AnimeCon Harem pt. 03
Introduction:
A guy attends an anime convention with a special charm that has a mysterious influence over girls it comes into contact with.
Sliding a pair of oversized sunglasses down from her forehead, she glanced up from her phone towards the enormous AnimeCon banner strung up in the crisp morning air. It was just after daybreak, and drivers were already struggling to navigate the busy streets, searching for parking areas with a rare empty space. The sidewalks were flooded with foot traffic by now, anime fans and cosplayers moving in a steady stream around Chloe and her trailing companion, flowing towards the convention centerâs entranceways.
A ruffled beige halter top showed off Chloeâs delicate shoulders, and a tiny pair of denim cutoffs, fluffy-white at the edges with frayed ends, drew ample attention to her long legs. Her dark brown hair was carefully styled into a messy ponytail that draped down across one shoulder, while an overstuffed drawstring bag was slung over the other. Overall, her figure made a rather remarkable, almost picturesque impression. She would have been a beauty without compare⊠if not for the contemptuous sneer that puckered her upper lip.
She was here for a reason, of course. It wasnât by accident that her breakup with Brian had occurred right before AnimeConâwhich Brian looked forward to all yearâand it was also no coincidence that the usual group of friends they attended with were nowhere to be found this time around. Her goal hadnât actually been to break up with Brian at all; there was no reason to throw away all the effort sheâd put into shaping the course of the relationship to her needs. The plan was, rather simply, to break Brian.
A proper baptism, Chloe thought with a malicious smile. Back when Brian had begun working longer shifts, sheâd taken advantage of his every absence in their social group to sow subtle seeds of discord. Iâm his girlfriend, after all. Iâm entitled to speak for him on his behalf. Sheâd casually dropped comments that Brian was fed up with someone, or sick of the way a certain somebody acted, discreetly driving wedges between each of them and her boyfriend. After months of carefully unravelling and disassociating, she managed to isolate him from his friends with a clever divide of misdirection, fabricated excuses, and outright lies. When he was finally alone, backed into a corner, and pushed to the limits of frustration and loneliness he could endure, she would arrive to save him, to reshape him into the man he needed to be.
All he needs is to learn his place⊠to accept a pair of firm and intelligent hands at the reins, Chloe decided with a chuckle. He wonât stress that little head of his guessing what might make me happiest, until by some chance he accidentally gets it right. From now on, what I say is what goes, with no room for doubt or arguments. Things will be so much easier. For both of us. Cramming her phone into the back pocket of her cutoffs, she turned to regard her companion for the morning as he finally caught up to her.
âOk[/i]aaay[/i]âwhatâs so funny?â Ryanâs voice had an expressive feminine lilt, emphasizing his words with changes in pitch rather than volume. He was that bisexual coffeeshop-boy, the hipster mister with pretty-boy features. He wore blue flannel and skinny jeans, had big, pouty lips, and clear blue eyes. This week, he sported a stylish crop of bleached-blond hair, still tinged with the faded remnants of multiple pastel colors, and the gauged earrings stretching his earlobes featured iconic Hello Bunny motifs.
âYou, thatâs what,â Chloe replied in her best cutesy-voice, that nauseating kind of intimate dialogue she knew couples used with one another. âWeâre finally here! I thought youâd be more excited, sleepyhead.â Sheâd weaned Brian off of this kind of treatment early on in their relationship, lest he think it was acceptable for him to reciprocate, but some insipid endearment now was tolerable⊠a necessary sacrifice. She wouldnât be using Ryan for much longer anyways. This was fine.
âHow do anime conventions even start so early? Six-thirty in the morning?? Like, how do they even?â Ryan muttered in bleary disbelief, reverently lifting the coffee cup to his boyish face and taking another sip. âI canât wrap my head around people getting up this early if theyâre not getting paid for it. Like, this is a choice. All these people right now made a choice to be awake for this. Oh my God, this coffee though⊠this coffee is my life right now.â
Yeah, wellâyouâre just lucky that I hate driving through city traffic, Chloe thought to herself, or you wouldnât be that necessary here after all. At best, the only other real purpose Ryan even had was inspiring fear and jealousy, showing Brian just how easily replaceable he was⊠just how little individual value males held. However, at the rate her patience with Ryan was thinning, he might never even make it that far.
âAw, poor baby,â Chloe instead cooed in a saccharine, sing-song voice, before allowing an inkling of impatience to seep into her tone. âBut hurry up a little, please? All of these people in front of us are going to be getting into the line for badges ahead of us. The line on Saturday gets to be hundreds of people long⊠okay?â
âMy bad, my bad, geez,â Ryan laughed. âI mean weâre not even inside the convention yet, and my legs are already tired. We just did like, nine city blocks.â
âWe wouldnât be walking so far if youâd parked closer,â Chloe reminded him, struggling to keep frustration out of her voice. Even that idiot Brian was more thoughtful and accommodating than this.
âAnd pay fourteen dollars for day parking?! Uh, nuh-uh. Thatâs insane. Insaaane,â Ryan grumbled, shaking his head. âThis is all crazy, really. I mean, not the anime fandom thing, Iâm totally about that life. But the traffic, the costumes, the crowds, getting up this early for it, dropping all that money on parking and badges and whatnot⊠itâs dedication. Itâs dedication and Iâm impressed. My hat is officially off to all of you people. Aw fudge, I left my hat in the carâŠâ
Chloe rolled her eyes, and considered increasing her stride and leaving him behind then and there. Brian may have been the typical misogynistic sub-human male, but at least he wasnât also a melodramatic clown like Ryan here. I thought itâd be fun hanging out with a bisexual guy, but no, itâs literally the worst.
The effeminate way Ryan acted seemed unnatural, exaggerated to her, as though he were actually mocking women, and over the course of their trip sheâd gradually grown more and more irritated with him. When gay or bisexual guys emulate the mannerisms of the fairer sex, is it cultural appropriation? I think I may have just found the perfect title for my next big Nibbler rant.
Saturday was the conventionâs biggest day in terms of both events and attendees, and as ever, the turnout was staggeringly impressive. Many were dressed in casual geek attireâsimple T-shirts or hoodies emblazoned with anime logosâbut there was an abundance of cosplayers as well. Some came wielding enormous prop weapons, others were making last-minute adjustments to brightly-colored wigs, and still more jockeyed for position in group photos in front of the conventionâs gigantic banner. There was everything from flocks of simple schoolgirls to lone dragon knights in intricately-detailed armor, and the crowds pouring through the entranceways and into AnimeCon formed a discordant mess as anime fans arrived from all over the entire coast.
The pavilion hosting the convention was bright and open; the interior was several stories tall, with an artfully designed lattice of skylights and steel girders forming the roof high overhead. The grandiose arrangement of the concourses between the convention halls, and the enormity of AnimeConâs main lobby itself would have seemed excessiveâif not for the fact that many areas were already filling to capacity.
The convention was positively teeming with activity, and as they worked their way throughout the mob and inside towards the ominous sight of the registration line, Chloe was disgusted to notice that the trend towards skimpy outfits had certainly continued. Walking just ahead of them was a young woman cosplaying the Sweet Fairy from Labyrinth Chef, and she was wearing a sparkling bodysuit fitted so tightly to every contour of her asscrack that nothing was left to the imagination. A trio of western superheroines in daringly high-cut spandex were strutting and striking sexy poses for cameras, and over there was an airheaded-looking girl dressed as Akane Kurokawa chatting with a group of nerdsâseemingly oblivious to the fact that her tits were nearly spilling out of her loose yukata every time she laughed.
Used goods whores trying to out-slut each other for attention, same as last year, Chloe thought, making a noise of disgust deep in her throat.
âOkay yeah, damn,â Ryan mouthed dramatically as he squinting towards the banners above the registration tables across the convention hall. They were tiny, barely-visible blips in the distance past the crowds. The row of fans and cosplayers queuing up there for their convention badges was comically long, stretching several thousand people and encompassing the full length of the enormous lobby. âAre we gonna be waiting to get our badges for hours? This is insane.â
âUsually Iâd have my pass pre-ordered,â Chloe griped, glancing about as they shuffled into the ranks of the line. âMy ex was all nitpicky and meticulous about that kind of stuff. So I mean⊠yeah, I guess we have to wait this time.â
âBet youâre relieved to be all free and single now, though, huh?â Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow.
âOh my god, you have no idea,â Chloe whined, rolling her eyes. âEverything always turned into such an argument with him. Itâs like, hello? I have feminist studies and statistics that scientifically prove that Iâm right. In fact, if youâre trying to argue with me instead of listening obediently until Iâve finished, and then asking if Iâd even like to hear your stupid, unwarranted, sexist opinion⊠youâre already wrong.â
âOh hey look, isnât she that one guy from Shinobi Souls?â Ryan asked distractedly, pointing over towards a girl wearing bushy false eyebrows, a fake beard, and scale-mail armor fashioned out of throwing stars laced together. â How long do you think it took her to make that, huh? Thatâs freakinâ amazing. Sheâs supposed to be, uh⊠Saburo, right?â
âYeah, Saburo,â Chloe judged, not giving the girl more than an indifferent glance. Iâve seen better.
âHey, are you gonna be cosplaying too?â Ryan asked, gesturing with his cup towards her bulging drawstring bag.
âEhh, no, not this year,â Chloe lied, shifting the bag further behind her. âLast year, I was Hera, though. Hera from HellState?â
âIs that the one where itâs like, religions versus government?â Ryan wondered aloud as he scanned the crowds for more cosplays he might recognize. âBut like, theyâre actually fighting it out with guns and stuff?â
âYeah, sorta. Guns and magic. Heraâs the one thatââ
âUh, wow, toxic masculinity much?â Ryan scoffed, nodding towards an enormously muscled bodybuilder wearing a horned helm and a leather kilt. The giant man was walking parallel to the line, heckling the attendees in an obnoxiously overdone Austrian accent.
Just gonna interrupt me and talk over me, huh? Yeah, cool. Iâm just a woman, feel free to stifle my right to speak up, Chloe glowered, giving Ryan yet another red mark in her head.
âI hear people ask, Brick-cloud, how I become great like you?â The barbarian in the horned helm called out as he passed their part of the line. âI tell you how you become great like me. You preorder convention pass and walk proud instead of stand in line like wimpy cabbage-eater.â
Aw, Chloe thought as she watched Ryanâs scowl in amusement. Is the scrawny little boy feeling all jealous and insecure when he sees a muscular manly man? PatheticâŠ
âUgh, heâs right, too. If only Iâd known to preorderâŠâ Ryan grumbled. âNext year for sure, thoughâŠâ
âWell anyways, speaking of toxic masculinity, get this,â Chloe began, toying with her hair. âMy ex, that Brian, I found out a few months ago that he was still standing up to pee. Yeah. In this day and age.â
ââŠStanding up when he pees? Is thatâŠ?â
âYeah. Instead of sitting down to pee like a normal human being, heâs apparently been just like, standing there, spraying piss through the air, like an animal. And just hoping some of it winds up in the toilet, I guess. Uh, hello? We all have to breathe this same air youâre pissing through? Itâs unhygienic. Itâs so unhygienic, thereâve been studies. I mean, you donât try to pee while youâre standing up, do you?â
âUhhh, well yeah thatâs one thing, but Iâm not sure thatâs really toxic masculinity,â Ryan deflected, sipping his coffee. âToxic masculinity is like, gender attitudes thatââ
âThatâs not the point,â Chloe snapped. âAnd you donât get to decide how to define toxic masculinity. Men donâtââ
âToootally do,â Ryan disagreed. âEnglish major! BA-zing! Deciding how best to define things is like, my life.â
âYeah, well⊠whatever, then,â Chloe frowned, crossing her arms. What machismo bullshit. His first reaction isnât to support me, to complement my words and ideas. Or even to just listen quietly, fucking appreciate what he could learn from the valuable new perspective I present. No, just like Brian, instead he âconsiders things objectivelyâ, which is nonsense. âConsidering things objectivelyâ is just that man-splaining way of saying that their narrow, pre-programmed, male worldviews are too tiny to be challenged by progressive new ideas.
And to think⊠Iâd hoped you were going to be different somehow, Chloe sighed, looking at Ryan again and realizing he really didnât seem nearly as handsome or progressive anymore now that heâd just about outlived his usefulness. But, on the other hand, maybe thatâs really the one saving grace males actually do contribute to society⊠the fact that theyâre so expendable. Sorry, Ryan. As a single-use, disposable boyfriend⊠youâve served out your purpose, and thatâs that. Sorry⊠no, not sorry.
âHey⊠yeah, um, Iâm just gonna freshen up reaâlly quick,â Chloe laughed, abruptly excusing herself. âKeep this spot in line for me, âkay?â
âUh yeah, cool. Iâll probs still be right here at the rate this lineâs moving. Hurry up, though! I need someone to talk to, or itâs weird,â Ryan called, his voice already fading as she darted away through the massive gathering of people.
As if Iâm going to wait with you in line for an hour like a moron, Chloe strode on, rolling her eyes. I have a badge already, a three-day pass. Brian is just⊠well, heâs holding onto it for me. Wouldâve still had the damned thing if not for that little goblinâs meddling.
Brianâll already be back in my arms by the time you get here, Emily. Aww, too bad. Canât wait to see the look on your face when you realize that heâs still mine. This time, Iâll have broken and tamed him, and then heâll always be mine. You never had a chance. Whatâd you think, that you could just swoop in and pick up the pieces?
Heâd never have any feelings for a weird little girl like you anyways, Chloe decided, smiling to herself. Sheâd always thought Emilyâs little crush on Brian was cute, in a rather pathetic way. After all, if Brian had ever shown any real interest in that little girl, Chloe wouldâve called the police and reported him as a pedophile, or some kind of child predator. So what if Emilyâs twenty-three now? Sheâs five-foot-one and barely has an A-cup, so hello? She practically has the body of a thirteen-year-old, and that would basically still make it a crime.
Fuck, Chloe gritted her teeth as she arrived at the nearest restroom. Too crowded. A dozen girls, in staggered groups of ones and twos, were entering the ladiesâ room, while another seven or so were coming out. Sheâd hoped arriving so early would give her some space and privacy at a mirror to get into her cosplay, but chances of that now looked slim. Chloe was, of course, anxious to get dressed, because now her costume would be just as much a disguise; sheâd look nothing like she did when she waltzed into the convention this morning, rendering her safely anonymous and preemptively avoiding any more awkward encounters with Ryan.
How long will it be before that queer even realizes heâs been ditched? Chloe wondered. She turned on her heel and headed away from everyone, a long trek down the convention centerâs concourse all the way from AnimeCon in convention hall D towards the next one over, hall C. Last year, when AnimeCon had been adjacent to a national cheerleading tournament, this area had been a sea of already-stuck-up-looking teens and tweens in uniforms being ushered about by coaches and parents. The horrified, shocked looks theyâd given the anime geeks had been oddly satisfying, but it looked like there was no tournament here this year.
Chloe smirked, letting her mind wander back toward Brian. Her plan was going off without a hitch. She was going to accidentally run into him somewhere at the convention today, and he was going to be a miserable, despondent mess. How couldnât he be? The love of his life packed up her things and left without saying a word. Except for that one stunted little sycophant, just about all his friends are now estranged and distant. His eagerly-anticipated little AnimeCon event has instead become a live-fire exercise in depression and loneliness.
But darling⊠now Iâm here, Chloe mocked in her head. The textbook carrot and stick approach; Iâll be the one to comfort him, to end this farce of a break-up and accept him back when he has nothing, no one else to depend on. At just the right moment, of course; when heâs at his absolute lowest. Emily may have planned to show up, to be there for him on Sunday, but by then it will be too late. Brian will have already desperately grabbed onto this one last lifeline I offer him. Heâll cave, heâll capitulate, heâll completely submit himself to my rule.
Most of their local convention group had been goaded into believing that Brian had issues, so dissuading each of them from the trip this year hadnât taken much work. Sheâd taken special care to mention to everyone that Brian had pretty much lost interest in attending AnimeCon with their local group, even hinting that he was too embarrassed to cosplay anymore since heâd put on weight and was too pudgy to fit into his old costumes now.
Hah, as if. He wastes an hour every morning jogging, and spent hours every weekend trying to work on his new costumes. How retarded is that?
But regardless, everybody bought it. Everyone except Emily, that wretched little goblin, Chloe remembered, scowling. However, with word going around that their convention plans had fallen through this yearâand more importantly Chloe deleting Emilyâs insistent pestering asking him about it from Brianâs messagesâthe obnoxious little runt had finally seemed to concede and let the matter drop.
Mike and Will, Brianâs awful, misogynistic âguyâ friends, were disappointed that the annual group outing wasnât happening, but just as quickly made new plans for that weekend, out riding drakes, which from their posts on social media had something to do with dirtbiking through the woods and coming out scratched and bloody. Idiots. Of course, if Michael wasnât going, then his girlfriend Tanya had no reason to call off work so that she could tag along.
Mark actually was still going to AnimeCon, but if previous years were any indication, his support or interference would be a non-issue. He wouldnât leave the confines of the gaming room where the Mana: the Mastery game tournaments were being held, trapped by his own obsession with those stupid cards.
Of the three Beccas, Becky had disappeared off with a new boyfriend, while Hipster Becca had gotten herself involved in an artsy summer film project. Only the weird one, Rebecca, had been too socially removed to not take the hints, but even then she was probably only attending Sunday because Emily needed a ride.
Next year, itâll only be [i]my friends coming with us to the convention. Monique and Tom. Britta, myself, and Brian. Maybe Amy?[/i] She pondered for a moment before mentally excluding Amy. No, not Amy. Canât have too many white girls in our group, or we wonât look very diverse.
This year, hall C appeared to be in the process of setting up for some kind of business expo, but there were only a handful of people in suits around, and none accosted her as she made her way to their nearest restroom.
âAlright. Time to transform!â Chloe exclaimed upon entering the empty restroom, unable to stop herself from striking a dramatic pose for a pre-costume selfie. There was, however, no following whimsical makeover montage of colored light and sparkles. Instead, she wrenched open the mouth of her drawstring bag and squeezed and pushed that bulging bag inside-out until it vomited its contents out upon the faux-marble of the sinkâs vanity.
Unrolling her costume and separating her wig pieces from a cute anime handbag and her makeup case, she began to change. Her comfy flats came off, followed by her halter top, and with a practiced flick of her thumbs her brief denim cutoffs dropped down her lovely legs to the tile. Practicing a demure smile in the mirror for a moment, Chloe proudly admired the graceful lines of her body. Rather than underwear, she wore her camisole-style gymnastics leotard from dance class, which perfectly accentuated her lithe figure. Besides, it was in a nude-colored beige that would be unnoticeable under her costume.
She then stepped into a pair of buruma pantsu, which turned out to be a rather plain pair of Japanese sport panties, and pulled them up to a snug fit with a satisfying snap of elastic. After that, she pulled her sailor fuku on over her head. It was a stylized version of the naval-style Japanese school uniform; the blouse had a traditional blue sailor collar that tied into a bow, and for the sake of simplicity, the accompanying pleated blue skirt was directly affixed to the bottom hem with a line of stitches. Her costume shoes were blue ballet slippers with ribbons that wrapped about her ankles and then laced up into decorative bows.
Leaning in close to her reflection, she began sectioning off her dark hair into ring curls; twirling lengths of hair around her finger, then quickly rolling them up and pinning them close to her scalp with bobby-pins. In this way her untidy mane of hair disappeared, portion by portion, into tight little bundles about her head, and she had the whole mess fitted securely under a wig cap in no time at all.
Then she donned the most complex part of her outfit; her monstrous three-part wig. The main part was a short blonde hairpiece, front bangs pre-styled with spray, while the weave of strands in the back were pulled tight towards two clip points. There she would attach her pair of twin-tail wig pieces, her âdrillsâ, which were basically elaborate extensions, big and exaggerated fluffy ringlet spirals of blonde hair that gave the illusion of enormous, needlessly complex anime-style pigtails.
Sheâd put circle lenses in earlier this morning, contacts that gave her bigger blue pupils, so now she brought her makeup case into play to finish the job. Liquid liner formed a thick black line along her top eyelid, and she drew with her white eyeliner pencil along the entirety of her lower lid, exaggerating the size of her eyes. Finally, false eyelashes were glued into place, an easier ordeal than one would expect as she positioned them well outside her lashline to make her eyes seem ever so subtly larger.
Tweaking the hidden wires that kept her pigtails in their distinctive âdrillâ shapes, Chloe formed a sweet, coquettish smile, and posed in the mirror for several follow-up selfies. Virtually any anime fan would recognize her as Himari, the princess of justice who was immensely popular in the past decade. Magical Doll Himari was basically the leading series of the magical girl genre in the States, and, of course, as the sexy main character, she was any male otakuâs wet dream.
âYeeeah, Iâm kawaii as fuck,â she decided, satisfied. Besides, I look amazing, and no one has the right to tell me what I can and canât wear. This wasnât about slutting up or being objectified, of courseâsheâd simply planned to wear a costume Brian had never seen her in before, and moreover, one he would never expect to see her in. Typically, Chloe cosplayed emotionless and grim characters like Hera Victoria, a dark-haired professional assassin who wore a stately gray pantsuit and dual-wielded a pair of magical handguns. By comparison, Magical Doll Himari was a bright, fluffy, and naive characterâthere was no way Brian would recognize her at a glance. She would rightfully be in control of their first encounter here today.
Pushing her lips out in an exaggerated pout and flashing her fingers in a âVâ for another costumed selfie, she thumbed out a few lines and a handful of tags for her social blog on Nibbler.
<blockquote>⥠at animecon figuring things out!! remember that each and every day is full of blessings!!! love you all!!! âĄ
#cosplaycutie #excited #imsuchanerd #animecon #magicaldollhimari #relationship</blockquote>
Nibblerâs loading screen played for a moment, a stylized animation of minnows poking at the silhouettes of junk discarded in water, before it indicated a successful post. Chloe stared at it expectantly, not lowering her phone until sheâd gotten her first nibble from her followers.
Sheâd âposted a bitâ, which counted for an eighth of a byte; each nibble she got counted as a half-byte, and every byte she accumulated would move her up the daily rankings on the indie micro-blogging site and increase her popularity. Thereâs tons of Himari fan rings on Nibbler. Maybe a flood of new followers will help commemorate today?
She tucked her oversized sunglasses into one of her flats and her makeup case into the other, rolled the flats up in her jean cutoffs and then her halter top, and finally fit the small bundle neatly into her anime handbag. The cheap drawstring bag she haphazardly tossed towards the restroom wastebin on her way out. She didnât really need it anymoreâit had been Brianâs in the first place anyways.
I canât wait to find him, Chloe thought as a disdainful smile formed, all anxious and unsettled. Will he even bother wearing that stupid new costume he was so excited about, or has he just been sulking and pouting all weekend? Canât wait to see him⊠with all of that stupid, stubborn resolve of his emptied out. Will he even be able to make eye contact with me?
I canât wait for his apology. For whatever weak, empty male discourse of excuses that half-cooked slab of meat he calls a brain has come up with over the past week. Canât wait to see him finally swallow all of that stupid, bull-headed masculine pride, discard all of his oh-so-clever little âlogical argumentsâ, and simply accept his proper place. Canât wait to see him begging me to take him back!
Oh, of course Iâll take you back, darling. But on my terms. Iâll rescue you, the emotionally impotent man, from your pitiful, lonely circumstances. But youâll be making some major concessions this time around⊠weâre no longer going to pretend to be equals in this relationship. This break-up was your wake-up call, your reality-check.
She was really looking forward to seeing the effect this little bit of honest suffering had on Brian. How it improved his temperament, how much more receptive to her instruction it would make him. To Chloe, this whole ordeal was an important lesson in humility he was long overdue in learning.
Stalking her way confidently back towards Hall D, she glanced at her phone and realized it was still earlier in the morning than sheâd thought. Still no reply, huh? Six forty-five AM⊠youâll be out already then, doing that useless morning jog of yours, like the clockwork little automaton you are. Yeah, keep trying to outrun your problems, Brian. Theyâre always going to catch up with you.
<center>âą âą âą</center>
Stephanieâs blue eyes fluttered open to first see a soft pink tangle of hair spreading across her pillowcase, and for a moment she simply stared, lost in sleepy confusion. Then she lurched up rigidly in alarm, brushing those brightly-colored locks out of her eyes, and surveyed her surroundings. This⊠isnât my dorm room. Thatâs right, Iâm at the convention. Iâm inâIâm in Brianâs hotel room!
Last night, the small hotel room had been lit by the intimate illumination of the end table lamp, a warm and cozy light. Now, the muted white daylight seeping around the edges of the curtain revealed what seemed an entirely different room, disorienting and unfocused. Did all of last night, that game, Brian⊠going down on me, did that really happen?
Brian was already gone, his absence forming a conspicuous valley in the covers between Stephanie and the shape of another girl at the other side of the bed. Thatâs right⊠he was in the middleâKelly was very insistent about that. Did he already leave for his morning run? Stephanie wondered. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was cuddling up beside him in a daze of contentment.
Letting out a cute yawn, Stephanie flopped back down again and clumsily rolled to slap a hand towards the nightstand, grasping for her rather plain pair of glasses. After carefully donning them, she sat up and looked around the room as if to confirm that all of the blurred fixtures had appropriately sharpened to waking clarity.
As she turned to regard the other remaining occupant of the small room, Stephanie frowned. Something was off, looked ever so subtly different, and after a moment of observation, Stephanie realized that now all of Kellyâs makeup was gone. Without cosmetic emphasis, her resting face seemed lovely rather than sexy, and it struck a chord within Stephanie. The girlâs neatly coiffured scene hairstyle was now an ordinary mussy tangle, and her serene expression, her unguarded posture; all of it made her appear more natural, seem more real.
Even beneath it all, without all of the makeup and style, sheâs still just so pretty, Stephanie thoughtâbut rather than envious, she felt oddly proud of her new friend.
âKelly? Are you⊠are you awake?â Stephanie whispered softly across the bed. âKelly? I think⊠I might be in love with him.â
For a few moments she thought Kelly might have actually been asleep, but then the dark-haired girl stirred and turned to make a face at her, eyes still closed. It was not the face of someone who enjoyed mornings.
âSteph. Youâve only known him for one day.â
âI-I know,â Stephanie hurriedly said, her face flushing red. âI know. Thatâs why I said I think I might be instead of I am, and really⊠thatâs why I wanted to talk, if thatâs okayâŠ?â
Kelly snorted, rubbing her face blearily, and sighed into her pillow, laying still long enough for Stephanie to wonder if sheâd simply decided to go back to sleep.
âOkay. So, talk, then,â Kelly finally grunted, leaving her eyes closed. âWhy dâyou think youâre in love with him? He that good with his tongue?â
âIâŠI, uhâŠâ Stephanie tried to begin, before realizing that while she had a million things she needed to say, she didnât know how to put any of those feelings properly into words. Itâs so much more than that⊠âBecause Iâve never felt this way beforeââ
âHah.â
Realizing how cliche she must have sounded, Stephanie hurriedly continued, âAnd I, uhm, I want to keep feeling this way. This, uh, the way he makes me feel, I want to always feel this way. I, I⊠donât want to go back to the way it was. I canât go back.â I need him. Maybe⊠maybe Iâve always really needed him.
âYouâve got a crush on âim,â Kelly murmured into her pillow. âSâyour first guy ya did things with. Sâa crush. Thatâs all. Chill out and go back to sleep.â
âOh,â Stephanie breathed, frowning, and felt disappointment sink deep down into her. Itâs just a crush⊠âWhat does⊠does it, uh, b-but what does this really⊠mean? What should I do?â
âUgh, Steph,â Kelly grumbled, sounding aggravated. âYou know the phrase, âlove at first sight?â Well, it doesnât mean love, it means infatuation. Itâs⊠you know, hormones and chemicals, endorphins and shit going on in your brain, in your whole body. Itâll go away eventually. Always does.â
âWh-what if the feeling for Brian doesnât ever go away?â Stephanie asked, a little appalled. The attraction is strong⊠overwhelming, even. But, isnât there also more to it than that? So much more?
âHell if I know,â Kelly said, nuzzling deeper into her pillow. âGetting yourself all hung up on just one guy? Sounds like youâd be totally fucked, then.â
âFuâ?â Stephanie bit back the word and tried to continue. âUh, h-how so?â
âCalm down, drama queen,â Kelly muttered reassuringly, pursing her lips to blow errant strands of her hair out of her face. âYouâll be fine. Itâll go away.â
I donât want it to ever go away, Stephanie already knew. What if⊠what if Iâm already totally⊠fucked? She adjusted herself in the covers, laying down on her tummy this time, and hid her uneasy smile into her own pillow.
âWhat⊠should I do?â Stephanie wondered aloud.
âBeats me,â Kelly said. âYouâre on your own. And I mean, youâre really on your own. Iâm bailing on you guysâIâm gonna find someplace else to crash for tonight.â
âWhaâyouâre, youâre what?â Stephanie sputtered, and rose up onto her elbows, a little shocked.
âI said, Iâm not staying with you guys for another night. Iâm gonna find somewhere else, some other room.â Kelly clarified, turning away from Stephanie to lay on her side, giving her the shoulder. âYouâre both on your own from now on.â
âD-did something⊠um, is somethâanything wrong? Do you have to leave?â
âHah. Well, you see, last night, after our little game, after we got all settled in and cozy under the covers together⊠he held my hand,â Kelly scoffed.
âHe held your hand?â Stephanie asked, feeling lost.
âOkay, so he was in the middle, between us, right? I was gonna just, sorta⊠let my hand wander over, see if anything came of it, you know?â Kelly grumbled. âBut nope, no dice. He takes my hand, stops me, just fuckinâ holds it. Iâm giving him a look, like, seriously? And he sorta glances back at me, like he thinks Iâm just kidding around. I was like, dork, I am not playing. I will fuck you.
âDidnât actually say anything, though. I was all so hyped up and, I dunno, expecting things, that I was kinda laying there in disbelief, I guess. Waiting for him to make up his mind, to make a move, or something.â Kelly muttered. âAnd before I knew it, the both of you fucked off to sleep. I was pissed. Still am pissed. And I donât even know why anymore, like, what did I even expect from you two dorks?â
âWe, ah, it was⊠Iâm sorry,â Stephanie managed, embarrassment burning across her cheeks. To be honest, Stephanie barely even registered going to bed last night. I was so out of it, I went out like a light after⊠after we⊠âY-you really canât stay with us?â
âLook, sorry, but Iâm frustrated,â Kelly continued in a sigh of sulking resentment, and she flipped back the bed sheet in vexation. Beneath it, she was wearing the same black tank top sheâd worn last night. âI didnât really sleep, because I was so⊠frustrated. You know? I barely slept, and takinâ a shower while you two were all passed out didnât help me cool off any.
âAnd I tripped over someoneâs bag over there in the dark trying to see the mirror a bit,â Kelly hissed. âIf one of you guysâ over-stuffed fuckinâ bags has a big olâ foot-sized fuckinâ angry dent in it, sâyour own fuckinâ fault. Fuck.â
âS-sorry,â Stephanie meekly apologized again, unsure of just where sheâd left her travel bag as they were settling in last night. It was all still a blur to her. âThat was maybeâum, might have been me. Er, mine.â
âItâs fine, whatever. Iâm just⊠ugh. Just really not used to getting myself all worked up for somethinâ, all night long, and then not getting any attention. I know, I know, I was tryinâ to help you guys out, but⊠well, fuck. I have needs, too. I donât wanna get all pissy and wind up being a moody cunt to you guys all day, so⊠Iâm gonna split.â
âOh,â Stephanie managed, not knowing what else to say. âI just, I mean, I donât think I can thank you enough for what youâve, uh, the ways you helped. I never could have called, could have asked him if we could⊠ItâsâI, well, I can barely even talk to p-people most of the time.â
âYeahâI noticed,â Kelly remarked in a dry tone.
âAn-and, that kind of⊠um, intimacy last night, getting there wi-with someone on my own, it was just, itâs⊠itâs always been so far out of my reach,â Stephanie explained helplessly. âIf you hadnât been here⊠I would have just been my, well, me. My same, u-uh, usual boring self. And nothing would have happened, n-nothing would have changed. And nowânow everythingâs changed. Do you really have to go? I just, I wish you would stayâŠâ
âYeah? Well, gimme a reason to,â Kelly challenged.
âI feel like, like all of us were having fun, though? I donât think that itâll⊠um, that things will keep, ah, being like they have been, fun like they have been, without you here,â Stephanie admitted, trying not to sound unappreciative. âOh! And thereâs also that little, um, promise you madeâŠâ
âPromise?â Kelly huffed. âWhat promise? What, that Iâd wear his stupid goth dress?â
âThe promise that, um, you know⊠that sometime this weekend, all three of us were going toâŠ?â
ââŠGoing to fuck?â Kelly finished for her, twisting the sheets about her legs in surprise as she turned and rose up on one elbow to face Stephanie. âUh, that was a secret⊠not a promise. Why, you wanna make it a promise?â
âO-oh, right,â Stephanie said, visibly flustered. âIt was⊠just a secret. But ifâI mean, does thatââ
âDo you really⊠want that? I mean, I figured⊠well, it means Brian wouldnât just be with you?â Kelly interrupted, a gleam in her eyes. âYou, well⊠are you okay with that? With sharing?â
âI donât see how thatâs, um, up to me to dec-decide? He doesnât belong toââ
âLook, are you gonna get all hurt and jealous if⊠no, when me and Brian happen to get intimate?â Kelly bluntly asked. âAnd by intimate I mean weâre going to fuck. Some really rough, loud and possibly violent sex.â
âI d-donât think so,â Stephanie answered, staring intently at her fidgeting fingers as her face flushed red. âI, um. Think you might be meaning passionate rather than, ah, rather than intimate. I never really thought that I wouldâuh, d-do that, itâs not an⊠expectation that I ever really had for myself, s-so itâs hard to feel⊠upset about it. I did get a, a weird feeling, um, down in my stomach, when Iâuh, when you had me watch you two kiss, last night, but I donât think it was jealousyâŠâ
âLike⊠a horrible, crushing feeling that made you feel like, yâknow, breaking down and sobbing?â Kelly asked.
âN-no, no, nothing like that. It was, um, I⊠I almost joined in,â Stephanie confided, averting her eyes. âL-like youâd suggested, to try a, a th-three-way kiss. I, I didnât, though! It was just a passing thought, an interesting, um⊠I donât know. Iâm blabbering. Sorry.â
âOkay then,â Kelly mused, her irritated expression with the morning finally giving way to a thoughtful one. âIâll make ya a deal. You help me out this teensiest little bit, and Iâll stayâand Iâll even keep playinâ matchmaker. Then tonight, maybe, weâll both get everything we really want. Sound perfect?â
âEverything we want?â Stephanie repeated, startled. âThatâs, um, th-, itâs not just, uh, not just up to me? Not just up to us? What about what Brian wants?â
âOh, weâll get to that part, trust me, and then some,â Kelly chided, giving Stephanie a clever smile. âBut what do you really want outta all of this?â
âMe? I think I want⊠more,â Stephanie admitted slowly, sounding guilty. âBut not, um, not just⊠s-sexual, uh, things. Al-although I think⊠maybe I want that, too? I just, I donât want it to end here. I want to have him, and for him to have me, however he wantsâor, or what-whatever that ends up meaning. I want to be amazing like he thinks I am. I want to, to show him how amazing he is to me.â
Kelly let out an exasperated sigh, quirking her lip into a faint smile. âSounds like youâve got it bad, huh?â
âI-I do? Itâs just, itâs, um, itâs scary. Does he, uhâI donât know if he feels the same way, the way that I do, though, exactly,â Stephanie stammered. âI-I mean, he, he seems interested, but then he seems so reluctant, tooââ
âWell, thereâs all that, you know, weird shit with the relationship he just got out of⊠he like, doesnât want to put all of that on you.â Kelly pointed out. âAnd he knows you donât have any experience with this kinda stuff. Youâre one of the reasons heâs holding back, you know?â
âThatâs part of it, I think,â Stephanie realized, taking a deep breath. âI donât want to be a problem, or, or a reason that he has to hold back, I donât like that, IâI canât stand that. I want toâI want to be the reason why he canât hold back. Does that⊠make any sense? I⊠want him, all of him. I really think that I loveââ
âOkay, okay, I get it,â Kelly interrupted quickly, an undercurrent of excitement appearing in her voice. âYeah, you know⊠I could stick around, maybe, and we can make all of this happen. I could make sure it does, in fact. But⊠youâll have to do something for me, too.â
âWhat do you need?â Stephanie asked, showing an earnest face full of determination.
âIâm frustrated,â Kelly mused. âAnd Iâm sure as hell not gonna help out any more when I donât know for sure if thereâs, any, yâknow⊠satisfaction cominâ this way. So, I want a little proof of your resolve, I want you to prove that youâre willinâ to put in some effort, too.â
âOkay, what do I do?â Stephanie asked breathlessly.
âWhatever you want,â Kelly instructed, wetting her lips. âWhen I get close⊠surprise me. Do you remember the way I was kissing you last night?â The dark-haired beauty drew her fingertips down the length of her own neck, watching Stephanieâs expression with slightly dazed eyes.
When she gets close? Surprise her? Stephanie thought to herself in dismay, conflicting emotions resurfacing all over again. Close to what? Close to me? She wants me to⊠maybe to express my feelings in my own way, and⊠impress her? But⊠just what are my feelings? What should I do here?
Kellyâs other hand innocuously drew the bed sheet back up across herself, as if to regain some modicum of modesty, and alarm bells began to go off in Stephanieâs head at the sheer incongruity of it.
What is she⊠Stephanie wondered, but then Kelly began to act, in a slow, sensual motion, a slight exhalation of breath, and a subtle shifting of the sheets. Oh. OH.
Feeling blood rush to her face, Stephanie finally realized exactly what it was that Kelly was doing. With the outline of Kellyâs arm was making in the blanket, trailing down to the juncture between her legs, there was really no mistaking what kind of itch Kelly was scratching. Sheâs⊠oh my God, sheâs⊠masturbating. Right here. In front of another personâright in front of me!
There were sounds besides the increasing tempo of Kellyâs breathing⊠wet sounds. Feeling the mixture of shame, fascination, and excitement gripping her as she watched, Stephanie couldnât look away. Stephanie was sure she wasnât gay, but the sight had butterflies beating anxiously in her tummy all the same. Thatâs what she meant about⊠getting close. Itâs what I felt in the shower, that sensation I wasnât quite able to reach on my own, that maddening feeling, that something tangible just outside of my grasp. Then she wants me toâŠ?
Stephanie blinked in surprise, doing a double-take and then unconsciously leaning in to peer more closely at a sudden discrepancy sheâd just noticed amid Kellyâs dark hair. Three long strands stood out in a vibrant red color, starkly contrasting the girlâs loose tangle of fine black tresses.
âKellyâŠ!â
âHm? What now?â
âKelly, your, uh⊠did you always have color here in your hair?â
âWell, h-hahh, sânot natural, if thatâs what you mean,â Kelly replied with a breathless laugh, letting her fingers rest for a moment. âThink itâs like, colorsilk⊠midnight black or something. Why, are my roots showing?â
âN-no, no,â Stephanie insisted, âI mean, um, color. BRIGHT color. Like whatâs been, uhm, whatâs happened to my hair.â
Jolting up in alarm, Kelly flung back the sheets and pulled locks of dark hair before her eyes, sifting through the strands. âAre you fucking serious?â
Before Stephanie could form a reply, Kelly pushed up and off the bed, making her way over to the mirror above the sink.
âUh, K-kelly, where are your pants?â Stephanie stammered out, catching a startling glimpse of the scene girlâs naked butt before she could look away. âWh-where is your underwear?!â
âIn the sheets somewhere?â Kelly answered. âDid you do this? Did youâdid you guys mess with my hair?â She singled out the strands of bright red and turned towards the girl on the bed with a grave expression on her face.
âNo,â Stephanie said, quickly averting her eyes again. Sheâs⊠sheâs shaved bare down there, itâsâŠ
âDid Brian do this? When didâŠ. whatâs going on?â Kelly grumbled, turning back towards the mirror. âSeriously, what the fuck, this isnât funny. How longâs it been like this? Was it like this last night?â
âI-I donât know,â Stephanie said. âI, uh, I didnât notice anything, but I wasnât paying much, um, I-I was⊠distracted, and the room was, it was darkâŠâ
âThis isnât possible,â Kelly decided out loud. âYou were blond enough that your hair can take color, like, right away. Iâm not. Youâdâve had to like⊠bleach out my dark first, and then have color set in my hair for⊠itâs impossible. I was awake most of the goddamned night, and even still, I wouldâve woken up if youâd⊠Thereâd be a chemical smell, an ammonia⊠itâs⊠itâs not possible.â
âM-maybe some, uh, stain from my hair spread out and⊠rubbed off in yours⊠somehow?â Stephanie offered bleakly, inspecting her pillowcase for any colorations.
âYeah, uh, no,â Kelly refuted right away. âYour hair isnât stained with sharpie anyways. We threw that theory out last night, remember?â
âWe did?â Stephanie asked, confused.
âYeah. âCause it wouldnât really explain why your carpet matches your drapes, now, would it?â Kelly growled.
âItâs⊠what? Carpet⊠matches my drapes? Wh-what do you mean?â Stephanie asked, looking uneasy.
âThe hell do you think I mean?! Take a look, down there,â Kelly suggested, slapping water from the faucet into the red strands of hair. âYour little, uh, tuft down there is pink nowâjust like all the hair on your head? Youâre one-hundred percent pink now, even your brows.â
Stephanie reluctantly pulled upon the elastic of her pajama pants to take a peek inside, finding her sparse thatch of pubic hair was now the same shade of bright pink that had spread across her head.
âOh my God, itâs⊠itâs pink. Wh-when did⊠why is it pink?â
âItâs really more of a red,â Kelly argued, leaning in as close as she could to the mirror and dabbing water from the faucet. âThis stuff really isnât coming out. Fuuuck. How bad does it look? Is it bad?â
âN-no, I meant, um, me. Iâm pink,â Stephanie stammered, dumbfounded. âIâm pink downââ
âUh⊠yeah, we saw that already. Last night after he⊠uh, well, how much of last night do you even remember?â Kelly asked.
âY-you saw?â Stephanieâs hands went to her face. âUh, I remember that he, um⊠H-heââ
âAte you out?â Kelly suggested, working the red strands of hair between her fingers. âLicked and spit your lickety-split? Frenched your fissure, made out with your muff? Cleaned your claââ
âSt-stop, stop, please,â Stephanie protested, pulling the comforter over her head for a moment in embarrassment. âYes. I⊠I remember. I do remember that. I remember.â
âSo what, Brian has like, the Midas touch? Whatever he kisses really does pop into technicolor? The Midas kiss?â
âMaybe?â Stephanie frowned. What would that mean weâre turning into? âDid you, um⊠feel anything strange when Brian kissed you last night? Like a weird sort of⊠heat?â
âWell⊠I guess so. It was definitely strange, yeah,â Kelly admitted. âNot bad strange. Like, good strange. REALLY good strange.â
âY-yeah,â Stephanie breathed in agreement, running her hands through her own pink locks nervously. Good strange. REALLY good strange. That seems exactly right. âBut, well, wh-what should weââ
âWell, Iâve definitely gotta try kissing him again, then,â Kelly proposed, turning her head at an angle again in the mirror so that she could see the strands of red. âRight?â
âYou, uh, is that⊠a good idea, though?â Stephanie said cautiously. âI mean, we, um, we donât know whatâsââ
âNo, I mean, just look at it. Itâs not bad for a little splotch of color, but itâs all too small, and too far back. If youâre gonna have bright accents like this, you have âem like, right up beside your bangs, or down here as peekaboo highlights,â Kelly said, draping her hair in front of her shoulder and tugging on the tips for emphasis.
âI⊠I guess that makes sense?â Stephanie sounded unsure.
âYeah, it totally does. You didnât think itâs just âcause I wanna make out with him, did you?â Kelly laughed, rolling her eyes. âI mean, like that would even factor. Heâs just a cute guy whoâs also fuckinâ amazing with his hands, you know. Thatâs all. Itâs not like I was even paying attention when he had you squealing last night. Yeah, that didnât even register. Iâm just testing out this hair theory, Stephanie, this is for science.â
âI squealed?!âW-was I squealing?â Stephanie squeaked, slapping her hands over her face.
âMm-hmm. How was it, by the way? He made you cum, right?â Kellyâs eyes flashed, and she arched her back, skimming her fingertips along to trace the silhouette of her own naked hips. âAnd thatâs only the beginning. The things we can still get up to this weekend⊠well, donâtâcha get all wet just thinkinâ about it?â The scene girlâs bare skin seemed perfect, and her body was exquisite, but what Stephanie found herself admiring even more was Kellyâs confidence in so brazenly displaying it all.
I needâI need to stop gawking and actually get up, Stephanie thought, pointedly ignoring Kellyâs question and kicking back the comforter to finally hop out of the bed herself. There was a strange, uncomfortable tightness in the muscle of her inner thighs from spreading her legs open for so long last night.
âC-can you putâput your pants on, please,â Stephanie stuttered out.
âYeah, whatever,â Kelly sighed, crossing the room to fish her pants off the floor beside the bed.
âWh-what about your underwear?â Stephanie asked as she watched Kelly begin to tug the black skinny jeans up her naked legs.
âThese?â Kelly asked, picking her panties out of the sheets and flinging them to a corner beside the bathroom door. âWhat about them?â Iâve got a spare pair in my purse, obviously.â
âBut, youâre um, not going to wear them?â Stephanie asked pointedly. And whoâs supposed to pick up that pair you threw?! What if Brian sees them?
âNah, think Iâll keep âem handy, instead,â Kelly explained, fishing a tiny bundle of black string and elastic out of her purse and waggling it. It took Stephanie a moment to realize that what Kelly held was not a hair-tie but in fact a very skimpy pair of panties. Is that a g-string? âEasier for me to⊠you know, give him the key to the city this way, if you catch my drift? He can start a lâil collection.â
Because he already has a pair of mine, Stephanie remembered, feeling the blood rush to her face. I wonder what heâll even do with them? After that game of truth or dare had ended, sheâd put just her pajama pants back on, a realization that was making her self-conscious all over again. She was going as commando as Kelly was at the moment.
âWell, anyways, we need to get to the bottom of all this hair color nonsense, and figure out whatâs really going on. How âbout a little kissing? At least⊠for starters,â Kelly suggested.
âKissing Brian?â Stephanie asked. âBut wonât thatââ
âNo, I mean, we can just kiss each other now, canât we? Something weird might happen, right? For all we know, you could be the reason it happens. Donât we need to experiment a little bit if weâre gonna figure this out and solve this mystery? And donât you still need to hold up your end of our little deal?â
âK-kissing?â Stephanie choked. âBut weâre both, uhmâweâre both girls.â
âYeah?â Kelly smirked. âIs that a problem? Didnâtcha say when we played the game that you werenât against kissing another girl? What⊠were you lying?â
âI-I wasnât lying, I just, Iâve neverâum, Iâve only kissed one Brian. I mean, one person. Brian before. Iâve only kissed one person before. And it was Brian.â Stephanie struggled out, terribly flustered.
âSo, what, even after everything, am I no good?â Kelly challenged, giving Stephanie a playful pout. âYouâre okay with kissing girls, just not me? Last night, when I proposed that three-way kiss, I only even brought it up âcause I was⊠thinking of you. Do you really not like me?â
âD-donât do that, please,â Stephanie pleaded.
âDo what?â
âWhat youâre, um, what youâre doing,â Stephanie said. âI-I donât like it. Iâm not against k-kissing you, I guess. Iâm, Iâm just⊠scared, not stupid. I donât like it when you pretendâuh, when you twist all the words to get things the way you want them. Itâs, it makes it, IâI get even more uncomfortable. Iâm sorry.â
âYouâŠâ Kelly began, but the seemingly limitless reservoir of smartass remarks she was so used to relying on had abruptly run dry, and no words came out of her open mouth. She took a step closer to Stephanie.
âItâs not you!â Stephanie hurriedly explained, a trace of panic appearing in her eyes. âItâs, my anxiety, itââ
âNo, youâre right,â Kelly mused, the hint of a smile flickering across her face as she seemed to regard Stephanie in a new light. âI keep forgetting, I guess, that youâre not just⊠well, that everybody has their reasons, I âspose?â
âI d-didnât mean that I donâtââ
But a hand had already found its way around the back of Stephanieâs fluffy pink head, and the shy girl was unable to finish as Kelly pressed in and stole her lips.
The abrupt moment was nothing like the kisses Stephanie had shared with Brian. The other girlâs face was so much smoother, her lips softer, almost pillowy, evenâbut the biggest contrast was a subtle flavor of impatience that came across. All of it was nice, it felt good, in a way that was making that glow of warmth rise up within her, but that startling raw need she felt from Kelly was just such a marked difference from Brianâs steadfast and cool kiss. The butterflies she felt within her tummy were frantically beating their little wings in flickering flashes of pink and red, and Stephanie rocked unsteadily on her feet.
Sucking me in⊠It was as though there was an empty space, a void existing within this girl, a vacuum that Kelly was desperate to fill. The taste of her, the sensation of the bold girlâs tongue darting inside her mouth, the strange way it made the flames inside of her twist and curlâall of these pleasant distractions swirled together into a dazzling pink cloud that almost kept Stephanie from noticing the sound of the door to their hotel room opening.
Stunned, the girls turned in unison from their kiss to see Brian standing in the door of the hotel room, holding a plastic bag distorted by the shapes of takeout boxes within. A simple white tee hung down to a pair of navy blue gym shorts, besides which he wore only a battered pair of running shoes and a slight sheen of sweat. His tousled hair was even damp, and the mere sight of him was accompanied by a sudden spike in temperature deep within Stephanie. Oh⊠Oh! Oh my God, we wereâŠ!
âTh-th-this isnât what it looks likeâ!â Stephanie exclaimed guiltily, staggering back from Kelly. âIâsheâwe were, th-this was, it wasââ
âOh câmon, itâs a little what it looked like,â Kelly muttered in a sly tone, and flashed Brian her trademark devious smile. âWe were just getting a little experimentalâoops, I mean, trying out this little experiment.â
âA m-mis-misunderstanding!â Stephanie giggled, âItâs, in anime, uh, l-like in an anime whereââ
âNo, uhhh⊠yeah, itâs cool,â Briah coughed, looking away because he couldnât hide his grin. âI, uh, I shoulda knocked or something, I just didnât want to wake either of you up, in case you were sleeping in⊠do you girls need another minute?â
âNo, noâcome in, please,â Kelly invited. âLooks like Stephâs all done taking advantage of me for now, anyways. Whatâd you bring us?â
Taking advantage of you?!
âAh, breakfast?â Brian offered, hefting up the bag containing several takeout boxes, and he entered the small enclosure of their hotel room, pulling the door shut behind him. âWasnât sure what you girls might like, so I picked up breakfast platters on my way back.â
âThatâs⊠honestly really cool of you, I didnât really mean⊠well, thank you.â Kelly said, sounding caught off guard. She cleared some space on the dresser beside the TV for him to set down the cartons. âWe were gettinâ all kinds of hungry⊠werenât we, Steph?â
âY-yeah,â Stephanie hastily agreed, trying not to stare at Brian but unable to stop from savoring the sight. Hungry⊠Seeing him again, there was something deliciously sexy about Brianâs every mundane little detail, a sort of rugged, bishounen aesthetic. He somehow seemed so masculine, yet he wasnât really burly or beefy in the slightest. A glance at his legs, bare up to the hem of his gym shorts, showed her they were runnerâs legs, but they werenât particularly thick. Rather, that tight curve of muscle shaping his calves was beautifully trimâpared down to the essentials and without an ounce of extraneous flesh. He looked ready to effortlessly explode into motion at any moment. That smoldering sensation from before rose up immediately into blazing pink flames, flames dancing with desperate, voracious energy.
What do I even say to him, after all of that last night? How do I act now? And him opening the door on us right thenâŠ! Stephanie blushed intensely. Compared to last night, the sheer intensity of that pulsing pink fire within her certainly hadnât abated in the slightest. If anything, it seemed hotter, more dangerous, a chemical fire that was burning raw lust, as well as a little bit of something even more potent.
Brian wore a troubled smile, and as he looked over towards Stephanie, parts of her went weak. How could she forget that handsome face buried between her legs last night? That heâd parted her lower lips with his mouth and plunged inside with visceral abandon, tasted her, tongue sliding fluidly across the sensual slickness of her sex in what seemed like an endless spiral of pleasureâŠ
âSteph? You alright?â
âY-yeah,â she stammered, realizing herself once again. âI, uh, yeah. Yes. Iâve, uh, itâsâŠâ
âYou were givinâ him a look,â Kelly chuckled, popping open one of the cartons to peek inside and gesturing her over.
âI, ah, I was? A look? What does that mean?â She tilted her head quizzically from Kelly to Brian, immediately feeling a little stupid.
âHah, youâd have to tell us. I know better than to ever make assumptions anymore,â Brian said.
ââŠH-how was your run?â Stephanie asked, abruptly changing the subject and stepping over to join Kelly. The two takeout cartons contained standard diner fare: scrambled eggs, a few strips of bacon, and a small pile of pancakes. Even one of those boxes was more than she could eat, but the empty feeling in her stomach spurred her on, and she dutifully accepted a fork from Kelly.
âIt, uh⊠well, a little rough, but Iâm back now, at least,â he paused uneasily.
âDid something happen?â Stephanie asked right away, suddenly feeling alert. Somethingâs wrong.
âUh⊠I dunno, maybe? Probably not. I was just checking the time on my phone when I picked up our order⊠and saw my ex texted me. She asked which hotel Iâm staying at,â Brian admitted. âKinda just put my head in a spin. Sheâd texted me yesterday, too, saying that we need to talk⊠Iâd been trying to ignore that whole situation.â
âUgh,â Kelly mouthed, making a face at him. âJust what we needed. Thereâs like, no chance, right? Sheâs not tryinâ to come to the convention and see you, right?â
Stephanie frowned, clamping down on a sudden fiery swirl of emotions that coursed through her, and methodically used the edge of the fork to section off bites of pancake. His ex⊠Chloe?
âI donât know⊠sâprobably nothing,â Brian explained. âBut if sheâs trying to meet up and talk about whatâs happened or anything⊠Iâm really not up for it. Itâs weird, but I get this sense of, like, dread at the thought of seeing her.â
âW-well, is there a reason for you to, um, well there isnât any reason for you to feel that way, is there?â Stephanie sputtered, trying to collect her wildly burning thoughts. Unless⊠Do you feel guilty about what we did last night? Are your feelings for her stillâŠ?
âI donât know,â he replied, sounding tired. He stepped over and dropped his phone into the small pile of his things beside the bed. âShe left me without ever actually telling me why in person, just⊠packed her things up out of our apartment and disappeared. She sent Emily over to tell me a bunch of thingsâyou know, the why, the whole break-up severance letter deal. But Emily wouldnât actually tell me anything, except that Chloe and I were over. Er, Emily did say that the things she was supposed to tell me werenât things she could ever say to me. Canât really say Iâm looking forward to hearing all of it directly from Chloe now.
âIâm sure this is just her wanting to deliver her official sentencing on just how low and worthless I really am to her now. I just⊠really donât want to hear it anymore. It doesnât matter to me at this point. Iâm so tired of dealing with her, fighting with her over every little thing, itâs⊠well, exhausting. Just thinking about seeing her again kinda stresses me out, to be honest.â
âI see,â Stephanie breathed, feeling a palpable sensation of relief.
âKeep on ignoring her, then,â Kelly insisted, playfully stealing each of the cut-up portions of pancake from Stephanieâs carton, one after the other, and popping them into her mouth while Stephanie looked on in disbelief.
âY-you canât do that,â Stephanie protested, flipping her boxâs lid back over protectively. Sheâd never had someone steal food from her own plate before, and somehow it was almost as shocking as suddenly being kissed. She has no sense ofâŠ
âWhatever her bullshit is now,â Kelly swallowed the mouthful, âit sounds like a whole bunch of not your problem.â
âYou donât think thatâd be⊠you know, childish of me? Immature?â Brian asked in amusement, glancing from one girl to the other.
âIgnoring her is immature, now? You must be on very different parting terms with your ex than anyone else I know. Ignoring an ex is literally the only mature thing you can ever do, trust me.â
âKellyâs right, I, ah, I agree with her,â Stephanie added, picking up her breakfast and pulling away from the dresser. âItâs, if you donât want to, then it doesnât have anything to do with, um, thereâs no reason to, to give her any of your time anymore. R-right?â
âYou guys are sweet. Iâd hug you both if I wasnât all gross from my run.â
âYouâre not gross,â Stephanie said quickly, taking a seat away from Kelly on the edge of the bed and settling the styrofoam box in her lap. âYou can hugâyou can do anything you want to. Youâre, youâre never gross.â
âNo, really, Iâm like, drenched. Iâm covered in sweat,â Brian laughed. âAfter all of that, uh, that ordeal with your roommate you went through, Iâd never want toâŠâ
Stephanie realized that she really could faintly smell him, and was stunned by how⊠stimulating that residual scent from his early morning exertion was. It didnât repulse her as Meganâs sweat hadâhe smelled good, something about it seemed natural, felt vibrant and active to her.
âOh, hey, thereâs something else, too, almost forgot. My friends Emily and Rebecca are both gonna be staying with us here tonight, so the roomâll be getting a little more crowded. She called last night, while you were in the shower.â
âO-oh. Emily? You mean that Emily?â Stephanie asked, flashing an awkward thumbs-up while jutting her elbow out. Inwardly, however, she was reeling. Their hotel room had become a special, inviolate place in her mindâa sensual place where it would be safe for her to explore a whole host of options out with Brian and Kellyâs help.
âAh, fuck,â Kelly remembered sheepishly, glancing towards Stephanie. âThere was that, yeah. I forgot about that.â
Before she knew it, Stephanieâs expectations for tonight were gone in a poof, that same thread of disappointment sheâd felt when Megan had stolen away her imagined sanctuary of self-discovery. What can we do now? Is it already overâare our chances for⊠[i]things to keep happening already all gone?[/i]
âHah, yeah, that Emily. Our friend Rebecca, too. I donât know her as well, but sheâs nice. Guess me and Rebeccaâll take the floor, and Emily can squeeze onto the bed with you and Kelly, if thatâs alright. She shouldnât take up much space, sheâs little.â
âYouâre okay with Rebecca, ah, being on the floor, though?â Stephanie inquired, stalling her own rampant thoughts and giving him a curious look. Is there some sort of⊠hierarchy among us girls?
âShe just started rooming with our convention group last year, but I think she was more comfy on the floor than anyone on the beds was. She does, like⊠medieval campout and LARP sorta stuff, she had a linen bedroll and furs to sleep on and everything.â
âConvention group?â Kelly asked. âFirst Iâve heard of you having your own group.â
âYeah, uh, normally itâs not just me going stag hereâthereâd usually be quite a few of us. Not even sure how things turned out this way this time, itâs been⊠this yearâs been strange.â
âThatâs really cool,â Stephanie admitted, smiling. âTh-that you do things like this with your friends, I mean. Iâm a little jealous.â
âAll of my friends are really cool. That includes you, too,â Brian said proudly, playfully poking her on the nose. âAh, uh, listen, though, Stephanie. I⊠thought about it a lot during my run, and Iâve gotta get it off my chest. Last night⊠things got really crazy, so⊠I want to apoloââ
âWhoa, uh,â Kelly interjected bluntly, turning from her breakfast upon the dresser to give him a meaningful stare. âWhat are you doing?â
âUh⊠about last night, I was just gonna, well, apologize to Stephanie,â Brian continued awkwardly. âFor letting things get out of control, forââ
âBrian,â Kelly cut in again with a chuckle. âDo you think what she expects from you is an apology for what happened?â
âI was thinking⊠she was probably kinda coerced into that, um. Situation, last night,â Brian explained. âPressured into it, kinda going along with things and now, afterward, that is, she might regret it? I couldâve put a stop to things, made sure, I mean, really made sure instead of justâŠâ
âN-no, no, it was, itââ Stephanie sputtered out.
âWhat do you want here, written notice? A notarized consent form? A memo from Tammy down in legal that your advances have passed review and been authorized?â Kelly chided. âShe dared you to go down on her, and you did. Pretty sure you got her off, too. Whatâs she sâposed to think when you start saying sorry now? Apologizing for it nowâs gonna make her feel like you regretted it, that it was a mistake. Was it?â
âNo⊠no,â Brian sighed, combing fingers through his hair and resting his hands on the back of his neck. âI, uh⊠itâs justâŠugh, damn. Thereâs still this⊠well, this filter there in my head, sorta, where I automatically run things through what Chloe would think, you know? This is⊠this is the kind of thing I meant last night when I was talking about baggage, not wanting to push my issues onto anybody.â
âSteph wouldâve misunderstood if youâd apologized, âcause she has no self-confidence. So if youâre doing it out of⊠like, out of some sense of guilt your ex gave you, youâre really just not thinking.â
âI get it,â Brian interrupted. âReally. I was thinking, just⊠my thoughtsâre all a mess this morning, and I got myself on the wrong track. Thank you.â
âOkay.â She regarded him seriously for a long moment, as though trying to gauge his sincerity, before nodding. ââŠYouâre welcome. Steph?â
âUm, last night, itâitââ the pink-haired girl tried.
âSteph, all of that last night,â Brian asked. âWas it tooâŠ?â
âYes,â Stephanie blurted out, and gave him a brilliant, beaming smile. âVery. It was too amazing, I loved it. It couldnât have been a more perfect, uh, f-first time. First thing. For me. D-did it, um, was it, was I, a bother for youâfor you toâŠ?â
âOf course not,â Brian said. âWith all thatâs been happening to me lately, with what a rough week itâs been⊠hell, Iâm sure I needed all of that even more than you did. Thatâs not to say I wanted, uh, that, specifically, to happen, thatâd be⊠inappropriate. But it was⊠uh, well, meeting you⊠youâre like this anime dream girl that falls outta the sky and into the guyâs lap.â
Stephanie regarded him with a stunned look, and even felt her mouth fall open. Blushing furiously, she pretended to turn her attention towards the breakfast platter she was picking at. What did he just say? The pink-haired girl was speechless. Dream girl? Me? Thereâs no way this is just a crush. I love him. Kellyâs right, I really am fucked. Iâm totally fucked. So fucked. She wasnât able to hide the giddy smile spreading across her features. And maybe soon?
âą âą âą
Canât believe I just said that, Brian thought, turning away from her before the embarrassment could become visible. Dream girl? Okay, definitely. But thereâs just some things you donât say out loud like thatâŠ
Sneaking a glance at her as she nibbled on a piece of bacon, he saw a strange smile on her face, so maybe at least she was amused. Kelly wore that same unreadable smirk she had last night.
Or maybe it is something I should say? Brian wondered. I really am still stuck in that weird mindset. It was embarrassing having Kelly make him realize that, with his attempted apology, heâd lapsed back into his old thinking habits. It was as though Chloe had seared herself into his mind with a branding ironâwhile that wound was healing over, she was still clearly legible enough in his thoughts. Wasnât even really thinking when I bought them breakfast, it just seemed natural, like it was expected of me. Hah, Chloe wouldâve just been harping at me for forgetting the⊠wait, I did forget to get them drinks, didnât I? âŠFuck.
âWell then, that whole⊠you holding back, the whole keeping all stiff and well-behaved, platonic and in control,â Kelly brought up with a bemused smile, âwhereâre you actually going with all of that? Brian, what do you really want? You like her, right?â They both glanced towards Stephanie, who paused guiltily in the middle of chewing.
So damned cute.
ââŠI do. But I didnât have any like, ulterior motives when I brought her here last night or anything,â he said defensively. âWas just offering her a place to stay so that she wasnât sleeping in a hallway. Same with you. I donât expect anything of you guys, or want you to feel uncomfortable, or like you have to do anything for it.â
âOoh, same with me, too? Hmm, it feels like weâre forgetting something here, though,â Kelly said, tapping her lip thoughtfully with her fork and looking up to the ceiling as though trying to recall something.
âLike what?â
âOh, thatâs right! You want to fuck her,â Kelly remembered with a mischievous smile, and she gestured the utensil towards Stephanie, who had again frozen mid-chew. âYou said so last night, didnât you?â
âThatâs⊠well, câmon,â Brian grumbled uneasily, not daring to look towards Stephanie. âThat was⊠I was being objective⊠you know. Iâm not going to actually be a creep and try anything, I donât plan toââ
âWell, do you want to fuck me?â Kelly interrupted, still smiling.
ââŠYes and no,â Brian answered carefully. What is it with me stepping into verbal minefields with girls all the time?
âInteresting. Why yes? No wait, thatâs obvious. Why no?â Kelly laughed, obviously not having expected a quick answer. âArenât you geeky types supposed to suddenly like, spaz out when youâre confronted with these kind of things? So you wanna fuck us, both of us. But youâre not gonna try to. Because youâre just out of this long, awful relationship and you need to sort everything out first. That about sum things up?â
âWhatever, sure. I guess youâve got the gist of it, then,â Brian chuckled, rolling his eyes. The hell, Kell? Ease up on me a little bit. âYou gonna let this all drop now, satisfied that Iâm not gonna put the moves on you two?â
ââŠYou clearly donât know much about what satisfies women,â Kelly retorted.
âNo arguments there, my girlfriend left me recently,â Brian nodded in agreement, giving her a bitter smile. âWhyâs this always keep coming back to me, anyways? Kelly, youâre like, fixated on my issues. What about your issues?â
âUm, well I donât think that he doesnât know, uh, thatâŠâ Stephanie fussed, dropping her fork. âI think he, that he knows enough about satisââ
âWhat about my issues?â Kellyâs smile faltered the tiniest bit, and she quickly made a face instead. She set aside the breakfast carton and crossed the room towards him in challenge.
âWell, werenât you saying something about wanting to be at the con to⊠uh, get your life back on track, or something?â
âHa!â she laughed abruptly, rolling her eyes. âBack on track. Thatâs a laugh. It was never on track, and there never was a track. Iâve always been lost in space.â
âSo what do you want?â
âThe same thing Steph wants, and the same thing you want. We all came to AnimeCon for the same reasonââ Kelly said, leaning in seductively and lifting her chin to whisper into Brianâs ear, ââto have a good time.â
âThatâsââ
But she held up a finger, motioning that she wasnât done speaking yet, and he leaned back from her as if about to step back a pace.
âWhat, is there some problem with me touching you?â Kelly asked, pointedly poking his chest with that fingertip and leaving it there.
âWell, I mean why would you touch me? What do you get out of it?â Brian retorted nervously, stepping back.
âWhat do I get out of it? Whatever I want,â she answered smartly, tracing her fingertips lightly down his chest.
âCâmon, cut it out. Iâm all sweaty,â Brian protested, retreating another step. âListen, Iâm gonna take my shower. If you guys wanna start getting ready to hit the convââ
âMmm, yeah, you kinda are,â Kelly admitted, raising her fingers to her face as if she was about to sniff them. âGo take your shower, then⊠or, do you wanna shower together? Need any help, uh, washing up?â Kelly offered.
âI can never tell if youâre hitting on me,â Brian chuckled uneasily, grabbing one of his bags to take into the bathroom with him, âor just fucking with me.â
âWhyâs it gotta be just one or other?â Kelly countered with a teasing smile.
âYou were kinda like that last night, too,â Brian remembered, hesitating in the bathroom door. A twisted piece of lingerie was laying in the threshold, and he gingerly nudged it aside with his shoe, pretending not to notice. âAnd I still donât get why. Half the time, itâs like youâre trying to⊠set me up with Steph, or something. It doesnât really even seem like youâre into me.â
âI donât want to be into you.â Kelly grinned. âI want you to be into me, if you know what I mean?â
ââŠIâm not sure that I do,â Brian said after a slight pause, cocking an eyebrow at her before closing the bathroom door between them. Or even which would be worse; that youâre careless with these joke euphemisms of yours right in front of Steph⊠or the implication that you only flirt with me to appease your own ego.
Finally alone, he set his costume bag on the toilet lid, and then used the toe of one shoe upon the heel of the other to step out of them, kicking them into the corner of the tiny bathroom. It had only taken Kelly a tiny bit of prodding to throw him completely off-balance this time. These girls⊠Christ, Iâve even kissed them. I kissed both of them last night. I mean, the one was only for a dare, but still⊠His sweaty shirt came off, revealing the nicely defined musculature of his abs, and then his gym shorts and boxers joined them in a wrinkled pile as he stepped into the tub. After letting bath water pour into his hand for a few moments, he pulled the faucet diverter and sent a refreshing warm spray streaming down upon him from above.
Those cute whimpering moans Steph made when I went down on her⊠he remembered, swallowing. Sheâd wanted it, needed it, her body had been practically begging him for it. The sight of that perfect pussy, the smell of it, the taste of her, feeling Stephanie wriggle, feeling her respond to every movement of his tongue, those sexy little tremors that rippled throughout her body at his touchâŠ
Itâd be normal to jack off now, right? Some part of his mind argued. Stephanie⊠played with herself in here last night, itâs practically expected that Iâm going to. Within the shower, Brian found himself faced with a growing dilemma. An urgent dilemma, that filled his handâswollen to the biggest erection he felt heâd ever had, and continued to jerk insistently for attention. Thinking of Stephanie did nothing to help his situation, and remembering that climax of their truth or dare game made his cock surge, throbbing even larger to fill his hand.
Whoa, I need to calm way down. Can I really duck right in here and masturbate without feeling like some kind of gross pervert? He wondered, gripping himself firmly but not stroking. Am I⊠bigger than normal?
Like all guys, heâd measured his dick once, but after learning his length was just about exactly average, heâd lost interest, and it had never occurred to him to check again. Today he felt positively enormous, and even his balls felt heavily-laden, still filled with that pent-up ache heâd been stifling all night.
Absolutely fucking disgusting, he imagined Chloeâs voice.
âWhat am I even doing,â Brian muttered to himself, and dropped his hand to his side, disappointed with himself. With a sigh he closed his eyes and simply let the steaming water batter down upon him. The past twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind of conflicting emotions and experiences.
What am I going to do about Chloe? Brian wondered, frowning. Maybe we do need to talk, whether thereâs any real resolution there or not.
Chloe had been his second serious relationship, and his first time living with anyone since escaping his household at eighteen. Besides Emily, Chloe had been the only one heâd ever tried actually opening up to about domestic violence or being abused. With her interest in personal rights and social activism, it had in fact been one of the early rapports of their relationship. When sheâd entered into the social justice paradigm and started defining him as a privileged male, seeing him in a new, strangely biased light⊠it had hurt.
She should know me better than anyone else in the world, Brian sighed. On the one hand, maybe her judgement really did get skewed with all the gender politics stuff, but on the other hand, if I canât trust her judgement of me, then who can I trust?
His friends Mike and Will had joked that he was pussy-whipped, that too long under Chloeâs thumb was turning him into a beaten man, but Brian didnât care about that. Heâd have proudly become her doormat if thatâs what it took to really win her back, to demonstrate to her that he was nothing like other menâlike the men she despised. But nothing seemed to help. There was something within him she seemed to see that inspired her distrust and loathing, some hidden aspect of misogyny ingrained in him that he couldnât pinpoint and excise from himself no matter how much he deliberated. Every conversation seemed to devolve into an argument, no matter how carefully he chose his words.
Yeah, of course she wants to talk now. Brianâs way of dealing with his problems was to give them time and patience, allow his wounds to heal. It should come as no surprise that Chloe had her own baggage to sort out in the aftermath of a breakup, and would want to do so in the way she knew bestâby taking it out on him.
Really donât know if I can handle Chloe venting on me right now, though, Brian thought bleakly. He didnât want all the bitter frustrations with her heâd been shoving down and bottling up to explode out, because theyâd been repressed for far too long, and they were bound to be pretty ugly. A lot of feelings and moments down there he didnât ever want dredged back up or articulated into words. Too many things that I donât ever want to say in a heated argument, words Iâd regret, things Iâd never be able to take back. Iâm better than that, right?
Realizing that his penis hung down now, finally flaccid and forgotten, Brian let out a heavy sigh, reached for the thin bar of hotel soap, and started to scrub away the accumulated sweat heâd worked up from his run. It doesnât matter. Not like Iâm having sex this weekend anyways.
Unfortunately, it wasnât easy at all to stop thinking about it.
Chloeâs been a cunt to you, he seemed to recall Emilyâs chipper voice saying to him. And I hope you get yourself laid at the con, just to spite her.
Of course, there was no way she actually meant that. She was just trying to be supportive. After all, isnât Chloe her friend, too?
What heâd done last night with Stephanie hadnât been appropriate, not in the context of them simply playing a game, at least. But Kelly urging them on, that strange compulsion to prove himself to them, imagining fear and self-doubt grappling at Stephanie if heâd refused after sheâd gone so far, after exposing herself⊠And more than anything else, heâd simply really wanted to. The sight of her spreading her legs for him, revealing that blushing pussy, obviously soaked with how turned on she wasâŠ
Brianâs dick twitched threateningly, and Brian grabbed it again as though it were rebelling out of his control. Yeah, it was amazing. But was it really the right thing to do?
At least I did a fair job, he decided. Parts of him had fallen into the routine as if he were servicing Chloe, but other parts had been reveling in discovering every little difference. Stephanieâs thighs are that perfect kind of plush thickness that I could just bury my face in forever⊠I wonder what itâd be like from other positions? Maybe getting her on her knees atop the bed, bending her over from behindâŠ
The sessions with Chloe always seemed to begin with her sitting on his face and grinding, a fairly uncomfortable ordeal. She had been less than considerate, and moreover, determined to try to get off without any of his help. Thankfully, she was never able to orgasm from that alone, merely working herself up into a frustrated frenzy before getting up off of him and grudgingly spreading her legs with a whatever, get it over with then, I guess.
In their first months trying things out, Chloe had generally been stiff and unresponsive. She very rarely wanted actual intercourse, as she found it humiliating, leaving Brian unsure as to why she seemed to want him going down on her so often instead. Is it one of those gender culture things, some power trip playing out in her head? heâd wonderedâuntil the day heâd finally learned to coax that first gasp out of her. He even remembered stopping to give Chloe a look of surprise, and nearly getting kicked in the face for it.
Thatâs where the real battle had always been. Chloe had seemed intent on him failing to please her, which of course only served to spur him onâsimply knowing that she couldnât get off on her own, that she needed him, was a satisfying enough turn-on, his own small victory. Rather than feeling deterred by her attitude, he became that much more determined to put in more effort, to learn every trick of the tongue that could transform the stalwart feminist into a frothing mess.
Of course, going all out on like that on Stephanie may have been⊠a bit much. Heâd heard it was impossible for girls to get off their first time, so heâd used every ounce of his accumulated experience and controlâexcept this time, his partner wasnât resisting him at every turn. I think I really did get her off, though. Thatâs something, right?
No, no. I let myself come way too close to⊠going too far last night. Almost said fuck it and went all the way, almost did something I canât undo or take back. Heâd only ever slept with two different girls in his life, and neither had been virgins. Deflowering a girl was a frightening prospect to himâthe weight of that action, the impact it would have on her, the fact that it would hurt her when her hymen was torn and that she would bleedâBrian imagined it was something like being punched in the nose during your first kiss. What a way to remember the experience.
Really donât think Iâm ready for any of that, Brian thought, no matter how much I may think I want it. He wasnât adjusted for a new relationship yet, too many parts of him were still calibrated to the treatment he receivedâand had even come to expect under Chloeâs yoke.
Thatâs what this weekendâs for, isnât it? he imagined Kellyâs voice purring in his ear. Relax, let loose. Have some fun. Decompress a little. Itâs okay to be a little selfish, especially now, right?
It-itâs not going to relax you if itâs, um, if itâs making you feel uncomfortable, though, right? Another familiar imagined voice countered. So donât ah, donât push yourself too much. Please.
If I let that pair of girls start dictating what Iâm gonna do, then Iâll really be in trouble, he mused, a small smile forming. He couldnât help but think back to walking in on them kissing; that had been a huge surprise. Kellyâs up to something weird, or maybe they both are?
Shaking his head in amusement at the thoughts, Brian clawed a palmful of shampoo into his scalp, realizing that heâd already been in the shower for way too long. These two girls staying with him were probably already wondering what he was up to.
âą âą âą
Heâs masturbating in there, for sure, Kelly decided with a smirk. No matter how aloof and unconcerned he wants to pretend to be, he had Steph cumming all over that handsome face of his last night. Heâs beating off while daydreaming âbout burying his face in that little pink twat of hers again. Or fantasizing about fucking her. Maybe fucking both of us? Either way, those tile walls are gonna be plastered with cum. What a shame⊠but thereâs no lock on the door, maybe we could justâ
âKelly? Can we talk again?â Stephanie asked timidly, setting aside her breakfast carton and staring down at her fidgeting feet. âAbout that, um, is that⊠the deal still up forâŠ? I donât think we can, um, that it will be as easy to⊠plan things, now that his friends will be staying here tonight. What, um, what should we do?â
âThe deal was; you help alleviate my frustration,â Kelly said. âAnd in return I stick around, and help⊠arrange things, so that he canât hold back his feelings anymore. Right?â And then we all fuck.
âIs that all, um, is it even still possible?â Stephanie asked.
âOf course it is,â Kelly answered easily, tapping her lip, and her thoughtful expression slowly sharpened into a stunning smile. Piece of cake.
âBut, while I have âtil his friends arrive today to make magic happen, youâve only got âtil he gets outta the shower to prove yourself⊠to show me that youâre really willinâ to help me, to put in a little bit of effort on your own.â
âB-but, we, um, we⊠that kiss, I thought that itâŠâ Stephanie protested weakly.
âThat was my kiss, how the hell would that count as you putting in effort?â Kelly exclaimed indignantly.
âThatâs, uh⊠okay, thatâs fair. But, the um, the deal. Wh-what will you, I mean, um, how will you, uh, do the making the magic happen⊠part, now?â Stephanie asked cautiously.
âBy being a world-class sneaky bitch. Iâll coach you in what youâve gotta do, and Iâll lead the conversations around and set you up for them. Get him all riled up, reckless, and yâknow, aggressive⊠and maybe Iâll play a little dirty, if I have to,â Kelly laughed. âBut all of thatâs my problem. All you need to worry about is helpinâ satisfy me before Brian finishes up in there. Donât know if youâre up for it? Guys donât take real long showers, ya know?â
âUmmâŠâ Stephanie wavered, furrowing her brows. âIâll try? I can try? What canâwhat can I do?â
âI guess that depends,â Kelly remarked, taking a seat beside Stephanie on the bed. I like this. Maybe this is what Steph really needed here, a little sense of urgency to really kick her ass into gear. âJust how far are you willing to go? You wanna try fingering me?â
âIâIâm, thatâs, uh, thatâs not fair,â Stephanie protested weakly, avoiding eye contact and shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. âThis is, this is hard for me. It really is.â
âOh, I know,â Kelly said, slipping her arms around the other girl and pulling her into an awkward hug. Thatâs what makes it so much fun. âBut, yâknow, youâre our brave little cuppycake whoâll keep impressing us, arenât you?
âDo you want to just be this brief memory Brian had while he was at the con?â Kelly asked, dropping her voice to a provocative whisper. The girl leaned in so closely that her every word, the every movement of her lips traced lightly against Stephanieâs neck. âA name and a face, a little moment that⊠came and went in his life before he moved on with things and got into his next relationship?
âOr⊠do you wanna make a lasting impression on him? Do you want to be on his mind all the time, do you want him to be keeping in touch with you, texting you when he just needs to talk, calling you when he canât stand to not hear your voice? Maybe needing to meet up, to hang out, maybe moreâŠ? Maybe things he has to express to you, feelings he doesnât have words for, things that he can only show you with your bodies? Youâve gotta take these chancesâno, these opportunities, whenever you can, right?â
âYouâreâyouâre really scary sometimes,â Stephanie breathed, shivering and giving Kelly a hesitant look as she straightened her glasses.
âWhat the hell?â Kelly sighed in exasperation, giving the pink-haired girl a playful swat. âYou and Brian can both be so rude sometimes. Iâm clearly just trying to help you guys out.â
âI know, itâs just, youâre doing it again, IâI feel like y-you want something more, and youâre, I donât know⊠leading me into this, somehow?â Stephanie said, taking a deep breath. âI donât mean to come off as, um, ungrateful, or sus-suspicious, itâs justââ
âWell, youâre not wrong,â Kelly admitted, and she bounced up off the bed to stand right in front of the shy girl. She unbuttoned her own jeans with a wicked smile and slowly tugged the short zipper down to reveal nothing behind it but a triangle of smooth, pale skin. âSo, tell you what. Iâm gonna start masturbating, right now. Not even gonna expect you to do all the, um, heavy lifting.â
âY-youâre, youâre what?â Still perched on the end of the bed, Stephanie watched dumbly as Kelly tugged her jeans down further to reveal her naked sex.
âAll you really have to do is give me a liâl affection,â Kelly suggested, pulling her pants the rest of the way down her legs and standing boldly in front of Stephanie. The startled girl blinked for a moment at the bare muff right in front of her before quickly looking away.
âDonât be shy,â Kelly insisted, grinning. âYou donât even need to do much. Like I said before, I can get myself close to the edge⊠when Iâm real close, just gimme a little push, yâknow, help send me off to heaven.
Kelly sat beside her again on the end of the bed, bottom half completely naked, and slowly spread her legs. The motion felt fluid, she could feel the sensation of her snatch already oozing with wetness before even letting a finger delve within. Fucking finally, a tiny bit of reliefâŠ
âWell? Say something. Being super generous with my terms, here,â Kelly remarked with an air of indifference. âNot askinâ for you to go all lesbian love-slave on me, I just want you to try things out a little, see if you might like it. And if you canât do it after all, hey, no hard feelings.
âWeâll just forget the deal, then, and Iâll keep fingering myself like this here âtill Brian gets out of that shower. Maybe heâll find it in himself to⊠assist me instead. Itâd be a shame if you got left outta the loop while me and Brian go at it like animals in heat, but you can always just watch like you did last nightâmight be all kinds of educational.â
âYouâre doing that evil thing you do again,â Stephanie mumbled nervously. âItâs⊠well, j-just start doing what youâre going to do.â
That evil thing I do, huh? I like that, Kelly thought. She was starting to see this cute little geek as more than just someone she loved toying with, to see her as an actual friend. Well, donât blame me if you choke up and get sidelined when I pull this guy right out from under you.
Kelly exhaled sharply as she began, diddling her fingertips playfully across her slippery lips. It felt fantastic, and she hadnât even slid inside for real yet. She tickled at her entrance much in the way sheâd play a random, meaningless ditty across the keys of the bandâs keyboard back in the dayâjust to hear the noise it made. She was certainly making some noise now, even if only to tease Stephanie, a series of clearly audible sounds that testified to just how sopping wet she was down there.
âWhoa, god,â Kelly breathed, raising her hand in disbelief for long enough to catch a glimpse of sticky strands clinging to her fingers. When have I ever been this wet before? Red began to filter into the dark sky inside her mind. She jammed her hand back down, pushing her middle and ring finger inside herself all the way to the knuckle. Her mouth fell open, her eyes went vacant, and her head swayed as though caught in a breeze. âHhâwhoaah, fuck.â
Why does this feel so good, though? Is this what itâs like when you let yourself get good and frustrated first? Kelly wondered as she started frigging herself into a daze. Is this one oâ those âhunger is the best spiceâ things I never bought into, âcause Iâve never had enough patience? Because fuck-k-k! Red light slowly filled the horizon within her head like the inevitable approach of a sunrise, and she squirmed beneath her own hammering hand, two fingers squelching in and out of her as fast as she could manage. She started jerking her hips into the motion as well, trembling with need.
âCâmon, Steph,â Kelly called in a harsh whisper, glaring towards Stephanie.
âY-you said that when you get close, then Iââ Stephanie stammered out as quietly as she could, frozen in place at the sight of Kellyâs furious masturbation and blushing furiously.
âFuck what I said, touch me,â Kelly demanded, pausing to take an unsteady breath, biting down on her lip and then pumping her fingers once again in a steady rhythm. The noises were almost loud enough to overtake the steady sound of the shower running on the other side of the bathroom door.
âWh-where do youââ
âJust fucking touch me,â Kelly insisted, squeezing her eyes shut and letting her head fall back as she concentrated on fingering herself into a constant state of frenzy. It seemed like sheâd barely gotten started, but somehow she was alreadyâOh fuck, Iâm already this close?
For a moment she blithely wondered whether spending all night frustrated and horny out of her mind had her body primed somehow. No, that doesnât make any sense, thatâs not⊠The red tinge seeping across her consciousness was spreading with each second she finger-fucked herself. Brightening, even, as if at any moment that blinding sliver of sun would appearâwhen she felt a pair of hands gently cupping her breasts through the thin fabric of her top.
âHh-harder,â Kelly encouraged, eyes fluttering open but not quite seeing the pink-haired girl. âFucking harder. Pull me, squeeze me, or s-somethinâ. Fuh-fuckinââhh-harder. Hit me.â The last vestiges of chilly bitterness sheâd accumulated overnight towards Brian and Stephanie evaporated as color and light filled the skies within her head.
Red sky at night, s-sailorâs delight, Kelly thought to herself in a daze of delirium. Rehâred sky in morning, sailors take warningâ?! An old rhyme had incomprehensibly popped into her head, and she had no time to care why. Stephanie had taken the stark shapes of Kellyâs nipples, which were already practically popping out through her tank top, and pinchedâhard.
âHhholy fuck,â Kelly mewled in surprise, writhing and shuddering.
âS-sorry! Iâm so so sorry! I just thoughtââ Stephanie apologized, withdrawing quickly.
âDonât youâhahh, well donât fuckinâ stop-p-p,â Kelly cried, almost too tired to ram her fingers anymore and instead starting to trace them up back and forth her slippery slit towards her clitoral hood. She felt Stephanie upon her shaking tits again, clumsily grabbing, groping and squeezing the prodigious shapes of her pair of melons. It felt great, and each shivering sensation seemed to light her up inside, to inch those rays of morning light closer towards dawn⊠but Kellyâs patience had run out and her frustration had reached its peak; she needed more than hesitant fumblings right now. I know youâre tryinâ, Steph, but thatâs just not gonna cut itâ
Then she felt Stephanieâs incredibly soft lips on the side of her neck, a tongue sliding saliva along as the shy girl puckered and nibbled a wet swath up the slope of pale skin towards her ear.
Oh, shit, Kelly thought in alarm, and her misgivings twinkled out in an instant, like distant stars disappearing from sight at the onset of daybreak. She really was paying attention to what I showed her last night, that feels f-fuckinâ heavenlyâŠ! The delicate hands that had been mauling her chest now drew across them with purpose, turning their attention back to the vulnerable protrusions jutting out for attention.
âKeepâkeep going,â Kelly urged. âH-harder.â Everything felt too slick, and there was no time to be careful or deliberate with her actions now; she sought out the tiny nub of her clit and then squashed down upon it hard, rolled it beneath her middle fingertip frantically. She tensed, trembled, and caught a single glimmer of the rising⊠pink? Sun, before the impossibly bright light liquefied all of the thoughts in her head in a flashing red haze of radiation.
âHh-ahh-hhhahhâhaaAAaahh,â Kelly panted out, and fell back in a sprawl on the bed, nearly insensate to the room and everything around her. Several long moments passed, the dark-haired girlâs chest rising and falling with difficulty, before she realized sheâd pulled Stephanie down on top of her.
ââŠAre you okay?â Stephanie squeaked out, her entire face flushed. âThat, uh, was that, is that all⊠um, a normalâŠ? Do you always, uh, are you always so⊠rough?â
âHmmm⊠hm hmm hm hah ha ha, am I okay, she asks.â Kelly responded, rolling her eyes. âFuck, I wish that was normal. Sânever that easy. No. No, that was fuckinâ amazing, is what it was. I think I started, like, hallucinating colors and shit. Howâs my hair?â
âYourâŠhair?â Stephanie echoed in confusion, taking a glance. âYour hairâs fine?â
âI mean, the color, the red,â Kelly clarified, letting a satisfied laugh slip out. âDid the red bits, like, grow out more or⊠spread or anythinâ?â
âAh, right. Um, no, theyâre, they look the same as they did, to me,â Stephanie observed, gingerly running her fingers through the girlâs hair. âItâs the same.â
âWell, thatâs that. Guess itâs gotta be Brianâs magic touch then, right?â
âM-maybe?â Stephanie said, slipping off the bed and straightening her clothes self-consciously. âUm, if itâs okay to ask, did you, uhh⊠was itâŠstrange? Like⊠you know, good strange? Like when we kiss Brian?â
âYeah, definitely,â Kelly nodded. âLike, so good that itâs fuckinâ dangerous. Was I noisy?â
âYou were kinda⊠a little loud,â Stephanie bashfully informed her. âBut, was it⊠was it enough? To, uh, to count for our⊠deal? Will you stay with us? Please?â
âOh, I dunno,â Kelly grinned, slipping her fingers back down between her legs. âIâm just so hard to satisfy. The more ya give me, the more Iâll want, ya know? How âbout you ditch those pajamas and we try out a few more things?â
As if on cue, the sound of the shower running within the bathroom fell silent, and Kelly arched an eyebrow at her suggestively, displaying a wolfish smile.
âKelly,â Stephanie hissed out in a whisper. âI, ah, I d-did the best I could? Weâweâve got to get you dressed, he could be out any minute. Wh-what are you going to do? Is our dealâŠ?â
âYou didnât do that much,â Kelly pouted playfully. âJust, câmon⊠touch me a little bit, down there. Please? Then Iâll get dressed and be a good liâl girl today. I promise.â
âTouch you⊠down there?â Stephanie repeated numbly, staring. Kelly traced a hand along her thigh again, opening her legs to reveal her labia, still flushed red from the attention it had received and smeared slick with her arousal.
âJust a little, itâs not gonna hurt anything, or make things weird, I swear,â Kelly pleaded teasingly. âYou canâAhh!â She broke off in surprise as she suddenly felt Stephanieâs fingertips at her slippery folds, inhaling sharply and quivering gently as red-hot sparks seemed to fizzle across her brain for a moment. Fuck me, she reallyâŠ
âThatâs it, jussst like that,â Kelly cooed, shuddering. âOoh, Iâm still all sensitive from⊠thatâs, thatâs nice.â
âItâs⊠not so bad,â Stephanie said in a stiff voice.
âNot so bad? Jeez, you donât have to make it soundâooahhh,â Kellyâs husky voice was cut off as the other girlâs fingers tightened down with a wet sound and one of those delicate fingertips slid slowly up along those rosy lips.
âI⊠canât believe I just did that,â Stephanie said in a tiny voice, quickly withdrawing her hand and staring distantly at her fingers. âTh-that any of that even happened, really. Uh, I canât believe that I actually⊠helped you with your, yourâum, helped youâyour frustration. Everythingâs gotten so⊠weird.â
âWell, good weird, or⊠bad weird?â Kelly asked cautiously, cupping herself down there and struggling to sit up straight again.
âJust⊠weird. I donât know,â Stephanie answered honestly, shaking her head and letting out a helpless laugh.
âDo you wanna make out?â Kelly asked, looking at the girl with dusky eyes. âNot, you know, for the deal or anything, but just⊠if you want to?â
âUm,â Stephanie uttered, staring back at her for a long moment. âOkay. But, youâyou have to get dressed first.â
âDâyou mind popping into the bathroom real quick to get a hand-towel from Brian for me?â Kelly teased. âThe door doesnât lock⊠just go right in. Look, I just want to wipe up a bit.â
âD-donât you ever get, ah, embarrassed, when itâs with these kind of⊠things?â Stephanie asked, perplexed. âBe serious.â
âYouâre such a lame dork,â Kelly groaned, poking the girlâs cheek. âWhat, walking in on him gettinâ dressed doesnât interest you at all? Afraid of seeing his schlong, or are you afraid something might happen? Isnât that what you want?â
âN-no,â Stephanie shook her head stubbornly. âT-tonight, o-or-or, um, or later today, m-maybe. Doing that, doing, ah, things, with th-the three of us is⊠well, maybe if I even, if I even actually can do that, it needs to be, um⊠I donât want to miss anything, any of this convention with him, even if itâs, uh, I know itâs not like itâs a date, or anything, butâŠâ
âYeah, yeah,â Kelly sighed, heaving up off the bed and digging through her purse for a sanitary wipe. âGimme the box, then.â Well, I did get more out of her than I thought I would. Maybe she really thought Iâdâve actually bailed on them? Playing up the whole frustration thing was brilliant. Makinâ her watch, hell, making her help, turned out to be way fuckinâ hotter than when I played with myself in the shower last night. Wonder what I can coax her into doing next?
Shuffling back over, Stephanie presented Kelly with the packing box that contained the Calamity Queen gothic lolita set, all while studiously avoiding any accidental glimpse of Kellyâs half-nude figure.
âOkay, uh⊠well, huh,â Kelly muttered, pulling piece after piece of the gothic lolita outfit out of the box and laying them out upon the bed. âThereâs like, a buncha extra bits in here. Has a dress, and then a skirt, and then these goofy little shorts, too.â
âAh, no, thatâs a petticoat, and those are bloomers,â Stephanie chimed, making her way over. Stephanie couldnât help but pick up the dress off the bed and look at it in admiration.âYou wear them both beneath the dress, and they, um, give the dress more volume, bring it out away from your body in a⊠kind of a bell shape.â
âNice, huh?â Kelly prompted.
âItâs beautiful,â Stephanie breathed. âI thought it might be, um, cheaply made, but this lace is expensive,â Stephanie said. âCotton thread, and thereâs no real base netting⊠and the floral arrangement is gorgeous. H-how much did this outfit cost?â
âOkay, whatever. Where are we starting? Kelly laughed. âSeriously, though, how do I put all of this on?â
âN-normal clothes off,â Stephanie instructed. âYour tank top, I mean. Ex-except, underwear, please. Put on some real underwear. Itâs Brianâs costume, so you canâtââ
âChe,â Kelly tsked. âFine, fine.â Crossing over to her purse, she withdrew the pair of g-string panties and began untangling them.
âDo you, um,â Stephanie began, seemingly mesmerized by that tiny bit of string, âdid you even bring a bra to the convention?â
âNo way,â Kelly denied, turning her bottom provocatively towards Stephanie as she squirmed and wiggled the panties up to their tightest fitâintent on teaching the girl just why the G-string was so often thought of as floss. âLast time I took a bra out for a weekend excursion like this, I never found it again afterwards. And those fuckers are expensive. Why, you got anything I can borrow in a C-cup?â
âIâm, um, Iâmâuh, no. I donât,â Stephanie answered, turning away bashfully as Kelly pulled her tank top up and off.
âWouldja quit pretending to be shy? Your hands were like, all over these puppies a few minutes ago. Just lookingâs not gonna make you any gayer than you already are,â Kelly laughed, hefting those full, round shapes for emphasis before letting them fall freely on naked display.
âIâm-Iâm not gay,â Stephanie protested.
âYour call,â Kelly shrugged, stepping over to the bathroom door.
âBrian? You alright, or do I need to send Steph in there to check on you?â Kelly called, rapping her knuckles against the bathroom door. The sound of running water had stopped some time ago, but still Brian had yet to emerge. Leaning in closer, she could faintly discern rustling sounds from within.
âOut in a minute,â a muffled voice responded. âGettinâ my costume on⊠these belt snaps arenât lining up at all like I remember they were supposed to. Maybe something got twistedâŠ?â
âUh⊠âkay,â Kelly acknowledged, and sent a curious glance towards his small pile of things beside the bed. Getting his costume on? Isnât his Lance jacket and everything over there still?
âWh-what if heâd come out right then?!â Stephanie asked in a hushed whisper, glaring at the girlâs exposed breasts for emphasis.
âI know, it was worth a shot, right?â Kelly winked, neatly catching the pair of gothic lolita bloomers Stephanie tossed at her.
âUgh, I really have to wear this thing, too?â As Kelly held that black pair of bloomers in her hands, she couldnât help but give Stephanie a dubious look. She sighed and shook her head, stepping into them and pulling them up her legs.
Well, at least theyâre comfy. Unable to resist, she immediately bounced over towards the mirror to see how she looked in them.
âAh, hold on, itâs notâtheyâre not done,â Stephanie admonished lightly, pointing towards the dangling ribbons. The pink-haired cutie knelt down beside her and pulled these drawstrings tight, cinching the brief bloomer legs snug about her thighs and giving the undergarments their distinctive bubbled shape.
Strange. Kelly had been sure this thing would look ridiculous on her, but⊠werenât these actually pretty cute? There was an exaggerated fluffy puffiness to themâher silhouette would probably look as though she was wearing a pumpkin over her hipsâbut rather than simply seeming silly, they gave her a sense of charming femininity. They were adorable; while the underwear wasnât revealing in the slightest, these bows and ruffles were clearly meant to be appreciated, which somehow made them feel coy rather than prudish. As Stephanie tied her ribbons off into neat little bows, Kelly felt like sheâd become a present to be unwrapped. Maybe in a couple hours?
âNow the petticoat,â Stephanie instructed, holding up the garment that looked like a skirt.
âChrist, what the hell kinda sewing sorcery is this?â
âIt is very nice,â Stephanie admitted. âThese two bottom tiers are pleated, but th-thereâs pintucksâah, you see, theyâre these tiny little bands of folded fabricâall across each of the pleats. And, ah, between each of the folds up here at the bands, the bows they made, theyâre sewn shut b-but not simply separate pieces sewn on, ribbon actually was laced through. For something that uh, that wonât even be seen when itâs worn, this is all very excessâum, extravagant.â
âWhat do you mean, it wonât be seen?â Kelly raised an eyebrow.
âItâs like I said, the, the petticoat goes on over the bloomers, and then the dress will go on over the petticoat,â Stephanie explained patiently.
Maybe the designers just expected someone to be there to appreciate each little state of undress? Kelly wondered as she stepped into the petticoat, a grin tugging at the corner of her lip. Taking a step back from the mirror so that she could see more of herself, Kelly was impressed, fluffing the petticoatâs folds gently with her hands. âWow. Definitely a lot more volume than Iâm used to.â
Then, the masterpiece came onâthe dress. Okay, no, this thing is the piece of sewing sorcery. It was a stygian shade of black, and the love and care that had been put into the design of the bloomers and petticoat⊠here on the dress itself reached a level of obsession. The garment was the perfect wedding of funeral dress and bridal gown; a marriage of somber severity and elegant exuberance, intertwined not seamlessly, but rather with every seam lovingly tailored to draw out and complement these details. The hem was a stunning flowery composition of eyelet lace, making it difficult to tell where the fabric ended and that embroidered lace began.
The accessories were equally impressiveâthat same intricate bouquet pattern evident in the lace of the dress wrapped about the black stockings Stephanie slipped up her legs, and had also been hand-tooled into the supple leather of the corset. Despite feeling her breaths fall shorter at the tightness as Stephanie carefully laced her into the bodice, Kelly couldnât help but admire the phenomenal shape it gave her. How much did Brian actually spend on this? Sliding her lace-stocking fitted feet into the rather simple pair of glossy black mary janes, Stephanie buckled the footwear for her and the outfit was complete.
âKelly⊠Kelly, oh my god,â Stephanie exclaimed, adjusting her glasses before stepping further back for a better look. âYou look amazing.â
Kelly couldnât help but agree. Sheâd been mocking the costumes and outfits yesterday at the convention, but this Noblesse Oblique gothic lolita outfit wasnât anything even she could poke fun at. It was gorgeous, and it exuded a macabre gracefulness that seemed to magnify Kellyâs own unique charm. There was a strange, powerful thrill at seeing herself dolled up in it, a sense of significance, an air of gravitas that left a startling impression.
There had been times yesterday when sheâd felt a little like a goddess striding among the various geeks at the convention; now she felt a whole lot more like one, by several orders of magnitude. She felt like sheâd be able to stop passersby in their tracks with a mere look, like she could make someone break into a cold sweat with her casual glance.
Horrifyingly beautiful⊠with just a touch of malicious magnificence, she thought, and unleashed a haunting, evil smile.
âOh my god,â Stephanie repeated, a silly expression on her face. âKelly, that looks so good on you. I, I really mean it. You look incredible.â
ââŠThank you,â Kelly said seriously, exhaling and finally pulling her gaze away from her reflection to face Stephanie. âNow pull the chair up here to the mirror. Iâm gonna do our makeup, weâre gonna look like fuckinâ goddesses, and weâre gonna go fuckinâ rock this convention.â
By the time Brian finally stepped out of the bathroom, the girls were just finishing up. He actually managed to startle them, as he was now dressed from head-to-toe in an unfamiliar new costume. Most of the outfit was a simple black bodysuit upon which simple white skeleton bones were patterned on, while he wore a helmet resembling a stylized skull that hid his entire faceâthe eye sockets filled in with a black fabric mesh he could presumably still see out of. He wore a pair of stout white gloves with loose, open wrists, a matching pair of boots, and a white pair of wrestling briefs were worn beneath a utility belt filled with pouches. There was an ever-so-slight bulge in his briefs, but it wasnât the tell-tale outline of genitalia. Fuckerâs got a cup or something on. Clever.
âWhoa, nice! Really, you look amazing,â Brian said, nodding his skull helmet in admiration at Kellyâs attire. The girls both still seemed speechless at his sudden new appearance. âThe gothic lolita look was perfect for you, Kelly, definitely. You look great.â
âUh⊠thanks. What are you supposed to be?â Kelly asked, staring incredulously at his strange getup. âYouâre not gonna be Lance again today?â
âYou recognized that I was Lance?â Brian remarked, tilting his skull helm. âYou didnât strike me as an old-school Fantasy Wars player.â
âWhat?â Kelly quickly scowled and shook her head in denial. âYeah right, no way. I think one of you must have mentioned the name. Right? Anyways, whoâre you supposed to be now?â
âDonât recognize it?â Brian guessed, looking from Kelly to Stephanie and receiving only blank looks. âIâm a Darkmask, from Hero Hero Haruki. Theyâre the expendable-minion sorta guys for one of the super-villains. In a manga where most characters are jumping several stories and squashing tanks with bare-handed punches, the Darkmasks are pretty much just ordinary guys dressed up like evil henchmen, though.â
âOkay, so⊠why cosplay as one of them?â
âWell, they wonât seem cool âtill youâve read the comic,â Brian admitted, removing the helmet and running a hand through his hair. âItâs a comedy series, for the most part. Action comedy. In the beginning of the series you see Darkmasks everywhere throughout the city, kinda mixed in with the ordinary citizens.
âLike, youâll see a Darkmask dressed just like this, but also wearing a wig and pushing a stroller, with a little baby Darkmask in it. Or a Darkmask in a convenience store wearinâ a clerkâs uniform apron, and nobody bats an eye. Nobody except for the protagonist Haruki, whoâs always kinda freaked out that no one else seems to notice themâbut he assumes itâs just part of the whole weird hero craze.
âI figured itâd be a great joke cosplay, like people would want to get shots of me, like, mixed in a background of normal people as if no one was noticing me. Iâm gonna be the âcasual shopperâ Darkmask, Iâll carry around this bag,â Brian explained, hefting up a plastic grocery bag. Several cup ramen packages were inside, along with a cabbage, and the slender stalk of a leek was sticking out the top. âI got this blank bag, and even stencilled on the logo of the fake convenience store brand from the manga⊠you guys stopped listening, didnât you?â
âN-no, it sounds really interesting!â Stephanie laughed, smiling at him. âItâs just a shame, that ah, that you have to cover your face for this cosplay, thatâs all. Itâs really good otherwise, though. You look really cool.â
âItâs uh, cute seeing you geek out,â Kelly tried, giving him a strange look. âLet me get this straight, though, youâre an ordinary person, dressing up as a bad guy henchman character⊠whoâs in turn poorly disguised as an ordinary person shopping? I feel like a lot of people arenât going to get it.â
âIâm sure the people who read Hero Hero Haruki will love it,â Stephanie defended. âIâm a little jealous. I, uh, only made one costume, the Flamituff dress. I donât know if I should wear it again today, sin-since I wore it yesterday already.â
âConsâre always more fun when youâre in costume, for me, at least,â Brian said. âIâd say go ahead and wear it again, it looks really cute on you.â
âY-yeah?â Stephanie responded bashfully, bursting forth again with a beaming smile. âThank you. I think I will, then.â
Watching the lovestruck girl scamper to pull her bag into the bathroom to change, Kelly couldnât help but grin as well. Just waitâll you see how cute itâs gonna look cominâ off of herâŠ
âTotally donât wanna⊠impose or anything,â Kelly coughed, âBut what are your, like, convention plans for the day? Do you have a set plan, specific things youâre gonna go to, things like that? Wasnât sure if you needed some space to go off and do your own thing, or if it was cool if we kinda tagged along, orâŠ?â
âHonestly, my âplanâ this weekend was to wander around, all alone, being miserable and feeling sorry for myself,â Brian said seriously, regarding her for a solemn moment before his lopsided grin surfaced. He spun the helmet in his hands between his fingers like a basketball before effortlessly slipping it back up onto his head in one smooth motion.
âBut thatâs already totally fallen through, so I guess that means weâre on plan B now, then,â he laughed, slightly muffled from within his helmet.
Sure seems like heâs in a much better mood since he came out of the shower, Kelly observed ruefully. Whatâd he do, spurt out gallons of semen in there?
âSounds good, whatâs plan B, then?â Kelly asked, giving him a wide grin. âŠBesides the morning-after birth control Steph and I might need after tonight?
âNo idea,â Brian chuckled. âBut⊠Iâm excited again to be goinâ around the convention this time. You guys, you really saved me. So in return, I want to show you both a really good time today. I feel like weâre gonna have a blast today.â
âYeah?â Kelly murmured, and that rare genuine smile of hers appeared again, a refreshing red moonbeam breaking through a dark sky of difficult to discern cloud cover.
There was substance to that undisguised good will in his voice, honest appreciation that made her heart skip a beat. There were dozens of raunchy comebacks she couldâve even used, but all of them ducked away and slipped out of her weakly grasping thoughts. She tried to collect herself, but found herself unable to erase that weird, alien feeling within her. Ah⊠fuck. Am I starting to get sentimental, now? Felt like he touched a⊠soft spot there, or somethinâ.
âWell, you do still owe me the rest of that massage,â Kelly reminded him, easing her expression back into a teasing mask and immediately feeling more grounded. âYou said last night youâd⊠finish it, remember?â
âYeah, but I donât know if you could handle that,â Brian countered, cocking his helmet at her daringly.
âWanna try me?â Kelly challenged, stepping closerâbut all she was getting back from him was the blank stare of that stupid skull helmet. Damnit, heâs so much harder to bully now that I canât read his face.
âMaybe, but should I even bother?â Brianâs muffled voice answered. âI mean, that was gonna be in exchange for telling us why you were here at the con⊠and you didnât really give us much of an answer, remember?â
âI did so,â Kelly spat, playfully slapping at his chest, but let her hand linger there afterward. Fuck, no reaction there, either? What gives? Wasnât he all flinching away from me right before his shower?
âEh, it was weak, though. Weak answersâll only get weak massages,â Brian gave a helpless shrug.
âI even told you again this morning,â Kelly insisted, dropping her voice to a low purr. âIâm just here to⊠have a good time, you know? Although, if you really want, we can, ya know, get into it again⊠after you finish that massage.â
âThatâd be boring,â Brian chuckled, undaunted. âWhy donât we do both at once? Iâll coax all the answers right outta you, the dreaded Darkmask interrogation ten-fingers torture technique.â
âOoh, I like the sound of that,â Kelly brightened, smirking at him and bringing her other hand up to his chest. Ten fingers, huh? âGot anything to tie me up with?â
âCanât I just have Steph pin you down?â
âSounds perfect,â Kelly laughed, and she could feel her cheeks warming. âYou really do know how to get a girl excited after all. Wanna just hold off on going over to the convention? I mean, it is still so earlyâŠâ The thought of Stephanie earnestly and eagerly nibbling up her neck alone was enough to make her shiver. Imagining that girlâs slender fingers along with Brianâs domineering hands, each roaming rampant across her, every nubile contour of her body pulled and positioned and played with, until every inch of her flesh just aching for release⊠Yep, Iâm wet already. Fuck me.
âWell, there was a few things I still wanted to hit up today. Thereâs a Hero Hero Haruki cosplay meetup planned around noon⊠probably a couple Darkmask photoshoots, and then a bunch of random shenanigans. Then Iâll need to stop by and wish my buddy Mark luck before his Mana tournament, too. Everything else on the menu is, you know, shopping, and taking some pictures and everything⊠donât you think a massage is better after a long day on your feet?â
âTch, yeah I guess,â Kelly pouted. âHow long did you normally spend at the con, with your group or whatever?â
âNormally it was kinda just me making sure Chloe got to all the panels she wanted to see, trying to keep Emily from molesting anyone or embarrassing herself, hitting the big events like the costume and AMV contests⊠you know, going with the flow. Today, I guess itâll mostly be whatever you girls wanna do.â
âYeah? Well, what if we want to do you?â
Câmon, thatâs a pretty good one to think up on the spot. She wanted to get a rise out of him, some kind of decent reaction, but she couldnât see his expression at all behind that damned goofy skull helmet. She found herself watching in disbelief as he comically pantomimed shock in slow motion by wordlessly tilting his helmet and placing his gloved hands on the skull cheeks.
ââŠPffft,â she finally laughed, unable to contain herself. âYouâre such a⊠such aââ
âIâmâIâm ready!â Stephanie announced, rabbit ears bobbing as she wobbled out of the bathroom enclosure. She was still tugging one of her thigh-high pink boots the rest of the way up, bouncing with energy and excited for the day at the convention.
âIâm ready,â Brian confirmed, patting the row of pouches sewn onto his utility belt. âHave my room key, Iâve got my phone and wallet, got some snack bars. And my con badge, oâcourse. Does everyone have their badges?â
âI do!â Stephanie affirmed.
âUh, shit,â Kelly muttered, crossing the room in a swish of extravagant black skirt to pull her badge lanyard off the dresser. âShould I leave my purse here? It doesnât exactly look lolita.â
âSure, you can leave it,â Brianâs skull helm nodded. âIf you have anything you need to bring along, Iâve still got empty pouches here on my belt.â
âCool, thanks,â Kelly said, a devious grin appearing. âHere.â Twirling, she began passing him items out of her purse, one by one. Her phone, and then a travel-sized tube of personal lubricant. Three condom packets, still connectedâ, Stephanieâs eyes widened at the sight of them, and the girl turned away to retrieve something from her own bagâand finally, a crumpled and heavily weathered twenty-dollar bill.
âThat should be everything weâŠuh, that is, everything I need,â Kelly reported sweetly.
Again without saying a word, Brian shook his helmet in exaggerated exasperation and threw up his hands in resignation.
âWait, dâyou not need your little accessory⊠thing, this time?â Kelly asked, picking up a small wooden token, a charm bound at the edges with white and red thread. Turning it over curiously in her fingers, she found that some Japanese symbols were carved into one side. Something about it seemsâŠ
âOh, right, canât forget the charm,â Brian chuckled, accepting it from her. âEmilyâd be asking why the hell I wasnât wearing it.â
âYou wear a good luck charm?â Kelly snorted. âYou donât strike me as the superstitious type.â
âItâs not a good luck charm, itâsââ Brian began.
ââitâs a harem charm,â Stephanie finished for him, watching intently as he fastened it to his convention lanyard around his wrist and tucked it into his glove. âAnd itâs, um⊠itâs working?â
âHah, yeah, right,â Brian laughed. âAre we all ready to head across the street to the con?â
The fuckâs a harem charm? Kelly wondered, but didnât bother asking. Wasnât that the little pin he had yesterday?
âO-okay, letâs go!â Stephanie declared.
Alright, this is actually pretty cool, Kelly decided, looking on in appreciation as the Darkmask minion led the rabbit-eared girl in the cute dress out the door of their hotel room. She followed a half-pace behind them like an angelic shadow, dressed to the nines in the overly elaborate Calamity Queen set. We have our own little crew, and we all look fuckinâ badass.
âOh, fuck,â Kelly hopped forward and pulled Stephanie back into the doorway to playfully whisper in her ear. âOur deal, I forgot to really ask you the details. You said that you want Brian to like, not be able to hold back his feelings for you, right? So how do you want them? When the time comes, do you want his feelings, like, deep inside of you, or is it okay if he just spurts them out all over your pretty liâl face?â