Five months into training, the slime sisters had a problem.
They were in love.
All three of them. Hopelessly, desperately, confusingly in love with the pink-haired knight who had given them armor and weapons and the ability to fight back.
"We should tell him," Mimi whispered one night, when Pinky was on patrol.
"How?" Wixi asked. "He can't even understand half our gestures."
"We could show him," Lizy said slowly. "The way... the way adventurers showed us."
The other two stared at her.
"That's how humans express affection, isn't it?" Lizy continued. "Physical intimacy. That's what they always wanted from us. So it must be how they show love."
It was twisted logic. Broken logic. But they didn't know any better. The only physical contact they had experienced with other beings had been violence and violation. They had no frame of reference for healthy affection.
"Tonight," Wixi said. "When he sleeps."
Pinky woke up covered in slime.
It was everywhere. On his chest. His arms. His legs. Places that made his mind go blank with confusion and alarm.
The three sisters were draped over him, their forms partially merged with his body, expressions peaceful and content.
He had no idea what had happened. His memories of the night were fuzzy, disjointed. He had been asleep, then... sensations. Warmth. Pressure. Things he couldn't process.
He carefully extracted himself, trying not to wake them. They stirred, smiled, and snuggled deeper into his bedroll.
Pinky stood there.
What.
He decided not to think about it. He walked to the stream to wash off, pushing the entire incident into a mental box labeled "never examine."
He didn't see Lyriel.
She sat against a tree at the edge of camp. She hadn't slept. She had watched everything. Her eyes were hollow, her expression frozen in a rictus of disbelief.
"Husband," she whispered to no one. "My husband... they... he..."
She couldn't form the words. Couldn't process what she had witnessed. She had frozen, unable to intervene, unable to look away.
The slime sisters woke up laughing, playfully shoving each other, discussing the night like it was perfectly normal.
"Did you see his face when we—"
"He made such cute sounds—"
"We should do it again tonight—"
Lyriel said nothing. She just stared into space, something broken behind her eyes.