The trio of Vuvi, Pip and Penelo sit in the center of the third most opulent restaurant in Market Town. The first and second not willing to accept them due to their muddy boots and soot-stained attire.
That sit snugly in velvet-covered booths lined with gold and silver trimming. Waiters with tails tied far too tight, and attitudes far too sharp bring them a feast of steaming meats and vegetables. Chandeliers crusted the ceilings, covered in glowing crystals that rain down soft, shimmering, magical light.
Despite its lavishness, the restaurant stood mostly empty, save for a cluster of dolled-up noblewomen who were gossiping into their crystal glasses and a strange, long-faced beast-man wearing an extravagantly purple suit. He sat in a shady corner, staring at Pip with a half-smile while manically stirring his soup.
Penelo, however, couldn't care less about the intricate stonework or majestic portraits of King Thorobrin that stared down at them from every wall.
"Gods give me strength!" the bunny-kin moans, panting wildly between bites of spiced truffle-stuffed squash, glazed carrots, an assortment of fruits smothered in sweetened cream and some kind of towering confection made of Bundt cakes and leafy vegetables.
Vuvi leans back in her chair, smirking smugly as she swirls a glass of strawberry wine, picking pieces of meat from her teeth with grease-stained fingers.
"You're doing pretty good for a bunny that was crying about carrots and crime just two hours ago." she quips.
"Mmmhmmm!" Penelo grins as she sinks her teeth into a giant grilled mushroom.
"You know, Pip sacrificed all the gold he earned this week to basically ransom you out of there, right?"
"Mmmhmmm! I wuuuv heeem!" Penelope mumbles, cream dripping from her stuffed cheeks as she dreamily stares at Pip.
Pip sits silently between the beauties, chin on his hand as he leans on the table and gleefully sways back and forth in his chair, his eyes flicking faintly with a deep, profound fondness for his two female companions.
"Aw! Look at him, he's like a daydreaming puppy!" Penelo coos. "He's just so precious! And shiny!"
"You have any idea what it takes to keep him so precious and shiny?" Vuvi scoffs as she sips her wine. "He needs constant care and maintenance. Oil rubs every day, his runes need rebalancing, pelvic realignments, thrust motor servicing, and don't get me started on keeping his cooling matrices clean. The flux resin buildup in there… ugh!"
Penelo blinks at her with a smirk. "You… get to do all that? To him?"
Vuvi nods. "Someone has to! And I guess I kinda enjoy it… most of the time."
Penelo's ears perk up as her cheeks begin glowing red.
"I-I could… maybe help?" she stammers. "I like helping. And… if he… or you, I mean, you already have a lot to do. I could—"
"You're just looking for an excuse to oil his piston, aren't you?"
Penelo nearly chokes on her carrot cider while Pip's head shoots up with an eager beep.
"Looks like Pip wouldn't mind." Vuvi cackles at his reaction. "Guess you're giving him his oil bath tonight."
Penelo's eyes beam with anticipation as she chomps through a thick stick of celery.
Later that evening, Vuvi lay snoring like a slumbering dragon on a bed of notes and spent quills. Her mouth leaking drool and one foot drapes from the bed as she mumbles about dual-piston thrust motors and lust slime while rolling through pages covered in alchemical formulas and half finished drawings of pleasure devices.
In an adjacent room, fading flame crystals provide a soft, warm light to Pip and Penelo's late night proclivities.
He lounges in a large bath, humming happily, arms and legs outstretched as he lazes luxurious against the plush comfort of Penelo's fur.
She sits behind him, naked, slathered in fragrant oils and giggling gleefully as she grins from ear to floppy ear.
"Can you even feel this?" She asks, her oil-slick paws rubbing across his shoulders.
He nods eagerly against her touch, melting into the bunny-kin's furry chest pressing on his back.
"Amazing! A construct that can feel. I've never heard of anything like that. And you know, for a metal man, you're really soft, Pip!" she whispers.
He answers with a slow, delighted nod as she massages him tenderly.
"... but not all of you is soft." she purrs through a bitten lip as she slides her hand down his luminous chest and brushes it against his pelvic port, dragging her breasts over him.
His pelvis faintly hums as he answers her with a nervous beep.
"I'm ready, my Prince!" she exclaims, raising her paw into a fluffy fist, her mind focused and resolve hardened. "I can handle it! Just a peek. I won't look long. I promise."
Pip slowly turns to her, his eyes dimming as he tilts his head and beeps. Worriedly.
"I promise! I won't faint this time!"
He shrugs, and nods as she hops up, looming over him as he lays in the bath.
Penelo grabs her cheeks, squeals with excitement then gazes in silent adulation as his pelvic port slowly opens, revealing its divine contents, enveloping her in its warm, glowing embrace.
Back in the other room, Vuvi is violently vacated from her peaceful sleep by the sound of crashing metal, cracking ceramics and the moaned shrieks of a woman overwhelmed.
She bolts out of the bed, half-asleep, fully vexed, and armed with a rune wretch.
"Pip! Bunny! Are you—"
She skids to a halt in front of the bathroom door. And sighs. "I'm sorry, Pip. I don't think she's ready for you..."
Pip sits up in the tub, its walls and surfaces covered in iridescent oils as he gently fans Penelo, who's draped dramatically over the edge, grinning madly like someone who has just seen the face of The Great Mother.
"It's… so shiiiiny." she mumbles before sinking into unconsciousness.
"Honestly!" Vuvi blinks through sleep encrusted eyes.
Then a knock rattle their room door.
Vuvi creeps to the door grumbling to herself as she cracks it open.
A half-hunched, wrinkly old woman, vaguely haired and beady eyed, stands before Vuvi with a smile that reeks of desperation.
"Ah, so sorry my dear, I was just checking up on our... Oh my! It is you! The red-haired girl! You travel with him, don't you. The one they call… The Prince of Pleasure."
Vuvi raises a brow as she wipes away drool. "Maybe, I am. Who's ask—"
The old woman slips past Vuvi with surprising agility, shuffling into the room like a slow-motion storm of cinnamon-tinted perfume.
"Please, oh red-haired one, I need your help!"
"Um," Vuvi hesitates as she inspects the old woman, her every breath seemingly her last. "...you're a bit… I-I'll have to check with the, um, Prince—"
"No, not for me!" she snorts. "My granddaughter. She's… broken. She never smiles, or laughs. She's never happy. Her parents' minds were taken by the curse, they… I've tried everything. But she's just… hollow."
"Slow down. We're not miracle workers, lady." Vuvi says rubbing at her temples. "Well… he kinda is. But we'll be in the market in a day or two. Just ask for the Blackthorn Pleasure Service. You'll be able to make a booking—"
The woman snatches Vuvi's hand. "She needs him. Now! I beg you."
Pip beeps softly as he steps out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, and a naked, oil-slicked Penelo leaning on his shoulder, rubbing at her head, mumbling about temporary blindness and divine revelations.
"Oh! My goodness! I didn't know you had a… customer." the old woman yelps before turning to leave.
Vuvi sighs harder, now rubbing at the bridge of her nose.
"Well?" she grunts as she turns to Pip.
He beeps, drops his towel and shoots her a thumbs up.
"Why'd I even ask…" Vuvi groans.