titillating garment to the buxom unicorn laying quietly in the bed, and then back again another time. “That’s a new one?”

“Brand new,” Marley said, in a voice like syrup, “and just a bit on the small side, sadly…very tight, so much so that I won’t be able to wear it for long…”

His cheeks crimson now, Jason nodded. “Maybe just, ah… just one game, then.”

“Have fun,” she prompted. “I’ll be here when you come back… waiting.” There was something in how she said the last word that implied enough for his mind to prepare an imagined visual feast, and he hesitated at the door, wavering between going to finish the game all the sooner, or just staying to dive right in.  She laughed, a sound like windchimes, and waved him on. “Go, go!” she prompted, and with a sheepish grin he nodded, closing the door behind him.  She could swear she heard his heavy footsteps running down the hall through the thickness of the door – and most of these hotel rooms were wisely designed to dampen sound.

Alone once more, Marley started to turn back to her book, but paused.  Her mind turned back to the few surprises of the evening, especially the distinguished guest that had dropped in on the meeting.  This woman all in black, in particular, intrigued Marley, who had never expected to meet such a legendary figure in the flesh.  It was all the more curious that she – one of Seven – would make an appearance at such an out-of-the-way place, especially for something as minor as the construction of an athletics center.  There was a story there, Marley knew… and opportunities.

Her distraction meant that she was less careful in holding her book, and the dust cover drifted once more to the bed, sliding free of the book it encompassed.  With a “M’ohhh…” of irritation, Marley bent to take up the salacious slip, and began to place it over the decidedly different cover of the book it had concealed.  The ancient leather of the cover behind this facade was grimy and battered, faded with age, and unlike the licentious promise of the dust cover with its barely-clad centaur maiden and burly man, featured only two clues as to its nature: the skull embossed in the center of the cover, and the words Practical Necromancy along the spine, words that had been written on a different world.  Securing the concealing dust cover once more, Marley hastened to find her page again, eager to return to her reading.

Marley, Sabrina, and Jason had wasted too much precious time.  Marley hoped her child wouldn’t make the same mistake, because every moment with a lover was worth more than gems, more than fame.  Sabrina had been lost to them so early in their passion, and ever since that day, Marley had known that a piece of her was missing, and that she would give anything to have her life and love whole once more.  She knew Jason might momentarily balk at the steps she was willing to take – many in the community would, at first – but she knew now that such obstacles could be pushed through in the name of happiness.  She couldn’t afford to let anything swerve her from her happiness with those she cared about most, even the laws of the land or nature.

To monsters… love was the only true law.

 

******

 

It was later in the morning when the sun broke free of the milling clouds, spilling its pale winter light over the Yates property.  The storms wouldn’t arrive for a day or so yet, the heralds of the coming cold front – a sign that the last fading legs of warm weather were finally surrendering to the natural order of things.  But that was a matter for later, because this morning, the gleam of winter day fell upon the sprawling yard like a sigh of relief.

That soft glow touched upon the lumber of the finest treehouse in three states, unoccupied for now.  It drifted in through the windows of the Yates living room, and seeped in through the curtains of the master bedroom.  It even managed to pierce into Ethan’s own room, brushing over the tousled sheets of his empty bed.  If this gentle light sought to stir any sleepers to wakefulness, it didn’t have luck just yet.

Finally, it seeped into the last bedroom of the house, sidling in through the window and creeping towards the bed – but pausing in its advance, as if in respect of what it had found.  There, on the bed, lay five sleepers – soft, relaxed smiles on their faces, their bodies intertwined.  Nellie lay against her pillow, but had curled about to look at the boy nestled against her side and using her body to rest his own head, and in her slumber her hand still rested against his cheek, close to the hair she had been stroking when sleep had claimed her.  Underneath his right arm was Chrissie, pressed tightly against his body with her leg thrown possessively over his, her face openly content as she breathed softly, as if afraid to disturb her human pillow with a single snore, while her hand rested against his lower stomach in a clutching hold.  Near to that hand rested Melanie’s head, and she had claimed his opposite leg as a body pillow of her own, sleeping more deeply than ever before.  And, finally, Anne rested her head on his other shoulder, clutching to his chest with one of her claws, her lower body trapping Mel comfortably against Ethan; the bogey wore a sleep-softened grin even then.

Together, they slept – true sleep, because they had given in to rest after sharing the dream world for a while more.  And so, they each dreamed their own dreams, but they were all united in theme.  Together, they dreamed of the past, old hopes and desires given new life – and they dreamed of the future, of things they had never imagined before this night.  They dreamed of days they would share together, and they dreamed of nights they would steal away.  They dreamed of new possibilities, and they patched broken dreams back together and gave them new life.  They dreamed beyond what had once been their wildest dreams – now, it seemed, merely stops along their journey together.

And, hours later, when they woke, together… they would start to make these sweet dreams come true.

---

Author’s Note: And thus ends another story.  You may see another chapter pop up for this story in a little bit, but don’t get your hopes too high; it will simply be the (rather lengthy) info sheet for this story, breaking down things like character names, hidden connections to other stories, etc.  If I get meaningful questions, I may answer them as well, if not just in my usual replies to comments.

     Speaking of further story on this particular arc – I won’t deny it is possible, but only as a sequel story, if I get to it.  I had given some thought to it, but, ah… I felt like this was a good place to end it, because what comes next is quite simply an awful lot of sex.  And so, to avoid that – I thought of ways to break it up a little.  I came up with some notions to that end, but they would require certain other stories to be finished first.  And therefore… someday you may see “The Sweet-Dreamers Sleep In,” but for the time being, just know that next… they wore poor Ethan out yet again.

     It is time for me to move on, once I finish the info sheet.  I’m not sure where I should go next… back to Heroes, to finish that particular story, or to “The Wildcat’s Rival,” which is also in production?  I’ll probably go back and forth for a while before I make up my mind, but I wouldn’t mind hearing what people prefer (although I understand that the deck is slightly stacked, since the question is being posed at the end of one of my modern stories).  I should mention that the commission for Valerie’s image is complete, and can be viewed on the story page for “The Wildcat’s Sister.”

     And so, as is my habit, I end with a note of gratitude to you, my readers.  Thank you for making it this far with me… I hope the story made you happy, to some extent.  Thank you especially to those of you who comment, as feedback is a writer’s solace as we return to the keys once more.  I shall hope to hear from you, now that this work is complete…

     But first, before any of that… like my protagonist, I too… must… sleep…

~Wynn Pendragon   

870 Views