Chapter 4: Ch. 4 – Artesian

Shrouded by the curtains in her kitchenette, Jan nervously chewed on the skin of her lip. That little habit of gently nibbling off the barely dead layer of skin that usually shed itself naturally. It seemed like it almost immediately regenerated, like so many petals that were now over the sink.

A dirty trick, taking advantage of her like this. One of the seeds given to her splitting itself into tinier versions to get into the pipeworks of the building. Now she had a conundrum of turning a blind eye to the act or to remedy the situation out of moral obligation.

Still, how to do that?

The three little seedlings had escaped down her shower drain. Given their spindly little limbs, there was no telling where they went. She couldn’t sense their presence either, given they were so small and weak. Or, perhaps the water had affected her more than she realized.

The reaction to modern water treated for bathroom use was so… violent. Functioning in regular society was going to be difficult if she couldn’t even use the lavatory without feeling like dipping her fingers in lava. Not to mention other parts of her. Fragrance only got so far before the need to feel clean that was hammered into her psyche from birth would get the better of her.

Staring at the faucet, dare she even try tap water?

Her throat was beginning to feel parched. Making all of that nectar for the Ranger Jane earlier had to have come from somewhere. Except for all the slime honey from the Spider in its grove, she hadn’t had a proper drink of water since…

What was today? Friday? Yes, it was Friday. Emergency mental health day off was yesterday, Thursday. Nearly having a breakdown was Wednesday.

So, no drinks since Wednesday, alcoholic or otherwise. Maybe a sip from a plastic bottle on Thursday before the hike.

Janet made a face. Hopefully she didn’t have to muff dive or suck dick for the rest of her life to replenish her nutrients. Too many of those stupid comics her nerdy coworkers kept talking about had protaganists cursed with that existence. Succubi or demons or what have you, surviving off of a main character’s magically blessed tool. The things that she heard while sitting in her private corner where no one saw her.

No, thank you, she would keep her country fried steak breakfasts and full course meals.

The tingle of tendrils rasping along the inside of her sinuses and down the back of her throat signified agreement from her passenger. It seemed to have taken further root in Janet’s body. Maybe wrapping around her nervous systems?

She sighed, turning the cold water on. It was going to be a constant fight for control. She knew that, signing up with this thing. As long as most of her decisions were her own until the goals she set down, that would be enough.

Reaching her fingers tentatively toward the small stream of water, a thought crossed her mind.

Would it be so bad if things returned to a much livelier shade of green? Creeping vines wrapped around all these skyscrapers, water pure to drink and bathe in, bounteous gardens fueled by the pollution that man had wrought upon the Earth?

She didn’t have an answer, cupping the tainted liquid in her palm.

It burned. Not nearly as bad as all across her body like in the shower, but still burned. Her hand flared a sickly pale green while her veins flashed various shades of blue. Wincing, she pulled her hand away with the water still in it. Giving a good sniff, she let her body and her passenger have a good whiff. Let them do the processing.

Bringing hand to lips, she drank.

Janet was never one to go after spicy foods. Always the mildest things, chasing after the sweet and savory. If she had to liken the experience, it was like taking a swig of hot chili sauce jugs with the green lids. The very hot ones.

However, she needed water. She needed to get data, something for them to analyze.

Maybe this is what a werewolf would feel if they decided to chew on some belladonna or eat something sprayed with those colloidal silver spritzes. Or a vampire with garlic.

All she knew was that her nails scraped along the metal sink as she held her ground. Little rents showed as she regained her composure, coughing and trying not to vomit up the poisonous drink.

Stalking over to her fridge with shaky legs, there had to be something filtered or untainted. Opening it revealed not the best of prospects. Food run was going to be on the weekend and what was left was disappointing.

Almost expired milk brought a wrinkle to her nose, stale Chinese takeout reeked of something else she couldn’t place, same with various condiments. A plastic bottle of water looked promising though her new eyes spied little things still swimming about the filtered drink – if she had to guess, microplastics and suspect mineral additives.

“You’re worse than a whole foods nut, you know that?” she muttered darkly to her interior monologue audience member, reaching for the bottle. Setting it on the counter behind her, another scent caught her attention.

A humble parcel of ground beef. Starting to go a mottled brown around the edges, but Janet could hardly bother with such concerns. It was going to be a test of her new body’s limits. She had wrestled down a woman and fed her some sort of nectar from Jan’s own gullet, then practically offered up that woman’s mind to her benefactor by shoving a seed down her throat. Some salmonella or bad cow meat wasn’t going to stop her, right?

Her audience agreed. Jan felt her mouth water, though it tasted faintly sweet. Wiping a finger at the edge of her mouth, she pulled away a faint azure strand of saliva.

“No. No, no, no, no, we are not eating this your way. If I am going to be cursed with being your plaything when I let my guard down, you are letting me have this,” Janet growled, taking the ground beef and working quickly to turn on the stovetop. A pan clanged as it hit the range’s burner. “This is the concrete jungle, not the forest.”

The heat gradually built. Looking over her cupboards, she spied a few spices she was going to add. A degree of concern shivered up and down her nasal cavity as images of fire and woods burning to cinders were conjured up.

Janet countered with a home cooked meal her mother once prepared. The feeling of love and closeness they had – and yet followed by a dark void that nearly derailed her resolve. The corrupted office girl rallied with more memories. Cocktail parties and restaurant outings, access to people, access to those with power and influence. Alcohol creating great blazes in the hands of chefs for gourmet dinners as well as loose inhibitions for later in the night. Aromas of sweet meats and delectable carbs, the odd well-prepared vegetables and fruits.

Fire was dangerous. Fire was still good. Fire made things possible.

And so the presence retreated. Jan felt she had full control over her body as she went on to cook her meal. Taco meat and tortillas at seven o’clock in the morning or thereabouts was strange, but so was becoming the vessel for a potentially civilization-ending plant creature she selfishly brought into the world to settle a petty score.

Looking over to her phone while the beef began to sizzle and pop with the fat oozing off it, she didn’t even recognize the oil splatters on her naked body. Picking it up, she found the contact number she needed and dialed.

“Hey, maintenance? Yeah, hi, I got a problem with my drain. Something kind of got stuck inside it,” Jan requested with her most innocent customer service smile behind it.

Nodding along with the other side, her other hand began adding spices, flavors. Salt. Lots of salt. Even a little sugar. Eyeing the plastic water bottle, she glared ruefully at the necessary pain she would have to endure.

“Thirty minutes? Oh, that’s fine, no rush. I got another day off but I still want a good hot shower, y’know?” she continued, feeling a burning. However, not in her stomach or in her head. A little lower.

A warm feeling.

“Oh, Ian. Sure, yeah.”

Anticipation.

“I’ll make sure I’m presentable before he makes his way up here. ‘Kay, thanks.”

Click.

Blankly staring at the butchered animal currently broiling in its own juices within the pan, her new kind of hunger was desperately trying to overtake Jan’s immediate needs.

Wait. Did she just call someone? Was she so distracted that she lost control of one of her hands and her ability to speak?

“Fuck.”

///

The few soft raps on the door were much sooner than Jan had wished.

Breakfast was cold in its pan while Jan ran around trying to clean up. Then her brain decided maybe it would be better to try and make it look a little disheveled to reflect her day off. Looking over at the short entryway next to the door, she cursed herself when she realized that her hiking clothes soaked with plant juices were strewn about.

Plus, she was still naked. That was always a problem when a man visited a woman, alone, especially in the most blasé scene similar to a one-dollar porno scene. He was probably an actual plumber too.

Her mouth continued watering at the prospect. One more to add to the collection. The presence coiling around her sinuses and now warming the base of her skull. Not unpleasant in the conventional sense. She had known from the start that it was only a matter of time before this thing’s good graces would expire and she would become a full puppet. Life had become one continual buzz of pleasure from even the slightest bit of sunlight. Sex with that woman was sublime. Not to mention with the Spider. The Master.

No, not yet. Not her Master. Her Partner. Inevitable betrayal would come later as long as she had a say in what transpired in the short term.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Room service,” the maintenance guy said, muffled through the door. Jan paused just outside her bathroom, looking between a bath robe and the innocent bystander outside.

Why’d it have to be Ian? Ian was a nice guy. If Janet didn’t have such a shitty lot in life, maybe she would have tried to do something about the couple of peeks she’d taken of him, see if there was a brain behind all that Greek god physique.

”Miss Tellurn?” once more asked.

As long as she had some degree of queasiness over collateral damage, that was enough for her conscience. That was enough of an indicator she was still Janet and no one’s pawn.

“Coming, sorry, was in the other room!” she called out, nabbing the bath robe. Just before she fully slipped on both sleeves, she choked on something and coughed into her hands. Eyes widened as she looked at it. “No, no, no, dammit.”

Sweet smell. Droplets of faintly glowing azure. She felt more pooling in her mouth.

Swallowing as best she could, she wiped the sap on her robe near her thighs, hoping it would be innocuously out of sight. Jan had a sneaking suspicion that whatever reason she would use to say she was late to work was about to be replaced as the aroma of that mind-numbing nectar filled the air.

I’m sorry, Ian.

“Hey, sorry Ian,” Janet apologized, opening the door. The safety loop clacked as she pulled open, stopping the door. Smiling apologetically, it closed and opened once more as she quickly undid the latch. “Tried, uh, getting it out myself again with my fingers.”

“Is it big?” Ian said, hefting a small toolbox. Standard home kit with socket wrench, screwdrivers, vise grips. Then noticing his calloused hands, olive skin, lean forearms, defined biceps. She kept trailing her eyes up his arm and over his shoulders hidden by a tight tee shirt, some of his collar exposed, before meeting his eyes.

“Kinda. I kept a… soap bomb from a friend in the bathroom and didn’t realize that it had a bunch of hard stuff in the middle when I tossed it in,” Janet fibbed, admiring his chiseled jaw and hawk-like green eyes. Clean shaven, close-cut military style dark brown hair. Right, he was a veteran. Useful. “So, uh, well, yeah. Clogged up the pipes perfectly. I feel kinda dumb.”

She hoped the doe-eyed ditzy office girl act would work. Right now, knowing what she was, it was hard to not feel like a predator luring in an unsuspecting lamb to slaughter.

“Mkay, alright if I come in and see then?” he sniffed and pointedly glanced at her and the bathroom. It looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes from roaming. They were struggling to not dilate as his body detected something odd. “By the way, your eyes are, like, glowing. You wearing some cool contacts or something?”

“Really? No, not really,” she chuckled nervously. “Sorry, come on in.”

A will not her own turned and made her spin with a demure look over Jan’s shoulder. Her hips subtly sashayed like some high-class whore into the bathroom. Demeaning but necessary, her passenger reassured.

“R-right. Yeah. Is it a blueberry, honey scent?” Ian queried, following after Jan with tools clinking softly in tow.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

He quickly knelt over the drain, looking down for any obvious signs of the blockage. Next was the flashlight. Then a thin skewer like the ones a person might use on a barbeque, poking around.

“No, I’m not seeing anything down here M-Miss Te-… Jan,” Ian reported with the slightest hint of difficulty, leaning backwards for a moment and rolling his shoulders.

Watching those muscles ripple made her feel warm. Using her name so familiarly made Janet salivate ever so slightly more.

“I’m pretty sure it’s down there, or it was a minute ago. I didn’t run the faucet to try and melt it or anything,” the parasitized woman responded, getting closer to him.

Her chest felt odd. No, her bosom.

Warm.

Neglected.

Full.

Janet let the bath robe hang loosely as she exposed her breasts. Her eyes were mortified at what they saw, yet her mouth grinned with delighted malice. Hands kneaded slightly, fingers pinching her nibs to coax something out. Pale indigo liquid began beading. Not the most potent concoction from the faint smell, even for her, but when she was stronger the Spider had plans for it.

For now, she collected a thin milky drop on the fingers of one hand.

Jan pushed her robe up to cover her chest, leaving the cleavage exposed, as she joined Ian’s search. She faked almost falling over, sliding on the soft microfiber sleeve, while trying to break her fall by running fingers along the back of his neck. The milky indigo smeared into his skin.

“Woah there, careful,” the good-natured guy said, catching hold of her arm.

“Oops. Guess I’m not awake yet. Really need to finish that shower,” she sighed, looking at the drain again.

Then a faint touch at the edge of her mind. Something getting closer. One of the fucking tiny seeds, making its way back up the pipes to her bathroom. No wonder Jan’s womb payload hadn’t done Olympic belly flops since getting so close to Ian. She was just killing time for reinforcements.

How much of her mind was in control? She didn’t even realize this was going to happen. Some kind of strategy to shut him up and look the other way for the inevitable water issues, but…

“H-h-hey, Janet,” Ian said, words slurring as his grip weakened. “I’m lo-looking in the drain. That smell… it’s blueberry. And sweet. Too sweet.”

He teetered backwards before ending up on his rump. Dreamy gaze did its best to focus on the true source.

Her.

“You got something on your face. It’s blue. Kinda glowy. Nice looking, makes your eyes pop even more,” he went on, turning toward Janet. It was too easy to influence him. Seduce him.

Break him.

“Really?” she purred, leaning away from him.

Arms propped behind, Jan pushed out her chest. Azure nectar trailed down the edge of her lips, slowly down her chin and dripping onto her mounds.

“Could you maybe help me get it off?” Janet sighed breathily, eyes boring into his wavering orbs. The slow march of the tiny seed continued.

Her eyes narrowed. There was a bit of pain as she forced herself to the surface.

Enough of this. Janet would handle this her way.

This was one of her dreams, one of her wishes.

The Plant wasn’t going to take this from her.

“You. Me. Bed, now.”

“What?” Ian blurted, the fog clearing from his mind abruptly. “Miss Tellurn, what are-, uh-, why-, how-?”

“Trust me, Ian, you want to come with me. I’ve been wanting to screw your brains out ever since I met you but never got the chance. You are a sweet, wonderful guy that doesn’t deserve this,” Jan rattled off while standing. She extended a hand out, blue veins thrumming with deadly purpose and her skin beginning to turn a shade of deep jade in protest of the turn of events. “You don’t deserve what’s about to happen to you because of being in the wrong place, wrong time. But, I can at least do this one thing for you. While you’re still you.”

Trying to prove her point, she grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to his feet near effortlessly. Mousey, short, timid office jockey Janet moving the svelte Ian as if he were a barbell. Stunned in disbelief, he realized he should have followed his danger sense about those sapphire eyes.

“Please. Don’t resist. I know I’m not… All that pretty or experienced or…”

Janet paused as the sap beginning to freefall from her lips was wiped away. Shocked, she looked up to find a warm smile. Not abject horror. Something sad, yes, but vaguely happy.

“Funny thing is I’ve been wishing for a time to go out for drinks or something,” he whispered, working the dangerous goo between his fingers. It tingled, seeping into his skin. “So it’s not all bad. Just…”

Ian looked down at the drain and then to his tools.

“Well, if that ominous threat is will happen soon, then there’s a time limit. Gotta finish the work ticket. Can’t take too long at a beautiful tenant’s place,” he attempted to briskly state nonchalantly. The eyes were lying about his lack of worry. “Especially one I’ve been chatting around the office about.”

But what he said about her…

It was true. She could tell, from the little links being formed between their minds started by the change in their bodies, to the keen senses she now enjoyed as the Spider’s predatory pawn.

Quiet tears of fluorescent sky blue trickled down her cheeks.

“Ian, do what you w-“

Janet felt her legs swept out from under her. Almost like floating in mid-air. He had bundled her into his arms, carrying her like some cursed bride.

“Don’t worry, Tel.” The tall man held her close despite who she was. What she could do. How alien this all was. “Can I call you that before I die?”

“Y-you won’t die. Not if I can help it,” she whispered back, shakily. Her heart felt something stir. “And yeah. I’d like that. I’d like that very much. Oh, one second. Can you plug the drain?”

Ian was strong. On one knee again, shifting her to one arm, turning the rubber stop atop the bath drain to let it seal the entryway she could feel the seed approaching from. Only alternative was the sink or kitchen. She was buying as much time as she could.

“Funny, my body moved before I could,” he remarked, looking into her features. “God, you’re pretty.”

He followed what she said? Huh. Maybe there was hope. If, maybe, there was some way to come out on top of all of this then-

“Gaa-aahh!” Jan stifled a cry, tucking her chin to chest. The spiny bristles crawling out her nose. Hurt. Pain. “Agh! No!”

Then she pulled back, seeing the passenger’s tiny blue flower begin to unfurl its petals with the razor-sharp tendrils roiling back and forth within it. The stem arched backwards, intending to strike at the man’s face.

She caught it between her fingertips.

Snip.

Pruned from Janet’s body between her sharpened nails like any common weed.

Immediately the flower lost all color and the parasitic vine retreated within her nose. It was not gentle, scratching deep enough to make her bleed as the thorns scraped. The smell of copper overwhelmed her for a moment, not to mention a bad batch of tinnitus that made her shake her head back and forth.

-o-o-o-

Janet was vaguely aware of being carried. Quickly. A comforting baritone that cut through the din talked to her. Door opened, shut noisily. Her skin felt so good all of a sudden. Warm. Not good.

“The light. Blinds. Close the… blinds…” she moaned, no way to resist the rapturous torture of Sol’s lifegiving rays. “Ian, I’m sorry.”

Darkness, shadow moving within it. Being drawn up into his arms, on his lap, hugged tight.

“Hey, open your eyes.”

His fingers brushing her hair away, trying to clear her tears and the sap still wanting to escape her gullet. Janet hated that with every little touch, every little breath, Ian was coming closer and closer to losing his soul to her. It wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair. This wasn’t how his wish should have been fulfilled. He shouldn’t have gotten this chance because she made her own deal with a devil.

“I’m sorry. It’s the stuff. The goo. It’s like honey and pheromones, you’re not all you when you’re near it,” Jan sighed, holding back a sob. Tears welled again, could almost see their glow when she tried blinking them away. “I already did it once. And it was like she was shambling around in a fugue while her brain knew something was wrong.”

Burying her head into his shirt, the infested woman did her best to not make skin contact.

“She? You swing both ways, Tel?” Ian chuckled, running his fingers through her hair. His breathing deepened, taking in more of the pheromone-laced scent she thought.

“No, never,” she giggled, nuzzling into his neck against her better judgment. Didn’t have to look to realize the azure ambrosia was back. It trickled out of the corners of her mouth, beginning to work its way into his skin. “Just that… she was in the way. It felt great. It felt so good to make someone else do what I wanted for a change.”

Eyes shot open as she pulled away. Back straightened, realizing he was cradling her in his lap like a real lover, Janet had so many apologies and fears and angers in that moment. Lips opened as she tried to backpedal, looking for his reaction, before finally hiding within her hands. Like a scared, small child.

Quiet sobs wracked her body. Shoulders shuddered as she tried to stay strong. But for what? Her crush was going to get turned into some drone for her devilish backstabbing partner. And now she had pissed off the latter by rebelling against the passenger wrapped around the inside of her head.

Roughshod hands glided over hers, peeling them away. Jan saw her burning sapphire eyes reflected in Ian’s green orbs. Fear, revulsion, hatred, she expected these and more.

He kissed her. One set of fingers trailing down her neck and then her arm, the other palm holding her cheek. No attempts to cough up the sticky ambrosia flowing from within her changed body, yet a strong desire to avoid swallowing it. She could feel his struggle to lose himself in the pleasant aroma which would burn away his will.

It would’ve been a small matter to push him away. Kill him even, spare him this fate.

But…

She didn’t tell him to do this…

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This was the furthest thing from what she wanted him to do right now.

What did that mean?

Ian leaned further into her, wreathing into her hair to turn her head as the kiss deepened. Fingertips met and he coaxed hers to lace together. An intimate moment for a pair of lovers had they been in some other timeline.

What did this mean?

Janet held him closer, tongue timidly reaching out for his. They met, swirled, trading some of her lustful azure poison between their mouths. Pulling back, a few strings clung to their lips. Examining his eyes, she was surprised. Only a little dilated, not very wavy, looking back at her with more amusement than confusion. Rosy red cheeks of a drunk were starting to develop, but that was the common reaction she guessed.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a science experiment, Janet,” he chided with a grin. “I actually kinda like the way you look at me like a piece of meat. Something wild about it. Knowing you like to ogle me when I’m working.”

“Oh, stop it, don’t make this any harder than it is.” Her loins burned. In the normal way, not with any of the seeds making a fuss. They were silent, thankfully. Jan’s own breathing was beginning to quicken as she worked up the confidence to let go. “You’re… you’re…”

“I’d tell you to spit it out, but I think I might get boogers all over me,” Ian sighed with faint smile. Something about the saliva at the corner of his mouth was odd. Not blue. Something a little livelier, first colors of a green meadow.

“Just take your goddamn clothes off,” she growled, trying to not tear apart her robe while stepping away from the maintenance man. “This will get messy.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And d-… don’t call me that,” Janet winced. Being called the person in charge was one thing when she was at the head of some corporate drones she saw five days a week, if not less.

“Alright. How about Telly-tubby? Today only,” he countered with a shit-eating grin.

“Pushing it, mister,” she groaned annoyedly. Still, she couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit.

The bathrobe dropped, exposing her frame. All of Janet’s veins were thrumming with a bright blue with each beating of her corrupted heart. They barely illuminated the dark green shade overtaking her skin. Unconsciously, her hands went to her breasts to knead out what felt like knots. She felt the salivating cerulean nectar drip down her chin and between her lips as she tried not watering over the handsome man in front of her, caught within her web. The new milky indigo that started flowing between her fingers as she squeezed on her nipples had a weak shine to it in the low light – a different scent as well, more potent.

Ian for his credit slowly stripped as he observed her taking stock of her body. Watching her hands roam up and down, noting the otherworldly appearance the small office girl had taken on. Shirt carefully rolling up, he tossed it over in the corner of the room. Man looked like he was a Greek god, carved out of marble with the strong pecs and washboard abs. Jan let out a small whine as she saw all manner of scars and old cuts and a few other things she didn’t recognize. Belt buckle undone, jeans fell down as he shucked off shoes and kicked them all under the bed. All that was left was his boxers.

Oddly, not tented like she expected he would’ve been. Ranger Jane was positively slip-and-sliding before they had to wrestle.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like what you see!” Janet exclaimed, looking pointedly between Ian’s head and his crotch.

“Huh? Oh. Oh!” he said, realizing the concern himself. “I did. Do! But it’s strange. I don’t know what’s wrong. It feels like I should.”

“Whatever. We’ll just see what happens,” Jan sighed, looking down into her hands. They were smeared in the impotent indigo, which quickly found itself wiped off on the discarded robe.

No sooner had she stooped down did the world spin around for a little and her sense of direction get scrambled. Twirling round and around and round, her room feeling like it was spinning, before she realized Ian had picked her up.

They were doing a pirouette together, his burly hands gently pressing her to him.

“I think we could have grown to love each other, maybe,” Ian admitted sadly as he slowed their dance.

“It could’ve worked out, maybe, yeah. Exercise. Hiking. But do you shoot guns?” she smiled quietly.

“Yes, yes, and yes.”

“I might’ve tried convincing you to give them up.”

“I would’ve taken you to the range yourself.”

“Huh. Well, maybe it would change my mind.”

Jan blinked back tears again. Ankles crossed over his waist, holding him close to her.

“You’re leg-locking pretty hard. You a squeezer?” he said while brushing his nose to hers.

“Maybe. Major dry spell climbing the ladder, y’know?” she replied, tracing his jawline.

“Little bit. Not many attracted to someone that looks like they’d seen some shit.”

Jan grasped his face between her hands, a determined gleam in her eye.

“I would’ve asked about every single one of these,” she confessed, looking down between the various scars and burns.

“I would’ve… w-,” he started before his spirits sank, taken aback, “-would’ve tried to avoid it.”

“Then I would’ve cradled you to me every night, saying it was going to be alright.”

Silence. A stray siren off in the distance, within the city. Air conditioner hummed as freon settled.

“Maybe that would’ve settled it,” he admitted ever so quietly.

“Maybe. I didn’t want to change you. Just get to know you,” Janet concluded, forehead meeting his as she felt her desire coating the inside of her thighs and failed to resist grinding against Ian’s body. “So in that parallel world, maybe we ended up together after all.”

They shared a sad smile.

“Take me, Ian.”

She didn’t mean it as a command. Maybe a plea. A wish?

Their lips met again. His tongue sought out hers, swirling, fighting for dominance. Mouth opened freely, she felt the burble of ambrosia that had been waiting patiently begin to rise.

Rising in his grip, legs supporting her with inhuman strength, her hands tipped his head backwards as she gave him dollop after dollop of cobalt blue nectar to swallow. Their tongue play stopped as he started to choke on the surprise invasion. It only really took one, but the second went up his nose, the third down the wrong pipe, then he coughed hard enough to pull away from her iron grip. Trails of the slime spurted out his nose as he attempted to catch his breath. He teetered back and forth as waves of nausea and something else worked their way through his body.

“I’m sorry,” Janet whispered, kissing his forehead, nuzzling his cheek. Kisses down his neck, a gentle nibble here, then a bite on his ear with a soft tug. “I’m s-“

“Don’t be.”

She gasped as he began doing the same. However, each kiss was a long suckle, punctuated with more than a few glances of teeth. She had no idea how it would show up or how she would explain it at work. She had to-

“Don’t worry about work, Tel. This is our moment, remember?”

Janet was confused. She hadn’t said anything aloud. What did-, how-?

She felt two fingers start to worm their way between her legs. A second longer, her lower lips started being teased rather enthusiastically.

“O-o-oh, Ian, what are-?”

He shut her up with a kiss. Where before her nectar had been a dirty trick, it felt like his tongue was assaulting her for more. Clashing with hers, licking around desperately for more of the sickly-sweet taste of blueberry, it seemed his addiction to the aphrodisia was complete.

They turned again and she was partially aware that the bed was now behind her. Trying to get a look at Ian, Jan tried placing her hands on his shoulders and pushed.

It was difficult.

So, his body was changing as well.

Still, she was able to look into his eyes.

The hawk-like visage had a brighter green nestled in his irises. Subtle, but there all the same.

“Weren’t kidding,” he grunted. Nostrils flared, eyes dilated, blue sap smeared across his face and down his front. Little bit of the indigo where her breasts rubbed against him. “Good. Very good.”

Maybe he was devolving into an animal. The Plant didn’t seem to like intelligence, not with the way she was treating it. It needed tools to further its agenda that couldn’t talk back or spy its machinations. Simple tools that followed orders.

Janet let go.

Ian caught her, laying her on the bed softly. Looming overhead, arms out to either side of her, she felt very small. Meek. Even with her new abilities, something about this intimate scene made her equally afraid as well as oddly comforting. Those strong arms of his could end her. Or, they could hold her close as they looked into each other’s eyes with rising desire.

Reaching up, her legs encircled his waist again. Hands clasped around his neck as she kissed him, holding him close and never wanting to let go. One of her feet found the elastic of his boxers and pulled, catching it on her sharpened nails and enhanced strength.

With a gentle rustle of the covers, they began kissing again. Slower, familiar, intimate. Like she had wanted her first time to go all those years back, when fairytale endings seemed moderately achievable. Running her fingers through her hair, cooing as he left a trail of suckles down her cheek, her neck.

Licking along her collar.

Grazing teeth along her skin.

She gasped at an unfamiliar sensation. Moist, soft muscle swirling around one of her areoles. Then the pressure of lips encircling her mound and trying to coax out its bounty.

He was suckling at her teat. Ian was drawing out some of whatever her body was trying to produce. From the way he hummed between swallows, even if they were small, it was good enough to linger.

His body between her legs, draped over her smaller frame, she was only sad she couldn’t reciprocate the same way. All she could was hug him closer, stroking his hair gently as encouragement. It felt wonderful.

The heat within her belly moved downward. Wonderful.

He sloppily cleaned up her breast before giving attention to its twin.

Wonderful!

Release came, causing her ducts to squirt, legs tried to wrap around his bulk but were pinned. Rivulets of poor-quality milk splattered the side of his neck as well as drained quicker into his waiting maw when he drank. Her nethers felt wet but she couldn’t do anything between waves of the small orgasm aside from suffer in silence.

Though thankfully not for long.

The bed creaked as she looked up into Ian’s eyes. There was a smile there. Goofy, dumb if it were any other time.

His kiss was shallow at first. Didn’t expect him to then share her own milk through it. Jan’s surprised cough, getting the liquid all over both of them, made him chuckle.

“Payback,” the veteran-turned-maintenance man grinned.

His own smile.

Happy.

Not lust drunk.

Not terrified.

She felt the weak presence again. Looks like it was coming from the kitchen. It was blocked by the water she had gotten earlier, biding its time.

Looking down at his crotch, whatever issues he was having before were gone. Wasn’t of monstrous proportions, but seeing his rod awakened all sorts of feelings in her she thought were gone. All of them hers.

“Ian, this is going to kill the mood, but do you feel something weird coming from over there?” Janet quickly asked. “From the kitchen?”

“Huh?” he intelligently replied. Scrunching his eyebrows and turning towards where she indicated, he adopted a guarded stance. “Yeah, yeah I do. What is it?”

She stifled a laugh, watching his dick wag back and forth as he took a sidestep toward her protectively.

“It’s what was going to happen to you. A seed. Either down your throat or wrapped around your cock, I’m not sure,” Janet cleared her throat, hoping he didn’t notice. “You and I almost, well, did it, but I don’t know why you’re not like the other girl. You’re… you.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed.”

“N-no, h-hey, I didn’t mean!”

“Relax, Telly,” he looked over his shoulder at her. “So what do we do?”

“Uhm… I’m… gonna catch it and talk to it?” she offered lamely.

“Not kill it?”

Pausing, sure, it was an option. However, she still needed the Plant to do what she wanted in the first place. Diplomatic relations were soured but shouldn’t be jeopardized further.

“We’ll see. Right now…”

Hands roaming over his back and then circling over his pecs and abs, enjoying their cliffs and valleys, Janet rested her head against Ian’s back. She tugged gently towards the bed, partially stained in a few spots with bioluminescent azure specks. Her fingers, dipped in some of her addictive nectar, wrapped around his manhood. He stiffened, trying to turn while her other fingers drew lazy designs over his chest, pressing her bosom against him as they did their best to spill their contents.

“I need you. Our moment. Us, first.”

He breathed in a careful rhythm. Letting her pump his cock, getting a tiny layer of sweet sap over it. Maybe he had never been touched in this way before. The thought made her happy in a sense. Something never done and she was the one to experience it with him.

“J-Jan, careful,” he said, trying to turn again.

She cozied up to him, stuck like a tick, feet tangling up with his as she clung to his body. Planting little kisses across his shoulder blades, she only went faster. Rolling her fingers around, slipping over the head one time, alternating with fast pumps. She heard him grunt. Felt him tense slightly.

And then she let go.

Sauntering back over to the bed, she hopped on and began drawing away from the edge. Legs shut, thighs rubbing together, a sticky trail of faintly glowing jism between them, her cheeks would have been flushed strawberry red if not for her new skin. Right now, the quickened pulsing of her azure veins would have to complement her intense gaze leveled at the male in front of her.

Ian faced her with an annoyed glare. Shaking his head, he moved faster than Janet could blink twice.

Her headboard snapped as his hands cracked the wood. Wincing, he smiled apologetically for a moment before getting back into character. Looming over her again, Janet sank further and further into her pillows.

With a quiver of the lip, she reached up and kissed him. Quickly pulling back, she watched for his reaction.

Ian’s eyes had turned a concerning shade of emerald. Behind them, however, was still Ian. And, well, more than a little aphrodisia in the air, but he seemed to be affected differently.

And then he was on her.

Sharing a prince charming and his lost princess moment.

As much as she wanted to treasure it, she wanted him more. She combed through his hair, the other hand grasping to position him. He waited for her to gasp at the first parting of her lips. The male rocked forward, making her toes curl with anticipation as she lay under his taller frame.

They looked into each other’s eyes as he thrust into her. Jan silently smiled, eyes shut, feeling his lips wrap around her neck. Biting down. Drawing something, only the smallest bit of blood with his exuberance.

And again. Her legs slid up and down his, trying to get more of him. Eyes locking, it was her turn to be dreamy and lose herself to the haze of lust all over again. Ian’s cheek in her palm, she mouthed words of wanton need, only for him to see as his eyes learned to pierce the darkness.

Again, and she shivered. She couldn’t hold back, wrapping her legs around his body and pulling herself onto him. Trying to tell him to claim her.

Husky breathing, the bed creaking and shaking, his arms wriggled under her before he started fucking her in earnest. Gripping her tight, his length hit every spot she needed, letting all her cares disappear as the bright white light approached. He even kissed her long and hard, mouth to mouth as he drank azure straight from her lips.

She heard him growl in exasperation, almost frustration. No, focus. His pace slowed, almost erratic.

“Jan! I-,” he tried to warn, attempting to pull out.

She came. Her voice came out as staccato chirps and squeaks. Fingernails gouged into his back, it felt like, as she clung to him. Ankles crossed over his lower half as she bucked, keeping his rod within her sheath and wringing it.

Ian in turn buried his face into her mane, shooting his load within and losing himself in Jan’s embrace. Holding her tight as their fluids commingled. Safe, tired, drowned in bliss

The wash of warmth blossoming within her gates hurt. For a moment. She tried remembering why in between glorious waves of ecstasy. Something to do with seed.

Seed.

Seeds.

Inside her, both of them, the same time.

The voice was silent. So were the seeds. The saboteur in the kitchen seemed desperate, if that was possible.

No, it was. She felt more. Sensed more.

Commanded more.

It would stop. The other two seeds would stop what they were doing. They would wait.

The crushing wave of her will emanated from where she lay with her consort. They couldn’t resist.

So, now her morning was cleared. Yay.

Jan stretched over to bite on Ian’s neck. He started, not going anywhere as they were still joined together in her iron grip.

“Hey! What was that for?!” he scuffed, burying into the covers before facing her.

Bright emerald eyes, veins of faint jade down his features. Like hers. But not.

“I don’t know. You bit me too,” Jan yawned, snuggling into him. “Nap first.”

“Need I remind you, I’m still technically working,” Ian replied with careful enunciation. Another attempt to extract himself failed as she refused to let go.

“Don’t care. You’re mine now.”

“Telly,” he admonished. This time a few kisses went down her neck, earning a small noise as the aftershock was triggered.

“Just… just a little one,” she responded, looking deep within his gaze. Faint sky blue beaded at the edge of hers. “Please, Ian?”

They paused.

He sighed, managing to shift around just long enough so that she could rest atop his chest. Slowly he began brushing through her hair with his fingers, clearing away gunk and god knows what else. It elicited a hum from her, the two enjoying the afterglow.

Any reason Janet could have come up with to miss work would have paled in comparison to this.

“Don’cha know it, Telly-tubby.”

Miss Tellurn jabbed Ian the maintenance man in the ribs with a growl as he laughed.

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