Chapter 136: Mounting Troubles
Despite his admittedly middling attempt to deter them, Jason ended up spending the better part of a full hour making out with Lillie, Mallow, and Selene in turn. Lillie brought things to a close by proposing they all watch a movie together, but Jason seized the opportunity to disengage from the trio, asserting that he and Ren still needed to complete their daily training.
'It's scary how rapidly things can spiral out of control...' Jason thought, exhaling from his nose as he and Ren exited the back of the villa to make use of the recessed battlefield. It was still fairly early in the afternoon, so the sun was high in the sky, creating the perfect conditions to sweat out some of the tension that had permeated his body.
"Ren wants to kiss someone as well," Ren stated plainly, the suddenness of her admission catching Jason off guard.
Recovering quickly, Jason asked, "Do you think I should contact Korrina and ask her if she can send over Laani?"
"Laani...?" Ren repeated, tilting her head to the side before crossing her arms and visibly considering Jason's proposal. Then, with a curt nod, she smiled and said, "Ren likes Laani. She's warm, squishy, and smells nice," in a decisive tone.
"Mmn...alright, then..." Jason conceded. "But we have to remember that Laani is currently training with Korrina to participate in this year's WCS. Do you think you can wait until then...?"
"How long...?" Ren asked, a slight frown marring her face—making it clear she wanted to kiss someone right there and then, not twenty-two months in the future.
"Here, let's sit and discuss this in the shade..." Jason suggested, leading Ren to the western wall of the battlefield, where the approximately 3 PM sun cast a roughly 30-degree angle against the cool stone.
Taking a seat first, Jason expected Ren to sit next to him. Instead, she remained standing, staring down at him with her faintly glowing red eyes cast in shadow.
"Ren wants to sit on Jason's lap..." Ren muttered, her ears flattening and her eyes softening into a sad, subtly pleading look.
'She's learning to weaponize my sentiments against me...' Jason noted, a second sigh escaping his nose. Fortunately for Ren, he wasn't against her sitting on or straddling his lap—so long as she didn't insist that they make out or grind against him as Mallow and Selene had learned to.
"Come here..." Jason sighed, patting his right thigh. As he did, Ren's face lit up, her crocodile tears nowhere to be seen as she readily pinned him in place with her heft but comfortable weight.
"Jason really is the best~" Ren pealed happily, wrapping her paws around Jason's sides and giving him a warm hug with her head resting against his chest. The latter could feel the stopper covering her chest spike pressing against him, but it was prevented from digging too deeply into him by the paradoxically firm yet soft mounds beneath it, depressing against him like a pair of firm pillows.
Cupping and caressing the back of Ren's head, Jason closed his eyes and quietly explained, "I will do what I can, but I can't just acquire a Pokémon for you to kiss—just as I would never allow anyone to force you to engage in something you weren't comfortable with. That means you will first need to befriend them. Then, only if they're okay with it, can you kiss and make out..."
"But Ren wants to kiss someone now..." Ren muttered, her hold on Jason tightening. The person she most wanted to kiss was Jason, but since she knew her asking would cause him to feel distressed, the next person she most wanted to kiss was Lillie.
Following a momentary pause, Jason asked, "Can you explain why? Or is it just something you feel you want after seeing me do it...?"
"..."
Unsure of how to respond to Jason's words, Ren opened her eyes and stared blankly at the stone tiles to her right. Her speech had improved considerably, but she wasn't quite at the level where she could readily articulate complex emotions. Jason was correct in his presumption that one of the reasons she wanted to kiss was because she saw him kissing others on a daily basis, but that wasn't the main reason...
"When Jason, Lillie, and others kiss, your auras become happy—like one big ball...Ren wants to feel that as well..." Ren muttered, leaving Jason at a contemplative loss. He was well aware of her ability to sense auras, but he had failed to consider how her being able to visualize the happiness he shared with others would affect her...
'It must feel really lonely...' Jason surmised, picturing himself in the same situation as Ren. If everyone he cared about came together to experience a form of happiness that was denied to him for reasons entirely outside of his control, he imagined it wouldn't be long before he ended up removing himself from the situation entirely...
'But I can't just give her what she wants...' Jason lamented. He wanted Ren to be happy, but if he crossed the line, made out with, and possibly even made love to her, it was a decision he would never be able to walk back from. Others might not view it that way, but he wouldn't be able to shake the impression he had become a zoophile—a sub-human deviant who made love to animals...
'If only she were a little more human...' Jason thought guiltily, exhaling from his nose and holding Ren close. If she had fluffy ears and a tail but otherwise human features, he wouldn't have any problem with crossing the line with her. But with her body covered in fur and it not even being a year since she hatched, he couldn't help feeling that he would be violating her agency by giving her what she wanted—even if Pokémon didn't age or develop the same way as humans...
[The Twin-Tailed Hearthkeeper sends you 700 AP and tearfully asks how you can be so cruel.]
[The Dragon Who Slumbers Beside a Hearth exhales a wry chuckle and sends you an additional 1,000 AP, encouraging you to follow your heart.]
[The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts offers you 500,000 AP bounty to 'Get it over with and bang her.']
[The Dragon Who Slumbers Beside a Hearth gives The Great Sage Who Peers Under Skirts a warning look.]
'These people have no sense of consideration...' Jason thought, peering at the notifications through the slight gap in his eyelashes. He was surprised to see The Great Sage offer him the startling amount of 500,000 AP, but if his integrity were so easily purchased, he wouldn't have deviated from the path others had laid out for him in his previous life. No. If he and Ren did end up crossing the line of his morals and having sex, it would be because it was something they both desired, not because some errant, voyeuristic god had paid him off...
With such thoughts plaguing his mind, Jason considered his options. He wanted, almost more than anything, for Ren to be happy. But since he was unable, or, more accurately, unwilling to take advantage of her, he needed to acquire an appropriate partner. Fortunately, he had the support of both the Aether Foundation and the League to fall back on. If he explained that it was to fulfill the conditions of a time-sensitive Quest, they may even be able to overnight her a partner...
'Actually, there might be a solution right in front of me...but it feels too convenient to be coincidental...' Jason considered, the grinning face of Xandalah appearing in his mind. He got the impression that the enigmatic, speech-capable Zoroark would readily acquiesce to being Ren's partner, but that might be the very reason she was sent to the villa—to get closer to and ultimately take advantage of him through Ren...
'This is the reason I was initially against being intimate in front of Ren...' Jason sighed internally. He had anticipated that things would come to a head at some point, but he had failed to prepare ahead of time. If he had been just a little more prudent and less willing to go with the flow of other people, Ren wouldn't be in the position she was—yearning for something she didn't fully understand.
'Maybe I should have her raise a Riolu or another Pokémon from an egg...she's already more person than Pokémon at this point...' Jason considered, a feeling of incongruence washing over him at the thought. On the one hand, he felt that Ren wasn't human enough for them to have a relationship. On the other hand, he felt she was in a separate category from other Pokémon due to her ability to speak, her wearing clothes, and her emotional range—reminiscent of a human teen.
Interrupting Jason's thoughts, Ren raised her head from his chest and pulled at the fabric of her top, stating, "It's hot..." with notably damp fur. It was, in fact, very warm and humid—even though she and Jason were sitting in the shade. And since she naturally generated a lot of heat, their sitting together had left the front of Jason's shirt dark and damp, as if he had been sitting in a sauna for half an hour.
"It is..." Jason affirmed, his pupils briefly dilating as Ren abruptly shed her top, pulling it over her head and discarding it to the side. Fortunately, she didn't resume hugging him. Instead, with her tail wagging behind her, she smiled at him and said, "Ren is a good girl. If Jason wants Ren to wait, she will wait."
Connecting Ren's words to his statement about Laani, Jason, feeling as if a weight had been removed from his heart, adopted a relieved smile of his own and expressed, "Thank you, Rennae...it's decisions like this that make you the best partner I could have asked for..."
"Mmn...Ren is the best..." Ren affirmed, nodding. Then, grabbing Jason's hands, she surprised him immensely by guiding them to her bare, notably fluffy breasts and asserting, "Ren also wants her boobs to be bigger, just like Mallow and Selene. Jason will massage them...?"
"That's...not really how that works..." Jason responded, his smile cramping and a bead of sweat trickling down the left side of his face. Ren's hold on his wrists was so firm that he would have needed to pull full force to have any chance of freeing them. As such, he found his hands glued to her very warm and firm breasts.
"Then, how do Ren's boobs become bigger...?" Ren asked, frowning, hopefully, at the revelation that a massage wouldn't make her breasts grow.
"It's the spring inside my Sanctum...the more you bathe in it, the more it changes you..." Jason answered, feeling slightly on edge as it dawned on him, once again, that Ren was much, much stronger than he was. He was still working toward a 200kg bench, but Ren could bench well over a ton if she pushed herself.
"Mmn...Ren sees..." Ren muttered, her expression turning thoughtful as she glanced down at Jason's hands, still glued to her breasts. She could feel his nervousness, causing her to feel somewhat ashamed of what she was doing, but that wasn't all she felt. It wasn't noticeable at first, but she felt something hard rising against her, causing a faint, ephemeral smile to adorn her face.
Rising abruptly, just as Jason was teetering on the edge of an existential crisis, Ren asserted, "Ren is going to go train. Jason should rest and cool off in the shade. When Ren returns, we will take a bath together."
"..."
Though he was pleased that Ren was exhibiting more agency, Jason felt as if the dynamic between them was beginning to shift. She wasn't asking him if they could bathe together; she was deciding that they would. Even if the outcome was the same as her excitedly expressing that she wanted to take a bath, the intent was different. In essence, she had evolved past being happy to receive rewards for her efforts and was now choosing the rewards she desired...
Noticing the gradual shift in Jason's aura, Ren's excitement waned, her expression turning sad and her ears flattening as she asked, "Did Ren do something wrong...?" in a soft, whispered tone.
Shaking his head, Jason, using the softest, most reassuring tone he could manage, asserted, "No...I was just lost in thought, thinking about how fast Ren has grown up. It's a little sad, but I'm also happy for you..."
Sensing the sincerity in Jason's words, Ren exhaled from her nose in the same manner he often did, relief washing over her as she abruptly and sincerely asserted, "Even if Ren grows lots and lots, Ren will always love Jason the most. Jason is Ren's most important person—Ren's Papa, and the person who will help Ren become the strongest..."
Punctuating her words, Ren briefly returned to straddling Jason's lap to give him a warm, somewhat suffocating hug. She really did love him with all her heart—even if his refusal to kiss her made her heart hurt a bunch. She couldn't imagine living without him, and even if he pushed her away, she would never leave his side. Never...
And with that thought, Ren's body became shrouded in blindingly white light...
...
..
.