Alice and the stranger walked out of the fields and towards the main farmhouse. Persistence had grown a lot over the nearly two years since the world had gone through its strange apocalypse period. What had originally begun as Alice's family farm had grown into first a three-person refuge, then dozens, and now almost a hundred people living and working together. About thirty actively participated in town defense, adventuring, and other military-oriented tasks while the rest occupied support roles. Many of these cooked, baked, crafted weapons, armor, furniture, built houses and furniture for the growing popution, etc.

  However, they all looked up to Alice as their leader. She was the one who had received the reward from Fi to allow her to create and manage the vilge through the system interface and she and her friends were the strongest warriors anyone had heard of. As a result, nobody even attempted to argue or question their right to rule - and they all knew exactly who the short, busty beauty was as she walked around, even in her casual attire.

  "Good afternoon, Alice," a worker called as he turned and pushed a wheelbarrow back out into the fields, full of fertilizer and tools. She waved at him and smiled as they walked past.

  "Hey Alice, thanks for the healing the other day. Jed is such an idiot, crushing his finger with the hammer, but you fixed him right up. We appreciate it!" Alice blushed and smiled, just nodding as the woodworker shouted his appreciation.

  "Alice! Great to see you! I'll have some sweet rolls ready before dinner if you want to swing by and pick some up," a baker said as she gnced out her window. Alice waved and thanked the woman, saying she would drop by ter.

  "These people all know you," the stranger muttered, sticking close to Alice. "Are you really so popur?"

  "I just do my best to be kind to them all, help them how I can," Alice replied. "Nothing special." The stranger frowned, clearly not believing her story. As the two approached the rge farmhouse, the stranger started gncing around nervously, gripping the wand and preparing for violence. "Seriously, please stop. You're freaking me out. There's no need for violence, but let's go inside and talk," Alice said, trying to calm the stranger.

  "Get me to the mayor, I'll get him to tell me where Victor is, and I'll be on my way. No need to worry that cute little head of yours any further. Just let me kill that fucker. Too many people around here, gotta keep eyes in all directions," the stranger mumbled, trying to crane her head and look everywhere at once as Alice walked up the steps to the farmhouse, opening the front door and stepping inside, gesturing for the stranger to follow her in. The stranger stepped through the door after Alice, immediately spinning around and throwing the bolt to lock the door, preventing anyone else from coming.

  "Alice, is that you?" Alice could hear Bridgette calling from upstairs. Alice gnced at the stranger and shrugged, curious what the stranger was going to say. The woman nodded her head at Alice, but then pointed at herself and shook her head in the negative, stepping to the side and out of immediate view.

  "Hey babe, I'm home," she called out. "Just me down here." There was a ctter of feet on the stairs as Bridgette dashed down into the foyer where Alice stood. Alice blinked in surprise as Bridgette rushed into view. Her girlfriend had been a star athlete before the world ended, not even a set of torpedo-style D-cups able to reduce her athletic prowess the way it might for a mere mortal. She was tall, gorgeous, and had flowing red hair she normally kept braided back when she went into battle, although it was loose today, trailing behind her. Whip-cord muscles wrapped around her frame as the Lusty Barbarian fought their enemies with a giant axe, normally dressed in some revealing battle attire like an old pulp novel's cover art. However, this time Alice's lover was stark naked as she entered the room.

  Bridgette dashed across the foyer, picking up Alice and shoving her against the door as she passionately kissed the shorter woman. Alice resisted for a second, completely at a loss for what to do with the potentially violent stranger witnessing all of this, but melted into Bridgette's kiss. She could feel Bridgette's hands groping her, pushing up her tank top and grabbing roughly at her breasts. Bridgette shifted, starting to kiss Alice's neck as the healer moaned in pleasure. Alice tried to raise her hands, batting away Bridgette's assault, but the barbarian ignored her, overpowering Alice and pinning her hands above her head.

  "Babe, no," Alice moaned, protesting. Bridgette ripped the tank top free, pushing the now-topless Alice against the door again and stuck a hand down Alice's gym shorts, questing for her slit. "Babe, no. No!" Alice pushed again, the lusty woman still not interested in Alice's refusal. Bridgette leaned down, sucking hard on one of Alice's exposed nipples. Alice broke a hand free and smacked Bridgette on the top of the head as hard as she could. "No!"

  Bridgette looked up, surprise and hurt on her face as she set Alice down. "What the fuck, A? Why did you hit me?"

  The stranger cleared her throat awkwardly as Bridgette's head snapped around. The woman's mouth hung open in shock as she took in the nude Bridgette and topless Alice, her wand crackling with energy and hanging loosely in her hand. She raised a hand to wave at the two women awkwardly.

  "Bridgette, I'd like you to meet the mysterious stranger who threatened to kill me if I couldn't tell her where Victor, whoever the fuck that is, was. Stranger, meet my girlfriend, Bridgette," Alice said crossly while she tried to pick up her tank top from the floor. "Normally she isn't nude and molesting me, but I guess it's just one of those days." Alice gnced at the ruined fabric, sighing and storing it away. She reached into her storage ring and pulled out some of her trusty Fi-provided emergency clothing, passing shorts and a t-shirt to Bridgette and grabbing a t-shirt for herself. Alice quickly donned the shirt, sighing as it shrunk to be a nearly skin-tight crop top that exposed a ton of underboob. Bridgette quickly threw her own clothes on, the shirt configuring itself in a simir way but at least ensuring she wasn't fully nude in front of the hostile stranger.

  Magical letters scrawled across the two shirts, Fi's magic asserting itself as it once again made funny logos on the clothing. Alice's shirt was a nearly transparent white with three intertwined pink hearts on it and a logo spelling out "A Memorable Meet Cute" in bck text. Bridgette's shirt was bck with pink lettering prociming her to be "Fi's Favorite Fuckbuddy" with pink tentacles wrapping around the text. The stranger gnced between the two women once more, reading their shirts, taking in the bright pink streak in Alice's hair, and gncing around once more.

  "I, ah, think there might have been a misunderstanding," the stranger began.

  "You've got about five seconds to unfuck yourself before I start ripping your guts out through your nose," Bridgette snapped, Alice's words finally sinking in as she pointed an angry knife-hand toward the pink-haired woman. "You said what to my girlfriend? Threats? Violence? You and what fucking army, you fucking midget? I will break off my axe inside your miserable little cunt and wave you around like a protest sign."

  "Bridgette, wait," Alice said, trying to calm the rapidly angering barbarian who was now seething and breathing heavily, her muscles starting to bulge and nearly ripping her shirt. "Fi told me to help her." The stranger's face snapped to Alice at the mention of Fi, recognition and confusion at the name. "You know Fi as well?," she asked.

  The stranger put her wand away awkwardly, raising her hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I think I've made a big mistake. Can we start over please? Without her killing me?," she said gesturing to Bridgette. "Can we just talk?"