ROUGH DRAFT Coye Vol 2 Ch 12

This one is rough because I used dictation on my ipad for some of it. Ignore the typos and weird punctuation and spelling.

I also want to apologize for being behind schedule. My mood has been exceedingly low lately and it's made getting things done difficult.

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Suzette’s dining room is a part of her kitchen. There was a square table with four wooden chairs on each end. On top of the table was such a wide array of breakfast food that Coye was impressed Suzette could pull all this off on such short notice.

It had only taken about ten minutes to talk to Shayla and another ten to take care of his morning routine, yet Suzette somehow cooked pancakes, sausage, bacon, toast, eggs, along with a pot of coffee.

His stomach growled as he sat down. “Thank you, Suzette... this is all... so nice.” Coye smiled.

He was feeling a little out of place. He just slept over at this woman’s house and now she went out of her way to make him such amazing-looking food?

“This isn’t anything special,” she smiled, approaching with the coffee to pour him a cup“ didn’t your mother ever take care of you like this?”

“No… I was raised by my dad.”

“ oh, darling… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

“Ah, My bad. She’s not dead she’s just, um, I don’t really know what’s up with her. I’ve never met her but dad says she’s still alive.”

Yet again, a motherly instinct started to flex itself in Suzette’s heart. “ are you saying she abandoned you after you were born?”

“ that’s kinda what dad implied but it’s no big deal or anything… It’s not like I’m sad over someone I’ve never even met.”

‘This explains a thing or two…’

Suzette couldn’t understand what sort of mother would leave a precious boy like Coye, but it angered her nonetheless. “ that’s no good darling. You had better come see me when you’re in need of a little motherly love from now on…”

‘ that sounds like an invitation to call her mommy if I’ve ever heard it,’ Shayla smirked.

Coye blushed at the thought of calling Suzette ‘mommy’, But he didn’t exactly recoil at the idea, either.

“ I feel like that would make things even weirder between us,” he told the widow his concerns.

‘ Hey, don’t go bringing attention to it like that! That’ll only make it worse!’ Shayla warned, although it was too late.

“ oh,” Suzette sat down on the nearest chair to the boy and took the initiative to begin preparing his coffee the way she knew he liked it. “ are things weird between us now? This is also new for me, so if you are uncomfortable and I don’t notice please, feel free to tell me darling. The last thing I want to do is rush any of this and ruin what we have.”

“ no, I thought that things might be weird but if you feel this way then I guess they aren’t…” The boy smiled and scratched behind his long ear.

“ of course I don’t think things are weird. This is all I’ve wanted since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”

‘Bit creepy, but nothing new there…’

Suzette grinned and patted his thigh under the table, and then began to load up his plate with a bit of everything. This was embarrassing for the boy, but watching Suzette dutifully service his needs Made him happier in a way that was unfamiliar.

“ anyway darling, how are you feeling today? I hope I don’t need to remind you that if everything we did last night Didn’t help clear up your condition then I’m going to insist on taking you to healer.”

Coye took a sip of his sweet coffee, and then gave her the good news. “ actually, I’m feeling amazing… and it’s all thanks to you.”

The older woman let out a series of satisfied laughs, “ yes, I suppose I did do most of the work, didn’t I?”

“T-that’s-“

As Suzette finished piling food for him, she blushed and looked him in the eyes. “ now now. You don’t need to be embarrassed, thanks to you, I realized I rather like being in charge.“

“Really…?”

“ yes. That’s why even if my Darling it’s a dirty little boy who likes it when women take advantage of him, I will be more than happy to give him what he wants.”

Coye stared at the woman with excitement. further lewd activities with SuzetteWould make him incredibly happy, but noticeably, his penis didn’t react as violently as it usually did when the possibility of more sex was presented.

“Nothing?” Suzette asked, eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“ I was trying to get a rise out of you, in more ways than one. The fact that you didn’t instantly harden means we really did make some progress! I’m so relieved for you…” Suzette clutched at her heart and let out a sigh.

“ i’m really thankful, I can’t remember the last time I slept so good… I feel like I could actually get back to work today!”

‘Finally,’ Shayla said. ‘ I was this close to dying from boredom thanks to all those easy quests!’

“ I suppose I should be happy for you,” Susie gave A somewhat insincere smile as she began to fill up her own plate now that Coye’s was taken care of. “ although I’m sad to see you go out and about right after everything that happened…”

Coye looked down at his plate, feeling guilty to run out on her. “ this won’t be the last time this happens, if you’re really OK with me… So please, don’t be too sad…”

Relief showed on her face, and she grabbed her fork tightly in her left hand. “ you’ve really got to man up, darling. I already told you nothing would make me happier than for you to be a bigger part of my life. So don’t give me this if you’re really OK with me nonsense, otherwise I’ll become cross with you.”

He looked back at this beautiful woman and her kindly words touched him deeply. He felt uncomfortable at these words, but he knew better than to act timid in response.

“Got it.”

“ good, but you had best to make sure you come and see me a few days a week whenever you’re not off adventuring, otherwise… I’m afraid I’ll start growing lonelier and lonelier without you by my side.”

He knew that Shayla had advised him against asking about Suzette’s husband, but her frequent comments about loneliness made him curious. His eyes turned toward Suzette‘s wedding band on her left hand.

“Things must have been rough for you without your husband,” Coye said, absentmindedly.

“Husband?” Suzette blinked as if she couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

When all Coye did was stare back at her, she opened her eyes wider and looked down at her ring. “Oh, yes. That Husband.”

Without so much as a word, Suzette removed the ring from her finger and tossed it over her shoulder into a rubbish bin. She didn’t so much as break eye contact with Coye as she did. “Don’t worry about that, Darling. As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”

Coye watched this happen without knowing what to think.

‘I... what?’ Shayla blinked and grew concerned, knowing that this woman had multiple screws loose didn’t help.

Suzette took her fork and slammed it down onto Coye’s plate so rough that it broke the dish into multiple pieces. The fork impaled a sausage. “It never happened,” she reiterated with a more threatening tone of voice that wasn’t aimed at Coye, but at herself.

There was a lengthy silence, broken only once Suzette snapped out of her mood swing and brought the sausage up to Coye’s lips. With an out of place smile, she told him, “Open up, Darling! Ahhh-”

Scared and confused but deadset against upsetting Suzette further, Coye opened up and took a bite from the offered sausage. Fear was a wonderful seasoning, for it tasted delicious. It was spicy, but not overly so, and was a whole lot better than the sausage served at the Guild.

“T-Thanks,” He offered his compliments to the chef, who was pleased with his understated response.

Then, she noticed her own handiwork.

“Wait- goodness, Darling, what happened to your plate?”

‘...Coye, I’m running out of witty ways to ask if you’re sure about this chick.’ Shayla half-joked. Despite how scary Suzette’s antics were, she still couldn’t sense any actual hostile intent from her, so the Pixie felt like she was just going to have to get used to these bizarre outbursts.

Coye ignored Shayla’s comment since he came to more or less the same conclusion about Suzette, that she had problems but was not a threat to anyone but her deceased husband.

Suzette soon replaced Coye’s plate and after transferring all of the food from it to the new one, disposed of the broken ceramic. From there, the two of them shared a perfectly normal breakfast where nothing weird happened.

Owing to her sensitive stomach, Shayla did not ask for any scraps this time around.

“Thank you so much for breakfast, Suzette...” Coye smiled and looked down into his lap, bashful and grateful at the same time.

“Consider it the first of many,” she teased, causing Shayla to smirk and roll her eyes.

“As much as I’d love to have you around all day, I closed shop early yesterday and I need to open up. What are your plans?”

“Gonna get back to work,” Coye felt relief when he said it out loud. “I feel all the way better, so I’m itching to get back out there...”

“Is it really cleared up, just like that? Hmm...” Suzette tilted her head and felt a playful urge come on.

“It’s funny, I don’t remember this dress being so tight around my chest...” Suzette said as she took the crook of her finger to the tight bustline of her dress and pulled it down, exposing an even greater amount of her deep cleavage to the boy.

“U-Um...?” Coye gulped as he stared, whereas Shayla silently grinned at the result of her handiwork.

“How about now?” Suzette asked in a deep, sultry tone. “Do you feel anything coming on when you get a good look at these, Darling? ”

True enough, Coye did. He felt a twitch between his legs and a swell of desire, but it wasn’t anywhere near the inferno of lust he’d been living with.

Blushing, the boy looked away and said, “Y-Yeah, it, um... it turns me on when I see it, but... I can ignore it now, at least.”

“Mmm, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad,” Suzette giggled. “But good for you, Darling. Make sure you come back if you need a good, thorough draining again.”

“Draining...!?” Coye felt another pulse of lust and hunched over in his seat, trying to fight back his erection.

‘Someone is getting a whole lot more confident and I am all for it,’

“Ah, my bad. That might’ve been too much for a cutie like you to think about.” Her smile was gentle, but her eyes suggested Suzette wasn’t sorry in the slightest. “I know what will take your mind off of that sort of thing. Why not open up those cards I gave you?”

“Oh, are you sure? I thought you needed to get to work, so-”

“It’s fine. Rather, I want to see whether you like them or not before you go.” Even though she already had Coye in the palm of her hand, Suzette wasn’t above having some insurance. She’d draft plans to keep him coming back for more cards if he ended up liking them.

‘You might as well get it over with. You can open mine later.’ Shayla encouraged him, not wanting to seem overly interested.

“Well, ok...” Coye buckled under the peer pressure and dug the two small paper packages out of his pocket.

There was a monster on the artwork, and although he had never seen one for himself, he knew it to be a Red Dragon. It was a fitting choice, since his pack of cards was specifically labeled ‘RealMonsters - Monsters of Karnalle’. He remembered there were other packs on the display that had monsters from other Realms, too.

Coye turned the pack over and peeled the seam in the packaging, and nearly jumped out of his seat as epic music and deep, Dwarven chanting echoed out of the cards. The music filled his soul with adventure and the urge to battle.

“W-What the?!”

“Just watch,” Suzette grinned knowingly.

Nine rectangles of light exploded out of the packaging and formed a rotating ring hovering in midair. One card was in the center while four surrounded it on each side. The music had come to an ambient standstill as if beckoning him to reach out and take one.

“The one in the middle is a rare one, I believe. Most collectors save that for last.” Suzette told him, knowing as much from the people who’ve opened packs in her shop.

‘Ok, maybe this isn’t a stupid kid thing,’ Shayla admitted, entranced by the spectacle those crafty Dwarves put into the presentation. ‘What are you waiting for? Grab one!’

And so he did.

Coye reached out and took one of the glowing rectangles, which lit up even brighter when he did. The epic chanting picked up again as a card materialized in his hands. His eyes opened wide the entire time, filled with wonder as the seeds of addiction were planted in his mind.

The card had a large picture on it that covered the majority of its surface area, while the last third of it was a small rectangle that had text and different numerical values.

“No way,” he said to himself as he brought it closer to inspection. Coye looked at the monster displayed on the card art, one he recognized all too well. Depicted was a pig-human hybrid in the midst of eating a questionable snack, drool and blood dripping down its tusks onto its rotund belly. “It’s a Pigman.”

He must’ve killed at least fifty of these things so far, more if you count their younger forms, and Coye knew that number would only grow the longer he ventured in the Gnarled Woods.

While Coye didn’t understand what most of the numbers were about, the accompanying text seemed an apt representation of the hircine horrors. ‘This card can target allies. When a Monster is defeated by this card, [Devour] it and gain +1 ATK.’

“I’m sure you can see why these are so popular with adventurers now, Darling?”

“Yeah, it’s interesting seeing monsters I actually know like this, and it kinda makes me wanna see monsters I don’t know about, too...”

‘I wonder if there are any cards with Pixies on them...?’ Shayla wondered.

Coye opened the other seven common cards, the music and chanting swelling every time he unveiled a new Slime, Goblin, or other low-level threat from across the seven provinces. When he picked out the rare card the music roared to a thunderous encore before finally dying out entirely.

It was a Salt Golem, a rare monster found in the Old Salt Lord’s Palace in Lillance. While it was certainly cool, Coye was hoping to see another monster he was familiar with.

Right before he opened the other pack, he noticed there was a single green diamond-shaped chip lodged in the now-emptied pack. “Hey, what’s this?”

Suzette grinned, silently applauding the Dwarves for their sales gimmicks. “It’s a special type of Chroma Crystal, every pack comes with one or two. If you use ten of them on any card, then it will become all shiny like the rare one was.”

Coye’s eyes sparkled with possibility. “Oh, cool... wait, what happens if you use them on a shiny card?”

He asked the important question that Suzette was waiting for. “If you use thirty of them on a shiny card, the card becomes enchanted and its art will move around as if it were alive.”

“Wow...”

‘Man, you’d have to buy a crapload of these things just to get thirty of those crystals...’ As a trickster herself, even Shayla was beginning to appreciate how much of a grift there was here, even if she didn’t understand the economy and so on.

Coye then opened the second pack and then went through the whole routine all over again, adrenaline running through his veins with each unveiling. He didn’t end up with anything else from the Gnarled Woods, but his rare card this time was an impressive-looking Echoran Hive Queen.

“Well? What do you think, Darling? Is this a hobby you think you might be interested in?”

Shayla raised an eyebrow, sensing that Suzette has less than honorable reasons she was so invested in Coye’s interest. She figured Suzette was going to try and shake him for gold like Dorothy did, but was pleased to discover that wasn’t the case.

“I might be willing to sell them to you a little over the wholesale price, if so.” Suzette assured him.

“Is... is this even ok?” Coye frowned and looked at the cards. Although he was happy moments ago, some doubt crept in from the back of his mind.

“Of course it’s ok, I buy them for two gold and sell them for four, so I’ll still make a profit if I let you pick them up for three. Thus-”

“No, I mean... I’ve never really had a hobby before...” He looked away, feeling embarrassed.

“...Really? What do you do for fun, Darling?”

He looked at her with empty eyes and shrugged. “Train, take care of my sword, I dunno...” Coye’s minimalist lifestyle was another holdover from the time spent training with his father, who was a very serious man. Even before his training began, he couldn’t remember many toys from his childhood, either.

The idea of picking up a hobby and spending money for nothing more than his amusement was something he’d never considered before.

Shayla felt pity for her partner, and she wanted to comfort him but was beaten to the punch by the motherly Suzette.

“...Coye, of course it’s alright for you to have a hobby.” Suzette stood up and surprise hugged him from behind, nuzzling her face into the side of his neck and brushing past his long ear. “You silly boy. Wait here for a moment.”

Coye felt nervous as Suzette walked to her store, worried that she was about to bring him more free packs. What she returned with instead was a large binder and a large envelope that she put on the table.

“This is a folder and some display pages,” she explained as she set up the folder for him. “You put in the cards like this, see?”

“Oh, I see... um... I didn’t bring any money with me...”

“Darling, if you hadn’t already guessed, these are a present.”

“...Yeah, I figured,” Coye sighed and blushed.

‘Instead of sulking, thank your girlfriend for the free loot.’ Shayla insisted.

Beating down his embarrassment over being spoiled, he summoned his courage to look Suzette in the eyes and tell her, “Thank you, Suzette...”

“You can thank me by filling up that book and enjoying yourself, Darling. Life’s too short for... ok, well, maybe that metaphor doesn’t apply to a half-elf like you, but still. Either way, you should still start having a little more fun.”

Coye nodded absentmindedly, preferring not to dwell on his lifespan any longer than he had to. He pulled himself out of the negative thought by focusing on the kind woman and the gift he received.

Hugging it tight to his chest, he looked up at Suzette and smiled. “After my next adventure, I’ll be sure to spend buy some more.”

Internally, Suzette was celebrating her victory, but on the surface, she was nothing but supported. “See that you do,” she teased.

Suzette bent over to kiss her new man goodbye, before urging him to hurry on out so she could open up the store and both of them could get on with their respective careers.

Coye left that morning with both a new lover and a new hobby, and he was excited for what was waiting for him next. He didn’t know that he wouldn’t have to wait much longer to find out.