Chapter 27

In the previous fan chats, there had been no physicality prior to Ariel appearing in the parlor. It was more like David was viewing a document or had a settings panel open than being in a virtual environment.

This time was different. David appeared in a dressing room. There was a padded bench along one wall, opposite the mirror that took up one side of the room. He was already dressed in slacks and a Phoenix Rising shirt.

Someone knocked at the door. “Come in.”

MarvForAriel entered. His eyes darted around the room. “You wouldn’t believe how crazy this has become. Everyone—practically everyone—has tried to get here.

“I’m kind of panicking. Oh, I shouldn’t be saying that: I’m supposed to help my client. But this is so big!”

“I am sure you will do fine,” David said. “It looked like you had everything under control last time we talked.”

“Thanks.”

David asked, “Where will I meet Fyrefang3?”

“He just arrived in dressing room 3. Do you want to do this alone or will you go with Ariel?”

“We can do the two of us together?”

“Yes, Ariel should be arriving in dressing room 2 in about a minute. We can meet her there or you can go talk to Fyrefang3 alone.”

“It’s getting close enough; don’t you think it’s about time to tell me how this is going to work with the two of us?”

“I have no idea. The tech brief I got for today said it would just work.”

“Well let’s go meet her? me? This is going to be confusing.”

We walked next door. Marv knocked. “Who is it?” It is freaky to hear Ariel’s voice without any memory of speaking. “Marv and David.”

The door opened. Ariel stood dressed in her leather skirt and black silk jacket. The top under the jacket showed flashes of skin. It was sexy, but not nearly as provocative as some of what she wore while working. Apparently this environment had Smell of Sex available: they were both nervous, but his interest when he saw her outfit was obvious to both of them. Embarrassment was shared all around as David was definitely aware that she had noticed him too.

“That’s a little bit awkward,” she said. She smiled. “Although I guess it’s tame compared to some of what we’ve been facing. You’re okay, right?”

“Yeah. I’m not used to this in David’s body, but it’s not too bad.”

“Hey, you like it well enough when you are me.”

She continued, “Speaking of, how is this working?”

David’s brows rose. “I assumed you’d know because I sure don’t.”

She shook her head. “I (David) am playing Ariel just like always. But there you are ... there I am? and I have no memory of what you’re doing.”

“We can either play ‘look for the impostor’ or just decide to trust each other. And well—”

“And well, trust is what we’ve been working on this past month,” Ariel finished David’s thought.

“Yeah.” They flashed grins at each other. David felt his heart race. He supposed that falling for himself—the sexy, confident slut version of himself—wasn’t such a bad thing. Except he guessed this would be a one time interaction. He doubted they would be physically present together again without the cooperation of the AIs.

“So I’ll talk to Fyrefang3 and then call you in?” Ariel said.

“Sounds good.”

She walked ahead of Marv an David and knocked on door 3. “This is Ariel. Mind if I come in? There’s someone I want you to meet.”

The door opened and Ariel entered. David stood back. Fyrefang3 hugged Ariel. “You are okay? I was worried when you disappeared last night.”

“I am sorry about that. I have a knack for challenging the game. The AIs floated me out through the side of the building to have a private chat.”

She pulled her shoulders forward and stood straight, Fyrefang3’s arms still encircling her. “I decided I’m tired of hiding my player. I wanted you to be the first to meet him. David, could you come here?”

David stepped forward. He wanted to run and grab her; the nervousness coming off her was overwhelming, and with Smell of sex it reached right to his gut, calling him to protect her. Her struggle not to run to him was equally obvious; if anything he was more nervous. But she was trapped in Fyrefang3’s arms—arms that had suddenly become leaden and stiff.

“You are her player?” Fyrefang3’s gaze was not exactly hostile, but it was not friendly either.

“Yes.”

“Then who is playing her now?”

“I am. I mean not me me, but you know ... actually you can’t possibly know because we certainly don’t ... it’s all confusing. The creator AIs said we could both be here for this one fan chat. She said ... or at least her David said that he’s playing her. And her actions feel right to me, but I have no memories of making them.”

He looked at Ariel, his eyes earnest—pleading perhaps. “So, you—your player at least—is the same David who was with Lathandré and I last night? You aren’t having someone else run up and hug me after that?”

Without hesitation, Ariel squeezed Fyrefang3 tighter. “Oh, no. It’s me. We all remember that; we all did that.”

“Yeah,” David said, “I remember playing that. And I wouldn’t let anyone impersonate Ariel with you either. I made it really clear that only David gets to play Ariel.”

“That’s good.” Fyrefang3 hugged Ariel back, holding her to him.

When they stepped apart, Fyrefang3 turned to David. “So, why play a female character?”

David practiced the speech he would doubtless be giving in a few minutes. By the end of the day he suspected he’d be good at answering that question.

“Wow, and so our time together pushed you over the edge?”

“I bet I would have done it soon enough anyway, but that was the last straw,” David said.

Ariel nodded. “I can’t imagine facing the meeting with Nama’s Child and her son without outing David. Either I’m going to out David before that meeting or never.”

“So David, hug or fist bump?” Fyrefang3 asked.

“Both.” David said.

“All right man!” Fyrefang3 did not stint on his hug. There wasn’t the passion present with Ariel, but there was real emotion. “You are one brave man.”

“Thanks.”

“Are we still good?” Ariel asked.

Fyrefang3 tilted his head as he looked into her eyes. “Oh, yeah. You’re the same hot girl you’ve always been. Thank you for letting me know before the announcement.”

She grinned. “Are you still good with us sharing your recording?”

He licked his lips. “Have you seen what Marv and your team did to it?”

“No. David was really busy today dealing with security and planning this.”

“It’s really hot. I mean like amazingly hot. I bet you will come watching it if you let yourself.”

David could smell Ariel. He was unsurprised when she told Fyrefang3, “I will if you will.” It was so Ariel, challenging another person to push themselves a bit further.

“Okay.”

“Marv, can you rearrange the front of the room with something that reclines so we can touch ourselves while we all watch the recording?”

“It’s two minutes to when you’re supposed to walk out there and you want me to rearrange the scene?”

“When I said okay, I didn’t mean today!” Fyrefang3 hugged himself protectively. “In front of all your fans? You have got to be kidding!”

She flashed a grin at him. “I do it every day.”

“But you’re Ariel!” Fyrefang3 sighed. “Why not? I guess I’ve already made the recording. I’ll do my best.”

They both looked at David. He acceded to the inevitable. “Okay. I don’t have the experience you do in front of a crowd, but I’ll try.”

“You have Smell of Sex to help you along. Perhaps you have the rest of my skills here too.”

MarvForAriel threw up his hands. “Okay, okay. I think I’ve got scene changes ready. But Ariel we’ve got to rush.”

“Good luck,” Fyrefang3 said. “I only wish Lathandré could be here.”

MarvForAriel hustled Ariel out. “The rest of you can tag along and watch on the back stage monitor until you’re called out.”

Fan Chat with Ariel!

Welcome to the Fan chat with Ariel, the first immortal whore! A select group of fans will get to talk with Ariel and an amazing line up of special guests! And it’s true: you are about to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Ariel’s player!

As a reminder, if you comment on Ariel’s channel with your Phoenix Rising character, you get to keep the name. Everyone else gets the underscore! The underscore names are unique only within Ariel’s channel.

Disagreement is fine, but show the same respect Ariel demands from her clients to everyone here or you’ll be down the drain!

Give it up for Ariel!

Ariel stepped into the space. She guessed if you stretched the term enough, you could still call it a parlor. Perhaps a small hall? The furniture was the same assortment of loungers and sofas as before. Yet looking out across the room, there must be twice as many people as at any of her previous fan chats. And MarvForAriel said she just didn’t want to think about how many were streaming without being virtually present.

In the past chats, she had a sofa (which admittedly she’d never actually used) at the front of the room. Now there were three loungers, partially reclined.

Ariel: Hi everyone! It feels like forever since we’ve last been together. And boy do we have a lot for you tonight!

Ariel: So much in fact that I’ve asked MarvForAriel to help me run this so I can focus on talking to you all! Can we get a big round of applause for Marv and his great work running the channel?

MarvForAriel: Thank you all! It’s great to be here.

Ariel: Tonight we’ve got a lot of great things lined up. We’ll start with one of the big ones.

Ariel: Being Ariel has been an amazing experience. I’ve stretched my own boundaries. I’ve experienced a world more vivid than I possibly could have guessed. I’ve cried and loved. I’ve fucked and come. I’ve been touched in the deepest ways possible, and I’ve had the pleasure of touching those around me.

Ariel: But behind every immortal there is a player. It’s past time that you all get to meet my player. It’s past time they get credit for the hard work they’ve done.

David was nervous standing back stage. She looked so confident out there. These were her fans. What would they think of him? Fyrefang3 gripped his hand for support.

Ariel: And now the moment you have all been waiting for. David, come on out!

_David walked through the portal and appeared next to Ariel in the front of the room.

_David: Hi!

David was so nervous that even getting that one word out was hard.

Ariel: You can do better than that. After all we’ve been through together, give me a nice, big hug.

He stepped toward her and she enveloped him in her arms. She smelled good. Her warmth was comforting against him. His nervousness eased.

Ariel: [priv] <You’re going to do fine.>

_David: [priv] <They are entirely quiet.>

MarvForAriel: [priv] <A good chunk of them are in shock. I’ll get it going.>

MarvForAriel: It’s a real pleasure to finally be able to show everyone both sides of who I work for. I am sure everyone is eager to learn more about you. We’ll start with a question on everyone’s mind: how did you decide to play Ariel?

_David: One of my other characters ended up in Berg’s Keep at the Roasted Pig. And Hulda was so hot.

Ariel: Yeah, the way she’s sexy, shameless, and confident is something I am still amazed by. I see why you fell for her.

_David: I think you’re the one who fell for her. For me, it was more wanting to be like that. I wasn’t brave enough to do anything with my character ... what if my friends found out. So there I was rolling up someone to have sexy fun. And I realized I wanted to be like Hulda a lot more than I expected.

Ariel: And so here I am.

MarvForAriel: And so why did you finally decide to come out?

_David: It felt like I was hiding things especially from some of the immortals Ariel was with.

_David: And playing Ariel as a guy is its own challenge. I have done hard work of my own; I wanted credit for that.

MarvForAriel: I’m sure. It must be a huge difference playing a woman; what’s the biggest thing you’ve noticed?

_David: How the other immortals treat me. You don’t notice as a man, but women get treated differently.

MarvForAriel: So we’re obviously all about the hot stuff here. What’s it like to masturbate to stuff Ariel’s done as a woman from your point of view as David?

_David: You know, I don’t do that often.

MarvForAriel: Really? You’ve got to like sex given who you play.

_David: Honestly most of the time when I log out, I’m processing what has happened in game and dealing with my normal life. By the time I’m ready to think about sex, I’m logging back in.

Ariel: Most of the time sure. But what about after those first couple of nights when I met Hulda?

_David blushed.

Ariel: And I know you watched that second recording I made in Hulda’s room. And again when it went viral. So go ahead and answer the question.

_David: It’s harder to get into recordings from Ariel than other porn. I mean I was there; I’m used to being Ariel. And to view something that intimate from outside takes a bit. But once I do ... it’s the hottest thing ever. I am turned on by Ariel, by her smell, by how much of a shameless slut she can be at her best. But I’m also turned on by doing that. I have to fight my ... no, I have to fight our fears and open up. And when I see how hot she is, I know I’ve done that.

Ariel: And the feedback between what I’m feeling, how that feeds into his own arousal! It’s something. One of those times he came hard enough that it splattered in his eye. Now there’s a way to break the mood suddenly!

Ariel: But you’re going to show us aren’t you?

_David: What?

Ariel: [priv] <Fyrefang3’s recording>

_David: Oh, right. Ariel’s a real minx, but I’ll let her tell you what she’s done.

Ariel: [priv] <I can call in Fyrefang3 now and introduce the recording?>

MarvForAriel: [priv] <Yes, sounds good. We can get that out of the way, get things set back to hot and sexy, and then with people reminded why they are here, take questions.>

Ariel: It’s time to introduce another one of our special guests. He’s the first immortal I know was lusting after me. He’s been here since the beginning, and his support means so much to me. Come out Fyrefang3!

Fyrefang3 stepped through the portal and appeared next to Ariel and _David.

Ariel: So, wow, that was something last night.

Fyrefang3: Fuck yeah. It took long enough; I’ve been wanting to jump you since Hulda told us about your fantasy that first night. I won’t say waiting made it better, but it was sure worth waiting for.

Ariel: It sure was. I had to wait until I could take clients. And then you wanted to get together at the Pig and one thing led to another.

Ariel: Last night combined great emotional openness with some amazing sex. All three of us understood how we help each other out. And then the fucking!

Fyrefang3: Telling you how you’ve helped us really meant a lot. Lathandré needed to thank you for giving me a role model.

Ariel: So you have something you want to share with us?

Fyrefang3: I sure do. I submitted my recording of last night. And you won’t believe how hot it is!

Ariel: He told me it was hot enough I’d come from watching if I gave it half a chance.

_David: And of course Ariel is always thinking of the people around her. And so somehow before we know it, we’ve all agreed to get off watching the three of them last night.

MarvForAriel: In front of everyone?

Ariel: Of course. How else are they going to level up Exhibition?

_David: Some of us aren’t in a game.

Ariel: Like that matters. Come on, there’s no fucking way you would have agreed to this before you started playing me. Some of the skills transfer over.

MarvForAriel: Let’s get ready for something truly special!

Submitted by Fyrefang3, let’s lay back and enjoy “Getting Dirty for Ariel.” Have as much fun as you want but keep things to yourself. As always, consent and immersion controls are available.

Ariel: [priv] <So the rule is no sex between people in the chat. Does that mean David and I could jump each other? I mean we’re not different immortals.>

`MarvForAriel: [priv] <Um, I’m not actually sure. I think you’ve found a corner case in the rules.>

_David: [priv] <So tempting.>`

He doubted they would though. It felt wrong to start something they couldn’t continue, and they were both uncomfortable not understanding how they could both be present.

David lay back on the lounger. Ariel was in the middle between him and Fyrefang3. The recording started as Lathandré was reassuring Ariel that there were no expectations.

In the recording Ariel was just relaxing. Next to him though she was turned on. David guessed she was hot thinking about getting off in front of an audience. He knew he was. Apparently her skills did transfer to him. Or perhaps his time as Ariel had affected him, because the idea of being open—being seen—turned him on. Showing these people it was okay to admit to enjoying things that were hot attracted him.

Ariel: *[priv] Pants off David. I want to see you.>

_David: [priv] <You’ve seen me plenty of times.>

Ariel: [priv] <This is the only time I suspect you’ll perform in front of an audience like this.>

He complied, shucking off his pants and boxers. That level of vulnerability left him nervous. He had been half hard before, but now he was soft. Beside him, Ariel hung her jacket and spread her legs.

Marv had combined sensations. The recording was mostly from Fyrefang3’s view; the audience experienced his pounding heart and excitement. That only grew as Ariel said she had in fact been hoping to eat his cream out of Lathandré. It captured the shiver of connection and lust as he shared a glance with Lathandré. But the experience was not entirely Fyrefang3’s: Ariel’s sense of smell had been overlaid. And by this point, Ariel had been pouring mana into Smell of Sex. You could tell that Fyrefang3 was excited, although as his cock began to twitch, it didn’t take a skill to do that. But Ariel smelled Fyrefang3 on Lathandré; she smelled her own excitement. And all that fed into her lust. Marv’s compilation of the experience took advantage of full immersion: the pounding hearts, sense of smell, and building lust fed into the viewer’s excitement.