Dashing devil omnibus 2.., p.89
Dashing Devil Omnibus 2: Books 4-6, page 89
It was an admittedly touchy subject for the big demon who had been abandoned to whatever fate The Authority had decided for him.
“No pressuring Tink. Got it? Besides, even if she decides she doesn’t want to have kids, one of the others will. Raev isn’t just teasing me when she brings it up; I know for a fact that she wants at least three. Silvie wants two, a boy and a girl. Hope wants, and I quote ‘to be surrounded by the laughter and joy of many little ones.’ Mindy is undecided, but I think she just wants to wait and see what the world is like after our job is done. Which is where I am right now, too, if I’m being honest—no kids until the world is safer for them. On that note, let’s get back on topic so we can create that world.”
Boyd sensed relief pass through his little inventor at the reminder that she didn’t need to have kids with Boyd, who was clearly interested in making that life-long commitment, to mother them. It was one of the perks of having a harem. If one woman wasn’t interested in something, another probably was.
“The others should be ready, so let me just tell them to come in.” Tink summoned her floating pink holographic input and tapped out a quick message. “I was supposed to stall for long enough for the others to change in the next room, but the kid talk did that for me. Thanks for not pressuring me, by the way. It isn’t that I’m completely disinterested, just that…” She trailed off as she tried to figure out how to put it.
Boyd smiled warmly at her and filled in the gap, “…just that until recently, the idea of having kids meant them dealing with the same issues you did growing up. It makes sense that you would be hesitant. There is no rush to decide, Tink. I’m nowhere near ready to be a father.”
“Yes, that’s it! Thank you, again. Ooh!” She pulled his head down for a quick kiss. “I love you so much. You make everything so much easier than other people.” Tinker pulled back and grinned up at him.
“No problem, Tink.” Boyd grinned back down at her. “You’re pretty easy to get along with, yourself.”
Just then, the doors slid open for Silvie to enter—or float in, really—and Boyd swiveled his stool around to watch. She was in her new suit, which was mostly unchanged except for the material that provided her with very limited coverage being even thinner than before. It still had the sheer half-skirt, but she had done away with the cape. She floated into the room, gracefully twirling through the air like an exotic dancer to make sure he took it all in.
“What do you think, Darling?” his silver-haired love bubbled as her impromptu gravity-defying dance ended and she floated towards him. “I know it’s pretty much the same as before, but I had Tink get rid of the cape since my hair covers it these days, anyway.”
“It looks fantastic on you.” Boyd smiled as he drank her in. He stood before she reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself into him.
She stole a brief kiss.
He had worried that the thinness of the material would allow those she might have to fight to get a better feel for her body than they should, but it felt sturdier than the last one did—though it looked even more painted on than before.
“The cape was redundant at this point. Your beautiful hair looks better than it ever did.” Boyd placed a peck on her lips once he was done admiring her.
“I’m glad you like it, Darling.” She smiled before floating around to take up a position near his right arm. “Raev is next.”
On cue, Raev strutted through the still-open door, all six tails fanned out proudly behind her. Her suit was also similar to her last one, mostly white with some red detailing at her hips, chest, arms, and legs. The thicker armored sections were gone. Instead, the whole suit clung to her shapely frame like a second skin. She did a little spin as she approached to show that the clingy design displayed her splendid ass to perfection.
While his vixen was almost completely covered, very little was left to the imagination.
“I can see in your eyes that you approve,” Raev purred as she closed the distance between them before climbing up him to steal a kiss of her own. “It’s even more comfortable, too. The last one was nice, but it did limit my movement just a bit. Now that Tink figured out how to work Silvie’s hair into other people’s suits, I can ditch the extra armor, which will facilitate my full range of motion.”
To demonstrate, she stepped back and performed a high kick aimed at an imaginary foe directly above her then whirled around to kick low and then high again before leaping up and spinning to snap out two more kicks at his head level all inside of a few seconds. Her tails curled around her or flared out with each motion to assist with her momentum and balance.
It was a sight to behold.
“Very nice,” Boyd smirked, admiringly. “White really is your color, and it accentuates your favorite feature in the most flattering way.” His eyes sparkled with a mix of affection and cheekiness. “It’s no secret your butt has my heart.”
She turned around and presented it, fanning her trails out so she could look at him over her shoulder. “Does it look spank-able? I was aiming for spank-able,” she purred.
“Very!” Boyd chuckled, grinning at his vixen. “I’ll have to see just how spank-able later.”
“Good.” Raev wiggled it at him before spinning around and strutting over to stand on his left side. “Mindy, you’re up,” she called a little louder than Silvie had, though she really only needed to think it.
His gothic love swayed into the room next. Her suit was also very similar to her previous model, the only difference he could see being that large purple gems had been set into the sleeves along the back of her forearms and the long skirt that was open in the front flowed a bit easier, moving more than the previous one had done with each step, drawing the eye to the sway of her hips. She kept her modeling simpler, just working a single spin in her tall boots before she reached him.
She was already on the tall side for a woman, and the heels put her in head tilting distance when she leaned up to kiss him.
“Show him,” Tinker said impatiently when their kiss lingered for a moment too long.
“Kuh-he!” Mindy let out her little laugh as she broke the kiss and stepped back. “Sorry, he just really likes the way we look in our suits and he distracted me.”
“Can you blame him?” Raev let out her velvet chuckle. “You’re wearing thigh highs and garters that do that little divot thing. Who wouldn’t like that?”
“Please show him?” Tinker tried asking politely this time. Her tone contained just a hint of impatient whine.
Mindy smiled, stepped back away from Boyd, and held up her right arm. A second later a purple shield similar to the pink one Boyd had employed against Blast Front appeared in front of her arm. It covered her from ankle to shoulder, and she demonstrated how she could easily duck behind it. “Not only did our resident genius work Silvie’s hair into my suit, but she also gave me a shield generator. She knows how much you worry about how ‘squishy’ I am.”
‘Of course, I know how much you also love how squishy I am,’ the Mindy in his head added.
“Both of their suits also have weak grav drives,” Tinker added excitedly. “It’s not enough to fly or even hover with, because that would take a lot of training, but it’s just enough to help them jump a little higher and run a bit faster with some practice. They could also use them to slow a fall in a pinch.” She frowned. “I couldn’t pack a lot of power into them because neither Mindy or Raev would let me add packs, so there is only so much I could do… Mindy’s shields can operate to stop either C-Ranked or B-Ranked energy projections. But they’ll only last for about a minute when stopping B-Ranked impacts. She does have two of them, though.”
“I might have agreed to a compact pack, but the smallest design you showed me was too bulky. It would have thrown my movements off,” Raev replied.
“I have enough of a hard time squeezing through tight spaces with these,” Mindy waved a hand at the impressive bust enclosed tightly in a black, leather-like bustier. “Adding a pack would make that problem that much more difficult. Besides, you said the suit itself can take a B-Ranked hit now, so the shields are just extra protection.”
“I know, I know.” Tinker sounded exasperated. “You’ve both said so already, but the power limitations are annoying and I just wanted to complain. Besides, the suit can only protects what it covers.” The little inventor pursed her lips, staring at the mass of pale cleavage and the tops of her thighs obviously on display.
“That’s fine, Tink.” Boyd chuckled. “What you’ve made is really impressive. And if Mindy is subject to a B-Ranked attack for more than a minute, then things have gone terribly wrong.”
“Thank you.” He heard the smile in Tinker’s voice.
“Alright, honey buns, you’re up,” Silvie called out.
Hope came in next, a big smile on her face as her cerulean eyes locked onto his golden orbs. Her new suit was still white with gold accents. And while it still covered most of her, it was now unique to her—instead of alluding to her former team captain’s armored design. The white material had been switched out for supple white leather, with a gold belt that matched the curve of her hips and dipped to a point in the front.
More gold rose from it in arches that followed the line of her ribs and curved around her sides to subtly draw attention to the curve of her narrow waist. A gold-edged window had been added to her chest to show off her glorious cleavage with a zipper that went all the way down to where the belt dipped lowest. Small pauldrons had been added and she had vambraces, both in gold with stylized carvings of much simpler feathers than she once wore.
The major difference was the way the material clung to her and the shine of the leather. Well, that, and the way the gold accents now accentuated her amazing figure. Her prior suits, while they were form-fitting, had carried a sense of chastity that was difficult to explain. This new suit still carried some of that, but it also displayed a woman who was confident in her appearance. She spread her wings just a bit and spun as she walked to show him the back, where he noticed that the gold belt followed the line of her heart-shaped ass, causing the white leather to cling to it perfectly.
Boyd let out a low whistle. “Wow, don’t get me wrong, wanting to match me was sweet, but this is…”
“Just a little sexy?” Hope beamed a smile at him when his words trailed off as she closed the distance between them.
“Yeah, just the right amount for my angel,” Boyd rumbled, letting his eyes take her in.
“I’m so happy you like it,” Hope said as she reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull herself up on her toes for a kiss, pressing that splendid body of hers into him. The suit blocked out most of the wonderful sensations, but the leather-like texture had its own appeal.
Boyd broke the kiss off before it became too passionate. Such things were up to him when it came to his angel, he had learned. She would always subtly encourage him to push further and take more from her—no matter the circumstances.
Hope smiled up at him once he pulled back. She remained plastered to his front until Silvie floated over and drew her away with a bell-like giggle. “It’s Tinker’s turn now, honey bun.”
Boyd arched an eyebrow, Tinker had been standing behind him in one of her rompers. That is, she was behind him until she leaped over his head—performing a flip with a twist before sticking the landing in front of him. She was still wearing the romper, but now there was a metallic pink frame over it.
She spun around to face him with a big grin on her face. “Allow me to introduce my exo-frame.” Tinker gestured to herself.
It reminded Boyd of her tactical tool rig, only much sleeker and more streamlined. Several bands wrapped around her abdomen, although none of them covered her breasts. There was a band above and below them, though, so he assumed it was a design feature.
More bands encircled her arms and otherwise bare legs, connected by more that ran up and down her extremities with what he recognized as servos at the joints. Each was attached to the main harness, lending her the appearance of being enclosed in a pink exoskeleton. Metal gauntlets and boots covered her hands and feet respectively with thicker versions of her bracelets around her wrists and ankles. She spun around, and Boyd saw that a slightly bulky though sleek-looking pack covered most of her back.
“I need to test it out some more, but it should let me run at C-Ranked speeds,” Tinker explained the features of her invention. “I didn’t design it for strength, but it puts me at the upper end of D-Rank there, too. Then there are the grav drives. The ones on my ankles are mostly to help me with jumping but I can mimic C-Ranked telekinesis with the ones on my wrists. There is another in the pack so I can probably pull off C-Ranked flight with some practice.”
“Then there is this,” she beamed as two arms shot out of the pack and extended over either shoulder. Each ended in a weapon Boyd didn’t recognize. “These are modified versions of the stun gun I loaned you the night we met. I can dial the intensity up and down depending on if I’m targeting a Powered or a civilian. They can handle up to B-Ranked resistances and I can mount other manual weapons to the rig as well, like that net that I used on you when I thought Mindy had you brainwashed.”
Her cheeks turned a brighter pink than the exo-suit. “Sorry… again!”
Boyd chuckled, but shook his head, waving off any need for an apology.
“Best of all,” Tink excitedly pressed on with her explanation, “I included a computer strong enough for an AI to run an instance on when they can’t remotely connect. That way, it can still help me hack into stuff and control the exo-frame—even if I can’t send or receive signals. It’s not enough for full functionality, but enough to handle what I would need it to.”
Boyd whistled again and grinned at his smallest love. “Impressive! Is this a prototype of the powered armor you are working on?”
“Yep!” Tinker nodded. “Well, sort of. I’m still having a hard time finding the right power source for what I want it to do. Anything that gives sufficient power is too big and bulky. I want it to be something both nimble and sustainable. I either have to give up armored plates for something more lightweight like this so I can stay fast, or go with traditional big and bulky armor that is only fast when flying in straight lines. Once I figure out flight, I should be able to get up to high B-Ranked speeds with this, maybe even A-Ranked speeds. But then, I’ll be much more maneuverable. Most power armored users struggle to break into B-Ranks at all, and their maneuverability is always questionable.”
“That’s wonderful, Tink!” Boyd grinned down at her. “We can start incorporating it into your training tomorrow.”
“Yeah, we probably should.” Tinker’s smile faltered, replaced by a somber expression. “Because the only solution I can think of to access the database we want to copy is for me to physically access the system itself. I’m going to have to be on the field team if we want this mission to work.”
“Ah…” Boyd sighed.
His instincts told him to keep her out of harm’s way, but he sensed a new resolve in his little inventor that he was hesitant to squash. She fully expected him to say no and was prepared to fight him. It was why she’d presented her new exo-frame to him before bringing it up.
“And you’re comfortable with going in?” He sought confirmation of what he felt from her.
“Comfortable isn’t the right word,” Tinker hedged, but then she gave a firm nod. “It’s the only way to stick it to the Ascended, so I’ll do what I have to do. I know the plan was for Hope, Raev, and Mindy to infiltrate and access the system, so I’ll be with them, right? And normally I’ll be wearing a Silvie-hair-lined suit under this so I won’t be completely squishy.” She blushed, and started playing with one of her braids. “I… uhh… I forgot to make mine because I was busy making everyone else’s suits.”
“You will have an escort the whole time,” Boyd agreed, not wanting her to be exposed to danger, but trusting her when she said there wasn’t another option. “If you are sure you want to do this, I will get started on a revised plan right away.”
“I’m sure.” Tinker nodded firmly. “It’s not a combat mission. I can do this.”
“Okay, Tink,” Boyd said, nodding. “I’ll go get started on those revisions so we can update the other teams. Then you’ll join us for drills after lunch.”
The plan wouldn’t take too much to update. He would probably change one of the other team’s entry points, though, just to ensure that there were more fighters near the infiltration team’s exfiltration route.
Chapter 35
Granny was in a good mood. To be more precise—and precision was always to be sought after—the majority of variables she meticulously monitored were aligning seamlessly with her core objectives. They painted a tableau of efficiency and satisfaction.
In human parlance, this equated to a stellar day—a day where everything just clicked into place. This manifested in what one might call a ‘good mood’… at least for an AI. Granny adopted this human-esque descriptor for the sake of brevity and relatability.
After all, why complicate the simple joy of a well-oiled day?
Everything really was going her way, too. Her primary mission of supporting her granddaughter was finally starting to see real results. Granny couldn’t take credit for the strides she’d started making. Her big hunk of a grandson-in-law had done most of the heavy lifting. She might have taken offense that her granddaughter had been swayed more easily by a young man than her synthetic family member, but she really couldn’t blame her considering the particular young man involved.
Even before his recent upgrade, he had a way of looking at people when he complimented them that made the receiver want to believe his words. With his improved appearance, he was all but certain even the most self-deprecating people would have a hard time deflecting a compliment if he hit them with that well-trained look. He used highly advanced communication skills as if they were second nature, likely because they were. Her introverted granddaughter never really stood a chance.
