I stood there rigid in the kitchen feeling extremely awkward with Sigrid leaning on me and Jane forcing me to look at her.

  “Okay,” I said, “I suppose I can see being a bit envious of the powers I’ve collected, but that’s no reason to be upset that I’m friends with his girlfriend. I knew you first.”

  Jane winced. “I am not Arthur’s girlfriend,” she said with unusual vehemence. “Things kind of fell apart before it ever got that far.”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” I said, which was only slightly true. I nearly said more things, things I knew would hurt her, but I didn’t have it in me. The spite and anger and all those painful emotions had crawled back into their cave and I knew saying anything would only hurt me more.

  “I’m not,” Jane said, letting go of my chin and dropping her arm limply. “Arthur’s not a bad guy, but he’s not who I thought he was. Or, I guess, who I wanted him to be.”

  “You could’ve changed him,” I said. “Isn’t that what women do? Change men to be who they want them to be?”

  The memory of Morgan calling me a fix-er-upper flashed in my head and I could feel the prickly emotions poking their heads out of the cave again.

  “Some do, sure,” Jane said. “Clearly the ones you’ve been with were like that, and honestly, I can understand why.” There was a sharpness to her voice I’d come to associate with her being annoyed.

  “It was Nina who said it best, I think,” Sigrid said, playing peacemaker as usual. “She said when she looked at you one word came to mind: potential.”

  Jane nodded. “Everyone agreed with her.”

  “When was this and who’s everyone and why were you even talking about me in the first place?” I said, prickly emotions rising.

  “It must’ve been soon after we met Ar...the Round Table folks,” Jane said. “We women were all in the bath.”

  “A lot of deep conversations take place in that bath,” Sigrid said.

  “I see,” I said. “So that’s me, eh? Unrealized potential. Well that’s just great.”

  Jane put her hand delicately on my shoulder. “You seem a bit upset.”

  “Oh really? Am I supposed to be happy? Tell me, Jane, how would you feel if you found out that everyone thinks you’re not good enough? That you’re a disappointment. A failed person. Can someone like you even imagine that?”

  “Whoah whoah whoah, step back, Mister,” Jane said. “That is not what we said.”

  “I’m paraphrasing. What I wouldn’t give for some coconut milk.”

  Jane’s arm dropped again. “Well I guess I was wrong,” she said, voice sharp enough to skin a wyvern. “Because I was about to say that more recently everyone was saying how you’d exceeded all expectations and more than realized that potential, but clearly you’re still stuck in that self-loathing cycle and can’t tell the difference between potential, missed potential, and realized potential. Now that is disappointing.”

  She spun away and stomped back over to the sofa, flopping down onto it while muttering something unintelligible under her breath.

  Sigrid was still there with me in the kitchen. “Having potential doesn’t mean you’re a failure,” she said, “or that you’re not good enough. It means that everyone saw something special in you waiting to come out.”

  I didn’t say anything right away. They were both right and I knew it. I really was my own worst enemy.

  “It’s hard,” I said eventually.

  Sigrid looked down. “Seriously? That did it for you? Kinky boy.”

  I couldn’t help laughing. “Thank you for proving my point, Sigrid. I meant change is hard. When you’re used to seeing things one way, in your case it’s seeing anything longer than it is wide as a phallic symbol, it’s hard to switch mindsets.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Sigrid said. “You’ll never get rid of that voice in your head telling you you’re no good. You just need to learn to recognize that it’s not a friendly voice and ignore it. It takes time.”

  I sighed and put the knife down, then turned and surprised Sigrid with a hug. There was so much I wanted to say to her, to thank her for, but words seemed inadequate. We stood there for a long time, holding each other, until Jane’s head popped up over the back of the sofa.

  “Things got all quiet over there, what’re you two...hey! What’s all this?”

  Sigrid laughed and let go first. “You know what to do, right?”

  I nodded and went over to the sofa and stood beside it. Jane looked up at me through narrowed eyes. “What?”

  I gestured for her to stand up. She had a puzzled expression until I held my arms out, then realization dawned and she jumped up. I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m sorry, Jane. I’m still learning.”

  She hugged me back. “You know, Arthur’s right.”

  “About what?” I said.

  “There’s a lot to be jealous of with you.”

  Things went considerably smoother after that. Grievances had been aired, apologies made, and friendships deepened. Ever since we’d arrived on Crucible I’d always thought of myself as inferior to Sigrid and Jane. Unworthy of being friends with them. I don’t know if I took them off the pedestal I’d put them on or if I’d climbed up onto it with them, but I didn’t feel that way anymore. They were just people, like me, full of flaws and radiance alike, doing the best they could.

  We made the rest of dinner together, laughing and bumping into each other in the kitchen, then sat down to enjoy the result. It was a decent curry, although it would’ve been better with some coconut milk.

  We were just clearing the table when I felt a vibration in my pocket.

  Oh crap. Ruka’s coming.

  The relaxation I’d been feeling morphed into barely controlled panic while I washed the dishes and they dried. How will I explain a demon showing up for tea? I should never have told her to show her horns. I might’ve been able to work with a human woman coming to my house at night, although a stunningly attractive woman would’ve made it a bit more difficult, but a hot demoness would be tough to explain.

  For a brief moment I toyed with the idea of saying that she was from the Gentlemen’s Club and the horns were part of a demoness roleplay kink I had, but that would probably cause more of a kerfuffle than an actual demoness showing up.

  “I’m gonna go get into my jammies,” Jane said when everything was cleaned up.

  “I’ll make tea,” Sigrid said.

  “And I’ll...” This was my chance. I could make an excuse to go outside and think of a way to warn Ruka that I had company. Surely there was something in my power set that could do the trick. “I just remembered I needed to pass along a message to Petal from the beastfolk.”

  I was shamefully proud of myself for thinking of that believable excuse off the cuff.

  I ducked out and started wandering around, thinking furiously about what to do. I thought of sharing Stop Staring At My Ears with Ruka so she’d look like an elf. I thought of conjuring a parrot and teaching it to say “Daniel has company, brawk, Daniel has company.” I thought of asking Petal to post guards outside my door, the sight of which would make Ruka turn around and go home again. I even thought of stepping into the teleportation circle and escaping alone to the beastfolk land for the night.

  Then I stopped and took a deep breath, using the calming ritual Akari had taught me. I was overcomplicating things. If this was a civilized world I’d just text Ruka and say this wasn’t a good time. What did people do before phones? How did they communicate things?

  Oh yeah.

  I pulled a pencil and some paper from my inventory and scribbled a note:

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  Sigrid and Jane are visiting for the night. –D

  There. Simple and effective. I could post it on my door where she’d see it before knocking, and if anyone else happened by to see it, it was innocuous enough that it wouldn’t arouse any suspicions.

  When I went back inside, my overnight guests were both in their pajamas. Sigrid was over by the shelf looking through the games stacked on it, while Jane had sprawled herself on the sofa again. It was a curiously domestic scene, both of them looking extremely comfortable. Not to mention sexy as hell.

  This was going to be a long, hard night.

  Dealing with Jane seemed too challenging. I was used to being around Sigrid and was somewhat immune to her force of nature level sensuality, so I went over to her while pointedly avoiding looking at Jane.

  “Did you want to play a game?” I said.

  “Nah,” Sigrid said. “I’m just being nosy. There are a lot of games here, though.”

  “You’re here every morning, you can be nosy anytime.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. I have been.”

  “She still hasn’t found your porn stash,” Jane called over from the sofa.

  Without turning around, Sigrid caused a tiny electric spark to crackle over the sofa and shock her bestie, and I saw a smile crease her lips at Jane’s yelp.

  When Sigrid and I went to sit with Jane, Sigrid took the big comfy chair. Jane’s tall body was taking up the entire sofa so I was about to cop a squat on the floor but she shifted her long legs out of the way to make space for me. Not wanting to be rude, I sat in the opened space and she immediately stretched her legs out again, plopping them onto my lap.

  A very long, very hard night.

  We sat there for a while sipping tea and telling stories, and I think I did a pretty decent job of not letting on that the whole time I was listening for any sign that Ruka was outside. I figured the note would be enough to send her home again, but I was still nervous that something might go wrong.

  I was just thinking that it had been long enough that Ruka would’ve come and gone and I was in the clear when there was a knock on the door.

  Oh no.

  “Who could that be?” Sigrid said.

  “Probably Petal,” Jane said. “I bet she’s here to try and mooch her way into our sleepover.”

  “She did seem to want to have a turn,” Sigrid said, standing up. “I’ll get it.”

  “No!” I said, much louder than necessary. “I’ll do it.”

  I tried to get up, but Jane kept me pinned down with her legs. “Let her do it.”

  Oh no.

  I closed my eyes and prayed that it really was Petal at the door. I heard Sigrid pad over to it, then open it.

  “Oh!” I heard her say.

  Oh no.

  “Daniel,” Sigrid said, “the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen is here at the door.”

  Jane sat up and gawked at the door like meerkat.

  “You must be Sigrid,” I heard Ruka say.

  “And she seems to know me.”

  I slowly turned to look toward the door. It was Ruka, of course, stepping into my house with a devilish grin. Or was it demonic? Succubotic? Thank god she ditched the horns, at least.

  “Hi Daniel,” Ruka said. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

  I sighed. “Hi Ruka. Come on in.”

  My demoness friend glided over, eyebrow quirking when she saw me sitting there with Jane’s legs on top of me. “And you’re Jane, of course,” she said.

  Sigrid followed behind, pointing at Ruka and mouthing a silent “What the hell?”

  “Funny, Jane said, “you seem to know all about us and yet Daniel has never once mentioned you. I wonder why?”

  “Yeah, Daniel,” Sigrid said with a huge grin. “Let’s see, first there was Annabelle and Akari, now Ruka? You’re keeping secrets, you bad boy.”

  Ruka looked around. “The sisters are also here? I’ve been wanting to meet them too.”

  “Nope,” Jane said. “Just us. But maybe we ought to invite them over, though, and Petal too. Get Daniel’s whole gang together.”

  “Don’t forget Alice,” Sigrid said. “It’ll be quite the sleepover.”

  “Oh,” Ruka purred, not even trying to hide her amusement, “that does sound like fun.”

  I saw Jane’s face blanch. It must not have occurred to her that Ruka would take it as a serious invitation.

  Ruka was standing in front of us, looking down at the sofa. “Room for one more?”

  I carefully lifted Jane’s legs off of me and pushed her around to a regular sitting position. Before I could react, Ruka had nestled down beside me making me shift more to the middle, sandwiched between her and Jane. Sigrid sat down in her chair facing us with the shit-eatingest grin I’d ever seen.

  Well, at least she wasn’t mad I hadn’t told her about Ruka.

  “My god,” Sigrid said, staring at Ruka. “You are fucking stunning.”

  “Oh please,” Ruka said. “I could say the same for both of you. Daniel said you were both gorgeous, but he still didn’t do you justice.”

  Jane elbowed me. “So I’m gorgeous, eh?”

  “Jane,” I moaned, “please don’t.”

  “Tea?” Sigrid said, reaching for the pot.

  Ruka waved the offer away. “No, thank you. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I’d pop by. You are clearly busy so I won’t stay long.”

  “In the neighborhood, eh?” Jane said. “You just happened to be passing through the elven village in the middle of the night?”

  Ruka shrugged.

  “She’s a trader,” I blurted. That was believable, right? “From away,” I added needlessly.

  “Oh,” Sigrid said, looking disappointed. No doubt she’d been hoping for something more sordid and steamy. “I see.”

  It was a pretty long sofa. There was more than enough room for three people to sit comfortably without touching. Yet somehow I had found myself wedged between the two women with both of them pressing against me on either side.

  “Do you visit often?” Jane said.

  Ruka didn’t answer but looked at me instead.

  “Ruka and I discovered a mutual interest in games, so whenever she finds herself in the neighborhood she stops by.”

  “And you play together?” Sigrid said, clearly relishing the entendre.

  “Games, yes,” I said. “Board games,” I added, and this time I thought it was a necessary qualifier. I knew how Sigrid’s mind worked.

  “I see,” Jane said.

  “He’s never invited me for a sleepover,” Ruka said.

  “I didn’t technically invite these two either,” I said.

  Ruka’s demonic smile was back. “Oh, so I can just decide to spend the night myself? Is that how it works?”

  “Ruka,” I said. “Have mercy.”

  My succubus friend laughed. “You are too much fun to tease, Daniel.”

  “I know, right?” Jane said. “It’s too easy, too.”

  Great, they’d finally found something to bond over. Why’d it have to be that?

  Ruka gamely put up with the barrage of questions Jane threw at her while Sigrid watched with open amusement. She managed to provide vague enough answers that the truth remained undiscovered, but there were some tense moments.

  After about twenty minutes, Ruka put her hand on my knee. “I think I should probably go before I overstay my welcome.”

  “So soon?” Jane said, for some reason placing her hand on my other leg.

  Ruka stood to leave and when I made to rise and see her out she waved me off. “You stay, Daniel. I’ve been here more than enough times to see my own way out.”

  “Uh, okay. Thanks for dropping by,” I said.

  Once the door was closed I held out my hand, palm out. “Don’t,” I said. “I know what you’re going to say and just don’t, okay?”

  Jane pouted. “But inquiring minds want to know.”

  “I just can’t get over how beautiful she is,” Sigrid said. “Seriously. She makes me jealous, and that doesn’t happen.”

  “Any other beauties you’re hiding from us?” Jane said.

  “No, I think that’s all of them,” I said, looking down at Jane’s hand where it still rested on my thigh.

  “You think? You mean there might be more you’ve forgotten?” Jane said.

  “I suppose it’s hard to keep track of them all,” Sigrid said.

  “And challenging to juggle them all into your schedule,” Jane said.

  “I’ll give you that much,” I said. “That part is true.”

  “Obviously.”

  “Well,” Sigrid said, stretching languidly, “I’ve had my amusement. Bedtime?”

  Jane bounced up from the sofa. “Bedtime!”

  “It has been a day,” I said. “I won’t say no to turning in. I guess it’s goodnight, then.” I started making for the guest room when Sigrid cleared her throat.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she said.

  “To bed?” I said.

  “Wrong one.”

  “But I thought you guys wanted my room. The bed’s bigger, it’ll be more comfy for you two.”

  “Exactly, the bed’s bigger,” Sigrid said. “Just enough room for us three.”

  “But...”

  “Come on, dummy Daniel. You can’t do a sleepover in separate rooms.”

  Oh no. No no no.

  “I’ll sleep on the floor, then. Maybe I can drag the mattress over from the spare bed.”

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Jane said.

  “Think of Andy,” Sigrid said. “What would he say to you right now?”

  “Yeah, WWAS?” Jane said.

  I barked a laugh. “I know exactly what he would say, and I also know that the best move is to do the exact opposite.”

  Of course, I ultimately found myself lying in my own bed with Jane on one side and Sigrid on the other. I’m not a back sleeper. I prefer to sleep on my side or sometimes on my stomach. But there I was, lying on my back with my arms tight to my sides and hands folded securely on my belly, trying to make myself as thin as possible so that no part of me would touch any part of them.

  What I didn’t realize was that when they said it was bedtime, they didn’t mean it was time to go to sleep. Apparently an essential part of a sleepover was the chatting in bed before sleeping. I don’t know how long this went on, but eventually Jane realized that Sigrid had fallen asleep when she didn’t answer a question. She asked if I was still awake and I pretended to be asleep too.

  “Guess we’re sleeping now,” Jane said and rolled onto her side facing away from me.

  I felt the warm softness of her behind pressing against me and wondered if there was any way this could possibly get worse. And that’s when Sigrid rolled over to face me, throwing her leg over mine and draping her arm across my chest with her head nestled into the crook of my neck.

  Yes, yes it could get worse.

  I managed to fall asleep after who knows how long, but I’ll tell you, it was a long, hard night. Very hard.