ROUGH DRAFT - Coye 6.3 (Patreon)

Dorothy's first reaction to seeing Britni was the same as it always was, mild panic. Then, she reminded herself that she was probably just here because she was worried about Coye. It was awkward, and Dorothy didn't know whether to say anything or try and politely moved past her.

At least Coco regarding her with mild indifference, being much more preoccupied with her bone. It must've been a tough monster bone as she could easily snap through the bones of normal animals like they were nothing. Dorothy didn't get to appreciate the pup at work for very long, as Britni looked up at her.

Now that they weren't in a group, Dorothy felt threatened as she looked into Britni's cold eyes accentuated by layers of thick makeup. It somehow made her even more piercing, and the poor Guild Mistress couldn't help but swallow nervously.

"If you were hoping to see him, um, Eschal is still-"

"not here for him," Britni interrupted. "We're here for you."

The words terrified her. Was everything until now a lie and she was secretly waiting to ambush Dorothy like this? Dorothy thought Britni was smarter than that, but...

"Here to help!" Coco clarified after finally taking a huge crunch out of her bone. "Really crowded upstairs. Won't make it to office without harassment! Coco and Britni usually give harassment, this time, stop it from happening!"

Dorothy looked at the dog girl who hopped up on two feet and stuffed her bone into the sleeve of her puffy jacket, making that same determined and slightly angry expression as ever. Another look at Britni, who was mildly blushing and irritated, proved that this wasn't a joke.

"Oh," she mumbled. "That's, um, nice of you to offer..."

"Whatever," Britni played with her bangs and then flicked them dramatically. "Are you coming, or not?"

Dorothy made a few steps to join them before pausing and losing herself in thought. This irritated Britni further, and she snapped just like Dorothy was afraid she would.

"What? Do you have something to say, or-"

"N-No!" Dorothy raised her hands defensively. If by some miracle Britni was actually trying to be nice, Dorothy didn't want to sabotage that at all. She would take what victories she could get. However, that didn't mean she could help herself. "I just, um..."

"The longer you stumble around, the more I'm reconsidering helping you out."

Dorothy steadied her nerves and got on with it. "Look, I'm grateful for this, but I can't help wondering whether or not Coye standing up for me is really all it took for you to act nicer..."

Coco was a little curious about the order to be nicer to desk lady as well, so she looked to Britni for the answer. Britni met Dorothy's gaze and was annoyed that she had to explain herself now. It was obviously a lot more complicated than Dorothy put, but Britni didn't want to let on more than she had to.

"If you must know," she spat. "He isn't why I'm doing this. You are."

Dorothy must've misheard, she thought. "Me? But..."

"I stand by pretty much everything I said this morning. I hated you. Still do, mostly. Same reason I said earlier, you're weak and weak people exist to be exploited by the strong-" her tone was as cold as the frozen realm of Midgard itself, only to thaw as she continued on, "but I'm starting to wonder if that's really all there is to it. Maybe there's different types of strength?"

It hurt her to say this, to consider it. Over and over again the lessons of the Leiptr-Viking way were drilled into Britni's heart and soul over eight grueling years of harsh training. She'd never questioned a word of it- not if she knew what was good for her. The thing about doubt is all it takes is one little thing to prove you wrong for the rest of your suspicions to start falling apart like a house of cards.

Britni didn't believe it was possible for Dorothy to stand up for herself. Yet, she did. Was strength merely the accumulation of power, or was it something more akin to the courage to press forward? If uncle Bjarte and grandfather Eirik were wrong about one thing, what else might they be wrong about...?

In agreement, Coco added, "desk lady talked good and people clapped! People never clap when Coco talks. Must mean your important, right? Coco respects you now!"

Dorothy smiled softly at their change in behavior. "Thank you, both of you. I don't feel very strong right now, but... Whenever Coye is with me, I'm starting to feel like... Maybe I can be?"

Britni gave her a funny look at that but let it slide. Coco tilted her head, wondering if Coye literally made people stronger whenever he was around. If he was, that was just another thing about him that intrigued her further. She wagged her tail at the thought of growing more powerful at his side before remembering she was at Britni's right now and forcing it down.

"Yeah, well... Good for you." Britni replied icily and dismissive. "Before you start getting any funny ideas, just keep in mind that I'm not apologizing for anything I've said or done, and just because I'm going to act nicer now on, it doesn't mean we're friends. You got that?"

Coming from Britni of all people, those words were downright extravagant in their warmth and friendliness. Dorothy never thought she'd see the day where Britni would say anything even remotely as friendly, and she was almost overwhelmed by it. She smiled softly at the cause of so many of her problems and as she remembered Eschal's advice she said, "I understand. That's just as well, because it doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you, either."

The dark stony dungeon grew quieter and colder. Coco looked between the two women in confusion, and Dorothy started to wonder whether or not she made a colossal mistake in trying to not take Britni's shit. The biggest surprise of all came when Britni melted even further and gave the Guild Mistress a tiny smirk.

"Like I care," she laughed. "Now hurry up and come on. I can hear all those idiots stomping around from here, and I'm hoping one of them has the balls to get in my way. I could really crack a few heads open right about now."

"I'd prefer if you didn't, but I appreciate the sentiment," Dorothy giggled and the three of them ascended to the lounge.

As predicted, a large group of adventurers and staff, and even some townsfolk were crowded into the room and many of them lit up the moment they saw Dorothy. Just as expected, she could make out numerous apologies and halfhearted attempts to win her over as Britni and Coco parted the way to her office by manhandling a lot of them. It didn't take long for most of them to get the message, and the walk to her office was mercifully short.

"You gonna be in there a while?" Britni asked, committing herself to leaning outside her door.

"No, just a few minutes. I wanted to check Tammy's reports on how well we did. After that, I'll be relaxing for the rest of today."

"Well hurry it up, I've got other plans..." Britni narrowed her eyes as she stared at Burkhart from across the room as he gave a fictitious account of the first time he met Coye to a group of adventurers barely pretending to give a shit. Coco looked at where Britni's fury was directed and scowled for her, too.

Dorothy decided she didn't even want to know what was going on there and went inside to the quiet refuge of her office. Today have been one raucous event after another and stepping into a silent room like this felt like entering another world. A world she hadn't returned to since her health declined.

As Tammy promised, the reports of the betting were waiting for her on her desk. She pulled out her chair, remembering the panic she felt two days ago when she tried getting up from the desk. There existed residual fear that if she sat down she wouldn't be able to get back up again, but then she remembered Coye and how brave he was.

If he could face the strongest venture in the Guild for her sake, then who was she to worry about sitting down at a desk?

Dorothy did just that and then scooped up the financial reports, her eyes scanning the documents and growing larger with every last zero she absorbed. Tammy wasn't exaggerating, they did crazy good. The people and adventurers of Cransmere were incredibly loose with their money it seemed, not a surprise given that they generally had nothing to ever celebrate around these dreary parts. Still, This wasn't a financial windfall, it was a financial hurricane.

Not only was their position now secured for quite some time, but there was plenty of funding for experimentation and structural improvements similar to what Gloria had been suggesting. Dorothy felt a fresh wave of emotions surging through her as she continued shuffling through the papers, but as she looked at them, the letters and the names stopped being legible. All of them just said Coye after a point, because he was the reason for all of this.

She was on the verge of an emotional moment of joy when Britni suddenly poked her head in and startled her into dropping the papers. "Tammy's here, along with some other guests you might want to see. Assuming you don't mind?"

"N-No, that's all right. Send them in."

The door fully opened as Tammy stepped forward, bringing two of the maids along with her. It was Wiska, the mousy, fluffy haired Tim it made and her bitchier, twin tailed friend, Chelanne. The two who refused to clean Auguris's room several weeks ago. As far as people Dorothy wanted to see go, these two weren't very high on the list.

"Gotta say, I'm digging the new bodyguard," Tammy gestured over her shoulder to Britni, who closed the door and rolled her eyes. "Is she a new hire? Looks familiar."

"She's just helping keep people off of me for the time being..." Dorothy smiled wearily and then turned her attention to the other guests, both of whom were very fidgety and apologetic. That was something, at least.

"Can I help the two of you? I hope both of you are..." Dorothy paused. For a moment she was tempted to say something mean, but she called on Eschal's advice again and resisted the urge. She'd earned a modicum of respect from these people. The last thing she wanted was to lose it by becoming the bitch they always thought she was. "Sorry. It's been a long morning... Is there something I can do for both of you?"

"You say it," Chelanne nudged her companion with her elbow, escaping Dorothy's gaze.

"This was your idea...!" Wiska recoiled.

Dorothy frankly wasn't in the mood for this and it showed on her face, making the maids nervous that they were irritating her. They stopped their bickering and it was Chelanne who started off in the end.

"Okay, okay! I'll just come out and say it. We're sorry."

"I don't forgive you," Dorothy smiled in a way that made her words seem scarier than they were meant. "But you will be given many opportunities to earn your forgiveness, I'm sure."

"About that," Wiska idled her thumbs and approached the desk. She looked back to Tammy who nodded in approval before she continued to speak. "There was, um, something we were thinking about offering you that might make up for everything."

"Oh?" Dorothy tilted her head. These two were often a minor nuisance in her side, it strange to see them trying to make up for that. "Well, go on, then. I'm listening." Dorothy interlocked her fingers and placed her hands on the desk, looking at her employees while trying to keep up Stern appearances.

This intimidated the shy, blue haired maid, so she hid behind her blonde friend. Chelanne rolled her eyes and got on with it. "You need more people working the front desk, right? We suck at cleaning anyway, so..."

Dorothy blinked and looked at Tammy, who smiled smugly. "Wait. Are you really suggesting-"

"why not?" The receptionist shrugged. "They pitched it to me and I thought I would have them run it by you. Figured you might want another piece of good news before clocking out for the day."

Tammy was right about that, it was hard for Dorothy to keep up her strict persona in light of such an exciting development. She was trying to hold back a smile as she regarded the two girls who seemingly had the purest of intentions. It was true that Wiska and Chelanne didn't make for very efficient maids, but both of them passed the admittedly low standards to be a receptionist. Simply put, they were cute. Wiska was small but in a demure way while Chelanne was taller and had a attractive athletic body. Just the sort of people the Association wanted Manning all the desks of Karnalle's Guilds.

"I don't know," Dorothy adjusted her glasses and swiveled her chair so that they couldn't see the look of excitement on her face. "Neither of you are qualified. You'd have to be taught how to fill out forms and address perspective clients."

"I could handle that," Tammy pointed out. "I taught Suzette the ropes while you were out of it, and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Was pretty easy, honestly."

"Please," Dorothy could hear Wiska getting closer and then leaning on the desk slightly. "I feel so bad that Auguris treated you that way when it should've been us...!"

"I wouldn't go that far," Chelanne said. "But I do want to make things right, so..."

"I'll give the both of you a shot-" Dorothy raised their hopes purposefully before throwing out her stipulation. "But neither of you are getting the raise that comes along with it until six months pass and you've proved you can handle your new workload. You've wasted plenty of my time, so if you really want to make things fair, allow me to potentially waste some of yours."

Tammy raised an eyebrow. That was pretty daring, and it took Wiska and Chelanne by surprise. They looked at each other and then started talking back and forth in low voices for a minute. The conclusion they came to was that standing at the front desk talking to customers and adventurers all day was better than making beds and scrubbing toilets.

"We'll take it," Chelanne announced with little hesitation.

"Excellent. If you do an exceptionally well job, I'll pay you retroactively the difference in your wages as a bonus, so keep your chins up, alright?"

Wiska and Chelanne both perked up at that and smiled. "Thank you so much, boss, we're sorry and-"

"I don't want to hear excuses anymore. Leave me with Tammy for now and expect to begin your training tomorrow."

The two former maids turned receptionists in training regarded each other with optimism and excused themselves from the room. Once Dorothy heard the door closing, she turned around to see Tammy face-to-face. She was wiggling with excitement and couldn't contain the immense satisfaction she was experiencing. Dorothy jumped out of her chair and pumped her fists.

"Finally! No more reception desk duty for me!"

"I didn't know you hated our time together so much, boss. How disappointing." Tammy gave an exaggerated sigh and caused Dorothy to blush.

"No- that's not, I mean-" it took her a second to figure out Tammy was only joking with her. She smiled when she did and wiped some sweat from her brow. "You're too much sometimes, I swear."

"I could say the same of you. Pretty cutthroat there, boss."

"It's nice that they feel responsible for what happened, even if Auguris would've taken his blame out on me, anyway... You really think you're going to be able to handle it?"

"Probably. It's more fun just talking to people when I don't have to take tons of notes at the same time."

"You really surprised me with how well you handled the emceeing, you know. You did a better job than I ever could have."

"After that speech you gave, I'm not sure about that."

Dorothy blushed at the compliment and looked away. "I don't know how often I'm going to be able to pull that off, but I'm going to try. Still. If we end up doing more of these..."

"I'd be interested. Sure."

Dorothy was again overcome with emotion from the support of her friend. In truth, saving the day wasn't all Coye's fault. Tammy played an instrumental role as well. If she didn't think up that absurd betting scheme, they wouldn't have all that new gold.

"If there's anything I can ever do to repay you-"

"don't fire me." Tammy joked.

"I think that can be arranged." Dorothy grinned and nervously brush some bangs out of her face. "Can I leave things around here to you for the rest of the day? I don't think it's important to register as many quests as we can at the moment, so feel free to do as much work as you can handle."

"Sure, sounds fine by me. Are you going to go and rest some more?"

"Yes," Dorothy moved toward her door. "I was supposed to have a long talk with Coye and his, ah, his-"

"harem."

"Well, yes... His harem..." Dorothy blushed. "But that seems irrelevant now that the Guild and I aren't in any immediate trouble. Talks about how to revitalize things around here can wait."

"Glad to hear it. You look like you're about to pass out."

"I feel like I am." Dorothy giggled. It was only two in the afternoon and it felt like the whole day was already behind her.

"Want me to come and check on you later and see if you need any food?"

"You're too kind, Tammy. You can if you want but I'm fairly sure the second I lay down I'm not getting up for the rest of today..." She laughed awkwardly. She was sure that was what Coye would've wanted, anyway. For her to take it easy and relax.

"Sounds good, boss. Just let me know if you need anything."

Dorothy and Tammy left the office and Britni and Coco escort her to her bedroom before giving their Guild Mistress a humble goodbye. It was standoffish of course, at least with Britni, whereas Coco was nice enough to wish Dorothy feel better soon.

Dorothy entered her messy bedroom and immediately started stripping down to only her bra and panties, tossing her uniform and its many pieces haphazardly across the floor. For once, she didn't even care about how messy everything was. She was just happy to have a chance to lay down and rest. She pulled back the heavy blanket and dove beneath the covers, setting her glasses on the nightstand and closing her eyes.

The warmth and comfort were unbelievable. Her body felt carried away by relief and Dorothy could tell it would only be moments until she were passed out completely. At least, she thought that was what would happen. As Dorothy grew more tired, her mind's eye started replaying the events of that day. The humiliation, the passionate defense Coye gave her, the way he stood up to Auguris, the battle and all the many things he said about her...

Dorothy started to toss and turn. This wasn't the first time that Coye appeared whenever she closed her eyes, but this was by far the worst occasion thus far. Sometimes, Dorothy witnessed him giving up your hearted smile. Other times, he was making that pleasure expressions she witnessed him making while grinding on top of Byng. Most of all were the hardened, battle frenzied expressions he made today when defending her and fighting for her honor.

Things were currently at the point where Dorothy understood why she couldn't stop thinking about him, but she was at a total loss for what to do about it. There was a looming talk about their burgeoning relationship on the horizon and it was for the best that it didn't happen today. Both of them needed time to cool off, or at least that's what Dorothy was telling herself.

Some part of her realized that was bullshit. Part of the reason this was currently so bad was that Dorothy was a little upset nothing happened yet. She doesn't know what she wants to happen, but she wants it all the same.

When trying to put herself in Coye's shoes, she couldn't help thinking about his promiscuous behavior. That's the sort of thing he wants. What about her? Was that what Dorothy wanted to happen? Her heart grew heavy and butterflies churned in her stomach. This was usually about the time where she stopped her internal questioning and shook her head to rid herself of the intrusive thoughts that plagued her. After everything that happened, though, Dorothy forced herself to confront these thoughts and try to explore them.

Sex was an abstract thought to Dorothy. She wasn't sexless, she had an average libido and masturbated occasionally, even owning an ArcTech vibrating wand. The thing was that her fantasies were strictly about other people. She rarely if ever imagined things happening to herself, even internally Dorothy struggled to think herself as a heroine.

Yet, as pictured Coye, something started to change inside her. Her body was getting hotter, sweat starting to accumulate on her brow. Breathing was getting more difficult. She started pondering questions she never had before. What was sex actually like? Would it be better than masturbation? Her wand felt amazing so it was hard to imagine being better than that, but it had to be. Didn't it?

Dorothy pushed her thighs together, grinding unintentionally. She bit down on her plush lower lip and clenched her eyes shut tight. Her hand was starting to feel idle and it twitched at her side. The next thing she knew, it was caressing her breast over her bra. Then, it trailed down her bare stomach to the top of her mound.

Her middle finger ran down the exterior of her panties and was surprised at the warm wetness she found. Dorothy didn't usually get this aroused, but as she imagined what it would be like to have Coye being the one touching her, it happened so naturally.

Scared and anxious, the inexperienced woman rubbed herself over her panties a few more times before arching her back and deciding it wasn't enough. She wiggled out of her panties and spread her legs wide beneath the blanket, feeling the ache inside get sated as her fingertip found her clit and started working it.

The sudden pleasure caused a shocking revelation in her mind. Coye touching her would be amazing, yes, but it would be even better if he was telling her what to do. What if he was here right now, telling her to take off the blanket and show herself to him? Would he want to watch how she played with herself? Would it make him touch that big cock of his? What if he couldn't take it any more and pounced on top of her, eager to shove himself inside?

Dorothy's thoughts were so lustful and hazy that she lost herself in them. Masturbation never felt like this before. Every new touch was so powerful and overwhelming, causing her to speed up and increase these sensations all the more.

Her fantasies spiraled in loads of different directions. Sometimes she was getting told what to do by Coye, other times, she was on the sidelines watching him play with his other women- along with other girls who weren't even a part of his harem.

Dorothy didn't even notice the awkward implications of picturing Tammy getting railed by Coye in her mind's eye, all she could think about was how cute he was when he felt good and how aroused it made her to see him happy.

For as wild as these fantasies got, they all centered around one basic fact. Dorothy understood now that she would do absolutely anything for him. He was her hero, and heroes deserved to be treated as such. No matter what it was he wanted, Dorothy would move the world to give it to him.

If her hero wanted her, she would give herself to him. If he desired other women, she would spread their legs herself and offer them. Anything for Coye...

Anything for her hero.

Dorothy scarcely bit back the urge to shout his name and came.

It was better than anything she'd never felt before, but it was even more tiring as well. Her body craved more but even after Dorothy recovered and tried to start things up for around two, her mind couldn't keep up. She was emotionally taxed by everything that had happened today and despite the frenzied teasing she gave her steaming wet lower lips, her tiredness sapped the strength from her body. She fell asleep while attempting to masturbate, covered in sweat but smiling wide as she dreamed of her hero.