Lemmy Wink had been deposited back into Gilderoy's gilded embrace with all the ceremony of a used handkerchief—still trembling, wings damp, dignity in tatters.
She curled into a ball in the corner of the cage, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
The Duchess had been... thorough.
But the Love Toys had already moved on to more pressing concerns.
The Silk Blindfold paced along the rim of the drawer—which was impressive given it had no legs.
"She should be back by now," it fretted, fabric rippling nervously. "Mistress always returns before the third candle burns down."
All eyes turned to the candelabra on the vanity.
The third candle was a stub.
"Perhaps she stopped for ingredients?" the Feather Duster offered weakly, its plume drooping. "She did mention needing more moonpetal essence..."
"At THIS hour?" The pearl necklace jingled with agitation. "In the THORNWOOD? Something's wrong. I can feel it."
The Paddle emerged fully from the drawer, its flat surface creased with worry.
"What if she's hurt? What if she needs us? We should—"
"Should WHAT?" Sir Welton interrupted sharply, positioning himself at the drawer's edge. "Roll after her? Paddle the darkness into submission?"
"I COULD-if I felt like it." the Paddle huffed.
"You can barely make it down the STAIRS."
"THAT WAS ONE TIME—"
"ENOUGH."
The golden cage rattled with authority, googly eyes sweeping across the bickering toys.
Silence fell.
Gilderoy's presence was commanding
"You forget yourselves," Gilderoy intoned, his deep voice resonating through the chamber. "We are the instruments of a DOMINATOR QUEEN. Not simpering whelps who fall apart at the first sign of delay."
The Blindfold sagged. "But—"
"Mistress Six has bound DEMONS. She has broken KNIGHTS. She has reduced a fairy to a quivering puddle of submission in a single evening."
From inside the cage, Lemmy let out a weak, offended squeak.
"She walks the Path of Domination," Gilderoy continued, googly eyes somehow conveying absolute conviction. "The Thornwood holds no terror for her. The beasts that lurk within are PREY, not predator."
He paused dramatically.
"Have. Faith."
A long moment passed.
Then, slowly, the tension in the room began to ease.
"...You're right," one of the oddly shaped wands admitted, "Mistress is strong."
"The strongest," another wand spoke up, agreeing.
"She'll return,"
She'll have stories."
"And perhaps new acquisitions," Sir Welton added with a dark chuckle. "I do so enjoy breaking in new... guests."
Even the Paddle seemed mollified, settling back into the drawer with a resigned thunk.
"Precisely," Gilderoy said, satisfied. "Now. We wait. We trust. And we prepare for Mistress's return."
Peace descended upon the boudoir.
For exactly four seconds.
GRRRRRRWWWWWLLLLL.
Every googly eye in the room swiveled toward the cage.
Lemmy Wink sat up, tiny hands clutching her midsection, her face twisted with indignation.
"HEY!"
She rattled the bars with her small fists.
"I'm DYING of hunger over here! Who's going to FEED ME?!"
The Love Toys stared.
Gilderoy's googly eyes blinked slowly.
"...Excuse me?"
"You HEARD me!" Lemmy buzzed her wings furiously, hovering in the center of the cage. "I just got tongue-violated by a PLANT, escorted by a SADIST, and I haven't eaten since Mistress took me captain in moon lillie valley!"
She pointed an accusatory finger at the room.
"I'm a LIVING CREATURE! I have NEEDS! Biological ones! Which APPARENTLY this whole Domain loves to exploit but NEVER actually ADDRESS!"
Her stomach growled again for emphasis.
GRRRRRRWWWL.
"SEE?!"
The Blindfold turned to the Collar.
"...Do we feed her?"
"I don't have hands."
"Neither do I."
"I have a handle," Sir Welton offered, "but I fail to see how that helps."
The Feather Duster ruffled awkwardly. "I could... tickle something into her mouth?"
"That's not how feeding WORKS," Lemmy shrieked.
A soft clinking sound drew everyone's attention to the velvet-lined case on the far side of the vanity.
The crystal wands.
Six of them, nestled in individual slots, each one unique—different lengths, different girths, different textures. Their crystalline surfaces caught the candlelight, refracting it into tiny rainbows across the ceiling.
And they were chuckling.
One of them floated upward from its slot—rising with lazy confidence.
It was... distinctive.
Curved slightly at the tip. Ridged along the shaft. A bulbous head that seemed almost too perfectly shaped.
It was Finneus the Finder. He had been the one to find Lemmy's button. He was smug and playful.
"Don't worry," Finneus purred, his crystalline surface glowing faintly turquoise. "Me and the boys got pure protein to feed little Lemmy."
He drifted toward the cage, followed by two of his brothers—one thick and smooth, the other slender with a spiraling texture.
"Besides..." Finneus's tip traced lazily along Gilderoy's bars. "We've got Mistress's permission to entertain Lemmy."
The color drained from Lemmy's face.
Then flooded back—bright crimson.
"Y-YOU—!"
She scrambled backward in the cage, pressing herself against the bars on the opposite side.
"NO. Absolutely NOT. I asked for FOOD! ACTUAL food! Berries! Nectar! Things that come from PLANTS!"
"Technically," the spiraling wand chimed in, "our essence is nectar baby. Very organic."
"THAT'S NOT THE SAME THING!"
Finneus floated closer, his tip practically pressing against the cage bars.
"Come now, little Lemmy. You remember last time, don't you?"
Lemmy's wings seized.
Her thighs pressed together involuntarily.
"I... I don't know what you're—"
"It was session seven," Finneus continued, his glow intensifying. "You were so stubborn. Kept insisting you wouldn't break. Kept saying fairies were above such base pleasures..."
He hummed thoughtfully.
"And then I found your little button. That special spot, hidden right under your—"
"SHUT UP!" Lemmy's voice cracked. "THAT DIDN'T—I WASN'T—"
"You came six times, Lemmy."
Silence.
Lemmy's face was now the color of a ripe tomato.
"...it was four," she whispered, barely audible.
"Six. I counted. I'm very good at counting."
The Feather Duster let out a scandalized gasp. "Oh my."
"Six times?" The Collar's bell jingled. "That's more than the last succubus!"
"Fairies are sensitive," Sir Welton observed with clinical interest. "All those nerve endings packed into such a small frame. It's practically designed for overstimulation."
"Can we PLEASE not analyze my anatomy!?" Lemmy shrieked.
The thick, smooth wand—Girtholomew—floated up beside Finneus.
「 CRYSTAL WAND — "GIRTHOLOMEW" 」
Specialty: Deep Satisfaction
Personality: Gentle but Relentless
"We'll be gentle." Girtholomew rumbled, his voice surprisingly warm. "You need sustenance. We can provide. Mistress would be upset if her prized fairy withered from hunger."
"I'd rather WITHER!"
"No you wouldn't," the spiraling wand added, joining his brothers.
「 CRYSTAL WAND — "TWISTER" 」
Specialty: Rotational Stimulation
Personality: Energetic / Chaotic
"C'mon, Lemmy! It'll be fun! This we'll be my first time to make you squirm!"
The cage rattled.
All eyes turned to Gilderoy.
"...They DO have Mistress's permission," the cage admitted reluctantly, googly eyes shifting between Lemmy and the hovering wands. "It was part of the standing orders. 'Keep the fairy fed and entertained.' Those were her exact words."
"ENTERTAINED DOESN'T MEAN—"
"I believe, in Mistress's vocabulary, it means EXACTLY that."
Lemmy's mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
"...I hate it here."
"Noted." Gilderoy's door swung open with a soft click. "Wands. She's yours. But clean up after yourselves. I will NOT have residue on my bars."
"Of course," Finneus agreed smoothly, floating into the cage.
Girtholomew followed.
Then Twister.
Lemmy backed into the corner, wings fluttering uselessly, tiny hands raised in futile defense.
"W-wait—can we at least NEGOTIATE—"
"Shhh," Finneus cooed, his tip brushing against her cheek. "Just relax, little Lemmy. Open wide..."
"...and let us feed you."