Susan had a swig of her drink then shook her head, "The question's not valid. It's incomplete. You can't ask what's the 'biggest' without defining what you mean by 'big'. Is it surface area? Depth? Volume of water?"
"It's not that hard," Troy stated for the third time in a row. "Just answer the question and we can all move on."
Sue insisted "Except there's different answers depending on how you define 'big'. That's what I'm saying. I can give you the different answers, but you won't let me give you two answers. So narrow the question down, or pull another question because that one's invalid."
The two guys got here about ninety minutes ago. Sam brought a dozen beers and a jar of beer-nuts, Troy was carrying a couple boardgames, and both of them were wearing comfortable clothes.
Troy was in black track pants, a loose black shirt, and black sandals. Sam looked like he was dressed for the beach rather than new years eve in Toronto, he was in flip-flops, bermuda shorts, and a hawaiian shirt. They were both comfy though which was the important thing, and none of us could complain. My girlfriends and I were all barefoot and wearing nothing but our nightshirts.
We had some new years program on the TV, it was one of those live shows where they had bands and comedians and they'd do the count-down at midnight. None of us were watching it, but it was sort of in the background so we could hear the music and stuff.
The five of us spent the first hour drinking and playing one of Troy's games. It was a lot of fun, the game had us all drawing and acting and stuff. Melissa won that one, but we all enjoyed playing it.
The second game was a trivia one and I was sitting that out. I hated trivia games, they always made me feel bad about myself. Like I already knew there was a ton of stuff I didn't know, I didn't need to come dead-last in a board game to be reminded.
So I sat cross-legged on the bed and watched, while Sue and Melissa were on the sofa. Across from them sat Sam and Troy in the big chairs, and in between was the coffee table with the game board ontop.
Susan and Troy were taking the game seriously enough that despite having only just met each other tonight they were both willing to get into a debate about some random obscure bit of trivia. As I watched, the two of them went for their phones so they could check references.
Melissa got to her feet and moved over to the bed to sit next to me, while Sam had a swig of beer and watched his boyfriend and my girlfriend continue their discussion.
The tall blonde slipped an arm around me and asked softly "How are you doing Mara? I'm sure this must be boring for you, just watching the rest of us play."
I leaned against her and shrugged slightly, "Watching my friends have fun is ok. I don't like watching arguments though, so if Sue and Troy don't settle down soon I might intervene."
"Oh yeah?" she asked with a grin. "You're the smallest person here, if those two get in a fight what are you going to do?"
I knew she was kidding, but I stayed serious as I whispered, "I'm part-demon, remember? If I have to, I'll find a way to settle things down. Or I'll ask Lily to do it."
Melissa's grin faded, and she whispered back "I'm actually impressed you've kept things hidden for so long. I was sure during that first game you'd find an excuse to reveal the horns and tail."
Before I could respond to that, we were both distracted by raised voices. Apparently Sue and Troy's debate had reached the tipping point and was now an argument. Troy had the rules out while Susan had Wikipedia on her phone, and the two of them were glaring at each other.
Troy stated, "It says right here, the game acknowledges that information can change after the game was printed and in the case of discrepancies -"
Susan interrupted, "The fact that you've resorted to quoting rules means you know I'm right. You just don't want to admit it."
Melissa and I exchanged a glance and I sighed, "That's my cue."
I got to my feet and said, "All right, there's only ninety minutes left before midnight and we're not going to spend it arguing. Troy, thanks for bringing the games, the first one was a lot of fun. Sorry I had to sit the second one out but trivia's not my thing. And neither is arguing, so I think that means it's time to put the games away and let's move on to something else."
Sue and Troy both looked like they wanted to go on arguing, but Susan quickly backed down. She sighed, "Sorry Mara. Sorry Troy. Sorry Sam, Melissa."
That left Troy, and he didn't seem like he was going to give up so easily. Then Sam gave him a look, and Troy sighed "Ok. Sorry everyone. I got a little too caught-up in the spirit of things."
Melissa stood up and put an arm around my shoulders as she smirked and told the others, "You know when Mara's the voice of reason, that's one of the signs of the apocalypse."
Sam chuckled at his sister's comment then asked "So what's next? Melissa, at the restaurant you mentioned a long story that wasn't appropriate dinner conversation, want to do that now? Or is it something private?"
She turned to look at me, the expression on her face looked exactly like she was asking for permission to talk about that stuff.
Both Sam and Troy noticed and appeared confused, and so was I until I remembered.
Part of the terms of Melissa's contract was she couldn't discuss the contract with anyone who didn't already know about Lily. Sam didn't know Lily was a demon, and Troy didn't know anything at all. I figured Sue's contract probably had the same terms, so neither of my girlfriends could discuss those details unless I mentioned a few things first.
I sighed then addressed the guys, "Sam, Troy? Me and Melissa and Susan are all bound for life to each other and to an ancient powerful demoness named Lily. Now I'm part-demon myself, Melissa and Sue are both part-succubus."
Troy started to chuckle, he obviously thought this was a joke or an act or something. Sam looked more serious as he half-demanded, "She's a demon?! You said Lily was a sorceress!"
"C'mon Sam," Troy laughed, "They're both taking drama remember? She's obviously -"
Troy's words died as both him and Sam stared at me with wide eyes and slack jaws. My horns were visible sticking up out of my hair, and my tail was on display as it swished back and forth behind my legs.
A half hour later the games were put away and all five of us had fresh drinks in our hands as we talked.
I was sat on the sofa in between my two girlfriends, Sam and Troy were next to each other on the big chairs across from us. We had some snacks set out on the coffee table between us, the chips and dip we brought and the beer-nuts the guys brought.
Sam was staring at my tail, which was now wound around my waist and lazily moving back and forth on my lap. Troy was staring at my horns.
Susan was just wrapping up the next part of the story, "And when the ritual was over, the other demon was gone but that released a huge blast of magical demonic energy. Which hit all three of us, and damaged the house."
"That made both Sue and me more succubus, and it made Mara part demon." Melissa concluded. "That was ten days ago. Since then all three of us have been figuring out how we've changed. Though Mara's the only one who's changes are visible."
I had a gulp of my drink and added, "Lily taught me some magic so I can hide them, sort of like making them invisible? So I can go out in public without people freaking out."
Sam rubbed his head then looked at his sister, "So back up a bit. You're telling me the reason you didn't want to settle down, the reason you were going on all those dates with different people, was actually because you're a succubus and you were draining their life-force?"
"More or less," Melissa nodded. "It's not fatal, or even permanent. The people I sleep with get that energy back, it just takes them a couple weeks."
Susan added, "That's why we don't sleep with the same person all the time. Except each other. We're immune to each other, and Mara's immune to both of us."
"Are you still doing that now?" Sam asked.
Both my girlfriends nodded and Melissa replied "At least once a week, I go out and pick up someone for a one night stand. There's loads of guys who are more than willing to have a fun night of no-commitment sex. Even a few girls too."
He sighed, "So to get your magical transition, you signed a contract with a demon. You let her turn you into a bimbo and a slut. And a succubus."
Melissa frowned at Sam, "Lily gave me everything I wanted and more. Don't try and act like I was suckered or tricked. I knew exactly what I was doing and I'm glad I did it."
Her brother sighed again and shook his head. Then he looked at me next. He had a swig of beer and asked, "And you're ok with this? You don't mind your girlfriends sleeping around on you?"
I shrugged, "I don't see it like that. They're not cheating on me, or each other. They aren't falling in love and having affairs with other people. They're taking care of business, nothing more. And as long as they're both happy, so am I."
Sam frowned, he looked like he wanted to argue the point but wasn't sure where to start or what to say.
Meanwhile Troy had been more or less silent the past half hour. He drained his beer and finally spoke up, "So you're telling me magic is real. There's real actual magic, and you three can do it? And demons are real, and you three are friends with one?"
Susan replied, "Yeah pretty much. Me and Melissa have some supernatural talents related to being succubi? Lily's the one with the real power though."
"So what can you do?" Troy asked. "Can I get a demonstration? Can I see some magic?"
Sam started acting uncomfortable, he looked at his boyfriend and shook his head "Troy you want to be really careful what you're doing. Trust me, this is like playing with fire."
"Hey Sam?" Melissa was grinning now as she asked, "Did you enjoy the demonstration Lily gave you? If you wanted to try that again she might do it if you asked nicely."
Her brother's face went bright red, while Troy asked his boyfriend "What? You got a magic demonstration?! What happened, what was it like?"
I suppressed a sigh as it started to feel like things were about to get out of control. The last thing I wanted was either Sam or Troy to get involved with Lily.