Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

"I'm Jessica!" says the one on his left in the blue-and-white bikini. She's a redhead, her face and chest covered in freckles. Eyes the same brilliant blue as Barns'.

"I'm Jennifer!" says the other. She's much bigger in the chest area, and Barns can't help but look down at her massive breasts every few seconds. Her hair is jet-black, and despite her almost popping out of her skimpy pink top, she's quite skinny everywhere else.

Barns must have a thing for black-haired women.

Jessica bites her lip and quite obviously sizes Barns up, looking him over not two times but three before making eye contact with him and giggling.

"Jessica, Jennifer, and…your friend's name is Jordan?" he smiles. These are names he'll never remember - maybe he can get away with just calling them all 'J'.

"That's right!" Jennifer says, 'tee-heeing' to herself. She seems charmed by his muscles, too.

"Omigosh, do you mind if I, like…" Jessica blushes, "Touch your arm? Can you flex for me, Mr. Hero?"

'Oh yeah. This is what I've been waiting for.'

Even as he says it, there's a nagging voice in the back of his head that only has eyes for Haima. But Barns is hurting - maybe even a little heartbroken over how everything went down. So he decides to indulge a little more than he might have normally.

He stops crouching in the water, standing up straight. He's a full head taller than both girls. He flexes both of his arms, and Jessica gives one a squeeze.

"You can get a feel too," he smirks, looking at Jennifer and scanning over her with thirsty eyes. He's feeling a lot more drawn to her than Jessica. Her face turns redder than her friend's hair, moving closer in the water and feeling up his taut muscle.

"Mmm, I thought a legendary hero would be more rugged, but your body's like a statue. You could have been a movie actor!"

"Oh yeah? What kind of movie would you want to see me in?" Barns is starting to get a little worked up - maybe it's the heat from the hot-tub like ambiance provided by Clancy, or maybe it's just the feeling of two beautiful women oggling over him.

"I'd watch you in anything, Mr. Hero," Jessica giggles shyly.

The two girls take a break from feeling him up and both look up at him expectantly.

"So where are you both from?"

"You rescued me back with the other Artisans!" Jessica says, delighted. "I really wanted to say hi to you back then, but I was so nervous…"

"I'm with the group from the Pale Court," Jennifer says, a hint of restraint in her voice. "All of us who were taken by that vampire - we really look up to you, you know."

Barns nods. It makes sense she's from the Pale Court - she's skinny, as he noted earlier. Those humans weren't all necessarily emaciated, but all that walking gave them lean and lithe physiques.

"So, how'd you two meet?"

"Oh, SO glad you asked," Jessica grins. "The three of us all went to high school together! It's like…so cool that we were all able to find each other again. All thanks to you!"

"You're not still in high school, are you?" Barns raises an eyebrow.

"Ohhh, no! We're all twenty-one now! Well…sort of," she thinks. "I guess we were all dead or something, for the last eight years. But this is just how I looked the day I got turned into one of those freaky lizard-things!"

"A kobold," Barns says absentmindedly. Even moderately aroused, he doesn't have much appetite for stupid. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire

"Yeah, that!" Jessica giggles.

Barns glances over his shoulder at Clancy, who's just finishing up with his water-heating. The big crab clicks a few times and calls out to Barns.

"LINGERING. TIME TO FEAST. HAPPY TIME, BARNACLES."

On those words, Clancy scuttles off to get a meal, leaving Barns to it in the foamy bath with the two women.

Unironically, both girls do the crab claw salute, crossing their right arms over their barely-covered chests for the king. As he bumbles away, he salutes back at them.

"You do know that's not like a requirement, right?" Barns laughs nervously. The cult-vibe that his crab is garnering is starting to give him some small feeling of trepidation.

"Hm?"

"Oh, Mr. Hero, I still haven't gotten to tell you what I do!" Jennifer says, her wide doe-eyes sparkling, demanding attention. Barns shifts toward her, entranced by her plump, full lips. "I was an office manager before the apocalypse, but I don't know how to, y'know…leverage that. I'm really good, though! Holding meetings, keeping track of information, I thought I was going to get into politics, actually, up in the Capital. Ohh, I'm ranting, aren't I…"

"Politics, huh?" Barns ponders aloud, sinking deeper into the water to warm himself up - his exposed torso's getting a little chilly.

'She's sharp. Not just flirty, she's got some experience. Hell, why not see if she's serious?'

"Hey, maybe this is a long-shot, but I was looking for someone for a job." As he speaks, Jennifer locks in, her demeanor intensifying. She's genuinely interested - and a lot more mature compared to her bubbly friend.

"There's a city that we're working with, maybe you've heard through the grapevine - Lantafort."

She tilts her head - she'd not heard of it. "Well anyway," Barns continues, "I just formalized an alliance with them, if you can believe it…and we need an Ambassador to represent Dimartino. We'd have to talk specifics, of course - but does that seem like something that'd be interesting to you?"

"Interesting? More like a dream come true!" Jennifer says, ecstatic. She moves closer to him, her chest brushing up against Barns' arm as she grabs him affectionately. "You'd really give me an opportunity like that? I swear, I would give it my very best! The best Ambassador you've ever seen!"

Barns grins - not like he had any other choices lined up. Jennifer seems to be a perfect fit - and she's easy on the eyes, too.

"Let's get it set up, then," Barns smiles. "I'll get you a meeting with Maria, she'll get you everything you need."

He turns to Jessica - he didn't mean to ignore the other girl, but the conversation had taken a unique turn. She doesn't seem to mind.

"No fair," Jessica winks, sticking her tongue out. "Don't you have any opportunities for me?"

Barns gulps before suggesting something he never thought he would. His Charisma stat is a solid 18, and he's starting to feel like throwing in persuasion checks just for fun.

"I might have an opportunity for both of you… but let's just say it's not exactly work-related."

Their eager looks tell him this one's in the bag.