That Old, Familiar Feeling Ch. 04

Rikka was looking at her wide-eyed. "So what happened?"

"Garnet happened. One week as his Familiar fixed everything. I only regret not knowing the truth when I was your age."

Rikka went quiet again. The two of them shared the vacuuming and dusting, even though it wasn't really the day for either.

"So how do I open myself up to the idea of being a Daemon?" Rikka asked afterward.

Monica considered for a few moments. "I can't speak for you. For me, I just realized it one night, and made the decision to let Master handle the human stuff and I would just focus on the Daemon stuff."

"Do you think Garnet would do that for me?"

"Probably, if you asked. But you don't trust him yet. It takes trust to give up that kind of control."

The two of them made a plate of finger sandwiches and Monica took some of them to her Master. Rikka followed her upstairs, but lurked outside the bedroom door as Monica got a heartfelt thank-you and an affectionate pat on the bare bum. She stayed behind to massage his shoulders for a few moments; he'd been sitting for a couple of hours.

"I like how you are with him. Relaxed and...I don't know...playful." Rikka said when they were back in the basement, changing the linens over to the dryer.

"He makes it easy. I was never this comfortable with anyone else."

"I'm kind of jealous."

The comment sounded an alarm in Monica's head. She didn't know how she felt about Rikka having romantic thoughts about Garnet. She tried to tell herself this sort of insecurity was just a remnant of Human Monica's thinking and that Daemon Monica should let it go. But somehow, the anxiety lingered.

*

The rest of the day was more of the same. Rikka would follow Monica from room to room while Monica introduced her to where everything was kept and how things worked.

Towards the end of the day it became apparent that Rikka wasn't just following her, Rikka was shadowing her. Whenever Monica left a room, even for a moment, Rikka would stop what she was doing and hurry after her. When Monica checked in with her Master in the bedroom, Rikka hovered near the bedroom door. When Monica went to the washroom, Rikka waited outside for her.

Monica didn't know whether to be unnerved, flattered or to write it off as merely an emotionally upset young Daemon looking to find reassurance in her company.

Whenever Garnet would make an appearance, Rikka would nudge even closer to Monica and grow shy and silent until he left. When he wasn't around, she was inquisitive and easy to talk to.

"Could you...stay with me again?" Rikka asked as Monica walked her to the guest room for bed.

"I'll be just down the hall. I'm a light sleeper, so if you need me just call and I'll come," Monica replied. She enjoyed Rikka's company but she'd been looking forward to some 'Master-Familiar' time all day. Master had taken the entire day off work and Monica hadn't spent more than a few minutes with him!

"It's just, I get kind of overwhelmed..."

Monica tried a warm smile. "It must be a little unsettling to be in a new place. Give it a few nights and you'll feel a little more comfortable."

"Your company is really wonderful. You make me feel stronger when you're near me," Rikka said. Not begging, exactly, but skirting the edges.

"I'll tell you what," Monica said as they stepped into Rikka's room, "You lie down and get some sleep, and I'll come and check on you in a little bit, just to make sure you're okay. I'd stay if I could, but I owe my Master some time as well, right?"

Rikka nodded, clearly not happy with the compromise, but accepting.

*

"She's a shy one, that's for sure," Garnet said as the two of them lay close under the sheets. His hand stroked Monica's stomach and breasts; a touch that was more comforting than arousing. But the arousal was still there, not far below the surface. She wondered if her Master would want to invoke it again that night.

"Around you, yes. She's talkative enough when you're not there."

"Well, Daemons tend to be reserved. And she just lost her Master and her home, so who knows what emotions she might be dealing with? I'm glad she's comfortable with you."

"Comfortable might be an understatement. I don't think she was more than five feet from me all day. Sometimes it felt like I was wearing her. I'm sure she'd have followed me to the washroom if I hadn't locked the door on her."

He chuckled. "Probably just jitters. I bet she'll relax a bit after a few days."

She sighed, trying not to sound too exasperated. "I missed you, Master. You know it hurts when you're not around, right?"

"I missed you too, although I'd be lying if I said I was bored. Samuelsson was a prolific note-taker. I'm still going through the journal entries for Rikka's thirteenth year - and there are six more years to go!"

"Anything jumping out at you?"

"Not really. His tone in the journals is pretty formal. His observations sound objective and...I don't know...detached. Not a lot of emotion comes through in his writing. Could just be his style."

"I don't get the sense that she regarded him as a father figure. More like he was a kind old man and she wanted to please him. She said the Pact didn't have any noticeable effect on her. She thinks she's human, not a Daemon."

"We're still in the early stages of knowing her. Too soon to say anything with certainty."

"There's more - she wants me to sleep with her again. Like last night."

"Hmm. Well, I guess she feels better when you're close."

"Isn't that kind of weird? A twenty-year-old needing that kind of reassurance?"

"Weird for a twenty-year-old human, maybe. But for a young Daemon? For all we know, she's formed some sort of bond with you. You say it hurts you when I'm not around, right? Maybe it's the same for her when you're not there."

"You think she's bonded with me?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. There's no data so it's a wild guess. I'm just saying her behaviour and yours are similar in some ways."

Monica was quiet for a few minutes, enjoying the gentle stroking and considering her Master's words.

"If that's true, I'm being cruel by leaving her alone all night. I know eight hours without you is enough to reduce me to tears. She doesn't even have any work to distract her - she just has to lie there and take it." She pulled him down for a kiss, and his fingers touched her nipples more aggressively. "Is it selfish to want you all to myself?"

"Yeah. But didn't you say that sometimes it's okay to be selfish?"

"I did say that," she said. "And your fingers have me at a 'six', Master."

"It's your control week, and you've worked hard all day. I think we should shoot for 'ten', don't you think?"

"I was hoping you'd suggest that."

She spread her legs as his hand wandered lower...

*

Later, after she'd dried her perspiration and wiped the sticky wetness from her thighs she slipped out of bed and went to check on Rikka, as she'd promised.

The younger Daemon was asleep on the floor outside the door to the Master bedroom, curled into a fetal position in just her white panties and a t-shirt. Her arms were icy as Monica roused her and led her back to the guest room.

And this time when Rikka begged her to stay, Monica didn't have the heart to turn her down.

*

Master worked the next three days, so Monica and Rikka had plenty of time to get acquainted. To her credit, the younger Daemon was enjoyable company; a careful listener, helpful and polite - even her voice was soft and pleasant to listen to.

And somehow having Rikka around muted the horror of Master's long absences - Monica still missed him, still longed for him, still felt incomplete without him, but her distress never reached the same soul-crushing levels it did when she was alone.

But with each passing day, Rikka became more clingy and desperate for Monica's close proximity. Bed time had Rikka shamelessly begging her to stay, and Monica would check in with her Master for some much-needed time and attention and then depart for Rikka's bed. Without fail, Rikka was camped out on the floor outside the Master bedroom.

"It's getting worse," she whispered to her Master as they lay in bed. She had to watch her volume, certain that Rikka was loitering on the other side of the bedroom door.

"Yeah. I figured she'd get more independent over time, not needier." He didn't seem to regard it as a problem - more like a puzzle.

"I really like her - she's a wonderful young woman. Or Daemon, rather. I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her unhappy, but I'm feeling a little...crowded."

"If you're not happy then we have to do something."

"What do you suggest? You're the Daemon expert."

He was quiet as he thought it through.

"Well, let's imagine she somehow bonded with you in a similar way that you're bonded to me, since right now that's the only theory we have, and her behaviour kind of fits the pattern. If that's true, maybe she'll submit to your guidance, the same way you submit to mine."

"So...she'll do what I tell her?"

He shrugged. "Within reason, maybe. Let's design some experiments to test that."

"What kind of experiments?"

"Ask her to do something and see if she does it."

"That sounds easy enough."

"Make it something a little out of the ordinary, but not scary. Something unusual enough that she wouldn't agree to do it just out of good manners."

"Like what?"

"I think since you know her better than I do, you might be a better judge of what would be appropriate. You would know what she would find scary."

"What happens if she doesn't do it?"

"Well then, we've disproved that theory and we'll come up with another one and test it. See how much fun science is?"

*

Later, when she emerged from the master bedroom, she found Rikka sitting outside the door. The younger Daemon stood up as Monica walked past her, headed for the guest room. Rikka followed close behind. It was a familiar pattern by now. But tonight, Monica would change things up a bit. Time to experiment!

In Rikka's room she stretched, then lay on her stomach on the bed.

"Would you please massage my feet?" Monica said. Not something scary, but definitely outside the scope of simple good manners. Plus, Monica had always enjoyed a good foot rub. Sometimes it was okay to be selfish.

There was silence. Monica waited, resting her head on the pillow. And then she felt cold hands touching her feet. The contact was tentative and clumsy, but certainly an attempt at a massage. Gentle squeezes on her heel and sole. Rubbing her toes with the palm of her hand, first on the right foot and then the left. More rubbing over the instep. It was clear that Rikka had no idea how to give a foot rub. It was also clear that the younger Daemon was trying to do what she'd been asked to do. The hapless attempt lasted several minutes.

"Is that good enough?" Rikka's tone was unsure. "I've never done this before."

It was the worst foot massage Monica had ever experienced. She supposed living with Samuelsson since the age of thirteen hadn't given Rikka much chance to practice. She rolled over and gave the green-eyed Daemon an appraising look. "Would you like to learn how to give a decent foot rub?"

Rikka nodded eagerly.

"Okay, lie down on your front, and pay attention."

Monica got to work on Rikka's feet, squeezing and pressing and stroking, giving pointers all the while. Bill had loved a good foot rub, so Monica had thirty years' worth of advice to give. Rikka would nod in the right places, a sign that she was listening and not just enjoying herself.

It felt a little...improper...to be giving a young, scantily-clad female a foot rub in her bed late at night. Improper in a good way. Maybe even a little naughty. Monica shook her head and banished the thought - just more repressive 'human' values. A Daemon wasn't constrained by such limits - she was free to do whatever her feelings dictated. Touching Rikka felt good.

"Do you think you can remember all that?" Monica asked after a thorough lesson.

Rikka nodded.

"Okay, then. Try again." Monica said, stretching out on the bed.

Rikka went to work on her feet again. Still not great, but a big improvement. Monica vowed to give her young ward a lot more practice. If she couldn't enjoy long, steamy nights in bed with her Master, she'd accept an almost-competent bed-time foot massage as a consolation prize.

*

The next night brought a different sort of experiment.

"Oooh. You're going to go slow, right?"

"Slow and easy," her Master said. He worked two olive oil-coated fingers in and out of her rear end. The sensations were complex - stretching, delicious friction against those sensitive nerve endings, combined with a feeling of...yielding...of surrendering something intensely personal and private.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Monica said. She was on her hands and knees, back flexed to push her sex out towards him.

"You're the one who suggested it," he reminded her. "If you're having second thoughts..."

She shook her head. "I said I wanted all your firsts, and I meant it."

Since their first foray into anal finger-play a week ago, Master had incorporated it into their nightly fun and she'd found it more enjoyable each time. The sensual experience was arousing, and the fact that she knew it excited him heightened her enthusiasm even more. Bill had never touched her like this. Human Monica would never have opened herself in this way.

"You feel ready," he said. His fingers were gliding in and out of her virgin opening. It was all pleasure and no pain. So far.

She nodded and felt him withdraw. She looked back at his well-muscled, naked body, saw him stroking oil over his hard shaft. For a moment she wondered how it would all fit, but the worry lasted only a second. She wouldn't allow anything to prevent their joining.

And then she felt his cock head against her slippery anal ring. This was no rectal thermometer, no fingertip. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, bore down, pushed back against him. The pressure built, she began to accept his entry. When his head slipped into her she hoped the worst was over.

"Doing okay?"

"You feel enormous!"

"Is that a 'no'?"

"Give it a second...let me get used to it." She reached down between her legs and stroked her clitoris skillfully. Her arousal had been at a 'nine' before the serious anal play had started and she wanted to feel her edge again. Despite his cock stretching her back passage - or because of it? - it didn't take her long to get back there.

She nodded again and he began a slow entry. The feeling of fullness was beyond what she was used to, more and more until she felt his hips against her buttocks.

"Another first, my Familiar," he said, and she smiled despite the mixture of sensations demanding her attention. She loved being his first.

"For me too, Master."

He went slow until she wanted it a little faster. And then faster still. There was a little pain - some aching where she was being stretched, but nothing sharp or agonizing. A little hurt was okay if it meant he was loving the feel of her.

Sometimes it was necessary to endure a little discomfort for a good cause.

Her fingers continued to dance on her swollen bud. She was so close, and had been for most of an hour. Master had elevated teasing to an art form.

"Soon," he gasped. His climax was approaching. His thrusts were becoming less regular, deeper and harder. Less comfortable for her but somehow more satisfying.

"Can I go to 'ten', Master?" she asked. It was the final day of her 'control' phase; the last chance for an orgasm before she started a two-week 'build' phase of non-stop craving and denial. She didn't want to miss her moment.

"Yes, do it."

She hit before he did and didn't try to stifle the grateful moan that rushed out of her as her core gripped hard. Moments later he pressed himself deep and she felt his shaft thicken and pulse, coming hard, deep inside her.

They were panting and still in the aftermath. He was in no hurry to withdraw from her, and even though his thickness made her distended rear hole ache, she was loathe to release him. The emotional and spiritual connection of their Master-Familiar bond was powerful and fulfilling, but being physically joined to him warmed her inside in a tangible way.

*

"You have THREE double-shifts this week?" she whined.

The two of them had cleaned up in the en suite and returned to their bed. She knew that Rikka was waiting for her outside the bedroom door, like she had been each night since she'd arrived, but the time with her Master was so fleeting lately that Monica wanted to wring every last second out of the evening.

"Yeah. There's been a lot of employee turnover."

"You're becoming a stranger. Even when you're here, your nose is buried in Samuelsson's journals." She tried to filter the resentment out of her voice but it was becoming more difficult as the days passed.

With his job and the new journals, there was a lot on his plate. Rikka was nervous and timid around him, so he was trying to give her space to acclimatize to her new surroundings. But since Rikka was always near Monica, it meant giving Monica space too. And she didn't like that arrangement at all.

She tried to be patient. Master was working hard, trying to balance his job and his responsibilities as a Knight-Observer, all while being respectful of Rikka and attentive to Monica. He was doing his best. She could see how hard he was trying.

And it wasn't Rikka's fault, either. Daemons didn't handle change well, and the death of Rikka's Master and the eviction from her house had made the poor dear clingy and fearful. That, and the strange bond Rikka seemed to have formed with her meant the two of them were almost inseparable. It was hard to blame Rikka for circumstances she had no control over, especially when the younger Daemon was still in denial about her true origins.

Monica didn't want to nag. She didn't want to fill her Master's evenings with negativity and selfish complaints. She didn't want to become one more thing he had to endure in his busy life.

But a Familiar needed her Master. Something had to be done. And it was becoming clear that Monica herself would need to take action. After all, it was her duty to support her Master, and to "advance the noble cause of the Holy Order of Tristan", as the ritual had required. Master couldn't do it alone.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'll see if I can trade off-"

"No, Master," she said, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be complaining when you're the one working so hard."

"It'll get better. Rikka has to warm up to me eventually, right?" His voice had dropped, aware that the subject of their talk was likely close by.

"She's fine when it's just her and me. She's very polite, hard-working and eager to please. I don't like to use the word 'obedient', but the more I test that 'bond' we discussed, the more certain I am that she's somehow...compelled...to do what I say. Just like I am with you."

"There's SO much we can learn from her - from the two of you. I guess we'll just have to be patient until she gets used to me. I don't want her to be uncomfortable."

A thought occurred to Monica; the germ of an idea.

"Are you still okay with me taking the lead with Rikka? Doing experiments to test the bond between us?"

"Yes. You know her best. You know what kinds of test would be tolerable and what would be too scary."

Monica nodded, suddenly filled with thoughts. She liked Rikka; they were both Daemons. Family, in a sense. She'd never do anything to hurt or scare the younger female. But...pushing Rikka outside her comfort zone might be excusable, if all three of them were happier in the long run. If it would solve Rikka's problems, and Master's, and her own, causing her a tiny bit discomfort would be okay.