The Shamus Austin Mall-Net

By this point, it would be safe to assume that everyone, saving possibly one half of Hyde, simply wanted the interview to be over with; Curly was on edge, and only grew more so with seemingly off-handed comments, while Effy's soothing shoulder rub grew distracted and faltered as the bizarre situation progressed. Curlgurl herself tried to settle back against the counter alongside Effy, but the resulting shift meant that her protectively crossed arms had slipped down a touch to become a dissatisfied fold instead. Perhaps without realising the consequence, though, this actually ended up propping up her chest a bit more, and, if anything, drawing more attention tot he thinness of her top. Mostly she looked like she was getting close to chasing the pair out of her friend's shop completely.

Hyde's stepping away did let FleetFoot get back to the idea that they were actually here for a serious reason, and her willingness to not see the uncomfortable situation led her to focus entirely on Sleuth. It was perhaps less fortuitous that Sleuth herself ended up looking at her least professional, stumbling for a question once the attention was back on her completely. Effy was not impressed, and it seemed she was beginning to question the two 'detectives' as being what they claimed.

"I don't know them, no. From what I understand there's two cleaners, and they alternate days. I don't think they have an office or a break room that's separate from any of the other mall staffs, but I can't say I know for sure. If they've got navigators, they aren't affiliated with the mall net. They're just cleaners, nothing net based to worry about." Her blunt tone spelled out her impatience with the pair about as clearly as the rest of her body language.

"From what I know, they mostly keep to themselves and do their jobs. Janette or others who actually live on the same plane of existence as them might know more, but..." By this point it was getting too hard to ignore the way Hyde was undressing herself for spanking, and as much as this was clearly a step too far, FleetFoot was stuck in the disbelieving staring phase for at least a little while before she could respond.

Beside her, Curly blanched at the 'bad doggy' comment, no matter how incidentally off-handed it had been, and Effy looked down at her when she felt the flinch, though she apparently wrote it off as Curly's reaction to this newest perversion as a whole. When she looked up again, the respite was enough to spur the athletic navi into proper action. Proper, in this case being the taking of immediate action to get these deviants out of her shop:

"Enough! Just, enough! That's it, no more. Out, both of you, out now. This is totally inappropriate, and I don't care how official any of this is. Put that down... out, out!" When the enforced exodus began, Curly darted quickly out the entrance of the shop to wait, while Effy shooed and chivvied the other two from her shop. She listened to Sleuth's explanation with half an ear, but it didn't slow her determination to prevent her shop from becoming a bondage parlour. she didn't even really give Hyde much chance to right herself; the gagged navi would need either to pull her pants up sharply, kick them off, or else shuffle-hop her way out as she was shooed from the store.

Once everyone was outside, FleetFoot turned back and waved a hand over her shop-front, activating a static field that was clearly the store's lock-up, closing it against anyone going back inside. She leaned on it, folding her arms and frowned at everyone involved.

"Right. Why would you even bring someone that unwell into a serious work environment? Why would you indulge it like that? What makes you think any of this is ok in a public space? Lastly, would you just ask the rest of your questions and get out from under my feet as swiftly as you possibly can?" During this flat ultimatum, FleetFoot had, rather firmly, put a protective arm about Curly's shoulder again, hugging the girl closer to her almost as though she was afraid of the hair stylist being exposed to the pair any further. Curlgurl, for her own part, was mostly looking like she was trying not to panic - Sleuth's talk about Hyde being a compulsive liar had left her jumping directly to the conclusion of what the detective might be trying to cover for in advance, and the look in her eyes said she was close to freaking out about it.

Hyde continued to grin even as she was spun around and hastily covered, then even moreso as she was forced out of the shop without her pants. She'd left the shoe inside: evidently, that wasn't a part of her maddening schedule for the day.

As Effy pushed Hyde, which she allowed without protest, the Navi was quite clearly breaking up behind her gag. It continued until she was spilled out onto the floor outside the door, likely making an even bigger scene as she rolled around with her cloak open and no pants on. The Navi quickly whipped off her own gag and spat out Sleuth's glove, allowing her trollish laughter to spill forward unchecked. "Ahahahawhaw! So bloody good! I almost- I don't even- Aaaaah, I think I'm going to be wet...! Hey, Effy, am I going to get my hat back...?~"

The Navi eventually shambled to her feet, not even bothering to brush herself off. "Perfect, perfect! So why don't you ask some more of your ding-dong questions, friend? What a bloody great detective... you couldn't detect sarcasm! You couldn't detect smoke in a bloody burning building if you had two bloody double-A's shoved up your arse!" The Navi continued cradling herself in mirth, apparently having singled Sleuth out as a target of her jabbing. "Ohoh... I'd say we're just about done here... why don't you cart me on off to the next venue and we'll see what further trouble I can get into? Ah, but not before you pick up your glove and the loogie I hocked in it before I spat it up?" That was a lie, as she hadn't had the preparation or forethought, but she wished she had.

The Navi was grinning in an openly spiteful, obviously mad smile that had not yet appeared, her eyes opened in a way that seemed inhumanly wide due to how low-lidded they ordinarily were. "But maybe it was worth it? After all, you're so bloody close to solving the mystery of my condition! That's what detectives do, right? Keep guessing until they're either lucky, broke, or dead? I'll give you a freebie: you're right that you can change my disposition with that drink. So I'll let you choose! Would you rather try your luck with the one who knows everything and won't cooperate worth a damn, or the one who'd love to cooperate but can't remember bloody anything?" The Navi summoned her bottle and wagged it in front of Sleuth's face, clearly trying to goad a strike out of the Navi.

Assuming she wasn't engaged in a fight at this point, and neither her bottle had been stuffed down her throat or her hat on her head, Hyde suddenly stopped grinning, looking as though she'd remembered something. "Oh, but that's right! We can't leave without our dear tour guide, can we? But then, maybe she has something she wants to say to her dear friend before we head on our way?" She would raise her voice on the last words, making sure they carried.

To say that things weren't working out favorably for Sleuth was a massive understatement; it really said something when she was accomplishing a significantly less useful mission function than her operator was. "Well, as I said before, none of it is exactly 'official-!'" the detective attempted to clarify, as she was pushed out of the shop with surprising force by the much smaller girl, who was spurned on by a sense of purpose. "My good woman, if I didn't know better, I would think that you'd somehow gotten it into your head to refuse service to a mentally ill woman and her responsible caretaker!" Sleuth joked/argued, although the humor was probably lost on everyone, maybe even herself. It was hard to get a word in, because Effy had a fair bit of other criticism to levy against her. Sleuth cleared her throat and prepared to answer each of the questions:

"Because who are we to deny her the right to a shopping experience just because of her eccentricities? Because I hardly think the right way to handle her unique condition is to stifle her basic need for entertainment and wish fulfillment and I expect certain parties to be understanding of the fact that we are no longer in the 19th century and are adult enough to handle a bit of stimulation from a sexually active lesbian couple? Because, see previous answer? And lastly, that's quite fine, my dear lady, you've been a peach and a fine hostess! I have no further questions," Sleuth chuckled, being as annoying as anyone in her shoes ought to avoid being. "Just again, think of poor Curly here, who's been putting up with us doing this for the last hour or so! She's a keeper, that one. As a friend, I mean!" She was pretty happy with how close she'd seen the two get during their fear-induced support huddle. They were a good shove away from a threesome, and perhaps being divided against her would be the shove they needed, if Curly had any idea about how to seize upon it (assuming she even wanted to). Some things, then again, were too good to come true.

Sleuth had no time to rest; as it turned out, the evil side of Hyde had a lot to talk about herself, now that she'd gotten over her laughing fit and finished rolling around. "Well, I dare say I'm not doing any worse than you are as a doctor," she responded, rolling her eyes. In her line of work, especially being as prone to prodding others and being called out as a nuisance as she was, Sleuth had developed very thick skin, so there was little anyone could say that would genuinely offend her. On the other hand, she had to watch her own tongue (or should, anyways), for fear of upsetting others. "You couldn't cure a pork chop! But, ahem, on the note of curing things, you're right, I have made it a pet project of mine to get to the root of your madness, figure out the method behind it, all that rot. And you're also right that detective work is 90% guess work! Only, I prefer to call them inductions, rather than guesses," she nodded. "Unfortunately, to learn more about your condition, I've determined that you must remain mad. After all, I'm sure you've seen in the cop shows that having an incapacitated witness is no good; an irate one is still preferable to a sleeping or dead one." Having said that, she was pretty certain Hyde would give her the opposite of whichever she answered, even at the cost of being able to express her devilish side, and thus, Sleuth attempted to grab the bottle and place it inside her skinsuit's vest pocket for safe-keeping.

"Well, Curly, while I'd dearly love for you to continue to accompany us, I can understand if this has all become a bit too taxing for you. Or if you need to console your friend about her momentary thrust into the modern era, where women openly express their sexuality and sometimes show off their ankles!" Sleuth guffawed, vastly under-stating what she'd just been up to. "Ah, I'm only kidding. Only kidding! But I won't begrudge you at all if you want to stay here for a bit while we move our investigation elsewhere. Don't worry: I smell a big break coming in both my investigation, related to the Gloria Scott, and in the curious case of Hyde's split-personality condition! Any moment now, I'll discover the sort of revelation that really makes a memoir." Sleuth really hoped that Curly would decide to take a breather and rest up with Effy, because she was becoming worried that Curly was going to have a heart attack instead if she kept touring around with them any longer and that Hyde would see it happening and encourage it... or, for that matter, that she might. She wasn't very good at pulling her punches. "As for you," she murmured, grabbing Hyde's cloak again, "you're coming with me regardless."

The only question was where to check next. It sounded like the cleaning crew had no net component, which made sense, seeing as most net areas kept pretty clean themselves unless otherwise acted on. Navis didn't tend to create a lot of dirt; they rarely even shed skin cells unless programmed to do so, for some bizarre reason. On the other hand, they really didn't have a list of suspects; she hoped Jacky might, but she really didn't feel like the operator wanted to spare her the time of day at the moment. No one did! She couldn't exactly ask Effy and Curly for another lead right now, as she was pretty sure that they wouldn't want her terrorizing any of their friends or coworkers... Or, then again, there might still be one kind of lead she could get. "Well, with my friend and I being sexual deviants and all that rot, do you perhaps know any other like-minded individuals here in the mall, Effy? Or maybe someone else who would know? You know, so we can gallivant around, making trouble and comparing notes on being perverts, that sort of thing?"

Fortunately for all involved, FleetFoot's forceful ejection from her store ,while abrupt, had still included enough attention to detail to ensure that all of sleuth and Hyde's personal affects ended up on the outside of the barrier, and all products belonging to the store remained inside; Hyde's hat, pants, and anything else cast aside would be easy enough to locate once she finished rolling about in mirth.

The fact that the bound woman had been reduced to a fit of laughter and near incapacitating amusement over the situation did nothing to help the athlete's mood, but it also no longer seemed to surprise her. Her face quite clearly told the story that she was, simply put, done with this. Having heard that Hyde was the navigator equivalent of mentally ill, combined with her own frustration, was actually leading to the woman tuning her out more effectively than before; the sooner the pair were gone, the better.

CurlGurl stiffened at Hyde's last comment, but when her eyes darted towards Effy, she seemed to realise that her friend was beyond taking anything Hyde said seriously, and instead spared a moment to glare hard at the difficult woman.

She wasn't the only one glaring daggers at the moment, though Effy's were still directed at sleuth. One one hand, she felt the one claiming to be the more responsible of the pair was severely failing in her task of so-called responsibility, but on the other, and protracted argument over the matter was only going to extend the amount of time she had to be exposed to either of them. In the end she settled for an exasperated sigh and a final shooing gesture.

"Good! Begone with you, then, and when you get arrested for indecency maybe you'll both learn something!" She reached out to link one of her arms through Curly's as she spoke, however, pulling the shorter woman closer to her. "I'm pretty sure the two of you can make your own way without any more help. I'm pretty sure you've put Curly through more than enough already, so I think she and I are going to go and grab a hot chocolate, and you can both just handle yourselves however you please." The woman only continued to glare at her when Sleuth asked after directions towards other sexual deviants, and for a moment it looked as though she was probably going to get her wish for striking out on her own, albeit with Hyde still, but Curlgurl herself seemed to hesitate. she swayed back and forth, apparently severely tempted by the thought of a hot chocolate and a respite from the dreadful duo, but with a small groan and a shake of here head she looked up towards her friend apologetically.

"I did promise them, and you know I can't break promises..." The way she said the latter seemed to imply that it was some kind of literal imperative for the girl, and Effy frowned, shaking her head.
"Well that was a bit silly of you, dear." Then she brightened. "But she did just say you could go, so, even if you promised to show them around, that counts, doesn't it? They've already released you from that promise now... haven't they?" The last was delivered in a much sterner tone, and directed towards Sleuth with another unimpressed glare. For her part, Curly seemed torn, though possibly not for the reasons FleetFoot might suspect. More likely, the issue weighing on the scales against her strong desire to be done with the matter and just have a drink with her friend, was her continued worry for the sensitivity of the case, and her lack of trust concerning the two 'detectives'.

As long as Sleuth didn't change her mind and ask her to come along, however, it seemed like the arguments thus far were going to keep her on the peace, quiet and hot chocolate side of the decision. She did glance down at her feet once, then up again to offer a short answer to the question, just by way of parting.

"There is, um, a novelty shop, just before the electronics and games section of the complex. They've got a lot of that type of stuff, but, uh, I don't really think..." She trailed off, then looked up to Effy with a helpless shrug. It was possible that she had meant to deny there would be any point checking it out, for their investigation, but wasn't prepare to tie herself to the case any more than she had to while Effy was around. the other possibility might have been that she was simply playing into the role of not really knowing much about that kind of thing, for the sake of her friend. Either way, she wasn't saying any more.

If the result of all of this did indeed leave Sleuth and Hyde on their own again, the question before them became on of where, exactly, should they head? The option of looking for the novelty shop was there, of course, though it did carry with it the question of what there was to gain from it. Beside that, they could check in on their respective operators for leads. The only other option besides those that readily presented itself, however, was to see if the only other suspect Damson had mentioned to them all had a navi they could question; even though Sleuth had crossed Casey off the list as likely innocent earlier in the morning, she was the only person of possible interest remaining that the navis might have access to learning about now, without any further updates from their operators.

"Oh, please," Hyde responded, giving Sleuth a wave of the hand. "The only curing I'm trying to do for anyone is to pull the bloody stick out of the collective bum of this boring place. Aren't you paid as a detective, though? A bird in each hand, and I'd say you're busy with the bush!" The Navi got out what would probably be the only tittering at her crude joke. "Anyway, you'd rather the jar full of pickles that can't be opened than the empty one with no lid? As much as I'd love to give you my pickle, Sleuth," Hyde said, putting a finger to her lower lip, sucking on it briefly, then wiping it on her cape again, "I'm not sure you have the right tools to the top off."

She surrendered her bottle without protest, then headed over to where her clothes had ended up. To everyone's annoyance, she hoped, Hyde picked up her hat alone. She dusted it off, but didn't actually return it to her head. Then again, it might not matter too much to Sleuth if she did or didn't take her shorts. After all, her undersuit was somewhat scandalous, but it really wasn't anything more than a skimpy outfit that many Navis might parade around in as a matter of course. Only the knowledge of the way it was supposed to be covered (and the way the owner flaunted it) made it especially inappropriate.

"Sleuth," she said, grinning widely and looking back as her cape was grabbed. "I'm happy to leave these two where they are. After all, I'm sure they have a lot to talk about! Curly might want to catch Effy up on today's events, or even some of the past. What I want to know is this... Why are you simply assuming I'm going to go where you tell me to? Why would you assume I'll comply with anything you ask? Wherever you take me, I am driven to try and royally screw up the whole bloody business."

The Navi turned around now, allowing her cape to twist around in Sleuth's grasp as she walked in intimately close. "The only thing I'm interested in more than screwing up everyone's business is messing with anybody who thing's they've got me figured out, and especially, with anybody who's trying to figure me out. That always turns me on." The Navi gave a low chuckle, then leaned in even a little bit closer. She probably looked a bit like a lover going for a smooch, and more than a bit like a vampire going for a bite. "Right now, I think the best way to screw with you is to just flat-out refuse to do anything you ask. Maybe I'll just stay here and shake my tail at Effy's customers until some security removes me. Maybe I'll just jack out. Why don't you give me a reason to work with you? Do you even know what I want...?"

Truth be told, that was all a lie. The one thing this Hyde hated more than anything was boredom, and she had no guarantee Jacky was doing anything interesting at the particular moment, or would do anything interesting if this mission broke up. If she was dragged along with Sleuth, she'd probably just let herself be dragged. She couldn't resist the chance to make this even more interesting for herself, though, and to get on Sleuth's nerves in the process.

"It's a bit hard to get to the birds when the bush is as prickly as you are, Miss Hyde," Sleuth laughed, secretly appreciating the sentiment that she'd like to see everyone loosen up a bit. "It will be hard for me to get to the birds within the bush until I trim back the secretive veil of leaves. Which is not to say I need you with any less 'foliage', so don't take it that way. Anyways, yes, I will not neglect the pickle just because I wish to capture the birds," she finished, nodding at her joke as though it had been sage wisdom.

Sleuth ended up with her attention momentarily divided with her operator (who was about 90% naked) and then Effy, who was clearly eager to be rid of them. She thought to herself that, having now gotten a taste of the inclinations of the security residing in the Shamus Austin shopping center, she doubted there would be any arrest for public indecency unless it was a highly hypocritical one. "No, no, Effy is quite right. You've been a darling to the both of us and you deserve a comforting rest with your compatriot here, complete with hot chocolate and sitting together on the sofa, catching up on the day's events like the fond friends that you are..." she sighed deeply for a moment, thinking she wanted to see that cute image herself, in person.

She didn't give a damn about Hyde's pants, and thus did not think to retrieve them. "Good. Then let's leave them," Sleuth began, but Hyde, of course, wasn't willing to just wordlessly follow her and be a good girl. "I know good and will that you wish only the worst. That's the nature of this side of the split personality; I won't call it an illness, because it is more likely deliberate. That said, I'll never understand its nature and get to the bottom of it if I don't expose myself to more of it. The mystery... the one relating to the Gloria Scott," she added in, in case Effy was still listening, for the sake of Damson's privacy, "is important, but I hold your condition as equally important. And I'm quite competent enough to solve both in one go! If I don't have confidence in my professional capabilities, than what do I have, after all? Besides my wit, personality, charm, fashion sense, and fascinating bust-waist-hip ratio, that is," she joked. "You should know that nothing turns me on quite like a challenging mystery, my friend! Hm hm hm... heehehehe!" Now the two of them really were starting to sound like a couple.

Hyde kept moving closer, though, to the point that she had to lean back a bit to keep their breasts from squishing on top of one another, both being rather sizable (although Sleuth's being higher up due to her tallness). She continued to smile challengingly, grabbing her partner's chin with one gloved hand and keeping their eyes focused together in a way that now looked like she wanted a smooch herself. "Now that I think about it, we're two tea-biscuits in a wrapper, dear girl. We both want to be entertained above all else. What sort of entertainment would you find in Jacky's PET compared to what we might find adventuring together? I don't believe that you're willing to give that up just to piss in my tea. You'll be like the ignorant sibling child, who spurns her sister over some petty squabble only to realize, in time-out, that the two of them would have been much happier playing together," she offered. Posing a logical observation always made her feel warm and fuzzy inside; she doubted Hyde would feel the cockles of her heart warmed in quite the same way, but she had no doubt the trouble-maker would be forced to agree.

"Ta-ta, girls! Miss Hyde and I are off to investigate elsewhere," she finished. "Thank you for your help, Damson. Thank you for your patience, Effy. And thank you both for being so lovely!" Having said her peace, Sleuth grabbed Hyde's cloak and would, indeed, drag her if she had to, to their next location...

... Only, where was their next location? If they went to the 'hobby shop' together, they might be able to get a lead on who was the kind of pervert or lout that would steal a vibrator around here, but then again, it was just as likely they'd come up empty handed. She needed to go over the list of actual suspects again... There was still one, now that she thought about it. In fact, with all of the evidence so far, it seemed like quite a good lead... Apparently, the value of the massage assistant as a liquid asset was rather low, because it hadn't gone straight to the pawn shop. Furthermore, such things, whether seemingly opened or not, carried a certain stigma of being "used" and wouldn't have much resell value regardless. She'd dismissed Casey as unlikely earlier, because she'd figured that someone so enamored with another girl wouldn't want to ruin her relationship with that girl by stealing a valuable, personal item from her... but, then again, she didn't have enough details to dismiss the possibility. It was the only real lead she had left that had not been investigated. "We must head to Greener Gardens!" she told her ally, as soon as she judged they were out of earshot from the other girls.

"... And by that, I mean to a mall directory, so that we can learn of the location of Greener Gardens!" she elaborated, looking for such a thing while keeping hold of her ally's cape. She now wished that she'd found some discreet way to ask that before she'd left the other two girls. She'd keep looking until a mall directory or map revealed itself, or Hyde pulled off the rest of her clothes to get them arrested for indecency, or she was justly fired by her employer, or Jocelyn revealed that she'd just gotten into an unmarked car with three large men, or any number of other unfortunate, entirely likely possibilities that could derail her investigation.

Still holding onto CurlGurl protectively, Effy bit back any further remarks she may have had for their pair while they... uh... Canoodled with one another? It was an activity that would be hard for your average person to identify on a good day, and between their intimate affections and multi-layered entendre, it was a question that the athletic navi plainly just wanted no part of, so long as it meant they were leaving soon. Curly seemed less relieved to be watching the eventual back of the duo, her worries about their conduct and ability to keep secrets strong, but in the end she let them go, resigning herself to a far more relaxing trip to the food court for drinks. Hopefully the question of what she had in the velvet bag, and why she would have such a thing on her person in public, was one she'd be able to avoid.

Back on track, Sleuth and Hyde made their way to one of the directory boards dotted about the main areas of the mall, and found their way from there, to the eastern wing of the complex, on the ground floor, where most of the garden and greenlife stores were located. In the real world, the complex, as with other,s developed a notably more lush atmosphere in this wing; increased humidity from the plants, and the natural change of atmosphere that being surrounded by living things usually brought... however, the effect was far less pronounced on the net side of things. Like many of the other places they'd visited so far, several of the stores in the section served very simple existences, as net-connections for their real-world counterparts, without much cause for the traditional style of visitation or shopping. There were a few though, that were more interesting, and Greener Gardens, when they found it, was one such.

The store-front itself was comprised of a wooden facade done up to look a bit like picket fencing, and was overhung by several large leafy plants on each side. The interior would have been spacious, if it wasn't also quite crowded; like many other stores there was a section set aside for electronic records and purchases of physical world items, but beyond that, there was still a surprising amount of space taken up by shelves and displays for gardening tools, accessories, and plants, clearly designed for use by navigators. Many of the plants available for sale listed information about whether tending them was optional or necessary, and just how much attention they needed, what sorts of growth cycles they went through, if any, and other features you might expect to see on virtual plants rather than physical ones.

Plants aside, the same sorts of statistics were carried by the different brands of topsoil and fertilisers that filled the store. Conversely, most of the gardening tools carried warnings that they were not, in fact, coded to be functional as weapons, and could not be relied upon for serious self defence. The shelving was set up in such a way that the natural path curved around to the right and terminated in the shop counter, in the back right corner of the store. The counter itself looked like it had been the site of some kind of accidental mass growth experiment, with rivulets of soft grass and fuzzy green mosses running from it to the ground in all directions, with large amounts of very eager-looking saplings and shoots springing upwards from most surface points, sparing only a small space in the centre of the desk.

Behind this defence of foliage, someone stirred and glanced towards the two women that entered, followed by a soft sound of feminine humming. Whoever the store keeper was, though, she didn't call out to them or greet them yet, and it would be difficult to make out any of her features properly without drawing closer. She did seem content to watch, though, and let the potential customers look about rather than jump right in on them.

"Well, by all means then, my good woman! Expose yourself to me," Hyde said with a deep giggle. She made a playful swipe for the other Navi's clasp, seeing if she could whip the cape off of her. If she could get it in one try she would sling it carelessly to the side: if she couldn't, she wouldn't try too hard. She didn't expect to get much of a rise from it out of Sleuth itself, so it wasn't worth a lot of effort, but she couldn't lose a chance to make their audience uncomfortable.

She kept up her giggling, although with a bit more menace, even as Sleuth goaded her and played with her. "P*ss in your tea, dear? Now, now, don't go giving me any ideas you'll regret! Won't you feel a wreck if we come across someone with a spot of it and you can't take any for fear of what I might do?"

Of course, the truth was that Hyde wanted Sleuth afraid of what she might do in any given situation, not just drinking tea. That lent itself to a problem she hadn't anticipated yet in Navi-to-Navi interactions, however: she liked being looked upon with fear of the unknown, or disgust at the unthinkable, but not necessarily with the half-hearted "hush now" of a parent talking to an unruly child. She didn't really mind it if she thought she'd gotten under the skin of the other, and they were giving that response because they didn't know what else to do... but getting that response because the other person had more important things to do and simply wasn't worried about her wasn't something she was fond of.

"All right, all right. I'll come along, Sleuth. Just know that you'll live to regret this decision, and I can assure you, you'll be a dusty old relic before you get to the bottom of anything about me!"

Hyde waved her fingers at CurlGurl in a "ta-ta" gesture as she was carted off. After dragging her feet, kicking over any chair in leg's reach as she went, and just generally cursing and complaining, Hyde found they'd arrived at their destination before she'd had much of a chance to think about a good long-term goal to approach. As she was pondering what mischief she could get up to in the plant store ("Surely they have some naughty varieties about?"), a ready opportunity presented itself in the form of a message Jacky was trying to send through her:

Quote (To Sleuth)

help
hiding in desk in room w joc and security head Rude
make joc get rude out of room and keep out
mission in danger

Hyde definitely wanted to screw up the message and hand it over. She had no idea what was going on, but she felt certain Jacky's message was in earnest. Swapping it to say "keep rude in the room" would be an easy trick, but she didn't have any guarantee that Jacky wasn't in a position to just change it back. There was no way she could get the message to Sleuth without her Navi's help, though, and Sleuth genuinely seemed to care about the mission. That was probably the ticket.

In lieu of introducing herself to the shop owner, Hyde drew conspiratorially (or romantically?) close to Sleuth and whispered in her ear. "I just got a message from Jacky. It sounds like she's in a lot of trouble... something that would even endanger the mission, apparently! She needs Jocelyn to do something specific... How about we strike a little deal? Do something to make me laugh, and I'll pass it along to you! Don't think you can wait me out on this one, either. It sounds as though poor Jacky's in such a pickle that time is of the essence, and I'd be perfectly happy to laugh at her incoming misfortune in lieu of continuing our romp!"

Of course, there was a strong possibility that Sleuth would think she was simply lying, and wouldn't give her any satisfaction. If that was the case, though, she would be able to rub the other Navi's nose in it later. "Probably. Assuming poor Jacky doesn't get locked up somewhere. Willing to risk it."

"So, what's it going to be?" By this point, Hyde had wrapped her arm around Sleuth and leaned her head on her shoulder, so another consequence was that Hyde wasn't giving Sleuth much choice but to either play the lesbian romantic or the confused bystander in this encounter (assuming, of course, Sleuth wasn't just going to go with the straight truth). "Sit on a cactus? Ask the shopkeep for a cucumber to stick up your bum? Good, old-fashioned tickle war?" The Navi grinned her wide, deformed smile, the orange glinting in her eyes as she spoke. "Surprise me!"

Sleuth wasn't quite fast enough to stop the clasp for coming off her cape, but she simply smiled, caught it in the air, whirled it around herself and back over her shoulders, then re-connected it. "I'm not shy, but I'm also not an untidy dresser in front of important company! Let's try to make a good impression for our new acquaintance, shall we? And don't even think of pissing in my tea, 'dear!' Public decency is one thing but defiling tea time is another entirely. Pissing in another person's tea is just the height of villainy," Sleuth responded, although it wasn't clear whether she was joking at this point or not. "And 'a dusty old relic'? Come come, Miss Hyde! I plan to maintain my youth and beauty forever, or otherwise be represented by a well-maintained, pristine headstone with the passage of time, but never shall I be 'dusty.'"

After a brief travel alongside Hyde that proved to be annoying despite its shortness, Sleuth arrived at the next venue, an attractive shopping area resplendent in all types of plants and foliage. "Not a bad change of scenery, wouldn't you say?" Sleuth asked Hyde with a big smile. Truth be told, however, she wasn't exactly the type for flowers nor the outdoors in general, although she maintained a fairly extensive knowledge of botany regardless. She acknowledged that just because plants didn't entertain her like people did, that didn't mean she ought to neglect studying them. At any rate, there were much more problems to be concerned with than her lack of interest in flowers at the moment, because it turned out that Hyde was keeping important mission information from her. Sleuth had no idea whether Hyde was telling the truth or not, but she couldn't exactly throw Jacky's hypothetical problems under the bus for the sake of ignoring Hyde. "Bugger! You're an insufferable bugger, is what you are, Miss Hyde. But certainly, allow me to show you the quick wit that makes me such a riot at parties," she agreed, crossing both arms behind her back and proceeding into the shop in a stoic fashion.

Once she'd strolled in far enough that she thought she could get the shopkeeper's attention, she raised one hand from behind her back and coughed into it dramatically. "Ahem! Miss shop keeper? I was wondering, perhaps if you could come to the aid of my friend and I? You see, we are looking for particular varieties of plants, something with a powerful hallucinogenic effect, for use in our own recreation. Not necessarily to burn, you understand, even something that could be sniffed or eaten. Do you have anything of that type?" she asked, loudly. After all, they'd had the brief threat of sex and the brief threat of violence already in this mission, the one thing they needed to complete the set was drugs. "I use them very, very often, so don't worry about cautioning me as a first time user. And if you'll step to the front, I had a few other questions, as well!"

The sensation of being watched as the two conspired coyly with one another just inside the store entrance didn't abate, but the navi behind the counter made no moves to respond to either of them until Sleuth stepped forward to initiate contact. The soft humming stopped, and the navi stood, though the foliage around her desk still obscured most of her features.

"Hmmm... you realise we're a gardening store, dear, don't you?" The voice was, for want of a better descriptor, sultry. It practically dripped sex to an almost ludicrous extent, in a way that made everything she said sound like it was carrying some naughtier meaning, even when it wasn't. If not or the rest of their morning so far, it might eve have been laughable.

"You don't... sound like regular users, you know... Mmm... you sound more like... someone who's been given a password and is trying to play it cool... Let me have a look at you both, hmmm?" The woman came out from around her desk and Sleuth and Hyde got their first proper look at her. The first thing to note was that she was on the tall side; in human terms she would likely have been a little over six foot, with a curvaceous build that swayed with each motion. She was dressed in a distinctly sheer green gown that clung to her body and emphasised her various assets, from broad hips and grabbable behind, to her toned waist and an exceptionally bountiful chest that heaved enticingly with each step or long drawn breath. Despite the transparency of her dress, nothing was actually on display, per se; though her breasts were large and prominent, neither Sleuth nor Hyde would be able to see nipples where they might expect to, through the sheer gauze, and similarly, though a neatly defined triangle of dark green hair pointed downwards at her groin, it didn't actually look to be pointing at anything in particular, save smooth skin.

Her skin itself was a not exactly tan; rather, it would be better to describe it as a vaguely woody tone, not quite what you'd call brown, but getting close to it. The hair on her head was a similar green to the other examples on her person, if a touch lighter by contrast, and it flowed down her back long and straight, as far as her hips, swaying free as she walked towards them. Deep brown eyes flicked between the two women, first then continued to rake up and down each of their forms, drinking in details while she smiled and licked lips that were full, naturally a little puckered, and glossed over in a softer brown that complimented her eyes.

While she unashamedly checked both women out, however, it would be hard not to notice some of her fare more salient features, unless either woman was more utterly captivated by her curves than was proper. The lesser of her two oddities was that the grass and other plants near her perked up, sprouted, or even just plain sprung up from the ground where her bare feet walked, and when she stood still the aura of life and growth seemed to slowly spread out from her; that explained the state of her desk, at least. The other feature that marked the woman out was the array of non-standard extensions that split off from her body in numerous places; vine growths trailed down her back from the tops of her shoulders almost like a cloak, with each tendril being anywhere from a finger width to a couple of inches thick, and extending almost to the ground. Several more fell from her wrists in a similar fashion, and while they hung limp created an effect somewhat like a billowing sleeve. finally, a number of them circled around her hips in a belt-like ring that mad a half-skirt while they hung to the ground, save for the fact that the 'belt' stopped at each hip bone and left her front exposed.

If they had simply stayed still or swayed with her movement,s like good plant vines should, that would have been fine, and perhaps unremarkable. As it was though, the individual tendrils twitched and played, reaching up or outward occasionally, and generally displaying signs of life. this went one step further when the woman hummed softly to herself, her inspection complete, and reached out one hand towards them. The vine tendrils on that hand rose up along with her arm, and one from each side of her wrist reached out all the way to brush softly against each of Hyde and Sleuth's cheeks, even though the woman herself was several feet away. The vines felt silky smooth, for the brief moment that they were in contact, but left the skin where they had touched feeling strangely warm, and with a very faint tingle.

"So... you've heard about some of what I have to offer, off the books then, and thought you'd come try it out, hmm, ladies....?" She took another swaying step towards them. "You do look delectable, and so charmingly cute together, mmmm... I might just take you up on that request. Ah, but who told you, dear ones, hmmm? I don't mind, but it's polite to warn a lady before sending her new faces..." She had stepped in close enough to be, well, intimidatingly close now, and the vines under her dress swished and flicked, while the ones from her shoulders curled up around both women, forming something of a green halo about the trio. He lifted a hand, though this time it was just her hand, to run a finger against Sleuth's other cheek, focusing attention on her first. "Was it Curlz, sweety? She does have such trouble keeping her mouth shut, sometimes..." The lady gave a deep, indulgent laugh that made her domineering bust heave dramatically. Still smiling, she turned her attention to Hyde, stroking her other cheek, as she had with Sleuth. "Oh but she does make such beautiful sounds... and such energy, in such a small package, too... Still if she told you about our little game without telling me first, I may have to scold her anyway..." Her full lips pouted for a moment, then returned to their more normal sultry grin, and she drew back a few steps, letting her various plant vines drop away.

"No matter... As I'm sure you both know, I am LushLady, and if you're both here for... the special... then I'm going to need to close shop first." She turned from them, apparently decided, and took a step towards the back of her shop again, but then paused to look over her shoulder. "We can talk first if you want, sweeties... it sounds like you only vaguely know what you're in for... But if you're getting cold feet, now is the time to say." In contrast to her words, several of her back tendril lifted up and flicked at them both, while others made small beckoning motions. It had to be bad, or perhaps good luck, but apparently coming into this navi's gardening shop and asking after hallucinogenic plants was code for something more.

Hyde was giggling for a couple of reasons: first, "insufferable bugger" was a term that pretty well described the vibe the Navi strived to achieve on a day-to-day basis, and second, she was genuinely amused by the approach Sleuth had taken to solving her problem. Hyde had to admit she was impressed by how straight-faced Sleuth was capable of playing it. "All right, you win! I'll give you this," she told her partner, surrendering the message as a data packet for Sleuth to read. "Honestly, I think the moment where Jacky was counting on it may have passed by now, anyway. Just know that I'm taking that 'hallucinatory drugs' idea..." she began, making a pantomime of snapping something out of the air and depositing it into her hat, "And stowing it away for when we find ourselves bored some other time. Okay?"

Hyde found herself wondering in what type of store walking through the door and loudly proclaiming you wanted to purchase hallucinatory drugs was "playing it cool," but she thought she might be starting to have some ideas when she laid eyes on the shopkeeper. "Ooh... a lot of flora and a wee bit of freak-a here, hmm?" she whispered low to her partner, probably in the last bit of private conversation they'd have before their new acquaintance moved too close in proximity for the two of them to remain unheard even in whispers. The Navi continued biting her lower lip in an anticipatory grin as the shopkeeper made her way closer.

Hyde remained quiet for a bit, thinking Sleuth might want some time to do her investigatory thingy here and not having a clear way to ruin anything in a funny way at the current juncture. Besides, she couldn't help but admit that she, herself, was very interested to find out what the viney vixen was peddling. She occasionally cast her eyes over to Sleuth, curious to see how she was reacting to the teasing tendrils of the other woman.

"Hyde, charmed," she introduced herself, extending a hand held overly-daintily for the comic contrast with her expression. "Yes, our mutual friend Curlz let this slip with a frankly scandalous additional smattering of details on her personal life. She's quite a free one, she is! Barely contained," she added, moving from her toes to the balls of her feet a couple of times and gesturing with her free hand at her chest to make her point more obvious.

"Anyway, needless to say, we're both quite interested. Quite?" she followed, facing Sleuth and raising her eyebrows. "Yes, quite," she concluded without pausing for an answer, turning back to LushLady with a wide smile that was truly wild.

Sleuth immediately transferred the message she'd been given to Jocelyn; she had no idea whether it would help or not at this point, but she had to admit, she felt a bit guilty, since Jacky may just be the only one of them actually working at this point. It was becoming increasingly likely that Sleuth was about to end up delving back into the world of play rather than work, herself. "Yes, well, we may be getting higher than the Creamland Castle flag in mere moments, my dear Miss Hyde. Who can say? We're not the only odd ducks on the net." This seemed especially likely now that the shop owner had engaged them in conversation, rather than laughing off the request as the joke it was meant to be.

On the other hand, LushLady didn't sound like her interest was in selling them drugs. Rather, she had something even more bizarre in mind, something even less suitable for strangers to be doing at the mall during working hours. Hyde's comment was distasteful, but if Sleuth wasn't so sure her partner was going to comment on the oddness of the store's proprietor, she'd probably have whispered something herself. Another part of her was occupied with another thought: How the blue blazes were Hyde and I in danger of being arrested for public indecency when this woman tends her shop dressed this way?" she thought to herself. Sleuth had a bad habit of becoming not-safe-for-work during her investigations but at least she didn't saunter around bottomless on a regular basis.

Still, all of this was rather exciting; one couldn't say the situation was boring, that was for sure. Sleuth was always eager to try new things, and this would be new for sure. On the other hand, it was almost entirely unrelated to their mission and would probably be a bit messy once it was all said and done as well. There might be some loss of self-respect by the end of it too, but then, Sleuth's standards of self-respect had a tendency to bend as she wanted them to. "A password? That's an odd notion! Aren't I naughty enough, wandering in here and requesting hallucogenic herbs? Do I have to want a smattering of erotic play-time on top of that?" she questioned laughingly, but the answer to that was, apparently, "yes." "Well, not that I'm opposed."

She would rather Hyde not have mentioned CurlGurl at all, but that was perhaps a foregone conclusion, based on LushLady's words. It was rather interesting for Sleuth to note that CurlGurl, apparently, had taken part in this sort of activity several times before. That actually strengthened her vision of the possibility of Curly and Effy being a potential item, if only there was some willingness on Effy's part, seeing as Curly apparently had such experience with women already. "A chat sounds lovely. I do actually have a few questions that relate to a crime investigation at my operator's place of work, the Gloria Scott Mall, not too far from here. I'm a bit dry, you see... On leads, I mean," she clarified. "So anything you tell me... or do... might jump-start the old clicker and help me come to a new theory."

Passing the point of no return into the back area, Sleuth followed Hyde and LushLady. "Sorry to make you close up shop, dear. I'd imagine it must be troublesome to have to do that every time someone wants 'the special," she chuckled, making airquotes with her fingers. "For that matter, about how many people tend to enjoy your 'special?' Is it something like... I don't know, several, on a daily basis? Or is it more spread out?" she inquired, seemingly for no reason in particular. "I know there might be some client privilege involved, but since, well, you did mention Curly... Is there anyone else who normally stops in for this service?" She crossed her fingers behind her back. "Please say Effy please say Effy please say Effy..."

Once that question was answered or at least cleared out of the air, Sleuth crossed her hands and continued. "So, between us girls, and both being friends of Curly... well, I know her operator isn't exactly a free-spirited girl in the same way that Curly is. Not quite so open. That said, does your operator tend to hang around Curly's a lot? Rather, could you describe your operator to me? I'm just curious, seeing as she has such a fascinating navi to look after and all. She must be quite a person," Sleuth laughed, wondering just what type of person allowed their navi to tend a shop with their pubic hair showing.

With the investigation under way, Sleuth spared some thought towards what else was about to happen: clearly, the tentacles brushing her, seemingly sprouting out of nowhere, were going to come into play. If she'd just heard about "the special" in passing, she might assume it was some kind of massage, but being here and in this atmosphere, she would be rather surprised if insertion wasn't involved somehow. "Well, I've never done tentacle play before, even during that one mission where I seduced a squid navi. Who would have thought that a navi with tentacles like that wouldn't be into it? So this is still something to cross off the bucket-list," she thought to herself. She felt the same kind of anticipation as a passenger on a roller-coaster, approaching the crest of a hill. Not exactly aroused and not exactly thrilled, but rather, a vague sense of stomach discomfort, not knowing what to expect once the fall began. Maybe she'd feel a bit better once the special began. Once they were settled and LushLady had answered her other questions, she'd ask another, while keeping a jokingly serious face: "So, tell me all of the details about this special. Should I drop my pants?" she asked. "Because, I should mention, I tend not to like to ruin my outerwear, if I can help it."

She'd offered a take back, but the two intrepid mystery solvers weren't backing out, and LushLady set about closing her shop. Various tendrils either from her waist or her shoulders reached out to tap on a couple of different consoles behind her desk. The lights dimmed and took on a warm hue, with a delicate mix of deep greens and reds making up most of the light sources, while the displays of various gardening products collapsed down or were simply blinked away, replaced with a variety of artistically modern furniture comprised of fluid shapes that curved or bulged. It was the sort of furniture where one might be forgiven for not knowing immediately how one was intended to sit on it... or even if they were supposed to at all, but LushLady herself showed the lead by adopting a distinctly free-form approach to the seating arrangements, perching herself on the raised curve of one piece that might just have easily been intended as the arm of a couch... maybe. It didn't appear to matter, in the end, so long as the user was comfortable. The main front of the shop had closed down and the windows had been opaqued by the stylised grass images growing up all the way to the top. From the outside, a sign advised that the owner would be 'back later'.

LushLady crossed one leg over the other and laced her fingers together over her knee as she looked at the other two. It was easy to miss, but if either had been watching her closely, they might have seen the odd plant woman lick her lips. Soft music had started to play in the background. It was a series of long, relaxing tones that was soothing, yet unobtrusive, and settled into the back of one's awareness comfortably. Before she said anything to them directly, however, the woman glanced aside and lowered her eyes.

"Casey dear, I have some new clients, and I've closed up for a while... I haven't asked them yet, one moment.... Ladies?" this last was more directed to Sleuth and Hyde, as she raised her eyes. "Nothing done or said in this space goes beyond it, but my operator dearly loves to watch me work... If you would rather she did not, let me know now. You can say no; this is a safe environment." Her voice was still sultry and sounded like it was laden with arousal, but at the same time it was clearly intended to be soothing and calm as well. Regardless of whatever the girls decided upon, to allow Casey an operator's eye or not, LushLady would simply nod and relay the choice to her operator, before she stood up again and stretched, curves swaying. As she extended her limbs, most of her tendrils flexed and stretched as well, though this lifted the flimsy fabric of her dress up above her waist for a few scant moments. If they were watching, Sleuth and Hyde might notice in that window that, though the gauzy fabric was sheer and transparent, and showed that LushLady was smooth around the bend, when it was lifted out of the way the apparently missing details were actually very much present and accounted for. When the fabric dropped, she looked smooth again, looking through it. The dress likely had some sort of modesty or censoring filter built in.

"Now ladies... I can tell you're not as certain as you pretend. It's alright, there's no need for fake bravery here. I'll take good care of you both, I promise." While Hyde had admitted freely to being given the low-down by Curly, Sleuth was opting more towards the pretence that all she actually wanted was mushrooms, but LushLady was still smiling and seemed to be taking the disparities in their answers as nerves.

"Let us chat first then. It's your first time, after all... there's no need to rush things." She wandered around the variously shaped furniture for a few more moment,s then sighed softly to herself and reached back to unclasp something at the neck of her dress. The garment slipped off completely and one of her waist tendrils picked it up and set it down over the back of... a chair? Maybe? There really wasn't a lot of difference between the woman wearing her dress, and the woman without it; the garment had been her only clothing, and it had been transparent. The only real difference was that without the insubstantial dress, her more adult features were no longer smoothed over. She cast an eye towards each of them as she wandered about the room, gauging their reactions so far. She seemed to have identified Sleuth as the more nervous of the two, though, since she paused to lay gentle hands on the other woman's shoulders as she passed, massaging slowly while the tendrils around her wrists played delicate strokes along the length of Sleuth's arms.

"You can dress or undress, dears, whatever you are comfortable with... though if you disrobe completely, I can't promise I won't be tempted to get a little bit playful early. For now, we can talk about whatever you like, if it helps you relax. We can cover the details of what you can expect in a little bit, though I hope you understand that I do try not to kiss and tell... too much." Given the detective's innuendo, and her attire, it was quite possible that one might assume she was hoping to get herself 'warmed up' by talking about crime and mystery; it wouldn't be implausible, and LushLady seemed to want to be accommodating. As the stream of questions began, the plant woman listened, then laughed a low, amused laugh, smiling broadly. She swayed her hips, making her tendrils weave and writhe with them, and put her hands to her sizable chest, covering herself but also squeezing up at the same time. The tentacles around her wrists curled up and around her torso as she did, making a show of playing and exploring, and LushLady let out a long sigh.

"If you can look at me, my dear, that might tell you a little something about Casey... she is the one who commissioned me as I am, after all." She released herself with another amused chuckle. They already had it on authority from Damson herself that Casey was very determined about being into her, despite the hair-dresser's protestations of heterosexuality and pre-existing marriage vows, and LushLady's own appearance seemed to confirm, at the very least, that the woman was not at all secretive about her preferences.

"It's no secret that Casey has desires on Damson, of course... and it's equally no secret that Damson isn't buying what Casey wants to offer... but she is nothing if not determined, and she's quite confident that one day she'll get her to change her mind. It really is something of a long-term fixation for her, now; other partners come and go, but Damson has become something of an unconquered bastion in her mind... It's almost an obsession, I fear. A little while ago, when she noticed Damson buying herself a new hairbrush, she managed to get her hands on the old one before she could throw it away, and kept it like a treasure because it smells like her hair." She laughed again as she wandered about the mood-lit space, letting her shoulder tendrils trail casually over the furniture behind her as she walked, as well as over Sleuth or Hyde's arms and shoulders whenever she passed them.

"They're marvellous friends, of course. Damson might seem innocent, but she's not silly, and they still get along just fine, even with that tension between them. Casey often likes to bring her morning tea as an excuse to visit in the mornings you know..." The woman's voice trailed into a low hum for a few moments. In the quiet, the more perceptive of detectives might notice that as well as the lighting and mood-music change, the atmosphere itself was feeling a bit warmer, the air a little thicker, in a way that made it almost unconscious to breath more deeply, for navis detailed enough to warrant such sensitivity. There was a scent too, very very faint, but just a little bit sweet. LushLady continued after a few more moments.

"Now you know I can't tell you about anyone else who comes to see me like this, unless you already know. I know you know Curly already... I can almost taste her on you both, and she's the only one who might have told you about what I do here, in private... but it would be very poor sport of me to name names that you don't already know, my dears... Why don't you tell me some more about this little crime of yours instead, hmm? And then, when you feel ready, we can go over all the important things you need to know before you take the plunge." The words still flowed like so much honey, and LushLady's movements were also growing gradually more languid as time passed as well. she delivered her last lines after pausing to rest her hands on a raised bulb of one piece of furniture, bending over suggestively for a few moments, before letting her hands slide forward over the curve and causing her whole body to follow, flowing neatly down the inner curve and curling up in the alcove that was likely intended to be the piece's main seat. After a moment she uncurled again, stretching, and sat upright with one leg crossed over the other and her tendrils more or less covering her modesty. She tilted her head to look first at Sleuth, then at Hyde, waiting to see how they reacted.

Hyde continued grinning and took in the sights as the room changed around them. Seeing that the furniture was evidently meant for them, Hyde chose the closest one that looked the most like an abstract penis. Of course, that was probably just in her own dirty mind, but it still amused her. She against what was, in her mind, the "shaft," and kicked her feet up on another piece of furniture close enough to be used as a footstool. "By all means, if your operator wants to watch, she should indulge! Sleuth and I don't deal in secrets, and frankly, I prefer to have some eyes on me. Are you there, Operator? Hi~!" she shouted, waving at LushLady without really having a clear idea of whether the operator was watching or not. "If your operator likes to get off on watching digital girls enjoy each others' company, then that's A-OK," she added to LushLady, giving a smile and, as usual, not bothering to withhold or sugarcoat any statements that might offend.

Her already frightening grin only widened as she saw LushLady's dress come up and off. Her eyes widened as she considered the applications of clothing that could disguise one's body features with nothing else beneath. "Ahah! That's a neat trick," she commented bawdily, clapping in response. "Now I'm dying to see what else you have up those sleeves..."

She continued to listen patiently until she realized she was, apparently, being given a free pass to get naked. "And one instigated by Sleuth, no less! How exciting." Without waiting for any further permission, the Navi pulled a knee up to her chest and began undoing her boots. "I find I can't truly get comfortable unless I'm completely buck naked! Unless, of course, you... or... your Operator... have a problem with that?" Hyde tried on a more promiscuous smile now as she slid her boots off, then began pulling off her socks to reveal her pale legs.

Hyde wasn't sure if Sleuth was going to let her get away with it, but presuming she did, the Navi would then quickly unclasp her own cape, then let it drape over the back of the "chair" she was sitting on. She reached up and undid the button of her jacket and slid that off as well, being now clad in her undersuit alone.

She reached for her zipper and began slowly undoing it. She'd gotten the zipper all the way down before she suddenly stopped, pulling it back up to just below her collarbones and looking at LushLady with her eyebrows raised. "You know... I think that's enough for now. But let's see how we're feeling later, hmm?" Hyde had a couple of reasons for this. First off, regardless of what reaction she was getting, it was never a good idea to use up all of your ammo in one go. Second, personally, she was enjoying imagining either LushLady or her operator enjoying the show, only to suddenly have the carpet pulled out from under them.

Hyde took another look over her own body. Her sizable chest was more clearly on display now, having been freed from the overly tight jacket she normally kept it bound with. She ran one of her hands down one smooth leg and giggled a bit at herself. "Yes, I think I could understand one getting a bit hot-and-bothered over this, if one was the type..." Truth be told, she felt like something of a guest in this body. That gave her the dual advantage of being constantly surprised at what it had to offer, and being totally uninhibited about what happened to it.

Really, "what was going to happen to it" was a good question. Sleuth seemed to have some idea, but Hyde figured it was something else. "I'll be very surprised if this is anything more than a particularly vigorous and sensual massage. Not that that doesn't sound fun... but I wonder if there's a way to make it more interesting? Ah well, I'll figure it out as I go."

Hyde had only been half listening to the line of exploration Sleuth had pursued, but she'd cherry-picked her favorite part to respond to. "Sleuth, why don't you tell our dear hostess about more of the particulars of the investigation? I don't think she'll be able to help much without knowing exactly what we're looking for. And Lush," she said, shifting her attention, holding her hat just above her head, and winking mischievously, "Do you like the hat? Would you prefer me with it on, or off?"

Finding a 'seat' that looked more comfortable and less like a penis than Hyde's own, Sleuth took up a spot nearby the others. "Oh, by all means! Let Miss Casey play the voyeur. After all, Miss Hyde and I were just having a riveting chat about exhibitionism on the way over here, and will all of my pomp and cockiness, I can hardly back out of that now," she chuckled, looking amused. Really, she was more than amused; she was pleased. Even if Casey wasn't going to communicate with them, knowing that she was watching gave her a way to communicate one way and put the squeeze on the operator, to see if she knew anything. Speaking of operators, Sleuth had to speak to hers for a moment. "I won't be but a second, girls! I want to put up an 'out of office,' much as you have, Miss LushLady. Hm hm."

She spoke to Jocelyn quickly, being careful not to spill the beans on the real purpose of her meeting with LushLady, then gave her operator a message to hopefully be delivered to Jacky (how that would happen, she didn't know), before returning her attention to the others. LushLady's comment made the corners of Sleuth's mouth first lift into a smirk, then a laugh. "Ha ha ha! Me, afraid? No, no, I'm merely anticipating what is to come, and if anything, my overactive imagination is to blame for any signs of discomfort you might perceive," she chortled. Things continued to get saucier as LushLady set aside her outfit in its entirety, revealing a very filled out figure that was more detailed than it had originally appeared. "Well, since everyone else is in the spirit, by all means, I shall proceed! I wouldn't want to be the odd one out."

Doing as she said, Sleuth set aside her cap, then began undressing as she spoke, moving more quickly than the other since her outfit was significantly more complicated. "No kiss and tell, hm? I have a problem with that sort of thing, myself! I love writing memoirs and it's oh so difficult to give the situation the proper weight if I don't include a name. Still, those must often be omitted, for obvious reasons," she agreed. As she spoke, Sleuth unclasped the riding cape with which she was perpetually equipped, then began freeing her arms from the sleeves of her heavy coat. "It was a bit humid in here for this anyways!" she joked. She had to agree about LushLady's comments on her own operator; one didn't carry a navi like that without some interest in the fairer sex.

LushLady had a lot of other interesting details on the relationship between Casey and Damson to unveil, as Sleuth set aside the heaviest of her garments, leaving her with her vest-printed skinsuit, gloves, boots, and a pocket-watch, which she quickly set aside. These were just the sorts of details she'd been hoping to hear; her eyes began to sparkle with delight. This would also allow her a great opportunity to apply pressure to Casey. "Indeed, great friends, from the sound of it! You know, when you mention the hairbrush and all, and Casey's eternal quest for acceptance by Damson... Well, perhaps it isn't my place to say. But! If Casey is indeed so devoted, then I imagine Damson never learned about the hairbrush? It's important to keep up appearances with those you care for, to stay in their good graces, after all. I'm a detective, you see, and I've seen friend pitted against friend so many times, relationships ruined over the most trivial things! So, I suppose what I mean to say is that if Casey is taking Damson's things, well... if she really values her relationship with Miss Damson, then it is for the best that she returns them. Perhaps even admits she took them! Otherwise, the air of suspicion will hang between them, even subconsciously... guilt and other twisted feelings, just lingering. And it does feel so good to confide in a good friend," she sighed. "Ah, but listen to me, getting off track!"

Unlike Hyde, Sleuth hadn't been planning to slow down at the undersuit; that part would be the next to come off, as the wearer reached into the separating point of the "vest" and drew the piece open to free her arms. Doing so would reveal a pair of breasts that looked over-sized even on her tall frame, clad in a massively over-taxed bra with precariously thin shoulder straps. It was clearly brown in color, with faint, white polka dots. "I have an important rule, you know! I love brown, but not for the skivvies. As such, I've decided to go with this lovely burnt orange set today," she revealed, referring to her obviously brown underwear. As she did so, she removed her boots with practiced quickness, then continued pulling the undersuit down her shapely legs. This revealed a matching pair of panties with straps a bit low and thin, such that they also looked a bit stressed with the burden of her wide hips.

"There we are. Now, sorry, I believe you two made other statements while I was distracted," she coughed, crossing her legs and apparently ending her strip show there. This left her with only the bikini-style underwear and short gloves, which looked somewhat odd together. Speaking of distracting things, Sleuth was beginning to feel like she was slipping from bi-curious to bi-interested as she watched LushLady work her chair like she was deliberately trying to arouse the two of them. This took her mind momentarily again off of the topic at hand, before she shook her short, matted brown hair and looked between the two of them. Unfortunately, Hyde and LushLady both wanted to know more about Sleuth's imaginary case, so the detective was going to need to put her lying skills to work. "My case? Oh, I don't know what you've heard about the detective life, but it's not always so entertaining as you might imagine. The Gloria Scott is having some problems with shoplifters, and as these things go, the security force cannot seem to locate them. We therefore believe that certain shopkeepers are conspiring with other shopkeepers to get their hands on what does not belong to them. Their motivations are unclear, but before I dig any deeper into investigating them, I'm searching surrounding business... you know, making sure everything appears on the up and up. I'd feel terrible raking all of those folks over the coals while the criminal counts his cash elsewhere. That said, I'm not particularly expecting you to come up with anything that would help me. I'm simply asking questions, hoping it will jog some part of my memory or give me an idea of who I ought to investigate next."

Having said her peace on her investigation and caring to say no more, Sleuth turned her eyes momentarily to Hyde, surprised to find her partner not yet buck naked. She again reflected that Hyde could be quite a catch for somebody, if she'd invest in some decent dental work (or GMO) and possibly ditch her randy alternate personality somehow. "So, that's enough about work, isn't it? Let's talk about fun. Please, tell me all of the particulars I need to know," Sleuth finished, crossing her arms and smiling confidently. Whether this was going to be fun or not remained to be seen, but she had to admit, she was feeling pretty darn horny now, and whether it was work-related or not, she'd be happy to just take a detour and get her jollies... if jollies could be had with Hyde around. She suddenly found herself imagining being surrounded in exploring tentacles, enjoying the ecstasy of their touch, and so forth, and just at the best part, being poked in both eyes by the fingers of her investigation companion.

True to her word of well-meaning warning, LushLady very clearly enjoyed watching her two new friends begin disrobing of their own accord. She didn't actively seek to encourage either of them further, nor hold them back, but instead just watched, raking each curve and hollow with her eyes as her own luxuriant, lazy movements led to longer, deeper breaths and small humming sighs. There was a small swaying, flowing movement in her body even when sitting still and even though it was slow, the action was amplified by her various tendrils and was clearly intended to be sultry and enticing. If either woman was looking closely, they might catch the hint of faint glistening near the tips of some of the woman's flowing vines, though none of the ones she actively touched either woman with shared this property yet.

Hyde's mostly inconsequential question on whether LushLady, or Casey, would mind her getting naked passed by with only a single arched eyebrow and an amused smile. While the two women chatted and undressed, though, it seemed that the other part of their host's warning - that she might not be able to resist getting a little frisky, was true enough as well. She shifted again, sliding off her seat and flowing back to her feet, all curves and sway, then reached out as she wandered about them again.

This pass, the tendrils falling from her wrists 'helped' in the removal of whatever clothes each lady took off, and though she held the slightly shiny ones back from both of them, the the one that were still dry stole extra minor caresses, rubs or squeezes as they assisted, and in some places the ring around her waist and her shoulder vines joined in as well; two finger-thin feelers trailing down Hyde's back as she removed her cape, a whisper light curl tracing around one of Sleuth's ears as she removed her hat, which was replaced by a second vine tracing its tip down around her collar bone and the soft of her neck while the first took the hat from her and set it down neatly. She answered right along with her guest's first comments, though the delicate touches and teasing caresses continued for as long as each woman continued to shed garments.

"Well, you both do seem eager, I'll say that much..." If anything, her voice was creeping from thick honey to something of a more eager purr now, and she was unashamed in eyeing up the candy as she chatted. "What indeed, though, my girls... I'm sure you'll both be in for a treat, but I begin to think that even if it doesn't work, we'll all have a good time anyway..." A pair of thicker tentacles from her shoulders played over the top of Hyde's jacked as she undid it, then slipped inside to help lift if from her, rubbing down the length of her spine while two more, thinner vines peeked up from each of her wrists to stroke teasingly at the undersides of her breasts through the undersuit. Another pair, these from the ring about her waist touched first on the medical navi's hips, then crept upwards softly when she began to undo her undersuit too, but then politely withdrew when Hyde decided not to go that far yet. LushLady hummed to herself, content.

As one might expect of a navi who was part woman and part many-vined plant creature, LushLady proved predictably adept at multi-tasking; Even as her exploring tentacles backed off from Hyde, she chuckled, low and pleased, at Sleuth's comment about the air.

"It will get warmer, dear, don't you worry about that..." The slightly sweet scent in the air had become just a little bit more notable as well, though it was a pleasant hint in the warm atmosphere, and not at all cloying. LushLady's breathing had grown slow, long and deep, each breath making her breasts rise and fall very visibly as the rest of her body swayed in rhythm. She actually used her hands to help Sleuth off with her heavy coat, but in doing so several of her wrist tendrils took the opportunity to curl around the other woman in all directions, stroking and exploring with a very light touch. It only lasted a moment, before she took the coat and folded it, turning to set it down on a low piece of furniture that could serve as a side table. Normally her waist tendrils would probably have kept her behind, and her womanly details beneath, covered from view during the slow, low bend, but the important ones were, by proably-not coincidence, busy making touches and plays elsewhere, and concealed nothing. If Sleuth, or indeed Hyde, took the opportunity to get a good old fashioned perv, one could certainly say that her design and model detail was superlatively done. A shyer lady might have been embarrassed that a person peeking on so would see the same slicked glisten of light reflecting there, as on some of her tendril tips, but then a shyer lady wouldn't be making a point of showing off such a bend, or taking her time making sure the heavy coat was neatly put down.

When she stood again, the plant woman turned about, then reclined against another piece of furniture, lying back over a raised curve that just barely let her toes leave the ground. She looked at Sleuth with a languid smile, her face upside down compared to the other woman. In this pose, the size of her chest might have become an uncomfortable hindrance, but a handful of her shoulder vines had curled up to lift and hold herself, ostensibly providing the necessary support for comfort, but also unavoidably drawing the eye to that point in the process. The holding vines squeezed and rubbed gently, and the woman let out a small, bitten back sigh before continuing the conversation. Slowly, she extended one hand out towards Sleuth, fingers reaching slightly, while her wrist vines on that hand helped take and set down the detectives other personal affects.

"Oh don't worry dear... she didn't steal it, after all... Damson never missed it; she only took it when the dear was about to throw it away anyway... I don't really think she'd ever actually... steal something that Damson going to use still... that would be hurtful after all...." Her words came in small phrases, in between her long, deep breaths. She trailed off as Sleuth went on with the show, though by this point Hyde had a question of her own. LushLady grinned and blew Hyde a kiss, then reached out with her other hand. These tendrils played about Hyde's shoulders for a moment, then gently tousled in her hair underneath the hat's jaunty position. Without knowing anything about Hyde's disposition or 'special features', she was probably just being playful.

"You can leave your hat on if you like, dear... it's kind of cute." Her gaze was drawn back towards Sleuth's continuing strip, and she rolled over on her perch, standing now just barely on her toe-tips while sprawled over the arch, her breasts pressed up against the surface in a way that pressed them together delightfully. Her hips swayed back and forth, somewhere between playful and inviting as she watched the show. She was listening to the detective's description of her personal ensemble, but clearly her vines had other things on their mind; four from her shoulders, lifted up and curled forward, reaching out to 'appreciate' the other woman's choice in undergarments.

The touches were mostly in the range of very light, brushing rubs around the outer curves of her breasts, or her hips, though one tendril, the thickest one, easily the width of her wrist, darted into the band of Sleuth's underwear on the side, reaching all the way through before trailing down to stroke its tip back and forth against her opposite thigh. The gesture completely avoided anything actually intimate, but it suggested about as strongly as one could, before withdrawing smoothly as though nothing had happened. Wherever the tendril had touched Sleuth's bare skin, however, it left behind a faintly warm, tingling sensation; just the sort of hot hum that she might associate with certain other feelings.

Sleuth's story prompted a response that was, in all fairness, probably too easy to ignore; her smile widened and she turned her head slightly to look at the other woman sidelong.
"It sounds like you are a woman who truly appreciates... thoroughness. I'm sure I'll be able to accommodate..." The rhythmic rock of her hips side to side had begun to be accompanied by some of LushLady's waist tendril sneaking in to rub and writhe upwards across her own inner thighs, though each time they twitched away and lay down again just before reaching her groin. If one read the behaviour a certain way, it might look like she was struggling not to begin touching herself in a distinctly intimate way. As Sleuth raised the very important question of, well, exactly what was going to happen, the plant woman bit her lip and drew a short gasp.

"Ah, I'm forgetting, you're new... I need to explain... Must not let ourselves get carried away just yet, dears.... I'm sorry..." She stood upright again, stretching both arms upwards and raising all of her tendrils in a similar way, the simple stretch creating an impressive fan of almost uncountable vines around her. When she relaxed, her hips still swayed smoothly, but she seemed a little bit more in control of herself again.

"What I offer, ladies, is an experience. A journey, if you will. Some might call it a mind-opening ride." Which were so many ways of saying 'one heck of a trip', which also might explain why Sleuth's asking about mushrooms had been the key. More of the woman's tendrils now seemed to be glistening slightly, and some more than others. She lifted one from her wrist and held it up for both women to see, curling over on itself to the very tip of the vine was the focal point. It shimmered wetly in the low light, coated in what looked like a thick, viscous fluid that was clear, but gave off the same very faintly floral scent that had been growing along with the humidity in the room.

"It does not work on all navigators, and if it won't interact with your perceptions, then there isn't anything else I can do, but the cases where it doesn't are very rare. On the skin, you will simply feel it as a warm, pleasant tingling; enough such contact and it tends to cause a navi to grow quite aroused. However, when tasted, or taken orally..." her eyes drifted up and to the side for a moment "Or internally in some other way..." A small clear of her throat as she brought her gaze back to moving evenly between Hyde and Sleuth. "It alters one's perception and heightens your senses dramatically. It's a side-effect of my design, an unforeseen quirk that has proven very enjoyable... I cannot say precisely what either of you might experience once you are under the influence of my touch... or exactly how you will feel... but most experience lowered reservations, a deep craving for physical sensation... and the desire to explore everything around them... Every touch or action feels exaggerated or startlingly increased... Many see unusual things, or hear strange sounds... but they are almost always good... Some grow chatty, and with lower reservation sometimes say things they might not otherwise... The effects as a whole vary very widely." The tendril dripped some of its coating which LushLady caught in the tip of her finger, then in a slow gesture, fixing her gaze first on Sleuth, then on Hyde, rubbed it over her own lips.

"It is completely safe. That much I can promise you. Jacking out completely removes my touch from your system, however, if either of you are navis who rarely or never jack out, then I cannot allow you to visit me like this more than once a week, or the effects may overwhelm you, or become partially permanent." The woman paused to eye Sleuth and Hyde each in turn coyly.

"Unless you want that, of course..." She offered a sultry wink, then smiled to herself. "Some days I half expect dear Curlz to come begging me to give her enough repeat dose to make her a slave to my touch... but I'd never do that, even if she asked. Damson would never forgive me for melting her brain, and I'd miss seeing the dear little thing throwing herself vagina first at every pretty navi in the complex... Ahh, what delightful girl she is..." After another small chuckle, LushLady grew serious again.

"For your safety, I won't allow you to leave here, except via jack-out, once we begin, until you are fully recovered and the effects have passed. This is a safe environment, but I cannot ensure that the rest of the world will be, if you were to leave while influenced. I'm telling you all of these things now, because it must be your choice, dears, to take the next step. If you want to continue, then you do so knowing that you may say or do things that you otherwise would not consider." Done with her explanation for now, the plant woman held out a hand to each of them, waiting to see if they wished to continue, now that they knew the details of her offer.

Hyde proved to be quite receptive to the tentacles exploring her body, twitching as various contenders got lucky guesses at her sensitive spots. She clamped her lower lip in her oversized upper row of teeth, giggling lightly as a couple of feelers crossed just below her chest. "If you want the hat on... I'll keep it off, all right? Sometimes, Sleuth gives me pats on the head when I've been a good girl...~"

The Navi tossed the hat to whatever tentacle would take it for her, then tried to decide whether to keep her eyes on her mission partner or the Navi of their potential suspect. Her eyes darted back and forth with almost nervous anticipation. However, she finally decided she had to give some of Sleuth's newly revealed figure a comment. "Holy hooters, DimensionMan! My color-blind companion has let slip a couple of her less well-kept secrets." The Navi rose to her feet, beginning in a bare-footed sprint towards her partner. Mid-run, she realized she was still wearing her gloves and dexterously managed to peel them off, tossing them either straight onto the floor or onto whatever tendril would intercept them.

It looked very much like Hyde was going to try and tackle Sleuth, testing how well-seated she actually was in her abstract furniture. Surprisingly, though, she skid to a stop just short. Grinning widely, the Navi put her knees up onto the furniture next to Sleuth, then climbed up so she could sit in Sleuth's lap, facing the other woman. She backed off just enough so that she could avoid smothering her partner's face with her chest, then leered down at her, licking her lips. Again, it would probably surprise Sleuth to know that Hyde seemed to be approaching this very gingerly: at any evidence that she might be in a position that was physically uncomfortable for Sleuth (damage to reputation or morals not withstanding), Hyde shifted to try and make it less so. "We can go like this, right, Lush?" she asked, looking at Sleuth even as she addressed the other woman. She thought Sleuth was probably the type who liked to be in control, so she wanted to see if she could get any particular reaction by pinning her down...

That, and if things really did get super freaky or super mission-compomise-ish, she wanted to make it impossible for Sleuth to abort.

"The feelers and the feelings are what we signed up for, certainly! I'd say it's far too late to back out now, so please, do your worst," she spoke again, this time more clearly directing it to the hostess. "I do have one question, although it doesn't affect my willingness to participate: I noticed that shiny slick on both your little feelers here, and that particular spot you've been reaching at! Are those two fluids more or less the same for you? In other words, if we ingest or, uh, otherwise receive your happy-time slime, does that mean we're basically licking your juice? We can't get pregnant with your plant babies if we take it in the wrong hole, can we?" she asked, raising one hand to her chin and looking down at her partner, as if to make certain her partner was seeing that she was saying all of this with a straight face.

Sleuth was beginning to think she knew how other people felt interacting with her, as she watched LushLady make a show of her impressive bosom using her tentacles. It wasn't so often that Sleuth encountered a pair worth remarking upon as much as her own, nor a woman so willing to exhibit them. Although thus distracted, Sleuth also needed to think about LushLady's remarks in response to her advice for Casey about stealing. What LushLady had said was more or less in line with Sleuth's original hypothesis, that someone who obsesses so clearly over romance with another girl wouldn't steal said girl's valuables, lest they risk their relationship. Still, the detective couldn't be certain. By the same token, if one were so madly in love that one would take a girl's used hairbrush from the trash and smell it, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that same one would love to get their hands on a girl's most personal of effects as well.

That aside, it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on the mission, as LushLady's tentacles played with Sleuth's heavy breasts and even infiltrated her panties momentarily, leaving behind a warm, inner-reaching tingle wherever they went. LushLady went on to describe the process they were about to take part in, which sounded unpredictable, foreign, and more than a little sexual, all which excited Sleuth further. She didn't exactly like the idea of becoming more prone to spill secrets, but eh, details. She knew how to keep her lips tight and Hyde... well, if she wanted to say something she would anyways, drugs or not. For now, she nodded enthusiastically, then gave a thumbs up. "Of course I shall continue! It's in the gentleman's code not to turn down an offer from a pretty lady, and I've been with a lot of gentlemen, so I've studied their code thoroughly," she joked.

Remembering the mission for just one more moment, she decided to pepper in another question. "Oh! Quick thought... Casey's watching, right? Well, in the spirit of the show and us all wanting to have a good time, and our earlier talk of exhibitionism and what not, would it trouble you overmuch to tell me if you're planning to pleasure yourself? If you are, can you describe to me what you're using? Whether it's your fingers or tools or whatever rot you use... I'm a detail-oriented person, you see, and knowing all of the details to visualize that will just aid me in the process of becoming wetter than a clumsy maid, which I assume will be useful during this process," she elaborated. It was a far shot, but there was at least a chance that Casey would go to town on herself with Damson's play thing; if she did, then it would certainly be apparent from whatever description LushLady gave.

The detective heard something about hooters and secrets, before being mounted by Hyde, whom she'd been neglecting at her own risk. Surprisingly, the insufferable bugger, as Sleuth had affectionately dubbed her, turned out to be a rather gentle sitter; the weight of her soft bottom on Sleuth's upper thighs was not particularly unpleasant, nor the shadow cast by her upright body. Still yet, she kept her wits about her, in case she needed to suddenly raise a glove to her eyes in order to stop a double-finger poke from Hyde. "Oh, yes, quite. Like this is clearly the right way to go," Sleuth laughed, feeling silly but also insufferably aroused in spite of herself. She was beginning to think that if they didn't start soon, she might find herself doing what LushLady had tried to hinder her tendrils from doing to herself earlier.

The mood was spoiled somewhat by a dirty line of questioning by Hyde... but then, not necessarily an invalid line of questioning. Sleuth was going to point out that there was no way they'd get pregnant when all three of them were girls, but that wasn't a given, seeing as she knew no hard mechanics to say that the plant tendrils couldn't produce semen. "Well, you needn't worry about me, as I'm incapable of becoming pregnant, as I imagine many navis are. Well, with my hobbies, it's especially important," she impatiently explained. "That said, I do think it might be interesting to know if I'm going to be ingesting, er, the dew from your garden, so to speak. No discourtesy! Just curiosity," she further inquired, going along with Hyde's question. She placed her hands upon her partner's hips as she continued, thinking it would be rude not to return the gesture Hyde had so graciously offered, and also that it would help steady her a bit, since it would be a bit ridiculous if they both rolled off of the chair later because they weren't paying attention. But then again, if rolling onto the floor was the most embarrassing thing they did together as the day continued, they'd actually be pretty respectable compared to what Sleuth was currently anticipating. Of course, another reason for the positioning for her hands was that she wouldn't mind squeezing Hyde's rump meat a bit, if the mood struck her.

Their host for this interlude nodded her head, her smile broadening as both women first listened to her description of what might be to come, then arched an eyebrow while Sleuth struggled hard to remain on mission just a little bit longer. She had swayed closer to Sleuth again, at this point, standing just behind the piece of furniture the detective was perched on, and began to massage her shoulders and neck slowly with her hands; her fingertips felt firm and sure against the skin, and clearly the woman knew what she was doing, though they didn't leave the same tingling heat that her tendrils seemed to. the vines about her wrists had curled back to give more clearance to her hand,s but the sensuous curves only arced out and back around to toy curiously at the straps of Sleuth's bra, curling under, tugging, or else rubbing over the fabric that still covered her breasts.

The longer vines from her shoulders remained occupied with Hyde, taking her hat and setting it down, and continuing to rains small, delicate rubs and touches over her form whichever way she moved; through her undersuit the effect would mostly only be light caresses and tickles, with none of the drug-assisted heat, yet, but the morning was young. Sleuth's question brought the sound of a soft giggle that marked a new voice; it sounded young, but still adult, and was followed by a long hum.

"Fair's fair, I guess, hehe... Give me a minute!" The voice came from somewhere in the vicinity of LushLady herself, or seemed to, though the exact source was hard to trace. There was no visible view screen anywhere as of yet but it was probably safe to assume the voice belonged to Casey, given Sleuth's request. That was all for now though, and a moment later Hyde was racing over to join the other two women in a much closer set-up. Attentive to a fault, two vines from LushLady's shoulders did, in fact, snag Hyde's gloves before they hit the ground, even as she darted over, and set them neatly alongside her their bits and pieces, on one of the lower flat surfaces. She did, however, seem a little surprised at just how eagerly sexual both of her new guests seemed to be getting, before she'd even giving them a taste of her touch. Surprise didn't last too long, though, and the woman herself seemed more than a little excited to have such a pair of apparently fun-loving ladies on her hands... and vines.

Once Hyde was situated, the situation had grown much more conducive to the attentions of their host; tentacles from her shoulders, waist and wrists were all reaching out and around now, forming a veritable nest of feelers all around the other two, each moving in to rub, trali, flick or squeeze gently here and there, before retreating and repositioning slightly. Teasingly, the woman was still keeping her more obviously slicked tendrils away from contact with either of their skin, for now... but given her own heavier breathing, the warmth and the sweet scent in the air, and the flush spreading over her skin, it was becoming clear that the plant lady wouldn't be holding back too much longer.

Both ladies had some final questions regarding exactly what that substance was, but LushLady only grinned broader, pale teeth showing in the dim light, before she closed her eyes and turned a cheek to nuzzle a tentacle that curled up to brush against her own cheek. It was one of the glistening ones, and she turned her head to kiss it, then slowly run the tip of her tongue, very delicately, over the slicked tip, before trailing the tip over her lips, like lipstick, and slipping the end into her mouth just barely long enough to give the impression of sucking on it. She hummed as she did so, but from her position, Hyde was likely to be the only one actually seeing the gesture.

"Hmmm... My body produces a nectar... it does so in many ways... from the ends of my vines... if I should sweat... if I should cry... and yes, even if I should grow... hot. As for your other question though...." Two larger tentacles trailed their way down Hyde's back, then curled around her waist just long enough to draw firm, coursing lines down over her hips, towards her groin, though they stopped short and retreated again upon reaching the tops of her thighs. "I honestly don't know... I can't say I've ever heard of a navi burdened with a functional, realistic reproduction system, dears... but you both know your own bodies best..." She chuckled warmly, letting her hands trail down over Sleuth's shoulders, leaning forward enough until the other woman could feel the curve of her bosom against the back of her shoulders and neck. The move was mostly so that she could curl her fingers around the detective's breasts, palms flat against the soft expanse and fingers curled underneath, bunching the fabric of her Bra and threatening to release it completely.

"Hahh.... I suppose that it's just a risk you'll have to take... if you're willing..." Her remark suggested strongly that LushLady herself wasn't capable of traditional procreation, but without knowing exactly how her guests were designed to work, it wasn't exactly something she could guarantee either way. "Hmm? Oh..." Another soft laugh followed as LushLady brought one of her thinner tendrils around to the side of both women, holding it out and flat as a small view-screen popped up above it. It moved with the tendril but held still once LushLady had settled it in a place where both women could see, if they looked. Casey's somewhat breath laugh came again as the screen lit up.

"There, hehe.... how's that? Can you see?" The display showed an almost top-down view, at a high angle, with the part of a woman's arm just barely visible in one corner; patently, Casey was holding the camera screen for her PET up high and inward, selfie-style, for the other two women.

What it showed was a desk and counter remarkable similar to the one LushLady had been found at, though distinctly less over-grown with plant-life. A young-looking woman was looking up at the screen from underneath a broad-brimmed straw sun hat, grinning. wild sprays of red hair poked out from underneath it, and they made a notable contrast to the already bright and furious pink flush that coloured her cheeks and seemed to extend all the way down her neck and under the sunny yellow t-shirt she was wearing. The blue of her eyes bore the kind of intensity often found in someone who was in the middle of quite some enjoyment, and the reasons for that were equally plain to work out: She was leaning back in her chair, and the camera screen took in the whole of her body, one knee up with her heel on the seat, and the other bent out to the side, and though she was wearing a pair of low-side blue denim overalls, it was very easy to see that her other hand was thrust inside the garment, rather than into a pocket, and the swift movement of the denim at her crotch suggested that the hand was quite busy. Sleuth had asked if Casey 'Planned' to enjoy the show... but patently said enjoyment was already well under way for LushLady's operator.

"Hahh... Hahh... I'm, ahh, more of an au-natural kinda girl, hehe. Hahh... toys are nice to look at and fantasise over, hahh... but they don't beat the personal touch, you know... Ahh..." Her hips bucked up against her hand for a moment, making her chair creak, and Casey groaned softly. "Don't stop, beautiful people... hehe-Mmm... I'll be watching!" The view shifted wildly a moment later as Casey apparently brought her arm back down, then the screen flicked away again.

While this particular answer was being offered, a small tendril had snaked its way up between the two navis and had curled playfully around the zip on Hyde's undersuit, beginning to tug and pull, slowly working it down, and it continued to do so, so long as no-one actively batted it away.

A second distraction from doing so made itself known almost as soon as Casey's short answer was finished. Two tentacles from the vine woman's waist joined Sleuth's hands to 'hug' Hyde's rump, and pull her in closer to them both, though mostly towards Sleuth, narrowing the distance between both lady's groins to almost nothing. At the same time, the remainder of that gap was quite suddenly occupied by one of her thicker tendrils, this one easily an inch and a half across, which had snaked around the pair, low, then thrust its way up between them from beneath, rubbing firmly against both their groins with its girth. Sleuth would probably get more out of this than Hyde, for now, but it would still be quite an obvious sensation for both of them. The tentacle lanced up far enough to raise the curling tip between them at eye level, where it swiftly went from dry and smooth, to glistening and practically dripping wet. LushLady gave another small squeeze at Sleuth's chest with her fingertips.

"So, ladies... are you ready to find out if my touch will work for you?" Her voice was dripping sexual hunger by this point, low and eager, and the tip of the tendril weaved slowly back and forth. though it probably went below notice for now, part of this move casually meant that LushLady wouldn't really be able to remove the focal tentacle from its position without dragging its now very slippery tip over some particularly sensitive spots. More important to focus on now, however, was the way in which it, very gently and with a surprising amount of delicacy, offered its tip, first to Hyde, then to Sleuth, trailing over their lips and glossing each of them with a liberal amount of her nectar, if they allowed it; either woman could still decline the touch, and continue with their other intimacy anyway, but this was more or less the moment of truth.

((Due to the nature of LL's touch, if you consent to accept it, you are both free to determine for yourselves if it affects your navi, and exactly how it does so, though bear in mind that cases of complete non-effect are rare. If you'd rather I decide for you, let me know. I'll remove this note, for the sake of neatness, once decisions are made.))

Hyde giggled girlishly when Sleuth's hands fell on her hips, evidently not willing to let the gesture slide with discretion. "Ooh, look at you, getting fresh! And here I'd been thinking I was thinking you only wanted your foot on my *ss. A world so full of bloody surprises!" The Navi grinned at her partner, her eyes filled with an excitement that might ordinarily have indicated flirtatiousness if she hadn't already made them so readily associated with a desire to confound or enrage.

She caught herself gawking at LushLady's display with her tentacle in an obvious way. For the other half of her, there would probably have been curiosity in the implications of such an action from a plant-humanoid entity on the Net. For this half of Hyde, there was pretty much just amusement at the phallic suggestion. It was true that, even as a doctor, she hadn't heard of much like working wombs for Navis. Whenever two Navis wanted a little miracle, it seemed like closest facsimile they bothered with was doing the dirty, then having an operator program a being that spliced their codes... Anyway, all of that was certainly besides the point in the current situation.

Hyde took a look at the screen that had been presented, tickled to see that LushLady's operator wasn't shy about her role in all of this. "Now, now, don't get too carried away! I'm sure you know what happens to bushes when they're watered too much... pffft," the Navi added, chortling at her own juvenile joke. She wasn't paying any attention to her zipper, which was slowly creeping its way down her chest. Of course, there was no guarantee she would have done anything about it if she had noticed it.

As LushLady made a more direct advance, Hyde gasped, finding her already limited personal space suddenly occupied. By this point, the more stealthy tendril had already done a good job of opening up a cleavage window, making it so the large tentacle was sandwiched by both the legs and the chests of the hostess's two guests. If there was any question as to whether Hyde was actually enjoying herself, or simply waiting for a good chance to pull some childish prank, the two others (and, actually, Hyde herself) would now know the answer: there was already an unmistakable warmth coming from a particular region of hers.

The Navi bit her lip again, her eyes locked on the tentacle tip before her. She was now aware that her undershirt had been entirely unzipped. Unless something made an active attempt to remove it, the shirt would still be kept in place by its position on her shoulders and the clasped buckles on her bottom half. However, even being pushed forward had already begun threatening to thrust her considerable chest out. If anyone had a view to look, although her juiciest bits would still be hidden, it would be apparent that there was no bra offering a second line of defense.

"Well, well... In a few minutes, horseplay is going to be looking downright sensible, don't you think?" She grinned at Sleuth again, and the color of an unmistakable flush was now apparent on her ordinarily pale face. "Offer's still on the table, if that's what you decide you want!" Without bothering to clarify that any further for their hostess, and with her eyes still unnervingly focused on those of her partner, the Navi made a point of running her tongue across the tendril that she was allowing to grace her lips.

"Can't say it's the tastiest I've ever had, but I think I'm onto something... It's really about mixing the flavors and creating a more potent potion, Sleuth." The Navi raised a finger to the bottom of her lip, which was still wet and warm with the fluid that had been applied. "Lushy's spicy sap, enriched by the classic alchemical method known as Mama's Method..."

Hyde gave a brief "Have a taste," which was offered more for the sake of completing her thought than a proper warning. Whether Sleuth had or hadn't already gotten a gloss of the juice herself, Hyde abruptly (but, once again, surprisingly gently) pressed herself forward to try and lock lips with the detective Navi. Rather amazingly, her careful approach to the task avoided clacking Sleuth with her oversized upper row and ruining the event before it'd even begun. Assuming she wasn't dodged or repelled, Hyde would prove an exceptionally aggressive kisser, attacking with both tongue and lips in turns. She didn't close her eyes, and they reflected her usual madness. At this juncture, though, it was certainly up for debate if that glint was carnal hunger or simply her usual desire for a surprised reaction.

At this stage, Hyde still wasn't doing much with her hands. Rather, they stayed low and searched aimlessly, grabbing an errant tentacle here or there without clear intent.