Lauren had no idea what to say, completely caught off-guard by everything she'd experience since she'd arrived. She didn't have a chance to process anything before, walking through the door she'd come through, strode a massive, muscular, towering man in his early twenties with black, wavy hair and caramel-colored skin.

"Hey Apis!" Archie called out with a smile.

"Hey, Archie!" Apis hailed with a friendly wave, "What's up? I heard there's someone you wanted me to-" his voice cut off when he caught sight of Lauren. He stared at her, stunned, with wide eyes and slack jaw. "I- is- are you Calendula?"

"I... yes, I think so," Lauren answered. She waited in silence through several moments of Apis' amazed gaze, before asking, "Uh, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because," Archie answered, smiling with his eyes closed, "You look exactly like his mother."

"She does not!" Apis shouted in defiance. He turned to Lauren and explained, "You're younger than her, and you're much more attractive, and... well... yeah, I guess..." His voice trailed off. Never taking his eyes off her, he strode up to her, staring down at her from more than a head above her. "...Did you really tell them they can hurt you?"

A survival response sent a jolt of panic through Lauren's whole frame. Wide-eyed, she skittered away from Apis, her voice flittering as she dashed for the door and into the hall. "No! Oh God, oh, I'm afraid! Please, no, don't let him hurt m-"

"No! Wait! PLEASE!" Lauren's survival instincts were screaming at her to run, but some other instinct, something stronger, picked up on something in Apis' voice, the shade of some emotion she hadn't heard since her children were young. She came back and peeked through the door, uncertain. Apis was on his knees, his eyes brimming with tears. "I- you- I- my- my mother didn't want me. I was an accident. My father left before I was born. She blamed me. She blamed me for everything. She took out everything on me, all her frustration, like I was just a punching bag, like... she never loved me. I heard, they told me you were scared to come, but you did it to protect your children... that you were willing to let them hurt you, to protect your children, I... I couldn't... I... please... p... kkshh..." Tears streaming down his face, he bowed his head and let his shoulders slump, looking more pitiful and defeated than should be possible for such an intimidating figure. His voice sounded like some precious piece of fabric being torn over and over as he said, "Please tell me I'm a good boy. Please. You don't have to mean it, it's fine if you don't mean it, just... just let me hear it... just a little bit... please..."

"Awwww..." It had been a long car ride to reach that place, a long time for Lauren to be alone with her thoughts, to imagine all the terrible punishments that would be inflicted on her. She had a long time to prepare herself, to shut herself down and disassociate, to make herself hard and cold and heavy like a stone, that whatever torments they had planned for her would just flow over her like a river. She was completely caught off guard by such child-like vulnerability, and the stone split as a sprouting seed. She scurried up to Apis and cradled his head in her hands. "Of course you're a good boy! Look at you, you're so strong and handsome, how could anyone not be so proud of such a good boy?  Come on, don't be sad," she wiped his tears with her thumb while she ruffled his hair, "Of course you're a good boy!"  He looked up at her as if she were a fireworks display, like some catastrophic scheduling error had put Chinese New Year on the 4th of July and Lauren's face was a night sky blooming with unbelievable color and light.

"C... can... can..." Apis stuttered, clearly bound by a lot of fear and discomfort but pressed by even stronger need, "Can I please put my head in your lap? Just for a little bit, just a while?"

"Sure, okay," Lauren nodded, her face soft and understanding as she led Apis by the hand over to the pile of cushions. She knelt down on a spot where he had room to rest on padding. Apis was panting hard and moving slowly, like every inch between them was some terrifying challenge he had to fight and overcome. He pressed his face to her thighs, rubbing his cheek against the tattered remains of her pantyhose. His thick arms wrapped around her hips and pressed into her with frightening strength. "It's okay, you're fine, just relax... that's a good boy," she cooed as she ran her fingers through his hair. She felt his whole body shiver. Lauren had never had any particular ambition for power or control in her life, but found the experience of making this frightening bear of a man tremble with just a touch to be intoxicating. She stroked his hair and hummed affectionately, the rest of the world lost to her. Apis' panting slowed to heaving, then to steady breaths, and within moments he was snoring.

Lauren snapped back to reality at the sound of a choking sputter. She looked towards the showers and saw Chrys emerge, dressed in a simple, dull-colored frock that, on her, looked obscenely modest. She wiped up the water dribbling down her chin as she stared with the kind of amazement that was out-of-place for someone with a whole stable of cockubines. "Is that Apis?" She whispered, surprised. Confused, Lauren nodded, and Chrys tip-toed over, staring down at Apis. "Is he asleep? On your lap?"

"Uh, does he not do this with everyone?"

"Does- what?" Chrys put a hand to her head as she stared down at Apis. "Callie, he's been here for over a year and he's never even let me touch him! I don't think he's made physical contact with a woman outside of the Free Use Quad!"

"Really?" Lauren was surprised, "I mean, I guess that makes sense, considering his relationship with his mother-"

Chrys' steel bottle hit the floor, along with her jaw. Apis kept snoring. Chrys grabbed her own hair with both hands. "He told you about his mother?! Every time anyone even talks about parents, he leaves the room! He never talks about his childhood, he's tight-lipped as a clam! Fucking holy sh- Callie," Chrys knelt down by Lauren's cushion, looking pleadingly into her eyes, "Callie, please join us. We rarely initiate people past child-bearing years, but you're clearly very gifted, you can do so much good here!"

"What? What could I be good for? I'm an old woman with a failed marriage, I've got no place in this... this... what, some kind of hip resort? Is this some kind of retreat for millionaires or something?"

"Retreat?" Chrys leaned forward to stare into Lauren's eyes. "Callie, let me tell you what Archie told me when I first came here. 'This isn't a museum for putting perfect souls on display, it's a hospital for wounded souls to get the healing they need.'" She pointed down at Apis, snoozing blissfully. "You did him more good in five minutes than any of us have been able to do in a year. Please, Callie. There are so many hurt souls, and so much need for help, and it looks like this is something you're really good at."

"Good at?" Lauren shook her head, confused, "At what? What do you people even do here?"

Chrys smiled. "Put him down and come with me, I wanna show you something."

With a little effort and a delicate touch, Lauren pulled Apis' sleeping arms off her and lowered his head onto the cushion without waking him. She followed Chrys but gestured back, saying, "Is he going to be okay?"

Chrys smiled back and said, "That depends on you, doesn't it? C'mon."

Confused, Lauren trailed after Chrys. Her bra the only intact clothing left on, the shreds of her panties hung from their waistband fluttering in the breeze that felt so chill against the dampness between her legs where the pantyhose had been torn away. They came to a glass door, which Chrys opened to reveal what lay behind the building.

Lauren looked out at the scene. "What... what..." Before her, there was a beautiful landscape, simple and modest, with a small, sunny pond, a few trees, other buildings, and the general look of a quiet country college campus. There were few people, but obviously, this area was a home to more than a few other members. Across the yard, two elegant-looking women in their sixties were laughing and chatting, all the while teaming up for a blowjob on a naked teenage man sitting on the table between them, who was moaning and twisting in ecstasy. By the lake, four slim girls in a row were sitting hip-to-hip and admiring the sun on the water, as they sat on top of an older man who was lying on the grass beneath them, his face beaming with intoxicated satisfaction. A small group of men chatting together walked up to a beautiful naked woman who lay in a reclining lawn chair with her legs wide open and her knees as high as her ribs. The men greeted her as they passed by. One of them said something to her, and she gave a brief reply. The rest of the group walked off, waving to the one who had broken from the group, going back to chatting as he climbed on top of the woman.

"What..." Lauren gasped, "What is this place? Where are we?"

Chrys put a hand on Lauren's shoulder, admiring the view. "Callie, may I have the honor to say... welcome... to Nepenthea."

"Nepenthea," Calendula repeated, wonder in her voice.