Ethereal

A few months has already passed and it’s been a couple days since Sylus texted you. You were already bored out of your mind, fumbling through your room, moving your decor around for the hundredth time, checking your phone every three seconds, and most importantly… checking the door.

Every second you were just waiting for a specific sound, a specific knocking sound that would make you run immediately and—

knock! knock! knock!

Your eyes lit up, and you hurriedly run to your door, what a coincidence! Without wasting time you fling it open without checking who it could be because you swore you knew exactly who it was—

Oh.

Oh.

As you pushed open the door, you were met with nobody except flowers on the ground; your favorite flowers.

Of course Sylus was the one who gave it to you, but clearly he wasn’t physically there holding the bouquet like he used to. Sighing, you peer at the halls ahead of you once more before picking up the bouquet and walking in your empty room.

But just as you were turning around, fiddling with the petals of the flowers, a thud! from behind startled you. You flinch, holding in your breath, and just hoped your brain was correct for once. It couldn’t be Sylus, right? There’s no way…

Still hesitant, you couldn’t help yourself from wanting to know what the sound was. And as you turn around, it hits you. That scent you could still remember even if days, weeks, months, or years pass—

Your body jolts around quickly and you barely got a glimpse of Sylus’s face before running into his arms.

“Sylus!”

“Missed me, kitten?”

You barely answer, words couldn’t even utter out of your mouth and all you could do was sputter a laugh. Of course you missed him, you missed him so, so… bad.

Really bad.

-

“I was still calling you, no?”

“B-But- hngh- it wasn’t enough!” You whine, gripping onto the disheveled sheets beneath you with one hand, while the other grips onto his veined muscle. He was tense, and you could see and feel it clearly. His arm flexed with every thrust, the grip on your hips was tight; he had no intention of letting you go anytime soon.

“Mmh, right, not enough.” He agreed, though you could hear a slight mockery laced in his voice, which only caused you to roll your eyes in response.

As the rhythm of his hips started to wound you, practically making it impossible for you to focus, your eyes squeeze shut as you bite down on your bruised lips—caused by him devouring you when he stepped foot in your place—trying to hold back your pathetic noises. But it was getting impossible by the second. And unfortunately, Sylus noticed and chuckled, not giving a verbal response but rather a… physical one.

One deeep thrust slammed right into you, causing you to spit out a choked gasp. Your legs instinctively curl around his hips, clinging onto him tightly as he continues to stuff your pussy full.

“Don’t go quiet on me now, it’s been nearly t-three months and you- hah- you don’t want to speak to me anymore?”

When you don’t answer the first time, Sylus just blew an airy whistle in your face, watching your lashes flutter at the cool sensation. “Oh, I’m hurt, sweetie.”

You shake your head, denying his oh so wrong statement. You wanted to speak, you wanted to tell him everything but when he’s practically fucking you dumb, only because he hasn’t had a touch of you in forever, you could barely speak properly! “No! I-it’s not that- fuck-”

“-I missed you, Sylus!” You cry out, throwing your head back as your hips were starting to give up on you. “I m-missed you—”

He lets out an amused chuckle and thrusts deeper—harder. Before you realize it, the look in his eye started to look dangerously different compared to a few seconds ago. The color was prominently brighter, almost as if you stare longer it could—

“Again. Say it again.”

“I missed you so much!— Ngh- I was waiting for you for-forever- Please don’t- hck!”

Sylus only scoffed in response, “I…”

You clamp around him and it only makes him hiss before he continues, “…I missed you too, sweetie.” His hands, still wrapped around your hips, eventually travelled along your body, slowly gliding against your warm skin. His touch was burning, and one that could kill. You twitch the closer he gets to your chest.

When his fingers pause for a second, just stopping millimetres away from your tits, he lightly pinched at your skin and couldn’t help but smile at himself. “I missed you. Every. Single. Day.”

“Don’t leave me again.” You pout in feigned sorrow, grabbing onto his wrists and gently lifting his arm so you could hold onto his hand. The same warm one you always held onto, especially before he left.

A moment of silence passed between the two of you and Sylus just hums quietly before leaning in to give you a kiss.

“Never.”

You nod again, but those hands that were once on your hips started travelling further along your body, the touch was so warm yet so chilly—it made you shiver.

A gasp gets caught in your throat and you stare at Sylus, mouth agape as your hips that were once moving at a relaxed pace, suddenly lose their control again.

But Sylus doesn’t interrupt and rather watches as he waits for the right moment to catch you again. The moment where he notices you breathing a little heavier, slowing down—

“Hngh- y-you-"

“Lean forward.”

Your body starts moving on its own and suddenly, there's a light pressure on your back that is guiding you to the right position. The moment you were leaning above Sylus; the tension in your body left and you felt more...relaxed. But you didn't properly move yet.

"Don't tell me you feel better now, huh?"

You moan in response and he only laughs.

"Where was all that confidence when you started it?" The mock in his voice made your response delayed for a second. You shake your head and plant a kiss on his shoulder, causing Sylus to spit out a sound of something with a mix of a chuckle and groan and kiss you back.

The moment his lips left yours, the glint in his eye was so evident, like he was hungry—thirsting for more. His hand, which you were totally unaware about, eventually makes contact with your ass and gives it a tiny smack! which only caused you to jump.

"Don't give up on me now," He whispered. "You were doing good just a few minutes ago."

The words of encouragement flooded your mind and it was now all you could think about; all you could listen to—it was like he was reading too much into your mind, he knew exactly what you wanted despite not saying it out loud, or, showing it.

The moment you started moving again—properly—grinding him like your life depended on it, Sylus started reacting. Louder than before. You could hear the tiny gasps and breathless chuckles leave his lips, not only did you think it was only making him feel good, but you, too, were also feeling...better.

"Thaats it," Sylus huffed, tangling his fingers through your hair, lightly holding onto you as you started regaining your composure again. "Keep going, sweetie."

"I know you could do it."

The humidity in the Hallelujah Mountains made the air feel like wet wool. Every breath you took smalled like the damp forest floor, a constant reminder that you were miles away from the sterile, air-conditioned safety of the base. You adjusted the strap of your sampling kit, trying to ignore the heavy thud of Jake’s boots behind you. You were a senior lead in the xenobiology department, a man who had built his career on being the most capable mind in the room, but currently, you were stuck being babysat by a guy who thought the forest was just a target range.

"You're going to walk into a cliff if you don't take your eyes off that tablet, Doc," Jake said. His voice had that casual arrogance that always made your blood boil.

"And you're going to trip over a root if you don't stop staring at the back of my head," you shot back without looking at him. "This is a sensitive collection, Jake. It requires focus. I don't expect a grunt to understand the value of precision."

Jake let out a short, breathy laugh. He stepped over a glowing vine, moving with a grace that honestly annoyed you. He reached out to swat away a cluster of hanging, purple bulbs, his movements reckless in his boredom. "What's this one do? Aside from taking up space?"

"Jake, don't touch the—"

A sharp hiss cut you off. A cloud of fine, gold dust erupted from the plant, hitting both of you square in the face. You coughed, waving your arms through the shimmering haze, but the air already tasted sweet. It was a thick, cloying scent like overripe fruit.

"Fantastic job, hero. You just triggered a pheromonal defense mechanism," you growled, wiping the dust from your eyes.

"I didn't mean to set it off. Relax," Jake said, though his voice trailed off. He rubbed his chest, his pupils beginning to blow wide. "Is it just me, or did it get hot out here?"

A sudden, sharp heat coiled in your lower belly. It was a prickling sensation that made your skin feel too tight. You fumbled for your comms unit, your fingers feeling heavy. "Norm? Come in. Sully just set off a Venera-Spora. Gold dust. We’re feeling a reaction."

Norm’s voice crackled through the earbud after a second of static. "The gold dust? Oh man. You guys are in trouble. That’s high-potency sex pollen. It targets the neural pathways for arousal. The itch won't stop until the receptors are satisfied- like, fully satisfied. Good luck-"

The line went dead with a final click. You stared at the unit in disbelief. "Norm? Norm!"

You turned to Jake. He wasn't looking at the trees anymore. He was looking at you with a gaze that had stripped away the sarcasm, replaced by a sort of... hunger. He straightened up, a slow grin spreading across his face despite the sweat beading on his brow.

"Well, Doc," Jake rasped, his voice dropping an octave. "You heard the man. Scientific necessity."

"Don't act like this is a favor," you panted. The heat in your groin was becoming a throbbing weight.

"I'm a Marine. I follow orders," he quipped, moving toward you with a swagger that felt like a challenge. He reached out, his hand catching the back of your neck. The contact felt like lightning. Your Avatar’s body was already reacting to the pollen. Your hole felt slick, an unusual biological response that made every movement feel lubricated.

Jake pushed you back against a mossy stone floor, his hands sliding down to your hips, pushing your pants and boxers right off. "You're already wet," he noted. He knelt between your legs, his fingers finding the entrance of your hole and sliding in with startling ease.

The pollen had made your walls soft. The natural slickness made the entry of three thick fingers a seamless, squelching intrusion. You threw your head back, a broken moan escaping you. Jake watched you, his golden eyes glowing as he stretched you out. One of his digits rubbed against your prostate with a precision that felt way too intentional.

"Still want to talk about the data?" he teased, before leaning down.

He took you into his mouth with a hunger that was both generous and demanding. His tongue swirled around the head of your cock while his fingers continued to work you open, creating a loop of pleasure that threatened to short-circuit your brain. You reached for him, your hands tangling in his hair- dangerously close to his kuru, pulling him closer as the intensity of the pollen pushed your sensory limits.

When he finally stood up, his own cock was out, a pretty blue shade with bioluminescent freckles all over. He didn't use any more words. He hauled your lower body properly to the floor and lined himself up.

He slammed into you in one long thrust.

The air left your lungs. He was so thick he felt like he was splitting you in two, his length bottoming out with a force that made your vision go white. The tsaheylu happened in the chaos, your braids tangling and locking together by pure instinct.

The silence that followed was heavy. Through the bond, you felt his raw need to claim you, and he felt your desperate surrender. It was a mutual agreement. You wrapped your legs around his waist, locking your ankles behind his back, and pulled him deeper.

Jake began to move with a relentless pace. Every time his hips slammed against yours, the sound of skin slapping on skin echoed through the clearing. You could feel the shape of him inside you, his cock filling every corner of your raw, slicked-out hole. Through the link, the pleasure was doubled. You were feeling your own walls clenching around him at the same time you felt the crushing tightness of your heat from his perspective.

You were both lost in it. He leaned down, his teeth sinking into the sensitive skin of your shoulder as he maintained a rhythm that left you completely unstrung. You were drooling, your eyes rolled back, your fingers buried in the muscles of his back as you rode the waves of the pollen’s influence.

The itch was fading, replaced by a unbearable pressure. Jake’s breathing turned into a series of ragged snarls, his movements becoming more frantic as he felt the mating bond start to solidify. He wasn't just fucking you anymore. He was marking you.

"Now," he thought through the link.

He surged deep one last time, his hips locking against yours as his knot began to swell. You felt the first hot spurt of his cum hit your internals, and the sensation sent you over the edge. You screamed into the quiet of the forest as your own orgasm ripped through you, your walls convulsing violently around his length. He held you there, pinned to the ground, as he emptied himself into you in long, pulsing throbs, filling you until you felt bloated with his seed.

You stayed locked together for a long time, the only sound the ragged gasps of your breathing. The haze was gone, replaced by exhaustion. You looked up at him, and for the first time, you didn't have anything to say.

- - -

The walk back to Hell's Gate was a nightmare of sore muscles and awkward glances. By the time you reached the lab, you just wanted to crawl into a bunk and sleep for a week. Norm was leaning against the main console, holding a mug of coffee and looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"Back so soon?" Norm asked.

"Shut up, Norm," you muttered, heading for the lockers.

"Hey, just a heads up for next time, Sully," Norm called out. He pointed to the comms unit on Jake’s vest. "The mute button only works if you actually press it. The whole bridge got to hear your scientific progress. Especially the part about the Doc being a slut for a Marine. Very descriptive, Jake. Ten out of ten."

You froze, the blood draining from your face as Jake’s jaw dropped.

"The recording is already in the archives," Norm added with a grin. "I think they’re planning to play it at the next staff briefing for educational purposes."

Taglist: @zolass @edensrose @tamias-wrld @ilovesugurugeto69 @planetxella @mazettns @longlivegojo @midnight-138 @literallyrousseau @vimademedoitt @useless-n-clueless @flatl1n3 @hikaurbae @lexkou @razefxylorf @abrielletargaryen @coco-145 @eagleeyedbitch @deathofacupid @gayaristocrat @porcalinecunt @whatsaheartxx @thecringes2000 @sageofspades @g4vcat @itsrandompersonyall @blvdprn @blueemochii @sappychat @onyxxxxqq @axetivev @s1llygo0s3 @crazydirectioner2000-blog @thestarsallowed @honey-valentin3 @academiq @gaozorous-rex-blog @idkmissgurl @sa1ki-deactivated20250510@sooniebby @seomn @prettorett

general stuff

archetypes your archetype values affect your idle actions and help unlock some dialogue options.

if you have high lover values, you will be happy to see strade and be more affectionate.

if you have high fighter values, you will be aggressive, desire revenge, and get visions of blood.

if you have high crier values, you will break and sob more often.

if you have high talker values, you will talk to yourself sometimes and be more inclined to communicate with strade and ask him questions.

if you have high joker values, you will, well, crack jokes from time to time.

my archetype guide is available here!

names

your chosen name does not do much except give the characters a way to address you. however, there are a few names that will affect the narrative of the game. you can find the names as well as the dialogue they cause to appear below.

strade intro: "Hahaha! REALLY!? I've never met anyone else with my name before! Maybe we were destined to meet." meeting ren: "I know. I can't believe I have to deal with two of you now."

ren intro: "Ren?" "Is that weird or something?" "Oh, no! I just like that name. I love it, really." meeting ren: "I know. I guess he's starting a collection."

lawrence intro: "Is that so?" "Is there… something weird about it?" "No, I like it. It sounds mysterious!" surprising strade by climbing the stairs: "You've been so soft and gentle, like a little deer~" (default dialogue for this option: "You've been so soft and gentle, like a little rabbit~") meeting ren: "Is there something wrong with that?" "No. It just gives me a weird feeling." taking the second pill: "I started to feel a little sick. I always seem to take too many… I let the waves of blurry fragmentation pass through my body. It's not so bad…"

buddy the default name is buddy, which does not really affect anything except for one line. when you yell for ren after seeing him for the first time, strade comes to the basement. in all other scenarios he greets you by saying, "Hey, buddy." however, if your name is buddy, he says, "Hey, Buddy." this is so silly.

lying

strade tends to notice when you lie, and depending on the number of your lies, his dialogue will be different. the more you lie the less he is likely to believe you.

DAY #1

after strade offers to stitch you up, you can refuse stitches. this opens a few special things. him offering you the stitches is the earliest moment when you can get the "you refused to entertain him" ending if you manage to keep your talker archetype value below -5.

needle phobia

> . . . choose "No, please don't…" and then “The needle…” when this option is chosen, you become extra uneasy around needles. this does not change much except for a few extra lines in the same scene though.

successful refusal

> . . . choose either "No, please don't…" and then “I just don't want you to hurt me anymore…” or "Don't touch me!"

if your lover archetype value is greater than 2, you will react more excitedly to strade's actions

if you want to unlock this day's noncon scene, don't bite strade when presented with the choice to do so.

regardless of your choices after refusing stitches for the second time, by the end of the scene you will have had your tongue injured, and during the next few days when anything enters your mouth you will feel the effects of strade's knife.

"don't call me that"

> . . . after strade is done stitching you up, he will ask what you think and call you his liebling for the first time. after this, if you choose the "What did you call me..?" option and then "Ew! Don't call me that!" or "My name is [player_name]", he will switch to using your name instead of the petname (and he will also call you buddy one extra time)

NIGHT #1

during this night you can get free, search through the right cabinet, and get the knife.

note: if you try to ambush strade with the knife in any way, there is no scenario in which you keep it

the stairs

you can go upstairs with or without the knife: this doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things, but having a weapon on you boosts your fighter archetype progression. however, the leg you inevitably break as a result will be brought up from time to time (strade will even be nice enough not to ruin your good leg with his tools on day 2!)

the trap

if you click the knife icon right away, you can call for strade and try to stab him. you will fail and get the "you were stabbed in the back" achievement. interestingly enough, if you have looked in the top left corner before doing anything this night, noticing ren, and have yelled at him, causing strade to come downstairs, you will recall this moment while holding the knife, wondering whether he would return.

ren

if the first thing you do on night 1 is look at ren, it unlocks him visiting you the next night. if you yell after noticing him and tell strade the truth, then ren's next visit will end in a noncon scene.

if you lie, you can ask strade for food, unlocking the scene where he feeds you the sandwich. other options don't affect the gameplay much, but lying will result in you falling asleep and not searching through the basement, thus not obtaining the knife.

 DAY #2

the earliest you can get the "he loved you too much" ending is right after strade asks for permission to film you.

he then offers you a granola bar, and even though eating it boosts your health and sanity and is recommended, i find it pretty funny that if you refuse, strade just snacks on it himself while threatening to do horrible things to you.

note: if you have the knife and keep your fighter archetype value relatively high (4 and above should work), getting your sanity below 20 will cause you to attack strade automatically (and fail) ("your plan went to your head" ending)

drill

> . . . keep your lover archetype value higher than 2 and your sanity below 60, and you will unlock the "Moan softly" option when strade washes your face. this will lead you to a scene where he uses his hands to make you feel good.

> . . . if you click the knife button after strade says, "you were so good for me, before." you will succeed and get the "an eye for an eye" ending.

after strade leaves the basement, you will think about different things depending on your dominant archetype:

if you are a crier, you will break down;

if you are a lover, you will imagine strade "Sitting on a couch. Microwaving leftovers.";

if you are a fighter, you will promise to kill him

hammer

if you choose the hammer, you will unlock an electrocution scene and have a near-death experience. strade will also kiss you.

both

not choosing will unlock another noncon scene. in case you have taken the knife, strade will find it and take it, ensuring you are tightly bound to the pole.

NIGHT #2

be nice

if you have seen ren during night 1, he will come back for a chat. you need to choose at least two of the following options in order to get him to give you the pill and show you the grate:

“who are you?”

“are you… like me, then?”

“how did you end up like this?” 

be naughty

if you attack him during this sequence, you get the "dick move" achievement. this never ends with you surviving, though.

> . . . use "beg him to stop" option or lose the struggle sequence to unlock the "you bit off more than you could chew" ending. if you blame ren here, he will hold a grudge against you and be more aggressive. > . . . if you fight him and succeed during the struggle sequence, "you got the axe" ending will be unlocked.

the grate

ren will untie you if you ask, but only if you used all three dialogue options mentioned above. then, you can look around the basement once again and take the zip ties from the left cabinet, hiding them in the grate.

you can take a second pill, too, which will grant you the "ibuprofen for breakfast" achievement. you will restore the same amount of health whether you take the pills or don't; having at least 1 painkiller restores 10 extra sanity points, though.

the door

do check the door on your right. it will make sure that you know how the door latch works, so the next time you need to get inro the room you know what to do.

your reward for being honest

if you told strade the truth on night 1, this encounter will end in a noncon scene with ren. defending yourself will make ren lowkey hate you, while defending ren will increase his love for you.

they will find the knife if you've taken it, and if strade found it during day 2 and you convinced ren to untie you, strade will call you a houdini for getting out of bounds again.

to unlock the "three's a crowd" achievement, make sure your lover archetype value is at least at 5. then, strade will join the fun.

if you use the knife attack button during the noncon scene, you will get the "You led him to bloody freedom" ending.

DAY #3

learn your lesson

attacking strade is survivable during this day if your love stat is higher than 70; this also unlocks the "got away with it" achievement. otherwise, strade will leave you breathless.

reason with him

you can talk strade out of sawing your fingers off during day #3 if you manage to hit the 100+ love with at the right moment. sure, it will result in him loving you to death, but find it interesting that when he's about to drag you to the tablesaw you can convince him no to do it and he will state that he changed his mind.

> . . .  to do this, unlock the "reason with him" dialogue option by getting your talker archetype value to 4 or higher and your love meter at almost 100.

the little death

if your lover archetype is above 4 during the tablesaw scene, you won't mind strade's actions that much. he will notice that you were quite excite, too.

 NIGHT #3

you can get free this night if you have hidden the knife in the grate

you can go upstairs and lock the door

if you knock on the door for help, strade will hear you, wake up, and burn you.

if you have visited the room on your right, you will be able to go in.

zip ties

after strade is bound, you can do a few things to him.

to torture him, you either need to drop below sanity level of 35 or get your fighter archetype value to be over 3. if the door upstairs is locked, it ends with you killing strade and getting the "bloody hands" ending.

if the door is not locked, ren will come downstairs. he will kill you, which results in the "you were torn to shreds" ending, unless you were nice enough to him to get his love stat value above 2 (be nice, you can use the dialogue options mentioned in the night 2 section and make sure not to upset him). then he will tell you to run, and you'll get "ren's sacrifice" ending.

you can also interrogate strade if your crier archetype value is higher than 4.

if you fail to schock ren upstairs, he will drag you back to the basement, and watch as strade burns you.

knife

if you use the knife but fail the struggle event, get strade's love above 75, and make sure you have surprised him at leas once, he'll let you join him on the couch.

however, if you succeed or love stat is below 75, you'll get the "he lit you up" ending.

DAY #4

the collar

to get the collar, you need to have had surprised strade at least twice by this point, and his love meter should be above 80

otherwise, strade will give you a new hole.

farewell

true neutral is achieved by keeping all of your archetype values equal to zero. depending on your dominant archetype, strade will describe you differently before saying his final good-byes. 

there are 10 total descriptions, 2 per each archetype:

one activates when your dominant archetype value is greater than 0; the second one — if your dominant archetype is below 0, meaning that you managed to keep all of your archetypes below zero as well.

while the first type of description addresses your personality, the second type will characterise you as the opposite thing from the archetype name. 

e.g. if your lover archetype value is greater than 0 and is the highest of all archetype values, strade will say he knows you like him; if your lover archetype value is below 0 and still is the highest of all, he will mention that it's obvious how much you hate him.

DEATHS

health death

occurs when your health drops below 0 as a result of strade's experiments. if strade's love stat is greater than 70, you get the "romantic" version of this ending (check out @keeka-snake-blog's guide!)

there is a special health death sequence that plays out if you die from falling down the stairs, though it is quite short.

another special version takes place if your health drops below 0 as a result of ren's actions and grants you the "ren's little oopsie" achievement

sanity death

occurs when your sanity drops below 0 and results in strade drugging you and then streaming his killing you.

quiet death

occurs when your talker archetype is less than -5

love death