<div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;"><span style="font-weight: bold">Edit:</span> More backstory! I was planning to include this when I posted originally, since it explains what's going on a bit more, but then I got hit by a <span style="font-style: italic">massive</span> writer's block... 20d6 crushing damage, straight to my creativity <img alt="^^;" src="./images/smilies/sweatdrop.gif" title="Sweat drop"/>  Hopefully the next part will come a bit faster!</div></div></div><br/><br/><br/><blockquote><div><cite>Praexon wrote:</cite>Jess's ears prick up. "..." She grins, slightly at first but quickly growing into a full ear-to-ear beam. "...:3"<br/>"Oh<span style="font-style: italic">hh</span>?" she swims forward and rests her chin on the pool's rim, smiling impishly at the blushing tiefling.</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Jess's keen interest turns Alyssa even even deeper shade of red, but it also relaxes her visibly- the fact that Jess hasn't regarded her admission as an invitation is a good sign. She offers a smile in return as she places her belongings back in their pile.<br/><br/><span style="font-size: 80%; line-height: 116%;">[Alyssa removes <span style="font-style: italic">amulet of mighty fists +1</span>]</span><br/><br/>"It's a bit of a story, but if you would be willing to listen..." Alyssa lowers herself back into the water next to Jess. Barring an objection, she continues.<br/><br/>"I wasn't born this way... that is to say, as a tiefling. I was an ordinary human until ten years ago, when my village was attacked by a group of demonic invaders. One of the succubi in that group seduced me, and infused me with a part of her essence before consuming me like she had my mother. I've never learned why- I suppose she must have had some strange taste for the flesh of her own kind. The town priests, monks of Saint Rubin, drove her away before she could complete her task, and purged the demonic essence from my being. My physical transformation was irreversible, but they were able to prevent my mind and soul from becoming corrupted. At least, that's what Father Jaron told me- sometimes I wonder if part of her essence remains inside of me."<br/><br/>"You see, ever since that time, I've had a recurring dream... It begins when I meet a woman. Her appearance is never the same twice, but she's always tall and powerfully built, and indescribably beautiful. She approaches me, and whispers something my waking mind can never recall- I think it must be my permission, because I always nod in agreement. She strips away my clothing and embraces me, caressing every inch of my body as though she's tasting me with her fingertips. Then she leans forward, opens her mouth, and begins swallowing me. I never try to resist- sometimes I even press myself forward to aid her efforts. As the last of my body enters her stomach, I climax and wake."<br/><br/>Alyssa shakes her head, laughing in spite of herself. "It really is absurd, isn't it? I've spent the last decade of my life learning how to avoid becoming a predator's meal, all the while fantasizing that someone will<span style="font-style: italic">offer</span>me the chance to be swallowed- and treat it as an act of intimacy, no less! I realize that it can never be more than a fantasy, not if I want to survive- anyone who would desire my body in that way would see me as a meal to be processed, rather than as a person. And yet, every time I encounter someone like you or Miss Auralia, I remember my dream and wonder if they might think differently..."