Iris stood next to one of the smaller carriages the mansion used when its larger residents (namely Mint and Luna) didn’t need a ride. She was eyeing a pocket watch and had a scowl on her face as the minute hand completed another rotation. Olive walked out the front door, shirt and skirt too small as always, a jacket the only modest piece of clothing on her. Luna and Derrick appreciated that at least the fall weather made their rebellious daughter dress a bit more appropriately.  Iris clicked her tongue. “You’re two minutes late, Miss Olive. Punctuality is everything. If I had been two minutes late so many times in my life, I definitely wouldn’t be here now. Men live and die in the breadth of a minute, Miss Olive.” 

Olive had already spent all the patience she allotted for today. “Oh, spare me the war stories, miss military.” she snarked, as she climbed into one side of the driver’s seat. 

Iris looked up to her passenger. “You wouldn’t rather ride in the coach?” 

Olive folded her arms and looked down. “I like fall. The colors are pretty, and I like how the cool air feels on my skin. That gonna be a problem?” Iris sighed and climbed up into the driver’s seat as well.  

Olive was right. It was that special time of year when the leaves were turning orange and gold and purple but were still hanging onto their trees, creating a beautiful array of warm colors above them. Olive decided she was finally done stewing in misery and just let her mind wander. Iris, however, was trying to think of what to say. Olive reminded her in so many ways of when she was younger. Maybe it wasn’t her business to try and get involved in her situation, but the maids were all basically family. She remembers a time when all the girls would refer to her as “Aunt Iris,” much like how every other maid in the mansion was an aunt to them. She smiled at the memory. 

“Miss Olive.” 

Olive sighed. “Iris, we’re the only two people here. You can drop the formal crap around me, you know that.” 

“I’m sorry m- uh, Olive. It’s just who I am, you understand.” 

Olive could connect a little with someone just trying to be who they are. “It’s fine. Did you want to ask me something?” 

“Olive.” She wanted to look Olive in the eyes for this. 

Olive turned to look at the imp maid. Iris’ brow was furrowed, her lips pursed. It was rare for her to show something akin to concern or worry, but she let her normally solid exterior down for this private moment. “Please be patient and just hear me out. I don’t wish to make you upset.” Olive already had an idea of where this was going. 

“Oh please, you’re gonna lecture me too?” 

I just-” damn it, she was so bad at this. “We’re all just worried about you. None of us like to see you, your sisters, and your parents arguing. I thought it was crazy when I first came here and you all acted like you were relatives, but I know how they feel now too.” 

Olive smirked. “Probably doesn't help we insisted on calling all you guys ‘aunt’ for some reason. I have no idea how that started.” 

Iris smiled in response. “I believe it was Miss Luna’s idea. She wanted to put the idea in your head that we were all family from the start. I don’t know how the other maids liked it, but it always made me feel nice when you guys called me ‘Aunt Iris.’” 

Olive decided to skip all the mushy stuff and get to the heart of this conversation. She looked away from Iris. “I’m not dumb, Iris, I know how to take care of myself.” 

Olive’s smile left her face. She remembered when she would say the same things. “You’re young and you’re stupid, Olive.  You and all of your siblings. You’re only now learning how the world works. It eats girls like you up, succubus or not.” 

“You sure about that? You oughta see me out there some nights, Iris. I know guys that would probably jump off a cliff if I asked nicely enough. Maybe showed a little skin.” 

Now Iris was getting annoyed. “Oh please, would it kill you to learn just a little discipline miss Olive?” 

“Stop with the ‘miss’ crap. Besides, what you want me to do, join the army like you did? March around, go see the world?” Olive’s tone was mocking now. 

“No!” Iris shouted. She wanted to quash even the vaguest idea any of the sisters had of following in her footsteps. Olive was shocked at the sudden volume. “No. You definitely shouldn’t do that.” 

“The heck? I thought you were all about that life. Why’d you join the army, then?” 

Emotions Iris tried her best to suppress at all times started boiling to the surface yet again. Thankfully, she found an excuse not to engage them. “We’re here.” she plainly stated, as the gate to Grathum came into view. 

Olive hopped off the carriage. “Alright, so what are we getting?” 

Iris pulled a list out. “Well, mostly odds and ends for Patricia. She’s running low on some spices. Sandy needs some nails for a hole in the barn, and uh... I’ll need your help for the last item.” 

Olive wasn’t paying enough attention to hear the odd last request on the list. “Awesome, nothing you can’t handle until I get back. I’m gonna go get something to eat. See you soon!” Olive drew her wings out and flew off fast enough to ensure she wouldn’t be able to hear Iris’ complaints at having to do the shopping by herself for a bit. 

Olive flapped slowly over the city, licking her lips. She was hungry, that was true, but she had two hungers she needed sated, and one of them obviously came first. She didn't have much time, so she wouldn’t have time to try out any new prospective partners. She would have to settle for one of her regulars. Oh, was that Paul? He was a good lay. He’ll do fine. 

Paul cursed under his breath trying to light his cigarette. The damn breeze kept extinguishing his match, like it was an act of divine providence. Olive slowly lowered herself to the ground and retracted her wings. “Paul,” she stated, and crossed her arms under her chest to push out her perfect breasts. Paul jumped, not expecting anyone to call out his name in the alley. Thankfully, it was only a seven-foot succubus. “Oh, hey Mary, what’re you up to?” he asked, as if he didn’t already have a good idea. 

Was that the name she used with Paul? Doesn’t matter, as long as it wasn’t her real one. It’s not like she took no precautions at all with this. “Listen, I don’t have time for small talk, you want a blowjob or not?” Olive raised her eyebrow and mimicked the act with her hand and her tongue poking a cheek inside her mouth. 

Paul’s face lit up. “Yeah, sure.” He stuffed his cigarette and book of matches into his pocket, then quickly started undoing his pants. Olive quickly approached and bent down. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” she cooed. “I’m the one that gets to unwrap my present.” She slowly, tantalizingly undid Paul’s belt buckle. She stuck her tongue out and wiggled her tongue, letting her piercing jingle like she loved to do, and gave him a sultry wink. Finally, she pulled his pants down slowly and let his hardening length flop out against her face. Oh, that was good. She was addicted to this smell, this heat. She would never admit it because she would never hear the end of it, but this was another reason she liked fall. The contrast of the cool air and the heat on her body whenever she had sex. It was the best. Unfortunately, time was not on her side today. Maybe later in the week. She lightly tongued Paul’s bell end and smiled; her tongue piercing provided a slightly different sensation whenever it happened to make contact.  

Paul could only moan. ”Damn Mary, you’re so good at this, I got to make you mine someday.” Olive only scoffed. As if she could ever settle for one man. Not when there were so many eager suitors in the world. She decided to start this in earnest. She slid down Paul’s shaft slowly, then dragged herself back, vacuum seal on it the whole time. She slowly increased her pace, then when she next went down his length, stopped. She just wanted to feel him bulge her throat out, let it warm her mouth. She swirled her tongue around and moaned, adding a small vibration to her actions. Even for a succubus, she was a natural at this. Paul was nearing the end of his rope, and Olive could tell. She planted her hands on either side of him for leverage and bobbed up and down as fast as she could, moaning all the while. Paul’s latest moan was the sign, she could tell. She went down his length one last time and waited for her reward. Seed flooded her mouth, rich and warm. Olive moaned again, this time in real pleasure. Nothing could ever top this. She wriggled her throat muscles to get every drop she could, like any proper succubus could do, and get every drop she did. She finally slid off of Paul’s prick with a “pwah!” and sat there with her tongue out, smiling. Oh, she needed that. Apparently so did Paul, considering the size of his load. 

Paul looked down and smiled, pulling his pants back up. “Oh, babe, somehow you always know when I need you.” 

Olive wiggled her tongue and giggled. “Guess I’m more of an angel than a succubus then, huh?” 

“Oh hey,” Paul said in the middle of looping his belt. “There’s a party down at the lake outside town two weeks from now. Graham’s dad will be out of town, and he’ll break into the good booze for us, if you want to come.” 

Olive loved any excuse to meet up with a bunch of eager young guys. “Sure, Paul. I’ll be there. I better get going though, someone’s gonna get mad if I’m away too long.” 

“Alright Mary, see you later.” Paul walked off, spring in his step. Olive expanded her wings to get back to Iris when a middle-aged man walked the corner. “Hey, I’m next, right?” 

Olive was initially concerned someone was listening and watching all of the last 10 minutes, but quickly realized she didn’t care. More importantly, did she have time for this? Surely one more wouldn’t hurt? He wasn’t much to look at, but maybe he was packing. “Depends, pal. What you got to work with?” The man eagerly pulled down his own britches, excited at the prospect of free sex. Olive merely scoffed and drew a hand to her mouth. This guy was definitely not packing. Unless it was a grower amongst growers, she would be wasting her time. “Buddy, I’m more likely to gag on my toothbrush. Sorry, not interested.” 

She turned to walk away, then felt a pressure against her back, pushing her into the wall. “Listen bitch, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” 

Olive scoffed again. She was in no danger. Even a man in his prime would have a hard time having their way with a succubus, and this man was definitely not in his prime in several categories. “You sure about that? I doubt your ‘hard’ is that much to write home about.” 

The man pressed harder into her. “You think I’m fucking joking? Take off the skirt, or I start cutting.” A small flicking noise and a pinpoint of pressure on her lower back indicated he drew out a knife. Olive merely rolled her eyes and readied herself to turn this dude into a mess of blood and broken bones, when the two of them were interrupted by a young man walking by. 

“H-hey!” He shouted. Both of them turned to look at this third party. 

He stood just a hair under 6 foot with brown/blonde hair and green eyes. His skin had a noticeable tan to it, indicative of some time spent in the sun, but not enough to imply some kind of hard labor like farming. His clothes also dissuaded that notion. A clean, pale-yellow vest with a white undershirt, and dark pants clearly made of a material not meant for physical work. He stood there, nervous, eyes shifting between Olive and her assailer, holding a pipe. The man cursed and released Iris. “Listen, fucker, you walk off right now, and I won’t gut you.” Now Iris was concerned. She knew she would be fine, but she didn’t want anyone else getting hurt. “Look pal, just let him go.” the man turned to face her again, eyes wild, hand shaking, knife pointed at her now. “If you want it that bad, I’ll give it to you, just let the guy g-” 

In that instant, the young man screamed and smash the pipe against the assailant. He fell to the ground, immediately unconscious. Iris stared at him, wide eyed, then looked to her “savior.” Well, that saved her from getting her own hands dirty. “Uh, thanks...” 

“Jason.” responded the young man, heaving at the effort and adrenaline. “You ok, miss...” 

“O-” Olive caught herself. That was almost an issue. “Cathy. Don’t bother with the ‘miss’ crap, by the way, pisses me off. I’m fine, by the way.” Then a look of shock hit her. “Crap, I gotta get going.” She didn’t even have time to pick up a snack to make her excuse look more believable. Then she looked at the metal box next to Jason and pointed to it. “Hey, what’s the in the box?” 

“My lunch, but wh-” That was all Olive needed to hear. She popped the latch and pulled out a sandwich from it. “Thanks Jason, I owe you big time.” She winked, then blasted off into the sky. 

“Hey, wait!” was all Jason could get off before she was clearly out of earshot. 

Iris sat next to her last destination, holding a few paper bags and saw her charge slowly descend from the sky. “Hey Iris, sorry I took so long. Line was long.” Olive explained, mouth full as she polished off the last of her pilfered meal. 

Iris sighed. “It’s alright, Olive, I saved the hard part for last, anyways.” This would be even harder than the conversation on the way here. Iris looked away, clearly nervous. 

Olive grew more confused by the second. “So uh, what’s this hard part then?” 

“T-there’s a reason I asked you specifically to come with me today.” answered Iris. “I uh...” no, she needed to confirm something first. “Olive, you wouldn’t do anything to hurt me right? I’m putting a lot of faith in you right now.” 

Olive had no idea how to respond to this. This was a side of Iris no one had theorized could even exist, and now she was present for it. Seeing a vulnerable Iris was like seeing a unicorn. “Uh, no, Iris. Why would I ever do something like that?” 

Iris sighed again. “I... Have a date a few weeks from now.” 

Olive’s jaw hit the floor for only a few seconds, then drew into a cruel smile as she immediately formulated plans to have fun with this. She wasn’t going to hurt Iris, just tease her to kingdom come. 

“Woooooow, I didn’t think miss military had time for cute boys. What’s he like?” 

Iris immediately shut this down. “No, as my mistress’ child and as a professional myself, I’m not going to let my personal affairs tangle with my work.” 

Olive scoffed. Iris didn’t realize how little leverage she had here. “Well whatever help you need from me, I won’t give it until you tell me aaaaaaaall about him.” 

Iris’ face scrunched. “I... I can’t, I...” she thought it over for a few seconds. “Alright fine, I’ll tell you about him on the way back, alright? Just promise you’ll help me with this one thing, and you tell no one else about this, or I’ll convince Luna to give you dishes for a month.” 

Olive had no idea what Iris could possibly want, but she didn’t care. This was the story of the century. “Alright fine, what do you need.” 

Iris’ face somehow blushed an even darker purple than it already was. “Whenever I do laundry, I noticed your uh... undergarments seem to be the most attractive, objectively speaking, so I figured you would be the one to help me... uh... I need your help picking out some underwear.” 

This somehow got even better. Olive had to cover her mouth not to burst out laughing. Iris simply stood there, embarrassment rising so high she was sweating. Finally, Olive calmed down enough to answer. “Fine, but only if you call it what it really is. You don’t want underwear, do you, Iris? What you want is some lingerie. The frilly kind. The kind that gets cute guys all hot and bothered.” 

“Y-yes.” was all Iris said in response. Olive’s fun was only beginning, however.  

“No, no, no. You have to say it. Tell me you want me to help you pick out lingerie for your date.” 

Iris groaned and then steadied herself. “Olive, I would appreciate it if you could help me pick out... lingerie for my date.” 

“Aw, how cute. How could I say no to that? Come on, while we still got daylight!” Olive practically dragged Iris into the clothing store behind them. 

What happened next was a whirlwind of activity. Iris picked out all kinds of scandalous items, and Iris would be far too prudish to even look at most of them. Both were getting frustrated. 

“Come on, Iris, did you want my help or not?” Olive scowled, arms crossed. 

“Olive please, I’m not trying to get in bed with him on our first date, I just want something to make me feel... p-pretty, is all.” 

Olive giggled again. This was the most fun she had in weeks. “Honestly, any date that doesn’t end in bed seems like a waste of time to me. What’s the point of underwear he’s not gonna see?” 

“Olive please, just something that looks kind of nice but at least covers the parts it's supposed to, that’s all I ask.” 

Olive sighed and looked through the racks again. She pulled out a nice black bra and panties. Both had frills aplenty, and the fabric was mostly opaque, although it was just sheer enough that the plum color of Iris’ skin would be visible, if just barely. “Alright, how about this?” 

Iris looked over the items like her life depended on it, pressed it against her skin, imagined herself in it. “Y-yeah, I think these will do.” 

“Ugh, finally. Now what you oughta do is get it in a few different colors. Guys ain’t smart. The exact same lingerie in a different color may as well be a different piece entirely to them. You can woo them as many times as you got colors to spare. We’ll start with three for now, see if this guy actually wants to see you again.” Olive smiled and bent down to her nervous friend, then slipped a finger under the shoulder of Iris’s uniform and started slowly working it down her arm. “Maybe if you’re lucky he’ll even want to help you take it off.” 

Iris moved away from Olive and slipped her shoulder back up, her face blushing again. “Ugh, the nerve! Fine, just pick a few more colors for me and let’s go!” Olive pouted. She supposed her fun was over. 

The ride back was quiet again, for some time. Olive felt much better than she did this morning, though. She got some sex, she got some food, and she got to see a part of Iris that was suspected of not even existing. All in all, a good afternoon. Iris broke the silence again. “Olive.” 

“Yes, miss hopeless in love?” 

“T-thank you for assisting me today. I’m not very knowledgeable about uh, the other sex.” 

“Hmph, that’s no surprise. Hardass like you is hardly gonna get any guys interested.” 

Normally Iris would have taken issue with those barbs, but she realized on their trip home that she still needed Olive’s help. “Olive, I’d...” Oh, what was she doing? There was no way this could end well. “I’d appreciate it if you could tell me more about men. How to make them find you attractive.” 

Another cruel smile crawled across Olive’s face. This day was full of surprises. Olive looked out to the side of the road to feign lack of interest. “Hmm, I dunno, Iris. You sure like to heap a bunch of chores on me all the time whenever I...” Olive put air quotes around her next word “misbehave. Awfully cheeky of you to come to me for help.” 

Iris sighed. She knew this was a mistake, but she wanted her date to go well more than anything else. “Olive please, I’m no good at this, that much is obvious. What do you want in exchange?” 

Iris had just handed Olive a blank check. Olive just had to think of how much to cash it for. Why spend it now though? She could use this favor as a get out of jail free card whenever she wanted. “I’ll think about that for now.” That vague response only made Iris worry more. She turned back to Iris, a grim smile on her lips. “So, what do you want to know?” 

“Everything, honestly.” Iris realized her mistake immediately. “No sex, though! This is purely about romance. I want him to be interested in me and find me attractive, that’s it.” 

Olive rolled her eyes. Why did Iris insist on going the long way for this? Whatever. “Mostly just pretending, to be honest. For you, you’re gonna want to act like you’ve done this all before. He’ll get turned off if you’re all nervous tics and mumbling like you’ve been doing all day. You’re gonna want your voice to be low, soft, and you’re gonna want to joke and giggle with him as much as you can. Make yourself look mysterious, like he’s gotta know more.” 

Iris was trying her best to focus on driving and take in all this information at the same time. It made sense so far. “Alright, what else?” 

Olive scratched her head in thought. “Just pretend like you care about whatever he cares about. Usually about whatever they do for a living. Guys love any chance to brag about that kind of stuff” 

“But I do think what he does for a living is interesting!” 

“Well, I guess that parts easier then.” Olive was lost in thought again. She was surprised how much of her knowledge of intimacy involved cutting through all this crap and just getting to the humping, but if she wanted to cash in this favor Iris would need to believe she was given good advice. She talked all the way back to the manor, and Iris made sure to mentally record every word. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn’t even actually talk about the guy Iris would be meeting.