Story: The Adjusters #5

5 - The First Card

"The other musketeers are still coming over tonight?" asked Jenn, as
Daniel cleared the table after dinner.

"Yup." He started the water for the dishes. "I should double check we
have snacks."

"We do." Jenn settled down and finished her glass of wine watching him
work. "So what's happening with Serena? I've been so busy this last
week that I haven't seen her."

"I don't really know, actually. I haven't seen her much either. Still
investigating still frustrated, I suppose. She's been pretty
scarce. Even Radhu's starting to mope. We'll get to ask her tonight."

"Glad she could find the time to come and join us."

"She does enjoy her Kittens' Den."

Jenn smiled and said nothing. She watched Daniel quietly as he washed
the dishes. There was no set schedule for domestic duties, and they
had never really needed one. They somehow managed to find a natural
rhythm. Jenn viewed it as further proof they were perfect for each
other; Daniel did not disagree.

Daniel was sorely tempted to tell Jenn that he had been talking to
various people, investigating options in Austin, but Jenn had made
clear throughout the week, whenever he had attempted to broach the
topic, that she did not want to talk about it until their date a few
weeks from then.

Before he could contemplate the prospect further, however, his cell
phone buzzed. "Can you get that? My hands are wet."

"It's Serena," Jenn said after picking up the phone. "Hey sweetie,
Jenn here. Yes, he's here. Doing his domestic duties. Got him well
trained. Sure, hold on."

She put the phone to Daniel's ear. "Hi Serena, what's up?"

"I need a favor." Serena sounded like she was outside.

"Shoot."

"I'm up on west Campus, and I'm set up to talk to this guy who says he
knows something about Marjorie, and... Well, I could use some company,
someone that won't spook him."

"Huh... sure, okay. West Campus. I guess I can be there in fifteen,
twenty minutes? Are we still doing Kittens' Den afterwards?"

"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world."

Jenn looked at Daniel with a question on her face, and he brought her
up to speed after disconnecting.

"We shouldn't be too long. If Radhu shows up, just distract him. I'll
call you when we're on our way back."

"Okay. Be careful."

"Don't worry. I know how to handle Serena."

Jenn hit him on the shoulder. "Go before I beat you."

The bus ride to West Campus was quick, and Daniel stepped off at the
main stop on the road that sneaked through the student dormitories
making up that section of Darnell. Serena was waiting, under a
lamplight. She hugged him. He thought she looked tired.

"Thanks for coming," she said.

"No problem. Though I don't understand why I'm here, really."

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "I'll tell you later. We
should get going."

"Where are we off to?" Serena was taking them to one of the residence
halls, a tall red brick building with conspicuous ivy covering most of
the facade. One of the smaller halls, Daniel knew, and one that housed
mainly graduate students.

"We're meeting with a student, Jeremy Blatawski. He was Marjorie's
last known boyfriend."

"Was?"

"Supposedly, they broke up a few month ago."

"A few months. Wait, that's --"

"That's pretty much when the weird stuff started happening. Funny
that."

At the reception desk, Serena told the student attendant that she was
expected, and Jeremy Blatawski was called down. He showed up after
five minutes and let them in. They headed to the dining hall which was
slowly emptying after dinner.

Daniel seized up Jeremy on the walk and knew that Serena was doing
exactly the same. Tall and thin without being lanky, Jeremy Blatawski
was unremarkable: dark hair neither long nor short, features neither
ugly nor handsome, and wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, which were
almost camouflage on a campus. He was a chemistry doctoral candidate,
they learned, three years into his program, researching the effects of
corrosive agents on the next generation of plastic polymers.

"You said on the phone that you wanted to know about Marjorie then?"
asked Jeremy, drinking a chamomile tea. Daniel and Serena had declined
food and drinks. They were seated at an isolated table in the dining
hall.

"Yes," said Serena, pulling out a notebook. Unsure of his role, Daniel
merely sat and listened. "I'm investigating her disappearance for the
Daily, and I just had a few questions for you. Thank you for taking
the time to talk to me." Daniel was always amazed at how his friend
could channel a professional tone and composure at the drop of a
hat. It made such a remarkable difference from the exuberant girl he
was used to.

"It's no problem at all. I'm just afraid I won't be able to help you
much. I haven't seen Marjorie in two months now." An expression of
sadness clouded over his face, and he stared at the wall in silence,
lost in thoughts.

Serena gave him a minute before continuing.

"I understand, mister Blatawski. Still, you may know something that
could help us find her. Now, you and Marjorie were a couple, yes?"

"Yes. For almost a year. We met when I was her teaching assistant for
Intro to Chem. She came to my office hours with a few questions, we
hit it off, and we started seeing each other more and more. We kept it
secret until the end of semester because, you know, it's frowned upon,
TAs and students cavorting. Of course, I made sure that the other TA
for the course graded her papers and exams, so at least
ethically-speaking I'm clean, to myself if to no one else."

"Tell me about Marjorie."

"What's there to say? She was wonderful. Always smiling, almost bubbly
at times, full of energy. She loved photography -- she worked at the
paper, so you probably knew that already." Serena nodded. "She was an
Arts major, photography and digital arts. Although she loved anything
having to do with images."

"And she took chemistry?" Daniel asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "Someone told her that it might be a good course to
take given that some of the stuff she was interested in was
old-fashioned photography with film emulsions, as well as painting
with contemporary products to get effects distinct from traditional
oil or acrylic paints. I thought that was a bit misguided -- the level
at which we look at things in chemistry was way overkill for what she
wanted to do -- but I can't complain since it got us to talk at length
in the first place. And she was good at it, too. It didn't do much for
her painting, but it gave her some background to understand what I
work on."

"And how would you characterize her relationships? How does she get
along with people? With men?"

"She's okay with people. Friendly, liked to talk. She isn't
exceedingly comfortable with men, but she isn't afraid or
anything. Maybe just a bit intimidated at times. She's shy. But she
was perfectly relaxed with me."

"And she is beautiful."

"Yes. Maybe that was part of the problem. Men would often hit on her,
and she never really knew how to respond. She could be pretty
reserved, unless she had a camera before her, and then she became
someone completely different."

"So what happened to break it off?"

"I wish I could tell you, but it all happened so fast I'm not sure I
know myself. I was in the Ghetto, at a friend's, and just when I was
leaving his apartment I see her in the hallway of the building. I call
her name, she seems not to hear me, so I run after her, turn the
corner, and I see her knocking at another apartment's door. She's
wearing this long jacket, which I thought was weird because it was
late August and pretty hot out. The door opens, this boy greets her,
they exchange a few words, and then she steps up to him and kisses
him. They kiss for a while, and she pulls up closer and rubs herself
against him likes she really wants to get it on. I'm shocked. To say
the least. The kiss lasts a while, and then the boy lets her in and
closes the door behind her. I don't know what to do at that point. I
almost go up and knock on the door myself, but I don't have the
guts. What would happen anyways? It's either her, and then what's
there to say, or it's not her, and I make a fool of myself. So I just
leave and head back here."

Serena interrupted him gently. "Do you remember the apartment number?"

Jeremy nodded. "Apartment 3. At 102 College Drive."

"Thank you," said Serena, scribbling down the information. "Please,
continue."

"Not much more to tell, sadly. Later that night, she calls me, asks me
if she can come over, but I ask her about her evening. She says that
she was home all evening to study, and that she had missed me. I ask
her if she went out at any point, and I guess I'm not very smooth
about it, cause she asks me why I'm asking, and before too long I'm
demanding to know who the guy was and she's telling me that she didn't
know I could be such a jerk, and then I'm shouting and she's shouting,
and she hangs up on me or me on her, and that's the last I've heard
from Marjorie."

"Wow," says Serena. "Painful stuff. I'm so sorry. No words from her at
all?"

"Nothing. She had a friend of hers bring me a small box of stuff I had
left at her place. Toothbrush, socks, those sort of stupid... Fuck,
I'm sorry." He turned away from Serena and Daniel, wiping his eyes
discreetly.

"Sorry," he continued. "Didn't realize this was so... fresh
still. Hardest thing is that I don't know what happened, how things
went from great to shitty all in one evening."

"It is just one more strange thing among many strange things about
this case, mister Blatawski. May I ask you a more... personal
question? Feel free not to answer if you find it too invasive."

"Go ahead." He sounded tired.

"How were you and Marjorie doing sexually? Any problems? Anything odd?
Anything that you think might be relevant?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Not really, no. I mean, everything was normal, I
guess. I mean... Look, I haven't had that much experience with girls,
before. I had a few girlfriends, but nothing really really serious, so
it's kind of hard to compare. It was so different with Marjorie, it
was, I don't know..."

"It was made better by the fact that there was this perfect connection
between you two," completed Daniel. Serena gave him a curious look.

"Exactly." Jeremy smiled. "A catalyst of sorts, if I can make a chem
analogy. But yes, sex was great, not because it was necessarily great
by itself, though it was, but because I loved her. And I thought she
loved me. Until that evening, that is. Now, I don't know. I don't know
anything anymore."

"I'm not sure how to ask this, mister Blatawski, so forgive me again
for being blunt. Did Marjorie have any fantasies of submission?"

Jeremy looked at Serena with confusion. "What do you mean,
submission?"

"Did she ever mention anything or do anything to suggest that she was
aroused by fantasies of being submissive to someone else?"

"You mean, like whips and leather and stuff like that?"

"Well, that can be a part of it, but not exclusively. Submission can
be purely intellectual. Did Marjorie ever give any indication of
obeying to people that were forceful, or dominating, not out of fear,
but out of something like duty, or even desire?"

Jeremy looked at a loss. "No, not that I can think of. I mean, as I
said, she was shy, usually, so she did not put up fights or stuff,
but, she was not deferential or anything like that. At worse, she
would try to disappear in a corner, make herself invisible, shut up,
maybe even leave. But obey, or doing something that someone else
wanted her to do just because they would ask forcefully? No, that's
not Marjorie. Or, I mean, not the Marjorie I thought I knew." He shook
his head.

Serena stole a glance at Daniel, and gave him a quick nod. "Thank you,
mister Blatawski. This was very helpful. If you remember anything else
that you think is relevant, please don't be shy and just call me --
you still have my number?" She stood up, and Daniel followed suit.

Jeremy, looking like he had been pounded on by a heavyweight champ,
remained sitting in his chair. "Do you know what happened to her? Do
you know what's going on?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to find out, mister Blatawski. As soon
as I get some answers, I will be sure to inform you." She paused. "She
was my friend too."

Serena and Daniel were turning to leave, when Serena stopped and
looked at Jeremy. "One last question: have you ever seen this
bracelet?" She showed him the charms bracelet they had found in the
alley behind The Spirited Flesh the previous week.

"Huh, yes, it was Marjorie's. Well, Marjorie had one like that. I've
seen a few like that around."

"Do you know where she got it from?"

"No idea. She just had it on, one day. I asked about it, and she said
she won it in some contest. She kept winning stuff -- a stuffy
alligator, a sock puppet made to resemble our school mascot, stuff
like that. She loved games." He looked ready to cry again.

"One last question, for real this time. Did Marjorie have anything to
do with the Delta Iota Kappa fraternity?"

"Not that I know of. Marjorie didn't care for frats or
sororities. Perhaps through a piece for the paper? That job took her
to various places on campus."

"Perhaps. Thanks again, mister Blatawski. Good night."

On their way out of the residence, Serena was deep in thought,
intermittently talking to herself. "I checked at the paper, and
Marjorie wasn't on any story involving Delta Iota Kappa. Worth
checking the contest angle. And trying to find other people with that
bracelet. And of course talking to that guy on College Drive."

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Daniel. "What was that about
submission?"

"Just something that's coming out of the chats I've been having with
people these last few weeks. In those months since Marjorie has been
acting weird, there was a sense that she was not herself, that she was
basically doing what other people wanted. I can't quite put it into
words, but the way people talked about it, she behaved a bit like a
submissive. Not quite though. It's weird. Subs tend to show those
tendencies across the board, but Marjorie didn't do that. It's like it
was switched on and off. But submission doesn't work that way."

Daniel did not ask her how she knew. Serena had grown silent again,
thinking. Back at the bus stop, she seemed to snap out of it, shaking
her head. "Okay, then. Bus back? We have ourselves a little show to
watch, right?" She smiled at Daniel who responded in kind.

"Indeed. Jenn and Radhu are probably waiting for us by now. Huh,
Serena, can I ask? Why did you want me here?"

"You mean that you're not curious about Marjorie? No, I know, okay. I
was just a bit... worried. Really silly of me, I know. But it helps to
have my knight in shining armor by my side on such outings."

"Serena, the day you're going to need a knight in shining armor to
protect you is the day I'll vote Republican. Right after I join the
Army."

Serena grinned. "Okay, okay." She became serious. "I received this
earlier today, at the paper, and I admit that it spooked me just a
little bit. I just didn't really feel like being alone."

Daniel picked up the folded piece of paper that Serena was holding
out. It was blank except for Serena's name on the outside, in blue
ink, and only a few words printed on the inside. "Stop looking for
Marjorie Duquesne, or you will regret it."

"That's rather... direct, " Daniel said, after a pause.

"Yeah. Very Sopranos. At least, no horse head in my bed. Yet." She
laughed. Daniel looked at her, unsure of the joke.

"I gotta laugh at it, don't I? I'm not going to stop, for sure. As I
told Jeremy, Marjorie was a friend. And she's in trouble. That's
pretty clear now. Someone doesn't want me to find her. So now I just
have to find that someone."

"Serena, I don't like this. It's starting to sound dangerous."

"Then it's a good thing I've got you around to protect me, no?"

The bus arrived before Daniel could say anything in response. When
they made it back to the apartment that Daniel and Jenn shared, they
could tell from the voices from the living room that Radhu was already
there.

"Hi love, I'm back," shouted Daniel, "and I found someone on the way,
just wandering the streets, lonely. Can we keep her?"

Jenn and Radhu were sitting in the living room, talking and
drinking. Radhu, relaxed but still sitting straight on the sofa, Jenn
looking a little crazed, rising to meet Daniel and Serena as they
entered the room.

"Sorry we're late," said Daniel, kissing his girlfriend. "Hey Rad,
hope you haven't been waiting too long."

"No," Radhu replied. "Just ten minutes. I was regaling your girlfriend
here with the latest news about Higgs bosons and what physicist are
endeavoring to discover at CERN in the coming years. The latest
article in Physics Review Letters is simply fascinating."

Jenn made a face, and mouthed an unmistakable "Help!" Daniel laughed,
and sat beside his friend.

"Rad, what did I tell you about talking to women?"

"Jenn is not a woman, she's your girlfriend."

Even Serena had to suppress a giggle at that one. Jenn frowned. Daniel
shook his head, then headed off the argument.

"How about you bring me up to speed before we start the show, while we
let the ladies catch up?"

"Actually, Jenn," said Serena, "do you mind if I borrow some comfy
clothes for the evening? This is a bit stiff, and I forgot to pack
anything else."

"No problem." Jenn took Serena by the arm while casting an evil eye at
Radhu. "We'll find you something that fits."

While Radhu entertained Daniel with the latest updates about the Large
Hadron Collider, Daniel set up the entertainment system for their
show. He recorded the weekly showings of Kittens' Den, an HBO series
that all of them had been watching together, every Thursday night, for
the past six months.

"Do you know what tonight's episode is about?" asked Radhu.

"Nope." Daniel fiddled with the remote control.

"I sincerely hope this will not label me a turncoat, as you so
colorfully say, but I find myself preferring this series to the
original Whedon's series," said Radhu.

"Yeah," replied Daniel, having figured out the right sequence of
buttons to press. "Dollhouse was good, but it was needlessly dark and
aimless. And following a character without real agency was a tough
one. It got a bit better there at the end, but still. Well, this one's
on cable, so I guess it gives them a bit more freedom. I mean, Megan
Fox, half naked, right?"

Radhu merely smiled.

"You want something to drink?" asked Daniel, heading for the kitchen.

"No thank you, I'm good."

When Daniel came back, Jenn had returned with Serena. They had managed
to find something for Serena to wear, and Daniel grinned when he saw
Radhu's face, who looked as close to having his eyes bulge out as he
ever had. And for a good reason, thought Daniel. Serena had on one of
his girlfriend's camisoles, which was exceedingly tight across her
generous chest -- somewhat larger than Jenn's -- as well as a pair of
cotton shorts that were just as tight. She looked relaxed and demure,
and sexy as all hell, a picture out of a lingerie catalog. Daniel took
an appreciative look at Serena's long legs, then shrugged at Jenn as
if to say "what can I say, they're nice," adding a look that was meant
to convey "but I prefer yours." Jenn smiled in return. She was also
dressed to lounge, but she had chosen a long flowing cotton dress that
hugged her curves.

He noted, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have such
wonderful and beautiful girls around him -- Serena the exotic
firecracker, with the body of a wild beast, and Jenn the elegant
beauty, with the body of a graceful toned dancer. Daniel was certain
that had Radhu been able to voice an opinion at that moment he would
have agreed.

Everyone settled down around the living room in the pattern that had
evolved over all those television or movie nights that had become
their biweekly routine -- a semi-structured way for them to spend some
time together, the three musketeers who were really four. They often
would pick a series to watch and religiously follow it; they went
through much of Lost that way, the first few seasons of Heroes before
it became unwatchable, and of course Dollhouse until its
cancellation. Jumping ship to the knock-off Kittens' Den was a step
they had taken with the collective equivalent of an amused grin, fully
expecting to mock the new show and then move on to something better.

To their surprise, the pilot episode of Kittens' Den had turned out to
be good, and the following episodes were watched with interest, a
phenomenon that was repeated across households the whole country
over. The show received phenomenal ratings, especially considering
that it was essentially a science-fiction show, and broadcast on a
cable network. That last fact certainly helped the show runners, since
they were not subject to the usual broadcast restrictions.

The setup of the show was similar to that of its inspiration -- a
large corporation develops a mind-imprint technology that it uses to
supply a special service to wealthy customers, namely the rental of
women with specifically designed personalities. Those women are housed
in residences where they are taken care of and kept docile between
assignments. When a customer shows up with a specific need, a suitable
host, campily called a kitten, is chosen and imprinted with the
requested personality, and loaned to the client. After the agreed-upon
completion of the assignment, the kitten returns to the den and her
mind is wiped, until a new customer requires her service. Swap out
kittens for dolls, and you had Dollhouse. One difference, made
abundantly clear as early as the pilot episode, was that while
Dollhouse used sex and sexual fantasies for titillation and fan
service only and focused on customers with somewhat unlikely needs,
Kittens' Den took the much more believable narrative path that in all
likelihood kittens would be used primarily for sexual gratification --
for a fee, you could get a beautiful girl with a body to kill for and
a personality that could be adjusted to be anything you wanted, to
enact any kink, any fetish, any twisted scenario your mind could
devise.

Both shows' main storyline revolved around a discussion of the ethics
of using mind imprints, but told that story differently: Dollhouse
focused on the dolls, while Kittens' Den used the staff of the
corporation and their customers to advance its story arc, the kittens
essentially playing the role of victim-of-the-week. The show had
managed to land various actresses to guest spot as kittens, and that
the vast majority of those stars had ended up naked and doing
something sexual on screen had people flocking. Megan Fox had been a
particularly popular guest, so much so that she had started to make
regular appearances.

That night's episode, the musketeers were to discover, was focused on
Fox's character, a kitten with a past, and explored that past. As
Daniel and Jenn cuddled together under a blanket at one end of the
couch, and Radhu and Serena sat in two seats at the other end, Radhu
with his long legs extended before him, Serena with her own folded
under her and sipping a steaming mug of tea, the show started and
quickly jumped into the story of Fox's character.

It sounded familiar to the musketeers: Fox's character, before
becoming a kitten, was a friendly girl, a freshman in college, who
just happened to reject the advances of some wealthy jerk in some
Chicago bar. The man took his revenge by having the poor girl
essentially abducted and turned into a kitten. He then paid to be able
to have his way with her, whenever he felt the inclination. The
personality he chose for her, more often than not, was her original
personality, slightly adjusted to make her more receptive to his
advances.

"Hey, that's just Sierra's backstory from Dollhouse," commented Radhu
mid-show.

"Except there it was just a single scene and mostly dialogue," replied
Serena.

And indeed, rather than simply hint at the ordeals of the character,
the episode chose to dramatize the event, from the character's initial
meeting of the wealthy jerk to the first time the character visited
him on kitten assignment, wearing the same short white dress she had
worn at that first meeting, a dress that left very little to the
imagination, complete with a tall pair of come-get-me heels, white as
well. The character looked positively virginal, the white material
contrasting with the olive skin of Fox, who played the role with an
intensity that was refreshing considering her previous movie
outings. And when her character went on to seduce the wealthy jerk,
who of course had arranged the whole scenario and took a great deal of
pleasure and satisfaction in making her character beg to be taken and
used, the world had its first glimpse of Fox fully naked, after a
small striptease that undoubtedly stained the crotch of millions of
male teenagers, followed by the unexpected scene of Fox's character
servicing the wealthy jerk. There was television that guaranteed
ratings.

Jenn harrumphed. "Okay, so she's beautiful, in a vapid empty sort of
way. I don't see why everyone on this planet is so infatuated with
her, though."

"Well, she is beautiful, with a culturally-appropriate body. Isn't
that enough?" asked Daniel.

"There are thousands and thousands of girls like her, just as
beautiful, just as sexy. But Fox seems to be held on a pedestal for
absolutely no reason I can discern. There isn't an iota of personality
in those eyes."

"Perhaps that's what attracts the common man so much, that utter lack
of personality," said Serena.

Fox's character on the screen was getting pounced from behind,
actively urging her wealthy jerk john to take her deeper.

Radhu, eyes glued to the screen, replied in a mock insulted tone. "Not
every man desires vapidity and bimboism. Some of us find personality
extremely arousing."

Serena turned to him. "Radhu, my dear, you are not the common man."

"Sorry folks, but could you all please shut up and watch the show?"
said Daniel, trying to inject some exasperation in his voice to show
he was serious.

Jenn turned to him and cuddled up close. "Oh," she said, "are we
keeping you from enjoying your favorite actress getting it on? Are we
distracting you?" Her hand, hidden under the blanket on their lap,
slid down to his crotch. "Oh my, you really like her, don't you?" Her
voice was a whisper in his ear, her breath blowing warm across his
neck. She rubbed his cock through his trousers, squeezing and
pressing. "You like how she's getting fucked, right there on the
screen? How she's getting it from behind? I don't blame you; I may
find her a empty-headed bimbo, but she's got a hot body. I'd do her."
The image conjured in Daniel's head had the intended effect, and his
cock jerked. Jenn laughed softly, and rubbed his cock harder. "Unless
it's the fact that she's forced to do what she's doing that turns you
on so much, that she's got no choice but to obey?"

"Hey you two," said Serena. "Get a room!"

Jenn laughed and settled to get back to watching the show, but kept
her hand on Daniel's crotch. She deftly unzipped his trousers and
snuck her hand hand inside, softly caressing Daniel's cock while he
slide her dress up over her legs and caressed them, still hidden by
the blanket. He had the fleeting thought that he wished Jenn was more
comfortable exposing those legs of hers. Then again, she was more than
happy to wear tight clothes, which outlined her legs perfectly, and if
she was uncomfortable showing actual skin, that was her business. He
was sure there were things about him that she was not completely
thrilled about anyways. Compromise -- every relationship is
compromise, he had learned the hard way. And if one's extent of
compromising is having to accept one's girlfriend not being
comfortable showing off her legs to random people, well, one was a
lucky son of a gun.

They watched the end of the episode just like that, and afterwards
just left the television on to catch whatever was playing, a movie
about zombies in this particular case. It was quiet, very quiet in the
apartment. Daniel sneaked a glance over at Radhu and Serena. Radhu was
fast asleep, long legs stretched out before him. Serena was asleep as
well, her head resting on her folded arms on the side of the one
seater.

Jenn, who was still intermittently playing with Daniel's cock, looked
at him. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing. They're asleep."

"Does that make us bad hosts?"

"Don't know, but it does mean that I can be a bit more free to do
this," and he ran his hand on the insider of her thigh, under her
dress, and touched the outline of her pussy through her panties,
making her gasp.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"You've been playing with me and teasing me for the past twenty
minutes," he said. "I'm about to go nuts here. So I'm upping the
ante."

"Can't we just wait until they've gone?" she said, before closing her
eyes as Daniel slipped two fingers under the flimsy material covering
her sex and slid them inside her. She was wet, he noted. Good.

"I can't wait," he said. "I want you."

She turned her head to look at their friends sleeping. "Are you
crazy?"

"I'm not crazy, I'm horny. You've been teasing me, now's time to pay
up. Only fair. Besides," he grinned, "I'm cashing this in." And he
handed her a small card. Jenn stared at it, having recognized it
immediately, and even though it was dark Daniel could tell by the glow
from the television screen that Jenn was blushing. Well, he thought, I
guess there's a first time for everything.

"Now?" she asked. "But --"

"Didn't you say anytime, anywhere? Your words. Now if you don't wanna
play anymore..."

Jenn stiffened, then shook her head in resolve. "No. I'll do
it. What... what does it say?" She looked at the card. "Order a player
you control to perform any single sexual act you desire."

"Consider yourself lucky that I picked this one instead of any of the
other two I have," said Daniel.

Jenn looked at him. "What do you want?"

"I'll go easy on you. One of your wonderful blow jobs will do just
fine."

Jenn looked at Radhu and Serena one last time, then crouched next to
Daniel, ducked her head under the blanket, and pulled his trousers
down his thighs. Daniel could not see anything because of the blanket,
but he could feel Jenn's hand on his cock, followed by her warm breath
seconds before the took the head in her mouth and sucked, hard. He
gasped, and sank down into the sofa, making himself comfortable. On
the screen, Woody Harrelson was wielding a shotgun and shooting
zombies.

Jenn was really going to town on his cock, and the added effect of not
being able to see her seemed to multiply the sensations. Her head was
bobbing up and down under the blanket, and a muffled slurping sound
could be heard dimly. Jenn was taking his cock in her mouth deep, not
bothering to be subtle about it, sucking to achieve maximum effect in
the shortest amount of time. Before long his hips were moving to meet
her descending lips, and he moaned. He ran a hand over her back, down
to her ass, and he squeezed it through the dress. He toyed with the
idea of lifting her dress to fondle her directly, and shot a glance to
Radhu and Serena to make sure they were still asleep.

He had no reason to think they were not, so he nearly jumped when he
saw that Serena was staring right at him. His eyes grew wide, and was
about to tell Jenn to stop when Serena shook her head and put a finger
across her lips. Jenn's head was bobbing up and down under the blanket
and it was perfectly obvious was she was doing. Radhu was sleeping
away.

Daniel watched Serena, who kept her gaze locked on his, as she let her
hand travel down from her mouth to her chest, and squeezed one of her
breasts, methodically, pinching a nipple through the thin material of
the camisole. Daniel's eyes grew wider as he realized that Serena was
getting turned on watching his girlfriend go down on him. He was torn
between wanting to stop everything, and just take full advantage of
the situation, as eerie as it was. And then the combination of Jenn
starting to suck even harder under the blanket and Serena unfolding
her long legs and spreading them wide, clinched it. His cock seemed to
get even harder, and if Jenn noticed she did not show it. He ran his
hand down back to her ass and squeezed again, harder, eliciting a moan
from under the blanket. His eyes were glued to Serena's fingers that
were tracing lazy circles on her inner thigh, while he slowly pulled
Jenn's dress over her legs and then over her ass, which she dutifully
raised to help him. The way free, he fondled the exposed cheeks,
caressing and rubbing and squeezing, unconsciously following the
rhythm of Jenn's suction. Serena was still playing with her breasts
and her thighs, teasing herself by almost but not quite slipping her
fingers down her shorts.

Daniel felt no such compulsion, and despite the awkward position, slid
a finger through Jenn's panties and ran it through her slit, finding
it dripping wet. Jenn moaned around his cock, and simultaneously took
him deep into her mouth and lifted her ass up to provide him with
better access, allowing Daniel to slide his finger into her snatch,
unaware of the show she was putting on. Serena's eyes left Daniel's
and followed his finger in its in and out motion, fascinated. They
kept it up for a few minutes, the muffled sounds of Jenn's slurping
and occasional gagging barely audible over the sounds from the
television.

"Jenn," he whispered, eventually, "fuck, I'm going to come."

Jenn pushed her head down onto his cock one last time, then pulled out
from under the blanket, disheveled, her mouth wet and dripping saliva,
slightly out of breath, and looking crazed.

"We're not wasting this," she whispered back as she climbed onto his
lap, her dress bunched up around her waist, at the same time wrapping
the blanket around both of their bodies and sinking her wet pussy onto
his erect shaft. It felt to Daniel like slipping into a vat of molten
wax, it was hot and slippery and felt so good. He groaned, put his
hands on her hips as she started to ground them on his lap, pushing
her down to produce some friction on her clit.

"The card only talked about one act, I thought," he joked.

"Screw the card. I'm so horny I can't think right now. So shut up and
fuck me."

He pushed his hips up in stead of a reply, and Jenn let herself go
against him to better appreciate the feeling, trying to remain silent
by muffling her gasp into Daniel's shoulder. As he fucked her -- or
more accurately, as he let himself be fucked by the beautiful brunette
-- Daniel sneaked a glance at Serena, who was still watching, with
half-closed eyes and a hand underneath her borrowed shorts, and was
frigging herself slowly. Daniel could see her hand move under the
material, and could just picture Serena's long fingers playing with
her clit and gliding along her outer lips. The image of the tall,
beautiful black girl with her long naked legs spread wide and touching
herself was unearthly.

Jenn was pumping up and down on his cock with renewed energy, never
noticing that they had a spectator. Daniel looked at her. Her eyes
were closed, and she was biting her upper lip, whether to prevent
herself from making too much noise or because she had lost control of
her expression he did not know. He could see the thin film of sweat on
her brow, the intensity in her face. She was beautiful. He loved her.

Jenn must have sensed the look, because she opened her eyes and looked
right at him, without speaking, just as she pulled herself off his
cock in order to push herself down upon it even more forcefully. She
was smiling. Daniel knew her enough to know that at that point she
wanted to get fucked, thoroughly, hard, to get lost in the sensations
of an orgasm being screwed out of her kicking and screaming. But there
was no way to do that then, as they had to be careful. So she kept a
lid on most of her feelings, and it had the predictable effect of
making her even more frenzied and craving release. Daniel could see
the conflict in her eyes, and reveled in it. This may have started out
as Jenn playing with his fantasies as a matter of gently trying to
convince him to follow her to Texas, despite her denials, but right
then, she was into it with no ulterior motive, because it turned her
on, because it made her hot, because it plugged into fantasies of her
own.

In her corner of the room, Serena had moved on, by all appearances, to
finger fucking herself. Her hand stretched out Jenn's shorts, and
rhythmically plunged in and out, the motion like a wave or a heartbeat
under the material. Daniel could imagine that as well as he could her
frigging earlier, her finger, or perhaps fingers, diving smoothly into
her silken pussy, sucked in, pistoning in and out without resistance,
hugged, squeezed, pulled in deep. Serena's eyes were alternatively
open and closed, watching him and Jenn fucking before her and lost in
some internal fantasy. Daniel wondered whether she was imagining
herself on top of him, in place of Jenn. He realized that Jenn was
fucking him pretty much like Serena had so many years ago, and the
parallels forced a shiver through him. Or perhaps, and the thought
came unbidden as he looked at Serena a few seconds longer, saw her
lips parted and her tongue sneaking out, saw her eyes fixed on the
back Jenn's head, perhaps she was imagining herself in place of
Daniel, with Jenn straddling her, kissing her, rubbing against
her. That image had way too much power behind it, he opined. He did
not know if Serena had any bisexual tendencies -- although knowing his
highly sexual friend he would not have been in the least bit surprised
-- and Jenn had never expressed any interest aside from casual
mentions in the throes of lovemaking. But the thought of his beautiful
girlfriend and his equally beautiful friend together was almost more
than he could bear, and of their volition his hips slammed up to meet
Jenn's thrusts.

Jenn noticed the increase in intensity and opened her eyes to look at
him, and he returned the look, and in silence, eye to eye, his cock
thrusting into her pussy harder and harder, the sounds of sex muffled
by the surrounding blanket, they came -- Jenn first, biting her lips
to keep from screaming, holding on to his shoulders as she tensed like
a spring ready to snap before she was overcome by long bone-deep
shudders that made her moan to the point that she had to plunge her
head into Daniel's shoulder again, Daniel not far behind her, spurred
by her pussy squeezing his cock, his eyes now on Serena, who was also
reaching her own climax, her hand jerking harder and harder underneath
the shorts and stretching the elastic band, her legs quivering with
the buildup of tension, her mouth open, also trying to keep silent,
and then going rigid, her hand pressing hard against her pussy, finger
undoubtedly pushed deep inside her, her other hand on her wrist as if
to keep it from sliding out, her mouth now open in an almost
stereotypical O, as her body was raked by shudders that rivaled
Jenn's, and at that point it was too much for Daniel who clenched
hard, crunching on the couch, pushing hard into Jenn, knocking the
breath out of the poor recovering girl, and came, hard, like a soda
bottle shaken and abruptly opened, holding on to his girlfriend,
spurting long streams of jizz deep inside her, as she held his head
against her and caressed his hair. He could feel her smiling against
the sides of his head. He was not sure if he was smiling or grimacing
himself. He collapsed back against the couch, Jenn on top of him, as
they both tried to catch their breath. On the television screen, Woody
Harrelson was making a last stand against zombies in an amusement
park.

Daniel figured he had fallen asleep, because the next thing he was
aware of was the movie end credits. He looked around. Jenn was cuddled
up next to him, prim and proper again, if sporting a satisfied
smile. Serena was composed at her end of the room, also looking
satisfied. Radhu was sleeping still, stirring vaguely. Serena caught
Daniel's eye, and she winked at him, a sweet smile on her lips.

Jenn was the first to stand, stretching herself like a cat, whereupon
Serena did the same. The movement woke Radhu, who looked around,
seemingly lost.

"Huh... what... did I fall asleep?"

"Yup, buddy. About two hours ago."

"Aw crap. Shouldn't have stayed up so late last night." His voice
trailed off, his eyes glued on Serena's rear as she left the
room. Daniel laughed inside, wondering how his friend would have
reacted to seeing Serena pleasuring herself earlier. He'd have
probably popped a few neurons, he thought. Poor boy. Perhaps one day.

They talked for a bit, while Serena was changing back into her day
clothes, and Jenn cleaned up the remains of their snacks.

"Okay guys, I should get going," said Serena from near the
entryway. "Thanks for the evening, as usual."

"Hold on, Serena. I'm leaving with you," said Radhu. He still looked
somewhat shell-shocked. "Wow, sorry about dispatching like I did
tonight."

"Don't worry about it," replied Daniel, clasping his friend on the
shoulder. "Just good to have you around, you know."

They made their way to the entrance of the apartment, where Serena was
waiting for them, looking composed and professional once more, and
where Jenn, looking sleepy, came to join them. She slid her arm around
Daniel's waist. "All right, you two. Have a safe walk back. And we'll
see you tomorrow."

"Sure," said Serena, and she hugged Jenn. Daniel saw her whisper
something in Jenn's ear. Jenn blushed almost immediately, turning
redder than Daniel had ever seen her, and just as she was about to say
something, Serena put a finger on her lips, shushing her. She then
smiled, nodded to Daniel, and turned to leave. Radhu, looking very
much like a man who had missed something interesting, gave Daniel a
quizzical glance. Daniel shrugged his shoulders, and put his arm
around Jenn, who was still faintly flushed. When the door closed
behind their friends, Jenn turned to Daniel. "How much... how much did
she see?"

"Pretty much the whole thing, I'm afraid."

"Why didn't you...?"

"Tell you? Love, given how you were going, I wouldn't have been able
to stop you even if I had wanted to. You were hot! And besides, I
think Serena enjoyed it very much."

Jenn looked into Daniel's eyes.

"I'm not surprised. Ah well." She kissed him, softly, on the lips.

"Why, what did she tell you?"

Her kiss became more forceful.

"I'll tell you later. Maybe. For now, though, how about you take me to
the bedroom and fuck me properly? The itch is not quite gone yet."

"And the thought of Serena watching you as you jumped me has nothing
to do with this itch, does it?"

Jenn never answered the question, and simply pulled Daniel with her to
the bedroom.