The other girls looked to her with dull expressions before Triska smiled smugly at her.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Triska taunted. Alyssa clutched her staff in her hands tightly with a quiet growl then looked down at the map, trying to get her mind off of being chosen to go last in the girls’ solution to their unresolved feelings for Daniel.

At the front of the caravan Daniel glanced back to seeing the girls sitting together, and thinking about what they had come up with to settle their fight over him peacefully. The proposed solution was fair, although a bit unconventional, and each girl agreed to it completely, with Daniel giving the final ok as he felt there really wasn’t any fighting it. Each night the girls would alternate with who could sleep with him. And by sleep with him, it wasn’t meant to involve intimacy if the boy didn’t want to do anything like that. Essentially each girl would be sleeping under the same blanket as him, right next to him; however they couldn’t go further than that unless Daniel made the first move. They could talk to Daniel, but they couldn’t touch or hold him unless he initiated the same gesture first. This would give Daniel quality time with each girl, letting him see how he felt being close to them one at a time, and allow him to gauge how strongly he felt for each one. During these nights the other girls could not intervene or disturb them, no matter what may transpire, so a blanket would be hung down like a curtain to separate Daniel and the girl of the night from the other three. That meant that if Daniel did indeed choose to go further with the girl he was with on that night, then the others would have to allow it since it was his choice.

Of course, there were some rules the girls had to follow for this truce. For one, they had to sleep in clothing, not be naked under the sheets with Daniel. Secondly, they had to respect his feelings and decisions, and if he didn’t feel like getting more intimate with the girl at the time then that was final. Third, Alyssa and Specca were forbidden from using their charming magic on him, for obvious reasons. Fourth, Squeak couldn’t use her saliva as a way of enticing Daniel. If he kissed her, fine, otherwise she couldn’t use it as a means of seducing him. And of course she couldn’t use her pheromones to sway Daniel’s mind about her either. Lastly, if any of the girls broke the rules, then they wouldn’t get another night with him like this again. This arrangement would continue until Daniel made his choice on who he really wanted to be with, with each girl hoping that he would pick them come their turn with him.

Daniel slowly glanced from one girl to the other, still not sure if he felt true love for any of them rather than just a friendship. They had all expressed that they loved him; however he wasn’t sure who to return such strong feelings for. That being the case he couldn’t really speak against such an arrangement since it would help him see how he felt for each girl. The contenders for his heart had played rock-paper-scissors to decide the lineup. Specca had won to go first, with Triska afterwards, then Squeak, and with Alyssa then going last.

‘Every night I’ll be sleeping close to one of them, it’s still so wild to think about. Oh man, how am I ever going to choose among them?’

He looked to Specca, the nixie brushing her hair gently behind her ear as she was writing on the map again with a new route for their travels. Her tail curled up slightly behind her while she laid on her legs, her petal skirt just barely covering her private area from view. After a moment she glanced to him, seeing the boy watching her, and then smiled a little as a faint blush formed on her cheeks. She looked back down to the map as she thought about the human she was in love with, and remembered her turn last night with him.

Inside the caravan the lantern hung up in the middle provided the only light, with the day having come to an end as the travelers had stopped for the night. Lucky was resting in a bed of tall grass that Alyssa had prepared for him, with Daniel gently brushing the horse and thanking him for working so hard for them. Inside the cabin the girls were busy preparing for the night, with Specca and Triska hanging up a thick black blanket to separate the back end of the cabin from the other girls. Alyssa was spreading out her sleeping blanket on the floor near the front while Squeak once again just curled up into a ball with her blanket pulled over her, the girl’s antennae sticking out from under it along with her abdomen as the ant girl got comfortable in her typical sleeping position.

“Alright, Specca, you ready for this?” Triska asked as they made sure the blanket was hung properly from a few hooks.

“Oh yes, I’ve been counting the seconds until tonight,” Specca squealed eagerly as she pulled the blanket aside and looked at where she would be sleeping that night with Daniel, the boy’s sleeping mat and pillow set already along with a second pillow for Specca.

“You do know he snores at night, right?” Triska reminded.

“Yes, Triska, we’re all well aware of that little quirk of his, however that won’t stop me from being near him,” Specca said proudly as she smiled confidently at the teen.

“Betchya she makes it five minutes then gives up,” Alyssa commented while fluffing her pillow.

“Hey! I wouldn’t give up Daniel for anything, not even a little snoring,” Specca shot back with discontent.

“A little? Oh, that’s cute,” Triska said with a laugh. Specca glanced to her with annoyance then looked to see the other girls watching her questionably, with Squeak peeking out from her ball.

“Say what you will, you will not scare me off from this in the least.