"I guess strip poker is out of the question, huh," Nat said.

Kaz laughed. "Probably, yeah. Doesn't seem like much point."

The two of them sat at the table at Jon's cabin, passing the time. Jon, Mac, and Red had gone back to the island in Jon's boat to strike the camp and collect their food and gear.

"Think they'll be long?"

"Are you asking if I think they'll be back soon, or are you asking if I think Jon's going to enchant and fuck them while they're on the island?"

Nat grinned. "Both?"

Kaz shook her head. "I think Jon's all fucked out at the moment. He looked really tired, honestly."

"Yeah, all that mind controlling has to take it out of you. Not to mention all the sex."

"I kind of liked it, though." Kaz bit her lip. "Why do you think he took those two instead of us?"

"Probably because you 'n' me both got way too much out of being controlled." Nat giggled. "I'd be all over him like, 'next time make me your slave.'"

Kaz laughed. "I can't believe we bought Mac."

"Yeah! That'll be a joke forever between us I think."

"Not gonna forget that."

The two of them looked at each other. The laughter hung in the air between them, even as they both went silent.

"You were..." Nat began.

Kaz nodded.

"... a great pet. And a fantastic warrior."

"Thank you. I, um... I don't know how to feel about that."

"Uh huh."

"For what it's worth, you were an excellent rogue."

"Thanks. I also don't know how to feel about that."

Kaz nodded again. "I get it." She took one long, slow breath. "I would love to go with you to a larp session sometime. Or maybe just even play some tabletop games."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Nat stood up and wrapped her arms around her friend. "That would be great. I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather have there."

"Except Jon."

"Oh my God." Nat released Kaz and spun on her toes. "Can you imagine turning him loose in a field full of larpers, and suddenly everyone's perfectly in character and the magic really works and the fights and everything?"

Kaz smiled. She could.

Nat paused in her excited wandering. "Oh, there's something Jon mentioned that might help pass the time..."

"He did?" Kaz tilted her head, curious.

"Yep!" She ran to the desk where Jon had showed her the special item in question.

"What is it?"

Nat smiled with a wicked gleam in her eye, and held up a tennis ball.

Kaz's eyes went wide and she ran to the door expectantly, waiting for Nat to open it so the two of them could go play fetch for a while.

Nat laughed. "Just 'til the others get back, alright?"

Kaz tapped at the door with a fist, lightly. Nat ran over and let her out.

"That's everything?" Jon asked, looking at his boat half-full of gear. It was significantly bigger and faster than the canoes, with more storage space even than both together, and given that a few items had travelled with the women during their escape, everything had fit nicely.

"That's everything," Mac said, dusting her hands off.

"Ready to head back?" Red asked.

"Almost." He smiled. "Kennedy, if you please?"

Red turned to Mac, curious. Mac closed her eyes. She and Jon had been speaking on the ride over, while Red couldn't hear them, and again while Red was making one last use of their privy. She felt the roots of the rocks, deep beneath her feet. "Summer berries are the sweetest," she said.

"Good," Jon praised her, and she flushed with pride.

"Mac, what—"

"In the quiet, the birds sing of them."

Kennedy opened her eyes. Red was already looking a bit sleepy.

"Continue," Jon said.

"Do you like the summer berries?"

"I..." Red began. "Mac, what are you doing?"

Kennedy's confidence grew with Red's confusion. "Did you ever fly with the birds?"

"This... what... I..."

"One more, Kennedy."

Kennedy held her hand out to Red. "Fly with me."

Red took her friend's hand. "I will fly with you."

"Very good, Kennedy," Jon said softly. "You're a very good student."

"I have a very good teacher." She held Red's hand. She could feel the pulse of the magic between them, like a heartbeat. She could tell, she didn't know how, that the moment she let go, the spell would break. "What now?"

Jon smiled. "We haven't the time to get into more, into refinement and intention, into other spells and effects and..." He shrugged. "I have several decades of practice that you don't, I'm not even sure I remember what it is you don't know yet."

Kennedy took a breath, slow and easy. That extra heartbeat felt so very natural, like it was supposed to be there. Like it had always been there. "Red?"

Red smiled and blinked before answering. "Yeah, Mac?"

"You don't need to remember that I know how to do this, right?"

She nodded. "Right."

Kennedy hesitated a moment, then let her friend's hand go.

"Let's get going," Jon said, offering Red a hand that she gratefully took, then helping Mac into the boat as well. He pushed the boat off the shore, turned the key, and set the boat in motion.

"Well." Mac began. "It's been fun."

"Definitely," Red agreed.

"You two look tired," Jon said, putting the motor down into the water. "Why not stretch out on the benches and have a nap?"

Mac was about to argue, but she couldn't seem to muster the energy.

Jon was a good cook. Red was a good cook. Together, they turned some of Jon's preserved food and some of the campers' supplies into an excellent pasta-and-sauce meal. Kaz, for some reason, decided to eat sitting on the floor, despite the couch being available (and despite Jon offering to sit on the couch and let the four women have seats at the kitchen table). Canned pears made for a nice dessert.

"So..." Nat began. "What do you do with us now?"

Jon blinked. "Me? Do with you?"

"Yeah, do you, like... keep us forever or something?"

He shook his head. "No, no, this is a catch-and-release operation. Keeping you would raise way too many questions, and you all have friends and family to go home to. You leave tomorrow morning after breakfast, on schedule."

Nat scratched her head. "But then... how do you keep yourself secret? How is it that other people haven't told the world about you?"

"I'll keep my secrets about how I keep my secrets."

"I... what?"

Jon laughed. "I don't just give away my methods."

Mac raised her eyebrows at that statement. She and Jon shared a look that Nat couldn't read.

Kaz stood up. "Alright, then, what about tonight? What do we do tonight?"

"What would you like to do?" Jon shrugged. "I'm kind of worn out. I haven't been this busy in ages! I could probably crash into bed right now, if I wanted to. That said, it's also pretty rare that four beautiful women wind up on my doorstop."

"Thinking of having four beautiful women in a cuddle pile?" Nat asked.

"Don't give him ideas!" Red ordered, laughing.

Jon seemed to be considering the thought, though. "If I had a bigger bed..."

"Can't just conjure one up?"

"What happened to not giving him ideas?" Nat whined, sticking her tongue out at Red.

"I don't think that's one he can actually do," Red retorted, mirroring Nat's expression.

"She's right," Jon said. "I can't just make a bed appear."

Kaz chuckled. "Too bad. That'd be useful."

"Lots of things would be useful. Only some things can be done."

"Very Zen, Jon," Mac said, "but it still doesn't answer the basic question: what do we do tonight?"

Kaz stretched. "Don't want to take another swim."

"Nah, me neither," Red said. "What about stargazing? Normally there's too many bugs around, but..."

"But our host has taken care of that," Mac pointed out.

"So much that we can go out there naked," Nat added.

"You three head on out," Jon said. "I have something to discuss with Mac in private."

"Don't wait too long or the sun will come up!" Nat giggled, and she, Kaz, and Red went to get their shoes on.

"Something to discuss with me?" Mac asked as the door closed behind the others.

Jon stood. "What did you think?" he asked.

"What did... about?"

"Being enslaved. Being in control. The contrast. The power."

Mac took a long breath. She closed her eyes. "I... understand, I think. I understand what it could be. What you could be. What you're not. I felt... I felt the heartbeat, the pulse of the magic, whatever you want to call it, when I was holding Red's hand, and I knew what I could do with it, how I could change her, the power of my words. I could have made her like you'd made me. Broken down her mind, erased her history, her whole identity. I could see how to do it. I felt it. And... it's..." She swallowed.

"Seductive," Jon finished for her, taking her hand.

Mac shivered at the word, at the touch. "Yeah. That. How do you not be the monster?"

"Being the monster just isn't who I am, I suppose, and I don't think it's who you are either. Any more than being the slave is who you are."

She smiled wryly. "That was seductive too, for different reasons. But yes, that's not me at all. I don't think that's Nat or Kaz, either, as much as they both love what you do to them."

Jon nodded. "I've been doing this a long time, and that sort of total enslavement isn't for very many people at all. I've met a few who want that, and even for most of them it's a temporary fantasy, not a permanent way of life. Even Kaz wouldn't mind being a pet for a while, but probably wouldn't want it for more than a couple days. And for my part... Well, as much as I love sex, and having beautiful nude women around, I also love the infinite possibility of the human soul. I could have turned the four of you into my mindless slaves the minute you all arrived, but that would have been boring. I wouldn't have had the chance to make Kaz a pet, or a VR simulation for Red, or a whole fantasy epic with Nat."

"Or to help me escape."

"Exactly."

Mac got to her feet and kissed him, then. Slow, deep. Seductive. She gave him an arch look. "So, you're not the monster. I still think you're a monster. Just... the sort of monster I don't mind having around."

Jon kissed her back, just as deeply. The two of them stood there a moment.

"Shall we go look for shooting stars?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied.

Five people stood together, watching the sky, mostly quietly. Occasionally one or another would say something, and the others would laugh, or sigh, or nod agreement.

A soft breeze blew past them. None of them seemed to mind it, despite four of the figures being naked.

The world felt right.