“So what if I was picked last? There’s nothing wrong with saving the best for last,” Alyssa quipped. The other girls looked to her with dull expressions before Triska smiled smugly at her.
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Triska taunted. Alyssa clutched her staff in her hands tightly with a quiet growl then looked down at the map, trying to get her mind off of being chosen to go last in the girls’ solution to their unresolved feelings for Daniel.
At the front of the caravan Daniel glanced back to seeing the girls sitting together, and thinking about what they had come up with to settle their fight over him peacefully. The proposed solution was fair, although a bit unconventional, and each girl agreed to it completely, with Daniel giving the final ok as he felt there really wasn’t any fighting it. Each night the girls would alternate with who could sleep with him. And by sleep with him, it wasn’t meant to involve intimacy if the boy didn’t want to do anything like that. Essentially each girl would be sleeping under the same blanket as him, right next to him; however they couldn’t go further than that unless Daniel made the first move. They could talk to Daniel, but they couldn’t touch or hold him unless he initiated the same gesture first. This would give Daniel quality time with each girl, letting him see how he felt being close to them one at a time, and allow him to gauge how strongly he felt for each one. During these nights the other girls could not intervene or disturb them, no matter what may transpire, so a blanket would be hung down like a curtain to separate Daniel and the girl of the night from the other three. That meant that if Daniel did indeed choose to go further with the girl he was with on that night, then the others would have to allow it since it was his choice.
Of course, there were some rules the girls had to follow for this truce. For one, they had to sleep in clothing, not be naked under the sheets with Daniel. Secondly, they had to respect his feelings and decisions, and if he didn’t feel like getting more intimate with the girl at the time then that was final. Third, Alyssa and Specca were forbidden from using their charming magic on him, for obvious reasons. Fourth, Squeak couldn’t use her saliva as a way of enticing Daniel. If he kissed her, fine, otherwise she couldn’t use it as a means of seducing him. And of course she couldn’t use her pheromones to sway Daniel’s mind about her either. Lastly, if any of the girls broke the rules, then they wouldn’t get another night with him like this again. This arrangement would continue until Daniel made his choice on who he really wanted to be with, with each girl hoping that he would pick them come their turn with him.
Daniel slowly glanced from one girl to the other, still not sure if he felt true love for any of them rather than just a friendship. They had all expressed that they loved him; however he wasn’t sure who to return such strong feelings for. That being the case he couldn’t really speak against such an arrangement since it would help him see how he felt for each girl. The contenders for his heart had played rock-paper-scissors to decide the lineup. Specca had won to go first, with Triska afterwards, then Squeak, and with Alyssa then going last.
‘Every night I’ll be sleeping close to one of them, it’s still so wild to think about. Oh man, how am I ever going to choose among them?’
He looked to Specca, the nixie brushing her hair gently behind her ear as she was writing on the map again with a new route for their travels. Her tail curled up slightly behind her while she laid on her legs, her petal skirt just barely covering her private area from view. After a moment she glanced to him, seeing the boy watching her, and then smiled a little as a faint blush formed on her cheeks. She looked back down to the map as she thought about the human she was in love with, and remembered her turn last night with him.
Inside the caravan the lantern hung up in the middle provided the only light, with the day having come to an end as the travelers had stopped for the night. Lucky was resting in a bed of tall grass that Alyssa had prepared for him, with Daniel gently brushing the horse and thanking him for working so hard for them. Inside the cabin the girls were busy preparing for the night, with Specca and Triska hanging up a thick black blanket to separate the back end of the cabin from the other girls. Alyssa was spreading out her sleeping blanket on the floor near the front while Squeak once again just curled up into a ball with her blanket pulled over her, the girl’s antennae sticking out from under it along with her abdomen as the ant girl got comfortable in her typical sleeping position.
“Alright, Specca, you ready for this?” Triska asked as they made sure the blanket was hung properly from a few hooks.
“Oh yes, I’ve been counting the seconds until tonight,” Specca squealed eagerly as she pulled the blanket aside and looked at where she would be sleeping that night with Daniel, the boy’s sleeping mat and pillow set already along with a second pillow for Specca.
“You do know he snores at night, right?” Triska reminded.
“Yes, Triska, we’re all well aware of that little quirk of his, however that won’t stop me from being near him,” Specca said proudly as she smiled confidently at the teen.
“Betchya she makes it five minutes then gives up,” Alyssa commented while fluffing her pillow.
“Hey! I wouldn’t give up Daniel for anything, not even a little snoring,” Specca shot back with discontent.
“A little? Oh, that’s cute,” Triska said with a laugh. Specca glanced to her with annoyance then looked to see the other girls watching her questionably, with Squeak peeking out from her ball.
“Say what you will, you will not scare me off from this in the least. And just to remind you all, when we go back there together none of you can disturb us, for anything,” she reminded sternly.
“Unless the cabin catches on fire, we won’t bother you at all,” Triska reassured as she started unrolling her sleeping blanket.
“You’d better not, or else you forfeit your own turns with him,” Specca warned. She looked back to her sleeping arrangements then quickly rushed over to the front of the cabin, peeking outside to seeing Daniel gazing up at the stars near Lucky.
“And you’d better remember that you can’t touch Daniel unless he touches you first,” Triska reminded with a narrowed glance at the nixie. Specca giggled and held a hand to her cheek.
“But if he does you can’t stop us from doing anything,” she mentioned. Triska dropped her pillow down and looked to Specca with a raised eyebrow.
“What makes you think he will do something with you?” she questioned.
“I can hope,” Specca said softly. The other girls watched her curiously as she stared at Daniel with a small smile on her face.
“I can hope, hope that he’ll warm up to me more. All I can do, all any of us can do, is hope,” she said tenderly. The other girls glanced to each other from that remark then back to Specca as she watched Daniel with loving eyes. The nixie then jumped with a squeak and quickly scurried back towards the curtain, the other girls watching as she fidgeted her hands together in front of her before looking to seeing Daniel climbing up onto the ride.
“Ok, Lucky’s sound asleep. How are we all doing in here?” he asked as he entered the cabin. He stopped and looked around to seeing Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak watching him with small smiles while Specca was facing away still towards the black curtain.
“We’re all set for the night too,” Triska said with a shrug. Daniel nodded slowly as the three girls just continued to stare at him then looked to seeing Specca still facing away from him.
“Specca? Are you alright?” he asked. Specca nodded and glanced back to him with a timid expression, her tail swaying gently behind her as she tried to control her breathing.
“Yes, just… a little nervous,” she said softly. Daniel looked around at all the girls as Specca slowly turned to face him.
“Um, are you all sure this is how you want to settle this? You’re… all ok with this?” he asked carefully. Specca jumped a bit then nodded quickly.
“Y-Yes, I’m sure, I don’t mind that the others get their nights with you, just… as long as I get mine. I want us to have a chance with being together,” she said softly. Triska and Alyssa glanced to each other then back to Daniel.
“Unless you want to make your choice right now, then this is how it has to be,” Triska mentioned.
“Yeah, this is the only fair way of letting you spend quality time with each of us,” Alyssa reasoned with a weak smile. Squeak nodded with a few squeaks while still curled up in her ball. Daniel looked around at them then to Specca, the nixie jumping a bit then glancing to the curtain.
“Do you… still want to sleep… with me, Daniel?” Specca asked worriedly. Daniel glanced around at all the girls then smiled a bit.
“Well, if you’re all ok with doing this, then I’ll give it a try as well,” he agreed with a nod. Specca nodded quickly with an eager smile while the other girls looked to each other, all of them trying to hold back their frowns. Daniel started making his way back towards Specca, with the nixie then pulling the curtain aside and moving back into the private area. As the boy got to the curtain Triska looked to him with a small smile.
“Daniel?” she called out softly. Daniel stopped and looked back to her, the girl lying down on her pillow with a gentle smile.
“I love you, sleep well,” she said gently. Daniel looked at her with wonder then to Alyssa as the witch lay back on her pillow as well.
“I love you too, Daniel, sweet dreams,” she said with a wink. Daniel smiled a bit and glanced to Squeak, the ant girl squeaking at him a few times with a timid smile. The boy looked around at the three girls, seeming to hesitate as he opened his mouth to say something.
“I know you can’t say it back, it’s ok, I just wanted to tell you, after all I’ve waited to say those words to you for so long,” Triska said while lying sideways on her blanket, her eyes watching Daniel with a loving gaze.
“I’ll be dreaming of you all night, just like I always do,” Alyssa said with a cute smile as she curled up in her blanket.
Squeak merely squeaked something as she peeked out from under her blanket, with one of her antennae poking out from under it as well.
Daniel smiled at the girls then looked down as he tried to think of what to say, with Specca waiting on the other side of the curtain and listening for his response carefully. After a moment Daniel nodded and looked around at the girls.
“Sleep well, all of you,” he said gently, then went behind the curtain. The other girls breathed out quietly then looked to each other with concern, none of them looking forward to playing the waiting game through Specca’s turn.
Behind the curtain Specca was smiling bashfully at Daniel, her tail swaying gently behind her as she held her hands together in front of her. Daniel smiled a bit at the girl while rubbing the back of his neck, glancing down to their sleeping area then to her again while feeling his heart beating faster at the thought of her being so close to him during the night.
“So… should we… get ready to sleep?” Specca asked timidly. Daniel looked to their sleeping blanket for a moment then shook his head and smiled at the nixie.
“Well, I’m not too tired yet, are you?” he asked. The girl looked at him curiously then slowly shook her head.
“Well, not quite, no,” she said softly.
“Good, then, there was something I thought we could do together that you might enjoy. Something that would let us get a lot closer with each other,” Daniel said with a wink. Specca’s eyes went wide as she stared at Daniel with surprise, a faint gasp escaping her mouth. From the other side of the curtain a thump was heard followed by two more.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Triska said with disbelief under a whisper. Daniel chuckled and pulled the curtain back to see Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak lying on the floor while looking up at him with stunned expressions.
“First off, we can hear you; I thought the rules were you couldn’t disturb us?” Daniel asked playfully. Triska stammered something while looking at him with disbelief before the boy shook his head with an amused smile.
“And also, were you all eavesdropping on us just now? I thought we were entitled to our privacy,” Daniel mentioned with an accusing smile. The other girls opened their mouths to speak then just froze, with Specca looking to them questionably.
“What were you girls doing?” Specca inquired.
“Well…” Triska said nervously.
“We… just…” Alyssa stuttered with a weak smile. Squeak smiled nervously and shrugged in response.
“You all wanted to do this, didn’t you? Well, then that means you have to give us our privacy tonight, right?” Daniel reminded. The three girls nodded slowly while Specca crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow at them. Daniel nodded and looked to Triska with a calm smile.
“Goodnight, Triska,” he said expectantly. The girl slowly sat up and looked at him with worried eyes. The boy glanced to Alyssa and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Goodnight, Alyssa,” he said knowingly, with Alyssa glancing to Specca then back to him with concern. Daniel smiled and looked to Squeak as the three girls sat up on their knees.
“Goodnight, Squeak,” he said kindly. The ant girl squeaked a few times then looked to Triska and Alyssa, both girls watching Daniel with worried eyes.
“Daniel… I…” Triska said softly. Daniel reached over and unhooked the lantern from the roof, then smiled calmly at Triska.
“Goodnight,” he said before pulling back into his part of the cabin, the curtain dropping to show an orange glow on the other side from the lantern. Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak sat there in silence as their side of the cabin became dark, the three girls then slowly returning to their sleeping spots while wondering what Daniel was going to do with Specca.