While Lucy discovered and acted on her own newfound love with Melody, Whitney, Grace, and Zoe were finishing up their dinner with Melody's father, and the Slug Person colony's leader, Simon. The conversation had been light and helpful, particularly regarding on how things might go for them once Edward Cupple was defeated. Though, for Whitney, that was something that could really only be hoped for. At the moment, the biggest mission the Chapman family had was defeating Cupple and being able to reclaim their home from Megan and Jenny, but their attempts to find help had been rather hit and miss, with only the conversation with Simon earlier getting some help that would be more immediate. Even the help that came from Simon carried with it the need to wait.
"Thank you for dinner... it was very kind of you to do all this," Grace spoke as she finished eating.
"It's no problem," Simon answered, "and given what you've said has happened to you... it's the least I can do. Our people's origins came with a lot of trouble and weaker or darker wizards never seemed to realize the problems that had been there in the past. Which as I said earlier today, is likely a big part of what Cupple is looking for. A way to use our people as slaves to either make him more powerful or empower a cabal of like-minded wizards... which won't be good for us or humanity."
"Yes, but we were outside your colony," Grace said weakly as she looked with one eye to her mother and older sister, "you had no expressed reason to help us. Particularly if Cupple wasn't able to influence members of the colony while you were all together."
"It may not have been an immediate danger... but the interactions with humans has never been easy, and the parts of our defensive magic can only go so far," Simon answered, "they may lower the feelings of personal hatred to prevent spontaneous acts of violence... but it won't stop anything that's cold and impersonal. Which is in part why I'm more than happy to provide what help I can and see what can be done about helping you get the help... or at least a plan on how to deal with couple before things get worse."
"And we thank you for that too," Whitney spoke up, "it'll be good to actually rest and not feel my mind overwhelmed by things I can't seem to control."
Simon nodded and rose up onto his tail. The dinner had been pleasant and from what he could see from the three Chapman females, they were doing well with all things that had happened to them. Forced transformations was something that Slug Person colonies never tolerated, often because of the complicated nature of Human/Slug Person interactions. From stories, it also created other problems for the transformed human, as they wouldn't be ready for the rush of sex related hormones that Slug People had. The fact that the Chapmans had been able to recover as much as they had was rather impressive, and those thoughts were at the front of his mind as he lead them back into the kitchen to place his dishes down.
"You can set your dishes down here by the sink," Simon offered, "I'll rise them... but for the moment, I would think it might be best to get you three up to a place where you can rest and sleep. "Walking" all over town can't be easy... particularly when much of it was also on an empty stomach."
Whitney went first with then Zoe and Grace then following as they placed their plates and glasses next to the sink. They then looked to Simon who waved to them to follow him, which they did.
"The colony has provided a fair amount of room and flexibility with the "mayor's mansion," and it can provide for plenty of rooms," Simon explained as they all slid out through the hallway and then into the living room, "I actually have enough rooms that you could each have a room to yourselves if that is what you want."
"Separate rooms?" Whitney asked.
"You are newly transformed Slug People, even if your transformation after your dinner yesterday was twenty four hours ago," Simon answered, "there are a lot of urges and elements of a Slug Person's instincts that would conflict with the mores you three were all raised on. Particularly in that you are all related to each other. When humans fall in love with Slug Women... or Slug Men, they often join on the pretext that the relationship remain one on one and that those in their line do NOT engage in sexual relations with blood family. And it is something we respect."
Whitney, Zoe, and Grace nodded with some acceptance of that principle. It also flashed some measure of guilt on Whitney's part at how she'd behaved when she first became a Slug Woman. Grace caught onto that and placed one hand on Whitney's back with the recognition that after freeing Whitney form Megan and Jenny's control, that Whitney was essentially who she was before they ran into Megan and Jenny... at least so far as Whitney's personality was concerned. Zoe, meanwhile, looked to Simon with a different question.
"What about Cupple?" Zoe asked, "would he not come here in the night?"
"He could," Simon answered, "but because there are so many Slug People in the colony, the range that our hive mind has, actually extends from house to house. He wouldn't be able to enslave you as he might have outside the colony if he'd managed to get to you one at a time."
"Yeah... but he did pull some stuff that physically hurt," Zoe spoke.
Simon nodded, but said nothing.
"I think that for the moment, we'd prefer to be together," Whitney spoke, feeling a bit of comfort from Grace's calm assurance to her and some of Zoe's nervousness over the threat Cupple posed. "I'm sure that we can avoid any sexual issues... but in some ways..."
"We'd feel safer together," Grace finished, sensing the weakness in her mother's voice at that moment.
Simon nodded, "very well then... that can work as well."
He then led them up the stairs and toward a hallway that led into a row of doors. He led them past the first door, which was open and showed a bathroom on the inside. The next door was closed, and Simon opened it to reveal a fairly simple bedroom with a large bed in it. It was larger than the bed in Whitney's room back at the Chapman house, though they also noted that the surface looked more like a surface that wasn't cloth. It looked like a soft plastic wrapped around foam, and as Zoe approached it and placed a hand down, that was what it felt like.
"Our slime would naturally eat through a lot of cloth mattresses," Simon spoke, noting some of the confusion, "though they can still be comfortable..."
"It'll be fine," Whitney said to him, "after everything... I could probably sleep on a wooden board."
"And this would have no splinters," Zoe joked to her mother while noting Simon moving out to head back downstairs.
Zoe was the first to climb up onto the bed while Whitney and Grace soon followed. Whitney ended up laying down on her belly and gave a heavy sigh, while feeling her breasts compress underneath her. She did feel tired, and that was enough not to mind the position for the moment, and something in the back of her mind felt comforted by Zoe and Grace being there. Though the last time anything like this had happened, it had been when the Chapman children were much younger and often came to their parents room after a nightmare or a thunderstorm. Now, in some ways, it partially felt to Whitney like Grace and Zoe were playing the role that she and her husband played in the past.
"It's been a trying day," Whitney said and managed a yawn.
"Yes," Grace agreed, "but we found help and have some hope for stopping Cupple. That's all we can hope for."
"Right," Zoe agreed, and lay down on her side so that she had her back to Whitney, but scooted and slid so that Whitney could then hug Zoe to her with one arm. Grace ended up subconsciously doing the same from the other side and it felt nice for the three Slug Women just to be close, and it wasn't long before the three of them drifted off to sleep.